Determination and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 4) Read online

  “Do your best to be nice,” Noah said, a hint of warning in his voice. “You know that we need to do everything possible to keep wizard-shifter relations good.”

  Myles sighed. “Understood,” he said, even though he didn’t want to acknowledge that Noah had a point. The dragon shifters and the wizards needed each other. Neither group could fight this war on their own. The enemy was too powerful, and there was too much at stake if evil triumphed.

  “I’m going to call the other guys,” Noah said. “I’ll check in with you tomorrow to see how things are going at the Advocacy Bureau, alright?”

  “Alright,” Myles said, then watched the screen on his phone as it switched from the call timer to a flashing “Call Ended” message. He set the phone down on his nightstand and put his elbows on his knees, then put his head in his hands.

  Something had to give, and soon. Myles had been focused on the search for the dragon amethyst for months now, but the only thing he knew now that he hadn’t known six months ago was that Alfonso could be a real jerk when things weren’t going well. Odds were good that, after the news of the attack last night, Alfonso was going to be in an extra-jerky mood. This meant that he would be yelling at everyone in his path, and no one would get anything done.

  Myles lifted his head and glanced at his clock again. It was just after three-thirty now, and he knew he should go back to sleep. He didn’t have to be at work for several more hours, and he was going to need a lot of energy for the day ahead. But he already knew that he wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore tonight. His head was swirling with worry over what the days ahead would bring, and he was filled with anger and indignation over the fact that Saul had attacked his clan’s home base back in the redwood forest. Although Myles would likely be staying in Falcon Cross until this war ended, his heart was still back in the California Redwoods.

  “That bastard,” Myles said aloud through clenched teeth, his blood boiling as he thought of Saul. “He had no right. He’s going to pay.”

  Myles stood, then, and made his way toward his closet. There was no sense in wasting time lying in his bed and staring at the dark ceiling in anger. He would get dressed and go in to work now. That would at least give him a few hours of peace and quiet to work before Alfonso got there. It might be the only hours of real work he was able to get done today.

  Less than ten minutes later, Myles was in a black SUV, driving toward the Advocacy Bureau. The SUV was one of many owned by the Falcon Cross government, and Myles and the other dragons had made frequent use of the vehicles during their time in Falcon Cross. The large SUVs had plenty of room for Myles’ tall dragon shifter form, and he loved the comfort of sitting in the soft leather seats.

  Now, he turned up the radio and turned the vehicle toward the big stone building that served as the Advocacy Bureau. Despite his tense mood, he found himself humming along to the songs coming over his loudspeaker. Darkness and silence enveloped Falcon Cross right now, and Myles couldn’t help but feel a little better, knowing that he was at least going to have a few hours of uninterrupted work today. With any luck, he could actually make some progress on his search for the dragon amethyst.

  Myles’ upbeat outlook did not last long, however. As he rounded the corner of the hallway in the Advocacy Bureau where his office was located, he saw that the door was open and the light was on. His heart sank. Was it possible that Alfonso was already here? But why would he be in Myles’ office, when Myles wasn’t scheduled to actually come in to work for several more hours? Myles found himself tensing up as he walked down toward the office. Something was strange here. He breathed in deeply, but he did not smell Alfonso’s familiar scent, which usually reeked of a particularly strong cologne. Instead, his keen dragon nose picked up that there was some other wizard in there—a female wizard.

  The door in the office was slightly ajar, and Myles slowly pushed it open as he approached. He saw then that it was indeed a woman in his office. He had never seen her before, he was quite sure of that. She was the most stunning woman he had ever seen, and if he had met her before, he would have remembered the way her curly dark hair shone. She had smooth porcelain skin, and striking violet eyes that would have been impossible to forget.

  And yet, beautiful or not, she was still in his office, shuffling through his papers. His office was large, and had originally been meant for two people. There was a spare desk that until now had been unoccupied the entire time Myles had worked in this office. She was occupying it now, though, sitting there and looking up at him with a smile as though there was nothing strange about being in someone else’s office unannounced at four in the morning.

