Dirty lying dragons, p.10
Dirty Lying Dragons, page 10
I had no qualms about snatching the bowl of what I now identified as salad. Heavy on the cucumbers, lots of leafy greens, and it barely reached my side of the table before I stabbed at it with a fork. I explored my mug after having a taste. I wasn’t usually a beer girl, but I was definitely a free drink kind of girl, and I had no complaints.
Days in a car, days, meant we were all content to sit with our food and drinks and survey the scene around us. Ryker’s expression was mostly an unreadable mask of calm, but he kept a white-knuckled grip on his mug. Despite the delightful vegetables, my stomach churned and my pulse wouldn’t calm down. Every thought was edged with vampires, magic, Apollo, wolves, and Mom. There were a thousand points in my life that had landed me in this position, and it was easy to look back and wonder what could have been if things had been different. I sank so deep into thought that I jumped when the stranger spoke behind me.
“Daliah! You have humans in here,” a gruff voice growled, then sniffing at the back of my head tousled my hair. “No, wait, not completely human.” Gavin glanced up but continued to drink his beer without any emotion on his face. It was Ryker that offered a dark expression. I looked over my shoulder to see the largest wolf I had ever seen.
He had those trademark yellow eyes that would probably be brown or green or whatever the hell else to a human, but I had just enough witch in me to see him for what he was. From the laughter behind him, he was friends with the nearby wolves. His muscles were in a constant struggle with the confines of his black T-shirt, and he reeked of cheap vodka. And I mean reeked of it—werewolves have an unbelievable metabolism, but it meant they had to absolutely drown in alcohol to get a buzz. Judging from his mildly slurred words and the haze in his eyes, he had just consumed a small swimming pool’s worth of vodka.
I bet he’ll have to piss like hell in an hour.
The scrawny girl at the bar looked over at us, nodded to our table, and went back to polishing mugs. The wolf, not realizing she was ignoring his antics, let out a rumbling laugh that was echoed by the wolves behind him, just as plastered as he was.
“Move along, wolf,” Ryker said.
The werewolf sniffed the air in his general direction and gave off a drunken look of confusion. Ryker locked eyes with him and took a long drink from his mug.
“All in fun,” the wolf said. “Girl, I can smell the magic on you. Barely.”
He laughed at his own joke, and as he turned away he patted me on the back with some of his wolf strength, which resulted in me being smacked forward and smashing my mouth on the rim of my mug. My hand flew to cover my mouth and I felt the wetness already, a metallic tang telling me I was bleeding.
“You all right?” Gavin asked, not terribly concerned.
I glared at the werewolf.
“I will be,” I said, my voice muffled through my hand. I pulled it away and looked at the blood on my palm. Not too bad, no missing teeth, I’d live.
“Best to ignore his type if ya can’t defend yerself,” Gavin advised, taking another drink.
“Who says I can’t?” Suddenly I was watching Ryker very closely.
“You’ve not tried a bit of magic since I’ve met ya, and Ryker says you don’t practice it.” Gavin shrugged. “What kind of a witch doesn’t practice magic? The kind that can’t get in a coven, I’d wager.”
“Did you just say that witch is covenless?” One of the wolves from the nearby table spoke, and my mouth went dry.
“Fuck, Gavin,” Ryker snapped.
Tall, dark, and boozy had sidled back up behind me when I wasn’t looking. “Oleg is offering a nice pocket of cash for something like you.”
Jerod had taught me three things the first time we went out drinking together, and in the heartbeat after the wolf spoke, they surfaced to the forefront of my mind: First, charm the crowd before you start drinking so your antics can’t annoy them as much. Second, don’t go drinking without a backup plan to get home. And third, if you can’t avoid a fight, then make it an absolute spectacle to help you sneak out.
Turning as fast as I could in my seat, I slugged him as hard as I could in the jaw. I knew what would be coming next so I ducked immediately, my eyes widening at the rush of air from his fist that grazed the hair on top of my head. The wolf’s look of confusion was priceless.
