Dragon Down (22 page)

We had finished dressing and were pacing around the living room when the knock came. One of the general
’s men motioned for us to follow him. We wound our way upstairs and through a maze of halls. We stopped in front of a closed door and the man that escorted us punched a code into the key pad. A moment later the door beeped and swung silently inward. The general and three other men sat around a large table. I shared with the general that I would recognize the man’s voice. He had us go around the room and introduce ourselves. I gave the general a slight nod indicating the traitor was not among us. He seemed too visibly relax.

“Please feel free to speak
openly in this room. We have had it searched for bugs and found none. Lauren, if you and your team would report on your conversations with each delegation it will bring us all up to speed.”

I nodded for Corbin to start. He filled the general and his men in on his discussion with the vampires of the Black Court. Then Tokem told them about his talk with the Sidhe fae. Both men indicated their conversations were strained but everyone would be on alert and cooperative. We agreed after the ball everyone should return to their rooms and stay there
, acting as if they were dead. The seven of us in this room would be searching the building floor to ceiling. Unless of course we found our traitor before that point, even though we would want to know all the people involved. We agreed to meet back here after the ball ended. I indicated to Corbin we should mingle and chat up people that would give us the greatest chance to listen to others talk. Tokem was going to keep constant surveillance to alert us of any unusual activity.

We strolled into the ball fashionable late and worked the crowd.
Then we are all seated and served an unbelievably wonderful five course meal. Fortunately, I got a chance to work off my dinner. It wasn’t all drudgery, Corbin turned out to be a great dancer. We danced and chatted with anyone we could strike up a conversation with. It was nearing midnight and the end of the ball and still I hadn’t heard the second man’s voice. I was starting to wonder if we were going to have to wait and catch him at the end. Once they thought we were all dead. Corbin and I were taking one last twirl around the dance floor and I thought I heard him. I nudged Corbin back in the direction that we had come and he graciously complied. He raised his eyebrows in a questioning fashion.

I listened as we glided back the way that we
’d come and then I had him. He was seated at a table with a group of Nargons. Moments later the dance ended and we walked off the floor to a position to the left of our traitor. I whispered in Corbin’s ear our traitor was seated at the table to our right. We talked and pretended to be deep in conversation while we watched our man. While we waited, Tokem landed lightly on my shoulder and I pointed out our man. Tokem would keep him in sight. I let out a breath I didn’t even know I’d been holding. Relieved, confident that if the man eluded us, he would not shake Tokem. It didn’t look like our spy was in a hurry. So, I decided to send my senses out to search for Traygen. I got an almost immediate answer. Wherever he was he was very close.

We returned to our rooms to change and wait for Tokem to report. This time Corbin and I were armed to the hilt. I had my glock strapped to my hip, some silver spikes tucked into my boots, and my bracelet and staff activated. Corbin came in looking armed and dangerous. He had a 9 mm on his hip, a bandoleer across his chest and I saw several silver stakes among the ammo. I raised my eyebrows at that and he smiled. Yes, Rambo had nothing on my gay vampire. Before I could tease him further Tokem sped in. He scribbled a note indicating the man had gone to the infirmary
. Then he sent men running off toward the engine room and one toward the docks. They were sending one man to activate the gas and another to keep anyone from escaping. The general had men ready to grab anyone who tried to activate the gas. Corbin and I decided to find the general and see what he wanted us to do. We headed off to find the general in his war room. Once inside I described the man I saw.

“I
’ll be damned that sounds like Dr. Shrin. Once we get his men rounded up, we will storm the infirmary and see what he has to say for himself.” We waited about fifteen minutes and then one of the generals men knocked on the door giving us the all clear signal.

“There is only two ways into and out of the infirmary. I
’ll send half my men with you and I’ll take the other half and Tokem. You cover the front entrance and I’ll cover the back. We will need to be careful the infirmary is full of patients. Once we get the doors covered I’ll send Tokem to let you know. Then I’ll try to establish communication with Dr. Shrin.”

We headed down several flights of stairs and then the general and his group went left
, our group moved ahead toward the infirmary. Once we had the door insight we fanned out and waited. It took about ten minutes before Tokem flew over and told us they had their entrance covered. He went back with a promise to keep us updated. It wasn’t long before the general made contact. We heard him over the intercom because he’d opened the doctor’s mike. We would be able to hear the entire conversation.