  Myles scowled at her, his mood darkening once again. Could he not get one minute to work in peace in this damn place? He crossed his arms, and kicked the office door fully open as he stepped into the room. His large form towered over her as he stood above where she sat at the desk.

  “Who the hell are you?” he asked, his angry tone matching his angry words. But she did not seem fazed by his obvious fury. She looked up at him, a smile on her face that reached all the way up to her eyes.

  “I’m Harlow. Harlow Watkins. Your new officemate.”

  Chapter Two

  “My what?” Myles asked, his face starting to turn red with anger.

  Harlow grimaced a bit on the inside, but she did not let the smile leave her face as she looked up at the man glaring down at her. He hadn’t given her his name, although he’d demanded hers. But she didn’t need a formal introduction to know that this giant of a man was Myles Pars. You could easily pick out the dragon shifters in a crowd in Falcon Cross. They were the tallest, most muscular, and most handsome men Harlow had ever seen. And, now, seeing Myles up close for the first time, Harlow was stunned to see that he was perhaps the most handsome of the bunch. Even the scowl on his face could not hide the handsome features of his tanned, chiseled face. His green eyes flashed with anger, but they were still the deepest green Harlow had ever seen. His reddish brown hair was mussed up in a way that surely was accidental, and yet looked almost artistic—the way a model’s hair might be purposefully messy for a photo shoot.

  “I’m your new officemate,” Harlow repeated calmly. “Alfonso wants me on the dragon amethyst project, and he wants me to work closely with you. He said it wouldn’t do for me to stay in my old office, clear across the building from here. He wants us close to each other so we can brainstorm and discuss our work as needed.”

  Harlow watched as the expression on Myles’ face darkened even more. Harlow had been told that Myles was the most easygoing of the dragon shifters, but he was not living up to that reputation right now. In fact, he looked like he might explode with rage at any moment. Harlow supposed she couldn’t blame him too much. She imagined she would have been a bit put out if she showed up to work early in the morning only to find a stranger sitting in her office, acting like it was completely normal to take over half an office with no warning whatsoever.

  In truth, Harlow was feeling a bit annoyed herself right now. She came in to work around four in the morning nearly every single day. That gave her about four hours to work before other wizards started arriving for the work day. Of course, she didn’t enjoy getting up so early every day. But it gave her the opportunity to actually be productive for four hours straight, something that was quite literally impossible once her coworkers arrived. Alfonso was always scheduling meetings these days, most of which were pointless. Not only were the meetings completely pointless, but many of the wizards felt the need to discuss the meeting topics to death both before and after the meetings as well. It’s a wonder anyone got anything done at all these days, with all the time wasted on talking. It was somewhat ironic that, in the wizards’ most desperate time of need, the Advocacy Bureau had nearly ground to a halt due to all the fretting over the war.

  Harlow remained one of the few wizard Advocates who worked more than she talked. She’d always been driven, but the task of finding the dragon amethyst had filled her with a fire l
ike never before. She wanted nothing more than to find that stone before Saul and his evil army could find it. This sort of thing was the reason she had become an Advocate in the first place. She’d wanted to take a job where she knew she’d spend her days using her powerful intellect to help protect the wizards of Falcon Cross.

  And her hard work lately had paid off. She’d made some startling discoveries of shifter and wizard activity in Devil’s Melt, a remote area of Montana. She had a hunch that this unexplained activity had something to do with Saul’s search for the dragon amethyst. After she’d shared her findings with Alfonso, he’d promoted her and moved her over here next to Myles, telling her to use whatever resources necessary to find out what was going on in Devil’s Melt. Alfonso was desperate for any breakthrough at this point. He was under a lot of pressure from the Wizard High Council to make some real progress on the search for the dragon amethyst, but real progress had been maddeningly elusive.

