The Steel Dragon (Steel Dragons Series Book 2)

by Kevin McLaughlin

  “For betraying her secrets?” He smiled for the first time in the conversation.

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Does this mean I can have a slice of the pizza I bought you?”

  “Hell no,” she replied. “I’ll save you a crust, though, if you tell me where we’re going next.”

  “We’re going to find your dragon killer,” Stonequest replied.

  “Oh yeah? Did you finally come around to the idea that it’s a human out there shooting dragons?”

  His jaw clenched involuntarily but he nodded. “I still don’t like it, but if there is a human out there killing dragons, the best way to stop everything from going to hell is to have Dragon SWAT catch them.”

  “Her,” she said. She knew damn well who the killer was and even knew her name.

  Now, they merely had to find a way to stop her.

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  Kristen had been more than ready to hate dragon kind. She’d told herself she wanted to build a bridge and to try to forge some kind of a middle path, but she was still bitter. Also, despite her dragon healing powers, her ribs still hurt.

  It came as quite a surprise, though, when they reached the Capital Square Building and most of Dragon SWAT seemed genuinely happy to see her. Dragons filled the lobby—in their human forms, of course—congratulated her, and patted her on the back. It turned out a few of them had done time in prison as well—it was merely part of living in a system without bail—and a still smaller portion nodded in understanding at the fights she’d endured. It seemed that cops, whether they’d been raised by humans or dragons, were still not popular among criminals.

  She made her way through the crowd and up to the fourth floor where Stonequest’s team was already assembled. Emerald nodded, Timeflash gave her a huge smile, and Heartsbane gave her a hug. She was almost in shock at that and had no idea what to say so was actually kind of thankful when she whispered a threat in her ear about never telling anyone ever or else.

  The only member of the team missing was Lumos. Before she could ask about him, Stonequest began to fill her in on the investigation.

  “With this most recent murder, dragons in the area are becoming nervous.” He paced as he spoke. “It’s a mess, and we’re not the only people to have pieced together that there have been four dragon murders in this area within the last few months. We’re talking global attention, which means we need to be extra careful because everything we do will be examined under a microscope.”

  “Are you good with that, Steel?” Heartsbane asked.

  “Not making waves? Me? That’s what I’m best at,” she replied sarcastically.

  “Maybe you two don’t think the idea of a serial dragon-killer is serious, but I do,” Emerald said.

  Timeflash nodded. “It’s a scary idea. Nothing like this has happened for centuries. Not since… Well, not since humans rebelled.”

  “That doesn’t necessarily mean this is a human-controlled operation,” Stonequest said.

  “Really?” Kristen demanded.

  “But—as I intended to say—I think we can operate under the assumption that it is a human who is murdering these dragons with a gun. We know that whoever is doing it gets past aural sensors, which rules a dragon out. Plus, we have Kristen’s encounter with the woman who named herself Constance. Currently, that’s our number one suspect. But—and I need to make this very clear, Lady Steel—we are not to speak of that assumption to anyone outside this team. Not the media, not other dragons, and not your friends on human SWAT, got it?”

  Kristen made a gesture that was half-nod and half-shrug.

  “Can’t we simply go to her estate and arrest her?” Heartsbane asked contemptuously.

  “Humans don’t work like that. They have some level of anonymity,” Stonequest tried to explain.

  She scoffed.

  “Plus. It’s not like Constance is her real name. Or even if it is, she’d use a fake name for any business she needs to conduct,” Kristen added.

  It was obvious that her dragon teammates were puzzled, although that wasn’t surprising. After all, they’d spent centuries building their identities.

  “Are we the only team on this?” she asked.

  Stonequest shook his head. “Not at all. This is priority number one for the entire agency. Every team we have is ready to respond to any kind of emergency that occurs, but many dragons are leaving the Detroit area anyway.”

  “That makes things easier for us,” Heartsbane said. “Fewer dragons means fewer targets to protect.”

  “What about Obscura?” Kristen asked. “Has she…has she attacked anyone yet?”

