Page 45 of Arthur

“There isn’t,” I said with a chuckle. “Go and tell Grant. Do you have a departure date?”

“Nothing is set. I only thought to mention it to you so we could work on that.”

“Then it sounds as if you have something to go discuss with your One. I do wish you and your family a wonderful time away. I also hope that you will decide to return here.”

Balthazar snorted. “Yeah, that’s definitely happening. We’re not looking for somewhere new to settle down. Just taking time away for a bit.”

I nodded. “I understand that completely. If and when I have time, I plan on taking Patrick away. Most likely, Edric will be with us, although he might decide he would much rather go stay with his grandpas again.” I smiled. Edric hadn’t missed us even a little while we were in Montana and Patrick ended up in a fertile period. Then again, he had a lot of family out there and, of course…dragons. With the way he was so fascinated with them, I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t end up with a dragon for his own One someday.

“You know,” Balthazar said from the doorway. “I can’t say that I blame him. Dragons are pretty fascinating.”

I chuckled as Balthazar walked off. He wasn’t wrong. They truly were, and until recently, I’d not known many. I settled back in my seat and picked up the top document. It was a status report from Dante. I chuckled again. Was he serious? Really?

Unsure if this was because that was simply how he operated or if it was something that Father had suggested, I picked up the phone to find out the reason behind it.

“Master Arthur. Is there something you need from me?”

“Hello, Dante. I was wondering if you would mind coming to my office when you have a moment or two? I had a few questions for you.”

“Of course. I’ll be right there.”

The call ended before I could say more, not that I minded. Finding out more about Dante and how he ticked was going to be interesting, I was certain. I should have spent more time here at the coven with him before taking off to Montana, but in the end, Patrick needed me more than I needed to be here.

Dante suddenly appeared in the doorway, standing there way too seriously, in my opinion. “Come in, Dante, and have a seat,” I told him. He did as I’d said, and when he sat, he was incredibly stiff, and I sat there for a moment, trying to figure him out.

“Is something wrong, Master Arthur?” he asked finally.

I shook my head. “Not that I’m aware of, no. I’m simply trying to figure you out.” I picked up the stack of papers and dropped them in the middle of my desk. “Is there a reason why you are doing a written daily status report?” I glanced down at the top one briefly. “And are you invading the privacy of everyone in the coven to do so? Or just the newest members?” We were certainly going to have to get to the bottom of things.

“I’ve not invaded anyone’s privacy,” he said immediately. “Any and all information I’ve garnered has come from when they were in common areas. Nothing is from private quarters or moments. I was sent here to observe, and that’s what I’m doing.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I think it’s more that you were sent here to observe the area and watch out for the cousins that went missing, not spy on my new coven members.” I sighed and leaned back in my chair. I crossed my arms over my stomach and stared at the hellhound. “Tell me what makes Dante tick,” I said.

“Sir?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Why are you an enforcer? Did you really wish to be one, or was it because you’re a hellhound and the other hellhounds are enforcers? Why are you on this assignment? Did you volunteer, or were you assigned?”

“That’s a lot of questions.”

I nodded. “Yes, but you’re in my coven.” I pointed to the stack of papers. “And you’ve written a detailed report for every day. Is that a council thing? Or something you just do?”

“To answer your earlier questions, I’m an enforcer because I had nothing else to do. There was nothing left for me in the jungle, so I had no issues with returning with Augustus and the others. I needed a bit of time to recover anyway, and it’s really not a bad thing. Being an enforcer, that is.” Dante seemed to think about something for a moment, and if I hadn’t been staring at him so intently, I wouldn’t have seen the change in his aura’s color. It was very brief though, and then it was gone in a moment.

“Do you like being an enforcer?” I asked.

Dante shrugged. “It’s not bad. It’s by far the best job I’ve had since I’ve been here in this realm. As for the reports, I honestly didn’t have anything else to do. You were gone, and I didn’t want you to think that I wasn’t actually doing what I was sent here to do.”

“What is it that you’ve actually been sent here to do?” I asked. “Are you looking for the Gallo cousins?”

“If they should happen to appear here, I have instructions to bind them before taking them to the council. Personally, I don’t think they’ll show up here. It’s a possibility, but I don’t see it happening. The coven members you have here were so far down the line in their old coven that they aren’t a threat to either of them. They weren’t privy to the inner workings of the coven, not really, so they wouldn’t be the targets.”

That was interesting. Dante was speaking more freely than my own Father had when I asked questions. It was refreshing that Dante was being so forthcoming. I had asked Father, but he’d either not had the ability to answer or had decided not to. Either way, I needed to discuss some things with him again.

“Bind them?” I asked.

“Yes. Bind their magic to where they cannot use it. I’m on this assignment because I was told this was to be mine. Augustus is at another coven and Damien at a third. Warwick is home with his little mate and their twins and will be taking things at a slower pace for the time being. Atticus is going back and forth between the council and each coven, checking in with us frequently.”

“That’s a lot. Is this how the council usually works? I’m sorry for all of the questions. I don’t really ask my father about how the council works for the most part.”

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