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Rage burst through Daegan. Ruadh roared to be set free.
Moving faster than a thought, Daegan flashed between Sen and Evalle. That this bastard would dare to harm her. His voice dropped into an inhuman level. “I have allowed you time to realize this is not a game to me, Sen. Strike out at another of mine and there will be no mercy.”
Sen chuckled. “What’re you going to do, dragon? Piss off three Tribunal entities when you have to explain putting a scratch on me?”
Daegan came right back at him, pushing energy out in a blast.
Sen fell back on his ass and snarled, jumping to his feet.
Not giving Sen a chance to speak, Daegan warned in the deep voice of his dragon, “I don’t give a bloody damn what anyone thinks when it comes to my people. This is your last warning. Touch one of mine again and the Tribunal will be in need of a new liaison.”
Some of the cockiness slid away, but not enough for Sen to appear contrite. He would never go that far. Not sounding as confident, Sen still curled up his lip. “The Tribunal doesn’t have time to indulge the riffraff you waste my energy on. Consider this my last warning. I’m killing everything you send to me that I don’t feel is worth bothering the Tribunal over. They’ll thank me.” Then he vanished.
Tristan shook his head as he shoved his body up to stand and lifted the woman back into his arms. He muttered, “That piece of shit packs a punch.”
Daegan stared at the empty spot Sen left. Years spent replaying his father and sisters’ death had stolen pieces of his humanity. This world had no idea to what lengths he would go to protect what belonged to him. Ruadh rumbled steadily, still ready to battle, but helping Daegan clear the red haze of fury.
“Did he injure you, Tristan?” Daegan asked.
Running a free hand through his tawny-colored hair, Tristan dismissed it. “No big deal. I’ve taken worse hits.”
Having been rescued from TÅμr Medb only recently, Daegan knew little of Tristan’s full history. He’d met the young man for the first time when Tristan joined a Belador team that went rogue to rescue Daegan.
What had Tristan been through to brush off a powerful strike?
“What are you going to do with her?” Evalle nodded in the limp woman’s direction.
Tristan held up a hand, indicating he conversed with someone telepathically. When he lowered his hand, he said, “I made a call to one of our Beladors on the police force. He’s sending someone who’s close by. They’ll take her home.”
“Well done,” Daegan told him.
“Let’s walk toward Tenth Street to meet him.” Tristan took the lead, heading that way. As he walked, he explained to Evalle how the troll had been intentionally trying to film a video for uploading to the darknet, which was the only reason he hadn’t dragged the woman off somewhere for a meal.
Evalle’s face twisted into disbelief. “How’d the troll plan to make the video if he was starring in it? I didn’t see a tripod.”
“Humans were across the street using their phones when I got here. He probably planned to take one of their devices once they moved in for a better shot, which they did. Idiots. I dealt with the only one who had a close-up video.” Tristan increased his pace as a police vehicle appeared coming down the street. He met the officer on the sidewalk. They talked a moment, then the officer put the woman in the backseat of his cruiser and left.
That had to be one of their Beladors working secretly with the human law enforcement.
Daegan appreciated Tristan’s expertise when it came to managing so many human situations. Just one of the many reasons he’d made Tristan his Rì Dtùs, an ancient title for his second-in-command. His entire council was priceless when it came to navigating both the preternatural world and the human realm.
Jogging back to them, Tristan said, “One problem down, but now for the bigger one I called you about, boss.”
That surprised Daegan. “What is it?”
“You know I have a human friend who has her ear to the ground on preternatural activity in the city, right?”
“Would that be your girlfriend?” Evalle interjected with an arch of her eyebrow. “The one who works for Jacob Kossman, who hunts for supernaturals?”
Tristan shot Evalle an annoyed glance. “Yes. But that’s not the point. Her boss is an ally, or would be if we could tell him we really exist. Anyhow, she said someone is going to prove supernatural beings exist and in a way no one can deny it, which will involve the Beladors.”
All humor fled Evalle’s face. “What does she think is going to happen?”
“She doesn’t think, she knows.” Tristan looked all around them, and kept his voice low as he explained, “She said a message was delivered anonymously to every major news outlet in the metro area in the past hour. Someone intends to prove supernatural beings are here and specifically used the term Belador. They said Beladors were dangerous supernaturals and this person claimed the humans would get to see how a professional rids the world of them. We don’t know which of ours they’re targeting, but this person claims that the Belador will suffer before dying if their leader doesn’t show his true self first. They are taunting you to show your dragon.”
