Occasionally, Zav let out a hint of his sense of humor, such as it was, but this wasn’t one of those times.
“How did you not know, ogre? My mark on her is clear. You are not fit to speak to the mate of a dragon, and if you ever raise a weapon to her again, I will punish you until you wish you were dead.”
“Trogg won’t.” He tried to get to his feet, but Zav’s magic held him prostrate.
“Don’t be a bully.” I elbowed him in the ribs. “Let him go.”
Zav turned his glowing-eyed gaze on me, but I refused to look away or be intimidated.
None shall raise a hand against you, he spoke silently into my mind, unless they want me as an enemy. My mark tells them this. The ogre sensed it, but he chose to ignore it. Do you deny this?
No, I don’t, but he’s an idiot, and I was handling it. Let him go. I’ll buy you a coffee.
If the goblins hadn’t consumed it all.
Zav’s eyes narrowed. Was he going to ignore me and magically beat the snot out of the ogre? How did I convince him that I could take care of myself and didn’t need an overprotective boyfriend around? Especially since we weren’t even having a romantic relationship, aside from a few wayward kisses that we’d both agreed were a bad idea.
Funny how I forgot just how bad of an idea they were when he was standing next to me, his body pressed against mine and his electric power tingling all along my nerves. Even if I could take care of myself, there was a tiny part of me that was thrilled that Zav wanted to protect me.
You are unharmed? he finally asked.
Yes.
And you do not wish him punished for his presumptuousness?
No, I don’t.
Very well. Zav twitched an eyebrow, and the magic pinning Trogg to the ground disappeared.
The ogre sprinted away without looking back. About a dozen onlookers remained, staring at Zav and me.
You can also let me go, I added.
He was gazing down at me with a look that suggested he had something besides coffee in mind. I remembered it well from the hot tub, but even if I’d been in the mood to test his resolve about not having a relationship with me right now, I wouldn’t have done it in front of a crowd.
Or does vanquishing my attackers get you randy? I cocked an eyebrow, figuring sarcasm was the way to dissipate amorous feelings. It had always worked with my human boyfriends.
Holding you and having your soft parts pressed against me makes me randy. He looked down at my chest.
A part of me was titillated that he felt that way, but…
Then we should probably avoid such compromising positions.
Yes. Zav took a deep breath and his arm loosened around me, but he let his fingers drag as he slowly withdrew, and a tingle of magic flowed from the tips. That ignited my nerves even more than the powerful magic of his aura, and I almost forgot about my resolve not to engage in a make-out session in front of a crowd.
“If you’re going to use your magic on me like that,” I murmured, “we better find an elf to teach me how to defend myself soon.”
His eyes flared again. “Yes. I have apprehended many of the criminals hiding here on your world and turned them over to the Dragon Justice Court.” He lifted his chin. “Soon I will take you to Veleshna Var to see your father, and we will find an elf who will instruct you on your inherent powers.”
I bit my lip, far more pleased by his willingness to take me to meet my father than any of his posturing toward my enemies. “Good. Thank you.” I stepped away from him, so neither of us would be further tempted toward hanky-panky, and gestured toward the front door. “Coffee?”
“What is coffee?”
“A beverage. Lots of people love it.”
“Do you?”
“No. It tastes like burnt water to me, but I’m told I’m weird.”
He gazed at me, and the first hint of humor entered his eyes. “Yes. This is true.”
4
Dimitri had already cleaned up a lot of the broken housewares, so the shop wasn’t too much of a mess inside, other than abandoned mugs and napkins left on tables, shelves, and display cases. But there was a weird scent in the air that I couldn’t blame on the espresso maker.
“Did something spill?” I wrinkled my nose and looked at Dimitri. “Something toxic?”
“Several of Zoltan’s products were knocked off shelves.” Scowling, Dimitri stalked toward a back corner with his broom and dustpan.
“That’s probably a yes, then.” My nostrils twitched, and I hoped the spilled potions didn’t set off my sensitive lungs. It was my day off. I wasn’t supposed to need to use my inhaler on my day off. My lungs were relaxing, just like I was.
“They’re not toxic.” Dimitri bent and picked up a lid with a beige smear of goop under it; it was all that remained of a ceramic jar. “This is a healing lotion for your face. It’s supposed to make those dark circles under your eyes go away.”
