Dragon Bites

by Allyson James

  “Of course, I’d love to stay here,” I said at once. Where else was I going to go in Vegas, with no money? The winnings from the baccarat table had been scattered who knew where while I’d fought the dragon slayer, and it had been pretend money anyway. Not really mine, like the cash Colby had lent me before I left home, which I’d thrown away on blackjack and male strippers. I’d pay every penny back, now that I had a job.

  Colby was nowhere in sight by the time we emerged from the restaurant into the quiet hall. Another guard had the elevator waiting for us. Cornelius stepped inside it with me, the doors quietly slid shut, and I rose up, up, and up, toward my new life.

  * * *

  Janet

  “She’s what?”

  I stared at Colby, openmouthed, while he returned his stubborn look.

  “Staying here and working for the hotel,” he repeated with a growl. “I didn’t get all the deets.” He was angry at her decision, I could tell, but he’d also decided to walk away and leave Gabrielle with the brother of a man who frightened Cassandra, one of the most powerful witches I’d ever met.

  Then again, I didn’t know who to worry for more, Gabrielle or this Cornelius Christianson.

  We stood in the casino, the card games in full swing at three in the afternoon, the buzz of the roulette tables sounding over conversations and laughter. Everyone was well dressed and well groomed, quietly flaunting their jewels, overpriced watches, and the fact that they were here at all.

  “Where is she?” I demanded of Colby

  His cheekbones flushed, and he looked uncomfortable. “In her new office, I guess. She says you need to make an appointment.”

  My eyes widened, and I let out an exasperated breath. “Of course she did. All right. Where are these offices?”

  “How the hell do I know? I didn’t follow her—I came to find you.”

  I turned in a circle, seeing nothing but wealthy people gambling in the casino and bright sunshine outside in the gardens. Offices in a place like this would be well hidden.

  Colby cleared his throat. “I think maybe you should leave her alone, Janet.”

  Colby had been intrigued by Gabrielle from the moment he’d met her, and I hadn’t decided whether he truly liked her or was simply fascinated by her explosive personality and deadly magic.

  Dragons don’t love, Mick had once told me.

  Was that true of all dragons? Or was Colby another exception—had he learned to care for people, as Mick had?

  “Colby, I know you like her,” I said, trying to keep my voice gentle. “I do too, believe it or not. When I first met Gabrielle, she tried to kill me, and kept on trying to kill me until we called a truce. She held Nash hostage, she tried to open the vortexes and let out our hell-goddess mother, among other things … And still I love her, because she’s my sister, and I want to help her. But I know she’s not exactly stable. She’s calmed down a long way in the last year, but even so, you can never tell what she’s going to do.”

  Colby listened impatiently. “I know all that. But Emmett the Ununculous did a number on her, and I don’t think she’s completely recovered. Magically yes. Emotionally, no. She needs proof she’s fine, that she’s strong again, if only for herself.” He folded his arms, his tatts dancing on his biceps. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Janet, but I think she needs to come out from your shadow.”

  “You mean we’re smothering her, Grandmother and I.”

  Colby’s face went redder, but he didn’t back down. “Yeah, a little bit.”

  That stung, but he had a point. “If we were normal sisters, I’d agree with you. But Gabrielle is a messed-up, Beneath-goddess magic infused young woman with abandonment issues and an unstable temper. Who the hell knows what could happen if she stays here and plays hotel mage? I know Emmett hurt her—he hurt me in a huge way—and I don’t want anything like that to happen to her again.” I hadn’t entirely recovered from the showdown either, in spite of the wonderful trip I’d taken with Mick. I’d learned things about myself during that fight I hadn’t wanted to know.

  “So are you,” Colby said bluntly. “A messed-up Beneath-goddess magic infused young woman with abandonment issues, I mean.” His scowl said it all. “But you have Mick, a family, friends. What does Gabrielle have?”

  In spite of his fun-loving ways, Colby wasn’t stupid, and when he made statements like this, they carried stark truth.

