She nodded to herself. She was ready. She had no way of knowing what, exactly lay ahead of her, and she knew things wouldn’t always be easy. But life as a spy hadn’t been easy or predictable, either. At least life with a dragon meant she was no longer alone. Far from it. She was with a man who would protect her and love her no matter what the world threw at her. Sofia hadn’t known Leif very long, true. But she’d known him long enough to know that he had all the traits one would expect from a dragon: honor, loyalty, and kindness. And after giving in to her overwhelming desire to make love to him, she knew that his body was just as good as his heart. How had she been so lucky, to catch his eye?
Sofia smiled as Torch Lake came into view in the distance. Perhaps being a spy, despite all its difficulties, had had some unexpected benefits after all.
Chapter Fifteen
Even though Seth and Evan had assured him that Torch Lake was hailing him as a hero, Leif felt his stomach twisting up in apprehension as he approached the city. Perhaps the people of the city regarded him as a hero, but was the High Council really going to forgive him for running off like he had? The High Councilors tried to be open minded, yes. But they were still proud, strong leaders who liked to demand absolute obedience. Would they accept what he had done now that he had, in fact, saved Sofia?
Sofia.
The very thought of her name sent a happy warmth coursing through Leif’s blood. If he had been in human form instead of dragon form right now, he would have pinched himself to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming. He had never imagined when he set off on a rescue mission this morning that it would end with him finding his lifemate. And he certainly hadn’t expected to discover that Sofia was his lifemate. They’d had a rocky start, to put it mildly. Leif had never been so glad that he’d at least attempted to maintain an air of professionalism when he’d thought Sofia was a junior auditor. He’d been so irritated with her, and he’d wanted so badly to say and do so many rude things, but he’d mostly restrained himself and kept his thoughts to himself in an effort to act professional. Mostly. He was glad that he’d forced himself not to act on every annoyed impulse he’d had. Now that he knew who she was, and now that she’d forgiven him for being such a jerk when she was pretending to be a junior auditor, things had moved along quickly.
Too quickly? Perhaps. Should he have tried to get to know her a bit better before making love to her? Should he have tried taking her on a date first? He let out a long sigh at the thought. Perhaps he hadn’t done things in the typical order, but he’d been too overwhelmed with desire to think about following a formula for love. It would seem that she was, too. She’d been just as caught up in the moment as he had. And now, he would have the rest of their lives to take her on dates and show her how wonderful she was.
He just hoped that “the rest of their lives” didn’t start out with the High Council reprimanding him and firing him from his job at the Dragon Utilization Department.
Leif came in for a landing behind the Dragon Utilization Department, trying to avoid a crush of reporters that was waiting by the front entrance. They saw him going to the back and started rushing to get around and shove their microphones in his face, but he was too quick for them. The second Sofia slid off his back, he shifted back into human form and ran into the building. Seth and Evan followed suit. Leif sprinted toward his office, where he kept a spare set of clothes. Seth and Evan shouted after him that they were going to the locker rooms to change, and Leif slowed long enough to give them a thumbs up.
“Meet me at my office, Sofia,” Leif said over his shoulder as he continued to run. Sofia nodded and continued walking down the hallway at a brisk pace, but did not run. Leif could see the reporters trying to follow her into the building, but already the security guards were holding them back. Leif had escaped the madness, for the moment at least.
When he reached his office, he quickly pulled on his spare clothes and then fired up his computer. As expected, a quick scan of his email revealed that the High Council wanted to speak with him. They had ordered him to come see them as soon as he was back in Torch Lake. They had ordered Seth, Evan, and Sofia to report to the High Council Building as well.
“Well, time to face the music,” he muttered to himself. Sofia was just walking into his office, and she heard him.
“The High Council wants to see us, I’m guessing?”
He nodded. “Yup. No surprise there. I wonder if we can get over to the High Council Building without getting completely mobbed by the press out there.”
Sofia smiled. “We can. You forget—I have my magic ring back. I can cover all of us with an invisibility shield.”
