Hayley Beckett was nearly to Clan Stonefire in the Lake District when she pulled her car over, turned it off, and did what she always did before an important meeting: gave herself a pep talk.

Sitting taller in her seat, she said, “Right, you can do this. You have a skill they want, something they need. Sure, dragon’s blood is a high price to pay for it. But Carly needs it. Needs you. So this is going to happen, no matter what.”

Just thinking of the last time she’d seen her younger sister, lying in a hospital bed hooked up to various machines, made tears prick her eyes. After their parents died, it’d only been the two of them against the world for so long. And even after Carly married and had children, they’d still been each other’s best friend.

And now? If Hayley’s plan failed, her sister’s kidneys would finally stop working, and she’d die.

No. She’d get some dragon’s blood and heal Carly, end of story.

The usual route of obtaining it, by applying to be a dragon’s sacrifice, wouldn’t work. Not only because it’d take too long, but also because Hayley was thirty-six years old and a workaholic, both points against her.

However, she’d worked closely with Clan Stonefire for some recent custody cases, had proven herself to them, and would use that connection.

They would agree to her offer, they just had to.

After taking a deep breath, she nodded to herself and turned on the car again. Soon she was back on the road and doing her best not to tug at her hair or readjust her glasses for the hundredth time. Being perfectly turned out wasn’t Hayley’s strong point. However, she didn’t want to show up looking like a complete mess for her meeting with the dragon clan leader.

She finally reached the metal gates that had the word “Stonefire” intertwined in the metal and stopped next to a speaker. A male’s voice said, “And you are?”

“Hayley Beckett. I have an appointment with Bram Moore-Llewellyn.”

After about ten seconds, the same voice came over the speaker. “Pull through and take the first left. Park in front of the large building and come inside.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to say she knew that already, but she resisted. “Of course.”

The gates opened, and Hayley soon parked in front of the two-story Protector building. Protectors were the dragon-shifter equivalent of top-notch security officers mixed with special forces and, not for the first time, she wondered if any of them were also bodyguards.

Not important. Sometimes her mind wandered off into tangents, but she did her best to focus, pick up her satchel, and head into the building.

A familiar female face was there to greet her—Nikki Gray-Hartley, Stonefire’s second-in-command of the Protectors. But unlike the last time Hayley had seen her, the dragonwoman was no longer pregnant.

As if reading her thoughts, Nikki patted her stomach and smiled. “Little Lucy arrived safe and sound and is being thoroughly spoiled by her father. You’re one of my first assignments back, actually.”

Hayley frowned. “Why am I your assignment?”

Nikki gestured for her to follow. “Talk to Bram, and then we can chat more about it.”

The dragonwoman walked down the hallway to the familiar meeting room used for visitors. Hayley had been inside before, to talk with a human woman named Dawn and later with another human woman named Sarah.

Both had needed her services—Hayley was one of the few human solicitors who would work with dragon-shifters. In fact, she did her best to help them whenever possible.

Which should work in her favor today.

Once inside the small conference room, Nikki gestured toward the table and chairs. “Take a seat. Bram should be here shortly. Did you need anything to drink?”

Even though she’d had ten cups earlier—when worried, making a cup of tea comforted Hayley—she nodded. “Tea would be brilliant.”

“I’ll be right back.”

The dragonwoman left, and Hayley reached a hand to tousle her hair but caught herself. There was a mirror on the opposite side of the room. No doubt, it was a two-way mirror, but she barely registered that and scowled. Damn it, her hair was already falling out of her twist.

At least her clothes weren’t wrinkled today, which was a rarity.

First impressions were important, she knew it, and yet it was usually the last thing she remembered. 

A knock, and then Stonefire’s tall clan leader, Bram, entered carrying a mug. He set it in front of her, smiled, and his pupils flashed from round to slits and back again—which meant his inner dragon was speaking to him.

He sat down, leaned back, and crossed his arms over his chest.

Oh, dear. That wasn’t the best posture to start with.

Regardless, Hayley sipped her tea and finally said, “Hello, Bram. Nice to see you again.”

“I want to say the same, but I don’t know exactly what you want yet. You said you had a proposal, lass. Tell me about it.”