“That would have really hurt if you could have hit me,” I said, and then my anklet roared to life, scorching my skin in warning.
A fist slammed into the table behind me. “Danica, you fucking idiot,” Ryker snapped. Gavin cackled.
Wolfie growled and rolled his shoulders, rushing my way. By this time we had the attention of half the bar, and I was sliding out of my chair like it was on fire. Curious ears perked up, eyes slid in our direction, and still the scrawny little shit behind the bar stood there cleaning mugs with a rag.
I ducked under an occupied table, coming out the other side before the patrons knew what’d happened. It was lucky as hell for me that the wolf was drunk or he would have caught me by now. I climbed up on an empty chair and kept running, not looking back as I leaped over a table and jumped down to the ground again. The werewolf hadn’t bothered with niceties and simply ran through the table, royally pissing off the fae whose drinks he’d just spilled.
I glanced back, only to be yanked in the air by my collar by one of Wolfie’s buddies. A growl rippled our way from Ryker, but he didn’t need to worry because almost immediately a ball of fire engulfed my assailant’s face.
I jumped down, twisting out of his grip and cackling wildly. The shit-eating grin on my face must have been a little too much for Gavin, because he was by my side in an instant giggling like a madman. Two fae were having a dick-measuring, muscle-flexing, magic-sparking standoff with the asshole werewolf, which was perfect because that meant the wolf didn’t see us coming.
Gavin threw his fist into the wolf’s face like he was trying to shatter it. I was pretty sure if the wolf had been human, it would have.
“Damn, Gavin!” I squealed. “I thought you were mainly human but now I’m not so sure.”
The wolf spat out blood and howled with rage, turning to Gavin with as big a snarl as the redhead had a grin. It was great to see, but the fae didn’t like us butting in on their target.
The fae that must have thrown the earlier fireball started lighting up the room, now focusing in our direction. Gavin had more of their attention than I did, which is good because I’m very flammable. I ditched their line of fire as Gavin did a wild flip and got the other fae good in the kidneys.
Wait. Do fae have kidneys?
I slid past an empty table and grabbed a mostly drained beer bottle. The asshole wolf from earlier had recovered by now and was looking at me like I was his next meal. So logically I fashioned a good old shank via smashing the bottle over his thick head.
Newly armed with glass shrapnel, I took the hell off. As Wolfie easily shook off the encounter, I bolted for a knot of fae, Gavin, and an elf that I didn’t even know was joining the party until he threw a good punch at fireball fae. Unfortunately for him, fireball fae hit back and they would both probably have a shiner in the morning as each one hit the other square in the eye.
Slamming my back to Gavin’s, I faced the werewolf trying to untangle himself from a demon of some kind whose whisky he had spilled in our last scuffle.
The ginger glanced over his shoulder long enough to see who was guarding his back, then turned back to his present dance partner.
“Gavin, you doing all right?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about me,” Gavin giggled as he dodged a blow and dealt a seriously ferocious punch to the kneecap that downed the fae in front of him. “Worry a bit more ’bout yer own hide.”
Gavin was fast. It was no wonder he was impressive enough to hang out with Ryker and get away with calling him a dusty old lizard.
The room was energized with the fighting. Creatures that were already inclined to aggression were either doing everything they could to keep the urge in check or joining the party. By now, a couple of tables were knocked over and anything in the room that didn’t want to be part of the fight had retreated to a corner or bailed entirely.
The demon tangling with Wolfie decked him. Hard. In the sternum. I watched him drop like a drunken stone as the demon turned on the rest of the wolves he was with. To their credit, they had already been trying to deal with one of the fae and a pissed-off warlock. I judged him as lower level and decided I didn’t need to flee the premises from impending magical doom quite yet.
With the wolves occupied or out cold, satisfaction wrapped around my cold bitch’s heart and I flashed the biggest Cheshire grin toward Ryker.
“You’re missing all the fun,” I purred.
