Holy Smokes
Page 24
“I take it that the meeting today is something important if you’ve trotted out the good suit?” I asked Fiat.
“You could say that. We will discuss our involvement in the war between the red and green septs.”
I stiffened. “Your involvement as in working with Chuan Ren?”
“Who can say?” He made an elegant gesture, his eyes half-closed as he watched me. “That is what we meet to decide.”
“I think you can guess how my vote is going to go,” I answered, smiling as sweetly as I could, which was a minor miracle considering I wanted to throttle Fiat.
Why strain your hands? You could destroy him so much more easily.
“Alas, as my mate, your role is to support me in all things, and thus you do not have a vote of your own.”
I ground my teeth just a tiny bit.
“I have every confidence that your support will drive home to the sept just how unswerving is your devotion to me. It will do much to convince them of the rightness of our chosen path.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I asked.
He leaned forward, his sapphire gaze piercing mine. “Oh, yes. Very much so, cara.”
There was a warning in his voice, a warning I should have taken heed of…but hindsight is such an annoying thing.
As dragon events go, the meeting itself started off at a brisk pace. We arrived at the convention center where the gathering was being held.
“Holy cow,” I murmured under my breath as Renaldo, one of Fiat’s bodyguards, ushered us into the room where the meeting was taking place. I was used to the green dragon sept gatherings with its two hundred or so members. This room was filled with at least three times that number of dragons, a vast expanse of ballroom that was covered wall-to-wall in dragons.
“Merde,” Rene whispered under his breath, patting the spot on his chest where his gun was hidden. “So many?”
“How many members of the blue sept are there?” I asked Renaldo.
“More than twelve hundred,” he answered as we marched up to a raised dais at one end of the room. Fiat was already there, surrounded by a group of men. In the center of the dais was a chair that can only be described as a throne, dark wood carved into intricate scenes of dragons, embellished with gold. “Although only half that number is here today. You sit here when Fiat tells you to.”
He turned his back on me. I looked around the platform. There was a podium with a microphone, the throne, a small folding chair that was evidently my seat…and nothing else.
“And he talks about me doing things the hard way,” I said, shaking my head and sighing to myself as I strolled off the platform and over to the first row of chairs. People were still wandering around, chatting, mingling, and socializing in general, but the ones nearest me stopped dead and turned to look as I smiled.
“Hi. You using those? No? Thanks much.” I grabbed two chairs and started hauling them over to the dais.
“Drake will not like that,” Rene said as he rushed to take the chairs from me. “Remember le bébé!”
Uncle Damian jumped down and snagged another chair. Evidently someone said something to Fiat, or he noticed the shocked silence in my corner of the room, the dragons coming to a halt as they watched my little group carry chairs up to the dais.
“Cara!”
“Chair or floor?” I asked Jim.
It tipped its head to the side. “Oh, chair, don’t you think? For maximum effect.”
“Cara, what are you doing?” Fiat hurried over to us.
“A demon after my own heart,” I said, patting it on its head. I nodded toward another chair. Traci heaved a long-suffering sigh and fetched it. I lifted my chin and smiled at Fiat. “Just arranging for seats for my support team. Set them behind mine, guys, in a nice little row. Excellent. Are we ready to go, Fiat?”
His eyes flashed fury, his hands fisting for a moment before he forced them open. He bowed and gestured toward the chair waiting for me. “As you desire, mate.”
The word grated on me coming from his lips, but I knew he knew that, so I kept the smile on my face as I took my place next to him. He stood before the throne, his expression relaxed, but I could feel a sense of keyed-up excitement emanating from him as he waited for everyone to take their seats.
He went through the usual formalities, issuing a greeting in Italian, and going over official sept business that held no interest for me, if Rene’s whispered translation was accurate.
It was a bit trying to be formally introduced to the sept as his mate, but I got through it by reminding myself that what could be done, could be undone.
Quite easily, as a matter of fact, but will you do that? Oh no, you insist on being stubborn.
I pushed down the voice, ignoring it as I focused on Rene’s whispers in my ear as he translated Fiat’s speech. The members rose and bowed to me when Fiat introduced me, but I had the feeling everyone here knew it was a meaningless gesture.
“You have to wonder what they think of Fiat taking another wyvern’s mate as his own,” I whispered over my shoulder to Rene.
Renaldo, standing on the other side of Fiat, shot me a glare.
“I do not believe they have much choice in the matter,” Rene whispered back. “The blue wyvern seems to rule with very much the hand of iron.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me to find out he took the position by force,” Uncle Damian said softly.
I glanced at him in surprise. “Why do you say that? The blue dragons don’t seem to be cowed or afraid of Fiat, just kind of subdued when compared to the green dragons.”
“He’s got the dictator mentality. Seen it before in men who’ve forcibly taken over businesses. You watch him—I bet he’ll lay down the law to those folks over this war. They won’t have a thing to say about it.”
“They may not, but I certainly will,” I muttered, lapsing into silence at yet another pointed look from Renaldo.
It took another half hour before Fiat stopped speaking, the crowd applauding politely. He turned to me and held out his hand, clearly desiring my presence next to him. I took a deep breath and got up, placing just the tips of my fingers in his hand. I would have ignored it altogether, but I hesitated to embarrass him in that manner with so many sept members watching.
He said something to the crowd, holding up our joined hands. There were several murmurs until a hush fell over them. I glanced back at Rene, who rose and started toward me.
