Page 29 of Tempt the Dragon
“Would you also say it’s a fact that neither time nor space will cancel out the Selection that’s already been made? You two have been apartfor eighty years, and the problem I’m guessing one or both of you decided to run from is still right there, front and center.”
He wasn’t wrong. That didn’t mean Aiken had to like it or verbally acknowledge it.
“Look, handle your personal life as you see fit. My concern is if you can handle this job. Because there’s a lot riding on this, Aiken.”
“I know. The fate of the realms dependson whether or not we can prevent this army from being raised. Vampires that’ve been buried for hundreds of years and dead in every other sense, for centuries before, still manage to be a threat to us all. I get it, Theo. And I’ll get Duncan to talk or burn him and his followers to the ground. You don’t have to worry about that.” At least that’s what Aiken had been telling himself since one of Duncan’sflunkies shot him with a fuckin’ arrow two nights ago.
Theo sighed heavily and nodded. “That’s the priority right now.” He waited a beat and then reached out to clap a hand on Aiken’s shoulder. “But you’ll still have to deal with her and the Selection when that’s done.”
Turning to look at his boss and longtime friend again, Aiken shook his head. “There’s no dealing with the Selection.It deals with you however it sees fit.” And in his case, it was taking his ass through the wringer and threatening to leave him shredded in a million pieces when all was said and done.
The quick rise of his beast sent coolness soaring throughout his body and before he could speak another word, he was turning around and looking up to see her standing at the top of the stairs.
The sightof her never failed to take his breath away. It wasn’t that she was wearing anything special—another pair of jeans, this time black with strategically ripped sections, a white turtleneck and her boots. She hadn’t done anything in particular with her naturally curly hair, still, it was everything about her that made Aiken and the beast within him sigh with delight.
This was the feeling thathad plagued him in those first weeks he’d worked alongside her all those years ago. The quickening of his pulse the moment she showed up in the training center ready to start their day. He’d been waiting for her back then, impatiently moving about his morning tasks while trying not to watch the clock to see how long he still had until she arrived. And then she’d be there and it was like his day,his life, could begin.
Growing up a Noble Drakon meant he’d been born with any and everything he could possibly want. Needing another person in the way he quickly came to need Mel was unexpected, but he’d had no defense against falling in love with her, none at all.
“Hello.” She spoke when she was standing a few feet away from them. He’d been so busy watching her and thinking about herand how they’d come to be at this point that he hadn’t realized she’d actually approached them.
Theo probably picked up on that and attempted to ease Aiken’s embarrassment at being mesmerized by her once again by speaking to her first.
“Hello, Mel. I trust you’re enjoying your stay here at the Office and that everyone is treating you well.” Theo could be diplomatic and polite, even whileitching to get Duncan in custody so he could either question the vampire or kill him. Aiken supposed it was the job of an emperor of an entire realm.
“I haven’t had any problems. Well, Reese is still upset that I keep beating him in pool, but he’ll get over it.” The soft smile that touched her lips had his beast once again pressing to break free and he coughed to hide the physical jolt ofhis body as he attempted to push it back.
The control Aiken had created in the last eighty years suddenly seemed to be crumbling and he wasn’t liking that at all.
“Reese is the biggest trash talker around here and the messiest loser at the same time.” His words were the absolute truth but that didn’t mean he liked the spark of triumph and enjoyment he saw in her eyes because of it. Howcould she be so happy playing around with Reese and not look at Aiken the same way when they were alone in his suite? At those times they were both operating on high alert, stepping around each other and their beasts as if they were walking through a field of live land mines.
“Well, I promised him another rematch tonight.”
“Then let me go and give him an assignment, otherwise he’ll stayin that game room all day practicing. You two have the meeting with Montoy at five. I was going to go, but considering you’ve actually seen Duncan, I think the two of you should walk inside the Royal Blood headquarters and take a look around. Bleu will be on standby like always.” Theo glanced at Aiken as he said that last part, since Aiken had called Steele for extraction a couple nights ago, insteadof alerting Bleu, who would’ve immediately notified Theo. Instead, Theo had been filled in by Reese when they were on their way back to the Office.
They had protocol at the Legion and normally Aiken was one of the main ones who followed it. Nothing seemed the same since Mel’s return.
“I thought we’d stop in some of the clubs before the crowd files in. Maybe somebody’s there during theday that can give us some information.” He’d thought about that this morning after talking to Ziva about exactly what Enes knew and why she was feeding them information. If he thought his world was shifting since Mel came to town, then Ziva’s had been on full tilt since Enes popped onto the scene. He wasn’t sure how Ziva was going to deal with what he knew was a very personal relationship with thevampire.
“That sounds good. Riya sent me a text late last night. Duncan showed up at her place last night asking questions about who’d visited her.”
He’d get to why she hadn’t bothered to tell him this sooner when they were alone, for now, there was a more pressing question. “Is she safe? Does she think he’ll come after her?”
Mel shook her head. She had done something different withher makeup today. It was around her eyes, an interesting design with a navy blue and silver eye shadow that almost looked like the peak of a star at both corners. “No. Or at least she didn’t give me that impression. I asked her if she knew how he’d found out we were there and she said he told her he always had eyes on her. She didn’t sound as freaked out by that as I felt.”
“I’ll get Magnumto pull a couple Legion agents in to watch her and her house. The last thing we want is him exacting any type of retaliation against her after she tried to help us,” Theo announced.
“Okay. Grab a jacket and let’s get going. We can stop at a couple clubs before it’ll be time to head to Montoy’s. Once that meeting’s done we’ll probably stay downtown for a while, drive the streets, see what wecan see. If Duncan’s guys are out looking for us they should be easy to find. Maybe if we grab one of them, it’ll bring Duncan to us.” He wasn’t betting on that plan, but he was itching to cross paths with the shooter who’d gotten away the other night. His shoulder may have healed completely but that didn’t mean Aiken felt any better about being shot in the first place.
“Go. Check in frequently.And keep your eyes open this time.”
Ignoring Theo’s last dig, he walked away without another word. Nobody was going to forget that Duncan and his crew had snuck up on him and Mel two nights ago. Nor were they going to actually say what they knew must’ve been going on in his truck to make both of them oblivious to the fact that vampires were close by. Well, he was cool with remaining silent,because he didn’t want to think about that portion of the night either. If he did, he’d have to address the fact that Mel still didn’t want any parts of him and that hurt way too much.
“When were you gonna tell me about Riya’s call?”
She’d known he would be pissed about that, which is why she’d tried to say it in front of Theo. Having a third party, she hoped, would curb some of hisanger about her delay in telling him. It had, but only for that moment. As soon as they were seat belted in the truck and driving away from the Office, he pounced.
“You were gone when I got up this morning.”
