Page 24 of Tempt the Dragon
It made her frown and use mostof her effort not to kick Aiken under the table. He was doing this to her. He’d pushed her in that car, telling her to focus on his voice and what she was feeling. He knew exactly what he was doing, what part of her he was trying to awaken. The bastard.
“After Temptra’s appearance and Enes’s bombshell about my heritage, I started tracking a couple members of my grandmother’s coven and they’remore than eager to help. There’re many stories about the Rebirth in all regions of Africa.” Ravyn spoke evenly.
Ziva drummed her fingers on the table. “Temptra was from the Congo region. That’s where Enes said she planned to take Ravyn with the dagger.”
“I’ve heard of that. My great-grandmother used to talk about it along with other myths of our land,” Shola continued. “The Rebirth oftheir ancient. Warrick tried it when he wanted to marry me to get control over my homeland of Mobo to raise an army of vampires. Then, remember Enes told us about Temptra wanting Ravyn and the cursed dagger to raise the Royal Guild, the most powerful of the buried ancient vampires, and the only group that could, once raised, bring back all of the ancients that had been buried over the centuries?”She waited a beat but was satisfied enough to continue when Theo nodded. “If the Royal Guild can be raised, they’ll outpower any of the vamps walking among us now. They’ll kill and ravage until there’s nothing left on any realm besides their kind. It’s what they tried to do once before, but were unsuccessful once the witches stopped them. Enes mentioned they were in an area called Lava Lake in theCongo region, but up to this point, I haven’t been able to locate the burial ground.”
That’s where Shola’s accent came from. She was from the African region, and so were Magnum and Steele, because they sounded like her. Ravyn, on the other hand, had no accent and yet was talking about her heritage and possibly having some type of power over a dagger. Mel was actively trying to piece all thisinformation together while dealing with Aiken and the part of her she desperately needed to keep at bay. Her temples began to throb under the pressure.
“How apropos it’ll be when I come up with the spell to stop them.” Her gaze fell on Ravyn once more and this time she stared closely at her. Out of the three women, not including herself, in this room, Ravyn was the only one not wearing sunglasses,and not carrying a pair with her.
Ziva hadn’t removed hers when she entered the room. Shola didn’t have any on, but Mel could see the outline of a pair in the side pocket of the vest she wore. Mel guessed the Drakon wore them to hide their eyes from the humans. So, if Ravyn didn’t have any, she wasn’t a Drakon.
“She’s a witch.” Ziva answered Mel’s unspoken question, sending a pithy glanceher way.
“Half witch,” Ravyn said with a nod. “On my mother’s side.”
“Shola and Ravyn will work on narrowing down the location of the burial ground and coming up with a way that we can possibly kill the ancients in the ground.” Theo spoke louder, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Steele, you and Reese stay on the streets, monitor any and all movement of the vamps. These nights full of grabbinghumans to convert or kill them must be stopped. Mag, you and I will juggle the Legion clients, doubling security in high traffic areas.”
He was handing out assignments and she hated that she already knew which one was coming her way.
“Aiken, you and Mel stay on Duncan. You two seem to have a knack for drawing him out. Whatever that is do it again, but this time catch the bastard and bringhim to me.” It wasn’t a request, but a command that brokered no argument from anyone in the room.
If Theo’s soul identifier powers could see into her mind to the way she was cursing him and the oppressive authority he’d been given just by being born, he might’ve changed his mind about keeping her around.
“We’re on it,” Aiken replied and stood so fast she didn’t have a second to think ofa comeback.
That was probably for the best, but the moment he clasped a hand over her wrist she knew the rest of their night was only going to get worse. Deciding she’d rather not make a scene, Mel rose from her seat and let Aiken lead her out of the room. But the moment that door closed behind them, she snatched away from his grasp.
“You don’t own me,” she snapped.
He ran a hand downhis face and huffed out a breath. “Not tonight, Mel. We’ve had a very long and eventful day and I’m damned tired of searching for a psycho vampire hell-bent on raising more psycho vampires while battling with you and the beast you think you can control. All I want to do right now is get a hot shower and go to bed.”
For the first time since things had gone haywire in the truck, she noticedhis clothes were a mess. Something black had splattered all over the front of his shirt and his jacket was torn at the shoulder. Her body jerked involuntarily and she stepped closer to him. “You’re bleeding.”
The acidic stench of blood stung her nostrils and pricked her skin with an awareness she wasn’t accustomed to.
Of course, he shrugged as if it was no big deal. “It’s healing.”
He’d been hurt tonight? How had she not known? Where had she been when it happened? Too many questions and she felt dizzy and slightly overwhelmed beneath his intent gaze. “I’m not showering with you,” she snapped, and forced herself to let the previous thoughts rest.
He’d already started walking away. “I didn’t ask you to. But if you’d rather go back in the room with the others, go right ahead.I’m sure Theo would love to hear why you despise him and his clans so vehemently. Or perhaps you’d rather spend the rest of the night with Shola and Ravyn, who’ll no doubt talk all of your secrets out of you in a couple hours, tops. And then there’s Mag’s smoldering attitude and Reese’s goofy come-ons. Take your pick.”
Recalling where they were in the fortress now, she caught up with him andelbowed him out of her way as she took the lead. “You can stop being an ass now.”
“Sure. Just as soon as you stop being a tease.”
