Onyx Dragons: Jasper (7 Virgin Brides for 7 Weredragon Billionaires Book 5)

by Starla Night

  “Grandma.”

  “They looked like invaders from the moon.”

  “Grandma, when did the 72 hours start?”

  She squinted as though peering over her memory. “Yesterday. They came yesterday…morning.”

  Rose walked through the house inventorying the contents while she called first Jasper—voice mail, of course—then her coworkers—also voice mail—and then Briar. Nothing for Briar, not even voice mail.

  After that, she sat on Grandma’s sagging bed for a long, long time.

  She was alone in the world.

  All alone.

  Pity wouldn’t help right now. Jasper was alone too. Rose promised to be strong. She intended to fight.

  Rose called a few more numbers, then returned to the kitchen and pulled out the plates and cookware, stacking them on the floor because she didn’t trust the table. “Okay, we’ll pack up whatever we can, take it to my house,” and fumigate it on the way, “so just leave clothes, we’ll figure something out.”

  Grandma’s old eyes fixed on her vintage towels. “They said not to bring linens.”

  Rose dropped them on the table. One of them had a red handprint. She pulled it out of the pile.

  Liam’s name and first year were written beneath the messy print.

  She set it on the plates. They couldn’t destroy this. She’d beg Jasper to use the decontam on it.

  Then her memory triggered. “Where’s Liam?”

  Grandma studied her wrinkled hands.

  “Grandma?” Rose paused. “Where’s Liam?”

  Tears shimmered. “I’m sorry, Rose.”

  The floor tilted. A high-pitched buzz started in her ears. Of all the things she didn’t want to hear today, this was what she most dreaded. The question formed in her dry mouth even though she knew the answer. “Is he okay?”

  Grandma nodded.

  “Where is he?”

  “I went to the preschool. I went early because I…she was so mad about that car. You talked to the police, Rose. You know she can’t help it and yet you embarrassed her, you made her feel bad. You should have protected her.”

  Rose shook her head. An entire ocean sloshed inside. “No.”

  “I went and it was already too late.”

  “No, no.”

  “She was with that new boyfriend of hers, the one who acts like he’s always so high and mighty. They signed Liam out and quit the daycare.”

  “But she’s bringing him back.”

  “Rose...”

  “Of course she is. Briar gets bored. She’ll bring Liam back. She’ll bring him back when she’s bored.”

  “She’s his family, Rose. She has as much right as anyone to—”

  “No!” Rose stomped, rattling the dishes, fists cocked. “Briar can’t keep anything! She’ll lose him, pawn him off on friends, forget him in a locked car. You can’t let her keep him.”

  “We don’t have a choice. She’s his mother.”

  “She’s a terrible mother! That’s why I have to. She can’t. Not if she loves him. Not if…not if…”

  Grandma rested an old hand on Rose’s shoulder and her gaze was filled with the terrible acceptance of a mother who’d already lost her children. “Briar took him, Rose. He’s gone.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Something was wrong.

  Jasper organized his project sheets on the wall screen. Larimar had called her mother in the other room, and only the loudest exclamations reached him, but the tone and Larimar’s body language filled him with unease.

  She’d promised to let him take a break after her mother approved the products. All he had to do was make a single phone call and production would commence. His construction workers would build the shipping platforms; on Draconis, Larimar’s agents would prepare to accept the products. They’d ship as soon as the Empress’s successor was decided and trade resumed.

  Larimar had overseen and approved his work. She’d been smart enough to be guided by his experience, and had bossed the dragons back home into line.

  They’d gotten ahead of plan, and now, Jasper ached to talk to his people. Rose, his siblings, the old office. Things were surely going well and nobody missed him, not a fraction of the amount he missed them, but soon he would know for sure. He was almost done.

  Almost.

  “Yes, Mother, this is the product. These cheeses.”

  Larimar’s voice rose with agitation. At this hour, the connection should be clear.

  Jasper fabricated a reason to check the building integrity nearer the conference call.

