Chapter 18

Bailey

We stood outside the Cleveland County Courthouse. It was near sunset, casting a soft glow over downtown Norman. The streets were full of people coming and going between the shops and restaurants. I loved seeing how much life and vibrancy had returned to the city compared to five years ago. If not for the occasional red dragon flying in the sky, I could almost imagine they’d never come.

Unfortunately, we hadn’t come to shop or grab a bite to eat at the new Italian restaurant I was dying to visit. We had an important meeting with the city council at the courthouse. Nearly every waking minute these days involved war planning. I dreaded the Kandoran coming, but I was also ready for it to be over so we could move on with our lives—hopefully.

The older section of the four-story building before us was built in 1939 using gray limestone and had a flat roof. It consisted of a neoclassical design with art deco details and had a set of steps leading up to the main entrance. Additional sections were constructed on the opposite side about forty years after that. While that end had a similar gray facade, the style was more modern, and a green sloped roof capped the top.

I gestured for Freya, Conrad, and Rayna to join me as we climbed the steps to the older part of the building. We were thirty minutes early for a meeting with the town council, but I wanted time to catch up with them in a secure location where we could talk freely. Javier had spelled the whole place for that purpose.

After we reached the large courtroom we always used, we selected seats at the back. Conrad unapologetically kicked his feet up on the bench in front of him. He’d returned from his latest dragon hunt during the afternoon and looked pleased with himself. As always, he appeared sharp with his perfectly pressed khaki pants and magenta button-up shirt. He’d even topped it off with shiny dress shoes instead of black boots. I caught a waft of spicy cologne drifting from him as well. It grew so intense I wondered if he’d bathed himself in it. Then again, who was I kidding? He probably had.

Freya sat next to him with a glint in her yellow eyes that said if Conrad made one wrong move, his nice clothes would be shredded. She even grew out her claws, which most shifters couldn’t do in human form, and tapped them on her knees in a staccato rhythm. His wary brown eyes widened, and he scooted a foot farther from her.

“Alright, crazy chick.”

She flicked her blonde braid over her shoulder with a sound of satisfaction. “Hmm!”

Rayna and I had settled on the bench in front of them, twisting to the side so we could all see each other. I was dying to talk to the other slayer first. “How is training at the dome going?”

Exhaustion lined her heart-shaped face. “Grueling. I can’t believe I complained about being bored before and volunteered for that. Thanks, by the way, for getting me out of there today. I needed a break from those psychos. It takes my slayer face to get most of them in line when they don’t want to follow basic instructions.”

It had only been two days, but she sounded like it had been a month.

“What is your slayer face?” Conrad asked, curious.

Her expression transformed in a heartbeat into something genuinely menacing with a trace of wild and crazy. Not much scared me anymore, but she looked like she was about to tear apart the room. Even Freya tensed. I needed to work on doing something like that so dragons wouldn’t discount me so quickly.

“Damn, girl.” Conrad let out a shudder. “That’s some intense shit.”

“It’s come in handy with dome training. That’s for sure.”

Maybe that’s why she inspired more fear in everyone than me. While she could be a kind and helpful person, a trace of darknesssometimes reflected in her gaze. I couldn’t pinpoint the cause of it, and she didn’t seem inclined to tell anyone.

I shook my head. “So what’s been the biggest trouble?”

“The dragons argue about everything. Like for instance, who gets to play the good guys versus the bad guys. Whether or not someone got a simulated kill shot or if it would have just been a bad wound. Some of them know very well they should play dead, but they act like the implied neck wound didn’t bother them. It’s a nightmare. We’ve definitely got to work out the kinks before adding human soldiers. Aidan was right to start with dragons only.”

I winced, feeling sympathy for her. “How do you work it out if they don’t die when they’re supposed to?”

Rayna tucked some of her coppery-brown hair behind her ear. “We always have a few pendragons there, so yesterday, I started choosing one for each mock battle to help make judgment calls on the disputes. You know, like rotate them to reduce favoritism. That’s working better than when Morgan and I did it by ourselves on the first day. We only got two battles because of all the infighting compared to four this afternoon before I left.”

At least she’d found some sort of solution. I agreed with her that it was wise for Aidan to decide against adding non-human elements at the start. He must have suspected they’d have a lot of issues.

“Who is handling it while you’re here?” Freya asked, leaning forward.

That brought a smile to Rayna’s face. “Galadon. They’re all too scared of him to argue when he says anything.”

The female shifter laughed. “Ha, ha. I’m sorry I’m not there to watch.”

Conrad crossed his arms. “That dude is crazy scary. I ain’t seen him as much as you ladies, but I never met a guy before who makes me think I should find business elsewhere once I get within twenty feet of him. Nearly pissed myself the first time he got close.”