“Dr. Shrin this General Tunis
and we need to talk. We have Varns and your men in custody and both exits in and out of the infirmary blocked. I want you and your men to come out and surrender. The king has been evacuated and your planned gas attack stopped.”

“General, I have taken
Ambassador Kei’lah hostage and I kill her if you do not allow me to take my men and leave. You have ten minutes to let us get to a sub or I start killing the injured and then the Ambassador.”

Tokem streaked into view. “
The general is going to have to let them go. He can’t risk a war with the fae and he will stall them long enough for me to get on board.”

“You aren
’t going anywhere without me. Stop, Lauren before you argue, I can go as a bat. Then Tokem can create a disturbance while I take over the ship.”

I didn
’t like not being part of the action but, I still had to find Traygen. I nodded my agreement. Tokem and Corbin moved off to confer with the general.

“Dr. Shrin we will give you and your men safe passage on one of our subs and you will leave Ambassador Kei
’lah behind.”

“No, we will take the ambassador and leave her off on the nearest island or ship. She is the only insurance we have you won
’t blast us out of the water.”

“All right give us twenty minutes to get the sub fueled.”

I sent out another feeler for Traygen while I waited and I got an immediate reply. He was so near I thought he could hear me if I shouted.
Hurry up and get that sub out of here.

“Dr. Shrin the sub is ready and we are pulling back.”

I waited and didn’t hear anything until I got the all clear over the intercom from General Tunis. I opened the door and headed into the infirmary. The general was speaking with a nurse when I approached.

“Nurse, do you know how many people Doctor Shrin took with him?”

“Yes, he had the ambassador, four men and the man we found in the water.”

“Why did he take the man?”

“General, I don’t know for sure but, he thought the man was the missing dragon prince. Maybe they are going to use him for ransom.”

“What did you say? Who was this man,” I sputtered.

“We found him near death and plucked him out of the ocean. We didn’t think he would live and even when he regained his strength he had amnesia. He didn’t know who he was but the Kingdom of Carndonagh contacted us over a month ago asking for our help to find him.”

“What did he look like?”

“He is tall, maybe 6’2” with dark hair and blue eyes.”

My heart nearly jumped from my chest. “Did he say anything? Anything at all.”

“Like I said he didn’t know who he was. However, while he was delirious he kept calling for ‘Lauren’, the tears just rolled down my cheeks. He was alive and Tokem would bring him to me.

“General Tunis that
’s Traygen and we need to follow that sub. So when Tokem and Corbin attempt there take over, we will be there to rescue the ambassador and Traygen.”

“I
’m way ahead of you. We have one ready to go and we have been following the other sub on sonar.”

We ran to the docks and boarded the sub and we
were underway as soon as the hatches were closed. Our sub was bigger, so we could dive deep enough to go undetected by the other sub.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Tokem and Corbin were tucked up above the instrument panel in the forward end of the conning tower. They had a good view of the immediate area and of the pilot
s. There were two men piloting the sub. Dr. Shrin gave them instructions and then went aft. He had the ambassador and the man with amnesia tied up in the back. They hadn’t gotten a look at the prisoners yet. They were studying the crew and deciding how to take over the conning tower and then the vessel. They decided to wait and see if the crew rotated or if the people in back would fall asleep. After an hour or so Corbin headed back to check out the area. The man and the woman were bound and gagged in the rear of the sub. The others were stretched out around a table relaxing and dozing. Corbin returned to where Tokem was hiding. He whispered to Tokem to let him know what he had seen. Their hearing was so acute there was no chance of them being overheard by the men.

“Tokem, I think our best chance is to move to the back and free the hostages. The ma
n will give us one more member for our team. Then we can move forward and overtake the three men that are guarding the prisoners. Next, we can work our way up and order the pilots to surface.”

“We can untie the man and then I
’ll fly at the face of whatever man is on watch, while you two take out the other guards.”

They flew unnoticed to the back of the ship. Tokem went to untie the woman and Corbin changed and moved to untie the man. He kept his voice down and told the man what they needed him to do. They were just about to move forward when Tokem flew over and landed on the man
’s shoulder.

