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  He searched her eyes and gave a squeeze to her shoulder as reassurance. “I’m sure. I will protect you, and I’m happy to do it. I’ve always helped anybody who asks. It’s not a big deal.”

  An immense relief uncurled in her heart. “Thank you.”

  “It’s my pleasure, Emily.”

  She rode shotgun. As she buckled her seatbelt, more anxiety snuck inside her. True, Rovik seemed more than capable of handling Dwayne and the sheriff. Judging from the way he carried himself, his cat-like, and confident gait, his watchful eyes ever alert, she suspected Rovik had a military background. But the McGuires weren’t ordinary people.

  They weren’t even human.

  Thinking about it made her restless.

  Rovik started the engine. The vehicle purred alive. The tires peeled off the parking lot with a graceful lurch.

  She glanced at the diner’s windows. People still watching them. Her especially. Is one of them going to report me? Well, too late for that. She quickly squashed her anxiety. One thing at a time, she decided. She had been domesticated by the McGuires for so long, she couldn’t confidently make a decision on her own.

  She must change if she wanted happiness.

  And this was her first step. Leaving Dwayne. Leaving everything behind.

  The town of Fairlee was only alive during summer and fall. Tourists came for hiking and fishing in the hot days and leafers from New York pilgrimaged when the landscapes were engulfed by the splendor of autumn. The houses were picturesque and the property values were high, as one would expect from premium land in New England.

  Rovik coasted onto the main street.

  “I hope you don’t plan on going to Halsberg because it will take us near the church. If you take a left, we can eventually get to Route 90. It’s a bit of a detour, but much less hassle,” she said. She laughed nervously. “For me anyway.”

  The bounty hunter lifted an eyebrow. “You think they notice you’re missing about now?”

  She glanced at the dashboard clock. “Maybe in eight minutes. The ceremony is supposed to start at eleven sharp.”

  He made the suggested left turn and took River Street. “You said you were already in the church earlier. How did you sneak out without anyone noticing?”

  “I heard from Shauna—she’s the one who does my hair and makeup—that the caterer messed up the order or something, so the sheriff was throwing a fit. We’re supposed to have a garden reception after the ceremony. The McGuires had relatives from all over the country came to the wedding and he wanted everything to be perfect. So while everybody got distracted, I went out the back and ran five blocks to the strip mall. I thought I’d get something to drink and eat before I figured out my next move.” She turned to him. “Luckily, I met you.”

  Rovik glanced briefly. “No, lucky me. I got me a runaway bride. My business partner wouldn’t believe this story if I told him.”

  “Oh, you have a business partner?”

  “His name’s Jericho. He and I handle big bond cases while the two other associates take the rest that come in. We also have an office manager who writes bonds and does case by case apprehension. Then we have a part-time accountant who comes monthly to close the books. It’s a man’s land—our office. I think your arrival will be a nice change for everyone.”

  “How long have you been in business?”

  “About seven years. We started right after we got discharged from the Marines. Jericho wanted to make a quick buck and a guy he knew asked him to pick up a bail jumper in Nevada. A nasty fugitive that one. We had such a blast tracking the bastard, and it snowballed from there, and before we knew it, we were in the business.”

  “So you were in the Marines. I kind of suspected you’d been in the military.”

  “You can tell?”

  “Either that or you could be in a motorcycle gang. You have that bad boy swagger.”

  Rovik laughed.

  “How long had you served?”

  “Eight years. I enlisted right after high school. Dad pestered me to do something meaningful with my life. I pissed him off by dropping by a recruitment office. Two weeks later, I was shipped for training and have never regretted my choice.”

  “Are your parents still around? What do they do?”

  “Yep. Dad owns a gun shop and Mom teaches kindergarteners. They live in Texas.”

  “Do you have brothers or sisters?”

  “Nope. I’m the only child.”

  “I see.”

  He cast another amused smile. “I feel like I’m being interviewed.”

  Busted. “Sorry. I’m just curious. That’s all.”

