How on earth had Damian known she was here and that a robbery had happened? Was he literally stalking her? Like…how…no! She did not have time to be thinking about him now, because she needed to keep her eyes on the prize—figuring out whatever the fuck David knew about Danny.
Andi pulled her coat on and shoved her wallet back inside her purse—the cops had wanted to see her ID—as David returned from the bathroom.
“Ready?”
She was in no way, shape, or form ready, but she kept it off her face. “Yeah, let’s go outside. The bus stop’s not that far.”
“Are you sure you want to take the bus? You were just almost robbed,” David said, looking down at her and shaking his head. “Which, to be fair, somehow you handled like a boss.”
She snorted. “Thanks. It’s all the workplace violence prevention classes they make us take at the hospital.”
“Really?” David asked her.
“Fuck no. I almost pissed myself, I was so scared,” Andi said. “But I’m scared all the time at work, so I’m kind of used to it by now. And, like I was telling you before all that, my brother means a lot to me.” She telepathically willed him to just fucking confess already and stop putting her through all this to no avail. “I can’t go dying now; I’m all he has. But I also can’t have anyone steal my phone from me. What would happen if he called and needed me?”
It was her boldest move yet. Did David know that Danny’d gotten ahold of his phone, briefly? What was to stop him from looking back in his “recents” same as she had and noticing her name there? Or did he already know that had happened…and was he now playing some kind of game with her?
The crowd around them was dispersing, and it was clear the owners wanted to close up. David angled himself closer to her. “Did you want to go someplace else other than the bus stop? Maybe a little less crime alley?”
Andi forced herself to laugh and then gave up, crossing her arms instead. “David, when the robbers were here, I saw you reaching for something. What else have you got in your bag?”
The friendly expression slid right off his face. “Just my laptop.”
“If that’s true, then let me see,” she said and held out her hands.
He opened his bag up and said ‘shhhhhh’ conspiratorially while letting her look inside. There was his high-tech laptop—right beside a holstered gun. “I’m a CEO. I take precautions.”
“You can’t afford bodyguards?” she asked, giving him his bag back.
“Not when I’m trying to go on a date.” He gave her a toothy smile. She knew he meant it to be handsome, but knowing what she did about him, it felt shark-like.
“David,” she began, walking as slowly as she could outside, trying hard to think. Just what did she owe Danny? What did she owe Damian? And just what in the fucking hell was safe? There were cops all around, but she didn’t have any real proof that David knew where Danny was, so it wasn’t like she could report him. They were still in public—she could press him—but if he walked away from her, it wasn’t like it was safe to follow. Not only was he bigger than her, but he also had a freaking gun.
It felt like her window to find anything out was closing, and if she didn’t make a decision soon, it was going to cut her right in half.
She swallowed dry, still in the protective ring of police cars with their lights flashing. “You know this wasn’t a date, right?” The bus stop was just fifty feet away, surely, she’d still be safe there.
David shrugged, following her, completely undeterred. “Can’t blame a guy for hoping.”
“A guy like you, I’m sure you have your choice of women.”
“Yeah, but you’re special.”
“You mean my DNA?” she asked, hoping beyond hope that somehow, he’d spill.
He laughed as they reached the bus stop. “No. You’re the whole package.”
Andi put her hands inside her coat pockets forcefully. “I don’t know about that.”
David finally looked around, realizing where they were. “Come on, Andi, at least let me give you a ride to the hospital.”
She looked up at him, trying to read something—anything—on his face. But if this was her last chance to talk to him, before he really looked at his phone and realized that she knew. Oh, God, I fucking hate you, Danny.
“All right,” she said in a rush, giving up.
David grinned at her. “Give me a few seconds to get my car and don’t hop on the next bus.”
Damian was not proud of the temptation to run the other man down, but really, it was the least painful of the ways he wanted to murder him right now—his dragon had significantly worse ideas of things to do.
His car idled in a shadow across the block from the bus stop where Andi’d sat down, and the second the other man’s back was turned, he watched her shoulders slump.
What did that mean? Was she really unhappy, or was he just desperately projecting his unhappiness at her? He looked up into his rearview mirror, summoned his power, and compelled it to show him her reflection from one of the metal poles surrounding her at the bus stop.