She frowned. “As I mentioned in my email, it will benefit us both.” He raised his dark eyebrows, and she resisted sighing. Had he guessed what she wanted already?

Yes, dragons were sometimes even hunted and killed for their blood because of its healing properties. But hadn’t her past work proved she thought more of them than magical blood sources?

Remember, he doesn’t know you well, Hayley. Convince him. You’re good at that.

After clearing her throat, she replied, “Let me explain a little before I get to my proposal.” Bram nodded, and she continued, “When I worked on first Dawn’s and then later Sarah’s case, I noticed there wasn’t an electronic database of any past dragon-related cases, let alone the human ones that might apply to dragons as well.”

He snorted. “Until recently, the DDA or British government didn’t believe in giving us fair trials.”

“I know, Bram. But I do believe things are changing, and we need to prepare for it.”

He stared at her for a few beats, and her heart raced. The dragonman looked dubious and far from someone about to agree to her deal.

Well, she wasn’t going to give up so easily.

After readjusting her glasses, she cleared her throat and said, “Just look at how much things have changed since Melanie Hall-MacLeod released her book about dragon-shifters. Not to mention Jane Hartley’s interviews and later online video series. Without those two things, winning Sarah and Dawn’s cases would’ve been impossible, in my opinion. The more humans get to know your kind, the less abstract you become and more human, for lack of a better term, you become. I fully believe there will come a day when the law treats both humans and dragon-shifters equally, and the time to prepare for it is sooner rather than later. You need to start collecting and centralizing all the information you have now. Sometimes it’s the abstract, forgotten laws that can save you in the present, when you least expect it. My proposal is related to that. But if you’re dead set against it, then please just say so.”

Because if he said no, she’d have to think quickly about what else she could offer. Knowing the dragon-shifters like she did, she refused to buy dragon’s blood from the black market. And Stonefire was the clan she knew the best. Yes, she’d briefly worked with Lochguard, but if Bram said no, she didn’t think the Scottish dragon leader, Finn, would then say yes.

Hayley did her best to sit still and waited to see how Bram would respond. There were times she needed to push and argue, and times when she needed to wait. Right now, it was the latter.

Eventually, Bram sighed, uncrossed his arms, and replied, “I want to believe you’re right, Hayley, about the crawl toward equality. I really do. However, I’m not sure if or when the British humans will let us regularly use past precedent to win court cases. Whatever the Department of Dragon Affairs says, so goes.”

This would be the tricky part, for sure. Until the most recent DDA Director, Rosalind Abbott, had taken office, the dragon-shifters had suffered at the whim of the man in charge with no say. And yes, before Rosalind, they had all been men.

“I still think it’s important to know what you’re up against. Any good barrister knows that information and preparation are key to any court case, be it prosecution or defense.”

“And here I thought it was whoever could lie the best,” he drawled.

Used to similar barbs, she barreled past it. “Persuasion is important, yes. But I rely on facts and the truth to win. And it hasn’t hurt me since I’m one of the best.”

Bram studied her a second before replying, “Aye, I know your history. Many say that if you’d stop tinkering with dragon-shifters, you could become one of the most in-demand solicitors in the country. So I have to ask—why don’t you do that, lass?”

The fact Bram had done some research on her made Hayley respect him all the more. “Well, it’s somewhat personal, really. When I was a little kid, I met my first dragon-shifter girl during a family day trip to Brighton. We had fun playing together on the beach until someone noticed her flashing dragon eyes. She was immediately taken away by the authorities.”

The laws had been much stricter back then, laws she hadn’t known about. To Hayley, she’d merely made a new friend named Martha.

It’d been so long since she’d recalled that day. One minute she’d been laughing and trying to fly a kite, and the next, the police had taken Martha away crying.

That was the last time Hayley had ever seen the dragon girl.

Hayley’s throat tightened, and she did her best not to let her emotions get the best of her. “I later learned she was confined to her clan’s land for the rest of her life, simply because she played with a human child.” She paused, took a deep breath, and whispered, “She was from Skyhunter, and eventually their former bastard leader killed her, like with so many others.”

The current Skyhunter co-leaders were lovely, but before them, a cruel dragonman had used his clan members as pawns—imprisoning, torturing, and killing as he saw fit.

