Free Unbinding by Eileen Wilks

female cop came out of the ladies’ room. Kai hadn’t noticed her go in. Either the woman had an awkwardly weak bladder, or someone wanted to find out if Nathan was right about it being unoccupied.
    “Hunter!” Ackleford called. “Come here a minute.”
    Kai glanced that way. Ackleford stood next to the man she’d suggested he talk to. He hadn’t asked Kai to come, though, had he? He wanted Nathan—who frowned, but started that way. Kai huffed out an impatient breath. She’d been told that Ackleford had a bias against women. Looked like she’d heard right. Should she elbow her way into that discussion, or would it be better to—
    Outside, someone screamed.
    Dammit! She didn’t have any kind of weapon with her. Others headed for the front door—Ackleford, and of course Nathan, and even Lieutenant Jenkins—
    “Wait up,” Cullen called out. “It’s just Sam. He must have startled someone when he landed.”
    Kai sent reassurance to Dell, who’d just started to feed when the scream put her on alert. “Who’s Sam?”
    “Also known as Sun Mzao.” Cullen paused, grimaced. “Sarcastic bastard. He isn’t talking to the rest of you?”
    “The black dragon,” Kai said flatly. “You call him Sam?”
    “Right,” the lieutenant said. “Out.” She touched her lapel mic to disconnect and announced, “The dragon has parked himself on the roof of the building next door. It upset people.” She looked tense, which was a more appropriate reaction, Kai thought, than Cullen’s. “I don’t—hang on.” She touched her mic again. “No, Phillips, you don’t do a damn thing about the dragon, except make sure that no idiots bother him! Got that?”
    Everyone in the room was listening avidly. Two men stood up, and two more were already headed for the front door.
    “Sit down!” Ackleford barked. “No one’s going out to look at the pretty dragon. I mean you,” he said, pointing at a young man with blue-streaked blond hair and a nose ring who was still edging toward the front. “Sit your ass down and stay put.”
    Kai wasn’t surprised when the man did as he was told.
    “You can do that?” Cullen asked the empty air in front of him. “Okay, dumb question, but I want . . . yeah, yeah, okay.”
    “You’re talking to Sun Mzao?” Nathan asked.
    Cullen nodded, clearly listening to something the rest of them couldn’t hear. “Deal,” he said crisply. Then, to the rest of them: “Sam wants a closer look. He’s in a bit of a hurry, so he’s going to borrow my Sight so he doesn’t have to take out a wall.” Apparently thinking he’d explained things adequately, he turned and headed for one of the wrought iron gates that led to the patio.
    Nathan turned to Ackleford, who was a few paces away. “You wanted me for something, Special Agent?”
    Ackleford stared at Cullen’s departing back, then shook his head hard, like a horse shaking off biting flies. “Yeah. How did you know there’s only one exit from the restroom?”
    “Aside from where it’s located, you mean? Dell checked.”
    Ackleford cast a glance out at the patio where Cullen was doing whatever it was the dragon wanted him to do. “You think he’s okay? I mean . . . hell. Will whatever he’s doing take long?”
    “It’s hard to say how long a dragon in a bit of a hurry will take,” Nathan said, “when we don’t know what he’s interested in. You might want to arrange for that private space Cullen wanted to use to check out those who’ve been bitten.”
    Ackleford heaved a sigh. Kai didn’t hear what he muttered—the level of babble in the room was rising again, as people got over their shock at having a dragon right outside. She decided to have a word with Arjenie and headed back to where Arjenie was still sitting with her laptop. Kai took the chair next to hers. “You checking out more deities to annoy Benedict with?”
    Arjenie grinned. “He does hate having gods messing with us. I can’t say that I blame him.” She