She looked around the room. “Face it, it’s an evil sorcerer all-you-can-steal buffet in here—and Corwyn knows it. Didn’t he work with the Guardians, a gazillion years ago?”
The room went dead silent. All the dragons looked at each other.
“Oh, hell,” Tyr said. “That’s how he did it.”
Zane closed his eyes and dropped his head back, shaking it in disbelief.
“What?” Blaze asked.
Tyr said, “Corwyn worked with the first Guardians. Why wouldn’t he know how to bypass the wards? Hell, he may have even helped create them.”
Chapter 11
Thorne squatted on the floor of the Batcave, swearing at himself in Draken. Here he’d sat, so smug, thinking the lair was untouchable. It had never occurred to him that Corwyn might have the magical keys.
He should have thought of that.
“None of us thought of it, bro,” Zane said wearily. “But we can fix it. Blaze is the queen of wards.”
“That’s what happens when you’re hiding from a coven for ten years,” she said. “You get motivated to learn protection spells. I can talk to Jean-Claude, too.”
Thorne snapped, No way is he working on our wards.
“Not for that,” Blaze said. “I wouldn’t trust him in here—Jean-Claude could never resist an evil sorcerer all-you-can-steal buffet. But he’s set himself up as the king of the Portland magical world. How do you think he’s going to feel about another evil sorcerer running around, looking to take over?”
Zane started to smile. “He’s going to throw everything he’s got at him. At worst, he’ll find Corwyn and keep him busy. At best, he might even take him out for us.” He leaned over and gave Blaze a kiss. “That’s devious. I like it.”
Me too, Thorne said. Can you get a meeting with him?
“I’ll call him as soon as it’s a decent hour,” Blaze said.
Thorne looked over at Rebel. She was pinching her bottom lip, seeming deep in thought.
Rebel? he asked.
She started. “What?”
Any thoughts?
“Yeah,” she said slowly. “Tempe, what did that stuff look like that Corwyn was trying to put in the water tank?”
Tempest described it. Thick red liquid, the color of blood.
“Kind of like this?”
Rebel walked over to the conference table, pulling a slim metal box out of her vest pocket. She unsnapped the catches, pulled two vials out of the foam padding, and set them upright in the middle of the table.
The click of the glass against the tabletop was the only sound in the room, except for the constant hum of the computer equipment.
One vial held a transparent green liquid.
The other was filled with a viscous, blood-red fluid.
Tyr was out of his seat in a second, leaning across the table and looking at the red vial. “This one looks like the sample I managed to get, from what spilled in the pump room.”
I hope you got it all.
“Um, duh,” Tyr said. “Anything that somebody tries to put in the water gets the full magical hazmat treatment.” He looked at Rebel. “Please tell me that’s not the serum.”
“No,” Rebel said. She touched the second vial, the one with the green liquid. “This is the serum.”
“This,” she indicated the red liquid, “is a toxin that was stolen from BioGen two days ago, called DRA-4269.”
That was met with silence.
“Why did you take it?” Zane asked finally. “I thought you were just going after the serum.”
“The theft of this stuff was serious enough that BioGen not only tripled their security team, they brought in hellhounds,” she said. “They almost got me. It was the closest call I’ve had in a long time.”
So that explained what had happened at BioGen, Thorne thought. Her intel had been completely jacked up. He knew enough about Rebel Smith to know that when that happened, she usually bailed immediately.
But she hadn’t. She’d stuck with the job.
For him. To make him human again.
Tyr had picked up the red vial and was tilting it this way and that, examining the liquid inside. “Toxin DRA-4269,” he murmured. “DRA for dragon?”
“It seemed like a strong possibility. I downloaded a file about it, but I didn’t read it. I was kind of in a hurry.”
Tyr nodded. “I’ll compare it to my sample. Hopefully it’s the same. Then at least we’ll know where it came from, and that there’s a limited supply.”
He turned his attention to the other vial. “So this is it, huh? The famous serum?”
Rebel stared at the green vial along with everyone else. It looked so small and innocuous—a tiny portion of light-green liquid, barely a sip or two.
But for Thorne, that liquid could give his human form back to him. He could talk to his contacts; he’d have full access to his databases and hacked backdoors into secret government files. He could use all that to track down Rebel’s and Tempest’s missing past for clues to the Seals.
“So how does it work, exactly?” Zane asked.
“I got the information off their computer system,” Rebel said. She pulled out a thumb drive. “Where should I plug it in, Lizard?”
Thorne indicated a computer console with a flick of his claw. That one. It’s firewalled, just in case anything snuck onto the thumb drive that we don’t want in our system. And stop making me sound like that ridiculous green creature that sells insurance on the television.
“That’s a gecko,” Rebel said absently, going over to the computer. “And it’s green, not blue.”
Tyr rolled his eyes. “Everybody knows that, bro.” Thorne raised his middle claw at him.
Rebel stuck the drive in the computer and information scrolled up onto the screen. Then she moved her chair to the side so Thorne could get his dragon head up near the monitor and tell her what he wanted to look at.
