Garath
“You know, you really are amazing.”
They were back at Fort Banner. After the incident with Liam and the Outsider, Colonel Mara had recalled all the dragons to the base for almost an entire week. It had been tough to be around all of them, but Garath had managed.
He’d had no choice but to trust Cowl during the fight, and the other dragon hadn’t let him down, even putting himself in harm’s way when Garath was in trouble. He was trying to open up to the idea that maybe some of the other dragons here could be trustworthy, but it wasn’t going to happen overnight.
Marie glanced at him from where she sat in the driver’s seat. “I know. But what makes you say it right now?”
He chuckled happily. Garath loved it when his mate accepted how amazing she was. “You love me, even though I have no treasure to offer you. I never did get it back from Liam. He must have spent it all, the bastard.”
“I love you for you, Garath. Not because you aren’t super wealthy. When are you going to accept that?”
“Probably never. Treasure is a core part of who I am.”
Marie smoothly pulled the car into a parking spot out behind of her work. He got out and ran around to open the door for her before she could get out.
“Why thank you.” She trailed one nail down his chest. “I won’t forget that.”
He grinned. “I hope not. I can’t buy you a car with self-opening doors, so I’m going to have to do it myself.”
Marie sighed. “Garath. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure. Anything my love. I have no secrets from you.”
“Okay. You’re pissed at Liam for stealing your treasure, correct?”
“Correct.”
“Tell me. How did you acquire that treasure in the first place? Did you mine for it on land you owned?”
He scoffed. “Of course not. I am a dragon. I took it from nobles who no longer had a use for it.”
She rolled her eyes. “So you stole it.”
Garath clasped his hands over his heart. “It wasn’t like that, I promise.”
“Right.” She didn’t believe him at all.
Smart woman.
“Well, these days we don’t make fortunes by robbing people.”
“You don’t?”
They headed into the officers’ mess together. Marie didn’t have to work, but Colonel Mara had called for a meeting of all the dragons. Garath didn’t think it would be anything good.
“No. You make your own fortunes. It’s called capitalism. You provide something others need, and you make profit off of it.”
“I see. That sounds boring and terrible. How about I just go raid some rich person?”
She shook her head. “Most people don’t carry wealth on them anymore. It’s all digital now.”
“I see. Well how do you suppose I make money then?”
Marie thought for a moment while he pulled open the door for her, ushering his mate inside. “Well, what are you good at that others aren’t?”
“Well, I—”
“You are not becoming a gigolo.”
Garath didn’t know what that was, but he could infer. “Okay. Well, I’m pretty good with my dragon powers.”
“Okay! There you go. The other dragons here, they have treasures, right?”
“Yes,” he replied grumpily, unhappy at the reminder that he was the only penniless dragon on the base.
“So you give them lessons.” Marie brightened as she spoke. “That’s actually perfect. You get to make money and you’re forced to get to know them, and maybe even realize that they’re decent people. I like it. What do you think?”
He hated it, and didn’t bother to hide it.
“Good. We’re agreed then. You’re going to start giving the others lessons and charging them for it. Take their treasure, make it your own.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Garath, this will be good for you. Trust me on this, you need to do it.”
“You’re asking a lot of me.”
“I know.”
He sighed as they entered the main dining room. Most of the others were already assembled, the five mated dragons and Kyen, the final dragon shifter. He was an oddball, a scientist dragon. It was he who, in conjunction with a human scientist, had come up with the process for reviving the sleeping dragons. Alongside him was Lianna, his human counterpart. The two of them were in deep conversation.
Conspicuously absent was Cowl, but Garath didn’t bring it up.
“Okay, I’ll try,” he said quietly as they approached the group.
“Good.”
They said their hellos and then took a seat as Colonel Mara stood.
“You’re all probably wondering why I brought you here today. Well, I’m not going to keep you in suspense any longer. Shit just got real.” She picked up a file folder. “This is a DNA analysis of Liam’s body. Ten points to anyone who can guess what it says.”
“Do the points mean anything?”
Marie elbowed him hard in the ribs.
Colonel Mara shook her head. “No, they’re pointless. But I’ll spoil the surprise. It shows Outsider DNA attached to the cells we’ve identified as being a major part of the shifter gene.”
The others all started talking amongst themselves. Garath had already assumed something similar, based on what he’d seen firsthand, but to have it proven conclusively was still stunning.
“There’s more.”
He sat upright at that.
“We think there’s more of them.”
Kallore spoke first this time, sitting with two others with the thick burly stature of crimson dragons. “How do you know that?”
Colonel Mara pointed at the shifter on Kallore’s left. He had jet-black hair and eyes the color of pencil lead.
“When Corde here was courting Kylie, a street gang kept harassing them. When it was over, we found their corpses, devoid completely of life. Thanks to no proof that he was there Corde went free, but we always knew there had to be more to it.”
“It was Liam?” That was another dragon he’d met once, Thorne.
“No. We tracked Liam back as far as we could. That included a trip out of town for nearly a month at the same time as the incident with Corde. We think someone else was liaising between the gang and the Outsider, coordinating movements and giving the thugs more information than they should ever have had.”
A shifter with khaki-blond hair spoke up. “Don’t forget the break-in at the human facility in Barton City.”
“Exactly. Callan here was put at risk because someone in our midst set an Outsider free. Nobody even remotely resembling Liam was ever granted access to our facilities.”
Garath swore. “There’s another one of them.”
Colonel Mara nodded. “There’s another one more infected dragon. At least.”
Perfect.
He gripped Marie’s hand tighter. Things were just getting started it seemed. The times ahead were about to get very, very interesting.