I saw Mathias approaching until he stopped to speak with General Baran. I then turned my attention on Tanaka Aito. Meeting his steady gaze, I nodded. “I very much agree. The crown is so ancient, and the power it holds . . .”
“Reflects the power of Nimrod, and that is not meant to be wielded by any one of us. Even with the precautions our ancestors placed in its forging.” Tanaka’s glance flicked to my number. “What else are you, Lauren Hope?”
“My father was Jinn. Why?” I studied his face carefully, and the 3 floating above his head. “What number do you see for me?”
“Now, it is a 7. A strange sight indeed for a Spotter though I suppose the presence of your Jinn talents would explain why you are the first Spotter I have ever met whose number rose above a 4.” He paused and lowered his voice as he added, “Your number changed to a 9 whenever you wielded the Crown of Nimrod.”
My mouth went dry as I realized what he was saying. Yet . . . “Did something similar happen for you?”
He shook his head. “This seems unique to you, Lauren Hope. As I said, the crown is far too dangerous to be used again. It cannot be left intact, especially now that so many people know of its existence.”
I nodded slowly. A small whisper of warning that could have come from either my Spotter or Jinn talents gave me a sudden sense of certainty that prolonged use of the crown would corrupt even the Spotters. It had to be destroyed. “I agree. And, I will see to it that this is taken care of before the day’s end.”
As Mathias joined us, I looked up at him. “We need to speak to Prince Ciril.”
He raised the wooden box holding the crown as he murmured, “I had a feeling, and General Baran agreed. Shall we find the dragon, then?”
“Yes.” I hesitated before turning back to Tanaka and offering a shallow bow. “I am sorry that I could not cross paths with you before all of this. It would’ve been enlightening.”
He offered a bow in return. “And, I would’ve left the room as quickly as I could. Farewell, Lauren Hope.”
I took Mathias’ outstretched hand, and we hurried in the direction where we’d last seen the dragon prince.
“Hey, wait for us!” Raina called out. She bounded up to us with Baran following at a far less bouncy pace, grinning. “The TDS said you need witnesses to confirm there’s nothing sneaky about to happen with that old bit of jewelry.”
The tiger shifter gave his mate a droll look. “I said it would help with the tensions to have additional witnesses, nothing more.”
“I know,” she replied cheerfully. “And, I also know that you meant sneaky even though you didn’t say that particular word.”
The general’s stern expression didn’t change. Then, he startled me by lunging at his mate and lifting her off the ground to deposit her on his other side. Her laughter rang out. “What was that for, TDS?”
“You’re overwhelming the Spotter,” he stated gruffly. “Clearly, she needs the separation.”
She placed her hand on her heart, a look of mock exasperation on her face, as she exclaimed, “I am not overwhelming!”
The general draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, the faintest hint of teasing in his golden eyes as he responded drily, “Raina, you are one of the most overwhelming women ever to draw breath. You’ve overwhelmed the Spotter.”
Mathias chuckled as he squeezed my hand. “It’s true. She overwhelmed Lauren in Rome. At least twice, I believe.”
General Baran frowned at us, and then turned his attention back to his mate. “Exactly how many people did you meet on this trip to Rome?”
Raina made a face. “A sadly high amount that we’ve run into in the last few months. After we confirm there’s no sneakiness with the dragons, we can go home where I won’t run into people from Rome.” Her expression suddenly brightened as she added, “The two of you are more than welcome to attend my family’s annual Christmas party. Just bring an ugly Christmas sweater, and Ama will be delighted to feed you both. Although, I must warn you that Baran’s going to win for wearing the ugliest Christmas sweater ever designed.” She grinned as a laugh entered her voice. “It’s the worst one I’ve ever seen, and it’s going to be hilarious!”
“Raina. I don’t remember agreeing to wear a hideous sweater.”
“That’s because you haven’t seen it yet.”
“It sounds as though I should be grateful,” he muttered. When she opened her mouth to say something else, he interrupted, “We will discuss it on the drive home. There’s the dragon.”
