Dragon 2 Chapter 16 (Patreon)

The night out with Morgana had been fun, but as I stepped out into the morning sunlight outside of the convention center, I regretted the last couple of drinks.

“Welcome to my world. The sun is a bitch.” Morgana laughed, stepping out of the car with ruby red shades that matched her eyes, once again in her classic leather outfit, only this time, she seemed to be a little more bold.

Her leathers seemed cut even more sexually than usual, though how I knew that, I couldn’t quite put a finger on it.

“Is that what the shades are for today?”

“That and I can eye roll all the magi all I want without them seeing.”

I laughed at her joke, but she didn’t join me.

“I’m serious. I plan to give Jared and his cronies eye rolls all day. Call it my harmless revenge for being out here in the daylight.”

“That bad yesterday?” I asked, as we got our badges.

Morgana sighed, hesitating for a moment to take her badge before grabbing it and following me in. “They all want to see me perform my magic like a monkey performing at the zoo. I’m too old for that shit.”

I felt for Morgana. She was an anomaly in her world and had worked hard to carve a respectable name for herself instead of becoming an outcast. She was better than being used for a moment of entertainment for the magi. I had a feeling it had been part of what had factored into the rate she’d given Jared. “At least they have no idea what I am. I have no doubt they’d want similar things from me.”

“That would be fun to see.” Morgana smirked. “A whole lot of trouble, but then again, we might be able to get you an orgy of lovely ladies willing to worship you on their knees.” She emphasized the word worship, clearly enjoying herself.

I stopped and glared at her. “By the way, a warning would have been nice. I caught the intro and their feelings on dragons.”

My chastising only seemed to encourage her as she smiled even wider. Ignoring her, I pushed past her and into the convention.

As we strolled into the convention center, it was already in full swing despite being early in the morning. People of all shapes and sizes in all walks of life were going booth to booth checking out what each offered. Occasionally two people would run into each other and the result would either be shouts of anger are sparks of joy hugs.

I turned to Morgana. "So after last night, the Scalewright family will be fully on board with tracking the skinwalkers. Apparently all it took was a troll attack on their daughter."

Morgana nodded. "I expected that after what you said last night, but did your little fox give you any more information?"

Scarlett had given me a quick update, but she also seemed to be waiting to see me in person to run through the full details.

I knew Jadelyn and her family were going to try to speak to the magi today, and I hoped that might also provide more information we could use.

From the detail Scarlett had given me, this was not a singular person that was responsible for the attack, but instead a group. Because of that, the Scalewrights didn't think that they could handle this on their own quietly enough to not warn the magi's beforehand.

If the paranormal went after a group of the magi in the middle of the conference, there was a risk they would be starting something larger than we wanted. Though I disliked Scarlett holding back information from me as if she thought I would go rogue and do something myself.

Of course I totally would. My dragon half was champing at the bit to get a bite out of whoever attacked my mate.

The paranormal counsel rolled in like yesterday. They moved as a group, creating a stir as they parted the crowd.

As they moved, Rupert flagged down the magi leadership, quickly pulling them aside to a private conference room.

With the suddenness of their arrival and the immediate urgency with which they all departed, the magi quickly began to whisper, gossip and theories stirring all around me. I smiled, enjoying being in the know.

But I didn’t want to miss the information. I darted forward with Morgana on my heels, ducking into the room before the door closed.

Rupert’s eyes locked with mine as I moved into the room, but he quickly looked back to the magi, which I took as acceptance of my presence. I slid along the edge of the room to observe.

The Spring Lady stood next to me, giving me a questioning look with those piercing golden eyes of hers. “You didn’t cause another incident, did you?” She said it with only a slight quirk of her lips, so I took it as teasing. She didn’t wait for an answer before turning back as the conversation began.

The Faerie were a strange culture; I didn’t have the time or energy to understand them right now.

I eyed Rupert, who looked stern and composed at the moment. But I’d had a number of interactions with him at that point, and I could read him. He was a lidded pot about ready to boil over. This case was personal. “We have evidence of a serious problem involving a group of magi here in Philly.”

