Silence smote the table. Even Soukos had paused at one industrial fridge, staring at Dusk with his mouth fallen open. Surveying them, the new fractals of gold on Dusk’s cheeks flushed with a shimmer as he watched everyone with his intensely blue eyes. “In my dream-state, I saw my destiny. I saw what I must become, to fight my inner rage. I saw what I have to do, to take back what was stolen from my life and all the regrets I’ve had for not reclaiming it. It is time for me to step from the shadows. It is time… for me to reclaim my throne.”
No one said anything as they all stared at Dusk. It was as if he’d dropped a crystal bomb on them, and yet, as everyone watched him with knowing eyes, Layla realized it was what everyone had seen coming someday. Dusk’s devastating wrath today proved it beyond a doubt – he was a Royal Crystal Dragon to be reckoned with now, and there was no hiding it anymore. But as Layla watched him, she heard Adrian voice the question that rose in her.
“Do you mean re-take your Egyptian Crystal Clan homeland on the Nile?” Adrian spoke softly, watching Dusk with a deep intensity. “Or do you mean take the Crystal Dragon Kingship from Markus Ambrose in Prague?”
“Taking my clan’s homeland back is where I have to start.” Dusk spoke softly, meeting Adrian’s gaze. “But if King Ambrose comes for me… I’m not backing down this time, Adrian.”
As Dusk held Adrian’s gaze, Layla felt a deep rumble pass through the room. As powerful as Dusk’s tremors in Dragon-form, this one was smooth and controlled, heaving miles down beneath the earth like the bowels of hell, producing a deep unease as it rolled slowly through the hall. Layla had never felt Dusk do anything like it, and as the rumble passed, his eyes lit with diamond fire, burning a blue so hot Layla thought it might just melt the walls. Twining his fingers through Layla’s, he held her hand and she felt all that earth-shattering power core through her – enormously soft and subtle. Glancing over, Dusk was not home for a moment as his Dragon stared at Layla.
And then he looked back to the group, and his gaze smote all eyes.
“I’m not running from my Crystal Dragon King anymore, no matter the cost.” Dusk spoke softly. “And I will never run from him again.”
CHAPTER 6 – DECISIONS
In the Gaming Hall at Riad Rhakvir, the evening was tense, and it was just getting started. Seated beside Adrian in a gold Moroccan gown of shimmering silk chiffon accented by diamonds and gold beadwork, Layla gazed around at the assembled Desert Dragon clan, seeing wariness in all eyes as servers circulated bearing champagne. Adrian had popped his best tonight, a private-reserve Armand de Brignac Brut he’d had made just for the clan and only brought out on the most special occasions.
Or for the deepest discussions.
Sitting on his ornately-carved ebony chair writhing with Desert Dragons, up on the modest dais at the front of the hall, Adrian’s gaze held all eyes as he surveyed his people. Wearing a midnight blue tux with rounded black lapels and gold-diamond cufflinks to match Layla’s gown, he was effortlessly in-command as his deep aqua gaze swept the hall. Adrian ran the Desert Dragons of Morocco and the Mediterranean like a democracy, even though as Clan First he had the final say in any matter. He valued the opinions of his clan, and everyone got a vote in sensitive clan matters.
And so everyone was here tonight, or as many as could come on such short notice.
People were getting settled on bright silk settees and rollback chairs in the hall as Layla watched, younger members and children claiming silk poufs on the floor. Fountains burbled all around as Adrian received a glass of champagne with a nod to the server, a younger clan member with silky black hair named Alina. Wearing a little black dress, Alina handed a glass to Layla with a smile as she held her etched silver tray perfectly level despite almost thirty glasses of champagne still occupying it. Alina was a waitress in Grenada in her normal life, and had recently gone through a bad breakup with a Storm Dragon boyfriend, thus moving in with the clan at Riad Rhakvir when Adrian had opened his doors at Yule. She smiled at Layla and Layla smiled back; she liked the sweet, tempestuous Spanish fireball, one of her first real friends in the clan.
Alina passed and Layla sipped her champagne, many clan members doing so as Adrian sipped his. Though the gaming hall with its pearl-inlaid tables of backgammon and chess was packed with people, a deep tension moved in the clan tonight. It caused a brisk wind of magic to sweep the room, stirring cobalt-tiled urns of palms and jasmine near the ornate lattice-carved room dividers. Watching his clan as everyone settled, Adrian held an unmistakeable air of authority. Extending his hand to Layla, he gave her a small smile as she took his fingers, his blue-green eyes deep. Swinging his gaze back to the assembly and seeing everyone was mostly comfortable on their settees now, Adrian at last raised his resonant baritone through the hall on a smooth flow of power, lifting it to every ear.
“Welcome, Desert Dragons of Morocco and the Mediterranean. Thank you for coming to this emergency clan meeting tonight. Since our origin, our clan has been egalitarian in its principles, and for those of you living among us now at our clan-home, I wish to reinforce those principles tonight. We have a dire discussion ahead of us, and I wish every voice to be heard that wants to speak. I will listen with an open mind before the issue is voted upon. The topic we discuss tonight is the concern of the First of the Crystal Dragons of Egypt, Dusk Arlohaim, living among us. He has shown incredible Royal Crystal Dragon power today and our clan has suffered. While I care deeply for my adopted brother, I also have a responsibility to you all. Let us begin the meeting. I open the floor to discussion.”
