Dragons of Zalara Box Set, page 23
He smiled. “Right.” He put his hand on her chin. “I sense something within you… A hidden power.”
“How do you know?”
“When I kissed you, I could see what you saw. You have the gift of sight. My queen possesses this same gift.”
She smirked. “Gift? I’ve never consider it a gift. I’ve always had to down-play what I saw.”
She thought of the captain’s and Tom’s doubting faces, her father’s and brother’s rejections, the smirks behind her back at the police station, the teasing as a child, and how she was always alone. A freak.
He frowned. “Why? I would think in security work that this would help you protect your kind.”
She bristled, refusing to divulge the past twenty-eight years of misery. “The disdain doesn’t matter. I’ve learned to cope with it.” She paused, not sure whether she’d get the truth or not, but she had to ask. “Is Kathy someone’s designated mate?”
“If she wasn’t, he wouldn’t be after her.”
His voice was grave, making her gut tighten. She and Kathy had been through so much together. She refused to her lose her to some psychotic alien.
She pulled out her radio. “Captain?”
“Malloy, where the hell are you?”
She winced. “We need to put Kathy in protective custody. She’s a target.”
“That’s obvious. She wants to go home. We can have a patrol outside.”
Hoss’s eyes burned brighter. “Tell him if she doesn’t have a police escort, he’ll find her.”
Every instinct inside her screamed he was right. “Captain, letting her go home is a mistake. We need to put her in a safe house.”
“She’s your friend. You know how Kathy is. She feels that super high rise she lives in with the guard is impermeable. I can’t force her. We can have an officer in the lobby and a patrol outside, but that’s all she’ll agree to. She’s pretty insistent about it.”
Hoss shook his dark head.
She shut off her radio. “Crap. Why does she have to be so damn stubborn?”
“No way to change her mind?”
“You’ve met her.”
He ran his hand down her arm. “We need to try.”
Ignoring the chills running up her flesh, Agnes tried to concentrate on what he was saying rather than how bruised her lips were after he’d kissed her, or how the dusting of his beard had chaffed her skin. “Once Kathy has an idea in her head, it would take heaven and earth to change her mind.”
He headed toward the police station. “Let’s go see her.”
She reluctantly followed him, straightening her messed up hair and tucked her rumpled shirt in her pants.
Tom was talking to several officers.
Hoss flashed ahead of her as if he were a speeding running back, leaving her in the end zone.
“Wait!” Agnes put out her palm and ran as fast as she could. “They’ll shoot if you’re not with me.”
Hoss stopped at the edge of the parking lot. “Then, hurry!”
His scolding voice reminded her of the Neanderthals at the police obstacle course that thought women police officers were better off behind the desk than in the field––especially chubby ones.
He stood aside. “After you.” His tone hinted at disapproval.
She may be heavy, but she ran every day and could press over a hundred and fifty pounds. But by his scowling face, he was just as overbearing as the other barbarian officers. She stormed in front of him, refusing to comment.
Tom glared. “Malloy, where have you been?”
But he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking over her head. A long shadow spread in front of her, and the scent of a smoldering camp fire made her insides melt. Hoss was behind her.
Putting on her detective mask, she met Tom’s and the captain’s gaze. “Where is Kathy? I need to talk to her.”
He flicked his hand. “She’s being escorted by a black and white, and there will be an officer standing guard in front of her apartment. Don’t look at me like that. Her apartment’s less than five minutes away. We can get there in a heartbeat.”
She glanced at Hoss. Unless the officers had developed the ability to penetrate invisibility, then Kathy was a sitting duck.
The captain glared. “Don’t you have some paperwork to do, Detective?”
She shook her head. “No, I need to talk to Kathy now.”
Tom glanced at the captain. “All right–”
Agnes clasped his arm. “No, stay here. I’ll be right back.”
He looked at Hoss and comprehension spread across his face. “She’ll never let either one of you in.”