A slightly blurry reflection of Andi replaced his own face in the rearview. She was pensive, her brow furrowed, and her full lips were in a soft pout. She was the same woman who’d pushed him away a little bit ago, but to look at her now, she didn’t seem happy about it.
And then a Tesla pulled up in front of the bus stop. He watched her paint on her expression like a geisha, her smile broad—and fake—before standing and going to the Tesla’s door to hop inside.
All of Damian’s fears and doubts about Andi came rushing back. Maybe she’d been right on their bus ride together. Maybe he didn’t know her. No matter that his soul—and his dragon—told him he did. He had no doubt the man from the coffee shop—the man with the aftershave—was driving that car. And if he could afford that model Tesla, Damian knew he could afford Andi’s black silk dress. He breathed in deeply and scented the smoke coming off of him, as his fears burned him from the inside out.
His hands tightened on the steering wheel as he brought the beast inside him back under control. There was a reason Andi hadn’t wanted Damian to see who it was. Probably because she knew he’d react like this. Because he wasn’t human, and because she wasn’t his.
The Tesla pulled away, and Damian couldn’t help himself. He slid his car out into the street behind it half a block back, unsure what he was going to do but feeling like he had to do something.
Something good or something bad—he wasn’t sure yet.
Andi buckled herself into David’s car. “So, how do you know my uncle anyways?” She had her phone out and in her hand like out of habit, and also, just in case.
“Just business. We run in the same circles.”
“How long have you known him?”
“Only a few years.”
They took a turn, and Andi saw a familiar car briefly three cars behind them, low slung, gold, and shiny. And for all that she wasn’t a car-nerd like Sammy, she knew for the rest of her life she’d recognize that car anywhere.
Damian.
Following her, she realized, as they took another turn.
Why?
She was pissed off at him for doing it—even as knowing he was nearby emboldened her.
She turned toward David. “So, if this Golden Fields Conglomerate ever did kidnap my brother, where do you think they would keep him?”
He seemed surprised at her forthrightness. “Andi, I can’t imagine they would.”
She tugged on her seat belt to give her more room. “Why not? I mean, I assume my uncle’s been running searches or something on his bank accounts and credit cards. So, if no one’s used them, and you said it yourself that you don’t think he’s dead, then maybe they kidnapped him or something?”
David twisted to look over at her. “You can’t be serious.”
“He’s been gone three weeks. We didn’t always like each other, but we always call on Sunday. On her death bed, our mom pretty much told us we had to. Kidnapping is literally the only thing that’d stop him from doing that. Neither of us wants our mom to come back as a ghost.” She didn’t believe in ghosts, but it was common enough in her culture that David would believe her. She held her breath as David took another turn, and so far, they were going the right way to the hospital like she’d hoped—and Damian was still behind them, so she decided to play all of her cards. “Where do you even think someone would keep someone that they’d kidnapped in town?” Andi pretended to think. “Maybe at the ports?”
David glanced sharply over at her. “That seems a likely place.” He shrugged defensively.
“I know you’re smarter than I am, David, since you’re a CEO and all.” She did her best to sound helpless and ignorant and stopped straining against the seat belt to flop back in apparent defeat. “If you were going to start searching there, how would you begin?”
He tilted his head to look over at her and pretended to think. Now that she knew what to look for, he was so fucking obvious. He would have been such an easy mark. “First, I’d call the police and ask for their help.”
“The ports are huge, and my brother’s a troublemaker; they’re not going to be interested in helping me.”
He shook his head with a snort. “Andi, nothing personal, but you’re just a girl.”
“Who you just witnessed stopping an armed robbery.” She bit her lips and narrowed her eyes at him. “Something that you, a man, who knew he had a gun in his bag, didn’t even dare.”
“I was hoping they wouldn’t kill anyone,” David said, his accent becoming less polished the more frustrated she made him.
“So was I. I was also pissed off,” Andi said, as David pulled into the roundabout in front of her hospital. He put his car in park.
