Luck of the Dragon (Entangled Covet) (17 page)

“You’re a dragon?” she whispered the words.

“Yes, I told you so.”

Alec’s face wavered in front of her. In her mind, she heard a rushing sound. A black tide crashed over her, tugging her out to sea. She closed her eyes, welcoming the unknown over the evidence of dragons.

…

Alec picked up Lucy and cradled her to his chest. “See to Lil first,” he told Leo. “Then transfer all the jewels to my private vault.” Alec opened the steel door.

“What about Ambrogino?” Leo asked.

“Burn him so that he can’t regenerate.”

In the hall, gamblers watched Alec carrying Lucy with wide eyes. Lucy was pale, and her breathing was choppy. The three puncture wounds on her right shoulder had to hurt like hell.

Alec could hardly concentrate over the roaring in his head. Lucy had been in danger, almost killed. It was unacceptable, it couldn’t happen again. His father had prepared him to assume the role of King, but he would not, could not sacrifice his mate for anyone.

“Send the doctor to my suite,” he said out loud, knowing Darius would see and hear him in the surveillance room.

He pushed his hand on the security panel that activated the elevator to the dragon floors. Up, up they whisked. The blue cloudless day would have be perfect for flying—flying away with his mate—leaving the dragons and their problems behind.

At the dragon’s quarters, he stepped through the communal gathering area. The festive chatter of newly arrived dragons from every corner of the world stopped. A low hissing, akin to human booing, sounded at the back of the room.

Alec stopped, turning in a wide arc. “Who dares insult my mate?” He pulled Lucy’s face protectively to his chest.

Lin, one of the commanders of the Chinese fold, stepped forward with his eyes downcast. “They meant no disrespect, Jer’ol. They’re young and excited by the ceremony.”

Alec understood Lin’s reasoning, but there was no room for weakness with dragons. He had already put down one blood challenge today—he did not need another. Better to handle the naysayer where all could see and learn not to challenge his authority.

“I ask again.” He set the still unconscious Lucy carefully in a chair and opened his arms wide to the room. “Who dares come into my home, enjoy my hospitality, and hiss at my mate?”

There was a rumble of chatter through the crowd. A young, brash Chinese man stepped forward. “It was me,” the young man said with a heavy Asian accent. “You brought a human among our kind. It is forbidden.”

“The human is my destined mate.”

The man glanced over his shoulder for support from his comrades. “You’re mistaken. There has never been a human mate,” the young man continued in a righteous tone.

“I say she is.” Alec stepped closer, crowding the naysayer.

Again there was hissing from the back of the room. The disrespect was worse than he realized. Alec bumped the young man with his chest, forcing him backward.

“Jer’ol,” Lin said. “I beg your forgiveness of my son.”

“Your father knows the only history that matters here is mine.” Alec smiled wide with feral intensity. “I’ll kill you.”

“I would like to see you try.” The young man fisted his hands at his side and swung for Alec.

Alec easily deflected the blow and twisted the man’s arm behind his back. A hard tug upward dislocated the young man’s shoulder.

The young man cried out and curled into a ball on the floor.

“Please.” Lin dropped to the floor on his knees. “He is my son.” The words were wretched from his father’s heart, an elderly father that Alec knew would not have more sons. The rest of the room followed Lin to the floor like supplicants at Mass.

Leo and Tyren took positions at Alec’s left and right. Alec really didn’t want to kill the kid.

“Al-l-e-ec,” Lucy called from the chair. Her face was blanched and her teeth chattered.

Alec took a deep breath and blew out his rage “Put him in a cell. Let the doctor set his shoulder, but he will not be allowed to participate in the ceremony.” It was a horrible punishment. But the young man would live to see another ceremony and breeding season.

“Thank you, Jer’ol.” Lin nodded, accepting the sentence. “I am grateful.” He thumped his closed fist over his heart. It was the dragon gesture for family, loyalty, and respect.

“You make sure there is no more trouble with your fold,” Alec said before picking up Lucy and crossing the outdoor patio toward his tower.

The wind blew strong enough to knock humans to their knees. Alec rode another elevator to the top of the south tower. Guards followed him to his suite and took up watch outside his door. Leo would be behind that detail. It was good to have careful friends.

“Alec?” Lucy pulled her head back. “Who’re all these people?”

