The woman hadn’t looked well when she’d first appeared aboveground today and he’d immediately been concerned. That concern was coupled with the fact that he’d already researched what she’d risked her life to steal that night, and how the hell she’d been able to escape him so quickly. The curse of King Tutankhamun.
Was that what would lead to her death? The death that had been scaring him awake for the last two months?
He didn’t have time to figure that out now. One of his other duties called and if he didn’t show up at the Office for this staff meeting there would certainly be hell to pay. And when Steele referenced hell he actually meant the bowels of the Spirit Realm where every demonic entity that had ever existed now resided. As a part of the Legion Security Company and a Drakon warrior, he was sworn to protect the humans from that experience, and those jobs usually coincided so well with his duties as a Dream Reaper. But for some reason, it wasn’t working out that way this time. So, with a grumble and a sudden cough that came in response to his beast’s quick shift of disagreement, he turned away from the antiques shop and headed down the street to where he’d parked his truck.
The Office was a ninety-minute drive from downtown Burgess unless you were driving one of the upgraded SUVs provided by Legion Security. In that case, a flip of a switch draped the vehicle with a cloaking device which enabled it to be pressed to its max two hundred and twenty-five miles an hour speed and ride along the shoulder of the highway unseen so that Steele made the twenty-minute deadline with minutes to spare. This amenity had just been added to all eight of the vehicles owned by the company, as the technology it was created with had only recently been perfected by Isla, another Drakon who worked for the Legion.
The Office was totally different from what its name implied. A private location where high-level agents who worked for Legion Security met, it was nestled in the base of a mountain and surrounded by acres of forest land that kept it well hidden from the human world. Steele drove along the one-lane pathway and parked the truck in the roundabout next to seven identical SUVs. He climbed out and walked along a cobblestone path until coming to a set of narrow steps. Taking them two at a time, he stopped when he came to a glass door which was tinted black, and took a second to breathe. As relaxation methods went, it wasn’t really working and his agitation for having to be here instead of talking to Ravyn continued to build.
With resolution that came with time and loyalty, he bent over slightly because, for whatever reason, the control panel hadn’t been built to match the over-six-feet height of the majority of Drakon men. He yanked his sunglasses from his face and stared into the ocular detector. When it beeped and the control panel turned green, he pulled on the handle of the door and entered what could be called a fortress.
The main area’s black marble floor stretched in four different directions. Steele turned right and went straight down the long hallway, with its stone walls and cavernous feel, until he came to a set of double doors which led to the main conference room. Stepping inside, he inhaled deeply as all eyes landed on him.
All Drakon eyes, he should add. No sunglasses were needed by any of them when they were at the Office, because the unusual colored eyes of the dragons that occupied their human bodies weren’t a jolt to them and didn’t bring about more questions than they were ready or able to answer.
“Well, well, well, the prodigal son returns.” Ziva spoke first while running her fingers through her gold-and-blonde spiked hair. Her perfectly arched brows lifted just before she winked at him.
Steele crossed the floor, grabbing the first available seat at the far end of the fifteen-foot-long, black walnut table, and only nodded in response to Ziva’s greeting.
“Now that we’re all present, we can get started.” Theo spoke from where he always sat at the head of the opposite end of the table.
Looking down in that direction was different than it had been earlier this year. Part of that difference was Shola N’Gara, the new Drakon empress who was also a demigoddess from the Nigerian town of Mobo. The same village Magnum and Steele had lived in long ago.
“Byou’s official report has been downloaded to your communicators. You can read it in its entirety at your convenience. For now, I will summarize.” Bleu, the oldest of the Drakon living on the Human Realm and Theo’s right hand stood. He moved to stand in front of the screen which was now being lowered on a side wall. Bleu loved presentations and Steele bit back a groan because he hated them. They took too long, flicking through one picture after another to explain what could just be said.
“A number of the villages have reaffirmed their allegiance to the new emperor and thus to the throne.” As Bleu talked, he clicked the small report and six pictures of various villages on the Far Realm appeared. One which looked like a frosty haven, another that boasted the brightest blue sky and greenest grass and put Steele in mind of the In-Between that separated the veils