  Until now, Harlow thought. She was onto something, and she had high hopes that things were about to turn around for Falcon Cross. Myles didn’t seem interested in hearing about why she was in his office right now though. Their office, really. It was just as much hers as his now, since Alfonso had assigned her to it.

  “This is unacceptable,” Myles said, his voice rising with every word he spoke. “I already can’t get anything done around here. Then I come in extra early hoping to—gasp!—get some work done, and I find some random chick in my office claiming to—”

  “Random chick?” Harlow interrupted, feeling a bit indignant. “That’s highly unprofessional!”

  But Myles ignored her and continued on his tirade.

  “You’re sitting here claiming Alfonso sent you and that you’re going to help me with the search for the dragon amethyst? The only help I need is some goddamn peace and quiet to get some actual work done.”

  “I can assure you, if you want peace and quiet, you’ll get it from me. I only want to get work done as well,” Harlow said.

  Myles glared at her but didn’t answer. After a few seconds of scowling, he stomped over to his desk and sat down, slamming his fist on his desk angrily for emphasis. He did not look at her again as he fired up his computer, its blue glow giving a strange tint to his angry red face as the machine came to life. Harlow resisted the urge to let out a long, annoyed sigh.

  Well, we’re off to a not so great start, she thought in frustration as she turned back to her own computer. At least, though, if he wasn’t speaking to her, she might still get some work done this morning before the Advocacy Bureau came to life with its usual buzz of pointless talk and gossip.

  * * *

  A whole week later, Myles still wasn’t talking to Harlow. His original anger had softened somewhat, and he nodded a courteous greeting to her when he arrived at work every day. But that was the extent of their conversation, and Harlow was beginning to think that Alfonso’s bright idea of sitting them next to each other so that they could collaborate wasn’t so bright after all. You couldn’t collaborate with someone who wouldn’t even talk to you.

  And yet, Harlow couldn’t bring herself to dislike Myles. There was something about him that she found soothing, in fact. Perhaps it was the way he absentmindedly hummed country tunes as he worked, without even realizing it. Or maybe it was the way he stayed so serene during meetings, even when the whole room was in an uproar of disagreement over the best strategy for searching for the dragon stones. Myles seemed to Harlow like a bit of calm in the middle of the storm that constantly hung over the Advocacy Bureau these days.

  She had a feeling, though, that despite his unflustered appearance, things were not so calm below the surface. Every now and then, she saw him frowning with a strained look on his face. She knew that, despite his brave front, he felt the same pressure and worries they all did. Perhaps he felt it even more than she did. Harlow knew that his home in the redwood forests had been attacked. The dragon shifters there had managed to hold Saul off, for now. But there were not many dragon shifters remaining in the redwoods, since nearly half of Myles’ clan had come to Falcon Cross to help the wizards. The dragons’ home was at risk, and Harlow knew it must not be easy for Myles to sit here in Falcon Cross, working on what seemed like a dead end assignment for Alfonso, a boss who seemed only capable of criticism these days.

  But Myles never complained. His anger the first morning they met was the closest thing to complaining that Harlow ever saw from him. As the days passed, Harlow saw that Myles actually wasn’t that different from her when it came to his job. He did his best to keep his head down and work hard, ignoring the office drama as much as possible. Harlow found that she actually enjoyed having an officemate, when that officemate was quiet and didn’t distract her from her work. Although, to say that Myles didn’t distract her at all wouldn’t exactly be true. Even though he didn’t talk to her, she found herself a bit obsessed with stealing glances at him. He was too good-looking not to. He had an adorable way of scrunching up his face and biting his lip when he was thinking deeply that Harlow loved to see. She frequently found herself mentally drifting away from her work as she wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips. It was a ridiculous fantasy, really. Myles had made it pretty clear that he wasn’t interested in being social, even as friends. So why in the world would Harlow waste her time thinking about him in a romantic way? She promised herself a thousand times that she would stop being so ridiculous, and a thousand times she broke that promise. It wasn’t her fault she’d been assigned to share an office with pretty much the sexiest man alive.

