Dragon Blood

Chapter 20

Richard cursed himself silently for his outburst. "I would like to clarify that Churchill would likely be sympathetic to our mission." He said carefully. "However, he has burned the bridge with the asset months ago. The way their relationship ended has made him incompatible with field work within our unit. We cannot trust him not to antagonize her, and she will turn against us if we were to welcome him into our circle."

Another dull buzzing filled the air, longer this time, before the male answered. "Doctor Price," he said inflating Ashton's already bloated ego. "You're assessment?"

"I agree with Richard." He said without hesitation. "Landon brought Churchill to the Kincaid gathering. The entity was visibly affected by his mere presence. Her fear of him can be utilized if she gets out of hand, but otherwise should be trained in a different unit."

"We will take it under consideration. The next operative to begin immediate training is Maddox Kincaid."

Ashton's eyebrow raised in Richard's direction, wondering if he would dare defy their superiors again. He was not disappointed. "Maddox is under the observation of the Counsel." He said, making sure his voice remained even and factual. "For several years, one of the-"

"We are aware of the Zero on Maddox's trail." The faceless male almost sounded bored as he brushed aside the complaint. "We are dealing with it. Be ready to accept him into the unit on our order. The third operative..."

The meeting continued. Three more names were read out, an up-and-coming state prosecutor coming in from New York, a young woman who was finding it difficult to find work in I.T., and a parapsychologist resident at U.C.L.A. All of these new recruits would have different roles in the organization, but all would begin orientation with Richard Kincaid. If they couldn't make it past his rigorous testing, they wouldn't be worth investing in.

"Moving on to the next item on the agenda." The male continued. "The status of the entity. General health?"

"She is physically healed from her encounter with Churchill." Richard matched the bored monotone of the speaker. "Psychologically she is still healing."

"Do you still hold concerns that your influence over her is waning?"

"Yes. She has no trust for Ashton, Mark has proven antagonistic towards her, and my continued relations with them has frayed my own control over her. The last few weeks, in particular, she has proven... difficult."

"If I may add," Ashton said quickly. "Her rebellion may be spurred by the affections she clearly has for a vampire, as well as a young dragonkin's inclination to protect her."

The silence was thicker than it had been before. Richard glowered at the disgraced doctor. He considered pulling the service pistol in his drawer and shooting the bastard in the leg. "Would you like to elaborate, Mr. Kincaid?"

The voice was not asking.

"The entity," he said slowly, thinking desperately. "Appears to have started a relationship, against my insistence, with a vampire physician. It is my belief that they met in a professional manner during her work as a paramedic. I was not made aware of their acquaintance until Maddox was admitted to the same hospital where he works."

"And you did not find this information important enough to fill us in?"

Richard was on very thin ice. He needed to be very careful with what he said next. "She has always been sympathetic towards the more... ostracized species. I was under the firm belief that their relationship was purely platonic and had no reason to think otherwise until tonight."

The smirk on Ashton's face told him that he had heard the hesitation in the words, which meant the faceless voice, and every voiceless, faceless member with him, heard it too. "What is the vampire's name?" the voice asked after a brief buzzing. "We will arrange for him to be eliminated."