* * *
It took a little longer to contact Roland Voros than it had to reach Ivan. Roland wasn't expecting a call and would have to abandon whatever he was doing to respond to Hugo's SOS. Hugo wasn't sure where Roland was these days. His phones were so cleverly encrypted that all communications appeared to come from the US—when Hugo knew his friend had not set foot in the states in years.
While he waited, Sarkany began reading over Ivan's list of minor disruptions. He pulled up a spreadsheet and compared the last fortnight's mishaps with fortnightly periods going back ten years. Definitely a rash of bad luck or some subtle sabotage. His dragon's intuition pinged and he placed his cursor on Zurich. This was where Landor planned to strike.
A few keystrokes later his Swiss security team was on high alert and the Sarkan watchmaking facility was even better guarded. It was one in the morning in Zurich. Thirteen possibly blameless employees had been given unexpected holidays with pay. They had been duly awakened at home to inform them of their unexpected liberty. The overnight deliveries to the office tower were being searched with dogs and trained personnel.
It was possible that Landor was also threatening the factory in the Philippines. Hugo had a tingle that told him something was very wrong there. That particular plant was more of an attempt to provide jobs in that unfortunate country, than a money making enterprise. But public opinion would be still be against Sarkan Industries if workers died in their factory.
Hugo made a single phone call and the buildings were evacuated and workers sent home with the assurance that their wages would be paid while the plant was idle.
“Very good,” Hugo told his plant manager. “Make sure the security team is wearing full tactical gear when they conduct their search. If we have a bomb on the premises, I want them as safe as possible. And you go home, yourself, Sandros.”
“Yes, Mr. Sarkany.” Sandros Woo headed for his car with relief. If Mr. Sarkany thought they were a target for a bombing, he wanted to be well away before it exploded. Sarkany had an uncanny way of being right—as if their benefactor were a demon.
Hugo suddenly recalled his PA. Where the hell was his Georgia Peach? Surely she was not still flirting with Holden? He scanned the bank of security screens and there she was. Sitting demurely in his anteroom reading from her tablet. She looked fresh and wholesome in her crisp dress, but she stirred his blood as if she were wearing only her own pink and white skin. He repressed his arousal. He had work to do.
Leah was safe in the anteroom—and out of Holden's reach. Hugo wondered sardonically if she would be quite so comfortable in Holden's company if she knew the ex-soldier was a bearshifter. She would like it as little as discovering her boss and would-be lover was a dragon.
A new anxiety seized him, as unfamiliar as jealousy had been. Would Landor be so lost to self-preservation as to endanger Count Sarkany's woman? Surely not even that misbegotten lizard would be so utterly stupid? But instinct suggested that Leah's safety should be priority one.
Leah looked cool and collected as she sat calmly reading. Truly she was lovely. Soon very soon, those soft, round limbs would be spread out on his bed for his pleasure. He had a sudden vision of Leah wearing the dark green velvet robes of his countess with the Dragon's Blood sparkling against her satiny skin. He blinked the vision away.
That was madness. However toothsome Leah might be, she was no bride for Count Sarkany. When he married, if he married, he would have to choose a mate who could bear him firelings. There was no point to a wife otherwise.
His mate would have to be a dragoness born or able to be turned into one. That meant a virgin. Whatever else voluptuous Leah St. George was, she was no virgin. Not at twenty-seven. No American girl from a big city, who had been to college, returned home a virgin.
Sarkany's video screen flashed Roland's password and Hugo swiped his friend in.
“To what do I owe this call, Count?” Roland Voros asked. “I haven't heard from you since before your grandfather died. My condolences.”
“Thank you. Our House has lost its heart,” Hugo said formally. “However, I have called on this line because I have been challenged to a duel,” he added bluntly.
Roland tipped his big blonde head back and laughed uproariously at this piece of wit.
“It is no joke, my friend.” Hugo waited for his friend to realize he was in earnest. “Maximilian of Landor has challenged my right to the Dragon's Blood. And the Grand Council has approved his claim and set a date for trial by single combat.”