  Adviser Wrathmoda growled. “I dislike cheese.”

  Larimar’s mouth flopped. “You…don’t? Not even limburger?”

  “Stinks like frightened animals. Makes my nose run and cramps my belly.”

  Larimar noticed Jasper. Her eyes widened in panic and she looked at him for a rescue while continuing to speak to her mother. “You don’t enjoy cheese.”

  “Yes, so what good product are we exporting?” Adviser Wrathmoda grated in an uncompromising growl. “You promised to amass enough wealth so I can conquer General Ragiosa with my own fleet. We will fight over the War Admiral seat. Come, come. Tell me.”

  “What…ah, what human products do you enjoy?”

  “So far, none are fit for a low-caste, much less an aristocrat. But fools disagree, and if they are so stupid as to give up their coin, I will take it.”

  “Yes, the music and art from Earth are very popular right now. Did you—”

  “I can’t see why. I hate everything. That is why I am relying on you, Daughter, to exploit this backwater and save our noble colonies, which have long been locked in by the useless General Ragiosa.”

  “Ah…have you tried their chocolate?”

  “I can’t keep the names straight.” Her voice dropped dangerously. “I am risking my name for you, Daughter. Give me a product I will be proud to export. This is your final chance to impress me.”

  Larimar swallowed. “Of course I will.”

  “Hmm. I will arrive to taste your product in three days. But not cheese! It kinks my intestines and gives me the most disagreeable flatulence.”

  The screen went dark.

  Larimar covered her face.

  Jasper waited.

  She lifted her head and howled at the ceiling in frustration. “Three days! I ate eighty pounds of cheese for no reason.”

  “Perhaps she is lactose-intolerant. Humans have created cheeses without lactose to—”

  “Never again.” She glared at Jasper. “We must export a different product. Not cheese. And we must present it to Mother in three days. This building is unworthy of her personage. Can we even build an appropriate showroom in three days?”

  He compared his memory of the Space Voyages Inc. showroom suite, the most lavish space he’d ever seen, which the aristocratic customers had called rustic. “I can prepare a showroom. But what will you export?”

  “I don’t know.” She stared at the empty boxes. “Eighty pounds, wasted. What do we do?”

  “Continue your plan. Your mother dislikes human flavors, so she does not represent the general population of dragons who love—”

  “But she has to approve! You heard her. She won’t export anything she dislikes, and she fears being compared to ‘idiots.’ Taste matters to me, but to her, it is life.”

  That was a conundrum. Mal had never been precious. He wanted to make the most money as fast as possible, and he didn’t agonize over his selections. A benefit of being low-caste.

  Larimar paced. “What do all dragons like no matter what?”

  “Coffee.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Everyone knows coffee. The family who exports it always ranks on the charts. They net more profit than the Onyx Corporation because they don’t have to re-invent themselves. That’s one reason food products attracted me. After the research phase, they sell themselves.”

  “There are perhaps more coffees than cheeses.”

  She stopped and glared at
him. “Do not make me hate coffee.”

  “Does your mother enjoy coffee?”

  She resumed pacing. “Good point. I don’t know. And if it fails her standard, then we’d be an ‘idiot’ for selling it.”

  “What about a rare coffee preferred by the Gentleman’s Society?”

  Her brows rose. “She would accept that endorsement even if she disliked the product.”

  “Alex has tested some products on secret, high-level members of society. Our family is not the only one; other aristocrats have carried home souvenirs. Even the Empress hoarded a truffle covered in edible gold foil.”

  “Good, Jasper, that’s what I’m talking about.”

  He started for his terminal to call to Alex about the last bag of specialty coffee. He’d collected it for Amber, and then during the investigation, the Gentleman’s Society had made off with most of the limited supply. He’d planned to follow up with the distributor after Amber’s honeymoon. Now, it was the priority.

  “What if Mother dislikes coffee?” Larimar tapped her fingers against the door frame. “We should offer her three types, shouldn’t we?”

