by Mell Eight
"He gave the wrong address for the warehouse, then," Henri continued after a long moment gathering his courage again. "I bet if we compare the address for the actual warehouse you'll see differently."
"Fine. Let's compare," William replied agreeably. "What is the real address for the warehouse?"
Henri spluttered for a moment. Dane thought he was trying to come up with an excuse for not answering, and he was right.
"That isn't important," Henri finally said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"But you just said it was important," William replied. He sounded gently curious, but the hard look in his eyes said otherwise. Dane could tell he was very ticked off that he had been dragged to Dane's house for this farce.
Henri didn't answer and after a moment William sighed heavily and turned towards Dane.
"I don't know what any one of us was thinking, but clearly our reasons for invading your territory continue to be false. The charter set forth to keep peace between territory leaders dictates that all three of us owe you reparations for it. I am willing to provide one million dollars from my own personal funds. Jessica?"
Jessica gaped at William. "Where the hell did you get that kind of money?" she asked sharply. "I can't match it."
That didn't make any sense to Dane. He had researched the way she ran her territory and if anyone wanted her aid they had to pay for it. She should have been flush with cash. Then again, it wasn't his concern where her money was going. She could run her territory however she liked. It was nice to know she was willing to abide by the charter, a set of guidelines put together two hundred years ago when the old Native American territory boundaries were replaced by the current ones. Dane had a hand in writing some of the guidelines. The territory leaders loosely followed it. In situations like this where honest—and sometimes not so honest—mistakes were made and all those involved wanted to remain on friendly terms, it was easiest to follow what the charter said to do: make reparations.
"How about I send some of my deputies to your territory? They can be your servants for five years. They'll help out at your detective business or do your laundry." Her tone implied that she knew just how much laundry he must go through, which was true, but completely rude to denote. "Whatever you need them for, I'll pay their salaries."
It was a generous offer, but also very intrusive. Dane couldn't accept the possibility of her agents trying to sabotage his territory; for all he knew this was a ploy for her to expand her territory. She wouldn't be the first territory leader hoping to emulate William and control all of America.
"Henri?" William asked sharply.
"I don't owe him anything for a misunderstanding," Henri insisted.
"It was at your word that I attended this meeting," William snarled, his voice low and menacing. "If I must pay, you must too."
Dane decided to jump in before the argument turned into an actual fight. Nickel was eying both William and Henri as if trying to decide if he could take them both. Dane thought Nickel could probably take on Henri, but there was no way he could handle William, at least not yet. A few more years of training and he might be able to, but he was still too young at the moment. The last thing Dane wanted was for Nickel to get hurt, so he was going to stop the fight before it started.
"I don't need money," Dane cut in quickly before Henri could reply. "And I don't need any help with my laundry. Thank you very much for the offers."
"What do you want?" Jessica asked shrewdly.
"Information. As you know from my emails, there is a group of scientists kidnapping dragons from the wild and conducting horrible experiments on them. I want to stop them. Any information you can find on them will help me destroy those scientists for good."
"Anything I find, I'll tell you," William replied immediately, which had Dane mentally raising an eyebrow. Why would William be so interested in helping dragons? Dane would have to ask Mercury whether he had noticed anything.
"Dragons?" Henri scoffed snidely. "Well, it's easy to see you have an interest in them, but that's a little excessive."
"I can tell you like dragons and all, since you adopted a bunch, but it's definitely weird to be so obsessed," Jessica agreed, although she didn't sound nearly as rude as Henri. "Dragons are wild animals. What do you care what happens to them?"
"Do I look wild to you?" Nickel asked softly. He didn't sound offended, but then Dane knew that Nickel had heard it all before and was probably numb to it.
No one answered—Jessica looked away from Nickel as if she were embarrassed that she had insulted him—but Dane smiled at Nickel because they both knew that dragons were wild and crazy, but not in the degenerative way Jessica had meant.
"So, information?" Dane asked Jessica and Henri.
