City of Lust

by Debra Dunbar

  Bianca wrinkled her nose. “It would be easier for me to inherit it if Grandmother could hold off on the Melancholy and stay alive until I’m older and stronger. But if not…well, I’ll need to gain allies among my cousins. It’s unfortunate that I was Father’s only child, and that Uncle Guido died childless, or I’d have those cousins on my side. As it is, all of my cousins are far enough removed that they are either in Uncle Marcus’s line, or from farther back in our family line.”

  This treasure thing was a nightmare. I was beginning to be very glad I wasn’t a dragon. And I was thinking of what I could do to help support her if she inherited young. Maybe I could hire some demons to protect her? Or a sorcerer? But Villa Montenegro and her grandmother’s decline weren’t the only issues Bianca was facing.

  “What about you and Sergio?” Irix asked the question I’d been thinking.

  Her mouth set in a stubborn line. “I’ll keep in contact with him. We’ll try to meet in neutral territories. It will be hard, because both of our families are going to be very controlling about where we go for the next few years, but we’ll manage to occasionally see each other. We’re bonded, and as strong as our bonds are to our treasures, what we have between us is of equal, or greater, strength. Neither of us will fall in love again. Neither of us will marry another. Neither of us will have offspring with another. Our families have managed to bond with human mates throughout the centuries, but the bond between two mated dragons is even more powerful. We will either find a way to be together, or we will forever be alone.”

  Or one or both of them will end up dead. Irix looked over at me and I could tell that he felt for these two young lovers. Demons tended to have very little empathy, but lately Irix had shown me he had a soft spot when it came to humans and their emotions.

  “Will you help us?” She turned her big, dark eyes up to look earnestly into my own. “Will you help Sergio and me? Neither of us wants to fight any members of each other’s family. We just want to be together, to share our treasures. We don’t want a war. We just want to be together.”

  I remembered Gianna’s words, and thought there were many in each of these families that wanted peace. The trouble would be convincing those who wanted otherwise to hold back and let all of this go. In Bianca’s family, the instigator for war would probably be Marcus and those in his line. In Sergio’s family the issue would be Daniela and her father. Maybe. I wasn’t sure Mr. Sommariva would be any more of a problem than Bianca’s grandmother.

  “I’ll do my best,” I told her. Then I looked down at my cell phone. “It’s getting close to your deadline. Do any of those dragons on the mountain have a pouch with a cell phone handy? Irix offered to fly you out, but personal experience tells me you’d be better off shifting into your dragon form and flying on your own with him as a winged escort.”

  She nodded. “I’ll call Ilaria. She’s most likely still in her human form at Villa Montenegro, but she can shift and fly over here to escort me back. I’ll fly, that way you can have your clothes. And my scales will hide my burn until I get home.”

  “I’ll escort you both to the border of your territory,” Irix told her.

  I handed her my phone, and she made the call, rattling off an emotional plea in Italian. Hanging up, she handed the phone back with a sad smile. “Ilaria will be here shortly. I’ll go out to the side yard to have some privacy while I shift into my dragon form, and I’ll leave your clothing on the table back there. Thank you. Thank you for protecting me in Bellagio, and for sheltering me here.”

  “I’ll do everything I can to help you,” I told her, knowing that there was most likely nothing I could do.

  She went outside around to the side yard while Irix and I once more stood looking out at the lake. A dark, winged form came across the water, so low that her feet nearly touched the surface. Tilting her angle and spreading her wings wide, Ilaria landed on the very edge of the stone barrier, balancing her eight-foot-long body gracefully as she stood.

  She eyed Irix, and I saw the spark of attraction there. He nodded with a smile, then stepped back. With a flash of light, he assumed his demon form at the same time Bianca came from the side yard.

  They were two black dragons, and one pterodactyl-looking demon. Ilaria took flight to lead, Bianca right behind her, and Irix guarding the rear. The three flew across the lake, making a steep ascent at the mountain range in the distance before vanishing from view. I waited a few moments, staring at the reflection of the moon and stars on the lake, feeling the presence of eyes on me, and knowing that I was very vulnerable here alone.

