by Dyan Chick
After I'd done a lap of the kitchen, I relaxed a bit. So far, we were alone. The plan was to draw out the person who had killed Jimmy, but I was still holding out hope that we'd find some security footage we could run to the cops.
From somewhere behind us came the sound of breaking glass. Every hair on my body stood on edge, and I froze. Eyes wide, I looked at James.
"Turn off your light," he whispered.
I complied and swallowed against a lump in my throat. Was that the killer? Had he already found me? Would he try to turn me in or would he just do to me what he'd done to Jimmy?
"See if you can find the tapes," James whispered. "I'll go check it out."
Nodding, I glanced around the darkened room. Off to the side, I saw a small hallway. As James crept toward the sound of the breaking glass, I tip-toed to the hallway.
20
The hallway had two doors. The first had a window that let me know it was an office. Opening the second door, I discovered it was a closet full of cleaning supplies. Not helpful.
I turned my attention to the office, opening the door as quietly as I could. Pausing with the door open, I listened for any signs of James. It was silent. Hoping that meant he encountered no intruders, I crept into the office, carefully closing the door behind me.
Feeling along the wall, I found a light switch and flipped it on. The room was claustrophobically small. A desk was shoved against the wall opposite the door and took up half of the office. A small chair on wheels was pushed in under the desk. There was no way more than one person would fit in this room.
Along the wall above the desk, there were several closed shelves. Quickly, I opened each one, hoping to find hidden screens or evidence of a recording device. All I saw were binders and a tin full of pills. Closing everything back up, I glanced around the room one more time, hoping I'd missed something.
Kneeling down, I looked under the desk. There was just a wastebasket and a pair of men's boots. Nothing unusual. The only thing this search had yielded was the fact that the manager here kept a change of shoes and hid uppers in his office. Neither of those things would be a major concern to anyone.
As I left the office, I wondered if the cameras went to a cloud at some big security company. I supposed I could see if I could find someone who worked at the bar and ask them, but then I'd have to show myself and trust that they wouldn't turn me over to the cops. And I'd have to hope that the cops would believe the footage.
Shit. Without an alibi, I was stuck using our first plan. I would have to be the bait. Closing the office door behind me, I cut back through the kitchen, pulling up my phone's microphone as James had suggested. There wasn't any point in hiding anymore, if the killer was out there, I had to get him to confess. "James? You there?"
Soundlessly, I walked through the kitchen, stopping to peek through a crack between the swinging doors. "James?"
Pushing the door open a crack, I peeked out, half expecting to see James looking back at me. Nobody was there.
I stepped out into the large room, past the bar, out to the empty dance floor. What was going on? Where was James? He wouldn't just leave me here, would he? My pulse raced. Had I made a mistake trusting him? Worst case scenarios flooded my mind. Maybe it was James all along. Maybe he set me up. Maybe he killed Jimmy.
A throat cleared from behind me. "Way to scare me to death, James." I spun around, then jumped. The person behind me wasn't James.
The being I was staring at had pointed ears, a larger than usual eyes with green irises so bright, I could tell the color in the dim light. The figure was over six feet tall with long, blonde hair and pointed features.
Icy fear traveled through my veins. My mind raced as I tried to come up with an explanation for what I was seeing. The man in front of me, if you could call him a man, looked like a Fae. But that wasn't possible. They weren't allowed in our realm.
"We finally meet, Dragon," the Fae said, a sideways smile on his lips.
My lips parted, I wanted to say something, but words were failing. This had to be the killer. The Fae were rumored to be shapeshifters. He had to be the one who used my face to gain entry. But why?
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of movement, and I turned. So did the Fae and he jumped out of the way, just as James ran toward him.
The Fae man swung at James, his fist connecting with his jaw. James stumbled backward, then righted himself. With a yell, he ran into the Fae, wrapping his arms around his waist, throwing him to the ground.
