Dragons Reign

Chapter One - WITH A BANG

The black dragon flew through the peerless blue sky above the
soaring towers of the City of Reach. This flight took place at high
noon, which was rare. Dragon King Valerius seemed to prefer
moonlight flights where his massive scaled body was silvered by
starlight, and he could stretch out his wings against the bone white
moon.
But this flight during the day was going to make Caden Bryce’s life
much easier. It meant the tourists would be jazzed to buy more
merchandise. Wally--the owner of Wally Nutt’s Emporium of Rare
and Exotic Goods and Caden’s boss--promised a bonus to the
employee who could sell the most black dragon plushies during this
30th Anniversary of the Great Awakening. Caden was game to win it.
With a grin, Caden grabbed an armful of black dragon plushies, and
walked out into the massive crowd of tourists who had flocked to
Dragon Strike Square. They were there to catch sight of Valerius, or
if they were lucky, take a picture of the Black Dragon King circling his
castle, High Reach, at the top of the city. Valerius' appearance was
causing people to hoot with delight and, hopefully, light the flame of
materialism in their breasts to take a souvenir.
“Plushies! Get your Dragon King Valerius plushies right here!”
Caden called, holding up one of the soft two-foot long stuffed
animals in the air, and twisting it this way and that to show it off.
A middle-aged woman with unfortunately highlighted hair turned
towards him with an “O” of excitement on her lips. She was already
turning red from the sun. Clearly, she was one of those people who
had been in the square since the early morning hoping to see the
Black Dragon King. Many people traveled from the far corners of the
kingdom to see Valerius. The 30th Anniversary put dragon sightings
up to a fever pitch. Some people even came from one of the other
seven kingdoms to simply catch sight of the most powerful of the
Dragon Shifters that now ruled their world.
“I’ll have three plushies please. Oh, make it four! So many people at
home will want one! They’re so cute and–oh, it’s not sacrilegious to
say they’re cute, is it?” The woman froze as she was opening her
massive purse to get money to pay him.
“New member of the Faith?” Caden guessed, keeping his voice as
low as he could in the roaring crowd. Evidently, Valerius had spit fire
into the air, which was causing a practical frenzy in the tourists.
Excellent job, your majesty! Caden thought. You’re keeping the
crowd happy. A few loops might not be unwarranted. That will really
get them going.
The woman’s pudgy hand went up to the silver chain around her
neck and clasped the pendant on it. The pendant was a stylized sun
with wavy lines. It represented the Spirits who, when they joined with
human souls, turned humans into Shifters.
“Yes, I am a member of the Faith. How did you know?” she asked.
“Your necklace.” He nodded towards it.
Her expression became crestfallen. “Oh, I hoped that–”
“And you have that special glow about you,” he lied to spare her
feelings.
“Really?” She brightened immediately. Her hand tightened on the
pendant. “I have been feeling different since I joined the Faith.”
“Like the Spirits are all around you?” he guessed, his smile
becoming a little pained.
She nodded vigorously. “Yes, exactly like that!”
Caden repressed a sigh. He knew a lot of these people like this
woman. They joined the Faith because they hoped that would mean
they, or someone in their family, would be chosen by the Spirits to
become a Shifter. His mother was a believer and complained about
this woman’s type all the time. According to her, they cheapened the
Faith, because they wanted something out of it other than to honor
the Spirits.
Whenever she brought up this argument, his father would remark
dryly that people joined every religion to get something out of it like
an afterlife in paradise, material riches, etcetera. Caden would
always then point out that at least the Faith gave you eternal life and
material riches in this life for certain. No faith required. So he didn’t
blame this woman for wanting the jackpot in life. Caden wasn’t sure
what he believed himself.
In some ways it seemed worshiping the Spirits was like worshiping
gravity. For thirty years, the whole of humanity had known that the
Spirits existed. They knew that the Spirits could change mortal
humans into immortal Shifters. Science couldn’t figure out why
some Spirits turned certain people into werewolves, others into big
cats or even others into snakes, rats or plagues of locusts, not to
mention the formerly thought mythological creatures, like phoenixes,
sphinxes, unicorns, and, of course, dragons. But, in the end, he was
pretty sure that scientists would figure it out. Maybe the scientists
would even be able to determine how to lure the Spirit to a person to
join with them. Maybe they might be able to even figure out how to
choose the type of Shifter they would be.
“What type of Shifter would you be if you had a choice?” Caden
asked her, suddenly curious what she hoped to be.
She put a finger to her lips, her eyes glittering with the possibilities.
“Oh, that’s so hard to say!”
“A werewolf?” he teased.
Almost every werewolf joined the military or police. The plump, soft
woman in front of him was ill-suited to that sort of life.
She tittered. “Oh, I don’t think so! But I am a paralegal so perhaps a
Raven Shifter?”
All Raven Shifters were lawyers or judges. His father complained
that because of their immortality and the fact that Shifters no longer
had to “retire” to avoid people noticing that they didn’t age, that the
profession was now stuffed full of Shifters, leaving no room for
humans to join their ranks. And who would want a mortal helping
them when they only had many fifty good years to master a
profession while a Shifter had forever?
“That would be cool, I’m sure. But I wonder about the people who
end up being the type of Shifter that they don’t want to be,” he found
himself saying.
But this woman, evidently, had no fear of that happening to her. She
sniffed superiorly. “Everyone knows that your personality is what
determines what kind of Shifter you are! It’s not like a good person
could become a Rat Shifter or, ugh, a Snake Shifter.”
Caden found his sympathy towards this woman waning. She made
it seem so simplistic. A good person would always turn into a “good”
type of Shifter. But a bad person? They would be revealed for what
they truly were if a “bad” type of Spirit joined with them. Caden didn’t
believe that. Not really.
The pressure to conform, Caden imagined, was strong. When a
person became a Shifter they were sent to live with a Clan of the
same kind. So if you happened to become a snake, rat or a plague
of insects that person was sent to one of those Clans. The Snake,
Rat and Insect Clans were full of criminals, or they were, at least,
thought shady, just as the werewolves were considered fine military
stock.
So what choice would a person really have if they were surrounded
by criminals, rejected by their human friends and family as all
Shifters were, and expected by everyone to become a thug? Caden
was pretty damned sure that any person–good or bad– would likely
become a thug, too, just to survive. It would take an extreme force
of will to be anything else.
He caught sight of Dragon King Valerius flying overhead again, this
time lower, almost dive-bombing the layer cake-like city of Reach.
His wingspan was longer than four city buses. There were massive
horns on the tip of his snout and jutting back from a head the size of
a house. His long black tail whipped behind him as he circled the
entire stronghold of Reach. There were oohs and ahhs.
You’re earning your keep, your majesty!
Valerius was handsome--more like beautiful--in his human form. But
his dragon one was awe-inspiring even to someone as jaded as
Caden who saw him flying every night on his way home from work.
“I wonder what it would be like finding out you’re a Dragon Shifter,”
he murmured.
The woman looked up at Valerius speculatively. “Few would know.
Only eight of them exist, right? There are more sphinxes than
dragons!” She sighed then and fanned her reddening face as the
Sun in that clear blue sky beat down upon her. “But it’s probably
best that there are only eight Dragon Shifters. The world’s already
carved up like a pie for each of them anyways. Imagine what would
happen if there was another one!”
“Yeah, you’re right. It would be chaos,” Caden agreed with a nod of
his head.
The woman was looking at him hopefully again. “So about those
plushies… you don’t think they’re sacrilegious, do you?”
He smiled. “Don’t worry, ma’am. It’s completely respectful. Dragon
King Valerius supports our efforts.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful to hear! I’ll take them all then!”
She thrust a bunch of twenty dollar bills with Valerius’ image upon
them into his hand after he quoted her the price. The Black Dragon
King’s face--strong jaw covered with a closely shorn beard, intense
eyes and dark hair tumbling to his shoulders--stared up at him from
his palm. Was it an accusing stare? Because what he’d told her
about Valerius supporting them wasn’t exactly true. It wasn’t exactly
false either.
Wally said often enough that if Valerius had a problem with the
selling of plushies or any other Shifter merchandise, the Black
Dragon King could very well fly down to Dragon Strike Square and
tell him about it. Since Valerius hadn’t, Wally was going to sell the
hell out of them. Besides it was nice for the tourists to have
something to take back besides pictures of the Black Dragon King,
though the Emporium sold those, too, and much better ones than the
blurry, out of focus photos that the tourists managed to snap on their
cellphones.
He gave the woman a last smile, folded the notes and put them in
his pocket, ready to hand over to Wally as soon as he got back to
the store. Delighted with her purchase, the woman toddled away
with two bags full of plushies. Caden raced back to the Emporium,
feeling like he might just win the plushie bonus money.
Caden was able to sell over two dozen plushies in three trips out into
the square before Valerius landed on the large courtyard outside
High Reach and shifted back into his humanoid form. Dragon Strike
Square was two layers down from High Reach so they were too far
away to see Valerius’ human form from here. The tourists groaned.
Caden wondered if the people in the Sky Garden could see Valerius’
naked body. The Sky Garden was just below the castle and it was
where the richest and most powerful Shifters and humans lived
along with Reach University. Dragon Strike Square and the
Emporium were on the middle layer, simply referred to as the Mid.
This was also where most middle-class people lived.
Shifters mostly occupied South and East Reach while humans were
in North and West Reach. His family lived in West Reach. Below the
Mid was the ground level of the city where the working poor and a lot
of industry was located. This was called Low Reach. And finally,
there was the Below, which was underneath the city itself. This was
where a lot of the criminal Shifter underground and poorest of the
poor lived far from the sky and the view of Dragon King Valerius.
“Is that it? It’s the Great Awakening! Please tell me we didn’t drive
eight hours for one flight!” A mother of three cried. She looked hot,
sweaty and exhausted from taking care of three rambunctious boys
who had only been quiet when the Black Dragon King was flying.
Caden took pity on her and said with a sympathetic smile, “No, he’ll
fly every hour until sunset. At least that’s what he did on the 25th
Anniversary.”
Her three boys started shouting with joy. She gave him a genuine
smile.
“Thank you so much for letting us know,” she told him. “I’ll just take
the boys for an ice cream while we wait for him to return.”
He nodded. “Fluorno’s has the best. It’s on the southwest corner.”
He pointed towards the shop with the brilliant white sign with red
letters. She smiled again and headed towards it, her boys trailing
after her like the tail of a kite. The Emporium had ice cream, too, but
it was not the freshly made, gloriously creamy stuff that Flurno’s had.
Even if there was an incentive to sell ice cream, he wouldn’t have
even tried to compete. Besides, he was first in plushy sales.
Speaking of which, I need to get some more.
He headed back to the wonderfully air-conditioned interior of the
Emporium. The Emporium filled the first floor of an impressive blue
stone building. The gold lettering that arched above the half-moon
shaped door proclaimed that there was no better place for Black
Dragon King Souvenirs! The shop though looked pretty empty at the
moment as most of the tourists were outside, not wanting to miss a
single instance of Valerius flying. They would wander in after they
realized Valerius wasn’t coming out for a while.
Caden pulled open one of the brass handled doors and stepped into
the enveloping coolness. But he soon forgot about the air-
conditioning as the first thing he saw was a gigantic black balloon
shaped like a dragon perched atop Wally’s very round head. He
blinked. The balloon dragon turned towards him when Wally turned
to face him. He wasn’t sure if he should stare at the balloon dragon’s
face or Wally’s.
His boss was only five feet--and that was when he wore his lifted
shoes--so it was actually easier to look at the balloon dragon’s face
than Wally’s considering Caden was just shy of six feet. Wally’s
whole body reminded Caden of a tiny snowman’s: round legs, round
torso, round head and now a hat on top! He repressed a snicker.
“Hey! Put one of these on! The kids will love them and bring their
parents into the store!” Wally’s gruff voice called out as shoved
another of the balloon dragon hats into Caden’s hands.
“I refused to wear one,” Landry said from her perch behind the
checkout counter. She was nineteen, only six years younger than
him, but acted as if she was as old as Valerius. The classic adult in
a teenager’s body with a rapier wit and a laconic drawl, Landry hid it
all behind the long, dyed black hair that perpetually hung in her eyes
and the sack-like black clothes she invariably wore. She wasn’t goth
or a slacker or anything at all. She simply refused to conform.
“Stand with me in solidarity and say no to balloon dragon hats!”
“Down with the balloon dragon hat empire?” Caden’s right eyebrow
rose as he held out said offending item.
Landry pumped her right hand into the air. She held up a pin as if it
were a tiny sword for justice. “Let me pop that for you.”
“Now wait a minute!” Wally’s head–and the balloon dragon hat–went
from him to her and back again. “I have compressed air and
balloons. That means balloon hats! Which equals profits if we play
our cards right!”
Caden turned the balloon dragon hat around so he could look at the
twisted face. “It is sort of cute.”
Landry’s head made a thump as it landed on the top of the counter.
“Caden, you’re hopeless!”
“Why? Because he won’t fight for lost causes? Because he wants
the store to profit?” Wally harrumphed. “You should learn something
from him, Landry!”
Despite what both of them said, Caden put the balloon dragon hat on
the glass counter by the door so that incoming customers would see
it and buy it. It was too hot outside to wear that on his head even if
he had been inclined to. He then threaded his way through the racks
of werewolf hoodies, raven t-shirts, unicorn mugs, sphinx statues
and phoenix embossed pens to Landry and the cash register. He
dug out all the money he’d gotten for the sales of the black dragon
plushies. She took the sweaty Valerius bills from him and scowled at
him from behind her bangs.
“How many more plushies have you sold to the gullible now?” she
asked.
He grinned and with a slight note of pride said, “That would be ten
more.”
“You’re on fire!” Wally hooted from over by the compressed air tank
where he was filling more balloons.
“Materialism is a rot in this world,” Landry sighed.
She turned in her stool, and with a dry erase marker updated his
total on the whiteboard behind her. He was ahead by over two
dozen from any other employee. He was definitely getting that
bonus. His little sister’s birthday was coming up and he’d have the
money to get her that new RPG video game she’d been eyeing for a
few months.
“You know you’re only encouraging Wally to sell more cheap schlock
to the tourists. It turns Shifters into something tawdry,” Landry
muttered.
“You don’t even like Shifters,” he pointed out. “Why do you care if
Wally makes a buck off of them?”
It wasn’t that Landry disliked Shifters or was even really prejudiced
against them as far as he could tell, but she hated that they were
made a fuss over, as if they were more special than humans. It was
strange though that she would work at a store that celebrated
Shifters as something cool. But almost immediately he could hear
his father droning on in his head that Landry had little choice in this
job market, just like he had little choice--even after getting a degree--
to obtain a job outside of retail.
Caden wasn’t so pessimistic. It had been tough for young people to
get a job before Shifters came into the light. He didn’t think that
much had changed. He would find a “real” job when he was ready,
but right now the Emporium was just fine while he figured out if he
was going to get his master’s degree or go directly into the
workforce.
“This whole thing–this 30th Anniversary–is all about how humans
lost the war to the Shifters, you know?” She crossed her arms over
her front.
Here we go again.
Caden rolled his eyes. He already heard Wally huffing and puffing
across the store to respond to Landry’s arguments. This happened
every anniversary since Landry started working there when she was
fifteen.
“I thought the Great Awakening was to celebrate how we all came
together after the war,” Caden answered her.
She leaned forward, dropping her voice conspiratorially. “You mean
when humanity had absolutely no choice other than to surrender
after the dragons decimated every nation’s military and the other big
Shifters overcame their police forces, too? It’s like someone
agreeing to whatever the person says who has a knife at their throat.
It’s not truly consensual.”
Caden started organizing the big cat Shifter shot glasses in order of
size on top of the counter as he pointed out, “Humans attacked
Shifters first. The governments were vivisecting Shifters to find out
how they worked so they could make super soldiers, not to mention
the human religious zealots who were burning Shifters at the stake
as agents of darkness.”
But Landry was shaking her head. “Shifters have been preying on
humans and hiding each other’s crimes for millennia so they wouldn’t
be found out. It was just the advent of DNA testing that forced them
to come clean.”
“There are bad and good humans and bad and good Shifters,” he
argued. “Maybe neither side was wholly in the right, but I’m glad that
Valerius organized the Shifters so that the war ended quickly without
too many people dying.”
“How can you feel that way when the Dragon Shifters took over the
world and--”
“Is she trying to fill your head with her Humans First propaganda?”
Wally asked as he waddled over.
“I am not a member of that organization,” Landry responded acidly.
“They’re totally species-ist.”
Humans First was a group that stated their aim was to protect
humans from Shifter overreach, but really, they considered Shifters
spiritually and physically contaminated by the Spirits. They didn’t
even call them Shifters and Spirits, but Hosts and Parasites. It was,
as Landry pointed out, species-ist.
“Then why are you arguing their talking points to Caden here?” Wally
asked her. His bushy eyebrows rose and lowered.
“All I’m saying is that I have a problem with celebrating a day, which
has led to inequalities for human beings,” Landry pointed out. “So
Valerius is a reasonably good ruler and hasn’t changed much in the
US and Canada. We still have our governments and our votes and
journalists and no ghettos for humans, but it isn’t the same
everywhere. Dragon King Illarion is a despot! The governments in
his kingdom are just puppets. And he isn’t the only one.”
Caden bit his inner cheek. She was right about Illarion. Though
journalism in Valerius’ kingdom–which constituted all of the US and
Canada as Landry had noted–was still vibrant and free to report on
anything, Illarion’s kingdom was a black hole where news went to
die. There were only hints of dark deeds happening there like putting
humans into camps while the Shifters took over all the wealth and
property. But those were only rumors. Nothing was truly known. But
the silence was worrying.
“There have always been despots and there always will be. Before
Shifters there were plenty of countries where the people were
repressed. Don’t fall for that Humans First nonsense that things were
all golden before the Shifters revealed their existence!” Wally
warned.
He was fifty so the first twenty years of his life had been before the
war so he knew what it had been like before Shifters were outed.
“Maybe you’re right, but Valerius is the biggest and most powerful of
all the Dragon Shifters. He’s their leader, right? He could make
Illarion stop what he’s doing,” Landry protested and he heard
genuine fear and concern in her voice.
Wally, too, looked uneasy. He rubbed his mustache–or the
pornstache as it was known in the Emporium because it looked like
mustaches in 1970s porn videos–and said, “Look, I get that things
aren’t perfect, maybe far from perfect, but I wouldn’t be so eager for
a war between Valerius and Illarion. It would be like two nuclear
weapons with wings fighting over our heads. Humans--us, you
know, Valerius’ subjects--would be in Illarion’s crosshairs if that
happened.”
Seeing the downcast looks on both their faces, Caden said, “Guys,
whatever this day was in the past, it’s different now for a lot of people
anyways. You go out there,” he pointed to the excited crowds
outside of the shop, “and these people are so excited to see
Valerius. They’re even oohing and ahhing at the werewolf police in
the square. Shifters are proof that magic exists for them. That’s a
good thing for the most part.”
“You know that Shifters get benefits we don’t though,” Landry
groused.
“And they have problems we don’t either like losing their families
after they join with the Spirits,” he pointed out and Landry lowered
her head.
She was tight with her older brothers. Losing them would be a huge
issue for her.
“The boy makes sense.” Wally patted his arm. “You’re both good
people, but trust me when I say that things before the war weren’t
fair either. There’s always going to be someone on top. Who is on
top may have changed, but the system was always there, trying to
keep us down no matter what. So you just gotta do your best to
keep your head above water and help those coming after you.
That’s the secret of life! Remember it!”
Caden’s phone began to buzz in his front pocket. He pulled it out
and saw it was his little sister Tilly.
“I gotta take this,” he said and headed towards the door to speak to
her privately outside.
“Sell some werewolf hoodies while you’re out there!” Wally enthused
and shoved half a dozen hoodies with werewolf faces on the front
into Caden’s free hand.
He met Landry’s eyes or rather her bangs, and they shared a look.
He grinned and shook his head before heading out with the hoodies
clutched to his chest.
“Hey, Tilly! What’s up?” he asked his sister as he pushed open the
door and entered the sticky heat of the square.
It was a video chat rather than just an audio call so he held the
phone out in front of him so that they could see each other. His sister
had his same blond hair though hers curled and hung to her
shoulders while his was short and spiked up. Her normally cherubic
face was set in a Landry-like scowl. He already knew why, but he
guessed she wanted to vent more than anything.
“Mom and Dad are still saying I can’t go down to the square tonight
to meet up with you and see the fireworks!” she pouted.
“There was some trouble here on the 25th Anniversary with Humans
First and Shifters fighting,” he reminded her, though he doubted
there would be any trouble this time. The square was packed with
werewolf cops. They were in their human forms, which were still
impressive as they were all over six feet, built and athletic, not to
mention bristling with human weapons. “They don’t want to risk you
getting hurt.”
His little sister let out a put upon sigh that was larger than her
slender thirteen-year-old frame should have been able to produce. “I
totally wouldn’t get hurt! I would be with you! And Wally and Landry!
Nothing would happen to me.”
He smiled at her certainty that they could keep her safe. “I know, Til.
If you go out onto the front porch you’ll be able to see most of the
fireworks. And next year, when you’re a little older–”
“They won’t be as good next year! It won’t be the big anniversary!
And the porch is lame.”
She shifted and he saw she was in her bubblegum pink room that
was half painted black. She’d told him that pink was for little kids a
month ago. She wanted a teenager’s bedroom and had gotten the
paint herself. Their mother had stopped her after one wall was
painted midnight black. His sister and their mother were in a
showdown about what color the room would be. Not black!
According to their mother. Nothing but black! Was his sister’s roar in
response. He had no idea who would win out. They were both
strong willed.
“It’ll be on TV and the net, too,” he reminded her.
“It’s not the same as being there!” she whined.
He had to agree with her. He wished she could be with him, but their
parents were adamant that she stay at home. One child in harm’s
way was enough for both of them.
“I know. But try to make the best of it,” he told her. “The Black
Dragon King will be flying every hour.”
“Have you seen Valerius?” she asked, hope springing into her eyes.
“Yeah, he was just out. Couldn’t you see him?” he asked her.
“The trees mostly blocked my view, but his wings looked so
awesome in the sun!” she enthused.
The Black Dragon King inspired crazy devotion in people, including
his sister, though really the man was hardly in public, never spoke to
the people and seemed to think that simply posing dramatically
against the sky was his sole job description. Landry was probably in
agreement with Valerius that this was all the Black Dragon King
should do and leave the duly elected politicians and bureaucrats to
do the rest.
But Caden thought he should take more of an interest in people.
Sure Valerius was wickedly handsome and looked like royalty, but
he seemed as distant from them as they were from the Sun. Yet
though his sister would never meet Valerius or speak to him even
though she lived in his royal city, she was still nuts about him like
one would be a movie or rock star.
“Is Wally making you sell crazy stuff?” she asked, catching sight of
the werewolf hoodies.
“Yeah, he’s even got balloon black dragon hats,” he chuckled.
She perked up. “Really? Could you get me one?”
He nodded. “For sure. What about a black dragon plushie?”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Stuffed animals are for kids.”
“I don’t know. These are pretty cool. I might get one for myself,” he
teased her.
“You’re such a dork!” But she said it with a smile.
At that moment, he heard a popping sound and white smoke rose up
from the middle of the crowd. There were cries of surprise and
people starting coughing as the thick, acrid smelling smoke spread.
There was another pop and another. Red smoke, blue smoke, and
black smoke joined the white. An almost impenetrable haze of the
stuff started filling the square. The werewolf cops were immediately
charging into the crowd.
“What’s happening?” Tilly asked, her forehead furrowing as she
caught sight of his worried expression.
“I don’t know. There’s some kind of… I think I need to get inside the
Emporium,” his voice quickened as the crowd started to panic and
ran away from the smoke in waves.
“Is everything okay?” his sister’s voice went high and tight and she
got up on her knees on her bed.
“Yeah, I…” His voice died.
The smoke and people cleared for a moment and he saw a girl with
a black backpack standing about ten feet away by one of the support
columns of the stores. No one else was looking at her, all of them
were either racing away from the smoke or, if they were werewolf
cops, running towards it.
She didn’t look any older than his sister yet she moved with adult
determination and precision as she took off the backpack and put it
purposefully by the side of the pillar. There was something else
about the way she moved that he’d subconsciously recognized, but
now consciously understood. She was being furtive.
He watched in shocked disbelief as she drew back the top of the
back pack, and pushed a red button. This started a timer counting
down. A two minute timer attached to a bomb.

Chapter Two - The King and His People

EARLIER…

Dragon King Valerius landed on the large courtyard. There was a

dull thunderous sound as his massive dragon form settled on the
thick stone slabs that held his weight. He folded his wings against
his back before shifting into his human form with a scowl on his lips.
He normally was pleased after a flight, but this one had been a show.
He was doing this to please the roaring crowd below and not himself.
He felt their presence with him instead of it being just him, the Spirit,
the sky and the wind.
It may be a show, his Spirit, Raziel, said, But they feel awe towards
us. This is good.
You are sounding like Chione now as if being seen as part of the
entertainment is not beneath us, Valerius remarked about their
Sphinx Shifter Counselor.
She advised the Pharaohs of Egypt for millennia. Perhaps she could
be right in her suggestions to us as well? Raziel chuckled.
Already, he could feel the Spirit curling in his chest to rest. Raziel
was most active in the evenings, wanting to fly and hunt under the
moon. But because of the Anniversary Valerius was prodding it
awake on the hour to fly and show off. Not that Raziel seemed to
mind. It viewed humans with a sort of pleased amusement as he
might industrious ants on an anthill. Valerius saw them as tiresome
and, occasionally, deadly. He ruled and interacted with them
because he’d been given no choice.
Two Claw guards, dressed in their black and red articulated armor,
crossed their arms over their chests and bowed their heads as he
approached them. The stone slabs that made up the courtyard were
each carved with a different kind of Shifter to represent his
dominance over them all. The stones were hot under the beating sun
and he moved more quickly towards the arched stone doors into
High Reach. The guards opened the doors into his throne room. As
he passed from sunlight into the cool dimness of the stone throne
room, he went blind for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the
difference in illumination.
Instead of just finding Chione there to greet him, the President of the
United States Alyson Goodfellow and Canadian Prime Minister Hugh
Stanton were present with Chione standing beside them with a small
smile on her lips. She knew he would be annoyed at the world
leaders’ presence. He was going to see enough of them–and plenty
of other tiresome politicians, human and Shifter–at the banquet that
night. But if she had allowed them into the throne room to wait for
him then it must be something important that they had to say, or
rather, she thought it was important for him to hear.
He raised an eyebrow at her, but she merely inclined her head, her
long black hair falling in waves to mid-back. She was being of no
help. He would have to get out of the world leaders what they
wanted.
With dark amusement, he noted how careful the two human
politicians were not to notice that he was naked. Goodfellow even
stepped towards him with her hand outstretched and a smile
plastered on her face before he had a chance to grab the black silk
robe that was hanging off the arm of his throne to show just how
much she accepted his Shifter ways.
She likely thinks of me, at least in part, as a dangerous animal.
Clothes are not expected on an animal.
That was likely an unfair assessment. From what he knew of her--
she was two years into her first, four-year term as President of the
United States--she was a compassionate leader who did her best to
represent both Shifters and humans equally. But he could still
remember how right after the war was done the world’s former
leaders alternately cringed and shook their fists at him. They hadn’t
known what he would do back then.
Should they be defiant assuming he would treat them as badly they
had Shifters? Or compliant, and hope that he remembered every
Shifter was a human once? The latter had won out and thirty-years
of relative peace had followed with humans and Shifters living
together, if not fully accepting each other.
“King Valerius!” Goodfellow said enthusiastically. Her smile was so
wide that her blue eyes were almost completely hidden by the
wrinkles that formed around them. “How good to see you as always
and on such a momentous day!”
“President Goodfellow.” He nodded his head and took her hand for a
brief, firm shake.
Prime Minister Stanton also stepped over and offered his hand.
Chione had gone over to the throne and grabbed Valerius’s robe.
She opened it up for him as soon as he finished shaking the Prime
Minister’s hand and he slipped it on, wrapping the cool silk around
his overheated body.
He walked over to the throne and sprawled out on it, grabbing the
bottle of water that sat in an ice bucket to the side and took long
swallows. He finished the entirety of the icy liquid. As if by magic,
Katelyn, one of his most trusted servants, came from an alcove and
replaced the empty glass bottle with a full one. He smiled his thanks
at her. A brief smile, but still a genuine one. She curtseyed and
disappeared into the alcove again, to watch him and anticipate his
every need. He turned his attention from her and regarded the two
world leaders through narrowed eyes.
“What can I do for you?” he asked.
Best to come to the point. Then they’ll leave all the faster.
The two world leaders looked at each other slightly nervously. They
knew of his temper and likely didn’t wish to say something that would
offend him.
Realizing that was likely part of the problem, he spoke to them again.
“I know that you are here for the Anniversary, but what brings you to
the throne room now? We will spend plenty of time together during
the festivities this evening.”
More than enough time. I hope I will not see you for a year at least
after them.
“I admit that I wanted to see your dragon form up close. I don’t know
if you noticed us out on the courtyard while you flew,” Goodfellow
said with an almost girlish laugh. “You’re more magnificent than I
ever imagined! So big!”
“I, too, wanted to take advantage of my position to get a closer look.”
Prime Minister Stanton gave a chuckle. “I’ve only ever seen you on
television when you are shifted. We had hoped to stay out on the
courtyard for when you landed, but Counselor Chione thought it best
we wait inside.”
Because I might have--accidentally, of course--spit fire right at you.
He let a thin smile appear on his face. Unlike the other Dragon
Shifters, Valerius rarely met directly with the governments that were
part of his kingdom. And he did not shift as a party trick. There was
too much of a carnival atmosphere around this Anniversary than he
liked in any case. But Chione seemed to think it was a good thing.
He was not so sanguine.
He waved a hand into the air languidly, as he said, “Well, now you
have seen me so you can take your leave–”
“There was one other thing that brought us here before the feast.
Something we couldn’t discuss then,” Goodfellow interrupted. She
gave him a flash of a nervous smile, but continued on boldly,
“There’s the matter of Dragon King Illarion. I do not know if you’ve
had a chance to review the CIA’s reports regarding his activities in
Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.”
He stiffened on the throne. Today of all days when his temper was
running hot he had to be reminded of his old enemy. “I am well
aware of Illarion’s activities.”
And he was. But his deal with the other Dragon Shifters thirty-years
ago was that they would fight together under his leadership and then
divide the world amongst themselves. Nothing more. Nothing less.
How they ruled their kingdoms after the war was each Dragon
Shifter’s business.
“Then you know that he must be stopped,” Stanton spoke next.
The Prime Minister’s hands were clasped in front of him. He was
sixty with steel gray hair and piercing blue eyes. He wore
conservative suits and appeared mild-mannered, hardly ever raising
his voice in public, but Valerius could see the determination in his
straight shoulders and lifted head.
“The rumors that have been coming out of his kingdom are nothing
compared to the truth,” Goodfellow added, her voice strained. She
was ten years Stanton’s junior and probably half his size in her
colorful mauve suit and white string of pearls around a slender neck,
but she projected even more determination than Stanton did. “Many
humans are confined to camps to work as slaves in the fields or in
factories. Anyone who disagrees with Illarion disappears never to be
seen again. Shifters, too, are kept in highly segregated areas. None
are allowed to leave the kingdom.”
Valerius' jaw tightened with every word as she continued on,
describing the horrors in Illarion’s kingdom. What she told him was
not news. Illarion, the Green Dragon, poisonous as his color would
suggest, was a thorn in his side and had been for over a millennia.
We will have to fight him again, Raziel said sleepily.
Valerius glanced at the magical mirror that covered one whole wall of
the throne room from floor to the glass ceiling two stories above their
heads. In it, he could see the Spirit in dragon form in place of
himself. One of Raziel’s red and gold eyes opened slightly.
You know what will happen if we do fight. Millions will die, he replied.

You assume that we have a choice between no one dying and

millions perishing. Illarion kills without compunction now. The poison
he emits has scrambled his own brain, Raziel remarked.
If we leave him be, we save many more than are sacrificed to his
insanity.
This was an old argument between them. Their positions had not
changed. The stakes had not changed. He saw no way forward
other than to hold to the maxim that each Dragon Shifter did as he or
she pleased in their own kingdoms. Interference would only bring
disaster.
You know it will not be a clean battle between us and Illarion,
Valerius stated. The others will choose sides.
And many will choose us. Illarion has made no friends. He wants
none, Raziel pointed out.
Without the need for secrecy, Illarion will simply kill those in our
kingdoms. We cannot save everyone, he pointed out, not for the first
time.
We never have been able to, Raziel remarked softly before settling
back into sleep.
Goodfellow had stopped talking. He wasn’t sure how long she had
been silent. The tension in the room was nearly palpable. He could
feel it skating up and down his spine. He swallowed the bitter rage in
his throat.
“It is interesting to me that you would bring up going to war on the
exact date of the last one. I would not think you would be so eager to
repeat it considering how the last one went,” he said tersely.
“We do not want war!” Goodfellow argued. “We would only ask that
you speak with him. You are the First Among Equals. You are their
leader. He needs to listen to you.”
Chione’s yellow eyes were fixed upon him. The Egyptian Sphinx
Shifter was as still as one of the statues of her hidden in the vast
deserts. This was, of course, what she had wanted him to hear. The
two countries that made up his kingdom were now intent on him
stopping Illarion. It was not just rumblings he was hearing in his own
conscience or from her lips. But he already knew that there would
be nothing good down any road he took with Illarion.
“You think it's so simple? That I speak to him and he will stop?”
Valerius asked, his voice cool.
“He joined together with you against humanity. He listened to you
then when you did not allow Shifters to seek revenge on humans,
but instead, sought to bring us all together as equals,” Stanton
pointed out. “Your will and guidance are the reason that the world is
in as good of a place as it is today.”
The huge scar on his back ached as he heard these words. Illarion
had not agreed to these terms of his back in the day. It was not as
though he reasoned with the Green Dragon and got him to see
sense. No, it had been a battle. He’d had to fight and defeat Illarion,
almost kill the other Dragon Shifter, before he had gotten his way.
This scar and the many others on his body were from that fight.
Some days he wondered if he shouldn’t have ended Illarion’s life
then and there. But to win over all of the Dragon Shifters and others,
he’d needed to show mercy as well as strength. How could he
advocate mercy towards humanity if he’d shown none to Illarion? But
it felt now as if he had simply bought trouble for himself down the
road.
And are we at the end of that road now?
“If the fates of people not in your kingdom do not move you,”
Goodfellow said carefully, “then perhaps you would consider the fact
that unrest here has been increased by Illarion’s activities. Humans
First is gaining strength and numbers as they provide video proof of
the atrocities taking place in his kingdom. They claim that Shifters
do not care what happens to humans and here is evidence of that.”
“You said yourself that Illarion targets Shifters as well as humans. He
cares not whom he hurts,” Valerius pointed out as his fingers curled
over the arms of his throne.
This throne had been carved out of a single piece of basalt by a
brilliant human sculptor. Like the courtyard, it represented his reign
over them all. But it was a millstone around his neck. It was never
something he’d wanted. He had argued vociferously against
revealing their existence to the humans, but he had been overruled.
And all Hell broke loose in the end. Now, I am stuck trying to
balance the impossible.
For a moment, he wished fiercely that the hour was up so that he
could simply shed his robe and human skin and fly through the air,
performing tricks like a trained monkey to please the screaming
crowds. Another part of him wished that Illarion was before him at
this moment so that he could rip off the Green Dragon’s wings and
shove them down his throat. Illarion could drown in his poison
instead of infecting the whole of the world with it.
“I know that you have left our governments mostly untouched,”
Stanton said as he licked suddenly dry lips. “And we appreciate that-
-the people do--more than can be expressed. You rarely step in, and
then, only when there is something truly egregious that needs
sorting. Again, you allow democracy to work and that is incredibly
wise and generous of you. But people look to you for moral
guidance as well. If you do not act against Illarion’s evil then others
might not see why they have to follow the laws. Why they cannot
just follow their natures. And we know where that leads.”
“Death is the only thing that will stop Illarion from ruling as he
chooses,” Valerius said flatly. “If it were a simple matter of battling
him and winning, I would do it. But it is not. This balance we have is
because the Dragon Shifters do not interfere with one another’s
kingdoms. If I were to kill Illarion without another drop of human or
Shifter blood shed, do you truly think that would be the end of it?”
His gaze went once more over to the magic mirror that was streaked
with black and gold cracks. Raziel’s head was up and it was
regarding Valerius out of those beautiful yet alien red-gold eyes.
First, there would be the fights over Illarion’s old territory. We would
have defeated him, we should get his space, but that is not how Mei
will see it. Especially with Mongolia butting up directly against her
kingdom, he said to Raziel.
The Red Dragon may be crafty, Raziel spoke about Mei, the Dragon
Shifter who ruled over China and most of the East. But we can take
her.
Valerius raised an eyebrow. Oh, you would have us kill Mei, too?
Take her territory? Do you think even our allies like Esme would not
rise up against us?
Esme, the Blue Dragon, ruled over most of Western Europe. They
were fast friends, as much as Dragon Shifters were. She had been
the first to come to his side to take control of the Shifter-Human war.
Even now, they still visited each other’s kingdoms, which was rare
among their kind. Staying far away from one another was the wisest
course normally.
They would do well to leave us to our own devices, Raziel remarked,
red fires appearing in its nostrils and smoke--black and sinuous--
pouring out.
You would have us be alone in this world, wouldn’t you? Valerius
sighed.
Yes, then everything would be as we wish it to be. Raziel’s head
lowered back down onto its massive claws.
But we would be alone, Valerius pressed and, for just a moment, he
felt a hole open in his chest that threatened to swallow him up.
We have each other. That is all we need. Raziel’s eyes closed.
“The balance won’t hold,” Goodfellow said and Valerius’ head
snapped towards her from the mirror. “It’s already slipping. I can feel
it in the rise of Humans First, in the growing network of the Shifter
underworld that infects your kingdom, and the general unrest.
Illarion is a cancer that is spreading.”
Chione clasped her elegant brown hands together and stepped
between him and them. She was smiling gently. “There is a world of
opportunities between speaking and destruction. You have
expressed your concerns to King Valerius and he will take them
under advisement. But today is not the day to discuss them, I think.
We should focus on peace and what we have all gained over these
30 years of coexistence.”
The two world leaders struggled not to object, but her words were
sensible. They could tell he was not in a receptive mood to their
arguments. Goodfellow managed a smile. Stanton merely looked
weary. Both of them finally nodded and Chione ushered them out.
The massive doors to the throne room closed behind them and
Chione returned. She wore an off the shoulder soft gray sweater and
white wrapped skirt with sandals strapped to her elegant feet. She
did not return directly to him, but instead went to the doors that led
out onto the courtyard. He frowned as she pushed them open.
Framed in the golden light, she gestured for him to join her. He
grabbed his water and stalked out after her. He found her leaning
against the stone railing, looking out at Reach below them, one layer
extending below the other. Her dark hair stirred in the wind.
“Why did you have me listen to that? I am well aware of Illarion’s
activities,” he hissed.
She did not get angry--she rarely did--as she answered him in her
lightly accented voice, “You had to hear it from your people.” He
must have made a face for she lectured him gently, “They are your
people though you are loath to accept them as such. Now that you
have heard from them their desires, you cannot deny what is
happening.”
“I am not in denial.”
“You are hoping it will go away. But Illarion will continue in his course
unless you stop him.”
He shook his head violently. “I did not ask for this.”
“But you took responsibility, my king. You saved everyone before.
We all became your children,” she said. “And now you are being
called upon again.”
“Chione, you are not so foolish as to think like the humans do that I
can simply take out Illarion without consequences, do you?” He
stared hard at her beautiful profile.
Her pink-brown lips pursed as she answered, “No, but there is a limit
to what one can accept.”
“You say that now, but you do not know what you are asking of me.”
His hands curled into fists on the railing.
“Nothing yet, but for you to think about it. Just to think, my king.”
He wondered what she would think of Raziel’s desire to simply wipe
out all the dragons and rule absolutely. They also sought remote
places from which to look upon their domain and not to be bothered
by anyone. But that was the nature of the Black Dragon. They were
the largest, most powerful, and meant to rule. But he had pulled
back for the people that Chione thought he didn’t care about.
She smiled down at all of the teeming people in the Mid. There were
even onlookers in the Sky Garden gazing up at High Reach, waiting
for him to take to the skies again.
“It smells of popcorn,” Chione said with relish. “With lots of butter
and salt. I think I smell caramel, too. Oh, I would love a caramel
apple!”
“Carnival,” he sniffed. “They have made this day into a carnival.”
She bumped her shoulder with his. “Would it not be fun to go down
to the Mid and eat ice cream and cotton candy? To see the excited
faces of the people? To be a part of it all?”
“They come here to watch me fly. They do not care about me.” And
he had not meant to sound so very bitter.
“I think they would be just as fascinated by your human form as your
dragon one.” She turned to face him, her expression full of mischief.
“Why don’t we find out? Let’s go down and--”
She did not get to say anything more, because at that moment he
heard faint cries of distress that rose up to him. His head snapped
towards Dragon Strike Square. He saw the people who had been
milling about aimlessly, taking pictures, and eating ice cream were
suddenly running in all directions away from where a plume of multi-
colored smoke rose from the center of the square.
Without thought, he shed his robe and leaped up onto the stone wall
before launching himself off of it. He transformed into his dragon
form in mid-air. While he was not yet ready to seek out and take
Illarion’s head, he would not allow anyone to harm his people.
CHAPTER THREE - THE NINTH DRAGON SHIFTER
“Hey! HEY!” Caden cried at the girl by the bomb. He was waving
his arms frantically in the air to get her attention. “What are you
doing? Get away from that!”
The moment he said the last, he knew it was stupid. She was setting
the bomb. She wasn’t unaware of what it was and needed to be
protected from it. Her head immediately snapped up and towards
him. She had dark brown hair drawn into a high ponytail on her
head. Her features were sharp in a fox-like face with deep brown
eyes. He thought he saw a yellow flare pass over those eyes. This
nightshine was peculiar to Shifters. But it was there and gone so
quickly that he wasn’t really sure he had seen it at all.
She rose up on the balls of her feet. Her hands flexed by her sides.
Her eyes darted to the rapidly counting down bomb then back to him.
He guessed she was considering whether to grab it and take off or
just to leave. Was there enough time for her to put it someplace else
that he wouldn’t see? But there evidently wasn’t as she darted off
and he lost her in the crowd. As important as she was, the bomb
was more important. He cast around for one of the many cops that
had been lining the square but there was none in sight.
None.
“Bomb! BOMB!” Caden screamed.
He pointed towards the backpack, which already showed only one
minute thirty seconds left on the timer. But his voice was drowned
out by the crowd’s cries and screams about the smoke. No one
heard him. No one paid attention. No one was going to come and
take care of this for them all. Not in time.
And then it seemed time slowed down and the roar of the crowd
became muted and his own breathing and heartbeat filled his ears.
He knew, in this moment, that the choice he made in the next
second would decide who would live and who would die, including
himself.
He could run away, screaming about the bomb, saving himself and
perhaps warning a few people. Very few. In fact, he might cause
further panic and people could be trampled. And there were so many
people in the square that it now seemed too small to hold them all.
He didn’t know how powerful the bomb was. They might not be able
to get far enough away anyways.
Or he could do what he did do.
“Tilly, I love you. Tell Mom and Dad, I love them, too,” he said to his
little sister’s anguished, frightened face.
He then dropped the phone along with the sweatshirts onto the
ground and dashed towards the bomb. He picked the backpack up
by the handle on the top without stopping running. He knew where
he was going to go, the only place that could possibly be far enough
away from as many people as possible that he could reach in time.
It was called the Drop. And that’s what it was. It was a sheer cliff on
the side of the Mid that dropped down into an empty valley.
This is insane! What am I doing? Someone else should be doing
this! I’m not a hero!
But he didn’t drop the bomb. He didn’t stop running. He dodged and
weaved around people who were still half-running, half-walking from
the smoke. Confusion filled their sweat-drenched faces. Had the
smoke been anything? Was it really all right and just some prank?
It wasn’t a prank, he knew. It was a diversion. It was to draw the
cops away from the area where the true bomb was being set. It was
why it was him carrying this bomb and not some burly werewolf or
fleet-footed Jaguar Shifter.
He couldn’t scream at them to make way, that there was a bomb,
because every breath was necessary to keep running. His lungs
burned as if the air he consumed was fire instead. His legs were
cramping. But he weaved through the riled crowd. He nearly lost his
footing once, but somehow he managed to keep upright. And then
the railing that marked the Drop was ahead of him. He let out a
pained moan.
Almost there! I’m almost there! I’ll just have to throw it off the edge
and--
His thoughts screeched to a halt. He had caught sight of the counter
on the bomb at that moment. Twenty seconds left. And people were
clustered around the railing. Too many people. When he got to the
railing he wouldn’t have time to reach back and throw the bomb far
enough away. All those people would be killed. He would likely be
killed, even if he dropped down underneath the railing’s edge.
Again, time seemed to slow as he considered what to do. He saw
that there was a stone base by the nearest post. He could use that
as a launching pad. A launching pad to throw himself and the bomb
into space as far away from the people as he could. Maybe if he
curled his body around the bomb that would affect its power. Maybe
save a few lives.
I am going to die.
But that seemed like a foregone conclusion now anyways. The
moment he had grabbed the bomb there was no good outcome here.
The only question was how many people would he save or take with
him into the great beyond.
I am dead already. So I can have no fear of death. I’m already there.
He pictured his parents and his sister. Their smiling faces. Not the
tears they would shed, but the pride they would have knowing that
he did what he could to save others. It was all he had to hold onto.
“BOMB!” he screamed “GET BACK!”
People turned around to look at him, murmuring about what he was
on about. And how it wasn’t funny to yell “bomb”. And who did he
think he was?
Some of them saw the backpack and glimpsed what was inside.
These people screamed, high, thin-pitched screams, as they shuffled
backwards, but were unable to move any further because there were
too many people in the way. Caden could only help them by doing
what he was about to do.
Please let them all be all right. Please let my family know I love
them. I will always love them.
Caden brought the backpack up and hugged it against his chest with
both arms. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Black Dragon
soaring down from High Reach. Maybe he was simply flying for
entertainment purposes or maybe he sensed that something was
wrong. But Caden had no time to admire the Black Dragon’s flight.
He had a flight of his own to attend to.
He leaped onto the stone base and used it as a step to the top of the
railing. He saw the sky before him. He didn’t look down. He just
stared up at the blue, blue sky. And he launched himself into it.
Caden did not hear the screams of the people behind him who
thought he was simply committing suicide. He did not hear the other
people who had seen the bomb shouting for others to get back. He
only heard the whistling of wind in his ears and then the shrill beep of
the counter on the bomb as it hit 00:00. He didn’t expect to live long
enough to hear the blast that would turn him into dust.
And he didn’t.
All he heard was silence as the sky went red then white then gold all
around him. He wasn’t aware of his body. There was no pain. No
pleasure either. It was as if he had no form at all, but was a spirit just
hanging in the void. And then a voice seemed to fill everything all
around him. It was toneless. Sexless. It simply was.
Brave, it said.
Noble, it said.
Sacrifice, it said.
And finally, it uttered one word that did have a tone to it, and that
tone was a mixture of joy and excitement, Worthy.
And the world that had been stripped away to blankness came back
in a rush to Caden. There was a boom and he felt something impact
his chest, but it was more like a feather had hit him, no big deal. He
was hovering in mid-air.
“Is that…”
“It can’t be!”
“But it is!”
“It’s another dragon!”
What? Another dragon? Caden wondered. Where? Why am I not
dead?
He turned his head towards the voices. His whole body moved and
something--some part of him--brushed along the mountain. He
jerked this part of himself away from the mountain and suddenly he
was plummeting towards the bottom of the valley.
What the Hell is happening?! Up! Up! Up!
He twisted and flapped--flapped? Yes, flapped--frantically. The
plummeting stopped and he began to rise up and up and up until his
head was level with the railing of the Drop.
How am I doing this? Why aren’t I falling? And really, why am I not
dead?
People were staring at him with open mouths. One woman pressed
both hands to her cheeks, eyes and mouth wide open. Another
person was weeping, but not in grief but in joy. A little boy shrugged
off his father’s protective hands and rushed towards the railing
towards him.
Hey! Be careful there! I don’t want you to fall!
Caden leaned forward to urge the boy back. His head snaked
towards the boy. He was still several feet from the boy, but he almost
lost sight of the boy’s face unless he tipped his head--snout--
downwards to view him.
The boy gasped, “Whoa!” But then he was laughing and smiling.
“You’re nice! Dad, he’s nice!”
“Johnny, c-come b-back h-here,” his father’s voice shook as he
reached towards his son.
But Johnny was having none of it. In fact, he climbed up on the first
rung of the railing to get a better look at Caden. “He’s a white
dragon. What kind of things do you think he can do?”
A what now? I’m a what now?
He looked down at his body. Pearlescent white scales covered a
massive dragon form. His serpentine neck allowed him to see his
tail. Yes, he had a tail.
Oh, my God, I have a tail…
And wings. And claws. And…
I’m a dragon! I’m dreaming! I’m dead! No… no… I’m a dragon!
Hysterical laughter bubbled inside of him, but what came out of his
snout, maw, thing was a gush of ice that landed with plinking sounds
on the rocks below. He quickly slammed his jaws shut so as not to…
not to what? Turn people into ice statues? The boy was leaning so
far over the railing that his father finally overcame his fear and was
right up behind him, holding him around the waist.
“Ice! Look at the ice the White Dragon made, Dad!” Johnny cried in
delight.
Other people leaned over as well to look at the ice. Caden simply
flapped his wings, hovering there in a state of utmost shock. Then
the people began to bring up their cellphones to take pictures of him
now that they realized he was friendly. He saw behind them that
others were making their way from the square to his location. There
was a rising tide of amazed voices, speaking about him.
“I didn’t know that any of the other Dragon Shifters were coming here
for the Anniversary!” One woman with a bouffant of red hair told her
male companion whose bald pate was also scorched red from the
sun already.
“He was screaming about a bomb before he transformed. There was
an explosion, but his body protected us from the blast,” her
companion informed her.
Caden looked down at his chest and claws--at where he had been
holding onto the backpack--but there was no sign of any damage.
Not even a little soot or a scrap of cloth left. But when he looked far
below him at the valley’s floor he realized that he could see some
evidence of the bomb below.
That really happened! There was a bomb… and I saved people...
“A bomb? Oh, yes!” That voice had him lifting his head and the
woman with the red bouffant’s eyes widened for a moment and then
she was smiling hugely. “Of course! A Dragon Shifter would be able
to do that!”
Except I’m not a Dragon Shifter! I mean I wasn’t… and now… Oh,
man, this is crazy! Is this really happening?!
“Which kingdom is the white one’s?” A teenaged boy asked a
pigtailed girl beside him.
She was already looking the answer up on her phone. Her forehead
furrowed as she said, “That’s weird. It’s saying there is no White
Dragon. That’s the one color that isn’t represented.”
“But he’s right there! So there is a White Dragon,” the boy laughed
as he pointed at Caden.
Then a middle-aged man breathed, “He must be new.”
That news rippled throughout the crowd and a chorus of voices
joined the ones he could identify.
“New! He was chosen by a Spirit! The first new Dragon Shifter in
over a thousand years!” Someone cried.
“Oh, my God, he must have been trying to save us from the bomb!
He was sacrificing himself without any thought for his own well-
being!” another said.
“Are you sure?” another muttered darkly. “Maybe he meant for the
explosion to kill us all.”
“He wouldn’t have jumped off of the Drop if he intended that!”
someone replied waspishly.
Caden wanted to add to that, Hell, yeah! Are you crazy thinking that
I wanted to hurt you?
But he couldn't, of course. Just more ice tinkled out of his mouth
when he opened it to speak. But even if he could have spoken, he
was more focused on what else they had said.
A Spirit must have chosen me and turned me into a Dragon Shifter!
Holy shit! No way! Can this truly be real?
He’d gone from a usual day at the Emporium to believing he was
going to die and, finally, to this: he was a freaking Dragon Shifter!
And he wasn’t sure what part of that shocked him most.
Will Wally sell White Dragon plushies now, too?
He laughed and more ice plinked.
He then wondered how he was going to shift back into his human
form. He also wondered how he was going to land. Apparently,
being a Dragon Shifter came with no instructions. Except, of course,
that wasn’t true. Shifters learned from their counterparts and there
was only one other Dragon Shifter in this kingdom.
And that was when the shadow fell over him.
He lifted his head back and saw the Black Dragon hovering about
fifty-feet above him blocking out the sun. Even at this distance, he
could tell that Valerius was twice his size and far bulkier with muscle.
The Black Dragon’s fiery red eyes were narrowed. Its powerful front
claws were curled dangerously. Caden swallowed.
I think he’s mad, Caden thought with another hysterical laugh that
resulted in more ice forming.
Smoke started to leak from the Black Dragon’s nostrils and its jaws
opened. Fire licked along the interior of its mouth. Caden’s head
reared back in fright.
Why is he mad? I haven’t done anything!
But he didn’t have to guess if he was right about Valerius’ emotions
for long, because a voice suddenly boomed in his mind and he knew
it was the Black Dragon’s, What are you doing in my territory? You
don’t belong here! How dare you enter my lands! Do you think you
can best me and take over? Foolish, little dragon! And beneath
those words, was the constant drumbeat of, Get out! Get out! GET
OUT!
Caden had no idea how to control himself and this flying thing, but
he managed to flap a few feet away from the railing. Whatever was
going to happen, he didn’t want the people there to be hurt. Johnny
craned his neck up to see Valerius.
He pointed at him and said, “Dad, King Valerius looks angry!”
And the father’s answer reminded Caden of the lore he’d been
taught in school about dragons, “If he’s new then he’s trespassing in
King Valerius’ territory. He’s here without permission. The Dragon
Shifters divided up the world the way they did, because dragons fight
if more than one is in a dedicated territory.”
“But if he’s new then he has no territory of his own!” That was from
the girl who had looked up what territory the white dragon came
from. “He’s the ninth Dragon Shifter!”
Johnny scrunched his nose as his gaze flickered from Valerius to
Caden and back again. “Are they going to fight then?”
I don’t want to fight! I don’t want to fight! Seriously, King Valerius,
I’m sorry to have surprised you, but I’m surprised, too. See I live here
and... He’s not hearing me!
Caden had no idea how to reach the Black Dragon, but he could tell
he wasn’t simply by looking at him. Indeed, the flames were reaching
outside of the Black Dragon’s mouth though he had yet to send a
spurt of fire towards Caden, but he was gearing up to. His eyes were
now slitted.
Johnny formed a bullhorn with his hands and called upwards, “King
Valerius, the White Dragon is nice! Don’t fight!”
But Valerius had decided otherwise. He did not send a gout of flame
towards Caden, probably realizing that the people were in the way,
but he did dive towards him. Alarmed, Caden clawed the air as if it
were water and he could swim through it. He did manage to flap far
enough away from the railing that the Black Dragon passed between
him and the people there who oohed and ahhed. Now they were
getting their entertainment’s worth! Forget just seeing Valerius fly
around, watch him attack and kill another dragon!
Maybe I am still going to die today! No, Goddamn it! Absolutely not!
Valerius swooped away from the narrow valley and was going to
come around again. Caden realized that he intended to slam right
into him and grind him against the side of the mountain that housed
Reach. Caden was not going to be smashed to smithereens, thank
you! He managed to twist over so that his belly was facing towards
the ground and he flapped his wings while stretching out his claws,
rather like Superman. He started to fly forwards.
Yes! I’m flying!
He heard the rapid beat of the Black Dragon’s wings behind him and
then a sizzling sound followed by a whump as a fireball collided
against the mountainside just missing Caden’s head. He could feel
the heat from it across his scales. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, which
was strange, but he certainly didn’t want to find out what a full on
attack would feel like. Instead, he flapped harder and he was soon
zooming through the sky.
He could feel the air currents all around him. They could help or
hinder him. And then, with a start, he realized that he could see them
too. They were like ghostly lines that appeared before his vision,
urging him to go up or down or avoid the sheer face of the mountain
where air poured down at speeds that would have sent him spiraling
to the ground. He looked over his shoulder to see if the Black
Dragon was still there. Another fireball whizzed past his head, but it
was several lengths away.
I’m faster than he is, because I’m lighter and smaller. Built for speed!
While he’s built to crush things… things like me! But only if he can
catch me!
Caden had been circling around the mountain, because he needed
to stay by the city. The welfare of the people was likely causing
Valerius to hold back with the fire attacks. It was said that the Black
Dragon was capable of spitting more than just fire, with his fire
breath being the weakest of his attacks. Another fireball--this one
skimmed his belly--had Caden wondering what the other attacks
were like if this one were weak.
I’ve got to get out of his sight and shift back to my human form then
immediately mingle with the people so he won’t know that I’m the
White Dragon!
Caden shook with hysterical laughter again, ice forming and falling
and sounding like dishes crashing against the mountain as he
remembered he had no idea how to shift back, let alone if he was
fast enough to get out of sight long enough for Valerius not to realize
which human was him. And that also meant he had to hope that the
humans wouldn’t rat him out to Valerius anyways.
That thought brought him up short. He knew of one area where
Valerius was not universally loved: the Below. That was run by the
rat, snake and other criminal Shifters. Valerius was constantly having
his security forces clamp down on them. They wouldn’t give him
away to Valerius. They would likely pretend that they hadn’t even
seen a White Dragon land and shift. And he knew the exact place
where he could get into the Below even in his dragon form. It was
right around the mountain. He was almost there! But how could he
escape Valerius long enough to--
BAM!
It felt like a Mack truck had hit him. His wings folded. Claws dug into
his shoulders drawing blood from his body and pained cries from his
mouth. While he had been plotting his brilliant plan to escape
Valerius, he must have slowed his flying or the Black Dragon put
another spurt of energy into his, because the Black Dragon had
slammed bodily into him!
I have you now, little dragon! You think to invade my territory? Make
it your own? NEVER! I will rip you apart! The Black Dragon hissed.
Caden’s head turned to look up at his captor and for one moment his
gaze locked with the Black Dragon’s and he heard another voice.
The Dragon King’s voice.
Raziel, stop this! What are you doing? I command you to stop! This
is a child! Valerius cried. He is not a threat!
He should not have come here! He must be destroyed! Raziel
answered.
Raziel is the Spirit’s name! Caden realized. Valerius isn’t in control
of him! He doesn’t want to kill me!
Rage. Will not listen. Must get free and hide, a tiny voice spoke in
Caden’s mind. Ice. Ice extinguishes fire. Ice…
His connection with Raziel and Valerius was broken. Raziel was
completely in charge it seemed. Its massive black jaws opened wide,
revealing razor sharp teeth, and a portal of pure flame.
Ice! the small voice cried.
Of course, ice! Caden realized and opened his own mouth.
A stream of ice exited it and entered the Black Dragon’s maw. The
fire was immediately extinguished. Gouts of steam rose out as the
Black Dragon choked and fumed. Its grip on him released slightly.
Caden shot more ice this time directly into the Black Dragon’s eyes.
It let out a roar of pain and fully released him.
He flew away like a shot with blood streaming down his arms. But he
didn’t stop to inspect his wounds. He flew faster. He heard a roar of
rage this time from far behind him. The Black Dragon had recovered.
 But Caden had made it to the open air market that sprawled out of a
large opening in the side of the mountain called the Gash that led
directly into the Below. He headed straight towards it.
Please let me fit! Let me fit!
The Gash might have seemed large when he was human but it was
a damned tight squeeze as a dragon. He had to draw his wings
close to his body as he soared through the largest part of the Gash.
At least, he knew that the Black Dragon could not get inside unless
Valerius shifted into human form, the Black Dragon was way too big.

But that means Raziel, who wants to kill me, will be replaced by
Valerius, who seems more reasonable! That’s good, if nothing else!
Those were his last coherent thoughts on anything other than how
did he land and how did he shift back. The Gash led into a vast
open space, which was big enough for him to fly in, but the ground
was covered in people’s stalls where they were selling odds and
ends.
I can’t land! There’s nowhere big enough without crushing
somebody!
Shift now, that little voice said as they glided about twenty feet off the
ground.
What? How? I--
Shift now, the voice commanded.
And suddenly, he was human again. But he was also twenty feet in
the air! He yelled and flapped his arms, which did nothing, as he
dropped to the floor. Somehow he was able to roll the moment he hit
the ground and was up on his feet again in a fluid movement. No
injuries. No pain. Just a little dust.
Natural at this, the voice said but it sounded sleepy.
Caden’s legs were trembling beneath him, but he forced himself to
keep moving. He heard the flapping of gigantic wings from just
outside the Gash. The shopkeepers around him had scattered so he
was able to go to one of their stalls that sold second hand clothing
and pull a few pieces for himself. He was naked, but soon he would
be clothed. He was bleeding, but he was already starting to heal. He
was in the most dangerous part of the city, but he would find his way
out of here. The main obstacle that had stood in his way was now
gone. He was alive.
And he intended to keep it that way.
CHAPTER FOUR - HERO OR VILLAIN?

Stop! STOP! You will bring the Gash down on people’s heads!
Valerius ordered Raziel.
But his Spirit was in a blind rage and did not stop. That rage was so
white hot and unreasoned that Valerius almost felt like he could be
burned away by it. And the cause of that rage was something more
than simply another Dragon Shifter entering their territory without
permission, but stemmed from a feeling of connection--yes,
connection--to this very young dragon Spirit.
Raziel raged against it. Tried to shake it off. This sense that they
were not alone. They were invaded. But Valerius could not even
comprehend the fact that another Dragon Shifter existed–a potential
foe he had not known existed--as he was still too stunned that his
own Spirit had betrayed him on the deepest level.
Raziel stopped its frantic scraping at the stone walls of the Gash, but
Valerius did not believe it did so because of his words. Both of them
could hear the thin screams from the people below who were fleeing
from the stones that Raziel had pulled loose and that fell with
thunderous booms onto the ground far below.
How many are dead, crushed beneath those stones?
And these deaths would be on him. Not the White Dragon. It had
done nothing but flee.
Unless it was responsible for the chaos in the square, he thought
with rage of his own.
It invaded us. It still invades us. It will not win this territory! It is
OURS! THE WORLD IS OURS! Raziel snarled and its teeth
snapped the air. Fire gouted out and heated the rock until it glowed a
fiery red.
STOP! ENOUGH! Valerius commanded. It is you who have caused
damage and not to the White Dragon, but to our people!
Valerius quickly scanned the area. Boulders littered the ground like
children’s toys. He thought he saw legs sticking out from underneath
one of the rocks. Red stained the grass. Puddles of crimson soaked
into the bare earth.
We did this. YOU did this! Valerius shouted. How could you do this
to our people?
He saw a young woman cradling an old man’s head in her lap, a
splash of red–blood–across his forehead. She rocked him, crying
tears of anguish and fear as she kept looking from the old man’s
face to Valerius’ dragon form that hovered a hundred feet above
them.
There were three children, no older than ten in tatty clothes, huddled
together, bruises and scrapes covering their exposed slender limbs.
There were hundreds of others who were simply running for their
lives away from the destruction. It was only when he craned his
neck to follow their flight that Valerius realized that he was back in
charge of the dragon form. A wave of relief went through him.
Heart slamming against the inside of his chest as he regarded the
destruction that Raziel had caused, Valerius landed and immediately
shifted back into his human form just outside of the Gash’s inside
market. Even if Raziel could somehow wrest control of his human
form away from him, the damage he could do in it would be minimal
in comparison. He breathed heavily, cool breezes from inside the
mountain wrapped around his naked body. He held up his right hand
in front of his face. He was shaking uncontrollably.
The cries that had been faint and thin to his ears before were high
and shrill and edged with pain and fear now. His gaze swept around
him. He saw legs sticking out from underneath a boulder. He raced
over there to see if there was anything to be done. But no. The
person was crushed. Flattened deep into the earth. The outside
stalls closest to the Gash were destroyed. He smelled blood wafting
from some of them. Some shopkeepers had been killed.
It could have been worse. So much worse if most people hadn’t
gone up to the Mid to watch me fly. The irony of that was not lost on
him. He had thought himself so above the carnival like atmosphere,
so above performing, but those things had saved lives today. He
shuddered. Will the human leaders still be asking for me to fight
Illarion after they see what this mere scuffle accomplished?
White Dragon entered our territory, Raziel began again in an almost
litany.
But it did not attack us! We attacked first! He reminded his Spirit. It
was young. I think it was… new. And so small, but mighty.
Raziel shook its massive head. No matter! Should not have come
into this world here. Foolish Spirit to do this.
Valerius did not necessarily disagree with that. To join with a human
here, in his lands, was insanely arrogant or simply insane. He felt it
was the latter, because the White Dragon had not attacked them, but
had looked completely discombobulated. But he shook that thought
out of his head. Confusion could be feigned. What had happened in
the square was real. He would find if the White Dragon was behind
it.
But why did you take over? Look at what you’ve done! And I will
have to answer for it! Valerius shouted at Raziel.
The Spirit’s head was lowered, red eyes were closed, but the fires
inside of it though were not banked. Smoke poured from the Spirit’s
nostrils and flames flickered through its parted jaws.
Go inside. Track it. Find the white one and–
Answer me! Valerius demanded, not making any movement at all.
But Raziel remained stubbornly intent on tracking the invader in their
territory. It made him wonder if this anger masked something else in
his usually cold-blooded Spirit. But any thought processes he had
were scattered to the winds as he realized he was being stared at,
but not with the usual awe, but with fear and hate.
In this case, it was a group of Rat Shifters clustered near the
entrance of the Gash. They all had the characteristic round bodies
with skinny limbs, mostly brown hair and twitching noses. Their
black beady eyes were fixed on him. There was little love lost
between himself and the criminal underclass Shifters. He tolerated
them, as he must represent the interests of all Shifters and all
humans, and they flouted his authority and the law. But they kept it
respectful for the most part. But now he had killed some of theirs.
He met the eyes of the leader, a slightly larger, more rotund version
of the others, who did not look away when their gazes met. The Rat
Shifter took a step closer. His lips writhed back from his teeth and
the Rat Shifter’s nose twitched. He stopped in mid-stride.
Go back into your hole and you will not be added to the death toll
today, Valerius thought but he knew that his face showed that
thought.
The Rat Shifters scuttled back into the darkness, but not without
narrow-eyed glances at him. Just as they disappeared inside the
Gash, a phalanx of the Claw ran towards him. In the lead was
Captain Simi Lash, a Snake Shifter who had, against all odds, defied
tradition and had not become a criminal, but instead had joined the
Claw. He had risen in the ranks until he led his own Legion.
Claw Captains were moved from layer to layer of Reach to lessen
the risk that they would become beholden to the people that resided
there. Simi was in charge of the Below this quarter. Many had
claimed that he would betray the Claw and Valerius due to his snake
nature. But that had not been the case at all. Simi was one of his
most trusted officers. Valerius’ shoulders relaxed, relieved to see
him. Simi skidded to a halt two feet from Valerius. He and the
phalanx of ten Claws behind him dropped to their knees and crossed
their right arms over their chests.
“My king,” Simi greeted him, his voice hushed with respect.
“Captain Lash,” Valerius was relieved that he could speak. He still
felt so fragile as if his human form could burst apart at any moment.
How could you do this to me, Raziel? He asked, his voice full of
sulfurous anger.
The Spirit kept its head lowered. Follow the White Dragon–
Speak not to me unless you answer my questions! He snapped.
Raziel said nothing more.
He focused on the Claw before him. None of them looked at the
dead or the destruction. But they must see it. And when they
counted the dead they would think that he had done this. That he
had flown into some kind of blind rage. The Rat Shifters–though
enemies anyways–still showed him that his people would think him
responsible, too. When Shifters were young there were plenty of
times when the Spirit and the human pulled in opposite directions,
but all humans were taught to find peace–though not absolute
control, for the Spirit was equal to the human in terms of rights–with
the Spirit.
So while Simi and the other Claw members could understand that
Raziel could have acted on its own and overridden Valerius when he
was newly joined, they wouldn’t believe that had happened to him
now. He was millennia old. And it would only alarm them to know
that someone as old as him was not in complete peace with Raziel.
He took in a shuddering breath. He would have to own this tragedy.
And wasn’t it his fault? He hadn’t found peace with Raziel. He had
been overcome by the Spirit. He had failed.
“Rise,” Valerius commanded and gestured with his still shaking hand
for them to do so.
The Claw quickly rose to their feet, but kept to attention with arms
held rigid at their sides, chins lifted and backs ramrod straight.
Simi’s black eyes searched Valerius’ face and the Black Dragon
King wondered if his Captain guessed what had happened
somehow. But then Simi looked back at a Werewolf Shifter--from the
look and smell of her--behind him. She was taller than him by six-
inches and bulky while Simi was lean as a whip with lithe muscles
that allowed him to move with incredible speed. Simi’s look was
enough and she stepped forward with clothing in her hands. Black
pants, shirt and boots. He took them from her. She bowed low and
retreated to her place again.
While Valerius pulled on the clothes, he asked, “The White Dragon,
did you see their human form?”
The White Dragon. A new Dragon Shifter has been born. How is
that possible? Valerius wondered. Spirits are to keep the balance in
this world and now they have made a mess of everything!
An unaccustomed blush swept over Simi’s golden skin and his lips
thinned for a moment in self-disgust. “No. They disappeared into the
crowd. I have a Claw phalanx where they landed right now
searching, but so far, nothing.”
“What about the cameras?” Valerius asked.
The Below, and the market especially was heavily watched due to
the criminal elements that clustered here.
There was another uncomfortable silence then Simi quickly said,
“The cameras in this area have been vandalized and are not
working. Likely to take advantage of the tourists being present.
Pickpockets. They were being fixed but–”
“But that work has not been completed,” Valerius finished for him.
Simi gave a curt nod. Valerius could see in the flex of his captain’s
jaw that Simi was cursing himself internally. His captain held higher
standards for himself than even his detractors did. But he could not
have known this would happen. No one could have known.
The White Dragon is new, is it not? He asked Raziel.
No answer. Just a sullen burst of smoke.
Did you sense another dragon Spirit nearby? He pressed.
Nothing.
“Cameras were working in Dragon Strike Square,” Simi quickly
amended. “I know that Captain Ngoye is already having the footage
reviewed.”
Captain El Ngoye was a Lion Shifter. She ran the Claw under her
command like a lion would its pride. She was highly efficient and
absolutely beloved by those beneath her. He was sure that they
would have an image of the White Dragon’s human form quickly
enough, not to mention a name and address to go with it. Not that
this new Dragon Shifter would go home again. Surely, they would
not be that foolish.
“That is quick thinking,” Valerius complimented Simi. Considering the
madness of Raziel chasing the unknown White Dragon everywhere,
he was impressed that Simi had reached out so quickly to his
counterpart. He also saw the red and white outfits that identified the
medical corps streaming through the large cavernous space of the
main market in the Below. “I see that you already have people
assisting with the injured.”
The people YOU injured, Raziel! He raged at the Spirit as guilt
flooded him.
To be out of control like that! To harm those under his care! He may
not have loved his subjects, but they were his responsibility.
The Black Dragon’s shoulders hunched, but it said nothing in
apology or in explanation.
“Yes, my king. We already have all our medics mobilized and the Mid
is sending down many of theirs as well. It appears that other than
smoke inhalation from harmless smoke bombs, no one was injured
up there,” Simi told him.
“Please keep me informed on the status of every injury and… death,”
Valerius requested, his voice catching slightly, but he immediately
firmed it. “Now, I will see where the Dragon Shifter touched down.”
Simi gave a nod and immediately spun on his heel as did the rest of
the Claw with him. They led him into a far corner of the cavernous
space where stalls made of sheets on poles or rough tin siding were
set up to sell odds and ends, second-hand clothes, handmade
pottery, glassware, and refurbished electronics. Not to mention
piles of fake designer bags and other accessories. The smell of
street food hung heavily over the area, too.
Another Claw–Sergeant Alianz from his nametag–quickly jogged up
to Simi and crossed his right arm over his chest and bowed low.
“My king, my captain,” he greeted them both.
“What have you found out?” Simi demanded even as Valerius began
to circle the area, his eyes on the lookout for anything that might
have come from the new Dragon Shifter.
“No one saw anything. Of course,” the sergeant reported with a
touch of irony in his voice. “We’ve been able to find most of the stall
keepers around here. They claim that they all fled before the White
Dragon shifted into its human form. We’re still interviewing people,
obviously, but hear nothing, see nothing, speak nothing is still being
adhered to despite the fact that an enemy Dragon Shifter entered
our king’s territory.”
An enemy Dragon Shifter. Is that what you are? Valerius asked in
his head as his nostrils drew in deep draughts of the market’s air
trying to find the Dragon Shifter’s scent. But while the cavern was
redolent with a myriad of smells, none of the White Dragon’s icy
scent flowed into his nose. Were you just born? Didn’t you realize
what a bad idea it was to join this world? To come to my city? To
disturb this uneasy peace?
There was no evidence of a heavy landing here. No evidence of
where the White Dragon’s human form had stepped. There were
piles of second-hand clothes that they could have picked from and
then melded into the crowd. There was nothing here to lead him to
the white dragon.
“King Valerius!” Chione’s voice rang out.
He turned his head to see his normally elegant, unhurried Counselor
running towards him. Her cheeks were flushed with color. Her dark
eyes flashed. When she reached his side, she grasped his left
forearm.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
He raised an eyebrow. “Do you think that little dragon could have
hurt me?”
Her elegant eyebrows rose into her hairline. “I do not know. I have
never had ice spit into my eyes before. Did it hurt?”
His arrogance had fallen short. “I am… fine.”
She knew it was a lie the moment he said it. She, alone, would be
the one he could tell of Raziel’s betrayal. He found he could not
bear to have her think he had killed these innocents. But though she
knew it was a lie, her gaze flickered to the others around them and
she did not question him.
“I have news from Captain Ngoye,” she said, still slightly breathless.
“What news?” He’d gone rigid.
“The cameras in the square were disabled–”
He hissed. “Yet more cameras disabled?!”
“Yes, whoever planted the smoke grenades and then tried to set a
bomb–”
“A bomb?!” His voice rose up so loud that it had every Claw in the
area freezing and tilting their head to listen. He lowered his voice,
“What do you mean? Explain! Did this White Dragon try to plant a
bomb?”
“No!” She held up her hand. “Captain Ngoye and I spoke to
witnesses. From what we can tell, a young man discovered the
bomb in a backpack. People said that he was screaming for them to
run. He took it to the Drop–”
“And he tried to throw it off? That’s insane –”
“No, he jumped off the Drop with it,” she interrupted him softly.
He blinked. “He jumped…”
Sacrifice. A noble sacrifice? And we attacked him and killed people
to get to him?!
“Yes, that’s what the witnesses are saying. He was going to give his
life to save others and–”
“We don’t know that!” Valerius snapped. “He could have been
planning to plant the bomb, but then had second thoughts or… or he
could have…”
His voice petered off. He could think of no reason for the young man
to jump off the Drop with the bomb other than to save lives. The
Claw were all listening to him. He saw in their eyes that they
believed Chione’s version of events. He remembered that
bewildered look on the White Dragon’s face. He remembered the
way the White Dragon had seemed surprised that he had wings and
wasn’t sure how to use them. He remembered how the White
Dragon had regarded the people at the edge of the Drop with
concern. But he shook himself once more.
“It’s impossible for him to be a hero, Chione! Because I…” He
shuddered and glanced back towards the entrance of the market
where the dead and wounded lay.
“You were protecting us, my king,” Simi said loyally. “We do not yet
know if these witnesses are correct. We need facts.”
“Yes,” he agreed faintly even as ice formed in his stomach. “We need
facts.”
“Captain Ngoye is collecting cell phones and cameras from everyone
who was in the square and at the Drop,” Chione said neutrally even
as her eyes searched his face.
She knew something was wrong. Beyond the dead. Beyond even
this insanity of a new Dragon Shifter.
If he is a hero, Raziel… he let the sentence hang.
“He is a new Dragon Shifter, my king,” Chione said, her voice rustling
like leaves. “Imagine how confused he is. Imagine how he expected
to die, but instead became one of us. One of you.”
And then I attacked him. Raziel attacked him.
“He must be so frightened,” Chione murmured. “And alone. We must
find him as soon as possible, Valerius.”
“Yes, we must find him,” Valerius murmured.
Raziel’s head rose. Smoke billowed out of its nostrils. Flames licked
its snout. Yes, find the intruder. Find the attempted usurper. Find
and–
SILENCE! Valerius shouted.
Red eyes regarded him steadily.
“Ngoye is looking as are the Claw here, but I think we need to move
more quickly,” Chione advocated. She pressed her lips together for a
moment before she made her suggestion, which was, “He landed in
Marban’s territory.”
“Marban is scum!” Simi hissed.
The Claw Captain’s green eyes glowed with poisonous contempt.
Valerius thought that his tongue might have forked for a moment.
Marban was a Swarm Shifter and the leader of the criminal
underworld in Reach. Intelligent and dangerous, so far he had
avoided prosecution. But everyone knew that he was behind every
criminal act not only in Reach, but all of Valerius’ kingdom. He made
his seat of power in the Below as a mockery of Valerius’ rule.
“Marban will know who the White Dragon Shifter is,” Chione said
with certainty. “And we must get to that young Shifter before Marban
does. If it is not too late already.”
CHAPTER FIVE - GODFATHER OF THE UNDERWORLD

CADEN WAS TRYING NOT TO PANIC. AS HE BRUSHED PAST

CLUSTERS OF PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT WHAT HAD
HAPPENED BETWEEN HIM AND VALERIUS, HIS THROAT FELT
LIKE IT WAS CLOSING UP WITH ANXIETY.
A woman's voice rose up to his right, “...there was a bomb…”
“...Humans First is behind it…” an older man growled.
That can't be right! Caden thought. The girl with the bomb might
have had nightshine in her eyes. There are no Shifters in Humans
First!
“... White Dragon appears when there’s a terrorist attack?" a young
man sneered. "C’mon what’s the likelihood that the White Dragon
isn’t involved?”
But I saved people from the bomb! Caden thought and sent an angry
glare the young man's way. The young man frowned, not knowing
what the evil expression was for.
The young man's companion was speaking, “… is the White Dragon
here to challenge King Valerius?”
Oh, Hell, no! Caden panicked just hearing that.
“Would that be so bad?” The young man struck what he probably
thought was a cool pose.
“What?" His companion snapped. "Are you crazy? Did you see the
dead people from just this battle?”
People died? Oh, my God! I’ve got to get out of here! I’ve got to get
home! And then I can forget all this!
He curled forward and hustled away. How had he gone from selling
dragon plushies to being a dragon? How had he gone from having a
really good day to this? He was hunted. He was alone. He had no
idea what he was going to do!
First things first. Breathe. Second thing, figure out how to get out of
here.
There were three ways out of the Below. The first was to simply go
outside through the Gash and walk or catch a ride up the winding
roads to the higher levels of Reach. But that wasn’t possible for him,
because a very angry Black Dragon was sitting out there. He
imagined sauntering past Valerius and a cold well opened up in his
stomach. He wanted to stay as far away from the Black Dragon King
as possible.
He wasn’t sure if Valerius would be able to tell that he was a Dragon
Shifter just by looking at him. The nightshine was a sure giveaway,
but Valerius would have to be looking into his eyes at just the right
moment to see it. Or maybe Caden now smelled different from
humans. Though he had never noticed a certain scent about Shifters
himself so that seemed unlikely.
Even though there seemed to be a disagreement between Valerius
and Raziel--which must be the name of Valerius’ Spirit--about killing
him, he wasn't ready to trust that Valerius would win out. A
disagreement between a Spirit and its human host was crazy in and
of itself. He had never heard that the Spirits were separate entities
who, after the joining, could just take over.
What’s your name? He asked the Spirit inside of him.
He didn’t know if he was imagining this or not, but when he thought
of the Spirit, he could see it in his mind. The White Dragon was
asleep, curled in a ball, head tucked beneath one wing with its tail
wound tightly around its body. The Spirit did not answer him though
one of its ears flickered when he spoke.
You’re no help, you know? I could use a little guidance here. But
maybe it’s the blind leading the blind, he sighed. Okay so walking
out of the Gash is a no go. What else can I do?
The second way out of the Below was to take the Lifts. There were
over 100 glass elevators that could take someone from the Below to
the Mid. But he would have to swipe his ID to be allowed to use
them.
People normally had free reign to go from the Below to the Mid, but
nothing above that unless you had business there. Even if Caden
was willing to swipe his ID and make a record of being down here
today--which he wasn’t--his wallet and ID were destroyed or at the
bottom of the Drop so he couldn't use the Lifts in any case.
Great, so I’m going to have to go to the DMV to get a new license
and cancel my credit cards.
This mundane thought had him laughing, which had people staring
at him. He quickly clamped his lips together. But a few chuckles still
managed to burst out.
If that’s the least of my worries, awesome. I can’t wait to have to do
that.
So that left the Stairs as his way home. The Stairs were exactly what
they sounded like, though they were an artistic wonder. A huge
winding staircase, two hundred feet across at some points, carved
out of the mountain’s interior. The stone was polished to a high shine
in places that it was almost mirror-like, whereas in others elaborate
engravings graced the surface. Massive banners hung down from
the Stairs’ ceiling, representing all of the Shifter types, plus there
was one for humanity. He and Tilly had spent quite a few rainy days
going up and down portions of them while snacking on pretzels and
cheese he’d purchased for them from the many food stalls that
dotted the Stairs.
Tilly… oh, God, she thinks… she thinks I’m dead.
His hand went to his back pocket for his cell phone, but it was gone,
too. He gritted his teeth. He was going to run all the way up the
Stairs to get to her and their parents. As he picked up the pace, his
legs seemed to move more fluidly than before. Even dashing didn’t
have his breath coming in gasps. He felt amazingly good. That was
the one positive thing about this experience.
Caden had stolen a baseball cap from a nearby stand, which he
pulled down over his face. Whenever a Claw came by he would look
down or turn his head away and stare in the opposite direction very
intently. He had never been afraid of the Claw before. He’d only
noticed them around Reach because of their armor-like uniforms.
Now his heart leaped into his throat anytime he caught sight of those
fiery colors. He kept reminding himself that they didn’t know he was
the White Dragon. Maybe they weren’t even looking for the White
Dragon.
Right, sure they aren’t. He rolled his eyes at himself. God, I’m an
idiot!
When he reached the huge arched threshold that would lead to the
base of the Stairs, he jerked to a halt. Ahead of him were hundreds,
maybe over a thousand, people, all clamoring to leave the Below.
But there were just as many Claw blocking their way. There was a
high-pitched squeal that came out of the ancient PA system as an
announcement was made.
“Attention citizens of Reach, due to the incident that occurred today
no one is being allowed to leave the Below until your ID has been
checked and you have been screened,” the speaker shrieked.
Caden took a few steps back, his heart pounding so hard he felt it
might burst through his rib cage. He jerked to a halt when he ran into
someone. He reflexively apologized and tried to move away from
them, but the person grabbed his forearm in a firm, unyielding grip.
Fear swept through him as he tried to yank away, but the hand did
not let go. Caden whipped around to see who had a hold of him.
It was a woman with strange yellow eyes. She was young, not much
older than himself, with streaked black and yellow hair like one might
see on a bumblebee and two silver rings in her lower lip. The yellow
and black motif continued in her makeup. That pierced lower lip was
black while the upper lip was yellow. He was sensing a theme here.
“Hey! Let me go! I’m sorry I bumped into you! It was an accident!”
Caden said as he tried to yank his arm out from hers, but she kept a
hold of him.
“I’m your only chance at getting out of the Below not in Claw
handcuffs,” she told him, her voice low.
For a moment, panic left him speechless. How could she know who
he was? Had she seen him shift? But he’d been twenty feet in the
air so she couldn’t be sure he was the same person! There was no
way for her to know. So he needed to simply play dumb and walk
away from this crazy person.
“Sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He wrenched his
arm away from her and stepped back.
She leaned in and put her yellow and black lips just inches from his
right ear. “Listen, White Dragon, you need to talk to the boss.
Otherwise, I’ve been instructed to hand you over to the Claw. So
what is it going to be?”
He went very still. “I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.
I’m not a Shifter.”
Her yellow eyes flickered up to his face. “So new that you almost still
believe that. But you are. I never thought that there was a worse
type of Shifter to discover you are than a Swarm Shifter. But now I’m
thinking that being the ninth Dragon Shifter has to totally suck.”
She smiled at him. A vinegary smile as his mouth popped open and
he asked, “Are you--you an Insect Shifter?”
“Swarm Shifter, dragon boy,” she corrected him without much heat.
The Insect--or Swarm--Shifters were among the worst of the worst.
They were associated with disease, death and crime. How many
times had he heard on the news about yet another Swarm Shifter
being taken into custody due to a stinging death? They were known
to have short tempers and no regard for human life.
His breathing increased as did his heart rate. He had never been this
close to a Swarm Shifter before. Her strange yellow eyes seemed to
read his fear and her smile grew. He scowled.
“Now I’m definitely not going with you,” he growled, surprised at how
his voice dipped.
For a moment, she blinked in confusion. “You want me to call those
Claw over here?”
“Go ahead.” He stuck his chin out. “I bet they know you’re a Swarm
Shifter, yeah?”
Her eyes flickered away from his. “What does that matter?”
“We both know they won’t believe a word you say,” he told her.
Before this would have bothered him, that anybody would have been
discriminated against because of the type of Shifter they were. It
made him sick to his stomach that he was using this prejudice
against her, but there was no way he was going to be blackmailed by
anyone.
She caught his arm again, but this time gently. Her expression was a
mixture of anger and desperation.
“Look, you’re not getting out of here without my help,” she said. “The
Stairs, the Lift and the Gash are all checking IDs. I’m betting you
don’t have yours after the Shift. But there are other ways to get out
of here that could be open to you if you just come with me.”
He glanced around at the lines of people snaking all throughout the
market as they queued up to present their credentials. Even if by
some miracle they let him pass without his ID--a miracle so unlikely
as to be laughable--they would take down his name. One more link
between him and the White Dragon. He couldn’t risk it.
“Okay, okay, fine. I’ll go with you. But I’m warning you, do anything
funny and I will freeze your ass,” Caden threatened.
He was talking tough, but he had no idea if he could do such a thing.
And the very idea of hurting anyone made him ill. The Spirit in him
slept on, oblivious to everything.
You really are no help at all!
She held up her hands as if in surrender and started walking
backwards. “Okay, sounds like a plan. Come on. Things are getting a
little close in here.”
He swung his head around as he realized that three Claw were
coming their way, asking people for their IDs. His heart thumped
heavily in his chest and adrenaline squirted into his bloodstream. He
turned and hustled after the girl.
“So what’s your name?” he asked her.
“Are you going to give me yours?” she asked back with a faint sneer.
“No,” he agreed. “But I’m the one in danger. You’re not.”
She let out a huff of laughter. “If you’re captured I will be. They’ll ask
who helped you and my name will leave your lips.”
He supposed that was true. Again, a sense of unreality stole over
him. How had this happened to him of all people? He’d never
wanted to be a Shifter! He’d never even considered a Spirit
choosing him! But, then again, he never pictured himself jumping off
the Drop to stop a bomb from killing people either.
No good deed goes unpunished!
Hysterical laughter wanted to pour out of him, but he managed to
bite it back this time.
“Where are you taking me?” he asked her. “I can know that at least
surely.”
“To the Warrens,” she said without slowing down.
“What are the--”
“You’ll see. It’s a place where people go to disappear,” she
answered.
It was then that he noticed the crowd thinning out around them.
People parted for her as if they were afraid. He saw from their
expressions that they were afraid of her, but also acted as if she was
diseased. Lips writhed back from teeth. Noses scrunched. Looks of
disgust flitted across various faces. They knew who and what she
was.
A wave of sympathy fell over him. What would it be like to go from
being liked one day to loathed the next? She hadn’t changed, just
people’s perception of her had. She wore her insect colors like a
defiant flag, but he wondered if it bothered her to be so visible. He
glanced at her pretty face. Her expression was blank.
Not letting them see anything.
Her yellow eyes flickered to his, noticing his gaze. “Get used to
being an object of people’s attention. Good and bad. Don’t know
what people are going to see the ninth Dragon Shifter as.”
“What do you think?” he asked.
For a moment, surprise appeared in those yellow eyes. “What does
it matter what I think?”
“It matters,” he found himself saying. “So what do you think?”
Her expression actually softened for a moment. “My sister was in
the Mid when you saved people from that bomb. She saw you jump
off the Drop.”
He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. “So at
least somebody knows that I didn’t set the bomb.”
“Why would a dragon have to set a bomb? If you wanted to cause
havoc all you would need to do was start a fight with Valerius,” she
said, her eyes hard.
“I didn’t hurt anyone!” he protested.
“You flew in here, dragon boy. You brought Valerius right to the
Gash. His claws may have dislodged those stones that crushed
those people, but you led him here,” she pointed out.
“I had no choice,” he swallowed a lump in his throat. “He was going
to kill me. I just wanted to get away.”
“Yeah, well, them's the breaks, isn’t it? Imagine how the people who
lost their loved ones feel? People down here have shit and you just
took what little they had away from them,” she told him. “So points
for what you did in the Mid, but like usual, the Below suffers.”
She sped up her walking until he was almost running to keep up with
her. Finally, they reached the wall of the market. There was a grimy
set of stone steps that led upwards. There were few lights for which
he was actually grateful as things squished underneath the shoes
he’d stolen. Things he didn’t want to know what they actually were.
Within five minutes, he was completely lost as she led him up stairs,
down narrow hallways that branched two, three, four and even five
times. He didn’t see a straight path anywhere. The walls, floor and
ceiling were all a dull gray stone--not polished like the Stairs were--
and there was garbage collected along the walls and the air was still
and redolent of wet stone and decay.
Caden covered his mouth and nose with the collar of his shirt at
points. The girl glanced at him, but made no comment. Maybe she
was used to it or simply too strong to let bad smells get her down.
Finally, she stopped in front of a plain stone wall.
“Uhm, what’s happening?” Caden asked.
He tensed as he wondered if she had simply brought him to a dead
end to attack him. His Spirit was still asleep!
“Relax, dragon boy, we’re here,” she said
She pressed her hand against what had simply looked like a crack.
But there was a grinding sound and a section of wall moved. A door
appeared before them and she gestured for him to follow after her.
He hesitated. The smell coming out of this strange secret opening
was not foul. Not exactly. In fact, it reminded him a little bit of the
spices that his mother used when she made curry. They were rich
and exotic, but also cloying.
“Stop lingering! This isn’t a tourist destination,” she hissed.
With an impatient movement the girl grabbed his wrist and yanked
him through the door after her. It ground closed behind them. There
was a set of stone stairs that led up one more floor and opened up
into a half-moon shaped room. The air was hazy with incense. The
walls were covered with ancient tapestries that showed hordes of
locusts landing on and devouring a farmer’s crop. The people shown
in these tapestries ran in terror as their entire livelihood was
destroyed.
And on the opposite wall was a stone throne. It reminded him of the
one that Valerius sat in, except it was in the Below in a secret room
instead of the airy confines of the castle. Not that he had ever seen
Valerius’ throne. But there had been some documentaries on
television about it.
Another difference between this throne and Valerius’ was the person
seated on it. Instead of the beautiful and regal Black Dragon King,
there was an old wizened man in a dirty blue tunic with a hood. He
was stooped and had a paunch that made him look pregnant. His
hair was thin and wispy on a head that was strangely egg-shaped.
He had a goatee that hung well past his chin. The same yellow eyes
as the girl’s looked at him.
“I see that you convinced him to come, Granddaughter,” the man on
the throne rasped out.
He sounded like he had been smoking three packs of cigarettes a
day for decades. The girl nodded jerkily.
The old man asked, “Did you have any trouble?”
“With him?” she scoffed though her gaze did snap to him and then
away. “No, he’s soft just like everyone from the Mid.”
“Do not be dismissive, Granddaughter. Merely because he chose not
to fight you, does not mean he could not,” the old man chided. “And
he held his own against Valerius on his first Shift.”
Her jaw tightened, but she nodded again.
“She said that you could get me out of the Below without the Claw
finding out,” Caden said
He did not want to spend any more time here than necessary. He
had to get home! He had to get away from all of this. The old man’s
gaze drifted towards him and rested on him almost speculatively.
Caden shifted uncomfortably under that gaze. It seemed to peer
right through him.
“We can help you, but there is a price,” the old man finally said.
“Price? What price? I don’t have any money. I work in a shop,” he
quickly said, not mentioning Wally’s. He didn’t want these people to
know anything about him. “I’m a normal person. I don’t have
anything you’d want.”
The girl let out a disbelieving laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding! You’re
normal, dragon boy?”
“Granddaughter, do you not remember when you were first
changed?” the old man chastened her again. “You still thought that
you were the same as before. But, as you know now--as all Shifters
realize in time--things will never be the same again once one is
joined with their Spirit.”
Caden swallowed deeply and then coughed. The smoky haze in the
room came from incense that was lit in large bundles on tables that
flanked the throne. The incense clung to his nostrils and throat,
irritating them.
“I think you said it before that the only thing worse than being a
Swarm Shifter was being a new dragon one,” Caden pointed out to
the girl. “I have to hide. I want to forget all this and just…”
He stopped as he felt the old man’s eyes on him again and realized
he was revealing far more of his fear than he should. But there was a
sympathetic glint in those yellow eyes.
“People love dragons,” she snapped. “They’ll come around.”
“It surprises me that Valerius attacked you,” the old man said.
Caden opened his mouth, almost to admit hearing that strange
conversation between Valerius and Raziel, but stopped himself.
He shrugged and said, “Dragons are way territorial, aren’t they? I
was in his territory so I guess that was enough to set him off.”
“Yes, and every bit of this Earth is some dragon’s territory so where
will you go now?” the old man asked.
“Who says I’m going anywhere?” Caden asked defiantl backy.
Caden lifted his chin again. He had a feeling he was going to be
smacked down one of these times when he did this.
“You’re like half Valerius’ size and you only got away because you
surprised him with that ice breath of yours. And yeah, that’s on the
internet. A million videos about it and millions more hits. Like tens of
millions!” The girl crossed her arms over her chest. “There’s no way
you can beat him.”
“I’m not going to challenge him or even try to beat him. I don’t want
to rule anything! I just want my life back. That’s all I want!” Caden
retorted hotly.
“Are you so blind that you think you can go home to your family?
You think that they are going to accept you now? That’s not how
this works!” She sliced one hand through the air.
“I guess not all of us are so lucky as to have a grandfather who is a
Shifter, too. My parents will… will…” will never know. Is that
possible?
She shook her head. “He’s not my blood grandfather! Your parents--
just like every other Shifter’s parents--will reject you. Even the
respectable Shifters don’t stay with their birth families. You really
don’t know anything about this, do you?”
“I do know! In theory,” he admitted with a deep swallow. “Look, all I
want from you guys is a way to get home. What happens after that is
my business, not yours!” He turned back to the old man. “Now, I
saved her sister.” He pointed at the girl. “I assume that’s not really
her sister, but she’s one of you, right?”
“One of us?” The old man tented his hands. “Yes, she is.”
“I think that’s worth a way up to the Mid,” he said.
“Perhaps it is,” the old man agreed with a nod of his head. “But what
is our silence about you worth?”
At that moment, there was a clatter of footsteps coming up the stairs
from the secret passage. A rail thin young man with a shock of black
hair appeared at the top. He was pale as milk, but there were high
spots of color in his cheeks, likely from running.
He was breathless as he said, “Marban, Valerius is here! He’s
seeking an audience with you!”
As terrifying as the thought of Valerius being here was, Caden had
another stab of fright when he realized who he was talking to.
Marban? Holy shit, that’s the name of the godfather of the
underworld.
The old man smiled thinly at Caden’s shocked expression. “I see you
know my name. You probably thought I was a myth.”
“I don’t know what I thought,” Caden murmured. He strained his
hearing for the sound of Valerius’ boots on the stone. He imagined
every thump of his heart a footstep of Valerius’. He swallowed
coppery-tasting fear. “Listen, if he catches me, I can’t help you with
anything. Help me get away and don’t tell him about me and I’ll try to
help you. I don’t know how but I’ll try.”
He met Marban’s gaze. Again, that sense of being peered into went
through him.
Believe me, Caden thought.
Finally, the old man nodded and smiled. “All right. I agree.
Granddaughter, take him to the Mid.”
“But--but you can’t just let him go on a lame ass promise like that!”
she cried, clearly stunned. “We need to keep him here! There’s
already videos coming out about the square. They’ll see his picture.
He’ll be found and then how will he help us? He’ll just give us up--”
“No, I won’t,” Caden interrupted. “If I’m caught no one will ever know
you helped me. I’ll just claim to have gotten up the Stairs before they
went on lock down.”
He hadn’t thought about videos of him. Were there ones that
showed his face? God, he hoped not. If there were, they'd find him
in a second.
I have to go home. There’s nowhere else for me to go, he thought
with despair.
“Do as I say, Granddaughter,” Marban’s tone for this one moment
was hard and Caden felt the power of his personality behind it. “I
trust this one’s honor. He will help us. He will see that there has to be
change.”
The girl heard that tone of command in Marban’s voice, too, and she
bowed her head. “Of course, Grandfather.” Then in a far more
mulish tone, said to Caden, “Come on. This way. I’ll take you home.”
As she led him through another arched doorway, Marban called out
to him, “Oh, Caden, please do say hello to Wally for me. I hope he’s
well.”
Ice filled Caden’s belly and he staggered for a moment. He glanced
back at Marban who was smiling and nodding at him. The godfather
of the underworld knew who he was, where he worked, and probably
everything else about him, too.
CHAPTER SIX - WISDOM OR MALICE?

“You will not bar King Valerius’ way,” Simi hissed at Marban's lackey,
a dark haired young man who both bristled and balked at him.
The Claw Captain was the same height as Marban’s lackey, but
somehow Simi loomed over him like an adder about to strike.
The lackey’s Adam's apple bobbed frantically up and down as he
stammered out, “M-M-Marban h-h-has other g-g-guests at the
moment. You have to wait!”
Simi’s black eyes sizzled with anger. “Do you know who this is?” He
gestured towards Valerius. “This is your king.”
“You still have to wait!” the lackey cried, his eyes flickering between
Simi and Valerius.
“No, I do not,” Valerius said quietly, and simply pushed past him.
When the lackey tried to slip around them upstairs to let Marban
know they were coming, Simi blocked him with the flat of one palm
on the center of his chest. So only Valerius and Simi went up the
strangely greasy set of stairs to the “throne room.” Chione had
stayed below, speaking with the poor children outside, trying to see if
she couldn’t charm some information out of them.
Valerius’ nostrils flared as he set foot into the half-moon shaped
space. His eyes riveted on the throne that mirrored his own. Simi let
out a loud swear word and spat at the sight of it though he had likely
seen it before. But seeing it in the presence of the true king clearly
raised his ire even more than usual. Simi went directly to Marban,
and grasped the Swarm Shifter’s forearm when Marban remained
seated on the parody of a throne.
“Get on your knees, Marban! Your king is here!” Simi commanded.
“I am an old man. If I kneel down, I might not get up again,”
Marban’s voice trembled as if frail, but Valerius noted that Simi’s
powerful pulls on his arm did not move the Swarm Shifter at all.
“Let him be,” Valerius told Simi. “This will not be a long
conversation.”
Simi growled, but took a step back from Marban. He still looked like
he wanted to simply wrench Marban from the throne and force him
on his knees. But he said with full deference, “As you wish, my
king.” Then to Marban, “You are lucky he is so careful of your age!”
Marban put a hand to his chest. “I am grateful for your indulgence,
King Valerius. Now, how may this old man help you?”
Valerius stood in front of the old Swarm Shifter. It always darkly
amused him that Marban dressed and acted as if he were some wise
sage. A helpless old man. No one to fear, but, instead, to give good
counsel. Anyone who thought that was a fool. Not to say that Marban
wasn’t wise, but his dangerousness far outstripped his wisdom.
They regarded one another silently for long moments. Chione had
hoped that they would find the White Dragon Shifter before Marban
did, but Valerius knew that this clever criminal would be a step ahead
of him, maybe even ten steps, considering this happened in his
supposed territory. So while the Claw looked for the White Dragon
Shifter among the crowds, Marban would go directly to the source.
We should turn him to ash! Raziel growled.
Valerius wasn’t altogether in disagreement with his Spirit. But he
reigned his anger in and regarded Marban silently.
It was a win when the old Swarm Shifter finally spoke again, “What
brings you to the Below, King Valerius?”
“I think you know,” Valerius said, his voice low and dangerous, too.
Marban flashed him a brief and brilliant smile, showing crooked
yellow teeth between thin lips. “Ah! You mean the winged visitor that
we had in the market today. I should say the second winged visitor.
You also were present.”
Valerius ground his teeth together. “Where is the White Dragon
Shifter?”
Marban spread his arms to his sides and lifted them upwards, palms
towards the ceiling. “I have no idea.”
Valerius was sure that this was both the truth and a lie. Marban likely
did not know–at this moment–where the White Dragon Shifter was,
but he knew where he had been and where he was going.
“You may make this place stink to high heaven with incense, but I
can still smell the White Dragon underneath it. And he was here, not
all that long ago,” Valerius said and pointed towards the floor.
Marban acted as if this struck some chord with him. “Ah, I did
entertain a young man here earlier, and he was a shifter, but as he
was in his human form I could not know for certain what type he was!
Despite what they say, not all of us look like our Spirit animal–”
“I am not in a mood, Marban, to parry words with you. Answer my
questions plainly!” Valerius snarled.
It was Marban’s turn to grow angry then. He leaned forward on his
throne, with his pointy elbows resting on the throne’s stone arms and
hissed back, “You are in a bad mood? You are upset? What about
those you killed in the market today?”
There was a stab of regret and grief that went through Valerius. He
had no excuse for what happened. Raziel might have taken control,
but he was as responsible for his Spirit’s actions as much as for his
own. He and Raziel were one.
“King Valerius is not here to discuss such matters with you!” Simi
shouted. His golden cheeks flushed with high color. “You are a
criminal!”
“On the contrary, those families have already come to me and are
requesting that I represent them in getting some form of
compensation for their losses.” Marban seemed more like a coiled
serpent than a Swarm Shifter at that moment. “Although, really is
such a thing possible for the loss of the life of a wife, son, a
daughter, husband, brother, sister, lover? What is a life worth?
Especially when it is cut short by the person who is supposed to
protect them?”
“How dare you?!” Simi lunged towards Marban.
Valerius held up a hand and Simi froze, teeth still revealed, forked
tongue flickering, black eyes, glowing green.
“How many have you killed in your day, Marban?” Valerius asked
softly. “You pretending to care about life is tiresome. You use and
abuse these people. You live off of their misery and their deaths. So
your approbation means slightly less than nothing to me.”
“Yet, while I am harassed by your Claw for crimes I did not commit,
there will be no prosecutions for the lives lost today, will there?”
Marban asked almost conversationally. “No one could ever bring you
to justice, now could they?”
Marban was right. Valerius would never be formally judged for those
people’s deaths. Accidental or not, no one would even bring it up to
him, except for Marban. Even the President of the United States and
the Prime Minister of Canada would offer only awkward words about
it, if any, but more likely than not, they would stay silent. The only
satisfaction those families would have was if he took some of his
treasure hoard and gave it to them. Valerius swallowed down bitter
bile.
Raziel, you see that you have put us in a position that is untenable.
Do you not understand this? Valerius asked his Spirit.
That is human justice. Those are human concerns. Those are not
ours, Raziel responded with a snort of black smoke. Why do you
care what these people think? They must do what we say no matter
what. You run yourself ragged, concerned with their feelings.
They are my feelings, too! He retorted. Do you not care that we
have harmed the innocent?
Another snort came from his Spirit and more black smoke billowed
around those fiery eyes. I care only that we protect our territory.
Sometimes, that means sacrifices must be made.
That may be true. But you do not get to make that decision on your
own, Valerius reminded him.
I had to act, Raziel said.
“Have you nothing to say, King Valerius?” Marban asked, not hearing
his mental communication with his Spirit, but only his silence.
Valerius realized that his conversation with Raziel had taken too long
and his silence had stretched out too far.
“I was waiting for you to say something that mattered,” Valerius
spoke calmly.
It was at that moment that Chione joined him in the throne room. She
swept in with the scent of jasmine and looked like a delicate flower
amidst the stone and slime.
Marban immediately smiled broadly as he greeted her, “Chione,
what a pleasure to see you again! It’s been such a long time.”
Chione had no love for Marban. But, ever the politician, she did not
show it. She dipped her head towards him and responded, “Yes, it
has indeed been some time. I have to admit that this is a far more
pleasant location than in the fields where you and your kind
decimated the crops of my Pharaoh’s kingdom.”
Marban’s yellow and twisted teeth were revealed as he smiled
broader. “I only did that because your Pharaoh would not give my
people our fair share of the crop. Share and share alike. Something
that your new employer should remember. Especially when he rains
death on those I care about.”
“I am sure that we can all agree that the situation that occurred today
is unlikely to ever occur again. The ninth Dragon Shifter has joined
our ranks and that is unsettling,” she admitted.
“I don’t know about unsettling. The young man I met seemed quite
nice. Innocent, and brave. One of those knights in white shining
armor.” Marban tented his fingers in front of him and rested his
gnarled chin upon them.
Valerius tensed at that description. Could the White Dragon be
noble? A hero? No, that couldn’t be!
“You met him?” Chione asked, sounding slightly breathless. “How did
he seem?”
Marban was silent for a moment as he considered her question.
Finally, he said, “He still believes that he can go home again. That
this is all a dream and everything will go back to normal.”
Chione lowered her head and she shook it. “Poor young man. Poor,
poor young man.”
That caused Valerius to grit his teeth again. She was more
concerned about the White Dragon’s mental state than the fact that
he had infiltrated Valerius’ territory! But was that him thinking or
Raziel? He did not know.
“Where is the White Dragon?” Valerius asked again.
“What are you going to do with him, King Valerius?” Marban asked,
tilting his head to the side.
“That is none of your concern,” Valerius snapped.
“Oh, but it is. It is the concern of every single citizen of the world, I
think,” Marban disagreed.
Simi’s hands fisted at his sides. He cast a quick look over at Valerius.
This questioning he saw as disrespectful. And it was. Part of
Valerius wanted to simply turn Marban into ash and crush this place
to dust.
But the Swarm Shifter was one of the oldest Shifters. He was a
criminal, true. He was dangerous, true. He lied, true. But he did have
a point of view quite different from Valerius’ own and sometimes
there was value in this. So Valerius knew that it was wise to hear him
out. No matter how galling. He could almost hear Chione’s approval
in his mind. It was she who had taught him to be patient. Somewhat.
“What do you think people’s thoughts and feelings will be about the
White Dragon?” Chione asked.
Marban tapped the fingers of both hands together. “Those who are
currently in power will be afraid. They will rightly guess that White
Dragon will mean change. And for those who have everything as
they want it, change is an anathema.”
He will not change things for us, Raziel said in a guttural tone.
You are acting as if he could, Valerius pointed out.
Valerius thought of Illarion and Mei then. These two always saw
threats whether there was one or not. What would they think of the
White Dragon? He was certain that Esme would have been
frantically calling him as soon as the incident was reported. What
would she think? Would she welcome this new dragon into the
world? Or would she advocate its quick destruction?
Marban continued, “For those who are dissatisfied with their position
in life, they will embrace him for the exact same reason. For they
hope that he will put them on top.”
Valerius crossed his arms over his massive chest. “Which one are
you, Marban?”
The old man let out a tittering laugh. “Though I have much, I
embrace the winds of change for it will bring interesting things to
light. Besides, unlike many, I am able to ride the waves that are
coming to shore. I change with the times. Can you?”
“You thrive in chaos so of course you think this is welcome!” Simi
snapped as he pounded his chest. “When people are afraid, you
pretend to offer them answers, but all you are doing is seeking to line
your own pockets and expand your own power base!”
Marban’s yellow eyes widened. “So passionate! What wrong have I
done you?”
Simi stepped forward, black eyes blazing. “What wrong? What
wrong? You and your ilk make slaves of your fellow Shifters!
Whether you hold our debt or the keys to escape this life! You keep
us all down here in the muck with you.”
Valerius knew what Simi had to go through in order to become a
Claw Captain rather than a criminal. His parents had been poor to
begin with. But Simi had been very intelligent, not to mention
determined. He’d gone into the army in order to pay for schooling.
He’d not only gotten an undergraduate degree, but also a law
degree. He’d just been about to get his law license when he’d been
chosen by a Snake Spirit. And that had destroyed any hopes of
going into the law for him.
The position offered to him at a prestigious law firm had been
rescinded. His law school friends wanted nothing to do with him. He
was a criminal Shifter. Everyone knew that snakes were always
criminals. Many whispered about what a near miss it had been. If
the Snake Spirit had not chosen Simi then they might not have
known whatever criminal enterprises he’d supposedly had planned!
This budding defender of the law was shunted to a Snake Shifter
Clan, which had wanted nothing more than to use his legal smarts to
assist in their criminal enterprises. But Simi had rejected their offer
and presented himself to Valerius during an open day at High Reach
where the populace could ask something of him.
“Ah, the Snake Shifter who has denied his own people to be
Valerius’ pet!” Marban clicked his fingers together as if he suddenly
remembered who Simi was.
Considering the Claw Captain had been working in the Below,
busting Marban’s people for six months, this show of forgetfulness
was quite amazing. Simi’s cheeks flushed an angry red and that
impression of an adder about to strike from earlier was back.
Valerius determined that this honorable man did not need to defend
himself.
“The captain earned his place,” Valerius interrupted, sick of this
conversation and the stench in this room almost equally. “I have let
you fester down here perhaps for too long, Marban.”
“And, let me guess! If I tell you where the White Dragon has gone,
you will let me fester unmolested longer?” Marban asked with a flash
of those yellowed teeth. “It is fascinating to me that you seem so
unnerved by this White Dragon. From what I can see he is no match
for you physically. And after having met him, he seems utterly
unaware of the benefits of his position.”
This was interesting. But was Marban lying or telling the truth? It was
always the hardest thing to tell.
“If he is so guileless then why did you help him?” Valerius asked.
“Not out of the goodness of your heart, I think.”
“I did so because there was no harm in it. As I said, he is young and
innocent and you will find him,” Marban answered. “But he will still
thank me in the end for keeping him out of your clutches for a few
minutes longer. So he will try to go home. Of course, then he’ll figure
out that home is no longer there any longer. But I will still have his
loyalty.”
“If you had truly been thinking of his well-being, you would have kept
him here and called for us,” Chione argued quietly. “Just like you
should have realized long ago that decimating the crops would mean
that no one ate, not your people or the Pharaoh’s.”
“Sometimes people only learn things the hard way. This boy must
learn for himself the truth of things. The Pharaoh would not see the
suffering of some of his own people until he realized the suffering of
all,” Marban corrected her. “We, once more, live in interesting times.”
Chione pulled out her cell phone. She read something on it intently
before coming up to Valerius and whispering in his ear, “Ngoye has
found a video of the young man. He was coming out of some shop
in the square. They might know who he is there.”
Valerius gave a nod. “Then we go. Tell Ngoye to speak to no one at
this shop. I will do the questioning. But make sure that none leave
it.”
Without a word of goodbye to Marban, the Black Dragon King turned
on his heel and strode swiftly out of the throne room. Chione and
Simi followed close on his heels.
“I look forward to seeing how you ride the waves of change, King
Valerius!” Marban called after them. “I will have my people contact
yours about your penance!"
Valerius ignored him. Black smoke poured out of Raziel’s nostrils.
“Let me stay behind, my king! Marban knows more! I will get it out of
him!” Simi fumed at his shoulder as the much smaller Snake Shifter
hustled to keep up with him. Simi had to take two steps to his one.
“That will be a waste of your time,” Valerius told him as they exited
the secret passage that marked the entrance to Marban’s quarters.
The young man that had tried to keep them out, popped up like a
piece of corn in hot oil, as they flew past.
Simi’s eyebrows drew together. “I do not understand. Even if we find
out who the young man is, we do not know where he is headed now.
Marban does!”
“And he has told us. Repeatedly,” Chione answered. “The White
Dragon is making his way home.”
Valerius had thought such an idea ridiculous. He had never believed
that the White Dragon would be so foolish as to actually go back to
his home, but Marban did. And he was telling the truth about it.
“Would Marban admit such a thing without more pressure? He must
be lying!” Simi shook his head.
The Claw Captain, evidently, couldn’t believe the White Dragon
would be so foolish to go home either evidently.
“Unless he is newly changed,” Chione pointed out. “Remember how
it was for you when you were new? What was the first thought you
had?”
Simi’s mouth flattened. “Besides realizing that my life was ruined? Or
so I thought at the time. I turned to my family, well, I tried to turn to
them.”
“You speak to them now, do you not?” Chione asked, her expression
torn.
He nodded. “Yes, I try. My father died two years ago and my
mother… I support her. She still worries that the funds I use come
from criminal activities no matter what I say.” Simi’s eyes flickered
over to Valerius. “Forgive me, my king. I am certain you do not care
to hear such inanities.”
“On the contrary, I do wish to hear, Captain. Not just for what it might
tell us about what the White Dragon may do, but to understand the
current state of relations between humans and Shifters,” Valerius
answered.
“And because you care for the Captain as well,” Chione said with a
bright look in his direction.
Realizing that he had not said that, Valerius gave a nod. “Yes, of
course. That goes without saying.”
But did it really?
“I am honored if any of my experiences can help or matter in any
way,” Simi got out. He cleared his throat and said, “If the White
Dragon is new then he will be confused at best and seeking shelter
with those who he feels safest with. Even after what happened with
you, King Valerius.”
“I think he will be quite desperate,” Chione echoed.
To go home was the action of someone who had no guilty
conscience. Certainly, it hardly appeared to be the act of some
master schemer trying to take over Valerius’ kingdom.
Or he is simply foolish, Raziel snorted. Do not assume that he is
innocent when stupidity will answer for his actions.
I am holding off my judgment on him. But, these are not the actions
of a guilty man, Raziel, Valerius pointed out.
Yet he found his way to the godfather of the underworld. He avoided
the Claw. These are facts too, and they do not make the White
Dragon seem so innocent, Raziel snorted again.
Which is why I am withholding judgment one way or the other,
Valerius retorted. You need to explain to me why he angers you so
much.
His Spirit was hidden behind great billows of black smoke, making
reading its expression impossible. Valerius thought that Raziel
would say nothing like it had so far, but then his Spirit responded in a
very small voice, Do you not feel it? Do you not feel this connection
he has to us?
Valerius frowned, his brows drawing together. Connection? No, I…
He is not like the others, Raziel whispered, almost as if uttering
these words were against its will.
Before Valerius could ask more, he exited the Warrens into the
market. There were crowds of people milling around near the steps
that lead up to the Stairs and the Lifts. He could have flown to the
Mid, but Simi and Chione wouldn’t have been able to come with him.
Raziel allowed no one to ride on its back and Valerius had a feeling
that the people of Reach had had enough of dragon sightings for one
day. So they would take the Lifts.
The people parted before them like the Red Sea had for Moses. He
did not look right or left, but only straight ahead. If he was honest
with himself he was avoiding these people’s gazes. While Marban
might not care truly about the dead, these people would. Those who
had been crushed outside were their friends, their neighbors or
maybe even their family. And he was to blame. The crowd seemed
restless. The Claw filtered out of the crowd and lined his route.
“Killer!” Someone hissed in the crowd. Their voice was low, but
distinct to his hearing.
“Murderer!” Another added.
There were murmurs of agreement and some dismay.
“Quiet! He could kill us all!” Another shouted.
“But there are more of us than there are of him!” Another cried.
The Claw around him shouted for there to be order and for them to
make way for the Black Dragon King. The crowd went almost silent
and this silence was worse than the words had been. He would
never forget their sentiments or their silence. How could he make
amends to these people? Was it even possible?
Why do you care? Raziel repeated again. When we fly high enough
we cannot hear them or see them. So forget them.
Raziel had never spoken so dismissively before today of the people
they ruled. Or maybe he had just not noticed it. His own reluctance
to deal with humanity until the war 30 years ago might have
poisoned his Spirit against others. Or was it the other way around?
He had withdrawn from the world mostly because all he had known,
all he had loved, was gone. Long gone. Ashes and dust and
forgotten.
We never wanted to rule, Raziel, he reminded the Spirit. But since
we are determined to do so, we must be just. You know this.
Raziel said nothing. He wanted to ask more about this alleged
connection to the White Dragon, but he found himself reluctant to do
so. Even as they boarded one of the glass and steel lifts that shot
them upwards towards the Mid, both he and Raziel stayed silent.
Chione was looking at her cell phone again. She reported, “Captain
Ngoye tells me that the name of the shop we are going to is Wally
Nutt’s Emporium.” She frowned. “I wonder what such a shop could
sell.”
“Oh, Wally’s?” Simi asked, but then quickly pressed his lips together.
Unlike before when he had been trying to repress his anger, now he
seemed to be repressing a smile.
“What is it? What is this Wally’s?” Valerius asked with a frown.
Simi let out a slight laugh. “You’ll have to see it to believe it, my king.”
CHAPTER SEVEN - CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN
“So are you ever going to tell me your name?” Caden asked the girl
in yellow and black.
She led him through a maze of tunnels and stairwells with squashy
unrecognizable piles of debris that clung to the corners. There were
more than a few times when he’d taken a whiff of those piles and
nearly gagged.
“So the Claw has an even easier time hunting me down for helping
you? I think not,” she said without turning around.
“I’ll just call you Granddaughter then.”
“No, you will not!” This had her whipping around and those strange
yellow eyes narrowing at him.
“Then give me a name,” he said.
“We’re almost to the Mid,” she growled. “And it’s just the two of us.
So you don’t need a name.”
“I’ll give you my name,” Caden said boldly.
She laughed. “Oh, sure, like that has value.”
“It does! I have a lot to lose, too!” he squawked.
“Your name, dragon boy, is going to be on everyone’s lips in no time
flat, because you’re going to be caught.”
She shook her black and yellow hair as she mounted yet another
staircase. His thighs were already aching. They’d gone up too many
staircases with brutally steep steps that they had to practically climb
up on their hands and knees as much as put one foot over the other.

“No, it’s not,” he muttered.

