Page 68 of Bleeding for the Prince
“How’s life, or should I say death, treating you, Hilt? Enjoying being the side piece of a royal flower fairy?”
Goya was a condescending twat. “That’s Prince’s Beloved, as you know. And better than you by the looks of it. Still stuck in this dingy office. I’d have thought they’d have at least given you a nice doggie bed and bone as a nod to diversity and inclusion.”
“Once again, you prove why you’re not suited to the modern police force.”
“I’m relieved, as while I once thought it might be a nice idea to rejoin, the standards of the people they employ these days are shocking.”
“Then I’m sure you’ll want to be on your way as soon as possible. What do you want?”
“If I didn’t have to be here, I wouldn’t be, but I know one of the stipulations of my business permit means I have to report any large risk to life or property, and the case we’re investigating is both.”
Goya sat back in his chair. For all their bitching at each other, Goya knew he wasn’t one to take the piss. “You have my full attention.”
“I understand that you were also contacted by Howard Squire regarding strange incidents at his department store.”
“Yes, we were called to Dante’s. It’s an open case, but the leads didn’t go anywhere, and we told him we couldn’t do anything without evidence that something illegal had taken place. I take it you and Prince Hyax had more success.”
He wouldn’t offer up Copperpipe as his source because he wasn’t sure if he was registered or documented in any way. “We were exploring underneath the store, based on the information we received, and discovered a dragon.”
“Plenty of those around,” Goya said carefully. “There’s even a softball league that plays Thursday evenings in St James’s Park.”
Gwil took out his phone and slid it across the desk with one of the photos they’d taken. “Not this size.”
Goya stared at the screen. His eyes widened. “Fucking hell.”
“It’s asleep, but Hyax thinks the incidents are being caused by its magic bubbles that are a sign of it beginning to wake up.”
“If that wakes and decides to leave its lair, it’ll take out half the block.”
“Yeah, hence why I’m here.”
Gwil had never seen Goya lost for words. He had a sharp comeback or passive-aggressive comment for every occasion. He stared at the phone, flipping through the photos. “We are going to need to move it.”
Given Goya’s expression, he wasn’t going to take the piss and Gwil made a heroic effort to swallow his flippant comment. “Hyax has a plan. He’s working with Prince Simon and some other magical types. The idea will be to move it through a portal into a different realm.”
“You can’t just shove a dragon through a portal. What if it wakes up on the other side with munchies and decimates the people there?”
Goya had a valid point.
“We’ve been given intel that the non-shifting dragons didn’t go extinct, but removed themselves to a new homeland. One of the people helping has an idea where that is and will be able to direct as required.”
“We should get the warlocks involved,” Goya said, but didn’t sound too happy about the idea.
“I don’t think the fae or the elves would allow them to encroach on their realm. You know how territorial magical users get.”
Goya grimaced. “Yes, and we had a warlock do a sweep of Dante’s and they missed a bloody great dragon. That’s gotta sting. They’re a bunch of high and mighty arsewipes.”
“The WRC told Howard Squire they weren’t interested, so I think we can use that as an excuse to leave them out of this.”
Gwil decided not to say Hyax had also been none the wiser about there being a dragon lurking, as for once it didn’t look like Goya was going to argue. “So, I’m reporting the incidents, but I am also providing an overview of the removal strategy.”
“I want to be there.”
Gwil wasn’t even sure he was going to be present for the removal, let alone Goya. “I can speak to Hyax, but there may be containment issues and additional spells in place to help keep the dragon asleep. I’ve no idea how they might affect bystanders.”
“I’ll take the risk. If I find out you and the Prince’s pals go ahead without me, I’ll have your business permit revoked with no chance of you getting it back. Understood?”
“Perfectly.” Fucking twat.
