I looked down at my Marc Jacobs swing dress. “Oh, hell. I forgot.” I was dressed for wedding dress shopping, not slaying dragons. I’d already lost so much time.
He handed me a pair of jeans, boots, and a T-shirt from the table. “I thought you might need these.”
“Did you—Wait. I don’t want to know if you were going through my things.” I grabbed the clothes from him, and peeled off my dress. There was no time for modesty. His eyes flashed, and I definitely picked up on some interest.
Then he turned his back to me. “Of course not. I sent one of the female security agents to get your clothes.” He sounded angry, and I realized I’d basically called the guy a pervert and then stripped in front of him.
Smooth, Al. Real smooth. “Sorry. Honestly, everything I say to you comes out wrong. I meant that I was sorry you had to go through the monstrosity that is my closet, and that I’m grateful you had this stuff ready for me.”
I pulled on the jeans. “You can turn around. Did you see where they landed?”
“We have an approximate location.”
“Great. Can you set the coordinates on the watch?”
“It’s been done.” He handed the wristwatch to me.
“Oh, uh, thanks. You really do think of everything.” I slipped it on my wrist. “And about last night. I think you misunderstood—”
“Not a problem.” He turned and left.
“Okay, then.” I loaded my weapons and pushed the buttons. Time to spank some dragon ass.
The thing about the watch, Bailey’s invention that allows us easy transport through the portals, is that it doesn’t always get you exactly where you want to go. Well, that’s not exactly true. It works great as long as your mind is focused on the right location. My problem is I have a tendency to wig out at the most inopportune times. Which is why I had to pull out my crossbow shortly after landing on Xerxes.
Nasty Kevan dragons surrounded me. They are hardheaded beasts that prefer to be in their natural form. Scaly, fiery, and claws ready to rip me into human hamburger. The dragons of legend do have a basis in fact, though the real ones aren’t as large as most people imagine. I’ve never seen one bigger than eight feet, but their scales are impenetrable, and the whole fire from the mouth thing is absolutely for real.
“Shesan Solmt,” I screamed at a high pitch. Dragons can only hear certain sounds when they aren’t in a semihuman- looking state. “Shvol Con Mre.” Basically I told them to back off; I meant them no harm. That was, unless they tried something.
A large red dragon threatened me with its claw. I aimed my crossbow, prepared to do what, I’m not sure. It dawned on me that I was up a creek even with the crossbow; there weren’t enough arrows to take them all down. Widening my stance, I prepared for a fight.
Suddenly they all backed away and bowed. I looked behind me to see Ginjin, his silvery wings spread wide and a snarl on his lips. I sometimes forgot how beautiful he could be—for a dragon.
He roared, and the other dragons changed form. Of course, now everyone was naked. Most of the group was comprised of older men, but there were some young warriors, as well as the red dragon who had become a woman. A very beautiful woman. Nudity doesn’t bother dragons, though in the larger cities most of them wear some type of clothing when they are in human form.
As many times as I’d been in this kind of situation, it was still a bit disconcerting. Ginjin transformed and I tried hard to not stare at his muscled abs or his broad shoulders. The bottom half of him was no less impressive, but I had to concentrate. His eyes were still in fight mode, and they glistened like red fire.
He pointed to me. “Explain.”
“We had jumpers who landed here with human captives.”
His head snapped to the group. “Jene?”
Oh great. His supposed-to-be bride was a Kevan. I hated her already.
She raised an eyebrow and slinked toward him. “I have no idea what she’s talking about.” She waved a hand behind her. “We were basking in the sun. Talking among friends. Nothing more.”
Snotty, lying bitch.
“You were here in the middle of the desert sunning?” Ginjin’s accusatory tone wasn’t lost on any of us.
“Yes.” Wicked green eyes dared him to contradict her.
“Are you sure they landed in this location?” He tore his gaze away from her to glance at me, and I saw that the fire in his eyes had died down to something else. Ginjin might not trust the red dragon, but he wanted her. Um. Ewww. I really didn’t like being in the middle of dragon lust.
