Page 61 of Awaken the Dragon
The next day Theo sat behind his desk in his office at the Tower. Shola stood to his right, wearing a pale green jumpsuit, her hair in thick twists, hands clasped in front of her. Magnum and Steele, who were both dressed in dark jeans and black T-shirts, stood a couple feet away from his desk, one on either side. Aiken and Reece were standing outside the office door, while Bleu stood on the inside. Ziva had gone upstairs to monitor the security screens with Isla.
Today’s meeting was unprecedented. The Drakon and the Royal Blood, who would have ever guessed the two would come together for any reason, and especially on the Human Realm? Dragons, vampires and shifters were the power structure among preternatural beings. And as such, they tended to give each other a wide berth, or else there’d be an all-out preternatural war. In a few minutes, Hikeen Montoy, chief lord of the Royal Blood would walk through the door of his office and they would discuss how to rid each other of Warrick Camden.
“Approaching,” Aiken spoke through the communicator.
Bleu moved closer to the door, ready for whoever walked through with the chief lord. Theo closed out of the screen he’d been looking at that marked the progress of the guests coming to meet him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shola lift a hand to rub the pendant at her neck. He reached out to grab her free hand, rubbing his thumb over the backs of her fingers.
He didn’t speak, just looked at her, and he could see in her eyes that she understood the reassurance his touch was meant to convey.
“I know,” she whispered. “It’s almost over.”
There was a knock at the door and Theo reluctantly released her hand. He nodded at Bleu, who then stepped in front of the door and opened it. A man dressed in a white tuxedo with a red bowtie walked in first. He looked around the room and turned back to nod at the doorway. The next person to enter, Theo was certain, was Hikeen Montoy. The chief lord wore a crisp slim-fit gray suit with a red shirt and tie, a floor-length gray leather coat hung over his shoulders. His silver hair was combed back from his face, thick white beard and gray mustache neatly trimmed. Behind him, two more dressed in white tuxedos entered the office. Before Bleu closed the door, Aiken came inside and both dragons stood guard.
The first vampire guard had just come face-to-face with a steely-eyed Magnum. The guard wanted to stand beside the chair that Hikeen had just sat in, but Magnum wasn’t allowing too many of them that close to Theo. One of the other vampire guards took Hikeen’s coat, and Hikeen waved his hand to the three of them, signaling them to stand behind him. This placed the vampires between each of the dragons in the room.
Theo spoke first. “Thank you for agreeing to this meeting.”
Hikeen rubbed a hand over his mustache and beard.
“We have a mutual problem,” Hikeen said. “He has left his townhouse. I sent men there last night after speaking with your associate. Nobody has been there since we arrived and some things are packed.”
“He’s about to move,” Theo stated. “We can handle this one of two ways. We find him and kill him. Or we find him and turn him over to you for your laws to deal with him. One option is definitely more diplomatic than the other. But I’ve got to be perfectly honest with you. I’m leaning toward option number one.”
“As I told your associate, he is not part of the Royal Blood. I don’t care who his parents are, he’s unethical and indiscriminate. We have rules against involvement with humans, and Warrick takes them too far. He believes we cast him aside because of his birth situation, but it’s more because of his actions that we do not let him into the fold.” Hikeen crossed one leg over the other and clasped his fingers around his knee. “With that said, he is a vampire and I can’t in good conscience give you, a Drakon, permission to slaughter one of our own.”
Theo figured as much. No matter how much he’d refused to follow his father’s orders back on the Far Realm, Torrance hadn’t given any of the Drakon permission to kill his only son.
“I won’t stop hunting him,” Theo stated honestly. “He’s endangering more than just the humans on this realm.”
“Yes, your associate mentioned a village over the seas. I’m not sure why he wants a place such as that. We already have a Royal Blood in that region,” Hikeen said.
Shola spoke up. “He wants to rule my people. I do not know what he will have them become, but we cannot sit back and wait to become enslaved by his will.”
Hikeen’s attention shifted to her. He looked appreciatively from the top of Shola’s head, down to her midthigh area, which was all he could see considering she stood behind Theo’s desk.
“The River Tribe will not become his next conquest,” Theo said and cleared his throat loudly when Hikeen continued to stare at Shola.
“She’s not from here. Those that are different can be an acquired taste, but I could be persuaded,” Hikeen said, his cool gray eyes widening as he continued to stare.
Theo stood abruptly. Using his finger, he aimed a blast of fire so that it arched beautifully and landed on the floor just inches from Hikeen’s foot.
Hikeen didn’t move but his guards immediately stepped to Theo’s Drakon. None of the other dragons moved because there was no need. The vampires were simply no match for them.
“Don’t test me. This is a very delicate and temporary truce. Don’t get toasted in here because you wanna speak with your dick,” Theo warned.
He felt Shola’s hand on his shoulder. She didn’t speak, but the steadiness in her touch had his beast relaxing, even if only slightly.
“Ah yes, I know who she is.” Hikeen spoke as if he hadn’t almost had his toes burned to a crisp. “The beautiful African goddess. The one you were paid to protect. Warrick’s bride-to-be.”
Theo didn’t like any word that had been said, mainly because Hikeen had spoken them. How did he know who and what Shola was if he had nothing to do with Camden?
Instead of sitting back in his chair, the beast sought Shola, so Theo remained standing, reaching an arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. It was a bold move for the man, one that announced to everyone in this room that Shola was his. While Theo had a feeling his team had already come to that conclusion, the Royal Blood were not privy to such news. At least they hadn’t been before now.
“Do you know why Warrick wants you,bellissimo?” Hikeen asked.
Shola didn’t answer and the only reason Theo didn’t end the meeting immediately was because he was now certain Hikeen knew much more than he’d shared with him or Bleu.
“It’s not your tiny little village. It’s the power that it will bring him. Power to rule the vampires throughout the realms. That’s what Hoan promised him.” Hikeen smiled and slid a hand back from his knee to slowly adjust his tie.
