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Monday, April 20, 2167

The Gray Ward

Dragon Heights, Wyoming

Learningabout Dragon Heights devoured the entire day, forcing me to inform Cecilia I had nothing solid for her yet but was working on it. She took the news better than I expected, and I hauled off another box of information to peruse.

With my base research completed and no strong leads to follow, I delved into the depths of financial investigations. With a wealth of data to sort through, I organized everything by person before categorizing as much as I could by type. Every cop had a different way of handling financials, but I preferred to look for habits first, establishing the routines in the life of the account’s owner.

Unlike regular workers, the brothel women tended to do their shopping either early in the morning right after the stores opened or in the early afternoon before they were scheduled to begin their work for the night. Dinners with clients were flagged in a record submitted by each worker. To protect the clients, their names were masked. Each time one of the women thought a client might ‘do me some good,’ their falsified name came with a note suggesting I do some close personal investigations. To make it clear what they had in mind, they included their preference for how they liked removing the man’s clothing.

The cop who brought other cops to the brothel garnered the most attention from the women, and their lewd suggestions would bother me for a while.

Unbeknownst to them, good cops were my type, but also unbeknownst to them, I had a major hang up in the form of the man I’d left behind, all for his sake. If given the choice between the world or Erik, I would have picked Erik each and every time. However much I liked living, the hole in my soul continued to eat away at me.

I could understand why the brothel women liked the idea of partnering me with a yellow dragon. Yellows had a reputation of being excellent husbands and fathers.

Knowing my parents, they’d adore the idea of shipping me off with a yellow dragon. With a yellow around, their quest for grandchildren would eventually be successful, although they underestimated my determination to maintain my career.

There would be no children in my life until I was confident I could be a good mother and have the career of my choosing.

Well, assuming I could return to the career of my choosing.

All signs pointed to no.

When I wasn’t reading through the financials in search of answers, I petted Garnet and wondered what might have been if only things had been a little different.

My search through their financials offered limited overlap, which both made my job harder and easier. Outside of the yellow dragon charming everyone, no woman had the same client base. None of them had consistent overlap surrounding the time of their attacks, either.

Worse, the written descriptions of their attacker varied.

The yellow dragon would be a problem; as the sole common link between them, I would need to investigate him and confirm he wasn’t the culprit behind the stabbings. While the yellow dragon mostly declined invitations with the brothel women, he’d engaged in cuddle sessions with a few of them.

Thus far, the cuddling had been clothed, but I had no interest in a dragon warming up to his many dinner dates. I preferred a man interested in me and me alone.

Like Erik.

Ugh. Erik would drive me insane, and my father would be the one to push me over the ledge. I’d pined enough for the man—and would continue to do so.

I had problems with letting go.

The number of possibilities involved with the brothel attacks would prove to be a problem. A dragon of the right color could trick the women into believing their eyes rather than reality, similar to the magic I’d inherited from my father. Illusions could be created, although they tended to be fragile and broke when overly handled.

Physical contact with an illusion often shattered it. If someone had created an illusion capable of withstanding touch, investigative work became problematic in a hurry.

The last thing I needed was advanced magic hampering an already complicated investigation.

As there were so few locations all the women went to, I would begin there. The grocery store would be difficult to monitor. Without knowing how long it took each woman to shop, I would have to make trips at overlapping windows, record everyone I spotted, and begin making use of public databases to learn if anyone with a violent crime record went to the same stores.

As I needed to get into better habits, I decided I would start mixing work and my private life. I wouldn’t be accepting their offer to remove the yellow dragon cop from his clothes, but I would shadow the women’s activities in a way that might draw the attacker’s attention to me, although I wouldn’t be working the brothel house.

I would just make it look like I might, given time and motivation.

In good news, Garnet would appreciate the time spent at home, and except for my Friday excursions to help earn my keep, I would meddle in the affairs of dragons.

I would just have to hope my meddling didn’t result in having my flesh devoured while my bones were used as toothpicks.

