Dragon 2 Chapter 26

I’d been so focused on getting myself to Jadelyn’s without further conflict that I paused as I stood outside the manor, realizing I was barefoot, wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt one of the wolves had lent me. My suit was over my shoulder, but I didn’t feel entirely presentable to enter.

“Zach,” Claire, Jadelyn’s mother, stood in the doorway. Too late to turn back or clean up at that point, I moved into the doorway. Claire greeted me with open arms, grabbing me and pulling me into a hug.

Behind her, Ruby shadowed her, much like Scarlett often did to Jadelyn. “Morning Zach! You’re early.”

I scratched the back of my head. “I ran into a little trouble with the college pack. Lost my clothes in the tumble. So, I decided to just come over here before I got roped into something else. I would hate to be late, or have something pull me away from today.”

Claire made a cute noise. “That’s so romantic. Ah, my daughter is too lucky. I’m happy you are putting our girls first.”

“They are my world. Nothing would dare come between us.” I flashed a charming smile at the mothers, working to reassure them.

“With what you are, once that secret is out, I doubt many people would want to get between you and your women.” Claire paused. “Well, except for other women. That’ll happen, but I’ve already talked to my daughter about it.”

“Mine as well.” Ruby agreed. “Taking charge of it will certainly benefit them in the long run.”

The way they talked was as if they had experience curtailing their husbands into place. Jadelyn and Scarlett had at least made it clear they were cognizant of my needs and would work to insure they were met.

Clearing my throat, I looked around the place. “Is there anything I can do to help set up?”

“No, we have it all under control. Besides, I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. Jadelyn told me she has left you to your imagination in that regard. So our lips are sealed.”

Jadelyn had enjoyed keeping details secret. I had no idea what a siren’s wedding was going to be like, but I trusted my mate.

All I was told was to wear a suit I didn’t want to wear again, which, of course, had set my imagination off. That I’d bought this during the school year after my body had changed meant this would be the first and last time I wore this suit.

“Do you guys have shoes I could borrow?” My toes wiggled free; my shoes hadn’t survived the transformation.

“Oh, barefoot is preferred.” Claire waved off my concern. “Would you like to go talk to our husbands? They are currently planning up in their ‘war room’.” She said the word with the same attitude a wife would about a man cave.

“That sounds great.” I was feeling a bit out of place and useless among the women and the decorating. The servants walking by with bunches of flowers only made it worse. If they weren’t going to put me to work, I’d rather go hang out with the men.

Claire rattled off enough directions that you would have thought I was going across town rather than through a home. But maybe their home was large enough to give off the same feeling.

I almost passed by the room, but luckily the door was open. As I passed it, I could see a room that could be nothing other than a man cave. It was like someone had transplanted a hunting lodge into the middle of the palatial manor. Stag and boar heads were mounted on the rough wood walls overlooking red leather couches.

Pushing open the door, I found Rupert and Detective Fox lounging on worn leather seats with tablets in their hands as they discussed plans for the evening. I knocked on the doorframe to announce myself. “Your wives sent me up here.”

Rupert stood. “You’re early.”

“Nerves. Waiting around wasn’t doing me any favors.” I tried to keep the explanation short. “Seemed easier to come over now rather than wait around.”

Rupert grunted in understanding. “Well, welcome then. We were just going over some of the texts that elves pulled from their archives.”

Detective Fox eyed me up and down in my sweats, his eyes locking on my bare feet. “What happened to you?”

“Got in a tussle with the college pack. They are a few wolves short as a result, but at least they figured out their alpha situation.” I grinned, wondering if he was going to add that to his investigation board he kept on me.

“You didn’t.” He scowled, clearly getting the wrong idea.

“No. Kelly is the new alpha.” I said it quickly, knowing the man wouldn’t love his daughter being committed to somebody who also had responsibility for a hundred female wolves.

But my statement didn’t seem to calm him very much.

“Kelly? As in Brent’s daughter?” Detective Fox asked, surprised.

“Yup, turns out a female can be an alpha.” I’d noticed how he emphasized daughter.

Rupert shook his head. “Strange times we live in. But she’s competent enough. I don’t care as long as it doesn’t cause problems in the city.”

