Onyx Dragons: Jasper (7 Virgin Brides for 7 Weredragon Billionaires Book 5)

by Starla Night

  The lack of encouragement was frosty.

  “But anyway, it might not have been up to him, and …”

  Nobody was listening. Elle had returned to typing furiously, and the others didn’t care about her defending Jasper.

  It made her sad. They’d been so close before.

  No, not close. They’d been close to Jasper. Rose had kept them at arm’s length. On purpose, so it wouldn’t hurt when they turned against her.

  Funnily enough, it hurt anyway.

  She cleared her throat of the painful lump. “So, what are you doing? Since it clearly isn’t work.”

  Nobody answered.

  She sucked in a deep breath against the pain and turned away. “Okay, I’ll just—”

  “We’re having a resume party,” Elle said, breaking the silence. “And Patty’s making a list of prices for selling her restored furniture on eBay.”

  “Oh.” Rose cleared her throat again. “Huh. Are you, uh, having any luck with that?”

  “Shawn’s got a job interview tomorrow. I’m looking for a paid internship. Patty?”

  “Look at this beauty.” She tilted the papers to show off a gray chest of drawers with elaborate carvings not unlike what might go in Jasper’s ship. If it were gold, it could match the bed. “It sold for a hundred dollars. I’ve got three in my garage.”

  “Wow.”

  “I always wanted to start the business, and Ed said, why not? Since we’re getting pushed out anyway, I just have to figure out my schedule so I don’t bump into Ed, and I don’t get tapped for babysitting. People think since my hair is gray, I can’t get enough of my grandkids, but let me tell you, I can.”

  “Rent an office,” Elle suggested. “Or a showroom or something so you have to be out of the house.”

  “Then my husband will drop the kids off.”

  “Don’t tell him where it is.”

  She tapped her lips, pensive. Then, she gestured to Rose. “You want to sit? I have space.”

  “Thanks, but I have to get back. The sewage filters wait for no one.”

  “You’re not on the rota.”

  “I know, but if we wait until my week, there won’t be any pipes left.”

  Shawn smiled evilly. “We can only hope.”

  The others shared his ill humor.

  Rose didn’t enjoy leaving her coworkers in this mood. Even though she wasn’t their supervisor, and they had every right to be upset about how they were treated, they shouldn’t let the place fall apart. “What’s the point of coming in if you’re not going to work?”

  Elle snapped up her head. “What’s the point of working if you’re going to get fired, anyway?”

  Rose felt her mouth open, and she closed it. “Responsibility? Being responsible. A part of the team?”

  Elle exchanged glances with the others.

  Shawn said it best. “When you find the team, let us know.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Shawn’s snide remark kicked Rose right in the gut.

  Right.

  Rose headed out of the staff room and almost flattened Peridot. “Oh! Goodness. Peridot!” She raised her voice, so they’d hear her inside the lounge. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see you.” He turned away from the staff room without looking inside and walked with her to the environmental tech closet. “You’re not at your station.”

  “Yes! Ah, you see, um, Jasper was supposed to give me a ride to work, and—”

  “Larimar abducted Jasper.”

  Ice water crashed over her. She gasped. Her worst fears confirmed. “No.”

  “Yes,” he replied, matter-of-fact. “Larimar took him to Sweden to run her business and marry her mother.”

  “Sweden!”

  “I’m disappointed in you, Rose. You should have known this already.”

  She stammered. “What? But how?”

  “That is a common refrain from you, isn’t it? How could you have known about the morning meeting? How could you have known that Jasper was abducted? I’m disappointed with your lack of effort to remain informed about your workplace.”

  “But…but I called Jasper—”

  “Larimar has confiscated his cell phone.”

  “And I was waiting for him—”

  “It is your responsibility to reach work. Not his. And, as his marriage partner, it is your responsibility to protect Jasper. You’ve done a poor job of both.”

  This was a nightmare.

  She squeezed the cart. “What can I do?”

