The Dragons of Heaven Read Online Free Page B

another thing I feared I’d never grow used to – calling creatures from the shadow. The claws released my mind, and the scrabbling that only I could hear was replaced by the real scrape of claws on the lobby carpet.
    â€œTempleton.” I sighed with relief. The rat, about the size of a terrier and composed of shadow, snuffled around my feet.
    â€œHello, Missy,” he whispered. His snuffling ranged further afield, along the base of the concession counter and up the paneled sides as high as he could reach on hind legs.
    â€œHey, Templeton.” I kept my voice low. “Would you mind giving me a hand with something?”
    â€œOf course,” Templeton said, but curiosity outweighed his ability to focus on a conversation. He continued to snuffle around the concession counter, rounding the corner and going straight for the popcorn machine. “What smells so good?”
    â€œGet back here,” I hissed, following him behind the counter. I was about to yank him away from the industrial popper when I heard a sound from the street. Footsteps. Someone was coming.
    I crouched low and peered around the corner of the counter, shushing Templeton. Just in time. A new shadow approached the main doors, a dark shape against the frosted glass. The silhouette twisted to look over its shoulder, then bent to fiddle with the latch on the main doors. A few moments later there was a soft ka-chunk and the door pushed open. The figure slipped in and tucked two thin slivers of metal into a pouch at her belt. I was impressed. As a magician, I knew my way around a set of lock picks, but I could never have popped a tumbler that fast. She was a pro.
    She was also not the woman I’d been watching all week. This one had a solid, athletic build, and her heritage wasn’t as easy to peg. She wore her dark hair pulled back in a braid, but a few frizzed curls had pulled free. She walked with a loose and easy stride, daring the world to question why she was breaking into a closed theater at night.
    So, my mysterious lurker had an accomplice. And I had two bad guys to deal with instead of just one. I should have called the cops. What the hell did I think I was doing? Who did I think I was?
    Ignorant of my presence, much less my minor existential crisis, the woman spared only a brief glance around the lobby before sauntering up the stairs to the mezzanine. Too late to call in anyone now. I left my hiding place and followed her up.
    â€œHello, Asha.” The newcomer’s voice breaking the quiet made me flinch. I crept up the last few steps and peeked over the balustrade. The Indian woman stood in front of an open display case from the Chinese exhibition, a slender tube of dark wood held in one hand. The newcomer stood a few paces ahead of me, stance wide as she leveled the muzzle of a small firearm at the other woman.
    â€œJust put the Sutra on the floor and kick it over,” said the lady with the gun. So, not conspirators. Competitors.
    The Indian woman cocked her head and arched one of those perfect brows. “Really, Abby? Do you really want me to treat such a prize so poorly? I could just as easily walk it over. You have the gun, after all. You’re in control.” Something in the rolling cadence of her accent made the words mocking.
    Gun-Lady – Abby – tightened her grip and firmed her stance. “I’m not letting you anywhere near me. Not after last time.”
    â€œLast time… was that Prague?”
    â€œWarsaw.”
    â€œOf course. I get those East European cities confused. So cold and comfortless.”
    â€œI’m not going to be drawn into your banter, either. You’re trapped. There isn’t any unalloyed metal up here; I checked. Now hand over the Sutra.”
    â€œThat leads us to a small conflict. You see, my employers want it badly.”
    â€œYou’ll just have to disappoint them.”
    â€œAh, but I hate to disappoint such – persuasive