Page 52 of Feathers and Scales

Keiran raised his eyebrows while a crack of dominance punched the air with power and heat. His expression said,“Do your job.”

Her jaw ticked, but she headed to the rear. After a few steps, she veered back for her abandoned mug.

“Can you make sure she gets something to eat soon?” Daxton asked.

Blaze walked past him. “My pleasure.” She gave a fake bow and glared at Keiran as she departed.

“Let’s talk in your office,” Keiran said.

Nerves tingled in Daxton’s chest.This won’t be good.

Once they stepped into the mountain air outside, Daxton asked, “What did Serephina do?”

“She gambled while on duty the other night and lost over five grand.”

Daxton blew out a whistle as he raked his hand over his head. “Wasn’t she doing better when Soren forced her to leave Nevada?”

Daxton had met the twins’—Silas and Soren—baby sister, Serephina, in Las Vegas when she had lived in Warra Territory. Her evening gambling trips had been something he’d never forgotten. Blaze’s nickname wasn’t just a nod to her hair color. It came from the poker term after she’d pulled the face cards the first night they’d played together.

“That was before Silas made her human boyfriend forget her.” Keiran walked up the porch of the barracks and held the door open for Daxton. “According to Silas, the human had been asking too many curious questions. I try to stay out of their sibling affairs, but somehow, I’m always roped in.”

Daxton headed inside. “Glad I’m not in your shoes.”

Keiran stared at him with downcast, brooding eyes.

Daxton laughed. “Why do you have her guarding Izzy?”

“She needed something to keep her out of trouble. Izzy doesn’t seem like the gambling type.”

“Probably right.”

Daxton’s phone chimed. Knowing his meeting with Keiran hadn’t started, he answered, “This is Daxton.”

“We tracked a Tattered One’s faint presence to a burned-down fisherman’s cabin,” Jamal said. “The trail’s gone cold, but you should get out here.”

“Your suggestion was spot on,” Jamal said, leading Daxton and Keiran down a dirt path. “It’s less than a mile off the coast, so it would have been easy to find from the ocean.”

The late afternoon sun warmed Daxton’s skin. Izzy had stayed at the library to do research and only wanted updates. Even without her proximity, his dragon was too preoccupied with the hunt to fight against Daxton. He unleashed his Insight, pain splintering across his skull as he took in as many energies as possible. He could sense his surroundings all the way to the grassy signature of a faun a mile away. Underneath everything, a Tattered One’s energy, like burning metal in acidic fumes, drew him forward.

Up ahead lay the charred support beams of a cabin with scorched debris around it. The scent of burned wood and plastic clung to the air. From the smoke rising from one of the back corners, Daxton surmised it had burned recently. But the Tattered One’s spirit energy was faint, as if he’d masked himself somehow. Daxton should have been able to track the Tattered One even if he flew away.

“Any victims?” Daxton’s throat tightened.

“The man who owned the cabin. The Tattered One’s concentrated signature leads me to believe the Tattered One had been leeching from him to heal.”

Tattered Ones couldn’t enter the body like Izzy had, so they attached themselves like leeches to heal.

“Thank you,” Daxton said. “Let’s expand the search area. Keiran and I will start at the victim and work our way out.”

“Yes, Chief Dyamur.”

Jamal led them as close to the charred remains as they could go from outside the cabin. They wouldn’t have long before they’d need to alert the authorities, so they needed to work fast. Just as Jamal mentioned, the Tattered One’s signature radiated from the dead body. Keiran was a force next to him, and the victim sat like a heavy rock in his gut. He should have killed the bastard sooner.

“This is the Tattered One’s fault, not yours,” Kieran said.

Keiran’s words didn’t lessen the dent of his guilt, but he appreciated the sentiment. Daxton hadn’t picked up any signatures outside the cabin and followed Keiran to the backyard.

“Let’s have your report concerning Izzy as we track anything down,” Keiran said.