by Katya Moore
Galen wasn't finished. "Look at her. Right this fucking instant, you look at her."
Chase looked at me with a look of such pain and sorrow that my heart nearly fell out of my chest.
My pocket chose that very moment to vibrate. Aric. I turned away from Chase reluctantly and drew out my phone.
"What?" I hissed into the speaker.
"Nice to talk to you too, yer maj." Aric's voice snapped me back to myself. "The Elders are on their way. They'll be at McKinnett's in a couple hours."
I frowned at the phone. "McKinnett's? Why the hell are they going to McKinnett's?"
"They wanted something in the city. They're staging an attack." Aric sounded proud of himself. "We've got the location. Or at least a rough idea of it. Heavily populated, of course. North End Historic District. We've got to plan."
"We'll be back in a few. Hold tight."
I hung up the phone and turned back to the boys. They hadn't moved. Galen still had Chase by the shirt. Chase still stood staring at me. Even without trying, I could feel the emotions pouring off them. Galen's rage and Chase's guilt overpowered my senses. I staggered back a step, then shook it off as best I could.
"The Elders are coming to McKinnett's. I have to warn Kitty." I looked at Chase. "We have a location. We know where she is."
Galen released Chase's shirt and pinned him to the bars with an unyielding hand. "Get your shit together and get back to the mansion. I don't want to look at you right now."
Chase looked back at me, then turned and walked away.
"What the fuck was that?" I asked Galen angrily.
Galen watched Chase walk away. His shoulders relaxed, and focus returned to his eyes. He looked down at me with a sad expression.
"Necessary," he replied.
Chapter Eighteen
By the time we pulled up to McKinnett's, I was in a foul mood. It was three thirty in the morning, I was tired and hungry, I was pissed at Galen for almost beating the shit out of Chase, I was pissed at Chase for being pissed at me, and now I had to deal with the fucking Elder Council in my own damned home.
Not home. Not anymore. The reminder only pissed me off more. It just added to the feeling that nothing was good, nothing was ever going to be good again, and maybe I should just let the Great Serpent take the fucking planet and leave me to rot in peace.
Kitty took one look at me as I walked through the door and wrapped me up in a big hug. The boys headed into the back room to set up.
"Whatever it is that dragged your ass into my pub at godawful in the morning, I love you anyway. You look like someone die..." I cut her off with a look, my eyes darting to Chase's departing back. Her eyes widened in horror. "Oh, baby, did..." I shook my head frantically. She blinked, then got the message and dropped it. "So, what do you need with my pub at this hour? Good thing the regulars all left early. Missi and I just finished cleaning up."
"The Elder Council wanted to meet here." I ran a hand over my hair. Distantly, I realized I hadn't brushed it since Chase and I had... Shit. I can't see the Elders with sex hair. "Can I borrow a brush?"
Kitty stood there, staring at me with wide eyes. "The Elder Council of the dragons. Meeting in my pub. Now?" Her jaw went slack. "You're bringing dragon royalty to my pub in the middle of the night? And me still dressed in my work clothes?" She ran self-conscious hands down her front and fretted over a beer stain on her shirt. "Damn it, girl! Give a woman some warning!"
I groaned softly. "They're not royalty, they're pains in my...."
Kitty's look went from shock to stern. "One of them is a senator. A fucking senator. Arysia Bellmont, you behave yourself." She looked down at her black t-shirt and jeans. "I have to go change. Missi, you get them whatever they need to set up the back room."
Missi jumped down from her barstool and saluted. "You bet, boss." She ran over to me, giddy despite the late hour. "Seriously? The Elder Fucking Council is coming here? I get to meet the Alpha Dragons?"
"Eldest Dragons," I corrected with a stifled yawn. "And yeah. Whooptie shit."
Missi gave me a sour look. "I know, I know, you rub elbows with the high muckety-mucks of the magical realms all the freaking time. But I don't. Let me live the dream for a minute."
