Dragon 2 Chapter 4

There had only been a few enchantments I’d found that Morgana had marked, saying that someone more specialized than her had to come and inspect to determine their safety.

But we had found out why the troll had been drawn to the convention center. One of the enchantments put out a smell like freshly baked cookies. It was one of the enchantments that Morgana had said needed further inspection.

The place was massive and there were no small number of small enchantments here and there throughout it. Morgana tagged along once the cleanup team came to retrieve the troll and tried to teach me a few of the enchantments. I wasn’t sure I was actually getting much of it.

“Why are you teaching me this?” I asked.

“Because you have magic, you’ll be able to use. It will just take years of study for you to be able to use it.”

I grumbled. “Let’s master shifting first. When I can turn into several ton dragon, we’ll see what I still need magic for.”

That earned me an eye roll. “Subtlety has its uses.”

“That’s what I have you for.” Bumping her hip, I elicited a small smile from the vampire. “Besides, what fun is subtlety when I can just smash everything.”

Walking back to the massive entryway, we found a man arguing with a mixed group of sirens, elves, and something that looked very human.

I sniffed the air and caught the scent of a dog. The human-looking paranormal must be one of the omega wolves from the incident with Chad. Many of them had been scooped up by The Council and put to work on mundane tasks, such as cleanup.

“This is a mess. Why the hell are you even here?” The businessman waved his arms angrily, and my eyes that were still shifted caught just a hint of magic coming out of the sleeves of his very expensive-looking suit.

“Excuse me. Can we help you?” I interjected, stepping up to the group casually. “Also, please stop waving about your magic.”

He fixed me with a look, his eyes going to mine and giving a distasteful snort. “I hate the ones that can blend in.”

I was about ready to sock him across the jaw, but I realized who, or rather what, I might be dealing with. In front of me was a very well kept looking blond man with a square jawline and a business suit that probably cost more than my yearly grocery budget, but I was fairly sure he was a magi.

That subtle magic washed off of him and tried to cling to me.

I recognized what it was trying to do immediately. A subtle feeling of warmth towards this man tried to rise up, and I threw against it all the hate I had of manipulators. It shattered whatever goodwill his charm had tried to instill in me. But in that brief exchange with his magic, his focus was already past me. He stared wide eyed at my partner.

“Morgana! In the flesh. I didn’t know you’d be here.” He opened his arms to hug her like a best friend.

She put out a hand on his chest to keep him from touching her. “Don’t touch.”

Even the magi knew Morgana on sight, but it made sense. She was the only elven vampire I’d ever heard of. And the elves would keep it that way if they could. They hated that she was a living example that elves could indeed be turned into vampires, something they claimed was impossible.

“Prickly as ever. I remember when I was a kid, and you came to do a job for my family.” He spoke with a familiarity, and I was unsure if it was something that he did with everyone or if he was seriously crushing on Morgana.

“I don’t have time for this. Do as my partner says and drop this stupid charming spell.”

He gave a boisterous laugh. “It’s a potion that I mixed with cologne. It’s harmless, and I can’t just dismiss it. What are you doing here, anyway?”

“We were hired to come here and deal with a pest problem.” I nodded towards the man now in the back of a car that had somehow moved inside the building.

“What’s that?” He eyed the unimpressive looking chubby man.

“Swamp troll. Big fuckers when they are awake and testy.” I said with a little pride at taking it down with my bare hands again.

“I thought they’d be bigger.” He said dismissively. “Oh, where are my manners? I didn’t fully introduce myself. I’m sure my name will jog your memory, Morgana. I’m Jared of the Nashner line.” He did a little flourish of a bow.

Morgana just stared impassively at him. “Have I taken a job for the Nashner line?” She tilted her head in thought. “Can’t think of it.”

I took far too much joy in watching the man deflate.

“Of course. The famed Morgana must be so busy. Even the premiere sorcerer house of Poland is below her memory.” His voice reeked of bitterness. Clearly, he was not happy about being forgotten.

“Well, nice to meet you. But we are off. Our job is done, and we have more work to do.”

“Wait. I can’t let you go like that.” Jared grabbed my shoulder, and I had to fight the reflex to bend and throw him over my shoulder onto the floor. Luckily for him, he let go as I twitched, clearly sensing me suppressing the urge.

He laughed nervously. “Please, it’s not often one gets time with Morgana. I can’t waste this opportunity. Given the troll problem it appears we have in town, I’d love to hire you to do security for the event.”

Morgana did a slow turn. “I work exclusively with my partner, and I’m not sure the convention wants to pay my going rate.”

“Of course. You are worth your weight in gold. As one of the sponsors, I can guarantee you’ll be paid just fine.”

“The convention is three days long. 2 kilograms a day sounds about right.” I said. It had taken me a while to get used to doing business in gold, but I’d learned how to calculate our rates.

“2 kilograms?” Jared asked.

Morgana clarified. “Gold. 6 kilos for each of us for the three days, and we’ll do daytime security.”

