Shadow and Flame Read online

  "None of your biz," I teased. He pouted. I kissed him on the nose. "Girl talk. You know us."

  He nodded sagely. "Do not meddle in the affairs of women."

  "For you are crunchy and good with ketchup," Galen finished with a wink. "You two are dangerous together. I'm glad she's on our side." He ran his fingers through his artfully tousled brown hair and grinned.

  "You get one of us, you get both of us." I accepted a beer from Cass.

  Both men raised their eyebrows.

  "Not like that, you pervs." I pouted. "I'm not enough for you?"

  Cass looked panicked. Galen laughed. "You are a big enough handful for the lot of us and you know it," Galen said. He reached out and gave my thigh a squeeze. "And I'm looking forward to getting a handful one of these days."

  It was my turn to laugh. "I know. I've hardly been fair." I reached out and caressed his cheek. "You. Me. Soon. Promise."

  "I'm holding you to that," he said with a devastatingly sexy grin. I felt a bit tingly. Kitty wouldn't mind if we ran off to the restroom together just once... I glanced down the bar at her. She'd kick my ass. Hard. She has a firm no-sex-in-my-bar policy. Dammit. Kitty might not be a dragon, but her wrath was nothing to sneeze at.

  As though sensing my thoughts, Kitty wandered over our way. "Damned lot of tourists in here tonight," she muttered, looking out over the crowd.

  I followed her gaze. She wasn't wrong. I recognized a few regulars, but there were a lot of unfamiliar faces. Strangely, though, I didn't feel edgy like I usually did when surrounded by strangers. I felt at home. I felt kinship. I felt...

  "Dragons," I realized suddenly. "There are a lot of dragons in here."

  "Mmm-hmm." Kitty gave me a dour look. "Moira told me what they were. And they've been asking Tyrone about you all night. Seems you have a fan club."

  I felt my knees go a little weak at that. "Uhh..."

  Cass wrapped an arm around me for extra support. "Word about the return of the Shadow Queen is slipping out. The Elders have kept it largely under wraps, but there are rumors. The search for you has been called off. And stories about full cells of Chosen suddenly vanishing in Boston are making the rounds." He shrugged. "People are putting two and two together." He frowned. "I don't know how they're hearing about McKinnett's, though."

  Galen cast a suspicious eye around the room. His broad shoulders flexed. "Someone's got a big mouth, I'm guessing."

  I chewed my lip. "One of the security staff? Or Alpha Squad, trying to cause trouble?"

  Galen shook his head. "Alpha Squad's in enough trouble with the Elders. They don't want any more." He snorted. "Besides, I doubt Dario Beauvais wants a bunch of dragons seeing him waiting tables in a pub in Southie. Bad for the image."

  I frowned. "That leaves the security staff. Shit." I looked over at Tyrone. I couldn't imagine that great bear of a dragon spilling my location to anyone. But then, you never know who's going to betray you til they do, do you?

  Cass mulled it over. "Maybe Perry from the afternoon security shift. He likes to go out drinking at dragon bars after we close."

  "There are dragon bars?" I gasped. "Why haven't we gone to one?"

  Aric picked that moment to amble up. "Because they suck. They're dinky little holes in the wall. If you want to party, you've got to slum it with humans. Sad but true." He cast an appraising eye around McKinnett’s, taking in the simple tables, wooden stools, dartboard, and lovingly worn bar. "Take this lovely establishment, for example…dragons don’t have anything nearly this exquisite."

  "Watch yourself, Aric. This is my home." I raised an eyebrow. "What, water dragons don't have ritzy little exclusive clubs or anything like that?"

  Aric sniffed and tossed a lock of platinum blond hair out of his eye. "There's a dragon-only yacht club on Martha's Vineyard. Apart from that, water dragons are boring as hell. It's all dinner parties and society functions to show off who swings the bigger... mansion." He brushed a lock of platinum hair out of his eye. "Young water dragons are expected to sneak out of the house and hit up the human clubs. It's a rite of passage. It's how we learn about human society."

  A short laugh snuck out. "Seriously? From the club scene?" I took a swig of my beer. "Jesus, no wonder you guys get such a warped view of humans."

  Aric shrugged. "Mating rituals. Combat. Social interactions. You see a lot at a club."

  "And it's all fueled by alcohol and bad choices." I shook my head. "Tell me that's not the only way."

