Page 17

Dominic

" W e can’t release the prisoners until after we confront Ichiro at the Council meeting.

" My voice was tight with anger. Leaving these people and their dragons in the lab was a grim decision, but necessary. It was risky enough taking the two scientists out of here. "He’ll disappear if he figures out we’ve learned the truth. Plan B will only buy us so much time."

"But how’s he even doing this?" Keiko asked through the comms just before she slipped around the corner and joined me.

Aaron was only a moment behind her from the other direction. "Your grandfather keeps meticulous records," he said. "There’s a good chance we’ll find the answers in the records room here on location rather than digitally. Paper’s less easy to trace these days."

I nodded, visualizing the lab’s blueprints in my mind. "There’s a room he must use as an office when he visits. Keiko and I can go through any paper files. Think you can hack into a hard drive if we find one?"

The cat shifter blinked his eyes slowly, as though I’d asked him if he could tie his own shoes. If he’d been in feline form, his tail would have flicked in annoyance.

"Let’s go then." Still carrying the unconscious scientists, I led the way down the hall and through a door that opened into an area with a few cubicles. Thankfully, we didn’t encounter anyone else.

Keiko picked the office door’s lock, and we slipped inside. I dropped the two humans and surveyed the simple setup. A desk and computer sat in the middle while a half dozen filing cabinets lined the walls. No cameras in sight.

Luck was still on our side. My grandfather must have thought the lab’s location was too nondescript to draw attention, and his security team would deter any would-be opportunist thieves.

I had no problem taking advantage of his ego and lack of foresight.

This was the problem when people became power hungry—their attention split too many ways and things started to slip.

Aaron got to work hacking into the computer while I directed Keiko to a column of filing cabinets. "I’ll take the other side."

She nodded and slid open the bottom drawer, rifling through the folders.

I did the same, hoping, but not holding my breath, to find something, anything, that would explain how Ichiro had learned to manufacture pyrocrystals this way.

We needed to bring more to the Council besides some photos that were damning but not sufficient evidence, two humans who were likely paid to lie on pain of death, and our word.

At least the scientists’ loyalty, and their lives, could be bought.

Only a few moments into our search, Rin’s voice crackled through my earpiece, "We may have a problem, boss."

"What problem?"

"Two SUVs just rolled up…Wait, make that three, and… Yep, it’s Ichiro."

Fuck me. Our luck had run out. My grandfather’s appearance couldn’t possibly be a coincidence. First the diner, now the lab? There was no way he had planned a visit the same night we broke in unless someone had tipped him off.

We had spent years watching and waiting, biding our time until we had what we needed. Killing Ichiro without proof of his wrongdoings would make us no better than him, and it wouldn’t be nearly satisfying enough for the crimes he’d committed. For the pain and suffering he’d put us all through.

A memory of my father’s face flashed through my mind. His hand had ruffled my hair, and he’d smiled. "I’m proud of you, Nic," he’d said before leaving for work, as he’d always done.

Only that time, he never came home.

Instead, Ichiro had stood by my side at the funeral, his stern, disapproving gaze tracking the casket as it lowered into the ground.

"Stop sniveling," he’d hissed at me. "You’re one of us now. A Sato. A dragon . Act like it."

"We’ll have to get one of them to talk." Aaron’s voice brought me back to the present, and he gestured to the unconscious scientists.

Keiko grinned. "You know I can be very persuasive."

"Time’s up for me," Rin said. "I gotta bounce before they walk in. The rest of Plan B’s all set."

The guards would be fired—or, more likely, killed—for their participation in tonight’s fiasco, no matter how unwilling their participation was.

It was unfair, but this was war. They had to know what atrocities occurred on their watch, and they didn’t stop it or alert anyone.

In our world, death was the natural consequence of their inaction.

"We’ll meet you back at Nic’s place," Keiko reminded Rin.

"Copy that. You guys have less than a minute before they’re inside."

