Page 2 of Bros Come Before Hordes
Tavis had seated Asa in front of a computer in the corner that I swore hadn’t been there just seconds ago, and now, he crossed toward us, his blue pineapple T-shirt rippling between his broad shoulders. "I'll hang in here with Asa. He’s already dubbed this the stuffy art room, so I figure we can make it more geared to what he likes."
I nodded, my heart warming to Tavis paying attention to what Asa's interests were. Since he was already part of their treasure trove, he was in good hands.
Calhoun caught my eye and winged up an eyebrow. "I'll be coming with you today."
"Where are we going?"
"Back to Evenza. Back to the Vivix building. You’re good at sneaking around, so I'd like to look for any clues as to who—"
"Shit,” I whispered. “Oliver. That's what you were going to say, right? Because I saw who shot him. With all the commotion of saving Asa last night, I didn’t even think about it until now."
Oliver, a.k.a. Salt and Pepper due to the white dusting on his temples, was gunned down in his office not ten feet away from me.
My harem stared at me.
"Was the person who shot him the same person who sacrificed him?" Vance asked, keeping his voice low.
"I have no idea. I guess I thought those two things were one in the same, since I don't know how you guys go about your...your sacrificing.” I swallowed, really wishing I never had to say that word again. “I was going to tell you this, but most everything to this point has been a whirlwind of bullshit."
Calhoun crossed his arms and drummed his fingers on his enormous biceps. "The full-moon ritual was bullshit too. Other than Madame Theodosia, our seer, being right about you as queen, it didn't go the way anyone expected...and I bet if we asked the shifters knocking on the castle doors, they didn't get their power surge either."
"What happens if you don't get it?" I asked.
"We can’t shift, that’s for damn sure,” Tavis said with a solemn nod. “We’ve never skipped a power surge renewal before, but there’s a reason they’re once a month. We need it to live.”
The heaviness of his words wilted me some. As queen, I couldn’t exactly let that happen if I could prevent it. Definitely not to my harem because they didn't deserve that. And the rest of the shifters? Well, maybe if I squinted, I could find some redeemable traits in them so I’d want to help them too.
“So if Léas didn’t give more power to you, does that mean shewantsyou to die?” I asked.
Vance shook his head, the overhead lights shimmering like a halo on his short white-blond hair. “That doesn’t feel like her at all. Because we weren’t there to see the end of the full-moon ritual, we can’t be sure though. While I interview potential staff and you two investigate, I’ll ask them to fill in some of the blanks of what happened.”
Nodding, I looked to Calhoun. "I'm going to need coffee for this."
"We’ll get some on the road," he said and gestured for me to follow him out.
On the road because he couldn’t shift. I hoped I didn't seem too gleeful that we weren't flying to Evenza. Put me in a room with dragon shifters having a gunfight any day, but flying? On a dragon? I was sure I would die from fright.
I crossed to Asa still parked in front of the computer and smothered him with kisses and hugs before heading out after Calhoun. “We’ll be back,” I said to Tavis and Vance.
Out in the hallway, the knocks grew louder.
“Are they trying to break down the door?" I asked.
Calhoun glanced at me, his pace quick. "They're curious. They want to know about their new queen."
Theysounded pissed to me, like they were going to erupt into a riot any second and storm the castle with pitchforks and dragon fire.
"What if we just hired humans to work here?" I asked.
He gave me a long look, his dark eyes flaring danger and maybe even a little bit of hurt.
Shit. Now that it was out of my mouth, I realized how terrible it sounded, that I didn't even trust those I was supposed to rule. Could anyone blame me though? After dragon shifters kidnapped my brother off the street and were going to casually sacrifice him?
"Not good optics, sweetheart," he said, his voice tight.
I'd offended him. One of three shifters who'd been more than decent to me, and I'd offended him. Great first day as queen, Yara.
We exited the castle through a side door and entered a gigantic garage full of shiny new cars, their fresh paint jobs and spit-shined windows glittering in the sunlight spilling through the garage door. Calhoun chose a simple-looking four-door with a gunmetal finish, and we hit the road back to Evenza.
