My generosity be not as it seemed, considering I grew a new one every time I shifted. Nevertheless, considering the scarcity of my kind, the dust be a rarity. Jacques’s eyes widened as he accepted my offering. He pulled a piece of cloth from an inner pocket of his trench coat and wrapped the horn in it with trembling fingers.
“What you bring us better be worth that,” Tyrez rumbled ominously.
The Satyr had the grace to look nervous. “Oui. I think it is.” He glanced up at me. “Pretty sure your Dragon recruit is a wanted man.”
I stiffened. “How so?”
“A Dragon underlord has a contract out on another Dragon. Wants him alive, which is unusual enough that I filed the fact away. Lucky for you.”
“How can you be sure this be the right Dragon?” I asked.
“Why does the underlord want him?” Cody added at almost the same time. “What did he do?”
“This Dragon has unique training that you might recognize,” Jacques said to me, and then to Cody, “He killed the underlord’s youngest son.”
Tyrez stiffened. “A child?”
Jacques shook his head. “No. An adult, and not well liked according to my contact.”
“Doesn’t mean he deserves to be dead,” Cody mused.
“Strange the target is wanted alive.” I crossed my arms.
“Wants to make him suffer, likely,” Cody theorized.
“Oui.” Jacques appeared to shudder. “If this guy’s your Dragon, I’d be running, not hiding.”
“Nowhere to run,” Tyrez offered. “And no one is likely to come after him on council grounds. This guy’s smart. If this is the same Dragon.” He raised his brows at the Satyr. “A fact of which I have yet to be convinced.”
Jacques drew himself up tall. “Mais oui, here’s the best part. The Dragon they’re looking for is Guild.”
Well, that fit, all right. “Bonded?” I rasped. I exchanged a troubled glance with Tyrez.
Jacques shook his head. “My informant said he’s a free agent now. Although it seems to be a recent thing. But the underlord’s son wasn’t a contract killing.”
Well, free agent be good news. “Be it personal?” I asked.
The Satyr shrugged. “That’s all I know.” He lifted the bundled horn. “I can do more digging if you think this is the right Dragon.”
I raised a brow at Tyrez and Cody. The Sabre said, “I didn’t get a hit on the scanner, but if he’s a free agent, he might have removed the tracker.”
Tyrez nodded. “Him being Guild fits.”
“Aye.” I said to Jacques, “We need to know more.”
Tyrez eyed me. “What are we going to do with this information? He could be here on a contract.”
I stared off into the forest edging the plateau. “Or he could be here to hide. Either way, training to become a Shade isn’t his prime objective.”
“If you tell Amadeus, he’ll boot him,” Cody asserted.
“More likely, he’ll hand him over to the council,” Tyrez noted. “They’d love to interrogate him. One of their members got taken with a Guild hit last month. No way they’d pass up on the opportunity.”
They all looked at me. When had I become the leader of this endeavor? Be it because of my connections to the Watchers—and their influence? Or maybe they’d heard stories about the Bellatis...
There be enough around. And most be true.
I glanced away as I considered. The young Dragon represented a significant risk. But a niggling memory distracted me. The whisper of wings flitted through my mind. Because there’d also been a Dragon in my dream...
