Obsidian Son (The Temple Chronicles Book 1) (28 page)

Power could be good, but it could also be bad. It was up to the user, and as power increased, it sometimes had a tendency to change an individual.

Here’s to me not becoming an all-powerful sociopathic wizard over the next few hours. Huzzah!

Chapter 28

O
riginally, I had been surprised that the expo was taking place during the day, but after further contemplation, it made perfect sense. A solar eclipse couldn’t be experienced at night, hence the word
solar
. Sometimes I can be thick, but I blamed it on the rough few days before me. There was a surprising number of people at the expo, wandering from table to table in the main atrium, accepting fliers, drink samples, and various other marketing ploys hoping to cash in on the tourists. And there were tourists aplenty.

I heard a speaker from behind the closed doors of an auditorium, but ignored it. We each had accepted stickers for our names upon arrival, and Gunnar and Tory chuckled at my choice of names. “Discreet, very discreet.” Gunnar laughed.

I spied a police officer near the entrance, and his face visibly paled upon seeing me. I grinned back, showing teeth. Gunnar shook his head. The police officer began urgently speaking into the radio attached to his shoulder — no doubt informing my good friend, Captain Kosage, of my whereabouts. Gunnar and Tory were stunned at the cost of tickets at the front door, but then relieved to find that I had already paid for them in advance. Tory tried to pay for hers, but Gunnar knew better after years of friendship. “Please, your money is no good here.” I answered softly, hiding her offer of cash from any casual passerby.

I was buzzing with power, and I had to find an outlet. Flirting helped. There was magic in flirting. That rush of endorphins when it’s win or lose, and you’re trying to impress the fairer sex. I just wanted to make it out of here intact, and I needed Gunnar and Tory to be on their game to accomplish that. Before Kosage found a reason to drag me downtown.

I whispered, leaning close to Tory as if for a kiss. Gunnar took his cue, and snatched us each a flute of champagne as if he had been waiting too long for the waiter to make his rounds. “I need you to play the part.
Expect
me to pay for you. You are a treasured gem on my arm, nothing more. A casual dalliance for the evening. A flower on my lapel.” I traced the backs of my fingers down her neck in a very, very intimate way as I sensed her shoulders tightening at my words. “
Doucement
, my precious orchid…” I said a pitch louder as the Mayor and his wife walked past us.

The Mayor winked knowingly at me, nodding approval before his wife elbowed him sharply in the ribs. I continued on with a knowing grin to the Mayor as he frowned at my nametag. “Remember, this is a charade, a play, and we are the leads. I need you to watch my back, because
here there be monsters
.” I breathed, pulling away with a dark smile. Her eyes dilated as she studied me, and then gave a brief nod.

I placed my other hand on her waist, looking to the entire world like a man staking a claim on his prize. “The less others think of you here, the better. It makes any change of character all the scarier.” I gently pressed my lips against the carotid artery on her neck and then leaned back. I held out a blind hand expectantly, and Gunnar placed a flute of champagne in my fingertips. I raised it to Tory’s lips. “Drink, my sweet.”

She nodded weakly, accepting the drink with shaky fingers. I noticed her knees were quivering, so kept my hand on her waist. Gunnar offered me my drink and I took a long pull, savoring the pricey bouquet. Cakebread, if I had to guess. Pallatable. Tory leaned in close to me. “Are you a vampire?” She asked, face smiling in a good mask.

I shook my head, curious. “Why would you ask such a thing?”

She trembled. “Because I can’t help but listen to you. You’re just so
adorable
. It’s like
Twilight
is happening to me!” I blinked at her sudden change of character. She didn’t seem like the
Twilight
kind of gal. “Do you have this effect on all your girls? If
that
isn’t magic, I don’t know what is?” She giggled oddly, a sound that seemed out of countenance for her. Then her eyes widened in sudden delight. “Oh, I’m going to go freshen up!” She took off like a rocket to the restroom. I turned to Gunnar, but he just smiled, amused. I took a swallow of my drink, barely keeping the shock from my face.

