Secrets of the Sword 2 (Death Before Dragons Book 8) Read online

  Willard had texted me the cross streets where the van had been left, and I intended to check it soon—I might sense something the police hadn’t been able to—but not until I made sure nobody had bugged Nin.

  Yes. I am a good mate. Zav sprang off the roof, wingbeats rattling the handful of leaves remaining in the nearby trees and startling the people in line. By the time he landed next to me, he had shifted into his human form. I look forward to spending time with you. And consuming the contents of that bag.

  He peered down at it.

  I smiled and hugged him. I’m glad you enjoy spending time with me.

  As you enjoy spending time with me. He hugged me back, but one hand slipped into the bag and opened one of the boxes.

  “Yeah, I do.” I handed him the bag, so he could gorge himself to his heart’s content. “There’s a table over there. Have at it. I’ll be right back.”

  The door on the end of the food truck opened before I knocked.

  “I have prepared your order for you,” Nin said, inviting me in. “Here is the invoice.”

  “You didn’t charge me for the customers Zav scared away? That’s thoughtful.”

  “He informed me that he believed I was in danger from them.”

  “Hopefully not, but have you by chance seen a half-dwarf woman today?” I described the thief based on the camera footage I’d seen.

  “I have not, but…” Nin frowned, leaned into the kitchen portion of her truck, and asked her assistant something in Thai.

  I thought about activating my translation charm, but it was a quick conversation.

  “Someone who matches that description came by a few hours ago when I was gone shopping for supplies.” Nin waved to the truck’s large refrigerators. “She asked about the blonde half-elf woman with the stolen dwarven sword.”

  “Huh, I wonder who that could be.”

  “Your sword is not stolen, is it?”

  “Not by me. I won it in battle with a bad guy, but I have no idea where he got it. I assume the dwarven smith who made it didn’t originally intend for it to go to a zombie lord.”

  “Oh.” Nin frowned, perhaps not finding this answer reassuring.

  I didn’t either. After ten years with Chopper, I didn’t want to give it up. Especially since I’d run into several magical baddies of late who had defenses powerful enough to deflect even Fezzik’s magical bullets.

  Nin’s assistant, an older, motherly lady named Tida, peeked through the doorway. “She also asked where to find Val,” she said in accented English. “I do not think I told her, but…” Her brow wrinkled. “My memory of the conversation got a little fuzzy. Also I was busy serving people because we had a late-afternoon rush.”

  “Do you know where Val lives?” Nin asked.

  The assistant brightened. “No. Even if she used some magic on me, I would not have been able to reveal your address.” Her face fell again. “But I do know where your coffee shop is located.”

  I grimaced and pulled out my phone. “I’ll warn Dimitri to watch out for her.” I would have to check in on him later, too, to make sure nobody had questioned him and fuzzed his memory.

  “Sorry, Val,” Tida said.

  “It’s not your fault. If I didn’t spend time with you guys, she wouldn’t know about you.” I stared glumly at the screen as I texted Dimitri, remembering the good old days when I hadn’t allowed myself to get close to people.

  No, those hadn’t been good days. Those had been lonely days. I just wished I could have friends and also not endanger their lives. Was that too much to ask?

  “I’m going to look around the area for her.” I grabbed the ammo and grenades Nin had packed up for me, and hopped out. “Let me know if you see anything suspicious, please.”

  Nin looked toward a tree and park bench that Zav had claimed. “More suspicious than Lord Zavryd incinerating skewers of meat?”

  “What?” I spun in time to see flames and a puff of smoke. “Those aren’t breaded. What is he doing?”

  “I do not know, but there is no need to leave him to protect me. I appreciate the sentiment, but I also want my business to continue.”

  After waving an acknowledgment, I trotted over to join Zav. The smoke around him was an odd mix of sweet and charred, but the skewer of chicken cubes he held was still intact. What had he burned?

  “They’re not to your taste?” I noticed a dozen empty bamboo skewers in the bag, so he must be eating them.

