Page 23 of Tempt the Dragon
“And did they?” Bleu asked from the corner of the room where he stood.The guy obviously didn’t like to sit often.
“No. Not for the first two hours. We sat there and absolutely nothing happened. There weren’t even any streetlights on.” That comment had Mel thinking back to that blast of light that had come out of nowhere and brought her back to reality with a resounding jolt.
What the hell had she been doing straddling Aiken and kissing him like she was reallyplanning to ride him until they both found release in that truck? A movement beneath her skin had her shifting in her seat. The instant dose of longing that came next was familiar and annoying and she cleared her throat in the hope of getting rid of it.
“Were you falling asleep? Did you get some dinner before the stakeout and it made you tired? That happens to me whenever I eat heavy afternine. Like that triple-stack burger with all the toppings from the Fry Guy food truck on Lincoln Boulevard. You know the one I’m talkin’ about?” Reese nodded and grinned while he talked, and she felt the waves of anger drifting from Aiken across the table to where the other Drakon sat.
Part of her wanted to warn Reese that he was going too far. Aiken’s irritation was only being ratcheted higherthe longer he sat there in front of what she figured had to seem like a firing squad.
“The light came out of nowhere. We got out of the truck to investigate and when the light was gone, the vampires appeared. Twenty-five to fifty of them,” Aiken told Theo. “Two options existed: shift and burn them to the ground like Smartass over there so eloquently put it or take cover and see what we couldfind out. That’s what we did, thanks to Mel’s powers.”
And just like that every set of Drakon eyes flipped to her direction. She met the gaze of the two women in the room first, and then found Theo’s, which was that intense sapphire blue again.
“You have the chameleon power. Drakon born in the waterfall region of the Far Realm were said to possess that power, as it aided in concealingthem in the forested area when needed.”
The emperor knew too much. She’d felt it last night in the way he stared at her. “I can’t believe you told him.” The words she’d meant for only Aiken slipped out and were obviously louder than she’d intended, because Theo was the one who responded.
“He doesn’t have to tell me anything. I saw all I needed to see last night,” Theo announced, flauntingnot only his superiority in that moment, but also her obvious ignorance as to how he could know these things.
A few minutes had passed so it was clearly Reese’s turn to speak again. “Oh, Aiken didn’t tell you? Theo’s a soul identifier. He can see whatever you are even when you lie and tell him you’re not a Drakon. That’s how we all knew this morning.” This time there was no smile on Reese’sface.
She inhaled slowly, counting down from ten to give herself time to calm and think of what she was going to say. Unlike Aiken’s charming personality, words didn’t always come smoothly for her, mainly because she had a habit of speaking her mind, consequences be damned. In this instance, however, she attempted to be a little more guarded. If not for the sake of being able to eventuallyclaim her pay for finding Duncan, but to also spare Aiken any backlash he might get because of her. Nobody needed to answer for who and what she’d made herself into, especially not him.
“We were able to listen to a conversation we never would’ve heard if Aiken had burned all the vampires to the ground.” It came out just as tersely as it had sounded in her mind and she wasn’t apologizing forthat. “Duncan pulled up in a car and gave the directive to kill the dragons because they were getting in his way. So while you’re sitting here trying to figure out what he’s doing, he’s planning to exterminate all of you and go on with his life.”
Again, terse, full of contempt, and probably skating the line of disrespect.
“It was the right call,” Shola said as she stared down the tableto Mel.
“I agree.” That was Ziva, who’d just walked into the room, sunglasses covering her eyes, and that arrogant sway of her hips as she moved to take a seat beside Reese.
Steele eyed her suspiciously. “You’re late and you didn’t respond to my messages.”
Ziva didn’t even look in his direction. “I was busy.”
“And your partner was in trouble,” Steele snapped. He had thick blacklocs too, shorter than Magnum’s, but there were other similarities between the two that had Mel thinking they were probably blood related.
“He’s got another partner now.” Ziva nodded toward Mel, contempt dripping from her words. “Besides, I was getting more information from Enes.”
That announcement quickly changed the mood of the room.
“Duncan’s assigned a team to hunt us while hecontinues working out some type of agreement with Montoy. They’re both scheduled to leave the country in one week. The consensus is when they come back it’ll be with the full weight of an ancient vampire army behind them.”
“Great, so now we’re dealing with two separate sets of vampires in Burgess? And this Duncan person must be some powerful Lord to command his own following and bring theminto Montoy’s city without Montoy immediately snapping his neck.” Magnum leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.
“It makes sense. Montoy must need Duncan, the same way Temptra needed you,” Shola said to Ravyn. She stood slowly, rising up from the chair like some ethereal being and moving quietly to stand next to her husband. Her hand moved slowly to rest on Theo’s shoulder in a movethat seemed to solidify their roles here—him as the emperor and her as his mate. For a brief moment Mel wondered if that were the only dynamic at play in their relationship.
“You’re right. Temptra needed me to use the dagger to raise the dead. Duncan must only have a piece to the puzzle too.” This was Ravyn. Her voice was a slightly huskier timbre than Shola’s and she didn’t seem to beso regally connected to Steele. At least they weren’t acting like Shola and Theo. Perhaps because they weren’t the leaders of this little group. “If he had the means to get to the army and raise it on his own, he wouldn’t be here.”
“But what piece? Another dagger? A map? Maybe we’ve been so focused on figuring out a way to stop them from raising the army, we haven’t given enough thought towhere the burial site is,” Shola added.
Reese sat back in his chair and shrugged. “Temptra knew where it was. Maybe she told Duncan or Montoy. Maybe the key to stopping all this is the burial ground itself.”
It was a bit of a task following their conversation when she knew they were talking about things that had happened before she came to town, but Mel picked up on the key parts. “Wait.”She interrupted and dismissed the look of shock on everyone’s face. She didn’t ask anyone for permission to speak and she didn’t give a damn what their title was. “Riya said Duncan was in Africa. Isn’t that where you think the army’s buried?” Steele and Reese had been talking during their ride back to the Office and she’d been listening. Aiken had been brooding in his corner of the backseat. He’dprobably been recalling their interrupted interlude, but as far as she was concerned he could forget about that, because it was never happening again.
As if he somehow knew what she was thinking, Aiken immediately looked over at her. The heated gaze in his eyes was nothing new, he was both irritated with her and aroused by her. Once upon a time that had been an enticing combo. That slitheringsensation rippling beneath her skin increased until she trembled all over.
“Duncan’s not a Lord. At least not in the way the Royal Blood defines them. He and his sister Riya were bitten a few years ago. He was changed into a vampire.” He’d looked away from her before he started speaking but that feeling as if she weren’t alone in her own body only increased.
