Obsidian Son (The Temple Chronicles Book 1) (36 page)

After painfully relieving myself, I had the honor of seeing the infamous black dragon’s digs. Raego’s pad was questionably hygienic. By this, I mean that insects chose their food carefully when rummaging through his fridge, counter, sink, or even couch. I decided that sitting down was not conducive to a longer life, so remained standing. He had flown me here, declaring my shop unsafe. “No one knows where I live. That’s a bonus right now.”

I carefully adjusted the bag of frozen peas pressed against my genitals — since the pain kept migrating back and forth from my kidneys to my goods — groaning at the Chinese water torture that would eventually, possibly, hopefully, relieve some of my pain from the kidney blow at
Artemis’ Garter
, which had apparently not been a fist, or even a well-aimed liquor bottle thrown by that crazy bartender. No, it had been a fucking crossbow bolt shot by my well-intentioned friends the dragon hunters. Luckily, it had only been a blunt-tipped bolt, meant to stun so that they could catch Raego alive.

They hadn’t wanted to risk bringing in live ammunition with so many civilians around. I was impressed that they had managed to get in at all, but I was sure that the bouncers had had their hands full, what with all the stampeding customers rapidly evacuating their club, raving stories about some crazy Archangel lighting dragons afire on their roof, or so I assumed.

“You should probably get that checked out.” Raego muttered from his stained couch, reclining as if it was a throne. The smell of cold stone and snakes struck me again, but now I thought I knew why. It had to do with his flavor of dragon.

“Nah, I’ve been hit in the kidneys this hard before. I would know if it was anything life threatening. It feels the same as the other time. It was gone after a few hours, but I’ll have a spectacular bruise.” I scowled at him. “You owe me. I inadvertently saved your life.”

He gave me a disgusted look. “You think something like that would have even made me blink in dragon form? It would have just pissed me off.”

“Which is when, I’m assuming, they would have hit you with their true weapon. These guys aren’t amateurs. They pack some heavy firepower. It was
supposed
to be a distraction, you dolt.”

He shrugged. “Whatever. I can’t believe you lost the book. Do you have any idea how much shit we are in now?”

I tried to scowl back, but groaned in agony as I pressed the peas too hard into my groin. When I got my breath back, I resumed my scowl. “As a matter of fact, I
don’t
know how much shit we are in, because I have no idea why the book is so important to everyone.” I leveled an angry wizard finger at him. “
You
didn’t even tell me what it was called. If you had, I would have been able to prevent at least
some
of this from happening.”

Raego sighed. “Can you at least sit down? You’re making me uncomfortable.”

I swept my gaze around the litter-strewn room. “I’ll take my chances on my feet. I am fairly certain that a biologist would pay top dollar to quarantine this place and study the unique strains of bacteria found here.”

Raego’s eyes swept the room. “Yeah, but it’s the only place I could find on such short notice, and I’ve been running around a lot, trying to keep tabs on my family without them finding out I’m in town.”

“See, that’s another tiny detail. Your
family
? Maybe you could explain that. Did I just kill some of your sisters? Your mother? Aunt?” My voice grew softer at a new thought. “Daughter?”

He smiled, shaking his head. “They exiled me, so I couldn’t care less who they used to be, but no, none of them were daughters. I’m still young and spry. I just practice procreating at the moment.”

I laughed at that, shaking my head. “You and me both. You and me both…”

I chose the cleanest spot I could find, and sat carefully on the armrest of the couch. Raego turned on the TV as if needing it on so that he wouldn’t fidget. I watched him. He was a curious man, always playing with something, or looking over my shoulder, or out a window, cocking his head as he listened to things I could only imagine. A few minutes ago I had watched as he tensed, darted to the side of the couch, waited motionless, and then after an excruciatingly long period of silence, slammed his foot down on a cockroach as it exited the underside of the couch. He had laughed madly, and then promptly snagged a piece of pizza from the counter. Flies dominated the apartment, but he paid them no heed, eating his pizza as if they didn’t exist.

More than once, I wondered if he had lost his mind at some point in his life. Either that, or he had severe Attention Deficit Disorder. Or maybe living a life on the run for so long had cracked part of his psyche. They seemed the same to me.

