“Yes,” Gondo said. “We get along well. She is more goblin than anyone else here.”
“Nobody else there is goblin.”
“Exactly. Let me give you to the colonel. I believe when she asked me to call you, it was to immediately give her the phone, not to discuss other matters with you. I am getting better at interpreting her scowls.”
“Why didn’t she call me herself?”
Willard was the one to answer. “My hands were sticky. Someone caused the cake that Sergeant Banderas brought in for Lieutenant Sabo’s birthday to explode.”
“I did not realize you could not use a blowtorch to cut human desserts,” Gondo said in the background. “Goblin pastries are much sturdier.”
A door thunked shut, possibly on Gondo.
“How’re you doing, Thorvald?” Willard asked. “I heard about the hyena.”
“You hear about everything.”
“My intelligence network is vast.” Her tone turned dry. “Gondo was the one to tell me. He really does know everybody.”
“How does he collect so much gossip when he’s in your office shredding papers day and night?”
“Only days. He has nights off. He doesn’t know if the dragons are gone though. Are they?”
“As far as I know. Zondia took the prisoners away and Zav didn’t say if he’s coming back any time soon.”
“I assume he is since you lip-tangled with him in front of my team. Guys are into that.”
“Maybe.” I hadn’t put everything in my report, like the part about Lirena controlling me through the charm. Or that Zondia had walked in right as I was shooting Zav. “Why? Do you need a dragon?”
“I have a criminal’s name on my desk, a kelpie who’s been eating fishermen instead of fish. She’s also on Zav’s list, near the top. He prioritized his criminals for me and color-coded them by levels of dangerousness.”
“He’s considerate.”
“He said I would screw up in assigning you to missions if his directions weren’t absolutely clear.”
“Maybe I should have said thorough instead of considerate.”
“I think so. I wondered if you two wanted to work on the mission together?”
“I’m not sure about Zav, but I’ll take the gig.”
“Also, if you want to arrange a meeting at the coffee roastery, I’ve been authorized to pay you for your work against the dark elves. Even though you disobeyed orders and made my night hell.”
“Thank you. I think.”
“I’ll send over the details of the new mission. And Val?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks for risking your life down there. I’ve looked over the papers you gave me, and you’re right. Their plans were chilling. I think they were angling to get rid of humanity and take over the whole planet.”
“Could that have really happened?”
“We’ve had worldwide volcanic winters in the past from the eruption of one big volcano, where there was widespread famine because crops couldn’t grow that year. If the dark elves had caused a chain of eruptions, yeah, it could have been an extinction-level event. We like to think we’ve got enough technology to save ourselves from catastrophes, but if you can’t grow food for an extended period of time, your civilization is screwed. We could have gone the way of the dinosaurs.”
A depressing thought that I didn’t want to let linger in my mind. So I opted for levity.
“That must mean I’m going to get a big combat bonus.”
Willard snorted. “Don’t book your trip to Tahiti yet. I’m going to have to charge you for that carbon monoxide detector you lost.”
“That can’t be more than a hundred bucks.”
“Government equipment comes at a premium.”
“Or is it that you’re adding a Val-disobeyed-orders fee onto it?”
“I’d never be so vindictive. That comes straight off the bonus.”
“Just so you know, if I can’t make my rent this month, I’m moving in with you. You’ve got a guest cot, right?”
“I hope things aren’t that dire.”
“I’d be okay with the couch.”
“I’m not entirely sure you’re joking,” Willard said.
“Good.” I hung up and quirked an eyebrow at Dimitri, who was walking past carrying a broom cloaked in layers of dust. “Do you need another investor?”
“I thought you didn’t think this business was a good idea.”
“I didn’t say that.” Not out loud, anyway.
“You got a grim foreboding look when I was showing you the real-estate listings and asking your opinion.”
“That’s because I sensed Zav was going to show up, and the dinner bill would skyrocket from sixty dollars to three hundred.”
“Did it really? Was there wine? Nobody can eat that much.”
“I believe he had eight entrees in the end.”
“That’s amazing. He was in human form, wasn’t he? Does his stomach expand more than ours? Like magically?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t eat any of the vegetables or starches, so there was more room for meat.” I tilted my head. “You’re not answering my question. I guess that means you don’t need more investors.”
“Not necessarily, but what made you change your mind?”
Nin came over, took the broom from Dimitri, and gave him a tablet. “I put together a business plan and a conservative five-year projection for you. Please look it over and give me your input.”
She went off to sweep.
“That changed.” I pointed after her. “You got a better business partner.”
“Zoltan is still a partner.”
“Will he ever be here?”
“Probably not.”
“Then I’m in.”
Dimitri raised his eyebrows. “Do you have money?”
“You’ve seen my change jar.”
“That’s your savings? I thought that was for tipping delivery drivers.”
“I’ve got real savings and retirement accounts—modest ones—but I wouldn’t mind investing in something that’s potentially more profitable. How much did Nin put in for her ten percent?”
