I strapped on my belt and jammed Fezzik in the thigh holster, then slung Chopper’s scabbard across my back. As soon as I shoved my feet back into my boots, I grabbed the vampire’s sample kit.
I assume he’s on his way here? There’s no way he’s coincidentally flying through the same place as me for a third time.
Even as I finished the thought, I sensed his big powerful dragon aura. The aura I’d so assiduously scrubbed off. If he gave me a vial of his blood, I’d forgive him for oozing it all over me again. Maybe.
He’s landing on the roof. Sindari rolled to his feet.
Mongrel human, a telepathic voice that was nothing like Sindari’s boomed in my head like a wrecking ball slamming into a gong. Come to me. I will speak with you.
“Is that arrogant blowhard kidding?”
Sindari gazed blandly at me. Dimitri snored from the living room, his head half hanging off the couch.
He won’t fit through the balcony door, Sindari remarked. He squashed two patio chairs when he landed.
So you’re saying he has a big ass?
All of him is big. You may want to go up there. If you hope to ask him for a favor, you won’t want to irritate him. Further.
Can’t I just find a soft spot on his hide and stab him with a syringe when he’s not looking?
Dragons don’t have soft spots.
That figures. I slipped out the door onto the balcony and climbed onto the railing so I could grab the gutter and pull my chin over the edge of the roof.
A pair of large violet eyes glowed at me from the darkness. It took my own eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness and pick out his black scaled form from the rest of the roof. He was big. Seeing him in the wilderness hadn’t prepared me for how large he would be on the rooftop of my apartment building.
Come up here, mongrel.
My hands and forearms already ached from holding my bodyweight from my fingers. I wasn’t sure I could pull myself up again after my earlier climbing feat.
“It’s Val, and humans don’t clamber around on rooftops.” Never mind that I’d done so a half hour ago. “If you want to talk to me, change into something small enough to fit through my door, and come visit me like a civilized person.”
I dropped back down to the balcony, less to be contrary and more because my fingers were cramping up.
Remember how we discussed not irritating him? Sindari asked as I walked back inside, leaving the door open.
I’m not going to drop to my knees in front of him and kiss his slippered toes.
Not even for a vial of blood?
A strong breeze gusted through the door, knocking the curtains about, and Zav strode inside, once again in human form. He wore his usual black robe and slippers. Apparently, shapeshifters didn’t need to change clothes. I supposed I should be relieved he didn’t appear naked, like those werewolves.
“Thank you,” I forced myself to say, and smiled politely. It was possible I bared a lot of teeth during my polite smile. “What are you doing here?”
Nose in the air, Zav looked at the snoring Dimitri and the disarray of my apartment. Maybe inviting him in hadn’t been a great idea.
“Wondering why you brought me into this disheveled kobold hovel.”
“Sorry my apartment isn’t up to your standards. Some goons broke in and tore it apart.”
“Did you slay them?”
“No, I’m saving that until after breakfast.”
He gazed impassively at me, but I had a feeling he couldn’t tell if I was joking or not. Maybe dragons didn’t have sarcasm. Or maybe mongrels weren’t usually sarcastic with them.
“I am progressing through my list of criminals that I must capture and return to the Dragon Justice Court. It is a tediously long list. This world has been neglected for centuries.”
“You know what they say. The reward for a job well done is another job.”
“Do not interrupt me, mongrel.”
“You paused. I thought it was my turn to talk.”
“I paused to gather my thoughts.”
“That is important. Carry on.”
Val… Sindari’s gaze was less impassive as he looked at me. Don’t goad the dragon.
He won’t kill me. He wants something from me or he wouldn’t be here gathering his thoughts.
A dragon can easily lose his temper and inadvertently kill someone he’s talking to. He would have no regrets. He would find someone else to gather thoughts with.
The arrogant prick rubs my fur the wrong way.
Have you composed a will? If you die, will my figurine go to Dimitri?
Is that what you want? He won you over with ten seconds of petting?
He rubbed my fur the right way.
I’ll keep your request in mind. Right now, my fourteen-year-old daughter is the heir to my estate. I flicked a finger to indicate the trashed apartment and all its vast wealth. Maybe she would get some use from the coin jug.
“There are two dark elves on my list,” Zav said.
