Dragon Eruption

by Amelia Jade

  She snorted. “Spoiled is one way to put it. A beautiful brand-new home, and a new vehicle as well?”

  Rachel’s grin threatened to split her face. “Yeah, I know. But you’re totally benefitting from this as well you know, so don’t act like you aren’t happy for me.”

  Angela laughed. “True. But just wait until I’m pestering you to go for an unexpected afternoon grocery trip. You won’t be so quick to help me then.”

  They shared a laugh as Rachel pulled them around the rear of the embassy so that she could park. “Okay, let’s do this. Monsters and then the goods.”

  Children in strollers and bags loaded underneath, they proceeded up to the rear door. A pair of shifters were standing there and moved to block their way. Angela didn’t recognize either of them, and a quick glance at Rachel showed her to be feeling much the same.

  “Hello, gentleman,” her friend said as they approached.

  Angela was content to let Rachel do the talking. She knew her way around much better. Being mated to Hector meant she’d spent quite some time at the embassy itself. The fact that she didn’t seem to know these two shifters made Angela wonder if they were some of the other newcomers that had arrived with Noah. Could one of them be the spy perhaps?

  “Afternoon,” one of them replied. “How can we help you?”

  “Just here to see Hector,” Rachel replied, aiming to push her stroller past the two of them and inside, assuming that to be answer enough.

  But neither shifter moved aside. To be fair, they didn’t try to intimidate the women either, they simply just refused to move. Rachel came to a halt.

  “Excuse us,” she said politely.

  “Can I get your names please?” the shifter who had spoken asked.

  Angela fixed them with a glare. “No, you cannot. But if you keep trying to pester us like this, you can go get Andrew and explain to him why you’re keeping us here.”

  “Apologies, ma’am,” the same shifter said. “We don’t mean to be rude. But we’re actually under orders to screen everyone coming through the rear.”

  “My name is Rachel Tahler and I am mated to Hector Gorchan. We’re here to surprise him and his work partner with some food that’s better than the slop they have in the cafeteria. These are our children. Would you like to check them for weapons?”

  Angela couldn’t keep the smile from her face, though she did try to ensure it wasn’t too acidic.

  “Ah, no, ma’am,” the shifter said, looking at his partner, who simply shrugged. “That will be good enough. You can head on inside.”

  “Thank you,” they both said, somewhat irritated, and pushed their strollers past the two shifters and into the embassy itself.

  “What the hell was that all about?” Rachel asked as the doors closed behind them.

  Angela glanced at her friend. “Remember what I told you? I’ll bet it has something to do with that.”

  “Remember what?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You have the memory of a goldfish. Remember what I said about Noah telling me that there was a spy among the guards now? That Cadian Intelligence was searching for people, shifters really, living here in secret?” Angela kept her voice guarded and ensured she didn’t reveal anything that might give away the fact that the two of them knew far more than they were letting on.

  Rachel looked unhappy. “Oh, right. Hector mentioned something similar, but truthfully I guess I didn’t give it much thought.”

  Angela watched her friend’s eyes flick around as they walked very slowly down one of the back-hallways of the embassy, clearly deep in thought now. Rachel may not have applied herself to the problem beforehand, but now that it had reached out to affect her, she certainly would.

  “Um, Ang,” Rachel said carefully. “This means they suspect us of something, doesn’t it?”

  Leave it to Rachel. She might take her sweet time every now and then, but her mind was laser-sharp when she chose to focus it.

  “Yes, most likely. But keep this in mind as well. Those two are newcomers, right?”

  Rachel nodded. “Which means that one of them could likely be the spy, couldn’t they?”

  “It’s almost certain, yes.”

  Her friend’s stroller came to such an immediate halt that Angela almost collided with her friend. “Rach?”

  Rachel turned to face her. “You said almost certain. That means you’re not one hundred percent. And there were three new guards that came to town, Ang. Those two…and Noah.”

