Susannah Scott - Luck of the Dragon

Alec released his enemy and leaped off his body. In a soul-trembling quiver, he changed back to his human form. His rational human mind exerted welcome control over the beast.

In his human form, Ambrogino cowered, looking pathetic. It was an act.

The Siberians hurried forward to help him to his feet.

“All of you, on your knees before your Jer’ol.” Alec’s chest throbbed, and hot sticky blood wept from his chest wound. He didn’t feel the pain, just fury at the missed kill.

The group fell to their knees and bent their heads.

“Do you swear to adhere to the ancient ways, swearing loyalty to me as your Jer’ol?”

“Yes, Jer’ol,” everyone chorused.

Alec surveyed the group for any dissention—none so much as lifted their head to look at him. “The Siberians may join the ceremony,” Alec said. There was a murmur of excitement through the group. Siberian, or Russian, or African…every dragon alive wanted to find his mate. “First sign of trouble and all of you will be banished. Police yourselves if you have a hope for your lineage.”

Ambrogino regarded him with a pleased smile that made Alec’s skin crawl. He was beaten. He had just pledged his loyalty publicly.

Why did he appear so content?

“Do you like the name Lilly Belle?” Lucy hurried beside the Viking, taking two steps for the tall woman’s every one.

“It’s my name.” Lilly Belle glanced at her.

“I know, but do you prefer something else?”

They strode across the casino floor toward the gem exhibit. Lilly Belle grabbed her arm and stopped her when they came to a branching hall. She looked both ways, like a crossing guard, and then pulled Lucy forward.

“Do you have a nickname or something?” Lucy said.

Lilly Belle glanced down at her. “Yes.”

Okey dokey. She only asked because she didn’t want to know.

Ahead of them, a short-haired woman stood between the guards watching the sealed gem exhibit. As they drew closer, Lucy saw that the woman had something in her hand, something big and metallic.

“Is that a sword?” Lucy asked. “How can you have a sword in here?”

“Thank you, Mia,” Lilly Belle said to the woman and pulled the sword blade, checking the edge before sheathing it and unbuckling the harness straps. It was a sword, real and deadly, with honed steel and a three-inch wide blade. The two dark-suited guards did not react, but stood as still as the Beefeaters at the Buckingham Palace.

“I thought it was illegal to carry weapons in a casino?” Lucy whispered.

The new woman grimaced at her like she had grown two heads. “The human?” The brunette had a slight accent. She reached for Lucy’s right hand and examined the stamp, then muttered a foreign-sounding expletive.

Lilly Belle answered in the same singsong language.

Lucy pulled her hand back and cradled it over her stomach. She knew five languages, including Latin. Their words did not sound Nordic, or Russian, and definitely not Italian. “What language are you speaking?”

The dark-haired woman shook her head. “Be careful, Lil,” she said before she turned and left.

“Lil,” Lucy said, glad to grab onto a safe topic. “Your nickname is Lil. It fits.”

Lilly Belle buckled the sword’s leather harness to her chest.

“You’re like the Beatles song. ‘Her name was MacGill, she called herself Lil, but everyone knew her as Nancy…’”

“You like the Beatles?” Lil gave her a surprised look when Lucy nodded. “They’re a little old for you, aren’t they?”

“Are you kidding? The Beatles are timeless. My Mom and Dad used to dance to them, before my Dad went away…”

It was one of the best childhood memories she and Joey had. Lucy could still remember her parents moving all the living room furniture and dancing to songs from their youth after dinner. Lucy relished the bittersweet memory and heard again in her head the tinny tunes of The Long and Winding Road. Their Mom had giggled at Dad’s off-key baritone. He always sang along. He knew every song, and every single word.

They had been a family then. They had been happy.

Little did they all know, the winding road would soon dead-end.

Next to them, a uniformed staff member pushed a cleaning cart toward the bathroom. Lucy watched the cart with unfocused eyes, her mind still in the past. A wheel squeaked on the cart, and Lucy focused on the janitor.

Joey smiled back at her and blew her a kiss.

Joey. Her breath stuck in her throat and her mind careened out of the past and into her present pile of shit-o-la. “I need to use the restroom,” she said to Lil. Her voice sounded shaky, but Lil didn’t seem to notice.

“I’ll go with you.”

“Can’t a girl do anything alone?”

“No.” Lil seemed unfazed. “I need to stay with you at all times.”

Lucy walked to the restroom with Lil at her side. She stopped beside Joey, who was straightening the supplies on his cart. What a joke. He wouldn’t know how to clean a bathroom if his life depended on it.

“You done in there?” she asked him.

“Yes, ma’am.” The way he said the word ma’am with two syllables and a fake southern drawl got her hackles up. What were he and Gino planning now?

“What kind of cleaning are you doing?” The question sounded rather obvious since he was outside the bathrooms, but Joey would know what she meant.

Lil frowned and crossed her arms. “I thought you had to go?”

“I do.” Lucy glared at Joey. “I’m just so curious about the cleaning .”

Joey grinned. “Just double checking everything, making sure it’s all ready to go.”

Ready to go. Dammit, they must have gotten new keycard somehow. “When do you finish your cleaning?”

Lil shifted beside her impatiently.

“I’ve got a long shift today,” Joey said. “I don’t get done ‘til midnight.”

“What happens then?” It was a question too far—she knew it and Joey knew it. Lil dropped her arms and glanced between the two of them, like she was aware she was missing something.

Joey rearranged green and red spray bottles on the cart. “Got a little party planned. If you’re interested, my friends and I are meeting in the employee parking garage.” Joey pushed the cart away, not waiting to hear her response.

“Are you flirting with the staff?” Lil’s voice was incredulous.

It was Lucy’s turn to not respond. She pushed the women’s bathroom door open and fumbled into a stall. Gino and Joey must have a card if they were going to hit the gem collection at midnight. Holy Hell. Lucy shimmied her pants down, sat on the toilet.

She studied her hands, one manicured with smudged white tips, the other with ragged nails and the bizzaro stamp. Neither hand felt like it belonged to her. What should she do? She couldn’t let Joey steal from Alec. How could she get Joey to leave with her before Gino pulled the job at midnight? She didn’t even know what time it was now.

While she washed her hands, she thought hard. “What time is it?” she asked Lil.

Lil pushed at her ear and said something to somebody else. Interesting. Lucy hadn’t noticed the tiny mic/com in her ear earlier.

“Ten o’clock,” Lil said.

Lucy dried her hands. Maybe she could do something to break the thumb access and foul up their entry, set off the alarms when they tried to enter. But then Joey would go to prison. She couldn’t be the one to throw the pitch on his third strike.

Lucy swallowed hard. She had been drying her hands for too long. Lil was staring at her like she was a nut. Little did she know.

“Let’s go see those jewels.” Lucy smiled, overly bright.