Four dragons stood at the doors. Luna was actually glowing with power, an aura of blue and violet pulsing around her. The sheer level of power behind her was a sharp contrast to the enticing smile and the casual way she dressed.

Behind her were the three much, much larger males of her kind. Quin was a massive golden statue of serene power and barely disguised distaste for the whole affair. Beside him was Ares, his sworn brother. Dark skinned, dark haired, with a pair of bronze eyes and a feral look on his face, like he would be more than happy to shed his human skin and tear everyone in the room to pieces.

On Quin's other side was Ozin. He was the least intimidating of the present dragons, though still impressive. There was a green tinge to his brown hair and his eyes were a mix of earthy greens and browns.

Four dragons. Where was Nekros?

Luna sauntered down the stairs and gave Serirnil a dazzling smile. "Arkil Serirnil," she drawled. "It's been a while, hasn't it? You look good. Like, really good."

"What are you doing here?" Serirnel snarled. "You didn't want to be a part of the counsel. You have no right-"

"Look at the little boy baring his teeth." Ares barked out a laugh, his voice like gravel and sending a different kind of chill through the room. "Daring to tell us what we have the right to do."

Luna giggled and turned her silver eyes to Atticus. Heat flared in her eyes. "Hello," she said curiously. "I don't think we've officially met. I'm Luna."

She leaned across the desk to take in his whole appearance. Nolan could hear the rapid pounding the male's heart, but he managed to keep a straight face and bowed to the dragon. "Atticus Shaw, great one."

She licked her lips seductively. "Atticus," she half-whispered his same. "You are a bear of a man, aren't you?"

Despite himself, a snort of laughter escaped Nolan's lips. He was rewarded with a smile of his own from Luna. As she did, she finally caught sight of Zesstra between them. A single silver eyebrow rose questioningly. Ozin was at her side in a second, leaning across the desk to get a better look at her. "Well, I'll be damned." He said softly. "An honest to gods Shadowblade. I thought your family was eradicated eons ago."

"Not all of us, great ones." Zesstra's voice shook as she answered.

"I can see that. Tell me, have you inherited-"

Ozin stopped and Nolan flinched. He could feel Quin's oppressive power filling the room. Whatever he was about to ask, it was clearly not the purpose of their being here. Luna gave Atticus a wink, mouthed 'call me', and turned spectacularly and approaching the xiezhi. She bowed dramatically. "If you don't mind, dear speaker. My colleagues and I would like to take the floor."

The creature did not argue. It lowered its head in respect and backed away. While the rest of the dragons made their way down to the centre to join her, she pushed the papers off the podium and hopped up to sit on it. The room got colder, and ice began to form along the walls, making its way back to the doors and sealing them shut with magic a hundred times the strength used before. "Please, sit." Quin addressed the room calmly. "There is a great deal for us to discuss."

Nolan met Atticus's eyes and tilted his head towards Zesstra. He nodded and took the girl by the shoulder, leading her up the stairs to his place. The massive silver shepherd followed loyally. It took Nolan until he returned to his own seat before he realized exactly why he recognized the shifter. Wasn't that Maddox's dog?

The only representatives left standing were, predictably, the elves. Ozin raised a hand and vines exploded out of the ground, wrapping themselves around their limbs and forced them back into their chairs. "This gathering is to encourage the diplomatic cooperation of all the species!" Arkil shouted. "You are..."

"Do not presume that we give a single shit what the purpose of this gathering is." Ares snarled.

"You all gathered here because of us anyway." Ozin leaned lazily against the back wall and looked at the page he'd snagged from the floor. "Item number one: The honourable counsel will discuss the threat of a dragon war and what it means for the sustainability of Ancient kind in a mortal-dominated society. Wow, that is one hell of a political way to admit you don't even care about the humans."

Luna giggled for a second before hopping off the podium again and sauntering forward. "I suppose we should press on then." She threw her arms out dramatically like a performer. "Honourable counsel," she declared mockingly. "We, as you all know, are the dragons. You may notice there are only four of us. Where is Nekros, I hear you asking? Well, so am I. My brother is missing. His island was torched. His mate and several of his kin are nowhere to be found as well."

The room dropped a few more degrees. Nolan sat up a bit straighter. Quin looked around the room. "The magic expelled by the kin was caused by their reaction to Nekros's defenses." He explained. "They have lost their connection to him. We have not been able to get in touch with him. We are left to assume the worst. The question that remains is who did it and why."

"Why would any of us attack Nekros?" Arkil hissed, struggling against the vines. "Everyone here knows he is the most reasonable of your species."

Luna turned on the elf, her eyes blazing and a definite air of crazy swirling around her. "Are you calling me unreasonable, Arkil?" she demanded. A spear of ice shot up from the table and stopped at his throat. "Calling the kettle black, don't you think?"

"Quintiles!" the Woodland elf snapped, as Arkil backed away as best he could from the ice. "For the love of the gods, restrain her!"

"No." Quin said coldly. "We are not you, elf. We will not accept the disappearance of one of our own. We will not stop until we have answers. We will tear this world apart until we find Nekros. We will throw this world into an age of darkness if we have to. We will find him."