The lady with the heavy accent, Florita, scoffed. “What does that have to do with us? This is your city.” The way she said it was full of disdain.

Rupert's unamusement was palpable. “While the Order is convening in our city, it is both of our problems. The last thing I need is for a larger fight to break out among our two people.”

“You mean it would be an inconvenience given that there are enough of us that you can’t just blow us out like a candle?” The old wizard grumbled. It sounded like the paranormal had used a heavy hand in the past when dealing with the local magi issues.

Jared stepped forward, surprising me. I hadn’t thought of him as a peacemaker. “Of course. The sensible thing here is for the magi to handle this among ourselves. That way, no one gets the wrong idea. These magi you are referring to have committed criminal offenses, I assume?”

“They attacked the Scalewright family last night. One count of premeditated homicide and several counts of attempted murder.” Detective Fox spit a little as he declared the charges. “I would hope that’s enough for you to take this seriously.”

By the looks on the magi leadership’s faces, it was clear that they understood the gravity of the situation and it had soured their day. This was not something that could be swept under the rug without a bigger shitstorm down the road. “If you have enough information to go after this, I assume you have someone in custody?” Jared clarified.

“Yes. Though he’s not in a condition to do much at the moment.” Detective Fox sneered.

The magi grimaced but then schooled his face. “Either way, he should be handed over to us. We’ll deal with him, and we’d like to question him ourselves.”

The Summer Queen raised her hand, and the two groups facing off broke their tension like a cut string. “It might do you both some good to have a neutral party take care of this.” Her eyes shifted over to Morgana and I.

Jared looked at the two of us, his disdain for me showing in his face. “You think he’s neutral in this?” His accusing tone was enough to make my beast rear up in my chest. “No. We have gotten with the times. We have an internal group that takes care of this sort of thing now.”

Rupert grunted, clearly not happy, but accepting the outcome. "We expect updates and results of your own interrogation. As you are well aware, these magi are guests in our city and you are responsible for them. We will let you handle this yourself, but we expect it to be taken care of. If not, this is our city, and we will step in.” Rupert’s tone turned heavy at the end, the threat hanging in the air.

It didn't make the Magi happy to be threatened by Rupert, as was evidenced by the thin pursing of Jared’s lips. But none of them said anything. I was not looking forward to the political aspect of being a part of Jadelyn’s family. I had a feeling they wouldn’t love my approach to conflict, just wrecking whatever wronged me with fire, but it was a pretty effective approach.

Conversation over, I turned to head out with Morgana, but Jared stopped us. “I don’t want to see him.” He pointed at me. “Anywhere near this. I know you use him and Morgana as mercenaries.”

I paused, my dragon roaring at the idea of not being involved in hunting down the people who had attacked Jadelyn.

But Rupert gave me a clear look that told me to stand down. It took a lot of self-control, but I suppressed the desire to snap back.

“Fine.” I stared Jared down, giving my best eat shit smile. “I won’t go after the skinwalkers for now while you work to track down and fix the problem. However, we do have active jobs. I can’t promise that if they are causing other trouble, we won’t run into them.”

Rupert stepped forward, backing me. “It’s true. They do a number of services for the city’s paranormal community. We can’t hamper them in that. But you will not pursue the magi, we have your word?” He asked.

“Scout’s honor. I’ll just stick to my current jobs.” I promised, already having another idea on how to go about this.

Both sides seemed amenable to my promise, and it seemed the matter was resolved. The conversation changed, with Jared taking point now hunting down the cabal of warlocks.

The meeting officially wrapped. It had been a faster conversation than I had been expecting between the magi and the paranormal council.

As we headed out, Jadelyn grabbed my arm and pulled me along to the side. My arm slithered around her hips, and I held her tightly before a throat cleared behind me.

