by Mina Carter
Copyright 2013 Mina Carter
Cover Art by Mina Carter
Published by Blue Hedgehog Press: Oct 2013.
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This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
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Chapter One
Being called into the boss’s office was nothing new for Duke and Baron. Being called in for something other than a bollocking was.
“You sure she said we weren’t in trouble?” Baron rumbled, the deep note of his dragon evident in his voice as he slouched in the chair next to Duke and glowered at his reflection in the window opposite. Given the nature of the agency’s work the PPA offices were open twenty-four-seven, so the window looked out onto the darkness of night.
Duke cast a glance the same way. Twins whose adoptive parents had decided that noble names would give their kids something to aspire to, they weren’t identical, not in human form anyway. As humans they looked alike, obviously brothers but that was where it ended. It was only in their shifted forms that they were truly identical. Whether or not that was the way with shadow-dragons, he had no idea. Dumped on the steps of a hospital when they were days old, they’d never met their parents, nor indeed any others of their kind. It had only been their adoptive father’s research that had given them a name for what they were. Seemed that shadow-dragons were as rare as rocking horse shit, so getting more info was a no-go. Story of their lives.
“Apparently not.” Duke shrugged. “She just said she wanted to talk to us about a job.”
He reached up, caught his hair at the nape of his neck and snapped the band from his wrist around it in a low pony-tail. Unsnapping a second he held it out to his brother. Baron glared at it as if it were a venomous snake. Curling his lip, he took it and caught his own hair back. Duke nodded in approval as he studied their reflections in the window. At least they looked presentable now. Kind of.
“Why?” He slid a sideways glance at Duke. His brother was way too quiet. Which meant he was thinking, which never led anywhere good, or he had done something, which also never led anywhere good. Especially since their last job had been at a house with stables. Stables with horses. Horses which, as far as Duke was concerned, were just steaks on legs and Duke sure as hell liked steak. He also hadn’t bugged the shit out of Baron to stop for pizza on the way to the offices, a fact that hadn’t occurred to Baron until just now.
“Please tell me you didn’t snack at the Jenkins.”
Duke turned to look at him and…yes, there it was. The wide-eyed, oh-so-innocent look that was completely believable to everyone but Baron. His breath punched out of his lungs in a hiss just as Iliona’s door opened.
“Keep shut and let me do the talking,” he ordered as the slender form of their boss was outlined in the door.
Iliona was human, which meant small and delicate. Where the agency was concerned though, she had balls of steel and would face down even the scariest of the paras. No one argued, not if they wanted a job. Work could be hard to come by if you were a paranormal, especially without the backing of an established pack like the wolves, and old money like the vamps. Hell, even the elves were organized, but dragons? Nada. Those that had to work were relegated to niche jobs or, Duke shuddered, construction. He fucking hated construction work. The agency had changed all that for them. Within five minutes of walking into the front office in desperation, they’d been hired and hadn’t looked back. Just sideways and up, normally while Iliona was shouting at them because Duke had eaten yet another family pet.
This time though, the little human’s face was wreathed in a smile. It looked good on her. Quickly Baron shut down that train of thought. He might be a dragon, and rather hard to kill, but that didn’t mean he was suicidal. All the guys working for the agency, whatever their species, knew the boss was in a triad with the two gargoyles, Cal and Gran, neither of whom would hesitate to prove exactly why gargoyles referred to other species as ‘squishable’.
“Just in time.” Iliona stood to one side of the door and waved them forward. “Come on in, sit down. I’ve got something I want to run by you.”
Like naughty schoolboys, the two brothers filed into the office with Baron, as always, in the lead. Clocking a stranger in the room, he stopped, and Duke walked smack into the back of him. Absorbing the impact with a soft grunt, he cast a swift glance over the guy—suited, booted, and human by the smell of him—then rolled his gaze to Iliona.
“Ahh, yes.” She hurried forward, putting herself between the dragons and the human. Their dislike of strangers, particularly human strangers, was well known. “This is Detective Hammond, he’s with the local police department. Detective Hammond, can I introduce you to Duke and Baron, two of our best operatives.”
Baron’s eyebrow rose at her praise. That certainly wasn’t what she’d called them the last time they’d wound up in here, shuffling their feet like kids summoned to the headmaster’s office. What she’d called them then would’ve made a marine blush.
He turned from glaring at his brother to find the detective on his feet, hand out to shake. Duke ignored it, taking one of the seats behind them without a word. No surprise there. Duke wasn’t a talker at the best of times. Baron shook the guy’s hand, offering a small, polite smile he didn’t feel. Humans and their damn rituals.
“Pleasure to meet you, Mr…?” The detective let his words trail off in question.
“No mister. Just Baron.”
“Not all of our operatives are human, Detective.” Iliona chimed in. “And not all of them are comfortable giving their full names if, indeed, they have more than one.”
