Finally, he looked away, and stared off at the crowd again. The party was in full swing now, with a packed dance floor and wizards laughing and talking everywhere. Even Peter was getting into the party spirit—he was off to one side of the room showing off his impressive command of what the wizards affectionately called “party trick” spells. Right now, he was shooting colorful streamers from his magic ring. Not only did the streamers appear to come out of thin air, but they also turned into balloons in midair. After floating upwards for a few seconds, they popped loudly into a shower of sparkling confetti. Mac smiled as she watched the confetti cover the laughing group of wizards who had gathered to watch.
“So, Mac,” Zeke said, suddenly breaking the silence. “Since you’re the commander of the military, how do you feel about all this partying when we’re on the verge of war?”
The challenge in his voice was evident, and Mac had a feeling that no matter what she said, he was not going to approve of it unless it was a total denouncement of the banquet. But Mac didn’t think that the banquet was a waste, and she wasn’t going to lie to Zeke about that. She tried to choose her words carefully.
“Even in times of war, perhaps especially in times of war, it’s important to hold on to a sense of community. Wizards believe that celebrating life and its joys and festivities is something too sacred to sacrifice, no matter what the circumstances. And, by being here tonight, you and your fellow dragons are showing us that you hold celebrations sacred as well. Believe me, this will come in handy when times are tough on the battlefield. Remembering that you drank wine and danced with someone makes it easier to be willing to fight together on the battlefield—even if you must fight to the death.”
Zeke frowned, but did not argue with Mac’s statements. He looked over at her again and his expression actually even softened for a moment. Emboldened by this, she gathered up all her courage and asked the question she had wanted to ask since she first laid eyes on him tonight.
“Do you want to dance?”
Zeke looked at her so intensely that Mac once again found it difficult to breathe. For a moment, she thought he was going to agree, and her heart began pounding so fiercely that she began to fear it might break right through her ribs.
But then, Zeke shook his head.
“I don’t dance,” he said simply, his eyes kind but leaving no doubt that there was no room for negotiation on this.
Mac didn’t know what to say. She had somewhat expected this answer, and yet she was overcome by how crestfallen she felt. Before she could come up with a response, though, Zeke was standing to his feet.
“See you in the war room tomorrow, MacKenzie,” he said. Then he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze before walking off the platform, and across the room to where his leader, Noah, was standing and talking to a group of wizards.
Now Mac was the one sitting alone on the platform. She sat there for a long time, rubbing her shoulder which felt like it was on fire with electricity where he had touched it, and relishing the thought of how beautiful her full name had sounded coming from his lips.
Chapter Four
The next day, Zeke once again found himself riding in a big, black SUV with his fellow dragons. This time, however, they weren’t heading to the Great Hall. They were heading to the Military Headquarters of Falcon Cross. Zeke was feeling much more excited about today’s agenda than yesterday’s. He was ready to jump in and start planning a defensive strategy for the village. Plus, as an added bonus, today’s meetings did not require a suit. He was dressed comfortably in a pair of jeans and a navy polo shirt. He looked presentable, but he felt much more himself than he had in his suit last night.
Last night had seemed to go on forever. Zeke had done his best to act like he was having a good time, and he figured he’d done a halfway decent job of that. He’d spent most of the night shadowing Noah, shaking hands with the same people Noah did and making small talk with the same people Noah chatted with. Zeke figured that if he followed Noah’s lead, no one could fault him for not participating enough.
Zeke glanced over at the seat across from him in the SUV, where Owen was sitting and staring out the window. Owen had on a pair of dark sunglasses and was rubbing his forehead. No doubt he was slightly hung-over and exhausted from the evening before. If Zeke had worried about participating too little in the party, perhaps Owen should have worried about participating too much. Owen had done enough drinking and dancing for all four of the dragons combined, and he was paying for it today. Zeke was tempted to tease him about how rough he was looking today, but in the end he opted to keep his mouth shut. Owen was already on edge, and if Zeke annoyed him he would probably be in an even worse mood. And Zeke wanted everyone to be in good shape for the meeting today.
