“Sure. What’s the question?”
“Have you been shot before?”
“Yes, over a hundred times. You can watch some of the videos on YouTube. What is this shit? You know I’ve been shot. You arrived directly after I shrugged off a rocket-propelled grenade, fifty assault rifles, and a damn mini-gun.” She was now quite sure every dragon in a five-mile radius could sense her aura and how pissed off she was.
“Yes, I know you’ve been shot in places that were steel. But have you been shot by a handgun before in human form or dragon form?”
“Yes! I was shot by Death. You know that.”
Stonequest lowered his voice even more. “Have you ever been shot by a regular bullet?”
“I…no… No, I guess not.”
He clenched his jaw and it seemed obvious that the answer displeased him.
“Why?”
“I was merely hoping for some data points. I’ll assume you were shot in the wing.”
“Good, because I was shot in the fucking wing.”
Stonequest held a hand up. “Would you please listen? I’ll assume you were shot in the wing, which can be painful, especially if it caught you right on the joint. There’s an unbelievable number of forces working on that joint, so the pain would have been bad.”
“It was bad. As bad as being shot by Death.”
“Are you sure? You don’t think it could have been a regular bullet?”
Kristen gasped. She couldn’t believe she’d failed to put the pieces together to understand his reaction better. “You think the bullet in the handgun was made from a dragon.”
“Shush! Wait, how do you know about that?”
Technically, she wasn’t supposed to. She’d been shot by a bullet made of dragon scale that one of her old teammates had lifted from the evidence room. Currently, it was buried deep beneath Detroit. When she’d seen Death’s corpse—killed by tiny bullet wounds—she’d assumed it was the same tech. Jim had confirmed the suspicion. He had quite an anti-dragon bias and had gone so far as to dig fairly deeply into the anti-dragon corners of the Internet. That’s where he’d found out about the bullets. They were insanely expensive and insanely secret. But she had to tell Stonequest something, and it was damn hard to lie to a dragon since they could read auras.
“Jim knows about them. He’s…that is, he used to really hate dragons and told me that’s what he thought shot me. He said that’s what probably injured Death.”
He nodded. “Those bullets are still confidential. I can’t believe humans know about them.”
“Only some humans.”
“Death is gone because someone shot her with bullets made of dragon. That won’t stay secret forever.”
“And you think the same thing was used here.”
“I don’t know what I think,” he replied. “But I know there’s no evidence here to corroborate my theory and that if knowledge of those bullets got out, it could cause a real panic.”
“So…you want me to lie?” Kristen couldn’t believe it.
“No. You don’t have to lie. You already made your statement. It would look weird if you changed it now. But stop…stop being so insistent. Let this blow over so I can keep digging. I don’t want you to spook anyone. Not Windfire and not whoever has targeted him.”
She sighed. At least she could understand the logic of what he asked her to do, even if it was moronic. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, there were bullets out there that could hurt dragons.
Now that she thought about it, one of them had probably been used to hurt her. She could be dead if the shooter had been more accurate. Her honest opinion was that it would be better to tell the entire force, but she understood confidentiality and would respect Stonequest…for now.
Chapter Eight
Kristen managed to actually keep a low profile for about a minute. That was how long it took before Ridgespine began to insult her again. “Crashing over ghosts. What did the Steel Dragon see, a spark from her own tail?”
“At least I saw something in the last eighty years. You look like you came out of a history book. Did you know these things flying around aren’t birds, but robots? Do you know what a robot is, Sergeant?”
The color on his face bloomed into a shade of red normally only seen on flowers in the spring. It was almost worth it to see him so furious. “You impetuous, bull-headed brat. Do you think that because the rags they call newspapers in Detroit write about you catching a few humans, you have what it takes to be on Dragon SWAT?”
“I don’t think, I know I have what it takes,” she retorted swiftly.
“I have news for you. Right now, I am Dragon SWAT. If I pull a few strings, you’ll be out of the service faster than you can transform into a dragon.” Ridgespine’s color hadn’t abated at all.
“Are you threatening me?”
“That you even question if being ostracized from the dragon community is a threat proves you’re not one of us. You have backward priorities and no patience. Actually, firing you would probably give you too damn much satisfaction. You want to leave? Then quit. But you probably don’t even have the stones for that.”
Kristen clenched her jaw and bit off her acerbic words. Moments before, when talking to Stonequest, quitting had seemed like a logical move. Now, when Ridgespine said it, she was offended by the idea. “I won’t quit. Not after what happened here today.”
He nodded and she cursed silently when she realized that was what he’d wanted her to say. Damn it, she hated being played. He knew he’d won too. She could sense it in his aura.
“If you don’t quit, you keep working for me. Apparently, guard duty was too much. You couldn’t handle any time in the paper dungeon. That means I’ll have to get creative with your assignments from here on out. You know there’s a team working on cleaning up the trash around that incinerator you and your team destroyed. Maybe you can join them. A little manual labor might do you good and give you an opportunity to see the damage that rushing in without a damn thought in your head causes.”
“If I hadn’t rushed in, Shadowstorm would still be out there.”
