Hour of the Dragon - Heather Killough-Walden Page 0,80

a time like this… stupid kiss-breaking spell of all things… how old does he think I am?”

Ares stared after her. And stared. And he kept staring, even after she’d hastily made a beeline for the hallway and disappeared.

And then he blinked, and as his emotional reaction tried to decide whether it was amused, disgusted, seriously impressed or a healthy dose of all three, he remembered that the candy closet was down that hallway. And she was probably already back inside it by now.

Ares swore softly and broke into a run after her.

Chapter Twenty-five – Private Warden Meeting, Transport Located

“I’m really not kidding even a little bit,” growled Conall Tiarnahn. “I want my warden brought back here safe and sound, and I want her brought back now.”

“She’s unharmed, damn it,” Jacob Crow told him in a placating but serious tone. Cain could see he was trying to remain stoic and calm, but for very good reason, he felt strongly about this particular issue. “We know she’s one of yours. Okay? We get that. That’s not at debate here. But you can’t put her in chains, can you?”

Cain almost smiled at that for all sorts of reasons. But it was a clever choice of words if Crow was trying to make the Draco clan leader recognize the improper possessiveness of his behavior.

“You have to give the girl some space right now,” Crow continued. “She’s got some things to take care of.”

“No, your clansman has some things to take care of, but it’s just too fucking bad if he thinks he needs to take care of them with a member of my goddamn team!”

He was close to losing it. But so was Crow.

The two open portals on either end of the meeting room, which was literally held in a random location unknown to everyone there, were held open by circumstantial magic. They would remain open for the duration of the meeting, providing quick escape should any of them be called for an emergency job. It happened a lot, and more frequently of late. Cain reckoned that was Maze’s doing.

But right now Cain was glad for the portals in general; they reminded the two men at the center of the room that this was a friendly gathering – no one was on the losing side and everyone had a way out.

He watched his second-in-command run a hand through his black hair, fisting it slightly in frustration. He was more agitated than the situation should give him cause to be, in fact. Cain wondered whether the man could sense Cain’s mood or was simply worried for the same reasons Cain was.

Time was pressing in on them. The crowd back in Austin was restless, anxious. Something big had gone down after they’d left, and Cain’s presence was being requested by powerful people. Requested was perhaps too gentle a term for it.

He really wanted to let the two men in front of him sort this out. Crow had a vested interest in how other wardens and their leaders handled this kind of situation. His own mate came from another clan, one with a leader who was rightfully protective of his team. Talk was tense between the two and tempers were tethered on short, very taut strings. So Jacob Crow had every cause to help inter-clan relationships run a little more smoothly.

He had to admit it was noteworthy that two of his men found themselves in this predicament timed so closely together. But given the history of powerful supernaturals in the Storyteller’s multiverse and the manner in which they seemed to find love – and trouble – he couldn’t exactly claim to be surprised. He just needed to be prepared.

And right now, he needed to step in.

It was time to be diplomatic. For all intents and purposes, a member of one clan had been abducted by a member of another. Even dating other wardens was frowned upon, and for the most part that was for good reason. It went without saying that kidnapping them was just a touch worse. Cain was surprised no one had yet come to blows. It said something for warden training, and for Conall’s discipline.

“Conall,” Cain said softly, immediately drawing the man’s attention. Cain uncrossed his arms and calmly pushed off from where he had been leaning against the strangely shifting but solid wall of the meeting room. “Antares is crossing all sorts of lines, and that’s just a fact.” He shrugged easily, keeping his tone very, very even. “You aren’t aware of the