  “Jasper said you wouldn’t fight. That seems to be true.”

  “Okay, that’s the second time you’ve said fight.” She held up her hand. “Jasper’s never said anything.”

  “Because he knew you would refuse.”

  “Refuse what?”

  “Refuse to fight Larimar, the dragon who’s abducted Jasper, in Sweden.”

  Her head reeled. “You want me to fight a dragon? In Sweden? Right now?”

  He eyed her as if she were demonstrating her bad attitude.

  She sputtered. “How can I even get to Sweden? I don’t have a private jet.”

  “You don’t need a private jet. You can just fly.”

  “Um, yes, I need a jet. I’m not a dragon. Humans can’t just fly. Maybe if you guys could, uh, help me…”

  “Help you fight against a female dragon like Larimar?” Peridot cracked his first uncomfortable smile. “We would not stand a chance. She would destroy us before we got close. Flame us from the sky. Slice us with her razor claws. Tear our throats out with her teeth. No, you must defeat her by yourself with your bare hands.”

  She choked. “Bare-handed?”

  “That’s how we resolve marriage rivalries.”

  “And you think I can just fly over to Sweden, without a jet, alone, and declare war on this homicidal female dragon when you guys can’t even stop her from kidnapping Jasper in the building you own with everybody around?”

  Peridot nodded as though she’d restated the obvious. “You will not fight.”

  “It’s not a question of will! It’s a question of ability.” She shook her head. “So, what happens now? Is Jasper going to be all right?”

  “He will either fold to her marriage pressure or she will destroy him.”

  Her panic rose again. “What? You have to save him!”

  “Yes, his brothers are thinking of a method now.”

  Oh. Okay. Her panic lessened. These dragons could do anything, and they were far more prepared, especially the security guy, Kyan. He was massive and scarred and capable. They had guns, technology, money. Everything she didn’t have, they had. If anyone could mount a rescue mission, it would be Kyan.

  She was panicking over nothing. Well, not nothing, but something she couldn’t control.

  Like the accident. Like cancer. Like Briar’s head injury.

  Rose gripped the environmental technician cart with shaking hands. If only she could see Jasper. Talk to him. He’d reassure her like he always did.

  So, she would make sure he had a building to come back to.

  Rose reached for her hazmat suit.

  Peridot stopped her. “Where are you going?”

  She froze. “Is there another morning meeting?”

  “No, but you’re assigned to the top floor.”

  “Right, but it’s been three days since we lasered the sewage pipes, and we need to get on that before the parasites spore.”

  “Why are you concerned? That task has been assigned to someone else.”

  “Yeah, but, uh, I’ve been here the longest so I know the hidey places.” Shawn was begging to get fired, but she couldn’t be the reason. “You can adjust the rota when something else becomes the priority.”

  “The top floors are used by the most important dragons. You must surround them with beauty and cleanliness, always.”

  “Well, yeah, but the toilets—”

  “And you must clean the conference room. An earlier argument destroyed the table. Yo
u’ll find chips in the ceiling.”

  As usual.

  “The mess makes the room unusable. Luckily, you are already assigned there. It’s the highest priority.”

  “The toilets are on every floor,” she pushed. “If the pipes burst, the entire top floor will be unusable.”

  He seemed to consider it.

  “The rota’s not set in stone. When something changes, you have to adjust.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Jasper made that rota. Are you arguing with his judgment?”

  She swallowed. “I’m not trying to… well, nothing against him, but I did argue with Jasper.”

  He shook his head. “I won’t write you up this time.”

  Her heart thudded in her throat. She wanted to scream, For what?! But that wouldn’t help.

  “Jasper is no longer your superior. And, while I can’t write up employees for past infractions, please listen and learn: You must never, ever question your superiors. They’re your superior for a reason. If you haven’t figured out the reason, you’re not smart enough to become a supervisor.”

  Blood rushed in her ears, out-performing the roar in the HVAC engine room.

