by T. A. White
Ryu knocked once and then entered.
“Sure, come right in,” Tate said.
“Ilith.”
“What about her?”
“Who is Ilith?”
Tate looked at Ryu in the mirror, her forehead furrowed.
“Is this a joke?”
The look on Ryu’s face said the question couldn’t be further from it.
She turned to him, pulling the collar of her shirt to one side to show him the sleeping dragon draped on her shoulder.
“You’ve met Ilith before.”
His face looked like it could have been carved from granite. “You call the dragon Ilith.”
His words were a statement, not a question.
“Yeah, because that’s her name.”
“How do you know that?” His voice was tight.
Tate didn’t like all these questions. She sensed there was a deeper meaning to them.
“She told me.”
An explosive curse escaped Ryu. He turned away from her, one hand going to knead his neck.
“What is it? Why does that seem so shocking? I’ve told you her name before.” Tate didn’t understand why this information seemed to shock him, and she disliked not knowing.
“No, Tate, you haven’t.”
“Sure, I did.” She’d had to when the interrogator had questioned her with the truth sayer. Hadn’t she?
“Trust me, I would remember.”
“Explain why your knickers are in such a twist,” Tate snapped. She was sick of him acting like it was the end of the world without cluing her into as to why.
“Because, Tate, the Dragon-Ridden don’t speak to the dragons. The sane ones at least.” He sounded tired and on the verge of defeat.
Tate blinked. That couldn’t be. It made no sense.
“You share your bodies with them. Transform into them. How can you not talk to them?”
There were times Ilith wouldn’t shut up and Tate wished for some peace and quiet, but she would never want to silence the little dragon forever. She couldn’t think of anything less appealing then going through all of this by herself.
His sigh was heavy. “We do. Just not in full sentences like you seem to. It’s more like feelings and pictures. Over time, once you’ve gotten used to one another you can build a communication of sorts. It rarely progresses to full conversations as we would term them.”
“But some do.”
“Yes. After centuries of living with one another. Our brains are just not built to receive their thoughts like that. It usually drives the host insane if their mind hasn’t been strengthened over time by the symbiotic relationship to withstand the strain.”
Tate looked out the window, noting a pair of birds fighting in midflight.
“What does this mean?”
He hesitated. Tate wasn’t used to such indecisiveness in him. Not when he was the one who usually picked a direction and plowed through any obstacle standing in his way.
“It means one of two things. That you managed to fool the imperial inspector when he questioned you and you’re much older than any of us suspected.”
“Or?” Tate asked when he hesitated.
He held her eyes like he didn’t want to say this next piece. Tate knew what was coming but she wanted to hear it.
“Or this is the first sign of dragon madness. It will get progressively worse as you fall further and further into the dragon mind, unable to recognize your friends or the difference between right and wrong.”
He didn’t say what would happen if the second scenario came to pass. She could guess and the possibility wasn’t good for her continued health.
“I don’t feel crazy.”
No sign of wanting to attack anything moving.
“It wouldn’t necessarily be something you are aware of. I’m told it’s a gradual progression of losing yourself one important piece at a time.”
Tate nodded, the words feeling like a blow.
Ilith was quiet at the moment, sleeping deep in Tate’s consciousness. Tate really could have used her input.
“I don’t remember much from before Jost picked me up,” Tate said. “It’s possible that I’ve been a dragon longer than we thought.”
Ryu’s eyes were sorrowful. “You would have to have been a dragon for centuries to endure her voice while keeping your sanity. It is doubtful that you would have avoided detection for that long.”
He was just a barrelful of good cheer today.
“But not impossible.”
He gave a reluctant nod.
It wasn’t much but Tate would take it. She thought about telling him about the chamber. That she suspected that she had been one of the sleepers. That she may well be older than him. Something kept her from spilling those secrets.
First, she didn’t know if what she called ‘sleep’ would actually have protected her mind, enabling her and Ilith to share thoughts with little to no ill effects. The second was the general fear and distrust that Night garnered. He wasn’t always accepted, especially by humans. They saw him as one of the creators’ experiments and treated him as if he was a dangerous, deadly monster capable of snapping at any moment.
The way the man from the Black Order had referred to her as an abomination had stuck with her. She suspected he referenced her status as Dragon-Ridden. She didn’t want to throw more oddness into the mix without it being absolutely necessary. She had already seen the effect weirdness and fear had when combined. It had been what ultimately drove her off the Marauder and out of Jost’s crew.
“Do I seem insane to you?” His answer meant more to Tate than she wanted to admit. There was a tightness in her chest that she pretended wasn’t there. Half the time she didn’t even like Ryu. Why should she care if he thought she fell into the second category? The one that ultimately lead to death and destruction.
“No. I have never seen any sign of insanity.”
“Did Ilith hurt anybody while she was out and about?”
His face turned thoughtful. “No, she didn’t. She seemed driven and curious, but she didn’t seem interested in hunting Silva.”
“She was stuck on that scent,” Tate said.
