27. Caliel

27

Caliel

I sent the three Dragons on the roof to look for Bree.

They were grumpy—as demonstrated by their profane language—but they ultimately went because they had no idea that Slade had fallen out of favor with Victor. So I soon found myself alone on the rooftop and made my way to the parapet overlooking Victor's landing ledge.

His quarters here were one down from the top level and nowhere near as ornate as the ones in Drosfi. The building was very old, with the upper level currently derelict. It also had not been built for Dragons, but a few ledges had been added at a later date.

There were two more Dragon shifters on the ledge itself. One of them glanced up, but ignored me.

I hunkered down in the shadows of the stairwell and pulled out the knife I had borrowed. A few minutes later, I cut a small strategic hole in my cloak that I could aim the camera through, as well as another that would permit me to see its tiny little screen. I could use my free arm to help disguise what I was up to.

I snapped off a few pics until I got a feel for how my system worked. It would be challenging, but I thought I could manage it.

I would not have long to pull this off. Daize would land, and I could only hope Victor would walk out to talk to him before they disappeared into the suite. If Slade's fractured memories were correct, there was not much free space inside. With any luck, it would force them to conduct business on, or at least near, the ledge.

I paced out along the edge of the roof, looking for just the right angle. From here, I would be able to see partway into the suite. They would also be able to see me, if they were inclined to look up, but Victor should be too preoccupied to be gawking around.

The only one who might wonder why I was up there was Karst. And I could explain it to him, too—so long as no one spotted the camera.

If they did—I would not be able to run far, or fast, enough.

Up here, feeling oppressed by the drizzle, I almost thought the clouds shrouded me, they were that low. That also meant that I did not see the Dragons until they dropped below them, and by that time, they were quite close.

I stayed back from the ledge as they came in, leaning on the stair entrance as if bored by their guard duty. Three hovered overhead for a moment—they were simply flying cover. Once they had landed, I activated the recorder, placed it back in my pocket, and moved closer.

The Dragon guards on the ledge were forced to move into the suite to make room for the new arrivals. With one hand on the camera, I kept my other one positioned to block what I was doing, but no one looked up.

A green Dragon clutched its front talons around something wrapped completely in cloth, and dropped it at the feet of the huge dull-blue Dragon in the process of shifting to human.

I did not pay the bundle much heed until it moved.

Hellfire. It restrained something living .

The knot in my gut tightened as the dull-blue shifter became a mountainous young man with long, dark hair. By the manner in which the other Dragons behaved around him, their heads bowed, it had to be Daize himself.

His form was human, but he kept his wings. The two Dragons that landed with him did the same thing. It was a sure sign of their agitation.

The surrounding walls amplified their voices.

"I've brought proof of your incompetence," Daize snarled to someone in the suite. "I didn't go to all the trouble to have my half-brother, father, and uncle removed, only to have you fuck up with the rest of my family."

I hoped the little recorder was doing its thing as I clicked away with the camera.

And then my wishes were answered. Victor came out onto the ledge.

I held my breath as I got images of him and Daize standing no more than a few feet from each other. I moved to the other location on the roof, and they remained far too absorbed to even notice me. This angle showed both their faces much better.

"I burned that place to the ground," Victor hissed. "If there is incompetence, it isn't on me."

I swallowed. Orange scales had appeared on Victor's body, a clear warning to whosoever was willing to notice.

Daize clearly did not care. He gestured. One of his Dragon shifters strode to the bundle and hauled the cloth off it.

A boy glared up at him. Defiant. Unafraid, despite the fact he was collared, and his hands and feet were bound.

I think I stopped breathing, even as my finger activated the camera.

Because I knew who he was…

As I clicked away, Daize glowered at Victor.

"He certainly seems rather lively for a dead Dragon," he hissed at Victor. "Found him trying to convince perfectly obedient Dragons to do something truly dumb."

Victor stared at the bound form. Then he strode forward, seized the boy by the throat, and lifted him into the air.

It was all I could do not to commit suicide by leaping down.

"How?" he demanded. "How did you live through that fire?"

The captive did not even wince. He dangled there, glaring at Victor. And then he said, "That isn't what you really want to know, is it?"

Victor's eyes flashed orange. "You little bastard. What do you mean?"

His victim grinned at him. "You want to know who else survived. And guess what? I'm not going to tell you."

Victor's snarl was far from human. He raised his other hand and sent a lick of flame to kiss the captive's cheek.

Despite the fact it had to hurt like crazy, the boy barely flinched. I shook all over, desperate to intercede. Only the certainty that it would be a pointless exercise, as well as destroying what we so desperately needed, stopped me.

"I don't have time for this," Daize said. "If he's alive, the others might be as well. And that is big trouble for us."

Victor dropped the captive. The boy glared defiance as he lay on the ledge with a livid burn across his cheek.

"You are Emperor now," Victor said to Daize. "If they are alive, they are hiding, and of little threat to you."

"You are wrong," Daize growled. "If word gets out that they are alive, it will weaken my hold over the Empire. There are many that resent the changes I am making."

Victor shrugged. "What are they going to do about it? Once the coalition is established, they would be foolish to rise against us. And we are now close to that goal."

Coalition? Ice spread through me. This was not just about Victor and Daize. There were others involved.

Daize kicked the bound form viciously, but the boy did not respond. Tough kid.

"See what you can get from him," he said. "I don't want him back. He's all yours. And get that coalition solidified—we may need it sooner than I had hoped."

His wings expanded as he turned away, and I backed into the shadows. By the time he and his Dragons took off, I was in the stairwell, heading down.

My pulse pounded with every step. Because that boy was brave, but he was not brave enough to endure what Victor would do to him.