"You would be correct in assuming so, but with the increase of troll and Medb problems, our people are all pretty much working double shifts, plus they're slipping away to guard their homes."
"Did you inform Sen of Belador families being targeted, Quinn?"
"I did so when I called him in to clean up the troll nest tonight. He said VIPER has its hands full trying to keep humans safe from the sporadic paranormal attacks. He contends the Beladors will have to take care of their own problems."
Daegan fisted his hand and energy rolled up his arm.
Evalle's eyes widened. "Uh, Daegan, your arm is glowing."
"It is only power surging."
"You're not going to spontaneously combust, are you?"
When Daegan didn't answer her confusing question, Tristan said, "She wants to know if you're going to explode into a fireball."
Wanting to grin at that thought, he shook his head. "If that were to happen, you wouldn't have a chance to ask me."
"Comforting," she muttered.
"Truth," Storm told her and she snorted.
Turning deadly serious, Daegan said, "I want patrols formed for all of our Belador families immediately."
"That will ... cut the resources allocated for VIPER in half. Maybe more," Quinn pointed out.
"I don't care what it does to VIPER," Daegan said, making it clear no one would naysay him, least of all VIPER. "Our children will not be left exposed to deadly threat. Their parents are to be protected, too."
"I'll meet with our people and set up a schedule," Quinn said. Staring down, he said, "I would not kill anyone without reason, but I will not stand by as the Medb harm our children either." He lifted his head and the sick worry poured from him. "We are going to be even more shorthanded, Daegan."
Quinn's haggard expression revealed responsibility he'd carried for weeks as the maistir, on top of not being allowed proper time and support to hunt for his own child.
That would change now.
Daegan had heard enough. "Quinn, as of this moment, your number one goal is to find Phoedra."
"But I--"
Daegan gave Quinn a look that brought silence before he continued. "Take today to speak with your next level of command so our people have a sense of order about the change. Then I will take over your responsibilities until you locate your child and bring her home."
"Wait a minute." Evalle waved her hands to interrupt. "We didn't get to tell you all of it, Daegan. The journalist asked if dragons were real. He said when the trolls argued, they agreed that once they delivered the kids they were getting far away before the dragon showed up. They don't believe the queen can protect them from you. The point we were trying to make is that kidnapping these teens appears to be about Queen Maeve trying to get to you and probably kill you."
"No, she doesn't want to kill me."
Everyone exchanged looks with each other, then Daegan explained, "She would never be satisfied with simply ending my life. She wants me back in her domain and probably as a throne again."
Quinn stood. "Either way, you can't be in this world."
"Point taken, but that is my decision to make." Taking in the room, he stated, "I am not leaving my people to face Maeve alone. I have things to do in Treoir, which includes meeting with Tzader, Brina and Garwyli. Before that, I will meet with Sen. Once I return later today, be ready to focus all of your energy on finding your child, Quinn."
This world at times confused him, but Daegan still knew the rules of war.
Never let your enemies see you bleed and never stop fighting until the light goes out in the eyes of your opponent.
If Queen Maeve wanted him, she'd have to come to the human world to capture a dragon.
First, Daegan intended to give Sen one chance to explain this nonsense about not supporting the Beladors.
Chapter 5
--------
Evalle kept her eyes closed tight and her arms wrapped around her middle until she heard Daegan say, "You will live, Evalle."
She opened her eyes slowly and peered at the dragon king through her dark sunglasses. "It's not a sure thing for me when I teleport."
"It is when you travel with me."
"I'll admit that Air Daegan beats all the others who have transported me, hands down."
He made a snorting noise that sounded an awful lot like a dragon grunt.
She expected smoke to curl out of his nose.
The entrance to VIPER was oddly quiet. Normally there were plenty of agents coming and going at just before daylight. She should be glad for the empty reception area since her unauthorized arrival into headquarters via teleporting would have, at one time, sent her to lockdown.
Back then, she could sneeze and Sen would try to have her imprisoned for eternity.