“Shadowstorm’s in the past, Lady Steel. What you need to worry about is your future. I have enough assignments to keep you from seeing daylight for the next five years. I hope you’re ready for that.”
Something shifted in the air. Kristen felt it like the breeze changing direction or the sun coming out from behind a cloud. She turned to see an old dragon exit the mansion in human form. All the officers paused to look at him and in that moment, he transformed.
A whirlwind kicked up around him and enveloped him in snow, but as quickly as the wind appeared, the whirlwind ignited. Instead of a man, there was now a flaming tornado in the middle of the courtyard. It expanded beyond human size, then a horse, a moose, and even a small elephant. Finally, the wind dissipated, and a dragon stood in the place of the old man.
He had tarnished golden scales that changed color as he walked and shifted between the oranges and yellows of a fire. The membrane of his wings was more wrinkled than she could believe, and an extremely long mustache flipped despite their not being much of a breeze.
An aura poured off the golden dragon too. It was powerful and thick, with notes of ancient pride but also paranoia and something like being impressed. He raised a claw and gestured for Ridgespine to approach him. Kristen could feel the desire come from the dragon as much as she saw the gesture. His aura was incredibly strong. She wondered if he could use it to affect her despite being a dragon.
The sergeant swallowed hard when he was singled out by the dragon. He straightened his already ramrod posture and sent Kristen a glare. “Whatever flack I get, the shit rolls downhill to you.” With that, he strode toward the ancient dragon.
No one approached while he spoke to the dragon, so she didn’t know what to do except watch. From the aura, the conversation seemed to be going all right. She didn’t sense the paranoid part of it grow—which she thought was a good thing—and she didn’t sense
any anger, which was a huge comfort. She tried to feel Ridgespine’s aura, but all she sensed was fear, which she didn’t think could be right. Aside from that, she couldn’t sense much else as the golden dragon’s aura was simply too strong. The effort was like trying to look at the planet Mercury during the day. It was too close to the sun to make it out.
After a minute, the golden dragon looked directly at Kristen, and slowly, almost glacially, a smile spread on his face. She felt a stab of joy at the smile. The way his golden, slitted eyes sparkled was enchanting. She wondered if the feeling came from his aura, but even if it did, that was a good sign, right? If he tried to make her feel good, that meant he wasn’t as furious as her boss had been. At least, that’s what she told herself.
Ridgespine nodded once more to the dragon before he returned to her. He looked like he’d swallowed a lemon. “Lady Steel,” he said between clenched teeth.
“Yes, sir?” she said sweetly.
“It appears that Sir Windfire is quite pleased with your diligence.”
“That’s Windfire, the dragon who owns this place?”
Rage flashed across the sergeant’s face, no doubt directed at her arrogance, but it vanished in a moment like a school of fish swallowed by a whale. “Yes. That is Windfire. He wanted me to tell you that he doesn’t care that his grounds are completely ruined and will have all that repaired.”
“Yeah. Can’t Timeflash do something about that with her mages?”
Ridgespine ground his teeth, looked away, then looked at her again. “Timeflash’s abilities only work on objects. Plants are not objects.”
“Oh.” Kristen smiled, happy to play the oblivious new recruit given how furious it seemed to make him. “So he has magic plant growers or something?”
“These grounds are maintained by pedestrian means and have been for over a century, so no, there are no magic plant growers. Windfire has been—let’s say unforgiving in the past about his grounds. His enthusiasm to have you working security here should be taken as quite an honor.” Ridgespine ground the last words out with the same level of effort she imagined it would take to crush granite with one’s teeth.
“He wants me to keep working the job?” Kristen was equal parts incredulous and delighted. Everyone had seemed so angry. Even Stonequest hadn’t been happy about what happened and now, Windfire himself wanted her to stay. She grinned. This was like getting promoted over one’s boss.
“Yes, he wants you here. So this will be your detail for the time being. And Lady Steel, don’t mess this up. I have no idea why he’s not angry about this, but he’s not, so I see no reason to punish you.”
“You mean because you’re not being punished?”
The growl came unbidden from Ridgespine’s throat before he spoke. “It’s good that you recognize our fates are now linked. If you screw this up, it reflects on me. That will make me sad, so I will make you sad. Is that clear?”
“Crystal, sir, and if I protect Windfire, it was your brilliant idea to keep me here.”
“Something like that.” He shook his head almost imperceptibly. “But don’t wreck the grounds chasing any more ghosts, do you understand?”
“Sir, it wasn’t a ghost. There was an intruder here.”
“Fine, keep your hypothesis, but don’t get Windfire all worked up about it. We’re stretched thin enough as it is. I can’t afford to send a dragon out here with actual experience.”
Kristen decided not to mention Jasper. He’d said he’d come out as a favor to Windfire anyway, so he probably wasn’t under Ridgespine’s thumb like she was. Honestly, she didn’t want to anger the sergeant any further. The dragon obviously had a short fuse, and she wanted to keep this post until she discovered who had attacked.
