Me and My Shadow
Page 69
“Drake will tell you that I am right,” Fiat said, nodding toward the green wyvern. His eyes flickered around the room, pausing for a moment on his uncle Bastian before moving on to us. “As will Gabriel. Tell her. Tell her that I am the wyvern.”
Drake and Gabriel and Bastian all exchanged glances that were silent, but filled with meaning.
“I do not have to challenge you. Bao was never wyvern, so you defeating her did nothing other than eliminate a troublesome sept member.”
“And yet your own son acknowledged her as wyvern,” Fiat said smoothly.
Everyone looked at Jian, who avoided meeting his mother’s eye.
“Is this so?” she demanded.
He hesitated a moment, then nodded.
“You see? Everyone knew you were in Abaddon and would not be released anytime soon.” Fiat shot me an acid look before continuing. “Thus my challenge and victory over Bao was perfectly valid, and it is you, my dear, who is ouroboros, not me. I have been gracious in allowing you to live despite your attempts to usurp me, but should you continue to try my patience, I may regret such generosity.”
Chuan Ren turned to stone, or at least that was what it looked like to me. She froze for about forty seconds, her body so tightly strung I was sure even her vaunted control would snap, but she was made of sterner stuff than I had imagined.
Slowly, inch by inch, her muscles relaxed. Her husband and son watched her warily, though, as if she might go off at any second. “Your words are meaningless, as usual. It matters not whether my son recognized Bao—he is not my heir.”
Jian shot her a startled look.
“Perhaps not, but the rest of your sept accepted her, as well, as did the weyr,” Fiat said.
“I think the time is right, mate, for you to tell just what you saw two months ago,” Gabriel interrupted, causing everyone to look in surprise at him, including me.
We had agreed not to mention those events, since it would leave me open to a challenge by Fiat, but evidently Gabriel had changed his mind. Or perhaps given the current situation, he felt there was little to fear.
“Approximately seven weeks ago my twin, Gabriel’s guard Maata, and I made a covert call on Fiat’s house in Italy.”
Fiat spun around and focused his sapphire gaze on me, making me feel stripped and powerless. Gabriel’s hand brushed mine, restoring my balance.
“We entered through a subterranean passage several meters beneath the surface of the lake. There we were witness to a scene between Fiat, Bao, and Baltic.”
“This is news to me,” Bastian said, frowning as he turned to Drake. “Were you privy to this information?”
“Yes.”
Bastian didn’t like that, but was wise enough to hold his tongue.
“It was clear to all of us that Fiat and Baltic had some plan under way, although what that was we didn’t know. When Baltic left, Fiat was left alone with Bao. The two of them were also working together, a relationship that ended when Fiat snatched up a sword and beheaded her when she was off her guard.”
Silence held the room in its grip for a few seconds, long enough for the sound of a door closing in the back of the house to reach us.
“There was no challenge,” I said, meeting Fiat’s furious gaze. “He simply grabbed a sword off the wall and hacked off her head, then told his men to clean up the mess—meaning, we supposed, her guards.”
“Why did you not come forward with this information earlier?” Bastian demanded to know just as Chuan Ren spat out some extremely rude words toward me.
Instantly Gabriel moved between her and me. “May was silent at my request. Drake and I discussed the issue, and decided that it would be better to keep Fiat in a position where he would be visible, and thus monitored.”
“And look what a fine job you did of that,” Chuan Ren snarled, turning her back on us all. “How many dragons did you let be murdered by him?”
Bastian’s face was pale, his expression anguished at Chuan Ren’s words, but that was nothing that came close to touching the pain I felt within Gabriel.
“We did not anticipate Fiat going on a killing spree,” Drake said quickly when Gabriel faltered. “The blame lies on both of us for that. I should have guessed that Fiat would retaliate for Chuan Ren returning.”
“This isn’t going to end easily,” I whispered to Gabriel.
“No, it is not.”
“He’s going to fight no matter what the outcome.”
“I know. Drake will not be happy with Aisling present.”
“I can take care of that.”
Gabriel slid me a questioning glance. I leaned into his side and said almost silently, “Aisling gave me a Taser this morning, in case something like this happened.”
A slight frown marred his brow. “I do not like it, little bird.”
“I know. But it’s better than someone getting hurt.”
“All this is unimportant except for one thing,” Chuan Ren said, interrupting Drake as he continued to explain why no one had thought to watch innocent dragons. She spun around, her long black hair whipping out behind her, and stalked forward until she was a few feet away from Fiat, her eyes snapping with pure, undiluted hatred. “As rightful wyvern of the red dragons, I demand that Fiat be turned over to us for punishment for his attempted challenge to my control of the sept.”
“No!” Bastian took a deep, shaky breath, then stepped forward to stand next to Chuan Ren. “Fiat was my problem, my responsibility. He escaped from us, and it was blue dragons he so brutally slaughtered. He must face the penalties for the crimes he has committed against my sept.”
Fiat shot his uncle a poisonous look. “You don’t even have the ability to keep your precious dragons safe. How do you expect to punish me, old man?”
“He is ours, not yours,” Chuan Ren snapped at Bastian.
“I beg to disagree with you. The most heinous of crimes were against blue dragons, not red,” he argued.
“This is ridiculous. I will not stand for this,” Fiat said, and started to shift into dragon form.
I was ready for him this time. Before he got so much as a toenail transformed, I shadowed, slipped behind him, and had the Taser planted at the back of his neck.
