Page 30 of Dragon in Denial
“Where’s the reeve?” Ketu asked.
Darius fluttered his hand in a dismissive gesture. “He’s around. I’m sure whatever you need, I can take care of it for you.”
Pretty sure Darius wouldn’t take kindly to Ketu’s suggestion—no, demand—to shut down his drug trade.
“I’d actually rather discuss it with your father.”
“He’s busy.”
Ketu glanced at Maria, who hovered nearby, no doubt waiting for an order. She was halfway through her second Bacardi and Diet Coke.
“I made an appointment,” Ketu persisted. “With him, not you.”
Darius’s gaze drifted over to Maria, who stared out the window like she’d suddenly found ferns rustling in the breeze to be utterly fascinating. “Is that true, Maria?”
Her shoulders tensed and she shifted her attention to them. “What was that? Did you need something?”
Ketu would bet his entire hoard that she’d been hanging on their every word, which meant she knew damn well what Darius was asking.
Darius nodded at Ketu. “He says he made an appointment with the reeve. I asked you if that was true.”
Her gaze darted from one dragon to the other as she seemed to shrink into herself. Shaking her head, she said, “I assumed he meant with you.”
“Did you hear that, Ketu?” Darius lifted his arm while he walked across the room toward Maria. “She said she assumed your appointment was with me.”
“Well, it wasn’t. I made that clear. Crystal.”
“Baby, he says he made itcrystalclear that he wanted to talk to the reeve,” Darius cooed while he stroked Maria’s hair.
She flinched away from his touch, and he abruptly fisted his hand around her tresses and twisted until she cried out.
“Hey,” Ketu shouted, but Darius lifted a finger in a classic “wait a moment” gesture.
Maria grabbed Darius’s hand with one of hers, and when that didn’t work, she dropped her drink so she could use both hands to try to loosen his hold as she fell to her knees. Using his grip in her hair, he turned her head until she was looking up at him.
“He said he made an appointment with the reeve, Maria. What have I told you about handling dragons who want to speak to the reeve?”
“Use your calendar,” she said, her voice cracking with a sob. “Schedule them with you. Please, stop! That hurts!”
“Fuck this,” Ketu muttered, and he placed his glass on the counter and strode over to the struggling couple. He reached out and grabbed the lock of hair hanging over Darius’s eye and gave it a sharp tug. See how he liked having his hair pulled.
Darius roared and released his hold on Maria, who collapsed onto the tile floor and curled into a ball, her body shaking with her sobs. Ketu was too busy watching her and didn’t see the fist until it connected with his eye.
“Shit,” he yelled as he flew backward and landed on his ass. Clamoring to his feet, he covered his eye with one hand and snarled, “What the fuck is your problem? She told you she followed your directions. Why the hell are you abusing her?”
“Always the fucking savior, aren’t you, Ketu? Only you couldn’t save your sister and you can’t save Maria. You need to find a new line of work.”
“No, you do.” Ketu lunged, but Darius easily dodged his attempt to tackle him by twisting and dancing around until he was behind Ketu. And then he cupped Ketu’s jaw and used his fingers to force his mouth open. Something poured down his throat, making him gag and automatically swallow.
Ketu gasped and clutched at his throat. “What the hell was that?”
Darius smiled and lifted his hand, palm open, revealing a tiny vial that looked like the samples handed out at perfume counters in retail stores.
“Dragon’s blood?” Ketu croaked, even as the burning sensation spread, coursing through his veins, all the way to his fingers and toes. “You fed me dragon’s blood?”
Darius chuckled. “Why yes, I did. Tell me, how is it? I’ve never tried the stuff myself.”
“You fucking bastard.” Ketu’s vision blurred and then became clear, almost painfully so. The colors were so bright, he patted the front of his shirt, searching for his sunglasses. Maria was sobbing, and though a minute ago it had been a quiet, background noise, now it sounded as though she were crying into a stethoscope. He scratched at his face, trying to dislodge the instrument from his ear.
