Page 94 of Red Fury

But first, there is something important I need to do. I pull out my burner phone, scrolling to Steel’s number. He answers on the second ring.

“About fucking time,” his voice crackles through the encrypted connection. “I was starting to think you’d gone completely dark on me. Where the hell have you been? What is going on?”

“Steel, I need to tell you something,” I start, then pause. How do I even begin to explain this clusterfuck?

“That sounds ominous. Please tell me you haven’t blown your cover.”

“Not exactly.” I run a hand through my hair, staring up at the twentieth floor where I know Shadow is being held. At least, I pray to god she’s still here. “I haven’t been completely honest with you, and it’s time to come clean.”

The silence on the other end of the line stretches for several long seconds.

“Go on,” Steel says finally, his voice taking on that dangerous edge.

“I made contact with the Draiger when I first arrived on the Mainland,” I admit. “I should have told you sooner. I’m sorry.”

“You made contact?” Steel’s voice rises slightly. “When was this? Why the hell didn’t you tell us? What made you keep such a thing a secret? How long have you known about the Draiger?” he throws question after question at me, and I can’t say I blame him.

I sigh. “I’ve known from the beginning. She’s Secretary Harrison’s Personal Assistant. Goes by Claire Douglas, but her real name is Shadow.”

“And you’ve been sitting on this information for how long exactly?” I’m pretty sure the question is rhetorical since I already told him, but I answer anyway.

“Since I first got here.”

The explosion I’m expecting doesn’t come. Instead, there’s just heavy breathing on the other end of the line.

“Why?” Steel asks finally. “Why didn’t you report this immediately? What the fuck have you been doing over there, Fury? I’m sure you have an excellent explanation, and I’d like to hear it now. It had better be fucking good.”

Here goes nothing.

“Part of my assignment was to neutralize the Draiger if I deemed her a threat to our people,” I explain. “When I first found her, she was just that. She hadn’t shifted in weeks, was barely maintaining control. Her dragon was about to explode out of her in public.”

“So, you put her down, which would have been the right thing to do.”

“No. Killing Claire Douglas, PA to the Secretary, could have raised suspicion.”

“Not if you made it look like an accident,” he says, sounding calm. Too calm. “I know it isn’t a nice thing to have to do, but—”

“Hear me out, please. I made the decision not to neutralize her because I needed her.Weneeded her.” The words come out in a rush. “She has access to intelligence I couldn’t get on my own. She’s positioned perfectly to gather information about their plans. I knew you would order me to handle it…to put her down, but I didn’t want to take that route. I knew I could manage it…manage her, and so I did that instead.”

“You should have said something. We would have trusted your instincts.” He sighs. “How did you manage her?”

“I helped her shift.”

I can practically hear Steel processing this information. I’m sure I hear him grind his teeth.

“You helped her shift,” he repeats. “You do know that Draigers are feral as shit in their dragon forms. That’s why they need riders.”

“Or another dragon who is in control. That’s me, Steel. I took a calculated risk, and it paid off.”

“It was risky. I don’t like it, but go on. Tell me the rest. I’m hoping it gets better.”

“We formed a truce. We’ve been working together toward the same goal – figuring out what the humans are really planning. It’s been working well. She is privy to far more information than I am.”

“You formed a truce with a Draiger. And you didn’t think this was worth mentioning to your superior? My ass is also on the line here, Fury.”

“I knew you might struggle with the idea. Hell, I’ve struggled with the idea myself, but I’ve been trusting my gut here.”

“You should have trusted me.”