Page 15

15

Az’zae l

M orning light streamed through the window, and Elle rolled over and snuggled closer to me, her blonde hair spilling across my chest. I cupped the back of her head with one palm and wrapped my wings around us both, savoring how well she fit on top of me.

We’d had a delightful date in the park, and she’d spend the night in my bed. Life couldn’t get more perfect. At least until she agreed to mate me.

A horrific beeping interrupted my thoughts.

Elle jerked awake and rolled right into my wings. I cursed as she pinched the delicate skin.

“Shit. Sorry,” she muttered as we disentangled ourselves.

She grabbed her phone, tapped the screen, and the screeching stopped. “I have to go.”

“Already?” That squawking phone probably meant something.

“I’ve got a shift today.”

“I don’t understand why you choose to work,” I grumbled.

“Isn’t running the city with Niemrin a job? You don’t need the money, so why do you do it?”

“Running the city isn’t work, it’s a calling . I would do it even if the city didn’t contribute to my hoard.” I frowned. “Although the other dragons would make fun of me. I would be a terrible dragon if my city didn’t prosper.”

Everyone from Udar to my parents to Tika would tease me. Dragons claiming cities had only come back into fashion in the last decade or so, but we were a competitive species. The richer and more prosperous my city was, the better I was.

Then it hit me. “Is serving a calling ? Oh. Okay. I’ll buy you a restaurant, and then you can do it as much or as little as you like.” I grinned. She’d been trying to tell me what she needed, and I’d been too stupid to see it.

She gaped at me. “Serving isn’t a calling. It’s just how I support myself.”

I frowned. “I’ll support you.”

Did she not want me to provide for her? Perhaps she would have already agreed to be my mate if I’d shown her a halfway decent library, something to support her intellectually as well as financially. She must have noticed how much Tika insulted it, and I couldn’t even guess what Udar had said about me when he visited her behind my back.

I didn’t think it would matter to a human, but the brief glimpse I’d had of her apartment revealed two bookshelves overflowing with books. The depressing little home didn’t have space for a real library. And she’d shown an interest in my library the last time she was here.

Elle sighed. “You’ve been good to me, but sometimes this feels like a rabbit hole I’ve accidentally fallen down and in another second I’ll be yanked right back out of it.”

She looked ridiculously cute with her blonde hair still mussed from sleep. It was impossible to resist grabbing her and pulling her in for a quick kiss.

“You need more security,” I said when I released her mouth. “That’s very simple. ”

Elle blinked up at me with wide brown eyes. “You know, I get a little afraid when you say things like that. Please don’t do anything too crazy.”

I grinned.

She did not look reassured.

She wiggled in my grip, but I didn’t want to let her go yet. She glanced down at herself, at my hand around her waist, and my wings curved toward her.

“How about I promise to spend all day tomorrow with you?”

All day tomorrow in exchange for letting her go now ? “Come over tonight, too.” I nuzzled into her neck, and she melted against me. “You can have whatever you want in exchange for spending another night with me.”

Elle paused for a long moment. “Okay. But it’ll be pretty late.”

With a final grumble, I let her go. She dressed in the clothes I’d had brought over for her yesterday and disappeared before I could change my mind and try to convince her to stay.

With her comforting scent still lingering in the air, I forced myself to check my phone. My parents had been messaging me nonstop, but since I’d set them to silent months ago, their nosiness couldn’t interrupt my time with my future mate.

But if I didn’t answer them soon, they’d do something incredibly embarrassing, like visit Kilinis unannounced.

I called my mom. She was always a little easier to deal with.

“Az’zael,” Mom said as soon as she picked up. “Were you rude to your sister?”

I rolled my eyes. “What do you want, Mom?”

“Didn’t you read my messages?”

“Of course not. ”

She harrumphed, like she was seventy instead of fifty-eight. “I should have guessed. Well, at least you deigned to call me back. I just find it very odd that you have a potential mate, and suddenly you’re fighting with your siblings and ignoring your parents.”

“Odd? You find that odd ? Tell me, how did you and Dad act when you were courting?”

A long silence greeted that question. Dragons were notoriously single-minded during the courting process. If she told me they’d spent longer than a day outside of each other’s company, I’d eat my gold chalice.

“I expect to see you two at dinner next Friday.” Mom changed the subject. Typical.

“Don’t you think that’s a little premature? She hasn’t agreed to my claim. Perhaps she isn’t ready to meet my family yet.” Just because Elle had already agreed to dinner didn’t mean I was going to let my mom off the hook for making assumptions.

