He hadn’t done the report to try to gain recognition, or a chance at being asked on the dragon ruby mission. By now, he knew better than to get his hopes up. The team for the dragon ruby mission had already been chosen. No official announcement had been made, but rumors were flying that it would be Noah accompanying Zoe on the mission. Grayson was slightly surprised by this. Noah had thus far declined all missions, preferring to remain in Falcon Cross where he could help make leadership decisions as second in command of the Redwood Dragons. But that had been when Knox, their first in command, had been away in Texas. Knox had recently returned to Falcon Cross, which had likely made Noah feel free to take on a mission.
No, Grayson had no illusions that preparing a stellar report would somehow get him added to the dragon ruby mission. He knew that Peter wanted to limit the mission to two people, for secrecy’s sake. It was easier for two soldiers to stay undercover than a large group, and, as far as anyone in Falcon Cross knew, Saul was clueless about the location for the dragon ruby that Grayson had found. Whoever went on this mission might be attacked, but they also might get the ruby and be back in Falcon Cross before Saul even realized what was going on. Better to bank on secrecy. But the limitation of two people, with Zoe already chosen for one of the slots, left little chance of Grayson being sent on the mission. One of his clanmates, who had already proven himself in battle or on a mission, would be chosen. If it wasn’t, in fact, Noah, it still wouldn’t be Grayson. Grayson had learned by now that hard work behind a desk was not enough to get sent on a mission.
He had worked his ass off to get the report done, anyway. For one thing, despite his anger at being constantly overlooked for missions, he was still a team player. He wanted his clanmates and the Falcon Cross wizards to be victorious. But for another thing, working like a madman kept his mind occupied. It kept him from constantly thinking about how angry he was at being virtually invisible behind this desk, and, perhaps more importantly, it kept him from constantly thinking about Zoe.
Zoe. Grayson rolled the name around in his head a few times, enjoying the sound of it. Now that he was done with his report, he couldn’t keep his thoughts from heading straight back to her. He had wanted so badly to hate her. It would have made life so much easier. But once he’d met her, she’d been impossible to hate. Sure, he thought she was a bit ridiculous to actually say that she’d rather not go on the dragon ruby mission. But Grayson had to admit that her reluctance stemmed from honest reasons. She wasn’t the pompous, haughty celebrity he’d thought she was before meeting her in person. Rather, she was a humble soldier, embarrassed by all the attention being heaped on her.
And she was beautiful. Good god, she was beautiful. Grayson had seen pictures of Zoe, and from the pictures it had been obvious that she was a beautiful woman. But her beauty was the kind that was impossible to capture in a photograph. Her gray eyes sparkled with so much life, and her face had glowed even in the smoky training room. She was something special, her sweet spirit matching her sweet eyes. In another life, Grayson might have kissed her up there by the elevator bank, when they were alone on the seventh floor. But despite Zoe’s sweetness and beauty, she still represented everything he couldn’t have. How could he kiss the woman who was going on the mission he wanted? The woman who had done nothing but be born with special abilities, and now was getting the recognition that Grayson’s hard work had not been able to get for him. Logically, Grayson knew none of this was Zoe’s fault, but he still felt bitter toward her. Kissing her felt like admitting defeat. He was determined not to become like one of Zoe’s silly, giggling fans.
Grayson sat up in his chair and straightened the piles of papers on his desk. He’d printed several copies of his report to take to a meeting tomorrow morning. The dragon ruby mission was scheduled to begin that Saturday, so final preparations were in the works right now. Grayson’s report would help tremendously, he knew. He’d finished it just in time, but he was already worried about what he was going to work on next. With the search for the dragon ruby underway, there wouldn’t be much for him to do except sit around and wait. And sitting around and waiting was going to result in his constantly thinking about Zoe, which was going to make him grumpy. The next couple of weeks were going to feel long and weary.
