by Dianna Love
Daegan warned in a low voice, “If you say another word, I’m not only handing you over to my dragon, but I shall allow him to keep you as a toy before he eats you. Understood?”
A wobbly nod answered him.
Inside Daegan, Ruadh vibrated with a sarcastic rumble then said, Too stupid for toy. Too small for food.
Daegan agreed.
Tristan suggested, “Let’s deal with the troll and this woman, then I’ll explain everything to Evalle. We’ve probably gotten as much as we can from the troll. So, what do you want to do, boss?”
“Call Sen. He can pick up the troll plus wipe the woman’s memory for the past hour.”
Tristan and Evalle groaned at the same time.
Narrowing his eyes, Daegan asked, “Or would you two prefer to deliver the troll to Sen?”
“Hell, no,” Tristan said, taking a step back with his hands up.
“Nope, nope, nope.” Evalle waved off that idea.
Sen could normally be found at VIPER headquarters located inside a mountain in North Georgia. As the liaison between Beladors and the coalition, Sen tested Daegan’s patience at every turn.
Daegan called out telepathically, Sen, I request your presence at Piedmont Park.
I’m busy, came right back.
Ignoring Sen’s belligerent reply, Daegan made it simple. Very well, I shall handle this problem myself.
The Tribunal, composed of a mix of three gods or goddesses at any given time, stood as the supreme power over the coalition. Sen acted as their enforcer, no matter what they ordered. Daegan had proven to be a thorn in all their sides after the Beladors freed him from the TÅμr Medb realm where his dragon had been trapped in the shape of a throne.
No one expected him to leave TÅμr Medb alive, least of all Queen Maeve.
He and his dragon had survived two thousand years of imprisonment and torture.
Never again.
Looking around first to determine no humans were nearby, Daegan told the troll, “I suggest you behave when you arrive at your next destination. I am sending you to someone who is not as understanding as I.”
The troll shook his head. “You can’t ... ”
Daegan teleported him to VIPER headquarters.
Tristan frowned. “I thought you were calling Sen here.”
“I did request his presence, but Sen refused to comply. I sent the troll to him instead.” Daegan crossed his arms, waiting.
Evalle took a few steps back.
Cocking his head at her, Tristan asked, “What are you doing?”
“Standing where I can watch the apocalypse about to unfold without getting my hair singed.”
Daegan snorted at her.
Power flushed hard all around them.
Sen appeared. He stood six feet four and clearly boosted his muscle mass for intimidation, stretching the black material of his T-shirt. His hair never seemed to remain the same in length or color. Today it was a dirty-blond color worn short above a face with Asian influence and odd blue eyes.
As his usual surly self, the VIPER liaison glowered at everyone before turning that hateful gaze on Daegan.
A wasted effort. Daegan had fought and defeated far greater than him.
Daegan locked gazes with the glaring demigod. “You risked exposing teleportation to a human, Sen.”
“You’re the one who called me, dragon.” Sen leaned hard on the word dragon as if using it as a slur then slashed a look at Evalle. “You have a lackey whose time is not as valuable as mine.”
Sen had an unnatural hatred for Evalle no one had figured out from what Daegan’s Belador advisors had shared. He could overlook the VIPER liaison’s shortcomings as long as Sen crossed no line.
Far from a lackey, Evalle had proven herself time and again. She knew her significance to Daegan and the Beladors.
She crossed her arms and tilted her head, giving Sen an amused look. “We understand. Sen probably had something dirty to wash out in the sink. His mouth. His mind. Lots of laundry possibilities for someone whose resume has one line. VIPER errand boy.”
Slicing a death look her way, Sen sneered, “One of these days, Alterant.”
She said nothing, merely staring him down.
Sen ordered, “Stop dropping your trash at the front door of VIPER.”
