I cleared my throat, turning back to Raego. He slowly turned to me, eyes thoughtful. I smiled, batting my eyelashes innocently. He knew what that chain was made of. Dragon scales so tough that they supposedly couldn’t be melted. Black dragon scales. Just like his own.
“Watch your back, Nate,” he finally said, sounding as if he wanted nothing more than to go get some sleep. “A storm is coming. I’m not sure when, or who, but it’s coming in like a high tide, and I fear we may all break under it.”
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t be cowering in your sandcastle,” I urged, suddenly glad that Callie had left. Whatever she had done had changed something in Raego. “Team up with me. Whatever is coming will have a much harder time dealing with us if we stand together.”
“Team up…” he mused, leaning back in his chair. “Under your rule, no doubt.” I shrugged after a moment, not knowing how to answer his question. I definitely wasn’t looking for any personal gain, but someone needed to coordinate things, and I had done pretty well coordinating numerous groups during the attacks that had plagued St. Louis in recent years. He sighed. “My people will not accept you. Even if I told them to. And I won’t. Not without a direct benefit.”
“Jesus, Raego,” I growled, swiping the hair out of my eyes. “I put you in this throne. What more do you want from me? You know I’m not power-hungry. I’m not trying to dominate you.”
A ghost of a smile crossed his lips. “That should be a thing. Domi-Nate. It’s quite catchy.”
After a moment of tense silence, I let out a faint smile. This was the Raego I liked. “No one else seems to think so…” I muttered.
He shrugged, silently stating there was no accounting for taste. “Let’s not part with harsh words, Nate. I’ve helped you, you’ve helped me. Let’s remember that. Perhaps we can one day stand beside each other again. If it benefits me and mine, of course.” He winked.
I sighed. It wasn’t what I had hoped for, but I understood. He wasn’t speaking as my friend. He led the dragons. All of them. And even though he was in charge, it was likely that many dragons – possibly much older than himself – would only offer their support if they got something out of it. He worked for them as much as they worked for him. Give and take.
I also understood his position about teaming up under my banner. If the Academy had approached me asking me to quasi-submit to them for the betterment of all, I would have had a really tough time agreeing to it. He had a point. He needed to rule his own people. I needed to rule mine. Distant allies, not partners. Very distant, it seemed.
Like Gunnar had just made abundantly clear in regards to his wolves.
And Alucard, I guessed.
Why did it suddenly feel like I was being abandoned by all my friends? Or that a line was being drawn in the sand?
“Okay,” I told him. “But if things get bad, don’t be a stranger.”
He watched me thoughtfully, not answering.
Chapter 10
Since that was as good as it was apparently going to get, I dropped the topic. Raego kept his eyes on the table, teasing a sliver of steel up with one of his claws that suddenly slid into existence again without any apparent effort. “I would like to speak with Tory about an internal affair, if it’s not too much trouble.”
I blinked. Then I laughed. “Really? You won’t help me, but you want one of my people?”
“I am not one of your people, Nate,” Tory snarled, suddenly standing beside my chair with Callie. I blinked at the two of them, then glared as I saw Callie trying to bite back her laughter.
Raego eyed Callie. “You might suffice as well. I’ve heard many interesting stories about Kansas City and the Holy Hitmen. Or Hit-woman,” he corrected with a smile, eyes briefly flicking to the satchel on her shoulder. Well, the chain strap.
She didn’t miss a beat, readjusting the strap casually. “Like you, I have enough shit going on back home. I don’t need my first encounter with dragons to be political. And Holy hardly begins to describe me…” she added under her breath. Because she’d had some recent run-ins with the Vatican. Obviously, Raego hadn’t heard about that. Or hadn’t chosen to reveal his awareness.
Raego shrugged good-naturedly, shooting me a quick look as if to say this is how you handle rejection. I folded my arms stubbornly as he turned back to Tory.
