Page 7 of Tempt the Dragon
“This won’t be like old times, Aiken.I’m not here to stay.”
She’d gone into the trunk of her car. He’d heard it open and slam shut. Standing in the doorway, he waited for her to come up the steps and stop just a couple feet away from him.
“This is business, Mel. That’s all.” It had to be. Aiken had a proven track record with women now. He gave a new meaning to the wordslove ’em and leave ’em.The new lifestyle he’d adoptedhad been working just fine for him all this time. There was no way he would allow her to waltz back into his life and shake things up. No fuckin’ way.
“Good.” That one word came clipped and cool as she stepped inside.
Aiken pulled the door closed and reengaged the security system. Before he could turn to lead her to the library, his beast stopped him. A heavy weight rested on his shoulders,in his legs, at the base of his back and in his temples. His stomach churned and he held tight to the door handle to keep from swaying with the quick wave of nausea. The beast wasn’t happy. It wanted what it had always wanted where Mel was concerned, but Aiken wasn’t having it. Not this time.
With practiced determination he pushed back, forcing the beast to stand to the side as he turned andwalked toward the library. He didn’t speak a word to Mel but knew that since her presence here revolved around business, she’d follow him, and at the same time prohibit the beast she’d buried deep inside from aching for more.
The Drakon emperor looked like any other human, except for those brilliant sapphire blue eyes that bore down on her as if they were going to pierce through her brainto reveal all her secrets. Theo Masters was presented to her as the owner and lead investigator at the Legion Security Company, a place she suspected had been created to keep humans from knowing Theo and his cohorts were really a clan of dragons protecting humans from preternatural forces. Another Drakon, the dignified one with the full gray and white beard and huge diamond and silver pinkie ring,had introduced all the Drakon in the room after Theo had inquired about her native clan. Aiken had undoubtedly called ahead to tell his new crew who and what she was, still, she’d advised Theo that she wasn’t one of them.
Ziva, the one who’d been in the townhouse with them, had already removed her jacket and plopped down onto a chocolate-colored leather couch while Mel stood near a matchingchair praying her teeth wouldn’t chatter. She recalled from Aiken’s many teachings that it was the natural order of the Drakon to maintain an extraordinarily warm body temperature. As she’d set her Drakon half in a corner long ago and dared it to rear its ugly head, its payback was for her to barely maintain an above-freezing body temperature, especially in wintry climates.
“What do you knowabout the vampire we were searching for tonight?” Theo asked.
“His name is Duncan Sankano and he’s of Royal Blood. Danger level to the humans is an eight on the Collector Scale. Bounty is one million, cash, on delivery.” That was all the information she was sharing, and she didn’t give a damn if every dragon in this room was staring at her like they wanted more.
“The Collectors are a groupof preternatural hunters who’re paid to retrieve beings that others find hard or too dangerous to catch on their own. The Collector Scale is a numeric system designed to rate how much danger the target poses to the Human Realm, and thus drives the price a client must pay for retrieval.” Aiken sounded just as he had that first day Mel had met him. Authoritative, knowledgeable, intriguing. It irritatedher to no end.
Theo sat in one of the high-backed chairs about twelve feet from where she stood. Bleu, the distinguished gentleman, as she’d decided to think of him in her mind, stood to Theo’s left, his hands clasped in front of him. Ziva was still on the couch, but now lay on her back, her legs crossed at the ankle, hands folded over her stomach, head turned so that she could coldly stareat Mel through dark sunglasses.
Was this Aiken’s new lover?
The sharp slither of jealousy that shot down her back at the thought had her shifting from one foot to the other.
“I would’ve had him tonight and been on my way to collect my pay if it weren’t for their interruption. If they work for you that makes you responsible for my loss. I don’t need an apology, but I’d like my paymentnow.” Then she could get the hell out of here. Sure, she’d grabbed her go bag, but Mel had since decided that staying in this place with these people was a very bad idea.
Her words had been directed to Theo, though as she glanced around the others were still staring at her.
“You don’t work for me, Ms. Kane. And from what I’ve heard of tonight’s events, you interrupted my agents while theycarried out an investigation.” Theo spoke just like a pompous dragon. Every word was laced with arrogance and authority and she fisted her hands at her sides.
“I was there first.” The outburst gained her raised brows from Theo and the Distinguished Gentleman.
Aiken moved from where he’d been standing a few feet away on her left, until he was now in front of her, partially blocking herfrom the Drakon emperor. “She was in the house before we arrived. I ran into her while I was checking the third floor.”
“When I got up there they’d just dispatched whichever vamps were there.” Ziva hadn’t budged from her spot on the couch, but chimed in. To do what, Mel wasn’t sure. Her words had neither defended nor hurt Mel’s position.
None of it mattered. Theo kept his discerning gazetrained on her. “How did you know this was where Duncan would be? Our intel reports him just arriving in this area in the past few days.”
“I did the legwork involved in getting my job done.” He might be the Drakon leader, but he was just another preternatural being to her. She didn’t subscribe to any of the Drakon beliefs or their foolish hierarchy designed to keep anyone not born into theperfect family beneath all others.
“Collectors are given minimal information on the target, as the most important aspect of the job is the payment.” Aiken was speaking for her again and she wanted to punch him for interfering. “To successfully track the target she would’ve had to do exactly what Ziva and I were doing—talk to those that most likely knew the target or knew of the target. Followingthose leads until it led her to that townhouse.”
What he wasn’t saying was that her abilities kept her from having to do as much talking as others. Being a chameleon allowed her to be in places others couldn’t and to hear all the things others wanted to hear. That’s partly how she’d known where Duncan was going to be and why she’d gone into a cloak instead of immediately taking him when shefirst saw his face. Before Aiken and Ziva had so rudely appeared, she’d planned to listen in on the meeting and then take her target into custody. It never hurt to have information that could possibly be useful in other circumstances. Then again, being useful was what now had her standing close to Aiken, the man she’d hoped to never see again.
Theo stood and the air in the room stiffened.He came closer, staring at Aiken for a few seconds, before he stopped. Aiken hadn’t moved, so while Theo could definitely get to her if that was his plan, it was apparent to everyone in the room that Aiken was protecting her. She’d deal with that later. For now, Mel focused on holding the Drakon emperor’s gaze. The last thing she was going to let this gang of winged, so-called security agents do wasintimidate her.
“It seems we have a common goal.” If he weren’t an arrogant dragon, she would concede that Theo was a very attractive man, with an aura of authority and control she didn’t see in many. “We both need to get to Duncan Sankano. So, here’s what we’re going to do: you two work together to bring him in. We get the information we need from him and then you may turn him over to collectyour payment.”
“What? You just pointed out that I don’t work for you and I don’t care what information you need. I only came to Burgess to do one job and that’s what I plan to do. You and your agents just need to stay out of my way.” If he wasn’t going to give her the payment Aiken and Ziva had cost her tonight, that was fine. She’d known it’d been a long shot demanding it of him in the firstplace. But she wasn’t leaving Burgess without Duncan in custody and none of the dragons in this room were going to stop her.
Except when she’d turned, grabbed her bag and intended to storm out of that room and head for her car, that’s exactly what Aiken did. “Hold up a minute.”
The moment his hand touched her arm to keep her from going any farther, a blast of heat soared through her body.Thrown off by the unfamiliar sensation and pissed off by his audacity, she yanked away.
“Don’t!” The single word came through her teeth in a hiss and she held her arm close to her side, keeping it out of his reach.