  "We go to college, too," he said, a tad defensively.

  "Do you ever interact with anyone who doesn't make bank? You know, regular people? Like me?" I crossed my arms and gave him the eye.

  "Why the hell would we do that?" He took a swig of his sparkling wine.

  I glared at him. He feigned disinterest.

  "Asshole," I sighed.

  He smirked. "Damned right."

  "You're on the couch," I countered.

  His eyebrow shot up. "Goddamn it," he muttered into his wine, defeated for the moment.

  "Getting back to the influx of dragons," Kitty interrupted. "You've got to do something about this. They’re edging out my regulars!"

  I sighed and rubbed my eyes with one hand. "Are they buying?"

  Kitty scowled and crossed her arms. "Yes."

  "Are they tipping?"

  The scowl had a hint of a pout to it. "Yesss."

  "Are they causing trouble?"

  Kitty tapped her foot. "No."

  I fixed her with a tired stare. She glowered back at me.

  "Damn it." She tossed her rag on the bar and pointed at me. "You'll be the death of me, Arysia Bellmont. How dare you bring me paying customers?" Finally, the glare broke into a resigned look of world-weariness. "Just save a few tables for my regulars. Okay?"

  I raised my hands. "I swear. I'm not the one bringing them in."

  "Mmm-hmm." She shook her head and strode off to serve some customers at the other end of the bar.

  I looked out over the crowd, then reached out with my mind. I hadn't noticed exactly how many tables were teeming with curiosity. Others radiated worry, anxiety, fear.

  I turned to Cass. "I think I should wait some tables."

  Cass quirked a brow. "Say what now?"

  I looked out over the crowd again. "People are worried. I want to find out why."

  Chapter Three

  I grabbed a towel from behind the bar and stole a notepad and pen from Missi’s stash.

  "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Galen asked. "Chase would probably rather you laid low and didn't bring attention to yourself."

  I sighed. "Chase has enough on his mind right now without worrying whether I'm waiting tables."

  "You're not waiting tables. You're doing recon. That usually falls under Chase's purview as our resident ninja PI." Cass rested a hand on my shoulder. "I know you want to learn more about dragons, but is this the wisest way? They're going to know something's up the moment you walk over. Dragon instincts, remember? They’ll know you’re one of us. And if they already know you worked here, you're going to give yourself away as the Shadow Queen in a heartbeat."

  "Fuck your logic," I growled, tossing the notepad on the bar. "You're not feeling what I'm feeling. Dragons are scared. I need to know why."

  Aric downed the last of his drink and set the glass on the bar. "Fine. Come with me." He offered his arm.

  I looked at him with a raised brow. "What are you doing?"

  He rolled his eyes and spoke with exaggerated slowness. "Helping you, yer majesty. You're my date. I'm slumming at a pub. I'm a water dragon. We're supposed to be social."

  "Oh." I took his arm. "Sorry. The whole helpful thing threw me off."

  "Whatever. You can be a water dragon, too. Just act like my mom."

  I gagged a little at the thought. "Your mom is a bitch, dude."

  "Exactly. Stop being so nice and ram a stick up your ass and you'll be fine." His lip curled in a wry smile.

  I laughed. "Can I be an earth dragon inste
ad? They seem a bit more relaxed."

  Galen saluted me with his beer. "We'd be glad to have you."

  "Why not an ethereal dragon?" Cass said, somewhat affronted.

  Aric sneered. "She's not a massive nerd."

  I leaned over and kissed Cass. "I don't have the academic background for it. They'd see right through me."

  "Okay, fine, go green, whatever. Let's go." Aric gave me a tug. "Also, you're my date. I should be the one getting kisses."

  "Jealous?" I asked, a wicked smile forming.

  "Whatever." He was totally jealous. He only made that disinterested face when he was pouting on the inside. I didn’t even have to use my empathy.

  I tugged him down to my level and planted my lips on his. He made a soft surprised sound, then slid his hand beneath my ponytail and pulled me in for a deep, probing kiss. I could feel the heat of it filling me up. For a moment, I forgot about the dragons, the pub, and my worries.

  He broke the kiss. "That's better," he murmured appreciatively. "Now keep that up for the rest of the night."

  "Greedy."

  "You know it." He surveyed the pub with a discerning eye. "I think the table nearest the dartboard is our best shot. They're dragons, they haven't been paying attention to us so they haven't seen you making out with all three of us, and I haven't seen them in here before."

