Tempt the Dragon

by A. C. Arthur

  Turning to him slowly didn’t mean she was doing his bidding. He was a newbie in Burgess and while he had Montoy’s ear for the moment, she didn’t bow to him or anyone else. “You don’t get to come into my town and start fuckin’ up what we’ve got to live with after you’re long gone. Now, the best thing to do is just walk out of here.”

  He was a very handsome man, she’d give him that. Not quite six feet tall, skin the color of pecan pie and a smile that she knew made women want to drop to their knees and worship every part of his well-toned body. She wasn’t mesmerized by the hype.

  “Whatchu’ gonna do to stop me?” Lifting his lips, he let his teeth show again, a medium growl escaping with the action.

  She didn’t budge, because again, he was the newbie here, not her. And the one good thing she could say about Warrick was that he’d been a damned good teacher, especially at dealing with situations outside the purview of the Royal Blood. She bared her teeth in response, but to add a little more firepower since he was a prick and would be inclined to think that her smaller stature posed less of a threat, she pulled the semiautomatic weapon from the holder at her back and moved fast to put it to his temple. “Don’t fuck with me, I’m not Montoy. I know you’ve been killing those witches, just like you killed those guards the dragons placed here to watch your sister. All that bullshit stops tonight. We don’t need this kind of heat.”

  “The dragons brought the heat first, I’m just givin’ it to them in return. And while you’re talking about Montoy, how do you think he’d feel if he knew you were cozying up to a dragon?” She didn’t waver. “Yeah, I see you blinking, trying to stay cool. But I’ve also seen you sneaking around at the club with that dragon bitch. You fuckin’ her or just feeding from her? She’s fine though, I give you that much. Still, I think Montoy would find your obsession with her kinda interesting. Don’t you?”

  So what, he thought he knew about her and Ziva. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of asking him not to tell Montoy. “You’re gonna get us all killed.”

  “No, baby girl, I’m gonna revive the vampire world, and when I’m done, I’ll be above even Montoy. I’m gonna rule that army of ancients the minute they push through the dirt. They’ll do my bidding and so will everyone else on this realm. That means if I wanna get some payback on some cocky dragons, so be it.”

  “I won’t let you do this.”

  “Then walk away, because if you kill me, Montoy’s gonna burn your ass and you know it!” The last was said with all the confidence of a new vampire who thought he was holding all the cards. But she let him walk away from her and the gun. She watched him strike a match and toss it to the floor before she moved out of the house. Once on her bike she let her hand with the gun rest on her thigh as she watched Duncan leave the house that was already filling with flames.

  He had a big grin on his face while walking to his car. She stared him down as he got in and started the engine. And the moment he pulled off she took her phone out of the inside pocket of her jacket and made the call she should’ve made instead of coming here in the first place. It was time Temptra knew her little experiment was going off the rails.

  * * *

  At almost seven in the evening Theo had already received two urgent messages—one from Shola and another from Bleu. They both wanted to speak to him alone when he returned to the Office. He was still sitting behind his desk at the Tower having a long overdue meeting with Magnum and Steele about Legion Security clients that weren’t currently affected by the vicious Royal Blood and their quest to become even more dangerous, or dead witches who had superior security systems that somehow managed not to catch any part of their murders.

  “We’ve got the Revival Concert covered with guards on each of the attending artists and a team that will spread throughout the amphitheater during rehearsals and the night of the show.” Magnum was reading from the tablet he hated using but held dutifully in one hand.

  “Didn’t we do the security system for that place when it was built a few years back?” Theo had the holographic screen open on his desk because it gave him a view of multiple files at once. A blueprint of the amphitheater was up in the corner and he used a finger to drag it to the center before tapping twice to enlarge it.

  “We did, but they haven’t requested any updates. Daily monitoring is still operational, so we can have Isla do a clean sweep before and during the show.” Steele didn’t mind using his tablet, mainly because it not only contained all his client information for the security company, but also the logistic plans for Safeside above and belowground. That place had become a big part of Steele’s focus, but Theo didn’t mind, especially after learning that Ravyn had first created the underground space to protect disadvantaged citizens who were being abused by the corrupt government structure within the city. In the months since she and Steele had expanded to an aboveground facility, as well, the Legion had hired more guards to work the area of the city where they were located and had used more experienced agents to investigate some of the corruption complaints.

  “Yeah, let’s get her on that now. I want to know about any weak spots beforehand. If need be, Steele, you’ll meet with the owners to suggest upgrades.” The Revival was the year’s first big concert, expected to draw at least twenty thousand to the downtown area.

  “Sending her a message as we speak,” Steele said.

  “After that we don’t have any big public events until end of March when all the spring activities will begin. We’ve got time to meet up about that.” He closed some files on the screen, slid some to the side to look at later and opened new ones. With the Royal Blood investigation taking precedence over the past weeks, a lot of status updates had been neglected. “I want to also do an overhaul of all the personal security clients that are on revolving contracts. We need to look at their situations closely, see if there’ve been any changes, if service is still required or if we need to upgrade any coverage. I know you’ve got somebody who oversees that, Mag, but I’d like to pull him in and the three of us go over every account.”

