“No, there’s no need for privacy. There are no secrets here,” I said as I stepped forward between the two men. “The Directorate is planning to attack the Feast of the Dragon.”

  “We’ve heard those rumors. I don’t know why we should get involved,” Drake said, as if this were mundane news.

  “Besides the fact that it’s the Feast of the Dragon? It might concern you that the mages have discovered a way to kill hundreds of sorcerers at a time. And do you really think they’re going to stop at us? Our skins aren’t worth what dragons’ are. They need your scales and your hides.”

  “And what about you? You wear a dragonhide cuff around your wrist.”

  The cuff was such a part of me that I forgot it was made of dragonhide. Deacon had been kind enough not to mention it. “Exactly. You prove my point. They’re not going to stop with sorcerers. You know that.”

  “So what is it that you want us to do?” Drake spread his arms, gesturing to the group of shifters in the room. “If the powerful sorcerers can’t do anything about it, then why would lowly shifters be able to help?”

  I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of contradicting his last statement. “The mages are going to enter Elustria through portals dispersed throughout different Earth cities. They’re using cloakers. We have no way to distinguish them from humans. We know what cities and locations they’ll be in, but that’s it.”

  “Well if you have a location and you obviously know when it’s happening, why don’t you just send sorcerers to kill whoever you find? If they’re using portals, that means there’ll be a magical being without a cloaker nearby.”

  “The problem is that they’re using humans. The humans themselves are going to unknowingly carry out the attack.” I don’t know why I expected that to make a difference.

  “So kill them too. I fail to see why you need us.” Drake shrugged.

  I tried to keep my blood from boiling at his flippant attitude. “We do not kill innocents, especially humans. They have nothing to do with this. Sorcerers have never stood for that and neither have shifters, especially dragon shifters, the noblest of all the shifter breeds.” Time to make my move. “This is your chance to show your superiority. The mages have already done a test run. They destroyed Moonlark Academy. All the children there died.” All activity, whispering, walking around, stopped, and all eyes in the room were on me for the first time. “That’s right. Children, for no other reason than to show that they could. And in case you’re rusty with your geography, the Academy is in the shadow of the Spineback Mountains. Do you think it’s a coincidence that they chose that as their target?” I did, but I wasn’t going to let them know that. “This is a warning shot across your bow. Are you going to let them think that they’ve cowed you? Are you content to let them believe that they scared you out of Elustria, forced you into exile on Earth?”

  The veins in Drake’s neck stood out as he realized my game. The outraged cries of the other shifters in the room left him with no choice. He raised his hand for silence. When he had it, he slammed his hand down through the air with force. “We will attack. We will defend our honor and avenge these deaths.”

  Cheers erupted all around.

  “Thank you.” I nodded my head in respect and gratitude. “We will get you the details. Remember, it all has to be done in your human forms. We can’t risk the humans seeing dragons flying around.”

  “We don’t need to be in dragon form to defeat a few mages. You leave it to us. We will take care of your problem for you.” He was even more of a jackass than Deacon and Sybil had led me to believe. “And when we succeed,” Drake continued, “we will have you back here for a victory feast.”

  I had no desire to ever see him again, but I didn’t think I was going to get away with a simple thank-you card. I couldn’t help feeling like I had just sealed our fates by binding ourselves to Drake, but that would have to be a problem for another day.

  30

  Deacon and I walked into the hotel hand in hand. We’d decided it’d be easier to pose as a couple for this particular mission. We were early, hoping to find and take out the mage before the meeting started. There’d be no hiding Deacon’s magic, so we had to act quickly.

  “Are you getting anything yet?” I asked.

  “Yes, there’s a mage nearby, most likely in the conference room. He’s going to be able to tell what I am as soon as we walk in.”

  “That’s what I’m counting on. I want him to leave the room so we can take care of him. I want this done fast. If we wait until the end of the meeting, there’s a chance he’ll get away. I wish it didn’t have to be this way for the humans. They can either deal with their friend dying today or they can all die in two days.”

