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His conspiratorial whisper amused me. “And Garnet and Tourmaline?”
“Your mom has them. They visited during regular hours, and my status as a cop is why I’m still in the room. I abused my badge. I threatened to have a temper tantrum, and my dad opted to look the other way if I could convince the nurses to let me stay. Visiting hours are soon. It’s six in the morning, and they don’t let most people in until eight.”
“Did you destroy your clothes, too?”
“I sure did. Mom flew to my place and got clothes, and your mom handled bringing you some. Anyway, you got hit with a nasty sedative along with suffering from blood loss, which is why you passed out. You got an adrenaline hit to escape, but once that wore off, you took a nap. You got treated by a pair of purples. Those shoddy stitches were removed. Apparently, the purples are terrified of my mom more than your mom, so you’ll be escaping without scars, although the odds of scarring were pretty low to begin with. Fortunately, you didn’t need a transfusion, but you’ll need to take it easy for a few days.” Erik’s smuggest expression made an appearance. “I’ll be helping you with that.”
When presented with a self-satisfied Erik confident in getting what he wanted, I had a choice to make. I could either go with his flow or put up a fight, exhaust myself, and end up giving the man what he wanted in the first place.
Any other time, I would have put up the fight to enjoy his reactions. However, his commentary about his mother overrode my urge to be difficult.
They were scared of his mom? I struggled to think of a single reason why anyone would be afraid of his mom.
Angels had nothing on the woman from what I’d seen at his family’s dinner.
I spent a few minutes trying to figure out a single reason for their fear. Finally, at a complete loss, I asked, “They’re scared of your mom?”
“I was with my mother when we received word you’d been kidnapped. I’d just gotten off work, and I was gassing up the Bentley so I could take you on a drive in her. Mom saved my gas, thankfully, but I got so agitated I popped a full set of scales and dropped the can. Mom called Dad, and once Dad arrived to keep an eye on me, she went to find your parents, who were chasing a flock of mercury dragons across Dragon Heights. Your kidnapper had gotten away long enough to dump you somewhere, but my mom got a hold of him when he came back to join the fight. He was the sole casualty. She tore him apart in the air, threw body parts halfway across Death Mile, and was crimson by the time she got back on the ground. She used what was left of his carcass as a landing pad.”
I grimaced at the mental thought of it raining organs, blood, scales, and bone. “And she didn’t get arrested for murder?”
“In Dragon Heights, any dragon who kidnaps someone off the streets and inflicts injury may be dispatched as the family members of the victim see fit. My mom declared that you’re going to be her baby daughter-in-law in front of a black dragon, who verified she spoke the truth. There’s a ton of evidence of guilt; the gun shop has exterior cameras and caught the whole thing on tape. My brothers got the warrant to search the nearby mercury properties, and you’re going to get your first official contract with the police force to help investigate the victims.”
Well, at least the bodies had been found. However, I hadn’t thought I’d been involved with the case beyond being a victim and a witness to the carnage. “That breaks every personal involvement rule I can think of, Erik.”
“There’s nobody in law enforcement who isn’t somehow involved with this case here. Hell, this case involves dragons, period. Every clan somehow deals with the mercury dragons—or they are involved with the victims. The black dragons have offered to handle truth verifications. Dad’s already confirmed there’s no way we can do this case without personal involvement, so we’re going to deal with the personal involvement to the best of our ability. There are so many bodies and information to go through in that place we need all the help we can get—and it gives you a good source of income for at least a few months while you work on testing in.” Erik raised a brow at me and waited.
Knowing him, he challenged me to put up a fuss about having meaningful work I could do in my sleep. “I’ll get to work with the financials?”
“That’s what the Fringe’s chief wants; Dad had your work history pulled out of Miami, redacted your name and identifying information, and suggested he contract you in despite your personal involvement. You live and breathe this sort of thing, and Dragon Heights just doesn’t have the resources to take on such a complicated case without outside help. As you had nothing to do with the victims, as far as we can tell, your motivation to be involved doesn’t cross over with the job you need to do. They’ll keep you out of everything involving your kidnapping, but helping to figure out who the victims are so they can get justice? That’s safe enough for you to work on.”
“What’s the bad news?”
“We both had to be registered as hatchlings, and the hospital did a blood draw to confirm your draconic heritage. You’ve been deemed an accidental pilgrimage, and your parents are taking the blame. Your mother has been preening over it. She’s covering her preening through being disgustingly haughty over the whole thing. Of course you became a dragon, Kinsley. Only a dragon is worthy of having a carbunclo and a true creation. It’s not her fault that nobody else recognized your magnificence. I give it a day or two before people realize that you’re a chip off your father’s block—a prettier, leaner chip.”
“What color did I end up being?”
Erik’s smile was full of secrets. “I’m not going to tell you.”
“Why not? Erik!”
“I want to see your reaction when you discover your color on your own.”
Erik loved his games, and I couldn’t find any fault with the one he wanted to play. While curious, I would survive until I figured out how to shift forms on my own and could make use of a mirror. “All right. I recognize when you aren’t going to cooperate with me. I don’t suppose someone told you when I can escape this joint?”
He shook his head. “You’ll have to go through some tests later to make certain the drugs have cleared your system. After that, they’ll probably set you loose. Neither of your wounds were deep, but the one on your side bled a lot. When you are set free, I’ll be taking you home with me.”
I raised a brow. “I’m going to ruin your reputation.”
“Oh, yes. Being enamored with a strong, independent woman who rescued herself from a kidnapping as soon as able is going to do my reputation such harm. I will never recover. I’m a yellow, Kinsley. Yellows don’t know when to quit.”
That much I could believe. “It’s your fault if you end up eating a bunch of bad fast food.”
“That is a risk I’m willing to accept. Speaking of which, how does bad fast food sound on the way home?”
“Only if they serve some form of potato. I have a carbunclo to feed. And so help me, if those mercury dragons have harmed a single tuft of her fur, I will paint this entire city with their blood.”
“Spoken like a true dragon.”