Annie Nicholas - Koishi

His human form was considered attractive. The game of seduction always appealed to him, but he’d been immersed in the Asian culture for so long, he wasn’t sure how to proceed with a woman from America. The thought left a fluttery feeling in his empty stomach. How interesting.

Twisting one way, then the other, she regarded the full length of his body. “You’re much bigger than I expected.”

“Why else would the gate have chosen me?” He expanded his wings for her inspection. He truly was a splendid specimen. “All the better to fight with.” He enjoyed the way her eyes traveled along his form.

He drew closer to her and examined his portrait still in her hands. “I will accept this gift, but I fear I may tear it.” He wiggled the claws of his hand. “Give it to Koishi and he’ll bring it to me.”

“Okay,” she whispered and closed the book, tucking it under her arm.

“Why have you summoned me, Sandra?”

She retreated a little. “How do you know my name?”

Fuck. A dragon face was less expressive than a human one, thank goodness. “I–uh–am the dragon Ishi. I know all that happens on this island. How else am I supposed to protect the Takai Crossing?” That sounded wise. Sort of. His human-self could have mentioned her to his dragon-self, right?

“I was told you owned a saji.”

His lungs burned, since he seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. Who had shared that information? It wasn’t the most powerful item he owned, but somehow she knew exactly what was in his hoard.

She stood as if turned to stone. “I’d like to use it.” Clearing her throat, she met his gaze. “Please.”

Just like that? Trade a hand-drawn picture for the use of his supposedly-secret magical item? Either she truly was incredibly naive, or the most intelligent thief he’d ever met, because he had half a heart to say yes. He leaned on his elbows and brought his head level with hers. She smelled of truth, and he snorted the disturbing scent from his nostrils. This left him little choice. His honor demanded the trade.

Magic didn’t exist in Inverness, but some magical items could be charged in Outremer and used here. He owned a few and a saji was among them. He didn’t lend things, though. That was so pedestrian. “I don’t–”

“I have some money. I could rent it.” She swallowed visibly. “Maybe.”

He leaned in closer until his nose almost touched her. “Rent?” The question was all he could manage while attraction and insult warred inside his heart. One didn’t rent things from a dragon. They stole or traded or tricked it from him.

She stepped away, but her ankle twisted and she fell to her knees. Her gaze traveled up to his. “Yes.” Her answer came out soft as breath.

Gently, he snaked his tail around her waist and lifted her. “How would I know you’d return with it?” He watched the twinkle of sunlight dance upon her golden necklace. It sparkled with an intense sense of personal attachment. That made precious metal extra appealing. The love ebbing from it almost made his teeth ache. “I’d rather make a trade.”

“I don’t own much.”

“I like your necklace.” He never did use the saji. It wasn’t a weapon or anything practical. All the thing did was heal. Her piece of jewelry, on the other hand, drew him like a mother’s embrace–warm and soothing, offering him the acceptance his real mother never had. He didn’t own anything that ebbed love as this necklace did. It would be…novel.

Her hand strayed to her neck and she traced the chain with her fingertip. “It belonged to my mother. My father gave it to her when they first met as a token of his love. It’s all I have left of them.”

“That explains a few things.” He held out a claw.

Staring at his hand, her eyes took on a faraway look as if she fought an internal battle. “Fine.” She undid the clasp and held it out. “It’s only a piece of jewelry.”

Before he hooked the necklace with his claw, a familiar tug yanked at his soul. He hissed and blinked. The gate shone before him with five goblins standing on the wrong side of it. Fuck a duck, he’d been transported from Sandra before he could get the necklace.

He roared. The sound shook the cave walls and made the pebbles on the floor jig. “This is not your lucky day, boys.” He stabbed the first goblin through the chest with the tip of his tail.

Damn it, he’d been so close to holding that necklace. He bit the head off a screeching goblin as it ran back toward the gate. If they had only waited another minute to cross, he would have had it. He deflected a sword strike with his claws, disarmed the creature and stabbed it with the weapon.

One would think the pile of bones and decaying bodies he left at the mouth of the gate on the Outremer side would be a cause for concern before crossing. But no, they kept trying. He stepped on the next one until it popped underfoot.

The last one made it back through the gate.

He huffed and shook the body from his tail. What a mess. He couldn’t hunt Sandra before she changed her mind like this. The stench of rotting goblin was hard to clean off the skin. He had learned that the hard way in his youth, trying to court the local fairy princess. Twisting around, he spotted Urgle watching from his chained post in the other room.

Stomping across the area toward his new pet, he shifted to his human form. He grabbed a leather collar from his worktable and waved a hand over it while speaking a few magic words. Goblins, as a whole, were stupid. Urgle probably wouldn’t realize magic didn’t work here. He exchanged the metal collar for the leather one and set the goblin free from the chain. “The spell I cast on this collar will make your head explode if you leave my lair or touch my treasure.”

The goblin nodded and fell to his knees. “And if I went through the gate?”

“Well, I’d be summoned, then I’d make your head explode. Do we have an understanding?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Toss those bodies through the gate immediately, then clean the place.” This display of bloody carnage would keep Urgle in line for a few days. While the goblin took care of the mess, he could shower a few times and then find Sandra.

Sandra stared out at the ocean, a half-empty bottle of sake resting on her lap. The first few sips tasted like dirty sock water and burned her throat like battery acid, but after a few more swallows it went down easier. Her sore feet, resting on the balcony railing, hurt a whole lot less.

Twirling the necklace hanging from her throat around her finger, she tried to focus on the crash of the waves and not on the events of this afternoon. Metal bit into her flesh, cutting circulation in her finger, and she let the chain unwind once more.

Damn Ishi for vanishing. What should she do now? In the morning, she’d have to hike the volcano and sing another flipping song. This time he’d hear her hearty rendition of Pop Goes the Weasel . Maybe she’d throw in the hand movements with it. She giggled and took another gulp of liquid fire.

The last of the sun’s rays crested the horizon. She’d been on this island for twenty-four hours and done things she’d never considered trying. She’d taken a ride from a handsome stranger, met a dragon, then watched him vanish in thin air, and gotten drunk on sake. A nice adventure for a girl from Crab Apple, but she wasn’t here for fun. She’d almost refused his offer before she’d recalled the reality of Beth’s illness.

Someone knocked on her hotel door. She glanced over her shoulder and sighed. The soft chair, the cool ocean breeze and the sunset had her reluctant to leave her spot. “Go away,” she shouted at the housekeeping.

The pounding returned. “Sandra?”