Battle Bond: An Urban Fantasy Dragon Series (Death Before Dragons Book 2)

by Lindsay Buroker

  “Only in Seattle would those things go together.” I plucked at a peeling piece of paint on the siding. “Are you sure she wasn’t lost?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Let’s assume I can afford premium weapons. Why don’t you show me what you’ve got?”

  “Why don’t you show me what you’ve got?” He eyed my chest again.

  I drew Fezzik from its holster, pulled out the retractable buttstock and folding front grip that transitioned from a pistol to a rifle. “I’ve got a custom monster hunter here—it’s taken a few shifters down in its day—and then there’s Chopper.” I pointed the barrel downward as I indicated my sword.

  Since the shifter was magical, he would have no trouble seeing my weapons.

  His gaze shifted from my breasts to the gun, and his smirk disappeared, his face growing hard and unfriendly. “That’s one of that Thai girl’s dinky little guns. I’m surprised you would carry something so inferior.” He squinted into my eyes. “Maybe you’re not as dangerous as I’d heard.”

  There was a challenge in his gaze, and it reminded me of the werewolves that had attacked me outside of Bend, just because they’d wanted to be able to brag to others that they’d taken me down.

  I slid the stock back in and held Fezzik up with one hand. If he attacked me, I would be within my rights to defend myself. And if he died in the process, that would be unfortunate, but these things happened in this line of work.

  “You’re welcome to find out,” I said.

  His lewd smile returned. “I could kill you, but I could think of more fun things to do with you than fighting. I do love blondes, you know. And so does my brother. Why don’t you come into our lair and meet him?”

  “I’m more interested in meeting your dragon-slayer weapons, ah, what did you say your name is?”

  “Kurt. My brother is Otto. And if you like guns, we have ’em. It sounds like you’ve got a fetish. We don’t mind that. We don’t judge.” Kurt looked back as he headed inside, flashing white teeth that were more pointed than normal for a human. “Otto,” he called. “We have a visitor.”

  “A visitor or a customer?” a gruff male voice said from a back room.

  The living room, complete with wood paneling and old green-fabric couches, was covered in gun magazines, metal and rock posters, and racks and racks of weapons. Most of them weren’t magical, but a few were on par with Fezzik.

  In a far corner stood what looked like a liquor cabinet, but one door was cracked open to reveal boxes of ammunition. They gave off a faint magical signature. Interestingly, they were sealed, as if they had been shipped here rather than made in-house. Did the brothers get their weapons and ammo from someone else and then resell them?

  “That’s what we’ll find out,” Kurt called back. “If you can tear yourself away from your work.”

  As I followed him deep into the house, I peeked into a kitchen and dining room that had been converted into an office overflowing with boxes and papers. He led me down the single hallway, past two bedrooms that were messier than my apartment had been after the ransacking, and to a room with a couch and a TV.

  Inside was another magical being, one that looked enough like Kurt to be his twin. He was playing video games from the couch, his shirt off and corn chips dusting the cushions next to him. Only slovenly magical shifters could eat like that and have the hard muscled bodies of fitness-magazine models.

  In addition to the corn chips, there were boxes of cartridges and empty magazines. He was probably supposed to be loading them when he wasn’t too busy playing his game. So far, it looked like more cartridges had fallen onto the floor than made it into magazines. They oozed magic similar to what had been in the cabinet out front. The magic seemed no more powerful than what Nin made for Fezzik, and I doubted the bullets could puncture a dragon hide.

  “I could tear myself away for her any time.” The brother—Otto, presumably—paused his game and gave me a long leer as his brother stepped aside.

  I still had Fezzik in hand and planned to keep the gun there.

  Ignoring their leers, I tried to identify and locate the third magical being I sensed. The aura was muted, and I struggled to guess what species it belonged to.

  Before, I had thought the person might be out back, but it felt like he or she was under us. Maybe there was a basement. Or at least some pit that had been dug out after the mobile home had been installed. But how did one get down there? I hadn’t seen stairs on my way in.

