Tempted By Fire (The Dragon Tributes #12)

Chapter 1

Magma

The large wooden door creaks open. “We’re ready for you now,” Councilor Thorne says before going back inside.

I pull in a breath and enter the silent room. Twelve pairs of eyes find me the moment I cross the threshold.

Thorne moves to his seat and sits.

The chamber has high, arched ceilings that rise above a long, curved table where the council members are sitting.

“You may sit.” Councilor Vector’s voice comes from the center of the half-moon-shaped table.

Vector has led this Council for longer than I’ve been in my current role, though there are a few new faces among them. They all watch me as I sit in a single chair positioned across from them.

I force myself to breathe.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here,” Vector says. His eyes are a flat, cool gray.

“I am, sir.” I keep my voice level, forcing myself to say nothing more.

I have an inkling that it’s about all the changes taking place on the island currently. I hope I still have a job when I leave here today. That all of my staff will still be employed. They would be crazy to make any drastic changes just yet.

A few of the members exchange glances. Councilor Reed, seated to Vector’s left, leans forward slightly. She and I have had our run-ins, but I like her, and we get along. I hope it stays that way.

There is so much talk of peace, but I have this horrible feeling that things are about to get worse before they get better.

It can’t be over.

It just can’t. There’s too much water under the bridge.

Councilor Thorne sifts through some papers in front of him. Arrow and Rynn sit quiet and watchful on Vector’s right. Another council member, whose name I can’t remember, clasps her hands on the table and watches me with an unreadable stare.

I’ve faced war and death, so it doesn’t faze me.

“As you must know, the peace treaty has been signed.” Vector smiles.

And there it is.

“I had heard,” I say. “It’s remarkable news. The war has cost us all greatly.” My mind moves to my own loss. It still hurts just thinking about her. “It’s long overdue.”

“It is.” Reed gives a small nod, also smiling.

My mind quickly returns to my staff…to Security Central. I clasp my hands in my lap, pulling in a deep breath and willing my heart to slow.

“The treaty takes effect at midnight tonight, but as far as the leadership of both islands are concerned, we are already at peace,” Vector goes on.

“Residents of Mistveil and Draig will be permitted to travel freely between the islands. Mistveil dragons in their dragon form and, with the appropriate permits and documentation, Draig citizens too. They will, of course, need to have permits showing that they are outside of the vaccination window and that they have command of their animals. You are about to undergo the tests in order to secure a permit for yourself. I’m assuming you know what it entails. ”

“I do indeed. Roughly twenty-five percent of my frontline team now operates without a rider. They are able to shift in and out of their dragon forms at will. This number will increase over the coming months.” I sigh softly.

“I understand that we want peace and integration of the two islands, but perhaps this should be done in stages. We can’t just open our borders,” I say carefully.

“Perhaps we need to limit the numbers that cross the borders in either direction…and then slowly increase them over time.”

“We ruled against this. We want and need peace between the islands. We are all dragon shifters. We are the same at the end of the day,” Vector says. “Is it really a peace treaty if there are sanctions in place?”

“The thing is, Head Councilor, old prejudices die hard. We’ve literally been raised to hate one another. We’ve lost loved ones in this war. There will be animosity and—”

“I’m going to stop you there.” Reed raises a hand. “It has already been agreed. When the borders open at midnight, they open fully.”

Fuck!

“Understood.” At least it will mean serious work for my team.

My job isn’t going away. I guess it’s transforming, which is more than I had hoped for.

“There will more than likely be significant security challenges. I would have liked more time to brief my team and to come up with strategies on how to tackle these challenges. We need to be prepared for any eventuality.”

“Agreed,” says Councilor Rynn.

“Although the borders open tomorrow, we do not expect an influx of Mistveil shifters on our soil.” Reed leans forward a little, her eyes on me.

“That’s good to know.” I feel myself relax a little.

“There’s another important development you need to know about,” Vector continues, and just like that, my back goes up.

“It’s regarding the Mistveil border specifically.

The frontline, as we have called it for as long as I can remember.

” He rubs his lips together, looking nervous for the first time in all the years I have stood before him.

“Going forward, it will be governed by Mistveil.”