  I’d grown up with people whispering behind my back, speculating on who or what my mother had been, what kind of freak I might be. I’d lived in a world where whose family you belonged to was everything. A mother who disappeared and left you to your dad and grandmother led to sympathy but also vast disapproval and sometimes downright hostility.

  Gabrielle had grown up the same way, but she hadn’t had a loving dad and watchful grandmother in her corner. When I’d left home, determined to make it on my own in the big bad world, I’d met Mick.

  My throat was dry. “She has me,” I said. “She might not think she has anyone, but she has me. And I need to find her.”

  Colby watched me closely. “I understand, but I don’t think you should stop her doing this.”

  My eyes widened. “Seriously? Let her stay here alone while the weird guy who owns this hotel exploits her in who the hell knows what way?”

  “I didn’t say alone,” Colby said. “I’m not leaving.”

  That made me feel a little better, but I didn’t calm. “I still want to talk to her.”

  Without a word Colby turned and walked out of the casino through the front entrance. He waved to Amos, the ever-handy limo driver who hadn’t left the premises.

  Amos brightened and strode to us. “I heard you found Gabrielle. My intel was good, then.”

  Amos had located a maid who knew which room Gabrielle had been put into, and that maid had heard another say that Gabrielle had joined Cornelius in one of the restaurants. I’d checked out half of the dozen eateries in this hotel while Colby had taken the other half.

  “She need me to drive her anywhere?” Amos went on hopefully.

  Colby shook his head. “Not right now. Can you find out where Gabrielle’s new office is?”

  “Sure thing. Yeah, a bellman told me she’s going to be working for Cornelius Christianson as his PA. Wow, I’d love that salary.”

  “Word travels fast,” I said in surprise.

  “Around here it does. You want to know anything that goes on up and down the Strip, ask the drivers, the doormen, the bellmen, and the maids. I’ll find her for you.” Amos started to head inside, then turned back. “I still need seventy-five from you for the ride,” he told me apologetically. “I wouldn’t charge you, or Gabrielle, but I have to answer to my boss.”

  I smothered a sigh and started to go for my credit card—Mick’s actually—but Colby forestalled me and dug into his pocket for a wad of cash. “Take seventy-five out for the fare and keep the rest.”

  Amos rearranged the bills from a crumpled mess to a smooth stack with the ease of an expert. “Thanks, Colby. Appreciate it. Be right back.”

  * * *

  Fifteen minutes later, Colby and I exited an elevator on the top floor and went through to an office suite presided over by a receptionist. Guards lingered in the halls—I suppose Cornelius kept money and other important things in the offices, as I did at the Crossroads. I didn’t have three beefy, suited guys to protect my meager earnings though.

  “Ms. Massey isn’t taking appointments yet,” the receptionist said, pleasant but immovable. She was in her forties, well groomed, and quite pretty. She touched a small keyboard on her desk. “I can schedule you for tomorrow.”

  “I’m her sister,” I said impatiently. “Can you tell her I’m here?”

  The receptionist gave me an emotionless look. “Ms. Massey is seeing no one today.”

  In other words, the woman didn’t care if we were family, clients, or ax murderers. Gabrielle had said to keep us out, and the receptionist was obeying orders.

  I admire
d her for sticking to her guns, but at the same time …

  I called up a small crackle of magic—which was tough, because I was exhausted—to push the guards back if I needed to, and started around the desk.

  And stopped as though I’d run into a wall. Nothing was there, only empty air, but I couldn’t budge it.

  “Holy shit, she’s warded it,” I said in amazement.

  “Against dragons too,” Colby said, sounding hurt. He touched the air, pushing against the pressure that kept him out.

  “Against everyone magical,” the receptionist said coolly. “As I say, you must have an appointment, and she isn’t seeing anyone until tomorrow.”

  “Kind of sucks to be on the other side, doesn’t it?” Gabrielle’s voice floated to me down the short, chocolate-painted hallway. She leaned against the doorframe of the office at the end. “It’s all right, Shelly. I’ll make an exception, just this once.”