“What scent?”
Tate thought back, struggling to interpret what she’d seen and felt. It was difficult. Everything seemed removed as if she was trying to peer through a murky pane of glass to what was on the other side. The details were fuzzy. She attributed it to trying to recover someone else’s memories.
It made her wonder whether Ilith faced this same challenge when Tate’s form was the dominant one. Tate couldn’t imagine spending the majority of her life like that. It was too much like being encased in cotton, all of your senses muffled. It’d be enough to drive a being insane.
“I think it was on the servant who brought the poisoned tea. The one they called Bridgette,” Tate said slowly. There was something else. Something that was important.
Her mouth dropped open when it dawned on her what it was.
Ryu’s eyes became alert. “What is it? Something just occurred to you.”
“I know that smell,” Tate said. “It was Brown Eyes.”
The words seemed to make little sense to Ryu.
“He was in the tunnel when the Red Lady tried to steal the fulcrum’s power.” And tried to yank Ilith out of Tate’s body. The process would have killed Tate. Something told her the Red Lady wouldn’t have been happy with the end result either. “He was the one who helped her format the spell.”
“I remember from your report.” Ryu’s focus turned inward.
There was a low growl at the door and then voices raised in anger.
“Tate, keep your ability to communicate with Ilith a secret for now. There are a few things I want to check. The members of the Black Order tend to be a bit irrational and unforgiving of anything different from human. It’s best if we just leave them out of this for now.”
Tate was all for that. Being called abomination and shoved back into a freezer was enough to put b
oth of those men on her black list.
Before she could respond, the door swung open and the two men from the kitchen stalked inside.
“You will let us do our job, Lord Ryuji.”
Ryu lifted one eyebrow in that imperious expression that used to make Tate want to punch him in the face. When done to someone else, she had to fight to keep the grin off her face, knowing exactly how aggravating that eyebrow was.
“I wouldn’t dream of interfering, prefect Ward,” Ryu said.
Ward looked like he was struggling to swallow a mass of worms. He’d burst in here stewing for a fight and here Ryu was conceding the battle before it even begun. Talk about snatching the wind right out of his sails.
Seigal moved to the wall and leaned against it while Ward stepped more fully into the room, looking between Ryu and Tate as if he suspected something nefarious was going on but couldn’t put his finger on what.
“Who is Ilith?” he asked, pinning Tate with his gaze.
She took a deep breath. Straight to the point. She could almost like him if he wasn’t clearly working with the bigoted asshole over in the corner.
Tate pointed to the shoulder where the dragon was hidden under her clothes. “My dragon. Who else?”
For his part, Ryu’s expression didn’t alter even by a stray eyelash, despite the dismay he must be feeling.
Seigal started grinning. Tate could imagine he wanted to rub his hands together with glee.
“Your dragon speaks to you?” Ward’s tone was questioning as if he didn’t want her to invoke any loopholes down the road.
Tate snorted. “Of course not. That would just be crazy. I mostly talk to her. I call her Ilith because it seems rude to refer to her as the dragon all the time.”
Ward dropped his chin, his glare telling her she wasn’t fooling him for a minute.
Her lips quirked. He could argue with her all he liked, point to the name, but it would be his word against hers. The empire wanted her, for whatever reason that she’d yet to work out. Maybe she was a curiosity, something they wanted to study, or just that dragons were now so rare that they’d take any Dragon-Ridden they could get. But she doubted they’d end her without concrete proof of this supposed insanity.
“What did you mean by Ilith panicked and initiated the change?”
Tate had said that hadn’t she?
She gave a nonchalant shrug. “Exactly that. One second I could feel myself fading and the next I was trying to change. The dragon must have sensed we were in danger and took measures to protect us.”
Ryu had said that he was able to pick up feelings from his dragon. Her explanation wasn’t too far out of the realm of possibility.
“There have been rare cases when the bond is strong, that the dragon is able to act and defend its partner in times of mortal danger,” Ryu inserted, his tone bland as if he was giving a lecture on the behavior of dragons.
Ward gave him a cool look. “But more often than not when a dragon takes control it means there is a serious imbalance in the bond leading to instability, madness and eventually death.”
Tate’s pulse jumped. Not for the first time, she wished she had more information on what it was to be Dragon-Ridden. She never would have mentioned Ilith had she known what all this meant.
Unfortunately, the empire and the Dragon-Ridden guarded such knowledge with all the zealousness of a mother defending her young. Because of Tate’s less than normal introduction into the ranks, they had been reluctant to give her more than the utmost essential information, dolling it out in grudging spoonfuls.
“What are you suggesting?” Tate asked, wanting to know exactly what she was up against.
Ward gave her a smile that sent chills down her back. There was nothing overtly threatening in it, yet it managed to scare her more than any direct threat would have. It said that she could struggle all she wanted but that he would come out victorious in the end. That he was right and no amount of proof to the contrary would convince him otherwise. This man was dangerous because of that utter belief that his way was the only way.
