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The man I assumed was Luuk grabbed my arm, and I let my power unleash. I hit him with a wall of psychic power that made him gasp and brought him to his knees.
“Don’t touch me,” I said, no louder than a whisper. Luuk dropped his hand away from my arm obediently, and stayed in a submissive position on the ground.
“Now, Luuk,” Esmerelda said, coming around from behind me. “You know better than to touch a strange dragon. Someday you’ll let your brain make decisions rather than your temper.”
“I apologize, Esmerelda.” Luuk glanced at Esmerelda, and I felt the relief move through him at the sight of her. “I will take responsibility for my mistake, but I ask that you spare my daughter. She is in the sewing room today.”
I opened my mouth to assure him that he’d done nothing wrong, but Esmerelda touched my hand slightly and I let her handle it.
Esmerelda moved with the startling speed of an Ancient. She grabbed Luuk by the throat and raised him above her head so she had to look up to see his eyes. Luuk’s skin mottled and flames danced in his eyes. I could smell the sulfur of his fire as he fought to control it. Fighting Esmerelda was futile, and he knew it. She was much too strong.
“You have done Julian’s honored guest a great disservice,” she said. Her voice wasn’t full of rage like I expected it to be. It was the same smooth croon that she’d used when she’d first greeted me earlier that morning. My dragon responded to its power and nudged impatiently against me.
“She is welcome in our lands, and you will treat her as you would treat your Master. Have I made myself clear?”
Luuk nodded since he was unable to speak, and Esmerelda released her hold on him. He fell to the ground and composed himself before he stood up to face me again. He made eye contact, which surprised me, and it was obvious by his smoldering eyes that he was less than happy at having to follow her orders.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“I’ll take the dress in the window.” I took a step forward, and found satisfaction as he stepped back. I had to show my dominance now, or he would test me every time we ran across one another. “And you’ll answer my questions.”
He nodded and went to retrieve the dress for me. Esmerelda was on the other side of the shop, looking at a black dress that would barely cover the pertinent parts of her body. I knew she would be able to hear the questions I asked, but I didn’t have much choice in having an audience.
“Do you know what I am, Luuk?” I asked.
“You are of Alasdair’s clan.”
“Yes, but I am also an Enforcer.TheEnforcer.” He paled at the title, and I moved closer to him, circling him like prey. “Drakán law states you must answer my questions under penalty of death.”
He swallowed and nodded as he carefully took the dress and laid it out on black-and-white-striped tissue paper.
“Have you heard of the Drakán who have gone missing?”
His hands faltered as he folded the tissue over and moved the dress to a long white box. “Yes, my cousin is one of the ones missing. He’s been gone almost two weeks.”
“Do you know how he disappeared? How it happened?”
“All I know is that we went hunting one night, twelve of us from my family. There was a great pop in the sky and Eliyan disappeared in front of our eyes. There was nothing left of him. No sign he’d ever been there at all. All his belongings were still at the house, and there was nothing we could do except put the problem in Julian’s hands. He promised he would find him, and I know he will. Julian always keeps his word.”
Luuk’s faith in Julian was absolute. There was no doubt in his mind that Julian wouldn’t do what he’d promised.
“Do you know of any others?” I asked.
He put the lid on the white box and wrapped black ribbon around the corners. He stuck a card with the name of the shop in bold letters under the ribbon.
“I’ve heard rumors that the ashes of many Drakán have been found. More of my clansmen, and a few of the Russians and Irish. It’s strange I haven’t heard of any American Drakán who have disappeared. Maybe you should be asking your own clansmen these questions, yes?”
I let the insult pass as he wrote the amount I owed for the dress on a ticket and pushed it across the counter at me. The price was outrageous. Probably ten times the amount of its actual cost. But a dragon was never one to let such a one-of-a-kind item pass by. I pulled out my credit card and had just handed it over when Esmerelda snatched it from his fingers.
“Luuk,” she said, her voice filled with warning. “You will be properly compensated for your cooperation. She is the mate of your Archos, and this is your gift to welcome her to your clan. Tell our people of this news, and make sure they welcome her warmly tonight at thesfara.”
Luuk’s mouth dropped open in surprise at the exact moment mine did. I started to stutter a protest, but she grabbed the box and my elbow and ushered us out the door. I was still speechless as she shoved me back into the front seat of the BugattiVeyron, peeled out with a U-turn in the middle of the street, and scared a bunch of tourists on our way back through the city.
ChapterSixteen
The dress on the mannequin in the window looked vastly different than it did on me as I stood in front of a floor-length mirror and cringed at the sight of exposed flesh. I wasn’t an exhibitionist on my best day. I’d never really been comfortable in my own skin like others of our race. And this dress definitely qualified me for exhibitionist status. The only good thing about it was there wasn’t a lot of extra material to get in my way if there was a fight.
The top half was blood-red leather and fit like a glove—better than a glove. The straps were finger width and hooked at the back of the neck in a halter style. The neckline plunged, terrifyingly so, and I knew the only reason my breasts didn’t spill out was because they had no place to go. The back was open to my waist and showed the multitude of scars that crisscrossed on my lower back. The red skirt was gauzy and flowed to the floor, and the red satin of my underwear could be seen through it. The ice pick heels that finished the outfit made me a full four inches taller.