He had to believe that. Otherwise, he would have to accept what
Marban had said that there was no going back, that his old life was
gone, and that this new one in front of him--full of fear and the
unknown--was all there was. She stopped--and he was pretty sure it
wasn’t just to lecture him but because she was tired too--and turned
around to look at him, hands on her hips, a mixture of frustration and
anger on her face.
“I don’t believe you’re this stupid,” she said as she rested against the
slimy wall.
He was going to warn her about a piece of brown gunk that she had
backed into but her calling him stupid had him remaining silent. He
stayed clear of the walls himself.
“I’m not--”
“Okay, then why are you acting stupid?”
He remained silent.
She shook her head and poked her tongue against the inside of her
cheek. “They are going to find you.”
“No!”
“Someone will have seen you shift. Someone will recognize you.
Someone will have recorded it,” she pointed out.
“Whoever planted the bomb took care of the cameras in the square,”
he said. He’d been thinking about this. “I’m pretty sure of that
anyways. They don’t want people to know who they are.”
“And what about the thousands with their cellphones who were
filming everything just in case they caught sight of Valerius? Did this
mysterious terrorist block all of those, too? Planting that backpack
without anyone seeing is one thing, but turning into a freaking huge
dragon is another.” She shook her head and wrapped her arms
around herself. “The Claw are many things, but they are very
thorough. Even if that person doesn’t upload their video to the cloud,
they will give it over to the authorities.”
His stomach fell into his feet. What she was saying made sense. He
rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants.
“Maybe you’re right. I’ll get caught. But I still have to try,” he told her.
“Why?” Her hands flew up like birds taking flight. “Your parents are
not going to welcome you with open arms!”
“You don’t know my parents,” he said stoutly, but then wiped his
hands on his pants again. “Besides, I’m not going to tell them--or
anyone--that I’m a Dragon Shifter.”
Her mouth opened as if she truly could not believe his words. “How
are you going to do that?”
“I’m not going to shift!”
The White Dragon was still firmly asleep in his chest, but its ears
flickered when the girl let out a shriek of laughter. She actually held
her sides as she laughed at him. Annoyance had him glaring at her.
“What’s so funny? Why are you acting like I’m an idiot?” he asked,
even as he was afraid now that he had said something stupid.
She waved at him for a moment as the chuckles finally slowed then
stopped. He was happy to see that she had leaned against that
brown gunk again.
“In the beginning, at least, you don’t have any control over when you
shift,” she explained. “Like no control whatsoever.”
He blinked. That sounded bad. It was bad. His whole plan involved
him never shifting, or at least, only doing so when he was in the
wilderness, completely and utterly alone. But if he was shifting
randomly that put a huge dent in his plans. A dragon in the house? A
dragon in the shop? Ah, yeah, that was a no. A big no.
“How long is the beginning? A few days? Weeks? A month or so?”
he asked her.
Maybe he could go hiking for a time, get things under control and
then return to the city. One of the things that Valerius’ reign had
ensured was that there were plenty of wild, empty spaces to get lost
in.
Her eyebrows rose up with each word he said. “Uhm, how about
years, decades, centuries? And I’m betting for a Dragon Shifter that
centuries or millennia are more likely.”
Those words so chilled him that he couldn’t speak at first. Her
expression went from mocking to concerned. She ran a nervous
hand through her hair and ducked her head. For a moment, he saw
the girl she had been before she became a Swarm Shifter.
“Look, I could be wrong. I only know how it was for me and the other,
you know, lower Shifters,” she said. “We should keep moving.
There’s still a lot of stairs to climb.”
They climbed in silence. His mind was like a snake eating its own
tail. He learned nothing other than to have his panic build.
“There must be a way to control it,” he said as they paused on
another landing. He felt a change in the light and guessed they were
getting near the Mid. While he was hungry for daylight after the grim
tunnels and stairs, getting to the Mid would mean losing the girl’s
company and though she was prickly, she was the only Shifter he
knew. “Does your Spirit… talk to you?”
She gave him a strange look, but then tapped her chin. “Sometimes I
think it does. It mostly reacts to my emotions. Enhancing them. Like
when I’m angry, it’s like a buzz in my mind making me really angry.”
“And when you’re happy, too? Same thing?” he asked hopefully.
She considered this and then nodded. “Sure, it’s like sharing a joke
with someone. They laugh so you laugh harder.” She then gave him
a curious stare and asked, “Does your Spirit talk to you?”
“I can see them,” he said and when she gave him an even more
quizzical look, he explained, “I–I mean not really see them. But I can
envision them in my head. Right now, the Spirit is curled up and
asleep in my chest. They’re exhausted.”
“Oh,” she seemed perplexed by this.
“I could hear Valerius talking to his spirit when we were fighting,” he
confessed to her. He had held this information back before, but now
he felt like there was no harm in telling. “His spirit’s name is Raziel.”
“His spirit has a name?” Her yellow eyes were quite big.
“More than that. It argues with him. They were arguing,” Caden
revealed.
“What were they arguing about?” her voice held genuine curiosity.
No longer was there any sneering in it.
“Me. Whether to attack me or not. Valerius didn’t want to. Raziel
did.” He shrugged and gave an uncertain smile.
“And Raziel convinced Valerius to go after you?” She was very still,
clearly enraptured with this idea.
“No, Raziel was in charge. Valerius was shouting at it to stop but it
wouldn’t,” he explained.
She started shaking her head and crossed her arms over her chest.
“This is really huge. You know that right?”
“That they were fighting?”
“That Valerius wasn’t in control!” she practically shouted then she
looked around them to make sure no one was nearby. She lowered
her voice, “Those Humans First assholes are constantly trying to say
that the Spirits are in charge and the humans they take over are
enslaved. What you’ve just said about Valerius–of all people–would
make everybody think they’re right.”
“But they’re not right… right?”
She was giving him that mixture of frustrated and angry look again.
“How do you not know anything about Shifters?”
“Because I wasn’t one until today!” He gestured at his chest. “Why
would I have to know? Shifters don’t live by me. I’m not friends with
any. They never even come into the shop! You’re really the first one
I’ve ever talked to.”
Her gaze was distant as she muttered, “It really is like we live in
different worlds.”
“Lived. I’m in yours now,” he reminded her.
But she shook her head almost violently. “No, you’re not. You’re a
Dragon Shifter that puts you into your own category. Hell, even
going to the Mid makes you and me from completely different
planets. Which, by the way, we’re here.”
She pointed up yet another round of stairs. He could see a door at
the top with sunlight streaming in around the edges. Even though
she was driving him crazy and treated him like he was soft in the
head at times, he found himself regretting that their time together
was over.
“Give me some tips,” he begged her. “Seriously, any advice you’ve
got to keep control of the shifting.”
For a moment, she almost looked helpless and he doubted she let
many people see her this way, but the emotions were simply too
huge for her to hide. “I don’t--”
“C’mon, please. Anything.”
She shook her head, but said, “Fine! My advice to you is don’t get
angry. Try to control your fear. Meditate or something. Emotions
make you lose control. Lose control and you shift. Your Spirit…” She
swallowed. “Your Spirit will protect itself. So if you’re angry or afraid it
will want to lash out.”
“Okay, so I’ve got to keep it as calm as possible,” he said with a nod.
“Your eyes are going to shine like fuck so wear sunglasses,” she
said. “Uhm, you’ll feel pressure in your chest if you’re going to shift.
If that happens, you need to get the Hell away from everybody.”
He imagined becoming a dragon in the house. It would destroy the
whole building.
“Keep calm. Wear sunglasses. Feel pressure then get away from
people,” he repeated.
“And this sounds crazy, but if what you’ve said is true talk to your
Spirit. Explain what’s going on,” she said and then flexed her hands
together. “Look, the biggest thing you’ve got to remember is that you
were chosen.” Her expression was strange, both hopeful and sad.
“They say that we get the Spirit that we deserve. So you deserve to
be one of the rarest and most powerful Shifters out there. No matter
what Valerius or any of the other Dragon Shifters think, the White
Dragon chose you. You’re meant to be here.”
He was touched by her speech. He wished he could believe this
was all meant. Well, maybe he could, but not in a good way. He kept
thinking it was all set up to simply kill him. Could there be another
future where being a Dragon Shifter was a good thing?
“Thank you,” he told her as he took one step up the stairs.
She nodded and made a faint wave before turning to leave.
He called out to her, “My name is--”
“Dragon boy,” she said with a half smile. “I’m afraid I’ll know it soon
enough.”
“Then there’s no harm telling you early. Besides, I think I can trust
you with it,” he said.
“Too trusting, dragon boy.” She shook her head, but didn’t move to
leave again.
“Caden,” he said. “Caden Bryce. I won’t ask your name again. I
know you don’t--”
“Rose.” She crossed her arms over her chest, this time defensively
against him, as if he was going to make fun of her.
“Rose. That’s… nice.”
She rolled her eyes. “Please.”
“It’s pretty.”
She snorted, but her hold on herself loosened. “Yeah, well, I guess.
It sort of fits with me turning into bees and all.”
Intrigued, he asked, “Can you pollinate flowers and--”
She glared at him, which had him swallowing, but then she muttered,
“Yeah, of course. I can do that.”
“I bet you're a good gardener,” he guessed.
She rocked a little from side to side. “People are really poor in the
Below–if you know that much--so we can’t always afford to buy all
our food so gardens are important.”
“So your gift is pretty useful then,” he said, smiling genuinely.
A momentary trace of pride filled her face, but it was quickly tamped
down as she shrugged. “It hasn’t made me any friends, if that’s what
you’re asking. My vegetables feed a ton of families in the Below, but
they still avoid me like the plague.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “When I realized what kind of Shifter you were I
was scared too. Stupid, but I was.”
At first, she seemed nettled but then she let out a sigh. “You know
how ridiculous that sounds, right? You’re a dragon who shoots ice
out of his mouth and you were afraid of a girl who can turn into
bees.”
“Bees sting when they’re mad at you,” he said.
Her lips twitched into what suspiciously looked like a smile. “Yes, we
can, but if we sting we die.”
“So when individual bees you turn into die--”
“No more questions, dragon boy, I mean, Caden,” she said.
“Next time then, Rose, we’ll talk,” he pointedly used her name, too.
She shook her head. “You’re crazy. But okay, next time we meet,
assuming you’re not in prison, I’ll tell you all about me.”
“Excellent.” He grinned at her.
She waved a hand in the air and jogged down the steps. Soon, she
was out of sight and he was alone again. He felt adrift like a boat in
the middle of the ocean with shredded sails and no engine. But he
only allowed himself to feel that for a moment. He was nearly home.
And if he was going to give his plan a shot, he had to start acting like
his normal self once more. All of this, everything that had happened,
could be wiped away. He would find a way to control the shift. He
would have his old life back.
Caden turned and walked up the last stairwell to the door. Light
leaked around the edges and through a grate. He took in a breath
and peered through the grate. The sunlight was almost blinding. So
much had happened since he was in the square at noon that it felt
like it should be night already, but it was still bright daylight out. Only
a little over an hour had passed.
The door led out not too far from his neighborhood. It was a small
market area where fresh fruit and vegetables were sold along with
meat, cheese and bakery goods. The market place was normally
closed after one p.m., but due to the crowds from the Anniversary
everything was still open. The door looked to be behind one of the
fruit vendors. Even with the scare of the White Dragon--he nearly
snorted at that--the market was still filled with people talking and
bargaining and eating. He didn’t see any Claw.
He pushed the door handle down and opened the door just wide
enough for him to slip out. The sunlight hitting his face had him
squinting and the White Dragon inside of him stirring slightly, as if the
feel of the light and the sight of the sky awakened it. Remembering
Rose’s advice, he tried to calm his own anxiety about being out in
the open and the dragon spirit slipped back into deep sleep.
No one seemed to notice as he left the door and joined the throng of
the market. He made his way through the crowd like an eel through
thick rushes and finally escaped the tourists. He half jogged down
the familiar tree-line streets of West Reach. His heart was suddenly
in his throat as he caught sight of the two-story colonial he lived in
with his parents and sister. The blue shutters and white siding were
as familiar to him as the back of his hand and were more welcome to
him than anything at that moment. Home! He was home!
He practically jumped up the few steps to the front door. The front
door itself was open, but the screen door was closed and it let out a
protesting squeak as he wrenched it open.
“Caden?” It was his sister, Tilly’s, voice. She was shouting. Her voice
was full of anguish.
“It’s me, Till,” he called back.
“Oh, my God!” she screamed and suddenly he had an armful of
trembling sister.
Her arms were around his neck. He felt hot tears against the side of
his throat. She was gripping him as if afraid he would disappear like
smoke if she didn’t. He held her back just as tightly.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he kept telling her and, at that moment, it felt
that way.
“When you called and then you weren’t there and then the bomb and
the dragon! Oh, God! Caden! I thought you’d died!” she sobbed.
And so had he. At that moment, their mother was in the doorway
behind Tilly. She was clutching a dish towel. Her expression was
wrenched but then it smoothed out. He could tell she’d been worried
too.
“Caden, you gave your sister and me a fright. We were thinking…
Well, it doesn’t matter. You’re safe and it was all a scare for nothing,”
she said as she dried her hands before coming over to tousle his
hair.
Tilly would not let him go so she had to reach around his sister to
kiss his cheek.
“I know. I’m sorry. There was a bomb and---I lost my phone and
wallet and...” clothes and humanity and… oh, God, Mom, I can’t tell
you any of that.
So he said nothing more. Just leaving it vague.
But she was already nodding and filling in the blanks just as he
hoped she would. “Yes, yes, Tilly and I have been watching it on the
television. I’m so glad that you were able to get home. Your father is
trapped downtown. He doesn’t know when he’s going to get back
tonight.”
Tilly though had not recovered as quickly as their mother had. Their
mother believed that nothing could really go wrong, nothing awful
would happen to them, and she refused to dwell on bad things that
were simply not going to happen. Their father was the worrywart.
Probably because he was a litigator and saw every day how things
could–and did–go wrong.
“Uhm, are we going to wait for him for dinner then?” he asked, his
stomach turning in on itself with hunger.
Her eyebrows raised. “Dinner? It’s only one in the afternoon. It's a
little early to be thinking about dinner, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t really get to eat anything except yogurt this morning,” he
confessed.
“There’s fixings for sandwiches in the fridge. I’ve got to head to the
Faith Center now that I know all of my family is safe,” their mother
said.
She caressed his cheek, a certain softness entering her practical
demeanor, which allowed him to see how scared for him that she
had been, but would not acknowledge even to herself.
“Why are you going there?” Caden asked.
He cuddled his little sister who remained silent, watching and
listening to their exchange. She’d actually fingered some of the
clothes he was wearing and a frown had crossed her face.
“For the new Dragon Shifter,” she explained as she pulled on a light
jacket.
His stomach suddenly did a physically impossible thing in his chest
that felt rather like a double axel. “Oh? I mean… what exactly are
you going to do for him… or her?”
“Pray to the Spirits to calm things down and care for them, of
course,” she said. “This new Spirit must be terrified after the
reception they received from Valerius.”
His heart lifted a little. “So you think Valerius was wrong in attacking
the White Dragon? You don’t think they had anything to do with the
bomb?”
“Spirits are all about life, honey, not death. I’m afraid that was likely
something set up by Humans First,” she sighed.
Even as he felt that swelling of hope, he heard Rose in his head
telling him that maybe his mother only felt that way because she
didn’t think that the White Dragon was in her house, in her son.
“Valerius didn’t exactly think so,” he found himself pointing out.
“Well, dragons are territorial, honey. And it was as likely as much a
shock to him as it was to the person who became the White Dragon
and with the bomb and all…” She waved a hand. “There was a lot
going on. Things will get better. You’ll see. Everything will be as it
should be. The Spirits will provide. Make sure you stir the stew every
once in a while or we’ll have blackened stew for dinner as I assume
you’re staying here and not going back to work.”
He was not going anywhere near the square though he would have
to contact Wally and Landry to let them know he was all right.
“No, I’m here. Don’t think that the square’s going to be open much
more today,” he said.
“Good. Well, enjoy yourselves, you two.”
She kissed his cheek one last time, kissed the top of Tilly’s spiky
head and then she was out the door, leaving just him and his sister.
Having his mother seem so calm and sure, not to mention being
home, made him feel like the afternoon’s events really had been a
dream and that things could truly go back to what they had been. He
looked down at Tilly. She was staring up at his face, studying him,
and not saying anything.
“Hey, want something to eat?” he asked her, smoothing a hand over
her head.
“Okay,” she said, her voice soft and uncertain.
She slipped her hand through his, like she used when she was little,
and accompanied him into the bright, friendly kitchen. His mother
loved plants, flowers and all sorts of growing things. Their backyard
was a riot of color and the kitchen wasn’t much better with pots of
herbs on every available space and flowers drying in bunches for her
homemade potpourris hung from the ceiling in between the bronze
cookware.
Lamb stew was bubbling on the stove. He stirred it as their mother
requested before heading over to the refrigerator to get sandwich
fixings. Tilly had let go of his hand reluctantly but then seated herself
at the kitchen island, her barefoot feet swinging back and forth
almost nervously.
She has no idea that anything is actually wrong. She’s probably too
strung out after that phone call we had. That’s all that’s wrong.
“Ham or turkey for your sandwich? Or should we go crazy and have
both?” He asked with his head stuck in the refrigerator. “Mom made
those pretzels rolls you like and--”
“Why are you wearing those clothes? They aren’t yours,” Tilly
interrupted him as if he’d said nothing at all.
He swallowed, grabbing both kinds of lunch meat, mayo, mustard,
swiss cheese, and tomato slices before emerging from the
refrigerator.
He didn't look at her as he answered, “In all the chaos, my clothes
got messed up so I had to put these on.”
“Why aren’t you wearing ones from the shop?” she persisted. “Wally
would give you anything, especially to keep you from wearing rags.”
“Hey! These are not rags, they’re recycled and they’re fine, thanks.”
He cut open a pretzel roll and proceeded to smear mustard and
mayo on it before piling it with both ham and turkey and some
cheese and tomato. He was tempted to just devour the whole
sandwich and make his sister another one as he was so freaking
hungry. The White Dragon was shifting in his chest, hungry, too. But
he resisted the urge and put it before her. He was even more hungry
when he saw that she didn’t touch it. He quickly turned back to the
counter to make another one.
“You saw the bomber, Caden,” she said with surprising clarity and
adult determination. She emphasized each word by rapping her
knuckles on the island’s wooden top. “You were going after the
bomb. People are saying that a young guy was the one who jumped
off the Drop. That he was trying to save everybody from--”
“Tilly, I did not--”
“You saw the bomb,” her voice was steady. Her eyes though were
filled with tears. “I saw it in your face. You thought you were going to
die.”
He met her gaze and swallowed. “Till…”
“You were the one,” she whispered. “You were the one that took the
bomb to the Drop. You jumped. Mom wouldn’t believe me, because
she didn’t want to believe you were gone. Except you aren’t gone. I
know it was you.”
His hands moved to the edge of the countertop. His fingernails dug
into the wood. “And you think… what? That I…”
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the television that
was mounted on the wall by the sink. His mother had it on mute, but
she’d clearly been watching the news, worried about him after Tilly’s
words. They were showing the front of Wally's shop. The Black
Dragon King and a phalanx of Claw were walking into the store. The
reporter was saying something breathlessly that he couldn’t hear and
didn’t need to.
He’s already found me, Caden thought. Rose, you were right. I was
stupid. There is no going home again. Everything is different.
His sister saw where he was looking and she asked, “Are you the
White Dragon Shifter, Caden?”
CHAPTER EIGHT: SURRENDER
The moment Valerius walked into the shop a man--or rather a roly
poly ball with arms and legs with a balloon animal that suspiciously
looked like a black dragon on his head--waddled up to him. Valerius
frowned at the balloon animal as the man was half his height and his
face was a foot beneath the balloon.
“Wally!” a young woman who was hiding her face behind a wall of
hair hissed. “The hat. Take off the balloon hat!”
Wally looked startled for a moment before he removed that hat,
which squeaked as he took it off his bald head. The young woman
took it from him and tossed it behind a rack of hoodies that had
werewolves printed on them.
Wally cleared his throat and did an awkward, stiff bow. “King
Valerius, we are so pleased to welcome you to Wally Nutt’s
Emporium of Rare and Exotic Goods! As you can see, we are very
into--er, ah, uhm--”
“Making money off his image?” the young woman offered out of the
corner of her mouth.
Wally gave her a sharp look. “Landry! Uhm, we are very into you.
Honoring you. Yes, honoring you, King Valerius.”
He gestured towards piles of black dragon plushies. Chione had
already picked one up and was smiling at it.
She cuddled it against her cheek and said brightly, “Oh, Valerius,
they are so cute and soft! I totally must get one!”
Valerius' lips compressed into a tight line. Raziel looked at them with
little interest. It could not connect how that soft bit of cloth and its
huge form were at all related. It curled in his chest, a huff of smoke
leaving its nostrils as it settled. It did not sense the White Dragon
Shifter here. He scanned Wally and Landry. There was nothing about
them that smelled of dragon and neither matched Captain Ngoye’s
description of a “young man”.
Of course, he is no longer here. Coming back here would be almost
as insane as going home. But these people will know his name and
his personality. We can learn much from them.
“If you’d like them, one is only $19.95!” Wally brightened. The young
woman elbowed him. “Uhm, but for you we’ll give you the special
price of–ow! Landry!” She’d elbowed him again. He rubbed his
round stomach. “You can have it for free, of course.”
“One would hope so,” Simi said coolly. “I do not believe that King
Valerius has licensed you to sell his likeness, has he?”
The Claw Captain lifted up a t-shirt with Valerius’ grim, if handsome,
visage with a stylized dragon circling his head on it as if an exhibit.
Wally swallowed and a hand crept up to the collar of his Dragon King
Valerius t-shirt. He tugged at it and went distinctly sweaty. But
Valerius cared little about such tchotchkes and chintzy souvenirs.
“This is not what we came here to discuss,” Valerius’ voice was low,
but it broke through the idle conversation.
Wally looked stricken again. Even the outspoken Landry seemed to
turtle in on herself.
“Why are you here? Not that we mind! Happy to have you here.
Maybe you could even sign some of the mugs?” Wally grabbed a
mug with a black dragon on it and held it out to Valerius hopefully.
He only lowered it when Valerius stared at him hard.
There was a ting of the bell above the door as Captain Ngoye strode
in. She was only a shade over five feet, and like Simi, was not the
usual Werewolf Shifter, but was instead a Lion Shifter. Her highly
logical mind had placed her in leadership position after leadership
position until she had reached captain. He knew she would go
higher, but needed more age before that would happen. She was
holding a tablet. She marched up and bowed low to Valerius.
“No need for that, Captain Ngoye. You have brought us the image of
the young man we are looking for?” He extended a hand to her.
She rose gracefully and handed him the tablet after unlocking it.
What appeared on the screen was a rather grainy black and white
image of a young man exiting this shop. Raziel leaned towards the
screen, black smoke pouring out of its nostrils, remembering its prey.
Valerius’ feelings were strangely muted. This could be anyone, but it
was supposedly the White Dragon. Another dragon. Like him...
He’s so young. Like any man in his twenties, finding his way in the
world, and to have that world utterly change on him in a moment...
With his fingers he enlarged the young man’s face, but the image
was so low resolution that the face became almost indistinguishable
from a blur of black, white and gray pixels. He undid the enlargement
and turned the tablet towards Wally. Even before the screen was
turned, Wally and Landry were tense. When they saw the young
man on the screen Landry practically jumped. Wally was swallowing
convulsively again.
“Caden! Is he okay?” Landry asked. Her pudgy pale hands came
together in front of her black shirt. They reminded him of starfish in
the dark sea.
Caden… that is his name…
We will crush this Caden! Raziel growed. He is young.
Inexperienced. Unable to stand before us.
We will do nothing of the sort! Keep calm! You will do nothing
without my approval! Valerius snapped.
“Can you tell us what he was doing in Dragon Strike Square?”
Chione asked softly.
She had two plushies in her hands now. One was pressed against
her left cheek while she was rubbing her chin with the other one.
“He was selling werewolf hoodies and talking to his sister on his
phone,” Wally said and his expression became wrenched. “I should
have told him to stay in the store to make his call. But I thought… I
thought… ”
He didn’t finish the sentence. What was there to say? It wasn’t that
none of them had thought there could be trouble. Both of his Claw
Captains had been on high alert. The square had been flooded with
police and other security yet a bomb had been placed.
“What is his full name?” Valerius asked.
“Caden Bryce,” Wally answered.
The name was pleasant and Valerius could almost imagine it tripping
off his tongue.
“But he has not come back since the bombing?” Captain Ngoye
confirmed.
Wally shook his head. “No, he went out just a minute or two before
the commotion started in the square. And like I said, he was just
selling merch and talking to his sister.”
“What is his sister’s name? And we’ll also need an address,”
Captain Ngoye whipped out another smaller tablet and pen to write it
all down.
Wally’s dark eyes flickered among all of them and understanding
dawned on him. “Caden had no part in this! He’s a wonderful kid!
There’s no way he’d set a bomb! He couldn’t have! He didn’t have
anything but werewolf hoodies in his hands! And--”
“Is Caden okay?!” Landry interrupted. “Was he hurt? Where is he?
Why are you guys looking for him?”
“He’s a person of interest in our inquiry,” Captain Ngoye answered
almost primly.
Landry clutched at Wally’s shoulders. “Don’t tell them anything else,
Wally. They’re trying to railroad somebody for the bomb and they’re
going to pin it on Caden!”
Wally went bug-eyed. “That’s insane! He’d be more the type that
would try to get rid of the bomb! Or help people to safety! That’s
what we hoped had happened and the police simply weren’t allowing
him to come back…” Again, Wally’s voice dropped off.
“Yeah, Caden totally wouldn’t hurt anybody! He loves the
Anniversary and all the crowds of people taking photos of you, your
majesty,” Landry sneered.
Landry didn’t hide her scorn now that she believed they were going
after Caden. She was brave. He had to give her that.
“We are not suggesting that Caden placed the bomb.” It was Chione
who interjected in her calm voice. She stepped over, still holding the
plushies possessively as if she feared he would take them from her,
and stood by his side, facing Wally and Landry. Her gentle eyes were
on the two of them. “There was another bit of excitement after the
bomb was found. I am sure you heard of it.”
“Are you suggesting that Caden is the White Dragon Shifter? That’s
even crazier than him being the bomber! Isn’t it, Wally? Come on,
Wally! Tell them how crazy that is! Caden a Shifter? No way!” Landry
nudged her boss.
But Wally did not look like he agreed that such a thing was crazy. He
appeared thoughtful and afraid. His gaze flickered to Valerius and
away. Of course, he had seen--like everyone had--the fight between
him and Caden.
“You do not think it is so crazy, do you, Wally?” Chione continued in
her gentle tone. “Caden is brave, kind and selfless. Just the sort of
person a Dragon Spirit might choose.”
Again, Wally’s gaze flickered to him and his little eyes darkened. “A
certain kind of Dragon Spirit, yeah, but he’s just a kid. A normal kid.
He can’t be a part of this.”
“It sounds as if you do not wish him to be,” Chione pointed out. “But
if he is, and we believe he is, we need to find him right away. I am
certain you understand this, do you not?”
Wally--who had seemed, if nothing else, slightly ridiculous to him up
to this point, certainly not fierce--was suddenly scowling. And though
he was half Valerius’ height, he seemed to roar like a lion instead of
the mouse that he was as he pointed at Valerius accusingly, “Caden
is my friend! You attacked him--or whoever is that White Dragon
Shifter--for no reason! Don’t come here pretending that you’re here
to help Caden! If you think he’s the White Dragon Shifter then
helping him is the last thing on your minds!” He crossed those
chubby, small arms over his roly poly body. “Take me to jail. Lock me
up tight! Do your worst! I am not helping you one bit more! And
those plushies are $25 a piece plus tax for you, lady!”
Wally then clamped his lips shut. Valerius wouldn’t have been
surprised if he made a key-locking motion and had thrown the
imaginary key over his shoulder after that. He didn’t, but his
expression said it just as well.
“Me, too! I’m not saying another word about Caden to you–you
terrible Shifters!” Landry spat and she stood ramrod straight.
Though their determination not to speak was almost ludicrous,
frustration seethed under Valerius’ calm exterior. He wanted to grab
Wally by the scruff of the neck and make him look into dragon’s fire
and still claim he would keep his mouth shut. He was pretty sure a
glare from Raziel would have had Landry choking up all she knew.
But he stopped himself. More violence would solve nothing.
Yet he had to find Caden! The longer this went on the worse things
would get. He would look less and less in control of his own city. It
could spur unrest elsewhere. He knew that news of this newest
Dragon Shifter would have reached others of his kind. They would
be watching things carefully, waiting to see if he could handle this
tiny dragon. Right now, he looked like a bumbling fool who had killed
his own people while being outsmarted by a baby Shifter. It was
absurd!
“I have his address,” Captain Ngoye said, looking up from her tablet,
and relief washed through him.
“Perhaps his family will be more willing to protect their child’s life
than his employer,” Valerius growled.
“Are you sure there is nothing we can say to convince you to help us
help Caden?” Chione asked.
“No!”
“I see.” She had dug out her purse and handed Wally money. “For
the plushies.”
Wally snatched it from her but did not look pleased. Maybe he
wished he’d charged her more. Or maybe he didn’t want her to have
anything from his shop, even if it wasn’t Caden-related.
For a moment, Valerius felt a stab of respect for this ridiculous little,
egg-shaped man and the defiant young woman. It showed
something about Caden’s character that he could earn such
disparate people’s respect.
This just shows how dangerous he is to us, Raziel rumbled.
Or what an asset he could be, Valerius said and was surprised at the
idea.
It was something that Chione would say. He looked at her
suspiciously.
“Please place these two under arrest,” Valerius told Simi.
“For what?!” Landry squawked.
“For failing to assist with an investigation, for one,” Simi said as he
drew out a pair of handcuffs.
Landry stared at them with a sort of horror that he could see even
beneath her thick bangs. Simi went towards Wally. Landry made a
hissing sound through her teeth, which was a combination of fear
and anger. Wally lifted up his chin and put his arms out, wrists
together, ready to be cuffed. He was serious about going to prison
before he said anything more about Caden.
The bell over the shop door rang sharply and one of the Claw
entered, cheeks flushed, and said breathlessly, “Captain Ngoye!
There is a young man here insisting that he be allowed into the shop!
He claims to be…” She looked at Valerius for a moment and then
she continued in a softer voice, “He claims to be the White Dragon
Shifter.”
Everyone in that shop seemed to freeze in place. Was Caden Bryce
outside? Valerius turned towards the floor to ceiling tinted windows.
The square was filled with Claw who formed a semi-circle around the
shop. The square was empty beyond. He thought he caught sight of
blond hair, but nothing more.
The silence was broken by everyone speaking at once.
“It can’t be him! He wouldn’t come back here, right, Wally?” Landry
asked.
Wally looked grim. “If he thought we were in trouble, Landry, I
imagine he might and King Valerius’ visit has been on the news.”
“Should we bring him in? Or do you wish to go outside to meet him?”
Simi asked. His eyes glowed for a moment, eager for a fight
The last thing Valerius wanted was another fight. “Bring him in here.
Do it quickly and quietly. Can someone find me a way out of the
store where the press won’t see us leaving?”
“It will be done,” Captain Ngoye said and spoke into her microphone
for Claw to go inspect the building.
The Claw disappeared outside again and it seemed like forever
before she brought in two people. Valerius found that he could not
breathe. Raziel was very still, eyes narrowed, black smoke issuing
from its nostrils.
One of them was a girl of about 13 years old with spiky blond hair
and huge blue eyes. She immediately squeaked Wally and Landry’s
names. The person whose hand she was holding, a young man of
uncommon beauty, urged her to go to the two of them. Then that
same young man turned haunted eyes towards Valerius.
Time seemed to slow as he looked into the White Dragon Shifter’s
eyes. There was no doubt in his mind that this was one he had been
searching for, the one he had fought, the one that had outwitted him.
Caden Bryce was lean and lithely muscled with an almost angelic
face. He could have walked out of a niche, been carved by a Greek
sculptor, been worshiped for his almost classical beauty. He was
fully grown but still so young …
Caden’s faintly pink lips were parted and he kept licking them
nervously. His eyes met Valerius’ and then quickly darted away. His
hands rubbed nervously over the front of his pants. He was terrified.
The acrid stench of fear rolled off of him, obscuring a citrus
sweetness. All Valerius could think was how wrong that acrid bitter
scent was. He wanted to look away from Caden, lower his head, and
cross his arms over his chest. He realized then that he felt ashamed
for causing this terror.
He found himself glancing at Chione. She was looking at Caden with
tenderness. This was not surprising, but it did annoy him as it
confirmed his own feelings that his attack on this young man had
been unwarranted and it had led to greater wrongs.
“How are you doing, Caden? You are Caden Bryce, yes?” Chione
asked.
Caden’s gaze slipped to the plushies in Chione’s arms. A faint smile
appeared on his lips. But it was quickly gone. “Y-yes, I am.”
“It is good to finally meet you, Caden. We’ve been looking for you,”
she said.
Caden stared at the floor. “I know.”
Yes, he knew.
It was then that Valerius realized that Raziel was not reacting
aggressively. In fact, the Spirit had retreated into the deepest part of
him. All he could see of it was its red eyes and nothing more.
Are you afraid? He asked, and couldn’t hide his shock.
Raziel said nothing. But it did make strange noises, almost a cross
between growls and whines. He was distracted from his spirit by the
teenage girl who had rushed over to Wally and Landry. She wrapped
her arms around Wally first and then reached for Landry and drew
her into a three-way hug.
“Are you guys all right? Did they hurt you?” her voice was sweet,
though muffled, as she hugged them.
Of course she would think that they would be hurt! His actions had
probably taught her that.
“We’re tougher than we look, kid," Wally assured her with a broad
smile.
“Why did you and your brother come here, Tilly?” Landry asked,
sounding aggrieved and shooting looks of disbelief at Caden.
These looks were lost on Caden as he was staring at the floor and
yet Valerius was certain that Caden was completely aware of him.
Are you afraid, little White Dragon? Should you be?
Caden’s head suddenly lifted and he was staring at Valerius intently
as if he had heard what he’d thought. But that was impossible.
“We saw you on the news and Caden said he had to come. He said
he had to be here. He didn’t want anything to happen to you guys
because of him.” Tilly looked over her shoulder at her brother. “And I
wouldn’t let him go alone.”
“I’ll need you to take her home, Landry. The stew’s on the stove and
it’s going to burn,” Caden said nonsensically. He let out a sharp
laugh as if he knew how ridiculous that sounded. “Not that it matters
much right now. Dinner… at home…”
That was said with such longing that it hurt to hear.
Home. Wanting to go home again. I remember that. But you cannot
go home again after the Spirit finds you.
His Spirit was still hiding in darkness and watching Caden like a
hawk. Valerius wished he had the Mirror here that was in the throne
room. He would be able to see Caden’s Spirit. He wondered if that
Spirit was hiding as much as Raziel was.
“Please,” Caden said to him. The young man turned all his attention
to Valerius. His hands reached toward him as if Caden could
physically draw something out from him. “Please, leave the rest of
them alone. They have nothing to do with this. It’s me you are
looking for. It’s me you want. Just leave them alone and I’ll come
with you.”
A shudder went through Caden’s muscular form and he drew his
arms tightly against his chest and fisted his hands. Valerius imagined
that he was digging his fingernails into his palms in order to anchor
himself in this moment and not bolt. Not that Caden could have gone
far.
Both Captains of the Claw had slowly moved around the room so
that they were now flanking Caden. He wondered if the young man
knew that. But then he saw Caden’s head turn slightly to the right
and then to the left. He knew he was trapped.
“Caden, you shouldn’t have come,” Wally told him with a shake of his
head. “Landry and I were fine. They weren’t going to do anything to
us we couldn’t have handled. You should have stayed away.”
“And go where? I can’t go home again,” Caden almost said the last
to himself.
“Did you go home, Caden?” Chione asked gently.
He nodded. “It’s all I’ve wanted since this started. I just want to go
home. I just want this to be over and done and forgotten.”
Hardly the words of a conqueror, Raziel.
His Spirit though merely growled and whined some more.
“Why don’t you tell us what happened?” Chione suggested.
Caden let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “I went
outside to talk to Tilly. That’s my sister.” He nodded towards the girl
that was clutched by both Wally and Landry. “Suddenly, there was
smoke coming from the east side of the square, I think. We’re on the
west side. All the police ran towards the smoke. Everyone else was
running away. And then I saw a girl.”
His forehead bunched as he clearly tried to remember everything
he’d seen.
“A girl? Who was this girl? Did you recognize her?” Chione asked.
He shook his head. “No. She was putting a backpack against one of
the pillars near the center of the square. The way she was moving
was wrong. Suspicious. I knew she was up to something.”
“A girl? Do you mean a child?” Valerius asked sharply.
“She looked the same age as Tilly,” Caden answered quickly.
“Looked like?” Chione asked for clarification.
“I thought she might be a Shifter,” Caden said.
Everyone in the room stiffened. A Shifter had set the bomb?
Valerius had assumed if it hadn’t been Caden himself that it had
been a Humans First action.
“How can you be sure?” Simi broke in.
Caden turned around to look at him. “I thought she had nightshine in
her eyes. But I can’t be sure. I don’t know for certain.”
“We will discuss this later,” Valerius said with a calming motion of his
arm. “Go on… Caden.”
It was the first time that he had said the young man’s name and it
seemed to shimmer in the air between them. Caden stared at him
with an open mouth for a moment. He appeared dazed, but then he
shook himself.
“I--I--well, that was when I realized that the smoke was in the
opposite direction from where she was. As if it was to distract
everyone from her,” Caden explained and Valerius thought he was
likely right. “That was when she opened up the top of the backpack
and that’s when I saw the timer. I knew it was a bomb.”
“Why didn’t you call one of the police officers over, Caden? Why did
you do this all yourself, you foolish boy?” Wally asked with a shake
of his head.
Valerius was going to snap at him to be silent, but then he realized
that this was the right question to ask and Caden seemed eager to
tell his boss what he had done and why, perhaps more eager than to
tell himself and the Claw.
“There was no time! Everyone was dealing with the smoke. I realize
that if I tried to go get someone to help with the bomb that it would
be too late. I was the only one who could do anything in time,”
Caden admitted with a sad shrug. A smile appeared on his lips, but it
was tremulous. “Believe me, Wally, I had no intention of playing the
hero.”
Playing the hero? Or simply being one?
“What made you go to the Drop?” Chione asked.
“I thought I could throw it off there. It was the only place I could think
of where people would be safe if it exploded,” Caden exclaimed.
“But you did not throw the bomb off the Drop,” Valerius said quietly,
understanding what was next. “Did you?”
“There wasn’t enough time left,” Caden admitted. “I could have tried
to throw the bomb far enough and hope that no one would get hurt or
I could… could ensure that it went far enough away.”
You thought you were going to die.
“Yes,” Caden answered the question he had only said in his mind.
Valerius stiffened.
Tilly made a sound that was like a wounded animal. “Caden! You
jumped? You… you jumped?”
He lowered his head. “I didn’t want to leave you, Tilly, or Mom and
Dad. I didn’t want to… to die. But even if I somehow survived the
blast, if others didn’t… I couldn’t live with myself.”
Hero. He’s a hero. What have we done, Raziel?
Tilly ran back to her brother and threw her arms around him. He
hugged her back and buried his face against his sister’s shoulder.
Chione reached over and touched his arm. Her voice was low as she
said, “I think we should stop the questioning for now, Valerius.
Caden needs to rest and recover. Perhaps, he can go back home--”
“No, he may rest and recover, but he will do so at High Reach.” His
gaze slid back to Caden. “I will not let him out of my sight again.”
CHAPTER NINE - CONTROL
“Tilly, you need to tell Mom and Dad what’s happening,” Caden said
to his sister.
He wanted to go to her, but Valerius stood between them. While the
Dragon King had not attacked him–had even seemed sorry or
sympathetic or something–he could not trust him. While Valerius
had argued with Raziel about hurting him before, Raziel had won
that fight by simply taking over. Could it happen again?
The thought of Valerius shifting into Raziel’s form in the shop was
terrifying. He wouldn’t press his luck by going anywhere near the
Black Dragon King. The Claw were also impressive in their own
right, but he wasn’t as afraid of them. The woman who held the two
dragon plushies seemed kind, but he didn’t know who she was or
what kind of power she had, if any. Though Valerius had allowed her
to direct the questions to him.
“I’m not going to see them. I’m going with you to High Reach!” Tilly
cried, her voice only squeaking a couple of times, which showed her
fear beyond courage.
“No, Tilly, you’re going with Landry and Wally. Guys, you can take
her, yeah?” he asked Wally and Landry.
“Of course.” Wally put an arm around her slender, shaking shoulders.
“We’re on it. So long as these Shifters aren’t going to all jack-booted
thugs on us and drag us away,” Landry muttered the last at the two
Claws who were flanking him.
Caden opened his mouth automatically to urge her to leave off the
Shifter prejudice, but was she wrong this time? Valerius had tried to
kill him. All these people seemed to think he and his friends should
be locked up. So really, was she wrong?
“No one is being dragged away,” the woman with the plushies said,
yet she gave Valerius a hard look that elicited a surprising nod from
him. She must be more than what she seemed for Valerius to agree
with her. “All Shifters go to join their own kind after the Spirit merges
with them. It’s for everyone’s safety, including Caden’s.”
“So it’s for Caden’s safety that he goes with the guy that attacked
him? And don’t say Valerius didn’t attack him! It’s been all over the
net.” Landry shook her head. “Don’t pretend this is because Caden
needs to go with you for his safety. You just want him under your
control.”
That had silence falling. Again, she was right.
“That was a misunderstanding,” Valerius said stiffly.
He clearly did not enjoy lying, though maybe it wasn’t a complete lie.
He likely had thought that Caden was behind the bombing, but still,
that hadn’t been Raziel’s motivation to go after him. Raziel attacked
him because he simply existed.
“People are very excited about Caden right now,” the woman with
the plushies said gently. “Mistakes were made. But it would be a
greater mistake for Caden to be unprotected right now. We can
keep him safe.”
“Caden didn’t set the bomb! You know that!” Tilly cried.
“But some people will think he did,” the woman with the plushies
responded, lowering her head to look Tilly in the eye. “And more
than that, being the ninth Dragon Shifter has great meaning.”
“Mom’s in the Faith.” Tilly looked thoughtful. “Everyone’s freaking out
about the White Dragon Shifter and our mom doesn’t freak out. Not
that she knew it was Caden obviously, but--”
“She’s probably going to freak out now.” Caden scrubbed his hands
over his face. “I shouldn’t have let you come here, Tilly. Mom and
Dad are already going to kill me for that.”
They’ll probably have to wait in line because Valerius will do it first!
Believing that meant it was insane for him to be here and even
crazier to go with Valerius to High Reach, but he couldn’t abandon
his friends and family to face the Dragon King’s wrath. Even though
he had done nothing to warrant being arrested or imprisoned–let
alone killed–he wouldn’t let even more innocents pay the price for
him.
“Caden–” Tilly began, but he was already shaking his head.
“I need you to do this for me, Tilly,” he stressed. “I’m not sending you
away. I need you to talk to our parents.”
That seemed to only mollify her slightly, but her expression was still
wretched. But not only did his parents need to know what was
going on, their father was an attorney. Maybe there was some law
that he could use to get Valerius to see reason. Caden had never
really thought much about laws and the way things were until now.
Before he'd just drifted along, now he needed justice on his side.
“Yes, your parents need to be notified,” the woman with the plushies
said.
“Absolutely! Caden’s still a kid!” Wally pointed out though at twenty-
five he was supposed to be an adult right now though he didn’t feel
that way at all.
“It will be all right, guys. I don’t want you to worry,” Caden said.
Caden petted the air as if that would calm them even as his heart
was racing in his chest. He wasn’t sure if he was lying or telling the
truth or simply hoping. Mostly, the latter.
“We can’t help but worry, Caden, we love you,” Wally said stoutly.
Tilly and Landry nodded like twin bobble-head dolls. Caden felt
tears welling in his eyes and he quickly blinked them back.
Around a lump in his throat, he managed to get out, “I love you guys,
too.”
Valerius watched this exchange with the strangest expression on his
face. It was as if he was reading Caden’s character in every word.
What his judgment was, was hard to tell. His face was impassive,
shielding his thoughts and feelings. And it was hard to look at him.
The Dragon King was even more impressive–and he had to admit
more handsome–in real life than he’d ever been on television or the
net.
Valerius’ beauty was almost unnerving, because Caden could see
the fact that he wasn’t altogether human. He’d never really felt this
way with other Shifters. Though, like he’d told Rose, it wasn’t like he
really knew any. But he’d been around plenty of the Claw. Valerius
though was simply different. And bigger, too. The man was well over
six feet and the armor he wore barely concealed the fact that he was
all muscle underneath it. Landry always claimed that it looked like
Valerius was cosplaying all the time, but the armor suited him. And
Caden didn’t think he played at anything at all.
Tilly suddenly brushed past the Black Dragon King’s legs and flew
into Caden’s arms. He leaned down and caught her. He held her like
he used to when she was a very little girl. He was surprised by how
easy it was to carry her. He was stronger than before. Was he
different in other ways that he didn’t know yet? And could the others
see it?
“Are you going to be okay?” she sniffled against his chest.
“Yes, yes, I really am. I’m sorry but I don’t know your name,” he said
to the woman with the plushies.
“Chione.”
“Chione, could you give my sister your number or something? So
that my parents can contact you?” he asked.
“Of course." She drew out a finely engraved card and handed it to
Tilly. "But we won’t let her and your friends go alone. I’m sure that
Captain Simi will accompany them to get your parents,” Chione told
him. “And then Captain Simi can get them into High Reach with no
difficulty.
He wasn’t sure if that made him happy or not. Would his parents
freak out more or less with a Claw Captain accompanying their
daughter? But, then again, there was so much security at High
Reach, not just because of the bomb, but because there were
leaders of state there, he doubted his parents could get in without
the Claw Captain. He nodded, feeling numb.
Two Claw appeared from the back of the shop and murmured to the
female Claw Captain. She nodded.
“King Valerius,” she said, her voice precise in a way that reminded
him of some of the Raven Shifters he’d met at his father’s office
parties. “We have secured a way out of this shop away from the
eyes of the press. There’s a back exit.”
“Then we should go,” Valerius said.
His eyes flickered to Caden’s and Caden tensed.
“Thank you, Captain Ngoye,” Chione said as she tucked each
plushie under one arm.
It was really time to leave. Caden was going to High Reach. He’d
dreamed of attending a party there once upon a time. He’d imagined
it would be during one of the open balls where a select number of
humans were allowed to attend in gowns and tuxedos. He’d thought
that he might catch a glimpse of Valerius across the room, but never
had he thought he would be going to the Black Dragon King’s castle
like this. There was no joy in him at the thought. Not even a little
curiosity about what High Reach would be like. He felt only dread.
But he had to pretend to be okay with all of this.
He plastered a smile on his face as he spoke to Tilly, “Hey, we get to
look at where all the rich and powerful people are, Tilly. Imagine
what you’ll be able to tell your friends! Sure beats watching the
fireworks from the square.”
She wiped tears from her red-stained cheeks. “I don’t care about
that. I would rather that there were never any fireworks ever if it
meant we could go home.”
Caden felt the same way, but he swallowed that emotion down. “We
get to have both. So don’t worry. Just tell Mom and Dad everything.”
Tilly nodded. Caden put her on her feet and urged her to go over to
Landry and Wally. Captain Simi glided almost sinuously over to
them, to stand quite upright, by their side. He seemed small for a
Werewolf Shifter and he didn’t move like them either. In fact, both
Claw Captains didn’t seem to fit the stereotype. He didn’t know if that
was good or bad.
“Right…so…so… lead the way,” Caden said weakly.
He didn’t want Valerius behind him. He wanted the Black Dragon
King in sight. Valerius’ eyes narrowed and he wondered if the Black
Dragon King knew his thoughts on this. But he didn’t argue. He said
very little, Caden noted, but everything he did held an impressive
amount of meaning.
Captain Ngoye went first, flanked by the two Claws. Valerius
prowled after her, but not without a long look at Caden. Again, he
had no idea what the Black Dragon King was thinking.
He’s not attacking me. That’s a good thing.
If Caden had seen him in person before their fight, he would never
have even tried to fight. The Black Dragon King was a predator
through and through with his well-oiled hips to his graceful, yet
powerful movements. Caden’s eyes dropped involuntarily to
Valerius’ leather-clad ass and he felt an involuntary tightening in his
groin. The man’s ass was incredible.
That’s the ass that tried to kill me! He nearly snickered hysterically
as he thought that. He managed to cover the sound with a cough.
“May I walk beside you?” Chione asked, looking up at him with
desert-colored eyes. He wondered what kind of Shifter she was.
“S-sure.”
He cast one backwards glance at his sister and friends before the
two of them headed into the storage room that housed the rest of
Wally’s collection of souvenirs. For as much as they sold, it seemed
that the amount in this warehouse-like space with seeming miles of
shelves never got any less full. Chione’s eyes went wide as she took
in all the Shifter merch, some of which never was put on display.
Landry was convinced that Wally was a hoarder of sorts despite his
love of selling things.
“Are there any Sphinx souvenirs?” she asked hopefully.
“Ah, yeah. Look over there.” Caden pointed to the right, glad for
something to take his mind off of what was happening and where he
was going. “Third shelf down. There are terra cotta sphinxes there.
Wally occasionally puts up a whole Egyptian display for them.”
“Really?” Chione actually squeaked, her eyes glowing.
“My sister is crazy about Sphinx Shifters. I mean they’re really rare
and stuff, but there’s that actress–oh God, I’m forgetting her name–”
“Octavia Sloan,” Chione said. “She’s wonderful!”
“Have you met her?” he asked.
If Chione was close to Valerius she must be something special in the
Shifter world.
“Chione is a Sphinx Shifter. The oldest and best,” Valerius said
suddenly.
He turned towards them in this liquid-graceful way. His expression
that had been mostly stony was actually lit up in a teasing smile. He
looked almost human. Caden gawked at both of them. Chione, for
her part, was giving Valerius a faint glare as if he had ruined
something.
But then she laughed as Caden asked, “Y-you are?”
“Yes, I am.” She nodded.
“Tilly is going to go nuts and…” His voice dropped off.
His sister likely wouldn’t care if Chione was even a Unicorn Shifter
right now. She was scared and freaked out and had more
responsibility on her shoulders than he liked. But she’d clung to him
like a barnacle when he’d tried to leave the house and he hadn’t had
the time to convince to stay. He’d had no choice but to take her and
he was so glad that he had gone when he did. It looked like Landry
and Wally were about to get arrested.
“I hope that I meet with her expectations. Being so rare, people have
ideas about us. But that is nothing compared to what is expected of
a Dragon Shifter,” she said.
“Uhm, I guess if you’re the sort of Dragon Shifter that wants to rule
stuff and I don’t,” he practically shouted that word at Valerius’ back.
Valerius stiffened and his head half turned, but he kept walking
towards the exit at the back of the storage room.
Chione nodded as if this was a valid choice. “With everything that’s
happened, I doubt you’ve had much of a chance to really consider
what you want.”
“No, I know exactly what I want,” Caden disagreed.
Valerius’ back grew straighter. It was clear he was listening intently.
“Oh? What do you want?” Chione asked.
“To have my life back. Just the way it was,” he found himself saying
and swallowing hard.
Chione’s head lowered. She looked thoughtful. Valerius didn’t
stumble exactly at his words, but his steps did falter a bit. And his
shoulders curled inwards for just one moment. But then he was
striding out of the door towards an elegant SUV with windows tinted
so black that he couldn’t see inside.
Captain Ngoye opened the back door for the Dragon King, crossing
one arm over her chest and lowering her head as he slid into the
darkened interior. He gestured for her to go next into the car and she
disappeared gracefully inside. Finally, Caden–feeling like he was
walking the plank–got into the luxurious SUV as well. Captain Ngoye
slipped into the front passenger seat while one of the other Claw
took the wheel.
In the back, the SUV had two sets of seats facing one another rather
like a limousine. The rich, buttery leather seats wrapped around
Caden as he sat next to Chione and across from Valerius. The Black
Dragon King picked up a cut crystal decanter half filled with amber
liquid. He offered it to him and Chione. She nodded and, after a
minute, Caden did as well. He could really use a drink though he
was guessing it was whisky or cognac, neither of his favorites. But,
at least, he could sip something warming.
As the SUV smoothly took off onto the Ring Road that would take
them to High Reach, Valerius handed him a snifter and their fingers
touched. The White Dragon Spirit, who had been mostly asleep
during this whole encounter, was now awake and made a strange
purring/chirping sound at the Black Dragon King. Both he and
Valerius froze.
“You heard that?” Caden asked.
“That noise your Spirit made?” Valerius clarified though really Caden
thought he was just avoiding answering the question.
The White Dragon Spirit repeated the noise and looked at Valerius
out of gentle eyes. The Black Dragon King reared back for a
moment–though his fingers still touched Caden’s–but then he slowly
leaned forward. He did not blink and Caden realized that he wasn’t
looking at him, but through him to the White Dragon Spirit. Chione
was very still.
“It’s nice. Don’t you see that it’s nice. I’m nice. I’m not a threat to
you,” Caden said while the Spirit continued to purr and hum at
Valerius, wings flapping slightly and tail flicking happily from side to
side.
The Black Dragon King let go of the glass so swiftly that Caden
almost dropped it, but he tightened his hold on it at the last minute.
Valerius downed his drink and poured another. His hands were
shaking a little bit. He glared down at them as if they were betraying
him and drank another glass down before pouring a third.
“Valerius?” Chione asked, her voice sweet, but questioning.
“It’s nothing,” Valerius muttered.
“Nothing?”
Her eyebrows drew together, but he merely drank and crossed his
arms over his chest. Caden took a sip of his drink and coughed. It
burned going down. Valerius had swallowed it so easily that he’d
assumed a sip wouldn’t cause him any harm. He was wrong.
Chione had to pound his back. Red-faced and tearing, he handed
the glass back to Valerius who swallowed it down before setting the
glass back on the polished wooden stand.
“I guess I need to work on my liquor consumption. What was that?
Diesel fuel?” Caden asked between sputters.
“It’s Grand Marnier. You shouldn’t breathe when you drink it. Makes
it easier to go down,” Valerius said with a small smile on his lips.
“Right. Next time I’ll stick with beer,” Caden responded.
Valerius opened up a small door and there were several bottles of
ice cold beer. Caden took a Corona, twisted off the top and took a
large swallow. The icy beer put out the fire from the Grand Marnier.
He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and took another sip.
“So your idea of having your old life back,” Chione smoothly began
once more. “How do you see that working?”
“Simple, I live at home, work at Wally’s, figure out whether to go back
to grad school or… whatever.” He shrugged.
“You want to work at that shop?” Valerius’ eyebrows lifted in a
mixture of surprise and disdain.
That had Caden’s back up. “Wally’s is great! Though if you ask me,
he has way too much dragon merchandise.”
Chione snorted before sipping her drink to hide it. Valerius merely
scowled.
“It does not sound like you are considering how being a Dragon
Shifter will impact those activities,” Chione pointed out gently.
“They won’t, because I don’t intend on telling anyone that I’m a
Dragon Shifter. I mean other than the people who already know,”
Caden explained.
“People like Marban?” Valerius’ voice was silky smooth. “You play
the innocent, Caden Bryce, but you have already made a deal with
the Devil.”
Caden blinked. He hadn’t forgotten about Marban–or his stupid
promise to help him someday if he could–because all of that had
been replaced by his time with Rose. Rose was a good person,
even if Marban wanted her to be something else. But she was in
between a rock and a hard place being a Swarm Shifter herself.
Even though bees were more useful than scary.
“He found me,” Caden said, not bothering to deny that he’d met with
the man. “I was being chased by you. And you’d killed people to try
and get to me. I was sure you were going to kill me if I didn’t get
away.”
Valerius’ eyes narrowed for a moment, but then he looked away from
Caden and there was shame there. He was ashamed.
“How many people died?” Caden asked as his tongue stuck to the
top of his mouth.
“Five at least. Maybe more. We have not had word yet,” Valerius said
flatly and the shame creased his brow and he gripped the glass so
hard Caden thought it might shatter.
“Oh, God,” Caden whispered. “I shouldn’t have gone to the Gash. I
shouldn’t have–”
“It is not your fault,” Valerius’ voice sounded ripped open and the
shame he had so carefully concealed spilled out with an expression
of sheer self-loathing on his face.
“But I led you there and I knew that Raziel was out of control and–”
“Raziel?” Chione sat up straighter. “You know the name of Valerius’
Spirit.”
Caden’s gaze jumped back and forth between her and Valerius.
“She doesn’t know? About what Raziel did?”
“What did Raziel do?” Chione got out, looking bewildered.
“Stop,” Valerius growled.
“She doesn’t know? Does anyone know?” Caden asked.
“Enough. Not now. We will discuss this later when we are… it will be
later,” Valerius snapped at him.
He was bristling, but Caden, though he felt a little fear, found
courage somewhere and snapped right back, “We will discuss it.
Because I am staying here. In Reach. And I will have my life back,
Valerius. No matter what.”
CHAPTER TEN - HIDDEN

Valerius told himself that there was a stunning rebuke to Caden on

the tip of his tongue, that he was ready to deliver it with a searing
smile, that his words would silence Caden on what had happened
with Raziel, and would make Chione forget any of the words that had
been spoken so that she wouldn’t pick at him and Caden to reveal
his lack of control. Even on his best day that only might have
happened. But this was not his best day. Far from it. So perhaps he
should have been grateful that they drove through High Reach’s
arched gate at that moment in silence.
Caden’s eyes widened and his head craned this way and that,
looking at the castle and grounds as if he had never seen them
before. And then Valerius realized that Caden hadn’t seen them
before. He had been, until today, a normal citizen of Reach, which
meant he had never seen beyond the outer walls. Somehow his
wide-eyed amazement at the curved drive, the mighty gate, the
soaring towers and the hedge maze that filled the south garden had
Valerius’ heart feeling heavy.
Raziel was silent now. This silence had fallen the moment that
they’d both seen the White Dragon Spirit who purred at them.
Hardly the fierce foe who deserves to be destroyed, is it? He’d
pointed out to Raziel.
Raziel had merely retreated deeper into darkness, only its red eyes
flaring with fire to show it was still there. He’d known then that there
would be no answers from his recalcitrant Spirit.
“The castle is all lit up,” Caden noted.
“For the celebration,” Chione explained. She turned back to Valerius.
“What are we going to do about the Anniversary?”
“If we had captured the White Dragon Shifter and the bomber then
yes, it should go on but--”
“Captured?!” Caden sputtered. “I wasn’t captured! I turned myself
in. Wait, I didn’t turn myself in. Because I didn’t do anything wrong. I-
-I came to you to--to…”
“Clear things up?” Chione offered helpfully.
Valerius scowled at her. “He is here because I wish him to be here.”
“I came because I wanted to! I came for my friends! I--”
“You came because you had nowhere to go. I would have found you
no matter where you went,” Valerius growled.
Caden flushed. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t know why you
can’t see that.”
Chione reached over and touched Caden’s shoulder. “Do not worry,
Caden. Things will work out. We are just all a little unnerved, which
probably is nothing compared to what you feel.”
Caden gave her a smile that lit up his beautiful face and had Valerius
feeling more annoyed for some reason. Raziel muttered. It was
certain, though he could not see the White Dragon Spirit, that it was
purring and churring, but this time at Chione. Caden’s expression
though clouded as they wound up the long stone drive and passed
into the courtyard.
“Who are all those people?” Caden asked.
Valerius turned his head to see and his heart, already heavy,
changed to stone. He’d forgotten about them. Not even Chione’s
words about the Anniversary celebration had reminded him. The
castle was packed to the gills with dignitaries, not just the President
of the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada, but as many
mayors, governors, senators and congresspeople as could fill the
castle. And all of them seemed to be milling in the courtyard, waiting
for his return. Even over the purr of the SUV’s engine, he could hear
all of the dignitaries talking at once. Their faces were lit up not only
by the torches, but also by their phones as they watched the latest
news reports, which were all breathless and wrong. But the moment
that they saw the SUV, it was as if they were pointer dogs.
Valerius shut his eyes for a moment. He should have thought of this.
But with everything happening, he had never expected Caden to just
give himself up and hop in the car.
“Oh, my, this is going to make things difficult,” Chione murmured, her
forehead furrowing. “Politicians are the absolute worst gossips and
they are simple. If we do not explain things correctly to them, the
fear and panic may spread. We have to have a story. We must have
a way forward.”
“We have none of that now. A ninth Dragon Shifter…” Valerius
stared at Caden hard. The young man straightened up. “They will
wonder what you want. What your demands are.”
Caden’s forehead furrowed. “My demands?”
“We have to have a plan at least about what we are going to say
when that door opens and we must get out and face them,” Chione
broke in.
“Well, you aren’t going to tell them about who I am, right? I mean
you’re going to leave me out of it, right?” Caden asked.
“They will wonder who you are even if we tell them nothing,” Chione
said. “And it might be wise to tell them the truth, in any event, so that
people know things are under control.”
Things are not under control. And all the questions they will have
cannot be answered. Facing them now before I have even truly
spoken to Caden is not wise.
“What?! No! I don’t want anyone to know who I am!” Caden cried.
“Can’t you drop me off in the back or something?”
“Yes, that is a good idea. You and I both will ride with the car into the
garage while Chione gets out here and gives our guests a vague
understanding that answers will be forthcoming soon,” Valerius said
and turned his head so that he was looking up front. “Captain Ngoye,
did you hear that?”
“Yes, my king. It shall be done,” she replied back crisply.
Chione’s lips held a half amused, half disgruntled smile. “You are
throwing me to the wolves?”
“Wolves are nothing compared to a Sphinx’s powers of persuasion,”
he told her. “Besides, you are so fond of politicians.”
Her eyes widened and she waved a hand through the air as if to
physically hold his suggestion of love of politicians off. “Why would
you believe that?”
He smiled widely. “Because you are always urging me to ask them
by.”
“No good deed or advice goes unpunished. All right. I will face the
mob while the two of you slip away.” She drew near to the door,
grasping the handle so she could quickly jump out. “Where will you
be?”
“My quarters. There is nowhere else unoccupied.” Valerius grimaced.

He hated the castle being full. He loved it when there were so few
people that he could pass from one wing to the next and see no one.
Now there was nowhere he could go without falling over some
politician or their aides or both.
And now another Dragon Shifter will be in my rooms.
“All right. I will join you as soon as I can. I believe we should have
the feast tonight, Valerius, because, if nothing else, because food
calms people,” she suggested.
“Fine. Yes. The feast. Let it go forward,” he said.
She glanced between him and Caden one more time. “Be good,
Valerius.”
“Good? What else would I be?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“So many things.”
She smiled and swiftly exited the vehicle, closing the door right after
she stepped out to stop anyone else from seeing inside. The rising
voices of the concerned politicians rose up immediately but were cut
off.
The SUV started again and headed towards the garage that was on
the far side of the castle. Valerius was acutely aware of Caden in a
new way now that Chione was not there as a buffer. There was still
Ngoye and the other Claw whose name escaped him driving the
SUV, but it felt like they were alone. Almost alone. They hadn’t been
this alone since fighting in the air.
Ice. Cold. Kills our fire, Raziel finally muttered, the first words it had
spoken in some time.
Yes, but he sort of had no choice, Valerius said.
“I didn’t! You were going to cook me!” Caden suddenly said and then
both of them stared at one another with open mouths. “You--”
“How did you--”
“You didn’t open your mouth--”
“No, I didn’t.”
“You were speaking with Raziel and I could hear again. I could hear
you both.” Awe flooded Caden’s face.
The SUV stopped again as it was parked in the garage. Not wanting
to speak about this in front of Ngoye or the other Claw, he quickly
opened the door and slipped out. Caden followed after him just as
quickly.
The garage was well lit with white fluorescents and it made the
shadows stark. It caused Caden’s golden skin to look as white as
paper. He took hold of Caden by the arm. Alarm sprang in the young
man’s eyes and shame sparked in his own. He held Caden lightly.
“I want you to stay close to me. Do you understand? The place is
overrun by those that would profit from you,” Valerius said,
immediately realizing how true that was.
“Okay, I’ll keep close.”
Reluctantly, Valerius let him go and turned towards the door into the
castle itself, trusting that Caden would follow after him. The garage
led into the back passages of the castle, the areas where servants
could flow like water to almost all parts of the castle without being
seen. His quarters were the one space where they would have to go
out into the open.
He strode down the slender stone corridors with the high arched
ceilings. There were doors off to each side. They passed by the
steamy heat of the kitchen. Already, the staff was working to prepare
for the feast since he hadn’t called it off. He had hired the best chefs
from around his territory and, from the delicious smells emanating
from the kitchen, it had been money well spent.
Doors opened ahead of them as servants hurried into the passages.
Each one jumped at the sight of him and quickly crossed their arms
over their chests and bowed their heads. He nodded in response,
but kept moving. They wound up spiral steps until Valerius was
almost dizzy as his rooms were in the tallest tower.
He rarely used the stairs. He normally dove out of his window and
then he transformed in the air and dropped back down onto the
balcony. So these stairs annoyed him. They took time and effort and
energy when he just needed to speak to Caden. To understand what
this young man was to him. To them. Him and Raziel.
“Are we almost there?” Caden sounded rather breathless. “I’ve really
had my share of stairs today. I mean I had to walk all the way up
from the Below to the Mid and that is an incredibly long way and--”
“I like to be high up,” Valerius answered him simply then asked,
“Don’t you?”
“I--I… ah… I don’t really know. I don’t feel exactly different than I did
before. I actually am not really fond of heights.”
"Yet you jumped off of the Drop."
"But that wasn't a choice."
"Of course it was."
Valerius glanced over his shoulder at the young man. Caden’s
cheeks were slightly pink from the effort of their climb, but he looked
very healthy. All Shifters did. The Spirit changed the human body the
moment it merged with the person. Caden should experience
greater strength, speed, increased healing and more. It had been so
long since his own merging that it was hard to remember. Most of the
Shifters that were around him were older, too. Not to mention that
the youngest Dragon Shifter was Anwar and he was millennia old.
“How do you feel?” Valerius asked.
Caden gave him rather a plucky smile as he answered, “Winded.
Hungry, too. I didn’t get my sandwich earlier.”
The sandwich comment made no sense, but it appeared to please
Caden no end. Not wanting to hear what was likely a touching tender
story about lunchmeat, Valerius simply said, “I will have food brought
to my rooms.”
“I didn’t mean… I mean thanks.” But Caden frowned as if the offer of
food was suspicious.
“What is it?” Valerius asked sharply
Caden blinked and reared back a little, which had him wishing he
had spoken more gently. But then Caden said, “I’m just surprised
that you asked how I was. It’s hard to reconcile the person you are
now with the one that attacked me. But then again, I guess that was
Raziel back then and not you at all.”
Valerius stiffened. Everything that Caden had said was true, but to
have lost control of his Spirit was only something that young Shifters
did, not someone of his years. It had been countless millennia since
that had happened to him. He had not thought it possible for Raziel
to truly take over, but he was wrong. It was unnerving on so many
levels.
“You are correct. I did not wish to attack you. Raziel, however,
senses something about you that disturbs it,” Valerius explained. “Do
you know what that is?”
Caden lingered on the steps below him, looking thoughtful. “Well, it
can’t be something about me. I’m normal. So it has to be something
about the Spirit in me, I guess.”
“You are not normal, Caden. Not even before you merged with the
Spirit. Normal people do not become Shifters, let alone Dragon
Shifters,” Valerius informed him in no uncertain terms.
“There’s nothing about me that should make your Spirit afraid or
unhappy or suspicious or whatever it is then!” Caden retorted as he
thumped his chest. “I live at home with my parents. I work at a
souvenir store because I can’t get a job doing anything else. I don’t
even know what I want to do with myself long term. And yes, I’m
happy. I was really happy with where I was.”
“Yet you were willing to give your life for others. You did it without a
second thought. If you had not acted you know how many would
have died in the square today?” Valerius pointed out.
The square had been packed. He could almost imagine the broken
bodies, bones sticking through flesh, blood everywhere. He’d seen it
before. The horrors of death had been his stock in trade long, long
ago.
His words caused the young man to shuffle uncertainly. “It would
have been bad. I know that. But I just did what anyone else would
have done.”
“No,” Valerius said with a shake of his head. “I assure you that you
did not do what others would have done. You did something
extraordinary. The Spirit recognized its twin in you.”
“So…” Caden looked up at him curiously. “Did you save people? Is
that how you got your Spirit?”
Valerius almost physically held the memory away of how he gained
Raziel. All he said was a cold, “No.”
Caden though did not seem to hear that coldness. “But Chione said
that the Spirit chose me because I acted bravely and nobly and that
kind of stuff. I get that sacrificing yourself for others is that. But I
honestly didn’t think I would survive anyway. So it was either my life
that was lost or my life and a heck of a lot of other peoples’ too that
were lost. The math seemed to work out better if it was just me
dying.”
“Chione believes what she wishes to believe. But I can assure you
that neither myself nor any of the other Dragon Shifters became
what we are because of such a brave or noble sacrifice,” Valerius
told him.
Caden opened his mouth, clearly wanting to ask more about this, but
Valerius was done speaking on the matter. He turned on his heel and
proceeded up the stairs at such a quick pace that Caden would be
too busy trying to breathe to catch up to ask questions.
A few more flights up and they reached the base of his tower. He
opened the door slightly and glanced around. No one was there. He
let out a breath of relief.
“Are we there yet?” Caden whispered.
He whipped around as he felt Caden’s hot breath against the side of
his neck. The young man was close enough that he could smell
Caden’s sweetness. No bitter scent of fear any longer and the playful
smile on his lips showed that.
“Not afraid of me any longer?” Valerius’ left eyebrow raised.
Caden’s eyes widened for a moment, but then he shook his head.
“No, I don’t think I am.”
“You should rethink that,” he replied stonily, which had those
innocent eyes going even wider.
He turned away before he saw if the young man’s smile grew or
died. Valerius stepped out into the foyer. The double doors to his
rooms were at the far end of the circular space. The ceiling was
thirty feet over their heads. A massive iron chandelier cast a golden
light over the rich floor coverings that covered the white stone floor.
Tapestries of dragons flying covered the walls. The scent of wax,
wool and stone filled his nostrils. His eyelids fluttered shut and he
breathed in these familiar scents for a moment.
“King Valerius!” President Goodfellow’s voice rose up behind them.
Valerius’ eyelids flew open and he froze in place. How had he
missed her? Where had she been hiding? And where was her
security detail? She was quite alone. He did not keep any guards
near his chambers. He wanted his privacy and few things could kill a
Dragon Shifter, certainly not some measly human.
“Uh oh, what do we say? Or should we just run?” Caden asked him.
He looked down at Caden’s face, but couldn’t tell if the young man
was being serious or not. “You want us to run from the President of
the United States?”
“Hey, she only knows who you are, not me,” Caden said with what
looked suspiciously like a smile on his face. “And I think you could
outrun her, especially with her in those heels.”
“You are…” Valerius could not complete that sentence. There were
too many words that wanted to spill out. Finally, he just said, “You
are ridiculous.”
“No, no, I don’t think so. Especially if you look into her eyes. She’s
intense,” he murmured.
“She’s one of the leaders of the free world,” he reminded Caden.
“And you’re the leader of everybody right? So make her go away,”
Caden hissed.
With a frown, he spun around to face President Goodfellow.
“Madam President, why are you haunting the foyer of my quarters?”
But she wasn’t looking at him. Her gaze was locked on Caden. Her
lips were slightly parted. “Is this…” She swallowed. Her voice was
almost a whisper, “Is this…”
Caden started to back up towards the double doors away from her.
Alarm was written large on his beautiful face. Valerius was surprised
that he found himself moved to defend the young man.
“I’m afraid, Madam President, that I do not discuss my friends with
others. Not even you. I have no time to speak at the moment. I will
see you at the feast later tonight. Then we will talk,” he said.
He turned from her, but she grabbed his arm much as he had
Caden’s in the garage. He stiffened in annoyance and almost
wrenched his arm from her grip, but he remembered at the last
moment that he must be gentleman-like at all times. Otherwise
humans thought of him as a beast. He already had given them plenty
of reasons to think that of him this day.
“But King Valerius we must talk now! I do not think you would like to
publicly discuss the deaths of some of our citizens caused by…” Her
voice dropped off. She clearly was not willing to say that he was the
cause of those deaths. “We can hardly talk of important things
among the other guests tonight. So I really do insist on speaking to
you now. And I must know if this is…” Her gaze darted towards
Caden once more. The young man had already made his way over
to the doors and was blindly twisting the knobs behind his back. “Is
this the ninth Dragon Shifter?”
“Madame President, you may need to be privy to many things, but
who is and who isn’t a Shifter is none of your concern. Especially
when it comes to Dragon Shifters. These things are beyond you,” he
said coldly and removed her hand from his arm. “Shifter matters are
handled entirely by me. Especially this one. If you wish to assist,
then you should turn your attention to Humans First and the bomb
incident today.”
“Is that who set the bomb?” She asked. Her gaze darted between
him and Caden again. “Do you have any proof about who exactly
was behind it? Humans First has sleeper cells We don’t know who
their leadership is beyond Jasper Hawes. The people we’ve found
are all ignorant of anything but their own orders.”
“I’m not sure…” Caden began, but then he swallowed and added,
“We’re not sure who did it.”
“But you were right there,” she said to him. “You took the bomb out of
the square and–”
“I--” Caden’s eyes were huge. Panic was written in them and Valerius
felt the need to step in for more reasons than to keep the president
in the dark.
He stepped between them, completely blocking her view of Caden.
“Again, Madame President, when I have time to speak with you I
will. But that time is not now.”
Valerius turned on his heel, grabbed Caden by the waist and hustled
him inside of his chambers. He shut the doors firmly behind them.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: STAY OR GO

Caden stopped dead in his tracks about ten feet from the doors of
the Dragon King’s quarters.
His mouth dropped open and he gasped out, “I was just going to talk
about the President of the United States chasing us into your rooms
but then I saw your rooms. Holy shit! This is amazing!”
Caden spun slowly in a circle. Valerius’ rooms were the entire tower.
The tower was hollowed out. A winding staircase made of stone
curled around the outside walls to large platforms that jutted out from
the tower’s walls. He craned his head back. On one of the platforms
he saw a gleaming open air shower and a huge clawed tub. On
another were racks and racks of clothes. Leather and silk were
predominant. And at the very top was a massive four-poster bed
with crimson curtains drawn back by golden ropes. On that platform
there was a huge curved opening onto a balcony that extended far
beyond the tower’s edge.
That must be one of the places he transforms and takes off from.
Caden lowered his head and rubbed the back of his neck. He almost
felt dizzy. The first floor was dominated by a circular fireplace
surrounded by two half-moon shaped couches heaped with furs and
pillows that dominated the center of the tower. A fire was already
crackling merrily inside. A large grate, similar to a BBQ grill grate
was over this fire. There were tongs and a scrapper.
He cooks his own food on it? Huh. Who would have known? Maybe
he brings in the animals he kills in dragon form and roasts them
here.
He felt a little sick at that. The White Dragon though licked its lips as
it imagined hot deer blood in its mouth or maybe some beef. The
Spirit actually looked towards the balcony on the far side of the room
and yearned to stretch its wings and go hunting.
Sweat coated Caden’s upper lip. To shift voluntarily? Could he do
that? Did he wish to? And then the White Dragon Spirit showed him
an image of them soaring in the sky before catching sight of a deer
racing through the trees. They banked with wings tucked back, and
shot down like an arrow to capture the deer in their strong jaws.
Then they tilted their head back and swallowed it down whole.
We, ah, don’t need to do that! Hunt, I mean. Valerius is going to
order us some food! Besides, I think Valerius would totally freak if
we shifted. You agree, right? And I’m totally freaked at the idea of
eating raw venison. Really, really freaked about that. Especially
when they look so cute...
The White Dragon let out a sigh and rested its head on its front
claws. Clearly, it did not agree that raw venison was problematic
even if the deer were cute before they died. But, despite its sadness
that they weren’t going to hunt, its eyes were still alight with curiosity
about Valerius. Those eyes followed Valerius who was securing the
large doors behind them as if he, too, worried that the President
would try to get inside, or maybe one of the other politicians would
make an unwanted appearance. Caden quickly looked away as
Valerius turned around, pretending to be fascinated with just about
everything else than the Black Dragon King.
And there was a lot to see and admire. Just past the firepit there was
a large mahogany table with throne-like seats at each end and rather
magnificent chairs in between. On top of the table was a large silver
bowl heaped full of fruit. Caden’s mouth automatically began to
water and he went over to it, hand poised above the biggest,
brightest apple he’d ever seen.
“Can I?” Caden asked as Valerius passed by him towards the
balcony that looked out at the valley beyond.
The Black Dragon King grunted in response so Caden grabbed the
apple with both hands and bit into it. He let out a moan of pleasure. It
was crisp, sweet and juicy. Clear juice ran down his chin and he
laughed. He used his fingers to clean it up and then licked them
clean with gusto. He devoured the apple in what seemed like
moments. Then he was reaching for a bunch of purple grapes. He
started to stuff those into his mouth until his cheeks hurt from being
stretched too wide. He chewed them for long moments. Grape juice
burst on his tongue and flowed down his throat. Nothing had ever
tasted so good. The stem of grapes was quickly picked clean and he
was peeling an orange in seconds flat. Valerius just had time to go to
the balcony, stare out for a moment and then turn back to look at
what he was doing.
“I will order you food now or I fear you will start eating the table once
that fruit is gone,” the Black Dragon King said with a touch of
amusement as he came back inside.
Valerius picked up a tablet that had been left sitting on a table near
the balcony doors. He tapped a few commands into it and set it
down again. Caden was too busy peeling a banana to be too curious
about what he was ordering. In between bites of orange and banana,
he looked around some more.
Valerius had left the stone of the tower mostly exposed. It was
whitish gray in color, smooth in places and glassy in others as if
exposed to high heat. There were a few spectacular tapestries on
the walls. They showed scenes of hunting with a dragon being the
predator. They looked old but well cared for. None were moth-eaten
or faded, but there was something about them that told Caden they
had likely once hung in a much older castle.
There were bookcases that were stuffed full of paper books and old
scrolls, too. From the looks of them, Valerius was a reader. All of
them appeared well-thumbed and there were many books piled by
chairs.
There were shelves also full of wine. Dark bottles with red wax caps
that looked like they’d been there for hundreds of years, but there
was no dust on them and Reach was only 30 years old, built after
the War.
Valerius walked over and grabbed one of those bottles. He
immediately uncorked it. He did not pour it into the glass but instead
took a large swig from the bottle itself.
Feeling a little puckish, Caden asked, “Can I have a bottle, too?
Since you don’t look inclined to share.”
Valerius’ eyes narrowed at him as he continued to drink the red wine.
But he did not respond nor did he offer Caden a drink. Caden
shrugged and went back to eating yet another orange. This one was
a blood orange and it tasted sweet and tart and was perfect.
He wondered if the Black Dragon King got better food than the rest
of them did. Or was the food somehow magical? Because the fruit
tasted amazing. Maybe it was because he was simply starving.
Whatever the cause though, he knew he was going to eat the entire
silver bowl if he didn’t stop himself
“Your Spirit needs meat, not fruit. You’d best stop or you’ll get sick,”
Valerius said tersely.
Caden would have been touched by the concern, but he was pretty
sure Valerius was only worried that Caden might vomit on his
furniture rather than Caden’s actual well-being. But he swallowed
the last slice of orange and wiped his hands on the front of his dirty
secondhand jeans. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked
over to Valerius who was back on the balcony, staring out into the
night with a baleful look upon his handsome, bearded face.
Caden stopped and stood a few feet behind the Blac Dragon King. It
was peaceful here. He couldn’t hear the traffic of Reach. There were
no voices or laughter from the politicians and their aides. There was
only the whistle of the wind and the faint sound of nighthawks circling
overhead. That and the splash of wine as Valerius drained the bottle.
“What do you want, Caden?” Valerius asked suddenly.
Caden’s eyebrows lifted. “Hopefully, whatever you ordered from the
kitchen. I know I shouldn’t spoil my appetite for this feast, but I’m
really starving.”
Valerius spun around to face him, eyes blazing. “Now is not the time
for jokes! Be honest. What do you want?”
“I’ve told you. My old life back,” Caden said with a mulish set to his
jaw.
Wasn’t Valerius listening to him? How many times--and in how many
ways--did he have to say it? It was pretty damned clear what he
wanted!
“So you intend to remain in Reach? You’re asking for my capital city
as your own?” Valerius growled and Caden saw flames in those dark
eyes.
“Uhm … Yes?”
Valerius lunged for him. His hands grasped Caden’s shoulders and
closed on them painfully. “You will not take my city!”
“What? NO! No, no, what are you talking about?” Caden’s hands
rose up as he was waving them frantically between them. “That’s not
what I’m asking for! What would I do with a city? I just meant I
wanted to live here like I do now with my parents!”
Valerius pulled Caden towards him. Their faces were inches from
apart. They were breathing in each other’s breaths. “I do not
understand you! Is this some game you are playing? But if it is, what
do you hope to win?”
Caden’s Spirit had gone very still, but was now making a soft purring
sound low in the back of its throat.
We should not be liking this! Caden thought. He’s an asshole!
“I’m not playing any games! I don’t want to rule anything! And you
need to stop touching me without my permission!” Caden cried.
Valerius flushed then paled. But he did not let Caden go. “I need to
know the truth!”
“That is the truth!” Caden put his hands on Valerius’ chest and
pushed. But he was no match for the Black Dragon King’s strength.
It was like pushing against a brick wall.
“It can’t be!” Valerius growled. “You’re lying to me!”
Do not fight. It will make him fight. Be kind. Gentle. He will not hurt
us, his Spirit said or so it seemed. The words rose up in his mind like
thought balloons.
“Why?” Caden stopped pushing. He went almost limp. His hands
gripped the front of Valerius’ armor. “Why can’t it be true?”
“You’re a Dragon Shifter,” Valerius breathed.
“I’m me,” Caden answered.
Valerius’ grip loosened, but Caden did not jerk away. He stayed very
still.
We are not a threat. We are not a threat to him because we do not
wish to be, his Spirit said.
“I wasn’t kidding when I said I don’t want anyone to know that I’m the
White Dragon Shifter. If people know that then my life will change.
And I don’t want that,” Caden told him. Even he wasn’t so naïve as
to think that people wouldn’t seek to use him in some kind of power
struggle. Marban had already made that clear. In fact, Caden already
might be indebted to the crime lord. He swallowed, miserable.
“Maybe other people go through this kind of great transformation
when they bond with their Spirit, but I feel the same as I’ve always
felt. I don’t want to do anything different.”
“Things are different, Caden. There is no going back to the way
things were. You must go forward,” Valerius whispered.
“I don’t know how to do that. I can’t do that. Not on my own.” The
last had not been something he had intended to say out loud, but it
was out there now.
Valerius breathed. His breath smelled of rich red wine, leather and
spice. Caden felt dizzy for a moment with the sheer scent and
nearness of him. The Black Dragon King’s eyes were pure darkness
in that moment. His plush lips parted. For the first time, Valerius
looked real to Caden, and so very there. Caden reached up and
slowly drew his fingers along the bearded jaw.
“I’ve only ever seen you flying and on the ‘net. Never… never so
close. Never so real,” Caden whispered.
“I am real. I just do not know how you can be.” Valerius’ hands on
his shoulders were butterfly light. His fingers moved softly over
Caden’s skin.
The White Dragon Spirit twittered softly, looking up at Valerius with
meaning. He knew that Valerius saw it somehow, as the Black
Dragon King’s eyes focused as if looking inside of him. Valerius
blinked and then pulled away. The loss of his touch had Caden
unsteady on his feet. He staggered forward but caught himself. The
White Dragon Spirit whittered.
Valerius stalked back into the tower and over to the wine rack. He
dragged out another bottle and this time he didn’t even use a
corkscrew to open it but simply smashed the neck open and began
to pour it down his throat. Caden turned towards him. Sweat dotted
his brow and he felt lightheaded still.
“Should you be doing that when you have to meet with a bunch of
politicians later? I think you need to be at your best when you’re
speaking with the President of the United States. She seemed pretty
intent on talking things out with you,” Caden said even as he
struggled to get a hold of himself.
That earned him a glare and nothing more. Valerius finished the
bottle and then he threw it into the flaming logs. It shattered and
Caden jumped.
“Cut it out!” Caden was surprised that he could say such a thing to
the Black Dragon King. But he had not been lying when he told
Valerius earlier that he was no longer afraid of him. The White
Dragon Spirit made a soft, sad sound. “Stop it, Valerius! Stop.
Please.”
“And what would you have me do?” Valerius shouted, his arms flying
up into the air. “You--you are impossible! You claim to want nothing!
And I--I might actually believe you! But that makes you innocent and
that makes all of this impossible!”
Impossible? Yeah, I sort of feel the exact same thing. But I’m here.
“So you asked me what I want.” Caden moved towards the Dragon
King. “What about what you want?”
The Black Dragon King, who had been standing there staring at him
in silence for long moments, let out a harsh laugh. “For this day to
have not happened! Or for it to have started over so that I can make
other… choices.”
“You’re thinking of those people who died in the Below?”
“Of course! I can’t forget them. Or rather, I can, but I will not.”
Valerius scowled into the fire. “So many have died by my hand.
Those today are nothing--”
“They aren't nothing! So don’t pretend you don’t care!” Caden
shouted. His hands fisted at his sides. He was suddenly shaking his
head. “I shouldn’t have led you there. I was just so scared and--”
“You had the right--and a reason--to be scared.” Valerius sat down
heavily on one of the couches by the fire. His large yet elegant
hands dug into his thick, dark locks. He sat there while the firelight
played over his golden skin.
Caden sat down on the couch opposite him. The fire sizzled and
crackled between them like a living thing. “If I go back to my life then
all this… all the impossibilities are gone. The White Dragon Shifter
is gone and you get to have things as they were.”
“You cannot be so foolish as to think that you can simply disappear.
Everyone saw you. They know you exist. They will all be looking for
you,” Valerius said.
A trickle of unease went through Caden. “Who will be looking for me
exactly? The other Dragons?”
Valerius nodded. “Among others. Your very existence is threatening
the current order. Even if I were to believe that you do not wish to
rule anything, the others will not. They will want you taken care of.”
Caden gulped as his right hand rose to his throat. “Taken care of?
You mean k-killed?”
“That is one option. Or they will wish you to be on their side,”
Valerius explained. “Two Dragons in one territory--if you really are
willing to be subordinate--would make a far greater foe than simply
one. Though it is unheard of for two Dragons to actually fight
together.”
“I’ll fight with you.” Caden stood straighter. “You saw that I’m not
completely useless in a fight. The ice thing was pretty cool, wasn’t
it?”
“Yes,” Valerius said dryly.
“Probably not a good idea to bring up the ice.” Caden cleared his
throat even as he couldn’t quite help the smile that played on his lips.
“No, it is not.” There appeared to be a small smile on Valerius’
lips,too, but it was hard to say as it was so very faint and gone so
very quickly.
Caden shifted so that his elbows were on his knees. The fire’s
warmth caressed his face.”Why does Raziel hate me? Is it just a
territorial thing? Because it seemed like it was more. I mean Raziel
totally took over from you and–”
“You must never speak of that to anyone!” Valerius interrupted him.
There was almost a look of fear in his eyes and Caden doubted that
the Black Dragon King ever felt fear. So this was really serious.
“What happened with Raziel has not occurred in millennia and it will
never occur again. You need to understand what would happen if
people thought we could not control our Spirits. Already, the humans
think of Shifters as little better than wild animals. They respect us
only because they fear us, but it is a certain kind of fear. They
believe they know the rules. If they were to learn that the rules were
not as–”
“I get it! I won’t tell anyone else,” Caden assured him.
Valerius stared at him hard and Caden shifted uncomfortably, but he
did not look away. He would keep his promise. Finally, the Black
Dragon King seemed to relax and he slumped back against the sofa.
“What are we going to do with you, Caden?” Valerius asked.
“I hope that’s like a rhetorical question, because I don’t think
anything needs to be done with me,” Caden said.
“There you go again: believing that things have not changed
irrevocably for you.” Valerius scrubbed his face with both hands.
“You wish to stay here but I cannot allow that.”
Both Caden and the White Dragon Spirit stiffened. “Why not? Why
can’t I stay?”
“Raziel. I cannot risk another episode with it and you bring those
out,” Valerius said.
Caden’s heart beat like a hummingbird inside his chest, desperate to
get out.
“Where else would I go? Another city? Another country? Another
territory? There’s no way! I’m not leaving! So you gotta get it
together with Raziel! Make it understand that things are as they are
and I’m here to stay and it’s got a deal with it!” Caden shouted.
Valerius’ eyebrows rose with every word he said. “You saw Raziel.
Does it look like anyone tells it what to do?”
“You’re the Black Dragon King. Are you telling me that you are not in
charge?” Caden did not look away from Valerius’ eyes.
“I am in charge.”
“Really? Because what you just said--”
“I am!” Valerius blazed at him.
“Good.” The White Dragon Spirit murped in agreement. Caden
slumped back himself against the opposite couch. “You better be
the one that can tell it what to do. I’m betting Raziel might not care
about those people who died today, but you do. The world needs the
person who cares about those who died running things. You have to
control your Spirit.”
Valerius’ eyebrows rose. “You are very bold to say such a thing.
You’ve had your Spirit for less than 12 hours and yet you are telling
me how to deal with mine?”
“Yeah, I am. You know it’s the only way.” Caden shook his head.
“What I know is that I have a selfish, spoiled child that does not want
to leave his home for the greater good!” Valerius said grimly.
Was that it? Was Caden being selfish and spoiled? Was he just
being afraid? But the White Dragon Spirit narrowed its eyes at
Valerius and lowered its head, making what sounded suspiciously
like a growling noise. It did not want to go either.
We belong here. We are not leaving, it said.
“My Spirit says ‘no’. I’m not being selfish. We’re here to stay and…
and that’s that,” Caden told him.
He saw Valerius through the flames of the fire. The Black Dragon
King appeared as if he was wreathed in it. A being of pure heat. But
Caden was not afraid. Though he was impressed.
“You do not know what you are taking on, little dragon, by seeking to
stay here,” Valerius hissed softly.
“No, maybe not.” Caden swallowed. “But I know it’s right. I am
supposed to be here.”
What proceeded next was a stare down. But Caden had lots of
experience with this with his sister. But they didn’t get a chance to
discover who would win because there was a knock on the door.
“What?” Valerius snapped.
“It is Chione,” she said. “Caden’s parents are here.”
CHAPTER TWELVE - RIGHTS AND WANTS

