by Rinelle Grey
“Yes, of course, Princess.” Latrima sounded contrite, maybe even a little miserable. A vivid contrast to her earlier certainty and arrogance.
Sarian paused for a moment and glanced at her brother and sister. Then turned back to Latrima. “If, given this new information, anyone in your clan wishes to change their allegiance, and return to Rian clan, they will be welcomed with open arms. No one will be punished for believing Ultrima’s lies.”
“Yes. Thank you. I will inform everyone,” Latrima said, her head bowed.
Then to Lyrian’s surprise, she walked back to the ledge, transformed into her dragon form, and flew away.
Lyrian heaved a sigh of relief. That had gone better than she could have possibly expected.
Chapter 9
“Come with me.” The expression on the senior constable’s face was impassive, not giving away anything.
The glance she threw at Ultrima, in the corner, though no more emotional, gave Brad a clue that something was going on. Something he was unaware of. It was almost as if… as if the woman knew the dragon. But how could that be?
Brad didn’t have much time to ponder the issue as she lead him back to the meeting room where they’d talked to Barry earlier. Was the lawyer back already? Did he have something that could help them?
When they entered the room though, it wasn’t Barry waiting there. It was Detective Inspector Williams. And he didn’t look happy. He stood next to the window, staring out, but when he turned around as they entered, his face was grim.
A flash of adrenaline hit Brad. This wasn’t about the lawyer. It was about the lies he’d told. They’d figured it out. Brad’s heart thumped in his chest.
The woman waved them to their seats, and to Brad’s surprise, shot them a sympathetic look.
Her gesture had the opposite effect to its intention. Brad’s hands shook as he pulled out a chair and sat down, trying to look nonchalant.
If the woman felt sorry for him, he must be in real trouble.
“We’ve searched the area you mentioned, thoroughly.” The inspector’s voice was deliberately calm, but it didn’t calm Brad at all. He could hear the ‘but’ behind it. He winced, knowing what was coming.
Detective Inspector Williams turned faster than his bulk would indicated he was capable of, giving Brad just enough warning that he was able to not jump when the man slammed his fists on the table. “You lied to us.”
Brad didn’t say anything. What was there to say? The inspector was right, and he couldn’t deny it. He had lied to them.
“Did you think it was funny, sending us on a wild goose chase?” The inspector stared at them, his expression fuming.
Brad’s continued silence only seemed to incense him more. “Do you have nothing to say for yourself? You’ve talked to your lawyer, now it’s time to talk to us.”
He paced the room a few times, glancing at Nate and Brad, neither of whom said anything. Then he pulled a chair out roughly and sat down. “Look, I’m a reasonable man. I gave you a chance to help us out, to help yourself out. But if you continue to say nothing, then it’s going to go very badly for you, I promise.”
Brad winced. Barry had said that the charges would be minor, not a big deal. He had a plan to get them out of here. Brad needed to hang onto that, and not let this man intimidate him.
His resolve must have shown on his face, because the inspector swore. He pushed the chair back and stood up, pacing the room for a minute, then turned to stare at them. The anger had faded, and the icy calm that replaced it chilled Brad’s blood.
“Never mind,” Detective Inspector Williams said, his voice silky smooth, “Your silence tells us everything we need to know. You lied to protect the dragons, meaning that you were concerned we were getting too close. They have to be out at wave rock.”
Brad swallowed, saying nothing, even though he knew it was pointless at this stage.
He only hoped that Barry had reported in to Lisa, as he said he would, and that the dragons were in the process of evacuating the lair even as they spoke.
*****
Lisa stood at the entrance to the lair when Lyrian and the others returned, Verrian standing beside her, both looking worried. Lyrian landed, and Sarian slid from her back, her eyes seeking out Raven, who had ridden on Taurian’s back, and clasping his hand without even looking at him.
