She frowned, and I knew I was in for it. “Do not turn that smart mouth on me, young lady. You know if there is any kind of human trafficking involved that you should call me immediately. Has Ginjin been informed?”
I shrugged. “He didn’t seem to care.”
Her eyes narrowed in on mine. “I seriously doubt that.”
“I think his intended bride is involved, and he’s trying to cover up the mess.”
“And you didn’t think perhaps you should let me or someone on the council know this?”
She had a point, but I had my reasons.
“I don’t have any proof. Oh, I had a dead dragon and gryphon that I put on his doorstep, but I didn’t have any proof that he had something to do with this. His girlfriend being involved is just a hunch. I haven’t caught her doing anything either. My point in all of this is that whatever portal you set up, the one where we can’t see who is coming and going, is being used for more than you think.
“From what I can piece together, the dragons are jumping into the club, drugging the humans, and then leaving through their own portals. That’s why we only see them when they’re leaving.” I hadn’t really put it together until then, but it made sense.
Mom pursed her lips together. “I will look into this. In the meantime”—she looked down at Mira’s leg and my neck—“get those injuries seen to and then go release your magic protecting that club.”
“Wait.” I called after her, but she’d already gone through the door. I wanted to know who was watching the club.
I helped Mira down off the table. “Do you need a shoulder to get down to the healers?”
“Nah.” I could tell she was mad.
“Mom’s just doing what she thinks is right.” Funny that I, Mom’s least favorite, was the one taking up for her.
“That doesn’t keep me from wanting to punch her sometimes.” Mira grimaced as she made her way to the door. “Do you realize she left without telling us about the other places? For all we know, they could be using one of your clubs, Alex.”
The idea hadn’t even crossed my mind. I’d be making a few phone calls over the next hour. “She wouldn’t.”
Mira shook her head. “I don’t know what to think anymore. I’ll see you later.”
I stared for a moment through the glass to the other side where the security team worked. I’m sure they’d seen the whole argument with Mom, but they acted as if it were business as usual.
I didn’t see Jake, and I hoped he was still at home in his bed. Good. He needed the rest. The idea of a nap wasn’t such a bad idea.
In my bathroom, I checked the claw marks on my neck. They would heal in a few hours, one of the great gifts of being a Guardian. I did put some of the healing solution one of the mages had made for me on the wound to speed the process along.
That’s when I was struck by an idea. Magic protected that club, keeping it hidden. I’d seen that once before, very recently.
I picked up my weapons and put them back on. I had a dear
old
friend to visit.
CHAPTER 14
Before I could touch my tattoos together to head back to Montreal, the cell phone rang. Angel’s name came up on the caller ID.
Crap. He never called unless there was a problem.
“Hey, what’s up?” I held my breath.
“I—there have been some attacks.” Angel sounded harried. “I’m on my way to the hospital following the ambulance.” He was never flustered, but he definitely was now.
“Who was hurt, and what do you mean
attacks
?” I stressed the last word. We had great bouncers, so we seldom had trouble at any of my establishments. My employees prided themselves on stopping trouble before it ever began.
“Lourdes was mugged behind the club a few minutes ago. Per your instructions, someone had watched her go out to her car and watched her get in. The guy must have been waiting inside. Next thing we knew, she was banging on the back door.”
Oh, hell.
“She’s pregnant. Tell them she’s pregnant.”
“Oh, my God. I didn’t know. She’s bleeding really bad. Looks like whoever it was tried to strangle her and then must have had a knife. Her arm is ripped to shreds.”
Or a claw. If dragons were involved . . . “You said there was more than one.”
“Yes, Monroe called from London. Two of the dancers were beaten up pretty bad in the alley beside the club. They’d been out there on a smoke break. One is unconscious, the other in shock. She’s not talking. All we know is they both look like they went through hell: black and blue all over.”
Someone wanted to send me a message. They’d succeeded, and now I’d have to send one back loud and clear.
