Volos looked up, and Attor walked into the room. “Brother, we have information.”

Attor walked over, his footsteps were heavy with an emotional weight dragging him down. He exhaled as he looked at his brothers. Jo and Ladon seemed excited to be sharing what it was they had found, and Vern was furiously typing on a laptop. Meanwhile, here he was, unable to hold on to the gift that was bestowed upon him. He had failed in his attempt to be leader, he had been distracted from his mission to kill the enemies, and adding salt to his open wound, his mate hated him.

If I Googled the word ‘failure,’ Attor said to himself. My picture would be right there at the top.

“I helped Ladon come out of the closet.” Jo laughed loudly. “The bathroom actually, but same, same.” Looking at his brother as he ducked the incoming fist punch.

Attor’s head turned to look at Ladon, a smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. “I am not as shocked as I would have thought.”

“Jo was just disappointed that the only thing dirty about the blonde was her hair color,” Ladon snorted.

“The window blonde?” Attor’s attention snagged by the direction the information was taking. “Did you get into her office?” he asked. “What did you find out?”

“Do you know the name Spigoletti?” V asked him.

Shaking his head, Attor answered, “Should I?”

“The family is based in Vegas,” Wyvern said. His eyes locked on the screen as he spoke. “Wow!” Perplexed, he continued, “That’s one fascinating family.”

“How so?” V asked. “Interesting like the Kardashians, stupid but harmless, or more like the Mansons, unstable and lethal?”

Wyvern laughed at his brother’s two references. “You follow the Kardashians?”

“Payton likes it,” V growled. “That’s all…” He looked at his brothers who were all hiding the laughter. “Fuck off. Just wait ‘til you all have a mate, let’s see who’s laughing then.” He shook his head.

“If you say so…” Wyvern didn’t pry further, deciding V would appreciate a subject change he said, “Think more along the lines of Capone.”

“As in Al Capone?” Jo’s eyes widened, he’d done a lot of research on the Capones, because crime families were something that fascinated him. How a large family can work like a well-oiled machine, committing horrendous crimes right in the middle of cities without being caught, tweaked his interest. It had given him information that might help when fighting the phoenix.

“One and the same,” Vern said as he leaned back in his chair. “The Spigoletti family is a name linked to many possible crimes in Vegas. Like the Capones, they are exceptional at evading arrest due to technicalities. But the force has them on a watch list for criminal activities.”

“What kind of crimes?” V asked.

“Money laundering mostly. They own a number of large hotels on the strip. Missing people cases, drug busts, etc.” Vern read off the laptop.

“Missing people?” Jo snorted. “Is that French for having been eliminated without a body being found?”

Vern nodded. “I would think that’s a safe assumption.”

“What has this got to do with the dirty blonde?” Attor asked. “What am I missing?”

Ladon said, “Cinders, the blonde, had a conversation with a Mr. Spigoletti. Jo and I were hiding in the bathroom and heard her side of it.” Looking at Jo, he dared him to make a stupid comment about the closet again. Jo held his arms up with a look of innocent surrender, allowing Ladon to continue, “Cinders was scared, like really scared.”

“What’s that got to do with us?” Attor’s words hit with an annoyance. “Some blonde chick is scared of a mafia family in Vegas. Again, what the fuck has this got to do with us?” Attor’s patience had broken, opening a wave of frustration threatening to hit anyone close enough.

Volos spoke calmly, “We think that it’s the Spigoletti family that’s hunting down Taryn.”

Attor slumped back into the chair he’d been leaning against, a hand found his hair as he rubbed his head in frustration. “How certain are you of this?” Attor looked at Vern.

“The odds are high,” Vern spoke quietly. “This is a very powerful family, brother, one that would create fear in most who encounter them.”

“Are they human?” Jo had a random thought.

“The name doesn’t come up on any of my paranormal indexes. Now that won’t guarantee they are all human. For the most part, though, I would say, yes.”

