Chapter 10
Brad paced up and down the room again. He could hear the commotion outside the door, muffled through the walls, but his hearing wasn’t good enough to make out what was being said. He glanced over at Ultrima, wondering if the dragon could tell anything more than he could.
But if he could, he wasn’t giving it away. He sat on the stretcher, leaning back against the wall, his eyes closed. He could well have been asleep, but Brad wasn’t convinced. He didn’t think the Trima dragon missed much at all.
Raised voices sounded in the other room, and Brad’s stomach clenched. “What do you think is going on?” he asked Nate privately.
Nate frowned, silent for a few moments, as if trying to identify the words, or at least the voices. Was that Detective Inspector Williams’ voice, or someone else? “Do you think someone is trying to stop them going after the clan? That woman, Senior Constable Lyons, I think she might know more than she lets on.”
It was interesting that Nate thought her behaviour strange too. Brad had definitely noticed her reactions being unusual. Not that he was sure what was usual when confronted with a dragon.
As if summoned, the door opened, and the senior constable stood in front of them. “They want to talk to you.”
Brad glanced over at Nate, but his brother just shrugged. He was probably thinking the same thing Brad was, that they didn’t really have a lot of choice.
He and Nate headed through the open door, but the senior constable didn’t follow them. She was still staring into the room. “You too,” she said to Ultrima.
Brad’s heartrate kicked up a notch. That was different. They hadn’t talked to both of them at the same time before. Was this some new way to try to get them to talk? Pit them against each other or something? Or was something else going on?
If so, he was damned if he knew what.
They already knew that Rian clan wasn’t at the location Brad had told them, and they had a pretty good guess where they were. What more did they expect to get from him? And why bring Ultrima into the conversation?
It was already obvious that the Trima dragon hadn’t given away the location, for reasons known only to him.
Perhaps though, they were aware that he knew it, and thought to somehow provoke one party or the other into confirming it. Maybe even giving them a clue on where to start their search.
It made a frightening kind of sense.
Brad resolved to be calm, to refuse to take the bait, and whatever else he did, not to antagonise the other dragon.
Which was what he was going to do anyway.
When Senior Constable Lyons lead them back into the conference room though, it was clear there was something more going on. A new group of people were sitting at the table. Three of them, all wearing suits and ties, all middle aged at least.
At least half a dozen police officers stood behind the empty chairs against the opposite wall. Brad suspected they were there to keep an eye on Ultrima, rather than him or Nate.
In the middle chair opposite the three men, sat Barry. He gave Brad and Nate a friendly smile, and for the first time since the senior constable had come into the room, the constriction around Brad’s heart eased a little.
He sat down next to Barry, and Nate sat next to him. Brad was relieved that Ultrima took the seat on the opposite side of the lawyer. If Barry was concerned by having a dragon sitting next to him, he gave no sign.
He was braver than Brad. He felt much better having someone between him and the Trima dragon, though it would probably make no real difference if the dragon decided he had an issue with him. His lightning would have no trouble encompassing the entire room.
Brad wondered if the suits sitting opposite them had any idea.
One or two of them stared at Ultrima with shifting eyes, as though trying to hide their fear. They knew all right, and they weren’t happy about it.
The one in the middle cleared his throat. “I’m James Nyles.”
He waited, as though he expected them to recognise the name, but Brad was mystified. The only one who seemed to recognise the name was Barry, who nodded.
“Director-General of Security,” the man added for the rest of them.
That sounded important. Apparently Barry had been busy. But it wasn’t quite what he’d promised. Brad turned to the lawyer and raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were going to try to get us an audience with the Prime Minister?”
There was a muffled laugh behind them somewhere. Sounded like a woman.
Barry gave a slight smile.
“You didn’t think we were going to put the Prime Minister in a room with a dragon, did you?” the director-general said flatly. “We know nothing about what you’re capable of, or what you plan to do. Once we’ve gone over some of the preliminary discussion, maybe, maybe, you might get an audience with the Prime Minister. But not if we sense any threat from you at all.”
Brad supposed that was reasonable. He didn’t want to be in a room with a dragon. Not the Trima one anyway.
“Who exactly are you,” Brad asked him instead. “And what can you do to help us?”
The man bristled at that, almost as if he were insulted by their lack of knowledge about him. “I’m the head of the Australian security and intelligence departments,” he said stiffly. “I’ve been authorised to discuss the matter of the dragons’ position in this country with you. I’ve been told that the three of you are the ones I can speak to about establishing contact with these dragon clans?”
That comment startled Brad a bit. Him? The one to speak to about Rian clan? He glanced over at Barry, who smiled encouragement.
Well, he guessed they didn’t have any other contacts.
Ultrima inclined his head. “I will speak with you. I am the leader of Trima clan, and have been for three hundred years.”
Okay, that sounded impressive. Even the director-general sat up a little. “Three hundred years?” He recovered quickly. “My intelligence reported that you have been here for a long time, hiding I gather?”
Ultrima inclined his head. “We have no fight with humans.”
Brad could read between the lines. No fight with humans, their fight was with Rian clan. Had the Trima leader actually been interested in his suggestion of a truce earlier, or had he just been playing them?
The director-general nodded, then turned to Brad and Nate. “And the two of you are from the other clan? But you’re not dragons, is that right?”