“I know it may seem extreme to you right now, but I’m closing down all the clubs for the next few days. I’ll call Austin, New York, and Los Angeles. I want you to call New Zealand, Madrid, and Paris. Warn everyone to watch their backs. Tell them these attacks are specific. Probably some vendetta against the Caruthers family, and I don’t want anyone hurt because of me.
“No one is to go to work until I give the go-ahead. They’ll get full pay. Also, if they have to leave their homes, tell them to always travel with a friend. Let’s keep this from the press if at all possible. Mum’s the word. If anyone gets questioned about the closings, tell them to say we are going through a mass systems upgrade with the computers.”
“Got it.”
“Keep me informed about Lourdes and the other women.” Poor Lourdes had been through enough. “I’ll get there as soon as I can. Oh, and make sure you tell the doctors I want the top medical care for everyone. And call in the security team; I want those women protected twenty-four/ seven. Whoever did this may not like the idea that they can be recognized.”
I closed my eyes and tried to think. I’d have to go to where the women were attacked. If I smelled leftover dragon, then I’d know. But I had to be careful. I couldn’t risk the authorities or anyone else seeing me.
Pissed didn’t begin to explain how I felt. I don’t care if you pick on me, but don’t mess with my people. My employees were the lifeblood of my business, and many of them were friends. I had too many now to know everyone personally, but it was my job to take care of them.
I made the call to the managers of the other clubs. They didn’t ask many questions, just took my orders, which I appreciated. I prided myself on hiring loyal people, and it paid off when things went whack. I told them to keep an eye out for anything strange.
I ran back to my room and grabbed a hoodie. My leather coat had been ripped to shreds by the damn gryphon. The hoodie would hide my face, just in case. I checked myself in the mirror and remembered that I needed to take care of the wounds on my neck and chest. They were healing up, but I’d have scars if I didn’t use more of the healing potions. I went to the cabinet where I kept my stash of medical supplies, and a few minutes later I’d done a decent patch job. I tossed my shredded T-shirt in the trash and put on a new one.
I focused my energy and touched the tats together. I landed in the bathroom of the club in Madrid. Thankfully the place had been cleared out, though I could hear someone downstairs.
I snuck down the back staircase and waited in the storeroom for a minute. Whoever it was, probably one of the bartenders, had moved to the front of the club.
I slipped out the side door and locked it. Even at this late hour there was a crowd out in the parking lot. The authorities had taped off the area around Lourdes’s car, but I was able to edge my way to the front of the crowd, making sure the hoodie was pulled up so no one could see my face.
I didn’t even have to get close to the tape to smell that more than one dragon had been there.
It was all I could do not to scream. I knew it.
Damn beasts are going after my people.
I thought about jumping directly to Xerxes to confront Ginjin, but something my mother had said stopped me. Why? Why were they doing something they knew would piss me off?
None of this made sense. Unless . . .
I thought about what happened to Gilly a few weeks ago. That’s when we realized the seriously dark evil was invading the universe. She and Arath had a terrible time with the portals from his planet.
At that same time, Ginjin’s world had walked down the crazy side of chaos into a civil war. The evil was so pervasive there that millions were killed by it.
The mages had been working overtime to protect the portals on Xerxes, which is why I hadn’t worried much about jumpers, except for those who were involved in the kidnappings. But what if evil, real evil, was the reason all of this was happening?
Jene.
I don’t know why, but I knew Ginjin’s future mate had something to do with this. It might be a case where she thought she was in control. It was still a hunch on my part, except for the part where I’d caught the green dragon, which had been with Jene in the desert on Xerxes. We’d seen the evil take over humans and the dragons. It was quite possible she had suffered the same fate.
There was a good chance Ginjin would become Xerxes’s next prime minister, which meant she would be the first lady in a way. As much as I didn’t like her, she didn’t seem like the kind of being who would risk that kind of power for a stupid kidnapping ring or to cause trouble for me.
I thought about the way Ginjin shot her that look the day in the desert. He’d known then that she was involved, but he couldn’t figure out why either. That’s why he wouldn’t talk. That’s probably the real reason why he didn’t want to marry her. He knew something wasn’t right.