“Mom! Dad!” Caden popped up from his seat like a Jack-in-the-Box

and was by the door in seconds, tugging at the locks ineffectively,
before Valerius had a chance to think.
Though their voices were muffled by the thick wooden doors,
Caden’s family were calling for their son loud enough that they could
be clearly heard.
“Caden!” a masculine voice cried. “It’s Dad. It’s okay, son, just hold
on. We’re going to get to you out of there!”
“Caden, I got Mom and Dad as fast as I could! Are you okay?” said a
young girlish voice.
That must be Tilly, his younger sister.
“C-Caden, are you all right?” an older female asked with a quaver in
her voice.
“I’m fine! I’m totally fine!” Caden called to them as he continued to
tug vainly at the door.
“What does your family think I am doing to you in here?” Valerius
asked, annoyed in spite of himself. Though really, hadn’t he tried to
kill Caden earlier?
That was Raziel’s doing, but they do not know that.
Caden snorted and pointed out just that, “You do know that everyone
watched our aerial acrobatics today? And me icing you.”
Valerius scowled. “That was a lucky shot. Don’t get cocky.”
Caden grinned over his shoulder at him. “Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t
work a second time.”
“No, it would not.”
“So a little help here?” Caden tipped his head meaningfully at the
door. “My father sounds like he’s going to blow a gasket if he
doesn’t get in.”
“We are not done speaking.”
But Valerius did stand up. He hated people in his quarters. It was
bad enough with Caden and his purring Dragon in here. Now he
would have to deal with all of Caden’s family, too!
“We can talk in front of my family, can’t we?” Caden gave him the
equivalent of puppy eyes.
“No,” he answered firmly, but he did take a step towards the door.
Caden’s eyes widened. “Really? Is it like secret Dragon Shifter
business?”
“Yes. In part. Your family will complicate what is simple–”
“Yeah, simple, I’m staying. You and Raziel need to get your heads
around it,” Caden muttered as he tugged at the locks some more.
Raziel let out black smoke from its nostrils, but continued to remain
hidden in a dark cave, leaving Valerius to deal with all of this himself.
He should prefer it considering his Spirit’s lack of control in this
matter.
Valerius narrowed his eyes. The boy was impish. “What did you
say?”
“What? Nothing just trying to get this open. Come on. Lend a hand?
Please?” More puppy eyes.
“Get away from there. You do not know who is all outside.”
“We’re two Dragon Shifters, aren’t we like invincible or something?”
But Caden moved back as he requested.
“I may be. You… are another matter.” Valerius though was surprised
at how he did not feel at ease until Caden had moved behind him.
He reached for the tablet that showed the camera outside his rooms.
There were more than just Chione and Caden’s family there. Simi
and Ngoye were present as well as two strangers in suits. He could
smell their feathers.
Raven Shifters!
“Does your father work for a law firm?” he asked.
“Yeah, he’s a lawyer, why?” Caden got up on his tiptoes behind him
and looked over his shoulder. Valerius felt his warmth like a blanket
against his back. “Oh, I don’t know who those guys are, but they do
look like lawyers.”
“They are Raven Shifters,” he said.
“They’re likely partners in Dad’s firm.” Caden’s forehead furrowed.
“But what are they doing here?”
“They are here because they are your father’s employers,” Valerius
guessed.
Caden frowned. “Dad’s always complaining that the partners never
pay attention to him. He’s been a senior associate forever.”
“Is he not competent?”
“What? Yes, of course he’s competent! My dad’s brilliant! But he
says…” Caden bit his lip and stopped the flow of words that wanted
to rush out. It was pretty anti-Shifter and he wasn’t sure that would
be wise to say to the leader of all the Shifters.
“What? What does he say? I will not let them in until you tell me,”
Valerius threatened.
Caden let out a sigh. “He says that they only let him in the firm to
begin with because he’s human. You know to make them look like
everything’s equal when it’s not. They don’t give him big cases
unless he brings something in himself and even then, a Shifter
partner will take it from him. He was top in his law school class, but
it doesn’t matter. And because they already have one human
partner, he says they don’t see a need for another.”
Valerius studied the unhappy expression on Caden’s face. This
young man had no idea of any of the power he wielded. His father
could be head of that firm with a simple request from his son. The
Raven Shifters were only here because they thought that they could
get something out of it, at best, or were trying to protect their firm’s
name, at worst. Yet Caden seemed to have no idea that he had any
power at all.
He really doesn’t understand what has happened to him. It is true
innocence and not him playing coy. Amazing that he should have
been chosen!
“We shall see,” Valerius said quietly.
Caden’s head lifted in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“You will.”
Caden frowned again. “Where are Landry and Wally?”
“I am certain they are fine,” he said.
He hoped that was true. No, he knew it was true. Simi was not anti-
human, despite how he was treated as Snake Shifter, and he would
always do as Valerius asked. They were likely just being held
somewhere secure in the castle.
“I just want to make sure that the Claw didn’t lock my friends up,”
Caden pointed out.
“I am sure they did not.” But he would have to ask.
Valerius then undid what was a very complicated lock. There was a
clunk-thunk and then a grinding of gears as the locking mechanism
disengaged. The doors then began to open on their own. Valerius
shooed Caden further back again, which got him a genuine smile.
As soon as the doors were fully open, the family tried to surge
inside, but stopped short when they saw him.
But Caden popped around his side and said, “Don’t be afraid, you
guys, it’s just Valerius.”
Just Valerius…
The Black Dragon King turned to give the young man a look of
incredulity, but Caden was already brushing past him to greet his
family. Chione’s muffled laughter had him simply shaking his head
and retreating towards the fireplace. If the young man wished to put
himself in danger then he would let him! But Simi and Ngoye were
there if something should occur. And really, Caden’s family wouldn’t
hurt him and all the Raven Shifters could do at the best of times was
caw and peck at him.
Then legal him out of existence, but he is in no present danger of
that …
Both Claws crossed their arms over their chests and bowed before
closing the doors to his chambers and taking positions on either side
of them like bookends. Valerius stood with the fire at his back and his
arms crossed over his chest as Caden was engulfed in the arms of
his family. Well, some of them anyways.
A tall blonde man in a tailored suit that screamed lawyer and Tilly
hugged him tightly. The mother–he assumed the older woman was
his mother–stood back and looked at her son with a mixture of love,
concern and something else. It seemed to Valerius as if she was
acting like a clear wall of bulletproof glass had appeared between
herself and her son. Chione moved around the group and drifted to
his side. Her eyes were always on Caden and his family.
“The mother is one of the Faith. I think she is having a little trouble
with Caden being the ninth Dragon Shifter,” she murmured, seeing
where he was looking.
He frowned. “If she is of the Faith then why is she acting like there is
a barrier between herself and her son? Or perhaps she is not that
affectionate of a woman?”
Chione let out a soft breath. “She seemed in shock and denial to me
on the way here. She kept repeating that it was impossible for Caden
to be the ninth Dragon Shifter. We actually picked her up at a Faith
meeting that was praying for the White Dragon.”
“Praying for…” He let out a sigh and rubbed the top of his nose as if
he felt a headache coming on. “So her faith is faltering then?”
“On the contrary, I think she believes even more, which means she’s
lost her son in a very profound way,” Chione murmured. “It is not the
rejection that we see in some families, but I do worry about this
reaction just the same.”
Watching the almost dazed yet sad look on the woman’s handsome
face had Valerius frowning. Did Caden notice her distance yet? He,
surprisingly, hoped not.
It will distress Caden, which will just make him more difficult to deal
with. Or that, at least, was what Valerius told himself was his
reasoning.
“You recognize Caden’s sister, Tilly, of course, and his father, Grant
Bryce, is the one hugging him,” Chione filled him in. “The other two
are Thomas Storn and Leonard Guissler of Brady, Guissler and
Moore, attorneys at law. They are the head partners in Mr. Bryce’s
firm. Raven Shifters of course.”
The two Raven Shifters were both lean men in black suits. Mr. Storn
had sandy blonde hair, a blue tie and rather exuberant eyebrows.
Mr. Moore’s hair was black, though thinning, with a pronounced
widow’s peak. He had a narrow nose that allowed a pair of wire-
rimmed glasses to just perch on the very top of it. Both men had the
Raven Shifter gaze. It was unblinking and intensely alert. They were
watching Caden like another bird.
“What about Wally and Landry?” Valerius asked.
“I did not think it would be wise to have them underfoot. They are
down with some of the kitchen staff having something to eat,” she
said simply. “I made sure to take their phones away so they cannot
inform anyone of what they know.”
“You think of everything, Chione,” he said with appreciation.
She smiled and actually pinked a little with the praise. “I do try.”
“And why are they here?” he finally asked about the two Raven
Shifters. He knew he sounded peevish. But he really did not like all
of these people in his rooms. “They are not family and I did not invite
them.”
“I believe,” Chione said out of the corner of her mouth, “that they are
here to protect Caden’s rights.”
“What rights?” he snapped as he turned to her.
The conversation that had been taking place amongst the Bryce
family died at his tone and everyone turned towards him.
“Shouldn’t we–shouldn’t we be bowing to King Valerius?” Mrs. Bryce
asked as she was lowering herself to bow and encouraging her
daughter and husband to do so as well.
But Mr. Bryce, eyes bright with anger, grasped her shoulders and
hauled her upright. “No! We are not bowing to the person who tried
to kill our son!”
“Yeah, Valerius is really mean!” Tilly echoed.
I’m mean?
“Dad! It wasn’t like that!” Seeing his father’s look of disbelief, Caden
quickly backtracked, “Yes, that battle thing happened, but it was sort
of a mistake. Kind of a mistake. Right?” Caden was looking at
Valerius who inclined his head. “Right. So no one is killing anyone
and maybe we don’t have to bow or anything.” He looked at Valerius
again who slowly inclined his head, agreeing to the no-bowing,
though he wanted the Raven Shifters to remember who they were
talking to. But he cared little for the bowing and scraping that so
many others of his kind seemed to crave. “So, we’re all good. Let’s
just all keep calm.”
For one moment, Valerius could see the White Dragon Spirit looking
at him with such affection. He blinked and shifted uncomfortably.
“You handled that very well,” Chione murmured again.
“Just wait. I’m not done yet,” Valerius told her then he straightened to
his full, impressive height. The shadow of the Black Dragon
appeared on the wall behind him, causing gasps and whimpers to
exit mouths. Caden just looked impressed. “Mr. Bryce, Mrs. Bryce,
Tilly, I know why the three of you are here, but these two gentlemen
were not invited.”
He tilted his head towards the Raven Shifters.
Mr. Moore adjusted his glasses as he inclined his head and said, “It
is an honor to meet you, King Valerius. Please, if you will allow us to
introduce ourselves, I am Mr. Moore and this is Mr. Storn. We
represent the Bryce family in this matter.”
“What matter?” Valerius asked.
“The, ah, well, the matter of his being the ninth Dragon Shifter,” Mr.
Moore answered with a weak smile as if Valerius were very dim.
“Ah, so you’re here about that. Now why would Caden choose you to
represent him and his family in this very important matter when he
could have the best legal minds in my territory? In all the world?”
Valerius asked.
Raven Shifters were snobs. They believed that they were the most
intelligent of all Shifters, and that meant definitely smarter than any
human, but he could use that against them. He wasn’t surprised
when Mr. Moore’s feathers were ruffled. He let out an affronted
sound that quickly turned into a cough as Mr. Storn thumped his
back vigorously, and with a practiced smile, stepped forward to,
undoubtedly, explain what his partner meant.
“My King,” Mr. Storn said with a bow of his head. “Mr. Bryant is an
esteemed colleague of ours, so it is more than a simple matter of
legal acumen, but also trust.”
Valerius’ gaze slid to Mr. Bryce at that description of his position in
their firm, and he saw the slight tightening of Grant’s jaw. Caden’s
description of how they treated this likely intelligent human was likely
worse than his son knew, especially when it came to male pride.
“And are you, Mr. Bryant, an esteemed colleague of theirs? Have
they treated you as such before your son became a Shifter?”
Valerius asked.
Caden was staring at Valerius, open-mouthed, as if he couldn’t quite
believe that Valerius was shaming the people who had not treated
his father properly. He told himself he was not doing this for the boy.
He should want Caden to have the worst legal advice available
simply because it would be easier to then deal with him!
Not that the law actually mattered. His territory was his territory. He
could allow in or kick out anyone he chose. The thought of kicking
Caden out–all innocent imp that he was–might make him feel a little
unwell, but what else could be done? He could not allow Caden to
stay as he wished. He needed stability for himself and Raziel and
the world as Illarion made himself a menace. So why exactly was he
stepping in to shame the Raven Shifters considering all he had just
thought?
Mr. Bryant’s keen dark blue eyes, the same eyes as his son,
flickered to his partners and back to him. “I respect their legal minds,
King Valerius. I think that you seek to pit us one on one. And that
would not be in my son’s best interest.”
Valerius shrugged. “Your son--and all to do with him--are not legal
matters at all.”
“On the contrary,” Mr. Moore said with a shake. “They are absolutely
legal matters as the agreement between all of the Dragon Shifters
was that each Dragon take an equal percentage of the Earth. Now,
Caden is the ninth! The agreement is clear that–”
“It was never contemplated that another Dragon would appear,”
Valerius growled.
“But one has! And so, he must be provided for. An equal share of the
Earth should be his,” Mr. Moore threw back.
“Wait!” Caden threw up his hands as if to physically stop Mr. Moore’s
words from reaching Valerius’ ears. He had seen Valerius drawing up
to his full height and he saw the shadow of the Black Dragon on the
walls of the tower and clearly knew that Valerius’ temper was up. “I’m
not interested in ruling. I just want –”
“Caden,” his father said as he reached over and put a firm hand on
his son’s shoulders. “Don’t say anything. We need to confer and
then your legal representatives can speak for you to this–this
person.”
First, I am mean. Now I am “this person”!
“Dad, this is between Valerius and me!” Caden cried.
“Now, young man,” Mr. Storn said avuncularly as if he were some old
uncle that Caden had known since he was a boy. “From what we’ve
seen, things perhaps are not as they should be between you and
King Valerius. Your rights are very important. Your rights get you
what you want.”
“You speak of the law as if it is this thing beyond all of us.” Valerius
tilted his head low. He knew that his eyes were like glowing embers.
Chione touched his back gently, but he let those embers burn bright.
“But I am the maker of the law. I am the law.”
“Will the other Dragon Shifters agree with that description?” Mr.
Moore asked.
“AGREE?!” Valerius roared, his temper’s last rotten cord snapping
with a terrible suddenness. Raziel came thundering out of the cave
and wanted to shred these Raven Shifters into feathery pieces.
“They don’t get to agree or disagree! I AM KING!”
“King Valerius!” Chione shouted. “Please forgive them!”
But her words meant nothing. Valerius’ lips skinned back from his
teeth. He felt his body turning molten as it prepared to shift. He knew
he shouldn’t. He knew he had to draw this anger back in. But it was
too much. Much too much.
His skin rippled as dragon bone wanted to burst forth from within
him. Wings wanted to burst forth from his back. His neck wanted to
elongate and grow. His body should fill this room.
No, don’t. Not here. We’ll kill them, too, Valerius begged Raziel.
But the Black Dragon was in a full fury as it spat gouts of fire with the
words, They think we care for the other Dragons? We shall kill them!
We shall kill everyone! We shall make them all ash and then we will
soar in skies free of others!
NO! That’s not what I want! Valerius cried.
He felt Chione trying to reach him again. Both Simi and Ngoye were
surging forward from their places by the doors. Their eyes were
huge. They knew he was going to shift. They knew it was going to be
bad.
The Raven Shifters were fluttering together, eyeing the door. Tilly
was grasping her brother’s leg so hard that her knuckles were
blanched. Mrs. Bryce, though white as a ghost, looked like she was
seeing God for the first time. Mr. Bryce was tugging at his son,
daughter and wife to try and move his entire family out of harm’s
way.
But suddenly Caden shrugged his family off as if their hold on him
was nothing. And he was between Valerius and everyone else.
Front and center. Right there. All Valerius could see, smell, touch,
taste.
Caden.
Caden had a hold of Valerius’ shoulders. He was making soothing
sounds. The White Dragon Spirit was murmuring gently at him as
well, stretching its long neck forward, as if reaching towards Raziel
who was snorting fire. Neither Caden nor the White Dragon Spirit
seemed afraid of him or Raziel at all. They were like cool islands in a
sea of fire.
Caden, get away! You need to get away! Get your family away!
Valerius shouted at him, hoping that Caden would hear these
unspoken words.
“You were right, Valerius. We should just be talking. You and me. It’s
better if we talk without anybody else,” Caden was saying. “Don’t
listen to them. You are king. You are my king. I don’t care what
anyone else says but you.”
“Caden! Get away from him! He’s going to shift!” Mr. Bryce cried, his
fingers clawing at his son’s body, trying to drag him away.
And that caused yet another bout of rage to overwhelm Valerius.
They were trying to take Caden from him! It was one thing for him to
send the young man away, but no one was taking him! Caden
acknowledged him as king! Caden was his!
“Dad,” Caden’s voice was surprisingly calm. He addressed his father,
but did not turn his gaze from Valerius. “Everything is going to be
fine. Chione?”
“Yes, Caden?” she asked, immediately stepping towards him.
“Please escort everyone from the room. I’m sure my family is
hungry,” he said simply. “I’ll join them later.”
Chione did not argue. Instead, she inclined her head as she did for
Valerius when he gave her an order. She extended her arms to both
sides and started to herd everyone towards the door.
“I’m not leaving my son!” Mr. Bryant shouted.
“Caden, we’re not leaving you!” Tilly sobbed, her face streaked with
tears.
“Dad, Till,” again, Caden was so calm, “I’m a Dragon Shifter.”
Tilly made a gulping sob.
His father’s mouth opened and shut. “That doesn’t–”
“It matters. It’s all that matters,” Caden whispered as if the words
were coming from deep inside of him, from a place of truth. “Mr.
Storn, Mr. Moore, if you really want to do a solid by my family, help
Chione get them out of this room.”
The two Raven Shifters gave jerky, bird-like nods, but finally, they
were able to hustle everyone out with Chione and the Claw’s
considerable help. The last face he saw was Grant Bryce’s, looking
agonized.
As soon as the doors shut once more, Caden let out a breath. “Well,
I can definitely tell that dead lawyer jokes are your thing. My dad
has dozens of them. When you’re both in a better mood, he can tell
them to you for hours. Like what's the same between the dinosaurs
and ethical lawyers? They’re both extinct.”
“No time for jokes. Especially bad jokes,” Valerius gritted out, proud
and surprised he could still speak.
“Now is the best time for bad jokes.” Caden smiled at him gently and
stroked his shoulders. “You’re way too serious all the time.”
And just like that, his anger vanished as fast as it had come. The
tension bled from Valerius’ shoulders. The embers in his eyes
banked. While he stared just at Caden’s beautiful face, Raziel
stared at the White Dragon Spirit. Raziel shifted from foot to foot,
uncertain, but not filled with the rage or fear like before.
Caden’s dark blue eyes were like deep pools that quenched the fires
within him. The anger, the stress, the uncertainty fell away as he
looked at Caden. His hands unfisted at his sides. Blood trickled
down his fingers from where he had cut his palms with his clawed
armor.
“Are you all right?” Caden asked, studying his face.
“I am,” he answered tersely, but he did not move away from Caden.
The young man exuded this coolness, just like the ice. “I do not
know what is wrong with me. Since you came…”
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to cause you pain,” Caden assured him.
“It is not pain you cause me,” Valerius murmured as he brought up a
bloody hand and touched Caden’s luminous face. “It is…”
Seeing the smear of blood he left on that fair cheek, Valerius reeled
away from him. Caden reached for him, but he stayed out of
touching distance, backing up towards the balcony.
“Valerius, where are you going?” Caden demanded.
“Go to your family,” Valerius said. “I need to…”
He didn’t know what he meant to say. Caden confused him. He
needed to get away from this maddening boy. He needed to be
himself again!
“We need to talk though. Remember? And the anniversary feast?
And the food coming here and--and stuff! You can’t go! Don’t go!”
Caden cried, reaching for him, even as the White Dragon Spirit
strained for Raziel.
Responsibilities clawed at him–and the desire to stay with Caden
was so strong that it was like an anchor tied to his ankles–but he had
to get away. Just for a little while. To clear his head. To come back
fresh.
“I need to fly,” Valerius gritted out.
Then, in one fluid movement, he spun on his heel and ran towards
the balcony. He shifted between one breath and the next. He
launched himself into the air and flew off under the light of the moon
even as he felt something tying him to one young man on Earth.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN - CASTLE FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Caden stared at the empty balcony and shifted from foot to foot.
Should he go after Valerius or stay here? The White Dragon Spirit
rustled its wings and he knew that it wanted to fly. It wanted to show
him the glories of sailing through the clouds and how the moonlight
would shatter on its translucent scales. It wanted him to experience
skimming over dark forests and silvered fields. Anyone who was out
would see a shadow pass over them and look up, not to see a cloud,
but them flying by. They would point in amazement.
Caden actually did take a step towards the balcony, an itching
feeling in his skin, to become a Dragon. Would it actually be that
easy to shed his human form and become something giant yet
sleek? Something scaled instead of smooth-skinned? Something
that could breathe ice?
A shiver of excitement went through Caden as, for the first time
really, he thought about the good aspects of being a Dragon Shifter.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he had to shift, though the White
Dragon Spirit seemed to have no desire to take over and he had
been pretty emotional with Valerius.
Really should we go get him? He asked the Spirit. Running away
from stuff is not good. But he’s on edge as well. Maybe he just
needs to blow off some steam.
Raziel is ascendant, the Spirit replied. And offered him the
unsettling image of glowing red eyes suddenly appearing above
them on the mountain before a gout of fire erupted from a cavernous
mouth filled with sharp teeth.
Okay, we’re definitely staying inside then.
While he had talked tough about Raziel and Valerius simply
accepting him and his Spirit remaining in Reach that had been a lot
easier to do in the comfy space of Valerius’ quarters and not out
under the cold, hard moon.
But Valerius needs us, doesn’t he? That’s how I felt when he was
losing it. I could almost touch what was wrong.
The Spirit did not answer, merely lowered its head beneath one wing
and stretched a clawed leg rather cat-like. He wouldn’t have been
surprised if the White Dragon Spirit hadn’t started licking itself. But it
just settled in his chest. He was about to ask it more about Valerius
and itself when his stomach growled and he nearly hunched forward
with a hunger cramp.
Food. Family, the Spirit suggested.
Good ideas both. Damn, they must be so scared for me.
So Caden turned and went back to the doors of Valerius’ quarters.
He paused there, hands on the door handles, and looked back. He
liked this place. It was comfortable and warm. The books
everywhere gave Caden a sense that Valerius had a deep inner life.
He found it easy to imagine being curled up on the couch, a book in
his hands, staring into that fire. An unexpected additional image
crept in at that moment: of a muscular arm sliding around his
shoulders and a firm chest to rest his head on. He felt a kiss on his
forehead and the slight scratch of a bearded jaw.
Valerius...
He blinked rapidly and shook himself. Not only was such an idea
crazy, it was ludicrous! Valerius didn’t even want him in the same
city as he was let alone in his arms. And then there was Raziel who
wanted to burn him and his Spirit to a crisp. Yeah, the idea of a
romantic relationship between them was absurd.
And I don’t even like him! I mean he’s not my type! He tried to kill
me--what? Why are you looking at me like that?
The last was at the Spirit who was actually arching an eyebrow. He
didn’t think dragons had eyebrows or could arch them like that with
so much meaning.
It would be like me suggesting you like Raziel! And you don’t!
Because he was mean to you! Murderous! He suggested.
His Spirit though just went back to that cat-like stretching and
extending its toes. He shook his head. Maybe Dragons thought it
was a form of courtship to have another Dragon try and immolate
them. But Caden was not into men who barked at him, scowled and
insisted he was a nuisance.
With that firm thought, he pushed the doors open and walked outside
into the foyer. Luckily, his parents had not gone far. In fact, they were
all arguing not twenty feet down the hallway past the foyer.
Mr. Storn was in mid-sentence, “And that is why the law is beyond all
of us! Valerius might be the strongest, but the law--at its highest
purpose--is to make sure that the weakest among us has the same
rights as the strongest.”
“You are in High Reach!” One of the Claw Captains--Simi, Caden
recalled--answered hotly. “King Valerius rules what goes on in this
castle and to his people! He is just! He is the law!”
“Arguably, by merging with another Dragon Spirit, Caden is no longer
a citizen of Reach, but one of the world’s rulers. He should be
treated as such,” Mr. Moore snapped.
No longer a citizen of Reach? Screw that! I am, too!
But while the Raven Shifters argued law, his father’s face was red as
he tried to push past Captain Ngoye to get back to Valerius’ quarters.
He shouted, “My son is in there with that monster! Let me go! I need
to get my son!”
Captain Ngoye, though a foot shorter than his father, had no trouble
holding him back. She was surprisingly calm, almost kind, as she
said firmly, “Your son was clear that he wanted you removed from
the room.”
“Caden also threw himself off the Drop to save others. He has a
habit of risking himself like that! He’s a--a hero. Even when he was
a little boy, he was off trying to save people, animals, even things.
That’s who he is!” his father pointed out.
Caden felt a welling of pride that his father thought he was heroic.
He’d never heard such a thing from his father before. He had never
thought his father believed that of him.
“Caden needs our help!” Tilly was tugging at Ngoye’s leg, but again,
the Claw Captain was unimpressed but still gentle, holding Tilly back
with her other hand.
“Counsellor Chione has ordered it. You will remain here where it is
safe,” Captain Ngoye said.
Chione, for her part, was trying to herd the unruly group farther and
farther away from Valerius’ quarters. She kept glancing over her
shoulder towards the doors, and as such, she was the first one to
see him come out. A wash of relief crossed her delicate, pretty
features.
That had Caden calling out as he jogged towards them, “Guys, I’m
right here, everything’s okay! Dad! Mom! Tilly!”
His father’s vociferous yelling was cut off as if a switch had been
flipped and he saw the relief release all the tension in him. Tilly
peeled off from the group and raced towards him. He got down his
haunches and grabbed her in his arms, lifting her up like he used to
when she was much smaller.
“I thought I was too big for you to pick me up anymore,” she
murmured into his ear as she wrapped her arms around his neck
and held on like a limpet.
“I’m a little stronger now,” he admitted. Tilly weighed nothing at all.
“Maybe a lot stronger.”
He met Chione’s gaze as he said the last and she nodded. She
knew how strong he was and likely many different things about him
too, and, suddenly, he desperately wanted to talk to her about being
a Shifter, about being a Dragon. She was a Sphinx Shifter, but she’d
been Valerius’ Councillor since the war. But his father was between
the two of them, wrapping his arms around him and Tilly so it wasn’t
the time.
Later, he told himself.
Almost as if she heard him, Chione gave a faint nod.
“Hey, Dad, I’m okay,” he repeated.
“Your luck is going to run out, my crazy son. First, the Drop and now
going up to an enraged Dragon Shifter? Don’t do that again. My
heart can’t handle it!” His father punctuated that with a kiss on his
temple and a bone crushing hug, or it would have been except for
the fact that Caden was so much stronger now.
“There wasn’t any danger,” he said.
His father and sister gave him twin “are you crazy” looks.
“Guys, I know what I’m doing!” he insisted.
But did he? Why should he feel so comfortable around Valerius?
Why should he be at all sure that the Black Dragon King wouldn’t
turn on him like before? But he hadn’t been afraid when he’d gone
up to Valerius this time. It had seemed the natural thing to do.
“I have never seen a dragon quite like Caden before,” Chione said,
coming over to them. “He definitely has a calming influence on
Valerius. Perhaps ice truly does triumph over fire.”
“I wouldn’t say that around Valerius! He’s a little touchy about that!”
he told her with a snort of laughter.
The two Claw Captains didn’t seem to like it much either. They
looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Valerius was the only
Dragon they thought mattered. And a little White Dragon like Caden
could never best him. Caden agreed with them.
He then noticed that his mom was hanging back. She’d done the
same thing in Valerius’ rooms, but he’d figured she was
overwhelmed by being in the Black Dragon King’s presence. Valerius
was, after all, the top of the pantheon for the Faith. But she was still
staying away and Valerius was not here.
For a moment, his stomach tumbled as he worried she might be
rejecting him like Rose claimed all of his family would do. But Rose
had been wrong about the others. The moment he’d seen his dad
and Tilly’s faces, he’d known that they still loved him like always. But
did his mom? He reached towards her.
“Mom,” he said and waggled his fingers to try and lure her near as if
she were a frightened wild animal.
She came to him and took his hand, slowly, reverently and held it
between hers. “Are you all right, Caden? You look… it is true.” She
let out an uncertain laugh. “Shifters have a glow. You have a glow.”
“Mom, I was the White Dragon Shifter earlier today. You didn’t notice
a glow then, did you? It’s still me. Still your Caden that works at
Wally’s and doesn’t have a clue about what he’s doing with his life,”
he said with a rather hapless smile. “Don’t let your beliefs get in the
way of what’s true.”
She blinked and looked down. “I didn’t see it earlier, because I
wouldn’t let myself see you as anything other than my son. I did
notice something but I couldn’t… I never thought that the Spirits
would touch our family, but I was wrong. So wrong about that.”
“I am still your son. That hasn’t changed. Really…” He dropped off.
She wasn’t listening or, maybe it was more like, she wasn’t hearing
him. He’d have to work on this. He noticed that Tilly and his father
were sharing a look as he and his mom talked. Clearly, they were not
happy with her reaction. But his mother had always been hard to
reach sometimes. A little different than them since they were so
emotive and she simply wasn’t. It made him love her just a little
harder, because he knew that she couldn’t show how much she
loved them all back. He was distracted by these thoughts when his
father began touching him, searching for wounds, he realized after a
moment and he quickly shook his father’s hands off, but gently.
“Dad, I’m fine.” He met his father’ eyes. “I know Valerius seemed
scary, but he wasn’t going to hurt me. I can’t exactly say his bark is
worse than his bite, but what happened earlier today is sort of
complicated. It’s not who he is. I wasn’t in danger.”
“Are you so sure about that young man?” Mr. Moore asked, his bright
birdlike eyes glittering in the low light of the hallway.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Caden replied stiffly.
“From what I can see, Caden, you are a kind young man who hasn’t
yet seen much of the world. And Shifter politics at this level…” Mr.
Storn and Mr. Moore looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
“Well, let’s just say that it's a bloodsport on the best of days. Your
very existence means that some portion of Valerius’ territory must be
ceded to you.”
“No, it doesn’t!” Caden frowned. “Why are you all talking like you
know what I want? Besides, if I’m too naive--and that’s what you’re
saying, let’s be honest--about how Shifter politics work, how do you
expect me to rule my own territory?”
Mr. Moore lifted a long finger into the air. “Ah, that is what Councillors
are for, aren’t they, Councillor Chione?”
“Chione is already Valerius’ Councillor so she’s not available,” Caden
said, though he knew that was not what Mr. Moore had meant.
Chione smiled and dipped her head. “I have been known to advise
King Valerius, but I assure you that I do not make his decisions for
him. I would not presume to do so.”
“Indeed not, if his behavior earlier is any indication, he’s ruled more
by his emotions than logic! But that’s just the way it is with certain
Shifters,” Mr. Storn said superiorly.
“As opposed to Raven Shifters that always think they’re the smartest
people in the room?” Simi hissed.
“We follow the facts, even if they lead to uncomfortable places. Such
as this one where I would question the judgment of anyone who
would put a Snake in charge of his guards,” Mr. Storn sniffed,
brushing invisible dirt off of his shoulders.
Simi lunged towards the Raven Shifter, stopping just short of Mr.
Storn’s face. They were eye to eye. For one moment, Caden
expected a forked tongue to slither out or fangs to come down
dripping with venom. Mr. Storn just sniffed some more as if Simi
smelled unpleasant and that was as much attention he was going to
give him.
“King Valerius sees the truth of people,” Simi growled.
“Or he knows that giving a little wretch like yourself a false sheen of
respectability by making you a guard captain will keep you loyal and
give all the others hope,” Mr. Storn replied.
“You, son of a bitch--”
“Gentlemen! Such words are in no one’s best interest,” Chione
interjected smoothly. Her tawny colored eyes glowed. “Captain
Simi, our guests may not share our views on the world, may even
say rude things, but they are our guests. We will treat them as such.
Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of King Valerius’ territory, unlike
in other places in the world.”
“Understood, madam,” Simi answered.
Simi slowly stepped back. A shuttered expression fell over his face,
shutting away the anger. Mr. Storn’s eyes narrowed as if he didn’t
quite trust this new calmness in Simi. But the Claw Captain stood
straight and rigid and studiously ignored the Raven Shifters.
I wonder if Rose knows that Valerius allows Snake Shifters in the
Claw. They’re supposed to all be thugs, not capable of following the
law, let alone enforcing it. But Valerius clearly doesn’t think that’s
true. But he could just imagine the Bee Shifter’s expression as he
told her about Simi. Rose would likely just claim he was a token.
“You seek to remind us that if we were under King Illarion’s rule, we
would not have the freedom to criticize him, yes?” Mr. Moore said,
taking his glasses off and polishing them. “You hope that we will
judge King Valerius less harshly because of this?”
“Not in the least,” she said. “I merely am making a statement of fact.
You are fond of facts, as you did just say.”
Caden had to repress a grin. She had turned what the Raven
Shifters had said against them. He knew that they were supposed to
be representing him, but he was glad to see them put in their places.
And that was when he realized that if they were representing him
then maybe he should speak up about how he felt about a Snake
Shifter being a member of the Claw.
“I just want to say,” he began and cleared his throat, suddenly
nervous when all eyes were on him, “I think it’s great that Captain
Simi is a Claw Captain. The type of Shifter you are shouldn’t put you
into a box. It’s wrong. I’m glad Valerius sees that.”
Neither Mr. Storn nor Mr. Moore seemed upset at his position, but
instead their expressions appeared intrigued.
“If that’s the kind of rule of law in the territory you want, Caden, that’s
very admirable,” Mr. Moore said.
Caden opened his mouth to say he didn’t want a territory for the final
time when Chione spoke up, “I think Caden’s earlier suggestion that
we get some food and drink is a good one. Why don’t we take this
discussion to the private dining room off of the kitchens. Captain
Ngoye, would you lead the way?”
The Claw Captain nodded and began to lead the group to the
staircase that he and Caden had ascended.
Great. More stairs. At least, we’re going down.
The two Raven Shifters followed directly after her, conferring with
each other, while Caden and his family were in the middle and
Captain Simi bringing up the rear. They were as much being
accompanied as guarded on their way to the kitchens. Chione
stepped in line beside Caden.
“Where is King Valerius?” She asked him quietly.
“He’s flying right now,” Caden answered as evenly as he could. “I
think he needed some time alone. He’s really not one for a lot of
people, is he?”
She shook her head and smiled. “Unfortunately, with the Anniversary
celebration and all that’s gone on today, he hasn’t had much time to
himself, except for when he took to the skies, but even then he
knows everyone’s gaze is upon him. It makes him grumpy.”
“He was going to shift into his Dragon form in his quarters,” Tilly said
very astutely.
“If he’d done that we’d all have been squished, Till, and he wouldn’t
want to squish us,” Caden lied and touched her nose to get her to
laugh, but though she did her face soon sobered.
“I think he wouldn’t have minded squishing some people,” she
pointed out.
His father’s expression was still grimmer. “I don’t want you anywhere
near him, Caden. He’s made his intentions quite clear with that battle
this afternoon.”
“He thought I was responsible for the bomb, Dad. He didn’t know
that I became a Dragon Shifter because I tried to save everybody,”
he answered.
“You did not try to save everyone, Caden,” his mother corrected. She
was walking alongside his father, but he noticed that they were
careful not to look at one another and they didn’t touch. Some
simmering emotion was between them and Caden feared he was
the root cause of it. “You did save everyone. And in doing so, a Spirit
found you worthy.”
“Ellen, let’s not discuss worthiness now and all of that. We don’t want
our son to be encouraged to do any more heroic acts today,” his
father said with a scowl.
“What Caden does or does not do is now determined by the Spirits,
not us,” she said simply. “Our son is not just ours any longer.”
Caden wanted to object to that, but maybe it was true. She had been
right about how the Spirit had chosen him earlier today. Valerius
though was confused why a Dragon Spirit would be drawn to such
an act of sacrifice. But Caden wasn’t. His impression of the White
Dragon Spirit was that it was kind and protective, though when he
compared it to Raziel he sort of got Valerius’ point. Even his own
understanding of the other Dragons was that they were creatures
made for war, for ultimate destruction. The White Dragon Spirit was
not like that. He observed it now. It was curled up, tail tucked around
its massive body, its head under its right wing.
But all he said in response to his mother’s observations and his
father’s look of disbelief was, “I haven’t suddenly become wise or
mystic overnight, you guys. It’s still me. And Iwant what I’ve always
wanted, which is the life I’ve got.”
Tilly, who seemed to weigh nothing in his arms, was frowning at him.
“You’re still gonna work at the souvenir shop even though you’re the
White Dragon Shifter?”
“Nobody’s gonna know I’m the White Dragon Shifter. I’ll just be
Caden Bryce,” he told her.
“But Wally will totally want to capitalize on what you are,” Tilly
pointed out. “He was talking about the souvenirs already.”
Caden laughed. “Wally will make plenty of White Dragon souvenirs,
but he won’t tell anyone it's me.”
Tilly just rolled her eyes as if she couldn’t believe how innocent he
was if he thought that.
“You stated several times that you want your life back,” Chione
remarked quietly.
“Yeah, I do.”
“But here’s the thing, son, the best way to ensure that is for people to
know exactly who you are so that King Valerius can’t take any
negative actions against you,” his father said.
“Dad, he’s not going to–”
“People love Dragons, Caden. They already love the White Dragon.
People are already talking about how you saved everyone in Dragon
Strike Square. So if people know that you are the White Dragon
they won’t want anything to happen to you and if King Valerius wants
to keep the illusion that the Dragons are the great and wise rulers of
the world--and not simply beasts--he’ll have to play along with that,”
his father said firmly. “That will keep you safe.”
“But, Dad, if people know what I am then how am I going to live my
life? Everybody is going to be coming to me, wanting something. I’ll
never be able to just be me!” Caden pointed out, anxiety spiking in
his blood.
“I tend to agree with your father, Caden,” Chione said unexpectedly.
“The idea that you can keep yourself a secret is a vain one. People
will find out who you are in time. Better if you plan how you want that
information revealed than have the choice taken away from you.
“But you don’t think that Valerius is going to harm me!” Caden
pointed out.
“There is a natural order to the universe,” his mother said. “Another
Dragon coming into this world has meaning, Caden. It’s not a
coincidence that it happened. It’s not simply a fluke that you were
chosen. This was all meant. And a Dragon has responsibilities.
Don’t you think so, Chione?”
“Ellen--”
“Yes, I do,” Chione interrupted his father.
“Responsibilities? Like ruling a part of the world? Neither me nor my
Spirit want that,” Caden insisted. “I’m feeling like a broken record
here as no one seems to remember that.”
“What does your Spirit want?” Chione asked just as they stopped in
front of a set of doors, beyond which was the sound of the clinking of
pots and pans, the sizzling of meat and the hiss of sauteing.
“Right now? Food and sleep and not necessarily in that order. The
Spirit inside of me is not a warrior. It’s… It’s sort of cute,” Caden
admitted with a shamefaced smile.
“It looked cute on the net!” Tilly agreed. “I totally want a White
Dragon plushie.”
Caden remembered then how just earlier that day, before all of this
had happened, he’d wanted to bring her a black one and she’d
called him a dork. That seemed like centuries ago now.
“I know it might have looked all dramatic and stuff when Valerius and
I battled earlier, but honestly, it was just luck I got away from him,”
Caden finally said.
Chione nodded as Captain Ngoye opened the doors to a massive
kitchen. At first, all Caden could see were flames and steam and
people in white coats rushing about. A million different smells
emanated from the space, all of them tasty, and the White Dragon
Spirit immediately came awake again. Sleepy blue eyes became
alert. A tongue slid out of an eager mouth. Caden’s stomach growled
audibly. Tilly laughed.
“Caden! Tilly! We’re over here!” It was Wally calling to them, waving
his pudgy hands in the air.
He and Landry were seated at a giant table that was already
groaning with food. Caden saw a whole roast turkey with all the
trimmings from creamy mashed potatoes to green beans with
almonds to tart cranberry sauce. There was also an entire roast beef
glistening with juice. Two roast chickens, one stuffed with rice and
the other with cornbread were beside it. Platters of asparagus with
yolk yellow hollandaise sauce sat beside baskets full of fresh rolls
that were still steaming. And that was only half of what was on the
table.
Wally and Landry had their plates loaded with food, but it didn’t look
like they had touched what was there. Moving unconsciously, Caden
set Tilly down before he strode over to the table and grabbed one of
the turkey legs in a free hand and pulled it off. He brought it up to his
lips and started to devour it, juices oozing down his chin. Tilly’s
laughter was the only thing that had him coming back to himself.
Everyone was staring at him.
He chewed and swallowed the large bite he had taken and said
rather sheepishly, “I’m really hungry.”
“That is normal for a new shifter,” Mr. Moore said with an indulgent
smile as if Caden had performed a neat trick by simply eating.
“We didn’t think we were going to see you for a while,” Landry said,
casting suspicious glances at the two Raven Shifters. She was
undoubtedly feeling ill at ease being one of few humans in the place.
“Yeah, but King Valerius needed some time alone so we decided to
join you here,” he lied. He didn’t want to go into everything that
happened again. Landry’s extreme dislike for Shifters might be
pushed over the edge, even if she did seem to be making an
exception for him.
Wally patted the seat beside him. “You sit here, Caden. I got the best
food near me. We’ll share.”
While Wally was tiny he could eat his weight in food ten times over.
Caden was always amazed at how he could inhale sandwiches and
ice cream and potato salad and pasta and corn dogs or whatever
was put in front of him in a bite or two. Wally was not fussy about his
vittles. He hated the very idea of any food going to waste so he
always managed to put most of it away himself.
Caden sat down beside him and Tilly took a seat on the other side of
him He continued to gnaw on his turkey leg even as the others took
their positions around the table. Captains Ngoye and Simi kept
standing, moving so that their backs were against the wall and their
eyes towards the entrance. His father and mother sat beside his
sister, though that distance continued between them. Chione sat
opposite him while the Raven Shifters perched beside her.
Silence fell as plates were handed out and people dug into the
amazing meal. Caden was glad. He knew there was a lot of talking
to be done, but he needed food and quiet. Wine and juice was
passed around with Tilly even being given a little red wine after the
day she’d had. Caden’s interest was mostly in the food. He was
having trouble not simply grabbing the entire turkey and swallowing it
like an anaconda. But he forced himself to use his fork and knife and
take bites that he actually chewed before swallowing them. No one
else even attempted to get a slice of that delectable white meat. He
was pretty sure he growled at Wally when the little man tried to
snatch a piece of skin.
And, for a moment, when everyone was eating the good food, and
he had his family and friends around him, none of which were acting
strangely, or not strangely for them, Caden felt a sense of peace.
He’d been so scared all day about what everyone’s reaction to the
news was going to be. And it was mostly good! It was far better than
he’d hoped or Rose had guessed. He couldn’t wait to tell her how
she’d been wrong.
Maybe he could convince Wally to give her a job so she wouldn’t
have to work for Marban. His mother was always going on about her
garden, maybe Rose would be willing to shift and pollinate her
plants. That would probably be weird to ask her to do. Definitely
weird, he decided, but he might just do it anyway.
And then there was Valerius. The man was… interesting. Not what
he’d thought he would be at all. Not snotty like the Raven Shifters.
But pretty human considering how old he was and how powerful. He
was almost understandable. Caden wouldn’t mind talking to him
more. Maybe Valerius would talk to him about all the secrets of being
a Dragon Shifter an--
His happy thoughts were derailed as both Claw Captains heard
something over their earpieces and stiffened.
“What is it?” Chione asked, but then she was looking down at her
phone and let out a soft curse.
“What is it?’ Caden asked. “What’s wrong?”
Wally grunted. He saw something on his phone, too, which meant it
was beyond castle channels. He looked up at Caden and said,
“Looks like some people are threatening to storm the castle unless
the White Dragon Shifter reveals themselves.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN - MATE
Valerius and Raziel perched on the mountaintop. Their wings
fluttered at their sides, stirred by the breeze and their inability to stay
still. Valerius tried to empty his mind, but he could not forget the boy.
The maddening boy!
Caden was nothing at all like a Dragon Shifter should be. He was,
as Chione had said, brave and noble and innocent. Innocent above
all, because he seemed to believe that he could remain in Reach
and be neutral somehow. That no one would be able to turn him to
their ends. That he could simply resume the life he’d had. And, part
of Valerius, wanted that for him.
He has no one to protect him. His parents will simply not be able to
understand Shifter politics and the Dragon Order on top of that! The
Raven Shifters will use him for their own end. The boy will be hurt--
so hurt--if there is no one there to protect him.
He could feel the pull of the other Dragons, too. He knew that they
were watching, taking flights from their lairs, considering coming
here if he didn’t handle this situation. If he did not find a solution for
Caden, they would.
And the only one he half trusted was Esme, the Blue Dragon. She
was the most reasonable and even tempered of the bunch. She had
bonded with her Spirit when she was an old woman, so the wisdom
and patience of greater years had been upon her when the merging
had occurred. Not that she had been some kindly old grandmother.
No, she had been the power behind many thrones. Unlike Chione
though, the people she “served” had been her puppets. Yet he could
not imagine entrusting Caden to even her. And if he couldn’t
imagine sending Caden to her territory, there was no one else he
would even consider sending Caden to.
So what does that leave?
It purred at us, Raziel said suddenly, showing the thoughts that had it
shifting their claws.
His Spirit had not spoken since they had taken flight. Its thoughts
were not altogether surprising. That it was contemplating the White
Dragon Spirit was not surprising rather. That it was focused on the
purring rather than going on another rant about territories being
invaded, et al. was the real surprising part.
Yes, it did. What was that all about? He asked. I’ve never seen
another Dragon do that.
Raziel shook their head. Whether that was in response to his
question or an itch, it was hard to say. They were both controlling
this form as one as they often did.
Do you know this Spirit? You knew the others, he pressed.
But again, Raziel merely flapped their wings and did not answer.
It’s smaller, a lot smaller than you and the others. Is it a baby?
Valerius was not to be put off. He would understand this situation if
he could.
It is not a baby! Raziel answered. It is…
What? What is it? Valerius tried not to let his eagerness to learn
more bleed through, but it did.
Raziel had them ducking their head beneath one of the massive
wings as if to hide from someone. It muttered, It is a mate.
A what? That came out more sharply than he intended. But he must
have misheard. A mate? What do you mean “a mate”?
Raziel puffed out white smoke from their nostrils rather like smoke
signals. Valerius wished that he could read those signals.
For one of us, Raziel finally answered.
One of us who? Valerius’ puckered their scaly forehead.
Us! The Dragons! Raziel burst out as if he were very stupid.
Valerius made them still then. The word “mate” filled his head in big,
bright, neon letters. He had heard of other Shifters claiming to have
“mates”. In the Werewolf Clans, “mates” were an almost obligatory
thing, but despite their claims of mating for life, most of their
relationships ended in divorce just like human relationships did. The
idea of one true love, bonded forever, meant for one another was a
fairytale for Shifters as much as it was for humans.
Until now…
We have mates? He finally asked.
YES!
Now a black jet of smoke exited each nostril and fire wreathed their
teeth. Unlike those Werewolves, Raziel seemed to loathe the idea of
a mate. Or, at least, was very defensive about it.
When were you going to tell me this? He demanded to know.
You did not need to know. There were no mates here! Raziel
grumbled.
But now one is and we are unprepared! Valerius snapped. Whose
mate is he?
I do not know. Time will tell. The others will come. Present
themselves. The White Dragon will choose, Raziel explained.
The others will… the other Dragons will come here? They’re going
to court Caden? Try to convince him to choose them? And when
were you going to tell me this?!
This time he raged and it was Raziel who hid. Valerius took a deep
breath. He was shaking. Their whole body and wings quivered. Their
tail slammed against the mountain, sending shards of stone sliding
down the mountainside. But they were over the Drop so no one
could be hurt.
Explain this to me! Explain everything! NOW! Valerius commanded.
His heart was pounding in his chest. A “mate”? Did that mean that
Caden was to be joined to one of the female Dragons? Well, one of
the female Dragon Shifters. The Dragons were mostly sexless.
Though Shifters could not have children, mates usually meant in the
sense of babies and such. It was a tradeoff: eternal life, extreme
power, but no offspring. So that wouldn't be the case. Besides he
was almost certain that Caden was gay or, at least, bisexual, based
upon the scent of arousal he gave off when Valerius got close. So it
must be mate in the sense of one true love.
Raziel lowered their head. It is as I have said. The White Dragon is
a mate to one of us. It will choose one worthy to bond with.
Bond? What does that mean exactly? I take it that it is not the same
thing as marriage. That it is more permanent than that and magical,
Valerius clarified and why did his chest feel tight at the thought of
Caden choosing someone not him?
No, bind us. Power will combine, Raziel answered.
So it would make whoever bonded with Caden stronger? That was
worrisome. That meant that Dragon Shifters like Illarion might be
interested in Caden. Though Illarion would have scoffed at the idea
of a love match, Illarion valued power above all things. And if he
were to somehow bond with Caden that might tip the scales in his
favor. He could attack us and perhaps win…
Mates strengthen and weaken us! Raziel snorted. More black smoke
poured out of their nostrils.
How? Valerius felt at sea. His feelings for the boy, which had been
complicated before, were now in a complete tumult.
Kill the mate and kill both, Raziel explained. The White Dragon is
weak. Tiny. Little ice. Nothing more.
So if someone killed Caden then whoever he was mated to would
die as well? He wanted to make sure he was crystal on this.
Yes.
Is this why you were so upset when the White Dragon appeared?
You acted like it was purely a territorial thing, but you were
frightened. I could feel it! Valerius accused it. Are you frightened that-
-that you’ll want to--to bond with it and then that will put us at risk for
death?
Raziel turned their head to gaze down at the city below them. The
lights were brilliant and some seemed to be winding up the road from
the Mid towards High Reach. Maybe it was just an illusion from this
high up. He was more interested in this mate business than worrying
about that.
It should not have come! Raziel growl-cried. It upsets the balance! It
makes us weak
Makes US weak? Is it our mate?
Valerius could not believe what he was hearing. His heart was
thundering so loud that he could hardly hear himself think. Caden’s
smiling, beautiful face floated in his mind’s eye. But the boy was–
was a boy! Young and ridiculous and innocent and unfit to rule! He
ruled! No one else! Only him! But the thought of coming back to his
quarters and seeing Caden grinning at him impishly as he had done
something to please Valerius--or test his patience--suddenly filled his
imagination and he almost smiled at the thought.
We are strongest, most worthy. Any mate should want us above all!
Raziel raised their head proudly.
You are assuming he would choose us. He does not have to though.
And Caden is very young. He wouldn’t want to tie himself down. And
what would we do with a boy? Would you train him? Would we love
him… like that? Valerius pointed out and his stomach plummeted at
this for some reason.
We would win!
Yes, but here is the thing, if we do not wish to win, we will lose.
Raziel shifted their claws and the rocks creaked beneath their
weight. We do not lose.
So you wish to win Caden as our mate? Valerius asked his Spirit.
Do you? Raziel asked back.
He couldn’t have answered that question even if he had had time to
do so. But time was no longer on their side as he realized that the
lights that had appeared to be coming up the winding road were not
an illusion, they were real.
Pitchforks and torches? Storming the castle? What now?
Except they weren’t torches. They were flashlights. And there were
no pitchforks though they were singing, which seemed somehow
worse. Several media helicopters were circling overhead and he saw
strong searchlights pointed down at the horde of people who were
marching–and singing!–as they walked. Their ears flickered and he
realized that it was a song of the Faith, one about Dragons, but they
had changed the words a little bit to speak of the ninth Dragon
Shifter, the White Dragon! They reared back.
What is going on here? Valerius hissed.
They seek the White Dragon! Raziel responded, flaring their nostrils.
How do they even know he is in the castle?
The president? Raziel suggested.
Raziel was suggesting that President Goodfellow had alerted the
media and somehow that had created this crowd. But Valerius didn’t
think that would be her method of attack. She wanted to keep the
information to herself so she could use it in her own way. If everyone
knew that Caden was the White Dragon Shifter that would diminish
any power she had. So no, it could not have been her.
Perhaps they just assume the White Dragon is at the castle, he
thought.
Someone is making mischief, Raziel muttered.
And he was almost certain that his Spirit was right. He was the one
being innocent if he thought someone wasn’t behind this.
The Raven Shifters? They might want to use public sentiment to get
people on Caden’s side, to let him remain, he realized.
Bird heads did not have time to plan this. They need to plan
everything. They have no friends among the other Shifters, Raziel
pointed out.
Then who?
And that was when Valerius had a sinking suspicion he knew exactly
who it had been. After all, how had Caden gotten past all the Claw
from the Below to the Mid that day? Only one person could have
ensured that such a thing happened.
Marban!
INSECT! Raziel hissed and gouts of fire emitted from their mouth
and painted the night sky red and gold.
Dammit to Hell! We must get down there and -- no, please tell me …
NO! CADEN!
Their head jerked to the gates of High Reach. Even though they
were far from the steel portcullis, they smelled Caden’s scent on the
wind. Their eyes narrowed and they saw several small figures
standing there in the arched gate and Caden was among them. As
was Chione, Caden’s family, the Raven Shifters, Wally, Landry and
the Claw Captains.
What are they doing? If he wants to keep his identity a secret, he
should have stayed in our chambers! Chione should have dragged
his tight little ass back up there! Why is she encouraging this?
She wants him to stay, Raziel replied softly. She likes him. She
thinks he would be an asset.
Does she know about this mate business, too? Valerius demanded
to know.
A one shouldered shrug was his answer. He was guessing that
Chione had some kind of idea. Not enough of one that she couldn’t
claim she was too uncertain to share. But definitely enough of one to
want Caden to stay.
He knows of the crowd. He is out there because of them, Raziel
guessed. Look, he points at them and speaks very fast to his
parents.
I see it, Valerius replied tiredly. I should have locked him in our
chambers. Leaving him alone for one precious moment was a
mistake!
Valerius was certain now that Caden was too innocent and pure to
live very long. Or a damned fool. Or all of the above. He had no
sense whatsoever! What was he doing? What was he thinking?
Could he have changed his mind about revealing who he was? This
would be a disaster if the crowd met Caden.
With a powerful flap of their wings, they rose up a few feet from the
mountainside and started to glide down the mountain, taking
advantage of the night air currents. They would land between the
crowd and Caden. It was the only way to save the boy from
whatever misadventure he was setting himself up for.
As they swept lower in the night sky–black on black so no one
noticed them yet–he heard more of the song, which had lines like,
Mighty Dragons! Guide us forward! Forever Spirits, hear our plea!
Bring us mercy and your wisdom! Lead us onwards won’t you
please? White Dragon, your scales like moonlight captured and your
eyes like noon skies, won’t you reveal your true nature? That is all
we ask of ye!
Valerius growled in the back of their throat. The Faith annoyed him,
but he tolerated them and said nothing of his displeasure because it
gave many people solace and order after their world had been
turned upside down at the knowledge of Shifters and Spirits existing.
But their sickeningly sweet belief in Shifters’ glory and wisdom truly
grated.
Did they not see that without the order he had imposed that the
Shifters would have long ago wiped them out or would have done
what Illarion was doing and imprisoning them? Being a Shifter did
not make one better or wiser or anything like that. It made one
stronger and gave those that were evil more time to hone their
natures better to take advantage of those they could.
But he realized it wasn’t just people of the Faith in this crowd.
Marban was there. Leading the goddamned songs and smiling at
everyone as if he were some kind of kindly old wise man. He hadn’t
sat on his fake throne in the Below and orchestrated things up
above. He was part of the action, front and center. There were many
from the Below with him. He could tell from their shabbier clothes as
they mixed with the better dressed folk from the Mid. Marban’s gaze
drifted up to him and the old Swarm Shifter smiled.
Rage percolated through their veins and both of them considered
sending a fire ball right at that smiling, moon-like face. But he was
protected by the hordes of innocent people who locked arms with
Marban and sang even louder about the White Dragon.
It was then that the people in the helicopters caught sight of them.
The searchlights focused on them, blinding them, for a moment.
Their eyes shut and they turned their head. One flap of their powerful
wings to slow them down buffeted one of the helicopters that had
gotten too close to them. It went veering backwards and he heard a
terrible beeping sound from it as the pilot lost control. They flew
beneath the helicopter and caught it by the skids, correcting its
course, before gently releasing it back into the sky on an even keel.
There were cheers from down below. The fact that they had been the
cause of the near crash was evidently no-nevermind. He was sure
that Marban would make it an issue later, whispering poison in
others’ ears.
The helicopter pilot and crew gave him a wave. He saw a reporter
talking breathlessly inside of it while a cameraman filmed them and
her. They soared downwards to the road just outside of the gate.
Caden–his foolish, innocent boy–rushed out of the portcullis to greet
them even as his father tried to drag him back. Mr. Bryce was
intelligent evidently. But Caden hopped up and down, waving at him,
without any consideration for his father’s concern.
They landed softly though the ground still shook at their weight.
Caden came right up to them. Raziel reared their head back, but
then slowly lowered it so that they were even with Caden’s body.
Raziel sniffed the boy experimentally. Caden’s shirt pulled away from
his torso towards their nose and with the exhale it flattened back
against his lithe form.
“Hey! Hey! You’re here! Thank God!” Caden shouted at him. He
pointed frantically past Valerius to the ongoing crowd. “They are
threatening to invade the castle unless the White Dragon reveals him
or herself!”
Of course, they are. This has been Marban’s plan all along.
Burn the insect! Watch him pop in our heat! Raziel suggested,
wanting to show off their power.
And burn the rest of the crowd, too? I do not think so. You have killed
enough of our subjects for one day, Valerius replied dryly.
Valerius had them reach out with one clawed hand and nudge
Caden as gently as possible back towards the castle. Caden
wobbled backwards, but then he strode right up to them again.
Valerius struggled not to roll their eyes.
“You can’t burn them!” Caden was calling out to him.
“Caden, my God, get back here!” his father cried. “It’s not safe!”
“It’s fine! It’s just Valerius!” the boy called over his shoulder as his
father tugged at him.
Just Valerius again. I will get a complex this way.
“Exactly!” His father made frantic motions to get him back.
Then Wally–looking like a ball on tiny legs–jogged up to them. “Hey,
kid, if you don’t want people to know you’re a Shifter, being on TV is
not the way to go. We should head inside. Back to dinner. Valerius
has got this.”
Valerius agreed and pointed towards the castle, but Caden was
frowning and watching the approaching crowd that was only about
fifty feet away. A helicopter sent another searchlight towards them
and it highlighted Caden, but Valerius shifted his body so that Caden
was hidden from sight.
“You can’t fry them, Valerius!” Caden was shouting at him.
We won’t.
They lifted their head proudly to show they were far beyond frying
people.
Caden put his hands on his hips. “And you can’t intimidate them
either by glowering at them!”
That is what you think, innocent one. Intimidation works wonders.
Caden’s head tilted to the side as if he heard him. The young man
had heard them when they were both in Dragon forms, perhaps the
gift was still with him. He didn’t see why not. Then a thought hit him.
Raziel, is Caden’s ability to hear our thoughts unique in some way?
What he meant was, of course, did it indicate that Caden could be
their mate?
Perhaps.
Yes or no, Raziel!
I do not know! How would I know? No other Dragon has such an
ability, but he may have it with all others, Raziel commented and
there was a trace of dissatisfaction in its tone. It didn’t like the
thought of Caden sharing anything with any other Dragon.
We will discuss this later. But we must get him inside and--
“ROSE!” Caden suddenly screamed and before Valerius could react,
Caden had raced through their legs to the crowd beyond them.
“Caden, you--oomph! You’ve got quite the hug there,” a girl in black
and yellow--an Insect Shifter, too, though young and much less
jaded than Marban--said as Caden engulfed her in his arms.
Valerius noted that she almost looked guilty as if she knew that
something bad was coming.
“What are you doing with all these people?” Caden asked, confusion
writ large on his brow.
She lowered her head.
It was Marban who said, “I’ve come to collect that favor, dear boy.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN - ALLY
Caden gave Marban an uncertain smile and asked, with a hint of
hysterical laughter in his voice, “You want me to help you storm the
castle? Because I sort of got keys to the place. We can go on in.”
“Storming the castle is a great way of putting it!” Marban laughed a
great big belly laugh that did not make Caden easy in his mind.
Suddenly, he felt a plucking at his back. A large dragon claw was
tapping him to get his attention. Even though it was Raziel before
him, he clearly felt Valerius was in charge. And Valerius pointed back
towards the castle. Unlike before when he could hear Valerius in his
mind, he couldn’t right now. But he understood what the Black
Dragon King wanted. He desired Caden back in the castle where it
was safe. Yet Caden found he didn’t want to go back in. Rose was a
part of this mess with Marban. All of these innocent people looked to
be caught up in whatever the Swarm Shifter’s plan was. All Caden
knew was that he might be able to stop it before more harm was
done. After all, they were singing about the White Dragon.
But will I have to reveal myself to defuse this situation?
He took a breath and met those red eyes. “I can handle this. Let me
handle this. Marban is here because of me--”
Valerius shook his head vigorously and moved to pick Caden up and
possibly fly him back to the castle. There was a flutter in Caden’s
stomach at the idea of being Fay Rae to Valerius’ King Kong, but he
stepped back to indicate he didn’t want to be picked up. A frown
appeared on that huge face. A spotlight flowed over the Black
Dragon and down over Caden. What were people thinking from their
interaction? He just prayed that unless he literally became a Dragon
himself, they wouldn’t be sure who he was. But he could already
imagine the news organizations taking a picture of his face and
searching social media for his likeness, asking people on the street
who he was, and who knew what else they could do to find him.
“If we do this your way, people will be scared. Let me just try to get
them to go home,” he bargained.
Valerius closed his eyes as if amazed at Caden’s naivete. And
maybe he was naive. Maybe he was really stupid. But he couldn’t
hide inside while bad things happened because of him. He just
couldn’t!
“If it doesn’t work, we’ll do it your way, okay?” he asked.
Valerius nodded reluctantly.
Feeling like he’d just walked back from a cliff, Caden turned back to
Marban and Rose. But that didn’t make him feel any better. He felt
terribly exposed being between them and Valerius. Seriously,
wouldn’t everybody know he was the White Dragon Shifter simply by
being here? Talking to Valerius like he did--as if it were no big deal--
probably also made people wonder who he was. Sweat suddenly
broke out on his upper lip.
For its part, the White Dragon Spirit was looking at all the people
about twenty feet beyond Marban with interest in its large blue eyes.
It wanted to sniff them. It remembered being petted by the boy at
the Drop and imagined that there would be a lot of petters in this
audience. Maybe they should shift and let the people enjoy their
beautiful Dragon form.
Caden groaned. No, we’re not doing that! These people won’t pet
you! They want to worship us or something or use us. But that
doesn’t matter! We need to have a normal life and we can’t if they
know about you!
The White Dragon Spirit sighed but agreed. It didn’t want to make
Caden unhappy, but it still believed the people would enjoy seeing it.

They would. They would probably love you, but we can’t, okay? We
just can’t.
The White Dragon Spirit rested its head sadly down on its claws, not
arguing with him, but clearly deeply unhappy with his decision.
I promise that things will be great. My friends and family will pet you,
okay? You’ll be happy. Just trust me.
The White Dragon Spirit let out a soft breath and said nothing.
Caden focused on the people in front of him, most specifically Rose.
She wouldn’t meet his gaze. She was biting her lower lip and tugging
at one of her ponytails. She was likely thinking that his plan to stay
hidden was blown all to Hell. He hoped she would give him a straight
answer about why the people were here.
“Rose, what’s going on?” he asked her under his breath. Rose
cringed. The white robe-clad Faith members sang louder, even as
they remained on their knees. They had this strange glazed eye
look as they caught sight of him. He shifted his feet. Yes, he’d made
a mistake. A series of them. “Rose, seriously, what’s going on?”
“You shouldn’t have come out here. Why did you come out here?”
she hissed. “I thought you were going home.”
As soon as she said this, he felt a ton better. She hadn’t thought
coming here would out him. She figured he was at his house in the
Mid, having dinner or playing video games or reading or freaking out
about being a Shifter. She hadn’t realized that he would actually be
here.
“I was! I did! But then Valerius went to Wally’s and my friends were
in trouble so I turned myself in,” he explained.
Her gaze lifted to him and there was this look in her eyes that he
couldn’t quite define. “You--you turned yourself in for your friends?”
“Yeah. What’s that look for?”
“But you really wanted to go home! You could have gone home and
stayed home!” She put a hand to her forehead. “Oh, Caden, why did
you do this?”
“I couldn’t let other people get hurt because of me,” he told her.
This look he did understand. It was anguish.
“I told you, Granddaughter. He’s a hero. A true leader of the people.”
Marban clapped his shoulder. “And everyone is going to know it.”
Caden looked over Marban’s shoulder and saw that the people of
the Faith were now prostrating themselves. There were others that
had taken off their caps and others that just stared openly at Valerius
especially. Some clearly had come from the Below, but a ton of Mid
people were there, too, all agog. They were looking at him too. His
chest felt tight.
Maybe they wouldn’t guess that he was the White Dragon Shifter.
Maybe they would think he was just some rich person who was
invited to the party. But no. He was still wearing the borrowed clothes
from the Below. His hair was sticking up all over the place. He was
pretty sure he had dirt smudged on one cheek and turkey stuck
between his teeth. No one was ever going to mistake him for a rich
and powerful person. He looked like what he was. A person who had
never been in the castle before, but now had the run of the place,
which would lead to one inescapable conclusion which was that he
was the White Dragon Shifter.
His father had tried to warn him that he shouldn’t be seen if he
wanted to keep his privacy and that running out here wasn’t the way
to go. He glanced back over his shoulder but Valerius had settled
himself in a crouching position so that no one could scuttle between
his legs like Caden had earlier. It was insane that he had done it.
But he’d been so surprised and happy to see Rose and he hadn’t
felt afraid of Raziel. It probably would have been better if he had
been afraid. He turned back to Marban.
He lowered his voice and said to the old Swarm Shifter, “Have you
told them? About--about me?”
He meant the crowd that was far enough away that they couldn’t
hear what they were saying right then.
Marban leaned forward conspiratorially. “I think you did by racing out
of the castle and past Raziel like the Dragon was a piece of
furniture.”
This confirmed his own thinking, which caused his stomach to fall
into his feet.
“But I had to come out! You were bringing all these people up here to
get them in trouble unless the White Dragon Shifter revealed
themselves!” he hissed.
Marban chuckled. “And you had to protect them by coming forward
in such a dramatic fashion! Yes, exactly. Makes sense to me why
you did it.”
“I didn’t reveal myself! I haven’t done anything! I’m just your and
Rose’s friend. That’s all. And as long as you keep your promise, and
don’t tell them who I am, we’ll be fine.”
“You really think that?” Marban looked highly amused.
He didn’t. The cat was likely out of the bag, but he was intent on
stuffing it back in again. He glanced over at Rose who was
squeezing the top of her nose as if she had a massive headache
coming on. She, evidently, understood exactly what he was trying to
do and thought it was a big mistake.
“You brought them here. You knew what I would do, Marban!” he
cried, feeling the total unfairness of Marban’s actions.
“I thought you went home just as Rose said. Why would I think you
were at the castle, let alone that you would race out here when we
arrived?” Marban blinked at him innocently.
“You knew,” Caden repeated, certain of it.
“Of course, he knew,” Rose said under her breath and there was a
trace of sadness to it. “He always does.”
“Now, Granddaughter, don’t act as if that is a bad thing. Reading
people is necessary for one’s survival,” Marban tutted.
“You need to tell them to go home. They’re quiet and docile now, but
there could be people hurt if things get out of hand.” Caden pointed
authoritatively back towards the Mid. However “authoritative” he
believed he was being though, Marban looked completely unmoved.
The others in the crowd just followed his actions that much more
closely.
“The only person that could potentially harm them would be Valerius.
You know his temper.” Marban’s head tipped towards the Black
Dragon King. “So it’s good you’re here. Only the White Dragon
Shifter could possibly stop him from harming them.”
He could feel Valerius’ anger at Marban’s words though there were
no puffs of black smoke or fire exiting his mouth. But he was
watching all of this very carefully. Caden thought he should shift into
his human form so that people wouldn’t be as frightened. But it
seemed that the Black Dragon King was intent on shock and awe. It
was working in a way because when the crowd wasn’t staring at him
they looked up at their magnificent king. But the sulfurous
smoldering in Valerius’ eyes told Caden that the Black Dragon King’s
patience wasn’t inexhaustible. He had to get these people out of
here before Valerius decided his plan wasn’t working.
“Look, I don’t think we can fit everybody in the castle, even though
the place is pretty damn big,” Caden told him. “Valerius already has
a bunch of guests. But I’m sure that if you send the crowd home that
you and Rose could come up and--”
“Yes, the rich, the powerful fill the castle and get Valerius’ ear, but not
the actual people.” Marban sniffed and crossed his hands over his
protruding belly. “Those behind me are the real people.”
Rose shot Marban a narrow-eyed look, but said nothing. She
crossed her arms tightly over her chest and bit her lower lip. She
didn’t believe what he was saying.
“Valerius hates company. He’s not hobnobbing with the rich and
powerful because he wants to! It’s the damned Anniversary so he’s
stuck with it,” Caden defended the Black Dragon King. He thought he
heard a snort from Valerius though it was a soft snort for a Dragon.
He was actually sure that Valerius would be happiest if absolutely no
one but himself and Chione were in the castle. He certainly took no
pleasure in talking to people. He’d seemed more annoyed than
anything else speaking to the President of the United States! In fact,
the president was likely one of the people flowing out of the castle
gates now from the sounds coming behind him. If the flashlight
wielding crowd hadn’t drawn their attention before, Valerius’
appearance in his Dragon form had. Speaking of Valerius, his skin
was prickling between his shoulder blades. The Black Dragon King
actually cast a shadow over him, he was so close. Valerius was
looming. He was tempted to turn around and shoo him back, but that
would likely be unwise.
“That may be true, but it just shows that when Valerius actually
deigns to speak to anyone, it is those who are not the actual people
that his rule affects,” Marban said, turning Caden’s words of praise
somehow into a criticism. “We all know that he does little enough as
it is. He should be--”
“That’s not true!” Caden cut him off. “Stop insulting him in the hopes
he’ll get angry. It’s not going to work.”
Yet Caden did cast a worried glance up at the Black Dragon’s face.
Yes, more sulfurous fires glowed there. He really had to fix this. But
that was when he saw something he couldn’t believe he was seeing.
Wally was running on the outside edge of the stone wall that
protected the people and cars from flying off the road and down the
steep mountainside. Wally easily navigated the slender space,
ducking beneath Valerius’ wing with ease. Caden blinked. He had
never seen Wally move that fast or nimbly even when he was darting
in to counter one of Landry’s arguments against Shifters.
“Wally? How--why--how--you--” Caden stammered as Wally hopped
down and raced to his side.
Wally’s wispy black hair that he studiously kept brushed over his bald
pate was waving in the wind rather like sea kelp and perspiration
dotted his brow. He took out one of his many handkerchiefs and
swiped at it.
“Thought you could use some backup, kid,” he said, sounding
slightly out of breath.
“Ah, well, I… do you know Marban? And this is Rose? And I don’t
know who those people are and… stuff,” Caden said, still amazed at
the show of speed and balance that Wally had displayed.
“I know Marban all right.” Wally’s normally jolly face was dour as he
regarded the Swarm Shifter. “What are you doing here, Marban?”
“Why if it isn’t Wallis Gummort, the former head of the Rat Shifter
Mafia!” Marban laughed. “Fancy seeing you here. You call yourself
Wally now? How close to what your old name was. Well, I guess it’s
easier to remember!”
“Wallis Gummort? No, Wally isn’t who you think he is. He’s not even
a Shifter let alone the head of the Rat Shifter mafia! That’s crazy,
right?” Caden laughed. He looked down at Wally to see if he was
amused. He wasn’t. Caden swallowed. “That is crazy right, Wally?”
“I had a past life, kid. One that I gave up a long time ago. The
person I was then, I’m not now,” Wally told him.
“But your eyes don’t have the nightshine! You can’t be a Shifter!”
Caden cried.
“You’ve actually got people fooled. I have to admit that those
contacts really do hide the nightshine,” Marban said with an ugly
smile at Wally.
Wally’s nose quivered rat-like. “And I see that you haven’t changed
at all. Still getting kids involved in your messes. Dragging everybody
down into the muck with you. Well, you’re not doing that to Caden!
It’s not happening.” He sliced one of his hands through the air. “If I
have to dredge some of my old character traits out, I’ll do it to keep
him safe.”
“Wally, are you seriously Wallis Gummort, head of the Rat Shifter
Mafia?” Caden gasped, not registering anything else that Wally had
said.
Wally gave a brief nod. “I am, kid. Or I was. I made a decision to
leave that life for one selling souvenirs. Best decision I ever made.”
Caden’s mouth opened and shut. “But--but--but I mean I get why you
didn’t tell anyone your old identity, but why hide that you’re a
Shifter?”
“Caden, are you really asking him that?” Rose shook her head. “Rat
Shifter owns a store! Who is going to buy from him? They’ll think the
goods are stolen or he’s ripping them off!”
“Wally is totally honest and legit! He would never do that!” Caden
shouted.
Rose smiled sadly at him. “Yeah, but you only know that because
you didn’t know he was a Rat Shifter until you’d worked with him for
years, right? Imagine if you’d known from the get go. Would you
have applied to work at his shop? Would your parents have allowed
you to do so even if you wanted to? I’m guessing the answer to that
question would be no.”
Caden thought of all the ugly things that Landry had said about
Shifters over the years. She’d even flirted with joining Humans First
after her older brothers did. Now she had been willing to go to the
mat for him when she’d found out he was the White Dragon Shifter,
but maybe she would regret that later. Or maybe it was one thing to
be a Dragon Shifter’s friend, but a whole other thing to work for a Rat
Shifter.
“Actually, I know that Caden would never have minded working for
me no matter what I was. He ran up and hugged you, didn’t he? And
you’re a Swarm Shifter that he just met today, I’m guessing,” Wally
pointed out. “But even good-hearted people have problems with
Shifters sometimes. So it was easier to not say anything.”
“And they definitely would have a problem with you especially, Wally.
You’ve gone all respectable now, but scratch the surface and I bet
you’re still the same old Wallis,” Marban responded with a sly smile.
“Unlike you, I don’t hide. I am what I am and I am proud of it. And I
tell the kids to be proud of what they are. I take them in when their
families throw them out. Even these people of the Faith don’t exactly
find us lesser Shifters enviable.”
He gestured towards the crowd that was starting to move restlessly.
One of the white robed women looked like she was about to come
over to them. Her gaze kept sliding to the Black Dragon. She’d
stopped kneeling.
“You are not lesser Shifters! Stop calling yourselves that,” Caden
cried.
“It’s okay, kid. It’s how we’re described,” Wally said. “He’s just trying
to pull at your heartstrings. But there’s nothing you can do to change
how we’re seen by people. Only we can do that.”
“You’re wrong. He can, Wally,” Marban said with that wide grin
appearing again. “All you need to do, Caden, is tell the people who
you are.”
The White Dragon’s head lifted. It clearly was interested in this idea.
It wanted the people to see them.
“How would that help?” Caden asked.
“It would help because you don’t have any problems associating with
the lesser Shifters. You ran out here and embraced Rose! You work
for Wally!” Marban explained. “Just by being you--and well, keeping
me at your side to advise you in matters that might be a little more
political--things will change.”
“All you want is to be let into the rooms of power, Marban,” Wally
said with a snort of disgust. “You think Caden’s your ticket in. All this
talk about representing the real people and giving lesser Shifters a
place at the table so that they’re treated properly is all bunk!”
“Do you think it’s all bunk, Caden? History has taught us that it is not
so. Every group prejudiced against has needed allies from the
privileged group to help them become accepted,” Marban argued.
“Won’t you be that ally? Won’t you lift us up with you and rattle the
status quo?”
Caden opened his mouth, unsure what he was going to say, but
whatever it was, it was turned into a “WHOA!” as Valerius lifted him
up in one clawed hand and took off from the road. The Black Dragon
King’s patience had come to an end.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN - TURNING BACK, GOING FORWARD
Valerius plucked Caden off of the road with his talons. His clawed
hand easily fit around Caden’s waist and chest with room to spare.
He heard a muffled, “Holy shit!” as they went airborne. They were
not going far--not as a Dragon flies--just up to the top of High Reach,
to his quarters. He was just about to drop the boy lightly down on
the balcony, when Caden called up to him.
“Wait! Wait!”
Valerius believed the young man was going to argue with him to go
back down to the road, but he realized the moment he looked down
at Caden that the young man was engrossed with the view.
“It’s beautiful. The city. Spread out against the darkness,” Caden
said as he stared down at the many-tiered city in awe.
Valerius craned his neck to look as well. It was beautiful. The white-
gold lights of the city were like nearer stars. There were fires out in
the plains as well where people were celebrating the Anniversary,
and likely the White Dragon Shifter, too. Shimmering curtains of light
in the darkness. High Reach was separated from all other cities so
their light could not pollute hers. He loved this view with the city
ablaze while the forests around were dark and deep.
“Will we be able to fly together over this?” Caden asked with a self-
conscious laugh. “I admit, I’d be a little afraid to fly on my own.”
Fly with us? Raziel hissed as if affronted.
Is that not what mates do? Fly together… among other things? He
pushed Raziel. This mate thing and the fact that he had not been
told about it demanded he continue to make Raziel uncomfortable,
even if it made him a little uncomfortable, too.
Would you want him to fly with us? Raziel asked back.
Valerius looked down at the young man who was contentedly staring
off into the sky. He’d only flown with another Dragon Shifter during
the War. And that was to show the humans true strength and put
terror in their hearts. Esme had flown on his right and Illarion on his
left. What would it be like to have the White Dragon gliding beside
him, head held high, eyes half shut as they enjoyed the wind. They
could dive and soar and hunt together. And when they came back to
High Reach, transforming in the night wind to drop gracefully to the
balcony, they would be laughing…
I…I do not know, Valerius lied.
The Black Dragon Spirit muttered words he could not hear, words in
the Ancient Tongue, that he was one of the rare few to understand.
“I swear I could look at this view forever,” Caden murmured.
Could you? I thought for sure you would be grousing about how I
stopped you from solving things with Marban.
And, as if he could hear Valerius on some level, Caden’s gaze
dropped to the crowd of people with Marban at their head below
them. Marban was now an indistinct ant from this height, but it was
amazing what damage that ant could do. Caden’s young body
tensed in his hold.
“I guess though we have business first. Or you do,” Caden said.
“Since you stopped me from handling it.” That got him a petulant
look. “I could have handled it! I just needed a little more time.”
A little more time and a little more rope to hang yourself, I’m sure.
Caden though did not appear able to hear him this time. He saw
Raziel’s head dip and the Spirit’s red eyes narrowed. He wondered if
the Black Dragon Spirit was blocking this communication for its own
purposes. He would have to wait and speak to Caden after dealing
with this mess. He lightly dropped Caden onto the balcony.
Caden came to the railing and Valerius dropped down so that they
were almost eye to eye. The young man shocked him by reaching
out and petting his snout. His nose wriggled and Caden laughed as
he continued to pet him.
“You’re not so scary,” Caden said with a grin. “Oh, don’t get that
affronted look! You’re not that scary to me. I see you, Valerius.
You’re a softie. You’re trying to protect me.”
What you do has consequences. That is why I… you are so
innocent. So foolish!
“I know Marban is a bad man. I know that he’s roped Rose into this
and probably a lot of others. His plots and machinations,” Caden
said softly and shook his head. “I know he wants power for himself.
That he likely doesn’t really care for the people he claims to
represent. But…”
But? How can there be a but in this?!
“But he has a point,” Caden said, his expression thoughtful. He then
focused on Valerius. “I know you’re really annoyed by all of this and
I’m sorry. But could you be gentle with them? They’re just excited
even though they should be more thrilled to see you than me.”
He lifted one eyebrow--Raziel had ceded control to him completely--
and cocked his head to the side.
You think I care what they think of me, Caden? Not for my ego, I
don’t. But for the stability of the realm, I do.
But this was beyond communicating through movements. They
would talk after he had dealt with Marban, the Faith and whoever
else wanted to make his day. He flapped back, out of touching
distance, and pointed into the castle. He wanted Caden to go inside.
There would be food--he had not cancelled the order for it--the fire
for warmth and quiet, so perhaps Caden could think just how insane
his attempts to bargain with Marban were. The old Swarm Shifter
was as cagey as they came.
Caden held up his hands, though he did not budge from the railing.
“I’ll stay here. Won’t try to Shift and follow you down or even fuss
with the doors. I just want to see what happens. To make sure you
don’t crisp anybody.”
Valerius let his red eyes glow, sending the distinct message that the
only crisping would be done to Caden if he didn’t stay safe. Then
with a final hard look, he turned and dove down to the road again.
The wind whistled around his huge form as he streaked downwards
like an arrow in flight. People let out soft cries. Some in the crowd
crouched, fearing he would come so low that he would hit them.
Those of the Faith were prostate for multiple reasons.
These people would not listen to words. They wanted a spectacle.
They wanted a show. He would give them one. He soared up so that
he was at the very head of this invading crowd. His chest faced
them, his wings flapping at his sides, his tail curled into a single loop
below them. Now, sure he had all of their attention, he threw his
head back and breathed a pillar of red-gold fire into the air. The
helicopters were keeping a very safe distance. There were more
yells and shouts. Then there was silence. He stared at all of them,
seemingly meeting each and every one of their gazes before he
moved again.
There were unlit metal bowls filled with kindling that were to be lit
later that night at midnight to celebrate the Anniversary’s close. But
he would use them now. He flew straight ahead, breathing fire on
the bowls as he passed over them, leading all the way back to the
Mid from the crowd that blocked the road. He then soared back
along the other side, lighting the bowls there. By the time he had
returned, there were two lines of fire leading back to the Mid. The
bowls leading to the castle remained unlit so it was clear what he
intended for the crowd to do: go home.
At that moment, Chione stepped into the space that he had vacated
not that long ago on the bridge and she transformed into her Sphinx
form. It was a remarkable shift. The air went gold all around her like
the shifting sands of the Sahara under the noon sun or gold dust in
an ancient tomb. When the golden substance cleared, there stood a
Sphinx. Fifteen feet tall with the head of an Egyptian pharaoh in full
headdress and the body of a lion, she smiled benignly upon all.
Yet there was more fear and scuffling at her appearance. In some
ways, Dragons were more understandable to people in this age and
country than a Sphinx. She was the true oddity and people were
unsure what she could or would do. The one animal she was
similar to--a lion--was not exactly the kindest of creatures. It was a
predator. But unlike most Shifters, she could talk easily and assured
them, no matter what her outward appearance showed, she was
kind.
Her voice was low and melodious, but somehow carried as if coming
from a speaker system, “Good people, you see that it is your king’s
desire that you return to your homes.” She pointed to Valerius who
hovered above them, very tempted to point back down the road from
when they had come, but he kept his peace. “We know that today
has been a day of wonders and that you have many questions. We
promise you answers to those and much more, but tonight is the
night to celebrate the Anniversary. Go back to your families, go back
to your friends and await the fireworks that will come. Tomorrow will
bring clarity with the sun.”
There were more gasps and he saw the flash of many phones going
off as they took pictures of the rare appearance of the Sphinx Shifter.
But they all eventually did turn around with no murmurs of protest.
Instead, their voices were filled with wonder.
“... a Sphinx! We saw the blessed Sphinx Shifter today!” one woman
twittered to her companion.
“Valerius’ fire! It was so magnificent! His scales shine in the
moonlight. I never thought to see him so up close!” another babbled,
already scrolling through his phone’s pictures of the evening.
He really perhaps should do some photo shoots for people like
Chione suggested. But it seemed disrespectful. He listened though
for any word about Caden and he did hear them.
“... the young man …”
“... blond hair …”
“Very handsome, yes! But who is he?”
“He wasn’t dressed like anyone important!” a voice that sounded
almost horrified by the fact.
“He’s one of us,” a little boy about ten, in shabby clothes, remarked
to a man that might be his father. “He was dressed just like me, but
he was important. Wasn’t he?”
The father smiled and took his son’s hand. “I think he was. King
Valerius certainly thought so.”
The boy’s forehead furrowed. “But he flew him away.”
The father’s expression darkened. “Because of Marban.”
“Mar--”
“Hush, don’t say his name. Let’s just go home,” the father said and
firmly pulled the son towards the Mid.
Smart man. Sweet boy. Caden would have loved to have made that
boy’s day by shifting for him. He would take pictures for hours to
everyone’s content.
Because the White Dragon preens, Raziel snorted. Wants everyone
to see it’s pretty scales!
Unable to help himself, but to poke the dragon, Valerius said, So you
think its scales are pretty?
More mumbling in the Ancient tongue and black smoke.
Chuckling inwardly, he then glanced down to see Marban and Rose,
remaining in place for long moments, as the rest of the crowd turned
and started walking back down the road. Even those who had likely
been paid by or were under Marban’s thumb had retreated at the
one-two punch of his and Chione’s appearances. It wasn’t every day
when the Black Dragon lit one’s path home or when the Sphinx
Shifter ordered one to follow it.
Marban’s head lifted to meet his gaze. In those black eyes and
gritted jaw, he saw the old humiliations that the ancient Swarm
Shifter had felt he’d endured over the ages. Valerius looked back at
him coolly. It was one thing to have a war between the two of them,
but quite another to bring an innocent like Caden into it.
The young woman, Rose, gently tugged at Marban’s arm, trying to
urge him to leave. She looked wretched. Guilty for betraying her
nascent friendship with Caden, evidently, but also not liking to see
this failed power play with Valerius either. Finally, Marban turned
and looped his arm through Rose’s as they walked back down the
road, away from the castle and the seat of power that he wanted to
take so badly.
Valerius soared in a circle to meet Chione’s gaze. She was watching
Marban and Rose leave as well. Her expression was sad and
troubled, but she often felt badly for people who did not deserve it
whatsoever. He moved his head towards the crowd behind her. That
one was going to be far more difficult to handle than the one that had
left. They would demand answers and would not leave until they got
them.
Caden’s family were also looking anxiously up towards his quarters.
Whatever they thought he was going to do to Caden was absurd.
Surely, they could see by now that he wasn’t going to attack the boy
again. But he and Caden needed time to talk without distractions
like parents. Yet he doubted that Chione would be able to keep them
away for long, so he had best take advantage of the time he did
have.
He gestured with his head for her to go back towards the castle. She
nodded in agreement. She loved being in the thick of unpredictable
and changing times despite any protests she might make. This
would be a challenge for her. She needed one. He had plenty of
challenges himself in talking to Caden next.
I need to tell him that he is a “mate” and how that changes
everything.
The White Dragon Spirit knows. The White Dragon Spirit can tell
him. We should fly! Raziel grumbled.
Later. Perhaps with the White Dragon! Valerius teased, but his
stomach tightened pleasurably at the thought.
Raziel, however, looked askance.
I think you doth protest too much, Valerius murmured.
He swept back up to his quarters. The three helicopters buzzed
around the castle for a few moments, waiting to see what else might
happen, but there was no fly zone around his quarters so they could
not see much. Caden, however, was still standing at the railing,
looking up at him. He’d clearly seen the whole thing. Valerius
transformed just above the balcony and dropped down into a
graceful crouch before straightening. Suddenly, his favorite red silk
robe was being thrust at him. He blinked.
“Here. I thought you could use this. It’s--it’s cold,” Caden said, eyes
firmly fixed on his face and not his naked body, let alone his cock.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
He took it and slid it on. The silk slid sensuously over his skin. He
knotted it in front while Caden looked away until he was finished.
Valerius took this moment of being the only one looking to study
Caden.
He’d noted that Caden was handsome in a very fresh-faced
American sort of way. But it was his eyes where the true beauty lay.
They were luminous and reflected this clarity that Valerius rarely
saw. He found himself reaching out and lightly brushing his fingers
down the side of Caden’s face. Caden turned quickly into the
unexpected touch, those eyes wide, and a little alarmed like he
always seemed to be when Valerius did something he hadn’t thought
possible.
“You petted me earlier. I thought I’d get my shot in,” Valerius told him
in explanation.
Caden’s face lit up in a grin and a bubbly laugh left his mouth. “I
couldn’t help it. You looked so cute.”
“Cute? Hmmm.” Valerius pulled a face as if he were truly
considering whether he was cute or not.
Caden lightly punched his arm. “Oh, c’mon! Cuteness is in the eye
of the beholder. So in other people’s eyes you’re a frightening
monster, but in mine--”
“I’m cute. That says something about you, Caden. I’m not sure what
it is, but it says something.” But then Valerius did flash him a
genuine smile. “Come, we go inside. It is cold. And I think the lack of
food is affecting your thinking.”
“Food? I thought they might not bring any up here since you sent
me down to the kitchens.” Caden eagerly followed after him. His
expression was almost comical when he saw the table empty except
for the fruit from earlier. He was likely starving and fruit was not
going to cut it. “Oh, can we order something or--”
“I’m often famished at night and only meat will do. I keep thin cuts of
beef up here to grill on the fire. Hold on while I get them,” he said
over his shoulder as he made his way to the disguised refrigerator
that looked like a wooden cabinet. He pulled it open and there were
platters of different cuts of beef, some marinated, others simply
plain, and a variety of sauces to dip them into after cooked from a
mustard based sauce to a horseradish one that burned one’s nostrils
with the strength of the fresh horseradish. “Sit by the fire. We can
eat there.”
But Caden was at his shoulder, taking the platter of beef from his
hands, leaving him to simply carry the sauces over to the fire.
Caden was making what almost sounded like motorboat sounds. He
clearly was wrapped up in the idea of sizzling steak on the fire. “We
put the meat directly on the grill, right?”
“Yes, there are tongs to turn them and take them off. I’ll get
something for us to eat with.” He set the sauces down on the stone
slabs that surrounded the firepit and moved gracefully over to
another cabinet where there were plates and silverware. He rarely
concerned himself with them, just eating the sizzling steaks hot from
the fire, but with a guest, he should be more civilized.
Already, he heard Caden give an appreciative sound as he laid a
steak on the grill and the sizzle, pop of beef fat. The glorious smell of
cooking meat filled the air almost immediately. He grabbed the
dishes and headed back to what was almost a homey scene. Caden
had out the pair of tongs and was turning the meat over, hissing a
little at the heat of the flames.
“The fire cannot hurt you,” Valerius told him. “Even if you were to
stick your hand on the grill grate itself or pick up an ember.”
“Valerius! Don’t touch that!”
Caden cried as Valerius plucked an ember from the fire up in his
hand. Caden lunged to knock it out of Valerius’ hand, clearly scared
for him. But Valerius moved it out of reach in a lightning fast move.
He held it between his thumb and forefinger. “See? No burning? No
smoking even. Do you want to try?”
"Ah, no, no, definitely, no. Besides, I’m an ice Dragon thing so
wouldn’t I get burned?” Caden asked.
“Steaks. I like mine rare.” Valerius answered without actually
answering his question.
“Oh, shit! Hold on!” Caden quickly took off several of the rare slices
of beef from the grate and put them on a plate for him.
“I do not think you would be burned from a little fire like this. Now my
flames would be a different matter, but nothing like this can hurt you.”
Valerius used his fingers to pick one steak up and dip it into the
sauce before devouring it. After he finished chewing, Caden
replenished his plate and then filled his own before they both sat
down on the couch and proceeded to eat in silence. His gaze kept
going to the doors. Caden’s parents and friends would be up there
any moment. Chione would only be able to keep them occupied for
so long downstairs with the politicians and others trying to speak to
them and her.
“What’s up?” Caden asked through a mouthful of meat and mustard
sauce. “This sauce is awesome by the way. God, I would like to drink
it and--well, whatever. Clearly, something is up. What’s going on?”
Valerius chewed his last piece of meat carefully. In fact, he may have
chewed it 100 times. Caden’s eyes narrowed at him and he knew it
was time to say something. He cleared his throat and dabbed his lips
with his napkin. Caden threw his napkin at Valerius.
“Cut it out! You’re all strangely calm now, but tense as a bow. No
longer angry, but if I plucked you, you would twang,” Caden laughed.
“I’m not tense!”
“Then why are you shouting? You’re not tense like you were.
You’re… I don’t know. You look kind of afraid, not afraid, I mean you
would never be afraid of me, but you look sort of freaked out,” Caden
said as he devoured another bite of meat and put several more
slices on the fire.
“It is nice to eat like this with someone,” Valerius blurted out.
That hadn’t been what he’d meant to say, but it distracted Caden
from the conversation that they were not having, but which they
needed to have. Though he had no idea how to have this
conversation. Caden got that deer in headlights look that so often
crossed his face when Valerius did something, anything, that wasn’t
growling at him.
Suddenly, that sunny smile was back. “Yeah, it is. It’s really nice.”
But then he was back right at the other topic that Valerius wanted
him to let go, “So what’s wrong? Besides the usual that I’m a White
Dragon Shifter in your territory and--”
“Raziel told me something I didn’t know,” Valerius cut him off. Did he
hear footsteps outside? Yes, he did! Except there appeared to be
only one set hurrying down the hall. He frowned. He fully expected
the whole gang. But no, there was one.
“What did it tell you?” Caden had mustard sauce on his chin, which
Valerius wiped off gently with the napkin that had been used as a
projectile against him. Caden smiled again and then ducked his
head. “Was it something nice? Or something not nice?”
“It was…”
There was a frantic knock on his door. It was Chione. He knew her
knock and her footsteps. He wiped his mouth again and got up to go
to the door. He didn’t bother checking the tablet and simply
unlocked the doors. Her face was flushed. She wore a robe of tawny
silk. He stepped aside as she brushed past him in her anxiety.
“Chione, what is it?” he asked.
Caden also got up from his seat. “Yeah, Chione, what’s wrong?”
“The Dragons--the other Dragons--they’re coming! News reports
show them leaving their territories and I have messages,” she got
out, one of her hands rising to her throat, “that they are coming here.
It must be about the White Dragon. I thought we’d have more time
and notice!”
“Oh, man! More Dragons to be angry with me.” Caden scrubbed a
hand behind his head.
Valerius winced. “It’s not just because a new Dragon is here. It’s
what Caden is.”
“What am I?” Caden’s forehead furrowed.
“What else is Caden other than the ninth Dragon Shifter?” Chione
clearly couldn’t imagine anything else more important than that.
Valerius grimaced. He’d wanted to tell Caden this gently, but there
was no real way to do that. So he did it bluntly, “He’s a mate to one
of us. I’m betting they’re coming to try and win his love.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - TRUE MATE?
“I’m a what now? A--a mate?” Caden asked, a note of hysterical
laughter in his voice.
He couldn’t have heard Valerius right! The word “mate” sounded
both alien, but somehow inspiring coming from the Black Dragon
King’s plush mouth. Valerius’ expression though was dead serious.
“You are a mate, Caden,” Valerius stated and grimaced. “That is why
the White Dragon Spirit is here. You are to be bonded to another
Dragon Shifter. Forever.”
Caden then started laughing. He wrapped his arms around his chest
and leaned forward as his whole body shook with hysterical laughter.
He sank down on the couch and just sat there until the painful
chuckles subsided.
He wiped a hand over his eyes. He’d actually started tearing up,
because he’d laughed so hard. This was ridiculous! Valerius was
pulling his chain. The Black Dragon King had shown a few flashes of
humor recently. This must be his idea of a joke. It was a bad joke,
because what else could it be?
“So no, really now, you didn’t say I’m a--a mate, did you?” Caden
giggled. “Like fated mates in the books or movies with Werewolves?
That sort of thing?”
He thought of how the White Dragon Spirit had picked him out of
everyone, but most importantly, had picked someone in Valerius’
territory. As if to gain the Black Dragon King’s interest. He looked at
the White Dragon Spirit, who was conveniently asleep, big head
resting on its front legs, softly letting out a whistling snore.
Caden narrowed his eyes. Funny, you were awake two seconds ago
when we were eating.
He stared hard at the White Dragon Spirit. It made cute little purring
noises as it shifted--supposedly--in dreams.
Great timing, ah…Whitey? What is your name? I am totally going to
ask you that next time you’re awake.
“Caden?” Chione asked tentatively. “You’ve been very quiet.”
“I’m just thinking,” he answered. “The White Dragon Spirit is asleep
so it’s not talking about any of this. Not confirming it anyways.”
“It’s true,” Valerius said grimly.
He looked up at Chione and the Black Dragon King. The two Shifters
were watching him carefully as if afraid he might do something crazy.
He felt a little crazy. The laughter had been crazy.
Because his only experience with the word “mate” was in three
places. The animal kingdom, the romance books that Wally
pretended that he didn’t read, and, of course, there were mates in
the Werewolf Shifter sense, which were very damned similar to the
romance definition of “mate”.
From the looks on their faces I think that’s the definition they mean.
He glanced between Chione and Valerius hoping that he was wrong.
But the way that Valerius scowled and rubbed the back of his neck
and Chione’s reaction, which was to widen her eyes and part her
lips, told him that he was all too correct.
But I can’t be someone’s mate! I’m not ready! I’ve just become the
ninth Dragon Shifter! That’s enough to deal with!
But even as he had these thoughts, he knew that they were
ridiculous, because Fate, evidently, thought his plate wasn’t full
enough.
“Valerius, when you say that Caden is a mate… Do you mean your
mate?” Chione asked.
Surprisingly, Valerius flushed and looked down at the ground. He
finally mumbled, “Caden gets to choose. All of the Dragon Shifters
will present themselves to him and he chooses one of us. Whomever
he believes will give him the most advantages.”
“But you said that they were coming here to win my love!” Caden
pointed out. “Now, you’re acting as if this is some kind of--of
business transaction. But mates are… you know, like…”
“I was being facetious!” Valerius scowled. “What did you think I
meant?”
“True love,” Caden said.
“What is true love?” Valerius challenged.
“Oh, come on! You know what I mean! Like when you see someone
across a crowded room, your eyes meet and you--you just know that
they’re the one for you!” Caden explained.
“Outside of the media, have you ever truly met two people where
that has happened and they’ve lived happily ever after? Not
humans, but Shifters. That kind of forever, not a mere few decades,”
Valerius pointed out.
“Not personally, no, but I’m sure it happens! It must happen…
right?” Caden looked at Valerius with big eyes.
Chione broke in and asked, “Why are you so sure it is not a love
match, Valerius? The concept of mates is that there is a true
connection of mind, body and spirit.”
Valerius shrugged as if it was no nevermind to him about such a
connection. His voice was crisp as he said, “I suppose we will find
out if Caden meets the gaze of another Dragon Shifter across a
room and discovers he’s in love.”
It’s almost like he’s mad at me for believing in love at first sight! I
mean why? Unless he is going to ask for me to be his mate. After all,
he and I didn’t see each other across the room and fall in love. Our
gazes met and he tried to kill me. What a way for a true romance to
start!
Caden snorted at his own interior monologue, which had Valerius
scowling at him again. Caden smoothed out his expression to
appear as sober and serious as they were.
“The basis for a long term commitment should not be a simple gaze
or hormones or a mutual enjoyment of comedies. It must be entered
into with eyes wide open and with a clarity of mind,” Valerius
continued to scowl as he lectured. “The Dragon Shifter you bond
with gets additional power.”
“Wait! What do you mean by bond?” To Caden this seemed rather
serious, strangely more serious than a sudden love affair.
“It is a magical bond. A spiritual one, in fact. For the one you choose
gains power, but there is the downside as well, which is if you are
injured or killed, Caden, then your mate dies as well,” Valerius
explained. “The White Dragon Spirit is puny and is most certainly not
a fighter or made for battle. It would be easy to take you out and,
hence, your mate.”
Caden shot to his feet, affronted and indignant. “You didn’t take me
out this afternoon! I’m tougher than I look!”
Valerius’ eyes narrowed. “You surprised me and then hid in my city.”
“I squelched your fire! So… so there!” Caden put his hands on his
hips as something else occurred to him which should have been the
first thing that he said, “And who the hell is going to kill me? And why
didn’t you tell me about this before? I know a lot it’s been going on
but you could have mentioned this! It’s sort of important, right?”
“I tend to agree with Caden. This is a pretty big revelation, Valerius.”
Chione crossed her arms over her chest and actually tapped her
foot. “You didn’t mention this to me either–”
“Because I didn’t know!” Valerius’ hands flew up into the air as he
began to pace the room with long, angry strides yet Caden couldn’t
help notice his long, muscular legs, especially the golden thighs that
were revealed with every step. “Raziel only told me about it when I
saw Caden on the bridge. I had no idea that mates were real.”
“You didn’t know that dragons have mates?” Caden’s eyebrows
lifted.
Valerius had been a Dragon Shifter for ages! How did he not know?
“I did not believe that mates, at all, were real,” Valerius explained
with an outstretched arms. “The Werewolves talk incessantly about
mates. Fated mates. True mates. Mates forever! Yet we see them
divorce at twice the going rate of every other Shifter! If something
isn’t going right in their relationship, it’s because they’re not truly with
their mate, even if they thought this person--or the four before him or
her--were their mates, too. There must be a lot of staring across
rooms that gets crosswired!”
Caden winced. Putting it that way made it sound like eyes meeting
across a room was a poor way to choose a life partner. And it
probably was! But he couldn’t imagine pledging himself, let alone
giving another person power, that he didn’t love and trust completely.
Why was that so strange to Valerius?
“Except Dragons do have mates where Werewolves might not.”
Chione’s eyebrows were lifted. “So perhaps it will be as simple as
Caden seeing a certain Dragon Shifter--once they all arrive that is--
across the room. Unless Raziel has other information we need to
have.”
“No! Of course not! That’s foolish and nonsensical!” Valerius sliced a
hand through the air.
“But you don’t know that for certain, do you?” Chione prodded.
Valerius’ eyes narrowed. “Raziel says that Caden chooses based
upon the offers made to him. There is no--no eye magic! He will
need to evaluate all the offers he’s given and then make a choice
among them.”
“Do I have to choose anyone at all?” Caden asked, seeing a
loophole here. “I’m not required to choose someone right?”
Valerius--who had resumed that glorious pacing with the robe parting
to show more thigh--stopped in mid-pace and stared at him with his
mouth hanging open. “Do you ever think anything through?”
Caden blinked. What had he missed? His had sounded like an
intelligent question, but he had a bad feeling that it wasn’t. That it
was a very stupid question, and Valerius was certain to tell him why.
He would have been annoyed by Valerius’ tone and words, but he
saw worry in the Black Dragon King’s eyes. More than worry, fear.
Caden crossed his arms over his chest again and asked, “Tell me
why that’s a bad idea. Because not choosing seems like a great
plan to me. I’m not ready to mate or whatever.”
Valerius stared at him with a completely unreadable expression.
Finally, he explained in a much gentler tone, “Because there are
Dragon Shifters like Illarion who would rather kill you than allow you
to live if you would bond with another. Hell, he might kill you
anyways, because he doesn’t want anyone else to get power. And
don’t believe they won’t find you, Caden. They will find you no matter
where you hide. Even in Wally’s!”
But you’ll protect me. Won’t you?
He wanted to ask this. But the words stuck in his throat. What if
Valerius said no? The Black Dragon King had already made it quite
clear to him that he didn’t even want Caden living in Reach. That
definitely meant he had no intention of asking Caden to be his mate.
Despair filled him and his gaze went to the doors and then the
balcony. Two escapes that led nowhere.
Caden suddenly felt weak and shaky. He started piling meat on the
grill. The sizzle was not as pleasant to his ears as it had once been
and the scent of roasting beef was not as delicious, but he ate when
he was upset and he really needed food right at that moment.
“Would every Dragon Shifter act like Illarion and try to kill me if I
won’t be theirs?” Caden got out.
“Despite what Chione believes, Dragons are not noble creatures. We
rule and that means we must be ruthless,” Valerius explained quietly.
“While you are nothing like that, I assure you that the others, even
the ones that appear nice, are more cutthroat than you can ever
imagine.”
“But even if I choose someone, won’t the others still try to kill me?”
Caden stared into the flames as he asked this and he remembered
Raziel’s fire.
Will Valerius try to kill me? No, Valerius could have done that a
hundred times over if he wanted. But he can’t want me to make
some other Dragon Shifter stronger. That makes him vulnerable to
attack.
“Most likely, yes, but you’ll have your mate to protect you,” Valerius
explained with a wave of his hand as if that were self-evident.
“But not out of love, right? Out of self-preservation for themselves?
They won’t protect me because they care for me. It’ll all be about
business,” Caden pointed out, his lips strangely numb, and feeling
cold despite the fire’s heat.
“Again, love is not the basis for such a relationship,” Valerius told him
sternly. “You must understand that this is forever. Your safety. Your
happiness. The state in which you live--free or imprisoned--all
depends on your choice. If you go by love instead of rational
thought, I fear what the result will be.”
Caden wanted to say, Then I choose you. My family is here. My
home is here. My job is here. And you’re the biggest, strongest and
baddest. You make the most sense. And you’re freaking hot, but that
doesn’t matter. This would be a business deal… except that you
would say ‘no’. Because I would make you weak…
“It sounds to me as if love might be the only real reason to enter into
such a final and intimate relationship,” Chione piped in and there
was a smile on her lips that was solely for Valerius. “Love makes us
risk everything. And that is what a relationship with Caden would be.”
“True. It is a great risk, but I am guessing that the reward would be
commensurate with that risk,” Valerius replied in a clipped voice.
“The power must be extreme. Otherwise why send a mate if one
would only kill him? No, the power must be extraordinary.”
Caden’s heart fell into his stomach for some reason. Valerius was
likely right. He had to mate with someone who likely wouldn’t love
him ever. It would just be for the power that he would give them.
 And the only considerations he would get in the matter is if they
treated him well.
He turned back to the fire and started pulling the grilled pieces of
meat off the grill and onto his plate. He devoured them without
actually tasting him. The dizzy feeling retreated, but he felt as if he
were weighed down by anchors all of the sudden. He felt Valerius’
eyes on him. But he felt no desire to ask questions or do anything at
that point. He was hungry and tired and sick of all of this. Whatever
joy being a Dragon Shifter had brought him–and there had been very
little so far–now seemed completely absent.
Is this really why you came to Earth? He asked his sleeping Spirit.
For us to be bonded to someone we don’t love? To be hunted all
our lives?
The White Dragon Spirit slept on, its limbs jerking and its wings
fluttering a little, as if dreaming of flying. It looked so peaceful and
content. It had a warm and loving personality. From what little he
knew of it, it seemed like him. It could never mate with anyone it
didn’t love.
But I only know Valerius. I might like the other Dragon Shifters.
Maybe I might even love one. I don’t know I won’t.
But his heart was leaden in his chest. He wanted to stay here in
Reach with his friends and family. He wanted to make his own
decisions and way in the world. He didn’t want to be the property of
some other Dragon Shifter.
And how could I trust any of them? They just want the power I’ll
bring them. Nothing they say or do will be real. At least with
Valerius, I know where I stand. He doesn’t pretend to love me
because he doesn’t care about the power I could give him.
“You just learned from Raziel about this mate business, do you think
the other Spirits have told their companions about what Caden is?”
Chione asked. “Or are they just coming here because a new dragon
has appeared?”
Valerius’ lips pressed together in anger. “Raziel hid this from me. He
likely didn’t think it necessary to tell me. There were no mates here
and he wanted none.”
Caden’s shoulders curled forward. And you don’t want one either.
Chione pointed out that, “The other Spirits might have felt differently,
because, unlike you, a boost from a mate would make them--”
“More powerful,” Valerius answered for her. “Yes, exactly. So, unlike
what we thought, that Caden would represent a threat, seeking a
ninth piece of the pie, now he means something quite different.”
“They could start to arrive tonight, Valerius,” Chione’s unease was
reflected in the slight tightness to her normally mellifluous voice. One
of her hands crawled up to her throat.
“No, Raziel tells me that it is traditional for them to fly here. Not in
airplanes but by their own locomotion,” he told her after cocking his
head to the side and listening to what must have been Raziel
speaking.
Chione let out a breath. “That will make things a little easier. There
will be so much to prepare for their arrival.”
“Assuming I let them in,” Valerius grunted.
Caden straightened slightly and looked over at him. What did he
mean? Did he mean that he wanted Caden as a mate? No, surely
not. But Chione’s eyes were wide so she must have thought so.
Valerius was scowling, per usual, which told him nothing. The man
seemed to scowl even when pleased.
Chione’s gaze slid to Caden as she asked carefully, “Does that mean
to say that you intend to--”
“They must ask permission to enter my territory. None of them have
done so. They will wait outside until I let them in. If I let them in!”
Valerius growled.
Oh, so he’s worried about protocol. Not me. He’s just annoyed they
haven’t bent the knee to him. Great.
“Assuming you let them in eventually, will you…” Chione’s eyes
flickered between himself and Caden. Caden knew what she wanted
to ask. Would Valerius be throwing his hat in the ring for Caden, but
Caden also knew the answer to that, too. Valerius wouldn’t. Valerius’
scowl must have put her off because she quickly said, “Well, I
suppose we should take one thing at a time for now. Plenty has
happened.”
“Plenty has,” Valerius muttered, staring into the fire as well.
“And what about the guests? We’re supposed to have answers for
them about the White Dragon Shifter. Will we tell them about him
being the mate of--”
“I love being talked about like I’m not here!” Caden suddenly
snapped before putting another piece of the formerly glorious steak
in his mouth.
“Forgive us, Caden. We’re being worse than rude,” Chione quickly
apologized. “I just need to deal with our guests and am uncertain
what to say.”
Valerius began, “Tell them--”
“Tell them nothing,” Caden suddenly said and rose to his feet. He
was furious on a level he’d never been before. He was sick and tired
of other people determining things for him. He wasn’t going to be
pushed and prodded into anything. He was through with this. “I have
to talk to my parents, my friends and my--my lawyers.”
“What?” Valerius and Chione asked as one.
“I don’t want to reveal who I am to anyone! I’m not talking to any of
the goddamned other Dragon Shifters until I’m good and ready and
that may never happen! I’m going home and tomorrow I’m going to
go to work and after that… I’m not sure what’s next, but what I do
know is that I’m not giving myself to some stranger who doesn’t love
me!” Caden hadn’t meant that last part to slip out, but now that it had
and the shock on Valerius’ face was only matched with the
tenderness in Chione’s because of his vehemence. He continued,
“Maybe you’re right that this should all be some business
transaction, Valerius. But here’s the thing, what I want on my side of
the transaction is love. I want true love. Anything less won’t suffice!
If I don’t feel that for any of them then I won’t choose any of them.”
Valerius reminded him, “Caden, I told you--”
“If they come after me, they do so here in your territory, and I am just
betting you won’t let any one of them come in here and attack one of
your citizens,” Caden said, pointing a finger at the center Valerius’
beautifully muscled chest--the robe had slipped nearly fully open--
and added, “So I’m safe to actually really choose a mate or to
choose no one at all. You will make sure of that.”
Valerius’ mouth hung open, truly speechless, but Caden knew he
was right. There were many things he didn’t know about the Black
Dragon King, but allowing another Dragon Shifter into his territory to
take one of his citizens--one he found annoying or inconvenient
even--would simply not be tolerated. Even Raziel would be on his
side about that.
“So, thanks for the meat. It was stellar, but I’m off now. Chione, could
you take me to my friends and family, please?” Caden asked,
guessing he should make an abrupt retreat before Valerius got his
voice back.
“Of--of course, but aren’t you going to stay here? In the castle?” she
asked weakly.
“No, like I said, I’m going home,” Caden told her simply.
“It might be safer to--”
“I will be perfectly safe in my house,” Caden objected, his gaze
locked on Valerius. “Because he will make sure I am.”
Valerius’ eyes narrowed and his mouth worked like words were
going to come out of it, but no words came.
“Where will we find you when we want to speak to you? Cell phones
won’t be secure,” she said.
“Wally’s. I have a double shift tomorrow,” he told them both. “A lot of
people will want Black Dragon merch and somebody’s gotta sell it to
them.”
And with that Caden went to the doors. They weren’t locked--thank
God, he still hadn’t figured out the locking mechanism--and so he
flung open the doors and looked back at Chione to see if she was
coming. She was.
She gave an apologetic look at Valerius and hustled to his side. The
Black Dragon King, for his part, never stopped staring at Caden.
There were a mixture of emotions in the Black Dragon King’s eyes,
but Caden couldn’t decipher any of them. He was still contemplating
what Valerius was thinking as the doors to the Black Dragon King’s
chambers swung shut behind them.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - FAMILY MATTERS

Caden laid on his back on his bed, arms crossed beneath his head,
and stared up at his ceiling. His ceiling fan spun lazily, cutting stripes
of darkness across the white paint. There was a fat, lazy fly that
seemed to be chasing - very slowly - the chain that hung down from
the fan and moved in a circle with the swinging of the blades. He
sighed. He didn’t know if he was the fly, the chain or the damned fan,
but he was sure there was a comparison in there somehow.
Tilly had popped her head in half a dozen times to “say hello” or
“show him something” or “to see if he’d like something to eat.” He’d
said yes to the latter, but their parents were arguing - quietly but
vociferously - in the kitchen so food was out of the question unless
he ordered in. But all the takeaway places were sure to be packed
after the cancellation of the Anniversary celebration. There was talk
on the news of today’s festivities going tomorrow, but Caden doubted
it for the news was just as breathlessly talking about the bombing
and the White Dragon and what it all meant. Who cared for an
Anniversary when the potential of mangled bodies and a ninth
Dragon-Shifter were out there?
His computer sat on his bed, no longer streaming what was going
on. It was too strange to think that he was a part of it. In fact, the
longer he stayed in this familiar room the less he was able to believe
that the whole day had happened. But he could still “see” the White
Dragon sleeping in his chest, its head hidden underneath a
shimmering wing. He wondered if it was normal for it to sleep so
much. But, then again, they’d had an exhausting day. He should be
sleeping, too. But, on the other hand, how could he? He was
supposed to be a mate - oh, God, that word was just gross - to one
of the Dragon Shifters! And it wasn’t going to be Valerius. He had
made clear that he didn’t even want Caden in his territory let alone
his bed.
And I don’t want to be there either. I’d rather be alone forever than
with him. That arrogant bastard.
The White Dragon stirred in his chest. If it was awake, he would
demand it tell him everything though it was seemingly new to
English. Though were they really communicating in English if they
were “speaking” mind to mind? But he didn’t even know its name, let
alone its purpose in coming to Earth and joining to him. Well, if it
intended for them to be someone’s mate, it would have a thing
coming.
There was a knock on his door. He didn’t bother looking just called
out, “Till, whatever it is, it can wait.”
“It’s Mom, Caden,” his mother’s voice came muffled through the shut
door after a strained moment.
He popped upright and smoothed down his hair that was flying in all
directions. “Oh, Mom, come in!”
The door opened and his mother came in bearing a plate with a
sandwich on it and a glass of milk. She gave him a smile when she
caught his gaze riveted on the sandwich.
“I thought you might be hungry. The Faith tells us that bonding with
the Spirits is quite hungry-making work as well as exhausting,” she
said the last awkwardly and hovered by the foot of the bed.
“Oh, yeah, here let me grab that.”
He stood up and took the plate and cup from her before gesturing
with his head that she should sit down. He immediately took a bite of
sandwich - it was roast turkey, swiss cheese, garden tomatoes and
creamy mayo all on fresh sourdough bread - and a swallow of milk to
wash it down.
His mother perched on the edge of the bed and watched him eat in
silence. It was so not like her. Not that she was terribly chatty. His
mother said what she meant and was to the point. But they’d always
had an easy report between them. But as the silence dragged on,
his shoulders grew tight.
“Mom?” he asked around a mouthful of sandwich. “Are you okay? I
mean …”
“I’m fine.” She gave him a bright smile that was fragile, too.
“Oh.” He swallowed the sandwich and another sip of milk. It gave
him time to figure out how to summit this mountain that his mother
was representing at this moment. “You and Dad … done talking?”
The facade cracked. “You mean arguing? We have a detente. But
things are not settled. Not by a long shot. He does not understand
that these things are beyond us.”
He frowned. “What things?”
His mother’s hands fussed in her lap. She stared down at them.
“The - the fates have - the Spirits determine our lives and they have
chosen how this is to go.”
“How is what supposed to go?” He raised his eyebrows.
“Your life now.” She rubbed her palms against the tops of her pants.
“We can wish for things, but the Spirits have determined --”
“Nothing,” he interrupted her. The word “mate” flashed through his
mind. He set the cup and plate to the side and grasped his mother’s
questing hands in his. Only then did they still. He studied her face.
“Mom, my fate is still my own. I’m not giving up living my life to the
will of some Spirit. Afterall, I was here first.”
“But - but it is a dragon Spirit. Caden, this is no ordinary being, if any
Spirit could be considered ordinary, but -”
“Mom, how many Shifters have you met?” he asked her.
“Well, you mean outside of today? I’ve met some. Your father’s
partners, of course,” she said.
“Yeah, and do any of them seem like the type of people you want to
worship or give your fate over to?” He had never challenged her
directly on her faith like this.
She blinked. “No, but they are the human vessels for the Spirits that
--”
“Mom, they’re people. And the Spirits are … well, they’re people, too,
or more like they have as many flaws as people do. Believe me that
Raziel is a right bastard just like Valerius and --”
“Oh, you mustn’t say that!” His mother’s eyes were huge.
“You met him, Mom! If Valerius wasn’t a Shifter, you would have told
him where to get off. You would never have let him threaten Wally
and Landry. You would never have allowed him to get away with any
of it!” he protested.
She blinked and looked away. “Did he hurt you?”
“When we were fighting? Uhm, yeah. Raziel wanted to kill me.
Valerius didn’t, but …” He stopped and winced. This was not
something he should tell anyone, not even his mother. “Look, it’s
cleared up now. Sort of. I’ve told him what’s what.”
“What do you mean?” She was looking at him with huge eyes again.
“Just … that my life is my own. That I’m staying here, working at
Wally’s, and that nothing is going to change,” he said with a shrug
even though his stomach twisted itself into knots. When his mother
gave him a disbelieving look - just like Chione and Valerius had - he
added quickly, “Unless I choose it. Any change that happens, I’m
going to choose.”
He wondered if he should tell her about the mate thing and the other
Dragon Shifters coming to present themselves to win his favor.
Or kill me when I say “no” to all of them. Yeah, maybe I’ll keep this to
myself for now.
“You are a Dragon Shifter now. You have a say in things. You have a
say in the whole world,” she murmured.
“No, Mom, God, no, even if such a thing were possible, I am still your
son. Your very stupid son. You don’t want me to have a say in how
the world is run unless … unless, yesterday, before all of this
happened, you believed it,” he said and pressed her hands in his.
A slight look of disbelief crossed her face, which told him that he was
reaching her. If she thought logically about it, she would realize it
was crazy to suddenly think he was worthy of ruling anyone, let
alone the world.
“I see what you’re trying to do, Caden, and maybe you’re right that
I’m too much involved in the faith to really see what’s going on with
you. But … but I’m not all wrong, you know.” She cupped his cheek.
Her hand trembled slightly. “In some ways, we’ve lost you to this.”
“Only if you stop being my mom! I need you and Dad and Tilly more
than ever!” he protested. “I can’t do this without you guys! I really
can’t! Don’t leave me now when I really need you!”
A spasm of guilt appeared on her face. “Oh, Caden, I’m not - I would
never leave you. I just am recognizing that some of this is going to
be beyond me. Some of this is between you and the Spirit.”
“Mom, the Spirit is mostly sleeping.” He put both hands against his
chest. “It’s really cute. Don’t get me wrong. But it’s … childlike yet, I
think. Or, it seems more innocent to me than like Raziel.” His mouth
writhed back from his teeth like he’d tasted something sour. The
White Dragon liked the other Spirit, but Caden couldn’t see much in
Raziel or the one it was bound to.
His mother gave him a sweet smile. “It’s because the Spirit is new. At
least to this world. Give it time. I’m sure it has much to teach you. To
teach all of us.”
Caden gave her a smile, but it was sort of sad. “Maybe. I don’t
know.”
She rubbed his chin with her thumb affectionately. While he wasn’t
completely satisfied with this conversation, it appeared that his
mother was more relaxed around him now. He could well
understand his father losing his temper over this. His father worked
closely with Shifters, so his wife being part of the Faith and
worshipping them as greater beings, just added into the impression
that humans were lesser. He understood his father’s feelings after
meeting the two partners tonight.
His mother picked up the plate and cup. “Do you want anything
more?”
“No, I’m good. I’m going to try and get some sleep. Have to work
early tomorrow,” he told her.
Her smile went a little rigid, and her voice was falsely bright, “After
the excitement of today, Wally won’t give you any time off?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Maybe you should. I think he would understand. And maybe it would
be better if you did. Your father is going to be meeting with his
partners and --”
“I want to go in. It’ll help me not think about … things. Nobody
knows who I am. It’ll be fine,” he said with another shrug.
She nodded jerkily and he knew that she didn’t agree with it. She
would likely try to convince him to stay home tomorrow. He would
have to sneak out without her noticing. He needed the headspace
that stocking shelves and hearing Wally complain about the sales tax
would. He also wanted to talk to Wally, to find out who he really was.
Wally’s view of Shifters really made more sense now. He wondered
if Landry would be able to stand working with two Shifters.
“Well, goodnight then. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She hovered by the
door for a long moment, her gaze lingering on him like she was
trying to memorize him as if he might disappear like smoke in the
wind.
“Yeah, goodnight.”
She smiled and closed the door behind her. There was a soft ding
from his computer and he saw that he had an email. He frowned. It
wasn’t from an address he recognized.
Flower … Rose!
He quickly clicked on the email and saw it was, indeed, from the Bee
Shifter. It read:
Caden, i.e., the big hearted idiot,
So … I’m emailing you - so old-fashioned - because I’m chickenshit.
Emailing means I don’t have to stare at my phone to see if you’re
going to return my texts right away. I mean why would you? And I
couldn’t say what I really mean if I texted or phoned or - damn - saw
you in person. I don’t even know if you would have stayed still to let
me speak. I wouldn’t blame you for that.
It’s so stupid. We just met. It’s not like I owe you anything. I mean
we’re not exactly friends. But I can’t get your stupid face out of my
head. You’re so freaking … nice. And that’s rare. Maybe as rare as
being a Dragon Shifter. At least to people like me.
So I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that I was part of that thing with Marban.
But the problem is that I don’t really have a choice and maybe you
should just ignore this email and forget me. Because if we became
friends - if somehow you still wanted to be - he’ll use that. I won’t be
able to stop him.
Anyways, I don’t know why I wrote this and I shouldn’t send it. But if I
do, don’t answer. That would be better for you.
Rose
Caden wrote back:
Rose,
Meet me at Wally’s tomorrow around noon. We could get lunch. I
really could use a friend right about now.
Caden
He hit send and smiled. They were friends. And maybe he could
help her. Or maybe Wally could help her. He knew Marban and had
gotten out of that life. Maybe he could give her a job if nothing else.
That was one thing sorted anyways.
There was another knock at his door. He frowned. It wasn’t Tilly.
She didn’t knock or rather, she’d rap a few times and then barge
right in. So either it was his mom or …
“Caden?” his father’s voice rose up.
The whole family wants to have a chat.
“Come in, Dad,” he called.
His father came in. He was still dressed in the white button down
shirt and dress pants that he had put on that morning except now the
sleeves of the shirt were rolled up to his elbows, the suit coat was
likely draped over the back of some chair and his tie was likely coiled
on the kitchen table where it inevitably ended up.
“Hey, Caden,” he said as he closed the door behind him softly. “How
are you doing?”
Caden opened his mouth to say “fine” but instead admitted, “I don’t
know. It’s weird, but I felt more in control in High Reach than at
home.”
His father sat down in the spot that his mother had vacated. He
nodded. “New places allow us to act like new people. Nothing to
ground us … or keep us down, depending on how you look at it.”
“Maybe you’re right. I thought familiar stuff would make me feel … I
don’t know. Like me? But none of this is really like me, is it?”
His father reached and grasped his left shoulder. “It is you, Caden.
I’m not surprised at all this happened to you.”
“What? Oh, c’mon, Dad!” He let out a strangled laugh.
But his father’s face remained quite serious and somber. “No,
because I have no difficulty imagining you sacrificing yourself for
others. That was heroic what you did, you know? It was … truly
extraordinary.”
Caden blushed and looked down at his blue comforter. He’d had this
one for a couple years. It was soft from use, rather like an old t-shirt
and he loved how cool it felt on his skin at night. But now it seemed
… wrong somehow and he couldn’t figure out why.
“Dad, I’m not any of that.”
“You are, Caden.”
He chanced a look up, but his father was still staring at him. There
were dark circles under his father’s eyes and more wrinkles than had
been there that morning. His father was exhausted and worried and
trying to figure out what to do. At least, his father didn’t think Caden
was ready to rule the world. But his father might not give him any
credit to do anything. Not that his dad didn’t think he was smart or
capable - he thought him heroic - but Caden knew his father had
more experience with the politics with the Shifter world than any of
them.
“I’m surprised Frick and Frack aren’t here,” Caden remarked.
“Who?” His father’s eyebrows rose.
“Storn and Moore. I imagine that they don’t want you out of their
sight,” Caden said.
His father chuckled and rubbed his jaw, which was already sporting
dark whiskers with just a hint of gray in them. Caden imagined that
beard and hair on his father’s head snow white. He imagined those
tired lines permanent and deeper. He imagined his father old. And
he would still look the same.
“They went back to the office to round up all the troops. They will be
working all night to get every scrap of law out there to help us. Help
you,” his father explained. “I’m working remotely from here. I just
wanted to check in on you.”
“Dad, I don’t know if the law is really going to -”
“We have to protect your rights, Caden,” his father interrupted firmly.
“I don’t think Valerius really cares about the law or any amount of
briefs your firm will give him,” Caden admitted with a sheepish look.
But his father’s expression darkened. “He better.”
“What? Why?”
“Because if the law is proved an illusion then he’ll have riots on his
hands.” His father pointed towards his window. The old oak was just
a few feet from the outside sill. He’d climbed out of his room on its
sturdy trunk plenty of times. Beyond it was the yard and the night-
darkened streets. The empty streets. Hardly an apt metaphor for a
riot. But his father’s hand was firm. “The Shifters think that they are
always going to be on top because they are stronger than humans.
But there are more humans and more people joining Humans First
all the time.”
Caden’s forehead furrowed. “Those guys are a bunch of thugs.
They’re like the Nazis --”
“I’m not saying it’s right, Caden. I think they are scum, too, but a lot
of people … a lot of humans are angry at how things are,” his father
said. “The lack of jobs. The lack of advancement. Watching Shifters
take all of the best and leave us scraps.”
“Us?” Caden’s eyebrows rose. It certainly sounded like his father
was more sympathetic to the Humans First cause than he was letting
on directly. “Dad, you’re a lawyer. I mean, I get it that you probably
deserve more from the firm and your partners are jerks, but … but
that’s hardly scraps.”
His father’s lips pressed together. “No, you’re right. It’s just …” He
looked away for a moment. “Everytime I go into the office, no matter
how good of an attorney I am, I feel … everyone else just sees the
token human.”
“Dad …” Caden reached for his dad. They hugged briefly. “I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean to downplay --”
“Of course, you didn’t! But, Caden, my point is that the law is what
keeps everyone equal. It’s the last bastion of equality,” his father
explained. “If Valerius doesn’t recognize it then we’re under a
dictatorship and I don’t know what will happen.”
“Valerius isn’t a dictator,” Caden argued. “He’s just … grouchy.”
His father’s eyebrows rose. “Grouchy?”
Caden nodded. “Yeah, and a right bastard. But he’s not like Illarion.
Not at all.”
But his father’s expression hadn’t really softened. “We’ll see.” His
father stood up. “I’ve got to get back at it. But I just don’t want you to
worry, Caden. We’re going to get things sorted. We’re going to
protect you. I promise.”
Caden nodded, but didn’t say anything. In truth, since this
conversation he felt less safe than before. Maybe he shouldn’t have
stormed out of High Reach after that mate revelation. Maybe he
should have stayed and talked it out. Chione would have helped him
find a way forward. He was sure of that. Now, he found that he
absolutely couldn’t say a word to his parents about this mate thing.
He dreaded what they would do.
His father said goodnight and shut the door. Caden flopped back
down onto his bed. He saw that the fly had finally “caught” the chain
and was riding it easily as it spun. He turned his head to the side
and looked out the window. A shadow passed over their house,
blocking out the moon. It moved too fast to be a cloud. It was too
large to be a plane. There was only one thing - one person - it could
be.
Caden rolled off of the bed and raced over to the window. He
yanked the screen up and stuck his head out. He scanned the sky. It
didn’t take him long to see Valerius flying above the Mid.
And with a sudden burst of happiness that he would deny he felt
later, he thought, He’s watching over me.
CHAPTER NINETEEN: ESCAPE
“Where are you going?” Tilly’s voice rose up behind him.
Caden had one leg over the ledge of his window and was about to
pivot his body so he could climb down the tree.
“I think it’s pretty apparent where I’m going. Work,” he answered
testily.
One of her eyebrows arched. “By way of your window? Something
wrong with the door?”
“Yes, Mom and Dad are guarding it,” he answered her, casting an
anxious glance over her shoulder into the hall. “If you’re coming in,
come in. Either way, shut the door. Mom and Dad might just come
up to check on me.”
She came into the room and shut the door. He hoped their parents
would think he was asleep for another hour at least, which was when
he would have normally gotten up to head over to Wally’s.
“So are you really going to work or are you going to do some Shifter
business?” she asked, a little eagerly and a little shyly, too.
“What kind of Shifter business would I have?” his voice choked a
little with laughter.
Her hands made their way behind her back and she began to swing
her body back and forth like she used to when she was a little kid
and wanted to ask him something. “Like turning into a Dragon?”
He grinned at her. “You actually sound excited about me turning into
a Dragon.”
Her eyes went huge with excitement. “Why wouldn’t I be? I want a
ride!”
“A–a ride?” His eyebrows crawled up into his hairline.
“Of course! I’ve always wanted to ride a Dragon and now I can! You
are my own personal Dragon mount!” she enthused, eyes really
shining now.
He let out a snort. The Spirit though rustled its wings and craned its
head to look at its back where she would want to sit.
“The Spirit is considering it,” he laughed.
“Really?” She leaned towards him on her tiptoes as if she could
somehow see the Spirit.
“Yeah. It’s looking at you right now, in fact. It wants to get a closer
look actually.”
Caden frowned. The Spirit wasn’t trying to make him shift. Instead, it
was leaning out of his chest towards Tilly. His sister suddenly
gasped. She was staring at his chest, not his face, and he knew she
could see the Spirit.
Her expression was filled with wonder. “Oh, he’s beautiful.”
“You know he’s a boy?”
“Well, you’re a boy so I suppose he’s sort of a boy, too. But maybe
it’s a she! Mom says that Spirits don’t have a gender so I guess the
Spirit’s an ‘it’,” Tilly said, repeating their mother’s words, or rather the
Faith’s words about Spirits. Suddenly, her eyes went wide again.
“Oh! It’s name is–”
“Iolaire,” he finished for her as the name suddenly appeared in his
mind. “You’re the first person Iolaire introduced itself, too.”
“Well, of course! I’m Iolaire’s sister, too!”
“I guess you are.”
She reached forward, eyes still on his chest as if she thought she
could touch the Spirit. But her hand just landed between his pectoral
muscles and she frowned. “Oh, I really thought I could touch Iolaire.
I want to touch it.”
And the Spirit wanted her to as well. Both of them turned
unconsolable expressions upon him as if he were the reason that
they couldn’t frolic and pet all day. He supposed he was.
“Yeah, well, we can’t exactly do that here.” He scrubbed a hand
across the back of his neck. “No Dragons in the house. Too big.”
“What about the yard?”
“Ah, no. People would see that and know it's me.”
“Park?
“No.”
“Square?”
“Absolutely not. What part of me hiding the fact that I’m the ninth
Dragon Shifter are you not understanding?” He poked her stomach.
She let out a squeal of laughter that had him looking at the closed
door, but he heard no sound of footsteps coming down the hall. She
crossed her arms over her chest when he attempted to poke her
again.
“I’ve got to take off, Till. I’ll see–”
“Take me with you!” She clutched his shoulder, the brightness gone,
and a more desperate gleam in her eyes.
“I’m going to work, not someplace fun,” he told her, even though
work could be fun.
Besides, he was anxious to see Wally, Landry and Rose. Maybe
even Valerius would show up to tour the plushie section. He smirked
at that, but quickly reminded himself that Valerius (a) would not come
to Wally’s again as that might give Caden’s identity away and (b) he
didn’t want Valerius around anyways. He was mad at him. Mate
indeed! And not even to put his hat into the ring! How insulting!
“I want to go with you!” She tugged at his arm. “I’ll work, too! Wally
always likes it when I dust. We can–”
“Tilly, you don’t even clean up your own clothes on your own floor,
but you’re offering to dust for Wally? He might give you a few bucks
for it though if you do a good job,” Caden mused, but then shook
himself. “But that’s stupid. I won’t be able to hang out with you much
and you won’t have a good time.”
“Caden, I don’t care! I just want to be with you!” she cried. She was
suddenly blinking away tears. “After yesterday, I just… can’t I come
with you? Please? Seriously, I won’t get in the way and you don’t
have to say anything to me. I just want to be with you.”
And he realized then what the problem was. Yesterday, she had
been on the phone with him just before the bomb had gone off and
he hadn’t gotten in contact with her until hours later. She likely
would spend the entire day fretting about him, especially as he
needed to get a new cell phone at some point to replace the one that
was destroyed, so she wouldn’t even be able to talk or text with him
to make sure he was okay.
He raked a hand through his hair. “Okay. Okay. You can come.”
“I can?!”
Her face was all brightness and joy again. If she realized how much
it mattered to him that she was happy, she would have him wrapped
around her finger even more than now.
“But you need to be low key at the shop,” he warned her. “No talking
about Iolaire when customers are present and–”
“I know! Loose lips sink ships!” She mimed locking her mouth and
throwing away the key.
“You got it. Now get on my back and I’ll carry you down,” he said.
She frowned. “Are you sure? I’m pretty heavy, Caden.”
“Not for me. Not anymore,” he clarified. He flexed his arm muscles.
“Shifter strength.”
“Wow, yeah.” She looked thoughtful. “So many things are different
about you now. Though you seem the same to me. Your personality,
I mean.” She climbed onto his back, gripping his waist with her legs
and his neck with her arms. “There’s this girl at school who said that
her cousin became a Werewolf Shifter and that his personality totally
changed afterwards. That they were glad he left the house.”
Caden frowned. “Are we sure that he changed or just their
perception of them did?”
“I don’t know. I thought she was telling me the truth, but maybe
people were just scared of him.”
He leaned forward and easily caught the trunk of the tree with his
hands and feet. He began to shimmy down to the ground. It was
early enough that there weren’t a ton of people outside, but there
was one. Old Mr. MacGruber was out in his brown and white striped
bathrobe and slippers taking out his Pekinese, Pop Pop, to pee. Both
Mr. MacGruber and Pop Pop stared at them climbing out of his
bedroom window with rheumy, suspicious eyes.
Caden smiled and waved as if it was perfectly normal for them to be
doing this. “Hey, Mr. MacGruber, Pop Pop. How goes it?”
The old man grunted and Pop Pop let out a sharp bark and piddled
himself.
“Gross.” Tilly wrinkled her nose as he set her down. “I can’t believe
Pop Pop is still alive.”
“I can’t believe Mr. MacGruber is still alive,” he snickered.
She laughed, too, which caused Mr. MacGruber to turn around to
stare even more suspiciously at them. That had them going into
gales of laughter. He caught Tilly’s hand and the two of them quickly
ran down the block before their parents could find them.
They were three-quarters of the way to Dragon Strike Square when
his stomach rumbled. He hadn’t gotten anything to eat since the
sandwich the night before. He nearly curled over with the sudden
painful hunger. Iolaire offered the image of them snacking on a big
brown cow.
Eweh. Gross, he mimicked Tilly.
“What’s wrong?” Tilly stopped in mid-description of some drama at
her school when he let out a groan.
“Starving,” he admitted. His head lifted as he realized they were by a
fast food place. “Burgers! Breakfast sandwiches! Fries!”
He reached for his wallet in his back pocket except it wasn’t there.
Because it was destroyed and somewhere in shreds down at the
Drop. He let out a wail.
“Now what’s wrong?” Tilly asked, glancing between him and the
golden arches of the restaurant.
“No wallet. No money. No food,” he moaned.
“Oh, don’t worry about that! I’ll pay. I’ve got a ton of babysitting
money. Just wait here,” she told him and ran off into the store.
“Wait! I haven’t told you what I want!” he called after her.
She looked back at him from the door, grinning from ear to ear. “I
know what you want! You want everything!”
Then she disappeared inside. Iolaire and him commiserated over
their empty stomachs, but it didn’t last that long as Tilly reappeared
with two huge bags of food. He couldn’t see her face because it was
blocked by the bags. He rushed over to her and took one from his
hands.
“Let’s sit on the bench. We have time, right?” she asked, moving a
lock of hair off of her sweaty forehead as she gestured towards the
empty stone bench against the wall of the restaurant.
“Oh, yeah, plenty of time,” he said into the bag of food.
He was behaving rather like a horse with a feed bag, stuffing his face
into it and inhaling deeply. There were cheeseburgers galore, fries,
bagels with eggs and cheese and bacon, hash browns, and who
knew what else. Iolaire’s clawed feet kneaded the “ground” like a
large cat in excitement. Caden unwrapped the first burger and ate it
in two bites. He was on his third burger when Tilly giggled.
“Wha?” he asked around a bite of burger that he swallowed.
“You’re welcome!” She swung her legs on the bench.
He colored. “Thanks, Tilly. You and your babysitting money are
heaven sent. I’ll pay you back.”
She chewed her own breakfast sandwich thoughtfully and then
asked, “Do you think we’re going to be rich now?”
Polishing off another burger and stuffing fries in his mouth at the
same time–he was just about to consider squeezing a ketchup
packet in his mouth, too–he gave her a raised eyebrow. Not even he
could talk around that much food.
“All Shifters are rich, aren’t they?” she asked.
He thought of Rose and her circumstances down in the Below. He
shook his head as he anacondaed the food in his mouth. “No, there
are poor Shifters. But I guess their clans have money so they
benefit from that. But I don’t have a clan.”
But I will have a mate if I’m not careful. And what if one of them or
more of them offer my whole family a life of luxury? Caden
wondered. Tilly getting to go to the best schools? Mom able to afford
to go to divinity school to become a preacher of the Faith? Dad
running his own firm? Could I just turn that down?
“Well, Valerius took you to High Reach and he wanted you to stay
there,” she pointed out. “So he’s like your clan, I guess. And every
Dragon Shifter is way wealthy. Like with treasure hordes and stuff. I
think if you’re a Dragon Shifter you have to have a Dragon horde,
right?”
“Valerius only wanted me in High Reach because he thought I would
cause him trouble otherwise,” he pointed out glumly.
Iolaire did not react to the idea of money or treasure hordes at all.
Instead, it kept indicating he needed to eat that bagel and egg
sandwich now. Whatever thought he’d had that Dragons loved
treasure, it didn’t seem to apply to Iolaire, at least not when the Spirit
was focused on food. Maybe treasure was second on the list.
“He let you go. If he just wanted you there for that, he would have
put you in the dungeon,” Tilly pointed out blithely.
“Oh yeah, I guess.” He was certain she was right.
He shrugged and grabbed the bagel sandwich. He thought of
Valerius flying over their home last night. The Black Dragon King
hadn’t just done it once, but circled for ages. Caden thought he’d
caught a few blasts of thought from him. Of course, what he thought
he heard involved something along the lines of “dratted boy” and “too
innocent to live” and “disorder and chaos” and “should just pick him
up and …” He’d lost track of that last one as he’d quickly turned off
his bedroom lights and shut the window so that Valerius didn’t
attempt to pluck him up like he had last time. Though the view had
been pretty spectacular when Valerius had flown them up to the top
of High Reach. It had actually been nice.
“Are we going to see Valerius again? I mean, of course, we are, but
when?” she asked.
“I think Dad and his firm want us to stay away from him until they
have their legal briefs written,” he said and stared down at the
sheath of fries moodily for some reason.
“They think a bunch of papers are going to stop him?” Tilly rolled her
eyes.
“That’s the smartest thing anyone has ever said about Valerius.” He
smiled at her.
“I’m smart.”
“Yeah, you are.”
They finished the food, or rather, Caden finished everything but one
sheath of fries and an egg sandwich that were Tilly’s. He stood up to
put the wrappers in the trash and cracked his neck from side to side.

