Chapter Five

Skye settled back in his lounge beside the pool at the Ensenada resort, his eyes on the target. The sweet, young Latina waitress bent over to serve a drink, her skirt riding up enough to give an ample view of the tops of her thighs. She’d been overly solicitous of him all afternoon and would likely be rewarded soon, but right now all Skye could think about was Garen and the things he didn’t know.

Skye’s mother had left him a very specific missive, and he’d failed at half of it already. The first part required that he ensure Trevor’s happiness, but the underlying suggestion was for Skye to mate Trevor. Not only did Skye have no interest in mating a human male, he had even less interest in mating one who’d shared his mother’s bed. But he would have, regardless. Because one of the conditions of his mother’s last will was that Trevor be mated to a dragon before Skye could receive his full inheritance. So while he, personally, had failed, the requirement had still been fulfilled. Trevor was mated to not one, but two dragons, one of which arguably outranked most of Skye’s generation. His mother would have called him a fool for letting Trevor slip through his fingers, but she’d have been more than satisfied with the outcome.

The other part required Skye to find a female mate and have a child with her to continue his family’s bloodline. Once the mating bond was set, the last part of Skye’s mother’s requirements would be fulfilled and he’d receive his full inheritance of power and wealth. Until then, he was subservient to Kol and the Court. His mother had implied in her final journals that her wealth exceeded that of the Court’s, but he needed to prove himself to receive it.

She’d bound her magic with this final requirement into a tiny puzzle box that he carried with him everywhere. Once he’d fulfilled the requirements of it, the box would know.

~Only love, loyalty, and truth will allow you to gain the prize.~

It was a riddle of sorts, he knew that much, and his mother had always been cryptic. The words could mean so many things, and he didn’t have the patience to sort out what made the most sense. The one detail he suspected was that his friend Garen had something to do with it, and so he’d deliberately kept him close. Guardians were known for interpreting the truth of a situation, whether it be a simple truth or the best course of action to take. He relied on Garen for that skill in carrying out their tasks for Magnus, and hoped they’d help him discern the meaning behind his mother’s words.

He fiddled with the magic box now, wondering what was actually inside. The true reward likely wasn’t the contents—it couldn’t be—but a box had to hold something in it. The wondering tortured him. The reward, however, would be worth it.

The waitress moved past him again and his gaze followed the stride of her long, tan legs to the other side of the resort’s patio. He had a perfect view of the beach beyond, with the sun setting as a giant orange orb.

A dark shape in the surf caught his eye. He ignored it to watch the waitress bend over again, sure she was doing it just for his benefit. But the figure on the beach distracted him. Something about it was familiar.

He tore his eyes away from the waitress and looked directly at the figure. As it approached, the light around it shimmered. It was a large, naked man. But suddenly he wore a pair of trunks that hugged his muscular hips. A pair of trunks that hadn’t existed a moment before.

“Fuck.” The curse came out as a reflex when he realized who was approaching.

“Señor?” the waitress asked.

Skye waved her off. He tensed as the dark figure strode up the sand to the stone patio Skye lounged on. The setting sun sank lower on the horizon, just as Skye’s mood sank.

“Skye,” Kol said, ominously, hovering over him and dripping saltwater.

Skye’s skin went cold. His boss used to be a softie, but he’d changed recently and now Skye was distinctly worried about what to say next.

“Hello, Kol. You need a towel?”

Kol had the audacity to grin. “Yeah. That’d be nice.”

Skye glanced to the side and was surprised to see the waitress there, handing Kol a fluffy white towel and a fluffier cocktail.

Kol shot her a charming grin and took both. The pretty young woman looked like she might implode from even that scant attention.

The poor girl. She’d be horny for the next month just thinking about Kol. He had that effect on women. The bastard was brutal with his sexuality because he never shared it. Someone of his rank should have had hundreds of women, yet he insisted on only one.

Skye grimaced. He didn’t want more than one, either, but he’d be lucky if he even managed that.

Kol gripped the cocktail and reclined in the lounge chair beside Skye’s. He took a long sip and sighed.

“You do know how to relax between jobs.”

“It’s a necessary distraction, and remote enough to avoid notice.” ~Yet you found me~.

Kol’s presence irritated Skye as much as it concerned him. Why had the First Shadow come all the way down to Baja to meet him in person? Kol’s aura was a dark veil, allowing no hint of his true mood. He relaxed back into his chair and sipped his drink like he had nothing better to do than lie there and enjoy the sunset.

Finally Skye couldn’t stand it any longer. “We have business to discuss,” he said, preempting the conversation to focus on his own niggling issue. He’d planned on visiting the Los Angeles offices of Magnus Securities the following week. It was as good a time as any to get it done, now that he had Kol’s attention.

“Yes.” Kol said nothing more, leaving Skye sitting in an infuriating silence for another moment. Kol knew damn well what the issue was, but was forcing Skye to spit it out. To admit being trapped.

“I’ve decided to request a civil resolution. I need you to arbitrate.” He hoped Kol would accept his explanation at face value and not ask for more details. No doubt Kol had put all the pieces together as it was, of course.