Tory looked guarded, but intrigued. Because she wasn’t stupid. Raego was the king of the dragons, and he was asking her for a favor. She knew that as dragons, the Reds might someday choose to be under his command. By birth, they kind of already were, in a way. But Tory was a Beast Master and their legal guardian. There was conflicting loyalty involved. Crossover.
But one day they might decide to step into the dragon family, and anything Tory did now could make that harder or easier for them, depending. Any decision here could impact them long term. For better or worse. That being said, what mom didn’t want to stick her nose into a hornet’s nest for her kids? Better than going in blind.
Tory helping Raego could be a huge benefit for them down the line.
Declining to help Raego could be a huge detriment for them down the line.
It was about risk versus reward.
“Regarding what?” she asked warily.
He was silent for a time, carefully choosing his words. “I need an impartial judge. The opposite of one of your people,” he added, smiling at me. I grunted, leaning back in my chair. “With you being a Beast Master, I thought you might be an ideal candidate. Of course, my Council would have to judge your impartiality.”
I shifted in my chair, not actually leaning closer, but almost willing to interrupt him. Council? Since when had the dragons had a council? They had Raego – their prophesied Obsidian Son – a dragon of immeasurable power who would one day lead them to greatness. No one had actually informed me what that greatness would entail, but his father, Alaric Slate, had been willing to murder his own son in order to get that power. Raego and I hadn’t agreed, so had killed him, putting Raego on the throne instead.
Raego continued. “It would be best if the Council saw us at odds with each other, proof of your impartiality.” He nodded to himself, a slow smile splitting his cheeks. By the look on Callie’s face, she was sensing the same alarm bells as I was.
Tory frowned. “You want me to lie to your Council? Pretend I’m not working for you?”
He shook his head, still smiling. “No. I want you to do this for the dragons. Unbiased.”
I opened my mouth to chime in, but then wisely closed it. Tory needed to make this decision for herself. Looking into her eyes, I knew she was well aware of the dangers – shifters and their games. Because Tory was the principal at Shift – a school for wayward shifters that she had saved from an illegal fight club operation run by another Beast Master. She had done so well running the school that she was now receiving applications for more new students than she could reasonably handle. Every shifter without a pack was trying to send their kids to her school, if for no other reason than to keep them safe.
It was in Tory’s best interest to look after each and every student, regardless of breed. She’d made this point very clear a few times in recent months – that pack politics had zero influence over her students. If the student chose to leave, she wouldn’t stop them, but no alpha was coming into her school to take fellow shifters away from her to pad out their pack. Unless they wanted everyone to see them put in their place by a tiny woman with the powers of a Beast Master.
And since most shifters valued power and their reputation, not many dared try.
What was so important to Raego that he would choose to use her as a judge? What was she to investigate? The only reason the dragons would need to hire a third party was if they didn’t know which dragons they could trust. Some inner power struggle? If so, why wasn’t Raego hiring her for himself? Something wasn’t adding up.
“I want to be there for the meeting. As her guard. Nothing more. No influence. I’ll even do my best to act meek when she yells at me i
f it will make your dragons feel better. But I want to know why. No games. What do you need her for?”
Raego studied me in silence, then arched a brow at Tory. After a moment, she nodded her agreement. “I want to know the full story up front. Everything.”
Raego tapped his claw on the table. “You sure, Beast Master? Everything?” he whispered.
She nodded, but seeing that he wasn’t looking up, she spoke. “Yes. Everything.”
He let out a long sigh. “There has been a theft. An internal job.”
I sucked in a breath through my teeth. Tory locked eyes with Raego. “Suspects?”
He stood from his chair and turned his back on us, staring at a display of stone eggs on a back desk that I hadn’t noticed. They looked like dragon eggs. Old dragon eggs. I would have shrugged them off as figurines, but then I noticed the glass cases around them and the raised stands they were sitting on. They looked pressure sensitive.
Raego finally cleared his throat. “All are suspects… Including me.”
