Song of Dragons Read online

  Brent shook his head, “Not about that anyway, I suppose I’m still getting used to the new you.”

  Translation, I wasn’t being a bitch, or yelling at his ass for keeping secrets from me for years, and he couldn’t figure out why. All thanks to my Lisa of course, and the energy hits. Besides, I knew he’d given a magical oath, if he’d even hinted at the truth with me about my origins, he’d have lost his magic and died. I wasn’t sure if we were good or not as friends, but as a boss and employee we were solid. Mostly.

  “So, what’s the job?”

  He hit a button on his computer, which brought up a picture on the large screen.

  The man was at least six foot four, and built like a linebacker. I knew how tall he was, because it was a mug shot. He was a mountain of man.

  Brent said, “James Carlson, bear shifter. He was a mall security guard, and went postal and killed four people when he got fired for aggressive tendencies. He swore they’d fired him because he was a bear shifter, but given the quadruple murder his statement is suspect.”

  Lisa asked, “Execution?”

  Brent shook his head, “Probably would have been next week, but he escaped during the trial, yesterday afternoon on the way back to his jail cell, which means they want him apprehended to finish it up and face justice. So, don’t kill him unless you have no choice. As a bear, he doesn’t have a pack officially, but he did have a few known associates who were also bear shifters. His old residence is way up north in McKinney, but the apartment has already been re-rented and all his stuff was sold, you might have trouble getting a lead that way, best to stick to his known associates, or people that have pissed him off. It’s all in the file. Track him, take him down, and bring him in.”

  Lisa nodded, “Do you think he’ll go to friends, or get revenge on the ones he didn’t manage to kill the first time.”

  Brent shrugged, “I don’t know, they have a police presence at the mall, and the security guards he used to work with minus the four dead ones of course, have all been notified. If he shows up at the mall, the police will call me, and I’ll call you.”

  Lisa and I shared a look, and then I said, “We’ll get the bastard.”

  Chapter Three

  As usual we didn’t have much to go on. People were creatures of habit though, and no matter how stupid it may seem, they all pretty much did the same thing. They went to a friend, lover, or they went for a victim that got away. Very few criminals that escape actually run for it, at least not right away.

  I stopped by my desk, I already had my knives and throwing knives on me, some silver, some iron, and some a mixture of both. I grabbed my sword, and grabbed my two nine mils. We were going after a shifter, so I loaded them both with hollow points filled in with silver. Just in case an elf was involved in some way or somehow, I also grabbed one magazine of iron tipped bullets.

  Bear shifters weren’t a joke, they were stronger than wolf shifters, and while dragon shifters were even stronger, much stronger, I was just a baby dragon. In essence, that half of me was just born a week ago. Still, I wasn’t sure if I would be stronger or not, even a dragon the size of a mini-van was nothing to sneeze at, unless it was an adult dragon of course. But then, I wouldn’t have that strength in human form.

  Between Lisa and I, I didn’t think we’d have that much of a problem taking him alive. Lisa was an ancient vampire, and I was a freak of nature. I couldn’t afford to get cocky though, I reminded myself I’d taken out a ton of shit that had been stronger than me with my faster speed and brains, even if I was stronger now in the end it didn’t mean all that much. Silver and iron were great equalizers, even a human with a sniper rifle could take me out at the end of the day.

  I considered a shotgun, but the handguns, swords, and knives should be more than enough. A couple of silver bullets would really ruin his day if it came down to it, but we weren’t supposed to kill him. I walked over to the elevator where Lisa was waiting, and we got on and went back to the garage on sub-level one.

  We walked past Lisa’s car, that was for personal use and getting to work. On the job, we needed something a little more formidable than a normal car.

  We got in one of the armored and warded company cars. It was a basic sedan, nothing special, or at least that’s the way it looked. We only got the upscale posh rides when guarding VIPs.

  Lisa said, “Mall first, or should we check his contacts?”

  “Contacts, he got out yesterday afternoon, right?”

