Chapter Twenty-Two
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
When Damien pulled into his driveway, his street was lined with a fleet of black SUVs, a tank, several SWAT vehicles, a paddy wagon with bars, and an ice-cream truck.
“What’s this?” he asked Belch, who rode shotgun in the Jag, looking like a sardine packed into a fine sporty can.
“Ooh, ice cream.” Belch got out and headed straight for the truck.
Damien shut off the engine, noticing his front door was wide open. He approached to find dozens of camo-wearing Uchben soldiers in his living room, sitting at computer stations they’d set up on portable tables.
“Great. Just make yourselves at home,” Damien muttered to himself.
“You the tailor?” said a large man with a long red beard, wearing a kilt.
“Yes.”
“I am Gabrán, the Uchben general,” he said with a thick Scottish accent.
Damien had actually met the man before, but it was long, long ago. Gabrán probably didn’t remember because, like now, he had been in the midst of preparing for battle. He’d seemed giddy then and equally giddy now.
“Why are you in my living room, General?” Damien asked.
“Weel, I was sittin’ in the poob, enjoyin’ a fine pint, when I received a summons from that eejit Votan. Damned deities canna leave a man to enjoy his retirement. After all I did for them, too. Bawbags.”
Damien arched a brow. “I meant, why is there a battalion of Uchben in my house, looking like they’re preparing an operation?”
“Ah! We have a fix on Cimil and intend to take the wily lass inta custody tonight.”
They’d found Cimil? That was great news. The sooner this was over, the better. Damien had a death to fake and a ghost to say goodbye to.
“There’s no damned ice cream in the truck.” Belch appeared. “It’s a surveillance vehicle. Where’s the liquor?”
Damien pointed to the cabinet in the corner and fished his keys from his pocket. “Careful. Some of the bottles still have fairy juice on them. I haven’t gotten around to cleaning my collection.” Speaking of fairy juice, Damien hadn’t seen Pet or heard from Sky since last night. It was unusual.
“No problem. I once drank vodka made in an outhouse. Kinda nutty.” Belch beelined for the cabinet.
Why? Why was this degenerate a divine being?
“Where is Cimil?” Damien asked Gabrán.
“She was last seen at her home, attemptin’ to visit her wee ones. Her husband, Roberto, refused and then followed her to a warehouse near the docks. He knows we’ve been searchin’ for her.”
Interesting . “Who does the warehouse belong to?” Damien asked.
“A company called SBP. We have the place surrounded and move tonight,” Gabrán said.
And there’s our mole. But why would Cimil be the one behind Sky’s murder? Or take her family?
What was that diabolic mess of a goddess up to? Damien had to find out before these soldiers descended on the warehouse.
“Tell me,” Damien said, “is the plan to kill Cimil?”
“Why ya askin’?”
Because if Cimil knew her head was still on the chopping block, she’d be prepared to fight. This might be her big stand to kick off the war.
“Do you even know why she’s at that warehouse? Do you know what SBP does?” Damien asked. Gabrán needed to understand that Cimil was likely growing an army.
“Our mission is to subdue the goddess and turn her over. Now, step aside, tailor. Let the real men gettah work, aye?”
Real men? Half these clowns had been in diapers, using baby swords, when Damien was out doing what deadly, demon-infested men like him did. Kill, hunt, fight, dress cool.
“By all means,” Damien said, “don’t let me stand in your way.” Even if you’re in my home and completely clueless about the situation.
Damien went to the kitchen, grabbed the keys to his black Jeep and headed to the garage. First, he’d stop by the shop and grab a vampire, or two, his demons, and perhaps even invite that hellhound. Something was going down, and he was going to find out. Especially because Sky’s sister and nephew could end up as collateral damage.
Jac found Heebie in Dash’s dressing room, flexing his thick, muscled arms in front of the mirror. “Who’s a sexy dragon, huh? You are. That’s right. You,” he said to himself and then planted a juicy kiss on his right gun.
Jac still found the entire thing surreal—how a living being could change form, including shrinking its mass—but watching a dragon make out with a bicep that belonged to Dash gave new meaning to the word bizarre. Also, narcissist.
“I see you ditched the fur.” She leaned against the doorway, folding her arms.
“Jacquelin!” Heebie smiled warmly. “It is truly a pleasure to meet you properly.” Heebie spoke with an accent she couldn’t place. If she had to name one, she’d say Transylvanian. Kind of Dracula-esque. Slithery.
“So you’re a dragon, huh?” she said.
“Yes. And I am delighted to meet such a fierce, lovely female such as yourself. It has been centuries since I have seen a beauty like you. So much firrrre waiting to be unleashed!” He strutted over and placed a lingering kiss atop of her hand. His lips were cold and leathery despite their plump, seductive appearance. This Dash was definitely an illusion.
She resisted the urge to pull away because she wasn’t here for herself. This was for Dash. “Well, I’m not nearly as old and wise as you, Heebie, but if there’s one thing I love, it’s an exotic, powerful predator.” She batted her eyelashes.
He dropped her hand. “But do you not wish to know about yourself? Because I can teach you everything, Jacquelin—how to shift, how to fly, and how to cook casseroles with your mouth. I know all there is about what you are, and I am the last.”
