SkyFall (Taken on the Wing Book 2) (13 page)

“
Rabbit,
”
Soar tries to sound friendly but the
older gryphon scowls as Soar sits. Then he brightens when he sees who it is.

“
Well, what is it you want Soar? And where
is that pretty friend of yours? Talon?
”

Soar snorts as he draws in a mouthful of
the reserve. The honey makes it palatable and within a few seconds Soar feels
the burning shape of his insides. He leans deep into his chair, tips his head
back and lets the very hard liquor have its way with him.

“
Ah, drinking alone?
”
Rabbit keeps going.
“
You didn
’
t call him the morning after?
”

“
Nope,
”
Soar answers. If he
’
s going to learn anything from Rabid, or
Rabbit as Soar chooses to call him, he has to play along.

“
Ha!
”

It
’
s
been too long since Soar has been out drinking and he eases his glass down as
the deeper kick of Seth
’
s reserve rampages through his
system.

“
Seth says if he has to toss you out again
you won
’
t be allowed back in,
”
the waitress mutters as she slides
another reserve across the table.
“
Ever.
”

“
Thanks, Miss,
”
Soar answers, careful
with every syllable before he elbows Rabbit who can
’
t get his eyes off her breasts. Seth
knows this trip isn
’
t purely social and by now Lawrence does as well and maybe even Cooper.
“
Anyway, Rabbit, I
’
m looking for a red-head. One in
particular. She
’
s kin to my Sire and she
’
s missing.
”

“
Red-head, you say,
”
Rabbit uses the excuse to shove his chair
a little closer.
“
The only one I seen here
arrived about a week ago. Don
’
t know her right name.
Everyone calls her Cherry.
”

If Rabbit refers to Cloud the only thing
stopping Soar from starting a fight with the old bastard is that he can barely
make out his drink a foot in front of him. At first Soar thinks it
’
s been topped up but then he realizes the
first one is empty and he
’
s into the second. What the
hell? Soar crushes his eyes shut and stares even harder at the glass and he could
swear the level is even lower.

“
She busted up a fight between a big gryph
and a stupid horny human,
”
Rabbit continues like he
hasn
’
t noticed Soar
’
s trouble keeping track of his drinks.
“
Been working in the bar every night
since, except tonight.
”

“
Oh?
”
Soar
slaps Rabbit
’
s hand off his thigh.

“
Rumour is she took Lawrence on, neither
ones come down yet and from what I hear Lawrence didn
’
t win. She
’
s a sweet one alright. I
’
d love to get behind her, push her tail
aside and find out if that hair is as soft and red underneath
—”

“
Wath
yer mouf,
”
Soar slurs but Rabbit just
laughs. Both Soar
’
s drinks are gone and what
little motor control he has left takes heavy advantage of the chair to stay
upright. He doesn
’
t feel any drunker than he
should but the memory lapses from just the past hour prove there was more than
just honey in the reserve. Either Seth made sure Soar will co-operate or he
needs to get far away from Rabbit while he still can.

“
This way, George,
”
Soar tumbles from his seat and looks up
to see Lawrence, his white shirt glows blue in the black lights.
“
You
’
ve got a meeting.
”

“
And it
’
s
Rabid, asshole,
”
Rabbit mutters as a boot makes
sure Soar doesn
’
t give them any trouble.

It wasn
’
t the first call from Lawrence that
bothered Cooper.

Master Soar arrived in the bar downstairs
to ask questions about Cloud. Didn
’
t seem like a big deal, in
fact it could help get her on her way home. He wants to see Soar and orders Lawrence to bring him up.

As he returned from that call, Cloud
curled up on the couch, groaning for a moment as she figured out her good ankle
shouldn
’
t rest on the bad one. She
only had a couple of glasses of wine and probably hasn
’
t drunk a thing before.

Now that she
’
s passed out he remembers something about
dragonkin being unable to hold their liquor but then he
’
s seen a few drink Lawrence under the
table over the years so it could just be a combination of the big meal, the
injuries and relief that she
’
s decided to go home. In any
case, Cooper finds a blanket and turns out the light before helping Deirdre
with the dishes.

