The Twiceborn Queen (The Proving Book 2) (18 page)

We turned down a narrow road and followed Garth around a series of tight bends that switchbacked down a steep hill. Trees hung over the road, and there were no streetlights. It was very dark. When the road straightened out again Garth slowed. In the valley at the bottom, cradled by the surrounding hills, the road ended at a pair of heavy iron gates.

“Are we here?” Lachie sat up straighter and peered at the darkness outside the window. I’d told him we were moving to a bigger house, with a pool for him to swim in, which had met with approval, but there was little for him to see. High brick walls surrounded the property, and the sturdy gates were shut.

Garth pulled into the drive and stopped before the gates. He wound down his window and spoke into the intercom under the watchful eye of the camera mounted in the wall above. In a moment the gates swung open without a sound, and the two cars headed up the drive. Lachie swivelled round in his seat to watch the gates close behind us, but I braced myself for the first view of the house.

It was just as I remembered—a large symmetrical structure, with a two-storeyed central section flanked by single storey wings, now lit up like a Christmas tree with floodlights. The wings were originally guest quarters, but these days they were used as staff quarters for the men. More of it sprawled behind; the bulk of the house couldn’t even be seen from here. At the back, also out of sight, was a garage and two separate cottages, a pool house as big as our old home in the suburbs, and an enormous stables complex. Originally the property had been a horse stud, but since Leandra bought it the stables had lain empty. Fields and dressage and training rings stretched out behind that, almost to the base of the hills, invisible in the dark. The whole valley belonged to me.

The house looked as it always had, with no sign of the damage that had ripped through it last year. In spite of myself my gaze was drawn to the window of my old bedroom, where I’d come so close to death, and I looked away with a shudder. One day Jason would pay for that betrayal.

But first I had to find the bastard. None of Garth’s contacts, or Trevor’s, had heard as much as a whisper of his whereabouts. The last I’d seen of him was when he’d come so close again to damn near killing me on New Year’s Eve in the battle at Valeria’s house. And then I’d turned dragon and had to forgo the pleasure of stomping his miserable human form into jelly to go save Lachie. Shame I hadn’t had the time. A bit of jelly-stomping would have eased the sting I still felt at his numerous betrayals. Being back here made me conscious of them all over again.

Steve came out to meet us, a worried look on his tanned face. I’d rung him on the ride out to give him a brief rundown of events and make sure he was prepared with first aid. He helped Mac from the other car. She hunched over in pain, looking like a child wearing her father’s clothes. Wonder whose suitcase she’d raided. Garth got out and came around to take her from Steve. The big werewolf’s face was grim but his hands were gentle. She leaned heavily on him as he guided her up the front steps, taking them one at a time.

Ben watched her go. “Bet she’ll be bouncing off the walls by tomorrow.”

His bitter tone caught my attention. For someone who’d been around shifters his whole life, his resentment seemed a bit over the top. I took a deep breath. “It still hurts, you know. It’s not like shifters get off scot-free.”

As he well knew. He shrugged and followed them inside without comment. His arm must be on fire after getting thrown around like that, which clearly wasn’t improving his mood any. Lachie got out of the car, yawning. I could understand Ben’s feelings of impotence. I hated the feeling of helplessness tonight’s attack had brought on, and I at least had my dragon powers to fall back on. But even they’d been no use as I stood there, useless as tits on a bull, while Luce threatened my son. Ben had always been such a capable guy too, used to taking the lead. Being forced to rely on others must be doing his head in.

Steve walked beside me, laden with suitcases. “I’ve got a room set up for Mac in the east wing. Garth says he doesn’t think she’ll need stitches, just rest. Great to be a werewolf, huh?”

God, not him too. I shot an exasperated look at the big half-Maori. Was everybody jealous of the shifters all of a sudden? “See if you still think so come full moon. Did you pick up anything on police radio?”

“Several units despatched to the house, including ambulance and fire. Someone called in a shooting, and there was a bit of chatter about a dragon. They’ve got the street blocked off at the moment while they wait for the bomb squad.”

“They think it was a bomb?” Better than blaming leshies for the destruction, I guess.

“Just looking for evidence, I think, given the type of damage. How bad was it?”