“They’d have to have a surname if they went through the education system, or if you’re employing them.” Confusion flowed over Hammond’s features as he did that little trouser hitch the experienced suit-wearer adopted to stop their pants creasing and sat down. Baron slumped into the chair next to Duke, not caring if his well-worn jeans got creased or not.
Boss-lady smiled from the other side of the desk, her hands folded over the file in front of her. The expression didn’t reach her eyes, and the scent rolling from her betrayed her irritation with the male. Not that he’d be able to pick that up with his dull senses.
“That would be true,” she replied. “If we paid them in money.”
Hammond blinked, looking between her and the two brothers. “No money? What do you pay them with then?”
“Cows.” Baron’s voice rang with relish as he picked up on the cue. “Live ones for us to roast. They taste better that way.”
“Oh…right.” Hammond’s skin had turned a strange shade of purple-green. Baron wasn’t sure if he was about to be sick or explode in rage. “Uhm, as long as you slaughter them humanely in accordance with city laws.”
“Of course.” Baron’s nodding was echoed by his brother, the movement visible in the corner of his eye. “All by the book.”
Yeah, right. If Hammond was dumb enough to believe that,
he’d believe anything. Ignoring the human, Baron transferred his attention back to Iliona.
“You wanted to see us about something, boss-lady?”
“Indeed.” She flipped open the file in front of her. “I have a job for you. If you’re interested.”
Both brothers were all attention. Until now they’d worked in a team with others, so for Iliona to call them in on their own was a big thing, especially considering Duke’s choice in snacks.
“Yeah, we’re interested.” Duke ground out, surprising Baron. His brother didn’t like to speak, leaving all the talking to his brother instead, so for him to say something showed just how eager he was for the two of them to get their own gig. Not that they didn’t like working in a team with the rest of the guys. They couldn’t wish for a better team leader than Zane. A were himself, he was more than aware of the pros and cons of their nature. Even if he was a wolf rather than a dragon, he was good people as far as the brothers were concerned. At the very least, Duke hadn’t tried to rip Zane’s head off yet, which was a positive declaration of ever-lasting friendship as far as the grumpy dragon was concerned.
“Excellent.” Iliona didn’t bat an eyelid at Duke speaking. “It’s a protection detail, but with a twist….”
Baron sank down in his chair at that. Close protection could be fun, but it could also be an utter pain in the ass if the primary was a fucking idiot. Most were. Man or woman, he didn’t care which, both genders were just as bad for diva-ish behavior.
She slid a photo across the table to them. Duke picked it up first, whistling in the back of his throat in appreciation, the high note one only Baron could hear, before handing it across. He took it from his brother and looked, his eyes widening. The image was covert surveillance, somewhat grainy but the subject was clear. A brunette in a wrap dress just getting out of a limo. The photographer had caught her mid-movement, the pose highlighting the length of one curvy leg as her skirt rode high on her thigh, and the bodice of the dress pulled across a rack to make any guy’s mouth water. Large Jackie-O style sunglasses covered her face, concealing her age, but poise and sophistication wrapped around her like a second skin. The sort of confidence a woman didn’t attain until she was at least thirty. He huffed. Socialite born and bred. Probably a diva to boot.
“So what’s the catch?” He handed the photo back to Iliona. There had to be one. She looked way too normal and in his experience, normal didn’t happen in the agency’s line of work. “Let me guess, she’s a Medusa…or a harpy?”
Iliona reached out to take the photo back. “No catch, and neither. She’s as human as they come.”
Baron’s brows creased. He didn’t like riddles so Iliona’s evasive answers were beginning to piss him off. That and the heavy stink of Hammond’s aftershave made his nose itch. “Okay, so what’s the twist?”
Iliona took a deep breath. “Okay, here’s the deal. She’s Honor Croft—”
Baron started in surprise. The name was a familiar one. “Croft as in Croft Enterprises?”
Iliona nodded. “One and the same. Honor is the only daughter of Laurence Croft, who has approached us to protect her. Apparently he’s had some fairly specific threats against her safety.”
She paused to shuffle through her file and passed a couple of stapled sheets to Baron. A quick glance confirmed that they were photocopies of letters. Newsprint font but printed out. Nice. Whoever it was had an appreciation for the old ways if with a high tech twist.
“Given what’s in there, he’s asked us to take care of the protection detail instead of leaving it to his own team, who—I believe—are all human.”
Baron nodded and handed the sheets to his brother to read. They were read and put into Duke’s pocket. He knew without asking there was no point trying to get them back. Like most dragons, Duke was a hoarder, an affliction Baron had escaped. Thank fuck. Their place was already filled to bursting with all Duke’s crap, so he dreaded to think what it would be like if both of them were the same.
“That’s understandable. I wouldn’t trust any serious security to humans either.”
Hammond started at his words but Baron ignored him. He spoke the truth. There were too many things out there that weren’t human for any of that species to successfully defend against them. He and Duke were just two of them.
“You mentioned a twist?”
