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Chapter 7

SEVEN

I stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of The Portal and stood there for a moment, watching the flow of pedestrians and immersing myself in the busyness of what was probably a typical Saturday night.

For a few brief seconds, I was tempted to simply blend in with the crowd and walk away. If I’d had no one but myself to care about, I might have done it.

But Kes and Logan and Ari were counting on me, and food and shelter had to come first. Which meant I had to go looking for the king of the shifters. On purpose.

Still didn’t quite make sense as an act of self-preservation.

Faris claimed I could find him across the street in the building where the Symposium was to take place—now rechristened The Assemblage. Or, as I chose to call it in the privacy of my own head, The Lair. Apparently, the dragon had taken up residence there so he could keep an eye on the construction crews and generally make a nuisance of himself.

That last part was my own editorial, but I suspected Faris might not entirely disagree.

As I crossed Oklahoma Avenue—already bustling with traffic now that the sun had set—I couldn’t help feeling just a bit annoyed that the dragon had gone and bought a building to hold this event in. Like it was nothing. And judging from the number of different service vehicles parked around the block, there were extensive renovations going on.

Maybe there was something to the legends about dragon hoards, because I couldn’t imagine pulling this off without a literal pile of gold to finance it.

The small foyer was empty, and the open stairwell seemed to lead upward into darkness. But when I peeked my head in through the only other doorway, I immediately started to cough from the intense smell of paint and who knew what else.

It looked as if the entire ground floor of the building was being fashioned into a single, elegant space. One that could be made to flex for a conference or a ballroom, decorated in dark wood, steel gray and pale gold. Elaborate modern light fixtures with hundreds of glass panels were suspended overhead, making me shudder as I contemplated the possibility of an earthquake. Or even just an annoyed air elemental. Last night had featured enough broken glass to last me for a while.

One of the workers spotted me and headed my way, with the relieved look of a man who’d been hoping desperately for a distraction.

“Who are you with? Lighting? Flooring? Design team?”

“Ah, no. I’m looking for Callum-ro-Deverin?”

I was rewarded with a theatrical shudder.

“Why would you go looking for that guy on purpose?”

An excellent question, to which there were no acceptable answers, so I merely offered him a polite baring of teeth and the small shrug of put-upon employees everywhere. “I’m just following orders. Is he around here somewhere?”

I imagined he was probably glaring at one of his lackeys. Or standing somewhere high up and surveying his kingdom with a suspicious scowl on that unfortunately not-terrible-looking face.

“Well, he’s probably in the executive apartment on the sixth floor. But I would recommend against interrupting him for anything short of an apocalypse.”

“Noted.” At least that implied his grumpiness wasn’t just about me. “How do I get up there?”

“Fly?” the man suggested, with a wink and a guffaw that made it clear he considered himself quite the comedian. Not being in the mood to pander to his delusions, I just stood there patiently until he finally deigned to give an actual answer.

“Stairs.” He stabbed a thumb in the direction of the foyer. “Geez, nobody has a sense of humor anymore.”

“Or maybe you’re not as funny as you think you are,” I grumbled under my breath, not caring very much whether he heard me or not.

I’d already started towards the stairs when the guy called after me.

“Oh, and could you tell the boss we’re headed out for the day? Had some issues with the wiring, so we’ll be back on Monday after the electrician shows up.”

Why, yes, of course I would love to be the bearer of your bad news.

I was only about to go confront a literal dragon who might be my new boss. And who might only want to work with me because he could blackmail and manipulate me.

And who was also fully capable of eating me if he decided I was a danger to his agenda. With that cheerful thought, I headed up the stairs, not at all comforted by the realization of just how quick and easy it would be for Callum to make me disappear.

But by the time I got to the sixth floor, my thighs were protesting loudly, and I’d reverted to muttering curses at the stupid dragon for deciding he needed a penthouse, while simultaneously wondering how often I was going to have to do this.

At the top of the stairs, a hallway stretched the length of the building, with a window at each end. There were two doors to the left and three to the right, including a narrow one all the way at the end of the hall. Four of those doors had peepholes, as if they’d been converted into apartments, but only one of them boasted a doormat that said “Beware of Dragon.”

