by Lowe, Anna
“Now what?” Sergio whispered.
“We wait for them to call us.”
For a time, they stood quietly, getting their bearings. The bigwigs were all clustered at the head of the room, arguing over some point in their agenda.
“The father, it seems, comes from weaker stock. But the mother’s side of the family includes some exceptional bloodlines.” One of the elders went on at length about someone Liam couldn’t care less about. “Strong pedigree. Not just from the Aquitaine side, but the Qi Ping dynasty as well.”
Liam made a face. Bloodlines were everything to lions. That had been his problem from the start.
“How can you be sure?” someone asked.
“She homed right in on the treasure we set out to attract her — a piece from an ancient dragon hoard.”
Sergio raised his eyebrows in a question. Attract whom?
Liam had no idea. He didn’t care either, not with his mind drifting back to Gemma.
“No human would recognize that treasure,” another of the elders said. “Only someone with shifter blood.”
Sergio sniffed the air and whispered, “Not just lions here.”
Liam shook his head. “Whatever they’re discussing must be serious. They’ve called in leaders from all over the UK.” He pointed to one shifter after another, taking Sergio through a who’s who of the Council of Elders, following the waiter going around with drinks.
“The core of the Guardians are all lions.” The ones drinking gin, he might as well have added. “See the one who looks like Churchill? That’s Augustus Llewis-Jones. The man pacing to his right is Frederick Ainsworth. And the woman with silver hair sitting over there like a queen is Electra Huxley.”
Sergio perked up. “The Electra?”
Liam sighed. “The one and only. Just wait till she speaks up. Or should I say, starts ordering everyone around. Picture Judi Dench crossed with Margaret Thatcher. You definitely want to stay on her good side.”
Liam decided to leave out how closely he and Electra were related on his mother’s side. Instead, he went on.
“The others represent different parts of the UK. Welsh dragons…” He pointed to a delegation of short, stout men with deeply creased faces being served frothy ales. “They get blustery, but they don’t meddle with politics much. Mostly, they just want to be left alone.”
Sergio nodded slowly. “Relations of your father?”
Liam made a face. “He comes from a different dragon clan. None of which lions consider good enough to mix with their regal blood.” He tried keeping the bitterness out of his voice but didn’t really succeed.
Sergio studied him closely but let it go, and Liam was more than happy to change the subject. “That’s Fergus MacGregor — the head of Scotland’s unicorns.”
Sergio’s eyes went wide. “Aren’t unicorns extinct?”
Liam shook his head. “There are a few left.” He pointed out the handful in attendance, most of them sipping wine spritzers. “They make a show of being independent, but when push comes to shove, they always side with the lions.”
“Who is that colossus?” Sergio pointed to a man standing a head above the rest.
“Eamonn Barley of Northern Ireland. One of the last of the giant deer.”
“Giant what?”
Liam splayed his fingers over his head like antlers. “The animal species went extinct when mammoths did, but a few shifters survived. They’re loyal to the lions — blindly loyal, some say. You know — the enemies of our enemies must be our friends. That kind of thing.”
He watched as Eamonn accepted a double whiskey and downed it like water.
“I wouldn’t like to cross him,” Sergio observed.
“Neither would I. Anyway, the problem is, there are too many factions, and they bicker endlessly. It’s worse than Parliament sometimes.”
Indeed, as he spoke, the council broke into an ever-louder exchange.
“I knew our treasure would reel her in,” one of the lions said smugly.
“Our treasure? It was stolen from Wales,” a dragon thundered, turning red.
“It was won in a fair fight,” Augustus Lewis-Jones pointed out, sticking his nose higher. “Have you forgotten the Battle of Llangwellyn in 1262?”
“No, we haven’t,” Cian Talog, the leader of the Welsh dragons, growled.
“Can’t you just let that go?” one of the unicorns sighed.
“We’ll let it go when you stop going on about the Treaty of Aberfiddy,” one of the dragons shot back.