* * *

Tuesday, April 21, 2167

The Gray Ward

Dragon Heights, Wyoming

As grocery storesdid not appreciate animals within their aisles, Garnet transformed into her wisp form and rode on my shoulder. Her presence offered warmth, and while I did a full inspection of every shelf in the store, I kept an eye out for who was also shopping. I pretended to use my phone to check a shopping list, and to add credibility to my work, I filled a cart with a mix of perishable and shelf-stable foods.

I took the time to explain the food options to Garnet, and she’d found the idea of hot sauce to be fascinating, resulting in the purchase of four different bottles. Her method of communication, which involved a mixture of mews, chirps, squeaks, and flashes of light, did an excellent job of reminding me there was one ruler of our household, and it wasn’t me.

As I couldn’t just feed my kitten hot sauce, I purchased a variety of items for her to try. I might miss the money later, but I would wait to explain the realities of life to her until I needed to return to my stingy ways.

I would work hard to make certain she never experienced the general uncertainties of my life.

While the hot sauce held most of her attention, Garnet flitted around the fruits and vegetables, investigating everything. Pineapples intrigued her, so I got one for her to try. I indulged as well, buying a few plums.

The trip down memory lane might leave me bruised and verging on broken, but one day I would heal.

Erik loved plums, too.

Between Garnet and the people shopping, I managed to take over a thousand photos on my new phone. Once home and with my groceries put away, I would review each one, create a file for the people I observed, and return to the grocery store in a few days at the same time to take another round of shots. Thanks to catering to my kitten and needing an excuse to take a long time in the grocery store, I required a cab to get everything home.

My landlady waited for me on the steps, and I smiled at her. “Coming in?”

“If you have the time.”

“I do.” I ferried everything to my door before unlocking it and letting Cecilia in. After encouraging Garnet to shift back into her kitten form to go play and waiting for her to bolt for her favorite tree, I went to work putting the groceries away. “I’m working on investigating places with common overlap right now. I have a lot of photographs I’ll be cross-referencing with the internet and image searches to see if I get any hits. Has anyone else been attacked?”

“Fortunately not, but we’re taking precautions.” Cecilia stepped to the side to get a better view of Garnet. “I’d heard rumor of your new pet, but she’s even cuter than I thought possible.”

“Her name is Garnet, and she discovered pineapples and hot sauce today at the grocery store.”

My landlady laughed. “It’s good for you to have company. I took the liberty of speaking with our favorite cop gentleman for you, and he is of the opinion that any suitor must be willing to share you with your carbunclo. He had heard of carbunclo before, but we were not aware of how wretchedly cute the kittens are. Can I take some pictures of her?”

The poor yellow dragon would be in for some serious heartache if he wanted to add me to his cuddle conquests. While willing to share my sinfully cute kitten with a man welcomed into my life, I refused to share my man.

In that regard, I was a proper dragon, and a proper dragon refused to share her hoard.

As I couldn’t tell Cecilia any of that, I replied, “Sure, go ahead.”

In the fifteen minutes it took me to put my groceries away, the woman had been suckered into playing with one of the sticks with a string, serving the kitten’s needs. I snapped a few shots before saying, “What can I do for you?”

“Mostly, I wanted to check in on you. The rumors have been flying among the dragons, and I wanted to find out what was going on.”

I wondered what the visiting dragons had told the brothel matron. “It’s probably nowhere near as exciting as you might think. I work Fridays to get a little extra money, and I guess they thought I would make a good caretaker for little Garnet.”

Garnet squeaked and abandoned the string on a stick to pounce on my foot and beg to be picked up. Obeying the carbunclo, I picked her up, gave her a kiss on her nose, and smiled. “I wasn’t expecting Friday to involve a pet. I should have notified you, though.”

