“I’m sure you don’t. But it still doesn’t make sense.”
“I have opened the gates a day earlier than they would have on their own, and by doing so, have gained us a notoriety of sorts that will allow us to not appear as the enemy. You should thank me.”
“I would rather damn you, because it’s all a ruse. I’ve peeked behind the curtain.” I said with a menacing smile.
“Well, that is rather uncouth, Master Temple.” There was that word being used to describe me again. He pondered for a moment, smiling and nodding at a guest over my shoulder before continuing in almost a whisper. “Some people delight in creating things, building cities, painting masterpieces, and then there are those others… the ones who love to walk up and flick that first domino… the domino that sets off a chain reaction of unstoppable chaos, destroying something that was most beautiful.” He paused for emphasis. “That would be me. I would rather set off the chain reaction then be the domino stuck in the chaos.” He glanced over as two women approached. I could tell by the way they moved that they were dragons, but they must have been wearing contacts because their eyes were quite normal.
“We must vacate this place for loftier heights,” He said softly. “We wouldn’t want to leave the wolf locked up all day, would we? He probably needs to be let outside. And there is the promise of the thief you wished to meet.” He added with a sad smile.
Tory squeezed my arm. “Shall we?” She asked, eyes flaming.
“Oh, yes, shall we?” Misha purred beside her.
“I wouldn’t be much of a gentleman if I didn’t succumb to such beauties as the two of you.” I said with a smile as an elderly couple walked past us, staring at us as if we were rock stars from their youth. I kind of liked the attention. I just hated its cause.
Alaric leaned closer. “I must insist on my own transportation if you wish to visit my home. We wouldn’t want any strange vehicles left on the property if you decided to stay indefinitely.” The words dripped with the promise that if I crossed him, my body would never leave the property. I nodded back, having expected it. “Good. I will be along shortly. Make yourself at home, of course.” We followed the two female dragons away from the Expo, Alaric speaking briefly with two older gentlemen behind us.
I recognized them as congressmen.
Fuck.
Chapter 38
W e pulled up to Alaric’s mansion half an hour later, granted entrance by a small intercom at the wide iron gates a mile down the driveway. The dragons had tried talking to Misha several times, but her face had remained stony, giving them no false understanding of whose side she was now on. Neat. I guess my mind work on her had been permanent. I felt slightly guilty about that, but didn’t have the time to worry about it just yet. I felt odd as I noticed her repeatedly glancing at my chest where her dragon tooth hung around my neck. Could she sense it? But I remained silent.
I hoped Raego showed up, because if there were as many dragons as he feared nearby, then I would never make it out alive. And neither would Tory or Gunnar.
Alaric’s Bentley stopped, and we were encouraged to get out by a sultry brown-eyed woman, her eyes so deep a mahogany that I almost didn’t notice the horizontal slits. We followed her inside a home that seemed every bit as impressive as Chateau Falco, and I wondered how they had acquired such a nice home on such short notice if they were so new to town. Or had they been here longer than I thought? How long had Peter really been working for them? My gut lurched at thoughts of Peter’s betrayal. I was pretty sure he would be here. He might have even convinced Alaric to let him keep his new bracelet.
Then I remembered that I would get to see the thief soon, the shadowy silhouette I had watched sneak into Temple Industries on the video feed, the person who even the high-tech camera hadn’t been able to identify. That brought my thoughts back to the odd music box that I had stowed away in my secret vault at Plato’s Cave.
Tory stumbled as one of the dragons forcefully encouraged her to move faster. Her resulting scowl was frightening if one knew her, but comical if not. She was just so tiny. The dragon didn’t seem to care.
We strode past a wide-open room with a ceiling made completely of glass, construction work still apparent in some corners, and I stopped for a second. The floor and walls were rich sandstone, with massive boulders and slabs placed lovingly around the room like others would place chairs and couches. Then I saw a flicker of movement and realized that three full sized dragons were lounging on the rocks, lazily bathing in the sun. I saw the heating coils that spread throughout the room and blinked at the expense. The rocks were heated. Almost like a huge reptile cage that a child would have for a pet iguana. I shivered, and continued on.