  She waved her hand, and the barrier vanished so rapidly that I lost my balance and fell forward. I caught myself and marched down the hall to Gabrielle, who grinned in enjoyment, Colby on my heels.

  Chapter Twelve

  Janet

  Gabrielle’s office looked out over the west side of Las Vegas with a view of the vast mountains beyond, their tops brushed with snow. The office itself was smaller than mine at the Crossroads, but held simple luxury. A framed painting hung on a wall, a spotlight illuminating it. The only furniture was black—minimalist desk, a padded desk chair, and one metal framed chair for a visitor, only one.

  I glanced around the room but my eyes returned to the painting, the art major in me coming alert. “Holy crap, is that a Hockney?”

  Gabrielle glanced at the red and gold depiction of a fold of the Grand Canyon, done in an unusual but beautiful way. “I don’t know. Pretty, isn’t it?”

  “I thought it was in a museum.” Could be a copy, but I had the feeling it was an original.

  Gabrielle slung one hip on the corner of her desk, her dark blue dress businesslike but showing off her long legs. She tried to appear nonchalant, but I saw the sparkle in her eyes, her defiance, anger, and fear.

  “Have you come to spoil all my fun and tell me to run home like a good girl?”

  I folded my arms. “What exactly does this Mr. Christianson want you to do?”

  “Protect the hotel. Keep the baddies out. Eject them personally if I have to.” She swung her foot in a dark blue, high-heeled pump that matched the dress. “It’s something I can do.”

  She could, I had no doubt. “What I mean is, why would you want to? You can do the same thing at the Crossroads. I like having the extra power around.”

  Gabrielle gave me an annoyed look. “No you don’t. At the Crossroads, I’m crazy Gabrielle who might do anything—and for the gods’ sake, don’t let her near the vortexes. Here, I’m Ms. Massey, respected magic woman, the one they’ll rely on to keep them safe. Cornelius is giving me a job. You give me a place to stay—reluctantly.”

  I felt a twinge of guilt, which irritated me. Gabrielle truly was dangerous and slightly insane, and we’d be foolish to trust her near the vortexes.

  Plus I worried about what Cornelius really wanted from her. Gabrielle wasn’t the best judge of character.

  She was right, though, that I didn’t always show her she was welcome in my home. Her motives were never clear, and I’d learned to watch her with caution. I probably didn’t hide my dismay whenever she showed up at the Crossroads.

  Colby was no help at all, settling in against the doorframe to watch us argue.

  “Can you blame me?” I asked Gabrielle. “You’ve only recently stopped trying to kill me. I’m sorry we haven’t sister-bonded as much as you like, but you can’t make that all my fault.”

  The flash of rage in Gabrielle’s eyes usually meant a slap of magic would follow, but I saw her control her instinct to strike.

  “You can’t make it all my fault, either,” she said hotly. “Your grandmother treats me like I’m a live grenade. Your bratty nieces get away with far more than I do. You think I wear your clothes because I need to be like you, don’t you? Have you thought that maybe it’s because I don’t have any money of my own, and no one will let me out to go shopping for more? Cornelius knew I was strapped and gave me unlimited credit at his store.”

  “I’ve bought you clothes,” I began, but she cut me off.

  “When you wanted to, where you wanted to, and what you wanted to. I had to practically beg you for that party dress and then the stupid dragon slayer ruined it.” I saw her look of vast anger, my sister more upset that her dress had been destroyed than that the dragon slayer had nearly killed her.

  I softened my tone. “I’m sorry, Gabrielle. I didn’t come here to fight with you.”

  “Yes, you did. You came to tell me to stop being an idiot and go home, or at least that I’m stupid for wanting to stay.” Gabrielle stood up, her high-heeled shoes letting her tower over me.

  She was a beautiful young woman, and at the moment, with her midnight hair flowing back from her face, wearing a color that brought out the gloss in her skin, her dark eyes nearly black, she was stunning. Maybe crazy Gabrielle had grown up.

  But Gabrielle, despite the power as she had, was in many ways still naive. Good and bad were confused in her world.

