Like Water For Dragons (Dragon Hunter Novels #2)

Chapter One

ONE

MABEL

“I put it to you that the reaper’s sole purpose was to facilitate removal of the prisoner known as Desislav the Destroyer. For that crime, she will be banished to the Akashic Plain.”

I fought against the urge to shriek at Dr. Kostich, despite an almost desperate need to defend myself.

I hadn’t released Desi, the man who had created Abaddon. I simply brought the love of his life to see him.

“And I put it to you that although Mabel has a level of limberness that would thrill every member of the Carrie Fay Academy of Perky Bosoms and Flawless Comportment, she does not have the capability to remove a demon lord from any location. Not unless he was dead, and as you and I both know, demon lords can’t really die.

They just get shunted into a different, less volatile form,” Sally answered the annoying Dr. Kostich.

She had a pronounced Southern drawl, wore a cherry-red power suit ripped straight out of the 1980s, and didn’t appear to be in any way bothered by the circumstances in which we found ourselves.

Since she used to lead an important organization in the Otherworld, I wasn’t completely surprised by her willingness to challenge him.

Kostich made a sour face as she blithely smiled at him, ignoring the fact he was a powerful archimage and head of the Committee that basically ran the Otherworld.

I, on the other hand, was very much aware that he could make life extremely difficult for me.

I kept my gaze on my folded hands, and did as Sally had instructed me before we were summoned to the conference room—I trusted her.

“That makes no difference to the charges laid upon you, the reaper Mabel Touchet, and ... Monish, where is the charge list? I know there were others involved in this reprehensible caper.” Dr. Kostich, a tall man with faded blue eyes and an autocratic manner that made me feel itchy, shuffled through a stack of papers.

Sally giggled. I shot her a quick look of surprise that she could be so blasé about the charges against us.

It wasn’t just a matter of a slap on the wrist—we were facing possible banishment to the Akasha, the place mortals used as the model for their limbo, and I very much did not want to be sent there to live out eternity in punishment.

“It’s on the tablet, sir,” Monish answered, nodding to the device that was just barely visible under the papers.

“Ah, yes. Part of our paperless scheme.” Dr. Kostich curled a lip at the tablet, but picked it up and tapped on it a few times.

“I prefer to see things in actual print, but I suppose we must stay current with the mortals. Here we are. Other participants in the release of Desislav the Destroyer include a demon in dog form—don’t tell me that pesky Guardian is involved, too? ”

Monish, who appeared to be a nice man stuck in a bad job, gave a sympathetic smile. “Aisling Grey is her name, sir, and yes, it is her demon who is said to have been involved.”

“I know her name,” Dr. Kostich said with a thinning of his lips. “Unfortunately, I’ve had dealings with her over the years. And a more irreverent, heedless member of the Guardians’ Guild I’ve never run across.”

“Now, personally, I find her refreshing,” Sally said, moving over to the desk behind which Dr. Kostich sat.

She picked up a few sheets of paper and started reading them, despite his sputtered protests.

“True, the demon Effrijim can be a bit much at times, but you know how it is when others see you as one thing, but you’re really another. ”

Dr. Kostich shot her a piercing look before snatching back the papers. “No, I don’t know.”

“Reeeally,” she drawled, pulling another sheet of paper from the stack Kostich had just tidied.

“Now, that’s very interesting, because Terrin, my better half—Sovereignly speaking, you understand—says that he’s been helping you with some troublesome members of the Magisters’ Guild who aren’t at all what they appear to be. ”

Kostich cleared his throat, frowned to the side where Monish stood looking thoughtful, then back at the tablet.

“That is not pertinent to this examination. The fact remains that you, the annoying Guardian’s personal demon, a Dark One named Dante, and a dragon who leads one of those outlaw groups all assisted the reaper in her release of Desislav. ”

The memory of Hunter, the dragon who’d helped beat back our attackers during the rescue of Desi, rose all too quickly in my mind.

Even though I hadn’t formally met him, he popped into my brain with increasing frequency.

Maybe it was the way his black hair swept back off his brow and its accompanying slight widow’s peak.

Maybe it was his gorgeous face with a faint chin dimple that made me go weak in the knees.

Maybe it was his fighting prowess. Indeed, his talent for handling the gem-encrusted two-handed sword was still a highlight in my mind.