  “She’s interested in our guns.” Kurt smirked again.

  “Oh yeah? Mine’s always loaded.” Otto rubbed his cock through his jeans.

  Negotiating was going to be futile. I could tell. I was starting to wish I’d driven by, tossed a Molotov cocktail on the roof, and gone to buy lotions and potpourri at the farmers market.

  “Where’s the showroom?” I pointed at the faded gray rug. “Basement?”

  “The showroom is right here,” Otto purred, shifting to his feet, his hand still on his junk.

  “There’s nothing in this room that can slay dragons.”

  “Don’t be too sure about that.” Kurt smirked and reached for me, his hand moving more quickly than a normal human’s would.

  But I was used to dealing with that kind of speed. I caught his wrist before he could touch me, and glared into his eyes. “Oh, I’m sure.”

  Not surprisingly, he wasn’t daunted. He smirked wider, as if pleased with the development.

  “The Ruin Bringer doesn’t want to have some fun before making a purchase?” Otto asked. “That’s disappointing. Maybe we could give her a discount if she spends the day with us.”

  “You ever do two guys at once, pretty girl?” Kurt asked. “Or maybe a man and a panther?”

  He shifted, his wrist melting out of my grip as he transformed into a large black panther. My feline guess had been right.

  As he shifted, I took the opportunity to touch my cat figurine and summon Sindari. I would fight two on one if I had to, but if these guys were as strong as their auras suggested, I wouldn’t walk away unscathed. Evening the odds made sense, and Sindari always enjoyed a fight.

  “I can’t say that I have,” I said as Sindari materialized in the hallway behind me. “Do you actually have urges and find humans attractive in that form? I’ve heard that shifters are only attracted to what they’ve shifted into.”

  “Not necessarily true.” Otto strolled closer, coming up to rest a hand on Kurt’s feline back. “We’ve hosted some killer parties here and experimented a lot.”

  Kurt’s long black tail swished in the air and then demonstrated some possibilities for those who drifted toward bestiality. Otto laughed uproariously.

  What were the odds that I could get any decent information out of them? Or think of a way to convince them to leave Nin alone?

  “Put away your tail, furball.” I took a last stab. “I want to see one of these dragon-slaying guns. I’ve had run-ins with a dragon lately. I’m a serious buyer.”

  “Later,” Otto purred, loosening his belt and stepping forward.

  “If you sell something good to me, maybe I’ll put the word out to others. Then you won’t need to threaten other people in your industry.”

  Kurt’s tail stopped swishing, and he stared at me, speaking telepathically. Other people in the industry can either join us and work under us, or they can get the hell out of the city. Did she send you here?

  “Stay away from her.” The protective part of me regretted bringing up Nin, but I had come to convince them to leave her alone. With as much ice in my tone as I could manage, I added, “Or you’ll deal with me.”

  “We’ll deal with you now. Pleasure before business.” Otto’s gaze flicked past my arm toward the hallway. They must have sensed and smelled Sindari’s appearance right away, but neither seemed concerned. “Your cat can play too. I don’t suppose that’s a female?”

  Kurt’s tail went back to swishing suggestively.

  We’re going to have a fight, Sindari
.

  I assumed so from the lewd tail gestures.

  Do you want to handle the panther while I tangle with the human?

  That seems right. Excuse me while I inform them that I am not female and that even if I were, I would rather hump a tree than some second-rate feline.

  That must have been a brief conversation, because both brothers snarled, their voices surprisingly similar given their different vocal cord construction at the moment.

  “Pin her down,” Otto snarled. “I’ll take care of the pussycat.”

  The panther sprang for me.

  8

  The panther was so close that I wouldn’t normally have had time to react, but since Otto’s big mouth had issued a warning, I was ready. When Kurt’s paws left the ground, I dropped into a crouch and dove under him and into the room, rolling and yanking out Chopper as he sailed above me.

  Sindari roared and leaped, meeting Kurt in the doorway. As I jumped to my feet, Otto threw a punch at my face.

