Val & her tiger

Chapter 1

1      

The alien squeals, twangs, and buzzes that reverberated through the unmarked alley door sounded more like a wrecker flattening cars in a junkyard than music. Two dumpsters overflowing with bags of decomposing food, coffee filters, and used bathroom-cleaning supplies stood to either side of the entrance. A rat scurried out from behind one dumpster on its way to the other, dragging a rotting fish head in its mouth. 

“Are you sure this is the right place?” I asked Nin, friend, food-truck owner, and the craftswoman who’d made the magical submachine pistol—Fezzik, I’d named it—that I carried in my thigh holster. 

My finger wasn’t far from the trigger now. On the way in, we’d spotted a massive clawed footprint in a dusting of spilled flour sticking to brown goo on the cracked pavement. I checked to make sure my magical longsword, Chopper, was loose in my back scabbard, the hilt within reach behind my shoulder. 

Nin nodded, her blue pigtails flopping. “This is where I’m meeting my client. Did you not say you had been here before?” 

Her soft precise English was barely audible over the music and the cars honking on the nearby Capitol Hill street. It was almost ten, but it was a warm rain-free summer night, and Seattle wasn’t bedding down yet. 

“Yeah,” I said. “That’s why I’m asking if you’re sure it’s the right place and really want to go in.” 

“I must go in. I was offered a handsome delivery fee to bring the ogre hunter in person.” Nin patted a long package covered in the same brown paper she used to wrap the beef-and-rice dishes she sold from her truck. The shotgun inside, with explosive rounds designed to plow holes into the hardiest magical bad guy, oozed magic to my half-elven senses. “I need to earn every penny I can so I can help my family come to America. But you may wait outside if you’re worried that you will not be welcome.” 

I snorted. I’d known I wouldn’t be welcome the second she’d proposed this, but Nin made my magical ammunition and gave me free meals. She’d looked a little worried about being asked to come here for the drop-off, so I’d volunteered to come along. If I ended up in a bar fight—or worse—so be it. Having people regularly try to kill you keeps you sharp. 

“Nah, I’ll come in. This is the perfect place to test my new armor.” I opened my duster, pushed my shirt up, and slid a hand over the sleek metal mesh vest. “It’s like silk and almost as light. I love it already.” 

It truly would be good to try it in a low-key situation before relying on it during a mission. I needed to know it would stop magical bullets, swords, and fangs and claws. We’d fired a few rounds at it, but I would feel better once it had been battle-tested. 

“I believe you can be arrested if you are caught touching yourself like that in public.” Nin’s dark eyes crinkled. 

As the crafter of the armor, she was pleased by my reaction. After four years working with her, I could tell. 

“I can’t help it. If something feels nice under your fingers, it makes you want to rub it.” An image flashed into my mind of the dragon Zav, shape-shifted into his handsome human form, with his chest bared and my fingers rubbing it. 

I grimaced. It had been three weeks since an enemy dragon had compelled me to kiss Zav to distract him during an impending battle, and my dreams had been ridiculously lurid since then. They were pissing me off. No arrogant asshole of a dragon should be allowed to occupy my mind, even my sleeping mind, for that many hours. Ridiculous. 

“I’ll go first.” I shoved the bare chest out of my thoughts and patted Nin on the shoulder. “Way first. You better wait a minute to come in, so any shrapnel flying off me doesn’t hit you.” 

“I can simply stand behind you. You are a giant wall.” 

Nin was barely over five feet tall and would probably have to carry the “ogre hunter” on the scale with her to top a hundred pounds. Since I was six feet tall, that was possibly a fair thing to say, but… 

“It’s not polite to call a woman giant or a wall in this country. I’m tall, lithe, dangerous, and the appropriate weight for my height.” No need to mention that I kept an inhaler in my pocket and bad air quality could take me down like a demolitions team imploding a skyscraper. 

“Two of me could fit behind you.” 

“Ha ha. Just stay back.” I braced myself to deal with the music—and a whole bunch of magical beings who wanted me dead—and walked through the door. 

Armor-testing aside, I hoped there wouldn’t be a fight. I got paid to assassinate vile criminals, not beat up magical beings in bar fights. I wished these people would figure out that I only hunted down their kin who committed crimes, not random members of their community. But I knew better than to expect anything had changed. 

As I descended the stairs to the basement establishment that had neither a name, a website, nor a phone number, the smell of booze mingling with dozens of sweaty non-human patrons hit me as hard as the music. Orcs with tusks writhed and wiggled on the cement dance floor in the middle, and green-skinned goblins sat at indestructible plastic tables along the walls. Four hulking trolls claimed stools at the bar in the back, and shifters of all sorts congregated at the axe-throwing cage, hurling hatchets at a picture of a fanged vampire that had been pinned up over the plywood target. At least it wasn’t a picture of me. 

But everyone here could sense the auras of magical beings, including half-magical beings, and two dozen sets of eyes turned in my direction when I walked in. 

The blue-skinned, white-haired troll owner squinted at me from the bar as he poured beer and sludge—a drink fermented from moss that orcs couldn’t get enough of. Since the music kept playing, I couldn’t hear the whispers of Ruin Bringer, Mythic Murderer, and Deathstalker, the nicknames the magical community had for me, but I could read them on their lips. 

Coming here probably hadn’t been a good idea. Nin might have been safer without me. Though if everyone was focused on me, maybe she wouldn’t have to worry about being mugged while she waited for her buyer. 

Two male shifters left the axe-throwing area, weaved through the orcs, and walked up to me with the predatory grace common for their kind. There was a lupine aspect to them, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t heard I’d recently taken out a bunch of lion and panther shifters from the Northern Pride. 

One came to my right side and the other stopped in front of me, their proximity almost making me draw Fezzik. Dark-haired, yellow-eyed, and made of hard, sinewy muscle, the shifters were close enough that I could smell the mossy sludge on their breath. 

The one in front reached for the flap of my duster, but I caught his wrist. Shifters were fast, but this guy’s reflexes weren’t up to par right now. 

“It’s not for sale,” I said. 

“What?” He looked at his buddy. 

“The jacket.” I pushed his arm back and let go. “I’m just here for a drink.” 

“This place doesn’t serve the Ruin Bringer.” 

His buddy on the right was the one to lunge for me. 

He was lightning fast, especially for a drunk guy, but I’d expected trouble. I sprang to the left, evading his grasp, and launched a side kick. The shifter was almost quick enough to dodge, but my heel clipped his hip and sent him spinning into two of the dancers. 

An orc with saliva moistening his tusks whirled, grabbed him, and threw him onto one of the sturdy tables. The goblins around it leaped up, cursing at their spilled drinks. 

The shifter in front of me started changing into a massive black wolf, his skin warping, blurring, and sprouting fur. Before he finished the transformation, I planted a front kick in his chest and sent him stumbling into the growing crowd of onlookers. 

I grasped the cat-shaped figurine on my charm necklace. “Sindari,” I whispered, summoning my ally. 

One of the orc dancers charged toward me as two already-transformed lion shifters sprang toward me, their roars thundering over the music. 

Sindari, a great silver tiger from another realm, solidified out of a mist and intercepted the big lions. A burly half-troll the orc had been dancing with charged after him, eager to join in against me. 

They reached me, fists leading. I whipped up blocks to deflect their powerful blows and threw punches whenever I had an opening. Resisting the urge to draw my weapons, I put my back to the wall by the door so nobody could get behind me. I hadn’t come to kill anybody, and I hoped the owner would break this up, if only to protect his establishment from damage. 

As I traded blows with my two opponents, a part of me was exhilarated at the battle, but most of me stayed focused, gauging where the threats were in the room. Sindari was slashing and biting, keeping the lions busy, but the two wolf shifters had recovered from my kicks and were looking for an opening to lunge back in. I might have to draw Fezzik to get everyone to back off. 

A click sounded, someone readying a switchblade. It was the half-troll. She rushed toward my side, knife jabbing. 

Here was the opportunity to test my armor, but my instincts wouldn’t let me take the hit when I had the power to deflect it. I knocked the blade high with a block to her forearm, then sprang in, hammering a palm strike into her broad chin. As her head snapped back, I kicked the blade out of her grip. It slammed into the wood doorframe and stuck, handle quivering. 

I’d turned enough to move my back from the wall, and, sensing someone reaching for me from behind, I threw another kick, this one to the rear. An inhuman yowl sounded as it connected with an orc’s nuts. 

Are we killing these enemies? Sindari asked telepathically, his voice as calm as a tranquil lake as he slashed and bit, keeping the two lions from reaching me. 

No, I replied in my mind. This is a bar fight, not a mission. 

People are trying to kill you. 

