Chapter 134
Chapter 134
Damien sneered. "Do all Dragon Society members get the same lines drilled into them? Though I'll admit, I've never run into someone quite like you."
Before the words were even out, he charged straight at Pax.
Pax wasn't particularly big, but he was born with incredible strength. Every move he threw was heavy and crushing, each strike carrying a terrifying force that felt like it could flatten mountains.
Damien refused to match him blow for blow. Instead, he used sharp, fluid footwork to dance around Pax and wear him down. The two of them were evenly matched.
"Now this is what I'm talking about! I finally found a real opponent!" It was the first time Pax had ever met someone who could hold his own against him, and he was practically shouting with excitement.
They traded hundreds of exchanges. Pax had limitless strength, but he couldn't land anything solid on Damien. He realized that if this kept dragging on, he'd be the first to break. So he used the opening from a missed attack to quickly put some distance between them.
"You're genuinely strong. I respect you as an opponent." Pax's expression turned serious. "But Dragon Society never fails to get what it wants. So I'm sorry about this."
The words barely left his mouth before Pax yanked something out. A faint but foul-smelling odor spread quickly through the air. Damien covered his nose and mouth immediately, but still felt a brief moment of dizziness.
Pax seized the chance and launched a killing strike. Damien snapped back to his senses in an instant and dodged with lightning speed.
"Are you alright?" Ironclaw came sprinting over, his face tight with worry.
"I'm fine." Damien hadn't even finished speaking before Pax came at him again, hard and fast.
Damien was done dragging this out. He pulled out his lightning gun and aimed it straight at Pax.
The moment Pax saw the barrel pointed at him, his face went pale. He scrambled to pull back and dodge, but it was too late. The lightning gun fired faster than the eye could follow. It caught him square in the left leg, and he dropped to his knees, the entire lower half of his body numb and frozen. That was when Pax truly panicked.
Damien walked over and looked down at him. "I'm happy to fight you all day. But pulling out poison? That's a dirty, shameless move."
"Why aren't you affected at all?" Pax stared up at him in disbelief.
"I'm immune to all poisons." Damien gave him a cold glance. "Next time you come at me, leave the cheap tricks at home." He turned and walked away without looking back.
He made it all the way back to the hotel room before collapsing heavily onto the bed.
Mona walked in a moment later, holding a bottle of antidote Mostad had prepared. "Ironclaw told me you were poisoned. You really can't help yourself, can you?"
She took out a pill and gave it to Damien. The next second, Damien suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her firmly into his arms.
"Damien!" Mona's face flushed red instantly. She struggled with everything she had, but couldn't break free.
Damien's arms locked around her like iron bands, giving her no room to resist.
His mind was hazy and drifting, as if he'd been pulled into some kind of dream. Through the fog, he thought he saw his mother. He held on tight, desperate not to let her disappear again.
Then her image faded, and he felt himself falling fast, as if he'd dropped into a blazing furnace. The heat scorched every inch of him, and all he could do was hold on to the one small patch of coolness left in his arms.
The next morning, Damien woke up with a throbbing headache — and found Mona curled up against him, sound asleep.
He was wide awake in an instant. Thinking back to the night before, the poison Pax had used must have had some kind of aphrodisiac effect. He cursed under his breath. He shouldn't have let Pax walk away so easily.
He felt terrible about what had happened with Mona, and on top of that, a deep wave of guilt toward Sophia washed over him.
Mona had actually woken up when Damien did. She felt just as uncomfortable and had no idea how to handle the situation. Nothing had crossed the final line last night, but they'd been tangled up together for hours and had ended up sleeping in each other's arms until morning.
When Damien realized Mona was awake, he let out a long breath. "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you."
"Don't worry about it." Mona threw back the covers and got out of bed. Damien immediately turned around to face the other way.
Mona picked up her jacket and threw it on. She rolled her eyes at his back, then reached for the door.
Ironclaw was standing right outside, hand raised to knock. They stared at each other.
He looked past her and saw Damien sitting on the edge of the bed, still shirtless. His eyes went wide.
Mona shoved past Ironclaw and left without a word. That seemed to snap him back to reality.
"We've figured out the secret in the painting," he said, standing in the doorway.
"Come in." Damien got up and started getting dressed. Ironclaw stepped inside, keeping his eyes carefully forward.
"There's a treasure map hidden inside it," he said quietly.
"No wonder Dragon Society kept coming back for it." Damien worked through the buttons on his shirt, thinking it over.
After a moment, he spoke again. "Copy the map, then restore the painting and send it back to Dragon Society. We're here for the Wraith Grass. No point stirring up that kind of trouble right now. Let them have it and settle down."
He had no idea what the treasure was, but it was clearly something Dragon Society cared about deeply. Then again, a small outfit like that wasn't going to be sitting on anything world-shaking. Let them enjoy their win for a while.
"We'll clear out in a couple of days. Next month's auction, we send someone in undercover. With Jared's micro camera, getting our people inside won't be hard. As long as they can get footage of what we need, that's enough."
They'd already been stuck in Crescent City long enough. Damien was losing patience. The auction ran every month — there would be another chance to get the Wraith Grass.
Meanwhile, Pax had been completely paralyzed where he fell, and wasn't found until his men stumbled across him and carried him back to Dragon Society headquarters. After a night of rest he could move again, but putting any weight on his left leg sent sharp, stabbing pain shooting through it.
"I had no idea Damien was that dangerous. And that weapon of his." Rhett had come personally to check on Pax, and his expression was grim.
"He's not someone to underestimate." Pax still looked a little pale.
"Understood. I'm thinking of going to meet him myself." Before Rhett could finish the thought, one of his men hurried in.
"What is it?"
"Damien sent the painting back. Said it wasn't what he was looking for and wanted to return it." The man came forward holding a scroll. Rhett snatched it eagerly and unrolled it.
The painting had clearly been taken apart and put back together. Rhett and Pax looked at each other. They both understood without saying a word.
"Damien already knows the secret. He'll get to the treasure before us. We need to move now and cut him off."
"Then why did he send the painting back? Is he trying to provoke us?"
"I don't care what game he's playing. We can't let him win." Rhett ground his teeth.
"Get me some men!"
---
Damien had no idea his goodwill gesture had been completely misread.
But Dragon Society wasn't the only one watching him. Ever since Damien had arrived in the small towns around Crescent City, Bavich had people on him around the clock, tracking every move he and his crew made.
Bavich's original plan was to wait for Damien to get his hands on the Wraith Grass, then swoop in and take it. But Damien had spent all this time spinning his wheels without actually getting it.
So Bavich had to change his approach. When he found out Damien had gotten tangled up with Dragon Society, he quietly sent people to stir the pot — working on Bryce behind the scenes, fanning the flames, trying to keep Damien so tied up with Dragon Society that he'd have no bandwidth left for anything else in Crescent City.
And while all that was keeping Damien busy, Bavich was busy using Damien's name to cause trouble around Crescent City, planting seeds of confusion and mistrust.