by Callie Rose
“Wait, for real?” Jayce looked way too excited about that. I poked his side, and he grinned, grabbing my finger and biting it gently.
“No, you idiot.” Kingston arched a brow at him. “Who’s going to pole dance in a jet? One bad bout of turbulence, and you’ve got a dead stripper.”
“Plenty of storage space,” Kai said, glancing at the cupboards which lined the high ceiling.
Hannah gave him a wary look. “You can’t store dead strippers in the overhead bins, Kai.”
He did a double take, laughed once, then frowned. “What the fuck, Hannah?”
“Oh, were you not responding to Kingston?”
“I wasn’t even listening to Kingston.” He narrowed his eyes, turning a little in his seat. “Kingston, how many dead strippers do you store in here? Is that like rich kid carpooling or something?”
The dragon shifter groaned and buried his face in his hands. “You guys all suck.”
I laughed. “Yup. And some of us are pretty damn good at it.”
His ears turned red again, which got me giggling. It was going to be a fun ride. I felt giddy and almost weightless. Jayce was right; being back on earth was amazing.
“You know, even though we’re flying in what appears to be the annual salary of a small country, it still feels almost—quaint,” I said, drawing in a deep, contented breath. I gazed out the window and watched the clouds roll by.
“I know what you mean.” Hannah pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “My grandma took me to this Amish town once, and it felt like this. Like I’ve gotten so used to doing things faster, faster, faster—and going back to the old fashioned way is sort of a novelty.”
“It’s a nice break,” Jayce said. “Honestly, I’ve never gotten used to portals. I like to see where I am when I’m going where I’m going. All that jumping through space seems like a waste of a trip, you know? It was always the best part of traveling for me—to see the way the world flowed into different parts of itself so seamlessly. Well… mostly seamlessly.”
I cocked my head at him. “Mostly?”
He shook his head and gave me a slightly haunted look. “Utah’s weird, man.” He turned to Kingston, his eyes wide. “We aren’t going to Utah, are we?”
“No. We’re going to my place in Toronto.”
“Whoa! Toronto?” Xero looked at Kingston sideways.
“Toronto is in Canada,” Jayce said, sounding legitimately confused.
“Yes, very good. Next week, we’ll teach you where Washington, DC, is,” Kingston shot back.
“You’re telling me that you, Capitalist Scroogerton the Third, are Canadian?” Kai tried and failed to hide a grin.
“What about it? What’s wrong with Canada?”
“Nothing at all,” Hannah said around a cascade of giggles. “Canada is precious. We’re in shock that you hail from there, is all.”
“Why, because I don’t drink maple syrup or say ‘eh’ after everything? Damn, you guys. Damn. And you got on my case for asking what Xero’s parents did for a living. Double standards much?”
Nobody could answer him. We were all laughing too hard. When I finally recovered myself, I shook my head at him. “Pretty sure it’s because Canada has that polite, nice, stereotype thing going for it. You, babe, are neither polite nor nice.”
“I’m nice to people who deserve it.” He huffed a breath. “Besides, Toronto is like a minute from the border. It’s practically New York. The attitude is bound to seep.”
“Toronto is practically Buffalo, and Buffalo is basically Canada,” I corrected. “I went there once and everybody was so nice I had to call my doctor and make sure I wasn’t dying.”
Kingston sighed. “Fine. Canadians are nice, and I’m the red-headed stepchild.”
“Hold on,” Kai said. “If we’re going to Toronto, how did you manage to have the jet in Seattle in an hour and a half?”
“My Dad’s in Calgary on business.” Kingston shrugged. “Apparently, my mom went with him.”
“Lucky you caught the pilot while he was still there,” Jayce said.
The dragon shifter frowned. “Of course he was still there. He wouldn’t just strand Dad in the middle of nowhere with no way home. He’ll be headed straight back after he drops us off.”
“Your dad’s a billionaire,” Kai pointed out. “There are other planes he could take.”
