Breaking Her (Love is War #2)(95)

Christian finally piped in, helpful as ever. "We'll call it, 'Operation: Baiting the Bear and Snatching the Dragon.'"

"We're not calling it that," I snapped back instantly.

I closed my eyes, rubbing my temples. Caleb's plans were usually solid, but this one already made me want to beat my own head against the wall. There was no question that I'd rather be in on the kidnapping part, as opposed to the whole meeting fiasco.

"Fine," I said finally, "I'll talk to Dom."

"Good. And while you're at it, get him to set up a meeting for us with their captured dragon."

My eyes snapped open. Dom had mentioned something about that...and then promptly distracted me. "Who is it?" I asked Caleb.

His mouth hardened. Touchy subject. "We don't know. We don't know anything about him, and we haven't been allowed to speak to him. They have him held in some sort of underground compound in the desert, but I haven't been able to get close enough to check it out. Dom won't tell us a thing. He wouldn't even discuss the prisoner with us, until he saw you again."

"Bastard thought we knew where you were," Christian piped in. It had been an unusually long period of silence for him. "He thought that we just weren't telling him." He sounded disgruntled, his English accent growing thicker, at the thought.

I had to smile just a touch at that. Everyone in this room knew that if they had known where I was, and I hadn't wanted them to tell Dom, there's no way in hell that they would have, so him getting defensive about it was just good comedy. And very typical Christian.

"I'll talk to him about that, too," I assured them.

"Make sure to stipulate that we all get to talk to the dragon," Caleb said, a hard glint in his eye.

I arched a brow at him. He was very much overestimating my skills of persuasion, but I supposed I'd try. "I'll see what I can do. In the morning. Dom didn't seem too happy with me when I left. I'm going to give him some time to cool off, before I start asking for favors."

Caleb shrugged. "No one knows how to play Dom like you do, so I'll leave it to your discretion."

I gave him a very hard look for that one. "That's going a little far. I do not play Dom."

Christian coughed slightly, muttering, "Like a fiddle," under his breath.

I didn't look away from Caleb, who had started it, but I suddenly had the strong urge to deck Christian.

Caleb met my eyes steadily. "Just calling a spade a spade. You can look at it through the filter of your emotions, if that makes you feel better, but I see it solely for what it is."

I felt my temper boiling, though I knew Caleb well enough to see that he could never understand my feelings for Dom. "And that would be?"

"Extremely useful. I don't see that as a bad thing. On the contrary. Wrapping one of the most powerful druids around your littlest finger is a very good play. But we're getting off track. If you won't ask him tonight, I have something else planned."

I stayed silent, just waiting for him to continue.

I was trying real hard not to be pissed about his assessment of my relationship with Dom. I had never been so mercenary, never set out to make him utterly obsessed with me. And I certainly hadn't chosen to stay just as obsessed with him, though no one ever seemed to notice my feelings.

I knew that the druids saw me as the cold bitch that had played with Dom's emotions. Having my own friends thinking that...stung. But that was just how Caleb's mind worked, so how upset could I get about it, really? And Christian was, well, an ass, likely giving me grief just because it tickled his fancy. I should have been used to them both, but I struggled for endless moments to stifle my rage and hell, my hurt.

Why was I being so sensitive? Was it the dragon-trance, still keeping some hold on me? Was I feeling a sudden bout of postpartum depression? I really didn't know.

Finally, when I thought I had a good handle on it, at least enough to drop the subject for the moment, I spoke. "What did you have planned?"

Caleb smiled his cold little smile. "A surprise. I'll ride with you in your car. Christian, you follow us in yours."

Christian was nearly vibrating in anticipation. "I love surprises."

"It's not for you," Caleb said coldly.

Christian shrugged. "So? I still like surprises."

I wondered, not for the first time, how these two men could be friends, spend significant time with each other, when they were very nearly polar opposites.

"I don't like surprises," I told Caleb. He knew that. Hell, everyone knew that.

He gave me his little shrug. "This surprise is unavoidable, so you might as well get it over with."

I studied him closely, though I knew that was pointless. Caleb was exactly as readable as he wanted to be. It could have been a mimic thing. I had no idea, since I'd never met another of his kind. I mused that it may not have been a bad thing. The thought of more than one Caleb in the world just boggled the mind.

Being enigmatic and hard to read was one thing, expecting me to go blind into some surprise situation was quite another. "I'm not walking into anything blind, Caleb," I told him frankly.

In a way, I trusted Caleb. He'd played reliable backup for me too many times to count, and he had obviously been actively involved in trying to find my sister, even without my having to ask. I had also played his backup many a time, so you could say we were even-steven.