by Susan Illene
“Very well,” Nanoq acquiesced. “Both human men may go. Now, I want to know where this thief’s nest is located.”
Miles hesitated for a moment, but finally his shoulders slumped. “It’s called Robber’s Cave, and it’s in a state park just a few hours’ drive east of here. I know that area like the back of my hand. If that’s where we have to go, I can get us there.”
“Are there any large human towns near there?” Aidan asked. He’d been patrolling that area enough that he might have seen something, and he knew which of the cities had not been destroyed by the pure dragons before shifters took over.
Miles shrugged. “The largest is McAlester. If we go the route, I’m thinking, we’ll have to pass through it. The only thing I’m worried about is there was a state penitentiary there, and I don’t know what happened with all those prisoners. It could be dangerous.”
“The town still stands,” Aidan said, remembering flying over the place and comparing it to his map. There had been some damage, but not too much. “The humans were not very friendly the one time I attempted to visit, though.”
“Then maybe we should take a different route,” Conrad suggested.
“No.” Aidan shook his head. “I remember the highways north of there have several destroyed bridges. The only way I can think of by road that is manageable will lead us through that town unless we want to go farther south.”
“Maybe there’s…” Bailey began.
The door banged open, and a guard came through with two hot plates of food, interrupting her.
Conrad leaped to his feet. “Get these chains off. I’m ready to eat.”
Aidan glanced at the pendragon for confirmation before pulling out his set of keys. The moment he freed Conrad, the young man was already grabbing his food and pulling his seat up to the table. Aidan unbound Miles next, who rubbed his wrists first before taking his meal.
“Now this is some good shit!” Conrad said between mouthfuls. Had the humans truly been suffering that badly? Could they not hunt and find their own fresh meat?
“For tonight, you will remain down here. We can discuss matters further after you’ve eaten and had time to rest,” the pendragon announced.
Miles showed the first sign of a smile Aidan had ever seen on him. He’d just taken a bite of the baked chicken the guard had brought for him.
“Sounds good to me,” Conrad said before shoveling a piece of bread in his mouth.
Bailey shook her head, amusement glinting in her eyes.
“You might never get him to leave now,” she said.
Aidan grunted. “He will leave. I will make certain of it.”
Chapter 10
Aidan
Aidan and Donar barely had time to finish their first meal for the day before he and his cousin were called into the pendragon’s office. They’d expected as much, but they weren’t the only ones there. Nanoq had summoned Kade, Xanath, and Phoebe to attend the meeting as well. What was his sister doing here? She hadn’t been involved in anything related to the orb so far. He gave her an inquiring look, but she merely shrugged her shoulders.
The pendragon stood behind his desk, expression serious. “There are two important tasks that must be carried out in the near future. As you all know, the mating festival begins in a few weeks. I must send a group down to the neutral zone to scout for a potential site and begin setting up tomorrow. I must also decide who will travel on the quest to recover the orb. After much consideration, I’ve chosen Aidan, Phoebe, and Kade to go on the journey to recover the artifact.”
Donar stepped forward. “I request to go as well.”
“No.” Nanoq shook his head. “The treaty we have with the Faegud requires at least one of the former pendragon’s offspring mate with one from their toriq. I have chosen Ruari to be the one, but I will need you to go with him and ensure he makes a good match. You will both take part in the planning as well.”
Aidan let out a breath of relief. He’d been worried for months that the new pendragon would force him to mate with a Faegud female, especially since he was the one who’d negotiated the treaty. With Zoran confined in the dungeon below, there were only three options. He hadn’t guessed his other brother would be Nanoq’s choice.
“Why Ruari?” Aidan asked. Not that he wanted to complain.
“If I am to be perfectly honest, it is because I want that troublemaker away from here,” Nanoq said brusquely. “In fact, I want you and your sister to make an appearance at the festival as well, though you need not be there for the full week since I have other duties for you, and Ruari is the only one who must select a mate.”