“And what do you request to balance the insult?” Kol asked. “Trevor was quite valuable to your mother, wasn’t he?”

“I’ll let Trevor go, if I can get help with another issue,” Skye said. “My mother made it rather difficult for me. This little thing is a thorn in my side right now.” He held up the puzzle box to Kol, who reached out and gingerly took the tiny, golden cube between thumb and forefinger.

He chuckled. “What are our children going to do without the challenge of waking up to a new world with mysteries like this to unlock? We may have made it too easy on them, changing our laws.”

“What did your mother leave you?” Skye asked, accepting the box back into his palm and studying it again.

“She left me a corporation to run. And a challenge to do it right.”

“I’d say you’re living up to it, finally.”

Kol gave him a sardonic half-smile, but didn’t challenge the insubordination. The easy relationship they’d had as young dragons still bled through their more professional interactions.

“But as devious as my mother was, she was always honest with her children. There were no puzzles for us to solve when we Ascended, aside from the puzzles of our own happiness. What do you suppose your mother wants for you, Skye?”

“I think she’s given me a literal puzzle to solve. She always claimed she knew me better than I knew myself. All I know is that I need to find a human female mate to unlock this one.”

“And that’s somehow difficult for you? I find that hard to believe.” Kol shot a glance at the pretty Latina waitress who was carrying another pair of cocktails over to them. Skye hadn’t ordered another. He appreciated the attention, but found it somehow irritating on a deeper level because he hadn’t even invited it.

“I’d prefer a female who had at least a glimmer of an idea what she was getting into. Getting a human woman up to speed on our ways seems too tedious an undertaking. I don’t have the benefit of a controlled environment like our hibernation temple to help me convince her of my nature.”

“The Court does have the advantage in that situation. Yet another detail we’ve robbed our children of, but when there are enough dragons, perhaps they won’t feel so pressured to find human mates. Have you considered mating a dragon instead?”

“Not an option,” Skye said, glaring at the cube he clutched in his palm. He ignored the fact that he hadn’t answered Kol’s question. Female dragons were more difficult to deal with than female humans. The only dragon he’d ever been intimate with was Garen, and Garen deserved a mate who didn’t view him as a subordinate.

“When did your mother die?” Kol asked. “She was one of the later ones to renounce her magic at the end, wasn’t she?” He held out his hand, gesturing for the box again. Skye handed it to him.

“Only a few years ago. Trevor said he was eighteen when he first became her lover. He’s only twenty-three now. Young for a bonded human, but that’s not uncommon in families who stay with us for a while.”

“Hmm,” Kol said, studying the box more closely. He let out a tiny breath, the shadowy tendrils escaped his lips and reached out, teasing at the crevices in the patterns of the box. “She knew much about the new world by then, no doubt. And the women in it. This is such a pretty object, but the markings are perplexing. There are three aspects to it. Three distinct sets of symbols, and two of the sets are reminiscent of ancient draconic. The other is more modern—more human.” The dark ghosts of his breath seeped into the minute etchings that surrounded the box, but were repelled almost instantly.

That the Shadow couldn’t breach the box’s barriers didn’t surprise Skye. There was no key but to accomplish what his mother asked. He appreciated that Kol had tried, though.

Skye accepted the box back and studied it. Indeed, the patterns in it were intricate and delicate. Gold framework with blue jade inlay—a vibrant shade that matched his true color. The imagery was replicated on opposite sides, which made him think it might be a game, but he still hadn’t figured out the rules.

“A woman already bonded to one of us might be a better option. Do you have any in your employ who appeal to you?”

Skye had thought of that, too. A bonded human female would be easier to transition to a mate. But he’d met all the women who held that status in his employ. Most were attractive, and some gave him pause enough to think of mating, but in the end he was stuck with his mother’s requirement. They were all too old to breed.

“Our stock is outdated.”

The second he said it, he regretted it. It was an old way of thinking and he knew Kol hated the old ways. Humans weren’t a commodity anymore. They were equals in too many ways. Allies, maybe. Dragonkind was outnumbered by humans at any rate. They had no choice but to adapt and conform.

Which meant he had to stop thinking of humans the way his mother used to.

She’d told him as much, anyway. ~The world around us is not the world you left behind. Sensitivity is necessary to persist. ~

He’d been learning what that meant for months and had only recently begun to understand. Humans had always been their subjects before, but he had to treat them differently now.

Kol remained silent for a moment, sipping his fresh cocktail and gazing into the orange glow across the surface of the Pacific Ocean beyond their darkening beach. The soft glow of lights around the resort’s patio grew brighter. Kol had more to say, Skye was sure of it. Yet he continued to silently enjoy the deepening sunset.

The quiet was comforting, because Skye had a sense that Kol had an answer for him, even though he was being cagey about delivering it. That was the extent of what he could gather from the Shadow’s emotions, however. Most dragons were as open as humans were, but Shadows had always been different. They didn’t project unless they intended to—on the contrary, they tended more often to compel others to project without even getting into their heads the way a Blue like Skye could do. Shadows could clarify the most prominent of a person’s emotion simply by virtue of casting all the less important ones in shadow. Skye could feel him doing it now, in fact, as his true desires gradually became clearer to him.