  I blocked with my free arm, angling it to deflect a blow that came in like a battering ram. At the same time, I lunged in with Chopper, slashing at the shifter’s bare chest.

  Otto leaped back with the speed of a cat, and my blade sliced through air. It gave me time to back farther into the room, put a wall at my back, and give myself more room to swing. Otto shifted form, turning into a huge black panther, muscles rippling under his sleek flesh.

  As snarls and growls filled the hallway, Sindari and Kurt biting and clawing at each other, we faced off. Otto sprang, a paw slashing for my eyes.

  Aware of the couch to one side, I glided to the other. I feinted, as if I meant to cut off his paw, then shifted the blade mid-swing and changed targets. As he was busy jerking his paw out of the way, Chopper sliced upward toward his belly and vulnerable internal organs. Otto tried to twist in the air as he landed, raking his back claws at me.

  My sword gave me the reach to avoid them while cutting into fur and flesh. It wasn’t a deep wound, and Otto didn’t cry out. As soon as he landed, he whirled to face me again. But shifters were always fast. I wasn’t fazed. It would be a battle of attrition; it often was.

  This time, Otto ran straight toward me instead of springing into the air. White fangs dripped saliva, and his intent was clear: he meant to ram me against the TV stand and sink his teeth into my neck.

  I didn’t dodge. With speed and strength I thanked the father I’d never met for, I slammed a straight kick into his chest as I thrust with Chopper, aiming the point into the panther’s open maw.

  The ball of my foot struck with the blade, driving Otto backward as I gouged the side of his face—he whipped his head aside before the blade could sink into his throat. Bleeding, he jerked away and backed up. Fury glowed in his yellow eyes, and he sank low, looking like he would spring again.

  But as he met my gaze, he threw a mental attack at me, one I hadn’t expected from a shifter. They were known more for brute force and magical regenerative powers than psionic finesse.

  Power raked at my mind, evoking pain as if he were using physical claws on my brain. An image forced itself into my thoughts, one of me dropping to my hands and knees and letting the brothers have their way with me.

  Though startling, it was a clumsy attack. I walled off my mind, pushing the pain and the crude images away. Even without Chopper and its assistance with repelling mental threats, I could have fought this idiot off.

  He leaped for me again, coming straight in. Did he expect me to be so stunned by his mental attack that I wouldn’t be ready?

  I had plenty of time to spring to the side and swing Chopper at his neck.

  More coming, Val, Sindari warned from the hallway.

  The announcement startled me, and my blade sliced into Otto’s shoulder instead of his neck. It struck bone and glanced off.

  Otto crashed into the TV. I would have laughed when it hit the wall, then fell forward, glass shattering all over him, but I abruptly grew aware of more magical auras in the area. Four. No, six. Allies to the brothers?

  A couple of them were coming from the direction of the river, but others were running down the street from the entrance of the neighborhood. And they were coming fast. Even as I finished counting to six, more magical beings surged into range of my senses. Ten? They were all similar to Otto and Kurt, shifters of one kind or another.

  I sensed this one calling them, but I could not stop him in time, Sindari added, pausing to snap his jaws as Kurt, bleeding from a dozen wounds, charged at him to continue their fight. They’re converging on the front yard. You better go out the back. I’ll keep these two distracted so you can get away.

  Sindari was fighting as he communicated with me, so I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to distract him.

  Besides, there was nothing to argue about. We could have taken down the brothers but not the brothers plus ten more shifters.

  Glass tinkled as Otto pushed himself up, the TV frame falling to one side. I snatched a few cartridges from the box on the sofa and jammed them in my pocket, then faced him as he looked at me. I took a step, tempted to finish him off while he was still dazed, so he couldn’t hurt or threaten Nin again, but two of the incoming shifters had already reached the lawn. One sprang toward the window of our room even as the front door slammed open, another charging inside.

  I raced into the hallway and jumped over Sindari and Kurt, the massive felines clawing and thrashing on the floor, their blood spattering the rug. Sindari had the advantage with his powerful fangs embedded in Kurt’s thickly muscled neck. It wasn’t smart, but I paused long enough to jab Chopper down into Kurt’s haunch. Or at least, that was my intent. He twisted as he tried to tear away from Sindari, and all I got was the tail. My blade sliced through it at the halfway point.

