19. There is no justice in murdering a baby.

NINETEEN

There is no justice in murdering a baby.

Sunday, May 13, 2057

The Shield Mountains

Cauldron City, Nebraska.

As planned, I accepted the invitation to visit Zenna again. As I hadn’t expected to meet Dr. Lerrans’s father out of the gate, I kept quiet until we entered the underground through a nearby parking garage.

Had he not introduced himself as such, I wouldn’t have known him from any other man on the street.

I appreciated the red dragon’s courage. In his shoes, I wouldn’t have been willing to introduce myself as the father of a terrorist.

“I would like to apologize,” he said, his voice deep and prone to rumbling. “I thought barring my son from accessing the powers of his heritage would contain his darkness. I was wrong. This has cost many people their lives. ”

I wondered how terrible it must have been, for him, as a father, to look upon his baby and discover such a dark soul. “The sins of the son are not the sins of the father, nor are the sins of the father the sins of the son. I find myself repeating this in some fashion or another a lot lately. If a serial killer can take another man’s child and treat her bright soul with the love and care it deserves, then your son could have become something other than a madman. But his choices are not yours, and there is no justice in murdering a baby.”

“There really is not—but the ending of our practice to do just that has brought great darkness into this world. His mother would have surely wept, from a broken heart, should she have ever seen that darkness of his. She knew of it, of course. I told her after his birth, grieving for what I knew would come and the difficult days ahead of us.” The red dragon sighed, and the sound carried the burden of old regrets. “This was the only way I could get a chance to speak with you in private. I apologize for the subterfuge.”

I accepted his intent with a nod. “I came of my own accord. It’s not a kidnapping, especially as I informed my captain I would be disappearing off on an errand at Zenna’s request. She wants to test her daughter—and having met Miranda, she likely feels she needs to be tested. She still doesn’t feel she is worthy of being a cop.”

“Zenna’s daughter has a bright spirit, not free of darkness, but a source of light all the same. Do not get me wrong. Zenna is a being of darkness, but her darkness has the stars that my son does not. My son is a void, nothing more than a terrible and devouring abyss. I wished, in his youth, that he would rise above his nature. He did not. ”

“And his daughter is as bright a light as can be in this world, or so says Roger. You know of the girl?”

“I know of her, yes. I know of the serial killer with the sight, who is setting aside all chance of a life so that she might have one. I know of his sins as well. I have seen his soul. I also know that there is more to the situation than her merely being my son’s daughter. I wept upon learning. Still, not all is lost. Roger brings her joy. I went to ease some of Roger’s problems with his sight, and he learns to block it. Once this is over, I will go and teach him more. The FBI agents overseeing him did not know how to handle when he wept because of a small kindness. But now Roger has the key to be able to live a life without his eyes tormenting him every moment. It will still be a bother, but it will not consume him any longer. And I taught him how to deliberately monitor his charge. She cannot speak as she would like. Perhaps one day. She is damaged.”

As I’d spent a lot of time convincing people to call me Lovell instead of Valor, I decided to do the one thing I wished more people would do for me. “Do you have a name you would like for me to use?”

“Lerran, before my son decided to taint it beyond redemption, used to be my first name. His mother loved it, and as she found my clan name to be burdensome, she wished that she might be a Lerrans—of my family. Back then, it was a cherished honor. Now I am at a bit of a loss on the issue of my name. I’m old, and I find I don’t handle such things with the grace I might have in my youth. I no longer feel comfortable with Lerran. One memory is as bitter as it is sweet. The other is just bitter. ”

The more I heard, the less I liked. As I doubted the red dragon wanted pity or sympathy from me, I’d take care to hide both of those things. But my heart hurt for him all the same. “My parents named me Valor. Honestly, I never feel I live up to my name, which makes it a difficult one to cart around. But I never changed it because I respect why they named me Valor. That’s what they wanted for me, to be a valorous spirit. So for the most part, I go by Lovell. But Miranda keeps calling me Valor when I’m alone, and I find I don’t mind at all when she’s the one doing it.”

That would drive me crazy eventually, but Miranda would inevitably make me smile over it. I gave it a few weeks before she slipped at the station and everyone realized I didn’t mind being called Valor when she was the one doing it.

