“What is it you want, Tobias? If you don’t want to defend ourselves against Mother, what is your solution?”
Tobias shook his head. “Send him back with a message that we are dead. Leave her alive to rule Paragon.”
“And therefore sentence Paragon to her rule. She’s destroying the realm.”
A growl ripped from Tobias’s throat, and suddenly Sabrina was there, between them, her hand on his chest. He met her gaze, and slowly the anger drained from his body.
“He’s not the enemy,” she said softly.
He pointed a finger back at Gabriel. “Do as you must, but know this: if you take back Paragon, you are on your own. I will not be by your side, and I will not be able to stop the backlash when our people learn your mate is a witch.”
Gabriel’s jaw clenched as he processed Tobias’s statement. He did not break eye contact with him as he said, “Perform the spell, Raven. Wipe his memories and implant a false one. Then we will send Scoria back where he came from.”
Raven turned to him, both hands resting on her lower belly. The circles under her eyes looked like two dark bruises. “I can’t. Not now. I’m drained. You’ll have to keep him until tomorrow. I need time to rest.”
“Of course,” Tobias said. “You’ve been through too much tonight already.”
Gabriel grumbled his agreement.
Sabrina sighed. “You should lock him in the basement. Make sure you gag him. Once Raven’s spell completely wears off, I have a feeling you’ll have a howler on your hands.”
“What’s he doing?” Tobias asked.
Scoria had wrenched his head to the side and was biting a black jewel off the shoulder of his uniform.
“Stop him. Don’t let him swallow that!” Sabrina said, lunging for the prisoner. She was too late. The dragon swallowed the stone and she swore.
“What was that?” Tobias asked.
Beside him, Gabriel cursed. Scoria began to spasm, his eyes rolling back in his head, his body contorting against his bindings. White foam bubbled over his lips. A deep crack came from his chest. Tobias cringed as a malformed and scaly protrusion broke from his torso like an alien in a horror movie and spilled onto the floor where it sizzled against the hardwood.
Tobias gagged at the smell. That was the male’s dragon, or a piece of it anyway, fried from the inside out. He’d never seen anything so horrific.
Spreading her hands, Sabrina whirled on Gabriel and Tobias. “Why didn’t you tell me he had a suicide pill on his uniform?”
“I didn’t know.”
“How can you not know? Aren’t you from Paragon? Haven’t you ever interrogated someone before?”
“Wait… Did he poison himself rather than be used as a weapon?” Tobias felt slow on the uptake. This was not his world. He longed to go back to the hospital where there were rules, where life and death were natural occurrences, not political weapons.
Sabrina grabbed his lower jaw and turned his head to look at her. “I’m sorry, Tobias. I know this isn’t easy for you, but you need to wake up!”
On some level, Sabrina was self-aware enough to know that she had crossed a line. She was shaking Tobias by the face. Why not go full Looney Tunes and smack him across the cheek? Instead, she lowered her hand and turned, unflinchingly, toward the prisoner who had died a horrific death and was oozing fluids on the carpet.
“This is reality, Tobias. This is your reality. I don’t know much about where you come from, but war is war. And you are royalty.” She laughed a little at that. “No wonder you wanted me to shed my responsibilities to my coven. That’s exactly what you did, didn’t you?”
“That’s not fair, Sabrina. You don’t know how it was.”
“No. I don’t. But I’m catching on quickly regarding how it is. The empress, your mother, will hear of this. If not immediately, she’ll figure it out when that guardsman doesn’t check in. You need to prepare yourself.” It was rude, in his face, but at the moment she was her father’s daughter. She could almost hear Calvin’s voice when she spoke.
Tobias said nothing. He glowered at Scoria’s remains, his eyes vacant.
“We need to hide the body,” she said, feeling annoyed. She hated dealing with this stuff, and she couldn’t call the coven to do it for her. They couldn’t know about Tobias or his brother, and she didn’t even want to think about what would happen if her coven found out about Raven.
“It will take care of itself,” Tobias said.
“What?” Sabrina glared at him. Had he lost his mind? Did he think he could leave this mess to rot on his living room floor?
