Page 22 of Rurik
Luis was still grinning like a jackal. “Perhaps. But I believe I know something you donot.”
Dimitri steepled his fingers and leaned back in his chair. “Oh?”
Luis flipped his knife again, and this time the blade landed point down on the pad of his finger, yet no blood wasdrawn.
“That woman he was with? She is human, but that isn’tallshe is.” Luis continued to draw out the suspense a littlelonger.
“What isshe?”
“She’s Damien MacQueen’ssister.”
The announcement hit Dimitri like a sledgehammer. The sister of a Brotherhood hunter? And not just any hunter. Theheadof the entireorganization.
“Are you sure?” heasked.
“Positive. We keep track of MacQueen’s familyclosely.”
“Is she a hunter ortracker?”
“Neither,” Luis said. “She’s a civilian, as they say. She has some degree, I forget the word, but she does not work for the Brotherhood. She has no real training, noprotection.”
Dimitri scoffed. “No protection? I doubt that. MacQueen wouldn’t let his sister gounwatched.”
“Yet she is here with a dragon. Do you think if MacQueen was watching her closely he would have allowed that? You know how the Brotherhood feels about our kind,” Luis spat and closed his switchblade as he got to his feet. “If you want Rurik dead, you let me do thismyway.”
Dimitri got to his feet as well. “What’s yourplan?”
“We tip MacQueen off, let him know who his sister is shacking up with. Odds are he will lose his shit and come in guns blazing. And”—Luis grinned—“we’ll tell Rurik’s brothers. They can’t know who he’s with, but once they do, they’ll close ranks, ready tofight.”
“You would give the Barinovs a heads-up? I don’t think—” Dimitribegan.
“No, we tell them that she’s a spy, a hunter sent by her brother. You have to admit playing both sides against each other is the best way to handlethis.”
Dimitri considered it. Perhaps Luis wasn’t an idiot after all. It wasn’t perfect, however. Grigori didn’t trust him, and he would trust Luis even less. However, one thing all dragons agreed upon was that they had to be careful around the Brotherhood. It was one of the few unifying forces between the dragon families of theworld.
“Fine. But let me tip off MacQueen andGrigori.”
“Excellent.” Luis reached into his leather jacket and pulled out a pair of Cuban cigars, handing one to Dimitri. Luis snapped his finger at the end of his, and a small flame ignited the cigar’s tip. Dimitri did the same and took a slow drag of his exquisiteCuban.
“If anyone is still standing after this is over, we’ll snuff them out.” Luis puffed out a circular ring of smoke, which transformed into the shape of a dragon and then a shapelesscloud.
Dimitri watched the ghostly image of the dragon made of smoke fade. “Agreed.”
The Barinovs would finally be eliminated, and Ruslan and the rest of his family would be avenged. Dimitri began to laugh, hard enough that tears even came to hiseyes.
7
I think love is stronger than habits or circumstances. I think it is possible to keep yourself for someone for a long time and still remember why you were waiting when she comes at last. ?Peter S. Beagle,The Last Unicorn
Charlotte staredat the interior of the luxury jet. “Holy cow, you weren’tkidding!”
Rurik leaned against the plush leather seat closest to him as he watched her. A smile crossed his lips, one he couldn’t seem to stop, nor did he want to. She made him want to hoot and holler like a child, her innocence was soinfectious.
“I’m glad you’re pleased.” He found he wanted to be more formal around her now, to play the gentleman the way he had with the queens and princesses of old. Charlotte brought that out in him; it was amusing and a little disturbing. He’d always been good at adapting to the changing times, yet with Charlotte he felt his past self coming back, the old-fashioned side of his dragon that would cherish and guardher.
“Rurik!” A voice from the plane’s open door made him jerk in surprise. Grigori and his mate, Madelyn, were coming up thesteps.
He blocked his brother’s path to the plane’s cabin. “Grigori, what are you doinghere?”