  I nodded and took a deep breath. Talking to strangers was pretty far down there on my list of favorite things to do.

  "I'll lead," Aric said, giving me a nudge toward the table. "You just hang onto me and look pretty."

  I raised a brow at him. "Not cool, Aric."

  He rolled his eyes. "Sorry. I meant, let me handle introductions."

  "Better." I pecked him on the cheek and let him lead me over to the table.

  The trio of dragons sitting in the shadowy spot next to the dartboard were all older, male, and deep into their cups. A grizzled man with a thick layer of stubble raised a nearly empty glass of whiskey at our approach. "Here to respect your elders?" he grunted.

  Aric made a gesture with his hands that looked like some sort of secret salute. "Always," he said. "Aric Beauvais."

  The man raised a bushy brow at the name. "A Beauvais, huh. Didn't think this was your kind of place."

  Aric jerked his head at me. "Allison says they're up and coming." He leaned in. "I’ve heard some rumors. Was wondering if you'd heard any good ones."

  The one with his back to me turned his head at that. His blond hair was streaked with white, lending it an almost ethereal hue. His blue eyes looked a lot like Aric's. "Yeah. Heard a rumor you got tried for treason last week. How'd that work out for you?"

  Aric jerked back and fixed him with an icy glare. "I'm alive and not in the Cooler. So, pretty well, thanks."

  "Hmph." The blond stuck his nose back into his vodka tonic. "Good to have connections."

  I felt Aric's arm tense. Last week had been horrific. Aric's capture and torture by the Chosen of Apep, immediately followed by baseless accusations and a nearly catastrophic trial by the Elders, had pushed Aric to the limits. It had nearly torn him apart. Nearly torn us apart. I felt my dragon writhe slightly at the man's implications. Aric could have ended up imprisoned in Alaska, or dead.

  "So, you know more about the situation than the Elders. Impressive. You must know an awful lot." I gushed in fake enthusiasm.

  The gray-haired one laughed at that. "Don't mind Reynard. He's just pissed that he missed out on all the fun. He used to run interrogations for the Elders."

  Aric blanched slightly. I squeezed his arm and tried to push some comforting thoughts at him. From the slight tremor in his arm, I doubted that it worked.

  "Yeah. Now that the Shadow Queen's back, I'm out a job. Whooptie-shit." The empty glass hit the table hard. "Seventeen years. You put your life into your work, and some slip of a girl tosses you to the curb."

  I did not feel the least bit guilty. Being able to use empathy for interrogations had to be worlds better than whatever this asshole must've done to people. If there was any guilt, it was that I hadn't been able to spare more people from his grasp.

  "You met her. What's she like?" The third man spoke up. His hair was on the pepperier side of salt-and-pepper, and he sported a truly epic moustache.

  "I... was a little preoccupied at the time," Aric muttered, not looking at me. He cleared his throat. "She was professional. Calm. Beautiful."

  Salt-and-Pepper smiled at that. "I saw her mom once, when I was still at the Proving Grounds. She came for an inspection. Her eyes." He sighed fondly. "They could see right through you, and you didn't mind a bit. There was something about her."

  I leaned in. "What?" I couldn’t help it. I was hungry for any knowledge about my mother.

  He looked at me, did a double-take, then smiled a little broader. "She was the Shadow Queen. She could kill you with a breath. But, the way she looked at us grunts, you knew she'd as soon lay down her life for you as take it from you. She saw us as people. As fellow dragons." He took a long sip of his beer. "Some of the Elders today could stand to remember that."

  I felt tears pricking at my eyes. "She sounds wonderful."

  He set down his beer and shrugged. "Only met her the once. But it stuck with me. It was a damned shame, her going out like that. We lost more than a queen that day. We lost a damned fine dragon."

  I nodded silently, trying to maintain my composure.

  Aric took over for me, thankfully. "So, good news travels fast, huh?"

  Reynard snorted. "Yeah. When a Beauvais gets in the shit, the gossip mill has a field day." He chuckled nastily. "When TWO Beauvaises get in the shit..." He let the words trail off.

  Aric cocked a brow. "What do you mean?" he asked in measured tones.

