Dragon Heartstring(17)

“I’m calm.”

“Like hell,” I said, waving at the bartender and then pointing to my glass. “Promise me you’ll listen before you react irrationally.”

I think something popped in his jaw as he breathed in a deep lungful of air. He scanned the room. I followed his gaze to Jessen. Slowly, his eyes dimmed to a more human color, and the energy snapping in the air dialed down from deadly to just dangerous.

The bartender filled my glass, glanced at Lucius, then filled his to the brim. I tossed a bill on the bar. Drinks were covered with the donation to the hospital to attend the event, but that poor guy might be working overtime tonight. Especially after I finished this conversation with Lucius.

“I’m listening,” he said, taking a gulp of his Brevette. “Now tell me why he visited you.”

“My sister will hate me for this…”

“Go on.”

“Did Jessen tell you she plans to speak at the parliament hearing on the ban of the Volt gun?”

Lucius’s frown deepened. He tracked Jessen across the room as she welcomed new guests and played hostess.

“No. She hadn’t mentioned it to me.”

“The only reason I tell you is because of Grayson. He wanted to know if she planned to speak out about her injury.”

“And what does he plan to do if she does?”

“Look, he didn’t threaten her directly.”

“If he did, I’d cut his balls off with a rusty, dull blade and stuff them down his throat.”

“I’m sure that would go over well with the Gladium Precinct.”

He scoffed and leaned on the bar. “Cade. If I wanted to kill him, he’d already be a dead man.”

“Well, let’s not take that route just yet.”

He darted another glance at me. “What did you mean by ‘directly’? Did he indirectly threaten her?”

“The only threat he made for certain was against Shakara Icewing.”

“Did he now? Well, best let her know so she can inform her father.” He nodded across the room.

“She’s here?”

“Right over there.”

A flair of heat washed over me. Shakara sat at a bar-top table near the dance floor. A blond guy, a human, was laughing with her about something. He looked familiar. Inhaling a deep breath, I turned back to Lucius to catch a ghost of a smile flitting across his face.

“I’ll tell her. But Lucius, do me a favor. Get some of your Nightwing Security men to watch Jessen and Julian. Everywhere they go.” I combed a hand through my hair in nervous agitation, breaking my usually perfect composure. The idea of harm coming to Jessen or Julian shook me to the core. “Just to be on the safe side.”

“You think he’s stupid enough to attack my mate or my son?” The growl had returned to his voice.

“No, I don’t. But I can’t be sure. I don’t know him anymore. And the man he is now is twisted. Even more so than before. I’d like to ask another favor as well.”

“Go on.”

“Would you assign a man or two to trail Shakara until the hearing is over?”

Lucius examined me as if he were trying to divine my thoughts. “And what’s your relationship with Shakara?”

Damn Morgons. Always so pushy and forward.

“She’s one of my sister’s best friends who’s been threatened by a business associate who is known for dealing dirty. If there is anything I can do to prevent harm coming to her, then I’ll do it.”

“Because she’s Jessen’s friend, of course.”

“Of course.” And while my mind had been entertaining much more intimate thoughts of Shakara, I sure as hell wasn’t admitting that to my brother-in-law. “I’ve done enough damage with the mistakes of my past. If I can be of help in this, then I will.”

“All right, Cade. I’ll assign someone to track her. But you’d better tell her. Morgon women don’t like any sort of deception.”

“Neither do human women.”

Lucius lifted his glass. “True.”

I clinked mine to his and swallowed another sip, the burn lessening.

I found Shakara again over the crowd. While I felt triumphant that Lucius was doing exactly as I’d hoped, somehow I thought I was still falling short for her. “I’ll let her know.”

“You do that.” He swirled his glass of liquor in a small circle. “Speaking of deception, you might want to stop deceiving yourself.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re not looking out for her because she’s your sister’s friend.”

“No?”

“No. When you admit the true reason to yourself, some of that anxiety you’ve got building up inside will go away.”

“How would you know about any anxiety I might have?”

“I’m a Morgon, Cade. I can sense the change in your heartrate, your agitation in your nervous movements, particularly when her name came up. It means something. And I’m fairly certain you know what that something is.”

“Good evening, Nightwing.”

I ignored his smirk, set my empty glass back on the bar, and pushed through the growing crowd toward the dance floor area.

When I drew closer to Shakara’s table, I recognized the guy with her as a friend of Jessen’s from college. He leaned toward her with one arm braced on the table and his hand on her tall chair back. I swallowed the jealousy stirring in my gut. Damn Lucius and his Morgon senses. I knew exactly what that something was. Shakara entranced me like no other woman. And yes, she was Morgon. My father had taught me that, though we did business deals with them, they were not like us. And we were certainly never to mingle as friends or, heaven forbid, lovers. When my sister chose to marry Lucius, she was officially cut off by my father. And while I understood wholeheartedly that Jessen had made a good decision in marrying Nightwing and that Morgons were no different than us in the ways that mattered, it was still difficult to swallow the idea that I might be falling under Shakara’s spell.