Thankfully the human police arrived and took the two men. It was hard for Brad to simply hand over the two assholes since part of his job as a Protector was interrogating enemies.
But the human police dealt with human criminals. So it had been for a long, long time in the US.
His dragon growled. Which is fucking ridiculous. They tried to kill our mate.
But they didn’t. And us getting thrown in jail would accomplish nothing.
His beast grunted and sulked inside their mind. Brad understood the sentiment but also knew how important it was to follow the human laws, or he could risk the privileges of his entire clan.
Once Tasha gave her statement, as did he, and everyone was cleared out apart from Brad and Tasha, he asked the human abruptly, “Did he say anything to you?”
Tasha twisted her long hair in one hand, which was one of her tells that something was off.
He knew her better than he wanted to.
She sighed and let go of her hair. “Just the usual League bullshit. The cops said they’d keep a closer watch on the place.”
Brad wished he could be that optimistic. “Out of all the places in Reno, they randomly picked this one? I doubt it. It’s probably related to what happened here a few weeks ago. It made you a target, for sure. So you need to either increase security or close the place for a week or two to let things cool off.”
She rolled her eyes. “And you’re the boss of me since when?”
He grunted. “No, I’m not your damn boss, and you know it. But I’m trying to keep you alive.”
Her brown eyes searched his. “They pull this crap all the time to dragon-friendly businesses, Brad. Usually after one attempt, they fade away for a while. Even you know that. Why should this time be different?”
“Because Duncan Parrish was here weeks ago, that’s why. He has friends in powerful places, and we all think he’s working with the League, but can’t prove it. The male is rich and influential and is used to getting away with anything. So when ADDA pulled rank on him and won, Duncan didn’t like it.”
ADDA stood for the American Department of Dragon Affairs. They were in charge of all oversight related to dragon-shifters.
One of their employees had been harassed in Tasha’s bar by a pair of League members, and afterward, the employee had gotten the dragon clans near Tahoe extra protection. Needless to say, Duncan and his lackeys hadn’t liked being thrown out, let alone the new security measures for the Tahoe clans.
Tasha leaned against the counter and shook her head. “I need more than a suspicion to close the bar. This is my entire life, Brad. I won’t let a few assholes scare me away. Besides, you’re here to help me, and I thought you were the best?”
“I am. But not even I can stop bullets flying at will.”
The corner of her mouth ticked up. “I’m sure if there’s a way to do it, you’ll find it.”
A small part of him wanted to tease the human back. But Brad refused to indulge, not wanting to encourage her in any way.
He sensed his dragon about ready to speak up, so he hurriedly said to Tasha, “Joking around won’t change anything. You need to close the bar for a little while, period.”
She raised her brows. “So they can target me at home? Hiding away won’t help me, if they’re truly determined.”
The human was right. However, there was one place the League members would never set foot—Clan StoneRiver. For all their talk about hating dragons and wanting to get rid of them, they were cowards when it truly came down to it. Visiting dragon clans wasn’t part of their usual actions. Especially with ADDA monitoring the clans more than before.
Not that he was going to suggest for Tasha to come live on his clan, though. No, he’d make sure her house was safe and then set up a constant watch. That might be a solution the human could live with.
As she continued to stare at him, clearly waiting for an answer, Brad motioned toward the back door. “Then let me make sure you get home safe, at least. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow.”
“This isn’t your bar, Brad. And it’s not your decision to make.”
Maybe he should be nicer to Tasha, given everything that had happened, but even if he had no intention of claiming his true mate, he’d sure as hell protect her. Which meant being truthful. “I know this is your place, Tasha. But you hired me to be security, and I’m not going to push aside my duty because you don’t like how I do my job.”
As she studied him, he wondered if he’d have to lay out even more facts to get her out the door. But she finally sighed and headed toward the back area. “Fine, I’ll go home for now. If you weren’t so damn good at your job, I’d be tempted to fire you.”
He grunted in response as his inner dragon spoke up again. She has noticed us. That’s good, very good. Maybe with time, you’ll tell her the truth.
Not ready to rehash the same argument, he ignored his beast and instead ensured the coast was clear to see Tasha out.
Just as they reached her car parked behind the building, he noticed all four tires were flat. There was also a piece of folded paper stuck under her windshield.
As his dragon growled in warning, Brad ordered, “Stay here but stay alert. Something’s wrong.”
The human female nodded, clearly still surprised at the slashed tires. Brad plucked up the note, opened it, and read, “This is your final warning. Shun all dragons or face the consequences.”
There was no signature, but just a stamp at the bottom of the note with the League’s logo.
He stormed up to Natasha, knowing the note had changed everything.
She would have to come home to his clan after all. Which meant finding new ways to stay away from her while also protecting her.
Brad handed her the note, and once she finished reading it, he stated, “You’re coming home with me tonight to StoneRiver. Don’t argue, either. Because none of your arguments are worth your life.”
He gestured toward his car farther down the street and waited to see if Tasha would agree or if he’d have to act the part of barbaric dragon-shifter and carry her to his vehicle.
Not because she was his true mate and his dragon was growling about her safety. No, Brad convinced himself it was because she’d hired him to protect her, and he prided himself on being the best. Nothing more.
Tasha Jenkins wasn’t stubborn for the sake of it. Her perseverance had helped her over the years to achieve a lot of her goals. It was how she’d come to own a successful bar in Reno, one that had become even more profitable when she’d finally opened her doors to dragon-shifters.
So when some assholes had tried to scare her, she’d tried to brush it off. It wasn’t the first fight or time a man had tried to harm her. When people drank too much, sometimes shit happened.
But as she stared at the note in her hands about a final warning, and then glanced at her slashed tires, she knew that this was more than an idle threat to scare her. The crazy AHOL bastards might actually try to kill her.
It seemed that when she’d stood by the ADDA employee Ashley Swift and her dragonman date over a month ago, she’d made some dangerous enemies.
Since the jurisdictions were all messed up when human and dragon worlds collided, like they did with the League, she didn’t have faith the police would take it all seriously despite their promises. They could entirely brush it off as ADDA’s responsibility and look the other way.