Dragon Deception Read Online Free Page A

department couldn't force someone of another species to conform to human standards. He tossed the tie he was holding on the back of a chair with a growl of disgust and left it where it lay. He was wearing a pair of nice dress pants and a collared shirt, which was good enough as far as he was concerned.
    They both went down to the kitchen together for breakfast. Lumie and Alloy were waiting for them. Both kits were holding their breakfast bowls in their hands and were waiting patiently for someone to come and help fill them with food. Lumie had just allegedly cooked an entire picnic, yet he couldn't get the cereal down from the cabinet and pour himself and Alloy some breakfast? Something didn't add up, and unfortunately the answer was locked up somewhere in Lumie's head, which meant Mercury would never know.
    Between Mercury and Dane, they were able to get Lumie and Alloy happily crunching on cereal. Nickel wandered into the kitchen yawning widely and fixed himself a bowl on his own.
    "I'm not bringing all of you to work today," Dane grumbled ineffectually. If Lumie and Alloy wanted to go to Dane's office, they would go. Nickel went to Dane's office every weekday and did his schoolwork and some easy office work. It kept Nickel happy and gave Daisy fewer kits to look after during the day.
    Lumie made a face. "Just want breakfast. Don't want to walk in the woods. Make sure you come back for your picnic!"
    Dane sighed tiredly and Mercury had to suppress a laugh. "I won't forget," Dane replied.
    "Neither will I," Mercury echoed.
    Dane gripped Nickel gently on the shoulder, and they both vanished with a whoosh of magic. Mercury ruffled Lumie's and Alloy's hair.
    "Try to behave today?" he asked them both. He got reluctant nods in return, which was probably the best Mercury was going to get out of them. "I'll see you for dinner."
    Mercury's magic was different than Dane's magic. He couldn't just vanish into thin air. Dane emulated a basic transportation spell by using enough power to do what he wanted it to. Mercury, on the other hand, needed to recall how the magic had to be shaped around him so the transportation spell would work properly before he cast and magic pulled him away. The kitchen vanished around him and the front entrance of his office building appeared instead.
    The building had magical shields around it that prevented someone like Mercury from appearing inside his cubicle at will. Instead he had to walk through the front entrance just like every other employee. Mercury didn't need to carry car keys, though, which made walking through the metal detector a quick process. His badge was scanned by the guard and then he was waved towards the elevators as the guards tried to hurry the morning line along.
    There was more than one federal department inside the building. Mercury's office was on the sixth floor, the entirety of which belonged to the SupFeds. His space was a small cubicle amid a floor of small cubicles. The outer edges of the room were lined with windowed offices for people with considerably more clout than Mercury. He didn't want an office like that; it just brought more scrutiny and more work hours. Daisy did an amazing job corralling Mercury's kits, but it wasn't fair to keep her from her own family just because Mercury's job required more hours. He would apply for a promotion to get a slightly larger cubicle, but going into a private office was too much.
    The fuzzy walls of Mercury's cubicle were an ugly gray. Some of his coworkers had plastered their cubicle walls with family photos and awards certificates. Mercury had one lone picture hanging next to his computer. He studied it while he waited for his computer to boot up.
    Alloy was hanging over Copper's shoulder, grinning widely. Lumie had his thumb in his mouth and was clinging to Dane's leg. Copper and Zinc were glaring at each other from opposite sides of the frame. Nickel was in the center of the picture next to Mercury. His smile was small and