  She nodded, “Either way we’re heading toward McKinney.”

  I looked through the file, there were four bears on there, including a girlfriend. That one got my vote. He’d been incarcerated for six months waiting on trial, and then the trial had gone on for a couple of weeks already. That was a lot of time with no sex, but I suppose as a siren I could have been projecting. I’d starve if I didn’t have sex that long, literally.

  “Girlfriend?”

  She shrugged, “Good a place as any to start. Put it in the nav.”

  The navigation system was a pain in the ass, I put in the address one alphanumerical character at a time, and then hit route. We had about an hour drive ahead of us, maybe more if there was still morning traffic on the road, it wasn’t quite nine in the morning yet.

  I pulled one of the bottles of water from the back to my hand, my new power over water could be handy at times. I also cooled it down, since it was too damn warm.

  “Her name is Rita Anderson, forty-eight, five foot ten, light brown hair, ochre eyes. Been dating our murdering psychopath on and off for nine years.”

  Lisa asked, “So now that we’ve been with him, what do you think of Harold?”

  I frowned, “What do you think of him?”

  She laughed, “Nope, I asked first.”

  I sighed, I hated these conversations. I also loved the petite nightmare next to me.

  “I like him, even his awkward social graces are endearing, and the way he transforms into confident mage when he works magic makes me wet every single time. I’m not sure he knows what he wants though, since we’re a package deal.”

  Lisa smirked, “Me too. On all of that. He likes you more than he likes me, but I excite him too. It’s the coming in second best I think, that gives him pause. I’m willing to see where it goes, if you are. Just don’t forget, I’ll fucking kill you if you leave me for him.”

  I smirked, “I think I’m crazy.”

  She laughed, “Why? Because my death threats turn you on?”

  I nodded, it was true enough. I was almost sure she was serious about it too, she was an ancient vampire, very possessive yet somehow at the same time willing to share me. I wasn’t about to break her heart though, I’d rather kill myself. It wasn’t like I hadn’t known when I fell for her, and joined her in bed that night. She’d warned me a bunch of times after all.

  “I’d never leave you Lisa. If he can’t handle us both, and fall in love with us both if he wants a serious commitment, then he’ll have neither in the end. It’s kind of weird for me still.”

  It was just the truth, as a siren I’d had more than my share of sex, but threesomes were completely new to me, and still felt a bit new and weird… and hot. Not to mention the whole dating a woman part.

  She shrugged, “We’ll see, I wouldn’t mind either way, but most men can’t handle that type of thing, even if in their fantasies they think they’d love it. Don’t worry about it feeling weird, you’ll get used to it, and I know you enjoy it, being a slut and all.”

  “Bitch,” I giggled.

  “You know it,” she agreed easily.

  She always called me that, a slut I mean, but it wasn’t lost on me that it was her idea to add other lovers to our bed.

  The rest of the drive we reviewed his other contacts. Two drinking buddies, and a third who owned a bar where all four of them drank at. If it hadn’t been nine in the morning, I’d have suggested going there first. He might have been there last night, hopefully if he had been, he’d gone home with Ri
ta. The odds leaned in that direction, but I also wasn’t counting on it. Criminals usually were predictable, especially angry ones with an axe to grind, but not always. After that, the rest of the ride passed in a comfortable silence…

  Rita lived in a small house, maybe nine hundred square feet. Looked like a two bedroom at a guess. It was well cared for, as we pulled up I listened with my magic for the songs of the life around me. The song of the world was there, which encompassed all nature, from the trees, grass, bushes, to everything else. It was extremely complex, which is why I never tried to do anything with it, I wasn’t even sure my mind could figure it out, not really.

  Which is why my siren song worked on humans, they had their own songs, still complicated as all hell, but much simpler in comparison, and I’d been able to work a few things out over the years on what I could change, and what effects they had. Point was, I could hear the songs inside the house, and there was only one.

  I frowned, “I don’t think he’s here, I’m only getting one song, and it’s female.”

