Read Online Dragon Warrior (Midnight Bay) by Janet Chapman - Free Book Online Page B

the writing on the back is either the name of who is in need of a champion, or a warning as to where the threat is coming from . Where did ye say you got the coin?”
    “There is no such thing as magic, black or otherwise.”
    “No?” William darted another glance toward the woods then smiled at Trace. “Then why are ye taking Maddy out to show her your mermaid on Saturday?”
    Trace shoved the coin in his pocket, took a deep breath, and returned to the guarded warrior William had first met. “Maddy’s a big girl,” he said, gesturing toward the woods. “She can take care of herself.”
    “I noticed some strange markings on several of the trees back there,” William said, “and I can’t decide what sort of animal made them. So I’d rather the lass not have to take care of herself when I can do a better job of it.”
    “Good luck with that, my friend,” Trace said with a chuckle. He headed toward his truck, opened the door, and looked back. “You go save your girlfriend, and I’ll go find out what in hell possessed Rick to slap his sister.”

Chapter Six

    W illiam untied the horse he’d left behind the old barn next to the Lane’s house, and started leading his only source of transportation down the forest path dappled with lengthening shadows from the setting sun.
    He’d purchased a four-door pickup truck last week, but he hadn’t been able to use it to come here this evening. Modern society had so many blasted rules governing everything a person did, William wasn’t sure he’d ever grow accustomed to living in this century. He couldn’t drive his new truck on the roads without a license, and even with the learner’s permit Mabel had helped him get, he still couldn’t drive it unless there was somebody in the seat beside him. And after the little incident a few days ago . . . well, Mabel had suggested that maybe he should ask Eve or Kenzie to help him practice.
    Eve had kindly volunteered, but they hadn’t made it halfway into town when she’d asked him to stop the truck, gotten out, and walked the two miles back home. And Kenzie had said hell would freeze over before he’d ride in a vehicle with the power of three hundred horses that was being driven by a hardheaded Irishman.
    Maybe tomorrow he’d ask Elbridge to go for a ride with him, William decided, or Samuel or Hiram. He’d learned he preferred a man in the seat beside him, as women had an annoying tendency to scream whenever they thought he came too close to something. He’d tried calmly explaining to Eve that he hadn’t really hit the mailbox, because if it hadn’t been leaning into the road like that, it wouldn’t have pushed in the truck’s large mirror on her side. That’s when she’d gotten out, bent over and braced her hands on her knees for several minutes, and then silently started for home.
    Maybe Trace would consider riding with him, since the man appeared in control of his nerves. And they seemed to get along quite well—although that would likely change when he found out William had withheld some important facts about the coin.
    But somebody had to help him practice for his driver’s license; he couldn’t keep riding Kenzie’s mares around town whenever he wanted to go someplace. Christ, he wished he could still fly. Considering all the vile unpleasantries he’d been forced to endure as a dragon, having the ability to soar through the air with the speed and skill of an eagle certainly had been a major advantage.
    Not being able to make love to a woman for several long centuries, however, had been a major drawback.
    William stopped walking to cant his head and listen, as he tried to decide where the sound of an occasional hollow thump was coming from. He started off again at a more urgent pace, pulling the horse into a trot when he decided it was coming from the general area where he’d seen the strange markings on the trees.
    When he drew close enough that he could hear growled breathing as well as occasional