“It’s tough to be exact when tracking a jump from world to world, but the group definitely arrived in this general vicinity.” I sheathed the crossbow in the holster on my back. With Ginjin around, I wasn’t worried about being attacked, and he hadn’t tried to kill me since I saved his life a few weeks ago. “Can you sense them with your super dragon schnoz?”
I’m not so bad with tracking, but it’s easier for me to sense stinky dragons than humans. The monsters’ scent covered everything for miles around us. It was a combination of coal and smoke, with a hint of musk.
Lifting his head in the air, he took a deep breath. His eyes snapped back to Jene, and he gave her a strange look. “I smell nothing.”
I didn’t believe him. That look meant something. I just had no idea what. “Then they ate them.”
Jene snorted behind me. “Disgusting. We don’t eat your kind. Nothing but fat.”
The dragons surrounding us grunted in agreement.
I really, really hated her.
“Ginjin, humans are on your planet, taken against their will. That’s an automatic death sentence.” I grabbed the crossbow from its holster and held it by my side. “When I find out which one of these idiots took them . . . Do I really have to explain?”
I took aim at one of the older beings. Something told me he was important to Jene. When she stepped between us, I knew I was right.
“I will kill you.” She began to transform.
“You can try.”
“Fledstm.” I could feel the heat of Ginjin behind me, but the power rolling off him was directed at Jene.
She stopped mid-transformation. “The human threatened me. She will die.”
“The human is a Guardian, and if you touch her, I will have to kill you,” Ginjin warned. Funny coming from him, since he’d tried to do the same thing to me more than once. “You and the others go back to Moit. I will meet with you there.”
“You would choose the Guardian over me?”
Lady, you have no idea. I wondered what she would think if she knew Ginjin wanted me to be his mate. Though I understood that less now. She wanted the power and seemed to be the perfect match for him.
“We follow the council’s law, Jene. Humans were taken from Earth, and she has every right to investigate without fear of being killed.” His voice lowered just slightly. “Go.”
No one moved. “Now!” he roared. “I will deal with you later.” He directed the words to Jene. She’d done something to anger him, and it had absolutely nothing to do with threatening to kill me. The group transformed and took off in flight.
I put my hands on my hips. “Great. Now we’re never going to find them.”
“You may be correct. Beyond yours, there is no scent of humans nearby, but I will search. I can cover the ground more quickly. If I find any, I will return them to Earth. My guess is they are long gone. They may have stopped to jump through another portal, since whoever took them would know you would come after them.”
“I can’t just leave, Ginjin. This is my duty. You have to understand that.”
“Yes. Duty is something I understand all too well, but it would be a waste of your time to search on foot when I can do it in a few seconds by air. You have my word, and I do not give that lightly.”
I sighed. He had a point. “Promise me that you’ll really look.”
At first I thought he might scream at me. “My word is my bond, Guardian, and I have given it to you.”
I shrugged. “That’ll have to do.”
After holstering the crossbow, I pushed the button on the watch and stepped through the portal.
For once, there was no one waiting on the other side with bad news. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I saw Jake through the window.
I realized it was the first time in weeks he hadn’t been waiting to greet me or yell at me. For some reason, that bugged the hell out of me.
CHAPTER 6
“Bailey, I need a dragon blower-upper,” I shouted into my cell as soon as I returned to the control room. As I talked to him, I put away my weapons. My brother drove me nuts, but he was the best when designing weapons, and I really wanted to kill me some dragons.
“Hi, Al. Dragons burn you again?” His puns were the worst.
“Ha. I mean it. Design me something that will blow them up with one shot.”
“Ah. So you want a new toy gun. Why not the plasmas? You guys had good luck with those when you had to protect the high council.” He sounded out of breath.
“Where are you?”
“I’m running for the jet. It’s raining like crazy.”