From what Quinn said about Daegan putting Sen in his place during the last Tribunal, she wouldn't have to worry about that again. At the moment, though, she and Daegan were alone in the VIPER power base run by Sen, the egomaniac liaison who hated her for reasons she never had figured out.
She asked Daegan, "Are you ready to deal with Sen?"
"The question is whether Sen is ready for me." Her dragon king strode away with a confidence that Evalle wanted to have when she grew up.
She'd come a long way and had gotten far stronger thanks to Storm's, and now Daegan's, support.
Maybe it was a matter of having the right men in her life.
Still, no one was allowed to use majik inside VIPER headquarters except the surly liaison.
Why hadn't Sen appeared at the entrance to bust on them for teleporting in without permission?
And where was everyone?
Daegan stopped in the center of the room and crossed his arms, appearing content to stand there for as long as it took.
Evalle wouldn't leave him, but as soon as this was over she had somewhere else to go. Lanna Brasko had texted her right before Daegan teleported them to VIPER, asking Evalle to come visit. The young woman was Quinn's cousin, and she'd recently suffered a brutal physical, emotional and majikal attack.
A nurturing white witch, along with the witch's powerful Fae half sister, had been overseeing Lanna's healing. Both had refused visitors until they decided Lanna was ready, which had not gone over well with Quinn.
Evalle couldn't wait to see her young friend today.
"Something's off," she murmured to Daegan.
Daegan angled his head. "What do you mean?"
The stillness raised hair on Evalle's arms. "There's no activity. This area is normally busy throughout the day and night, especially with so much going on in the city and outlying areas. I mean, where is Jack? He's in charge of opening and closing the cave entrance."
"Who is this Jack?"
"A miserable troll who gets on my nerves during the best of days."
"He isn't afraid of you?" Daegan asked with a hint of surprise.
She gave him a half grin. "He might be after I threatened to rip off his balls and use them to make him a pair of earrings if he messed with me again."
Horror climbed into Daegan's gaze. "Hell. He would be well advised to never cross you."
"My point exactly."
Power rushed through the room.
Evalle turned around to stand at Daegan's shoulder when they faced Sen. She'd been chosen to accompany Daegan after shutting down a debate between Quinn and Tristan. Those two argued over who should go with Daegan to watch his back inside VIPER headquarters.
After assessing the options, Evalle told everyone she was the obvious choice for Daegan's backup.
Tristan's mouth had dropped open and Quinn grumbled something sharp. She pointed out that everyone had work to do and with dawn coming soon, she'd be limited.
The way she saw it, Daegan could teleport her to VIPER, which meant she'd be safe from the sun and of use to someone.
The dragon king agreed, but then she realized what she'd suggested and quickly advised Daegan to alert Sen first.
Daegan had scowled that
he needed no one's permission to enter VIPER.
Storm had been more amused than concerned. He'd kissed her soundly and whispered, "Promise me you'll stick close to the dragon."
Evidently her mate was fine with her teleporting into VIPER without authority as long as she had a dragon close by.
Men were so funny some days.
Not Sen, though. He was never funny.
Sen gave her the usual stink eye and dismissed her presence, turning to Daegan. "You're new so you're not up on all of VIPER guidelines, but an important one to remember is that no one uses majik inside this mountain except me. That includes teleporting in unannounced."
Daegan stood with his massive arms crossed and a smile on his face.
He was the first person Evalle had met who found Sen amusing.
Her dragon king said, "What would be the point in my wasting time to tell you I'm coming to headquarters? It's not as though this will be a social visit, requiring time for you to prepare refreshments."
A muscle in Sen's jaw ticked. "The point is that we deal with hundreds of beings possessing all levels of power on any given day. Allowing even one to use those powers here opens the door for conflict. I won't allow it."
Daegan shrugged. "I'll take that into consideration, but you should keep in mind that I have no intention of being limited by anyone's guidelines."