As the newcomer landed with a thud, my senses returned. I ran to the mess near the front entrance and grabbed a broken chair leg off the ground.
James had the Fae pinned to the ground, his knee on the creature's chest. "What are you doing here?"
Stopping in front of the fallen foe, I dropped to my knees and held the pointed, broken end of the chair leg above his neck. "Why did you do it?" Tears blurred my vision, and I struggled against the surge of emotions, trying to hold myself together as I stared down at Jimmy's killer. This man, this monster, deserved to die. He'd taken my mentor, cost me my place in life, caused a friend of mine to end up in a torture chamber. "Why?"
The creature smiled, showing his sharp teeth. His face might be beautiful in an ethereal, unnatural sort of way, but the fangs reminded me that he was a vicious monster, not to be trusted. I touched the point of the broken wood to his neck. "I'll do it. Don't think I won't."
"Oh, I don't doubt you, mistress." He extended his arms above his head in a sign of surrender. Then he turned to James. "Mind getting your protege off of me?"
James eased up a bit but didn't remove his knee from the man's chest. "You aren't supposed to be here. We had an agreement."
Eyes wide, I turned to James. He had betrayed me. If he was friends with the killer, he could be in on it. "What the fuck are you talking about? How could you have an agreement with a Fae?"
"Morgan, it's not what you think," James said.
"I'll deal with you later." Turning back to the smiling creature, I pushed the wood in so it was making a dent in his pale skin. "You killed Jimmy. You stole from the vault. You tell me why or I'll kill you now."
The Fae under my weapon started to laugh. I turned to James in time to see him let out a sigh and release the creature.
"What are you doing?" I shouted.
In a single moment, James scooped me up, binding my arms and lifting me off the ground. I blinked at him, too stunned to react for a moment. I had no idea he was that strong. After a half-second, I regained my senses and slapped James across the cheek. "Put me down, you liar."
James hardly reacted to the slap, and with a patient expression, the sort you reserved for a child, he took the chair leg from me and set me back on the ground.
The Fae was standing next to us now, dusting off his custom looking suit. "I like her. She's feisty. I thought you gave up women last century?"
"I'm just helping her," James said.
"Helping? Leading me to a trap with an illegal Fae?" I glared at James but kept sight of the other man in my periphery. There was no way I'd let that monster out of my sight.
"He's not the killer, Morgan. He's an old friend," James said.
Jaw clenched, I waited for more explanation, but none came. Finally, I broke down. "What's he doing here, then?"
"That, I don't know," James said, turning to the Fae. "What the hell are you doing here, Tavas?"
"Well, we seem to have a dragon problem," he said.
I stiffened and looked over at him. "Are you referring to the giant fire-breathing beast in the sky?"
"Beast? I'd expect kinder words from you, considering you could be related to the beast in question." Tavas straightened his skinny tie. Somehow, I never expected the Fae to look like businessmen in thousand dollar suits.
I glanced down at his shoes. They looked even more expensive than his suit. Ignoring his cousin comment, I shook my head. "What does the dragon have to do with you?"
"Tavas, don't tell me you wer
e selling in the human realm again." James sounded frustrated.
"We weren't selling, exactly. We were just passing through. Using the old portals," Tavas said.
"And you, what, lost a dragon?" I asked, starting to figure it out. "Do you sell dragons?"
"I didn't lose one. Our courier was hijacked." Tavas crossed his arms over his chest.
"You realize that's super illegal, don't you? Not that that would matter to you, even being here is illegal for you," I said. "How the hell did you get here? I thought the Gate to the Fae Realm was sealed."
"First, there's more than one gate, young lady. Second, it's not technically illegal since they outlawed the Dark Fae, and I'm not a Dark Fae. Third, for someone who lives her whole life in shades of grey, you might want to stop judging."
"I don't live in shades of gray. What does that even mean?" I asked.
"Selling spells, charms, and curses to non-magic users? You might not make them yourself, but you certainly aid in getting magic to some pretty shady people." Tavas was smirking. He looked very pleased with himself.