  “I was just teasing you. I understand you want to ask a lot of things. You’ve put blind faith in me.”

  “I have to trust someone, don’t I? Right now, you’re my ally.”

  “True.”

  They now skirted at the edge of Fairlee toward the main highway. The road was flanked by lush, tall trees as far as eyes could see.

  “How long have you lived with the McGuires?” Rovik asked.

  “About eight years. They took me in when I was twelve.”

  “You don’t have relatives besides the McGuires?”

  “No. And the McGuires aren’t my relatives. The sheriff was my mom’s friend.”

  “So you grew up with the sheriff’s son? How did you become engaged to him?”

  “I was told it was an arrangement between my mom and Norman.”

  Her late mother had a serious case of wanderlust. They’d lived all over the states: Washington, Florida, California, Vermont, and even Alaska. She remembered they never stayed in one place for more than several months.

  She often asked if her mother, Susanna, was running away from someone, or something. Her mother always said she got bored easily. On the eve of her twelfth birthday, her mother went into a coma and never woke. Doctors said she died from extreme exhaustion. Mother had literally worked herself to death. After the hospital learned she was without a guardian, they called the child protective agency.

  Before the social worker arrived, a man named Norman McGuire came to the hospital and claimed he was Susanna’s legal guardian and he had her power of attorney. That night, Emily became the newest member in the McGuire household.

  She didn’t know about the arrangement until she was in the eighth grade. It was so ridiculous, she thought Norman was joshing with her. She had always considered Dwayne as her brother. Never more. Never less. She began to resent him when Dwayne forced his romantic feelings on her. No matter how hard she tried, she’d never been able to make them understand.

  Rovik voiced his opinion that the arrangement was self-serving and distasteful. “I never would’ve thought people still practiced arranged marriages in this day and age. Do you know why your mother agreed to give you to the McGuires?” he asked.

  “Norman said it was a boon.”

  “A boon? What is this, a medieval era?”

  “He said Mom owed him a favor. Big time. And this was the only way for me to repay that favor.”

  “What kind of favor are we talking about? Do you know?”

  “It happened when they were young. He saved my mom in a tight spot. I’m not clear about how that went down. He just insisted I must pay him back that favor.”

  “I know bullshit when I hear it.” He snorted in disgust. “Do you ever think he just took advantage of you by claiming your mother owed him a favor?”

  “It crossed my mind. But Mom signed a document that appointed him my legal guardian if something happened to her.” Emily slouched in her seat. “In many ways, I do owe him for taking me into his home. I would have ended up in the foster system otherwise.”

  “But forcing you to do something you didn’t want wasn’t right either. I’d say it’s downright modern day slavery,” said Rovik heatedly. “How about the sheriff’s wife? What’s she have to say about the ridiculous arrangement?”

  “Ah.” Emily paused. “His first wife, Erin, died shortly after Dwayne was born
. Then he got remarried and the second wife, Roxanne, also died after she gave birth to Kenny. Norman never dated after that.”

  “So Dwayne has a younger brother?”

  “Yeah. Kenneth. He’s okay, I guess. Kenny’s a year younger than me.”

  “How did Norman’s exes die?”

  “I was told it was complications from childbirth. Nothing sinister, if that’s what you mean. Both Erin and Roxanne were too weak to be pregnant.”

  Judging from the expression on his face, Rovik wasn’t completely sold. Emily couldn’t blame him. The McGuire’s family tragedies were well-known by people in the town. Some said the McGuires were cursed. She recalled many female family members from Norman’s side had short life expectancy. Mostly due to high-risk pregnancy issues. The women could lead a normal healthy life but once they got pregnant, it was their death sentence. The babies would survive at the expense of their mother’s demise.

  “Tell me more about Dwayne,” said Rovik. “Was he abusive to you?”

  “Dwayne?” Emily shook her head. “He never laid a hand on me. But he doesn’t like anyone getting too close to me.”