  Irix had left me here alone. And that thrilled me. There had been a time when he’d been almost smothering in his need to protect me, but here he flew off to guard a young girl, leaving me in the presence of a bunch of dragons. He trusted me, knew that I could hold my own here at least until he got back to assist. And I think he trusted them to keep to their word.

  That was another fact I squirreled away. These people kept their word. Gianna had promised Irix that he and Bianca and any of her family who came to get her would have safe passage out of their territory. She promised that Irix and I could continue to stay here, unmolested and unthreatened by the Sommariva clan. And her entire family would honor that vow.

  I needed to find a way to make that character trait work for me. These dragons—or whatever they were—were possessive, territorial, and bloodthirsty, and they held a grudge for generations. But they kept their promises, and it seemed some of them did want peace.

  I only had to convince the others that peace was in their best interests as well, that it would help them keep their treasures safe, help them ensure their family was safe, and honor commitments that maybe they’d forgotten they’d made through their ancestors hundreds or thousands of years ago.

  I somehow had to get these two families to sit down at the table together, to break bread and come to an understanding. Because I was sure that the key to bringing them together was through Sergio and Bianca. If only I could get them to see that.

  Chapter 19

  I’m not sure whether Bianca was unable to hide her injuries, or someone who’d witnessed the fight in Bellagio told, but no sooner had Irix gotten back to our villa than the night erupted into war. Flashes of fire steamed down from the sky. I could hear explosions, the roaring of monstrous beasts, the screams of humans and the squealing of tires as those who could get out of the blast area did so.

  I felt sick, wondering how many people would return to destroyed homes, how many might be injured or killed in this spat between two powerful families. And it didn’t escape my notice that none of the battling dragons came near our villa. It was as if we were encased in a protective bubble that repelled them all. Even so, Irix set up guard outside in his demon form, pacing across the lawn and occasionally flying up to perch on the roof. He wouldn’t interfere, but he made it very clear that he would protect me with his life.

  God, I loved him.

  I’d promised Bianca I’d help, although with what was going on outside, I wasn’t sure there was anything I could do to ease these tensions or establish a cease fire. I’d do what I could, but right now, all I could do was stay inside this villa and wait for daylight and hopefully a chance to talk some sense into these dragons.

  But to do that, I needed to know as much as I could about these beings. So while Irix stood out back making sure we didn’t get caught in any not-so-friendly fire, I made a phone call.

  There were two dragons, that I knew of, that lived here among the humans. One was at the British Museum for six months of the year, and the other lived with my stepsister, Nyalla. I wasn’t sure if the one in England had a cell phone, so I opted for the one who lived with Nyalla.

  “I’m engaged,” I told her when she picked up, because there were some things more important than others.

  She screamed. I screamed. We both screamed.

  “When?” Nyalla demanded. “You have to tell me all about it. I want to know all the details of this prop
osal. All. The. Details.”

  “I thought I was going to throw up. We were touring a villa, and I turned around and he was down on one knee with a box in his hand. I swear Nyalla, I almost puked on him.”

  She giggled. “I had a feeling he had something planned. He’d called and asked for Darci’s number, then he was asking me all these questions about what kind of jewelry you liked.”

  “It’s a ruby,” I told her. “Huge fucking ruby. Emerald cut with little white diamonds around it and a platinum band. I love it. I absolutely love it.”

  “I told him to pick a ruby.” Nyalla sounded smug. “And emerald cut makes them look more red. Those faceted cuts always seem more pink.”

  “Well, I want you to be one of my bridesmaids,” I told her.

  She screamed. I screamed.

  “We are seriously going to start planning the moment I get home. Do you think Irix can go into a church without spontaneous combustion?”

  “Sam goes into churches,” she told me. “She said she feels kind of icky, like there’s a bunch of spiders crawling on her, but she doesn’t catch on fire or anything.”

