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on Denae. Find out all you can about MI5, her involvement, and if she’s lying. Gain her trust by any means necessary.”
    “I’d rather no’.” The words came out harshly, but Kellan was so averse to spending any more time with Denae, that the mere mention of her name caused his hackles to rise.
    It was Con’s turn to lift his brows in disbelief. “You’d rather no’?”
    “I didna stutter.”
    “Care to explain?”
    Kellan shifted, hating how the clothes confined him. It was because he had spent so long sleeping that his body had forgotten what it was like to be in human form and wear clothing. “I doona want to chance a repeat of … the last time I was awake.”
    “You willna,” Con said as if he were the one making that decision. “Need I remind you that it was your cave they had the coordinates to? You saw them fight. You heard their words. No’ me, no’ anyone else. You, Kellan. It has to be you who gains her trust.”
    “I doona like her.”
    “You doona like any humans. I understand and respect that, however, there are three females mated to your brethren.”
    Kellan gripped the arms of the chair to rein in his growing ire. “You think I’ll harm them?”
    “Nay. I’m merely pointing out a fact. I may no’ have wanted Cassie, Elena, or Jane at Dreagan or mated to Dragon Kings, but there is no denying the love between all three couples. Be nice to the females. I doona want infighting. We’ve enough to deal with.”
    “You doona have to worry about the mated females. I’ll be courteous to them.”
    Con leaned forward until his forearms were braced on the desk. “There are other humans about, Kellan. We hire many of them to work at Dreagan in various tasks.”
    Surrounded by humans. It was enough to send Kellan back to his cave that instant. Then he remembered the threat to all the Dragon Kings, and he knew it would be awhile before he returned to his cave and the peaceful sleep he longed for.
    “Will that be a problem?” Con asked, his black eyes piercing him.
    Kellan met Con’s gaze. “If they doona betray me, then there willna be a problem.”
    “Fair enough. Now, about Denae.”
    Kellan rose to his feet and walked around the office. He needed to move, to work the tingling of his limbs out. His gaze clashed with Con’s sword hanging on the wall. Each Dragon King was marked with a tattoo, but they were also gifted with a sword.
    “I’ll share all I know about what I witnessed with Denae and her partner, but I think it wise that I stay away from her.”
    “I disagree,” Con said.
    Kellan faced him and narrowed his gaze on the King of Kings. “What are you up to, Constantine?”
    “I’m trying to protect Dreagan and everyone who calls it home. I want to know why your cave in particular was targeted, and you’re the best one to discover the reason.”
    Kellan wasn’t buying it for a minute. Con would do anything to protect Dreagan and the Dragon Kings, but there was more to his request.
    “Fine,” Con said and threw down the pen. “I think you need some interaction with humans to help curb your hatred. No’ all of them are bad, Kellan.”
    “That I doona believe. I saw for myself, remember.”
    “That was a verra long time ago.”
    Kellan walked until he stood behind Con’s desk, looking out one of the windows to the green valley below and the white dots of sheep. “There will always be hatred in my heart for the humans. They butchered my Bronzes who were there to protect them. They betrayed Ulrik, thereby betraying every one of us.”
    “Did killing that human wash away the pain?”
    He ignored Con and said, “It’s because of them I no longer have any Bronzes to rule.”
    “None of us have dragons to rule,” Con said quietly. “We all feel the loss of them.”
    Kellan had been so lost in his own misery that he had forgotten that small detail. He wasn’t the only Dragon King who had been betrayed. Or the only one feeling the loss of the dragons.
    Con wasn’t