Chapter 3

Rogue Rider Mansion, Beverly Hills, California, United States

The presence of the leader of the Rogue Riders made most in the room tense. The chatter from the others on the far side of the dining area halted. All eyes swiveled to the giant, bald man with tattoos covering his rippling muscles that didn't seem real. Gen reasoned that there was strange magic at play to make Dwayne so oversized.

Now, Gen really had lost her appetite. Unflinching, she met his narrowed eyes. "I don't get any special treatment because I'm a Beaufont. These claims are unfounded."

"Really?" Dwayne hissed through clenched teeth. "Then why is it that the council for the House of Fourteen is pushing for you to graduate training and has requested that you attend one of their upcoming meetings?"

Sully's arm shot into the air as he hopped up and down in his seat excitedly. "Oh, pick me. Pick me. I know the answer to the second part. It's because she was a Founder of the House of Fourteen and has special knowledge that was undocumented."

Dwayne grimaced at the man, looking ready to toss him across the room. Jack thankfully yanked his arm out of the air, shoving a donut into his hand. Easily distracted by the treat, Sully's attention was diverted as he stuck the pastry into his mouth, shutting him up momentarily.

Returning his focus to Gen, Dwayne flared his giant nostrils, which were also supersized, like the rest of him. "The council is under the misguided impression that you and Emperor should be out policing criminals after that incident at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. They fail to see that you're a danger to yourself and this world without proper training."

"Taking down a huge operation of museum thieves was incredibly rad," Amanda said, crossing her arms and giving Gen an impressed look. "If I was your boss, I'd be proud of your bravery and initiative."

"Watch yourself or your boss is going to fire you," Dwayne threatened the house manager coldly.

Amanda shook her head with a mischievous grin. "Oh, no. I've got a one-year contract, sir. I saw to it when Sophia was leaving, knowing you'd try to can me the first chance you got."

He glared at her. "Well, a year passes fast, so start looking for work now."

She pressed her hands together and held them with mock sincerity to her chest. "How can we not want to work for you, sir? I mean, I remember when Sophia was here and showed us respect and appreciation." Amanda lifted on her tiptoes, looking in the direction of the other Rogue Riders huddled together on the far side of the dining room. "Good thing you all couldn't get along and broke rank, getting her fired! Now we have this man to whip us into shape. Anyone up for an extra one-thousand pushups again this morning, just because he's in a bad mood?"

Dwayne's fists tightened by his side. His jaw clenched. He looked on the edge of reaching out and hitting Amanda, although she didn't appear at all scared, like she had a protective spell on her, shielding any attacks. Gen had to give it up to the woman, she was fierce.

When the leader of the Rogue Riders reached out, Gen shot to her feet, thinking that she was about to have to defend the house manager before she was tossed through the bank of windows. Reflexively, Dwayne jerked his head to the side, pinching his gaze at Gen. She studied him, the two facing off. Finally, unhurried, he turned and ran his finger over the surface of a shelf on the wall next to him. Then he inspected it, looking at it with disapproval.

"This place is filthy," Dwayne said, snapping his dusty fingers together. "Why don't you do your job, Amanda, and clean the mansion? That should keep you busy and out of my hair."

She pointed up to his bald head. "I don't mean to be pedantic, but sir, you don't have any?—"

"Shut your mouth and do your job!" he interrupted, his face flushing red and that familiar vein suddenly bulging from his forehead.

Gen knew based on the look of glee on Amanda's face that this was what she was going for all along. She loved making Dwayne angry. Maybe she was trying to give him heart failure to get rid of him. By the look on his face, that strategy could work.

Amanda sighed. "Fine, but you know how much time it takes to dust this place because your riders are filthy little urchins?"

"Good, it seems you need something to do," he fired.

She lifted her finger and twirled it through the air. What happened next was almost unnoticeable, but Gen saw smudges on the glass of the windows disappear and things all around the dining room tidy ever so slightly. That was followed by a "clean" smell, like the floors had just been mopped and the whole place dusted within seconds.

