Read Online The Purest of the Breed (The Community) by Tracy Tappan - Free Book Online
Authors: Tracy Tappan
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stopped in front of another elevator. Dev slipped in his key card, opening the doors, then they went one flight up to the basement floor of the mansion. The elevator doors swished open, and—
Jaċken Brun was standing directly in front, his burly arms crossed over his broad chest and his stance wide. A married man now, Jaċken had exchanged his usual black leathers for black jeans and a dark blue T-shirt. Still not exactly cruise wear, but at least he didn’t always look like the headliner for an Ultimate Fighting bout anymore.
“Hi, Mom,” Gábor chirped. “We’re home.”
Jaċken’s black Om Rău eyes zeroed in on Dev’s bruised face, then shifted over to Gábor. “Any injuries on you I need to know about?”
Gábor swept a hand across his chest. “You mean besides my achy-breaky heart?” He grinned, the pointed tip of a fang peeking out. “When do we get to meet the chicks?”
Jaċken’s eyelids narrowed. “Well, Pavenic, there’s an introductory cocktail party scheduled for tomorrow night, but if you can’t get that smile of yours throttled back, you’ll be scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush instead.”
“Roger that.” Gábor chuckled. “Throttling back now, sir.”
Yeah, the whole town was under strict guidelines about keeping their fangs hidden until the Big Reveal. A total pain, but a necessary evil. “How’s Thomal?” Dev asked.
“Fine. You and I need to debrief.” Jaċken made a curt gesture of dismissal to Gábor. “Let’s go to my office.”
Shit, really ? He was hungry, needed to take a piss, and his armpits were emitting some kind of nuclear waste smell. He caught back a sigh. “Yes, sir.”
They headed up one more flight to the mansion’s main floor.
Not exactly a paperwork guy, Jaċken maintained an office in the rec room—basically little more than a desk crammed into a corner by the Foosball table. “Take a seat.” Jaċken indicated the chair situated at the corner of the desk, while he landed in the one behind it. He got right to the point. “You split your team.”
“I did,” Dev admitted. “One of the women had been—”
“Sedge and Thomal debriefed me about what happened to the women,” Jaċken cut in. “Your orders were to extract the Dragons and bring them safely into Ţărână. Nothing more.”
Dev leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “It was my assessment that this kind of abuse would be repeated unless we taught the Om Rău a lesson.”
“Bullcrap, Nichita,” Jaċken returned. “You’re not stupid. You know damn well that nothing you could ever do is going to stop Om Rău from hunting Dragons…and being assholes about it.”
Dev felt the muscles in his body tighten, a defensive anger rising in him like a hot wind. “I didn’t botch the mission, Jaċken. I made sure the women were securely on their way to the community before I broke off with Gábor.” He leaned forward in his chair. “You didn’t see this girl Videön raped, okay? She’s the tiniest damned thing, couldn’t weigh more than a buck-and-a-nickel, and there she was, looking at us with these big eyes, and her—”
“You take whatever risks necessary to save a woman, Nichita, absolutely, but in this case, the deed had already been done. You acted out of a need for vengeance, pure and simple.” Jaċken gave his head a taut shake. “And it’s exactly unwarranted risk-taking that puts a burr up Roth’s butt, and makes it ten times more difficult for us to get mission clearance the next time.”
Dev sat back again. “Since when do you let Roth dictate what the Warrior Class does?”
A tic pulsed in Jaċken’s cheek. “The Council was created for a reason, Nichita. It exists to help make decisions about important issues that affect the community. Reasonable decisions, and not half-cocked judgment calls that could end up getting men killed.”
Dev knotted his jaw. This wasn’t a debriefing, it was a hand-Dev-his-ass session. “I didn’t think,” he
Jaċken Brun was standing directly in front, his burly arms crossed over his broad chest and his stance wide. A married man now, Jaċken had exchanged his usual black leathers for black jeans and a dark blue T-shirt. Still not exactly cruise wear, but at least he didn’t always look like the headliner for an Ultimate Fighting bout anymore.
“Hi, Mom,” Gábor chirped. “We’re home.”
Jaċken’s black Om Rău eyes zeroed in on Dev’s bruised face, then shifted over to Gábor. “Any injuries on you I need to know about?”
Gábor swept a hand across his chest. “You mean besides my achy-breaky heart?” He grinned, the pointed tip of a fang peeking out. “When do we get to meet the chicks?”
Jaċken’s eyelids narrowed. “Well, Pavenic, there’s an introductory cocktail party scheduled for tomorrow night, but if you can’t get that smile of yours throttled back, you’ll be scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush instead.”
“Roger that.” Gábor chuckled. “Throttling back now, sir.”
Yeah, the whole town was under strict guidelines about keeping their fangs hidden until the Big Reveal. A total pain, but a necessary evil. “How’s Thomal?” Dev asked.
“Fine. You and I need to debrief.” Jaċken made a curt gesture of dismissal to Gábor. “Let’s go to my office.”
Shit, really ? He was hungry, needed to take a piss, and his armpits were emitting some kind of nuclear waste smell. He caught back a sigh. “Yes, sir.”
They headed up one more flight to the mansion’s main floor.
Not exactly a paperwork guy, Jaċken maintained an office in the rec room—basically little more than a desk crammed into a corner by the Foosball table. “Take a seat.” Jaċken indicated the chair situated at the corner of the desk, while he landed in the one behind it. He got right to the point. “You split your team.”
“I did,” Dev admitted. “One of the women had been—”
“Sedge and Thomal debriefed me about what happened to the women,” Jaċken cut in. “Your orders were to extract the Dragons and bring them safely into Ţărână. Nothing more.”
Dev leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “It was my assessment that this kind of abuse would be repeated unless we taught the Om Rău a lesson.”
“Bullcrap, Nichita,” Jaċken returned. “You’re not stupid. You know damn well that nothing you could ever do is going to stop Om Rău from hunting Dragons…and being assholes about it.”
Dev felt the muscles in his body tighten, a defensive anger rising in him like a hot wind. “I didn’t botch the mission, Jaċken. I made sure the women were securely on their way to the community before I broke off with Gábor.” He leaned forward in his chair. “You didn’t see this girl Videön raped, okay? She’s the tiniest damned thing, couldn’t weigh more than a buck-and-a-nickel, and there she was, looking at us with these big eyes, and her—”
“You take whatever risks necessary to save a woman, Nichita, absolutely, but in this case, the deed had already been done. You acted out of a need for vengeance, pure and simple.” Jaċken gave his head a taut shake. “And it’s exactly unwarranted risk-taking that puts a burr up Roth’s butt, and makes it ten times more difficult for us to get mission clearance the next time.”
Dev sat back again. “Since when do you let Roth dictate what the Warrior Class does?”
A tic pulsed in Jaċken’s cheek. “The Council was created for a reason, Nichita. It exists to help make decisions about important issues that affect the community. Reasonable decisions, and not half-cocked judgment calls that could end up getting men killed.”
Dev knotted his jaw. This wasn’t a debriefing, it was a hand-Dev-his-ass session. “I didn’t think,” he
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