Odalis suddenly burst out laughing, and his body shuddered under me as he quaked with amusement. I narrowed my eyes on his back, and a shadowy sense of foreboding washed over me.

  He knew something else.

  “What’s so funny?” Naomi demanded and looked up at me. “Are you sure we can’t just kill him? He’s getting on my nerves.”

  “Mine, too,” I agreed and shoved his head down into the sand. “Tell us what you find so amusing about your men in the dungeons.”

  “You just think you’ve won already,” he finally gasped when I lifted his head. “But you haven’t.”

  “I beg to differ,” I growled.

  “Do you?” he chuckled. “Do you really think there were only ten?”

  Chapter 6

  “What the hell is he talking about?” Naomi muttered as we all gaped at the Nepin bandit leader. “We cleared the whole town. There aren’t any more bandits.”

  “Explain yourself,” I thundered and flipped Odalis over onto his back.

  I pressed my blade to his throat and stood with my boot in the middle of his chest as he sucked in the fresh air. I noticed the tattoos on his skin had been scraped away, and part of me was satisfied with the Nepin way of expelling someone from their city. I hoped it had hurt like hell.

  “I don’t think I will.” Odalis shook his head and laughed again, and his utter defiance pissed me off even more. “And you can’t make me. I have protection spells from my mages, and they’re even stronger than the one over my house.”

  “Think again,” I growled as I applied just enough pressure for the tip of my sword to draw blood, and a red stream flowed out of his blue skin and down onto the sand. “I can slice you to pieces, heal you, and start over until you tell me exactly what the fuck you have going on in Yrosa. And I’ll enjoy every second.”

  “Um…” Odalis met my gaze and trembled for a moment before he cleared his throat. “Well, if you torture me, I won’t want to tell you anything.”

  “That’s not how torture works,” Isabella retorted as she rolled her eyes. “You realize he’s a dragon, right? He could use the sword or his fire or any of his other magic on you and torture you for hours. It will hurt so much, all you’ll want is to make it stop. You’ll beg for him to stop, which would only happen if you told him what he wanted to know.”

  “So, I suggest you start the telling me part unless you’d like to test the torture part,” I snarled as I dug my boot into his chest. “And you have five seconds to decide.”

  “You can’t possibly--” he started to argue.

  “Four,” I growled and pressed the tip of the blade further into his flesh.

  “I just need to figure out--” Odalis started again.

  “Three,” I said as I transferred all my weight to my foot on his chest.

  “Oh, gods,” he groaned and bit his lip with frustration.

  “Two,” I hissed.

  “Okay!” the Nepin thief wailed and put his hands up in front of his face. “I just need you to promise me something.”

  “Why the hell would I do that?” I asked in a menacing tone. “You’re a thief and a con man. I don’t owe you one fucking thing.”

  “I just…” he trailed off and took a deep breath. “I just have to be sure my sons will be safe.”

  “What do you mean?” I pressed as I risked a glance at the house. “Where are they?”

  I hadn’t heard any other movement from inside, and I didn’t think he’d let his kids run around in Yrosa while he went about his bandit ways. There had to be something I didn’t know.

  Odalis hesitated for a moment before everything finally tumbled out.

  “I sent my sons in as the last team,” he explained. “They’re Nepins, so they blend in with the rest of the city, and they could go to their mother’s house without anyone wondering why they were back. It was the perfect plan.”

  “You made your sons part of your bandit group?” Isabella gasped. “Why would you do that to them?”

  “They like money just like anyone else,” he scoffed.

  “You’re a disgrace as a father,” I muttered. “They should be learning how to be part of a society, not learning how to steal from one.”

  My blood boiled at the thought of teaching my children to be criminals instead of nobles. Even on Earth, I would have wanted my kids to do something we could be proud of, not something I’d have to bail them out of jail for. Odalis was pushing all my buttons, and I wasn’t sure how long I could control my dragon instincts to rip his head from his shoulders.