Kingston looked confused, then his eyes widened. “You mean—fly commercial? Oh my God, don’t ever say that to his face. I shudder to think what he’d do to you.”
“He’d hire all of your maids out from under you,” I warned to Kai in my most serious voice.
“And buy up all of your stocks,” Jayce added.
“Find out who you’re voting for and back the other guy,” Xero said with a grin.
“He’d buy all of your favorite brands and liquidate them, I bet,” Hannah said. Then she flopped back against her seat. “Ugh, I miss shopping. Can we go shopping?”
“Tell you what, Hannah, if we save the world, I’ll take you on the shopping spree of your life,” Kingston offered. “I wonder if Gucci makes tunics and leggings?”
There weren’t nearly enough throwable things on the plane, so we had to make do with loud groans in response to that.
The flight was a nice break from reality, and it was just long enough for us to really get comfortable and begin feeling like humans again. Even the expensive furnishings felt homey after about the third hour, and by the time we were buckling up to land, I was sure that I was a worldly woman.
I’d flown in a private jet, after all. No display of wealth and luxury could ever take my breath away again.
Boy was I wrong. So wrong.
Could not have been more wrong.
Kingston’s house was… insane.
First of all, we didn’t land at an airport. We landed in his backyard, and we were still met by a limo driver because the house was like a mile away. From its own backyard. Craziness, I tell you. Second, the place was a goddamn castle. Swear to God. Turrets and all, and enough windows to blind an approaching army. Sure as hell blinded me. Third—
“Oh my God! Your hedges are carved! Look at the kitty! Ooooh, a mermaid! Look! There’s a whole hedge maze, a real hedge maze, ha! I knew you had one of those,” Hannah squealed, practically smooshing her face against the window as she peered out.
I blinked, managing to keep myself a little more restrained than my friend, but unable to stop myself from rubbernecking a little. The yard looked like something out of a fairy tale. Sculpted hedges, marble statues, epic fountains, the works.
“Dang, Piper. It’s a good thing you met Kingston at FU. You would have had to lose a glass slipper or something to snag him in the real world,” Jayce teased, slipping an arm around my shoulder.
“I dunno. He’d have to be charming first,” Hannah tossed over her shoulder, her fingers still pressed to the window pane.
“Yeah, yeah, keep it up, guys. I could just leave you all here and save the world myself.”
“Oh, come on, Kingston, don’t pout. You know we’re all just jealous,” I said, rolling my eyes at him.
“It’s just a house.” Kingston waved a dismissive hand, but his ears were doing that pink thing again.
“Just a house,” Xero scoffed. “I bet you have a bat cave in the basement.”
“That’s ridiculous.” My princely mate pulled a face. “Who wants to work in a cave? The lab is fully finished, thank you very much.”
“Oh, a lab! What do you experiment with, the tears of underprivileged orphans?”
Jayce was teasing, but there was a slightly harsh edge to it. He’d never been totally comfortable with Kingston’s excessive wealth. Although maybe that would change a bit if said wealth managed to help us save the world.
“Yeah, and unicorn blood and kitten’s whiskers,” Kingston replied with an evil grin. “We test our weapons out on adorable puppies and trap rainbows for nefarious deeds.”
“All right, boys, behave
. Or I’ll make you kiss and make up later.”
They both shot worried looks in my direction, and I laughed. It was an empty threat. I knew they didn’t have any interest in each other sexually, although they had no problem getting up close and personal when I was the focus of their combined attention.
And I fucking loved being that focal point.
We finally made it across the lawn, and I could feel my body tensing as we neared the back of the house, impatient to get to work. We needed to move fast—we didn’t have much time.
“What do you have in here that will help us?” I asked.
“I’m not entirely sure. There’s an entire segment of our research department that I dedicated to the study of the supernatural after I was turned into a dragon. My father, uh, doesn’t exactly know about their work, but I kept them on even after I was sent to FU. I called my team from the plane, and I’ll have to talk to them and see what they can do. You guys can sit in on the meeting if you want to.”