“You should totally have a food baby after that.” Tilly looked
skeptically at his totally flat, muscled stomach.
“Truthfully, I just feel normal. Not like I had a big meal right now, but
that I ate a few hours ago,” he told her.
“Well, you’ve got a Dragon to feed,” she said. Someone looked over
at them curiously and she quickly amended, “Your imaginary Dragon,
that is.”
He gave her a warning look. “We shouldn’t talk about this stuff out in
the open.”
“Yeah, I see what you mean. Let’s get to the shop. Those
knickknacks won’t dust themselves!”
She grabbed his arm and the two of them resumed chatting about
everyday things, avoiding the topic of Shifters and Dragons or
anything at all touching on what they really wanted to talk about.
Dragon Strike Square was pretty busy for the early morning. Caden
guessed that tourists were doing their best to enjoy Reach and look
for Valerius flying above one more time since last night’s celebration
hadn’t gone off. He wondered if they would do something today. But
many people were likely leaving, their trips ending naturally or
maybe cutting them short for fear of more bombs. The day was
beautiful. Sunny with the sky a cerulean blue and only a few light
fluffy clouds. But no Black Dragon King. He tried to ignore that he felt
sad about that.
There were a ton more cops in the Square as well. Many of them
were Werewolf Shifters and were in their shifted forms, prowling the
area, sniffing the air. Caden’s shoulder blades drew together as he
remembered the feeling of being hunted by the Claw the day before.
There were some of the palace guards around in their red armor as
well. No one though looked at him and Tilly twice. He wondered if
they had been told who he was and to ignore him thoroughly or if
they really couldn’t tell he was the White Dragon Shifter.
Wally was standing in the open doorway to the shop, chatting with
Jane Stevens who owned a bistro two doors down. She had an
apron over her black skirt that already showed white handprints on
the hips. The bistro baked its own French bread that was incredible.
He could totally snack on a loaf with butter and ham and cheese…
he swallowed. He really needed to go get a new license and debit
card. Tilly couldn’t afford to keep feeding him even on a “ton” of
babysitting money. But the thought of food was put out of his mind
when he heard what they were talking about.
“ …yeah, the Claw came here to interview all of my staff yesterday.
Wanted to know if we saw anything regarding the bomber,” Wally
said to Jane before his sharp gaze found Caden and Tilly. Caden
realized then that Wally had known they were there the moment they
had entered the Square.
How did I not know he was a Shifter before? It’s obvious now even
without the eye shine. Wait, are my eyes shining? Will Jane notice?
Why hadn’t he thought of this? It would be obvious that he was the
White Dragon Shifter. Everyone who saw his eyes would guess!
Maybe Wally had some more of those contacts that would hide the
nightshine. But that would be no good to him now.
So he quickly ducked his head down, but Jane was already calling to
him and Tilly, “Caden, Tilly! I’m so glad to see that you two aren’t
scared to come down here today.”
“It looks pretty busy to me.” Tilly gazed around. “Although there are a
lot of police.”
“It’s not busy at all for the day after an anniversary. It’s practically
dead. And the police are making the few customers nervous!” She
dropped her voice as she added, “Werewolves are so unpredictable.
And prone to violence.”
Wally goodnaturedly tsked at her and Caden found it amazing how
evenly Wally handled the prejudice about Shifters he heard every
day. How did he not blow up at people and tell them to shove it?
Why didn’t he seem to think badly of Jane and Landry for their
beliefs?
“They’ve got a tough job keeping people safe. And, after yesterday,
it’s even tougher,” Wally said with a shrug.
Considering he was Rat Shifter and seemed to have been some kind
of criminal before it was even more amazing how understanding he
was of law enforcement.
Jane fanned herself with one flour dredged hand. “I suppose you’re
right, Wally. But a fat lot of good they did yesterday! We could have
all been blown to kingdom come if not for the White Dragon Shifter,”
she sighed and smiled. “Who do you suppose it is?”
“Why would we know?” Caden asked, studiously looking at the
ground.
“Because it happened here!” she enthused. “And we’re all here so
it’s likely someone we know.”
Caden’s shoulders practically drew up to his ears at that.
“There were a ton of tourists. It could have been one of them,” Tilly
pointed out and Caden’s shoulders relaxed.
Jane, however, looked crestfallen. “You think? I suppose you’re right.
After all, who among us would be worthy of being a Dragon Shifter?”
“No one,” Tilly said, nodding sagely.
“You’re so right, Tilly.” Wally nodded himself.
At that moment, Iolaire “helpfully” suggested that they shift in the
Square so that everyone could see them again. It was clear that they
were popular and wanted. Plus, it might make the Werewolf Shifters
less nervous if they were there to protect everyone.
I think “less nervous” doesn’t mean what you think it means, Caden
teased the Spirit gently.
Iolaire purred at him.
Don’t you go purring and be cute with me. We have to talk about this
mate business. I’m not happy you didn’t mention it before, he
responded.
Iolaire blinked and purred at him. Caden sighed. Either the Spirit
didn’t understand his concerns–which he doubted–or it simply didn’t
share them, but wasn’t going to say that, which was more likely but
also more disturbing, too. What duty did he have to Iolaire if the
Spirit wanted to mate? He nearly groaned out loud.
“We should get inside,” he said weakly, knowing he was risking Jane
noticing his eyes any minute and figuring out the worst kept secret in
the world.
“Tilly, are you here to shop or work?” Wally asked, getting that
speculative gleam in his eyes when he saw a potential worker.
“Work!” Tilly grinned. “You want me to dust the knickknacks?”
Wally tousled her hair. “That’s my girl! You know where the dust rags
are?”
“In the back. Second shelf on the left,” she told him proudly.
Wally chuckled. “What a remarkable girl. A wonderful girl. I shouldn’t
be surprised since you’re brother and sister.” He turned back to
Jane. “My two best workers!”
“They are the best,” Jane agreed generously. “If you stop by later, I
have some cinnamon rolls that are coming fresh out of the oven.”
Caden’s stomach audibly growled.
“I can see that’s a yes!” Jane giggled.
He kept his head firmly down as he blushed. “Thanks so much,
Jane. We definitely will be there.”
Well, he’d send Tilly over to get them if Wally didn’t have any
contacts for him to wear.
As he and Tilly headed inside, he heard Jane say to Wally,
“Someone told me that Valerius went into your store yesterday. Is
that true?”
“It is!” Wally answered with a conspiratorial note in his voice. “I sort
of hinted I had maybe seen something, but needed to go inside to
jog my memory and then I showed him some of the merch! I tried to
get him to endorse some of it, but no luck. Not that I’m going to stop
trying!”
“You’re so incorrigible! But I love it! If it works out someday you have
to get him to endorse my muffins,” Jane laughed.
Caden shook his head at how effortlessly the lies tripped from
Wally’s tongue. He wasn’t worried about this side of Wally–the store
owner had always had a loose relationship with the truth at least in
regards to selling–but instead was grateful for it. Wally would keep
the heat off of him. He let out a sigh as soon as they’d crossed the
threshold of the shop and the door shut behind them.
“Didn’t expect to see you today, Dragon boy,” Landry drawled from
her perch at the register. “Hey, Till! How goes it?”
Tilly answered, “Great! It’s great.”
“Tilly, you should text Mom and Dad now. Let them know where we
are,” he said, realizing that their parents would totally freak out
finding them both gone and no note.
She nodded. “Now that we got away, you mean?
“Exactly.”
She pulled out her phone and started texting as she walked towards
the back room, leaving him and Landry alone. Caden stuffed his
hands in his pockets and wandered over to her. He was
unaccountably nervous, or maybe not unaccountably. She’d been in
his corner–more than that, willing to go to jail yesterday for him even
though she knew he was a Shifter--but she’d always been clear that
her sympathies lay with Humans First.
“Surprised to see you here as well after all the excitement,” he
clarified quickly. “I figured you’d demand battle pay from Wally before
you’d come back in.”
She smiled behind her bangs. “Yeah, I considered it, but it was hard
after…” She bit her lower lip. “Wally told me everything last night.
About himself, I mean. That he’s a Rat Shifter and was a big time
gangster.”
Caden leaned against the glass fronted case. “You know more about
him than I do then!”
She shrugged and traced a figure 8 on the glass top of the case.
“Yeah, well, he wanted me to know everything quickly so I could
make a decision.”
“And you’re here so… you have made a decision?”
She bit her lower lip again. “Wally and you…” She sighed. “You’re
not like I’ve been taught Shifters are. So it’s sort of hard–and stupid
and hypocritical–to hate Shifters when two of them are your good
friends.”
Caden grinned. “You’ve always been a very logical person, Landry.”
She shrugged. “Not really. If I had been, I would have waited to
actually meet some Shifters instead of going by what my brothers
said. Those two are idiots.”
“You love Ross and Harvey,” he said her older brothers’ names. “It
would be hard to dismiss what they were saying before when you
had nothing to compare it to.”
But that didn’t seem to make her feel better. Instead, she almost
looked like she was going to cry and Landry never cried. “Yeah, well,
maybe I should have gotten some facts myself to tell them, because
now… now I think it might be too late!”
Caden frowned. “Landry, what do you mean ‘too late’?”
A fat tear crawled down her cheek. “Caden, last night, I overheard
them talking and I think they might have had something to do with
the bomb!”
CHAPTER TWENTY - ALMOST NORMAL

“No, your brothers… no, that’s impossible! That bomb would have
killed people!” Caden shook his head. He couldn’t believe it! He
wouldn’t believe it!
More tears rolled down Landry’s pale face. She scrubbed them
away with the sleeve of her shirt. “Yeah, I know. You could have
been killed. Were you killed? Is that how you became…” She
gestured at him.
“No, no, you don’t die. Iolaire bonded with me just the second before
the bomb went off and transformed us into a Dragon. That bomb
didn’t even tickle me in that form,” Caden assured her. The Spirit
was very still in his chest, listening, seemingly. “But wait, we need to
go back to your brothers. What exactly did you overhear? Have you
told Wally?”
Landry shifted uncomfortably on the stool. “How could I tell Wally?
He’d hate me!”
“Why would he hate you? Wally doesn’t seem to really hate people
so I don’t think he’d even hate your brothers,” Caden objected.
More tears squeezed out of her eyes and she covered them with her
shirt sleeves. “All the things I’ve said about Shifters to him!”
“If he was going to hate you for those, well, he’d already do that. But
he doesn’t!”
“It’s not just that and I didn’t just overhear things,” she whispered,
her voice hoarse and strained. She was hiding the entirety of her
face behind her hands.
It felt like there were ice cubes in his stomach. But he couldn’t
believe that Landry would ever hurt anybody. “I don’t see--”
“They asked me about the Square,” she continued on in that strained
whisper.
“Okay.” That cold sensation increased. Iolaire fluttered its wings.
“Like what did they ask?”
“What the security would be like on the Anniversary,” she said so
softly he almost didn’t hear her.
“Didn’t you ask why they wanted to know that? I mean, Landry,
asking about security on the Anniversary with them hating Shifters
and… c’mon! You must have known they were up to no good!” It
came out harsher than he intended.
She curled forward, still shielding her face with her sleeves. “I know!
But I thought they just wanted to protest!”
Caden squeezed the top of his nose as he felt a sudden headache
coming on. Iolaire looked out of his chest with a sad expression.
“Okay, so you told them about the security measures that Wally got
from the police?”
“Yeah,” she mumbled.
He felt nausea bubble up in his stomach. Could Landry have
unwittingly helped her brothers plant that bomb? The police might
consider her an accessory. They likely wouldn’t believe she was
innocent. They could think she was in on it. There were plenty of
people that could testify about her prejudice towards Shifters. It
wouldn’t be that hard for the police and then a jury to connect the
dots and find her just as liable as her brothers.
“What did you overhear?” he finally asked. His voice sounded faint to
his own ears.
“Jasper Hawes was at the house when I got home last night,” she
answered, scrubbing her eyes with her sleeves again.
It took Caden a minute to place the name with a face and then who
that was. Jasper Hawes was the most visible person in Humans
First. He was the one that got on all the news programs, looking
clean-cut in a suit and perfectly coiffed hair with a bright smile and
handsome face, and talked in a calm and pleasant manner about
how Shifters should really be called Hosts. Humans First used that
term because they compared the Spirits to parasites.
“What would Jasper Hawes be doing at your house?” he blurted out.
“How high are Ross and Harvey in Humans First?”
“Just last year they started making a name for themselves,” she
explained as he handed her a tissue to blow her nose. “Do you
remember when Humans First put the bonfires up in front of the
courthouse and burned effigies of the Spirits?”
“Yeah,” Caden said carefully. He remembered thinking it reminded
him of the burning crosses that the Ku Klux Klan used to do. “Don’t
tell me your brothers were behind that?”
She nodded. “Jasper saw them as people who would actually get
things done rather than just talking.”
Like planting a bomb? That kind of ‘getting stuff done’?
That nausea and cold intensified. Iolaire wrapped its wings tighter
around itself.
Caden rubbed his face as if he was still sleeping and he could wake
up and this would all be a dream. “Okay, okay, so they asked you
about security. This bomb thing happens. And then you find Jasper
Hawes at your house.”
She nodded. “I surprised them. The three of them were huddled
together in the front room. Jasper looked mad. My brothers were
saying that it wasn’t their fault. And that there wasn’t any evidence.
They stopped talking when they saw me. They were so freaked out
by me coming in that neither of them asked where I’d been.”
“And you didn’t tell them?”
She shook her head. “God, no! If they were in on the bombing and
they knew that I had been around King Valerius…” She hugged
herself and shivered.
He frowned then. “Does Human First work with kids?”
She looked at him curiously. “Kids? Like little kids or--”
“Tilly’s age. Do you know any kids in the movement?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Not that I know of, why?”
“And there aren’t any Shifters in Humans First?” He was asking
because of the nightshine he had seen in the girl’s eyes.
She looked at him with wide eyes as if he’d sprouted another head.
“Are you kidding?! Humans First is all about hating on Shifters!”
He thought of Rose and how she had been kicked out by her parents
after becoming a Bee Shifter. She hadn’t wanted to be one. She
likely had resented being one. Maybe she still did. It was a burden,
not a blessing. It certainly hadn’t helped her in life. So he could very
well see someone in her circumstances agreeing with Humans First
that Spirits were parasites and wished they could be eradicated. But
clearly Landry didn’t know of any.
“Two major things happened outside yesterday,” he said. “First, there
were smoke bombs set off.”
Landry’s eyes widened. “You think--”
“And then a girl around Tilly’s age put down the backpack with the
bomb in it. Her eyes showed nightshine. I thought at the time that
the smoke bombs were to draw attention away from her actions,” he
explained. “But maybe it was a coincidence and she took advantage
of it or maybe it was coordinated or maybe she and whoever else is
in on this found out about the Humans First plan to disrupt the
Anniversary and planned accordingly.”
“You’re thinking that the smoke bombs might have been my brothers
and maybe that was all they had planned? That they weren’t behind
the bombing?” Landry looked so hopeful.
“It would be a pretty big coincidence though, Landry,” he said, not
trying to squelch her hopes, but at the same time, not wanting her to
latch onto something that might not be true.
“Yeah, yeah,” she murmured, her gaze growing distant and
thoughtful. “We’ve had Humans First meetings at the house.” She
shifted uncomfortably and so did he. He had no idea that Landry
was so into this. “I haven’t seen any girl. Let alone a Shifter girl and I
know all of my brothers’ close friends and who they would trust.”
“Landry.” He licked his lips as anxiety nibbled at him. He wasn’t sure
if he wanted the answer to his next question. He wasn’t sure if it
mattered now that she had clearly turned over a new leaf in regards
to Shifters. But he asked anyway. “Landry, were you a member of
Humans First?”
She shook her head and he let out a breath he hadn’t known he had
been holding. “I was thinking about it, but you know I’m not much of
a joiner.”
Caden let out a laugh that sounded a little hysterical. “Who knew that
your anti-social tendencies would end up causing something good to
happen?”
She cracked the first real smile he’d seen on her face since Tilly
went into the back room. He had a feeling though that she wouldn’t
be smiling much longer after he said the next thing.
“You know that we have to tell people about this, right?” he asked.
The alarm that filled her face would have almost been comical from
its hugeness if not for the seriousness of the situation. She waved
her hands as if she could ward off him telling the authorities.
“No! You can’t! My brothers would go to jail! Even if they were only
responsible for the smoke bombs. You know that the courts are just
filled with Ravens and every judge is a Raven. They’d never give
someone in Humans First a chance!” she rattled off.
He pinched the top of his nose again. Her stereotypical beliefs about
Shifters hadn’t gone away and he shouldn’t expect them to in a day.
 Besides, she wasn’t altogether wrong. Every judge was a Raven.
But the Raven Shifters did seem to care about facts and justice. At
least from what he’d heard from his father.
She continued, “Besides, if it was just the smoke bombs then no one
was hurt by that! It was just--just annoying!”
“Landry,” he said firmly, “we don’t know it was just the smoke bombs
that they were behind. The fact that Jasper Hawes himself was at
your house makes me doubt it was just smoke bombs.”
“But he might just have been there to ask them if they were behind
the bomb! Maybe he thought they went too far!” she argued.
“Maybe he was and maybe they did,” he said gently. “We can’t take
that chance though. We need to let the authorities know so that they
can sort this out.”
“But, Caden, I might totally be wrong!” she cried and he saw the guilt
and fear and hope in her face. “If I turn my own brothers in… I just
can’t do it!”
“What if something else happens?” he asked her.
She blanched and one of her hands went to her mouth. “What? No,
I mean the Anniversary is over. They wouldn’t--”
“Whoever placed that bomb failed yesterday. I bet they’re going to
try again,” he told her. “And if we say nothing, and your brothers are
behind it--”
“Wait! Okay, okay, I get it. We can’t let it happen again. But maybe
we could find out more before we tell anybody. Get evidence and
stuff,” she offered desperately.
“Evidence? What are we? CSI: Emporium?” He shook his head.
“I could get into their rooms and computers. I know their passwords.
They think I don’t, but they always use the stupidest passwords that
are obvious to anyone who knows them,” she quickly babbled. “And
they’re supposed to be going to a Humans First meeting tonight. We
could follow them and see what happens!”
Caden imagined them sneaking into the back of a smoky hall with
lots of angry people ranting about how Shifters--or Hosts--get
everything over humans and that they aren’t just parasites in people
but on the world as a whole. He then imagined a single bee buzzing
around and checking faces and hearing things said in whispers. He
imagined a rat’s whiskers twitching as it scurried its way into rooms
that they couldn’t access to hear Jasper Hawes talk about how
bombing the Square hadn’t worked the first time, but it might the
second. Iolaire hummed at him in agreement with these ideas.
“If we do this then we have to tell Wally and Rose,” he blurted out.
“Tell Wally what?” Wally asked as he came in through the front door.
Landry paled and hunched in her seat. Caden crossed his arms and
gave her a hard look. Finally, she nodded.
“Landry has to tell you something,” Caden said.
Wally waddled up to them and cocked his egg-shaped head to the
side. “I’m all ears.”
Landry then proceeded to tell Wally everything that she had already
told Caden. It was good to hear it for a second time, because he
made sure he didn’t miss anything in this retelling.
Wally never looked angry or even alarmed. He just seemed
absorbed. He let her tell the whole thing without interrupting her and
then he started asking questions. He got every single detail out of
her, even down to what Jasper was wearing--a tan suit with a red
handkerchief in the pocket yet with boots instead of dress shoes,
which was a strange thing--to the exact words used. He rubbed his
chin and looked thoughtful.
“So, I want to go to the authorities, but Landry wants us to try and
investigate first so that when we do go report this, if there’s
something to report that is,” he quickly clarified, “that we have
evidence to give rather than just suspicions.”
“I agree with Landry. I think we should try to find out more,” Wally
said.
Caden blinked. He hadn’t known what he expected Wally to say, but
obviously, agreement with Landry wasn’t it. “R-really? I mean…
really?”
Wally smiled at Caden. “Look, kid, I’ve had my experiences with the
Claw and police. While some of them are interested in finding out
the truth, a Hell of a lot more of them are simply looking for a quick
and easy answer, even if that answer is wrong. There’s a lot of
pressure to solve the bombing. Some Humans First yahoos would fit
the bill for many reasons, including political ones.”
“If it came out that Humans First tried to bomb normal people at the
Square, there would be huge backlash,” Landry agreed then she
winced. “I don’t mean that Shifters aren’t normal, I just mean… oh,
man, I’m sorry, guys!”
“It’s okay, Landry. It’s going to take a while to shed some of your bad
habits,” Wally said genially. He then grew more stern. “I know that
humans are getting short-shafted recently, but Humans First is not
the answer.” He sliced one of his little arms through the air. “They’re
a bad bunch and they’re taught you bad things. You’ve got to use
that head of yours. That incisive mind.”
She nodded. “I know that all now.”
“You just had to be shocked by things a bit,” Wally agreed then
turned back to Caden, “You look nervous about this.”
“Uhm, yeah, infiltrating a terrorist group isn’t exactly something I ever
planned on doing,” he admitted.
“My brothers aren’t terrorists!” Landry cried.
He grimaced. “Well, going undercover into a group never occurred
to me before now. Are we sure that it's a good idea? Maybe I should
just tell Valerius …”
The moment those words left his mouth, he was shaking his own
head even as Wally guffawed and Landry looked at him open-
mouthed.
“Valerius isn’t exactly subtle, kid,” Wally said between chuckles. “But
that’s not a knock. He’s a Dragon. Dragons aren’t subtle. He’ll just
have the Claw come down on Humans First like the bomb he thinks
they planted in the Square. That will just lead to more violence.”
“Yeah.” Caden bit his lower lip. “It totally will.”
“And, even if those knucklehead brothers of Landry's did have
something to do with what went on, we don’t want them hurt. We
want justice, but we don’t want revenge,” Wally said with a sage nod.
Caden looked at Wally curiously. “How old are you, Wally?”
“Why? Do I look old to you?” Wally modeled before them. His wisps
of black hair waved wildly in the air conditioning.
“Very funny. I was actually trying to give you a compliment,” Caden
said with a laugh. “I just can’t believe I didn’t see it before, even
without the nightshine. You would talk about how things were before
the War and the things you say… well, it’s clear that you’ve seen a
lot.”
Wally smiled and there was a touch of sadness in his eyes. “I’ve
seen a lot. I’ve done a lot. Not all of it good. Not all of it bad.
Sometimes people are given a life that challenges who they are,”
Wally said and stuck his tongue against the inside of his right cheek.
“And in the face of those challenges, you find out who you really are
and… it can be disappointing.”
“But you left all that behind you,” Caden said.
“I did, but only after I’d got the capital from doing the bad stuff to truly
walk away from who I’d been,” Wally said.
Caden really wanted to ask him more about who he had been, what
he knew about Marban, and so many other things, but there were
plenty of things in the present to work out.
“Yeah, that sort of reminds me,” He gave Wally a sheepish look. “I
sort of asked Rose to stop by today at noon. For lunch. And
maybe… I was thinking that you might offer her a job?”
“Rose. She’s one of Marban’s granddaughters? The one from last
night?” Wally asked, putting a rather acidic tone on the
“granddaughter” part.
He nodded. “I think she’s a good person. I mean she’s had it rough.
Family kicked her out when they found out she was a Bee Shifter
and--”
“She’s a Swarm Shifter?!” Landry sounded horrified. He’d had the
same reaction so he couldn’t fault her for it.
“A Bee Shifter. It’s different.” Seeing Wally’s even look at him, he
said, “Okay, even if it isn’t different, she is a good person who has
had a hard life and I really think if she’s given an actual chance that
she would choose to live differently. She’s trapped by the kind of
Shifter she is, where she lives and now, Marban.”
“Kid, I’m not saying your judgment about her is wrong, but--”
“But you’re saying it’s wrong,” Caden deadpanned.
Wally held up a hand. “Having been one of those kids who grew up
in a poor area and found themselves as the wrong kind of Shifter, I
commiserate. But I also know that if you’d met me back then, well, it
would be a 50/50 shot whether I’d be straight with you and take your
helping hand or bite it off.”
“I get that,” Caden assured him, leaning a hip against the front
counter. “She warned me about that herself. She’s still under
Marban’s sway and she owes him a ton. But I still think I’m right.
She’s one of the good ones.”
Iolaire nodded its head in surprising agreement. If he hadn’t already
been sure of its position on Rose, he was now.
Wally tapped his lower lip. “All right, I’ll interview her. And we’ll see
how that goes.”
“But aren’t Bee Shifters dangerous?” Landry asked doubtfully.
“Dragon Shifters are far more dangerous,” Caden pointed out.
“Speaking of dangerous. How are you doing with control of the
shifting?” Wally asked with narrowed eyes as he likely imagined the
White Dragon filling the entire space.
Iolaire cooed at him from where it was curled in his chest.
“Fine! Iolaire understands our limitations,” he answered.
Wally’s bushy eyebrows rose. What hair he didn’t have on his head
was made up in volume by his eyebrows. “Iolaire? A beautiful name.
But also the name of a ship with a very tragic story.”
Caden frowned. “What kind of tragic history?”
“I leave that for you to look up yourself,” Wally chuckled. “Besides,
it's probably not related, but it’s an interesting choice for the Spirit to
have made.”
“I hope you aren’t comparing the Spirit to a disaster!” Landry cried
loyally. “Iolaire saved Caden and everybody else.”
Iolaire tilted its head back and preened.
Wally lifted his hands in surrender. “Not in the least, Landry. Wow,
she’s a guard dog for Iolaire, isn’t she?”
“Are you like Tilly and want to ride a Dragon, Landry?” he teased.
She pinked. “R-ride a dragon? You’ve got to be kidding! I’m afraid of
heights!”
He snickered. He had a feeling that Valerius would believe it
beneath his dignity to let anyone ride him, so Caden was going to
have the best time allowing Tilly do it endlessly. He frowned. Where
was Tilly? She’d just gone to get rags in the back room, but that had
been ages ago. She might have gotten lost in all the cool
merchandise that Wally kept back there. He should go check on her
and see what their parents said in reply to her texts.
“Okay, so Rose should be here by noon. We should have a plan
about what we’re doing tonight about Landry’s brothers and our
clandestine activities. But in the meantime, I’m going to track down
my sister. Those knicknacks aren’t going to dust themselves,” Caden
told them.
Wally pulled out his cell phone and said, “I’m going to get in touch
with some of my old contacts to see what the scuttlebutt is about the
bombing.”
Caden pointed to the cell phone. “Uhm, how did you get that back? I
remember that Chione said that she confiscated yours and Landry’s,
but you had yours again right away.”
Wally’s nose wrinkled. “Kid, I’m a Rat Shifter. That means expert
pocketpicker. Chione is a beautiful, accomplished person, but she’s
no match for me when it comes to the golden hands.”
Caden snorted and shook his head. There was a ding as a
customer came in as he headed towards the back. He heard Wally
greeting them effusively and felt a welling of warmth in his chest.
This was the familiar happiness that he had wanted to experience
again all of yesterday. Now he was back in the middle of it and was
so glad. If they hadn’t been talking about Wally’s criminal past or
their spying plans on Human First, everything could have almost
been the same as the day before.
But, of course, things were not at all the same.
Which was proven when he pushed open the door to the backroom
to see his sister talking to none other than Dragon King Valerius.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: STAY, GO, LIE
“Caden,” Valerius said, feeling exposed somehow by the light in the
young man’s eyes.
“Valerius,” Caden’s voice was clipped. His gaze dropped between
Valerius and Tilly. He patted his leg. “Hey, Till, how about you come
on over here?”
Valerius’ nostrils flared. He put a hand on her shoulder as she looked
at her brother strangely. “Why?”
“What?” Caden’s gaze snapped up to him again.
“Why should she come to you?”
“Because…”
“You patted your leg like she was a dog who would come heel.”
Valerius raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t!” Caden looked affronted.
Tilly laughed. “You totally did! But I don’t mind. Because I’m totally
going to use it against you.” She rubbed her hands together evilly.
Caden let out a wounded groan. “Come on, Till! I was just trying to
protect you!”
“From what?” Valerius and Tilly asked that at the same time.
“Oh.” Caden scuffed a foot on the floor. “Well, Valerius is… I mean…
I thought you would be intimidated. He can be intimidating.” He
looked up at Valerius through his lashes. “You can be intimidating.”
Valerius tilted his head up. “I can.”
Tilly giggled and took his left hand in both of hers. “No, you’re not!
You’re so cute!”
“What?” Now it was him and Caden saying that in unison.
Tilly though continued to look up at Valerius fondly. “I mean you can
be scary. You’re big. You’re bad.”
“Yes, exactly,” he agreed with her with a nod.
“But you’re also handsome--”
“Yes,” he smiled.
“And kind--”
“N-no, I--”
“Yes, yes, you must be, because you’re here to check on Caden and
make sure he’s okay,” she said. “You know how scared he is and
confused and you’re going to make it okay.”
That had silence falling. He could feel Caden’s eyes on him.
Valerius frowned. He tried to speak but nothing came out. He’d
woken that morning and his first thought had been about the boy.
The annoying, innocent boy. He’d flown half the night watching
Caden’s house to make sure that nothing happened to him.
Even in the few hours of sleep, he’d kept his ears and senses wide
in case Caden let out a peep of fear or disquiet. He had debated with
himself whether or not to just sweep in and take Caden back to the
castle. In fact, he’d left his bed no less than six times to fly off to get
the boy. He’d even considered simply camping out on the boy’s floor.
But all of those options had eventually been discarded, because it
would reveal Caden as the ninth Dragon Shifter.
“You came here to see if I’m okay?” Caden actually gave him puppy
eyes.
Puppy eyes!
“I wished to ensure…” Valerius paused and considered his words,
“You are very…”
“Very?” Caden’s eyes now narrowed.
“Naive,” he said.
“I’m not naive!”
“You believe in the good in people. Though I can assure you, people
are not good. At best they are neutral and--”
“You’ve just been hanging out with the wrong sorts of people if you
think that,” Caden interrupted.
“I’ve been hanging out with people in power. The same people you
will have to deal with. Eventually. And you are completely
unprepared for what is to come!”
Valerius scrubbed his hands over his face. His eyes felt like they
were filled with sand. He needed more sleep. Raziel had only
cracked an eyelid to see the White Dragon Spirit--who had cooed
again at them--and then settled back to sleep. Its big head rested on
its large claws and its body was curled around itself. He truly
needed sleep. But he couldn’t sleep! Not when Caden was out in the
world getting into trouble.
Caden’s arms were crossed over his chest. Not a good sign. He was
learning the boy’s ways. This body language was all affronted. But
his temper was frayed from being tired so he hadn’t said it right.
“You think I am being unfair?” Valerius guessed.
Caden’s chin lifted. Ah, another bad sign.
“You think I should trust your judgment?” Valerius said the last word
like it tasted bitter. Because it did.
Caden narrowed his eyes yet more. They were nearly slits now. A
triply bad sign.
“You think I’m viewing the world through jaded eyes and that you will
change the world?” Valerius said.
Caden’s head dropped. Yes, he was right. He knew it! The boy was
planning something. Something foolish.
“I don’t think that I can change the world. I don’t! I know I’m not that
smart or important or wise or whatever, but…” Caden swallowed.
“But there are some things that I see that I know are wrong that
maybe I could do something about.”
“Such as?” Now Valerius tried to cross his arms, but Tilly still had his
left hand in her surprisingly firm grip.
“What do you want to do first, Caden?” she asked.
She clearly had full faith in her brother. That was interesting in some
ways. In his limited experience, brothers and sisters fought like cats
and dogs. But while they might at other times be at one another's
throats, he could see that Tilly believed in her brother to do good.
Fits with his jumping off of cliffs when he is unable to fly.
“Getting Rose a job,” Caden said, but there was still a shiftiness to
him, which meant this wasn’t all he intended, but Valerius was
disturbed by it.
“Rose? You mean Marban’s granddaughter who accompanied him
on storming the castle last evening?” Now he was arching an
eyebrow.
“She’s a good person. You need to give her a chance--”
“Let me guess, she contacted you last night, didn’t she? It was some
apology for putting you in a bad position and wanting friendship, but
knowing that she is unworthy of it? It went something like that,
correct?” Valerius’ voice was clipped.
The look of shock then doubt on Caden’s face told him that was
exactly what had happened. “Yeah, she reached out and it was
something like that, but it was real--”
“Caden,” he said softly.
“How could you know what’s in her heart?”
“How could I know what she said to you?” Valerius’ voice went soft.
Caden’s evident pain at the thought that Rose would be playing him
was evident. “I know, because this is all Marban. It stinks of him. He
knows that you like this girl. He knows that you have a good heart.
You think by befriending her that you can save her--”
“Not save her! She will save herself! I just want to give her a
chance. She hasn’t had that. She was rejected by her family and
since she was in the Below in the first place, she didn’t have much
more than them!” Caden got out. “I’ve asked Wally to give her a job.”
Valerius pinched the top of his nose. “So she could be here? With
you?”
“You don’t have to worry, King Valerius. Caden doesn’t like girls like
that. He’s gay!” Tilly suddenly piped up.
Both of them looked at her in shock.
Caden looked rather horrified. “Tilly, why are you -”
Valerius cried at the same time, “I’m not jealous!”
Both Caden and Tilly looked at him. So did the White Dragon Spirit
who tilted its head and blinked those large eyes at him curiously.
“What I meant to say was that my concern about Rose is not
because I fear that Caden may develop or has developed romantic
feelings for her.” He frowned. Tilly was giving him a raised eyebrow
as if she didn’t believe a word he was saying. “I just mean that she
will attempt--through friendship--to gain Caden’s sympathy and to
lead him to do things that benefit Marban.”
“I know Marban is a bad guy,” Caden groused. “But Rose isn’t. I
really think if she’s given a chance that she’ll get free of him. But
even if she isn’t, and she’s working for Marban, I have my own mind.
It’s not like she can brainwash me into doing something for Marban.”
“That’s the thing about Marban, he’s very intelligent. Not just
intelligent. So much more than that. He is very old and cunning and
he uses people with good intentions and good hearts. He eats them
whole,” Valerius said quietly.
Caden did not look hurt or alarmed any longer, at least not for
himself. He was studying Valerius. “You’re really worried about me.”
“I told you! He’s soft in the center.” Tilly poked Valerius’ armored
stomach. She poked it a few more times. “Well, not literally. You’re
really hard. Like hard.”
“Tilly! Stop poking him!” Caden hissed.
“I’m sorry! It’s a little addicting. He’s all muscle,” she muttered and
crossed her arms over her chest, a little bit of thirteen-year-old pique.
She then rolled her eyes at her brother confirming this.
“It is understandable. I have a very impressive physique,” Valerius
said, offering her a life raft.
“It doesn’t matter how good looking you are! She shouldn’t be
touching you without permission! I mean you’re the king and--”
“You think Valerius is good looking?” Tilly brightened.
“I do not want to feed his massive ego. But yes, of course. Who
wouldn’t?” Caden blushed.
“Do you think Caden is good looking, King Valerius?” Tilly gazed up
at him with that pre-teen way that made him want to shuffle his feet
even though he was quite a few years too old to be doing that.
“He is… adequate,” Valerius answered.
“Adequate?” Caden squawked.
“You are fine looking, Caden. That’s hardly important, is it? I enjoy
you just fine, but not because of your looks.” Valerius gritted his
teeth as his answer made him sound like he was lying.
Tilly clearly thought he was lying. She had one hand up to her mouth
to hide her grin.
“You enjoy me?” Caden’s eyebrows rose. “That’s an improvement. I
annoyed you before and you wanted me to leave your territory.”
“What?” Tilly looked like someone had sent an arrow through her
heart. Her eyes were huge. And threatening to fill with tears.
“That was before,” Valerius found himself quickly saying.
“Before? So now that you know Caden you don’t want that, right?”
How did Tilly suddenly have puppy eyes, too?
Caden stepped towards him. The White Dragon Spirit was making a
new purring sound, leaning towards him, too. Raziel’s eyelids
cracked open. It started to purr now, too, before abruptly realizing
what it was doing and stopping it. Raziel’s head rose up from its
claws and it looked bewildered.
Everything is fine, Raziel.
What? Territory? White Dragon Spirit?
Go back to sleep. I am handling things, Valerius told it.
Raziel yawned, blinked sleepily and laid back down, asleep again in
seconds. Valerius wished he could join it. This conversation had
completely gotten out of hand. Chione would have been laughing
into her hand just like Tilly was doing in hers earlier.
“Tell me that you want me to stay,” Caden said. He was gazing into
Valerius’ face.
“You told me you are not leaving,” Valerius said.
“No, tell me that you want me to stay,” Caden insisted. “If that’s what
you really feel.”
“I…”
“You don’t want me to stay? Do you want me to leave?” Caden
stepped closer.
There was suddenly not enough room in this very large warehouse.
It felt very, very small. He shifted from foot to foot.
“You are staying no matter what I say so why does it matter if I want
you to remain?” Valerius asked and shifted some more.
Caden looked down and then backed away. “I suppose that’s better
than what you were saying before. So small steps. I’ll accept that.”
Valerius cleared his throat. He found he could not say a word.
Thankfully, Caden didn’t look distressed. Or, at least, too distressed.
Tilly was frowning deeply. She kept looking between him and her
brother. Caden though had gone to a shelf and grabbed a large
feather duster. He handed it to Tilly.
“I think Wally wants to get his work out of you,” he said to her with a
grin.
She took it and waggled it in his face while she scrunched up her
own. “You just want to talk to King Valerius alone. I guess I’ll allow it.
After all, he and I already had a talk.”
“Yeah, about that. What did you talk about?” Caden asked.
She bopped his nose with the feather duster as she answered,
“None of your business, big brother.”
She then sashayed out of the back room and into the front. Valerius
saw that there were already several tourists perusing the wares,
most especially the Black Dragon plushies.
Just as the door closed behind Tilly, one of those tourists asked as
she held up the Black Dragon plushie, “Do you have a white one?”
Valerius suppressed a sigh. The silence fell again. The dusty scent
of the warehouse rose up and it reminded him of an old, abandoned
city with lots of strange antiquities. The antiquities were tacky
tchotchkes but he could imagine people in a future age trying to
puzzle out their current one from looking at them. The Shifters would
be in that future age, of course. He would be there. Caden would be
there. And they could tell these future explorers about this time, but
they would likely remain silent as he did now about the past. If one
thought too deeply about the past, one was crushed by it. But Caden
was making him consider things from the far reaches of his life. It
was yet another thing that disturbed him about the young man. Or
maybe it was yet another disturbing thing about the young man
overall.
“You were flying over my house a lot last night,” Caden said quietly.
“Since you would not stay in the castle, and trouble seems to follow
you, I thought it was wise,” Valerius answered.
“You were worried about me.”
“Not necessarily. I was worried about the citizens of Reach. With
you around, things are never calm,” Valerius said.
“But they were calm, weren’t they?” The young man leaned against a
metal shelving unit, arms and legs crossed. All negligent limbs and
easy sensuality even though Caden had no idea how he looked.
“That was one night. After a day of insanity, I might add. A few hours
of quiet and you act as if that should prove something.” He shook his
head. His long hair rustling along his shoulders.
“Yeah, well, most of that insanity was caused by other people. I just
tried to help.” Caden shrugged.
“And you don’t think you’ll try to help again?” Valerius lifted an
eyebrow. He did that often with Caden. “Especially now when you
actually have abilities to help others? Don’t you know yourself at all?
I’ve known you for less than 24 hours and I am well aware that you
will try to sweep in and save the day any minute now. You’ll reveal
yourself and--”
“You think that’s going to happen anyways!” Caden scowled. It was a
pretty mouth to scowl like that. He found he wanted to reach over
and tease the corners of those plush lips upwards. “You coming
here in your armor and not-real-people-clothes is so not helping!”
“Not-real-people-clothes?”
“Yeah, like jeans and t-shirts or even a suit. Do you ever wear that
stuff?” Caden actually looked interested.
Valerius frowned. “No, why would I?”
“Because everyone else does. Only you dress like some RPG
character,” Caden muttered.
“RPG… I dress like this because it is befitting of my rank and--”
“Being half-naked with straps of leather is befitting of your rank?”
Caden’s mouth was suspiciously twitching up at the corners into that
smile he’d so wanted earlier.
“I would prefer to wear nothing at all, but the mores of this time
require me to. The humans view us as animals, at best, and
monsters, at worst, so being dressed--showing modesty in their
limited understanding--is a necessary evil,” he snarled and sliced a
hand through the air.
Chione and he had had this conversation before. She loved clothes.
Not that she didn’t love being naked, too. But she loved the
spectacle of it. She often said that clothes allowed her to be many
different people while her bare skin allowed her to be only one. That
was why Valerius mostly kept to the simplest of clothing like leather
and silk that was most like his scaley form or his naked human one.
“I can’t imagine being comfortable being naked around people.”
Caden bit his lower lip as he contemplated it.
“You will realize what a nuisance clothing is when you are shifting
more often. You will not feel the heat or cold any longer as you did
when you were human so you will not need clothing to protect you,”
Valerius explained. “It is just for ornamentation or fitting in now.”
“Oh, yeah, I guess I see that now.” Caden bit harder on his lower lip,
his brow furrowing.
“Speaking of shifting, you will need to soon,” Valerius said. He
clenched his jaw. This was stepping into the realm of teaching, but if
Caden were to truly remain in his territory, he needed to learn to
control himself.
Caden frowned. “How soon? The White Dragon Spirit gets that we
need to be on the down low for a while.”
“Once a day, minimally,” Valerius said.
That had Caden’s eyes widening hugely. “Once a day?! Iolaire didn’t
mention that? Why didn’t you mention that?” Caden was asking that
last of his Spirit.
Iolaire, Raziel’s sleepy mind repeated. Beautiful disastrous Iolaire.
Caden is not a disaster. He will not lead others to their deaths, he
said to Raziel, but the Black Dragon Spirit was already asleep.
“Probably because it wants to please you. It is as agreeable as you
are even when it is to its detriment,” Valerius guessed as the White
Dragon Spirit’s head lowered.
“Well, there’s no way I can get somewhere where no one will see me
or us when we shift today! I have work and even if Wally would let
me off--”
“He will or I will twist his little pink ears--”
“Hey! Yeah, of course he would, but Rose is coming at noon so I
have to be here to have lunch with her and show her the ropes if
Wally hires her and then tonight…” A flash of guilt went through
Caden’s blue eyes.
“Then tonight?” Valerius prompted, his voice dropping and his eyes
narrowing with suspicion.
“Nothing! I just have stuff I have to do,” he said with a defensive
slouch of his shoulders. He stuffed his hands into his pockets.
“Is it something more important than the health of the White Dragon
Spirit?” Valerius gave Caden a cold look.
“What? No! I mean… I mean yes. I mean… It’s important and I can’t
change it. Because others are in charge of it and… never you mind!
There’s just something I have to do and there’s just no way I can do
both things!” he said angrily, but then looked up with a worried frown
as he asked, “It won’t hurt the White Dragon Spirit if I don’t shift just
for today, right? I mean Iolaire will be okay?”
“What time will you be done with this important activity this evening?”
Valerius questioned.
“I’m not sure.” Caden was biting that lower tempting lip of his.
“Well, when you are finished, you will contact me on this.” He pulled
out a new cell phone that was encrypted. “My number is
programmed into this. And here is a new wallet, complete with ID,
bank card, everything that you lost that wasn’t sentimental.”
Caden took them from him slowly. A grin crossed the boy’s beautiful
face. “Oh, man, this is awesome! I really thought I’d have to spend
like a day or more getting all of this taken care of! How did you--”
“I am the King of Kings, Caden. Do you think getting you a duplicate
ID is a problem for me?”
Caden blushed. He carefully put the phone in his front pocket and
the wallet in his back one. “Well, I guess that is kinda stupid of me. I
just… Thank you. It takes a load off.”
“Yes, I’m sure. But you do realize that if you had gone to get these
things replaced you might have been identified? The reporters are
staking out the DMVs. Someone might have recognized you from
last night as well...” Valerius let that hang.
The truth was that he was already worried about what the television
crews had reported live on air before his people had shut it down
and taken all evidence of the march on the castle. Someone would
recognize Caden eventually. Sooner or later.
“Well, I do appreciate it anyways,” Caden told him with one of those
shy smiles that had him feeling strangely warm inside.
The door to the back suddenly burst open and Wally came in with a
black balloon animal on his head. He immediately greeted Valerius.
“Tilly just told me you were here! Why didn’t you come out and
mention it, Caden?”
“Ah, I didn’t know you’d want to talk to him,” Caden said.
“Are you crazy? Now that I’ve got him here I can have him sign
some of the Black Dragon merch!” Wally enthused.
Caden snorted.
Valerius scowled. “What is that on your head?”
“What? This? Oh! Black Dragon balloon hats! The kids love them!
Five dollars a pop! They’re great sellers.” A brilliant gleam appeared
in the Rat Shifter’s eyes. “You know what would be great for sales?”
“No,” Valerius said, meaning no to whatever he was going to
suggest.
But Wally took that as him just not knowing the answer. “Now, I know
you can’t really be in the store today because of the kid here and all,
but you could put on some of the merchandise and we’ll take
pictures--”
“Wally!” Caden was laughing so hard and yet looking leerily at
Valerius as if he might explode in Dragon fury any minute now.
“But it would be great and--” Wally stopped speaking as Valerius
simply leaned forward and looked into his eyes without blinking.
Wally swallowed. “Okay, I can see that you’re not in the mood for
modeling. But what about those autographs?”
He pulled out a pen and smiled encouragingly at Valerius. Valerius
merely straightened and turned to Caden.
“You will call me after you are done with this thing you have this
evening. I will fly you to a deserted spot and you will shift,” Valerius
told Caden.
“Right. Cool. That sounds good.” Caden’s head bobbed up and down
like a marionette’s. The relieved scent flowing off of him was almost
overwhelming.
Caden was definitely going to be up to no good tonight, but Valerius
would be there. He wasn’t going to wait on any call. He would follow
the young man. But he pretended that he believed this ridiculously
poor lie. He then turned on his heel and headed towards the back
entrance of the warehouse. He ignored the ridiculous overwhelming
desire to stay.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: INTERVIEWING

“So do you think he knows about tonight’s operation?” Wally asked

after the Black Dragon King left the building.
Alarm raced through Caden for a moment. Considering how foolish
Valerius already thought him and how the Black Dragon King
believed he sought out trouble, discovering their plan to infiltrate
Humans First would have just confirmed that and more.
“No. No. He would have said something if he had!” Caden bit his
lower lip.
“Yeah, I’m sure you’re right. I’m betting he would have grabbed you
by the scruff of your neck and hauled you to the castle.” Wally made
a gesture of grabbing the back of his own neck. “Like he did last
night, right?”
Caden looked at him suspiciously. Was Wally making fun of him?
Was he trying to suggest that the Black Dragon King was overly
protective of him?
“Wally, he doesn’t even want me in his territory so I highly doubt he
would carry me away again.” Caden crossed his arms over his chest
and scowled.
“Oh, c’mon, kid, if Valerius didn’t want you here, you wouldn’t be
here. You’d be a series of charcoal briquettes at the bottom of the
Drop!” Wally chuckled and slapped his arm. “He’s just grumpy. Think
of it this way. Remember when Whiskers was getting up there in
years?” Whiskers was a marmalade cat that Wally had adored for
years. She’d just died the year before. “And I brought in Stumps?”
Stumps was a kitten who got his name from the fact that his tail had
been amputated after it had been run over. “Well, Whiskers acted
like Stumps needed to get the hell out of the house. She was not
sharing the bed or the sofa, let alone my love. She even knocked
over Stumps’ food and water bowls trying to show she was boss.”
“Yeah, I remember. You were pulling your hair out,” Caden paused.
Wally’s bald pate sort of made that mostly impossible.
“I was!” Wally agreed without seeing the irony. “Anyways, Whiskers
would hiss and spit and growl whenever Stumps even entered the
room, let alone tried to get close to her. I thought it would never get
better! They would hate each other forever and instead of getting her
a friend, I’d brought an enemy into our house.”
“This story has a point right?” Caden teased. But then it seemed
even the BlackDragon balloon hat glared at him. “Go on! Go on! I’m
all ears!”
“I’m imparting wisdom here,” Wally said with a wag of one of his little
fingers.
“I know! Go on. Seriously. I want to hear.”
And he did though he was pretty sure he knew how the story turned
out. Plus, it would have him thinking of Valerius as Whiskers. That
was priceless.
“Anyways, so here I am thinking I made the biggest mistake of my
life! But then it happens!” Wally paused for effect.
“What?”
“Stumps comes into the room and Whiskers doesn’t hiss or spit or
growl. She doesn’t look happy. She firmly ignores him, but it's an
improvement!” Wally’s finger shot up into the air for emphasis. “And
then day by day, things get better. Stumps and Whiskers sit on the
same couch together. Now, they were on opposite ends, but still!”
“Improvement?” Caden guessed.
“Exactly! Then they’re on adjoining cushions and there’s no more
knocking over Stumps’ food and water dishes. And then it happens!”
Wally crowed.
“Another improvement?”
“Yes, I found them curled around each other–yin and yang–on the
bed. Sleeping. Not just beside each other, but wrapped around each
other!” Wally sounded triumphant and Caden knew why. “And they
were best friends forever after that. They never slept apart. They got
on my lap at the same time for pets. They cleaned one another. And
I am certain that Whiskers lived far longer because of Stumps than
she would have done otherwise.”
“And then you brought in Tiger for Stumps after Whiskers passed
into the great beyond,” Caden remembered.
“He was mourning Whiskers hard. We both were. But Tiger got
things all happy again,” Wally sighed with pleasure as he thought of
his two cats at home, who were undoubtedly waiting for him in the
bow window out front like they usually did.
“So the moral of this story is that Valerius is Whiskers and I’m
Stumps?” Caden asked, breaking Wally’s cat induced reverie.
Wally shook himself all over. The Black Dragon balloon animal
squeaked. “Exactly. So you see, we’ve gotten past the hissing and
spitting stage, I think. He’s pretty good with you in the same room.”
“So soon we’ll be sitting on the same couch? Ignoring each other?
And then?” Caden was struggling not to burst out laughing as he
imagined Valerius in all his armor and leather seated at one side of a
couch, staring glumly ahead, while he sat on the other end.
“You’ll be cuddling in no time!” Wally clapped his shoulder again.
“Are you talking to my sister?” Caden let out a laugh. “She’s
convinced, I think, that he and I like one another. It’s so stupid. But
she’s thirteen. So what can you expect?”
Wally just stared at him with a faint smile on his face that had Caden
turning away from him. He hadn’t told Wally about the mate thing.
He should. He knew Wally would have loads of good ideas about
how to handle it and strategize and he’d do it in a way that would
ensure that Caden got what he wanted. He’d seen Wally argue down
enough of their suppliers that they were practically paying him to
take their material off their hands to know that Wally could help him
far better than the Raven Shifter attorneys his father had gotten him.
He’d be able to help him with Marban, too! So he wasn’t as helpless
as a babe in the woods like Valerius thought. He might not have the
experience himself but others did. He was good.
“I dare you, Wally, to tell Valerius this story. Impart this bit of wisdom
to him,” Caden chuckled.
“Oh, that would ruin the magic. But, hear this, it will happen!” Wally
wagged a finger. “Now, c’mon, kid, storytime is over. We need to go
sell. I want my best salesman on the floor.”
As they were going into the main showroom, a sudden thought
struck Caden and he asked, “Wally?”
“Yep?”
“You love cats.”
“More than anything! Except maybe selling, but you know, close
second.”
Caden’s eyes narrowed. “But you’re a Rat Shifter.”
“And? Oh! Yeah, I guess I see your point!” Wally chuckled, but then
said conspiratorially, “I have to admit that sometimes I find joy in the
irony that I am the cat parent quite amusing!”
Caden just shook his head and grinned.
The hours flew by as Caden worked the floor. The few times that he
had made a move to sell outside though, Wally had called him back
in.
“Just makes me remember a certain incident where I thought I lost
you,” Wally had finally confessed after the third time.
“But nothing can really happen to me now,” Caden had pointed out,
though he had still been touched deeply.
“Yeah, that may be so, but just stay in today,” Wally had responded.
And Caden had done as his boss had asked even though it was
harder to sell as many plushies that way. He was pleasantly
surprised though by how many tourists had come out. What was a
little unnerving was how almost all of them were talking about the
White Dragon Shifter.
“Do you suppose he’ll show up again?” One elderly woman asked
her daughter.
“Why do you assume it’s a ‘he’? I thought the White Dragon Shifter
was too graceful to be a male,” her daughter sniffed.
Caden tried not to smirk. The White Dragon Spirit purred at the
compliment of being called “graceful”. As far as he could tell, the
Spirit wasn’t any gender.
“Momma, he was near here! The big white one! Will he come
again?” a little girl asked, tugging on a rather haggard looking
woman’s arm.
She turned an exhausted face to him. “Is there any news if the White
Dragon Shifter is going to show up today? And what time?”
“I–I, ah, don’t think the White Dragon Shifter is like a scheduled
attraction or anything,” Caden told her even as the White Dragon
Spirit offered the image of them performing tricks in the air above
amazed people in the square.
“Oh, that’s unfortunate.” The woman crumpled a little and he could
tell that she had been worn down by her daughter’s desire to see the
White Dragon.
“Momma.” The girl’s eyes went huge, filling with tears that
threatened to spill. “No White Dragon?”
Caden felt strangled by guilt. The White Dragon Spirit cooed softly.
But then Landry saved the day as she thrust a Black Dragon plushie
at the girl.
“Feel how soft and cuddly this one is!” Landry put a lot more
enthusiasm into her voice than she usually did.
The save was short lived. The little cherub suddenly turned into a
little monster and threw the plushie at Landry’s head, nearly beaning
her, as she shrieked, “I DON’T WANT THE BLACK ONE! I WANT
THE WHITE ONE!”
Both Caden and the White Dragon Spirit quickly backed away. The
woman grasped her hellion child’s hand and dragged her from the
shop as the little girl loudly proclaimed she wanted the white one!
The white one!
“They’re all like this,” Landry hissed into his ear. “Obsessed! It’s a
good thing they don’t know it’s you! Because you could start your
own cult with the amount of adoring cultists you’ve got here.”
“I don’t want to start a cult!” he whispered harshly under his breath.
“Well, you might not have a choice,” she answered back. Then with
a huff, she pointed out the windows. “Oh, wait, I forgot, the Shifters
already have a cult.”
He followed her finger and saw that members of the Faith were
outside in their flowing white robes and there was a familiar figure
with them. He stiffened.
“Oh, God, no,” he muttered.
“Is that your–”
“Mom? Yes, that’s my mom. Outside…”
“Worshipping the White Dragon Shifter,” Landry completed and
patted his shoulder in solidarity. “What are they doing?”
“Dancing and chanting,” he groaned.
There were over two dozen of the white robed figures that were
assembled in the center of the square. They formed a large circle, all
holding hands, as they began to chant and step forwards and back in
unison. Tilly suddenly joined him and Landry. She held the feather
duster like a rifle.
“What is Mom doing?” Tilly put into her voice all the thirteen-year-old
embarrassment about one’s parent acting like a fool in front of
people that she could.
Caden rather agreed with her. He wanted to cover his eyes,
especially when one of their customers opened the door and they
could hear what the Faith members were saying, which was, “Oh,
great White Dragon, you who bring peace and justice to the Earth,
come join us! We call to thee! Answer our call! As we kneel before
you–”
The door closed and Caden laid his head on a pile of Werewolf
sweatshirts, groaning.
“Why is Mom doing this?” Tilly hissed. “She knows… well, you
know! Why would she be worshipping the White Dragon?”
“She believes in what she’s chanting, I think,” he groaned again.
Tilly’s brow furrowed. “But that’s crazy! I mean…” She glanced at
him quickly before amending, “Not that I don’t think the White
Dragon is awesome, but it’s still, you know, you.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Caden said. “I tried talking to her
about it last night, but I couldn't reason with her. What did our
parents say in response to the text you sent about us being here?”
“Uhm, Dad is so going to kick your ass. He’s not impressed with your
other half,” Tilly smirked. “But Mom replied that you had your
reasons and that he shouldn’t interfere.”
“Oh, great. I’m glad they don’t have my new number yet.” He pulled
out the cell phone. “Let me send it to the two of you.”
“Cool phone! Where did you get that?” Tilly asked.
“Valerius,” he answered negligently and then his eyebrows rose as
he realized that all of his contacts were in his new phone. It was a
new number, but even without the sim card they had nearly
replicated everything.
“You totally know that’s bugged, right?” Landry was frowning at the
phone.
He stared at it. It likely was. He could totally see Valerius giving
orders to Simi or Chione to get a phone that they could track and
listen in to his calls, see his email and texts. He weighed it in his
hands. “You’re probably right. I’ll get another phone, a burner, so we
can discuss anything we don’t want Big Black to know.”
“Big Black?” Tilly giggled.
“Yeah, well, it does describe him, doesn’t it?” He grinned at her.
“Oh, I think your mom is coming this way, guys,” Landry said before
she faded back to the cash register.
Tilly and Caden exchanged worried glances. He stuffed the phone
quickly into his pocket, not wanting her to know just yet that he could
be reached. He wasn’t sure exactly why he did that, but it had a lot to
do with the fact that both his mother and father wanted to control
what was going on in some way and he wanted to think things out on
his own.
The bell over the top of the door jingled as she stepped through. She
wore the white robes of the Faith. There was sweat dotting her
forehead. She was blotting it with a handkerchief that she had pulled
out of an inside pocket.
“Oh, my goodness, is it hot out there!” she said, smiling at them both.
Both his and Tilly’s smiles were only half as real.
“It’s so beautifully cool in here though.” She touched Tilly’s cheek.
“You making a little extra cash to rule the world?”
“To feed my brother actually.” Tilly smiled.
“Oh, I can totally pay you back for breakfast now!” He reached into
the wallet that Valerius got him then stopped himself. “As soon as I
get my new bankcard, I mean.”
The wallet had a new license, bankcard and he’d even seen some
cash in there. He had almost given the cash back to Valerius when
he’d noticed it, but then he thought about how Valerius had arrested
his friends. He had determined at that moment to use it for pizza or
something for the group.
“You bought him breakfast?” His mother’s brow furrowed as she
petted her daughter’s head.
“Ah, yeah, we got fast food on the way here,” Caden said.
“Caden, you shouldn’t be doing that now!” Her alarmed expression
had him stiffening.
“Mom–”
Her voice lowered, “You’re not the only one in that body and it needs
to last a long time.”
Tilly frowned deeply. “Mom, it's still Caden. He’s still the same as he
was before. Why are you acting weird like it's not his body anymore?
Like he’s someone else?”
Caden could have almost kissed her. If they hadn’t been talking
about his super secret identity in the middle of the store. Though no
one seemed to notice.
“Tilly, we should discuss this elsewhere, but your brother is not the
same. He has greater power and responsibilities–”
“He’s still Caden!” Tilly actually stomped her foot.
Now people were looking. His sister was glaring at their mother.
Their mother had her tested patience face on. That was like a red
flag to a bull to his sister. Caden had to shut down his sister’s
awesome yet teenaged defense of him.
“It’s okay, Till. I think some figurines need dusting over there.” He
pointed to the opposite side of the store.
The feather duster quivered in his sister’s hand rather like the tail of
some wild animal. Then with a flounce, she said, “Fine!”
And stormed off.
He and their mother watched her disappear between two racks of
hoodies before turning back to one another. She reached out and
tentatively put her hands on his shoulders, smoothing them down his
arms.
“How are you doing?” she asked, tilting her head to the side as she
studied his face.
“I’m fine. Good, actually. It’s all good,” he lied.
“Really? Do you want to maybe go talk to someone?” she asked.
He frowned. “Like who?”
“Well.” She turned to look outside at the leader of her congregation
of the Faith. “Sister Sarah has a lot of wisdom –”
“No,” he cut her off.
“But–”
“I have really wise people to talk to already. Like Wally. Like Chione.
Like… like Valerius,” he said quietly. “Please tell me that you haven’t
told Sister Sarah or whatever her name is who I am, have you?”
His mother took half a step back, shocked at his vehemence. “N-no,
I just thought--”
“Good. You need to keep it that way. No one in the Faith is going to
know anything about me,” he told her, the anger flaring bright and
hot.
Over her shoulder, he saw Rose making her way through the crowd
of white robed figures. She was in her bee outfit. It was like a defiant
statement in yellow and black stripes of who and what she was. He
saw those white robed figures couldn’t twitch out of her way fast
enough as if afraid of touching her, as if she could contaminate them.
He shook his head in disgust. His mother turned to see what he was
looking at. He felt her stiffen beside him as she, too, recognized a
Swarm Shifter.
“I thought you worshipped Shifters,” he said to her.
“We worship the Spirits. The kind Spirits,” she answered with
confusion.
She hadn’t recognized Rose as his friend from last night. She just
saw a Swarm Shifter and thought this girl must contain a “bad” Spirit.
He knew his mom was a good person, but this was not a side he
liked. If he were totally honest with himself, he’d had the same
reaction to Rose when he’d first met her. It was a reaction that
simply shouldn’t be.
Valerius is right. I do think I can change things.
As soon as Rose opened the door, defiantly strutting inside, daring
people to run from her, Caden had broken away from his mother.
“Rose! I’m so glad you’re here!” he called as he wrapped her in a
hug.
The whole store seemed to go quiet for a moment as he embraced
the Swarm Shifter. Rose, herself, was so shocked by this second
hug that she stood still and awkward in his arms before patting his
back. He pulled away to see her face with its elaborate makeup.
“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” he said.
“I wasn’t sure either,” she admitted. Her eyes searched his face,
looking for dismay that she’d made such a grand entrance. “But
here I am!”
“Here you are!” He grinned at her. “And just in time as I sort of need
saving before I say anything more I’ll regret to my mom.”
She frowned and dropped her voice, “Is she giving you trouble? Is
she rejecting you?”
Rose was a mixture at that moment of fierce fight and flight. She
actually was angry on his behalf and ready to wade in. He could see
it in her narrowed eyes. But he could also see old pain there, too,
that she would have liked to avoid.
“No, no, nothing like that. She’s a member of the Faith and… you
know, Shifters are awesome,” he said and gestured towards his
white robed mother who was standing back politely smiling.
“Won’t you introduce me to your friend, Caden?” she asked.
He saw Tilly’s feather duster between the rows of sweatshirts. His
sister was coming to check out this newcomer, too. The rest of the
shop was still quiet and people were just pretending to browse while
they watched them out of the corner of their eyes.
“Yeah, Mom, this is Rose. Rose, this is my mom,” he said as he
gestured between them. “Rose helped me out yesterday after…
after… uhm, things. She really helped. Couldn’t have made it without
her,” Caden said in introduction.
His mother didn’t extend Rose a hand, but instead embraced the
incredibly startled Swarm Shifter. He heard his mother murmur,
“Thank you so much for helping my son, Rose.”
Caden’s anger against his mother suddenly completely melted away.
He had judged her too harshly. He should have known better. His
mother was a good person. Of course, she was. Why had he
assumed differently? Her weirdness was because this whole thing
was weird. How could he blame her?
She had pulled back, but was still holding onto Rose’s shoulders, a
wide smile on her face. Rose was looking at his mother's robes. His
mother colored.
“Oh, this is awkward. Although really, it shouldn’t be,” his mother
said with an uncertain laugh. “You’re a Shifter and I’m a member of
the Faith, but really we don’t get to talk to a lot of you. Even though
we… well, you know, worship the Spirits.”
Rose’s face was curiously blank for a moment, but then, as if she
realized that his mother was including her in the type of Spirits they
worshipped, she smiled softly. “Oh, I think it’s pretty cool. I mean, I’m
not worth worshipping or anything but the Spirits are… they’re…
yeah, they’re cool.”
“I don’t know about that. You saved Caden,” she said with a smile.
“I just took him to an exit. And it might have cost him something. I’m
from the Below so… he looked a little out of place and… well, I’m
glad I could help,” Rose said and ducked her head.
“I want to hear all about it. Caden, you must bring her to dinner
sometime. What about tonight?” his mother asked.
He thought of the Humans First meeting. “Can’t tonight. Rose and I
have something going on.”
“We do? Oh, yeah, we do,” Rose said, and he saw that she thought
he just didn’t want her to come to dinner.
“So what about tomorrow?” he asked. “Are you free tomorrow,
Rose?”
She blinked. “Uhm, yeah, I don’t have anything going on. Unless I
get a job here and I need to work.”
“I’m sure you’ll get the job.” His mother then called over to Wally
who was making his way towards them as well. “Wally, don’t
schedule Rose or Caden for work during dinner time. We have
plans!”
Wally waved an arm through the air. “Will do!”
Rose’s mouth had fallen open and she shifted from foot to foot,
clearly stunned.
His mother turned back to her. “Well, then, it’s settled! Tomorrow six
p.m. Caden will give you the address. Now, I better get out there.
Looks like the second dance to the White Dragon is starting.” She
touched Caden’s cheek. “I know you’re still you. I know.”
He suddenly hugged his mother. “I need you to still be you.”
She tightened her hold on him. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Caden. I’ll
figure this out.”
“We’ll figure it out,” he said.
She kissed his cheek before drawing towards the door. “Nice to meet
you, Rose. I’ll see you tomorrow for dinner.”
“Yeah, sounds great,” Rose said with an uncertain wave. The hard-
edged Swarm Shifter was nowhere in sight at the moment.
As the door closed, Rose looked at him, but there was no chance to
say anything before Tilly–preceded by the feather duster–charged
over and thrust out her hand to shake Rose’s. Rose took it
uncertainly and shook it limply.
“Hi!” she said. “I’m Tilly. Caden’s sister. You told her about me, didn’t
you?” She asked the last of Caden.
“I didn’t have the chance to –”
“You’re a Shifter?” Tilly asked.
Rose’s eyes dropped and she shifted uncomfortably, but she said
with a touch of her defiance, “Uhm, yeah, I’m a Swarm Shifter.”
Tilly’s eyes got huge. Caden dreaded for a moment what she might
say, but then she blurted out so loudly that everyone in the store and
probably the square could, too. “WOW! THAT’S SO COOL!”
And there was absolutely no lie in her voice. She meant it. Rose just
stared. Mouth dropping open again. Caden heard another kid in the
store ask her mom if she could go talk to the Swarm Shifter, too. Her
mother shushed her. But quite a few people drifted closer.
“It is really cool. She turns into bees. She can actually pollinate
flowers,” Caden said helpfully, but that got him a stern look from
Rose as if he’d revealed something intimate or embarrassing. He
thought it was cool.
So did Tilly. She clapped her hands together. “Oh, man, I have so
many questions! I don’t know if it’s rude to ask though. Is it rude to
ask?”
She looked pleadingly at Rose, hoping the Swarm Shifter would tell
her it was okay to ask as many questions as she wanted. Rose sort
of did that.
“Depends on the question,” Rose answered. “But, go ahead, if I don’t
want to answer, I won’t.”
“Okay!” Another clap of the hands. “When you turn into bees, what
does it feel like? I mean, you’re like hundreds of bees. Do you feel
like you’re split into pieces?”
Rose let out a startled laugh, but shook her head. “I’m still me, but
okay, imagine you reach for something with your hand, that still feels
like you, right? That’s a part of you. Every bee is a part of me. Like a
hand or an eye or whatever.”
“Oh, wow, okay, okay. What about when someone swats one of the
bees? Do you feel it? Does it hurt? Are you wounded when you turn
back into your human form?” Tilly asked, which were really good
questions.
Seeing people clustering around them, Rose pinked a little, but then
she made her voice more confident, “No one swats me. But let’s
pretend they foolishly did. I would sense it, but it wouldn’t hurt,
because my consciousness just retreats. If you lose a skin cell you
don’t feel the pain of that. And my energy forms another bee.”
“So cool,” Tilly murmured. “What’s it like to fly and how high have
you flown and–”
“Hold onto the questions for your own time, Tilly,” Wally said as he
came over, the balloon black dragon hat leading the way. “I’ve got
some interviewing to do before the three of you go to lunch.”
“Okay so–”
“I’m going to talk to her alone, Caden. You keep an eye on things out
here. We’ll be back,” Wally said. He was smiling, but Caden knew
that Wally was going to check Rose out, probably in a way that
Valerius would approve of.
Rose looked alarmed for a moment, but then her expression became
bland. He was certain that he only saw the alarm because she’d
been so disarmed by his mother and Tilly. She hadn’t expected
welcome and friendship. Suspicion of her was likely more her
element.
“You okay, Rose?” he asked.
“Of course,” she told him, her façade firmly in place. “Why wouldn’t I
be?”
He could think of so many reasons for her not to be.
“Cool. See you in a bit then,” he told her.
The two of them headed into the back. His sister touched his arm.
He looked down at her.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “Rose will be fine. Wally just is making sure
that Valerius isn’t right about her.”
“Yeah, he is,” Caden agreed.
“If she’s who you think she is, Wally will know,” she said. “And if
she’s not then Wally will know that, too.”
His sister went back to her dusting but Caden couldn’t quite distract
himself from the warehouse door.
I’m right about her. I know I am.
But still, he worried.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: PATH CHOSEN

Valerius returned to High Reach through the tunnels and secret

passages that connected all parts of the city, staying out of sight of
the populace, his Claw, and the politicians who were, undoubtedly,
looking for him. He had even made it up to his quarters in the highest
tower without anyone seeing him. He thought that he was in the
clear.
His shoulders relaxed at the thought that he had successfully evaded
everyone and could get some rest now that he knew Caden was
safe. For now. So long as he was working. After work was when
Caden planned something. Hopefully, it was something innocent,
some well-intentioned, but ill-thought out plan to help someone. He’d
be there to get Caden out of trouble.
We will? Raziel opened one eye, the red glow not quite sulfurous,
but honestly, questioning. Do we not have a kingdom to run? A
world to order? Are the childish machinations of the White Dragon
Shifter of such interest?
We have to keep him safe, Valerius answered.
Why? He is a Dragon Shifter, like we are. He is small, true. But how
is that our problem? Raziel didn’t sound angry as it had in the past.
He is in our territory.
We can make him leave our territory.
He is our citizen! Valerius growled. Why should we make one of our
own citizens leave? Are we incapable of handling him?
Both red eyes were open now. They searched Valerius’ soul for the
reason behind his passionate statement. Valerius knew this.
You wish him to stay, Raziel stated.
He is not leaving on his own. Unless we intend to physically throw
him from our territory and somehow bind him from not coming back,
he is staying, Valerius pointed out.
You wish him to stay, Raziel repeated.
I have no desire… for him to go. He is interesting. Valerius narrowed
his eyes. Besides, why would I want another of the Dragon Shifters
to have the advantage of him?
Advantage? Raziel raised its head. Weakness, you mean.
No, not altogether, Valerius said, hesitant even to admit that. Let us
say that Illarion gained him.
Raziel reared back, eyes blazing. He would choose Illarion!
Valerius cocked an eyebrow. Over us, you mean?
He would never choose Illarion! Sulfurous fires lit in Raziel’s throat.
But if he did. Illarion would simply imprison him. He would have the
power that the mating brings, but none of the weaknesses! Valerius
pointed out.
He would never--
If it was seeing someone hurt or mating with Illarion, which one do
you think he would choose? Valerius interrupted.
Black smoke surrounded Raziel until only its red eyes could be seen.
Their conversation about Caden was at an end.
For now, Valerius said. But we must make a decision about what we
are going to do in regards to him.
Raziel said nothing.
But as he disconnected from listening so intently to the Spirit, he
heard other voices. They were coming from inside his own quarters!
Like Raziel, he reared back and smoke would have poured from his
nose. Who would dare be in his quarters without his permission?
Chione, you must be behind this!
She had tried to track him down that morning. She’d wanted to talk
about the mate issue and what they were going to do about the
White Dragon Shifter and a million other concerns. He’d avoided her.
She’d evidently decided to beard the dragon in his den.
He froze in the foyer, hand on the door knob, unease threading
through him. He was just about to turn around and head back into
one of the secret passages to escape when Chione opened the door,
revealing him to all the people inside his room. Well, she was not
going to get to him! He would have his sleep without being pestered.
He turned to leave.
“Your majesty! We were just talking about you,” she beamed.
Valerius felt like a deer in headlights, if the headlights came from
people such as the President Goodfellow, Prime Minister Stanton
and the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, the
Raven Shifter Crispin St. John. Valerius would never admit it, but he
retreated a step. Chione reached and grasped his wrist. She wasn’t
going to let him flee his responsibilities.
“You brought people to my rooms. My private rooms,” Valerius
muttered as the Sphinx Shifter pulled him into those rooms that had
been invaded by pests.
“Indeed,” she whispered. “It was the only place I was certain you
would return to at some point. And you must do some ruling today.”
“I’m tired,” he warned her.
“And cranky, I’m sure. But you are always cranky.” Another flash of a
smile.
“You would dare say that to your king?” His eyebrows rose.
“Of course. I am your Councillor. I get to tell you many unwelcome
truths. Now, be a good Black Dragon King, and come meet with two
of the world’s leaders and the greatest legal mind in this
hemisphere,” she said, still beaming at him.
She shut the doors behind them then joined his guests. The two
world leaders and justice bowed low while Chione lowered her head.

“Please rise,” Valerius said gruffly as he brushed past them to the

wine rack. He opened a bottle of red wine and poured himself a large
glass. He did not offer them any. He didn’t want to encourage them
to stay.
It wasn’t quite noon yet, but he had a feeling he was going to need
alcohol to survive this meeting. The only thing that was sustaining
any bit of a good mood was the memory of his conversation with
Caden. The young man had taken his criticism of his naïveté and
innocence rather well.
At Caden’s age, he would have heard none of it. He probably would
have tried to punch whoever was giving him that advice. But Caden
was not violent. The young man seemed to think if one was simply
earnest and said what one truly thought that others would do the
same and act in the best for everyone. But that was not how life
worked. Yet, he, himself, felt drawn to Caden’s obvious goodness.
He’d be eaten alive by these people.
Valerius turned and seated himself at the head of the long table.
Setting his glass of wine down, he regarded his visitors evenly. “Why
are you here?”
He was not surprised when President Goodfellow stepped forward
and took a seat to his right. “We are here about the boy. The White
Dragon Shifter.”
Valerius gave her a stony look. She’d already revealed to the others
that she’d seen Caden outside his door last night? Could she keep
nothing to herself? In some ways, it surprised him that she would
reveal this information to anyone else. He thought, for sure, that she
would try to use it to benefit the United States in some way. But she
was as earnest as Caden was in some ways.
The Prime Minister took the seat opposite her on Valerius’ other
side. “We are also here because of the news that all the Dragon
Shifters have left their territories and are making their way seemingly
to Reach.”
The Chief Justice, who did not sit down, but instead slowly circled
the table, hands behind his back, eyes going everywhere, taking
everything in, even as he seemed completely uninterested said
nothing at all.
“Why are you here, Justice St. John?” Valerius asked.
“News travels fast in the Raven and legal community, as I’m sure
you know.” Justice St. John gave a thin smile. He was a man who
looked to be in his 80s, but St. John was far older than that. He had
been a lawyer in England when his Spirit found him. He looked
benevolent, but anyone who looked long enough into those sharp,
blue eyes would see that there was an incredibly shrewd brain
behind them. Shrewdness did not always mean goodness however.
Though Valerius had to admit he was just. “A new Dragon Shifter
interests the judiciary, because… well, the very basis of our new
society after the war was the determination that the world was to be
divided equally among the Dragon Shifters.”
“The eight Dragon Shifters,” President Goodfellow corrected.
“No, Madam President, it does not list any number. It only says that
the world will be divided equally amongst the Dragon Shifters,” he
corrected her with that dry, legal tone that stopped many people in
their tracks. “So, for right now, it is divided eight ways, but legally,
the White Dragon Shifter would have every right to have it divided
into nine.”
Silence fell at the table. Valerius immediately thought about Caden’s
statements that he had no interest in having his own territory, that he
wanted to remain here. No Dragon Shifter, not even him, would give
up any of his territory. So if Caden had felt otherwise, war would
have been inevitable. War among beings who could shatter
continents.
Others though want him to have a territory so that they could control
him and it. I won’t allow that to happen.
“I see,” Valerius said as he drained his glass. He stood up and
poured another. He continued not to offer anyone else any.
“Would you all like something to drink?” Chione asked, which, of
course she would. She always stepped in when his rudeness rose.
There were demurrers all around, which Valerius was both annoyed
and grateful for. Grateful, because he did not want to share his wine
with these people. It was his wine. It was a special blend that was
made just for him that he treasured. But he was annoyed, because it
made him drinking at this hour seem inappropriate and somehow
wrong. So he drained half the glass and topped it off. He was not
ruled by convention and the wine could not make him drunk.
“Why are the Dragon Shifters coming here? Is it because they
believe that the territories need to be redefined to accommodate the
White Dragon Shifter? Did you ask them here?” President
Goodfellow asked. Her hands were on the table and they curled into
fists. Her concern radiated off of her.
“Even Illarion has left his lair and is coming. What do the Dragon
Shifters want?” Prime Minister Stanton asked. His eyes were fixed
on Valerius too, without blinking, and tension had his back ramrod
straight.
“Obviously, we know that the introduction of a new Dragon Shifter
would interest them, but physically coming here is unexpected and
unprecedented,” Justice St. John said. “I suppose we should be glad
that they are not mobilizing their people to fight, but coming
themselves.”
Valerius let out a sharp bark of laughter as he sat down in his chair.
“You think we Dragons need anyone else when we intend to fight?”
He shook his head. His long black hair falling across his chest. “I
should have let them demonstrate our power more to all of you
during the War if such an intelligent being as yourself, Justice. St.
John, believes we need backup.”
“So they are coming here for war?” The Prime Minister looked pale.
President Goodfellow appeared as if she might leap up to mobilize
the U.S. military to action. But if the other Dragons were coming for
war that would do nothing.
“No, they are not here to fight,” he answered them.
There was a general relaxing of the figures around the table.
Those shrewd Raven Shifter eyes were on him again, and Valerius
knew that Justice St. John saw much even as Valerius tried to hide
his thoughts from him. His gaze shot to Chione and she inclined her
head slightly. She wanted him to tell them the truth about the mating.
In truth, he couldn’t hide this from everyone and claim it was Shifter
business. The seven other Dragon Shifters surrounding his territory
would terrify everyone. They needed to prepare the populace for
this. Even if Caden was still intent on remaining anonymous and
unmated forever.
They will not leave until they have an answer from him one way or
the other, Raziel muttered. We will be besieged.
Weren’t you the one saying that you wanted to be the only Dragon
Shifter on this planet? Valerius reminded him.
We could take them out one-by-one. This would merely be more
difficult if they are grouped together and work with one another,
Raziel pointed out.
So not even the great Raziel thinks it can take down all seven
Dragon Shifters? Valerius didn’t know why he was taunting Raziel.
He would want to take them out himself if they remained encircling
his territory.
It would be difficult.
“You do know why they are coming, don’t you?” President
Goodfellow asked tentatively.
“They are coming here,” Valerius began, swallowing down more wine
before continuing “to court the White Dragon Shifter.”
President Goodfellow let out a gasp. “Court?”
Whatever she had thought he would say that was not it. He didn’t
blame her. He was as shocked as they were about it still. Though he
was getting used to the idea. Toying with it.
Prime Minister Stanton’s forehead furrowed. “In a romantic way?”
Justice St. John said nothing, but waited for him to explain further.
He used these silences effectively in court and it worked here as
well.
“Some of the courting will be romantic, others will simply be
strategic. The White Dragon Shifter is to be the mate of one of us.
Bonding with him will grant much greater strength to us, but also… it
will weaken us,” Valerius explained, not liking talking about
weaknesses to these people.
“I take it that if the mate is harmed in some way then the dragon he
is bonded with will suffer harm as well?” Justice St. John guessed. It
was an excellent and correct guess. It just showed that his mind
was as sharp as Valerius thought and feared.
Valerius merely nodded.
“A true mate? Not some kind of fairytale?” President Goodfellow
asked more to herself than to anyone else. When the others looked
at her, she explained, “My daughter is in love with these Werewolf
Shifter books, movies and television shows. Surely you’ve heard of
True Alpha? The show where the Alpha of the Cold Moon Pack finds
his mate and it’s… well, nevermind. I’ve only heard of mates with
Werewolves. Never with other types of Shifters. And I’ve even heard
that it isn’t really true of Werewolves at all.”
Chione smiled. “I’ve watched that show myself. It’s quite romantic.
Werewolves are, in general, very romantic beings for all their brawn.
But, while it is rare, there are signs of true mates in the Werewolf
population. But this type of… bond between the Dragon Shifters
seems unique.”
And should have been revealed to me long ago, Valerius muttered at
Raziel, who said nothing.
Valerius inclined his head once more. “Let us not confuse what this
is with the romantic nonsense of fiction. The White Dragon Shifter is
not fated to be with any one of us. It gets to choose. If it were to
choose, it might foolishly do so out of a belief it is a love match.”
And Valerius could readily see Caden doing exactly that. So why did
such a thought, other than making him want to roll his eyes at the
innocence of it, also cause red to flood his vision and the urge to
rend someone to pieces. “But for the established Dragon Shifters,
the courting will spring out of a desire to extend their power. Even if
such a thing is very dangerous. As you no doubt observed, from
watching many times the videotaped battle between myself and the
White Dragon, the White Dragon is very small. Killing it would be
easy.”
And in his mind, he imagined the great Green Dragon, Illarion,
snapping that slender white neck and seeing the White Dragon fall,
lifeless, to the ground. He shook himself. Even imagining it was
horrific to him. He drained the rest of his wine.
“So all the other Dragon Shifters are coming here to show the White
Dragon what they have on offer? To seduce it away so that they can
be more powerful?” Prime Minister Stanton clarified. “So that they
can try and rival you, King Valerius?”
Valerius’ hand tightened around the thin glass stem of the wine glass
and felt it break under his fingers. “I have it on good authority that the
White Dragon Shifter has no interest in bonding with anyone or
having any territory of its own. It wishes to remain quite anonymous
and left alone.”
“I have heard that as well,” Justice St. John said as he proceeded to
circle the table. “It is also my understanding that it wishes to remain
in your territory, King Valerius, but there was some question as to
whether you wish it to remain?”
Chione stepped in quickly here and said, “King Valerius has made no
determination of any sort and you should not be listening to rumors
on the subject.”
Justice St. John paused in his pacing and lifted his chin, “We all
know how territorial Dragons are. They cannot bear to be within one
another’s territory for long. So I am assuming that there is some
truth to this rumor. But why leave us with only rumors? Why not just
say what your intentions are, King Valerius? Will you allow this
young Dragon Shifter to stay here or not? It is your decision after all.”
President Goodfellow leaned forward on the table. “You should allow
it to stay. Even if it does not choose to mate with any of the other
Dragon Shifters, its presence here will ensure greater stability for the
territory and greater protection. Two Dragons are better than one.”
“It is not a fighter. You saw how small it is in comparison to me. Its
nature is not one where it would be any good in a fight,” Valerius
answered her. And he did not want Caden near any other Dragon
Shifter in a fight. He wanted Caden safely away from such a battle.
“But that’s not entirely true, is it?” It was Chione who spoke, which
startled him. Normally, she would never dispute his words in front of
others, but she thought it was necessary here and now. “I believe
that it would fight to keep people safe. It might not fight for territory or
power, but to keep people safe? Absolutely. I believe it would give its
life for that. Don’t you think I’m correct, King Valerius?”
Valerius reluctantly nodded. “Yes, it would at that. For what good it
would do.”
“Unless you and he mated,” President Goodfellow leaned forward as
she said this. “That would increase your strength, ensuring that no
other Dragon Shifter--such as Illarion--would dare attempt anything
against this territory.”
“He does not dare now,” Valerius growled low and allowed some of
Raziel’s fire to appear in his eyes.
“No, but that could change. The White Dragon Shifter is a great
prize. If he could lure--”
“The White Dragon Shifter would never choose him!” Valerius
shouted and was on his feet. He slammed the broken wine glass
onto the table where it was crushed to a powder beneath his palm.
“It is staying here. In my territory. Under my protection.
Understood?”
He glared at all the participants in this conversation. President
Goodfellow blinked owlishly at him. Prime Minister Stanton tugged at
his tie as if it were too tight. Justice St. John pursed his lips. Chione
was smiling.
“Am I understood?” he repeated.
“Yes.”
“Oh, yes.”
“Absolutely.”
“So long as the White Dragon does not choose to mate with anyone
else,” Justice St. John pointed out dryly.
“I said he has no--”
“He is young,” the Raven Shifter pushed even under his sulphurous
glare. “And there is also the issue of territory and the law. Combine
this mating business and that and… well, it is an explosive
combination. We need order, King Valerius. You did that in the past
when things were dire. You need to do it now.”
And he knew that. He realized it. But while the exposure of Shifters
to the humans had seemed inevitable and so had given him a long
time to devise what to do, Caden had just appeared yesterday and
he’d had no idea he was coming. Everything was in upheaval and
there was no clear way forward.
And maybe this was why he said something he never would have
usually said, “I will need all three of your counsel on the matter.
While it is my decision in the end, I will hear what you have to say.”
“I am at your disposal, King Valerius.” The Raven Shifter bowed.
“And I am certain that these world leaders are as well.”
“Of course!” President Goodfellow rose to her feet and looked at
Valerius with such earnest intent.
“We are your loyal servants in this,” Prime Minister Stanton added as
he too rose.
“Good. Now, I would ask that you leave me for. Go think. Go plan.
Come back when you have some ideas,” he said as he turned
towards the sunlit balcony.
He heard them assure him that they would do just that. He did not
look at them. Just waved them away. Once the door was closed
beside him, he heard the soft tap of Chione’s shoes on the stone
floor. She stepped up beside him. Still smiling.
“Why are you smiling?” he snapped at her.
She put her arm through his. “You finally admitted that you want
Caden to stay. That is step one.”
He frowned. “And what is step two? And what are we stepping
towards?”
But she only smiled as she answered him, “We will see. But you
have started on a road. I cannot see the end yet. But it is good to be
starting.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: THE POWER OF WORDS

“I can’t believe you talked me into this!” Rose hissed into Caden’s
ear.
It was the fifth time she’d said it. He resisted the urge to remind her
that this was now mostly her plan and he’d given her a way out, but
she’d insisted on accompanying him. But he already knew that
they’d needed her, he’d asked and she was--amazingly--a sucker for
desperate causes.
“You’re a natural hero, Rose. That’s why you’re here. I can’t take
credit for it,” Caden said as he peered over the top of the empty
market stall towards where the Humans First people were gathering.
The closed marketplace and meeting were in a series of narrow,
winding streets and alleyways on the edge of the Mid. It was
considered “picturesque” but it wasn’t just for tourists. His mother
swore by the produce and meat here rather than the commercial
supermarkets. Tilly loved coming here for the cool t-shirts and
jewelry that the artists that populated the market had. The sense of
unfairness that she'd expressed when she hadn’t been allowed to
accompany them on this “mission” as she called it, would have been
doubled to know they were here, too. But the sellers had long ago
cleared out and their empty wooden stalls were left behind for use
the next day. Yet they were handy to stay out of sight of the Humans
First people that were clustered in an open-air coffee shop.
The shop was open and most of the people had cups of coffee in
their hands, murmuring to each other about various events. Of
course, the White Dragon was the foremost of all of their
conversations.
“…It’s smaller than the others. You suppose that means something?”
One man asked his companion.
“That just means it might die easier,” another responded.
Die? Caden’s eyebrows lifted.
The White Dragon Spirit frowned and shook its wings in agitation. It
did not like this talk of killing. It did not like this talk of dying and
hurting. These people were filled with anger and hate. It distressed
the Spirit.
I know, but we have to stay, Iolaire. We have to stop these people
from doing more harm.
The Spirit agreed.
“It’s a bad sign that there’s a ninth one now,” a third one remarked.
“That might mean there are more to come. It was going to be hard
enough as it was to fight eight Dragon Shifters. What if there are 10
next or 20 or 30?”
As if they could fight the eight? Caden shook his head. These
people are so crazy.
“Humans are part of a dying race if we don’t do something,” a
woman added.
What? Really?
“The only good Shifter is a dead Shifter,” a man muttered darkly from
the other side of the room.
“We just want equal rights. We don’t want to kill them,” a person
retorted.
“Speak for yourself,” the grim man responded.
Landry let out a pained gasp. She and Wally were behind the next
stall. Caden reached over and squeezed her shoulder. Her brothers
weren’t the speakers. They were standing beside the lectern that
had been set up for Jasper Hawes’ arrival. He was to give a speech.
“Are they really going to have a secret meeting in the open?” Rose
muttered. “If this is the kind of intelligence we’re dealing with then
they’ll get caught soon enough.”
“I don’t think they’re going to announce their evil doings over the mic,
but people are together so they’re going to talk. Wally’s rat forms are
hidden around the perimeter, listening in. Now, if we had someone
who could fly unobtrusively through the crowd or fly above them…”
Caden looked at Rose meaningfully.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this. I can’t,” Rose muttered as she took a
step away from him to shift.
“This was part of the plan you agreed with.” Caden said.
“Oh, yes, after you used your puppy eyes on me and your good
nature, I couldn’t help myself,” she reminded him.
She was referring to the conversation they’d had at lunch after Wally
had given her a job. So, at first, the lunch had been celebratory.
She’d actually been smiling, even though they were at Jane’s. He’d
tried to discourage her from going there--he’d told her to pick any
place in the Mid for lunch--but she had read into why he’d tried to
veer her away from there, and stubbornly chose it.
“She doesn’t like Shifters?” Rose had guessed.
“No,” he’d admitted almost sheepishly as if he were responsible for
Jane’s prejudice. But the truth was that he wanted Rose to have a
good experience in the Mid today so that her pessimism wouldn’t
grow.
“Then we’re definitely going there. I am in a good mood, but I must
remind myself that most people are not like you, Tilly and Wally. Most
people are garbage. Let’s go!” Rose had then firmly walked to Jane’s
bakery, parked herself at one of the tables outside and opened a
menu.
Jane had, at first, stayed inside her shop, looking at them then away,
as if she hoped that they would leave before she had to ask them to.
Tilly frowned as she watched this strange behavior.
“I don’t think Jane is going to take our orders,” Caden said quietly.
“We should go someplace else. I know a ton of better places--”
“They’ll all act the same, Caden. Swarm Shifters are not welcome so
we might as well stay where we are and make her do something. I
am scaring her other customers off by the way,” Rose replied, not
looking up from her perusal of the menu. “Chicken salad on brioche
sounds quite good. The brioche is homemade right?”
“It is,” Caden said. He glanced up and saw that Jane was staring at
them with dismay.
Tilly suddenly rose from the table. “I’m hungry. I’m getting Jane.”
“Till!”
“Caden, she’s racist!” Tilly hissed.
“She is, so she’s not going to react well to you calling her out. You
shouldn’t have to go through this,” Caden said.
Rose lowered the menu and took a hold of Tilly’s arm. “He’s right,
Tilly. I… I don’t want you exposed to this. Maybe we should order to
go and eat in the shop.”
“No, Rose! This isn’t right. I’m not going to let Jane treat you this
way!” Tilly cried.
And Caden was on his feet. He didn’t realize he was doing it.
“Everybody sit down. I’ll be right back.”
He was in the store before either of them could say anything in
response. Jane nearly jumped when the bell above the door rang as
he stepped inside. He knew that since she thought he was human
that she would treat him differently than she would any Shifter. Yet
he could feel Iolaire blazing with as much indignation and righteous
anger as he was. He was certain that the Spirit could be seen in his
eyes as he marched over to the counter.
“Why aren’t you coming outside to take our order, Jane?” he asked
point blank.
“Oh, because I was…” She gestured lamely at a washcloth on the
counter that she hadn’t touched since they sat down.
“The counter can wait to be washed, can’t it?” He picked up her
order pad and handed it to her along with a pen. “We’d like to order
now.”
She took it from him with weak hands then opened her mouth to
speak then shut it again then opened it once more, “I really… really
don’t …”
“Do you see that young woman with Tilly? Her name is Rose. She
helped me yesterday after the explosion. She’s working at Wally’s.
Just hired. This is her celebratory lunch. I told her how good your
food is,” he said.
“Oh.” Jane licked her dry lips. “I didn’t think that they allowed certain
people… uhm, up here.”
“Jane, if you are afraid of Rose, because she’s a Swarm Shifter, I
can assure you that there is no reason to be. She’s kind, if a little
outspoken, sort of like you,” he said with a faint smile. “She’s not
going to hurt you.”
“It’s not that.” Her eyes lowered to the counter “Not just that. Shifters
are… well, they’re one thing, but Swarm Shifters are quite another.
The type of Spirit joins with the same type of human. And Swarm
Spirits are always… well, you know how they are.”
“No one knows for sure why a Spirit joins with a human. But let’s
pretend you’re right. Rose is a Bee Shifter. She can pollinate flowers.
She’s good for gardens. If a bee stings you, it does so because it is
afraid of you, so afraid… that it dies after that one sting,” he told her.
“Does that sound evil to you?”
Jane looked down at the counter. “N-no, but she must be, mustn’t
she?”
“I’m telling you she’s not. Come out and meet her. Find out for
yourself,” he said.
“I don’t need to meet her to know that I don’t want her kind here,
Caden.” She looked at him almost helplessly. “I love you and Tilly,
but she’s scaring people away from the business. She’s… she’s…
well, I just can’t. I’m sorry. Any other time you and Tilly come--”
“How old does Rose look to you?” he asked, not wanting to hear
more along that line. His temper might get ahead of him and simply
screaming at her might feel good, but it would change nothing. He
was likely foolish and naive to think that Jane could change at all, but
he held onto that.
“Oh, I’m not sure. Shifters are ageless, aren’t they?”
“They stay the same age as when they bond with the Spirit. So
when Rose bonded with her Spirit, how old was she, do you think?”
he pressed.
“Nineteen maybe? Perhaps a little older but not much,” she
guessed.
“Your niece Anna is that age, right?” he asked.
“Well, yes--”
“Could you imagine Anna sitting out at a cafe not being served
because she was a Shifter?”
Jane’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “Anna would never be
a-- a--”
“What? Someone that can spread life? Someone that’s brave
enough to help others? Someone that could somehow deal with the
fact that everyone is afraid of her, loathes her, and moves when she
walks by? Someone that people are prejudiced against before she
even opens her mouth?” he asked, his hands fisting at his sides.
“That sounds very hard, but--”
“But what? Rose is a good person. Whatever you think you know
about Shifters isn’t true, Jane,” he said. “But how you treat Shifters--
how you treat Rose--will show a truth about you.” He let that sink in a
minute. “I’m going to go outside. If you are not out there in five
minutes to take our order, we’ll leave and never come back.”
“You and Tilly are always welcome just--”
“No, Jane. Tilly and I will never come back here. Not ever. Because
while you only think you know bad things about Rose, I’ll definitely
know bad things about you. It’s your choice. I really hope what I
learn about you in the next five minutes is something good, but that’s
all up to you,” he said and turned away, not waiting for an answer.
The bell tinged again as he exited the shop and went to the table to
sit down. He noted the time. Five minutes. He would not look in the
shop window. He was shaking a little. Tilly and Rose stared at him.
“What did you say? I wanted to go listen, but Rose stopped me.” Tilly
rolled her eyes.
“I gave her a chance to show who she really is,” Caden said, feeling
like those words felt a little dramatic, but realizing that they weren’t.
“You gave her some kind of ultimatum, didn’t you?” Rose cocked up
one eyebrow.
“Five minutes to serve us or none of us will ever come back,” he
confirmed.
There were four minutes left now.
Rose shifted uncomfortably in the wrought iron seat. “Look, this is
my fault. I don’t want you to have to not come here because of me.
This owner isn’t any worse than anyone else. Swarm Shifters have a
rep, you know? So maybe we should just--”
Caden put a hand on Rose’s arm. “Look, this isn’t just about you.”
When she gave him a look, he quickly added, “Not just about you.
It’s about not being blind anymore to this. I can’t sit back any longer
and--”
“And so you think a few well-spoken words--or stumbly ones in your
case--are going to change someone’s views?” Rose shook her head.
“God, Caden, I don’t know if that’s sweet or arrogant or just…
foolish. You think you can change the world?”
Three minutes left.
Caden scrubbed his face with his hands. Maybe Rose was right.
Well, partially right. Maybe a lawyer like his father or someone really
well spoken could reach Jane, but him? Before yesterday when
Iolaire chose him for some unknown reason to bond with, who had
he been? A shop clerk with no ambition and no real chance of going
far. Now, here he was, trying to champion Shifter rights.
Iolaire frowned at him, not liking these dark thoughts.
Maybe you should have talked to Jane, he suggested to the Spirit.
And that’s another thing. I get to hide behind speaking to Jane about
Rose when I’m not telling Jane that I’m one of the people she
despises.
Iolaire ruffled its wings. It’s blue-eyed gaze was impenetrable, but
there was meaning there, if only he could understand it.
One minute left.
“I’m afraid we’re likely never going to have any of Jane’s fresh baked
goods anymore, Till. I sort of made that threat,” he said to his sister.
“I don’t want to eat here if they won’t serve Rose and you anyways!”
Tilly cried.
“God, you’re as sweet as your brother. My bee form would just buzz
all around you, Tilly,” Rose said with a smile as she reached over
and ruffled the girl’s hair. Tilly giggled.
Time was up.
With his heart feeling like it had calcified in his chest, Caden stood
up and tried for lightness as he said, “Well, there’s this great Asian
place--”
“You aren’t going anywhere, are you?” Jane’s voice came from the
doorway. She was shouldering it open as she had a pitcher of
lemonade in one hand and a basket of her best light as air rolls in
the other. “Sorry for the wait, but I had to get these rolls out of the
oven. Fresh is far better.”
Tilly jumped up and held the door for her. She smiled her thanks.
“You’ve brought a--a new customer to my shop so I have to show off
my best,” Jane said as she came and sat both the pitcher and the
rolls on the table. Steam rose up from them. There was a cup of her
famous butter mixed with cheese that was already melting just from
being near the steaming rolls. She pulled out the pad and pen.
“Lemonade and rolls are on the house. But would you like anything
else? Why don’t you go first, d-dear?”
She addressed that comment to Rose, who had likely never been
called dear in her life by a server. Rose swallowed and said, “I really
like chicken salad. Do you recommend yours?”
“Oh yes, it’s my favorite, too. And the brioche is so buttery. You’ll
really like it,” Jane pattered.
She was nervous. Her cheeks were red. She was talking too fast.
She looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here. But she’d
come out. She’d done it. Caden sat down, feeling a bit numb. He
hardly remembered ordering his favorite club sandwich on toasted
whole wheat. He didn’t even hear Tilly order her ham sandwich on a
pretzel roll.
“Coming right up,” Jane said too brightly and raced back inside.
Tilly began pouring out the homemade lemonade into their glasses.
They were all quiet for about five minutes.
Taking a deep swallow of her lemonade, Rose’s eyelids fluttered
shut. “So good!”
“I know, right?” Tilly had drunk half of hers already. “I’m so glad that
Jane isn’t a racist. Or… that she’s trying not to be.
“Damn you, Caden. I was all set to hate humanity today and you’ve
just ruined it.” Rose clinked her glass against his.
Caden gave out a half laugh. “I don’t think it was me. I think it was
her. She’s not stupid. Logic can reach people. Even if it's coming out
all stumbly.”
“I do not want to swell your head,” Rose said soberly, “but I have to
say something."
“Oh, boy, what?” He looked at her nervously over the glass of
lemonade.
“Just that I’m totally seeing why the White Dragon Spirit chose you.”
He sputtered while Iolaire cooed.
“Don’t let that go to your head.” She smacked him lightly on the
temple.
“Ow! I won’t! I can’t even believe it worked,” he said. But he noticed
that people were staying away from Jane’s shop, and staring over
anxiously at Rose.
Rose touched his hand. “One person at a time, hero. You can’t
change the world in a day.”
“Uhm, how would you feel about giving two more pretty racist
humans a second chance?” he asked her, feeling this was the prime
moment to talk about Landry’s brothers, Ross and Harvey.
“I’m totally going to regret that comment about the Spirit choosing
you, aren’t I?” She scowled at him.
“Oh, yeah, totally.” He grinned back.
He’d then explained to her about how Landry’s brothers might have
been behind the bombing, or at least the smoke bombs, and his
desire to find out which. One of her eyebrows had crawled up into
her hairline. The other one had joined it when he had asked her to
help them do this.
“I want to help too!” Tilly enthused.
“How about no, Tilly?” Rose told her. “You are getting nowhere near
a Humans First group. They’re bad for humans and Shifters.”
Caden tried to stop beaming at how big sister and protector-like
Rose was already being to Tilly. Rose, who claimed to like nobody
and no one liked her! It was awesome.
“But you’ll help me?” Caden asked hopefully of Rose.
She had sliced one hand through the air. “Help you prove some
bastards in Humans First shouldn’t go to jail? Even if they didn’t
plant the bomb, why would I want to help them?” She asked sharply.
“Those guys want to kill me or imprison me or worse. They make
Jane’s racism look like politeness!”
“Because we can’t let the wrong people be blamed for this,” Caden
responded simply. “This could start a second war between humans
and Shifters.”
“The Shifters would win.” Rose continued to scowl.
“Yeah, likely, but what would happen to the humans? How do you
think they’d be treated afterwards? Do you want Tilly to be put into
ghettos like Illarion does with the humans in his territory?” he asked
her.
“No, but Valerius wouldn’t do that. Marban says for all Valerius’ bark,
he doesn’t really want to bite,” she said, but looked uneasy. “So
nothing would happen to Tilly.”
“You sure about that?”
“So you want Shifters to be responsible for planting the bomb? How
is that any better?” she asked.
He had told her about the young girl he had seen with the nightshine
in her eyes who had been carrying the backpack.
“No, of course not. But if the wrong people are judged for this, the
real perpetrators will keep on hurting people,” he told her. “If we can
make sure that only the guilty people are prosecuted for this in a
court of law--not by a mob--we could potentially bring the humans
and Shifters together. We could show that it was just this individual
or group of people who is responsible, not the whole other side,”
Caden explained. “There are people who break the law all the time.
It’s not because they’re humans or because they’re Shifters, it’s
because they’re bad people.”
“You know that most people aren’t going to make that distinction,
Caden, right? I mean they’re going to be smart people who will figure
that out.” Rose shook her head. “For every Tilly and you out there,
there will be people like my mom and dad and Jane who will still see
things in black and white. Human or Shifter.”
“You didn’t think I could convince Jane to serve us,” he told her
quietly.
“You didn’t either!” she pointed out.
He sighed. “Well, we were both wrong. Look, most people get scared
when they encounter something they don’t understand. And when
they get scared, they attack. But if you can reach them and stop their
fear, they won’t attack.”
“Caden, this is so above my pay grade.” She tilted her head back. “Is
this something I have to do to keep my job or our friendship? I mean,
I know I owe you, but this–”
“No! Of course not! You don’t owe me, Rose. I’m asking, because
honestly, we could use the help,” Caden told her. “The ability to shift
into little bees that could go into their meeting and listen? That’s
pretty damn awesome. It’s not like I can shift into my Dragon form
and hang out there.”
“I could help, too!” Tilly cried. “I’m small. No one would suspect me of
being a spy!”
“No!” Both Rose and Caden said that at the same time.
Tilly’s shoulders drooped and she glumly ate her sandwich. “You
guys are no fun at all.”
“Yeah, anyone who considers infiltrating a Humans First meeting as
fun is definitely not going,” Caden said firmly.
“Fine,” Tilly sighed and chewed a roll.
“Rose, forget I asked. Wally, Landry and I can handle it. I shouldn’t
have put you in this position,” Caden said, suddenly as glum as his
sister.
“I swear to God that you are too good to be true,” she muttered to
the ceiling, before she lowered her head and turned to look at him
face on. “If you really are as good as you seem, I should be trying to
protect you from yourself. Certainly not letting you go into Humans
First meetings. Look, I hate the police and the Claw, but you should
go tell them what you know about Landry’s brothers and leave it at
that. Let them handle it.”
“Do you really think that the Claw or the police will give Landry’s
brothers a fair shot?” He asked her.
“That sounds very pessimistic of you, Caden. I would expect you to
be saying that they would give them a just hearing. I’m afraid I’m
infecting you with some common sense.” She gave him a lopsided
smile. “No, I don’t think that the police or Claw will act right out of a
sense of justice, but I think they will act rightly out of self-
preservation.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“They need to know who’s really doing this. Because, like you said,
leaving the real bad guys out there means more bombs,” she
explained. “So they will look farther than just Landry’s brothers. I’m
pretty sure those guys will still be going to prison, but the police and
Claw won’t stop investigating. They’ll want to find how deep the rot
goes.”
“I will tell Valerius about this, but only after I check it out myself.
Landry is one of my best friends. I can’t…” He pressed his lips
together as he tried to find the words to encompass his feelings on
the matter. “She’ll never forgive herself if she’s responsible for her
brothers going to jail for something they didn’t do.”
Rose ran her fingers through her yellow and black hair. “And you are
loyal, too! What a surprise!”
“I’m not a saint, Rose. I’m just her friend. Like I’m your friend. And
that’s why I am telling you now, that you don’t have to come with us.
Like I said, I probably shouldn’t have even asked,” he said.
“But you need me,” she said simply. “Wally might have been some
big criminal mastermind back in the day, but he hasn’t been an
operative in a long time. That’s what I do.”
His eyebrows crept up into his hairline. “Operative?”
“Operative sounds so cool,” Tilly breathed. She’d dropped her roll
and was staring at Rose with open admiration.
“Operative. Infiltrator. Spy.” Rose waved a hand through the air as if
it was no big deal. “You need people that are used to being small
and insignificant and unnoticed, but who hear and see everything to
fill those roles. I can tell you that’s been me for a lot of years.”
“The last thing I would describe you as is small, insignificant or
unnoticed,” he told her.
“Only because I’m trying not to be,” she explained. “But I can blend
in. So, where is this Humans First meeting going on and what’s your
plan?”
And he told her. And then she told him that his ideas sucked. And
then they made a better plan. Which had brought them here to the
closed market.
“All right, all right, time to get my bee on,” she grumbled, but she
sounded a little excited about it.
She went behind another stall to strip out of her clothes, because
even in the night shrouded market, he could see as easily as if it
were high noon. Not that he would have looked. But still he gave her
privacy. Though when he heard the soft buzzing, he did turn and his
eyes widened. Landry let out a gasp.
There was a tower of bees, as large as Rose had been. They swirled
like a bee tornado, moving as one. His lips parted in awe as the bees
flew up the ceiling and like a fluttering silk scarf moved along it until
they reached the alleyway and open air. They then spread out and
became impossible to see in the dark.
“That was beautiful and scary,” Landry whispered.
He nodded. “Glad she’s on our side.”
Landry nodded. She gripped his hand though suddenly. He turned to
look where she was facing. A well-dressed man had just gone to the
lectern. It was Jasper Hawes. He smiled like a model for a Crest
commercial and raised his hands in the air to stop all the hooting and
hollering and applause for his appearance at the event.
“It’s good to see such an excellent turnout tonight,” he said to more
applause. His eyes narrowed. “But, then again, movements gain
more power when they take action instead of simply saying words.”
Caden’s heart fell. Jasper’s words indicated that Humans First was
behind the bombing. Landry’s brothers were in such big trouble. And
maybe the world was too.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: A GOOD CAUSE

Valerius brought up the tracking app on his phone that told him
wherever Caden was or, at least, where his phone was. He really
should chip the damned, innocent boy, but the phone tracking was
the best he had for now. Caden was half a mile from him. He pulled
the hood of his long coak up over his face. Though few people in
Reach--or really anywhere--had seen him in person, there was
always the risk he could be recognized. And he needed to be
incognito, especially considering where Caden was.
He had been right to be suspicious of Caden’s behavior earlier and
this supposed “thing” Caden had to do before they went flying
together. The young man was near where a Humans First meeting
was taking place. Even if Valerius hadn’t been tracking Caden’s
phone, the Claw had eyes and ears on every one of their meetings.
They especially noticed people hiding behind market stalls. Valerius
tried not to roll his eyes at this amateur spywork. The real question
was why Caden was spying on a Humans First meeting at all.
Caden must know something about the bombing he is not telling me.
He is loyal to his friends to a fault. Could one of them be mixed up in
this?
There was a soft beep in his ear from the earpiece for the phone.
He answered. It was Simi. The Captain of the Claw was running this
mission of watching Humans First very closely after the bombing.
“My king,” Simi said.
“What is it?” Caden’s location hadn’t changed since Simi had
contacted Valerius about seeing the young man at the meeting.
“Jasper Hawes has shown up,” Simi informed him, his voice tight.
Like most Shifters--Hell, like most people --Jasper was the human
equivalent of an irritant in one’s shoe. “And the Swarm Shifter that
Caden befriended is with him. She’s transformed into her Spirit form.
Looks like she’s gathering intel.”
Valerius grunted. “That is the first intelligent thing that they’ve done.
We should question her.”
“I believe that Wally is also present in his rat forms,” Simi added,
"though he kept himself out of sight from the beginning."
“He has a little more surveillance experience than the children,”
Valerius admitted.
“We also may have some information on why Caden is here. It’s still
just a guess,” Simi cautioned.
“Tell me.”
“The young woman he works with.” Simi paused as he must have
confirmed the name, which he said, “Landry Thicket. While she’s
dabbled online looking at anti-Shifter propaganda, it’s her brothers,
Ross and Harvey, that had caught our attention before. The rumors
are that they were behind the bonfires in front of the courthouse and
the burned effigies of the Spirits. We couldn’t confirm it, but we’re
pretty sure it was them. Jasper paying a visit to their house the other
night also makes it clear that they have influence in Humans First.”
Valerius’ expression went grim. He had seen Caden’s caring for this
girl, Landry. She had also been very loyal to him. But it was too
dangerous for Caden to be friends with someone who had this close
of a tie to Humans First. Not if Caden wanted to keep his identity a
secret.
“Anything else?” Valerius' voice was clipped.
“Just that I have three people seeded throughout the crowd. We’ve
got eyes on Caden and Landry. And, finally, Jasper’s speech sucks,”
he added the last with a twist of lemon in his voice.
Valerius grinned. “Not surprising.”
“Are you headed towards the meeting?” Simi asked tentatively. It
was clear that his Claw Captain didn’t think it was a good idea. But
Caden was there so he was going to be there.
“Yes, I will be present. No one will see me though,” he said.
“Of course, my king. I will keep you informed of everything that’s
occurring,” Simi said, masking his dismay at Valerius’ plans relatively
well.
“I’m sure.” Valerius ended the call.
He prowled through the night streets of the Mid. He often did this
incognito, feeling the mood of the populace without any filter. It
reminded him of the days before the War when he had been
unknown except to a very few. Even other Shifters had not known
his name, his face, or were even sure of his existence. He had been
a legend. Until the existence of Shifters had become a done deal
and things had gone to Hell. Esme had told him afterwards that if he
had taken his rightful place as leader of the Shifters earlier, that the
War might never have happened. She also stated that since he
hadn’t, he couldn’t complain about it.
“Sit in the shadows and no one will see your scowling handsome
face.” Esme had actually squeezed one of his cheeks after she’d
said that.
Valerius had actually believed that the War between humans and
Shifters had been bound to happen at some point. The moment
humanity discovered the Shifters--and the moment the Shifters got to
live openly--there was bound to be friction that led to violence. The
current violence between Humans First and the Shifters showed that
regardless of who was king, the nature of both sides was to fight. As
king, he was only just tamp it down to bare embers.
At least until now.
And, of course, Caden would be in the middle of this danger.
Valerius sped up his walk. He kept mostly to the shadows, his face
deeply hidden within his cloak’s hood, careful not to make eye
contact with anyone. Those who did notice him kept a wide berth. He
knew he was huge compared to most people, and the way he moved
was predatory. Even if they couldn’t articulate why, they knew he was
dangerous and that they should best avoid him.
Caden, however, hadn’t acted like that at all once he’d gotten over
the shock of meeting him. The young man had gotten right up in
Valerius’ space and stayed there, smiling and cooing. Valerius shook
his head. Caden had absolutely no sense of self-preservation.
Thinking about that, he was glad that he had not left Caden’s safety
to the Claw. They would not understand how foolish the young
Dragon Shifter could be.
The cobblestone streets were wet from being washed down after the
market had closed for the night. He could still smell the remnants of
fresh vegetables and fruit. There were the salty remnants of fish and
rich remnants of blood from butchered meat. Raziel was enjoying the
scents as only in the human form could he get so close to human
life. For Raziel, to be this small was often strange and annoying, but
at other times he relished it. This was one of those times.
Valerius smelled Caden’s unique scent before he caught sight of the
young man. The wind was blowing towards him and he picked up all
the scents of the clustered people, but his senses automatically
zeroed in on Caden’s. He stepped off of the main road and into the
maze of stalls. He moved between them silently. Not even Wally’s rat
forms would have twitched a whisker at his silent, stealthy tread.
Caden certainly didn’t until he was almost upon them.
The young Dragon Shifter and Landry had their heads practically
pressed together as they were peering over the top of a market stall
towards the crowd of Humans First and their speaker Jasper Hawes.
It was only at the last minute that Caden turned his head towards
Valerius. He knew then that the young man’s Dragon Spirit had
alerted him.
Caden’s eyes grew almost cartoonishly wide as he took in Valerius’
approaching figure. The Dragon King knew that he looked imposing.
He had on all black. Black pants, black boots, a black sleeveless
shirt with a high neck and finally the black long coat with the black
hood. But Caden had no doubt who he was. The young man’s lips
parted as if to offer an excuse for clearly doing something he
shouldn’t. Caden blindly tapped Landry's shoulder and the young
woman swung around. She almost screamed in response to seeing
Valerius, but Caden slapped a hand over her mouth at the last
moment.
Valerius gestured for the two of them to come with him, away from
the Humans First meeting. But Caden shook his head violently and
gestured instead for Valerius to join them in their ridiculous spying
mission. Valerius frowned and shook his head. Caden gave him that
puppy dog expression. He could see the White Dragon Spirit and it
was gazing at him and Raziel with a sweetness that shouldn’t have
been possible to express on a Dragon’s face. But there it was.
Valerius clamped down on a sigh. Raziel was staring at the White
Dragon Spirit with complete mystification. It occurred to Valerius that
Raziel found this White Dragon Spirit’s behavior as mystifying as he
did. That meant that he hadn’t been wrong all these years about how
dragons behaved and what those types of Spirits sought in their
human counterparts. But the White Dragon Spirit completely
upended those ideas.
Realizing that Caden was not going to come unless he grabbed him
by the scruff of the neck and dragged him away, Valerius crouched
down and crab-walked over to them. As soon as he reached
Caden’s side, could feel the young man’s body heat radiating against
him. Caden was sweating and clearly excited--not to mention afraid--
because of this daring adventure he had gotten himself into. He also
likely was worried about Valerius' opinion of what he was doing.
Or am I just deluding myself?
“I thought we agreed that you weren’t going to do anything else
stupid, Caden,” Valerius growled low in his throat.
The young man turned towards him and there was a delicate pink to
his cheeks. “Actually, you were the one who talked and I sort of
stared at you and often disagreed. Then you swept out of the shop
like you’d made a proclamation.”
“You…” Valerius scowled at him, temporarily speechless. “You
should have agreed! It would be better for you to agree!”
“I know you think that. But we’re here for a good purpose,” Caden
assured him with that disconcerting earnestness.
Valerius took in Landry’s stiffnecked form and her frightened, darting
glances over at him. While she had been afraid of him the night
before, she had been brave, because she wanted to save her friend.
The fear he sensed coming off of her now–and the acrid scent of it--
told him that this was an altogether different terror that held her still
and rigid.
“You believe that Landry’s brothers are behind the bombing?” He
guessed.
That had Caden’s mouth propping open in an ‘O’ surprise. Landry
curled into a tight ball. Valerius sighed.
“I cannot believe the two of you thought you could be spies when
you fold so easily. I was guessing by the way. But now I know that
you believe that Humans First and Landry’s brothers are part of this
mess. The question is why do you believe this?” He asked them
both.
Before they could answer, Jasper Hawes’ voice rose up at that
moment in a fervent tone, “For too long we have been treated like
second-class citizens in every city, town, and village of this great
planet! Human beings created the society that Shifters now rule!”
Valerius scowled. Humans never ruled. They only thought they did.
The Shifters were here all along.
Hawes continued, “How many of you fear about your children’s
future?”
As if Shifters do not care about future generations? Please!
But Hawes went on, “How many of you wonder if they’ll be allowed
to do any job above that of trash collector?”
There were roars of rage. Valerius saw that though Landry was still
stiff, there was something in her expression that told him she agreed
with Hawes.
Hawes put a finger up into the air as he listed off the ways humanity
was limited, “The law profession is completely taken over by Raven
Shifters! The military and police are infested by Werewolves and the
Big Cat Shifters! And while there are a sprinkling of human
politicians, we all know that our democratic processes are nothing
more than just a façade!”
Valerius’ right eyebrow raised. You try dealing with President
Goodfellow and tell me you still feel that way!
Hawes’ voice rose up in a near yell, his voice reverberating over the
microphone, “The Dragon Shifters run everything!” He leaned
forward on the podium. “If you think I’m exaggerating, consider what
happened yesterday. Over a dozen people were killed in the Below
by Valerius and yet has he been held to account?”
Valerius winced. What Hawes said was, of course, true. How ironic
that it mirrored Marban’s words on the same subject. But it had been
an accident. A terrible and tragic accident. Raziel’s red eyes hooded
but it said nothing.
Valerius turned back to Caden and Landry. “I know that you think
you’re helping a friend, Caden. And I’m sure you’re trying to save
your brothers, Landry. But if they are involved in making bombs–”
“But they aren’t! They can’t be!” Landry said, her voice clogged with
tears and regret. “I love my brothers, but they aren’t that smart to
make bombs.”
“But they are smart enough to plant them, aren’t they?” He pointed
out.
“The bomb was planted by a Shifter girl, remember? I told you.
Landry knows a lot about who is in Humans First and they don’t let in
kids, let alone Shifters, so she couldn’t have been working for them,”
Caden pointed out. “Maybe her brothers just set off the smoke
bombs.”
“The diversion for the planting of the bomb, you mean?” Valerius
looked critically at Caden.
Caden winced and lowered his head. “Or it was just a coincidence!”
“Do you really think that? The Shifter girl planted a bomb when
Landry’s brothers just happened to create a diversion for her?”
Valerius couldn’t hide the disbelief in his tone.
“I don’t know! I just… I just… I don’t know.” Caden hung his head.
Valerius’ gaze shifted towards Landry. “Why do you know so much
about Humans First, Landry? Is it because you were intrigued by the
idea yourself of human beings being on top or were you checking up
on your brothers?”
How she answered this question would tell him quite a bit about her.
She lowered her head and picked at the seam of her pants.
“Both, I guess?” She answered in the form of a question, but then
firmed her voice and said, “Both. But I was wrong! I know that now.
But things seem just so desperate for human beings. You don’t
understand how it is, King Valerius. There are fewer and fewer types
of jobs available to us. Jasper Hawes isn’t wrong in what he said.
Even Caden’s dad has experienced that and he was the head of his
class at law school!”
Valerius looked over at Caden to confirm or deny that. Caden
nodded his head. “Dad’s been saying it for years. He was just made
a partner as a token. All of his skills are ignored. But, then again,
even he admits why would you want a human with at most 50 years
of experience when you could have a Shifter lawyer who has
hundreds? The playing field is so uneven, but nobody wants to be
given a hand up just because they’re human.”
“It is a problem. There are some things that Shifters are simply better
at. That cannot be denied,” Valerius answered with what he had
thought was sympathy.
“Do you even hear how that sounds?” Landry cried. “It’s so racist!
Like we can’t be as good as Shifters? I just don’t believe that’s true.”
“It is not racist. Not as you are thinking based on the ridiculous basis
of the color of one’s skin. Consider this, who is better able to be a
soldier? The Werewolf who can run for days without tiring? Who can
rip people in half with their bare hands? Who can heal from bullet
wounds in moments? Or the human who can do none of those
things?” he posed to her.
It was Caden who answered, “In terms of simple physicality, the
Werewolf is clearly better, but the human might be more adept at
planning or handling stress or who knows! It’s another perspective.
It’s valuable.”
Valerius shrugged. “Perhaps that is true. But you understand that it
is not as if there are no real differences between Shifters and
humans. There are differences between Shifter and Shifter as well.”
“Captain Simi is a Snake Shifter. Not exactly Claw material though.
But you made him a Captain,” Caden pointed out.
Valerius shrugged again. This time with a little less confidence. He
didn’t like the boxes that people were put in based on their Shifter
type. He chose people based on what they could do. What they had
the heart to do. But he knew he was in the minority and he didn’t do
it often. Humans were under a double prejudice. But the hate that
Hawes spread was dangerous and didn’t change anything.
At that moment, Valerius heard soft footsteps coming towards their
location. He turned his head and saw shadows approaching.
Someone knew they were here. He grabbed both Caden and Landry
and dragged them away from the stalls towards the back wall where
there was a makeshift wall with a chain link door that led into a
stinking alleyway. The trash from the market sellers’ stalls had not
yet been picked up for the night. There were piles of rotting
vegetables and bruised fruit overflowing the trash bins.
Valerius put his back against the wall right by the chain link door. He
gestured to the other two to be quiet. Landry was shaking like a leaf.
The White Dragon Spirit was ready to come out to protect Caden.
Raziel made a gesture with its one claw for the other Spirit to remain
calm. The White Dragon Spirit eased its tense position a little bit.
Valerius strained his hearing and realized that there was more than
one person following them. He leaned out to see a man and woman
standing at the stalls where they had been hiding.
The man said, “Jason told me that he spotted two kids here. Where
did they go?”
“Maybe they heard us coming and took off. I don’t understand why
Jason was so concerned about two people listening into a meeting
open to the public,” the woman answered with a wave of her hand.
“Curious kids come around the meetings all the time. Maybe they
wanted to become members, but were too shy. Even if they were
Shifters, there were only two of them against all of us.”
“You think Shifters wouldn’t try to get violent with us? Jasper is telling
the truth about them. They better be afraid. They better want to take
us out before we take them out,” the man grunted.
Valerius resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
The woman asked, “What about these two kids had Jason all
worried?”
The man moved closer to her and though he was whispering,
Valerius heard him loud and clear, “The young man might be the
White Dragon Shifter.”
Valerius’ body went cold. Caden went rigid beside him. He had
evidently heard the conversation too. Landry was completely
unaware, but staring at them both curiously. Even though Valerius
had never believed that Caden could keep who he was secret for
long, he had hoped that the young man’s identity would remain quiet
at least for a little while. He definitely didn’t want Humans First
knowing who Caden was.
“How do they know?” The woman asked, clearly unimpressed with
this intel.
“There is a video. Jason saw some of it. That’s all I know,” the man
said.
They know about the video. This Jason saw it. We have a mole.
The woman shrugged. “Well, if the White Dragon Shifter was ever
here, he’s gone now.”
The two of them wandered off. Valerius drew back and looked at
Caden and Landry.
“I need to know everything the two of you do. And what your two
Shifter friends know and find out tonight as well,” Valerius growled.
Caden’s mouth fell open again. “Don’t look surprised, Caden. I know
about Rose and Wally’s participation in this little adventure. I am the
king of this realm.”
Caden opened and shut his mouth but then, finally, said, “I guess I
shouldn't be. But you are the first person in power I’ve ever met. I
mean there’s only one of you, Valerius. It’s hard to–”
Caden’s voice was cut off by a sudden and violent explosion. They
were all knocked to the ground. Only Valerius mostly kept his feet
and stopped the other two from being injured. The smell of blood and
explosives filled Valerius’ nose. He heard screams and shrieks and
then moans. He immediately turned and looked out the slightly open
door. Where the Humans First meeting had been, smoke and flames
and horror had taken its place.
Someone had set off another bomb.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: CITY DRAGON, COUNTRY DRAGON