A creaking sound brought her gaze back around to Scoria, whose body had gone entirely gray. Abruptly, the corpse turned to ash, collapsing into a formless pile of dust on and around the chair.
Her mouth gaped. “That’s convenient.”
Tobias rose and left the room, returning with a dustpan and a garbage bag. He started shoveling the ash into the Hefty. To Sabrina’s horror, Raven reached into the remains with her bare hand and retrieved a cat’s-eye jewel larger than her fist.
“Holy crap, what is that?” Sabrina blurted.
“His heart.” Raven tossed the stone to Gabriel, who nodded and mumbled something about taking care of it.
“W-wait,” Sabrina said. “That was the same stone that was in his ring.”
Raven nodded. “In their human form, their ring is a magical representation of their heart. It cannot be removed without killing the dragon. When they transform, the ring is absorbed and you get that.” She pointed toward the ostrich-egg-sized stone in Gabriel’s hand.
“The anatomy lesson is great,” Tobias said. “But can we talk about what Sabrina said? When Scoria doesn’t report in, Eleanor will send another.”
Gabriel growled. “We will be ready. We’ll stick together. We’ll find a way to notify the others.”
“Others?” It would be hard enough for Sabrina to keep the three of them a secret. Sabrina couldn’t handle hiding more.
“There are eight of us still living,” Gabriel said. “After what Scoria said today, it is clear we are all in danger. We need to find each of our siblings and tell them what has happened.”
“I have Rowan’s address,” Tobias said. “I’ve lost touch with everyone else.”
“Rowan is a great place to start,” Gabriel said. “If I know her, she’ll have kept in touch with Alexander. If we find her and bring her here—”
“You guys know you can’t stay in Chicago, right?” Sabrina interrupted.
They all turned to look at her. She straightened up and placed her hands on her hips. There was no turning back now, not after what she’d seen. They needed to know what kind of danger they were in. “Look, I like you, all of you, and Tobias is a well-respected member of the medical community. No one would ever question his being here. But this is the second magical incident in a week.”
Raven frowned. She looked exhausted and Sabrina hated to put more stress on the poor woman.
Sabrina tucked her hair behind her ears. “It’s not like I’m going to tell anyone about you, even though I am obligated as a member of my coven and the future master to report you immediately. I’m trying to warn you because the longer you all are here and stuff like this is going down”—she pointed at the Hefty bag full of ashes—“the greater the odds that someone from my coven is eventually going to figure out you’re not human, and then shit will hit the fan. Frankly, after tonight and the blood, it might already be too late for me to cover your tracks.”
Gabriel tipped his head. “And what will happen to you if Tobias leaves?”
“I just said I’m not going anywhere,” Tobias said.
“I’m simply asking the question. Do you realize what will happen to you if Tobias leaves you?”
Sabrina narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head. “What are you getting at, Gabriel?”
“Earlier tonight you mentioned you couldn’t tolerate the way I smelled.”
“Yeah, ’cause you reek like y
ou stepped in a pumpkin pie made of shit.”
Raven looked at her and then at Tobias, whose face had gone stony. “He smells the same as always. It’s you who’s changed.”
Sabrina didn’t understand. “What are you talking about?”
In a rush, Gabriel attacked Tobias, talons thrusting from his second knuckles and wings spreading. He never got close enough to lay a hand on him. Sabrina’s fangs dropped. In a flash, she’d moved between them and shoved Gabriel back with everything she had. His feet left the ground, but thanks to his wings he was able to stop himself before slamming into the wall. He laughed wickedly.
Tobias rubbed his head. “Sabrina. By the Mountain.”
“What?” Her eyes darted between each of them.
It was Raven who blurted out the truth. “You’re bound to him. You’re mated. You’re showing all the signs. Sabrina, don’t you know you’re in love with him?”
The words knocked her back a step, the air growing thick and close. “Of course I love him. I’ve loved him for years. It doesn’t matter. You haven’t been listening to me. None of our feelings matter.”
“I love you too,” Tobias said immediately.
