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"Camille! Thank heavens you're here. I've been trying to call you for the past half hour. We have an emergency." She slapped her phone closed and jammed it in the pocket of her jeans. They were ripped, as usual, and her shirt was a tank top with a pretty white Persian on it. Cat, that is. Not demon.
"What's wrong?" I pulled out my cell and groaned. "Great. Looks like being in Smoky's barrow fried my battery or something."
Morio checked his. "Mine, too. Okay, note: leave all cell phones outside the barrow. Also laptop computers, BlackBerries, and anything else that might get fried."
"No time for that." Iris was pulling on a sweater. "We've got problems. Come on, we'll tell you on the way to the car."
It suddenly occurred to me that she wasn't at the store. "Excuse me, but what the hell is going on? You aren't at the Indigo Crescent, so who is? And where's Maggie? Where are we going?"
Delilah pushed me out the door while Iris shoved Morio along. "We don't have any time to waste. Chase needs us. Now."
"Chase? Why?" I hurried down the stairs, the rest of them following. "Is he hurt?"
"No, but he might be if we don't get downtown," Iris said. She pointed toward my car. "You're the designated driver, since we can all fit in your car."
"Get in," I said, pulling out my keys. "And for heaven's sake, answer my questions."
As I clicked my seat belt into place, they piled into the car. Morio rode in back with Iris while Delilah rode shotgun with me. I started the ignition. "Where are we going, and why?"
"Downtown. Pioneer Square." Delilah bit her lip. I thought she was going to cry, she looked so worried. "We need to get there ASAP."
"Maggie's in Menolly's lair. She'll be fine until we get back. I know you hate to leave her there, but you're going to need my help." Iris fiddled with something in her pocket.
"Chase is fighting a band of goblins who broke through a newly opened portal. They're terrorizing Pioneer Square. People are being hurt, one woman's already reported being robbed and assaulted. These suckers mean business." There was a catch in Delilah's voice. "I'm worried that Chase and his men won't be able to fend them off—goblins have magic. Humans don't."
"Goblins… goblins'? Why the hell didn't you say so sooner?" I slammed on the gas, and my Lexus jumped into high gear as we sailed down the street. "Damn it, I wish Smoky was here."
"He can sense if you're thinking about him, remember? He said so a couple months ago," Iris said. "At least until you've completed your contract. Focus on him; maybe he'll sense your need."
I glanced back at Iris before returning my attention to the road. "You're a genius. Hold on." I swerved off to the shoulder and jumped out. "Delilah, you drive while I try to get through to him. Otherwise we could end up in a ditch." We changed places, and she took the wheel while I leaned back in the shotgun seat and let my mind drift back to the dragon and his dreyerie.
Forming a mental image in my mind wasn't hard. Once again, I found myself swept back into his bed, with him—naked and ready—leaning over me.
Whoa! Slow down. I tried to focus on his face, on our need for his help, on my own desire to see him again away from his land. There was a tiny click, which might mean I'd gotten through—or maybe not. I couldn't tell. Whatever the case, I shook myself out of the trance and glanced over at Delilah.
"There. We'll see if he answers."
"So, did you have fun out there?" Iris asked, an impish grin slipping across her face.
I tried to glare at her but ended up with a stupid grin on my face instead. "Oh yeah."
"Details!" Delilah said. "Take my mind off worrying about Chase."
"Hmm," I said. "You want details? He's as controlling as I thought, but… it's pretty damned easy to obey him. Under those clothes lurks the body of a god. After I managed to keep from swallowing my tongue, I found out that he's one of the three best lovers I've ever had."
I glanced over my shoulder at Morio. "And you know who the other two are, so don't get yourself in an uproar. Hmmm… Smoky's hair does pretty kinky things all on its own, which I really have to admit was pretty damned hot. And… he says he's in love with me and wants me to be his 'mate.' Just what that entails, I dunno, since I can't bear his children."
Iris let out a strangled gack as Delilah swerved into the other lane before she regained control of my car. Morio was the only one who remained calm, but then, he knew the story already.
"In love with you? I can see that, but he wants you to be his mate? He talking about marrying you?" Delilah held the car steady, but her voice shook.
"I don't know if the word marriage enters into it, and I didn't ask," I said, a little irritated. "I was hoping you guys—and maybe Menolly—might have some advice. Not seeing him again isn't that much of an option, I think."
Thank the gods neither Delilah nor Iris pulled out the "What about Trillian and Morio" card. It wasn't like I hadn't already turned the whole mess over and over in my mind. In fact, I was thinking about Trillian, Morio, and Smoky far too much for my own comfort.
Iris cleared her throat. "I suppose the question is, do you want to be his mate? I'm guessing he doesn't want to share."
"You're guessing right," I muttered. "And no, I don't want to be his mate—not now, not here. But when I'm with him, I feel myself waver. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that he's able to charm me. I mean, the guy is gorgeous, he cares about me, he'd be good to me, but I'm not cut out to be consort to a dragon. I'd feel like I was having to watch every word I said, every day. Don't make him mad, he's a dragon, he might toast me .. . that sort of thing."