“So?” I focused on him and ignored Sindari’s mental sputtering about being lumped in as part of an estate—and going to a teenager.
“I have learned that you will soon hunt dark elves.”
“Just one.”
“You will enter into their lair.”
“I have to find it first.”
His violet eyes narrowed, and he stepped closer to me. “Do you never stop interrupting when greater beings speak to you?”
“I don’t think you know how conversations work.” I rested my hand on Fezzik, though I hadn’t forgotten that he could incinerate bullets. Would he do so as easily with magical ammo?
He flicked a finger, and Fezzik flew out of its holster and across the room. I jumped as it smacked into the wall, almost hitting my change jug, and clunked to the floor.
“Do not threaten me, mongrel,” Zav growled, his eyes slits as they bored into me. “In my realm, you would be slain for presuming to carry a weapon in a dragon’s presence.”
“No wonder everybody there flees to Earth.” I folded my arms over my chest, refusing to admit that I was shaken by his presence—by him. Even though I’d encountered plenty of enemies who could knock my weapons aside if I wasn’t fast enough, I could feel his aura crackling in the air like electricity on a high-voltage line. I knew Sindari was right, that he could kill me by accident, and that I wasn’t strong enough to fight him.
“Only criminals flee,” he said softly, dangerously. “As the two dark elves I seek did. They recently joined the horde of them living under your city like ants under a rotten log. When you enter the dark-elf lair, you may encounter a high priestess, Yemeli-lor, and her odious mate, a warrior named Baklinor-ten.”
Though numerous sarcastic comments popped into my head, I managed to keep my mouth shut and listen.
“The two I seek stole from a prominent dragon family an artifact of cultural and historical significance,” Zav continued, “and they are using it in their foul sacrifices to their bloodthirsty goddess. If you see them, you will bring them to me. If you see the artifact, you will retrieve it for me.”
“Uh.” I lifted a finger to protest further, but he reached for me.
Startled, I tried to leap back, but some invisible power immobilized me, and I couldn’t move. He pressed the heel of his palm against my forehead, his fingers resting against my hair. What the hell?
“It looks like this.”
An image surged into my mind on a wave of power that would have dropped me to my knees if his magic hadn’t been holding me. I saw a thick platter carved from some purple and blue swirling stone or gem that I didn’t recognize, and on it lay a great gilded eggshell cracked into two pieces and adhered to the surface. The interior of the broken egg glowed with a soft blue light.
Zav removed his hand, and the power gripping me disappeared. I locked my knees before they could buckle and did my best to hide the shakiness of my breath.
He watched me for several long seconds.
“Is it my turn to speak now?” I asked.
“It would be appropriate for you to obediently say you’ll do my bidding.”
“Uh huh. I don’t know how you know I’m looking for a dark elf—maybe you’re a fan of Zoltan’s internet alchemy channel—but the ones you named aren’t the one I’m looking for. I need a cure for my boss, not a weird dragon artifact.”
His eyes narrowed again. Sindari stood next to me and bumped his hip against my side. Possibly, it was a show of support, but more likely, he was reminding me not to irk the dragon.
“I may be willing to help you,” I continued, though I was already daunted by my own quest, “in exchange for a small vial of your blood for Zoltan.”
“Nobody takes a dragon’s blood to use for magical debauchery. Or for any other reason. I have already told that alchemist that he will get himself killed—further—if he attempts to collect such a thing.”
“That’s probably why he wants me to collect it.”
“No doubt he sees you as expendable.”
“What were you doing talking to him, and why can’t you get your own dark elves?”
“I sensed that several dark elves were above the surface and easily accessible. I went to see if any of them were the two I sought. They were not, but I am no longer surprised when you are found in the presence of the magical. Whether you accept the honor or not, you are my perfect bait. And I will continue to use you as such.”
He looked so smugly pleased at having discovered my secret utility. I wanted to punch him in the nose. It was a straight, strong handsome nose, so it would feel particularly satisfying to smash it, but even if he looked like a human, I doubted he was as fragile as a human.
“When you aren’t sending me in to do your work for you,” I said.
Fresh irritation—or maybe that was indignation—rose to his eyes. “Find the criminals and the artifact, and I will reward you.”
“By not using me as bait?”
“No. I will use you as bait. The sooner I complete my task, the sooner I may leave this vermin-infested world. What other reward would you wish?”