“I’m sure you’ll have it figured out by then. She’s human ,” Mom huffed. “Just tell her what you want, and she’ll do it. That’s what all the humans we know do.”

I ran my hand down my face, scales rasping on scales, and wished I was running it down the smooth skin of Elle’s back. “It doesn’t work that way. You know that.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Az’zael. You have to go after what you want, or you’ll never get it. Pushy dragons get what they want.”

Pushy dragons got everything they wanted, but the pushiest dragons I’d ever met were miserable. “If you only called to scold me, I’m hanging up.”

“I can’t have a little maternal concern? This is the first person who’s shown any interest in you. I don’t want you to mess it up. ”

“This is the first person I’ve shown any interest in. Perhaps she should worry about messing it up.” I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my mouth. It wasn’t like I’d told her about all the humans I’d met since coming to Kilinis who didn’t interest me.

“Oh, come on, Az’zael. Human standards are so low. It’s good you went after one.” I heard the frown enter her voice. “Look at Movi and Jorge. She isn’t half the gold-sniffer you are, and she bagged a very bold and good-looking human. Udar and Tika both assured us yours is much better.”

My heart pounded, and I dug my claws into my arm to keep myself from demanding details. Whatever she said would be half praise for Elle, half insult to me, and all verbatim what my siblings thought.

My mom continued, “Tika said Elle told her to mind her own business when she got too nosy. And Udar said she practically slammed a door in his face when he dropped by unannounced. Your father and I have never heard of a human with enough fire to do something that bold.”

I should have been pleased my mom liked my future mate, but all I felt was frustration and a sick anticipation.

“I suppose your excessive aptitude for gold-sniffing is good for something.” Her voice dropped a notch. “Although I still don’t know how you found a suitable mate when Udar’s still single. He’s two years older than you, and he got better knowledge-sniffing marks.”

Ah yes, there it was. The subtle dig to let me know that she didn’t quite believe I deserved what I had. That Udar was still her favorite.

“Do you want us at dinner or not?” The only reason I hadn’t hung up already was because Elle had said she wanted to meet my parents. Frankly, I worried they’d greet her with a long list of reasons she could do better, then conveniently present her with my brother. But since I’d promised to give her anything she wanted …

“Fine, fine,” Mom said. “Just don’t cause a scene.”

I grunted an agreement, then stabbed the end call button.

Annoyed after that phone call and disappointed that I wouldn’t be spending more time with Elle today, I switched forms and flew to City Hall’s treasure room instead. It felt good to shed my clothes and two-legged form in favor of my larger, four-legged one, and on a cloudy day like today, I could fly high above the clouds and forget about upsetting the humans.

Dressed in the clothes I’d clutched in one claw, I entered the city’s treasure room. Diego greeted me.

He seemed to enjoy the gold doubloons I’d gotten him as decoration. He looked at them often enough, glancing up from his screen and sighing.

I’d also switched out the “inappropriate” political art for the less offensive landscape Elle had suggested. It was also less expensive, but Diego had assured me that no one would care.

The first thing I did after I shut the door to my office was put in an order at my favorite gift basket service. I’d used it to help close many deals since claiming Kilinis. Then I called Max Anderson.

“Az’zael,” he said cautiously.

“Max. I owe you and Accutrust an apology.” By dragon standards, Udar and Tika had been annoying, but not so much that anyone would bother to look up from their own conversation.

Every eye at that party had been fixed on us.

Max coughed. “You didn’t warn me you were bringing more guests. ”

“I didn’t realize my siblings would show up. They wanted to surprise me, and it didn’t go according to plan. For anyone. I’ve made it clear to them that they were unforgivably rude.” Well, I’d made it clear to Tika. I had a plan to make it clear to Udar. Anticipation tightened my gut.

“I’ve sent something to all your department heads, by way of apology.” The formal words felt foreign in my mouth, but many business-minded humans talked that way.

Max made a noncommittal hum.

I understood what he wanted. He’d hinted at it before.

“Your staff handled themselves so well under the pressure of a few extra dragons last night. In light of that, I’ve decided that Accutrust is a sound, safe investment.”

From there, we came to an agreement on just how much of my hoard I’d need to invest in Accutrust for them to forgive the party debacle and be interested in partnering on future projects.

“Thank you. We appreciate your patronage,” Max said before hanging up.

I leaned back in my chair and stared at the wall. I still had so much to do. How the hell had Udar known I was going to be at that gala, when I hadn’t even known until two days before?

My phone buzzed. It was a text from Udar. Of course it was.

Mom said Elle is coming to dinner next week. Can’t wait to get to know her better.

I wanted to call him and demand answers, but that would just tell him I was on his trail. I’d need to figure out how to be sneaky instead.