  “Lumos is keeping an eye on her to make sure she stays out of trouble.”

  “Thank you.” It had been the elephant in the room on the car ride there. She hadn’t wanted to ask about it because she knew she was still too weak to fly, which meant she was far too weak to fight Obscura. That Lumos was out there keeping an eye on her was a huge relief. It was like a weight lifted from her shoulders that she hadn’t known she’d carried. She’d hidden it behind anger and it felt good to let that go.

  “I’m only doing my job.”

  Despite her very real relief, it was still something of a fresh wound and she couldn’t leave it alone, much as she might have liked to. “I thought that keeping humans safe isn’t really in your job description.”

  Stonequest’s eyes twinkled. “You’re a dragon, Lady Steel. Keeping your people safe is definitely part of my job description. At least, that’s how I interpret it.” He looked so proud—smug even—that he was doing so much to protect a few people for her benefit, but he still missed the point.

  She wanted dragons to defend people because it was the right thing to do. Humans didn’t deserve to live because they were owned by a dragon. They deserved to live simply because they were humans. It was a little like when oil companies paid to clean the beaches they sullied and turned it into a giant PR campaign. Yes, it was good that they cleaned up their own mess, but that they seemed to do it primarily so they would look good and could run commercials seemed phony and shortsighted.

  Still, after her time in dragon prison, she finally understood how progressive Stonequest at least attempted to be. It couldn’t be easy given that he was also regularly confronted with the faction of dragon society that simply wanted human beings to be exterminated—or half-exterminated, anyway.

  At least he was doing something, she thought, so she thanked him and tried to sound as genuine as she could. If her aura betrayed her discomfort, so be it.

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  As the meeting broke up, Kristen’s phone rang. A quick glance at it told her it was Jim Washington.

  “If you’ll excuse me,” she said.

  “Is it important?” Stonequest asked.

  She shrugged. “I think it’s only someone checking on me since I’m out. Do you mind? The plan is to be ready to go if something else happens, try to follow this Constance thread if we can, and see if Obscura is dumb enough to do anything, right?”

  “Not so loud on the Constance angle, but yeah, you have the long and long of it,” Stonequest replied.

  “Long and short,” she corrected the centuries-old dragon and accepted the call.

  “Jim, how are you?”

  “I’m good! It’s great to hear your voice outside the walls of a prison.”

  “You have no idea.” She chuckled. Her ribs still ached but they felt worlds better. It was almost unthinkable that she’d been in a prison only a few hours before. “How did you know I was out?”

  “Stonequest called Drew to tell him he was going to get you.”

  “Oh.” She was surprised. That was actually fairly thoughtful of her dragon boss. He’d probably talked to her parents too.

  “Are you free for a bite to eat?”

  “Uh…no, not really. I’m back on the job. No rest for the wicked.”

  “I think you spent two weeks in prison and you deserve a couple of Coneys.”
>
  She decided not to tell him that she’d been in a prison where most of the inmates would have scoffed at the idea of eating hotdogs smothered in chili and mustard and topped with onions, but she humored him. “Are you asking me out to Lafayette Coney Island?”

  “No, Jesus. What’s wrong with you? I’m asking you out to American Coney Island.”

  “Seriously? Why would I want to eat the second-best Coney in town when the best is literally next door?”

  “For one, because Lafayette is second best and everyone knows that. American Coney is simply a better-quality dog. I think that’s been proven time and time again. Plus, they use Dearborn dogs and Dearborn mustard. Isn’t your family from Dearborn? Why are we even having this conversation right now? You liking Lafayette is damn near sacrilege.”

  “That’s a good question. I thought you had another reason to get an inferior hotdog when the Lafayette is right next door.”

  “I do.” Jim sounded exasperated and she understood the feeling. The hotdog feud ran deep in the blood of any good Detroiter. “American Coney Island has wrap-around windows.”

  “Oh… Okay, then,” she responded.

  “And Lady Steel?”