  And yet, Harlow did manage to get quite a bit of actual work done. On the eighth work day after she’d moved into Myles’ office, Harlow stumbled across some information that took her breath away. In Devil’s Melt, the remote area of Montana where Harlow had found shifter and wizard activity, she had managed to hack into what was supposed to be a secure mobile phone connection. She had been recording the line for a few days, but nothing exciting had come of it at first. Whoever owned the line didn’t seem to use it much, and Harlow hadn’t been paying very close attention to it. The few garbled conversations she picked up had been discussing food supplies, which indicated to her that some sort of long-term project was taking place. But the details of who was behind that project or what it was about had been unclear. Harlow had, of course, suspected that Saul was behind the project, and that its goal was to find the dragon amethyst or ruby. But without some sort of actual proof, Alfonso had been reluctant to bring the matter up to the High Council. He’d already faced embarrassment over several false alarms, and he did not want to add more to the list.

  On this day, though, as Harlow absentmindedly listened to the recordings from the line, she suddenly heard garbled words coming through that confirmed her suspicions. She hadn’t been expecting much from the recording, so when a discussion about the dragon amethyst started playing over her headphones, she sat up so quickly to grab for a pen that she knocked several file folders of papers off her desk. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Myles give her an annoyed look, but she ignored him. She was too busy trying to hear what was being said on the recording.

  Saul’s upset at our lack of progress, said one voice, its tone weary and resigned.

  I know, a second voice said. But what are we supposed to do? Even with a rough knowledge of the stone’s location, this is still like searching for a needle in a haystack.

  There was a short period of time where the recording was so garbled that Harlow couldn’t make out what was being said, no matter how hard she tried. Then, the first voice became clear again in the middle of a sentence.

  …but that’s our only option. We have to keep moving forward, no matter how cold and hungry we are. Saul will kill us if we go back without the amethyst.

  But what if it’s not here? the second voice asked. I’m at my wits end trying to keep these roads clear for the food supplies to get through. I’m decent at fire spells, but it seems like no matter how fast I melt the snow, more
falls. I wish Saul would let us fly some food in. We have enough wizards who know how to fly now.

  I know, the first voice said. But he’s adamant that he won’t use a single flying wizard for anything other than battle.

  That’s so stupid. If we find the dragon amethyst, it’ll be worth thousands of flying wizards in a battle. It’s so goddamn powerful.

  I know. But you know how Saul is. Once he makes up his mind about something…

  The recording broke off into more unintelligible garbling. Harlow listened to the garbling for a few minutes, straining to hear anything else useful. Just when she was convinced that the rest of the recording was going to be hopelessly unclear, a few more sentences came through.

  Well, according to those records Sam found, the amethyst is somewhere in this goddamn wilderness. We’ve already searched most of Devil’s Melt with no luck, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. We need more to go on than just a single sentence saying it was transferred from “dragon’s claw to the forest’s claw” in Devil’s Melt.

  Yeah, I know. What kind of bullshit riddle is that. I mean…

  The recording became garbled again, and remained that way for the last few minutes of the conversation. Harlow replayed the recording several times, trying to make out any additional words, but she could not hear anything else no matter how hard she tried. Still, even with the limited information she had, this conversation was a huge step forward. She looked over her notes once again, growing more and more excited with each sentence she read.

  For one thing, this proved that her hunch had been correct: the shifter-wizard activity in Devil’s Melt was definitely related to Saul. Not only that, but the recording proved that their reason for being in Montana was to search for the dragon amethyst. It sounded like they’d found some significant information about the stone’s whereabouts, although they obviously didn’t have an exact location. Harlow drummed her fingers on her notebook as she reviewed the information. Someone had found records of the amethyst. And damn it, if someone else had found records, then that meant Harlow could find them, too. She needed to double down on her efforts to search. Perhaps if she used the name of the town in Montana where Saul’s cronies were hiding, she might have better luck.