Or perhaps it was his pale green eyes with thick black lashes that held my attention. I’d always had a weakness for green-eyed men, and physically, Hunter ticked all the boxes.

“Why on earth would you think that?” Sally asked, dragging my attention away from just how impressive Hunter had been when he was slashing his way through a massive wave of boggarts.

She gestured toward me. “Dear Mabel is sitting right here. She is clearly a reaper, and a top-notch ballet dancer. Her Snow Queen a few months ago was outstanding.”

That had me giving her a side-eye. Mostly because I didn’t follow her line of conversational reasoning, but also because I wasn’t aware she’d seen me dance.

I was mildly uneasy with the knowledge that she might have popped over to Beck, the tiny northern European country where I danced for a small ballet company, and watched me without me knowing.

“As admirable as her dancing is,” Sally continued, “I assure you she does not have the ability to break into so secure a prison as the Thirteenth Hour, get Desi out of his bindings, destroy all the guards roaming willy-nilly around the Hour, and finally smuggle Desi—who is very much not dead, and thus out of her purview—out of the Hour. That would take some serious chops to pull off, and much as I like Mabel, she simply doesn’t have that in her. ”

Kostich leveled his gaze on me. I watched through my eyelashes as he really studied me. “Well ...”

“As for the rumors that a handful of vampires and dragons were involved ... darlin’, I haven’t heard anything quite so ridiculous since the mortals decided that hair spray was hurting the ozone. There is nothing quite so important as a really good hair spray.”

“The point is—” Kostich again tried to get a word in, but Sally wasn’t having any of it.

“Everyone knows vampires and dragons have nothing to do with one another,” she interrupted, waving a hand in an airy gesture.

“And the idea that they would work together to release someone so dangerous simply doesn’t make sense.

I don’t like to point fingers, but surely you must see that someone is wasting your time with these ridiculous rumors. ”

“The reaper does not appear to have anything but poor posture,” he said quickly before she could go on, his nostrils flaring a little.

I fought the urge to straighten up, feeling the smaller and more insignificant I made myself, the better.

“You, however, are another matter,” Kostich added, his eyes narrowing on her.

She beamed at him, showing a whole lot of teeth. “Of course I am, sugar! But if I had splashed around the sort of energy, skills, and magic required to get someone of Desi’s stature out of the Thirteenth Hour, people would have noticed, wouldn’t they?”

“It is true that we’ve had no sign of that,” he admitted, immediately adding, “Although there is no physical proof you directly aided the escape of Desislav, I cannot help but find the fact that you were present suspicious. Highly suspicious.”

Sally rose, a little flick of her hand indicating I should do the same.

“I don’t know who’s spreading such untruths about me, but rather than conducting witch hunts, you should look to your unreliable informants.

Mabel, darlin’, I’ll give you a ride to the portal shop, since it’s obvious that the Committee has no proof of any of its outrageous and wholly specious claims. If I was a petty sort of person, I’d lodge a complaint with the Court of Divine Blood, but I’m sure everyone here would prefer to move forward without dwelling on mistakes made. ”

Sally sailed toward the tall double doors, now framed with scaffolding, as the entire building that housed the main offices of the Committee was being rebuilt after a devastating fire.

“I have not dismissed you!” Kostich called after us as I followed her, still silent, but with my back twitching at the possibility of an attack from behind. “You are prohibited from leaving! I have more questions! Blast it, woman, this is not the end of my investigation!”

“If you have proof of anything, we’ll be happy to return,” Sally said as we escaped the room, closing the door softly behind us.

She looked at me.

I stared at her.

“Let’s book it!” she said with a brilliant smile.

“Holy shit,” I swore as she took off, dodging workmen, employees, scaffolding, stacks of flooring, and mysterious wooden cases scribed with protection runes and sigils. “You’ve got titanium balls, Sally.”

“Just regular old steel, darlin’,” she answered with another of her sharky smiles. “And really, it wasn’t the dire situation you made it out to be. Dr. Kostich is an archimage, and you know how they are.”

“I’m afraid I don’t,” I said, almost trotting to keep up with her as we hit the streets of Paris, where she had a car and driver waiting.

“As a reaper who deals with spirits and the like, I don’t usually work with anyone but the Akashic League.

Do you think he’ll bring in that vampire who helped us? ”