“They must have removed the raven mockers from the plane in another location and then left the plane where we found it to throw us off,” Tiernan surmised. “They could have taken the feather from a child at any time and then used it to pixie-lead us in the wrong direction.”
Raza roared again, long and loud, and rust rained down on us from the ceiling.
Chapter Forty-Two
“We'll continue to search the area,” Teagan was saying to a disconcertingly silent Raza.
He'd been quiet ever since we'd returned from that warehouse. Now we stood in front of the plane again and Raza just stared off into the distance, occasionally smiling maliciously like he was envisioning ripping someone's heart from their chest. Or entrails from their abdomen; I'm not sure what dragons preferred. He gave Teagan one of those smiles and the Councilman hurried away.
“They must have taken them somewhere nearby,” I put a hand on Raza's shoulder and he jerked away from me, his head whipping around so he could give me a nasty glare. “Raza, I need your help here and you're no good to anyone like this.” He started to growl at me, bringing his face down into mine, and I slapped him. Hard. “Snap out of it!”
Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at me in horror... Raza included.
“Don't you dare pull this shit on me,” I growled and stuck my face up into his. “I'm trying my best to help you. And I don't care who you are or what you can turn into, you will give me the respect I deserve as an ambassador, as an extinguisher, as a princess, and as your friend! Are we clear, dragon?”
“We're clear,” Raza's eyes mellowed and he took a deep breath. “My apologies, Princess Seren. There are very few people brave enough to be my friend and I would hate to lose one of them.”
“I have no idea what you're going through but I do know what it's like to lose someone you love, so I understand what grief can do to you,” I took his hand, weaving my fingers through his. “You're son may still be alive and if he is, he needs you. He needs you rational and he needs you to use all the help you have available to you. So you can find him.”
“Of course,” Raza nodded and then dropped his voice so that only I could hear him. “Thank you. I've never known anyone who can calm my rage as you do, Seren.”
“I'm good with beasts. Sometimes they make more sense to me than people,” I smiled and slipped my hand from his to place it on Cat's head. She'd been standing beside me the whole time, confident in the both of us. She, like I, had seen what lurked beneath Raza's surface and now she wasn't afraid of him anymore.
“Animals are simple,” Raza nodded. “They have simple needs; to eat, sleep, love, and live. All of their actions stem from those needs. Right now, my son's life is in danger and my love for him consumes me in a horrible aching way. I feel the instincts of an animal to protect its young. But you're right, I can't save him with the ferocity of a dragon, I must use the wits of a man.”
“So what do those wits tell you?”
“That my son was never on that plane,” he blinked, surprised at his own words.
“What?” I blinked back.
“I couldn't sense him, Seren,” Raza's eyes cleared with sudden comprehension. “I couldn't sensemy own son. Scents can't just be erased. They can covered by using something really strong, like a chemical that would confuse my senses, but there was nothing like that on the plane. Which means that my son hasn't been on that plane for significant amount of time, long enough for his scent to fade naturally.”
“So if he didn't get on that plane in San Francisco,” Tiernan said as he joined us, “then who did?”
“Now that is an excellent question, Count Shadowcall,” Raza's eyes narrowed.
Chapter Forty-Three
“So...” I turned and smirked at Aidan over the back of my seat.
He had jumped into my SUV without asking, saying that he couldn't stand another minute with Jennifer Wasutke.
“Yes?” Aidan gave me a sexy look.
“Show us your dark mark,” I waggled my eyebrows at him.
“My what?” He lost the come hither expression and just went hither, leaning towards me in confusion.
Tiernan and our extinguisher driver were laughing.
“Your clan tattoo,” I explained. “You do have one, don't you?”
“Oh,” he sat back with a chuckle. “Yeah, we all do but mine is in a rather inaccessible spot at the moment.”
“I thought it was meant to identify you to other witches,” Tiernan frowned.
“It is,” Aidan shrugged. “But around the time I came of age to get the dark mark,” he shot me a wink. “I was in a rebellious period and I didn't like the idea ofhavingto do anything.”