Fury boiled Daegan’s blood. “No human can be behind this. It’s one of our kind. Have none of them learned that anyone who harms one of mine will die a painful death?” What would it take to stop his enemies?
Evalle turned deadly serious. “We have to stop this, but you can’t show your dragon, Daegan. This could be a trap just to get you out in the open where your dragon would be killed.”
Daegan’s voice dropped to a deep, gritty sound. “Who dares to think they can kill my red dragon?”
“Uhm, boss,” Tristan said in a calming voice. “Chill for a minute, okay?”
Evalle kept quiet, watching both of them.
Daegan pushed his dragon back down from the edge of shifting. He was tired of his people being attacked. A bounty hunter had kidnapped Evalle three weeks ago after crashing her body and motorcycle into a wall. Then he’d imprisoned her in Scamall realm and shoved Noirre majik in her body, preventing her from healing from daily torture in a desperate attempt to gain immortality from the goddess Macha.
Evalle had barely escaped with her life.
That realm no longer existed after Daegan teleported his people home to his Treoir realm just as Scamall imploded. Seeing what had been done to Evalle disturbed him on a deep level.
Every night since then, what Evalle suffered reminded him of losing his sisters and father. At least he’d been able to save her.
He hadn’t been present to protect his own family.
Evalle had healed with the help of her Skinwalker mate, Storm.
That reminded Daegan to ask, “Is Storm around tonight?”
“Not unless we need him. He’s trying to be good and not hover while I get back to work.” She allowed a quick grin. “It’s making him nuts. Just say the word and I’ll call him if you need him.”
“Not yet, but having dealt with the troll reminded me we may have need of Storm’s ability to detect lies at some point.” Daegan had witnessed Storm’s gift first-hand while searching for Evalle. “We have to narrow down where this threat is originating.”
Tristan had continued to scan the area. “Let’s head for our teleporting spot. I’ve got a troll friend who lives in a hotel on Peachtree Street. He might have information. I can pop in there and no one will see me.”
“Are you our new troll whisperer?” Evalle quipped, waving him ahead to lead the way.
“Very funny. Whoever is behind this probably has a larger goal than just harming, or killing, a Belador.” Tristan leaned past Evalle to address Daegan. “We have plenty of preternatural enemies, and most of them want to kill you, boss. No telling what the bounty is on your head from your favorite pair of homicidal goddesses.”
Daegan would be surprised to find either Queen Maeve or Macha behind this. They were malicious enough to do worse, but he’d proven once already to be a dangerous opponent.
Evalle jumped in, strategizing. “First thing we need to do is get a head count of all the Beladors in the metro area, especially with the new influx of warriors I heard you brought in from other countries. Hopefully, we can stop this in Atlanta before it spreads to other cities and countries. Nothing worse than copycat criminals. Thankfully, most sane nonhumans prefer anonymity. For now, we need to know where all of our people are at all times.”
“She’s right.” Tristan stared off in the distance with a look off deep thought in his eyes as he kept a quick pace. “You might want to set a rule that no one patrols or goes anywhere alone. We’ve paired locals with our out-of-town Beladors, but some locals are running solo. It’s been an option until now.”
Evalle’s dark ponytail swung from side to side with her determined steps. “Good idea. Two Beladors are harder to take down than one. That gives one a chance to call for help.”
Having considered their suggestions, Daegan replied, “I agree with both of you.” He told Tristan, “Call Trey to put the word out to all Beladors in the metro area to do just that.” As the most powerful telepath in North America, Trey could reach Daegan or Tristan almost anywhere.
Evalle leaned in. “I can see what you’re thinking, Daegan.”
Daegan caught his breath. Jennyver had once said that to him when he had yet to reach manhood, but believed himself ready to take on a battle with a full-grown dragon who had insulted her. He swallowed at the memory.
When his gaze turned to Evalle, his lips twitched with a smile. “Is that a new gift you have acquired?”
She huffed at him. “No, I just know how you men look when you think you’re going to handle something yourself. Plus, you don’t think anyone can harm you or your dragon, because none of the deities know who your goddess mother is.”