Jessica sighed. "If I hear anything, I'll let you know." She didn't sound the least bit sincere, but she probably thought it was a fool's errand. Dane would have to keep in contact with her regularly to see if she had heard anything, because he doubted she would remember to volunteer the information.
Henri just nodded jerkily, agreeing without looking like he was giving in. Dane would take it.
There wasn't much to say after that. They sat in silence for a long moment until Jessica let out another sigh.
"Since we're all here anyway, why don't we discuss some of the stuff that has been going through the territory leaders' email chains," she said. "The one about the werewolf kidnappings occurring up and down the eastern seaboard sounds pretty serious. How can I help you three combat the kidnappers before it spreads west into my territory?"
Dane knew he wasn't going to get any more answers tonight. Henri wasn't willing to explain his false reasoning and both Jessica and William seemed happy to let the misunderstanding fade. They wouldn't appreciate Dane trying to force the issue. Besides, Dane had gotten what he wanted: more allies, no matter how reluctant, in the fight against the evil scientists. Dane let it go. His territory was safe, which was what mattered, and he needed to start doing something about the kidnapped werewolves anyway.
*~*~*
It was long past bedtime by the time Dane was finally able to head upstairs. Dane was always reminded just how young Nickel actually was every time Nickel stayed up past his bedtime. Nickel was stifling a yawn behind a clenched jaw as they showed each territory leader where their rooms were and where the shared bathroom was. Mother harrumphed at the arrangements, but didn't otherwise complain.
Once everyone was situated, Nickel headed for the kit's wing of the house.
"Go to sleep," Dane said pointedly. He knew Nickel might take a shower and get in pajamas to placate Dane and then stay up all night on watch instead of sleeping. "Mercury and I will keep an eye out tonight, which means we'll need you to be sharp in the morning."
Nickel nodded. Even though he was only fourteen years old, he understood what Dane was instructing. Nickel would go to sleep, but he would be ready to react instantly should something occur.
Dane left Nickel alone, instead heading to check on the rest of the kits. 'Ron and Zinc were curled in their beds. Dane didn't know when 'Ron had found big pink bows or why she had decided to thumbtack them to the wall over her bed, but it made for an interesting sight. Zinc's long hair was unbraided and spread around her head on the pillow like a white halo. That was two kits accounted for.
Copper and Alloy were also happily asleep in their beds. Their room had a slightly burnt smell to it, almost like an unpleasant aftertaste that lingered on the back of Dane's tongue. It was acrid, but the kits didn't mind it. Alloy was half water kit and half fire kit, but thanks to Copper and Lumie's influence, he preferred his fire half most of the time. Whatever had burned in the room had no doubt made Alloy perfectly happy. Sometimes Lumie bunked with Alloy, preferring the fiery room to the room he shared with Chrome, but Alloy was alone in his bed tonight.
Lumie and Chrome's room was a disaster area. Dane remembered Mercury telling Chrome to clean his room as part of his chores, but Chrome had evidently chosen to forget tha
t. There wasn't a clear path on the floor amid Chrome's clothes, books, shoes, and what randomly appeared to be dishes from the kitchen. Chrome would be cleaning for most of the morning—Dane would make sure of that.
The top of Lumie's bed was the only clear space in the entire room—even Chrome's bed was covered and Chrome was happily nested beneath the mess—and Lumie was nowhere in sight.
Dane sighed. Lumie vanished regularly, but he knew the rules about bedtime and that he wasn't allowed to leave the house after dark. It was entirely possible Lumie had decided not to brave Chrome's mess and had found somewhere else to sleep, but he usually ended up sleeping with Alloy when that happened. Dane walked down the hall to double check the bathroom and the schoolroom at the end, but found them both devoid of Lumie.
Instead of continuing to search, since Lumie would only be found if he wanted to be, Dane turned around and headed down the hall to the room he shared with Mercury in the other wing. They had the room that mirrored the schoolroom in the kits' wing. It was large, with a king-sized bed, two dressers, a small sitting area with a table and chairs, a fireplace, and a private bathroom. Mercury was just coming out of the bathroom when Dane walked inside.
