Nine Souls

by Shayne Silvers

  Still, they watched Raego warily. They knew his power. That he could control other dragons with his mind. Possibly even ancient dragons like them. Or he could simply turn them to stone.

  But they probably had tricks as well.

  Gertrude cleared her throat, and then pointed a claw… at me! “I have eyewitness accounts that you helped Raego steal from me. I brought guards to help me retrieve my property, and to prove their King’s deceit. Some of his dragons thought to stop me from doing so until Raego could explain himself. My dragons thought to press the matter,” she snarled. The dragons behind her stirred aggressively. Both those for and against her accusation, all of them pissed. “Hand it over. I know it’s here.”

  I blinked, placing my finger on my chest as if checking to make sure they were talking about me. “Pardon?”

  Tory piped up, finally. “It’s all out of the bag, Nate. She knows.” Dirty Gerty snorted thankfully, pinning her gaze on Tory. “Raego has not been taking care of his dragons. He’s been otherwise occupied,” Tory said, loud enough for all to hear.

  “Occupied meaning consorting with Nate Temple!” Dirty Gerty clarified.

  I frowned, shaking my head. “I’ve been through Hell.”

  She scoffed, but everyone seemed to freeze in sudden terror, staring over my shoulder. I felt a skeletal claw settle on my shoulders, mainly because Callie let out a startled gasp. I looked up, fearing Anubis had come to rehire me. Forcefully.

  But with a sigh of relief, I saw it was just the Grim Reaper! Death stood behind me. “Bell,” I hissed at him for good measure.

  He gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze as he spoke. “I think the kids would say Lit Hell. As in, he literally went through Hell. Not even an hour ago, in fact,” he indicated the black blood covering me and he handed me the Candy Skull I had tossed at Callie’s feet.

  I glanced down at it like Hamlet holding a skull, and tossed it in the grass at my feet. “Totes lit,” I agreed in an overly serious tone, recalling the odd teenager slang I had heard the Reds teaching Alex.

  Speaking of, I spotted Talon, Carl and Alex walking up to the group. I scowled as I recognized my fedora – the one with the red feather! – on Alex’s head. He’d been raiding my closet again, the sneak. “Has a little sex and thinks he can put a feather in his cap, does he?” I murmured under my breath. Callie whipped her head in my direction, eyes wide. Later, I mouthed, patting her thigh.

  Talon and Carl stared at me as if at a mirage, struck still. I raised a hand, smiling guiltily. They let out a collective breath and dipped their heads. Achilles and Leonidas were watching curiously, still eating popcorn. We were getting quite the audience.

  Tory stepped up, clearing her throat. “The Council hired me to find a thief. It didn’t take me long to find the stolen goods. A necklace. In Raego’s private safe.”

  Gertrude had a surprised look on her face. Then her eyes flicked back at the dragons as if searching for someone. I squinted at her suspiciously, but no one else seemed to have noticed that first look.

  Raego sighed, pulling out a jeweled necklace that looked to be worth a lot of money, judging by the number of gems covering it, but I didn’t get a close enough look since he tossed it at his grandmother’s feet. She looked… hesitant as she scooped it up. In a blink, that look evaporated, replaced with open anger, but I could have sworn I saw a faint breath of relief. She slowly lifted her head, staring at Raego, eyes calculating. “A fake,” she muttered, snapping it in half. It broke much too easily to be authentic, like cheap wire or plastic.

  Tory nodded. “Weird, right?” Silence fell over us, and I knew everyone was thinking why would he put a cheap plastic replica in his Vault? What the hell was going on here?

  Gertrude snorted. “Because the real one is here. In Temple’s Vault. I have witnesses.” Again, her eyes swept the dragons behind her, but she didn’t seem to find who she was searching for. But the Council members were nodding their agreement, which didn’t make me feel any better. I had a sinking feeling that I knew who her witnesses were, but I let it play out, wishing I had more popcorn and hoping Tory would get back to the part where I wasn’t the center of attention, because I sure didn’t know anything about her stolen necklace.