Agnes shrugged. “Yes, she will. I’m one of her best friends. I have a feeling that––”
He seized her arm. “A feeling? The captain won’t be pleased.”
Hoss released a low growl.
Tom’s eyes widened, and he slowly released her.
“Nothing else is working, Tom. Feelings may be the only thing we have to go on.”
She turned, and Hoss firmly but gently put his hand on her lower back. She led him toward her Escort. Taking a police car was out of the question since she wasn’t necessarily following the captain’s order.
Suddenly, an image pierced her mind of Kathy’s apartment building. A man stood outside in the shadows. She couldn’t see his face, but evil permeated from him, cutting off her breath.
She stopped, placing her hand on her chest. Hoss knocked her over, but before she hit the ground, he seized her arm, easily putting her back on her feet.
“Agnes, what’s wrong?”
His voice was distant, as if she was floating away from him.
She gasped for air, wanting to scream for Hoss, but the vision strangled her voice.
She floated into an apartment that she’d been in a hundred times. The living room had rich hard wood floors, exquisite wooden antiques, marble Greek statues, and expensive paintings, including one of a naked Venus standing in a shell with attendants on either side of her. Kathy never spared an expense on her home. She always said it was her escape.
In the kitchen, Kathy had every possible convenience that Agnes wished she had––a purple Kitchen Aide mixer, a double side stainless steel refrigerator with a matching stove and dishwasher. Agnes didn’t even have a mixer, and none of her appliances matched.
On the black marble counter, an open bottle of red was slowly pouring into the sink. Kathy only bought expensive vintage wines and would never waste a single drop.
Panic swelled inside her. She called for Kathy, but her stiff lips refused to move.
Get a hold of herself.
If she didn’t concentrate, the vision would vanish.
She took a deep breath and walked past the kitchen into the hallway. She froze.
A wine glass was toppled over, spilling red wine onto the light hardwood floor. Kathy was sprawled out on the hallway. Her throat was savagely slashed, blood drenched the front of her chest. She clutched something in her fist. Tears slid down Agnes’s cheeks, her chest could barely contain the sorrow bursting inside her. She forced herself to kneel and put her hand on Kathy’s stiff cold one. Before she could unwind Kathy’s brittle fingers, a dark shadow fell across her.
“You’re too late, Detective.” The same man, who had been watching the apartment, held a blade soaked with blood up to the hilt. She still couldn’t get a good glimpse of his face. He licked the blood off, smearing it on his chin.
She recoiled.
He laughed, sending anger gushing through her.
Then just as suddenly, the image vanished. Wind whisked around her as she was slammed back into her body, and she trembled violently.
“Agnes! Answer me.”
She slowly realized that Hoss was gripping her shoulders, and fear shone in his eyes.
“Hoss, I saw Kathy.” She found her voice, but she could only whisper. “He’s there. I saw him.”
“You had a vision?”
She nodded, her teeth chattering. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It was as if I were actually there. I am so cold.”
He wrapped his arms around her, his body warming her. “She’s…she’s dead.” Unwanted tears fell down her cheeks. “I should have been with her.”
Hoss stroked her hair. “No, he would have killed you, too.”
He held her until she stopped shaking.
“I’m a homicide detective.” Agnes lifted her head. “I can take care of myself. But Kathy’s only a lawyer. My job was to protect her. She was my friend.” She slowly untangled herself from his protective arms.
“Are you feeling better?”
She straightened her shirt. “No, but we need to get to Kathy’s immediately.”
He tilted his head toward the police department. “Do you want to call it in?”
She laughed bitterly. “On a feeling? No. They wouldn’t believe me. Only Kathy did. She never laughed at me.” She wiped her tears on her sleeve, smearing mascara on her jacket.
He gently clasped her arm, pity filling his gold eyes. “I’m sorry.”
Agnes jerked away. “I’ll get over it,” she lied. How could anyone get used to losing a good friend? She pulled out her keys. “We need to go.”
