“That way each mate will have a place to sit when she joins with one of you knuckleheads,” Quinn had said when Nolan complained about giving up his “throne chair.” She’d politely reminded him, “You can still have your chair. The extra love seats will be stored down on the treasure floor. They’ll be there and brought up only if you want it when your mate arrives.” Then she’d winked and asked him, “Are you keeping hope alive?”
Everyone had cracked up when he said, “I want the love seat. I’m next for my mating. I’ve got the hope, and it’s alive. Whoop! I feel it. And besides, who could resist this face?”
Quinn looked over to Nolan, who was now stretched out on his love seat, chomping down on some of Wren’s caramel covered popcorn and nuts mixture. She burst out laughing at him. Nolan was a character, and she liked him, even if he was a shit-starter.
The week had been hard on the group. Not only had the Oriana—Julia situation been taxing dealing with the Council and having to turn in reports on everything that had happened, but the guys had also gone back to the portal to make sure there were no breaches at the entrance. Greg had been ordered by Lucien to take a few days down in his nest to rest up with a deep sleep, and the others were still playing catch up on their sleep as well. With only Hildy and Ajax around and their training schedule, Quinn had found that the life of leisure wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
When Hildy and Wren had suggested a movie night to help everyone unwind, Quinn had jumped at the chance to do something. When she asked Lucien if the mates could host it with food and snacks, the guys had jumped in wholeheartedly. Even Ivan, the twins—who were so supernaturally gorgeous Quinn caught herself staring at them all the time, Eoin and the other Gryphon brothers, Sasha and Drew showed up. Hildy and Ajax passed out treats, including Wren’s baked goods and popcorn, everyone was relaxed for the first time in a while.
Quinn looked over to where Wren sat with Matt, still in denial of her feelings. Matt had told Lucien he was purposely taking it slow since Wren needed that and not to worry. She knew it wasn’t any of her business, but waiting for them to mate could take years.
“It’s been over a week and no sign of Julia. Do you think Hildy’s Siren’s Call of Judgment worked?” she asked Lucien as the twins fiddled with the humongous new big screen TV they’d insisted on getting for movie night.
“Honestly, I have no clue. Everyone’s here, why don’t we ask what they think?”
She nodded, not sure if the way she’d worded it would sit well with Hildy who had already insisted that was why Julia was MIA. When Lucien spoke up to get everyone’s attention, Quinn wanted to disappear into the back of the love seat.
“Hey, while Ry and Ky figure out how to get the new TV to work in the Lair, Quinn and I thought it might be a good time to revisit the Julia situation.” He looked down at her and smiled. She’d learned that this was the smile he used when he wanted her to relax and let him handle things. She watched as that masterful Dragon looked over to Hildy and said, “It would appear our Hildy put a Siren’s Call judgment on Julia that’s so strong, we haven’t heard a peep out of the girl.” Quinn looked to see Hildy’s smile was a little bashful but appreciative of his words of praise. She had to give it to Lucien. Her man knew how to work a room. “But, she’s still out there. I want to err on the side of caution and still find her, in case she’s tempted to cause havoc. So… throwing it out for discussion. Does anyone have an idea of what else we can do? Doesn’t matter how out there it is. Speak up.”
Wren raised her hand. It took Lucien a minute to recognize what she was doing.
“Wren, you’re a part of the Clan, you don’t have to raise your hand like you’re an outsider.”
Wren was a little hesitant as she spoke, “Oh, I guess it feels that way with me not being here all the time now.”
Quinn heard Matt say under his breath, “It doesn’t have to be that way.”
To which Wren backward elbowed him and gave a look for him to hush up. “I know you and Quinn decided not to pursue Oriana’s money offer, but it keeps coming back to me that Julia is out there with no money. She was being supported by Oriana. Now that Oriana is gone and her businesses have been dismantled, Julia has got to find a way to support herself. I suggest we find a way to pinpoint any money trails that lead to her or someone connected to her.”