Roland leaned forward his green eyes astonished for once. “I don't believe it. You're in mourning for a start. And that challenge is baseless. The House of Sarkany has owned the Blood necklace since your ancestor wrested it from Ivan the Terrible in the sixteenth century.”
Hugo inclined his head. “The necklace has been the Treasure of our House since Tzar Ivan bestowed it on Casimir of Sarkany as a reward for his loyalty.”
“Probably for incinerating some rebellious nobles,” said Roland wryly.
“Possibly.” Hugo was austere. “Casimir, Count Sarkany left no records of the details of his service to the Tzar.” He paused. “Vadim of Montenegro purports to believe that I have not been established as Eldest of my House, since we have yet to hold the usual ceremonies. He wouldn't hear arguments on the merits of the challenge, because he declared that Ivan wasn't my Right Arm.”
Roland whistled softly. “Insult upon insult. What the hell's got into the High Marshal?”
Hugo smiled grimly. “I do believe that Vadim thinks that now my great-grandfather is dead, the House of Sarkany has no teeth left.”
Roland's green eyes gleamed with laughter, but he didn't speak.
“If he didn't instigate Landor's challenge, he encouraged it,” Hugo continued. “But I promise you, Voros, when this matter is dealt with, the Council will be seeking a new High Marshal.
“But first, Lord Voros, Eldest of your House, I have my Honor to defend in aerial battle. Will you join my Right Arm as my second?” Hugo made the formal petition.
“I will stand as your Left Arm with the greatest of pleasure, Eldest of Sarkany,” Roland promptly supplied the ancient response. “Where and when do you defend your Honor?”
“Some scrap of rock in the South China Seas,” Hugo said his voice flat and hard. “At the next full moon.”
Roland pursed his lips in a soundless whistle. He shook his blond head. “Vadim wants you dead, and doesn't care if you take Landor with you. That wily bastard expects to see you both dead. But surely you do not intend to fight, when Maximilian's challenge is based on less than nothing?”
“I do not. But I am no coward, Voros. I must ask you to protest the challenge on the grounds of its lack of substance. But if the Council upholds it, then we must demand to be allowed to choose the mode of combat and the place and date as is customary.
“But that is not all, Roland. Vadim has demanded that he hold the Dragon's Blood while its ownership is in dispute.”
Roland was even taller and broader than his friend. Outrage at the disrespect shown his ally, revealed itself on his noble face. His sleek blonde good looks were spoiled by the icing of his green eyes. He laughed mirthlessly and showed his friend a large mouth of very white, very large teeth. He looked very dangerous indeed.
“Vadim intends to take possession of the Dragon's Blood,” he told Hugo decisively. “He honestly believes that when you and Landor are both drowned, your seconds will decide the duel was a draw and melt away, leaving him to seize the Dragon's Blood as booty. How in earth and heaven is he getting the Council to go along with this rubbish?”
“Vadim is owed a great many favors,” said Hugo. “And perhaps he has lulled his fellows into believing that he means harm only to our House. It matters not. I have no intention of letting any son-of-a-sea-snake kill me.”
“And if you are felled, Eldest of Sarkany, your Right Arm and your Left will avenge your House and reclaim your prize.” Roland looked immensely delighted at th
e thought of the coming duel. “It's been a long time since I flew in company,” he said. “We should meet, the three of us, to discuss strategy.”
“Agreed. I am on Isle Balaur. Will you be my guest?”
“With the greatest of pleasure.”
* * *
It was long past noon when the doors to Hugo's office opened. Leah was most of the way through her mystery when Sarkany spoke her name. He sounded brusque and a little distracted, but as usual the intense golden gaze he fixed on her was stripping her to her skin. She should be offended, but his lustfulness just made her hot.
“I apologize for leaving you out here,” Hugo said courteously. “I have been handling a crisis this morning. Have you eaten lunch?”
“No, sir.” Leah keep her voice placid even though butterflies were fluttering in her belly. She stood up, determined not to show how fast her pulse was racing. “Do you want me to go now, or do you have something for me to do first?”