Aidan nodded. It was common practice for a new pendragon to keep threats to his position away from the toriq seat of power—the fortress in this case. Throm, Aidan’s father, had done that by killing off most of his competition, but Nanoq had a stronger sense of honor than that. He also understood their people could not afford to lose more warriors. The new pendragon’s behavior was in line with his sense of doing what was best for his people, rather than himself. Sending Aidan on border guard patrols had not only been about keeping him away from Bailey, but also because Nanoq had needed to strengthen his recently assumed position among their people.
Phoebe and Ruari had not been reassigned elsewhere yet. Aidan’s sister trained the future female warriors of their toriq, which required her to stay at the fortress most of the time. Everyone knew she was quite good at her job, and it would be foolish to replace her. On the other hand, Ruari didn’t have any particular skills of use. He was not reliable enough for regular patrol duty, and he was too conniving to be trusted with anything sensitive. This was the first opportunity Nanoq had to get rid of him beyond minor errands of little importance.
“You have no argument from me,” Aidan said.
“You do realize Ruari hates me,” Donar argued. “I nearly died because his paramour poisoned me.”
Nanoq gave him a stern look. “All the more reason for you to keep a close watch of him during the festival. He must not do anything that would embarrass our people. I’ve already spoken to Hildegard on the matter, and she believes she has the perfect mate for him. Someone who can keep him under control—but you must ensure he gives this female a chance.”
Donar gave a curt bow. “Of course, milord.”
“Good. Then you can go inform Ruari that I wish to see him an hour from now. We will tell him the good news then, and I can introduce you to the others who will be helping plan the festival.” The pendragon waved a dismissive hand at Donar.
Aidan’s cousin reluctantly left the room.
“Now,” Nanoq addressed the rest of them. “We don’t have much time left before we need to release the slayer and her friends. Kade, have you found any more details from the prophecy that might be helpful?”
“Only that the other fragments are some distance apart from each other. I suspect we will have to travel through Shadowan territory at the very least to get the second piece, but according to the translation, we won’t know the precise location until we acquire the first orb piece.”
Nanoq frowned. “This could be an even more dangerous journey than we first believed. I am already concerned the sorceress, Verena, may try to follow you.”
“I can do a spell on the travelers before they depart. It will shield them from any attempts she may make to find them,” Xanath offered, stepping forward. “It will not last more than a week, though, so they’d need to return before that to be safe.”
“Do you think it will take that long?” The pendragon looked to Kade for an answer.
“I am not certain. There will be trials we must undergo before we can acquire each fragment. There is no way of knowing how long those will take. We will also be traveling through dangerous territories with humans who cannot fly and must be protected from whatever difficulties we may face.” He sighed. “It is too difficult to predict.”
“We will have three shifters and a slayer who can fight. The humans we are bringing are experien
ced in battle as well,” Aidan pointed out. “There are worse groups that could be assembled.”
Nanoq lifted his brows. “Your uncle has been confined to the library for centuries. I am not certain you can count on his being useful in battle.”
“That is not entirely true.” Kade bristled. “Since you let me out of my confinement, I’ve been exercising every day and renewing my fighting abilities. I will not be as much of a liability as you think.”
“Then continue your practice until you leave,” the pendragon ordered.
“How soon before we depart?” Aidan asked.
“I will allow the humans two days to acquire transportation and supplies.” Nanoq looked between Aidan and Phoebe, a warning in his gaze. “Both of you will escort them from here and stay with them at all times while they are in town. Make certain they do not tell anyone the sensitive details of this journey.”
Phoebe had been quiet until then, but now she spoke up, “They will have to tell their friends something before they go. What should they say?”
“They can say they are going on a trip to assess the state of our territory. That they are acting as human ambassadors for us.” Nanoq paused for a moment. “It is as good an excuse as any, and while you are traveling, you could gather information from the ground that we might not otherwise be able to acquire.”