  Angela turned away. “It’s not him,” she said, refusing to look at her friend.

  “You don’t believe that,” Rachel said softly. “Do you?”

  “I…I want to,” she said fiercely. “Everything I can read about him tells me that he’s being genuine with me, that he isn’t a planted agent.”

  “Ang, that’s exactly what an Intelligence agent would want you to think,” Rachel said forcefully.

  “I know,” she moaned. “Trust me, I know. But Rachel, I need to give him the benefit of the doubt here. He’s earned it. Besides…there’s something special going on between us. I don’t know how to describe it but it’s strong. Different from anything that I’ve ever felt before.”

  Rachel hissed. “Are you positive?”

  “Yes, I am. It’s unusual, but appealing on more levels than I think I’m consciously aware of. Like a drug, but I can’t feel the full effects of it. I just know they’re there.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  Angela wanted to cry, but she couldn’t. Not right then. It would be too noticeable when they finally met up with Noah and Hector, and she didn’t want them to ask questions about why she’d been bawling her eyes out so recently. That would force her to lie, and she wished to avoid doing that with Noah if at all possible. The truth was best, and that’s what she was going to go with.

  “Keep on doing what I’m doing, I guess? I believe him, Rach, I truly do. But it’s logically impossible for me to completely believe him until the real spy is outed. There is always a chance it could be him, as much as I don’t believe it is.”

  “You can’t tell him anything,” Rachel said sternly.

  “I’m well aware of that,” she snapped, mildly insulted by her friend’s lack of faith in her. “I don’t want to keep secrets from him, but I’d much rather do that than risk…you know.”

  Rachel nodded. “Sorry, that was rash of me.”

  She waved a hand in dismissal. “I’m hungry. Can we find the boys yet?”

  “What boys?” a male voice asked from ahead of them as it came around the corner. “Oh, hello, Rachel.”

  “Hi, Andrew,” they replied together cheerfully. Andrew was awesome; they both liked and respected him.

  “Hello ladies,” he said with a slight bow. “You’ve found me.”

  “Too bad it’s not you we’re looking for,” Angela said dryly, nudging Rachel into movement. “We want our boys.”

  “Everyone always says that to me,” he said with fake sadness.

  “One day someone will look for you,” Rachel said with a firm pat on his shoulder. “One day. Now, if you’ll excuse me, we’re on a somewhat time-sensitive mission here.”

  “You certainly are,” the Cadian ambassador said as he fell in step next to them. “What brings you to the embassy today?”

  “A surprise lunch. Sustenance for two of your guards, so that they can remain watchful and vigilant.”

  “My guards,” he snorted. “More like military police. I don’t know why they insist on calling them that.”

  “Because they make sure the office and title of the ambassador is safe, if not the overly confident and somewhat cocky person who happens to currently wear said title,” Angela shot back.

  Andrew laughed. “Point for Miss Breeson.” He glanced at their little armada of strollers and bags attached to them. “Perhaps you would like to set up in the spare conference room? I’ll relieve the boys for a bit to allow them to properly join you, how’s that?”

&n
bsp; The two women started to protest but the ambassador shook his head firmly. “Absolutely no arguing. I insist.” Then he leaned over and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. “Besides, it’s an excuse to get me away from all that stupid paperwork.”

  Angela, Andrew, and Rachel all laughed at that.

  “Thank you,” she said to the ambassador as they sneaked into the spare conference room from the rear and began to unpack their goodie bags onto one of the folding tables set up around the room.

  “You are most welcome. It is a sweet gesture, and requires very little on my part besides simply sitting on my ass and looking important, something I’m sure you’d be inclined to say that I’m already fantastic at.”

  The two women looked at each other before turning innocent looks on Andrew. He laughed heartily and left the room, promising to send the two men in within a few minutes. Angela and Rachel raced to get everything unpacked and set up, along with reheated in the microwave so that it would be ready for them.