“I don’t know what to say to that, Andi.” He fully twisted to face her. “Either you’re foolhardy or insane or have a callous disregard for the value of your own life.”
“Probably all of the above,” she quipped, with her hand already on the door.
“So be it,” he said with a nod. “All I can say, though,” and his eyes were dark now, and there was no mirth or kindness on his face as he went on, “is that you should stay away from the ports. For your own good.”
It was as close to a confession as she was going to get from him this evening. “Thank you for your advice, David. Good-bye,” she said, getting out of his car and shutting the door. She watched his car drive off and waited for Damian’s to come replace it. When it didn’t, she wasn’t sure how she should feel—relieved or upset or concerned. After a few minutes more, she gave up and went inside.
Damian watched the Tesla take the exit for Andi’s hospital and slowed way, way down. There were fewer cars here, and his was quite noticeable. He didn’t want to be seen, and by the time he approached the roundabout, it was empty, although he thought he could see Andi walking by herself into the hospital.
Get out. Call to her, his dragon urged him.
And say what? he asked it. It was hard not to read her actions at the coffee shop as anything but betrayal.
But a betrayal of what?
There wasn’t a them. There was just him, alone, filled with his idiot longings, and whatever called to him from her.
Take what you want. Now and forever, his dragon encouraged him.
Things don’t work like that here, he explained to it for the millionth time. He looked to his phone, where there was a text from Mills that was nothing but a series of concerned question marks.
She’s okay, he texted quickly, catching her up. Tell the boys to meet me at the Lynx with the tour bus and a strike team.
Now? Mills double-checked.
Now, Damian responded.
He wanted answers from something—anything. If he couldn’t get them from Andi, he was going to shake them loose from Rax. Damian twisted the key and wheeled his car away at speed.
Andi got dressed at work in record time, and then sat on a couch in the back of the break room, waiting to be able to badge in, staring at her phone, willing it to have some answers.
How did her uncle know David? Or vice versa? Was it possible her uncle was in danger too?
She knew everything would sound crazy if she had to explain it out, but she couldn’t take any chances. She’d already waited long enough to try and help Danny.
How well do you really know David? She texted her uncle before she could convince herself it was a bad idea.
She didn’t expect him to respond, but within five seconds, she had an answer. Business only. Why?
She held her breath as she typed. I don’t think he’s a good person.
What makes you say that? Are you okay?
Andi sagged a little. It was so nice having someone else be concerned for her, and all of her complicated feelings about her relationship with her uncle came rushing back. I’m fine. It’s just a feeling I have. I know this is going to sound paranoid, but what if he’s using you? To get to Danny and me?
It took a long time for her Uncle to respond. Did he say something to make you think that?
No. But the other night when Danny called me it was from his number, Uncle Lee.
An even longer pause this time. Oh no. Are you sure?
Andi flipped over to the other screen on her phone and took a screenshot to send to him as proof. Absolutely.
And you’re sure that night that it was Danny?
Yeah. No one else alive would call me Andi-bear.
She could see him typing, considering his words carefully, for a while. Oh, my dear. Are you someplace safe, now?
Andi looked around the walls of the break room, which still prominently featured Jessica’s missing posters. I’m at work. So, yeah, mostly?
I’m sick to my stomach, my dear. There’s a chance—a very slim chance—that this is some kind of corporate espionage against me. You have to believe me, I never would’ve come back to town if I’d thought it would endanger you or your brother. But I have done…some unsavory deals before. This could be one of those, come back to bite me. I’ve got to look into things immediately, now that you’ve told me of this. Stay in public places at work tonight, will you? And I’ll send my driver for you in the morning.
Andi stared at her phone like it’d grown horns. No wonder her mother always yelled at her if she asked what Uncle Lee did and why he was gone all the time and why he always had obscene amounts of money. She could’ve hit her own forehead.
What kind of unsavory? she texted back.
An even longer pause on his end before he answered. The kinds one doesn’t text about.
Andi bit her lips. And all this time she’d thought Danny was the bad one. Okay, Uncle. She texted back. See you tomorrow morning.
A rush of women chattering with one another entered the room as she pocketed her phone. Andi swiped her badge against the time clock and went outside to face her shift.