I nodded, moving closer. “Tell me about what the elves pulled up.”

Detective Fox held up his tablet. “Old journals from Spanish Missionaries. The elves had agents in place among them, making sure that any who got too close to mentioning the paranormal disappeared. As you can see, Nat’alet comes up only a few times, and the elves are even arguing over the translation. Look here.” He pointed to a spot on the screen. It had the original handwritten text from the missionary’s journal, and below each line was a typed translation.

“They aren’t sure what he’s the god of. Bear men, or boar men. It might be a tribe, or a title for hunters.”

“Or ManBearPig.” I laughed.

Neither of them did, though. That was okay; they just weren’t cultured enough.

“Nevermind. He’s the god of trolls.” I pointed out.

“What? How did you get that?” Detective Fox looked at the transcript again as if that would reveal something I’d seen. But he was taking it all so literally; both of them were.

“If you were a Native American hundreds of years ago, and you saw a troll transform before your eyes, what are the two first things you’d fixate on?” I asked my soon to be father-in-laws.

Rupert got it instantly. “Tusks and size. The only things they’d have to compare them to would be a boar or a bear.”

“Bingo. So it makes sense then why he’s using the trolls to do all the work. Here, with the Order of the Magi convention and the swamp troll migration happening at the same time, he has both of his forces in place. Trolls and warlocks are rarely ever in the same space.” Maybe it was my dragon brain doing all the work, but it suddenly made much more sense. “But what I really need to know is what his weakness is. Does it say anything?”

“It depends on what he once was.” Rupert put the tablet down, no longer focused on the text. “God is just a term. Technically, the Faerie are gods, and so are more than a few other big name paranormals. Think of it this way, when numerous people worship a paranormal, it is like a collective spell. It pushes mana into them, forcing growth upon them beyond what they might have normally accomplished in their lifetime.”

“So, he’s just a super charged paranormal?” I had to admit, that made me feel better about my chances. “Could anything become a god? What about how the magi seem to worship dragons?”

Rupert snorted. “They very carefully don’t worship living dragons, or yes, they would push one into what we’d consider godhood.”

Interesting. I filed that way and focused back on Nat’alet. “Do you think it is as simple as him being a powered up swamp troll?”

“Maybe.” Rupert rubbed his chin. “This is a fairly stupid plan he has, but something tells me he’s too smart to be a troll.”

“At least you bargained for help from the Faerie.” Detective Fox threw out.

As much as I wanted to claim the praise, I hadn’t bargained with the Faerie. “Huh? I didn’t bargain with them. Neither did Morgana.”

Both of the men looked at each other in confusion. “You’re sure? We figured you must have, given that the Winter Queen came out to help.” Rupert finished for his friend.

“Hate to disappoint you, but no. Morgana and I thought maybe the trolls hit too close to the Faerie realm.” I offered.

“No. We have a detailed accounting of the troll attacks. Wissahickon Park has been clear, almost as if they had been avoiding it. For good reason.” Detective Fox refuted.

“Huh.” I said as we all paused to think that over. “That means there’s something we don’t know, and she does.”

Rupert sighed and rubbed his temples. “That’s always the way with the Faerie. Walking headaches, the lot of them.”

Rather than focus on trying to untangle a faerie’s logic, I focused on the information I was still missing to figure out my plan. “Do you have a final count on how many trolls we can expect?”

“Two hundred.” Detective Fox said quickly, and I admit I’d been hoping for a lower number. He must have seen it in my face as he added, “Or more. Second guessing going in with Morgana?”

I’d lie if two hundred trolls didn’t scare the shit out of me. Even if I could tear apart a dozen of them in my hybrid form, all it would take was being overwhelmed by them. Two hundred were a lot of trolls.

“Two hundred.” I repeated barely keeping the smile off my face as I said the next part. “That’s a lot for me to swallow.”

“You can still back out. Nothing has happened yet.” Rupert hedged.

“Oh, yeah. Definitely no small number. But I meant literally. I’m not quite sure my stomach is big enough to swallow them. The five that attacked Jadelyn were a tasty snack, but two hundred might be like forcing myself for that extra plate full of bacon at the buffet.” Part of me wondered just how big I would get if I managed to go full dragon. Logic said I’d be bigger than my hybrid form, but just what was the upper limit?