With his heart in his throat and the reverberation of the explosion in
his ears, Caden was moving towards the chain link door to get to the
injured people when Valerius caught his shoulder and pulled him
back.
“What are you doing? Let me go! I need to get to the people!”
Caden struggled, but he couldn’t shake off Valerius’ hand.
“No, Caden, you cannot be seen here!” Valerius growled. His
expression was wrenched. “Neither of us can. We must go now.”
“But my brothers!” Landry’s face was white as milk.
From his expression, Caden guessed that Valerius’ heart went out to
her. Though the two boys were in Humans First, they were citizens
of his realm and he had been unable to save them. Valerius' words
confirmed this, “You can go, Landry, but tell no one of Caden, myself
or any of the plan, understood?”
She nodded her head like she was a marionette on strings. She flew
out of the alleyway and through the door to the bomb site.
“Valerius, I want to help!” Caden cried.
The White Dragon Spirit was making wounded sounds, wanting to
nuzzle hurts and spread its wings over the injured.
“You think your presence or mine would help in this situation? At a
bombing of a Humans’ First meeting?” Valerius’ eyebrows rose.
Caden thought of how the two Humans First members had known
that the White Dragon Shifter was there. And that they must know
what he looked like.
“I don’t care if people know who I am!” Caden wouldn’t trade
people’s safety for his own.
“Do you have medical training?” Valerius asked, his expression
curious.
“I… no,” Caden admitted.
“Are you a police officer?”
“You know I’m not!” Caden thumped one hand on Valerius’ chest.
“So how could you help? There is no bomb that either of us could
block with our bodies. There is no way to turn back time.” Valerius
gently took both of Caden’s hands in his. It was so tender that it
shocked him and Caden felt the burn of tears in his eyes.
“But–but to just run away–”
“Do you think I wish to leave? Do you think I want…” Valerius bit
back whatever words wanted to escape his lips. “Think about this,
Caden. A bomb set off amongst people who hate Shifters and the
two of us are within shouting distance of it.”
Caden grew pale. “They’d think it was us. That we were responsible
even though if we wanted to kill anyone we’d hardly need to use a
bomb!”
“Exactly, but they would say that you were in the presence of two of
the bombs and that I was silencing someone who had just called me
a murderer,” Valerius reminded him.
Caden understood it all then. Valerius and he would be cast as the
villains. The true culprits would never be caught. He cast around to
make sure no one was around. “We can’t be found here.”
“I’m glad you agree.”
Valerius gently took his elbow and led him down the alleyway, past
the stinking piles of vegetables whose stench couldn’t quite hide the
acrid smell of explosives in his nose. Caden drew against the
powerful body as the sounds of moans, cries and shouts of pain and
bewilderment slowly faded out as they moved away from the site of
the bombing. Valerius made a call.
“Simi?” Valerius asked, anxiety sharpening his tone.
“Are you safe, your majesty?” Caden could hear Simi’s strained
voice over the earpiece in response.
Valerius softened his tone. “You can hear that I am. Nothing could
happen to me in any case. Now, what do you know?”
“Single explosive device. Looks to have been placed at the back of
the meeting hall. We have over two dozen injured. Two confirmed
dead,” Simi answered crisply.
The realization that Wally and Rose could have been injured
occurred to Caden at that moment. The emotional impact was like
walking into a brick wall. He skidded to a halt. Valerius looked down
at him.
“Wally. Rose. Are they among the injured or… or… or dead? And
Landry’s brothers?” Caden’s mouth was dry as dust.
“Simi, are Wally or Rose among those you mentioned? What about
Landry’s brothers?” Valerius asked.
Caden blinked as he realized that Simi knew exactly who all of these
people were by first name. It made sense he would know about
Wally, but Rose? How did they know about her? And had Landry’s
brothers gotten on the Claw’s radar already? Caden then realized he
didn’t care how. He just hoped that Simi knew Rose and Wally well
enough to identify them.
“Ross and Harvey are huddled around Jasper Hawes, who made it
out just fine, too,” Simi’s voice showed almost disappointment at
that. “Neither Rose nor Wally was among the injured or dead. I see
no sign of them. They must have headed out of there immediately.”
Caden let out a breath and curled forward, hands on his knees, as
relief flowed through him. Valerius stroked his back and he found
himself pressing up against that hand, relishing the solidity of it.
“Anyone claiming responsibility?” Valerius asked.
“No one. Just like last time,” Simi responded.
“Keep me informed,” Valerius instructed and cut the call. But he was
soon making another one as they started walking again. It was not a
surprise who he was reaching out to as he said, “Chione.”
“Valerius, is Caden all right?” she asked.
Caden pinked. He was touched that she was worried about him.
Iolaire raised its head and puffed out its wings.
“Of course, I was here and his Spirit would not let anything happen
to him,” Valerius answered.
“Yes, you’re right, but both of them are so new and young and–”
“Foolish? Yes, but they’ve already come up against one bomb in as
many days,” Valerius interrupted.
“I’m not foolish!” Caden protested, but somehow having to argue that
point didn’t seem to be helping his cause.
“Will you be coming back to High Reach?” she asked.
“No, I am going to proceed with my plans. That is better, do you not
think?” he asked.
“Yes, most likely. Tomorrow though… you should speak. The people
need to hear you,” she said.
“If I have anything to say. You know the line I walk,” he told her.
“Yes, but you forget to add people’s simple need for you into your
balancing,” she responded gently.
Valerius said nothing, but Caden thought his expression grew more
pained at the thought of people needing him.
“We must find out who is behind this, Chione. It must be stopped,”
Valerius’ voice was arctic.
“Yes, my king.”
He ended that call and they continued to walk through the winding
alleyway in silence.
“If we’re not going to High Reach, where are we going? Maybe we
should head over to Wally’s. He and Rose might have seen
something,” Caden suggested. “I should text them–”
Valerius grabbed the phone and stuffed it in the pocket of his long
coat. “That is the last thing you will do. There will be no evidence of
you being here or having any part in this. Text messages included.
Wally and Rose will be questioned and informed that you are fine.”
Caden understood this reasoning. “So I should head home and–”
“You need to shift. We are doing that, remember?” Valerius
interrupted.
“But isn’t Chione right? Shouldn’t you be there and not in some field
somewhere showing me how to shift?” Caden asked.
“Anything I say to the people must be based on facts. I will not have
those facts until the investigation is done,” Valerius explained. “The
authorities and the elected officials will jump to speak and assure
their constituents that all is well. I cannot.”
“Because you don’t think that things are going to be okay?” Caden
studied Valerius’ mostly hidden face.
The Black Dragon King looked grim. His powerful jaw was clenched.
His lips were compressed into a tight line. His eyes burned with bale
fire. Caden would not want that look sent towards him.
“Partially, and also, because if I get involved then anyone who has ill
feelings towards me–and there are many–will be emboldened to hurt
more people,” Valerius answered.
“Well, at least we know it wasn’t Humans First that set that first
bomb,” Caden said. “That narrows things down, doesn’t it?”
“What makes you think it wasn’t them?” Again, Valerius was raising
an eyebrow as if Caden were being foolish again.
“Because they wouldn’t bomb their own people! And Jasper Hawes
was there! So–”
“Those are the exact reasons Humans First could be behind both
bombings,” Valerius carefully explained. “Do you think there were no
Humans First members in the Square yesterday? Because there
were. They would have died just the same as everyone else but for
your bravery. Jasper Hawes is a zealot, Caden. Zealots believe in
sacrifice especially if it doesn’t involve themselves.”
“Yeah, I guess Jasper wasn’t hurt.” Caden frowned.
“The bomb was at the back of the crowd, far away from him and
anyone in the higher ranks of the organization. How very lucky for
all of them, don’t you think? Just some low level people killed or
injured that they can use for sympathy, that they care nothing truly
about,” Valerius answered with a thin smile.
They’d reached the end of the alleyway and Valerius led them over
to a black Land Rover with tinted windows. It wasn’t pristine, having
mud on the tires, and the side panels were also slathered with dirt.
So Caden was utterly flummoxed when Valerius took out a key fob
and unlocked the doors.
“Get in,” Valerius said as he slipped into the driver’s seat.
“Uhm, okay. This is your car?” Caden asked as he got in and clipped
on his seatbelt.
“Yes, why?”
“Uhm, it’s not fancy. It’s dirty. And it’s just sitting here out in the open
like everyone else’s car,” Caden said.
“Exactly.”
Valerius turned on the engine and performed a U-turn in the street.
“Are you really not going to tell me why you have some random, dirty
car just parked out in the Mid?” Caden turned and stared at him.
“For just such occasions as these when I need one,” he said. “We
cannot leave Reach in our Dragon forms from here. Someone will
see how close we are to the market where the bomb was. I
sometimes leave the capitol like this so that people do not know I am
away.”
“Again, it makes sense to me.” Caden noted then that they were not
headed towards the main highway that would lead them out of the
Mid. He then saw a long line of headlights stopped on the usually
busy highway. “They’ve shut down the highway because of the
bombing, haven’t they?”
“Yes, that is the procedure, which is why we are not going that way.
Well, we would not go that way even if we would not be blocked for
hours. I have a secret exit–one of many–from Reach.” Valerius
actually gave him an almost boyish grin.
“Okay, I’m all for this!” Caden found himself grinning back, but then
he thought of the bombing and the injured.
Can’t do anything about that. I should focus on what I can. Giving
Iolaire a chance to spread its wings is a good thing.
The Spirit was moving around restlessly, anxious to get a chance to
fly.
Soon, I promise!
It cooed lovingly at him.
Valerius turned down what looked like a cul de sac. There was a
grouping of townhomes that lined one of the outer edges of the Mid.
There was a large double-sized garage door that presumably
housed the cars of the people who lived there. But as they
approached the garage, the door glided silently upwards and there
was revealed, not a garage filled with cars, but a sloping drive that
disappeared around a curve. They entered the garage and drove
down the ramp. It was like being swallowed by a giant.
“That’s so cool!” Caden laughed as Valerius drove them effortlessly
around the tight curves.
“I think so. Reach is a warren of secret passages and exits,” he
explained.
Caden thought, but did not say, And that means the bombers could
be using those secret ways to get in and out and around Reach with
their bombs and not be seen.
Valerius might have thought of it as well, because he looked grim
again, even as they exited Reach and started driving on a smooth
road out into the countryside. Caden found himself wanting to get
him out of those black thoughts and the best way to do that was to
poke the bear or dragon as the case may be. Besides, he was
curious about all things Valerius.
“Speaking of how you found me… did you install some kind of
tracking chip in that phone?” He narrowed his eyes when Valerius
didn’t answer. “Of course you did! That’s how you found us.”
“I’m going to have you chipped. I knew you were getting yourself in
trouble. What did you think you were going to accomplish with this
little spy mission?”
“We needed to find out whether Ross and Harvey and Humans First
were really part of the bombing,” Caden explained. "So we decided
we would come to this meeting and… and…”
“And what? You thought Jasper Hawes would admit his guilt in front
of all and sundry?” Valerius narrowed his eyes at him.
“No!” When Valerius continued to stare at him, he added, “Not
exactly! We didn’t know what would happen! We decided to have
Rose and Wally do surveillance among the crowd and with Jasper
and Landry’s brothers. Maybe they might overhear stuff. Landry and
I were there to see if I spotted the Shifter girl. And then Landry was
going to hack her brothers’ computers.”
“The last part is completely asinine,” Valerius remarked.
“None of it is!” Caden slumped back in his seat and crossed his arms
over his chest, completely nettled. Valerius might not be in a bad
mood, but Caden now was.
They drove in silence, but he felt Valerius’ eyes on him. Finally, with
a sigh, the Dragon King said, “For a man who wants to live a normal
life, you sure certainly do not act like it.”
“It wasn’t a stupid plan!” Caden shouted. “I’m not stupid!”
Valerius blinked. “I do not think that–”
“Yes, you do! You think I’m naïve, foolish, stupid.” Caden gritted his
teeth.
Valerius chewed this over. “I do feel you are naïve and, occasionally,
foolish but never stupid. And your heart is always in the right place.”
“How are you making the distinction between naïve, foolish and
stupid?” Caden’s arms slightly loosened.
“The first two are due to inexperience, not lack of intelligence. You
are very young and these types of things are not easy even for those
who are used to it,” Valerius said.
“Landry is my friend. Her brothers are idiots, but I couldn’t just leave
them to be railroaded,” Caden explained. “Landry was hysterical
with worry. I had to do something.”
“Caden,” his name was said with evident affection, but also a touch
of exasperation. “This is not a game.”
“I know!”
“Do you?” Valerius twisted in his seat. “Because behaving like the
Scooby Doo gang doesn’t show that. These people are dangerous.”
“I know!” Caden’s voice was less strident though. He was thinking of
the people dead back in the market.
“What would you have done if those two Humans First people had
found you and Landry?” he asked.
“We would have pretended to just be interested people. You know?
No one special,” Caden said.
“Except your eyes shine, Caden. They would have known you were
a Shifter and–”
“All right! I get it. I get it.” Caden rubbed his face with both hands. “I
don’t know what we would have done. But I feel like I have all this
power–-or the possibility of it--and I can’t do anything.”
Valerius was silent for long moments, “Conceivably, I am the most
powerful being on this planet, but I could do nothing tonight either. I
could do nothing when the first bomb went off and nearly took your
life. When I think of that… of you…”
Caden’s arms dropped to his sides. The anger fled from him as fast
as it had come. Valerius’ expression made it not even a memory. He
looked agonized. Without thinking, Caden touched his cheek.
“Hey, I’m here. I’m safe. Everything will be okay,” Caden said softly.
For a shocking moment, Valerius leaned his face into Caden’s hand.
Immediately, the Black Dragon King must have realized what he
was doing, because his head snapped up straight. But there was
color in his cheeks. He did not look at Caden. For his part, Caden
reluctantly brought down his hand. Iolaire was practically leaning out
of his chest towards Raziel who was staring, rather askance, at all of
this.
Right. Okay. This isn’t weird or anything. I just caressed his cheek.
And he liked it. And I liked it.
“So… did I tell you that I know my Spirit’s name now?” Caden asked,
trying to fill the silence as they drove further and further from
Reach’s twinkling lights into the darkness of the lush countryside
where there were farms and forests that had flourished since the
war.
“It told you, did it?” Valerius’ hands were rather tight on the steering
wheel. “What is it? Or are you going to make me guess?”
“Unlike you, I don’t tease. Its name is Iolaire,” Caden said, half
proudly and half worriedly. He hadn’t had a chance to look up the
other meaning that Wally had mentioned.
Valerius let out a laugh. “Beautiful disaster! That most definitely suits
the two of you.”
“Is that what the name means?” Caden nearly wailed.
“No, but it could be what it truly means with the history it has
attached to it. But it is a beautiful name for a beautiful Dragon,”
Valerius admitted.
Iolaire perked up and preened.
Yes, you are beautiful. But what about the disaster part? He asked
Iolaire.
For one moment, he had an image of stormy seas and the cries of
men and then the image was gone. Iolaire looked sad.
Don’t worry. I’m sure that wasn’t your fault. It is a beautiful name.
Iolaire cooed thankfully at him.
“We are here,” Valerius said and pulled off into a dirt road.
It looked little different than the other dirt roads that they had passed
but he did notice that the field was just earth. There were no crops.
And there was a small stone outcropping that looked like it could be
a handy launching pad. Valerius drew the Land Rover beside it and
turned off the engine. The silence sounded awfully loud suddenly.
Caden still thought he could hear the remnants of the explosion
ringing in his ears.
“Come, this will make you feel better,” Valerius said as he opened
the car door.
Caden quickly joined him. The air out here smelled sweeter than in
the city. The only noises were the night insects. The stars above him
were far brighter than they were in the city. He looked back towards
Reach. It looked like a glowing wedding cake. High Reach, at the
very top, looked inviting. For a moment, Caden felt drawn to it. He
imagined both him and Valerius landing there, shifting into their
human forms, and then heading to the fire to cook steak and drink
red wine. And then curl together …
Caden’s cheeks flamed.
“You look distracted,” Valerius said with a frown.
Caden’s head snapped towards him. “Just you look… I mean… the
night… the night is beautiful.”
The frown remained. “Yes, it is beautiful. But you can enjoy it better
in Dragon form. Iolaire will be very happy, I’m sure.”
Both Caden and Iolaire liked how he said the Spirit’s name.
“Oh, yeah, Iolaire’s psyched!” Caden grinned.
“Good.”
Caden frowned though as Valerius stripped off his long coat and
began to toe off his leather boots.
“What are you doing?” Caden asked.
Valerius cocked his head to the side. “What aren’t you doing?”
“I… are you… what…”
“Caden, you need to get undressed.”
“I need to do what now?”
Valerius' eyes hooded. “Take off your clothes, Caden. Right now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: THE ALLURE OF CHANGE

VALERIUS STRIPPED OFF HIS SHIRT AND LET IT FLUTTER TO

THE GROUND AS CADEN CONTINUED TO STARE AT HIM IN
DISBELIEF WITH MOUTH OPEN AND CHEEKS DELICIOUSLY
PINK. HE REACHED FOR THE BUTTON OF HIS LEATHER
PANTS. CADEN’S GAZE FOLLOWED HIS HANDS AND
SWALLOWED.
“Caden, clothing, remove it, now,” Valerius said as he slid down the
leather pants and stepped out of them. The cool air caressed his
skin pleasantly. Raziel shook itself, preparing to stretch its wings
and fly.
“I don’t understand!” Caden licked his lips. “Why--why do we have to
get--you know--naked?”
“Because, otherwise, you will have to ride home naked afterwards.
Shifting is hell on clothes,” he said gently. “So take them off now, or
end up not having any clothes at all until you get home.”
Caden didn’t appear to hear him. He was staring at Valerius’ cock.
That pink tongue slipped out of the sweet lips and licked them again.
“Uhm…”
“Caden, Shifters learn that nudity is not related to sex,” Valerius
remarked. He put his hands on his hips.
“Uhm…” Caden was still fixated on his cock.
Despite Valerius’ words his cock began to stir. “Not always related to
sex. But it is important for you to be focusing on me as your teacher
and not… not… Caden, are you listening to me?”
“Uhm…”
Valerius pinched the top of his nose even as warmth pooled in his
groin as the young man’s evident approval of his naked form had his
body being disruly. “Caden, you should look at my face. Not at my
cock.”
Caden’s head jerked up to his face, which turned nuclear red. His
lips parted, but no words exited his mouth. The wind blew from
behind him and the musky scent of arousal came to Valerius’
nostrils. His cock started to stir again and the memory of the caress
in the SUV returned to him. He almost raised his hand to his cheek
now as if he could grasp Caden’s hand back.
“I’m sorry! I really… you… oh, God! What the Hell is wrong with
me?” Caden’s head was lowered and his cheeks were still burning.
He then mumbled, “You’re really beautiful.”
That sweetness should not have moved him. Inexperience in a lover
was actually not sexy. They did not know what they were doing.
They were embarrassed about talking about their desires, let alone
finding out about his. They came early, having no stamina.
Everything impressed them because it was new, and for no other
reason. Yet he was aroused. Yet he was touched. Yet he absolutely
could not get involved with this boy, because it would never be
casual for Caden. So he had to ignore his body’s yearnings.
And pretend you don’t have any others? That voice in his head
sounded so like Chione’s that he actually looked for her. But she
wasn’t there. It was just him and Caden. And his own conscience.
Raziel said nothing. It merely regarded Caden and the White Dragon
Spirit with, not exactly suspicion, but a touch of unease. Raziel did
not know what to expect from them, he realized. While the White
Dragon Spirit was no match for Raziel in a fight, it was still afraid.
What are you afraid of? Valerius snapped.
To his surprise, Raziel answered him, Change.
He was too stunned to say anything for a moment. It was a simple
and complex word “change”. Full of possibilities and pitfalls.
Life is about change. You know this. Both of us do, he reminded the
Black Dragon Spirit. Our lives are not the same as when we first
joined. They are not even the same as before the War.
Have these changes been good? Raziel asked.
He wasn’t sure if it was a rhetorical question or if the Spirit was truly
asking him his opinion.
What do you think? Valerius asked back.
I think that this change will be different from all the others. The White
Dragon will change us, Raziel answered and hid between its wings.
This unnerved Valerius. But, then again, did he not feel the same?
Had he not since Caden’s appearance felt like he was holding back
a flood by putting a finger in the dike? There was nothing controlled
about this young man and he knew that keeping Caden from
upending everything was likely impossible. But he was still trying.
If we are a part of this young man’s life, we can guide where some of
this change takes us, Valerius said. And wasn’t that what he was
doing right here and now? Teaching Caden to shift and fly?
I do not know if I want this or not. Raziel retreated deeper into its
wings. But change comes like the wind. There is no stopping it.
You look like you’re trying to hide from it, Valerius pointed out.
Delay it. But even this will not work for long, Raziel admitted and
then all that could be seen of its face were the red glowing eyes.
“I’m really sorry! Seriously, Valerius, I didn’t mean to stare!” Caden
wailed. “I just--you’re just--you have no idea how you look, do you?
You can’t just drop your trousers and expect people not to stare! I
mean, seriously, you’re built big all over! And I just couldn’t quite not
see you and compare to myself--”
“You were comparing the size of our cocks?” Valerius tilted his head
to the side.
“Everybody does it!”
“Really? Hmmm, perhaps those that have insecurity--”
“I am not insecure about the size of my--my--my member!” Caden
squeaked.
“Well, then why don’t you show me. We can compare them side by
side.” Valerius knew he should not have said that, because his own
cock jumped at the thought of being right beside Caden’s.
“You did not just…” Caden looked up at him, but then quickly looked
down. “You did not just say that! Are you teasing me? I mean
teasing is probably the wrong word, but with you, I never know.
You’re hot. You’re cold. You are utterly perplexing.”
“I am the perplexing one?” Valerius’ eyebrows rose.
“You are like no one else.”
“Of course, I am not. That makes me unique, not perplexing.”
“Well, I find you strange.”
Valerius laughed. He strode over to the young man who was
shading his eyes with one hand as if it were mid-day instead of
midnight. He stopped a hand’s breadth away so that Caden knew
he was there. He could likely see Valerius’ toes that were flexing in
the cool, dew-soaked grass.
“You’re really close to me,” Caden said, still not looking up.
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t put your pants back on.”
“No.”
“Why--”
“Because I am here to help you shift, remember? Not make love to
you,” Valerius said, but his cock said something different. He ignored
it.
Caden drew in a sharp breath. Color flooded the young man’s
cheeks. Valerius nearly touched that soft skin and drew a finger
down that blush.
“Make love, huh? Not just have sex? Wild unrestrained banging?”
Caden asked, still shielding his eyes.
Valerius shook his head. “You know nothing about--what did you call
it?--wild unrestrained banging. I am positive about that.”
“I’m not a virgin!” Caden’s head snapped up. He focused on Valerius’
face as if he was holding on for dear life. “And you made me say that
so it sounds stupid!”
His eyebrows rose. “I made--”
“Yes! You make me say stupid things because you make me
nervous! Especially when you’re… you’re…” Caden gestured to his
body. “You’re naked more than anyone I know.”
“You’re just learning about Shifters. Nakedness is normal. You must
decouple it from sex,” Valerius said even as his cock twitched as he
looked into those beautiful large eyes. “You will become quite
unaware of it in time. So why don’t you strip and then let’s fly.”
Valerius was keenly aware of Caden’s body heat. He was keenly
aware of Caden’s body overall. How would he react to Caden being
naked?
“You’re right,” Caden said suddenly. “Desiring someone is not how
you look at their bodies. But their eyes.”
He then turned his back on Valerius and started to strip. Valerius
stood there. Blinking. He watched as Caden pulled off his hoodie--
one of the werewolf ones from Wally’s shop--only to get stuck.
Caden muttered and shifted but his elbows were firmly wedged in
the bottom waistband. Valerius watched this for a moment before,
grumbling, he grasped the hoodie and pulled it off. Caden’s blond
hair stuck up in every direction. Caden drew in a deep breath as he
turned back to face Valerius.
“Thanks, I was a little…it’s new so it's tight. So… yeah.” Caden
crossed and uncrossed his arms over his bare chest. That just drew
attention to it.
Valerius’ eyes skimmed over the revealed silky skin. Caden was
nicely muscled with lovely definition. His nipples were a dark shade
of pink and not brown like Valerius’, but that was likely due to
Caden’s coloring in general being so much lighter than his. There
was a trail of dark gold hair starting just below his belly button and
disappearing beneath the waistband of his jeans. There was a slight
gap between the well-worn jeans and tanned skin. Caden’s stomach
muscles trembled slightly. Valerius reached for the button and zipper
of Caden’s pants. Caden sucked in his stomach likely involuntarily.
“This--this isn’t sexual, right? You’re not trying to make love to me?”
Caden’s voice trembled like his stomach muscles. Was he laughing?
“I do not know what I am doing with you.” Valerius’ hands paused.
His fingers were beneath the waistband. The backs of them pressed
against the warmth of Caden’s velvety skin. He could feel the slight
rough brush of Caden’s pubic hair.
“You … you don’t know what you’re doing? I can’t believe you’re
admitting that!” Caden was laughing now, but out of nervousness.
Maybe excitement, too.
The scent of arousal was heavy in the air, but he was not sure if it
was his or Caden’s or both of theirs. It likely was the last. Probably
was the last. His breathing sped up. His heart raced. He knew
Caden heard these things in him as the young man’s head lifted and
their eyes met again.
“What--what do you see?” Valerius asked. “In my eyes.”
Why did I ask that?
Because you wish for him to tell you what you feel, Raziel muttered.
No responsibility that way.
I take responsibility!
You must always be forced to do it, Raziel said.
He was stung by Raziel’s words. But, then again, he knew that few
things stung more than the ones that held a kernel of truth.
I have Chione to harangue me about my desire--or lack thereof--to
rule. He glared at the Spirit. I do not need you to lecture me.
Besides, it would be the height of hypocrisy for you to do so
considering you would have us be alone. The whole world empty but
for us...
I know what I want. You pretend not to, Raziel said and then
completely hid in its wings.
“Valerius?” Caden’s forehead was furrowed. His gaze was flickering
over Valerius’ face, confusion and concern reigned there. “What is it?
What’s upsetting you?”
He opened his mouth and then shut it. He quickly removed his hands
from Caden's skin and turned on his heel. “Finish undressing and
meet me on the outcropping.”
Valerius did not look back to see Caden’s expression or to listen to
his questions. He couldn’t answer any of them. Raziel was right. He
did not know what he wanted. Raziel might have wanted an empty
world where they could cruise the skies, forever unmolested, with
none calling out to them from below, but he did not. But what kind of
world did he want? What kind of life? What kind of change?
His feet were used to walking on all types of ground from hot asphalt
to rocky ground to soft earth. Caden was not as used to walking
barefoot as he was. The young man was making hissing sounds as
he followed Valerius up the rocky outcropping to the top. It was about
twenty feet up from the soft sward below.
“So what are we doing up here?” Caden asked from beside him.
Valerius did not look at him even as he wanted to inspect every
single inch of Caden’s naked form. He wanted to know it intimately.
But why? He felt he should. Caden was in his territory. He was
another Dragon Shifter. Valerius should know him down to his bones.
Even though Caden was no physical threat, he needed to
understand him.
Valerius tilted his head up towards the moon. “Close your eyes and
bathe in the moonlight. Let it pierce you.”
He saw Caden do so out of the corner of his open eyes.
The young man was silent for all of five seconds, “How do I let the
moonlight pierce me exactly?”
Valerius sighed. “Though we are not governed by the cycle of the
moon as the old tales tell about Werewolves, it does have an
influence nonetheless.”
Caden’s eyes were still closed. His lips parted, and to Valerius’
pleasant surprise, he murmured, “My body feels… light.”
“Good.” Valerius turned towards him then. “Now, allow the
moonlight to seep into your bones. Make them light as bird bones
then lighter still so that they are almost not there at all.”
His eyes drifted down Caden’s moonlight gilded form. His golden
skin was silvered under the moon and stars. The night breeze was
like a lover’s caress through his blond hair that was almost white in
the starlight. His cock--while nowhere near as large or thick as
Valerius’--was perfectly proportioned. It was slightly erect in the nest
of dark gold curls. He was beautiful. So very beautiful.
“I think… I think I feel that,” Caden breathed out.
“Excellent. Now let the moonlight sink into your core,” Valerius said,
the words leaving his lips without any real meaning. He was
transfixed.
“Okay.” Caden rocked back and forth on his feet like a little kid
rocking in anticipation.
Valerius sighed softly as he took this in, but then found a smile
twitching on his lips.
Things are never boring with Caden around, are they? He shakes
us out of our doldrums, Valerius murmured.
He is beautiful, Raziel repeated his earlier words. The white one is
as well.
Yes. Imagine us flying together. Imagine our wings nearly brushing.
Imagine turning our heads and--
Seeing them beside us. Raziel’s head emerged from its wings.
Yes. That would not be so bad, would it? One other person in the
endless, empty world? Valerius asked softly.
Perhaps not. Raziel’s wings unfolded completely and it flapped them
once.
“I think… I think my core is soaked with moonlight,” Caden informed
him.
“All right. Now it is time to step forward, but keep your eyes closed,”
Valerius said.
Frown lines appeared on Caden’s forehead. “But the edge of the
outcrop is there! Like a foot or two. So if I step too far forward I’ll fall,”
Caden said, frowning more.
Valerius leaned in and said into Caden’s ear, “On the contrary, you
will fly. You are a Dragon Shifter, remember?”
Caden nodded, but uncertainly. “I can feel the wind. I can hear it
whistling over the edge.”
“Do not be afraid. I will catch you if you fall,” Valerius promised and
somehow the words meant more than they did on the surface.
“Okay, I can do this… if you make sure to catch me,” Caden added
quickly.
“I will. But let’s not consider that as an option. You will walk off the
edge and you will shift. That moonlight in your bones and core will
allow everything to move and reform,” Valerius told him, trying to
explain something that was very difficult to capture.
Caden has done this before. He will be able to do it again. This
should just be a formality.
“Right. Moonlight. Iolaire wants to fly so this will be easy.” Caden’s
eyes were still shut, but there was a tenseness to his jaw.
Valerius touched that twitching muscle and Caden’s eyelids would
have flown open, but Valerius put a hand over them. “Step forward,
Caden. I will not let you be hurt. No matter what.”
Caden turned towards him, but Valerius kept his hand over those
brilliant eyes. “You mean that? You really mean that?”
“Yes, now, stop stalling,” Valerius said.
Caden flashed him a grin. “I’m all turned around now. I don’t know
where the edge is. Point me in the right direction?”
“Of course.” Valerius turned him so that he was facing the very edge
of the outcropping. The wind blew against his skin. Caden shivered
and drew his arms around his body. “You won’t feel the cold if you
shift.”
“Right. Besides, I’m like an ice dragon so the cold should be my
friend,” Caden laughed.
“Indeed. Now step forward.”
Valerius released him and took a few steps backwards to allow
Caden the room he needed to make the leap and then turn into the
White Dragon. He held his breath as he waited to see Caden shift in
front of him for the first time.
Caden’s mouth opened and shut as he took in a deep breath to
center himself. Then he took one step. His toes were sticking off of
the edge of the outcropping. They wiggled and he saw Caden grew
stiff. Fear caused trembling. But Caden took a second step.
Right off the edge.
Caden did not fly. He plummeted.
Valerius dove off the edge after him, unable to shift because there
was no room. He grabbed Caden around the waist and twisted them
in mid air so that he was beneath and Caden was above him. He
curled around Caden protectively. When they landed, he was on the
bottom.
He hit hard and skidded a few feet down the outcropping. The jolt
was jarring, but did not hurt him. He was saved from physical hurt in
his human form as he would have been in his Dragon one. But he
still had the air pushed out of him by the fall so he was silent for a
moment.
“Valerius? VALERIUS?!” Caden cried as he moved frantically
against Valerius’ form. “Are you okay? Oh, my God, I didn’t shift! I
must have not let the moonlight in! I can’t believe--”
“Caden …” Valerius said softly as the young man’s lithe body moved
unconsciously sensually against his own and his cock, which had
never really gone to sleep, awoke as if he’d lit a fire under it.
“I can’t believe I didn’t shift! And if you hadn’t caught me--”
“Caden--” His voice dipped into a deep rumble. His legs parted and
Caden slipped in between them effortlessly, almost as if he was
meant to be there. Their cocks lined up alongside one another.
Caden let out a gasp, but kept talking as if he were under a curse.
“I’m responsible if you’re hurt and I--”
“Caden! I am not hurt. Neither of us are … I would never let you be
hurt,” Valerius said as he met those blue eyes. He was lost in them.
“So… so you’re okay?” Caden asked.
“I do not know what I am. With you everything is uncertain,” Valerius
murmured. “No matter what I do, what I think, what I believe… you
are change incarnate.”
Those blue eyes widened. Valerius felt the solid thump of Caden’s
heart joining his. And then he was cupping Caden’s face. The skin
was silky smooth with just a hint of stubble along the jaw. And his
mouth… his mouth… like nothing else. Plump and lush and lovely
beyond measure.
Valerius leaned in and kissed Caden as if his life depended upon it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: DRAGON'S BEGINNING

The kiss ignited every single nerve ending in Caden’s body. The
taste of Valerius was like rich, red wine and dark chocolate
combined. Sweet and salty and everything good. The feel of that
muscled, perfect body beneath his–like his own personal jungle
gym–had him hard and aching in moments.
Heat built between his thighs and he slid up further between
Valerius’ thighs. That long, heavy cock rubbed against Caden’s.
Electricity zoomed up his spine and he gasped into Valerius’ mouth.
If he thought that would result in the kiss ending. He was wrong.
Valerius’ fingers gripped his back and held him close.
The “warning” he had mentally placed upon the Black Dragon King
that Valerius was a bastard that didn’t care for him and wanted him
to leave now seemed more like fears and not reality. This kiss said
so much the opposite of those fears. Valerius kissed him like he was
afraid that Caden was going to go away and he was going to
physically hold Caden here if he had to.
Where the moonlight had failed to pierce him, the kiss did. His
bones went liquid. His body tingled. He had never felt so alive! And
then it happened. Just as he was going to wrap his arms around
Valerius’ neck, he realized that the liquid bones thing was real. He
had only a second to say, “Shit!”
He meant to say “shift” but it came out like “shit”. Though really, both
were appropriate. He scrambled backwards as fast as he could so
that he didn’t crush Valerius beneath him. The Black Dragon King let
out a growl as he pulled back, but he quickly realized what was
happening and moved swiftly himself. Somehow, he squirmed out
from under Caden’s shifting form and was ten feet away from Caden.
Caden’s head spun as he was suddenly viewing the world from quite
a higher distance. His long tail swished over the ground and hit the
back of the stone outcropping. He hopped away from it as slabs of
stone broke off from the side and crashed to the ground. The
hopping caused the ground to shake around him. Panicked, he tried
to curl his tail–which he swore to goodness had a mind of its own–
around his feet much like a cat would. But again, he misjudged the
length and power of his tail. It whipped around him and nearly took
out Valerius. The Black Dragon King jumped up amazingly high into
the air and just narrowly avoided being hit by the tail.
I’m sorry, Valerius! Caden called, but he didn’t think that the Black
Dragon King heard him, or maybe Valerius was just totally focused
on his tail. Caden glared at the long, scaly tail. You’re getting me in
trouble!
But then his wings decided to get into the act. They unfurled all on
their own and flapped. The strength of the wind gust blew Valerius’
hair back as if he was in a tornado. They also hit the side of the
damned outcropping again. More stones fell. Caden hopped again.
His wings flapped and he was rising off of the ground. Panic gripped
him and he reached towards the ground as if he could anchor
himself to the earth by physical strength.
Again, he had no idea his strength. His claws cut into the ground like
huge spades. He ripped up huge handfuls of earth, stones and
grass. He dropped them, which caused small–or rather, not small–
piles to form before he dug in again. These holes were now the size
of what a backhoe could dig out. Maybe several backhoes. He kept
digging in, but he realized he would likely get to China before
stopping himself from flying. His wings kept flapping.
How did I land before?! Oh, right, I didn’t. I fell! Caden let out a shrill
laugh except his mouth let out a burbling sound. Hearing Iolaire’s
verbalizations had Caden realizing that he should be asking the one
person who knew how to control this body to take over. Iolaire! Help!
A little help here! Take over! Really, I’m good with that!
The White Dragon Spirit let out a coo and suddenly they were
lowering to the ground and landing on all four of their “feet” or “limbs”
or whatever he should call them. Immediately, Iolaire was flexing
their toes in the rich earth. They were sniffing the ground, rubbing
their cheeks against the grass, and, at that moment, Caden realized
that this was the first time that Iolaire had touched the ground and
grass.
“Caden! Iolaire!” Valerius called.
Iolaire had their head lifting so fast that Caden almost got dizzy. The
Black Dragon King was carefully picking his way over to them,
avoiding the mounds of earth and the matching holes. He had his
hands on his hips, but he didn’t look angry or frustrated. Caden fully
expected a lecture about shifting like he had, showing no control,
and ruining their kiss. But, if that was coming, Valerius’ expression
did not show it. He was regarding them with a cocked head. There
was almost a touch of wonder in his gaze.
Valerius! Are you okay? I don’t think we hit you, did we? Caden
frantically looked over the Black Dragon King, but he saw no injuries,
not even a mark of dirt on him anywhere. He let out a sigh of relief.
Iolaire sent him an image of Raziel having a whole mountain fall
down on its head and, in the next moment, erupting from the rubble
and soaring into the air with absolutely no problem.
I know he’s really tough, but still. I don’t want to hurt him. Not even a
chance of hurting him.
Iolaire agreed, but simply did not want Caden to fret.
“Well, you are quite impressive,” Valerius said, but Caden thought
“impressive” wasn’t the word he was really thinking. Raziel was
impressive. Illarion was impressive and scary. But Iolaire was…
elegant, delicate for a dragon anyway, and sweet.
Iolaire lifted their chin to make them seem majestic. Having seen
Raziel, Caden thought they must look mini in comparison. Iolaire
tossed their head in disagreement. They were a perfectly
proportioned Dragon. Raziel was a Titanic specimen. But that didn’t
mean they weren’t awesome, too.
You’re awesome. We’re awesome. Why did we shift during the
kissing part though? Why couldn’t we have waited? Caden cried at
Iolaire.
The White Dragon Spirit dropped their head and cooed sadly. It sent
an image of lava exploding from a mountain.
Yeah, it was pretty explosive. But now, we can’t even talk to him
about what it means! Caden stopped himself. Maybe that’s a good
thing. If he overthinks it, he might regret it. And if I overthink it then I
might worry and–
Iolaire distracted him by eating grass and then spitting it out as it was
disgusting. That had Iolaire looking even more downtrodden. It was
wondering if there was anything to eat here, but no just more grass
and they were not an herbivore.
“Why are you sad?” Valerius asked. He stepped towards them.
“Everything is fine. All is well. The outcropping is just stone and dirt.
It was not injured. Well… it’s a little shorter now, but what of it? I
brought us here so that you could get used to being in this form
without worrying about breaking anything.”
Iolaire lowered their head so that one of their eyes could study
Valerius’ face up close. Valerius shocked them both when he
reached out and stroked their nose. Their nostrils flared in surprise
and they reared back. Again, the wings went wild and the tail started
to fly about.
What are you doing? That felt nice! Caden cried. His feelings will be
hurt by you doing that!
Like a cat, Iolaire kneaded the ground to settle itself. Then it quickly
lowered their head again, nearer to Valerius, and cooed. The Black
Dragon King let out a laugh and stroked their nose once more.
Iolaire closed their eyes in pleasure.
“What a beautiful Dragon,” Valerius murmured as his hands ran
along their jaw and underneath their lower lip where he scratched,
which was just perfect. Their right back leg thumped on the ground.
What are we? A dog? A cat? Caden laughed.
“You like that. Let’s do it some more.” Valerius scratched them again.
More back leg thumping occurred.
Iolaire opened their eyes so that they could see Valerius. Caden
wanted to know what he was thinking. He was being so kind. Not at
all like Caden would have thought. There was no frustration in his
eyes, expression or tone. In fact, Valerius looked rather fascinated
as he studied their shimmering white scales, which really had all the
colors of the rainbow in them if they tilted them just so under the
moonlight.
“Do you know,” Valerius’ voice even sounded different, though
maybe that was because they were in Dragon form, “that I have
never gotten to look at another Dragon up close?”
Iolaire widened their eyes, reflecting both of their surprise.
Why not? Caden asked.
He wasn’t sure if Valerius heard him, but the Black Dragon King
answered the question nonetheless, “Because it would not be safe to
go up to any other Dragon, but you.”
Iolaire burbled in happiness. They were rewarded by another pat on
the nose and scratch under the chin. Valerius slowly walked around
them. Iolaire turned so that they could watch him. It required much
neck craning, but their neck was long enough that it was easier than
if they had been a human. All the way around them, Valerius ran his
fingers. He even patted their rump which had that mischievous tail
going up and down, but thankfully, Iolaire could control it.
“You trust me to get this close to you,” Valerius said almost sadly as
he crossed back around to their front. “Not even Esme will let me
near her, nor would I let her near me. It would be thought strange to
want to see another Dragon so close up. They would believe I was
looking for a weakness.”
You don’t need to see a weakness! You could stomp us! You could
stomp everybody.
Valerius stroked both sides of their head, practically wrapping his
arms around them. Their breath had his hair puffing up with every
outward breath, which seemed to delight him. Again, not a Valerius
thing to feel.
Was it the kiss that stopped him from being Cranky McCrankypants?
Or is it just seeing us that’s having this effect on him? Iolaire, what
do you think?
The White Dragon Spirit just sent him an image of them flying
together, wingtips nearly touching, as the sun set. The sky would be
multi-colored with rose and red and purple and gold. Their scales
would glow with inner fire.
What does that mean? Caden thought he knew. Mate. That’s what
he was. Was he Valerius’ mate? But that was… weird. Yet that
image haunted him.
“I have never gotten to truly see a Dragon like this,” Valerius
continued and let out a soft huff of laughter. “So I am like one of
those tourists! I wish to take a picture of you.”
Iolaire posed: head up, wings spread, one clawed hand in the air.
That had Valerius shaking his head.
“I bet you will be offering children rides, like you are a pony.” Valerius
had one eyebrow suspiciously raised.
Tilly has already claimed us as her mount, Caden said.
Iolaire trilled with happiness, which had Valerius shaking his head,
but still smiling.
“Yes, you are eager to be friends with everyone. You believe they will
be kind to you. You don’t understand…” Valerius’ voice drifted off
and he looked indescribably sad.
Iolaire nuzzled him, which resulted in Valerius’ whole body nearly
being lifted from the ground. It believed that more petting would
make the Black Dragon King happy again. Valerius laughed. He
laughed loud and long and Caden wondered at how rare and
wonderful that sound was.
“Iolaire, Caden… we must be serious right now. We must be very
serious,” Valerius said and he seemed to have realized something.
“The other Dragons are coming. You know that.”
Iolaire stuffed their head against Valerius’ chest as if to hide.
Valerius wrapped those powerful arms around their head.
“I know. Neither of us wants them here,” Valerius muttered.
Iolaire let out a soft sound of agreement.
Seriously, can’t they just leave us alone?
“But I do not think they will simply turn around and leave without
having seen you,” Valerius said, and it was more as if he was talking
to himself rather than Caden.
Iolaire let out a distressed sound and a snort, which once again, had
Valerius’ long black hair poofing around his head like a halo.
Valerius patted their nose again. “You are so young. You are not
ready for any of this. Even for those things that are… good.”
What is he saying? The “good” part has to be the kissing! He’s
regretting the kiss! Iolaire, do something! Make him understand that
he shouldn’t regret it!
Iolaire suddenly grasped Valerius in one hand, which had the Black
Dragon King’s eyes widening, before it pulled him against their chest
and held him to them rather like a doll.
Uhm, I’m not sure that exactly gets across what we want him to
understand.
Iolaire drew a very still Black Dragon King away from their chest so
they could see his expression. Valerius’ eyebrows were raised. His
mouth was somewhere between a smile and a frown, twitching this
way and that as if he wasn’t sure if this was funny or an outrage. His
arms were crossed over his chest, and somehow, he managed to
seem regal even though they were treating him like a Ken doll.
Then Iolaire licked him, which was supposed to be like a kiss, except
it wasn’t exactly sexy. It also left a gobbet of Dragon saliva hanging
from his chin.
Oooh, that looks gross! Brush that off! Iolaire did. Now it’s in his hair!
Gross! Oh, so gross! Iolaire licked him again. Not a good plan!
What are you doing? He’s now all slimy!
“Down,” Valerius said as he ran his forearms over his cheek. It came
back wet and slimy which had Valerius sighing.
Iolaire gently placed him on the ground and patted his head, which
had Caden sighing.
Head patting? Really? He’s going to be so mad!
But, again, Valerius was not angry. He just looked up at them with
this strange expression on his face–amusement, annoyance,
sadness, and that last one really made no sense–as he shook his
head.
“I should not have kissed you,” Valerius murmured.
What? Oh, Hell, no! We need to shift back! Try shifting back!
But though Iolaire tried, they were stuck. Perhaps they needed
another kiss to shift. Or maybe they just needed to not be in
emotional turmoil.
Valerius let out a grin. “Not because I did not want to. And I think… I
think you wanted me to. Yes, you did. You… do.”
Iolaire nodded vigorously for both of them.
“And I can hardly think of doing anything else. I do not know if I will
be able to see you and not think of kissing you.” Valerius’
expression grew distant. “Raziel hid from me that mates were
even… possible. You do not have the same reaction to other
Dragons as we do.”
I don’t care about the other Dragons! I told you that I don’t want to
see them! I’m staying here! This is our home!
Iolaire chirruped in agreement, which had Valerius looking up at
them curiously.
“I wish I could hear your thoughts, but it seems that fate is not being
kind. Or perhaps this is best. I will not get distracted by one of your
pouting arguments,” he said.
I do not pout! Realizing that Iolaire was actually pouting because he
was internally, Caden added, All right, I do pout. A little. Just a tad.
But why do you regret us kissing? I don’t. I don’t know what I feel. I
just know that I don’t want you to regret it. Ever.
“I told you once that nobility and bravery are normally not what draws
a Dragon Spirit to a person. Do you remember?” Valerius asked as
he petted their right shoulder.
Iolaire spread their claws in pleasure as Valerius seemed to know
exactly where to touch to make their muscles all loose and warm.
I remember. What attracts a Dragon Spirit then?
Valerius pressed his lips together for a moment before going on, “I
was in the middle of battle when it happened. I was not a noble. I
was a mercenary. I fought for money. Killing for coins. And I was
very, very good at it.”
Killing people for money…
Iolaire dipped their head down to be closer to Valerius. It did not like
the sound in his voice.
“I am not ashamed of this, Caden. Life was cheaper back then. Or so
it seemed. It was brutal and short. You were either taking life or your
life was being taken,” Valerius said.
If you don’t feel ashamed, you feel something bad, because you
aren’t doing that any longer. You don’t want war.
“It was in the thick of battle when it happened,” Valerius explained.
“The ground had turned to mud, not just from the rain that had come
that morning, but from the blood that had been spilt. The bodies
were thigh deep in places. We’d given as good as we’d gotten. My
armor was battered. My helmet had broken to pieces so I was
bareheaded. Never good. Blood rained down from a cut on my
forehead, nearly blinding me. So I did not see the face of my enemy
until he said my name.”
Who was it?
“We were in the midst of blows and he said my name and I
recognized my older brother’s voice,” Valerius said, his voice going
strangely distant as if speaking from a long time ago. “He lifts his
visor and I see… see him. Malven. I hadn’t seen him in a decade. He
was five years my senior and had taken up the sword when he was
quite young. But I loved him so well. He was all I wished to be. I had
been looking for him for years and now… there he was.
‘Valerius!’ he says and there is this huge smile on his face and I
am… I am so glad to see him. But still numb with battle. I stare
stupidly at him before finally saying his name back. I tell him that
I’ve been searching for him.
‘With a blade in your hand?’ he asks, laughing though, not serious.
But perhaps wondering.
‘No, it pays for the horse I rode to look for you,’ I answer. And I had
told myself I was still looking for him through battle after battle. But I
had stopped believing I would find him. All the rest of our family was
dead. Disease took them and…
He claps my shoulder and it’s as loud as the sound of swords cutting
through flesh and bone. We should not be speaking there. I know
this. It is dangerous. But where would we go? There is nowhere to
go that is not a battleground.”
Iolaire made a soft sound of distress as if knowing what was coming.
Caden swallowed down saliva that sat bitter and uneasy in his
stomach.
“Malven was strong and brave and true. He was a knight, a true
believer in the king he served, while I… I was there for coin and to
kill. To kill and to kill…
‘Why do you serve the evil king?’ he asked me.
‘He pays me well,’ I said.
And darkness crossed his face, but then he shook it off. ‘Then I will
pay you more to leave him and fight by my side.’
‘You do not need to pay me anything. You are all I need.’
And he was smiling. Smiling at me like the sun after the long winter
and…
Then he threw himself between me and a blade that was coming my
way,” Valerius whispered. “He parried it successfully and it was
when he was speaking to his stunned fellow–telling him not to harm
me–that one of the men on my side ran him through.”
Caden gasped. He felt icy inside.
“He fell back into my arms. Blood on his lips. Eyes wide with shock.
And they sought out mine. He touched my cheek. He was going to
say something but then his eyes clouded and he was gone.”
Caden felt like his own body had been run through. Iolaire hung their
head.
“I did not want to let him go. Not into that filth, that mud, that
battleground. But men were coming at me from both sides. I was a
friend to none and an enemy for both.” Valerius’ right hand clenched.
“So I made them both my enemy. Even though I had not wanted to
let him go, I did. My brother’s body splashed down and I had my
sword in both hands and I… I started to kill. First, my attackers. Then
anyone who was within reach of my blade. I was a dervish of death.
Rage filled me. A red mist was in my eyes.
I was going to die. There was no doubt that I was. I was bleeding
from dozens of places. Men were swarming me.
And that was when Raziel came. Attracted to the blood and the
death and my insanity. It came to me then and offered to join with me
so that we could kill together.” Valerius was silent for a moment while
Caden and Iolaire hung in the balance of that silence. The Black
Dragon King focused on him. “Before you think that I am alone in
this, I tell you that the other Dragon Spirits found their people in
terrible times. Terrible situations. Not noble. Not brave. But deadly.
Every Dragon Shifter you see comes from a history of blood.”
Oh, Valerius… no, no! Raziel felt your pain! It knew you were hurting
and needed to avenge your brother’s death and your lost hope
and… Valerius! You need to hear me! You need to know--
They blinked rapidly as their vision blurred with tears. Tears for
Valerius that he judged himself so harshly and for themselves for not
being able to communicate.
“So a dragon can cry. Or you can.” Valerius was stroking them
again, fully focused on the here and now. “You can. Because you
are like no other Dragon on this planet.”
I’m not… not that different, am I? But even if I am, that doesn’t
mean we can’t… can’t try to be together. Light and dark. Black and
white. Yin and yang. You need to see what Iolaire showed me.
About us flying in tandem and--
“And when the other Dragons come, Caden,” Valerius said, his eyes
suddenly burning with fire, “they will try to take you for their own. And
what do you think will happen? When all of us see you and want you
and all of us but you come from blood? After kissing you… I cannot
let you go. After kissing you… and seeing you and…” Valerius
rested his head against Iolaire’s. “There will be death, Caden. That
is what Dragons always bring.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:
CHANGE

Despite the heaviness of what he had just said,

Valerius gave Caden a fond smile. “I know you want
to disagree with me. I can see you quivering to tell
me just how wrong I am. But the thing is someone
like you , could never understand what it is like to be
someone like me .”
Caden shook his head. Or Iolaire did. Or both of
them did. It was hard to tell.
“It’s true. Now--”
They let out a burbling cry and pressed their nose
against Valerius’ chest, clearly to tell him he was
adored and was worth being adored. Valerius
laughed.
“I see that you do not want me to feel sad.” It was so
absurd that anyone would care if he was sad . Chione
would. But she was peculiar . “I am not sad. I am
trying to teach you something.”
More snuffling. Hot dragon breath puffed against his
skin, and his hair was blasted back. Both Caden and
Iolaire cared. Very much. About him .
So ridiculous that they should. But they do. The
response to the kiss could have just been physical
desire, but this shows something more. Of course, it
is something more! As if Caden could be casual
about anything. And neither can I evidently.
“It was a long time ago.” Valerius lowered his head.
“I have long since stopped mourning my brother.”
Another push of that soft nose against his bare chest.
“Truly. Yes, it hurts to remember that moment, but I
will be perfectly content in a short time.”
He stroked Iolaire’s head. The White Dragon’s
scales were almost silky. Whenever they moved in
the moonlight, he could see that they were many
colors and not just white. Magic also ran through the
skin. He could feel it beneath his fingers. Touching
Iolaire was addicting.
For an instant, he imagined children running up to the
White Dragon who was curled in a ball in the center
of Dragon Strike Square. Iolaire would sit there
patiently as the children would pet, kiss and stroke its
form. The White Dragon and Caden were truly
perfectly matched. But that meant they were both so
innocent and saw the best in people and wanted
people to be good.
But people were not good. This pressed him to say
more about Marwen.
“Simply reminiscing about my brother and my past
life was not why I told you that story.” He met those
blue eyes again. “I wanted to impress upon you just
how different we are even though we are both
Dragon Shifters. And to make clear to your trusting
little soul, that you cannot trust any of the other
Dragons. I know you will want to befriend them.”
Those eyes went wide. Iolaire was excited at the
thought of meeting other Dragons. Probably thinking
they could frolic. He pinched the top of his nose. He
knew it. The White Dragon wanted to be among
others of its kind. Thankfully, Caden was alarmed.
At least, he wasn’t ready to flop over onto his back
and expose his belly.
“I realize that you do not want anyone to know that
you are the White Dragon Shifter, Caden, especially
the other Dragons, but I do not know if that is
possible, we will try.” He sighed. “And it might
work. For a time.”
They will not leave until they meet him, Valerius
muttered to Raziel.
They will leave when we make them leave, Raziel
growled.
Yes, yes, I suppose so. It might come to that, Valerius
agreed.
Caden-Iolaire looked at him as if reading his mind.
Perhaps they were this time though he could still not
hear theirs. They made a sound that said the last
thing they wanted was him to fight anyone.
Especially not on their behalf.
“Fighting is what Dragons do. Well, maybe not you .”
Caden-Iolaire trilled at him. And snuffled against his
chest once more. He felt that unexpected sense of
wonder that had struck him the first time Caden had
transformed. He ran his hands up and down Iolaire’s
head once more. He had not expected to feel so
moved by another Dragon. He’d seen Iolaire before
when they’d fought that first day it and Caden had
joined together. But fear and anger had blinded him
to the sheer beauty of the White Dragon. Was this
what it was like for the people who saw him and
Raziel?
“I know you want to make everything better. But
people are not so keen to have things be better,” he
said as he stroked the velvety nose. “We will have to
talk about all of this, but clearly later . As our ability
to communicate is not working right now.”
Those huge blue eyes gazed at him with adoration,
giving lie to his words.
Valerius patted their head. “Yes, well, you can
communicate to me some things. But tonight is
about learning how to control your Dragon form and
giving Iolaire a chance to be free. There is a balance
between how much time you should spend in your
Dragon form and in your human one. Shifting once a
day is the minimum.”
Iolaire looked pleased, but he could see Caden was
concerned. Undoubtedly, the young man was
worrying about how he could balance his job, his
home life and his friends with having to leave the city
to shift.
“Shifting is not a task you have to tick off your list,
Caden. It should not be seen as a burden. Your life is
different now. You must embrace --not just
accommodate --this new aspect of your existence,”
Valerius said. He softened his expression as he
realized that the way to get Caden to understand this
was to explain the impact on Iolaire. “Iolaire is, in
some ways, imprisoned when the two of you are in
your human form.”
Those eyes widened with alarm and there was a sad
burble.
“Exactly. So think on that when you believe you
have something better to do than shift, or are worried
that someone will discover the truth of who you are.
These are harsh things to say, Caden, but you must
understand the truth of them.”
He backed up and urged Caden-Iolaire to keep their
distance from him so they could stretch. There was a
longing look cast at him, but then Caden-Iolaire
flapped their wings a little, as if to stretch out as
much as possible as opposed to their human form for
the White Dragon Spirit, at least.
Normally, ceding control to the Spirit was not the
problem. He frowned as he remembered constantly
fighting for control with Raziel. His Spirit had not
acquiesced with being in their human form at all .
He’d had to battle for every second of humanity. But
he could not exactly picture the same thing
happening between Iolaire and Caden. In fact, he
imagined that they would be too busy trying to
accommodate one another to ever truly fight. But it
also meant that by sheer power of inertia, Caden
would stay much too long in their human form. Just
one more shift at work. Dinner with the family.
Hanging out with friends. Difficulty sneaking out to
the fields. Yes, he could see it very well. That had to
be snipped in the bud.
“So on that note, why do you not let Iolaire explore a
little down here, Caden. Iolaire as well as you must
get used to being in this world and in that form,”
Valerius suggested.
Caden--or Iolaire, truthfully--hopped up and down in
excitement, making the ground rumble as they tried
to communicate their joy. But all that determination
was lost when their feet touched the grass. They
stumbled back. Fell to the side. Jumped up again.
Curled their tail tightly around them. Shuffled
backwards, which caused them to trip over said tail.
Rolled back up to their feet. And the process
continued all over again. Grass was obviously
something new to Iolaire.
It’s all new to them, Raziel, Valerius said with a
shake of his head. Every single thing will be the first
time for them.
Look at them pick up their feet and then set them
down and pick them up again! They are afraid of
grass! Raziel laughed uproariously.
You were afraid of crickets. Valerius raised an
eyebrow at his Spirit. Or don’t you recall that? And
then there was your terror of… fish.
Raziel looked affronted. Its wings puffed up and it
glared at him. That is not the same! The crickets
were very loud yet could not be seen! How was I to
ascertain their threat level when I could not find
them? And the fish… they are crafty.
Crafty fish, is it? I see. I am afraid, old friend, that it
is exactly the same. What is unknown can be
frightening , as he said this, Valerius looked at
Caden-Iolaire. But once you get used to them you
find you cannot live without them.
You have changed your mind on this boy and the
White Dragon Spirit, Raziel stated. It did not ask.
Haven’t both of us? As he watched Caden-Iolaire
now sniff the grass again and poke at it with one
claw, lurch backwards and then poke it again, he
added, Was there really any chance we were going to
let one of the others take him from us?
We did have the plan to simply fly them to the edge of
the territory and drop them there, Raziel reminded
him.
Valerius raised an eyebrow. They would have come
back.
Probably. Raziel flapped its wings, likely feeling
confined being inside of their human form when the
sky looked so perfect for flying. Undoubtedly. They
will not stay away from us.
They will not stay away from home. Valerius
squeezed the top of his nose. Caden was born into
our territory for a reason. Iolaire came here and
chose him. Our territory, Raziel. This cannot be a
coincidence.
You sound like the Sphinx, Raziel responded,
stretching its massive neck.
There is a reason we have Chione as our advisor,
Valerius pointed out.
It is because they will not leave either , Raziel
growled.
Valerius grinned. That was true as well. It was not as
if he had chosen her. She had shown up to his lair in
the Moldavian mountains just before the existence of
Shifters had been revealed to humanity and when the
issue was being hotly debated. Not that he had known
that. He had little to no contact with anyone, let alone
involved in the high levels of Shifter politics.
She’d bowed low, spreading her arms to the side, and
said, “Dragon King Valerius, most mighty of Shifters,
I come to offer my services to you.”
“Why would I want-- let alone need --your services?”
he’d asked as he regarded this beautiful woman with
her sun-kissed skin standing in his blustery front hall.
“My name is--”
“ Irrelevant . If you cannot explain why you are here,
you will be leaving. Either way, really, you will be
leaving,” he’d growled at her as he crossed his arms
over his bare chest. He wore nothing. He shifted so
often--and had no visitors--that he rarely put on
clothes. He was not going to do so for this uninvited
visit. Besides, he could tell from the nightshine in her
eyes that she was a Shifter, and from the magic she
gave off that she was an ancient one.
Instead of getting mad or affronted, she gracefully
rose and continued to smile. “I have long been an
advisor to the rulers of the world, and now I come to
offer to advise you as you take your role as leaders of
all Shifters.”
He laughed. He laughed so hard that his body shook
from it. The noise echoed around the stone castle
that was so old that most of it had gone fully to ruin,
but it was high up in the mountains where no one
went any longer and where the cloud cover was low.
There was also a large series of caves where they
could sleep in their Dragon form. He spread his arms
wide to encompass the tumbled down front hall.
“I am the king of the world, don’t you see?” Valerius
scowled. “I care to rule no one and nothing! If
everyone were to leave this world, I would find it
pleasant .”
“I am afraid that by staying in the shadows, Black
Dragon King, and not taking your rightful place in
this world, you will find that even in this desolate
spot that you will have no peace,” she answered
agreeably.
He frowned at her. “Anyone who comes here--”
“Leaves?” She let out a small laugh. “I’m sorry. I
shouldn’t tease you. But if you were half as
disagreeable as you are pretending to be, I would not
have made it this far. You would have punted me off
of this mountain immediately.”
“I still could,” he warned her, his voice going more
growly. But he was impressed that she noticed this.
She was not a fool. She likely read people well. He,
on the other hand, was very out of practice.
“Yes, you could!” She laughed almost delightedly.
“But you won’t. Because you have been alone too
long.”
“I prefer to be alone.” His jaw clenched. But had he
not allowed her to approach in order to hear another
voice?
“Dragons do need their solitary moments,” she
agreed. “But not all the time. Besides, the world
needs you.”
“The world needs no one. It spins on regardless.”
“The people on it then,” she accepted the correction
with grace.
He was just tired of Shifters and humans thinking
that somehow they were necessary to the world. They
were not. The world was quite beyond them.
“Then what do the people of this planet need from
me ?” he asked.
“The debate as to whether to reveal ourselves to the
humans has taken a turn towards revelation,” she told
him.
He scowled. “That argument has been made millions
of times.”
“Yes, but human technology has gotten to a point
where our existence will be revealed either with or
without our consent,” she answered him. “You have
retreated to this desolate space because it speaks to
your nature, but, in truth, if you hadn’t, you would
have been forced to in order to remain a secret.
Others cannot--or are not willing--to take such
measures.”
He let out an angry snarl. “They think the humans
will welcome them with open arms if they reveal
themselves? There will be chaos! And, more than
that, there will be death on both sides.”
“Yes. The revelation of our existence will shake
humanity to its core. Some of its institutions will
simply crumble under the weight. Nothing will be the
same.” Her smile had died completely. “But the
reveal will happen regardless. Managing what
happens after is what you are needed for.”
That had him laughing again, but it was a sharp, short
bark of laughter. “You have met me. Do you think I
would be a good politician? Because that is what you
need.”
“That is not all of what is needed. But I will handle
the political aspects for you. That is why I am here.
But you must be the one to unite the Shifters and the
humans afterwards.”
He was already shaking his head before she was
halfway through speaking. “You have come to the
wrong place and asked the absolutely wrong person.”
“You are more than how you began this journey as a
Shifter, King Valerius,” she said.
He turned his back and started striding away from
her, deeper into the castle. “I am not your savior.”
“But you can be,” she called to him. “You just have
to accept that even you can change!”
Caden-Iolaire raced around the field, chasing their
own tail, drawing Valerius out of his memory.
Change. I must change again, he thought grimly,
though he could almost hear Chione laughing at him.
He knew that she would say something like, “You
would compare having Caden and Iolaire with you as
burdensome as ruling the world, my king?”
He rolled his eyes at the imaginary Chione. It showed
how deeply she had bored into his life from that first
moment to now. But now seemed almost far more
desperate than that original meeting. Or maybe he
had hoped that once he sorted the post-reveal of the
Shifters, he could retreat but this situation, not just
with Iolaire and Caden, but Humans First and
Illarion, showed him that this was a dream. One that
he knew was long gone, if he really even wanted it
any longer.
Raziel stretched its wings out again. You want this.
You want us to--
Change, Valerius answered, but he looked grim. We
must change again.
Trouble comes with change. You know this. And
allowing others, Raziel tracked the frolicking White
Dragon, into our life will cause weakness.
And strength, Valerius added. Caden-Iolaire had
caught their tail and was now rolling around on the
ground. Well, in a manner of speaking.
This is our territory.
Yes.
We only allow them to remain here, Raziel wanted
that made clear.
I’ll let you try to tell them that, Valerius remarked
dryly.
I will! Raziel sounded defensive.
Valerius smiled. Of course, you will. You will have
your opportunity soon.
There will be war, Raziel changed the subject.
Keeping them here.
You should be eager for that. You’ve wanted to fight
for ages, Valerius responded with a wry smile and
shake of his head.
True. Raziel tapped its claws on the ground.
At least you are not so angry anymore, Valerius said
to him. You worried me. What changed your mind?
What changed yours? The Black Dragon Spirit
tilted its head to the side.
Valerius frowned. It was a million little things. Not
one of them could be pointed to and say “There! That
is the moment!”
If we bond with them, their newness to all of this will
weaken us, Raziel pointed out.
Bonding?! What? No! I… Valerius started. There is
to be no talk of bonding. Not--not at this time! He’s
far too young. And too new, as you have said!
But if he is not bound to us, the others will simply
continue to seek his favor, or attack him, Raziel said.
You want to be bonded now? Valerius demanded.
Red eyes regarded him. What is ours… is ours …
That is not-- Valerius stopped as he saw that this
conversation was being listened to, or at least, Caden-
Iolaire had noticed his unease. He could not speak of
this to Raziel when he did not know his own mind.
And he certainly didn’t want Caden or Iolaire to hear
him at this point.
But Caden-Iolaire was looking up at him with huge
blue eyes. They tilted their head and that pink tongue
lolled out. Valerius gave him a smile.
“Continue exploring. Or are you tired of the ground?
There are some fascinating rocks over there,”
Valerius said. They gave him a narrow-eyed gaze.
He laughed, which had them grinning again. “All
right, all right, I shouldn’t tease you. But I will. Oh, I
will. But if you are truly tired of the ground for
now… shall we take to the air together?”
Caden-Iolaire made a burbling, happy sound and
flapped their wings.
“This time I won’t make Caden take over your flying
form,” Valerius said with a barely hidden smile.
The alarmed look that came from both Caden and
Iolaire had him grinning.
“Now, now, Caden, you did very well before!”
Valerius reminded them both.
Slowly, Caden-Iolaire nodded, but then cast a look at
the rocky outcropping. They were clearly pointing
out that their last attempt with Caden taking control
was not exactly a success.
Valerius smiled. “Now, now, failure teaches far better
than success. I will tell you about my first time
flying… but later. We need to take to the skies now.
Together.”
Finally, Raziel murmured with approval.
And Valerius felt Raziel surge forward. Their human
form was transformed in a moment to that of the
titanic Dragon form. When he opened his eyes,
Caden-Iolaire was now below him. He was one and
half times the size of the White Dragon. Caden-
Iolaire was looking up at him with wide blue eyes.
Their mouth was parted in awe.
They are so tiny. Delicate, Raziel snorted, but there
was no sense of criticism, but more of almost
fondness.
They were able to fight us, Valerius reminded.
Raziel shook their head. Strong but mighty? Perhaps.
But things would have gone far differently if the
battle had continued.
Yes, Valerius had to concede that. He shuddered at
the thought of a broken white body on the ground.
Are you glad that it did not?
There was the slightest pause and then Raziel nearly
whispered, Yes.
Valerius smiled. But whatever he was going to say
was lost as Caden-Iolaire got up on their hind legs in
order to be eye to eye with them. He lowered their
head to make it completely even. Then a clever pink
tongue licked their nose before Caden-Iolaire turned
and dashed away before looking over their shoulder
at him.
Chase me! Play! Chase me! Let’s fly! Valerius
heard from them.
The White Dragon took flight, flapping their wings
gracefully, before soaring upwards.
Chase them? Play? Valerius narrowed his eyes as
both he and Raziel smiled. Let us fly indeed!
And then Valerius and Raziel powerfully flapped
their huge black wings and lifted off the earth and
into the skies. But, unlike before, where he would
simply set his sights on a star and fly, he focused on
the white, flashing form of Caden-Iolaire.
CHAPTER THIRTY - SIZE OF YOUR DRAGON

Caden woke up to his little sister hawking over him. He grimaced

and rubbed his face with both hands.
“What’s up, Till?” he asked, his voice still thick with sleep. Last
night’s shift and flying—and the kiss—had exhausted him. It felt too
early to be up and his alarm hadn’t gone off. It was his sister poking
him in the side again and again that had finally roused him.
“You’re in trouble,” she said simply. “Mom and Dad are on the
warpath and I’m suffering for your mistakes.”
He looked at her blearily. “Uhm, what? Why? And how?”
“They were hysterical after hearing about the Humans First bombing
last night, and instead of getting a call, text or email from you, they
had some of those Claw people show up in civilian clothes. Those
clothes are fooling no one by the way! The whole neighborhood is
buzzing about us receiving the king’s guard,” she said.
That had Caden rocketing upright and nearly bumping his head with
his sister’s. Luckily, she had the reflexes of a cat. His Dragon
reflexes seemed to be dormant as Iolaire had cracked one eyelid
and gone back to bed once it realized it was just Tilly waking them.
And she didn’t have food. So sleep it was.
“I couldn’t call, text or email them because…” He grimaced. He
couldn’t because he’d been hiding behind a market stall watching the
Humans First meeting that had been bombed and he couldn’t leave
any trace—electronic or otherwise—of him anywhere by the
meeting. And then they’d been doing the shifting thing and clothes
had disappeared and he really hadn’t thought much about anything
except a certain Black Dragon King. “They were told I was fine. In
person. That should be more than enough.”
“Caden, have you lost your mind?”
Tilly’s hands were on her hips. She looked so much like their mother
at that moment that he almost laughed and pointed it out. Not
wanting her to punch him, he remained silent.
“Uhm, I don’t think—”
“You must have not been thinking if you believed our parents would
accept anything except for you to be home safe after hearing about a
second bomb attack!” Tilly actually pinched the top of her nose. That
was like their dad.
He shifted his legs off of the bed and gave her a crooked smile. “So
we have to escape out the window again today, huh?”
Her serious expression cracked for a second as a smile threatened
to break across her face. But then she shook her head vehemently.
“You have to see and talk to them! They’re not letting me leave the
house through the door or window. You are likely going to end up
chained in the basement if you keep on like this. Just face them.
Figure this out. I want things to go back to normal.”
“If we went back to normal, you couldn’t ride on Iolaire’s back.” He
touched her nose with one finger.
She laughed and then looked deliriously delighted for a moment.
“Flying on a Dragon!” But then she smacked her forehead with one
hand. “Wait! No! Don’t distract me! This is serious, Caden. You’ve
got to fix things with Mom and Dad, or otherwise we'll both never be
leaving this house again.”
He sighed and scrubbed his face with both hands. She was right. He
had to explain to his parents that he didn’t want their interference,
which already made this “conversation” with them sound even more
unlikely to go in his favor in his head. He didn’t want Raven Shifters
writing law briefs about his inalienable rights. The moment this thing
headed to the courts, he would be outed, no matter if they called him
Dragon Doe #1. Besides, he trusted Valerius now. They were
building a—friendship? Relationship?—he wasn’t quite sure, but it
was something that didn’t need lawyers and judges involved.
“I’ll fix it, Till,” he told her as he pushed himself up right and padded
over to the desk chair that was covered in clothes. He found some
drawstring pants that looked mostly clean and his favorite soft, white
t-shirt. He turned back to her. She was biting her lower lip, clearly
unconvinced of his convincing skills with their parents. He put an
arm around her slender shoulders. “Come on. Let’s go face the
parents.”
She sighed and the two of them walked out of his bedroom.
The moment they set foot in the hallway, Caden’s nose was filled
with the most delicious scent of pancakes and bacon. His stomach
grumbled in appreciation. Tilly laughed and they hurried up their
pace. While Caden had no desire to actually discuss things with his
parents, he wanted those pancakes.
They found both of their parents in the kitchen. Their mother was
standing over the griddle flipping plate-sized golden pancakes while
their father sat at the kitchen island reading a sheaf of papers
intently. There was a large jug of orange juice on the counter and a
plate of bacon already set out.
Caden grabbed a piece, letting out an “ah” as it was still hot before
crunching it down. Tilly poured orange juice. Their parents said
nothing. Tilly and Caden’s gazes met. She jerked her head towards
their silent parents, indicating for him to start talking.
Caden cleared his throat. Neither parent moved. Oh, they were so
mad at him. He finished his bacon and reached for another slice.
Tilly slapped his hand and pointed at their parents. No more bacon
until he said something.
“Mom, Dad, I know you’re mad,” he began.
“Why on Earth would we be mad?” their father said as he flipped
pages of the brief before him angrily. “It’s not like you completely
disappeared, didn’t contact us even after a bomb went off, and we
learn you’re supposedly okay because the jackbooted thugs called
the Claw come here in the middle of the night!”
Caden winced. He hadn’t thought of his parents at all. Their mother
looked over at Caden with worry, but then her gaze went to their
father. She didn’t look angry, just sad, as if they’d had an argument
about this. Considering she was the one that saw the White Dragon
Spirit as some kind of god she couldn’t exactly question what he did
at the same time, even if he sometimes wanted her to. But she’d
been scared for him. Their father’s fear for him was greater, because
he didn’t see Caden as anything but a victim of all of this.
“You were scared I was hurt. But you know, I can’t be. Not by a
bomb,” he reminded their father. Then with an uncomfortable laugh.
“Been there, done that, got to become a Shifter!” Tilly gave him a
“c’mon, get real” look that had him scrambling. “Look, I’m sorry I
worried you, but Valerius thought it was best there be no electronic
record of me being anywhere last night.”
“Valerius said? Valerius has all the control here?” Their father had
spun around on the stool to face him. There were hectic splotches of
color on their father’s cheeks.
“He is the… the king,” Caden said lamely.
That only seemed to be a match to their father’s gasoline soaked
flame. “He is an unelected leader who is only in charge of certain
things because he can—”
“Turn anyone and anything into a cinder? Yeah, that’s maybe a little
true. But that’s not why I did as he asked,” Caden said, feeling a
slight sense of resentment that their father was talking about—his
friend, his boyfriend, his lover—the king that way.
“Then why did you do it?” their father demanded to know.
“Because he was right!” Caden said. “Using a phone leaves a trace.
People can see where I’ve been. It’s better not to do that.”
“The neighbors are asking about the people who stopped by our
house last night,” their mother said, rolling her lips together
afterwards, a thing she did when anxious.
Caden let his head hang forward. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I
assumed Chione would call you, but she probably didn’t for the same
reason Valerius didn’t want me calling you. Records.”
It was also the reason that Valerius hadn’t been able to drive him all
the way home the night before. Instead, they had parked the car in
another far off location in Reach. Caden remembered how they had
both sat there, the engine ticking, as they contemplated leaving one
another.
The flying had been thrilling, but it was the playing that had seemed
to cement something between them. They’d played the equivalent of
tag and hide-and-go-seek for ages. Well, they’d hid as much as
Dragons can. Iolaire felt they had the advantage because they were
smaller than Raziel and Valerius. However, when their big white butt
was sticking out behind a hill there wasn’t much difference in effort to
find them.
Caden had been able to hear Raziel and Valerius’ delight in all of it.
And the night had ended just before the sun had some up with them
flying wing tip to wing tip through the air as the sky lightened. They
had finally landed and shifted back into human forms before silently
pulling on clothes. Caden had felt almost strange being in his
human form.
The quiet between them lasted on the drive back. It wasn’t
uncomfortable. Not at all. Caden could feel Valerius’ presence not
only beside him but in his mind. It was as if they were holding
hands. Caden hadn’t been brave enough to take Valerius’ nearest
hand in his. He’d told himself at the time that it was because Valerius
was driving and he didn’t want to distract him. But the truth was, he’d
hadn’t been sure that he was welcome to.
They hadn’t discussed the kiss. They hadn’t really even
acknowledged it. Was it a one-off? The start of something? What did
ancient Dragon Shifters think about relationships? Maybe Valerius
just assumed Caden knew what he meant when he kissed him.
And that’s what Caden had been contemplating as the engine cooled
and the dawn was about to come. Valerius shifted in his seat to look
over at him. Caden did the same. His heart beat rapidly. His mouth
was dry.
Maybe he’s going to kiss me again!
But Valerius did not move towards him and his expression was
unreadable.
“I am sorry I cannot take you all the way home,” Valerius said.
Caden’s mouth opened and shut and then opened again. “T-thanks
for wanting to.”
Valerius smiled. “Of course. I’ve picked one of the spots close to
your home so you—”
“I know the way,” Caden assured him. “It’s five minutes in that
direction.” He’d pointed vaguely towards his home.
Valerius nodded. “Well, then we should say good night. I don’t know
if you have work today…”
“I do, but I’d want to go to the store anyway. Talk to Rose, Wally and
Landry.”
Another nod. “Yes, but do be careful regarding who you speak in
front of.”
“We’re not going to discuss the bombing in front of customers!”
Caden sounded affronted, but he wondered if they had done that
yesterday. He couldn’t quite remember.
“Of course, you aren’t,” Valerius said, but it was more a command
than an agreement.
“What are you going to do? Ah, king… king-stuff?” Caden wanted
this conversation to keep going, for Valerius to stay a little longer, so
that maybe he might get the courage up to ask about that kiss and
what it meant.
At first, Valerius’ expression was blank as he repeated, “King-stuff?”
“Yeah, you know, whatever you do… every day.” Caden shrugged.
Valerius leaned forward and brought his left hand up to his face as
he laughed slightly. “Oh, yes, that. Ruling the world, you mean.”
“Yeah, that. World-ruling. Being important. Being you.”
It was both harder and easier to imagine Valerius as the mighty
Black Dragon King. Caden had experienced the serious side of
Valerius, way too much of it in his opinion, but tonight, he’d seen the
fun side. The side where Dragon butts wiggle before they pounce.
“Being me.” Valerius stared out of the windshield. “I told Chione
when she sought me out just before the Shifters revealed
themselves that I didn’t want to be king. I didn’t even want to be
around people, let alone angry, afraid people.”
“I totally get that.”
Caden watched as the sky lightened and a beam of sunlight touched
Valerius’ chin. He resisted the urge mightily to do the same. After all,
what if he reached out and touched and found it was unwelcome?
Then any fantasy he had that the kiss might really mean something
would be vanquished forever.
“I think maybe you do. You don’t seek power yourself. You want to
be left alone,” Valerius said.
Caden’s mouth did that annoying goldfish thing of opening and
shutting. He thought of lunch that day with Rose and his sister and
Jane’s reaction.
“Yeah, but then again, there was this woman,” Caden said. “She
runs the bakery next door to Wally’s and she was really awful to
Rose. Well, at first she was awful, but she sort of came around. If
she’d known I was the White Dragon, I don’t know if she would have
done that. It wasn’t just because Rose was a Shifter or even a
Swarm Shifter, but because she was from the Below, too. What if I
could do something to help people by being the White Dragon?”
Valerius nodded slowly. “There is some validity to that. What you say
and do could have a great impact for certain.”
“Yeah, but I make a lot of mistakes, too. And if I did or said the
wrong thing then bad things could happen, right?”
“Yes, that is correct.” Valerius’ eyes were on his face, studying him.
“You have a good heart, Caden. So does Iolaire. But once you take
on the mantle of power, you cannot put it down again.”
“Yeah, and with all the craziness with the bombs and Humans First,
a wrong move could lead to really bad outcomes.” Caden scrubbed
his face with his hands, feeling the sand behind his eyelids, telling
him it was well past time to get to bed.
“It’s only been a few days. I know that to you it must feel like a
decision must be made right away. But it doesn’t. You have all of
eternity to figure out what you want to be and how you want to
interact with the world,” Valerius assured him and, for a moment, it
looked like he was going to reach over and stroke Caden’s cheek
again, but then his hand curled into a fist and he dropped it to his
lap. “But dawn is breaking. We need to both get back before anyone
sees us.”
Caden nodded. The words about the kiss died before they even
reached his tongue. He told himself it was because they needed a
long time to discuss it, and not because he was too chicken to say
them. Valerius had pulled up the hood of his cloak and slipped out of
the car. Caden did the same. With one last glance at the Black
Dragon King, Caden had hurried back to his home and his bed.
Now way too few hours between getting into his bed and standing in
front of his parents had passed.
“I told everyone that they’re from your father’s work. A new case he
has,” their mother said, referring to the Claw that had showed up on
their doorstep last night.
“The fact that Valerius is using his military arm to interact with us and
with Caden is not acceptable,” their father said.
“Dad, it’s because he trusts them that he’s using them. If he sent
Chione or someone else, people would notice. Word would spread,”
Caden pointed out.
Their mother finally brought the platter of pancakes over to the island
and started putting some on his plate. She also set out syrup she
had warmed and sweet cream butter.
“I’m sorry that you were worried about me. I get it that things are…
tense and different. I didn’t mean for you to be,” Caden said as their
mother buttered his pancakes for him, which was so odd, but so
motherly too that he didn’t point it out.
“Caden, we need to know where you are.” Their father sighed,
brushing his dark hair off of his forehead.
“You look tired, Dad.” Guilt pricked at him.
“Thanks, son. I so appreciate being reminded—”
“I just meant that you look like you’re working really hard. And you
are… for me.”
“For all of us, Caden. What happens to you affects this entire
family.”
“I just don’t know if I can promise that you’ll know where I am every
second of the day,” Caden found himself saying. He had to explain
how things were going to be. He clenched his hand around his fork.
“I need to Shift every day so that means I have to get away when I
can. I won’t be able to call you and tell you all the time. And there
will be things with Valerius that… that I have to do.”
“What things do you have to do with Valerius?” Their father’s voice
was a touch sharp. He really didn’t like the Black Dragon King.
“Dragon Shifter stuff.” And that hardly sounded better than king-
stuff. “He’s teaching me how to do all of this. Iolaire is so laid back
that I didn’t realize it needed to get out more. I have to make sure
that I don’t harm the Spirit. Valerius is the only one who can tell me
—”
“He’s not the only one, Caden. There are other Dragon Shifters in
this world. Seven others,” their father said.
But Caden was shaking his head before their father had even
finished saying that. “I don’t want them. I just want Valerius.”
Their father’s eyes narrowed. Tilly even looked a little alert. He
played back his words and winced. His crush on the ancient Black
Dragon King had slipped in there. He absolutely couldn’t let his
parents know about that and the mate thing. Their father would have
him whisked away in a red hot minute from Reach and Valerius if he
knew.
Not that he could stop Valerius from finding us. If Valerius would
want to find us…
Iolaire continued to snooze contentedly. He was alone in his worries.
“I meant,” Caden decided to clarify, “that I want to keep who knows
I’m the White Dragon Shifter to the one other Dragon Shifter that
already knows. Valerius. The others—”
“Are coming here to meet you,” their father completed the sentence
not in the way that Caden had intended.
“Not to meet me. To like check me out. See if I’m a threat or a—a
whatever!” He would not say “mate”. He most definitely would not
say “mate”.
“They likely wish to know if you want your slice of the Earth. A
territory of your own,” their father said.
“Well, I don’t.”
Their father’s head rose. “Don’t be so hasty to say that, Caden.
Think about being beholden to Valerius or whatever other Dragon
Shifter’s territory you’re in. If you had your own, you wouldn’t have to
worry about—”
“Dad, I don’t want my own territory. I don’t know the first thing about
ruling people. Besides, assuming they would give me anything, it
would be like Antarctica or something where there are no people and
it’s cold or too hot or whatever. It would suck,” Caden told him,
feeling a mounting panic at the idea of their father pushing this
territory thing.
“We would ensure that doesn’t happen,” their father answered.
“Who are we?”
“Me and your other lawyers, of course.”
“I have lawyers?” Caden’s eyebrows rose up. “You mean your firm
or—”
“They are your lawyers, Caden. I am your lawyer. And we are going
to make sure that you get what’s yours.”
Their father looked so determined and proud at that moment that
Caden didn’t want to burst his bubble. He saw Tilly drinking orange
juice to keep whatever words inside her that wanted to come out.
“Dad, you can’t lawyer me into a territory. No Dragon is going to give
up even an inch of land for another Dragon. I’d have to fight them for
it and I’m not a fighting type of Dragon Shifter.” Caden thought of the
terror he’d felt facing Valerius. Even if he were to fight one of the
smaller dragons they were far bigger than him and knew the way of
aerial combat. He also thought of how Valerius had gotten his Spirit.
In battle. The others Valerius claimed had received theirs in similar
terrible circumstances. “So that’s not happening. Besides, Valerius
told me I could stay.”
Had he said that? Explicitly? Or had Caden just said he was staying
and Valerius hadn’t drop kicked him out?
But what about the kiss? That must mean he wants me to stay!
Dammit! I should have talked to him this morning about it! Now, I
don’t know where I stand.
“He doesn’t have any right to remove you.” Their father was
quivering likely with, again, legal arguments. “We are a nation of
laws. The world is governed by them. Not by the size of your—”
“Dragon?” Tilly asked.
There was silence around the island, but then their mom, Tilly and
Caden laughed. Their father finally did, too.
After the chuckles died away, their father said, “Seriously though, the
Shifters want to be seen as--as human in some ways. Not animals.
So your situation needs to be handled in a civilized manner. In the
courts. Not by Dragon battles. That’s what the world will want. That’s
what the Shifters overall will want. The Dragons must know this. The
law will protect you, Caden. You’ll see.”
Caden didn’t say anything. Their father believed in the law. And he’d
never seen their father so enthused about it. It was as if this had
revived their father’s hopes and dreams. And maybe it had. He
would be a partner in more than name now. He would be in charge
of things because his son was the White Dragon Shifter.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: TURNING POINT

The drapes were cruelly opened, letting the morning light stream
onto Valerius’ bed. He growled and burrowed under his pillows to
escape the brightness. The metal hangers on the curtains made a
tinkling sound as they were moved. He felt as much as saw more
light creeping under his pillows and blankets.
“Whoever is doing this must have a death wish,” Valerius growled,
but then he smelled Chione’s light perfume and groaned. She would
only be here, waking him like this, for a very good reason.
“I stalled him as long as I could,” her musical voice rang out.
There was a clink as a tray with food and drink was set on the foot of
his bed. He chanced lifting the pillow to get a sniff. Bacon, eggs,
toast, juice and strong coffee. His stomach growled now even as he
covered his face again.
“Who is he?” Valerius asked. His heart gave a betraying lurch as he
hoped it might be Caden.
Why am I thinking of that kiss like it was the first one of my life?
Raziel had no answers as the Black Dragon Spirit was deeply asleep
as he should have been. But if Caden were here then...
“Marban,” she said.
Valerius’ heart fell into his feet and he tensed.
Not Caden. Of course, it’s not him. He’s likely still sleeping. Too few
hours have separated the last time we saw one another for a young
Shifter to be awake.
Valerius lifted his head up, the pillows falling to each side as if his
head was magma leaving a volcano and destroying the mountain at
the same time.
“Why the Hell is Marban here? And why would you wake me up for
his insufferable presence, Chione? He’s hardly a life or death
matter...” But then he stopped.
He suddenly knew exactly why Marban was there. And it was a life
or death matter. It was for the families of those he had killed in the
Below. He had forgotten after everything with Caden and Humans
First. But now the memory was front and center.
“Turn over and have some food. You will need your strength to deal
with him. He is in fine form this morning and bound to test your
patience,” Chione said evenly.
Her neutral tone told him all he needed to know. Even her temper
had been strained by the old Swarm Shifter. Valerius sat up and
Chione plumped pillows behind his back before putting the silver tray
on his lap. He frowned.
“Why are you serving me like this? You never do this,” he said.
“Oh, I have in the past. Your memory is normally not so faulty,” she
disagreed as she took off the napkin’s silver holder and spread the
pure white cloth over his chest.
“No… wait, yes.” He looked up at her. “You did this during your quest
to make me lead the Shifters. That was the last time you waited
upon me.” She was taking the silver covers off his food. He caught
her wrist. “What’s going on here, Chione?”
She wiggled her fingers and he released her. The covers were now
off the steaming plate of fluffy eggs, crispy bacon and buttered toast.
She actually handed him his fork.
“Chione,” he said warningly.
She sat down on the edge of the bed with a sigh and moved her dark
hair away from her face. “You’re going to have to get more involved
in the world again. You can’t stand back any longer and let everyone
work it out.”
“With what aspect do I need to be more involved in?” He was full out
scowling at her now with his voice full of suspicion.
“Everything,” she said with a faint laugh. Her right hand went to her
temple as if she had a headache and Chione never had a headache.
He shoveled up a forkful of eggs and in between bites asked,
“What’s wrong in particular? You’re never gloom and doom about
things. Until today.”
“Oh, besides the fact we have a ninth Dragon Shifter? Or that he’s a
child? Or that there are people who are bombing the populace? Or
that Humans First is calling for your head? Or that Marban is also
calling for your head? Or that the President of the United States is
stalking the halls outside your bedroom suite? Or that every Dragon
Shifter is within a few days of the edges of your territory and you
haven’t told me your plan to deal with them?” she rattled off.
“You love that kind of stuff. I am the one that hates it,” he pointed out
as he chewed toast.
She nodded. “True. Usually.” She twisted around to face him, one leg
drawn up underneath her body. “I’m worried about Caden.”
He had just taken a mouthful of bacon when she said that and his
mind immediately flashed to the kiss they had shared the night
before. He nearly choked. She thumped his back and he took in
deep breaths.
“W-what about him? He’s fine last I--I saw,” Valerius said.
He’d let Caden think that he had headed into the myriad of secret
passages in Reach the moment he’d left the car, but, in fact, he had
doubled back and followed Caden home. He’d needed to make sure
the young man was safe in his house, tucked in bed. He’d even
climbed the tree outside of Caden’s window to watch him fall asleep.
He’d almost been caught by an old nosy neighbor, but he’d escaped
without being seen.
“He’s still so young. Not just in life but as a Shifter. Yet he’s not
going to get a chance to grow at a normal pace, is he?” She looked
so miserable that he wanted to tell her that she was wrong, but her
thoughts echoed his. “All the Dragons have had time to learn to
become what they are. Most of them were leaders before they
bonded with their Spirits. But Caden--”
“Is going to be fine.” He reached over and touched her arm. “We will
give him as much time to grow and learn as he needs.”
The surprise in her topaz eyes, not just because of his rare touch,
but the kindness of his words had him quickly releasing her and
going back to his breakfast. She might see the kiss and its absurd
effect on him.
“So… you took him flying last night?” she asked. He felt her trying to
zero in on the reason for his change in sentiments towards the White
Dragon Shifter.
He nodded, stuffing his mouth full of food so that he wouldn’t say
something or put a tone in simple words that would give him away.
Give what away?
But, of course, he knew. Raziel was still curled up asleep but he
didn’t need the Spirit’s wry look to realize he knew the answer to that
question. He wished he could be so blissfully asleep like his Spirit
was. Black smoke happily puffed out of the Black Dragon’s nostrils.
Raziel was exhausted after the night they’d had. No leisurely flying
about, but racing, hiding, dive-bombing, jumping, leaping, all of it,
everything. They’d had fun. So much fun. Fun like they’d never had
before.
“And how did it go?” she prompted.
He shrugged as he devoured a whole slice of bacon in one go.
“Fine.”
That was accurate if “fine” meant “marvelous”.
Her topaz eyes narrowed. “Valerius, my king, what are you keeping
from me?”
So many, many things, but only one thing that you’d really care
about.
He looked up at her, all innocence. “I’m not sure what you mean,
Chione. I’m telling you that Caden and I had a--a fine time last
evening.”
She studied him skeptically for a long while, but soon she was
looking worried again, not about what he was hiding, but likely about
Caden. Though if she had known what he was hiding, she might not
necessarily feel less worried. Caden and him in a romantic
relationship? That wouldn't add a layer of complexity or anything like
that. And it would have to be a relationship, because he highly
doubted Caden did casual. He actually did not do casual. But how
many centuries, millennia, really separated them in age and
experience? So many. Caden was a boy. No, that was not fair.
Caden was a man. But a young man. All this mate business--if he
truly believed it--was too much to put on such young shoulders.
Feelings change between people as time goes on. For Caden, his
personality and experience will seem to be changing in hyperdrive
with all that he will be learning. The first few centuries are all about
change.
“It would be hard enough to keep Caden’s identity safe if Marban
didn’t know it. But he does and he wants something for it,” Chione
finally said what was eating at her. “And he’ll keep asking for things
in exchange for that silence. Eventually, he’ll go to the well once too
often with us. But if we do not give him when he wants then he’ll go
to another of the Dragon Shifters. Perhaps even Illarion.”
At that, Valerius let out a huff of dark laughter. “If he goes to Illarion,
he will be a smeared bug on the Green Dragon’s windshield. Illarion
has little use for other Shifters, none for humans and even less for
Swarm Shifters. And any promises the other Dragon Shifters make
to Marban won’t be honored once they know who Caden is. Despite
your words to Caden, Dragons are not an honorable lot. They’ll be
crossing their fingers and toes as they promise him the world and
then when the time comes to pay up then they’ll crush him.
Marban's best bet to get anything at all out of this is our desire to
keep him silent. So he will take far less than what he asks for.”
“You’ve been thinking about this.” She blinked, clearly surprised.
He shook his head. “No, I’ve firmly not been thinking about Marban.
Long term strategy is not my strong point. Smashing things is. But I
know the Dragon Shifters and I know Marban. These are not
unpredictable people.”
“I suppose they aren’t. It’s just the titanic forces at play with Caden
right in the center of it all that makes me uneasy,” she admitted.
“Yes, that’s true. The stakes are personal.” He ate the last of his
breakfast and picked up the serving platter.
“Very. The moment I saw Caden, I felt connected to him and I do not
do that normally.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
He looked at her speculatively. “He’s gotten to you.”
“There’s something about him,” she admitted. “I don’t even know
what it is.”
“You would have been enthralled with him and Iolaire last night,” he
said with a soft laugh. “Playful and exuberant with everything new
and exciting and fresh. No jadedness. Only a desire to interact with
the world on open terms.”
It was her turn to look at him with surprise. “He’s gotten to you, too.
Both of them have. So you’re going to let them stay?”
“Yes, handing them over to someone else would be a mistake for my
rule, of course,” he said briskly as he stood up and put the tray on
the desk. He grabbed a pair of pants off the back of the chair and
pulled them on. Nudity around another Shifter was completely
normal so he did not try to hide himself from her gaze. And she did
not care about his bare ass anyways.
“And that’s why you’re letting him stay? Because of the good of your
rule?” She pressed.
“One of the reasons,” he said as he zipped his pants, studiously not
looking at her. She’d see evidence of the kiss. He wouldn’t be able
to hide it from her at all. He felt like it was a brand across his lips as
it was.
“And not because he makes you less grumpy?” The laughter in her
voice had him forgetting the risk of her seeing the kiss and turning
around to give her a narrow-eyed look.
“Grumpy? I am not Grumpy Dragon,” he told her firmly.
“Oh, yes, you are. I bet Wally has some version of Grumpy Dragon
on his store shelves. Or, if he doesn’t, I’m going to give him the
idea!” she laughed fully then.
“No, you will not! The plushies and the balloon Dragon hats are more
than enough! It is disrespectful!” He glared at her.
She laughed harder. “So you didn’t see the dragon hoodies where
the Dragon’s maw is the hood? They’re so cute. I’m getting one
delivered.”
He had not seen the hoodies. Now he was tempted to go through all
of Wally’s inventory and remove all signs of Dragons. But he
doubted either Caden, Wally or Chione would let him. Landry and
Rose might even stand in his way.
“Do not wear it around me. That is all it seems I can ask,” he
muttered. But the memory of flying with Caden--and the damned
kiss--did not let his mood darken. Not even the thought of Marban
waiting for him did. Instead, his mind offered him the exciting fact
that Caden must shift everyday and they would be flying and playing
together every day. Every single day.
Her head tilted to the side. “You seem different. In a better mood.
Dare I say it… happy?”
He grunted, which could have meant yes or no. The smile that
wanted to creep across his face was harder to hide. He said almost
lightly, “I’m sure my good mood won’t survive Marban so might as
well get it over with. Is he in the throne room?” She shook her head,
which had him staring at her hard. “Where is he then?”
“He said if he had to meet with you in the throne room that he would
be accompanied by the victims’ families. If he met with you in your
private quarters, he would come alone,” she answered. “I picked the
latter as putting the families through his dog and pony show would
have been cruel. Giving him the feeling of importance by meeting
with you privately was worth the exchange.”
He let out a breath between his teeth. “The hypocrisy of that bastard!
Pretending to care about the families only so much as what it gets
him!”
“Yes, he is at least predictable in some things.” She got up from the
bed and helped him on with the wraparound black silk shirt he wore.
“You really are hoping to keep me in an even temper. Assisting me
with dressing and everything!” he let out a bark of laughter that only
held a slightly grim note.
She smiled. “Sometimes, I like to remember that you are king and
why I serve you. This is one of those times.”
He paused in the process of pulling on his boots and gave her
another speculative gaze. One of the rumored gifts of the Sphinx
Shifters was the ability to sometimes see the Turning Points of Time,
those moments that shifted the future onto one path or another. Was
this one of those times?
“Are you saying that this meeting is more critical than I know?” he
asked carefully.
Her eyes reflected the peerless blue sky outside. “I am saying that
today you will need to be the king. That is all.”
And with that inscrutable message, he sank his feet the rest of the
way into his boots. He was dressed. They went downstairs to the
first level of his chambers to meet with the wily, old Swarm Shifter.
He found the Swarm Shifter wandering about the main area of his
quarters, hands behind back, mild expression on his elderly face as
he looked at some of the ancient tapestries on the walls and the
other objects de arte scattered throughout the room from a life of
traveling the world.
Marban wore a dun-colored set of robes to make him seem priestly
and serious rather than the murderer and con artist he was. The
very fact that he called those who worked for him “granddaughter”
and “grandson” was to enforce the idea that he was a beneficent old
man. Everyone’s grandfather. But he was only that if everyone’s
grandfather was an evil old bastard.
Simi was standing guard by the table. His dark gaze never left
Marban. When he had become one with his Snake Spirit, people
expected Simi to join one of the vast underground gangs that
Marban controlled. But he hadn’t. He’d come to be a part of the Claw
and now he was Valerius’ personal favorite. Valerius knew that Simi
hated Marban with the passion of a thousand suns.
His staff had already set out a pitcher of water and some fruit at the
long table. Valerius wondered if he shouldn’t just keep them
standing so that this meeting was short. Marban did not deserve
such niceties.
“Marban, how interesting to see you,” Valerius said as he leaned
against the back of a couch with his arms crossed loosely over his
chest.
Chione stood to his side, looking demure, like she was just there to
take notes or fetch something, and not like the counsellor that she
was. She did this so that she became one with the furniture in the
eyes of his guests. They would forget her. They would underestimate
her and that was exactly how she liked it.
Marban took his sweet time turning around to face Valerius. It was
made to seem like he was saying, “Oh! I didn’t notice you! How did
you get in here?”
“King Valerius,” he said and bowed only after an uncomfortable
amount of time had passed so that the gesture seemed rude rather
than respectful. “You are surprised to see me here? Perhaps all the
news of dead humans has blocked from your mind the dead Shifters
from the Below?”
The mocking tone and attitude already had Valerius gritting his teeth.
The fact that part of him had forgotten those who had died in that ill-
fated fight with Caden and Iolaire made the mockery worse.
“I have not forgotten. Chione, we have reached out to all the
families, have we not?” he asked.
“Yes, and private meetings with each of them have been extended,”
she said.
“You’ve extended your hand, but they haven’t extended theirs back.
They’ve authorized me to represent them.” Marban’s head lowered
and he put a hand on his chest as if so touched by their faith in him
that it required the clenched hand and bowed head.
“Perhaps it was because they know if you don’t get something for
their losses that you will make their lives even more miserable than
they already are,” Valerius remarked dryly. Any family that failed to
give obeisance to Marban in the Below soon was in the direst of
straits.
“I am here for no base coin!” Marban’s head jerked up as if his pride
smote him a mighty blow. “I am here for justice—”
“Do not waste either of our time, Marban, by pretending to be
virtuous or a defender of the poor and downtrodden. You are here
solely for yourself! That is your nature and we both know it!” Valerius
snapped with disgust. “Why don’t you tell me what you want and I
will make sure the families are compensated fairly? That is how this
always works, doesn’t it? I have a busy day.”
Marban’s dark eyes narrowed at him. He’d hit a nerve. Even now,
Valerius would not treat him with the respect he thought he was
entitled. For an intelligent man like Marban, it undoubtedly did sting
to not be respected. To have what he was overshine who he could
be.
Marban went over to the table where the water and fruit was laid out.
He was about to sit at the head seat when Simi placed himself
between Marban and the chair. Simi didn’t say anything. But his
very presence, blocking Marban’s way, said a million things.
Marban gave Simi a smile. “It’s so good to see you, Captain. There
are so few of us in the Below that get to better our lot in life. You are
one of those fine few. I would so wish though that you spend more of
your time in the Below helping the residents rather than policing
them.”
Simi’s jaw muscles worked before he said through gritted teeth, “The
greatest good I could do for the people of the Below is to eliminate
the criminal element that keeps them in perpetual poverty and
distress.”
“You think the criminals do that and not the very system of
government?” Marban actually looked like he was considering that
argument as he took the chair to the right of the head chair.
“I don’t really care what you think, Marban,” Simi said.
Valerius slowly took his place at the head of the table even though
he would have rather kept this a standing only meeting. But Marban
was, undoubtedly, not here just about those dead Shifters, but about
Caden, too. This might take longer than he wanted—it undoubtedly
would—but he wondered what he would have to give to keep Caden
safe at least for another day more.
Chione sat on the other side of him. Simi pulled back her chair. She
smiled at him and gave him silent thanks.
“You’ve asked me what I want, but I would think it is pretty obvious.”
Marban folded his arms on the table in front of him.
“Which is?” Valerius was not going to guess.
Marban thumped two fingers against the table’s dark surface. “A
place here.”
“A place at my dining table?” Valerius’ eyebrows arched.
“Don’t play the idiot!” Marban’s voice was sharp.
Simi opened his mouth to take Marban to task for his insulting words,
but Valerius put up a hand to silence him.
“You want a place at the table of power, yes?” Valerius asked, but it
was really a statement as he knew what Marban had always wanted.
Marban smiled genially, his temper seemingly restored. “Yes, I do. I
think I have earned it far more than others who have your ear.”
“Who else has my ear?” Valerius asked.
“The heads of the other clans! I know that you--”
“No,” Valerius said simply.
Marban blinked in confusion. “But you--”
“I listen to no one’s counsel except for Chione’s. People come to me,
just as you come, with your suggestions and desires and problems,
but no one makes the decision but me,” he answered.
Marban’s confusion grew and Valerius realized that he really didn’t
know the truth of it. Chione was constantly reminding him that he
should take others into his confidence. That he should have some
kind of formal Shifters’ advisory council, but he had ignored her.
“Do you have a council, Marban?” Valerius asked.
“Of course,” the old Swarm Shifter said. “I make the final decisions,
but the head of the clans of the Below have a seat on it.”
Chione gave him a look as if to say, “See? Even Marban has a
council!”
And then he saw a way to deal with everything that was happening.
The Dragon Shifters coming. The unrest in the Below. And Caden.
This might keep Caden safe and that, that mattered.
“Marban, you are smart, cunning, and ruthless,” Valerius said almost
kindly, which had Chione staring and Marban blinking again.
“I suppose in certain lights I--”
“Oh, no, you are all of those things. And I think I should take
advantage of that.” Valerius crossed one leg over the other as he
turned towards Marban.
“You take advantage of me?” Marban tittered.
Simi looked stricken, but again, Valerius raised a hand, not that Simi
was going to object. He wouldn’t. That was not his place. But
Valerius wanted him to know that his concerns were understood. His
hatred of this man was understood.
“You want respectability. You want it so badly that I bet you can
practically taste it in the air,” Valerius said.
Marban’s smile went a little rigid.
“And I’m the only way you can get that,” Valerius said.
Marban rolled his lips as if to speak but Valerius did not let him do
so.
“I am going to start a Council, Marban. And you are going to be on
it. A Council of Shifters. The most powerful Shifters of each of our
kind, not just from my territory--though most are here--but from the
world,” Valerius explained. “You are going to be on the ground floor
of this. You are going to assist Chione in setting it up. You will be
responsible for reaching out with her to get the more recalcitrant
parties to pick someone to be a part of it.”
Marban seemed not to be breathing. His eyes were fixed on Valerius’
face. He was waiting for the catch, but he clearly knew that this was
the ultimate power for which he sought. It was a way out of the
Below.
Chione looked stunned as well, but her surprise soon turned to
pleasure. This was what she had wanted him to do for ages. To be a
part of the world, yet not take everything upon his shoulders.
“What is the--ah, price of being a part of this Council?” Marban
asked.
“You already know,” Valerius said.
“I’ll handle the families from the Below, of course. It will be clear that
this was a terrible accident and that you should not be blamed,”
Marban began after a moment’s hesitation.
“There will be compensation for them, but more importantly to all of
the Below,” Valerius said. “It will be divided up properly.”
Marban spread his hands. “Of course. It’s for the good of the people,
not just those who are strong.”
“You will ensure that happens, Marban. You will be held responsible
for it. Because that is the rub about respectability, you actually have
to act respectfully to get it,” Valerius said.
Marban only nodded.
“And there is one more matter,” Valerius said. “The most important
matter.”
“Ah, young Caden, yes, yes,” Marban said with an almost genuine
smile. “He and my Rose are becoming quite fast friends. Did you
know that she is going to dinner at his home this evening? She was
fussing over what to wear and what to bring. She’s never been
asked to dinner before.”
“She’s a nice person, I’m sure she’ll be asked again,” Valerius said
softly.
“Yes, for certain.” Marban nodded. “But, I assume, you are talking
about Caden’s identity as the White Dragon Shifter. So long as I am
on this Council of yours--and not in some name-only position--his
secret is safe with me.”
Valerius smiled at him. Not a nice smile. And, even Marban looked a
little afraid. “That’s good, Marban. For if anyone learns of who he is
through you or yours, I will break you.” Silence fell. “I will destroy
you and everything you have. I will make it so that you are not even
a memory.”
A single drop of sweat coursed down Marban’s temple. “I am your
and Caden’s friend. I won’t let anyone find out about the boy. I swear
it.”
Valerius smiled again. “Good. It seems we understand each other.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: ROSE'S THORNS

“Can I have one? C’mon, let me have just one! There’s over a
dozen in there,” Caden begged.
“No, you may not have just one or any at all for that matter.” Rose
carefully tucked the checkerboard napkin around the tomatoes in the
basket. It looked like she was putting little children to sleep.
Considering how protective she was about these stupid tomatoes,
Caden was beginning to think they were her children. She had
pollinated them after all. “These are for your mother, Caden.”
Caden tried to reach for the basket over the counter. They were at
Wally’s and Rose was minding the register as Landry was at home
with her brothers after the bombing.
“She’s bound to cut a few up and put them out on the table tonight!”
Caden argued as Rose held the basket just out of reach as if teasing
him. “So what’s the harm in letting me have one measly tomato
now?”
She picked up the basket and tucked it underneath the cash register.
“If your mother wishes to share these with you at dinner that’s one
thing, but this is her gift and taking any of the tomatoes now is
stealing.”
Caden let out a sound between a “guh” and a “gah” followed by a
“noooooooo”. Rose ignored him and arranged the flowers she’d also
brought for his mother instead. They were in a vase with water to
keep them fresh until they headed back to his house for dinner.
“You’re a mean, mean person, Rose,” Caden said with a sigh.
“Yes, I am. Now go dust something,” she said.
“I’ve dusted everything. Twice,” he said and leaned his back against
the counter.
The shop was slow. After the bombing last night, a lot of people
were staying out of public spaces. There had been two people that
had come in. They hadn’t even bought anything. Just looked around
quickly and--just as quickly--exited the shop. The bright sunny skies
of the past few days had been obscured by clouds. The gloomy
clouds had just added to his boredom.
His parents had almost not let him go to work but since Landry was
staying home with her brothers and Rose was new at the shop, he
told them he couldn’t leave her and Wally alone. Not that they would
have needed the help with the lack of customers.
His parents hadn’t let Tilly come--despite her desire to be suction-
cupped to his side--because as they rightly pointed out, she was not
bomb-proof. He couldn’t exactly say that no one would bomb Wally’s
as the first bomb had been right outside the door. So he had gone in
alone and the day had been slow as molasses. And then Caden’s
stomach seemed to focus on Rose’s homegrown tomatoes to the
exclusion of everything else so that had just added to the torture.
Iolaire licked its lips as it too thought of tomatoes and how juicy they
must be and… Caden shook himself. His stomach was already
growling as if eating itself.
“What is your mom making for dinner?” Rose asked tentatively.
Caden noticed that whenever Rose spoke of his mother, she did so
with this hesitancy. If he turned, she would be biting her lower lip
and swinging her body back and forth a lot like Tilly did when she
was to meet some childhood hero. He’d thought to tease her about
it earlier, but then realized her mom had rejected her and this
hesitancy was likely about that.
“I think she said prime rib,” he started to tick off the recipes on his
fingers.
“Oh,” a breathy sigh.
“Mashed potatoes with cheddar and loads of butter,” he continued, a
second finger flicking up.
“That’s… butter.” She sounded like she was drooling.
“There will also be brussel sprouts with crispy bacon.” He ticked off a
third finger.
“Bacon.” There was definitely a sob in her voice now.
“Oh, and she’ll make her homemade rolls that are crusty on the
outside and fluffy on the inside. They will make great sandwich rolls
for leftovers with spicy mustard and sharp cheddar tomorrow,” he
waxed poetic. “I’ll bring us in a bunch for lunch.”
He heard a thump and turned around. Rose was laying her forehead
on the counter. He was sure she was drooling now. He grinned.
“My mom’s a great cook. That’s how I know she’ll love your
tomatoes,” he told her.
She looked up at him through her black and yellow dyed hair. He
could see one eye that gazed up at him with almost longing.
“Do you really think that tomatoes and flowers are okay? Marban
wanted me to bring wine, but I haven’t made enough money to buy a
decent bottle yet, and it wouldn’t come from me if he bought it. It’s
my gift to her. Not Marban’s.”
Her jaw set and her lips pressed into a white line as she said the old
Swarm Shifter’s name. Caden felt just as comfortable, which was to
say totally uncomfortable, about him. When would Marban ask
Caden to pay him back for the favor of getting him out of the Below?
And what would Marban ask him? Undoubtedly, something he could
not or would not give. But Caden would not think of that for now.
He shook himself and asked, “Are you kidding? My mom will love
those tomatoes and the flowers more than anything!” He smiled
down at her. “Just be yourself. My parents are a little weird, but they
are really nice.”
Rose lifted her head from the counter. “You’re worried about me
liking them?”
“Uh, yeah, because my mom can be pretty intense with her Faith. My
dad is really, really into the law right now and Shifters’ rights so he’s
bound to be talking your ear off about that and--”
“Caden.” Rose was shaking her head, laughing, but not mirthfully,
more like she was sad. “Caden… your parents sound great. Like
parents. Who love you very much.”
“Yeah, and they’re going to love you, too, Rose,” he assured her.
She dropped her eyes from his. “Well, before I joined with my Spirit,
parents used to like me.”
“Really?” Caden waggled his eyebrows at her. “Good girl, Rose? I’m
trying to imagine it.”
She immediately started worrying at her lower lip and her voice was
crisp, “Yeah, totally unbelievable, right?”
“Rose, Rose, I was teasing!” He quickly assured her. “I didn’t mean-
-”
“No, of course, you didn’t. But it’s true.” Her hands were facing
palms down on the counter. “I had this best friend named Jack
before I was a Shifter. I was constantly over at his house. In the
Below, no one really has much, but that almost makes people more
generous sometimes. What I have is yours and what you have is
mine. And together we have enough for dinner.”
Caden smiled, because that sounded like a nice thing in some ways.
But it hurt to hear that Rose might not have had enough to eat in the
past. Her expression grew distant as she clearly remembered past
happiness.
“It was like I had two moms. My own and Jack’s. And then… and
then I became a Swarm Shifter,” she said and her lower lip trembled
just a little. “After it happened, before I even went to my parents, I
went to see Jack.”
“Is Jack still around?” Caden wondered if they were still friends,
though guessing likely not if Jack was human.
She shook her head and gave him a rather watery laugh. “Oh,
Caden, you still think so much like a human sometimes! Just
because I look around your age doesn’t mean I am.”
“How-- how old are you?” He blinked.
“That is not polite to ask! Not even of a Shifter!” She wagged a
finger at him, but then grew serious. “Jack… Jack died last year.”
“Oh, I’m so--”
“Of old age,” she cut him off.
He was blinking some more. “That means…”
“He lived to see some of his great-grandchildren born. He had a full--
if not spectacular--life. An ordinary life with a wife and kids and a
dog and two cats,” she explained, and was smiling. She’d kept up on
her best friend’s life.
“So that means your family…” He stopped, suddenly unable to
contemplate what must have happened to her family if so much time
had passed.
“They’re gone.” She nodded, interpreting his unasked words. “I was
their only child and they didn’t have any siblings so I’m all that’s left.”
Caden’s mouth opened and closed. Iolaire flapped its wings in
distress.
But then she waved a hand through the air. “But that’s not what I
wanted to talk about. I wanted to tell you about that day. It’s so
strange. I’ve never talked about it since…”
“I’m honored you’d tell me.”
“I just sort of want it off my chest and you’re here.” She shrugged
casually, but he knew that this was anything but. Rose prickled
when she was vulnerable and she was very vulnerable.
He lightly crossed his arms over his chest and gestured for her to go
on. He didn’t trust himself to say anything that wouldn’t go
disastrously.
She continued, “Jack and his dad weren’t at home but his mom was.
She answered the door and saw that I was shaking. My whole body
felt like it was buzzing with bees.” She let out a laugh that was
slightly hysterical. “Jack’s mom immediately hugged me. It was the
last hug I ever got from her, because after… Well, you can already
guess, I’m sure. But then, before she knew what I’d become, she
told me to come in and I did.”
Rose’s eyes grew distant, a faint smile on her lips.
“She had me sit at their old dining room table. It had this terrible
Formica top that was peeling away at the edges, you know? Jack
and I had put duct tape down and painted over it so that it looked
okay. Who am I kidding? It looked crappy, but it was better than
having one of those sharp edges cut into your arm.” She bit her
lower lip so hard that Caden feared she might draw blood. Finally,
she released it and said, “I wasn’t able to speak at first. I-- I was so
scared and confused. I just-- just needed her support. And she gave
it to me. At first. She took my hands in hers and told me that I could
tell her anything. Whatever it was, it would be all right. But she was
lying.”
Caden swallowed hard. His hands had been slowly fisting at his
sides, his fingernails digging into his palms as the story went on. If
this had been leading to a happy ending, Rose would not have
ended up working for Marban. In fact, she would not actually be here
at all. So he had already known that Jack’s mom rejected her, just
like her own would.
A tear actually left Rose’s eye, but she quickly reached up and
swiped it away as if it had never been. “I really don’t know why I
believed her. I knew that she was as prejudiced against Swarm
Shifters as anybody. More so, because we lived under Marban’s
rule.” She shook her head as if she could not believe her stupidity.
“But I thought because it was me, she’d be… different.”
“Not a stupid thing to think, Rose. It makes sense.”
Rose nodded, but with little enthusiasm. “I thought, too, once I told
her how it happened that she would understand that I wasn’t that
kind of Swarm Shifter. Not like we were told. I had been trying to do
something good after all and…”
She shook her head again as if arguing against herself. Caden had
to resist telling her that she was good.
“I’d been in the community garden. I’d loved gardening even
before…” She ran a hand through her hair. “And I had seen a group
of these older men harassing a young girl. She was no more than
fourteen.” Her lips curled in disgust. “She was crying out and
begging for them to leave her alone, but they wouldn’t. And no one
was helping her. People were moving away, scared of them. They
were Rat and Snake Shifters. They were actually a part of Marban’s
gang. So no one could stand up to them.”
“But you did?” He guessed, but it was more of a statement than a
question.
She nodded and worried at that lower lip again. He saw a thin line of
blood form in front of her teeth and winced.
“I stormed over there, so angry, buzzing with anger.” She let out a
self-conscious laugh that didn’t sound very happy. “And the leader of
the group, Jimmy, whirled around and grabbed me by the throat so
fast I didn’t even have a chance to flinch.”
“Snake Shifter?”
She nodded. “He started squeezing the very life out of me. I fought
him. I raked my fingers down his hands. I kicked him in the balls and
the instep of his feet, but he was too fast and he didn’t seem to feel
pain.”
Caden thought he might be drawing blood from his own palms as his
fingernails dug even deeper as her story continued. Iolaire was
making a soft whimpering sound, leaning towards Rose as if it could
offer her comfort. Its wings fluffed a bit.
“What happened next?” He whispered. He had to remind himself that
Rose was here, that she was okay, that she hadn’t died.
She blinked and there was another tear, but this one she didn’t wipe
away. He thought she might not even notice that it was there, she
was so deep into the story now.
“Everything started to fade away. The men’s laughter. The girl’s
screams. My own choking sounds. There was only a strange and
steady buzzing. And then there was a voice, I think. It was a voice
that said simply, no.”
Caden thought of when he had heard Iolaire’s voice for the first time.
It had been her Spirit.
“And then, all of the men were being swarmed by bees. Hundreds of
them. Maybe thousands. They stung the men again and again and
again. The Shifters were screaming. None of them got away. They
were more welts than men after that,” she paused and licked her
lips. “Jimmy was the last one to go. He didn’t even look human
anymore with all the stingers in him. His fingers loosened from my
throat. He dropped me and then fell to his knees. His eyes were full
of blood. They had stung him in his eyes.”
Caden winced. Iolaire hid behind one wing.
“He then collapsed on his side and didn’t move anymore.” Her eyes
were so distant again. “It went quiet then. So quiet and then there
was buzzing. When I looked up, just a few feet from me was a-- a
figure made out of gold and black. It was the bees.” She sounded
almost awe struck. "They had formed a human shape. They
extended a-- a hand to me. I know how crazy that sounds. And I
reached back. Grateful for their help, knowing that I would have been
dead if they hadn’t helped me. When we touched, they were inside
of me. I was the bees and the bees were me.”
“That’s… That’s beautiful,” Caden said regarding the last part.
She nodded slowly. “It was. Whatever I had thought about Swarm
Shifters it was nothing like that. The bees had protected me. They
had been pollinating the vegetables and flowers. They had been
doing good. And I had been trying to do good, too.”
“You are good, Rose,” Caden said this time.
But she shook her head. “I’m not so sure anymore. You see after I
told Jack’s mom about what happened, I felt her hands loosening
over mine and then she drew back altogether. She realized what I
was. Even though I had told her what had happened, even though
she had known me for years, had me at her dinner table, allowed me
to spend the night countless times, been as proud of me as my own
mother, she looked at me like I was a monster as soon as she knew
what I had become,” Rose told him.
“She was wrong to do that! She –”
“Yes, at the time, she was wrong. The person I was then didn’t
deserve that. Simply being a Swarm Shifter shouldn’t have meant
she didn’t love me anymore,” Rose agreed with him. More tears
were falling and she was wiping them away as fast as possible. “But
I’ve done things since then, Caden, to stay alive, to have a future of
some sort, I don’t know. And then I met you and…”
He frowned. “I hope I haven’t made things harder for you.”
He thought of what he’d asked her to do the night before at the
Humans First meeting where she’d almost gotten herself blown up
with the rest of those poor people. But she was looking at him with
wide eyes and shaking her head.
“Are you kidding? Since I met you I’ve felt human again,” she said
and grabbed for a piece of tissue. “Now I’m all snotty. I want to look
my best for dinner tonight.”
Caden reached out and put one hand over hers and held it tightly.
“Tonight is the first time you'll have dinner with my family. It won’t be
the last. It’ll be something you do so often that you’ll grow sick of it.”
She gave him this sad, fond smile. “I can’t imagine getting sick of
that. I’m afraid to actually want that again. You make me want things.
You make me hope.” She suddenly bit her lower lip again and looked
at him suspiciously. “I swear I think your power is the ability to make
people hope. Not to make ice. But to make people believe that things
could be different. Be better. Make them want to be better. I just
don’t know if it’s… possible for me. And doesn’t that sound stupid?”
“I’m not going to pretend I know what your life has been like or what
it’s like now. And I realize that you don’t need someone to save you,
you probably will be saving me,” Caden babbled. “But I do want to
tell you, Rose, that I am your friend and that means I’ll do anything to
help you.”
“Caden, you must not do that! You stay true to yourself and not
compromise! Your power as the White Dragon Shifter is huge.
Marban is going to ask…” She shook her head. “Once you’re one of
his grandchildren, you can’t get away. Not even if I lived in the Mid
and came to your house every night for dinner and worked at Wally’s
would that change...”
At that moment, Wally emerged from the back room. He had been on
the phone all day as he sometimes was with his cronies. He must
have overheard the last bit of what they were saying, because he
said, “Marban is going to have his work cut out for him so he should
be leaving you alone.”
Rose, who quickly wiped her tears away and tried to pretend she
wasn’t snotty, asked, “What do you mean? Nothing could make him
that busy to ignore Caden.”
Wally reached over and grabbed one of the black Dragon plushies
from the pile and held it up. “Valerius has done something very
clever. “
“You know, I think Valerius would kill you if you referred to him while
using the black Dragon plushie as an exhibit.” Caden grinned.
“What he doesn’t know, won’t hurt me,” Wally said and waggled the
plushie at them both. “In all seriousness, though, Valerius has
determined to create a Shifter Council, and he’s appointed Marban
as its first member.”
“No!” Rose gasped.
“Really?” Caden’s eyebrows rose into his hairline.
Wally nodded. “It’s a brilliant move. It’s what Marban has wanted all
along. And he won’t want to mess it up. Well, let’s hope he can stop
himself from messing up. But my point being is that he will be
keeping his nose squeaky clean, Rose. He doesn’t want to upset
Valerius so he’ll leave you and Caden alone.”
“Where are you getting this information?” Caden asked, stunned at
this turn of events and Wally’s knowledge of it.
Wally stuck his fingers into the belt loops of his pants and rocked
back and forth, looking very smug. “I have sources!”
“It’s Chione, isn’t it?” Caden narrowed his eyes.
Wally shrugged. “What can I say? She’s a fan of the store.”
“And it’s owner,” Rose laughed. But though she was teasing Wally,
her eyes were bright with happiness and a lightness seemed to flow
through her. She had really been worried about Marban asking her to
do something that would impact Caden badly.
She won’t. She wants to get away from him. But that sounded very
naive to him.
“Have you heard anything from Landry?” Caden asked.
Wally was in the process of shaking his head “no” when the bell
sounded above the front door. Caden turned around to greet
whoever it was. He’d been dying for a customer all day, but now he
wished they hadn’t come.
“Landry?! You shouldn’t be here,” Caden said, only seeing her at
first and not the person behind her.
“I’m afraid that after hearing all about this wonderful store that I
asked her to bring me here,” Jasper Hawes, the leader of Humans
First, said with a huge grin on his face that didn’t quite reach his
eyes.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: SOLUTION

