Page 11 of Dark Fire

The idea of Delaney going into business with Whistler was unsettling. Knowing the things he did about Whistler, Tevryn was sure whatever his business was, it was most likely corrupt, dangerous, or both. He wanted to warn her away from having anything to do with Whistler. He wanted to order her not to have anything to do with the bastard and be able to force her to obey him. As he had not claimed her as his eternal flame, though, he had no authority to do so.

There had been a time when dragons ruled and any dragon feeling called to his mate—be she human, dragon, or something else—simply took what was his, but that time was no more. For the sake of their brethren who had wished to live more simple lives in peace, all dragons, even those of the Phantom Fire, had agreed to follow the ways of others. But in Tevryn’s mind, it was not the way of dragons.

He wondered if Warrick and Falkor had felt this infernal attraction and found themselves at war within themselves between what others considered ‘right’ and what dragons saw as their right to claim their mate regardless of her feelings in the matter. Where drakaina were concerned, the fight was a little more fair and the lore of dragons was filled with drakaina who not only resisted but prevailed. But Delaney was not yet drakaina, and in any event, even though Tevryn would be the victor in any contest between them, claiming a human female was fraught with difficulties.

And then there was the whole matter of giving up his immortality, leaving the Phantom Fire, and giving his firstborn son to the brotherhood to take his place. The brotherhood had voted to keep both Falkor, as their leader, and Warrick, as first warrior, exempt from that rule. There was discussion amongst the rest of the group if the tradition that had been a cornerstone of their creation and that had sustained them for thousands of years was something they should get rid of altogether.

There were some who argued that those who claimed their eternal flame should be forced to give up their immortality but still be allowed to remain as a member of the brotherhood. But if they were no longer immortal, could they be as effective in battle? As it was now, there were only two ways to kill a dragon: beheading and a lethal wound with a weapon made from obsidian. And the decision about whether or not Falkor or Warrick would have their immortality taken had yet to be decided.

Then there was the whole concept of an ‘eternal flame.’ Until it had hit him between the eyes the other night, Tevryn had really questioned its existence. It seemed to him that it and the whole ‘fated mates’ concept of other shifters was simply a convenient excuse for men to take what was rightfully theirs by force if they had to. But the expectation that a warrior would give up other women and remain faithful to only one had to have been an idea forced upon men by the women they claimed. It seemed to Tevryn that it was unnatural.

He'd never had trouble finding female companionship, and on more than one occasion had shared a bed and his amorous attentions with two or more women. His brethren had cautioned him more than once against his wenching and drinking, but as it had never interfered with his skill and prowess in battle, he’d been able to ignore their concerns. He liked women.

That wasn’t necessarily true. He liked getting laid. He wasn’t at all sure that a single female—be she drakaina or not—could meet all his needs. Although he had to admit Warrick had often said the same, and his Dani seemed to have him completely enraptured and sated.

He was one of the ‘first sons,’ those who had been given to the Phantom Fire at the age of ten to be raised as a warrior in place of his father. There were still nights Tevryn could remember the anguish in his mother’s eyes and wails as the Phantom Fire had flown away with him. His father had been stoic about his own feelings but adamant that they had no choice but to give Tevryn up.

Tevryn had not wanted to go, and it had taken him several years to not only accept his fate but embrace it. He had tried running away, or more accurately, flying away, but his brothers had come after him and taken him back to Dragonwyk. But over the centuries, he had seen the need for the Phantom Fire and knew there was a war coming—one in which they would be needed to ensure that evil did not prevail.

But still, despite all his reservations regarding Delaney being his eternal flame, he was torn between needing to follow Whistler and finding a way to begin to insinuate himself into Delaney’s life. Duty or lust? That seemed to be the question. Duty should come first and were he able to simply claim Delaney as his own or already be involved with her, the question would be more than academic. Seeing as neither was the case, he supposed he ought to answer duty’s call and follow Whistler.

Paying his bill, Tevryn went out to his vehicle and began to follow Whistler. If Whistler went back to his office, Tevryn would be able to listen in to what was going on. As it was, he only had a GPS tracker on the vehicle and had yet to find a way to get to Whistler’s phone to put a hidden app on it which would allow him to listen in on the man’s phone conversations.

Speaking of things to do, he did need to set up surveillance on Delaney, as well. That, of course, he thought cheerfully would give him an excuse to return to her office and begin to insinuate himself in her life.

Whistler’s driver dropped the mogul off in front of the main entrance to the office; Tevryn hung back to see if Whistler would enter his office. If he did, there would be no reason for Tevryn to risk exposure in order to listen in. He found a place to park that offered good concealment with excellent reception and waited to see what he would learn.

He could hear a door opening and someone walking in. Good. Whistler had gone directly to his office. He would be able to monitor things electronically. The sound of feminine heels clicking along the flooring told Tevryn that most likely his executive secretary had followed in her boss’ wake.

“Mr. Whistler? I have a list of calls. Did the meeting with Ms. Pierce go well?” asked his executive secretary.

“Very. Get the legal department to start drafting an agreement and give this to Peterman. I need him to go over the numbers and make sure they’re solid. I would be surprised if they aren’t, but you know how pissy Peterman gets if he doesn’t think I’ve done our due diligence.”

“So, you liked her proposal? Was she amenable to placing the project where you wanted? Did she think it was feasible to build it into the side of the mountain itself?”

“It was interesting, as she’d found a parcel at the foot of the mountains. The girl has a unique knack for locating old building sites and incorporating them into a new structure. I doubt she understands the kind of power she can imbue a project with. She seems to be able to tap into the power without knowing it. So far, it’s only been small amounts, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with our project.”

I knew that sonofabitch was up to no good. Early on, Tevryn had been able to eliminate the other two suspects—a senile old man with a lot of money and nothing else to offer, and the governor of the state. As Falkor had said, the man had delusions of grandeur, and he couldn’t keep his mouth shut to save his life. Tevryn’s focus had become Whistler. The man was up to no good, and now he had involved Tevryn’s eternal flame.

It seemed that Whistler wanted his new manufacturing plant and planned development for his employees on an ancient site that he believed retained residual power. But where? There were many such places scattered throughout the world—holdovers from a time people believed in magic and more elemental forms of energy. Tevryn put his vehicle in gear and headed southeast back to Issaquah. It was a relatively short trip, especially at this hour of the day. It would only get worse as the afternoon wore on.

Once he was entering Issaquah, Tevryn found one of the many recreational areas, found an isolated spot and placed a call back to Dragonwyk.

“First, how is Kessily?” he asked as Falkor picked up.

“The healers tell me she is entering the earliest stages of labor. She has thrown everyone but me out, and I’m getting the evil side-eye from her so I could be next,” Falkor said, laughing.

Tevryn smiled. Maybe having an eternal flame wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to a dragon. Both Falkor and Warrick seemed to be, when he thought about it, much happier than he’d ever known them to be, and he’d known them a very long time. Falkor may not have enjoyed the temptations of the flesh as much as Warrick and Tevryn had, but even Warrick professed no interest in anyone but Dani, his eternal flame.

“What prompts your call, brother?” asked Falkor, bringing Tevryn’s musings to an end.

“As I said in my last report, I am convinced of the three men you wanted me to check out in King County, Elron Whistler is the one about whom we need to be the most concerned. Whistler has the money, brains, and the ambition. His past is fairly mysterious.”

“Dragon or other shifter?”

“I can’t tell, which is odd. I think he’s doing something to mask it. I haven’t been able to get close enough to single out his scent and really get a good sniff. There has been an interesting development.”

“Define ‘interesting,’” said Falkor.

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