I had always been good with women. In fact, I was very good, but never
this
good. I groaned. She was right. It was as if my power was oozing out of everything I did. Without an outlet, it was making it’s own release. That meant that I had gained even more power than I realized after the attack on the bridge. But why?

I frowned thoughtfully. “It seems we might be in a bit of a pickle, Gunnar.”

I noticed that one of his cuffs were loose, allowing him easy access to his tattoo. His eyes roamed the room like a lion, lazy, but hungry. “Why?”

“I’m leaking power on you two.”

He arched a brow. “So?”

I blinked. “Have you noticed anything out of the norm? You are unusually copacetic towards me. You usually disagree and make everything more difficult. You are good at acting, but without question you wandered off to grab us each drinks. That is something Dean would do, but never you. Something is wrong. I think my power is pulling whatever attitude I want out of you two.”

He sipped his drink. “I just feel peaceful. But now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this mellow before. Calm. I mean, we are here to hunt murderers, or find why your father left you that note, but I am not stressed out at all.” He thought about that for a minute. “I’m not even worried that I am not stressed.”

“See. I was worried about myself needing a compass, but it seems that I have gained control of myself at the expense of you two.”

“So what’s different about Tory? You barely know her, so why do you think she’s acting different?”

“I think she took my eye-candy advice literally, and has lost all common sense. She called me
adorable
. And apparently she has a thing for
Twilight
.”

“Despicable movie. Werewolves get shafted the whole time. Jacob totally kicks more ass than Edward.” I wanted to slap the shit out of him, but he continued. “Adorable, eh? Man, I hate being the third wheel.” He grumbled. “But it’s cool, I guess.” He said, already falling back into his easygoing manner. I groaned inwardly.

Tory was walking out of the bathroom, eyes dancing with joy as she smiled at both of us. “Right. We need to hurry this up. I’ll try to guard you two, but I don’t know how well I can manage it.” I said for our ears only.

“Whatever, Nate. I’m fine.” Gunnar said casually.

“He’s cute when he pouts.” Tory giggled, snatching up a second flute from a waiter. She guzzled the majority of it. “I love this necklace. Does it look pretty on me?”

I nodded, studying her acutely. Gunnar frowned, snatching up his own refill of champagne. “I am not cute.” He took a pull from his drink. “And I’m not pouting.” I wanted to scream, but we had to maintain our profile for the guests. Any one of them could be my parents’ murderer, or they might know something that could help me with the dragons. I placed my palm on Tory’s wrist, and concentrated. My mind finally quiet, I suddenly noticed the creeping tendrils of power oozing from me to my two companions.

I quickly withdrew them, but a dozen more tendrils shot out into the people around us. The attendees had been studying us a moment ago, but now they each looked around, confused for a moment before turning away from us as if we didn’t exist. I groaned. Tory shook her head with a frown, and then blushed furiously. Gunnar was instantly alert. Tension knotting his brow.

“I am so embarrassed,” Tory began, trying to tug her arm away.

I held her hand tight, feeling slightly off balance. “No, it was flattering. Please don’t be embarrassed. Remember how I told you I needed you to be my compass and keep me in line?” She nodded. “Well, I seem to have temporarily passed off my lack of control onto you two. It’s my fault.”

“I
despise
bimbo’s. I never act like that! And I
hate Twilight!
” She adamantly whispered. Then her pupils began dilating wider. “Do you think this dress looks good on me? Because I think
hers
looks like trash.” She pointed at the mayor’s wife, and the woman blanched, hearing her. Shit.

“Can we check out some of the souvenir tables?” Gunnar asked calmly.

The power was hitting everyone now. I hastily drew it all in to myself, and my eyes grew dazed, flecks of sparkling white flickering here and there as I steadied myself. The power tendrils were diminished, but several still latched onto my companions. Tory and Gunnar were more alert again, studying me. “I’m confused.” Tory mumbled, rubbing at her temples. This was crazy. I had no idea what was happening to me. Was it dragons? I mentally examined myself, but realized that it was all me.