  For the most part, it was safe to say my magic couldn’t be blocked. Only one person ever managed to cloak their song from me, my father Theo, and he’s extremely old and powerful. Before that I’d have said it was impossible, I knew that mage magic couldn’t do it.

  Lisa said, “Let’s go find out if she knows where he is.”

  She opened the door, and I got out as well, and strapped the sword to my back before I followed her across the street, and down the walkway to the front door. She rang the bell. Since it was a female, that automatically put me in the roll of bad cop, or maybe hated cop. Lisa would do the talking.

  Rita opened the door, narrowed her eyes at Lisa, and then narrowed her eyes even further at me. Such was my life.

  “What do you want.”

  Lisa said, “I’m Lisa Campbell, and this is my partner Melody Smith. We’re looking for James Carlson, has he contacted you since yesterday afternoon?”

  Rita demanded, “Show me your IDs.”

  We pulled our identifications out. They basically said we worked for Walker Security Services, and that we were official subcontractors for government services. It gave us the authority to act on behalf of the Texas law enforcement when a supernatural case was referred to us, but there was a host of rules we had to follow. Fortunately, the rules of engagement weren’t that restrictive, they couldn’t be when a rogue supernatural was involved. Lately, the last week or so, I’d done my best to cut down on the mayhem, but I hadn’t been entirely successful.

  Rita grunted, “He ain’t called me.”

  Lisa asked, “Has he stopped by, or made contact with you another way?”

  Rita said, “I haven’t seen him, and he’s not here. You’re wasting your time, and mine.”

  “Miss Anderson, do you know where he is now?”

  Rita scowled, “No idea.”

  Liar. I couldn’t hear it in her song, I wish I could do that sort of thing, it would be convenient in my line of work. However, I was good at reading people, but Lisa was ten times better than me. As a vampire, she was able to smell any minute changes in scent, pulse rate, and sweat. Of course, in Texas that last one was a moot point in this situation, anyone opening their door and letting in the heat would start to sweat. Especially this time of year.

  Lisa said, “I see, do you think he might go after more of his old co-workers,” she paused for a second, “Or maybe he’s at another friend’s house?”

  Rita said, “I told you, I don’t know where he is, I’m not going to keep answering the same questions.”

  Lisa nodded, “Thanks for your help. Please contact law enforcement if he does contact you maam, he’s a dangerous man.”

  I followed her lead and turned, and we walked back to the car. It wasn’t until we were back inside, car running, and halfway down the street that she spoke. Shifters had very good hearing after all.

  “The mall, her scent indicated assent when I asked that question, the bastard is going back there. I could also scent a male bear on her, I bet we just missed them having morning sex by an hour tops. The place opens in… fifteen minutes.”

  She’d probably just added the second question and standard contact line to throw Rita off. Better we looked clueless, and that we’d walked away without information, or she might call James. She still might, but hopefully she wouldn’t be sure enough about what we knew, and it wouldn’t spook him. Lisa was a very old vampire, and a vampire’s power increased with age. Not just speed, and strength to a much lesser degree, but also their enhanced senses. Most younger vampires can’t sniff things out so easily, or pick out the subtleties over the scent of blood. Point was, Rita might assume we walked away clueless, the idea an ancient vampire might be working at Walker security was a bit of a stretch for people that didn’t know my Lisa.

  I just hoped we arrived at the mall in time to catch the bastard.

  Chapter Four

  The large edifice of a mall had a mostly empty parking lot when we arrived. It was early on a Monday morning, not that many shoppers this time of day, but there were some. We got out and strapped on our swords, I also did a weapons check, and then we headed into the mall.

  “Freeze!”

  Oh fuck, it figures.

  “We’re with Walker security, we have reason to believe the suspect is here.”

  The cop said, “Show your IDs, slowly.”

  I did as he asked, the last thing I wanted to do was spook him. I still wasn’t sure if my shifter side waking up made me allergic to having silver inside me, and I wanted to delay that discovery as long as possible. I had no doubt the local police had silver load outs, they were on the lookout for the escaped bear shifter after all.

