Endangered Ch. 05

"That sounds great," Chris said.

"I'll second that," Oslo agreed.

"Nothing for me, thanks," Lillian joked.

"Of course, my dear. Sorry," Stephen replied, smiling. "I don't need to feel uncomfortable with three carnivores in the house, do I?"

Oslo chuckled.

"You know who I am, then?" Chris asked. He hadn't been sure how much Oslo had told him.

"Well, of course I do, Chris, and it's an honor, you're the talk of the town at the moment. My wife works at the Compound so we got the news on the day you were presented to the court. My daughter, Hailey, is going to freak out when she meets you, just wait and see."

Stephen had a broad smile on his face, the smile of a loving father who took pleasure in playfully embarrassing his kids.

"Oh? I knew there was a bit of a buzz on Maginet but I hadn't realized it had gotten that far." Chris was bemused, a fair amount of sarcasm seeping into his words. "What species are you? If you don't mind me asking, that's not rude is it? Your house does smell somewhat familiar."

"No, it's not rude to ask. We're werebison. That's why I made the joke about carnivores."

The smell clicked in Chris's mind, like the clean scent of happy, healthy cows had back on Jethry's farm.

"Well, you're the first I've ever met. Does that mean you're vegetarians?"

"Precisely, a quirk of biology and magic, I'm sure you have a few of your own." Stephen flipped dials and started grinding coffee beans on a very impressive looking espresso machine. "Now, Oslo tells me you want to design and build a house, an underground one, no less."

"That's right-" Chris started.

He was interrupted by the pitter-patter of bare feet on the stairs. A second later, a gorgeously petite young woman rounded the corner from the hallway. Chris was momentarily stunned by her sudden appearance. Her body was small and tight, perfectly proportioned except for her breasts, which were very large on her slight, five foot frame.

Her long blond hair was pulled into a ponytail and she was wearing an outfit so gratuitously revealing it boggled belief. Tiny pink shorts barely covered her delectable butt, and an old, white tank strained to contain her bulging chest and exposed about six inches of toned, bronzed midrift. It was the kind of outfit which would have been criminal on an older woman, something a girl would only wear to flounce around her bedroom.

"Daddy, I... oh, hello Mr. Peterson. I didn't know we had guests, Dad."

Her blue eyes nervously flicked towards the cute guy standing over by her Dad. He was simply hot. Handsome and broad with ruffled blond hair and piercing blue eyes, matching her own. Her nostrils flared as a delicious scent tickled her nose. From her position, he looked almost twice as tall as her, although it didn't make him seem too intimidating.

Her current state of undress hit home and she withdrew slightly, wrapping her arms across her stomach to try and hide some skin.

"Well, I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss the chance to meet our guest. Chris, this is my daughter, Hailey," Stephen introduced the two with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"Hi, nice to meet you, Hailey," Chris offered a handshake and a smile, which she daintily accepted.

Hailey looked like she was about to say something back when her father interrupted.

"He's the dragon you've been gossiping so much about with your friends."

A series of expressions played across her face in a matter of seconds. Disbelief, appraisal, disbelief, excitement. She couldn't believe the dragon everyone had been talking about was in her house, talking to her Dad. Talking to her. He was so cute, too! Her friends were never going to believe her.

Then she remembered what she was wearing in front of him and blushed beet red.

"Oh my God! Daddy, I'm still in my pj's!" she wailed, spinning to run back upstairs before she died of embarrassment.

"Serves you right!" Stephen called after her, laughing. "Eleven-thirty is high time to be out of bed."

Lillian and Oslo were laughing as well. Chris managed a smile, but a large portion of his mind was still devoted to processing just exactly how beautiful the young woman was. Clearly she still had some growing up to do, but that didn't stop her from being smoking hot.

"She's just turned nineteen," Stephen explained. "She's been pretty sheltered, though, hasn't really blossomed and gotten her confidence yet. I just can't resist teasing her sometimes."

"I'd say she's certainly blossomed, Stephen," Lillian gibed. "You should watch out though, he's a dragon after all."

"Don't go near my daughter." Stephen suddenly became serious, piercing Chris with that intimidating stare all fathers automatically perfect as soon as their daughters are born.

