Dragon Unbound
Page 9
He just looked at me for a minute while I continued singing, then slowly walked around me, examining me from toes to nose, all the while I was trapped where I stood.
The man came to a stop in front of me, and said just one word. “Siren?”
Unable to help myself, I nodded.
“Ah,” he said, then turned to look speculatively at the house before returning his gaze to me. “You would steal from my children?”
I opened my eyes even wider, although I hadn’t thought that possible. His children? He couldn’t be—
“No,” the man said to himself, shaking his head. “Not children. Brothers. You steal from my kin.”
There I was, bug-eyed, mouth opened as I sang some barely remembered Elizabethan sonnet, pushing the dragons before me into thinking they were having a truly excellent time dancing to some kick-ass techno music, and a foot away stood my doom.
Doom, doom, doom.
For a moment, I lost control of the push, and about a third of the dragons stopped dancing, but with a pleading glance at the handsome man with the compelling eyes, I sang on, spreading the push outward. The dragons all fell into line and danced again.
Except the man in front of me.
“You understand that I cannot allow this to happen,” the man told me, his eyes so bright, it was like they were made up of mercury.
Desperately, I tried to split my focus and will him away, but I knew even before trying that would not work. For some reason, this man was immune to me, a truly horrifying thought.
“I will deal with you as soon as I stop your cohorts,” he said, then turned on his heel and strode off into the night.
Panicking, I shifted the push from dancing to sleeping. I knew that wouldn’t last for long, but it should buy me enough time to get the band out of the house, and make our escape before the big, bad dragons woke up and found out they’d been robbed.
Just who the hell was that man? He didn’t look like a dragon, so he couldn’t be that demigod that Andrew was so interested in ... could he?
I sang a few more words, pushing sleep hard, and had the satisfaction of seeing the dancers slowly drop to their collective knees before toppling gently over to the side. There were one or two holdouts, but an extra push dropped them and the demon dog Jim.
“Now, just stay there!” I muttered as I leaped down off the stage and raced for the house. Halfway there, the sounds of crashing could be heard, followed by shouts and a couple of screams.
“Dammit, they’re beating him up,” I swore, pausing long enough to kick off my heels so I could run faster. I didn’t even notice the gravel when I dashed across it to the stone of a verandah, flinging myself through an opened French door, and directly onto a warm wall that reeled back a step when I hit it.
“Hoorf,” I gasped, my breath having been knocked out of me. Two hands came up to steady me when I rebounded off the wall, which turned out to be the man immune to my particular charms. There was a faint hint of a smile around his eyes and mouth, but it took me a minute before I could get air back into my lungs enough to say, “Are you all right?”
The look of amusement deepened. “Oddly, I was about to ask you the same thing. Do you need to sit down? You are bright red.”
“Just the exertion of running to keep the band from hurting you.” I looked around the room. It was dimly lit, but clearly empty. “Where ... uh ... did you happen to see ... um ...”
“Your friends are in the hallway.” The expression in his lovely silver-gray eyes hardened. “They did not succeed in your plan.”
“It was not my plan,” I said quickly without thinking, then scooted backward until his hands fell from my arms. I edged around him and headed for the interior door.
He was at the door before I could blink, his back to it, his arms crossed, a slight frown pulling down two chocolate brown eyebrows. I swear his eyes were darker than they had been a moment ago. “It matters not who originated the plan. You cannot deny that you deliberately bespelled my chi—my dragonkin in order to steal from them.”
I thought of denying it, but I’ve never been a good liar, and besides, he’d seen me in action. So instead, I crossed my own arms, and stepped up until I was a scant inch away from him. “I have no intention of denying it. Your dragonkin are rich. They can afford to lose a little without too much discomfort.”
“That point is moot. Dragons do not take kindly to being robbed, no matter how many riches they possess.” He leaned forward slightly so that his arms brushed against mine. An odd little jolt of awareness made me suddenly feel very hot. “We guard what is ours. You would do well to remember that, songbird.”
I lifted my chin. I hate it when people try to intimidate me. “I’m a siren, not a bird. And I wasn’t trying to take anything from your precious dragons ... although you don’t look like a dragon. Aren’t you supposed to have weird eyes?”
His eyebrows rose a fraction. “Weird?”
“You know ... elongated pupils, kind of catlike. Only you don’t have that.”
He blinked and suddenly, his pupils were long vertical stripes in his eyes.
“Holy shit!” Instinctively, I bolted, running through the door into a hallway, where I stumbled and almost fell over one of the three bodies lying prone on the floor. “Oh my god, you killed them!”
The dragon man was at my side, fortunately with his pupils back to normal, perfectly round black circles swimming in a sea of silver. “They are not dead. They are sleeping.”
“What did you do to them?” I asked, stooping to check the pulse of the nearest person, who just happened to be Rina.
He shrugged. “I am the First Dragon.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, and shook off the hand he put on my arm.
“It means I am the First Dragon.”
“Let go of me.”
“Why?”
“Because after seeing this, goddess knows what you’ll do to me,” I snapped, gesturing at my three unconscious bandmates.
He took hold of my arm again, and not being one to stand being manhandled, I punched him in the chest. “Let go!”
“I wish to escort you out to my kin. I do not think you will go unless I assist you,” he said, and looked down to where my fist was still against his chest.
