Page 21 of Dragon's Desire

Each time he raised his artifact, she would kick his arm, or stomp a foot. Anything to keep him off balance, but Arthur swung his staff and landed a lucky blow on Kiercy’s temple. Toppling her to the floor.

The warlock then raised his artifact over her, and said, “You have been judged.” But before the flash of light, Legermain was spun around by the impact of the dire knife that imbedded into his shoulder.

Peter threw ‘Moses’ and scored a hit. Arthur wailed in pain, but didn’t drop his favorite toy. Instead he pulled the silver blade out of his shoulder and cast it on the ground.

In a moment Peter was at her side, helping her up when Legermain activated his headset microphone to announce, “Those that would join me, come to my aid now.”

Peter and Kiercy suddenly became aware that they were surrounded by shifters hungry for their blood.

She put her fingers into a hex position, and prepared an offensive incantation, but Peter interrupted. “Say it.”

“Say what?” her agitation was evident.

“Say my name again!” Even as the circle of shifters lunged for them, Peter aimed his grappling hook high, and prayed silently that he remembered where the skylight was. He was rewarded by the sound of glass, and the hydraulic motor engaging that pulled Kiercy and Peter into the air.

“Peter!” she screamed as she held onto him for dear life. Narrowly avoiding steel ductwork and pipes.

“That’s the stuff.”

15

KIERCY

With a deep breath, Kiercy pulled her head up off of her desk and ran her fingers through her unkempt hair. It was slightly stiffened with last night’s dried sweat. She looked around the sparsely populated office of PEACE HQ as the morning crew began filing in to begin their shifts.

For just a moment she considered pulling a couple of handfuls of her hair out by the root; such was her frustration. Her head clanged a pipe on the way out as Peter evacuated her, against her will, by the way, and it knocked her unconscious.

When she came too, Peter was speeding away them away in her car, and she furiously demanded he bring her here… where she spent the night waiting for the lab to bring her a report on the night vision goggles she had ripped off of Legermain.

“That son-of-a-bitch.” She hissed aloud. And even she wasn’t sure if she meant Peter or Arthur. Probably both.Let’s say both.

There’s an old saying, ‘speak of the devil, and the devil appears’. “Good morning, darlin’.” Peter said holding two coffees.

Even with hours to cool off, there’s no doubt she was more piping hot than the steaming cups in Peter’s hands. “Really? Don’t ‘darlin’ me, you fucking idiot.”

“That’s one way to treat people, I guess.” Peter said while nodding his head. He put the coffee down on her desk whether or not she wanted it. “There are other ways.”

“Oh, do tell Mr. Southern charm.” Her words were soaked in sarcasm.

“I mean, some people might actually say thanks for the coffee, and saving my life last night, not to mention the great lay.” Peter smugly blew on his coffee before taking a careful sip.

“Thanks. Thanks are what you’re looking for? Appreciation?” she was definitely building up to something.

Peter nodded his affirmation. “Yes. Seems pretty reasonable to me.”

“Sure, let’s just reason our way through this thing. Thanks to you, Legermain is still on the loose when we had him dead to rights. You evacuated me, against my wishes, instead of retreating and calling in backup.” She nearly spat with contempt.

Peter brought a finger to his chin as he considered her words. “Well, to listen to you tell it, this is all my fault.”

“Yes, you imbecile, that’s exactly what I’m saying to you.” She smacked her hand on the desk, nearly sending her coffee onto its side, but she caught it and took a painful sip. There was a very chance she had a concussion and moving her jaw was agony.

She couldn’t deny Stardust made the best coffee, so good it was like magic. With a little caffeine she was able to continue her scolding. “I was about to cast a spell that would have wrapped this whole thing up, before you Tarzan’ed my ass out of there. Don’t ever do something like that without my permission again. I’m not a damsel that needs you saving me.”

“You’re welcome.” He said flatly. “Also, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but you don’t seem to have slept and are in need of some cosmetic assistance.” He used his hand to accentuate the side of his face, but he was clearly referencing the bruising on her face.

Kiercy clenched her fists and gritted her teeth in frustration, which did nothing but send jolts of pain spiking into her brain. “I swear to the goddess, I’m going to turn you into a hamster for my cat to chase and bat around.”

“Speaking of cat and mouse, or slap and tickle. That was some great pussy you dropped on me last night. How was it for you? I mean, do you normally scream your lover’s name when you orgasm, or was that just for me?”

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