“That’s weird,” I said, frowning. “He doesn’t bother Rayna and me like that.”

He shrugged. “Maybe because I wasn't a full slayer the last time I saw him. Guess I’ll find out next week when it’s my turn to train. Still hope that scary fucker doesn’t go near me, though.”

Freya gave him a feral grin. “I’m tempted to send him your way to see how it goes.”

“Bailey.” He turned to me. “Why the hell can’t you have any normal friends who don’t threaten nice, gentlemanly guys like me?”

“It’s a gift,” I said, giving him an innocent look.

Freya patted his leg, claws still out. “You forget that you’re in that group of friends, and no one thinks you’re normal. Consider yourself lucky we allow you in our presence.”

I snickered before returning my attention to Rayna.

“Maybe they should have Galadon helping you full-time if he’s good at it,” I said, trying to imagine the lone shifter telling a horde of dragons from different clans what to do. At least I’d be joining the training for a few days next week and could see for myself.

She shook her head. “You have no idea what it took to get him to take over for one day. I practically had to promise he could eat my firstborn child.”

I snorted. “He’s not that bad.”

“You weren’t there. He’s so uptight it’s a wonder how he functions.”

Falcon and Sabryn entered the courtroom and joined us. It was interesting to note their body language. He let her sit first on the back bench, and there was a hint of longing in his gaze while her attention was elsewhere. When he went to sit next, she made a slight adjustment that had her an inch closer to him. Aidan had told me they’d been working seamlessly since pairing up for liaison duties and that he suspected an attraction wasforming between the shifters. Perhaps he was right.

“How is it going?” I asked them.

“Eventful,” Falcon said, glancing at Sabryn. “We have important matters to discuss here this evening.”

“Have they started using humans to build up the shield yet?” I asked.

Sabryn ran a hand through her dark hair that glinted between brown and black with the overhead lights. She kept it at shoulder-length, framing her pretty face. While she was well-toned like any female shifter warrior, her frame was a little smaller than Aidan’s sister, Phoebe. The glint of cold strength in her eyes let one know she could be utterly ruthless, and that size didn’t matter. I completely understood that.

“They started yesterday with some volunteers who live closest to the border.” She pursed her lips. “Only ten came to our designated stone.”

“We’ll ask them to push for more at this meeting,” Falcon added.

I arrived late yesterday for Aidan’s office meeting at the fortress and missed their most recent report. My mate hadn’t been pleased with me, but I needed to hunt dragons. Lately, I’d been pushing it on how long I could go in between, which left my body tense. Interestingly, nights with the pendragon took the edge off, but a week was pretty much the max I could handle before shifters began to look like prey.

“At least we can report the rebel group is disbanded, and four of their former members have volunteered to fight on the front line,” Freya said with a pleased smile.

I pretended to cough. “Yeah. I am certain it had nothing to do with the scary lecture you gave them before we released them back into the city.”

She was shockingly persuasive when she wanted to be—even with humans. Only one guy was still too shaken and traumatized to be useful to us. He wasn’t getting over his ordeal as well as the others. After Freya described in vivid detail the death and destruction they’d caused at the hospital, how it had hurt their fellow humans, and what we faced with the coming war, the rest had volunteered.

As the meeting time neared, more people began entering the courtroom. Rosalie spotted us as soon as she stepped through the double doors.She squeezed past the shifters to sit on the other side of Conrad, kissing him on the cheek after she settled.

“Sorry I didn’t get here sooner, baby,” she said in a sweet, smooth voice that likely made Conrad putty in her manicured hands.

I’d liked her since I first met her back in North Carolina. The dark-skinned woman with perfectly straightened black hair and an hourglass figure had a seamless combination of sexy and tough. Not only that, but she could work a whip against dragons that amazed me. She didn’t even have access to the fireproof potion the last time I saw her in a battle months ago, yet she still didn’t hesitate to enter the fight. She and Conrad were a perfect match.

“Don’t tell me the traffic was bad,” Conrad said, sarcasm dripping in his voice.

Rosalie grinned. “You wouldn’t believe how many women pushing baby carriages crowded the streets, and then my mule insisted on stopping to eat two blocks before we got here.”

He put a hand up. “Okay, baby, I might believe you about the mule but not the baby carriages. Ain’t that many babies around here, and damn sure not enough to block traffic for long.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” she asked, lifting her brows and affecting outrage. “Maybe it’s a mother’s club thing, and they took advantage of the nice weather. It wasn’t nearly as hot today.”

“You tell taller tales than I do.”

I’d decided a while ago it was a toss-up between them on that point.

