The Jade Dragon (6 page)

“I could, but he's better off here. Raven's Creek is where he needs to be.”

Alanna was getting sick of all the innuendo. “Why does he have to be in Raven's Creek? Surely he can be anywhere if you put him back into stone.” She pointed to the piece on the pedestal. “Put him in there and drop him off somewhere else. I've done my share of minding. Let someone else do it for the next few years.”

“Can't do that, I'm afraid,” Anton said. “If he's going to stay anywhere, it must be here in Raven's Creek.”

“Hello,” Gregori said from his corner. “I'm here. Perhaps you'd like to ask me what I'd like. Free will and all that.”

“There's no free will for a Dragon in danger of flaming out. You need to wait until your mate is ready,” Anton warned.

Mate! Flaming Out! In Raven's Creek!
An awful thought crawled its way into Alanna's brain to crystallize into a seriously scary scenario
.
Surely they weren't referring to her being
that
mate? Too stunned to say anything, she glared at Anton, an eyebrow raised in question.

He glared back, shrugged a shoulder and winked. Winked! The Grand Dragon had winked at her! She tried Goran next. He shrugged as well. Lastly, she looked to Gregori. He didn't strike her as someone who would be evasive but he was focused on the two warlock Dragons.

“Figure it out,” was all he said.

“I don't want to figure anything out,” she said. “I want peace and quiet.”
Sweet Goddess
, she'd never said that before. If Rosa ever heard she'd uttered those words, she'd faint dead on the spot from shock. There was absolutely, categorically, no way she could bind her magic with Gregori. There was that small — but not insignificant — detail that she currently possessed no magic, so the act was impossible. Thank the Goddess!

She shut her eyes and willed all the men gone. Unfortunately, they were still there when she opened her eyes. “Go away. All of you. I'm way too busy to deal with any of you today.”

Gregori laughed. “You have the most delightful way of speaking your mind.”

No one had ever said she was delightful before. He liked her frankness. She placed a checkmark next to the things she liked about him. Delicious, talented, and intelligent. Unfortunately, he also appeared to be dangerous. There was no way she was binding herself to a warlock well on his way to madness. That wasn't on her to do list anytime this century.

The door tinkled downstairs. Beth was here, thank the heavens. “We've got company,” she said and spun on her toes, raced out the door and down the stairs, leaving them to work their dilemma out without her input. Her mind was ready to explode and she needed to absorb some of Beth's calmness. Now that the story was out, she was free to reveal just what was going on upstairs.

“Hi,” Beth sang out when Alanna appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

Had her baby sister seen Goran's patched up job in the protection spells around the building? “A conniption has occurred in my world,” Alanna muttered before she could help herself. She hugged Beth and whispered into her ear. “Don't go upstairs. It's full of
Dragons
.”

“Dragons.” Beth's sapphire eyes widened and she hugged Alanna back.

“The warlock variety.” Alanna stepped back to gauge her sister's reaction. Hugging her sister spontaneously was out of character. It would reveal to Beth just how agitated she was.

“You're sculpting again. Now that's something to celebrate.”

Alanna paced the Gallery floor. “No. Real warlocks. From Marylebone.” She threw her hands up in the air. Beth didn't believe her.

“Did you not sleep last night?” Beth dug around in her purse. “I've got one of Rosa's potions in here somewhere for restlessness.”

“I don't need a potion.” She grabbed Beth's elbow and shook it. “Listen to me. I'm not exaggerating. You have to believe me. And I have proof. Just look out in the courtyard. Gregori is in a million pieces. He's shattered and beyond fixing.”

Beth paled. “How? Have you called the insurance company?” She rushed to the courtyard door and peered out, to view the mess Gregori's escape had made.

Unfortunately, neither Beth nor Rosa knew the dragon had housed an ensorcelled warlock. “No need. I'm sure Marylebone will have him replaced.”

“You're not making any sense.”