"Sorry," I sighed. "It's just... this dragon queen stuff is hard. And not fun. And right now, my boys are being assholes. And now I have to deal with Alpha Squad and the Elders and coordinate this big rescue-invasion thing. I spent the morning yelling at the Elders, and I'm going to be yelling at the Elders into tomorrow morning too." I spread my hands helplessly. "I'm a barback from Southie. This is not my jam."
Missi studied me for a moment, then leaned back against a table. "Billy was right about one thing. You have changed."
I felt my jaw go a little slack at that, then quiver slightly. Not her too…
Missi raised her hands in a conciliatory gesture. "No, not like that. Billy's an ass." She sat up on the table. "But you have changed. Old Sia would have hidden in a shadow from the mere thought of talking to any of these people. Confrontation was so not your bag." She laughed. "Now you yell at generals and senators. And they listen to you. Because you, my dear Sia, are a fucking badass."
I shook my head. "I'm not..."
Missi grinned defiantly. "You kinda are. Your boys know it. Alpha Squad knows it. These Elders know it." She stood up and put her hand on my shoulder. "You need to know it, too. Be it, live it, love it. Whatever you need to do tonight, you're going to get it done."
"God, I hope so," I sighed. "We've got a lead on Chase's sister. We need to rescue her, but she's in the middle of the fucking North End. Tourists, civilians, historical monuments, all piled on top of where I want to bring four large winged dragons out to rain hellfire on people."
"Wish I could see tha... wait, four?" Missi did some quick mental calculus. "Did you and... who? Who’s the lucky guy?" She gave me an eager look.
I winced.
Missi set her jaw. "Okay, it didn't go well, whoever it was. Whose ass do I need to kick?"
I groaned. "His ass has already been kicked. It's...complicated. Chase and I..."
"Chase. Got it. My foot, his balls, one minute." She turned as if to storm off to the back room.
I put my hand on her shoulder and turned her back to face me. "Seriously. It's been handled. Rather terrifyingly. By Galen. Who I'm pissed at, so please don't make me have to be pissed at you too. I can't be pissed at everyone."
Missi saw the pain in my face and wrapped her arms around me. "C'mere, Queen of All Things Dragon. Take a load off."
"Can't," I mumbled into her short blonde hair. "Gotta be Queen. Gotta save Chase's sister."
"You can do all that when the Elders get here. Right now, you need some coffee, my cookie stash, and some girl time. Sit down. Let's talk." She bustled off behind the bar to pour me a cup. I sat down heavily and sank my head into my hands.
It was going to be a long-ass night.
Six half-shifted dragon guards in armor clattered into the bar. The polished steel shone in the dim light of the pub, the smooth bracers contrasting with the blood-red scales on their arms. I heard gasps from Missi and Kitty, but didn’t turn to look at them. I squared my shoulders and braced for the Elders as the guards fanned out and began to give the pub the once-over.
"Let's get this over with." Schulte stormed into the pub without a second glance at anyone but me. "We have planning to do."
Meriwether was hot on her heels. "Gerta, have some decorum." She paused and beamed at Kitty, who stood nervously by the bar in the dress she wore to Mass every Christmas. "Hello, dear. You must be Ms. McKinnett. So good of you to have taken such tender care of Sia all this time."
"I...um...of course. She's a darling girl. Means the world to me." Kitty looked more unsteady than I'd ever seen her as she accepted Meriwether's handshake. "It's an honor to meet you, Senator."
"No, no. The honor is mine. You saved our queen, and we owe you a great debt." Meriwether's smile was absolutely radiant. Kitty blushed
and bowed her head beneath the praise. "General Schulte, don't you agree?"
Schulte's jaw tensed. She turned and gave Kitty a stiff bow. "We do. Thank you."
Kitty went from pale to ghost white. "N...no trouble at all," she said in a faint voice.
I walked over and put my arm around Kitty's shoulder. "We also owe her for staying up until the crack of dawn so we could meet here. Why here and not the mansion?" I looked to Schulte expectantly.
"We're still investigating that leak you warned us about," Schulte said with a dour look. "We didn't want to use a dragon-owned property in case it’s one of our own, and we knew McKinnett's would be empty at this time of night." She turned her attention to Kitty. "How long do we have before your... people show up?"
Kitty fumbled for words under Schulte's scrutiny.