Outside, the lightning becomes more
frequent and the sway of the building in the strong winds becomes noticeable.
Even with the patio doors closed and the heavy curtains drawn the rumble of
thunder can be felt in every surface he touches.

The second call starts out as a problem
and evolves into a nightmare.

Lawrence
reports Soar passed out after two
drinks, a victim of a suspected drugging by Rabid. The idiot had been banned
more than once for going after females for an intimate interaction to which
they would never consent and males for whatever they have in their wallet and
their secrets. Soar, as master of Lev
’
s
personal guard, is riddled with good ones. Now Rabid is detained in a back room
and Soar woke up swinging. He
’
s under guard on the floor
below Cloud
’
s room and Cooper
’
s night just keeps getting longer.

“
Move Rabid downstairs until his eyrie can
—”

The shudder of a high pitched report of
thunder freezes Cooper
’
s words behind his lips. The
electrical discharge that causes it isn
’
t
natural at all.

“
Lawrence
,
”
he whispers as he hears
half a dozen more. Likely ten miles out, far enough away to be clear of the
thunder cell overhead. The closing of a dragonkin portal is unmistakable to
anyone who knows what to listen for. It opens silently, a dangerous hole in the
sky, and snaps shut with such force it would kill whomever didn
’
t exit promptly. Dragonkin can travel
great distances through the use of their portals and so many closing at once
can only mean Cooper
’
s grandsire comes accompanied
by more muscle than needed for a social call.

Tonight they
’
ve given up waiting for him to surrender
the green relic and have come for him.

“
Aledaar,
”
Lawrence
says and Deirdre drops her
towel. She steps from the kitchen and Lawrence knows she
’
ll be clear of the building in minutes.
She doesn
’
t even stop
to accept a fatherly kiss
goodnight and Cooper worries for her already.

“
They won
’
t come directly to your suite in this
storm,
”
Lawrence
’
s
voice flattens as he switches from bouncer to guard master.
“
I
’
ll delay him in the bar as long as I can.
”

“
Do
it,
”
Cooper hangs up, sure he has
no more than fifteen minutes to convince the little gold dragonkin on his sofa
to leave. Aledaar and his guard will fly in low, as clear of the storm as they
can, and enter through the bar. They won
’
t
come prepared with human clothes so they
’
ll
stay invisible and winged and use the freight entrance rather than marching in
wearing red leather armour like some Vegas act.

“
Cloud,
”
Lawrence
shouts and she sits with a
start, her blanket falling to the floor.
“
Come with me. I
’
ll put you in a spare room tonight.
Deirdre's
room is
next door if you need anything. If you
’
re
ready to go home tomorrow I
’
ll have your things brought up
and you can leave right from the roof and spare your ankle.
”

Cooper
begins with a lie to get her near the
green relic and as they make their way down the hall he
’
s struck with a plan to both protect it
from Aledaar and get Cloud away before she
’
s discovered.

“
Okay,
”
Cloud turns aside to yawn as Cooper leads
her to his own room.

She hesitates in the doorway. Cooper
’
s jacket rests on the big bed beside a
stack of his fresh laundry but he can
’
t
afford to wait. It
’
s his room and she knows it.

“
I need to show you something,
”
Cooper tries and she tries a step before
using the wall for support.
“
In here. I
’
ll show you my secret.
”

He rests his hand on the stone panel and
pushes the door open as soon as the lock releases. By the time he kneels at the
box Cloud stands at the opening to the private chamber. His small key opens the
lock and green light fills the chamber.

“
Look,
”
Cooper instructs. She
’
s curious and when he
’
s this close to the relic he has as much
control over its magic as if he were wearing it. Cooper
’
s influence could rival that of Master
Fury and possibly even Aledaar himself when he uses the gold relic.
“
You want to look.
”

“
Oh,
yes,
”
Cloud breathes and licks her
lips as she inches closer. She no longer notices how much her ankle hurts. The
gold dragonkin feels the pull of the green relic.

“
Come, don
’
t touch,
”
he adds as she kneels beside him with her
hands reaching for the relic. In the green light her red hair appears nearly
black.

“
No,
no,
”
Cloud says to one hand as she
pulls it back with the other. Cooper feels a little sick from his use of the
relic
’
s magic and because using it
to manipulate anyone is something he finds fundamentally wrong.