by C. I. Black
She couldn’t put if off any longer. She had to cash in on her agreement with Grey. Surely he would help her. He’d purred, too. That meant his soul had chosen hers as well. They were inamorated, forever bound to each other, and would never find another love like this again.
But she didn’t know if being inamorated meant she could trust him. It certainly didn’t mean she could trust his friends or his doyen.
She bit back a growl.
None of that mattered. She would use what she knew to force them to help her.
Except that was only fooling herself. Even if she had the experience to know how to leverage her knowledge without it backfiring, she wasn’t that kind of drake. Despite being desperate, the idea of hurting Grey like that made her insides squirm.
Mother! She’d just met the man. A connection between them had to be impossible. And if she didn’t imprint as much of today as she could into her locket, she wouldn’t remember him tomorrow.
That made the ice in her gut flare, hard and sharp. Maybe that was why he hadn’t said anything about the purring. He knew she’d forget and had decided any kind of relationship with her was too difficult.
Her throat tightened. He was probably right. And really, all they had was this one evening. It had been a wonderful couple of hours or so at most. No more than a moment… one glorious, amazing moment. She couldn’t understand how thinking about this drake who she didn’t really know filled her with such desire and heartache and yearning and grief.
One of the three phones on the kitchenette counter chirped, and she rushed to answer it before it woke Grey. All of his wounds had been closed when they’d left the shower and moved to the bed, but that didn’t mean he was fully healed, and if there was even the slightest chance they were going to run into Jet at the museum, she wanted him as healed as possible.
“Hello?” she asked into the phone. Her gaze jumped to the other two phones. It wasn’t Grey’s or Diablo’s—
Which meant it was hers.
Her heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t thought she’d missed her check-in time, but—
She had no idea what time it really was.
“What the hell have you gotten into?” Ophelia growled.
“Well, I—”
“The Handmaiden’s man was spotted in Seville with someone who fit your description.”
“Well, yes—”
“There were gunshots and an explosion. Regis’s new assassin showed up looking like he’d lost a fight.”
He had, and she’d been the one who’d shot him. “Yes—”
“You were supposed to go to the Handmaiden’s residence and figure out what this black drake—”
“Her name is Jet.”
Ophelia hissed. Ivy was certain the drake was baring her teeth with pure aggression. “Let me guess. Grey told you,” she said, her tone darkening on his name.
Ivy fought the urge to growl back. “Yes.”
“And he convinced you to go to Seville.”
“He didn’t have to convince me. The chamberlain wants to know what’s going on and that’s what I’m trying to find out.” Except that hadn’t really been her assignment. She’d only gone with Grey because she was terrified the drake after the coin was Regis and she couldn’t let him get his hands on it and because she had to find a way to stay in the human world.
“You were told to read the memories in the Handmaiden’s residence then go to the office tower in Newgate, not chase a dangerous drake — while in the company of an equally dangerous drake — to Spain.”
“Ophelia—”
“No. Where the hell are you? You’re getting to a gate, and you’re meeting me in Newgate.”
“I can’t do that.” Even if she wanted to return to Court, Grey needed her near to keep his memories at bay so he could break into the museum. She couldn’t abandon him now.
“You can and you will,” Ophelia said. “Somehow you’ve attracted the attention of the dugga of the Asar Nergal, and he’s demanded Tobias permanently transfer you to his unit.”
“The Asar Nergal?”
“The unit formed to hunt down and kill human mages. Ivy—” Ophelia’s tone softened. “The dugga is a good man, but he won’t understand your…”
“My condition?” Ivy asked, using the same term Grey had used to describe himself. It was no wonder their souls had picked each other. They were both broken.
“Yes, your condition,” Ophelia said. “The Asar Nergal’s job is dangerous. I don’t even know how the dugga learned about you or your earth magic.”
Neither did Ivy. The only drake she’d revealed her secret to had been Grey, and he hadn’t made a phone call since she’d told him. Unless Tobias or Regis had told him.