Evalle had heard a full accounting of how Daegan had given Sen a smackdown in the Tribunal meeting. Their dragon king had made it clear the Beladors, Evalle, Tristan and the rest of Daegan's trusted circle were under his protection. Not that she'd doubted Quinn's rundown of what happened, but she just couldn't imagine anyone facing off with Sen who wasn't a deity.
This was worth teleporting any day.
Sen scratched his chin with a condescending expression. "I know you think you have the upper hand after that moment in the Tribunal meeting, but you have no idea what Loki and the other deities are doing at this moment."
That was not good news.
Daegan drew a deep breath and slowly let it out, everything about his posture saying he was not interested in Sen's nattering. The dragon king said, "I don't spend my time worrying what anyone else is doing. Unlike you, who must wait for direction, I rule the Beladors, which means I give the orders and take action rather than hovering around waiting for an order."
Oh, crap. He'd just reduced Sen to the status of a VIPER errand boy.
Sen's facial muscles hardened and his blue eyes turned almost black.
Evalle could feel his power generate and flow out around them.
Daegan said, "Save your posturing. I'm busy and will make this brief. We've been spreading Beladors out to other parts of this country in recent weeks to supplement weak spots in VIPER security. In spite of bringing in additional Belador resources from other continents, our people are being run ragged."
Maintaining an I-couldn't-give-less-of-a-shit expression, Sen said, "So? What's your point? We have a lot of troll and Medb activity going on."
"That's what I've heard. But let's be clear. The Medb activity is due to Queen Maeve and Cathbad the Druid being allowed to join VIPER to begin with, even though the coalition knew that the Medb and Beladors have warred for centuries."
Sounding cocky now, Sen said, "Guess the Beladors just didn't have the pull they thought they had. Besides, that was when Beladors were part of Macha's pantheon. Now, they have no goddess. Just you."
If Evalle gave points for this verbal match, she'd have to award a few to Sen for that nasty dig.
"I can see I'm wasting my time trying to have a productive conversation with you," Daegan said, sounding almost bored. "You asked what is my point? It is this. The Medb are now targeting Belador families. Children of those families, to be specific. What do you intend to do about that?"
Smirking, Sen said, "Sounds like an internal problem to me. I don't handle domestic issues."
Evalle clenched her fingers, wishing she could lock them around Sen's neck. Children were at risk.
The liaison's eyes cut over to her. Noting her fisted hands, Sen's lips twisted in a dark smile intended to taunt her. He'd gotten under her skin in the past and she'd paid the price.
Not now.
Her job was to cover Daegan's back and her dragon king didn't need anyone interfering while he was dealing with Sen.
"I see." Daegan nodded as if agreeing with Sen, which couldn't be the case, could it? Then he changed the subject. "As I understand it, you represent VIPER, correct?"
Sen's attention shot to Daegan. Had he heard a note of warning in Daegan's voice?
Evalle had.
"Yes, I represent VIPER."
"Very well, consider VIPER informed that we're cutting the Belador force assigned to the coalition in half, maybe more, to ensure our families are protected."
Sen's lips started to part and he caught himself. "You can't do that."
Totally unruffled, Daegan asked, "Why not?"
"Beladors have a commitment to VIPER."
"I would counter that VIPER has a commitment to Beladors."
Sen spoke through clenched teeth. "The Tribunal will not agree to a change this severe."
Daegan gave it a few seconds before he said, "You misunderstand me. I'm declaring the rule of Belador Cosaint. What this means is, since VIPER refuses to show us the same level of support our warriors have given to VIPER for so many years, we will take care of our own and we will use however many of our warriors are necessary to ensure the safety of Belador families. I suggest you go out and find more VIPER agents to fill the void you're about to experience."
Evalle glanced from Sen to Daegan, both steely gazes locked in silent combat.
Neither blinked.
Sen said, "If the Beladors do not fulfill their agreement with VIPER, consider yourself warned of potential repercussions from the Tribunal."
