“Sean…”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Sean said and hung up.
Jack sighed and checked the time before trudging off to his bedroom to change clothes. He would, he knew, go back downstairs to check out the floor again. He was a hands-on type of entrepreneur and he liked to make sure his operation was running smoothly. He thought idly of that showgirl again. She would be dancing in one of the late shows that night and he thought about stopping by just to get a look at her. She was awfully striking, that one. The thought of her body in that skimpy corset and those fishnet stockings made his cock grow a little in his pants and he winced. No time for that now.
He changed into jeans and a sweater and splashed some water on his face. He had been working too hard lately. He needed to sleep. The elevator pinged. Sean would have seen the doorman who guarded the elevator to Jack’s penthouse. But he was a recognizable figure as one of Jack’s close friends, even after having been absent for a while.
“Sean!” Jack walked out and smiled but Sean did not look like he was in the mood for casual socialization.
He was carrying an egg.
“What is that?” Jack asked flatly, immediately feeling like an idiot. It was a dragon egg. He knew that much. He hadn’t been around very many of them but he had seen one once or twice. The egg was about the size of a football and it was blue and scaly and a little shiny.
“It’s an egg,” Sean said. “You’ve seen an egg before, right?”
“Yeah, but…” Jack put his hand on his hips. This situation was going to get complicated, whatever it was. Of that, he was sure. He went to his wet bar to pour himself another drink and poured one for Jack too. “What are you doing with a dragon egg?”
“This is my kid, dumbass,” Sean said. He sat down on the couch and held the egg in his hands.
“Holy shit,” Jack muttered. He sat down next to Sean and handed him his drink. They had known each other for a long time, since junior varsity basketball freshman year. When he looked at Sean, he saw both an adult man and a teenager. “Congrats, man. So who laid this egg?” Jack wagged his eyebrows and grinned.
Dragon shifters, unlike most other shifters, laid eggs. Not in human form, though it was a common thing to joke among them. The women laid their eggs while in dragon form and, ideally, the two mates would look after their offspring carefully until it hatched. Jack didn’t know a whole lot about egg-care. He was fairly sure you had to keep the egg warm. But otherwise, he was pretty lost. He was also fairly certain it was a bad idea to just galavant around town holding a dragon egg, especially in Vegas. Not that anyone might try to harm it but Jack suspected it was probably a good idea to keep it away from the elements in general, including the human ones.
“She…” Sean held the egg and gazed at it sadly. The egg was covered in deep blue scales, just like that of a dragon. Sean traced his finger along the scales, a tragic expression on his face. “She died. She was my mate. Her name was Violet.”
“Shit.” Jack wrapped an arm around Sean’s shoulders and patted his back. “Shit, Sean. I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”
“I was going to introduce you guys,” Sean said quietly, his eyes still fixed on his precious cargo. “You would have liked her. She was really smart. A lot smarter than me. And she was pretty. I met her in a poker game and it all moved so fast. But it was wonderful while it lasted.”
“Can you tell me what happened?” Jack asked. “If you can?”
“No,” Sean murmured. “No. To be honest, it’s safer if you don’t know. But I need a favor.”
“It’s safer?” Jack said darkly. “Sean, what did you get mixed up in? Did somebody hurt Violet? Is that what you’re trying to say?”
“I’m serious,” Sean told him fiercely. “The less you know, the better. You trust me, don’t you?”
“Always, man,” Jack responded, squeezing his shoulder. “But you’re freaking me out. If you’re in trouble, I can help you. I’ve got resources.”
“I’ll tell you when it blows over,” Sean said firmly. “And it will. I promise. Just having a rough time right now.” He held up the egg and said, “But this...this is my kid. And they need to be protected.”
“What do you need me to do?” Jack asked. “Anything.”
“I just need you to take him,” Sean replied, handing over the egg. “Take care of him. Or her. I don’t know the sex yet.”
Jack took the egg and blinked it dumbly. “You what now?”