We passed many more rooms, but finally headed into a more private area of the house, less glamorous and more dated; rougher stone walls and less decoration. Torches lit the halls. A heavy set of oak wooden doors stood closed at the end of the hall, an Italian phrase engraved into a monolith above them: Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’entrate!
Abandon all hope, Ye Who Enter Here.
Misha shivered. “Not here. Anywhere but here.” She whispered. I placed a comforting hand on her soft skin and my power spiked. She blinked watery eyes in appreciation, not feeling the power surge like I had. Our guards opened the large double doors and ushered us into another cavernous glass-ceilinged room. Several dragons leaned against the wall around the room, but our guides remained close to the door like guards.
My two best friends stood before me.
Peter and Gunnar seemed to sparkle in the rays of sunlight that speared down from the ceiling. Gunnar sat in full werewolf form, but was without his characteristic Underdog underwear. He was attached to a leash held loosely in Peter’s hand. The moon hovered beside the sun in the sky above us. It was almost time.
Peter smiled at us. “So nice of you to join us, Nate. Your friends are already here waiting.” He motioned a finger at Gunnar, and then at an altar behind him. Raego was chained up with iron manacles, looking dazed. I blinked away the tinge of red from my vision, trying to maintain my composure. Tory touched my arm, and my power jumped again. I knew that I could incinerate everyone in the room as easily as breathing, but that wouldn’t solve anything. I needed to kill Alaric, and I didn’t know how many other dragons were present. I also didn’t know the particulars of the spell. Had he already started the necessary steps? Would killing everyone somehow ignite it?
I took a deep breath, and Peter frowned. “No witty comment? No clever repertoire? It seems might is right after all.” If Raego hadn’t told me Peter was involved, I might have had a heart attack upon seeing him here, but now it just made me furious at the betrayal. Defcon 1 furious.
“Why is he here?” I pointed at Raego.
“Alaric needs the blood of a traitor to fuel his ritual. His own son was almost too much to pass up once we found him snooping around. I have to admit that I was surprised to later discover that he was none other than your employee, Jessie, but now I see how my book request went sour.” He backhanded Raego, spittle flying from the dragon’s lips. His wrists were bloody around the manacles, proving he had struggled. He opened his mouth in a curse, looking furious, but there was no sound. A spell.
I took a threatening step closer.
Gunnar’s white hackles lifted and he growled a warning at my advance. “Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Peter smiled. “Your reputation has increased over the last few days, killing those dragons, but I must admit that I played a small part in the ruckus as well.” I stared back, not comprehending him. “The break-in at Plato’s Cave, and the gargoyles for example. Even though they seemed to merely inconvenience you, one had to try after you so wisely told me exactly where you were.”
I almost killed him. Right there. With my untapped reservoir of new power, I knew I could, but there were also a handful of dragons in the room watching me, no doubt ready to squish the weak humans before them, and Alaric was still
absent. If Peter continued his banter, I didn’t know if I would be able to control myself much longer.
“Who would have known that this renegade whelp was your client the whole time? Well, I put a stop to that, didn’t I, Raego?” Peter backhanded him again.
I threw a sledgehammer bar of air at him before I even thought about it. The dragons tensed in the room, but Peter merely flicked his wrist at it as if swatting away a child’s tantrum. The energy slammed back into me, stinging my arm all the way up to my shoulder. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. I began to massage my shoulder, but stopped at Peter’s smirk. “Pitiful, Nate. Just pitiful. But I wouldn’t try that again if I were you.”
“You weren’t too hard to take down last night, Peter. We both know who would win if I really tried to hurt you.” I sneered. He snarled back angrily. Something was… off in his eyes. I had seen it at my shop, but it had progressed since then, as if madness were creeping in to uncover an entirely different person than my childhood friend. The bracelet wasn’t just giving him power. It was changing him. Polishing those darker parts of his psyche until they obscured the rest of him.
“I could have taught you all this, and without the chains!” I yelled.
