“I’m not sure,” the guy said in a strained voice. “Maybe to meet up with the main group in Florida?”
My flames sputtered out. My shift sputtered out too. I shrank into my human body and immediately launched into a coughing fit. Very smooth.
When I got control of my lungs, Nate’s people were already hauling the two captured rogues away. “What are you going to do with them?” I asked.
“Hold them, drugged, until we decide what punishment they should face.” Nate sighed. “They were only lackeys. I’d banish them—but they were outside the kin already, and look what they got up to.”
Our prisoners hadn’t known enough. I’d gone all the way up a mountain to earn the power of those violet flames, the ones that burned through to the truth. No other dragon shifter before me had claimed Sunridge’s secret. But it still hadn’t been enough to win the day.
“It sounds like as far as they knew the group that’s waiting in Florida, that’s most of them,” I pointed out. “The ‘main group,’ he said. That fits with what Orion told me.”
“So if we can deal with the rogues there, we might have wiped up the rest of the problem,” West filled in. “Which would sound a lot more hopeful if we knew where the hell in Florida they were.”
“Are we still going there?”
“I think that’s the best course of action we have,” Aaron said. “The rogues don’t know what we’ve found out. We should go on to the feline estate, act as if we don’t suspect anything is wrong, and investigate from there.”
“And when I find out which of my kin has been entertaining those lunatics, you’d better believe the fur is going to fly,” Marco said, baring his teeth in a fierce grin.
Nate turned. His gaze fell on Orion’s limp body. He looked to me, taking in the blood smeared over my skin. His jaw set.
“We’ll deal with the rogues,” he said in a voice that brooked no argument. “And the muskrat shifter will have a funeral with all the respect he’s due.”
Chapter 12
Aaron
Riding in an airplane never felt quite right. The whole time I was off the ground, my body never stopped itching with the awareness that I was meant to fly in other ways, not let some hunk of metal do the work for me. Given the choice, I’d almost always pick a land vehicle.
I stretched out in the leather seat, which I’d reclined as far back as it would go. I was still a little tired from spending the night before last awake and on edge, so I’d gone into the back room of the private jet on my own and drawn the curtain. So far I hadn’t had a great deal of luck relaxing.
Considering the circumstances, getting to the feline estate as quickly as possible had seemed the best option. If we could deal with any rogues and their allies in Florida before they had time to finish preparing, so much the better. So I’d agreed when Nate had suggested he have one of his kin pick us up in a jet at an airfield near our ambush spot.
But even having the windows shut, the space was only shadowed, not really dark. With the thrum of the engine beneath me, I’d only been able to doze, not completely drift off. At least that had helped reduce my fatigue.
Now I was just mentally preparing myself for the events ahead of us. The feline kin and avians had never gotten on all that well, even without a traitor in the mix. Cats and birds—not a good mix.
Someone knocked against the wall outside the curtain. “Aaron?” Serenity said. “Do you mind if I join you?”
I straightened up, pushing the chair into its upright position. “Not at all. Please do.”
My mate slipped past the curtain. She smiled at me, but I could see the worry and grief in her eyes. It tugged at my heart. I held my hand out to her, motioning for her to sit with me.
The seats in the back room were set up in pairs facing each other with a small table in between. Serenity sank into the one opposite me with a sigh and leaned her elbows onto the table. “Did you manage to get some rest?” she asked.
Concerned about me first, even with so much else on her mind. Every time I thought I couldn’t love her more, she stole another piece of my heart. “I got enough,” I said. “I think I’m ready to handle a gaggle of cats now.”
Her smile twitched with amusement. “I guess they’re not going to be super friendly to you, huh?”
“Doubtful. I’ve never actually visited the feline estate before. We’ve kept somewhat separate the last several years.”
“Because you didn’t have a dragon shifter pulling you together.”
“Yes. But that time is over now.” I cupped my hands around hers. “Something’s bothering you. You wanted to talk to me about it?”
She bit her perfect pink lip, her amber eyes darkening. “I guess it’s what you just said. The tensions between the different kin-groups. All this trouble with the rogues, and then finding out they’re not just managing to sway a few of the regular kin to their side, they’ve got someone high up in the kin who’s orchestrating attacks...”
“It’s hard for all of us to accept that information,” I said. “You know I didn’t want to face the fact that they’d gotten to one of my kin.”
She nodded. “But... you each deal with your own kin your own way. I’m supposed to somehow unite everyone. Make them all believe that, well, believing in me is the best way to go. But I hardly know them. I hardly know my own family!”
“That’s not your fault. No one blames you for that.”
“Well, I don’t know about that,” she said wryly. “I thought maybe I was getting by okay after how things went at your estate, but seeing how wary some of the disparate kin were of me—it was kind of hard to take. And I have the feeling the felines are going to be even more skeptical. They hardly trust Marco to lead them, and he’s one of them.”
I squeezed her hands, my heart squeezing too. “Look at how much you’ve already accomplished. You’re rising to the situation better and faster than anyone could have asked, Serenity. There’s more work ahead—I’m not going to pretend there isn’t—but I know you can meet the challenge.”
“I just...” Her gaze slid away from me. Her voice dropped. “What if trying to put things back the way they were isn’t the best thing for all the kin? Obviously the way the rogues are trying to change things isn’t right, but what if the time when dragon shifters could unify everyone is over now? Maybe it’s been too long without one, and it’s just causing more trouble trying to recreate the past.”
“Do you really think that’s true?” I asked.
“No,” she said quietly. “I feel like this is where I’m meant to be. All the kin feel like my people. I want to be what all of them need. I just don’t know if I can be that. And there’s been so much blood shed since I came back, because I came back, already.”