The Leopard King (22 page)

“What for?” Beren demanded.

“I’ll have eyes on site in five hours and forty-two minutes.”

“What about your fucking lockdown?”

“Drone bypass,” Dom said. “I’m pretty sure I said nobody in or out. Not no machines.”

“Maybe you’re not as dumb as I thought. I’m texting you longitude and latitude. Are you in the ops center?”

“Yes.”

“Let me know when the infernal gizmo gets close. I’ll head over. But won’t this take a lot of time, keeping track?”

Dom offered a weary smile to Magda and Slay, who were unabashedly eavesdropping. “I’ll do it. All things considered, I wouldn’t be sleeping much tonight anyway.”

“W
here are you?”
Pru practiced the question in the mirror.

No, too confrontational.
She paced in the bedroom, fretting over whether she should call Dom, but it was past midnight. Really, he should’ve messaged her if he didn’t plan to come back, and she had no idea where the lines were drawn.
Am I supposed to worry… or not?

Finally, she took a breath and dialed. “Is everything all right?”

“Oh, shit. Pru.” From his tone, he’d completely forgotten that she existed.

Awesome.

“I’m so sorry. I’m tied up in the ops center and won’t be back tonight.”

This time, she didn’t swallow her ire. “Next time, message me. Or call. I’d like to know whether you’re coming home or not.”

“It’s my fault. I won’t do it again. I’m sorry, but I have to get back to it. Things are a mess. I’ll tell you more later.” With that, he disconnected.

Her dad had gone to bed an hour ago, disgruntled with the lockdown. Still, it was good to see him eating well and sleeping enough, even under these circumstances. Pru could’ve retired without guilt, but when she thought of Dom’s dinner in the fridge, it didn’t seem right; he probably hadn’t eaten yet. Plus, she admitted to a certain curiosity about Beren’s visit and what new catastrophe it portended.

I won’t sleep without checking in anyway.
Thus decided, she warmed his food and packed it up, along with a thermos of strong tea. He’d need the boost to stay alert through the night. She slipped out of the apartment with his lunchbox and navigated the silent residential building.

Outside, a light snow was falling, dusting her hair with dainty ice crystals. The night seemed to hide all kinds of secrets, and she shivered a bit as she hurried down the walkways that crisscrossed Ash Valley. A few times, she thought she glimpsed a shadow in her peripheral vision, but possibly it was just her nerves. Normally Pru didn’t roam around so late. Of course, the hold was also lousy with Noxblades, one of whom had reason to want her dead.

The admin building was locked at this hour, but Pru entered her personal security code, hoping Caio had upgraded her status. Sure enough, he was as efficient as he was old school, and the door clicked open. She pulled it firmly shut behind her and hurried through the eerily silent halls toward the ops center. Through the frosted glass, she made out Dom hunched over the console, chin propped on his hand.

Well, he’s certainly not living it up without me.

Quietly, she rapped on the door. He jolted in his chair and swiveled to stare at her. But he quickly motioned her in and turned back to the screen. As Pru came in, the image resolved to a low-resolution live feed being shot by what she guessed was a drone. Setting his meal on the table, she leaned in for a better look.

“What’s going on?”

In a few words, Dom summarized the issues. “So that’s where we are. Beren was here earlier, but so far, the drone hasn’t spotted combat or corpses.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Not necessarily. If the Golgoth slaughtered the bear’s scouts, they might have also concealed the bodies, so it’ll take more than a hovering camera to spot them.”

“Then what’re you trying to accomplish here?”

Dom groaned, but he didn’t look away from the monitor. “I thought I might learn that the situation isn’t as bad as Beren thinks… that maybe I can still save the conclave.”

“All right,” Pru said. “If you’re looking for combat or corpses, I can take over while you have a dinner break.”

“Dinner… did I have lunch?” Since he didn’t seem to remember, she shooed him out of the seat and took his spot.

“Just eat. I’ve got this.”

“I can’t believe you came over. You should be in bed.”

“Why?” Pru asked.

But Dom was too busy shoveling food to respond. He scraped all the containers clean and guzzled half the tea before he seemed ready to focus on words again. Though she studied the screen that whole time, the drone didn’t show her anything but darkness, trees, and bushes. It was probably a long shot that they’d learn anything this way, yet she understood why her mate would be clutching at straws.