If Owen thrived on parties, Zeke thrived on work. Zeke had spent most of the early morning running through different topics that he wanted to cover in their meeting today. He only hoped that Mac would turn out to be a more serious commander than he had judged her for last night. He knew that the rest of the crew liked her, and that they were annoyed with him for judging Mac because of her sparkly, hot pink robes. But could they really blame him? How was he supposed to take anyone in hot pink robes seriously?
Zeke had to admit that, when Mac actually came over to talk to him, she came across as much more serious than he had thought she would. She seemed thoughtful and she had an intelligent look in her eyes. Still, he couldn’t quite understand why she would want to present herself as a bubbly girly girl instead of a serious commander.
Zeke found his pulse quickening slightly as he remembered the moment Mac had sat down next to him last night. He had been completely unprepared for how beautiful she was. When he had seen Owen talking to her earlier in the evening, he’d thought she was good-looking, but he hadn’t realized just how good looking. He’d been so preoccupied with her flashy dress robes that he hadn’t noticed how smooth and perfect her skin was, or how soulful and lovely her deep blue eyes were. She was undeniably gorgeous, and she affected him in a way that few women did. Average beauty had long ago lost its charm for Zeke. He had traveled the world, and he was a good-looking man, so there had been no shortage of women pursuing him. But he wasn’t interested in anything ordinary. If he was going to shake up his life to allow a woman into his heart, she would have to be both exceptionally beautiful and exceptionally intelligent. Something told Zeke that Mac was both of those things, if only he could look past the glittery front she insisted on maintaining.
Zeke frowned as this thought crossed his mind. Was he really sitting here musing about Mac’s potential as a romantic partner? Maybe Owen wasn’t the only one around here who needed to get a grip. Zeke was here to work, not to fantasize about a woman. Especially not a woman who seemed to be nearly as obnoxiously outgoing as Owen.
The SUV pulled up in front of Military Headquarters. This building was fenced and gated, and the driver of the SUV came to a stop at the gatehouse to show the guard his I.D.
“I’m here to drop off the shifters,” the driver said, a note of pride evident in his voice. The guard peered at the driver’s I.D., and then stuck his head into the driver’s window a bit so he could look in at the shifters.
“We’re happy you’re all here,” said the guard. “Goodness knows we need all the help we can get when it comes to fighting.”
Zeke frowned. He’d heard some variation of that sentiment quite often since the rumors of war first started, and he was beginning to worry. Was the army here really as bad as everyone made it out to be? Perhaps Mac wasn’t as intelligent as she’d appeared, after all. She seemed smart enough, but, then again, she’d seemed a little too dedicated to all the frivolous wizard traditions and customs—like the feast last night.
Zeke didn’t have long to ponder the matter, though. After a short drive up to the entrance of the building, the SUV pulled to a stop to allow the dragon crew to disembark. Zeke looked up at the large stone building as they made their way up the front steps. It was made of
stone, and, although it was much less ornate than the High Council headquarters had been, it still looked impressive, with its high walls and oversized wooden doors.
Raven was waiting for the crew at the top of the steps, and she gave them a small wave as they arrived.
“Come on in,” she said. “Mac is waiting for you. She’ll meet with you first to give you an overview of the military here, and then after lunch I’ll give you a tour of the building.”
Zeke was growing tired of tours at this point, but he didn’t want to complain. The rest of the crew already thought he was enough of a downer for his attitude about the banquet last night. The little bit of the building that he did see as Raven walked them to Mac’s office didn’t seem like anything special. It was mostly a long hallway interspersed with several office doors. On the walls hung framed portraits of numerous wizard military heroes. Zeke noticed with wry satisfaction that none of them were wearing hot pink.