“Yeah. We absolutely want to,” I said. We all piled out of the car and gazed up at the intimidating house. “Let’s get to it.”
He didn’t have to take us far. A trio of men met us just inside the door.
They all appeared to be in their late fifties, and although their appearances were extremely different, they all shared a similar intense sort of energy.
The tall, skinny one with the black hair and slightly skewed mustache was Franz. The short, chubby one with white hair sticking out everywhere except for the very top of his head was Buford. The last one, a muscular redhead who was barely gray at the temples and looked as if he had once been a movie star, was Gerard.
“We’re pleased to see you,” Franz said with a slight bow at Kingston after introductions had been done. “Have you seen the news?”
“The reception was pretty poor where we were,” Kingston said casually, failing to mention that “where we were” was the underworld. “Haven’t seen much. What’s going on?”
Franz and Buford shared a look, then Franz gestured for us to follow him. He led us downstairs to the basement and into a soundproofed room. Twelve movie-theater type chairs sat in a row in front of a huge TV. Franz turned it on to the news and we all sat to watch.
“Yet another inexplicable attack in downtown Baltimore this morning,” a reporter said, holding her microphone up to her mouth and gazing seriously into the camera. “Witnesses describe a man dressed as a lizard with blades attached to his hands attacking a woman before disappearing down a dark alley. Sir, you witnessed the attack?”
The camera moved to a man who looked like he was just now coming down from a party he’d started in nineteen eighty-seven.
“It weren’t no man dressed as a lizard, it was a bleep dragon.” He waved his hands wildly. “A motherbleeping dragon! The man, he turned—he was right there—he turned into a dragon right in front of my eyes, I swear on God he did.”
The reporter had a smile frozen on her face, her eyes slightly glazed over, probably wondering if she was watching her career go down the toilet. She blinked once, then shook her head and turned back to face the camera.
“Well, there you have it, Baltimore. Whether it’s crazy people in costume wielding knives or actual bleeping dragons, something dangerous is happening out here. Stay safe, keep your pepper spray loaded, and watch out for… giant lizards.”
The soundproofed room was silent as Franz changed the channel. A politician I vaguely recognized was standing at a podium waving his finger and lecturing.
“And they’ll tell you it’s monsters. We all know it isn’t monsters. This is a direct result of the war on drugs. The more we push the drugs underground, the more power we give the black market. It’s time to make a change. I’m co-sponsoring a bill that would legislate treatment of addictions as a matter of medical and mental health. It would decriminalize the use of drugs and make the distribution of drugs a capital offense. Call your representatives. Make them vote on it before this ‘monster madness’ kills someone you love.”
Franz changed the channel again and again. News reports from the UK, Canada, China, and Australia all showed the same thing. Fallen activity was up, and the humans knew that something big was happening. Most people chalked it up to drugs or meme culture. Those who were closest to the truth were dismissed as crazy, but we couldn’t bet on that being the case for long. Eventually Franz turned the TV off.
“As you can see, sir, the world has gone mad since your sudden disappearance.”
“Yes, I see that.” Kingston frowned deeply and stroked his chin. “The fallen army is preparing a large-scale attack. There’s a natural portal in the underworld which connects to earth directly. We need to figure out where it opens. Do you have any ideas?”
None of the men batted an eye at anything Kingston said. They were obviously pretty well-versed in this stuff, which made sense, if they’d been hired after he had turned into a dragon—he must’ve sought out the best paranormal researchers on earth. And given his deep, deep pockets, he could afford the very best.
“We’ve been mapping out places of concentrated magic for several years,” Buford said. “Though we have not differentiated between natural and supernatural causes. Unfortunately, we believe our research drew the attention of the same organization that captured you. The Custodians. We were able to cover our tracks, but we now know that our methods are visible to them.”