Attor looked up. “Cinders gave a different energy. I couldn’t pin it from the distance I was, but she certainly wasn’t human.”

Jo nodded. “I agree. What’s even weirder?” he said. “Close up, all I got was a feeling of more, not any particular tell-tale vibes.” Ladon nodded in agreement.

“Didn’t you say she had said she was risking herself?” V asked Jo and Ladon.

“Correct,” Ladon answered. “She was risking her life, hiding whoever it was she was hiding.”

“Taryn?” the word floated off Attor’s tongue on a worried breath.

“That’s what we’re thinking,” V said. “Cinders may be an expert in camouflage if she’s in hiding herself? Then maybe either by herself, or with the aid of magic, she’s able to hide her true self from detection.” V paused for a few thoughts. “Wouldn’t be the first time a paranormal has hidden themselves in order to vanish from their families.”

“Is Cinders a danger to Taryn?” Attor asked.

Wyvern shrugged. “Right now, it’s hard to tell who’s a danger to whom. However, if, we are right, and that’s still an if, then Cinders is protecting Taryn. From what? Or who?” He shrugged again. “That is questionable.”

“We need to talk to Taryn.”

Jo’s comment was quick to get a response from Attor. His head flicked around with a mix of horror, shock, and hint of excitement at confronting his mate. In order for him to help her, he would need to ask at some point.

But was that point now? he asked himself as he looked at Jo. “She already hates me, Jo. I am going to go down in history as the first dragon whose fated mate loathes him.”

“Payton wasn’t exactly enthused with me at first.” V laughed. “If you cast your mind back.”

Jo burst out laughing. “Ah, newsflash, fuckers, don’t kidnap your women. They don’t respond well to being held captive.”

Attor looked at his brother. “And what would you have had me do in place of bringing her here?” He sincerely wanted to know, but admitting to his brother that he wasn’t sure in the ways of females was hard, so he added, “Listen up, brothers, as Jo… the mighty love guru, speaks.”

Jo laughed. “I need that in a tattoo…” Another chuckle escaped before he continued, “I would have done what I said, talked to her.”

“I did…”

Jo lifted his hand to stop his brother. “Did you tell her… ‘Hey babe, let me walk you to the water. Drag you under the water’s surface. Grow some big ass wings, and swim you to an underground nest for your safekeeping?’” Jo’s head tilted. “Or… did you say ‘I have a safe house. Let me take you there.’”

“Semantics,” Attor scoffed. “It’s the same thing.”

“Not even close to the same thing,” Jo snorted. “You should have opened your wallet and shelled out for a top-level hotel room. Given her a long hot soak in a spa bath, and when she was finished, a plethora of sweets waiting for her consumption. Have the bed filled to the brim with plush pillows and chick flicks playing ready for her to watch until the wee hours when she simply fell asleep from exhaustion in your conveniently waiting arms.”

V’s eyebrow slowly rose as he listened to this advice coming from his brother. “You’re never to speak to Payton again. I’m already feeling inadequate from just listening to that description. I can only imagine how much Payton would like that.”

“Ahhh… then do it, dickhead.” Jo shook his head. “For a woman to trust you with her secrets, she needs to feel you are trustworthy. She needs to know that for you, she’s the single most important thing in your life. Make her understand you would move heaven and earth to see her smile. You would take a bullet for her safety. You would even eat the burnt toast, so she didn’t have to.” Leaning back in his chair. “Women need to know how valuable they are. And if you don’t show it, then you don’t deserve her.”

“Fuck, man,” Wyvern exclaimed. “You need to write a book on it.”

V laughed. “Yeah, title it ‘Dragons Do It Better – Ten steps to scale your woman’s wall of love.’”

“It’s just common sense. Make her feel special, and she will come around.” Jo got up from his chair. “I’m off for the night, it’s late, and my brain is mush.”

V nodded. “Good idea. Meet back here at eight. Plan what to do next.”

The murmur of agreement, and footsteps echoed on the stone as the brothers bid goodnight to each other on their way to their rooms.