“Looking at Mr. Scott would be a great start,” Hildy said, “And no, I’m not obsessed with bringing him down.”
“Yes you are,” the twins said in unison, never looking up from the tangled mess of wires they worked with to connect the TV.
“Thanks for the support, Rylan and Kylan. I’ll remember that when you need me to fly a signal probe up for you again.”
“Sorry sis,” one of them said. Quinn thought it might be Rylan. He seemed to be the more talkative one of the two.
“Back to Wren’s point,” Lucien said, taking the lead of the conversation again, “That’s a great idea. The dust has settled on a lot of Oriana’s operations. She’s not here to direct where any of the money goes, so that should be easy enough to track.”
“Won’t the federal government step in and freeze all her assets?” Quinn asked, not sure why that hadn’t happened already.
“They would if they had a clue it needed to be done,” Greg said as he sat up from rocking in his chair. Quinn was a little happy he’d slowed down on meeting Zia. With everything still up in the air, he’d opted to focus on the bigger task, saying if it were meant to be, it would happen. He said, “Oriana has agreed to go through a reconditioning program. If that proves successful, she may request to come back to Earth in six months time.”
“That’s short for all the stuff she did,” Wren said. “Where’s the justice in that?”
“It’s short in Earth terms. Here, six months is short enough for her accounts to be dormant without any suspicion. Only if she doesn’t return will the Council direct us on how to proceed with her business and money. As for where the Elders sent her, it will be more like twenty-five years time there for her to relearn how to respect all life and build up new character traits that don’t seek to deceive, steal and gouge others out of their belongings and human rights. It takes time to undo rook behavior.”
“What did you say?” Quinn said. That word pinged off every impulse receptor in her body.
Greg looked perplexed. “What do you mean? I was saying how long it takes to go through reconditioning, not to mention how long the process takes to apply and get an answer for a petition to return to Earth.”
“No,” Quinn said, “Not that part, what you called her after that.”
“A rook?”
“Yeah, that’s it. Why did you call her that?”
“Because that’s what she is. I gave the definition. Besides being a chess piece, a rook is someone who takes others money by defrauding, cheating or overcharging them. Oriana is a classic example of this. Why is that so important?”
“Because we’ve been looking at that utterance I gave wrong. Hildy, do you still have it memorized. And I know I was the one who originally said it, but I was in a trance. Don’t judge me, people.” She ignored the hands that flew up in surrender as a sign of not judging her for not knowing what she’d said.
Hildy spoke up. “Sure, the saying went:
Listen Dragofin, the time is here, and the oracles have begun. As your mates appear, the war will be won. A captured queen, reveals a wayward rook. The king must move, less the castle be took.”
“You see, the wayward rook is still Julia as we thought. But, maybe the way Oriana would reveal her is through the money. Listen, I know it might be a stretch, but Oriana said she taught her the ways of The People. The People are Rooks. Julia strayed away from that when she didn’t follow their teachings. Thus, she was wayward. Oriana was captured. By her own words, she cut Julia off from her money, saying she didn’t deserve it for acting, unlike The People. Julia will be revealed when she tries to return to the ways of a rook. ”
“Quinn, I’m not following you,” Lucien said.
“I’m not exactly sure where this is going either, but we’ve had a way to flush Julia out all along.”
“What is it, Quinny?” Wren asked.
“Oriana’s deposit box. You’re onto something Wren. The girl needs money. We can go to the deposit box location and see if she shows up. How much are you willing to bet Julia might not have known about the money Oriana had for her, but she knew where Oriana kept money. Instead of Julia staking out the Lair, she’s staking out the bank where Oriana kept her money, trying to figure out how to trick someone into giving it to her.”
“And that’s why you’re Lucien’s mate,” Blaise said, showing Quinn admiration and shocking everyone that he spoke. “Quinn, you do have a brilliant eye for strategy. If any of us were on the run, money would be the first thing we’d try to get.”