A dangerous gleam appeared in the unicorns’ eyes, and they tossed their heads in agitation.
Several dragons growled in response, and the bear guards stepped closer. Lions bristled, and Eamonn, the giant deer, lowered his head as if ready to shift and charge. Shouts broke out as the various factions voiced their outrage, and—
“Gentlemen, please. Quiet. I said quiet!” the grand old dame of the lion council, Electra Huxley, barked.
And just like that, the whole assembly went still.
Liam shot Sergio a look. Told you to watch out for her.
“Allow me to bring us back to the matter at hand.” Electra’s low, dangerous tone said, I command you to return to the matter at hand, and every man in the room stood at attention. “The key point is that we have located a Fire Maiden at last.”
Liam whipped his head around.
Sergio caught his eye and mouthed, Fire Maiden?
Liam nodded slowly. Until recently, he’d thought that was just a legend, but there really were powerful ancestors of the mighty dragon Queen Liviana. Their royal blood was capable of reviving ancient spells that protected the great cities of Europe. However, their power attracted both good and evil factions, as he’d witnessed in Paris.
“When the shifter world is at peace, the human world tends to follow,” Electra said. “And as we all know, Britain needs that badly.”
Everyone nodded earnestly — even Liam. But, wow. Another Fire Maiden? Who was she? Where had they found her?
His inner lion scowled. Who cares about a woman with royal bloodlines? I just want Gemma.
“Now that we have identified our Fire Maiden, we must act quickly,” Electra went on. “We have received reports that members of the Lombardi clan may be on the move in London.”
Liam narrowed his eyes. Could that have been the shifter he’d seen on the Tube? Then again, hundreds of shifters passed through the city, so who knew?
“Again, the Lombardis.” Sergio cursed under his breath.
Liam mulled it over. The Lombardis were a clan of ruthless dragons who had been exiled from Europe decades earlier. But they had recently returned in a renewed attempt to seize power. They’d tried and failed in Paris. Had they shifted their sights to London now?
“We cannot allow those filthy dragons to get to the Fire Maiden before we do,” Augustus declared.
“Filthy dragons?” Cian Talog bellowed.
Augustus rolled his eyes. “I don’t mean all dragons. Just those no-good Italians.”
When Sergio’s canines extended into a wolf grimace, Liam elbowed him in the ribs.
“It’s said that Lorenzo Lombardi — one of the younger, more dangerous members of the clan — has become involved with that Parisian outcast. Another dragon.” Electra snapped her fingers, trying to recall the name.
“Jacqueline?” Liam blurted.
Dozens of pairs of eyes turned to him, and Electra spoke in a low, menacing hum.
“Ah, Mr. Bennett. So good to see you in attendance.” Her tone was so flat, it was impossible to read.
“Good to be here, ma’am,” Liam said, working hard to keep his voice as even as hers.
When she scowled in one of those Children should be seen but not heard expressions, Liam stood straighter. He might be a mixed breed in Electra’s eyes, but he wasn’t a child any more. He was a warrior, and a damn good one, hired by the lions of London to protect the city. Let Electra remember that.
She turned away, snappin
g her fingers at an assistant. The nerdy owl shifter pressed a remote control, and a screen lowered from the ceiling.
Liam snorted and whispered to Sergio. “They let the twenty-first century in to the same degree that they admit dragons. A little at a time, and only when they find it convenient.”
The Welsh dragons looked on, unimpressed, and someone pushed a gawking Eamonn Barley out of the way before the screen tangled in his antlers. Then the lights dimmed, and Electra spoke, clearly relishing the sense of mystery.
“Allow me to introduce you to our Fire Maiden.”
A picture appeared on the screen, and Liam squinted at the image of a crowd around a juggler in Covent Garden.
“Which one is she?” Sergio whispered.
Liam shrugged. It beat him.
Then the slide show clicked to another image — one of a young woman with long, dark hair, a dancer’s trim figure, and gorgeous, teardrop eyes.
