Page 18 of The Dragon's Mate

“We?” Bones turned toward him. “Your desire to be on thecouncil is well-known, Drago, but until Cadmus actually appoints you to thecouncil, don’t act as though you have any say in their decisions.

Drago’s upper chest glowed, and more smoke drifted from hisnostrils and mouth. “You’ll want to watch that smart mouth of yours, Bones.When I am on the council, you may find yourself working in the kitchen rather thansecurity.”

“Perhaps,” Bones replied. “But until that happens, you’llwatch your tone with me. It will be difficult for you to have your say on thecouncil if you’re missing your tongue.”

Drago snarled at him before yanking open the door to thecabin. “Are your threats supposed to frighten me? Kaida, come.”

Her dragon snarled in fury and she crossed her arms over herchest. “Tell the elders I will be in shortly.”

Drago snorted, flames shooting out from his nostrils. “I amnot your messenger boy. Tell them yourself.”

He disappeared into the large cabin, slamming the door behindhim. Kaida rubbed at her forehead as Bones said, “Jesus, what a douche thatguy is.”

She smiled a little despite the nausea running rampant inher guts. “What’s Cadmus’s mood like?”

Bones shrugged. “You could probably tell better than I can,but he seems calm. Ever since Valen died, nothing seems to rile him up. The councilasks him daily to appoint another member – Ryul hounds him about it, to behonest – but he seems in no hurry to do it.”

“Do you think he’ll appoint Drago?” Kaida asked.

“Fuck, I hope not.” Bones rubbed at his shaved head. “Dragowill have us fucking living in caves in the middle of Siberia if he getsappointed to the council. I know Ryul, Collette, and Oben are hoping he isappointed. They’re old school like Drago and having him on the council willgive them the majority when it comes to voting.”

He stared glumly at her. “We really will be living in cavesin Siberia.”

She squeezed his tattooed arm reassuringly. “Cadmus isstill high elder. He has the power to overrule the council’s vote.”

“That’s true, but Cadmus has been high elder since we wereyearlings. How many times have you seen him use that particular high elderperk?”

“Only once,” she said.

“Exactly. He didn’t overrule their decision when youapproached the council for permission to help Bishop protect his human matefrom that rogue dragon, and he likes Bishop.”

“I remember,” Kaida said, “but you know as well as I do thatCadmus likes living near the humans. He always has. If he had his way,dragons would reveal themselves to the world like the other paranormals.”

“Jesus, what a fucking shitshow that would be,” Bones said.“You don’t think Cadmus would actually do it, do you? I mean, it’s one thingto wish we didn’t have to be in hiding, but if he actually tried to show humansthat dragons existed – high elder or not, he would be banished.”

“No, I don’t think he would,” she said, but there was doubtin her voice. Ever since Cadmus’s mate Valen had died, the old dragon seemedalmost indifferent to the council and to the clan. He’d always been calm andslow to anger, but now he was almost catatonic in his mannerisms. With Valengone, she had a feeling that Cadmus believed he had nothing to live for anyway,and that could lead to dangerous consequences for the dragon.

“You’d better get in there,” Bones said.

Kaida followed Bones into the cabin. It was the largest cabinand it served as their community hall. The clan ate their meals here, socialevents were held in the cabin, and the council’s monthly meetings took placehere. Any clan member was welcome to sit in on a council meeting, but rarelydid. Tonight though, was an exception.

“Shit,” Kaida said.

Bones stared down at her before studying the dragons thatfilled the chairs lined up in neat horizontal rows in the large room. “Yeah,news spreads fast, right? They all want to know if the humans are gonna be barbequedor not.”

She took a deep breath as Bones sat down in the last rownext to Javee. The dragoness, she was short and curvy with long brown hair streakedwith a rich dark red, smiled affectionately at him. Bones draped his armacross the back of her chair, and she leaned into him before giving Kaida anencouraging look.

Kaida walked down the center aisle toward the long and narrowtable at the front of the room. The six council members sat behind the table.Kaida stared at the empty chair next to Cadmus, a sharp pang of loss eating ather insides.

She stopped in front of the counciltable and bowed to the elders. “Good evening, elders.”

“Good evening, Kaida,” Walter, the oldest of the elders,replied. His long hair was completely white, and the purple streaks in it hadlong since faded to a pale lilac. “Do you know why the council has summonedyou?”

“I do,” she said.

“Explain yourself,” Ryul said sharply. “You brought humansinto our clan. What were you thinking?”

“The fox shifter was injured badly by humans. I worried hishead injury would be fatal, so I brought him to Gram for healing. The human isdating the fox shifter.”

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