“Don’t. You’ll only make it worse.” There was a lump forming in her throat, and for some reason her entire body had started to tremble.
“What are you trying to say?” Tobias’s brittle expression threatened to break her heart.
She rounded on him, and despite herself tears started to flow. “I’m saying that I can and will keep your secret, but I’m not powerful enough to stop the repercussions if my coven finds you and your family. Less than a month ago, I watched three werewolves have their heads sliced from their bodies moments before every vampire I know descended upon them and drained their corpses dry. I won’t be able to stop it. If they catch you, they will kill you.” She chewed her lip. “Once I rise to master, there are things I can do to make it easier for Tobias, but I can’t keep covering stuff up like this. I keep bringing this up because my heart couldn’t take watching you die. Any of you. The smart thing to do would be for you, all of you, to leave Chicago. And it’s not because I want you to go. I’m trying to save your lives.”
“Well, I’m not leaving you, or Chicago,” Tobias said flatly. “And my brother and his future wife are welcome here for as long as they need to stay.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay. But you should know I can’t risk this again. Not even if you’re attacked by another Obsidian Guardsman.”
“Fine. We’ll take care of ourselves. This is dragon business,” Tobias said coolly.
Sabrina’s gaze darted between Gabriel and Tobias, and all she could picture was the werewolves in Lamia’s Star. She could see the three of them on their knees, being torn apart by her own coven. A powerful leader like her father might be able to stop something like that from happening, but not Sabrina. She would be new, inexperienced. What if Tristan or another vampire challenged her authority? Her stomach churned and she closed her eyes. “You don’t understand the danger.”
Tobias reached out and touched her face. “Thank you for helping us Sabrina. I understand that you can’t protect us anymore. We’ll protect ourselves.”
With a final huff and a shake of her head, Sabrina twisted her exhausted shoulders and dematerialized.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Watching Sabrina leave was one of the hardest things Tobias had ever done. Even now, distracted and exhausted by the events of the evening, every part of him wished she had stayed. He had the strangest need to protect her, which was stupid considering that everything about tonight showed him she was more than capable of protecting herself. It didn’t take a genius to conclude that Sabrina was no stranger to violence. He’d underestimated her, taken her human kindness and quirky nature at work to be the entire picture of her personality. But she was far more.
Vampire covens were prone to being territorial. Tobias understood that Sabrina wasn’t lying when she said they were in danger, especially given the size of the Chicago coven. If his true identity was ever revealed, Tobias might well be in a world of hurt. He should have been more careful with her. He’d allowed his feelings for her to cloud his judgment, and he’d let her in too far, too fast. But what was done was done. Now he only hoped that after she rose to power they could find each other again.
“I’m sorry, Tobias. She’ll be back. She’s bound to you. Mated. Whether she believes it or not, she won’t be able to stay away. She’s already yours.” Gabriel placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t put anything past Sabrina. She’s the first vampire-human hybrid, and her will is as strong as her grip. If she says she can’t act on her feelings, she won’t.”
Raven sat down on the couch and stared at the Hefty bag full of Scoria’s remains. “Do you believe us now?” she asked. “About your mother?”
“Yes.” He rubbed circles over his temples. “I still feel there has to be another explanation. Our mother, she was good, wasn’t she, Gabriel? I remember her as good.”
“I do too, brother, but she’s changed.” Gabriel shrugged. “We need to tell the others what’s going on. They deserve to know.”
Tobias lowered his hands. “I know.”
“Rowan first. You said you had an address.” Gabriel sat down beside him on the sofa and rubbed his palms on his thighs.
“She lives in New York. Manhattan.”
“What about a phone number? Email?”
Tobias shook his head. “The last of both I had don’t work anymore. I tried to contact her when you arrived here. Granted, I haven’t seen her in decades. I’ve had three phone numbers myself since then.”
Gabriel leaned back against the cushions and blew out a deep breath at the ceiling. “So, we go to New York and hope she hasn’t moved.”
“I might be able to do a locator spell. We have her dress at home in New Orleans. I mean, if she’s moved.” She leaned her head back. “And if no one kills me before I get the chance to do the spell.”