“They’re shape-shifting dragons, like me. They’re here for the mating ceremony tomorrow night.”

“Another party?” She seemed confused.

“It’s more than just a party.” He laid her on his bed and sat beside her. “It is a time when all the dragons in the world come together to join, and begin the next generation.”

“How can you really be a dragon? I don’t understand.”

“The doctor will be here in a minute.” Alec brushed damp hair from her brow. “How’re you feeling?”

“How do you think?” Lucy’s lips were blue and her teeth chattered. She squeezed her eyes closed, like she could make him go away.

He grabbed her hands. “Lucy, look at me.”

She opened her eyes a sliver.

“I know it is hard for a human to believe. But I am a dragon. And you are my destined mate.” He spoke the words slowly, giving them time to sink in.

Lucy shook her head and pushed her face into the pillow. “This is all a bad dream.”

A knock sounded at the door. The doctor entered the bedroom and stopped at the foot of the bed. Eyes downcast, he waited for Alec to acknowledge him.

“She was bitten in the shoulder by a fire dragon.”

The doctor set aside his black medical bag. “May I examine her?”

“Yes.” Alec went to the windows and gazed out on the patio. This morning, dragon couples had mingled in every corner of the roof patio. Now, not a single soul could be seen. Word had spread he was in a killing mood.

“She’s a human?” The doctor’s words were incredulous.

“Is that a problem?”

“No, Jer’ol,” the man stammered. “I care for humans in my regular practice. I just didn’t expect to see her here.”

“She’s my mate.” Alec crossed his arms.

The doctor put on gloves and pulled back Lucy’s torn brown sweater. Lucy gave a moan but kept her face turned to the pillow and her eyes closed. “These bite marks need cleaning and stitches. She’ll need a round of antibiotics. The risk of infection is very high with humans. She’ll be in some pain.”

“Fix it.”

Suddenly, Lucy sat up and grabbed the doctor’s suit lapels. “You’ve got to help me get out of here. This man is holding me against my will.”

The doctor whipped his head toward Alec and then gently disengaged Lucy’s fingers. “I’m sorry you’re scared, but you’re in good hands here. You are the Jer’ol’s mate,” he said, excitement in his voice.

“I’m his prisoner,” Lucy insisted.

The doctor looked perplexed and busied himself removing his gloves. “I’ll just collect my supplies and return.” The doctor left without meeting Lucy’s eyes.

“
Testa di merda
,” Lucy said and fell back against the bed.

A surge of admiration rushed through Alec. His mate was a fighter. She had seen her first dragons and been mauled, and still she was trying to escape. He sat beside her and lifted her chin. She was pale and shaking but her eyes were alive with anger.

“You were pretending to be sick?”

Lucy yanked her chin away. “No. My shoulder feels like it’s been ripped off. But I’m not staying here with some delusional cult.”

“Every one of the dragons is here by his or her own choice.” Alec wished they had time for her to understand that they weren’t a cult. He wished she were safe on her own, so that she could choose to be with him. But he didn’t know who else Ambrogino may have swayed to his side, and the young Chinese dragon had been too bold by half.

Lucy would have to stay. Whether she liked it or not.

“I’m sorry. I know you don’t understand yet,” Alec said gently. “But you can’t leave. There are people who might want to hurt you.”

“I. Am. Leaving.” Lucy’s face was a pugnacious blend of stubbornness and certainty.

“No. You. Are. Not.”

Chapter Fifteen

Lucy fingered the cell phone she had lifted from the doctor. A maid had taken her torn clothing so that all she wore under the thousand thread count blue sheets was her underwear. The bra strap on her right shoulder was torn where the creature had bitten her.

Fear and indecision clenched her stomach tight. What sins had she committed to wind up mauled, nearly burned to death, and now a “guest” of an apparent dragon cult leader?

She’d heard of vampires and werewolves—zombies were even popular now—but dragons? She glanced at the phone in her right hand. The hand stamp that had been faint in the spa was now vibrant red, blues, and greens circling a black dragon. Where was St. George when she needed him to kill—what did you even call a bunch of dragons?

A flock? A herd?

Lucy shook her head. A
horde
of dragons, in the middle of Las Vegas, and no one noticed?

Crazy.