“You’ll be remanded into our custody until such time that we can determine the extent of the rot in your bond.”
“And if you determine it is a case where the bond is becoming unstable?”
This smile was pure, the kind a father gave a child who had been led astray. “You will be removed from this world for your own benefit and that of others. It is what is best.”
Tate could tell he really believed that. To him she wasn’t a real person. Just a thing that would be discarded at the first hint of a crack.
“That will not be necessary,” Ryu said, keeping Tate from saying what she really wanted to say. It was probably for the best. There’d be no coming back from things if she said what was brewing in her mind. “There has been ample supporting evidence that a dragon acting without its partner is not necessarily a sign of instability.”
“It’s best to be thorough with these kinds of things,” Ward said, his hands clasped behind his back.
“Lady Fisher is already in my custody. She has not exhibited any signs of the dragon madness. Should she seem at risk, we will take the greatest of precautions.”
“You are obviously biased,” Seigal said. “What’s she got between her legs that has you so fascinated?”
Tate lifted an eyebrow, insulted. Yes, because he tried to protect her, it obviously meant he was sleeping with her. It couldn’t mean anything else, like he was her friend, after a fashion, and didn’t want whatever they planned to happen to her, or that it was simply the right thing to do. Nope, none of that mattered. Had to be they were sleeping together due to the simple fact that she was female.
Her dislike of this Black Order grew with every word out of their mouths.
Menace rolled off Ryu. It was a simple shift, but it made Seigal straighten and Ward’s mouth flatten.
“You forget yourself,” Ryu hissed, the dragon behind his voice. “You have power because we’ve given it to you. Because we recognize that you fill a critical function in this city. Be careful that you do not stray so far over the edge that we deem it would be less trouble to fulfill the role ourselves.”
Seigal’s face paled. Even Ward looked like he wanted to take a step back from the dragon barely contained in Ryu’s human skin.
Tate couldn’t tell if the dragon was really at the fore or whether that was just Ryu pulling rank. It wouldn’t surprise her to find out it was a little of both.
“My lord,” Ward started.
“There will be no more threats. You will treat Lady Fisher with the same respect that is given to all of her station.” When no one answered he thundered, “Am I understood?”
Tate flinched, the level of rage and wrath in that terrible voice unexpected.
Both of the men rendered immediate bows.
“Of course, my lord,” Ward said, staring at the floor. His voice sounded strained.
Ryu let them remain in that position, his eyes had a hint of dragon remaining as he glared at the two.
“Ryu, enough posturing. I’m getting tired. Let’s just get this over with,” Tate said, drawing his attention even though he made her a little uneasy with that wildness still clinging to him.
She didn’t mind him putting the men from the Black Order in their place, but the poison and two changes had wrung all energy from her. She was fading fast and wanted this over with before she crashed. She had a feeling once she went down, she’d be down for a while.
His eyes swung to hers, the dragon peering out for a moment. He shifted over to her, his movements having an odd silkiness that was all predator. He touched her cheek gently, his eyes softening just a little bit before he turned back to the others.
“You heard her,” he snapped. “Finish your questions. Keep in mind, your presence here is a courtesy. No deaths occurred and the Silva will be reimbursed for all damage.”
He moved behind her, his displeasure at the other two men heating her back. It was nice to have Ryu
irritated at someone else for a change.
Ward straightened, looking discomfited. He ran one hand through his hair, smoothing it down. His composure was quick to come back. Seigal on the other hand looked embarrassed and angry. His glare told Tate he knew exactly where to place the blame for this debacle. Directly on her shoulders.
She sighed. Guess she should be used to that.
Ward took charge of the questioning at that point, careful to keep his questions directed at what had happened and away from any insinuation of instability on her part.
Tate was careful to omit any information about the scent of the brown eyed man, keeping her answers short and simple.
The questioning didn’t take long after they covered what had happened that afternoon.
“You will give me a progress report when you think you’ve found something,” Ryu ordered as they began to leave.
Ward gave a grudging nod. “Of course, my lord. I’m relatively sure this Bridgette was the one responsible. We’ll question the rest of the household to ensure we don’t miss anything, but it’s clear that she is the most logical culprit.”
“I want to be in on the questioning,” Ryu said, his tone not inviting any argument.
Ward looked like someone had spit in his food but agreed.
“I’ll also let you know what we find out in regards to the murders last night,” he said.
What was this? Tate jolted forward, the words coming out of nowhere. It was like someone had just thrown ice water on her.
They pulled the door shut after them, leaving before Tate could spew any of the questions suddenly fighting for room in her mouth.
That left Ryu to answer.
She fixed him with an unblinking stare. He was content to stare back, looking vaguely amused at her bad mood. They’d just see who was amused by the end of this.
“What did he mean by the murders last night?” Tate asked, folding her arms over her chest. “
“That he would let me know if he found anything of note in the investigation.”
Uh huh. Tate took a deep breath.
“They’re the ones investigating.” Her voice was flat. Emotionless.
