Regardless, I summoned a smile and gestured toward the manuscript. “Actually, I think I’m going to stay here and work on this for a bit longer. I can have Bree pick up whatever I need.” The last was a lie, but I added a little wattage to my smile in order to compensate for any tells toward that end.
“Ah,” he said, coming over to stand by the desk. “As you like. How is the deciphering going? Getting very far?”
I slid my hand over the notes I’d made, feeling that Archer should be the first one to know what the leaf revealed. “Oh, you know, far is a relative term. I have identified some vowels and consonants.”
“That’s excellent!” He looked pleased, peering down at the leaf as if the translation would leap off the page. “You can fill in the missing letters of the words once you have a few letters, yes?”
“If you know what language was originally used to make the cipher, yes,” I said, picking my words carefully. I disliked lying on principle and knew I wasn’t any good at it. “If you don’t know that, then it makes it much more difficult.”
“I see. So it will take some time?”
“These things do,” I agreed, then unable to stop myself, asked, “Why are you so interested in this, Miles?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” he countered, surprise in his eyes for a moment before it was followed by speculation. “It’s an important relic belonging to dragonkin, and it holds immense power.”
“According to the lore Archer told me, this medallion was given to him and his twin, so even if Archer had it, the power would be his. Or do you intend to use it for yourself?”
The last sentence was spoken lightly, but his face turned red with anger. “You seem to forget that Archer is my cousin,” he said, biting off each word.
“You wouldn’t be the first family member to want to topple a relative who was in power,” I pointed out, picking up my pencil and tapping it on the tablet of paper.
“That’s ridiculous,” he snapped. “I seek the medallion for one reason alone, to fulfill its prophecy.”
“The prophecy whereby you end up with Archer’s tribe of dragons?” I couldn’t help but ask. What bothered me about Miles was the feeling that he was wearing a mask, one that hid his true self.
For a moment, I thought he might hit me, but he got his anger under control. “I love my family. I don’t want to overthrow them,” he finally said. “Kin are everything to ouroboros dragons, and I have never given Archer a reason to doubt my devotion to him and the storm dragons. If you wish to accuse me otherwise, then I will ask you do so in front of Archer. He will stand up for my character.”
“There’s a fine line between love and hate,” I said softly.
Miles’s frown was almost as intimidating as Archer’s. “A fact I’m very well aware of. If you are finished unjustly accusing me, I must go attend to the perimeter guard. Archer will be leaving soon. I will alert Trajan that your friend will be coming with your things.”
The second the door closed behind him, I ordered a car to pick me up, then stood for a moment with several sheets of notes in my hand, wondering what I should do with them. Archer was out with his men making sure everything was good on the grounds before he headed to the airport to deal with the window manufacturer—I spent a moment trying to wrap my brain around the idea that he had his own jet that he used whenever he had to fly somewhere, wondering if I’d ever get used to that sort of lifestyle—so I couldn’t ask him if he had a safe.
I really didn’t want to risk leaving the notes lying around where just anyone could read them before I had time to talk to Archer about them.
“Hi, Ioan?” While I was downstairs covertly looking for a spot to hide the notes, I ran into one of the dragons that Archer had introduced me to that morning, saying he was in training to be one of what I assumed were an elite level of his personal guards.
“Thaisa,” Ioan said, smiling when he tucked away his phone. He had a slight Eastern European accent and was evidently one of the newest members of Archer’s tribe. “Archer is just about to leave for the airport. Did you need something?”
“Yeah, you wouldn’t happen to know if he has a safe, do you?”
“A safe?” He frowned. “Dragons don’t normally use safes. We have lairs, and I know Archer has one, but I’m afraid it is up to him to show it to you.”
“Oh. Okay. Hmm.”
“I can ask him—”
“No, thanks. I know he’s anxious to go out and yell at the window people.”
“I will be happy to tell him you are desirous of seeing his lair, if you can wait until later to see it,” he said. He reminded me of a puppy who was trying hard to please, hopeful of nothing more than a friendly word and a gentle pet on the head.
“It’s not that important. Thanks anyway.” I went into the kitchen to talk to the other dragon I’d met that morning. “Genn, I don’t suppose you have any supplies?”
Archer’s housekeeper was tall and svelte with blond hair down to her butt, not at all what I imagined a housekeeper to look like. In fact, one glance at her had my jealousy ready to fire up, but Archer told me in a whisper that she was romantically attached to another dragon and that I could stop growling.
“Supplies?” she asked. “What sort?”
“Lady supplies. Er…pads.”
“Ah.” She gave me a little nod. “I think I have something you can use, yes.”
Ten minutes later I entered the room across from Archer’s, which I had claimed as my own. I didn’t want to look too closely at why I felt like having my own room was necessary—my brain was just happier with it. I tucked the copy of my notes into the pillowcase of one of the pillows on the bed, while the originals I folded into a flat wad, and using a small pair of scissors, slit open a feminine hygiene pad, into which I hid the notes. I slid the pad back into its wrapper, and stuck it in the bottom of the box before putting it in the attached bathroom.
“That ought to keep it safe,” I said to myself, counting on the fact that most men felt a bit funny handling such things.
