“I doubt Zoltan is going to agree to huge brutes who smash his wares, and he’s the only owner who isn’t here right now.”
Nin pointed to a tip jar full of dollars on the espresso cart. “If they pay and can be convinced not to destroy anything, we will accommodate them. I believe this morning’s problems are due to a narrowness of aisles between display cases and shelves.”
Before I could reply, Zav strode up to us, looming behind Nin. Almost everyone loomed in comparison to Nin, but his approach unnerved all of the goblins except for Gondo. They scattered, leaving their partially consumed coffees behind. Gondo merely scooted his chair back.
“I will speak with you,” Zav told me.
Apparently, his period of standing politely to the side and waiting for me to finish was over.
“I told you last night that this is a day off for me, and I’m not going to do any research for you or come along to be bait for an ambush. You and Willard have been running me ragged for two weeks straight. Besides, I need to speak with Dimitri about a vampire issue.” I plucked one of the almost-full coffee mugs off the table and placed it in Zav’s hands. “Here, try this.”
His nostrils twitched as he stared down at the dark liquid. I squeezed past and caught Dimitri on his way to empty a dustpan.
“Hey, was Zoltan here last night?” I glanced out the front window. The psychic’s shop wasn’t visible from here, but she was visible, standing out on the sidewalk and speaking into her phone.
Even though our dubious customers had dispersed, Janice didn’t look happy. If Dimitri’s shop truly did end up as a hangout for the magical, he would have to figure out how to put an illusion of some kind over it to hide it from the non-magical. Unfortunately, that would mean regular people wouldn’t notice it or come in to buy his wares, but this was too busy an area for mundane people not to notice all the strange beings through the windows.
“Zoltan doesn’t come here.” Dimitri emptied the dustpan in a trash bin and frowned. “But he’s started putting barcodes on all of his stock to track it, so he’s going to find out stuff was destroyed today.”
“Are you sure he doesn’t come here and wasn’t visiting around ten last night?”
Dimitri stopped to face me. “He doesn’t leave his carriage house except to feed, and he prefers local blood.” His lip twitched in distaste. “He had a delivery sent last night, but he pays someone to pick up his shipments.”
“I ask because your psychic neighbor got in a skirmish last night with a vampire in a ski mask. Her daughter was bitten and had to go to the ER.”
“A ski mask? That’s not Zoltan’s style.”
“You don’t think he would adjust his style if he had a mission that was important to him?”
“Mauling a girl in Fremont also isn’t his style. You can’t trust anything Lindberg says. She’s a flake. She believes all that psychic stuff and tries to sell it to people at ridiculous prices. She wanted to read my palm for ninety-nine dollars.”
“She talks to you? She thinks you run a gang.”
“Now maybe. She came over a few times when I was first moving stuff in and cleaning this place out. She wanted to put brochures for her business by my cash register. It wasn’t until our first customers started showing up that she stopped talking to me.”
“Have you had any trouble with her?” I waved toward the window, though Janice was no longer in view. “Anything you’ve told Zoltan about that he might have taken into his own hands?”
Dimitri shook his head. “You’ve got the wrong vampire, Val.”
“If that’s the case, we may have a problem.”
How well would Dimitri’s business fare if the word got out that a vampire was attacking people on the sidewalk out front?
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Though now it sounds like we’ve got two problems. Ogres like bulls in a china shop and a proliferation of vampires.” His gaze shifted past my shoulder, and he lowered his voice to mutter, “Maybe three problems.”
I sensed Zav behind me before I turned. Dimitri mumbled something about taking out the trash and disappeared into the back.
“This is loathsome.” Zav held up the coffee mug.
“I agree. I don’t get the appeal.” As I looked down at the mug—interestingly, he’d consumed half of it before reaching his decision—I noticed he wasn’t wearing his usual slippers. His tidily trimmed toenails were on display in a pair of double-strap Birkenstock sandals. “You’re experimenting with footwear again?”
“A sign at a local mercantile proclaimed that these were comfortable, unlike the boots, and that my feet would not grow unpleasantly warm, as they did in the high-tops. The merchant assured me that they are not gay.”
“I’m not entirely positive that’s true.” I rubbed my face. I couldn’t believe Zav was still worried about his slippers. It had been weeks since that dummy at the ice cream shop had snubbed them. “But now, you’re more likely to be mistaken for a cultural studies professor at the U.”
