word, and I do not give that lightly.”
I sighed. He had a point. “Promise me that you’ll really look.”
At first I thought he might scream at me. “My word is my bond, Guardian, and I have given it to you.”
I shrugged. “That’ll have to do.”
After holstering the crossbow, I pushed the button on the watch and stepped through the portal.
For once, there was no one waiting on the other side with bad news. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I saw Jake through the window.
I realized it was the first time in weeks he hadn’t been waiting to greet me or yell at me. For some reason, that bugged the hell out of me.
CHAPTER 6
“Bailey, I need a dragon blower-upper,” I shouted into my cell as soon as I returned to the control room. As I talked to him, I put away my weapons. My brother drove me nuts, but he was the best when designing weapons, and I really wanted to kill me some dragons.
“Hi, Al. Dragons burn you again?” His puns were the worst.
“Ha. I mean it. Design me something that will blow them up with one shot.”
“Ah. So you want a new toy gun. Why not the plasmas? You guys had good luck with those when you had to protect the high council.” He sounded out of breath.
“Where are you?”
“I’m running for the jet. It’s raining like crazy.”
“Oh. The plasmas worked great on the demons, but they only stun dragons. Probably has something to do with their incredibly thick skin. I need something where if they aren’t airborne I can get off multiple shots at close range without blowing myself up.”
“Isn’t that why I made you the automatic crossbow?”
“Bailey, you aren’t listening. The crossbow works great if they are some distance away or flying, but not so much on the ground. And I’m an excellent shot, but if I don’t hit them in the eye or directly in the heart—You get the picture. There’s also the problem that it’s not something I can keep with me at all times. I need something I can conceal.
“Used to be we’d have an infestation of one or two; now they seem to be traveling in packs. Bullets don’t have much of an effect on them. It’s tough to kill six at a time with a sword, though I’ve done it.”
“Huh.” I could tell he was intrigued. It didn’t take much to get Bailey’s brain going. “Let me see what I can do. I’m gonna need to do some research on your dragons.”
I wanted to yell that they weren’t my dragons. Everyone always said that. Dragons were nothing but a huge pain in the ass. Period. But yelling never accomplished anything with Bailey. Besides, since the kidnapping I’d noticed he’d been overly sensitive to any kind of aggressive behavior. Last week he’d walked in on Mira bellowing at me for charging into a nest of dragons with only a sword, and he’d gone a little whack. He kept going on and on about how we had to love one another and support each other. A thirty-minute sermon, in all. When he was done, he made us hug.
After that, we tried to keep our sisterly arguments behind closed doors.
“Okay, cool,” I told him. “Let me know if you need anything. A little dragon DNA, whatever.”
We hung up.
I’d just stepped out of the shower when I heard my phone ringing again. Didn’t recognize the number, but I picked it up anyway.
“Alex, it’s Colin Granze. We met at your club for the Save the Edens fund-raiser last month.”
“Of course. How are you?” I would have known his voice even if he hadn’t mentioned his name. He was one of Hollywood’s biggest box office draws. His appearance at the fund-raiser had guaranteed a multimillion-dollar give. Charm oozed from every pore of the man, not the creepy kind, the I’ll-do-anything-just-to-stand-and-gaze-upon-your-extreme-hotness kind. People wanted to impress him, and that meant they were more generous.
“In the middle of a shoot in India, and it’s hotter than hell here, but we’re having a good time. Listen, I know this is out of the blue, but
I sighed. He had a point. “Promise me that you’ll really look.”
At first I thought he might scream at me. “My word is my bond, Guardian, and I have given it to you.”
I shrugged. “That’ll have to do.”
After holstering the crossbow, I pushed the button on the watch and stepped through the portal.
For once, there was no one waiting on the other side with bad news. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I saw Jake through the window.
I realized it was the first time in weeks he hadn’t been waiting to greet me or yell at me. For some reason, that bugged the hell out of me.
CHAPTER 6
“Bailey, I need a dragon blower-upper,” I shouted into my cell as soon as I returned to the control room. As I talked to him, I put away my weapons. My brother drove me nuts, but he was the best when designing weapons, and I really wanted to kill me some dragons.
“Hi, Al. Dragons burn you again?” His puns were the worst.
“Ha. I mean it. Design me something that will blow them up with one shot.”
“Ah. So you want a new toy gun. Why not the plasmas? You guys had good luck with those when you had to protect the high council.” He sounded out of breath.
“Where are you?”
“I’m running for the jet. It’s raining like crazy.”
“Oh. The plasmas worked great on the demons, but they only stun dragons. Probably has something to do with their incredibly thick skin. I need something where if they aren’t airborne I can get off multiple shots at close range without blowing myself up.”
“Isn’t that why I made you the automatic crossbow?”
“Bailey, you aren’t listening. The crossbow works great if they are some distance away or flying, but not so much on the ground. And I’m an excellent shot, but if I don’t hit them in the eye or directly in the heart—You get the picture. There’s also the problem that it’s not something I can keep with me at all times. I need something I can conceal.
“Used to be we’d have an infestation of one or two; now they seem to be traveling in packs. Bullets don’t have much of an effect on them. It’s tough to kill six at a time with a sword, though I’ve done it.”
“Huh.” I could tell he was intrigued. It didn’t take much to get Bailey’s brain going. “Let me see what I can do. I’m gonna need to do some research on your dragons.”
I wanted to yell that they weren’t my dragons. Everyone always said that. Dragons were nothing but a huge pain in the ass. Period. But yelling never accomplished anything with Bailey. Besides, since the kidnapping I’d noticed he’d been overly sensitive to any kind of aggressive behavior. Last week he’d walked in on Mira bellowing at me for charging into a nest of dragons with only a sword, and he’d gone a little whack. He kept going on and on about how we had to love one another and support each other. A thirty-minute sermon, in all. When he was done, he made us hug.
After that, we tried to keep our sisterly arguments behind closed doors.
“Okay, cool,” I told him. “Let me know if you need anything. A little dragon DNA, whatever.”
We hung up.
I’d just stepped out of the shower when I heard my phone ringing again. Didn’t recognize the number, but I picked it up anyway.
“Alex, it’s Colin Granze. We met at your club for the Save the Edens fund-raiser last month.”
“Of course. How are you?” I would have known his voice even if he hadn’t mentioned his name. He was one of Hollywood’s biggest box office draws. His appearance at the fund-raiser had guaranteed a multimillion-dollar give. Charm oozed from every pore of the man, not the creepy kind, the I’ll-do-anything-just-to-stand-and-gaze-upon-your-extreme-hotness kind. People wanted to impress him, and that meant they were more generous.
“In the middle of a shoot in India, and it’s hotter than hell here, but we’re having a good time. Listen, I know this is out of the blue, but
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