An audible snort of laughter escaped me, and I’d barely clapped my hand over my mouth to hold it in when the door jerked open.

Callum-ro-Deverin stood there glowering. For the record, the king of the shapeshifters was just as intimidating while dressed in a basic white t-shirt and jeans as he was in a suit. His hair was slightly mussed, the shadow of beard on his jaw seemed to have thickened, and he wasn’t wearing shoes. It was… Well, it was not lost on me that he was almost unbearably attractive for such an overbearing control freak.

And he was looking at me as if my presence was only marginally less irritating than that of mosquitos or head lice. That was until he happened to glance at the hallway floor and spotted the doormat.

I saw when it hit him.

His jaw dropped a little, he looked back up at me, and then covered his face with one hand.

“Kira,” he muttered. “I swear I’m going to…” He paused and then dropped his hand, as if remembering his audience. “Do you have sisters?”

It was such a bizarrely normal question that it took me a second to find my voice.

“Not by blood,” I answered him blandly. “At least, not that I know of.”

“Most of the time you’d kill to protect them… but sometimes you just want to kill them.”

I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing again. He really needed to stop ruining my expectations. Grumpy dragon overlords weren’t supposed to be funny.

Callum reached down and flipped the doormat over before opening his door wider and beckoning me forward. “You can come in. Unless…” he paused for a moment as glanced at me hesitantly. “If it would make you feel more comfortable, we can meet downstairs.”

It was more consideration than I’d expected after last night. But honestly, the smaller the audience, the better. If he was going to eat me, no one was going to be able to stop him anyway, and if he was going to question me about my past, I didn’t want anyone else to hear us.

“No, this is fine.” I turned sideways and slipped past him into the apartment, trying to put as much distance between us as possible without looking like I was doing it.

But it didn’t take long for me to be distracted by the sheer unexpected beauty of the space.

It didn’t look like an office, nor was it complicated, stiff, or modern, as I would have expected. Instead it was simple, cozy, and natural—perfectly restored wood floors, dark, earth-toned paint on the walls, vintage crown molding, homey-looking furniture with colorful throw pillows, and an open kitchen with dark wood cabinets and oiled bronze fixtures.

It smelled like smokey, woodsy heaven, and made me want to curl up on one of those couches and take a nap.

“Raine?”

The sound of my name shook me out of that bizarre sense of comfort and reminded me why I was here. Because the dragon wanted me to work for him. And maybe a little bit because he wanted me close enough to eat in case I tried anything shady.

Right.

“Yes, sir,” I said cheekily, trying to regain my equilibrium. “Faris said you might be interested in offering me a job.”

That seemed innocuous enough. No accusations, just facts.

The dragon looked at me with one eyebrow raised as he shut the door. “Considering that you bit me last night, I think you can dispense with the ‘sir.’ And stop trying to prove how meek and amenable you can be. I know you don’t want to be here, same as I know you’d very much like to kick me for manipulating you into this.”

At least he was admitting it. And point to the dragon for being more perceptive than I’d given him credit for.

“I apologize for the biting,” I told him, with as much humility as I was capable of faking. “It won’t happen again.”

“That was my assumption also,” Callum said, and I honestly couldn’t tell whether he was being serious or trying very hard not to laugh.

Somehow, I managed not to respond with sarcasm. “I would like to reiterate that last night was an accident .”

“Which part?” His raised eyebrow wasn’t just skeptical, it was downright condescending. “When you kicked Talia’s ass for her? Or when you tried to rip out the throat of a teenage gangster ten times your size?”

Ignoring his snark still seemed like the safest bet. “Look, Talia started it, and I hate bullies. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. The fact is, I’ve chosen not to use my magic, and I have my reasons. Which means,”—I shot him a pointed look—“if you are offering me a job because you were hoping to use my power to your advantage, you’ll only be disappointed.”

I thought that would be the end of it, but Callum just looked at me with an annoying mixture of impatience and pity.

“Nice try,” he said bluntly. “But magic doesn’t work that way.”