  “There is an unpalatably sweet glaze on the meat.”

  “That’s the teriyaki sauce. It’s delicious.”

  “I do not like it.” He used magic to float the deglazed chicken strips off the skewer and into his mouth like a squad of soldiers marching to their doom. “Why do humans insist on enrobing everything in sweetness?”

  “It’s a failing of the species. Want to go for a walk to…” I checked Willard’s directions. “Second Street? The thief left her van there.”

  “I will walk with you.” He hoovered the last of the chicken cubes and opted for incinerating the bag and skewers instead of throwing them away. At least my dragon wasn’t a litterbug. “But it is dark. Soon we will mate.”

  He rose to his feet, giving me a sultry look that reminded me that food always made him horny. Even if it didn’t have a similar effect on me, that look and having his aura crackling around me did. The memory of him sliding his hand along my bare thigh in the bridal shop came to mind, fingers leaving trails of heat that flashed along my nerves. If Amber and the seamstress hadn’t been there…

  Zav leaned in, and I made myself lift a hand to his chest to stop him from kissing me—and whatever else he had on his mind.

  “We will,” I said, taking my gaze from his lips, “but let’s find our thief first, okay?”

  The rumble that came from his throat might have been reluctant agreement or a growl of anticipation. It sent a shiver through me and made me wish this thief problem would disappear, and that Zav and I could go home and do what engaged people were supposed to do at night.

  A buzz came from my phone, Dimitri’s reply.

  I patted Zav and started walking as I read it. As soon as we finished this task, Zav and I could go home.

  I’m setting up an Etsy store to sell my dragon door knockers online, his text read.

  I see you’ve been traumatized by my enemies.

  I haven’t seen her. There was a police officer who came by earlier, but it was a guy.

  Are we in trouble?

  Nin had pointed out that selling door ornaments that shot flames at intruders was possibly of questionable legality. Though I wasn’t sure if the police handled yard-art regulations enforcement.

  I don’t know, Dimitri replied. He came in, looked around for a while, and left without asking anything.

  How weird did the shop look when he came in?

  You mean how many ogres, goblins, and trolls were hanging out slurping coffee?

  Yeah.

  Well, it’s always busy, and that’s our clientele.

  So as weird as usual. We reached the intersection and turned down Second Street. The top of a white van was visible above the cars parked along the street.

  Pretty much. He was pure human, as far as I could tell, so it’s surprising that he found us. The glamor Inga and I put outside doesn’t exactly camouflage the building, but it’s supposed to make it so normal people don’t notice it.

  Let’s hope the psychic next door hasn’t reported you for being associated with gangs of vampires again.

  She came in for coffee the other morning and waved to Gondo. I don’t think she’s a nemesis anymore.

  Gondo charmed her?

  I gather the goblin-fuel brew did. Everyone is a fan. You should try it.

  People try to kill me on a daily basis. I don’t need anything else that jolts my heart.

  I stopped in front of the van. “Do you sense anything magical about it?”

  I didn’t, but Zav’s senses were far superior to mine.

 
“I do not. Nobody is within, and the inside is hollow.”

  “It’s a cargo van.” I opened one of the unlocked doors and found it as empty as promised. “I wonder if she chose it because it was the easiest thing on the lot to steal, or if she needed it to carry around her loot. Or large artifacts such as portal generators and boxes that try to suck you into another dimension.”

  Zav gazed blandly at me. “You have not fully apprised me of your encounters with this individual.”

  I filled him in while I poked into the door pockets and glove compartment, hoping to chance across a brochure or a notepad with a to-do list of nefarious plans. Alas, I found only a map of Seattle, with nothing circled or highlighted.

  “If she’d only come to question Nin—or Nin’s assistant—then she wouldn’t have unloaded the van, right? Maybe she’s got a hotel room or bolt hole somewhere around here.”

  Zav tilted his head. “I sense… your enchanter acquaintance with the gnomish blood in the area, as well as two people with perhaps one-quarter elven blood. Two trolls are in a bar. An orc is fishing off one of the piers to the west. Those are the only beings with magical blood that I sense in the area.”