  Outside the conference room, an easel stood with a poster declaring that this was the location for the Be Your Best Self seminar. I couldn’t wait until this was all over and I never had to see one of the smiling toothpaste-commercial guys again. Unlike last time, the door was closed. The meeting couldn’t have started already. We were fifteen minutes early. Someone should be here setting up.

  Deacon opened the door and walked in. I saw him take a defensive stance before I saw the reason for it. The door clicked shut behind us, and we were alone in a room with a female mage dressed in a skirt suit. As soon as Deacon was in the room, a shield emerged from a magical device in the center of the floor, surrounding Deacon in a bubble. With another spell from the mage, smoke poured from the device.

  I lunged at the bubble with my dagger, but it didn’t penetrate. Instead, when the blade of my dagger hit, it illuminated little speckles of metal in the material of the bubble. It was a mage creation, somehow using a metal, most likely tellenium, mixed with magic. That’s why it came from the device on the floor instead of being cast by the woman. The whole thing looked like it could have gone off automatically. The mage was needed to confirm the target then activate the device with her magic, that was it. She hadn’t expected me.

  With Deacon in the bubble, my mind raced. Smoke inhalation might be able to kill a normal dragon, but not a shifter. Deacon would be able to heal his lungs. I sent a bolt of lightning at the mage, hoping that if I killed her the device would deactivate. That only succeeded in bringing me to my knees in pain from the cuff. I needed to take her in hand-to-hand combat with my dagger.

  “Deacon, shift. It will make it easier to heal.” Something he would’ve normally thought of himself, but the sheer terror in his eyes was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Adam’s kitchen flashed in my mind. This wasn’t just smoke; it was dragonslayer. If I didn’t get Deacon out of there soon, he’d die, and no amount of shifter magic could save him. His body shifted into a magnificent green dragon, the bubble growing in size with him. At least now he had the best chance at surviving until I could free him.

  I had a little advantage in that the mage hadn’t expected me. The element of surprise was gone already, but she’d have to think on her feet in order to best me. I steeled myself for the pain then gathered my magic and threw all of it at her, crashing her against the wall. I sprinted to her and slashed with my dagger, not caring if I voided her or killed her. Either would do for my purposes. She turned away just in time, and I only sliced off some of her hair. That wouldn’t do. In order to turn her into a void, I had to draw blood.

  I turned around to face her just in time to see the spell she cast toward me. A ball of energy came at me. I dropped to the ground and rolled away only to have a chair land on me. The entire room was raining chairs from the corner where they had stood stacked moments ago. All of this commotion could draw attention, and I didn’t know exactly how I would explain away the mess or the dragon in the middle of the room. My security cover didn’t extend that far.

  The mage put up a reflective shield between us, designed to bounce any item or spell that I cast back onto me. My dagger could rip through any pure magic it came in contact with, but I had never let it out of my hand in combat. From practice, I knew I was an accurate shot when throwing daggers, but I couldn’t risk my void blade getting in the hands of anyone else. It was too valuable and dangerous. At this moment, though, I didn’t see any other option. With only seconds left until Deacon would succumb, I waited until the mage looked to Deacon to see if he had died yet. I took aim and threw. The blade spun through the air, and the mage turned two shocked eyes on it. It was too late for her to make an adequate defense. She moved to the side, but I had accounted for that. She thought I was trying to hit her heart so she moved to try for a flesh wound. The dagger scraped by, barely marking her, but enough to draw a drop of blood. She didn’t realize it yet, but she would never do magic again.

  Without her magic powering it, the bubble evaporated. Every instinct in my body told me to check on Deacon, but I couldn’t. Not yet. I still had a job to finish. Confusion slowed the mage’s response. Before she could realize what had happened, I ran for my dagger. She’d made a move for it as well, but I couldn’t let her get it. I ran at full speed and elbowed her in the face, hard enough to break her nose. When my hand curled around the hilt of the dagger, I twirled around, ready to slit her throat, but I stopped short, just as the point of the dagger pierced her skin. As much as the rage coursing through my body wanted to kill her, I had to take her alive if possible. I couldn’t let Deacon’s suffering be in vain. With some truth potion, we might be able to get something from her. Besides, the last thing I needed was for this conference room to turn into a crime scene with human involvement. I raised my hand and smashed the hilt of the dagger onto her head, knocking her unconscious.