  Ugh. As glad as I was that Irix wasn’t likely to catch on fire, I didn’t want him to feel like bugs were crawling on his skin during our wedding ceremony.

  “But that’s Sam,” Nyalla continued. “Maybe Irix will be fine. There’s a bunch of churches over there. Drag him into one and see how he feels. If he catches fire, then maybe you can have an outdoor wedding.”

  I adored how quirky and pragmatic my stepsister was. “I hope I get to be in your wedding someday,” I told her.

  There was an awkward silence followed by an even more awkward laugh. “Yeah. Someday.”

  “Nyalla, do you have a boyfriend?” I hated to ask her this. She’d been through so many guys, and none of them seemed to work out. My heart ached for her. Nyalla was the sweetest, most wonderful person I knew and there had to be a guy out there for her. I hoped this one lasted longer than her other boyfriends had.

  “Yes, but…oh, I can’t tell you. I love him so much, but there are some complications we have to deal with before we let anyone know.”

  “Nyalla, I would never tell your secrets. But even if you don’t confide in me, I hope it works out. I hope he loves you—really loves you.”

  “He does.” There was another long silence. “He’s an angel.”

  I felt my heart sink. “Oh not Nils again. Nyalla, please tell me it’s not Nils. He was such an ass to you. I don’t care how hot he is, he’s a jerk. You can do better than that.”

  “No, not Nils. I really can’t tell you, Amber. When you get back to the States, I will, just not over the phone.”

  “If he breaks your heart, then Irix and I are going to fuck him up. We’ve got your back, girl,” I promised her.

  She laughed. “Trust me, if he breaks my heart, then you and Irix are the very least of his worries. But he won’t. He’s….he’s so sweet. He’s honest and kind, and he adores me.”

  Well then, that was what mattered. I didn’t like the idea of Nyalla falling for an angel, given what I’d seen of them and her past with Nils, but I was hardly one to judge, having fallen in love with an incubus.

  “And now for the other reason I called you at what is probably super early in the morning there. I’ve got a weird question.”

  Nyalla laughed. “Oh, color me surprised. What’s your weird question?”

  “I need to know about shapeshifter dragons.”

  I could tell from the brief silence that was a question she hadn’t ever expected.

  “Shapeshifters? I don’t think dragons do that. Are you sure it’s a dragon and not a demon? Lots of them look like dragons when they’re in their demon form.”

  Nyalla would know. She’d spent most of her life in Hel, and although she’d been a slave to the elves, she’d still spent a lot of time in the company of demons. I suddenly began to wonder if she was right and that instead of dragons, Bianca and Sergio and their families had been descended from demons.

  “They say they’re dragons. And they look like dragons, when they’re not looking like humans. I get the feeling they’ve been here a long time, and they’ve interbred with humans, so maybe they just think they’re dragons. Irix had sex with one of them and he said she felt like maybe she was a half-breed.”

  Nyalla made a hmm noise. “I haven’t known a lot of demon/human offspring, but from what I’ve been told they can’t shapeshift. I guess it’s possible though. Nephilim can shapeshift, and their offspring are all werewolves. Or werebears. Or werecougars. Or were-other-things.”

  I hadn’t thought about that. Maybe these were particularly skilled demon offspring, like werewolves, only instead of shifting into a wolf form, they shifted into a dragon one.

  “I don’t know. They say they’re dragons, and I’m inclined to believe them, but I don’t want to rule out that they might be some kind of shapeshifter.”

  I heard the click of the door and Nyalla’s footsteps on the pavement. “Hang on. I’ll go see what Little Red knows. He’s over by the stables catching and eating mice. They’re like snacks to dragons, he tells me. I eat potato chips, and he eats mice. Isn’t that gross?”

  It was.

  I heard her talking, then heard the young red dragon’s voice on the other end. Nyalla must be holding the phone up for him because he would have poked a talon through the thing trying to hold it.

