Page 71 of FoolSilver
Nikolai shook his head in disgust. “I’m choosing to pretend you didn’t just say that.”
“It’s a compliment,” Drakken said. “You’re the best option to stay at the base and back Aelindor through the Tri-Crown Accord, the first Summit in the history of the Zodiac Covenant. That’s the most important job right now, and who else could handle it better?”
“Cute, dragon.” Nikolai snorted. “You forgot to mention I’m also the best spymaster the Covenant has.”
“Think you’re better than Lady Vaelith now, do we, vamp?” Caspian narrowed his eyes. “Give it a century, you might be nipping at her heels. There’s hope for you yet.” He held up a finger. “And why do we even need a spy on a rescue? What are you going to do, give us a guided tour of Xander’s palace?”
Drakken laughed, and he and Caspian traded a smirk. The alliance formed in a blink, the two of them ready to gang up and knock Nikolai out of the running.
“What, are you two going to share a hot tub in Xander’s lair?” Nikolai shot back.
While they went at it, I put my head down and ate, glad that no one was paying attention to me. I could clear a plate fast, a habit from the mine, where rations vanished if you blinked.
“Slow down, Max.” Aelindor leaned in, his mouth close to the curve of my ear, his breath warm against my skin. The scent of pine and winter filled my senses. “There’ll always be plenty for you.”
My breath caught. He drew back, the corner of his mouth lifting, pleased with whatever he’d found in my face, and settled into the high back of his chair.
Drakken watched the whole exchange.
“Two of my agents are already in position inside the Haven,” Nikolai said. “They’ll get us into Xander’s palace through a back channel. Holt flies in tonight with more intel.”
Captain Holt was Caspian’s by house, but the tracker network ran through Nikolai too.
“Then we’ve got nothing to worry about, vamp,” Caspian said. “Ground’s covered. You stay here and do what you do best. Charm the enemy stupid so they never feel the knife go in.”
I had a feeling his push to keep Nikolai home had less to do with the mission and more to do with their rivalry. Nikolai and I were more than friendly. Drakken and I were hostile on our best days. Swap the vampire for the dragon, and Caspian had no competition on the road.
“Who blends into shadows better than me?” Nikolai said. “You can see Drakken coming from five miles off. And the dragon would blow our cover in two seconds.”
“My dragon can be stealthier than you’ll ever be,” Drakken said, offended on his beast’s behalf. “How do you think he’s kept his hoard all these years?”
I bit back the urge to suggest he hand that hoard out to the poor. Seemed like a waste to let treasure just sit there, but neither he nor his dragon would take the suggestion kindly.
“This isn’t a battlefield, where brute force wins the day,” Nikolai pressed. “This is a quiet extraction. We go in, we come out with Max’s sister, and the casualty count stays at zero. Understood?”
I nodded, even though he wasn’t talking to me. The vampire prince was speaking my language, and he got me better than Drakken ever would. I hated casualties with everything in me. I’d lost too many people already, and even knowing more losses were coming, I couldn’t stomach the thought of adding to the count.
“I won’t argue with taking Caspian,” Nikolai went on. “He’ll be a pain in my ass, but we need his nose. Nothing else.”
“Nothing else?” Caspian scowled at him. “I’m a powerful alpha. My fighting is top-shelf. I’m a ten across the board.”
Shit.I never should have said he was a ten. Now he wasn’t going to let it go, and he’d completely missed the point.
“Whatever.” Drakken shrugged. He hadn’t touched his food. I could’ve eaten it for him if he’d offered. “On any operation, I’m the first pick. Above even Aelindor. I choose my team, and people are grateful to be chosen.”
“Your arrogance has no end,” Nikolai said.
“Correction,” Caspian said. “On any operation,I’mthe first pick. But I’ll give you second seat, Drakken.”
Drakken ignored them both and turned his alpha stare on me. Here we go again. I hadn’t buckled under that pressure when I was half-dead, and he thought it would work on me now, over dinner? His dragon rose under his skin to help him try, eyes sliding from cold gray to molten gold.
“Who wouldn’t want a dragon at her back?” he demanded, and the question was aimed squarely at me.
I’d just finished my roasted chicken and a roll of bread. Full, warm, and feeling invincible in the particular way a good meal makes you feel.
I smiled sweetly and let his alpha weight roll right off me. “I wouldn’t.”
Everyone stared. I resisted the urge to pat my stomach, which would’ve been deeply unladylike. If a man did it, nobody would blink.
