Battle Bond: An Urban Fantasy Dragon Series (Death Before Dragons #2) - Lindsay Buroker Page 0,30
cartridges from the Pardus house. “First off, have you heard of the Pardus brothers?”
“Certainly. They sell magical weapons and are high-ranking officers in the Northern Pride.”
It seemed everyone knew about that association but me. I should have come here first.
“I’m hoping you can tell me whose work this is. I believe someone is selling magical cartridges—maybe even the weapons themselves—to the Pardus brothers and that they’re reselling them to clients.” It had occurred to me that I might have an easier time turning the screws on their supplier than on the brothers themselves, and that might give me a bargaining chip when it came to negotiations. If their supplier stopped making things for them, there would be nothing for them to sell. “Also, I have a notebook I got from the dark-elf alchemist when I was in their lair, and I’d like you to translate it for me.”
“You want so much of my valuable time, so much valuable information. How many bars of the ox-horn soap did you say you sold?”
“Nine. All in all, I made two hundred dollars for you.”
“By yourself?” Zoltan looked over his shoulder. “Is this true, Dimitri?”
“Yes. Apparently, I have a face for internet sales.”
Zoltan’s smooth pale brow wrinkled.
“I also got you that vial of dragon blood,” I reminded him. “You mentioned it was worth slightly more than two hundred dollars.”
“Indeed, indeed. So it is. I was delighted to show my interweb protégés how to make lyngurium with it, a stone capable of healing everything from gallbladder stones to jaundice. There’s much misinformation about lyngurium on the interwebs—many sources say it’s solidified lynx urine, can you believe?—but dragon blood is the true key ingredient. My instructional video has already been watched over a million times.”
“There are that many people with jaundice?”
“Gallbladder stones, my dear robber. Unfortunately, none of my young acolytes have access to dragon blood. Yet. I am considering starting a mail-order ingredients business. For the right price, I could part with a few drops of that liquid gold.” Zoltan pressed his fingers to his lips and kissed them flamboyantly, then tapped the cartridges. “I recognize the signature of the enchantment melted into the metal of these projectiles, yes. There’s a local enchanter who works for a fence company here in Woodinville. They install enhanced wrought-iron and chain-link barriers designed to keep out werewolves, zombies, and other savages. Given how easy it is for assassins to intrude upon my domicile, I may have to consider purchasing one of their fences.”
“Don’t you think the new homeowners will believe it odd if their carriage house is behind bars?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m sure they won’t be here for long. They never are. Strange, isn’t it? I’m a charming neighbor. And a deterrent to riffraff. Most riffraff.” Zoltan gave me a pointed look. “Only the Mythic Murderer would wander willingly into a vampire’s abode.”
“Not only.” I pointed to Dimitri, who was now using pliers and a wrench to make a spider leg.
“He’s an invited guest, not riffraff.”
“You found someone who isn’t intimidated by your stature, Dimitri.” I pulled out my phone to look up the fencing businesses. “Is this it?”
I pointed to the only one in the list that mentioned enhanced offerings.
“It is, yes,” Zoltan said distractedly. He’d pulled over the notebook to study.
Assuming it took a while to translate a language, I made myself wait patiently for an entire minute. “Anything interesting?”
“Perhaps, but I’ll have to dig out my academic tomes on languages to find out. Unlike that sigil you brought me, these pages aren’t in the dark-elf alchemical language.”
“One of the other three?” I remembered him explaining that the dark elves had four.
“Yes. The one reserved for religious ceremonies, I believe. It will not be a simple matter to translate it.” Zoltan straightened and looked at me, his gaze drifting to my neck.
“How many bars of shaving soap do I have to sell to make it worth your while? You’re not getting my blood.”
“No? That’s unfortunate. I can tell you’ve been in the presence of dragons again.” His dead eyes gleamed like wet marbles. “More than one. Amazing. It’s like you’re a magnet to them.”
“The only thing amazing is how inadequate my loofah is. I can’t believe I spent twelve dollars on an extra-fibrous one and it doesn’t get dragon aura off me.”
“Believe it or not, I wasn’t going to ask for remuneration. You can simply owe me a favor.”
I shook my head. “I refuse to owe people favors. Or anything else.”