“You could say that. We will discuss our involvement in the war between the red and green septs.”
I stiffened. “Your involvement as in working with Chuan Ren?”
“Who can say?” He made an elegant gesture, his eyes half-closed as he watched me. “That is what we meet to decide.”
“I think you can guess how my vote is going to go,” I answered, smiling as sweetly as I could, which was a minor miracle considering I wanted to throttle Fiat.
Why strain your hands? You could destroy him so much more easily.
“Alas, as my mate, your role is to support me in all things, and thus you do not have a vote of your own.”
I ground my teeth just a tiny bit.
“I have every confidence that your support will drive home to the sept just how unswerving is your devotion to me. It will do much to convince them of the rightness of our chosen path.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I asked.
He leaned forward, his sapphire gaze piercing mine. “Oh, yes. Very much so, cara.”
There was a warning in his voice, a warning I should have taken heed of…but hindsight is such an annoying thing.
As dragon events go, the meeting itself started off at a brisk pace. We arrived at the convention center where the gathering was being held.
“Holy cow,” I murmured under my breath as Renaldo, one of Fiat’s bodyguards, ushered us into the room where the meeting was taking place. I was used to the green dragon sept gatherings with its two hundred or so members. This room was filled with at least three times that number of dragons, a vast expanse of ballroom that was covered wall-to-wall in dragons.
“Merde,” Rene whispered under his breath, patting the spot on his chest where his gun was hidden. “So many?”
“How many members of the blue sept are there?” I asked Renaldo.
“More than twelve hundred,” he answered as we marched up to a raised dais at one end of the room. Fiat was already there, surrounded by a group of men. In the center of the dais was a chair that can only be described as a throne, dark wood carved into intricate scenes of dragons, embellished with gold. “Although only half that number is here today. You sit here when Fiat tells you to.”
He turned his back on me. I looked around the platform. There was a podium with a microphone, the throne, a small folding chair that was evidently my seat…and nothing else.
“And he talks about me doing things the hard way,” I said, shaking my head and sighing to myself as I strolled off the platform and over to the first row of chairs. People were still wandering around, chatting, mingling, and socializing in general, but the ones nearest me stopped dead and turned to look as I smiled.
“Hi. You using those? No? Thanks much.” I grabbed two chairs and started hauling them over to the dais.
“Drake will not like that,” Rene said as he rushed to take the chairs from me. “Remember le bébé!”
Uncle Damian jumped down and snagged another chair. Evidently someone said something to Fiat, or he noticed the shocked silence in my corner of the room, the dragons coming to a halt as they watched my little group carry chairs up to the dais.
“Cara!”
“Chair or floor?” I asked Jim.
It tipped its head to the side. “Oh, chair, don’t you think? For maximum effect.”
“Cara, what are you doing?” Fiat hurried over to us.
“A demon after my own heart,” I said, patting it on its head. I nodded toward another chair. Traci heaved a long-suffering sigh and fetched it. I lifted my chin and smiled at Fiat. “Just arranging for seats for my support team. Set them behind mine, guys, in a nice little row. Excellent. Are we ready to go, Fiat?”
His eyes flashed fury, his hands fisting for a moment before he forced them open. He bowed and gestured toward the chair waiting for me. “As you desire, mate.”
The word grated on me coming from his lips, but I knew he knew that, so I kept the smile on my face as I took my place next to him. He stood before the throne, his expression relaxed, but I could feel a sense of keyed-up excitement emanating from him as he waited for everyone to take their seats.
He went through the usual formalities, issuing a greeting in Italian, and going over official sept business that held no interest for me, if Rene’s whispered translation was accurate.
It was a bit trying to be formally introduced to the sept as his mate, but I got through it by reminding myself that what could be done, could be undone.
Quite easily, as a matter of fact, but will you do that? Oh no, you insist on being stubborn.
I pushed down the voice, ignoring it as I focused on Rene’s whispers in my ear as he translated Fiat’s speech. The members rose and bowed to me when Fiat introduced me, but I had the feeling everyone here knew it was a meaningless gesture.
“You have to wonder what they think of Fiat taking another wyvern’s mate as his own,” I whispered over my shoulder to Rene.
Renaldo, standing on the other side of Fiat, shot me a glare.
“I do not believe they have much choice in the matter,” Rene whispered back. “The blue wyvern seems to rule with very much the hand of iron.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me to find out he took the position by force,” Uncle Damian said softly.
I glanced at him in surprise. “Why do you say that? The blue dragons don’t seem to be cowed or afraid of Fiat, just kind of subdued when compared to the green dragons.”
“He’s got the dictator mentality. Seen it before in men who’ve forcibly taken over businesses. You watch him—I bet he’ll lay down the law to those folks over this war. They won’t have a thing to say about it.”
“They may not, but I certainly will,” I muttered, lapsing into silence at yet another pointed look from Renaldo.
It took another half hour before Fiat stopped speaking, the crowd applauding politely. He turned to me and held out his hand, clearly desiring my presence next to him. I took a deep breath and got up, placing just the tips of my fingers in his hand. I would have ignored it altogether, but I hesitated to embarrass him in that manner with so many sept members watching.
He said something to the crowd, holding up our joined hands. There were several murmurs until a hush fell over them. I glanced back at Rene, who rose and started toward me.
