Chapter 9 #2
“Are we sure it’s safe to leave Brentwood?” I was eager to throw myself into the action, anything to help put the last twenty-four hours behind me, but I refused to be careless with their safety. “I don’t want anyone else hurt on my behalf.”
With Sloane sworn to the Walshes, she had an extra layer of protection from the Sartoris. A direct attack on her would result in justifiable retaliatory action from Rían. But I was still a Sartori, through bond if not by blood.
They had a claim on me until I broke ties with them or they succeeded in killing me.
Yet another reason why I ought to jump ship and join up with the Walshes.
Had Rían and our betrothal not been a factor, I might have been more willing to cut ties with my…
well…those I had thought of as family. I just didn’t want to give him false hope when I was such a mess I couldn’t tell up from down at the moment.
“Nothing is certain,” Fayne chided gently, “but are you willing to wait and see what Sartori does?”
“No.” I didn’t have to think twice about it. “I’m just shocked you’re letting me—” I bit my tongue until it hurt. “I mean that you’re including me.”
Pop, pop, pop.
The noise reminded me of those firework poppers that went bang when you threw them at the floor.
Except I was pretty sure that had been the sound of Rían’s knuckles where his fingers curled into a fist down by his side.
Strange how I didn’t worry, even for a second, he would cock his arm and use that fist.
“I won’t lie. I’m not thrilled Fayne decided you’re well enough for covert ops.” Rían forced his hands to relax. “But I trust her judgment, and if she believes you can handle this in your condition, I support you.”
“Break out the poop bags.” Her grin was a tad sharp. “It’s time to get this pawty started.”
Rían and I groaned at the same time, but I noticed both of us were grinning.
The pawty was an event, all right.
First, Burdock made me toss back what he explained was a dragon energy drink, more or less.
Next, Rían climbed out the window, scooping me up before my feet touched the grass beside him. The door to Sloane’s room was beside the exit, Rían explained, so we couldn’t go that way without drawing Liam’s attention.
Then, while I was tasting clouds and hearing the color purple, which Burdock assured me was normal and not the beginning of death throes, Fayne drove up in an SUV wearing sunglasses and a ballcap that did nothing to hide her identity.
The speed with which she reached GSG had me ready to toss my cookies.
Or maybe that was the energy drink. There was something very wrong with my stomach, and I wasn’t sure I could blame it on Fayne’s belief that traffic lights were twinkling Christmas decorations towns left up year round instead of a safety measure.
Slapping a hand over my mouth, I fumbled for the door latch. “I’m going to be sick.”
“It’s the tonic. Everyone has a bad reaction the first time. You’ll be fine.” Fayne waved off my certainty I was dying. “Though Burdock did give you extra oomph. You’ll need it for what I’m about to do to you.”
This might be the first time I had ever been hesitant to enter my own business, but I had a bad feeling about what was going to happen to me as soon as I walked through those doors.
Still, I wanted to pitch in and prove to the Walshes I was capable.
I wanted them to look at me and see strength.
I wanted a clean slate. I wanted to be everything I had been told I could never be.
And that meant I had to swallow the bitter taste threatening to climb up the back of my throat and get it together before they had second thoughts about including me.
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Rían said quietly. “Don’t let Fayne hype you up for something if you’re not ready for it yet.”
“I’m nervous about how the magic works,” I admitted, noticing as Fayne let herself in that she had a set of my keys. “This is like what she did with Liam, right? Glamouring him, or whatever, into Bowie?”
“Exactly like that.” His lips quirked, tugging up on one side. “Anything he can do, you can do.”
“I’m not sure that’s true, but thanks for the vote of confidence.” I started after Fayne. “What type of dragon is your grandmother?”
“She’s a mystisch, a mystic.” His tone held notes of pride. “Her breed is the only one who can use actual magic. Most of it is transformative in nature, as you would expect from shifters, but she’s got plenty of tricks up her sleeves.”
“There are a lot more types of dragons than I realized, a lot more diversity in your clan than I would have expected for such low numbers.”
“That’s why we’re so diverse. The Walshes are the largest remaining dragon clan. We are the survivors. Most of us, like Fayne and me, are one of a kind. You will be too.”