If he had been expecting Mac to be wearing hot pink and sparkles again, though, he was in for a big surprise. When Raven opened a door marked Conference Room 1C and motioned for them to enter, there was not a drop of pink to be found. Instead, standing at attention at the head of the conference room table, was a very different version of MacKenzie Somers from the one Zeke had seen last night.
This Mac wore her blonde hair in a high, tight bun. She was not wearing a drop of makeup, as far as Zeke could tell, but he thought with awe that her natural, glowing skin looked even more beautiful than her makeup covered face had last night. She seemed taller than he remembered her, which didn’t make sense since he was pretty sure she had been wearing heels last night. Perhaps it was because the way she stood, so proud and straight with such a stern expression on her face, made her such a daunting presence.
She was wearing a military dress robe that was midnight black in color. On the left chest of the robes, the Falcon Cross military insignia was embroidered into the robe using silver thread. There was no pink to be seen on her today, and the only sparkle was the glint of metal from the numerous military badges that were pinned to her robe, signifying her high rank and multiple achievements. Zeke could hardly believe that someone so young had been so highly decorated. He figured it could only mean one of two things—either the wizards gave away military awards for every little thing, or Mac was actually a lot more fearsome than he’d originally judged her to be. Given the stern expression on her face right now, he was inclined to believe it was the latter.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” Mac said as they entered the room. “I trust you all slept well. Feel free to find a seat anywhere you’d like.”
Zeke raised his eyebrows in surprise when he heard Mac speak. Her tone was different than it had been last night. It was more formal, and had an unquestioning note of authority to it. He had to admit that if he hadn’t seen her all dolled up in pink and sparkles last night, he would never have thought to question whether she was serious enough for the job of military commander. But those hot pink dress robes and her flirtatious giggling were impossible to forget.
Zeke sat down in a chair near the middle of the long table, and the rest of the crew sat not too far from him. They were all comfortably spaced out, and yet reasonably close to where Mac was standing, waiting for them to settle in. A large stack of papers and a laptop sat on the table in front of her, and she shuffled through the papers for a moment before she began speaking.
“Our first order of business, I think, should be to get a good sense of what our resources are. We should discuss both the size and training of the wizard army, and we should also talk about what particular expertise all of you bring to the table. I know you are all excellent fighters and can all breathe fire, but I’d like to know if there are any special talents unique to any of you that I should know about. Once we all know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, we will be able to better plan for whatever the enemy might throw at us.”
“Well,” Noah said, “We’re definitely all good fighters, as you’ve said. And yes, we all breathe fire. We are also all excellent flyers. We’ve been well trained in acrobatic flying, and should be able to out-fly anyone the enemy can send our way. But we do all have specific strengths, too. I’m probably the best of the bunch at one-on-one combat. I can take on up to ten opponents at once, and not blink an eye, depending on how strong each of those opponents are, of course.”
Zeke saw Mac raise an eyebrow at this, and he felt a little puff of pride in his chest. What Noah was saying was impressive, but he was also being modest. Noah could usually take on fifteen opponents at once. The man was the fastest dragon at one-on-one fighting that Zeke had ever seen. Of course, there had not been many opportunities for fighting at that level during their lifetime, but Noah had worked hard to keep his fighting skills sharp. Like all of the Redwood Dragons, Noah had lost both of his parents in the last great shifter war. One of Noah’s ways of dealing with the grief had been to learn how to fight better than anyone else. Noah had sworn that if there was ever another great war, he would be well-prepared to defend those he loved. It looked like that next great war was on the verge of breaking out, but Noah was ready.
“As for Owen,” Noah continued, “He’s the guy you want when you need to raise your troops' morale. The man knows people, and he can get just about anyone riled up about just about anything. If you feel like your soldiers need encouragement and motivation, just ask him to say a few words to them. They’ll be raring to get on the battlefield in no time.”
