Chapter Twenty-Seven
Aric
“Well, I’m glad we can drop the charade at last and get this signed,” he said, signing the contract with a flourish. “The sooner we can get these suits to the Guard the better.”
Beside him Kaitlyn looked on. He could tell she was still confused. Eventually he would tell her the truth. But not here. Not within range of these humans. Although they knew about dragons, about the enclave that was his home, they didn’t know everything.
Very few did, in fact. It was one of the most closely guarded secrets in the world.
He nodded at Colonel Mara, and pushed the papers in front of her. She added her signature to the various necessary pages, and just like that, it was done.
Kallore set a briefcase down on the table and pushed it across to Kaitlyn. “Inside here are data on the battlesuit technology, including everything necessary to set up a factory to construct them.”
His mate took the case, and the four of them stood up and shook hands. Then he and Kaitlyn left the room, heading directly to the surface and their waiting jet that would carry the information back across the pond, as the Americans were fond of referring to the Atlantic.
Only the two of them wouldn’t be on it. He’d had a steward come over to retrieve the information, while also bringing the reinforcements he’d requested to help guard the base while the others hunted down the Outsiders. They hadn’t had much luck yet, and nobody really knew how long they would be gone.
Until then, it would be up to Aric and the others to keep the people safe. Which meant he needed to get them mated, and soon.
“How do you feel about playing cupid?” he asked as the elevator whisked them upward.
“Cupid? What do you mean?” Kaitlyn held the briefcase tight in both hands in front of her body.
Kaitlyn laughed. “You want me to set them up with one girl after another until they find their mate? That seems a little playboy-ish, no?”
“Do you have a better suggestion?”
“Than unleashing two oversexed gorgeous dragon shifters on every unsuspecting single woman in range?” She paused. “No, not really.”
“Then we have a plan,” he announced.
“This isn’t going to backfire at all,” Kaitlyn said, but she was smiling while she shook her head.
“We’ll be fine. It’s not like we’re the ones going on the dates.”
“I’m not so sure.” But she didn’t argue. Both of them knew the merits of it.
“I’m glad we got that all signed and done,” he said. “It’ll be good to get this information back home.”
“Yeah.” Kaitlyn looked thoughtful. “Can you tell me now what the deal is with the bank, the Guard, and this tech? Why is it so important? We’re the most neutral country in the world. Everyone respects us for it. What does that have to do with anything?”
Aric didn’t answer. The elevator reached the surface and disgorged them out into the small building that housed the banks of elevators. He led the way, pushing open the door onto the surface, where a Jeep waited to take them to the runway.
The ride only took seven minutes, but Kaitlyn was giving him odd looks the entire time. Only once they were on the runway, walking alone toward the plane, did he speak again.
“What I’m about to tell you is a secret very few humans know about. It isn’t discussed, and only ever acted upon when absolutely necessary.”
He watched her body stiffen at the seriousness of what he was implying, but she didn’t miss a step.
“If you speak of this to anyone you’re not authorized to, and someone other than me finds out, they will toss you in a prison that doesn’t exist for the rest of your life. At best. They’ll probably put me in one too. It won’t be pretty. Do you still want to know?”
The jet was waiting for them nearly two hundred feet distant. It took half the walk for his mate to make up her mind. “Yes, I do.”
“Our nation is a fake,” he said bluntly. “It’s a construct created by the dragons ages ago to help protect the only known enclave of dragons in the world.”
Kaitlyn gasped, and though she recovered swiftly he saw her limbs stop working for a split second. “You’re kidding me.”
“No. We helped train the people and created the borders of a mountain paradise that would be excellent at keeping out enemies of all kinds.”
She frowned. “Of all kinds? What do you mean?”
“There are others, others who feel that the time of dragons has passed, that we should step aside, either willingly or forcefully, and let them rule.”
“Rule? But we don’t rule. We’re neutral, isn’t that the entire point?”
He smiled. “I’m not referring to human politics.”
Kaitlyn’s mouth dropped open. “Are there other shifters?”
“Yes. And the dragons of my enclave are the world leaders. We don’t do much, but we keep the peace to prevent massive wars. Several prominent world leaders are shifters, and not all are friendly with one another.”
“This is stunning. So our government is a sham? A front?”
“No, not entirely. The nation was created and made neutral to help us extend our fingers into the rest of the world without resorting to force.” He waited for Kaitlyn to understand.
She didn’t take long, and his pride in her grew. “The banks,” she whispered. “The dragons control our banking system.”
“Yes. We run it, and it is our money it holds as well. With it we’ve dipped our fingers into a great many companies and economies across the world. As such, other shifters sometimes find it a good idea to come after us for wealth.”
She was nodding, following along with him easily now. “Of course, you cannot combat them in your dragon form. It would be too easy for you to be spotted and filmed. So you employ proxies to do it for you.” She snapped her fingers. “The Guard. I understand now. These suits are to help them fight the incursions of other shifters.”
“Exactly. It will make us safer, and help keep the peace.”
“Unbelievable.”