Mercury's bronze colored hair was still damp from his shower and his pajama pants were slung low on his hips, showing off his bronze-colored happy trail and the bronze scales that covered most of his chest and stomach. He was beautiful and Dane's thoughts instantly dissolved into babbly mush at the sight.
"I just showered," Mercury grumbled as Dane's grin turned lascivious and he stepped forward to take Mercury's lips in a firm kiss. Mercury immediately pressed into the kiss and his hands started to work on undoing the buttons on Dane's shirt. Their panting breaths mingled in the air as their tongues slid against each other. Dane pulled back slightly to nip at Mercury's lip, pulling it gently between his teeth even as Mercury slid his hands inside Dane's shirt to tweak a nipple.
They both moaned at the dual sensation and a slight spark of magic fizzled between them, adding another layer to their pleasure wherever their bodies touched. Dane's erection was pressing against Mercury's and he ground his hips into Mercury's. Their lips parted as Mercury threw his head back to groan loudly.
Dane's knees weren't feeling up to continuing their encounter while standing. He stepped back from Mercury and let his unbuttoned shirt drop to the floor.
"Lumie, if you're in here, get out now," Dane called sharply. With that final necessity taken care of, the last bit of his rational brain switched off. Mercury growled low at the sight of Dane's naked chest. Dane hurried to unhook his belt and unbutton his pants before pushing Mercury in the direction of the bed.
They fell onto the sheets in a warm tangle of limbs, grinding their bodies against each other as their tongues grappled.
"Love you," Mercury gasped as Dane's hands slipped beneath his pajamas to stroke him.
"Love you more," Dane replied instantly before Mercury's hands emulated his and all coherent thought vanished under the onslaught of much more carnal and pleasant ones.
*~*~*
Mercury was already settled into the sitting area between the two wings of the house when Dane finished his shower and dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Snow was falling outside, highlighting the evergreen trees in the distance and making Dane wish he and Mercury could take the time for a late-night stroll. It was beautiful, but they had much more important things to focus on.
Mercury put the book he had been reading aside. Dane sat down on the couch next to him with a sigh. At least the snow provided something interesting for them to look at as the long hours passed until dawn. Dane opened his mouth to speak, but then paused when Mercury looked pointedly at the nearby armchair.
Lumie was curled up on the cushion, snoozing happily with his thumb in his mouth.
Dane rolled his eyes, but lowered his voice to a whisper before he spoke. "What are your impressions of our visitors?"
Mercury grimaced. "I'm not really sure. I think I like William. Oh, I have to tell you about the conversation I had with him while the kits were making dinner. Apparently he rescued two water kits and has been taking care of them. He wanted some advice on how to keep his house standing."
Dane held back a laugh so he didn't wake Lumie. That explained why he was so interested in helping Dane. Dane had no doubt that William's life had been turned as upside down by his new kits as Dane's had and that William was loving and utterly exasperated by every moment of it.
"I gave him some pointers, but don't be surprised if he comes to you for more advice."
"William needs the shake up," Dane replied, still holding back laughter.
Mercury frowned. "How long has he been territory leader? He seems like a regular human, but a regular human wouldn't be able to control all of Canada like he does."
"My first thought when I saw him on the other side of the wards was that he was here to try to take Maine and the other northern parts of my territory away from me," Dane replied thoughtfully. "He's been known as the most ruthless of all the territory leaders in North America for well over fifty years. The only reason you probably haven't heard of him before is that he keeps to himself unless he notices a problem and then the problem vanishes. Poof, gone, along with all the instigators and aggressors. I don't believe our enemy has dared to set up a lab in his territory for fear of what he might do to them."
"Maybe they would have before you got involved," Mercury joked, "but they're so afraid of your repercussions they didn't dare involve another territory leader. So, if William isn't human," Mercury asked in a much more serious tone, "what is he?"