For the first time since teleporting in, Daegan's voice turned brutal and cold. "Consider yourself reminded, should VIPER choose to become an enemy of the Beladors, that we possess the greatest force in the preternatural world, which now includes a dragon. If VIPER wishes for a war, my people will be ready and I will lead them."
Game, set and match to Daegan.
But Evalle felt a chill race over her skin at the idea of going to battle against VIPER and the Tribunal deities. Would VIPER really start a war over this?
Chapter 6
--------
Surprised at being called into VIPER headquarters at noon for a group agent meeting, Ossian entered the underground amphitheater in his Emilio persona.
Sen had no respect for Emilio as a mage, thanks to Ossian's bumbling on two missions. It was imperative for him to maintain a distant relationship with Sen, and being called in worked against his need to come and go at will.
Ossian had gained the attention of his queen and he would make her proud. His star was rising in the Medb. He intended to keep proving himself worthy to be the next person in line behind the queen and Cathbad.
His former Medb warrior team hated him. He could live with their jealousy. Anyone with a bit of ambition would jump to be in his place.
Queen Maeve had far less patience than Cathbad, but Ossian had to admit that he'd enjoyed receiving her entire focus on his last trip to the tower. He'd never considered who was specifically in charge once the queen and Cathbad reincarnated, but it was clear that his queen ran things. Ossian would make her happy and make Cathbad proud of him, but only if Sen did not screw up his mission.
What could have happened for Sen to call in so many agents for this meeting?
In fact, who were all of these people?
Ossian saw a couple of faces here and there he'd seen before, but none were Beladors. He didn't recognize many of the other agents. Not that all VIPER agents were clean-cut, upstanding types, but the majority seemed to be similar, cookie-cutter versions.
These strangers dressed in an assortment of rugged jeans, weathered leather, tactical vests and wifebeaters, with everything fro
m shaggy beards to shaved heads and tattooed sleeves. They carried everything from hatchets to swords, and they smelled odd, like some tool pulled from a shed left abandoned for years.
The simplest description he could assign to this group was predatory.
Most of them clearly didn't like waiting, but Ossian could stand here for as long as was needed. The others rumbled in low conversations with the occasional curse or shout at each other.
"Listen up, people," Sen called out, his voice cutting through the rumble of chatter.
Ossian jerked around at the sound and lowered his gaze to the stage where Sen stood way down below rows and rows of tiered seating cut into the stone. "We've had a large number of vacancies open up for VIPER agents due to the Beladors bailing on their responsibilities."
Now that was interesting.
Sen didn't slow down. "Thanks to VIPER's relationship with Dakkar and his bounty service, we now have a large group of his bounty hunters willing to step in and help. Current VIPER agents are to offer any needed assistance to the new agents."
So these new people were bounty hunters.
Ossian couldn't wait to share that with the queen and Cathbad.
He mentally ran back over all he'd studied about VIPER, the Beladors and other groups he'd encountered as Emilio. Dakkar ran a large group of international bounty hunters and had an unusual deal in that he didn't have to align himself officially with VIPER. The coalition allowed him to operate throughout this region as long as he performed occasional tasks for them.
But this was more than a task. A sea of deadly operators filled the room.
Bounty hunters as VIPER agents.
Dakkar didn't have a reputation for taking on people burdened by principles.
His hunters were given free reign as long as they produced, and all of them were nonhuman.
What kind of nonhumans?
Sen continued running down the list of priorities and how it would be refreshing to be able to send them out on their own without the need for partnering.
Now Ossian understood what was going on.
Generally, the agents worked in teams whenever possible and lately that had been a requirement due to all the paranormal incidents that had popped up around Atlanta.
Ossian had heard more than one rumor about Medb witches and warlocks being behind the trouble, but not so much lately. Once Cathbad separated him from the Medb Scath Force unit, allowing Ossian more mobility, he had less solid street intel. The unit now answered directly to Cathbad, and to be honest, Ossian didn't mind the change at all.