  Dwayne was the reason she stopped working at a small insurance office after she graduated from high school. The company employed mostly female workers. Dan Painter, the owner, was the only guy who worked in there and he was close to sixty.

  Dwayne didn’t see him as a threat. But that changed when Dan chose to retire early and his son took over the business. Berni, Dan’s son was young and single. Dwayne didn’t like that. He then forced her to quit her job, saying he could provide for both of them.

  Like his father, Dwayne was a deputy in the Fairlee sheriff’s office. He took home a modest salary, but enough to live in a town like Fairlee. The sheriff’s family home was a large old Victorian house too big for only the four of them. She could lead a simple and quiet life should she choose. But it wasn’t the life she wanted. She could never love Dwayne romantically.

  Never.

  “From the way I see it, they shouldn’t been able to force you into doing something you don’t want, Emily,” said Rovik. “I will help you get out of this place, no matter what it takes.”

  “Thank you. I don’t know how I can repay you for this.”

  “No need for that. Any decent human would do the same if they were in my shoes. It’s the right thing to do.”

  She dearly hoped Rovik wouldn’t regret what he promised. As soon as he said that, blaring sirens followed their SUV.

  The cavalries had come.

  But she didn’t want to be saved.

  Chapter Three

  Rovik had expected some scuffles with the law when he agreed to help Emily. He hadn’t anticipated it would become a full-on war. From his rearview mirror, he counted six Fairlee sheriff vehicles chasing their tail, followed by at least six other unmarked sedans. The sheriff had organized a hunting party to retrieve their darling bride. A smile tugged on the corner of his lips. This would be fun. He hadn’t had anything remotely exciting in the past couple years.

  He stole a glance at her.

  Emily looked mortified. She gripped the seatbelt until her knuckles were white. Her face paled. Her big blue eyes widened in fear.

  He clenched his jaw. He hated to see her like that. Why was she so scared? Did that son of a bitch do something to her? It was hard to believe he didn’t abuse her. No one got this scared unless they were mistreated.

  Rovik slowed the SUV. He could hightail them across the state lines, but it wouldn’t do any good. He was pretty sure the sheriff had his license numbers and could put out an APB for suspected kidnapping. But maybe he could stop and explain the situation. And maybe he could talk the sheriff into reason first. It seemed ludicrous that someone would be forced into marrying someone in this twenty-first century era.

  He decided to yield and stopped on the side of the road.

  Emily turned to him. “What are you doing? You can’t stop now.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll handle this.”

  “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

  “Trust me, Emily. I’ll handle the situation. I need to talk to the sheriff.” Rovik fished his smart phone from his pocket and quickly texted Jericho their secret code. They made an agreement if one of them got in trouble on the job and didn’t return or call within twelve hours after sending the code, the other would alert the office then come with reinforcement. The message coded with his last latitude and longitude coordinates as a starting point for his partner to look.

  A cruiser went past them and blocked their SUV. The one behind them stopped at their bumper. A quick scan at the rearview mirror revealed none of those men seemed too pleased. They were hard-eyed with soured expressions. Well, how could they not be? He just ruined someone’s big day, after all.

  Rovik sat quietly behind the wheel. He didn’t take his eyes off the rearview as he talked to Emily. “I want you to follow my instruction closely. Do not get out of the vehicle unless I tell you it’s safe to do so. Do not talk to them or engage in any way. Keep your eyes straight ahead and pretend you don’t see anything.”

  Emily was stiff as a board beside him. “Y-yes.”

  A deputy got out from the cruiser in front. He wore a pair of aviator sunglass and looked as if he was ready to chew somebody raw to their bones. A black baton, hung from his waist, swung with every step he took. In the meantime, two men, one older and his younger copy, fully dressed in black tuxedos with boutonnieres pinned on the lapels of their jackets exited the cruiser at the back of the line. They looked just as pissed as the other guys.

