Free Demons are a Ghoul's Best Friend: Afterglow, Book 2 by Wynne Hayworth Page B

flames.”
    “Uh…” Pandora’s mouth dropped and she risked a glance at Cheney, who was carefully putting down a fan and trying to hide the fact he was blushing. Good. He was as discomfited by that pronouncement as she was. Or perhaps it was the fact that he was surrounded by a plethora of extremely delicate bric-a-brac. For someone with his height, it was probably close to a nightmare.
    “Behave, old mother.” Buck scolded gently. “They’re not used to your blunt speaking yet.”
    The woman snorted. “And you. You like to talk big man talk. Where my grandbabies? You marry Lian and it good thing. Now you need to do real man work, not just man talk.”
    “I’m workin’ on it.”
    “Work harder.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Buck chuckled. “I’ll tell Lian you told me to.” He glanced at the other two. “If you guys are done playing, we need to find Karl.”
    Biting back a swift and irritated response, and praying the old woman’s words hadn’t made her blush as well, Pandora nodded. “I’m ready.”
    “Lead on.” Cheney carefully wove a path between some sort of small coffee table and a large statue. “I’m kinda big for this place anyway.”
    “You big for anyplace, long man. You just big.” The old woman favored him with a comprehensive gaze that lingered on his crotch. “But fire head can handle you, no worry.”
    Lifting his face to the ceiling, Buck heaved out a dramatic sigh. “Enough already. I won’t bring my friends here if you keep this up.”
    She chuckled. “You lie good, Buck. I say what you can’t. I say what Lian can’t. I good for both of you.”
    “Yes you are, old devil.” Buck leaned back down and kissed her on the cheek. “Now leave these two alone and behave yourself.”
    He beckoned to Pandora and Cheney, reaching to pull aside a tall piece of gloriously embroidered silk. “C’mon. This way.”
    Pandora walked behind Cheney, only to have her wrist caught by the old woman as she passed her chair. “When you leave, dragon will go with you.”
    “Oh—but I don’t know if I have enough…”
    “He gift. You have something special he need. Passion for him. You different than all others. He will be yours and make you happy.”
    Pandora paused and for a second wasn’t sure if she was hearing about the dragon—or Cheney.
    “You take dragon with you. He will help you. Soon you need him. Very soon.”
    The white gaze was fixed on Pandora’s face intently. So she went with her intuition. “Okay. Thank you very much. I’ll take good care of him, always.”
    “I know. Go now.”
    Tempted to curtsey or bow or something, Pandora simply dipped her head and then followed the men around the curtain and into a long passageway. The old woman could easily have been a flaky senior. But something about her brought the hairs on the back of Pandora’s neck to attention. There was power there, if she wasn’t mistaken.
    But what sort of power it was she had no clue. Other than the power to mightily embarrass people. That one she’d got down to a fine art.
    Mr. Big Man, indeed. Like a guy needed any more compliments on his masculine equipment. Especially that guy.
    For a brief moment, Pandora remembered how it felt to have Cheney’s equipment poised at the threshold of her body. She shivered and firmly pushed it away. This was reality, not a dream.
    No matter how enticing that dream might have been.

    Cheney quickly found his momentary embarrassment dissipating in favor of curiosity. Buck was leading them along a narrow passageway, then down a winding staircase, ending up in front of a door that would have looked more at home in a government-secured facility than the basement of an oriental art shop.
    “Uh, Buck?” He gazed at the flickering high-tech locking mechanism, the likes of which he couldn’t remember seeing outside a sci-fi video.
    Buck turned, a sober look on his face. “Lian’s given me permission to share this. I trust you to keep it to yourself, partner. And Ms.