VALERIUS STOOD AT HIS BALCONY DOORS WATCHING THE

GRAY CLOUDS SCUD ACROSS THE SKY. SHEETS OF RAIN
CAME DOWN AND THE SPRAY HIT HIS FACE, WETTING HIS
BEARD AND HAIR. TODAY WAS A DAY TO HUDDLE BY THE
FIRE, EAT RICH ROASTED MEAT, AND READ BOOKS. IT WOULD
BE EVEN BETTER IF CADEN WAS THERE WITH HIM.
Valerius turned his gaze to the two sofas with the firepit in between
them. For a moment, he imagined Caden under a blanket with his
legs curled beneath him. He found himself smiling. He quickly
pushed that visual away. He was acting like some kind of lovesick
teen. But, even without Caden, there was no chance for him to
spend the day with a book. He stared at Raziel who slept soundly
still in his chest. His Spirit was getting to laze about, preparing for
another night of fun with Iolaire while he had been stuck ruling all
day.
His day had been punctuated by meetings. Justice St. John had
come to see him. Evidently, Caden’s lawyers--including his father--
had gone to the head justice to discuss filing paperwork under seal
in order to “protect the White Dragon Shifter’s civil rights.”
“Do they honestly think a piece of paper means anything?” Valerius
had scoffed.
The Raven Shifter gave him a thin smile, but didn’t seem to take
offense even though his whole existence was about papers just like
that. “I understand you chaffing under what you feel is an
unwarranted intrusion into the Dragon Shifters’ domain to rule
themselves. I reminded my more eager colleagues that if they seek
to curtail the Dragons’ autonomy to determine how their clan is ruled
then their own clans’ abilities would be limited as well.”
“Rule of law is important,” Valerius responded softly. “But if anyone
tries to interfere with me or the other Dragon Shifters, the illusion that
it matters all the time will be destroyed. Justice St. John, more than
anything, keeping these legal maneuvers under control may be the
most important thing you do.”
Justice St. John nodded. “Yes, I feared as much. I hear from Chione
that you have changed your mind about letting the young man stay
in your territory.”
“I have. He is a full citizen of Reach. It would have been… wrong
and short-sighted to have him leave,” Valerius said, even as he felt a
roil of panic run through him at the thought of Caden not being in his
territory.
“Unless, of course, he chooses to mate with one of the other Dragon
Shifters,” Justice. St. John mused. “Then I suppose he will go to that
territory.”
“Caden will not be mating with anyone…” else. Anyone else. But he
did not add that, even as his mouth went dry. “He is too young and
new to make such a decision.”
Justice St. John’s brow furrowed. “But the other Dragon Shifters are
coming here to start to court him.”
“They can come, but they won’t find any welcome here,” he said.
Justice St. John’s dark eyes bored into him. Valerius did not shuffle
under that keen eyed gaze though it was a little bit of a struggle
surprisingly. But Justice St. John’s eyes dropped from his face and
the judge nodded as if he came to some realization from Valerius’
stoic countenance. That unnerved him slightly.
“I will manage my more excitable colleagues. But I think that you
speaking to Caden’s father would assist in this. A parent afraid for
their child is practically unstoppable,” Justice St. John advised as he
took his leave.
Valerius had thought about that. Normally, when Shifters bonded
with their Spirits they left their human families behind. There were no
complications with parents, because they didn’t matter any longer.
The Shifter’s clan became their family, the elders in the clan their
parents, the other Shifters their siblings. But there was no clan for
Dragon Shifters. They were each a separate island unto themselves.
Caden had no clan to join and Valerius could not imagine taking him
away from his family. Besides, his family would never let him go,
even if somehow Caden agreed to it.
After the justice had left, President Goodfellow had sought an
audience. Evidently, Esme’s people had contacted her. It was
anticipated that Esme would land in New York City. That was one of
the cities that were designated ports. Ports were where all Shifters
from other territories went to be specially processed before they
were allowed to travel within a territory that was not their own. New
York City was where Esme always approached.
“What do you want me to do? I am aware that the Blue Dragon
Queen Esme is a close ally of yours, but this situation with courting
and the White Dragon Shifter, I assume, changes things.” President
Goodfellow pressed her hands together, a sign of anxiety. She’d
been anxious ever since the White Dragon Shifter had appeared, or
maybe even before that.
He sighed. On the one hand, he didn’t believe that Esme would ever
challenge him for Caden. She knew her strengths as well as her
weaknesses. But still, she was coming. Yet that didn’t truly mean
she wished to court Caden.
Courting? Good gods, what would that even entail?
Esme had joined with her Spirit when she was nearly 70-years-old.
Obviously, she had none of the illnesses that plagued the elderly.
She moved like a 20-year-old. She was a large Dragon, smaller
than him by a long shot, but still double Caden’s size. She had
particular control over storms and her water breath, while it didn’t
sound impressive, could quench another Dragon’s abilities in a
moment. Her territories included the British Isles, Norway, Sweden,
Denmark, and Switzerland.
Her personality was charming, but conniving. She had grown up in
the palaces of Europe in various roles. She was known as the spy
master Dragon as that was how she conducted her rule. On the
outside, she was beaming and seemingly friends with everyone. On
the inside, there wasn’t a person whose secrets she didn’t know and
would use them as necessary. Of all the Dragons, he was certain
that she would find out who the White Dragon Shifter was first. So it
might make sense to enlist her on his side so that she could
disseminate misinformation to the others and keep Caden safe and
anonymous for longer.
Of all of them, Esme was the closest he considered to a friend. But
she did not do things for nothing. Not even for a friend. She'd been
feuding with the Red Dragon Queen Mei. She would likely ask him
to mediate between them. “Mediate” likely meant him helping Mei
with something so that she would stop annoying Esme. He longed
sometimes for the day when he could have simply shifted into his
Dragon form and breathed fire into both their faces before flying off.
Ruling truly had its disadvantages.
“When she arrives, treat her with every courtesy. But she and I will
need to speak on this matter before she is allowed beyond New York
City,” Valerius finally said to the president.
She nodded, but did not take her leave as he expected her to. She
lingered for a moment. And he let out a sigh.
“What?” he snapped.
She did not jerk at his tone, which meant she had been waiting for it,
expecting it. “I was wondering if you had time to think about the
situation in King Illarion’s territory. Since he is coming here, I thought
you might… speak to him.”
He let out a snort. “Speak to him? And what would I say that would
have any effect on Illarion? You think words work with him?”
Her hands fisted. “He knows your strength! Surely, he wouldn’t want
to go up against you!”
Valerius laughed bitterly. “Oh, on the contrary, Illarion most definitely
would like to go up against me. His kind always think they’ll win.
They are so hungry for more power that they refuse to believe that
anyone or anything can stand in their way.”
“Yes, but when you defeat him--”
“Did you not listen to what I told you and your Canadian counterpart
not two days ago in this very room?” He’d swung around to face her,
eyes narrowed.
“I--I did but--”
“President Goodfellow, war is not the answer,” he said. “Believe me
it will not end with simply Illarion and I duking it out in single combat.
Unrest will sweep over the world. Dragon Shifters have more of a
psychic hold over the rest of the Shifters than you understand. You
are an intelligent person but you insist on pursuing this with me.
Why?”
“We used to be a country that did good in the world! We stood up
against tyranny,” she said, her chin lifted.
Valerius sighed. “Some would disagree that you always did good and
that you weren’t tyrannical yourselves.”
She held out a hand as if to block his words. “Yes, yes, I know.
You’re right on that. But in our best moments, we did stand for
something… something greater.”
He stared at her. “You want to recover some of your greatness by
having me kill Illarion?”
“No, just that if we stand up for humans and Shifters throughout the
world, we might have some greater moral stance against Humans
First and other racist organizations,” she said with a shake of her
head. “I don’t know if you truly understand the feelings out there.
Humanity is starting to see that it may be a permanent underclass.
And when people don’t have hope, they turn to violence.”
“You think us taking some kind of moral stance on how badly Illarion
treats both humans and Shifters will suddenly make those who feel
disenfranchised here feel a part?” His eyebrows rose.
“No, not that simplistic, but right now it seems like we are not a
leader in any kind of thinking on human or Shifter matter. No one
really is. It is as if we are in a stalemate.” She started pacing back
and forth, her hands flying up and down as she spoke. “Everyone is
holding their breath, just hoping that the powder keg we are all sitting
on doesn’t explode. We cannot allow things to remain at the status
quo. The powder keg will blow and we’ll have to deal with the
wreckage. So why don’t we try to deal with things now? Before the
explosion?”
Valerius followed her pacing. Her words were and weren’t surprising.
They were quite a bit more enthusiastic than she likely showed
others, but somehow she felt free to show him her true feelings. She
was really much more earnest than someone who had reached the
political heights she had should have any right to be. She should be
jaded. But she wasn’t.
“I was twenty when Shifters were revealed to exist,” she said and
there was a bright gleam in her eyes and a small smile on her lips.
“And it was magical.”
His eyebrows rose more.
She let out a self-conscious laugh. “You probably think that’s
romantic nonsense. After all, you know that Shifters have the same
character defects as any human does. Your ability to shift into a fully
other being doesn’t mean that you are magical in other ways or
different, special, or better. But I felt that hope that you were.”
Valerius almost wanted to object that Shifters were just like humanity.
But he stopped himself. In some ways, Shifters were quite a bit
worse than humans could ever be, because they had immortality and
that meant forever to polish their vices and virtues. So he remained
silent.
“And, though I know that Shifters are as human as I am.” She put a
hand on the center of her chest as she looked at him with a sense of
wonder that should have been eliminated over their long association,
but it was still there. “You can be more. You, especially, are more.”
His lips parted to disagree, to remind her that he didn’t want this job,
but she was speaking again.
“I realize that dealing with everyone and everything is not what you
want to do.” Another self-conscious laugh left her lips. “You were not
drawn to service. You were forced into it. Chione told me this to try
and make me understand how to… approach you, I suppose.”
“To not be disappointed in me, most likely,” he said with a wry smile.
She looked up at him with surprise and tucked a curl of hair around
her right ear. “I fought my way to the presidency saying these words
about hope and change and justice. I meant them. I mean them still.
What Illarion is doing is not just harming those people in his territory,
but everyone. If we elevate the discussion of the rights of humans
and Shifters, there is benefit to that. Do I think that those who are
deeply invested in Humans First or any similar Shifter organization
will suddenly realize that they’re wrong? No. But I do think that those
who are thinking about joining those groups might not if we can show
them that what they are selling is wrong.”
Valerius rubbed his temples. He knew what she was saying, and
she sounded oddly like Caden to him, though she was far older and
should have been far wiser. It was the words of someone though
who still believed in goodness and it appealed to him in a way he
thought he was immune to. But Caden had awakened something
inside of him. He wondered if he was just a sucker for an earnest
face.
“I have asked Marban to assist Chione in creating a Shifter Council,”
he said.
“A Shifter Council?” President Goodfellow sounded surprised and
disappointed. He knew exactly why.
“A council. Not just a Shifter one. He is handling the--the Shifter side
of it, but you should handle the human part of it. I do not want people
just from my territory but around the world to be a part of this,”
Valerius explained, realizing that extending the number of people
and type was a good idea.
“Yes, yes, of course, I’ll help! We could have subcommittees that
could provide you with all sorts of solutions. This would be an
organized way to roll out change and--”
“Yes, President Goodfellow, yes to all of that,” he said with a trace of
alarm. Anyone who got excited about subcommittees was
completely alien to him. “But first, you must get the people to fill
those subcommittees. In any event, the idea is that I need to hear
from others and others have to have some role and responsibility in
what they suggest.”
She nodded eagerly. Eyes shining. “This would be a wonderful step
to eliminating the argument that we are in a dictatorship!”
Valerius frowned. “Yes, well…”
She quickly gave him a nervous smile. “Not that we are! I mean…
Well, I will get on this right away.”
“Interface with Chione and Marban,” he told her. The Swarm Shifter
would be thrilled to work with the President of the United States.
“Uhm, your choice of Marban is an interesting one,” she said
tentatively.
“It is one of necessity. If one wants to eliminate a rival, one makes
them an ally,” he said, but did not elaborate. “If he does anything
illegal, he knows he loses everything. So he should behave himself.
Besides, we cannot ignore any group and expect people to respect
the council we create.”
“Quite right!”
She was just turning to go after asking his permission when he
called over to her, “About King Illarion, I am quite aware of him and
the problems he poses. But there is no simple solution. And
whatever solution that is chosen will have a downside.”
She nodded, but then a bright smile appeared on her face. “I know
you will do what is best once we get you all the information you
need.”
The truth was that he already had all the information he needed. But
the “solution” to Illarion was the thing he didn’t have. Oh, he had
options. Kill him or leave him alone. Those were the options.
Anything else, anything less, would do nothing. These other
solutions would just affect the time between now and when he’d
have to choose between the only two real solutions there were.
There was a discrete beep, which told him there was a video call for
him. He looked at his phone. It was Marban. It was as if simply
thinking of the Swarm Shifter caused him to appear. Irritated, but
forcing that feeling away, he accepted the call and had it play on the
seventy-inch monitor. Marban still wore his dun colored clothes, but
he was riding in a rather plush vehicle. He smiled avuncularly at
Valerius.
If he calls me grandson, I will throttle him.
“Marban, you have called at the perfect time,” Valerius smiled tightly
back at him.
Marban’s bushy eyebrows rose. “Oh? Well, how pleasant to be
wanted.”
Yes, yes, I am sure you feel that way.
“You’ll be receiving a call from President Goodfellow,” he said and
tried not to react to the shocked expression on Marban’s face. It was
just a momentary freezing that smoothed out into a smile that turned
Marban’s eyes into slits.
“Oh, well! How pleasant indeed!” Marban said.
“Yes, you and she need to work together to get all the stakeholders
onto this council, human and Shifter,” he explained.
Marban stroked his chin at his mention of “humans” but he had never
known Marban to actually be racist. The man was too practical. Not
to say that he didn’t prey on racism in others. He used divides like
that to his advantage. “Humans, huh? Yes, that is quite wise to have
the council inclusive. Gives everyone a reason to put their best foot
forward.”
“You haven’t heard anything regarding the bombings, have you?”
Valerius decided that if he had Marban at least partially on his side
he would take advantage of it.
But Marban shook his head with a rather rueful smile on his face. “I
have my ear pressed to the ground regarding all things, but
strangely, I am not hearing much on this. What that means…” He
spread his pudgy arms. “I am not certain. I will let you know if I hear
anything for you.”
“If you hear anything at all,” Valerius corrected.
Marban nodded, accepting that all information would be passed on.
“Something that I have heard is that you should expect both Esme
and Illarion to come to New York City. Illarion will arrive almost at the
same time as Esme will.”
Valerius frowned. He had not known that. “Illarion should use the
port of Washington D.C.”
“Yes, but that’s not what his trajectory is showing. He’s purposefully
heading towards New York,” Marban said. “And at speed.”
If Illarion landed along with Esme, it would put him in an impossible
situation. He could not welcome Esme but leave Illarion to stomp
around New York. Illarion knew this. He must have guessed the only
way that Valerius would allow him to come to Reach was if he was
with Esme.
“Good to know,” he said dryly.
Marban’s expression was surprisingly serious. “He’ll want to kill
Caden.”
It was said so baldly that Valerius didn’t quite understand the words
though they were absolutely clear.
The Swarm Shifter moved restlessly in the leather appointed interior.
“He won’t want another Dragon Shifter changing the power dynamics
in play. Caden is not the type to choose his side, when or if Illarion
discovers who he is, and therefore, Illarion will kill him.”
Valerius’ mouth was dry as dust. It was as if the solution that he had
been avoiding choosing with President Goodfellow was presented to
him in a wholly new way. To keep Caden safe he would kill Illarion.
Not for some nebulous good. But, definitely, to keep Caden safe.
Raziel cracked an eyelid, the flame-red eye appearing for a moment,
as his emotions heightened.
“That will not happen,” Valerius finally said softly.
Marban nodded, not surprised in the least. “Let me know if I can be
of assistance.”
Of course, such assistance would not be of the physical variety, but it
might be of use in other ways. Valerius realized that he had taken
one step--one very large step--towards the only solution of the
Illarion problem there was. The only one there had ever been, if he
had been honest with himself.
They exchanged goodbyes, and Valerius, though pleased with how
well this thing with Marban was working out, still disliked how familiar
Marban was acting with him. As if they were friends. As if they could
trust one another. But, he supposed that they could. At least in some
things. Marban needed him.
For now, in any case.
He’d then gone to the balcony doors and stared moodily out at the
rain. This day had been filled with grayness. The only thing he had
to look forward to would be to see Caden later and go flying. It
would be good to show Caden how to safely navigate storms and
use them for his benefit.
Should we teach him how to defend himself, Raziel?
His Spirit rumbled, We will destroy the Green Dragon. The little one
will not have to lift a claw.
We hope that is true, Valerius said. He’d lost enough battles to know
that there was much not in one’s control.
Perhaps we should just fly out and meet the Green Dragon over the
Atlantic. End this once and for all, Raziel suggested.
Valerius considered this. It would be what his uncivilized side would
do. But if he was going to kill Illarion, he had to do so in such a way
that he would get the maximum reward for it and the least problems.
Raziel snorted.
You have been listening too much to Chione, his Spirit groused.
Perhaps. But you should be glad for a battle coming up.
I have always known that the Green Dragon would fall to us.
Always… Raziel’s eyes closed as it clearly dreamed of triumph
against all of their enemies.
There was a soft knock at his door. He turned in time to see Simi
opening the door to Chione. She swept in with nervous energy. His
heart started to beat harder.
“What is it?” he asked.
Chione’s voice was taut as she told him, “Jasper Hawes has just
entered Wally’s.”
Valerius waited a beat before a sour bubble of laughter exited his
mouth. “I really didn’t think this day could get any more unpleasant.
Evidently, I was wrong.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: FLIGHT

Jasper Hawes strode into Wally’s with a faint smile on his lips.
Behind him Landry and three hulking human bodyguards with bald
heads and the bulges of firearms beneath their armpits, marched
inside right behind him. They took a position at the door while
Landry stood as close to the door as possible, so close when it
closed the bar handle pressed against her spine.
Caden stepped towards Landry and called out her name, “Landy,
hey, ah… this is a surprise. Like I said, you shouldn’t be here. You
should be with your brothers after what happened last night.”
Her arms were crossed over her chest in a tight hold and her head
was lowered, hair covering her face. “They’re fine.”
He reached for her, but she turned away from him, her hands
clenching her biceps. Caden glanced at Rose who was scowling,
eyes full of suspicion at Landry. He couldn’t blame her. Landry was
acting so guilty that she might as well have it written in neon letters
across her forehead.
Did she tell him who I am? I need to contact Valerius!
Caden’s right hand went to where his cellphone should be in his
back pocket. But he didn’t have it. Valerius had taken it from him last
night. So there was now no way to get ahold of him. Yet what could
Valerius do? Storm in here and what?
Turn into a dragon and beat the hell out of him? Tempting but that
likely wouldn’t make things better. But it would be good to let him
know.
Iolaire’s head was up and it was sitting rather like a large cat with
front legs crossed and its tail curled around its large body. His Spirit
appeared to be holding off on judgment on Jasper. For his part,
Caden’s skin was crawling.
“What brings you and Mr. Hawes here, Landry?” Caden asked.
“Call me Jasper, please,” the man himself said with a wave of his
hand.
Caden ignored him and tugged on Landry’s shoulder. “Why did you
bring him here?”
“He wanted to come,” she said, her voice so tiny. “I’ve talked about
the shop and who I work with. He wanted to meet… you.”
Caden swallowed. There was only one reason why Jasper would
want to meet him, unless Landry had made up some damned tall
tales about him having problems with Shifters. But somehow he
hoped that was true. If this was some sort of recruiting visit, he could
just endure it and tell Jasper where to go. But if Landry had told him
that he was the White Dragon Shifter… That was so bad he couldn’t
even quite put his head around it.
“Well, Jasper,” Wally’s voice was cool, “would the head of Humans
First like a Dragon Shifter hoodie? They’re 50 percent off.”
Wally was watching with narrowed eyes as Jasper surveyed the
rows of sweatshirts. Every Shifter had at least one item of clothing,
but he was lingering by the hoodies. Jasper though kept walking
between the rows of clothes.
Rose, surprised Caden, by drifting down a parallel row of clothes.
She looked casual as she absently folded a few t-shirts and
straightened some knicknacks. Her yellow eyes flickered over to
Jasper. She was being protective of him. He was touched by it.
Though he had never heard of Jasper physically harming anyone
with his fists. His bodyguards seemed to be there to simply observe
them. No, his words were what he fought with. He had others do the
dirty physical harm.
Jasper let out a laugh. “Does King Valerius get a licensing fee for all
of this? I suppose with the other Shifters, you could claim that it was
a general image, of no particular Shifter, but there’s only one black
dragon.”
Raziel would agree with you.
“What does it matter what my licensing is to you? You can’t think
you don’t give money to Valerius through your taxes already?” Wally
snorted.
“Perhaps I don’t want to give him any more.” Jasper paused to
examine more closely the black dragon hoodie where the hood was
the dragon’s jaws. “You don’t have any other dragons here. No blue
or red or green--”
“This is Reach. People mostly want the black one. I do have items
with the other dragons over in the corner for those who want
something else,” Wally answered stiffly. “But Valerius gets top billing,
because he’s the most popular.”
“Is he still the most popular?” Jasper dropped the arm of the hoodie
and turned towards Wally.
“Nothing’s changed,” Wally said firmly. Though truthfully that wasn’t
true. The amount of people wanting White Dragon merchandise was
rising.
Rose was tense as a bow at this line of conversation. She was
within two feet of Jasper. Caden had this wild idea that she would
attack Jasper if he said the wrong thing. She likely could sting
someone to death. His hands curled into fists at his sides as he tried
to figure out what to do to stem the violence that seemed to be
building in the room.
“Now that the White Dragon has appeared,” Jasper said. He threw
up his arms and went on, “Everyone is just so very excited about this
new Dragon Shifter. I’m surprised there’s not a greater call for that
dragon. They speak about how he--”
“Or she!” Rose interrupted, which had Jasper turning to look at her
sharply.
He just stared at her before continuing again, “They are talking about
how very brave and good and gentle the White Dragon Shifter is.”
Iolaire fluttered its wings. Yes, it was all of that.
He’s not a good man, Iolaire. His good opinion is not what we want,
Caden cautioned.
But Iolaire was watching Jasper still with an open mind. It frustrated
Caden. The urge to shake his Spirit was strong. He did not believe
that the Spirit knew anything more about Jasper than he did.
Probably a whole lot less. Iolaire sent him an image of two soldiers
facing one another with weapons drawn. There could be no peace
was its message if one immediately went to war.
People like Jasper don’t want peace. He only knows hate.
Caden turned towards Landry, drawing near to her and touching her
shoulder. He said quietly, “Since you’re here, why don’t you help me
with doing some work in the back?”
He said the word “back” meaningfully. He needed to find out what
was going on here. How much had she been forced to tell Jasper?
He really needed to know. And he was sure that it was forced.
Landry wouldn’t have betrayed them for anything less than force.
And there was no reason why Jasper would be here, today, unless
he knew something.
Are her brothers in trouble? Her family? Herself? We can help her if
she’ll just say!
But Landry seemed intent on not even looking at him, let alone
asking for help.
“I was hoping that you would stay, Caden? It’s all right to call you
Caden, isn’t it?” Jasper called and a line of ice went down Caden’s
spine.
He slowly turned to see Jasper coming down the aisles of clothes
towards him. The fight or flight emotion took a hold of him, even as
Iolaire watched his approach with curiosity.
Why aren’t you worried?! Caden demanded.
Iolaire showed them in their dragon form grasping Jasper in one
claw while holding the bodyguards down with one back leg.
Okay, fair enough, he can’t hurt us physically and we can him. But
we can’t give him any reason to fuel his hatred against Shifters.
Attacking him, even in self defense, could start a big deal.
Iolaire changed the image to them crushing Jasper to their chest in
an embrace.
Oh, hell no! Just let’s keep our cool!
Jasper was now just a few feet away. He stopped there and smiled.
The smile did not reach his eyes.
“Landry has told me so much about you!” Jasper enthused.
“So she said…”
Landry made a sound and her shoulders curled inwards. Caden’s
mouth was flooded with the bitter taste of fear. But he forced himself
to appear relaxed. He thought though that he looked like one of
those video game enemies in a T-pose, frozen but ready to attack.
He slid his hands into his pockets. But then thinking that made him
look defensive, he slipped them out of his pockets. He crossed his
arms and then uncrossed them.
I look guilty! Gotta be cool.
“I’m not that interesting,” Caden said with a shrug. Was the shrug too
much?
“That’s not what Landry says.” Jasper smiled more broadly. “And you
seem interesting to me.”
“I’ve said like two sentences to you. One of which was how
uninteresting I am,” Caden said flatly.
“I’ve hardly said anything to you, but you clearly have feelings about
me.” Jasper still smiled.
“Yeah, because who you are is blasted all over the internet and
through the media. I’m not a fan of racists,” Caden told him, voice
cold.
And that’s another reason for you to dislike him, Iolaire! He hates
Shifters, i.e., he hates us!
But Iolaire continued to keep an open mind. He rolled his eyes
mentally.
Jasper let out a soft cough. “That’s a misrepresentation of my
beliefs that people who hate me have proliferated.”
Caden’s eyes narrowed. “You hate Shifters and are fomenting armed
rebellion against them. You call them parasites and the humans
they’re bound with hosts!” Caden started warming up to the
subjects, his cheeks flooding with angry color. “You’ve talked about
putting them in internment camps! You’ve even gone so far as they
should be vivisected so that humanity can understand what makes
them tick! If there’s a hateful thing you haven’t said about Shifters I
can’t think of it!” His voice had risen so loud that when he stopped
speaking his final word echoed in the store. “I know who you are.
And there is nothing you can say to change that.”
Jasper listened to his rant without reaction. His expression was
almost too smooth, too even, too calm. But Caden guessed that he
was used to hearing these exact same arguments thrown at him.
And since he has said these things--and believes them!--why would
he get angry that I’ve just repeated his own words and thoughts?
“My rhetoric has been, at times, inflammatory,” Jasper agreed
evenly. “But what you call racism, is what I call defending my race.
The human race is in trouble, Caden.”
“Oh, please,” Rose said with a sharp laugh.
“You don’t think so?” Jasper turned his head towards her.
“I’m a Swarm Shifter,” Rose told him and sauntered over. The
bodyguards tensed as she did so, not realizing before that this
seemingly innocent young woman in her yellow bell dress was a
dreaded Swarm Shifter. But Jasper made a gesture that kept them
there. “I can assure you, that if you asked Shifters and humans that
we are at the bottom of the heap. Not humans.”
“You should rally for your side. I have to protect me and mine.”
Jasper put a hand on his chest.
“Protect it from what? You do know that Shifters are humans, too.
They’re just bonded with Spirits,” Caden pointed out. “There could be
no Shifters without humanity. So humans aren’t in any danger of
being wiped out by Shifters.”
Jasper wagged his finger, which Caden wanted to grab and snap.
“Then you haven’t heard of what’s going on in Illarion’s kingdom.”
“I have, and it’s terrible, if true. It should be stopped,” Caden said,
and he should talk to Valerius about that, but there were so many
things that needed fixing. He pushed that thought away or otherwise
he’d be overwhelmed. “Human leaders do bad things too. Think
about history!”
“But there are no actual human leaders any longer, are there? It’s all
Dragon Shifters,” he said. “And, please don’t point out the elected
humans. They don’t have autonomy. They are mere puppets. And
humanity is in danger of becoming a permanent underclass if we
don’t do something to protect ourselves.”
“Humans have power.” Rose shook her head with disdain. “Not as
much power as before the war, but that’s what happens when you
piss off flying nuclear weapons.”
“Might makes right?” Jasper lightly taunted.
Caden frowned. “They could have done to you what you wanted to
do to them. What humanity was doing to them. But they didn’t.
Valerius didn’t. He lets things just run. If people want to do stuff, he
lets them. He doesn’t want to be in charge.”
Jasper’s eyebrows rose. “You know him well?”
Caden gritted his teeth. He had spoken too freely, but he quickly
covered it up. “No, of course not. I am a shop clerk. But you can tell
by how things are run. He’s not hands on. He’s never making
speeches, telling people what to do, like some people. He seems
like he would rather be left alone.”
“So we have a careless ruler!” Jasper flashed a smile that might
have gone over well at rallies but not here.
“It sounds like Valerius can’t win with you. If he’s engaged then he’s
a tyrant. If he lets the elected government run things then he’s
careless.” Caden shook his head.
“He’s our ruler because he can crush us all.” Jasper’s smile was
sharp. “Now, we could discuss this for hours. But I would just like to
say about myself is that I am not racist against Shifters as I am pro
humanity.”
“Where have I heard that argument before?” Wally’s mouth had
flattened with distaste. “You come from a long line of people who
have hated others based on their color, gender, sexual orientation,
religion or nation. You are a repeat.”
“From time to time, a group must protect itself. I am not talking about
some petty division. I am speaking for the health and safety and
rights for all of us. There are more of us than of you. But think about
how our world is structured now.” Jasper’s hands began to move
through the air as he conducted his argument more than said it.
“The courts are ruled almost exclusively by Raven Shifters! If there’s
a human lawyer or judge it causes a moment of wonder! They are
tokens to gloss over the fact that the majority of the people who
interpret the laws that govern us all! The police are all Werewolves!
Humans are excluded with the reason that we aren’t strong enough,
fast enough, able to handle ourselves even though we’ve been doing
so for thousands of years! Every professor at our institutes of higher
education are Shifters! And that’s just for the start. Shifters are
immortal. They can stay in every single job forever. Why hire a
human who is just starting out when you can hire a Shifter who has
400 years of experience? There are real inequities that have only
been getting worse until we stop it.”
“If you were just arguing for diversity I would agree with you,” Caden
said carefully. His father had said some of the same things and he
wasn’t completely without reason to say that. But the hate it was
usually attached to made the whole thing seem toxic to him.
“Different voices are good for society. But you aren’t arguing that.
You’re giving us the sanitized versions of the things you say at your
speeches and put on your websites.”
“The Shifters are ruling us. We are becoming their slaves. The ones
that will sweep their streets, clean their toilets and serve them.
We’re being locked out of any positions of power or respect,” Jasper
hissed, his eyes glowing with zeal. “Why are you, a smart young
man with a brilliant university career behind you, working here?”
“Hey!” Wally growled. “This is a quality establishment!”
“I know that Landry works here because she can’t get a better job.”
Landry’s shoulders hunched more in shame, though Caden was
certain that she’d said as much many times to her friends and family
outside of work. She’d said as much to him! But the way Jasper said
it made it sound like Landry hated it at the shop and found it beneath
her. “And I’m betting that’s true for you, as well,” Jasper said. “How
will you ever live outside your parents’ home? How will you ever be
able to have children of your own? You’ll be unable to make enough
money to do so. And this is the new norm. Our parents’ generation
is the last one that likely will have it even semi-balanced. For our
generation, no. We’re stuck. And thing are only going to get worse.”
Rose stood there with her arms crossed. She looked at Jasper with
distaste, but he was betting she was thinking that the same thing
could be said of the Shifters in the Below. Maybe he was even right
on some levels. Not in his hatred of Shifters, but how things were
getting harder and harder if you weren’t a Shifter.
He must not know I am one as he keeps talking about me like I’m
human only.
“Even if every single thing you’ve just said is 100 percent true, all the
other stuff you advocate is hateful,” Caden pointed out. “You need to
work with Shifters to change things rather that--”
“Or just get rid of them,” Jasper cut him off.
Iolaire’s eyes narrowed at that.
Jasper continued, “Or have them kill each other.”
“What--”
“The White Dragon Shifter,” Jasper said, his eyes glittering with that
unnatural zeal. “The White Dragon Shifter has changed things. All
the dragons are coming here.”
Yeah, to try and get me to mate with them. Not to fight, you idiot.
But Caden’s throat was dry. Landry must have told him that Caden
was the White Dragon Shifter. That was only explanation for why he
was here.
Jasper put his hands together and rubbed them with relish. “All the
dragons in one place. All going to fight because there’s another of
their kind to take a slice of their pie.”
Caden repressed a snort.
“You’re making a lot of assumptions. Maybe the White Dragon
Shifter doesn’t want anything like that. You haven’t seen him or her
demanding their rights,” Caden pointed out. Though if his father and
his lawyers had their way, wasn’t that exactly what they would be
doing? He really had to put a stop to that. “They’ve been staying out
of the limelight. Maybe they just want to be left alone, too.”
Jasper drew closer. “Oh, I think he will be revealed. I think he will
reveal himself.”
Caden resisted the urge to look at Landry. Rose stared daggers at
his back. Wally’s normally happy face was scrunched.
“What does the White Dragon Shifter matter to Humans First? Isn’t
that yet another dragon to allegedly oppress humanity?” Caden
pointed out. His voice sounded weak though. He couldn’t imagine
what it would matter to Jasper to disclose he was the White Dragon
Shifter. Unless he believed like Marban that he could use that
information against Caden.
Of course, he thinks that. He thinks he can have a dragon on his
side.
“The White Dragon Shifter could mean change.” Jasper was all
smiles again. “Change in a way that is unexpected. Because the
White Dragon Shifter could stand for something else. For humanity
against the old guard.”
“That’s nice. Why are you making this argument to us? To me? As
you said, we’re just people unable to get jobs outside of a shop,”
Caden pressed.
Tell me what you know. Tell me what you think you know.
Iolaire reared a little back as if wanting to get away from Jasper.
“The White Dragon Shifter has only just joined the elite. He probably
hasn’t had a chance yet to adjust his expectations,” Jasper said
quietly. “Especially, if he was a kind person who went along with the
flow of life.”
That was definitely something Landry said about him. She had
always acted a bit like it was a weakness in his character.
“Oh, my God!” Rose started laughing. She covered her mouth with
one hand as she continued to giggle. “Caden, he thinks you’re the
White Dragon Shifter! I can’t think anything funnier!”
Caden snorted. “Seriously? You think that, Jasper?”
“The kid? A Dragon Shifter? I am going to put together White
Dragon Shifter merch! You’ve been holding out on me, Caden!”
Wally chuckled.
Caden gave both Rose and Wally narrow-eyed looks as he
pretended to be affronted. “At least you don’t think I couldn’t be the
White Dragon Shifter, Wally, like Rose seems to! I think I’m getting
to be a bit offended, Rose, that you can’t imagine me as part of the
elite.”
The mention of “elite” sent her into even larger gales of laughter that
evidently stopped her from speaking. She doubled over and held
her stomach.
Caden looked at Jasper. “I’m afraid that I can’t help you. I’m not the
White Dragon Shifter.”
Jasper gave him a lemon peel thin smile. “That’s a shame then.
Because only a dragon could get to your parents’ home in time to
stop them from dying.”
Caden stared at him in shock. “W-Wally, call home!”
“He won’t be able to get through. And you’re wasting time,” Jasper
said with a dry cough. “Time is of the essence.”
Wally did dial though. Caden could hear the phone ringing and
ringing and ringing. Rose was as pale as milk. Panic had Caden
looking to the front door where the bodyguards were.
Jasper’s smile was so wide that it looked like a slash across his face.
“Only a dragon flying there has a chance to save them. I’d use the
back door so no one sees you transform.”
Landry’s hands covered her face. “I’m so sorry, Caden.”
And that was when Caden starting running towards the door at the
back of the shop to save his family.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: DINNER DELAYED

VALERIUS PULLED UP IN ONE OF THE NONDESCRIPT SUVS

OUTSIDE OF WALLY’S BACK ENTRANCE JUST AS CADEN
BURST OUT OF THE DOORS. AT THE SAME TIME, HE SAW
TWO HUMANS WITH VIDEO CAMERAS FIXED ON CADEN.
VALERIUS KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.
THESE PEOPLE WERE POISED TO CAPTURE CADEN
SHIFTING INTO THE WHITE DRAGON. BUT VALERIUS WAS
BETWEEN THEM AND HIM. HE NEEDED TO COMPLETELY
BLOCK THEIR VIEW.
He didn’t even bother to open the SUV’s door, but instead shifted
into his Dragon form, splintering apart the vehicle as if it were made
of tinfoil. His massive head thrust towards the two humans, fire
wreathing his jaws, parts of the SUV raining down like metal
raindrops. The two humans dropped their cameras and fled.
Valerius sent a gout of fire above their head to make sure they kept
running. He then brought down one powerful clawed foreleg onto
the cameras, crushing them to powder. There would be no proof of
Caden even being at Wally’s.
Valerius turned back to Caden, who had, thankfully, not shifted. The
ground shook as he moved. The young man frantically ran up to him.
He lowered his head so that they were sort of eye to eye.
“I think Jasper Hawes set a bomb at my house!” Caden cried.
Valerius stiffened. How could that have happened when the Claw
were watching the Bryce home? He’d had the Claw keep a
respectful distance, but there had been no one who had even
approached the home since the guards had been placed.
Except for the lawyers from his father’s firm. Could there be traitors
among them? But what Shifter would help Humans First?
But there was no time to think about that. He would have to assume
that somehow it had happened. And he would have to bring Caden.
Do not shift, Caden, he sent, hoping that their connection would
send it.
But Caden was already frantically telling him, “I can’t shift! It isn’t
working!”
The young man was too emotionally stressed to let the shift take
over. Without a second’s hesitation he swept Caden up in one
gigantic claw. The young man let out a surprised squeak, but then
Caden adjusted himself, resting his elbows on the top of his claws.
“Don’t worry about me! Fly as fast as you can!” Caden called up.
Valerius lifted up into the air with powerful beats of his wings. The
downdraft caused the car parts to scatter as if they were as light as
fall leaves. The scrape and clatter from their movement along the
pavement and striking the back of Wally’s shop was soon lost as
they rose up and up into the air and then they shot towards the
Bryce house.
“There! My house is there!” Caden shot out an arm towards where
his family home was located on the Mid.
But it was unnecessary. Valerius could have found Caden’s house
with his eyes closed. He circled, looking for the best place to land.
There was a culdesac at the end of Caden’s street that was just
large enough to accommodate him so long as he tucked his wings in
tight almost immediately.
The neighbors gazed up, pointing, staring, gaping, and crying out as
Valerius landed—lightly for him--but still the ground shook violently,
and the trees swayed perilously from the down draft from his wings.
He gently put Caden down and the young man was already running
even as he transformed into his human form. The four Claw agents
that were dressed in civilian clothes immediately raced towards him.
Caden dashed past them, nearly knocking them down like bowling
pins. One of them was Ngoye.
“There may be a bomb in the Bryce residence!” Valerius shouted at
them without slowing down. “We need to get all of the people out
now!”
He then picked up speed and passed Caden up the stairs. He
wrenched open the front screen door, which came off of its hinges
and tossed it to the side. Tilly, who was just coming down the stairs,
stared at his naked form with her mouth open. He did not explain,
simply grabbing her around the waist, spinning around and shoving
her into Ngoye’s arms.
“Take her out and far away!” Valerius commanded.
Ngoye easily carried Tilly out of the house even as Tilly called out,
“Caden, what’s going on?”
Valerius followed Caden into the kitchen where his mother and father
were standing. She had on a pair of oven mitts while her husband
had a towel thrown over one shoulder. They were clearly in the
middle of preparing dinner. There was a toothsome smell of meat
roasting.
“Caden?” Mrs. Bryce asked, eyes wide.
“What’s the meaning of this? And, King Valerius, why are you
naked?” Mr. Bryce looked Valerius up and down, eyebrows rising.
Humans and their fear of their own bodies is so strange, Raziel
muttered, the first words it had said since this whole affair. When
things were tense they worked as one.
“We’ve got to get out of here!” Caden grabbed Mrs. Bryce’s wrists
and tugged her towards the front of the house. One of the over mitts
slipped off, but she resisted his tug.
“What—what are you saying? Why—”
“There’s a bomb!” Caden shouted.
“Carry her,” Valerius instructed, even as he grabbed Mr. Bryce and
slung him over his shoulder as easily as one might a sack of flour.
Mr. Bryce let out a sound similar to the sound that Caden had made
when he scooped him up earlier.
Caden followed suit, though Mrs. Bryce was more accepting of the
fireman’s carry.
“Anyone else in the house?” Valerius asked.
“No, put me—”
“Let’s get out of here!” Valerius ignored Mr. Bryce’s cry. He turned to
the other two Claw and said to them, “Go evacuate houses all
around here!”
Valerius and Caden then dashed from the house, down the front
porch stairs and out onto the street. The wail of sirens could already
be heard in the distance, coming towards their location. Valerius took
the lead and ran at full speed—Mr. Bryce was bouncing up and down
on his back—down over two blocks to where Ngoye was with Tilly.
He put Mr. Bryce down, who smoothed his hands over his shirt,
trying to not look like he’d been carried like a child. Caden set his
mother down beside him. Tilly clutched both of her parents’ hands.
They turned to her and both murmured to her, asking if she was all
right.
“I’m fine! But what’s going on?” Tilly asked the last of Caden.
“A bomb. Jasper Hawes set a bomb in our house!” Caden cried, still
pale.
“The leader of Humans First?” Mr. Bryce asked, forehead furrowing.
“But why…” His expression cleared as he gazed with fear upon his
son. “Unless they know who you are.”
“Landry told him,” Caden said miserably.
“What? Why would she do that?” Tilly asked. “She’s your friend! She
wouldn’t tell Valerius where you were so why would she tell Jasper
who you are?”
“Her brothers are in Humans First,” Caden said, grimacing. “I’m sure
Jasper must have threatened her or them somehow.”
“He knows but does not yet have proof. That’s what the men outside
the back of Wally’s were doing with those cameras. He told you
there was a bomb—and there may actually be—in the hopes that
you would shift and he would have visual proof of it,” Valerius
guessed.
“He told me to go out the back,” Caden said with a frown.
“I’m sure he had people in the front, too,” Valerius said sharply. He
tried not to feel anger about Landry and her betrayal. It likely had
been forced out of her. But the more people who knew about
Caden’s secret, the more people could be compromised to reveal it.
“Ngoye, send Claw to Wally’s and to Landry’s. Pick up Jasper
Hawes, Landry and her brothers.”
Captain Ngoye nodded and pressed a button on her ear piece to
carry out his orders.
“What? No! Not Landry!” Caden gasped. “Didn’t you hear what I
said about her being forced—”
“I agree with Valerius,” Mr. Bryce cut his son off. “Whether she gave
up your secret under duress or not will be determined. Your safety,
our family’s safety, has to come first, Caden.”
“There is no more time to discuss this. There are others to
evacuate,” Valerius said.
“Right! We need to get the rest of the neighbors out of the nearby
houses!” Caden nodded.
Mrs. Bryce’s hand twisted in the front of her shirt. “But you could get
hurt—”
“I can’t get hurt, Mom! Just stay here! Valerius and I will be back!”
he shouted.
Valerius put his hands on Caden’s shoulders. “Caden, you should
stay here with your family.”
“What? No! I need to help get people to safety!” Caden drew himself
up like a puppy trying to convince him that he was a big dog.
“You’re supposed to be human, remember? Anyone who sees you
carrying people over your shoulders or running as fast as we just
did…” Valerius let the sentence hang.
“But…” Caden looked down. “I want to help. I can help.”
“It will get out,” Valerius reminded him. He squeezed Caden’s
shoulders. “Stay here with your family. We can take care of this.”
Caden crossed his arms over his chest, but finally nodded. The
sirens were getting nearer. They would be there any minute.
“I will return. Stay here,” Valerius said.
Valerius raced back to the surrounding homes. The Claw was
already getting people out of their homes. There was an elderly
woman who was having trouble walking that Valerius gathered up in
his arms and ran back to the cordoned off area. She looked up at
him in wonder.
“K-King Valerius?” she gasped once he set her down.
“Yes, madam. Do not be afraid,” he assured her.
“But if you are here then there must be danger. Is it the White
Dragon Shifter?” she asked.
“Madam, I assure you that you have absolutely nothing to fear from
the White Dragon Shifter,” he said, his eyes meeting Caden’s who
was coming up behind them. Caden gave him a grateful smile.
He went back again and again, returning with more neighbors. The
police, fire department and more Claw arrived as they worked.
Valerius heard various statements during the rescue to himself and
to Caden along the lines of the old woman’s. He assured each and
every single person that this was not about the White Dragon Shifter,
and that the ninth Dragon Shifter was their friend. Chione was right
that he needed to do some kind of speech or something. Finally,
everyone had been cleared out. Valerius and one of the bomb squad
from the police entered the Bryce house.
Raziel, we need to search for anything that smells chemically.
Do you truly think there is a bomb here? his Spirit rumbled.
I am guessing not. But we must search every inch of this property
and the adjoining ones nevertheless, Valerius said.
We cannot allow Iolaire and Caden to remain here. They must be in
our lair, Raziel remarked.
That will cause attention to go his way. People will wonder why he is
being favored. They will guess who he is, Valerius reminded it. He
felt the same way, but having Caden live in High Reach would not
keep Caden’s identity a secret.
Why should they wish to be hidden? They should fly with us openly.
They are not safe apart from us, Raziel pointed out.
Caden wishes…
Caden wishes to act like nothing has changed. Iolaire is too kind to
say the truth to him, unlike how I speak to you.
Valerius snorted. Indeed. You do not mince words with me, Raziel.
It is best this way.
I tend to agree.
The bomb squad person was a female Werewolf. Unlike human
bomb squad members, she needed none of the heavy armor. She
would shift into her Werewolf form if necessary and that would
protect her far better against the bomb than any human made
material. She sniffed the air deeply. Her brown eyes flickered
everywhere.
“Do you smell anything?” he asked her.
“Some really nice beef with rosemary, thyme and garlic.” She
grinned at him.
He returned the grin. “How shall we begin?”
“Let’s split up. You take the first floor, I’ll go to the basement, then
whoever is done first, will head to the second floor. Any more
information about the bomb’s components? It would be good to
know what I’m sniffing for,” she explained.
“No, but I would assume they would be similar to the ones we’ve
already had to deal with,” he said.
“C4 then. Good to know. All right. Good luck,” she said and went
downstairs.
The two of them spent over an hour going through the Bryce home
to make absolutely sure there was no bomb. The adjoining homes
had come back clean as well. It had been just a ruse to expose
Caden as the White Dragon Shifter. The female Werewolf turned off
the oven just as the roast was done and pulled it out, tenting it with
foil. He half expected her to start making gravy with the drippings.
“It would be a shame for this to go to waste,” she explained
sheepishly when he gazed at her questioningly. “Seems like there
was something special planned here.”
“Yes, a dinner party.” He sighed.
“It’s safe to bring the family back. Do you wish me to give the word to
return them here?” she asked.
He nodded.
She brought up the walkie-talkie to her lips and spoke to someone
on the other end. They reported back that the Bryces and the other
neighbors were being escorted back to their homes.
“Does King Valerius have any orders regarding what we can tell
people happened here?” the male voice on the other end of the line
asked.
The Werewolf looked over at him.
“For right now, tell them… tell them it was a bomb threat. But that
threat was false,” he said.
He was tempted to let them know it was Humans First who had
made the threat, but that would come soon enough. The press were
already outside. He could hear the thump of the chopper blades. He
was sure every moment was being breathlessly reported. He was
sure that various “experts” were already opining on the cable news
about what could possibly be happening here. Valerius was still
naked. He could almost imagine the even more tittering coverage if
he were to leave the Bryce home and be spotted by one of the
cameras. He was about to ask the Werewolf to request clothes to be
brought to him when there was the sound of clattering footfalls in the
hallway.
In seconds, Caden was in the kitchen running towards him. Caden
threw his arms around him. In front of everyone. They had kissed.
Valerius wrapped his arms around Caden. The young man clutched
at him. He could feel Caden’s hot breath against his chest. The
rough press of Caden’s jeans against his cock were causing arousal
to pulse through him. He really needed some pants of his own.
“Are you okay?” Caden asked.
“Of course,” he laughed, but gently.
“Right. Of course. Iolaire wants to touch noses with Raziel, but I told
it that the house couldn’t hold you both,” Caden said with an amused
grin.
Touch noses? Raziel snorted. Iolaire cannot be so foolish as to think
I could be harmed even if there are a thousand bombs here.
“Raziel is… fine. Nose rubbing later,” he said.
“Right on.” Caden’s smile though faded. “There was no bomb?”
“No, none. It was a ruse.”
Caden’s lips flattened into a thin line. “I should be glad of that. But…
I’m having trouble seeing how I can keep my family safe when so
many bad people suspect who I am."
Valerius agreed. “We will discuss this more later.”
Caden nodded.
Over Caden’s shoulder, he saw the Bryces looking at them
embracing. Caden’s father frowned. His mother blinked. Tilly
grinned. The Werewolf pretended not to see. Or maybe she didn’t
see. She was sniffing around the roast.
Mrs. Bryce came up to her. “You saved the roast!”
The Werewolf pinked. “It’s a beautiful cut of meat. It deserved
saving.”
“Would you like some? It’s the least we can do for your help,” Mrs.
Bryce offered.
“Oh, no, I couldn’t!” the Werewolf said, but her eyes said differently.
“If you can wait just a moment, I can make some gravy for you as
well,” she suggested.
The Werewolf made to take a seat at the kitchen island when Chione
swept in with clothes for Valerius. She bowed and handed him the
clothing before turning to the Werewolf and saying, “Lieutenant
Sawyer, you’re needed outside.”
The Werewolf’s head lowered in sadness with one last glance at the
roast. But then Mrs. Bryce grabbed a knife and cut a thick slab of
the roast off for her. She grabbed two slices of bread and slapped it
between them before handing it over.
“Here, some food to go,” Mrs. Bryce said.
Lieutenant Sawyer grinned and took a large bite. She let out a moan
of pleasure. “You make a mean roast, ma’am.”
Mrs. Bryce smiled. “Thank you so much for your help.”
The Werewolf nodded, smiled and headed out. But she was soon
replaced by another female Shifter. It was Rose.
“Rose!” Tilly cried and embraced the Swarm Shifter.
Rose looked slightly surprised by being embraced, but in a good
way. She lightly hugged Tilly back, though her one hand was holding
onto a basket filled with tomatoes and some flowers stuck on top.
“Rose!” Caden joined in on the greeting. “Where’s Wally and… and
Landry?” But he lowered his head as he realized what he was
asking.
“The police took Landry away. Wally went with her,” Rose said, but
she didn’t look or sound upset. “But what about you? Is everybody
all right?” Rose’s yellow eyes darted from person to person.
“We are fine, dear,” Mrs. Bryce said. “I’m so glad that you are safe as
well. Caden told us about that vile Jasper Hawes coming to the
shop. He didn’t try to hurt you or Wally, did he?”
Rose blinked, again shocked, likely by the clear concern in Mrs.
Bryce’s voice. “Oh, I’m fine! That ferret ran off the moment that King
Valerius shifted out back of the Emporium. He was practically peeing
himself. Talks a good game, but he’s a coward.”
“Still, I know how hateful he is and that was before he claimed to
plant a bomb in our house,” she said. “Please sit down. I’m going to
finish making us dinner at least.”
“Oh, I don’t know if this will fit with what you’re cooking, but I brought
you some tomatoes from my garden and some flowers, too.” Rose
extended the basket to her as if it were an offering to a goddess.
“Rose, how wonderful! Oh, I can smell both the tomatoes and
flowers from here,” Mrs. Bryce took the basket and brought one of
the tomatoes up to her nose and breathed in deeply then took a
deep sniff of the flowers. “I must get these in water!”
“She wouldn’t let me have any of the tomatoes, Mom. You’ll let me
have some though, right? Right?” Caden begged even as he still
clung to Valerius.
Rose rolled her eyes, “I know it's not much.”
But then, like her daughter, Mrs. Bryce embraced Rose. “Don’t be
silly! This is wonderful! I love it!”
Rose relaxed into the woman’s arms after a moment and her eyes
closed. She reminded Valerius of a flower starved of sunlight until
now. When Mrs. Bryce released her, she looked a little dazed. Mrs.
Bryce immediately got down a vase, filled it with water and arranged
the flowers neatly.
“This will be our centerpiece at dinner tonight,” she said.
“After everything, you’re really going to cook?” Mr. Bryce asked.
“We’re not going to let this roast go to waste or these tomatoes.
Besides, everyone is hungry, aren’t they?” When no one disagreed
with her, she nodded. “We need to talk. About Humans First. About
what we tell the neighbors. About everything.”
Valerius tended to agree with that as well. He met Chione’s gaze
and he guessed she had much to tell him.
“Caden, let’s help your mom with dinner,” Rose suggested.
“I want to as well!” Tilly cried.
“Absolutely, pet,” Rose told her.
“But you’re the guest, Rose,” Caden said, even as he reluctantly
released Valerius from the hug. “Tilly and I will help. Sorry, Mom, that
we didn’t offer ourselves.”
“It’s fine, Caden, but I do need you to mash the potatoes. You always
manage to make them creamy,” Mrs. Bryce said.
Caden immediately went to the stove and grabbed a pot of potatoes
that the lieutenant had turned the burner off on. He checked to see
that they were fork tender, which they must have been and went to
drain them.
“I’ll get the table set!” Tilly immediately went to one of the cabinets.
She then looked back at him and Chione. “You guys are staying for
dinner, right?”
“Only if we are invited. I do not wish to intrude,” Valerius said
awkwardly. He had not intended to be here for dinner, but then
again, he had no intention of leaving Caden either.
“Of course, you are! I know it's not as fine as the meals you have at
the palace,” Mrs. Bryce said almost shyly.
“It smells lovely,” Chione said, admiring the roast with the same
desire as had Lieutenant Sawyer.
Mrs. Bryce had already placed the roast on a cutting board, the meat
still tented, but had taken the roasting pan to the oven and was
making a gravy with the drippings, wine, butter and flour. The scent
had his stomach rumbling.
“Perhaps King Valerius could put some clothes on before dinner?”
Mr. Bryce suggested with a meaningful tilt of his head towards the
bathroom.
He associates nudity with sex. And considering how I was holding
Caden, naked, his mind must be going in circles right now, Valerius
thought.
Once we tell him about the mate issue, he will understand clearly
enough, Raziel pointed out, not shying away from the word “mate”
any longer.
I think that will only make things worse.
He will have to adapt. He may throw legal books at us, but they
cannot hurt us, Raziel snorted, amused and sent him the image of
Mr. Bryce heaving thick law books at him across the room.
“Of course, I will use the bathroom. Please excuse me,” Valerius said
politely.
“I will help Tilly with setting the table,” Chione offered graciously.
With the clatter of dinner being prepared, Valerius walked to the
bathroom, turning on the light before closing the door behind him. As
he pulled on clothes, his keen hearing picked up the following
conversation.
“What was that hug?” Mr. Bryce whispered to his son.
“What do you mean?” Caden sounded innocent. Too innocent and
Valerius grimaced.
“Has he… has he come onto you?” Mr. Bryce hissed.
“Ah, Dad, let’s not talk about that now. I think that—”
“I need to know why a being several thousand years old—or more—
is interested in a twenty-five year old! Who just happens to be the
Ninth Dragon Shifter!” Mr. Bryce’s voice rose.
“It isn’t because he needs to have me by his side, Dad. Remember,
he didn’t even want me here,” Caden responded tartly.
“He knows that he has no legal right to remove you,” Mr. Bryce said
angrily. “So he likely thinks to keep you on his side by romancing
you! That’s the best way he has to stop you from claiming any
territory of your own!”
“Dad! I don’t want any territory of my own! Why won’t you listen to
me?” Caden yelled. His voice reverberated around the kitchen.
Valerius, fully clothed now, stepped out into the kitchen again. It was
time to intervene.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: FALLOUT

“SO, THIS IS WHAT THE PHRASE MEANS ‘YOU COULD CUT

THE TENSION WITH A KNIFE’,” TILLY WHISPERED TO CADEN
AND ROSE.
Caden bit his inner cheek to stop the bark of slightly hysterical
laughter from boiling out of his mouth. Rose, with suspiciously tightly
pressed lips, gently tapped Tilly’s leg before making a shushing
sound. Caden was grateful to have Tilly between him and Rose so
that they could both stop his sister from starting a world war at the
dinner table between Valerius and his father. As it was, his father
was doing his best to act as if there already was a cold war between
them.
He risked looking up at Valerius who sat across the table from them.
The Black Dragon King sat ramrod straight though, and stared off
into the distance, doing his best to pretend that he was alone on
some windy, snowy mountain top with no one to bother him,
especially not some particularly pesky humans.
But he must have felt Caden looking at him, and his eyes flickered to
him. Caden’s heartbeat sped up. It was ridiculous to feel such joy
just for Valerius glancing at him. The faintest smile appeared on the
Black Dragon King’s lips, and Caden felt his cheeks burn. How could
he not think of that kiss last night at that moment? And when they
would do it again? And what did it mean? Not to mention how his
father managed to mess it all up?
Valerius held his gaze. His gray-white eyes burned with intensity, and
his pupils expanded. Caden found himself swallowing.
You’re thinking of the kiss, Caden thought.
You were the one thinking of the kiss, Valerius responded.
Caden jolted slightly. They had communicated this way asDragons
before, but this was different. You’re thinking of the kiss now.
Valerius’ eyes narrowed. That you think only of kisses tells me what
a child you are in this. Maybe your father is right that I am mad to
be… He suddenly stopped the thought and pressed his plush lips
together.
To be what? C’mon, you have to tell me now, Caden teased.
And he didn’t know if his heart couldn’t bear not to know. He was
glad that Iolaire was sleeping at that moment, because when the
White Dragon Spirit was awake, his feelings were even more
intense.
Foolish boy. Valerius shook his head.
Silly king.
That had Valerius raising an eyebrow at him, which immediately had
Caden grinning. Valerius finally cracked a smile, too.
I am a silly king for agreeing to us having dinner here. We should be
back in High Reach, Valerius muttered. The longer we remain here,
the greater chance reporters will notice.
Caden’s heart started beating harder, but this time not in pleasure.
You have to stay! I mean… I’d feel safer if you stayed.
Confusion flowed over their connection. Caden, you would be
coming with me. I am not leaving you.
Oh. Caden pinked this time again, and started playing with
silverware.
We do need to talk, Valerius said gently. This incident shows that
your family is not safe here.
So what are you suggesting? That we move my family into High
Reach? Caden was joking, but then he saw the look on Valerius’
face, and realized that this was exactly what Valerius was
suggesting. But if we moved into High Reach--with you--people
would notice! I mean…
Yes, they would.
He could read no further thoughts from Valerius then. Maybe it was
because his emotions suddenly jumped all over the place. They did
need to talk. He needed to convince Valerius that…
What do I need to convince him of? Jasper Hawes and his cretins
from Humans First didn’t set a bomb this time, but what about the
next time? And there will be a next time. Jasper isn’t the type of guy
to quit. But if my family were in High Reach, it would be much harder
for him to reach them.
Guilt and confusion swirled in Caden’s chest. Was his, likely vain,
attempt to keep a hold of his old life putting his family’s lives in
danger? But he couldn’t imagine that his father would want to be in
High Reach. All this talk about Caden needing his own territory
would just increase if he were forced to live in the castle. Caden,
himself, had mixed feelings about living in High Reach. On the one
hand, it would be awesome to be nearer to Valerius. But, on the
other hand, he’d be nearer to Valerius…
His gaze wandered over to Chione who sat beside the Black Dragon
King. She was beaming at everyone as if this was the most pleasant
of evenings, even though not a word had been spoken out loud,
except for Tilly’s knife comment. Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised.
She had to manage world leaders and Valerius all the time. This
might very well seem like a perfectly lovely evening.
His mother was at her normal spot at the end of the table. She was
coordinating bowls of vegetables that would be passed around to
everyone. There were buttery green beans sprinkled with almond
slivers, steaming potatoes, not to mention Rose’s tomatoes, which
were sliced and laid out artistically on a large platter with a sprinkling
of salt and pepper. Her eyes kept flickering up to her husband, who
stood at the opposite head of the table.
Their father was busy cutting – or rather like murdering – the roast.
He kept stabbing the fork into the juicy meat, sending rivulets of pink
juice spreading over the carving board rather like a lake of blood. He
then sawed through the beef with an unnecessarily rough
movement. His actions would only get more violent if he happened to
glance at Valerius.
The moment that the Black Dragon King had emerged from the
bathroom, the argument that he and his father had been about to
have about territory and hugging the Black Dragon King had
stopped. His father had slammed his lips shut as he met Valerius’
beetling brow. Caden wouldn’t have been surprised if his father had
made a key locking motion with his fingers and then threw that key
away. Evidently, his father didn’t want Valerius to hear their
discussion about his alleged territory. Caden had winced and tried to
act normally, inviting Valerius into the dining room and pulling his
seat out for him. But, of course, that last act had truly nearly sent his
father into the roof. As he saw it not as a kind act to a guest, but
some kind of obeisance to a king.
“Would you like me to help you with that, Grant?" Their mother
asked, gesturing to the poor roast that looked to be squirming away
from the carving knife and long fork.
His father just glared at her for a moment, and then said tightly, “I am
quite capable of cutting this roast.”
“It looks more like you’re trying to kill it again,” Caden said under his
breath. When his father shot him a dirty look, and his mother a
pleading one, he slid down in his chair and muttered, “I’m just
saying.”
“Everything looks so delicious, Mrs. Bryce,” Rose said, surprisingly
being the one to try to smooth things over.
Caden winced. This was supposed to be Rose’s first introduction to
his family, and it was awful. He knew how worried she had been
about coming here, and here they all were behaving like jerks. He
sat upright and reached for one of the bowls of green beans.
“It does look great, Mom,” he said to her as he began to dish some
of them for himself and some for Tilly.
“I can serve myself, Caden!” Tilly protested loudly, with a worried
glance towards Rose.
“So you’re not going to eat off of my plate then? Because that’s
what you do when I don’t serve you,” Caden said.
Tilly pinked, and sat up straighter in her chair as if to give herself
more height. “I did that when I was a kid.” Again, she glanced over
at Rose. “It’s been ages since I--”
“Three nights ago is ages now?” Caden laughed, but when his
sister’s shoulders slumped a little, he winced as he realized she had
been trying to look cool for Rose. “I mean--”
“Why are you not making him still do it?” Rose interrupted him, giving
him a warning look.
“Oh, because it’s sort of… I used to think his food tasted better so I
would eat off of his plate, but if he put the food on mine, it tasted just
as good and… well, it was babyish.” Tilly shrugged.
“It’s not babyish at all.” Rose lifted her plate and handed it over to
Caden. “I’d like some green beans, too. They look really tasty.”
Tilly immediately was all smiles again. Caden served both of them as
the dishes went around the table.
That was kind, Valerius said.
Caden nearly responded out loud with, What was kind?
Rose.
Yeah, yeah, it was kind. She’s really good with Tilly, Caden said. I
wanted tonight to be really comfortable for her. I can’t imagine this is
comfortable for anyone.
She looks quite at ease. Finding out that people are people is
probably helping her. Even the loving Bryces have an off day.
We’re having off everything, Caden muttered.
That is why having the Shifters leave the home environment is--
No, absolutely not. Caden looked over at the Black Dragon King
fiercely.
I know you will not let me tear you from them.
Damn straight! And, it’s awful that it happens at all! It’s part of the
reason why Shifters and humans don’t get along, because we’re
separated from one another. But then Caden looked over at his
father who was glaring at Valerius with a carving knife in his hand.
Then again, you wouldn’t have to deal with my father.
Valerius smiled at his father, which had his father pressing his lips
together tightly.
And you wouldn’t have to either, Valerius pointed out.
True. Too true.
“This isn’t exactly the meal I had planned. Or, I should say, I thought
it was gonna be a little less exciting,” his mother suddenly said to
Rose. “But, this will be the first of many dinners you have with us so I
get another chance to make it up at least.”
“It’s totally fine. I’m just glad that everyone is okay, and really this is
lovely,” Rose assured her quickly, waving her hands in the air. “It’s
been decades since I had a meal like this.” Everyone at the table
went still at her words. She blinked and looked around, suddenly
quite clearly feeling conspicuous. She quickly hurried out, “I mean, of
course I eat with people. I have friends! It’s just that I haven’t eaten
with a family, a human family… I’m making this worse, aren’t I?”
She asked this last bit of him. He was too busy boggling the idea that
she hadn’t had a family meal in decades. It sounded so sad. Luckily,
his quick-thinking sister quickly broke in.
“It’s okay. It’s sort of cool we’re the first human family that you’ve
eaten with in a while. That means that you’ve chosen to eat with us.
That we’re special,” Tilly said as she reached over and put a hand on
Rose’s shoulder.
“You’re not alone, Rose,” Chione remarked. “It has been some time
since I have eaten a meal with a human family.”
“Don't Shifters form familial groups in the clans?” his mother asked.
“Some types of Shifters do, to be sure,” Chione explained. “But then
there are others, like my own kind, where we are so rare that we
exist mostly on our own.”
“Like the Dragon Shifters?” Tilly asked, wide-eyed.
“I prefer to eat alone,” Valerius said simply.
That had Tilly giggling uncertainly.
“You liked eating with me the other night!” Caden protested. “That
meat we had on the grill in your rooms was--”
“You were in his room?” his father asked sharply.
Caden’s mouth opened and shut without anything coming out.
“Yes, Caden has been in my rooms several times,” Valerius stated,
which had Caden wondering if the Black Dragon King was egging for
a fight. “What of it? We need places where we can be private and
comfortable. Though once I teach Caden and Iolaire to fly long
distances, we will likely head to my far northern palace in the
mountain tops.”
“Iolaire?” His mother looked over at him.
“That’s the White Dragon Spirit’s name,” he explained quickly. “But
you can’t tell anybody, Mom.”
“I--I know,” she assured him, but looked rather crestfallen. He didn’t
think she would want to brag about knowing the White Dragon
Shifter’s name, but more that she would look for meaning in it among
the Faith.
“Taking Caden to your winter palace--”
“You mean the one in Nightvale?” Caden had only read about the
winter palace of the Dragon King.
“Caden! He’s trying to isolate you! He’s not--
“Let me open that wine and pour some in everyone’s glasses!” His
mother cried.
His mother then dashed to the sideboard, grabbed the uncorked
bottle of wine, and quickly brought it over the table. She poured wine
into everyone’s glasses except for Tilly’s. Except really, his little
sister probably could use some alcohol, too.
“I want to understand your intentions towards my son,” his father
growled.
“Dad! He’s not--”
“You hugged in the kitchen. Not a friend hug. Don’t look at me that
way, Ellen! You saw it too!” Their father waved the knife at her.
“Grant, I don’t think now is the time for that discussion,” their mother
pleaded.
“How about never for that discussion?” Caden snapped.
“We’re your parents! And we need to know what’s going on with--
with him.” Another sharp point of the knife, but this time at Valerius.
“Are you talking to me as my dad or my lawyer, because I’m not
really sure where the line is anymore?” Caden snapped.
His gaze swung from one parent to the other. His father couldn’t
quite meet it. His mother sighed.
His father’s shoulders slumped. “I just want you to be able to be
home and safe--”
“You’re sending everyone mixed signals, Mr. Bryce. On the one
hand, you seem to want me to have nothing to do with your son at
all. You want him to have his own territory. You want him to stay
away from me. You want to have a law set out how Dragons should
relate to another,” Valerius said after taking a long swallow of wine.
That made Caden think that maybe the wine was a bad idea. “On the
other hand, you want to make sure that Caden can stay here in my
territory. You are terrified that I will kick him out.”
“I want you to keep your distance, and let Caden do what he wants
without your influence,” his father said simply. “Not too close and not
too far. I want my son to have a choice about where he lives and
what he does and –”
“Do you?” Valerius interrupted.
Everyone’s eyes were acting like they were watching a ping-pong
match. Back and forth between his father and their king.
“Yes, of course!” The fork and carving knife clattered to the cutting
board.
Chione reached over and put a hand on Valerius’ arm. “I think what
King Valerius means is that Caden has been very clear that he has
no desire for territory, yet we know that you and your firm have been
putting together legal arguments for him to have one. You have even
started working on a claim before the courts.”
Caden jumped up from his seat. “Dad! Please tell me that you
haven’t filed anything on my behalf!”
His father’s eyes skittered over to him and away. “No, you are the
client and I cannot ethically do such a thing. But I am paving the way
for when we decide what’s best, including legal action, to assure that
you will be legally protected.”
“I’m legally protected now, Dad! I’m staying here! Valerius is cool
with that! So you can stop running around with your lawyer friends,
planning my life while I keep telling you what I want and you ignore
it!” Caden swallowed as he realized he had been shouting at the end
there.
Rose tugged him down into his seat once more. He went and
drained his own wine glass.
“Caden, I understand your frustration, but you have such a good
heart,” his father began.
“And that matters because?”
“Because you don’t see the ugly side of people,” his father
answered.
“There’s nothing ugly about Valerius… that I don’t know,” he put the
last part in quickly. “He’s got a temper. He’s rude. He’s autocratic.
He’s out of touch.” When he saw Valerius’ raised eyebrow and
Chione biting back a smile, he quickly added, “But he’s also brave,
kind, generous and good to me! To us!” He gestured to his own
family. “Think how it would be if we were in Illarion’s kingdom.”
“Just because things are not as bad here, doesn’t mean they
couldn’t be. The law is there to keep the powerful in check and the
weak safe,” his father said, and Caden heard his own determination
to make things right for everyone in his voice. His anger drained
away. His father’s anger did not as he turned to Valerius once more.
“So I have problems trusting someone who interferes in that process.
Like when the Chief Justice comes to High Reach.”
Valerius took another large swallow of wine. “Justice St. John is a
good friend of mine. He comes to discuss many things, including the
ninth Dragon Shifter, because he understands--unlike some very
capable yet idealistic lawyers--that the law must bend when unique
situations arise.”
His father’s knuckles went white around the fork and knife again.
“That’s not how the law works! You’re perverting the course of justice
if you are discussing this matter with the Chief Justice!”
“But, Dad, they’re friends and there’s no case! It would be weird if
they weren’t talking about me!” Caden cried.
“Perverting the course of justice, am I? Where do you think all those
precious laws come from? After the war I could have simply
abolished all of them and never brought a single one back,” Valerius
said, his gray-white eyes riveted upon his father.
“The laws are there to protect everyone, and to control everyone,
too. Including you, King Valerius. You are not above the law,” his
father said, shaking slightly.
“Things have escalated rather quickly,” their mother said as she
came over and took the fork and knife from her husband and began
to expertly cut the roast and put the pieces on everyone’s plates.
She gestured with her head for her husband to sit down. “We’re
scared, King Valerius. We want what is best for our son. We want to
make sure that nothing happens that curtails his freedom, his rights,
or his happiness. It’s not as if he became a Shifter type that has a
clan that he could go to and learn from and be supported by. All the
Dragon Shifters are alone, and none of you seem to work together
very well.”
Caden was impressed by how his mother had taken charge of the
conversation. He was also impressed that she managed to slice the
roast thinly, just as he liked it and made sure that she put the biggest
amounts on his, Valerius’ and Rose’s plates.
“I understand that you want to try and preserve as much of Caden’s
life--his former life--as you can,” Valerius said, his voice now totally
different. It had none of the hard sharpness in it. No more anger or
suppressed arrogance. He looked thoughtful and worried. “I know
that this might be difficult to believe, but I am concerned about those
things, too. I want him to have as normal an existence as possible.”
“That is good to hear, King Valerius,” his mother said.
His eyes flickered up to Caden, and for a moment, Caden saw the
truth within them. He really did want that. But it was just as equally
obvious that he was worried that it couldn’t last.
“Jasper Hawes went to your son’s workplace today, because he
suspects that Caden is the White Dragon Shifter,” Valerius said
quietly. “He told Caden that there were bombs in your home in the
hopes that Caden would shift outside the back of the shop where
Jasper had people waiting to videotape it. He would then have tried
to use this information to blackmail Caden to do whatever Humans
First wanted.”
Caden’s chest went tight as he realized that this was what exactly
would have happened, but for Valerius coming to the rescue.
But Jasper still knows it's me. He doesn’t have proof. Yet. But he
will. In time.
“Don’t be mad at me for saving this, Caden, but your secret identity
is already blown. Maybe it’s not up on social media yet, but the
people who matter already know,” it was Rose who said this, which
had Caden blinking at her. She turned towards him. “I’m not sure
exactly how King Valerius got Marban on his side, probably giving
him that fancy new job title, but the truth is, that anyone who learns
who you are will have some kind of power over you and everyone
who cares for you. Once your identity is revealed that power goes
away.”
Caden looked down. “So I should… should come clean?”
“I don’t know,” Rose said. “Well, okay, I do know. I think you should
so that you can manage the fallout, instead of someone else doing it
for you. But I understand why you want to hang onto this.” She
smiled at his parents, who smiled back. His dad and mom held
hands. “The core of your life wasn’t shattered by becoming the White
Dragon Shifter. You still have your same loving family, and your
friends. Even your job. Everything is the same, except nothing is.”
Caden swallowed sharply, and suddenly was shoving food into his
mouth like he was afraid he’d never get another meal. It was anxiety
eating, which he was sure Tilly would normally have teased him
about. He felt Valerius’ eyes on him, and he knew that the Black
Dragon King realized what he was doing, and felt badly for him.
“You’re not ready for that reveal yet, Caden, we know this,” Chione
said softly. “And we’re going to try to do all that we can to give you
the time and space you need to figure this out, Caden.”
But at what cost? That’s what she is not saying.
“There will be questions about tonight.” Valerius looked grim. He
tented his fingers together and rested them under his chin. “Beyond
what the reporters will wonder, Jasper Hawes is still out there, and
so are the members of Humans First. They could be some of your
neighbors. Some of your colleagues. They could be anyone. There is
no nightshine to show who they are.”
“So what is the solution?” his father asked.
“Revealing Caden’s identity in the way he wants it revealed, to
control the fallout as Rose so aptly put it would normally be my
suggestion.” Valerius tapped his fingers against his chin. “But there
are other factors.”
The mate thing? Caden guessed.
Yes, exactly.
“What other factors?” his father asked sharply.
Caden put his face in his hands. He could not ask Valerius to lie. It
was one thing not to mention this to his family. But to lie about it was
a wholly different matter. Yet he could only imagine the fallout from
this revelation.
“Caden? Honey?” his mother called.
“Does it have anything to do with the other Dragon Shifters coming
here?” Tilly asked.
“They want to protect their territory, Tilly,” their father said. “They--”
“No, no, that’s not really why they’re coming.” Caden lifted his face
from his hands. He looked at Valerius. He couldn’t look at anyone
else when he said this. “They’re coming to… to… to court me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: BROADCAST

SOMEONE’S WINEGLASS FELL TO THE GROUND AND

SHATTERED INTO DOZENS OF SILVER SHARDS. WINE
POOLED AROUND THE BLACK DRAGON KING’S LEFT BOOT. IT
MUST HAVE BEEN GRANT’S WINE GLASS. THAT WAS THE
ONLY SOUND IN THE DINING ROOM FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
THE URGE TO LAUGH HYSTERICALLY RAN THROUGH
VALERIUS. TRUST CADEN TO CHOOSE THE ABSOLUTE
WORST MOMENT FOR A REVELATION. OR MAYBE IT WAS THE
BEST MOMENT. PERHAPS BETTER TO GET IT OVER WITH.
Valerius drained off the rest of his wine and poured himself another
glass. He was tempted to simply drink from the bottle itself, but that
would be rude. He was pretty certain it would be rude.
Yes, rude. Do not do it.
Sometimes he wished he was still the warrior who didn’t care if he
were rude or not. But those were also the days when he would have
run someone through with his sword and not think twice about it.
Red blood, instead of red wine, would have been pooling around his
boot at the moment if they were back in those days.
Chione grabbed both his and her napkins to lean down and mop it
up. He helpfully lifted his boot. The glance she shot him told him that
lifting his boot had been the least he could do. He was the king! He
should control this dinner party! And yet, the Bryces were seemingly
beyond his control. Despite most of them being human, and Caden
being the smallest Dragon Shifter, they were impossible.
He felt her tap his boot with her shoe. She wanted him to speak. To
explain. But the explanation was worse than what Caden had
already said. It wasn’t going to soothe the Bryces’ minds that their
son and brother were meant to be mated with another Dragon. He
could almost see Grant Bryce’s reaction now. He might have to
restrain the man.
But perhaps they should have it out. Lies had a tendency to
snowball, and if Caden had lied right then and there, there would
have been bigger problems as the snowball grew and grew until it
was the size of a mountain and came down and crushed everyone.
So he supposed that he would have to use the word “mate” in front
of the Bryces and watch as that just rolled over everyone, too.
“Court? Like flirt with you?” Tilly broke the silence before he could.
Her forehead was scrunched up as she tried to understand the,
undoubtedly, old-fashioned word.
Caden, who was reaching for the wine bottle from Valerius with a
frantic flapping motion, let out a little choked cough as he answered
his sister, “Yes. I guess. This has never happened before among
Dragons, let alone to me, so I’m not really sure –”
“The Dragons will all wish to show Caden what they can offer him, if
he were to mate with them,” Valerius found himself saying.
The moment the word “mate” was uttered, both of Caden’s parents
shot to their feet like they had rockets attached to their rear ends. It
seemed like everyone was talking at once then.
“… But mates are a myth!” Ellen Bryce said.
“… This is some kind of sexual slavery!” Grant cried.
“Will it be like the Bachelor show?” Tilly asked.
With a groan, Rose said, “You don’t make things easy, do you,
Caden?”
“This is so not my choice!” Caden grabbed the wine bottle from
Valerius and hugged it to his chest.
Chione, tapping her chin, said, “I suppose it’s sort of like the
Bachelor, in some ways. Or maybe like a beauty contest. Though I
doubt there will be a swimsuit competition. Maybe a flying one?
Whoever has the best barrel rolls wins?”
“What would the talent portion be?” Tilly asked, leaning forward on
the table, evidently getting into the beauty contest angle.
Valerius almost would allow a beauty contest just to see Illarion
attempt to charm someone.
“Well, I won’t be getting any of the Dragons a rose! Or choosing
them over their interview answers on world peace!” Caden downed
his glass of wine.
When he tipped the bottle to fill it again, only a few drops came out
and both he and Valerius groaned. Was there another bottle
nearby? No.
Blast it.
Raziel, who had been resting up for a night of fun with Iolaire,
cracked one red eye open. We should put an end to this. Tell them
all that Caden and Iolaire are ours, and that any who set foot within
our territory will be killed.
Valerius blinked rapidly. You’ve definitely changed your mind about
them.
So have you, Raziel retorted.
Caden is only 25-years-old!
You were younger than that when you took up your sword and went
to war.
That’s not the same!
You thought of yourself as a man then. You were a man then. So is
Caden. He makes his own choices. You should stick to making
yours, Raziel told him.
You act as if I am using Caden’s youth as an excuse not to make my
own decision on whether we should—should mate with him!
The Black Dragon Spirit merely regarded him silently. Valerius
swallowed.
This decision is forever. If we were to mate with him, we would grow
stronger but also—
Also weaker. Yet Raziel did not seem upset by this idea. Instead, it
seemed accepting of it.
How can a man that young make an immortal commitment? Valerius
pressed.
Are you worried about him regretting it or you regretting it? Raziel
pointed out.
I…
Do not couch your uncertainty in terms of Caden or Iolaire. Speak
only for yourself, and be honest, Raziel said.
We kissed once! How do you know if we are even compatible? He is
like a bright ray of sunshine while we are thunderclouds! If there are
two people who were any less alike it would be Caden and myself.
Iolaire is nothing like you either, Valerius pointed out.
We complement each other. And with that, Raziel closed its eyes
again and said nothing more.
We complement each other?
That phrase haunted Valerius at that moment. He and Caden did
complement each other. While Caden desired to embrace the world,
he wanted to keep it at arms length. Caden thought the best of
others, while he was suspicious and distrusted most everyone. Then
there was Caden’s idealism compared to his jadedness. They did
complement each other. Perhaps they would balance each other out.
Now imagine me saying that to Caden’s father. He would be like a
wolverine protecting his cub.
“You guys don’t have to worry about any of this,” Caden told his
parents, his head going from right to left to left to right again. “I’m not
going to mate with anybody! Valerius and I have already talked about
it.”
“Before or after the hug?” Grant asked suspiciously.
“Hug-gate,” Chione whispered into his ear.
He did not crack a smile. For as aggravating as it was to have this
man judging him adversely, the truth was that he had kissed and
hugged Caden. Grant’s instincts were right. There was something
going on between him and Caden. And he wasn’t sure where it
should go. But the very idea of Caden being with anyone else was
enough to want him to start to destroy things, to bellow, to spew fire,
to tear the world’s asunder…
You already know the truth. You just need to accept it, Raziel said, its
eyes still closed.
“This mating thing was a surprise to Valerius, too! He didn’t even
know Dragons had mates until Raziel told him,” Caden said.
Valerius winced. He didn’t want it to seem as if he was in the dark
about what his own Dragon spirit knew. But Caden had let it out of
the bag. Again with the impetuousness, and belief that once people
heard the truth they would understand, rather than making negative
assumptions.
“But I don’t understand,” Ellen said as she turned to Chione for
answers, and not Valerius. “Isn’t the whole idea of fated mates just
something that they have in movies, television shows and books?”
Chione placed her hands, one over the other, in front of her on the
table. “I thought so as well. A romantic idea, but not the truth. There
is more trouble in the Werewolf clans because of this idea than
anything else. But there has been no objective proof that fated
inmates exist… Until now.”
“What does Iolaire have to say about it all?” Tilly asked Caden.
Valerius froze. He was pretty sure that Raziel—though its eyes were
closed—was very aware of this moment, too. Iolaire would have a
say in this mating business.
Caden blinked and looked a little uncomfortable. “I really haven’t
asked. Iolaire doesn’t exactly talk. Raziel talks, but Iolaire makes its
feelings known through images, not in words.”
“But that makes it easier! Ask Iolaire which Dragon it wants to mate
with!” Tilly sounded way too excited. “It could even show you the
color!”
“Iolaire is asleep, Tilly,” Caden shut that down.
“When it wakes up—”
“It would have to be both of their choices, Tilly,” Rose said with a
gentle touch on the younger girl’s shoulder.
“But, I guess, Iolaire hasn’t met any Dragon other than Valerius so I
suppose Iolaire might not know.” Tilly looked crestfallen.
“You’re staring daggers at a child, my king.” Chione patted his
shoulder.
He quickly looked down at his empty wine glass. Did these people
intend for him to become parched?
“Why haven’t you asked Iolaire about this, Caden?” Ellen asked, as
she sank down into her chair.
“Because a lot has been going on, and I… well, we’ve been busy,”
Caden mumbled as he went red in the face again.
“You’re afraid that Iolaire has already made a decision?” Rose
guessed.
More red in his face, and Valerius nearly crushed his empty wine
glass.
“I… I have no idea,” another red-faced mumble from Caden.
“Iolaire might not wish to say, or perhaps it has no opinion at the
moment. We are in uncharted waters, which makes all of this even
more difficult,” Chione offered.
“But the other Dragons have made up their mind to court my son if
they’re all coming here for that purpose, and not, as we all
supposed, to contest Caden getting his own territory,” Ellen said.
“The Dragons are not necessarily coming here for a love match,”
Valerius said, spinning his wine glass.
“Oh, let me fill that for you,” Ellen said and went over to the
sideboard to get another bottle.
“I’ll uncork it, dear,” Grant offered, even as he was staring at Valerius
with intense interest. “I assume that anyone who has two Dragons in
their territory would be a far more formidable threat.”
“Iolaire is not a fighter. That is not to say it could not aid in a fight, but
it would likely not be a determining factor,” Valerius explained. “Not
enough to overcome most of the Dragon’s desire to have their
territory alone. No, having a mate empowers the Dragon, but also
weakens them.”
“Empowers and weakens them how?” Grant was evidently going to
hold the bottle of wine hostage until he answered.
“If I mate with somebody, they become stronger, but they will die if I
die and vice versa,” Caden supplied helpfully.
Valerius took the wine from Grant’s hands and uncorked it himself.
Something was bothering him about this. The lack of specificity as
to the amount of power granted seemed to downplay the idea that
any Dragon would want to yoke themselves with the White Dragon
Shifter and the danger he brought, being untrained. So why were
the Dragons truly racing here?
And then, of course, he knew. He felt very stupid about it. But it was
obvious. It was what Grant Bryce had been going on about since the
beginning.
“Territory,” he muttered.
“Oh, yes, of course!” Chione turned in her seat towards him. “It
would have to be, because all of the rest of it is so… speculative,
and none of the Dragons is really romantic.”
“Exactly.” Valerius turned to Grant. “They want that territory you’re
so keen to get Caden.”
Grant blinked. “But that’s to secure Caden’s future, not theirs!”
“Dragons are highly territorial. Of course, they would want more,”
Ellen said as she put a hand against her temple.
“So when they find out that I don’t want any territory, they’ll go
away?” Caden asked hopefully.
“It will cause unrest,” Chione murmured. “With Caden here, they will
assume that you will exercise the right of territory, my king. Yet that
might be useful to keep the others in line. The sheer threat of it.”
Valerius nodded. “But it will also put Caden in danger, because if he
is gone then the threat to their territory is gone.”
“This makes things sound worse.” Caden was staring at him with big
eyes.
“It will be dealt with,” Valerius said, trying to keep his tone gentle yet
firm.
“But what should I do?!” That plaintive cry made Valerius reach
across the table and take Caden’s outstretched hand. “I don’t know
what to do!”
Valerius felt as much as saw the Bryces looking at their linked hands
and coming to their own conclusions.
“Nothing right now. We will discuss all of the options. But do not
distress yourself. I will keep you safe,” Valerius promised, and all the
force and authority of his position and person.
“You like Caden,” Tilly breathed. She had her hands up by her face,
looking wide-eyed between him and his brother. “Oh, it’s just like in
the stories.”
“Tilly, I think you need to put your imagination to bed,” Ellen told her
sternly.
“Rose, you agree with me, don’t you?” Tilly cried as she looked over
at the Bee Shifter who appeared like she wanted to vanish beneath
the table. So Tilly turned to him again, “Oh, King Valerius, you like
my brother!”
“Of course, I like Caden. We are… we are in this together,” Valerius
said, and he reluctantly released Caden’s hand. He still felt the
memory of its heat against his palm.
He had not looked at the young man when Tilly had spoken. He
chanced to do so now as he poured himself more wine. The sappy
smile on Caden’s face had him pouring more wine.
“But we should eat. This meal looks delicious and it's getting cold,”
Chione said as she started to cut the roast into bite sized pieces.
Everyone turned to their plates, but not everyone looked terribly
hungry. Valerius shoveled a piece of roast into his mouth, hoping
that would discourage anyone from speaking to him. For a time,
there was just the scrape of silverware over china. Grant was staring
off into space, and Valerius could almost see the wheels in his brain
turning. He had thought some things through, but not everything.
“Caden, are you going to share those tomatoes with the rest of us, or
are you hoarding them like Dragon treasure?” Rose asked.
Caden was guarding the tomatoes. Tomato seeds were spilling down
his chin as he had just stuffed a whole slice into his mouth and was
chewing it with evident pleasure. His right arm was curled around
the rest of the platter.
“They’re mine now. I would have taken one before, but now, they’re
mine,” Caden told her.
“Can I have one?” Tilly wheedled. “I know you eat when you’re
upset, but—”
“No, I don’t! I’m not! I mean… does anyone else see how this is all
going to go south?” Caden, his bright, beautiful Dragon was
suddenly in the pit of despair. “I can’t keep this a secret! Jasper
Hawes knows! He could call a press conference like now! People are
going to find out that the White Dragon Shifter is the mate of one of
the other Dragons because they’ll tell everyone, right? They aren’t
going to keep it a secret!”
Chione and Valerius shared a look. Caden was right. While Esme
and a few of the others might keep their mouths shut, Illarion
wouldn’t. Mei would likely make a production of it!
Caden continued, “People are going to wonder why Valerius was at
Wally’s and then is having dinner here tonight and draw the lines
between the dots and—”
“Actually, that is handled,” Chione said, with a side-eyed glance at
Valerius. “The king was going to Wally’s in order to arrange
something very special in plush merchandise.”
“Not more of those bloody stuffed Dragons?!” he roared at her.
“Actually, it was to be a line of commemorative Sphinx plushies,” she
said with a cough.
“Oh.”
“That’s why you did it yourself. As a gift to honor me.”
“How thoughtful of me.”
“Indeed it is. That was when you just so happened to run into Caden
who told you about Jasper Hawes’ plot and that brought you here,”
she explained. “You’re having dinner with the Bryces because they
asked you to after saving them from the terrorists.”
“Nicely done,” Valerius complimented her.
“It is quite well done,” Ellen agreed.
“You really are keeping it all under wraps,” Rose remarked.
“I do try.” Chione gave a humble bow of her head that wasn’t humble
at all. And he would be paying for it in plushies. He imagined the
Sphinx stuffed animals would be all over High Reach. In corners. On
stairs. In his bed.
“That makes me feel tons better, thanks, Chione,” Caden said with
evident belief, but then his shoulders slumped. “But that’s only for
today. What about tomorrow? The Dragons are not going to give up
territory. I could imagine them giving up on everything else, but that!”
And Caden was right.
“It is merely another hurdle that we will get past—”
“But I’m asking so much of you, and giving you nothing in return!”
Caden cried.
“Are you asking nothing of my son?” Grant’s eyes bored into him.
“Dad! Cut it out!”
“Caden, this is serious. We need to know his intentions,” Grant said.
“Intentions” was as old-fashioned a word as “court”.
“If I had bad intentions, I would hardly tell you,” Valerius replied dryly,
and gulped his wine.
Grant leaned forward. He could see his son’s intensity in him. “Are
you claiming to have no interest in Caden as your mate?”
Caden made a strangled sound. “DAD!”
“That’s… Caden’s decision. We have not discussed if I am in the
running. Your son, in fact, has been clear he wants no mate,”
Valerius answered, which was not really an answer.
He could see Caden out of the corner of his eye. The young man
was practically vibrating with tension. The question was, did Caden
want him to throw his hat in the ring?
We kissed, he heard Caden’s faint voice.
So yes, he did. But what if it was only for now. There was no
“breaking up”. This would be permanent. And what would Caden
know about eternity? He had been alive for barely a quarter of a
century. Let him live another few hundred years, perhaps a
thousand, and then they would see.
“We need to have a discussion,” Grant said. “Me and you.”
“And your Raven Shifter partners?”
“You think I’m not as good an attorney as them because I’m
human?” Grant was nettled, that had been his intention, if he had
been honest.
“Valerius, be nice! My dad’s a great attorney, and you know that.
Valerius is just trying to be a jerk, Dad, because you’ve put him in a
corner,” Caden said. “And that means, Dad, that you’ve got to back
off. Valerius and I need to talk about stuff first, and then we’ll talk to
you and the other lawyers, and Mom and stuff.”
“And me, too!” Tilly protested. “I’m a part of this family. Oh, and
Rose as well, because she’s smart and you need her help.”
“Your sister is wise,” Rose said simply with a quirked smile on her
lips.
“Yeah, she’s all right.” Caden reached over, and ruffled his sister’s
hair.
At that moment, his cell phone buzzed against his thigh. Valerius
frowned, and said, “Excuse me. I must take this.”
He would only be interrupted for the most important of matters. It
was Ngoye. He got up to leave the room. He saw that Chione was
looking at some news alert on her phone. She let out a slight gasp.
“What is it?” Valerius asked as that question echoed around the
room.
“My king, Illarion has arrived in New York early. He is having a press
conference!” Ngoye explained.
Chione was already putting the conference on her phone and setting
it in the middle of the table for all to see.
Illarion stood before a bank of microphones, only a green and black
silk robe embroidered with Dragons, was around his broad
shoulders. His short spiky blond hair was ruffled as if from the wind.
His cold blue eyes were locked on the cameras that were trained on
him.
“I have come,” Illarion said, his Russian-accented voice booming, “to
claim my mate: the White Dragon Shifter.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN:
BROADCAST

SOMEONE’S WINEGLASS FELL TO THE

GROUND AND SHATTERED INTO DOZENS OF
SILVER SHARDS. WINE POOLED AROUND
THE BLACK DRAGON KING’S LEFT BOOT. IT
MUST HAVE BEEN GRANT’S WINE GLASS.
THAT WAS THE ONLY SOUND IN THE DINING
ROOM FOR A VERY LONG TIME. THE URGE
TO LAUGH HYSTERICALLY RAN THROUGH
VALERIUS. TRUST CADEN TO CHOOSE THE
ABSOLUTE WORST MOMENT FOR A
REVELATION. OR MAYBE IT WAS THE BEST
MOMENT. PERHAPS BETTER TO GET IT OVER
WITH.

Valerius drained off the rest of his wine and poured

himself another glass. He was tempted to simply
drink from the bottle itself, but that would be rude.
He was pretty certain it would be rude.
Yes, rude. Do not do it.
Sometimes he wished he was still the warrior who
didn’t care if he were rude or not. But those were
also the days when he would have run someone
through with his sword and not think twice about it.
Red blood, instead of red wine, would have been
pooling around his boot at the moment if they were
back in those days.
Chione grabbed both his and her napkins to lean
down and mop it up. He helpfully lifted his boot. The
glance she shot him told him that lifting his boot had
been the least he could do. He was the king! He
should control this dinner party! And yet, the Bryces
were seemingly beyond his control. Despite most of
them being human, and Caden being the smallest
Dragon Shifter, they were impossible.
He felt her tap his boot with her shoe. She wanted
him to speak. To explain. But the explanation was
worse than what Caden had already said. It wasn’t
going to soothe the Bryces’ minds that their son and
brother were meant to be mated with another
Dragon. He could almost see Grant Bryce’s reaction
now. He might have to restrain the man.
But perhaps they should have it out. Lies had a
tendency to snowball, and if Caden had lied right
then and there, there would have been bigger
problems as the snowball grew and grew until it was
the size of a mountain and came down and crushed
everyone. So he supposed that he would have to use
the word “mate” in front of the Bryces and watch as
that just rolled over everyone, too.
“ Court ? Like flirt with you?” Tilly broke the silence
before he could. Her forehead was scrunched up as
she tried to understand the, undoubtedly, old-
fashioned word.
Caden, who was reaching for the wine bottle from
Valerius with a frantic flapping motion, let out a little
choked cough as he answered his sister, “Yes. I
guess. This has never happened before among
Dragons, let alone to me, so I’m not really sure –”
“The Dragons will all wish to show Caden what they
can offer him, if he were to mate with them,”
Valerius found himself saying.
The moment the word “mate” was uttered, both of
Caden’s parents shot to their feet like they had
rockets attached to their rear ends. It seemed like
everyone was talking at once then.
“… But mates are a myth!” Ellen Bryce said.
“… This is some kind of sexual slavery!” Grant
cried.
“Will it be like the Bachelor show?” Tilly asked.
With a groan, Rose said, “You don’t make things
easy, do you, Caden?”
“This is so not my choice!” Caden grabbed the wine
bottle from Valerius and hugged it to his chest.
Chione, tapping her chin, said, “I suppose it’s sort of
like the Bachelor , in some ways. Or maybe like a
beauty contest. Though I doubt there will be a
swimsuit competition. Maybe a flying one? Whoever
has the best barrel rolls wins?”
“What would the talent portion be?” Tilly asked,
leaning forward on the table, evidently getting into
the beauty contest angle.
Valerius almost would allow a beauty contest just to
see Illarion attempt to charm someone.
“Well, I won’t be getting any of the Dragons a rose!
Or choosing them over their interview answers on
world peace!” Caden downed his glass of wine.
When he tipped the bottle to fill it again, only a few
drops came out and both he and Valerius groaned.
Was there another bottle nearby? No.
Blast it.
Raziel, who had been resting up for a night of fun
with Iolaire, cracked one red eye open. W e should
put an end to this. Tell them all that Caden and
Iolaire are ours, and that any who set foot within our
territory will be killed.
Valerius blinked rapidly. You’ve definitely changed
your mind about them.
So have you , Raziel retorted.
Caden is only 25-years-old!
You were younger than that when you took up your
sword and went to war.
That’s not the same!
You thought of yourself as a man then. You were a
man then. So is Caden. He makes his own choices.
You should stick to making yours, Raziel told him.
You act as if I am using Caden’s youth as an excuse
not to make my own decision on whether we should—
should mate with him!
The Black Dragon Spirit merely regarded him
silently. Valerius swallowed.
This decision is forever. If we were to mate with him,
we would grow stronger but also—
Also weaker. Yet Raziel did not seem upset by this
idea. Instead, it seemed accepting of it.
How can a man that young make an immortal
commitment? Valerius pressed.
Are you worried about him regretting it or you
regretting it? Raziel pointed out.
I…
Do not couch your uncertainty in terms of Caden or
Iolaire. Speak only for yourself, and be honest ,
Raziel said.
We kissed once! How do you know if we are even
compatible? He is like a bright ray of sunshine while
we are thunderclouds! If there are two people who
were any less alike it would be Caden and myself.
Iolaire is nothing like you either, Valerius pointed
out.
We complement each other . And with that, Raziel
closed its eyes again and said nothing more.
We complement each other?
That phrase haunted Valerius at that moment. He and
Caden did complement each other. While Caden
desired to embrace the world, he wanted to keep it at
arms length. Caden thought the best of others, while
he was suspicious and distrusted most everyone.
Then there was Caden’s idealism compared to his
jadedness. They did complement each other. Perhaps
they would balance each other out.
Now imagine me saying that to Caden’s father. He
would be like a wolverine protecting his cub.
“You guys don’t have to worry about any of this,”
Caden told his parents, his head going from right to
left to left to right again. “I’m not going to mate with
anybody! Valerius and I have already talked about
it.”
“Before or after the hug?” Grant asked suspiciously.
“Hug-gate,” Chione whispered into his ear.
He did not crack a smile. For as aggravating as it
was to have this man judging him adversely, the truth
was that he had kissed and hugged Caden. Grant’s
instincts were right. There was something going on
between him and Caden. And he wasn’t sure where it
should go. But the very idea of Caden being with
anyone else was enough to want him to start to
destroy things, to bellow, to spew fire, to tear the
world’s asunder…
You already know the truth. You just need to accept it
, Raziel said, its eyes still closed.
“This mating thing was a surprise to Valerius, too! He
didn’t even know Dragons had mates until Raziel
told him,” Caden said.
Valerius winced. He didn’t want it to seem as if he
was in the dark about what his own Dragon spirit
knew. But Caden had let it out of the bag. Again with
the impetuousness, and belief that once people heard
the truth they would understand, rather than making
negative assumptions.
“But I don’t understand,” Ellen said as she turned to
Chione for answers, and not Valerius. “Isn’t the
whole idea of fated mates just something that they
have in movies, television shows and books?”
Chione placed her hands, one over the other, in front
of her on the table. “I thought so as well. A romantic
idea, but not the truth. There is more trouble in the
Werewolf clans because of this idea than anything
else. But there has been no objective proof that fated
inmates exist… Until now.”
“What does Iolaire have to say about it all?” Tilly
asked Caden.
Valerius froze. He was pretty sure that Raziel—
though its eyes were closed—was very aware of this
moment, too. Iolaire would have a say in this mating
business.
Caden blinked and looked a little uncomfortable. “I
really haven’t asked. Iolaire doesn’t exactly talk.
Raziel talks, but Iolaire makes its feelings known
through images, not in words.”
“But that makes it easier! Ask Iolaire which Dragon
it wants to mate with!” Tilly sounded way too
excited. “It could even show you the color!”
“Iolaire is asleep, Tilly,” Caden shut that down.
“When it wakes up—”
“It would have to be both of their choices, Tilly,”
Rose said with a gentle touch on the younger girl’s
shoulder.
“But, I guess, Iolaire hasn’t met any Dragon other
than Valerius so I suppose Iolaire might not know.”
Tilly looked crestfallen.
“You’re staring daggers at a child, my king.” Chione
patted his shoulder.
He quickly looked down at his empty wine glass. Did
these people intend for him to become parched?
“Why haven’t you asked Iolaire about this, Caden?”
Ellen asked, as she sank down into her chair.
“Because a lot has been going on, and I… well,
we’ve been busy,” Caden mumbled as he went red in
the face again.
“You’re afraid that Iolaire has already made a
decision?” Rose guessed.
More red in his face, and Valerius nearly crushed his
empty wine glass.
“I… I have no idea,” another red-faced mumble from
Caden.
“Iolaire might not wish to say, or perhaps it has no
opinion at the moment. We are in uncharted waters,
which makes all of this even more difficult,” Chione
offered.
“But the other Dragons have made up their mind to
court my son if they’re all coming here for that
purpose, and not, as we all supposed, to contest
Caden getting his own territory,” Ellen said.
“The Dragons are not necessarily coming here for a
love match,” Valerius said, spinning his wine glass.
“Oh, let me fill that for you,” Ellen said and went
over to the sideboard to get another bottle.
“I’ll uncork it, dear,” Grant offered, even as he was
staring at Valerius with intense interest. “I assume
that anyone who has two Dragons in their territory
would be a far more formidable threat.”
“Iolaire is not a fighter. That is not to say it could not
aid in a fight, but it would likely not be a determining
factor,” Valerius explained. “Not enough to
overcome most of the Dragon’s desire to have their
territory alone. No, having a mate empowers the
Dragon, but also weakens them.”
“Empowers and weakens them how?” Grant was
evidently going to hold the bottle of wine hostage
until he answered.
“If I mate with somebody, they become stronger, but
they will die if I die and vice versa,” Caden supplied
helpfully.
Valerius took the wine from Grant’s hands and
uncorked it himself. Something was bothering him
about this. The lack of specificity as to the amount of
power granted seemed to downplay the idea that any
Dragon would want to yoke themselves with the
White Dragon Shifter and the danger he brought,
being untrained. So why were the Dragons truly
racing here?
And then, of course, he knew. He felt very stupid
about it. But it was obvious. It was what Grant Bryce
had been going on about since the beginning.
“Territory,” he muttered.
“Oh, yes, of course!” Chione turned in her seat
towards him. “It would have to be, because all of the
rest of it is so… speculative, and none of the Dragons
is really romantic.”
“Exactly.” Valerius turned to Grant. “They want that
territory you’re so keen to get Caden.”
Grant blinked. “But that’s to secure Caden’s future,
not theirs!”
“Dragons are highly territorial. Of course, they
would want more,” Ellen said as she put a hand
against her temple.
“So when they find out that I don’t want any territory,
they’ll go away?” Caden asked hopefully.
“It will cause unrest,” Chione murmured. “With
Caden here, they will assume that you will exercise
the right of territory, my king. Yet that might be
useful to keep the others in line. The sheer threat of
it.”
Valerius nodded. “But it will also put Caden in
danger, because if he is gone then the threat to their
territory is gone.”
“This makes things sound worse.” Caden was staring
at him with big eyes.
“It will be dealt with,” Valerius said, trying to keep
his tone gentle yet firm.
“But what should I do?!” That plaintive cry made
Valerius reach across the table and take Caden’s
outstretched hand. “I don’t know what to do!”
Valerius felt as much as saw the Bryces looking at
their linked hands and coming to their own
conclusions.
“Nothing right now. We will discuss all of the
options. But do not distress yourself. I will keep you
safe,” Valerius promised, and all the force and
authority of his position and person.
“You like Caden,” Tilly breathed. She had her hands
up by her face, looking wide-eyed between him and
his brother. “Oh, it’s just like in the stories.”
“Tilly, I think you need to put your imagination to
bed,” Ellen told her sternly.
“Rose, you agree with me, don’t you?” Tilly cried as
she looked over at the Bee Shifter who appeared like
she wanted to vanish beneath the table. So Tilly
turned to him again, “Oh, King Valerius, you like my
brother!”
“Of course, I like Caden. We are… we are in this
together,” Valerius said, and he reluctantly released
Caden’s hand. He still felt the memory of its heat
against his palm.
He had not looked at the young man when Tilly had
spoken. He chanced to do so now as he poured
himself more wine. The sappy smile on Caden’s face
had him pouring more wine.
“But we should eat. This meal looks delicious and it's
getting cold,” Chione said as she started to cut the
roast into bite sized pieces.
Everyone turned to their plates, but not everyone
looked terribly hungry. Valerius shoveled a piece of
roast into his mouth, hoping that would discourage
anyone from speaking to him. For a time, there was
just the scrape of silverware over china. Grant was
staring off into space, and Valerius could almost see
the wheels in his brain turning. He had thought some
things through, but not everything.
“Caden, are you going to share those tomatoes with
the rest of us, or are you hoarding them like Dragon
treasure?” Rose asked.
Caden was guarding the tomatoes. Tomato seeds
were spilling down his chin as he had just stuffed a
whole slice into his mouth and was chewing it with
evident pleasure. His right arm was curled around
the rest of the platter.
“They’re mine now. I would have taken one before,
but now, they’re mine,” Caden told her.
“Can I have one ?” Tilly wheedled. “I know you eat
when you’re upset, but—”
“No, I don’t! I’m not! I mean… does anyone else see
how this is all going to go south?” Caden, his bright,
beautiful Dragon was suddenly in the pit of despair.
“I can’t keep this a secret! Jasper Hawes knows! He
could call a press conference like now! People are
going to find out that the White Dragon Shifter is the
mate of one of the other Dragons because they’ll tell
everyone, right? They aren’t going to keep it a
secret!”
Chione and Valerius shared a look. Caden was right.
While Esme and a few of the others might keep their
mouths shut, Illarion wouldn’t. Mei would likely
make a production of it!
Caden continued, “People are going to wonder why
Valerius was at Wally’s and then is having dinner
here tonight and draw the lines between the dots and
—”
“Actually, that is handled,” Chione said, with a side-
eyed glance at Valerius. “The king was going to
Wally’s in order to arrange something very special in
plush merchandise.”
“Not more of those bloody stuffed Dragons?!” he
roared at her.
“Actually, it was to be a line of commemorative
Sphinx plushies,” she said with a cough.
“Oh.”
“That’s why you did it yourself. As a gift to honor
me.”
“How thoughtful of me.”
“Indeed it is. That was when you just so happened to
run into Caden who told you about Jasper Hawes’
plot and that brought you here,” she explained.
“You’re having dinner with the Bryces because they
asked you to after saving them from the terrorists.”
“Nicely done,” Valerius complimented her.
“It is quite well done,” Ellen agreed.
“You really are keeping it all under wraps,” Rose
remarked.
“I do try.” Chione gave a humble bow of her head
that wasn’t humble at all. And he would be paying
for it in plushies. He imagined the Sphinx stuffed
animals would be all over High Reach. In corners.
On stairs. In his bed.
“That makes me feel tons better, thanks, Chione,”
Caden said with evident belief, but then his shoulders
slumped. “But that’s only for today. What about
tomorrow? The Dragons are not going to give up
territory. I could imagine them giving up on
everything else, but that!”
And Caden was right.
“It is merely another hurdle that we will get past—”
“But I’m asking so much of you, and giving you
nothing in return!” Caden cried.
“Are you asking nothing of my son?” Grant’s eyes
bored into him.
“Dad! Cut it out!”
“Caden, this is serious. We need to know his
intentions ,” Grant said.
“Intentions” was as old-fashioned a word as “court”.
“If I had bad intentions, I would hardly tell you,”
Valerius replied dryly, and gulped his wine.
Grant leaned forward. He could see his son’s
intensity in him. “Are you claiming to have no
interest in Caden as your mate?”
Caden made a strangled sound. “DAD!”
“That’s… Caden’s decision. We have not discussed if
I am in the running. Your son, in fact, has been clear
he wants no mate,” Valerius answered, which was
not really an answer.
He could see Caden out of the corner of his eye. The
young man was practically vibrating with tension.
 The question was, did Caden want him to throw his
hat in the ring?
We kissed, he heard Caden’s faint voice.
So yes , he did. But what if it was only for now.
There was no “breaking up”. This would be
permanent. And what would Caden know about
eternity? He had been alive for barely a quarter of a
century. Let him live another few hundred years,
perhaps a thousand, and then they would see.
“We need to have a discussion,” Grant said. “Me and
you.”
“And your Raven Shifter partners?”
“You think I’m not as good an attorney as them
because I’m human?” Grant was nettled, that had
been his intention, if he had been honest.
“Valerius, be nice! My dad’s a great attorney, and
you know that. Valerius is just trying to be a jerk,
Dad, because you’ve put him in a corner,” Caden
said. “And that means, Dad, that you’ve got to back
off. Valerius and I need to talk about stuff first, and
then we’ll talk to you and the other lawyers, and
Mom and stuff.”
“And me, too!” Tilly protested. “I’m a part of this
family. Oh, and Rose as well, because she’s smart
and you need her help.”
“Your sister is wise,” Rose said simply with a
quirked smile on her lips.
“Yeah, she’s all right.” Caden reached over, and
ruffled his sister’s hair.
At that moment, his cell phone buzzed against his
thigh. Valerius frowned, and said, “Excuse me. I
must take this.”
He would only be interrupted for the most important
of matters. It was Ngoye. He got up to leave the
room. He saw that Chione was looking at some news
alert on her phone. She let out a slight gasp.
“What is it?” Valerius asked as that question echoed
around the room.
“My king, Illarion has arrived in New York early. He
is having a press conference!” Ngoye explained.
Chione was already putting the conference on her
phone and setting it in the middle of the table for all
to see.
Illarion stood before a bank of microphones, only a
green and black silk robe embroidered with Dragons,
was around his broad shoulders. His short spiky
blond hair was ruffled as if from the wind. His cold
blue eyes were locked on the cameras that were
trained on him.
“I have come,” Illarion said, his Russian-accented
voice booming, “to claim my mate: the White
Dragon Shifter.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: CAN'T LET YOU GO

THE TABLE EXPLODED WITH EVERYONE SPEAKING AT ONCE.

