Home > Dragon Mage (Dragon Point #7)(10)

Dragon Mage (Dragon Point #7)(10)
Author: Eve Langlais

“How did I get here? Last thing I remember, we were still in the museum. We were about to leave when Frank…” Her voice trailed off. “You did something to him. Then me!” she accused.

“I put you asleep and will do it again if you start nattering nonstop.”

“Nattering? If you don’t like the sound of my voice, then get out.” She pointed to the door.

“I’ve need of you still.”

“Well, you’re not going to get to use me. So there,” she huffed.

“You speak as if you have a choice.”

“I do because this is my apartment, and you’re not welcome. Leave or I will call the cops.”

“Ah yes, a term for your militia. I’m afraid they will be of little use to you, as not only can they not capture me, even if they could, your mundane human prison would never hold me.”

She blinked. “And that was a whole lot of crazy in one sentence.”

“I am going to explain this one last time. This is not a dream. I am real, as is the fact two of the seals protecting this world have been broken.”

“And you are, what, some kind of guardian?” She rubbed her forehead.

“In a sense. I’d hoped this day would never come, but the moment the first seal was broken, I was called into service. With your aid, I shall locate the other seals and keep them safe. If we can keep them from being destroyed, then the world might stand a chance.”

“Me, help save the world?” She snickered. Then outright chuckled. “Definitely still dreaming.” She flopped onto the bed beside him, only to squeak as his body covered hers.

“I fail to see the amusement or understand why you persist in denying reality.”

The weight of him pressed on her. Hot. Heavy. All man.

Her lips parted, and his gaze caught hers, his eyes a vivid green.

“Magic isn’t real,” she said. “Sexy as you are, you are definitely not real.”

“Do I feel like a dream to you?” he asked, the words hot against her lips.

“More like a tease,” was her complaint.

“Would this help you decide?” He dipped his head and let his lips brush against hers.

Lightly.

Softly.

Then more firmly, slanting his mouth over hers, claiming it. He sucked the bottom lip, finally giving her the kiss she’d been craving.

Her breath shortened, and her body tingled with awareness. Her senses heightened by his nearness. His weight. The potential for pleasure.

She was the one to stop the kiss, mostly because the pounding at the door proved most distracting. She shoved at him, and for a moment, he didn’t move but buried his face in the crook of her neck.

A hot sigh moistened her skin. “I believe your attention is required.”

“You don’t say.” With a bit of regret at the dream determined to cockblock her, she moved to the door.

“Who is it?” she yelled.

“Police, ma’am. Please open the door.”

The cops? They must have come because of the museum.

She undid the chain on her door, and yanked it open. Two uniformed police officers stood there, one with a hand on the butt of his weapon.

Seriously?

“Hello, officers. How can I help you?”

“Are you Daphne Malkovitch?”

“I am.”

“Do you know a Frank Mascarpone?”

“I do. We both work at the museum. Did Frank tell you to check on me? I know he was worried about me last night even though I tried to tell him I was fine.”

“You admit to seeing Mr. Mascarpone last night?”

“Yes. Why? Is he okay?” Obviously, he’d recovered if he’d managed to call the cops.

“Mr. Mascarpone was not at his post, and yet his phone and other personal effects were found at the museum.”

It took her a moment to clue into what he was saying. “Wait a second, is Frank missing?”

Rather than reply, the officer fired another question. “What time did you last see him?”

“Gosh, it was late. Probably close to eleven,” she answered.

“And was that on the first level in the temporary exhibit wing?”

“No. We last spoke in the storage room.”

“What was the nature of that conversation? Did you argue?”

“What? No. You can’t think I did something to him.” Her eyes widened. “Have you seen the size of me?” She shoved at her glasses in agitation.

“Perhaps you had an accomplice.”

Was that a trick question? Did they know about her guest?

“Maybe Frank is having a nap, and you just haven’t found him.” She’d once found him sleeping on the throne they got on a loan, and she’d promised not to report him.

“Where did you go after seeing your coworker?”

“Home. I think.”

The police officer gave her a sharp look. “What do you mean, think? Do you recall leaving the museum or not?”

“I was really tired. It’s kind of a blank.” She shrugged. Tried a sheepish grin.

The officer didn’t melt at all. “Ma’am, were you under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the previous twenty-four hours?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Were you the one driving the vehicle registered in your name that mounted a curb and crashed into an electrical pole?”

“What? No. I don’t think I was.” Had Azrael crashed her car? She glanced at the bedroom door. He’d yet to appear. No matter. It was time to come clean. “Listen. This is all a huge misunderstanding.”

“Is what they all say,” muttered the cop. “Let’s just bring her down to the station and let them figure it out.”

“What? No.” She shook her head. “It’s not me you want. See, there were these two guys at the museum last night. Although, guy might be misnomer, given one of them was made of smoke.” In her panic—because good girls didn’t get visited by the police—she’d babbled and said more than she should have.

“Ma’am, I’m going to ask you again, are you under the influence of anything?”

“No. I don’t do drugs. And I didn’t do anything to Frank. That was the second guy. Not the smoky one. The one in the leather pants.”

The cop stepped to the side of her door. “Ma’am, you need to come with us.”

“Why? I didn’t do anything. I swear. Azrael said he only put Frank to sleep. And then he did it to me too! It’s why I don’t remember anything.”

“Ms. Malkovitch, please step outside of your apartment.”

“No.” She shook her head. “This is crazy. I didn’t do anything.”

“So you claim, and yet the museum display in your care was vandalized, items stolen, and you admit to being the last person to see Frank Mascarpone before his disappearance.”

Panic gripped her tighter than the cop’s fingers on her arm.

“Wait. I’m telling you; it was not me. What happened with Frank and the museum, it was Azrael and the smoky dude. I thought it was a dream. I must still be dreaming.”

“Is that the name of the drug you took? Are you high right now?” chided the cop as he flipped her around and slapped cuffs on her wrists.

Hot Books
» House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)
» A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
» From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash #1)
» A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime
» Deviant King (Royal Elite #1)
» Den of Vipers
» House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2)
» The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #
» Sweet Temptation
» The Sweetest Oblivion (Made #1)
» Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6)
» Wreck & Ruin
» Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2)
» Twisted Hate (Twisted #3)
» The Play (Briar U Book 3)