“Oh, my god. Traygen it
’s about time. Where’ve you been? We’ve been looking for you for weeks?”

“Tokem, calm down someone will hear you?”
Corbin whispered.

“Corbin, this is Traygen.”

“Do I know you? I have amnesia and can’t remember who I am.”

“I taught you everything you know...”

“Keep it down. Now let’s get this done and then you can reminisce.”

The three turned to the adjoining cabin and started forward. Corbin motioned for Traygen to take the man on the left. Tokem flew right into th
e eye of the man standing watch and the man grabbed his eye and fell to the floor. Corbin took out his man then turned to the one that Tokem had hit. Traygen was struggling with Dr. Shin. The doctor hit Traygen and sent him flying into the back wall. He hit hard and was stunned by his collision with the wall. The doctor went to finish him off when Token flew at the man’s face. Traygen got to his feet and hit the man hard while he was distracted by Tokem. All three were subdued. They took the men’s guns and headed for the conning tower. They were intercepted by one of the pilots who came to investigate. A brief chat with the business end of a 9mm was all the convincing he needed to return quietly to the cabin.

Once they made sure the pilots weren
’t armed, Corbin got on the radio and contacted the General. He assured them the hijackers were all restrained and they would order the pilots to surface when the general’s sub was nearby.

“Corbin
, give me the phone before you hang up. General, this is Tokem can you put Lauren on.”

The captain handed the phone to Lauren and then he gave the coordinates to his pilots.

“Lauren, Traygen is on board. He is fine but he has amnesia and doesn’t know me or who he is.”

“Thank God. I have just the cure for his amnesia. And Tokem thank you.”

“Damn woman almost made me tear up. And you, Traygen, you better come to your senses before Lauren gets on board or I can’t guarantee your safety.”

“Did you say Lauren?”

“What’s your hearing gone too? Yes, I said Lauren. You know your fiancé or is that why you have amnesia. You do know she is a wizard and she can turn you into a toad. I’d get with it dragon if I were you.”

Corbin just chuckled.
He thought he had better fill Traygen in on what he knew. While they waited to get the order to surface they told Traygen about Lauren and his life with her. He still didn’t remember anything when they got the order to surface.

Corbin motioned to Tokem. “I have an idea
and you will have to trust me. Tokem, I need you to swear you’ll explain what happened to me, to my dad if it doesn’t work.”

“Out with it bat boy
, we are almost out of time.”

“Okay, you say that Traygen is a dragon and that is his strongest form.”

“I’m listening Einstein. Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Well
, if we could get Traygen to change into his dragon form it would likely trigger his memories. He was found near death floating in the water. My guess is he was in dragon form trying to get home when he fell into the ocean from exhaustion. If we put him back into the same situation it may trigger his memories.”

“And if it
doesn’t we can fish him out and you can explain to Lauren why you threw him overboard.”

“We all
have to die someday. So when we open the hatch let’s ask for Traygen’s help. Once we are all on deck I’ll shove him into the water. You get the other boat to help me fish him out, if it doesn’t go well. Whatever you do don’t tell Lauren we pushed him in.”

“You obviously want to die but
, I have a lot of The Price Is Right to watch on my TIVO. My lips are sealed.”

Once the sub broke the surface Corbin asked Traygen to help him open the hatch and tie
alongside the other sub. Tokem flew off to get help. They had just gotten on deck and the other sub was tied alongside and their hatch was opening. Lauren scrambled out of the hatch and lunged toward their sub.

It is now or never,
thought Corbin. He faked a slip and smacked into Traygen sending them both into the water. Lauren screamed and ran up onto the sub. She started to jump into the water where Traygen’s head went under but, before she could jump a geyser of water shot skyward. There high above the subs flew Traygen in all his dragon glory. They threw a ring to Corbin and started pulling him in. However before they got him to the boat Traygen swooped low and plucked him from the water by the back of his shirt. Then he landed them both on the larger sub which threatened to tip over before it settled lower into the water.

Traygen changed back to his human self just in time to catch Lauren who hurled herself at him from the deck of the smaller sub.
He caught her and hugged her to him. Tears streamed down both their faces as they held tight to one another.