They hadn’t wanted to remain at the Mesmer chamber long enough to finish the ritual, not certain whether Latrima planned to return with the rest of her clan and ‘convince’ Sarian to go with them by force.
Verrian gave his sister a hug, and Lisa gave her a nod, but the first words out of Lisa’s mouth were, “We’ve got a problem.”
Lyrian’s heart sank. Another one? She really would like a break from problems for a while. Like, long enough for them to deal with the ones they already had.
“What is it?” Taurian asked. He must be as tired of problems as she was, but he didn’t hesitate.
If he could manage it, she could. Lyrian squared her shoulders and waited for Lisa’s reply.
“I just had a call from Barry,” Lisa started.
Lyrian’s heart skipped a beat. Lisa’s boss, Barry, was supposed to be helping Brad. What could have gone wrong? Had Brad been wrong, and the police were a danger after all? She stood poised, ready to transform back into a dragon and fly to Brad’s rescue if Lisa’s next words indicated a need.
“He’s confident he can help Brad, but he said the police aren’t going to be fooled for long. Brad has apparently given them a false location for the lair, but once they realise we’re not there, they’re going to figure out where we are. Brad thinks we should evacuate.”
The words hung in the air between them. Lyrian’s heart slowed down a little, its irregular beat not quite so painful now she knew Brad wasn’t in danger. She glanced sideways at Taurian, guessing what his answer would be, even before he spoke.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Taurian said firmly. “I wouldn’t let the Trima dragons chase us out of our lair, and I won’t let the humans either. They can’t hurt us here. They wouldn’t dare. Let them come.”
Anger welled up in Lyrian. Didn’t he realise that Brad had sacrificed himself to protect them? To give them this chance to escape before the human’s found them? Was he going to throw it all away out of pride?
She opened her mouth to object, but Sarian beat her to it.
“I think you’d better tell me the situation, before we make any rash decisions.” She looked over at Lisa, a glance up and down sizing her up quickly. “How long does this ‘Brad’ think we have to prepare? And can his evaluation be trusted?”
“We don’t know how long,” Lisa said quickly. She looked to Lyrian, as though expecting her to explain the rest.
Lyrian bit back a sigh. “Brad is my mate. He gave himself up to the police to hide the location of our lair. A sacrifice that will have been in vain if Taurian insists on remaining here to satisfy his pride.” She shot her brother an irritated look.
Sarian seemed to be doing a good job of taking things in quickly. “We appreciate your mate’s sacrifice, without question,” she said softly to Lyrian, not even blinking at the fact that her younger sister had a mate she’d never met. “No matter what happens here, he bought you time to wake me. How many of us are awake now?”
“We still have to wake Calrian and Warrian,” Verrian said, his expression concerned. “But we skipped them in favour of having you here.”
“Very wise,” Sarian said, her voice clipped. “So there are four leaders awake. That should be enough to deal with the humans.”
She spoke firmly, as though she’d forgotten that she wasn’t at full strength yet.
“Not necessarily,” Verrian said. “They have even more powerful weapons than they did when we left England. They are a threat in their own right. Perhaps more so than Ultrima is.”
“They might be, if they could get to us,” Taurian insisted. “But last time I looked, humans can’t fly. Not as well as a dr
agon anyway, and certainly not without large and noisy machines. They cannot get into the lair. We are safe here. Far safer than we would be anywhere else.”
Frustration flashed across Sarian’s face. Was it because their brothers were fighting, or because she had missed so much, and wasn’t sure what decision to make or whose advice to follow?
Though she tried to hide it, Lyrian could see the exhaustion in her eyes. They needed time. Time for Sarian to finish the Mesmer ritual and regain her full strength. Time to fill her sister in on what had happened in her absence. Time to figure out what they were going to do next.
But that was time they just didn’t have.
Chapter 10
Brad paced up and down the room again. He could hear the commotion outside the door, muffled through the walls, but his hearing wasn’t good enough to make out what was being said. He glanced over at Ultrima, wondering if the dragon could tell anything more than he could.