Damian pulled into the Lynx’s back parking lot and got out. He was sure Rax had security cameras that would see him—and he didn’t care. Let the other dragon wonder why he’d shown up.
Sure enough, within a few moments, Rax stepped outside. They had similar heights but different builds. Damian was sturdier and broader through the shoulders, whereas Rax was leaner and more sinuous. Damian only had a T-shirt and jeans on. He’d left his house in such a rush to save Andi, but Rax was already wearing his “club management” gear for the evening: sharp slacks, dress shoes, and a halfway unbuttoned dark blue dress shirt that let his olive-toned skin show through, with the sleeves neatly cuffed up.
“Hello, Damian,” he said as he strode up. He was alone, but Damian knew he had men inside watching. “It’s been a while.”
“Rax,” Damian granted with a nod of his head. “Can we talk?”
“Certainly.”
Damian pushed away from his car’s side to follow the other dragon in, but Rax shook his head. “Out here. There's too many human ears inside. Besides, there’s no rush, is there?” he said, slowly circling Damian’s sports car, eyes hungry. Damian knew he ran a car parts ring as well—he had Mills keep an eye on Rax, even though he chose not to intervene.
“You could buy yourself one, you know,” Damian said. He had no doubt Rax’s illegal casino was profitable enough.
“But then people might see it and assume I was you,” Rax said, flashing him a grin. His own eyes were amber, like Damian’s gold, only tinged with a drop of red. “You’ve got a bit of a reputation for hotheadedness, whereas I don’t,” Rax went on, and Damian snorted. “So, what brings you here? I didn’t figure you for a gambler.”
“I gamble all the time. Stocks. Lives. I just don’t gamble for pleasure.”
“If you must make the distinction.”
“I must.” Damian let a little of his dragon see through him, tracing his eyes over the other man. He could scent Rax’s dragon; the beast was lurking under his skin, like someone trying to hide in shadows. Why hadn’t Rax ever had to fully turn? Had he learned a way to separate it from himself completely? Or had he just kept a choke hold on the beast for centuries?
He is an embarrassment to dragonkind, Damian’s own dragon told him. Rax’s brow rose as though he could sense Damian’s thoughts.
“I could pretend I was doing you a favor by telling you that Hunters were back in town. But something tells me you already knew that.”
“Indeed. They’re awful for business—and costly. My security precautions for my clientele are at an all-time high.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to charge them back for that.”
Rax chuckled. “Of course!”
“Then, speaking of ways to make money, I heard about a deal you brokered through a mirror recently for a were-girl.”
The other dragon nodded and made a thoughtful sound. “Thirty-five percent off the top, and I also received several objects of power; it was an excellent exchange.”
“Who was on the other side?”
Rax shook his head. “Client privilege. You know how the Realms are. I just facilitate the deals with willing parties and step away from the glass.”
“Did you know that the girl was sent after me?”
Rax froze. “No. Although that wouldn’t have stopped me from brokering it in the least,” he said, recovering from his surprise. “We may share scales, Damian, but we’re not blood.”
Damian jerked his chin at the man. “And it never would’ve occurred to you that whatever they paid you, I could’ve doubled it?”
A slow and steady smile spread across Rax’s face. “And here, all this time, I assumed Damian Blackwood was a man of honor and sophistication, unwilling to bend his morals in the slightest.”
“When it comes to dealing with the Realms, you and I both know that morals are a hindrance.”
Rax laughed. “Yes.”
The dark skies above opened up, and it started to rain, with a distant clap of thunder, as if to echo Damian’s dark mood. “Tell me who paid to put the hit on me, and I may consider paying you for the information rather than pulling it out of your stomach.”
“You’re not a ruler here, Damian. As they say on this planet, ‘You’re not the boss of me.’” Rax’s smile was fixed and toothy, daring Damian to act, and it occurred to Damian that one of the reasons Rax had kept them outside was so that either of them shifting wouldn’t wreck his establishment.
Just then, his crew’s SUV wheeled in at speed, cutting off Rax’s retreat and blocking him from the view of his security cameras. Austin and Zach leaped out with Max close behind, and Damian knew they only had a moment’s time before Rax’s own men would join them to brawl.