Someone across the room drew a pistol and aimed it in my direction. My opponents weren’t tall enough to block his view, so I ducked low and grabbed the switchblade out of the doorframe. The gunman fired. As the bullet slammed into the door, I sensed a blur of an enchantment to it. I almost wished I’d let that one hit me so I could test the armor, but he’d been aiming at my head, not my chest. 

It does seem that way, I admitted to Sindari and threw the switchblade. 

The clunky weapon wasn’t weighted for throwing, but enthusiasm and good aim did wonders. It thudded into the gunman’s shoulder, and he dropped his pistol. 

A meaty orc fist flashed in from the side as one of the wolves crept in from the other side. I whipped my head back as the blow breezed past my nose and caught my assailant’s wrist. Gliding into him, I thrust with my hip and threw the orc over my shoulder. He smashed into the wolf. 

As I readied myself for another opponent, a thunderous boom sounded just a few feet away—a weapon firing with the oomph of a howitzer. Everyone in the bar halted to stare at the gunman. The gunwoman. 

Nin had unwrapped her “ogre hunter” and fired it at the ceiling. The pump-action shotgun had left a sizable hole in the tin tiles and probably in the floor above. Hopefully the coffee shop and restaurant up there were closed for the night. 

“It is time now to put an end to the fight,” Nin said calmly but as loudly as her little voice could manage, “or I will blow your fucking heads off.” She grinned and winked at me. 

Cute, quirky Nin swearing was like a Disney character swearing, and it usually startled people into paying attention. It had that effect this time—or maybe the booming gunshot had. 

“Enough,” growled the troll owner, stepping out from behind the bar. Eight feet tall and half as wide, he waded toward us, pushing patrons aside with his meaty hands. “Go back to your drinks, everyone. I’ll handle this.” 

He glared at me, glanced at the hole in the ceiling, and gave Nin an exasperated look. 

“I bought indestructible tables for this place,” he said in a voice like a bear’s growl. “I didn’t know I’d need the ceiling to be indestructible.” 

Even though Nin had fired, the troll continued to glare at me. 

“What do you want here?” he demanded. 

“I am here to meet a client and sell this fine weapon.” Nin patted the big gun and nodded toward a back table where a hyena-headed gnoll dropped his face into his hand in a very human gesture. 

“Go.” The troll pointed Nin toward her contact, then pointed at me. “You came here to kill a werebear three years ago. I told you to stay out then.” 

“He was a murderer and a rapist.” 

“This is a safe place for our kind.” 

“This is a bar, not some holy sanctuary. Besides, no place should be safe for murderers.” 

“If the law guardians come, so be it, but you are an assassin. Mongrel scum.” He spat on his own floor. Maybe someone else handled cleanup at the end of the night. “You’re worse than the dark elves.” 

My ears would have perked up like a cat’s if they could. Dark elves had been here? My employer, Colonel Willard, and I were looking for information on the dark elves hiding out somewhere in the city. Hiding out and plotting nefarious schemes and creating dangerous artifacts. 

Sindari, his opponents having backed away after the gunshot, padded silently up behind the troll. Shall I bite this hulk in the ass? 

No. I’m negotiating with him. 

Are you sure? He looks like he’s about to throw you out. 

That’s because I haven’t turned on my charm yet. I smiled at the troll, raised my eyebrows in a friendly manner, and nudged my duster open enough to show the curve of my breasts. 

“Dark elves, you say? Would you be interested in telling me what you know about them for a few dollars?” 

He threw a punch at my face. 

I hadn’t expected it, and I barely dodged in time. His fist slammed into the doorframe, leaving it cracked and smashed. 

When will you start turning on your charm? Sindari asked blandly. 

I’ll let you know. 

As the troll pulled his fist out of the doorframe, I grabbed his wrist and looked into his stone-gray eyes, then said words sure to charm any business owner. “Tell me about your dark-elf visitors, and I’ll pay a few dollars to have your ceiling fixed.” 

He glared at my presumptuous hand wrapped around his tree-trunk wrist, but Sindari growled from behind him, poised to take a bite out of his butt—or spring and snap his jaws around the troll’s neck. I wasn’t smiling now, and even though I was female, blonde, and not bad looking, few people dismissed me as a non-threat. I’d been in the business long enough to earn a lethal reputation. 

The troll squinted as he considered Chopper, the hilt visible behind my shoulder, and then me. His eyes narrowed further in contemplation. Of what? Something shifty? 

“If you pay me a few hundred dollars for the ceiling and handle a problem the dark elves left me, I will consider letting you walk out of here alive.” 

I almost pointed out that he wasn’t in a position to keep me from leaving, but his gaze flicked to the sides. The entire establishment was watching this confrontation, including the shifters and orcs I’d been fighting. They were poised to spring at me if I tried to walk out. 

It didn’t matter. This had started as a favor to Nin, but now I had a lead. I wouldn’t leave before learning what I could about the dark elves. 

“What kind of problem?” I couldn’t imagine what an eight-foot-tall troll couldn’t handle on his own. 

He yanked his wrist out of my grip—with his strength, I couldn’t have kept him from doing that even if I’d wanted to. 

“Follow me.” 

Sindari stepped aside so the troll could head toward a corridor in the back. I do not trust him, Val. 

I don’t either. 

You’re still going to follow him, aren’t you? 

Yup.

Chapter 2

2      

Sindari stuck close to my side as I followed the troll owner deeper into the establishment. Nin, who’d taken a seat with her gnoll client, watched me pass, her face tight with concern. I gave her a thumbs-up, even though I suspected the troll was leading me into trouble. 

That feeling didn’t go away as we entered a windowless cement hallway with rooms opening up to the sides full of couches littered with orcs, trolls, kobolds, goblins, and even a ten-foot-tall giant. The eclectic patrons were talking, making deals, or making out. Or all three. 

I’d never seen this part of the establishment and wouldn’t have guessed all this was under the Capitol Hill coffee shop where hipsters got their cold brews and avocado toast in the mornings. 

Dull green and blue lightbulbs mounted on the walls glowed behind cages. Rather than creating some appealing ambiance, it turned everyone a sickly gray-green. The air smelled of mold. How mold could grow on cement walls, I didn’t know, but my sensitive lungs objected to the scent, and I would need to use my inhaler if I was down here for too long. Just the kind of weakness I loved to show off in front of a basement full of enemies. 

“What’s your name, boss?” I asked my guide. 

Maybe it wasn’t too late to establish a rapport with him. 

He glared daggers over his shoulder at me, his blue lips rippling back to show gold-capped teeth and fangs. 

One of his staff called him Rupert, Sindari informed me. 

A terror-inspiring name. 

On their world, trolls are usually moss and peat farmers. 

He has a lot of fangs for an herbivore. 

They also battle and eat the alligator-like creatures that live in their swamps and prey on their people. 

I don’t want to meet the alligator large enough to prey on trolls. 

They’re smaller than dragons. 

I don’t want to meet any more dragons either. 

Is that so? Why did Sindari sound so skeptical? 

As the troll—Rupert—slowed down, Sindari murmured, Familiar magic, into my mind. 

What do you mean? My senses were bombarded by the auras of so many magical beings in one establishment that I couldn’t pick anything specific out of the miasma. 

And a familiar door. Sindari’s green eyes pointed toward the end of the hall. 

Rupert had stopped, and it was hard to see much around his hulking form, but I could make out shiny steel in a thick metal frame set into the cement wall. When he stepped aside, the spinning circular latch of a bank vault door was visible. 

My gut twisted. This vault door was identical to the one that had been under the panther shifters’ house in Bothell. 

You can sense magic through it? I asked Sindari. The same as before? 

I hoped not. 

Yes. The door is a magic sink and is muting it, but my senses are sublime. I detect something similar to that dark-elf orb. 

Another time, I would have cracked a joke about his sublimeness, but memories of that night flooded my mind, and I relived my battle with the shifters and the dragon Dobsaurin. I’d been so proud to leap on Dob’s chest, drive Chopper through his heart, and kill him before he could kill me—or force me to kill the injured Zav. Until Zav had gotten angry with me for slaying a dragon and warned me that there could be repercussions from the Dragon Justice Court. I hadn’t seen him again since that night, but Dob’s body had disappeared from its impromptu morgue, and I had little doubt Zav’s people had come for it. For a burial or an investigation? Maybe both. 

“This is the problem.” Rupert spun the latch. 

As soon as he pulled open the door, lavender light and tangible magic poured out. Familiar magic, as Sindari had promised. 

Like a heavy mist, it flooded the hallway, wrapped around us and called to something deep inside me. More than one curious magical being came to the doors of the side rooms and peered toward the open door. 

One of the wolf shifters I’d been fighting, now back in human form, strode down the hallway, his eyes glazed. He didn’t see me, Sindari, or Rupert as he stepped through the doorway to be swallowed by the lavender light. 

