Muse Paisley

"Dad, you're going to break his arm! Zander and I have always annoyed each other. He's goading you into a fight because he is broken."

"I want my Jake!" Zander kept screaming about his son. "They will teach him that I'm the enemy because I didn't sell enough supplements and lip balm."

Mason and Holbrook separated the two men.

"Holbrook and I've lied to you. I've known her for her entire life. We grew up in the same corporate orphanage. When I turned 18, I married my only girlfriend, and they only bent the adoption age for us because we're related. I took night courses while I worked in the kitchen of the dragon's solar ship."

"Holbrook told me, but why the secret?" Zander asked.

"Because I couldn't save my older sister, cousins, and brothers. They vanished into the system, and most ended up in prison or dead. Holbrook and I are the only ones out of our family who survived." General Allen sat down. "Sorry, I love you, Zander."

"I love you too." Zander hugged him and collapsed. "Rob set up the housing. I didn't. He still wants us together. I'm this close to telling him I used to be a cultist." He rolled his eyes at the general. "Daddy's little princess and I have always been toxic together. I'm not looking for anyone and only want custody of my son back. A corporation can't hug him at night."

"Mr. Salamander is a meddler and a terrible matchmaker. Dad, leave Zander alone. The agency allows me to place a tent on their lawn."

Mason's voice shook. "Zander, could I stay with you? I refuse to stay with my mom. She meddles with my love life."

"Part of the house has two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a private entryway. The room isn't easily accessed and has a beefy security system. Your mom wanted it, but I'll give the room to you to make up for the agency kidnapping you," Zander said.

"No, he needs separate housing," Holbrook said. "We are tailing her to see what she says to Nickel."

"Babette Nickel is trustworthy. Okay, Mason, you and I will stay on my ship, but we need to pick up prisoners in two months. I'm not sure my dragon family wants to see me," Zander said.

"I'm sure they'd be thrilled," Holbrook said. "But please avoid Nickel for now."

"Zander, we need to talk alone." Mason guided Zander out of the room into an empty cell. He wrapped his arms around Zander, so he couldn't move, but not so tight he'd pass out or stop breathing.

"You're not going to beat me up, are you?" Zander asked. His eyes pleaded for mercy. "Holbrook and I were engaged because the cult asked me to pick her."

"Zander, I'm preventing you from drugging me again."

"When I was assigned to, I chickened out. You're stronger than Allen. The only reason your mom suggested the knockout meds was because no way could either of us drag you here."

"I was already helping her. You're also being drugged." Mason let him go.

"Am I?" Zander asked.

"Yes, you're in danger, and this isn't about Holbrook. It's about protecting you. Why did you join the cult? I won't judge you. Your Muses were traitors."

"Yes, but that wasn't the issue. I hated my powers." Zander stood up straight. "I had believed I was a dragon, and suddenly my identity changed. No one understands. I'm not a human that shifts into a dragon, but a dragon who shifts into other forms. Do you understand the pain of being stuck in a body that isn't mine?"

"What did the cult promise you?"

"I was fifteen when I joined online. I brought Tolbert on board willingly because chosen ones already work for the military by age eight. Deb's Light gave me a false purpose in work, and they promised to find my biological family. Don't get me wrong. I love my adopted dad, but I want to know why I'm like this. Why did my birth family sell me to a Rag-And-Bone Merchant? He planned to grind me up to devour my power because I was nothing more than an animal."

"What stopped him?"

"Dragons on his planet only growled, and I babbled like a small baby often does. The man felt pity and took me and found others like me who speak a language. I don't need my body back anymore. I want my son. Kay claims she was going to talk to his non-custodial mother, but Kay never showed up."

Mason stared at Zander for a moment. "You wear contacts, don't you?"

"Of course, I still have dragon eyes, and it freaks people out. They aren't a lovely violet color like Gloria's." He took out his contacts.

"Has anyone ever told you that your eyes resemble the royal twins?"