“Traygen, don
’t you ever do that to me...”

Traygen lifted her chin and kissed her tenderly. “It is good to know you haven
’t changed my love.”

“Where have you been? I thought I had lost you so many times.”

“I’m not sure about all the details but, I was captured by vampires and taken to one of the Paradise Islands. I smuggled out of a dungeon and moved under the cover of darkness to a waiting ship. Once we were at sea I waited for an opportunity to escape. I finally got one and took off from the boat and flew. Unfortunately, I was too weak and at some point I crashed into the ocean. I had to change back to my human form to keep afloat but, I was too weak and sank below the waves. I thought I would never see you again. The Nargon must have found me and taken me to their city. I had amnesia and until I changed just then, I had no idea who I was.”

“That is the poorest excuse I
’ve ever heard for trying to get out of marrying me.”

“You two need to get a room,” Tokem said before he
flew over and landed on Corbin’s shoulder.

“It
almost brings a tear to me eye. If I were you bat boy, I would make myself scarce until Traygen forgets you just dunked him.”

“Who me
? He couldn’t possibly blame me for slipping. I am a land lubber after all.”

The captain interrupted us all and herded us back below decks. He informed us
the sub would make for Carndonagh and we would arrive in four hours or so. Lauren and Traygen took the aft compartment to catch up. Tokem and Corbin played cards with the crew. They landed sometime after sunrise. Lauren sent Tokem ahead with the good news and within ten minutes the skies were full of dragons. It looked like opening day at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. There were dragons of every conceivable color and size. It seemed like the entire kingdom was there to escort Traygen home. King Othan led the family to meet his missing son and heir.

“Father, it is
so good to see you healed.”

“Traygen, my son seeing you again helps heal my heart from
your brother’s treachery. Lauren, thank you for bringing him home. Thank all of you. Tokem, my wee knight, thank you as well.”

“King Othan you know I love him and I wouldn
’t have stopped until I found him. Still, Tokem and I would not have made it without the help of Zane who died trying and for Corbin who saved our lives to many times to count. King Othan, this is Prince Corbin of Aran. He is family and the newest member of our team.”

Tokem quipped.
“Family is right and you have no idea.”

Lauren smiled and Corbin winked at Tokem before he knelt before the King.

“Sir Corbin, you will always have a home here in Carndonagh. Thank you for saving my son, Lauren and Tokem.”

“Yes, Corbin thank you for helping bring me home and for helping my team rescue me.”

“Traygen, Lauren saved my life and I merely repaid a debt of honor.”

The celebration of Traygen
’s safe return spread throughout the kingdom and the entire country partied. At some point I had to give Jason my report. He was of course delighted to hear we’d rescued Traygen and saddened by the loss of Zane. I filled him in on the entire mission and then told him I had a request. Once I summonsed him, it didn’t take long for him to pop in.

“Lauren, it is so good to see you. Do you want to
fill me in on your search and tell me about Zane?”

I filled him in from start to finish on our search and how Zane died. I told him
about Queen Maeve’s involvement and on how Erol tried to use Traygen to get to me, for killing the Daywalker. I explained how we found Corbin and how many times he saved my life. When I was finished Jason peppered me with questions. When he finally seemed satisfied, I needed to ask him a few questions.

“Jason, I want to add Corbin to our team. He does
n’t
want to endanger his family. Meaning, he will be staying in L.A. Vampires are just too homophobic to ensure his or his family’s safety. He is staying in L.A. with me until we can find him a place. What do you say? Can the World Council use another agent?”

“I will have to put it before the council but, I would think they would jump at the chance to have a Black Court vampire on staff. Is he as good as you say he is?”

“Better, but Lauren isn’t my type so she couldn’t verify that,” Corbin retorted.

“Good to know
, I was afraid I was going to have to take you on a short flight out over the Irish Sea or the Atlantic. I’d drop you if I needed to defend Lauren’s honor.”

“Traygen
there is no need. She isn’t my type and she is just plain bossy.”

“Or gender
either,” Tokem offered.

“Enough already
, don’t you all have a wedding to plan?” Jason asked.