  “Amber? Hi! Are you in Italy? What’s it like there? Send Nyalla a picture. I’ve always wanted to go to Italy, especially in the northern part near the Alps. From what I’ve seen on the internet, it looks a lot like the mountains back home. Send me a picture. Send me lots of pictures.”

  “I will. I promise.” Darn, I wish I had a picture of the dragons in the street in Bellagio to send him so he could see what I was talking about. Unfortunately, I’d been a bit too preoccupied to snap a cell phone pic at the time.

  “Hey Little Red, I’ve got two groups of dragon families here who are about to burn each other to a crisp. They shapeshift into humans, which seems to be how they spend most of their time, and they interbreed with humans.”

  “Are you sure they’re not demons?” Little Red said, repeating Nyalla’s theory.

  “They might be, but they’re clearly not full demons, but I’ve never known demon/human hybrids to shapeshift. And they claim to be dragons.”

  “We’re always dragons,” he told me. “Maybe there’s some magic that could make us take another form, like something a sorcerer could do, but why would we want to do that? Why would a dragon ever want to lower themselves into taking on the form of a lesser being? Ouch, Nyalla, that hurt!”

  I grinned, knowing that my sister had probably punched the dragon. Only Nyalla would have the balls to punch a dragon. Or spray one with a super-powered water hose.

  Maybe these two families were some kind of demon offspring with extra powers. Or maybe a group of dragons with amulets that never needed recharging and who didn’t mind stooping to becoming a human for a great deal of their lives. Neither of those sounded all that plausible.

  “Are you sure? They like hanging out in rocky structures and grottos. They collect stuff like a reality show hoarder, call it their treasure, and threaten to kill and eat anyone who would steal so much as a paperclip. They’re black with bright green eyes and those long pupils like you have. And they look just like dragons when they are in that form.”

  “Well, everything sounds like a dragon except that they’re black. There aren’t any black or gray dragons. They were all killed off a thousand years ago.”

  A thousand years ago. Both Bianca and Daniela had said their families had been here for over nine hundred years. It gave me an idea. “Little Red, what if during the war or plague or whatever killed the black dragons off, a few of them escaped and came through a wild gate here to live among the humans?”

  I heard a rustle noise, then some crunching that made me wince.

  “Mmm. Brsfraska mmmsfr.”r />
  “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Nyalla told him.

  “Okay, okay. Sorry. I guess a few might have slipped through, but I don’t think they would have lived for long. The human world is kind of nice now. Humans have lots and lots of treasures and aren’t so greedy about keeping them all to themselves. And even though they have weapons, they seem to like us now more than they did back then. Back then, if one of us came here, we’d be hunted mercilessly. We couldn’t so much as eat a few sheep or take some gold without a bunch of humans showing up to throw rocks at us and stab us. Humans are pretty easy to kill, but there are so many of them, even back then. A dragon has to sleep, and eventually one of them would always kill us. It wasn’t safe. Not like it is now.”

  Yes, definitely an idea.

  “Let’s say some black dragons knew they were going to die if they stayed in your homeland, so they came here. And when they realized they were going to get killed by the humans, they figured out the only way to survive would be to shapeshift into a human form and pretend to be human?”

  “But I don’t think they can shapeshift,” Little Red mused. “I’ll have to ask one of the dragons back home. I wasn’t born when the fighting that killed off the black and gray dragons began or ended, so I don’t really know. I’ve never met one of them.”

  “Would the dragon in the British Museum know? The big golden one there?”

  “Oh yes! He’s very old. But I’m not going to go ask him. He doesn’t like me. I’m not a member of his family, so he thinks I’m there to steal his treasure. Of course, he has some very nice treasure,” Little Red added wistfully.

  Which was exactly the reason why I was sure these dragons here in Italy were actually dragons and not some kind of demon hybrid.

  “No worries, Little Red. I’ll have someone else ask him.”

  Someone who was fairly fire-proof, and who didn’t mind visiting a grumpy, territorial dragon right in his own lair.