Page 26 of A Dagger of Twisted Starlight

“I still want you to watch Blake as well. He’s far safer with you around, as well as being far, far from here. Maybe you twocan work together to figure this out. I just don’t want Blake placed in any danger.”

It was hard to believe the words coming out of my dad’s mouth. He seriously wanted me to leave with the dragons and go on a quest to recover a stolen artifact? Was the danger here really that bad? He must have suspected everyone who walked through these halls.

“I’ll help,” Warrick said, sounding excited. In the time that I’d gotten to know him, he was definitely one to jump headfirst into things. He seemed to be a little more reckless than his older brothers. Xavier gave him a stare. Why was he becoming so bristly?

“I can help too,” Cassius spoke up. “I’ve studied the dagger before. I might be able to piece something together.”

“You have?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeah, my mom left me some books about it when she passed. Nothing the government hasn’t checked and read, but I think I’m a good source of info on the dagger.”

My father looked around at the team he’d just assembled. Something similar to hope curled his lips into a faint smile.

“So?” he asked Xavier. “Is it a go?”

There was a moment of silence. The fear I’d felt earlier began to morph into something else. I could prove my worth with this. I could dig my confidence out from the grave I’d thrown it in and revive it.

“No,” Xavier said. The buzz in the room rushed out like air from a punctured tire. “No, I can’t do that.”

Chapter 11

No Pressure

Xavier

The answer hadto be no.

My job was to be a bodyguard. It was what I’d trained for; it was what I felt comfortable doing. I wasn’t like my older brothers, Damien and Maddox, who had the knack for saving the world. That wasn’t my journey to make. I didn’t handle that kind of pressure very well, nor did I even know where to begin this hunt.

Warrick looked at me from across the room, his green eyes scanning mine. He didn’t argue, but I could tell he wanted to. He had an adventurous spirit and always loved to follow it.

Not this time.

“I’m sorry, I can’t.”

Blake sputtered out, “What? Why?” He appeared disappointed, which surprised me.

“Blake.” The vice president cleared his throat. He had an air to him that commanded attention in a gentle kind of way.Even with the immense amount of stress and pressure he must have been under, there wasn’t a single crack in his demeanor. No way to tell what kind of storm raged on inside his head.

“I just don’t think I’m the right one for the job.” I was a bodyguard, nothing more, nothing less. I had the ability to manipulate time by three seconds, not the ability to hunt and track down a powerful artifact from a group capable enough to infiltrate the White House.

“I would like to respectfully disagree,” the Vice President said, “You are the perfect one for the job. You aren’t connected to anyone in the White House besides Blake and I. You aren’t compromised, and you won’t be on their radar. They’ll think your attention is solely focused on Blake.”

“He’s got a point,” Warr said. Cassius nodded. He walked to the chair opposite Warrick.

“I’m a meat shield. I’m not good at puzzles, I’m not good at subtlety. I’d make a terrible detective.”

Warrick’s leg bounced against the polished hardwood floors. “Then we can ask Caleb for help.”

Why was my brother so into this idea?

Blake sat up straight. He looked like he was going to say something but swallowed it down. His long lashes shadowed his golden eyes.

Was it really up to me right now? All the moments of failure in my life, big and small, came crashing down on me. The stakes would never be higher. Maybe I should get Damien involved? He could take the lead. He always handled most of the problems in our family. This would be no different.

The vice president stood behindhis desk. He leaned a hip on the dark wood and looked out the window. The bright red buds of the roses were much too similar in color to the blood that had drenched these halls hours earlier. “This is a completely unorthodox situation and an ask I do not make lightly.” He turned to face me. The slowly setting sun slashed a band of light into the room. He looked spotlit. “There’s been a lot of ‘oh shit’ moments during my two terms, but this blows them all out of the water. I don’t have anyone of your caliber I can trust right now. I’ve trusted you with my child, my one true pride and joy in this world, and you’ve proven to be right for the job. I have faith you’re right for this one too.”

That was a difficult calling to deny. Not when it came from someone of Mr. King’s stature.

---