Raina snickered, then whispered, “Saved by the dragon.”
Mathias snorted, and I yanked on his hand in silent warning. I would’ve simply elbowed him, but didn’t want to hit any of his lingering bruises. Still, I cut him a sharp warning look when he glanced at me. He smirked before calling to Ciril.
* * *
Chapter Fifteen
Lauren
Mathias and Royal led our party of six down into the belly of Weard Enterprises to the level they called the vault. Then, we took a secondary elevator down three levels within the vault before stopping in front of a massive steel door. Mathias handed the box with the crown to me before he joined the other three men in pulling the door open, as its hinges grated with the movement. Then, we stepped inside an utterly bare room formed of steel walls and a floor.
“A safe room,” Royal offered. “Though it appears management never got around to setting up the rest of the essentials.”
“Which is why this will work for our needs,” Mathias added. He motioned to me. “Lauren, just set it in the middle.”
It felt odd to place the box on the floor and then walk away. I could still feel it, the crown’s whispers of power and its need to be used. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jacket before I did something insane, like going against our agreed upon plan. Mathias must have guessed something, though, because he immediately wrapped a hand around my elbow and led me away from the center of the room.
“We should be all right if we stand right about . . . here. Oh yes, that will do nicely.” He looked around to see where Baran and Raina had positioned themselves. The pair wasted no time in making their way to stand next to us instead of on the opposite side of the room. “There we are. Everyone ready? Good.” He nodded to the two dragons. “Let’s put this out of our misery, shall we?”
Royal shifted his head into that of a dragon’s, his dark red scales gleaming like garnets, and Prince Ciril did the same although his scales were forest green in color. The two dragons framed either side of the box and then flames burst from their tapered jaws. I instinctively stepped back, raising my arm to shield my face from the blast of heat flooding the air. A stirring of wind came with the movement, and I carefully formed a steady wall of wind to shield the four of us who were not fire proof from the overwhelming heat as the dragons continued breathing yellow flames over the crown. The box caught fire and beneath its crumbling remains I could see the crown turning white hot from the combined flames. If I hadn’t been able to summon the wind as a shield, we would’ve been forced to escape the room and lock the dragons inside. Maybe that would’ve been the better idea except for needing witnesses to the crown’s destruction.
Seconds crept by, then minutes until finally the dragons stepped back as their flames died. Royal turned to look at me and said, “I don’t know what you’re doing. Perhaps, you might see if you can cool the rest of the room as well. We would be most grateful.”
I nodded, not having any energy to talk now. Still, I focused on sending wind throughout the room. I wanted it to be cold like the chill from the north when we were outside. Both dragons shuddered and then shifted back to their fully mortal forms.
As Royal stamped his feet, I allowed the wind to die. I was almost swaying in place now and willingly leaned into Mathias’ supporting arm as he wrapped it around my shoulders. At least, we didn’t need to worry about the crown any more.
“Ah, Mathias. We seem to have a slight complication.”
&nb
sp; “What do you mean?”
“The sapphire didn’t melt. It’s not even damaged,” Royal said quietly.
Prince Ciril was leaning toward the puddle of melted bronze with an intense look on his face. “It’s absorbed our fire.”
“That’s impossible,” Royal countered.
“Layla mentioned that might happen,” I managed to whisper as I tugged a hollow amulet out of my jacket pocket. “Here. This will dampen its power.”
I passed it to Prince Ciril who held it open as Royal shifted his hand to scales and then delicately scooped the sapphire out of the puddle. He shook the remnants of melted bronze off and carefully placed the sapphire inside the amulet.
“What is that jewel exactly?” came General Baran’s rumbling question. “You said it absorbed dragon fire. If I hadn’t witnessed it myself, I would’ve said it was impossible.”
“Normally, it is,” Ciril said as he approached us, amulet in hand. “There are very few artifacts in this world that are immune to our fire. We called them the true keys, ancient artifacts that were capable of awakening any number of the most dangerous paranormal crafted artifacts of power. Men have killed each other for less. Allowing a key such as this to continue being public knowledge would prove . . . disastrous.”