Cecilia waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Your lease allows for a cat. Technically, she isn’t really a cat, but she’ll be good for you. You’ll take good care of her, and that’s all I care about. I will use your kitten against you—for your benefit, of course. That little yellow dragon likes cats, and when he finds out you’re doting all over your kitten, he’ll start sniffing at your trail. I’ll make sure that’s done this week.”

Goodness. Would I survive an entire brothel of women trying to match me with a yellow dragon? “I had a fiancé, and I left him to come here. I have more emotional baggage than any dragon can handle.”

“Well, if your fiancé wasn’t willing to chase after you, you did the right thing dumping him to the curb. And if he does come chasing after you, may the best man win. A little competition is good for a woman’s heart. You’re not the kind to leave someone without a good reason.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t leave him at the curb, precisely. I told him I was going straight to his face.”

“Well, that’s just the right thing to do. Do you miss this fiancé of yours?”

As I doubted I could keep a straight face confessing I missed him every day, I shrugged.

“Ah. I see. I’ll warn that sweet yellow that you are pining and that he will have more than a few challenges ahead of him.”

I foresaw a disaster. “Don’t yell at me if he emerges from this heartbroken.”

“He has enough steel in his spine to deserve the reward should he be willing to take the risk,” my landlady assured me. “I did talk to him about the nature of investigations.”

“They take a long time, and many cases go unsolved.” Magic played a role in that, although the police had tricks that helped counter magic’s nefarious influence. “I’m starting with some basic undercover work. I’ve isolated commonalities in where your women go before and after work, so I’m taking photographs of who is around. After three weeks, I’ll be able to evaluate who the regulars are and if anyone is behaving strangely. If I get lucky, the attacker will think I’m one of your brothel women and come at me with his little knife.”

“Are you capable of defending yourself?”

I shrugged. “I won’t make it easy on him, that’s for certain. If he does attack me, it’ll make my work easier. None of the brothel women have been killed. Frightened, yes. Scarred, yes.” There’d been one hospitalization I’d found, but the fear remained my top suspicion for motivation. And while a woman had been killed a month ago, additional reading had exposed an unrelated cause of death.

Had she been healthy, she wouldn’t have died, just like the woman who’d been hospitalized had suffered from an underlying invisible condition.

But why scare the brothel women? That was what I didn’t understand.

“Yes, our sweet yellow had pointed out that it seemed unusual that while there were numerous attacks, none of the women had been severely injured.”

“One was hospitalized. I did find that out in the news. There was one death, but it was deemed unrelated to the attack.”

Cecilia nodded. “She was hospitalized due to something unrelated. Had she not had a preexisting condition, she would have received a few stitches and gone home, ready and able to work the following day.” The woman paced around my apartment, and I followed after her with Garnet cradled in my arms. She considered my new desk and chair, nodding her approval. “Are you one of those people who needs to be doing something while you think?”

I laughed, as I defined what it meant to be one of those people. “I am. I used to walk around when I needed to think out a problem. It sometimes offered a new perspective. Why?”

“I’ve been thinking.”

I restrained myself from wincing, and rather than betray my general feelings on the matter, I forced a neutral expression. My uncertainty about the situation factored in.

The last thing I wanted was pity. I had put myself in my position, and I meant to earn my way out of it. Some would call me a fool for my stance, but I saved the acts of charity for those who couldn’t handle their misfortunes without assistance.

If I fell further than I could handle, help was a call away. The call would summon a pair of angry dragon parents, but they would save me from anything they could—even myself. No, especially myself.

“I want to open more apartments like this for those without as much money. I’ve seen how much it has helped you. I want to do more like that, but with the current situation, I’m not sure who to trust to do the work.”

Maintenance I could do. I could even do it well, as I’d been determined to handle as much on my own as possible in Miami. “I can work on some parts of maintaining and restoring the other apartments when I need to think. What work do you want done?”