Perhaps the creatures in the exhibit really were theater dragons. Was that possible? Could it all be an elaborate hoax? The fire and water had scorched her and drenched her. Her injury was no joke—her shoulder throbbed with each beat of her pulse. Lucy flipped through the data: the flying, the fighting, the pink death eyes…and forced a number, 60%. She turned the percentage over in her head to see if it stuck. It did.

60%.

It was more likely than not that they were real and she was hangin’ with dragons.

Holy Mary, Joseph, and Peter.

She was in trouble. Big trouble.

She was having a fling with a dragon, and until the mauling, totally enjoying it. And, by taking Alec’s keycard and thumbprint, she had helped her brother and Gino steal from him. Which was worse, stealing from a dragon or being the mate of a dragon? The throbbing in her shoulder spread until her throat seemed constricted in a vise.

Pulling in deep breaths, she held them, and then exhaled them slowly. Alec’s bedroom was done in elegant blue and gray colors—no doubt, intended to provide a peaceful respite for the casino owner, who also happened to be a beast.

Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.

The panic rose like bile in her throat. She went for the soothing “P” words: pallbearer, palpitate, panic, paradox, perverse, psychotic, piranha, pummel, pyrrhic…

When she was calmer, she slipped out of the bed. Nudging the curtains apart, she focused on the twenty or so “people” setting up for an outdoor party. Arena-like seating surrounded a microphone and stage, several bars clustered between palm trees, and couches nestled off to the side around fire pits.

All the better to eat you with, my dear.

She considered waving for help, but the people up here wouldn’t help her. They would be like the doctor. They would be Alec’s dragon minions. The irony of being held in the tine of a golden crown—a literal gilded cage—made her crush the soft curtain in her hand.

Lucy tiptoed to a corner of the bedroom and angled her body where she could see the bedroom door. She dialed Joey’s cell number from the doctor’s phone. “Joey,” she whispered when he answered.

“Who is this?” Joey’s voice was surly.

“It’s Lucy.”

“Lucy, where the hell are you? Have you seen Gino?” Joey didn’t pause to give her a chance to answer. “The gem exhibit burned, and the fire department and police have been all over it. They’ve moved the gems somewhere—
you
have to find out where.”

“Joey, stop talking.” Lucy took a breath, but he didn’t interrupt her again. “I’m being held prisoner by Alec Gerald. You have to get me out of here.”

“Does he know about the gem heist?”

“No. I’m in a tower on top of the casino, in Alec’s suite. I need some clothes and shoes.”

Silence.

“Joey?” Her voice trembled.

“Let me get this straight,” Joey said after a short pause. “You’re in Gerald’s suite, without clothes, and you want me to come get you?” He exhaled loudly. “Are you kidding me? I still can’t close my hand from that knife Gino put in it. These guys are going to kill us if we don’t deliver on the exhibit.”

“Joey, Gino is dead, you don’t have to worry about him anymore. This is way bigger than the exhibit. Alec is a dragon. They’re all dragons…” Lucy couldn’t keep the near hysteria from her voice.

She heard Joey’s sharp, incredulous laugh. “You’ve got to be shittin’ me.” Joey laughed again and Lucy realized he thought she was looped. “Luce, look, find out where the jewels are. We have a suite, 504. We’re all ready to go. We just need to know where the jewels are. I’ll handle the rest.”

“Joey, I need your help.” Her voice broke.

“Look, sis, I’m glad you’re getting your rocks off while my ass is on the line, but these guys are after a different kind of
rocks,
if you know what I mean.”

Lucy slid down the wall until she sat on the carpet, holding her bent legs to her chest. A fine trembling started at her shoulders and spread to her tailbone, so that her knees knocked and her whole body shuddered. Joey didn’t believe her. All he cared about was the robbery. Nothing else mattered to him.

Not even her…

Her heart hurt like an anvil crushed it, and her back teeth banged against each other. Determinedly, she clenched her jaw, but the air around her was too thin and too cold. She could have been stranded at the top of Mount Everest—without oxygen and freezing—abandoned by the one person she thought she could always count on.

Tears she had been holding in check flooded Lucy’s eyes and trickled down her cheeks. Angrily, she wiped them away with the back of her hand. If she could just get Joey away from Vegas, clear his head, start over.

Start fresh.

But she didn’t know where Alec’s exhibit gems were. All she knew about was his private vault. Her heart stilled. The Padma sapphire would convince Joey to leave with her. She could pretend to go along with the whole
dragon thing
and get the sapphire.