Daegan stepped off the sidewalk to allow a woman pushing a three-wheeled stroller while she ran behind. A light mounted to it lit her way. The child inside a clear protective sheet to block out the rain appeared happy.
Evalle stood with her arms crossed, waiting for an answer.
Her words held truth, but he’d made it clear he had no intention of calling on his mother. Ever. “You are not correct.” When she opened her mouth to balk, he explained, “I do not hold the belief that I cannot be killed, only that it would be an extremely difficult task to accomplish. My dragon and I have no fear for ourselves, only for the safety of my people.”
Tristan grabbed the back of his neck, something Daegan noticed when his second had something to say Daegan might not like. “Look, boss, we know you can hold your own against those from our supernatural world, especially with all of us backing you up, but the humans have greater weapons.”
Daegan glared at his second. “How can mere humans be a threat? I have seen their puny excuse for weapons.”
“You’ve seen rifles and handguns, but you haven’t been in our world long enough to have seen the human military,” Evalle argued. “They have bombs that can destroy this entire country and jets with rockets that could blow your dragon to pieces. We don’t want that to happen.”
Destroy an entire country? Rockets?
Daegan tried to imagine such things, but could not. “I must see these things for myself so I will know how to defend against it.”
Tristan blew out a rough blast of air. “I doubt that will happen unless they see you in dragon form, which would kick off World War III.”
“There were two others?” Daegan asked.
“Yesss, and we don’t want to repeat any of them,” Evalle confirmed.
Tristan stepped off the sidewalk, turning them toward the copse of trees they used for teleporting in and out of this area.
Three young men with a mix of a half-shaved head, bushy curly hair, and a ponytail emerged from the dark shadows Daegan and his people headed toward. Their jackets had odd emblems. One wore a chain from a belt loop to his back pocket. Tattoos covered most of their exposed skin.
The three men slowed, but Tristan, Evalle, and Daegan continued forward.
The one with half his hair flipped open a knife.
Evalle glanced at Daegan.
Tristan stared down the group.
Daegan allowed his energy to flow out quickly, knocking all of them off balance.
Curly-haired one muttered a curse. “Let’s get the fuck outta here.”
Tristan chuckled as the bunch took off. “You’d be great help for gang control, boss.”
“They were more foolish than dangerous.”
Glancing around first, Evalle returned to Daegan. “Anyhow, the bottom line is the worst thing that could happen with Atlanta on edge is for your dragon to show up in public, Daegan. If we can find out who is behind the threat and stop them without any bloodshed or exposure, the media will blow off tonight as a stupid prank. Then they won’t be so quick to jump at the next anonymous tip. But if you shift and fly through Atlanta, it will be game over. We’ll all be outed to the humans. Then we’ll be hunted simply because they fear the unknown. As Beladors, we’d have our hands full just staying alive and protecting each other’s backs, but the human families of Belador warriors would also be at risk. Having a war with the humans would turn bloody and destroy any semblance for Belador family life.”
She had a valid point.
Much as Daegan hated to admit it, he couldn’t expose his dragon in this world. Additionally, he couldn’t use his powers most of the time either or the humans would see it.
How was he supposed to protect his people with his greatest weapons out of reach and no way to shield them all in one place?
Tristan stopped short. “I just heard from Trey. Devon Fortier hasn’t checked in for the last two hours. Trey sent two teams to search his area. No one can find him or Renata. Trey hasn’t heard from her or Noah, another out-of-town Belador. I told Trey I was with the two of you so he’ll send all of us a message of anything new. I also told him what we’d heard about an expected attack on Beladors tonight.”
Daegan’s muscles tensed with the need to mount an attack and lead the charge to defend his Beladors.
The tension of holding himself back riled Ruadh. Kill enemy.
His dragon only echoed Daegan’s deepest desire. He’d hated war, but he had never hesitated to jump into battle. Soon, Ruadh, Daegan soothed silently, which eased his mind as well.
Evalle asked, “Who are Renata and Noah?”
“Renata is a badass female Belador from South America,” Tristan replied. “We teamed her up with Devon. Noah is skilled as well. He came in from the UK, but said he knew Atlanta well from having lived here for three years during college so we let him patrol alone. Other than that, we’ve been partnering local warriors with our people coming here from other countries.”
“Devon has faulty telepathic ability.” Evalle sounded hopeful that this could explain a Belador being unable to communicate with Trey.
