Finally, Heit dragged his eyes up from the will in Caleb’s hands to his face, his cheeks twitching in rage.
“There’s something different about you,” Heit spat after a moment. “What did you do? You don’t feel like you did before. And how exactly did you find this? I was told –”
He cut himself off abruptly, before he could say anything else even more incriminating. Kira frowned – she supposed it was pretty obvious just who had told Heit what, but right now, she knew she had to stay focused.
Caleb returned Heit’s stare levelly. “It’s none of your business,” he said after a moment. “The only thing you have to worry about is the fact that we found the will that designates all that land in Girdwood Forest that you’re so keen to get your hands on as protected. And don’t try to argue the will is forged – you know it’s not.”
Heit’s blazing eyes traveled back and forth between Caleb and Kira again, and just for a moment Kira thought she saw a heated flash of red within them. She shivered. Caleb’s eyes when he’d been in his dragon form had been a warm, soft gold color – nothing like the blood red she’d seen in Heit’s eyes just now.
“Are you trying to tell me that this is what you plan on using to challenge me?” Heit asked, voice rasping with anger. “This… this piece of paper – as if this can stand between a dragon and what it wants –”
“Heit, you know as well as I do that the Dragon Council says that the conditions of operating a legitimate business in the human world include respecting human laws,” Caleb shot back, his voice soft but dangerous. “Maybe if you think this is just a piece of paper, we can see what they have to say about the matter. I think they may take a different view. You know the rules as well as I do, Heit, and you know the consequences for any dragon who doesn’t want to abide by them.”
Heit’s lip curled viciously. “You’d do that? You’d sell out your own dragon brethren for the sake of a human?”
Caleb nodded, his eyes never leaving Heit’s face. “I would. Especially in a case like this, when I’m not sure my dragon brethren, as you put it, haven’t had something to do with trying to make sure this will was never found in the first place – things like arson and bribery aren’t exactly looked upon with a friendly eye, are they?”
Kira sucked in a quick breath as she glanced across at Caleb. So far, what they suspected about what had happened to the records building and the reason why the clerk at the records office had been so incredibly unhelpful had remained unspoken between them – but she could sense that Heit wasn’t going to give up without a fight. She didn’t know what this Dragon Council was, but the words sounded heavy in Caleb’s mouth – and the effect they had on Heit was immediate and palpable.
“You don’t need to jump straight to that,” he snapped, still sounding furious, but now Kira could see an edge of nervousness entering his manner. His eyes moved around shiftily, and he swallowed. “Who said anything about getting the Dragon Council involved? I was merely saying that –”
“You were merely saying what?” Caleb asked, voice calm. “That you intend to respect this will? That I don’t need to go sniffing around for any evidence that you’ve been playing any less than fair?”
Heit’s face twisted. He looked at the will with hatred in his eyes, and Kira had to wonder if he could breathe fire even in his human form. In the end, she had to conclude that he couldn’t, otherwise he almost certainly would be setting it on fire right about now.
As if he’d had the same thought, Caleb reached across the table, drawing the copy of the will back toward himself, before tucking it safely away inside his jacket pocket with the original.
“So – the way I see it is, you have two options. You can draw this thing out pointlessly, and make yourself look like a fool when we win a court case against you, which may also involve some information you may not like getting spread around,” Caleb said evenly. “Or, you can let this go now. Cut your losses and accept that you’re beaten. It’s not just the human court you’ll have to worry about if you don’t back off now.”
Kira felt her stomach fill with warmth as Caleb spoke. She knew this was serious, this was the moment when she’d find out if this was finally all over, but she just couldn’t help it. Caleb’s determination to help her – to help the forest and town she loved so much – was so clear in his voice that she couldn’t help but be flooded with love for him all over again. He’d done just what he said he would: he’d made her problems his, and then he’d done everything he could to help her solve them.
And together, there’s nothing we can’t do. Even against a dragon.
It was clear that Heit wasn’t willing to roll over that easily though – he was still looking between them, his eyes flashing dangerously, his mind clearly searching for something he could say that would get him out of this.
“If it’s money you want –” he finally broke out with, only for Kira to cut him off with a firm shake of her head.
“It isn’t. We already told you what we want.”
“But now that you mention it,” Caleb said, looking thoughtful, “Girdwood Springs Forest could use a little donation for some maintenance and upkeep costs. I mean, a generous donor never went astray, did they?”
Kira glanced at him, mildly surprised. They hadn’t talked about this, but she wasn’t about to interrupt him, especially since what he said was completely true. The parklands didn’t exactly get a huge amount of funding, and there were a million things she could do with a bit of extra money.
“What do you mean by th—” Heit began to snarl, before Caleb held up a hand.
“I’m just saying, given what we both know really happened to the records office, it’d be a small price to pay for some recompense, wouldn’t it?” He cocked his head. “I’m only saying this because no one got hurt in that fire. So if… well, someone were to make a generous donation, then I think it wouldn’t necessarily need to go any further. But if not… well, who knows what evidence might turn up. If I can find a will in that massive records office, I’m pretty sure I could find a bunch of other stuff too. What do you think about that?”
Kira bit the inside of her lip. She wondered if Caleb’s threat of this Dragon Council thing would be enough to make Heit part with a significant chunk of change to keep him from voicing any suspicions to them.
She had her answer soon enough: Heit stared open-mouthed at Caleb for what seemed like a long moment, his eyes filled with rage – but then his shoulders slumped, his lips twisting into a petulant pout.
“Fine,” he muttered. “Fine. If I have to give up on this, then at least no one will be able to say the Heit Clan doesn’t withdraw gracefully.”
Kira had to raise her eyebrows at that – after everything Heit had done, he thought he was behaving gracefully?!
“My people will make contact with the relevant authorities,” Heit continued sulkily after a moment or two. “You’ll get your donation, and you won’t hear anything more from me about buying the parklands.” His eyes glimmered a little as he raised them. “But know that that will is the only thing standing between me and them. If that ever goes missing –”
“I really don’t think you should sour our happy agreement with threats,” Caleb said cheerfully. “After all, we’re all friends now, aren’t we?”