  “I’m worried about you,” I tried. “You know we’ve heard weird things about this hotel and its owner.”

  “About John Christianson and the hotel in Los Angeles, sure. Cornelius isn’t like him. He doesn’t approve of his brother or what he does.”

  Since I hadn’t met Cornelius I had no way to judge whether he’d told Gabrielle the truth or was putting one over on her. The brother of an evil man could very well be a liar and just as bad.

  We continued to stare at each other, Gabrielle beautiful in her fine clothes, me in jeans with my unwashed hair tucked into a sloppy ponytail.

  I had no idea what to do. Put my foot down and have Colby carry Gabrielle home? Or let her remain here, possibly in danger—possibly endangering all those who stayed in or worked at this hotel?

  Grandmother would expect me to throw a rope around her and drag her back to Many Farms, no matter how much Gabrielle protested. So would Mick. Drake would say the same.

  My father, on the other hand …

  My father would do what he’d done with me all my life. Loved me and stood by to help me when I needed it.

  I felt Colby’s tension as he watched us. He’d given me his opinion downstairs, that I should leave Gabrielle to do what she wished. I wasn’t sure if Colby would try to prevent me from taking her away, or if he’d help me. He liked Gabrielle and clearly wanted to protect her, and that might include protecting her from me.

  “Do you trust Cornelius?” I asked Gabrielle, looking her straight in the eye.

  She glanced around, as though scanning the room for listening devices, then she faced me again. “Do you trust me?”

  Something in her eyes made me pause. Gabrielle gazed at me with a quiet confidence I hadn’t seen in her before, one different from the arrogance she hid her fear and anger behind.

  I also saw a gleam of intelligence. Gabrielle was canny enough to know something was going on with Cornelius and the C, and she’d decided to take the position to find out what.

  Her argument about wanting respect and a job of her own wasn’t feigned, but I realized in a humbling flash that Gabrielle wasn’t as foolish as I’d painted her. She’d taken the job not simply from pride but because she knew, like I did, that the best way to investigate was from the inside.

  I understood, and admired her for her reasoning, but at the same time grew more worried than ever. If Gabrielle suspected something bad was going on in this hotel, I didn’t want to leave her in the thick of it.

  I lifted my hands. “All right, all right. I’ll get out of your way, let you live your own life. But if you need me you call me, all right?” I slid a chammy bag out of my pocket and laid it on the desk. “Any time,
day or night.”

  Gabrielle glanced at the bag with some dismay but also perception.

  Neither of us said out loud what was in it. Gabrielle was right to suspect listening devices, and neither of us wanted to let on to any other mage that we had a magic mirror. The last mage who’d tried to take it from us had nearly destroyed us, and hurt Gabrielle most of all.

  Gabrielle slid open a metal drawer under her desk, plucked out a new small black purse, stuffed the chammy bag into it, and snapped the purse closed.

  “I also have one of these.” Gabrielle slid a smartphone out of the drawer and waved it at me. “I can text you now. Oh, wait, you always break or lose your cell phones. That’s okay; I’ll text Mick.”

  “Probably best,” I conceded, my face warm. I was notoriously hard on my phones.

  “Or me,” Colby rumbled. “Janet’s heading back to the Crossroads. Me, I’m staying in Vegas. You need me, I’ll be only a few floors away.”

  Gabrielle’s face softened. “Aw, Colby, that’s sweet.”

  I made a noise of exasperation. “Sure, be happy he won’t let you out of his sight.”

  “If you were a big, hot, dragon-man I might feel differently about you,” Gabrielle said. “But you’re my nosy older sister—not the same thing.”

  She dropped her purse and phone into the drawer. “Run off and save the world, Janet. If you need me, you know where I am.”

  I had a lot of misgivings turning around and leaving her. But I did it. I had the dragon slayer to worry about, and I had trust Gabrielle sometime, or our relationship would never move forward.

  Could a relationship between two women whose only tie was a seriously evil goddess mother ever move forward?