Daegan angled his head at Tristan to address her point.
“You haven’t been back long enough to know all the details, Evalle, but we’ve brought in over fifty additional Beladors. That means we always have a Belador close enough to help another pair.” Tristan slowed his steps and looked down, shaking his head. “Even Devon could contact at least one of our people with so many around. Renata had no problem with telepathic communication. Neither did Noah.”
Evalle planted her feet at the edge of the trees and squared her jaw. “We don’t have time for any more planning right now with three of ours missing.” She snapped her fingers. “We need our allies.”
Tristan’s eyebrows jumped at that. “Who?”
“Adrianna for one, and Isak for another.”
“I thought those two were at war,” Tristan said.
“They’ll just have to call a damn truce,” Evalle snapped.
Daegan brought up, “Isak is a good choice if he has no conflict of choosing sides between us and humans.” Isak happened to be one of a small group of humans who knew about the Beladors and other preternaturals.
Evalle shook her head. “I have no doubt he’ll step up to help us. He will definitely protect other humans, but he has friends in our community, too. I also think he’ll do anything to keep Adrianna safe, regardless of their chilly relationship right now. His electronic surveillance and intelligence rivals that of any government.”
Even Tristan admitted, “He did supply key information when we were hunting for you.”
That information had gained Isak ally status from Daegan.
A dark thought passed over Evalle’s eyes at the mention of her ordeal, but she lifted her chin like the powerful Alterant she was and continued. “We need Adrianna, too. She’s key to managing Isak so he doesn’t take things into his own hands.”
Tristan gave her a look that questioned her sanity. “Are you on crack? Ask Adrianna to manage Isak? You want to piss off a witch who literally holds Witchlock in the palm of her hand?” He referenced an ancient witch power Adrianna possessed through no desire of her own.
Daegan lifted a hand to intervene in what was tipping toward a quarrel. “Evalle makes a sound argument for contacting Isak.”
Holding up his hands in defeat, Tristan said, “Okay, got it. We’ll hope for the best.” He turned, leading them into the copse of trees they’d reached. Tristan possessed the ability to teleport, but not a natural gift. He’d been given what he called a witch highball and some immortal blood while imprisoned by Macha.
Once he stood in the center of the dark spot, Tristan turned to Daegan and Evalle. “Here’s my plan. I’ll find out the last place Devon and Renata were before they went dark then I’ll ... ”
Trey’s voice boomed in Daegan’s head. Three Beladors have been reported captured and are to be used to prove preternaturals exist. That just broke on every local news station. Media teams are on the way to three locations. One is downtown in the area around the big Ferris wheel. Another one is Sandy Springs on a building under construction near the mall, and another location is around that UnveilCon in Buckhead. What do you want me to do?
Based on Tristan’s and Evalle’s deadly quiet posture, they’d received the same message.
Daegan replied to Trey, Send teams of six to each location. Tell them to wait for me, Tristan, or Evalle. Tell them not to approach anyone until one of us arrives, which will be in less than a minute.
Got it. Trey’s presence in Daegan’s mind vanished.
Turning to Tristan, Daegan ordered, “You head to Sandy Springs since the location did not sound specific. You can move around best with your knowledge of the area and being able to teleport. Evalle, do you know about the UnveilCon in Buckhead?”
“Yep. Heard about it when I got home. I have a good place to arrive unnoticed. I’m envisioning the top of a one-story coffee shop in that area.” She dropped to stretch her body out, only touching the ground with the toes of her boots and her hands. “Send me.”
Daegan pointed at her and she vanished.
Tristan repeated, “Please don’t shift, boss. Like Evalle said, this could all be just to get a clear shot at your dragon.”
A snarl ripped out of Daegan, but not at Tristan. He could not fight a war with his hands tied. “We will know soon enough who is behind this.”
With a grim look on his face, Tristan teleported away.
Daegan recalled a short building close to the large entertainment wheel in the middle of downtown Atlanta, but had no idea if people would be able to see him arrive.
Following Evalle’s example, Daegan squatted down to remain on his feet while maintaining as small a shape as possible while teleporting.
He would not expose his people to humans for anything, but neither would he allow even one to die.
A woman’s voice with a Latin accent screamed in his head. Help me, Daegan! They're killing me! I am Renata Sanchez. I am Belador. Please, someone, help me.
She screamed a blood-curdling sound.