I nearly lost my poker face. I had priced us at one kilo each. Two was just exorbitant.

I could see the sweat prickle up on Jared’s face as he made a slightly pained expression. But after all his bluster, there was no way he was going to chicken out on the price. That just wasn’t how a peacock like this worked.

He’d end up paying over six hundred thousand dollars for three days of security, and that kind of price made me nervous. I had a feeling Morgana did remember his family, and she was not a fan.

“Perfect. A drop in the ocean.” Jared said with a flourish. Spreading his arms wide as he plastered on a smile.

But apparently, Morgana wasn’t done. “We take payment in advance; here’s my cashier's number.” She reached into her bra and pulled out a piece of paper and pen. I now knew that Morgana used her spatial magic to create pocket dimensions on her clothing. I’d wondered before how she stashed it all; her clothing was far too tight for the number of things she pulled out.

Jared took the paper, so I wrapped a hand around her hip to lead her away. She leaned into it, and her sinfully curvy body pressed against me in a way that made me hot under the collar, even though I knew it was just a show for Jared.

Damn Morgana. Despite how youthful she looked, Morgana had lived a long time, and she knew what she was doing. Swaying her hips and pressing against me, when we were just out of earshot she laughed gleefully, like I’d just whispered a joke.

I could feel Jared’s eyes digging into my back. And she was so convincing, I found myself leaning a bit harder towards her.

She smirked up at me, clearly noticing my subconscious falling into the flirtation with her. Looking down, I realized my hand had wandered to her butt as we approached the car.

She gave an extra little wiggle, turning and pushing me up against the side of the car. My breath caught, my brain spinning at the idea of being with Morgana, but also having trouble not being interested. Morgana was sexy, but she had also been my rock in the paranormal world. My brain told me not to mess up what we had, but the beast in me was roaring to take her.

As my brain spun and my body felt paralyzed between Morgana’s and the car, she let out a throaty laugh.

“You should see your face. That was almost as fun as screwing with Jared.” Morgana backed off me, walking over to the driver’s side. I reached down, adjusting myself before climbing into the car.

And if I’m honest, she had been a rock in my life since the paranormal truth shook the foundation of everything I knew. A part of me might have thought there was a chance, but it was squashed by the part that was terrified of ruining what we had.

When we got back out to the parking garage, I squeezed her rear in slight revenge, but she only laid it on thicker. “Mmm. Yes please, harder dear.”

“Damnit Morgana.” I slapped her ass, and she only moaned in my ear, teasing me further. “Stop it. Scarlett asked for a sex break and I might just bend you over the hood of your car if you aren’t careful.”

“Maybe that’s just what I want.” Morgana whispered in my ear, eliciting a slew of quick day dreams before she danced away with her classic throaty laugh. “Sorry. It isn’t every day you get to tease a dragon and come away alive.”

Pulling at the collar of my shirt, I could have sworn some steam escaped. “Yeah. Well, I wasn’t entirely joking.” Taking my seat in her sports car, I turned down the temp and blasted myself with cool air.

Meanwhile, the beast was hammering away in my chest. Telling me I should just do it.

Me and Morgana, though? That just seemed preposterous. She was like a best friend, a very, very hot best friend. But something about the idea that it could potentially happen felt like it would ruin what we had going on.

Wanting a change of topic, I decided to get to the bottom of Morgana’s dislike of Jared and away from the flirting. “So, what did his family do? Some big old family grudge? They kill some elves and are on a blacklist?” I pulled on my seatbelt as she pulled out of her completely illegal parking job.

“They are on an elven blacklist. But no big scary grudge. I do hate his father though, and he felt like the spitting image of him just now.” The way she angrily revved the engine told me it was going to be a terrifying ride back to campus. She liked to take her anger out on the road.

I was nervous about having her diving deeper into her anger for the drive, but screw it, I was curious. “You have to give me more than that.”

“Sorcerers have innate magic, which is inherited from a paranormal ancestor. You know that much, right?”

“Yep. Jadelyn explained it to me.” I at least remembered a lot of what she’d said.

“Well, Jared’s father hired me at one point. He was sketchy on the details, but he offered me lots of money, so I showed up. When I got there, I learned their family line was pretty thin, and their magic was dwindling.”

“Okay, and I’m guessing something happened that made you angry enough to double their rates?”

“Yes. Think about it. How would his father ask me to help increase his family's inherited magic?” She asked and my mind went off racing for the answer as it hit me smack in the face.

“He didn’t. Fuck. Please tell me you didn’t.”

“Of course, I didn’t!” Morgana shot me a hateful glare for even thinking she might. “I got there, and he propositioned me like a whore. I slapped him in the face and stormed out. It was one of the few times I’ve reached out to the elves on my own since they disowned me. I told them what he’d done, and they happily banned him and all their associates from relations with the elven kingdom.” There was a smug, satisfied grin on her face.

“Damn right. He deserved that. You don’t think he’d try that again?” Even below the cologne, I had gotten the sense there was quite a bit of magic power in Jared. I was fairly certain I could take him, but it had made me want to take him down when he’d put his hand on me.