“I just gotta take care of some shit,” Sean said. “And I need to know the egg is safe. Soon enough it’s gonna hatch and…” He rubbed his face. He looked very tired now that Jack noticed. “I gotta get my life together before that happens. I gotta make sure I can take care of my kid. I just have to deal with some shit first.”
Jack took a deep breath and looked at the giant egg he held in his hands. It felt a little like rubber but harder and it was pretty heavy, eight pounds at least if he had to guess. He couldn’t remember the gestation period for dragon eggs. He’d never had to worry about it before. He’d been with a couple of dragon women but they’d always been careful and he’d never come even close to meeting a mate. He’d begun to think it just wasn’t in the cards for him.
He met other dragons on occasion, sure. But meeting another dragon or even a human woman he liked enough to devote his life to while running his hotel and casino had always seemed like a complete pipe dream. Then there was the kind of love that people talked about mates having. It was supposed to be incredibly passionate and almost magical. It bonded you for life and when you felt it, you just knew. He couldn’t picture himself ever feeling that for anyone.
“Sean,” Jack said, frowning. “I’ll take care of the egg, sure. But you gotta tell me what you’re into.”
“I’ll tell you when it’s over,” Jack insisted. “I don’t need you getting yourself into it. I’ll be fine. The important thing is the egg.”
“I don’t actually know anything about how to take care of an egg,” Jack said worriedly. “Do I feed it?”
Sean snorted at that. “No! You don’t feed it! Ideally, it should be under a heat lamp. It’s a little cool in here for the kid. Wherever you put him, you should turn off the AC. He needs it to be about eighty-five-”
“Eighty-five?” Jack said, perhaps whining just a little. “It’s ninety outside, I gotta keep it eighty-five in my own place?”
“Or get a heat lamp,” Sean suggested, shrugging. “There’s other stuff. I made a list.” He took a thin little notebook out of his jacket and handed it to Jack. “I got most of the info from Violet before... “ He cleared his throat and seemed to tear up for a moment. “And other things I researched. It likes music, and it needs to be held for periods of time. You have to pet it and say nice things to it. I mean ideally. Pretend it’s already a baby, basically.”
“Uh, something I’ve never been clear on,” Jack said, experimentally petting the egg.
It felt weird.
“What’s that?”
“When it hatches is it a human or a dragon?”
“You don’t know?” Sean asked, snorting.
“It’s never come up!” Jack said, feeling stupid once again. “And it’s not like I remember. I think my parents told me about my birth once. I wasn’t really paying attention. I should call them actually…”
Jack’s parents, his father, the once-proud owner of what had formerly been called Damon Hotel and Casino was now retired with Jack’s mother down in Florida. They had traded the scorching dry heat for the scorching humidity. When Jack wanted to see them or they wanted to see Jack, he had to fly down to Miami. They were done with Las Vegas, though they were proud of the business acumen their son had shown. They had also treated Sean like a second son when the two friends had been in high school, especially since Sean’s own parents had been rather neglectful and uncaring. Bad shifters, Jack’s mother had once said. They’d be proud to know about Sean’s apparent offspring, Jack thought now. He wondered if he shoul
d give them a call about it. Though considering how cagey Sean was being about whatever trouble he was in, maybe it was better to wait.
“I miss your parents,” Sean muttered.
Whenever this was over and the kid was hatched, Jack decided he’d take the two of them down to Florida for a visit. As much of a sometimes cold and ruthless businessman as Jack had had to be to turn Jack’s Joker into what it was now, he was a family man at heart.
“You’re an alpha like me,” his father had once told him. “But true strength comes from loyalty to your family. Protecting your mate, your kin.”
He’d never forgotten that, except that it hadn’t come into play much for a long time. He didn’t have a mate, and he wasn’t likely to get one soon. He wasn’t much for fighting. His dragon he let out about once a week. There was plenty of room in the desert to fly around and shift. He also had a magnificent hoard that satisfied him even if he had nobody to show it to, another alpha type dragon trait. That stuff was nice but it wasn’t the kind of true strength his father had taught him about. Sean was family and that meant something. He had to step up. If he could help Sean, he certainly would.