  The gray-haired one smiled mysteriously. "He means that your brother's demotion is public knowledge." He looked over at the rest of the crowd. "Why do you think we're all hanging out here? Word has it that he's waiting tables some nights as some sort of punishment for a major cock-up."

  Oh fuck. My stomach did a flip at that. Dario was already pissed enough that Alpha Squad had gone from the leaders of their generation to backup support for me and my boys. If he knew that he was a laughingstock... I shuddered to think of what he might do.

  "Word has it that it has something to do with the new Queen." Reynard toyed with his empty glass. "She must be some sort of hardass. Taking the golden boy of all golden boys and making him work at a dive like this. It's a fucking disgrace." From the malevolent grin on his face, he was loving every second of that disgrace.

  "I'm sure she has her reasons," I offered.

  "I'd love to hear them." Reynard turned his bleary eyes on me. "If she can turn the Elder Council on their own protégés, then she's got to have some pretty compelling dirt against them. And I do love dirt."

  "You gossip worse than an old woman, Rey." Salt-and-Pepper shot him a disdainful look. "The Council has a lot on its mind right now."

  "Really?" Aric leaned his elbows on the disused chair at the table. "What have I been missing out on?"

  Salt-and-Pepper looked at me, then him. "Missing dragons."

  Aric gave them his best aghast face. "Shit. How many?"

  Gray nodded at the empty chair. Aric pulled it out and offered it to me. I shook my head. He sat down, then flashed me a crooked grin and patted his knee. I rolled my eyes and perched on his lap. Gray smirked approvingly, then returned to business. "We've heard as many as a dozen. Maybe more. They've mostly been city dragons."

  "City dragons?" I asked, then regretted it. My ignorance of dragon society was showing.

  Aric put his arm around me and flashed the men a tired smile. "Allison hasn't been out of her enclave a whole lot. She's from Ashburnham."

  The men nodded knowingly. Aric gave my waist a squeeze. I only knew Ashburnham as a town upstate with lots of very nice houses and very wealthy people. Very wealthy dragons, apparently.

  Gray continued. "City dragons, as opposed to enclave dragons. Fo
lks like you grow up surrounded by dragons. The enclaves are warded to keep out undesirables. Humans and the Chosen of Apep." He paused and looked at me paternally. "Your parents told you about the Chosen, right?"

  "The cult of half-serpents and sorcerers who want to raise the Great Serpent and drive out dragonkind. Yeah, I've heard of them." Heard of them, fought them, had them on my ass for the past two months. Condescending motherfucker.

  Salt-and-Pepper must've seen it on my face. "She's been to the Proving Grounds by now, Gareth. Hell, she grew up next door. Don't be a prick."

  Gray waved his hand dismissively. "You never can be too sure with enclave kids. Some of those parents like to shelter their kids these days. Helicopter parenting and all that." He finished his whiskey and turned his attention back to me. "City dragons don't always have those protections. The rich ones, sure, their homes and mansions are warded to the gills and they don't have a care until they walk off the grounds. But the regular guys, they get by on whatever wards they can cobble together or buy off rental ethereals."

  "Rental...ethereals?" I chewed at my lip.

  "Ethereal dragons who sell their services, honey. They ward people’s apartments." Aric ruffled my hair. I swatted his hand. He stopped.

  "Not all ethereals work for the Academy, but they've all got to eat," Salt-and-Pepper added. "We can't all be Elders or academics or ivory-tower dwellers. Most dragons work for a living. We're soldiers, ditch-diggers, teachers, merchants... pretty much the same spectrum you find with humans. Outside of the enclaves, most dragons even work WITH humans. They just hide their dragons in public."

  Gray grunted at me. "I'm guessing your family's got some money."

  I nodded silently. Guess I'm a water dragon after all. It was the easier lie, being out-of-touch with the 'common dragon.' It left a bad taste in my mouth, like I was betraying all of Southie and my family of choice.

  "Shoulda figured, if you're sitting in the lap of a Beauvais." Gray snorted, then continued. "We're a mile off track. At any rate, city dragons have been disappearing. Started off with a couple here and there, a judge in Connecticut, a teacher in New Hampshire. Then, it got interesting. An academic got grabbed. THAT really got to the Elders. Rumor has it, she studied under Long herself." My stomach flipped, remembering Quinn’s friend. Gray looked around himself, then leaned in. "The latest ones got grabbed from the fucking Proving Grounds. If that's not safe, no one's safe."