“I don’t know that for sure, but he seems to be here to harass Zav. Maybe even kill Zav.”
“So why kidnap kids and joggers?”
“To irk him. Or lure him into a trap, maybe. I have a map of some possible locations of caves where Dob might be staying. I can go out today to look for them.”
I’d been hoping Zav would return so we could do that together. It wasn’t as if I could take down Dob alone. But who knew when he would be back? Maybe I could find the lair, sneak in and rescue the kidnapped people, and then point Zav to Dob when he returned. Then they could fight it out in a dragonly way, mano a mano.
“Good. Do that. This Dobsaurin was caught on a video yesterday evening. I’ll send you the footage. He swooped down and killed four horses and riders near Kathryn Taylor Equestrian Park in Redmond. Right on the Tolt Pipeline Trail.” She hesitated. “It’s grisly.”
“I’m used to grisly.”
“I know. The dragon isn’t in the video—this was taken by the police in the aftermath—but two witnesses saw him and confirmed the scales were silver. They ran into the woods to the side of the trail when the dragon showed up. Others who were interviewed said they couldn’t see him, just people being torn to shreds, seemingly by nothing.”
“Zav said that only those with magical blood can see dragons unless the dragons want to be seen.” I pulled up Kathryn Taylor Equestrian Park on my map, and a weird knowing feeling twisted my gut. “It’s not straight east from the spots where the joggers were picked up, but it’s very close. Just a little jag to the southeast. I’ve been theorizing that he’s got a cave out in the woods east of Duvall. For some reason, all of his kidnapped joggers were on an east-west line from there. Maybe he likes to take a morning dip in Lake Washington.”
That was a joke, since there were plenty of rivers and lakes closer to where I thought he was staying, but Willard said, “Maybe, or maybe he fishes there in the mornings. There’s a big variety in there, I’ve heard. Do dragons like fish?”
“Zav said they eat fish and meat. He was skeptical about the lavender chocolates I gave him.”
“You’re giving him chocolates? Val, it works the other way around. The man gives the woman chocolate.”
“I’m trying to get him to believe humans don’t suck and that there are some good things on Earth.”
“By wooing him with chocolate?”
“I’m not wooing him.” I must have spoken too loudly, because the eavesdropper was looking my way again. Either that, or my half of this conversation was the most interesting thing going on this morning. I scrutinized him briefly, making sure he didn’t have any magical blood. The last thing I needed was some spy from the Northern Pride giving the brothers another location to bomb. “I didn’t even buy it. The people I helped on the peninsula gave it to me, along with a case of wine.”
“Did you give that to him too?”
“Well, yes, but only because I don’t drink it.”
“Did he drink it?” Willard sounded fascinated by this development. Maybe some secret girlie part of her heart wanted to attend a dragon–half-elf wedding.
“How should I know?” I grimaced as the video she’d promised popped up on my phone. I was used to death and gore and violence, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed watching footage of it. “Are you officially putting me on assignment to get this dragon?”
“Yeah. The military is prepared to send in jets to attack it from the air, but we need someone who can see it to pin it with a locator device.”
“Oh, that’ll be easy. I’ll just tag him like he’s a bear.”
“I was told without much subtlety that this is the least preferred method of dealing with him. They would prefer you simply get rid of him.”
“Even easier.”
“When your dragon sobers up, maybe you can try that chute-opening-ass-swatting suggestion I made.”
“If only. Zav went back to his world. I’m not sure when he’ll be back.”
Willard swore. That spoke volumes about her belief that I could handle this without Zav. Maybe she’d assumed from the beginning that he would be there to help—though I wasn’t sure why she would. Unless she knew more than I did, which was usually the case.
She took a deep breath. “We need to convince Dobsaurin to leave, one way or another. I’ve been authorized to double your combat bonus if you can kill him. Regular combat bonus if you can pin him with a transmitter that he can’t remove.”
I rubbed my head. How was I supposed to do that? A dragon wasn’t a wolf. I couldn’t staple something to his ear that he wouldn’t be able to remove—or incinerate. Dragons didn’t even have external ears.
“I’m having something prepared now. Something very durable. You can pick it up at the office this afternoon. If you’re successful, there’s a team at McChord ready to take off after him.”