“I have an agreement with VIPER,” Daegan replied in a deep voice that rumbled with his dragon’s power. “My people patrol and clean up the city wherever possible. If we capture a nonhuman being, we send it to you to discipline according to Tribunal rules. We all have a responsibility, Sen. Assisting in cleanup and managing anything we send to VIPER is yours.”
“Hey, don’t forget about wiping the last hour of this woman’s mind,” Tristan added.
Daegan nodded in Sen’s direction. “He’s right.”
If Sen could look any more furious, he did right then. He slashed a hand over the limp body hanging on Tristan’s arm. Drenched and pale, the woman jerked as if the power had hit her too hard.
Sen said, “Done. Now, let’s be clear. I am not at your beck and call.”
Tristan scoffed, “Just what is your problem besides that corncob up your ass?”
Sen whipped sideways, slapping a hit of energy at Tristan.
Tristan jerked to the left and shoved a kinetic hit at the ground to keep from falling on top of the woman sliding from his arms.
Evalle jerked her hands up to defend Tristan.
Sen spun toward her with a vicious look of glee at the chance he’d been waiting for.
Chapter 3
Rage burst through Daegan. Ruadh roared to be set free.
Moving faster than a thought, Daegan flashed between Sen and Evalle. That this bastard would dare to harm her. His voice dropped into an inhuman level. “I have allowed you time to realize this is not a game to me, Sen. Strike out at another of mine and there will be no mercy.”
Sen chuckled. “What’re you going to do, dragon? Piss off three Tribunal entities when you have to explain putting a scratch on me?”
Daegan came right back at him, pushing energy out in a blast.
Sen fell back on his ass and snarled, jumping to his feet.
Not giving Sen a chance to speak, Daegan warned in the deep voice of his dragon, “I don’t give a bloody damn what anyone thinks when it comes to my people. This is your last warning. Touch one of mine again and the Tribunal will be in need of a new liaison.”
Some of the cockiness slid away, but not enough for Sen to appear contrite. He would never go that far. Not sounding as confident, Sen still curled up his lip. “The Tribunal doesn’t have time to indulge the riffraff you waste my energy on. Consider this my last warning. I’m killing everything you send to me that I don’t feel is worth bothering the Tribunal over. They’ll thank me.” Then he vanished.
Tristan shook his head as he shoved his body up to stand and lifted the woman back into his arms. He muttered, “That piece of shit packs a punch.”
Daegan stared at the empty spot Sen left. Years spent replaying his father and sisters’ death had stolen pieces of his humanity. This world had no idea to what lengths he would go to protect what belonged to him. Ruadh rumbled steadily, still ready to battle, but helping Daegan clear the red haze of fury.
“Did he injure you, Tristan?” Daegan asked.
Running a free hand through his tawny-colored hair, Tristan dismissed it. “No big deal. I’ve taken worse hits.”
Having been rescued from TÅμr Medb only recently, Daegan knew little of Tristan’s full history. He’d met the young man for the first time when Tristan joined a Belador team that went rogue to rescue Daegan.
What had Tristan been through to brush off a powerful strike?
“What are you going to do with her?” Evalle nodded in the limp woman’s direction.
Tristan held up a hand, indicating he conversed with someone telepathically. When he lowered his hand, he said, “I made a call to one of our Beladors on the police force. He’s sending someone who’s close
by. They’ll take her home.”
“Well done,” Daegan told him.
“Let’s walk toward Tenth Street to meet him.” Tristan took the lead, heading that way. As he walked, he explained to Evalle how the troll had been intentionally trying to film a video for uploading to the darknet, which was the only reason he hadn’t dragged the woman off somewhere for a meal.
Evalle’s face twisted into disbelief. “How’d the troll plan to make the video if he was starring in it? I didn’t see a tripod.”
“Humans were across the street using their phones when I got here. He probably planned to take one of their devices once they moved in for a better shot, which they did. Idiots. I dealt with the only one who had a close-up video.” Tristan increased his pace as a police vehicle appeared coming down the street. He met the officer on the sidewalk. They talked a moment, then the officer put the woman in the backseat of his cruiser and left.