Grayson stood and went to grab some folders from a small supply shelf in his office. He began arranging the copies of the report into individual folders. When he was done with that, he would leave for the day. He’d order pizza for dinner and find a movie to watch that would hopefully keep his mind off of everything going on in his real life.
Just as Grayson slipped the last pile of papers into a folder, a knock sounded at the door. Grayson looked up in surprise. No one ever bothered to come to his office, so far down the hallways of military headquarters. Half the time, the cleaning service didn’t even bother coming to empty the small trash can under Grayson’s desk, and he had to do it himself. So who was visiting him now?
“Come in,” Grayson said in a loud voice as he sat down in his desk chair once again. The door opened, and Grayson’s surprise only grew when he saw who his visitors were. Into his office stepped Peter, Knox, and Noah. The three men’s figures completely filled the small open space in Grayson’s office. Grayson stood to his feet quickly, then gestured toward the one open chair.
“Peter, please sit down,” he said. “I’m sorry I don’t have more chairs for the rest of you. One of you can take mine.”
But Peter, Knox, and Noah all waved away his offer of a chair.
“We’re not staying very long,” Peter said. “But we have some news for you. We’ve been trying to call you for the last hour to ask you to come up to my office, but you haven’t been answering your office phone. I was beginning to think that you’d gone home already, but you didn’t answer your cell phone either so we had to walk down here to check.”
“Oh, sorry,” Grayson said, glancing over at his office phone and seeing for the first time that the bright red message indicator button was flashing bright red at him. “I turned all my ringers to silent so I could concentrate. No one ever calls me, anyway.”
“No matter,” Peter said. “We’re here now, and I hope you’re going to be pleased with the reason why.”
Peter paused somewhat dramatically, and Grayson resisted the urge to roll his eyes. All of the wizards liked to do everything with a little bit of flair. Luckily, Peter did not hold his dramatic pause for long.
“Grayson, we’d like for you to join Zoe on the dragon ruby mission.”
Grayson stared at Peter blankly for a moment, wondering if he had heard the old man correctly. This had been the last thing Grayson would have expected to come out of Peter’s mouth.
“I’m sorry, what?” Grayson asked, not daring to hope that he had heard accurately. But Peter repeated the same thing with no hesitation.
“We’d like for you to join Zoe on the dragon ruby mission. If you’re willing, of course.”
Grayson’s heart started pounding wildly in his chest. “Of course I’m willing! I would be honored. But I thought…”
Grayson looked over at Noah, searching his clanmate’s face to see whether there was any sign of anger or jealousy. Grayson wanted to go on the dragon ruby mission more than he’d ever wanted anything before, but he did not want to take anything away from Noah. No mission was worth angering the second in command of his clan. But Noah merely smiled back at him.
“You thought I was going on the mission?” Noah asked. “Yeah, I’ve heard that rumor, too. I don’t know who started it, but it’s not true. You know I’m too busy here to take off on a mission right now. Knox just got here. I’m still trying to show him the ropes and pass off a lot of my leadership duties to him. If you want the mission, it’s yours.”
Grayson stood up straighter. “I would be honored,” he said. “I’m quite surprised, though. I’d thought the mission had already been planned out completely. Has the start date changed? It seems a little late to be adding a new member to a mission
that leaves in a few days.”
Peter shook his head no. “The start date hasn’t changed. Truth be told, we’d planned on another one of the dragon shifters for this mission. We were going to use one of the guys who has already gone on a mission and proven himself. I’m sure you understand.”
Peter looked at Grayson brightly, waiting for Grayson to agree that, of course, he understood perfectly. But Grayson only blinked back at Peter warily. He didn’t trust himself to keep his voice even while saying something about his clanmates and their supposedly superior abilities on missions. Grayson would rather hear Peter talk about why he had finally been chosen for a mission. It would be nice to hear someone say out loud for once how great his reports had been, or how his hard work had made a big difference in the Falcon Cross war effort. But when Peter spoke again, he didn’t mention Grayson’s work ethic or stellar research.