"Regulars start showing up around eleven," I answered for her. "All human. Dragons haven't been showing up until later, around one or two."
"We'll need more time than that." Schulte frowned. "Human, how much do you earn in a day?"
I glared at Schulte. "Rude much? What the hell, Schulte?"
Schulte looked at me with a superior air. Meriwether shook her head at her, then turned to Kitty. "What my colleague was trying to say was, what's your usual take for a Wednesday? We'd like to rent McKinnett's for twenty-four hours." She glanced at Schulte, who nodded brusquely. "Yes, twenty-four should be sufficient."
Kitty blinked, then did some mental math. "About four grand," she said. I bit my tongue. I was not going to begrudge her giving the dragons the weekend rate.
"We'll give you ten," Meriwether breezed. Kitty goggled. So did I.
"I...think that would be just fine," Kitty said when she found her voice again. "Missi, be a love and hang out the special events sign?"
Missi gave a squeak of acknowledgment from behind the bar. She pulled out a sheet of paper and a Sharpie and began scribbling frantically.
Long and Chang entered the pub as Missi was taping up the sign.
"Hello, dear," Long said kindly.
Missi gave another wide-eyed squeak. I bit my cheek. I didn't think it was possible to tie Missi's tongue, but apparently elder dragons were her threshold.
"Hey Missi, when you're done with that, could you bring us a couple pots of coffee and a bunch of cups?" I led the way to the back room. "We're going to be a bit."
"What about Alpha Squad?" Schulte asked. "Where are they?"
I frowned. It wasn't like them to be late. Maybe they were getting defiant now that they weren't the golden boys. "Missi will send them in when they show up. Let's get moving on this."
"Indeed," Schulte huffed as she brushed past me into the room.
"We need to get over there. Now. We can't sit around and wait for Alpha Squad to dignify us with their presence." Chase slammed his hands down on the surface of the table, glowering at Schulte.
Schulte looked unimpressed. She turned her attention to me. "Could you please control your guard, Bellmont?"
I winced, then looked up at Chase. "Please sit down. We're trying to figure this out."
"I will not sit down! My sister..." Chase raged.
Galen stood up. Chase looked at him, looked at me, then turned on his heel and stormed out of the room just as Dario reached the door. He shoulder-checked Dario on the way out, knocking him into the frame. Dario watched him go, a look of mingled amusement and annoyance on his face.
"Always nice to see Mr. Hearne," Dario mused as he walked in. "Sorry we're late. We had some vehicular issues."
I arched a brow. Schulte crossed her arms and stared down her nose at him.
Kane strode in behind Dario. "Some fuck..." He cleared his throat. "Some kid put sugar in the gas tank of Dario's Hummer."
I bit my lip hard. "Oh."
Dario's expression soured. "I don't think it was a kid, Kane. I think our location's been compromised. Again." He cast a sidelong glance at me, full of suspicion.
Chang called him on it. "The Queen and her guard haven't been given your current location. Those arrangements were made in a separate session, without Arysia's input."
I nodded. For once, I didn’t mind being out of the loop. "We didn't want to know. I know trust has been thin between us since..." I trailed off. Since Alpha Squad accused Aric of treason. Since Chase proved that Dario's vehicle had been carrying a bug on it and Alpha Squad hadn't caught it. Since I took them from being at the pinnacle of dragon society and demoted them to backup support and waitstaff for Kitty's pub.
Dario flashed me a charming smile that didn't meet his eyes. "Water under the bridge," he breezed. His brow furrowed. "But someone is taking great pleasure in letting the draconic world know all about us. And I'm starting to worry that next time, it won't just be sugar in the gas tank." He looked at Schulte. "The threat that took out the Council seventeen years ago was never rooted out. If those agents are still out there, we could all be in grave danger."
"On a more personal note, Dario's worried that the people my family has pissed off over the years are coming after his ass." Aric leaned back in his chair. "I can't really blame him. You step on enough people coming up, they're going to clap when you fall."
Dario's eyes glittered, rage flaring behind the calm veneer. "Our family's standing has earned us some enemies, yes," he admitted through clenched teeth.