“Who is wearing chains now, Nate?” He glanced pointedly at Raego. “I made new friends — friends who share my same opinions on justice. Might is right. As you shall soon see. This bracelet has granted me what I have wanted my entire life. Power.” A psychotic gleam twinkled in his eyes. “The only price was servitude. And after seeing what will happen when Alaric arrives, you will understand why that wasn’t such a thing to give up. The justice of the strong will prevail. Thrasymachus was correct after all, damn Plato and Socrates.”
“Peter, do not do this. I beg you. It is a line you cannot re-cross.”
“Oh, I know the lines, Nate. Perhaps it’s you who don’t. I have lived on the other side of your precious line, and it wasn’t favorable. Now I’m on the side of power, but I do not whine and cower like you. I embrace the gift, and will put it to good use under Alaric. I would be a god under a Titan.” His eyes danced with hungry greed.
“I am with him.” He whispered, pointing a finger towards the door. As if it were a cue, the heavy doors creaked open and Alaric strode into the room, three more dragons trailing him.
“Ah, our guests have arrived. Let the festivities commence!” Alaric’s voice boomed into the cavernous room.
Chapter 39
I recognized Tatiana — fully nude in human form — with her fiery red hair and glacial blue eyes, but the other two were smaller red dragons in full dragon form, perhaps the size of two Great Dane’s mashed together. Misha tensed beside me, her hand rising as if to caress them. They shot her icy, hateful stares but remained beside Alaric.
I heard the faintest of whispers from Misha, raw with grief. “My babies…”
My heart broke. “You die first, Tatiana. I promised, and I meant it.”
She smirked back, eyes daring me.
Peter was staring at Alaric like a loyal dog. There was nothing left of the man I had grown up with. Power had corrupted him entirely. I risked a glance at Gunnar, and saw a hopeless fight in his eyes. He was still inside there, but had no way to overcome the leash Peter was holding. It was up to me. To us.
Tory was breathing heavily as she glared at Alaric. Another nude woman stepped closer to her master, and I smiled in recognition. Aria. Tory had broken her arm yesterday in Alaric’s suite at the Expo. Then my smile wavered. She lifted up a perfectly healed arm to inspect in the sunlight, twisting it back and forth with a grin. “I can do a better job of it today, if you’re unsatisfied.” Tory offered, smiling.
Aria hissed back, but Alaric raised a commanding hand, amusement on his face. “Oh, I really like her.”
“Do you like me, like me?” She teased seductively, taking an aggressive step forward. I managed to hold her back, but it was like grabbing onto a moving car.
Alaric laughed at that. “What spunk!” He turned to me. “Do you like the reference?” He motioned at the epitaph above the entrance to the room.
“Through me you pass into the city of woe: Through me you pass into eternal pain… Abandon all hope ye who enter here.” I quoted easily. “But I doubt Dante would think this room worthy of comparison to the nine circles of hell.” I said, disinterested.
Alaric blinked back. “That is quite a memory.”
I waggled a hand. “Eidetic. Kinda’ neat, I know.”
“Did you know that Dante encountered Wyvern’s — an arcane term for dragons — while traipsing with Virgil through hell?” I rolled my eyes, nodding. “So I would argue that the inscription is indeed worthy of comparison.”
“Tomatoes, toe-mah-toes.” I murmured.
He frowned. “I hope that you now see how beneficial our situation could be together, Master Temple. One mustn’t be foolish or make hasty decisions. Our coalition will benefit all.” Peter’s eyes tightened at the prospect of me joining them.
“But I just can’t stand the idea of my city being overrun by a reptile dysfunction. It’s just not right.” There was a long silence, and then Tory bent over laughing, but she was the only one, as the rest of the guests were all dragons, and had no taste for my wit.
Alaric shook his head in disapprovl and turned to Peter, appraising him thoughtfully. “I hear congratulations are in order…” Raego struggled hopelessly against the sharp manacles, still oddly silent as his mouth opened wide in a yell of soundless pain.
Peter beamed. “I captured the traitor, Master.”
