Lord of Rain (The Dragon Demigods #5) - Charlene Hartnady

1

Bolt

“What do we know about this bitch, aside from the fact that she’s on her way to drain my powers?” I ask, feeling calmer than I should. I feel myself go cold. “All my powers, including my ability to shift, which will piss me the hell off. I’m beginning to think it might be karma getting back at me for being such a dick when you informed us about what had happened to you.” Namely, the harpy sucking Lyre’s power every last drop and me telling him not to waste my time when he called a meeting. I feel bad now. That doesn’t happen often.

My friend narrows his eyes, looking at me like I just grew a third eyeball on my forehead. “You don’t believe in karma.”

I shake my head. I’m definitely a facts and figures person. “No, but I’ve come to realize that I’m partial to my powers. More than I thought I was.” Being able to manipulate the weather has its perks. I enjoy shifting into my dragon form and flying through the air at breakneck speed. It tends to help me blow off steam. Which reminds me, I haven’t shifted in the longest time. Too long. I’m tempted to do it right now. I can’t. And now I might never do it again. The thought is sobering.

This situation is fucking insane.

“I’m sorry,” Lyre says, running a hand through his hair. I can see he’s nervous. “I couldn’t think of anything else but to contact you. I have to get Morgan back.”

“Of course.” I shrug. “Which brings me back to my original question, what do we know about the harpy?” We need a plan. I can’t build a solid solution without knowing as much as possible about the harpy bitch. Only then can we have a hope in hell of beating her. Since she and the human are on their way right now, time is ticking.

“Not much.” He pushes out a breath, sounding despondent.

That’s going to be a problem. “Give me what you have.”

“Power is like candy to her. Actually,” he scratches his head, “more like crystal meth or heroin. She may need it as food, but I also think that she’s addicted. She sounded strung-out when I spoke to her.”

“Great! It’s impossible to negotiate with an addict.”

He winces. “I don’t think negotiating will work with her. It’s important that you don’t underestimate her. She’s petite and sexy – for an evil-as-fuck bitch.” His eyes turn steely. “She has a way of getting under your skin.” He pulls in a breath, and his eyes shift away from me for a moment. “I acted out of character around her.”

“That makes sense.” I rub my chin. “I was shocked when you said you hooked up with some strange woman. I doubt she’ll be able to mess with my head. I’ve been around the block too many times. Dealt with more sharks than a surfer in open water.” Some of these tycoons will eat you for breakfast. I’m not easily duped. I’m not a nice guy like Lyre.

His eyes narrow on mine. “Be careful! It’s thinking like that that’ll get you into shit every time. Very important, don’t let her get close enough to give you that neck squeeze. Here,” he touches an area at the base of my neck, “if she squeezes you here, you’ll pass right out. I told you about it before. Do you remember?”

“I still can’t believe that is even a thing.” I widen my eyes. I doubt that would work on me, but I won’t take chances. It would be foolish to underestimate this woman.

“You’d better believe it,” he tells me, looking serious. “I’ve landed on my ass twice now. It knocks you out cold. Not just for a few minutes, either. Don’t let her get close enough.”

I nod. “Okay. What else?”

“I want to get my power back. That means capturing her instead of killing her.”

I snort. “You’re optimistic. There’s a chance she’ll hurt the human if we try anything. You realize that, right?” I don’t like this. The harpy has us by the short and curlies. We’re on the back foot, and I don’t do back foot.

“About that…I’m not risking Morgan under any circumstance.”

I figured as much. “I can scent that you’ve been fucking her. This house reeks of sex. I can smell it on you too.” I fold my arms. “What I want to know is, do you have feelings for her?”

Lyre nods.

I roll my eyes. This is getting worse by the second. Can we