“Yeah,” Gavin grunted, dodging a blow to his head. “Get in here, ya great oaf, it’ll be just like that time in Nepal.”
Ryker had been occupied nearby with something that had horns when he turned to say something to us. Then, I watched his eyes widen as he ran to me faster than my eyes could see him do it.
“Oh shi—” I whirled around to see whatever had made Ryker react like that, only to be met by a cloud of black dust to the face.
I coughed, hacking up soot and ash as I dropped to my hands and knees to avoid breathing any more of it in. With a growl that made my skin crawl, a huge presence was suddenly crouched over my smaller frame.
“Stay down,” Ryker ordered, his gravelly voice running down my spine in an exciting wave. The sound of him set off a hot coal somewhere in my stomach.
What the fuck is wrong with me? I must be drunker than I thought.
I shook the thought from my head and coughed again, looking around. A pair of skinny jeans and high-tops was facing me, possibly my assailant. They took a generous step back as Ryker turned to them. I could sense him standing over me, coming to his full height and snarling.
“Back off and you walk away from this in one piece, witch,” Ryker warned.
I shivered in that good way again, then looked around for Gavin as I recovered from the black smoke attack. Gavin was having a ball, throwing expert blows and doing some pretty insane moves. Color me impressed. The witch in front of me, on the other hand, had grown a spine and held her ground to Ryker.
“Move aside and leave that stain to her own kind,” she insisted.
Ryker let out a roar and I looked up in time to see him lunge at the witch, claws protruding from his fingertips and his teeth elongating into sharp knives.
“Oh shit,” I whispered and crawled away toward Gavin.
Most of the room still hadn’t seemed to place what exactly Ryker was yet other than dangerous, and now they were giving him a lot more space and definitely some of their attention in case he came their way.
I got out from under him and set myself up back-to-back with Gavin again. I was winded, but the adrenaline pumping through me had me riding high and cackling right next to the big ginger.
“All right there?” he asked.
“Yup.” I let out a breathy laugh. “I’m good.”
I heard a crash as the demon that was playing with the puppies was thrown into an unoccupied booth, snapping the table’s base and sliding down to the sticky bar floor.
“Enough!” A high voice echoed through my skull, giving me a sharp stab to the brain even after it receded.
I found myself frozen. Literally frozen. I was midswing on a fae who was fighting Gavin when a thin layer of ice crawled up my legs and encased most of my body. I wasn’t alone either. My head was left untouched and I glanced around with the other patrons, seeing that everyone else was frozen too. I tried to wiggle my fingers, wondering if it was worth the possible explosion if I tried to melt the ice with what little flame I could muster. As long as it didn’t backfire and burn me instead, as was the case about half the time I tried to use my powers.
The buzz cut werewolf snarled and broke himself out of his ice prison, only to be consumed by even more ice until he couldn’t even move his head. A small hole had been left for him to breathe through.
Okay, noted. Don’t try to escape.
I couldn’t turn enough to see Gavin, but Ryker had a well-humored grin on his face so I didn’t think we were in too much danger. Then I saw the source of our predicament.
The girl from the bar—whom I was now convinced was Daliah—walked slowly around the room as she looked each creature in the eye. She stopped near us and asked, “Who started this?”
The vote was pretty split. Half of the room gestured at me, or nodded if they didn’t have the use of their arms; the other half at the wolf asshat that had bloodied my mouth on my mug.
She sighed and waved a hand, melting us from our prisons. We all stayed where we were, and no one dared to throw any new punches.
“You’re both banned for a month,” she said, eyeing the passed-out wolf at her feet, then turned to his friends. “Get him out of here.”
They came over quickly to collect him and took him toward the door.
“Come on,” Ryker rumbled and walked on by. I followed him and Gavin, who was already on his way out the door laughing.
By the time we got to the crisp parking lot, the sun had started to set and the wolves were all long gone. I yawned, satisfied as we approached the jeep and excited to have a story to tell Jerod.
A hand gripped my shoulder and spun me around, slamming me against the vehicle. I gasped, staring into a pair of burning silver eyes.