  “What, Officer Washington?”

  “Fly here quickly but land at least a mile out and take the bus for the last leg.”

  “You got it,” Kristen said, still not quite sure what he was getting at but beginning to see a picture of something form in her mind. She had an inkling what wide windows plus a quiet approach meant—stakeout. Her stomach grumbled and she hoped there was still time for hotdogs.

  As she talked to Jim, she had ascended the stairs in the Dragon SWAT headquarters. She stepped onto the roof now and transformed.

  It was amazing that in less than a year, she had already begun to take her dragon abilities for granted. She’d begun to forget the thrill of transformation and the power that came when her dragon strength and speed were no longer contained in a human body and were instead infused throughout her massive dragon form. The shards of silvery glitter enveloped her as her human body melted into the transformation. She inhaled, brought all the silvery shards back into her, and was a dragon once more.

  And oh, it felt good. Her ribs still ached, as did the bones in her arm where the boxer had beaten her with his stupid brass knuckles, but her bruising was gone. She was a being of power once more and back in her city. She smiled with real pleasure as she pumped her wings and took to the sky. Despite all she’d told herself, she still found herself thinking of the Motor City as a place she needed to defend. These were her people, she realized, in the same way that they always had been. They were her compatriots, her fellow citizens, and her brothers and sisters who made this city work. Whether they drove the busses or delivered flowers or picked the trash up—hell, whether they begged for pocket change in the warm springtime air—their presence added to what Detroit was and she didn’t want to lose even one of them.

  She flew above her city, careful to keep her distance from the dueling Coney Island location, and landed about a mile away near a bus route. Quickly, she transformed behind a building, ran to the street, and barely made it onto the bus before the driver closed the door. She found a seat near the back and called her mom.

  Marty answered after the first ring. “Kristen, honey. I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  “Thanks, Mom. It’s good to hear you’re all right too.”

  “Hardly. You know your father almost died from high blood pressure when you were in there? We wanted to visit but Stonequest wouldn’t let us. He said the dragon prisons aren’t safe, even though they take away your powers. I told him I’ve seen many men made powerless, but he wouldn’t listen to reason.”

  “I’m glad he didn’t,” Kristen said. She couldn’t imagine a worse scenario than even more dragons knowing the faces of her parents.

  “Well, you just talked yourself out of banana-nut bread next time you’re in the slammer, young lady.”

  She laughed. Her mom had dealt with police life for over thirty years. It was inspiring that she could roll aside the stress of having her daughter locked up for two weeks so easily.

  “I only wanted to let you and Dad know that I’m out and I’m safe.”

  “And that you’re coming for dinner.”

  “Actually, probably not. I kind of got roped into this thing at work but I’m meeting someone at American Coney Island for lunch, actually.”

  “Oh, Kristen Hall, that is too much,” her mother chided her. “I was married to a man married to his work for thirty years, but at least he had good taste in Coney Islands. Now I have to mother a daughter who is obsessed with the same thankless job and has questionable taste?”

  “Hey, Dad’s retired now, which means you can spoil him rotten instead of me.”

  “That’s no fun.”

  “I’m sorry I can’t make it tonight, Mom. Give everyone a hug for me, okay?”

  “Of course, honey. Tell me how the hotdogs are.”

  “Love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too, Krissy.”

  She hung up and wiped a tear away. Trying to be a bridge between two worlds that could prevent a world war from happening meant she would have less and less time for the people she loved. She knew Washington was up to something, but she still couldn’t help but feel slightly bitter that she was on her way to see him instead of her family. Still, he surely had a reason, she told herself as she stepped from the bus and walked into the hotdog shop.

  Despite having never been to American Coney Island before, the smell was nostalgic. There really was nothing like grilled hotdogs, chili, and onions.

  Before she reached the counter, Washington waved at her from a seat at the window. She ignored him. If this place was anything like Layfette next door, ordering food would take seconds.

  “Two loose with everything, chili cheese fries, and a pop, please,” she ordered.