“All the faucets, the showers, and things like that need to be done. I think I need to hire for the flooring, but I’m expecting the apartments to be trashed. You’re exceptional. I’ve found the people I want to help are where they are at for a reason. And sometimes, that reason is destroying where they live because their circumstances crush them. But if I build the units strong with an awareness they will be trashed, it’s not too bad for me.”

If she needed durable, I could do durable. Then, aware of the dragons who tried to teach their children how to perform acts of service, I suggested, “You should talk with your dragon contacts, especially the ones with younger children. That might be a good way to get free but quality labor.”

“But will they help?” Cecilia muttered, and she headed to my table, dropping onto one of the chairs with a low groan.

“Ones like that yellow dragon-kin cop might. How many yellow dragons and dragon-kin serve in the force?”

“Oh, that’s a good question. Over half the force are either yellow dragons or dragon-kin. They live to serve, and that’s the sort of garden they like growing. They might help us. It’s the other colors we’re having problems with. He’s started with his fellow yellows, but he’s starting to bring others to us.” She wrinkled her nose, and after a few minutes, she huffed and puffed. While she made a good attempt at blowing the place down, my apartment remained intact. “I’ll look into it. I’ve two empty apartments right now, and two that are going to be empty soon. The tenants are leaving for another city.”

As I’d thought about leaving Dragon Heights a few times when the going had gotten tough, I understood. Cecilia wanted some certainty. People like me brought nothing but uncertainty with them.

Making use of me might make things a little more balanced for everybody.

Choosing to accept even more responsibility would bite me in the ass later, but I would make the most of the opportunity, not just for myself, but for others as well.

“Leave me the keys for the empty units, and I’ll have a look and see what I can do, give you a sheet with what needs to be done, and do the repairs I can. I can’t help you with electrical problems,” I warned her. “But I can do the basic plumbing, like installing new faucets and checking over most things.”

“Bring the list over when you can, and I’ll drop the keys off in an hour or two. Just be careful, Kinsley. There’s something going on here, and I don’t know what.”

I wondered if the woman had any idea how right she was—or how much trouble it would cause us.

* * *

Wednesday, April 22, 2167

The Gray Ward

Dragon Heights, Wyoming

After my morningrun to the grocery store, which had involved acquiring a few new staples for Garnet to try, non-perishable items for my pantry, and a few hundred photos to investigate later, I headed over to the apartments needing some loving care from me.

Cecilia hadn’t been joking about the requirement for maintenance. When I thought of something being trashed, I envisioned clutter, scuffed paint, and a little chaos. The holes in the wall would test my skills and require more than a little drywall to repair. One sink had seen better days, and a test revealed the little that remained of the bowl did still work as long as the faucet wasn’t turned completely on. One bathtub had been shattered, and I wondered what sort of object had been smashed into the poor thing.

As promised, I made a list of the damage I could repair, the parts and supplies I would need, and a suggestion to offer discounts from the rent, free groceries, or something else in exchange for manual labor. With some incentive, others in my position might shine—or at least preserve the matron’s property a little better.

Garnet stuck close to my side, and she whined at the evidence of damage, requiring me to explain some of the harsher realities of the world. The kitten handled the burden better than I thought—and it took only a few minutes to realize why the titanium dragons hadn’t been a good fit for her.

She wanted to help.

The titanium dragons usually hired the help.

As I wanted to cultivate a kind spirit, I spent an extra hour in the last apartment I checked, teaching Garnet how she could help clean up. I taught her about the dangers of glass shards and rusting metal, and I showed her how she might be able to assist me with some basic chores, including providing a bright white light so I could view shadowy places with ease.

Once I delivered the lists to Cecilia and returned home, I rewarded Garnet with some milk and a treat of hot sauce served on a scrap of hard salami, something I’d purchased for her to try.

She fell upon it with the same enthusiasm she showed for mashed potatoes, much to my amusement.

With the kitten cared for, I decided to make use of my best resource for good information regarding dragons: my parents.

The situation with the pilgrims ate away at me, and until I learned more—or found a lead of substance—all I could do was poke my nose where it didn’t belong. If I did put myself in harm’s way, I wanted to do so with my eyes wide open.