“So, the book,” I began, but he anxiously turned up the volume, leaning forward suddenly. I almost decided right then to take my chances without him, but then I heard my name on the TV.

“Nathin Temple, billionaire playboy, and minor felon?”
A petite TV anchor chimed with a smile.
“Should we call him God’s child, or Satan’s Angel? In one day, he has purchased two six-figure cars, harassed a judge at the courthouse, has been connected to several crime scenes, been involved in a high-speed car chase on the Eads Bridge where he allegedly battled a ‘demon’, and was seen tonight at a premier nightclub in St. Louis, fraternizing with two alleged call girls. We have video footage here.”
They played a clip of the two dancers on my lap, much of the image blurred except for my face. I groaned.

“Eyewitnesses state that the party got ‘crazy’ shortly after he arrived, and then the entire club suddenly evacuated as the party upstairs became too intense for them, meaning the roof caught fire. Upon investigation, the local police found the charred body of one of their own officers, brutally murdered before being burned up in the fire. Further details have yet to be released to the press.

Information states that the FBI was supposedly involved; with one Agent Gunnar Randulf even reported cavorting at the scene of the crime with his long-time friend, Master Temple. No word from Mr. Randulf or Master Temple at this time. The owner of the club has refused to comment on the matter. Is this who we want running the largest employer in St. Louis? With the solar eclipse tomorrow afternoon, who is to say what drunken debauchery he will resort to as his next method of celebration?”

The news continued, but Raego tapped the mute button and turned to look at me. “I’m not that guy. They distracted me.” I said softly.

Raego smiled sadly. “They are quite good at it.”

I glared back. I realized now why I had never noticed his horizontal pupils before. The black of his irises blended so perfectly with his pupils that it was simply impossible to notice. “You mean that
you
are quite good at it.
You
are one of them too! And you didn’t tell me!”

Raego frowned. “Along that logic, I could state that you are no different than Jeffrey Dahmer, as you are both human and share almost identical strands of DNA. But it doesn’t make you the same, does it? Ever changing, ever evolving. That’s what you preach. That each of you has a soul that separates you from the beasts, but you are no different than us. You can be just as evil when you want to.” It wasn’t accusatory, and that more than anything made me finally nod back in agreement.

“Touché.” I muttered. “The dragon hunters warned me about black dragons.” I added carefully.

He shrugged back. “I’m rare. My father no doubt put a price on my head after he exiled me years ago. They’ve been hounding me on and off for years.”

“Why did he exile you?”

“Because I wouldn’t submit, and when male sons don’t submit, we’re exiled or killed. Competition of the women, and all that.” He gestured emphatically. “But black dragons are unique. I’ve never met another, but we do tend to keep a pretty low profile.” He jumped to his feet without warning. “I need a beer.”

I blinked. No sudden movement around crazies. It’s safer. “I’ll take one too.”

He grunted over his shoulder, plucking two from the fridge. He handed me one and sat back down on the couch, popping the top off onto one of the cleaner sections of the floor. He took a long pull, and then looked at me expectantly. “Oh, did you want me to open it for you or something?” He asked, looking at my face.

I gestured at my bag of peas. “It would be very courteous of you.”

He obliged, sloshing a good portion of the beer into the couch before handing it over. I guzzled it greedily, savoring the alcohol, but not daring to look at the Born-On date, afraid that I would simply see a skull and crossbones etched into the label. “So, what’s your stake in all this?” I asked.

He ticked off a finger. “No more deaths. Which means we have to get that book back before tomorrow afternoon. We can’t let him use it.” I frowned a question. “There’s a lot of dragons in the city right now, from all corners of the world. Up until now, we’ve remained silent, hiding in the shadows since we used to inspire such avid hunters. For the last few hundred years we haven’t been unified. The book which you found for me, and then lost, gives details on how to tap into the power of the eclipse, uniting all the dragons under a single leader, an all-powerful dragon: The Son of the Dying Sun, as in The Son of the Eclipse.