  “Well, like father, like son,” the Nepin leader grumbled.

  “Like how you steal wives?” Miraya smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. “No wonder they all wanted you to leave.”

  “You don’t know a thing about me.” Odalis shot her a poisonous glare, but the spirit didn’t budge, and he finally dropped his gaze.

  “What’s their target?” I demanded. “I want to know everything about their little trip to town.”

  When he hesitated again, I growled and healed the cut at his throat before I cut into his skin again. He clenched his jaw and took a deep breath.

  “It’s the biggest score we’ve gone after,” Odalis finally admitted with a frown. “The council keeps it in the vault, so that’s why I needed my boys to go after it. I couldn’t send an outsider into city hall. They would be too obvious, but my sons could walk around in town without getting more than a second glance.”

  “What’s being kept in the vault?” I bellowed. “Tell me all of it!”

  “Okay, okay,” he sighed. “It’s some fancy spirit noble’s sword, I think. It’s been there forever. I asked around in a few other cities, and it’s worth more than my whole stash combined. I knew I had to get it, so that’s why I sent the ones I trust the most.”

  “The Noble Sword?” Miraya gasped and covered her mouth.

  “You sent them to steal it?” I could hardly believe the balls on this guy. “How do you know it’s there?”

  “It was brought into the vault a while ago.” Odalis shrugged and rolled his eyes. “I didn’t think it meant anything, but I was assured it would be worth our efforts.”

  “Without a second thought as to why it’s so valuable,” I muttered. “Do you have any idea what stealing it from its rightful owner would do?”

  “Fill my pockets,” Odalis huffed. “That’s what I needed it to do. I don’t know if it has magic powers or anything, that’s not my thing. I hire mages to do magic, and I collect my money.”

  “You’re a fucking idiot!” I thundered and shoved the blade deeper into his skin until he whimpered with pain. “I should just do us all a favor and kill you right now!”

  A wider trail of blood dribbled over the dried path of the first cut I’d made, and I started to impale his throat when Miraya grabbed my arm.

  “My lord, please,” she whispered. “While his life isn’t important to me, finding his sons and my sister is. We can’t do that without him.”

  “We found the others without this scumbag,” I snarled as I gripped the sword tight in my hand.

  “True,” the spirit agreed. “But they stood out in the crowd. His sons won’t.”

  “Unfortunately, I have to agree,” Isabella murmured. “I’d like to watch his blood empty from his body, but we can’t yet.”

  I took a deep breath and focused on what the women told me. I knew they were right, but I so badly wanted to tear this bastard apart. Not only had he put multiple people in harm’s way, but he also didn’t give two shits about anyone or anything except himself and his money. My inner dragon practically screamed at me to rid the world of Odalis, but I used every ounce of willpower in my body to loosen my grip on the Sword of Hatra.

  “Lucky for you, I have my women here to give me a good reason not to kill you,” I hissed as I lifted my sword an inch away from his skin. “We need to hold him here.”

  “I can do that,” Naomi chimed in with a sly smile. “Give me five minutes.”

  The lizard mage dug around in her spatial storage and produced a handful of black stones. They looked similar to the obsidian I’d created with my lava magic, and I watched her with curiosity as she set them in a circle around us. Then she sprinkled some kind of glittery dust over each of the stones and murmured the words of a spell under her breath.

  When she reached the last stone, she stopped and looked at us.

  “I’m guessing we need to move,” I chuckled as I sheathed my sword and stepped out of the circle of stones.

  “Indeed,” Naomi said with a smile before she finished the spell.

  The Nepin bandit leader sat up just as a murky gray shield rose from the stones and connected over his head like a dome. It shimmered like water, but when Odalis reached out to touch it, there was a small pop, and he yanked his hand back and cradled it to his chest.

  “What did you do?” he demanded as he inspected his injured finger.