“I will have something brought to us,” Hugo told her. “Come in here.” He pulled his door wide.
If Landor lost his mind and attacked Isle Balaur, it would be better if Leah was safe behind these thick walls than exposed in the exterior wings. His island retreat was not exactly a secret location. Although he devoutly hoped his safe room was not even a rumor in the wide world.
It did not even occur to Hugo to wonder why this deep anxiety for Leah was riding him, when he should have been focused on the attack on his empire and his family. Yet every instinct urged him to protect her from Landor's malice.
Leah looked around the windowless, bamboo-paneled walls of Hugo's office with interest. This room was all business and artificial light. A soft cream colored carpet deadened sound. A round table and upholstered chairs had been placed off to the side. The honey colored walls held banks of screens rather than paintings. Screens gave a shots of the approaches to the house, as well as of all the halls and reception rooms.
Hugo's desk was a bare shining slab of black glass that dominated the large room. A smaller black desk of the same material sat at right angles to his. A large screen was the only object visible on its polished surface. Leah sat down at the smaller desk.
His lovely girl was fragrant with arousal again. For him. She smelled even sweeter now than she had yesterday in the sea. She was looking expectantly at him from her chair. Hugo pressed a button on the front of his desk and her console came to life. Lights blinked and her keyboard slid out on its concealed tray. Her screen lit up and requested her password.
“Do I have a password?” she asked.
“Put your forefinger anywhere on the screen,” Hugo said. “That's your pass.”
Leah tentatively touched the screen. WELCOME, LEAH ST. GEORGE, appeared on the screen. LOOK AT THE RED LIGHT WITHOUT BLINKING. A red light appeared at the top of the frame of the screen.
“Iris scan,” said Hugo.
Leah swallowed. “How does it know what my iris looks like?” she asked.
Sarkany smiled smugly. “We have good security cameras. Now, I have some letters that require answers. Perhaps you could read them before we eat? You can prepare responses after lunch.”
He turned back to his own screen. The search of the Manila factory had turned up a couple of primitive incendiary devices. His people had disarmed them and were continuing to search. The team leader thought they had been too easy to find and suspected that they had been placed to mislead a post-explosion inquiry. The security team was now looking for a more powerful bomb—one that could destroy the entire plant and kill or maim all the occupants.
Zurich had still found nothing. They were conducting a floor by floor search of the entire office block. This was not possible. Certainly there had been sabotage. His dragon's senses were screaming at him louder and louder. His security people must be in immanent peril. Hugo brought up the blueprints of the office tower and began to scrutinize them again.
He didn't know exactly what he was looking for, intuition was not that precise, but it was a guide. The more he looked, the surer he became that there was going to be trouble. He ordered an evacuation of all non-security personnel even though he had no proof. Sarkan Industries might lose the building and the equipment, but there was no reason anyone had to die.
There was a knock at the door. “Enter,” he called after checking the screens. Gloria and Martin came in pushing a trolley. They set the round glass table for two.
“Go ahead,” said Hugo to Leah. “I must finish this.” He turned back to the plans of the Zurich facility. He was missing something obvious, but what?
The building in Zurich had been designed to look like any other office block, but to be impregnable under its commonplace facade. But every structure, no matter how well built, had to have entry points for supplies and personnel. Every floor was supposed to be sealed off from every other. But the building shared a massive HVAC plant. That was it. The two areas of vulnerability were easy to spot once he realized where he should look.
His chief of security was soon going over the compressors on the roof and the exterior air intake vents. Hugo left his desk, confident that the sabotage would soon be detected. Leah was eating chicken salad and reading her book when he sat down at the round table. She immediately put her tablet away, smiled politely at him, and had a sip of her sweet tea.
He really must do something about her he mused ruefully. If Ivan and Roland were coming to the island, she had to go. Three dragons was too many for her to overlook. His stomach cramped again. He was worried about Leah, damn it. Why? Did he really believe Landor was so lost to reason as to attack his woman? But his appetite failed him. So maybe he did believe it. For his own peace of mind, he was going to have to send her away with a guardian.