That was something I needed to talk to Morgana about. I had a feeling I’d have some serious size on my side.

“You ate them?” Detective Fox said, bringing me back to the conversation at hand. Both men were looking at me a little warily. Good.

“Yup. They attacked Jadelyn; I wasn’t going to let them live.” My voice rumbled as the beast tried to get in on the conversation.

The men paused, clearly hoping I’d go on. When I went quiet, Rupert grumbled, then tried to play it off like he didn’t care. “Keep your secrets.”

The gleam in his eye said that he desperately wanted to figure it out, but he added, “As long as you take care of my daughter, I don’t much care what you eat. Glad you aren’t too concerned about going up against two hundred trolls.”

“Hello boys.” Morgana’s voice surprised me from the doorway.

“What are you doing here?” I asked in surprise before realizing that it came out wrong.

But if it bothered Morgana, she didn’t show it. The drow vampiress was wearing her standard black leather getup. Although, no blades swung from her hips, and she had a cape hanging off her shoulders that was covered in markings that I felt contained her history.

“Morgana. Glad you could make it.” Rupert said. “Zach, as your ward, we extended an invitation to her. And we wanted to talk with her about the plans for tonight.”

“Ah.” That made sense.

Morgana came over and pinched my cheeks. “It feels like just yesterday that I took you in. Just a little lost one.” She gave off a wistful sigh.

“It was three months ago, Morgana.” I reminded her.

“How time flies.” She sat down in front of me. I still hadn’t taken a seat. “Rub my shoulders, would you?”

Not seeing any reason not to, I did. She moaned, making me cringe. She knew how awkward that would make me feel in front of the fathers, and I knew she was enjoying every minute of messing with me.

“So, what’s the plan?” She asked, taking control of the room.

The fathers looked a little shaken, and I smiled to myself as I realized she often liked to throw people off balance, only to take command of the situation. Kelly had hinted that when I wasn’t around, Morgana was far fiercer, and this felt like just a little hint of the control she could exhibit.

“Zach here had the idea that Nat’alet is the god of trolls. It seems like a sound theory given what we know.” Detective Fox summarized.

I kept at rubbing her tense shoulders, and Morgana melted into the chair, speaking lazily.

“He’s good like that.” She groaned as I found a particularly tight spot on her right shoulder. “Who worships him?”

“Nobody, except three warlocks, as far as we can tell. It seems he’s been forgotten to time.” Rupert clarified.

She nodded. “So he’s still weak. This might just be his play to come back into the limelight, despite what those warlocks believed.”

“Killing paranormal and magi to help the world heal.” I clarified for the two men.

“Stupid.” Rupert muttered. “If he’s so concerned with the decline in mana, then maybe he shouldn’t be throwing around so much magic. Couldn’t have been easy to transform the magi.”

“It makes a sort of sick sense.” I added. “Though, I wonder if there’s something else that we could do to further the same goal.”

Rupert shrugged. “Too big of a goal to tackle in a single lifetime, and the decline is extremely slow. A problem for another day.”

How Rupert shrugged it off bothered me, but I didn’t let it show. Without a better understanding of the full situation, I decided to curb any judgment.

“But even if he’s relatively weak for a god, he still has amassed an army of two hundred trolls. That’s a problem.” Rupert pointedly laid that out for Morgana. “Any ideas?”

She looked up over the chair at me. “How hungry are you?” The corner of her lips twitched as she tried to ask that with a straight face. No doubt her pointy ears had heard what I said earlier.

I, however, failed to keep myself from laughing. “Might be too much for me.”

“Pity.” She pouted. “Well then, given they are swamp trolls and we already have the Winter Queen’s assistance, I suggest we use that to our fullest advantage. If she can make the gathering place cold enough, then we might just be able to freeze them out.”

“About that.” Detective Fox paused. “Did you bargain for their help?”

“No.” Morgana grew serious for a moment. “That concerns me as well, but there is little that can be done. Her help will be invaluable. And I’m not in a place to turn it down.”

“Agreed.” Rupert scratched at his beard.