"We will give you this single opportunity to confess." Luna continued. "If you do, you will face no repercussions, even from Nekros himself. The moment we walk out of this building, the clock starts ticking. You will have one week, just like the humans, to come forward and we will be lenient. After that," she shrugged. "We'll see. I have a wild imagination."

A tense silence fell over the room. Nolan felt sick. Who had the strength to fight a dragon? Two dragons! If Phoenix were missing too, whoever the perpetrators were would have needed more than just fire power. Phoenix was pure power and Nekros was clever and careful. The two of them made a deadly pair.

"Remember," Ozin said in a deceptively light tone. "We can survive if the atmosphere fills with ash and debris. We can survive every living creature perishes. We can survive if the world turns to ice. Can you?"

The Deepstone elf finally jerked his head up towards the shifters after a minute. "The dark elf princess is right there. I would bet my life they're responsible in some way."

"She's a child." Ares snorted. "I assure you, if we're going to start judging people by the acts of their ancestors, we will not be starting with them. The Deepstone's have plenty more to answer for."

Atticus stood up from his seat and bowed again towards the dragons. "Great ones," he said respectfully. "While I have no information to offer on the status of your brethren, I do offer you the full support of my faction. My shifters are everywhere, quietly gathering information. They are a mere phone call away from being debriefed."

"See?!" Luna patronized the rest of the room like they were children. "That's how you keep a dragon from wanting to kill you."

Constantine stood up suddenly before Nolan could hold him back. "You have every vampire at your disposal, Luna." He almost shouted, his jealousy evident. "They will answer to you as they do to me."

"Not if the rumours in France are true." The dwarf snickered.

Stifled laughter rippled through the room and Constantine's eyes flared with rage. Nolan watched Luna meet the gaze of her lover. For the first time since knowing her, there was no sign of affection for the vampire in those silver eyes. She was furious with him. What did he do this time? His grip on Constantine's arm tightened and dragged him back into his seat. "We gratefully accept your offer, Lord Shaw." Quin addressed the shifter, ignoring the vampire's outburst. "If you have any immediate information, we will accept it as proof that you have had nothing to do with Nekros's disappearance."

Atticus straightened and held out a hand to the canine shifter back in her human skin. "May I introduce Nova Foster."

Nova! That's what her name was. Following his lead, Nova bowed to the dragons. "Greetings, great ones." She straightened before giving her report in a brusque, professional tone. "For the last four years I have been placed within the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department. I was assigned to assess the level of corruption within the ranks but was quickly informed to focus on a single target. We have a reasonable belief that this target is a part of an anti-Ancients sect, and that the group itself has moved far beyond the cover of protests, blocking legislation, and conspiracy theories. The target has a close relationship with a controversial captain of the L.A.P.D. as well as a human doctor who is publicly disgraced for his involvement in the heritage program."

Nolan's whole body went numb. Nova's eyes darted his way for half of a second, confirming his own suspicions. He felt sick. Calming magic wrapped around him. Quin was also watching him closely. Quin knew. He fucking knew. Rhia's magic surged in reaction to his anger and pulsed, repelling Quin's attempt to calm him. Shock flickered in his golden orbs for a moment before he regained control of his emotions. Luna's eyes shifted to Quin. They were talking about him.

Nolan didn't care. He was furious and questions raced through his mind. Did they know what Rhia was? Did they know what Richard had done to her? How long had they known?

He felt a slight pain in his temples as Quin forced a mental connection between them. "You need to calm down."

"Get out of my head!" Nolan screamed the words back at him. Both dragons winced and his rage built even further. Luna had linked to him on the back of Quin's magic. "You've played your games." he told them. "Arkil is right. You have no right to demand anything of us while you refuse to associate with the rest of the world."

"Nolan," Luna started.

"Thank you, Lord Shaw," Ozin had stepped up, realizing that Luna and Quin were occupied. "We would like to discuss this situation further with your shifter."

"You don't understand." Luna tried to continue.

Nolan stood up and the entire room turned to look at him. "We are tired of your theatrics." he couldn't be bothered to even try to hide the disrespect he felt for the four dragons present. "If you honestly believed any of us had anything to do with your inability to protect your people, then you would not have felt the need to put on this show. I, for one, will not continue to entertain this disrespect for our integrity. We all have work to do, and you are impeding on our ability to do so."

The silence was thick enough to cut with a knife. A few of the other counsel members slowly rose to their feet solidarity of his outburst, though they had no idea what the real source of his anger was. The rest were either too stunned or terrified to do anything but stare either at him or the dragons. After a long few minutes, Luna shrugged dramatically. "Always so serious, Nolan." She shook her head. "Theatrics or not, our warning still stands. We will burn everything to the ground to find my brother. If you're smart, you will cooperate to the best of your abilities and stay out of our way."

A loud crack ripped through the air and a chunk of ice fell away from the door. Nolan turned on his heel and kicked the rest of it away. He ignored Constantine's shouts. He needed to get home. He needed to get away from the dragons. He just needed to get away.

~