I awoke the next morning feeling refreshed. I made coffee and a list of everything I’d learned to date. It wasn’t much but it was better than nothing.
I decided to return to the excavation site and canvas the area for any clues left behind by my wizard friends. I suspected the bodies would no longer be there and, lo and behold, they weren’t. Dead bodies were fair game unless someone claimed them. Any vampire within a half mile radius would smell their fresh blood and seize the opportunity for a meal.
I cringed at the thought of Callan hunched over a wizard’s body, although he seemed surprisingly disinterested in feeding from them. It would’ve been easy and perfectly legal.
There was no sign of Dashiell and the interns. No doubt yesterday’s attack had scared them away for a few days. Totally understandable. The world was scary enough without your colleague turning up dead encased in an ancient metal and wizards showing up to kill you because they wanted something you didn’t even have.
A scan of the site proved uneventful and I headed toward the river to catch a bus to the Circus. My phone buzzed and I tugged it from my pocket. Minka.
“How close are you to the Gherkin?” she barked.
The Gherkin was located in what was once the heart of the city’s financial district.
“I’m near Monument. Why?”
“Kami called for reinforcements. There’s a dragon attacking the Gherkin.”
Instinctively I glanced skyward but saw only the usual stretch of bleak gray.
“On it.”
I shoved the phone in my pocket and sprinted away from the Thames.
The Gherkin was often referred to as the Miracle Building because it managed to withstand the dramatic changes that rocked the city. Most skyscrapers shattered and collapsed at some point during the eruptions, but not the Gherkin. Other than the replacement of a few windows, the building survived intact which made it only more beloved by the city’s residents.
I spotted the dragon about two blocks south of the Gherkin. Dark green. Spiked tail. A fire breather. Not ideal in the heart of the city.
Kami noticed me first and raced over to update me. “I only have my sword. I was in the cocktail bar at the top when the dragon started banging his head against the window. Everybody cleared out.”
I eyed her suspiciously. “What were you doing in the cocktail bar in the middle of the day?” It was then I noticed her outfit. She wasn’t in her uniform or her regular everyday clothes. Kami was wearing a dress.
“Kamikaze Marwin, were you on a date?”
Her cheeks grew flushed. “Never mind me. We’ve got to deal with this dragon.”
I pointed to the dragon that was currently sitting on top of the Gherkin doing absolutely nothing.
“The dragon is fine. I want to know more about this date. Who is it? That knight you met at the weapons convention? The one with the mismatched eyes?”
Kami glowered at me. “I am not discussing this with you right now.” She jabbed a finger at the empty air. “Dragon. Chaos. Help.”
The dragon abandoned its perch and we watched as it swooped low and climbed high again.
I peered at the sky. “What on earth is he doing?”
“No clue. It isn’t normal behavior.”
“Has he breathed fire?”
“Not yet.”
The dragon jerked his wings. He seemed agitated. I scanned the skyline and my gaze landed on a hooded figure at the top of a building across from the Gherkin. Lost in the gloaming, he was barely perceptible.
“I think I found our agitator. Look high on your left,” I told Kami.
She followed my gaze. “Wizard?”
“I can’t think of anyone else who could drive a dragon to distraction.”
“What kind of spell?”
“Don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” I looked at the Gherkin. “You said everyone cleared out?”
“Someone pulled the alarm when they saw the dragon.”
It was typical for any high-rise building to be equipped with an alarm, not only in the event of a fire but also an attack from flying creatures like dragons.
“Come with me,” I said.
Together we pushed our way to the lobby. Security stopped us before we reached the elevator.
“No one in or out,” the bulky woman said.
I showed her my badge. Kami shot me a helpless look. No room for a badge in a dress that skimpy.
I inclined my head toward Kami. “She’s with me.”
The security guard waved us through. We sprinted for the elevator and I smacked the button for the top floor.
“Hitting it hard like that doesn’t make it move any faster, you know,” Kami said.
“What about you? Will you move faster?”
She glowered at me.
The elevator door opened and we spilled onto the top floor. Chairs were overturned and glasses knocked to the floor. Drinks pooled together in a liquid mess.
“Looks like everyone remained super calm in a crisis,” I said.
I caught sight of a man crouched underneath a table on his hands and knees. His whole body was trembling.
I bent over to address him. “Sir, you might want to clear out. We have a dragon situation.”
“No shit,” he said. “Why do you think I’m hiding?”
“I promise you’ll be safer at ground level. That dragon could come crashing in here at any moment. He seems pretty agitated.”
Kami lowered herself to the floor and gasped. “Peter, what are you still doing here?”
I raised my eyebrows. “This is your date?”
“Yes,” Kami admitted, although she didn’t sound pleased about it.
“Not the knight then.” In a pale blue collared shirt and pressed trousers, Peter looked like a financial consultant. He also looked like he might have wet himself.
“Nope. Not a knight.” She resumed a standing position. “He said he was adept with a blade.”
Peter crawled out from under the table. “I am. I’m a pastry chef.”
Kami licked her lips. “He makes strudel.”
I raised my hand. “I like strudel.”
“And I like badass women,” Peter said. “What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is…” Kami was cut off mid-sentence by the shattering of the window. Shards of glass flew toward us and the three of us dove under the table, banging legs and elbows in the process.