“Of course, one of the most important things to remember in choosing a mission team is that the mission members need to work well together. Zoe is a non-negotiable on this team. We definitely want her there, using her powers to protect and defend the team and the dragon ruby. And since she must go, we asked for her opinion on whom the second soldier should be.”
Grayson felt like he had been punched in the stomach by Peter’s words. Grayson realized what had happened before Peter finished his explanation, but Peter kept talking anyway.
“Zoe said that she had the most experience working with you. She said you two got along well and she thought you’d be a great asset to the team. She was quite insistent that the second team member be you, in fact. I hadn’t realized that you two had worked together, but I guess you made quite an impression on her. So, congratulations. You’ve been chosen as the second member of the dragon ruby mission team.”
Grayson could only stare at Peter. A sickening, sinking feeling filled his stomach. It hadn’t been his hard work that got him this opportunity, after all. It had been Zoe’s clout. Little Miss Secret Weapon got whatever she asked for, and she had asked for Grayson. But why? It wasn’t true that they had experience working together. The only time they had spent together, in fact, had been when he walked her up to her quarters after running into the training room like an idiot a few days ago. Grayson realized that Peter was still looking at him, waiting for an acknowledgement that Zoe and Grayson were good partners. Grayson forced a smile onto his face.
“Of course. Zoe and I make a great team. It will be my honor to serve on the dragon ruby mission with her,” Grayson said.
Peter nodded, satisfied. “Someone from mission control will be coming down to brief you first thing tomorrow morning. If you have any questions they can’t answer, or you need anything else, feel free to reach out to one of us.”
Peter swept his arm wide to include Knox and Noah in his offer of help. Grayson nodded stiffly and kept the forced smile on his face. With a satisfied nod, Peter turned to leave the room. Knox turned to follow him, but Noah remained behind.
“I’ll catch up in a minute,” Noah said to the others, then waited until they had gone before turning to Grayson.
“What’s wrong?” Grayson asked, eyeing Noah carefully. “You know if you want the mission, it’s yours. I wouldn’t try to take something away from you, no matter how badly I want to go on a mission myself.”
Noah smiled. “No, it’s not that. The mission is yours, Grayson. I never wanted it, and I know you’re well past due for a turn at some action.”
“Well then, what is it?” Grayson asked.
Noah paused, giving Grayson a searching look for a moment before continuing. “Listen, I know that this isn’t how you wanted your chance at a mission to come about. I know you’ve worked hard, and that you want recognition for that. You don’t want to be awarded missions based on some pretty little wizard girl throwing your name out there.”
Grayson set his lips in a stiff line and said nothing, so Noah continued.
“The truth is, things here in Falcon Cross work in strange ways. It’s a lot more political than our clan in the Redwoods ever was. Missions aren’t always awarded based on pure merit. My point is, you’ve been given the chance you wanted, even if you weren’t given it in the way you would have wanted to be given it. So try to see past the fact that it was Zoe who recommended you for the mission. Go out there and kick ass. Show them what you’re capable of. Unlike everyone here in Falcon Cross, I’ve seen you in action. And I know you’re a damn good soldier. Make me proud. You always do.”
And with that, Noah clapped Grayson on the shoulder and turned to leave. Grayson stood there for a long time, staring at the empty doorway and willing his racing heart to slow down. It was no use. Noah believed in him. He was going on the dragon ruby mission, even if the circumstances under which he’d been awarded the mission were a little unusual. And, strangely, the most exciting thought of all was that he was going to be spending a lot of time with Zoe over the next few weeks.
He sort of couldn’t stand the thought of that, and he sort of thought that he’d never wanted anything more in his life.
Chapter Five
Grayson stood in the blue-gray light of early dawn, watching his breath briefly fog up the air in front of him each time he exhaled. It was August, still summer. But the mornings could be cold here in the Falcon Cross forest, and it was so early that you could barely even call this morning. Any earlier and it would have been more like the middle of the night.