He was pulled by the magic, the promise of pleasure. As was I. 

Once again, images flashed into my mind, a mixture of carnal pleasures—what would I have to do to keep Zav from featuring in these things?—and then less salacious desires, such as to hang out with my daughter on her trip over to Idaho this summer, and to share my home with friends and family, rather than living alone out of the fear that enemies would target people I cared about. 

Val? Sindari bumped my hip. 

I’m fine, I assured him. 

You took two steps toward that door. 

Rupert wants us to investigate it. 

Let me go in alone. It has some magical allure for humans. Your face got blank there. Any enemy could have stabbed you in the back. 

Not with you protecting me. But I took his point. It had been ridiculously hard to resist the allure of the first orb, and this one was just as strong, if not stronger. I drew Chopper, willing the blade to help me push the invading presence out of my mind. It’s not just humans. The shifters under the house were really into this thing. 

Moans drifted out of the room. 

Yes, but they’re human too. From what I’m seeing, the other races here are curious but not as drawn. Sindari glanced back down the hall. A human woman wandered out of a side room and walked past us and through the open door, but the goblins, orcs, and other beings had returned to what they’d been doing. 

That’s interesting. But shifters aren’t really human, are they? They’re from—Asgash…something. What’s the name of their world? 

Osgashandril. 

Right. Flows right off the tongue. They’re not originally from Earth. They’ve come as refugees, the same as the others. 

It is true they came back recently as refugees, but their ancestors were originally taken from Earth. 

Before I could ask for clarification, Rupert pointed into the room. “Go investigate my problem. That sword will not help you.” 

Actually, it would. Chopper didn’t make me immune to mental compulsion or attacks, but it lent some protection from them. 

“Swords are handy. You never know when you’ll need to scratch between your shoulder blades.” Watch my back, please, Sindari. 

Always. 

Rupert gestured me to go in instead of leading me in himself. I imagined him locking the door, chortling, and running off, but I sensed many other people—his patrons, presumably—inside. 

I stepped across the threshold and squinted, willing my eyes to adjust so I could pick out details. The room smelled even more strongly of mold. What a lovely place to install a magical pleasure orb. 

A lavender sphere identical to the one I’d destroyed in Bothell floated in the air in the center of a large storage room filled with people. As Sindari had suggested, they were all humans and shifters, not any other species, and they didn’t glance my way. They were transfixed by the orb, which pulsed like a beating heart, darker purple veins running along its glassy lavender surface. 

I could barely see those veins because so many humans and shifters had their chests and faces plastered to the artifact, arms spread to embrace it, not seeming to notice that they were hip to hip and face to face with each other. Other people were barely touching the orb, instead pressed against the backs of those who were closer to it, with only their hands touching the pulsing surface. Some of the mesmerized souls stood still while others writhed and groaned against the orb. Still more people lay on the cement floor where it appeared they’d passed out after sating themselves on the pleasure-inducing mental magic. 

A faint hint of semen and urine mingled with the mold, and my gut clenched. Weren’t these people even leaving to pee? 

“What’s the problem?” I asked—Rupert was watching me intently from the hallway, and I had a feeling he hoped I’d plaster myself against the orb too. “Other than that your clients don’t know when to leave to use a toilet?” 

His stone-gray eyes narrowed, his blocky face twisting in disappointment. By my lack of a reaction? 

Oh, I was reacting—I felt the pull keenly—but I’d resisted the other orb, and I would resist this one. 

“That’s part of the problem,” Rupert growled. “The other is this.” He stepped inside and used one of his size-twenty boots to nudge a woman sleeping on the floor. 

No, not sleeping, I realized. Even though magic bombarded my senses and muddled everything, she was close enough that I could tell she no longer had an aura. She was dead. 

“Some people have their fun and leave,” Rupert said, “but some aren’t smart enough to. They fall down and die from sensory overload or something.” He shrugged. He didn’t know the science. 

I couldn’t guess at it either. Someone on Willard’s forensics team should be sent to study this, but if all humans were affected… 

Sindari, what do you mean shifters came from Earth? And am I not completely pulled in because I’m half elven? Would elves be affected by this, or do you think it was designed to target humans specifically? 

I thought about the dark-elf alchemist’s notebook that I’d recovered from their lair. Willard had it locked in a vault in her office now, but I’d seen the translation. It was a recipe book on how to make “poisonous pleasure orbs.” The Pardus brothers had said they’d been given their orb because it was a prototype with a few problems. Maybe the dark elves had refined the recipe and were distributing more of these around the city, to lure in humans and cause this result. People dying. How many could they create? How many had they already created? 

That would be my guess as to why you can resist it, yes, Sindari replied. 

I thought it was Chopper and my superior willpower. 

Sindari didn’t comment on that. As far as the shifters, some thirty thousand of your years ago, humans were taken from this world and deposited on Osgashandril, a world full of unstable magic. Plants and animals there warp and shift with the tidal fluctuations from its three moons. Dragons of the time wanted to know if the world would be safe for colonization, so they dropped off humans and animals from Earth to see what would happen to them. They adapted to Osgashandril but were altered by it, gaining the ability to shift forms. 

A large meaty hand landed on my shoulder. Rupert. 

I tensed, thinking it an attack, and almost whipped my sword up to drive him back. But Rupert gazed down at me with hooded eyes. 

“If you are not drawn to the orb, perhaps we can go to my office,” he murmured in a low rumble, “and discuss the repair of my ceiling.” 

I glanced at Sindari. Is this troll making a pass at me? 

I believe so, but I am not an expert in this area. I thought you were flirting with Lord Zavryd when you assured me you were not. 

Ugh. Trolls didn’t fall for humans as a general rule. Rupie here must be affected at least somewhat by the orb too. 

Yes. 

“Let’s go to your office, yes.” I assumed Rupert’s ardor would fade once we shut that door, and my lungs were growing tight from exposure to the damn mold. The idea of me losing my mind and then dying in this chamber because I wasn’t aware of my body’s need for medicine made me shudder. 

Rupert didn’t close the door as he walked out, so I did. Firmly. I felt guilty leaving people to possibly die in there, but if I drove them away, wouldn’t they simply come back? Assuming they budged in the first place if I swatted them on their butts with my sword. 

By the time we reached Rupert’s office, his sexual interest had faded—thankfully. The idea of pushing away the advances of an eight-foot troll was alarming. 

“What do you want me to do?” I asked. “Destroy it?” 

Nin’s magical grenades—or maybe the ceiling collapsing—had destroyed the last one, so I knew it was possible. But I couldn’t collapse the ceiling under an eight-story building full of restaurants, retail shops, and apartments. 

“I can’t destroy it,” Rupert said. “I’m being paid to have it here.” 

“By whom?” 

“A dark elf. Yemeli-lor.” 

I froze. That was one of the two dark elves Zav had been sent to retrieve for “punishment and rehabilitation” from the Dragon Justice Court. I’d never seen either of them when I’d been in the dark-elf lair—or if I had, I hadn’t known it—and Zav was, as far as I knew, still looking for them. 

“Her mate, Baklinor-ten, comes sometimes and watches and makes notes,” Rupert said. 

“Watches? From where? The doorway?” 

“No.” Rupert opened a hidden door in the cement wall between two stacks of kegs and led me into a narrow, dark tunnel. 

We came to a small room with a window that overlooked the orb chamber, a window that hadn’t been visible from the other side. The wall insulated us from the magic, but I once again felt some of the orb’s pull. Proximity made it stronger. With the bank vault door closed, the people inside were more vigorous, and a threesome had paired up—threed up—and was having sex under the orb itself. 

“Why do you have a two-way mirror in your pub?” I couldn’t keep from sneering in disapproval and looking away from the scene. 

Rupert didn’t seem that interested in watching the display either. “The dark elves put it in for scientific observation, they said.” He pointed to a table and chair. “Baklinor-ten sits there and takes notes.” 

Sindari padded into the room, sniffing around the area and lowering his head to peer under the table. 

“I was told those two dark elves were a high priestess and a warrior, not scientists.” I was fairly certain that was how Zav had described them. 

Rupert shrugged. “They are both. Their society values academics, and most of them study some branch of science.” 

“They must be paying you well if you let them alter your establishment.” 

“They paid well, but…” Rupert eyed me. “I didn’t know people would be killed by this thing. I’ve carted out several bodies now. But dark elves are dangerous. It wasn’t just about the money. I worried there would be repercussions if I refused to do business with them.” 

It dawned on me that he was confessing, laying the groundwork for being more victim than perpetrator. Maybe his original plan had been for me to grow so enraptured that he or someone else could stick a dagger between my shoulder blades, but since that hadn’t happened, he was now worried I’d report this to my boss. And be sent to assassinate him because he was facilitating the deaths of shifters and humans. Not everybody in that room had been magical. 