  Rovik narrowed his eyes. Something wasn’t right with these people. He was suddenly plagued with an urge to shift. Show them his claws and scales. Baring for them his sharp fangs to show who was more dominant. He was rarely provoked to show his true self, unless threatened by kin.

  Kin.

  These people Emily tangled with weren’t just ordinary humans.

  He stole a glance furtively at her. Did she know what they really were? Was that why she was so concerned he wouldn’t be able to handle them?

  Rovik quickly scanned the mob milling behind the SUV. Most were humans. A few were half-bloods. Some mixed blood. Four were pure blutrot. Blutrot, red, was one of the old breeds in North America, but not as rare as him. They were vicious, nevertheless.

  The old one whom Rovik presumed was the sheriff, tapped his window, while the younger one—must be Dwayne—headed straight to Emily’s side and proceeded to make a ruckus.

  His voice sounded muffled from inside the SUV. As soon as Rovik powered down the window, Dwayne’s voice brayed obnoxiously.

  “Get out of this car, right now, Emily! How could you do this to me? Get out now!”

  Dwayne’s old man told him to shut up for a second. He did, but he didn’t stop intimidating Emily. He snarled while he tried to pry open the passenger side door. That wasn’t successful either because Rovik had everything locked.

  “Is there a problem, Officer?” Rovik asked in a composed tone.

  There was a glint of recognition in the sheriff’s eyes—acknowledgement from one beast to another. The sheriff became alert. Guarded. “Could you please step out of the vehicle and put your hands up where I can see them.” His voice so sharp, it could cut steel.

  Rovik waited five seconds just to annoy him before asking again, “What is this all about?”

  “Get out of the fucking vehicle!” the sheriff barked. His men assumed a ready position with their weapons aimed at him.

  “Rovik…” Emily looked at him, panicked.

  “Stay frosty.” Rovik powered up the window before unlocking his door and exiting the SUV carefully. He pushed the door closed to lock it so Dwayne couldn’t force his way in. He raised his hands in a deliberate mock. The sheriff and his deputies glanced at his holstered gun inside his leather jacket.

  In a normal scenario, that alone would have gotten him treated as a hostile. He would have been slammed on the ground and gotten
his ass kicked to the nines. But this situation was different. The sheriff and his merry ass kickers knew if they didn’t tread carefully, things could get ugly really, really fast.

  In the draconian hierarchy, Rovik’s breed, Schwarzen, was at the top of the food chain. In ancient times, the black dragons preferred to eat other dragons first, then common livestock.

  Schwarzen males were very competitive with one another and their violent tendencies crossed boundaries even between family members. Before the era of the Great Purge, it was common practice for the son in a family to try to kill his father and assume his position as a rite of passage.

  As a result, many females Schwarzen hid their male hatchlings to prevent infanticide committed by the dominant males. Families were displaced and Schwarzen numbers dwindled to near extinction. As humanity began to climb into the top spot, dragons abandoned their old ways and took their human form to live peacefully among the rest of the population.

  Millennia passed, but the dragons had long memories. They hadn’t forgotten the fearful breed of their kin. Any dragon on the Earth knew better than to provoke a male Schwarzen.

  Rovik faced the sheriff head on. “I don’t want any trouble on your turf. Let us pass and it’ll be water under the bridge.”

  “Can’t let you do that, sonny. That young woman you have there is my son’s bride.” The sheriff jauntily nodded in Emily’s direction. “Hand her over and we’ll let you leave in one piece.”

  “No, can do. Emily is my mate.”

  At this, the sheriff blanched considerably. Surely he knew once a dragon met his mate, he’d go to any length to protect what belonged to him. All dragons were compulsively possessive.

  “In fact, I’ll tell you what you’re going to do, Sheriff,” said Rovik. “You will get back in your car and return to town and forget this ever happened. Otherwise, I won’t be held responsible for your safety.”

  “In your fucking dreams!” Dwayne skirted around the SUV then stormed in Rovik’s direction in long strides. “I’d like to see you try, fucking cannibal. We blutrot aren’t cowards.”