Grayson tugged on the jacket of his Falcon Cross military uniform. Wearing a uniform felt strange to him. The Redwood Dragons had never bothered with details like uniforms. Their clothes were frequently ruined when they had to shift suddenly, so investing in uniforms would have been a waste of money. But the Falcon Cross soldiers wore their uniforms proudly, and Peter had given Grayson this new uniform for the trip to Shadowdale. It would have been rude to refuse it, and besides, Grayson had to admit that the uniforms were quite comfortable. And warm.
Grayson heard a rustling behind him, and turned to see Zoe walking toward him. She was wearing a military uniform as well, although that was nothing new for her. The fitted fabric hugged her curves, and Grayson let himself admire her silhouette as she slipped almost silently across the field. In her right hand, she carried a broomstick, which would be used to fly both of them out of Falcon Cross. Grayson would have preferred to shift into dragon form and do his own flying, rather than hanging onto the back of a broomstick. But Peter insisted that invisibility shields were much more effective when cast over smaller, human forms. Dragons were so large that even a powerful wizard like Zoe would have to work hard to keep an effective invisibility shield over him. And the stronger the invisibility shield, the better. Dark wizards were watching Falcon Cross with eagle eyes, and they had the ability to see through low quality invisibility shields. Reluctantly, Grayson had agreed to fly behind Zoe on the broomstick. At least she was pretty, and a woman. He would have been much less enthused about the arrangement if he’d been forced to ride behind a male wizard.
“Nice outfit,” Zoe said as she approached, her voice light and teasing. Grayson loved the musical sound her words made when she spoke, but he wasn’t in the mood to be teased about his uniform, so he ignored her jab.
“You’re late,” he pointed out. He’d been waiting five minutes for her, which wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But pointing it out was an excuse to change the subject away from his uniform.
“Hmm,” Zoe said. She was distracted now, peering closely at the handle of her broomstick. “Peter wanted to talk to me before I left.”
Grayson felt a stab of annoyance. “Just you? Does he realize I’m part of this mission, too?”
Zoe looked up at him and met his eyes for a moment. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, then shut it again. She spent several more seconds looking over her broomstick before she spoke.
“I can’t control what Peter does, Grayson. Don’t take your anger at him out on me.”
Grayson frowned.
She was right, which only made him more angry. He watched her inspect her broomstick for another few moments before blurting out, “Don’t think I owe you anything just because you put my name in for this mission. I didn’t ask you for any favors, and I’m not going to put up with your holding it over my head.”
Zoe looked up at Grayson in confusion. “I don’t think you owe me anything. I put your name out there because I thought it was a win-win situation for us.”
This surprised Grayson. “What do you mean? How do you win?”
Zoe carefully leaned her broomstick against the trunk of a nearby tree, and started tightening the straps on the large backpack she wore as she spoke. “Well, you wanted a chance to go on a mission, didn’t you? Now you have that chance. And I wanted a chance to get away from everyone who wouldn’t stop treating me like some sort of goddamn celebrity. It only took a few minutes of knowing you for me to realize that you’re about as far from impressed with my magical abilities as anyone could possibly be. So I suggested you for this mission. You get to finally see some action, and I get to go on a mission without some idiot constantly yakking on about how amazing I am. Win-win.”
Grayson frowned. “It was going to be a dragon shifter going with you, either way. None of the dragons would have treated you like some celebrity princess. It’s not our style.”
Zoe shrugged, giving her backpack straps one last tug before reaching to pick up her broomstick again. “I don’t know that. I don’t really know any of the dragons all that well, except Knox and Noah, who are always around Peter and always agreeing with him that I’m a fabulous secret weapon.”
“Well, it is true that you have some kickass magical abilities,” Grayson said. “And Knox and Noah mostly agree with Peter to appease the old wizard. Peter’s a nice guy, a very good leader, and very kind. But he does seem to have a bit of an ego, if you ask me.”
Courage and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 9) Page 4