Jake pushed away the remainder of his own beer as well, and led Mandy back through the crowded bar and out to his car. He handed her a large envelope filled to the bursting point with papers, and Mandy stared down at it unmoving for a few moments.
“Why are you doing this?” she finally managed to ask.
Jake drummed his fingers on the hood of his truck, then tilted his head to one side to look at her. “Two reasons. The first, and biggest reason, is that I don’t like the idea of Commander Hawkins overstepping his authority and putting words in the High Council’s mouths. I’ve thought since the first day I met that man that he was trouble, but I never had proof before that he had actually done something wrong. Now that I have what seems to be a strong case against him. I have to say something. When good people see wrongs being done and say nothing, evil gets a foot in the door. And we’ve all seen how destructive evil can be once it gets a foothold. I can’t stand by and allow that to happen.”
“I agree,” Mandy said, her heart pounding even faster now. The thought of someone evil rising to power again sent chills down her spine. She had always disliked Commander Hawkins, but she had never thought of him as some sort of evil tyrant. Maybe she was being naïve, though, to think that he wasn’t capable of things as bad as she’d seen in the war a few years ago. After all, evil was a slippery slope. She knew many people had been drawn in to dark magic by false promises of power and glory. If Commander Hawkins was capable of lying about the High Council’s commands, what other steps toward darkness would he be willing to take?
“The second reason I’m doing this,” Jake said, his voice taking on a strange, softer tone now, “Is that you and Russ deserved better.”
Mandy’s eyes shot up to meet Jake’s. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. You’re in love with each other, but he’s too stubborn to admit it and you’re too scared to confront him and tell him he’s wrong.”
Mandy was taken aback, both by the fact that Jake had realized that Russ loved her, and by the shock of him calling her scared. “I’m not scared,” she insisted. “I’m being respectful of the fact that I did him wrong. Whether the High Council actually commanded me to seduce him or not—”
“Not, I think.”
Mandy ignored the interruption. “Whatever they commanded or didn’t, the fact is that I should have refused to even attempt to trick him.”
Jake narrowed his eyes at her. “I’ve seen the way you look at him. Were you ever really pretending?”
Mandy didn’t answer, but the way she lowered her eyes was enough of an answer for Jake.
“Well, then,” he said. “I rest my case. Now go home and read this. I think you’ll find it quite interesting.”
He pushed the folder of papers against Mandy’s chest, then turned and walked back into the bar without another word.
Chapter Ten
Councilor Ceyus: Commander Hawkins has insisted that the women recovery agents aren’t ready.
Councilor Isviar: He’s been saying that for years. I don’t know what his issue against women is, but I think it’s time we overrode his judgment.
Mandy looked up from the transcript she was reading and took another sip of her beer. She was sitting in her living room with several piles of paper in front of her, all of which told a very different story from the one Commander Hawkins had told her throughout the years.
She and the other female recovery agents had been led to believe that the High Councilors themselves were the reason that none of them had been offered a recovery job yet. And all of the female agents had blindly believed Commander Hawkins. Why wouldn’t they? He was an asshole, to be sure, but no one thought he would dare to actually lie about what the High Council said. Such an offense was considered traitorous, and carried with it a sentence of heavy jail time or even execution. Mandy’s hands trembled as she picked up the page again. She could hardly believe what she was reading. The transcripts of the High Council’s meetings were usually kept private, but the transcripts of meetings directly related to a dragon recovery job were made available to the recovery agent who was assigned to that job, as well as to the head trainer assigned to that dragon if the dragon agreed to come to Torch Lake—that’s how Jake had had access to this. Mandy shook her head in disbelief as she started reading again. She should have looked at these much sooner. Of course, how would she have known to expect anything close to what she was reading now?
What she was reading now was pretty damning to Commander Hawkins.
Councilor Isviar: Are we sure we want to do this, though? Question the judgment of our head commander in the Dragon Recovery Division?
Councilor Ceyus: Yes. I think it’s clear from the latest Agent Intellect and Agent Fitness test scores that our female agents have been wildly underutilized.
Councilor Isviar: I agree. The female agents all scored at least equally with the men. And Agent Amanda Evans outscored all agents, male and female, by quite a large margin.
Mandy blinked at the sight of her full name in print. Only individual test scores were released to agents. Until this moment, Mandy had not had the slightest clue how well she had scored in relation to the other agents. She’d known that she scored well, but she hadn’t realized that she was the top scorer, and by a large margin. The Agent Intellect and Agent Fitness tests had only been implemented this year. In an effort to standardize training programs for new recovery agents, the High Council had decided that some sort of standardized achievement tests were necessary. The Agent Intellect test measured a recovery agent’s knowledge of recovery methods, as well as general knowledge of Torch Lake’s government policies and procedures. The Agent Fitness test measured a recovery agent’s physical prowess. This was not merely a test of physical strength or stamina, although those things were important. It was also a test of an agent’s ability to respond quickly and cleverly to physical threats. A combination of physical fitness and mental strength was required to score well.