“I get it,” I said. “They’re not fun to deal with.” 

He nodded, relieved. 

I suspected I could have walked out without paying him, but I still hoped that one day the magical community would realize I wasn’t their enemy, as long as they didn’t commit horrible crimes. It would be great if they realized they would be better off helping me than attacking me at every turn. At the least, I would love to gain their indifference. 

Val. Sindari came over with something in his mouth. 

I held out my hand, and he dropped something that reminded me of a brass cufflink into it. 

Is this a magical artifact that will help me defend the world from evil? 

I think it holds up the dark-elf’s pants. 

What, they don’t have elastic? 

I do not believe so. 

You said his. You think this is Baklinor-ten’s? Are you sure? 

It has the scent of a dark elf about it. I’ve never met him, so I don’t know if it’s his specifically, but… 

“Is Baklinor-ten the only dark elf that’s been here?” I asked Rupert, trying not to think about why the supposed scientist would have been messing around with his pants in here. 

“His mate came when they installed the orb and threatened me into cooperation.” Rupert was emphasizing that now, that he’d been coerced. He wanted to make sure I didn’t fault him. “But only he has come to observe.” 

“Thanks.” I slipped the piece of metal into a zippered pocket, then pulled out the cash I carried for when I needed to bribe people into talking. I counted out five hundred dollars and handed it to Rupert. “For the ceiling repairs.” 

His thick eyebrows rose. “I didn’t think you would pay.” 

“No matter what rumors are trending about me in the magical community, I’m not a villain.” 

The skeptical twist of his face shouldn’t have stung—it wasn’t as if it was a new reaction—but I did wish I could change these people’s minds. 

My phone buzzed. Willard. 

“Yeah?” I left the weird viewing room and headed for the exit. 

“We’ve got a new problem, Thorvald,” Willard said, her southern drawl more terse than usual. 

“Are you sure? I’m still working on our old problem.” 

“I’m sure. Your ex-husband and daughter may be in danger.”

Chapter 3

3      

I waited until I’d reached the relative isolation of the alley before asking Willard for details. “What do you mean Amber and Thad are in danger? They’re not even in the city right now.” 

Thanks to a call from my mother, I knew that Thad and Amber had gone on a summer trip over to Northern Idaho. Mom was going with them. They hadn’t invited me, but I hadn’t expected them to. I hadn’t spoken to Thad—or, sadly, Amber—in years. For their own good, I’d told myself many, many times. 

“They’re vacationing at Lake Coeur d’Alene, right?” Willard asked. 

“How do you know that? I only know because my mom told me.” 

“It’s on your daughter’s social-media page. We keep tabs on them in case someone finds out they’re a lever that can be used against you.” 

I gritted my teeth. As much as I appreciated that Willard didn’t want anything to happen to my family, the idea of the military spying on them disturbed me. I’d taken great care to keep anyone from knowing that Thad and Amber were linked to me in any way. It wasn’t surprising that Willard’s office knew about them—I’d met Thad when we’d both been in the army, after all—but if the soldiers there knew, how many others might know? 

“Something’s going on in a little town on the east side of the lake,” Willard said. “There haven’t been any murders or anything incredibly troubling yet, so I would usually send one of my salaried soldiers instead of calling you, especially since we’re researching this dark-elf threat right now. But I’ll make an exception if you want. I’m not sure where exactly your family is staying, but there aren’t that many towns around the lake. If it’s possible they’re in the problem area, I thought you might want to take this assignment yourself.” 

“What problem area? What’s going on?” 

“So far, there have been several reports to the sheriff in Harrison, Idaho, of damage done to parked cars and buildings and also of things going missing. Everything from garage tools to trailers and boats. Goblins have been spotted in the area, and there have also been a lot more sasquatch sightings than usual.” 

“Than usual? How many sasquatch sightings are a normal amount?” 

“A couple a year in that area. We actually have more here west of the Cascades.” 

I digested that. Unlike goblins, orcs, trolls, and the other magical beings that originated on other worlds and had come here periodically throughout history via portals, sasquatch were, as far as I knew, a local myth without much basis in fact. 

“We’ve been called out a couple of times to look at footprints,” Willard added. “Large plantigrade footprints.” 

“Like those of a bear?” 

“I don’t know. We have our agent take a casting, and then it disappears into the evidence vault under the office. Have you been down there? It’s an interesting place.” 

“I’m sure. I’ll check it out next time I’m holiday shopping. Why would my family be in danger from goblins or sasquatch, assuming the latter exist?” 

“It’s possible they aren’t, and it’s possible this is nothing more than a few goblins looting a town for something they’re building, but they don’t usually vandalize property when they go scrounging for goods. It’s possible there’s something bigger going on. Do you want the assignment?” 

When I’d first learned about their trip, I’d been tempted to show up, but I’d talked myself out of that. I was positive they would be more alarmed than excited if I walked into their lives after years without contact. But if I happened to run into them while I was on a mission… that wasn’t weird, right? 

Not if I was a creepy stalker. 

I grimaced. I would email Thad before going over. If he had some warning, maybe it wouldn’t be quite so awkward. 

“Dream on,” I muttered. 

“What?” Willard asked. 

“Nothing. Yeah, I’ll go.” 

“At this point, I’m not asking you to take anyone out, and I’m not offering a combat bonus—” 

“You don’t think goblins stealing boats are a dreadful threat to humanity?” 

“—but I’ll arrange per-diem pay while you investigate. If things escalate, that may change. I’ll send over the sheriff’s reports and videos and photos that have been posted on local social-media accounts.” 

“I assume the newspapers don’t cover goblins or sasquatch?” 

“The Coeur d’Alene Press has not reported on the subject and has likely been instructed not to,” Willard said. 

“Remember the good old days when newspapers were independently owned and didn’t take squelch orders from the government or corporations?” 

“The world leaders got together years ago and decided that magical refugees from other worlds wouldn’t be reported or acknowledged. There’s not much we can do about it.” 

With more and more refugees showing up every year, especially these last few, I wondered how long that position could last. But as long as the government paid my salary, I wouldn’t rock the boat. 

I told Willard about the orb and the names of the dark elves. She promised to send agents to stake out the bar and watch for the duo while I was gone. 

“Maybe when you get back,” Willard added, “I’ll send you on a mission to steal that orb so we can study it.” 

That sounded like a challenging mission. How could I remove the orb when shifters were plastered all over it like bacon on a filet mignon? 

“It’s not going to fit in a purse.” 

“You’re clever. You’ll think of something.” 

“Have you ever noticed that you only praise me when you want something?” I asked. 

“No.” 

As I said goodbye and hung up, the door opened, and Nin walked into the alley. She no longer carried the shotgun, and she didn’t look worried, so I trusted she’d made her deal without trouble. Funny that she’d been the one who’d wanted me to come along and watch her back. 

“There is powerful magic in that place, isn’t there?” Nin asked. “I felt a huge surge where you were and this strange feeling like I should go check it out. That I would enjoy myself if I did.” Her forehead wrinkled. “Then it disappeared again.” 

“I’ll explain it later. Do me a favor, and don’t do any more deliveries here for a while, huh?” I pulled up my phone contacts and called my mother. It was after ten, so she ought to be at home. 

“Hello?” Her old-fashioned rotary phone didn’t have caller ID. 

“Hi, Mom. I have a question.” 

“Normal people don’t call this late.” 

I thought about mentioning that my boss had called me this late just to give me an assignment, but Willard was dedicated to her job, and we regularly exchanged information outside of work hours. I doubted anyone would call either of us normal. 

“I know,” I said. “Are you still planning to drive out and join Thad and Amber for their vacation?” 

“Yes. I finished packing earlier, and I’m leaving early in the morning. Did you change your mind about going? Have you talked to them?” 

“Not… exactly. But I may be in the area for an assignment. What’s the name of the town where they’re staying?” 

“I haven’t plugged it into the car’s map program yet.” She actually used the technology that had come with her SUV? Shocking. “Let me find the address.” 

While I waited, I pulled up a map of Lake Coeur d’Alene on my phone. The main city in the area, Coeur d’Alene itself, was on the northern end. The town Willard had mentioned, Harrison, was down on the southeast side, population two hundred and three. That was definitely a small enough place that some goblins might think they could get away with swiping things. It probably had a lot of vacation homes. 

With luck, Thad had opted for the excitement of the larger city. It was hard for me to imagine teenage Amber wanting to sit on a dock and fish. 

“Got it,” Mom said. “They’ve got a rental house on the lake for a week in Harrison.” 