“Not again,” he managed to get out before he fell to the floor, twitching and spasming as the electric charge coursed through his still-human body.
Drake and Gabriel and Bastian all exchanged glances that were silent, but filled with meaning.
“I do not have to challenge you. Bao was never wyvern, so you defeating her did nothing other than eliminate a troublesome sept member.”
“And yet your own son acknowledged her as wyvern,” Fiat said smoothly.
Everyone looked at Jian, who avoided meeting his mother’s eye.
“Is this so?” she demanded.
He hesitated a moment, then nodded.
“You see? Everyone knew you were in Abaddon and would not be released anytime soon.” Fiat shot me an acid look before continuing. “Thus my challenge and victory over Bao was perfectly valid, and it is you, my dear, who is ouroboros, not me. I have been gracious in allowing you to live despite your attempts to usurp me, but should you continue to try my patience, I may regret such generosity.”
Chuan Ren turned to stone, or at least that was what it looked like to me. She froze for about forty seconds, her body so tightly strung I was sure even her vaunted control would snap, but she was made of sterner stuff than I had imagined.
Slowly, inch by inch, her muscles relaxed. Her husband and son watched her warily, though, as if she might go off at any second. “Your words are meaningless, as usual. It matters not whether my son recognized Bao—he is not my heir.”
Jian shot her a startled look.
“Perhaps not, but the rest of your sept accepted her, as well, as did the weyr,” Fiat said.
“I think the time is right, mate, for you to tell just what you saw two months ago,” Gabriel interrupted, causing everyone to look in surprise at him, including me.
We had agreed not to mention those events, since it would leave me open to a challenge by Fiat, but evidently Gabriel had changed his mind. Or perhaps given the current situation, he felt there was little to fear.
“Approximately seven weeks ago my twin, Gabriel’s guard Maata, and I made a covert call on Fiat’s house in Italy.”
Fiat spun around and focused his sapphire gaze on me, making me feel stripped and powerless. Gabriel’s hand brushed mine, restoring my balance.
“We entered through a subterranean passage several meters beneath the surface of the lake. There we were witness to a scene between Fiat, Bao, and Baltic.”
“This is news to me,” Bastian said, frowning as he turned to Drake. “Were you privy to this information?”
“Yes.”
Bastian didn’t like that, but was wise enough to hold his tongue.
“It was clear to all of us that Fiat and Baltic had some plan under way, although what that was we didn’t know. When Baltic left, Fiat was left alone with Bao. The two of them were also working together, a relationship that ended when Fiat snatched up a sword and beheaded her when she was off her guard.”
Silence held the room in its grip for a few seconds, long enough for the sound of a door closing in the back of the house to reach us.
“There was no challenge,” I said, meeting Fiat’s furious gaze. “He simply grabbed a sword off the wall and hacked off her head, then told his men to clean up the mess—meaning, we supposed, her guards.”
“Why did you not come forward with this information earlier?” Bastian demanded to know just as Chuan Ren spat out some extremely rude words toward me.
Instantly Gabriel moved between her and me. “May was silent at my request. Drake and I discussed the issue, and decided that it would be better to keep Fiat in a position where he would be visible, and thus monitored.”
“And look what a fine job you did of that,” Chuan Ren snarled, turning her back on us all. “How many dragons did you let be murdered by him?”
Bastian’s face was pale, his expression anguished at Chuan Ren’s words, but that was nothing that came close to touching the pain I felt within Gabriel.
“We did not anticipate Fiat going on a killing spree,” Drake said quickly when Gabriel faltered. “The blame lies on both of us for that. I should have guessed that Fiat would retaliate for Chuan Ren returning.”
“This isn’t going to end easily,” I whispered to Gabriel.
“No, it is not.”
“He’s going to fight no matter what the outcome.”
“I know. Drake will not be happy with Aisling present.”
“I can take care of that.”
Gabriel slid me a questioning glance. I leaned into his side and said almost silently, “Aisling gave me a Taser this morning, in case something like this happened.”
A slight frown marred his brow. “I do not like it, little bird.”
“I know. But it’s better than someone getting hurt.”
“All this is unimportant except for one thing,” Chuan Ren said, interrupting Drake as he continued to explain why no one had thought to watch innocent dragons. She spun around, her long black hair whipping out behind her, and stalked forward until she was a few feet away from Fiat, her eyes snapping with pure, undiluted hatred. “As rightful wyvern of the red dragons, I demand that Fiat be turned over to us for punishment for his attempted challenge to my control of the sept.”
“No!” Bastian took a deep, shaky breath, then stepped forward to stand next to Chuan Ren. “Fiat was my problem, my responsibility. He escaped from us, and it was blue dragons he so brutally slaughtered. He must face the penalties for the crimes he has committed against my sept.”
Fiat shot his uncle a poisonous look. “You don’t even have the ability to keep your precious dragons safe. How do you expect to punish me, old man?”
“He is ours, not yours,” Chuan Ren snapped at Bastian.
“I beg to disagree with you. The most heinous of crimes were against blue dragons, not red,” he argued.
“This is ridiculous. I will not stand for this,” Fiat said, and started to shift into dragon form.
I was ready for him this time. Before he got so much as a toenail transformed, I shadowed, slipped behind him, and had the Taser planted at the back of his neck.
“Not again,” he managed to get out before he fell to the floor, twitching and spasming as the electric charge coursed through his still-human body.