“Let’s just get this over with. Follow me.” I commanded sharply. They each shrugged, Tory quickly snatching my hand. I was unable to fully block them from my draining power, but it was a bit better than before. I used a brisk pace to help distract us. Just keep everyone moving. Maybe that would help.

As we slipped through the crowd, I allowed several tendrils to leak out of me whenever a group of people I didn’t want to talk to would attempt to move towards us. I was, after all, a celebrity in town. Everyone wanted to be seen conversing with the Master Temple. Photographers mingled here and there. I pointedly used my power to guide them away from me. I didn’t want a swarm of paparazzi following us. I wanted to find out anything that might help us, and then get the hell out of here. I had, perhaps, two hours until sunset when I would have to fight Asterion. We needed to hurry.

Without warning, a thick tendril shot out of my control, darting through the crowd to latch onto a curvy, tall woman in a red dress. As if in slow motion, she turned to stare at me over her shoulder. I saw a grin split her cheeks. It was the jogger I had seen outside the courthouse with Gunnar. The one who had given me a number, but no name. My cherry Danish. Gunnar grumbled about the world being unfair, then
gold digger
.

Tory’s hand tightened in mine, her nails pressing into my palms. My control slipped a bit as the jogger approached. “Well, well, well. I’ve been waiting for you to call me, but it seems like you found a different piece of candy for the evening. Perhaps later?” She purred. She studied Tory from head to toe, nodding her approval. “Nice choice.” Her eyes focused on my chest, exactly where the dragon tooth lay. I shivered, imagining that she could see it.

Gunnar laughed loudly. “I need a stiffer drink.”

Tory’s hand squeezed tighter, and I knew my control was slipping even further. “She’s really pretty, but am I prettier?” She asked softly.

The jogger stepped in closer, and her body heat hit me like a wave of power. Her hips brushed mine as her warm palm touched my chest, her pupils dilating. Something slid across her iris, revealing a glimpse of a horizontal black bar, and I blinked. Contacts?

Shit.

I jumped back, slamming my lack of restraint solely into the jogger. She stumbled, and then shook her head as if dazed. “Dragon,” I whispered.

She nodded, happy that she could please me with an affirmative answer.

Gunnar and Tory both started at that, momentarily refocusing.

Without a thought, I simply commanded her, and she obeyed.

“Who are you?”

“Misha.”

“What color are you?” I asked, terrified that other dragons were possibly surrounding us. She tapped her finger against the fabric of her dress in answer. “Red?” A nod. “You tried to kill me on the roof of the courthouse. Then gave me your number after. Were you wearing contacts then too?” I asked, disgusted at my own stupidity.

She nodded; her edgy blonde bangs brushing her thin jaw. “It wasn’t very nice of me to do what I did, but I can make it up to you…” Her eyes promised a very dark, and appealing, payment. Sex.

“Um, perhaps another time.” I muttered.

“I’ll go check out those tables, I guess.” Gunnar offered, not seeming to care one way or another.

“Can you grab me one of those cute telescopes?” Tory clapped her hands delightedly.

“No, none of us are going anywhere.” The girls sagged, frowning. Gunnar shrugged. “Misha, I want you to take me to your leader.”

“But you are my leader.” She answered simply.

Huh. That was… helpful. “No, before me, you were following the orders of someone else. Is he here?” She looked genuinely puzzled for a few seconds, and then understanding dawned on her. She nodded. “Can you introduce me to him?”

She squeaked in excitement and snatched up my hand, drawing Tory and me off bodily into a secluded hallway. “The Dragon Father is this way.” Gunnar followed behind us, glancing unconcernedly at paintings decorating the wall. I was leading a pack of fumbling idiots, so what did that make me?

Tory whispered into my ear. “She works out, but her butt needs attention.” She pointed at Misha’s rear end. My face flushed, but luckily, Misha didn’t appear to notice. “That one looks like you, Gunnie!” Tory giggled, pointing at a painting of Vikings.