Aidan agreed with that plan. He’d had a very difficult time learning much of anything from the humans while out on patrol. They were either scared of him or preferred to try killing him. With Bailey and the others traveling with them, they could potentially learn a lot more.
“Okay,” Phoebe said, apparently satisfied with that answer as well.
“Is there anything else?” Nanoq gazed between them, but no one spoke up. “Good. Release them and escort them back to town. The last thing I need is a human revolt on my hands along with everything else I must handle.”
Aidan and Phoebe bowed and began to leave the room.
“One last thing,” the pendragon called out. “Cover their eyes and do not let them see anything until they are well away from the tunnel exit.”
“Of course, milord,” Aidan replied.
Chapter 11
Bailey
“Lemme get this straight,” Earl said, scratching at his beard. “You’re gonna go with these dragons, shifters…whatever in the hell they are, and travel around the state doin’ some kinda survey of their territory?”
We’d been sitting in his living room for an hour explaining our plans—the edited version, anyway. To say he was skeptical was an understatement. I glanced at Danae, who gave me a helpless shrug, before returning my attention to Earl. “Uh, yeah. Pretty much.”
“And how long is this supposed to take?” He gave me a scrutinizing look.
Earl and my stepfather were good friends. Since Grady and my mom were stuck in Texas, cut off by a massive chasm running parallel to the Oklahoma state border, they’d asked Earl to watch over me. He took his job rather seriously.
Aidan’s deep voice filled the room, “We do not expect to be gone more than a week.”
“And I’m supposed to trust you with takin’ Bailey and three more of my people on this trip?” Earl asked. For being an older man whose body had worn down over the years, he could still appear rather intimidating. Maybe it was the shrapnel scar on his left cheek he’d gotten while fighting in Vietnam or maybe it was his penetrating gray gaze. With his oily, silver hair framing his face and the thick beard covering his jaw, it made his eyes stand out that much more.
Aidan didn’t flinch. “I will protect them with my life.”
“I will, too,” Phoebe said. She stood next to her brother, and it only took one look at her to believe she could hold her own. With her strong body frame, toned arms and shoulders, and the severe braid holding her hair back, she fit the warrior image. I’d fought with her and knew what she could do.
Earl crossed his arms. “Where are ya’ll plannin’ to sleep durin’ this trip?”
“Seriously?” I threw my hands up. “I’ll be twenty-three in a couple of months and everyone else going except Conrad is older than me. This isn’t some teenage slumber party. We can take care of ourselves, and you don’t need to worry about us.”
“It’s my job to worry and look out for ya’ll,” he said, expression stern.
Miles stepped forward. “You know I wouldn’t be going on this trip if I didn’t think it was important. Not so much for the shifters, but because it’s time we find out how things look in other parts of the state. We don’t get much news except…” I suspected he was going to mention the radio guy, Hank, and stopped himself. “…whatever turns up. It’ll help to see how things are going out there by seeing it all for ourselves.”
We didn’t know if the shifters knew about Hank, but we’d decided not to inform them. There was no telling how they’d react. I might trust Aidan and maybe Phoebe, but their pendragon was a wild card. He might see Hank as a threat and try to shut him down. It was to our advantage that dragons and shifters knew nothing about the radio station.
Earl settled back in his chair, relaxing a little. Miles wouldn’t endorse this trip if he hadn’t asked all the right questions and considered it carefully. We’d spent hours in the fortress dungeon discussing it while waiting to be released. As much as he could be a stick in the mud, I was glad he was going. We needed someone from the area where we were going who could help navigate in case we ran into trouble, and he could think well on his feet.
“Alright,” Earl said, gazing around at us. “Go on your trip, but you better make sure you take enough supplies to last you.”
I glanced at Conrad. “We’ve collected enough dragon scales recently that I should be able to trade them to Javier for everything we’ll need.”
“And I’ve got some ideas for transportation,” Miles added.