“Meet me in Newgate. Tobias needs a report and I need to figure out what to do about the dugga.”
“No.” Dugga or not, Ivy had to see this through. But a new fear tightened within her. Even if she never returned to Court and figured out a way to hide from Regis and Tobias, could she hide from the dugga? His job was to hunt down humans trying to hide. She turned and stared out the dark windows at the lights of the city’s high rises. He had to know the human world better than the chamberlain or the prince.
“What do you mean, no?”
“I mean I have to—”
A gate whooshed behind her, and Diablo, holding a small black suitcase, appeared in the window’s reflection. His gaze locked on her and his eyes narrowed.
“Who are you talking to?” He dropped the suitcase, flashed out of existence and reappeared in front of her.
“I’ve got to go.” She hung up on Ophelia.
“Who were you talking to?” Danger radiated from his aura in palpable waves, even more intense than when she’d first met him at his doyen’s house. Was he the dugga? Ophelia had said the dugga was a good man, but Ivy wasn’t certain that Diablo was.
“If I didn’t report in, Tobias would send someone after me.”
“And what did you report?”
“Nothing.”
“Yeah, right.” He flashed a hint of teeth.
She shifted back. Yes, it was a sign of weakness, but he was clearly the more powerful drake. “I don’t know how loyal the chamberlain is to Regis, but there’s no way in hell I’m letting the prince get the coin.”
He sneered, exposing even more teeth. “Those are traitorous words.”
“I mean—” Crap. She had to be more careful than that. The wrong word to the wrong drake, and she’d be arrested or killed. “The coin is too dangerous for anyone to have.”
Diablo snorted. “I’m pretty sure you really meant the first one. Regis can’t have it.”
“I—” This was a trap, and she had no idea how to get out of it. Except she’d already said what she’d said and meant it.
Diablo’s sneer deepened.
God damn it, she was already caught. “And if my prince wanted loyalty, he wouldn’t trade me like a game piece to the dugga,” she said under her breath. The fear in her gut snapped sharp.
Shit. She shouldn’t have said that, either. Not even whispered it. But she was just so tired of being used. While in the shower with Grey, she’d finally done something for herself, and it had felt good. So good. She craved more and sure as hell wasn’t going back to the way things were when she woke that morning. She wanted new thoughts imprinted in her locket when she woke tomorrow. She wanted to know she had drakes she could trust. She wanted to know she didn’t have to be afraid any more.
Diablo barked a harsh laugh. “So that’s how he’s doing it.”
“Doing what?”
“You honestly don’t think after meeting me and Nero and the others that we’d let you return to Court.”
“Not return?”
“Diablo,” Grey said, his voice dark. He stood in the doorway to the bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist hanging dangerously low on his hips.
“Did you know?” she asked.
The muscle in his jaw clenched, and the ice within her
exploded, racing into her chest. “You knew when you shared that memory? When we—” Her throat tightened and heat flooded her face. “That’s why you could trust me not to tell anyone, because you knew I wouldn’t be able to.”
“Oh, man, you two?” Diablo snorted. “I thought you had better sense than to sleep with a member of the royal coterie.”
“Ivy—”
He’d lied to her. A lie by omission, but a lie nonetheless. “You owe me.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s already paid,” Diablo said.
“We made a deal, and I’m cashing in, or God help me—” She grabbed her locket and glared at Grey. “God help me, I will tell Tobias everything.”
Diablo seized her, grabbed her head, jerking it to a painful angle, and wrapped an arm around her neck. “I don’t think so.”
Grey’s eyes flared wide then narrowed with fury. With a roar, he lunged toward them.
Diablo’s gate whooshed around him and Ivy. The world twisted, then hardened, and they stood on the other side of the room.
Grey wrenched around to face them. He’d lost the towel and stood gloriously naked, his powerful muscles tense, his hair, only half dry, hanging wild around his head, making him look ferocious.
