Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Lila
D inner continues with comfortable conversation. Tirrian’s family is welcoming and friendly and nothing like I assumed they would be considering the asshole he was when he first arrived at the circus. Saxon, Link, and Xavier take great joy in telling his family all about it, while Tirrian grumbles beneath his breath, my hand clasped firmly in his. He hasn’t let go of it once, so I guess he’s feeling a little territorial. I allow him the boon and manage eating with one hand.
Brannock joins the conversation. He has stayed in his human glamour, which is basically as solid as one of my forms, not wanting to alarm the dragons, though the royal family is aware of his alien status. I hear him talking with both Titus and Thorn about what Earth is like. They are curious, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we get one if not two tagalongs once we leave Fluxx.
My gaze slides to Silac, and I can see how tense he is, barely touching his meal. He’s on two legs, but he keeps hissing and flaring his hood, and Dylan’s poor brother and sister keep jumping. He apologized, but I don’t think we should make him suffer any longer.
“I’m going to shift to prove to those gathered that I can, and then we need that meeting,” I say to the king, who is quick to agree.
“That should stop most of the negativity as well. There was some speculation on whether or not Papa would rename his heir when the general public heard that Tirrian did not mate a pure dragon,” Tallon tells us quietly.
Tirrian scoffs next to me. “They should know better. The mating bite usually fixes that, and even if it didn’t, she’s a mimic.”
“Not always. If you mated another shifter, you know there’s a fifty-fifty chance they’ll take after one parent or the other, and as far as the gossip goes, Lila is a low powered mimic and doesn’t have many forms,” Tisa whispers quietly so the whole room isn’t privy to the conversation.
“Well, shall I prove to them that Tirrian and I can give them pure dragonlings?” I roll my eyes and stand up, pushing my chair back.
Tirrian stands with me and puts his hand on my shoulder. “You know I don’t care about that,” he says firmly, looking me in the eye, and I snort with amusement.
“Yes, you do. You want a brood of eggs, and I understand that. I can’t guarantee a brood, but I can tell you this, buddy—you will be the one sitting on them. I have way too much on my hands to spend weeks nesting, but I’m sure you’re up to the task.” I pat him on the shoulder and walk off the raised dais to the large space Xavier teleported us to. When I look back, Tirrian is watching me with stars in his eyes, and I can feel my beast’s hunger for him and desire for more babies pulse inside me.
You are all going to have to wait a little longer. We still have a few more tasks on the list to complete before I will consider getting knocked up again by anyone, so slow your roll.
They all settle down, except for my dragon, who is chuffing to come out, so I let her take over. The change is just as painful as the first time, but I clamp my teeth together, refusing to show weakness in front of the predatory, judgmental crowd.
My body reshapes and reforms, and we stretch our wings, brushing one of the guards against the wall, who yelps and steps back when Tirrian growls at him. Our whole body shakes, and then she stretches like she’s doing the downward dog. I’m almost certain she’s just showing off now, and Tirrian’s growls get even louder. Her happiness at his jealousy has me rolling my eyes. I don’t sink back and allow her to take complete control. We may end up causing a galactic incident if we do that, so I monitor the driver’s seat in case I need to take hold of the reins.
I tune into what the crowd is saying.
“I’ve never seen a dragon that color before.”
“Isn’t she stunning?”
“She looks like a rare dragon’s eye stone. I haven’t seen one of those in years. I would love one for my hoard.” Ah, so that’s what my cave gems are called. Isn’t that ironic? I gave one to Tirrian. I hadn’t heard anyone call them that.
“I would love her for my hoard.”
“The crown prince is really lucky.”
“She’s a bit small, isn’t she? Hardly fit to be queen, and she’s kind of ugly.”
There are loud gasps of shock, and a small tittering of laughter. We drop out of the stretch and search the crowd for the person who said that last part. Of course it’s a pretty female, and she’s looking down her nose at us. Most people have stepped away from her, not wanting to get caught in any crossfire.
I feel my mate join me, stroking his hand over my side, and I quiver with joy. I have no desire to play into this one’s games, so I just ignore her and nuzzle my mate, but he obviously feels like he has to defend me.