What would happen if I showed up at one of the shrines? What sort of sacrifice was expected of me?

My father would know, and my mother would encourage recklessness because she appreciated chaos.

I considered my options, dredged my father’s cell out of the cavernous depths of my memory, and added the number to my contact list before giving him a call.

“I could have sworn I’d just talked to you on Monday,” my father answered. “It’s only Wednesday. I was expecting a far longer wait than that. You’re about to cause me trouble. Explain yourself this instant, young lady.”

I laughed at the unerring accuracy of my father’s suspicions. “I wanted to ask about the pilgrims. I don’t want to just show up at the shrines without an idea of the trouble I might get into. Is Mom around?”

“She is not. She’s handling some business, and she felt if I attended the business, I might decide to opt in violence. Someone has decided they are an idiot and wished to push your mother’s buttons.”

“A dragon?” I guessed.

“You would be right. As I didn’t want to get in the line of literal fire, I decided to stay out of it. Once she adjusts the attitudes of the idiot who attempted to infiltrate our turf, she’ll be home. Since she only left twenty minutes ago, she’ll be a while. As for your pilgrim problem, there are a lot of factors. If you decide to sprout your scales and wings in a controlled fashion, the process is simplistic on the surface. The shrines are seals of power. The color in charge of each seal has imbued their energy into it. Someone with the appropriate lineage can awaken their color’s magic being in the presence of the seal.”

I headed for my desk, sat down, and made a note about the seals of power. “Are they literal seals?”

“Once upon a time, there were physical seals. Nowadays, no. There has been so much draconic power imbued within the very land there’s no need for a physical seal. The seals will react with your genetics, so if you do decide to go investigate, you should be prepared. I would start with the colors you know are active. Purple would be your wisest first place to visit, as you grew into that power fairly early. It’s least likely to waken additional abilities, too. The first color rarely does. It’s when you visit other seals you’ll possibly run into issues.”

“I can open any jar to cross my path,” I announced with pride.

My father snickered. “One of the more useful abilities from your tin kin. That one will develop more, I’m sure. That’s usually an opening volley rather than the final power. If you do want to pursue more of the healing arts, save purple for the second or third shrine. Cyan might be a wise first color; you’ve already ensnared Erik as much as you need, and you don’t want to be luring off every man on the planet when you’ve already secured the one you want. That shrine is also popular as a tourism spot, as humans tend to feel the cyan dragon shrine can bless romantic endeavors.”

“I thought that was yellow.”

“Well, if you want productive romance, then yellow is what you want. In your case, you’ll likely develop a green thumb and an enhanced desire to help things grow. Be wary of yellow dragons. They fixate, and if they start sniffing at your turf, they won’t quit. And they’re idiots.”

I laughed at the complaint in my father’s voice. “How are yellow dragons idiots?”

“They point themselves in one direction and get stubborn about it. You know all that stubbornness that sent you barreling out of Miami? That would be a ‘gift’ from your yellow ancestors. It really depends on what your goals are for going to the shrine. That much exposure to draconic magic will start the process of you transitioning from dragon-kin to dragon. With your heritage, it’s inevitable. That’s part of why we decided to live in Miami when your mother was pregnant with you. We wanted you to choose to become a dragon. The instant you step foot at the shrines, the process will begin. You won’t have any problems with the shrines. You’ll have more problems with learning to cope with the powers you’ll waken when you go visit the shrines.” My father made a thoughtful sound. “If you were to go to the shrines, I would recommend that you start with cyan first, as I mentioned. I would then go to the orange shrine—you do not need to add any extra strength to such powers. Your mother and I contribute plenty on the orange side of things, so going to orange early in the process would be wise. Copper would be a good third color to visit. You love art, but you do not need to love art to excess.”

I noted the order, appreciating he understood some powers were best left weak and undeveloped. “And after copper?”