“It doesn’t have to be like this,” he said, holding up a staying hand. “Right now, on this planet, we have a common enemy in the Hunters. And whatever bullshit the Realms wants with me—their problems are their own.”
Rax looked around at Damian’s men as his own men ran out of the Lynx and circled. They were mostly human. If Rax forced Damian’s hand, they’d wind up slaughtered and mind-wiped by the Forgetting Fire. Rax held up his hand as well. “You’re not going to like the answer, Damian.”
“Try me.”
Rax's full body shrugged. “I can’t tell you precisely who spoke to the girl—because once I broker a deal, I do walk away—but the summoning was from inside the palace. I recognized the mirror’s signature.”
Damian growled. He’d left the Realms two decades ago, abdicating his father’s throne to his stepmother, who had married his father in hopes of gaining it, and their daughter, his half-sister, whose future husband was now next in line. His stepmother had gotten exactly what she wanted when he left, and Damian had stayed true to his word to never go back nor interfere.
“And now that I know you’re willing to pay,” Rax continued, “that’s the last bit of information you’ll ever get from me for free.”
“So be it,” Damian said. He twirled his hand, gesturing to his men to pack up, and Rax did the same.
Damian spotted something on one of Rax’s men, though. He lunged after him, faster than anyone could react, taking the leather of the coat he wore in both hands and bunching it tight enough to hold him pinned as he lifted him up, hoisting him up against the SUV’S metal side.
“What the fuck!” the human squirmed, his brown eyes bugging out as he ineffectually beat at Damian’s arms with his hands and tried to flutter him with kicks. He smelled like panic and expensive cologne. “I can’t breathe!”
Rax stood nearby but didn’t stop him, watching everything with glittering eyes.
“How. Did. You. Get. This. Coat,” Damian growled, punctuating out each word, ignoring all else around him.
“A girl gave it to me!” the man squeezed out.
Andi. Damian set him down slowly as his jaw clenched. “Why?”
“What the fuck business is it of yours?” the man asked, collecting himself rapidly. “Jesus…hell…I should kill you!” His eyes flickered to Rax for instructions.
“I promise you I would kill you first,” Damian said coldly. “Give me the coat.”
“Fuck no, dude. It’s mine.” The man tried to step back, only finding the tour bus behind him.
Damian forcibly turned him, pushing him against the SUV’s side before he could resist, pinning him there with his forearm against the back of his neck as he reached into coat pockets with his other hand.
“Man! Come on!” the human protested, flailing against Damian’s greater strength.
Damian’s rough search didn’t bring up anything silver. Maybe it’d gotten lost—maybe it’d dissolved after he’d ripped it into pieces? It was too late now; he couldn’t know.
“Why did she give it to you?” he asked, whirling the man back around. Had he been foolish to hope it’d be special?
The man he’d assaulted pushed back at him ineffectually. “Because I let her suck my dick, man. Why the fuck do you think?”
Damian rose up to his full height as Austin rushed up to grab his arm, hauling down with his full weight. “D…D…it’s not worth it.”
Damian stood there for a moment, breathing hard. He knew Austin was right and yet.
He lowered his arm slowly, and all the guns that Rax’s remaining men had pointed on him lowered as well. Thunder clapped again, and it began raining in earnest as he released the man. “Go inside before I change my mind.”
Rax tilted his head at their exchange. “One would think you could buy yourself any number of jackets, Damian.”
Damian’s attention turned to the other dragon. “You’d best go inside, too, Rax.”
“Gladly. I don’t like getting wet—or watching once stand-up individuals show their baser natures,” he taunted, before walking around the SUV.
Damian rocked back, all the tension he carried sinking to knot inside his stomach, like a snake spitting venom inside of him.
“Damian?” Zach asked.
“Go home,” Damian told him. “All of you.”
“You’re meeting us there, right?” Max pressed him.
“Yes. But I’ll be training.” The only way to burn off this energy would be to fight against the worst Grim could think up and create to throw at him. “Solo.”
His old weapons master nodded. “Understood,” he said and pulled himself into the van.