Morgana must have noticed the same potential in Jared. “Based on his magical potency, I’d guess that I wasn’t the first person he’d given that offer to. Jared must be the kid of something paranormal, if I had to guess.”

“Why even work for his family, then? We can decline the request.” I offered.

“No, we’ll go. If he tries anything through, I’ll just take his head.” She jerked hard on the wheel and floored it as she shot into traffic.

Thinking about the opportunity to question some of the magi about the skinwalker loose end from the drug case, I made a request. “Try to be civil. For me? I want to see if I can’t get some answers from them.” The same part of me that was satisfied when I killed Chad demanded I do something about this skinwalker.

I felt a raw need for the skinwalker to pay for what he did to our community. The beast agreed; the skinwalker needed to die, preferably brutally so.

If the Order of the Magi had any information I could use, then I’d rather Morgana not ruin that for me.

“Answers?” She asked.

“Detective Fox still turned up nothing about the mysterious skin suit that showed up at the drug facility. I was thinking that the magi might have a few leads.”

Morgana sucked in a sharp breath that had nothing to do with her driving. “They are a pretty insular group. You might point them in the direction, and then never hear anything while they deal with it themselves. That sort of magic is the kind they’d do an execution on one of their own for participating in.”

“At least that would deal with the problem. The idea that someone could skin someone I knew and pass unnoticed gives me the creeps.”

“You think someone could mimic me?” She gave a mock gasp. “I’m almost insulted. They wouldn’t be able to mimic my magic, though. One way you can always tell. They also wouldn’t be able to drive as well as me.”

I let out a deep laugh. It was true; nobody could replicate Morgan’s driving. “Do you think it is a terrible idea to ask around?”

“No, but you better make some friends before you do. The magi don’t like paranormals. You saw how Jared looked at your eyes.”

I shrugged. It hadn’t bothered me much. I could care less what Jared thought of me. And it wasn’t like he was going to be my best friend after Morgana made a scene of being with me. The beast roared up at the idea of being considered less than by Jared, but I tempered it down. If I followed my draconic instincts, I’d be killing assholes left and right.

I looked at the clock and hissed. I had my organic chem pop quiz in twenty minutes. Morgana caught the noise, and I explained. “Can you bring me around the south side of campus? I have to get to class.”

“No problem.” Morgana made a hard right. “Have you thought about giving up school?”

“Not yet. It feels like it is so close to being over. Why bail out now?” Even as I said it, I knew I wasn’t going to use much of what I was learning in school as a mercenary with Morgana. And I already had enough gold bricks to live a simple, happy life somewhere.

“We’ve taken on the conference job and the troll job. Both of these are going to take most of your time this weekend. I don’t want you hiding in the corner studying while I do all the work.” She scowled over at me.

“Excuse me? You just stood there while I had to wrestle a swamp troll to the ground. You owe me.”

“Fine.” The tires screeched to a halt. “Get out and go take your stupid test. I’ll catch up with you later tonight.”

I rolled out of the car, knowing better than to linger. Morgana didn’t even wait for me to close the door, using her acceleration to slam it closed as she peeled out.

Students were giving me wide-eyed looks.

I shrugged it off, knowing they were caught off guard by her crazy driving and nice car. I hooked the backpack over my shoulder and started towards organic chem with long strides, pulling out my phone to check the time.

Shit.

I turned my walk into a dead sprint, weaving through the science buildings while trying to keep my speed down to normal human levels. When I reached the heavy wooden doors of the right building, I winced as I heard the handle crunch. I was still getting used to managing my strength under stress.

My feet pounded up the steps and through the hall and I rushed into the room, seeing Scarlett sitting alone, her eyes on the door, waiting for me.

“Take your seats. The quiz begins now. You have fifteen minutes.”

I rushed to the front and snagged a quiz and sheet to record my answers on from Professor Finstein. He gave them to me, but they came with one of those you-should-be-more-timely looks. Luckily, ever since I’d helped him with the projector at the beginning of the semester, he’d been friendly to me.

“Cutting it close.” Scarlett whispered, as I sat down.

“Troll. I’ll tell you later.” I fished out a number two pencil and started in on the test, filling in the stupid bubbles. One glance at the clock, and I was heads down, reading the questions and filling in the bubbles hastily.

I tried to focus on the quiz and not have my brain wander through the chaos of the past day. Beating up trolls, spending time with my beautiful kitsune girlfriend, going after more trolls… my life was becoming much more chaotic. Throw in classes, and I had to admit I was pretty proud of myself for balancing all of it. Despite Morgana’s thoughts that I should drop school, I was pretty proud of combining my paranormal and human lives together.

But it was about to get messier as I started navigating multiple relationships at the same time. Not to mention investigating the skinwalker and figuring how to finally shift into my dragon form.

“Five more minutes.” Professor Finstein called out.

Shit. Working to crank out the final questions on the quiz, I ignored the big paranormal to do list that was building up.