  “The Gentleman’s Society did not prefer three types.”

  “But if she’s having a bad day, she’ll refuse any one product on principle. We should offer her more products. If she dislikes the first, move on to the second, and so forth.”

  Jasper lifted his fingers off the terminal. “You wish to present her with all the samples?”

  “Oh, goodness, no. If we present her with 1800 of anything, she’ll be furious. She might flame us both out of anger.”

  “That would be unwelcome.”

  “Unwelcome!” Larimar flopped on the chair, flicked out her claws, and shredded the air in frustration. “My mother is coming in three days. We have no company, no product for her to approve, no vast income for her war chests, and no place for her to even sit. She’s a dragon who repays insults with limb loss. Why are you so calm?”

  Jasper pursed his lips. “Since reaching the number one spot on the off-Draconis company ranking, the Onyx Corporation has survived espionage, merging companies with an aristocrat, lizard cultists, bombings, and an investigation by the Gentleman’s Society; any of which could have destroyed the Dragon-Human Treaty and ended with planetary annihilation. So, at this point, I am more stressed by missing my love and my team. Besides, fear-based work is less creative, and over-tiredness leads to mistakes.”

  She retracted her claws. “It does?”

  “Yes, we have documented many detrimental effects. That is why I always strive to improve the environment for optimal production, including emotional health.”

  “Does that really affect performance?”

  “If you were working with your male, wouldn’t you expend the maximum energy?”

  She gazed dreamily into her mind. “I would take that dragon back to my lair and never emerge.”

  “You would emerge eventually, and then you would work to secure his safety.”

  She snapped back to focus and crossed her arms. “I am dedicated now.”

  “You cannot sustain a business on emergencies; you cannot achieve optimum production.” He returned to his terminal and called up the most popular exports.

  Larimar frowned. “Would you be so much more productive with your Rose?”

  “As a first step, yes.”

  “This is an emergency.”

  “Yes, which is why I’ve remained quiet about my worries for her well-being over yours.” He tapped the screen. “Which product samples do you want prepared for your mother?”

  Larimar selected, and he made arrangements to acquire them. Building a rustic showroom was a bigger problem.

  “Perhaps we can test the products on her ship,” Larimar suggested. “Then she never has to set foot on Earth.”

  “Stepping a foot onto Earth is part of the charm.” Jasper did not want to close himself into a spaceship at the mercy of Adviser Wrathmoda. Even though he could not survive a fire-fight, he wanted the option.

  “Perhaps you’re right. Towering over the humans who can’t shift could be fun for her.”

  Jasper began to design what he hoped would be appropriate.

  Larimar stood and went to the door. “Call her.”

  “Hmm? Your mother?”

  “No.” She snorted. “Call your female.”

  He jolted upright, then fumbled Rose’s number twice before he got it right.

  No answer.

  Disappointment clashed with anticipation. He dialed the office without even thinking. Maybe she was working late—

  “Onyx Corporation,” Jeanine answered, her monotone voice gravelly and familiar.

  “Hi, Jeanine, how are you?” He sucked on his lower lip.

  “Hello, Jasper. Mal’s expecting your call.”

  “Oh, no, wait…”

  But the phone was already being transferred. His oldest brother answered. “Malachite.”

  Nostalgia prickled Jasper’s nostrils. He straightened to give his brother his best. “Hi, Mal.”

  “Jasper? Thank everything.” The video screen in front of him flashed and then Mal’s worried green form showed up in the shreds of a suit jacket; Jasper must have interrupted a fight or Mal hadn’t bothered to change. “Are you ready to come home?”

  “Yes, but my current hosts are not.”

  Mal looked crestfallen.

  Maybe he had been missed. “I’m looking for Rose.”

  Mal looked around his office like she might be hiding behind one of Cheryl’s leafy potted plants. “She’s not here.”

  “I didn’t expect—”

  “Jasper, I…we want to help.”

  He stopped his obvious question and focused. “Help?”

