Dragon Consultant (7 page)

And, damn it, he was thinking about Dane again. Mercury stumbled the rest of the way into the bathroom and yanked on the lever to turn the hot water on in the tub. He spun back around to shut and lock the door. Only Lumie could get through that without making an inordinate amount of noise and damage, which meant Mercury had a private space all to himself for a few moments. He made sure the tub was filling and shucked his clothing, then sat down on the toilet cover to wait for his bath to be ready.

His scales were dull, Mercury noticed as he ran a hand down his chest. It was the clearest indication that he was still unwell—aside from the fact that he had to take a bath instead of a shower because his legs wouldn't hold his body up long enough to get clean. He wasn't looking his best, which was another reason Dane would never deign to look twice at him.

Mercury snarled at himself. He needed to get Dane out of his head! He was losing objectivity. His focus needed to be solely on finding and destroying the last of the government labs. He needed to save the dragons, not assuage his own libido.

The tub was full, so Mercury shut off the water and carefully climbed in. It was nice and warm, the steam gently caressing his face as he leaned his head back against the wall behind him. The bar of soap was green and smelled faintly of jasmine as Mercury leisurely washed off his scales. The heat and the nice scent combined began to relax his tight shoulders. The bath could only be better if he had someone to massage the last of the tenseness from his muscles.

Dane would be good at giving a massage. Mercury could tell by the length of his fingers and the strong muscles in his forearms. Dane, with his long blond hair dripping and plastered to his trim and sexy body as he leaned over Mercury in the bath to get to the next group of muscles. His big blue eyes were intent on his task, but did not lack the heat being naked in the tub together required.

The bar of soap was lost as Dane took his hardening length in hand. He stroked himself slowly, enjoying the fantasy and pretending it was Dane's long fingers squeezing him firmly. He twisted his fist slightly with an extra squeeze as he got to the head and let out a little gasp as his hips arched involuntarily upward in the water. That loss of control would make Dane grin in triumph. Mercury would be returning the pleasurable favor with his own hand, of course, and eventually those sexy pointed ears would appear as Dane also lost control and his glamour slipped.

Mercury came with a muffled shout, his hips bucking into his hand and the water sloshing violently around him. His magic sparked and popped harmlessly across his body, adding to the sensual experience. The fantasy image of Dane's head thrown back, his eyes squeezed tight and his mouth open on a long moan as he came in Mercury's arms, was slow to fade away, but when it did Mercury slumped back into the tub with a sigh.

So much for forgetting about Dane and moving on. Mercury's mental fantasy of what Dane looked and sounded like when he came was going to haunt him for ages.

Mercury let out a groan of exasperation, a sound his slowly calming libido reminded him wasn't all that different to the sounds he had been making while thinking about Dane, and grabbed the soap. He finished cleaning himself quickly and released the valve to let the water drain.

The towels were soft and fluffy as he dried off. The towel rack probably didn't appreciate him using it to stay upright, but he was quickly coming to the end of his endurance. The order of the day was to find fresh pajamas and climb back into bed. He needed a nap, and hopefully when he woke up again his brain would be back in working order.

"Daddy?" 'Ron said as she knocked on the door. Mercury wrapped the towel tightly around his waist and carefully stooped down to pick up his dirty clothes.

"Yes, 'Ron?" he called as he slowly made his way to the locked door. "I'm coming."

"There's a man outside on Dane's front lawn," 'Ron continued. "He doesn't look happy and Chrome says we need to make him go away before he comes into our territory."

Sudden strength filled his legs as adrenaline shot through his system. He flipped the lock and threw the door open.

"Where's Chrome now?" he snapped.

"Getting Copper," 'Ron replied, her eyes filling slowly with tears at his harsh tone. "Copper can fly, so he can help!"

Mercury hugged her quickly in apology, but pulled away after a few short seconds. They might not have the time to spare for hurt feelings at the moment, depending on who was on Dane's lawn.