Sitting back with his hand still holding Layla’s, Adrian’s piercing aqua gaze swept the hall. Though Layla was on Adrian’s left, Rachida sat at Adrian’s right as his Clan Second, Emir beside her, both watching the hall as closely as Adrian. Wearing a fresh ultra-black suit like earlier, Emir’s dark gaze was unreadable as he took in the clan, no champagne to hand. Lounging in a marine-blue beaded caftan gown tonight, Rachida was as alert as Emir was cool, her emerald gaze like a biting wind as it swept the room.
People fidgeted. No one wanted to start a discussion about the Clan First’s own adopted brother, who had been like a son to the clan for over a hundred years. But no one could ignore what Dusk was becoming, and though he wasn’t allowed at this meeting, Layla felt his absence in the hall like a hole in her chest. She knew Dusk was in the kitchen with Soukos, cooking tonight on Emir’s orders as penance for all the destruction he’d caused today. Dusk and Soukos’ handiwork was already being set up on a long series of side-tables that the clan would enjoy at their leisure later.
But Dusk’s position in the clan was on the line tonight, and everyone knew it.
“The Crystal Dragon is becoming a liability, Adrian. I hate to be the first to say it, but it’s what we’re all thinking.” Speaking in a calm baritone, one of the older members of the clan finally began the discussion, a man of Roman descent with brush-cut sandy hair and deeply green eyes. He looked like a small, wiry Spartacus, sitting calmly on a purple settee with a nice white shirt open at the collar and his sleeves rolled up, dark blue jeans, and black oxfords. Emir’s second-in-command and Adrian’s Clan Fourth, his name was Aranio DiFiumici, a Royal Desert Dragon whose calm presence in the clan held clout.
His gaze settling to Aranio, Adrian gave a peaceable nod. “I am wondering the same thing, Aranio, otherwise I would not have called this meeting. Dusk is a force of nature; perhaps more than any of us here. He has spoken to me just tonight of his desire to re-open his clan home in Egypt, and I am of a mind to aid him in that endeavor.”
“The Crystal Dragon just destroyed a tenth of your home, Adrian. Are you not going to punish him?” Another strong Royal named Justin René spoke up. A wealthy clan member from the Côte d’Azur in France, Justin flashed fierce green eyes in his arrogantly handsome face. Well-built and deeply tanned from a life on the beach, he gave Adrian hostile energy in a whirl of scalding wind as he shifted on a settee. Flashing a diamond platinum rolex as he adjusted the French cuff of his light grey suit, his posture told everyone what he didn’t mind displaying.
That he’d be Adrian’s challenger, if Adrian ever began to slip in his power base.
“And how would you suggest I do that?” Adrian gave Justin deceptively still energy back, like the sky before a storm. “As a Desert Dragon, I have no jurisdiction over Dusk. I cannot punish my adopted brother the way I might punish you for stepping out of line in the clan, Justin.”
Adrian’s warning was not lost on anyone there. Justin prickled, a sensation like stinging ants biting Layla’s skin as his gaze flicked to her. “She’s the cause of all this.” He continued stubbornly. “Her and her witch-magic, driving our Clan First and the Royal Crystal Dragon insane.”
Layla could practically feel the tension in the hall crank up ten notches as everyone blinked incredulously at Justin, then looked with bated breath to Adrian to see how their Clan First would handle the slur. Calling someone awitchin the Twilight Realm was essentially like calling them a human bastard, a person of minor magic who had no definitive place in either the Twilight Realm or the human world. They were half-breeds of Lineages, carrying only a fraction of magic from their ancient ancestors.
It was like calling someoneretardin the human world – a definite no-no.
“I am going to give you one chance to apologize to Layla, Justin, for your derogatory remark.” Adrian spoke softly, as his vibrant aqua gaze pinned Justin, burning into him like an oil-fire.
“Or what?” Justin spoke arrogantly, spreading his hands over the back of his settee like he didn’t care, though he gave Adrian fierce eyes. “Would you challenge a lesser Dragon to a duel, my First, in the middle of a clan meeting?”
Technically, a Clan First challenging a lesser member wasn’t done, but it was within Adrian’s rights to use magical force to put someone disobedient in their place. A clan meeting, however, was supposed to be a forum for all concerns to be heard, no matter how bold or insulting. Layla saw Adrian war with that knowledge as he flared hot to Layla’s touch.
“I don’t need your apology, Justin,” Adrian spoke with a small smile, “but Layla does. As per clan rules, she is welcome to pick a champion if she doesn’t wish to fight you personally over the insult – even a champion from a different Lineage. I know a certain Royal Crystal Dragon who would stand up for her, currently cooking in the kitchens. Under the circumstances, him being her champion could be very bad for you.”