“I’ve heard sleeping straight through the night does that too, but I wouldn’t know.”
“Tam.” Dimitri turned toward the barista. “Can you get a mop?”
The barista had been staring at Zav, who’d trailed me into the shop, with wide eyes. She scurried into the back, appearing relieved at the order to leave the room.
Tam worked for Nin in the afternoons and evenings and had a hint of magical blood, so she must have met some of Nin’s magical clientele—those who purchased her weapons rather than her food-truck fare—but a dragon was above and beyond the norm.
“What happened, Dimitri?” Nin peered around, her gaze pausing on the single table that hadn’t been vacated. The four goblins were still there, and a new one had come in. Gondo. “Why did all those magical beings come here and make a mess?”
“I don’t know. I just opened yesterday, and this week is supposed to be a trial run. Other than putting out a sign, I’ve hardly told anyone about it. I thought it would be a challenge to get business, but they all showed up early this morning and have been coming for hours.” Dimitri shook his head as he swept. “Coming for coffee, I should say. None of them wanted Zoltan’s tinctures or my housewares. That was the whole point of us opening this business. I don’t even know how they found out about this place.”
My gaze shifted back to Gondo. “I may have an idea.”
Dimitri was sweeping up broken ceramic and didn’t hear me. “Can you come by a few times a day to loom threateningly with your sword, Val? Now that you kicked that ogre’s butt—literally—the others should know to leave you alone. Especially if you smell like dragon.”
Zav had been silent, either ignoring the exchange or deeming it unworthy of his participation, but his chin rose at this. “Neither a dragon’s aura nor mark smell. It is a magical emanation that those with attuned senses can detect.”
“Don’t be offended by Dimitri,” I told Zav. “He’s not very smooth. He just told me I have bags under my eyes.”
I headed over to the chattering goblins. One was standing on his seat, which almost made his head level with mine, and speaking in his native language while gesticulating expansively to his buddies.
Goblins were always expansive and perky, but this fellow was extra amped up. The others were bouncing and jittering too as they listened raptly, one thumping a wrench on his thigh. Another was building what looked like a rubber-band ball during the discussion. Gondo was sipping from a mug, relatively calm compared to the others, but he’d only just arrived and was on his first cup.
“Willard doesn’t have any work for you today, Gondo?” I didn’t bother to activate my translation charm, not particularly wanting to solve the mystery of what goblins discussed with each other while amped up on coffee.
“She said I’ve already done all I need to do for her today and that I should go out into the community and gather intelligence for her. She also forbade me from touching her paper shredder again, even though I added power to the motor and quadrupled its capacity to shred.”
“She didn’t like that?”
“It’s a little noisier than it was before. I believe it disturbed her phone call in the other room.”
“Are you the reason all these interesting beings came to visit today?” I waved toward where the ogres, trolls, and others had been.
Only Zav was in that area now. He was examining some of Dimitri’s housewares, but there was a bored glaze to his eyes. I assumed he hadn’t flown in solely to protect me from posturing ogres and was surprised he hadn’t yet stated what he wanted. Being circumspect, polite, and patient wasn’t his way.
“I may have mentioned to a few people that I refurbished the espresso maker for a new establishment that would be friendly to magical beings.” Gondo tilted his head, his thick white hair in a tousled nest. “Didn’t you wish me to spread the word?”
One of the jittery goblins bobbed his head and sipped from a mug with a grin and a wink.
“Not to ogres and trolls and werewolves.” I glanced at Nin, who’d come over to listen.
“Why not?” Gondo asked. “They consume a great deal of food and beverages. You should add sandwiches to the snack bar there. Ogres like giant triple-decker sandwiches with big piles of meat and bacon and rosemary.”
“Rosemary?”
“It’s an ogre favorite.”
Nin took out her phone. My first thought was that she meant to call the police, but she started tapping notes into a text app.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
“Making sure we stock the inventory our customers want.”
“I’m positive that Dimitri doesn’t want his customers to be ogres.”
“The magical community needs a place to congregate now that Rupert’s is closed,” one of Gondo’s buddies said.
I shook my head. “Unless ogres need tinctures for their under-eye bags—”
Nin stopped me with a hand on my forearm. “We should discuss this with the other owners before ruling out who we want as clients.”