“Love makes us do strange things. And eventually, she’ll have you trained where everyone can call you Valor, and you will like it because she’s the reason you accepted and grew to like it. I don’t want my legacy to be my son’s sins.”

I could understand that. “Talk to the Black Dragon of New York once this blows over. I hear he’s good at changing names, and he does it for his hatchlings and their hatchlings all the time. He’s about as sensible for a dragon as it gets, although he puts on a show.”

“He always has. He knows who my son is by his name, I’m sure. It would only take him a little bit of sniffing around.”

If the Black Dragon of New York knew, I wondered why he hadn’t told any of us. It only took a few moments to realize there was a good reason he’d kept quiet, and it involved compassion for the red dragon. “Do you know him? ”

“A long time ago, before my son was born, we were friends. Now I am ashamed of what my son has become, and so I hide in the shadows.”

I could see the old black dragon trying to be kind to another old dragon suffering from misfortune—or attempting to bring a long lost friend out of the darkness. “Ah. Do black dragons have this same issue with their hatchlings?”

“No. That is a curse of some reds. A few decades before, my son would have been quietly killed the night of his birth. But he’s only half red, and he wasn’t born a red. That alone saved him. I have my regrets. I loved his mother dearly. We… spoke of his nature. She believed me. We continued to see each other while she played at being a single mother. Timothy never met me, as I couldn’t afford to have his nature awaken.”

“And his son? Do you know why he might be killing so many?”

“Yes. While rare, there is a disorder among dragons where a child will be born with a defective heart. We treat it with magic. Had I known of the child, I would have quietly come, taken the baby, and performed the magic that would have healed his heart and kept it sound for a mortal’s lifespan. But I had not known. I… plan to help the child, should I be able to find him.”

The sins of the father were not the sins of the son, and I would remind myself of that until I believed it. “The unicorns might be able to help, too. Perhaps his nature is like his sister’s, pure.”

“Without the treatment, he will not be able to have much of a life. The transplants would keep him alive, but he would not be able to exert himself. Walking a short distance, maybe twenty feet at most, would exhaust him. If Timothy is wise, he would encourage his son to be an intellectual, pursuing books. It’s entirely possible that Timothy put on the act of being a good doctor to convince his child that he does good for his community. Serving others is not in my son’s nature.”

It really wasn’t. “How long do we have to find this child?”

“Judging from the number of missing hearts, Timothy probably has enough to last his child for three to five years. Before Zenna handed over the organs, we did a count of hearts likely compatible with those of my bloodline and checked the records we have of heart transplants he performed. We may have permitted a woman to run off with a compatible heart. Her spirit is bright and lightly shadowed, and her heart was determined—not for my son’s sake, but for my grandson’s sake. Her soul has the light of someone in love, and her desperation was that of someone fighting a battle not easily won. Timothy? He is not someone many can love, and I do not view his obsession with my grandson to be born of love. I suspect this woman loves my grandson and only participates trying to keep him alive. The shadows would be from being forced to participate in the scheme in the first place. We have taken her picture, and she is likely how you will track down my grandson.”

“What are the odds she’s involved with the poisoning?”

“She went to a lab without any evidence of those operations, and it had been set up to be… a kinder place. She probably believes my son is running an underground organ transplant clinic for those who can’t afford the legitimate medical system. That is the only scenario I have concocted th at matches the purity of her soul. She likely believes the donors are willing. Timothy would have no issues lying to her, especially if this woman makes my grandson happy.”

My desire to wrap my hands around Dr. Timothy Lerrans’s throat and squeeze the life out of him stirred. “And my soul? What do you see?”

“You have your shadows, especially involving my son. They are justified shadows. But you are a light, as are most of your cop friends. And I suspect the ones that aren’t lights will wash out. I have seen your captain eyeballing them with suspicion. He doesn’t have the sight, but he is an old opal who cares about his community.”

“And Miranda?”

“She is everything her mother is not. She has her darkness, but I like to think of them as freckles, a sign of beauty rather than corruption or a lack of purity. Her mother is a tolerable darkness. She means well, she simply lacks any care for those she decides are beneath her or not worth her regard. Not all darkness is equal. Right now, all her darkness is focused on my son. This is to my liking.”