“I'm making perfect sense. Let me give you a brief rundown. You've always wondered where the jade dragon came from. Well, it was Anton from Marylebone who commissioned it.” Her head bounced up and down like a circus clown. “Yes, that's right. Anton. The Grand Dragon. I kid you not! He ensorcelled Gregori into it and extracted a promise from me to remain quiet and live in the studio to keep an eye on him for the duration of his imprisonment. I thought it would be a few months.” She laughed. “Who knew it would be years. Anyhow, I digress. He escaped this morning. He broke through our wards and the Maori Blessing, but according to Goran, Gregori patched them up immediately afterward. I found him in the courtyard unconscious and dragged him inside. He woke up. He's weak as a kitten, and currently not dangerous. You should see his shoulders! They're massive.” Her arms stretched out wide and her eyes lit up. “He was naked and oh my … what a glorious specimen. I don't know why he was ensorcelled so don't ask. He's upstairs. So are Goran and Anton. They're trying to persuade him to go with them. He's refusing. That's it so far.”

Should she also mention Gregori just might actually be her intended?

Beth stared blankly at her, and then popped a few drops of that potion into her own mouth. “Say that again.”

Alanna sniffed. “Are you kidding me? No.” She grabbed Beth's arm again. “I'm hoping they'll sort themselves out and leave very soon. We need to repair the stone walls and sweep away the shards of jade before the Gallery opens. And replace Gregori before the public start asking difficult questions.”

“Nothing in your life is easy,” Beth muttered. “Is it? Here,” she held out the dropper. “Open up. You definitely need some of this.”

“Tell me about it.” Alanna opened her mouth and Beth placed a few drops under her tongue.

There was a loud noise from the studio upstairs — the sound of something falling on the floor. Alanna winced. Ooh. That sounded painful. Both women looked up upon hearing Goran swear explicitly.

Beth studied Alanna properly for the first time that morning. “There really are Dragons upstairs!” She stepped behind Alanna and pushed her towards the staircase. “Go on. Go up and see what's happened.”

Alanna backed up into Beth's hands. “No way. I've had enough drama this morning. Let's put the back-in-ten-minutes sign up and shoot down to the Cookery Nook for a coffee instead.”

“There's one thing you're not, and that's a coward,” Beth pushed her closer to the stairs.

“That's my so-called mate up there.”
Damn
. She hadn't meant to say that. “And he's halfway to lunacy.”

Beth was visibly shocked. She popped a few more drops. “Goran is your mate?”

“No, stupid. Gregori.”

“How can he be your mate? Your magic is bound, and Marylebone knows that.”

“Exactly.”

“And yet I sense this possible mate is,” Beth teased, “attractive?”

“Attractive! You haven't met him. He's all … ” Alanna recalled Gregori's naked, buffed body and something wanton pooled in her womanly bits. She resisted the urge to cross her legs. “He's … ”

“Yes,” Beth replied with a grin. “And?”

“Delicious,” Alanna admitted. “But I've enough troubles without adding him to my diet.”

“I can't believe you've managed to keep this a secret for so long.”

“Frankly, neither can I. But I'm sure glad I did. Goddess knows what the punishment would have been for directly defying Anton when a mere attempt at contacting Marylebone got us magic bound.”

“It wasn't a mere attempt. It was a dangerous botched disaster.”

“Still, I think the punishment could have been worse.” She shivered and rubbed her arms with her palms. “Perhaps keeping this secret for the past few years will help in atoning for my errors somewhat?”

“I wouldn't count on it. Marylebone is a mystery to us mere mortals. Even to Rosa and she's there several times a week.”

“Do you think we should inform Aden? He might provide some insights into Gregori. He might know why Gregori was ensorcelled?”

“Have you actually asked Gregori why he was imprisoned?”

“I tried, but he evaded answering me.”

“Does he know you're aware that he's your mate? Are you positive or are you second-guessing this whole situation?”

As if she would second guess anything. Oh all right. Yes. She would.
“My judgment may be skewed but I'm pretty sure it's me. There's this link thing I felt the moment he touched me. I can't explain it.” She stamped a foot and strands of her fiery hair bounced out of the band holding it and tumbled down her back. “If I had any magic to speak of, I'd know for certain!”

“So how long does Gregori have left?”