  “You. Somehow. Because we…we need you back.” Mal scrubbed his tired face, leaned forward, and smacked the desk with his usual decisiveness. “Get Adviser Wrathmoda off your back, come back here, and marry Rose.”

  “Adviser Wrathmoda will not approve an Earth product she hasn’t herself experienced. I need a space to present Larimar’s products or host a final tasting. Can we borrow Mother’s office at the Onyx Corporation?”

  Mal’s eyes narrowed. “Are you moving in?”

  “No, the production facilities will remain here.”

  “It’s easier to evict someone who’s never been allowed inside.”

  That sounded like something Rose would say. “If we don’t leave, you can ask Chrysoberyl’s uncle to intervene. He would have a clear shot from space.”

  “If you’re sure…”

  “In the unlikely event that I’m wrong, the easiest way to evict would be to stop environmental services.”

  Mal blinked. “Really? How long would that take?”

  “Two weeks will become uncomfortable, and three weeks, unlivable. Any longer will cause a building hazard. Honestly, if Adviser Wrathmoda or Larimar take up residence longer than three weeks, we should move to a new building because structural damages will exceed expenses.”

  “You’ve been absent for almost three weeks. Are environmental services so temperamental?”

  “Ask Rose. She knows almost as much about the environmental system as I do.”

  Mal made a note. “We will host your meeting.”

  “Please have the furniture moved to accommodate Adviser Wrathmoda’s size.” He gave the specifications.

  Mal agreed distractedly. “Okay, will do.”

  “Where is Rose?”

  Mal had no idea, so he transferred Jasper to the security center. But Kyan gave him the same disheartening answer. “She’s not at the office.”

  “Why isn’t she answering her cell phone?”

  He shook his head.

  “Is she okay?”

  “She seems well,” Kyan said. “Her health appears fine.”

  Seems? Appears? “Is it not obvious from your daily contact?”

  “We no longer have daily contact.”

  Jasper’s deep unease returned. “You
’re supposed to be watching over her, taking care of her. Haven’t you been taking her to and from the office? Preschool? My lair?”

  “She stopped that.”

  “Why?”

  Kyan shrugged a shoulder.

  Jasper’s hackles raise. “Where is she right now?”

  He looked away to confirm her location. Confirm! How could Rose have slipped away from Kyan? Sure, he didn’t love her as Jasper did, but she was a valuable employee, far more important to operations than anyone else. Jasper wanted to snap at him, but he didn’t want to be a distraction. He clamped his lips shut on his pointy teeth.

  Larimar appeared in the doorway. “Done yet?”

  He turned to face her, fighting to remain calm while he waited for Kyan. “My brothers have agreed to lend their office for the meeting with your mother. I will confirm the arrangements to fit our needs.”

  She crossed her arms. “Uh-huh. And your Rose?”

  Kyan answered. “She is traveling from a family lawyer’s office into a grocery discount store.”

  “I must see her.” Jasper whipped to Larimar.

  She held up a hand, stopping his request. “I chose the products.”

  “Feed the list to my suppliers.” He strode for the exit.

  Larimar blocked him with a hiss. “You can’t leave.”

  “No one is watching over her.” Jasper extended his claws. Scales showered over him, vibrating for a fight. “I gave myself to you on the promise that my family was watching over my female and no one is watching over her.”

  White scales showered over her and she grew to a massive size, crashing into the walls and ceiling. “Get back to work!”

  “I can’t!”

  She tossed him to the floor and snapped her teeth on his neck. “Obey me or die!”

  He bucked against her iron arm.

  Her claws embedded in the concrete around his face. He fought to exhaustion, and she didn’t bother to move, just essentially sat on him. Finally, he retracted his scales and his claws. He’d never been a fighter; he’d never wanted to fight, and Larimar held him down so easily it was depressing.

  She rolled off and shifted back to human, pulled on one of the new dress shirts and trousers he’d stocked for her, and new boots. “Now, get up.”

  He didn’t.

  “Get up!” she snarled, teeth back at his neck.