“Pretty localised. Messy, though. I can see why they might think it was a bomb. Any word on survivors?”

It was a long shot, but even so my heart sank when he shook his head.

“Three charred bodies in the street, one dead in the house and one out back.” His tone was unemotional, but his dark eyes reflected my own pain back at me. He and Eric had been friends for a long time.

I sighed. What a night. He left the bags in the grand foyer and went back for more, leaving Lachie and me alone under the glittering chandelier. A wide staircase carpeted in a rich red swept up to the next level. The foyer alone was nearly the size of our old house in the suburbs, and the white-tiled hallway it opened into seemed to stretch off into infinity. Such a big house, with so few of us left. Losing both Eric and Rob in one night was a heavy blow.

I looked down into my son’s exhausted face. Life had to go on. “Bed.”

“Can’t I look at the pool?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Can I have a hot chocolate then? It might help me sleep.” He put on his best pleading face. Dark circles ringed his eyes, though he’d napped in the car.

“You don’t need hot chocolate. You look like you’re about to fall asleep on your feet.”

His bottom lip quivered ever so slightly. “But my head hurts.”

Poor kid. It had been a rough night for him too.

“Okay. But no taking all night to drink it. Ten minutes, and then you’re going to bed.”

I led him through the foyer, past the majestic staircase and down the hall towards the gleaming steel kitchen at the back of the house. On the way we passed the security room, its door standing open. Alex sat at the desk, surrounded by monitors, his face screwed up in concentration. His blond hair was shaved as short as Garth’s, and the long scab on the back of his head was clearly visible.

“Wow.” Lachie’s eyes grew huge. “What are all those screens for?”

“Camera feeds,” said Alex. “To make sure no one sneaks up on us. How’s your head, champ? I heard you took a hit. Just like me, eh?” He rubbed ruefully at the healing scar, where he’d been knocked out at the disastrous “meeting” with Carl Davison—was that only two days ago? It felt like forever.

Lachie grinned. “We’re twins! Can you show me the cameras?”

“Tomorrow,” I said firmly. “Or don’t you want that hot chocolate any more?”

The kitchen was big enough to cater a function for a hundred and boasted a bank of commercial-sized ovens, plus enough refrigerators to chill down a dozen bodies. Not that we used them for that, of course. In the daytime the long windows looked out across green fields to the distant tree-covered hills, but now their black rectangles made me feel exposed.

I found hot chocolate and some children’s Panadol in the huge walk-in pantry, which the guys had stocked with all the essentials, plus every kind of junk food known to man. Maybe they thought those were essentials too, although Dave might have something to say about that. I shut the door before Lachie could see it and get any ideas. I soon had him sitting at the long kitchen table sipping from a steaming mug.

A couple of minutes later Steve and Dave came in from putting the cars away. Soon Ben joined us, everyone gravitating to the big kitchen, searching for companionship. Though we were all tired, no one was ready to sleep yet.

It seemed as if there should be some kind of rite for our fallen friends, something we could say that would help. Their empty seats left a big gap in our little company.

“Where’s Garth?” I asked in an effort to break the gloomy silence.

“With Mac. Still getting her settled,” said Ben. “What’ve you got there, mate? Smells good.”

“Hot chocolate,” Lachie said. “Want some?”

“Think I might have some coffee.” Then he saw the coffee machine, all tubes and dials in gleaming steel. “Or not. Bloody hell. Do you need a licence to drive that thing?”

“Here, get out of the way,” said Dave, pushing him aside. “Let the professional handle this.”

When the coffee was ready Dave took a cup down the hall for Alex. When he returned he was carrying a laptop, Garth hot on his heels.

“Check this out. It just came up on YouTube.”

“How’s Mac?” I asked Garth as we shifted so we could all see the screen.

“Sleeping. She’ll be fine in a couple of days.”

At least that was good news. I sighed and focused on the laptop screen. Dark and blurry footage of the scene outside the house in The Rocks began. Great. Of course someone had filmed it. It was Murphy’s bloody law.

“Guess the leshies did us a favour knocking out the power,” Garth said.