I lowered my head, staring bleakly out at the gray sky and the darker gray water of Lake Union. Dealing with the dark elves seemed like a simple affair compared to this new assignment. I’d have to kill Dob. Or somehow convince him to leave. There was no way a dragon wouldn’t be able to remove a transmitter tag, even if I had a weapon that could pierce his hide to pin him with it. Chopper was the only thing I knew of that could make a dent. A tiny dent.
“You have the option to say no,” Willard added quietly.
I hadn’t spoken for a long minute.
“You’re not sworn to follow orders anymore,” she added.
“Yeah, but if I don’t do it, who will?”
“Nobody as good as you.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. I’ll be there soon.”
As I hung up, Mary leaned out of her office. “Val? I’m sorry my last appointment ran a little late. Will you come in?”
“I have to go.” I waved my phone before pocketing it. “Work.”
“You can’t take a few minutes to talk?” She raised her eyebrows. “You look tired.”
“Because I slept for two hours last night. I am tired.”
“I won’t nag you. I’m certain you already know that the best thing you can do for your health is get at least eight hours of sleep in a dark, quiet environment.”
“Trust me. I would love to do that.”
“Do you turn your phone off at night or at least keep it in another room?”
“No. When a friend calls and says her food truck is on fire, I want to be there for her.”
“It is difficult when your job requires you to be available around the clock. I know. I work with firemen and police officers. Will you make time to come in next week?”
“Yes. I figure everything will either be resolved by then or I’ll be dead.”
Mary smiled, but it faltered. Maybe my expression told her I wasn’t joking. I wished I were. The conversation I’d had with my mother returned to my mind, and even though I hadn’t decided anything yet, the idea of dying before I’d had a chance to speak with my daughter bothered me. A lot.
“Mary? My mom told me that my ex-husband and my daughter will be going on a family trip to Idaho in a few weeks. They invited her to join them, and she suggested I come along. I haven’t spoken to Thad or Amber in years, and they didn’t invite me, but… would it be weird if I showed up there? Just to say hi?”
“After years of silence? Yes.”
“Oh.”
“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it, but maybe you could call them first, instead of unexpectedly showing up.”
“Yeah.” But Thad never called me, and it was hard for me to imagine calling him first out of the blue. Of course, I’d told him not to call me unless it was an emergency, but I’d expected… I didn’t know. I’d thought he might reach out occasionally over the years. He hadn’t.
Why was it easier to face killer dark elves, vampires, and werewolves than to call my own family?
Because I didn’t care how those other guys reacted to me, I answered my own question. More than that, I expected them to be hostile. I could deal with hostility from strangers. Hostility, or even indifference, from people I should have had a relationship with… That was different.
“Or email,” Mary offered. “Couldn’t you email them without people realizing you have a connection?”
“So long as none of the magical people who want me dead are hackers or get ahold of my computer or phone, yes.”
“Is that likely?”
“It’s not an impossibility. My apartment gets broken into often. Someday, I’m going to hunt down a trinket that can keep everyone out of there.” I sighed with longing, having heard that artifacts like that weren’t uncommon in other worlds. Dimitri’s cactus home-security doodad wasn’t quite in the same league. Maybe with a little encouragement, he could learn to create something more useful.
“Get in touch with your family.” Mary put a hand on my shoulder. “Whatever reception you fear is probably the worst possible iteration of what will really happen. Even if they reject you, at least you’ll know. That would be easier than living with the uncertainty.”
I wasn’t sure about that. As long as things were nebulous, there was still hope. Hope of them forgiving me for the long silence, for walking out all those years ago.
“I’ll think about it. Thanks.”
As I headed for the door, Mary repeated, “Don’t randomly show up on their vacation like a stalker, please.”
She must have decided her previous, more circumspect wording of that hadn’t been sufficient.
“I won’t. I’m not a dragon.”
Her brow furrowed in confusion. I definitely wasn’t a normal patient.
19
When I pulled into the Moss Lake Trailhead parking lot, a place that could get me back into the forest where Greemaw had marked the caves, there weren’t any other cars there. I didn’t know whether to take that as a good sign—there wouldn’t be anyone to see me illegally let myself through the locked gate—or an ominous one. The hiking spot was out of the way and not that well known, but there were usually a few other people here.