“The solar eclipse resembles a black egg on fire — the legendary dragon egg.” I didn’t even want to ask if they actually hatched from eggs. Gross. “Once the eclipse passes — if the ritual has been performed — that power is absorbed by the most powerful dragon in the room, the one who performs the blood sacrifice. My father will attempt to gain that great power, and unite the dragons under his call.” His eyes met mine for a tense moment, and I saw fear in those black orbs. “Which won’t be good. He could reveal our existence to the world, bringing back the fear of the dark ages, making all the mythical stories about dragons become actual fact for the very first time in history. Could you imagine the panic that would create? If regulars knew we were real?”

I sighed, shoulders slumping. “I know exactly what you mean. All
freaks
teeter on that line at the moment. I know I did my fair part of revealing today when I killed the silver dragon on the bridge. Then tonight at the strip club. Sooner or later people will begin to put it all together, and there will be no more hiding from the truth.” We each pondered that for a time, sipping our beer. Then another question came to mind, but I murmured it practically to myself between sips. “What I want to know is why my friend, Peter, was searching for the same book as you.”

Raego perked up, smiling. “I’ll be right back.” I waved a hand, no longer concerned with his peculiarities as I pondered my question. Raego stepped into the other room, leaving me in silence. Tomorrow morning I would need to head back to the expo. Doubly so now that they had Gunnar, and that he was persona non grata in St. Louis after the news had so expertly smeared his name.

Without Gunnar at my back, I felt vulnerable. One friend had betrayed me for power, and the other was powerless at the hands of a mad man. And I had no bargaining chip to get him out. Just Alaric’s warped son as a sidekick. But that wasn’t true. I had Tory, if I wanted to risk taking her, and Jeffries, although I doubted that he would be much help in a fight. He was also standing in for Gunnar as spokesperson for the team since Gunnar was on hiatus. Then I remembered Misha. Perhaps she could help.

I saw Raego’s silhouette enter the living room again so looked up. But it wasn’t him. I jumped back in alarm, dropping the bag of frozen peas and my beer as I prepared a web of offensive magic for protection. “Aye, Aye, Cap’n!” The strange man said in a familiar voice. I blinked, my kidneys throbbing painfully at my sudden movement.

“I don’t understand.” I finally said, studying the strange man before me.

“It’s a disguise!” Raego’s voice laughed triumphantly. “A black dragon thing. I’ve been working for you for weeks now. Jessie at your service, Master Temple.” My mind reeled at the thought. Was it possible? The employee Indie had hired stood before me: long blonde hair, a heavily muscled frame, and a cinder-block jaw. As I studied Raego’s disguise with my eyes acutely attuned to the magical forces of the world, black tendrils of smoke suddenly swarmed around him like a tornado.

After a few seconds the smoke dissipated to reveal my dark-haired, lanky client again. I shook my head in wonder. Tomas’ accusation of shape shifting into entirely different people was true. I had been too wrapped up in my grief to have much to do with the store in the last week. Jessie and Raego… the same guy. It all clicked in my head.

“You switched the title of the book Peter asked for!” I practically yelled.

Raego gave a formal bow. “I must have written the wrong title down when he asked me to leave you a message. Jessie isn’t too bright. An honest mistake, really. Although Indie didn’t see it that way.” He paused, studying me carefully. “She’s head over heels for you, Nate. The real deal. She’d take a bullet for you if she had to.” His voice grew softer. “You can’t ask for more than that.” I nodded, suddenly emotional.

“She’s just a regular, Raego. You know how dangerous our lives are. She’d be helpless.” He nodded agreement but also shrugged, as if asking why that mattered. I changed the subject. Girl-talk later. Guy-talk now. “Thanks for the help, Raego, but it would’ve been easier if you’d simply told me about Peter. I could have dealt with him directly. As it turns out, he attacked me for the book just before we went to the club. It fell out of my bag and he saw it.”

Raego slapped his forehead, groaning. “That must be how they knew you had it on you tonight. They followed you. Peter must have called them. He’s been working for Alaric.” I stared, random events slowly joining into one bigger picture in my mind, mentally erasing questions from my list as the answers became apparent. Peter’s rich investor was Alaric. I began to shake my head, arguing that Peter would have been unconscious, but then I remembered the power the bracelet had given him. Maybe the dragons had been waiting for him when he got home, and woken him up to get the information.