The silence was deafening. Tory furrowed a brow, licking her lips slowly. “You mean to tell me that you’re really hiring me to prove your innocence. That’s a lawyer, not a judge.”
He glanced over his shoulder, his dark hair whipping at the sudden motion. “No. I’m telling you that I trust your instincts to uncover the thief. I’m not hiring you to defend me, and I’m not hiring you to pin the blame on someone else. I’m hiring you to find the thief. If that turns out to be me, so be it.” My eyes might have widened a bit at that. “And in point of fact, I’m not hiring you. I think you’re the best person for the job, but the Council still gets to vote. You’re working for the dragons. My people. Not just a single person.”
“I hate to ask the stupid questions—”
“But you’re so good at it, Nate,” Callie piped up.
I ignored her, watching Raego’s eyes. “Did you steal this… thing?” I asked.
Raego didn’t answer immediately. “That’s up to Tory to find out.”
Okay. This was just weird. If Raego hadn’t stolen it, why wouldn’t he just say so? And if he had stolen it, why would he risk hiring someone as qualified as Tory? But… he wasn’t hiring her, I remembered. Raego had said this mysterious new Council needed to vote on it. Why?
What game was being played? I shot Tory a warning look, mouthing trap.
She nodded and without missing a beat, mouthed Reds.
Which was the bait for the trap. She would risk anything for the Reds.
My mind raced with half a dozen scenarios – some good, some bad, but all needlessly complex. In my world, that usually meant she should have been running for the hills. But since this wasn’t a storybook novel, and Tory was the kind of mom to risk her life for her girls…
“Let’s go meet with your Council,” she said in an overly calm tone. “Now.”
I blinked at that. Then… I smiled. That was clever of her. Give them no time to maneuver. If they wanted her help, she would come in like a freight train.
Raego arched a brow at her, surprised and… excited? She held up a hand as he opened his mouth. “I’m not agreeing to it yet. I’m saying I will meet with the Council. I’ll make my decision after. Or…” she trailed off with a shrug, “they could choose not to vote for me.”
Was she planning on doing something to sabotage the vote? Piss off the Council? I frowned. That wouldn’t help Raego, or the Reds, so I dismissed it. I shot Callie a look, but she shrugged, just as baffled as I was.
Unsurprisingly, the monsters were playing games. Or at least Raego was.
Raego glanced down at his watch and then grinned. “The Council is currently in a meeting. Let’s go interrupt them.”
I climbed to my feet. Bringing Tory with me tonight had been a bad idea. I grimaced at a new thought. And it would only get worse when she found out I hadn’t told her about Alucard’s meeting tonight, and that the girls she was doing all this cloak and dagger shit for were probably up to no good with Yahn right now.
“Sure, let’s piss off this Council of yours. By the way, you’re doing the whole King thing wrong. You’re supposed to be a dictator, not let a group of bureaucrats dictate to you.”
He glanced at me, amused. “King Arthur and his Round Table had it all wrong then?”
My blood ran cold at that, but I kept my face a mask, shrugging my shoulders in defeat. He couldn’t know of my interest in King Arthur and his Round Table. It was just an idle comment.
Right. Just an idle comment. No reason to freak out and burn everything to ashes.
Callie watched me, slowly shaking her head. After spending a lot of private time with me recently, she had become remarkably aware of my inner workings. Seeming to be able to sense when I was worried about something, even though my face showed nothing.
Raego was already leading Tory from the room, leaving Callie and I to follow on our own.
The Kansas City wizard leaned in, whispering softly into my ears. Her shorter hair smelled like strawberries as a few strands tickled my nose. “I don’t know dragons, but I know liars. I just can’t decide if Tory is the victim, bait, or his personal wolfhound.”
I nodded, wrapping my arm around her waist to guide her from the room, not wanting Raego to catch us whispering. I lowered my hand from her back after I got her moving and murmured under my breath. “Just watch. Tory’s a big girl.” I hope.
Callie breathed a sigh, nodding as she handed me back my satchel.