“Yep and Julia is smart enough to know we’ve got eyes out for her with local human help. So she can’t break any laws,” Ajax added. “But how do we know she chose to stick around and that she’ll be at this particular location of the bank?”
Quinn said, “Because she knew her mother wouldn’t put too much money into an account. She would use deposit boxes full of cash. And deposit boxes with the amount of security Oriana would want are located at the major branches, like the one she gave us the address too.”
“I don’t like it. You don’t have to be the one to go in and certainly not by yourself,” Lucien said, as they, along with Greg and Blaise sat in one of the Clan’s SUVs outside of the main banking branch in the city.
“I’m not going in alone, I’m going in with Hildy and Ajax is going to shadow us.” Quinn turned around and looked at Ajax, Hildy, Matt and Nolan who sat in the SUV behind them. “Look, Lucien, all be safe. You’re too conspicuous to go with me. If Julia shows up and needs to be incapacitated, Hildy and Ajax will do their Siren Song double-team thing to stop the little imp. It’s going to be fine—promise.”
Lucien didn’t like it, and his perpetual scowl that he’d worn since waking was on full display. “Make it fast. If I don’t either see or hear back from you in a half hour, Blaise, the Gryphons and I will come in after you. Either that or you text me. God knows it took you long enough to input your phone number into my phone; you need to use it.” Looking at her with those hypnotizing eyes, Lucien said, “Don’t make me regret this day. Hurry back to me, my Quinn.”
“I won’t. There you go being a Mr. Grumble Butt. We’ll be back before you know it.”
40
Lucien…
Never had relief felt so good. Quinn made it back to the car. Opening the door, Ajax placed a large bag inside.
“We’ll follow you back to the Lair. I’m sure after Quinn tells you what was in there, you’ll want to meet up and talk about it,” Ajax said, allowing Quinn to get in and motioning to the bag.
He noticed his mate was amped up about whatever was in there but wanted to stay alert. Looking around and noticing nothing, Lucien checked behind him. Ajax and Hildy were back in the SUV behind them and gave him the thumbs up. Lucien took off, heading out of the parking lot and back to the Lair. At a stoplight not far from the bank, Quinn couldn’t hold her excitement any longer.
“Told you it would be all right,” Quinn said struggling but still smiling as she tried to maneuver her legs around the large security duffle Ajax had put in on the floorboard of her side of the car. It was sturdy, with a lock like those used by armored truck employees to transport deposits.
Quinn gave him a set of keys.
“They unlock the bag,” she said.
Eyeing the duffle that was in her way of sitting comfortably, he took it, marveling at its weight, and passed the heavy bag to Greg in the back seat, Lucien had to know. “So… What was in the safety deposit box?”
Quinn answered, clearly impressed by the contents. “The money, like Oriana said, a few expensive-looking old books with weird writing and then some very interesting precious stones, crystals, and jewels that looked important and valuable. They’re heavy, and I was thinking we could find out more about them once we get back to the Lair and make sure they don’t have anything crazy going on with them.”
The light changed to green. He took his time eyeing the intersection to make sure no vehicles came out of nowhere. Lucien couldn’t shake the feeling that this had all been too easy. His Dragon was on high alert, protective of his Clan members and especially his mate. Heading on the onramp to the Interstate that would take them west of the city, Lucien asked, “What about Julia or any of Oriana’s men? Did anyone look suspicious to you?”
“Nope. The bank wasn’t busy. We took our time getting a good look at everyone, in case something went down and we needed to identify them. Between Hildy, Ajax, and me, we spotted nothing out of the ordinary. I will say this, though, the deposit box was a big one. I felt like it was an inheritance Oriana was passing down to Julia with all the stuff that was in there.”
Lucien couldn’t help but watch every move she made, so happy that she’d returned unharmed. Quinn leaned over and patted the large plastic bag of table salt Wren had insisted they take with them. Wren had made them put the largest bags of salt they could find in each car, saying that if her hunch were right, the salt would contain Julia if poured around her.
