The engine roared with a scream and settled into a menacing purr. I remained silent for a few seconds before putting the Dark Goat into gear.
“The Auer is quite capable of defending herself,” Monty assured me. “That, and she has Roma and the Archive Guard. We need to focus on the immediate threat.”
“I’m not blowing myself up with an entropy bomb, and Slif nearly wiped the street with all of us,” I said, speeding down the street. “I hope you have an idea.”
“Several, actually,” Monty said. “Some of it is coming into focus. The rest will have to wait until we meet with Shadow Company.”
“I’m glad someone is seeing through all of this, because all I’m seeing is an expiration date a week from now.”
“Look closer,” Monty said. “What do we know?”
“Magnus wants to kill me?”
“He may not want to, but he has to because of his position as enclave leader,” Monty said. “A failure to respond to Slif’s death will be perceived as weakness. In dragon society, that would be a death sentence. Obouros would exploit it as an opening.”
“He doesn’t want to kill me, but he has to?” I said, crossing over to the east side of the city. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Why now?” Monty asked. “Why not eliminate you shortly after Slif perished?”
“Maybe his schedule was packed with dragon things—you know, terrorize and raze a few villages, hoard some gold, that sort of thing.”
“You’re conflating fiction with reality,” Monty said. “They may still hoard wealth, but now it’s done in stock holdings and real estate.”
“It probably wasn’t convenient before, or maybe Rell was busy killing everything in sight,” I countered. “He seems extra angry. Where did you come up with the Rite of Fire?”
“One of my old classes at the Circle focused on dragon hierarchy and how their society evolved over the millennia. The Rite of Fire was used to initiate dragons, to enter certain enclaves, and to settle disputes without wholesale warfare.”
“That sounds efficient.”
“It is,” Monty said pensively, as he looked out of the passenger side window. “What bothers me is that the Rite of Fire is not open to non-dragons, and yet he agreed to let you partake in it. Why?”
“He really wants me dead?” I said, swerving through traffic. “Wants me to suffer?”
“He made no mention of your mark or affiliation to Kali,” Monty said. “It’s possible the neutralizing effects of the TINY contributed to that, but it seemed odd he would neglect to address it, considering he intends to end your life.”
“Is he stronger than Kali?” I asked, concerned—well, more concerned. “She is a goddess with phenomenal cosmic power.”
“Dragons were once revered as gods, before gods even existed,” Monty said. “I honestly don’t know. Magnus is ancient; he could very well be as powerful, if not more powerful, than Kali or Hades.”
“Basically what you’re saying is he wants to smear me all over his estate in this rite of his,” I said. “At least he will allow his enforcer assassin to do it.”
“He could have done that at any time before this meeting,” Monty said. “No, there’s more. I don’t think he expects to see you in a week.”
“He thinks I’m going to bail?”
“No,” Monty said. “He expects to see you before the week is out. He knows about Shadow Company’s mission somehow. The Rite of Fire was all pretense to lull you into a state of complacency.”
“Give me a week, but kill me at his earliest convenience sort of thing?”
“Exactly. I wouldn’t be surprised if he dispatched Rell right after we left.”
“Sounds like the dragon thing to do,” I said, avoiding more traffic. We had an hour before our meet with Shadow Company. “Have I told you how much I dislike dragons?”
“You may have mentioned it once or twice,” Monty said. “Are you ready for tonight?”
“No, but I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
“There’s always a—”
“Not this time,” I said, cutting him off along with a few taxis that were jockeying for position behind me. “I have to face this part of my past and put it to rest before it does the same to me.”
NINETEEN
“Are you sure you want to come with?” I asked as we approached the place where Cassandra breathed her last. “You realize we’re only a block or two away from Haven and Roxanne, right?”
“It can’t be helped,” Monty said, looking down the block as we parked. “I would imagine that would be them?”
Monty gestured to the large black truck parked down the block. It was similar to an NYTF command and control vehicle, complete with an enormous trailer.
“Nothing says subtle like a huge trailer wide enough to block an entire street,” I said, getting out of the Dark Goat. “Let’s go say hello.”
I opened the door for the Zen Meat Master that had sprawled out into hellhound enlightenment. He stepped out of the Dark Goat with another stretch, causing the car to rock back and forth as he did so.
<Let’s go. Stay alert—these are not friendlies.>
<Why are we going to see them if they are not friendly? Can I chew on them?>
<No chewing, at least not until I say so.>
<Should I wait until they hit you first, then chew on them?>
<Wait until I say so. Some of them will not want to be around you, and some may want to hurt you. Ignore them and stay close to me, got it?>
<Can we go to the place after this? My stomach feels empty.>
<Once we’re done with all of this, I’ll make sure you get more meat than even you can devour.>
<That’s not possible. I’m a growing hound.>
We were halfway down the block when the rear of the trailer opened. A tall, wiry man stepped out and waited for us to approach. He looked young, easily ten years my junior, about my height, dressed in black combat armor, and was wearing a small arsenal. A dual
