city of dragons 03 - fire magic Read Online Free Page B

cause cave-ins. A number of our order were in one of the tunnel during such a cave-in. We couldn’t get to them—”
    “You just said that you’re incredibly powerful,” I said. “What do you mean you couldn’t get to them? Couldn’t you use magic to move the debris?”
    “Our magic, I’m afraid, is mostly tied up in keeping our prisoners, er, imprisoned,” she said. “At any rate, we were unable to get to the members of the order.”
    “What does this have to do with drakes?”
    “There were about five drakes in the group. They were cut off from a source of meat for several days, and they went… feral.”
    I felt all the blood drain from my face. “That’s true? That really happens?”
    “Oh yes,” said Darla. “It really happens.”
    “And so now what? If you give them meat, will they revert back to—”
    “The lack of meat causes irreparable damage to a drake, I’m afraid,” she said. “They are nothing more than enraged killers. And they will try to get any meat that they can. So, we were hoping that you could… go in and well, take care of them.”
    “You mean kill them.”
    “We have it on good authority that you killed Antoine Buordais, who was nearly nine hundred years old, at a place called The Dungeon a few months ago.”
    I swallowed. So that was how old that vamp had been, huh? I knew he’d been old, but I hadn’t realized… “I kind of got lucky with him,” I said. “And I didn’t intend to kill him. I had to, though. It was self-defense.”
    “Listen, there is a possibility that these drakes could get out of the tunnels. The tunnels are filled with water during high tide, but during low tide, the drakes might be able to get out and begin stalking the populace. If they did, they would attack whatever they saw first. They could be quite dangerous.”
    I eyed her. “Either you’re lying about how powerful you are, or you’ve got some other reason for coming to see me.” I strongly suspected that it had something to do with my blood bond with Lachlan. I didn’t know much about it, only what some mage named Esther had told me, but apparently the blood bond had created power-hungry monsters in the past. If this Order really did contain magical creatures who got out of control, maybe they were sniffing around to see if I was a threat.
    “I assure you, Penny, I have no ill will toward you.” She smiled at me.
    But there was something about that smile I didn’t like. Still, she hadn’t involved Lachlan, had she? If this were about the blood bond, wouldn’t she want him on board? I cleared my throat. “If I did this for you, I don’t know if I would want to work alone.”
    “Oh, yes, you have a drake and a gargoyle who usually work with you, yes?”
    Hmm. Still no mention of Lachlan. I nodded. “That’s true.”
    “Well, of course. You must use whoever you would need.”
    Part of me wanted to say yes just to get inside this place, get access to this Order, so that I could determine if they were a threat to me. But I hadn’t shifted lately, and I didn’t have any magic, and I wasn’t sure if I should shift, and besides this whole thing sounded ridiculously dangerous, and I was pregnant…
    But if I didn’t agree, could it prove even more dangerous for me and my baby?
    I stood up. “I can’t give you an answer right now. I need to think about it.”
    “All right, I can see that,” she said, standing up as well. “Please let me know what you decide. I’ll give you my contact information.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
    I spent the rest of the morning searching for whatever information I could find on this Order of Rasmossen and Wolffe. Nothing.
    When I started getting hungry and nauseous again, I realized that I hadn’t had anything besides the Greek yogurt. But it was now mid-morning and I’d missed the continental breakfast. Whatever. I went to the Flamingo anyway.
    I ordered some food to go, and then I went back into the kitchen, hunting for