Chapter Twenty
CONNOR
Two hours of chopping wood in forty-degree weather and I still feel like I’m burning up. I’m miserable. If I don’t convince Fiona to be with me soon, I’m not sure I’ll make it through the month. I’ll be the youngest dragon to die of mating sickness.
My phone vibrates, and I set down the axe to answer it.
“Uncle Connor.” Mason’s deep voice comes down the line. He sounds excited.
“What’s happening, Mason? Aren’t you supposed to be training on Cardinal Island or making wedding plans with that girl of yours?” Mason mated Reagan last month. Reagan was raised human, and Mason intends to marry her in a human ceremony this summer.
“Actually, in an indirect way, that’s why I’m calling.”
“Huh?”
“We found the ring.”
“Reagan’s engagement ring? I’ve already seen it?—”
“No. Not that ring.Thering. Her father’s ring from when he was initiated into the Saint’s Order!”
“No fucking way!” I lick my bottom lip. That ring is a major boon for the Zodiac Brotherhood. We’ve never gotten our hands on one before. The Order usually guards and retains them after a member’s death. Reagan’s father was an unusual exception.
Richard Bailey knew that Reagan’s mother was a dragon and that she was killed by the Order, yet he still allowed himself to be seduced by the power the society offered him. He traded his daughter for membership in the Order. Reagan was a dormant until the Order used magic to force her shift. Her dad had planned to buy her back at auction, but she chose the hunt. Mason and I barely got her out alive.
Just days after his initiation and Reagan’s escape, he committed suicide. He’d removed and hidden the Order’s ring prior to his death and no one had seen it since. Once the mansion transferred ownership to Reagan, we searched every inch of the property for it. I’d assumed the Order got to it first.
“Where did you find it? I thought you guys searched everywhere.”
“We thought we had too, but we decided to remodel her father’s office because it holds bad memories for Reagan. When we demoed the bookcases, we found a secret room behind them. It was no bigger than a closet, Connor, but he kept a bunch of her mother’s things in there. Reagan speculated that he also kept his weddingring there because we found her mother’s. He left the Order ring next to it on the shelf.”
“Wow. This is big.” I rub my chin.
“The biggest. Only we have a problem. Neither one of us can touch it. Burns like a son of a bitch. Reagan’s friend Imani helped us move it to the safe. Obviously I can’t take it to Cardinal Island. Even if I could devise some kind of carrying case, who knows what effect it would have on the portal or even if the ancient magic protecting the island would let it in.”
“I agree. It’s too dangerous.”
“So what do you want me to do with it?”
Of course. That’s why he’s calling. For one more week, I’m in charge, which means he’s looking to me for next steps. “Keep it in the safe for now. We’ll need to find someone who can analyze the magic. I think Morwyn has an alchemical researcher on staff. Or we might be able to find a human witch to help us, although they’re hard to come by these days.” Witches are a secretive sort. I knew one in my early twenties in culinary school, but we’ve long since lost touch. “We’ve never had an opportunity like this. It might take some time to find the right person to analyze it.”
“Maybe you should come get it? I hate having this thing in the house. Reagan has enough on her plate having just buried her father and inherited his company and the mansion. Neither of us is sleeping well. If the Order knew we had this, I don’t even want to think about the danger Reagan could be in. They know she’s a dragon and she’s sitting on the board of his company. She’s too exposed.”
I glance toward the house. Fiona is watching me through the window. Our eyes lock. My mouth falls open, and my hand holding my cell phone drops away from my ear as I drink in the look of longing on her face. Before I can truly revel in it, it’s gone. She retreats into the shadows.
“Connor? Connor?”
I bring the phone back to my ear. “Yeah.”
“Are you coming for the ring?”
“Can’t. I’m sorry. Brotherhood business. I can’t leave my current mission.”
“Is this about the bride?” Mason’s voice rises. It’s not like the Pisces to go from zero to sixty in the anger department, but any dragon that feels like his mate is threatened can get dangerous fast. “I think protecting your nephew’s mate is more important than personally babysitting a hostage that the Order doesn’t seem to give a shit about.”
“Hey, watch it. You don’t know what you’re talking about. And how is it you know about her anyway? It’s confidential.”
“I’m a week out from filling Solomon’s position. Seb told me as a matter of business.”
