"True."
"So, I’ll tell you the Dragon Slayer’s really big secret. It concerns female dragons." I dangled the bait. "Then you let Reed go. He’ll go back to duty. I’ll go back to doing whatever it was I was doing, and we’ll keep out of each other’s way. If the other Queens give you a hard time, send them to me."
"We’ll need to get you a dragon bodyguard."
"Get Jack," I said and wondered if for a moment it was Arianna who’d spoken. But no, she was still silent. "Send Reed to Russia, and I’ll take Jack."
"I bet you will," Reed said through gritted teeth.
"Hush you. Can’t you see I’m trying to help?"
"What secret does the Order of Dragon Slayers know?" Zhang pursed his lips as he contemplated the offer.
"Would that be enough to free Reed?"
"Providing it is a substantial merit. Yes."
"Damn it, Zhang," Reed roared.
"Reed, be reasonable. We need you in the field. If Carolyn is correct, then all you have to do is avoid her."
"I don’t want to avoid her," Reed said.
My mouth dropped open.
"I want to keep her safe. I don’t want to see her sacrificed or captured by rogue dragons."
"What you do once I release you is on your own head. However, I’m taking Carolyn upstairs. Once she tells me her secret, I will come back and release you."
I did a little happy dance and fist pumped the air. "Whoot!"
"Carolyn," Reed called.
I turned to him before getting on the elevator.
"I’m sorry."
"It’s all right," I said. "I know you were aiming at Joachim."
"I was. But I meant about Marie Antoinette."
I smiled at him.
When we were in the elevator, Zhang turned to me and asked, "The secret?"
"The Order of the Dragon Slayers has a way to stop the shifting process in dragons, if it’s caught in time."
"Nidhogg’s teeth," Zhang swore.
"Of the few women they found—they can see a blue aura around them—only one decided to go through with the shift. They said they can accelerate the process of shifting, but it hurts."
"They have no right," Zhang sputtered. Then he sighed. "At least one came through. Where is she?"
"She was stolen and has never been heard from again."
"That." He stabbed a finger in the air. "Is why they shouldn’t be doing this without our knowledge."
"Was this good enough to get Reed out of trouble?" I asked, glad I wasn’t on the receiving end of that finger.
Zhang smoothed his hand down his long goatee.
Flash! Ah! Ah!
I was really hoping I hadn’t said that aloud. But Zhang’s expression didn’t change from pensive. "I’ll release Reed, but we need to get this Queen back. I wish they told us this sooner. I could have put resources on it and that Queen would be safe right now."
We returned to the lobby where Joachim and Jane were waiting.
“Can I get a list of all the dragons that have reported missing items in their horde?”
“Certainly,” Zhang said. “Jane can download that information for you
"I will wait until you have left the building before releasing Reed."
"Shall I act as your chauffeur again?" Joachim asked.
"Actually, Dragon Slayer, if I could have a word with you," Zhang said and motioned toward the elevator. "In my office."
Jane and I shared an incredulous glance. I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. I wonder if they would do battle?
"I doubt it," Jane said drily.
I hadn’t realized I said that aloud.
"Neither could afford the consequences if he lost."
"Well death does put a damper on one’s day," I said.
She gave an unladylike snort. "That’s the easy part. The paperwork would bury us. Plus, the bragging rights alone for the other side." Jane rolled her eyes. "They’re probably going to have a biting conversation over green tea and sushi."
"Better them than me." I had to get out of here before Reed was set free, but I didn’t feel like waiting until Joachim got back. Still, being kidnapped by the cult or some randy drakes didn’t appeal, either.
Is Jack in town? Arianna purred.
Welcome back, I thought, not hiding the sarcasm.
"I’m not sure. You want me to check?" Jane asked.
It turned out he wasn’t, but when he found out I needed an escort, he said he’d be right there. Right there turned into an hour, but the reception area had new magazines so I kept myself entertained.
"Aren’t you supposed to be in Russia?" I asked when he strode through the doors.
"I am." He winked. "Don’t tell my boss."
"I think I can avoid that subject with him." I fiddled with my sunglasses. Should I show him my new eyes, or would he think I was fishing for a compliment? "How did you get here so fast from Russia?"
"That’s classified."
I had a feeling he wasn’t telling me the whole truth, but Arianna was so happy to see him, she was hopping up and down—which was a really weird sensation. It was like my stomach doing the hula.
"So where to my Queen? I hear Aruba is nice this time of year."
"Yes," Arianna stole my voice to say. I wrested control back from her. "But I really need to get back to work."
There’s no reason we can’t do it from Aruba.
She had a point. I considered it before I remembered my books were probably getting lonely without me. "To New Haven."
Jack shrugged. "As my Queen commands."
Jane gave me the thumbs-up as we left. "Have Jack drive you to my house when you’re done. They’re sent over some dragon commandos to be your personal guards."
And from the look on her face, they didn’t send the ugly ones.
Chapter Thirteen
The sentence for harming a Queen is death.
"Aruba?" Jack asked when we were outside.
