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“Not sure.” Rowan answered as she held her hands up in surrender, “We meant no harm; we just saw that your fight put innocent civilians in the line of fire. Your magic should return to normal within the hour.”

A man with skin that reminded her of dark desert sand and bright emerald eyes was the first to stand up. It was only then that Rowan realized they had all reverted to their human forms completely naked.

The part of her kept under wraps during missions for work wanted to show her appreciation, but the professional side of her demanded she avert her eyes to focus on his face.

“How serious was the extent of the damage?”

Well, that made one thing clear: the dragons hadn’t been aware of their destructive chaos. Rowan turned to Louisa, who was unabashedly roving her own ruby red eyes all over the naked man’s body.

“How bad was the damage, Louisa?” Rowan repeated the question while she pinched the woman’s arm.

Louisa sent her a glare as she rubbed the reddening spot before collecting herself enough to deliver the report, “The estate was in shambles by the time we showed up. The gate is obliterated, but you only got to two stores outside the entrance. No deaths. Two are in critical condition, and about a dozen civilians and police officers received treatment before being let go. As far as physical damage, that’s it, but it’s your reputation that took a much more serious hit. Dragons are protectors, not…” she trailed off, and her ruby - red eyes scanned the surrounding grounds.

“Not monsters out of control.” The man finished, and he turned his fierce sight onto Rowan. “Who are you?”

She only then recognized the confusion in the man’s eyes. A spellcaster who could accomplish what she just had should have been recognizable, but for as many years as she had been mastering her craft, she had been toeing a dangerously thin line of being anonymous or acclaimed. A chafing fact of her life that stung as she answered, “Just concerned citizens.” Before waving her hand and phasing herself, Kin and Louisa back to the office.

Kin’s usual attempt at staying incognito when they worked in the public eye was using glamor to change the appearance ofhis face. Much like Rowan, he kept a low profile whenever the cameras popped into action. His ability to remain totally anonymous made him indispensable in Rowan’s life, as her pride sometimes begged her to reveal her name to the world despite the hovering circumstances.

“You can take people’s powers?” His scowl was his sign of ultimate displeasure. Rowan was used to seeing it, so it didn’t quite have the same effect it would on strangers.

Louisa slid into one of the two wingback chairs reserved for visiting guests and crossed her legs. “She didn’t take their powers. She took the magic from nature itself, which is what juices up the dragons. The real question is whether they’ll go berserk again as soon as they fill back up.”

Rowan crossed her arms. “I heard some sort of wind instrument playing the same melody that was in their head. Once it stopped, so did the dragons. My gut says they’re connected.”

Kin’s face rearranged itself to its natural state of sharp cheekbones and tidy goatee in an eerie, jigsaw fashion. “Do you two think you’re just going to skate over the whole draining part of this?” he asked, placing his hands on his hips. “Since when have you been able to drain the power out of nature so completely that fifty dragons couldn’t juice back up?”

“We’ve added two new nulling charms to my regimen. I think Master Japhet was right; my strength is increasing at an exponential rate.”

It chafed. She liked the idea of being strong, but the true extent of her powers had been on lockdown since the first time she’d ever run into the Coven. They’d shown an uncomfortable interest in training her themselves. The last thing she wanted was to be a stooge for the world’s biggest gang that ran underthe cover of keeping the world “safe”. In reality, they were just master hoarders of power.

“Do you think The Coven noticed?” She cringed just thinking about her visit with the Elder’s granddaughter later.

“Maybe they weren’t paying attention to your magical signature.” Louisa tried to comfort.

Kin rolled his eyes. “Do you really believe they’re not monitoring it with your meeting scheduled today?” He seemed taken aback by whatever crawled on her face at his words.

Years of witnessing stronger-than-usual mystics ripped from their families at the Coven’s insistence that their lack of training and supervision would be detrimental to the safety of the public had filled her with nightmares.

Her father made sure she remained aware of the outcomes of each case since she’d been old enough to understand. Each time, it was as heartbreaking as it was enraging.

Kin’s next words came out softer, “But they will have a hard time proving it when they hard-wire you to the power test unit.”

Louisa sighed, “We really need to find a spellcaster stronger than you for that concealment charm.”

Rowan’s fingers touched the gold jewelry absentmindedly.

“For the moment, we have to hope what we have on it is enough. That’s a matter for another day, though. Today, I need to make sure your combined client entertainment budget hasn’t cut too far into our profits this quarter.” He threw them both an icy glare before stalking out of the office.

“Didn’t we dine and wine those jerks under his instructions?” Louisa stuck her tongue out at the empty doorway before herposture softened, and she turned to Rowan. “He is right. You’ve already surpassed my mother. It was a blissful two weeks when she wouldn’t talk to me with how angry she was.”

Rowan sighed. “I just hope when the Coven decides I’m too big a threat, that they leave my family out of it.”

“Hey, if they make a move against you, they make a move against the North American Brood, the Eastern Elven Kingdom, and Master Jah. They know better.”

Rowan smiled and squeezed the vampiress’ hand as she walked to her own chair.

The Eastern Elven Kingdom would indeed go to war for one of its princesses. But the vampires and the excommunicated Master who had once been her mentor were up in the air.