That had to be one of their Beladors working secretly with the human law enforcement.
Daegan appreciated Tristan’s expertise when it came to managing so many human situations. Just one of the many reasons he’d made Tristan his Rì Dtùs, an ancient title for his second-in-command. His entire council was priceless when it came to navigating both the preternatural world and the human realm.
Jogging back to them, Tristan said, “One problem down, but now for the bigger one I called you about, boss.”
That surprised Daegan. “What is it?”
“You know I have a human friend who has her ear to the ground on preternatural activity in the city, right?”
“Would that be your girlfriend?” Evalle interjected with an arch of her eyebrow. “The one who works for Jacob Kossman, who hunts for supernaturals?”
Tristan shot Evalle an annoyed glance. “Yes. But that’s not the point. Her boss is an ally, or would be if we could tell him we really exist. Anyhow, she said someone is going to prove supernatural beings exist and in a way no one can deny it, which will involve the Beladors.”
All humor fled Evalle’s face. “What does she think is going to happen?”
“She doesn’t think, she knows.” Tristan looked all around them, and kept his voice low as he explained, “She said a message was delivered anonymously to every major news outlet in the metro area in the past hour. Someone intends to prove supernatural beings are here and specifically used the term Belador. They said Beladors were dangerous supernaturals and this person claimed the humans would get to see how a professional rids the world of them. We don’t know which of ours they’re targeting, but this person claims that the Belador will suffer before dying if their leader doesn’t show his true self first. They are taunting you to show your dragon.”
Fury boiled Daegan’s blood. “No human can be behind this. It’s one of our kind. Have none of them learned that anyone who harms one of mine will die a painful death?” What would it take to stop his enemies?
Evalle turned deadly serious. “We have to stop this, but you can’t show your dragon, Daegan. This could be a trap just to get you out in the open where your dragon would be killed.”
Daegan’s voice dropped to a deep, gritty sound. “Who dares to think they can kill my red dragon?”
“Uhm, boss,” Tristan said in a calming voice. “Chill for a minute, okay?”
Evalle kept quiet, watching both of them.
Daegan pushed his dragon back down from the edge of shifting. He was tired of his people being attacked. A bounty hunter had kidnapped Evalle three weeks ago after crashing her body and motorcycle into a wall. Then he’d imprisoned her in Scamall realm and shoved Noirre majik in her body, preventing her from healing from daily torture in a desperate attempt to gain immortality from the goddess Macha.
Evalle had barely escaped with her life.
That realm no longer existed after Daegan teleported his people home to his Treoir realm just as Scamall imploded. Seeing what had been done to Evalle disturbed him on a deep level.
Every night since then, what Evalle suffered reminded him of losing his sisters and father. At least he’d been able to save her.
He hadn’t been present to protect his own family.
Evalle had healed with the help of her Skinwalker mate, Storm.
That reminded Daegan to ask, “Is Storm around tonight?”
“Not unless we need him. He’s trying to be good and not hover while I get back to work.” She allowed a quick grin. “It’s making him nuts. Just say the word and I’ll call him if you need him.”
“Not yet, but having dealt with the troll reminded me we may have need of Storm’s ability to detect lies at some point.” Daegan had witnessed Storm’s gift first-hand while searching for Evalle. “We have to narrow down where this threat is originating.”
Tristan had continued to scan the area. “Let’s head for our teleporting spot. I’ve got a troll friend who lives in a hotel on Peachtree Street. He might have information. I can pop in there and no one will see me.”
“Are you our new troll whisperer?” Evalle quipped, waving him ahead to lead the way.
“Very funny. Whoever is behind this probably has a larger goal than just harming, or killing, a Belador.” Tristan leaned past Evalle to address Daegan. “We have plenty of preternatural enemies, and most of them want to kill you, boss. No telling what the bounty is on your head from your favorite pair of homicidal goddesses.”