  “I added an extra layer of ‘don’t fucking touch it,’” Naomi retorted. “If you try, it will burn you, so try to just sit tight.”

  “Or don’t and burn your whole body,” Isabella snickered. “We don’t care.”

  “Looks like you’re on our time now,” I said to the old Nepin. “Now, tell us when your sons are planning their attack.”

  “I don’t know,” Odalis muttered. “I don’t micromanage.”

  “Are they staying at their mother’s house until they attack?” I pressed. “Does she know what they’re doing?”

  “She’s clueless.” He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “As usual. She never paid attention anyway.”

  “Bastard,” Naomi hissed as her forked tongue slithered out of her mouth with rage. “She deserves much better than you.”

  “Maybe so,” Odalis replied with another shrug. “But she wouldn’t ever turn down the boys if they showed up on her door, so they probably did go there.”

  “Then that’s where we’ll go,” I said. “We’ll be back when we feel like it.”

  “What?” the Nepin bandit gasped as he scrambled to his feet. “No!”

  “See ya!” Naomi called out with a sarcastic wave.

  “Wait, you can’t just leave me here!” he screamed as we began to walk away from the beach house. “I have no food! No water! I’ll die!”

  “Then you’ll save Yrosa the effort of a court hearing,” Isabella shot back over her shoulder. “And get exactly what you deserve.”

  “Ahhhhh!” Odalis wailed and threw himself down onto the sand.

  We ignored his fit, and I quickly shifted back into my dragon form. Miraya and Naomi climbed onto my back, and I took flight with Isabella beside me as Odalis’ screams echoed across the dark sand. I glanced back over my shoulder at the beach house and wondered exactly how much treasure was hidden inside. It was something I planned to investigate as soon as we caught Odalis’ sons, but for now, I had to focus on bringing them to justice.

  Then I’d fulfill my need for treasure.

  My inner dragon was annoyed but didn’t argue. He was the source of my protective instincts, though it seemed he didn’t see the harm in getting a little gold before we continued. I shook my head with amusement and looked over at my Nepin lover.

  “We need to go to his wife’s house first,” I called out. “Do you know where it is?”

  “Yes, it’s not far from my parents’ house,” Isabella replied. “But you won’t have anywhere to land inside the gates.”

  “Got it.” I nodded my head as we neared the city wall, and I floated to the sand with a gentle thud.

  Naomi and Miraya climbed down from my back, and I transformed back to my human body. I heard a few gasps and looked up to see the guards on top of the wall had seen my transformation, and they ducked behind the stone wall as though I’d suddenly attack. It seemed they hadn’t realized I was a dragon until now. They really were out of the loop over here.

  We followed Isabella through the gate into the city and past the staring Nepin citizens until we reached a small house I realized was only four doors away from Mel and Rocia’s home. The wooden shutters were closed tightly, and I couldn’t hear any movement inside. I would have thought it was abandoned if Isabella hadn’t been so sure we were at the right place.

  “I’ll try to talk to her,” Isabella offered as she knocked on the door. “You know, the whole outsider issue.”

  I nodded my agreement as she stepped back and watched for someone to open the door. We waited almost a full minute before my Nepin lover knocked a second time, and the door finally eased open just enough for me to see a single blue eye that widened before the woman started to close the door again.

  “Not happening,” I growled as I put my palm against the door to keep it open. “You don’t have to let us in, but you do have to talk to us.”

  “Who are you?” a voice whispered. “What do you want?”

  “I’m Isabella, Mel’s daughter,” my lover explained as she moved into the woman’s view. “You know Mel, right?”

  “Of course,” the woman confirmed. “Everyone knows him. He took care of my illness a few months ago, but why are you here?”

  “My friends and I are looking for someone, and we thought you might have seen them,” Isabella answered. “Can we talk for a minute?”