Did I say considerate and perceptive? He was arrogant, judgmental, and rude.

“You don’t know that.”

“Actually, I do.”

What was it Faris called him? Rigid, impossible, bullheaded, and a total pain in the ass…

And the dragon was just getting warmed up.

“Look, I get that you’ve managed to hide from your heritage up until now. That’s impressive under the circumstances, but let me do you the favor of destroying any illusions you may still have about what happens next.”

He looked me dead in the eye. “I know you have secrets, Raine. Things you’re hiding from. Things you want to protect. All of us do. But you stopped being invisible the minute you stood up to Talia. Don’t get me wrong—that took guts, and I admire the hell out of it. But your anonymity? That’s over.”

Piece by piece, without softening or flinching, he took a wrecking ball to the fragile scaffolding of my hopes for the future.

“Dual wielders are rare, and it’s even more rare for them to have the kind of power you do. That makes you unique and memorable, which means pretty soon, everyone is going to know your name, and all of them will be watching your every move.”

I would have loved to say he was exaggerating. That he was only trying to scare me. But… I had to allow for the possibility that he wasn’t. Kira had said the same thing, and I didn’t think she would lie.

So where did that leave me? Running away again? Would we forever be running, in a vain attempt to outrun our pasts?

“You can’t run from this, Raine.”

Crud, I’d said some of that last part out loud.

“You don’t know me,” I said softly, fiercely. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

“You’re right,” the dragon agreed. “I don’t know you. But I do know this world you’re living in. You need to trust me when I say that you no longer have the option of hiding or running. If you try, they will only follow you, because you’ve shown yourself to be a threat.”

A laugh burst from my throat, but it was harsh and ugly, and I hated the sound.

“But I don’t want to threaten anyone! I don’t even want this power, and if it were up to me, I would never use it again. For any reason!”

“Nevertheless.” His jaw was set, his gaze implacable. “After last night, you have two choices—learn to control your power and make a place for yourself, or ignore it and become a danger to those around you.”

He was wrong. He had to be wrong.

“Magic always breaks free.” The words were uttered with absolute certainty, and the expression he wore looked almost like regret. “Ask Kira. Ask Draven. They can tell you there’s no hiding from this. You’re going to have to face it.”

“Or maybe,” I accused, “you’re just saying this because you want to use me. Because I’m powerful and easy to blackmail.”

“You are powerful,” he confirmed. “And yes, you are most definitely an easy target for blackmail, and that is part of why I want you to work for me.”

He caught me so off guard that my jaw dropped, betraying my shock. A swell of fury rose in my throat, choking off my words as I stared at him.

This place was not a haven for people like me—it was a trap.

As my rage swelled, I felt a surge of that visceral desire to dig my teeth into his throat. But I would not give in. Would not lose control again, and especially not here.

“You utter bastard,” I whispered, but the dragon merely tilted an eyebrow, appearing entirely unconcerned by my rage.

“This is in your best interest as well as mine, so I’m not sure why you’re so angry.”

It was all I could do not to scream in his smug, self-righteous face. “You’re using my secrets to force me to do your dirty work, and you have no idea why I’m angry?” Fury was pulsing through me so strongly it felt like a second heartbeat. Competing magics rose, tugging me first one way, then another. Begging me to let go. To taste his blood between my teeth. To form a dagger of pure power and slide it between his ribs. To take the water from the air and drown him with it. To whisper and cajole until he told me all of his secrets and then bury him with that knowledge.

Violent, visceral thoughts clamored for my attention until I clapped my hands over my ears and shut my eyes. Tried desperately to center myself in my body. My human body.

“Raine.” The dragon’s deep voice resonated through my chest. “You need to breathe.”

I drew in a single, shuddering breath.

“I would never use your secrets against you.”

He was lying. He’d already tried.

“I didn’t tell Faris about last night.”

Wait, what?

“Then what did you mean?” My voice was hoarse from the strain of holding myself back. “You said… you said you chose me… because I’m easy to blackmail.”

“Yes. I did.”