Amanda deflated with a heavy breath. "That took forever. But thankfully, I'm not exhausted and can still supervise whatever happens around here next."

Dwayne lifted his hand and pointed at the hallway, the direction he'd come from. "Go and alphabetize my office books by subject."

Amanda rolled her eyes. "But sir, you just had me do it by author name."

"And now I'm asking you to do it by subject," Dwayne ordered.

"Fine," Amanda replied, stomping for the hallway.

"Oh, and…" Dwayne had his murderous gaze on Amanda.

She paused. Turned to him. Sighed. "Let me guess, I can't use magic because of some bogus related reason about volatile substances in your office that might explode if I did, right?"

He grinned menacingly. "That's right. So do it by hand. And since you couldn't clean the office due to the wards I have protecting it from magic, why don't you go ahead and do that the old-fashioned way, too."

She straightened. Saluted in mock respect and then turned, marching like a soldier for the hallway.

"Speaking of books," Dwayne said, turning to Gen with a sadistic smile she definitely didn't find inviting. "The council wants you to complete your training as soon as possible. And although they can make their request, they can't dictate what is required of you to graduate from training."

Gen, having sat again, pushed back in her seat. "Well, I'm working on completing my shadowing hours and cataloguing magical creatures, per your assignment."

"Right," he chirped, evil delight in his eyes. "But I'm thinking that we need to bridge the gap in your knowledge. You've missed a good six hundred years of literature."

"You're not going to make her read all the books that have been published in that time, are you, sir?" Sully asked, gawking up at his boss. "I haven't even read all of those."

"You've read none of them," Jack argued with a laugh.

"Right!" Sully said, nodding enthusiastically. "And I'm a Rogue Rider."

"Yes, but you grew up in the modern world, Sully," Dwayne began. "And you have an idea of how our world works as far as moral philosophy goes. Gen's recent stunt at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art got me to thinking." He pointed at her. "You want to be this do-gooder who goes off on her own and saves the world, just like all your family of Beaufonts."

"That's not what I was trying to do," Gen cut in.

Dwayne held up a hand, silencing her at once. "I just think that you need to understand the principles associated with the ethics that have been discovered over the last several centuries. Maybe that will give you something to think about instead of taking the law into your own hands, next time. Maybe you'll see that things aren't so black and white and there's a reason that you are to follow my leadership and wait until you're assigned a case instead of breaking my rules."

"What are you going to make her do, sir?" Clipper asked, obvious excitement in her voice.

Dwayne snapped his fingers, magically making a piece of folded up paper appear in his other hand. "I've got a new training exercise for you, Gen Beaufont. Here's a list of books on moral philosophy. You are to read them until you have a thorough knowledge of their principles. Once you do, then you'll be tested. You must complete your shadowing hours, cataloguing of magical creatures assignment and pass the test in order to finish the training."

Gen unfolded the list that he handed her, overwhelmed by the number of books she was expected to read. The volumes didn't look like easy reading, either, with titles like Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Nicomachean Ethics and What We Owe to Each Other.

Her eyes scanned the long list of books and their authors, Gen's mouth falling open. She worked quickly to cover her wide-eyed expression of confusion, knowing that's exactly what would please Dwayne most right then.

"Sir, passing a test on a list of moral philosophy texts like this is akin to PhD work," Jack argued, pointing at the piece of paper in Gen's hand.

Dwayne grinned evilly. "And yet, if she doesn't pass this test, which I'll ensure can't be cheated on or use advantages, like with the other tasks she's completed thus far, then Gen can't get a case. She can rot in this mansion or quit out of sheer boredom."

He lowered his chin, giving her a challenging expression. "It's really up to you, Ms. Beaufont. If you can't do it, then you can't be a Rogue Rider."

Gen lifted her own chin in defiance, giving him a rebellious, unwavering expression. "I'll do it. Don't worry about that, sir. Just get ready to assign me a case because I'll be an expert in moral philosophy in no time."