Smitten (4 page)

“Do you remember when the idea of fine dining was a roasted elk or buffalo?” Max asked. “How things have changed.”

“And men now pay for a night out on the town, instead of hunting it with their own bare hands.”

“You find that peculiar?” Maximilian leaned forward and whispered, “I find it more unusual that women pay for the night out on the town.”

“The women of this time are quite able to fend for themselves. No more damsels in distress awaiting a hero to rescue them.”

“I must confess to missing some aspects of those days, my friend. You will never know the joy of spiriting away a beautiful princess, and the reward of devouring the hapless dimwit who comes to her rescue.”

“So you assume.”

“And how many princesses have
you
abducted?” The dragon raised both of his brows and grinned at her, brimming with the charisma that won his voters over. Ēostre cursed internally, hating that it worked on her, too.

“Oh, a handful I suppose.”

All the more intrigued, Maximilian chuckled and called her bluff. “And what did you do with your stolen princesses? I am eager to know. Please do tell. Perhaps I’ll learn something from you.”

“Whereas you and others did it for the fun, or the free meal that followed, I offered a few of them advice. Those who took it went on to be better leaders.”

The dragon’s big, gloating grin dimmed, but a peaceful smile remained in its place. “Ah, Ēostre the Selfless. Always the serious one. You and Fafnir were true opposites in every way. Do you do nothing for your own enjoyment? I may be a workaholic but even I know how to take time away to enjoy a selfish moment of peace for myself.”

“We all view fun in different ways,” she defended.
Still, perhaps he has a point. All I’ve done since I awakened is work. Babysit and work. When do I take time for myself?

“When we first initiated this partnership, you told me you were up for any challenge. I have one task more for you.”

The mystery behind his unnamed proposition intrigued her. “Oh? What might that be?”

“You are to do one selfish deed only for yourself. An act to expressly benefit you and no one else. We shall even place a wager upon it.”

“Does the purchase of a car not count?”

Max waved his hand and shook his head. “You admitted that was for looks. I’m speaking of doing something wholly for yourself, Ēostre. It must be to please you and you alone, with no external motivation.”

I would be pleased to take him home to my bed,
she thought to herself in a sudden bout of self-honesty.

“Well?”

This is absurd. These thoughts have nothing to do with Max and everything to do with the amount of time since I’ve had a lover. That’s it,
she convinced herself. Returning to clear and rational thought became more difficult when Max reached across the table to take her hand between his both of his warm, strong hands. He didn’t have the baby smooth fingers of most human males, or even most politicians. His fingers were rough. Strong.

“Or do you fear gambling with your firekin?”

Ēostre shook her head.

“Do you find my request unreasonable?”

“No, I was thinking. How much time am I allotted to find such a truly thoughtless act of narcissism?”

As Max leaned back in his seat, his eyes lit with a mischievous sparkle. Light spilled through an adjacent window, casting copper and golden glints of color against his hair. “Until election three months hence. I doubt you should need so long a time, but you’ve surprised me before.”

“And the wager? What prize does the winner claim?”

“One piece of treasure from the other’s hoard. A single piece which may be anything the winner desires.”

“Then this shall be like stealing sweets from a wee cub. I’ll have taken my choice from among your most precious jewels within the week,” she boasted.

“We’ll see.”

Chapter 4

While Ēostre didn’t win her bet during the week, she did accomplish another impossible feat within the time. With the permission of the elder council, she organized a final summit to take place in a neutral zone chosen by the so-called “inferior” creatures.

Sometimes, Ēostre loathed her fellow dragons.

What a preposterous bunch of nearsighted buzzards,
she thought. As the hosts of the caucus, she and the rest of her winged kin occupied seats at the high table at the forefront of the room.

It was the grandest conclave ever formed between supernatural creatures, with no expense spared. They assembled in Chicago, and in the heart of the Windy City, Ēostre had found an elegant, oversized conference room at an upscale hotel for their use. Members of every shifter tribe and nation arrived from all corners of the world.

And now, both sides were presenting their final arguments for or against coming out to the world.

“This is a fool’s errand, Maximilian. Do you believe the humans will look upon us with smiles and kindness? We speak of weak-willed pissants who will go to war over verbal slights,” Loki said. “What do you think they will do once they discover we aren’t fictitious constructs of their own imagination?”

Ēostre whipped her head to the left to make eye contact with the smirking dragon three seats down. Loki made her skin crawl. He and her older sibling were often at odds, but what she wouldn’t give to see him under Thor’s huge claws now.

“As if we, with fire in our veins, do not fall prey to the same fits of temper,” Max said. “I have learned to curb my urges, and humans may be taught as well. They are children who merely require more of our guidance. Our nurturing. In time, they will gain wisdom.”

“Or they will declare war against us and seek to eliminate our kind,” a bronze-skinned ancient rumbled, breaking his silence for the first time since their hour-long meeting began. Tlaloc didn’t speak often, but when he did break his silence, it was to voice his disapproval of anything human.

“They will not. There has never been a better time to present our existence to the mortals,” Maximilian said. “Whether they like it or not, we are part of this world. We shaped civilization and gave them the tools to enjoy it as freethinking human beings. There is not one dragon or older supernatural creature among us able to claim they do not prefer the times of the golden age when kingdoms rose and flourished under our aid. As proud creatures, as their benefactors through the centuries, we should no longer hide. We must offer our guidance in the open.”

“Offer or force them to take it, Maximilian?” Watatsumi asked. His fingers ran through the immaculate, sleek strands of a chest-length black beard after phrasing the gentle question. “Will they listen once they know the truth?”