“Okay.” I paused to mull things over for a minute. “There are still a couple of hours of daylight left. I’m going to go visit Javier before it gets dark to find out what kind of trade we can work out.”
The sorcerer closed his shop at dusk, and the only things open in downtown after that were a restaurant and bar. I wouldn’t take the supplies today, but I wanted to see how much the dragon scales could get me and figure out how we were going to transport everything. With a group our size, we were going to need more than one vehicle to fit everyone. Even the shifters would have to ride with us in the early morning hours since they’d be too tired to fly, and they might not travel by air much if we headed into pure dragon territory at some point in our journey.
“I am going with you as well,” Aidan added.
Conrad nodded. “Me, too.”
I’d figured they would—especially since neither of them liked me visiting the sorcerer alone.
“I’ll check with my guys on getting some sturdy trucks with big gas tanks for the trip,” Miles said and glanced at Danae, considering her. “She can go with me.”
She frowned at him. “Do I have to?”
“You and I will both go with him,” Phoebe said.
Danae sighed, recognizing she’d been backed into a corner. We were trying not to let on to Earl that the shifters had to watch over us, and that we couldn’t go anywhere without them. He’d get offended if he found out—not that I could blame him. I was annoyed they didn’t trust us, but in their shoes, I wouldn’t, either. With what the orb could do, knowing anything about it and its location was powerful information to have.
Aidan gestured toward the door. “Are you ready?”
He wasn’t wasting any time. Then again, we had to be prepared to go in less than two days. It wasn’t much time to get organized.
***
I parked my truck in front of Javier’s downtown store. Until about a month ago, I’d had to stop half a mile away and walk the rest of the distance. It was too hard to drive through the protection barrier the sorcerer maintained around his domain. Then Javier had worked out some kind of treaty with the Taugud clan which al
lowed him to continue his business downtown as long as he didn’t impede shifters or humans from visiting. He still maintained a spell against pure dragons in case they snuck across the border, and he was required to fight on the side of the Taugud should a battle break out in their territory. I imagined there was even more to that deal, but that’s all the sorcerer would reveal to me.
“With your pendragon’s dislike of sorcerers, I’m surprised he let Javier stay,” I said to Aidan after shutting off the truck engine.
His lips twisted into a grin. “Let us just say that your friend Danae went through a much easier process than Javier to earn Nanoq’s trust. If he so much as moves wrong, Xanath will know right away and inform Nanoq.”
“He agreed to that?” I asked, surprised.
Aidan shrugged. “He has too much to lose, and he is able to live in peace this way. It didn’t take very much convincing for him to agree to our requirements.”
“So does Nanoq have a tracking spell on him or something?”
“You could say that,” Aidan said cryptically.
We got out of the truck.
The day was bright, if a little cool outside. Conrad had worn a light gray jacket over his favorite khaki pants and blue button-up shirt, but I’d stayed in my usual fighting outfit. Since becoming a slayer, the cold didn’t seem to bother me as much anymore. Aidan had put on a thick, long sleeve shirt made of the same black camrium material as the rest of his wardrobe. It was tight and form fitting, but stretched enough around his muscles that he could still move easily. I couldn’t help admiring him as I came around the truck. The look in his eyes when I met his gaze said he’d noticed my appraisal.
“Stop ogling each other. I want to get this over with,” Conrad said with a roll of his eyes.
Guiltily, I looked away and forced myself to concentrate on the glass windows lining the front of the store. Like most of the other buildings nearby, it stood two stories tall and had a brick facade. It was well-maintained, and no one could have guessed an apocalypse had happened recently—which included all the earthquakes and storms that had struck the region as the dragon dimension collided with ours. Javier must have done something to protect downtown. Even Earl’s neighborhood, which had held up surprisingly well, showed some signs of wear and tear. Many of the houses there had cracks in the walls, blown out windows covered with plywood, and there was a huge buckle in the pavement a block over.