She couldn’t lie; she really did want to learn everything about their fascinating species. What it would be like to fly! The money she could save on airfare alone. There were so many places she’d never been to because she never had the funds. Still, she would never exchange her thirst for knowledge or desire to travel for Dash’s life.
“What about the women from last night?” she asked. “Don’t they count?”
He laughed into the air. “Those decrepit soft-bellies? They are the last dragonettes because they lived in caves, hiding under rocks for centuries. They know nothing of our lore, and they are not fighters who embody the strength and deadliness of dragons, like you.”
“How do you know what I am?” Or am not?
“When you get as old as I, you know.” He added, “You may not be a full-blooded dragon, but I can smell the power in your veins.”
So Dash had been right. Only one of her parents had been a dragon.
“I bet you come from a royal bloodline,” he added.
“Is that why you kept rubbing your face on my ankles?”
“No,” he scoffed. “I needed to get off. My bloom was coming, and you can’t let that fluid build up.”
He’d been masturbating on her? My ankles feel so violated.
“Yes. Buildup bad,” Jac said awkwardly, preparing to give him her spiel. “Obviously, I have a lot to learn. Especially considering I had no clue I wasn’t completely human until last night.” Egg! A freaking egg! “But with your wisdom and guidance, I hope I can work through that.”
“Of course, Jac. A female, such as you, and a powerful male such as I? I think you’re just what I need to usher in a new dawn of dragons.”
Did he mean the one where they snacked on people? Not good. “Errrr…sounds great! I mean, you’ve seen my sanctuary. You know I’m all about saving exotic animals. But, in the spirit of that, I do have a request.”
“Anything for my future queen. What would you like to know? Is it how you are a dragon, but born human?”
“Yes, I want to hear all about that. Tonight. My place. I’m so excited to learn everything. But I do have a request. You know I’ve dedicated my life to the sanctuary, and Dash told me—”
“Dash is my slave. He is a demon. His kind is beneath you.”
“But you’ve taken his form,” she argued.
Heebie’s blue eyes narrowed. “This is not his form. This is how he chooses to present himself for feeding purposes.”
Weird, but whatever. Like she said before, it wasn’t Dash’s body that drew her in. “Still, I’ve never met a vanity demon, and I want to study him. Can’t you give me time to do that?”
“You like him,” Heebie snarled.
“No! What sort of woman wants a big oily demon? He’s so… greasy . I mean, maybe it’s a thing in New Jersey, but not for me. Blech!”
Heebie stared, seeming unconvinced.
“I’ll keep him in a lion cage the entire time. You’re the one who broke him out last time, right? You had to use those big, strong dragon muscles.”
“Yes, well,” he grinned, “my strength is unmatched.”
Heebie seemed to like the compliment. Who’s the real vanity demon here?
It was time to close the deal with a big suck-up. “So are you as magnanimous as you are powerful, Heebie?”
He inched closer, his chest, abs and other parts pressing against her. “I can be. For you.”
Unlike with Dash, she felt nothing but disgust from his touch. “I like a man who knows how to be generous.”
He stroked a lock of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. “Cimil promised me a perfect mate if I came to Dallas, and that is what she delivered. I cannot resist you.”
This is Cimil’s doing? That Damien was right. Cimil really was a manipulative schemer.
“Aren’t we so lucky she helped us meet,” Jac said.
“My deal may have been with her, but know I was thinking of you the entire time I made all that semen, Jac—a sign of my desire and excitement over you.”
“Sorry?” She arched a brow.
“You must’ve noticed my dragon gravy falling from the sky.”
Those globs were his cum? Ew. Ew. Ew! She’d seen Mink eating it!
Jac was no stranger to bodily fluids, dung, or sticky icky gross stuff, given that she cared for sick animals, but this was too much even for her.
“Wow, I am so,” she forced a weak smile onto her lips, “flattered.”
“There’ll be more where that came from—in a few hundred years, of course, when my next bloom comes. And it will all be for you. I’ll make you oceans of it for your eggs.” He proudly gazed into her eyes like a hero awaiting a gold medal.
Oceans of dragon batter? More eggs? I think I’m going to blow chunks . “What do you mean, ‘hundreds of years from now’?”
“As long as you stay by my side, your life is tethered to mine. And now that I found you, I’m not letting you out of my sight. My forever mate.”
Oh no. Heebie thinks I’m his mate? And apparently, being with him would keep her young? This was not sounding like Dash’s version of things, where Heebie would grow bored eventually and let her go. This conversation left zero doubt in her mind that she’d have to make her stand tonight.
Heebie leaned down and placed a cold, rough, reptilian kiss on her mouth, complete with a tongue flick. She felt too paralyzed with disgust to flick her tongue back.
“I have to get back to the sanctuary, but why don’t you come over tonight? Bring Dash with you.”
“His last show starts at midnight. Don’t you want to see it and feed him with your admiration?” he asked.
Tonight was Dash’s last supper, and something in Heebie’s eyes told her this was a test. Heebie wanted to know if Jac cared.
“Thanks, but one of my armadillos is about to give birth to septuplets, so I’m busy.” She stepped back. “See you after? I’ll have his cage ready.”
Heebie flicked his tongue in the air as if tasting her essence. “I look forward to our first night together as mates.”
Oh boy. Did she even want to know what was entailed?
Nope.
Tonight would end in one of two ways, and hooking up with Heebie wasn’t one of them.