“Dragons don’t have money.”
“I didn’t know you were so affluent. I must be paying you too much.”
“I’m not and you’re not. Trust me. What’s at the office?”
“I want you to meet a new informant. She’s asking about an internship.”
“She doesn’t have purple hair and nose rings, does she?”
“No. Should I ask you about that?”
“Let’s just say that you may want to see if whatever records you have on me are still in the office.”
“Care to expound?”
“I will in the morning. I’m about to visit the Northern Pride to see if the shifters there know anything about the dark elves.”
I will also come. Zav had finished the meat—all of it—and leaned back in his chair with his hands folded across his stomach. Any normal human who’d eaten that much without exploding would have had a bulging gut, but shapeshifters didn’t seem to bloat. Lucky them.
“That sounds like a bad idea,” Willard said. “You killed some of their officers recently.”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“I doubt they’ve forgotten either. I’ll send one of my people to question them.”
“Your people won’t get the answers I can get. Don’t worry. I’m going to take backup.” I smiled at Zav and leaned across the table to wipe barbecue sauce off his face. “Ferocious backup.”
Zav’s eyebrows drifted upward, but he tolerated this mothering. Maybe because I’d called him ferocious.
“I hope he’s reliable,” Willard muttered, not sounding pleased with my initiative.
“He is.”
“If the shapeshifters don’t maul you, be here at eight tomorrow to meet this intern.”
“What if they do maul me?”
“You can have until eight-thirty.”
“Generous.” I hung up and paid the bill with my dwindling wad of cash. The money was for bribing informants, not feeding dragons. Hopefully, with Zav along, I wouldn’t need to bribe the shifters to speak with me. “You said you’re willing to come speak with the Northern Pride with me?”
“Speak with them?”
“We may need to speak forcefully.” If we didn’t end up in a fight. I stood up, leaving a nice tip for the waiter. “Feel free to bully them.”
“Bullying feline shifters is permissible but not slow waitstaff?”
“Exactly.”
His brow creased as he stood. “Are you doing what is referred to as sending mixed signals?”
“No. That would be if I told you I would never consider having a relationship with a dragon and then kissed you.”
“Haven’t you done that?”
“You kissed me.” At least in the hot tub, he had. Dobsaurin had forced me to instigate our other kiss. But so far, I’d managed to keep from voluntarily planting my lips on Zav.
“You have wished to kiss me.” Through some magic, he caused the door to open ahead of us.
“I thought you couldn’t read my thoughts.”
We stepped outside together, Zav sticking close to my side as we hurried down the street to a shop with an awning. Rain hammered down on the street with a stream flowing toward the nearest stormwater drain. I thought of the four blocks to where I’d parked my Jeep and wondered if Zav could magic us there or keep us dry for the walk.
“I do not need telepathy to know you wish to mate with me.” Zav said it as if he were stating a simple fact, as if he’d been privy to the many lurid dreams I’d had about him since we’d met. And damn if my cheeks didn’t flush with warmth.
“Is that so?” I wasn’t sure I could lie to him, but I didn’t want to admit he had any power over me beyond purely magical power. Even that, I resented. “I guess you think it’s impossible for a female of any species to resist your allure. But I can. I have no desire to be your claimed Tlavar-thingy.”
“Oh, I know this. You only wish me to join you in your bed.”
I shook my head, though I couldn’t meet his eyes as I made my silent denial.
“You wish to serve and obey no one.” Zav smirked and touched my cheek. “I believe you vex even your own boss.”
Why did that simple touch light a spark deep inside me? And make me think of him in my bed? I didn’t want him to be right. It was much better when smugly arrogant people—and dragons—were proven wrong.
“I vex a lot of people.”
“Yes.” His smirk grew broader. “This is a foolish practice, since your human half is so weak and you haven’t learned to tap into your elven ancestry. In truth, it should not please me.”
“But you like feisty women, eh?”
“Yes.”
Zav lowered his hand but only to slip it around my waist and pull me close.
I tried not to look at his lips. Those lips could get me in trouble. “I don’t suppose you’d like to show me how to tap into that ancestry? Teach me some magic?”
“Each species uses magic in a way that relies on the natural aptitudes and abilities of their kind. Only a dragon may teach a dragon to use magic, and only an elf may teach an elf.”
“That’s disappointing.”
“I would teach you if I could.” He touched my cheek with his finger as his gaze locked with mine. Looking into his eyes was just as dangerous as looking at his lips. I found myself leaning against his chest as he added, “I do not wish to disappoint you.”
He kissed me, and I stopped pretending I didn’t want him to. His lips were not gentle and teasing but hungry and demanding. It startled me—he’d never been so straightforward about acting on his desires—but I didn’t pull away. A lot more than a spark ignited in me, and before I could think better of it, my arms wrapped around him, sealing our bodies together. His hands roamed under my jacket, and that felt almost as good as his aura crackling over me. I leaned against his body, unable to think of resisting him.
I do not know if it is wise, Zav spoke telepathically as his mouth explored mine, but I will claim you physically as well as magically. You will be mine in all senses.
