Page 7 of Damien’s Mate

This whole place stank of humans with too much money, corrupting everything they touched while they fought over who got to be kings and queens in their own little kingdoms.

Although, some people said the same thing about dragons. But dragons were different—at least, that’s what she’d been told.

Her father had tried to instill in her reverence and honor for the Draken, taking pride that their family had served the House of Makek-Dur in the Lion Guard for seven generations.

Before their exile.

He’d told her that the Draken were nearly immortal, one step below the gods, imbued with powerful magic and wisdom.

Lila didn’t know about that—she’d never met one, only seen them from a distance long ago. For all she knew, they were just another bunch of narcissistic crime bosses.

The part of the story that mattered to her was the Lion Guard—born and bred to serve the House of Makek-Dur. Only the most elite were part of it, and they lived together, fought together, and protected each other like a big extended family.

Once you belonged, you were never alone.

That was what she’d wanted to hear about over and over, from the time she was a little girl. She and her father had no family—not in this world. Her uncle had betrayed the Lion Guard, and her mother had died from the shame of it.

Only Lila and her father were left, to make right what her uncle had done, and restore the family’s honor.

Then they could go back to the Dragonlands. They could be part of it all again, instead of being alone in this world with no one to care if they lived or died.

Now her father was gone too, and it was all on her.

All she had to do was get through this last mission. Rostov had given her the way, hired her to steal Victor Salzano’s secret ledger.

Anton had no clue what she was really after—the last of the Calebite Artifacts that her uncle had stolen and brought from the Dragonlands.

She’d traced it from dealer to dealer on the black market, all the way to Salzano’s private collection. Once she had it, the complete set would be restored, and she could go back.

After all these years, the Lion Guard would welcome her home.

Focus, she told herself. If you screw this up, you might never get another chance.

Two minutes until the summit. One minute.

Lila began heading back towards the lavatories, walking slowly with her phone out, pretending to be texting. When she got near the doorway where the guard stood, she stopped, smiling down at her phone as if someone had sent her something funny.

That door was her first goal. It led to a private section of the ground floor, off-limits to guests, and anyone else not on the inside of Salzano’s ‘family.’

It also led to Salzano’s private study, and the secret room that was the focus of her mission.

The seconds were counting down. Ten seconds. Nine… eight…

In the doorway, the guard’s earbud came to life. With her shifter hearing, Lila could hear the faint squawk.

“Level 3 security alert. All personnel, main entryway.”

The guard sprinted past her, talking into his mic as he went.

As soon as he rounded the corner, Lila ran for the door and swiped the key card she’d stolen. She’d taken a big risk, lifting the big guard’s card in the middle of the ballroom.

And all because she’d suddenly gone soft. Her father would be ashamed of her. What the hell had she been thinking, risking the mission by returning Damien’s keycard? If he got in trouble, that was his problem.

Although, if anyone could protect himself, she had the feeling Damien could. If her nose and her instincts hadn’t told her different, she might have even thought he was a shifter.

The door clicked open.

Mentally reviewing the floor plan she and Rostov had studied, she hurried down the hall towards one of the concealed doors that led to the service area, and one particular storage closet. She was on the clock now, and every second counted.