“Oh. The plasmas worked great on the demons, but they only stun dragons. Probably has something to do with their incredibly thick skin. I need something where if they aren’t airborne I can get off multiple shots at close range without blowing myself up.”
“Isn’t that why I made you the automatic crossbow?”
“Bailey, you aren’t listening. The crossbow works great if they are some distance away or flying, but not so much on the ground. And I’m an excellent shot, but if I don’t hit them in the eye or directly in the heart—You get the picture. There’s also the problem that it’s not something I can keep with me at all times. I need something I can conceal.
“Used to be we’d have an infestation of one or two; now they seem to be traveling in packs. Bullets don’t have much of an effect on them. It’s tough to kill six at a time with a sword, though I’ve done it.”
“Huh.” I could tell he was intrigued. It didn’t take much to get Bailey’s brain going. “Let me see what I can do. I’m gonna need to do some research on your dragons.”
I wanted to yell that they weren’t my dragons. Everyone always said that. Dragons were nothing but a huge pain in the ass. Period. But yelling never accomplished anything with Bailey. Besides, since the kidnapping I’d noticed he’d been overly sensitive to any kind of aggressive behavior. Last week he’d walked in on Mira bellowing at me for charging into a nest of dragons with only a sword, and he’d gone a little whack. He kept going on and on about how we had to love one another and support each other. A thirty-minute sermon, in all. When he was done, he made us hug.
After that, we tried to keep our sisterly arguments behind closed doors.
“Okay, cool,” I told him. “Let me know if you need anything. A little dragon DNA, whatever.”
We hung up.
I’d just stepped out of the shower when I heard my phone ringing again. Didn’t recognize the number, but I picked it up anyway.
“Alex, it’s Colin Granze. We met at your club for the Save the Edens fund-raiser last month.”
“Of course. How are you?” I would have known his voice even if he hadn’t mentioned his name. He was one of Hollywood’s biggest box office draws. His appearance at the fund-raiser had guaranteed a multimillion-dollar give. Charm oozed from every pore of the man, not the creepy kind, the I’ll-do-anything-just-to-stand-and-gaze-upon-your-extreme-hotness kind. People wanted to impress him, and that meant they were more generous.
“In the middle of a shoot in India, and it’s hotter than hell here, but we’re having a good time. Listen, I know this is out of the blue, but I have something important to ask you.”
Now he had my attention. I couldn’t imagine where he was going with all of this. Wrapping a towel around me, I sat down on the edge of the tub. “Okay.”
There was a long pause. “It’ll probably surprise you to hear this, but I’m kind of shy.”
“That is a surprise. You’re always the life of the party.”
“Yeah. It’s a part of the job. It freaks people out when I say this, but the actor Colin is different than me. I know that doesn’t make any sense.”
“I get it. At least you don’t talk about yourself in the third person like some actors.”
He laughed at that. “Look, the truth is, usually my publicist sets me up on dates because I’m too much of a coward to ask a woman out. I’d rather be home reading a book or playing basketball with the guys. If it weren’t for my publicist shoving me out the door, I’d never go anywhere. The crowds, the small talk. All of it annoys the hell out of me.”
I had a second business—third if you counted being a Guardian—planning the kind of events he talked about, but I understood. His life was constantly under the microscope. It was too much for some folks, but it never bothered me. That is, unless I was trying to hide a dead dragon carcass.
“Anyway,” he continued. “Wait—I realize I just offended you. The event you did last month was great. Really.”
I snickered. “Colin, you don’t have to check yourself with me. I appreciate the honesty and no hard feelings on this side.”
Then I realized what this might be about. Oh my God. He’s about to ask me out. Not such a bad thing to date one of the hottest guys on the planet. Think young Gerard Butler and James McAvoy all in one hot bod. I meet these kinds of guys all the time, but Colin was special. He was also very high profile, which would solve my just-in-case problem with Ginjin. And poor Jake would be off the hook.
“Excellent. This is much harder than I’d thought it would be.”
I waited patiently.
