Chapter 7 #3
“What are you doing at Vee’s house?” Jessup was on his feet, looking no less dangerous in human form. “Sneaking around? Looking for evidence? Violet has never done anything illegal in her life.” His upper lip lifted in a sneer. “Except for attacking you once.”
“And giving him a black eye.” The Citrine’s tail flicked at Kade again, and he slashed at it with his dagger. Just close enough to shock it with the dagger’s magick. The Citrine hissed and pulled it back.
“I’m here in an unofficial capacity.” Kade’s adrenaline-fired brain searched for an explanation. “The Guard is aware of the murder spree, but I’m here for…Vee. I need to look at her map.” He’d have to call her Vee now to fit into his desperate plan, newly hatched.
That narrowed Jessup’s eyes. “How’d you know about her map?”
“She asked me to look into the murders. Because we’re…involved.”
Jessup’s upper lip lifted. “Involved how?”
“We met in Naples. She was there on business, and I was on vacation. We stayed at the same hotel.”
He hated to commit her to that, but these guys were going to tear him apart otherwise. Or try. Then he’d have to do some damage, and things would get ugly all around.
“Hell, no.” Jessup fairly vibrated with the need to Catalyze. He stared at his clenched hands. “What’d you do to me?”
“Taser. You’ll be fine in about thirty minutes.
Plenty of time for you to hear me out and see that killing me isn’t in your best interests.
” He shot the other two a look, rubbing his fingers together.
“I can give you guys some down time too, if necessary.” They backed up a step.
“Vee didn’t want you to know about us yet, given the obvious.
Believe me, we were surprised at the sparks between us, too.
” Very true. “But love knows no bounds, as they say.” Something of which he knew little, but he’d heard the expression.
“Love?” Ryan ground out.
“No way,” Jessup said, backing away. That was a good sign, wasn’t it, despite his obvious disgust? “I’m going to beat her butt something fierce.”
“She’s going on the wall of shame,” the cousin added.
“Don’t touch her.” The words were out before Kade could even consider them.
“So now you’re her great protector?” Ryan shot back, wrapping sarcasm around his last words.
“Yes.” Kade held his dagger tight but lowered it to show that he wasn’t a threat.
He really didn’t want to deal with these boneheads, but he was in it now.
A lot of it, because Violet—Vee—wasn’t going to be happy about his story.
Then again, she’d passed him off as her lover at Ernie’s.
She’d kissed him. Consistency, right? “Vee wanted to tell you in her own time and way, but now that the cat’s out of the bag, let’s work it out.
For her sake. She wouldn’t want you killing me, and she wouldn’t be happy if I, say, cut your tail off.
” He aimed those words at the Citrine cousin.
“Or your heads, even if it is in self-defense.”
For those few seconds when he’d turned away, Jessup must have given a signal.
Both Dragons threw themselves at Kade, claws digging into his skin as they pushed him into the dirt.
He flexed his fingers, calling his dagger back, but one of the Dragons blocked its path.
The handle thumped against his hard hide.
Kade fought, pummeling them with blasts of magick. The tough bastards rode them out.
Time to shape-shift. Changing took a lot of his energy, so it was usually a last-ditch maneuver. Might as well go big.
A Dragon slammed into him as he drew in the magick and felt it race through his veins.
It was illusion, not a flesh-and-bone transformation like the Dragons did.
But the illusion seemed every bit as real.
He felt the illusion too, his body stretching and growing until he towered over the two Dragons.
They looked up at him, their eyes widening. “You picked a Dragon, you son of a bitch,” the cousin said in his Dragon growl.
“A big-assed one,” Ryan added.
That only made them fight harder, coming at him in a blur of claws and fangs. Kade fought back, trying not to inflict too much damage while protecting himself. Jessup was strangely absent from the melee, though Kade couldn’t take his eyes off the other two to find out what he was doing.
Time to finish this. He reached out with his clawed hand and touched Ryan’s forehead, hoping he had enough juice left to tase the both of them. He sent the magick through his fingers.
Ryan squeezed him in a bear hug. The taser’s force pounded through Kade, powerful even secondhand.
The punch of power sent them both flying in opposite directions.
A naked Ryan sprawled on the ground a short distance away.
Kade searched for his dagger. It was on his arm, as inert as a regular tattoo.
Hell times two.
Dazed, and fatigued from the Change, he staggered to his feet. The cousin was staring at Kade. Smiling. Like he was about to see something really funny. Kade spun around in time to see Jessup swinging down on a rope from a tree, right at him.
A moment after his bare feet connected with Kade’s head, the world went dark.