“How
did it go last night?” Hudson asked.
“Very
well, actually,” Kage said, sipping his coffee. “I haven’t told Austin
everything, but I did hit the high points about what I am. We’re having dinner
tonight. I’ll explain more then.”
“I’m
glad to hear that. I know you’ve been waiting on this for a very long time.”
“That’s
true.” Kage stared out the window at the Bay Bridge. “I wish it hadn’t come
about under these circumstances.”
“Speaking
of those circumstances, I’m having my assistant hack
that bar’s camera to see if we can get a clear image of the three hunters. If
Conrad can get that, he can get their names and personal information. He’ll need
the chat room or message board where Austin met Tom too. It’s another
avenue to follow.”
“I’ll
ask Austin tonight.”
“Conrad
is also going through the files we have on known hunters.”
“I’ll
get Maia to go through the files we have.”
“I
also alerted the master vampire of the city, the two werewolf packs that are
here, the gargoyle clan, the witches, and the merpeople so far this morning. I
have a few more shifters to contact.”
“Been
busy, haven’t you?”
“Not
all of us sleep until eight in the morning, you slacker.”
“You’re
just jealous I had a sexy man keeping me up late last night.”
“Hey!
Who said I didn’t?”
“Who
the hell did you find that late at…. Know what? Never mind. I don’t want to
know.” But it didn’t surprise Kage. “Anyway, back to the subject at hand. The
more paranormals who know that hunters are here the better.”
“Do
you remember that weapon Tom had? Austin relieved Tom of it, and I asked to see
it. Good thing I did. It’s a dragonbone dagger.”
Kage
set his coffee down and massaged his temple. It was entirely too early in the
morning for this. Dragonbone daggers were deadly. They were made from bones of
a dragon, of course. Hence the name.
They
were indestructible. Even dragon fire didn’t melt them. They were deadly sharp
and could penetrate any armor, including dragonscale armor or a gargoyle’s
stone exterior.
Nothing
could withstand that blade or deflect it. No spell or shield or portal. Not
even hiding in a shadow could protect his kind from that weapon.
To
a human it was nothing more than another dagger. To a paranormal, there was no
protection against it. It was one the very few things that could kill any
paranormal.
“Tell
me you have that cursed thing.”
“You
bet your ass I do. I’m going to make sure it disappears. No one needs to have
access to something like that.”
“Which
begs the question, how did those hunters get a hold of it?”
“That’s
a very good question. They’re very hard to come by because we dragons guard the
bones of our dead jealously. But someone, somehow, managed to get a hold of a
dragon bone and create this monstrosity. If I ever find out who made this, I
will personally gut them.”
Yeah,
Hudson would, after he tortured that person for weeks on end. A pissed off
dragon was nothing to play around with.
“I’m
sorry somebody committed such a grave offense as disturbing a grave of a dragon.
My condolences, Hudson.”
Even
though it was very likely Hudson didn’t know the dragon the bone came from, he
would still mourn any dragon’s grave being disturbed.
“Thank
you.” Hudson blew out a deep breath. “Anyway, I wanted to let you know about
that dagger and what actions I’m taking in regards to the situation with the
hunters. I hope your date goes well tonight.”
“I’m
looking forward to it. And thank you for letting me know. If I happen to come
across new information, I will certainly pass it along. I’ll touch base in a
few days, okay?”
“Yes.
Please do. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Have
a good day.” Kage ended the call and turned his chair so he was fully facing
the floor-to-ceiling windows.
A
hunter with a dragonbone dagger was alarming. The weapons were deadly, of
course, but they were also insanely expensive. These hunters appeared to be
well-funded. Whoever was backing them needed to be found and dealt with.
He
made a mental note to gather his clan and inform them of the danger before his
date tonight. Turning back to his computer, he started reaching out to his
connections, not just there in the United States, but also throughout the
world.
If
there was a new group funding hunters and targeting paranormals, surely someone
had information about them. What had started out as a worry about hunters
possibly targeting Austin had turned into something much, much bigger.