“Anyway,” Rosalie said, lifting her chin. “Bunny was being picky about where I could leave him. He had to inspect every tree before deciding which one I could tie him to. I swear it’s like dogs and peeing.”

My brows knitted in confusion. “Bunny?”

“Oh, I finally settled on a name for the mule. He hated the first few dozen I suggested, and then I thought about how his ears perked up like a bunny and threw that one out there. He said he liked it.”

I started to ask how he could have told her before remembering Rayna lived with them, and she could have asked. That was one of her sorceress talents—telepathically talking to animals. Of course, most only gave her vague thoughts and impressions, but more intelligent species could “speak” complex views.

“Well, as long as he’s happy,” I said. Sometimes, being around Conrad and Rosalie felt like the Twilight Zone.

“Definitely.” Rosalie winked at me. “Bunny has been a lifesaver, so I’m not trapped at that house or walking forever to get someplace.”

No one drove anymore since we had no way to get fuel, but the mule just showed up at their house a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps it had been lured by Rayna’s horse, who also lived there. All I knew was it came one morning and would only let Rosalie near it. For some reason, the animal loved her and even followed her into the house if she didn’t get the door shut fast enough behind her. Conrad wasn’t overly fond of that trick. I wondered if it would get worse after winter arrived, and the mule didn’t like staying in the small barn they were building.

“Attention, everyone,” a loud female called.

I’d been caught up in the conversation with my friends and missed the room getting full. Nadine Richards stood up front where a judge would be if they still used the courtroom for that purpose instead of meetings. She wore a black dress suit today with gold buttons, and there was no sign of the injuries she’d sustained during her house fire. Nothing kept her down for long. I admired her commitment to the people of this town.

Sitting at a table below her were the rest of the town council members—two women and four men of ages ranging between thirty to sixty-five. Nadine took the lead as a sort of de facto mayor, but a majority vote of the others could overrule her if necessary. The last elections took place a year before I returned to Oklahoma. I felt the head councilwoman was a good choice, but I hadn’t gotten to know the others yet and reserved my judgment of them.

“We have a lot to cover today,” she said once she had everyone’s attention. “Let’s start with where we’re at on bunker preparations.”

A male council member stood. He appeared to be in his late forties with gray highlighting his brown hair, trimmed short at the back and around his ears. The man wore dress casual clothes like Conrad, but with more wrinkles and no pop of color. His mustache could have used a trim as well. There was calm intelligence in his eyes that told me he took his work seriously, though.

“They’re nearly complete,” he replied, glancing at her before addressing the audience. “There are a few that still need to be stocked with supplies, but everyone in the city has a place to go should the worst happen. We’ve also repaired the former tornado siren system so that if the shield wall falls, there will be a way to warn everyone.”

I hadn’t thought of that and had no idea they’d been repairing the sirens, but I was glad they’d considered it. Maybe I shouldn’t have skipped all the weekly meetings for the last month.

“On that note,” a forty-something woman with short, black hair said from the same table. “We’ve also finished programming the electrical grid to cut power to everywhere except mission-critical systems when the war starts. The tornado sirens and lights near the border will get priority.”

“And my station?” Hank, the famous radio guy, asked.

He stood near the front of the audience, wearing jeans and a blue T-shirt. The average-sized man hadn’t changed much since I left five years before, except for a few new lines on his face. His hair was still shaggy and brown with no signs of gray despite the fact he had to be nearly fifty years old.

“Yes, you will still have power, but remember to keep the lights off.”

He turned toward the rest of us. “I’ll be handing out walkie-talkies and hand-held radios to certain individuals in the days before the war starts. This way, they can keep me updated on what is happening in their locations, and I can report it to everyone else. They’ll have a full charge on them and can be returned to me whenever they need recharging.”

I was glad his gaze didn’t turn toward our group when he focused on certain people because we’d be on the front lines. Walkie-talkies wouldn’t survive what we faced, and we wouldn’t have time for reporting.

Javier, who’d finally returned to town, stood on the opposite side of the room from Hank. He stood and looked at the radio station guy. “Do not forget to bring them to my office so my people can spell them for security. I doubt the Kandoran use modern technology, but they have proven smarter than expected, so it’s always possible.”

Hank nodded at him. “Of course.”

Something about how they spoke told me that was already the plan, but they wanted to ensure everyone else knew it. The discussion continued for several more minutes on electrical and security updates. Then, Nadine called Falcon and Sabyrn forward.

They stopped before the city council’s table and turned to face the audience. Both wore form-fitting black camrium vests and pants, though hers were more feminine and showed off a hint of cleavage with her V-neck design. They looked good together, like a real team, despite having only worked together for a short time.