“Maybe you should eat something,” Tobias said, the doctor in him bubbling to the surface.
“You know what I want?” Raven closed her eyes. “Ice cream. It’s been a long day. A huge bowl of mint chocolate chip would be amazing.”
“I have Chunky Monkey.” There was no levity in his voice. He couldn’t believe he was talking about ice cream at a time like this, although he had to admit, the idea of Ben & Jerry’s did give him a warm spot. Sometimes ice cream could heal what words could not.
“Chunky Monkey it is. I’ll get it.” Gabriel rose from the sofa.
“I better take out the remains,” Tobias said. “There’s an ordinance. Special tags. No dumping.”
“I would offer to help, but considering what happened when we tried to park without a sticker…” Gabriel rubbed the back of his neck. He was beginning to look as fatigued as Raven.
“Don’t worry about it. You don’t want Mr. Gilbert on your case again. The vacuum’s in the hall closet. Do you mind sucking up what remains of this guy’s… remains? I’d rather not be inhaling him the next time the heat kicks on.”
“Consider it done.” Gabriel disappeared into the kitchen in search of ice cream.
Tobias lugged the garbage bag to the back door and pulled on his coat and shoes. As he trudged to the curb, it gave him no pleasure to have contributed to the death of a member of the Obsidian Guard. They used to be his heroes. It was like dropping his childhood on the side of the road and any innocence he had left along with it.
He’d turned to go back in the house when the biting jabs of a heated discussion met his ears. A tingle traveled his spine. It sounded like Sabrina’s voice. Quietly, he moved along the street toward the sound, making himself invisible.
Around the next block, he found Sabrina talking to Tristan.
“You fucking bitch. You will regret doing this to me.”
“I didn’t do anything to you. Truly, if my father assigned you to the work camp in Racine rather than offing your head,
he’s done you a service. When I told him about what you’d done, he considered execution.”
“You can’t prove anything.” Tristan bared his teeth.
“No? Is that werewolf hair on your shirt?” She snorted when Tristan looked down at himself. “In case you’re wondering, I’m immune to that particular poison you used to coat his dagger. Don’t bother trying it again.”
“You will be sorry,” he said through his teeth. “The coven doesn’t want you. We don’t need a human hybrid calling the shots. You’ve gotten by this far on your father’s coattails. How will you survive when he’s gone? No one will take you seriously, Princess. Admit it, you’re in over your head.”
She hissed and lowered herself into a fighting stance. “Pack all your things before you leave for Racine, Tristan. You’re not welcome in Chicago ever again.”
“Are you going to fight me, Sabrina?”
“No.” She stood and brushed invisible lint from the sleeve of her coat. “You’re not worth it.”
Quickly, she poofed out of there, leaving behind nothing but the scent of honey and moonlight. Tristan’s nostrils flared. His eyes shifted left, then right as he smoothed his shirt. “…gonna be sorry,” was all Tobias heard before Tristan dissolved in a puff of black smoke that smelled of cigar smoke.
Gabriel ran the tips of his fingers along the base of Raven’s neck. He loved it when she wore her hair up. There were a million things he should be thinking about. Scoria could have killed her or hurt the baby with the weapon he’d used on her and Tobias. They’d killed a member of the Obsidian Guard. If they weren’t on Paragon’s most-wanted list before, they sure as hell were now. The baby—he should be thinking about the baby. But as much as he tried, his attention returned to the slope of Raven’s creamy skin, the stretch that ran from behind her ear to the dip of her clavicle. He lowered his lips to place a kiss there.
Raven had wasted no time tearing into the pint of Chunky Monkey Gabriel had brought her. Even after Tobias had come in from taking Scoria to the curb and excused himself to his room, Raven hardly came up for air long enough to mention her dismay at seeing Tobias heartbroken. In record time, she’d almost reached the bottom of the pint, and Gabriel thought she looked a little better, the dark circles under her eyes a bit smaller. He kissed her again as another bite found its way into her mouth.
Windy City Dragon Page 21