Unusual for him to find a bright side to anything, but it was true. It was hard to tell what was happening in the dark. I saw myself change and leap across the street, but if I hadn’t known what I was looking at it could have been anything. It was nothing but blurred shapes in the gloom. Then flame burst from my mouth, lighting up the scene. The person holding the camera had obviously jumped violently at that point, as the footage wavered and briefly showed the top of a window and part of a ceiling—but there’d been a glimpse of my dragon head first.

Strange, to see myself like that. Part of me knew that was my face. Recognised the glittering golden scales, the flared nostrils on the long reptilian snout. Felt comfortable with the flat, unblinking gaze of those eyes. Another part of me thought it looked like something out of a nightmare, and couldn’t get past the teeth. My God, those teeth! As long as your forearm. Such a monster shouldn’t exist.

The footage was angled as if it had been shot from a high window further down the street. The burning leshy was on the very edge of the shot. The flames only briefly illuminated the massive dragon body as it stalked past to poke its head down the alley. That was when I’d incinerated the other two leshies, but their deaths were off camera.

Dragonfire rapidly consumed the first leshy. As the flames died darkness fell on the street again, so it wasn’t clear what happened to the enormous dragon. One minute it was there, the next gone. Movement in the shadows by the ruined step announced the arrival of Luce, though the scuffle that followed soon after was lost in darkness. Then two cars roared away from the scene, their headlights jiggling wildly as the cars bounced over the broken road. Though the footage lasted a moment more, I couldn’t tell what had happened in the fight between Luce and the mysterious stranger. Was it too much to hope the stranger had left Luce alive?

Garth scowled at the screen as the footage finished. “I don’t trust that woman.”

“Me either,” said Ben. “Once could be coincidence, but twice?”

“So she’s watching us,” I said. It wasn’t a crime, and she wouldn’t be the only one. “If all she does is save our arses, I’m not going to complain too loudly.”

“Why doesn’t she join us then, if she wants to help? What’s with all the lurking in the shadows crap?” The big werewolf folded his arms. “I don’t like having randoms going off half-cocked all over the place.”

No, he wouldn’t. He didn’t like surprises. Worse still, he’d hate the fact that both times he hadn’t even known she was there till she chose to reveal herself.

He sighed. “Well, at least the video’s better than the New Year’s Eve footage. You can’t see much. Elizabeth shouldn’t be too upset.”

I snorted. “Elizabeth is already doing her best to—” I almost said
kill me
, but caught myself in time, aware of Lachie listening to every word. “To shut us down. It can’t get any worse.”

“Of course it can!” Ben protested. “Detective Hartley—”

“How’s that hot chocolate going?” I interrupted.

Lachie looked up guiltily, a chocolate milk moustache decorating his upper lip. Despite being ten years old, he still couldn’t seem to eat or drink without leaving traces of his meal all over himself. He tipped the cup to show me it was still a quarter full. He’d been drinking as slowly as possible, trying to stave off bedtime, though his eyelids were drooping. “Not finished yet.”

“Drink up, then. Time’s up.”

Ben clamped his lips on what he wanted to say as I shepherded Lachie toward the door, but his frustration was clear. I paused next to him, urging Lachie ahead with a gentle push.

“Is this still about me taking trueshape?” I kept my voice low.

“It’s the last thing you should be doing! You don’t need that kind of attention. It’s too dangerous.”

“So’s getting killed in the street. I had no choice.”

“There’s always another choice.”

Garth and the others hung back awkwardly, trying to look as if they weren’t listening.

“‘Do nothing’ isn’t a choice, Ben. That’s refusing to choose. Sometimes I only get a crap option and a crappier one, but I still have to pick one, because I’m responsible. I might have dragged you all into it, but this is my fight, and I don’t get to sit it out.”

His eyes glinted with frustration. He would have to learn that he couldn’t protect me any more. “I think you just like being a dragon. You
like
taking trueshape. Admit it.”

“And I think
you
can’t accept what I am.” I forced myself to swallow my anger. I couldn’t change the fact that I was a dragon, but I refused to let it define me. I could still have a disagreement with someone without wanting to bite their head off. Literally. “But there’s no point discussing it now. What’s done is done, and plastered all over the Internet already. Let’s all get some sleep and deal with the fallout tomorrow.”