  A voice sounded from the hall, one she recognized very well. “Why the hell would he send us here? And is Andrew really watching the front desk? What’s going on?”

  “I have no idea,” Hector’s voice responded. “But let’s find out, shall we?”

  The two men entered the room and came to a halt when they saw the women.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Noah

  “Surprise!” Angela said from where she was stirring something in a bowl, steam billowing up from it as she’d just pulled it from the microwave.

  “Surprise is right,” Hector said, while Noah remained speechless.

  Their noses began to work, followed by their eyes as they looked around at the setup.

  “Did you bring us lunch?” Noah said, wondering if she could hear the drool from his mouth hit the floor.

  “And what if we did?” Rachel challenged.

  “Then…then,” Noah tried to speak, but the words failed him as scents assaulted his nose.

  The dish Angela was stirring smelled suspiciously of pasta and copious amounts of cheese. Thick slices of fresh roast beef were laid out on a platter in front of Rachel, along with what he started to identify as buns, horseradish, and something else. Mustard, perhaps? It didn’t matter, it was all mouthwatering.

  “Well, are you going to stare, or are you going to come eat it and tell us just how fabulously delicious it is, while showering us with compliments?”

  “The biggest compliment I think you could get would be our silence while we devour it,” Hector said from at his side as he stepped up to his mate.

  “Absolutely not,” Rachel said, waving a wooden spoon at him threateningly. “We didn’t go through all this work just to have you two cavemen shovel it into your mouths without being able to keep up proper table conversation.”

  The two men looked at each other and groaned in unison. Noah tried not to grin. Hector might not completely trust him, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still two men at the mercy of women. Sometimes things never changed.

  “Oh get over here,” Angela growled, a smile on her face as she set the cheesy-pasta—and beef, he noticed with delight—bowl down on the table.

  “Yes, ma’am,” the two men said and proceeded to pile their plates and a bowl high with food. There was a salad as well, which they obviously skipped, mashed potatoes, warm bread, all the good things.

  “I’m not sure we’ve done enough good to deserve all this,” Noah said as they sat down.

  “You didn’t. That’s why there’s some of it for us.”

  “Yeah,” Hector said. “We know. But you could have stayed at home to make and eat a salad.”

  Rachel slapped him in the arm. “I’ll have you know I intend on eating my fair share of this, thank you very much. We made it, we get to eat some of it. So don’t think it’s all for you.”

  Both Noah and Hector managed to look perfectly saddened by the knowledge that they had to share, which drew a laugh from the women. The foursome and two children ate somewhat quickly, knowing that they couldn’t ask Andrew to cover for them for too long. As Noah found out, they’d been ready to sit in the lobby and feed them if necessary, so this was a boon for all sides.

  Still, they finished up rather quickly, with both he and Hector having seconds, and then with a falsely reluctant sigh from the women that served to hide a satisfied smile, they were also allowed thirds.

  “Okay,” Rachel said as she finished packing up the empty dishes, having portioned out the leftovers into two containers and left them on the table. “We’re off, boys. Have a good rest of your shift.”

  Noah smiled as she walked over to Hector, leaned up, and gave him a kiss. “I’ll see you back at the house.” Then she waved at Noah.

  He almost forgot to wave back, but managed in time to get his hand up in a fair approximation of a casual wave. “Take care,” he said, wondering if the others could hear the tightness in his voice.

  Rachel didn’t seem to react, which he hoped meant his acting had sufficed not to draw attention. She pushed the stroller with Karlie in it to the rear while Hector strode out, leaving him and Angela alone for the moment.

  “What did she mean by that?” he asked.

  “Mean by what?”

  Noah frowned. “When she said “see you back at the house.” She doesn’t live in a house. It’s a unit. That’s what you all call it. So why did she say house?”