“I think they miss you too sometimes,” Jack said, still awkwardly holding onto the egg. “They’ve asked about you. Do you think-”
“Shit, I’ve gotta go.” Sean was glancing at his phone and he looked pained. He gave Jack a long look and then leaned over and gave him a quick hug. “I’ll see you soon, brother. Thanks for doing this.”
“It’s not a problem,” Jack assured him, though if he was honest with himself, he was a little worried about juggling the care of an egg with his duties as resort owner.
“I’ll see you soon,” Sean assured him as they stood. “We’ll keep in touch.”
He watched Sean go and smiled briefly when the elevator doors slowly shut on his oldest friend.
“Sure thing,” Jack muttered. He eyed the egg and frowned. “Now to get you up to eighty-five degrees, I guess.”
2
Lucy
Lucy Carter fumed, angrily refreshing her lipstick as the introductory music for the midnight show blared from the stage and the other showgirls scurried around her, fixing their make-up at the last second and adjusting their bustiers.
Lucy was pissed. She was pissed at Jack Damon, not least because if she was honest with herself, she supposed he had a point. The dancers in the front got tipped more than the others, and it was right to share the wealth. Except that it seemed to Lucy that the front row slots had been earned. They weren’t all at the same level of talent, in her opinion. She was a slightly better dancer than the girls in the back, but even more importantly she had earned her position. She had started in the back row and after six months she’d been bumped. Except when she had danced in the back row, the tip-sharing policy had not been in place. She’d been cheated, it seemed to her. Yet now she had to share her tips. None of it seemed fair at all.
It didn’t help that she didn’t feel overly warm to her fellow dancers. It wasn’t even that she disliked them but she danced at night, and in the daytime, she logged hours as a cocktail waitress at the casino next to Jack’s. She was saving for something. She didn’t know what. Something else, some life that didn’t include sweaty old men from the Midwest leering at her and trying to cop a feel when they saw her offstage. Just something else. In the meantime, she danced and she scraped by. It was all she could do. It hadn’t made her very friendly and the other dancers at Jack’s all seemed younger and perkier and annoyingly naïve; that didn’t make her want to hang out with them either.
The only exception was Julie, a dancer closer to her own age of thirty-one (if she was being honest about her age). Julie seemed as jaded and hard-edged as Lucy on an average day. Lucy liked her, even if after each show she’d go off with her boyfriend who looked like he was auditioning for a bad mafia movie.
Now Julie ducked down next to Lucy in front of the mirror as she fixed her foundation.
“How you doin’, girl?” Julie asked.
“Same as usual,” Lucy said, smacking her lips.
“Oh, that doesn’t sound good,” Julie said, winking.
Lucy smiled and rolled her eyes, straightening up and adjusting her bustier. “I don’t think I’ve slept twelve hours the last three days.”
“Well, don’t sleep tonight. Come out with me.”
“Yeah?” Lucy raised an eyebrow. Julie was cool, but she’d never invited Lucy out before. All the other girls rushed around them in the overcrowded dressing room and then began to file out to the backstage as the music rose. “What do you got?”
“I was supposed to see my stupid boyfriend,” Julie said wryly. “But he’s got business. Canceled on me. What a lout. Come drink with me. We’ll commiserate.”
“Okay,” Lucy said. “Sure. I could use it. You can tell me what it’s like to have a boyfriend. I can hardly remember.”
“It’s not that great,” Julie responded.
“Oh,” Lucy said, trotting up the steps behind the curtain as Julie followed her. “It’s how I remember it then.”
“Let’s get out of Jack’s. You can meet me at the Starlight Bar across the street. Just give me an hour to clean up after the show.”
“Sure thing,” Lucy replied, and their conversation ended as they found their places on the stage.
