Free On the Accidental Wings of Dragons (Dragons of Eternity Book 1) by Julie Wetzel Page A

sure she’s having a hard enough time as it is. I’ll get you his damned coat later.”
    Michael shivered at the anger in the king’s words. Something was definitely not right.
    “But, it might help us find him,” Daniel pressed. “He never goes anywhere without that thing. He’s damn good, and we need every edge we can get if we are going to stop him before he strikes again.”
    What?
    “Just leave it,” the king growled.
    Michael clung to the inside of his jacket as he processed the conversation. What did they think he was doing?
    The gentle swaying of Carissa’s body told him they were moving again, but where were they going? Michael hated not being in control. Listening closely, he could hear the high-pitched whine of a helicopter starting up. Carefully, he inched up so he was pressed between his jacket and Carissa’s chest in an attempt to see out. Michael could just see Daniel through Carissa’s fingers. She had raised her hand in an attempt to keep him hidden inside the coat. Daniel looked pissed.
    Normally, Daniel was a fairly easygoing individual. Something really bad had to have happened for him to be that angry. Inching back down, Michael tucked himself in against Carissa’s stomach to listen. Maybe he could find out what was going on. The noise from the helicopter made eavesdropping difficult until they were tucked away inside the soundproof interior.
    “It’s not something you should be worrying about, My Lady.”
    Daniel’s words made Michael freeze again. What had Carissa asked him? God, Michael wished she had a voice. It would make eavesdropping so much easier. The tuft of his tail smacked him on the nose as he fidgeted, waiting to hear more. Chomping down on a few of the tassel-like ends, he worried them with his teeth in an attempt to keep from bolting from the coat and demanding to know what was going on.
    Carissa shifted as if she were talking with her hands.
    “Truly,” Daniel tried again, “I’m sure you don’t want the details.”
    Carissa made a sharp motion that made Michael bite down on his tail a little harder.
    “Just tell her.” The king’s voice came from somewhere to Carissa’s right. “You know she won’t stop until you do.”
    Michael chuckled at Daniel’s exasperated sigh. Obviously, this was not something he wanted to go into.
    “I still can’t believe it was Michael.” Defeat was strong in Daniel’s voice. “And to think, he actually volunteered.”
    Michael spit out his tail. There was only one assignment he had volunteered for recently. That was chasing down the persons responsible for the dragon disappearances. No, they couldn’t think he was involved with that… could they?
    “As I’m sure you’ve heard, about a year ago, dragon pheromones started showing up in clubs around the country.” Daniel’s voice was heavy. “We originally thought it was a group of dragons looking to make some extra cash, but the stuff was extremely concentrated. So, we started digging. We were able to link several missing dragons to the pheromones being sold. All the dragons had the same M.O.: loners, like Darien. Ones that only ventured out when they had to. It must have been months before we realized dragons were being targeted. I sent out men to check on as many as we could. God, I was amazed at how many were missing. Ten in this area alone.” Daniel let out an angry growl.
    “Michael and his partner, Jareth, volunteered to head up the investigation. They were to look for any suspicious activity. A week ago, Jareth sent me a report of everything they had found. Stories and eyewitness testimonies of the missing dragons’ doings.
    “There wasn’t much to go on, but several people claimed to have seen Michael with a few of the dragons just before they disappeared.”
    Michael squirmed inside the jacket. He wanted to scream. That’s not what they had found!
    “He’s also one of the few people with access to the solitary dragons list. I had Jareth looking into