It was to mine, too. “And what do you all want with Miranda?”

The old red dragon chuckled, led me to a hatchway, and opened it. “Zenna wishes happiness and peace for her daughter—and for her to find a relationship with someone that will last. She’s found you to be an acceptable suitor, and she’s satisfied enough nature will run its course. If her daughter is with you, she will be confident that Miranda will be loved and cherished as she deserves in an environment where she can shine. Miranda is the type of woman you appreciate, and you are the type of man she appreciates. She is comfortable in your home, which will soon become a home for you both. One day, you may even pursue acquiring a larger home, and you will have a mother-in-law eager to assist with such an acquisition. Zenna already laments she has given you priceless diamonds you will never spend. She was hoping you would sell at least one.”

“But they’re good focal stones.” I patted my pocket, where the diamonds and my river rocks waited in case I needed them. “I don’t even need to use runes on them, although I did put a rune on one.”

“Yes, that stone will follow you until the end of your days. It is as close to a living thing as a stone can get. Zenna’s sight did not betray her. It sings to you, and you sing to it. Be wary of your magic when you call that one. You will always get more than you bargained for.”

“Like two fifty on a motorcycle designed for one fifteen?”

“Exactly so.”

The room beyond reminded me of a volcanic cavern, one fashioned of magma. We stood on a precipice, one filled with ledges, platforms, nets, and other obstacles. “I do not feel we descended deep enough beneath Cauldron City for this.”

The red dragon laughed at me. “We have. It was at a gentle decline. Your doctors will be well pleased with me, for I have made you walk miles upon miles. This is good for your recovery. We are beneath the shield mountains, which gives us the space above and below for this cavern. This is Zenna’s project for her daredevils and those who need to be physically engaged, and this is what Miranda must conquer to claim you as her prize.” He pointed across the space to a platform some fifty feet above us. “You will wait for her there, and you will enjoy some drinks, a nice lunch, and some time with Zenna and me, and we will tell you everything we know of my son and his motivations. But I feel we’ve discussed the important ones.”

“His son.” I sighed. “And the odds of his son being an innocent?”

“They’re much higher than I care to think about.”

“And this woman?”

“I think she races against time in a war she fears she cannot win, and she uses a twisted father’s false love for his son to buy him time. I would help her and my grandson, of course.”

Of course. “He is still your son.”

The red dragon’s broken sigh told me all I needed to know. “And I love him despite his darkness and his sins. My heart shattered the moment I laid eyes on him and understood that the wickedness of all my line had manifested within him, visible as even an infant. And I could not do as most would have asked of me. I could not do that to him, nor would I do that to his mother. But while I do love him solely on the grounds that he is my son, I understand what must come. It doesn’t make this any easier. And I grieve more for all the damage, pain, and suffering he has caused. I carry the burden of knowing what I had caused by not having the strength to do as my ancestors would have.”

“There is no strength in killing a child, no matter how dark that child’s soul is,” I informed him. “And what if he had somehow found a way to turn that darkness into something good? Look at Roger.”

“Roger is that sort of exception. His soul will never be bright, but he has chosen to be bright for my granddaughter’ s sake. His used to be a void, but now it has a single star in it. I admire and appreciate that.”

“Roger chose to hunt the dark spirits like him in the world.”

“I think, if things had been a little different, my son might have made a similar choice. In some ways, he did. He began only taking the darkest of hearts. I suspect his son’s nature is the exact opposite of his, and it doesn’t matter how tainted the hearts are when he receives them, they become light just like him. And I wonder if that woman might be a dark soul being made light to match his spirit.”

“And without your son, that light wouldn’t exist—nor would your granddaughter. What good might those two do in the world if given a chance away from their father’s legacy?” I winced, realizing I’d opened Pandora’s box without a care in the world. “Should I apologize for that question?”

“No, you need not. May I call you Valor?”

I nodded. “If you don’t pick a name for yourself, I’ll pick one for you, and it’ll be just as bad as mine,” I warned.

He laughed. “I will play this game with you. What name do you feel would be just as bad as yours?”

