Page 32 of Dragon in Denial
Chapter 8
Antoinette methodically lined up the freshly washed pint glasses on the shelf under the bar, prepping for the evening crowd. Mitch’s usually saw a steady lunchtime crowd, but the bar made the bulk of its income from happy hour until closing each night.
She’d come into work shortly after leaving the hotel where Ketu was staying. Speaking of Ketu, where the hell had he gone in such a rush?
She didn’t like this itchy feeling under her skin. It reminded her of the night Eulalie died. She’d felt…weirdthen, too, and as it turned out, she’d been right to be concerned.
The dishwasher, who, like Antoinette, had lost someone to the lure of dragon’s blood, pushed through the swinging door leading into the kitchen and placed another rack of pint glasses on the bar.
“Mitch here yet?” Antoinette asked. The owner was due to arrive any minute. Normally, she stayed through the happy hour rush and then headed home to tuck Henri into bed. A third bartender, who was a night owl, closed with Mitch most nights.
“Just got here,” the kid said with a grunt, and then headed back into the kitchen.
Antoinette cornered Mitch while he hung his coat on a hook on the back of the door to his office. He took one look at her face and said, “What’s wrong?”
She glanced at her phone. Which was pointless since Ketu didn’t have her number and he probably wouldn’t text her if he did. “I don’t know. I just have a weird feeling.”
“About Henri?”
She shook her head. “Ketu.”
"Eulalie’s brother? Didn’t he disappear shortly after she died?”
“Yeah, and now he’s back. I’m not sure why. Something to do with gargoyles and witches. Anyway, he said he was going somewhere earlier today but wouldn’t tell me where.”
“And now you’re worried about him.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “Yes. I don’t know why. I mean, he didn’t indicate whatever he was doing was dangerous or anything.”
“I’ll be fine, Antoinette. I promise.”Those had been his parting words. Nothing strange about that. A fairly common way to say goodbye.
So why this overwhelming urge to go check on him, like she did with Henri, every single night before she went to bed? Like she needed to see for herself that Ketu really was okay.
Mitch cocked his head and studied her face. “Something you need to tell me?”
You mean, something like, oh by the way, Eulalie’s brother is my fated mate?“No. I don’t know. I just…”
“Go,” Mitch said, shooing at her. “I’ll handle the bar. You need to go find that boy, make sure Darius Redd didn’t do something to him.”
She didn’t ask why he thought Darius Redd might be behind whatever was making her so damn twitchy. “Thanks, Mitch. I owe you,” she called out as she rushed from the bar.
A few blocks down the road, as she passed the wrought iron gates of one of New Orleans’s many visually stunning cemeteries, a shift in the air that indicated magic was being used brought all her senses to attention. She kicked up her pace while her gaze darted every which way. Despite her vigilance, when the gargoyle stepped into her path, she let out a startled yelp and stuttered to a halt.
The man had the square jaw and wide shoulders and sharply defined features that were indicative of his species. His coarse, black hair was closely cropped and a thin mustache and goatee encircled his lips.
There was concern in his dark eyes.
“You are searching for Ketu,” he stated.
Her eyes widened. “How…”
“Something is terribly wrong,” the stone man said.
Antoinette’s heart began beating like a hummingbird’s wings.
“He passed by here perhaps twenty minutes ago.” He nodded at the path Antoinette was taking. Ancient trees extended their naked, gnarled branches over the street on the next block, which was already shadowed thanks to the setting sun.
“Is he…?”