A familiar aura soared within range of my senses. Zav. I almost melted in relief that it wasn’t his sister, but I decided to wait until we talked to feel too much relief. Zondia could be in the area too, or he could be here to inform me that the Dragon Justice Court wanted to interrogate me.
“Five thousand dollars and her expertise,” Dimitri said.
“I should have that after Willard pays me.” The special government carbon monoxide detectors couldn’t be that much. “I’ll do the same deal. Ten percent and you get my expertise.”
“Do you know how to be a barista?”
“I know how to shoot anyone who tries to rob your barista.”
Zav walked into the shop in his human form.
“I also have a dragon ally,” I said, hoping that was still true.
He’d held my braid while I puked. If that wasn’t an ally, I didn’t know what was.
Dimitri stepped back, eyeing Zav warily. “Are you sure? He looks aggro again.”
Alarmed, I looked at Zav. I hadn’t said anything to him. He couldn’t be irritated yet, could he? Unless he’d brought aggravating news…
Zav lifted his chin, his mustache and beard impeccably trimmed, his robe tidy, his slippers immaculate, and the gold chain around his neck polished. He appeared to be his usual pompous and arrogant self, not angry.
“That’s his normal expression,” I said.
“Are you sure?” Dimitri asked.
“Yeah.”
“We will speak in private,” Zav told me, ignoring Dimitri.
Normally, I would object to anything phrased as an order, but I wanted to know what he had to say. And I was glad to see him after two weeks without dragons in my life.
“Dimitri, can we use one of the rooms in back?” I asked. “Which one did you say was remodeled and looked nice?”
“Uh, the ba
throom.”
“Wasn’t there an office?”
“Not that was remodeled.”
“We’ll take our chances.”
Zav was gazing around the dust fest, a faint curl to his lip.
“This way, noble dragon mate.” I picked a route to the corridor, then poked my head through doors until I found the office. It was only slightly larger than a bathroom.
“You should accept her as a business partner,” Nin said from the front room. “Should we ever need her services, she would feel compelled to offer them for free if she is an owner. She is not inexpensive to hire. I know.”
“What kind of coffee shop needs an assassin?”
Zav followed me inside and closed the door, so I didn’t hear the answer. I did find it amusing that it had only taken Dimitri ten minutes to start referring to his business as a coffee shop.
There wasn’t anywhere to sit in the room, shabby built-in bookcases being the only furnishings, so I leaned against the wall and faced Zav.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
The question seemed to catch him off-guard. He paused before saying, “Yes.”
He looked me up and down, his gaze lingering on my curvy areas. Or maybe that was my imagination. Then it shifted upward, to my neck—my charms—and I winced as he perused them. Not trusting that I hadn’t blindly accepted a new one?
“Have you recovered?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
“Your volcano has not erupted. I flew over it.”
“It hasn’t. We’re cautiously optimistic that it won’t. Did you get your criminals turned in?”
“I did. My mother and sister and two dragons from the Silverclaw Clan were waiting when I arrived.”
“Were they pleased?”
“They wished to know what took so long and when the remaining criminals on my list would be brought in.” Zav pressed his lips together. “My brother, who is collecting criminals on another world, has brought in more than I have.”
“Distressing.”
He lifted his chin again. “I will catch up with and pass him. You will assist me.”
“I will. I believe there’s a kelpie on your list? Willard wants me to take care of her.”
His lifted chin turned into a head tilt. “You do not object to assisting me with my list?”
“Not for now. I owe you a few.”
“Owe me?”
“You saved my ass up there.”
He glanced at my ass.
“My life,” I corrected, remembering that dragons apparently had no expressions involving asses and took references to them literally. “I’d be dead if you hadn’t charged in to help. Thank you.”
His gaze returned to my face. “You are my mate.”
“Yeah, but that’s a ruse for your dragon buddies. It’s not like we’re having sex.” Memories of our kisses flashed through my mind, but I refused to voice the unfortunately that crept to my tongue. “You didn’t have to risk yourself to save me is what I mean. I’m guessing your life would be easier if I’d died up there under the ice.”
I tried not to think about how close I’d come to that. I’d walked away without any grievous injuries, but when I’d seen my doctor last week and described all the noxious fumes I’d inhaled, he’d said I was lucky to be alive.
“I would not like it if you died,” Zav said. “For practical reasons as well as personal ones. You are better at doing research in this forsaken world than I am. You were the one to realize the dark elves were on that mountaintop. It pleases me that you are clever. Usually, a dragon chooses a mate based on physical attributes and her willingness to serve him or her. I chose you because you are a loyal ally in battle, you are good at finding people, and you vex my enemies.” Zav looked as pleased with himself as with me, but coming from him, all this was quite the compliment. Especially since we’d started our relationship with him calling me mongrel and vermin.
Touched that he still wanted anything to do with me, I crossed the small office and lifted my arms to offer him a hug.
But he held up a hand. “There is something else we must discuss.”
“Lirena?” I lowered my arms.
“Lirena.” Zav did more than curl his lip as he said her name. His tone was savage. “Anyasha-sulin is her true name. She is one of the leaders of the faction that attempted to oust dragons from power and started a war with our kind. Many of them were killed when we replaced them with more amenable elven leaders, but some still live, and as you can see, they continue to plot against my kind.”