I don’t belong to you or anyone else, I thought, though I knew I would go back to my apartment with him in a heartbeat, no matter what silly words he was saying into my mind.
I will take you in the carnal way of this species. When I am in this form, I think of it often. Since we fought together in the water plant, I have wanted you. I have not been honest with you because I’ve known it could be a mistake to act on these human urges, but even when I am in my native form, I want you next to me. Fighting at my side. Mine.
Magic flowed from his fingers, caressing me in places he wasn’t even touching, and all coherent thoughts tumbled from my mind.
Take me to my apartment, I thought, tempted to wrap my legs around him right there, but… We can’t have sex in the middle of the sidewalk.
No? He teased me with a lick of magic in a sensitive spot and shifted me against the wall. Nobody will get between a dragon and his mate.
It was true. A few people had walked our way, but they’d gone out in the rain to cross the street rather than disturb us.
I have a lot of enemies. And so do you. Dropping our pants in the open would make us both vulnerable.
I do not have pants.
I snorted. I do. Let’s go back to my place, so I can get out of them.
For the first time, he withdrew his mouth from mine, pausing his tactile and magical explorations of my body. I gripped his shoulders in confused protest. We weren’t going to stop now, were we?
Why do you want so much to mate at your domicile? Suspicion laced the words. He peered into my eyes, trying to read the story of my mind.
I groaned and dropped my forehead to his shoulder. I should have known. The seduction thing. His treacherous elf lover had probably lured him back to her room for the assassination attempt.
“Look, Zav,” I murmured into his shoulder, not bothering to hide the sexual frustration in my voice. “If you don’t trust me enough to get naked with me, fine,
but you can’t start something you don’t intend to finish. It’s…”
“Agonizing,” he murmured, sounding frustrated himself.
I barely resisted the urge to grab him and kiss him again, to try to make him forget his concerns. Right then, aching all over with such longing as I’d never known, I would have sex against the building with him. But if I tried to push it, that might make him more mistrustful.
A nearby door opened and two people came out. They started, surprised to see us entwined against the wall, then put their umbrellas up and hurried away.
Zav stepped back from me, and I bit my lip on another protest. He half-turned, looking toward the cloudy night sky.
“I must go,” he said.
“Go? But we were going to visit the shifters,” I said, as if we hadn’t been about to abandon that plan to shag like bunnies all night long.
“I’ve been told there is trouble at home. I must return to my world.” Zav looked back to me. “Do not see the shifters until I get back. There would be too many for you to handle. I will join you to bully them.” He nodded firmly. “And to protect you.”
“Zav…” I started to tell him I didn’t need a protector, except where dragons were involved, but whatever message he’d received must have been alarming.
He ran out into the street, changed forms, and sprang into the sky. A silver portal formed ahead of him, and he disappeared through it.
I let my head thunk back against the wall, trying to regain my equilibrium. I didn’t pick up that many guys, especially not these days, but I wasn’t used to them breaking things off in the middle and refusing to come home with me. Leave it to me to get hot and bothered over a dragon with trust issues.
Straightening my clothes, I resolutely walked out from under the awning. Cold rain pounded down on my head, but I didn’t mind it now. I needed it.
You will not get your opportunity to betray my brother, a voice spoke into my mind.
I almost fell off the curb. Zondia.
Where was she? I hadn’t sensed her presence. Granted, I’d been hugely distracted, but wouldn’t Zav have sensed her?
Wait, maybe he had. Maybe that was who’d spoken to him.
Are you the one who told him to go home? I demanded.
He is needed there.
Is he really or were you just trying to get him away from me?
You fed him! Zondia said, not answering the question.
So? I fed my friends too. He showed up uninvited and demanded meat.
This is the act of a lesser species seeking to win favor with a dragon. Everyone knows that a belly full of food makes a dragon mellow and puts thoughts of mating in his or her mind.
Uh, not everyone.
Giving Zav ribs had made him horny? I’d wondered at the kiss and all that sudden honesty, but how would I have known?
Please. Do not pretend you did not know. You were trying to seduce him. And it was working because he’s too damn noble and thinks everyone else is too. But you won’t take advantage of him. While he is gone, I will find the proof to show him that you cannot be trusted.
I’m not going to betray him. Believe it or not, I like his cocky ass.
Even more now that he’d admitted he’d had feelings for me for weeks.
I do not believe it, Zondia said. Humans are to be trusted even less than elves. If he cannot see that for himself, I will show him. And you will regret your choice to lure him into your web. Have you ever seen my brother angry? I promise you will regret your choice very much.
I looked toward the rainy night sky, expecting to see her lilac form flying overhead, perhaps while cackling maniacally, but I didn’t see anything but the clouds. And I still didn’t sense her.
It was possible she was speaking to me from outside of my one-mile range, but I couldn’t help but imagine her watching me from some rooftop—maybe she’d been watching both of us—masking her aura the way Zav had hidden his from the goblins in Idaho.
Thinking of her spying on me was creepy. What exactly did she plan to do to find the proof she sought? If she didn’t find anything, would she stoop to manufacturing something?