But if he could, he wasn’t giving it away. He sat on the stretcher, leaning back against the wall, his eyes closed. He could well have been asleep, but Brad wasn’t convinced. He didn’t think the Trima dragon missed much at all.
Raised voices sounded in the other room, and Brad’s stomach clenched. “What do you think is going on?” he asked Nate privately.
Nate frowned, silent for a few moments, as if trying to identify the words, or at least the voices. Was that Detective Inspector Williams’ voice, or someone else? “Do you think someone is trying to stop them going after the clan? That woman, Senior Constable Lyons, I think she might know more than she lets on.”
It was interesting that Nate thought her behaviour strange too. Brad had definitely noticed her reactions being unusual. Not that he was sure what was usual when confronted with a dragon.
As if summoned, the door opened, and the senior constable stood in front of them. “They want to talk to you.”
Brad glanced over at Nate, but his brother just shrugged. He was probably thinking the same thing Brad was, that they didn’t really have a lot of choice.
He and Nate headed through the open door, but the senior constable didn’t follow them. She was still staring into the room. “You too,” she said to Ultrima.
Brad’s heartrate kicked up a notch. That was different. They hadn’t talked to both of them at the same time before. Was this some new way to try to get them to talk? Pit them against each other or something? Or was something else going on?
If so, he was damned if he knew what.
They already knew that Rian clan wasn’t at the location Brad had told them, and they had a pretty good guess where they were. What more did they expect to get from him? And why bring Ultrima into the conversation?
It was already obvious that the Trima dragon hadn’t given away the location, for reasons known only to him.
Perhaps though, they were aware that he knew it, and thought to somehow provoke one party or the other into confirming it. Maybe even giving them a clue on where to start their search.
It made a frightening kind of sense.
Brad resolved to be calm, to refuse to take the bait, and whatever else he did, not to antagonise the other dragon.
Which was what he was going to do anyway.
When Senior Constable Lyons lead them back into the conference room though, it was clear there was something more going on. A new group of people were sitting at the table. Three of them, all wearing suits and ties, all middle aged at least.
At least half a dozen police officers stood behind the empty chairs against the opposite wall. Brad suspected they were there to keep an eye on Ultrima, rather than him or Nate.
In the middle chair opposite the three men, sat Barry. He gave Brad and Nate a friendly smile, and for the first time since the senior constable had come into the room, the constriction around Brad’s heart eased a little.
He sat down next to Barry, and Nate sat next to him. Brad was relieved that Ultrima took the seat on the opposite side of the lawyer. If Barry was concerned by having a dragon sitting next to him, he gave no sign.
He was braver than Brad. He felt much better having someone between him and the Trima dragon, though it would probably make no real difference if the dragon decided he had an issue with him. His lightning would have no trouble encompassing the entire room.
Brad wondered if the suits sitting opposite them had any idea.
One or two of them stared at Ultrima with shifting eyes, as though trying to hide their fear. They knew all right, and they weren’t happy about it.
The one in the middle cleared his throat. “I’m James Nyles.”
He waited, as though he expected them to recognise the name, but Brad was mystified. The only one who seemed to recognise the name was Barry, who nodded.
“Director-General of Security,” the man added for the rest of them.
That sounded important. Apparently Barry had been busy. But it wasn’t quite what he’d promised. Brad turned to the lawyer and raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were going to try to get us an audience with the Prime Minister?”
There was a muffled laugh behind them somewhere. Sounded like a woman.
Barry gave a slight smile.
“You didn’t think we were going to put the Prime Minister in a room with a dragon, did you?” the director-general said flatly. “We know nothing about what you’re capable of, or what you plan to do. Once we’ve gone over some of the preliminary discussion, maybe, maybe, you might get an audience with the Prime Minister. But not if we sense any threat from you at all.”