“Only with our aid, human. Don’t overstep yourself.” Tatiana warned.
Peter shrugged. “Neither of us could have done it on our own, true, but it is done, thanks to my aid.”
She began to argue, but Alaric interrupted her. “Pride can be agreeable… at times.” Peter smiled wider. “Come to me,” Peter obliged. “Your pet will be fine where he is for now.” He dropped the leash obediently.
“You gave him a pet? He can barely take care of himself, and you give him responsibility over another person?” I blurted, laughing.
Peter scowled, but Alaric spoke. “The werewolf is quite securely under my command. Peter as his guardian is not as risky as you might think.” Gunnar’s eyes had lost their hopeful spark. I wondered what the leash had done to him. Was it permanent, like my control over Misha?
Alaric began talking to Peter in a low voice, and I leaned over to Tory and Misha.
“Be ready.” I whispered, feeding my words through the link with them so that no one else could hear what was said.
Tory gave a barely discernable shake of her head. “I hope you two can be extra scary today, or we are all fucked.” She breathed.
“Scary is my forte…” I breathed back hungrily. Misha smiled faintly, still glancing with concern at her dragon children. I turned back to Alaric, ready to lay my cards on the table. Part of me died at what I was about to do, a lifetime of memories flashing through my mind as I remembered all my childhood experiences with my two best friends: Peter and Gunnar. But that was all it was now. Memories. Peter was lost. He had chosen the wrong side. Still, I didn’t know if I would ever be able to sleep again after this. It would haunt me forever.
But it was right.
“It seems Peter has found a new home with you here.” Alaric glanced over. “That’s good. From what you say, loyalty is fairly important to your harem.” He watched me more intently now, and I saw Peter’s face turn stony, apprehensive. “I just find it interesting, curious really, that you’re buddy, buddy with a man who happened to kill one of your…” I frowned dramatically. “I honestly don’t know what to call her. Your daughter? Lover?” I waved a hand in dismissal. “But I digress. The yellow one. Oily fire dragon?” Alaric’s face went blank in recognition. “Yep. Her. She sure didn’t like a glacier bullet to the chest from your newest minion. But who would, right?” I laughed lightly, but the tension in the
room spiked. Dragons hissed, and Peter opened his mouth to argue.
Alaric reached out and placed a suddenly clawed hand on Peter’s shoulder, the claws piercing the flesh hard enough for Peter to cry out. “It seems my congratulations are unnecessary, and punishment is in order. She was one of my favorites… You told me that Master Temple was responsible for her untimely death.”
Peter began to answer, but Alaric squeezed his shoulder tighter. Without a word spoken by Alaric, Tatiana grabbed Peter’s arm and led him over beside Raego, chaining him up. “For this information alone I would have given you anything you wished, but as this is something I already promised it seems I will be in your debt.” Alaric sighed to me.
I blinked, not understanding. Tatiana stepped away from Peter’s bound body with a satisfied smile, but not before licking his neck hungrily. “I give you your thief, Master Temple. This is the man who stole the curious music box from Temple Industries…Your best friend.” I stared, having momentarily forgotten about the odd box. I was dumbfounded, but suddenly even less concerned about what I was committing Peter to. Not only had he betrayed me, but he had also betrayed my parents.
Un-fucking-forgivable.
My vision pulsed with the blood behind my eyes as I stared into his soul, and I knew that even with his newfound power, part of him stilled in unbridled fear — a delicious fuel for my revenge.
It was a start.
“I see.” I managed to say as the room steadily darkened. I glanced up to see that the moon was slowly merging with the sun, blocking out a quarter of the natural light.
“So it seems we each have a traitor in our mist. Yours, a dear friend from childhood who would betray anything for power… even biting the hand that feeds him.” Alaric added the last with a growl. “And mine, my own son who chose to abandon his familial duties.” He turned away from the two traitors, and looked me in the eye. “So, who dies first?” He grinned; anxious at the pain the choice would cause me.
Obsidian Son (The Temple Chronicles Book 1) Page 28