And would Zav choose to believe his own sister over the mongrel Earthling he’d only known a few months?
6
It was still raining when I drove into the empty parking lot of a plumbing fixtures warehouse across from the Northern Pride’s headquarters. The sign on the outside of their brick and corrugated-metal building said it was a welding business. I double-checked the address—Willard had given it to me, along with all the information she had on the Pride, when I’d been researching the now-dead Pardus brothers.
Coming here without Zav might prove to be a mistake, but who knew how long he would be back home, on whatever wild goose chase that his sister had sent him? And who knew how long I had before Zondia gathered all the information out there on me and found some twisted way to act on it?
What if dragons showed up to drag me off to the Dragon Justice Court before I stopped the dark elves from deploying whatever vile plan they meant to put in place? What if I never saw Thad and Amber again?
A twinge of longing went through me as I sat in the driver’s seat and thought of them. Amber had my phone number now. She hadn’t called, but maybe one day she would. I wanted to be here for her if she did.
Maybe I should do my best to avoid Zav after we finished this mission—maybe I could even complete it myself while he was gone. Then Zondia wouldn’t have anything to get uppity about, and Zav and I… wouldn’t make any mistakes. When he wasn’t around, I could think of plenty of reasons why getting involved with a dragon would be foolish. When he was standing next to me, it was a lot harder to remember them.
Lightning flashed in the dark sky, and I focused on the present. Questioning the shifters and figuring out where the dark elves had gone was my starting point. Time to do it.
Rain hammered onto the windshield as I summoned Sindari. Silvery mist brightened the back of the Jeep, and he formed in a crouch, his head bumping the roof.
“Want to help me question some shifters, Sindari?”
Question? Have you not brought me forth to do battle with them?
“That will probably happen, but I’m going to try bribing them first.” I patted the pocket with my much-diminished cash reserves and imagined them chortling at the meager amount. “Are you ready to go? That should be their headquarters across the street.”
I didn’t sense any magical beings inside it, but I might not be close enough. Or they might have some blocking material built into their walls.
It is raining. Sindari eyed the rivulets running down the back windows. He glowed a faint silver in the dim light.
“Yes, it is.”
For future reference, you could wait to summon me until you are inside the enemy headquarters.
“Do you want me to send you back and call you again when I get there?”
Would you?
“No.” I got out and opened the door for him, even though he was capable of opening it himself. “You won’t melt.”
My mother had always said that to me when I’d been a kid. I hoped my use of it didn’t mean I was turning into her.
Sindari’s ears flattened, and he showed me his fangs before he jumped out and galloped across the street, his paws splashing in the deep puddles.
Thinking of gnawing my foot off again? I jogged after him. At night, this industrial part of town was abandoned, so there was no need to worry about traffic.
Not if it’s soggy.
My boots are waterproof.
We reached the front door where a small awning protected the entrance from the rain. Marginally. Some splashed off the pavement to the sides and hit us. The door was locked.
Do you sense anyone inside? I didn’t.
No.
Any magical traps or other dangerous things I should be wary of? I touched a hand to the door and focused on my lock-picking charm.
Aside from my teeth around your foot?
Yes.
I weakly detect a few magical devices inside. I believe an enchantment on the building may be blocking my senses.
That’s what I was afraid of. Be ready for trouble.
At your side? Always.
I grunted. You’d be disappointed if you had a handler who never went into battle.
This is true.
The lock clicked open more easily than I expected. Willard’s research had dug up more than a hundred lion, jaguar, panther, leopard, and other feline shifters affiliated with the organization. Even if the headquarters was mostly a place where they held meetings, I had expected it to be highly secured and guarded around the clock.
The cavernous lobby area was dark, steel beams running across a corrugated ceiling high above. Rain pounded down on the roof, and lightning flashed again outside. I closed the door behind us.
Inside, empty couches and chairs were positioned against walls, and a receptionist’s desk was empty. My nose wrinkled at the underlying smell of the place. It was like walking into the house of a long-time pet owner whose draperies and carpets were full of cat dander.
There were four doors leading away from the lobby, three normal-sized man doors and one roll-up garage door. They were all closed.
Where do you think they keep the boxes? I asked.
Boxes? Sindari’s green eyes turned toward me.
Cats like to play in boxes. A headquarters full of feline shifters must have boxes.
Apex predators are regal creatures. I assure you that mature adult tigers do not play.
I’ve seen the videos on the internet. Tigers in refrigerator boxes. I’ll show you later if you don’t believe me.
Those are not regal tigers from Del’noth.
I’m going to get you a box one day, and we’ll see if you can truly resist the allure. The internet suggests you’ll succumb.
Sindari gave my foot a significant look.
I grinned and rubbed his head, then waved toward the roll-up door. Let’s check it out.
There was a bank of light switches on the wall. I flipped them up, figuring the dark would be more of an advantage to feline shifters than to me. Nothing happened. This reminded me of Rupert’s abandoned bar.
Elven Doom (Death Before Dragons Book 4) Page 5