Babette had just gotten out of the shower when her phone rang. No avoiding it.

She answered. “Elspeth and Babette’s legendary whore house. How may we blow you?”

“I want to speak with my daughter.”

“Elsie can’t come to the phone right now.”

“Why not?”

She braced for the coming screech. “Because she’s not here.”

“What do you mean Elspeth isn’t with you? You were supposed to look after her!” Elspeth’s mother’s voice rose in pitch.

“Listen, Auntie Klarice.” Distant aunt, but the woman needed softening right now. A reminder she shouldn’t kill Babette since they were related—if very, very distantly—was in order. “She went off with a man.” A guy who was actually kind of interesting. Especially since he was the first person she’d ever heard of able to set Elsie off.

Usually, Elsie was the type to preach about turning the other cheek. Forgiveness. And all kinds of other stupid bullshit.

Not tonight. Apparently, it only took a glass of liquid courage for Elspeth to embrace her dragon roots. To show herself capable of meting out destruction and throwing herself at a man.

Last Babette saw, Elsie had her mouth plastered to his. She didn’t need to see anything after that. Bleached eyeballs hurt and did nothing to erase the memories. Babette knew this firsthand because she’d tried after catching Nana in the act.

As she was pouring the liquid into her eyes, Grandmother had claimed sex at her age was natural. Meanwhile, the sight of all that wrinkly flesh left Babette scarred for life.

“A man? What man? Dear God, I thought you were going to keep an eye on her. Do you know what happened to the last man she went off with?”

Everyone had heard. The shifter ended up in traction, babbling about how Elspeth had just about ripped off his dick.

Pussy. Wasn’t Elsie’s fault she had a lusty appetite in the bedroom.

“Don’t worry, Auntie Klarice. This one seemed pretty sturdy.”

“The one she put in the hospital three years ago was seven feet and three hundred pounds. He’s still in rehab.”

“Humans,” she scoffed.

“He was a Kodiak bear shifter.”

“Obviously, a runt.”

“Does she at least have her medicine with her?”

“What meds?” Babette frowned. She’d not heard anything about Elsie being sick. She wandered into the bathroom and noted a bulging makeup bag. She unzipped it and eyed the many bottles.

“Elspeth has certain—” Auntie Klarice paused. “—challenges when it comes to reality. The medicine helps her not get distracted.”

It was also probably why she didn’t drink. Zipping up the bag, Babette decided there was no need to let Auntie know about their visit to the bar. Elsie would be fine. “I’m sure she knows what she’s doing.” Maybe.

“Obviously not, or she wouldn’t have gotten involved in that tavern fracas. And don’t think we didn’t hear about it. It’s all over the news. We’ve got a tech cleaning crew trying to erase her part in it as we speak. I can’t believe she was drinking. She knows how it affects her.”

And now, so did Babette. It was awesome.

Odd how finding out that Elspeth wasn’t always perfect increased her fondness for the girl.

“Elsie is fine. Nothing wrong with getting a little wild and blowing off some steam. Happens to all of us. I’ll let you know if you have to cough up bail money. As for that guy she hooked up with, I don’t think we need to worry. He’s not human.” Not by a long shot. As a matter of fact, he smelled downright exotic. If he had a sister, Babette would be all over her.

“Elspeth is a good girl, unlike some other people I know.” Auntie’s insinuation didn’t insult.

Babette was well aware of her rightly earned reputation. “Don’t worry. I’m working on her. By the time she comes home, she’ll be new and improved.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“We both know she missed out on the arrogance gene.” Poor thing was handicapped in that area. She even believed in sharing. Made a girl wonder exactly what Elspeth hoarded. Because every dragon had a hoard. Most tended toward a collection of items they thought precious—Babette was partial to tootsie rolls as a portable hoard, but she had a cousin who collected chocolate bar wrappers. Only one of each type. She travelled around the world to find them and kept them inside the set of the Willy Wonka factory that she’d had custom replicated inside a derelict building.

What did Elspeth treasure?

“Don’t you dare mess with my girl!” Auntie yodeled. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Then why don’t you come here since I’m so incompetent?” Babette snapped. “I’m doing my best. It’s not as if Elsie came with warnings.”

Auntie uttered a sigh, and her voice softened. “Sorry to yell. I’m just worried about her. You need to find her. Elspeth is naïve when it comes to people. Especially men. And she needs those pills.”

“She’s a big girl. She can take care of herself.” Especially after a shot of vodka. That right hook had been impressive.

A growl vibrated the phone. “Don’t make me crawl through this phone line and throttle you, Babette Silvergrace. I allowed the king to send Elspeth on this mission with you because I’d heard through the winevine”—because grapes were for humans—“that it was a nothing mission. Just those green heifers looking for attention on account of the king and his brother never having looked in their direction before choosing their mates.”

“Actually, I think something is going on,” Babette replied. While the missing dragons had supposedly returned, the humans hadn’t. Not one. And of even more interest, all those taken were female. Young. Attractive. Petite females.

As a giant, Elspeth would be fine… Erm…maybe. “Um, I gotta go. Just remembered I have to, um, change my tampon.”

“Find my daughter, or your mother will be looking for you at the bottom of the ocean,” were Auntie’s final words before she hung up.

Leaving Babette to wonder if perhaps she shouldn’t have handed Elsie off to a stranger so quickly. The man did have an odd smell about him.

And he’d seemed rather miffed at Elsie cock-blocking him.

But they kissed.

Perhaps that was how he lured the women to his lair!

“Well, hot damn, Elsie,” Babette muttered aloud. “And here I thought you were just being your annoying self, when all this time, you were laying a trap.”

Brilliant. It kind of made Babette wish she’d thought of it, but then she might have had to kiss a man.

Blerg. She’d let Elsie do the dirty work. However, she’d have to locate her and swoop in just in time to reap the glory.

Elsie wouldn’t mind because sharing was caring.