  “We’ll bring it to you,” the guy behind the counter said and nodded as she paid.

  She thanked him and went to sit with Jim.

  “You didn’t need to get food. I heard your misinformed disdain earlier and I ordered you two up with everything. I couldn’t let you miss this opportunity.”

  “I may know what’s a better Coney, but I’m not a fool. I won’t come here for the first time in my life and not eat a hotdog.” Kristen reached for the two hotdogs beside his empty plate.

  “I thought you ordered more food?”

  “I did.” She was in the process of devouring her first hotdog already and had to admit, it was good. Not as good as Lafayette, obviously, but still very, very good to a Detroiter who’d been in prison for two weeks and forced to eat Waldorf salads and omelets for lunch. The dog itself was different, as was the chili. And the mustard was indeed on point. All in all, it tasted a little less sweet, which made it less crave-able in her opinion, but still damn good.

  “So, tell me you didn’t bring me here to talk hotdogs?”

  “Nope. Like I said, the windows were a factor too. The Coneys were merely a perk.” Jim handed her a photo. “Does that look familiar?”

  Kristen recognized the face right away. It was Constance, the assassin she had fought and who had escaped. The image reminded her that the woman seemed to know something about her past.

  “How did you find that?” she asked. She’d never seen any evidence of the woman before. Even in the security footage they’d found of her, she did a good job of hiding her face.

  “I called up some old DOD contacts, folks I used to work with who have picked up extra rank since I got out. I cashed in a few favors, but…well, it’s not exactly a secret that I used to work on the same team as the Steel Dragon. I think that put some weight behind it, to be honest. Once they realized how important it was that they find this woman—that lives depend on it—they asked around.”

  “Not too loudly I hope.” She turned and thanked the woman who brought her order and wondered if they always delivered food to the table or i
f Jim had pulled strings for his window seat.

  “No, no, no, of course not. They asked friends, people they could trust, and slowly spread the word. I would have said something when I visited but I still had jack so didn’t want to get your hopes up over nothing. Plus, I don’t know how dragon surveillance works. They probably had a wizard in there recording everything I did on a stone tablet or something. Say, will you eat all those chili fries?”

  “Fuck yes, I’ll eat all these chili fries. Don’t you dare touch one.” She had already all but inhaled the first of her Coneys and her appetite was finally beginning to become satiated. Depending on Jim’s reason for the meeting, she made a note to stop at Lafayette for a couple more—to compare, she told herself. “And they’re mages, not wizards. Plus, they use parchment, not stone tablets.”

  Jim frowned at Kristen’s denial of a taste of her chili fries but he didn’t argue. At the rate she was eating, he was probably concerned that she’d eat one of his fingers if he got in the way. “Well, aren’t they fancy with their parchment and what-have-you. Anyway, this just came in.”

  “Do we know if Constance is her real name?”

  He shrugged and finally wrenched his gaze away from her food. “No name, only the picture. She was once some kind of ultra-secret black operative. Honestly, I don’t think shit would have come back if it wasn’t for you. Information this classified is well beyond a Marine like me. I think someone up the chain is a fan of the Steel Dragon.”

  “That’s good to know,” she said, her mouth crammed with fries.

  “Yeah, but make sure you don’t dine with any government officials. You do know you’re like a garbage disposal?”

  “Hey, these are better than I thought.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin, and it came away soaked with chili and mustard. “A picture is great, but she’ll be hard to find. She’s remained hidden for a while now.”

  “You’re right. She was hard to find.” The Wonderkid winked at her. “I ran the photo through CCTV and found a match.” He pointed to the Westin Book Cadillac, one of Detroit’s oldest hotels. It was literally directly across the street. “She’s in there.” He looked more smug than she’d ever seen anyone look before. “Or went in, anyway. There’s no sign of her having left, so she’s probably still inside. I assumed you’d want a bite to eat before you decided what to do about following up but I didn’t know you’d want to eat the whole damn place. Was the food really that bad in prison?”