“Chop, chop, Temple. I would hate for you to get lost,” Raego called over his shoulder. He glanced back, smirking. Even though his eyes were black, they somehow managed to sparkle in the lighting. “Or would I?” he added, laughing.
“Fucking St. Louis,” Callie muttered.
“Fucking dragons,” I corrected as we hurried to catch up.
Chapter 11
We strode up to a door with two male dragons standing guard outside, bodies too lazily relaxed to be anything but experienced killers. Like resting lions. One was a tall, thickly built thirty-something guy with scars on his face and a crooked nose. His hair was buzzed close to the scalp and he leaned against the wall with his arms folded.
The other was dark-haired, also buzzed close to the scalp, but his scars were across the top of his head. He had a thick dark beard and one long eyebrow wider than most mustaches, making him look perpetually angry. They must have gotten the scars before they became weredragons because dragon shifters had incredible healing abilities.
All in all, they positively screamed friendly. Especially with those big guns at their hips.
One look at Raego and they said, “Da,” in unison before uni-brow rapped on the door in a specific beat. Russians? That was new.
They pulled it open without waiting for a response. Raego strolled inside first, tugging Tory after him as if escorting her to a ball.
Not wanting to be left outside with the guards, I strolled past them, ignoring their sniffs.
Callie sniffed them right back, and then let a grimace pass over her features before continuing through. I hid my smile as I stared at the five dragons seated at the table before us. And when I say us, I mean Tory, Callie, and myself. Because Raego was busy pouring himself a drink near a bar to our right, as if forgetting we were here or that anyone was here, for that matter.
Which meant we braved the stares of the five dragons all alone.
I only recognized one of them – Gertrude – Raego’s grandmother. The last time we had met, I had flicked her in the eyeball with my finger nail and then blown her snout right off her face. But since you couldn’t actually die at the Dueling Grounds, here she was.
“Well. This is awkward…” I said, shifting from foot to foot. “It’s Dirty Gerty.”
There was a collective intake of breath from everyone in the room at the blatant disrespect I had shown the seemingly harmless little old lady. But I knew better than to let my eyes deceive me. She wasn’t harmless. She was over four hundred years old, and liked to be in c
harge. The last time I had seen her, Raego had been very careful around his Gram Gram, and described her as controlling. I’d never mixed well with that type. I waited for Raego to step in to defend her, but he didn’t. That was a change for the better. Wasn’t it?
Her cheeks flushed a deep purple and she pulled back her lips to show me her teeth. Her blue eyes were flecked with gold, which were made all the more vibrant by her inflamed cheeks. Pleased with the reaction, I decided I liked Dirty Gerty better than Gram Gram.
I dipped my head, seemingly apologetic. “Where’s that swanky purse you had last time we met?” I had used it to blow a supernova into her ribcage at the Dueling Grounds, so she probably remembered. “I was hoping to have some girl talk. Maybe compare bags.” I lifted the chain strap of my satchel with two fingers, hefting it up and down, giving them a chance to see it was made of black dragon scales – scales that everyone thought were impossible to melt down and re-forge.
Her sneer faded, and I felt her companions shift uncomfortably in their seats. She seemed to regain some of her composure, avoiding looking at my satchel and turning to the other dragons.
“This is Nate Temple. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. More’s the pity.”
Judging by the stiffening of shoulders, she was right. I released the strap and waved politely.
Their faces hardened, but they didn’t speak. Gertrude pointed to each, introducing them.
Baron Skyfall was an older black man. He was bald as an egg and had dark freckles on the skin just below his bright orange eyes. In contrast to his shining dome, he sported a short white beard – looking to be made of bulletproof cotton since I couldn’t see the flesh through the hair. His orange irises stood out starkly against his skin. He was a tall bastard, easily twice as wide as most men, and had a thick neck. From what I could see he was obviously buff and I knew that if he got to his feet he would tower over me. Much bigger than Gunnar, but differently proportioned.
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