A smile broke across Leif’s face, and he pulled Sofia in for a quick kiss. “I knew it would be useful having a wizard around.”
She laughed, but then didn’t pull away right away. Instead, she nuzzled her head against his chest and sighed. “I wish we could go home and spend some time together instead of being whisked off to the High Council right away.”
Leif felt his body warming from her touch and her words. “Me too. But you know we don’t have a choice. All we can hope for is that this will go quickly.”
Just then, Seth and Evan appeared at the end of the long hallway.
“Stay there, we’re on our way out, too,” Leif called out to them. He shut the office door behind him and grabbed Sofia’s hand, not caring who saw him holding it. Seth and Evan made no comment on their boss’s sudden closeness with Sofia, and Leif appreciated that fact. He didn’t feel like dealing with teasing right now, especially from subordinates. They seemed to understand that well.
“Alright, boys. Ready to see how a wizard spy travels?” Sofia asked, a twinkle in her eye as she pulled her hand away from Leif’s. Seth and Evan looked at each other in confusion for a moment until Sofia said, “Magicae invisibilia.”
Seth and Evan understood then.
“Sweet,” Seth said. “We can sneak right past all those journalists.”
And they did. Sofia took them out a side door that was less crowded, and they walked by the throng of news reporters without anyone so much as glancing in their direction. When they were safely past the crowd, Leif again reached for Sofia’s hand.
“Nice work, babe,” he said. She smiled at him, but her smile looked rather sad now.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She chewed her lower lip for a moment before answering. “I’m just worried about how the High Council is going to deal with me now. My cover as a spy is blown, so I can’t do that sort of work anymore. But where does that leave me? I was hoping I’d be able to do a more normal job, but the High Council might have other ideas.”
“Such as?”
Another sigh. “They might want me to help track down Vincent. They won’t be happy that he got away, and I do know more about him and how he thinks than anyone else in Torch Lake. If they want that, then I might be gone for a long time. A really long time. We’d have to be apart for who knows how many months. Or longer.”
“I see.” Leif stroked the back of Sofia’s hand with his thumb, marveling for a few moments at how unbelievably smooth her skin was. Then he looked into her eyes and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Look, it will suck if we have to be apart. We’re just getting to know each other, and it would kill me to have to be away from you. But whatever happens, we’ll deal with it, okay? You’re my lifemate. I’m committed to you for life, Sofia. What difference does a few months make, or even a year or two? If you have to leave for work, you’ll go. We’ll keep in touch as best we can, and count down the days until we can be together again.
“But we’ve only just realized that we have feelings for each other,” Sofia said, slowing her pace now so that Seth and Evan walked several yards in front of them. “How can you be sure that I’m your lifemate? How can you truly commit to me for life?”
Leif stopped walking and took both of Sofia’s hands in his. “I know it doesn’t make a whole lot of logical sense. But lifemate bond
s aren’t based on rationality. They’re based on destiny. And I know I bonded with you. I know you are my destiny. So no matter how many obstacles are in our way, and no matter how long it takes for us to be together, I will fight for you. I will wait for you. I’ll hold on for you.”
Leif felt his voice shaking with emotion as he spoke. How could he make Sofia see how truly committed to her he was? How could he make her see that, no matter what, there would never be anyone else for him but her? He felt his heart twisting up with emotion, and he hoped with all his heart that he wouldn’t have to be separated from Sofia. But if he did, he would soldier on. He would wait for her, and give his all to showing her that she was worth the wait.
“But you hated me just a few days ago,” Sofia insisted. “How can you say now that you love me for life?”
Leif smiled sadly. “I hated what I thought you stood for. I hated that you would swoop in and try to change things in the dragon program without really understanding how dragons work, or what the program was intended to accomplish. But I was wrong. It was me who didn’t understand. And now that I do, all I can say is that I greatly admire how hard you’ve worked and how much you’ve sacrificed for the side of good. And I want to fight that fight together with you for as long as I live.”