"I didn't..." Chris stuttered apologetically before everyone in the room burst out laughing again.

"Jesus!" Stephen roared, "You're just as easy as she is!"

"Great," Chris groaned, before smirking. They'd gotten him.

"Seriously, though, if she likes you, go for it. She could use a boyfriend. It might get her out of her room for more than a chance to spend my money."

"Let's change the subject, shall we?" Chris almost pleaded.

"Fine, fine," Stephen turned back to the coffee maker. "Go through to the lounge, Oslo knows the way. I'll be through in a minute when this is done."

***

Upstairs, Hailey was a giggling mess of nerves, excitement, and not a little arousal. It had felt so embarrassing to be so exposed like that in just her nighties, so naughty.

Was he really a dragon? The dragon?

She hugged herself tightly and rolled around giddily on the bed, mashing her large, over-full breasts into the covers and feeling them leak slightly, relieving some of their pressure into her super absorbent bra cups. She even brought her hand to her nose, attempted to catch his scent where he'd touched her.

Were all the rumors she'd heard about dragons true? Perhaps she'd have a chance to find out if her Dad ended up working with him. Yes, she'd have to pester her father tonight to make sure he did. It would serve him right, too.

***

It was at least an hour later when the conversation downstairs began wrapping up.

"This all sounds doable, Chris. Expensive and time consuming, but doable," Stephen said, browsing through some of the property pamphlets Chris had brought along and rereading some of the notes he'd taken. "I've done underground work before, it's certainly challenging."

"I'd also like to keep the project as below the radar as possible," Chris explained.

"Understandable, given your situation. Does that mean you'll want to help me do the work yourself rather than hire others?"

"That had been my hope. I'll be learning some skills at the same time as building my future home that way."

"Excellent. Having another physically enhanced Being will be vital and I imagine your magic will be very useful as well but you'll have to put in some hard work to learn it. Now, I don't mean to doubt you but how are you going to pay for all this?"

"I've got gold, we can swap that to whatever currency you want through Lady Narlakis," answered Chris.

"That and you'll have a Class One dragon to call and ask for favors in the future," Oslo added.

"Yes, something which shouldn't be underestimated," agreed Stephen. "Okay, I can start on this almost right away. Our first step is to find a suitable location with a layer of firm bedrock to build into. I'll go visit these properties and make a few inquiries of my own while looking into permits. Once you've decided and brought a property, I can begin designing to your specifications and we can start excavation. Don't get your hopes up for a quick finish, though, this could take anywhere up to a whole year even with both of us working at the construction."

"I understand, but I'm eager to get started and have a place of my own."

"That's the spirit. I look forward to working with you, Chris," Stephen said enthusiastically, his mind already probing out possibilities for this exciting new project.

"I think we'd better start heading back to the Compound soon," Lillian warned, thinking that the Synod's phone call with the humans would probably be over by now. She was anxious, eager to hear what had transpired.

"Okay, Chris, I'll contact you through Maginet with an update in a few days. Perhaps an initial contract for my work, too." Stephen ushered them towards the door as they got up.

Chris thought he saw a brief flash of movement up by the banisters of the second story landing and smiled to himself. He'd hoped Hailey might have come back downstairs after a while but it appeared she was too shy.

"By the way, Stephen, there's something important going on with the Synod at the moment," Lillian added at the door. "It's big, but don't necessarily believe any rumors you hear, there are good people trying to sort it out."

"Well that's... disconcerting." Stephen watched her with a frown on his brow. "Care to elaborate?"

"Sorry." Lillian shook her head.

"I think there will be an announcement soon enough," Chris said. "Anyway, thanks for taking me on, Stephen. Susan and Annabel are going to love the surprise. Goodbye."

***

The announcement did come, but not soon enough to prevent further anxiety.

Oslo had parted ways with them once they were back inside the underground network, but when Chris and Lillian tried to enter Lady Narlakis's courtroom, they were turned away. Put out, they meandered back to the hotel, speculating quietly about what exactly was going on behind those closed doors.

Chris collected Annabel, who was more than happy to go for a walk. Together under Lillian's watchful eye, they did a bit more exploring, taking in the sights, smells, and sounds their hidden little world had to offer. Somewhat forlorn, Chris wondered how long the tranquil, secret community would stay that way, given the negotiations that were happening at that very second.