  I dragged her limp body over to Deacon so I could be in contact with them both. My only chance was to port us all to Sybil’s apartment. I had used a lot of magic and the cuff weakened me, but I didn’t have another choice. Adrenaline and sheer force of will would have to fuel my magic. I hoped that Sybil hadn’t set up any sort of security that would keep me from porting in.

  I placed a hand on Deacon’s chest. “It’s going to be all right. I’m taking you to Sybil.” He made no movement to acknowledge my words, but I felt his shallow breath beneath my hand. I closed my eyes and gathered my magic, knowing that I’d only have one shot at this and that it was going to hurt like hell.

  Pain ripped through me so severe that it twisted my insides. I did my best to rise above it. I would need all of my faculties whether we ended up at Sybil’s or not.

  31

  When I opened my eyes, Sybil and Alistair came running to us from the kitchen.

  “What happened?” Alistair asked as Sybil knelt at Deacon’s head. She stroked it as if her touch could heal him.

  “It was a trap. There was no meeting. They knew we were coming and used dragonslayer smoke on Deacon.” I cursed myself for not expecting this after seeing the dragonslayer at Adam’s house. There would be plenty of time for guilt later. I needed to focus on keeping Deacon alive. “He shifted to try to accelerate his healing. I was able to deactivate the trap by voiding the mage, but not before he passed out. What can we do to help him?” I looked from Alistair to Sybil, hoping one of them would have an answer.

  “I don’t know,” Sybil said. She hesitated, and the way she looked at me, made me think she was holding something back.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s not relevant. Forget it.” She went back to stroking Deacon’s head.

  Alistair pulled the mage away and bound her with magic in case she regained consciousness. Then he said, “As long as he’s breathing, he should be able to heal himself with enough time. I’ll take this mage in for questioning and update the Circle. They might have something that can help Deacon.”

  The mages had known to expect us. They were set up to kill a dragon shifter. I was a surprise. “Fuck.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Drake’s number. He picked up on the first ring. “It’s a trap. You have to pull everyone back. Call everyone home.”

  “What? I haven’t heard anything.”

  I didn’t want to give Drake the satisfaction of knowing that Deacon was near death, but he needed to understand the severity of the threat. “They’re using dragonslayer in conjunction with a trap.”

  The line went dead. I was grateful for that. If I’d heard or even imagined the slightest bit of glee in his voice over Deacon’s situation, I’d kill him myself.

  “Do you think you’ll be safe here alone?” Sybil asked.

  “Of course.” I didn’t take my eyes off of Deacon, as if I could will him to take stronger breaths.

  “Then I’ll go with Alistair. The priestesses at the temple know more about dragons and dragon shifters than anyone. They’ll know what to do. I’ll put up a few security charms and come back as soon as I can.”

  I nodded, wondering how Sybil thought I had survived up until now. Would I be safe alone? I’d been alone for the last three years. With Deacon to look after, I wasn’t even tempted to glance at the portal Alistair created. I couldn’t let another partner die on my watch.

  I stared at Deacon’s face for so long that I had every scale memorized. His body took up almost all of Sybil’s apartment. It was pure luck that I’d been able to get him here. His claws were massive, the size of my torso. His wings were tucked up against his body. Underneath his wings, the scales of his underbelly were softer and paler than the rest. A strange rectangular scar covered a portion of his chest, right below where his neck met his body. I’d never seen a scar on a shifter before. Their healing powers prevented them. Some sort of powerful magic must’ve caused this one.

  Horns protruded from his head and face. If I didn’t know it was him, he’d be scary to look at. It amazed me that anyone would dare try to challenge a dragon or dragon shifter for their scales. I’d done some crazy things in my life, but even I wouldn’t challenge a dragon.