"Go to Copper and Chrome and tell them to stay put. I'll go check this guy out." Mercury gave her a little shove towards the door and 'Ron obediently scurried off. He let the towel drop to the floor and pulled on the dirty pajama pants in his hands with a few sharp yanks that almost sent him toppling sideways. He had to hold onto the walls as he left the bedroom and walked in the direction of the grand staircase he could see just ahead.

There was a shivering feeling in the air that didn't feel entirely natural. The smell of magic was burning his nose. Mercury hadn't been able to explore the house over the last few days like his kits, so he didn't know what the rest of the house was supposed to smell like, but Dane didn't smell nearly so caustic and dragon magic from the kits couldn't cause what Mercury was sensing. It felt tainted and unnatural, like the bitter aftertaste on the back of his tongue he always got from breathing inside a recently scrubbed and bleached bathroom.

The air almost felt like it was flexing, like the tainted magic was pushing against a dome covering the entire house. The intruder was trying to breach Dane's shielding, it was the only explanation, and without Dane home to reinforce his shields it was only a matter of time before the intruder broke through. Mercury had to hurry and find a place where he could see the intruder and make a stand, but his damned legs couldn't move any faster. He only needed a few more days to recover; couldn't the enemy have waited that long so he could trounce them properly?

Copper's door was firmly shut when Mercury stumbled past. He could sense Copper, Chrome, and 'Ron's magic behind the sturdy wood. Copper apparently could feel him too because a second after he had finally walked past the door, it swung open and Copper stomped out.

"They'll protect the egg," he insisted, although the way his eyes shifted uncertainly towards the door told a slightly more pessimistic story. "I can lend you my shoulder, even if I'm not strong enough to fight." He matched actions to words and slipped underneath Mercury's arm, forcing Mercury to lean on him instead of the wall. Mercury wanted to protest and send Copper back to his precious egg, but at the same time he knew that if he did Copper would be devastated. If he could send Nickel off with Dane, then he ought to also be able to trust Copper with his weight.

Copper was different than Nickel, of course. He had been glued to the egg for all the time Mercury had known him. He, Lumie, and the egg had all come from the same facility, but where Lumie had quickly identified himself as quite a personality over the last few months, Copper had hid himself away. Mercury honestly didn't know what Copper was capable of, but he was willing to find out.

He moved faster with Copper's help. The air felt oppressive and sick. It almost swirled as they passed through it, leaving behind nausea in the pit of Mercury's stomach. The tainted magic was growing. It was almost as if it was building up to something terrible. Mercury wanted to reach out with his own magic to see if he could figure out what was happening, but the thought of touching the tainted magic with his own sent a shiver of disgust down his spine. It would be better to look and see what was happening so Mercury didn't blindly waste his magical reserves.

The grand staircase opened up into a furnished landing on the second floor. Large picture windows overlooked the extensive back yard. Mercury didn't see anything amiss outside those windows, so he let Copper turn them both towards the stairs. The banister continued down to the first floor and the entrance hall, where there were large, locked double doors. Above those doors was a massive window. Its edges were veined with designs and colored glass in the shape of leaves and flowers, but the center was clear. Mercury could see a long driveway leading from the left side of the house through an expansive green lawn and out into the distant forest.

A man was standing in the driveway approximately halfway between the house and the forest. Mercury couldn't make out exact facial features from such a long distance, but he could see the snarling contortion the man's lips and teeth were in. It was almost as if he were growling at his enemy or holding in a scream of pain behind his clenched teeth. Maybe it was both. He wasn't physically moving forward, but if the tainted magic was his then he was doing something.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the man lifted one of his feet off the ground and pushed it forward as if he were trying to take a step through a pool of molasses. It took a while and Mercury thought he heard the man scream, but eventually he completed one step forward. As his foot touched the ground again, Mercury felt his ears pop. The weight in the air vanished, but the touch of the tainted magic tripled.

Dane's shields around the house had fallen. It was the only explanation Mercury could come up with for the way the magic around him was reacting.

The man outside took two more steps forward. This time he was completely unimpeded. His grimace was replaced by a wide smile as he strode towards the house with confidence. Mercury saw death coming closer in that grin and knew he had to kill the intruder before he destroyed everything.