I leaned back against one of the alley’s dumpsters and groaned. 

“Is that a problem?” Mom asked. 

Yes. 

What I said was, “I’ll make sure it isn’t.”

Chapter 4

4      

I left early in the morning, but it was noon by the time I passed through Coeur d’Alene and turned off the interstate to follow a road south along the lake to Harrison. I hoped I would get there before my mother, since Seattle was a more direct route than coming from Bend, but I doubted I could solve all the problems and wrap everything up simply by arriving two hours earlier. 

Besides, Mom could take care of herself. She probably had her Glock in the glove box and Rocket riding shotgun. I was more worried about Amber and Thad. 

The night before, I’d emailed him for the first time in years, letting him know I’d be in the area and trying not to feel silly talking about goblins and sasquatch. We’d been married for two years, and he’d never quite seemed to believe that magical beings existed or that I was half-elven, despite my mother sharing the tale of how she had met my pointy-eared father in the woods, and despite Thad knowing what my job had been in the army. He’d seemed to find my mother delightfully quirky and me… I’m still not sure what he saw in me, other than that he’d approved of my fantasy-novel collection. He was a good guy, and he’d been my attempt to settle down with someone nice and stable, to have a normal life and forget about being an assassin. That hadn’t lasted long. 

The tree-lined road grew windy quickly, and I had to concentrate on the drive. In spots, a cliff rose steeply on the left and the lake fell sharply away to the right. 

There wasn’t much traffic, so I didn’t have any warning when I came to a spot where the road had been washed out. No, more than washed out. It looked like sky giants had come down and ripped up the blacktop and land around it, sending it all tumbling down into the water. Logs lay scattered along the slope, further blocking the way. The roots were freshly uprooted, dirt still dangling from them. 

I stared dumbfounded. There hadn’t been any warning of a road closure on the GPS, nor were there any cones or barriers set up to keep drivers from careening off down the slope and into the lake. This had just happened. 

“Coincidence? Or does someone want to keep me from getting there?” It seemed hubris to believe this might have been done because of me, but in the past, magical beings had shot up neighborhoods, attempted to bomb a yoga studio, and successfully bombed a parking garage, all in an attempt to kill me. 

I rolled down the Jeep’s window and stuck my head out, looking at the pale blue sky as I reached out with my senses. This could have been done by lesser magical beings than dragons, but for a dragon, it would have been easy. But Dob was dead, Zav wouldn’t tear up a highway, and I didn’t sense the powerful auras of any other dragons around. Nor did I sense the lesser auras of other magical beings, neither in the sky, nor in the woods upslope from the destroyed road. 

Movement caught my eye in the distance between two evergreens. Something dark and furry and standing on two legs. As soon as I tried to focus on it, it disappeared into the undergrowth. 

“A bear?” That was my guess, but I couldn’t help but add, “A sasquatch?” 

I tapped the charms on the oft-repaired leather thong around my neck, tempted to summon Sindari to try to chase the creature down, but it had been at least a half mile away. The magic of his charm only allowed him to get a mile away from it before he snapped back to his own realm. If that furry critter could run quickly, it would be out of range before he could catch it. 

Besides, I would need Sindari’s help with the investigation in Harrison. This wasn’t the only road into town. I would have to backtrack and go around. 

As I turned my Jeep around to head back to I-90 and over to the next major road heading south, I wished I could call Mom to warn her. But she hadn’t entered the twenty-first century and didn’t own a cell phone. I’d have better luck telepathically communicating with her dog, Rocket, than leaving her a message. Nonetheless, I sent her a quick email in case she stopped somewhere with computer access along the way. 

While I was in my inbox, I noticed that Thad hadn’t responded to my email from the night before. I also noticed I only had one bar of cell reception. Hopefully, there would be coverage in Harrison. 

Before I’d driven more than a mile back north, the powerful magical aura of a dragon washed over me. 

I groaned. “I knew it.” 

It wasn’t Zav. 

I couldn’t think of any benign reasons for another dragon to be following me. Uneasy, I drove faster than was wise on the windy two-lane road, hoping in vain to get back to the highway before it showed up. As much as I would have liked to believe this was a coincidence, I highly doubted it. 

Unfortunately, I didn’t make it back to the highway before a dark shadow fell across the gray pavement behind the Jeep. With trees hemming in the road on either side, there was nowhere else to go. 

I stuck my head out the window again for a look. The dragon was huge, wings spanning wider than the road, and flying in the same direction I was going. And it was silver. Just like Dob. 

For a moment, I thought it was Dob, somehow healed by his people and returned from the dead to avenge himself on me. But even if this dragon was the same silver color and looked similar, my senses told me the aura was different. This was a new dragon. 

“Like that makes anything better.” 

The shadow increased speed, quickly going from behind the Jeep to in front of it. A bend in the road forced me to slow down, but as soon as I was around it, I floored the accelerator. 

Getting back to the interstate might not do anything to help me, but I had a delusional hope that the dragon wouldn’t attack if there were lots of witnesses, such as the drivers of semi-trucks barreling by on their way to the pass. 

The dragon landed on the road dead ahead. 

An unwise urge to keep my foot on the accelerator and plow into him came over me, but I quashed it and threw on the brakes. I couldn’t crash another vehicle this year. This Jeep wasn’t even mine. 

The tires squealed, and the dragon didn’t move an inch or show a sign that it was worried. The Jeep halted two feet from its forelegs. The dragon was crouching on muscled rear legs and smaller forelegs, sleek silver scales gleaming in the sun. Yellow eyes glowed as it lowered its head to regard me through the windshield. 

Zav had once warned me that his eyes glowed as a warning or when he was calling upon his magic. In other words, never for a reason conducive to the health of the person looking at them. 

I gave in to my second unwise urge of the minute and honked the horn. If the dragon was new to Earth, maybe the noise would startle it into jumping out of the way. But if a Jeep careening toward it with the tires squealing hadn’t scared it, the horn wouldn’t likely help. In my experience, it didn’t even work on cattle. 

Get out, a male voice spoke into my mind, the dragon not flinching at the noise. 

“You forgot to say please,” I called out the window. 

Get out now. This time, a mental compulsion laced the command, and I almost flung open the door and prostrated myself on the pavement before I caught myself. 

Growling, I grabbed my gun and sword from the passenger seat. Only Chopper had ever done anything against a dragon, and even then, only when the dragon had been so wounded that his magical shields had been down. Unfortunately, this big fellow did not appear wounded. He radiated the same kind of intense crackling energy that Zav did, and my skin crawled as I stepped outside and fully into his influence. 

“What can I do for you?” I closed the door and leaned casually against it, wondering if any of the gear in the vehicle could help me if he picked a fight. 

The only other things I had brought along were a tent, sleeping bag, hatchet, and my travel kit, with shampoo, soap, clothes, and extra ammunition for Fezzik. None of the contents would be useful, though I amused myself briefly imagining squirting toothpaste out of the tube and into his eyes. A heinous attack certain to debilitate him. 

You are insolent for a lesser species. I am Lord Shaygorthian of the Silverclaw Clan. You will address me as your lord or master. 

Ugh, Dob had been from the Silverclaw Clan. If this was some vengeful relative… I was in trouble. 

“Your master,” I said. “Got it. What can I do for you? You’re blocking traffic.” 

Not that there’d been much traffic, but a yellow pickup truck was heading this direction. Maybe Shaygor here would be less likely to kill me if there was a witness. 

Shaygor looked back, his fangs on display as his serpentine neck bent over his shoulder. 

Tires squealed as the truck braked, drove off the road and around trees, knocking off one of its mirrors, and then back onto the road in the other direction. At top speed. 

So much for my witness. 

The great scaled head turned back toward me. I have been appointed as inquisitor by the Dragon Justice Court to investigate the death of my son, Dobsaurin. 

His son? I kept my face as neutral as I could, but inside, it was hard not to tremble in fear. As soon as this guy figured out I’d killed his offspring, he would slaughter me. 

“That’s not a conflict of interest?” My fingers strayed to the flame-shaped charm on my necklace. It would protect me somewhat if the dragon breathed fire at me, but he could kill me with magic as easily as with heat. 

Lord Zavryd’nokquetal has stated before the court that he killed my son in self-defense, but he is a poor liar, and he refused to open his mind to the arbiters for a telepathic scouring. 

“Huh.” My mouth was dry. What happened if this guy did a telepathic scouring on me? Why else would he have come? 

It is extremely suspicious. That is why I am here. To find the truth and make certain, if he slew my son as part of a premeditated plan or out of sheer malice, that he will be properly punished. Or killed. To kill a dragon is the ultimate crime, but sometimes, punishment and rehabilitation are deemed too lenient. I hope that will be the case on this occasion. His voice pierced like ice in my mind, making me shiver with cold. And fear. 