Mandy continued to read through the transcript, her cheeks turning pink with pleased embarrassment at how warmly the Councilors praised her. No mention was made of the fact that she might be able to seduce a dragon thanks to her status as a female. In fact, now that Mandy thought about it, it was extremely odd that the Councilors would ask her to use a recovery method that she had not been officially trained on. The Councilors had been pushing for standardization of the dragon recovery department for quite some time.
“How did I not see this before?” Mandy asked herself aloud. She flipped through several more pages of the transcript, all of which continued to praise her prowess as a recovery agent, until at the end of the meeting the Councilors voted unanimously to give Mandy the very next recovery job, which was, of course, to bring back a dragon named Russell Porter from Chicago. When Mandy flipped to the next page, she saw from the heading that these pages were the minutes of a new meeting—one in which Commander Hawkins was being informed that she would be the next recovery agent assigned to a dragon. Mandy’s jaw dropped at how vehemently he opposed the appointment. She shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, she knew that Commander Hawkins hated all the women in the recovery program. But to sit there and see on paper his hateful words toward her when she wasn’t even there to defend herself made her realize just how deep his hatred ran. Unable to fully process that anyone in a position of leadership could be so cruel, she read the transcript again with growing anger.
Councilor Isviar: Commander Hawkins, we’ve called this meeting today to inform you that the Council has chosen the recovery agent to assign to the next dragon.
Commander Hawkins: Excellent. I look forward to sending out another of our agents to build a long-lasting relationship with a dragon shifter.
Councilor Isviar: I’m glad to hear that. The agent we’ve chosen is Amanda Evans.
Commander Hawkins: Amanda Evans? You mean Mandy?
Councilor Isviar: Oh, is that the name she goes by? Can someone make a note o
f that so we can be sure to address her by her preferred name if the Council needs to meet with her?
Commander Hawkins: Your honors, if I may, I think I made it clear that our female agents are not ready for recovery jobs. I fear that Mandy is not the best choice.
Councilor Isviar: Commander Hawkins, the only thing you have made clear is that you are deeply prejudiced against women. Mandy scored higher than any other agent on her Agent Intellect and Agent Fitness Tests. We would be fools not to utilize her talents
Commander Hawkins: Your honors, she scored well, but what her test scores don’t show you is that she is a whiny, emotional woman. She behaves like a coward and cannot be trusted to be brave when the situation demands it.
Councilor Isviar: Commander Hawkins, you have offered us no sound proof of this! The Council has made our decision, and it is final.
At this point, Mandy would have expected Commander Hawkins to defer to the wishes of the High Council. He had already spoken out against them more than most would have dared to. But instead of backing down, he amped up his attack on Mandy. For several more pages, his rants against her continued. He fought hard to convince the Council to pick someone else for the job, but they stuck with Mandy.
When Mandy had finished her reread of the transcript, she sat back and rubbed her forehead, trying to process everything. Not once during the meeting did the High Council suggest to Commander Hawkins that Mandy should be given the job because she could use her feminine charms to seduce Russ. Instead, they talked at great length about how hard she had worked and how well she had scored on her tests. Mandy could hardly believe it, but the truth of the matter was staring her right in the face. Commander Hawkins had never been instructed to command Mandy to flirt with Russ, but no one had thought to question the Commander when Mandy was assigned the job. No one had thought that he would so brazenly defy the High Council.
“That bastard!” Mandy said, talking aloud to herself again. “He was trying to sabotage my chances of a successful dragon recovery. He knew the flirtation method wouldn’t work. What dragon would fall for that?”
Mandy hopped up and started pacing. The anger that filled her now was so great that she felt like she might explode if she sat still. Not only had Commander Hawkins tried to sabotage Mandy’s success, but he had also sabotaged any chance Mandy had at a future with Russ. Jake was right, after all. Mandy had never once been pretending when she was with Russ at the Token Tap in Chicago. She had known from the moment she laid eyes on him that she cared about him. It hadn’t been hard for her to see that there was something special about him.
Mandy slammed her fist down on her kitchen counter as she paced past it, then she paced back into the living room. She knew what she had to do. She had to bring a formal complaint against Commander Hawkins. She had to tell the High Council what she had been instructed to do, and hope that everyone who had been in the room with her that day would back her up. Or, at least, if not everyone, the majority of them. Commander Hawkins was going to try to make her life miserable, but she couldn’t worry about that now. If the High Council believed the truth of her words, it would not be long before Commander Hawkins was replaced.
And then, she needed to go to Russ and tell him once again that she hadn’t been pretending. What she had felt for him was real, and she needed to make sure he understood that. Yes, the idea of going to him again filled her with fear. She knew there was a high likelihood that he would reject her. But she had to take the chance. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since the moment she saw him, and she knew she would never forgive herself if she didn’t at least try to make him see the truth of it.
Mandy wasn’t proud of the fact that she’d blindly followed Commander Hawkins orders. She should have paid more attention to the uneasiness she felt about the whole situation. She should have listened to the little voice in her head telling her that the High Council would never approve of such a coercive method as seduction to bring a dragon home. But she couldn’t change that now. She had tried her best to follow orders, and the fact that those orders had not been real was a grim reminder to her that she must always stay alert. Evil may have been defeated in the last war, but it was always trying to find a new foothold. Mandy must not be afraid to question her Commanders when she thought they were going down the wrong path. After all, blindly following a corrupted leader is what led to so many deaths in the last Dark War.