She was absolutely certain that someone had. Someone had infiltrated these grounds, made it past one hell of a security system, and fired on her with a weapon that could have undoubtedly killed her. The other dragons didn’t think it was possible that a dragon could have done this because of the lack of aura, but they also didn’t think a human was capable of such a thing. When confronted with two impossibilities, the dragons behaved much the same as human beings. They made up a third option that was easier to digest. The rookie messed up. Weird powers and all that. Nothing to see here. Get back to work and keep your head down.
But she knew she’d seen someone. She hadn’t imagined being shot through the wing. Hell, Stonequest wanting her to keep quiet was merely more evidence that something larger was afoot. And with this assignment, she stood at its epicenter.
“Steel. Damn it, Steel, are you listening?” Ridgespine was yelling at her again.
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir,” Kristen said and snapped out of her train of thought. Apparently, to dragons, she would be known as Steel. She needed to get used to that.
“Then why are you still standing here?”
“Sir? I thought you said I had the job.”
“Yes, you do, but you’re also a damn mess. Why you transformed into your uniform before rolling through the snow and dirt is beyond me. If you had stayed in dragon form, you might still be presentable.”
“Sir, I told you, I was shot—”
“I don’t want to hear it. What I want you to do is get a fresh uniform and a shower and return to duty.”
“I don’t think it’s wise to abandon this post, sir.”
“For the sake of dragon’s breath—despite me thinking it quite obvious that you made this whole mess up to cover your inexperienced little flying session—the higher-ups still want us to do our due diligence. We’ll be here for a while yet. So, unless you plan on shopping and visiting the spa, you have more than enough time.”
“How long do I have?”
“Enough time to clean up, get a fresh uniform, and come back. Was the order unclear?”
“No, sir. That is, you were quite clear. I merely wanted to make sure the estate isn’t left with only Jasper. Whoever broke in here obviously anticipated his actions. They came in from the opposite side of the mansion.”
“Just. Go. Get. Changed. I will be damned if one of my officers tracks mud across that mansion. There are rugs in there from countries that aren’t countries anymore. Don’t ruin them.”
Kristen nodded. It was frustrating that Ridgespine still didn’t believe her, but she knew how dragons valued appearance. Besides, Stonequest was still there. If she hurried, she could be back within a few hours.
Lady Steel, as she was beginning to think of herself when in dragon company, transformed into her dragon form and took flight.
Chapter Nine
It was a shock to find that Dragon SWAT had already left the scene, even though Kristen had returned as quickly as she could. She approached a quiet mansion at dusk, the estate illuminated by bright, halogen bulbs that flicked on and off as animals approached the well-secured perimeter and wisely decided there was easier foraging available elsewhere.
She soared over the defenses and noted that the drones came up to meet her and kept pace with her in flight before they settled again. It seemed logical that they’d run some kind of recognition software. Obviously, Windfire would have to be concerned about dragons as well as people, and yet she found it kind of amazing that the drones seemed to have recognized her in dragon form.
Still mulling over this oddity, she landed at the front of the mansion. As soon as her wings had stopped kicking up snow, Officer Jasper came down the steps, a smile on his face and relief in his aura. “Nice of you to come back, Lady Hall.”
“Where is everyone else?”
He shook his head. “I tried to persuade some of them to stay. I knew you’d be back soon, but they wouldn’t listen. Most of them think you made it all up.”
“Is that what you think?”
“No, ma’am. I saw the intruder. I only wish I had seen them sooner.”
Kristen nodded. At least her partner believed her.
“Windfire asked me to invite you inside for tea.”
“Tea? Shouldn’t
we maintain the perimeter?”
Jasper shrugged. “The security system is supposed to do that. Plus, I don’t think anyone will be able to attack again so soon, not without a plan to do something about the Steel Dragon. Also, our job is to protect Windfire, not his estate. That’s probably done best if you’re in the same room as him instead of half a mile away chasing raccoons that activated the motion sensors.”
“Fair point.” She transformed into her human form and ascended the steps to the mansion with Jasper and went inside.
They found the ancient waiting in an amazing library. Leather-bound books stood on shelves with trinkets that Kristen quickly realized weren’t trinkets at all but honest to God treasure. Between the books were crowns, globes that looked ancient yet were strangely accurate—informed by dragons rather than human explorers, she realized—plus scepters, candles, and pieces of bone here and there. In the center of it all, in a plush red chair, sat Windfire.
He wore a gold smoking jacket that on anyone else would have been ridiculous but looked quite appropriate on him. His thin hair was swept back. He had a mustache, Kristen realized, but it was far better tamed than the long trails he wore as a dragon. On the table at his side sat a small pot of tea. He gestured for the SWAT members to approach, and when they did, he poured her a cup.
“Thank you, Jasper,” Windfire said.
Jasper bowed. “It’s an honor to keep you company, old friend. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a perimeter to maintain.”
Kristen shot him daggers with her eyes, furious that he abandoned her with their charge. The old man seemed nice enough, but she seemed to have made a habit of offending dragons. Her partner only chuckled, left the library, and clicked the door shut as he left.
“I wanted to thank you for your diligence,” Windfire said cordially.
“You’re very welcome, sir. I was merely doing my job,” Kristen replied, the response automatic from dealing with stressed civilians after months and months of duty on SWAT.
The Steel Dragon (Steel Dragons Series Book 2) Page 6
