Page 33 of Ash

Any trace of pique disappeared from Jacques’s thin face. “I’m afraid I haven’t yet found any trace of the Warlock. But I have all my contacts on full alert. If Rindek visits this realm again, I will know about it.”

Tyrez wasn’t particularly surprised. “Cast your nets wide. I need to find the realm he’s hiding in. Spare no expense, the Emperor is prepared to back this to the full extent of his ability.”

Jacques’s eyes widened. “He is that worried about this Torshin? The Warlock is likely acting alone.”

Tyrez hesitated. Jacques was a useful tool, but he also bartered information. Despite the fact that the Satyr had a healthy respect for the Dragons—one well earned—he could, and would, sell information to others.

The big Dragon shifter crossed his arms and glared at Jacques. “Leave those concerns to us. Just find him, and you will be well rewarded for your efforts.”

Jacques swallowed and raised his narrow chin. “Considering the target’s elusiveness, I’m going to need some currency up front. For expenses.”

Tyrez peeled a lip back from a canine tooth. The Satyr took a step back, but then held his ground. When it came to money, he could be quite brazen.

“We will forward you the usual fee. Now, I suggest you get working.”

Jacques nodded briskly. Between one eye blink and the next, he vanished into the shadows as effectively as his feathered pet.

Tyrez turned away and paced along the walk. He needed to hang out near the downtown core until dawn, in case Neil and the Dires found any sign of the Mover.

Despite her elusiveness, they were nothing if not determined. And if they found her, they would need his Dragon. She was hardly defenseless.

If they didn’t, they’d all be back at it again, tomorrow night. Tyrez had no other options, and until he got a lead on Rindek’s whereabouts, nothing better on which to spend his time.

He sat down on a bench along the walk. A young couple passed by, so engrossed in each other that they barely glanced at Tyrez.

The Dragon shifter stared at the moon, now two days past full. Fortunately, he was not hooked to its phases like the Dires and Sabres were. A full moon just meant that he had more light to fly by.

His fingers stroked over the golden scales glued to his wrists. Why did that simple touch send little electric zings traveling through him? Mystifying. Images of a golden Dragon hovered at the edges of his vision. And drifted through his dreams.

He sighed. Perhaps he should ask his mother what it might mean. But she was a very busy Dragona. And it seemed like such a trifling thing, considering their much bigger worries.

But still, as he sat on the bench beneath the moon, his body tingled and his heart ached, and he wondered.

* * *

By two days after the full moon, Dani’s beast had made life almost unbearable.

She’d spent the time ducking Dires and Sabres through the Old Market Square area. The sharks were closing in. She didn’t feel safe in the shelters, and even her best hiding spots on the streets were no longer an option.

So on the third night, Dani headed for the cemetery.

As she walked across the pedestrian bridge that paralleled the Disraeli Overpass, the occasional car whizzed by above. It must be nearly midnight. A couple thoroughly entwined in each other came toward her from the river’s other side. They reminded her of the two that the Dragon had spoken with, but these were even younger. She pulled her hoodie closer around her face and slouched as she shuffled along.Nothing to see here, folks.

The walkway was otherwise deserted, the lights scrolling by overhead as she moved. She’d spent the last two days haunting the soup kitchens, building up her strength as best she could. In that time, she’d had three more anxiety attacks.

All day, she’d been restless, on edge. She kept looking back over her shoulder. Nothing there, but she could swear she was being watched. Glancing up at the sky, she moved closer to the shadows.

Damned Dragons.

She’d spent the last two nights huddled in doorways. She’d gone to a homeless haunt—beneath the Salter Street Bridge—but she smelled cat, and Dires too.

Her skin crawled with the need to be beast, and her heart accelerated at the thought of bounding through rows of headstones. The cemetery was the only place she could think of where it might be safe to turn herself loose, even if just for an hour or so.

She strolled down the bordering back lane. The seven-foot chain link was in good repair and kept the place secure at night. That suited her purposes. Dani checked for witnesses before leaping clear over it.

Dani slipped deep into the shadows and stripped. Then she gritted her teeth and changed to her beast form.

Her recent weakness only added to the customary panic she experienced part way through. Even after multiple transformations, Ash’s calm words still replayed in her mind as her body writhed.

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