They skipped over the security files and found the UN-8825 file. Rebel sent the information to one of the big plasma screens so they could all see, and then paged through it slowly. Chemical composition. Manufacturing process.
Biological properties.
It apparently worked by suppressing the neural pathways that fixed a shifter’s body in its current form, and activating the opposite set that initiated the change to the other form, fixing that in place.
Then they read the results of the live shifter experiments.
The serum had worked on 94% of the shifters it had been given to. They’d immediately changed form—whether they wanted to or not.
Rebel felt anger slicing through her at the thought of captive shifters being painfully forced to shift against their will.
Then it got worse.
76% of those who’d shifted as a result of taking the serum had been unable to shift back. Only 26% of those had regained the ability to shift at will within three months of the experiment.
74% had not. 88% of those who happened to get stuck in human form lost all awareness of the animal inside them.
There were no notes past three months—apparently the experimenters had either stopped monitoring the subjects, or concluded their ability to shift at will had been permanently destroyed.
Some of them remained in animal form. And for the others, their animal, their other half, was gone forever.
Chapter 12
The room went completely silent. Rebel had stopped scrolling down the screen. Nobody looked at each other.
Finally Tyr broke the silence. “Fuck.”
That pretty much summed it up. Thorne felt a cold, hollow place in the pit of his stomach.
Duty, Thorne told himself. It was his duty to do everything he could to stop Vyrkos. That meant he had to find the Dolphin Seal. If the legend were true—though he still wasn’t sure it was—then the only way that could happen was if he and Rebel were mates.
Rebel slammed her fists down on the worktop. “Dammit!” She shoved her chair back violently and shouldered past Tyr, pacing like a ca
ged lioness.
“I thought it would work,” she muttered. “And it was all for nothing. Shit.” She picked up a deck of cards from the table and threw them across the room.
Thorne could feel her emotions churning. He wished he could go over there and comfort her.
He forced himself to crunch the numbers in his head. At least we know the serum will probably work, he said. 94% chance. And there’s a 50% chance my dragon will be fine.
“Less,” Zane said quietly. “47.2.”
“Shit,” Rebel muttered. “That’s jacked up.” Tempest looked stricken.
It doesn’t matter. Thorne deliberately broadcast his mental voice so they could all hear him. I can’t stay like this. It’s been weeks. The tomb is beginning to weaken again. We’re no closer to finding the other Seals than we ever were. I need my computer-keyboard-sized hands and my fucking opposable thumbs.
He needed to be able to court his mate. He needed to be human. He didn’t say that out loud; Rebel was upset enough.
Leave it to Tyr to open his big mouth.
“He’s right,” Tyr said. “We’re running out of time. We can do all the research we want, but there’s a reason we’ve gotten nowhere, and it’s not because Thorne doesn’t have thumbs. We’re not going to find the Dolphin Seal unless Thorne and Rebel do the horizontal mambo and bond. It’s as simple as that.”
Fuck it all. Shut up, you asshole, Thorne said. Rebel had thrown a gold tiara from the poker game across the room this time. It barely missed the monitor that showed Vyrkos’ tomb.
“Seriously, Tyr?” Blaze snapped. “Could you be any more tactless?”
Tyr’s face grew stubborn. “Just because nobody talks about the elephadragon in the room, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. We all know what the legend says. Destined Mates, naked boinking, magical Seals restored, the end.”
“The legend doesn’t actually specify naked boinking,” Blaze said drily. “Not in so many words.”
Tyr glared at her.
Thorne suppressed a snort, mostly because it would come out fiery and fry the computer equipment. He glanced over at Rebel. She was standing with her back to him, staring at Vyrkos on the screen, arms crossed, body rigid.
“It’s implied,” Tyr went on. “And don’t forget, Blaze had the Seal for years. It didn’t activate until she and Zane—”
“We don’t know what activated it,” Zane interrupted. “And we sure as hell weren’t fucking when Maia busted out of it and put it back in the tomb wall.”
“No,” Tempest said softly. “Blaze sacrificed herself for you—or she tried to. Because she loves you.”
Without turning around, Rebel snapped, “So I have to throw myself under a bus or something? Frankly, I’d prefer the naked boinking.”
So would he, Thorne thought. But it might not be enough. It was possible that nothing he could do would be enough. He couldn’t make her love him.
But he was willing to try. He just hoped that when he was human, she would be willing to try too. But he knew one thing for sure. If anyone was going to die trying to return the Dolphin Seal to the tomb, it was not going to be Rebel. He would never let her do that.
Zane must have heard his thoughts. He said privately to Thorne, So you’re planning to throw yourself under the bus for her instead?
Wouldn’t you? Thorne said. If it were Blaze?
In a heartbeat, his brother said. And so would my dragon.
Then help me.
I’d rather help you find another way. Taking the serum is a big risk, bro. He leaned against Thorne’s shoulder, his hand resting on Thorne’s neck.
It felt comforting. Dragons weren’t usually physically affectionate with each other, but Zane had been more so since he found his mate, as if his love for her spilled over onto all the people he cared about. Zane had done his best to be there for Thorne, ever since he’d gotten stuck in this form.