The moment she began to dance, Lucy started to feel better. That was always how it went. She’d loved to dance since childhood. It had been her true love since she could remember. As much as Vegas wasn’t exactly 42nd Street, it was what she loved to do. She just wished she could work her way up to better shows. She’d often dreamed of working some star’s residency. That was where the real money was. The show went by in a blur of singing, dancing and smoke and mirrors. The house was packed that night, and the audience had pretty good energy for a midnight show. When it was over and the girls filed into the dressing room as the next shift’s girls came in, Lucy took a breath and wiped the sweat from her brow. She found a spare seat in the corner and kicked off her shoes, nodding at Julie who was grabbing her duffle bag and already making her way out. She was pretty sure Julie lived nearby. She would probably be stopping home. Lucy’s place was a cheap apartment a couple miles from the strip and she didn’t have a car. She figured she’d just change and hang out before she crossed the street to Starlight. She grabbed her duffle bag and the water bottle she kept there for after tiring shows and took a long drink.
She found a corner to change in and put on a sweatshirt and jeans, not bothering yet to wash off all her makeup. She only took off her false eyelashes and let down her hair. She shouldered her bag and went out the back way behind the stage, down a corridor and out to the crowded casino floor. Her feet were sore. She was wearing her most comfortable sneakers now, but the soles were wearing thin. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another.
“Hey there, sweet thing,” a raspy voice said. She frowned, walking on, hoping against hope that voice wasn’t meant for her. But then a hand was touching her shoulder, making her skin crawl. Reflexively, she twisted away. “Hey, I just saw you in the show! You were dynamite!”
“Thanks,” Lucy said, smiling tightly. She quickened her pace, heading to the side door and intending to take the shortcut through the dark back alleys that were a seedy little labyrinth between a cluster of hotels. It was maybe not the wisest choice in the world, but it was a fast route to The Rainforest Café at the Rio where she knew a guy who gave her a steep discount on meals. The thought of a burger made her mouth water. She was starving. The makeup on her face felt heavy too. She wished she’d taken the few minutes to wash it off now. Maybe then that creep wouldn’t have bugged her.
Except that the creep was still bugging her.
“Where are you going, girl?”
She was already outside in the dark, deserted alley. She probably should have stayed where it was crowded, but she hated the idea of changing anything she wanted to do because of a gross guy, even if it was wiser. Now he was ru
nning up beside her in the wide alley between Jack’s and its parking lot as she headed down to the back door of the Rio which now seemed quite far away.
The guy was grinning at her, trotting beside her and far too close for comfort. He was tall and skinny. She didn’t know his face but now she thought, if something happened, she wanted to be able to describe him.
Balding, she thought. Long face, bad teeth, beady eyes…
“Come on!” He said, his voice echoing. “You don’t know a nice guy when you see one!”
“Exactly!” Lucy said. “Leave me alone!” She all but ran to the backdoor of the Rio which was...locked. It had never been locked before. “Fuck.”
“Where are you going?” He said. “Let’s just talk-” He grabbed her arm and she twisted away.
“Leave me alone!” If only for convenience’s sake (or at least that’s what she told herself) she took off down the alley, rounding a corner away from the Rio and turning again as soon as she got the chance. Some other casino’s parking lot was up ahead and she ran for it, wanting to just put distance between herself and the creeper. She’d figure out where she was when he was gone. She pushed open a door and found herself in a roped-off and deserted parking garage, empty of cars. All the spots said “reserved”. If she cut across it, she would likely find herself behind one of the other casinos. There would have to be a way in from there and she’d go back out to the strip and eat anywhere at this point. She felt dizzy with hunger.
Lucy heard footsteps coming and, thinking it was the creeper, she ran behind a big SUV and crouched there, hoping he would assume she’d gone and disappeared again.
“Shut up, Sean,” a voice said.
Lucy heard several voices and multiple footsteps. Now she peeked around the car and saw four men in black holding another man by the scruff of his neck. He looked terrified. None of them was the creepy guy, yet Lucy stayed right where she was. She had a bad feeling that they wouldn’t appreciate an interloper.
Vegas Baby Dragon Page 2