"It seems I'm not going to get rid of you." Rupert said grudgingly, although there was a slight acceptance in his eyes that hadn’t been there when we had walked up the night before. "My wife and daughter have impressed upon me that you should be treated as family and will probably become family. But I would like to remind you that our family has a certain prestige to uphold. I expect if you are treated like family, I can expect you not to embarrass the family name."

He said it like a statement rather than a question, staring me down as he finished.

But I was more stunned by what sounded like acceptance. I had a feeling it was the closest I was going to get to it from him.

I held back any snarky replies and gave him a serious nod. "For Jade I think I can manage that." I looked over, seeing Jadelyn blush as she squeezed my side in thanks.

Rupert seemed satisfied enough as he gave me a nod, breaking off with the rest of the Council before turning back and calling out over his shoulder. "By the way, my wife is planning an event for you two. Well, two events. One sooner in private and one more public at the end of the year."

I paused, realizing what he was suggesting. It hit like a sack of bricks. Something told me they were already planning the siren wedding. I wasn’t afraid of commitment, but this was fast. I tried not to show it, but Jadelyn must have sensed my reaction. She started rubbing my shoulders comfortingly.

She leaned in, whispering in my ear. “It's okay, we can talk later. Maybe even get some privacy."

"That sounds perfect. And I'm not against it." I hurried to clarify. "Just struggling to wrap my head around how sudden this all is."

She gave me another one of her brilliant smiles and pulled me along. I kept my eyes out for other men that might try to duel me for Jadelyn like they had previously. If I had to fight to keep my women, I would. I had no intention of giving any of them up.

As Jadelyn and I broke off from the group, Morgana swooped in like a shadow. "I see you two lovebirds are having a blast."

“Something like that. Shame the magi wouldn’t let us go after the threat directly.”

“I warned you before; the magi are an insular group. It was unlikely they would let you, me, or even the Scalewright family deal with one of their own.” Morgana reminded me.

“Then why involve them?” I looked at Jadelyn. My beast was ready for pure, unadulterated violence in response to the attack on one of my mates.

She blushed and refused to meet my eyes. “This is what we have to do. From the information we gathered, we know it is a group of warlocks working together. If you were to go after them…” She read me like a script. “…it would become a larger issue. There are too many to do this quietly.”

She sighed, still looking away. “I’m sorry, Zach, but for now, you need to stay out of this one. You need to protect our two groups’ relationship and your secret.”

She wasn’t wrong, but I hated being left out of the loop. “Morgana and I could at least do some information gathering.”

“And I’m sure you’d gather information, along with a pile of corpses.” Jadelyn shook her head. She knew me well. “So, for now, we’ll let the magi do their best to handle it on their own. But if they fail… then other blunter tools can be used.”

I put my hand on my chest in mock outrage. “Do you hear that, Morgana? We are the hammer.”

“You certainly like to pound things.” Morgana said, barely containing her laughter at her own joke. Jadelyn sputtered, trying to hold in her own laughter.

“Zach?” Sabrina’s voice cut through my annoyance.

“Sabrina.” I waved her over. “This is Jadelyn. That’s her security team.” I pointed over my shoulder. “And you’ve already met Morgana.”

Today, Sabrina was wearing an undyed robe that looked like it belonged in a monastery. It seemed like she was trying to hide all of her curves.

“It is an absolute honor to meet you.” Sabrina grabbed one of Jadelyn’s hands with both of her own and bowed slightly as she shook it.

The siren didn’t miss a beat, quickly shifting into her gracious public persona. She smiled sweetly back at Sabrina. “Pleasure is all mine. How do you know Zach? Are you looking to join his harem?”

I nearly stumbled. “What the heck Jade?”

She poked me in the nose. It was cute, but it barely distracted me from my annoyance. “From what Scarlett has told me, you need more. And women around you will become part of your strength. So, I’m taking applications. Unlike the situation with Chad, I’m going to be proactive.”

“Applications?” She made it sound like it was her harem, not mine.

“Do I get to throw one in?” Morgana asked with a smile.