“Let her go,” he growled, everything about him radiating danger.
“She threatened my coterie,” Diablo said.
Ivy clawed at his arm, trying to break free, but his grip around her neck tightened, cutting off her air.
“You just heard her. Nero has already taken care of it,” Grey said.
“Once he has her, he’ll what? Lock her in the basement? If she has access to a phone, she’s still a danger. Taking her head at least will limit her suffering.”
“She’s not going to tell Regis anything.”
“She was just on the phone with Tobias.”
Black specks danced across her eyes. Her pulse pounded faster and she grabbed her locket. If she passed out without imprinting anything there, when she awoke she’d forget everything. She’d forget Grey.
“I made her a promise.”
God, that felt like a lifetime ago. She’d never left Court before today. She’d seen vast mountains and a frozen garden and an enormous library.
Diablo’s grip relaxed a fraction. “Why the hell would you make her a promise?”
She’d seen a ferocious drake, now standing naked before her, risk everything to protect dragonkind. He’d protected her with his body when Jet had thrown that grenade, and he’d used that body to bring her pleasure she hadn’t known was possible.
Mother, she didn’t want to forget any of it. All she wanted was to be her own dragon, to make her own decisions, to trust someone.
She met Grey’s gaze. It was filled with pain and love and that sizzling, sure connection she’d seen when they’d made love.
“It doesn’t matter. I owe her. She doesn’t need to use what she knows to get her favor.”
“I don’t trust her.” But Diablo’s grip didn’t tighten again.
“I do.”
“With your life?”
The pain turned to sadness. Yeah, she was probably going to forget parts of this in the morning, but she’d be damned if she forgot everything.
“With my soul.”
Diablo tensed, his arm tightening, the muscles in his chest hard against her back. The pulse in his arm pounded against her neck. One thud of his heart. Two—
“Ah, fuck. Not you, too?”
Grey quirked an eyebrow. “You know me. If I can make it complicated…”
“This is just fucking awesome.” He released her and jerked away. “It doesn’t mean she’s less of a danger.”
“Working for the dugga will keep her out of Court,” Grey said.
“I don’t want to work for the dugga. That’s what I want to use my favor for. I don’t want to work for anyone, and I don’t want to be trapped at Court not knowing who I can trust.” Ivy tightened the tie on her robe. “If it didn’t bring Regis’s wrath, I’d beg your doyen for sanctuary. But if Regis knows where I am, he won’t let me go.”
“You’ve got an awfully high opinion of yourself.”
Her throat tightened at the truth. “My earth magic is too good at finding traitors.”
Diablo huffed. “Yeah, right.”
“You have a secret conversation and my magic will show me the memory of it.”
Diablo’s expression darkened. “I can see how Regis would find that useful.”
Grey grabbed his towel off the floor and wrapped it back around his waist. “Did you bring the clothes?”
“Yeah.” Diablo jerked his chin toward the suitcase. “And I brought the blueprints for the museum. It looks like secure doors use a keypad lock. You’ll need to connect your phone to mine to get my app to hack those, along with my video surveillance takeover app.”
“Hey.” They were talking as if everything was fine when nothing was. “We haven’t finished our conversation.”
Diablo snapped his attention back to her and glared. “Are you going to endanger my coterie?”
A shiver swept through her and the cold in her gut surged. He was dangerous. Without a doubt, he’d kill her and not think twice about it. She ground her teeth and matched his glare. “Are you going to help me escape Court and the dugga?”
“Not my debt,” Diablo said, a wicked gleam lighting his eyes.
“Stop messing with her.” Grey extended a hand, palm up, the same offer he’d made in the bathroom, one of trust and an invitation to join him.
She slid her hand into his, her fingers entwining between his and his memory fire caressing her skin. A hint of lightning-hot attraction zinged through her, and she fell into his gaze. He held her heart and soul. She would go with him to the ends of the earth, fight his battles with him — probably fight with him, too. They were dragons, after all — and love him for eternity, whether she wanted to or not.