Liam’s jaw dropped. Gemma?
Her name must have slipped out, because Sergio jerked around. “You know her?”
Liam couldn’t answer; he was that dumbstruck.
The photo showed Gemma strolling along a crowded street lined with pastel-colored houses, her face set in an expression that said she had no clue she was being watched. She wore jeans, a T-shirt printed with something about hedgehog habitats, and had her hair in a pair of cute schoolgirl braids.
“A Miss Gemma Archer,” Electra continued.
Another photo went up, that one with Gemma gazing at a parchment of some kind. A woman who was smart, sassy, and had seen the world.
Liam’s mind went into overdrive, and his stomach knotted with a sense of impending doom. Somehow, he knew this wouldn’t be good.
“A young woman of mixed heritage,” Electra said. “Anglo-Norman dragon lines, Welsh, and even Chinese dragons on her mother’s side. Now, you may think, as I initially did, that that type of interbreeding would produce inferior bloodlines…”
Electra didn’t gesture toward Liam and say, Exhibit A, but he could sense everyone making the connection. His mother was a lioness from a noble family, and his father, a roguish dragon. The two had eloped, setting off a scandal, and when they’d returned with a baby boy — him — everyone had shaken their heads. Liam knew all about it thanks to the gossipy relatives who’d raised him after his parents died.
Your mother always was the black sheep of the family.
Now, that no-good father of yours…
Swept her right off her feet…
No-good dragons…
Liam’s gut twisted at the memories.
Electra went on. “However, in this rare case, the bloodlines appear to have combined in a way that makes her royal lineage more potent than any of the original threads. She may be a mere human, but her blood runs thick with royal power.”
Every shifter in the room leaned closer as Electra paused.
“Just think of the potential.” The old woman’s eyes gleamed. “Not only in her, but for our future. If we can arrange for this woman to mate with a suitable individual, she may produce even stronger offspring.”
Liam’s eyelids twitched. This could not be happening.
Sergio hissed to Liam, “How can anyone suggest such a thing? Mating is the most sacred bond in the world.”
Spoken like a true wolf, and for once, Liam agreed.
“This Fire Maiden will help us stabilize the current situation, and her offspring will allow us to sustain that power into the future,” Electra said.
Everyone nodded, but Liam was aghast.
Electra smacked her hands together to silence the murmurs of approval. “Now, then. I have a plan.”
Everyone leaned closer, but Liam eyed the exit. Whatever that plan was, he couldn’t stomach it. Even if the Fire Maiden had been just anyone, he would despise whatever Electra had up her sleeve. No one had the right to manipulate — even force — a woman into anything for their own gain.
“We shall identify a suitable mate and lure this woman in,” Electra started.
Lure? Liam wanted to scream.
“Then we settle her among us. Watch her closely. Choose a few petty areas in which we allow her to dabble and maintain the illusion of power.”
Liam’s gut roiled.
“Meanwhile, we shall make use of her power to secure the city. And when she falls pregnant…”
Liam’s eyes bulged. How far did Electra’s crazy plan extend?
“…we’ll make sure to take that child…”
She said that in a way a person might take a flowerpot or a fruit bowl.
“…and raise it properly.”
Liam couldn’t believe his ears.
“A brilliant plan, is it not?”
Electra scanned the council, and for some reason, her eyes landed on him. Then she flashed a bright smile — the one that broadcast Danger! with a thousand volts — and pointed to him.
“And you, Mr. Bennett, play a prominent role.”
The blood drained from his face. “Me?”
“Yes, you. The unfortunate circumstances of your breeding may have a bright side after all.”
A wave of anger rushed through his veins, and if it hadn’t been for Sergio’s elbow in his ribs, who knew what Liam might have done?
“Mr. Bennett. What say you to my plan?”
Much as he was attracted to Gemma, this was wrong. So, so wrong. Yes, he’d wanted Gemma, but not like this. Not as a pawn in someone else’s game.