My suggestion would be a bit ruthless, but I admired the old red dragon and his desire to do difficult things. “Red, which is short for Redemption. If you can’t accept being Lerran, then you can work your way towards the thing you need above all, just like I have to work at matching my name. And maybe one day, after your son is in his grave where he belongs, you can return to being Lerran. But Red would remind you what you’re about until you find the end of that road and the beginning of another. And when you’re surrounded by dragons and unicorns, you hear a lot about roads.” I laughed and shook my head, as Jace had been rather vocal about wanting to hit the road with his dragoness in the saddle. “And Red gives me something to call you without twitching and wanting to indulge in fantasies about killing your son with my bare hands.”

“We share that fantasy, but I would do it with a single swipe of my claw. Quick, brutal, and as painless as I can. Yes, I think I can live with being called Red for now. Thank you, Valor.”

“Just reclaim what is yours once your son is finished with it, and use it to be everything he’s not,” I suggested. “My problem with my name is a far simpler thing.”

“You hate disappointing people.”

“I do.”

“If it helps any, I think you’re aptly named.”

I chuckled at that. “One day, I might even get around to accepting that. Is there any chance I can get you to come to the station to look over everything I have on your son?”

“If you think it will help, I will come.”

“I think it will—and if you happen to run into that mean old black dragon at the station, let him dote. I’m convinced that’s the only thing he’s good at doing.”

Red eyed me, and I wondered how much his son took after his father. “I am concerned.”

“You should be. He tries to adopt anyone he decides to dote on. On second thought, if you see him coming, run. Just don’t run where he can see you. He’s definitely the kind to take chase. Actually, retreat in a slow and calm fashion. That way, you might escape his notice.”

“Nothing escapes that one’s notice, not when he decides he is done playing. There is a reason he is the Black Dragon of New York, and it is not because he’s a kindly spirit.”

That I believed. “This obstacle course is magicked so she won’t be hurt, right?”

“It’s magicked,” he assured me, and he gestured to the floor far below. “Anyone who falls is slowed with magic before landing among millions of balls. They are soft and squishy, and they’re cleaned with magic daily. They’re made of a type of foam. Zenna throws herself off the top ledges often. We have illusions in place to trick Miranda. You will get to see her shine—and you will witness her determination to drag you back to your home, where she will surely hover over you and drive you to the brink of madness.”

“There’s nothing maddening about her hovering around,” I informed him.

“Well, she is a beautiful woman. That helps.”

It really did. Curious—and not quite daring to be hopeful—over what the future might hold, I asked, “Do you think I might have a chance with someone like her?”

“She surely asks herself the same about you. I recommend that you ignore your station’s fraternization rules—or I can suggest that due to my rather questionable heritage, I am fully confident you are receptive towards any advances of her person.”

“I would definitely owe you a favor for that. Most women tend to run when they find out I’m a magicker with a reputation of being a stone cold cop. I’m not stone cold, by the way. I just deal with people who need a calming influence daily, and that makes it look like I’m a rock rather than someone wishing for more patience. I wish for more patience on a daily basis.” I hoped the captain could contain Paul without tipping Miranda off.

I wanted to see what the woman would do.

When the women of our rival station decided it was time to take matters into their own hands, it was a wonder to behold. If Miranda proved even half as resourceful and skilled as her mother believed, I’d be put into a rather difficult position.

I wouldn’t want to let her go.

Maybe I could start making latte art in her morning coffee to deliver some hints.

“I can understand how that would happen. The hardest thing I ever needed to learn to do was bend for my wife’s sake. Even now, I miss her.”

“May I ask why she didn’t become a dragon?”

“She couldn’t.”

My eyes widened. “But I thought anyone could become a shapeshifter except magickers like me.” If magickers could become shapeshifters, I hadn’t heard of it happening. I’d never been curious enough to pursue becoming a shapeshifter, and I didn’t know anyone who was willing to help anyone become one outside of family or their spouse.

“There is a rare genetic mutation that prevents it, and not even every scrap of my magic could overcome it. But perhaps it is for the better. My son seems to have inherited that gene. And the power of a red dragon in his hands? It is well enough he cannot become one of us. I fear what he would do if he could become a shapeshifter. But I mourn her still. Her soul wasn’t bright, it wasn’t dark—it was that perfect and flawed in between. She knew I wanted to be with her for the rest of my days, but I stayed with her until the end of hers.”

