Read Online Trouble with Gargoyles: an Urban Fantasy (Moonlight Dragon Book 3) by Tricia Owens - Free Book Online
Authors: Tricia Owens
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that anyone here might know of my involvement with the big bosses.
My laugh was awkward and uneasy. "You're joking, right? You think I'm friends with those freaks? That I ever did anything for them willingly? Please."
He flared in a big blue ball of flame, prompting me to jerk back from the table. But the fire had no heat. It was supernatural. It died down to reveal him in his natural form again. The big black dog looked rabid to me, and the orb of blue fire around his head didn't make him any more appealing. The slow flap of his leathery wings seemed ominous. Even the yellow canary on his shoulder resembled a small, angry fireball.
"Do you take me for a fool?" he asked in a snarling voice that was even more difficult to understand than his human one had been.
"On the contrary," I shot back. "I figured you'd be smart enough to recognize when someone chooses to do something and when they're bullied into it. I want nothing to do with the Oddsmakers, but they refuse to take the hint. They're the worst ex-boyfriends anyone's ever had."
"You sound suitably angry, but the truth is your family's dragons have served as weapons of the Oddsmakers for quite some time."
I was so shocked that for a second I couldn't speak. Finally, I sputtered out, "That's a lie!"
"Ancient history is not your friend, Anne, but when your family had the opportunity to rewrite it, your mother chose to carry on tradition."
I shook my head in frustration. "I don't know what you're talking about."
The blue flared brighter. "I don't know why you're really here, but you shouldn't have come."
"Anne…" Melanie murmured, her voice rising. "Some of them are standing!"
This was going down worse than I'd feared. Although I'd mentally prepared myself to be the butt of some backlash simply from possessing a dragon familiar, something worse was happening and I had no idea how or why.
I held my hands out, placating. "Look, let's all calm down. I'm not here to pick a fight, Mr. Kleure."
Kleure snapped his jaws together. "It appears as though you may be involved in one nonetheless."
"I only want information about—"
"Anne!"
I spun. Melanie wouldn't have screamed unless it was something worth putting my back to Kleure.
It was.
People and animals had leaped out of their chairs to avoid the path of four wolves of varying colors that were barreling across the room straight for me and Melanie. There was no stopping to talk them down. I reached into that rumbly place behind my breast bone and out came Lucky like a magic trick.
Some trick. He blasted into the middle of the room like a mini sun, his golden body blazing so brightly it forced the four wolves to flinch back, their paws and nails scuttling clumsily across the tile floor, sending the shifters sliding into each other and crashing into the nearest tables and chairs.
I heard shouts of "dragon!", and they weren't the kind that made me want to smile and wave in acknowledgment. These were shouts of fear, even a touch of resentment. I got it. The fear of sorcery like mine was part of the reason magickal beings were forced to hide their magick from non-magickals in the first place. Lucky and I presented a danger to the world that I doubted any amount of campaigning on my part would change.
So I used it to my advantage.
I had Lucky go big. Super monstrous, holy moly big. Bigger than he'd been in Moonlight. His golden scaled body filled the room, forcing the shifters to crouch down beneath tables or smash up against each other at the walls. And he was so bright that no one could keep their eyes open. Everyone either squinted or covered their faces.
It could have ended like that, with me and Melanie squeezing our way out of there while Lucky held everyone in check.
But there was always someone, wasn't there? One guy who had to play the hero.
Or in this case, the villain.
It turned out to be Kleure.
He jumped onto my back. I screamed because if you've never had a giant dog with a flaming blue head land on
My laugh was awkward and uneasy. "You're joking, right? You think I'm friends with those freaks? That I ever did anything for them willingly? Please."
He flared in a big blue ball of flame, prompting me to jerk back from the table. But the fire had no heat. It was supernatural. It died down to reveal him in his natural form again. The big black dog looked rabid to me, and the orb of blue fire around his head didn't make him any more appealing. The slow flap of his leathery wings seemed ominous. Even the yellow canary on his shoulder resembled a small, angry fireball.
"Do you take me for a fool?" he asked in a snarling voice that was even more difficult to understand than his human one had been.
"On the contrary," I shot back. "I figured you'd be smart enough to recognize when someone chooses to do something and when they're bullied into it. I want nothing to do with the Oddsmakers, but they refuse to take the hint. They're the worst ex-boyfriends anyone's ever had."
"You sound suitably angry, but the truth is your family's dragons have served as weapons of the Oddsmakers for quite some time."
I was so shocked that for a second I couldn't speak. Finally, I sputtered out, "That's a lie!"
"Ancient history is not your friend, Anne, but when your family had the opportunity to rewrite it, your mother chose to carry on tradition."
I shook my head in frustration. "I don't know what you're talking about."
The blue flared brighter. "I don't know why you're really here, but you shouldn't have come."
"Anne…" Melanie murmured, her voice rising. "Some of them are standing!"
This was going down worse than I'd feared. Although I'd mentally prepared myself to be the butt of some backlash simply from possessing a dragon familiar, something worse was happening and I had no idea how or why.
I held my hands out, placating. "Look, let's all calm down. I'm not here to pick a fight, Mr. Kleure."
Kleure snapped his jaws together. "It appears as though you may be involved in one nonetheless."
"I only want information about—"
"Anne!"
I spun. Melanie wouldn't have screamed unless it was something worth putting my back to Kleure.
It was.
People and animals had leaped out of their chairs to avoid the path of four wolves of varying colors that were barreling across the room straight for me and Melanie. There was no stopping to talk them down. I reached into that rumbly place behind my breast bone and out came Lucky like a magic trick.
Some trick. He blasted into the middle of the room like a mini sun, his golden body blazing so brightly it forced the four wolves to flinch back, their paws and nails scuttling clumsily across the tile floor, sending the shifters sliding into each other and crashing into the nearest tables and chairs.
I heard shouts of "dragon!", and they weren't the kind that made me want to smile and wave in acknowledgment. These were shouts of fear, even a touch of resentment. I got it. The fear of sorcery like mine was part of the reason magickal beings were forced to hide their magick from non-magickals in the first place. Lucky and I presented a danger to the world that I doubted any amount of campaigning on my part would change.
So I used it to my advantage.
I had Lucky go big. Super monstrous, holy moly big. Bigger than he'd been in Moonlight. His golden scaled body filled the room, forcing the shifters to crouch down beneath tables or smash up against each other at the walls. And he was so bright that no one could keep their eyes open. Everyone either squinted or covered their faces.
It could have ended like that, with me and Melanie squeezing our way out of there while Lucky held everyone in check.
But there was always someone, wasn't there? One guy who had to play the hero.
Or in this case, the villain.
It turned out to be Kleure.
He jumped onto my back. I screamed because if you've never had a giant dog with a flaming blue head land on
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