I was getting better at stifling Arianna. Doing the mental equivalent of sitting on her, I said, "Actually, I was missing my hoard, and I really need some normality. Can you drive me back to the office?"
"Say no more," he assured me.
I had that Kokomo song in my head, as we drove to the hangar. Jack took a call early on in the drive. I could hear another dragon on the other end due to my new enhanced dragon senses, but unfortunately it didn’t let me translate what they were saying.
Arianna wasn’t any help either. She never learned more than the rudimentary words in Draconic. And since Jack wasn’t asking for food or complaining about the temperature, we were in the dark. He didn’t sound happy, and it turned my paranoia meter up a notch. But then again, I had a hard week.
Just a week?
I’d traveled to Mexico and Paris. Had a stay in a lab in New York and in a hospital in Connecticut. I met a Dragon Slayer. Kissed a dragon. Slept with another one. Found out another was possessing me. Was almost kidnapped. Almost was sacrificed. Became homeless. And slugged Zhang in the puss. Zhang wasn’t having a good week either.
I let myself into the hangar while Jack continued to argue on the phone. Going into my office to check my email, I remembered rather quickly that two dragons wrecked the place. I set about organizing the mess. Dug out my cell phone from my purse and ordered a Dumpster and charged it to our operating account. My books were right where we stacked them though. I petted them and organized them by genre instead of alphabetical order.
My stomach growled when I got to the cookbook section. Then I realized I was starving, and ordered mild buffalo wings and some cheese fries for lunch. I probably should have ordered something for Jack.
I went out to the car, but he wasn’t there. He was parked next to my Taurus. Peeking in my window, I saw a J.D. Robb novel sitting all alone in the backseat.
"I’ll rescue you," I said.
After snagging it, I locked up the car and flipped through the book until I found a hot spot with Eve and Rou
rke. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up just as I reached the hangar door.
"Jack?" I called, looking around. I didn’t peg any dragons or anything out of the ordinary. Craning my neck to see if anyone was flying over, all I saw was blue sky.
Shrugging, I locked the hangar door behind me. I took the shotgun out from between the filing cabinets just in case. While the printer booted up—it was still intact, nothing could destroy that behemoth unfortunately—I ordered two new desks and two speedy new desktop computers. Niall could complain about it later, but he probably wouldn’t even notice. In the meantime, I was able to set up a makeshift desk using a piece of plywood and two wooden horses I found in the back storage area.
Checking my email from my laptop, I found nothing exciting. My mother had emailed from the Grand Canyon. She and Dad were on vacation. I peeked at my recommendations from Amazon and then saw a new message come in from Niall.
He requested I open his emails from the past week and respond to anything urgent. After shooting him a short, "Hey here’s how my week’s been. How’s yours?" note, I logged on as him. Scanning down, nothing popped up at me. I did see some lab reports on the age testing of the papyrus on the Alexandria project he was working on. I copied it to the correct file. The time period appeared to be authentic.
I answered the phone when it rang. It was Jane.
"Heads up, Joachim is coming your way. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Reed wasn’t on his heels."
"When did they leave?" I glanced at my watch.
"Joachim about ten minutes ago, and Reed just now. Reed seemed pissed."
"So what else is new?" I said. Still my heart beat a little fast at the thought Reed was coming to see me.
"Joachim and Jack will keep him in line." That reminded me, where was Jack, anyway?
"If you say so." Jane didn’t sound convinced. "Have you thought about where you’re going to set up your court?"
"No." I laughed. "I’m a little overwhelmed by it, to tell you the truth. I’d rather research the hoard thefts and, of course, help Niall with his paperwork. He’s translating some manuscripts they found in Pharos at a dive site. Some Indiana Jones wannabe seems to think they’re from the Alexandrian library via the lighthouse."
"Under water for thousands of years?"
I gave her a there you go wave of my hand. Too bad she couldn’t see me.
"Apparently, they think manuscripts that survived the fire were stored in a chest at the lighthouse,"
"Because that’s where I would put precious documents." Jane laughed with me.
"And when the lighthouse was destroyed, the chest and the documents sank into the sea."
"Well, we’ve hit two wonders of the ancient world. Perhaps there were plants from the Babylon gardens in there as well."
"Sprouts," I said.
"Are you kidding?" "Sprouts," I said.
"Are you kidding?"
"About the sprouts. To give some credit, the documents have a good chance of being authentic, but the hows and whys of their preservation are what Niall is investigating."
"Was he there?"
"No, he would’ve killed the dragon that started the fire at the library."
"I thought it was Julius Caesar who did that."
"First rule of dragons," I said. "Always blame the human."
"Maybe it was dragon magic that kept the documents fresh and intact all these years."
"I don’t care if they are from Alexandria. I just hope they turn out to be authentic Egyptian scrolls. And that Niall translates them for me. My hieroglyphics needs some work."
"You and your books." Jane sounded like she was shaking her head.
“Hey, while I got you on the phone, can you check and see if Rathin is in town?”
“He is. Why?”
“I’m researching something for Reed. Can you give me the address where Rathin is staying?”
“Sure, just let me check that it’s okay with Zhang.”