Bloody hell. He was going to have to assign Holden to protect her. Holden was the best of his highly trained security forces. It would be fine, Hugo would just explain to the hairy son-of-a-bear that he would take him apart if he laid a paw on his woman. Decision made, he could eat. Would he have time to enjoy Leah just once before he sent her packing?
CHAPTER TWELVE
His adorable Leah was tormenting him to distraction. Now that he had had a taste of her, just having her in his office made him fantasize about sex when he should be concentrating on the danger to his empire and his House. Yet sending her to her quarters was impossible.
If he didn't have her under his eye, he would be unable to focus. And never had he more needed to think and act rationally. If his great-grandfather had ever faced such a crisis as threatened the House of Sarkany today, he had not spoken of it.
The duty of the Eldest was to preserve the family fortune and the family honor. Which were more or less the same thing for dragons. Yet, since the death of his great-grandfather, he had been behaving as if his circumstances had not changed forever. Ivan had reproached him and he had blown his Right Arm off.
When this was all over, and he had dealt with that skyworm Landor as he deserved, he would have to accept his new responsibilities. He would begin to seek a mate in earnest. If he had taken the time to have a formal investiture at the Schloss Sarkany and to announce to the Grand Council that he intended a Mate Hunt, this challenge would never have been permitted. Never.
So in a sense, this catastrophe was his fault. Not that he was responsible for Landor's senseless spite. That was just Prince Maximilian's nature. The House of Landor had resented the House of Sarkany for centuries, ever since an alliance between their houses had been called off. Something about doubting the girl's virtue. Perhaps she had been unchaste. More likely she was just ugly. Or she didn't have a large enough dowry.
In this present age, no dragon could hold out for a mate who came with money. It was going to be hard to find any mate at all. He was going to have to scour the backwaters of the planet seeking a maiden so closely guarded by her family she was still a virgin. Or he would have to take a child to wife—a loathsome thought.
The family lore claimed that when a dragon shifter found his
mate he fell deeply and irrevocably in love with her, and she with him. Not that he gave credence to legend. But it seemed unlikely that he would fall in love with a female selected primarily for her chastity. As if a strip of skin was more important than character or brains.
But for generations the Sarkany dynasty had been dwindling, until he and his brother were the last twigs of what had once been a mighty tree. He had to have firelings. His great-grandfather had had only one son before his mate ceased producing offspring. That single son had perished mountain climbing in the Himalayas when his son, Hugo's father, had been child.
Great-grandfather had always claimed his son's death was just bad luck. But it didn't seem plausible to Hugo that a dragon should have died in a blizzard. Dragons had too many options when faced with bad weather. Great-grandfather said his son would never have left his human companions to die. Well, of course not. No Sarkany would abandon his friends.
But the story still didn't hang together. Hugo was a mountaineer himself. He had climbed in full human kit with humans. And he had climbed in dragon form. Given a dragon's great bulk, sharp talons, and ability to fly and breathe fire, mountain climbing was almost no challenge at all.
If you were cold, you lit a fire, or warmed the air around you. Stepping across a chasm was easy if you could just stride across a twenty foot gap. If you fell off a cliff face, you flew. You had to mountaineer in human just to get your blood going.
Hugo thought that a dragon trapped by foul weather on Everest had many options and was most likely to outlast his human team. If he couldn't save them, why hadn't his grandfather simply flown away when his friends had all died? What would make him stay in human and freeze to death?
The family tragedy had continued with the death of both Hugo's parents in plane crash when he and Ivan were in their teens. Great-grandfather swore that the crash had genuinely been an accident. But as soon as he was old enough, Hugo had read the reports himself. That so-called accident stank of sabotage. If you were a dragon, if your plane stalled out, you could bail and fly away. Why had two healthy dragons gone down with their Cessna?
Dragon's Treasure (BBW/Dragon Shifter Romance) (Lords of the Dragon Islands Book 1) Page 8