I didn’t know when I’d started to be afraid for Zav instead of afraid of him, but it worried me that he had enemies among his kind. 

It also bothered me that he’d tried to take the fall for me. He wouldn’t have killed Dob. He would have done the noble thing and, after defeating him in battle, dragged him back to his Justice Court for judgment. Even though he’d openly admitted to me that Dob’s family would have been able to get him out of punishment. 

It is clear you have spent time with him, Shaygor continued. I believe you may have seen the battle in which my son was slain. 

“I don’t know who you’ve been talking to—” how had Shaygor even found me? “—but I’m known as the Mythic Murderer to the magical beings in this world. I don’t spend time with them. I certainly wouldn’t go to some pit fight between dragons and munch popcorn while waiting to see the outcome.” 

Do not lie to me! His yellow eyes glowed brighter. I am not stupid, mongrel. His aura is all over you. It is clear you have been holding his tail for some time. 

“His aura is still on me? Damn, I’ve done everything I could to get rid of it. Hang on a moment. I need your opinion on something.” I held up a finger and grabbed my travel kit out of the Jeep, even as I scrambled for something to say to get out of this situation. The dragon didn’t realize I’d been the one to kill Dob, but if he could forcibly read my thoughts—which was what that telepathic scouring sounded like—he’d learn the truth. And there was nobody here to keep him from killing me. 

“You’re a dragon, right? How do people usually get rid of the telltale signs or whatever you call it when you leave your aura on people?” I pulled out my bathroom kit, unzipped it, and tossed my soaps and the three loofahs I’d been experimenting with onto the pavement. “Would any of these implements be better than another?” 

I would send him off on a wild goose chase, I decided while he stared at me and the junk on the ground. I’d tell him I hadn’t seen the battle but I knew who had. Maybe that would buy me time. And maybe Zav would come back to Earth in that time and I’d get a chance to ask him what the hell to do about his Dragon Justice Court. 

You are attempting to stall me, Shaygor stated. 

“No, I’m not.” Yes, I was. “I’m genuinely curious. Those two loofahs have nice firm fibers and are organic and non-GMO and farm-grown. That tool there is a silicone body brush that gives a better scrub to the skin, and then I also have an exfoliating pumice stone. Do you think—” 

Pain erupted in my head as if my brains were being blown out. 

I gasped, grabbing my skull, and collapsed onto the pavement, the hard gritty surface digging through my jeans and into my knees. I barely noticed it as I sucked in air, trying to push away the mental attack and the pure agony. I wrapped a shaking hand around Chopper’s hilt and tried to wall off my mind, but the attack only intensified. Blackness crept into my vision. What would he do if I blacked out? Kill me? Eat me? 

The pain disappeared abruptly, but the blackness almost swallowed my vision before I managed to blink it away and focus on him. 

There is a price for disobedience and for not showing proper respect for a superior being, Shaygor stated. You will not defy or lie to an inquisitor of the Dragon Justice Court. Tell me what you saw the night my son died. 

“Look, I’m not trying to interfere with your inquisition. But I know less than you think I know. You should check with a couple of panther-shifter brothers named Pardus.” I pointed toward the west. “Back in Seattle. They were there that night. The fight happened right at their house.” 

All that was true. Never mind that the brothers were dead now and the house was flattened. If it took Shaygor a couple of days to learn that, maybe I could figure out something else in the meantime. Like how to find a portal that would take me to a world dragons didn’t know about. 

Shaygor shifted into human form—no, elven form. Like his son, he preferred pointed ears. As a silver-haired elf of indeterminate age, clad in black leather with lots of silver rivets that gave him a biker look, he strode toward me. 

“Already you have wasted too much of my time,” he stated, lifting a hand as he approached. “I will find the answers in your mind.” 

I scrambled to my feet, refusing to face him from my knees, but that was the last movement I managed. His power wrapped around me, locking me in place, and I couldn’t budge a muscle. 

His cold hand came up to my face, fingers touching my temple. I couldn’t spit at him, yell at him, or kick him in the balls. I was screwed.

Chapter 5

5      

Even though he’d shape-shifted into elven form, the dragon’s aura made all the hair on my body stand up, and my skin ached all over from the charge of electricity battering it. But that was nothing compared to his presence in my mind. Shaygor’s touch on my temple was light, but mental talons raked through my head, eliciting pain as they stirred up my thoughts, digging trenches into my meager barriers. 

I still gripped Chopper, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t move that hand, couldn’t move any part of my rigid body. The mental protection the magical blade gave me was too little to be of help against a dragon. My thoughts were all I could attempt to use to thwart him. 

I pictured ponies, childhood carnival rides, and grass growing up through cracks in a sidewalk. I thought of boring PBS specials I’d watched… Anything but the night I’d battled Dob. 

But Shaygor kept pushing Dob’s image into my head, trying to stimulate the reaction, the memories, he wanted. He sifted through my mind, my resistance insignificant to him, and even though I kept pushing my thoughts in other directions, it would only be a matter of time before he got what he wanted. 

Shaygor forced Zav’s image into my mind, and I reacted more strongly to that. I couldn’t keep from remembering our conversations at the water-treatment facility—and that lurid kiss. 

Shaygor grunted in what might have been disgust. Would seeing me entwined with human-form Zav make him want to avoid touching my mind? In that case… I let myself dwell on that moment, on all the things a couple of humans—or a mongrel half-elf and a shape-shifted dragon—could do together, at least according to the naughty dreams that had been plaguing my sleep for the last three weeks. 

Shaygor’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t pull away from me. He has claimed you as a mate? No wonder you fight to protect him. Foolish mongrel. You are not good enough for a dragon, but if you were, you would want one whose family is on the rise in power, not on the wane. Your precious Zav will not be anything much longer, especially if he insists on supporting his mother instead of coming over to the side of those who will take power next. Those who know it’s time to strip lesser beings from the worlds they’re destroying with their taint and to claim those worlds for ourselves. 

Shaygor’s fingers shifted into talons that dug into my temple, and he pushed aside my sexual thoughts, using pain to keep me from letting my mind stray. Zaps of agony assaulted me until the correct thoughts flooded my mind. I wanted to continue to resist, but with no end in sight, it was hard. My mind weakened and let in memories of the battle, of Dob and Zav fighting over the rooftops of houses in that neighborhood, of the trees and homes burning all around. 

Yes, Shaygor purred into my mind, leaning in so close that I could see his silver eyelashes. Show me what happened. Show me— 

He dropped his taloned hand and spun away from me. 

My knees gave way as control of my body returned. I would have collapsed, but I stumbled to the Jeep and used it for support. 

Shaygor glared toward the sky, and then I sensed what he sensed. Zav’s aura. He was flying in our direction. 

At first, I thought I was saved, but Shaygor turned his glare over his shoulder onto me. 

Isn’t that telling? That your master has shown up in time to keep me from learning the truth? 

“He’s not my master,” I said. It was supposed to come out as a defiant snarl, but my weakened body could only manage pained gasps. 

If a dragon claims you for a mate, you will do whatever he wishes. And consider yourself the luckiest and most honored wench in the Cosmic Realms. 

“Yeah, sure. And I’ll keep experimenting with loofahs until I find one that can scrub off dragon aura.” 

You are truly stupid. Clearly, he mounts you because of your looks. Though it is hard to imagine why any dragon would lower himself to shape-shift into some beast form to have sex with animals. 

“Says the dragon doing time as an elf right now.” 

If Sindari had been here, he would have reminded me not to push a dragon’s buttons, but I’d unwisely not thought to summon him. I shouldn’t feel braver because Zav was coming—it was clear he was in as much trouble as I was, if not more, but a giddy ebullience filled me. Only because I’d survived, at least for the moment, not because I was delighted to see Zav again. 

Elves are the most distinguished of the lesser species. They are not beasts. 

I thought about asking Shaygor if being half-elf made me only half a beast and therefore more appealing, but Zav’s sleek black form appeared as he flew over the trees. 

Zav landed on the road in dragon form, his eyes glowing violet as he stared at Shaygor. He didn’t acknowledge me at all. 

The last time we’d spoken, he’d been pissed at me. He was protecting me, but it had been clear I’d put him in a bad position by needing to be protected. And by forcing him to lie. At the time, I hadn’t realized any of that or understood why he was so mad that I’d killed our mutual enemy, but now I got it. I didn’t regret killing Dob and still thought I had been right to do it, but I deeply regretted that Zav was in trouble with his people now because of it. 

Shaygor folded his arms over his chest and stared indifferently at him. 

Leave her alone, Zav’s telepathic words boomed in my mind. In both our minds. If you wish to question someone, I am here. To bring a lesser being into your inquisition is ludicrous and demeaning for your entire clan. Dragons handle their affairs with each other, without leaning on defenseless creatures. 

