Page 44 of Bewitching the Dragon
Becca’s life depended on it.
***
As it turned out, tracking them down wasn’t hard at all. Rahu had simply pulled up their website and sent a request through the “contact me” page.
I want to talk to you. It’s about the Daughter of Light.
They’d responded in less than ten minutes and told him to meet them at the Carousel Bar in an hour. He was there thirty minutes early, mostly so he could scope out the place and make sure he wasn’t walking into a trap but also because he was too damn fidgety to stay home and wait for the appointed time.
It was midday on Thursday, after the lunch crowd and before happy hour, so the place was quiet. A bartender stood behind the currently stationary bar, stacking pint glasses and arranging liquor bottles. A server moved around the room, lighting candles on the tabletops. Two patrons on stools at one end of the bar nursed beers and talked about the weather.
Ten minutes after the warlocks were to have arrived, Rahu felt the shimmer of magic in the air, followed by a quick succession ofpops. The four warlocks came strolling out from the hall leading to the restrooms, still dressed in the same outfits they’d probably been wearing since the nineties. Leather, ripped jeans, scarves, and lots of big hair.
Classy.
The server noticed them as they approached the bar, and gave a little squeal. They paused as a unit. She rushed over and asked for their autographs and a picture, and Rahu watched as they obliged her, one of them even holding her camera so they could all take a selfie with her.
A rock star warlock’s work was never done.
Finally, she retreated back to her job and they stepped up to the bar, flanking Rahu as they all slid onto the high-backed stools. The two on his left each ordered a beer, the one to his far right ordered a double vodka tonic, and the lead singer, who had sidled up next to Rahu, ordered a Sea Breeze.
“I had a feeling it was you who sent that message,” the singer said after he had his drink in hand. “So what do you want to talk about, Dragon?”
Rahu swiped his sweaty hands on his shorts. “It’s about the Daughter of Light.”
“Yes, I figured that out from the message you sent that said, ‘I want to talk to you. It’s about the Daughter of Light.’”
“Right. So, um, I want to negotiate.”
The lead singer lifted his brows. “Interesting. Are you offering us the Daughter of Light for a price?” His gaze swept over Rahu’s person. “I suppose that makes sense. You are a dragon, after all.”
He shook his head. “I’m not offering her. I want to know what you will take in exchange for leaving her alone. If you know anything at all about dragons, you know I have a damned impressive hoard at my disposal.”
He didn’t, of course. Hoarding jewels and gold and other precious metals was one aspect of dragon genes Rahu hadn’t inherited. But he was willing to do whatever it took to keep Becca safe. Even steal from his best friend’s mate.
Hopefully, Ketu and Antoinette would understand.
The warlock cocked his head and sipped his drink with his pinkie thrust into the air like he was royalty drinking high tea. “You think you can buy us off? Do you think we are part dragon?”
“No, but I think everyone has their price.”I hope.
The singer shared glances with his fellow bandmates. “It’s true we have a price. Our price is the Daughter of Light.”
“I just said—”
“And we think she, too, has a price. We figure if we take something she cares about, we can stop spinning our wheels trying to track her down, because she’ll come to us to save that precious item. Right, boys?”
The other three warlocks nodded and then they all pointedly stared at Rahu.
He gave a nervous laugh. “You don’t honestly think she cares aboutme, do you?”
One of the other guys said, “That’s exactly what we think.”
Well, hell. Time to get out of Dodge.
Before Rahu could jump off his barstool, the warlock to his left tackled him, slamming his back against the lacquered wood bar top. The tender leaped over the bar and rushed down the same hallway from where the warlocks had appeared. No doubt the server and the other two patrons had followed suit.
“Do not allow him to shift,” the leader said.
