Page 18 of Rurik
“You mean…the Barinovs? Is she nuts? She’s not ahunter.”
“I know.” Damien rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “Call Meg in, along with whoever else is in the building. I want a task force assembled in tenminutes.”
“Consider it done.” Jason sprinted from theroom.
Damien stared hard at thescreen.
“What the fuck are you doing, Charlotte?” The weight of his past and his burdens settled even more heavily upon his shoulders. When their parents had been killed, Damien had taken over the Brotherhood and had vowed to protect his sister at any cost, even if it meant protecting her from herself. He’d already lost Serena to this life. He wouldn’t lose his baby sistertoo.
But dragons? How could he protect her if she was already in theirterritory?
Ten minutes later, he faced a team of the best hunters in North America. Meg Stratford stood close to his desk, her red hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was alert, even though it was getting late. Next to her were Nicholas Rubin, Tamara Gilbert, Jason, and KathrynRubin.
“We have an extraction situation, and time is of the essence. We’re going toMoscow.”
Meg’s eyes widened. “Why us? Why not let Saint Petersburg handleit?”
“I would, but I don’t trust anyone else to handlethis.”
“Who’s the target?” Nicholas, one of the trackers,asked.
Damien frowned, unable to hide the truth from them. “CharlotteMacQueen.”
Meg’s face paled. “Charlotte?” She and Charlotte were closefriends.
“I’m afraid it gets worse. We’re going to be facing dragons, the royal Barinovhouse.”
“Russian Imperials. Aren’t they the ones Saint Petersburg were trying to extract information from?” Tamara said. She shared a look with Nicholas, the magical tracker she partneredwith.
“Right, but the Drakors, the other Russian dragon line, also operate in Moscow—or used to. A few months ago, the Barinovs all but wiped out the Drakor line. As of right now we’re still sketchy on how that happened or if it’s going to stop. Historically, the Barinovs haven’t been troublemakers, but we can’t take the chance that that hasn’t changed. With the Drakors all but extinct, a new dragon clan might sense the power vacuum in Moscow and make a play or form an alliance against the Barinovs. The situation is tense and incredibly volatile, and it’s why Saint Petersburg were keen on interviewing one of the Barinovs. I’ll send you all reports on the two dragon families tonight, as well as any other potential players. We leave atdawn.”
The hunters and trackers left, but Jason and Meg stayed behind. She was biting her lip, something she rarely did. Damien had known her since she was a child, and it was obvious something was botheringher.
“What is it?” Damien stood, facing her. Meg rarely showed any nerves, but she looked ready tobolt.
“You’re going to kill me for this, but I think it’s my fault that Charlotte is inRussia.”
“What? Why?” Jasondemanded.
“When I was in London tracking the Belishaw dragons, I came across something.” She turned on her cell and pulled up a picture of a needle in an evidence bag. “I found this at the scene. It was in that Sinclair dragon’s other house, a residence he kept a secret from thepublic.”
Damien nodded. He remembered all too well Meg’s report on the British member of Parliament who’d managed to hide his identity as a dragon for centuries. Sinclair had designs to take out or subdue the Belishaw family in a power struggle. He had been killed by one of the Barinov dragons,Mikhail.
“You found that where you said Sinclair tortured Randolph Belishaw,” Damienclarified.
“Yes. Whatever was in this needle weakened Randolph Belishaw and cancelled out his ability to heal. I’ve never heard of such a thing before. When he looked at me, he looked human. His eyes didn’t have that otherworldly glow. Whatever was in this, it made himvulnerable.”
For a long second Damien didn’t speak. If Meg was right, this drug was a game changer. And in the wrong hands it could be incrediblydangerous.
“How does Charlotte fit into this?” Jason asked, crossing hisarms.
“When I got back stateside, I didn’t submit the evidence to our lab. I’m sorry, Damien, but this drug could be a potential dragon killer. I didn’t want just anyone to have access to that. You talk a good game when it comes to peace, and you keep your promises, but if someone else took over tomorrow, it could be a different story. We could be ordered to kill our enemies on sight, like they did back in the fifties. I didn’t want to hand that kind of power over until I knew we could use it wisely.” She looked down, her face flushed. “So I called in Charlotte. I wanted her to examine the formula on the sly. She was going to see if she could reverse-engineer the drug based on the notes we found at the crimescene.”
“So you recruited our sister,” Jason growled. “You know we kept her out of this life on purpose—so shit like this doesn’thappen!”
“Jason,” Damien warned him. His little brother had more of a temper, but Damien had learned patience. He had lost too much as a youngman.
Meg’s defiance grew. “Listen, I didn’t tell her to go to Russia. She was supposed to stay here. I don’t know how she got it in her head to…” She paused a moment, and her eyes began to water. “This can’t be my fault. Itcan’t…”