  “No prob,” Magnum said with a nod.

  Steele, on the other hand, hated meetings and never missed an opportunity to make that known. So what Theo had to say next might not go over too well, especially since he’d just mentioned the possibility of another meeting to Steele a few minutes ago. “We’re gonna need to do the same with your business accounts, Steele. I see some notations where you’ve met with a few of the owners to go over any questions or offer any new solutions, but I’d like to hear more about how those meetings went.”

  “It’s all in the report I filed.” The reports Steele also hated doing.

  Looking up as Steele stared at him quizzically almost made Theo chuckle. “It’ll be short and sweet, I promise. We won’t even call the owners in for the meeting, unless absolutely necessary. It’ll be just you and me.” The Drakon still didn’t look pleased and that did bring a grin from Theo and Magnum.

  “Man, it’s not that bad. We’ve been in this meeting for forty-five minutes and you haven’t collapsed on the floor from boredom,” Magnum joked with his younger brother.

  “That’s because I’ve been playing a game on my tablet while you two ramble on,” Steele snapped.

  The three of them laughed together and Theo wondered how long it’d been since they’d had such a relaxed moment together. Of course, as things always seem to go, the good didn’t last long.

  A shrill buzzing sound filled the office.

  “Yes, Isla?” Theo answered the intercom.

  “Front desk just called about a Detective Milton Posner. He’s here to speak to you in an official capacity. They’re asking if you want him to come up.”

  How did the detective know he was there at this time of night? These definitely weren’t normal business hours, which the detective surely knew since the front doors to the building were locked at six thirty every evening. The guard at the fro
nt desk would’ve had to buzz the guy in. There was a garage on the top three floors of the building, so none of them parked on the street.

  “Yeah, send him up.” He began closing screens on his desk.

  “How’d he know you were here?” Magnum echoed the question in Theo’s mind. Both he and Steele were closing down their tablets and stood to place them on the table across the room from Theo’s desk.

  “That’s what we’re going to find out,” he replied.

  “What does he even want? We’ve got a contact at the enforcer station, Nolan Grant. So who’s this Posner guy?” Steele returned to where he’d been sitting, moving the guest chair back from the desk a few inches, while Magnum did the same with his chair.

  They wouldn’t sit during this meeting and they wouldn’t let the detective get too close to him. This was how they’d always treated him, even before he’d taken the throne as emperor. It both irritated and brought him closer to the brothers who’d long ago pledged their loyalty to him.

  “It could be about one of our clients, so let’s just hear what he has to say before we start speculating.” That was said to keep them calm, because one thing was for certain, the muscled build of the Eze brothers was not just for show.

  A couple minutes passed, the detective would’ve had to get on the elevator and travel up to the sixty-first floor where Theo’s office was located and then walk down a hallway to get here. An intentional knock sounded at the door.

  Theo stood and smoothed down the black and white paisley print tie he wore before nodding to Steele to open the door.

  Detective Posner was an athletically built guy with an easy gait and assessing eyes. Walking through the door, he looked Steele up and down before introducing himself.

  “I’m Steele Eze, agent with Legion Security.” The Drakon sounded polite enough, even though the beast within him was on full alert.

  “I’m Magnum Eze.” Mag stepped in front of the detective as Steele moved to block the open doorway.

  Posner nodded to Mag as he continued walking into the office. “And you’re Theo Masters, owner of this building and several other properties throughout the country.”

  The detective had done his homework, putting Theo at a modest disadvantage because he didn’t know squat about this guy.

  “I am,” he responded. “What can I do for you at this time of night, Detective?”

  Posner took a seat without it being offered to him. “I’m investigating the murders of Natalia Gionni, Leanne Richmond, Banalla Link and as of about an hour ago, Riya Merriwell and three men who reportedly worked for you.”

  Not only did that last name come as a shock, but the knowledge that his employees had been killed had his beast rearing its head. The guards would’ve had to be killed in order to get to Riya, they were highly trained humans who took their jobs seriously. But he should’ve sent dragons to watch her, they would’ve been prepared for a vampire attack. With guilt already starting to nag him, he sat down, keeping eye contact with the detective. “How can we be of assistance?”

  “You can start by telling me everything you know about Aiken French and his partner. I wasn’t able to get her name, but they showed up at the Gionni crime scene talking about how they were investigating their security system. Then you can tell me about Riya Merriwell and why she needed guarding.” This guy didn’t even try to hide the fact that he didn’t believe what Aiken had told him. Luckily, it didn’t matter what he believed.

  “Aiken French is one of my senior agents and Natalia’s apothecary has been a client of ours for many years. Aiken was there on official business, just as you say he informed you.”