My adrenaline spiked, setting my pulse racing. We had come so far and were so close to getting the answers we needed to bring the bastard down once and for all. I couldn’t give up. Not yet.

I rifled through the folders faster, unwilling to leave without something condemning Ichiro to Hell. There had to be something we could use.

"Seriously, Nic, we need to go," Keiko’s worried voice barely filtered through my manic searching. "What we have now will have to be enough."

Aaron moved to the door, cracking it open just enough to peek through. "If we surprise Ichiro tomorrow, the Council will get here for further proof before he can remove anything. Let’s go."

"You two go. I can’t leave without…" My voice trailed off as I stopped flipping and yanked a folder free. Inside, handwritten pages outlined an experiment—the one that led to the pyrocrystal trade. There was no mistaking the blue liquid and its purpose.

Motherfucker.

This was it.

A blaring alarm echoed down the hallways, and red lights flashed through the room. Ichiro had discovered the guards.

I couldn’t risk taking the folder with me, but I couldn’t leave without this information. I met Keiko’s gaze, and she knew what I was asking. She nodded.

Moving fast, she helped me spread out the folder’s papers across the desk. I took photos with my phone, praying to any god listening that they would be clear enough later on. Then we stuffed them back into the folder and the drawer. We’d gotten what we needed.

We’d finally fucking done it.

Now that Ichiro’s men were in the building, the cameras would return to their live feeds. This was far from our first rodeo, so we were more than prepared for that possibility.

Aaron and I slipped on black ski masks while Keiko chanted a spell, calling on her lunar magic. Black shadows wrapped around our forms and rendered us invisible.

Although she’d wrapped me in shadows plenty of times before, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to the feeling. I wasn’t sure I’d ever want to. The shadows seemed to seep the life out of you, draining your very essence.

Keiko claimed they didn’t actually do that, but it was enough that it felt that way. Being virtually invisible even to myself was also highly disconcerting.

Aaron and I each slung one of the unconscious humans over our shoulders, and their bodies disappeared into the shadows. The three of us slipped back into the main hallway in silence. We knew from studying the blueprints which way would lead us out.

As we neared the exit door, voices echoed down the linoleum-floored hall.

I pressed myself against the wall, hoping the others did the same. The human over my shoulder stirred. I tensed, ready to silence him forever if necessary.

"I don’t care if you think they already left," Ichiro’s sharp voice snapped out as he stepped into view. Kenzo hurried beside him, his gold chains rattling together. "If you value your life, you’ll do as I say."

"The wolves must not’ve been here long before we showed up." My cousin tugged at his track pants, which were in danger of falling off because of their quick pace and his annoying habit of wearing them too loosely. "Nothing’s out of place or stolen."

My grandfather’s eyes narrowed as he stalked toward us, though there was no chance he could see us within Keiko’s spelled shadows.

"I want to know how they found this place," Ichiro said. "How did?—"

His words cut off as quickly as his steps and my cousin almost ran into him. Grumbling, Kenzo adjusted his tracksuit jacket while Ichiro’s eyes scanned the area.

My pulse quickened, and I felt Jou writhing in my mind. If the old man found us, we would have no choice but to fight him. I wasn’t altogether against the idea, but I wanted to do it on my terms. Fully prepared.

Jou was as fierce as Ichiro’s ancient beast, perhaps even stronger. I didn’t doubt my dragon’s abilities or my fighting skills, but I’d learned long ago not to underestimate the old man who’d pseudo-raised me.

If I had to face him tonight, then so be it.

Ichiro’s gaze swept over us twice before he finally moved on. He headed for the office we’d just left.

That was too fucking close. As much as I wanted to fight the old man, I needed to do it right. I wanted him to see everything he’d built come crumbling down before I ended his pathetic life.

As the two men disappeared, a quiet click came from the door leading out. It cracked open, revealing the night sky, and we slipped out.