“Because talking to the police would be involving outsiders. And that would jeopardize my mother.”
“But she’s human, not dragon.”
“Yes, but she’s been employed by the clique since she was eighteen, and considers them her family. If she calls the cops, she’d lose that family—either by losing her life, or being thrown out of the clique.”
“Just how big is your clique?”
He hesitated. “There would be over a hundred and fifty, if you just counted dragons.”
“That many dragons cannot go unnoticed forever. Not in this day and age.”
“Ah, but they rarely take dragon form these days. Even the young are taught to fly in the early hours of dawn, when few humans are about.” He shrugged. “The cliques have thousands of years of practice melding into civilization while remaining apart. They might capture the odd individual, but they will never find more than that.”
I wasn’t so sure. Especial
ly given the scientists now had dragons working for them.
“Your sister didn’t leave a contact number or a message with any of her friends?”
“She did leave a message with a friend saying she had a tip about a story, and was going to investigate it. That was weeks ago.”
“Why can’t you report her disappearance? I mean, you don’t give a damn about clique politics, and you have no position within the clique to lose.”
“But again, my mom has, and if I did report it, she would be punished for it.” He shrugged, seemingly accepting of the situation despite the surge of anger I could feel in him. “Besides, we don’t know where she actually went. Hard to track someone—or prove they’re missing—if they’ve already told you they’ll be out of contact for a while.”
“So how does your dad know her whereabouts?”
“Apparently the Arizona clique sent word about her.”
“Meaning she’s probably in Arizona. Have you searched the area?”
He glanced at me. “Of course. But Arizona isn’t exactly a small state.”
“And the Arizona clique won’t help?”
He snorted. “Help the unwanted bastard son of a California clique? Not likely.”
I raised an eyebrow. “So despite the fact the cliques work together for self-protection from humans, they don’t exactly get along?”
“You could say that.” Amusement ran through his voice, and a tremor that was all desire tripped across my skin.
“Meaning your father might not actually know anything. He could be lying in an effort to get the ring back.”
“He could, and I certainly don’t trust him one iota, but I do believe he knows something.” His sudden smile was cold. Hard. “His strength is waning rapidly and he’s desperate for the ring. I think, in this case, he’ll tell me what he knows.”
I studied him for a moment, then asked, “So why did the conditioning break now? Why not before?”
He smiled and reached under the blanket to gently clasp my hand. His skin was slightly rough against mine, but so warm. I opened my hand, letting his fingers slide between mine, feeling an odd rightness in the gesture.
“Because the conditioning only works with strangers. You have become far more than that to me now.”
“And you to me.” It sounded so lame, and there was so much more I wished I could say, but suddenly my stupid tongue was all tied in knots and the words I really wanted to say got stuck in my throat.
But maybe that was for the best. With everything I still had to do, what was the point of pouring my heart out?
I watched the sea for a while, looking for any sign that the magic was returning, then said, “What if she’s met a nice man and is having the time of her life?”
His sudden grin had a wry twist to it. “Are there any nice men still out here in the world?”