EVEN CADEN WAS SPEAKING, BUT HE COULDN’T HEAR
HIMSELF TALK OVER THE FRAY. HE KNEW HE SAID THINGS
THAT WERE ANGRY, FRIGHTENED, INDIGNANT AND
SOMETHING ABOUT WANTING TO PUNCH ILLARION RIGHT IN
THAT SMUG FACE OF HIS.
But at the same time the guy reminded him of Dolph Lundgren from
the Rocky movies, not to mention Aquaman. So he was big and
blonde and rather terrifying in that poison green silk robe he wore.
Didn’t he have poison breath? Wasn’t that his secret power? It fit
him. Gassing people.
Somehow, Chione was able to silence the room as she turned to
Valerius and said, “You must give a press conference, my king. They
need your settling presence.”
“It will look like I am responding to Illarion’s ridiculous statements!
As if he is setting the ground over which we battle! He is not as
powerful as that!”
The Black Dragon King’s powerful hands were on the table. They
clenched into fists. Caden could feel the rage building up inside of
him like bubbling magma deep in a volcano. Illarion had pushed
Valerius too far.
Iolaire awakened at that moment, blinking and sleepy, making a
twittering sound asking him what was wrong. He didn’t know what to
say. Things had just gone from bad to worse! And though all of this
was because of him--because of him and Iolaire rather--they were
sitting there like children, expecting everyone else to make decisions
for them! Yet this was their life, wasn’t it? They were the ones that
were going to affect things, and yet they seemed incapable of
making any decisions. And if he were truthful with himself, what he
really wanted to do was grab Valerius’ hand and run up to his
bedroom to hide.
Yeah, that makes me a great leader.
“I realize that, but the unrest has continued on too long without your
voice being heard. People feel that you are remote, and do not
understand them,” Chione objected.
Valerius’ eyes blazed redly. “And some pretty words from me will
change that?”
“Or roaring,” Chione suggested with a twitch of her lips, teasing
Valerius even though he looked rather imposing at that moment, all
bristling and fiery eyed. “You are very good at roaring.”
Valerius narrowed his eyes at her. “Sometimes, Chione, I do not
think you are as respectful as you should be.”
“Probably not, my king. But my respect for you is boundless. If I do
not express it properly at all times, I am very sorry.” She crossed one
hand over her breast and bowed her head. She was still smiling
though in that way of hers that somehow made the bow ironic.
Rose’s lips were twitching as she watched Chione with wide-eyed
appreciation. It was rather like how Tilly looked at her.
“Hmmmm,” Valerius murmured. “I know I have to speak. But the truth
is that actions speak louder than words. If there were only some
way to convey my absolute contempt for that bastard Illarion, and
show the wrongness of his words.”
And in that moment, Caden had an idea of exactly how to do that. It
was a crazy idea. Everyone would probably shoot it down. And yet it
would do what Valerius hoped, and it would get Caden and Iolaire off
of the sidelines and part of the action.
Valerius continued, “And what would you have me say, Chione? That
the White Dragon Shifter does not believe that Illarion is his or her
mate? The reporters will simply ask me how I know this. And even if
I tell them that I’ve spoken to the White Dragon Shifter, some will
believe I am not speaking the truth, which will be worse than if I said
nothing at all.”
“Unless the White Dragon Shifter is right there with you,” Caden
broke in.
Everyone’s eyes in the room turned to him. Caden squirmed a bit
under the scrutiny. Iolaire yawned and made a cooing sound. It was
looking for Raziel.
Their mother’s eyes went wide. “But, Caden, I thought you didn’t
want to be known as the White Dragon Shifter! You shouldn’t let a
bully like Illarion push you into anything.”
“And this may be the worst time to reveal yourself,” their father
added with a frown, “The last thing anyone wants is for that creature
to know who you are. That will put a bullseye on your chest.”
“Illarion is pretty scary, Caden. And he doesn’t look like he takes no
for an answer.” Tilly pressed her hands together in front of her as if in
prayer, and her eyes were huge.
“I hope you forgive me for saying this, Caden, but you’re not ready
for prime time yet,” Rose said gently.
“I’m not ready--”
“I said yet. You will be. I know you will be,” Rose quickly amended.
“You’re so earnest and kind and all of those things, but reporters rip
that kind of person to shreds. Everything you intend to say will be
turned around and made to seem to say something you don’t mean.”
Valerius’ eyes were boring into him. “I can handle Illarion, Caden.
You need not be afraid –”
“I know you can! And that’s my plan! You’re all right about everything
you’re saying. I’m not ready for--for this. Yet. And I don’t want to
expose who I truly am. Especially not because of that asshole
Illarion.” Caden licked his lips. “And, Valerius, I know that you can
handle Illarion better than anyone. You can handle all of it. So that’s
why I want you to speak for me, but I want people to believe that
you’re speaking for me. So there’s an easy solution to that.” Caden
caught all of their eyes. “You have a press conference in the square,
Valerius, with the White Dragon right by your side.”
Understanding dawned on all of their faces. Chione laughed and
clapped her hands together.
“That’s brilliant! I can just see it now,” she enthused. “We could
make it very dramatic. Totally upstage that bastard Illarion. I think I
know exactly how to do it. Yes, definitely"
The frown lines on Valerius’ face smoothed away. He tapped his
chin, and nodded. “I can do this. Seeing Iolaire will distract people
from Illarion’s challenge. It will make him seem like the caveman he
is behaving as. To claim you as his mate when he knows very well
that you choose.”
“If that’s his pitch to me, yeah, he’s not getting chosen,” Caden
replied dryly.
Valerius’ eyes widened. “You were considering him--”
“No! God, no!” Caden quickly amended. His tongue stuck to the roof
of his mouth as his heart thudded in his chest. He thought of that
kiss. There really was only one Dragon Shifter that he could imagine
bonding with.
But that’s crazy. He’s… I don’t know what he is. Quixotic. Amazing.
Frustrating. Mesmerising.
He was quickly drawn out of his thoughts as Chione said, “I think we
should stay vague on your platform for now, Caden. That will be
something you should develop over time, and we can craft
appropriate soundbites for it.” Chione grew thoughtful. “I think less
will be more in this case. I would suggest that Valerius tell everyone
that your intentions are peaceful.”
“My brother is a peaceful Dragon!” Tilly giggled.
“I am at that.”
Iolaire hooted its agreement.
“And that, you wish to remain anonymous for now. At the
appropriate time, you will reveal yourself, but, for now, you wish
people to respect your privacy,” Chione ticked off on her fingers.
“Any messages for you can be relayed through King Valerius’
appropriate communications staff. Further, as to the ‘mate’
situation… what do you want Valerius to say about that?”
“That I am not anybody’s mate, let alone Illarion’s! That I have no
intention of… of choosing uhm, anyone at this time. If that changes,
I’ll let people know,” Caden got out. He couldn’t quite meet Valerius’
gaze when he said this.
What would I feel if Valerius asked to be my mate right now? We’ve
shared one kiss, and he wanted to drop kick me out of his territory
not so long ago. So it’s not like it’s going to happen. But if it did, I
would be crazy to consider it. Right? RIGHT?
Iolaire twittered at him, and cocked its head to the side. Those big
blue eyes told him nothing. Or maybe, he didn’t want to read what
was in them, which was a steadiness that he already knew what he
wanted. He just had to admit it.
But it’s crazy! It’s not like it was love at first sight for us! He tried to
kill us! Remember that?!
Another twitter and fluff of its wings was Iolaire’s only response.
“Uh, Caden, is everything all right?” Chione asked gently.
“Oh, just talking to Iolaire.” Caden cleared his throat, and shifted in
his seat. “Dragon stuff.”
“Oh, well… yes.” Chione blinked.
“Did you ask Iolaire about the mate thing?” Tilly asked, more
unhelpfully.
His cheeks went hot. “I--I told you that Iolaire doesn’t talk!”
“But why would Iolaire need to use words to communicate with you
when it's in your soul?” Tilly asked, again most unhelpfully.
“I… okay, well…”
“Tilly, leave your brother alone,” their mother admonished.
“But I wasn’t asking anything bad, Mom!” Tilly cried.
“What Caden and Iolaire discuss is private,” their mother explained.
“Thanks, Mom,” he said.
“You should talk to Iolaire--”
“MOM!”
“The Spirits have much wisdom to share,” she said, her lips
suspiciously twitching.
“Yeah, I know.” His cheeks burned so hot he figured they would
catch fire at any moment. “Okay, so back to the press conference. I
think that I should dramatically fly down to Valerius, you know? Like
he is standing there, talking to reporters, and says something about
how he’s speaking for me and BAM! I’m there.”
“You should let Iolaire control your flying if you’re going to land in
Dragon Strike Square,” Valerius said dryly.
“Y-yeah, most likely.” When Valerius gave him a raised eyebrow, he
quickly added, “Yeah, yeah, I will!”
“Because we do not want any crushed reporters,” Valerius
continued.
Caden winced as he imagined a few news crews under Iolaire’s butt,
and then the situation would get worse as Iolaire and he tried to fix
the problem and swept a few more with their tail.
“Make sure there’s a big enough space for me to land. Like a really
big space,” Caden suggested.
“It shall be done.” Chione smiled broadly as she was already texting
on her phone to set up the conference. “Is there anything else that
you would like Valerius to say on your behalf?”
“Uhm, yeah. Tell everyone that I’m really sorry about what happened
in the Below. I shouldn’t have led Valerius there, but I… just tell
them I’m so sorry,” Caden said, deciding any explanation that he had
been scared and new would do nothing to assuage the hurting of the
people who had lost loved ones or who were injured themselves.
Chione nodded. “Of course, I’m sure that everyone will appreciate
that, though you are not to blame.”
“I am. I was just thinking of myself and not others,” Caden told her.
“It was an accident. All around,” Rose said, which surprised him as
he figured that she would be the least forgiving of this. “When you’re
a Dragon, accidents are just a bit bigger and more dangerous.”
He dropped his head. “That’s for sure.”
“It is my fault, Caden. Solely,” Valerius’ voice was soft. “You don’t
owe anyone an apology, which I will make clear.”
His head shot up. “Valerius, I didn’t mean--”
“These are facts, Caden. I am not being noble here.” Valerius tossed
his long dark locks over his shoulders, which made him look noble
and royal and all that stuff.
“O-okay.” It seemed better to just agree, especially when he found
heat rising in a lower area than his face for once that evening. He
was glad he had a napkin down there. Needing to distract himself,
he asked, “After the press conference, can we go flying off together,
Valerius? Iolaire is determined to prove to Raziel that it does the
best barrel rolls out there.”
Iolaire had been rather insistent that he say this. The press
conference sounded interesting, so long as it could preen and be
admired. But it was much more interested in spending time with
Raziel.
Valerius cracked a smile, it was the first true one that he had shown
that night so far. “Raziel accepts that challenge.”
Tilly let out a sad moan at that moment. “I wish I could see you guys
fly and do barrel rolls and chase each other. I haven’t yet seen Iolaire
up close.”
“I admit that I would rather like to see your dragon, too, Caden,” their
mother added.
“It would be too strange for us to come to the press conference
though. We can’t draw attention to the fact that our son isn’t with us
after tonight’s events,” their father said. He clearly was thinking this
through logically.
“We can watch it on TV together, Tilly,” Rose offered, but even she
seemed a little sad that she wasn’t going to see Iolaire in the flesh.
“But what about afterwards? Can’t they meet us in that field we flew
in last night?” Caden asked the Dragon King.
“I do not think that would be wise. The press will be following our
actions closely. It would be best to give them a show,” Valerius said
reluctantly.
“Awwww,” Tilly said and looked downcast.
Caden put a hand on her shoulder and promised, “It will happen, Till.
You’ll all see Iolaire.”
“I will see what can be arranged for another time this week,” Chione
suggested.
“That’s something then,” his mother said.
“I’m going to get on a conference call with my partners now,” their
father said. “I really do think we have to understand how this mating
business impacts everything, and what the law says about territory.
I’m not doing this in order to simply secure my son’s rights, but to
make sure that we can protect all of the world from the bad actors in
it.” He said the last to Valerius.
“I would be grateful if you would share that information with me and
Justice St. John,” Valerius said evenly.
There was only the slightest hesitation before their father nodded.
“The law doesn’t change no matter who knows it. I can tell that you
really do have Caden’s well-being at heart.”
“I understand your concerns. You are a fierce defender of your son,
and I would ask for nothing less. But I’m glad that you now see that
we are not on opposite sides as you feared. We are on the same
side. Caden’s side,” Valerius told him. It was said a little stiffly, but
with evident sincerity.
“I need to start making calls. I’ll aim to have the press conference set
for an hour. That will ensure that everything is set, and everyone is
there,” she said, and rose from the table. “Is there someone private I
can make my calls?”
“Of course, I’ll take you.” Their father took her from the room.
Valerius turned to Rose. “Would I be correct in assuming that you
know the secret ways of this city?”
Rose straightened and grinned. “Of course! You can’t be named one
of Marban’s granddaughters without a thorough understanding of the
backways.” The last part was said with a slightly more jaded look.
“I am sorry, Tilly, but I need to steal Rose from you,” Valerius told his
sister. “I think it will be far less conspicuous if Rose takes Caden to
a position where he can easily shift and join me in the square than if
a bunch of Claw are with him, even without their uniforms.”
“The Claw gives anyone away,” Rose agreed dryly. “I can get Caden
wherever you want him without anyone ever seeing.”
“Can I come?” Tilly asked. “They told us in school about the secret
passages in Reach, but I’ve never been in one. It would be
educational!” That last bit was to convince their mother that she
should be allowed.
“Good try, Tilly, but no,” their mother said with a shake of her head.
“You will remain here with me.”
“What could possibly happen to me though? I’m with a Bee Shifter
and the White Dragon Shifter!” Tilly objected, putting her hands on
her hips, and sticking her lower lip out in what was the beginning of a
pout.
“Tilly, there can’t be any connection between the White Dragon
Shifter and the Bryce family,” Caden told her gently. “So you can’t go
with us.”
“I don’t get to do anything fun!” she pouted, and stomped her foot.
“But I guess I say see what you’re saying.”
He ruffled her hair, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Thanks. I
promise you’ll get to ride Iolaire.”
“Ride Iolaire?” Valerius asked sharply.
An impish smile crossed Caden’s lips. Valerius had already made his
thoughts known on a Dragon being ridden. But it was Tilly, and he
guessed she might even be able to charm Raziel for a little lift.
“Really? You mean it?” Tilly asked, her hands clasped in front of her
as if in prayer.
“I mean it.” Caden looked at Valerius when he said it with that impish
smile widening on his face. “Iolaire is really excited to be your
mount.”
“I cannot believe this,” Valerius sounded strangled. But then he
changed his tone to one of seriousness, “I should prepare to go, as I
am certain that Chione will have a car here shortly. Thank you for the
dinner, Mrs. Bryce. It was delicious, if brief.”
“Ellen, please, your majesty.” Their mother got up from the table.
“Valerius, if you would.” He nodded his head.
“Valerius, then.” Their mother let out a little giggle that showed even
she wasn’t immune to the Black Dragon Shifter’s charm.
When he decides to show it anyways.
“Before you go, Valerius,” Caden broke in as he jumped from his
seat. “Could you… I mean… I want you to come to my room!”
Everyone stared at him like he had gone quite crazy. Only Tilly let
out a rather hysterical little laugh. He could see her holding back the
million of inappropriate--or rather, appropriate--things to say to that,
which a thirteen-year-old shouldn’t know. Rose shook her head and
took a sip of wine. His mother’s eyebrows had risen up into her
hairline and were making their way likely to the back of her head.
“I just want to… to show you it and… you know I saw your lair. You
should see mine!” Caden squeaked. This was getting worse. It was
that he just didn’t want Valerius to leave, and he wanted some time
alone with the Black Dragon Shifter.
“If you wish, then yes, of course.” Valerius made another bow to his
mother, and then to Rose and Tilly.
Tilly giggled endlessly and curtseyed rather well. Rose just looked a
little stunned and waved at him. Caden moved around the table and
grabbed Valerius’ hand. He tugged the other Dragon Shifter out of
the room, up the stairs, and into his darkened bedroom. When he
went to switch on the light, Valerius caught his hand.
“The window shades are up. Someone will see,” Valerius warned.
“Besides, I can see your… lair quite well in the dark.”
Moonlight streamed into his room, making it quite bright enough that
even someone without being a Shifter would likely have seen clearly.
“Oh, right. What do you think?” Caden spread his arms to show off
his tiny room. He saw there was a pair of underwear on the ground,
and quickly swept over to grab them and toss them out of sight
behind the trash can.
Valerius grinned. “It is less messy than I would have thought without
staff.”
He realized then that his bed was unmade. There were books
everywhere. Not to mention days old dishes beneath his bed. He
winced.
“I didn’t really think this through,” Caden confessed. “I didn’t really
ask you up here to see this pig sty. Man, Mom told me it was, but
until I had you up here, I didn’t really see it.”
Valerius snorted. “I did not think that you truly brought me up here to
see your bedroom. Though it is very… you. It smells of you.”
“And old socks…” Another wince, and Caden ran a hand through his
hair. He could tell it was standing up on end now, which likely made
him look an even bigger idiot. “The thing is that I… I just didn’t want
you to go.”
Valerius didn’t blink. Indeed, he stared. “We will see one another
shortly.”
“I know that. But this feeling is not about logic,” Caden confessed
with a huff of laughter that sounded only half as uncomfortable as he
felt. “And so, the truth is, that I just… that I really don’t want you to
go. I don’t want you to like… ever go.”
His own mouth went dry then. Dry as dust. What was he saying?
Iolaire cooed.
And then any thoughts or doubts he had were blown away when
Valerius cupped his face in those large, powerful hands. The Black
Dragon King’s eyes glowed with fire, but it wasn’t the frightening
kind. It was the kind that embraced him in its warmth.
Then Valerius kissed him. And it was better than the first time.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: PRESS CONFERENCE

“THIS IS ANITA SANCHEZ, CHANNEL 7 NEWS, AND WE ARE

STANDING BY IN DRAGON STRIKE SQUARE IN THE CAPITAL
CITY OF REACH, WAITING FOR THE BLACK DRAGON KING
VALERIUS TO SPEAK,” A FEMALE REPORTER SAID INTO HER
MICROPHONE AS SHE STARED INTO THE CAMERA WITH
ALMOST BREATHLESS ANTICIPATION. “THE EXCITEMENT
HERE IS ALMOST PALPABLE. AFTER NEARLY A WEEK OF
CRISES--AND NO WORD DIRECTLY FROM KING VALERIUS--
PEOPLE ARE HUNGRY TO KNOW WHAT HE HAS TO SAY
ABOUT THE NEW STATE OF THE WORLD. HIS SILENCE HAS
SIGNALLED A DERELICTION OF DUTY TO SOME. THE VERY
FACT THAT THE NINTH DRAGON SHIFTER APPEARED IN HIS
LANDS INDICATES WEAKNESS, NOT TO MENTION THE SERIES
OF TERRORIST BOMBINGS THAT HAVE YET TO BE SOLVED.
SOME SAY THE AUTHORITIES DON’T HAVE A CLUE WHO IS
BEHIND IT, AND HAVE NO PLAN TO STOP IT FROM HAPPENING
AGAIN. CAN KING VALERIUS KEEP HIS TERRITORY SAFE?”
A male anchor on another channel stood beside her, though they
acted as if the other simply were not there. He wore a tailored gray
suit with a splash of color in his red tie. In a deep, compelling voice,
he said, “This is Kent Rogers from Channel 5 news, first on the
scene with the facts you need and the incisive commentary you
want.” He strutted a few feet before facing the camera again, giving
a wider view of the rather raucous crowd in the square. “The White
Dragon Shifter appeared above our skies--saving our people from a
bomb that was set by an unknown party--only to engage in a
spectacular aerial battle with King Valerius himself! Deaths allegedly
occurred in the Below from said battle.” His tone made it clear that
any news coming out of the Below was not to be trusted, and maybe
if any deaths had occurred there, what could they possibly matter?
“Some claim to have seen the White Dragon Shifter flying over
certain empty fields the other evening. But in this day and age where
everything is photographed or filmed, there is no such footage. Make
of that what you will. But, while the White Dragon Shifter has made
themselves scarce, it cannot be said enough that they have also
shaken the world with their brief appearance.”
Another male reporter for a more hipster channel, dressed in sleek
black pants and a black turtleneck, with chunky black framed glasses
said into his microphone, “Ian Scolarra here, reporting on yet more
news of the Dragon variety. The White Dragon Shifter used their
body to protect everyone from a bomb blast that was the first of two
that have gone off in the capital city of Reach this week. The second
went off during a Humans First rally where--no surprise--the White
Dragon Shifter was not in attendance. Some have claimed this
second bombing means that Humans First could not possibly be
involved in the first bombing as their charismatic leader Jasper
Hawes was in attendance at the second. While others believe that
this second bomb was merely a smokescreen to draw attention from
what some call a terrorist group. If it wasn’t Humans First or some
Shifter group, the question is who could be setting these bombs off,
and what is their goal? Terrorists love to terrorize, but they normally
have something they want to stop or to happen. In this case, we
have no idea what that is. Could it simply be a love of chaos? A
Joker-esque desire to cause pain and death? We’ll be talking about
that more after the Dragon King’s address.”
A man and a woman, both in their late thirties, and dressed in stylish
pants suits were seated on directors’ chairs, slightly turned to face
one another. It appeared they were trying to turn Dragon Strike
Square into an approximation of their studio set. But with the black
wet stones and the crowds behind them that were being herded back
from a stage that had been set up in the middle of the square, it
wasn’t quite as homey as they likely had wanted.
The female host tucked auburn hair behind one shapely ear as she
said in an almost husky tone to her co-host, “Now, John, we all heard
King Illarion’s statement about claiming his mate. In all of my
research on Shifters, there hasn’t even been a whisper of Dragon
Shifters having mates. Considering there are only 8 of them--and
they don’t seem to get along very well--that appeared to be a safe
assumption. But clearly not anymore!”
Her male co-host had a slick smile as well as slicked back dark
brown hair that tended to curl at the base of his neck. “The
Werewolves will now have a potential rival at the box office and in
romances with this news, for sure, Laura! I can see the movie titles
now! Dragon’s Mate 3!”
“They will indeed, John, though some claim that mates are simply a
part of Werewolf culture, and not a biological or spiritual component,”
Laura corrected.
John let out a braying laugh, and slapped his knee. “You better be
prepared for the metric ton of angry comments we’re going to get
from that statement, Laura. You know how devoted our fans are to
the notion of fated mates.”
Laura’s answering smile was a little thin. “Too true, John. But, I think
this should excite them. When we think of fated mates, we believe
them to be magical, drawing the Spirits to one another. In this case,
King Illarion flew all the way here from Russia for the White Dragon
Shifter, without knowing about them! But here he is, ready to devote
himself to the White Dragon Shifter sight unseen!”
John nodded, trying to appear sage, but seeming more oily. “You’ve
got a point there, Laura. But Queen Esme has also made her way to
our shores. Though she has not put out any statement, as of yet. But
perhaps she is going to claim the White Dragon Shifter is her mate.
In fact, there are rumors that all the Dragon Shifters are coming to
the entry points of King Valerius’ territory. They might all be here to
claim the White Dragon Shifter, too.”
Laura’s eyes sparkled. “Perhaps they’re here to fight over the White
Dragon Shifter’s hand!”
“It could be. I think the only thing we can rule out is that King
Valerius is not the White Dragon Shifter’s mate,” John guffawed.
“Their fight put an end to any of that speculation!”
Several influencers from social media were also on site despite the
lack of notice. Most were from Reach, but some had come from
neighboring cities, beating through the traffic to make their way to
the square that was completely filled now with hardly any breathing
space.
A YouTuber with a green mohawk who had his Gopro camera out,
spoke to it in a staccato report, “So the mainstream--or should I say
lamestream--media is totally reporting what the Dragons want them
to! See here, everybody says that the White Dragon Shifter saved
us from a bomb during the 30th Anniversary Event. But I say that
the White Dragon Shifter brought the bomb to the square, and it
went off early. I know that you all think you’ve seen the video, but I
have had it analyzed, and I can tell you it’s fake! I have a four-hour
documentary on this subject, which conclusively proves my point,
and draws a direct connection between the White Dragon Shifter and
the Kennedy assassination! So watch that after Valerius’ pablum for
the masses.”
There were two beauty Youtubers looking ethereal in their all white
outfits and shimmery makeup. One of them posed her hands
artistically by her made-up face, and made duck lips to her camera
as she said, “This look is in honor of the White Dragon Shifter. White
with hints of metallic pink, blue, purple and red. It is all reminiscent
of snow and pure ice.”
Her co-host shivered appreciatively. “So icy! But it is going to be the
hottest thing out there at the clubs this season. I’ve heard that white
wings are becoming all the rage. We’ll be putting together custom
color palettes that you can use to make yourself into the White
Dragon Shifter!”
“Do you think the White Dragon Shifter will show up tonight?” the
woman asked.
The other tapped her chin. “I think it would be amazing if they did,
wouldn’t it? Think of us doing black and white Dragon looks
together?”
“Perfect!” Her eyes shone.
Finally, a matronly woman who looked like she had seen more news
made than the other reporters, mainstream or not, combined was
interviewing Chione. The Sphinx Shifter appeared serene, and
unruffled by all of the excitement around them. She was a sea of
peace in stormy waters. But she knew how important this moment
would be for all that came, and so even she felt nervous underneath
her calm exterior.
“Councillor Chione, it is a pleasure to speak to you on such a
momentous night,” the reporter began.
“It is a pleasure to be here, Jacqueline. As always, I look forward to
our talks.” Chione pressed a friendly hand on the reporter’s right
forearm.
“Now, Chione, you are the woman of the hour. You are the only one
here that knows what King Valerius plans to tell us this evening,”
Jacqueline said, with a flash of white teeth in her dark face.
Chione covered her mouth as she gave out an almost girlish laugh. “I
know some of what he intends to say and do, but I can honestly tell
you that I am sure to be as surprised by the whole of it as you and all
the viewers are.”
“I would imagine that he is going to address King Illarion’s rather
startling statement about taking the White Dragon Shifter as his
mate. Do Dragons have mates?” Jacqueline's eyes narrowed.
She clearly smelled a major scoop. Just getting the Sphinx Shifter on
her program would be enough to drive her viewership through the
roof, as opposed to the other channels who only had their reporters
making the same statements in slightly different ways. And she was
right to be hopeful.
“I can tell you that King Illarion’s statements were nothing more than
braggadocio if he intends to give the world the impression that there
is some sort of fated aspect to mates among Dragons,” Chione
explained, her fingers tenting in front of her chin. “King Illarion has
absolutely no claim to the White Dragon Shifter, and has had no
communication with them.”
“And how do you know that? Are you speaking to the White Dragon
Shifter?” Jacqueline's eyes went sharp.
“I can tell you that the relationship between King Valerius and the
White Dragon Shifter will be one of his talking points this evening,”
Chione evaded.
“Forgive me, Chione, but talk is cheap,” Jacqueline pressed. “He
could say anything, and we wouldn’t know whether the White Dragon
Shifter agrees with his statements or not.”
Chione merely smiled and said, “I assure you, Jacqueline, that the
world will be quite sure that what King Valerius says is true after
tonight.”
“And what about the bomb scare that occurred over in West Mid
tonight? King Valerius and you were seen there. Can you tell the
viewers anything more about that?” Jaqueline asked.
Chione stared directly into the camera. “Only that the persons
responsible will be brought to justice.”
“It sounds as if you have a good idea who they are,” Jacqueline
remarked as she noted Chione’s certainty.
“We know,” Chione agreed.
“Can you tell us who--”
“That is part of an ongoing investigation, so I cannot say more,”
Chione told her almost gently.
“There has been criticism leveled against King Valerius for not
speaking out after the bombings, and the White Dragon Shifter’s
reveal to the world before now. Can you discuss his reasons for
this?” Jaqueline asked.
“That’s a very good question, Jacqueline. As you know, King Valerius
likes to let the other powers-that-be react first, and handle matters as
that is what they are there for. They are democratically elected, and
the people decide who is best to act in those roles. He only steps in
when there is something he can add to the conversation, and, until
tonight, he felt it was best to let others say their piece,” Chione
explained.
“But he is the most powerful of the Dragon Shifters, and the
introduction of a ninth has consequences for all of us,” Jacqueline
protested.
“The internal determinations of a Shifter group are private, even
those of the Dragon Shifters. No one is entitled to know those
discussions. That has been the rule for thirty years now,” Chione
shot back.
“Yes, but if the world is to be divided up yet another time, and our
countries were to change leadership and--”
“Then such determinations would be made public after thorough
discussion among the Dragon Shifters. Do you think it would be wise
for such large and far reaching decisions to be revealed willy-nilly
before such discussion is had?” Chione looked at Jaqueline pityingly.
“To suggest that any statement should be made in less than a week
is… simply sensational and irresponsible. Everyone knows that King
Valerius is taking care of things at all times, even if he doesn’t make
a big speech about it for you to report on.”
Jacqueline blinked rapidly, and looked nettled. Chione had treated
her like a child, which in comparison to the Sphinx Shifter, she was.
“I’ve heard these same thoughts from those elected individuals you
referenced,” Jacqueline retorted, her shoulders quivering slightly.
“You should reveal the identities of those people, because the ones
that elected them do have the right to know who the elected officials
are who are incapable of doing their jobs,” Chione responded evenly.
“They are sources--”
“I realize that as a reporter you need sources, but surely, you see the
unfairness of all of this. King Valerius is required to give speeches
about what should happen while those who are responsible for such
things hide behind your skirts, which are beautiful by the way,”
Chione gave a laugh at the end that was friendly, and completely
without acid. To those watching, they understood why she was
Valerius’ public face and the interface between him and the other
world leaders. Playing hardball was clearly within her skill set.
“Are the Dragon Shifters coming here to have those internal
discussions with King Valerius?” Jacqueline shifted uncomfortably,
but she doggedly continued on with her set questions.
“There are many discussions to be had,” Chione answered, which
wasn’t an answer at all.
“And will King Valerius allow King Illarion to pursue his mate claim
against the White Dragon Shifter?” Jacqueline pressed.
There was a spout of fire that split the night sky and the sound of
massive wings flapping in the air. Everyone’s hair was blown back
as they looked up as the Black Dragon dropped down towards the
platform.
“I think King Valerius will be the one to answer your questions now,”
Chione said, and then she melted into the crowd and went up onto
the stage.
Twenty feet above them, the Black Dragon transformed into his
human form. King Valerius’ glorious naked body was revealed to
everyone in the square as well as all those watching. The flash of
thousands of cameras going off blinded many as he dropped
gracefully to the platform, and landed in a crouch.
He stood up, and Captain Simi of the Claw helped him slip on a
black silk robe over his muscled shoulders. Chione walked up the
steps of the platform, and bowed before King Valerius. He inclined
his head, and then she walked to his side. King Valerius stepped up
to a bank of microphones. Besides himself, Simi and Chione, there
was no one and nothing else on the massive platform. To some
looking on, they wondered why.
King Valerius simply waited until the crowd settled down, and silence
filled the square. He was smiling slightly. His handsome face
seemingly serene and unconcerned, as if he was there for
something that was utterly pleasant. Yet those who watched couldn’t
see how that could be. But they wanted to find out.
“People of Reach, people of my territory, people of the world,” King
Valerius began. His deep voice reverberated around the square.
“Thank you for taking this time to listen to my words.”
There was a burst of clapping, with someone yelling, “We love you,
Valerius!”
Valerius smiled and nodded. “As I care for all of you.” He was careful
not to use the word love. Caden noticed this, if no one else did. “I
know that this past week has been concerning for many of you. On
the one hand, we have had the terrorist and completely criminal acts
of those behind the bombings. The thwarted one in this very square
during our celebration of the 30th Anniversary of peace And the one
that was not stopped, which injured some and killed others at a
meeting.”
“Humans First! Humans First!” Someone chanted.
There were cries to be silent--really to shut the fuck up--and there
were also those that shushed the chanter, simply because they
thought it rude, but didn’t necessarily disagree with what Humans
First stood for. Valerius, though, acted as if he had not heard the
person, though he did pause in his speech.
“And then there have been the Dragons.” Valerius’ eyes glittered as
a nervous, excited swell ran through the audience. “There are those
who have appeared at our shores. There are those who have acted
as if they are entitled to come here, into my territory, and your home,
without leave.” Valerius paused. His gaze grew steely. “Those
Dragons should know better.”
There was a shout of absolute delirium at those words. People
clapped, whistled and howled. Some in the press believed that the
populace regarded the Dragons who ruled over them rather like
sports teams, and were eager to see them duke it out and have their
Dragon win. From the look on Valerius’ face maybe they might get
their wish this time.
As soon as the cheering died down again, Valerius spoke to the
shining faces of people who gazed upon him as one might a god.
The reporters were to say later, in amazement. and with a touch of
superiority, that the masses might complain about the Black Dragon
King, but it was only because they wished he would rule them more
than he already did.
“And there is another Dragon,” Valerius said, his mouth lifting into a
smile that was almost infectious. The people’s breath held. What
was he going to say? It couldn’t be something bad, could it? He was
smiling. “A new member of our Clan, a very welcome addition to the
world.”
He spread his arms wide as if to encompass that world. There would
be images of that moment, of the look on the people’s faces. Eyes
shining. Hands clasped almost as if in prayer in front of them. Lower
lips bitten in excitement and concern.
“When the White Dragon first appeared, I misunderstood who they
were, and what they were doing here,” Valerius said, and he lowered
his head. “In those initial moments, all I could think to do was to
protect you all from the person I saw as a threat. I was mistaken
though. The White Dragon Shifter was not a threat. They are a hero.”
There was a wild cry from the crowd, which only quieted into a
murmuring as Valerius raised his hands.
“I know there are some who still believe that the White Dragon
Shifter had something to do with the bombing. But I am here to
assure you that their only role was that of savior. If they had not
taken that bomb from the square to the Drop, so many people would
have been injured and died,” Valerius explained, his expression
somber and grim.
There were murmurs of distress in the crowd.
“You should know that the White Dragon Shifter was not--I repeat,
not--a Shifter when they spotted that bomb,” Valerius explained.
There were gasps.
“They were human. Mortal. Fragile. They fully expected to die when
they leaped out into the Drop,” Valerius continued. His expression
was filled with this wrenched tenderness that none had ever seen
before. The people who watched him felt his desire to save this
precious human who had sacrificed themselves so that others would
live. “And that was when the Spirit came and chose to be bound with
them. That is the sort of person and Spirit that the White Dragon
Shifter is. Kind, compassionate, brave, selfless.”
Voices rose up in amazement. Some people dropped to the ground,
and got on their knees, holding their Faith medallions in their fingers
as they whispered prayers of thankfulness for the Spirits, and for this
former human that they didn’t even know the name of.
Valerius let out a soft, sad laugh. “You now know how brave they are.
Or maybe you already did, considering how they reacted to me.”
A ripple of laughter went through the crowd, but it was fond laughter.
None doubted who would have won the fight had it gone on.
Valerius’ jaw clenched then, becoming serious once more. “If they
had not gotten away from me, I would have…” He reached out with
both hands as if to crush something. “In my zeal to protect you, I
could have made a terrible mistake, done a terrible thing. That is why
all of us must go slowly with these new changes in our world. We
must not make rash decisions. We must be certain of the facts, and
we must understand the consequences of what we say and do
before we say and do them.”
There were nods, as if each of them was recognizing rashness in
themselves.
“Many wanted me to rush out and speak after the White Dragon
Shifter appeared. But imagine what I would have said before I knew
the truth?” He turned his head to meet individual gazes in the crowd.
“I dread even thinking of it now. I would have smeared a brave hero
as a terrorist interloper.” He shook his head. His long hair framed his
face. “You come to me for wisdom. You come to me for leadership. I
must ask you, upon occasion, for patience in order that I live up to
those expectations.”
There was a ripple of clapping that soon resounded in a roar.
People shouted their love and understanding for the Black Dragon
King. Valerius closed his eyes as if absorbing their response. He
opened them only when it had grown silent again.
“The White Dragon Shifter has just come into this world. They are so
very new to all of this. And they want to learn first, and take their
time, before they make any decisions. They have a home here, and
they don’t want to leave it,” Valerius explained, almost beseechingly.
“Normally, when Shifters join their Clans, they are mentored, and
not expected to take a leadership role until they are ready. The White
Dragon Shifter requests the same time and understanding before
they take their role. I will give that time and mentoring to them.”
Another round of applause, but this time more uncertain as Valerius
looked grim and determined.
“There are those, Shifter and human, who would take that from the
White Dragon Shifter. Whether they want to spuriously claim to be
mated with them.” Valerius’ lips writhed back from his teeth, and all
knew he meant Illarion. “Or would threaten their families if they do
not use their power for evil ends.” Who he meant by that wasn’t
clear, but the crowd booed at the very thought. “They are young
though. They are new. They are… small yet fierce.” Valerius smiled
and there was another wave of laughter. “But there are those who
would try to use their own strength to abuse our newest Dragon
Shifter. I am here to tell them that to get to the White Dragon
Shifter… they have to get past me.”
The crowd roared. It was deafening. The thunderous applause and
shouts went on and on. Finally, Valerius raised his hands to quiet
them. He was smiling and laughing.
“But wait! Do not take my word as that of the White Dragon Shifter’s.
Let them show you that it is theirs as well.” Valerius pointed towards
the west. All eyes and cameras spun towards that direction. “Let me
introduce you formally to the White Dragon Shifter. To Iolaire!”
Everyone gasped in awe as the beautiful White Dragon suddenly
appeared in the skies above them, and started circling down.
CHAPTER FORTY - THANKFUL

Earlier…
“I think I should shift now, you know? Before he gets to the part in
his speech introducing me so I’ll be able to just burst up,” Caden told
Rose.
He rubbed sweaty hands on the fronts of his boxer briefs. He’d
stripped down to those, because they would be easy to rip off at the
right moment. Being naked in public would have caused him some
embarrassment, but they were sheltering in a recessed doorway,
which kept them mostly out of sight. The door supposedly led to an
empty warehouse, but it was an exit for one of the many secret
tunnels that ran through Reach like the city was a gigantic block of
swiss cheese.
Rose’s eyebrows rose up into her hairline, which was illuminated
nicely by her phone. She was watching one of the newscasts of
Valerius’ speech, the one that Chione was being interviewed on.
“Look, I know this is an alley but people from the square are walking
right past the end of it. They’ll see your big white butt.”
Iolaire craned its neck around to see its butt. It started to go in a
circle as it couldn’t quite catch a glimpse of it. Apparently, Iolaire
believed that it could win a race against its own butt.
“Iolaire’s butt is perfectly proportioned, I’ll have you know! And you
shouldn’t fat shame,” he told her.
Rose let out a bubbling laugh. “Sensitive about your rear end, are
you?”
“Not all of us are delicate insects, Rose,” he retorted then let out a
snicker himself.
Rose’s laughter erupted, even louder. And he wasn’t the only one.
Caden wrapped his arms over his bare chest as his snickers turned
to hysterical gales of laughter. Rose poked him in the side.
“Ow! What did you do that for?” Caden scowled at her, his laughter
dying down to occasional outbursts.
“You were drawing attention.” She tilted her head towards the end of
the alley.
“Captain Ngoye has people blocking the exits. They won’t let anyone
get too close,” he said, and gestured towards the plains clothed Claw
that were at each end of the alleyway.
“True. But you were also hysterical,” Rose said with a sniff.
“I was not hysterical!” His voice rose up, rather hysterically. He
grimaced. “Okay, maybe I’m a little hysterical. Has he said the
word? Is he close?”
“He hasn’t even arrived yet,” Rose said dryly. “Did you see his big
black butt in the sky?”
“What’s with you Dragon butts? Total sizest.” He shook his head,
hiding his smile. But soon he didn’t have to hide that smile as he was
anxiously frowning again.
“What?” Rose asked, her eyes sliding towards him and then back to
her phone.
“What if I can’t do it?”
She frowned. “What if you can’t do what?”
“Shift!” He bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. “What if
Valerius says: and here is Iolaire! And nothing happens. The sky
remains empty, because I’m stuck in this alley!”
She didn’t even give him a sideways glance this time. “You will shift.”
“You don’t know that! I’ve had problems before! It’s like when people
watch you pee,” he explained.
She let out a cough that was suspiciously like a laugh. “I won’t watch
you shift then.”
“I don’t mean I’m nervous about you watching--”
“So you wouldn’t mind me watching you pee? Gross, Caden. I’m so
not into that kind of kinky.” She smirked.
He groaned and leaned his head back so that he could see the sky.
It was a beautiful night. Despite the light pollution from Reach itself,
there were quite a few stars to be seen, and the moon was high and
huge in the sky.
Rose put a hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be fine. You’ll shift. You’re
practically ready to jump out of your skin as it is.”
“That’s just it. I should shift now when I have time to make a mistake-
-oh, God, there he is!” Caden’s right hand shot up to the sky where
the magnificent Black Dragon had appeared.
“Calm down, he’s still got to land and say the speak and then the
word and then--”
“I should shift now!” Caden bounced up and down rather like he was
on a pogo stick. Rose dug her fingernails into his bare shoulder.
“Ow! That’s the second time you’ve hurt me.”
“Oh, please, you big baby! You’re a Dragon Shifter! Your hide is
Dragon scales that are impregnable!” Rose rolled her eyes. “Listen,
you need to keep it together for like 10 minutes more, then you can
shift and lift that butt into the air.”
“I just don’t want to mess anything up!” he admitted. “Valerius hates
giving speeches.”
“You don’t say? I would have never noticed the grimacing throughout
his other speeches,” she remarked dryly.
“Yeah, exactly. It’s like pulling fingernails. So if I embarrass him--”
“It would be nothing less than he deserves.”
“Hey! He’s awesome! He--”
“He is, but he’s treated ruling like it was a chore for him. That’s
allowed all these other jerks to do bad things, not just out in the
world, but here in Reach. He should never have allowed Mar--
Marban!”
“Marban? What shouldn’t he have allowed Marban to do?” Caden
tilted his head to the side.
“N-no, Marban, there behind you!” Rose choked out.
Caden swung around and the grandfatherly Swarm Shifter was
standing there, smiling benevolently at them. He was dressed in a
rather snazzy set of purple and gold robes, looking all the part of a
wise sage.
“Whoa! What are you doing here?” Caden asked, as he took a few
steps back in surprise.
“I came to see his majesty’s speech, of course. I am the head of his
Shifter Council,” Marban said.
“Did Chione call you?” Rose’s eyes were narrowed.
“She did, Granddaughter. I am being treated respectfully. I am
certain that is why you asked that question,” he answered her with
equally narrowed eyes.
“Yes, exactly.” But Rose didn’t look like she meant that at all.
“Yeah, it makes sense you’re here for that, but why are you here? In
an alleyway?” Caden asked. He put his hands on his hips and stared
hard at Marban.
“For you, young man,” Marban smiled beneficiently.
Caden and Rose exchanged disbelieving glances.
“I’m not sure…” Caden began.
“The Claw are quite good at many things, but being discrete?”
Marban shrugged his shoulders. “Their presence is screaming
something is going on in this alley that people should be interested
in. So I sent some of my people to divert those away from here.”
Caden glanced down at both ends of the alley, and noticed that there
were no longer any groups of people drifting past. Marban had
stemmed the flow. Caden felt a wave of relief. That issue was off his
shoulders. There was no chance of anyone seeing him shift that
shouldn’t. Iolaire yawned. It wasn’t concerned at all. It wanted to
stretch its wings, but was content to wait.
“Uhm, thank you. That’s really helpful,” Caden admitted.
“Yeah, that is good, Grandfather,” Rose concurred, but there was
suspicion in her eyes.
“We must all do our part--asked, but preferably unasked--to make
King Valerius’ plans go smoothly,” Marban said.
“I’ll make sure he knows that you--”
“No need! No need!” Marban put his hands up.
“But I’m sure he’d be happy to know you did this. We sort of put it
together last minute,” Caden insisted.
“Well, if you think him knowing will be useful then I defer to you.”
Another beneficent smile was sent Caden’s way, and somehow
Caden thought that this had been his plan all along.
Caden nodded absently. That sick feeling of anticipation mixed with
anxiety was in his stomach. He looked over at Rose. She was still
watching the speech. “Where is he in the speech?”
“We still have some time yet.” She gave him a lopsided smile. “He’s
saying really nice things about you. Calling you a hero, which you
are.”
“Really?” Caden leaned over to look at her phone.
He heard Valerius say, “They were human. Mortal. Fragile. They fully
expected to die when they leaped out into the Drop. And that was
when the Spirit came and chose to be bound with them. That is the
sort of person and Spirit that the White Dragon Shifter is. Kind,
compassionate, brave, selfless.”
Caden blinked. “Wow. Do you suppose he really thinks that?”
“I don’t think Valerius is the type to say what he doesn’t mean,” Rose
said gently.
Caden beamed, but then felt a little unnerved. How was he going to
keep living up to those descriptions of himself? So far he had
completely been winging it, and hoping that everything would end up
all right.
I can’t keep doing that any longer. I have to start thinking
strategically, and planning. What I do matters. When Iolaire raised
its head to gaze at him. What WE do matters. We’ve got to start
planning, Iolaire. If you have some great wisdom to impart, you best
let me know.
Iolaire yawned, and laid its head down on its front claws so that it
could get the last moments of rest before they shifted.
“You’re thinking too hard, dear boy,” Marban said as he patted
Caden’s shoulder.
“I don’t believe I’ve been thinking hard enough.” He hesitated, but
then told Marban, “Today at the shop, Jasper Hawes tried to trick me
into shifting in order to protect my friend Landry.”
Rose let out a huff of air. “I don’t know if you can call her a friend
anymore, Caden.”
“It’s her family, Rose. I get that they come first,” he said, though he
did feel a stab of sadness that Landry had betrayed him seemingly.
“Her brothers are no good. They’re racists. She was flirting with
racism herself until she found out that you were the White Dragon
Shifter,” Rose pointed out. “I get if she felt loyalty to them if they
were--were innocent or something, but they planted that bomb in the
square.”
“They were part of the smoke bombs, yeah, but we still don’t know
who the shifter girl was who put the backpack down,” Caden
reminded her.
Marban’s clever eyes flickered between the two of them. “Let me see
what I can do about Jasper Hawes.”
“You have sway with Humans First?” Caden could not hide his
disbelief.
“People who are willing to break the law to get what they want, are
willing to stretch who they associate with in order to accomplish their
goals. They always think they are smarter than those that they are
dealing with.” Marban’s eyes narrowed, and a cold smile crossed his
lips.
Caden realized then, if he really hadn’t already, just how useful
Marban could be to Valerius. While the Black Dragon King could stay
in the light, above the fray, Marban could dive deep to touch base
with those people who Valerius never could or would speak to.
“Do you think that Humans First are behind these bombings?” Caden
asked him.
“If they are, they have help from outside,” Marban said.
“Like help from another territory?” Rose’s gaze left her phone.
“Rose! Watch!” Caden cried.
She quickly looked down. “He’s wrapping up.”
“I think help from another Dragon Shifter,” Marban said. “But I do not
wish to say much more. I don’t have as much influence outside of
Valerius’ territory as I would like. Not enough to easily get to the
heart of this conspiracy, but I am looking into it.”
“Could it be Illarion? I mean he’s the most obvious choice,” Caden
said.
“Yes, but perhaps he is the too obvious choice. Illarion is not--how
shall we say--subtle? You saw his bizarre announcement, I
suppose, about claiming his mate?” Marban asked, his left eyebrow
lifting with disgust.
“Oh, yeah, I saw it. It was such bullshit. If he were the only other
Dragon Shifter on Earth, I wouldn’t be his mate.” Caden scowled.
Marban chuckled. “Yes, I’m sure you wouldn’t. But notice how
foolish he was to announce his plan to claim you. So when he
doesn’t succeed, he will look like a weak fool.”
“Totally. Not the type of guy that would have people planting bombs
then,” Caden agreed, nodding. “You should head to the square,
Marban.”
“Actually, you should head to the square. Right now, Caden!” Rose
slapped his bare back.
Caden didn’t have a chance to worry about whether he could shift or
not. He took one step and he was shifting. Iolaire immediately took
over, and Caden could not be happier about that. He let the White
Dragon Spirit control their flight so that he didn’t crash them into
buildings or anything else for that matter.
He looked down at the crowd in the square, and was amazed at how
very many people there were. He blinked as there were thousands of
flashes from cameras taking pictures of them as they circled
overhead. Valerius was gazing up at them, too, and Caden could
hear his thoughts.
You are doing beautifully, Valerius said.
I shifted! No problems! Caden winced a little at how proud he
sounded of something so very basic.
Valerius chuckled. Yes, you did, and you didn’t need me to kiss you
in order to do it.
Are you still thinking of that kiss, too?
He felt Valerius blush. I--I… all right, yes. I am. I cannot get it out of
my thoughts. But we must be in control of ourselves.
Iolaire’s in control right now. Otherwise I might have flown into the
side of your castle!
Valerius really guffawed then. I should have you knock into a part
that I want redone. That would mean that Chione would give me the
funds to redo it.
She holds the purse strings, yeah?
Valerius grunted. Yes, she does. In a very tight fist. She says we
shouldn’t spend anything unnecessarily. But I am a Dragon! I love
my treasure.
Caden grinned at this lighter side to Valerius. The Black Dragon
Shifter’s mood was buoyed not only by the crowd, but by that kiss,
too. Caden found himself sinking into a serene sense.
I think Iolaire’s taking us down. It's excited to have all the people pet
it, Caden said.
Petting? Valerius groaned. It does understand that people will then
think it is appropriate to try to pet ALL Dragon Shifters, and that
could be disastrous.
Aw, you’re just afraid someone is going to try to pat your head.
Anyone tries to pat my head, and their hair will be on fire, Raziel
growled.
Raziel! You’re talking to me! Caden crowed.
I am, Raziel said, but then nothing more.
Oh, okay, well, right, Caden blathered. Oh, touch down!
Iolaire gracefully extended its back legs so that it was almost
“standing” on two feet thirty feet above the platform then slowly
lowered. When it was five feet above the ground, Iolaire let itself
drop to the ground. They landed almost lightly on the wooden
platform. Iolaire tucked its wing back. The crowd oohed and aahed.
People pressed forward against the barriers. The Claw had a difficult
time on their hands keeping people back.
Excellent landing! Valerius said to him.
That was totally Iolaire. If it had been me, I think I might have
crushed you, Caden laughed, and said to his Dragon Spirit, Good
job!
Valerius addressed the crowd, “As you can see, Iolaire is a little
smaller than me.”
There was a ripple of laughter, as well as the continuing flashes of
cameras. Nearly everyone was filming this historic moment. The
ninth Dragon Shifter was right there, practically within reach!
There was suddenly a very loud crack! Valerius’ eyes went wide.
Chione froze. Simi went for his sword.
Whoa! Caden cried. What’s that?
Iolaire made some chirping noises of alarm as it twisted its
serpentine head right and left. Then there was a groaning sound
before the platform collapsed beneath them.
Iolaire reached out and grabbed Captain Simi in one hand, and
Valerius and Chione in the other so that they didn’t slide into the
splintered mess that had been the platform. Then with a powerful
flap of wings, Iolaire hovered above the ruined platform. The wood
had splintered beneath the White Dragon’s considerable weight.
Smaller than Raziel was true, but that hadn’t meant big for
everything else. There were gasps and cries of alarm from the
crowd.
Everybody okay? Caden asked as he looked between Simi and
Valerius and Chione.
We’re fine, Valerius said, as he clearly regained his composure. His
robe had fallen open, but his body was hidden from the public by
Iolaire’s claw.
Iolaire hooted at him softly to make sure that was really true.
Raziel responded, You are too big for that slender wood! I did tell
Valerius it would be best to have you land on ground, Iolaire.
Yes, you did, but we had to move quickly, Valerius replied with a
sigh.
Caden found himself chuckling at seeing how Valerius and Raziel
bickered.
Valerius called out to the crowd, “Everything is fine! We just
underestimated Iolaire’s… bulk.”
Oh, not you, too! Caden groaned.
What?
Nevermind! Your platform was too weak!
It was. I am sorry about that, Valerius stated. They grabbed
something from a previous function. I thought it would serve.
It’s okay. I’m glad that everyone is all right, Caden answered.
Yes, indeed. You both did well, Valerius assured him.
Iolaire is fast, Raziel commented with approval.
“Good catch, Iolaire!” Chione said with a laugh. She looked rather
exhilarated.
Caden turned towards Simi. The Claw Captain was blinking rather
rapidly, but he gave Caden a thumbs up.
Rose is so going to tease us about having such a big butt that we
broke the stage. You do know that, Iolaire, right? Caden asked.
Iolaire let out a laughing hoot.
“There’s nowhere to set us down,” Chione said with dismay.
Wait! Iolaire has an idea! Could you tell Chione it’ll be okay,
Valerius? Caden asked.
The Black Dragon King raised an eyebrow. Oh? What exactly is this
plan?
But Caden didn’t have a chance to tell him before Iolaire was putting
it into motion. The White Dragon used its ice breath to create snow.
On top of the broken platform, huge heaps of glittering snow were
created. Iolaire moved its head back and forth to create another
platform that was made of mounds of fluffy snow. Once the pile was
deep enough and wide enough, Iolaire landed once more. The final
flap of wings caused snow to fly out over people in a wave of white.
There were cries of delight as people laughed and shook off the
snow that covered them. A few actually tasted it to likely see if it was
different from “normal” snow. There were some delighted looks on
people’s faces as the delicate snow touched their tongues.
Iolaire gently placed Valerius, Chione and Simi down on the snow.
They sank down to their knees. Iolaire immediately began to
compact the snow with its tail, front legs and body, creating a solid
pack of snow that they could walk out almost the same as the
wooden platform had done. Iolaire also created a ramp.
Is that for Valerius, Chione and Simi to leave or… oh, you want the
crowd to come up to pet you, Caden laughed.
Iolaire hooted. It was determined to be petted now that it was here
in front of people. Valerius be damned!
Chione immediately leaned down, made a snowball, and tossed it at
Valerius’ chest. She hit him dead on. Snow splattered his face, too.
He narrowed his eyes at her, as she giggled and reached down
again to form another snowball. Valerius reached down and
gathered snow himself, sending a volley of them at the Sphinx
Shifter. Chione laughed and tried to dodge, but quite a few of them
hit. Both of them had snow in their hair and their faces were bright
with laughter. What could have been a disaster had turned into
something wonderful. Caden saw that the crowd was filming and
taking pictures.
“I’ve never seen King Valerius like this!” one woman exclaimed.
“So playful!” another said.
“He’s always handsome, but he’s just… more,” the first one giggled.
“It’s good to see him relaxed and not so grim,” an elderly man noted.
“It’s the White Dragon,” a woman murmured, her eyes filled with a
misty remembrance of something intensely pleasurable. “He’s met
his match.”
“You don’t think…” the elderly man broke off.
“Illarion may think he has a mate,” the older woman answered. “But I
think we should believe our eyes rather than his arrogant words,
don’t you?”
“They’re just playing in the snow. That’s not romantic,” the elderly
man said, but he was frowning as if he didn’t altogether believe his
own words.
Caden knew his face would be flushed hotly if he had been in his
human form overhearing that kind of speculation. He wondered if
Valerius had caught an earful of it. But, if the Black Dragon King did,
he wasn’t showing it.
Valerius and Chione were, instead, throwing snowballs at Iolaire.
Caden urged Iolaire to douse them with snow. A blast of snow
covered both of his “attackers” until they looked like snowmen.
“Enough! Enough! I give up!” Chione cried as she shook off the snow
from her body.
“We will continue this fight later!” Valerius cried, but he was smiling.
Iolaire lifted its head into the air and let out a call of victory, which
echoed around the square. There was laughter in response. But the
White Dragon preened.
“Oh, I wish I could be in the snowball fight, too,” a little girl cried as
she tugged on her father’s arm.
Iolaire lifted its head up and sent a stream of snow into the air that
landed on the crowd. There was laughter and gasps and people
scooped up handfuls of the stuff. People threw it at each other
playfully. There was a sense that one just couldn’t get mad. This was
fun.
Iolaire then was chittering at him, gesturing towards the ramp. It was
time to greet the people. He needed to tell Valerius.
Valerius, Caden said. Iolaire wants the people to come and touch it.
The petting needs to begin.
I think they are getting quite enough with the looking, Valerius said
as he dusted snow off of his shoulders. He looked amazingly
handsome.
Iolaire, however, was not moved by his beauty. It wanted to be
petted. Now.
Iolaire doesn’t think so.
Iolaire nosed the front of Valerius’ chest. Resting its snout lovingly
against the Black Dragon King’s skin. There were frantic cries of
excitement.
“Oh, my god, that’s so cute! What does Iolaire want?” A young
woman jumped up and down after she took several pictures.
“King Valerius, don’t make Iolaire sad! Do what it wants!” Her male
companion called.
Iolaire hooted its agreement and pressed its nose harder against
Valerius’ muscled stomach.
Caden, Valerius sighed.
Don’t Caden me! This is all Iolaire. It’s threatening to breathe heavy
and cause your robe to fly away, Caden chuckled.
Valerius’ eyebrow rose up. I have been seen, photographed and
filmed naked.
Ah, yes, but this will be different! This will go viral even more than
usual, because it will be funny and sexy. Oh, and it will have the
White Dragon in it, and Iolaire is convinced that it will be more
beloved than you, Caden paused as Iolaire preened. I think it is
because Iolaire believes it is cuter than you.
Raziel chuckled. The little Dragon thinks it is cute? Yes, it is. But I
am mighty.
Iolaire does agree with that. And noble. And… a little scary. Maybe a
lot scary, Caden admitted.
Yes, I am the strongest. That is natural that I would be feared, but
Iolaire does not need to be afraid. I protect, Raziel answered.
That’s good to know, Caden answered softly.
Iolaire’s breath puffed the robe back. Valerius though had it mostly
clutched around himself with one arm. He petted Iolaire’s nose.
There was a chorus of “awwwwwww”.
There are people here who would love to hurt you, Iolaire. Now, I
know they cannot, but even the attempt of it… it would be bad,
Valerius said. Things have gone well so far, but we do not want to
risk it.
Caden totally understood what Valerius was saying. This had been a
great event. They shouldn’t ruin it. But then Iolaire indicated a girl,
likely about 11-years-old who was in a wheelchair at the front of the
line with her mother and father. She gazed at Iolaire as if she
couldn’t quite believe that the White Dragon was real. That gave
Caden an idea.
What about just a few people? Like that girl there. Caden indicated
the girl in the wheelchair. We won’t let everyone up, but just a few.
The children. That will make people feel good and not excluded.
Iolaire was completely behind this plan, sensing that it was this or
nothing, and this would be far better than nothing.
Valerius considered this, absently stroking Iolaire nose, which felt
really nice. Finally, he nodded. That is a good plan. Let me
coordinate with Chione and Simi.
The Claw Captain had retreated towards the barrier so that he would
give them all as much space as possible. He immediately came back
to Valerius. Chione, who had been walking along the barriers,
speaking to people, also finished up her greeting of the people, and
strode over.
“What is it, my king?” she asked.
“We are going to allow about a dozen children--and their parents,
obviously--to come in from the barrier to pet Iolaire. That young
woman in the wheelchair should be one of them.” Valerius gestured
subtly with his head.
Chione brightened. “That’s a wonderful idea!”
“It’s a compromise as Iolaire just wanted me to throw the barriers
down so everyone could come pet it,” Valerius remarked dryly, with a
smile towards Iolaire.
Caden laughed. You are exaggerating, but not by much!
Valerius shook his head. You are both incorrigible.
But that’s why you like us!
Valerius’ expression became almost smoky. I enjoy you for many
reasons. Now, let us do this. If anything goes wrong, however, I
want you to fly away. Go to High Reach. No excuses.
Iolaire looked lovingly at Valerius.
I don’t think Iolaire wants to leave you, Caden told him. I wouldn’t
want to either if there was trouble.
Caden, I can take care of myself. I need you and Iolaire to be safe,
Valerius said, reaching out and stroking their nose again.
But I’m a Dragon like you! Iolaire is a little smaller than Raziel, but
still! Caden protested.
Caden, there was a warning note in Valerius’ voice. There are so
many things you left out in those statements that I cannot even count
them. You will go to High Reach or no petting. That is my final offer.
Caden sighed. Okay. All right. I agree.
Good. Another pat, and then Valerius went over to the microphone.
There was a wave of excitement that swept through the crowd. They
sensed that something was about to happen. Already, the Claw had
brought up a dozen children with their parents to a part of the barrier.
The girl in the wheelchair was in the front of the line.
“We are arranging for a dozen children in the audience to come
nearer to Iolaire. I know that Iolaire would like to meet every single
one of you, but this is only the first of many times that Iolaire will be
present for you to greet. So we are going to start small,” Valerius told
the crowd.
People erupted into cheers. Yet it was clear that there were
disappointed people in the crowd, but the choice of children made
the exclusion easier to swallow. Caden was relieved about that. He
would have been bummed too before all of this had happened to
him.
Come on, Iolaire. Let’s make ourselves as approachable as possible.
Iolaire settled down in the snow, tucking its legs underneath its body,
and curling its tail around its body. Its wings were drawn tight to its
back. The pose reminded Caden of a cat.
A very large cat…
Iolaire’s excitement was almost contagious. Caden liked people.
Being in retail meant he had to enjoy interacting with people, but
having them touch him was a little unnerving. Still, the sheer joy--and
shock--on the kids’ faces had him realizing that this was for them,
not for him. And it really, really, really mattered to them to touch him.
“Chione, if you would do the honors, and lead the children over to
Iolaire,” Valeirus said.
“Of course, my king!” Chione answered with a bright smile.
Valerius went over by Iolaire’s right shoulder, and stood there with a
hand on Iolaire’s scales.
Be at ease, Valerius said.
I am. We are, Caden quickly amended.
Perhaps, I am not, the Black Dragon King admitted with a quirked
smile.
We’ll be okay, Caden assured him.
Chione and the girl in the wheelchair were right in front of them then.
Her parents were standing behind them so as to let their daughter
get the closest.
“What’s your name?” Chione asked as she dropped down on her
haunches by the girl.
“Kelly,” she whispered, her eyes fixed on Iolaire. They were wide
with wonder.
“Well, Kelly, this is Iolaire,” Chione said.
Iolaire lowered its head so that its nose was six inches away from
her. Most definitely within touching distance. Caden could almost feel
her utter love for Iolaire.
“Would you like to touch, Iolaire?” Chione asked. “Iolaire wants you
to touch it.”
The girl merely nodded, clearly speechless. She lifted a hand from
her lap. It was shaking. She gently placed it on Iolaire’s nose. The
moment that her fingers touched Iolaire, she let out a gasp. Tears
started to run down her cheeks. Not of sadness, but of profound joy.
Caden could feel it. Iolaire let out a soft rumble, a purr.
“Oh, oh, oh!” the little girl gasped. “Oh, Mom, Dad, Iolaire is… is
wonderful!”
Her other hand was reaching out, and she was petting the White
Dragon. Her parents were clutching at each other, both were crying
happy tears.
Valerius suddenly said, “Let them come to Iolaire, Chione. Let all the
children come. It will be all right.”
Caden touched the Dragon King’s mind. At first, it was hard to read
his thoughts, and then Caden saw them clearly.
You didn’t know, Caden breathed.
No, he answered.
You had no idea how much the Dragons mean. How much YOU
mean, Caden realized.
It is you they want. Not me. Not…
That’s not true. They feel even more for you, Caden told him.
Valerius stroked Iolaire’s shoulder. Perhaps.
Caden sent a wave of love and tenderness towards the Black
Dragon King as he sent, Thank you, Valerius.
For what?
For everything, Caden said with a soft laugh. But, specifically this
time, for trusting the people, and letting Iolaire have this.
I think it’s for the people, Valerius answered as the kids crowded
around Iolaire, and petted it. There was laughing, squeals, and
excited talking.
Yeah, I think you’re right, Caden agreed.
Valerius met his gaze. The truth is that you shouldn’t be thanking
me at all, Caden. It is you and Iolaire to be thanked.
Now, it’s my turn to ask for what?
Valerius smiled softly. For changing everything. And I have a feeling
that you’re just getting started.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: SUN IN THE EYES

THE NEXT DAY...

Valerius stood before the video conference screen in his private
quarters. On it was the Blue Dragon Queen Esme. She looked to be
a vibrant woman in her sixties with a poof of startling white hair that
covered her shapely head like a cap. He noticed that she had dyed
the tips of that hair blue.
Her eyes were a sparkling blue as well, and looked like amethysts
against her creamy pale skin. She had a trim figure that she
accentuated by dressing fashionably. He had never seen her not
completely put together with makeup and hair done perfectly with
clothes looking fresh and flattering. Right now, she had on a peach
dress, matching heels and a wrap of the softest white around her
shoulders. A length of pearls was around her throat. She plucked at
them as they spoke.
“Esme, you should have called before making that journey across
the ocean,” Valerius told her. His tone was agreeable even though
he was rather annoyed that she would think to come here without
reaching out first.
Esme chuckled. “You would have said not to come.”
His lips pressed together. “Because it is a wasted trip.”
“Is any trip truly wasted if one gets to see one’s friends? You are
going to invite me to Reach, aren’t you, Valerius?” she wheedled.
He sighed. “If I invited you then the others will have a greater basis
to press their claims for a visit.”
“But you and I are actually friends!” she protested, pressing a hand
against her slender chest.
“And I would be happy to have you at any other time,” he began.
She held up her right hand. The fingers were slender, and there were
two magnificent diamond rings on two of her fingers. They glittered
in the light. She loved jewels. He might have to get her some more to
overcome this slight.
“Wait a moment. I understand what you are saying, but I would
suggest something as a friend and as someone who has done a bit
of strategy in her day. Not that my experiences exceed yours, of
course,” she quickly added.
“You are too kind to say that,” he agreed. “But you are, undoubtedly,
the craftiest of us all. I am more… direct.”
She pointed a finger at him and trilled a laugh. “You are so amusing
as always!”
“Yes, but also true. Now what are you suggesting?”
“That you let us all come,” she said.
He scowled. Chione, who was sitting just out of sight of the camera,
indicated he should hear Esme out. He guessed that the two women
had already conferred. He sighed.
“Continue,” he said.
“While I never thought--nor did I want it to be true--that the White
Dragon Shifter was my mate--”
“Then why did you come?” His arms tightened around his chest.
“Because I wanted to meet them!” She laughed at him like he was a
very silly boy.
“Oh, yes. And check them out. To see if they are friend or foe,” he
guessed.
She nodded. “Quite right.”
“Believe me when I say that they are very young and very… earnest.
They aren’t a threat to you, Esme,” he assured her.
“They? I assume you are using that terminology because you don’t
want me to know if they are male or female, yes?” Her blue eyes
glittered.
“Perhaps.” He kept his expression completely neutral
“Hmmm, I see, you are going to be a very hard nut to crack on this.
But back to my argument.” She began to pace in a tight line in the
elegant hotel suite she was staying in. “If you let the others visit
now, you will defuse any tension that will occur by having all seven of
us wait at your borders.”
His right eyebrow rose. “You think I have any concerns about all of
you sitting on your asses at my borders?”
“Oh, Valerius! You’re going to fight everyone?” She shook her head.
“If I must.” He tipped his head back.
“I have no doubt you would, and would defeat us. In time. But the
chaos would not be worth the victory,” she told him. Her eyes
narrowed. “You care about this White Dragon Shifter, don’t you?”
“They are a citizen of my territory,” he answered simply, even as his
chest felt tight.
“Are they your mate, Valerius?” Esme asked quietly.
“If they were, then I would have even less of a reason to let any of
you in,” he pointed out evenly.
“On the contrary, you would have to defeat everyone else to keep
their hand! Valerius, surely, you understand that--”
“The White Dragon Shifter chooses. There is no fight to the death.”
Valerius shook his mane of long hair.
“When have you ever known Dragons to accept things peaceably?”
Esme delicate right eyebrow arched. “They are not going to go
away. They will stay on your borders. Tensions will boil over. If you
truly want to keep this young Dragon Shifter safe then you will need
to convince each Dragon that your will is the law again as to this.”
Chione made a faint nod. She agreed. He was scowling again.
“They think to stand against me?” his voice was a simmering growl.
“They won’t challenge you directly. They’ll just remain, or in the case
of Illarion, beat their chests while making a nuisance of themselves,”
she said with an amused smile. “So let them come, meet the White
Dragon Shifter--”
“No,” Valerius said. “The White Dragon Shifter’s identity is secret--”
“Their human identity, but not their Dragon one,” she corrected. “Just
like you did with the cameras, let us meet their Dragon side. If they
are not interested in any of us then we all leave with our tails
between our legs.”
“I thought you said that you didn’t want a mate, Esme?” He stared
hard at her.
“Oh, I don’t, dear. Too set in my ways. But I wouldn’t mind being
wanted.” She gave a coquettish laugh that let him see the young
woman she had been millennia ago.
“I see.”
“Besides, I want to see what happens,” Esme said.
Valerius frowned. “What happens?”
“When you finally decide you’ve had enough of Illarion, and punch
him into the center of the Earth,” she chuckled huskily and her gaze
went distant as she clearly imagined it happened.
“I will consider your words, Esme,” Valerius said.
“That is all I could have hoped for.” She made a brief bow of her
head, and the screen went blank.
Valerius rubbed his face with his hands. He was already exhausted
and annoyed yet it was only nine in the morning, a morning that from
the looks of the sky through his open balcony doors, was going to be
magnificent. The sky was a peerless blue. There were only a few
streaky white clouds that barely marred that magnificent blue color.
Right now, Caden would still be in bed. He didn’t have to be in for
work at Wally’s until 11 am. All that excitement last night had
exhausted him and Iolaire. After the “petting” by the children, he and
Caden had flown rather lazily around Reach, letting the helicopters
film them. Though his desire had been to quickly outstrip them,
Caden reluctantly urged him to stay in sight.
This night isn’t about us, Caden had said. It’s about the people. So
let them film us this time.
When did you get so wise and reasonable? Valerius had muttered.
Caden laughed. I haven’t. Really! Don’t worry I’ll do something
impulsive and stupid real soon. Just you watch.
I will watch. I will always watch, Valerius found himself saying.
There was a silence that seemed to hold so many unasked
questions and important answers, but now was not the time to ask or
answer anything.
Tonight is the first time that I really saw how being the White Dragon
Shifter is so much bigger than me and what I want, Caden admitted.
Those little kids were… I don’t know. I could feel how happy they
were. But it was more than that.
Yes, Valerius answered. You are one of the gods they can touch.
One that they want to touch.
You don’t think Raziel is touchable? Caden teased.
I am to be admired from afar, Raziel answered and tilted his noble
head up.
Yeah, I guess you are. Then I’ll have to be the cuddly one between
the two of us, Caden said.
A cuddly Dragon? Raziel remarked. I do not know if this is a wise
thing to be.
Well, we’ll have to see.
“I heard from Wally that the White Dragon plushies are being
delivered today,” Chione said.
He turned towards her. She was seated at one of the large couches
that faced the grill. She had her usual tablet in one hand, and she
was spinning the stylus with the other.
“I can only dread what that means,” Valerius answered her.
“Probably that the store is going to be swamped, and Caden is going
to be run off his feet, especially since they don’t have Landry to help
them in the shop,” she said evenly.
He already knew where she was going with this. “That young woman
betrayed Caden’s identity to Jasper Hawes. Her brothers are neck
deep in the bombing that happened in the square on the anniversary.
She’s flirted with Humans First membership herself. What do you
expect me to do?”
“She did not betray his identity. Hawes already knew, because
someone leaked the footage that the Claw found of the square
during the bombing. She just didn’t have a good enough poker face
when confronted with it.” Chione stabbed the air with her stylus.
“Compare that to how she stood up for Caden when you came after
him!”
“And what about her leaking information about security at the
square?” He demanded to know. “She knew her brothers were up to
something bad.”
“There are so many levels of bad. Her brothers had never done
anything like the bombing before.” Chione stabbed the air again.
“And as to her flirting with Humans First, do you really think
incarcerating her will make her accept Shifters more? No, it will
push her down a darker path.”
“That could be said about most people in prison. That they’ve made
mistakes, and now they must pay for them.” He crossed his arms
over his chest.
“Yes, you’re right. I do not agree with our prison system, which you
well know.” A slice of the air with the stylus. “But this girl is so
abjectly sorry for all of it. Her actions were foolish, not criminal. She
could be completely rehabilitated.”
“The courts will decide her fate, not me, Chione. I am sorry, but I will
not step in to save a young woman foolish enough to get involved in
a terrorist bombing plot. I am surprised that you are even asking me
this!” He stared as hard at her as he had at Esme.
Chione sighed. “I just can’t get this feeling out of my head that this
whole situation is being orchestrated, and that Landry is one of the
victims, not perpetrators.”
“You may be right, but I cannot be seen as being soft on anyone in
regards to these bombings, Chione. That will only encourage others
to turn to violence to make their points,” he stated. “No matter what
sympathy I might feel for her, my hands are tied. She is in justice’s
hands now.”
“As imperfect as those hands are,” Chione replied dryly.
“Marban met up with Caden before the press conference last night,”
he said slowly. He was still contemplating whether he liked it or not
that Marban had taken it upon himself to assist with Caden’s safety.
But if he was honest with himself, Marban had been incredibly
useful. And Caden had thought he deserved thanks for it.
“Oh? Did he do something…” The stylus made a loop de loop in the
air.
“Caden asked him to look into the bombing,” Valerius explained,
connecting the dots for her. “Caden doesn’t think things are as they
seem either. He asked Marban to check with his contacts to find out
if there was any word on the street.”
Her eyebrows rose. “That was very strategic for Caden. Did Marban
agree?”
“Yes, he did.” Valerius gritted his teeth. “I’ve asked him to lunch
today.”
“Really?” She sat up straighter.
He nodded. “As a reward, and he is… useful in his way.”
“He is quite wise at times, too,” she said, but added warily, “But his
expertise normally comes with a cost.”
“Hence the lunch.”
“He will want more than lunch.”
“In time, yes, but right now he has a position, and a chance at
respectability,” Valerius pointed out. “He needs to have more and
more of a stake in things to keep him acting within the correct
parameters.”
“You are trying to rehabilitate Marban?” She let out a lilting laugh
and shook her head in amazement. “Esme claims to be set in her
ways, but you are not.”
“Caden means change. Change for the world. Change for me. To
keep him safe, I must be willing to change,” Valerius answered.
Chione blinked. “You really have changed already.” Her eyes locked
with his. “So what are you going to do with the other Dragons?”
“Don’t you already know? I am certain that you and Esme already
hashed this out,” he said.
“We may have spoken. I wanted to understand her determination in
coming here,” Chione admitted with a slightly guilty blush. “She is
definitely telling the truth about being here for the drama and not a
match with Caden. And, yes, I think she’s right about the Dragons
not leaving until they’ve had their chance to meet Caden.”
“They will want to discuss him. But his freedom is not up for
discussion. Besides, he should be an equal at the table,” Valerius
said, and tugged on his lower lip.
Was Caden awake yet? Was he stretching his arms above his head
as the sun filtered through his blinds? Was his hair mussed? Of
course, it was. He would be sleepy and warm and--
“Valerius?” Chione must have been speaking and he must have not
been listening.
“Ah, I was just thinking…”
“About Caden?” A knowing smile crept across her face.
“Of course about Caden. I was thinking how he could be at the table,
and still in his Dragon form. Our ability to communicate
telepathically might not be singular. He might be able to speak to the
others,” Valerius lied, but it was true, not that he wanted to share
their way of communication with anyone.
“Yes, that is a good idea. We could start with Esme,” she suggested.
He nodded. “Send the proper clearance for her to come.”
“And the others?”
“Invite them to Reach. Put them in the appropriate suites here.
Separate but equal. Now that we have the politicians out of the way
from the Anniversary, we’ll have room,” he said with a huff of
annoyance. Just as he had thought to get his beloved castle back all
to himself--and Caden, he had to admit that he’d been planning
many a cozy time with Caden here--he would have yet more guests
he did not want.
“I will see to it,” she assured him. She suddenly smiled at something
she saw on her tablet.
“What?” he asked, even as he looked out into the brilliant sunlight
that spilled onto the balcony like liquid gold.
“The news--both mainstream and alternative--has been all over last
night’s press conference. You were a hit!” she chuckled.
“You mean Iolaire was,” he corrected.
“Oh, no, I’m afraid that your speech, and our snowball fight--not to
mention Iolaire nuzzling you--has people talking of nothing but
Valerius, Valerius, Valerius.”
He put a hand to his temple. “Oh, no.”
Chione though was turning on the large television to show him some
morning show. The hosts had last evening’s footage running on a
constant loop behind them as they talked in excited voices about it.
“... Valerius should give more speeches,” a petite blonde woman said
to a handsome dark-skinned man.
The man replied, “I had heard he’s a bear--or rather aDragon--to
deal with usually! But last night definitely showed a softer side to our
Black Dragon King Valerius.”
Valerius groaned audibly.
A red-haired woman who was bobbing her head in such agreement
that he thought it might fall off added, “And he was so good with the
children. People were actually more scared to go near him than
Iolaire!”
In the footage, it showed Valerius picking up one little boy so that he
could touch Iolaire’s wing.
“He was patient! And smiling! It was quite extraordinary,” the original
blond said.
“I smile all the time!” Valerius snarled, not smiling at all at that
moment.
Chione tried to cover up her laughter, but it burst out of her in gales.
He scowled at her.
“And I am very patient! Just dealing with those idiotic reporters
requires the patience of a saint!” he yelled and shook a fist at the
television.
Chione was curled over laughing. She wiped tears of laughter out of
her eyes. “Yes, yes, for certain.”
“You are just humoring me, are you not?” he asked.
“I think that I will plead the Fifth on that one,” Chione answered, as
she wiped the tears away. “You deserve a reward for how well
you’re doing.”
“I do,” he agreed.
But there was only one reward he wanted. Which was to see
Caden. But he couldn’t.
“What do you want to do? More than anything? Fly? I can cover for
you until Marban arrives,” she offered.
“Perhaps I will, but first… I should tell Caden about the plan with the
other Dragon Shifters,” he said as he fished his phone out of his
leather pants.
Her expression was completely mild and unreadable as she
answered, “Yes, of course. You talk to Caden. That would be best.”
He frowned slightly, but then turned and walked out onto the balcony
as he pressed on Caden’s number. The sun blinded him at first, and
he had to close his eyes. But he didn’t stop moving. He knew every
inch of his lair even with his eyes shut. He felt the wind stir his hair,
and caress his bare skin between the straps of leather of his shirt.
The sun warmed him, and the scent of crisp clean air filled his
nostrils.
The phone only rang once before he heard Caden’s voice in his ear,
“Valerius.”
Valerius knew not to read into anything that. Caden knew it was him
calling, even though the encrypted phone did not have his name by
his number or anything like that. It was because Caden was to use
this phone to only talk to him, Chione or Simi. Yet still that Caden
had answered it so quickly…
“I did not wake you, did I?” Valerius asked.
“No, I’m up, but I like to hang about in bed for a while when I can,”
Caden answered, and there was a faint yawn. “Sorry about that. Not
sleepy because of your company just stretching.”
“If you want to go back to sleep--”
“No! No, not until you have to go. You don’t have to go, right? I
mean you just called so--”
“I do not have to go,” Valerius assured him.
“Oh, good!” Caden made a pleased humming sound. “So… what’s
up? Did you get back to the castle okay?”
They had landed in a secret location. No helicopters had followed or
found them. They had then been driven in different cars back to
Reach, going by very different routes. He had ached to leave Caden
then. He actually felt a welling of loss for a moment now just
remembering it.
This is ridiculous, he told himself, even as he knew it would do no
good. One could not reason with feelings.
Ask him of Iolaire, Raziel requested, the first words the Black Dragon
Spirit had asked. Raziel had been deeply asleep, and uninterested in
his talks with Esme.
“Raziel wants to know how Iolaire is,” Valerius said. “And we got
back fine. I heard from the Claw that you did too.”
“Yeah, totally, and then my sister kept me up for a few more hours
telling me about everything she’d already seen on television,” Caden
admitted with a laugh. “Iolaire is totally fine, but missing Raziel. It
wants to see Raziel like now, you know?”
I do know.
Yes, seeing Iolaire would be pleasing, Raziel said and stretched one
clawed hand.
“We will arrange a flight tonight,” Valerius told him.
“Cool. Iolaire’s stoked. But uhm… I’d like to see you,” Caden
admitted.
Valerius’ eyes were still closed. He was standing at the edge of the
balcony. His stomach was pressed against the railing. The wind
blew his hair back from his face like wings. The sun was orange and
gold behind his eyelids. He was smiling.
“And I would like to see you,” Valerius said. And even though he
should have been telling Caden about the other Dragon Shifters
coming, and how it was important for them to be very careful not to
be seen together especially after the media blitz, he found himself
saying instead, “I’ll find a way. I promise.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: SALES

Caden had a White Dragon plushie in his right hand and a Black
Dragon plushie in his left. The little girl who had requested he hold
them up for her to see, put her hands on her hips, and cocked her
head to the side. Her face screwed up as if she found something off
about the plushies.
“Now… make them kiss!” She demanded.
Caden might have heard Rose let out a strangled laugh that was
muffled when she stuck her face into a pile of Bee Shifter hoodies.
Like the new Dragon plushies—in all colors, Wally had informed him
gaily that morning—Bee Shifter merch was now on display as well.
It was selling briskly. But his friendship for a certain Bee Shifter was
being sorely tested by her guffawing, and were those tears of
laughter in her eyes? Yes, yes, they were. Damn Rose!
“Well, Caden, the customer asked a perfectly reasonable request,”
Wally said, his mustache twitching suspiciously, as he appeared at
Caden’s side. “Make the White and Black Dragons kiss.”
Caden narrowed his eyes at his boss, but he did touch the Dragons’
snouts together. He pulled them apart almost immediately, blushing
for some unknown reason.
“That’s not long enough! Longer!” The little girl pointed at the
Dragons authoritatively.
He pushed their fuzzy snouts together once more and held them
there. “Long enough?”
She considered this for a few long moments. “Yes, I’ll take them both
please!”
Caden sold them to her, or rather, to her mother. He handed the
money immediately to Wally.
“We’re almost sold out and it’s not even noon yet!” Wally chortled as
he thumbed through fistfuls of twenties.
The shop was packed with people. It was almost as packed as the
square. After last night’s presentation in the square, it seemed like
people hoped that the White Dragon and Valerius might make an
encore performance. It almost looked busier than on the 30th
Anniversary. Caden felt a little weird about that. He reminded
himself that it wasn’t him they were here to see, but Iolaire, which
made him feel slightly better about things.
But regardless, Rose and him were busy constantly bringing things
out from the back to sell. Tchotchkes that had gathered thick inches
of dust on them were now flying off the shelves as fast as they were
placed on the shelves. The truckloads of White and Black Dragon
plushies were flowing out the door as fast as they could carry them
in. Caden had stopped trying to actually fill the bins with them, and
instead had simply handed them out to eager customers. They’d
had to impose a limit of one per color per customer after a fight had
almost broken out between two families.
Rose was now having the Bee Shifter coffee cups wrenched out of
her hands. She looked rather bewildered as a little boy came
buzzing up to her and “stung” her.
“I’m a Bee Shifter! Just like you!” he told Rose.
A quirky smile crossed Rose’s face. She dropped down to her
haunches and knocked fists with the boy. “We Bee Shifters have to
stick together so no stinging.”
“Yeah!” he cried with delight. He then went buzzing off to his mother,
making sure she bought him one of every bee-themed item in the
shop.
Rose shook her head and laughed. Caden turned his attention back
to Wally.
“The cash register is so full that Tilly says she’s almost unable to fit
any more money in there.” Caden pointed at his sister who was in
Landry’s usual spot on the stool. His sister was expertly running
credit cards, making change, and encouraging impulse buys from
the counter that held Shifter pens, keychains, stickers and more.
“I need to run to the bank soon and deposit some of our loot. How
are you on change?” Wally asked.
“I could use a few more ones and fives,” Caden said as he looked at
the money he had.
Wally counted a few out for him. “Just shout when you need more!
I’ve already placed another order for additional White Dragon
plushies. They’re the favorites now, but Valerius is a close second.”
“Is Illarion third?” Caden asked with a twist of his lips. He still was
angry at the fact that the arrogant Green Dragon Shifter had
proclaimed Caden as his own.
They both looked over at the bins that contained the other Dragon
plushies—in much smaller quantities—and Caden was pleased to
see that there were plenty of Green Dragon plushies left.
“Not by the look of it. I think the Red Dragon Queen Mei is always a
favorite because she always makes a show of it when she comes
here with an entourage,” Wally said. “Esme is quite liked too as she
seems like everyone’s cool grandmother. Or what we wish our
grandmothers were like. Though I hear that she’s quite the
strategist.”
“Really? Good to know,” Caden answered with a bob of his head.
“How… How is Landry?”
He hadn’t had a chance to ask earlier since he’d been swept off his
feet with work the moment he’d walked in the door. He tidied up piles
of sweatshirts that were in danger of falling onto the floor as
customers had pulled out ones in their sizes.
Wally tucked the bills in an inner pocket of his overalls. Not even the
sight of all that money could make a smile stay on his face as he
answered, “Not good, kid. She knows she messed up badly, and
that she’s likely to go to jail for some time.”
“What?!” Caden gasped out. When people looked over at him, he
quickly lowered his voice, “Jail? For what?”
“For taking part in a terrorist act for one,” Wally said with another
sigh. “But she really blames herself for revealing who you really are
to Jasper Hawes.”
“She didn’t know what her brothers were going to do! She’s not
responsible for them!” Caden cried. “And Jasper would have found
out who I was anyways! I’ve got to talk to Valerius!”
Wally made a motion for him to keep it down. “Kid, Valerius is in a
trick box. He cannot show leniency here.”
“Why not? Her brothers just set off smoke bombs. We don’t actually
know who the fox-faced girl was who put the real bomb down. She
was a Shifter, too, I’m sure of it,” Caden reminded Wally.
“The two things can’t be a coincidence, Caden,” Wally told him
gently. “You said it yourself that it was clear the smoke bombs were
to distract the police from the real one.”
“But what Shifter would work with Humans First?” Caden pointed
out.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Wally suggested.
Caden put a hand to his forehead. Landry in jail? Landry convicted
of crimes? It was so wrong! Her only real bad acts were loving her
brothers more than sense and being prejudiced against Shifters, not
in a virulent way like her brothers, but more in an ignorant way. But
hell, his father had said many of the same things she had after a bad
day at the office. Caden had done the same. They all had. But
Landry was going to jail for it.
“She’s not a bad person! She’s a good person,” Caden found
himself saying.
Wally looked at him sympathetically, but said in a tone that told
Caden he was being naïve, “Good people, innocent people, go to jail
all the time, kid. The real question is what kind of support system
she’ll have when she gets out.”
“I’ll be there!”
“And so will I.”
“But how long will that be?” Caden searched Wally’s face for an
answer, but it showed one he didn’t like. “Months? Years? Surely,
this is a first offense and--”
“Terrorism, kid. You don’t get one free pass at that,” Wally told him.
Caden’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah, I guess not. This is so insane.”
“It is. I worry I could have done something more, but it is what it is.
We all make choices, and Landry’s choices swept her up in a terrible
mess.” Wally shook his head in dismay.
“I asked Marban to check things out,” Caden admitted and winced. “I
know you don’t like him--”
“More than ‘don’t like’, but that’s actually a good idea. Now that he’s
seeking to make himself useful, Marban brings a lot to the table. I’ve
got my ears to the ground as well.” Wally pointed to his ears which
stuck out on either side of his head like Mickey Mouse’s ears a bit.
Caden didn’t say that though. “But I don’t have the contacts he does
any longer since I left that life.”
“You should be on Valerius’ Shifter Council, not Marban,” Caden said
loyally.
“Oh, I like working from the shadows, kid. Much better to be in the
background, and not have to deal with all of the politics and such.”
Wally waved a hand through the air.
“Well, then you’ll be my Councillor. You’ll be Chione to my Valerius,”
Caden told him. “We’re both in the shadows.”
Wally tapped his chin then smiled and nodded. “All right, kid, you’re
on. Now get back to selling plushies! And make them kiss all the
people want! I’m sure you don’t really mind the thought!” He then
rustled up a Black Dragon balloon hat from somewhere and stuck it
on his head. There was a squeaking sound as he got it in place.
Then he raised his voice to the crowd, “Now who wants a Black
Dragon Balloon Hat? Huh? Huh? Just $5!”
Caden shook his head as he went back to serving customers. It was
hours later when he was able to get his head above water. The
crowd had thinned a bit in the store, because the Faith was outside
dancing again.
His mother had breezily come inside the shop to kiss him, Tilly and
Rose before the start of the show. Just like with the little boy who
had wanted to be a Bee Shifter, Rose still looked a little stunned any
time his mother came up to her and embraced her like she was a
second daughter. The color in Rose’s cheeks and the light in her
eyes was so good to see. Rose was already invited to come to
dinner that night, and stay over in the guest room, even if Caden had
to go out.
“We can have a girls’ night in!” His mother had enthused.
Rose had blinked, but nodded. “Y-yeah, sounds great.”
Caden wondered if Rose had ever had a girls’ night. Or if she had,
how long ago it had been. When his mother had gone over to see
Tilly, Caden had asked Rose if it really was great. “You know if you
don’t want to watch rom-coms with my mom and Tilly, you don’t have
to.”
Rose had whapped him on the nose with one of the Sphinx Shifter
fans rather like he was a bad dog.
“OW!” He rubbed his nose. “What was that for?”
“Your mother is awesome and kind and wonderful. Who wouldn’t
want to spend time with her?” Rose glared at him.
“I—I would say no one,” he answered uncertainly, watching the fan
to make sure it wasn’t going to come swooping back at him.
“Exactly!” She shook the fan under his injured nose. “You are
missing out this evening by having to go flying.”
“I love my mom. She is awesome, but Valerius is… uhm, well, you
know, Valerius,” he told her.
She let out a small laugh and a shake of her head. “You’ve got it so
bad for him.”
“What? N-no, I don’t! I feel for him… I… he’s…”
“And the way he’s been with you shows me that he feels the same,”
Rose said as she fluffed some Horse Shifter beach towels.
“Really?” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Tell me everything you
saw!”
Her eyebrows crawled up into her hairline and she let out a snicker.
“I think I underestimated how bad you have it!”
Caden groaned, and covered his face with his hands. “We kissed.”
“You don’t say.”
“Don’t downplay this! It was the best kiss that I’ve had! The best kiss
I think anyone could have!” He scowled at her.
“I don’t doubt it. It is Valerius, after all, and I doubt he does anything
badly,” she admitted, as she straightened some Puma Shifter
figurines. She needn’t have bothered as they were all snatched up
by a woman who looked like she chewed metal for a living.
“He is so good at kissing. And touching. You know he just grips me
just the right way. And he caresses--”
“Enough.” She held up a hand like a stop sign in his face. “I do not
need to know the details.”
“But…” He gave her puppy eyes.
She deflated. “I don’t want to think about you in hot and heavy
embraces with Valerius. I already have a hard enough time
remaining straight-faced around him.”
“You’re inclined to laugh at him?” It was Caden’s turn to be surprised.
“Nervous laughter. Sort of hysterical laughter that wants to bubble up
at the worst possible moment. Now, every time I see him, I’ll be
picturing him and you naked and cuddling.” She sighed and shook
her head.
“But you’re always so cool and collected! You never seem like you’re
awed by anybody,” he protested. The handful of Tiger Shifter t-shirts
was snatched from his hands by a man with a gaggle of demons
following him. Or maybe they were children. It was getting hard to
tell.
“That’s an act, Caden. You learn early in the Below that you have to
hide what you’re thinking and feeling at all times,” she told him.
He didn’t have the heart to tell her that he could often read her
emotions from her face.
“Besides, can you imagine if I burst into snickers the moment Mr.
Perfect Hair entered the room?”
Caden tapped his chin. “He does have perfect hair. It’s so soft, too,
and--”
“Stop!”
“Okay, okay!” He held up his hands as if in surrender.
“In any event, I’m happy for you. What does that mean about the rest
of the Dragon Shifters? Are you guys going to make an
announcement that you’re mates or something soon? That press
conference did go remarkably well,” Rose said as she dusted a shelf.
“Uhm, well, we’ve just kissed so it’s not like… I mean I don’t even
know if we’re dating, let alone mates,” he whispered.
Her eyes narrowed. “You think he’s treating you like a fling?”
“What? No! It’s just… we haven’t done more than kiss… how can
we be mates?” he asked.
He was asking out loud, but he was looking at Iolaire, but his Dragon
Spirit was deeply asleep. Occasionally, Iolaire let out a burbling
sound as it snored softly. Its legs would kick, its wings would flutter,
and Caden would know Iolaire was dreaming of something.
“I have no idea how mates even exist.” Rose shook her head. “It’s
such a weird and terrible idea.”
“Terrible?” His eyes widened.
“You clearly don’t think so. But, then again, you have a mate so I
guess that’s a good thing that you don’t find it terrible.”
“Why do you think it’s terrible?” he pressed her.
“Because it means you don’t have any choice.” The two of them
helped an elderly couple put together a full retinue of Dragon Shifter
plushies for their grandkids, before continuing the conversation.
“Think about it this way, once you find your mate, you’re not going to
go with anyone else, even if they’re bad to you.”
“I don’t think they are your mate if they’re bad to you,” Caden pointed
out. “Mates to me is another word for true love, you know? One
person that’s made for you and you for them.”
“You think Valerius is made for you and you for him?” Her eyebrows
were lost in her hairline.
“I—I—actually, we’re really compatible!” Seeing her disbelieving
look, he protested, “We really are! Where’s he’s strong in all the
ruthless Dragon stuff, I’m weak.”
“I’ll say. You’re as ruthless as marshmallow fluff,” Rose chuckled.
She sold a Sphinx Shifter Magic 8 ball to a young man who wanted
to see the future.
“Yeah, well, there are other qualities I have that he doesn’t.”
“Like not being rude to everyone? Like not wanting to bite the head
off of anyone who walks into a room? Like not looking like a storm
cloud at every official gathering?” she snickered.
“Exactly! Well, it’s more than that. I think I make him more…
approachable,” Caden said. “Like last night with the kids. He would
never have done that if I hadn’t been there.”
“No, he wouldn’t. You clearly put him in a better mood, in general.
He wants to please you so he doesn’t act like a complete jackass,”
she agreed. “But what happens when the spark is gone? Or, at
least, muted after years, decades, centuries of being together? Do
you think he’ll still try so hard? Or will he just go back to being the old
grump he’s always been?”
Caden knew what she meant. People didn’t change. Or if they did, it
was usually small and insignificant in the end. Even people who
made big changes, if one really looked at their personalities, it was
clear that the change had sprung out of something that was exactly
the same about their personality. For example, a person who took
risks suddenly quitting their high powered job and taking up traveling
around the world. That travel was just another way of risk taking.
“You’re assuming that being a grump is his default,” Caden
mumbled.
“It isn’t? If so, he’s hiding the real him very well,” she remarked.
There was a teenage boy who was abusing the plushies. He was
picking up the Illarion one and punching it then tossing it up in the air
by its tail, and laughing with his obnoxious friends when it hit the
floor or another customer. While Caden was all for mocking Illarion,
he didn’t want the goods damaged.
“Hey, if you play with it, you have to buy it,” Caden told him.
The kid pitched it back into the bin. “I wasn’t fucking playing with it,
asshole. I’m not some kid.”
Caden sighed. The kid was trying to act like a big man in front of his
friends. He was about to open his mouth to tell them that maybe
they’d like to go outside and watch the Faith dancers when Rose
was right up in the kid’s face like an avenging demon. Or maybe a
Bee Shifter.
“Hey, you don’t talk to him like that. You don’t talk to anyone like
that,” Rose said.
The kid looked to his friends—two equally loser teenagers in
overlarge pants and baggy t-shirts—and guffawed.
“What are you gonna do about it, bitch?” the kid snarled.
Rose put a finger up under the kid’s nose, and a single bee emerged
from beneath the pad of her fingertip. She smiled as the kid went
stock still. “I don’t know. But there are so many possibilities.”
The kid gulped. His eyes were fixed on the bee. But soon he went
cross-eyed as the bee landed on his right cheek. “Shit, shit, shit! Get
it off, get it off!”
His friends suddenly didn’t seem to know him, and were backing
away before they turned tail and fled out of the store, leaving the
chortler alone with a single bee that was now perched at the corner
of his mouth.
“Oh, your little posse left you. They know dead meat when they see
it,” Rose told the kid.
He swallowed, his Adam's apple looked huge in that stick thin neck.
“Apologize to Rose,” Caden said quietly.
“I—I’m sorry,” the kid wheezed. “I’m allergic to bee stings! I don’t
have my Epi Pen and--”
“You’re not allergic,” Rose scoffed.
“I am!”
“No, I can tell,” she said to Caden. “You’re just scared. I’m betting
one time a little bee stung you somewhere that the sun don’t shine
and it sucked. By the way, there are plenty more where that bee
came from.” She opened her right hand and it swarmed with bees.
Caden looked at the kid. “Apologize for real.”
“I am really, really sorry. I shouldn’t have said that stuff. I won’t come
back!” the kid cried.
“No, you won’t,” Rose said, and the bee on his face joined the ones
on her palm. They all burrowed beneath her skin and disappeared.
“Now, get out.”
The kid took off so fast that Caden felt a gush of wind from his
passing. He turned back to Rose who was standing cool as a
cucumber, folding sweaters again, as if nothing had happened.
“That was amazing,” he told her. “Though we probably shouldn’t do it
too often.”
“Don’t want to scare all of Wally’s customers away,” she agreed.
“Though it seems that people think Bee Shifters are sort of cool.”
“They do. They think that you’re way cool,” he told her.
“I’ll keep my coolness in check though. I’ll only let it out occasionally.”
She grinned. “Hey, we need more White Dragon plushies. It’s your
turn to go back and then come out to face the gauntlet.”
“I’m going. I’m going,” he told her and hiked over to the back room,
which was really the size of a warehouse. As soon as he walked
through the Employees Only door, he stopped dead in his tracks.
“Valerius!” And then he blinked. “Uhm, and hey, Marban. You guys
are here together?”
The Black Dragon Shifter and the Swarm Shifter were standing
before him in the aisle between the shelves of goods. Well, they
weren’t exactly standing, they were swaying. And Valerius had an
arm around Marban’s shoulders.
“Oh, Caden, I’ve missed you!” Valerius slurred, his cheeks flushed a
hot pink.
“And I had to help him see you!” Marban hiccupped. “What are
friends for?”
Marban slapped Valerius on the back. Or tried to. He slapped
Valerius’ butt, which had Valerius laughing.
“Uhm, yeah, I’m glad to see you, ah, both too,” Caden said. Then
after a beat and taking in their flushed faces, swaying bodies, and
unnatural closeness, he asked, “Are you drunk?”
Valerius gave him a huge smile. “We are! Isn’t it marvelous?”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: AMBROSIA

Earlier…
Valerius, Marban and Chione sat in complete silence at the table in
his quarters. The table was groaning with food. A massive roast
beef sat on a large cutting board. Katelyn was cutting the beef into
paper thin slices. The meat looked succulent, with juice pooling in
the grooves of the cutting board. Golden, crispy roast potatoes were
piled high in another platter, glistening with melted butter and
sprinkled with green parsley. If one wanted to make sandwiches from
the roast beef there were crusty rolls studded with rosemary and
salt. Spicy mustard and hunks of strong cheddar were also set out.
There was finally a salad with juicy, ripe tomatoes, crisp cucumbers,
bright peppers and a piquant dressing.
“This looks delicious,” Marban said for the fiftieth time, and gave
Chione one of his grandfatherly smiles.
Chione smiled back in a bright unnatural manner. “Oh, yes! The
kitchen staff always comes up with something wonderful for every
meal. Please let them know our appreciation, Katelyn.”
Katelyn smiled and bobbed her head. “I will, Chione. Is there
anything else you would like, King Valerius?”
“What?!” Valerius snapped. He hadn’t meant to. He had just been in
his head. He grimaced. “I’m sorry, Katelyn. No, I do not think we
require anything more.”
She had finished slicing half the roast. He would cut the rest when
needed. She bowed and moved out of sight. She normally would
have stayed and continued to serve them, but he had asked for them
to be left alone after the initial service. They had matters of state to
discuss. When the door finally closed behind her though, the silence
continued. Valerius downed half his wine.
“Here, let me serve you, Chione,” Marban said as he got up and took
her plate.
“Oh, that’s not--thank you, Marban. That’s quite thoughtful,” Chione
said, and her eyes flickered to him.
He normally served people, but this scene hardly registered with
him. He was thinking of Caden. He hadn’t told the young man about
their plan with the Dragon Shifters coming to Reach. He’d meant to,
but it had felt wrong to do so on the phone. Besides, Caden had
been so happy that Valerius had not wanted to ruin his mood with
concern or any anxiety.
Valerius was anxious enough for both of them. Though he wouldn’t
have called it that. He would have just called himself “moody” or “out
of sorts” or “wanting to be the Hell alone unless Caden was his
company”. But he was anxious. Because the Dragon Shifters had
not all come together since the War, and, he found that he was more
concerned about this meeting than that one. He drank more wine.
“So… you have invited the other Dragon Shifters to Reach to meet
the White Dragon Shifter,” Marban said as he set Valerius’ plate--
now laden with food--in front of Valerius.
Valerius blinked down at the food. He hadn’t even noticed Marban
doing this. But he was hungry so he grunted his thanks and dug in,
shoveling pieces of the beef that melted into his mouth.
Caden and Iolaire would like this. I need to tell him to eat plenty of
protein.
“Valerius?” Chione asked.
He glanced at her. Both she and Marban were looking at him as they
far more delicately ate their food. Valerius rewound in his mind what
had been going on. He then realized that Marban had asked a
question.
“Ah, yes, they are coming. To annoy me,” he muttered the last.
Marban’s eyes nearly disappeared in the folds of his wrinkled skin as
he heard the last. “I am sure they will annoy you very much.”
“I’ve been preparing world leaders for this meeting. Everyone is
nervous, though last night’s meet and greet with the White Dragon
Shifter has calmed some fears,” Chione said.
Marban chewed his food thoughtfully. “Caden is quite a good
ambassador for Shifter kind, I think. A genuinely good, young
person. You might think of making him--or rather Iolaire--a true
ambassador of yours.”
“Caden will not be leaving my territory anytime soon,” Valerius said
as he stabbed another piece of beef.
The very thought of Caden being in another Dragon’s territory was
beyond awful. His imagination provided him with the image of the
titanic Mephous swooping down and grabbing the much smaller
Iolaire in its claws and carrying Iolaire off.
“Do you think he would be unsafe outside of your territory? Ah, yes,
of course, he would,” Marban agreed.
“Illarion, alone, has been… difficult,” Chione murmured. “He wanted
to fly here in his Dragon form rather than on an airplane.”
“WHAT?!” Valerius realized he had shouted. “You did not tell me
this!”
“I did tell you.” Chione gave him a sharp look which softened at his
evident bewilderment. “But you were distracted.”
“Distracted? I am not distracted!” He imagined Caden’s smiling face
with his arms full of plushies.
“Of course you are not. But, in any event, Illarion was placed in a
private jet with Esme and both are on their way here in their human
forms,” Chione informed him.
“That is good. Otherwise I would have to meet him in the skies and
take him down,” Valerius growled.
“So the fight would have begun.” Marban patted his lips with his
napkin. “He enjoys causing terror wherever he goes.”
“You think a fight between Illarion and Valerius is inevitable?” Chione
asked Marban, leaning forward on the table.
Marban nodded. “Illarion is the type of being who will only stop when
he is made to. And there is only one person who can make him.”
Both of them looked meaningfully at him. He chewed the beef in his
mouth, and muttered something about getting more wine. He’d been
thinking of flying with Caden that night. Iolaire had mostly been in
control when they were in their Dragon forms, but it might be time for
Caden to start steering a little bit. To truly be as strong as they could
be was to have both Dragon and human in control together at all
times. Raziel let out a puff of smoke.
Except when the Dragon is sleeping, of course. Valerius smiled
absently.
Like many predators, Dragons slept most of the time so that they
would be ready to stalk and attack their prey at others.
“Valerius, are you going to get the wine?” Chione asked.
Valerius realized then that he had been sitting there in his chair,
acting as if the wine was going to get itself. He scraped the legs of
his chair back and got up to go to the side board where several
bottles of his favorite red were waiting to be opened. As he did this,
Chione and Marban continued to discuss the Dragons.
“While Illarion is a problem, I actually think greater threats come from
Dragons like Mei,” Marban offered. “She has been piloting her
territory into ever greater technological discoveries. Robot warriors
have been hinted at.”
“Robots! So she could have an army that vastly exceeds the size of
her population,” Chione said as Valerius uncorked the bottle of wine.
“Yes, and that means she can attack or defend herself without the
cost in human or Shifter lives,” Marban continued.
“It would make the cost of war so much less in their eyes. While we
are having to throw people at her, she can send robots at us!”
Chione’s eyes were wide. “Then again, her territory abuts Illiarion’s.
This may be in defense against him.”
“I think it is. The word is that Illarion may move against Mei,” Marban
said.
“Mei and Illarion have been allies in the past,” Valerius finally added
to the conversation. The robots had disturbed him. Mei had always
been fascinated with technology, and clockworks in earlier years, so
he had ignored her buildup of robotic helpers. Now he wondered if
he had been wrong to do so. “They might be pretending to be on the
cusp of aggression simply to mislead us.”
Marban nodded his head as he speared a crispy potato. “True, there
might be a lot of show going on there.”
Valerius poured out the wine. “I hear tell that Caden asked you to
look into the bombings that have plagued us.”
Marban nodded. “I am happy to assist our young Dragon Shifter.”
“It is more than assisting him, Marban.” Chione lifted an eyebrow at
the Swarm Shifter.
“I am just pleased to be of assistance.” Marban put that avuncular
smile on his face rather how another person might don a mask.
“I loathe when you pretend humility, Marban. It annoys me,” Valerius
said pointedly. “You are useful. Continue to be so and your star will
continue to rise. What have you found?”
Marban inclined his head, accepting the chastisement without any
rancor. Valerius knew that the old Swarm Shifter would adjust his
behavior to suit his audience. He had been used to annoying
Valerius on purpose. Now, somehow, Valerius had to convince him
that he would get more of what he wanted simply by being forthright.
“Very well, but I am afraid I have very little useful information on this,”
Marban admitted. “What I hear is that Humans First are behind the
bombings and yet, there are rumors of another faction aiding them.”
“Caden stated that there was a Shifter, a young girl, who actually
placed the bomb. Humans First would be unlikely to accept a Shifter
ally,” Valerius said.
“There are Shifters who hate being what they are,” Marban told him
with an almost stern look. Valerius frowned. Who were these
Shifters? “If one becomes a Shifter of a kind that is looked down
upon, for example, that can have a devastating effect on a life. One
could see the Spirits as parasites in that case.”
“Even if such a Shifter wanted to join Humans First, I highly doubt
that Hawes would accept them into his little group, but even if he did,
he would not trust them with such a mission,” Valerius pointed out.
He was unnerved at the thought of a self-loathing Shifter. The Spirits
were connected to their souls. To hate them was to hate the very
core of oneself.
“Yes, true, and as this self-loathing Shifter would likely be of a kind
that is viewed with a jaundiced eye to begin with, Hawes and his ilk
would want even less to do with them,” Marban admitted. “We are
assuming that Caden was correct in this assessment of the girl
actually being a Shifter?”
“We are, but I believe the memory of that day is burned into his
mind,” Valerius said.
Chione tapped her wine glass. She looked thoughtful. “I remember
the day that my Spirit found me more clearly than yesterday
sometimes.”
“As do I,” Marban agreed, and for a moment, the avuncular
grandfatherly face was gone, and a very weary, bitter person looked
out at them.
“Yes, it is something that stays with you,” Valerius agreed.
“Marban, would you share that moment with us?” Chione was
looking curiously at the old Swarm Shifter.
Marban gave her a small smile that didn’t quite reach his black eyes.
“Do you want the story I tell my grandchildren or the real one?”
Chione did not immediately say “the real one”. Instead, she regarded
him with that cool, even gaze that had even Valerius squirming at
times. It caused Marban to drop his gaze to the table.
“I was actually a grandfather by blood at one time, and a farmer.”
Marban nodded his head as if confirming the truth of his own words
to himself. “There was a drought that year. My crop had failed.
Loans were coming due that I could not pay. I was going to lose
everything. The land that had been in my family for generations. And
there I was, standing in my sunburnt field. The earth was dry as dust.
The plants were all dead. Yellow, brown, black. Sweat coursed
down my face, dripping off of my chin, dropping to the ground that
was thirstier than I was for water. The wealthy man I had taken the
loan from was carried on a litter out to me. He normally did not leave
his villa. But he did this day. He was like some kind of fat sausage,
stuffed with all of the hopes and dreams of those he leant his coin to.
He was smiling despite the fact that he was sweating like a stuck
pig. The litter bearers brought him up right next to me. He leaned
over, looming above me, smiling, smiling, smiling.
“You know what day it is, do you not?” he asked me.
“I need more time. I can recover--”
“Marban, Marban,” he laughed. “Even if you are a fool, do not
mistake me for one!” His beady eyes narrowed at me, all show of
civility gone. “Now, I think it is safe for us both to say that there is no
chance you can pay your loan off.”
I remained silent, because of course, he was right. Not even if I sold
everything I owned could I have done so. Not with the interest that
he charged.
“Unless I am willing to change our deal.” He smiled oily at me.
“What kind of change?” I couldn’t hide the suspicion from my voice,
or the raw hope either.
This land was all I would be able to give my two sons. My boys who
meant the world to me. I was desperate for whatever he would offer.
But I forgot at that moment who I was dealing with. This man, this
creature, would never alter a deal that wouldn’t give him more than
he deserved. And, since I was desperate, he would ask for
everything and more. He did.
“Your son, Tomas.” The man actually licked his flabby lips as he said
it.
I froze. “What about Tomas?”
“Give him to me. As a slave. And you will have a whole year to pay
your loan. At double the interest of course.” He licked his lips again.
This man had a reputation. He lusted after young men. He abused
them. He did unspeakable things to them. I would never give him
Tomas.
“Never,” I whispered on lips as dry as the dirt around me.
“Then I shall call my loan now, and you, Tomas and your whole
brood will be out on the street by this evening!” The man snapped.
His piggy eyes flashed with anger. He leaned further over the side of
his carrier. “And I shall have him then anyways.”
It was then that a wasp appeared in the corner of my vision. They
were hungry and thirsty too. The whole world was starved. Even as I
saw in my mind us driven out onto the streets to starve, my Tomas
carried away to be raped and tortured, I also imagined this wasp
stabbing its stinger into the center of the man’s eyes. I heard his
screaming over the imagined screaming of my son. I imagined blood
and the milky fluid of his eye as it burst like a grape flowing down his
cheek, just as I imagined Tomas’ clothes being torn from his body,
and his virginity being wrenched from him as well. I imagined… the
man screaming as a swarm of wasps covered him.”
They were all silent as Marban stopped speaking. The old Swarm
Shifter was breathing heavily. He drank down his wine as if he was
as thirsty now as he had been back then. Valerius replenished his
glass.
“Is that what happened?” Chione asked softly.
Marban licked his lips, and then wiped them with his napkin. “Not
exactly. The wasp came after me.”
The wasp that had been lazily flying through the air landed on me. I
slapped it. I felt it crush beneath my hand and forearm. It left a stain
of blood and organs on my skin as it fell down onto the ground. I
was that wasp to the man. I was easily crushed. All of my power was
nothing in comparison to his.
And then there was a buzzing. It was loud. So loud. It came from the
south. I turned to look, even as the man was hissing about how I was
nothing, and he would have everything.
There was a moving cloud of darkness in the south. It dove down
from the sky. The buzzing grew louder and louder until I couldn’t
hear the man anymore. It was at that point that the man noticed he
couldn’t hear himself. He gazed up at this black, moving cloud and
his eyes grew huge. He screamed at his carriers to get out of there.
But they were terrified too. They dropped the litter and scattered in
all different directions. The litter broke under the man’s ponderous
weight. He let out a howl as the wood from the litter’s floor stabbed
up through his thigh. I didn’t stay to see how injured he was. I ran
too.
And the wasps followed me.
I could not outrun them. Not even the terror fueling my flight gave
enough fleetness to my old limbs to make them pump fast enough. I
felt the wasps bodies hitting my back and shoulders. I frantically
swiped at them. My arms flailed against them. It was like touching a
vibrating wall. The wasps though settled upon me and started to
sting.
I tripped. Falling face down into the dry dirt. The dirt filled my mouth,
and then the wasps were in my mouth, too. Stinging me. My tongue
swelled up so big that I couldn’t close my mouth. The wasps went
down my throat. They stung me inside and out. My eyes were
covered in a moving mass of wasp bodies. I felt their stingers reach
my eyes. And the fate I had imagined for the man happened to me.
My eyes were pierced.
I was in agony. I was dying. I screamed though. Because if I died
then my beloved Tomas, my family, would all suffer worse than this.
It was not fair. To be weak like this. I roared as the wasps crawled
into every orifice of my body. I felt them fill me until I was the
buzzing.
And then… my body broke apart.
I was the wasps. It took a moment to realize this. The pain was
gone. All there was, was the buzzing. I was flying, hovering above
the ground. Where my body had been, there was only the dirt. When
I moved, the swarm moved. I saw through hundreds of eyes. I
breathed through countless mouths. I heard through the swarm.
I have made you strong, my Spirit said.
Those were the first words it spoke to me.
Now what will you do with this strength? My Spirit asked.
And I turned to look back at the man who would destroy me. The
swarm turned. I saw him staring back at me, mouth hanging open,
eyes as wide as saucers. And I remember smiling. Whatever he
saw in the swarm, caused him to scream. I flew to him, and gave him
exactly what he deserved.”
Silence again hung in Valerius’ quarters as Marban went back to
eating the delicious food. He seemed fine now, not fragile at all any
longer. Valerius wondered if this was the story he told his
“grandchildren” or the “real” story, and then he wondered if it
mattered? It was the story that Marban identified with.
“And your family? You saved them?” Chione asked, her face pale.
“Oh, yes, I did. I left farming behind, and took over the man’s
business,” Marban said with a smile at her.
“You--you became a loan shark?” Her eyes were wide, and there
was a frown on her face.
“Much more profitable than farming,” Marban said as he drew a vial
out of the inner pocket of his robes. “Though that land did produce
something very interesting, which I think that Valerius here and
myself could make good use of.”
“Wait! Wait!” Chione shook her head. “You became the same type of
man that had abused your family? Is that what you’re saying?”
Marban looked at her almost kindly. “My dear Chione, you know the
world as well as I do. It’s all well and good to say that the meek will
inherit the Earth when you’re the meek. That gives you a ridiculous
hope that all the suffering you’ve gone through is for some greater
good. But I think we both know that it’s far better to be strong now,
and take our part of that good Earth right this moment, instead of
waiting for a handout.”
“But--but…” Chione fell silent, clearly distressed. Had she thought
that Marban would have done anything else?
“I see you are not surprised, Valerius.” Marban turned his head to
him.
“No, that is nothing less than I would expect. I am guessing that you
made the man’s business far more profitable,” Valerius remarked
dryly as Marban uncorked the vial.
“Yes, I did. And I will say that while I was firm, I was always fair,”
Marban told him.
“Did you ask for young men to be sold to you?” Chione’s arms were
crossed over her chest.
Marban chuckled. “Oh, no, my dear. Young and old, women and
men, wanted to join me all on their own. Now.” He tapped the vial
that was filled with a strange black liquid. “Now, after that story, I
think we all deserve a real drink. This is my own concoction called
Ambrosia.”
“What is it?” Valerius asked, frowning.
“As you know, Shifter metabolisms work so quickly and so well that
we, alas, cannot get drunk no matter how much of this fine wine we
drink.” Marban put a few drops in his own wine glass and offered the
vial to Valerius. "But Ambrosia allows us to experience all the
glorious effects of drunkenness again."
“Even if this is true, I should not get drunk considering the Dragon
Shifters are all coming and--”
“I think now is the best time to get drunk. You need to relax,” Marban
said. “Forgive me, my king, but you’re already close to blowing your
top. You will need all your strength to keep your temper in check.
Have this moment of fun now, and it will pay off later.”
“Valerius, I don’t think,” Chione began, but Valerius had already
nodded for Marban to put a few drops in his glass.
He was wound so tight that he needed release. He really couldn't
stand the tension any longer. He needed something. Maybe
Ambrosia was it. Besides, it likely wouldn't work. Maybe this
concoction had some effect on Swarm Shifters? But on a Dragon
Shifter? No, surely not. He took a sip of his wine. It tasted no
different to him, but suddenly, he felt warmth flowing out of his
stomach. It was the familiar warmth of alcohol that he had not felt in
so very long. He drained his glass and stuck it out for more wine and
Ambrosia.
“More,” he said simply.
Marban smiled. “I am happy to oblige. Bottoms up, my king!”
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR: AS SOFT AS PLUSH, AS HARD AS
STONE

The present...
“I didn’t think Shifters could get drunk.” Caden tilted his head to the
side as he regarded a swaying, smiling, flushed Valerius who was
looking back at him as if he were a plushie that Valerius would like to
squeeze.
“We can’t! We couldn’t! I mean, I thought we couldn’t. But Marban
has a magical liquid that changes all of that!” Valerius took two large
steps towards Caden, and grasped Caden’s shoulders. The
squeezing had begun!
“Oh? M-magic liquid?” Caden was smiling uncertainly.
He liked being touched by Valerius, but was slightly alarmed by the
Black Dragon King lifting him off of his feet by six inches with
astounding ease. He knew that Valerius was simply this strong, but
he’d also taken some kind of drug.
Or would it be considered a potion if it really is magical and not
pharmaceutical?
“Ambrosia!” Marban put a finger against his nose, and nodded
conspiratorially.
Oh, it’s a drug. Man, Valerius is going to never live this down if
anyone else sees him like this! It’s bad enough that Marban is.
Though Valerius is rather an adorable drunk.
“It is truly the food--or rather, drink--of the gods!” Valerius enthused
as he spun Caden around in a circle. He ended up setting Caden
down as he stumbled. Caden laughed even as his head spun. He
quickly steadied the much larger, staggering Valerius, who thanked
him, and touched his nose. “Boop.”
“Did you just boop me?” Caden’s eyebrows were up in his hairline.
“You have a very cute nose. Everything about you and Iolaire is cute.
Small and cuddly and--”
“Hey! I’m…” Caden blushed as he glanced at Marban, lowered his
voice and said, “sexy. I am sexy, not cute.”
Valerius went to “boop” his nose again. Caden successfully avoided
it. Valerius giggled.
Valerius.
Giggled.
Never did Caden think he would hear such a sound from Valerius’
lips. But there it was.
“Chione let you go out like this?” Caden gestured to their very
inebriated states. “You didn’t drive here, did you? Please tell me
drunk driving is not to be added to your list of things you did today?”
Valerius and Marban exchanged a look that had them both bursting
into laughter.
“No, no, we have a driver. Neither of us was even inclined to take the
wheel. As to Chione, she thought it was unwise for us to get drunk or
leave the castle or come see you or… well, anything we wanted to
do,” Marban admitted.
“She never lets me do anything fun,” Valerius grumped, and went
over to the shelves where the Dragon plushies were arranged by
color.
“I think she just wants to make sure--ah, what are you doing?”
Caden asked as Valerius picked up the Green Dragon plushie.
Valerius was nose to nose with the plushie. He thumped a finger
against the plushie’s snout. “You are a naughty Dragon, Illarion.
More than naughty. If you continue to anger me, this is what will
happen to you.”
“Valerius, that’s for sale, and--”
Valerius ripped off the Green Dragon plushie’s wings.
“Oh, boy.” Caden put a hand against his forehead as the wings
fluttered to the floor.
Marban snickered and clapped. “Well earned! Well earned! I can
just imagine Illarion’s expression if you did that to him for real!
Though there would be a lot of blood and roaring. That would make it
less amusing.”
Valerius grabbed a hold of the Green Dragon plushie’s head.
Caden waved his hands in the air. “No, no, Valerius, I can fix the
wings, but not--ahhhhhhhh.”
The last was let out in a long sigh as Valerius wrenched off the head.
“And I will do that to you if you keep speaking of Caden being yours!
He is not yours! He is mine! I mean… uhm, he is his own! And that
is the way of things!” Valerius told the headless, wingless Green
Dragon plushie. He shook it and stuffing went everywhere.
Caden actually felt a swelling of warmth within him at those words.
Valerius was jealous! He was possessive! He was going to stand
between Caden and the titanic Green Dragon!
And then he heard the door open behind him from the shop.
“Caden,” Wally began, “Rose said you were getting the plushies.
People are getting all riled up out there without more merch to buy--
oh, my God! What are you doing? You’ve killed him!” Wally said the
last as he caught sight of the dismantled Green Dragon plushie. He
raced over on his little legs, and yanked the mangled plushie from
Valerius’ hands. He shook the plushie under Valerius’ nose, which
required Wally to get up on his tiptoes, and yet more stuffing drifted
to the floor. “You break, you buy!”
Valerius’ eyes narrowed, and his hands went to his hips. He was
wearing one of those revealing yet dangerous looking armor pieces
over his chest. If he hadn’t been swaying, and hiccuping it would
have been scary to be glared at him like that. “Illarion had to be
destroyed. It was necessary.”
“This--this is a doll! Not the Green Dragon King! Though I’m with
you on his destruction! But not on the destruction of my merch!”
Wally cried, and shook the plushie again.
“Considering how much money you owe Valerius due to your
improper licensing of his image, Wally, I wouldn’t complain about one
destroyed plushie,” Marban remarked, seeming suspiciously sober at
that moment.
Caden looked at him with narrowed eyes. Had Marban been drunk at
all? Who knew how this Ambrosia worked! It could only affect
Dragons, though that seemed unlikely. How many Dragons had
Marban gotten drunk, after all, to test it out?
Wally’s mouth opened and shut rather like a goldfish’s. Caden
winced. Marban was right about what he’d said. Valerius’ image,
both human and Dragon, sold more than anything else in the store
combined. If Valerius really wanted a cut of all that merch, it would
put Wally out of business. Or, if Valerius didn’t want Wally to sell his
Black Dragon merch anymore, it would severely cripple his business.
“Well, ah, yes. So… here!” Wally grabbed another Green Dragon
plushie and thrust it into Valerius’ hands. “You can destroy this one,
too! Go to town! Better yet, let me make a line of all of the Dragon
Shifters for you to take out.”
Caden had to hold a hand over his mouth to stop the laughter from
pouring out as Wally put one of each Dragon Shifter plushie in front
of Valerius as if they were an army about to attack him.
Wally gestured to the line. “Go to town! Show them who's boss!”
Valerius pursed his lips, and then he booted the Red Dragon. Mei
flew across the room and impacted the wall. Caden took out his
phone, and started to film as Valerius continued to take out each
plushie in turn. The Gold Dragon was punted into a shelf. The Purple
Dragon was sent spinning across the floor. The others were sent
flying into every corner of the store.
Only the Blue Dragon, Valerius’ own Black Dragon, and Caden’s
White Dragon remained untouched. Valerius picked up the White
Dragon and his own Black Dragon. For a moment, Caden thought
that, like the little girl had demanded he do, Valerius would press
their snouts together in a kiss. But instead, Valerius tucked one
under each arm, and then picked up the Blue Dragon as well.
“Esme will like this,” Valerius said. That was when he realized that
Caden was filming him. One of his eyebrows lifted. “What are you
doing, Caden?”
“Uhm, recording this moment for posterity? Or something like that.”
Caden bit his lower lip. He so wanted to laugh.
“I think not. Give me that phone.”
Valerius tried to snatch it away, but Caden kept out of reach, and put
the phone safely into his back pocket. Valerius was not as graceful
when drunk so he overcompensated and nearly face planted when
Caden sidestepped him. He only caught himself at the last moment.
The Black Dragon King scowled at him when Caden remained safely
out of his grasp.
“Don’t worry, my king,” Caden snickered. “This footage will only be
used if I have to blackmail you to do something important.”
“Caden!” Valerius cried.
Caden snickered again. “Or to torture you at a later date with how
cute you are when drunk!”
“Caden! You are being very bad!” Valerius rumbled, yet a smile was
tugging at his lips.
“I think it’s also necessary to record this to remind you of how
handsome you look when you smile and laugh,” Caden told him.
Valerius blinked. Was he tearing up? The Black Dragon King quickly
looked away from him. “You inspire that.”
“Not Ambrosia?” Caden teased.
But Valerius went on in that serious way. “No. You. Just you.”
Suddenly, both Marban and Wally were looking anywhere but at him
and Valerius. Caden’s mouth felt very dry.
“So other than to destroy an army of plushie Dragons, what brings
you here?” Caden asked.
“I promised we would see one another today,” Valerius mumbled.
“Oh, right, yes, that’s… that’s… I mean it’s awesome you’re here!”
Caden scrubbed the back of his neck. It was more than awesome. It
was the best present ever.
“You know, Marban, perhaps we ought to, ah, go… somewhere to
discuss… ah, something. Shall we?” Wally gestured towards the
door to the shop.
Marban inclined his head, and hobbled after Wally out of the
warehouse, leaving Caden and Valerius alone.
I’m going to owe Wally for that. He can’t stand Marban.
Caden turned back to Valerius. The Black Dragon King had placed
the three plushies he evidently intended to keep on a shelf at eye
level.
“Let me get you a bag for those. It’ll make it easier for you to carry,”
Caden said, and leaned past Valerius to grab a bag from a box
nearby. The side of his body brushed against Valerius’ front
accidentally. Valerius grasped Caden around the waist before he had
a chance to get the bag. “Oh, God, sorry, I--”
Valerius was kissing him. Caden tensed in surprise, but then melted
almost immediately as the Black Dragon King’s tongue slid against
his. Liquid warmth filled Caden. His hands clung to Valerius’ broad
shoulders. It was so erotic to touch the spiked leather that covered
the Black Dragon King’s right shoulder and the soft, velvety skin that
was exposed on his left.
This is him in a nutshell. All spikes and hardness, but then
underneath silk, softness, warmth.
Valerius pulled Caden against him, deepening the kiss as he did so.
Caden felt all the hard lines and soft skin as his shirt rose up and his
flesh pressed against the Black Dragon King’s. Time suddenly had
no meaning. The space they were in had no meaning. He was flying
this time under a huge moon and there was just him and Valerius.
Caden lifted his legs up to wind them around Valerius’ waist while
the Black Dragon King’s hands slid under his buttocks to effortlessly
hold him up. Valerius turned them so that Caden’s back was against
the cold wall of the warehouse. But the two of them were so hot
together that though he let out a hiss of surprise, he rather welcomed
the chill. But it startled them both out of the passionate bliss for a
moment.
Caden realized then how they looked. He knew he had a twin
expression to Valerius’. Two hard cocks straining in their pants for
one another. Lips puffy and well-used looking. Cheeks stained
crimson with desire, need and simply heat.
“We shouldn’t do this here,” Valerius said. His pupils though
remained blown wide with desire.
“No, because anyone could come in. Rose or Wally or, God,
Marban,” Caden said the last with a shiver.
Valerius’ mouth flattened, but then he said, “He has his moments,
but him watching us together is not a fantasy of mine.”
“Nor mine. Like not at all.” Caden’s head shook back and forth
almost violently.
But Valerius did not set him down. Instead, he squeezed Caden’s
ass.
“You deserve to be courted,” Valerius breathed. “I want to court you.
And then bed you. Bed you often and everywhere. Even in this dank
warehouse.”
Caden’s eyes widened, and his heart beat like a drum in his chest. “I
want to court you too. Or be courted. Or both? Yeah, both.”
Valerius grinned. “I would set cities on fire to lead you to my bed.”
That had Caden’s eyes really widening. “You don’t have to go that
far.”
“I would. A blaze. The whole world. A blaze. So you could see your
way to me.”
Caden’s breathing hitched in his chest. Valerius was saying things
he wouldn’t if not for the Ambrosia. He pressed two fingers against
those plush lips that moved against his skin erotically. “You’ve been
drinking. You’re drunk. I’m taking advantage of you.”
But Valerius shook his head. “From the moment I first saw you, I
knew. Some part of me knew that this was meant.”
Caden let out a chuckle. He knew how rose colored glasses tinted
things. Sex certainly did, and he corrected Valerius with, “You
wanted to kill me when we first met.”
“No, Raziel was afraid,” Valerius told him, eyes welling with emotions
that were like quicksilver fish that darted away before Caden could
truly interpret them. “Afraid of this connection. Afraid of us needing
someone else. Because it makes us vulnerable.”
Caden swallowed. “I make you… vulnerable, don’t I?”
“Yes.”
Caden looked at the scattered and destroyed plushies, and instead
of it being funny and cute as it had been, it suddenly changed in his
mind. He didn’t see stuffed animals littering the ground. He saw
Dragons. Crushed. Burned. Wings ripped off. The ground steaming
with their blood. He saw Valerius in his Dragon form, head tilted
back, and breathing a stream of fire into the air.
“You would do this for me,” Caden whispered. It wasn’t a question,
but a statement. He knew it was true. It both exhilarated him, and
terrified him.
“It will not come to that,” Valerius said. His gaze was steady. He did
not seem drunk at all. Caden wondered if he was telling a lie to
protect him from the truth.
Caden cupped his face. He ran his thumbs over the firm planes. He
enjoyed the rasp of the beard. “I don’t want you killing people for me.
I don’t want you to destroy things or people or other dragons. Not for
me.”
Valerius did not say he did not want that either. He did not repeat
that it would not come to that. That terrified Caden more.
“Valerius, promise me--”
“No.”
“N-no?” Caden blinked. Again, the Black Dragon King was not
saying what he expected.
“I will do what I must. I promise nothing more than that. I know you
want to preserve life. You and Iolaire are the joy that the Spirits
bring.” Valerius smoothed a hand through Caden’s hair. “And I am
the force to keep that joy safe.”
“But, Valerius, I--”
“You are worth destroying everything to keep safe,” Valerius told him,
and a wrenched look crossed his face. “You must trust me on this,
Caden. I told you once that what earned you Iolaire was not the
same thing that earned me Raziel, or any of the other Dragon
Shifters their Spirits. You are unique. You are light. And you draw us
like moths to a flame.”
Valerius leaned in and kissed him again. They kissed frantically, as if
they needed the kisses to live. Caden had never felt so starved for
the need to have contact with someone as he did Valerius. At the
same time, he felt the weight of this desire. Valerius was a man. He
was not someone to be toyed with. If Caden pursued this, it wasn’t a
fling or something temporary.
Where have you been all my life? Caden thought. Where, oh, where
have you been?
Here. Waiting for you, Valerius’ voice whispered in his mind.
An image of them in Dragon form sailing across night-darkened
skies appeared in Caden’s mind. There was only the whisper of the
wind under their wings. It was like the touch of cool silk. They were
gliding on the air currents. Their minds were intertwined even as
their nearest wingtips touched. Just barely. Caden looked down at
the landscape, and, at first, he saw only the rolling fields and thick
forests that surrounded Reach. But then images of dead Dragons
played behind Caden’s closed eyelids.
Broken draconid bodies littered the landscape just like children’s
toys. And they weren’t the only things broken. There were buildings
that were half destroyed and burning. Others that were dissolving in
pools of acid. Plasma rivers that drowned some of the fields.
Magma that glassed the hills.
Caden opened his eyelids quickly, and pulled back to look at
Valerius. The terrible vision faded. Valerius was so beautiful, so very
there, that it was hard to believe he was real in some ways. And this
moment was more overwhelming than even becoming the ninth
Dragon Shifter was.
He realized then that Iolaire was awake, and watching this moment.
It was sitting up, but with its wings folded around its body, and its tail
slowly rising and falling. Raziel was awake too. The Spirits were
looking at each other. Whatever they said to one another, Caden
couldn’t hear it. But he knew it was important. It would explain if what
he was seeing was real or just his fears.
“Caden?” Valerius whispered.
“The other Dragon Shifters… you’ve sent them away, right? No one
is coming here,” Caden said with half a smile.
Valerius frowned, and Caden’s heart started hammering. “I… I wish
to talk to you about that. But not--”
“You sent them away, right?” Caden searched Valerius’ face.
He was rock hard in his pants. His body ached for completion. He
wanted to simply rub against Valerius’ muscled form and find that
completion with him. To have them cum together. He would figure
out the clothes situation later. He just wanted this now. But he had to
know the answer to that question.
“In order to get them to truly leave, they need to meet the White
Dragon--”
“What? I’m not meeting them!” Caden gripped Valerius’ shoulders.
Valerius nodded. Agreeing with him. “It will be just like with the
media. You meet them in your Dragon form, listen to their offers.”
Valerius gritted his teeth. “And then--”
“Then I tell them to leave and they go?” Caden finished for him, as
much a question as a statement.
“Yes.” Valerius pressed his hard cock against Caden’s, as he rocked
forward to catch hold of Caden’s head. “Yes, and then they leave.”
“What if they don’t go? Will you make them go?” Caden searched
Valerius’ face.
“Yes, I will make them go.”
No hesitation. No fear. Just a simple fact. Caden swallowed and
tipped his head towards the plushies.
“It’s not going to be that easy, though, right? Or that violent? I
mean…” Caden licked his lips. He felt like he was on the edge of a
cliff about to sail off, and yet he was clinging to the earth.
We have wings, Iolaire said. We will fly. Trust.
“I trust you,” Caden finally said. “I trust you to--to do what’s right. I
just…”
“You are afraid. I know.” Valerius cupped Caden’s cheek. “I will keep
you safe.”
At what cost though, Valerius?
At any cost, Caden. You are worth that.
Caden tucked his face in the shelter beneath Valerius’ chin. The
Black Dragon King stroked his hair, and hummed.
“When are the Dragon Shifters coming?” Caden asked.
Valerius let out a soft sigh. “Esme and Illarion will be here in a few
hours.”
Caden tensed in his arms. “That’s why you got drunk, isn’t it?”
Valerius let out a laugh. “Yes, yes, it is. That is exactly why I got
drunk. It also means I may not be able to fly with you tonight. I need
to--”
“I’ll be there,” Caden interrupted. He pulled back so that they were
eye to eye. “At High Reach. I’ll meet them tonight with you. We’ll fly.
I’m not giving up my life because they are here. Besides, the faster I
meet them and tell them to beat it, the better, right?”
Valerius’ eyebrows lifted. It was clear that he hadn’t expected Caden
to want to meet the other Dragon Shifters at all, let alone so soon.
“It would be. But are you sure?” Valerius’ brows were drawn
together.
“I am more than sure. I don’t want to do it. But I have to do it. I’ve
got to make clear to them that I don’t want to be their mate.” I think I
want to be yours. “It’s better I let them down quickly. You know. It’ll
be like a Bandaid. Just pull it off and the pain is over.”
Valerius chuckled. “It will be a great pain if they get to know you any
little bit.”
“Well, you’re biased. I invaded your territory after all.” Caden grinned
then with a sigh, he unwound his legs from Valerius’ waist.
“What--what are you doing? We have had the difficult discussion!
Now we can indulge…” Valerius flushed a little. “Do you not want
to… indulge?”
“Oh, I want to indulge. That’s what I’m going to do now.” Caden
patted his shoulders. “But I don’t want to indulge in this musty
warehouse. I’m telling Wally I need the rest of the day off. I will only
have you to myself for a few more hours. And I want to take
advantage of those.” He grinned mischievously. “I’ll ask Marban to
sub for me. I’m sure he can sell plenty of plushies. He’s good at
convincing people to buy things they don’t need.”
Valerius shook his head in amusement. He put a hand to his temple
and grimaced. “The Ambrosia is wearing off. I remember this feeling.
A hangover. I do not miss this.”
Caden reached up and rubbed Valerius’ temples. The Black Dragon
King’s eyelids slid shut. “Imagine me doing this with your head
pillowed in my lap and the sunlight falling down upon us.”
Valerius grunted in approval. “Yes, yes, I can imagine it.”
Caden drew his hands down and headed to the door. “You won’t
have to just imagine it.” Valerius’ gaze tracked him as he grasped the
door handle. “We’re going to do that in just a few minutes.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE: INDULGE

