Page 13 of Consumed By Fire
“You make it sound like you didn’t notice how beautiful she is.”
“I didn’t!” I snarl. “We’re going to drop this. I don’t want to hear of it again.” I bite out each word as I am reminded of how I woke up this morning. I need to stop giving myself a hard time about it. I was asleep. It was a dream. These things happen. Morning wood is normal for any male. It wasn’t her. It fucking wasn’t!
“You don’t have to get so angry. It was merely an observation,” Devil says, sounding put out.
“This is not a dating agency. I think it’s bad enough that dragons are dating and mating their damned riders. First Dagger, then Fang, and now Blaze. It’s wrong! But this, looking at a Red, let alone anything else, would be so much worse. A Draiger with a Red!” I shake my head. “I don’t want to hear such talk again. Not from you or anyone else. Am I clear?”
He nods once, looking downtrodden. I don’t care if I rained on his parade. I mean every damned word.
“I think I can take it from here,” I tell him. “You keep your eyes open for anything unusual and stop gawking at the Red.”
“Okay,” he mumbles. “I’ll walk the perimeter, and I won’t look at the female again. I mean, she’s mated so…”
“And a Red!”
“Yes…yes, there’s that, too. I’ll keep my eyes open for any trouble…don’t you worry.”
“You do that,” I say unnecessarily as I push open the door that leads to the offices.
It doesn’t take me long to get to Shadow’s door, which is open. I knock once, anyway.
“Come in,” she says, her eyes on her computer. She looks up almost as soon as I enter. “Take a seat.”
I do as she says.
“What is this I hear about you taking Trinity’s baby as soon as it’s born?” She links her fingers under her chin, giving me a death stare.
I shrug. “It’s fairly simple. Either the Red talks and tells me everything she knows about what the hell is going on at Mistveil Island, or I will send her back and keep her child.”
“You can’t keep her child. That’s absurd, Octane.”
“I can and I will.”
“Have you lost your ever-loving mind?”
“I’m getting sick of people calling me insane. No, I have not lost my mind. The female needs to talk. I can’t torture her, but this I can do,” I say simply.
“What do you want with a baby?” Her eyes go wide.
“I don’t actually want her baby. I want her knowledge. I would prefer the latter.”
Shadow sighs. “Thank God! For a second there, I thought you were serious. Kim was convinced you actually wanted to keep the baby. It took me a full minute to calm her down enough to understand what she was even saying. The human was beside herself with worry. It was impossible to convince her that you didn’t mean it. That it was only something you were saying to get your prisoner to toe the line.”
“It isn’t just something I was just saying. I do mean it. I fully plan on keeping her child if she doesn’t conform.”
“You just said you didn’t want to keep her baby.” She sounds exasperated, but quite frankly, I don’t care.
“I don’t want to keep it! I mean, I wouldn’t mind a child of my own, but…” I sigh, “the kid would be better off with its mother. Hopefully, Trinity talks. It’s up to her.” I give a one-shouldered shrug.
Shadow’s mouth drops open. “You are serious.”
“Of course I am. Playing chicken only actually works if you mean it. I mean it wholeheartedly. I am sure that she will talk. In the meantime, our new riders need to work hard at becoming proficient in the saddle. We need a backup plan…namely, another Red. One I can break with force.”
Shadow scrubs a hand over her face. “I don’t like this, Octane.”
“I don’t like it, either, but the Reds are getting into our territory somehow and working together with those in power on the Mainland. Chances are good we have a couple of moles at HQ. Or worse, they may even be among us here on the training grounds.” I gesture with my hands.
She cocks her head and narrows her eyes. “You can’t be serious. Not one of ours.” She shakes her head.