I narrow my eyes. “That’s a mistake.”

Reed clears her throat and widens her eyes at me.

“I mean that with respect,” I add. “But pulling Draig’s presence from the Mistveil border and handing authority over to them…

it’s…we’re moving too fast. We’re assuming a level of trust that hasn’t been established yet.

Do you really trust them that much after meeting with their delegates a handful of times? Surely not.”

“Mistveil made it a condition of the peace negotiations,” Councilor Arrow says from across the table.

“Of course they did,” I snap. “But we need to withdraw slowly…step by step. Not all at once.”

“How can any genuine peace hold if Draig forces are still patrolling their borders?” Reed asks, her eyes softening. She shrugs. “It sends the wrong signal.”

“I understand the politics,” I say. “What worries me is the gap between politics and reality. If something happens on or near our own border, we have no buffer. They’ll already be right on us.”

“They want peace. We are not enemies. We never were. The Mainland has been pitting us against one another, and it has to stop.” Vector hits his hand on the table for emphasis.

“I know the facts,” I tell him. “But it doesn’t change the past or bring back those who have been killed on both sides. Hate still exists…again on both sides, and that will spell bloodshed. This needs to happen in stages so that everyone can acclimatize. It needs to slowly become the new normal.”

“The new normal is here,” Vector says. “We have established working relationships with King Arctic and with the Mistveil Council. They insist that they are capable of governing their own borders. They have been, arguably, for far longer than we’ve been willing to acknowledge. You know this, Magma.”

I press my lips together for a moment, choosing my words. “Yes, sir. I hear you. You say they want peace, but there is a whole population of rogue Red shifter males who continually try to cross the frontline. What of them? Who will govern them?”

“Mistveil has contingency plans in place. They already govern their own border; it’s just a case of expanding to include the whole of Mistveil.

They have assured us that they are more than capable.

Keep in mind that our frontline will still be there,” Reed says.

“Intact, but within the Draig borders. That hasn’t changed.

What will change – and I’ll be direct with you, Magma, because I know you value that – is the flight guard division.

The frontline fighters themselves. Over the next year, at a minimum, fifty percent of those positions will be phased out.

That’s if all goes to plan, and we are positive it will. ”

I had expected them to say this, but it still stings.

“Fifty percent,” I repeat, looking down at the table for a few moments.

“We’ll absorb as many of those guards as possible into other departments,” Councilor Ember says. “It won’t be perfect. But we are committed to our attempts at keeping them on board, just in a different capacity.”

“You’re asking me to trust a process that will take away half my air presence,” I say. “I need you to know I’m going to hold you to the absorption promise.”

“Noted,” Vector says. “And we expected nothing less from you. Your role is guaranteed as long as you can adapt.”

I nod once, my jaw tightening.

“Stand down from midnight tonight,” he continues. “The sea border patrols on the frontline surrounding our neighbors are done. We will continue to maintain a presence on Draig. That is where our jurisdiction now ends and begins.”

“And if there’s unrest? Once those borders open and Reds start moving freely through our streets? What then?”

“That is precisely why your main arm will continue to operate,” Councilor Thorne says.

“We’re not asking you to be absent, Magma.

We’re asking you to redirect. Tackle any incidents swiftly and decisively.

We are drawing up protocols together with the Mistveil delegates.

SOPs, should their citizens step out of line on our soil and vice versa. ”

“In the interim, I will not accept anything less than stellar behavior. We have laws in place for a reason,” I tell them.

“Do your job, Magma,” Reed says. “Be sure to stick to the book. Security Central will be under a microscope.”

I nod.

“For now,” Vector says, “it is business as usual. Keep your people trained and ready. They need to be prepared for anything. We quite literally have no idea what to expect.”

I nod once.

The chamber settles into quiet, but my mind, not so much.

Holy shit!

It’s going to be a mess.

“Anything else?” Vector asks.

“No, sir.” I get to my feet and keep my expression even. “The frontline will be moved back to the Draig border by midnight.”

Vector gives the smallest nod of acknowledgment, and just like that, I’m dismissed.

I walk back out through those heavy doors and pull them closed behind me.

My job just got a hell of a lot more difficult.