Kingston growled and shook his head. “We’ll have to risk it. Increase security and work quickly. The sooner we know where Gavriel is coming in, the sooner we can give the Custodians something to go on.”
Franz and Buford exchanged a glance. “You’re sure that’s the best option, Mr. Reed? Getting the Custodians involved?”
“We don’t have time to find all of the unaffiliated fallen and develop our own counter-strike. We need the Custodians’ resources if we have any hope of stopping Gavriel and his army at all. You guys are the best at what you do, but what you can’t do is cast spells. We need magical firepower on our side, and the Custodians have that.”
I could feel the three men’s hesitation and expected them to keep arguing, but they didn’t. Apparently Kingston’s word was law around here. He rose, and the rest of us followed suit.
“Gerard, please show my friends the house.” He glanced at all of us. “You guys make yourselves at home. I’m going to the lab with Buford and Franz to get this project started. I might meet you later for dinner. Depends on how it goes.”
For the first time since knowing him, I could plainly see the CEO in Kingston. He expected to be obeyed, but he wasn’t mean or cruel about it. It was kind of hot watching him give orders and think through solutions to our problem. I wished I could watch him in a business meeting, in a perfectly tailored suit, his hair styled without a strand out of place—but even in the clothes we’d worn at FU, he managed to look commanding and powerful.
I went to him as everyone else started filing out of the room.
“You got this,” I told him as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “We’re going to win.”
“Yeah.” His tone was warm but his eyes were distant. His head was already in the lab, hunting down magic hot spots. I kissed his mouth, letting the essence of his strength wash over me, then released him. He smiled at me, then gently pushed me away.
“There’s a whole mansion to explore,” he murmured. “What’s mine is yours, so poke around all you like. I’ll see you later.”
My heart seemed to expand in my chest as I kissed him once more and then slipped out of the room. It was the little, seemingly inconsequential things like this that always hit me hardest. The four men in my life let me know every day, in big ways and small, how much they cared about me.
And for a dragon to say “what’s mine is yours”?
That was basically the equivalent of sky-writing “I love you.”
Chapter Nineteen
I took Kingston’s offer to heart. And the mansion was definitely worth exploring.
&nbs
p; There was a whole indoor garden in one wing, a couple different libraries, game rooms, theaters—it was like a mall and a hotel all rolled into one. There were two kitchens, a large one and an industrially massive one. The large one was fully stocked with everyday foods, and we all indulged.
“I kind of feel bad relaxing and eating a real meal while the world is teetering on the edge of annihilation and Kingston’s team is working so hard,” Hannah said around a mouthful. “Shouldn’t we be doing something?”
“Yeah,” I said. “We’re doing it. We’re recharging so that we’ll be useful when the time comes. Take a little break tonight, Hannah. I’m sure the team could use your brain tomorrow though.”
She nodded, satisfied with that answer. After eating, we all wandered through the mansion as a group. We lost Kai and Xero to a pool table, then lost Hannah to a library full of fairy tales, spiral staircases, and stained glass windows. Before long, the only person left walking with me was Jayce. He smiled down at me with his warm blue eyes.
“Lead the way, Piper. Which way should we go next?”
“Why am I always the leader?” I asked with a smile.
He shrugged. “It’s the nature of things, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know. I kind of feel like magic took over. Like I’m just following orders.”
“Nature,” he said again, more firmly. “Super nature, maybe, but nature all the same. Let me put it this way. What would you like to do right now? What would make you feel good?”
I studied his voice and felt for his feelings, and what I found made me smile. His question wasn’t sexual in any way—not that I minded when he flirted shamelessly with me. Instead, the question was just… honest. Utterly selfless and open, without agenda. It gave me the breathing room I needed to search my own feelings and figure out the answer.
“Water,” I said dreamily. “Crystal clear water to swim in. There isn’t enough of it in the underworld, not by a long shot.”
“I saw a swimming pool outside the library.” He grinned down at me, looking delighted. “Let’s go find it.”