Free Waking the Dragon by Juliette Cross Page B

you and Jessen had a new dress in Primean silk for every ball you had to go to.”
    I ignored Sorcha’s comment, not wanting to get into family history. “That leads to the other reason. There was an air about him. It’s not something I can exactly point to, but only the aristocracy hold themselves that way and speak like him.” I felt the weight of Kol’s stare. I shifted my gaze to Lorian. “He also said his name was Borgus.”
    Lorian and Kol shared a look.
    “Wait,” said Sorcha. “I know that name.”
    “Borgus Fireblade,” Lorian enunciated slowly.
    Sorcha’s eyes widened. “I remember! That was the cult leader of the original Larkosians.”
    “Yes, baby. But Borgus Fireblade and all of his clan died out five centuries ago when his fanatical religion was put to an end.”
    “Maybe this guy is a descendent of the original Borgus Fireblade, and he’s carrying the torch, so to speak, and just adopted the name,” I offered.
    Kol fixed his eyes on me. “He wasn’t a Fireblade. He’s one of the Coalglass clan.”
    “Are you sure?” asked Lorian.
    A sharp nod. “Definitely.”
    “Coalglass?” I asked Lorian. “I’ve never heard of them.”
    “Their name comes from the structure of their wings,” said Lorian. “They’re made for speed.”
    I remembered the way his wings were extremely sharp and angular, shiny, compared to other Morgons.
    Kol looked at Lorian. “All of their clan resides in the Cloven Province, so he’s far from home.”
    “Why don’t you talk to Kieren, see if he’ll help locate this guy and find out who he really is.”
    Kol said nothing. His face, neck, and shoulders went rigid. His hand on the table clenched slowly into a fist. Whoever Kieren was, Kol didn’t like the idea of contacting him. Lorian held his gaze, waiting. Kol finally gave him a short, sharp nod.
    Sorcha piped in. “Well, why didn’t one of you just follow him and catch him? Bring him in for questioning or something.”
    “We’re not dealing with regular criminals. Not even regular killers.” Kol’s voice fell to a deeper register. “Questioning one of them, even under torture, wouldn’t do a thing. They’ll die before giving us what we want.”
    I swallowed hard, not realizing torture was a viable interrogation technique for the Morgons. For all my historical education on their kind, I seemed to know very little.
    Kol continued, “If he is one of the murderers, we need to get him to lead us to the others. The killings won’t stop by capturing just one of them.”
    “Agreed.” Lorian stretched his hand across the table, taking Sorcha’s in his own. “What else did Borgus say to you?” he asked, glancing my way.
    I shrugged. “Nothing worth mentioning.”
    Sorcha drew Lorian’s hand into her lap, leaning forward. “He came on to you, didn’t he?”
    Kol shifted and pulled his wings tighter against his back.
    “He was interested.” I gripped my medal, twining it in my fingers, swallowing my fear. “That’s why I want to see if he’ll lead us to the others. I want to go back and try again.”
     
     

Chapter 6
     
    When all eyes swiveled to me, I had the distinct feeling I’d been here before. Except at the dinner party, I didn’t have the Iceman’s frigid stare boring a hole into my face.
    Lorian clasped both hands together on the table, leaning forward. “You do realize that in order to lead us to the others, we’d have to let him abduct you.”
    “Yes.”
    “As in abduct you for the same purpose as the other women.”
    Sweat beaded along my hairline. “Yes. But of course, you’ll track me to their hideout or wherever they take them before anything happens to me.”
    “No.” Kol’s only response. His eyes glittered brighter, drawing me in.
    “Why not? You even said I was Morgon bait last night. So let me be the bait.”
    “No.”
    A scornful laugh escaped my lips. “Lorian is in charge here. Not you.”
    Kol’s posture angled toward me for the first time. The harsh