Chapter 9
“Come with me.” The expression on the senior constable’s face was impassive, not giving away anything.
The glance she threw at Ultrima, in the corner, though no more emotional, gave Brad a clue that something was going on. Something he was unaware of. It was almost as if… as if the woman knew the dragon. But how could that be?
Brad didn’t have much time to ponder the issue as she lead him back to the meeting room where they’d talked to Barry earlier. Was the lawyer back already? Did he have something that could help them?
When they entered the room though, it wasn’t Barry waiting there. It was Detective Inspector Williams. And he didn’t look happy. He stood next to the window, staring out, but when he turned around as they entered, his face was grim.
A flash of adrenaline hit Brad. This wasn’t about the lawyer. It was about the lies he’d told. They’d figured it out. Brad’s heart thumped in his chest.
The woman waved them to their seats, and to Brad’s surprise, shot them a sympathetic look.
Her gesture had the opposite effect to its intention. Brad’s hands shook as he pulled out a chair and sat down, trying to look nonchalant.
If the woman felt sorry for him, he must be in real trouble.
“We’ve searched the area you mentioned, thoroughly.” The inspector’s voice was deliberately calm, but it didn’t calm Brad at all. He could hear the ‘but’ behind it. He winced, knowing what was coming.
Detective Inspector Williams turned faster than his bulk would indicated he was capable of, giving Brad just enough warning that he was able to not jump when the man slammed his fists on the table. “You lied to us.”
Brad didn’t say anything. What was there to say? The inspector was right, and he couldn’t deny it. He had lied to them.
“Did you think it was funny, sending us on a wild goose chase?” The inspector stared at them, his expression fuming.
Brad’s continued silence only seemed to incense him more. “Do you have nothing to say for yourself? You’ve talked to your lawyer, now it’s time to talk to us.”
He paced the room a few times, glancing at Nate and Brad, neither of whom said anything. Then he pulled a chair out roughly and sat down. “Look, I’m a reasonable man. I gave you a chance to help us out, to help yourself out. But if you continue to say nothing, then it’s going to go very badly for you, I promise.”
Brad winced. Barry had said that the charges would be minor, not a big deal. He had a plan to get them out of here. Brad needed to hang onto that, and not let this man intimidate him.
His resolve must have shown on his face, because the inspector swore. He pushed the chair back and stood up, pacing the room for a minute, then turned to stare at them. The anger had faded, and the icy calm that replaced it chilled Brad’s blood.
“Never mind,” Detective Inspector Williams said, his voice silky smooth, “Your silence tells us everything we need to know. You lied to protect the dragons, meaning that you were concerned we were getting too close. They have to be out at wave rock.”
Brad swallowed, saying nothing, even though he knew it was pointless at this stage.
He only hoped that Barry had reported in to Lisa, as he said he would, and that the dragons were in the process of evacuating the lair even as they spoke.
*****
Lisa stood at the entrance to the lair when Lyrian and the others returned, Verrian standing beside her, both looking worried. Lyrian landed, and Sarian slid from her back, her eyes seeking out Raven, who had ridden on Taurian’s back, and clasping his hand without even looking at him.
They hadn’t wanted to remain at the Mesmer chamber long enough to finish the ritual, not certain whether Latrima planned to return with the rest of her clan and ‘convince’ Sarian to go with them by force.
Verrian gave his sister a hug, and Lisa gave her a nod, but the first words out of Lisa’s mouth were, “We’ve got a problem.”
Lyrian’s heart sank. Another one? She really would like a break from problems for a while. Like, long enough for them to deal with the ones they already had.
“What is it?” Taurian asked. He must be as tired of problems as she was, but he didn’t hesitate.
If he could manage it, she could. Lyrian squared her shoulders and waited for Lisa’s reply.
“I just had a call from Barry,” Lisa started.
Lyrian’s heart skipped a beat. Lisa’s boss, Barry, was supposed to be helping Brad. What could have gone wrong? Had Brad been wrong, and the police were a danger after all? She stood poised, ready to transform back into a dragon and fly to Brad’s rescue if Lisa’s next words indicated a need.
“He’s confident he can help Brad, but he said the police aren’t going to be fooled for long. Brad has apparently given them a false location for the lair, but once they realise we’re not there, they’re going to figure out where we are. Brad thinks we should evacuate.”
The words hung in the air between them. Lyrian’s heart slowed down a little, its irregular beat not quite so painful now she knew Brad wasn’t in danger. She glanced sideways at Taurian, guessing what his answer would be, even before he spoke.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Taurian said firmly. “I wouldn’t let the Trima dragons chase us out of our lair, and I won’t let the humans either. They can’t hurt us here. They wouldn’t dare. Let them come.”
Anger welled up in Lyrian. Didn’t he realise that Brad had sacrificed himself to protect them? To give them this chance to escape before the human’s found them? Was he going to throw it all away out of pride?
She opened her mouth to object, but Sarian beat her to it.
“I think you’d better tell me the situation, before we make any rash decisions.” She looked over at Lisa, a glance up and down sizing her up quickly. “How long does this ‘Brad’ think we have to prepare? And can his evaluation be trusted?”
“We don’t know how long,” Lisa said quickly. She looked to Lyrian, as though expecting her to explain the rest.
Lyrian bit back a sigh. “Brad is my mate. He gave himself up to the police to hide the location of our lair. A sacrifice that will have been in vain if Taurian insists on remaining here to satisfy his pride.” She shot her brother an irritated look.
Sarian seemed to be doing a good job of taking things in quickly. “We appreciate your mate’s sacrifice, without question,” she said softly to Lyrian, not even blinking at the fact that her younger sister had a mate she’d never met. “No matter what happens here, he bought you time to wake me. How many of us are awake now?”
“We still have to wake Calrian and Warrian,” Verrian said, his expression concerned. “But we skipped them in favour of having you here.”
“Very wise,” Sarian said, her voice clipped. “So there are four leaders awake. That should be enough to deal with the humans.”
She spoke firmly, as though she’d forgotten that she wasn’t at full strength yet.
“Not necessarily,” Verrian said. “They have even more powerful weapons than they did when we left England. They are a threat in their own right. Perhaps more so than Ultrima is.”
“They might be, if they could get to us,” Taurian insisted. “But last time I looked, humans can’t fly. Not as well as a dragon anyway, and certainly not without large and noisy machines. They cannot get into the lair. We are safe here. Far safer than we would be anywhere else.”
Frustration flashed across Sarian’s face. Was it because their brothers were fighting, or because she had missed so much, and wasn’t sure what decision to make or whose advice to follow?
Though she tried to hide it, Lyrian could see the exhaustion in her eyes. They needed time. Time for Sarian to finish the Mesmer ritual and regain her full strength. Time to fill her sister in on what had happened in her absence. Time to figure out what they were going to do next.
But that was time they just didn’t have.