Dragon Heartstring(15)

Unable to hold back the violence, I shoved him back with force, knocking him into the glass wall of windows.

“Don’t you fucking touch her.”

He caught himself and slowly shoved up with his cane to stand straight. He combed a hand through his hair and laughed. Not an ounce of joy in the sound. “Seems I might’ve struck a chord, Demetrius. Guess once one family member goes to bed with that trash, the rest are sure to follow.”

How I didn’t crack his skull against the glass, I have no idea. Fury rode me hard, heat crawling up my neck. “Get the fuck out.”

He gave a slight bow. “With pleasure.” He limped for the door. After he’d opened it, he turned and said, “Once upon a time, you understood what loyalty to your own race meant. Seems you’ve forgotten. I’ll remember that.”

I stood in the doorway and watched him walk in an uneven gait toward the elevator. A formidable man, bald and beady-eyed and wearing a long trench coat, followed after Aron.

As soon as the elevator closed in the foyer, I turned to Nadine. “Did Grayson give you any idea who the man in the trench was?”

“No, sir. Not at all. The man gave me the creeps. Never took a seat, even after I offered. Just stared at me for a minute, then stared at your door for the remainder of the time.”

Aron had brought a hired bodyguard. Either he’d grown extremely paranoid over the years or he feared for his life for other reasons.

“Interesting,” I mumbled.

“Sir?”

I cleared my throat. “Nadine, can you get me Lucius Nightwing on the line?”

“Uh, Lucius…Nightwing?”

I paused in the doorway and shot her a smile. I’d never called my brother-in-law before. “Yes. He’s in my files, trust me.”

I closed my office door and sat back in my chair, waiting, going over the brief but all-too-informative meeting with Aron Grayson. Over the years, I’d met many pompous fools in the business world who loved to spout dire words to get what they wanted. But Aron Grayson wasn’t that kind of man. When I called him friend, I didn’t even know who he truly was. Since then, he’d become a twisted, corrupt player in the business world. Though I didn’t have direct dealings with him anymore, I’d heard from my friend Max at the Gladium Precinct—the province’s police force made up of mostly humans with the exception of some Morgons on their special teams. He’d told me that Grayson dabbled in illegal trade with Primus, a human-only province to the west, and possibly even more sinister operations.

The desk comm buzzed. “I’m connecting you now, sir.”

“Thank you.”

After the third ring, a pleasant-voiced woman answered. “Nightwing Security, Tower Two. How may I direct your call?”

“Yes. This is Demetrius Cade calling for Lucius Nightwing.”

“Hold please.”

After a brief moment, the video image of Lucius popped onscreen. “Cade. This is unexpected.”

“Yes. There’s something I need to talk to you about. Something I’d rather Jessen didn’t know.”

“What’s that?” He leaned forward in his desk chair.

“Actually, I was hoping to talk to you in person on this.”

The last thing I needed was for Lucius Nightwing to decide to finally kill Aron Grayson with the ammunition I was about to give him. That would only get Lucius put in prison. Not an option. This was definitely an issue to discuss man to man.

Lucius raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got me awfully curious, Cade.” He checked his wrist comm. “The Children’s Hospital Fundraiser is tonight at Spire Maiden. How about we meet there? We can find a moment to talk privately. It’ll be loud enough.”

“Hold on, let me check my calendar to be sure.”

“Cade, you’re on the guest list for the event. I saw Jessen’s list last night.”

“I am?”

Lucius gave a tilted smile. “I’ll see you around nine.” Then he clicked off the comm.

I buzzed Nadine again.

“Yes, sir?”

“Do I have anything scheduled for tonight?”

“Yes, sir. You have the Children’s Hospital Fundraiser at the night club, Spire Maiden. nine o’clock.”

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

“Sir?”

“I don’t remember scheduling that event.”

“Um, no, sir. Your sister, Jessen, called and arranged it about a month ago…with me.”

“Did she now? A fundraiser at a club? Kind of unusual.”

“Yes. The club is closed to the public and open only for the fundraising event.”

Jessen had done her damndest to get me out of my shell and onto the night scene. I didn’t mind. In recent years, I’d devoted my life to my work. I spent so many hours behind my desk or at a conference table that I’d forgotten what it was like to mingle and have friends.

Speaking of friends, I picked up my personal, hand-held comm device and punched in Max’s number. On the third ring, he popped onscreen.

“Hey, man. What’s up?”

He was definitely at the station, but the background voices were louder than usual.

“Hey. Did I catch you at a bad time? Is that singing?”

“Yeah.” He laughed and glanced off to his right. “One of the lieutenants is retiring. What ya got?”