“What the hell was that for?” he growled.
“Easy, Ryker,” Gavin cautioned. “No worse shit than you’ve started in your day.”
“I didn’t start it,” I managed to protest. “You heard him bring up the bounty.”
He scowled at me, his nostrils flaring as he sighed through his nose and let go of my shoulder.
“You’re barely a flicker of a witch and you could have gotten yourself killed. Most of the things in that room could have snapped you like a twig.”
Now it was my turn to be pissed. The alcohol wasn’t helping either, though I have to admit that being encased in ice had sobered me up quite a bit. “What would you have me do, sit there while the big strong creatures around me decided who got the bounty? You’ll remember that’s exactly what your plans for me were from the beginning!”
“Easy,” Gavin said. “Dani’s right, those wolves wanted the money and I’m sure they aren’t the only ones who heard that. We need to move before someone else gets any bright ideas.”
Ryker stared me down, jaw tight and fists clenched. When his shoulders loosened, he closed his eyes. “I’m sorry. You’re right, I can’t expect you to sit there and let us handle it for you. But I swore to you I would protect you, and I meant that.”
That knocked some of the fight out of me. “I could have warned you or something,” I admitted.
“Like hell you could have,” Gavin snorted. “If you were half a second slower your head would have gotten knocked right off your shoulders.”
My fingers reached up to trace my neck as I grimaced. “Ugh.”
“Are we ready for the plan?” Ryker asked, looking skyward. “The vamps will be waking up now.”
My heart skipped. Days of talking it out, and I was still terrified of the vampires ahead of me. But I trusted Ryker and Gavin, as much as I was able to trust anyone in this situation. I could have chosen to go straight back home, but with those wolves looking for me and the bounty still active, there was no telling when I’d be put right back in danger. At least this way I had hopes that a dragon with a vendetta would put an end to it for me and all the other outcast witches. I just had to stick to the plan and this nightmare could be over.
“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Twelve
Dani
“We’ll be there in a minute,” Gavin said from the front seat, turning down a particularly earsplitting guitar solo on the radio. “You need to go over it again?”
“Not much to remember,” I said, not taking my eyes off the snow on the window. “Act scared, get collected, find out what I can from where they hold the witches, you guys bust me back out before they take me to Apollo.”
“Don’t do anything stupid to get yourself in trouble,” Ryker warned. “Have a good look around, see what any other witches there might have to say about it, then we’ll get you back out in an hour.”
“From what I’m told, they have a plane to take whoever they have collected once a week to Apollo’s Toronto compound. Not that we’re lettin’ ya stay in there long enough to see it anyway,” Gavin said.
“Seems simple enough,” I mumbled. “Let’s do it.”
But if my parents had instilled in me one single rule, it was to never expect a plan to go as expected. Something still itched at the back of my mind. My anklet had a steady, throbbing burn as it warned me I was getting closer and closer to things that wanted to capture me. I didn’t need the reminder when my heart was beating in time with the charms.
“We’ll speak English. That way you can understand us, and we show Oleg we’re doing this on our terms,” Gavin said.
“Thanks,” I murmured, and turned back to the window, not feeling much up to talking. I tried to loosen the knot in my stomach as I watched the scenery out the window.
Through several twisty roads and into a patch of trees, we finally arrived at a compound. Ryker leaned back and helped me tie my wrists together for effect. They used a ripped-up T-shirt so it looked improvised. We had rope in the car, but that shit stings, and though it was tight I was thankful for the cotton instead.
“Almost there,” Gavin said.
Ryker leaned back, locking eyes with me. “Dani, we’re here with you. I got you.”
My fingers itched to reach out—a sudden urge to pull his face closer and steal another kiss like the one in his kitchen. I got you. How many people in my life had said that to me? How many did I believe? But I knew Ryker meant it, so instead of the million and one other things I could have said or done while my insides were a knot and my pulse was all over the place, I just answered him, “I know.”
