Page 36 of Flesh and Fury

Ari spent the next hour trying to figure out a way to make his partner pay.

Chapter Eleven

EOGHAN

After their haircuts and massages at Ijumaa’s place, Eoghan realized they’d spent a totally relaxing day in each other’s company. He’d marveled at how well suited they were with each other, not only at work but also at home. They’d passed the day doing small domestic things together…things they put off because they were away a lot of the time like laundry, house cleaning, and grocery shopping. They’d joked and laughed the whole day away.

That evening, they’d grilled steaks and invited Al, Ted, and Bear to join in, eating outside in the garden since it was a beautiful summer evening. They’d gone to bed and made slow, breathless love until they were both gasping and exhausted, then rolled over and fallen asleep in each other’s arms.

The next day they’d lazed around and just enjoyed each other. Going for lunch on the ocean, slow, languid afternoon sex, and an early night. It had been a thoroughly relaxing two days off and by the time they pulled into the parking lot at Griffith Park they were ready for whatever Arizona Priest had to throw at them.

The moment they stepped off the elevator, Eoghan sensed an almost electric charge in the air. He glanced over at Ari. “Feel that?”

He nodded, and Eoghan realized he’d pushed back his jacket and had covered the hilt of his Glock too. “There’s something supernatural in here,” Ari said.

Eoghan agreed. He glanced over at his partner as they walked toward the bullpen. “It’s not our policy to invite them in so whoever they are, the chief must trust them.” The minute they rounded the corner, he stopped as he spotted the chief, beckoning them over. She stood just outside her office flanked by none other than Severin and Invictus. They weaved their way in between several personnel who’d stopped working and were openly gaping. Several marshals were watching the conversation between the chief and the tall men, probably realizing they were paranormals of some kind, but not dragons. Eoghan hadn’t known of them until Two Trees had mentioned them. And until meeting them and watching them shift into fearsome dragons, he hadn’t believed it.

“Why are they here?” Ari asked quietly as they walked through the office.

Kellen McGillis turned a corner just then, not looking up from his phone as he texted, and nearly ran right into Ari. They both pulled up short just before a collision. Eoghan watched Ari open his mouth, probably ready to apologize before he recognized him, shutting it just as quickly as McGillis sneered at them both and sidestepped Ari.

Eoghan decided he’d have to have a very unpleasant conversation with Kellen and hoped that he’d have the opportunity soon. For the thousandth time, he wished he’d never become entangled with the man. He couldn’t stand him and now there was tension between him and Ari, things were even worse. When they got to the chief and the shifters, they greeted each other, shaking hands.

“It’s really nice to see you two again so soon,” Eoghan said. “But I have to say, I’m surprised we’re meeting in the office.”

“Severin and Invictus got back in touch with the Agency just recently as you know,” the deputy chief said. “I asked themto come into the office the next time they were in town and reregister with the Agency. It’s been a long time since we’ve had any contact with them.”

Eoghan was certain he detected the double meaning in the boss’ words but for now, he just went along with normal greetings. If anyone in the office or at the Agency was spying on them, all they’d see would be them greeting these men whom they’d met a few months ago when they’d supposedly been up north at Mount Shasta to check on these ancient beings. They probably wouldn’t put two and two together that these were the dragons.

“We wanted to talk to you about the Tahoe shifter clan and the jade we require,” Invictus was saying. “We might have to ask for Agency help in negotiations. Would it be okay if we spoke in private somewhere?”

“We can meet in the SCIF,” the chief helpfully offered. “It’s got a comfortable conference room table, and we’ll have the ultimate privacy there.” She turned toward Eoghan and Ari. “Why don’t you two come down there as well? You know the Tahoe shifter clan and all the moving parts on that reservation. Maybe you can lend our friends here some of your sage advice.”

“Sure, Chief,” Eoghan said.

“Anything you need,” Ari reiterated. He exchanged a glance with Eoghan, knowing like he did that shit was getting real. It felt like the time had come when decisions and plans were about to be made. It was exactly the way he expected them to be after the chief had told them to take a day to drive back and a couple of days to rest up. He just didn’t expect to come to work and find Invictus and Severin in the office.

They headed down to the SCIF, their secure compartmented information facility, a room all Federal offices had; no cell phones nor computers were allowed in the roomto maintain completely secure information. Whatever was shared down in this room, on the lowest level of the building, couldn’t leave the room, unless it was in the heads of those who heard it there first.

They checked their phones and were wanded by armed security personnel before being let into the room. The single phone inside was scanned every day for bugs and hardwired so no information could escape. As soon as the door was locked, Eoghan breathed a sigh of relief that they could now talk freely.

“Nice to see you here,” Ari said to the dragons, before Eoghan got a chance to voice the same thing. “I am surprised, though.”

Severin and Invictus smiled as they pulled up chairs and sat down at the table across from them while the chief sat at the head. “Your chief sent a message that she wanted us to come in the next time we were in town,” Invictus said. He glanced over at her and smiled. “She completely charmed us, and we both got the impression she wanted this meeting urgently. We figured this would be a planning meeting for an upcoming operation to stop Tillis Bradshaw and help King John Townsend, so here we are…to plan.”

Eoghan frowned, turning toward the chief, then back to the dragons. “I didn’t realize you had any contact with the chief.” He glanced back at the boss. “How did you send a message to them? The last time you wanted to talk to the dragons, Ari and I had to be picked up—literally picked up—and flown to a cave, for Christ’s sake.”

“Yeah,” Ari protested. “Do you know how scary it is to hang from someone’s claws?”

Eoghan snorted, watching the chief crack a smile.

“Actually no, I don’t, and I went low tech this time.”

“Low tech?” Ari asked. “How do you get any less low tech than a message delivered face to face?”

She shrugged. “Carrier pigeon.”

“Carrier pigeon,” Ari repeated flatly. “How the hell does a carrier pigeon fly that high up without being killed by…I don’t know, whatever natural predators pigeons have, hawks and eagles and shit.”