Chapter Eleven
If Silas hadn’t held Cassandra back by the elbow, she might have slapped Moira. His hand tightened around hers, reminding her just who that was.
A dragon — two dragons — who could spit fire.
For a moment, Cassandra couldn’t care less. She could sense Silas’s hate for the pair, and she’d seen and heard enough to hate them too. They were at the root of Silas’s late nights and proverbial gray hairs. Both embodied every negative characteristic of dragons that Eloise had warned her of.
“Yes — what do we have here?” Drax puffed on a cigar in flagrant violation of the building’s No Smoking rule. “Consorting with the enemy, Silas?”
Cassandra bared her teeth. So Drax had found out about her witch blood. Apparently, he’d also found out how thin that blood was, because he didn’t show the slightest concern.
“Believe me, I know my enemies,” Silas growled.
His fingers squeezed hers, promising he didn’t mean her.
Cassandra wanted to wipe the smirk off Drax’s face — and off Moira’s too. But who was she kidding? She was just a lowly bartender who couldn’t get her spells right. Moira was a dragon.
A dragon who had slept with Silas. Cassandra blanched, overcome by a wave of disgust. Okay, that might have been a long time ago, but still, it hurt. What had Silas ever seen in Moira?
A sidelong glance reassured her, because Silas looked disgusted too. His fingers flexed, taking the shape of claws, and she softened again. Everyone had a past. The important thing was the future. But, crap — what future did she have with the likes of Drax and Moira staring her down, clearly intent on harm?
Silas stepped farther forward, protecting Cassandra with his body. But she stepped right back into the open with her chin held high.
“Why, Silas. You told me this is a charity event. I can’t imagine what these two are doing here,” she snipped.
Drax uttered a humorless chuckle, and Moira’s lips turned down.
“Actually, I’m in Maui to check on some property.” Drax exhaled a long plume of smoke and leveled a knowing look at Silas.
Cassandra nearly yelped as Silas squeezed her hand, tensing at Drax’s words. His jaw clenched, but otherwise, he held still. Frighteningly still.
Cassandra’s mind raced. What was Drax talking about?
Moira brushed a nonexistent speck of dust off Drax’s lapel and sighed, feigning boredom. “Yes, we thought it was high time to check on Filimore’s properties. Perhaps even develop a few. They’re so underused.”
Cassandra didn’t dare look at Silas, even though she was dying to ask which properties those might be. Koa Point? The neighboring place? Something else?
“Underused? Try peaceful,” Silas growled.
Drax laughed. “Peaceful? You’re going soft, Silas.”
Every muscle in Silas’s hard body tensed, showing he was anything but.
Drax leaned forward. “Better not make yourself too comfortable, my friend.” His lips slithered over friend, making it a threat. “My lawyers are at work, you know.”
“Lawyers. Is that the best you can do?” Silas looked as if he’d like to duke out their disagreements with fists, fangs, or fire.
Cassandra nudged Silas. Drax was purposely baiting him. Didn’t he see that?
But it was too late. Silas’s face was red, and his eyes were glowing — the angry shade of crimson. His pulse pounded visibly at his brow. Shit. Was he about to shift?
Silas, she cried silently, wrapping her fingers around his, trying to calm him down. She’d never seen Silas so close to losing control.
“Spare yourself the noble effort, cousin,” Drax said, dripping disdain. “Give me the diamond.”
“I don’t have the diamond,” Silas shot back.
Drax grinned and motioned at Cassandra, making her stomach turn. “Then give me the woman.”
“Never!” Silas barked, making the nearest twenty people turn in surprise.
Cassandra turned too, surprised at the vehemence in his voice. A warm rush went through her veins, and she wished she could hold on to that feeling instead of the urgent need to defuse things, fast.
“Is this how you operate?” she sneered at Drax. “Taking whatever — whomever — you want?”
Drax laughed, shooting a look at Moira. “Believe me, they come willingly.”
The she-dragon’s tight features twitched, and Cassandra wished for some poker-playing experience to figure out what the hell that meant.
“Maybe some do, though I can’t imagine why,” Cassandra sniffed. “Others will fight you with every weapon at their disposal. And believe me, that’s when you need to watch out.”
