Dragon Blood

Chapter 27

"I'm looking for Dáithí." She managed to say through her dry throat. "Rowan Chambers sent me."

A blond eyebrow lifted quizzically. "Why?"

"I need help."

He let out a bark-like laugh that didn't match his previously soft demeanor. "That gaggle of vampires told me that much." He held out his hand and helped her to her feet. "I'll hear you out as a favour to Rowan. But don't get your hopes up."

He turned away from her and started walking back the way she had come. Rhia followed quickly, trying not to look directly at the blackening body of the vampire. "What are you going to do with her body?" she asked.

"If the vampires want to reclaim it, they're welcome to try." She shivered. He didn't even bat an eye at the brutality of his attack. Was this why Rowan sent her to him? "I'm only giving you as much time as it takes to get back to your vehicle." He called over his shoulder. "So you'd better get talking."

"I'm Rhia." She said quickly, trying to get her brain to work. Having no information except his name, she hadn't exactly thought about what she was going to say to the mystery man. "I kind of got myself in trouble with the vampire king. He wants to use me as a bargaining chip against my boyfriend."

"Your boyfriend is an idiot for getting on the wrong side of his king. Or you're an idiot for dating a vampire. Either way, you have better options. Go to the Counsel."

"What can they do?"

"They'll put you in contact with Constantine's babysitter. He goes by Nolan Wes. He's in Europe most of the time."

"You are a little behind the times." She had to jog a little to catch up with him. "Nolan is in L.A. He's the idiot who got on the wrong side of his king."

Dáithí stopped so suddenly Rhia almost ran straight into him. He looked down at her, all white-knight and heroism gone from his eyes and replaced by cold calculation. She wrapped her arms around herself, wary of his intense glare. "What are you?" he finally asked after a long moment.

"I don't know." It felt weird saying anything other than human.

"You don't know?" he questioned, turning to face her again with his fully imposing frame. "How can you not know?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "I was abandoned by my birth parents. My adopted parents were human and thought I was human. I thought I was a human. Nolan seems to think otherwise."

He leaned in and sniffed her. Instant alarm bells went off in her head and she was reconsidering asking the male for his help. This was a level of creepy she wasn't expecting. Even shifter wolves didn't just lean in to catch a whiff of a stranger. He fixed her with another searching look, as if he could stare the answers out of her head. "Why would Constantine need to use you against Nolan?" he finally asked slowly. His yellow eyes were still narrowed curiously.

"There's some kind of rebellion thing in France. As you said, Nolan is Constantine's babysitter. Even if I'm not human, I don't have enough magic or Ancient blood to defend myself against him if he decides that Nolan needs... encouragement."

Understanding dawned on Dáithí's face. "That's why Rowan sent you." He said more to himself than to her. "I might actually be the only one who can help you."

She felt excitement begin to flare in her stomach. He started walking again and she chased after him. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Politics." He said the word with true bitterness. "Constantine is the king of one of the representing bodies of the Counsel, so the other species cannot interfere in his affairs unless it directly threatens one of their own, and even then, they're not going to raise their hand against an orphaned mixed-blood. The only vampires that will stand against him are likely the very rebellion Nolan is supposed to fight. Then there are the dragons. Luna is certainly in the position to keep you safe, but her relationship with the vampire is self-serving at best. Her kin know better than to argue with her about him and are forbidden from hurting him. Which leaves the unbound."

"I think I need a bit more of a dragon history. What's an unbound? What does being bound even mean? Nolan couldn't, or wouldn't, explain it."

Dáithí glanced over his shoulder at her, hitting her with another curious look. She had no doubt he was only humouring her because she was not what she appeared. That was fine by her... as long as he didn't expect any real answers. "You know what he was before, then?"

"Yeah," she gasped, struggling to keep up. "He was yfeerie. A half-blood."

He slowed again, whether to give her a chance to catch her breath or deciding to indulge her, she didn't care. "If he's anything like the man I used to know, you would be the first he's ever told."

"You knew him back then?" she gaped.

He nodded. A deep shadow of sadness washed over his features. "I knew him. The yfeerie weren't so well protected then. We weren't seen as true kin until we regained our powers. No one else would look out for us... so we had to look out for each other. He was there when the human side of my family fell from grace... I was there for him when his father died... we stood up at each other's weddings... we were godfathers to each other's children. He wanted nothing more than to rejoin the kin. Nothing made him happier and lonelier when I regained my powers before him."

Dáithí cleared his throat loudly and turned away. "Being bound is like putting a collar on a dog." he continued, his voice hardening and completely void of any emotion. "We 'belong' to all nine of the dragons. We hand the leash to the dragon we wish to serve. We are hatched under the dragon our parents are leashed to, but we can transfer our allegiances to suit our needs and theirs."

"Woah, woah, woah," Rhia blurted out. "Nine dragons?! I thought there were only five!"

He barked out a laugh. "They decided a long time ago that it wasn't necessary for the world to know about them all. Soleil, Luna, and Ares are the three that interact the most with human governments. Ozin frequently makes trouble for the shifters and the lycanthrope in his territory, and Nekros is literally a creature of myth and legend in the Mediterranean. Their mates, Tiamat and Phoenix, prefer to keep a low profile. Valkyr isn't suited for modern life where you can't just kill someone if they annoy you. And Lysander has always been a bit of a recluse."

Rhia stumbled on a root at the mention of Phoenix. Dáithí's hand shot out and caught her elbow, stabilizing her easily. "Who is Soleil?"

"Right, he calls himself Quintiles now."

"Quintiles... mistook me for Phoenix when we met."

Dáithí shrugged. "I've never met her. But if her appearance matches her reputation and name, I suppose it's possible."

"Okay," she let out a breath. "So, there are nine dragons. The kin are bound to them. Being bound is like a magical tether to them, but you can choose who you're tethered to. You said you were unbound, so if I'm understanding this right... you don't have to obey them?"

"That's right."

"How? Why?"

His intense yellow eyes watched her silently for a few seconds. There was another flash of emotion, this time anger and hurt. "Nolan was turned into a vampire."

~