They were holding hands. Valerius glanced down at their clasped

hands on the center console of the Land Rover. His other hand was
lightly draped over the top of the steering wheel as he drove them
out to a secluded spot where they could picnic and… indulge.
Whatever that ends up being. Even if it is just my head pillowed on
his lap or vice versa that would be fine. I have already made my
mind up to have him be mine in all ways. We will go at whatever
pace suits us.
He glanced over at Caden again. Even with the heavily tinted
windows, the brilliant sunshine highlighted the gold and bronze in
Caden’s hair, and the golden motes in his irises.
He finally had the young man alone. The moment that Caden told
him he was going to leave work—and have Marban work his shift—
Valerius had felt like a child in a candy store. Everything beautiful
and sweet and his.
Marban had not made a peep of protest at Caden’s suggestion.
Wally looked like he was going to, but just like with the plushies, he
smiled and nodded that it was completely agreeable after glancing at
Valerius. When she had realized what was happening, Rose had
come back to see Valerius in the warehouse. She had actually put a
finger under his nose.
“Caden is innocent. I’m not even sure he’s… well, look, you need to
treat him right! None of this love’em and leave’em garbage. So if
you’re not into Caden all the way, don’t do this,” she’d hissed.
“It is good to see you so protective of Caden,” he’d answered her,
not getting angry at her presumption in speaking that way to him,
because it came from her love for Caden. And he would never
discourage that.
“He’s my friend,” she’d answered. Her eyes glittered with something
for a moment, before she’d added, “Seriously, King Valerius, don’t go
down this path if you don’t mean it. Caden needs you more to be his
friend and protector than his boyfriend.”
And she was right, of course. He knew that. What she didn’t know
was that he had already pledged to burn cities for Caden. This
wasn’t casual. If there was the most extreme opposite of casual it
would be what he felt and intended. But this was not something he
could just tell anyone.
“I am honorable in my intentions,” he’d told her.
He didn’t know whether she found that sufficient as an answer or
not, because Caden had come back into the warehouse and they
could say nothing more.
In addition to getting lectured by Rose while Caden got his work
situation sorted out, Valerius had contacted his staff to prepare a car
and food for the young man. Young Dragons were always hungry.
Truthfully, old ones were too, and he had eaten little at his own
lunch. The two of them had then snuck out the back of the Emporium
and into this darkly tinted Land Rover.
He was brought back to the present moment when Caden turned his
head, and saw Valerius staring at him unabashedly.
“What’s wrong? Is something wrong?” Caden asked, those pink lips
remaining parted after the questions were asked.
“Nothing. I was just making sure that the picnic basket hasn’t been
jostled.” Valerius tilted his head towards the back seat where his staff
had prepared another meal for them both. Caden had not eaten
lunch, and he’d drunk most of his. He winced as another stab of
pain came from the right side of his head.
I am never taking Ambrosia again. At least, not for a while. Definitely
a few days.
Caden twisted around in his seat. That broke their hands apart,
which Valerius bit back a sigh about. He had lied about his concern
for the picnic basket after all. Caden reached back to check that the
old-fashioned wicker basket hadn’t shifted during their drive on the
hilly roads. There was a clinking sound as Caden moved the bottles
of water—and there was alcohol, but the thought of alcohol made
him want to weep—along with moist cornbread with sweet butter that
went well with the spicy chili loaded with meat. Shredded sharp
cheddar cheese and tart sour cream would cool the chili’s heat level
down.
“It looks okay! The smell of it is making me so hungry,” Caden said
as he settled back into his seat, smiling. To Valerius’ delight, he re-
threaded their fingers together.
“I am sure you are starving,” Valerius commented.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t eat chili otherwise considering that we’re… I
mean… kissing,” Caden said uncertainly.
Valerius grinned. “I will still kiss you, Caden. Even if you have chili
breath.”
“Awesome!” Caden squeezed Valerius’ hand. “Are we almost
there?”
“Yes, just a mile or so, and then a little bit of a walk,” he said. His
eyes slid over to Caden. “I am very… proud of you.”
“Proud?” Caden’s eyebrows rose.
“You have agreed to meet with the other Dragon Shifters so
forthrightly. You did not hesitate. You agreed,” Valerius said. He was
wondering if Caden would regret that decision. He wasn’t altogether
sure that he was happy with it.
“Well, I sort of have to do it sometimes.” Caden shrugged, but then
his eyes narrowed. “And I don’t want Illarion going on about me
being his. Got to nip that in the bud.”
“Yes, indeed.” Valerius let out a rumbling laugh.
And he might just smash his fist into Illarion’s face if he said anything
like that again in Valerius’ presence.
“Do the other Dragon Shifters really want me as their mate?” Caden
asked, his expression screwed up into one of disbelief.
“Mating with you would give them greater power. I explained this,”
Valerius sounded clipped. Why would Caden care if the other
Shifters wanted him as a mate? He wasn’t planning on choosing one
of them so—
“Yeah, but you also said that I would weaken them, too. If someone
took me out then that other Dragon Shifter would die as well,” Caden
pointed out, still holding Valerius’ hand as if this conversation was
not incredibly worrying.
He cleared his throat. “You could be kept somewhere secret. Or, if
you were allowed to roam about—”
“Allowed?!” Caden’s head shot towards him.
“Yes, allowed. Do not think that this is some kind of love match for
them, no matter what they might propose!" Valerius was nearly
shouting at the end there. He swallowed again, and said at a slightly
more normal volume, “They would use you as leverage. If someone
were to try and hurt you, the whole world would rise up. Neither you
nor Iolaire are designed for war. You are a peaceful dragon.”
“We are definitely a peaceful dragon.” Caden grinned.
“But to go on, if someone were to attack you, your mate would have
the world’s sympathy to attack back,” Valerius explained as he pulled
the Land Rover off of the main winding road and onto one that was
mostly dirt and stone.
“Oh, that’s… that’s not good.” Caden sat up straighter. “Because
they could just claim that I was attacked by anyone and then try to
use that as an excuse to attack whoever they wanted with everybody
being okay with it!”
“Exactly.”
There were so many ways that Caden could be used as a political
pawn, and not just by the Dragon Shifter he mated with.
I will keep him safe. Everyone will know that I am the White Dragon’s
protector.
Raziel let out a puff of smoke. Was it in amusement? Agreement?
Just a coincidence? The last was the least likely. His Spirit literally
used smoke signals to tell Valerius its thoughts and its mood.
You have not said anything, Raziel, after my… declarations earlier,
Valerius pointed out.
If I had anything different to say about this, would it matter? Raziel
asked back.
No. Valerius shook himself. But you do want this, too?
Yes, Raziel said simply and lowered its head onto its claws to sleep.
Completely content.
He looked over at Caden again. The young man was biting his lower
lip, eyes straight ahead, clearly deep in thought. Valerius wondered if
Iolaire communicated in icicles or puffs of frost.
He parked the Land Rover by some trees. As soon as he turned off
the engine, the silence of the place swept over him, and tension in
his shoulders dropped away.
“Wow,” Caden remarked after a moment. “It’s so quiet here. It’s so
peaceful.”
“Yes, it is. I fear it will be the last time we get the chance to have
much silence or alone-time.” Valerius pressed his lips together. “I
am not acting half as well as you are at the thought of the other
Dragon Shifters coming here.”
“You really don’t like them, do you?” Caden had unclipped his
seatbelt and turned towards him fully, still holding onto his hand.
“You are the only Dragon Shifter I know who is not territorial.”
“Well, maybe I just don’t mind because it’s your territory I’m in. I think
I might mind if it was Illarion’s.” Caden shrugged.
“I can honestly say that I have never been so grateful as to have you
and Iolaire in my territory,” Valerius said, and his heart clenched in
his chest. The very thought of Caden and Iolaire being trapped in
Illarion’s brutal regime was unbearable. Caden’s stomach growling
had them both grinning, banishing Illarion from their thoughts.
“Come. Let us get you fed.”
They both got out of the Land Rover. Valerius grabbed the picnic
basket from the back seat and looped the handle over one arm. He
curled the other around Caden’s shoulders. Caden immediately
leaned against him. He fit perfectly.
“So are you taking me to a special place?” Caden gazed up at him.
“Yes.” Valerius nodded.
“Is it someplace you’ve taken other people?” Caden searched
Valerius’ face.
“No, you are the first.”
Caden snuggled against him. “Good.”
“Good?” Valerius raised his right eyebrow.
“Just… I like when there are things that you’ve only done with me.”
Caden attempted a one-shoulder shrug but it misfired and he dug his
head further against Valerius’ armpit.
“You know that I am quite old, do you not?” Valerius asked carefully.
“Meaning that there’s very little you haven’t done with someone,
right?”
“That is correct.” Valerius saw Caden’s expression fall a little bit. “But
it is still special and unique and incomparable.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, because I am doing these things with you.”
Caden’s beaming smile was blinding.
They walked in silence the rest of the way.
“Oh! Is that where we’re going? That pond?” Caden pointed to a
clearing ahead of them where massive weeping willow trees
surrounded a placid pond.
“That is. We should set up our picnic there.”
Valerius gestured to a spot directly between the roots of the oldest,
most majestic of the willows. There was a relatively smooth spot,
more than big enough for the two of them to stretch out, and rest the
back of their heads against the silky bark of the willow.
“It’s beautiful! Look at all the dragonflies!” Caden laughed as helped
Valerius start spreading out the blanket.
Dragonflies swooped low over the pond, dipping down to skim the
water, likely to take a drink, before lifting off again and flying away.
“The wildflowers smell so sweet.”
Caden leaned over a bunch of the buttercup yellow flowers that lined
the pond between the willows. Ladybugs clung to the long green
stalks. A few of them crawled onto Caden’s hands when he put
fingers beside them, urging the little creatures to explore his skin.
Caden stretched his hand out and the ladybugs flew back into the
vast greenness.
The silence from before was placed with the pleasant churring of
insects and the song of birds who flitted in the trees’ limbs above
them. Peace flowed over Valerius even more so than before, and he
sat down, tugging off his boots, and wiggling bare toes in the flower-
scented wind.
Caden was busy now standing over the basket. He held up a bottle
of wine and waggled his eyebrows at Valerius.
“Hair of the Dragon?” he asked.
“Very funny.” Valerius scowled, but playfully at him.
Caden handed him one of the perspiring glass bottles of water.
Valerius immediately uncorked it and drank down half of it in one
long swallow. Caden snickered.
“Hungover?”
“Yes.” Valerius glared at an imaginary Marban. “Ambrosia is the
liquid of the devil.”
Caden snickered again as he toed off his own shoes and socks.
“Well, I’m going to have some beer. Beer and chili are awesome
together.”
“You can indulge. But not too much. You must shift tonight, and meet
the terrible Illarion and the incisive Esme,” Valerius said as he leaned
back, pillowing his head on his arms, and closing his eyes. The
throbbing was reduced that way.
He suddenly felt fingers gently making circular motions on his
temples before he felt the light weight of Caden straddling his waist.
His eyelids fluttered half open. Caden was giving him the promised
massage. There was high color in the young man’s cheeks, and his
pink tongue kept sneaking out to lick those plush lips.
“You are so handsome, you know that? You likely know that,” Caden
said as he studied Valerius’ face.
“Am I? Hmmmm, I suppose I am passable.”
Caden’s forehead furrowed. “You’re kidding, right? People swoon
over your image in the store! There’s actual fanfiction written about
you. Oh, and Tilly texted me to let me know that there’s now
fanfiction about the White and Black Dragons together. And just you
with the White Dragon.”
“In my human form?” Valerius frowned.
“Oh, yeah.” Caden did that eyebrow waggle thing and burst into
laughter at whatever mental image this was bringing up.
“Having sex, I take it? Chione has explained fanfiction to me before.
She, evidently, enjoys reading some of these characters on a show
she likes.” Valerius remembered one time Chione bursting into the
throne room babbling about her show and this story she’d found and
how good it was and then she’d seemed to realize who she was
talking to.
“Chione likes fanfiction?” Caden looked delighted, but then he
nodded. “I can see that.”
“She says such pairings are eternal. That there were stories back in
her day like this, though they were whispered from one person to
another. But, back to me and you having sex while you are in your
Dragon form and I am human. It would not work,” Valerius said.
Caden let out a sputtering laugh this time. His color heightened.
“Really? You’ve tried this then?”
“No,” Valerius said firmly. The very thought of being anywhere near
the other Dragon Shifters that way was horrifying. “But the sheer…
mass is impossible.”
“Oh, right.” Caden leaned over as laughter overcame him, and he
buried his shaking head against Valerius’ chest.
Valerius carded the fingers of his right hand through Caden’s hair.
The boy let out a delighted sigh and laid out fully on top of him. It
was both arousing and comforting. Caden was solidly built, but he
hardly weighed a thing to Valerius. He kept petting Caden’s hair and
humming softly.
“Can… Can Iolaire and Raziel, uh, do the horizontal Mambo?
Though would Dragons do it horizontally or—”
“Your guess is as good as mine. The Spirits are sex-less in a lot of
ways. But do they have sexual desires? That is a question, to be
sure,” Valerius continued to hum.
He did wonder if Raziel was sexually interested in Iolaire like he was
in Caden. Could Raziel love Iolaire? Valerius wasn’t certain that
Raziel loved him so that might be a stretch too far. But he was
certain that Iolaire was capable of love. The White Dragon seemed
made for it. Raziel was sleeping again. Or, at least, pretending to. It
wasn’t going to let on what it felt.
“So Raziel’s never been like: hey, get me a girl or guy Dragon to
have a good time with?”
Valerius snorted and smacked Caden’s ass, which got a “hey!” and
butt wiggle at the same time, which encouraged Valerius to smack
those pert cheeks again.
“So no, I take it that this hasn’t occurred?” Caden wheedled. His
warm breath puffed along Valerius’ collarbone.
“No, if Raziel thinks of other Dragons it is only to smash them into
the earth. Except for Iolaire, of course. Raziel enjoys Iolaire,”
Valerius quickly amended.
“Good.”
They were quiet again, a companionable quiet that was interrupted
only by chirping of birds and whizzing of insects. A dragonfly
hovered above them both as if considering whether they were sweet
to drink from or not before whizzing off. Valerius smiled. This was
such bliss.
“Did you ever get lonely before?” Caden asked softly.
“Strange that you should ask that, because I was just thinking that as
much as I enjoyed coming here on my own before, it is so much
better with you,” Valerius said, his smile tinting his voice. “What
about you?”
Caden’s fingers ran along the edge of his armor. “I never saw this for
myself. Being with someone. Having a big role in things. Having the
power to do much at all. Feeling connected like I do to you.”
“That sounds…”
“Really sad? Yeah, I know, but I didn’t necessarily feel sad. I was
waiting.” Caden paused as his fingers drifted from Valerius’ armor to
his bare chest. “I don’t want to make excuses for myself like having
no direction, but I seriously felt like something was going to happen
to decide things for me.”
“There is an element of fate in those chosen to be Shifters. At least,
so it is said. But it is really what we do after we become them that is
important. Or so Chione would say,” he muttered the last.
“Did you like becoming a Dragon Shifter? I mean… how could you
not?”
“It made me more of who I am. It also separated me from everyone
else even more than what I already was,” Valerius admitted.
Caden rubbed his cheek against Valerius’ naked skin, making a sort
of pleased sound as he did so. “You’re not alone now. You have
Chione. Me. Raziel, Iolaire. And… Marban.”
That earned Caden another butt swat.
“I am beginning to think that you enjoy being swatted,” Valerius
teased.
“I sorta do. Kinky, I know.”
Valerius snorted. That was nowhere near truly kinky. But then he
stopped himself. “You… you have had sex, haven’t you?”
“What?” Caden lifted his head to stare at him.
“The question is not difficult. Have you had sex? And I mean
intercourse. None of this bases thing that Chione has told me about,”
Valerius insisted.
Caden’s eyes narrowed. “You and Chione have really interesting
discussions. I’m just trying to imagine how bases came up in world
politics.”
“There is much sex in world politics.”
Caden’s eyebrows rose. “O-okay, I admit that was not the answer I
thought I was going to hear.”
“Now answer my question.”
“Would you like it if I was a virgin?” Caden grinned. Valerius raised
his hand for another butt swat. “Okay, okay, no, I am not a virgin.”
“Ah.”
“Now you’re disappointed. Wait! How can you be disappointed?!
You’ve probably slept with hundreds—”
“Thousands.”
“T-thousands?”
“I am very old.”
Caden shook his head as if to clear it. “So how are you disappointed
by the half dozen guys I’ve slept with?”
“I am not. I am glad that you have had experiences… only six?”
Valerius studied him.
“I’m not big in the dating and having sex department. I mean… I like
sex. It’s fun and all. But it wasn’t the big earth-shattering experience I
thought it would be.”
“That is because you have not had sex with me,” Valerius said
simply.
“You’ve had lots of experience so I guess that could be true,” Caden
murmured as he lowered his head to Valerius’ chest again.
“You doubt me?” Valerius sounded outraged.
“Well, I guess you’ll just have to prove it to me,” Caden mused.
Lightning fast, Valerius rolled them over on the blanket so that
Caden was beneath him. He had one knee between the boy’s thighs.
He knocked them further apart as he leaned down, and kissed
Caden almost brutally. The boy looked dazed when they broke
apart.
“Wow, okay, that was a kiss. You could do that again and show me
—”
Valerius did it again. He imagined imprinting himself on Caden’s lips.
His own body sizzled with arousal. Caden looked utterly breathless
and stunned when he pulled back once more.
“This thing between us is like gasoline and a match,” Valerius
murmured as he leaned down and ran his lips all along Caden’s
face.
The young man twined his arms around Valerius’ neck, trying to
keep him near for more kisses.
“Is that a bad thing?” Caden breathed.
Was it a bad thing? When the world was on a knife point? When
they both needed to be focused? Would this focus them by burning
off some of the rising arousal that they engendered in one another,
or would it utterly distract them? Did it matter?
Because they both wanted this.
And he didn’t think he could bear to stop.
The young man’s pupils were blown wide. There was a thin ring of
color around the edges. His cheeks were flushed. His lips were
swollen. Arousal tented both of their pants. Valerius’ hands were
actually shaking as he went to undo Caden’s jeans. His gaze met
Caden’s, asking for permission. Caden nodded. That pink tongue
snaked out and swept across those plush lips.
Valerius’ fingers felt large and ungainly. He undid the button and slid
down Caden’s jeans. He wore a soft, cotton pair of boxer briefs.
“You wear underwear,” Valerius remarked.
“You d-don’t?” Caden laughed.
“No, clothes are a hindrance with the shift. Why would one add yet
another layer of them? I believe I told you this, but I am glad you
cannot think properly to remember that. It shows I am doing a good
job,” he said as he cupped Caden’s manhood through the material.
Caden let out a hiss and curled forward. Valerius pushed him down
gently. He then grasped the waistband of both jeans and underwear
and shucked them off of Caden’s legs. He tossed them to the side.
Caden’s cock bobbed in the sweet summer wind. It was a soft pink
color, the same as the young man’s lips. The tip glistened with
precum. His candy analogy from earlier came back to him in a rush.
Caden’s cock was a lollipop.
“You’re grinning in this semi-evil way,” Caden remarked. His eyelids
were at half-mast and he was rocking one leg against Valerius’.
“You are too able to speak in coherent sentences. Hmmm. I must
remedy that.” Valerius leaned down and lightly blew across the
glistening tip of Caden’s cock.
Caden whined and he gripped Valerius’ legs between his own this
time. “Are we—is this—are we going to have sex or—”
“Not right now.”
Caden’s head fell back and he groaned. “But—”
“I did not think to tell my staff to pack lubricant,” Valerius told him.
“And I am very large.”
“You’re large all over.”
“Indeed.”
“Will I get to see that largeness? The largeness?” Caden reached
for Valerius’ pants, but he effortlessly caught both of Caden’s wrists
in one hand.
“Perhaps.”
“Only perhaps?” Caden looked scandalized.
Valerius gave him a wolfish smile. “Later. I want to focus on this
moment. On you. The taste of you. The press of your manhood
against my tongue. The feel of you filling my throat.”
Caden’s cock twitched. He moaned and beat the back of his head
lightly against the ground. Valerius only chuckled. Then he leaned
down and licked a stripe clear over the top of Caden’s cock. Caden
practically levitated, but Valerius had control over him completely.
He kept him in place as he contemplated his first taste of Caden.
Earthiness with a hint of sweetness. Not human. He had learned
long ago that Shifters had a different taste. Caden’s taste was even
more refined than the Shifters he had been with. There was
something far more primal in the taste of him. Heat swirled within his
chest. He felt like he did when he and Raziel were about to breathe
fire. He wanted more of this taste.
Valerius opened his mouth and closed it over the head of Caden’s
cock. His tongue swirled over the head, lapping at the slit, pressing
against the beginnings of that vein that ran against the bottom
length. Caden let out this mewling cry as he sucked. More of
Caden’s precum gushed out and coated his tongue. He swallowed it
eagerly down.
Caden’s hands broke free of his hold. He wasn’t trying to keep
Caden from touching him, which is what the boy did. Hands raked
down his arms, leaving red marks that soon faded to nothing as his
quick healing took over.
He slowly inched down Caden’s cock, drawing in breaths through his
nose, until it had slid all the way down his throat and his lower lip
rested on the soft, furry balls. Caden’s fingernails dug into his bare
shoulder on one side and his armor on the other. He was rather like
a kitten scratching him, adorable, sweet.
Valerius stayed there, with Caden’s cock completely swallowed, for
long moments until their heartbeats synced up. Only then did he
move. He did it slowly. Suction, heat, and tightness were what was
important. He wanted Caden to experience being fully immersed in
him.
Caden was making these choked gasping noises. His eyes were just
slits. He was watching Valerius intently. His lips parted and his
breathing increased as Valerius let Caden’s cock leave his mouth
with a pop. His cock was slick and glistening.
“Delicious,” Valerius murmured.
“P-please…”
Anything.
Yes.
Of course.
Valerius devoured Caden again, all the way down to the root. That
feeling of breathing fire came back. It built in his chest. He closed
his eyes, and thought that he saw fire behind his eyelids. He
swallowed around Caden’s length. It plumped in his throat. Caden
was about to cum. The young man scrabbled at his shoulders. The
feeling of fire suffused every one of Valerius’ cells.
His hands linked with Caden’s. His heat met frigid cold. But it felt
good. Fire and ice. His eyelids were still closed, but he thought he
saw… light? Golden light mixed with an icy blue light.
Caden arched up and let out a cry that echoed in his ears. Valerius
opened his mouth and relaxed his throat. The first gush of semen
was like drinking a glass of iced water on the hottest of days. It
soothed the fire in his chest. For a moment. Then the next gush
came, and the next.
He remained there. Sucking lightly on Caden’s still semi-hard organ.
The young man’s body was slumped on the blanket. He was limply
holding onto Valerius’ shoulders. His breathing and heartbeat filled
Valerius’ ears. He knew he had cum. How long had it been since
he’d cum in his pants? They would have to go swimming, and then
they could indulge more. He would definitely have to show Caden--
“Valerius,” Caden’s voice was still a little blurry with his orgasm, but
far sharper than it should have been.
He pulled off of that delicious cock. “Wha--”
“Valerius!”
Valerius’ eyes opened fully and he fixed them on Caden’s face.
Caden, however, was not looking at him, but was looking back at
Reach, which could be seen in the far distance.
Caden pointed in that direction. “Valerius, there’s a green dragon
circling Reach.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX: DOWN TO SIZE

“That bastard!” Valerius hissed as he jumped to his feet, eyes locked

on Illarion, as the Green Dragon circled High Reach.
Caden’s haze of pleasure fell away as he watched the titanic Green
Dragon cut through the sky as if he owned it. If there was one thing
he knew, such arrogance would not be tolerated by either Valerius or
Raziel. Cold memories of him and Valerius battling over the skies of
Reach filtered through his brain. He remembered the dead and the
dying by the Gash. That would be nothing if Valerius and Illarion
attacked one another.
“He knows you’re not in the castle, right? I mean, it almost looks like
he wants you to come out and play,” Caden said after watching
Illarion for a few moments more.
Scowling, Valerius growled, “He will find out that I do not play.” He
focused on Caden who had gotten to his feet as well then. “You will
stay here. I will handle this.”
Caden though grabbed his arm. “By handle this what exactly do you
mean?”
“I will knock that son of a bitch out of the air and then roast him with
fire!” Valerius roared, his temper rising up like a volcano.
Caden could hear Raziel in Valerius’ voice. The Spirit and the man
were speaking as one. A quiver of fear and awe ran through him.
Red light flared in the Black Dragon King’s eyes.
There will be violence. There will be death, Iolaire whispered. This
cannot be.
“Wait, wait, wait, Illarion is right over Reach! You take him out and he
takes down a part of the city,” Caden reminded him. “Just us tusling
a little bit killed over a dozen people. Two titanic Dragons fighting
over a population center? What do you think that will do?”
That last part had a guilty flash going through Valerius’ eyes. The
red glow reduced slightly.
“Shifting in my territory and flying around my capital city without my
permission is the height of disrespect! I cannot let it stand, Caden!
You give Illarion an inch and he will take miles!”
Caden’s mind tumbled. He understood that territory was all
important to Dragons. He was certain Valerius was right that if he
didn’t go after Illarion, the Green Dragon would consider it a victory
and increase his tactics. But he also felt that any contest between
the Black and the Green Dragons would lead to greater tragedy.
Iolaire was rigid inside of him. He felt warnings coming off of the
White Dragon.
No violence. Must not allow violence, Iolaire said. It was speaking
far more than ever before, anxious to get its point across. Arrogant
Green Dragon. Poisonous and foul. Must not fight though. Not now.
Yeah, okay so Illarion is an asshole, how do I make Valerius realize
he’s not worth turning into a charcoal briquet? Valerius asked.
Illarion is not worthy of notice, Iolaire said and the image of a fly
circling a mountain. Insignificant.
Oh, right! Got it!
“Illarion is doing this to get a rise out of you, Valerius,” Caden said.
“He wants you to fly up there and challenge him. Because that
makes him important and worthy of your time. So that’s the last thing
you should do.”
“The last thing? I cannot just ignore this!” Valerius pointed to the sky
with emphasis.
“No, you’re right. But it’s how you respond that’s important. Let’s not
play his game. Let’s not attack him,” Caden said as Iolaire presented
him with an image of the White and Black Dragons flying together
towards the Green Dragon. “Iolaire thinks we should make a united
front.”
“What? You are not going up there! You are staying here!”
“Iolaire disagrees. As do I. We go up and meet Illarion together. We
don’t attack. We look like--ah, parents disapproving of a teenagers’
antics,” Caden raced out as Iolaire sent him more images. “It’ll be
clear that he’s being an asshole, not being a good guest, and that we
don’t approve. But most importantly, it’ll make his posturing seem
what it is! Pathetic. And weak.”
Valerius blinked. “Iolaire is a strategist.”
Iolaire was still rigid, not sure if Valerius and Raziel would agree with
them.
“I think Iolaire isn’t fond of fighting, but I think it’s right, too. I mean,
Illarion is just edging for a fight. We shouldn’t give him what he
wants. Not giving him what he wants should be our main goal at all
times,” Caden said.
“That will frustrate him no end.” Valerius gave a grim smile.
“Exactly. We should just treat him as if he’s a badly behaving guest,
and not a challenge to you.” Caden put a hand on Valerius’ chest.
“You’re the king of kings. He’s not even a pretender to the throne.”
A full body shudder went through Valerius, but then he gave a nod.
He caught both of Caden’s biceps. “If he attacks, you will retreat. Do
you understand? I do not need your help in fighting him.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to fight. And I know you got that part of the
equation,” Caden assured him. His shoulders twitched just thinking
about going up against the mammoth Black Dragon. “But you don’t
fight unless people’s lives are at stake, right?”
Another tight nod. Caden could see his jaw muscles working.
Valerius was not liking this, but he was going to do it. Caden felt like
dancing, but then he remembered they had to shift and face Illarion.
His mouth went dry.
“Let us go then,” Valerius said, before turning and running out from
under the canopy of trees. In a blurred moment, he turned from man
to Dragon.
The Black Dragon flapped its mighty wings and was up into the air.
Caden was stunned at the beauty and magnificence that was
Valerius and Raziel. His breath caught and he stood there frozen.
Valerius turned his head around and looked back at him.
Oh, right, time to shift. Caden closed his eyes. Iolaire, please help
me do this without messing up.
Iolaire chirruped and flapped its wings. Caden opened his eyes and
ran. He picked up speed and leaped…
Please, please, please shift!
He fell flat on his face. The air left his lungs and he let out an
oomph. Dazed and cheeks burning with shame, he gazed up at the
Black Dragon looking down at him.
A thought came from Valerius, Stay there, Caden. I will handle this.
No! I can do this! Caden reached for him.
I will keep to the plan. You remain here, Valerius said.
But I--
Valerius though was already flying towards Reach. Caden slammed
his hand against the ground.
Damnit, they’re going to fight unless we’re there, Iolaire! I just know
it!
The White Dragon Spirit flapped its wings in agreement. Caden got
up to his feet, dusted himself off, and looked at where the titanic
Black and Green Dragons were about to meet.
Just above the city. Oh, man, Valerius! Keep your temper!
But if his words reached Valerius or Raziel neither of them
responded to him. Feeling panicky, Caden looked around for a place
to launch himself off. That had worked in the field. The only real hill
was over the pool. The water would be a good deterrent for him to
fly. It would also be better than landing in the dirt again if he didn’t.
Butterflies were filling Caden’s chest as he glanced back over his
shoulder at Valerius and Illarion. The Green Dragon had become
aware of the Black Dragon’s presence and had cut a close corner
around High Reach. They were going directly at one another. The
Black Dragon wasn’t hurrying, but there was a tenseness about it
that told Caden neither Valerius nor Raziel was happy.
Okay, we gotta get up there, Iolaire. Not messing up this time, okay?
Iolaire bobbed its head. Caden took a breath and jogged over to the
base of the slight rise overlooking the pool. He had a momentary
regret that the Green Dragon had shown up like this. He and
Valerius could have been cleaning up in the pool. Before getting
very dirty again, with Caden paying Valerius back for the “favor” he
had given him earlier.
But no. We’re here and Valerius is going to get into a fight.
Caden shook his head, took a breath and then raced up the incline.
It wasn’t all that far, and it wasn’t all that high. It was maybe ten feet
above the water’s surface, if that. Caden’s right foot hit the very
edge of the hill and he leaped…
And he fell.
He belly flopped into the pool. Once more all the air was thrust out of
his lungs. His front stung like a son of a bitch. He sank several feet
down below the water’s surface before he opened his eyes. Below
him looked to be a forest of trees. It was some kind of weed that
grew from the bottom and waved lazily in the current. The pool was
a blue-green color because of the plants and the light. It was so
beautiful that the pain retreated for a moment, but then he realized
that he needed to breathe.
Caden scrambled for the surface and took in a great gasping breath.
He treaded water, too annoyed with himself to do anything for a
moment. What was his problem? Why couldn’t he shift? He needed
to do it! Why was he failing at it so spectacularly? He swam around
to look back towards Reach. The Black Dragon was hovering while
the Green Dragon circled it. Caden gritted his teeth.
Valerius is keeping it together. For now.
Grimacing as his body still hurt from impacting the water, Caden
slowly swam to shore. Iolaire mimicked the swimming motion with
its arms.
Why is this happening? Why can’t we just shift? You want to shift! I
want to shift! But we cannot shift! Now is not the time to have
performance anxiety! Caden raged.
Iolaire let out a hoot of sadness. It didn’t know what the problem was
either.
We need to be calm.We need to work as one.
Iolaire let out a second hoot in agreement. Caden was sure that this
wasn’t Iolaire’s fault. It must be his. Once he got on shore, water
sluicing down his body, he looked over again at Valerius and Illarion.
The Green Dragon was snapping at Valerius, who remained flapping
his wings. It reminded Caden of a cat swiping at a bigger cat to try
and start a fight. Eventually, the paw would come down. Caden
shook himself.
We need to get up there, Iolaire.
Humans cannot fly, Iolaire said and fluttered its wings.
Yeah, I know. I--
Humans cannot fly, Iolaire repeated, and there was clearly a greater
meaning there.
Okay, what do you mean? Humans can’t fly. That’s why we have to
shift and--
Humans cannot fly, Iolaire said with more insistence.
Caden stopped talking and thought about what that meant. I just…
oh, I’m not giving up control. I’m thinking like I’m going to literally be
flapping my own wings up there.
Iolaire flapped in response. Yes, but humans cannot fly.
Right. I need to let go. You need to take over.
Caden closed his eyes and reached for Iolaire in his mind’s eye.
They could and would never touch in real life. He would never know
what it was like to brush his hands over Iolaire’s scales or skim them
along its wings. But he would never want them to be apart so that
this could happen. It meant far more to have them together like this
than to simply wish to touch Iolaire. In fact, the moment that his
fingers were about to touch Iolaire just in his mind a spark formed in
the short distance between them. It grew in intensity until it blinded
Caden.
And then it consumed him.
When he blinked he was looking out through a Dragon’s eyes.
Caden smiled and the White Dragon did too.
Iolaire, you’re in charge. Do what we need to do here. I trust your
judgment more than mine, Caden told his Spirit.
The White Dragon tipped back its head and let out a pleased hoot.
Then its wings began to flap and they were airborne. Caden’s
stomach dropped into his feet at the suddenness of it, almost as if he
were on a rollercoaster. Iolaire took them up and up and up until the
sunlight seemed to suffuse the air around them and there was
nothing else, but light. Then they were skimming through the air,
being held aloft by unseen currents.
His gaze focused on Illarion and Valerius. The Green Dragon was
still circling and snapping at the Black Dragon, but he did it a little too
close one time and nipped Valerius’ left wing. The Black Dragon let
out a roar that seemed to shake the very skies. Through Iolaire’s
enhanced hearing, Caden could hear people far below crying out in
fear. The Black Dragon’s eyes were a sulfurous red and they were
glowering at the Green Dragon, tracking the titanic beast, waiting for
its moment to get revenge.
Iolaire, get us over there! Like now!
Caden could almost feel the Green Dragon’s glee at his unexpected
“victory”. He’d gotten a reaction from Valerius. His teeth were strong
and sharp. He had bloodied the king. Or that was what Caden
thought. Thankfully, he could not hear Illarion’s thoughts. But the
arrogant way the Green Dragon flew through the air made Caden
pretty certain that his thoughts were likely close to that.
At least, he was all arrogance, until Valerius bit back. Once more the
Green Dragon came too close again, perhaps for a second nip. But
this time Valerius snapped at Illarion’s right wing and sliced it. The
Green Dragon let out a howl and green gushes of smoke exited from
its mouth. That cloud of what Caden thought might be toxic gas
started to drift down towards Reach. Panic filled him, but Valerius
saw what was happening as well and acted.
The Black Dragon opened its mouth and let out a gust of wind, not
fire. Caden knew that Valerius had other powers, but this was the
first time he’d seen what looked like Superman’s powerful breath. It
dissipated the foul green gas.
Illarion was still making angry, pained almost barking noises as his
wing gushed black blood that dripped down the webbing. His eyes
were a poisonous green-yellow, too. They narrowed and Caden
knew he was about to bodily slam into the Black Dragon.
They’re escalating, Iolaire! What do we do? Ice them? Will that do
anything but piss them off?
Caden was also worried that if they did use their ice breath that
some of the ice might drop down onto the city below and injure
someone. He reached out for Valerius’ mind, but it was shut off to
him. All he heard was an angry hum.
This is really not good!
They can do too much harm. Too much! Must stop them! Iolaire’s
response was strange.
How are we going to do that? Get between them and--oh! What the
Hell?
Iolaire opened its mouth and let out a sound. It was a mournful
sound. Beautiful, actually, like the beginning of a song. But the effect
it had was instantaneous and shocking. The Black Dragon
grimaced and shook its head as if the sound was unpleasant while
the Green Dragon immediately transformed into his human form.
And then Illarion started falling to Earth.
But Iolaire darted in and Illarion in one of its claws. Iolaire then
hovered there as it brought the angry and shocked Dragon Shifter up
to eye level. Valerius came close as well so that Illarion was
between them.
Illarion was handsome in a hard way. He had chiseled features and
short dark hair. A scowl seemed to be permanently etched on his
face. His thick brows were drawn together as he bellowed at them.
“What have you done?” Illarion shouted in a Russian accented voice.
“Release me! If you do not release me, I will make you pay, little
Dragon!”
Make us pay, will he? Doesn’t he see the situation he’s in? Caden
laughed.
Iolaire brought Illarion nearer to their face and allowed some ice
breath to trickle out from between their teeth. The mist curled around
Illarion. He glared, but stopped swearing at them.
“Release me,” Illarion hissed again.
But Iolaire shook its head. This caused Illarion to struggle in Iolaire’s
claws, which was stupid. He would fall unless he could transform
back into his Dragon shape in time before he hit the ground.
Cannot shift until I let him, Iolaire told Caden.
Holy… really? You can do that?
We can do this. Yes, Iolaire answered simply.
Even though Valerius hadn’t been affected by the call in the same
way, he wasn’t looking much happier. His eyes were still a sulfurous
red. Caden reached for his mind, and this time, he could actually
talk to him.
What is the meaning of this, Caden? Valerius asked. He could hear
Raziel in his tone.
Are you okay? How’s your wing? Caden asked, deflecting the
answer, because he wasn’t sure what the answer was, and he was
worried about that wing, though it looked completely healed.
My wing… My wing is fine. Valerius sounded calmer as he heard the
concern in Caden’s voice. But there are things of greater import.
How… How did you do this?
I don’t know. I have no idea. Iolaire just did it!
Caden looked down at the struggling Illarion. He was trying to break
out of the White Dragon’s grasp and shift. He could accomplish
neither.
This is quite the trick. The Black Dragon’s eyes narrowed. A useful
and dangerous trick. How long can you keep Illarion like this?
Let me ask. Caden turned his attention to Iolaire. How long can you
keep him in human form?
Iolaire sent him the image of day turning to night. But then Iolaire
showed him that it could make that time less if it wanted.
It looks like this can last a whole day, but Iolaire can release him
anytime before that, Caden told Valerius.
Could he do that to any Dragon? Valerius asked speculatively.
All but Black Dragon. Black Dragon too strong to make shift.
Besides, Iolaire did not want to hurt, Iolaire suddenly said.
Did you hear that, Valerius? Caden asked.
I did. I felt the power of Iolaire’s call, but resisted it, Valerius said.
Raziel spoke then, Iolaire is not as defenseless as we thought.
Brave little Dragon.
The White Dragon tipped its head back, and Caden laughed. Iolaire
was preening under Raziel’s appreciative gaze.
Are you okay with what we did, Valerius? Caden asked tentatively.
He expected Valerius and Raziel to be furious. I know that you can
handle him, but things were getting sort of heated.
At first, Valerius did not answer. Caden could almost feel Raziel
waiting for the Dragon King to speak first.
I was not pleased… at first, Valerius admitted. The shock of it was
something but I am glad you did this. I was losing my temper. Once
he struck me--
You had to respond in kind. And he’s big enough that you had to
really take him down, Caden agreed. So this was good?
The Black Dragon seemed to smile. Yes, Caden, you and Iolaire did
very well. It makes me curious what else you can do.
Me, too! Caden admitted.
Iolaire was still preening and showing off for Raziel, who was giving
many admiring glances.
Come, let us take Illarion down to High Reach, Valerius said. I would
speak to this fool.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN: CIVILITY

Valerius flew down to the courtyard outside of his throne room. As

tempting as it was to land in Dragon Strike Square to excoriate and
humiliate Illarion in front of his people, he resisted, and landed only
to an audience of Chione, Simi and Ngoye.
Valerius shifted and landed in what some people called the
Superhero pose before gracefully rising to his feet. Immediately,
Captain Ngoye was offering him his favorite silk robe embroidered
with silver dragons to slip on. He drew the cool silk over his body and
tied the belt.
“Thank you, Ngoye,” he said to her.
“My king.” Her eyes went up to the White Dragon. “Did Iolaire just…
Well, did I see what I thought I saw?”
“That Iolaire made Illarion transform into his human form? Yes,
Ngoye, you did,” Valerius could not hide the satisfaction in his tone.
While ice breath could be useful in a fight, this ability was a true
game changer. Caden was so much safer now than he had been
before.
“The other Dragons will think twice now before attacking him,” Ngoye
said with a nod.
“There will be no more attacks in my skies,” Valerius told her.
Illarion’s actions had been beyond the pale, if predictable. But his
just desserts were incredibly satisfying. Ngoye bowed and moved
back to her post by the doors to his throne room. Valerius turned to
watch the White Dragon slow its descent and then, like a helicopter
landing, drop all the way down to the stone flagged courtyard. The
wind from the White Dragon’s powerful wings blew Valerius’ hair
back and he sheltered his eyes from the dust and leaves that were
stirred by the air currents.
Chione stepped over to Valerius. “Are you all right, my king?”
“You cannot possibly believe that I am harmed. I think you are
referring to my temper. And my temper is… in check. Besides, how
could I not be amused by that?” Valerius pointed to Illarion who was
still caught in one of Iolaire’s large clawed hands.
Illarion roared, “Put me down! Put me down now!”
“He reminds me of Fay Wray trapped by King Kong,” Chione giggled.
“You will pay for this, White Dragon!” Illarion howled as he kicked his
bare legs.
Both Valerius and Chione were laughing now though there was
some hysteria to it. Chione brought up a tablet to show him what the
local news were reporting. There were helicopters hovering at a safe
distance recording everything, and he could see what they were
seeing.
“Illarion will never live this down,” Valerius said, a smile curling the
edges of his mouth. “This is almost better than me sending him
slamming towards the ground and roasting him.”
Chione agreed as she turned up the volume so that they could hear
the anchor breathlessly saying, “... and after the Green Dragon King
Illarion’s unexpected--and clearly unauthorized--flight over Reach,
the White Dragon emitted a call that appears to have shifted Illarion
back into human form! Have you ever heard of a Dragon Shifter
having that power, Tom?”
She was asking the anchor that was in the studio while she was
filming from Dragon Strike Square.
“No, Carol, this is completely unexpected. But let’s hear from our
Dragon Shifter expert, Dr. William Tanaka.” Tom, whose hair looked
lacquered, turned to a distinguished looking man in his fifties.
Valerius had spoken to Tanaka once. He gave him no answers to
his questions, but the professor of Shifter studies at Harvard, had
known more than he’d thought he would about Shifters despite
Valerius’ reticence.
Dr. Tanaka answered in his pleasant voice, “As we all are aware,
each Dragon Shifter has a main breath ability. In the case of our own
Black Dragon King Valerius, fire is his main ability, but as he
demonstrated today, he has a powerful air breath ability that
dissipated the Green Dragon King Illarion’s main breath ability, which
is poison. It is rumored that the Black Dragon King Valerius, for
certain, has many more elemental powers than we have ever seen.
But as to the White Dragon’s ability to actually force the shift, well
this is beyond anything we’ve seen from the Dragons so far.”
Carol broke in, “But, Dr. Tanaka, are we certain that Iolaire truly
caused Illarion to shift? Perhaps he simply had an accident and
Iolaire caught him.”
Dr. Tanaka gave her a slightly repressive smile. “Dragon Shifters like
Illarion are simply too old to have an accident like that. And, I think, it
is pretty clear from his current reaction that Illarion is none too
pleased with the actions of the newest addition to that Shifter group.”
They showed Illarion’s current behavior of hissing and spitting at
Iolaire. Chione turned off the tablet.
“How are you going to deal with this, my king? Illarion has broken so
many of the rules, and he attacked you,” Chione said.
“Let him dig his hole deeper. Violence is not the answer for now,”
Valerius told her.
She looked surprised and one of her eyebrows rose. “I thought you
would be eager to do something physical to him.”
“Oh, I am finding his humiliation far more satisfying. Besides, Iolaire
should have its moment of triumph.”
“You will release me!” Illarion screamed.
Caden looked at Valerius for an okay to let the Green Dragon Shifter
down. Valerius gave a brief nod. This caused Illarion to squawk
even louder about how he would not be treated this way and how
dare Valerius and this runt White Dragon do this to him and he’d see
them drown in a sea of poison and on and on it went.
Despite his threats and calumnies, Caden set Illarion down gently on
the courtyard. The Green Dragon Shifter stumbled back. Valerius
rather thought he was stumbling away on purpose so as to get
distance between himself and the White Dragon without making it
obvious he was running away. Better to be thought clumsy than
afraid in Illarion’s mind. Valerius often thought the same thing.
“Illarion does not take well to fear,” Chione murmured. “I do not think
he will forgive Iolaire for this.”
“No, likely not, but now at least he knows that Iolaire, though small,
is mighty,” Valerius said.
Iolaire made Green Dragon afraid! Raziel laughed. Little White
Dragon caused him to crash from the sky!
Valerius was glad to just hear amusement in his Spirit’s voice rather
than anger. Raziel was in the best of moods. It was proud of the little
White Dragon that could.
But neither Caden nor Iolaire should have had to intervene at all.
Illarion should have respected me, but he did not. I will have to fix
that.
At that moment, part of Valerius wanted to go over and grab Illarion
by the scruff of the neck before threatening him within an inch of his
life. But like Caden had said, that would be giving Illarion attention.
And any attention--good or bad--would be treated as a victory by the
Green Dragon Shifter. So he stood there, arms crossed, looking at
Illarion as one might an uninteresting bug. For his part, Illarion was
not looking at Valerius.
“Our fears about Iolaire being all but defenseless are seemingly
unwarranted,” Chione murmured.
“We do not know the limits of this gift yet,” Valerius murmured.
“What do we know about it?” she asked quietly.
“It lasts a minimum of 24 hours unless Iolaire releases the Shifter
and allows them to transform.”
Chione’s eyebrows rose. “Twenty-four hours? Illarion will be a
madman before that if he is not allowed to shift.”
“True.” Valerius smiled. It was not a nice smile. “But he did break the
rules of civility so I am not inclined to ask Iolaire to release him
early.”
The two of them watched as the Green Dragon Shifter stared
daggers at Iolaire, his threats having dried up for some reason.
Maybe simply being released had stopped the flow of words. Iolaire
merely cleaned its wings and moved the tip of its tail up and down,
rather cat-like, with seeming no concern at all for Illarion’s ill temper.
Illarion scowled harder.
Your nonchalance is annoying Illarion, Caden, Valerius chuckled.
I know. He’s really mad. Did you see him hopping up and down
before? That was funny, Caden answered.
Yes, well, you have made an enemy of him, I think. You must be very
careful, Valerius cautioned. He didn’t want Caden to get cocky.
I guess I have. Though really it’s bullshit for him to be mad at me
considering everything. He was the one to go on television and say I
was his mate! Not to mention he was endangering people! Caden
sounded affronted to have gained an enemy for “unfair” reasons.
Valerius shook his head. Illarion is not logical. He is a bully. He is
used to being the strongest. My existence is nearly intolerable to
him because I am stronger than him. Yours now… he did not expect
you to be able to best him.
Guess he doesn’t want me as a mate anymore! Thank God! Caden
sounded relieved.
Valerius knew that contrary to Caden’s belief, Illarion would likely
want Caden more than before. He would want to possess and lord
over Iolaire. That was likely the only way he saw getting his face
back.
“Why don’t you shift?” Illarion suddenly shouted at Iolaire. “Let us
see you in the flesh! Let us see how tough you are in your human
form!”
“He did not just say that!” Chione let out a disbelieving laugh. “What
does he think he’s going to do? Have a fistfight with the White
Dragon Shifter?”
Valerius’ hands curled into fists. “He will never touch Caden.”
Iolaire continued with its cleaning, ignoring Illarion entirely.
“We’re not going to see Iolaire in its human flesh, dear Illarion!
Iolaire’s human side is going to remain a mystery!” Esme’s voice
drifted out of the double doors. The Claw came to attention as she
strode out wearing an icy blue dress that flowed around her like mist.
“Esme!” Chione called gaily and the woman greeted each other with
air kisses.
“It is so good to see you, Chione! It’s been too long!” Esme smiled
genuinely at the Sphinx Shifter.
“It has. You’ve come at the perfect time though.” Chione looked over
at Iolaire.
“I had to stick my head out of the sun roof in the vehicle taking me
here from the airport to get in on the action.” Esme’s eyes slid to
Illarion. He had taken the short cut by shifting. “But I did see the
battle. You were magnificent as always, Valerius. Raziel is so
gorgeous. Those midnight black scales against the peerless blue
sky.” Esme kissed Valerius’ cheek.
I am magnificent, Raziel agreed. His Spirit had always liked Esme,
which was rare, as Raziel normally hated most people.
“Raziel extends its greetings to you and Scylla,” Valerius told her.
“Scylla so wanted to fly up there and get involved in things!” Esme’s
eyes narrowed at Illarion.
He had violated all of their rules, not just Valerius’. To treat one
Dragon with a lack of respect was to treat them all that way. The
delicate balance was kept by each Dragon Shifter acting carefully
around the other. Illarion had violated all of that.
“It was good that you convinced Scylla not to,” Chione said. “Iolaire
had things well in hand all on its own.”
“Oh, yes, I saw that! Everyone saw that,” Esme tittered.
Esme gave Illarion a similar hard smile as Valerius had. The Green
Dragon Shifter ignored her. It was really impressive that Illarion could
pretend to be alone on this courtyard with Iolaire. Other than Esme’s
opening line, none of them had actually directly spoken to him. So
there was that.
Esme turned fully to Iolaire, who had stopped cleaning to observe
her almost shyly. She took a few steps towards the White Dragon.
Her expression was surprisingly tender. “Aren’t you beautiful! Oh,
my such a lovely one. I am Esme, the Blue Dragon. My Spirit’s name
is Scylla.”
Esme is a friend, Valerius assured Caden. Though she looks like a
stylish grandmother, she has the most strategic mind of all of us.
She seems nice! Caden exclaimed, and Valerius got an impression
of long lost grandparents from Caden’s past that he missed dearly.
He wanted to warn Caden that Esme was more like Marban than she
was like those fuzzy memories of white-haired older people who
brought presents and smiles. But Iolaire was already slowly lowering
its head so that its eyes were even with hers. Iolaire then slowly
blinked, cat-like once more. Esme reached out to touch Iolaire.
“May I, dear Iolaire?” she asked.
Iolaire pushed its nose into her hand. She let out a delighted laugh
and was soon scratching and embracing the massive head. She
pulled back to gaze at Iolaire with affection. A huff of frost exited
Iolaire’s mouth. The White Dragon looked apologetic, but Esme
tsked.
“I control water, dear one. We are aligned. You see?”
She moved her hand through the last tendrils of drifting fog. They
curled around her fingers and then transformed into water droplets
that formed a small pool in her hand. Iolaire licked the water up
experimentally, which had her laughing delightedly again. She patted
Iolaire’s nose.
“Valerius, Iolaire is quite the charmer!” Esme’s pale cheeks were pink
with pleasure. Her sea blue eyes looked quite brilliantly happy.
At that moment, Valerius realized that she was glad for this new
addition to their kind. He had thought she would be more concerned
about the politics of it, and the potential disruption of the power
balance. It was she who had suggested the splitting of the planet into
territories. But, at this time, she seemed simply happy to embrace a
new Spirit in the realm.
“Iolaire is at that.” Valerius strode towards them, and immediately,
Iolaire pressed its snout against Valerius’ chest. Hot breath gusted
over him, nearly blowing his robe off.
Chione came over as well. She got a lick from Iolaire in greeting.
That left just Simi and Ngoye standing at attention by the doors of
the throne room--where they were supposed to be--and Illarion,
standing awkwardly a dozen feet away. The Green Dragon Shifter
was no longer scowling, well, no more than he naturally did. He
looked thoughtful, which had Valerius feeling uneasy. Illarion had
definitely not given up on getting Iolaire. Seeing Valerius observing
him, Illarion met his gaze evenly. He gave a small smile to Valerius.
“Well, this visit has not been boring yet,” Illarion said as he
approached.
Iolaire’s head rose abruptly as it turned to regard Illarion out of cool,
blue eyes.
Illarion hesitated in mid-step. He finally held up his hands. “I have no
ill will towards you.”
“That is hardly what you were saying earlier,” Chione remarked dryly.
Illarion let out a few chuckles that didn’t sound authentic. “I was…
startled. I am not used to being manhandled.”
This coincided with Valerius’ own beliefs. Illarion was off his game.
He had revealed too much in that temper tantrum of his.
But he expected to come here and what? Valerius wondered and
narrowed his eyes. He has gone too long unchecked. No one can
challenge him in his own territory, but here, he has had a small
Dragon take him down to nothing.
“It was quite a bit more than that, Illarion.” Esme’s expression was
mild, but there was a sharpness to her tone.
Illarion’s expression grew dark for a moment, but then with a visible
effort, he smoothed it into a smile with another chuckle and shrug. “I
had no idea of our newest addition’s powers.” His gaze hardened for
a moment. “But next time I won’t be caught off guard.”
Iolaire regarded him with a speculative look. The White Dragon
Spirit was new, but clearly it wasn’t a fool.
“But, I would say let us put this in the past. I am willing to forgive, if
you are,” Illarion said to Iolaire.
What the Hell? He’s willing to forgive?! He’s the one in the wrong!
Caden cried, clearly furious over Illarion’s behavior. Not to mention
he needs to apologize to YOU! Not me!
Iolaire turned its head away from Illarion and pointedly looked at
Valerius. Illarion grimaced, that darkness returning to his expression,
but again, he made an effort to be apologetic. He spread his arms
wide and lowered his head.
“I see that I am to ask for your forgiveness, Valerius.” Illarion waited
for him to say something in return. Valerius was silent for long
moments, which caused the Green Dragon Shifter to glance up. “I
could not resist flying around your beautiful city.”
He bit you! Caden grumbled. That had nothing to do with
sightseeing!
I know, Caden. His lies are transparent and pathetic, Valerius
answered.
Green Dragon pathetic, Raziel growled. His Spirit was watchful. It
wanted to make sure that Illarion made no move towards Iolaire.
Raziel was feeling just as protective as he was. We should crush
him.
For once, Valerius wasn’t quick to disagree. These actions were
tantamount to spitting in his face. He thought, too, of the abuses that
the President of the United States and Prime Minister of Canada had
brought to his attention. Illarion was flaunting all the rules. If he did
nothing it might be worse than acting.
“I wonder, Illarion, what your reaction would have been if Valerius
had come to Moscow and buzzed those minarets of yours without
your permission?” Esme asked almost sweetly.
Illarion’s jaw worked, but then he shrugged. “I think it would give my
people quite the show! They normally only get to see other Dragons
on television or the net.”
“I am surprised that they know there are other Dragons out there.
After all, you do limit your people’s access to the internet and every
television station is state run,” Chione said in the same tone as
Esme.
Instead of taking offense, Illarion acted like the two women were
simply silly as he said, “I think information is overrated. Most people
cannot understand their own limited existences let alone a whole
world of them. I make things simpler for my people in this time of
information overload. They don’t need to unplug and disconnect,
because their lives are much more in the moment.”
“Very little information comes out of your territory as well, Illarion,”
Chione pointed out. “It seems like you do not want anyone to know
what you are doing there.”
Illarion’s smile was hard. “Both I and my people want our privacy. Not
all of us want our actions splashed over the news! That first battle
between you and Iolaire was quite the sensation, Valerius! Those
poor citizens of yours that got in the way. They made such a fuss
about peasants dying. That is all what the free press is good for!”
Valerius gritted his jaw. “Every one of my people is precious to me.”
“Then it must have pained you greatly to have crushed so many of
them.” Illarion grinned.
Valerius did not answer. His temper was starting to fray dangerously
again.
Don’t listen to him! Caden sounded disgusted. He’s not worth the
time! He hasn’t even noticed that you didn’t accept his apology!
He will, Valerius said. He had a plan. He would put it in place.
“I do not understand why you will not shift,” Illarion was saying to
Iolaire. “Are you vain? Worried that your human form is not as
pretty?”
Oh, please! This guy is a jackass! Caden groused.
“The White Dragon Shifter--like you and your people, Illarion--values
their privacy. None of you will be meeting them in their human form,”
Valerius remarked dryly.
Iolaire’s tail swished happily at his words. He felt Caden’s relief at
them as well. Illarion looked like he was sucking on a lemon.
“But this is nonsense! How are we to court them if they are unable
to speak?” Illarion cried. He then thrust a finger in Valerius’ face.
“How do we know this isn’t your doing? That you haven’t threatened
Iolaire to remain in Dragon form so that you have the advantage over
us?”
The urge to simply bite that finger off was huge in Valerius’ mind, but
he stayed quite still, not even blinking. “I assure you that this is
Iolaire’s decision. And I am surprised that you worry about Iolaire
speaking to you. Considering you just like making pronouncements
about it being your mate without a word from it.”
Illarion put his hands on his hips and grinned. “One needs to be
aggressive. Stand back and someone might take your place.”
Or you just come off as some creepy, controlling asshat, Caden
remarked.
Valerius smiled. Again, it wasn’t a nice smile. “I assure you, Illarion,
that based upon what I know of Iolaire, you could crow every
moment of every day and it wouldn’t make much of a difference.”
That should be my line, but thanks, since I can’t say it! Caden told
him.
“We shall see.” Illarion appeared completely unrepentant.
Esme was back to patting Iolaire’s snout, and Illarion moved closer
to get in on that action. Iolaire let out an angry snort of frost. Esme
turned it into a thin glass wall between Illarion and Iolaire.
“Do not press your luck, Illarion,” Esme said dryly. “Iolaire does not
want you near.”
“Does this mean you intend to throw your hat into the ring, Esme,
and not just be an observer as you usually are? That you are here
to court the White Dragon, too?” The Russian accent made the
words even more biting.
Esme narrowed her eyes at him. “Dear boy, rushing in where angels
fear to tread with an arrogant smile on your face might be your way
of interacting with the world, but it has never been mine. And my
way has served me well throughout the millennia.”
As if to prove her point that her way was better, she scratched under
Iolaire’s chin. Iolaire’s eyelids shut in pleasure.
“I just thought that your friendship here with Valerius would preclude
such actions by you,” Illarion said.
Esme continued to scratch Iolaire. “You see things as always in a
binary way, Illarion. Mine or yours. Yes or no. Enemy or ally. All or
nothing. It’s so… interesting.”
Illarion’s smile faded a watt. He knew she was insulting him, but
couldn’t quite figure out how, because, like she had said, he thought
of things in those terms and couldn’t see what was wrong with it.
“My way has served me well, too,” Illarion told her stiffly.
“Hmmm,” she answered noncommittally as she continued to scratch
Iolaire’s chin. “If you say so. You have not asked about your ability to
shift, Illarion. I, for one, would be most curious about when you’ll be
able to do that again.”
Illarion’s jaw worked for a moment. “I imagine… that it will wear off
soon.”
Chione let out a soft huff of breath that almost sounded like a laugh.
Illarion’s head jerked towards her.
“If you have something to say then say it!” Illarion snapped at her.
“Do not speak to Chione in that manner,” Valerius’ voice was cold.
“Apologize.”
“She…” Illarion stopped himself. He rolled his lips together. “I… I
apologize for my tone.”
“Your apology is accepted, Illarion. I want you to have a pleasant
stay in Valerius’ territory,” Chione said gracefully. “Despite how things
have started out. Perhaps not having the ability to shift for some
period of time would be a good thing.”
Alarm flared in Illarion’s eyes. They darted all around. He was
realizing that his time stuck in his human form was going to be
longer than he’d thought. That was good to see.
“Are you letting all the Dragons come here, Valerius?” Illarion asked
as he watched the scratching.
“I let you come here, didn’t I?” Valerius pointed out.
Illarion’s eyes narrowed. “I would have come regardless.”
There was such tension for a moment that the air seemed to solidify
with it. Iolaire let out a low hoot to remind him that violence was not
the answer. Simi and Ngoye were alert at the doors, ready to come
charging in. Chione’s hands flexed together in front of her chest as
her gaze skipped between Valerius and Illarion. Esme concentrated
on Iolaire, but he felt her waiting for his reaction. He was going to
give it.
We need to crush him, Raziel repeated from earlier.
Yes, I think we do.
At that moment, there was a commotion at the doors to the throne
room. Simi and Ngoye were holding back three large men, who from
their clothing and grim-faced demeanor, were a part of Illarion’s
entourage.
“You remain here until allowed forward,” Simi growled at a bear of a
man that stood two heads taller than him. Not that the Snake Shifter
was intimidated. He looked about ready to strike.
“I am here to serve my master,” the bear-man snarled in a Russian
accented voice. He was holding a robe for Illarion.
“My king has not said you can come out here,” Simi hissed back.
So everybody that serves Illarion is a bastard, Caden said. Good to
know.
Valerius gave a mirthless smile then he strode over to the bear-man.
He pulled the robe out of his hands. The bear-man was so startled
by his sudden appearance that all he did was open his mouth, but
nothing came out.
“I will take this. Wait here. I would have words with your master
before he retires to his quarters,” Valerius told him. He then went
over and took Illarion’s arm firmly by one hand and dragged the
Green Dragon Shifter over away from everyone. “Come, Illarion, I
would speak with you.”
Illarion’s eyes went a sulfurous yellow at being manhandled yet
again, but in their human forms, Valerius was stronger too.
What are you doing, Valerius? Caden sounded uneasy.
Setting the ground rules, he answered simply.
When they were apart from the others with a semblance of privacy,
Valerius released Illarion’s arm and held up his robe for him to put
on. Illarion’s brow furrowed. He was clearly wondering why Valerius
was offering to help him into his robe. It was also clear he suspected
a trap.
Valerius tilted his head to the side and cocked an eyebrow. Slowly,
Illarion turned and allowed Valerius to help him on with the robe.
Just as Illarion had slipped it over both shoulders, Valerius’ hands
bore down on those same shoulders. Illarion let out a soft gasp at
the pain as Valerius squeezed.
Valerius’ voice was low, “Illarion, let me make two things clear. Your
insults and disrespect towards me are not forgiven, and you will pay
for them in due time.”
“I--”
“Silence!” He squeezed harder on those shoulders. He heard
Illarion’s teeth grinding together to keep back the pained sounds that
wanted to escape him. “But here is the most important part for that
little pea brain of yours to understand. Are you listening?”
“You are getting dangerously close to--”
“Are you listening?” Valerius could have truly crushed some of
Illarion’s bones if he squeezed any harder.
Illarion grunted and nodded.
Valerius continued, “If you do anything--if you even attempt to do
anything--to harm Iolaire, I promise that I will rip your wings off and
feed them to you. Is that understood?”
There was a half second of hesitation, but then Illarion nodded
sharply again as Valerius started to squeeze even harder. He let
Illarion go. The Green Dragon Shifter let out an involuntary gasp,
and reached up to touch his shoulders, but stopped himself.
Valerius met Illarion’s shadowed gaze, and with another of those not-
nice smiles said, “Now, let’s get you settled somewhere out of the
way.”
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT: GO PLAY
Caden wondered exactly how and where he was going to go in order
to shift back to his human form in privacy. Despite his and Iolaire’s
seeming nonchalance around Illarion, neither of them was keen on
staying any longer in the same space as the Green Dragon Shifter
than absolutely necessary.
Illarion’s eyes were hard. His expressions were hard. He was a hard,
unyielding person who had no interest in Caden or Iolaire for any
good reason. Truthfully, he made the skin between their shoulder
blades crawl.
Esme cooed at him, and he smiled down at her. They liked the Blue
Dragon and wasn’t that ultra cool that she could actually control
water when she was human?!
Can we do that, Iolaire? Can we make ice when we’re in our human
form?
Iolaire hooted that it didn’t know. It had never seen that before.
While Esme would be the most logical person to ask, they couldn’t,
because she couldn’t hear their thoughts. Relaying them through
Valerius would not be wise, because both of them were pretty sure
Valerius wanted that ability kept secret. But perhaps Valerius or
Raziel would know if they could use their gifts in human form.
Speaking of gifts, what else do you have up your sleeve, Iolaire?
That thing of changing people from Shifter to human was pretty
surprising! Caden asked his mysterious Spirit.
Iolaire hooted and pretended--or so it seemed to Caden--that it didn’t
understand his question.
Why won’t you tell me all we can do? Caden pushed.
Iolaire blinked slowly at him, doing that cat-like loving thing. Caden
sighed. Iolaire was being coy, though he didn’t know why. Of all the
people that should know what they could do, shouldn’t Caden be one
of them? But maybe Iolaire didn’t know itself. The sense he had
when Iolaire acted up in the air was that it was going by instinct.
Right now, Iolaire was staring at Illarion, who was staring back. It
shifted their stance, lifting their wings and settling them back down
lightly to make them appear bigger. It was the equivalent of a cat
puffing up its tail and fur on its body. Illarion cocked his head to the
side and smiled. Iolaire went quite still. Valerius looked between
them and saw what was happening. He stepped between Illarion and
Iolaire.
Ignore him. He will be handled, Valerius assured Caden and Iolaire.
Right. He’s… he’s leaning over so that I can see him behind you,
Caden remarked dryly.
Valerius pinched the top of his nose at this information. Just focus
on me then. It seems he cannot help himself.
Even after you nearly crushed his shoulders, he’s still pushing this,
Caden realized.
Illarion is the type who does not stop until he hits a wall that will not
break for him. He will bash himself against it for a time before he
realizes he cannot get through, Valerius explained.
So you’re comparing yourself to a wall? Caden grinned.
Among other things, Valerius answered with a small smile.
I think Iolaire and I should take off if you’re settling everyone in for
tonight, Caden told him reluctantly.
Chione was already urging Esme towards the doors. He was sure
that Illarion would stay just where he was for all time if Iolaire was
there. So the only option was for them to go.
Caden couldn’t quite hide the disappointment that their time together
had come to an end. For today, at least. But now, anytime he saw
Valerius he would have to be in his Dragon form and that wasn’t as
fun. And it wouldn’t be just the two of them either. Iolaire hung their
head.
Yes, Valerius sounded just as disappointed as he did. That would be
wise. You should return to the pond and take the car back to Reach.
Caden nodded his head. Or rather Iolaire nodded.
Esme, who had been watching the exchanges between them,
opened her eyes hugely wide. “Are you communicating telepathically
with one another, Valerius?”
Valerius did not answer her. Instead, he put an arm around her
shoulders. “We have much to discuss, Esme.”
“Oh, you’re going to be coy, aren’t you? I suppose that just means
that I have to wrangle it out of you,” she laughed, seeming happy
with it being a mystery.
Valerius smiled at her. He wasn’t going to give away anything. He
then called to Caden, Fly well. I will be in contact with you as to
when you need to appear next for this circus.
Caden felt a sudden sense of panic. But what about seeing you?
Are we going to fly together? I can’t do this without you! He hadn’t
meant to let that out, especially so plaintively. I mean, of course, I
can. Just--
Caden, I know. We are in this together. As to whether we can meet
alone… Valerius considered this. He bit his lower lip. It was clear he
wanted to fly with Caden, but didn’t think it was safe to do so. I will
be under surveillance constantly by the other Dragon Shifters. They
will all want to discover your human identity. But I will find a way to
get to you. Right now, I am very grateful that Iolaire is agreeable to
remaining in your human form for as long as needed.
Right. Yeah. Caden still felt uneasy and at sea. I just… you know,
we just… we just started this thing between us and--and the Dragon
thing and--
Caden, all is well. I wish to be with you. More than anything. But we
must be careful right now, Valerius’ tone was gentle. Please know
that this stricture on seeing you is not something I wish to do. It is
what I MUST do to keep you safe.
Okay, okay, I’m just panicking a little bit, Caden admitted, frisking
happily at the clear desire on Valerius’ part to be together. And I miss
you already.
Valerius’ expression softened even further. As do I. Be careful,
Caden. Do not do anything foolish. Go directly to the pond.
What about the press? Iolaire lifted their head towards the
helicopter--actually helicopters--that were hovering all around High
Reach, filming them.
Valerius frowned. But Chione was already on it.
“I have contacted the media, the helicopters will be moving away,”
Chione called to them.
And within a few seconds, the helicopters were flying off in all
directions, and soon the skies above Reach were empty but for
clouds.
“Oh, how clever you are, dear,” Esme said. “After some naughtiness
with the press in London, I’ve had to impose no fly rules while I am in
residence.”
“While Valerius has offered to buzz them, I have assured him that a
quid pro quo with the media is far more beneficial,” Chione told her.
Illarion let out a cold laugh. “Negotiating with those jackals?!” He
shook his head. “Why? Take out a few of their helicopters and see
how close they get after that.” Everyone just stared at him coldly. He
crossed his arms and muttered, “My way is better.”
Valerius pinched the top of his nose again. He then reached over
and caressed Iolaire’s big head. Iolaire cooed at him, which had
Illarion jerking towards them. His brows furrowed as he stared at the
evident affection between them. A scowl started to form on Illarion’s
handsome yet hard face.
“Iolaire, I regret taking my leave of you,” Valerius said as he stroked
Iolaire’s head. It felt so good and Iolaire rustled their wings in
pleasure. “But we shall see each other soon.”
The Black Dragon King then stepped back. He urged his guests and
Chione over to the doors so that Caden could easily lift off from the
courtyard.
“The White Dragon is leaving?” Illarion gestured towards him. “But
we are only here to see it! And it’s leaving?”
“You have seen Iolaire,” Valerius pointed out. “If that is all you were
here for, you may leave now, too.”
“You know what I am here for, Valerius!” Illarion scowled at the Black
Dragon King. “And I will not leave without it.”
The Green Dragon Shifter then spun on his heel and joined the jack-
booted thugs he had brought with him. The four of them stormed
inside. Valerius’ lips flattened.
Remember that we’re ignoring him, Caden reminded Valerius. He’s
not worth your breath. And he’s getting nothing he wants out of this
visitation with me.
Valerius gave a slight nod. He is dangerous, Caden. Remember that.
Oh, I will.
“Goodbye, dear Iolaire!” Esme called to him with a wave. “I look
forward to seeing you soon. Perhaps we can go flying together and
see how water and ice can be used to create unique effects.”
Iolaire was eagerly nodding their head to that. It sensed that they
could learn much from the Blue Dragon Shifter. If they trusted her.
She seems really willing to teach, Caden agreed. I think… Well, I
think she might be trustworthy too.
That surprised him a little. He’d seen Esme on television and the net
before. She’d always seemed charming and warm. She seemed
that now though there was a slightly harder edge about her that
hadn’t been present for the cameras. But Valerius had told him that
the other Dragon Shifters hadn’t gotten their Spirits through
necessarily noble acts. He wondered how she got hers.
But beyond all of that, he wondered if she wanted to teach him
things. He had thought that all the other Dragon Shifters would want
to make sure that he didn’t become powerful and threaten them. Not
that he could threaten them really. Even with this new gift, he was
pretty sure it had limits. He wasn’t sure if it would work all the time,
or on how many Dragons it would work on, or for how long if there
was more than one that was affected.
Chione waved to him as well. “See you soon, Iolaire!”
Stay safe, Caden, Valerius sent once more. Remember, right back to
the pond.
They nodded. It was time to go. Iolaire had just started to flap their
wings when Caden suddenly worried they wouldn’t be able to
gracefully get up into the air again. He pictured them going up a few
feet then falling over or soaring into the side of High Reach or falling
into one of the mansions below. But Iolaire had it covered and they
were up and safely away from the castle within moments. Valerius’
form became smaller and smaller. Caden felt a wave of depression
go through him.
I can’t believe we won’t get to see Valerius and Raziel alone for
like… ever, Caden sighed.
Iolaire hooted sadly as well. Though he hadn’t really thought about
it, Iolaire must have experienced what he and Valerius had done
sexually. Iolaire knew how he felt about Valerius, too. But the Spirit
had not been intrusive at all, giving him total privacy. But still, Iolaire
was impacted too by this relationship, and he had never asked the
Spirit what it thought.
Iolaire, you are okay with me and Valerius… uhm, being together,
right?
Iolaire appeared startled. Not startled because he had asked, but
startled, because it was completely on board. He got the sense from
it that it would never tell him “no” as to what lovers or friends he
picked, that Iolaire was utterly pleased. There was some hooting and
a little bit of hiding its head beneath a wing in Caden’s mind’s eye--
not in real life as they were flying--as it expressed admiration for
Raziel.
You like Raziel, huh? That’s awesome! It’s like dating brothers or
something. Huh, I’m glad that this is working out.
Iolaire softly hooted again, and made clear that it wondered if he
thought that Raziel liked Iolaire back.
I think Raziel is pretty chuffed about you, to be honest. Let there be a
Dragon romance!
Iolaire let out a hoot of delight, sending their head back and allowing
a puff of frost to be released as they flew over Reach. The White
Dragon was taking the long way back to the pond, and Caden didn’t
mind that at all. In fact, despite what he’d told Valerius, he didn’t
want to go back there just yet. This was the first time he had a
chance to just be with Iolaire. Couldn’t he do what he liked for once?
Why wasn’t he free to simply fly around like Valerius did and then go
back to the pond when he had a mind to? Maybe they should take
this opportunity to do something on their own.
Hey, Iolaire, Tilly is at Spirit Park today with her friends. Maybe she’s
still there. We could drop down and give her that ride we promised,
Caden suggested. No one will know that we aren’t just meeting up
randomly with some kids. Tilly won’t give us away.
Caden could almost feel Valerius’ disapproval even though the Black
Dragon King did not know what he was doing.
What could possibly go wrong with this? We’re just going to go
down for a few minutes!
Iolaire was eager to meet his sister and readily agreed. Nothing
would go wrong!
Let those not be famous last words!
They curved to the left and headed towards the large park on the
south side of the Mid. Spirit Park was dedicated to the Spirits that
transformed humans into Shifters. There was plenty of lawn space
where people could play games, picnic or just hang out. There were
also large swathes of forest with running-walking paths threading
through their leafy vastnesses. Finally, there was a large pond where
people swam and fished called Little Lost Lake. Tilly liked to hang
out near the swimming pond. He directed Iolaire in that direction.
Let’s see if we can catch sight of her. I hope she’s still there.
And they were in luck. As Iolaire flew them lower to the ground, they
caught sight of his sister and her two best friends, Tobey Caudle and
Macauley Smythe. His sister was in the center of the group, and
immediately clapped her hands together when she saw Iolaire.
Tobey, a gangly 13-year-old with thick Coke-bottle glasses and too
long legs, jumped up and down in excitement. Macauley, who was
scared of just about everything, froze and curled down rabbit-like.
Tilly patted Macauley’s back in encouragement. Iolaire landed about
fifty feet from the group. Caden had been so excited to see his sister,
that he hadn’t worried about the landing.
Humans can’t fly, but Dragons can. So long as I leave the flying to
you, I think we’re safe, right, Iolaire? Caden asked.
Iolaire hooted. Caden would learn, but for now, it was better that
Iolaire was in control of this Dragon business.
I wish we could talk to Tilly, though it seems she knows what’s up!
Here they come, Caden laughed.
Tilly and Tobey linked their arms through Macauley’s and practically
dragged her to him and Iolaire.
“Iolaire!” Tilly called breathlessly as they skidded to a halt about ten
feet away.
Good job at not calling me Caden, Tills! Caden thought happily.
Iolaire let out a soft hoot and, immediately, lowered its head so that
the teens wouldn’t feel loomed over. And they might get scratches as
well. Tilly had absolutely no fear, of course, but she seemed a little
awed as she carefully walked towards them.
C’mon, Tilly, it’s just us! Caden thought.
Tilly slowly lifted up a hand to touch Iolaire’s snout. She lightly
placed it between Iolaire’s two nostrils. Iolaire let out a heavy frosty
breath that had her laughing.
“Iolaire seems to know you, Tilly,” Tobey said as he pushed his
glasses up. They constantly slid down his nose.
Macauley--who had both hands up, covering her face, peered out
between her fingers--and asked in a shaky voice, “I-i-is i-i-i-t a n-n-
nice, D-D-Dragon?”
“The nicest!” Tilly assured them then quickly realizing that this
confirmed that she had some kind of special relationship with the
White Dragon, she added, “I mean, I think so! You all saw it on TV
last night.”
Tobey took a few steps forward. Iolaire settled down in its “round-
cat” pose as Caden thought of it, and curled its tail around its body
and front claws hidden beneath its body so that it looked more
approachable.
“Wow!” Tobey murmured as he carefully stroked Iolaire’s left upper
arm. “It’s so warm! I thought it would be cold, but it isn’t.”
Macauley darted forward, touched or more like patted Iolaire once,
and ran away again. At least, she had taken her hands from her
face.
I wonder if she would be so afraid if she knew it was me, Caden
wondered.
“This is so cool!” Tobey remarked as he circled Iolaire and looked at
every part of the dragon. “Why do you suppose it landed here
though? There’s only the three of us.”
“Because it wanted to meet people, but not be overwhelmed,” Tilly
said, though her gaze went out to the wide expanse of lawn.
“Though I’m betting it won’t be just us for very long.”
Macauley had approached the tip of Iolaire’s tail. Immediately, the
White Dragon started to tease her with it. Macauley watched with an
open mouth as the tail behaved like its own creature and tried to
tickle her. She squeaked and jumped up and down. She then slowly
reached out to pat the tail’s “head” or rather, its tip. It darted up and
touched her cheek as if to give her a kiss. She giggled.
Tobey, having finished his inspection, stood with hands on hips and
said with evident satisfaction, “This is the best thing ever!”
Tilly laughed and nodded in agreement. She was leaning against
Iolaire’s shoulder. Iolaire sent a few puffs of frost into the air so that
snowflakes floated down onto her hair and shoulders. She looked
like a little fairy princess.
“Can you imagine Valerius coming down and hanging out with us in
the park like this?” Tobey asked as he clambered on top of Iolaire’s
left forearm and sat on it. Iolaire moved it up and down so it was like
a ride. Tobey let out shouts of glee.
“No way!” Tilly shook her head.
Macauley, who now was happily being held up by the tail, looked
alarmed again, “Oh, it would be so scary if the Black Dragon came
down to us!”
“I think it would be awesome,” Tobey contradicted her.
I wonder if I could convince him to land where people can actually
see and touch him, Caden murmured.
Iolaire thought that this was a brilliant idea. He and Raziel could ferry
kids on their backs across the lake. They could make fire and ice
shows that people would ooh and ahh at. Caden wasn’t so sure that
Valerius would be up for that, even if Raziel could be convinced to do
so. He didn’t think that even Iolaire’s charms could convince Raziel
to do it.
“You just say that now because the Black Dragon isn’t here!”
Macauley gulped. “But you’d be scared too if the Black Dragon came
down!”
“Well, yeah, a little bit, but it’s not like he couldn’t just as easily kill
me from the sky as from the ground,” Tobey pointed out.
That didn’t soothe Macauley predictably. “Kill you? Why would he
want to kill you? What have you done?”
“Nothing! I was just kidding!” Tobey rolled his eyes.
Tilly was near Iolaire’s left ear and whispered, “Do I get my chance to
fly today?”
Iolaire nodded eagerly even as Caden felt a little trepidation.
How are we going to stop her from falling off? Or suffocating or
something? I mean maybe--oh, man! You’ve gotta be kidding me,
Caden murmured.
There were people coming up the rise of the grass field. They were
people clearly interested in seeing Iolaire. But even if Caden hadn’t
seen the angry scowls on their faces, or the bricks or bats and
pieces of glass they held, he would have heard the angry calls of
“Host” and “Parasite”.
Humans First had found the White Dragon Shifter.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE: RESTRAINT

“Are you seeing this, dear?” Esme’s voice rose up to a twitter as she
spoke to Chione.
There was a momentary silence as Valerius imagined Esme showing
Chione something on the web or television, and then his Councillor
murmured, “Oh, my, how did that happen? I thought… they should
not be there!”
“It looks like they went to play with the children and… well, Human’s
First are everywhere. Sort of like cockroaches, you know,” Esme
answered her.
Valerius, who was changing on one of his eyrie perches in his tower,
frowned. Esme and Chione were seated on the ground floor of the
tower by the fire, sipping glasses of wine. He hadn’t invited Illarion.
According to his servants, Illarion had collapsed on his bed, though
the Green Dragon King had pretended not to be tired after his fast,
long flight, he clearly had been.
So who could the two women be talking about? He expected them
to be discussing strategy about how to deal with an awake Illarion,
not to mention the other Dragon Shifters that were to start arriving
the next day. But no, they appeared to be looking at the news and
seeing something involving Humans First. What were the Human’s
First doing now? Didn’t he have enough trouble with Illarion here
and Mei to follow close on his heels in the morrow to deal with those
idiots?
“I don’t think we should tell him. He’s already so wound up with
Illarion being here,” Esme murmured, casting her voice so low that
he almost didn’t hear it, but he was quite tuned into them. “And it’s
not like they could really do anything after all.”
Chione didn’t answer. He glanced over the side of his perch quickly
enough to see his Councillor nod her head instead. He flattened his
lips. They were supposed to be plotting on his behalf, not against
him. For he was sure who the “he” in that sentence was.
Iolaire and Caden have done something, Raziel grumbled. It was
already curled in a ball, half asleep after the wonderful afternoon with
Caden and the straining not to kill Illarion. That last bit had definitely
exhausted his Spirit.
No, surely not. I told them to go home. They would not disobey such
a rational command, Valerius retorted. But a seed of unease was
planted. What else would Esme and Chione be adverse to telling
him if it was not about Caden and Iolaire? It must be something
else. Because even if they did not go straight home, the likelihood of
them running into Human’s First is--
They have done something, Raziel stated. They are young and invite
trouble.
Unnerved, Valerius launched himself off of the platform to the next
to the next and next before landing in what Chione called his “hero’s
pose” with one knee bent and one leg stretched out behind him. The
two women clapped, though both of them were just as limber. He
weighed being annoyed or amused and decided to bow.
Let them make of that what they will.
“Valerius, you look refreshed. Would you like some wine?” Chione
asked, quickly hiding an iPad behind her back.
“What were the two of you watching?” Valerius asked evenly as he
stood there, unmoving.
“Oh, nothing!” Chione lied airily.
He lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”
Esme quickly poured him a glass of wine and, smiling winningly,
thrust it towards him. “Please join us, Valerius. There is nothing
worse than drinking alone.”
“You are drinking with Chione,” he pointed out. “That is hardly alone.”
Esme blinked innocently. “Yes, but it feels ever so much better the
more people there are joining in.”
He, however, avoided the glass of wine and went to grab his own
iPad off the side table. He heard a slight groan from Chione as he
tapped on his browser. It did not take long for him to find what they
had been looking at. Every channel was showing it.
“They are all right, Valerius,” Chione said weakly.
“It’s not like they can be hurt by those idiots,” Esme offered.
She began drinking her wine and his own. He wasn’t sure if the
drinking belied her words or if she was just thirsty after her long flight
across the Atlantic. Valerius ignored both of them as he watched the
screen. He went rigid.
“…not fifteen minutes ago, the White Dragon Shifter alighted in the
park and began to cavort with the children there, but their time of
peace was soon over as they were approached by a group of
Humans First protestors armed with bats, knives and who knows
what else!” the female newscaster said breathlessly. Her eyes shone
with excitement as she added with baited breath, “One wonders if
there will be violence!”
One did not have to wonder if the newscaster hoped there would be.
It was clear she did. He dropped the iPad and was pivoting towards
the balcony, ready to shift and take off to the park to rescue his
foolish—beloved—young man. But Chione caught his arm. He shot
a look at her that would have probably killed another in her place.
“Chione,” he growled.
“You can’t go. No matter how much you want to. You must not go,”
Chione told him, her eyes full of pleading.
“She’s right, you know. The Black Dragon King cannot fly into that
park and torch those odious Humans First people,” Esme agreed,
her hands tightening on the glasses of wine. “Even if warranted.”
“Why not?” he barked, even though he already knew on some level
why not.
“They cannot hurt Iolaire,” Chione repeated a statement from earlier.
“I’ve sent Simi and the Claw down there to observe and act if it is
necessary. The police are also present. The biggest Werewolves
they have are already infiltrating the park. Again, not that Iolaire
needs their help. They cannot harm the White Dragon Shifter.”
“Not their body, no. But their soul…” Valerius’ lips flattened.
Shouldn’t he want Caden and Iolaire to learn the lesson that not
everyone was good? That not everyone should be trusted? That
humans, especially, were a group of reactionary monkeys still on
many levels?
“If you go down there to save the day, Valerius, you not only risk
more violence against Shifters, you raise Humans First profile,”
Chione explained carefully. “That will only give the group more
influence, not less.”
“But they are threatening Iolaire!” he roared.
“They are insects thinking that their buzzing is going to threaten a
mountain,” Esme laughed. “Iolaire’s hide is as thick as ours. They
proved that by resisting your attack, Valerius, the day they arrived.”
That was true. If anyone could have truly hurt Caden and Iolaire, it
would have been him and Raziel.
What do you think? Valerius asked Raziel as his gaze dipped to the
iPad.
The scene now showed the White Dragon Shifter completely
surrounded by the howling mob of Humans First. With a start, he
recognized Tilly seated on Iolaire’s back. Beside her were two other
children. The other two looked scared, but Tilly appeared furious.
She was staring at the mob with her hands clenched over her thighs
and her eyes practically sparking fire.
Now she would make a great Dragon Shifter, Raziel rumbled in
amusement.
She would. But she’s human, Raziel. She can easily break. All the
more reason for us to go there and assert our dominance, Valerius
argued.
No, Raziel said after a long moment.
No? Valerius couldn’t hide his shock. He had fully expected his red-
blooded Spirit to want to fly down there and bring order. But—
Iolaire can protect them. We would undermine them if we went
there. They must learn to assert their own dominance in their own
way. We would crush their spirit if we constantly interfered, Raziel
explained.
And as soon as Raziel said it, Valerius understood that his Spirit was
right. But they are so young and inexperienced!
Yes, as we once were.
I do not recall us ever being so innocent, Valerius muttered.
Perhaps not. But we had to begin somewhere. This is their
beginning, Raziel answered.
“I see that you are not going to fly down and attempt to save the day.
What happened? Did our words reach you or oh my! Not Raziel! I
believe the world must be ending if Raziel is advising restraint.”
Esme offered him yet a third glass of wine. Evidently, she was intent
on drinking both of the other glasses herself.
“You are correct. Raziel believes that Iolaire must handle this by
themselves,” Valerius growled. He grabbed the glass of wine and
took it over on the couch before settling down with the iPad. He
would watch every moment of this. If things went south, he would go
down there.
“Here, let me put it on the big screen,” Chione said and turned on the
large screen that was almost invisible against the far wall.
She had on a different channel. This one had a handsome African-
American reporter dressed in a smart suit with horn-rimmed glasses.
His voice was low and melodic. It was the kind of voice that calmed
everyone down.
He was saying, “… Humans First have surrounded the White Dragon
Shifter and the three children it was playing with. Though Humans
First have demanded the children be released, the children
themselves have something very different to say about it.”
The camera then cut to Tilly shouting at the chanting Humans First
members, “You’re all just a bunch of racist (BLEEP)! Go away! We
don’t want to go with you! We’re staying with Iolaire! So get bent!”
Chione let out a burbling laugh. “Now she’s got some spunk, doesn’t
she? Though her parents are probably going to say something to
her about her choice of words.”
“Quite feisty.” Esme nodded. “Do you know her, dear?”
“No, not at all,” Chione lied, this time much more convincingly than
she had to him. “I just imagined what her parents would think.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” Esme murmured.
Valerius agreed with Chione that Tilly’s parents would not be amused
hearing their daughter swear on television. But, then again, they
might be more concerned that both of their children were staring
down an angry mob and he wasn’t doing anything about it.
The camera cut back to the soothing anchor and framed High Reach
behind him. “One wonders what Dragon King Valerius is going to do.
I have to say that I expected him out here before now. But, so far, no
sign of the Black Dragon Shifter.”
Valerius’ hands clenched into fists. The iPad shattered in his hands.
He tossed the remnants on the floor with a clatter, prepared to get up
again and go to Caden.
“I need to go—”
“Valerius!” Chione cried. “Give Iolaire a chance to handle this. If they
don’t, then you can go down.”
“What if something happens before then?” But he stopped himself.
“It won’t. Don’t you see how Iolaire is shielding the children with their
wings? Nothing can hurt them,” Chione said.
He took in Iolaire’s behavior. It was true. The children were very
safe where they were. And Iolaire could simply fly away if necessary.
But still, he said, “If something happens, I will root out every member
of Humans First and roast them alive.”
Esme blinked and said to her wine, “I would pay to see that.”
“They are causing you some pain, too, Esme?” Chione asked. “I
thought that they were more of an American issue.”
“It is actually worse across the pond than here in some ways,” Esme
admitted after a moment with an airy wave that was belied by the
large swallow of wine. “They try to paint their rancid hatred towards
Shifters as concern for jobs and culture, but it's speciesism pure and
simple. It’s easier to talk about Shifter versus human than it is to
discuss the change of the world overall. There are inequities, but
many are ones that existed even before we revealed ourselves to
the world. Though we speak of businesses as people, they are
sociopaths. They simply do not care for the havoc they cause when
they pay too little, lay people off, or simply work them to death. Other
problems… are simply the changes that Shifters being out has
wrought.”
“You mean how people will hire a Raven Shifter as their lawyer
instead of a human one?” Chione asked.
“Now that we no longer have to hide our immortality, we can prosper
even more greatly than before,” Esme explained. “More and more
wealth is retained by Shifters. Positions of rank and authority are
held by a majority of Shifters. Setting aside roles for just for humans
has been called the worst sort of affirmative action, which instead of
helping humanity, many claim undermines humans’ rights to lead in
any industry or politics. It makes them seem lesser.” Esme threw up
her arms, nearly making it rain wine. “But if we don’t set those
places aside, less and less humans are represented in important
roles, and people think that’s because they can’t be there.”
“Studies clearly show that when Shifters and humans work together
businesses are more vibrant, communities are better run, and many,
many other positive effects,” Chione offered. “Humanity has much to
offer."
“Sometimes I agree with you and those studies, dear. But then I see
this.” Esme pointed towards the screen, which now showed the
Humans First members chanting some anti-Shifter screed. It had the
words “parasites” and “hosts” often thrown in.
“They have strengths where we are weak. For example, they think
quickly and in the moment, whereas we often are thinking too many
steps ahead and are paralyzed with indecision, or even think that
there is plenty of time to come to one even when there is not,”
Chione argued.
“I’ll give you that. The humans in my cabinet are always eager to be
doing something,” Esme muttered. “I don’t see you praising
humanity today, Valerius. What do you think?”
“Sometimes I would like to live on the top of a mountain where no
one could bother me,” Valerius growled. “But that is not an option
any longer for me as the two people in this very room convinced me
that the only way to make peace in the world is if I ruled it.”
That had them quieting down and looking, what he thought anyway,
was a little guilty into their glasses of wine.
The news anchor was back. “Despite threats and cajoling, the
children still remain firmly with Iolaire. The White Dragon Shifter has
made no threatening moves towards anyone, though the crowd
appears to be growing more uneasy every moment. Where is Black
Dragon King Valerius?”
Valerius’ hands clenched again. Luckily, there were no more iPads
within reach to crush into splinters. “You see! They all want me to
come! They expect me to come!”
“Yes, they do, but why do they?” Chione challenged, hands on her
hips.
“Because Iolaire—”
“Needs help against board-wielding idiots? No, that is not why. It is
because it is Humans First. Jasper Hawes has tried to make
everything between you and him, when he doesn’t represent
humanity! He represents this ugly sliver of it,” Chione argued. “If
Iolaire was in danger, I would go there myself and do something. But
they are not. So I must counsel you to stay, Valerius. I know that this
is not what you want to do, but--”
“Since I have come to rule, there has been little of what I like to do
open to me!” he shouted at her.
He regretted it slightly the moment he did. She was not responsible
for what was happening with Iolaire and Caden now. He could leave
and go there no matter what she said. He was staying here because
he agreed with her.
But this is agony.
Yet at that moment, Iolaire appeared serene. Their blue eyes
searched the crowd for something. What did they see in the Humans
First faces other than hate? Caden would recognize the fury for
what it was, but would the Spirit? Iolaire seemed so terribly innocent,
more innocent than Caden even. Would seeing this ugliness hurt it?
Raziel snorted. Iolaire is strong. Do not think it is a delicate flower!
The newscaster went on, “It is unclear what Humans First wants. All
the children are now shouting at them to go away and other… ah,
colorful epithets. They clearly do not need saving.”
They cut to Tilly and her friends on Iolaire’s back who were all now
shouting at the protesters, shaking their fists in the air, blowing them
raspberries and making other rude gestures. Valerius was certain he
would be hearing all about this from Caden and Tilly’s parents.
The newscaster continued, “As the newest of the Dragon Shifters
with a more delicate touch than the others such as the Green
Dragon King Illarion or the Red Dragon Queen Mei—with her
notorious fiery temper—not to mention our very own Black Dragon
King Valerius, perhaps Humans First thinks it can push Iolaire
around!”
“They think they can push a Dragon around? They must have all
taken a few hits to the head,” Esme muttered. “But it does show how
delusional these Humans First people are to believe that they could
go up against one of us. Even the newest, smallest of us.”
“Iolaire is not violent. Not to say they can’t defend themselves,
obviously, but violence is not their way.” Chione was rubbing her
hands together in front of her.
But both of them went stiff as one of the protestors decided that they
had waited long enough for the children to be “returned” from the
back of the hated Shifter. He rushed forward with a two-by-four
raised above his head. The camera zoomed in on the end of the
piece of wood and there were rusted nails sticking out. They would
do nothing against Dragon hide, yet still, Valerius’ heart was in his
throat that board neared Iolaire. He saw the police surging forward at
the edge of the crowd, but they couldn’t get to the man who was
about to attack the White Dragon Shifter in time.
Caden, Iolaire, be careful!
That will not even tickle, Raziel muttered, head on its massive
crossed arms.
They are not fighters!
Iolaire is a mighty Dragon and those are foolish humans. All will be
well. Raziel seemed to be channeling Chione at that moment.
Esme gave out a hoot of delight as Iolaire grasped the edge of that
upraised board in their teeth and neatly yanked it out of the man’s
hands. The man, startled, was raised up a few feet in the air until he
wisely let go and tumbled onto his ass, stunned. Iolaire tossed the
board over onto the grass away from anyone. They then turned
back to the man whose mouth was open in an “O” of terror as Iolaire
leaned down and nudged him gently to his feet. He stumbled
backwards, letting out yells of fear until he realized that he wasn’t
being harmed. Well, except for the layer of frost over his clothes.
Tilly and the other children laughed and pointed at him, rolling
about. Soon, some of the crowd—those not in Humans’ First, or at
least those without weapons—laughed, too. The protestor’s cheeks
flared red. Iolaire preened which had people taking pictures and
crowding through the rowdy protestors to get nearer to the White
Dragon.
Chione hit his arm. Her face was wreathed in smiles. “See! See,
Valerius! Iolaire is doing just fine.”
“You sound as if you do not quite believe it yourself, Chione,” he
pointed out.
“Well, I am protective of them too,” she admitted sheepishly.
Caden and Iolaire had handled this well. In fact, they gently cleared
a way for the Werewolf police to get to the man who had attacked
them. The Humans First protestor was none too gently handcuffed
and read his rights before being hauled away. Another massive
Werewolf, though retaining his human form, stepped between the
front of the crowd and Iolaire.
This Shifter stood well over six feet. He was over half as wide with
muscles that were barely contained by his uniform. Valerius
recognized him. It was Police Chief Thorin Winterloss. Not only did
he run the police, but was the Alpha of one of the most powerful
Werewolf packs in America, the Blood Moon Pack. He was an
imposing figure, exuding authority, and menace, when he had a mind
to. Now, he was showing both.
“You will all disperse! The park is now closed! Every person who
remains in this park after the next five minutes will be arrested!”
Thorin barked, his voice booming even over the cries of the crowd.
His hard blue eyes crested over the reporters, too. “That goes for
the press as well. Now go!”
The ones that had come simply to see the White Dragon Shifter
immediately turned to go, though there were plenty of “nooooooos”
and “c’mon, let us stay, we didn’t do anything!” But Thorin looped his
thumbs into his gun belt and stared at anyone who dared oppose his
orders. None survived that stare for long. Even the Humans First
people left, with plenty of mutterings under their breath. The press,
of course, were the last to start leaving.
“Why are you not having the Humans First protestors arrested?”
Esme asked curiously.
“Because we can learn more about Humans First if we simply tag
them, log them and have them followed,” Valerius grunted.
“Oh, good show, dear boy,” Esme said with an appreciative nod.
“Though back in the old days, I would have employed some good
hangings. Not all of them obviously. But some.”
Valerius snorted. “Yes, Esme, you had many heads on pikes as I
remember.”
“One must keep order,” she answered lightly.
Soon, there were only Iolaire, Tilly, her friends and the Werewolves
in the park. A news crew that had been retreating slowed their
movements as the newscaster urged them to zoom in on Iolaire and
Thorin.
“Quick! Quick! Get this shot! The police chief and Iolaire are
speaking!” the newscaster hissed.
The police chief was indeed talking to Iolaire and the camera picked
up the sound.
“While I recognize that all people have the right to be in public places
in Reach, Iolaire,” Thorin was saying, “You might want to consider
limiting your appearances to planned events. At least, give us notice
of where you intend to go so that we can prepare the area. You
cause quite the stir.”
Iolaire hooted sadly.
Thorin’s expression surprisingly softened. “Yes, I can imagine this is
hard when all you want to do is be with people. But things are tense
right now and—”
Thorin did not get another word out as there was the unmistakable
thunderous flap of wings. Another Dragon Shifter had arrived in
Reach. And they were alone with Caden and Iolaire. Valerius ran to
the balcony and shifted. Raziel did not object. Instead, his Spirit had
billowing fire leaving their mouth as they took off into the air.
CHAPTER FIFTY - THE GOLD DRAGON

Caden looked up into the sky from where the sound of massive
wings was coming from. The sun was much lower causing the sky to
be painted with purple, blue and crimson. It was a magnificent
background for the giant Gold Dragon with spikes on its powerful tail
that hung suspended fifty feet above him.
“Oh, wow! It’s the Gold Dragon King Tezcacoatl!” Tilly cried.
“His Spirit’s name is Eldoron!” Tobey informed them all proudly of his
Dragon knowledge.
“He’s so big!” Macauley said faintly. “Like four times Iolaire’s size!”
“He’s classified as a Titanic-sized Dragon. In terms of size, Raziel is
the biggest then Mephous and then Eldoron,” Tobey supplied
helpfully. “Iolaire is the smallest!”
“Eldoron could crush us.” Macauley scrunched down low on Caden’s
back.
“Being crushed is the least of our worries really if Eldoron attacked
us.” Tobey pushed his glasses up onto his nose. “It breathes liquid
metal! We’d be burned alive and dissolved in huge pools of
mercury!”
“That’s not helping, Tobey!” Maccauley cried.
“Oh, we’d be dead like instantaneously,” Tobey continued,
completely unrepentant. “So it’s not like we’d feel our bodies being
dissolved and--”
“TOBEY!” Maccauley hit her friend’s back.
Tilly patted Caden’s neck and said loyally, “Iolaire held its own
against Raziel. So though it’s small, it’s mighty! We’re perfectly fine,
Macauley. Iolaire handled the crowd of crazies easily. It can handle
Eldoron!”
Iolaire hooted with happiness in response and lifted its head proudly.
Caden though was focused on remembering what he could about
Tezcacoatl from his Shifter classes in high school. The Gold Dragon
King’s seat of power was Mexico City and he ruled over much of
South America and the Caribbean so that explained why he had
gotten here relatively quickly.
He’s not a bully like Illarion. More like a showboat. So I don’t think
we’re in danger from Tezcacoatl or Eldoron, for that matter.
In fact, he’d heard that Eldoron was rumored to be incredibly vain.
Though from Caden’s perspective maybe it had a right to be. The
golden color of its scales shimmered in the day’s dying light as the
Titanic Dragon flew in glorious circles overhead, doing loops and
gliding, giving Caden and Iolaire plenty of opportunities to see just
how magnificent it was. He realized that Eldoron was not completely
gold, but had some silver scales across its belly and tail.
I think Eldoron is flirting with us, Iolaire, Caden realized after the
Gold Dragon had done the fourth loop.
Iolaire hooted softly, watching the other Dragon’s moves as if to copy
them later.
It’s not as awesome as Raziel though! Caden said.
Iolaire gave a very positive hoot at that as if to say, “But of course
not! No one compares to Raziel!” But it was enjoying Eldoron’s flying
maneuvers.
“Do you know that Tezcacoatl was a--”
“Tobey, if this is more about how he can easily kill us and in what
ways, don’t say it!” Maccauley begged.
“No, no, I was just going to tell the story about how he became a
Dragon Shifter,” Tobey assured her with a wave of his hand.
“Okay, I guess you can tell it,” Maccauley murmured. She was still
clutching onto Iolaire’s back as if her life depended upon it.
“You’re our scaredy cat, Maccauley,” Tilly teased gently. “But we love
you for it! And we’ll keep you safe!”
“Funny you should say that! Because helping other people get
through their fear in a terrible situation was how Tezcacoatl bonded
with Eldoron!” Tobey went on enthusiastically, “Tezcacoatl was a
miner. The mine he worked in was very unsafe, but he needed the
money to help his mother and sister so he took on the work
regardless. Well, the inevitable happened. The mine collapsed with
him and a lot of other workers inside. Tezcacoatl got all the surviving
miners together and kept their spirits up as they waited for rescue.
But as the hours turned to days and then to over a week, even he
realized that no one was coming to save them. The mine owners had
abandoned them. It was then he prayed for the Spirits to give him
strength to not only get the miners out of this terrible situation, but
also take revenge on the greedy mine owners.”
Caden thought about what Valerius had said about how Dragon
Shifters did not get their Spirits from simple bravery or even honor.
He knew the ending to the story that Tobey was telling, and while it
did have some aspect of both bravery and honor, there was also
violence to it as well.
“And then Eldoron came to him?” Tilly asked.
Tobey nodded and his glasses slid down his nose in response.
“Because they joined underground in a mine, that’s why people think
he has metal breath.”
“And he got the miners out?” Maccauley peeked up then.
“Oh, yeah, and then he went in dragon form and killed the mine
owners! Totally slagged them!” Tobey answered with enthusiasm.
Maccauley groaned and hid her head again.
“He’s made safety and fair wages and good working conditions for
workers the focus of his territory. And any employer that doesn’t act
responsibly towards their workers gets--”
“Slagged?” Tilly guessed.
“Yep! Needless to say some of the investment in his territory has
been down, but he says that the people who would have come in if
he didn’t have such rules would just cause more harm than good,”
Tobey added.
“The Black Dragon King Valerius doesn’t, uhm, slag people, right?
I’ve never heard of him interfering with business or anything,”
Maccauley asked softly.
“No, he’s pretty much left the economy alone so it’s stayed like it was
before,” Tobey answered. “But he has established far larger areas of
undeveloped woods and fields. Plus, there used to be all these really
ugly strip malls according to my mom that were abandoned after
people mostly started to shop online, and he’s had those torn down
and turned into parks.”
Tilly shuddered. “Strip malls even sound wrong. And all the parks
are awesome.”
“Reach wasn’t here before the war, Tilly. Valerius created this
mountain. It used to be completely flat here. He can control the
earth, and supposedly loads of other things,” Tobey informed her a
little archly.
Tilly colored. “Yeah, well, I just meant that parks are awesome in
general and that it’s cool Valerius did that.”
And as if talking about Raziel and Valerius caused them to appear,
the massive Black Dragon was suddenly just there. Raziel had flown
in silently and was blocking Eldoron’s path. There would not be
another playful loop. Raziel’s red eyes were glowing hotly and there
was no mistaking the anger in them, not to mention a hint of that
volcanic rage that Valerius tried hard to control.
Raziel’s sudden appearance in its path had Eldoron awkwardly
cutting to the left and losing altitude. The television crews that had
been retreating due to the police chief’s threat had stopped after
Eldoron’s appearance and had been filming the whole thing with
breathless commentary. They had all been in awe of Eldoron’s
beauty and flying ability, but the moment that Raziel came and threw
Eldoron off its game they really got excited.
Caden heard one nearby reporter say into his mic, “Looks like
Eldoron can’t compete with our Raziel though! Raziel came in so
suddenly and unexpectedly that no one realized it was there,
including Eldoron, until it was too late! Raziel moved as if part of the
night itself!”
Eldoron seemed all too aware that Raziel had taken some of the
shine off of its victory with the press, and Caden supposed, with
Iolaire. Eldoron’s eyes narrowed as it righted itself. With a mighty
flap of wings, it shot towards Raziel only veering away at the very
last second, leaving only a few inches between their nearest wings.
But Raziel did not flinch, and the wake of Eldoron’s nearby flight did
not affect the Black Dragon in the least.
Go, Raziel! Go, Valerius! Caden cried.
Iolaire hooted its support.
While Caden felt the brush of Valerius and Raziel’s minds against his
and Iolaire’s, no words were sent. Despite their seeming
nonchalance with Eldoron’s antics, clearly, they had to give the Gold
Dragon all their attention. While not as large or aggressive as
Illarion and Mephous were, Eldoron was clearly not to be
underestimated.
“It looks like there will be quite a few Dragons posturing over the city
to get your attention, Iolaire,” the police chief said with a sigh. “Not
that I can’t appreciate shows of dominance, but Dragons are not
known for being careful.”
Caden flashed back on what happened at the Gash. No, they were
not when they were angry or scared. But, though it was clear that
Valerius was not happy with Tezcacoatl, it was also very clear to
Caden that both he and Raziel were being as careful and controlled
as they could be.
“If Eldoron is trying to impress Iolaire, I do not think it's working,” Tilly
said to the police chief. “Raziel is so much cooler.”
“Our Dragon King Valerius is the greatest of them all,” the police
chief said in approval. “And I think Raziel is going to end Eldoron’s
preening. Oh, yes, here we go.”
What he was referring to was Raziel, who had been simply hovering
while Eldoron was swooping in the air around it, moved impossibly
quickly for something so big. Raziel shot upwards and flew directly
above Eldoron. The Black Dragon then flapped its huge wings. The
unexpected, powerful downdraft sent Eldoron falling towards the
earth. It only managed to gain control ten feet from the ground and
landed heavily, digging large furrows in the grass.
“Whoa!” Tobey cried and pumped a fist in the air. “Go, Raziel!”
“You showed Eldoron who is the boss, Raziel!” Tilly shouted into the
air.
“Oh, my God, Raziel is even bigger than I thought!” Maccauley
squeaked and buried her face against Iolaire’s back.
The police chief snorted. “Eldoron looks like a cat that’s fallen down
and is trying to pretend it meant to do that all along.”
Indeed that was the perfect way to describe Eldoron as it quickly sat
down, lifting its magnificent head and doing its very best to ignore
Raziel doing a victory lap up above them. Caden felt a touch of awe-
-and a little fear--as Raziel tossed its huge head back and let out a
gout of red and gold flames. He swore he could almost feel the heat
from here.
One of the reporters who had come quite a bit closer now was
saying breathlessly into his mic, “Such a magnificent display of
dominance by our Black Dragon King Valerius! One wonders if we
will get to see yet more aerial acrobatics in the upcoming days as the
rest of the Dragon Shifters arrive!”
Let’s hope not! Caden mentally shook his head at the reporter.
The reporters were acting as if this was a game! Hadn’t what
happened at the Gash shown them that Dragons fighting over the
city was dangerous at best, and likely to be deadly too? He could
almost hear Rose’s voice in his head saying, “It happened to people
in the Below, and you know that no one cares about the people who
live there.” And, it seemed that was true. Memories were short, or
so it seemed.
All of the reporters had returned to the park, despite threat of arrest--
though it didn’t appear that the police chief was going to arrest them
quite at that minute--and were filming avidly. Many had approached
Eldoron and the Gold Dragon was posing for the cameras.
But soon all cameras were focused on the Black Dragon as Raziel
landed with a boom about fifty feet away. More grass was torn up,
and Caden winced. If he and Iolaire hadn’t come to the park none of
this would have happened. The reporters scuttled backwards as
Raziel approached Eldoron, tail swinging and eyes narrowed
menacingly. Iolaire hooted softly, indicating that it would not have
wanted to have such a look given to it. Caden agreed.
The Black Dragon circled the Gold Dragon with slow, powerful,
deliberate strides. Raziel never took those sulfurous red eyes off of
Eldoron. For its part, Eldoron fussed with its wings and cleaned a
pristine part of its scales with its tongue, trying for all the world to
seem unconcerned. But one thing that Caden noticed was that
Eldoron did not look into Raziel’s eyes. In fact, it lowered its head
when Raziel stopped directly in front of it and stared. This show of
submission defused the situation.
“Tensions have abruptly abated as Eldoron showed proper respect to
Raziel,” one of the reporters said into the camera. “Oh, look, they’re
shifting!”
Both Raziel and Eldoron disappeared in a moment and two men
were standing there on the ripped up grass. Tezcacoatl was a
handsome man with dark copper skin and long black hair that hung
in a sheet to his mid-back. He had golden brown eyes that were
alight with intelligence and humor. He was beaming at the cameras,
at Valerius and, most especially, at Iolaire. Iolaire shuffled their feet
and drew their tail, rather cat-like, around their feet.
The whole park was now lit up by the camera lights as reporters
swarmed around Valerius and Tezcacoatl. It was still amusing to
Caden to watch Valerius be on camera nude and yet seem as
comfortable and kingly as if he were dressed in silk and leather.
Tezcacoatl was making poses so that his magnificent physique was
shown off to its best. Reporters began to shout questions at them
both.
“Dragon King Valerius, you’ve had two other Dragons fly over your
capital city, how do you feel about that?” a female reporter with red
hair asked.
Valerius stared at her so long without answering that the microphone
she’d thrust towards him started to wobble a little bit. Tezcacoatl
saved her as he threw one arm around Valerius’ shoulders, beaming.
He was over a head shorter than Valerius and built more stockily,
but he managed to yank Valerius towards him in this one-armed hug.
His sunny, Mexican accent made him seem even more charming as
he said, “I am certain that Valerius is quite annoyed with me! But
how could I help myself from flying over his magnificent city?
Especially when the newest member of our tribe has arrived!”
Tezcacoatl pointed at Iolaire and all the cameras swung over to the
White Dragon. Iolaire blinked as the lights blasted into its eyes and
drew hid its head in one wing, which made it, evidently, appear shy.
There were audible “awwwwwws” that had Iolaire hiding even more.
The police chief chuckled. “You’re a little too big to hide, Iolaire.”
“Iolaire doesn’t like media attention. It likes people’s attention,” Tilly
said loyally and kissed Iolaire’s neck.
Iolaire chirped at her words and the kiss.
“This is your first time in Reach in many years, Dragon King
Tezcacoatl. How does it feel to be back?” a male reporter with a
quivering mustache asked.
“Most excellent!” Tezcacoatl put a large hand against his chest.
“Though I always miss my magnificent Mexico City!”
“This will be the first time that all of the Dragon Shifters will be in one
place since the war,” a dark-haired female reporter with cheeks as
pale as milk stated. “Will you be speaking of the threats to this world
from expansionist policies like Dragon Queen Mei’s?”
Valerius stated simply, “Nothing is off the table.”
“And what of the growing unrest with Humans First all over the
world? Why haven’t you met before now to discuss that?” the
reporter pressed.
“Merely because we are not physically in the same place, dear lady,”
Tezcacoatl said, “does not mean we do not speak regularly.”
“Will all the Dragon Shifters be on the Shifter Council that you’ve
started, King Valerius?” another reporter shouted.
“That is still in its planning stages,” Valerius answered.
“Did you have any fears in coming here, King Tezcacoatl,
considering the bombings that have taken place in Reach?” another
reporter shouted from the back. “Not for yourself, obviously, but for
your human attendants.”
Caden remembered that, unlike many Dragon Shifters, all of
Tezcacoatl’s attendants were human. They also all came from poor
families. He paid for everything for them and their relatives including
schooling, room and board and anything one could imagine.
Tezcacoatl, who had not let go of Valerius, despite Valerius just
standing there like a piece of stone, squeezed him again and said,
“Absolutely not! I have great faith in Valerius and his very brave
Claw and the police!” His expression hardened somewhat as he
added, “To those of you who are choosing violent methods to
support your cause, know that you are doing more damage to the
people you claim to care for than those who do not share your
position! And for those of you who feel disenfranchised and left out,
know that you are not alone! But violence where innocents are
maimed, injured or even killed is not the answer!”
Caden felt a tiny bit of liking Tezcacoatl for those words. Though
they were a little ironic considering what he did to those mine
owners. But then again the mine owners had not been innocent like
the people in the square or even those at the Humans First meeting.
Based upon the questions so far, Caden was beginning to relax.
There was nothing about him or mating or anything crazy like that in
the questions or answers. In fact, he felt quite ignored, which was
good. But then he heard the next question and realized he’d let his
guard down too soon.
“So are you here to court Iolaire as well, Dragon King Tezcacoatl?
After all, Dragon King Illarion has made his typical bold statements
that Iolaire is his mate,” another female reporter--this one with a bob
of blonde hair--asked the visiting Gold Dragon King.
Caden saw the tension spread through Valerius as this question was
asked. Caden tried to touch his mind, but it was locked very tight.
Oh, boy, he’s so mad at us, Iolaire!
Iolaire gave a sad hoot in agreement.
There was a sparkle in Tezcacoatl’s eyes as he leaned towards the
reporter almost conspiratorially and said, “I think we all know that
Illarion says many things that are just wishes. I believe that Iolaire is
its own, and will choose which one of us as its special someone. I
most definitely am putting my hat in the ring!”
What?! No! That is not what’s happening here! Caden felt the
frustration of not being able to speak right now. He looked at
Valerius, who met his eyes. Tell them that’s not what’s going on,
Valerius!
He was half afraid that Valerius would allow this idea to stand just as
punishment for them not going home. But he was wrong.
“Dragon King Valerius, are you putting your hat in the ring as well?”
another reporter asked.
“Illarion is not the only one who speaks wishes,” Valerius said curtly
with a repressive look at Tezcacoatl who did not shrink at all. “As
said previously, Iolaire wishes no mate at this time. My fellow
Dragon Shifters have come here on a fool’s errand if they think that
Iolaire will be going home with them.”
“Yes, but some are saying that the real reason that Iolaire has no
interest in revealing themselves and meeting with the other Dragons
is that it has already chosen someone. Namely… you,” the red-
haired reporter said.
Everyone went still and silent at this. Caden could only hear his
heart thumping like a jackhammer in his chest. What did he want
Valerius to say? That yes, they were together and the other Dragon
Shifters needed to get stuffed? But if he did that, then he and Caden
could never openly date because they’d know he was the White
Dragon! But if Valerius completely denied that they were together
then… then Caden’s heart might break. Even if it wasn’t true!
And it wasn’t true, right?
No, it wasn’t.
Valerius met the reporter’s gaze steadily. “My personal life has
always been off limits to the press.” His gaze swept the entire crowd.
“As you all are well aware.”
The reporters looked a little chastened, which for reporters was
probably pretty amazing. Tezcacoatl was looking at Valerius
speculatively though. It was clear that he wouldn’t be put off by some
stern words and an even sterner glare.
“Thorin,” Valerius called to the police chief who stepped up with
considerable alacrity.
“Yes, my king?” Thorin bowed low.
“He’s bowing!” Maccauley let out an excited whisper. “That’s so
cool!”
“Of course he’s bowing. Everybody bows to Valerius. Well, not the
reporters, but everyone else. Besides he’s a Werewolf,” Tilly
whispered back. “They’re big on rank.”
“Oh, yeah, right,” Maccauley answered.
“Please have your people escort the press from the park,” Valerius
said firmly. “I believe you did tell them it was closed some time ago.”
“It shall be done, my king.” Thorin bowed again.
With a few terse words, his people were herding the reporters away
from them. There were more shouted questions and cameras were
still being turned towards Valerius and Tezcacoatl, but the police
were making headway. Soon, the lights from the cameras were gone
and only the soft twilight illuminated the park. The churr of night
insects replaced the reporters’ calls and the three Dragon Shifters
and three children all stared at one another.
Tezcacoatl turned to Valerius and said, “You are not too angry at me,
Valerius!”
Valerius’ lips flattened. “After seeing what I did to Illarion, why would
you risk my temper, Tezcacoatl?”
The Gold Dragon Shifter released Valerius from the hug and spread
his arms wide. “I was coming to High Reach when I saw that Iolaire
was in the park.” He shrugged. “I had to come.”
“And show off,” Valerius muttered.
Tezcacoatl laughed. “Of course! One must be the peacock with
one’s potential mate! Oh, and look at those eyes flashing! I cannot
believe the reporters did not press the question about you and
Iolaire!”
“If you suspect that I am in love with Iolaire, it further begs the
question why you would risk my wrath in coming here like this,”
Valerius growled.
Tezcacoatl’s eyes widened. “Love?”
Valerius scowled, but said nothing. Had he admitted to more than he
wanted to?
Tezcacoatl rubbed his chin. “Valerius and Raziel in love?!” He shook
himself. “My friend, I did not think you were, but if you are to tell me
now that Iolaire is off limits, I will respect that. But I cannot help
being flirtatious still. It is my nature!”
Caden and Iolaire were rigid. Tilly had even stopped breathing. They
were both waiting for Valerius’ answer.
“I cannot tell you that, because it is not my place to say. Iolaire is its
own. It makes the decisions,” Valerius finally got out. His voice taut
with emotion.
Tezcacoatl nodded after long moments. “By the gods, Valerius, it
must be serious! You are respecting Iolaire’s autonomy. So what
would you say for yourself though. Should I back down?”
Valerius’ head lifted. His eyes burned with fire. “If I were in your
place, I would most definitely back down.”
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