Page 43 of Knight of the Sword

Pendragon rattled his scales and huffed. “Well, he was touching her. Tanio’s orders were for me to protect her. Of course…” He cast a baleful eye at Michael. “I could do that much better in my correct form. The man would be nothing but ashes on the rug right now.”

“Great. Then Sophie would be a suspect in her ex’s disappearance, if not arrested for murder. There will be no fire-breathing at mortals!” Michael began to pace around the empty living room. “I’m going to have to get you out of here before he returns with the police. There have been APB’s out for you ever since the first sighting.”

“Humph,” Pendragon said grumpily. “I could handle the police too.” He sighed resignedly. “She told him I was a rare Gila monster. Do you know how humiliating that is? I am not a lizard!”

Michael paused in his pacing. At least Sophie had the quick sense to come up with something halfway believable. It might buy them some time to get away. But where in the hell could Sophie have gone with a still-mending leg?

“She didn’t leave with him, did she?”

The dragon shook his head. “They were standing by the door, talking too low for me to understand, since my hearing has been affected by this puny little body I’m inhabiting. Maybe he came back for her. I don’t know. Like I told you, she said she wanted privacy while she slept and closed the door to the bedroom. I remember Ygraine was the same way, wanting to spend time in her chambers, although Uther usually joined her there.” He stared unblinkingly at Michael. “I didn’t think you would want me to intrude.”

Michael swept his hand through his hair again. “You’re right. Who would suspect that she’d leave, in her condition? But where could she have gone?” He pulled out his cell and hit Smith’s contact number. A brief conversation ensued and he slid the phone back into his pocket. “The butler said he didn’t know anything about her disappearance,” Michael said.

He didn’t want to think that she’d go off with her ex, but the guy was persistent. Michael had done some research on Robert and found that he won nearly all of his cases. That made him a shrewd and persuasive opponent. Had Sophie succumbed to some offer to take care of her? Michael’s aura flashed red at the thought of the bastard even touching her. Pendragon’s head snapped up, his spikes rising. Michael drew his power back in. He needed to think logically. Inciting the dragon certainly wouldn’t help.

“There’s no sign of a forced entry,” he said as an afterthought.

“I would have heard that or any sound of a struggle,” Pendragon said. “I was napping in the office across the hall.”

“Napping? Why weren’t you on watch?”

The dragon gave him a disgusted look. “What was I supposed to watch for? You’d warded the windows. The doors were locked and the woman was asleep in her bedroom.” He managed to look indignant. “Dragons like to doze, you know.”

Michael shook his head and moved past him to the bedroom. The coverlet on the bed was smooth and showed no signs of anyone even lying down. Nothing else in the room seemed disturbed either. He opened a closet door. Items hung neatly side by side, color-coordinated. How like Sophie to be that organized. He couldn’t tell, though, if anything was missing. Shutting the door, he glanced at the dresser where a few toiletries sat, along with a figurine of a prancing horse. And propped up beside it was a small envelope with his name on it.

He hurried over and ripped it open. Quickly, he scanned the short note and raced back to the living room.

“She left,” he said waving the paper at Pendragon. “Says she had a kind offer for complete care during her recovery and she’ll be in touch when she’s well.” He glanced down at it. “We’re not to worry.” He crushed the paper in a wad in his fist.

Damnation! She must have returned to her ex. He had money and servants to care for her, no doubt. The feeling of betrayal struck sharp as a blade in Michael’s back. The wily one in the debacle was not Sophie but that conniving bastard Robert.

Michael tossed the paper down. Robert may have won this round, but he certainly had not won the war. The battle hadn’t even begun.

****

Balor leaned back from the computer screen and chuckled. It was the first truly good laugh he’d had since that manuscript had been found.

Morgan sidled up behind him, pressing her breasts against the back of his head as she slid her arms around him to stroke his chest. “What amuses you?” she asked.

‘This is just too rich,” he answered, clicking on the mouse to rerun the video he had just watched. “I knew it was a good idea to have Caldwell get that webcam inside the Cameron woman’s house. Look.”

Morgan squinted at the frozen screen. “That looks like a large, red dog. No…wait. It’s a huge lizard.”

Balor laughed again. “That is the red dragon.”

She leaned closer over his shoulder. “Do you mean the one that got the media all stirred up? How did it get reduced in size?”

“Not sure. Probably some deity’s work.” For a moment, his mouth tightened, remembering that he had once had that status. Damn those Avalon bitches. “One thing’s for sure. Pendragon would not have given up his size willingly.”

“Is it permanent?” Morgan asked as she pushed aside the robe to fondle his bare skin.

“Probably not. Being shrunk…” He grinned as he grew harder with Morgan’s ministrations. “…keeps him under the radar from the media. Most likely it was the warlock’s idea. He’s going to need the press to go away before he and the vet can take off searching for the Sword. Too bad she had to get into that wreck, though. Now we’ll have to wait as well.” He gave Morgan a quick glance when her hand froze in place. “Why did you stop?”

“Huh? Nothing.” She resumed pumping him with her hand. “Do you like it like this?”

“You know I do, pet,” he answered. “It’s just a good thing I happened to be following the woman. She’d have bled out if I hadn’t stopped.” Morgan’s hand stilled again and he gave her an irritated glance. Her face was unnaturally pale, like some vampire had drained her. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” she said quickly. “I just didn’t know you were the good samaritan.”