Thorne found that he liked the brotherly pats on the shoulder, the physical weight of Zane leaning against him, as if trying to lend Thorne his strength. Maybe he was more human than he’d thought. For the first time, that idea pleased him.
I know the risk, Thorne said. The thought of losing his dragon terrified him. Losing his fire, his wings, the constant companionship of the other half of himself.
How would he survive, as half a person?
But if he didn’t try it, if their mission failed and Vyrkos broke free, then they all would die anyway, along with millions of others. He would just be putting off the inevitable.
He added, But not doing it is a bigger risk.
Blaze spoke up suddenly. “They didn’t test this serum on dragons, did they?”
Of course not, Thorne snapped. He didn’t want to think about that. Where would they get one? There are no Draken in this world, and even Wild Dragons are rare.
“I was just thinking that dragons are more powerful and magical than other shifters. Maybe that would give you a better shot.”
“Maybe,” Tyr said. “Let me look over the files more closely and do some tests on the second vial of serum. I might be able to figure out how it’s likely to affect you.”
Thank you, Thorne said. He appreciated it. But ultimately it didn’t matter.
Deep inside, he knew what he had to do. And he had to do it soon.
Chapter 13
There seemed to be nothing left to say. Rebel watched as the group broke up, talking about what they needed to do that day.
“Zane, you and I need to get going on those perimeter wards,” Blaze said. “And maybe some extra interior wards as well. For all we know, he’s going to try to hit our food supply next. Is the kitchen warded?”
Zane frowned in confusion.
Blaze sighed. “You’ve never even been in the kitchen, have you?” she said. “All you care about is that cake comes out of it.”
“Why would I go in the kitchen?” Zane asked. “The zefir do all the… kitchen things.”
Zefir were the magical servants that did all the cooking, cleaning, and other housework for the dragons. Zane said they were air elementals, whatever that meant.
All Rebel knew was that they were invisible, and breezes followed them around. And even though they didn’t have bodies, they still managed to carry things. You’d be going about your business, and suddenly a tray of food or a load of laundry would go floating by. It was spooky.
I don’t think Corwyn would try the kitchens, Thorne said. Too many zefirs. How could he be sure he was sneaking past beings that can’t even be seen? And zefir can’t be corrupted.
“How do you know?” Rebel asked.
The dragons all looked at each other like it had never even occurred to them that would be a question. “Zefir serve dragons,” Zane said finally. “They always have. They show up when a dragon is born, or when they leave their parents and go out on their own.”
“Why?” Tempest asked.
Zane shrugged. “No one knows. Tyr?”
Tyr shook his head. “Not my area of research.”
Thorne said, Do whatever warding you feel is necessary. In the meantime, we need to analyze that toxin and see if we can prepare magical protections against it. Tyr, that is one of your areas of research.
Tyr nodded. “I’ll get on it, along with testing the serum.” He took a vial of poison and one of the serum, and headed for the door.
Thorne added, And give a sample of the toxin to the zefir, and ask them to make sure none of it finds its way into any of our food or water.
“They can do that?” Rebel asked.
Tyr shrugged. “They can identify other substances, like cooking ingredients and cleaning agents. Why not poison?”
Okay then.
Rebel went over to Thorne, who was settling down to read the computer files on the two stolen substances, his claw clicking delicately on the ‘down’ arrow of his keyboard.
She put her hand on his eye ridge. “I’m going to go grab some food and sleep,” she said. “You going to be okay here?”
> Of course.
She hesitated. “Don’t do anything crazy,” she said.
Yes. Because that’s me, doing the crazy things all the time. Falling off buildings. Getting chased by hellhounds. I’ll try not to put my life at risk typing things into my computer.
Rebel bumped him on the shoulder, smiling. “You know what I mean.” Like, not taking a serum and possibly killing his dragon while she wasn’t looking.
He raised his head and arched his neck so he could look down on her. I will do what I must, he said simply.
Yeah, that’s what she was afraid of.
“Well, don’t do it alone.” He didn’t answer.
Rebel could feel the adrenalin crash pulling at her, dragging her eyes closed. She needed a nap in the worst way. But before she hit the elevator to go up to her room, she pulled Tempest aside. “You sure you’re okay?” she asked.
Tempest nodded. “I really am.” She touched Rebel gently on the arm, as if she were the one who needed to be comforted.
“Do you need me to look at any of those cuts?” Rebel was a champ at first aid and basic nursing. When she and Tempest had lived on the streets, they’d had no one else to turn to, and there wasn’t always a free clinic they could go to.
Tempest shook her head. “Tyr put some of his dragon healing potion on them, so I’m good.”
Rebel shook her head. “I can’t believe you took on Corwyn,” she said. “Are you insane?”
Tempest looked at Rebel, her liquid-silver gaze level. “It was happening, Reb,” she said. “What I drew in the book. It wouldn’t leave me alone. I had to fix it, or all the dragons would have died.”
A cold chill ran down Rebel’s spine, thinking how close they’d come. “You did good, little sis,” she said, enfolding Tempest in a hug. “You did great.”
“And now everything’s okay.”
Rebel searched her sister’s face and body language for any sign of another anxiety binge. There was nothing, but still…
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