“Guess we won’t be needing these after all,” she said, smiling as bright and adventurous as she was.
Greg said, “Let’s get back so we can examine those stones and the books. I’m not too well-versed on elemental magic as I suspect this might pertain to. Might have to consult the Gryphon archives, which could take a while, depending on what we’re dealing with here. I will say this, the faster we can determine why they were important enough to keep in a deposit box, the better we’ll be prepared for if and when Julia comes calling.”
Tension radiated throughout Lucien’s body to the point he had to let up on how tight of a grip he had on the steering wheel a few times. Off the interstate on the street leading back to the Lair, he continued to stay vigilant looking for anything out of the ordinary. The day was a moderately sunny one and not too cold. He hated how many stoplights they had to go through to get back to the Lair. Each one seemed to turn red, the risk of something happening increasing with each stop.
They were less than two miles from the Lair when the traffic light separated the SUVs. He was going to box Nolan’s skull in for driving so slow when they got back. Taking no chances, he pulled over on the side of the street next to an abandoned building and waited for the light to turn green again. Looking at them through the rearview mirror, it was Quinn’s scream that he heard first.
Julia was behind them in the middle of the intersection throwing her hands at the other SUV with all her might. Tuning in with his Dragon senses, Lucien heard the clicking of the motor of their vehicle. It was stalled at the light, and they were sitting ducks. Once that was done, she turned and started walking toward their SUV.
“Quick, give me that bag of salt,” Lucien said.
Quinn yelled, “Here, what are you going to do with it?”
“I’m going to surround the car with it before she makes it over to us. Maybe if the others see what we’re doing, they’ll do the same.” Lucien worked to get the heavy plastic open as the figure of Julia in his side mirror grew larger. “All we can hope for is that Wren was right about this salt or we’re going to have to figure out how to take her out without the entire world learning what any of us are.”
Guessing she was about fifty feet away, he jumped out of the car and poured a thick, wide circle of salt around the vehicle. Julia took off in a run when she saw what he did. She was quick, giving him only seconds to make it back inside the vehicle before she was standing outside the circle, glaring at him.
“Are the others doing it?” he asked, looking up into the rearview mirror.
“Yeah, I texted them. Hildy got out as soon as they got the message and poured salt,” Quinn said. She turned to look at Greg and ask
ed, “What do we do now? Will this salt be enough to keep her from doing anything else to us?”
“I would assume so, but again, I’m not familiar with her form of magic. It’s perverted and has no real logic.”
“What about taking off? Can’t we outrun her?” Blaise asked.
“Not to be mean about it, but why would we leave the only protection we have to drive a vehicle she’s proven she can stop the engine on?” Quinn asked.
“Oh, that did sound a bit stupid—my bad.”
Quin spoke up, “Blaise, you’re not stupid. I’m the one being a bitch. Forgive me. Guess I see what I turn into during stressful situations—a short-tempered simpleton. I’m the one who’s being stupid.”
“Nah, sis, I got you. Never had to deal with a teenaged witch in the middle of the day on the surface. If this were at the portal, the solution would be easy. Fire bomb her ass,” Blaise said.
“Give it to me!” Julia yelled. “I know you have it in there. It called to me. Give it to me, and I won’t hurt you.”
Quinn’s eyes got larger than normal. “Do we give her the cash and pretend that’s all that was in the box?”
Greg spoke up, “No, something tells me she’s not very interested in the money. Look at her eyes.”
They all looked over at the girl, still standing in the middle of the street. Her eyes were blood red, the blue that had been so clear and striking was now orbs of black.
“What the hell? She looks like one of those horror movie chicks at the end,” Quinn sat up in her seat to get a better look at Julia.
“Sit back mate, I don’t want her directing her attention at you,” Lucien warned.
“Give me the stones, and I’ll leave. I want to be free finally,” Julia pleaded.
Lucien: Dragofin Mated: Book 2 (Dragonfin Clan Mated) Page 33