Normally, I would object to being called a defenseless creature, but this seemed like a good time to shut up and back out of the way. It occurred to me that I was holding Chopper and Shaygor’s back was to me, only a few feet away, but attacking a dragon was what had landed me in hot water to start with. 

You think to question my honor? Shaygor answered telepathically, again broadcasting so I could hear the words, but he laughed out loud. I expected you to claim protection for her since she’s your mate. Under Tlavar’vareous. 

Under what? 

She is not my mate. She is nothing. 

Thanks, Zav. 

Your aura is all over her. At the least, she is your accomplice, but she has some interesting memories of you two rutting in some cement structure. Are you sure she is not your new tail holder? 

“Uh.” I lifted a finger, trying not to sound as embarrassed as I felt. Why was he bringing that up? “It was only kissing. Humans take their clothes off to rut.” 

Zav didn’t look at me. Neither did Shaygor. I wondered if either of them would notice if I hopped in the Jeep and drove off. 

If that is what she showed you, she merely demonstrated the treachery of your son, who thought to use her against me as a distraction. Zav stalked forward, his wings spread, his powerful muscles flexing under the scales of his chest and forelegs. Dobsaurin came here to distract me from the sessions at the court and to kill me if at all possible. Do you deny that? 

Of course I deny that. My son was not the aggressor nor was he the one at fault. He was sent here to observe you and see if you were completing your task. 

He had no authority to spy on me. Your son came to kill me. Zav’s eyes flared even brighter. Maybe you are the one who sent him. Maybe the Dragon Justice Court should question you. 

I am an elder and not responsible for the death of another dragon. They will not question me. They trust me. Even your mother trusts me. Shaygor lifted his elven head in haughty defiance and showed no fear that Zav was now scant feet away from him. You couldn’t even capture the dark elves and other criminals you were sent to find. You are vermin dung right now in the eyes of the court. You should be on your belly, confessing to the murder of my son, and groveling and begging for my lenience. 

If you believe I murdered your son, then why are you standing in front of me, here in this world with no witnesses, and irritating me? Zav opened his maw, his long fangs gleaming in the sunlight. 

Even though he wasn’t looking at me, instinctual terror rushed into me, and I had to fight the urge to scurry away. These dragons were the consummate predators and powers in the Realms, and my body knew that even if my sarcastic mouth forgot at times. The air around them crackled with a sun’s power, and my heart raced and my mouth went dry. Either one of them might fling magic and kill me by accident. 

You would not dare attack an elder. 

Who would know? 

Shaygor glanced at me, his haughty demeanor fading for a moment, but he snarled and reaffixed his mask, glaring again at Zav. Attack if you wish. I am not afraid of you. I will defend myself, and if I must do so, I will be within my rights to use deadly force on you. 

Dobsaurin tried to use deadly force on me, and I am still here. Are you stronger than your son was, elder? 

They stared at each other, seconds passing with neither moving, neither blinking. I didn’t know if they’d switched to communicating without projecting their words to me, or if they were simply past words, but power fluctuated all around me, as if they were magically testing each other’s shields. 

Sweat dampened my palm where I gripped Chopper’s hilt. If Zav attacked, I would help him, but what if that only made things worse? Much, much worse. 

Zav took a step back, and I feared he’d lost the battle of wills, but then Shaygor transformed into his dragon form, almost knocking my Jeep over as his massive silver bulk filled the road. 

I lifted Chopper, half expecting him to whirl and attack me. But he didn’t look at me. He sprang into the air, his wings beating so hard that the current whipped my braid about, and he flew off to the south. In the direction of Harrison. Wonderful. 

Shaygor sent one more telepathic message for both of us: Know this, Zavryd’nokquetal. A formal investigation has begun. If you maliciously killed my son, I will find out about it, one way or another. And your disgrace will be all that’s needed to get your mother to step down from power. Other dragons will not stand with your family any longer. 

I wasn’t angry with Zav, but he was the only one left in front of me, so he got my exasperated look, along with, “Are there any dragons in the galaxy who aren’t assholes?” 

Too late to retract the words, I reminded myself that he was just as powerful and dangerous as Shaygor, and that I shouldn’t assume we were friends and that he would tolerate my irreverence. Especially if he was having a bad day. Or a bad month. 

Zav shifted into his familiar human form, his robe once again clean and free of holes, his short, curly black hair fastidious, his beard and mustache perfectly trimmed. But his violet eyes somehow conveyed tiredness. They hadn’t when he’d been in dragon form glowering at Shaygor, but maybe this form revealed more. Or maybe he’d been hiding it. He didn’t have bags under his eyes—surely, he wouldn’t let such a feature tarnish his handsome face—but I had a feeling he’d had a rough few weeks, and I felt bad for my outburst. 

“Sorry,” I said. “You’re not an asshole.” 

“No?” He smiled faintly. 

That smile, that hint of humanity, made my insides get mushy. Not that I would acknowledge it. 

“You’re irritatingly haughty and pompous, but I’m starting to like you a little,” was all I said. 

“Oh? How do you treat people you don’t like?” Zav waved to the longsword I still held up. 

I’d been pointing it at Shaygor, but with him gone, it pointed vaguely in Zav’s direction. 

“I chop off their toes and curse their ancestors.” I sheathed Chopper and stepped toward him, lifting an arm, thinking of offering him a hug, but I paused mid-motion as uncertainty encroached. 

Weeks earlier, when I’d reached up to brush a leaf off his shoulder, he’d stopped me, as if believing I’d been about to grab his throat. And he eyed my arm warily now. 

It surprised me that he would consider me a threat, though it was possible he thought I meant to make a pass at him and objected to that. We’d shared a moment, after the battle at the water-treatment plant, where he’d touched his forehead to mine, and it’d almost seemed like he might kiss me, but he hadn’t. Then he’d left without another word. I still had no idea what to make of it. 

Not that I wanted him to kiss me. My life was easier when dragons weren’t in it. 

“Thank you for showing up to keep him out of my head.” I wriggled my fingers on my outspread hand, then lowered my arm. “I was going to hug you, but I remembered how prickly and standoffish you are.” 

Zav arched his eyebrows. “You are no different. Every time I’ve healed you, you’ve bristled and been offended.” 

“That’s because you don’t ask first.” Admittedly, I hadn’t intended to ask to hug him either. “Generally, when a guy sticks his hands in a girl’s jacket, it’s to grope her boob. That’s why women get bristly at that kind of presumptuousness.” 

“I have no interest in your boobs.” 

“Thanks for clearing that up. Because you rubbed your forehead against mine at the water-treatment plant. That’s had me confused.” This time, I arched my eyebrows. 

This wasn’t the conversation I’d intended to have with him—I’d genuinely wanted to show gratitude for his help—but nothing was ever easy with a dragon. 

Zav hesitated before responding. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him hesitate. 

“I was pleased that you survived and chopped off Dobsaurin’s toe to vex him. Forehead-to-forehead contact is how elves demonstrate the bond they feel for those they survive battles and grueling travails with. It has nothing to do with mating desires. Is this gesture not also done among humans?” 

I squinted at him. I couldn’t tell if he truly believed it was or if he was covering for something I had taken as more intimate. Probably the former. This was the guy who’d been confused about what a dick was. 

“No, you’re thinking of hand-to-hand contact. Also known as a high five.” I lifted my palm, then nodded for him to do the same. Because he looked puzzled, I explained further. “It’s a high five because there are five digits and they’re up in the air.” 

He squinted suspiciously at me—it was silly, but it made me glum that he didn’t trust me after the battles we’d been through—but he slowly mirrored the gesture. I leaned in to swat my palm to his. He didn’t react. Still, it amused me that the fierce dragon who’d been radiating power like a supernova minutes before allowed it. 

“That kind of contact is safest for us,” I said. 

The brief touch hadn’t given me much time to think about the way Zav’s power made my body tingle in a different way from the power of the other dragons. A more appealing way. It also didn’t give me time to have flashbacks to our previous kiss or my lurid dreams. 

“And it conveys approval and a battle bond?” Zav sounded dubious. 

“Yes. Athletes on sports teams give each other high fives all the time. We can be like jocks working together to defeat common enemies.” 

Though I was concerned that our common enemy might now be this Dragon Justice Court, or at least all the dragons on it that didn’t like his family. How many was that exactly? Maybe I was better off not knowing. 

“The high five is engaged in at the completion of defeating of enemies?” he asked. 

“Yeah. You should have given me a high five after we defeated Dob. Instead, you gave me a lecture. That’s not cool.” 

He winced, and I regretted mentioning Dob. Idiot, Val. The last thing I wanted was to remind him that I’d screwed up his life. 