Brad supposed that was reasonable. He didn’t want to be in a room with a dragon. Not the Trima one anyway.
“Who exactly are you,” Brad asked him instead. “And what can you do to help us?”
The man bristled at that, almost as if he were insulted by their lack of knowledge about him. “I’m the head of the Australian security and intelligence departments,” he said stiffly. “I’ve been authorised to discuss the matter of the dragons’ position in this country with you. I’ve been told that the three of you are the ones I can speak to about establishing contact with these dragon clans?”
That comment startled Brad a bit. Him? The one to speak to about Rian clan? He glanced over at Barry, who smiled encouragement.
Well, he guessed they didn’t have any other contacts.
Ultrima inclined his head. “I will speak with you. I am the leader of Trima clan, and have been for three hundred years.”
Okay, that sounded impressive. Even the director-general sat up a little. “Three hundred years?” He recovered quickly. “My intelligence reported that you have been here for a long time, hiding I gather?”
Ultrima inclined his head. “We have no fight with humans.”
Brad could read between the lines. No fight with humans, their fight was with Rian clan. Had the Trima leader actually been interested in his suggestion of a truce earlier, or had he just been playing them?
The director-general nodded, then turned to Brad and Nate. “And the two of you are from the other clan? But you’re not dragons, is that right?”
Brad hesitated. He didn’t want to give away anything, but this felt different than the police grilling. More… not friendly, he wouldn’t describe the man as friendly, but more inclined to consider both sides of the story. And Barry seemed to think this was the time to talk.
“I am mated to a dragon from Rian clan,” he admitted cautiously.
This time, the man seemed unable to hide his surprise. “You’re… mated… to a dragon?”
Brad shrugged, hiding a smile. It was a little hard to comprehend. He might have had the same reaction a few weeks ago. “As you can no doubt see, dragons spend quite some time in human form.”
The man stared at him for a few moments, as though trying to take that in. Then he nodded. “Rian clan, you said?”
Brad nodded. There was no harm in admitting his clan name, was there?
“So can you put us in contact with the leader from Rian cl
an? We’d like to discuss… where we go from here. With all the dragons.”
Brad glanced at Barry. Was this offer legitimate, or was it a trick? Some attempt to get his cooperation to reveal the location of Rian clan? Somehow it didn’t feel like it. The man’s request sounded genuine. But Brad still wasn’t prepared to give anything away.
“I might be able to,” he admitted. “That all depends on what you want from them. If you want to lock them up, then no.”
The man gave a short, sharp laugh. “I think it would be… presumptuous… of us, to assume we can keep dragons locked away. Ultrima has been most kind in cooperating with us, but from what I’ve heard, if he chose not to remain, then we would have problems holding him.”
Not stupid then.
“What do you want then?” Brad demanded.
“At this stage, I’m not sure what the best outcome will be, but it seems to me that we need to open a dialogue. My biggest concern is the security of the country, and the safety of its people. I need to know if dragons are going to be a threat to that.”
“Rian clan is no threat to humans,” Brad said flatly. “At no point have they hurt any human.” He almost added ‘unlike Trima clan’, but he really didn’t have any evidence to back that up. Sure, Kytrima had been flying in to attack him when she’d been following Lyrian, but she hadn’t actually hurt him, and he had no idea if she would have if he hadn’t shot her.
Ultrima and his clan had attacked Rian clan, and the humans who had joined them, but even he had to admit that was different.
So when Ultrima added, “Trima clan has no wish to harm humans either,” he didn’t object.
The man on the other side of the desk smiled. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Brad shrugged. “Agreeing that our clan has no wish to hurt humans is a far cry from us divulging their whereabouts or agreeing to meet with you. That’s going to require a bit more trust.”
The man looked disgruntled for a few moments. Brad suspected he wasn’t used to having people insinuate they didn’t trust him. But he schooled his face into a calm expression almost immediately. “What can we do to help gain your trust?”