  Angela’s eyes flicked up and to the side as she replayed the conversation. Noah could see the skin around them tighten slightly as she realized he was right. Rachel had said house. Not unit, or complex, or even just home. She’d said house, which implied an actual building. Which was either a very random slip of the tongue, or she was hiding something from him…

  “I guess it was just a slip of the tongue?” Angela replied.

  Noah wanted to deflate right then and there as she lied to him. It was as clear as day, he could see it in her eyes, in her mouth and the set of her shoulders. Angela wasn’t telling him the truth. She knew more than she was letting on.

  “I see,” he said dully, not bothering to hide the fact that he was aware she was lying to him. “You’re sure?”

  “Yes.”

  He inhaled, breathing out in a sigh. “Very well,” he said stiffly. “Thank you for lunch. I need to get back to work.” Noah gave her a very polite hug and then left the room right away, before he could reveal to Angela how hurt he was by her lie.

  It revealed a lot to him, including the fact that she apparently still suspected him, and didn’t trust him completely, despite her earlier words. There was still doubt sown in her mind about his true intentions in Cloud Lake, and whether he might just be using her, instead of the truth. Noah wasn’t certain how he could convince her that he was being honest with her, short of telling her that he knew she was his mate, that they were going to be together forever. Eventually.

  Doing so would probably just scare her away, however, and that was what he could afford to do least just then. He needed to gain her trust, to find out what she knew, and potentially use that to out either Braden or Chase, whoever was the spy. But if Angela wasn’t going to do that, then he had exactly zero leverage over them, nothing to bait them with.

  Which meant that to gain the information he needed, he was going to have to do something he did not wish to. Something devious and underhanded, that he’d so far absolutely refrained from even considering.

  Noah was going to have to follow Hector home.

  ***

  Two days later Noah had his opportunity. He hadn’t seen Angela since she’d brought them lunch on Saturday, and he wasn’t sure when he was going to see her again. They’d not spoken much in the wake of it either, other than a few perfunctory “how was your day?” style text messages.

  He and Hector were on the day shift, which ended around four in the afternoon. They turned things over to Charles and Chase, who had the night shift, and headed their separate ways. But only for a moment. Noah ran out the rear of t
he building, climbed swiftly to the roof, and then made his way silently across the snow-covered shingles to the front of the embassy. There he waited.

  Several minutes later Hector emerged and headed on a straight line course to the complex that housed the women. So far, everything was as it should be, but Noah knew it wouldn’t last. Something was going to change. And halfway into his journey, it did. Noah had stayed on rooftops, well behind Hector and on the opposite side of the street. With it being wintertime it was already darkening outside, and the shadows would help conceal him if Hector ever turned to see if he was followed.

  He did, once, and it was so unexpected Noah almost didn’t react in time. But he came to a halt and didn’t move, knowing that motion would attract notice. Hector swung his head behind him, but he only looked down at the street, never looking up. Once his vision began to sweep the street in front of him Hector immediately crouched down and almost out of sight, leaving just enough of his head raised to be able to see Hector when he moved off again.

  This time almost due north. Away from the complex where Angela and supposedly Rachel and Hector lived. He frowned in thought as he followed. The embassy was on the eastern side of town, almost on the outskirts. The complex was on the south side, built upon an empty spot of land that had once been a huge dusty field.

  Noah had exactly no information on what lay to the north. He’d never needed it. The bars and trouble spots were all downtown, such as it was in Cloud Lake. There was nothing that should have concerned him with the northern part of town. It had all been human housing, as far as he’d been concerned. Now, however, as he followed Hector through downtown and continued to the north, he had to wonder if perhaps that wasn’t entirely true.

  Where are you going, Hector? And what are you up to?

  Commercial buildings began to turn into houses, first townhomes and then fully detached units. The farther out they went from the core the newer the houses got, the larger they became, and there was more land between them. Eventually they reached the outskirts. It had long ago become impossible for Noah to continue upon rooftops, and he now followed Hector on foot.