Her voice was back to being the no nonsense detective. Her tears dried up.
He stuck out his thumb. “Get on my back.”
“What? No, my car’s faster.”
“Not dragon fast.” He glanced over his shoulder, then dipped into a thicket of trees away from the street light and security cameras. In an instant, he transformed from a handsome man back into a fierce black dragon with a glowing green stripe down his back. She stepped away, her heart threatening to jump out of her throat. He tilted his neck as if motioning for her to climb onto his back. This was stranger than a fairy tale, but Kathy deserved justice. It was time for Agnes to be strong. Kathy needed a champion.
She forced herself to climb onto his back. She clutched his neck hard. He leaned on his haunches, then jumped into the sky. She bit back a scream and pressed her knees against his thick hide. He flapped out his wings, and they soared into the cool midnight sky. Her hair flew around her, and she sucked down air faster and faster. The midnight sky, bright stars, and dark clouds buzzed around her as if she were on a spinning tilt-a-whirl. She clutched Hoss’s neck tightly, determined not to let go.
“I am sorry, Kathy. We’re coming. We’ll make him pay for what he did to you.”
Chapter Eight
Daidhl easily walked past the guards in the lobby. The fools hadn’t even noticed him.
“Did you smell that?” one of them asked.
He stilled, his finger hovering over the elevator button.
The other frowned. “Smell what?”
“The captain said the killer gave off an order of sourness.” He unleashed his pistol. “He’s here.”
“I don’t see anyone. You’re imagining it.”
“No, I’m not.” He clicked on his radio. “Captain, this is Rogers.”
“What’s happening?”
“I detected the odor of spoiled milk.”
“Get to Kathy immediately.”
“Yes, sir.”
Curses, he should have changed into something else. He quickly left the lobby, uneasiness twisting in his gut. He ducked in the shadowy alley. Sirens screamed in the distance, but that wasn’t what sent the hair on his arms standing straight up.
A black dragon with a glowing green stripe down the middle of his back flew in between the dark clouds. Anonghos had found him. He quickly drew on his powers, transforming into the homeless foul smelling lady. He grinned. The Zalarian was becoming too much of a liability and needed to stop his persistent meddling. Soon, he’d be dead.
Daidhl hobbled past the building, not fearing the security cameras or the police cruisers skidding in front of the apartment building. Humans ignored the homeless.
Time for him to send the idiots another message.
Officers raced out of their cars and shoved past him, not giving the homeless lady a second glance. He grabbed his shawl and pulled it tighter around him, as if to block out the cold. He forced himself not to smile. Fools, they’d never guess they missed their suspect.
He was about to escape when an officer stepped in front of him.
“Excuse me, Ma’am, but the detective would like to have a word with you.” He turned to see an older gray-haired man approaching him. He’d often been with the Zalarian’s mate, pursuing him. Time to have some fun.
“I’ve done nothin’ wrong,” he snapped. He rubbed his hands together. “Just tryin’ to keep warm.”
“I’m sorry,” the gray haired man said. He pulled out his badge, then sucked in his breath as if not to inhale his stench. “I’m Detective Peters of the Arvada Police Department. This is very important. Did you see anyone come in or out of the building?”
“I was in the alley.”
“Please, it’s important.”
“I seen the cops go inside. And an extremely tall man came here earlier. He was a giant he was. Scared the breeches off me.”
The officer and detective glanced knowingly at each other.
“What time was this?” he demanded.
“I don’t have a watch, but the moon hadn’t shown her face yet.”
“Thank you.” That should keep the Zalarian busy for awhile.
“Get her information,” Detective Peters said.
He left them alone as Daidhl rattled off more tales to the gullible officer.
The attorney may have escaped tonight, but tomorrow, she’d be dead.
Tonight, he had another woman to kill.