She raised her hands and let her fingers dance in the air at Drax, copying some of the moves she’d seen in Silas’s books. Any self-respecting witch would have groaned at her sloppy version of the turn-into-a-frog spell, but hell. It was pretty damn convincing, even if it would never work. Silas’s eyes went wide, and Moira shuffled back an inch.
A second later, though, the she-dragon collected herself and scowled. “I see this little witch has cast her spell on you, Silas. You could do so much better.”
By better, Moira meant herself, of course. Cassandra almost hurled a retort, but Silas snorted first.
“Be civil, Moira.”
She raised a plucked and painted eyebrow at him. “Oh, I’m not calling her a bitch. But a witch — yes. She’s been playing you all along.”
“The way you played me?” Silas’s voice rose.
Moira winked and leaned closer, allowing the folds of her dress to split and give Silas the full benefit of her meaty boobs.
You and I can still have it all, her flashing eyes seemed to say. Come with me, and you’ll have everything you want.
Cassandra narrowed her eyes. Moira was plotting something behind Drax’s back, for sure. Not that Drax seemed to suspect, judging by his indulgent expression.
“Well, it’s too late now.” Moira sighed theatrically. “She’ll soon have doomed herself.”
Cassandra’s blood went cold. What the hell did Moira mean?
“Moira.” Silas glared. “What have you done?”
She laughed. “It’s not what I’ve done. It’s what she’s done with that spell of hers.”
What spell? Cassandra wanted to shake Moira. She couldn’t extinguish a candle, let alone cast a spell that could influence future events. But then she remembered Eloise’s parting words.
A lure spell, Eloise’s voice ghosted through her mind. I’ve been working on one myself.
An image flashed through Cassandra’s mind. One second, it was there — the scene of a blackened landscape, torn with great blasts of raging fire and shadowed by battling dragons — and then it was gone.
Cassandra clenched her hands into fists before she started shaking. Whatever a lure spell was, it packed a powerful punch.
“Maybe you’re the one who’s doomed,” she forced herself to retort.
Drax sent out another long plume of smoke, silently appraising her. Cassandra wrinkled her nose as the tendrils wafted in the space between them, moving slowly in the still air. Then she puffed, sending the smoke right back the way it came. Moira put a hand over her mouth and coughed, shooting murderous looks at Cassandra.
But again, Cassandra didn’t care. Dragons might be pretty damn imposing, but they needed to get one thing straight. She was not to be fucked with. One way or another, she’d foil their sinister plans — whatever those might be. Surely, she’d find something among the books in the library. An anti-dragon potion, maybe. A fireproof magic spell.
And, yes. She would look up lure spells the second she returned to the library. But first, she had to end this confrontation before it escalated.
She ignored the urge to retreat and clapped twice.
“Now isn’t that wonderful!” she announced in a loud, clear voice. “You want to make a donation to the Coalition of Maui charities?”
Half the people in the ballroom stopped in their tracks. Drax frowned.
Cassandra motioned the mayor closer. “Well, that’s wonderful news. Silas, won’t you introduce the mayor to one of New York’s most generous philanthropists?”
Silas’s mouth twitched in a tiny smile. The mayor scurried forward, as did Penelope van Buren. She wound her Coppertoned arm around Drax’s and batted her eyes.
“Penelope van Buren. How do you do?”
If looks could kill, Moira would have been booked for homicide there and then. But what really irked Cassandra was the way Drax reached out to clamp a hand over Silas’s arm. Silas’s bad arm.
“See you soon, baby cousin,” Drax growled.
Cassandra wove her fingers around Silas’s and subtly pulled him away. She didn’t know much about battles, but it seemed like this was a time to make a strategic retreat.
Silas remained silent, but she could swear he was cursing Drax in his mind. So she borrowed a page from the shifter playbook and did the same, focusing all her energy on pushing a thought over to Drax’s mind. The dragon might not have heard her, but it felt good to get her two cents in.
See you never would have been nice, but she figured that was wishful thinking. So she settled for the next best thing, putting as much venom into the thought as she could.
See you soon, asshole.