Home > Battle Bond (Death Before Dragons #2)(13)

Battle Bond (Death Before Dragons #2)(13)
Author: Lindsay Buroker

“This may shock you, but I’d rather lop off the heads of murderers than smile pleasantly at people for money.”

“I’m not shocked. I’ve known you for a couple of weeks now.”

“Got the lay of the land, eh?”

“More or less. Thanks for helping.”

As my hour of service—or was that servitude?—was ending, a powerful aura lit up my senses. I groaned.

Soon, gasps came from a couple of the shoppers wandering down the aisles, and they shouted and pointed toward the sky. Everyone else looked up, but they only shook their heads in confusion. I realized the people pointing all had the faint auras of those with a quarter or an eighth magical blood.

I stepped out into the open aisle in time to see the silver dragon flying high overhead, soaring toward the river. I’d been afraid he would show up on this side of Puget Sound.

Where was Zav? He needed to confront this guy and tell him to go back to his world.

My phone buzzed.

“It’s still Saturday, Colonel,” I said as soon as I answered it.

“No kidding.” Willard sounded irked. “What were you doing out in Bothell this morning, Thorvald?”

“I told you. Looking for dragon-slaying weapons that probably do not exist.” I wouldn’t make that proclamation for sure until I’d seen what—and who—was in that basement. “I also got in a fight because I didn’t want to have sex with strange panther shifters.”

Dimitri’s eyebrows rose.

“Would that be the Pardus brothers?” Willard asked.

“Yes.”

“Respected officers in the Northern Pride?”

“Respected? Are you sure?”

“I ask,” she said without answering my questions, “because the Pride’s lawyer called our office to lodge a verbal complaint. He said you broke into their house, threatened them, and busted their television when they refused to back down.”

“That’s not how it went. They threatened me. When Sindari and I defended ourselves, the TV was an innocent bystander.”

“The brothers say they have video footage of everything.”

“Highly edited, I’m sure.”

“If you don’t stay away from them and their house, the lawyer is going to call the police and press charges.”

“The lawyer? What kind of panther shifter brutes hire lawyers?”

“The ones with a lucrative business. Look, I believe you, Val, but don’t go back to their house. If Nin needs protection, tell her to hire a bodyguard. Stay out of trouble this weekend. I’m collecting some intel, and I should have a new assignment for you next week. The dark elves have disappeared, at least out of the sections of the tunnels that were revealed by the sinkhole, but I’m hearing that they’ve been bribing members of the magical community. They may still represent trouble.”

Of that, I had no doubt. The alchemist had said she’d wanted me—and Willard’s office—out of the picture because of some plan her people had. She was dead now, but the two dark elves Zav had been hunting weren’t, and there could have been hundreds more living in those tunnels. At least.

“Fine, but here’s an intel tip you might not have yet: there’s another dragon in town. And he’s flying around looking for trouble.”

Willard digested that for a long silent moment. “Maybe you should try to find a real dragon-slaying weapon. If the dragon starts attacking people… we’re going to be called on to deal with it.”

“By we, you mean me?”

“Very likely.”

“Wonderful.”

10

The headlights of the van brightened the For Sale sign at the driveway of the upscale residence in front of Zoltan’s haunted, dilapidated carriage house. It had been amended since our last visit, and a blue rectangle on the bottom now promised the sale was pending.

“Maybe Zoltan sold the dragon blood after all,” I mused as we drove up in Dimitri’s van. I’d left my Jeep at a park in town, trusting that we wouldn’t need to go off-roading tonight.

Dimitri shook his head, his neck already armored in his white cervical collar. “He didn’t.”

“The real-estate agent must have finally found a sucker. And cleaned up the blood in the driveway and the slightly exploded playhouse in the back. Maybe the owners dropped the price. A lot.”

“It’s not a bad house.” Dimitri looked wistfully at it as he parked on the opposite side of the street, even though it didn’t look like his style. “I mean, it’s a hideous amalgam of architectural styles, and those nubs on the roof don’t make any kind of structural sense, but I’d take it anyway. It’s peaceful out here but not that far to Seattle. You could build a huge workshop in the back.”

Dimitri grabbed a toolbox and a canvas grocery bag with the remainder of Zoltan’s merchandise from the back of the van. His bed and belongings were covered in unsold yard art, but I’d helped him move quite a few pieces. He’d been flummoxed by my method of pricing objects based on what I guessed people could pay, but it had evened out by the end of the day, and I hadn’t shorted him.

