She understood, though. She wouldn’t be able to, either, if it was the other way around.
Tarun was the only one not actively involved, but the longer she was away from her husband, the more anxious she became. And now Blake and Luke were walking in, looking like they hadn’t slept, their faces lined with worry.
Lily needed to work faster. She wasn’t sure what secrets the laptop held, but if she could just get into the files, they might be able to end this that much sooner.
Tarun ran into the room from the hallway in the back, jumping into Luke’s arms. He closed them around her, holding her tightly, and Lily felt her eyes mist with tears. They’d been separated for less than a day, but they were holding onto each other like it’d been a year.
She’d had a version of that with Brandon and then thought she’d never experience it again. And now there she was, with Noah, and she got to feel all those things again.
It wasn’t the same as it used to be, but that was okay. It wasn’t better, it wasn’t worse—it was just different, and that was okay, too. Because Brandon and Noah were completely different men. It made sense that nothing felt the same, and she was glad it didn’t.
She could be blissfully happy with Noah, and she thought they were on track for that. But, as much as she was ready to move on and was ready for Noah, as much as she wanted to remember Brandon with fondness—she didn’t want every aspect of her relationship with Noah to remind her of her life with Brandon.
That didn’t mean she wanted to forget Brandon altogether, of course. She never wanted that.
But she wanted to enjoy her time with Noah—not be reminded of her late husband every moment of the day.
And it was fitting, she thought. She was beginning a brand-new life, and she loved that everything felt new, too. New experiences with the Enforcers, new location, new love.
She slanted a look at Noah as he nodded to Blake. As long as he wanted her around, that was. They hadn’t discussed the future much yet, but she wasn’t worried, and she didn’t feel an urgency to get everything settled. She was fairly sure he felt the same way she did, and she was enjoying the ride for the time being.
Blake sat at the table with them, rubbing his hands over his face tiredly. Lily studied him, feeling concern well up inside her. She could see how much pressure and worry he felt when she looked into his dark blue eyes. Being the leader of the Enforcers must be a heavy weight to carry at the best of times, and it was far from the best in that moment.
Noah explained the dragon’s history to her that morning over breakfast. She’d been puzzling over the prices the four women had gone for, and he explained about their past, along with how rare and valued female dragons were. As well as how ruthless and entitled the men were.
It made finding those seven women—and getting Damara home—all the more imperative. And other than the info Damara was able to give them, and what Lily had been able to find so far, they were mostly doing it blind.
“So what did you find out from the human?” Noah asked. “You were pretty vague about it on the phone.”
Blake exhaled heavily. “Nothing of any use.”
Noah scowled. “How is that even possible?”
Blake caught her puzzled look. “My gift makes it virtually impossible to not tell me what I want to know.”
“And your gift is what?”
“Causing pain with a look.”
“Shit hurts too,” Noah muttered. “I was curious and asked him to use it on me. He said it was on a low setting, but I don’t think I believe him.”
Blake smiled crookedly for a moment. “It was. I used a higher setting on him, but he swore he didn’t know anything. He’s a computer tech like Lily, and he was hired by Fernandez, but he worked mostly under Don—the panther. When he found the breach, he went to Don, and, wanting to be the one who found you two, Don immediately set out after you. Don wanted to go back to Fernandez and tell him he’d solved the problem. Try to score some brownie points.
“Vance—the human—didn’t even know shifters existed until Don turned into a panther. I think it was partly your hit, Noah, and partly the stress and shock of the moment that put him under for so long. He knew he was working for bad people, but he thought they were humans. He had no idea they were shifters or that the women were dragons.”
“You believe what he told you?” she asked, her frown still in place.
Noah tapped his temple. “We can hear lies, remember? Blake would have heard it if he lied.”
“What will happen to him?”
Blake shrugged. “That’s up to a human court. I know someone in the system and they created a pretty big list of crimes for him and locked him up.”
“You don’t think he’ll tell people the truth of what you are?”
“I told him I’d find out and come back for him,” Blake replied with a shrug. “Trust me, after feeling my gift like he did, he won’t risk that. And he’s been pinned with some pretty bad, questionable shit. No one would believe him, and he’d get locked up in a mental ward. He’s also under a no contact order—so he won’t be able to let anyone in Fernandez’s camp know. Even if he did, he doesn’t know our names or where we are. We’re covered.”