Couldn’t have a new bride tainting his chances to become—No. He didn’t work that way. A warrior at heart, he only had the good of his people in mind. That meant he was worried what she might do if she had real power. He said as much in our first conversation about her.
Why wouldn’t he just kill her? All he’d have to do was expose her, and the council would take care of it.
I needed some answers, and there was only one man—dragon—who had them.
Ginjin was in a bad mood, not that I’d actually ever seen him in a good one. He’d spent the last hour talking to several council members who wanted to know about the human trafficking. Since my mother was at the forefront of the investigation, I wasn’t one of his favorite people at the moment, which is why he stomped past me and into his home, where I’d waited not so patiently on the front landing for the past five minutes.
That he didn’t slam the door in my face was a small miracle.
“I know you’re angry that I told my mother what was going on, but in my defense, not that I need a defense, I told her I didn’t have enough evidence to go to the council.”
He ignored me and paced back and forth as his wings disappeared into his back. It was a fascinating and slightly repulsive sight as giant slits opened up to accommodate the flying appendages and then the skin covered over it, as if nothing had ever been there.
“That’s not why I’m here. By the way”—I shut the door behind me; since he didn’t seem in the mood to talk, I continued—“there’s something happening on Earth, and I need to ask you a few questions.”
He sat down on the leather sofa without acknowledging my presence. The fact that he wasn’t bellowing about me bugging him said volumes.
“In the past two hours several people who work for my company have been attacked.”
He rolled his eyes up to me as if to say,
So?
“By dragons.”
Sighing, he crossed his arms against his chest.
“They hit two clubs—one in London, the other in Madrid—about the same time. All three victims are in bad shape. The one in Spain is pregnant.” I made my voice go quiet. “We don’t know if she or the baby will make it.”
His eyes flashed from red back to silver, and he shoved a hand through his long silver hair. “What do you need from me?”
“I want you to come with me to the crime scenes. The scent is strong. It’s almost as if they wanted me to know. I think you might be able to distinguish specifically who it is, whereas all dragons pretty much smell the same to me.”
“One moment.” He left the room and came back wearing a pair of True Religion jeans and a dark gray button-down shirt. He looked like he belonged in one of my London clubs. I didn’t even want to know how he knew what to wear. Ginjin was an enigma that way. “I am ready.”
By the door was the device he used to open portals. It was small and fit in his pocket. He slipped it in.
Guess we’re using me to travel.
I pushed the button on my watch, and we stepped into the bluish haze. We landed back in my office at the Madrid club. No one was there so we had no trouble opening the back door out to the parking lot. The police were gone, and the place was empty.
“Her car is gone. The police probably took it as evidence.”
Ginjin didn’t say anything, but he cocked his head as if listening for something. Then he sniffed the air. He moved to the area where Lourdes’s car had been. His eyes flashed red. “Take me to the other one.”
I assumed he meant the London crime scene. Again, I didn’t want to risk being seen, so I transported us into the office of the London club. This time Ginjin led me to the door. He knew. He’d already picked up on the scent.
When he opened the side door into the alley, he said something in dragon. From the tone, it was easy to tell it was some kind of curse.
“So you know who it is.”
He shut the door and turned to me. “No, but I have a general idea of the clan.” His voice was quiet but menacing.
“Then let’s go get ’em.”
Ginjin frowned. “That is not a good idea.”
“Why? Because
your
lovely bride to be is involved?”
I expected him to growl, maybe throw a punch.
“No. She’s not involved with this.” He paused. “She wasn’t here. But these were Kevans and from the Lincsire clan.”
“So that’s her people. She is involved. You know she is. I saw how you looked at her that day when I confronted her.” I couldn’t keep my hands from going to my hips. I couldn’t believe he was being so stubborn, especially now that we had some hard evidence that the Kevans were involved.
“Guardian, you assume too much. What you saw was a power play. The dragons she had in the circle were not her friends. They were sworn enemies, but she had convinced them to fight together for a common cause to save Xerxes. She’d called me there to meet with them, but I’d been delayed.”