Page 11 of Here Be Dragons

Leonard grumbled angrily. “Give it to me,” he demanded.

I dug it out of my purse, saw that it was work, and handed it over with the screen facing down, surreptitiously pressing the answer button in the process.

“Shit!” he exclaimed when Janice’s voice started coming over the speaker.

“You weren’t supposed to answer, you idiot,” Knife Guy said, smacking Leonard upside the head.

“I didn’t!”

“The fucking phone is in your hands!!!”

“Hello? Carly?” said Janice’s faint voice.

Leonard quickly jabbed at the end call button before turning off the phone completely and pocketing it.

Then we were in the parking lot, and they were shoving me into the back of an unmarked van.

Chapter 6

Desmon

It was already mid-morning,and my office was distressingly empty of a certain curvaceous vixen. I’d even left a message with Janice, telling her to send Carly up as soon as she got in, but still nothing.

I was beginning to wonder if Carly was trying to avoid me.

Not the type to wait around and be left wondering, I made my way to the front foyer. Janice was there talking to two newvolunteers from the university. I was glad to see them. We really needed the extra help, and it would free Carly up to be with me.

My redheaded siren, however, was nowhere to be seen. I tried to settle the irrational sinking feeling in my belly as the dragon inside started to pace. She’d agreed to come to help me yesterday, and there was no indication then that she had been unhappy. In fact, she had agreed to come to lunch with me. Was she sick? There was that virus that had been going around, and humans were susceptible to things like that.

“Morning, Desmon,” Janice greeted me casually as the two university students gawked at me with open mouths. “Have you met the new volunteers?”

I don’t care about the new volunteers,my dragon huffed.Where’s my female?

Carly wasn’t my female. Not yet, anyway.

I put on my least scowly face and tried to do the proper human thing and pretend to care as I made the acquaintance of the young man and young woman I probably wouldn’t remember tomorrow. Then I immediately asked, “Where’s Carly?”

Janice’s face fell, and I saw a sign of worry in her eyes. “She never showed up this morning. I don’t think she’s the type to no-show without an explanation. I tried calling her, but some guys on the other end hung up while swearing, as if they’d picked up the call by accident. I was going to mention it to Mateo later when I saw him. I’m worried.”

That had me on high alert. My scales must have flashed through my glamour because the young woman whose name I’d already forgotten gasped and covered her mouth.

“Anyway, I’m glad these two came in early. I can cover Carly’s afternoon class while they take over here.”

“Anyone else missing today?” I asked.

“Yes, Leonard. But he called in. He has that virus that’s been going around.”

I glanced over to the student volunteers from the university. “Now that we have these two, do you mind if I take Carly whenever she’s not working with a tour group?”

“Of course! I’ve always said you should have an assistant. I’ve seen that office. It badly needs organizing.”

I grunted and turned to leave, heading toward the elevator to the underground parking lot instead of the grand staircase to my office. I got into my Bentley Continental, glad I’d driven in today instead of calling my driver. It was nice to be able to go anywhere I wanted on a whim without anyone knowing. I valued my privacy.

Accessing the museum’s HR files through my phone, I looked up Carly’s address before peeling out of the underground parking lot and speeding down the street. No law enforcement officer would dare pull me over. They recognized my vehicles, and I had carte blanche in this city.

I frowned as I entered her part of town. This sector was…problematic. No wonder I hadn’t recognized the address.

Compared to larger cities, Darlington was pretty clean and well-maintained. But it still wasn’t perfect. I had learned early on that it was impossible to keep poverty out of my town—yes, I did think of Darlington as mine, since there had been nothing here but gold deep underground when I first arrived—with so many shifters, witches, wizards, and magical beings relocating here from all over the world. It was even harder now that we were no longer hidden by The Wall. We’d gone from town to city seemingly overnight.

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