While waiting for my ride, I spent a few minutes staring out the window at the glorious view, wondering how I had ended up there when just a few days ago my life was one of normalcy and unimportance.
“Everything okay?” I asked Jamie when I went in the front door of the shop. There were a few customers, one of whom I knew to be a collector of rare books.
Jamie was slumped on a stool behind the register but sat up straight when I came in, almost falling off his perch. “Oh, Thaisa. I thought you said you weren’t going to be in until later?”
“I changed my mind.” I glanced around, but everything seemed to be under control. “Did we get any more shipments from Edgar?”
“No, but he said he’s coming back early to take care of a problem.” Jamie’s watery brown eyes watched me as I headed for the office. “He said to make sure that you were here.”
“Oh, I’ll be here,” I said, getting a good, firm grip on my resolve and telling myself that my days of being intimidated by Edgar were over. I was mate to a big, bad dragon, and I had a demon at my command.
I ran upstairs, did a fast packing of my clothes and must-haves, and hauled the suitcases downstairs to the office.
“So, according to Explicatio Triginti Sigillorum Demonitica, there’s a way to blight someone with hairy moles. How about we mole up your boss’s face?”
To my surprise, when I returned Bree sat on the edge of Edgar’s desk, holding yet another one of the valuable books from the front case. This time, however, I didn’t have a hissy fit. I simply fetched a pair of white cotton gloves and handed them to her.
“Tempting as it is to make him one giant hairy mole, I think we’re going to need something a bit more intimidating. He should be here in the next four hours. And while we’re talking about curses, you seem to be very familiar with this sort of thing.” I gave her a long, considering look. “You want to tell me why it is you understand an ancient dragon-only language, why Archer told me yo
u were a sprite, and why you seem to know what I’m going to do before I decide to do it?”
She grinned and set down the book. Today she was dressed in a plaid, pleated miniskirt, black lace stockings, and a pink peasant top underneath a black leather bustier, her long blond hair wrapped around her head in a braid. “I wondered when you’d ask. I used to be a sprite, so the Archer Dragon was right about that.”
I softly drummed my fingers on the desk. “And a sprite is…?”
“We help people. Mortals, mostly, although we do also work with immortals who need a little assistance.”
“That sounds like it was a good job. You aren’t one any longer?”
“Nope.” Her grin grew. “But you can still think of me as…as someone sent to help you for a little bit.”
“Mmm-hmm. Help how?”
She shrugged. “However you like.”
“Can you magic up the leaf so I can give it to Edgar?”
“No, but I can help you give him boils.”
“Tempting, but ew.” I thought for a minute. “What about Gran? Can you have a protective bubble put around her so that anyone who wants to do her harm can’t get to her?”
“Dude, if I could do that, all the animals of the world would live in happiness,” Bree said. “Sprites aren’t untapped sources of magical wonderment, although we can make the most amazing glitter bombs, guaranteed to leave the recipient picking bits of sparkle out of his or her asshat for years.”
“Enticing as that thought is, I don’t suppose I should have you glitter bomb Edgar. As for your offer of help…” I thought about that for a few seconds but decided I was in no position to spurn any assistance, no matter how mysterious the person making it. “Since I’m over my head in this whole new world I didn’t know existed, I’ll gladly accept your offer of help.”
“Good. I’d hate to see anything happen to the Archer Dragon. He’s nice. He likes you a lot.”
“Why do you call him that?” I asked, suddenly suspicious.
“Archer Dragon?”
“Yes. Dragon isn’t his surname. It’s Andras.”
She shrugged again and hopped off the desk, spinning around and doing a little jig. “But that’s what he is, isn’t he?”
I watched her for a few seconds, wondering just what it was she knew. “If we all went by descriptive surnames, you’d be known as Bree Drives Thaisa Batty,” I said slowly, slipping on the gloves she’d peeled off so that I could pick up the Demonitica.
Bree giggled. “How do you know that’s not my surname?”
I let that pass. “Right. Let’s consult the experts, although this time I’m going to cross-check any spells we cast, because evidently I used a third-rate one from the Liber, and look how that ended.”
My phone buzzed while we were making lists of things we could have Naamah do to Edgar if he didn’t back off with the threats.
Where are you?
I didn’t recognize the number, so I ignored it. Sometimes I get texts for a person who used to have my phone number before it was assigned to me.
I demand that you answer me. Why are you not home? Miles said you disappeared.
Archer? I answered, squinting at the phone.
Why did you leave unprotected? Trajan says a car picked you up. Who are you with? Is it Hunter? Another man? You will tell me where you are!
“Whoa. Someone must have had a hard time with the window dudes,” I murmured, texting back: I’m at the shop with Bree. Only man here is Jamie, and by calling him a man I’m being generous. Calm your tatas. I have some things to talk to you about after I deal with Edgar.
My phone rang. I sighed the sigh of the put-upon and answered it.
Heavy breathing met my ears for a few seconds before Archer ground out, “You are new to being my mate. I have tried to make allowances for this.”
“Good, because I’ve been your mate for exactly”—I looked at the clock—“twelve hours. Calm down, Archer. You’re going to have an aneurysm if you keep breathing like that.”