Daegan would be surprised to find either Queen Maeve or Macha behind this. They were malicious enough to do worse, but he’d proven once already to be a dangerous opponent.
Evalle jumped in, strategizing. “First thing we need to do is get a head count of all the Beladors in the metro area, especially with the new influx of warriors I heard you brought in from other countries. Hopefully, we can stop this in Atlanta before it spreads to other cities and countries. Nothing worse than copycat criminals. Thankfully, most sane nonhumans prefer anonymity. For now, we need to know where all of our people are at all times.”
“She’s right.” Tristan stared off in the distance with a look off deep thought in his eyes as he kept a quick pace. “You might want to set a rule that no one patrols or goes anywhere alone. We’ve paired locals with our out-of-town Beladors, but some locals are running solo. It’s been an option until now.”
Evalle’s dark ponytail swung from side to side with her determined steps. “Good idea. Two Beladors are harder to take down than one. That gives one a chance to call for help.”
Having considered their suggestions, Daegan replied, “I agree with both of you.” He told Tristan, “Call Trey to put the word out to all Beladors in the metro area to do just that.” As the most powerful telepath in North America, Trey could reach Daegan or Tristan almost anywhere.
Evalle leaned in. “I can see what you’re thinking, Daegan.”
Daegan caught his breath. Jennyver had once said that to him when he had yet to reach manhood, but believed himself ready to take on a battle with a full-grown dragon who had insulted her. He swallowed at the memory.
When his gaze turned to Evalle, his lips twitched with a smile. “Is that a new gift you have acquired?”
She huffed at him. “No, I just know how you men look when you think you’re going to handle something yourself. Plus, you don’t think anyone can harm you or your dragon, because none of the deities know who your goddess mother is.”
Daegan stepped off the sidewalk to allow a woman pushing a three-wheeled stroller while she ran behind. A light mounted to it lit her way. The child inside a clear protective sheet to block out the rain appeared happy.
Evalle stood with her arms crossed, waiting for an answer.
Her words held truth, but he’d made it clear he had no intention of calling on his mother. Ever. “You are not correct.” When she opened her mouth to balk, he explained, “I do not hold the belief that I cannot be killed, only that it would be an extremely difficult task to accomplish. My dragon and I have no fear for ourselves, only for the safety of my people.”
Tristan grabbed the back of his neck, something Daegan noticed when his second had something to say Daegan might not like. “Look, boss, we know you can hold your own against those from our supernatural world, especially with all of us backing you up, but the humans have greater weapons.”
Daegan glared at his second. “How can mere humans be a threat? I have seen their puny excuse for weapons.”
“You’ve seen rifles and handguns, but you haven’t been in our world long enough to have seen the human military,” Evalle argued. “They have bombs that can destroy this entire country and jets with rockets that could blow your dragon to pieces. We don’t want that to happen.”
Destroy an entire country? Rockets?
Daegan tried to imagine such things, but could not. “I must see these things for myself so I will know how to defend against it.”
Tristan blew out a rough blast of air. “I doubt that will happen unless they see you in dragon form, which would kick off World War III.”
“There were two others?” Daegan asked.
“Yesss, and we don’t want to repeat any of them,” Evalle confirmed.
Tristan stepped off the sidewalk, turning them toward the copse of trees they used for teleporting in and out of this area.
Three young men with a mix of a half-shaved head, bushy curly hair, and a ponytail emerged from the dark shadows Daegan and his people headed toward. Their jackets had odd emblems. One wore a chain from a belt loop to his back pocket. Tattoos covered most of their exposed skin.
The three men slowed, but Tristan, Evalle, and Daegan continued forward.
The one with half his hair flipped open a knife.
Evalle glanced at Daegan.
Tristan stared down the group.
Daegan allowed his energy to flow out quickly, knocking all of them off balance.
Curly-haired one muttered a curse. “Let’s get the fuck outta here.”
Tristan chuckled as the bunch took off. “You’d be great help for gang control, boss.”