Page 33 of Carler

“Neither good nor bad because I haven't yet gotten any information on this Joe we hunt. I am hoping to get some soon.”

“I can call Delilah and see if she is willing to pass on either information or work with you in person," Viv offered.

“That would be a good start. Where is she located?”

“She is in Los Angeles and working out of that office. If a large case comes along, she might be sent elsewhere. I'll go ahead and call her now.” Viv dialed the number and hoped for an answer.

“Hello, this is Delilah Morgan. Can I help you?”

“I'm not really sure. This is Viv, and I'm hoping that you can. We are sending a bounty hunter after Joe. He has a very good reputation and always brings home his man. Doran hopes you can give him some information to get him started or even go along with him on the hunt.”

“I'm assuming that he's there with you?” Delilah observed. “At the very least, I can get him some information to get him started. There's a rumor that Joe is hanging out with a cousin in San Francisco. There have been sightings, but it's not his usual place. We've not checked it out yet, and I've not gotten clearance. The fact that my bosses are insisting that the sightings don't mean anything tells me something's up. I don't know how you did this job for so long. I'm feeling torn in two different directions all the time. The direction I know I need to go to get a criminal and the direction they're sending me in makes it look like they don't want to get a criminal.”

“Could you send me the information in an email here at the casino? I'll give it a look while I'm on the flight over," Doran requested.

“I can do that right now. Once you get over here, we'll meet and see if there's anything else I can help you with.”

Doran went to sit down at a desk that was reserved for guests. Viv continued to talk to Delilah for a few minutes, but clearly, Delilah could do more than one thing at a time because Doran began to print out the information he'd been sent. As soon as it was all printed out, he took off. It was unlikely any of them would see him before he left.

All he wanted to do now was take his mate to their room and begin to get to know each other again. He wasn't sure where she was when it came to agreeing to go with him. Instead, he asked her to go to lunch when she got off the phone.

She gave him a long, searching look before she agreed. Carler escorted her to the Asian restaurant because she had liked it so much when he had taken her. As soon as they entered, he noticed that she looked hungry. He ordered their drinks and appetizers based on what he knew she liked, and she said nothing.

When the food arrived, she seemed to like it as much as before. The appetizers and drinks were gone by the time the food arrived. Carler needed to explain a lot to her so that she would understand how she reacted when she was changing and flying in her dragon form. The waitress quickly came back with refills for their drinks.

“I guess I'm so hungry because I've been ill and not eating as much as usual," Viv observed.

“That might be true in part, but morphing into your dragon takes enormous energy, and flying as your dragon takes even more. Dragons rarely gain weight, and those that had changes later in life found that if they carried a few extra pounds, those left after they started shifting. You can eat large amounts of food of any kind without gaining weight. Many Dragons have a sweet tooth.”

“That's a really good thing because I like to eat and rarely eat as much as I want to because I'm afraid I'll get fat. I try my best to stay in good shape. It was important when I was an agent because sometimes, I needed to run someone down.”

“That shouldn't be a problem anymore. If you change into your dragon regularly, you'll also stay in good shape. Dragons are very muscular," Carler explained.

“Won't it be a problem changing regularly when we have to worry about being seen?”

“That depends on how attached you are to your location. I'm not saying we'd be leaving immediately, but I never intended to be here longer than it took to get this place up and running.”

“I thought you would be a permanent fixture here or possibly in Las Vegas.”

“To be honest, the Emperor has been expanding the Empire. There's a good chance that the next time he adds a planet, he might offer me the chance to be a King. How would you feel about that?”

“I think I would miss you if you were gone.” She hesitated a moment before she laughed. “I know that was mean. You expect me to go with you, and you want to know how I feel about it. Having never been off Earth, I can't imagine what that would be like. I'm also sure if you were offered a planet, it would be a rough and primitive one. Can you tell me how bad you think it would be?” Viv asked.

“Rough and primitive, but no more than we can handle.”

“There's no choice, is there? People will be rotated out so that others can get a chance to meet their mate.”

“You're right. Only a handful of people will stay, like Ranger and Toni. It will make things harder on Ranger, but he can handle it. His mate is more capable than I originally expected.”

“Kareth and Landra will stay, won't they?” Viv asked.

“Kareth will take my place, and Landra will be his second. They've learned a lot from working with you. Anyone sent here will be single. It is a good way for our kind to find mates.”

“I can see that. I believe several of you will be going back at that time.”

“Yes, half a dozen of us have mated in the last six months and will be headed back to one of the planets in our Empire," Carler admitted.

“Tell me more about this new world," she demanded.

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