Page 54 of The Dragon With A Girl Tattoo
“You’d think he’d have planned better,” Aisling said.
“I think there’s a little wine left back in the library,” Allie said, gesturing toward the castle.“Looks like you guys could use it.Our people can finish up here, if that works for you.”
I suspect in normal circumstances the dragons would object to being treated as if they were so frail, but obviously, Yrian’s blast did more than scorch off a few layers of epidermis.They were a bit shaken, but whether it was due to Yrian or Xavier, I didn’t know.
“You coming?”I asked him as the others headed off.
“I just purchased this phone device,” he said, still searching.
Exhaustion hit me then, leaving me feeling as if I were underwater, struggling to move my limbs.All I wanted to do at that moment was crawl into bed and sleep for a few days.“I’d offer you mine, but it’s filled with pug memes.You do that side, and I’ll look over here.”
It took us another seven minutes, but at last Yrian found it halfway under one of the big trailers.Another ten minutes, and we arrived at the library, which was full of dragons and vamps, the former guzzling the last of the wine.
“We saved Yrian a glass,” Thaisa said, offering it when we arrived.“Not that he was burned, but still.I figured he might like it.”
Yrian took the glass and offered it to me.I smiled, took one sip, gasped at the fire that burned down my throat to my belly, and handed it back.“That really is potent stuff.”
“Given that the place is evidently crawling with demons and bad quasi-dragons, we are happy to have you all stay here,” Allie said.“We have plenty of room, so please don’t feel like you’ll be putting us to any trouble.”
The others who weren’t a part of the original visit murmured their appreciation, and Allie left to arrange for the rooms to be made ready.
“We will leave you in peace, since I suspect you have much to discuss,” Christian said as he and his team left the library.
Yrian surprised me by standing and making him an elegant bow.“I extend my thanks for your security team guarding Becket.My youngest brother has made money available to me.I will be happy to give some of it to you for her care.”
I caught a glimpse of surprise in Christian’s eyes before he made an almost equally nice bow to Yrian.“Your gesture is not necessary.As my Beloved is wont to say, it is not a bad thing for Dark Ones to extend our concerns to other beings in the Otherworld, and we are happy to aid the dragonkin as best we can.”
“Now, that’s what I call polite,” Aisling said softly when the door closed behind Christian.“He seemed so rigid at first, but I think Allie’s right and he’s just a big ole teddy bear underneath.Not unlike some wyverns I could mention.”
Naturally, all the men bristled at the implication that they were softies, but just as naturally, the women ignored their fussing.
“What we need to do before we retire for the night is discuss what our next step will be,” Drake said, frowning at nothing in particular.“I can’t help but feel the fact Xavier ran away rather than remaining with his attack force is regrettable.”
A silence fell over the room, one that I suddenly realized was pointed in our direction.“If you are hinting that Yrian should have taken Xavier down, I would like to remind you that a whole herd of evil dragons were attacking you guys, and Yrian was a little busy keeping you all alive!”
“Because what are a few layers of skin between friends?”Hunter said sotto voce to Jim.
“Dude doesn’t seem to have the best grasp on his fire,” Jim agreed.“You’re lucky you didn’t go up in smoke.”
I tweaked the glamour I was creating, hidden by the table I sat at, and, instead of throwing it on Hunter, tossed it onto Jim.It squawked, its appearance now that of a chicken.
“What—” Aisling stared at Jim the chicken as it blinked its beady little eyes at me; then she shot a furious glance my way.“OK, I admit Jim’s comment wasn’t necessary, but a chicken, Becket?Really?”
I shrugged.“Blaming Yrian for your troubles isn’t fair, and I hate unfairness, bullies, and Nazis.Not necessarily in that order.”
“Please change it back,” Aisling said, breathing a bit heavily.
“It’ll wear off in a few minutes,” I said, ignoring her thinned lips and glare.
“The fact remains that Yrian agreed to help us with Xavier, but when he showed up, nothing was done to stop him,” Hunter objected in a flurry of confusing pronouns, watching as Jim began to peck around on the carpet, obviously scooping up crumbs from the snacks Allie had set out for the postfire recovery.“The First Dragon made it clear that we can’t stop him on our own, but when we have Yrian with us, Xavier still escaped.”
“Are you going to take that?”I asked Yrian in a near whisper.Oddly enough, he didn’t look as outraged as I felt; instead, he watched the others with the same sort of inscrutable expression his brother wore.“It’s not your fault that Xavier got away.”
“No, it is not,” he agreed, but said nothing more.I expected him to lecture his family for assuming he would be the great hero to swoop in and save their respective asses, but he didn’t.He just sat there, relaxed, but somewhat distant.I had the feeling he was thinking hard, but whether it was about the scene we’d just experienced or something else was beyond me.
“You assured us you would help take down Xavier,” Archer said slowly, his expression troubled.“Not that we expect you to do it on your own—Hunter and I are the best ones to strike a harsh blow against him, but we can’t do it alone.We need you for that, and yet, as Hunter pointed out, when we were all there, he escaped.”
“You did not tell me Xavier possessed a shard of the dragon heart,” Yrian said, leaning back in his chair.