  Tory began to pace. “I obviously realized something much bigger was going on, so asked Raego for access to the state of the art surveillance he had recently installed.” She glanced at Dirty Gerty. “Around the time you showed up, ironically.” As if suddenly remembering something, she reached into a pocket, withdrawing a slip of paper. She held it out to Dirty Gerty, but the dragon didn’t move. Tory let it fall to the ground with a shrug, turning her back on the older dragon. “That’s a signature card for your recently opened deposit box at the Vaults.”

  I leaned in to whisper to Callie, and found she was closer than I had thought. “The magic bank,” I murmured before pulling back, trying to shake off her strawberry scent and focus.

  Dirty Gerty didn’t even have the audacity to look surprised. “I have a safe deposit box. What’s inside is private. Nothing to do with this. After the theft, I put all my valuables there, not trusting Raego’s minions. Search it,” she said, folding her arms.

  Tory nodded. “No need. I know where the necklace is,” she said, waving a hand as if it hadn’t been her point. I frowned. If she knew where this necklace was, what were we all doing here? “Did I mention those security feeds yet?” Tory asked, letting out a slow whistle. “Top of the line. Tamper proof. Oh, and it showed you placing this fake necklace in Raego’s private vault.”

  Dead silence. The dragons shared long, considering looks. Well, everyone but Dirty Gerty. She just looked about to explode. I could tell she was desperately trying to find a way out of this clusterfuck, because Tory had caught her red-handed. But red-handed in what? A fake frame-job? To take Raego down a peg? Why rope me into it?

  She finally growled, shooting Tory a fiery, dangerous look, one promising retribution. “Fine!” she snapped. “But that doesn’t change the fact that the necklace is here! In his vault!” she snarled, pointing a finger at me. “I just needed to nudge the Council into hearing me out until I could show them real proof of Raego’s theft. I needed a way to show the dragons how unfit for leadership he is. He’s never present. I’m interested to find out what he thinks is more important than his own people. Perhaps it’s his friendship with Temple – a dragon killer.” Her words, unfortunately, seemed to strike a chord with the dragons, even with her admission of guilt.

  Their judgy eyes looked at me as if I had just birthed a sphincter sneeze in a small elevator.

  A new voice spoke up, as if trying to talk to his wife at a concert, accidentally speaking a bit too loudly right when the music stopped, taking the attention away from me.

  “I would have chosen friendship over family, too, if I had been in his shoes,” Gunnar said. Then, sensing all eyes on him, he straightened, feigning embarrassment.

  Gertrude bared her teeth.

  He grinned back. “Bring it, you old scaly bitch.”

  “Ancient scaly bitch,” I admonished. “I think the word old is one of those new offensive terms, and I’m fresh out of safe spaces for her to retreat and recover in.” I didn’t know what, exactly, was going on, but I couldn’t resist an opportunity to razzle the old girl.

  Gunnar dipped his head at her apologetically. “Ancient scaly bitch,” he amended. “I’d hate to offend the ancient scaly bitch before I smash her face in.”

  She snarled in outrage, turning to her Council for support.

  Chu, the silent angry son of a bitch, flew off the handle. Always needed to watch the silent ones, I thought to myself. He lunged like a sky-blue cobra, slithering past Gertrude as his side fins flared out. “You do not speak to an elder dragon like—”

  And he was suddenly screaming in pain. One moment he was lunging for Gunnar, and the next he was screaming from a horrendous gash down his side, the bright red blood vibrant against his blue scales. I saw bone within. Twin r
ed comets erupted out of thin air to slam into his side, sending him hurtling a hundred yards with shattered ribs. A glass man shimmered into view out of thin air, standing between Gunnar and the rest of the Council. His glass claw was bloody. The Reds paced back and forth at his feet, hissing protectively in dragon form.

  In the resulting silence, my voice was very clear.

  I glanced at Chu’s body. “Ah, Chu…” I said, shaking my head sadly.

  “Bless you,” Alex offered politely.

  Gunnar chuckled, but Achilles lost it, belting out a wheezing laughter.

  Dirty Gerty looked about to have a seizure, her claws digging into… my lawn! “How DARE you! I offered you everyth—” she cut off abruptly.

  Yahn burst out laughing as the Reds deemed it safe enough to return to human form, naked as the day they were born.

  Sonia smiled acidly. “You mean when you commanded us to go to your safe deposit box, retrieve the real necklace, and then hide it here? Or when you commanded us to tell the Council we found it here?”