"You know that people sometimes call me the Genie of the East because I'm so powerful?" Dane asked. He waited for Mercury to nod before continuing. "I think William might actually be a genie and he's hidden his power behind a human façade."
Mercury nodded thoughtfully when Dane finished speaking, clearly glad to have some sort of explanation.
"I think he's trustworthy when it comes to dragons, at least," Mercury said. "I want to help him get his two water dragons settled."
"Another powerful advocate for the treatment of dragons can't hurt," Dane agreed.
"I assume he's given up the idea of taking over Maine, then." Mercury rested his head on Dane's shoulder tiredly. "How did the talks go while I was getting the kits ready for bed?"
Dane snorted in disgust. "Henri refuses to admit he made a mistake and I couldn't get him to explain how he managed it. Luckily, William took control of the meeting. None of them wanted to be the first to offer a concession, but they all knew that they owed me something. William made sure they offered."
"Are you talking about money, territory?"
"William offered me money and Jessica offered me some of her personal staff to help me run my territory." Dane shook his head to let Mercury know he hadn't agreed to either. "I was able to convince them that they owe me information about the scientists. I'm hoping they'll actually look and then send what they find to me, but I think only William will without my reminding him that he agreed to help."
"I don't think you'll have any problem with William. The others?" Mercury shrugged. "No idea. I can't even figure out how Jessica took power. She can't be a genie too, right?"
That was something Dane had been wondering too. She didn't exude power like Henri or hide it like William and Mother. "Not a genie, but there's got to be something—" He froze in place and held up one hand to silence Mercury when he started to ask what had caught Dane's attention.
One of the magical markers he had placed on his visitors was moving.
"Henri has decided to test my patience," Dane murmured once he had figured out which marker. "He's going onto the roof." The marker had climbed out the bedroom window and continued upwards. Dane waited to see whether Henri was heading towards Dane's office and bedroom, or towards where Dane and Mercury were sitting. Henri chose the latter and Dane sucked in a little magic from the air around him to bolster what he alrea
dy had stored.
When Henri was directly overhead and was continuing onwards towards the kits' rooms, Dane let his magic flare. He yanked downward with both his magic and his fist and Henri's body fell through the ceiling. Henri hit the floor with a thud and scrambled quickly to his feet with a fang-baring snarl.
"Taking a stroll?" Dane asked, surprised that his voice still sounded genial when rage was flaring up inside. How dare Henri try to attack his kits!
"Thought I would see the sights," Henri replied, but he didn't sound genial in the least bit. Instead he sounded dangerous, his voice low and his accent menacing. Dane had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. Henri was a vampire, albeit a powerful one, and was no match for Dane in the long run. Had Dane been in any way interested in expanding his territory, taking over from Henri would have been far too easy. Admittedly, Dane hadn't quite figured out how Henri had managed to be out in daylight, but that was a mystery for another day. That new ability wouldn't hinder Dane in any way.
"Feeding from a dragon will only give you a stomach ache," Lumie said through a yawn. He sat up on his cushion and Dane saw Henri immediately focus on Lumie. It was easy enough to guess that Henri had probably been heading in Lumie's direction on the roof. "It won't give you special powers like the dhampir you've been keeping locked up in your basement does."
And that explained the mystery of Henri's ability to walk in daylight. A dhampir was a hybrid, a child with a vampire father and a human mother. They had the protection from the sun thanks to their human half and a plethora of vampire powers thanks to their father's. Dane hadn't known feeding from a dhampir would give a vampire those human-granted abilities, but apparently Henri had figured it out.
"And how would you know that?" Henri asked scathingly.
Lumie shrugged. "I had a dream. It was a very long dream. Your dhampir escaped about an hour ago and by the time you get back to the territory he'll be the leader, not you." Lumie recounted his dream with nonchalance, as if he were only describing a painting instead of seeing the future. Dane didn't doubt his words; he had too much experience with Lumie to believe anything less than what Lumie was saying.