But despite her many mistakes, Mandy wanted Russ to know that her feelings for him had been very real—and hadn’t faded. Her initial reason for going to the Token Tap had been misguided, but once she met Russ, she’d realized the error of her ways. She’d never lied to Russ or tricked him.
She’d only fallen for him, and fallen hard. And she had to figure out a way to make him see that.
Chapter Eleven
“I don’t know how people do things in Chicago, but around here we consider it a crime to leave beer behind.”
Russ looked up from his duffel bag and forced himself to smile. He had managed to avoid being alone with Jake all day, but now, the man was sauntering into the room with raised eyebrows. Russ knew he shouldn’t have left the bar without saying goodbye on Friday night, but he hadn’t been able to bear the thought of looking at Mandy anymore.
“Sorry, Jake. I was tired.”
It was a lame excuse, and they both knew it. But what else could Russ say? Jake came and sat on the bench across from Russ, thinking for a few moments before speaking.
“You were tired, or tired of trying to hide your feelings for Mandy.”
Russ shot Jake an angry look. “It’s not like that. I don’t have any feelings for Mandy, other than anger.”
“And why not?”
Russ zipped his duffel bag shut with far more force than was necessary. “I already told you why. Because she lied to me. I know you don’t believe me, but I’m not making this up. She pretended to be attracted to me so that I would follow her back to Torch Lake.”
“Actually, I do believe you.”
Russ looked up at Jake again, this time with surprise on his face. This was the last thing he had expected Jake to say. The last few times Russ had mentioned this, Jake had been adamant that the High Council would never do such a thing. What had changed Jake’s mind? Had something happened to show him that his precious High Council wasn’t as perfect and blameless as he believed? Russ knew it was petty, but he couldn’t resist taking a jab at his trainer.
“So, you admit that your dear old High Council doesn’t always take the high road, eh?”
Jake chuckled, not bothered by the taunt. “I know the High Council isn’t flawless. It’s made up of people, after all, and people are imperfect. But it turns out that the High Council wasn’t actually involved in Mandy’s orders to seduce you.”
Russ frowned at Jake. “You’re not making sense.”
“You remember Commander Hawkins?”
“Of course. How could I forget him?” Commander Hawkins had been in charge of showing Russ around on Russ’s first day in Torch Lake. The Commander was loud and showy, and proud of the Dragon Recovery Division over which he presided. He’d shown Russ the offices and training facilities, all while bragging about how much he had done to shape the training program. According to Jake, the Commander hadn’t actually done that much, but to hear Commander Hawkins tell it, he’d practically built the whole program from his own blood, sweat, and tears.
“Well, long story short, Commander Hawkins has a thing against women. He refused to give any of the female recovery agents a job, even though the women have worked hard and scored well on the tests used to assess a recovery agent’s job performance. Apparently, Mandy scored higher than any other agent, male or female. That’s when the High Council put their foot down and said Mandy was getting the next dragon recovery job, which was you.”
“Okay. But what does this have to do with the orders to try to seduce me.”
“Well, Commander Hawkins was angry that the High Council was forc
ing him to send a woman on a recovery job, so he decided to ensure that Mandy failed. His bright idea was to tell Mandy that the High Council had ordered her to try a new recovery technique that required her to use her ‘feminine charms’ to convince a dragon to come to Torch Lake.”
“Oh, come on. How could Commander Hawkins get away with making that up? I know the job briefings happen with all the other Commanders and recovery agents present. Mandy told me that much when she was explaining to me how the Recovery Division works. Commander Hawkins would never have been able to say those things in front of that whole group and keep a straight face.”
Jake raised an eyebrow. “You wanna bet?”
Something in Jake’s voice gave Russ pause, but he still couldn’t keep himself from taking another jab at Jake. “Maybe I do. I have plenty of money to spare. At least I will once I’m done with this job. And everyone here in Torch Lake is obsessed with talking about honor, and holding back evil, yet you expect me to believe that one of the highest Commanders in the city is tricking the High Council and making up false orders behind their backs?”
“Wait, are you defending the High Council now? I thought you considered them a bunch of crooks.” Jake laughed again, which Russ found infuriating.
“I don’t necessarily think they’re a bunch of crooks,” Russ said, careful to keep his voice even despite the fact that he felt like tearing Jake’s head off right now. “But I don’t think they’re as perfect as everyone around her seems to think they are.”
Jake stood up and started pacing. “We do tend to engage in a bit of hero worship around here when it comes to our High Council, I’ll grant you that. But you have to understand that most of us lost everything in the war. Of course, losing family and friends was the worst part of everything. Losing homes was a close second. But losing our clan leadership was devastating as well. To have, in the midst of all that, a group of the finest wizards and shifters come along and offer us a new home, and guidance on how to guard against evil, well…to a lot of us that felt like being thrown a lifeline. I know for me it did.”
Dragon Returning (Torch Lake Shifters Book 1) Page 8