“Still bitter I turned down your proposition I see, Ioldres? Be glad that I did, because neither of my dragons would accept you, and you would have been killed before you could even blink. Get over it and move on, otherwise you are going to find all the eligible bachelors are no longer available,” Tirrian says calmly, and I admire how neutral he sounds. Hopefully she lets it go, because I can feel how furious he is.
Her gaze moves, and when I follow it, I find she’s staring at both of Tirrian’s brothers, who look like deer caught in the crosshairs of a hunter’s rifle. Tallon is laughing, quietly amused at their terror. I huff out my own breath of laughter, smoke swirling around us, and a small hiccup of flame falls to the floor. Ioldres yelps and steps back a little. Yup, I totally meant to do that. My dragon rolls her eyes at my antics.
“Maybe lower your ambitions slightly. Neither of my brothers are looking for mates, and if you push it, their dragons will also kill you. You know this. Our dragons will not stand for human manipulations and calculations. They are primal and don’t understand those kinds of machinations.”
She huffs, and I can tell by the stubborn set to her shoulders that she hasn’t listened one bit. I change back, and Tirrian quickly strips off his shirt to throw over my naked body. His shirt has room for my dragon wings, which I keep on display as a reminder to the petty bitch. We turn our back on her, not willing to give her any more attention, and walk back to the table.
“I’m not sure that one is going to give up,” I whisper. “She had a look of determination that I recognize.”
He leans his head in and whispers, “No, but I won’t be sad to see her gone either if one of my brothers’ dragons eats her.” I chuckle as Tysar stands up and gives his wife a kiss on the cheek before leading us away from the throne room to what Tirrian tells me is the security and surveillance room.
The rest of my mates have joined us as well at Tallon, Thorn, and Titus. “When you apprised us of the situation, we sent in some of our ground drones.” Tallon is the one who starts up the conversation, bringing a big screen on the wall to life.
“Ground drones?” I ask, and Link is the one who answers.
“Small automated spy robots designed to look like insects, or small creatures from specific planets. It’s a side project my father created years ago. While my mother concentrates on the leisure industry, my father put nanobots to more practical uses, like the automated drones that care for our crops or households. These ones are aimed at home security.”
“Or spying,” Thorn says unapologetically. “Most savvy businesses or people with shit to hide screen their place of business or abodes twice a day for these kinds of measures—we certainly do. They are easy to track with the right system.”
“There are also effective countermeasures. This room contains them. The walls send small bursts of EMT pulses every few seconds. It’s a small enough burst to keep all the machines inside the room safe, but anything attached to the walls, floor, or ceiling automatically short out,” Titus explains.
“It’s not something that can be utilized in a large scale because of the potential to ruin everything, but to protect important meetings, it is definitely effective.” Tysar takes a seat at a long table and gestures for all of us to sit. “Tallon has video feeds to show you. The basilisks are obviously unconcerned about being discovered or have more important things to worry about, because they don’t have countermeasures.”
“These feeds are from when you first apprised us of the situation. I can confirm your father has been turned to stone, I’m sorry to say, but for now, he is in one piece,” she informs Silac, pausing on a screenshot that shows us exactly that. It’s an office, and Silac’s father is in his half form. He looks like a statue from some Greek inspired garden. “Obviously we didn’t catch what happened, because we didn’t have surveillance on them at the time, but we were able to catch what happened next.”
She fast forwards the film, and I can tell by the time stamp that it is a period of a few days. Finally, she slows down when Xavier’s parents appear in the video of the same office. Silac’s dad’s statute is nowhere to be seen. They are having a meeting with six big basilisk snakes. They are in their half form, and unlike the nagas who have a hood, they have large spike-like crests on their heads, slightly like a dragon’s and creepy as fuck, with white eyes with black pupils.
What starts off as a friendly negotiation goes downhill rather fast, and before any of us can blink, both Cronus and Xylene are turned to stone.
“How?” I mutter, still shocked. “Cronus and Xylene are mega powerful.”
“They are, but they are also arrogant because of it, and I guess they didn’t even consider it might happen to them.” Xavier combs a hand through his hair in agitation, staring at the paused image of his petrified parents. I can feel his anguish. It’s bitter and unpleasant, and it’s all I can do to stop myself from wrinkling my nose.