  He waited for her.

  She nodded and coughed. “Okay.”

  “My father used to say that before he threw me out of the family.” Peridot’s jaw tightened. “Now, memories are all I have left.”

  “Oh. Uh, sorry.”

  “I don’t talk about it because it is a painful subject.”

  Then why are you talking about it to me?

  He stared.

  She fumbled for something, anything, to follow his confession. “Huh.”

  He lifted his brows and shook his head in disappointment. “Well, I will not repeat this personal conversation. Do you feel inspired to exceed expectations?”

  “Um…”

  “The correct answer is to say ‘Yes’ and then complete your task in less than my estimated time. For cleaning out the conference room, I estimate it will take ten minutes.”

  “Ten minutes! To dig conference table chips out of the ceiling? That’s not even time to get the ladder out of the closet.”

  “Yes, but I judge by how long it should take, not how long it will take you.” He set his watch. “I’ll check in on you.”

  Rose hung up the hazmat suit and shouldered the rocket pack for cleaning windows. It was allowed indoors—they used it sometimes in the shipping bays—but the finicky controls made it dangerous. She could levitate without a ladder to remove the conference table chips from the ceiling.

  “At least let me get to the room before you start the timer.”

  “A dragon wouldn’t ask for accommodation.”

  She muttered under her breath as she strapped on her utility belt and collected the scrapers, clipped a bucket to hold the scraps, and grabbed the vacuum wands. “I’d like to see a dragon clean the room in under ten. I really would.”

  “Rose? Are you questioning me?”

  She jerked up. “No. I was stating a wish. A desire. That’s not a question, so I’m not questioning you.”

  He pursed his lips and followed her to the elevator. “Very well. We will divide the room and, at the end of five minutes, we will see whose side is cleaner.”

  Her heart thudded in her throat. Part of her wanted to take that challenge. The other part of her wanted to keep her job.

  She shut up as the elevator rose to the top floor. Peridot stepped out first. Crazy energy filled the cubicles—dragons shouting for each other, phones ringing, chaos. But because she’d been up here every day doing the basics, she’d kept everything wiped down and neat.

  Peridot stopped at the conference room doorway.

  The conference table was a massive piece of African mahogany custom-built for the office; she knew because Jasper had to restock them frequently, and the question was how to do so sustainably.

  Dragons had cracked it into two and smashed chunks into pieces. Six hundred pounds of wood had fractured at extreme force, and bits embedded in the walls, floor, as well as the ceiling. It must have hit the window because the glass was super thick, but it was spider-webbed.

  Dragons had also warped half of the comfy office chairs. Metal bent and stuffing puffed out of long claw scratches. Fluff confetti’d the floor and floated like a mist.

  They’d even upended the coffee trolley. Espresso grounds stained the wall. Cream seeped into the carpet. Droplets of sticky stuff coated every surface.

  Peridot floated above the mess and marked off the halves of the ceiling. “Five minutes.”

  She adjusted her mask over her face and snapped on her form-fitting work gloves. It wasn’t the worst she’d seen, but it was bad. “For the ceiling, or the entire conference room?”

  “Entire conference room.”

  “Okay, because we’ll need the mobile dumpster for the chairs, the industrial vacuum for the fluff, the—”

  “Industrial vacuum?” He raised his brows. “No, that will not be necessary. The wand you have is sufficient.”

  She pointed at the fluff. “That little stuff clogs the filter.”

  “You are wielding dragon technology. Human detritus will not clog it.”

  “I’ve been doing this job a long time, and—”

  He hardened to green glass. “Are you questioning me?”

  She shut her mouth. Her teeth clicked.

  “Are you?” he repeated.

  She licked her lips. “I’m not questioning you. I was, uh, sharing.”

  He frowned. “Sharing?”

  “My experience. And, you know, I want your test to be fair. You want us to clean the whole room in five minutes, and I’m the only one with a vacuum wand. Are you going to pick up everything by hand?”