She ran her amber gaze across the room. “We previously asked human volunteers to donate small amounts of their blood to strengthen the shield wall. Yesterday was our first day, and the turnout was abysmally low. We need hundreds of your people to make a difference, or it will do little good.”

A guy near the back of the audience to my right shouted, “How much of a difference?”

“Perhaps ten minutes per person per stone.” She shrugged. “It might not sound like a lot, but it adds up when you consider that it allows those fighting forward of the shield to kill that many more of the Kandoran forces before they breach the barrier.” She gestured toward me, Rayna, and Conrad. “Those slayers could take down two to three dragons each in that time.”

That would be true in the beginning, but if the war dragged on long, we’d likely slow from injuries and exhaustion by the end of fighting each day.

An older woman toward the front stood. “What is the latest estimate on how large that army will be?”

Sabryn looked at me since I was the one who stayed in contact with the NAC, which sent spy planes to observe the west from far above where dragons or sorcerers couldn’t reach. They gave us our best intelligence.

I stood. “At last count, they think there are about sixty thousand dragons and two hundred thousand humans. They still only see three active sorcerers, but weaker ones could be mixed in there and difficult to identify.”

We still didn’t know what happened to the sorcerers who’d lived in that territory before. Kade suspected they were somehow used to fuel the Kandoran shield wall, but he couldn’t prove it. There were still so many unknown variables.

The woman’s eyes rounded, and she looked between Sabryn and me. “What difference is killing a few of those dragons going to make if there’s that many?”

Sabryn answered, to my relief. “The volunteers here in Norman will be helping fuel the shield stones nearest to us. Other sections could go down, but our goal is to keep ours up as long as possible. The Kandoran are highly unlikely to concentrate their forces on one location. They’ll likely spread them out and attack places north and south of here to prevent us from flanking them. We need to prevent those that attack our front line from breaking through and buy as much time as possible for our fighters to finish them.”

She left out that she and Falcon would be making this same speech up and down the line of Taugud territory to get volunteers farther out. They would also consult with other pendragons to get them to do the same thing because strengthening the shield everywhere was important.

Falcon spoke in a firm tone next, “For those of you who will not be fighting, this is the single most important contribution you can make. It provides a way to protect your friends and family that makes a real difference. Even though we will be shedding our blood on the battlefield, we are also donating it to power the shield. The question you should ask yourselves and your community is, why wouldn’t you offer such a small sacrifice?”

Murmurs ran across the room. He had a valid point, and they had to see that.

The two shifters finished their part, and then I was called forward. One of the reasons I avoided the meetings was that I hated standing before so many people.It still made me nervous despite being elevated to a pendragon’s mate.

I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. If I could fight dragons, I could do this. Forcing confidence into my voice, I updated everyone about the rebels and how we’d disbanded them. Then, I gave an update I’d received from the NAC during my last call a few days before.

“They will be arriving sometime next week,” I said, unable to give a specific date since they wouldn’t tell me that for security reasons. “We will have the advantage of modern weaponry spelled with magic to help fight against the dragons. Those worried about the Kandoran numbers should keep that in mind because we can take down a lot with the right munitions and strategies.”

Not that I could get into those details here, either. The fewer who knew, the better, and even I didn’t know everything. They only told me what I needed to know for planning.

“Where will they be staying?” a young woman asked.

“A small contingent will land at the newly repaired airport here in Norman to set up a forward command post. Most of the rest will use Tinker Air Force Base since it’s better equipped to handle larger military planes and forces. I believe the runways and barracks there are almost ready to go?” I glanced back at Nadine, who had a crew handling that.

“Yes, the work should be completed by tomorrow,” she replied.

Not long after I returned to Oklahoma, she’d arranged for work to begin on that. We couldn’t hope to restore the entire base after what the pure dragons and looters had done to it, but we focused on the most critical parts, which were now connected to the electrical grid.

“Will the red dragons know to stay off the runways from now on?” a young man asked in a snarky voice. “They’re always leaving craters in the roads and parking lots.”

Conrad rose from his seat. “Yeah, man. We told them they could land on your roof instead.”

I barely contained a smile, but Freya snickered from the back of the room. Even she appreciated Conrad’s humor once in a while.

The man rolled his eyes and retook his seat. “Whatever.”

A few more people had questions, most of which I couldn’t answer. It was a relief once I could return to my seat and get out of the spotlight. The rest of the meeting went by in a blur of war preparation discussions. It was always tense, but it felt more ominous as time passed. There were still so many things to do. I wondered if everything we did would be enough to make a difference and how many lives would be lost, no matter how carefully we planned. It left my stomach feeling queasy by the time we left the courthouse.