As I listened to the head bopping sounds of WDGN radio, Reed walked in.
“I’m on hold,” I said, waggling the phone. “How did you get in? I locked the door.”
He just rolled his eyes at me. “There’s no coffee?”
“Make it yourself. I’m busy investigating.”
Reed hitched a hip on my desk and stared down at me. “I am truly sorry I hurt you.”
“I was more pissed about Marie Antoinette. You know, Joachim said he can see the blue aura around me. So I was thinking he and I could go to major sporting events and see go Queen spotting.”
“Blue aura?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s what Queens look like before they shift.”
“I don’t see any blue aura.”
“You’re not magically inclined. Ask your mother. She saw it.”
“I don’t want you hanging around with Joachim.”
“He was really nice to me. And now that my eyes glow, he said he can’t stop my transformation – even if I wanted him to – which I don’t. Even if I’m not all that thrilled about being a brood mother.”
“Hi Carolyn, thanks for holding." Jane cut off Casimiro’s latest love ballad when she popped back on the line.
I held up a finger at Reed to stop what he was going to say so I could listen to her.
"He’s staying at the Wyrm Heights in Hartford.”
“Of course he is,” I said. “What room?”
“Penthouse.”
“Of course. Hey, thanks. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. Keep me in the loop about those scrolls. I’d love to read a novel that was in the library of Alexandria.”
“Heh, it’s probably some poor schmuck’s geometry homework. But I’ve got my fingers crossed that it’s poetry. Anyway, I’ve got to go. Reed’s here.”
“Okay, take care,” she said.
I stood up, but Reed didn’t back off. Craning my neck up at him, I said, “I’m not a wing nut. And I can’t be the only Queen that has been prevented by that stupid spell from shifting. I’m going to find other women like me. And Joachim and his Order can help them shift. Maybe there will be enough Queens that no one has to be a Brood Mother anymore.”
He trailed his fingers down my cheek. “You are so young. So naïve.”
“Stop patronizing me."
" I will not be the one to burst your bubble. You’ve got the force of reality to do that.”
“I’m going to Rathin’s hotel to ask him about losing his sculpture of the seven pagodas.”
“Why? The we've already conducted our investigation. We have all the pertinent facts.”
“I want to see the vault for myself.”
“The vault is in India.”
“Oh,” I said frowning at the list. “Well, I want to talk to him anyway. Maybe I can give you guys insight into something.”
Reed shrugged. “If that is how you want to spend your day.”
“It’s either that or Joachim and I are going to crash a Casimiro concert.”
“I can get you tickets.”
“Front row?”
He nodded.
“Will Casimiro want to sleep with me?”
He nodded.
“You got a problem with that?”
He almost nodded, but at the last moment turned the head motion into a swoop down to press a blistering kiss on my mouth. After several druggingly sweet kisses, I was desperately aware that I was minutes away from having sex on a ramshackle desk that would probably crash into smithereens.
I broke out of the kiss, even though my heart was fluttering. “This doesn’t change my mind at all. First Rathin. Then Casimiro – once we meet up with Joachim.”
“He’s in the parking lot.”
“Why didn’t he come in?”
“His type stalks in the shadows.”
“What does your type do?”
Reed smiled and my heart did flip flops.
“I can’t do this,” I whispered. “I’m kind of a one-man kind of a gal”
He lost his smile. “I am not a man.”
“Sex means something to me.” I put my hand on his chest.
“My race means everything to me.” He held my hand and kissed it.
“So, you’re going to happily share me with all those other men?”
“Dragons.” His hand tightened on mine for a moment, but he released it before it became painful. “I will share you with the other studs. But it won’t be happily.”
“I guess that’s something.” I bit my lip. “But if it were possible..."
“It’s not.”
“But if it were,” I continued.
“It’s not and I will not discuss this further with you. You know my feelings on this. You know what your duty is. It is now up to you.”
“Sure, I get it,” I sniped at him.
“Fine,” he snapped back.
“Let’s just go talk to Rathin.”
We got into a black town car with dragon plates on it and drove several exits without saying another word to each other. I sulked out the window and Reed was as still as a statue. It hurt to see him sitting so coldly removed, so I leaned back and tried to rest my eyes. The ultra clarity of everything was giving me an overload headache.
“Would you like an aspirin?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
He handed me a bottle of water from the middle console and a pill box. I took two, swigging them down with water.
“Thanks.”
Reed reached over and intertwined his fingers through mine. “I wish I could tell you what you wanted to hear.”
“Me too.”
“Casimiro and Rathin may tell you differently. But they will be lying.”
“I don’t want to talk about this right now.”
“You can always trust me, Carolyn. I need you to believe that.”
“I do,” I said.
“You don’t have to do this, you know.”
“You just said I did!”
“No,” Reed shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. You don’t have to help out my investigation with the missing horde items.”
“I want to. Besides, there aren’t a lot of things I can do in the office until I get the new office furniture to replace the ones you and your father smashed.”
“You don’t have to work.”
The Queen's Wings: Book 1 of The Emerging Queens Series Page 14
