“I am here on official business. You think six murders in ten days isn’t going to snag the Guard’s attention?”
Kade kept turning in a slow circle, but at any given moment, one of the three was in his blind spot. The Citrine, probably a cousin, jabbed his sinuous tail at Kade, who barely evaded the sharp point. The thing was like a yellow jacket stinger, painful when it touched, deadly when it sank in and injected poison.
While he was distracted, Jessup lunged at him fangs first. Kade used his magick to Change one hand, preternaturally extending his fingers and clamping them around Jessup’s mouth. With the other, he managed to press the tips of his fingers to Jessup’s temple. After a scream and a jerk, Jessup landed on the ground, naked and human. Kade was already facing the Citrine, who tried to grab him from behind. He sent a shard of Lightning at the Dragon’s shoulder, singeing the scales.
Ryan grabbed at Kade, fangs scratching through his shirt and across his back. Though Kade managed to slip out of his grasp, the Citrine sandwiched him from the other side before he could fully extricate himself. The force crushed Kade between them, sending the air gushing from his lungs. As fangs came at him, he dropped and rolled out from between them. A foot stomped down on him, grinding his chest into the dirt.
“You all right, Jessup?” Ryan asked.
Jessup shook his head as he pushed up to his elbows. “Holy dragonfire, what the hell?” He aimed a murderous look at Kade. “Squash him like a cockroach.”
“It’s against Crescent law to assault an officer,” Kade ground out, trying to get his hands free from where they were pinned beneath him. His dagger lay a few feet away, but without a hand to call it, it did him no good.
“The Guard don’t care about what goes on in the Fringe,” Ryan said from above him. “Lots of people die here, and the Guard is happy to file the paperwork and have fewer of us to deal with.”
That was truer than Kade cared to admit. “They care when one of their officers is hurt or killed. And when it threatens to expose the Hidden.” He managed to free one hand and clamp it around the foot holding him down, sending a jolt of magick through his fingers.
The foot lifted, and a growl filled the air. Kade jumped to his feet, his back stiff and sore. He swiped up his dagger and held them at bay.
“What are you doing at Vee’s house?” Jessup was on his feet, looking no less dangerous in human form. “Sneaking around? Looking for evidence? Violet has never done anything illegal in her life.” His upper lip lifted in a sneer. “Except for attacking you once.”
“And giving him a black eye.” The Citrine’s tail flicked at Kade again, and he slashed at it with his dagger. Just close enough to shock it with the dagger’s magick. The Citrine hissed and pulled it back.
“I’m here in an unofficial capacity.” Kade’s adrenaline-fired brain searched for an explanation. “The Guard is aware of the murder spree, but I’m here for…Vee. I need to look at her map.” He’d have to call her Vee now to fit into his desperate plan, newly hatched.
That narrowed Jessup’s eyes. “How’d you know about her map?”
“She asked me to look into the murders. Because we’re…involved.”
Jessup’s upper lip lifted. “Involved how?”
“We met in Naples. She was there on business, and I was on vacation. We stayed at the same hotel.”
He hated to commit her to that, but these guys were going to tear him apart otherwise. Or try. Then he’d have to do some damage, and things would get ugly all around.
“Hell, no.” Jessup fairly vibrated with the need to Catalyze. He stared at his clenched hands. “What’d you do to me?”
“Taser. You’ll be fine in about thirty minutes. Plenty of time for you to hear me out and see that killing me isn’t in your best interests.” He shot the other two a look, rubbing his fingers together. “I can give you guys some down time too, if necessary.” They backed up a step. “Vee didn’t want you to know about us yet, given the obvious. Believe me, we were surprised at the sparks between us, too.” Very true. “But love knows no bounds, as they say.” Something of which he knew little, but he’d heard the expression.
“Love?” Ryan ground out.
“No way,” Jessup said, backing away. That was a good sign, wasn’t it, despite his obvious disgust? “I’m going to beat her butt something fierce.”
“She’s going on the wall of shame,” the cousin added.
“Don’t touch her.” The words were out before Kade could even consider them.
“So now you’re her great protector?” Ryan shot back, wrapping sarcasm around his last words.
“Yes.” Kade held his dagger tight but lowered it to show that he wasn’t a threat. He really didn’t want to deal with these boneheads, but he was in it now. A lot of it, because Violet—Vee—wasn’t going to be happy about his story. Then again, she’d passed him off as her lover at Ernie’s. She’d kissed him. Consistency, right? “Vee wanted to tell you in her own time and way, but now that the cat’s out of the bag, let’s work it out. For her sake. She wouldn’t want you killing me, and she wouldn’t be happy if I, say, cut your tail off.” He aimed those words at the Citrine cousin. “Or your heads, even if it is in self-defense.”
For those few seconds when he’d turned away, Jessup must have given a signal. Both Dragons threw themselves at Kade, claws digging into his skin as they pushed him into the dirt. He flexed his fingers, calling his dagger back, but one of the Dragons blocked its path. The handle thumped against his hard hide. Kade fought, pummeling them with blasts of magick. The tough bastards rode them out.
Time to shape-shift. Changing took a lot of his energy, so it was usually a last-ditch maneuver. Might as well go big.
A Dragon slammed into him as he drew in the magick and felt it race through his veins. It was illusion, not a flesh-and-bone transformation like the Dragons did. But the illusion seemed every bit as real. He felt the illusion too, his body stretching and growing until he towered over the two Dragons.
They looked up at him, their eyes widening. “You picked a Dragon, you son of a bitch,” the cousin said in his Dragon growl.