He stared down at the box, mesmerized by the patterns that seemed to glow in the twilight. The golden curves of the patterns on it shifted, becoming the bars of a cage. Then they shifted again, with the doors opening.

This box somehow embodied his future with a mate he had yet to meet. He smiled a little at the thought of Garen and how his friend might react to being put inside a cage.

Garen had caged himself, though, centuries ago and long before their hibernation when he’d pledged himself to Skye.

“I am yours, whether you’ll take me or not,” Garen had said in a fit of passion that his young Guardian nature couldn’t suppress.

“What if the Virgin chooses you? You won’t be mine then.”

“Then you’ll be mine, because I’ll outrank you.”

The Virgin hadn’t chosen Garen, and so now he was Skye’s servant, as trapped by his rank as if he’d been inside this tiny box Skye held in his palm. Skye had the most irrational need to unlock the puzzle then, just to release Garen from an imagined prison.

What woman would willingly choose to become his prisoner in exchange? Did he even want one who did?

No, but he did want one who he didn’t have to hunt for. Someone who could be like Garen. Available when he needed.

Impulsively, he said, “I need a woman willing to sign a contract. One not bonded to me already, but preferably already bonded—a transfer, in other words. And …” He hesitated to say the rest. Kol would understand, but admitting what he wanted to the most human-centric member of the Court made him nervous anyway. “I’d like it if she were willing to simply serve me at first.”

Kol turned to look at him. “You want her to be your sole source of energy?”

“Yes. And to do it how I want it.”

“How ~do~ you want it?” Kol asked, eyeing him warily.

Skye ignored his boss’ scrutiny. His mouth watered as he thought about the ideal woman and how she’d truly serve his needs. She’d be a combination of the two he’d been with a few days earlier. Gwen with her innocent submission and Cassie with her confident suggestions. Cassie had been the surprising one, in the end, offering the subtlest suggestions to choreograph the evening yet still allowing Skye to make the demands. She’d reminded him of Garen, and Skye started thinking of her as his partner in crime during his seduction of Gwen.

“I want her to be aware of what is required of her, and willing. I might have strict rules …”

“How strict?”

“I want her Nirvana for myself. Always. Why should I bother at first?”

The confessions grew easier now that he’d begun letting them out. He had so many ideas about his perfect mate that he’d never realized.

“I want her primed for me daily. A pretty bird who will sing when I tell her to sing. And who will be happy to sing for me alone.”

“How will you keep her happy?”

“Garen will prime her for me. It’s a strength of his. He will also keep her happy while I’m away on Magnus business.”

Kol cast a dark look at him. “You want this hypothetical woman for your mate, yet you relinquish her to your servant?”

“She’s hypothetical, so yes.” He hesitated to admit the truth now. He’d been in love, briefly, and devastatingly when he was younger. Garen had been the one to pull him back from the brink of a broken heart, but he’d distanced himself emotionally from women ever since. He suspected that was the root of his inability to settle on a mate. “I want her to be happy. Garen’s better at that.”

“What if she weren’t hypothetical?” Kol asked softly.

Skye gaped at Kol. This was the trap. There was an actual woman Kol had in mind and he was being tested to find out if he were worthy.

Skye closed his eyes tightly. ~“Garen, I need you.”~

His Guardian’s presence had been lingering at the outskirts of his consciousness all night. Garen never intervened unless required. His role was security, nothing more, unless Skye requested something more.

Now that his name had been mentioned—Skye’s fault—it seemed necessary to include him in the conversation.

“I’m here,” Garen said. Skye glanced up to see his shirtless friend, his mop of pale blond hair nearly covering his eyes. The haphazard look he had when they weren’t working always made him smile.

“Garen,” Kol said, interrupting Skye’s attempt to speak, “do you think Skye is capable of satisfying a human woman on his own?”

Garen swiped his hair out of his eyes with his palm and laughed. “Maybe? Well, yes, on the surface, but depends what you mean by ‘satisfy’. I know he’s capable of satisfying several women at once.”

Skye scowled at his servant and friend. Garen smirked back at him.

“I mean as a mate. Does he really need you to help like he says?”

Garen’s eyes widened for a split second. “I supplement his efforts. Together, I think we do well, but no. I don’t think he needs me to satisfy a mate—unless the mate wants us both, that is. But that’s all conjecture, sir.”

Kol chuckled. “You two need to loosen up, considering the task I’m giving you next week.”

“Task?” Skye asked.

“Your new mate, potentially. I’d suggest having Garen vet her if you’re curious. I’ll give you the information, but the transfer will happen a week from now, if you’re amenable. If it isn’t you, it will be another dragon. This one means a lot to me, and I’d like it to be you who takes her, friend. I’ll send you my initial draft of the contract tonight.”

He rose to leave, and then paused, glancing back at Skye. “You can consider her recompense for Trevor. At least that matter can be settled.”