For the second time that night, Duke surprised them by speaking up, his question directed at Iliona. So far he’d completely ignored the human in the room. Which was probably a good thing. For the human.
“Yes…well.” Iliona frowned. “Croft is insisting on just one guard—”
One guard. One of them. So not going to happen. Both brothers began to shake their heads but she held up her hand for them to hear her out.
“.…but the seer team is telling me he’s not giving us all the info and have put a high level alert out.”
He shivered at the mention of the seer team. Mostly female, they were way weird. Gave him the total creeps whenever he ran into them in the office. Their habit of holding a conversation with him from next week freaked him the hell out.
“So you guys are going solo on this one, but I need you to infiltrate under one ID. Remember the whole thing we did with the Perez holdings job? I need you to do that.” She looked from Duke and back at him, her face blank but he could easily read the worry seeping from her pores. She wasn’t sure they would agree, and from the smell of it, she needed them to. He knew the job she meant.
Last year they’d needed to get bodies inside a warehouse where some asshole was manufacturing pixie dust, a new drug aimed at paranormals with the added benefit of killing any human who took it stone dead. Whether or not that was after the best high of their lives was debatable. Considering the official photos of some of the bodies, contorted in pain even in death, he was going with not.
After discarding plans a through to f, they’d managed to get a load of operatives in with be-spelled sacks that were bigger on the inside, but since neither he nor Duke could be spelled in such a manner, they’d had to resort to different methods. Instead, Duke had shifted, his human body shifting to the shadow form before his full dragon form, and settled over Baron’s back like a large, living tattoo. It wasn’t the most comfortable method to use, and itched like fuck whenever Duke moved, but it worked.
He didn’t say anything, just grunted, and then changed tactics. “So what’s it got to do with the police?”
“Ah, yes.” She folded her hands over the file again, a posture she used often. Perhaps to make herself look older than her years and more authoritative. He wanted to tell her she needn’t bother with all that. If any operative in the agency didn’t take her seriously, there was a good chance they’d end up having a chat with either Cal or Gran, or, if they were really unlucky, both. “We have an understanding with the police department that should certain individuals come to us, we will pass any and all information that may help an on-going investigation over. Laurence Croft has been on the department’s radar for a long time—”
Hammond leaned forward, the oily smile on his face doing nothing to help Baron like him more. “Indeed. We’ve been after this scum-bag for a while, so you boys will be looking for anything we can use against him.”
His words helped even less. Now Baron just wanted to punch him in the face. Repeatedly. He ignored the asshole and returned his attention to Iliona. “So, you’re taking the guy’s money and planning to screw him over? Isn’t that like…not ethical? Or against client-agency confidentiality or something?”
Iliona opened her mouth but before she had a chance to say anything Hammond spluttered in fury.
“That’s just typical. Me and my boys bust a gut trying to bring in scum like Croft, then fucking bleeding hearts like this pair start on about human rights and it all goes to shit.” He rounded on Iliona, spittle gathering at the corner of his lips in his ire. “Haven’t you got anyone other than this pair?”
Both dragons surged to their feet, the temp
erature in the room dropping several degrees. Iliona met the detective’s glare with a hard expression as Baron loomed over him. A whisper across the back of his neck told him that Duke had shed human form in favor of his shadow one. The room was well lit but the dragon found the shadows anyway, pulling them to wrap around himself, melting his human body and releasing the abilities that made them so dangerous.
“No, I don’t think you get me, human.” Baron sneered the word like the insult it was. “We don’t give a fuck about your rights. Taking a man’s money and stabbing him in the back...it’s wrong. It’s about honor, integrity. Not that I’d expect someone of your species to understand that.” He shot a glance to Iliona. “Ladies in the room excepted of course.”
Iliona waved her hand in dismissal, her gaze leveled on the suddenly pale police officer. “I suggest, Detective, that if you want my agency’s help, you refrain from insulting our operatives and lose the humans are superior attitude. If humans could get you what you needed, then you wouldn’t be knocking at our door, now would you?”
The silence in the room after the crack of her voice spoke volumes. In this case it warned the man discretion was the better part of valor and he perhaps better keep his mouth shut before the two pissed off dragons in the room shut it for him permanently. Hard to prove a murder without a body and for a dragon the average human, even a heavyweight model like Hammond, was a light snack.
“No, very true.”
The admission had to have cost the detective some pride. He sat back, altering his body language to non-threatening but Baron didn’t miss the sharp look of hate the guy shot at them and Iliona. He shared a glance with Duke. They could take care of themselves but the little human was all kinds of delicate. Looked like one of them would be passing the guy’s name to either Cal or Gran on a flyby later.
“Still, you didn’t answer my question,” Baron reminded Iliona. There was no way he was letting her off the hook, not when it was a question of honor. Otherwise they were no better than pixies, and everyone knew what sneaky fucks they were. “Isn’t it unethical to take the guy’s money and screw him over?”