I wanted to argue back, but he was right. I did deal with shady people doing work that was only legal on a technicality. "How the hell do you know all of this, anyway?"
"You found my missing dragon, so I did my research," Tavas said.
"The sculpture?" I asked. The pieces were falling into place, but not how I wanted them to. "Did you break into the vault to steal it? Or send someone to steal it? My boss was killed. Was that you?" I clenched my hands into fists, ready to strike him.
"I already told you, I have nothing to do with that whole mess. Whoever stole our dragons left one for you to find. I don't know why."
"Dragons?" James looked at Tavas. "Did you say you were missing more than one dragon?"
"We got all but two back," Tavas said. "And I know where one of them is, so technically, I'm only missing one."
"Nice job, Tavas. There you go again," James said.
Tavas argued back, the two of them going back and forth launching insults at each other that I could hardly follow.
I stomped my foot. "Stop it!"
Both men stopped talking and turned to look at me. "We don't have time for this. If Tavas didn't kill Jimmy and if he doesn't know who the killer is, he's useless."
I walked toward the door and pointed to the pink sky. "The sun is coming. We have to get Alec out."
"Who’s Alec?" Tavas asked.
"Her boyfriend," James said.
"He's not my..." I huffed, "never mind, he's a vampire. And he's in trouble."
"Daylight cell?" Tavas asked.
I narrowed my eyes at the Fae. "Yes."
"I can help you with that. Why didn't you say so sooner?" Tavas smiled, showing his pointed teeth again.
A shiver rolled down my spine. I might not have ever met a Fae before, but I knew enough of their reputation to know that when it came to the Fae, nothing was free. "What's in it for you?"
"I'll help you get your friend out. You help me catch a dragon."
"How can we help with that?" I asked.
"You don't, I do," James said. He turned to Tavas. "I haven't shifted in decades. I'm not about to do it for you."
"I don't need you to shift. You get her to come to me, I can talk her down. She's one of my babies. Hatched her from the egg myself." Tavas looked proud.
I reached out and set my hand on James's arm. "Please." He was my chance at saving Alec. Without the killer to turn in, without any evidence to prove my innocence, it was my best chance to get Alec out before he had to spend too much time in that cell.
James's jaw twitched. I could tell he didn't want anything to do with the dragon. And whatever past he shared with Tavas, he didn't seem keen on helping him. For a moment, I worried he would say no, but he relented with a nod. "Only because he was Jimmy's boy."
Dropping my hand, I bit down on the inside of my lip and looked away. I should be grateful. We didn't know each other well enough to think I could ask for a favor with nothing in return. The whole world worked on favors, and I already owed him more than I could count. This time, he was giving Jimmy a favor. This had nothing to do with wanting to help me. A twinge of sadness pulled inside me. After what we'd been through, I felt a connection to James, but that seemed to be one-sided. Either way, he agreed to help, and I should be grateful. I looked back up at him. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. We still have to see what this lunatic has in mind." James glanced at Tavas. "Now, how the hell are you going to get a vamp out of a daylight cell?"
21
As we walked through the narrow side streets toward the police station, I wondered if Tavas was what Chester had predicted in his prophecy. He'd told me that help would come from the place I'd least expect it.
Tavas had to be the last thing I'd expected. Since the Fae wars, they'd sealed the gates to the Faerie realm, making it illegal for Fae to come into our realm. I'd heard rumors that there were some Fae who lived here, masquerading as elves or mages or other magical beings, but I'd never met one. Now, I find out that it's possible that there are Fae who are crossing between realms using old portals. Was everything I learned a lie?
"So just how are you going to pull this off, Tav?" James asked as we walked around the charred skeletal form of what used to be a pickup truck. He paused in front of the truck. "Part of your baby's handiwork?"
"Hey, she's scared and alone. It's not her fault someone released her into Realm's Gate. She should have stayed in travel form until we reached the wetlands in the south seas," Tavas said.