However, Annabel succeeded in distracting him from his dark mood with her short black skirt and sandals, showing oh-so-much creamy, smooth skin. He hugged her tight to his side as they walked, leaning down to breathe into her hair and kiss her scalp gently.

"What was that for?" she asked, looking up as they walked and surprised to find such a serious look on his face. He must be really worried.

"Because you're beautiful, and I love you," he replied with a slight smile.

Annabel paused their progress down the footpath and quickly went up on her toes to kiss him, looking right into his blue eyes with passion. She snaked her arms around his neck and grabbed a little handful of his short hair, pulling him down to her while their lips met, gently running her tongue across his.

"It's going to be okay, baby," she reassured as they broke apart.

"I hope so," Chris murmured, nudging her to continue their walk.

When they got back to the hotel it was late afternoon; Susan and Michelle still weren't back.

Chris felt rather disconcerted now, wondering what was taking so long and why he and Lillian hadn't been allowed to be involved. Perhaps he really had pissed the Synod off yesterday. He hoped it paid off with the goodwill it bought with the humans but he still dreaded the possibility of the negotiation falling apart.

"So, are you going to tell me what you did this morning?" Annabel asked, attempting to draw him out of his daydream as they sat together on one of the couches.

"Hmm? Oh, I went to talk to someone about building a house." Chris smiled as he saw Annabel's eyes light up.

"A house? For us? Tell me!" she bubbled, wriggling up against him.

"No, it's a surprise," Chris replied, fully expecting to receive at least a patented Annabel pout for his response, perhaps even anger.

She went for the pout, batting her eyelids up at him and thrusting her quivering bottom lip out slightly. Her beautiful hazel eyes seemed to double in size, filling with what she would have him believe was real hurt.

"Come on, Chris, that's not fair. Please?"

Lillian chuckled from an armchair, watching the girl's antics. The vampire wouldn't put it past her to bribe the dragon with sex next.

"All we did was meet an architect that Oslo knows and talk about what I wanted. He's going to be checking out properties over the next few days. That's all. The rest is just an idea in my head still."

"Ung, you say that like it isn't a huge step. 'That's all.' Yeah, right."

"Well, that's not strictly all he did," Lillian said, prodding at the dragon, as she was quickly growing very fond of doing. "He also met a cute little buffalo heifer who was promptly besotted with him."

"Oh, really?" Annabel cocked an eyebrow.

"Jesus, Lillian, it wasn't like that," Chris defended with exasperation.

"Oh, yeah," Lillian continued, "she's got a tight little body and a great big pair of milk-filled tits. I bet your dragon there would just love to 'help' drain them every morning. Grew up on a dairy farm, didn't he?"

She shocked both Chris and Annabel with her unusual vulgarity but the vampire just snickered at them.

"Why, yes, he did. So, when shall I pack my things and move out?" Annabel had joined in, enjoying her lover's discomfort.

"I can't fucking win," Chris said with a sigh. "All I did was shake her hand and say hi."

"You should have seen it, Annabel, she got all flustered when her dad told her he was the dragon she'd been gossiping about on Maginet. It was so cute, the little tart freaked out and ran upstairs because she was half-naked."

"So, does she have a baby or something?" Annabel asked Lillian, wondering why the vampire had mentioned the Were's lactation.

"No. Bovine Were females tend to produce milk year-round from the onset of puberty, even when they're in their human forms."

"Interesting, how about it, Chris? Would you like that?" Annabel gibed, giving him a playful slap on his firm chest. "And don't just think I've forgotten about this house your building."

"No comment."

Thankfully, Chris heard movement out in the hallway and went to let Susan and Michelle in before the two women dug him any deeper into his hole. He gave Susan a brief, warm kiss before guiding a worn out Michelle back into the lounge to sit down. He returned shortly with a glass of water for her and waited while she drank.

"So, what happened?"

"We did it. We actually got them to agree to a full revelation and hashed out the initial terms," Michelle said with a tired smile. She'd had an understandably stressful day.

Several beeps echoed around the room as all their Maginet devices fired up with a new notification.

