Battle Bond: An Urban Fantasy Dragon Series (Death Before Dragons #2) - Lindsay Buroker Page 0,92
“Not until I’m ready to strike.”
“Will you kill the Pardus brothers?” Nin asked softly, her eyes dark with concern. She’d asked me to find a way to get them to leave her alone, not to assassinate them.
“Ideally not, especially since Willard told me to stay away from them—something about the Northern Pride having a hotshot lawyer—but I have an idea.”
“Cutting off their fingers so they can’t bother anyone?” Dimitri asked.
“I don’t think that would work. Shifters heal quite well. They might be able to regenerate digits.” I wondered if Dob would regrow the toe I’d cut off his foot. Maybe he would be less bitter if I hadn’t permanently scarred him. Probably wishful thinking. “I’m going to assume, since I spent the greater part of yesterday in close proximity to Zav, that his dragon aura is on me, noticeable for those full-bloods who can sense such things.”
“Oh yes,” Zoltan said in a distracted tone as he continued to read. “I can smell it all the way over here.”
I started to ignore him but frowned as I debated if that was possible. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t smell me from more than ten miles away—not even a cat or wolf shifter could do that—and a magical aura didn’t travel over cell waves.
“Are you joking?” I asked.
“Yes, but I trust I’m correct. Have you mated with him yet? It seems inevitable.”
Dimitri fell off his cooler.
I rubbed my face and did not allow my mind to return to that kiss. “No, but that’s actually what I’m thinking about.”
“Mating with him?” Zoltan asked.
“No. But if you believe that and Dob believed that, then maybe the Pardus brothers will too. And instead of denying it, as I keep doing, what if I let them think it’s true? I won’t lie, just smile and let them believe what they will. Pissing off a dragon is generally regarded as a bad idea—”
Generally? Sindari asked. It’s regarded unanimously in all seventeen of the Cosmic Realms to be a horrific idea.
Yes, thank you. “—so wouldn’t they be more inclined to negotiate with me if they think Zav could show up at any time and stomp them like the furry little maggots they are?”
As much as I hated the idea of pretending I had a super powerful dragon backer, it was hard for me to imagine an alternative other than killing the brothers. I wouldn’t cry if that happened, but I’d hate to make trouble for Willard and her office. I also didn’t want to earn the ire—and the arrest warrant—of the local police, which could happen if the Pride’s lawyer was good and the Pardus brothers didn’t yet have a criminal record.
Besides, Zav kept wanting to use me. Wasn’t it fair if I used him?
Dimitri maneuvered himself back onto the cooler. He still looked stunned and didn’t resume petting Sindari until Sindari looked expectantly at him.
“Well,” Dimitri finally said, “it would make me want to be in your good graces.”
“And me as well.” Zoltan closed his book and looked up.
Nin nodded in agreement.
“Since cats of all types have extremely good noses,” Zoltan said, “and feline shifters retain that feature even in their human form, I believe a particularly potent gas could debilitate them. I happen to have here the odor of a weasel and the tears of a griffin—” he pointed to rows of bottles on shelves behind him, “—which can not only take out a basilisk but can be combined with a few other ingredients to make a sulfur-based chemical agent that causes severe burning of the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract. A cat’s nose would be particularly susceptible.”
“What about my respiratory tract?” The last thing I needed was to have an asthma attack in the middle of the enemy lair. Again.
“I suggest a gas mask that covers your eyes, nose, and mouth.”
Memories of the gas chamber in Basic Training came to mind, of how hot and stuffy it had been under the chemical suits and masks we wore. I’d never had the delightful experience of being gassed in actual combat, but I could envision how fun it would be to fight in that getup. And then, if the shifters managed to tear off my mask, there was the possibility that my lungs would be more susceptible than a cat’s nose to the horrific stuff.
I was about to ask Zoltan if he had anything else when he added, “Alternatively, I can make you a small charm that would protect you from inhaled threats.”