Dragon Deception

by Mell Eight

  Nickel, on the other hand, had fought against three magic users and won. He might only have access to water magic, but he was turning into a very formidable creature.

  Apparently, the head SWAT guy agreed. "When you turn eighteen, send your resume my way. My team could use a guy like you," he said to Nickel.

  Nickel smiled, clearly flattered by the admiration of his hard work. "Sorry," Nickel replied with a shrug, "but I've already got a job waiting in Dane's consulting firm. Feel free to give me a call if you need my help, though."

  Stockton walked around the clean room partition as Nickel finished speaking. "You'll blow your quarterly budget if you do that," he called. His grin said he thought the expense to be worth it. Dane would see what Stockton said after he saw the rate Dane charged to hire both Nickel and Dane, but for now he was glad to know the SupFeds and Dane were going to continue working together on occasion. Their money kept Dane's household flush with Cinnamon Bombs, which kept Lumie happy, which kept the rest of them sane. That was important.

  "We done here?" Dane asked. He was tired from all the magic he had worked today and Nickel needed to get to bed.

  Stockton nodded. "The evidence technicians and some federal agents I trust are coming by car to take over the scene. They're about ten minutes away. If you'll transport those of us who need to return to the office when they arrive?" Dane nodded and tiredly started pulling in a little more magic from around him. He could do one more big spell before collapsing into bed and sleeping for twelve hours straight.

  Nickel yawned beside Dane, so Dane threw an arm over Nickel's shoulders to pull him close. He leaned against Dane, his head barely coming up to Dane's chest, and rumbled tiredly. Copper was the tallest of Dane's kits, but only because he had already hit one growth spurt. Dane had a feeling that in a few months Nickel might be taller than him. Nickel had the bone structure for it.

  And Dane's mind was wandering, but admittedly thinking about his kits was far more interesting than watching people scurry around a crime scene.

  Finally, the back-up crew arrived and Stockton organized everyone who needed a magical lift back to the office. Valerie grinned at Dane, her demeanor utterly changed from the first time he had met her. Apparently running a successful operation after years of stymied preparation agreed with her.

  When everyone was ready, Dane let the spell take them away, the warehouse vanishing to be replaced with the conference room they had left just hours ago. The Secretary of Defense was sitting in one of the chairs. She had her phone held up to her ear, but she ended the call when they appeared. Stockton nodded politely to her, but he was listening to the SWAT leader's report. She got to her feet and walked purposefully in Dane's direction.

  Dane blinked at her. She glanced from him to Nickel, who Dane thought had fallen fully asleep while they were waiting to leave. "Dragons are certainly very strong," she said softly, apparently cognizant of the fact that Nickel was sleeping. "I wish we had more like Mercury Chicago on our team." She hadn't phrased her sentence like a question, but Dane could sense the banked curiosity there.

  "Think of it this way," Dane replied. He couldn't let this opportunity pass by. "You have a homeless, migratory population with no access to formal education or healthcare, no Social Security Number or any formal identification. The average lifespan of a dragon is only twenty-six years, not because they have short lives but because they are killed in the wild by other predators or by the elements. And when a dragon attempts to rectify that situation by entering human society, they're often ignored. I believe Mercury is the only dragon working for any federal agency."

  "So there's no way to change that?" she asked sharply.

  "I didn't say that." Dane's smile had a bit of an edge to it. "All the dragons need is a place to call home where they have the resources to prevent territory disputes and where doctors and educators can work with them. I'm attempting to create such a place, but some additional funds to build a proper school and hospital would help. As would some sort of national campaign to help change the negative mindset people have towards dragons. They're not lamias, but they're often treated the same way, and you might be able to change that."

  She wanted to have dragon magic available to help fight wars and to bolster local police and federal forces. Dane wanted dragons to have equal access to colleges and jobs nationwide. She nodded thoughtfully to him.

  "We'll have to speak again later, at a better time," she said.

  Dane agreed. "Stockton has my number. Have a good night." He let his magic pull him and Nickel away.

  They reappeared in the sitting area between the two wings of Dane's house. Daisy was kneeling on the ground, talking softly to Lumie. The second they appeared, Lumie dashed around Daisy and hurried over to Dane.

  "Where is he?" Lumie asked sharply, his red eyes looking around Dane as if someone might be hiding behind Dane's legs.

  "Who?" Dane asked. Daisy clucked exasperatedly and gently took Nickel from Dane's arms. Nickel grumbled incoherently, but allowed himself to be led to his bed.

  "The golden dragon," Lumie replied in a tone that said Dane was being stupid for not already knowing the answer.

  "Goldie?" Dane asked, wondering what the heck Lumie was up to now. "He went to the dragon village."