Zeke saw Owen sit up a little straighter and smile as Noah praised him. Noah’s words were true, of course. Owen might be obnoxiously outgoing and a little too quick to party sometimes, but the man could get anyone to follow him into battle. He had a knack for saying exactly the right thing to motivate people to action.
“Now Myles is your stealth man,” Noah said. “He’s got the chameleon trick down cold. You know the chameleon trick?”
Mac shook her head no, so Noah explained.
“It’s basically a disappearing trick. Of course, chameleon shifters are best at it, but any reptile shifter can learn to do it. All of us here have learned it, and can become invisible by blending into our surroundings. But Myles is the best of the group at it. He can disappear so quickly and silently that you’ll swear he just disappeared into thin air. Not only that, but he’s good at moving silently through even the most difficult terrain, and he’s a damn good spy. If you need some intelligence work, he’s your best bet.”
Zeke knew he was next, and so did Mac. He saw her glance over at him, and when her eyes met his, his heart did a sudden, unexpected flip-flop in his chest. He caught himself just before he sucked his breath in a little too loudly, and he did his best to keep a neutral, unaffected expression on his face. But he could not pretend that he had not just felt a shiver of desire run through his entire body.
Get a grip, he told himself. You know she’s not your type. And besides, you guys are going to be working together to lead a military. Romance isn’t exactly conducive to a good working relationship.
Zeke looked away toward Noah, acting like he was supremely curious to know what his leader was going to say. In reality, he already had a good idea of what it would be, and he was right.
“Zeke here is what I like to call our secret weapon,” Noah said. “Don’t let his quiet, unassuming attitude fool you. He’s one of the smartest people you’ll ever meet. He can help you come up with brilliant strategies for both offense and defense. He’ll plan attacks so brilliant that your enemies will be defeated before they even know what hit them. He’ll set up defenses so well-thought-out that it would take an army ten times the size of yours to defeat you. In a nutshell, he’s the guy you want as your right-hand man, to advise you on what your next move should be. We are all here to serve in whatever ways you best think we can, of course. But my strong recommendation is that you leave the grunt work to me, Myles, and Owen, and keep Zeke close by for the big strategy decisions.”
Zeke felt his chest
puffing up a little more at Noah’s praise. He had expected Noah to recommend him as a strategist, but he hadn’t expected him to praise him quite so highly. He was almost a little embarrassed at how forceful Noah’s words had been, but at the same time, Zeke knew damn well that he deserved the praise. He had worked hard to learn how to devise strategies of all sorts, but military was his expertise. Zeke had gone out of his way to read and learn from the notes, memoirs, and biographies of hundreds of great military commanders, both shifter and human. He had self-taught himself how to be a warrior, and, although he hadn’t had many chances to use his offensive knowledge yet, he had proven many times over that he was excellent at defensive strategies. He had devised ways to keep the dragons’ ancient artifacts safe, and he had planned new ways to keep their hideout in the woods safe. Not only that, but he had proven his ability to think outside the box on his many missions to recover ancient artifacts. He had often recovered artifacts much quicker than anyone thought possible, simply by using unconventional methods to swoop in and get the job done.
Zeke finally forced himself to turn his gaze back to Mac. She was studying him intently, and he could see that she was fighting some sort of internal war with herself. She was wrestling with whether or not to appoint him as her right-hand man, he could tell. She was hesitating for some reason, and he wondered why. Did she feel threatened by him? Was she worried he was going to sweep in and take over all her authority? Or, perhaps, she didn’t believe Noah that he was really that intelligent. Sometimes, because he didn’t say a lot, people thought that Zeke didn’t know a lot. But nothing could be further from the truth. Just because he was the strong, silent type didn’t mean he couldn’t be smart, too. Zeke frowned slightly, feeling a familiar twinge of annoyance. He hated it when people judged him for not being outgoing and loud, as though being quiet and introspective was some sort of fatal flaw.
The Commander and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 3) Page 4