“Do you know how long Miranda will live?”

“You would want to become a dragon if you seriously wish to pursue her. She would outlive you as things are, and she isn’t the quitting kind. Like me, she would wander the world alone and in mourning for many a year.” Red considered me with interest. “Your magic would partner well with the power of red dragons. You’re old enough that it’s unlikely you would pick up the sight, but if you did, it’s easy enough to control. Most choose to be one or the other, as it is harder to imbue a magicker with the ability to become one of us, but it can be done. The only thing that we realistically cannot do is change the type of shapeshifter someone is. We could not, for an example, turn a unicorn into a dragon. But a magicker can become a shapeshifter, if the shapeshifter is strong and determined enough. Most shapeshifters strong enough to do it will not. Under normal circumstances, I would not even think about meddling with you in such a way—but my son will be a challenging foe, and if I were to imbue you with a red’s power, you would become rather impervious to the poison. Right now, you are his ideal target for elimination. He values shapeshifters, and he cares nothing for even the strongest of magickers. And make no mistake, Valor. You’re strong. I could feel you a block away. The land you walk upon holds its breath and waits for your call.”

Well, that would give me some food for thought for a while. The toxin seemed to hurt those with weaker abilities the most, with shapeshifters the most likely to survive. While we, as a society, tended to distinguish shapeshifters by species, dragons were shapeshifters, as were all the other species, ranging from unicorns to gryphons.

Most magickers picked up one or two tricks.

I’d chased after magic with the same desperation of a drowning man seeking but a single breath of air.

“Do you think Timothy wants to eliminate the more mundane people because he cannot become a shapeshifter?”

“I think he is mad, and I try not to think too hard about what the mad think,” he admitted. Red pointed at a pathway that headed along the wall. “We will follow that until the other side. There is a staircase to the top platform in the back. That is where we will observe Miranda’s stand. Zenna goes to retrieve her daughter to spare the police from excess excitement.”

“I already warned Captain Farthan I was coming,” I confessed. “I saw no need to send dispatch into a panic.”

“A wise move. He approved?”

“Of today’s visit, yes. I’m not sure he’d appreciate if I showed up as a red dragon, though.”

Red grinned at me, and he relaxed. “That is a good enough reason to pursue it to me. You can become the head of a new red clan, so that when mine fades into obscurity, my legacy continues in a way that serves.”

“Isn’t Miranda some form of weasel? I didn’t think the small shapeshifters lived that long.”

“She believes she is a weasel, yes, which is why she shifts to that shape. Her mother cultivated that, because a sable marten, her specific species of weasel, is agile and can fit many places, even up the pants leg of a cop when startled.”

My eyes widened. “You saw that?”

The red dragon snickered. “I certainly did. ”

I considered him, wondering what I missed. Then, much like when I worked on a puzzle and had started to make progress, the pieces fit together. The crazy guy I’d disarmed hadn’t caused any trouble—nor had he come back for the weapon. “You’re that crazy guy from the park?”

Red chuckled, and he nodded. “I wanted to see you with her. I wanted to see what you were teaching her. We dragons can pick many different shapes. This shape is a favorite, because this is the shape my wife knew me before her death. I wore another man’s clothes when I went to the hospital for my son’s birth, so you will find the descriptions of me—as Timothy’s father—to be much different from my current reality. Timothy does take after me in some ways, though. He resembles me the first time I shifted and before I learned how to change to any face I wished. I think you will find this ability of my line quite useful for your work. You and Miranda could, with some teaching, both pick new bodies and faces when you need to go undercover.”

I sucked in a breath. “Miranda is a dragon?”

Red’s smile widened. “She is, as is her mother and her father and all her siblings… and she has no idea what she is, because in their tradition, they are taught to live as shapeshifters among humans so that they can better live among humans. Her parents are brown dragons.”

They were brown dragons? I’d heard of many colors, but never brown. “I’m sorry, but what is a brown dragon?”

“What do you know of dragons?”

