Hidden Passions (Hidden, #7)(32)

"We think so," Rick said. He was on the now righted sofa with Cass perched next to him on its arm. "His apartment was a shambles, from a battle involving magic is what we guess. A witness saw him running away alive."

Cass squirmed uncomfortably. "Dad never talked to me about dragons. I don't know any more about them than you."

Her tone struck Tony as peculiar. It reminded him of Rick claiming not to know who the dying faerie wanted him to protect. Cass might think she was being truthful, but Tony wasn't convinced. Nate shot her a look that said he also doubted her claim.

"Here's the thing," Nate went on without challenging her. "Professor Pliny said there were rumors that T'Fain wasn't actually the last dragon. He said three eggs might have survived from an earlier clutch, eggs the Dragon Guild hid away for their own reasons. Someone, maybe even Cass's father, could have smuggled them to Resurrection for safekeeping. Faeries don't age like other folks. What if Cass's dad was T'Fain's keeper? In the legend, he let her die at the king's command. Maybe he feels guilty. Maybe helping to hide those eggs is his way of making up for it."

"My father's not that sort of person," Cass burst out. "He's a simple toymaker."

Rick put his hand on her leg to calm her.

Tony thought that was cute, but decided to keep his amusement to himself. He leaned back on the couch on the other side of Rick. It seemed to help his brain when he wagged the foot he'd pulled onto his knee. "What are we thinking here? That some block of faeries wants to hatch new dragons and make their own Pocket? One they can lord it over without interference from rivals?"

Faeries loved lording it over folks--the faerie who'd poofed away from him being a prime example. Tony had no trouble imagining him wanting to rule a world.

"Professor Pliny suggested another possibility," Nate said. "That some people in Faerie want to unmake us. Evidently, certain factions think Faerie should be Faerie, and Outside should stay Outside. They're very much opposed to our blended reality."

Okay, that was a grim idea. Tony's life wasn't perfect, but he certainly didn't want it to cease to be. The others didn't look any happier than him.

"Maybe we should try to dig up more facts," Rick said sensibly. "All we've got now is speculation."

"We could put out an APB on Cass's father," Tony suggested.

"Let's hold off on that. We wouldn't want to inadvertently lead his enemies to him. If he's got the eggs, or knows where they are, we can't afford to let them fall into the wrong hands."

"We shouldn't discuss this outside the squad," Tony said, sounding unnaturally serious even to himself. "If this is a faerie plot, they could have glamoured anyone to help them."

"Agreed," Nate said.

"Agreed," Rick seconded.

Their concurrence didn't gratify Tony the way it otherwise might have. He'd live without pack respect if it meant his world weren't in danger of ending.





CHAPTER SIX


CHRIS had braced himself for the challenges he'd face after his alpha married. Not on his list of scenarios was watching her husband walk around in front of him, fresh out of the shower, in nothing but a designer towel. Men that lean weren't Chris's ideal, but the anatomy manual look suited Nate. The brown and black towel he'd wrapped around his waist showed off his olive skin tone and also his tight rear end.


Evina seemed to be admiring both from her stool at the kitchen island across from Chris. This prevented her from noticing her beta's stoic expression. Should a supposedly straight man look or not? Neither tigers nor wolves were shy about their bodies, but Chris always had trouble deciding.

"Where's my blue shirt?" Nate asked, returning from a brief disappearance into his new bedroom.

The open-plan loft had changed since Chris had last been in it--a visit he definitely wasn't mentioning. Walls had been added, and a second bathroom, and a modern bookshelf-type storage unit for housing toys. One look at the items strewn around the living room indicated this wasn't being used as conscientiously as Nate must have hoped.

The kitchen, where Evina and Chris were going over their station budget, remained pretty much the same. Well, maybe its counter hadn't hosted a zoo's worth of little rubber animals before.

"Your blue shirt is at the dry cleaners," Evina said.

"Damn it."

Evina's eyebrows rose.

"Sorry," Nate said. "I'm not damn it-ing you. I'll pick up both our stuff tomorrow, if you want. I had another blue shirt at work, but Tony borrowed it. I don't know why he does that. My shirts are too snug for him."

Chris was grateful Nate had pulled trousers on. Hearing Tony's name was sufficient to send a helpless hot thrill through him.

"Tony likes you," Evina responded. "Remember when you couldn't find your dress shoes, and it turned out Rafi hid them in his tiger roost?"

"Tony's not a six-year-old."

"No," Evina said, the gentleness that was a big part of her in her voice. "Tony's a full grown man."

"Tony doesn't like me that way," Nate protested.

Evina smiled. "He likes you that way a little."

Nate's face twisted as if he wanted to argue. "He practice-flirts on me is all. He doesn't really have a crush."