  He nodded, perusing the room. “I did not think…”

  “To grab the supplies? I know, that’s what I was saying. You don’t even have the mobile dumpster to toss the broken stuff. How about we forget this contest, and you can watch how I clean and get some ideas?”

  His eyes narrowed again. “Ideas?”

  “You know, for improvement. Like, you see what I do, and I’ll tell you why I’m doing everything, and then you can review the results and, you know, learn.”

  He considered it.

  Her hopes rose.

  “No,” he decided. “We will trade tools at the midpoint. I will use my superior dragon method and you will try to keep up.”

  Okay. “And the broken chairs?”

  “We will roll them into the hallway and clear them later.”

  Right. Okay.

  Peridot held up his watch. “Of course, you know if you fail this efficiency test, you’ll be fired.”

  Her heart thudded hard.

  She liked this job. Even if her coworkers resented her, Jasper was no longer here brightening her day, and her new boss held the threat of firing over her head, she still liked this job. It was interesting. She had to improvise and solve unique problems, from parasite hunting to technology wrangling, and even the normal parts like washing dishes and polishing picture frames were welcome oases of calm. There was a great sense of satisfaction in starting with glass grimed with fingerprints, coffee, and worse bodily fluids (after a fight, they’d often draw blood and guess what? It went everywhere, and she had to clean it) and ending with pristine, shiny, clear glass.

  That’s why the resume party hadn’t appealed. She wanted this job. She wanted to keep it.

  So, she had to fight. “I understand.”

  “Good. This will go faster than I realized.” He lifted his watch. “Give me the vacuum at the halfway mark. I will tell you.”

  She unclipped the wand and handed it to him. “Oh, here. You can do it first.”

  He gripped it, confirming the power button. “You’re sure?”

  “Absolutely.” She manipulated the rocket pack to levitate, nearly braining herself on the low ceiling, and dropping to the floor again.

  He watched her with consternation. “Stop this playfulness
.”

  “I’m not playing.” She eased up again, more careful, and hovered dangerously near a big chunk. She really should have grabbed a helmet.

  Jasper never would have forced her to do something like this.

  She hoped he was okay.

  If she lost her job, how would she ever know what happened to him?

  She needed to keep this job and seek one of the other brothers. Somebody would know how to help him. Kyan. She’d ask Kyan.

  Assuming he didn’t blame her like Peridot.

  Rose poised her chisel next to the chunk. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

  “Your job is on the line.” Peridot clicked the stopwatch button. “Start.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Jasper crossed his bare arms in the ice-crusted shipping dock. Dragon-proofed irons shackled his ankles. An icy wind drove pinpricks of snow against his skin.

  Larimar lounged on the elevated shipping dock. She wore pure white muffs on top of her previous outfit, and her pale cheeks were pink with the wind. “You know I will keep you out here without food or water until you drop your pretensions and marry Mother.”

  His breath puffed, forming tiny crystals in the air. The cold ground had made his feet ache, but a firm coat of scales of insulated him against frostbite.

  Mostly he worried about Rose.

  “I’ll leave you out here to starve. Until your skin freezes off and your bones protrude. Until you’re a skeleton of a male.”

  Had she gotten to work? She’d relied on him and he’d let her down. For the first time in his life, he’d failed to uphold his commitment, and of all people, it was to Rose.

  Of course, Peridot would understand. Today was an exceptional circumstance.

  Peridot came highly recommended. He was a serious dragon who had overcome a difficult adjustment as a fallen aristocrat, and he’d taken great pains to make no errors at Carnelian Clothiers. He’d never supervised anyone before, but as an exceptional employee, he’d wowed his bosses.

  Jasper’s team was great, so they’d never miss him. Not the way he’d miss—

  “All right, already!” Larimar stormed to Jasper. “Aren’t you starving?”

  “Humans can go without food for three weeks, and dragons even longer,” he pointed out. “It’s barely past lunch.”