Could the bank manager have told him? No, Max was too terrified of me, a dragon he knew, to voluntarily talk to one he didn’t .

But a lot of the companies seemed to know I’d be there. Max was a savvy enough businessman to let his investors know about a VIP. Did Udar have ties to one of those companies?

Back in October, I’d discovered that a new construction company had been funded by a shell company of Udar’s. Since then, I’d meticulously vetted all new businesses and potential investors to make sure they weren’t financed by him.

Some of these tech companies took on new investors as quickly as a young dragon acquired trinkets. I should check any I hadn’t looked over in a while.

I spent the next several hours combing through the financials of every company at that party, adrenaline spiking through me when I found a hit.

Just in time, too.

“Your two o’clock is here.” Diego’s voice filtered through the intercom on my desk.

“Send them in.”

Oliver and Elizabeth sauntered in wearing identically terrible outfits. No visual harmony to the bland, ill-fitting blazer, the bland, dark-wash jeans, and the bland, beige tops.

“Welcome. Have a seat.” I gave them my toothiest smile. The one that Elle said unsettled humans.

“Thank you. So glad you could make time for us,” Oliver said as they both sat stiffly.

I shuffled some papers. “After further investigation, we won’t be able to work with Voyage Games on any new projects.”

Oliver gaped at me. Elizabeth said, “What? Why? I thought…”

“Well, I was going over your financials this morning, and it looks like one of your newest investors is Regal Claw, LLC. That’s a dragon- owned business, and the likelihood of a territory dispute is too high.”

“You’re turning us down because of a silent investor?”

“Silent? He showed up at Accutrust’s gala and harassed my date.” I almost growled the last few words, unable to keep the anger out of my voice.

They winced in unison. “The purple dragon?”

“Yes. His name is Udar.”

“Excuse us a moment,” Elizabeth said.

They both left the room, only to hold a whispered conversation right outside my door. I wondered if I should warn them that dragon hearing was exceptional.

“We need this new branch, Oliver. That green one is practically giving us a pipeline of new technical artists with his training programs.”

“Regal Claw has given us two hundred and fifty thousand dollars! We can’t drop him just because some other dragon says so,” Oliver replied.

“Yeah, he popped up out of nowhere and gave us money for practically nothing. I told you it was suspicious, and you didn’t want to listen to me.”

So, Udar had chosen his vessel well. In Oliver, at least. Elizabeth was obviously a little smarter.

“You think he planned this?”

“I don’t know. We don’t know how dragons do business. But if that was him starting shit the other night, he’s only going to cause us more problems,” said Elizabeth.

“Okay, okay.”

Whispered conference over, they shuffled back into my office like contrite children. “What if we buy back his investment? Then he wouldn’t be involved anymore,” Elizabeth suggested .

I shrugged. “We can talk as soon as he’s off the paperwork.”

“Understood,” they said in unison.

I hid my grin.

The second I was certain they were out of earshot, I picked up my phone.

“Az,” Udar greeted me.

“Udar.”

“What do you want?”

“To remind you that you can’t show up in my city without my permission. I just spent the last two days cleaning up your mess.”

Udar scoffed. “That party was boring as fuck before we showed up.”

“This is why no one’s willing to partner with you to claim a city. You’re too much of a selfish asshole.” I smirked. Udar was two years older than me, yet I’d been the first to claim a city. It was one of the only times my parents had seemed proud of me.

“ I’m a selfish asshole? You’re the one leaving your prospective mate in a shitty little apartment while you parade her around in public without even letting her know what that means. She probably didn’t know enough to ask for something better, and you took advantage. Frumser. ”

I leaned back in my seat, my wings flaring out behind me. “She thinks you’re a creep for showing up at her apartment. Probably because you acted like one. A woman like Elle can’t be bullied and ordered into matehood.”

“I know . She slammed her door in my face.” Enthusiasm dripped from every word.

My hands fisted on the desk. “Find your own human.”

“But yours is so delightful. If you’re her first dragon, she has no idea what she’s missing out on.”

“Just stay the fuck out of my city and away from Elle. And don’t think your little trick with Voyage Games worked.”

“Voyage what? Never heard of them.”

“Don’t play dumb.”

“Right. That’s your job.”

“You may be smarter than me, but I could always kick your ass.” Udar and I hadn’t gotten into it since we were teenagers, but I always won those fights. Usually after he’d humiliated me some other way. “You can only push me so far.”

“ Me push you ? You’ve been pushing me for the last eight months.”

Before I could respond, he hung up.

I cursed and stared at the phone.