I forced my eyes to open and found myself face to chest with my inscrutable, auburn-haired nemesis. I felt his anger, but I also felt concern, and as I tilted my head back to meet his eyes, a tiny voice in the back of my mind was screaming at me to stop. Stop arguing with the man who could put an end to all my hopes of a relatively normal life. Stop arguing with the powerful king of the shapeshifters, who could probably break me in half with his bare hands. Unless of course he felt more like shifting into a dragon and setting me on fire. Or flying me up to a thousand feet before dropping me. Or… any one of a hundred other unpleasant ways to die.

Maybe that voice was my weird magic hunches trying to talk sense into me. But if so, they seemed to be losing out to my gosh darn cussed human stubbornness.

“Then why?” I demanded. “Why are you offering me a job? And why not tell Faris the truth?”

He was standing so close I could see the dark rings around his amber irises. See the fire in their depths and feel the furnace of his power simmering just beneath the surface.

“I didn’t tell Faris because your secrets are not mine to reveal. And that will not change. Not unless you become a threat to the Symposium or the people under my protection.”

That was… technically very fair. But it wasn’t enough. Not when I didn’t know the rules of this game we were playing.

“Then why the job offer? And what happens if I say no?” I was still fighting for control, so the words came out in a breathless, almost-whisper. “What will it take for you to decide that you’re willing to use my secrets to manipulate me after all?”

The muscles of his jaw flexed and his head tilted as he looked down at me. Intense. Predatory. Furious.

“What have I done to make you believe that I would stoop to lying and backstabbing?”

Wait… I’d offended him?

“I asked whether you requested my help because I’m an easy target for blackmail,” I reminded him. “And you agreed !”

“Yes,” he growled, and the sound rattled around between my ribs, awakening the sort of visceral terror that could only come from recognizing one’s self as prey. “Because you showed up in this city at the worst possible time and drew the worst possible kind of attention. Because you’re untrained and vulnerable. Because no one will believe you’re actually that innocent and naive, and they will want to either use you, exploit you, or crack you open and find out what you know. And fool that I am, I thought I’d be better able to protect you from it if you worked for me!”

Oh. My chin dropped as I digested this. I even took the risk of poking at my weird, unnamed magic, wishing it would tell me whether he was being sincere. But it never worked that way. Never gave me help when I was looking for it. I was going to have to make this determination on my own.

But I couldn’t exactly think clearly enough to make wise decisions when there was a deadly predator less than an arm’s length away, so I took a couple of big steps back.

“Maybe,” I suggested warily, “we should start again from the beginning.”

“Which one?” Callum’s arms folded across his chest as one of his brows quirked cynically. “The part where I offer you a job and you accuse me of blackmail? Or the part where you wanted to stab me with broken glass?”

“That was not my fault,” I protested. “I was just doing my job, and you acted like I was some kind of undercover assassin!”

“Fine.” He threw up his hands. “Not your fault. Neither of us were at our best last night, so how about this: I’ll try offering you a job again, and you try pretending like I’m acting in good faith.”

He was awfully sarcastic for a stubborn, suspicious, stick-in-the-mud.

“Why, Your Majesty, what an unexpected honor,” I deadpanned. “How might your humble servant be of use to you?”

Callum regarded me with a stern, unsmiling gaze for a few more moments before his lips twitched and he seemed to relax just a fraction.

“All right, you’ve made your point. But could we sit down for this part instead of glaring at each other in my entryway?”

Maybe I should have refused. But I suddenly recalled Morghaine’s assertion that if I gave him a chance, he just might surprise me.

Consider me sufficiently surprised. Also, those couches did look incredibly comfortable.

“Fine.” I surveyed the options, wondering whether there were any right or wrong answers. Any hidden tests…

“Just sit,” Callum grumbled. “Unlike you, the couches don’t bite.”

I glared briefly and mumbled under my breath at his bossiness, but I also chose the couch with the best view of the entire living space and tucked myself into a corner.

Rather than following suit, the dragon hesitated for a moment, eying me with a preoccupied frown. Had I taken his favorite seat or something?