“Not as much as I thought I did. I know of opals, reds, oranges, blues, blacks, greens, and purples.” I coughed, aware the purple dragons bristled if they were called purple. “Excuse me, violets. ”

“Yes, those are the colors that inhabit Cauldron City. There are also yellows, who prefer to stay secretive. There are also metallic dragons, but they are… strange. They choose to live their lives almost exclusively as humans, and many of them have no idea they are dragons. Every now and then, one is startled into shapeshifting, and we are reminded there are more dragons in the world than we think. Forget everything you think you know about dragons. Once upon a time, when dragons were young, they chose the color of their scales. Then, the world changed—and the brown dragons were born, wanting to blend in with the world around them, dulling their scales and gaining the ability to pass through society unnoticed. They learned how to shift into any living thing, and they treasured those who mastered this art. Red dragons are closely related to brown ones; we initially picked up our color from the red clay of the world. Then we became obsessed with rubies and embraced the splendor of gemstones. The other dragon colors branched from those who did not adopt the mentality of the brown dragon. Miranda’s parents are ancient dragons, and that is why they struggled so much with raising Miranda. But they learned, and now they have a clutch of happier hatchlings who learned how to shapeshift early but are aware of their true nature. They adapted from the mistakes they made.” Red rubbed his hands together while we walked along the pathway.

I opted to stay close to the wall.

Dragons could fly. I could, if I reacted fast enough, break my fall.

“There are many foam balls down there that would make your landing enjoyable,” he reminded me. “We will jump into the balls after Zenna is done toying with her daughter. If we are lucky, she will shift into her full glory and put on a show for us. It has been many a year since I’ve witnessed the joy of a baby dragon discovering they are, in fact, a dragon. Browns are a delight for that.”

“How do you know so much about these brown dragons?”

Red sighed. “That’s because my mother and father were browns. They grew tired of being old and tired, and they passed on to the next life of their own volition. I was their only hatchling. Like them, I am now old and tired, Valor. And worse, I am responsible for so much suffering. If sharing my line with you helps end my son’s ambitions, I will do so without regret or hesitation. But I do know one thing: after Timothy, I will never have another child.”

I understood.

I couldn’t even imagine having to walk in his shoes. “And you would trust me to not become another Timothy? Being a magicker is responsibility enough.”

Every day, every time I decided to test my prowess with my magic, I recognized I could become someone else, someone who benefited from the suffering of others. I understood Dowdren well.

If I wanted, if I chose to walk down that dark road, I could use my power to circumvent free will. I wondered if he understood we fought similar battles.

He had it far worse than I ever would.

He’d been born with his power.

I’d cultivated mine by choice.

“When duty calls, you answer. You would sacrifice your life, without hesitation, to save another. That is the legacy I want. That is how I seek to live. If I must leave a mark of darkness on this world, then I want people, in their next breath, to acknowledge I left behind someone who serves the people. Someone who makes up for that darkness. And I would be putting my trust in you to surpass all the evil my son has done. We can’t undo those crimes, but you could leave a better legacy. Sharing my magic with you would be a small price to pay. But I know I would leave Cauldron City with a guardian who truly cares about her people. That is a good start.”

“I really hadn’t known magickers could become shapeshifters.” I wondered how life would change for me if I were to accept his offer—and how I might better serve. “How would I learn to be a dragon ?”

“You would have plenty of teachers, and I would be among them. And Miranda will be able to learn from her mother. You two would be able to establish a home, and should you have any clutches, you would have a mix of red and brown, and you would usher in a new era for dragons—because you won’t be like the red dragons born today. Yours would be an ancestral lineage and ancestral powers, where all dragons were magickers and we breathed life into the land. That’s why this would work. My parents were magickers—I am one as well.” Red gestured over the cavern. “Much of this is my working, building something for the joy of creation. You will be a far better magicker than I. I was born one, always aware of my tendencies and inclinations. You chased your magic, you claimed it as your own, and you adore everything about it. That is why it is so powerful in your hands. And when you exchange hands for claws, that magic will come calling even stronger and brighter. Mine is an early lineage, and there are few dragons alive now who are so close to the source of life and magic on this world.”

“And the Black Dragon of New York?”