Brad hesitated. He didn’t want to give away anything, but this felt different than the police grilling. More… not friendly, he wouldn’t describe the man as friendly, but more inclined to consider both sides of the story. And Barry seemed to think this was the time to talk.
“I am mated to a dragon from Rian clan,” he admitted cautiously.
This time, the man seemed unable to hide his surprise. “You’re… mated… to a dragon?”
Brad shrugged, hiding a smile. It was a little hard to comprehend. He might have had the same reaction a few weeks ago. “As you can no doubt see, dragons spend quite some time in human form.”
The man stared at him for a few moments, as though trying to take that in. Then he nodded. “Rian clan, you said?”
Brad nodded. There was no harm in admitting his clan name, was there?
“So can you put us in contact with the leader from Rian clan? We’d like to discuss… where we go from here. With all the dragons.”
Brad glanced at Barry. Was this offer legitimate, or was it a trick? Some attempt to get his cooperation to reveal the location of Rian clan? Somehow it didn’t feel like it. The man’s request sounded genuine. But Brad still wasn’t prepared to give anything away.
“I might be able to,” he admitted. “That all depends on what you want from them. If you want to lock them up, then no.”
The man gave a short, sharp laugh. “I think it would be… presumptuous… of us, to assume we can keep dragons locked away. Ultrima has been most kind in cooperating with us, but from what I’ve heard, if he chose not to remain, then we would have problems holding him.”
Not stupid then.
“What do you want then?” Brad demanded.
“At this stage, I’m not sure what the best outcome will be, but it seems to me that we need to open a dialogue. My biggest concern is the security of the country, and the safety of its people. I need to know if dragons are going to be a threat to that.”
“Rian clan is no threat to humans,” Brad said flatly. “At no point have they hurt any human.” He almost added ‘unlike Trima clan’, but he really didn’t have any evidence to back that up. Sure, Kytrima had been flying in to attack him when she’d been following Lyrian, but she hadn’t actually hurt him, and he had no idea if she would have if he hadn’t shot her.
Ultrima and his clan had attacked Rian clan, and the humans who had joined them, but even he had to admit that was different.
So when Ultrima added, “Trima clan has no wish to harm humans either,” he didn’t object.
The man on the other side of the desk smiled. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Brad shrugged. “Agreeing that our clan has no wish to hurt humans is a far cry from us divulging their whereabouts or agreeing to meet with you. That’s going to require a bit more trust.”
The man looked disgruntled for a few moments. Brad suspected he wasn’t used to having people insinuate they didn’t trust him. But he schooled his face into a calm expression almost immediately. “What can we do to help gain your trust?”
That was the tricky question, wasn’t it?
“I think we need to draw up an agreement detailing what each side expects, and sign it,” Barry started.
It was the expected response, the lawyerly response. A week ago, Brad would have nodded agreement and felt suitably safe.
Not anymore. He shook his head. “That’s not enough,” he said firmly. “I can see you signing the agreement, maybe even meaning it, but then as soon as something goes wrong, or you get scared, you’re going to do whatever you like anyway.”
“We wouldn’t do that,” the director-general started, but Brad waved a hand.
He needed something bigger than that. Some way to keep them accountable.
“What we need is accountability to the public,” Brad said. “Not some secret document that you’ll feel no need to hold to. We need to do this publicly. So that if you break your word to us, everyone knows about it.”
Everyone was staring at him. Even Ultrima. Was that a hint of respect in the lightning dragon’s eyes? Brad didn’t care. All that mattered to him was keeping Lyrian safe. And this was the best way he could think of to do that.
“Everything needs to be broadcast to the public as it happens,” Brad said firmly. “We can contact that reporter, what’s her name? Rita? And she can make sure everyone knows what’s happening.”
The director-general stared at Brad, his jaw dropping. “I’m not sure that the public is ready for this…” he stuttered.
Even Barry looked a little surprised. But a slow smile spread across his face, and he leaned back and watched to see what would happen.
“I am agreeable to this stipulation as well,” Ultrima said smoothly. “Although I insist we choose a different reporter. Rita has been working with the Rian clan, and I have doubts as to her loyalties.”
Brad stared at the Trima dragon. Rita? Working with the Rian clan? Sure, she’d helped them once or twice, but only because it suited her and helped her get what she wanted. She certainly had no loyalties to them.
But still, he couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy at Ultrima’s suggestion. What was he up to?
Not that he really cared who the reporter was, so long as they didn’t twist the truth, and right now, there was no need to twist anything to make this story exciting. The public would be hanging onto every word.
“The public has already seen evidence of dragons,” Brad said firmly. “There have been enough reports that they’re going to be curious as to what is going on. It makes more sense to keep this out in the open, for everyone’s benefit.”
“If we agree to this, you’ll take us to the clan and arrange a meeting with the leader for us?” The director-general’s face was resigned.
Brad hesitated. He was taking a big risk for the clan, and he wasn’t sure that they’d be happy about it, but he couldn’t see any other way. He heaved a sigh.
“As soon as we have someone recording, preferably live streaming, yes,” he agreed. “I’ll take you to the clan and find someone to talk to you.”
If they were still there. He glanced over at Barry, who gave a small nod. Brad wasn’t sure if that was agreement that he’d told them to move, or support for his decisions.
But if Rian clan had moved, Barry would be able to help him find them.
Wouldn’t he?