“That’s how quick it can be and why they must be stopped. We did some more digging and found this.” Tallon switches out the video, and I blanch at what I see. It’s a huge warehouse, and it is filled with hundreds of stone statues.
“Holy fuck, is that what I think it is?” We all lean forward, but it’s Saxon who asked the question.
“We think this is probably everyone who has opposed the Bravalanas over the years. Your parents are all stored here now.” She brings up an image of them at the front of the warehouse.
“We need to get Lila in there and everyone freed before tomorrow night’s wedding ceremony. That’s the only way we can be sure they are safe.” Brannock is in planning mode.
“I am required to present myself to the family this evening. I will create a distraction so you can do that.” Silac has a stubborn set to his jaw, and I know there is no talking him out of this. He still wants to make sure his fiancée, Kinga, gets out alright. He insists she doesn’t want this any more than he does. I’m not sure it’s the right choice, but none of us can dissuade him.
“Excellent, and once we free everyone tonight, we will crash the wedding tomorrow, rounding up all the basilisks we can.” Tysar sounds excited at the chance, as is everyone else in the room. The room practically sparks with anticipation. “It’s been a while since we could let out some aggression on a foe.”
“I’ve developed some glass with mirrored reflections for everyone. The basilisks can’t change you if they can’t see your eyes. I’ll make sure we have enough pairs for all the troops tomorrow.” Link points to a suitcase that he carried from the ship. I wondered what was in it.
“Lila, you need to fuel up for a few hours. We don’t know how long it’s going to take you to change all of those people back to flesh.”
“How exactly is Lila going to do that?” Thorn asks, sounding skeptical. I’m pretty sure he’s asking me how I’m going to change the people, not fuel up, because there is no way I want to share that I have to fuck to power up with Tirrian’s brother.
“Did you get what I asked for?” Tirrian’s gaze is on Tallon, and she nods.
“Yeah, secure in the dungeon. Shall we go there now?”
“You have a basilisk?” Link sounds excited. “Good, I can test my glasses then too.” He grabs a pair and slips them onto his face, and we follow Tallon through the mountainside complex to a lower level.
“How did you catch one if you can’t risk looking them in the eye?” Max has been mostly quiet, observing and taking everything in, so I almost jump when he asks this question.
“Tranq dart,” Tallon says wryly. “They aren’t particularly observant about their surroundings. We caught this one coming out of a fast-food place in the capital. We kept him sedated until we got here, but it should have worn off by now. Are you sure you’re going to be able to mimic him without being turned to stone?” she asks, unable to hide her concern. “The last thing we want is for that to happen, and for Tirrian and the rest of your mates to lose their shit.” She gives Brannock the side-eye. We haven’t hidden his race from the royal family, and so far, they’ve been happy to accept him, but I understand them being wary about him going berserker, even if we aren’t fully mated.
“I don’t need to look them in the eye. I can just as easily look at them through a viewing window. Do you have a two-way mirror?”
“Yes, we can activate one. We can see them, and they can’t see us. Our cells allow us to do that.”
“They are the same as the ones on Earth. The barriers are tech based,” Xavier explains to me.
“I’ll wait until Lila has mimicked him before I test my glasses. That way, she can always unfreeze me if I get turned to stone,” Link decides, and I heave a sigh of relief.
“Can a basilisk reverse the process? Do we know this for sure?” I ask as we enter the containment area.
“Yes, they can. Most of the time, they choose not to. It’s horrible, because although they are frozen, their minds are very much active inside the stone. I can’t imagine how much counseling all those people are going to need in the warehouse.” Silac sounds furious.
“We will seize all their assets and liquidate them to compensate any of the victims. By the time we’re finished, the Bravalana family will be done,” Thorn assures us.
“Make sure you are positive of guilt. Silac says that not all of them are happy to be involved in any illegal doings,” Saxon cautions.
“Kinga should be able to help us with that. The Bravalana basilisks aren’t a huge family, but they are still significantly bigger than us nagas. There are other basilisk families that live perfectly legal and normal lives.” Silac is staring at the male who is in half form on the other side of the two-way mirror. I don’t even think he knows we’re here.