“How is that possible?” I didn’t have to duck under his arm when he held the door for me, which was nice. “Dragons are, well, dragons.”
“Greed is a bottomless pit whose depths some people will never plumb. That’s what my dad used to say.
Liam’s dad and mine were brothers. Dragons in our family line tend to be warriors.
Titans. Stone skins. That sort of thing.
Titans are too large to survive in a world as small as this one has become thanks to modern technology.
Many were killed in recent decades by their own kind to preserve the secret of our existence or, if a mystic could be located, bound into smaller forms.”
“Fayne is your grandmother, and a mystic.” And the mother of two deceased sons she never breathed a word about, even though she lived for her grandchildren. “Are one set of genes dominant?”
“Mystics are as precious as your lineage,” he said, reminding me of the time when Bowie told me I was more precious than I knew. I figured he meant my relationship to Carmichael, but this must have been the truth. “There’s no rhyme or reason to when they pop up in a bloodline.”
A warrior upbringing must have played a part in her claiming the title of spymaster, but her talents were perfectly suited for the role.
“Hurry up.” Fayne waved me into the reception area. “Liam has an uncanny nose for sniffing out trouble. He might be distracted now, but he’ll figure out what we’re up to if we don’t hurry things along.”
“What do I do?” I stood on the spot where she indicated. “And do I have to be naked for this?”
A low groan was choked off fast behind me, where Rían now stood with his back facing me.
Based on the fact I didn’t shift, he must have assumed—correctly—that I was okay with others’ nudity but skittish about stripping myself. There was no reason for me to run around naked, so, yeah. I didn’t have much experience in that area.
“We’ll start you off easy.” She approached me, giving me a moment to decide if I was sure I would go through with it. “You can keep the clothes. For now.” She cupped my cheeks. “Close your eyes and let me work.”
As prickling warmth bled into me, I did as I was told. I stood there, still as a statue, and ignored the jitter of nerves as pressure pushed on me from all sides. The sensation was similar to how I had heard shifting described, minus the pain, so I didn’t panic. Much.
“Let’s see how you look as a redhead,” she murmured to herself, draping another, tighter band of magic around my middle. Then she sort of yanked. And I sort of crumpled like a used napkin. “Aww. Look, Rían. Isn’t she adorable?”
“She already was,” he rumbled, his voice rolling like thunder. He bent a knee before me, and it was like a mighty redwood tree bowing to a passing deer. “How do you feel?”
“Arf.”
I tried slapping a hand over my mouth, but I smacked myself in the face with a paw. A soft whine slipped out of me before I could catch it, and sympathy warmed Rían’s gaze.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you.” He lifted me gently out of the puddle of my clothes, careful to support my newly elongated spine, and carried me to one of the grooming stations. “Take a look.” He set me down in front of a mirror. “What do you think?”
A red miniature dachshund standing six inches tall and weighing maybe ten pounds stared back at me through soulful eyes.
I would have laughed at the novelty had I been human, but all I managed was a sound between a snuffle and a huff.
I never expected my first shift to go quite like this, but I had to admit that Fayne was right. I was adorable.
Before I knew it, my hips were bouncing side to side across the table from the force of my tail wagging.
“I think she likes it.” Fayne came to inspect her handiwork. “Are you good to go?”
With a rush of anticipation, I gave a firm nod and allowed Rían to cradle me against his chest again.
“How’s your arm?” He lifted it with infinite care. “Does it hurt when you put your weight on it?”
Careful to get my message across with exaggerated gestures, I shook my head to set his mind at ease.
Though, to be fair, I had barely used my arm—leg?—so I couldn’t say for certain whether it would cause problems later. But the way Fayne kept studying that injury like she could see beneath the magic, a tight smile on her face, made me think she had just proven something to herself.
“You keep hold of Ana.” Fayne gathered the supplies we needed from my stores. “I’ll get us where we’re going. I can give you both the rundown on the way, so you’ll each know what to expect before we start.”
From his distant expression, I doubt Rían realized that he had started petting me, showing my sensitive ears extra attention, but I was ready to melt into him and live there.
His hands on me felt so good. I leaned into him, angling my belly up, shameless as I asked for more.
I blamed it on my current form because I would have been mortified otherwise.
With me safely in wiener mode, we returned to the SUV to begin the real adventure.