Bram said softly, “I’m so sorry, Hayley.”

She tried to smile, but failed. “Simply talking and playing with me confined the little dragon girl to a type of prison for the rest of her life. It was so unfair. And as I got older, I looked more and more into the laws and rules surrounding dragon-shifters until I decided I wanted to help others like her—dragon-shifters who need a human ally, one who might be able to use the law to their advantage. So that’s why I help both humans and dragon-shifters. It’s personal to me.”

He studied her for a few seconds before replying, “Thank you for sharing and helping me to understand. Creating a dragon-shifter law database might have some value.” She opened her mouth to further argue her case, but he beat her to it. “So let’s say we go for it. What is it you want in return for your help?”

She’d known better than to include that little detail in an email. “Well, my sister’s kidneys are failing, and…”

“And she needs dragon’s blood.”

“Yes.”

Maybe some would beg and plead, but that wasn’t her way. Besides, if Bram agreed to her bargain, she still had another element to negotiate.

He asked, “How long will it take for you to gather all the information for us?”

“That depends. I know you have some clan members who are good with computers, coding, and the like. If one of them would help me by creating the software, it would go a lot faster. Then I wouldn’t have to try and find someone on my own.”

“We do have people here who can assist with that, aye. So say my clan members help, then how long will it take you?”

She sat a little taller in her seat. “There is one other factor that will affect how long.” Bram raised his eyebrows and she continued, “If I could stay here on Stonefire until I go through all your records, the lack of commute would shorten the time it’ll take considerably.”

Bram frowned. “You want to stay here?”

She bobbed her head. “Yes. And before you protest, I know a few people inside the DDA who could help speed up the approval process. And yes, I’d be approved.”

It might take calling in every favor she had with the DDA, but she wanted the job done as soon as possible, in case another dragon-shifter needed her help again.

Bram smiled. “You do come prepared, I’ll give you that, lass.”

She resisted tugging at her hair. “So, does that mean you’ll agree?”

“What about your other work?”

“I already rearranged my schedule and have colleagues who can take over my cases. As long as I can video call them to discuss a few things, then I won’t have to leave Stonefire until I finish the job.”

The dragon leader studied her for a few beats, but Hayley didn’t fidget. She’d experienced far more intense glares in the courtroom.

Eventually, Bram nodded. “I always try to keep an eye on the future, and if we keep fighting for acceptance and better laws, it could be useful to have a database ready to go. However, I will tell you now that we’re a bit overcrowded and don’t have an empty cottage for you to use. You’d have to stay with a family. Would that be a problem?”

“As long as I have my own room and can have some quiet time to work, that’s all I need.”

“Aye, you’ll have your own room. And there are plenty of quiet, isolated rooms under the great hall where you can work. Besides, a lot of them contain old, dusty records, which may prove useful to you, too.”

For a second, Hayley was tempted to pinch herself. Was this really happening? Had she found a way to save her sister?

Yes, it looked like she had. She couldn’t wait to let Carly know the good news.

Before Bram could change his mind, Hayley put out a hand to shake. “Then we have a deal, Bram.”

He smiled, shook her hand, and stood. “That we have, lass. Let’s discuss the arrangement with Kai and Dr. Sid.”

Kai Sutherland was in charge of Stonefire’s security. Hayley had dealt with him before. Dr. Sid, though, she knew of but hadn’t really talked with. “Will Dr. Sid be in charge of getting the dragon’s blood to the hospital?”

“Aye. I’d rather she be able to administer it here, but I suspect your sister is too sick to move?”

She swallowed past the lump in her throat and then answered, “Yes.”

Bram’s expression softened. “Then we’ll do whatever it takes to ensure she gets the treatment where she is. You won’t have to come here until she’s well on the mend.”

Hayley forced a smile. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Family is important.” He gestured toward the door. “Right, then follow me.”

And as she went through the motions to get everything in place to help her sister, Hayley tried to imagine what living on Stonefire might be like. However, all she could think about was how Carly would be healthy and out of the hospital in no time. Her sister wasn’t going to die. At least, not from kidney failure.

It was a debt she’d work hard to repay. Bram had given her sister a miracle, and she wouldn’t ever forget that.