“It’s disgusting. Unethical. Immoral,” he snapped. To hell with the consequences of crossing Electra.
“On the contrary, Mr. Bennett. It is practical.” Then she smirked. “Are you turning into your poor, deluded mother? A closet romantic who puts love ahead of duty?”
“Shouldn’t love come before duty?”
Other than Sergio, whose eyes flashed, everyone in the room looked blank. Well, a few of the dragons scuffed the flagstones uncomfortably, and for a moment, one of the unicorns looked as if she might start spouting poetry about destiny and desire. But no one spoke. No one even peeped a word of protest. They just waited for Electra to steamroll along.
Electra crooked a finger. “Come down here, young man.”
Liam wanted to dig in his heels, but he wasn’t a kid anymore. He was a member of an elite military group. The veteran of countless battles. A grown man. He could stand up to Electra, right?
So he stepped down the stairs. Creaky stairs in a room gone deathly quiet, making the instinct to run away more urgent. But he had never run from danger before, and he sure wouldn’t run now. He kept his chin high and walked to the group of elders at the head of the room.
Behind him, the stairs creaked again, and Sergio, bless him, appeared at Liam’s side.
“Did I summon you? I think not.” Electra sniffed at the wolf shifter.
Sergio kept his expression neutral. “No. You didn’t.”
Liam made a mental note to buy his buddy a drink — the good stuff — later.
Electra turned up her nose and continued as if Sergio weren’t there, starting with Liam’s name. Did she know how much he hated that? Probably.
“Mr. Bennett, your mother put love before duty, and look where it got her.”
His lips twitched, but he managed to keep them sealed.
“Now you have a chance to atone for her mistakes and to serve your pride.”
Liam stared straight ahead, refusing to meet Electra’s eyes.
“Come now,” the older woman purred in a totally different tone. “A young man such as yourself must know how to…shall we say…get friendly with young women. I can all but guarantee Miss Archer will be receptive. After all, you’re…you,” she said, letting her eyes travel his body slowly.
Liam felt sick.
“…and she is rather plain.”
Liam snapped his head up. Gemma wasn’t plain. She was gorgeous. Smart. Independent. Amazing in every way.
“Then there’s the fact that she’s young and impressionable
. And a Yank. They love the accent,” Electra concluded.
A few men nodded wisely, while others snickered.
“It will be child’s play. All you have to do is find her. Get friendly. Seduce her.”
Liam clenched his fists. He wanted to get to know Gemma. To fall in love with all the facets of her personally, no matter how quirky. And yes, he would love to make love to her too. But seducing Gemma? Tricking her? Never.
“As soon as you deliver the mating bite—” Electra went on.
“As soon as I what?”
The lioness’s eyes went cold. “There seems to be an echo in here. You were hired to take orders, not to ask questions. Is that clear?”
Liam kept his lips sealed.
“And if you cannot follow such simple — dare I say, pleasurable — orders…”
More snickers broke out across the room.
“…we will turn to the next best candidate. Archibald, what say you?”
A young lion shifter stepped forward, touching his golden hair. “Nothing could be simpler, madam. I live to serve my pride.”
Liam rolled his eyes. Archibald lived to serve his ego — and to bed as many women as he could.
Electra held up a hand. “Of course, Mr. Bennett’s breeding makes him the better choice. Not only would he bind this Fire Maiden to our fair city forever—”
Against her will? he wanted to scream.
“His dragon blood, when crossed with this Maiden’s, may even produce a Fire Maiden of the next generation. One we can raise properly, with a full understanding of her duties.”
An eager murmur went through the crowd, and Liam stared. They were talking about Gemma like some kind of broodmare, and him as the stud. Worse, if Electra’s twisted plan actually worked, any children he and Gemma had would be manipulated by the pride. Electra would raise them, groom them — in a word, brainwash them — to believe her warped vision of the world.
Liam looked at the other shifters in the room. Electra’s plan might serve the city, but it smacked of lion supremacy. Surely, they wouldn’t approve.