"So that's how you transport them? You're the one who turned her into a sculpture?" I thought that the person who stole them had transformed the dragon I'd found.
"Standard dragon transport process. Safer for everyone, handlers, and dragons." He paused, rubbing his chin while narrowing his eyes at me. "I still can't figure out how you came to be in possession of the dragon. Did someone drop it?"
I shook my head. "I found it at an estate sale at a human home. Almost like it was left for me."
Pressing my lips together, I waited to hear his response. It had been too easy to find it. "The whole thing was a setup, wasn't it?"
"Seems that way," Tavas said. "Whoever left you that dragon is probably the same one who killed your friend."
Blinking away tears, I walked faster, trying to get ahead of the others. The whole thing was my fault. If I had not gone in the crawl space, or if I had followed my instincts better, maybe Jimmy would still be alive. The whole thing was somehow connected, and none of it made sense. I stopped moving again. "Why bother to leave me the dragon? I mean, they broke into the vault and stole it back. They didn't need to leave it for me to find, or kill Jimmy. None of this makes any sense."
Tavas's face fell into a look of sympathy. "My dear, they had to give it to you."
"Why?"
"Without someone with dragon blood, the sculpture won't reanimate," he said.
"This whole thing was a set up to get me to wake the dragon inside the sculpture?" I asked. The world spun around me. That was all they needed. Whoever did this wanted to release the dragon. "Why did they kill Jimmy?"
"Wrong place, wrong time is my guess," Tavas said.
My chest felt like a bag of bricks landed on it all at once, and I struggled to breathe. If Jimmy hadn't been there, he might still be alive. The whole thing wasn't about killing Jimmy. It was a robbery. Just a standard robbery. How was that possible? Why did someone even need a dragon? They couldn't control it. The beast was just destroying the town. "What's the point? Why release a dragon? Why go to all this trouble?"
James opened his mouth to answer me, but as soon as he started to speak his voice was overwhelmed by the roar of a dragon. Looking up, I saw the huge beast, wings beating against the sky. It opened its mouth, and fire rained down on us.
"Run!" James grabbed my arm, pulling me, but he didn't need to tell me twice. I broke free of his grip and raced down the street, away from the oncoming crea
ture.
A wall of fire blocked my route, and I turned, running into James and Tavas. Pushing them forward, the three of us raced down the alleyway in the opposite direction.
We got a few more steps before another wall of fire sprung up in front of us. I looked back to see where the last fire blast was eating away at the old structures, heat rising as it neared. Panic rose inside me as the dragon shrieked above us. We were trapped.
Coughing, I wiped my watery eyes and squinted at the buildings. My companions were nearby, but the thick smoke was making it impossible to see them. I shouted, so they knew where I was. "There has to be a door here somewhere."
Blindly, I felt along the wall, trying to find a window or door to get out of the alleyway that had now become a death trap. The dragon let out another roar, and I tensed. It was the sound I now knew preceded the release of its flames. Coughing again, I desperately clawed at the wall in front of me. There had to be a door here somewhere.
Another roar sounded, this time, it was so close and so loud, it left my ears ringing. Then, a massive gust of wind swept past me, momentarily clearing the smoke long enough for me to see a giant green dragon rising into the sky. It roared again, releasing a fountain of flame at the smaller brown dragon. "James?"
As it rose into the air, the smoke settled around me again, cutting off my view of the sky. Turned around, and unsure of where I was, I reached ahead blindly again, and this time, I felt glass. Lifting my leg, I kicked the window, sending shards of glass shattering around me. Pulling my sleeves over my hands, I did my best to climb inside with as minimal damage to myself as possible.
Inside, I could see again, though smoke was now billowing in through the broken window. Doubled over, I coughed a few times, clearing my lungs before I kept moving.
Tavas crawled in. "Keep going." He pointed to a door on the other side of the room.