It was a very nice chest. Or at least, the part that I could see through his crisp white shirt was nice.
The man came to a stop in front of me, and said just one word. “Siren?”
Unable to help myself, I nodded.
“Ah,” he said, then turned to look speculatively at the house before returning his gaze to me. “You would steal from my children?”
I opened my eyes even wider, although I hadn’t thought that possible. His children? He couldn’t be—
“No,” the man said to himself, shaking his head. “Not children. Brothers. You steal from my kin.”
There I was, bug-eyed, mouth opened as I sang some barely remembered Elizabethan sonnet, pushing the dragons before me into thinking they were having a truly excellent time dancing to some kick-ass techno music, and a foot away stood my doom.
Doom, doom, doom.
For a moment, I lost control of the push, and about a third of the dragons stopped dancing, but with a pleading glance at the handsome man with the compelling eyes, I sang on, spreading the push outward. The dragons all fell into line and danced again.
Except the man in front of me.
“You understand that I cannot allow this to happen,” the man told me, his eyes so bright, it was like they were made up of mercury.
Desperately, I tried to split my focus and will him away, but I knew even before trying that would not work. For some reason, this man was immune to me, a truly horrifying thought.
“I will deal with you as soon as I stop your cohorts,” he said, then turned on his heel and strode off into the night.
Panicking, I shifted the push from dancing to sleeping. I knew that wouldn’t last for long, but it should buy me enough time to get the band out of the house, and make our escape before the big, bad dragons woke up and found out they’d been robbed.
Just who the hell was that man? He didn’t look like a dragon, so he couldn’t be that demigod that Andrew was so interested in ... could he?
I sang a few more words, pushing sleep hard, and had the satisfaction of seeing the dancers slowly drop to their collective knees before toppling gently over to the side. There were one or two holdouts, but an extra push dropped them and the demon dog Jim.
“Now, just stay there!” I muttered as I leaped down off the stage and raced for the house. Halfway there, the sounds of crashing could be heard, followed by shouts and a couple of screams.
“Dammit, they’re beating him up,” I swore, pausing long enough to kick off my heels so I could run faster. I didn’t even notice the gravel when I dashed across it to the stone of a verandah, flinging myself through an opened French door, and directly onto a warm wall that reeled back a step when I hit it.
“Hoorf,” I gasped, my breath having been knocked out of me. Two hands came up to steady me when I rebounded off the wall, which turned out to be the man immune to my particular charms. There was a faint hint of a smile around his eyes and mouth, but it took me a minute before I could get air back into my lungs enough to say, “Are you all right?”
The look of amusement deepened. “Oddly, I was about to ask you the same thing. Do you need to sit down? You are bright red.”
“Just the exertion of running to keep the band from hurting you.” I looked around the room. It was dimly lit, but clearly empty. “Where ... uh ... did you happen to see ... um ...”
“Your friends are in the hallway.” The expression in his lovely silver-gray eyes hardened. “They did not succeed in your plan.”
“It was not my plan,” I said quickly without thinking, then scooted backward until his hands fell from my arms. I edged around him and headed for the interior door.
He was at the door before I could blink, his back to it, his arms crossed, a slight frown pulling down two chocolate brown eyebrows. I swear his eyes were darker than they had been a moment ago. “It matters not who originated the plan. You cannot deny that you deliberately bespelled my chi—my dragonkin in order to steal from them.”
I thought of denying it, but I’ve never been a good liar, and besides, he’d seen me in action. So instead, I crossed my own arms, and stepped up until I was a scant inch away from him. “I have no intention of denying it. Your dragonkin are rich. They can afford to lose a little without too much discomfort.”
“That point is moot. Dragons do not take kindly to being robbed, no matter how many riches they possess.” He leaned forward slightly so that his arms brushed against mine. An odd little jolt of awareness made me suddenly feel very hot. “We guard what is ours. You would do well to remember that, songbird.”
I lifted my chin. I hate it when people try to intimidate me. “I’m a siren, not a bird. And I wasn’t trying to take anything from your precious dragons ... although you don’t look like a dragon. Aren’t you supposed to have weird eyes?”
His eyebrows rose a fraction. “Weird?”
“You know ... elongated pupils, kind of catlike. Only you don’t have that.”
He blinked and suddenly, his pupils were long vertical stripes in his eyes.
“Holy shit!” Instinctively, I bolted, running through the door into a hallway, where I stumbled and almost fell over one of the three bodies lying prone on the floor. “Oh my god, you killed them!”
The dragon man was at my side, fortunately with his pupils back to normal, perfectly round black circles swimming in a sea of silver. “They are not dead. They are sleeping.”
“What did you do to them?” I asked, stooping to check the pulse of the nearest person, who just happened to be Rina.
He shrugged. “I am the First Dragon.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, and shook off the hand he put on my arm.
“It means I am the First Dragon.”
“Let go of me.”
“Why?”
“Because after seeing this, goddess knows what you’ll do to me,” I snapped, gesturing at my three unconscious bandmates.
He took hold of my arm again, and not being one to stand being manhandled, I punched him in the chest. “Let go!”
“I wish to escort you out to my kin. I do not think you will go unless I assist you,” he said, and looked down to where my fist was still against his chest.
It was a very nice chest. Or at least, the part that I could see through his crisp white shirt was nice.