“I am well-educated and could teach on any number of subjects. I know much about the cultures of lesser beings throughout the Cosmic Realms.”
“I guess those could be right for you then. I can’t promise they won’t get as many comments as the slippers.”
“Only a fool dares make derogatory comments about a dragon’s attire.” Despite the words, Zav looked down as if considering the choice anew.
Dimitri returned from the back and would have slipped past, but I caught his arm and pointed to Zav’s feet. “We’re having a debate. Are these something a modern, uhm, masculine guy would wear?”
“Well, those aren’t feminine, and ugly-chic is in again, so I guess.” Dimitri glanced at Zav’s face and hurried past.
“Ugly-chic?” Zav squinted suspiciously at Dimitri’s retreating back.
I grinned at Zav and patted him on the arm.
He returned his focus to me, glancing down at my hand on his sleeve. At first, I thought he would object to me presuming to touch him, but he laid his hand on mine, fingers stroking my skin and making me forget all about sandal fashion. Maybe menacing my enemies did make him randy.
“Can you sense any vampires in the area?” I changed the subject since this wasn’t the appropriate place for randiness.
“I did not come here to discuss vampires or footwear.”
“Is that a no?” I knew one wouldn’t be out in daylight, but the fanged ski-mask wearer could be holed up in a nearby basement.
“I do not sense a vampire. Val, I am pleased that you have assisted me with capturing several criminals and returning them to the Dragon Justice Court for punishment and rehabilitation.” His eyelids drooped, so that he was gazing at me through his lashes. “You vexed those orcs very much. And you know it pleases me when you vex my enemies”
“Yes. You’ve told me that before. I have to admit, I like it that you like it.”
“I must check in with my family today, but tomorrow, I will take you to the elven home world of Veleshna Var.”
“You’ll what?”
“Did you think I would not fulfill my promise?”
“No, but I figured it would be after you’d collected all of your criminals.”
“I have caught up with my brother, so I can take a short break.” His eyes narrowed, and he lifted his hand to the side of my face, fingers sliding through my hair. The power of his aura—of him—wrapped around me, and a buzz of energy raised gooseflesh all over my body. “Also, I do not want to wait until I have completed my entire assignment to tysliir with you.”
“My translation charm isn’t active,” I murmured.
My gaze caught on his mouth, a mouth not that far from mine, and the urge to lean into him came over me. A vague notion that we were in full view of the rest of the shop kept me from doing exactly that while asking for more details.
“I want you in all ways that a dragon takes a mate.” He shifted closer, his chest close to mine, and the power of his aura made my knees weak. “Your kin will teach you how to defend your mind in the elven way, and then I will claim you with more than magic.”
“I’m agreeable to that, but in a bedroom, not a coffee shop.” I rested a hand on his chest, intending to push him away, since I was sure the others were watching us, but Zav leaned in closer and kissed me. It was a smoldering kiss that made me forget about pushing him away—and forget there were witnesses—and I found myself crushed against his hard body as his other arm wrapped around my back.
I will claim you where I wish, he informed me telepathically as his mouth slid against mine, his power flooding my body with heat and desire. And you will find it too pleasing to object.
You better wish it in a bedroom, I replied in my mind, my lips too busy for talking, because we’ve both learned that assassins lurk in public places.
He broke the kiss, and I regretted the words. I knew his history and how real a threat assassins were to him and his family.
Assassins can also lurk in bedrooms, he informed me.
I know. I’m sorry. But there won’t be any in one we share. I’ll have Sindari stand guard outside to make sure. I could imagine how delighted Sindari would be with that task, but I didn’t take back the words. Zav had still never delved into my thoughts—never scoured them as other dragons had—to learn what I was truly thinking, but he seemed to trust me now. I didn’t want to do anything to change that or make him doubt me.
Good. If the tiger is wise, he will ensure nothing interrupts our first mating. Or the thousands that will follow.
Thousands, huh?
Thousands. His smile was cocky as he gazed into my eyes, but as he slid his hand from around my back, his fingers trailing across the thin material of my shirt, he teased me with his magic again, magic that lit up my every nerve. We will battle by day and mate by night. This is how it will be.