  Arya chimed in. “Or when you threatened to marry us to Fook and Yu if we didn’t obey?”

  The Council looked stunned, snorting and backing up a step, glaring at Gertrude in disbelief.

  “Wait!” I called out. “Did she just say Fook and Yu?” I asked incredulously. Achilles was now sobbing with laughter. I pointed at the blue sapphire dragons. “No, I think this is really important, guys. Their names are Fook and Yu? I really need to know the answer to this. I’m not concerned about the necklace. This is way more important.”

  Fook and Yu glared at me, eyes livid, but they were crouched lower, as if this were somehow their fault. It obviously wasn’t. If Gertrude had wanted to bribe Chu, offering up the Reds as potential brides wasn’t unheard of. And it would definitely earn his allegiance. To have his boys married into the house where the King lived. Or the Council… if Gertrude had managed to take Raego down.

  No one answered my question, but Callie gave me a silent fist bump.

  Yahn had a dark look aimed at Gerty. The Reds sauntered up to him, tucking under either shoulder and nuzzling against him as if he wasn’t made of glass. They seemed to be reminding Fook and Yu that their dreams would never crystallize, in case the boys had been unsure.

  “We… well, I guess you could say we fucked you,” Yahn said. I was really wishing I had that tub of popcorn now, trying to bite back my grin. Yahn kissed the top of both girls’ heads lovingly. “And this,” he enunciated, mocking Dirty Gerty’s words, “is everything.”

  Sonia smiled sweetly at Dirty Gerty. “We might have lied about there being a vault here. But the necklace looks much better on me anyway.”

  And Yahn lifted his hand to reveal a ridiculously expensive, gemmed golden necklace from the Middle Ages. He placed it around Sonia’s neck, letting it hang between her breasts. This reminded Alex – quite suddenly, judging by his gasp – that she was naked.

  If a dragon’s face could blush, Gertrude would have looked like the purple dinosaur.

  Arya clucked her tongue. “We might have lied about Raego being away, too. Forgive us?”

  Gertrude’s ears could have been steaming and I wouldn’t have been surprised.

  Baron did not look pleased. He looked downright furious. He was grinding his teeth as he glared at Gertrude. “I will personally take care of this matter.” Gertrude crouched aggressively, but seemed to realize she didn’t stand a chance. Baron shot an inquisitive eye towards Raego, and there was a slight dip of his head. Very slight. “But I do want to know where our king has been lurking all this time.” The three other Council members suddenly voiced their agreement, latching onto the potential life raft.

  Raego held out a hand to Tory, who nodded. “Raego’s been disguising himself as a werewolf, speaking with the people of the city, encouraging union. Better relations. People began calling him White Fang. He’s been doing this for months, apparently.” The dragons just stared in confusion, so Tory continued. “But then someone else started meeting up with those same factions in town, sowing rumors and fear. Anarchy. That person somehow made them think they were White Fang. That the friendly White Fang they knew and trusted was looking out for them, warning them of the dangers in associating across species. Or dealing with Temple.”

  “Lies!” Dirty Gerty roared. “Where is your proof? Will you deny—”

  Yahn interrupted her. “I have been following Raego. Saw it with my own eyes. He even brought the Kansas City pack to help in Gunnar’s absence. I just confirmed this with Paradise and Lost, who had also been trailing him.” He shot Raego an apologetic shrug, but Raego didn’t seem to mind. “Then I saw a person meeting with those same groups. Not a wolf at all. When I spoke to those groups afterwards, they swore on their lives they had just had the most alarming meeting with White Fang where they were warned of all sorts of things coming to St. Louis, and that Temple was behind it all.” Yahn slowly lifted his glass finger to point at Dirty Gerty. “She used her mind control to trick them into thinking she was White Fang.”

  Dirty Gerty looked like she wanted to roast Yahn alive. He blew her a kiss. Baron, seeming to surprise himself at Yahn’s gesture, laughed out loud. Then, surprising all of us, he walked over to crouch before Raego. “My king… it seems I’ve been fed lies. My apologies. I accept your judgment, but know it was never my intent to dethrone you for personal will. And I have no offspring to bribe or extort,” he added drily. “I believed you were neglecting the dragons.” He glanced at Gertrude, his eyes pulsing brighter. “It seems I fell for a long con. If they were complicit in her scheme, I wouldn’t be against proving my allegiance by combat…” he growled, staring right at Chu, who was just now getting to his feet a good distance away, and then the two elder dragons.

