Susannah Scott - Luck of the Dragon

“But Gino offered me a buy in. It could pan out better than a single jewel—”

“Gino’s dead!” she interrupted him. “There is no buy in. Do this. It’s your last chance with me. I won’t help you anymore. I mean it.” Lucy put force behind the words.

“I’ll talk to Gino, see what he says,” Joey said. “He won’t want to lose me. He says I remind him of his brother Vito.”

Gino probably didn’t even have a brother. His talk was all suffocating, clingy, lung-clogging smoke, just like his bingo parlor.

“I’ll bring the stone to your suite. You can let me know your answer then.” The door to the suite opened. Lucy disconnected, jumped up, and slid back under the sheets. Her heart pounded in her chest, but she forced her breathing to be gentle, as if she were sleeping.

The doctor entered the bedroom carrying his black medical bag. “How’re you feeling?” he asked politely.

Lucy rubbed her eyes as if she had just woken. Her heart hammered so loudly she wondered if he heard it. Did dragons have supernatural hearing? What exactly were their powers, anyway? The doctor didn’t seem aware of her thoughts or her plans with Joey.

“Okay,” she said pitifully.

“You’ve had quite an ordeal, but I’ve brought some medicine that will fix you right up.” The phone vibrated at Lucy’s hip and sang, “Aaaare you gonna take me home tonight…”

Lucy forced a bland look as the doctor patted his pockets.

“My phone? That’s my ringtone.” The doctor stepped to the bed and flipped back the covers. “Fat bottomed girls you make the rockin’ world go ‘round.” The doctor picked up the phone with a puzzled frown. “I must have dropped it before.”

He flipped open the phone. “Hello?” His gaze flew to her face. “Lucy? There’s no Lucy here, you must have the wrong number.” He closed the phone and put it in his pocket.

Lucy’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell him. He’ll kill me.” She didn’t have to act to put panic in her voice.

The doctor shook his head. “The Jer’ol would never hurt you. He would give his life for you. You’re his mate.” He put on latex gloves and spread a medical drape on the bed before lining up supplies like it was a sterile operating table. He went back to his bag and returned with two pills and a glass of water. “Take these.”

Lucy cheeked the medicine but drank the entire glass of water.

The doctor shook his head. “Lucy, I’ve seen patients hold their medicine in their mouths before.”

Lucy tried to look confused.

“Do what you want, but your wound needs to be cleaned and it is going to hurt, a lot, and then I’ve got to put in stitches.”

Lucy moved the bitter pills to the top of her tongue and swallowed them.

“Good girl.” He got more supplies out of his bag. “The medicine will take a minute to work.”

His fatherly tone pissed her off, and she glared at him. “Don’t pretend to care about me.”

“But I do.” He thumped a fist to his heart. “Caring for the mate of the Jer’ol is a great honor, even if you are human.”

“Dragons don’t mate with humans?”

“In ancient times, sometimes we found our mates with the magicians. But never with other humans, especially not in these days.”

Alec hadn’t really told her what the whole mate thing meant. “Do dragons eat their mates when they’re done, like spiders?”

“No.” The doctor gave a professorial chuckle and sat beside her. He draped more white sheeting around her. “Finding one’s mate is complicated.” He cleared his throat like the statement evoked emotion.

Obviously, he was not so lucky in love. Changing his ringtone might help.

“There aren’t many dragons left in the world. When we find our mate, there is a connection, a spark…or, at least, that’s what they say.” The doctor picked up a bottle and rubbed disinfectant around her shoulder.

Lucy winced as the solution bubbled deep in her tissue. “What happens after you find your mate?”

“Dragons are sterile except during the mating ceremony. So finding your destined mate and enjoying the bonding ceremony is critical to our survival.” He set aside the bottle. “Male dragons who don’t find their mates begin to lose their dragon blood. Eventually, we become wholly human and lose our dragon forms.”

“I take it no one wants to be wholly human.”

“It’s worse than death.” The doctor raised solemn eyes to her.

Oh, please. Lucy understood that the doctor was being sincere, but why was being all-the-way human all that bad?

“If you don’t like being human, why do you spend so much time in human form?”

“We have to.” The doctor picked up tweezers and scissors and eyed her shoulder. “We are too aggressive in our dragon forms to live together. And the world is too crowded now for a dragon to have its own lair. So, we live together as humans. But we take to the sky daily to stretch our wings.” He gave her a broad smile.

“How do you manage not to be seen?”

“It is the brilliance of the Jer’ol, placing the sanctuary in the middle of Vegas.” At Lucy’s raised eyebrows, the doctor continued. “The lights conceal the sky, and the tourists don’t think twice about seeing a dragon around the Crown Jewel. Absolutely brilliant. The Jer’ol is a worthy king.”

“Is Alec close to losing his dragon form?”

Someone cleared his voice from the doorway, and Lucy looked up to see Alec.

“We do not discuss such things, ever.” Alec walked to the bed and sat opposite from the doctor.

The doctor got busy sorting his supplies and kept his head down.

Lucy replayed the information the doctor had shared. “You can’t have baby dragons except with your destined mate, and even then you have to have a group bonding ceremony?” Talk about birth control even the Pope could get behind.

Alec nodded.

“Are you people cursed?” Lucy closed her eyes against the whisk of scissors on her shoulder.

“Cursed?” The doctor paused and glanced at Alec. “No, that’s just the way it is.”

“Look. You two. Trust me. I am a Ph.D. I’ve studied ancient cultures all over the world. I know my mythology, and this has ‘curse’ written all over it.” Lucy didn’t, in fact, know anything about dragons, but she was suddenly enjoying herself. Her brain was light and airy, the throbbing in her shoulder was distant and oh, so much better. “It could be the witches casting an anti-love spell on you.”

“An anti-love spell?” The doctor cleared his throat. “I think you’re ready for me to close your wound now.”

…

Alec held Lucy still while the doctor cleaned out her shoulder. It wasn’t really necessary—judging by her continuous chatter, she was feeling no pain.

“Trust me, Alec.” She gave him a sincere nod. “There has to be a witch somewhere that wants to kill off your dragons. You just need to find her. Maybe she is working with the vampires…” This last bit she whispered and seemed to nod off.

Abruptly, she opened her eyes. “I’ve decided I believe you about being a dragon.”

Alec brushed her snarled hair back from her face. “That’s good.”

“You’re so amazing.” She grabbed his fingers with her free hand. “Why, why, why did you have to be a dragon cult leader?”

Aggravation filled Alec, but he kept his voice steady. “We’re not a cult. Every dragon is here by his or her own choice. It’s your choice to stay or go.” It hurt his heart to say the words, but if she really wanted to leave, deny their bond, he would let her.

She was his mate. He loved her that much.

“I can’t, I have my brother…” Lucy sighed. “He’s always in trouble. We stick together. We only have each other.” A single tear spilled on the blue pillowcase.