  Posner’s brow furrowed as he sat back and pulled out a notepad and pen. “Yeah, that’s what he said. But what I’m trying to figure out is why an SUV, the same color and model as the one I saw Aiken French and his partner climb into the other day, was also reported as being at the scene of the other three murders. All sightings were before enforcers had been notified of the deaths. Now, I’m wondering if Riya Merriwell had seen one of those vehicles and reported it to us. You found out she was a liability and sent your men after her.”

  “But my employees, three very good men whom I trusted and respected, with families to care for, were also killed. If what you say is true, how do you explain that?” His words were crisp and spoken evenly, while inside he raged at the audacity of the vampires to make this war just a little bit more personal for him and his clan.

  Posner didn’t ruffle. “If you have alibis for your staff, now would be the time to provide them.” Flipping open the pad and holding the pen in his hand, Posner looked up expectantly.

  “What color and model SUV are you referring to?” The company owned eight SUVs, identical in make, model, color and enhancements which were designed by Isla and assembled by a wolf shifter that lived outside the city limits. He doubted seriously any of the vehicles that were at the crime scenes belonged to the company, but he’d humor the detective a little longer. At least long enough to find out what had happened to Riya Merriwell and his employees.

  “Black Tundras. Witnesses report seeing one leaving the apothecary fifteen minutes before we arrived,” the detective answered.

  “Natalia Gionni’s apothecary? That’s the one where the alarm was tripped when you and your team entered the building?”

  Posner clenched his jaw and tapped his pen to the pad before responding. “That’s what your guy said happened. We got a call from someone saying they’d heard screams. When we arrived to investigate we found the body.”

  “You always go out on random calls? Aren’t you a detective? I’d think you weren’t called in until it was known there was a dead body on the scene.”

  Posner was fishing for information, they both knew it. The question was which one of them would walk away from this meeting knowing more than they had before they’d started?

  “How our department works is none of your concern. I’m here to ask the questions and you’re going to supply the answers.”

  “Am I under arrest? Are my agents under arrest?” No answer. “Right. Then, let’s get something straight, if you have something you want to say to me about my agents, then just spit it out. Don’t come in here acting like this is all routine because we both know it’s not.”

  Posner flipped the notepad closed. “Fine.” He stuffed it and the pen back into his pocket and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Your guy and that woman he was with didn’t have to be there. In fact, they shouldn’t have been there, because at that point only enforcers knew about the incident. The media hadn’t picked it up and nobody on site used their phones to make any calls to any outside sources. So how did they know to show up? And how did Riya Merriwell end up dead when your men were supposedly there to watch her?”

  “We have the best security systems,” Steele interjected. “Our monitoring is twenty-four-seven. The moment that alarm went off we knew, and an agent was dispatched to the scene. We don’t have to wait for the enforcers to invite us to the party.”

  Looking over his shoulder, Posner frowned at Steele. “So a dead woman is a party to you guys?”

  “What is she to you, Detective?” Bringing the conversation back to him, it was Theo’s turn to lean forward and glare at the guy. “What are you doing about three, no, I’m sorry did you just say there were another four murders in this city? Now, your incompetence has also cost the lives of my employees, a fact I take very personally. But you dare to come question the only other entity in Burgess that provides security, and most times, does a better job than the enforcers.”

  Posner jumped up then, obviously pissed off by Theo’s words. “I want alibis for Aiken French and his partner. I want you to provide tag information on any and all vehicles you own matching the description I just gave you. And if you don’t, I’ll be back with a warrant to search your property and to arrest your agent.”

>   Aiken must’ve really pissed this guy off. If Theo wasn’t livid about his employees being killed, he might’ve laughed. Aiken had a calm, cool, sarcastic nature that could get under someone’s skin pretty quickly. Posner looked as if he was ready to blow his top if Theo didn’t hand Aiken to him on a silver platter.

  He pulled a drawer open, selecting a business card before he closed the drawer and stood. “Give my lawyer a call for whatever information you want.” He passed Posner the card. The guy looked at it for a few muted seconds before snatching it out of his hand. “And the next time you want to talk to anyone who works for Legion Security, you can ask my lawyer as well. In the meantime, I’d like you to get the hell out of my building.”

  “You’re not untouchable,” Posner said, jamming the card into his jacket pocket. “You may be rich, but I’ve tangled with your kind before. I know you had something to do with the murders. In fact, I’ve got a witness meeting me at the precinct who saw Mr. French and his partner running from a house in the financial district that caught fire night before last. As soon as I get her statement in writing, I’m coming back to arrest him and you for obstruction of justice.”

  His reply was a curt nod. “All the contact information you’ll need is on that card. Good night, Detective.”

  Steele and Magnum stepped forward to assist the detective if he wasn’t able to leave on his own. This was his private property and the detective had no probable cause to be here. Besides that legal jargon, Theo didn’t like the bastard, so he wasn’t opposed to the Eze brothers picking him up and tossing his ass out onto the sidewalk.

  Posner turned and stared at the brothers before walking out the door.

  “I’ll see him to the elevator,” Steele said and walked out behind him.

  After his nod of consent, Magnum came closer to the desk.