I lifted an apologetic hand. “I don’t regret that I killed that bastard, especially since he wanted to use me to kill you, but I’m sorry it’s made so much trouble for you.” 

The urge to hug him returned, and I wished he would allow it. I didn’t often feel like hugging people—it wasn’t as if I got that from my mom, who’d always insisted that nods and handshakes were acceptable ways to greet old friends—but I felt a tangle of guilt and appreciation for Zav that would be easier to express with a physical gesture. I was horrible at conveying feelings with words. 

“I’ll understand if you tell your court what really happened,” I said. “It’s not right that you should be blamed. If they come after me… I’ll deal with it.” How I would deal with it, I didn’t know, but keeping my cloaking charm activated all the time came to mind. Too bad the magic faded and had to be renewed every hour or so. I would have to set the alarm to wake myself up multiple times every night. 

“You are not powerful enough to deal with it.” 

Even though I wanted to bristle and point out that I could handle myself, we both knew I couldn’t. Not when it came to dragons. I resented that, but what could I do to change it? 

“You’re right, but it’s my problem, not yours.” 

Zav opened his mouth, but his nostrils twitched, and his gaze slid from my face down to my groin. No, I corrected. To my pocket. Surely, my groin did not excite him. 

Remembering the pants fastener I suspected belonged to the male dark elf, I fished it out. Had Zav sensed it? I hadn’t detected magic about it. Maybe he recognized the dark elf’s scent and had caught a whiff. If so, he had a bloodhound’s nose. 

Zav stepped closer to look down at the brass fastener in my palm. His powerful, electrifying aura increased as he drew closer, making my skin tingle and putting thoughts of more than high fives in my head. I ruthlessly shoved them aside and made a mental note to pick up my loofahs and shower belongings before driving away, so I could thoroughly scrub my skin that night. Maybe the vampire alchemist Zoltan could make a magical cleanser guaranteed to remove dragon aura. Too bad his rates were exorbitant. 

“One of your dark elves showed up at a pub in Seattle,” I said. 

“Baklinor-ten.” 

“His mate was supposedly there once too. They installed a pleasure orb that’s got people so into it that it’s killing them.” 

Zav nodded, not reacting with the surprise I expected. 

“Their science experiments are part of the reason I was sent to retrieve them. They killed three islands’ worth of shapeshifters on Osgashandril.” 

“How many people is that?” 

“About thirty thousand.” 

I rocked back. “They did that with those orbs?” 

“I have not seen the orbs specifically, but on Osgashandril, they created artifacts that killed people slowly over time and from a distance, so there was no possibility the shifters would detect them and retaliate. At first, I thought the dark elves came here to escape the court’s wrath, but it’s possible this was their destination all along, to reunite with their kin who’ve always lived hidden in the Underworld here and to do something to the inhabitants of your planet.” 

“Something like killing them?” I had been disturbed by but not worried about the dead woman on the floor in Rupert’s pub, but if those artifacts could kill thousands of people… that was definitely something to worry about. I needed to get this new information to Willard. 

“Yes.” 

“You said that’s part of the reason you’re after those two. What was the other part? That they stole your artifact?” 

“Yes. They might have gotten away with the rest if not for that. I was affronted by the blatant crimes, but in general, my kind think little of the animal shifters of Osgashandril and might not have investigated their deaths.” 

“Why are you different?” I didn’t doubt that he was, now that I’d met two dragons that fell firmly into the asshole camp, but I was curious. 

“I was raised to be honorable and believe it is our right to maintain order in the Cosmic Realms. Crimes among the lesser species can have repercussions that affect all.” He plucked the fastener from my hand. “I may be able to use this to find him.” 

“You’re welcome.” I thought about objecting to him taking it, but it wasn’t as if I knew anyone else who could sniff a button and find a dark elf. 

“In addition to being interrogated by the court, including my own mother, I’ve had my competence questioned—mostly by the Silverclaw Clan but also by others—because I haven’t retrieved those two criminals yet.” He closed his fist around the fastener. “I will now make finding them my priority. You will come with me.” 

“I see you haven’t learned how to say please yet. I’m on my own mission.” 

“You must stay with me for protection. Shaygorthian will find you again, and he will learn the truth if I’m not close enough to stop him from probing your thoughts.” 

“You’ve never been able to read my thoughts. Or so you’ve said.” 

“I’ve only attempted to skim your surface thoughts, not do a vayushnarak.” 

“And that is what?” 

“A forced reading. It’s painful for the recipient.” 

“Tell me about it.” 

Zav opened his mouth, but I lifted a hand. 

“No, that was sarcasm. I know all about it. Trust me. He was digging in for a few minutes there before you arrived.” I touched my temple and winced. It was sore, and my fingers found dried blood. 

Zav leaned over to see the side of my head and his jaw clenched, a muscle high in his cheek tensing. 

“You will stay with me,” he growled, his tone sending a little shiver down my spine, “and I will protect you.” 

“How about you stay with me and I’ll educate you in the ways of human hand gestures. Next, we can cover fist bumps.” 

“I have a mission to complete.” He rubbed the fastener between his thumb and forefinger and looked toward the west, toward Seattle. 

“So do I. Here. In Idaho. Goblins are stealing from a town on this lake.” 

Zav stared at me. “Goblins always steal. That’s not a crime; it’s a cultural manifestation of their inner feelings of insignificance and lack.” 

I was positive he’d feel differently if a goblin stole some vaunted dragon artifact. “There could be more to it than the stealing. Also, my family is here, so I have to make sure they’re not in danger.” 

“You have family.” Was that a question or a statement? Zav sounded puzzled. 

Maybe he couldn’t imagine me and my sharp tongue attracting a husband. 

“My daughter and ex-husband and mother are all in the area for a vacation. I have to make sure they’re safe.” 

“You will not be safe.” Zav flicked a hand toward the sky in the direction Shaygor had gone. 

“I never am, but that’s the job. When I finish here, I’ll come back to Seattle and help you with the dark elves.” 

Willard would likely have an assignment related to them for me as soon as I returned. She’d been on the verge of giving me one for weeks, and now she had more data about the orbs. 

Zav scrutinized me in that haughty way of his, that way that made me feel like he found me exceedingly strange and a pain in the ass—insomuch as dragons had asses—and I hoped he wasn’t thinking about magically compelling me to come with him. We’d had a deal for my last mission, and he’d agreed not to do that, but Dob was dead and that mission complete. Zav might go back to his old ways. 

“They may be in more danger because of your presence,” Zav said, his tone surprisingly reasonable and without—as far as I could tell—magical manipulation. “It will be better for you and them if you come with me. Goblins are not a concern. Dragons are.” 

The argument struck me harder than others would have because it was so close to my existing fears. But… 

“I can’t be sure the goblins are the only problem.” I pointed my thumb over my shoulder. “Someone knocked the road into the lake back there. I doubt it was goblins.” 

“It could have been. They make mechanical contraptions with what they steal.” 

“I have to find out.” I took a step back to stand beside the driver’s side door. “Thank you for coming to help me, Zav. I’ll do my best to avoid this new dragon.” I tapped my cloaking charm to activate it. It couldn’t make my Jeep disappear, but it would make me fade from sight, smell, and magical senses, though he would continue to see me at this close a range. “If you want, you could stay and help me investigate Harrison. With you, I could probably finish more quickly and then go assist you with the dark elves.” 

His chin rose. “I do not need a mongrel’s assistance.” 

“I didn’t say you needed it.” It drove me nuts when he called me that instead of using my name. “Just that we could both assist each other and maybe finish our tasks more quickly that way.” 

“My task is of paramount importance.” 

“I already told you why I don’t agree with that,” I said. 

“I cannot help it if you do not acknowledge the wisdom of dragons.” 

“Can you help being so exasperating?” 

His eyes narrowed, reminding me of the icy look he’d leveled at Shaygor. The very dangerous icy look. 

“If you do not come with me,” he said, “I will not be able to protect you from other dragons.” 

“I understand. We’ve already covered that.” I tapped my charm. “I won’t let him find me.” 

Zav was probably worried that Shaygor would catch up with me again, scour my mind, and find out the truth. Then he would be in hot water for having lied to his people. What if he forced me to go with him to prevent that? 

After a long moment—I refused to look away or back down from his stare—Zav stepped back and transformed into his dragon form. 

He will be able to smell your blood in your offspring, Zav warned telepathically as he sprang into the air. Do not draw his attention to your kin. 

I slumped against the Jeep. I hadn’t needed anything else to worry about.

There are limited chapters to put here, click the button below to continue reading "Val & her tiger"

(It will automatically jump to the book when you open the app).

❤️Click to read more exciting content❤️