I held my hand out for the amulet. “I will give it to my cousin. The Jinn have captured and hidden away many of the dangerous artifacts. You’d need to find the Jinn before you could hope to find wherever it is they hide artifacts such as these.” When Ciril didn’t surrender the gem immediately, I added softly, “The key won’t work without an artifact, but it seems wisest to allow the Jinn to carry out their sworn duties in this matter. Then, none of us knows where it went or when or how. This is for the best, and this way no one outside this room knows the gem wasn’t melted down with the crown.”
The dragon prince looked to General Baran and Raina who both nodded before he dropped the amulet into my upturned palm. “I trust your cousin will ensure it looks nothing like this when she receives it.”
“Of course, great prince.”
He gave a curt nod. “Very good. Mathias, Lauren Hope, farewell for some time. As I expect you both to avoid my court for at least a year. This mess with Weard must still be cleaned up, and I don’t want the council distracted by having a Myrmidon and Spotter in Perperikon.” He then turned to the two Therians. “General Baran, would you and your mate accompany me upstairs? I wish to speak with your king before he vanishes into the forest again.”
They walked out ahead of us while I waited for Mathias and Royal to seal the door once more. Mathias wiped his brow and then clasped forearms with Royal. “For the record, old friend, I’m retired.”
Royal snorted. “As am I. Unfortunately, Ravenna believes the now permanent end of my role at Weard and the lack of a bounty on my head means I must go meet this new body at the Summit.”
“I thought you weren’t going to do that.” Mathias grinned as he added, “Isn’t that why you were stuck in Egypt?”
“Aye, but then my cousin got it in her head that she would send me to the Gobi Desert if I refused to help this friend of hers.” Royal grimaced. “The only thing worse than the Sahara is the Gobi.”
Mathias laughed as he clapped the other man on the shoulder. “I wish I had a chance to meet your cousin. She sounds utterly delightful.”
“No need to rub salt in the wound, old chap,” the dragon grumbled before he turned his attention to me. “Lauren, are you sure you want to run off with him?”
I smiled in spite of my exhaustion. “If I didn’t run off with him, he would run off into even more trouble. Best to get him somewhere that he can’t poke at any more dragons.”
“True enough.” Royal paused and looked me in the eye as he added, “She looks dead on her feet, Mathias. Get her somewhere to rest before you leave the country.”
Mathias wrapped his arms around me. “Not to worry, I’ve got her.”
And, I was quite grateful for it. I didn’t know how much longer I was going to last at this rate. My grip tightened around the amulet before I stuffed it in my pocket and wove a quick concealment glamour around it. One I, fortunately, wouldn’t need to hold long since Layla had promised to meet us in the plaza.
* * *
Mathias
I kept one hand cupping Lauren’s elbow since she stubbornly refused to let me carry her inside. She was more suspicious of being followed than I was. The only good thing was that we had already passed the accursed sapphire to her cousin who had immediately hidden it before she and her companion, Hasim, left for a hotel closer to the airport. We would fly with them to England before traveling through something called the sands to mainland Europe. However, we had a good six hours before we needed to leave for the airport, and I had brought Lauren to a different hotel. At least, I was certain it wasn’t bugged since it catered to norms.
After letting ourselves inside the suite, I wasted no time in scooping Lauren into my arms and carrying her over to the bed. She still looked rather peaky for my liking. After setting her down, I unzipped her jacket and tossed it aside. She looked thinner than she’d been in a while, not even a hint of a bump.
I thought she’d implied that she was . . . Meeting her dark eyes, I nodded toward her stomach. “Tell me what’s true.”
Lauren closed her eyes and released a slow sigh before her appearance shimmered. I dropped to my knees as I reached toward her stomach, which was most definitely sporting a distinct bump. A grin tugged at my lips. “There’s our little stowaway. You both scared me for a while.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Her expression was pained as she covered my hands where they rested on her bump. “I’m sorry. I had to convince the shifters that I’d lost the baby, and the room was bugged. It was the only way to protect us all.”
