Lord of Chaos (The Dragon Demigods Book 7)

by Charlene Hartnady

  “I would suggest filing for bankruptcy though. I don’t think you can salvage your business at this stage, unless something major happens.”

  The blood drained from her face. Her limbs felt weak. Her mind raced. “Major like how?”

  “Like a serious influx of cash ‒ but we both know that isn’t going to happen. You need to be realistic at this stage.”

  “I would lose everything if I filed for bankruptcy. I’m thirty-five years old, I can’t lose everything I’ve worked so hard to build.”

  “You can still start over. You’re resilient, someone who always lands on her feet. You are a qualified relationship therapist. You have a degree and that’s got to count for something.”

  Vicky covered her face with her hands and huffed out a breath. “I don’t think I—”

  “You don’t have a choice.” He spoke softly, but with conviction. “File for bankruptcy, close the business, and get a job.”

  “How the hell do I go back to counseling couples with marriage problems? How do I possibly campaign on keeping them together when I no longer believe in love? In happily ever after?” It shocked her to hear herself say it. Yet, it made sense. It made perfect sense.

  “No wonder you’re struggling as a Love Doctor.” Patrick put on a weird voice when he said Love Doctor. “As a relationship specialist. You don’t believe in love. I don’t blame you though, Vicky.”

  "No, I guess I don't believe in love anymore. Jeff ruined that for me, big time. It's all just a farce. You're right, I need to shut this whole thing down. File for bankruptcy and …" she shrugged, "I'm not sure what my next step will be. Couples counseling though …" She shook her head. "I hated that type of counseling right off the bat. I preferred bringing people together rather than trying to keep them together."

  “Why did you choose this line of work in the first place?”

  “To make money. Charge by the hour and all that. I liked the idea of becoming a doctor, but blood makes me queasy. I guess,” she pulled in a deep breath, trying to get her emotions under control, “I love the whole falling in love thing and I like bringing people together. At least, I used to enjoy it very much. Now I’m just jaded and cynical. I hate that.” She said the last more to herself.

  “It’s normal to have those types of feelings. My point is that you used reason and logic to choose a career, well, mostly. That’s what I’ve always admired about you. It’s only been a year since … well … since the rug was pulled out from under you.”

  “If by having the rug being pulled out from under me, you mean catching my husband bonking a much younger woman, then yeah, you would be right.”

  Jeff, her high school sweetheart. Her first love. First everything. What stung the most was that they had just started trying for a family. Thankfully she’d found out about his lying, cheating ways before it was too late to run the hell away.

  “It’s only been a year. Your wounds are still fresh. It’s logical that you would still be so emotional about all of this. I’m urging you to try to be rational though. To take emotion out of business decisions. What you’re doing right now isn’t working. You need to change tactics.”

  What she needed was a fresh start. Only problem was that fresh starts cost money. “You’re probably right.” She blew a breath out through her nose. “I wish that billboard had worked.”

  “Forget the damned billboard.” Patrick sounded annoyed.

  “Fine,” she all but whispered. “I’ll figure something out.”

  Chapter 2

  “Here.” Cadon threw an oversized loincloth at him. Talon couldn’t believe humans enjoyed wearing this type of garb.

  He watched as it fell at his feet. The material the color of a winter’s sky. He picked the garment up. Oversized was being conservative. It was huge. Several loin cloths could be fashioned from the material. Why the need to cover so much skin? It was unnecessary.

  Cadon caught his look of distaste because he chuckled. "Don't let its size fool you. Wearing that thing will be tight and uncomfortable, for sure."

  “It is.” Soren pulled on the material around his neck. “You’ll feel like it’s strangling you,” he tugged at the fabric near his ass, “everywhere.”

  Soren and Pace laughed. Talon grunted. He still wasn’t sure why Leukos had chosen him for this assignment. He pushed out a deep breath, mentally preparing for the task ahead. Probably because he was level-headed, could think on his feet and because, like the others chosen, he’d lost a mate. Which meant he wasn’t looking for or interested in human females. In females, period. Back to being level-headed. At least he knew his prick wouldn’t do the thinking or the talking for him. It was one small consolation.

  There were days when he missed his mate terribly. Lark had been a good companion. His chest tightened for a moment. There was no time to dwell on such things, Talon pulled on the loincloth. The fabric covered both legs, all the way to his ankles. So impractical. The material was, thankfully, soft. He pulled his cock to the side, having to suck in a breath to zip the garment closed.

  Good thing he no longer had any use for it because his prick felt like it was being squashed to death in there. Talon made another grunting noise, arching his back. It didn’t improve things. How did humans handle this? It was terrible.

  “Nothing helps.” Soren was grinning. “Hopefully we will get used to the discomfort.”

  “I wouldn’t count on it.” Pace was frowning heavily.

  Talon had to agree with Pace. There was no way he was getting used to this. He pulled the shirt over his head. “Are you sure these are normal human attire?” He rubbed a hand over the garment. “Why is there a picture of a bird on the front?”

  “Yes, it’s perfectly normal. Humans have very strange taste in things.” Soren made a face. “You saw the pictures of the humans. They wear all sorts of colors.” The male was trying to force his feet into tube-like things that fit around them awkwardly. Talon couldn’t remember what they were called. “They are shoes,” Soren announced, obviously catching his quizzical look. “Humans do not walk around much without them.”

  “I remember from our training. They look worse than the human loincloths,” Cadon interjected, eyes wide and staring at the foot tubes.

  “My feet feel squashed,” Soren groaned. “This can’t be right.” He shook his head, looking down at his feet.

  “I’ll take those.” They were flat rubber, with a piece that fit between the toes. Talon tested them out, feeling the rubber slap against the soles of his feet with every step. It was doable though. At least his feet would be mostly free. That was something at least.

  Cadon quickly snatched up the remaining rubber shoes, leaving Soren and Pace to wrestle the tubes onto their feet.

  Once they were all dressed, Cadon handed each of them a bag.

  “Let’s go over the plan,” Talon said, looking each male in the eyes, from one to the other. “Cadon, you take us through everything. You were the one who conducted the preliminary research.”

  Cadon nodded once. “Inside the bag is money. Humans use it to buy the things that they need. You cannot just take something. You have to give some of the money in return for an item. There is also a plastic card that has money inside it. The card can be used instead of the paper money.”

  “I still do not understand how such a small plastic card can have so much paper money inside of it.” Soren narrowed his eyes. The male shrugged. “I guess we’ll figure it out.”

  "Yes, we will." Cadon nodded. "There is a cellphone with each of our numbers programmed in. We will use it to stay in contact with one another. I hope you all remember how to use it." He paused. When no one said anything, he continued. "Do not forget to charge your cell phone by plugging it into the wall."

  It didn’t make much sense, but Talon nodded, as did the others. Soren was right, they would have to figure it all out. “The goal is to learn as much about the humans as possible. The females are of particular importance. We need to be able to teach the others a
ll we learn so that they will be in a better position to win one as a mate when the time comes.”

  “I’m not so sure it is a good idea to split up.” Pace shook his head, brow furrowing.

  “Neither do I,” Soren said, still tugging at the fabric at his ass.

  “Why don’t the two of you stick together then?” Talon offered.

  Pace looked at Soren, who cocked his head. “Yes, sounds good to me.”

  Pace nodded. “That’s settled then. What about the two of you?”

  Talon looked over at where Cadon was standing. The male looked at him with indifference. “I think we’ll stick to the plan and spread out,” Talon said. “More chance of getting somewhere with these females.”

  Out now!