Page 61 of Twilight of Embers
Maddox reclined on my black leather couch, his back to the one-way windows that gave me a view of the mayhem below. He never cared to see what happened, but I always wanted to see it all. Needed to. Just like I needed countless cameras at both home and work to make sure I had eyes everywhere.
Maddox tapped something on his iPad. “We have a new caster seeking sanctuary.”
I leaned back in my chair. “Story?”
He scanned the screen, taking in the details. “Comes from a clan who tends toward dark magic. Didn’t want to go that route, so he left. Tried to make it in no-man’s-land but got roughed up. Is hoping that living on horde territory will keep him protected.”
My fingers tapped along my glass desk. I’d started my dragon horde by accident more than anything. Finding my bond mates had meant the need to mark our own territory, but the life I’d led meant I’d also acquired a rag-tag group of friends. A mixture of all different types of supernaturals, not just dragon shifters. They’d all needed a safe place to call home. And I wasn’t about to turn them away.
Word had spread about a safe haven of sorts for supernaturals. So, every so often, we got a request for sanctuary. We didn’t always say yes, but most of the time we did.
“Does his story check out?” I asked.
Maddox sent me a droll look. “Do you think I’d be bringing him to you if it hadn’t?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “Set a meeting. It wouldn’t hurt to have a caster to call on.” Their magic could come in handy, especially if someone needed healing.
“Done,” Maddox said, typing away. “We need to talk about the Corbett clan.”
Just the sound of their name had my back teeth grinding. The only person I hated more than them was my father. And I’d wiped him from the earth just a few weeks ago.
“What. About. Them?” I gritted out.
Maddox’s gaze lifted, studying me carefully.
“Don’t try to shrink me,” I snarled.
Just because the man was teaching now, didn’t mean that his psychology degree lay dormant.
“I can’t turn my knowledge on and off, Cill,” he muttered.
I worked my jaw back and forth, trying to loosen the tension there. It didn’t work.
The Corbetts had been a thorn in my side since I’d begun fighting underground in the hopes of simply feeding myself. The alpha, Dexter, had seen my potential and tried to get me to join their horde.
But I’d seen the way he ruled with an iron fist. I knew that kind of leadership, had seen the kind of darkness it could lead to, and hadn’t wanted a thing to do with it.
Dexter hadn’t been pleased.
He’d pitted his top fighters against me in the ring, trying everything he could to get me to submit. It hadn’t worked. When I’d started my own horde, he’d attacked our boundaries time and time again.
When that, too, had failed, we’d come to a tenuous sort of truce. But I knew he was just biding his time. And his son, Hal, was just as hungry for payback.
“What happened?” I growled.
“They’re testing our boundaries again. Doing flybys at night. Scoping out our property with long-range cameras during the day.”
Fury burned hot and bright. While the club was on neutral ground, the campus and town, including our home, were Teaghlach Clan territory. Gaelic for family. Because that was what we were. Family by choice, which in many cases was stronger than blood.
“This requires retribution.” I tried to keep my voice calm, but the anger burning deep made my voice vibrate.
Maddox’s face was a careful mask. “What did you have in mind?”
I drummed my fingers on the desk. “Have you figured out a pattern to the flybys?”
He stayed quiet, and I had my answer. Maddox’s mind was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Genius wasn’t even the right term. It was more. Because there was an intuition on top of the intelligence.
“I want two of our enforcers waiting. Tell them to maim, not kill. But if they return, death is the only answer.”