  The two ancient dragons snarled back, hunkering lower, daring him.

  Chapter 58

  Tory studied Baron as if the three dragons weren’t about to destroy my VIP party. She then turned to Raego – who had been watching her – and nodded one time, giving Baron her stamp of approval. She didn’t give this stamp of approval to the other ancient dragons. Raego didn’t look pleased that only one of them might be trustworthy.

  Enya didn’t look happy. Resolved to follow through with her stance, but not happy that she’d been played. I wondered how complicit she was, or if she had just been a pawn, too.

  But Chu… he had returned, walking up to his sons, his head hanging low in shame. They had snorted and walked away from him without looking back. Chu slowly lifted his head and glared at Gertrude with utter hatred. Then he calmly – peacefully – took his place in the spotlight. I wasn’t sure if that made him a good guy, or if he was just accepting the price for his mistakes.

  Malik… looked surprised. As if he had missed half the conversation. But I wasn’t sure I bought it, especially noticing Ivory looking so anxious behind him. I’d keep an eye on those two.

  Tory then began walking back and forth before Dirty Gerty, who looked desperate for any way out of this mess, of the scheme that had collapsed around her. Any way to point a finger. Use her little old lady charm. But we all saw through it, now, too.

  “Here’s where you really fucked up. You knew that I, being a Beast Master, was immune to your little mind tricks, so you thought to use the Reds against me, hinting that Raego intended to marry them off without my permission.”

  She took a calming breath, and finally gave Dirty Gerty a merciless smile. “But did you know I spoke with Raego that first night? Right after our initial meeting? He told me all sorts of horrible things about you. What you would do, how you would try to get to me. Then he swore that he would never play those games with me, and that I was free to pursue the investigation as I saw fit. And that he would never use the Reds, or anyone else, against me. He even offered to let me take control of his mind and catch him in a lie. I walked away from that meeting very… troubled. Surely, I was being used somehow. I just didn’t know by whom. But then you proceeded to do everything R
aego warned me about. And when you hinted that Raego intended to send off my kids, I knew the truth of the matter.” She spat on the ground.

  “But to drag Nate into it? How stupid can you be? He and Raego haven’t spent much time around each other in quite a while. Every dragon knew this. Except you and your little club of out-of-towners. You might have gotten away with it if you hadn’t tried adding him to your plate.”

  Then she began to laugh harshly. “You stupid thundercunt. I’m a Beast Master. I own shifters. And you are going to pay very dearly for that oversight.” And her eyes began to glow a smoky green. Callie leaned forward, not even breathing.

  Dirty Gerty was panting, eyes darting back and forth for a way out.

  Baron spoke up, shaking his head in awe. “I, for one, am honored to have such a devious King. How long have you been setting this up?” he asked curiously. “Letting her smear your name while you set up this house of cards against her…” Raego willing to damage his own reputation seemed to impress him the most. That he had done it for his dragons.

  Raego shrugged. “Ever since she came to town. I broke ties with Nate and began building relationships across neighborhoods. I didn’t know what she would do, but I figured it would involve Nate, and since he was friends with a lot of people in town, I decided that was the first line of defense.

  Baron nodded in disbelief. He finally turned to Dirty Gerty. “You fool.”

  “Temple has to pay for his disrespect,” she shouted in a last-ditch effort. “He killed Alaric! Stole his throne to give to his friend! They’re working together! I only did what I had to do for all the dragons!”

  I frowned. “From the sound of it, I would think you and Alaric were very close.”

  “As close as family can be!” she snarled.

  I nodded. “Funny, because I recently had a chat with Alaric.” Death made a noise, urging me to silence, but I waved a hand. “I was his roommate for a while. In Hell,” I clarified, pointing down. “Had to kill him. Again. Permanently, this time.” I dusted off my hands. “But you should have heard how much he loved dear old Gertrude…” I laughed wickedly. “Okay, not so much. I think he said something that rhymed with power-hungry old bitch.”