Sofia bit her lip, and Leif felt another rush of warmth as he looked down at her. She was so damn cute. And sexy. And sweet. He could hardly wait to take her out on the town with him and show her off to all his friends. They were going to be shocked when they saw that the junior audit agent Leif had complained about so much had turned out to be his lifemate. He knew there would be a lot of teasing about that, but so be it. Life had a funny way of surprising you, and this had been the best surprise he’d ever received.
Sofia finally smiled at him and seemed to relax a little. “Okay. This is new for me…all this lifemate bond stuff. But I felt that warmth and connection you talked about. And I know I’m committed to you, too. So whatever happens today, just know that I’m on the same page as you. We’ll weather this together.”
Leif smiled back at her, and nodded. Then, together, they turned and walked into the High Council building behind Seth and Evan to learn what their fate would be.
Chapter Sixteen
The High Council’s conference room was more crowded than Leif had ever seen it. As he stepped inside, he saw that not only were all of the High Councilors there, but so were many of the leaders of different government bureaus. And of course, Jake was there. As People’s Governor, it would be important for him to learn what had happened out in Gray Oasis Forest today. Jake raised an eyebrow at Leif, and Leif gave him a sheepish shrug. To his relief, Jake smiled at him. Even if the High Council reprimanded Leif today, at least he knew that Jake would still stand up for him.
“Order! Order, please!” called Head Councilor Morgan. Even in his loud, authoritative voice, it took a few tries for him to get the room to settle down. When everyone was finally quiet, Councilor Morgan took a deep breath and began the meeting.
“Thank you all for coming to this meeting on such short notice. As you all know by now, it’s been quite an interesting day so far. You have all been briefed already on the break-in at our headquarters this morning, so I won’t spend a lot of time rehashing that. As you know, a group trying to raise support for dark magic has been operating in Torch Lake for the last several months. They call themselves the Dark Warriors, and we’ve been spying on them using one of our best spies, Sofia Hayes.”
Leif felt Sofia shift restlessly in her seat. He knew she didn’t feel very much like one of the best spies at the moment, since her cover had been blown. But the truth of the matter was that she had still done an excellent job of getting the Dark Warriors to trust her for quite some time. Leif knew that could not have been an easy job, and Councilor Morgan seemed to agree.
“Thanks to Sofia, we have an incredible amount of intel on the Dark Warriors. We know who many of the members were, and what specific dark spells they were trying to learn. We know which other wizard-shifters they were trying to contact, and we know that the group was focusing on trying to get to dragon shifters living in human towns, in hopes of recruiting them for their cause.”
A low murmur went through the room. Leif saw a mixture of anger and fear on many of the faces surrounding him. No doubt, everyone was remembering the last time a dragon shifter had dabbled in dark magic. That had been the cause of the recent Great Dark Magic War, a war no one was eager to repeat.
“How successful have they been in contacting dragons?” asked one of the heads of the Advocacy Bureau.
Councilor Morgan grimaced. “Well, so far they haven’t been extremely successful. They’ve been held back by the fact that the dragon shifters who aren’t living in wizard-shifter towns have done their best to remain hidden. They aren’t easy to find, as many of you who work in the Dragon Recovery Bureau know all too well.”
Groans came from a few people who served as leadership at the Dragon Recovery Bureau.
“The problem now,” Councilor Morgan continued, “Is that this morning, several of the Dark Warriors kidnapped Sofia and forced her, using dark magic, to open the vaults that contain information on where many of those dragon shifters live. Now, the whereabouts of many of the dragon shifters are known to our enemies. Research that we did painstakingly over a course of years has been captured in a matter of minutes.”
More murmuring and groans from the audience. Leif saw Sofia’s face going pale, and he squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Don’t worry,” he whispered to her. “No one blames you for this.”
She gave him a weak smile, but he could tell she wasn’t convinced. So Leif was glad when Councilor Morgan took the time to echo the sentiment.
