Mercy Burns (Myth and Magic 2)

Only it was too late for that now. They knew who I was, where I lived, and what I did. There was nowhere safe for me to run, not without endangering the lives of everyone around me.

Besides, I didn’t have much left besides my integrity, and how could I live the rest of my life, knowing I’d walked away from my one chance to avenge Rainey and save her soul?

The strident blast of a car horn made me jump, and I looked out through the trees to see a green SUV come to a halt on the road almost directly opposite my position.

The fear leaped again, but even as I pushed away from the tree, ready to run, the window wound down and a familiar face appeared.

Damon. Relief spun through me. I raced toward him and jumped into the passenger side of the car. He took off immediately, the tires squealing and no doubt waking those still asleep in the park.

“There’s more than one—” I said, grabbing the seat belt and buckling up.

“Yeah, I know,” he cut in. “We’re obviously dealing with a large organization, not just the half dozen or so I’d presumed.”

“But how could such a large group exist without the council or the other cliques getting wind of it?”

“The fact that no one does know suggests Julio’s fears could be right, and that there is a clique behind it somewhere.”

“But a clique wouldn’t back a draman uprising.”

“No, but they would use draman as foot soldiers in a war. Dragons are great manipulators. The draman might not even realize what they’re actually fighting for.” His expression was grim as he glanced at me. “And remember, dragons are collectors. Wealth, land, and power are all prizes worth fighting—and backstabbing—for.”

“So if all this is the beginning of a planned uprising against the kings, why kill a king’s son and risk possible exposure?”

“It’s possible they were given no choice. If there is a clique behind this, Lucian might have recognized one or more of the players.”

“Lucian being Julio’s son?”

“Yes.” He glanced at me, expression cool yet again. “And considering a couple of the men involved are from your clique, that should probably be our first avenue of investigation.”

I might not like my king’s or my clique’s ways, but I still felt honor-bound to defend them. After all, not everyone there had grown up to be an arrogant bastard—just a good percentage of them.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean clique involvement. For all we know, it could be an underground movement of draman.”

“But why would draman kill draman?”

I snorted softly. “Killing is an accepted part of dragon culture, and regardless of what dragons may think of us, we are a part of that culture. And for all we know, this whole mess could be nothing more than a territorial dispute between draman.”

“A territorial dispute won’t fly. Both towns were on separate, unclaimed dragon lands.”

“And draman can’t dispute property?”

“Of course they can, but a territorial dispute wouldn’t lead to such complete destruction of life.”

No, I guess it wouldn’t. “If there is a clique behind it, will you have to go to the council and make this an official investigation?”

“I can’t. Not until we know for sure what’s going on here.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

He glan

ced at me. “Yes. I can’t move against a clique unless I have the approval of all the other kings.”

“Then I’m praying like hell that there isn’t a clique behind it all.” Because if the council got involved, things could go very wrong. Not just for my own quest, but for draman in general. “So, what’s next?”

“We find Deca Dent and its owner.”

“You don’t think they’ll be expecting that?”