contrast to the dark tattoos he had around his neck and disappearing down underneath his clothing.
The tattoos were tribal in nature, covering almost all of Serge’s torso, both front and back. Although Ronan had a couple himself; he knew he wouldn’t have had the patience it would take to have such a large and intricate body of work done. Patience was one of Serge’s better qualities. He could stay in one position, under cover, for many hours, never moving, staying alert.
It was a virtue that came in handy in their line of work.
“Don’t worry, Esther’s coming with us, until we find what we’re after then she’ll accompany us.”
Serge broke in, “About that, what we’re after…is Drake pulling some kind of joke on me, or are we really looking for a Dragon?”
Ronan tried to hide the smile that came to his face, at the shocked look on Serge’s, but failed miserably. “Yeah, we are, I know, it’s kinda out there, but she’s very real and we need to protect her at all costs.”
Serge nodded, his eyes wide, as he took in Ronan’s words. “Okay, well guess we go save a Dragon.”
Serge pulled his elbows from the desk and stood up, gave his body a shake, then left, not saying anything else. Ronan guessed the Wolf was trying to process the fact that they were going on a Dragon hunt.
He went back to his paperwork, sorting out the piles into several smaller ones. Urgent, nearly urgent, not urgent, forget.
His usual filing system. One he had used since he took over as Director. The most important things, in his opinion, were making sure his men and women did what they were supposed to do without taking advantage of their positions. After that was making sure the expenses paperwork got passed up the line, going to an unnamed branch of government, which paid for the SEB. Then came the day to day stuff that had to be done in order for them to function properly and lastly...complaints and mundane things that had him shoving the paperwork in the pile for shredding.
The pile for shredding was, by far, the largest.
So far, without anyone complaining from further up the line, he would just keep doing what he did. If it wasn’t good enough the Boss could get someone else. A chuckle escaped him as he realized he was thinking of the President of the United States as the Boss. That was weird on so many different levels; he usually just forgot about that fact and did the job in hand.
Another hour and he had made some headway on the paperwork, his piles sorted and ready for him to go through in more detail...apart from the last, of course. He brought the urgent pile towards him and had just started when Sam appeared back, a smile on his face.
“I assume Miriam was okay about you changing your date?” Ronan continued shuffling paperwork, knowing that Sam would never be able to keep things to himself. If Sam had been a woman he would be called a shocking gossip.
“ She sure did! As soon as she heard what I was canceling for, she got all gushy and fluttered her lashes at me mercilessly! ‘Oh be careful Sam, dark magic and a Dragon, you could get hurt!’ Her eyes wide and her mouth all pouty...ya know?”
Ronan lifted his head but only to shake it at his friend. “You really are a man-whore, poor woman doesn’t know what she’s getting herself into.”
Sam looked hurt, an act if ever there was one. “What? I treat my ladies just fine, more than fine...I treat them like queens...and I’ve never had any complaints...”
Ronan actually laughed. “Are you shittin’ me? No complaints? What ‘bout, oh let me see… Mary, yes, Mary, remember her? I had to transfer her ‘cause she went all stalker on your ass. Then, what ‘bout Eliza? Hmm, remember Eliza? She needed fucking therapy after you dumped her! No complaints, my ass. One of these days you’re gonna meet a woman who treats you just as bad and it’s not gonna be nice!”
Sam snarled, his frown deepening as Ronan’s words hit their mark. “Okay, a
Marc Paoletti, Chris Lacher