“Purple. You’re plenty developed in your purple heritage, so there’s no real need to traumatize yourself further.”

I could live with his comment, and I made a note. “Which color do you think I should pursue? Won’t I become the color of the first shrine I visit?”

“No. That might be how it works for most humans or dragon-kin, but your spirit will determine your color. I honestly don’t know which color you’ll become. That’s part of the joy of discovery. I can say this much, however. If you want to find out who is killing pilgrims, you’ll need to fight fire with fire—and someone with a great deal of magic at their disposal is surely behind these crimes.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I’ve been looking into the situation, and I have a good lead for you,” he announced.

A lead sounded good. A lead excited me. A lead might let me do the job I missed and yearned to return to. “What lead? If you’re pulling my chain, Dad, I might come visit Miami to teach you some manners!”

According to his laughter, he thought the idea of me trying to teach him manners to be funny. I scowled.

He kept on laughing.

“I might,” I complained.

“I’m not yanking your chain about the potential lead. When you mentioned it, I thought it might be wise to look into the situation. I have contacts you don’t, and I decided to make use of them. I feel you should be safe enough going to the shrines. While women are being attacked, they aren’t being murdered. All the murder victims are men—and they’re men of disreputable tendencies.”

Disreputable tendencies? “What does that even mean?”

“If they approached you, my most beautiful daughter, I would tear their limbs from their bodies and feed their remains to tigers.”

Something about the situation must have tripped my father’s trigger. “All right. So, I should dress up so I’m clearly a pretty young lady doing the tourism thing.”

“Yes. You need a proper camera for the tourism angle.”

Knowing my father’s taste in cameras, he expected me to spend several thousand on a body and lenses suitable for tourism. “I can’t afford that, Dad. I am not registered in Dragon Heights.”

He made a triumphant huffing sound. “So you are still in Dragon Heights.”

Damn it. “Dad, stop it.”

“No. You need a camera if you want to play the ruse. I have imposed upon your future mother-in-law, and she has used my money to pay for your camera. I knew you’d need it, so it will be delivered tomorrow morning. Expect a courier.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You found out where I live.”

“I might have done that.”

“You scaled piece of shit bastard!”

Rather than scold me over my language, he snickered. “What will you give me to not tell Erik where you live?”

I sucked in a breath. “That is ruthless.”

“Well, I am a most magnificent dragon, and my daughter deserves only the best. I could have Erik deliver your camera. Then you could be dressed up and be prepared to charm him using your kitten. I would feel a great deal better if he was present to assist your investigation. He could be a good resource for you.”

“Maybe he has competition,” I announced, deciding I would make use of Cecilia’s yellow dragon-kin cop. “There are dragons and dragon-kin on the force, and some of them are even kind to the brothel workers. They’re quite charmed with a young yellow gentleman.”

“And as your landlady is one of the brothel matrons, you have a vested interest in kind cops.” My father huffed and puffed, and had he been in Dragon Heights, he might have knocked my poor little apartment down with his fussing. “A yellow, you say?”

“That’s what they said. Honestly, they were mostly just making recommendations on how I might best remove him from his clothes. He charms them into cuddling with them. Let’s be realistic, Dad. They’re brothel workers, and while they’re sweet, they’re perverts. Cecilia doesn’t accept women or men who do not genuinely wish to be working that scene. I am not interested in working a brothel—or hiring a gentleman from a brothel. Yellows have a good reputation among women, but that specific yellow is cuddling with brothel workers. I don’t share. You know that, I know that, and Erik knows that. This yellow dragon-kin clearly does not know that, else he would not be cuddling with brothel workers.”

“Well, your mother would not object to you seducing and keeping a yellow. The whole lot of them are romantics, and they get ill at the idea of abusing their partner.” My father heaved a sigh. “I will allow this yellow to continue existing. He doesn’t have a chance with you anyway, especially if you say he’s been cuddling with the brothel workers. You said he’s a cop?”