“Actually… I’m glad you’re here,” Dom said, once he finished.

“Tired of watching? If you want to rest—”

“I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a whisper of that, but more importantly, there are a couple of things we should discuss.”

That conversational gambit struck Pru as a gentler version of
We need to talk,
and that never went anywhere good. But… he wasn’t wrong. So without taking her eyes off the shifting landscape, she said, “I agree. Is it all right if I go first?”

“Of course.”

“I know you apologized over what happened at the columbarium, and my gut reaction was to wave it away and smile and act like it didn’t bother me. But… I’ve been thinking about how I said we need to be honest and… well, I
was
hurt. I’m not saying you did anything wrong. I meant that. But it wasn’t right for me to act like something was nothing. If that makes sense.”

“I guessed that.” Since she wasn’t looking at him, she didn’t see him move, but suddenly his chair was close, and he wrapped his arms about her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. “But it’s good to hear you confirm it. I’ve been worried since then that things were not okay between us. Which brings me to my next point.”

Pru raised a hand to stroke his cheek. Until this moment, she hadn’t realized the core of dread that had settled inside her or how much she feared the threat of emotional distance. “You have my full attention. Let’s clear the air.”

“I’d rather have you chew me out than hide it when I hurt you. The best thing about us is the fact that we’re friends first, and we’ve always been straight with each other. Over time, petty shit could poison what we’ve built. I hate wondering how you feel. I hate suspecting you planned a party and chose not to invite me.”

That almost made her turn around; only recollecting how critical this could be to the fate of the conclave and the Animari overall kept her watching this damned monotonous drone feed. Covering his hand with hers, she explained how the breakfast came about.

“That’s just how my family is. My dad wanted to go for a run, and it spiraled from there.”

“Can we both promise to do better and call it even?”

Pru smiled. “That sounds fair. It’s inevitable that we’ll rub each other wrong. The important part is how we deal with the aftermath.”

“I really like it when you come across so levelheaded and wise.”

“Yeah?”

“Most definitely. Hang on a sec, I have an idea.”

Letting go of her, Dom got up and dragged one of the armchairs from the meeting room and deposited it in front of the terminal. He dropped into it with a weary sigh and opened his arms. There was no reason to feel shy, but she did a little, as she slipped from her seat into his arms. She’d never been cuddled on somebody’s lap before, but it felt fantastic. His arms encircled her with a palpable tenderness, then Dom kissed her temple.

“You feel good. Smell better. I’ve been cooped up with Beren and Slay all evening.”

“Seems like an apt penalty for neglecting your wife. Can you see the screen?”

“Does it matter? You’re watching for me, right?”

“If you’d filled me in sooner, I would’ve been here hours ago.”

“At first, I didn’t want to worry you until I knew more, and then I just got wrapped up in this. After you do it for a while, it becomes strangely hypnotic.”

Given how the drone cam swayed and buzzed, she could see falling into a fugue state. “I’ll let it go this time. Just don’t forget what I said about halving your burdens.”

He let out a soft sigh, tickling the hair near her ear. “I’m afraid that by morning, they’ll be too heavy for even the two of us together to lift.”

“Oh shit,” Pru
muttered.

Dom jerked awake, slightly disoriented, but gratified to find his mate still curled up in his arms. “What’s wrong?”

“Combat. These are definitely Beren’s men, and I’m not positive, but those look like Golgoth on the attack.”

“Where is this?” Gently, he shifted her off his lap and got his phone, sending messages to Slay, Magda, and Beren at once.

This won’t help the conclave. But it’s proof. I can’t carry on with the lockdown. It’s time to admit that the conclave has failed.

Fate forgive me.

Pru rattled off the coordinates, her gaze locked with abject horror on the violence unfolding. It was hard to make out numbers, but this didn’t seem to be a limited engagement. Someone was shouting orders as the scouts went bear, and the enemy responded with the most horrific shift Dom had ever seen. No one creature was the same, and they were easily twice the size of the largest grizzly, like reptile demons, or shit, he didn’t even know what: thick scales, horns and tusks, grotesque plates and protrusions. A bear went down beneath the heavy onslaught, and blood spattered the drone.

