Seed of the Dragon: A Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance Read Online Free Page B

to be, no matter the high cost.
    Stakes were high in this game. Being a mythical shifter meant that people knew me whether or not I wanted them to, but that also meant I had a certain amount of power over others. I’m Shawn, the dragon shifter, the mythical, the powerful. I am the only dragon, so of course other shifters wanted to be polite and get on my good side.
    Apparently, mythical creatures were very rare among shifters. The last dragon shifter died a century ago, so people thought that maybe the bloodline had dried up. There were also other mythical shifters alive right now -- a phoenix, a hydra, a gryphon, and Cerberus to name a few. The problem with being a mythical shifter was that we had powers that went beyond our shifting abilities. Mine had to do with controlling storms and sometimes I can’t control it if my emotions are completely out of it.
    I left my things on the roof of the skyscraper; I’d grab it on my way back to the states. Luckily, there was a door to get to the stairwell atop the building. I entered the door and began my descent to the ground floor.
                  ***
    I held my breath as the man in the suit walked past the curtain I was hiding behind. He had a cigar in his hand while his other rummaged through his pockets for a lighter.
    “Ah,” another man said, making me nearly jump out from cover. “I’ve got a light.”
    “Thanks, Smithson,” my target said.
    The new man handed my target his lighter. The target lit his own cigar before turning to light Smithson’s cigarette. They then both leaned over the hotel’s balcony railing and breathed in the smoke to their lungs.
    “So, how’s the plan coming along?” Smithson asked.
    The target waited a moment before answering. “We’ve got the codes, but-“
    “That’s good,” the stranger interrupted.
    “Yes, but , the agent that went in never came out,” the target said.
    I leaned in closer to hear the details of their conversation. Perhaps it would contain some important Intel my client would be interested in.
    “That’s… no good,” the stranger looked pensive at his cigarette before taking another drag. “How much does he know?”
    “ She ,” the target corrected, “knows too much.”
    “Damn,” Smithson cursed.
    The two men stood next to one another, looking off into the near distance in silence. I nearly lost my breath from the heaviness of the situation.
    “Is she one of them ?” the stranger asked.
    “…Yes,” the target answered, “and she was one of our best. She was a one of a kind.”
    “I doubt that, all those monsters are the same,” Smithson said.
    They were talking about shifters, that much I could tell. However, who was this woman they’re talking about? Was she one of ours? I don’t remember anyone disappearing lately, nor have I heard anything close to that. Perhaps she was from a group that originated in London. After all, my group was situated in the USA and I was far from home.
    In any case, I needed this Smithson to leave so I could have my target alone. This isn’t what I had planned at all and taking extra lives was not an option here. This mission had to be done in the utmost discreet way. I was running out of time so I would need to improvise, it was going to be close but hopefully it would work.
    I delved into my dress pants pocket and grabbed a hold of my own lighter and tossed it across the room. Both Smithson and the target looked startled at the sound, which allowed me to flank them and tackle the target, taking him over the railing. I shifted as fast as I could and wrapped the man in my grip as I flew high into the clouds above the hotel. Hopefully, Smithson only caught a glimpse or better yet, nothing. If anything, I was fast.
    With the man in my claws, I flew in a circle above the hotel. I then broke his neck before he could scream. The man gurgled, blood erupting from his throat as his eyes began to roll. Lowering myself, I dropped the body gently atop the hotel