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“Thanks,” I muttered as I squirmed in the backseat. My breeches felt tight on my thighs and ended just below my knees where they met the hose, which I thought I’d never wear. The fur-trimmed, heavy brocade doublet over my shirt tickled my nose. Okay, I rather liked the fur, but God, these shoes were horrible. No grip on the sole. No treads. I skidded slightly on the pavement while exiting the vehicle. “How the hell does anyone walk in these?” I grumbled to myself, completely convinced I was going to break my ass before the night wasover.
“I wouldn’t know, sir.” Stephen struggled to hide asmirk.
I blew out a breath. “So, through those doors and out onto the grounds, huh? Noproblem.”
“I’ll wait out of sight for you, sir.” He gestured toward a dark corner of the lot with plenty of treecover.
“Sounds like a plan. Thanks!” Then I struggled to find the nearest staff member to confirm where I needed tobe.
Following the directions of the staff, who were also dressed in costume, I managed to find my way out onto the lawn where the party was being held. Normally, when entering an event, I liked to take a moment and scope it out to get a feel for the place. This time, when I opened the door to step outside, I was met with screams, shrieks, and people running in all directions. After several seconds, I realized the guests were genuinely scared. Now I had to figure out why, and findPeri.
* * *
Peri
“Atoast,”Devon announced as he stood and raised his goblet from the head of thetable.
I’d been wandering around, meeting and greeting everyone, encouraging them to take seats for the dinner service when he made his proclamation. From across the lawn and despite the dark, our eyes met and I could see him motioning. I was supposed to be seated to his right. Nodding, I mouthed, ‘Be rightthere.’
Devon gave me thumbs up before speaking again. “I’d like to thank all of you for being here tonight. You placed your faith in Draco Investments and made our third quarter the highest gain in over adecade.”
“Here, here!” Glasses were raised and there was a hum through thecrowd.
“Ma’am, I have your seat right here,” I whispered to the older woman who hadn’t left the open bar since it began serving nearly two hours ago. The bartender winked at me and I half led, half dragged her to the empty chair near the opposite end of thetable.
Then Devon cleared his throat and silenced the crowd again. “Most of all, I’d love to thank my beautiful and amazing assistant, Peri, without whom none of this would bepossible.”
Immediately, I teared up and my cheeks grew warm. I smiled at Devon as he raised his glass to me, blew me a kiss, then took a big swig. I’d finally settled the woman into her seat and I was walking the lawn to my seat when I saw Devon set his drink down hard. I rushed, thinking the glass was about to tip over. Then I replayed the evening in my head. This was his first drink. No way should he betipsy.
Devon glanced at me before gripping the sides of the table with both hands. Seconds later, he had toppled over onto the ground. My mouth opened, ready to scream, but I couldn’t. I could barely breathe. I rushed to his side and crouched on the ground. People had bolted from the table. Some were shouting orders, calling for help. Others were frightened and reacting in sheerpanic.
Reaching down, I touched his forehead. Seconds later he began to convulse. I didn’t have a phone on me. I felt Devon’s pockets, hoping he might have one on him. Nothing. I stood and saw it by his plate. Grabbing it, I tried to call 911, but a man came rushing toward me and shoved me aside. The phone went flying from my hand and skidded across the wet grass out ofsight.
“Dammit! I was calling for help!” I hesitated long enough to look at the man’s face, but it was obscured by a mask, similar to the one inPhantom of theOpera.
“Where is it?” he hissed in Devon’sear.
I quickly realized he wasn’t trying to help. In fact, he might have been the one to harm him. “Move!” I shouted. “I need to savehim.”
The man laughed. “It’s too late to save him. You can’t even save yourself.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out agun.
Glancing at Devon, I realized he was already dead. A vacant stare had replaced the light in his eyes. I covered my mouth and tried to stifle a sob.How the hell could he be gone?The man now stood, looming over me with the gun. Without thinking, I dove at him, knocked him off his feet, and the gun slid out of his hands. He scrambled toward it, but I’d already managed to get to my feet. Kicking off my heels, I lifted my skirt and raced off into the darkness toward the tree line. Suddenly, the last thing I wanted was to be around people. I trusted noone.
Peeking over my shoulder, I could hear footsteps behind me. I wondered if it was him or if I was running away from someone who might actually want to help me. Ducking behind a tree trunk, I soon discovered, with the help of the moonlight, the man was behindme.
So, I turned and kept running. There were stones, mostly covered by leaves, so they weren’t as debilitating as they could be, but the pain was bad enough to slow me down. I tried not to think about it. Luckily, the guy wore dress shoes and wasn’t faring much better. My lungs began to ache. There was a sharp pain in my side. What the hell was I doing? I wasn’t a runner. I was barely athletic enough to do yoga. I shook my head as tears blinded me. Why was I running? What was the use? The guy was probably just going to get me anyway. Devon was dead. What the hell would I do now? Still, I kept running, until I reached a clearing and figured this would be the end. He’d have a straight shot at me if I couldn’t reach the next group oftrees.
Suddenly, there were gusts of wind rushing down at me from above. I looked up, saw the wings, and stopped running. In fact, I struggled to stay on my feet. Exhaustion, fear, and hunger were beating me down. The dragon landed in between me and my would-be attacker, then let out a shrill scream before breathing fire at the man. He started to raise the gun to shoot, but the dragon’s talons closed around him, picked him up, and shook him. I heard the pop, like he’d managed to squeeze off a shot anyway. The dragon dropped him, and he hobbled off. Finally safe, I wilted, dropping to my knees, and then falling over. My eyes opened once, briefly, long enough for me to see a giant of a man standing over me with smiling eyes and long, shaggy blond hair. I grinned. “Mishal, you came,” I whispered, then everything wentdark.
18
Mishal
“What are you doing?”Stephen asked as he scrambled out of the car. “And what’s going on in there?” His eyes were wide withfear.
“Listen, my brother and I run Draco Security. I was sent here for work. I head up the personal security division.” I opened my mouth to finish explaining, but heinterrupted.
“Well, it looks like you’re doing a bang-up job.” He gestured to Peri, unconscious in myarms.