  “I think she has a cloaking charm or something similar.”

  “Inconvenient.”

  “Especially when the bad guys have them.”

  I gazed thoughtfully at the buildings up and down the block. “She’s half-dwarf, so she’ll be stronger than typical, but she still wouldn’t want to tote her cargo miles, right?” I pulled up the map on my phone to see what was nearby. “Logically, she would have parked somewhat close to wherever she’s staying, especially if she didn’t know we would be able to track down her van. What’s around here? Pub, bar and grill, a bunch of restaurants, billiards…”

  “I am uncertain what types of establishments humans prefer for bolt holes. This means hiding place, yes?”

  “Yes. The Cadillac Hotel is nearby.” I lifted my head. “Why does that sound familiar?”

  “A Cadillac is a type of human conveyance.”

  I smiled and patted his arm. “Don’t worry, Zav. You’ll get to excel when it’s time to fight.”

  “Are you teasing me?”

  “A little bit.”

  “We have discussed that it is inappropriate for humans to tease dragons.”

  “We’ve also discussed how atypical and special I am.” I leaned into him and kissed him, forgetting that he was in his postprandial lust phase.

  He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against his chest, and made me completely forget what I’d found, what I’d been searching for, and why I’d been searching.

  You are atypical. I like this. His hand slid into my jacket and under my shirt as his magic ran hot along my nerves.

  You must also like it when I tease you then. I leaned into him, letting my own hands explore. We were in the middle of the sidewalk, with people exiting the nearby bar, but so far, nobody had hooted at us. An enemy might sneak up on us, but it was hard to be afraid of such possibilities when being embraced by a dragon. Surely, even the sword-coveting thief wouldn’t dare approach my ferocious mate.

  It is inappropriate. The queen would insist I punish you until you learn proper respect for dragons.

  Can’t we just have sex instead?

  Yes. Now? His finger tugged at the waistband of my jeans.

  Not in the middle of the street.

  “Get a room!” someone called.

  I’d expected that, and I made myself break the kiss, more than a little breathless, and pat Zav on the chest.

  He looked toward the heckler, and his eyes flared with violet light.

  “Don’t incinerate anyone, please. Willard won’t help with the wedding if you slay Earth citizens.”

  “They must learn to be respectful of dragons.”

  “Incineration will make that happen?”

  “I might incinerate only his clothes. And his body hair. His face is covered in it, and it is not trimmed. Odious vermin.”

  I clasped Zav’s hand and pointed him in the other direction. “Let’s check the Cadillac Hotel. Maybe she’s staying there.”

  “A hotel is a place where mates may spend the night and enjoy each other’s company,” Zav stated, forgetting the hairy heckler and gazing down at me as we walked.

  My body was already flushed and highly aware of him. I didn’t need a sultry gaze or thoughts of exploring the bounciness of a hotel bed with Zav, but then again… why couldn’t we spend the night here? It wasn’t as if I had to go home, and it might be fun to have a weekend fling downtown. Besides, the hotel was a lot closer than my house.

  “Maybe after we check to see if the thief is there,” I said.

  “I will do this swiftly and efficiently while you acquire a room for us. A private room with no drunken voyeurs.”

  “I think most hotel rooms are free of that amenity.” While we waited for the crosswalk light to turn, I looked up the Cadillac, trying to remember why it rang a bell. I’d never stayed there. “Oh, that’s right.” I sighed.

  “Problem?” Zav asked as we crossed the street.

  “Yeah. It’s not an operating hotel anymore, and it’s haunted.”

  8

  “Haunted?” Zav asked.

  “So the internet informs me.” I summed up the description of the hotel to him. “Back in the late 1800s, it was popular with loggers, fishermen, and shipyard and railroad workers. It fell into disrepair in the 1900s and was trashed in the Nisqually Earthquake of 2001. It’s since been restored and is the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.”

  “A park may be in a building?”