“Black dragons are funny beasts. They are egotistical. Greedy. Beloved by other dragons for all their flaws. They are the youngest of the dragon colors. I remember when the first black was hatched. She lived for diamonds and jewels, and she was the first to make a hoard. The other dragons brought her tiny, shiny pebbles, and she treasured every last one of them. She lusted for more of them, too. But then a quiet blue came along, and he spent many an hour just staring at her, ignoring her treasures because she was the treasure he wished to add to his hoard, which had nothing then.” Red laughed. “They produced many a clutch of black dragons and only two blue hatchlings during their long years. The Black Dragon of New York descends from them, but a long way down the road. The greed of black dragons usually results in their early demise. He’s an old one, as is his mate—and they will remain old because their greed manifests as a desire to have clutches and watch them grow. And his children and grandchildren, while also greedy, do not manifest in such a way that leads to the demise of their line.”

“He hoarded the entirety of New York City,” I reminded him.

“Ah, but he removed crime from their streets, brings prosperity, and enjoys observing his clutch of humans and others from his skyscraper. The city is his treasure, and he loves building her, making her stronger, and watching her thrive.” Red pointed at the platform ahead. “If you are afraid of heights, now is the time to tell me.”

“I wouldn’t call myself afraid, but I have a healthy concern about falling to my death. Captain Farthan holds most of the responsibility for that. I had some serious issues with riding on dragons, and he tossed me off until I got numb to it.” I sighed at the memory. “Every promoting detective gets bucked off by the captain. I lasted about ten seconds, but I almost had a literal heart attack, so Dr. Erik made him go buck me off again. And again. And again. I hold the current precinct record for number of times being bucked off the captain.”

“How curious. I will ease you into flight. We will practice over calm waters for soft landings. Early dragons had issues with flight. The browns are notorious about being scared of their first flights. While they had wings, they were more land beings, content to chase prey on the ground rather than ambush from the air. I was among the first to have a preference for catching prey while in flight.”

Curiosity got the better of me, and I asked, “Did you hunt dinosaurs?”

“Dinosaurs were delicious,” he informed me in a solemn voice.

“How did you survive the extinction event?”

Red grinned at me. “We were the extinction event.”

My eyes widened. “There were no asteroids?”

“Oh, there were—and there were volcanoes as well. But dragons began the process, as we had voracious appetites and reproduced in vast numbers. When the asteroid hit and the volcanoes roused as a result, we went into hibernation for a while. Then we started to die off here and there. Some became human and never shifted back, losing their draconic abilities altogether. Modern magickers, like yourself, are typically descended from those dragons who became humans. The bloodlines continued to thin, so magickers of your strength are rare.”

“How did the other shapeshifter races show up?”

“Some are older than dragons. Gryphons existed before we did, for example. But they stuck to the high peaks and colder climates while we tended to favor swamps. I was born in a swamp. And as I am a red with a preference for warmer places, I made my parents move us to a jungle climate near a desert. That let me visit my preferred element more often.”

“And you’re the first red?”

“There were a few of us hatched all at the same time, from different lines of browns, but yes. For the purpose of this discussion, I am among the first reds. And I’m the last of them. The rest have already passed on.”

I couldn’t even begin to imagine the mental and emotional turmoil he surely suffered through. “How did Timothy become so dangerous?”

“I have that question as well. I suspect he has magicker skills, but he is smart, he is ruthless, and he has zero regard for life, be it human or otherwise. One doesn’t need to be anything other than human to be dangerous in those circumstances.”

My experience in the force supported his claim, and I sighed. “If my captain gets angry that I even considered picking up a shapeshifting issue, please defend me.”

“I can handle that much, especially as I will need to advise him of the strengths of my line so he can safeguard you when I’m not around to teach you. Your part in this is simple. All you need to do is accept the gift I offer. I will take care of the rest.”

“Becoming a dragon is the least of what I would do to make sure that bastard doesn’t hurt anyone else,” I informed him.

“I know.” Red escorted me to the staircase and gestured for me to go first. “If you do take a tumble, don’t fear. I’ll catch you. Let’s not entertain even the possibility of a heart attack today.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that.” Heaving a sigh, I stared up at the rather steep staircase, regretted a few of my recent decisions, and began to climb.