“That’s what I was told.”

“Dragon or dragon-kin?”

“I’m not sure if Cecilia knows, honestly. But he could be a dragon-kin or may be presenting as one.”

“Oversensitive,” my father declared. “Unless he opts to become a dragon, he’s absolutely no good for you. But I won’t eliminate him from existence. I’ll just use his existence to motivate Erik.” My father would, and I saw no realistic way to stop him. After making a few thoughtful sounds, he asked, “Do you have any other dragon-kin friends, preferably of the male variety, I might use to motivate Erik?”

“Dad, you’re being ridiculous. I’m friends with Cedrick, a titanium dragon-kin, but I would not want to date him.”

“You don’t have to want to date him. You just have to be friendly with him. I’m motivating Erik, not matching you with someone else. Your mother will be quite pleased with me for meddling a little. I think we’re ready to have another hatchling. You’re almost out of the roost.”

If I hadn’t already been facing my regrets and coming to terms with my choices, I would have disregarded my father’s interference. No, I would have protested his behavior. However, our previous talk had planted certain seeds, and I wondered if we might be able to pick up the pieces and put everything back together. “You really don’t think he’s mad at me?”

“Kinsley, he was never mad at you. He respects your consideration. I make no promises you two won’t have a glorious argument over the situation, but you’ll be fine. Just knowing, for certain, where you’re at would probably be sufficient motivation. But I’ll ruthlessly use this titanium dragon-kin against you.”

My father would drive me insane. “Well, at least you’re not yelling at me about this, I guess.”

“I could if you’d like. Would it make you feel better?”

“It would probably just make me feel guiltier.”

“A little guilt is permissible. A lot of guilt is not. I will have your attitude adjusted as needed, my little girl. Choose wisely.”

Ouch. When my father threatened an attitude adjustment, I would be wise to listen. “I will do my best to keep my guilt limited to tolerable levels. And we’re going to have a spectacular argument over him quitting the force right after he reached his goal.”

“I’m sure he can handle your temper. Cyan, orange, and copper should be your first three shrines. Before, I said purple next, but I’ve changed my mind. I would target gold, silver, green, lead, and then purple. That should allow your purple heritage abilities to come out in full force, and depending on your inclinations, you might be able to learn proper healing arts. If not, your sight should be refined and help in your investigations. After that, things become more about your personal preference. It’s important to understand that a human visiting the shrines without beginning a pilgrimage will carry some essence with them for a few hours before it fades. You will absorb power from each shrine through them—and a little more power from each shrine you visit. By the time you work through all the colors, you’ll be a living ball of draconic energy. The essences from the shrines will seep into your skin and become a part of you.”

“Don’t dragon-kin have to perform a sacrifice to continue the process?”

“Well, most do, yes. You won’t need to. Just going to the shrines will be sufficient. You have already sacrificed.”

I blinked. “I’ve already sacrificed?”

Hearing my father echo my thoughts on the pilgrimage process startled me enough I put some serious thought into finding a liquor store and buying myself a stiff drink.

“Leaving Erik so he could have his dreams at the price of your happiness is one of the ultimate sacrifices a person can make. That’s the sort of sacrifice the magic pays attention to. Your choice to serve as a cop is another such sacrifice. Sure, people will sacrifice their lives for another, but that’s just a consequence of a mere moment. It does not have the weight nor value of a living sacrifice. You’ve already met the conditions for a pilgrimage. And unlike the regular pilgrims, you will not be doing dangerous things to claim your draconic form and magic. Honestly, most dragon-kins could do your method if they had the right temperament and parentage. Two dragons as parents being the parentage required.” My father huffed again, and after a moment, he laughed. “Save the black shrine for last. Pick the rest by how your heart feels.”

“Why should I save the black shrine for last?”

“If there is a black dragon poking around your turf, you can be certain of one thing: they are after your secrets… and the strong black dragons will learn them. Such powers would serve your quest for justice well.”