  “Apparently. Here’s the haunted part: Apparitions reputedly wander the offices in the upper floors, strange sounds are heard now and then, and a ghostly presence is felt in the elevator. At night, the ghost of a woman and her child can be heard crying in the halls. Some say she’s a prostitute who performed her own abortion and bled to death in her room.” I grimaced. What a story.

  “What does this have to do with thieves?” Zav asked.

  “Probably nothing.” After the morning’s events, I was more squeamish than usual at the idea of hauntings, and my neck throbbed in memory of skeletal fingers wrapped around it. “She wouldn’t have been able to get a room there.” I stopped at the corner of the restored brick building. It still had a sign that read Cadillac Hotel, but Klondike Gold Rush signs were by the front doors, and the building was dark inside. “Let me see if there are any other hotels around here.”

  “Hotels with beds available for mated couples.”

  “Yes, yes, I’m horny too.”

  “Excellent.” Zav reached for me but paused and looked toward the building’s third-story windows.

  I started to ask him if he’d seen something—such as apparitions haunting the offices up there—but my phone buzzed.

  Dear robber, Zoltan texted, why have you left this ghoulish parcel on my front door?

  You, of all people, are bothered by ghoulish things?

  When they’re left on my door, certainly.

  I left a note to explain it. I’d like to know what person, magical being, or creature the bone came from. It attacked me earlier.

  It attacked you, and you weren’t able to identify it?

  No. It was invisible.

  It’s not invisible now.

  I know that. I managed to cut off some of the fingers grabbing me, even though they were invisible. I decided the story sounded implausible to anyone who hadn’t been there. Hell, Willard had been there, and she found it implausible. I was fortunate she’d seen me floating horizontally and being pulled toward the corner by an invisible force.

  You are my strangest client.

  Aren’t I your only client?

  You forget my legions of fans that support my YouTube alchemy channel.

  Those aren’t clients; they’re stalkers. I’ve seen the emails.

  Such judgment. I will examine this bone, but there will be a fee.

>   I expect no less.

  “I sense something.” Zav was still gazing at the windows.

  “Ghosts?”

  “No. It is either a magical artifact that is being camouflaged, only partially effectively, or it is some magical residue.”

  “You think it’s related to a certain half-dwarf thief?” It was possible my thief had decided to use the place as a bolt hole—a museum that closed at five might be a better place to lie low than an actual hotel. It was also possible that magic left by a passing mage or enchanter accounted for the place’s supposed hauntedness, and that this residue had nothing to do with my problem.

  “I do not know. We will investigate.”

  “I’m sure the door is locked, and breaking and entering is a crime in Seattle. Especially on a busy, well-lit intersection.” I eyed the cars zipping past us, the late hour doing little to diminish the traffic. Maybe there was a back entrance we could use.

  “The door is not locked.” Zav stepped under the covered entryway and opened one of the glass doors.

  “Did you do that or was it unlocked?” If the latter, our thief might have come this way after all.

  “Dragons are versatile.”

  Guess that answered my question. I joined him in the doorway. It would only take a minute to investigate whatever residual magic he sensed. As of yet, I didn’t sense anything.

  I paused before entering fully, holding my hand up to stop Zav. In this neighborhood, any commercial—or historically significant—building would have an alarm system. Yup, a little red LED glowed from a wall-mounted detector. We could probably be in and out before the security company showed up, but I would rather not trigger anything at all.

  “Alarm.” I nodded toward it, then spotted a larger unit on a back wall, beyond displays of information and faux artifacts from the late 1800s. “I might be able to disarm them with my lock-picking charm.” I’d never tried to get through an alarm system before, but the magic had proven versatile.

  Both units disappeared in flashes of flame, leaving only smoke and ashes wafting down to the floor.

  “Or you could utterly destroy them with your magic. Was there teriyaki sauce on them?”

  “There is no reason to waste time on human impediments.” Zav strode into the room, his elven slippers—thank goodness, he’d made the Crocs disappear—barely whispering across the hardwood floor.