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“Yes, shekels of Tyre. I have thousands in my hoard. They’re not hard to come by for anyone who was alive during that time period.”
“Great. That’ll certainly narrow it down.” The problem I had with finding suspects had everything to do with age. As the centuries wore on, fewer and fewer Drakán were born. So the older Drakán far outnumbered the young.
“Have you found many remains with the silver embedded in them?” Julian asked.
“I’ve only found the remains of one Drakán, period. Your Jillian. All of the other crime scenes I saw were human, and if The Destroyer is truly forming an army, then it makes sense that these humans were simply meals. But it’s impossible to know about the other clans and their missing Drakán. There could be hundreds of remains scattered all over the world, and I wouldn’t know about it unless I had a vision like I did with Jillian. I’m still not completely sure why I dreamed of her.”
“It’s because she was connected to me. Even before you and I met for the first time, we were destined to be with each other. You recognized my power through her.”
“Oh.” His explanation made sense, and it was nice to have at least one of my questions answered. “As far as any other Drakán remains, you know as well as anyone that the other clans don’t use my position as Enforcer. The Archos all choose to try and handle the problems themselves, or ignore them completely, just to keep me from coming into their territory. You’ve all made it very difficult to do my job over the centuries.”
“Yes, we have,” he said softly.
I put eight pieces of silver into a Ziploc bag, and then I went about the task of shoveling the remains of the four Drakán into separate wooden boxes, no bigger than a shoebox. There was nothing left to do for them except return them to their families and send them off in ceremony to the Realm of the Dead.
“Xana will take care of it,” Julian said as I began to transport everything back to his car.
He lifted the small boxes from my arms and gave them to Xana. He tossed her the keys to his car with a flick of his wrist and grabbed for me. I dodged out of his way before he could take hold.
“Oh, no. I’m not doing that again,” I said. “I’ll ride back with Xana.”
Julian’s lips twitched, and I swore if he laughed at me that he was going to be sorry. He moved with a speed I could only envy and grabbed me around the waist. I didn’t have time to fight back before we dematerialized into nothing.
We reappeared back inside the deep cavern built under the Chateau de Longévité. My head spun and I gasped for breath as I checked to make sure all my body parts had reassembled correctly. Julian sat on the edge of his desk, completely in control of himself, while I struggled to get things together.
“Stop doing that,” I growled. Nausea roiled in my stomach, and my dragon was agitated and bumping against me, which wasn’t helping matters any.
“It is a waste of time to drive in a car when I have a power such as this. Especially when it’s a matter of urgency.”
“What? Big bad Julian hasn’t figured out how to stop time completely?”
The corners of his mouth quirked in my direction, no doubt amused. “I will ignore your unpleasantness for now. I find that becoming lifemated has made me quite agreeable.”
I sputtered at his insult, and finally closed my eyes. I had to get my anger under control. New or uncomfortable situations always brought on my dragon rage. I opened my shields, trying to draw on the calmness Julian was presenting, but I gasped as his magic practically crackled off his skin. He wasn’t calm at all. The fury inside him was wielding a double-edged sword as it hacked viciously at his temper.
His rage swelled bigger and stronger, but had no outlet. Guilt weighed him down so heavily I thought I might drown in it. He hadn’t been able to save his people. Hadn’t kept his promise of protection. And he blamed himself for their deaths.
Julian rushed by me in a blur, and the walls trembled with his fury. Stone crumbled, and his most precious possessions flew from the shelves and shattered into millions of pieces. The floor cracked into fissures beneath my feet, and water seeped through the cracks. He whirled like a cyclone, leaving nothing but destruction in his path. He left no corner unturned. And I didn’t try to stop him.
It was easy to understand in hindsight how I’d thought him cold and cruel upon our first meeting. In truth, he was anything but. His responsibility as Archos was great. And he approached his duty with the respect it deserved. I knew for a fact that Alasdair didn’t feel for his people the way Julian did for his own. Alasdair loved the power. And he loved the yearly tax he was paid from each of his subjects to add to his hoard.
It was then I remembered that Julian came from true Drakán royalty. His father should have been king. And Julian should be king now.
He stood with his back to me against the far wall. His hands were splayed over the rough stone and his shoulders heaved with every breath. I didn’t know what to do for him. How to tell him that I finally understood.
I approached him slowly, avoiding the remains of his treasures as I went. I placed my hands on his back and felt the shudder that ran through him. I stroked him gently, calming his beast with my touch.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. It was inadequate, but it was all I had to give him. I didn’t like to see him hurt, and all I could think was that it was my duty to take his pain away. I ran kisses along his shoulder blades and put my arms around him in a hug.
The fight seemed to go out of him in a great whoosh, and I turned him so that he faced me. His expression was back to the impenetrable mask he wore when he didn’t want anyone to know what he was thinking. I leaned up slowly, keeping my eyes steady on his as he watched me warily.
“Is this normal?” I asked. “This need I have for you?”
“I think so,” he said, the anger inside him seeming to dissipate.
“I’ve never felt this before—this connection—as if I might die without you close to me. You pain is my pain. Your joy is my joy. Your desire is my desire.”
“The archives of old say that every time we mate it is like a new discovery. It will never get old. Our joining will become a necessity. Like breathing.”