“I'm not sure. Close to two weeks. I think.” Alanna frowned. “But how can I bind with an immortal? I'm mortal. I cut myself, I bleed. I eat something dicey, I throw up. I age, I die. He goes on forever. I don't get it. I don't want to be in the same jam as Rosa was with Aden. She went through hell.”

Beth's eyes widened. “You've heard the bells?”

“No. And I don't expect to without any magic to guide me.”

“Maybe because your magic is bound, you didn't hear them?”

Hmmmm
. “You think?” Alanna knocked that sentence around in her head for all of two seconds. “No. I felt Gregori break the wards on the Gallery. I'd hear them, I'm sure of it.”

“You've lots of questions you need answers to. We both do. I think we need to speak with Rosa. Perhaps she can do some digging around in Marylebone for us.”

They both fell silent. Beth stated the obvious. “It's awfully quiet up there.”

“I'm hoping it's because they've gone.” Alanna walked swiftly into the office and grabbed her purse. “I'm going to get that coffee. You want one?”

“Don't you want to take a look upstairs and make sure everyone is all right?”

“No. I don't.”

“Now look who's sticking their head in the sand.”

Alanna gave Beth the evil eye. She slammed her purse down on the counter, took a deep breath and marched to the stairs. Beth's comment was like waving a flaming rag to a dragon. She gestured to her. “Come on.”

“No. I'm not going up there.”

“You'd let me go up there alone?”

“Damn it, Alanna. I've no desire to get in the middle of an argument between three Marylebone Dragons.”

“And yet you seem to think I should.”

Beth sighed. “I suppose I shouldn't let you go up there alone. But don't expect me to be much use.”

“You're bendy from all your ballet practice. It may help.”

Beth's eyebrows rose. “Just how do you figure that?”

“If you get in the way you can duck, tuck and roll away. I'm tall, ungainly, likely to stick myself in the middle and get knocked out for my efforts.”

“Stop wasting time. Get up those stairs. I'm right behind you.”

Well, Alanna had expected something, but definitely not what she saw.

“What in the name of the Goddess happened?” she asked as she knelt beside Goran. He sat on the floor, propped against the wall, punch-drunk, looking all limp like a rag-doll. Neither Anton nor Gregori were there.

Somewhere deep in her gut, there was a mild sense of disappointment. Her so-called future mate had deserted her so easily.

“Gregori happened,” he slurred. “That's what.”

Alanna looked about her small studio, and peeked into her bedroom, the bathroom and kitchenette. Where had they gone? “I thought you said Gregori was too weak to go anywhere. Did Anton capture him?” The stone on the pedestal remained where she'd left it. No change there as far as she could tell so she figured Gregori wasn't inside it.

“More like the other way around,” Goran muttered. “I can't believe we fell for it.”

“What did you fall for?”

Goran lifted his head from the wall, winced and cupped the side of his forehead with a hand. “Gregori is far too wily. We never saw it coming.”

Beth shot into the bathroom and returned seconds later with a damp cool cloth. She knelt beside him, holding it to his head. “Never saw what?”

The coldness on his forehead seemed to clarify his thoughts. “He siphoned off our energy. He must have been creating an incantation the entire time we were trying to convince him to give himself up.”

“But how?” Alanna asked. “How could he best you both at the same time? I thought Anton as Grand Dragon would be the most powerful?”

“Anton might be the leader, but Gregori
is
the one with the power. He has an arsenal of magic to draw from when at full strength. He's so ancient, he can probably recall the invention of the wheel.”

“More importantly, how did he escape? How did he actually manage to siphon your energy?” Alanna was impatient to hear how Gregori actually bested the leader of Marylebone and Goran. She scanned the studio as if maybe he was still there, merely invisible.

“Touch.” Goran muttered. “All he had to do was touch us and — “ Goran made a sucking sound through his teeth, “ — my magical energy was gone. I figure he's done the same with Anton.” Admiration filtered into his voice. “He drew enough to leave me weakened, unable to follow him.”

“He could have killed you,” Alanna muttered. She so needed that coffee now. Her insides were shaking almost as much as her legs. She felt light-headed. She collapsed on the floor next to him. “So where would he take Anton?”