"But they like costumes and dress up? Their eye color is always changing."

"I think I know why Kay cares, and she is protecting you. She is probably related to you somehow." He grabbed Zander's arm and guided him back.

Holbrook shook her head. "I'm glad you're in one piece, but no, it won't be like it was. You're bringing the siren into the cell to mess with my self-image because you despise my guitar playing is a jerk move." She folded her arms and shook.

"I didn't approve of that," Zander said. "Commander Nickel said it was an oversight."

"Nickel isn't that petty," Holbrook said.

Zander's eyes widened, and his face morphed into a bunny. "She wouldn't hurt you on purpose."

"Holbrook, don't worry. I'll be your home," Charlotte said. "We'll work out a rent deal. I have kitchen equipment, and I'm able to form a house."

The general went to the cabinet, removed a file, and handed copies to the others.

Mason opened the manila flap. "Why do we only receive a thousand credits a month, and we don't have access to our accounts?"

General Allen Spoke. "Rob doesn't want us to undercut him. We also don't want him to raid your accounts to pay for his back fees and repairs."

The screen's light flickered on. Nickel was visible in a small cockpit. "Sorry, I needed to use an emergency shuttle. Communication is down in The Three Leaf Dragon Village."

Mason's mother sat with her. "My husband is guarding Gloria, and she is safe."

Zander's hands shifted into paws. "I controlled my shifting!"

Agent Lace spoke. "We have to land my shuttle, and I can't speak long, but I have proof that Dina Salamander Jones is Deb. She cut her ear to fake an attack, but it didn't work, so she hid her scarred ear. An informant confessed that he tricked Kay into going on Deb's science ships, and there are times no one can account for Dina. She is also the secret partner of Kay's business, and she made a fortune on the 3D food printing machines. With Rob and Kay out of the way, she receives everything."

"How could they tick her?" Mason asked.

Nickel winced. "Jake was used as bait to capture Kay, but she had a friend help her. Kay has a tender heart for children."

"No, Kay keeps lying to me," Zander blurted.

"Tolbert probably deleted the real drop-off location on your phone," Commander Nickel said.

"Yes, I looked into it when I looked into the school incident with Rob. There is a lot of animosity between her and the Salamander family. Her husband stole from her..." Mason's voice trailed off in mid-sentence.

"Kay and her family are the only ones able to leave the planet's atmosphere for a month, and the cultists need her alive to burst through the other planets' defenses. I gotta go. Rob suspects a dragon is getting too close to Gloria. He might be a cultist." Commander Nickel's screen went dark.

"Nickel forgot to shut off the full connection." Mason turned it off.

Zander's eyes sparkled, and his feet thumped. "Mason's wrist is glowing. How cute! Okay, at least we know Mason isn't faking. And after my conversation with him, I trust he cares."

Holbrook tossed the cake. "Mason and I are closer to finding out who Deb is than anyone before. The new king wants answers. We'll maintain the theater as a cover. Everything we want has a catch."

An alarm sounded. "We're being hailed." Zander turned on the screen. "Why send a recording to us?"

Kay smiled back. "Zander, my name is Kay Salamander Poe, and I am the former CEO of Glow Fourth and Fifth. If you think I'm angered that I was pushed out of my company by Quin Salamander, you'd be wrong. True family is worth more."

"Why not contact me in person?" Zander asked the others in the room.

Mason shushed him.

Kay spoke again. "I'm an honest businesswoman. Both sides can't be correct. One has to be the villain unless every side is wrong..." She paused and lifted a child in front of the camera.

Holbrook inched closer to the TV screen.

Kay's voice grew softer. "Rob and Deb-Dagger are CEOs and wrong about how they do business. And yes, Deb-Dagger is short-changing Rob's stock."

"Hi, Daddy." Jake waved and transformed into a dragon.

Kay stared into the lens. "Of course, little Jake is alright, and I saved him from Deb's Light."

General Allen turned off the screen.