Pru shuddered. “This can’t be happening.”

“Stay focused. Are you recording?”

She checked the equipment and nodded quickly. “We have hours of boring shit. But this is all that matters, and I’ve got it.”

Nodding, he picked up Slay’s call. “Yeah, it’s certain. Round up all the key players. No honor guards. I don’t care if you have to drag Talfayen here by his hair.”

Something boomed off camera, and then the drone went dark, nothing but gray snow shimmering on screen. As Dom swore, Pru queued up the footage, then rearranged the room to hide the fact that they’d spent most of the night curled up together. He didn’t give two shits if someone saw, but she seemed to think it would detract somehow.

Raff arrived first, but Dom wouldn’t give any information. He waited until Beren, Alastor, and finally Talfayen assembled in the ops center. His heart thundered in his ears, but this was the only move left. There was no way he could deceive the bear lord, and the rest of the leaders had to know too.

“What’s this about?” Talfayen demanded. “You have some fucking nerve dragging us out of our beds—”

“Enough.” The word carried substantial bite, so that the Eldritch bastard actually shut up. “Just watch this. I don’t think I’ll need to explain.”

Pru took the cue and played the two minutes they’d collected before the drone went dead. The room got ominously quiet, and then everyone got a visual lock on Alastor, who put up his hands with a convincing aspect of innocence. “I don’t know anything about that. I have no idea why there are troops moving on bear territory. I was tasked with handling our role in the peace talks. If we intended to abandon the Pax Protocols, why would they bother sending me at all?”

“To waste our time,” Raff snarled, lunging at the Golgoth prince.

Magda grabbed his arm, and the wolf lord cared enough about her opinion that he stood down with another menacing snap of his teeth. The security chief pointed to the frozen image on screen. “Explain that, Your Highness. We saw the change. You want to claim those are men in costume or something?”

The Golgoth royal squared his shoulders as if bracing for an attack. “I never said I could elucidate. I have
no more
information than you.”

Uncharacteristically quiet, Beren was still staring at the carnage on screen, just a few seconds before that vicious blood spatter. “Get that bastard out of here or I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”

Slay evidently took this at face value. “You should go.”

“I’ll escort him back to his quarters,” Magda offered.

But Prince Alastor pulled away from her firm hold and faced off against Beren. “If you wish to challenge me, go ahead. Otherwise, I have the same right to attend this meeting as the rest of you.”

A duel would just make things worse, so Dom headed this off. “I have a couple of things to say first. Then we can all go our separate ways.” He glanced between Beren and Alastor. “Is that all right with both of you?”

They nodded grudgingly.

“Fine. At this point, there’s no reason for me to pretend the conclave can go forward. Fact: Lord Talfayen’s nephew died on my watch. Fact: the Golgoth attacked the bear clan. That means the Pax Protocols are irreparably broken, and we’re living in lawless times, the like of which nobody here can even remember.”

“Tell us something we don’t know,” Raff muttered.

“I’m done trying to sort this shit out. Lockdown is over. It’s four in the morning, and you can leave as soon as you get ready. I’ll make it clear to the guards on the gate that we won’t interfere. Just know this… I don’t warranty your safety once you leave these walls. If Prince Alastor doesn’t know what his people are doing, who does? We haven’t been patrolling the last few days, so I can’t say how it is out there.”

“Are you trying to frighten me, cub?” Beren’s scowl didn’t even faze him.

I’m so tired of this crap.

Dom went on like the old bear hadn’t spoken. “Understand that we will defend our territory, and we’ll be assessing economic agreements on an individual basis. We
will
embargo all trade with hostile states. That means no wine, no produce, and definitely none of our proprietary technology, so I hope your systems are in good repair.”

The wolf lord smirked. “Yeah? How’s your drone inventory holding up?”

For a moment, he wondered why the other Animari seemed determined to fuck with him at such a critical time. “Finally, if you leave the hold and encounter trouble, we will not send aid. We will not undertake rescue missions. Even if we’ve been on good terms prior, if you leave without renewing peace agreements, then go to hell your own way because I’m done.”