Maximilian opened his mouth to speak, only for Ēostre’s brother to speak up in his stead. “It is doubtful, but we cannot allow potential negative consequences to distract us from what is most important. The humans must understand this world belongs to one and all. It is not a limitless resource to be squandered,” Thor rumbled. The mighty storm dragon glanced to his left, seeking agreement. Ēostre smiled at him and nodded her head in appreciation.

“I must admit that when Ēostre first spoke of this mad scheme to me, I had my own reservations, but I can see the wisdom in this decision and how it will help to protect the world for our own future generations. For us. I have watched forests dwindle and waste away, depleted by human greed.” Druantia, another elder dragoness, smiled at Ēostre from her seat at the high table. Their friendship had lasted centuries, and Ēostre had never appreciated the earth dragoness more. With her russet skin and dark eyes, Druantia resembled a member of one of America’s native tribes.

“I agree,” Teotihuacan said calmly. “If we do not take this planet now, one will not exist in the future. Centuries from now, we will be the ones living in this stinking cesspool the humans have created. We must act and strike while the iron is hot and allow them to discover they are not alone.”

“While the iron is hot?” A black-haired dragoness slapped her hand against the table. Her voice raised to a shrill tone. “It will certainly become hot once the mortals have turned to chemical warfare to be rid of us. What shall be done after they unleash nuclear winter?”

Ēostre rolled her eyes. “They will not destroy their own planet to remove supernatural beings from the world, Mahuika. We are too many, and we are also forgetting our esteemed guests.”

She gestured with a hand toward the seated representatives from the other paranormal communities. A few shapeshifters belonging to the more timid animal species nervously avoided eye contact, fidgeting in their seats.

The leaders of the more-cagey, predatory breeds disguised their feelings behind stoic masks. Among them, a few witches watched with keen, studious eyes, too smart to be shaken by the presence of a few dragons.

Or too dumb. Ēostre could never tell when it came to human mages.

“Ēostre is correct. Many of us hold positions of power around the world. Furthermore, we have an ace in the hole if such becomes necessary,” Agnes said. The old woman steepled her fingers and smiled cruelly. If any of her kind resembled the hags of legend, it was Agnes, with her crooked spine and enlarged nose. Deep creases lined her face, and whenever the witch spoke, Ēostre expected pieces of it to crumble to dust.

“And what ace is this?” Max asked, his voice brimming with skepticism.

“The werewolves are prepared to deploy. They’ll turn the most socially powerful humans and bring them into our world whether they want it or not.”

Max cut his eyes toward the section of wolves from around the world. Most of them appeared to be in agreement. “Many of you could die in the attempt. I would not recommend it. If this route of action is taken, we will never earn their trust and peace will never exist between the sides of mortal and supernatural. I must ask you to reconsider this plan.”

Ēostre shivered. “Turning humans should always be a last resort. We want to minimize casualties on all sides. There’s no need for a loss of werewolf
or
human lives.”

“We’re prepared for that. It’s nothing our packs haven’t done before to keep our people safe, and we’ll do it again for the community as a whole,” a young werewolf alpha said. Jason, a leader from the wolves of the northern states, rolled his shoulders as nonchalantly as a man discussing the weather.

Another pack leader named Argus twisted in his seat to stare harshly. “We did not discuss this.”

“But the wolf cub is right!” The cry came from a massive, broad-shouldered bear shifter among a section of equally brawny men and women. Bear shifters tended to run a narrow range of sizes and shapes, resembling Olympic athletes and sports players. “We have the strength to crush them and implement the changes we want! Even the werewolves understand the law of survival. Today, the bear clans vote for change. The time for hiding like cowards is over.”

“Thank you for that very rousing speech, Brutus,” Ēostre said, using her gentlest tone. “What do the witches say, Pythia?”

“Our covens remain undecided,” Pythia answered. The older woman’s face was set in a frown. She was well respected among many of the southern good witches of the United States, and she’d become a leader of her own coven in the recent years. “
Some
of us remember the Salem Witch Trials.” She and Agnes exchanged cool stares.

Ah, so that’s it,
Ēostre thought.
So dark and light have taken opposing sides in every way. Should I take this as an omen that the dark opposes secrecy and the light favors it?

“It won’t happen again,” Agnes said. “Those times are in the past.”

Pythia shook her head. “I haven’t forgotten any of my past lives. I can recall every mistake humanity has made since the massacre of the first natives on American soil. This will be another, and it will be our fault once they realize witchcraft is real. They’ll burn all of us.”

“Humans can openly declare to be Satanists now and no one is burning them at the stake. I think those days are behind us,” Ian pointed out. Argus chuckled from his seat beside the eagle shifter. “Key members of the government know we all exist, they’ve been using our services for years in their wars and to protect this beautiful country. They won’t sacrifice that for the ignorant masses. They need us too much and I’ve been working my ass off to make sure they’ll always see us as allies.”

Ēostre smiled, thrilled to have both men on her side. Ian MacArthur, Argus, and her son Saul had a good working relationship. When he’d first introduced her to them, she’d had her doubts, but the shifters had power in their communities. Ian had even promised to place political support behind Maximilian. She took a moment to admire him from her higher table in the conference hall.

Ian was one of those shifters who had taken a human mate, and he knew better than most that mortals were willing to accept the supernatural as equals. He flashed her a big smile, the shifter’s younger features at odds with his pale, almost white hair.

“Then, if all have said their peace, it is time to cast your votes. You will find a tablet in the arm compartment of your chair. Please select either yes, no, or recuse. Your votes will remain anonymous.”