“If I do, it’s because you are trying to kill me.” The anger in his voice lessened a bit. “Why did you lie to Miles?”
“I didn’t so much as lie as kind of mislead him.”
He breathed at me. Loudly. I could almost hear his teeth grinding.
“Okay, maybe I did lie a little, but, Archer, I’m not a child and I’m not foolish. I’m not going to give your brother the chance to kidnap me again.”
“You do not know the danger you are in by being away from my protection. The protection of my tribe,” he said. Anger was most prominent in his voice, but beneath it, there was a touch of something that sounded a lot like…pain.
“Archer, listen to me,” I said, turning around and moving over to the hallway for a modicum of privacy. “Are you listening?”
“I want you to stay right where you are. Miles will be there shortly. Lock the doors. Do you have firearms? A Taser? Is your pepper spray with you?”
“No, you’re not listening. Archer, stop what you’re doing.”
“I’m driving from the airport.”
“All right, keep driving, but stop talking and listen to me. I’m fine. I have Bree with me, and I’m in no danger. There is no reason for Miles to come. Edgar will be here in a few hours, and I have a plan.”
“What plan?” He sounded suspicious.
“One that poses no threat to me,” I reassured him, feeling simultaneously silly for pandering to his excessive worry and warmed by the fact that he wanted to protect me from the world. “What time is the dragon thing?”
“What dragon thing?”
“The ceremony you said that will introduce me to all your tribe members.”
“It is set for six.”
“Okay. I’ll be back by then.”
His voice was warm and gruff and utterly wonderful in my ear, making me wish he was there in person, his breath steaming all my ticklish spots. “I don’t like you dealing with your ex-boss on your own.”
“But I’m not on my own,” I said in a soothing tone. “I have Bree here, and after all, we worked well together to get away from Hunter.”
That was the wrong name to mention.
“You are vulnerable there. I’ll send Miles—”
“Hang on.” I moved up the stairs until I was at my apartment door. “Are you alone?”
“No. Ioan is with me,” he said.
“Am I on speaker?”
There was a little click. “Not now.”
I took a deep breath. “I have some concerns about Miles, Archer. I know he’s your cousin and you trust him, but he’s giving all sorts of worrisome signals. For one, he’s super interested in the manuscript, and for another…well, I just don’t trust him. Something’s up. I think he’s hiding something.”
Archer was silent for so long I looked at my phone to make sure the connection hadn’t dropped.
“You have no reason to distrust him,” he finally said, his voice oddly neutral.
“I know I don’t. And I don’t want to cause problems between you, but I can’t help feeling that he has a hidden agenda.”
“He has always been devoted to me.”
“Good. I…er…I set up a little test. Just to make sure. I made a false copy of my notes and hid them where they wouldn’t be too hard to find. If they’re disturbed, well, we’ll know he went looking for them.”
This time the silence lasted for almost a minute. “I would need more proof than that before I acted on it.”
“There’s more.” I made sure no one was near the stairs. “Miles asked me how much of the leaf I’ve deciphered.”
“He told me that you had some letters, but until you could ascertain the language, you wouldn’t be able to fill in words.”
“Yeah, that’s what I told him. Actually, I deciphered it all and finished the translation. I was checking it over when Miles disturbed me, and I…er…I may have let him think I hadn’t done very much on it.”
“And?” He kept his voice as
level as he could, but I heard a note of excited curiosity in it.
“It reads like a creation tale, but I don’t think it is. I’ll read you the transcript later, when we’re alone and we can discuss it.”
“Can you not give me a summary now?”
I debated telling him everything but decided I needed time to explain my thoughts. “Sure, but there’s a lot more we need to talk about. Basically, the leaf tells about the time when the sun-mother was broken—I think that symbolically means your mother, and physically the medallion itself, which I gather was made in the shape of a sun—and the pieces of her were scattered to the stars, forming a couple of constellations.”
“That is…unexpected.” He sounded disappointed. “There is no dragon lore about the stars. There was nothing about where the pieces of the medallion are now?”
“No. There’s a bit about the balance not being brought to the world until the pieces are together in celestial harmony, but nothing along the lines of ‘look five paces under the tall tree’ instructions. What it says is a lot more…interesting.”
“The leaf is as I thought—worthless,” Archer said. “Miles will be disappointed, but I am not at all surprised.”
“Oh, it’s not worthless, but we can go over that later. I’ll let you know when we’re done here, okay? We can either get a ride out to your house—”
“I will pick you up as soon as I am back in California.”
I smiled to myself, deciding that while it might take me some time to get used to his overprotectiveness, it might take him time to realize he didn’t have to treat me like I was a complete idiot who was unable to take care of herself. “Five-thirty sounds good. Bye.”
“Mate.”
I raised my eyebrows. He was speaking in Western Slavic, one of the lesser common languages. I assumed Ioan didn’t have that one under his linguistic belt.
“Yes?”
“You will not do anything foolish. I have confidence in you to attend to the situation with your ex-employer, but I do not have the same confidence that you will not inadvertently place yourself in danger. You have value to me. I do not wish to lose you.”
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