“I’m not really used to playing host,” he finally admitted, running a hand through his hair and letting out a long, frustrated sigh. “Most of the formalities seem useless to me, and I hate small talk. But this has gotten a bit more personal than a business meeting, so… I think my sister would tell me I’m supposed to offer you tea.”

The big, bad dragon was offering me tea ?

Okay, that was almost cute. I had to remind myself sternly that it might still be an attempt to manipulate me.

“Uh. Tea would be fine, I guess?” Not that I was ready to be quite that friendly, but if he was going to make the effort, I should at least be polite.

He busied himself in the kitchen, and I tried to pretend I wasn’t watching. Just out of caution, of course. Not at all wondering whether dragons could boil water just by breathing on it.

Sadly, he used a perfectly normal electric kettle, and after a few more minutes of awkward silence, I was handed a rugged, earthenware mug filled with something that smelled…

Incredible. It smelled absolutely incredible.

“What is this? It smells great.”

“Lavender Earl Grey,” he told me as he took a seat across from me. “It’s Kira’s favorite.”

Huh. I stuck my nose in the rising steam and breathed it in once more, and that’s when I realized that it was not the tea I’d been smelling the first time.

It was Callum.

Oops.

“So what is it you think I can do for you?” And it had better be a real job, not some pity position meant to keep me out of the way.

The dragon set his own tea on the coffee table—on a coaster, as if dragons worried about normal things like water spots on the woodwork—then leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He regarded me steadily for a few moments, which gave me an excellent view of how good he looked in that white t-shirt before he finally admitted the truth.

“I’m hoping you can help me keep the courts in line.”

I’d just taken a sip of my admittedly delicious tea and narrowly avoided spitting it out all over his gorgeous dark wood coffee table.

“Excuse me?” A fit of coughing shook me as I tried to dislodge the hot liquid from my windpipe.

The dragon just sat back and watched until it seemed likely that I wasn’t going to choke to death.

“I’m good,” I wheezed eventually. “Go ahead.”

He quirked an eyebrow at me skeptically, but continued talking. “I know it probably sounds like I’ve lost my mind. Not that long ago, I wouldn’t have believed me either.”

Not quite the vote of confidence I’d been hoping for. “How exactly do you expect me to moderate anyone else’s behavior when I can barely manage mine?”

“Think about it.” He was watching me intently, almost earnestly. “You have no ties to any of the courts. You have enough power to command respect, but you have no known loyalties. That makes you precisely the kind of asset I’ve been looking for.”

Asset. Another way of saying I was a tool for him to use.

“Why not Draven?” The half-fae was literally an assassin.

“Draven is powerful enough,” Callum acknowledged, “but he has too many ties to the fae, and to my family.”

Okay, it all made a weird sort of sense. But still…

“The ideal candidate also has to be willing to work with me, and either above actual suspicion or have too much to lose by betraying me.”

I had to admit, the dragon wasn’t stupid. He might still turn out to be a rat bastard, but not a stupid one.

“Why do the courts need a mediator?”

“We aren’t naturally very good at cooperating,” Callum informed me dryly, leaning back in his seat and crossing an ankle over the opposite knee. “Mostly we bicker, and we like it that way. Maintains the balance of power. But right now, it’s worse than ever. No one knows who to trust and everyone is frightened by what Elayara tried to do.”

Hah. They might know about her stealing magic and using it to create artifacts, but they had no idea what Elayara had actually tried to do. And if they ever found out? I shuddered.

“It is absolutely vital that we come to an agreement on how to handle the aftermath,” Callum continued. “But with tensions as high as they are, any slip up, and we’ll be at each other’s throats.”

Just as I’d thought. Oklahoma City was about to become a powder keg of warring magic and competing egos.

“You also mentioned leaks and security issues.”

He nodded. “It’s evident that someone or someones have been working against us from the very beginning. Attempting to sabotage the Symposium and drive an even larger wedge between the courts.”

I genuinely wasn’t sure what he thought I could do in this circumstance. “And I’m supposed to help you with this, how?”

A sort of grim resignation settled over his features. “I’m proposing to hire you… as my bodyguard.”

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