“I want you all to know that there was nothing Sofia could have done to prevent this,” the head Councilor said. “The dark magic spells that were used on her were very advanced, and I doubt anyone in this room would have been able to properly resist them. Sofia did everything she could, and we in no way blame her for this break-in and information breach. The information she has gained for us is invaluable, and we recognize her for her hard work and selfless service to Torch Lake.”
“Here, here!” Jake yelled out, and started a loud round of applause which the rest of the room quickly joined in on. Leif gave Jake a grateful look. His friend didn’t know yet that Sofia was Leif’s lifemate. But Jake was perceptive, and could see that Sofia was important to Leif, so he’d made sure to stir up support for her. Now, Sofia blushed as the whole room cheered for her. She tried to wave off the support, but Leif could tell she was pleased. When the room finally quieted down, Councilor Morgan began speaking again.
“Up to this point, we have taken a very slow approach to bringing dragon shifters to our town. We’ve offered generous rewards in exchange for the dragons to deal with the dark monsters, and hoped that the dragons who accepted these jobs would learn to love Torch Lake while they were here, and decide to stay. But now that we know the Dark Warriors are making a move to get these dragons, and that they have the information to find them, we must step up our efforts. We will be dispatching several dragons already in our town to take care of the dark monster problem once and for all. We will no longer use this as an excuse to recruit dragons. Instead, we will be more up front with the dragon shifters, telling them that dark magic is once again on the rise, and we are trying to shore up our town against it.”
“But a lot of dragons just want to be left alone,” Seth pointed out. “They aren’t likely to come just because you tell them dark magic is coming back.”
Councilor Morgan smiled kindly at Seth. “That’s true, as you know better than most in this room, I would think. For that reason, we will be offering generous bonuses to dragons who agree to move here. But we can no longer spend time trying to subtly convince dragons to come. We must be frank, offer good rewards, and hope that we can get to most of these dragons before the Dark Warriors do. I know not every dragon will come. But some will, a
nd we can reach more dragons in a shorter amount of time with this new method.”
Leif felt his heart beginning to pound in his chest. If the dark monster missions were going to disappear, there would no longer be a need for his training programs. Where would that leave him? Would he still have a job? What part would he play in all of this?
As if Councilor Morgan could read Leif’s thoughts, he responded. “Leif, you have served well in your role as head of the Dragon Utilization Department, despite your recent defiant stint.”
Leif winced. “Your Honor, I apologize for running off so quickly to save Sofia without authorization. I realize this can be interpreted as an act of defiance against the head council, and I’m truly sorry for any trouble I caused. But I’m not sorry for what I did. Punish me if you must, but I don’t believe Sofia would be alive now if I hadn’t gone when I did. At the very least, she would not be here with us. She would still be in the power of the Dark Warriors and Vincent, and I can’t even bear to think of what they would have tried to do to her.”
Leif held his breath when he finished speaking, and forced himself to look up at Councilor Morgan. If they condemned him for saving Sofia, he would take his punishment like a man. But he would never say that he hadn’t done the right thing. He had done what he had to do to save the woman he loved. He now knew that when he ran off so quickly, he had been answering the lifemate call. He glanced at Sofia for a moment, and drew courage from the smile on her face. She would stand behind him. That was all that mattered.
But there was no anger in Councilor Morgan’s eyes. Instead, the Head Wizard laughed, and smiled over at Leif. “Leif, we have no plans to punish you. Of course, the High Council demands respect and obedience. But we also realize that we don’t know everything. And we know now that you were right. If you hadn’t gone, Sofia would likely be dead. You not only rescued her, but also severely wounded Vincent, possibly killed him. This is a great blow to the Dark Warriors, and we hope it will slow down any progress they are trying to make. For your quick thinking and fearless defense of Torch Lake and Sofia, we commend you. No discipline will be meted out for the fact that you ran off so quickly. We never want to discourage our citizens from following their heart when they know deep down that they are being called to do something courageous for the cause of good.”
Dragon Rescuing (Torch Lake Shifters Book 3) Page 12