  “You won’t be using that for your perverted sex shit again,” I growled, then ran into a bedroom facing the back yard as another massive cat, a female jaguar this time, rounded the corner and entered the hallway. She sprang through the doorway after me.

  By then, I had Fezzik out, and I fired at her. Bullets tore into her chest, and she jerked back out into the hallway and out of sight.

  Don’t linger, Sindari ordered as I rushed through the bedroom and slashed all the glass out of the window with four precise strikes from Chopper. It clinked outward, and I leaped after it, landing in mud and weeds outside.

  My senses told me more shifters were pouring into the front of the house. I hated to leave without any real answers, but there was no choice. I ran parallel to the river, leaped a hedge, and rushed through yards and common areas as I ran back toward the trail.

  Sindari? I glanced back. You’re getting out of there, right?

  He could dismiss himself from this world any time, but he was doing his best to buy me time. As much as I appreciated that, I didn’t want him to get himself killed fighting ten powerful cat shifters at once. It was possible for him to die if he took too much damage before he traveled the magical pathway back to his own world.

  Sindari?

  Have you made it back to your vehicle yet? he asked.

  Yes, I lied.

  Running through muddy yards and leaping fences and hedges wasn’t the fastest way to travel. But the bridge and the busy trail were in sight up ahead. I doubted the shifters would chase me through such a public area during the day.

  I ran across the wide lawn of an apartment building, ducks quacking and paddling away from the bank as my passage disturbed them. The quacks grew uproarious, and several ducks took flight. That was when I realized that it was more than me bothering them.

  A bloody silver tiger was running after me. Fortunately, nothing was running after him.

  You have not made it back to your vehicle, Sindari told me sternly.

  Before I could reply, an unfamiliar voice spoke into my mind. Help me.

  The brothers’ house was no longer in sight, but I was positive the telepathic words came from that direction. Had it been one of the brothers? I couldn’t imagine th
em asking me for something. More likely, it was a trap designed to lure me back.

  “Did you hear that?” I asked.

  Sindari had caught up with me and ran by my side. No, what?

  A telepathic voice spoke to me. It came from back there.

  There was another magical being—not a shifter—under the house.

  I know. Do you think that’s who’s reaching out to me? I had the telepathic abilities of a rock, but I tried to open my mind and project back toward the house. Who are you? What kind of help do you need?

  A brown panther and a lion leaped over hedges and into the yard of the apartment complex as we ran out onto a street on the other side.

  Flee, Ruin Bringer, one of them taunted me. It was not the same voice that had asked for help. Flee with your pussycat.

  Yes, a female voice purred into my mind. Run away from the power of the Northern Pride. Let it be known that the supposed Scourge of the Magical wets herself at the first sign of real might.

  There’s only two following us, right? I asked Sindari.

  Yes. The rest remain in the house.

  I stopped in the street and turned to face the panther and the lion—they were loping lazily across the lawn. The fact that they weren’t truly trying to catch us told me plenty. They’d seen Kurt and Otto with the snot—and blood—beaten out of them and weren’t eager to fight us, not just the two of them.

  I fired at them, not caring if any mundanes wandering past heard the noise. As the weapon opened up, bullets slamming into enemy flesh, the two big cats screeched and wheeled to run away.

  The lion ran across the lawn and jumped, trying to clear the river in one leap. He didn’t quite make it. Three-quarters of the way over, he splashed down and swam like a furry Olympic medalist to the far side, where he scrambled up the bank and disappeared.

  The panther launched herself onto the two-story roof of the apartment building, a man holding barbecue tongs gaping at her as she sailed past and out of sight. A raw steak ready to go on the grill dangled from those tongs as he turned his gape on me. I smiled and waved, then holstered Fezzik. After digging out a cleaning cloth, I wiped down Chopper and put the sword away too.