“So you used another Jinn trick.”
She nodded slowly. “Two of them. One to change my appearance, and the other to change my scent. The scent was harder since I don’t have the same sense of smell, but it worked. I’ll need to use it again when we leave here. I wanted you to know though, and I’m so sorry I lied earlier.”
“No, you’ve nothing to apologize for,” I murmured as I moved to caress her cheeks. “You made the right choices for all of it.”
She finally smiled and then leaned in to rest her forehead against mine. “No more adventures, Mathias. Or quests. Or anything involving dragons or shifters or high numbers.”
I chuckled in spite of myself. “You are a 7 who turns into a very scary 9 when you decide to use ancient artifacts. You can’t complain about high numbers.”
Lauren pushed back enough to raise an eyebrow at me. “I’m still a Spotter, and I will base my decision about avoiding being utterly surrounded by high numbers on whatever I please. Are you really going to challenge me?”
“No, because you might blast me with lightning.”
She grinned even as she shook her head. “Mathias, I’m part Jinn not a weather elemental or a demi. Although, I could probably push you into the sea when you are too exasperating.”
“As long as it’s not the North Sea, I’m perfectly all right with that idea.”
She laughed softly. “We’re going to Fiji, remember?”
“Are we?” I grinned as I brushed her hair back behind her ear and tipped her chin up. “Why not Petra first?”
“I called the Jinn elders cowards and accused them of hiding in their shells instead of standing up to help fight against the Nephilim,” she stated simply. “They revoked my ability to return to Petra if I refused to remain in their . . . safekeeping. I had a deadline to meet, so I refused the offer.”
“I knew you were a troublemaker,” I murmured teasingly before I kissed her. “You know we could still have small adventures.”
“No, Mathias.”
“Very small ones. More like outings than adventures.”
She pushed me away and lay back on the bed with a sigh. “Not a chance. We need to get ready for this b
aby’s arrival not going on adventure outings.”
“We could do both,” I teased before resting my hand on her bump. “Actually, I forgot to mention this because everything sped up after Crete. The gorgons offered us our pick of the next litters of hellhound puppies.”
“Why would we need hellhound puppies on the beach?”
“Oh come on, it would be great fun and Elizaveta offered to allow us to borrow Pascal for help training them. Apparently, the puppies do better when they have an older dog to mimic.”
Lauren draped her arm over her eyes. “You give me ten real practical reasons by the time we land in England, and I will think about letting you have one hellhound puppy.”
I kissed her. “Good. This will be fun.”
“I married a madman,” she whispered with a broad smile.
“Actually, it’s pronounced Myrmidon.”
* * *
Lauren
I stepped over Heracles as the radio played a news report. “In the wake of the collapse of Weard Enterprises in December, arguments have been proposed for the creation of an academy to foster better ties between the different paranormal species. However, the Therian shifters under their king, Caderyn, continue to hold out against signing such an agreement.” The puppy lifted his triangular head to peer at me with red eyes before he laid it back down with a sigh and a wag of his fuzzy tail. I set the laundry basket down on the end of the couch before I bent to rub the hellhound pup’s pointed ears, earning a groan.
I turned the radio to a station playing fun upbeat music from the 70s and 80s, then walked out of the bungalow. Heracles scrambled to follow and then ran ahead when he caught sight of Hermes, the other hellhound puppy who looked more like a floppy Labrador retriever with glowing red eyes. As the puppies chased each other, I made my way down to the beach.
Mathias was there, as I knew he would be, his 10 glowing bright above his head. I smiled to see the 1 resting at his jaw. Natalia Hope Mathias had yet to show what her number would be when she grew older. For now, she was a perfect little 1 who had already wrapped her baba completely around her little finger. And, it had only been five weeks.
Rogue Spotter Collection Page 100