"Is that it?" Chris asked.

She just nodded before resting her head back and closing her tired eyes.

Chris collected his tablet and returned to the couch, Annabel leaning on his shoulder to look while he read aloud.

By order of the Synod of Beings:

Due to the actions of an unknown group of conspirators, the Secret has been breached irreparably. Humans in positions of power have been made aware of our existence for several months, allowing them time to dedicate resources towards assuring a full revelation and liquefaction of the Secret.

At this stage, revelation is the only option. As of yesterday, we are in negotiations with leading human officials to achieve peaceful terms which will be advantageous to both parties. This will require sacrifice on both sides to achieve and will no doubt rewrite the way we live our lives.

In the meantime, follow the Secret strictly. The human governments need time in order to prepare infrastructure, for example, to set up the newly-formed Being Interaction Agency to interface between our worlds and prepare methods to manage the human population's reaction.

A public breach of the Secret at this stage would be devastating. Any Being whose actions contribute to such an event will be met with our harshest judgement.

As a show of goodwill, and in preparation for the changes this revelation will require:

-All interaction of a supernatural or magical nature between a Being and a non-familiar human is hereby prohibited indefinitely. This includes, and applies especially to vampire, gargoyle, or any other form of human feeding.

-The familiar-taking process is suspended under review and now requires Synod approval.

-The memory alteration charm is banned from use permanently, on both humans and Beings. A global detection ward is already in place to notify us of its use.

In the meantime, continue living your lives in Secret. Do not panic or despair, a revelation will eventually give us far more freedom than we live with today. However, vampires and any Beings whose needs cannot be met under the new conditions will be catered for by your local rulers until the revelation is achieved.

A major blockage to human relations has been loss of life caused by Beings and the callous views we often express in our disregard to the worth of human life, a flow-over in many of our older individuals from the more savage, ruthless centuries proceeding this one. We must change our mindsets to see each other as equals, perhaps not in individual powers or capabilities, but as equal inhabitants of this planet. Therefore, in the future, Beings will be subject to human laws, backed up by Synod sentencing.

Have hope and be at peace, Beings. The unknown awaits us, but we believe it can lead to a healthier, brighter existence if we work together towards that end.

Updates will be sent out at least weekly and any further modifications to legislation will be broadcast forthwith. Please contact your friends and families to relay this message and contact your local authorities with any questions you may have. However, please have patience in this regard as they may not have all the answers to your questions. The Revelation is still a work in progress.

Lord John Guthrie

Chris reread the message and looked up smiling.

"Michelle, this is great! I never thought the Synod would agree to this, to change our laws so quickly."

Michelle grinned back at the dragon, feeling genuinely happy to have his praise. It felt good after such a nerve-wracking day.

"Oh, they weren't as optimistic as Lord Guthrie made them out to be. I think they're just trying to put on a good face."

"Nonetheless, to have them come out like this, ban vampire feedings, and force Beings to treat humans with respect... it's groundbreaking," Susan said. "I can't help but think there's going to be some fallout, though. Not everyone is just going to take this lying down."

"The Synod won't tolerate any signs of rebellion at this point," Lillian explained, leaning over the back of the couch above Chris and Annabel to read their tablet. Perhaps she was a little too close. His damnably tasty smell was thick in her nose, making her fangs itch and ache as her mouth automatically filled with thick saliva. "They can't afford to appear weak or merciful on such a big issue. I expect several examples to be made."

"Examples?" Annabel asked with a frown. She hoped it didn't mean what Lillian made it sound like.

"Executions of the first vampires to break the new rules," Lillian replied bluntly. "That would be my prediction anyway."

The girl was so innocent and ideological. Sometimes the vampire couldn't understand what the dragon saw in her. Leaning down over Annabel, she felt a sudden, vampiric flash of jealousy and anger. It should be her at the dragon's side...!

Lillian snapped out of it, withdrawing the hand which had already been sneaking to wrap around the young woman's slender throat. She was disgusted with herself, reaching to kill an innocent, friendly girl out of nothing more than her inner beast's desires. Desires she couldn't even act on because of that bitch-drow's stupid blood pact. Being reminded of it yet again only increased her misery and self-loathing.