“Of course. You practically have your application in already. I’m surprised you haven’t taken him for a spin one of those nights you secluded him at your club in the name of ‘work’.”

Morgana’s face made me burst out in laughter. Her head was reared back like a surprised animal as she struggled to find a comeback. “It is work. Waiting for the call is part of the job.”

“Chill. She’s just joking, Morgana.” I patted my partner on the shoulder as I chuckled, but I didn’t miss the rapid silent communication that occurred between Morgana and Jadelyn with their eyes.

“Anyway.” Jadelyn drew the word out to find a change in topic. “We were talking about Sabrina.”

“Zach, I talked to my mentor—” Sabrina started, but I waved my hands to get her to stop. Last thing I needed was her to show Jadelyn that I wasn’t giving up on the warlocks just yet.

“We can talk about that after. It seems Jade would love to get to know you.”

My siren mate took that as approval, and she pulled Sabrina a little further ahead to talk.

It looked like Jadelyn was going to start actively recruiting. I stood dumbfounded a bit, trying to wrap my head around everything that was changing so quickly.

“Didn’t want the princess to hear what Sabrina had to say?” Morgana asked curiously.

“Of course not. We are forbidden from looking into it, remember? However…” I smiled wide.

“We are still one hundred percent going to track them down?” Morgana gave me a wicked smile of her own and held up her hand for a fist bump.

I bumped her fist and then clarified. “No, nothing like that. But we are hired to keep the swamp troll migration moving smoothly, and it would seem that someone might have manipulated them. We can’t have that, now can we?”

“Of course.” Morgana smacked her forehead. “We have to solve the troll problem. And maybe Sabrina will know something about that magic used.”

I smiled, feeling like I had successfully worked my way around the rules quite nicely.

“But, in reality, you are breaking your word to the princess.” Morgana got serious.

“Well, maybe they shouldn’t have attacked MY princess. Now I know why dragons kept them up in tall towers.” I grumbled.

Jadelyn had pulled Sabrina so far ahead that they were stopped between two booths.

Both of the booths were similar. White seemed to be the main color, with holy symbols covering their posters. “Morgana, just how bad is the church?”

“Bad?”

“Like, do they still secretly do terrible things?” I’d grown to dislike the idea of the people who once attacked the paranormal world at large.

“It depends. They give many people hope. And they certainly do good deeds. How do I describe it…” She paused before speaking again. “You have an organization whose roots are based in executions, starvations, and deceitful land grabs to force worship. And has amassed such a critical power that it marks itself in almost every aspect of modern life. But since then, it has become the single grandest outpouring of charity in the world. It ends up being a mix. That sort of power brings more than a few that would misuse it, and continue to harm the lives of those who don’t conform. But it also does good for the world and its people.”

I understood her point. “The aspect that holds the power does have a dark side, but it’s not all bad. I get it. Everything isn’t quite so black and white.”

“No. You misunderstand. I’m trying to get you to think holistically and start to make up your mind. As people are trying to convince the Scalewrights or the magi leadership of what to do, your opinion matters. One day in the not too distant future you’ll have the power to do something about it.” Morgana’s voice was heavy. It felt like she was speaking from experience.

I think I was starting to understand why she hid from her own past. From the way some of these people around Morgana gushed over her and from the snippets I’d learned of her time during the 17th century war, she no doubt had to make some tough calls.

“What did you do?” I asked quietly, wondering aloud.

She scowled at me for a moment before relenting with a sigh. “I learned that organizations are much like fighting a hydra. Cutting the head off is about the worst thing you could do.” She paused. “I’m not ready to go deeper into it.”

“Of course. You’ve given me more than enough to think about.” I picked up one of the pamphlets promoting an angelic patron for warlocks. Even a dragon couldn’t make a decision without knowledge. “Let’s wander and collect some reading material for me. How can I make decisions if I’m uninformed?”

Morgana smiled. “Knowledge is a certain sort of power. Let’s see who we can dig up some dirt on.”