Jared sat down. "We all have people who would like to see us fail. It's the nature of both humans and dragons." He leaned forward onto his elbows. "'How the mighty have fallen.' Tabloid magazines remain popular for a reason." A small smile formed on his face. "The Germans have a word for it. Schadenfreude. Happiness at the misfortune of others."
"Poor babies," Aric snarked. "It must be a system shock, being treated like us."
Dario twitched slightly at that. I bit my lip again. So that's schadenfreude, I mused as I fought down my mirth.
Kane snorted. "Yeah, sucks to be us. Now let's talk about rescuing our scouts, huh?" He sat down heavily next to Jared. Quinn and Dario joined him, turning their chairs to face the Elders.
Cass rose to his feet. Aric fiddled with his laptop and projected a map on the wall.
"We've narrowed it down to a couple of blocks in the North End." Cass stood at the front of the room, pointing at the map. "According to the historical record, the Wardwells owned a lot of properties in that neighborhood and changed homes a couple of times. Which plaque he’s referring to is up to conjecture, but if the property is warded, that gives us an edge in finding it."
Long nodded, steepling her fingers in front of her mouth. "Yes. But it also means we'll have a harder time getting in, depending on how entrenched those wards are. We're not going to be able to destroy those without extreme measures."
"Explosives?" I asked.
She chuckled softly. "That would be one way, though not a very effective way. Depending on how long the Chosen have been warding and re-warding the premises, it may take more than any conventional explosive. It would take dragon fire, true dragon fire from a fully shifted dragon, at the very least. Or a combination of ice and fire."
I cleared my throat. Chase looked away from me for a moment. Long's eyebrow arched.
"I take it this will not be a problem, then?" she asked, the corner of her mouth twitching.
"We've got that covered. We just have to find the place." I fought back the blush rising to my face. I didn't really want to talk about my sex life in the middle of tactical planning, but well, here we were.
Cass frowned. "I'm afraid I don't have a lot of training in ward detection, and we don't have the materials to craft anything to help us detect them. Even if we did, it would be conspicuous at best, walking up and down the streets of the most tourist-filled part of Boston with a glowing dowsing rod."
Long flashed a wry smile. "Fortunately, we have someone whom I have personally trained in ward detection right here in Boston." I glanced over at Quinn, who smiled modestly.
"Good. Chase, Quinn, Cass and I will go on foot to search the target
areas." I stood up. "We'll report back with details about the neighborhood and..."
"Hold on a damned second," Schulte said. "You are not going on a reconnaissance mission. For that matter, neither is Hearne."
I crossed my arms and glowered at her. "And why the hell not?"
Schulte rolled her eyes. "Do I really have to repeat myself every time we meet?"
"Do I?" I countered. "I am a shadow dragon. I can blend into shadows. We're going into Tourist Central to look for a cult that would love nothing more than to force us to reveal ourselves to the human population. To make us look like a threat. To bring down... whatever repercussions revealing dragonkind to the world would bring." I sighed and rubbed my eyes. It was late, and I was tired. "Look, I can do this. Just... let me do this."
To my surprise, the corner of Schulte's mouth twitched. "Like we could stop you. You've weaseled around us before, and no doubt you will again."
I grinned unrepentantly. "Count on it."
"Hrmph." Schulte settled back in her chair. "Hearne, on the other hand, needs to stay back from this investigation until he can restrain himself. He's a liability right now. We can't trust that he's not going to just launch himself at the first Chosen he sees and blow the whole operation."
"He'd never endanger his sister like that." I wanted to believe my own words. I looked at Galen. He looked away. My heart sank. I bowed my head. "Fine. But I'll be the one to tell him."
Galen stood up and put his hand on my shoulder. "No. You take Cass, Aric, and Quinn and get out of here. You've dealt enough with Chase's blowouts for the day. Get gone. Find the hideout. I'll take the heat on this."
I nodded silently, then headed for the door.
Chapter Nineteen
I am shadow. I am the darkness that walks.
I looked down at my pink t-shirt, the word "Chowdahead" emblazoned in giant purple letters across my chest.