Chapter Twenty-Four
Caine
As they approached the green dragon finally ripped itself free, sinking to all fours under the watchful eye of a dozen black-painted battlesuits and five dragons in human form. He recognized his two brothers and Corde, Vanek’s roommate, but that was all.
“What’d I miss?”
He spun around as yet another dragon entered the room. Kallore looked around wildly and ran over to Colonel Mara. Caine smiled as they spoke in low tones, watching the pair embrace. They were an adorable pair when they let their guard down in public, and he wished them nothing but happiness.
They paused at the body of General Knefferson. “What happened here?” he asked.
“Colonel Mara.” It was the only response Vanek would give.
It was enough.
They continued on, arriving in front of the dragon shifter. Caine eyed him again.
“I’m not crazy, right? His blood is purple?”
The others agreed, nodding warily, their eyes fixed on the unknown dragon.
Caine stepped forward. “Who are you, why are you infected with Outsider, and what the fuck are you doing with General Knefferson?”
Answers were needed. He squeezed Anna’s hand. He’d not wanted to expose her to the true reason that he and his brothers were in Barton City, but it was too late now. He couldn’t protect her from this forever, no matter how hard he wished he could.
“My name is not important.” Caine was stunned by the wheezing sound as he spoke. Was the dragon truly that hurt?
“Your other questions are a longer story.” He paused, green eyes focusing on Caine. “For centuries now we have worked with the government, and the military in particular, helping them as needed. Always one of us has liaised with a high-ranking official. For the past two decades, that has been myself. Most recently General Knefferson has been our contact.”
“Our? Who are these people you speak of?”
“Dragons. An enclave that, unlike yourselves, never went to sleep. We have remained awake and hidden from humans all along, only dealing with certain people, like General Knefferson.”
Caine was stunned. Dragons who hadn’t gone to sleep? Awake all along? “Why didn’t we know of this?” He looked around at the other dragons, then at Colonel Mara.
“Don’t look at me,” the military officer said. “This is all news to me.”
Caine shook his head. “Go on. Explain why you’ve sided with that traitorous asshole Knefferson.”
“I didn’t side with him.” The man coughed, purple blood spraying from his mouth. “He was in charge at Central Defense Command. That is who we have always worked with. I did not know he was a traitor. I knew this program was up and running, but that was about all. I have not been involved.”
“And the Outsider? Why are you infected with it?”
The shifter looked at its hand, stained purple from its blood. “I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t know?”
He shook his head. “No. Knefferson said that a drug had been developed to help make us stronger. I volunteered to test it. It seemed to work at first. Now it seems it’s going to kill me.”
“So he tricked you into it?”
“It would seem that way. There was another, after me. I believe some of you encountered Liam?”
Caine knew that to be the dragon his youngest brother had fought against, the first sign they’d had that Outsiders were infecting humans.
“I’m lost,” Anna said, speaking up. “I still don’t understand why Knefferson would do this.”
“It’s rather simple in hindsight,” the unnamed shifter said, coughing up more blood as he spoke. “Knefferson is a xenophobe. I picked up on it late, but I see it now. He wanted to kill us all. To distribute the drugs to dragons through me and then eventually to you all. He hired the crime boss Richard Malkin to get it to other shifters after we told him that different species besides dragons existed.”
“What an asshole,” Anna spat, shaking her head furiously.
“So Knefferson never told you the origin of the drugs?”
“No. But he worked closely with Liam on it, who hated any non-dragon shifters. I believe he knew, at the end.”
“He did,” Cowl said, speaking up at last. Caine looked at his younger brother. He hadn’t spoken much about that fight to anyone. “At the end he sacrificed himself to the last Outsider, hoping that it would be enough to overpower us.”
Caine rubbed his temples. They hurt outside and in, from his wounds and all the newfound knowledge.
Other dragons. Knefferson a confirmed traitor. Infecting shifters to try and kill them all.
“What the fuck happens now?” he wondered out loud.
“Now, someone else will assume command of the CDC,” Colonel Mara said slowly. “He’s going to die soon. And then I guess his enclave will send another representative?”
The dying shifter nodded. “I would assume so.”
“Well that new commander had better be you,” Caine growled, pointing at Colonel Mara. “Because there is no way in hell we’re following anyone else after having to deal with Knefferson.”
Colonel Mara laughed. “It won’t be me. I’m far too junior, and most of the upper echelon hate me and want me out of the service. Sorry.”
Caine shook his head. “I don’t think you understand me, Colonel. You are the new commander. If they don’t like it, too fucking bad. We’re not dealing with anyone else. Period. End of story.”
Anna nodded, and the other shifters all agreed. Even Kallore wasn’t willing to stick by his mate’s side on this one. He could sense what was happening.
“If you do this, they’ll call it treason.”
Caine grinned. “If they want a rebellion, they’ll get it. But I suspect they don’t want nine angry dragon shifters storming the president’s house, now do they?”
Colonel Mara shook her head. “Hooo boy. This ought to be fun to explain.”
“That’s why you’re paid the big bucks,” Kallore joked, avoiding the swat from his mate.
Caine looked around, pulling Anna in tight to him as the green dragon coughed and hacked. Great gobs of purple blood spilled from his mouth and he began to shake.
Ivore got to him first, helping the dragon into a sitting position.
“My people are not going to be happy about this. They will probably blame you.” He shrugged, a wry smile on his face. “Sorry.”
Then he died, his body shivering and going still. Ivore reached out and closed his eyes, standing up and returning to a spot near Caine. “What do we do now?” he asked softly.
Caine didn’t respond right away. He took his time, formulated his thoughts, and then looked at Anna. She nodded. Whatever he decided she would be okay with.
“We stay,” he announced. “The humans need us. The world needs us. As many of us as possible. Knefferson won’t be the last one to hate us. We need to stay together, to show our unity to the world. Eventually our secret will get out, and when that time comes, we’ll need one another to make it through.”
The other dragons nodded or called out their cries of support. Caine turned to Kallore and his mate.
“We’re yours to command. General.”