Page 43 of Rurik
She shook her head with a mixture of shock and amazement. “No—really? You were herlover?”
“Would you like me to show you a few of my special moves?” He pounced on her, and she fell back onto the bedlaughing.
“As amazing as that sounds,” she said, “I’m dying to see your former lover’s palace.” She stole a soft kiss that made his dragon stir inside, and Rurik felt damngood.
“All right, let’s go. We don’t have much time before we need to get back.” He stroked a fingertip down her noseplayfully.
She bounced up out of his arms, grabbing her purse and coat. “Let’s go then!” He missed holding her almost right away, which shocked him. It had only been two days, and she was already someone he couldn’t live without. How could it happen so fast? Was it just the allure of finding and mating her, or was there something more about Charlotte? She was worming her way into his heart, and he couldn’t stopher.
* * *
Luis and Dimitristood in the alley across from the hotel the MacQueen sister was using in Moscow. Luis took a slow drag off a cigarette. They didn’t speak; they only watched the three black SUVs that were parked at the front of the hotel. Two blond-haired men climbed out of the first, and their familial resemblance to the woman they’d seen with Rurik wasobvious.
Drakor smiled. “Damien MacQueen and his brother Jason arehere.”
“They’ll be waiting awhile,” said Luis. “My men tracked Rurik and the woman to an airport today. They flew out to Saint Petersburg. Not sure when they’re coming back.” Luis flicked the tip of his cigarette, spraying ashes on theground.
“MacQueen will have plenty of time to set his trap then,” Dimitri said with a grim smile. “Patience.”
“Patience,” Luis agreed. “Once we have her and take care of the battle dragon, my men will take out hisbrothers.”
They watched the hunters remove large duffel bags from their trunks and carry them into the hotel. Dimitri wondered what weapons, magical or otherwise, might be inside them. With the Barinovs gone, he would make the other dragon families of Asia fall in line, then the world. Once they were united, they could finally take out the Brotherhood. Then the world would know their true masters. Dimitri held no illusions about their alliance. Once the Barinovs were out of the way, Luis would no doubt seek to remove him as well. But Dimitri was old, older than most realized, and with that came cunning and knowing how to play the longgame.
Patience. If you had enough of it, an opportunity would always show itself, a weakness to exploit or a means to control others. It wouldn’t be long before Luis was the one being removed, and then Dimitri would have a new family to ruleover.
But that was the future. For now there was thealliance.
“We should go before we’re seen,” Luis growled, sinking into the shadows of the alley. Dimitri followed him, allowing the darkness to swallow himwhole.
13
Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero. —Marc Brown
Damien stoodin the small office of the hotel manager, watching the shooting that had occurred the previous night. The office was cramped with Jason standing behind the manager’s desk as the manager pulled up the securityfootage.
The picture the unknown caller had texted him had shown Charlotte being dragged to the ground with glass everywhere, but it hadn’t been clear what had happened. When they’d found the hotel where her bags had been left behind, they’d seen the shattered windows of the lobby, still in the process of beingreplaced.
“This is all we have on the cameras,” the manager said. His thick accent was punctuated with a nervous glance between the brothers. He tapped a few buttons on the keyboard of his computer, and the video began to playagain.
Charlotte and Rurik Barinov stood near the valet booth when the glass suddenly shattered behind them. Chaos descended on the scene. The dragon shifter flinched as he was hit, but Damien couldn’t tell how many times or where he was wounded. Rurik took Charlotte down to the ground, covering her body with his. A few seconds later, Rurik stood up and lifted Charlotte up withhim.
Damien leaned in close, placing a hand on the desk as he peered intensely at the security footage on the monitor. Charlotte seemed to be okay. It was not what he’d expected. “Do you have footage of them in thelobby?”
“No, I’m sorry.” The manager’s face was pale, but that wasn’t a surprise. Damien and his team had walked into his office like they owned the place. At the first sign of objection, Damien had called his contact in the Russian government and handed the phone to the manager. After that, the manager had agreed to anything Damienrequested.
“What room is she stayingin?”
The manager exhaled with relief. “That I do know. You will need keys,yes?”
“Yes.” He watched the manager collect a couple of blank keys and programthem.
“These shouldwork.”
“Thank you.” Damien pocketed the keys and wrote down his cell number. “If you see that man from the video, call meimmediately.”
“Ofcourse.”
The team took the elevator up to Charlotte’s floor. Damien motioned for everyone to draw their weapons and take ready positions outside her door. There was a chance Rurik and Charlotte were still inside. A few silent hand gestures let everyone know what was expected ofthem.