  There was a brief moment when I thought we’d have to push past the quiet woman and search her house, but she finally released a rattled sigh and opened the door just enough to reveal her face. She was about the same age as Isabella’s parents, though she looked so exhausted it seemed to age her features even more. I figured she was pretty at one time in her life, but after having such a public debacle with her husband, life had become harder on her.

  “You mean my boys, don’t you?” she asked. “I knew they were up to no good when they came here. I knew it. Just like their no-good, rotten father.”

  “We only need to talk to them for now,” I said in a gentle voice. “Can you let us in to see them?”

  “They left this morning,” the woman choked out as tears welled in her azure eyes. “They were gone when I woke up, and before you ask, no, I don’t know where they went. I only want to be left alone. Please, don’t involve me. They’re just like their father, and I’m sure you’ve heard enough about him to know I don’t support his decisions.”

  “Okay, that’s all we needed to know,” Isabella soothed her. “Thank you.”

  With that, the Nepin woman closed the door, and I heard the distinct thump of a lock as it clicked into place.

  Odalis’ wife was obviously terrified of us, but she was more terrified of being involved in whatever her husband and sons were up to. While it was clear she was trying to stay out of it, that didn’t give us any leads as to where the boys went or when they’d go after the sword.

  “Well, that was sort of helpful,” I muttered. “We’d better get everyone back together.”

  I summoned my messenger dragon and instructed it to tell the rest of our group to meet up at the city hall before it zoomed further north into town. We had to discuss our findings with the council and figure out a plan to keep the sword safe before Odalis’ sons could get to it. I still didn’t know which of the noble families was linked to the sword, but they must have put it in the vault to keep it safe, and I wasn’t about to let some bandit family put it all at risk just for an easy profit.

  We made our way to city hall just as Nike, Alyona, Laika, and Ravi hurried over from the other side of the building. A feeling of relief washed over me when I saw my wife, though I was glad I’d sent her on the safer mission rather than taking her to the beach and the fight that had quickly ensued there. I knew she could kick ass, but I felt more comfortable when she didn’t have to.

  “We got your message!” Ravi called out. “Is everything okay? Did you find the leader?”

  “Yeah, it was Odalis,” I answered. “He was the old councilman who got kicked out for trying to sleep with another councilman’s wife, so apparently, he thinks he needs to get back at the whole city for deserting him. Naomi trapped him for now, but that’s not all we found out. Did you get everyone’s stuff returned to them?”

  “We did,” Alyona confirmed. “Some of them didn’t even realize their things were missing. How did you contain him?”

  “A flemturo circle,” Naomi answered with a grin.

  “Perfect,” the princess replied and matched her smile. “He won’t be getting out of that any time soon, though it sounds like he deserves the injuries he’d get if he tried. My lord, with all the people we spoke to, I get the feeling the robberies have been going on for quite some time.”

  “I agree,” I murmured. “And they aren’t done yet. Odalis sent his sons into the city to steal the Noble Sword from the vault.”

  “What?” Laika’s gray eyes widened in shock. “Why would he do that? Does he know what it is?”

  “No, he’s an imbecile,” Miraya spat out. “He doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”

  “He only cares that someone offered to buy it if he had it,” I added with a frown. “He’s a real piece of shit, but we have to stop them now. Odalis said he didn’t know how they planned to do it, and we checked with his wife. The brothers stayed at their mother’s last night and left this morning. She doesn’t know where they went, and I don’t think she knows why they came. They could already be on the move.”

  “Then we’d better get inside and talk to the council,” Nike suggested. “They should increase their guard patrols around the vault and make sure no one gets in. We can determine how to catch them after that.”

  “Let’s go.” I headed for the doors with the rest of my companions on my heels.

  The guards opened the double doors without a word, and we strode inside as shrill voices filled the hall.

  “I thought this was being taken care of!” one of the men shrieked.

  “Lord Evan is working diligently to find the culprits,” Morgan’s smooth voice assured him. “I have faith he will find a solution to the problem.”

 

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