I step closer, and I stare at him, giving my mimic abilities a nudge. They surge forward. I haven’t asked them to mimic any new forms for a long time, and they are almost champing at the bit to mimic this one. I feel my body shift, my bones realigning, and can’t stop the groan that leaves my mouth. I see someone reach out for me, but Saxon jumps in and stops them.
“Leave her, she can do this. The first change is always the worst.”
My legs fuse together and elongate, my hair shrinks away, and I feel bony protrusions growing from my head. My mouth fills with razor-sharp teeth, and my vision changes, the sounds of everyone’s heartbeats becoming more pronounced. My nature becomes more primal, and it’s all I can do to control myself from lunging at one of the warm-blooded creatures in the room.
The dragons and Saxon feel different—not as warm-blooded as the others—and when my focus slips to Silac, his cold-blooded nature calls to mine. I hiss, my tongue flicking in and out, but I keep my gaze firmly on the two-way mirror in front of me and the creature on the other side. I’m not sure how to control turning someone to stone, so I’m going to have to do some experimenting. There’s no time like the present. I’ll practice with the creature I just mimicked.
“Step out of the room and let me through,” I say, my voice changing. It’s lower, and the S’s are very sibilant.
“Are you okay, Lila?” Tirrian asks, knowing it’s a struggle to control my more basic instincts in another form.
“Yes, just go and let me practice on him.” I still don’t risk looking at any of them—not only because I’m afraid of turning them to stone but, if I’m honest with myself, I also don’t want to see them looking at me with horror in their eyes.
“We don’t need to step out,” Tallon says, her fingers flying across the control board. “I’ve adjusted it so you can pass back and forth, and you can leave when you have what you want,” she explains, and I nod that I heard her, still not wanting to risk looking at them.
I slither into the cell, and the captured basilisk goes on alert, rising and hissing at me.
“Who are you? What do you want? Where the fuck am I?” he demands.
“How do you activate the petrifying power?” I ignore his questions, and he hisses at me, lunging forward with his mouth open. Jesus, he has way more fangs than an Earth snake. I hadn’t even noticed my own mouth. I react quickly and slap him on the nose, and he yelps and slithers backward again. I use my tongue to feel around my mouth, but my teeth are normal. I guess we can will them to change on command.
I see his eyes swirl, and I feel a wave of power, but it seems to slide right off me. Basilisks can’t turn each other into stone. I knew that instinctively, so I didn’t even flinch, but with him trying to demonstrate it, it triggered the innate knowledge inside me, just like my mimic powers are supposed to work. I now know how to petrify a person, but most importantly, I know how to reverse it—a drop of basilisk blood placed on the forehead of the victim. It looks like I’m going to bleed a lot tonight.
“Who are you? I know all the basilisks on Fluxx, and I don’t recognize you,” the snake man demands, but I ignore him. I have what I came for, so I turn and slither back the way we came. Link stands in front of everyone, wearing his mirrored glasses.
“Look at me, Lila,” he demands when I keep my eyes on the ground. I’ve mostly wrestled the more primal nature of this creature into submission, but there’s a scent in the air that makes me hungry. I flick my tongue out to taste it and groan as the flavor reaches my taste buds, my eyes zeroing in on who it is—Silac. My basilisk wants to lick him all over, but I grit my teeth and avert my eyes, even though I know how to trigger the powers now. I have to be patient. Our time is coming, and it won’t be as a basilisk.
I look up at Link and activate my powers, staring directly into his mirror-covered eyes. I feel the power creep out, but it quickly rebounds when it hits the mirror, and Link remains flesh and blood and nanobots. I heave out a sigh of relief that it didn’t work, and a wide grin spreads across his lips.
“Excellent. Just as I thought. You can change back, Lila,” he tells me, and with a sigh of relief, I let the form go.
“Right, if we’re all done here, then I have something I need to show Lila. We’ll meet you at the launch pad when it’s time to leave for the warehouse.” Tirrian grabs my hand and drags me out of the room before I can even speak. I hear everyone else laugh as we leave the containment area and move deeper into the mountain.