Dusk was settling as we strolled past the house—fortunately, neither the real-estate agent nor any HOA patrollers were around to stop us—and to the vampire’s dominion. I eyed the broken door warily, but Dimitri went around to the back, where there was a secret entrance to what had once been a root cellar. He nudged a root in the grass to open it, then clomped down wide earthen stairs, ducking low to keep from hitting his head.

“Any security systems on this side we need to worry about?” I considered summoning Sindari as I followed Dimitri down. I didn’t sense any dark elves this time, or any other magical beings lurking around the property, so the only trouble might come from Zoltan himself. His aura placed him in the laboratory I’d visited before.

“He said they wouldn’t bother me.”

“Will they bother me? I’m unexpected.”

“In all senses of the word.” Dimitri smirked back at me.

“Ha ha. I’m debating if I should summon Sindari. Cats like spiders.”

It had been more than twelve hours since our battle that morning, so he should have had time to magically heal the majority of his wounds.

“Including giant tarantulas?”

“He’s always up for a challenge.”

Dimitri used his phone’s flashlight app as he walked past dusty shelves filled with jars of what I at first thought were tomatoes and pickles from some long past harvest. But they were fetuses, organs, and who knew what other disgusting things a vampire alchemist collected. Did he do biology experiments too? I didn’t want to know. I walked past quickly, also not wanting to know if they were human.

“Great place to bring a date on Halloween,” I muttered. “If the girl you met at the club likes being scared, I highly recommend it.”

He gave me a weird look over his shoulder.

“What? Is there a girl? Or did you make that up because you’re not interested in Nin? I think you could just tell her. She’s got a lot going for her. It’s not like she’d be crushed if you’re not interested.”

“I never said it was a girl.”

“What do you mean?” Sometimes, I was exceedingly swift.

“I mean Sindari would be closer to my type.”

“Animals?”

“Guys.” This time, he gave me an are-you-dense look over his shoulder.

“Oh.” I followed him through a secret door and into a dark tunnel. “In that case, you shouldn’t have been upset about the BMW-lumberjack calling you later.”

“He wanted to call you.”

“You’re the one he gave five dollars. Maybe he swings both ways.”

I couldn’t even interpret the third look. I touched my charm and summoned Sindari, more because I needed a rescue from my bumbling half of the conversation than because I expected another tarantula.

Dimitri had reached the door to Zoltan’s abode, but he waited while the tiger formed.

Is it time for another battle? Sindari asked as soon as he solidified.

I hope not, but be prepared. We’re visiting Zoltan.

I see Dimitri is better armed this time. Sindari wandered up and sniffed the canvas grocery bag with avocados, bananas, and strawberries on the side. This smells like lilacs and rattlesnake venom.

That’s what you get when you carry stuff for an alchemist.

“Sorry I don’t have any cat food.” Dimitri knocked on the door.

Cat food! Sindari glared at me. Does he believe I would eat mush made for small domestic felines?

“Sindari doesn’t need to eat while he’s in our realm,” I informed Dimitri. “But if he were to eat, it would be a steak, not a can of cat food.”

A steak? I would prefer the steaming bloody liver from a fresh kill. A zebra or a syrentitops, perhaps. Yes.

You and Zoltan should get along well. He’s into steaming blood too.

The door opened before Sindari could respond, and the red glow of the laboratory’s infrared lights flowed out into the tunnel.

“Ah, my robber and my business partner.” Zoltan was dressed in a sharp gray suit with a white button-down shirt and red bowtie. “Excellent timing. I’m working on a project you can help me with, Dimitri.” His dark eyes narrowed as he regarded me. “And perhaps you can help me test it when it’s complete.”

“Lucky me.”

Dimitri walked in after him but only took a few steps before staring at a pile of circuit boards and metal parts on the floor. “Is that it?”

“It will be.” Zoltan strolled to a counter that had been full of chemistry equipment the last time I’d been here. Now it held welding tools and a giant metal…

“Is that a spider head?” I asked.

“A fused head and thorax, yes.” Zoltan beamed. “I am replacing my biological tarantula with a robot version that I will infuse with alchemical power. It will be a superior defender of my humble abode. It also will not smell of spiders, and it will make less of a mess if it’s destroyed.” His pleased expression transformed into one of utter distaste. “You do not know how long it took me to get rid of the smell and the stains. And the carcass itself.” He flattened a palm to his chest and shook his head. “I had to drag the body way out to that trail back there. I couldn’t leave it to decompose near my home, or there would have been all manner of rodentia swarming the area.”

   
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