  This had been the plan all along. The dragonslayer at Adam’s apartment should have tipped us off, but it had made sense after our encounter with Adam at the warehouse. If I were him, after being chased by a dragon shifter, I’d get some dragonslayer too. At this point, I didn’t even know if the Directorate had planned an attack for the feast.

  Adam’s house should have warned us about this attack, but we also got other information from there. He had quite clearly spoken about the detonators. He did not strike me as the type that was smart enough to craft his answers to deceive and lead us astray. He wouldn’t have thought to talk about the detonators just to keep the ruse going to ensure the success of their trap. It would have been easier for him to just keep quiet. I had to believe, based on the evidence, that they were still planning an attack for the feast. I needed to find out more about the detonators. How could they be disabled? The only person that would have the answers I needed was the person who sold them to the mages.

  Keeping my eyes on the rise and fall of Deacon’s chest, I called Trevor. I had debated texting him, but he was likely asleep and a text wouldn’t wake him. I needed him to understand the importance of what I asked.

  “Hey, how’s it going?” He paused for a yawn. “Got anything new you want me to look at?”

  I loved the sound of Trevor’s upbeat voice. He was such a happy kid, separated from all this. He dabbled enough to feel like he lived on the edge, but he was wrapped up in the safety of his own little bubble. I liked it that way.

  “No, actually, I was wondering if you had any information for me about where those components came from. I’m particularly interested in learning whatever I can about the detonators.”

  “Err, well, I haven’t gotten much there. This isn’t exactly something you can just Google. I’ve tried sourcing the components you left behind, but I’m going to need more access than my usual sources. I’m talking FBI-level access.”

  I knew what that meant. If it wasn’t important enough for me to push the issue, he’d leave it where it was. But if I pushed him, he’d do whatever needed to be done to get the information. “It’s really important, Trevor. You know what kind of stuff this is. There are lives at risk. I’m trying my best to stop it, but I’m at a dead end.”

  “Say no more. I’ll do what I have to, but it’s going to take some time. This isn’t an easy get.”

  “I understand. I know you’ll do your best. Just message me the moment you have anything. I’m on a bit of a clock here. I think the attack’s going to happen in two days.”

  “I know this isn’t my place, but maybe you should call the FBI. I mean, if you can’t find what you need and this attack happens, a lot of people could die.”

  “The problem is, it’s not really something the FBI can help with, if you know what I mean. This isn’t an attack on humans.” That wasn’t exactly true. A lot of humans would die if we didn’t figure this out, but that didn’t change the fact that the FBI couldn’t help. There was too much magic involved.

  “Gotcha. I’ll be working around the clock until I get the information for you. Stay safe.”

  “Take care of yourself.”

  A few seconds after I hung up, the phone rang. Drake’s name appeared on the screen. I didn’t want to talk to him. I didn’t want to talk about Deacon, and I didn’t want to find out the total number of casualties today. But I didn’t have that luxury. Not only was this my job, but it was my responsibility. I was the one who had enlisted the help of the dragon shifters. I was the one who hadn’t caught onto the trap earlier. Any losses were my fault.

  I may be responsible for whatever deaths happened today, but my priority and responsibility now was to Deacon. I let Drake’s call go to voicemail. I’d already watched four partners die. Even with Deacon’s ability to heal, I couldn’t help wondering if he would be number five.

  32

  I woke up in a bed that was not my own. From the bright color scheme, I knew I was in Sybil’s room. I’d spent all day with Deacon watching his breath get stronger, but he never regained consciousness. I jumped out of bed and went to the living room, anxious to see how he had progressed during the night and to see if Sybil had returned with anything to help. The massive dragon no longer took up the entire floor, and there was no sign of Sybil. Instead, Deacon sat reading on the sofa in pajama pants and an open robe, his bare chest visible. I kept quiet, reveling in the relief that he was alive and, from the looks of him, well.

 

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