Chapter Nine
Hoss landed on the balcony, squeezing his large frame onto the ledge barely big enough for the glass table and two metal chairs. He moved, and his tail knocked over the table, which slammed the chairs into the patio door. The porch light shattered. A loud crack made him wince. His handiwork left the frosted glass shattered.
Agnes slid off his back and fell on her ass.
“Ow,” she murmured. “That was subtle.”
He quickly transformed back into a man and helped her to her feet. “Sorry. I’m not used to fitting into tight spaces.”
She grinned. “I would think you’re becoming an expert with changing in the interview room and now here.”
He frowned, but it melted away as he stared into her big eyes. Despite the rising terror around them, she remained sane and could even make a jest. He’d never met a woman like her.
She moved the chairs away from the window. Shards of glass fell across her hand.
“Let me do that.” He frowned. “You could cut yourself.”
She flicked her hand, sending bits of glass falling onto the cement. “I’m fine.”
Someone screamed inside.
“He’s still here,” he growled.
“Kathy,” Agnes yelled as she pulled out her gun. “It’s me! Let me in!”
Kathy peeked out of the hallway, dressed in a robe, and holding a gun in her shaking hands. “Stay where you are! The police are coming!”
“She’s alive,” Agnes gasped. “Kathy, it’s me! Agnes!”
The door busted open, and an officer barged in gun drawn. “Miss, are you all right?”
Kathy pointed at the balcony. “He’s out there.”
“Time to go!” Hoss said.
“No, wait.” Agnes tried to the door again, but it wouldn’t budge. “She doesn’t know it’s us.”
“Stop or I’ll shoot!” The officer aimed his pistol.
Not wanting to argue, Hoss transformed back into a dragon, smashing the furniture again. One of the chair’s legs pierced the glass.
A shot rang out. Agnes gasped. He inhaled the scent of metallic human blood. Fear seized Hoss’s heart. He clasped Agnes with his talons and flew into the air, more shots pursuing them.
Agnes went limp, and his worst horror was realized. She’d been shot. Blood gushed down her temple, then filled her eyes. He knew where her home was since he’d followed her there once, but he needed to get her to a hospital. He flew faster than he thought possible.
Don’t die. Don’t die. Don’t die.
Within a few minutes, he landed out of sight from a hospital. He wished he could have taken her on board to the Orion, but he was forced to use their primitive practices.
He laid her on the grass, and she moaned. He quickly transformed back into a humanoid, then lifted her into his arms and raced to the front doors.
He burst inside to a bright white room containing chairs filled with sick people.
“She’s been shot. She’s an Arvada detective.”
A man in a white gown and woman flew into action. They helped him put Agnes in a wheel chair and ushered her out of the room. He glanced down at his shirt, and it was drenched with her blood. He should have been faster.
Helpless to do anything, he sat in a chair and waited. He was soaked with fear. On the Orion, Tryker would have been able to heal her within minutes, but Earth’s medical technology was light years behind him. The clock ticked slowly overhead, if it moved at all. People filtered in and out of the room while he heard nothing. After what seemed like hours, the woman came over.
“She was unconscious from the shock, but she’s awake now. She’s lost some of her hair and a chunk of skin. Her wound has been cleaned and stitched. The doctor gave her a sedative for the pain. You can see her now.”
He followed her quickly down a corridor that had drapes shielding rooms on one side and open rooms on the other side. Agnes sat in a bed, holding her head.
A doctor had his arms crossed and had a scowl on his face. “You need to stay here for observations, Detective.”
Agnes stubbornly shook her head. “No. This is nothing. I just need some rest in my own bed.”
Pain crossed her face, and she gritted her teeth. She’d a nasty zipper down her right temple.
Cursing the medieval care under his breath, Hoss walked into the room. “So, you think she should stay here, Doctor?”
“Absolutely.”
“Well, I’m not,” Agnes said. “And neither of you can stop me. Hoss take me home. Now.”
Her glare would have melted the Earth’s North Pole.