  Lumie sighed. "I'll have to go there, then."

  "Not tonight," Dane said sharply. "You and Goldie need to sleep and Goldie needs to settle in first."

  "Fine," Lumie grumbled. He turned and headed for bed. Dane gratefully headed for his own. Daisy would leave once Nickel was situated. Dane hoped Mercury could come home soon too, but he had a feeling Mercury would be with the pregnant dragon for a few more hours.

  Dane washed his face in the bathroom, changed into pajamas, and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

  EPILOGUE

  Mercury stumbled his way home long after the sun had risen. Daisy was cheerfully preparing breakfast for the kits starting to take their places around the kitchen island. Zinc and Copper were the only two not present.

  "How's Goldie?" Lumie chirped when he caught sight of Mercury. He looked wide awake, which made Mercury jealous.

  "Scared out of his wits and feeling lost," Mercury sighed.

  Martha had needed to separate Goldie from the pregnant dragon rapidly going into egg fever. Goldie had freaked, screaming and crying, which had attracted the attention of the rest of the village. A dozen curious kits had tried to talk to Goldie, who had run off in absolute terror. The poor thing had probably never seen another dragon until the soon-to-be mother had been captured and he had attached himself to her. It had taken a while to find Goldie hidden underneath the porch of one of the houses and even longer to coax him out. Only Martha's promise that he could see his companion and her four eggs had gotten him moving, and he had vanished into the room and couldn't be budged again.

  "He's going to need a lot of time to heal," Mercury tried to explain. Lumie nodded, looking disappointed for some reason. Daisy served him a plate of eggs in the nest, an oddly appropriate dish given how Mercury's night had gone, and Lumie was distracted enough that Mercury could leave the kitchen and head upstairs. His bed was waiting for him.

  Dane took one look at Mercury when Mercury walked into their bedroom and winced. He dropped the socks he had been about to pull on his feet and instead hurried into the bathroom. Mercury heard the sound of water running a moment later. Dane returned with a damp washcloth. Mercury took it gratefully, glad to wash the sweat from his face. He undressed and slid into bed.

  "I spoke to Zinc," Dane said as he took the washcloth back from Mercury. "I let her know that we will keep looking for Platinum, and that your boss is helping now, too. She's upset, but she'll be okay." Mercury could only nod, grateful Dane had talked to her.

  Dane smoothed the covers, then sat beside him on the bed before continuing. "Stockton called. He let me know they've gotten a search warrant for just about everything O'Simmons owns. If there's something to find about dragon experiment
ation, Stockton says they'll find it and he'll make sure we're both kept in the loop. Valerie was put on point for the investigation and you're still her partner."

  "So I'm being promoted to Agent," Mercury found the energy to reply through a wide yawn. He was fading fast. Helping a dragon that had gone into egg fever shift forms and then safely lay her eggs was extremely taxing on mind and body. Plus, having to track down the panicking Goldie in the middle of it all hadn't helped. "That's probably going to mess up my working hours."

  "I'll let Daisy know we might need her for babysitting after dinner on occasion, but I'll also see if I can shorten my hours at work. We'll figure it out—we always have—so don't worry."

  Mercury nodded, glad to hear his new job wasn't going to cause any problems at home. He blinked, but his eyes took a few seconds to reopen. They slid closed again almost immediately.

  "See you later," Mercury heard Dane say softly. Dane pressed his lips to Mercury's forehead. "Sleep well."

  "No more picnics," Mercury mumbled in a last ditch effort to stay awake for his mate.

  They needed to talk about the aftermath of the warehouse and what it meant having the SupFeds so deeply on board, but it wasn't hard for Mercury to realize that he was far too tired to remember anything they spoke about at the moment. When he woke up again, he and Dane—and probably Nickel too—would have to sit down and figure it all out together.

  Dane laughed. "I'll tell Lumie. I'll also call your office and tell them you'll be in tomorrow for any follow up. Get some sleep."

  Mercury pried his eyes open one last time so he could smile at Dane, then let the soft pillow and mattress do their jobs. He was asleep before Dane left the room.

  FIN

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  When Mell Eight was in high school she wrote a short story for an English class. The assignment was for no more than five pages, yet she had turned in ten and the story wasn’t completed. Her teacher was impressed, but writing stories for fun was her main source of procrastination from homework; handing in an assignment that actually asked her to write fiction was too good to pass up. Since then Mell has continued writing, posting in many online communities for fanfiction and original fiction and eventually branching into slash fiction. She mostly writes paranormal or fantasy stories, but has been seen exploring the real world once or twice.

  For more information on Mell’s stories and future writing plans, visit her website:

  http://melleightfiction.weebly.com/