  Maybe we should have called Brent, and made sure we were expected.

  The cop’s partner checked them, while he kept us under threat. Then his partner nodded, they both relaxed slightly, and one of them got on the radio to announce our arrival. Fuck, just perfect, if the bear was in here somewhere, then he’d probably heard that if it came out of the hip of every cop on site. No help for it I supposed.

  “Where is the security office?” I asked.

  The cop smiled at me, and gave me a once over that took a bit too long. Now that we were verified as not a threat, my siren nature started to work in my favor. I didn’t mind, I was used to it, I even liked it, and in the long run my attractiveness to men would speed things along, even if they did enjoy a long glance and entertain a fantasy or two.

  Lisa made a face, “This place is huge, it might be easier if we just hit all the entrances.”

  Right, if a bear shifter came in the last hour or so, his scent trail would still be strong enough for her to pick up easily.

  “What if he took an employee entrance?”

  Lisa shrugged, “We’ll check those too.”

  I winked at my admirer, and put a little extra swing in my hips as we started a fast walk around the mall.

  Lisa said, “Slut.”

  I really couldn’t help it, being a siren was a two-way street. I wouldn’t fuck around on Lisa, but I couldn’t help that I both evoked lust in men, and felt lust myself when the focus of it. It was how my magic and race worked, and a little harmless flirting was par for the course. It was also why I had a very healthy libido, and more often than not I walked around a little moist between my legs all day. I used to be more conflicted about it, both enjoyed and hated it, but now that I didn’t have to hunt down a one-night stand anymore, or starve myself between them, I just enjoyed it.

  Lisa would take care of me later.

  I laughed, “Yours.”

  She smirked, and we picked up the pace a bit. It was at the third set of doors that Lisa picked up the scent of a bear shifter. My own magic was reaching out as far as it could, and was picking up dozens of songs, but not a bear shifter’s yet. Buildings with a lot of cement and metal could interfere and mute the songs of beings, where a wood house wouldn’t. Chances were, or at least I hoped, the bear s
hifter wasn’t in the open. The last thing we wanted was a hostage situation.

  Malls were also damned big, which meant my magic senses couldn’t cover the whole thing.

  Lisa was on the trail, and I followed watching with both my eyes, and my magic. I wasn’t using the water trick right now with humidity, I still wasn’t used to that yet and it would be more distracting than it would be a help. I needed to stay sharp.

  I wondered how the cops missed him coming in, they’d had a pair of them at that entrance, maybe he was dressed in an old uniform, perhaps one he had stashed at Rita’s? It was more than possible, especially if he’d spent the night there a lot before he’d lost his marbles and went on a killing spree. Sure, prejudice against supernatural beings was real enough, as was discrimination, but that’s what lawyers and courts were for, it was hardly a killing offense.

  People like James Carlson just made that sort of thing worse in the long run. Things between humans and supernatural were mostly stable right now, in the main.

  The back hallways were painted a dinghy gray, and the floors were a slightly lighter shade of gray. We turned a corner and it felt like the hallway went on forever, when I finally felt him a couple of hundred feet forward and slightly to the right. There was no mistaking a shifter, they had two songs, the second one was muted in the background, and I could tell he was in human form right now.

  I had the same thing now, my dragon song was no longer washed out and shadowy, which made me glad I seemed to be the only siren in Dallas. There’d be no hiding what I was from one of my own kind. With dragons, at least I had a hope of sliding by because of my mixed scent, but a siren would identify me easily, not that I wanted to test that theory. Most sirens in the United States, there were about fifty nationwide, were in coastal cities, not several hundred miles from shore.

  We stopped outside the closed metal door that had no plaque or label to tell us what it was, and shared a glance. I held up three fingers, there were two human males in there as well. It was my turn to go first, I pulled my forty-five and then nodded. Lisa pulled open the door and I headed inside with my gun at the ready, already pointing in the direction I felt the shifter.