The dragonrider shook his head at her. “This doesn’t involve you.” He turned his attention back to the mortal. “Do we have an understanding?”
The guy nodded as nervousness made him shake. “Yeah. I give you thirty percent of my earnings. That’s fair. I can do that.”
“Earnings?” Sophia approached. “What are you talking about?”
“I said this doesn’t involve you,” the dragonrider spat.
Sophia was shocked that this guy wasn’t interested in her. Even more shocked that he was dismissing her. She would have thought that a brand-new dragonrider would be ecstatic to meet one of his own. She was when she came to the Gullington. Of course, if there were a lot in this area, which there were based on the map, maybe this guy already had and things hadn’t gone well, and he was on guard about other riders. They were known for being loners.
“It’s cool, man,” the mortal said in a rush. “I’ll give you what you want. Will you let me go?”
The dragonrider returned his attention to the mortal and pressed him harder against the wall with a little more force than Sophia thought was necessary. As dragonriders, they were exceptionally strong—much more than a weak mortal. There was no reason to hurt them like that unless they were threatening them, and the mortal was unarmed and appeared not to be fighting back. “Weekly. You got it?” the dragonrider said, his face inches from the mortal’s.
“Weekly. You got it.” The scared mortal nodded.
The dragonrider dropped the guy as he stood back, which made him fall on his hands and knees. “Out of my sight or I’ll make it forty percent.”
The mortal jumped to his feet. His eyes darted to Sophia and the dragons at her back before he sprinted off, fear radiating from his every movement.
The dragonrider turned and faced Sophia, while brushing his hands off from the altercation. “Okay, sweetheart. Now I guess I have to deal with you since you don’t know well enough to mind your own business.”
Chapter Fourteen
This wasn’t going at all well. Sophia’s hand flexed next to her sword. She refrained from pulling Inexorabilis while reminding herself that this new dragonrider was inexperienced and probably nervous and used to defending himself. She was a friend, here to extend the olive branch to him.
“Look, I’m with the Dragon Elite and we want—”
“I know who you are,” the guy interrupted. “Coal filled me in on you boring do-gooders.” The dragonrider indicated the dragon that now faced off with Lunis. Unlike many of the dragonettes, it wasn’t taking a subservient position to the much larger, older dragon. Instead, the black dragon had its eyes narrowed, and his head extended up as high as he could as if trying to inflate his height.
“Well,” Sophia drew out the word and restrained herself. “Then you know that we don’t want trouble and can be an ally to you. I realize that you’re new as a drag—”
The guy laughed. “You think because I’m new to being a dragonrider that I’m inexperienced.”
Sophia really had to hold back now. She let out a long breath. “Well, it stands to reason. And there’s a lot to learn, but I can offer—”
“Don’t want your help, sweetheart,” the guy cut in. “I may not have been doing this long, but I’m certain I can run miles around you and your pretty blue dragon. Coal and I are a different stock. We’re better.”
Oh good. I’m going to have to kill him. She shook this off and decided to try another approach. “So my name is Sophia and I’m fairly new to dragon riding. I get that it’s intimidating at first to enter this world.”
“My name is Tanner and it’s not intimidating to me because I was born for it,” the guy stated. “Some of us are naturals. Then there’s the Dragon Elite.”
Sophia swallowed and tried to decide how many teeth to leave this guy. “What’s your deal with the Dragon Elite? We’ve been around for centuries, keeping balance on the planet, settling disputes, and protecting mortals.”
Tanner laughed, a hollow, humorless sound. “Yeah, do-gooders. So boring. We aren’t interested in saving the world.”
“We?” Sophia questioned. “You mean you and your dragon?”
“Sure, sweetheart,” Tanner stated nonchalantly.
Then Sophia remembered the collection of dragons and riders on the map. “Have you joined up with the other demon dragonriders?”
“What’s it to you?” Tanner shot back.
“Well, I think the Dragon Elite has a right to know if another organization has formed.”
“You aren’t in charge anymore,” Tanner stated. “We do things our way and don’t need your permission.”
So there was a new organization of demon dragons and their riders.
“What do you do your way?” Sophia asked. Now it was a fact-finding mission rather than recruitment. “Like with that mortal?”
“We’re policing things too,” he said with a morbid laugh. “Like the Dragon Elite. We merely do it a little differently.”
“You said you were taking thirty percent from that mortal,” Sophia began. “Thirty percent of what?”
“Of what we’re owed,” Tanner replied. “You Dragon Elite can govern all the do-gooder mortals. We’ll take the rest.”
“Do you mean the criminals?” Sophia asked. “You’re policing the bad guys?”
“We’re keeping them in check,” Tanner stated. Then something flared in his eyes as if he realized he was giving too much away. He shook his head. “Anyway, it’s none of your business.”
“This group you’re a part of—”
“Mind your business sweetheart, or I’ll have to teach you how.” Tanner held up his fist with a look of menace on his face.
Sophia had to stop herself from laughing when she realized that the inexperienced, cocky dragonrider thought he could best her in a fight. That was cute.
“So you govern the criminals of the world, but not by stopping them.” Sophia worked it out in her head as she spoke. “You take your cut.”
“We keep them in check,” Tanner admitted. “You can’t stop crime. It’s impossible. We regulate it and take what belongs to us.”
Sophia nodded. It made perfect sense to her. If the Dragon Elite was full of angel dragons who wanted peace and to arbitrate for what was best for the planet, then the demon dragons would have domain over the criminals, taking what they wanted while keeping them restrained.
“Well, we don’t have to be at odds.” Sophia tried diplomacy again. “The Dragon Elite and this group you’re a part of, we could work together.”
Tanner shook his head. “No, the Rogue Riders don’t work with others. We’ll allow you to bow to us though. How does that sound?”
The Rogue Riders, Sophia thought, gritting her teeth together. Her hand flexed by her sword. “That doesn’t work for us. We’re the supreme ruling authority on the planet, and that also goes for an infant group of inexperienced dragonriders.”
Tanner laughed. “Infant, eh? Inexperienced? I’ll show you inexperienced.”