“The thing is. I wondered if . . . if your sister Claire is dating anyone?”
The question took me so off guard I almost fell into the tub. Talk about bursting bubbles. “Uh. You know, I’m not sure.” I knew she was interested in the camera guy working on her tiger shark shoot, but I didn’t think anything ever happened with that.
“I saw her surfing in Fiji a few months ago, and then at the party you threw,” Colin continued. “I wanted to ask her to be my date for a movie premiere next week. I’ve got to come back to the States to promote it. I . . . uh . . .”
I couldn’t stand it any longer. “Would you like her phone number?” I offered. I had a feeling Claire wouldn’t mind. After waiting until he found a pen, I gave him the digits and hung up.
Then I laughed out loud. Talk about an ego check. Hot guy, wants to date my baby sister. I couldn’t wait to get the rundown on that one. They’d certainly make a pretty couple on the red carpet.
I texted Claire so she’d pick up when he called. Or maybe she wouldn’t. I never knew with her. When it came to men, she was more fickle than the rest of us put together. And Colin had his good looks working against him. Claire liked her men cerebral.
Me, I was more on the shallow end. I could do without a good conversation if the sex was hot.
Before I could throw on a robe the phone rang again. This time it was Penelope.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Baron had another bartender quit in Madrid. Do you want me to find out what’s going on there, or do you want to check it out yourself?” She sounded like she was running down the street.
“Where are you?”
“In New York. I felt bad for yelling at you earlier and decided to see if I could help out with the wedding dress shopping. Imagine my surprise when I found out you’d left.”
I giggled. “So let me guess; you’re running into the tenth store in five hours.”
“Yes. She loved both of the designers you suggested, by the way, but I think she wants to see every wedding dress in Manhattan before she decides. You know,” she lowered her voice to a whisper, “she’s annoying, but I feel kind of sorry for her. She’s so desperate in a way. She tried to buy my friendship with a Rolex and a customized Bentley. I told her I couldn’t tell time o
r drive, but how sad is that?”
I loved Penelope, and she’d hit it exactly. I couldn’t stand disappointing poor Aspen because, at the end of the day, she was just a sad little girl. Her father gave her everything she ever wanted except love. The man was as close to a robot as anyone I’d ever met. No warmth, no twinkle in the eye. Just a cold, hard businessman. “I’ll double your salary if you’ll hang with her the rest of the day.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you don’t have to do that. I get it. But if she takes me to Tiffany’s and wants to buy me diamonds, I’m probably going to give in.” She laughed.
“Diamond whore,” I joked.
“Look at the pot calling the kettle black.”
She had a point. I did have a special jones for all things bright and shiny. “True. Has she at least settled on a style?”
“Negatory on that one, Captain. Though we have it narrowed to Cinderella ball gown or slinky forties glam style. No beach. She doesn’t like the idea that weather could ruin her day. I also mentioned that most couples are doing big parties in the States and getting married in Europe. That it’s more exotic to fly all of your guests in to the location. So, she’s thinking one wedding now, and the best party evah.”
“You rock beyond belief, Pen. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Parties, even ones thrown by Aspen, were so much easier than weddings.
“I know. Well, that’s where we are so far.”
“Excellent, and I owe ya big. I promise I’ll make it up to you. And you stay with her; I’ll head out to Madrid.”
We rang off, and I finally had a chance to pull on some clothes. I’d be hitting Madrid at ultimate party time, so I picked a Phillip Lim belted dress and some satin twist sling-backs from Pucci.
It would be nice to deal with something that didn’t have a darn thing to do with dragons.
I stared at myself in the mirror for a moment. On the outside I looked just fine, but inside I felt the symptoms. I was nearing burnout mode.
That happened to me every four months or so. I always had so many balls in the air that I ran myself ragged. If it were any other time, I’d take a week off and chill on a beach somewhere or go ski the Alps. But with nasty dragons giving me fits, Aspen’s wedding a few weeks away, and evil trying to take over the universe, that wasn’t going to happen.
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