Becky had sweets in the bottom drawer of her desk. Dane learned something new every day. After Lumie had introduced himself and Becky had finished cooing over him, she had reached into her desk and pulled out a large handful of candy. Apparently the best way to get Lumie's attention was to bribe him with sugar because he let go of Dane's leg and dashed to Becky's side as quickly as his little legs could take him.

Lumie had picked all the red colored candy out of Becky's hand and was currently sitting on the floor in the middle of the office, carefully tasting each one.

"Any messages?" Dane finally asked Becky, tearing his attention away from Lumie carefully separating out all the red gummy fish from a packet of multicolored ones.

Becky was smiling at Lumie, but it faded as she looked up at Dane. He hated to remind her of the bad deal they were fighting with Jacobson, but at the same time as Lumie was in hog heaven—or was that fire dragon heaven?—Nickel was glaring a hole into Dane's back. Did it say something weird about Dane that he wanted to hug homicidal Nickel more than adorable Lumie? Probably, but Dane's messed up mental state wasn't a recent realization for him.

"Gregory called," Becky began. She flipped through a stack of papers on her desk until she located the message from Dane's centaur lawyer. "He wanted to know why you were sending him to hound an old lady and if you were going to give him a challenging case any time soon. I called him back and asked whether he had met the crazy old bat and her dog yet. When he said he hadn't, I told him to call and complain once he had." She put the paper aside and pulled another forward. "A Madame Boothby called. Her son is molting out of season and she thinks he's allergic to something. She would like to hire you to find out what's causing it."

"Call her back and set up a meeting time next week," Dane replied. Nickel's glare was intensifying on Dane's back as impatience set in, but there honestly wasn't anything Dane could do until Jacobson called first. "Ask if she can bring her son with her as well as any medications or health spells he might be using."

"Of course," Becky began, but she turned away from Dane before she could finish her sentence. "Honey, I don't think you want to eat that one," she said gently to Lumie. "That's a Cinnamon Bomb. I'm not sure you'll like it."

Lumie was holding a round, fire-red candy between two fingers. It was about a half inch in diameter. Dane recognized it as one of the candies he avoided if he wanted to have working taste buds for the rest of the day. Lumie sniffed it hesitantly, but before Dane could voice his own protest Lumie popped it into his mouth. Lumie gasped at the initial taste—Dane was already cringing in sympathetic memory—and then Dane swore Lumie purred like a contented cat. Lumie dug through his pile of uneaten candy until he found a second Cinnamon Bomb, pulled it out of the wrapper, and stuck it in his mouth with the first one.

We have a winner! Ding, Ding!
Dane foresaw pounds of cinnamon candy in his pantry in the near future. Maybe finding a candy that Nickel liked would soften his disposition too? Dane would have to look into that at some point.

The phone rang, which made everyone except Lumie jump in surprise. Line two lit up. Becky let it ring a second time before hitting the button for the speakerphone.

"Supernatural Consultants. This is Becky speaking, how may I help you?"

"Is Dane there?" Jacobson asked, his voice barely more than a snarl as he spoke.

"Yes, he is," Becky replied, her voice still perky and happy even as she was scowling at her phone. "Give me a moment to redirect your call. Dane would like to speak with you personally." She reached out to hit the button that would send the call to the phone in Dane's private office, but before she could touch it, the call died with a hard click. It sounded like Jacobson had purposefully hung up on her.

Lumie moaned. Dane looked at him to see if Lumie was about to throw up Cinnamon Bomb all over his carpet, but Lumie was glaring at the door. Dane followed his gaze and saw a strange distortion. The lines of the door looked wavy as if they were made of water in a current. It wasn't natural. Dane reached out with his magic and slammed into a wall.

"There's a shield around the office," Dane snarled, reaching as far around him as his magic could go and running into the wall in every direction. It didn't feel like a normal shield to Dane. For one thing, it was actually blocking his magic. Very few creatures had the power to do that.