“But less fretting. Don’t we have a siren’s wedding to prepare for?” Morgana picked up the mood of the room and flipped it inside out with her own excitement. She looked up at me. “Can’t say I ever prepared to give someone away at a wedding...” She looked like she was about to start down some long reflection on giving me away, but Rupert jumped in.

“Ah. It is getting late.” Rupert nodded towards the clock on the wall. “Why don’t you go get dressed. I’m sure the girls will descend on us soon.”

I knew when I’d been dismissed. Besides, if they wanted privacy to discuss it, then who was I to stick around?

Grabbing my suit, I wandered through the manor looking for a room I could change in. But I quickly became lost. “Excuse me.” I stopped a maid carrying a pot of flowers. “Where can I change?”

“Oh.” She looked at me wide eyed. “You’re Zach!”

“That would be me.” I gave her my best patient smile. “Anywhere is fine; I just need to get changed.”

“Zach?” Scarlett’s bright orange hair poked out of a door down the hall, her fox ears twitching. “You aren’t supposed to be here. It’s bad luck to see the bride.”

I held up my suit. “I’m lost, and I need a place to change.”

“Elda, I’ll take care of my wayward man. Thank you for helping with the flowers.” Scarlett popped out of the room, carefully closing the door behind her.

Jadelyn must have been inside getting ready.

Scarlett looked beautiful. She was wearing a tight green dress that reminded me of spring. Her hair was up and curled tightly in a bun with a few artful wisps of hair escaping. “Come on.” She caught up to me and grabbed my arm.

I couldn’t help but notice my ring still on her finger and smiled in satisfaction.

“Yes. I’m yours.” She smiled at me and paused to give me a peck on the cheek. “And I’d love to thank you again for the ring. But, today is Jadelyn’s day, and I think if we are to get this larger family to work out, I need to respect that as best as I can. That means no tempting me.”

“No promises.” I replied.

She huffed in exasperation. “Men only want one thing, don’t they?”

“Hey.”

“I’m kidding. Under that big tough guy exterior, I know my man is a big softy. That’s what makes you great.” She clung tightly to me as she wound through the manor. “Here we go. You can change in my room.”

She opened it up, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

It was warm. Orange walls and light wood tones set the tone of the room. A massive four-poster bed dominated the center of the room, but what caught my eye was a yellow stuffed dragon laying on the pillows.

“Really?” I broke free from her and dashed over to pick it up before she could stop me.

“Fuck. It was a joke! Jadelyn gave it to me yesterday.”

“Uh, huh.” I eyed her suspiciously.

She pulled it out of my hands and put it carefully on a chair in the corner. From the new angle of her room, I could see the various weapons that had been hidden from the entrance view. A sword was strapped to the back of the dresser, and a shotgun peeked out from behind the door.

That seemed more like Scarlett to me.

“Go on. Get dressed.” She shooed me into her bathroom and closed the door.

I didn’t take me long to slip on the suit. Thankfully, it still fit me perfectly. I’d only gotten it this fall.

Part of me had worried it wouldn’t with how much I’d been eating.

Using the mirror and a little water, I tamed my hair and dried it off enough that I wouldn’t drip on my suit before opening the door.

A small intake of breath sounded as I stepped through. “You really do clean up nicely.” Scarlett’s tails batted me playfully as she bit her lip. “But let me make it perfect.”

Her hands neatly straightened my collar and fixed my tie, then she licked her finger and smoothed out my eyebrows. She did a few more minor adjustments before stepping back. “There, that’ll make an impression. Though it won’t last long.”

“Oh? Care to enlighten me on what to expect?”

“Nope. It is better if you experience it. At least, that’s what all the sirens say.” She added the last part after a moment’s pause. “Let me go check to see if Jadelyn’s ready. Stay here.” She glared back at me as if I were a wayward dog that might wander off if not watched.

“Got it. Staying put in your childhood bed.” I sat down on the plush mattress with a grin.

“Down boy.” She narrowed her eyes. “Not today.”

“That wasn’t a never.” I smirked, laying back and spreading myself across her bed.

She gave a huff of frustration, staring at me and fidgeting before she groaned and turned, heading out of her room.