“You two are disgusting,” Diablo said. “For the love of God, just tell her Nero is the dugga and be done with it.”
The words muddled in her head. “Your doyen, Nero, is the dugga?”
“Which is why we’re not worried about you being transferred into the dugga’s employ.” Grey brought her hand up and brushed his lips against her skin, drawing another shiver.
“He’s also not Grey’s doyen,” Diablo said. “I’m guessing that would be… Hunter?”
“Hunter will never be doyen of a coterie.” Grey’s gaze jumped past her to Diablo. “No matter what other drakes want, and he’ll never challenge Regis for the throne.”
“Well, someone should.” Diablo grabbed the suitcase and opened it up on the chair across from them. “With Regis’s traitor-finder no longer in his employ, it’ll make everything easier.”
The muscles in Grey’s jaw tensed. “It’ll also make everything more dangerous. More coups mean more souls in jeopardy.”
“Not if someone has this coin.” Diablo tossed a black dress shirt at Grey.
“The coin will only make a bad situation worse.” With an apologetic glance, Grey brushed his lips across the back of Ivy’s hand again then released her. He pulled a suit jacket out of the suitcase before Diablo could throw that at him, too.
“Which means we need to stay on mission.” Ivy was certain she didn’t know all of the political ramifications, but it was clear having the coin — even Regis just knowing about the coin — was bad. “We get the coin piece and then I swear my allegiance to a new doyen.”
“Wonderful.” Diablo shoved a black, silky dress into Ivy’s hands. “Another misfit to add to the mansion. We’re going to run out of rooms.”
“You’re not going to run out of rooms. You have a whole wing currently unoccupied.” Grey shrugged into the dress shirt. “Besides, with all the earth magic in the house, I’m sure it won’t take long to build an extension.”
Diablo rolled his eyes at Grey. “Sure, let’s just ask the sorcerer to add the windows instead of blowing them out next time.”
&nbs
p; “You know a sorcerer?” But the information in her locket said the Handmaiden was the dragons’ only sorcerer. She caught Grey’s gaze. “You could ask her to… you know.”
“Hunter would kill him if they… you know,” Diablo said, his tone filling the words you know with sexual innuendo.
Heat flooded Ivy’s face and a hint of rage at Grey having sex with any other drake flared in her chest. “That’s not what I meant.”
Diablo flashed her a wicked grin. “I know, but it’s so much fun to mess with the newly inamorated.”
“Anaea is new to her sorcerer’s ability,” Grey said, “so it’s—”
“Complicated.” Diablo rolled his eyes. “And when you’re situated in the mansion, Grey will have time to explain everything. If you two aren’t too busy with… you know.”
She glanced at Grey, shrugging into the dress shirt, the towel still slung seductively low on his hips. More sensual desire swelled within her. In a few hours, everything would be different. She’d be free, with her inamorato, and ready to explore a new world full of possibilities.
CHAPTER 29
Servius squared his shoulders, his stomach churning and his pulse racing, and raised his hand to knock on the door to the Handmaiden’s outer chamber.
Regis had summoned him and the only thing that had prevented him from fleeing was that the summons had come in the form of a page and not a handful of guards to haul him to prison.
I haven’t been discovered. I have not been discovered. The words rushed through his head, over and over again. Running now would give everything away.
Mother, he hoped that was true.
Maybe Regis had summoned him to congratulate him on Grey’s death.
But that didn’t make sense. Regis didn’t know that Grey had been a danger to Servius’s plans. He shifted, his hand still poised to knock.
Stay focused on the plan. You have not been discovered.
Jet was on her way to the temple in Arrapha — she was probably already there. Soon she’d be on her way to Vancouver to get the other coin from the Chang’an temple, and then back to the Handmaiden’s secret residence to finish the spell to join the pieces. After that, they’d meet in the arena and he could claim his rightful place as emperor of the dragons.