“I see that now, yes.”
“I know you did not know who she is.” His face was tense, and his jaw barely moved as he spoke the words. “But she is the one who hired the assassin who killed my brother.”
I thunked my head back against the wall. I’d been afraid of that. Through sheer stupidity, or naivety at the best, I’d betrayed him, and I’d betrayed him with someone who was a mortal enemy.
“We were the only two born in that clutch,” Zav said. “We were close. Closer than I am with my sister and my other brothers—they came from different sires and are younger than I. It is difficult for me to know that this elf was in your home and helped you drive out my sister.”
“Hey, I get it. I’m sorry. But it’s not like I invited her into my life. I assume she lied to me and isn’t my cousin.”
He probably wouldn’t understand my point of view, but I felt betrayed too. Lirena had pretended to be my relative, to be a member of the family I’d never known, a link to the father I’d wondered about my entire life. She’d even taught me a few things. Yes, she’d been doing it so I would be better armed to attack Zav, but there was a part of me that wished it had been real. I’d never had a sister, and my childhood had often been lonely, with only my mother and my books to keep me company. Maybe that was why I hadn’t been wary enough when it came to Lirena.
“I do not believe so. I can research her lineage. Or—” Zav’s tone turned to ice, “—I can find her and kill her.”
I almost made a joke, asking what had happened to his vaunted punishment and rehabilitation program, but his expression was dark. He wouldn’t appreciate any jokes right now. Maybe Dimitri had been right. My dragon was aggro.
“You will tell me if she returns to Earth and contacts you,” Zav said.
“I will, but I’d be even more eager to help you if you made that a request and not a command.”
He closed his eyes, as if he was struggling to control his temper. If he’d spent the last couple of weeks dealing with his sister and his mother, he was probably in a foul mood. I shouldn’t push him, but I also couldn’t let him think he could order me around.
Trying to lighten his mood, I added, “If you added the word please to your requests, I would be so tickled, I’d take you back to the barbecue place.”
He opened his eyes, the anger fading, but it turned into a sad smile. “It is not a good idea for me to let you feed me.”
“Because it makes you randy?”
“Essentially. And, even though I am having trouble remembering this, I should not allow that around you. I know you don’t have plans to betray me—incidentally, my sister learned that much from her mind-scouring of you—but you are not a dragon. You are susceptible to mind control, and others know of you now and will believe you can get close to me, close enough to kill. We cannot… be that close.”
Basically, I was a liability to him. I wished I could argue otherwise, but dragons, dark elves, and elves had all proven themselves strong enough to control me. That made me furious, and I resolved to find more trinkets—or learn how to develop my own powers—so I could stop that from happening in the future.
“So glad I’m exonerated on that front.” I glowered down at his slippers. “Zondia ought to know everything about me by now.”
Zav stepped closer and lifted a hand to my cheek, his fingers warm, a familiar tingle of magic running over my skin. “I am sorry that she hurt you. I would never have allowed
that if I’d noticed in time to stop her.”
“I know.” I didn’t think he’d ever apologized to me before. I didn’t say it was all right, because it wasn’t, but I did say, “I don’t blame you.”
“No?” There was that sad smile again. “She was only here because I claimed you.”
“But you claimed me because you thought you were protecting me. I know that too.”
“Yes.”
He rested his forehead against mine, and I wanted to cry, because that was his platonic elven-battle-bond gesture. My pompous and arrogant dragon had finally become someone I wanted to date, and he wasn’t going to let me buy him ribs again.
Zav leaned back, his knuckles gently grazing my cheek as they dropped. I was certain he would rather be kissing me than doing the forehead thing, and somehow that made it all worse.
I expected him to walk out, but he lingered, gazing at my face instead of my neck this time, his violet eyes contemplative.
“You are not without power, without aptitude,” he said. “Perhaps…”
“Perhaps?”
“As I told you, a dragon cannot teach an elf to use magic, but perhaps when there is time, I can take you to your people—your real relatives—and they would consider teaching you how to protect yourself from mind manipulation. And to fully learn how to use your powers.”
A spark of hope kindled in my heart. “Do you think they would? My father must be… busy.”
Or indifferent. He hadn’t, after all, sent someone to observe me. Maybe he didn’t care about me at all.
“I am certain he is, but there are many elves with the capacity to teach. I will let it be known to them that I will be pleased if one of them trains you. If they are not fools, they know that it is wise to please a dragon.” His eyelids drooped, his lashes nearly covering his gaze. “And unwise to displease one.”
“You’re going to threaten my relatives if they don’t teach me? That should make me popular at family reunions.”
“If you can protect yourself from mind manipulation and I need not worry about getting a dagger in my chest when I am sleeping, then you may feed me meat.” Zav lifted his hand to the side of my head, his eyes growing bedroom steamy as he developed his new plan. “And then we will mate.”
Elven Doom (Death Before Dragons Book 4) Page 29