Free city of dragons 03 - fire magic by val st crowe

He said that he had finally thought the fight was over and gone to bed around seven that morning. But then around noon, his boyfriend, whose name was Darrell, had woken him up and started screaming him and punching him.
    Brian said it had never been that bad before. That Darrell had never wailed on him like that. He’d tried to fight back, but he was half-asleep and stunned and frightened.
    In the end, he’d gone for his car and made a run for it, heading for the hotel to find Connor.
    I told him that he could stay here as long as he wanted.
    I wondered if Lachlan would say that I was picking up another stray. If I was, I didn’t mind. That was who I was. I took care of people. I helped people.
    And just as I was thinking of people I had helped, Darla Tell strolled into my lobby. When she saw me, she smiled. “Penny! So good to see you.”
    I went over to her. “Darla. Um, is everything okay? I thought that the drake problem was solved.”
    “Oh, indeed,” she said. “It is, most definitely. You did a fantastic job.”
    I smiled, but inside I felt wary. Okay, maybe there was more to this than helping them out with some drakes. Maybe she was interested in me and my blood bond, maybe she and her Order were a danger after all. “Well, I’m glad we could help out.”
    “So am I,” she said, clasping her hands together. She looked around the lobby. “Your hotel is really just darling. I love all the dolphin art on the walls. I suppose that’s because it’s called the Purple Dolphin.”
    “Uh, yeah,” I said. “Is there something I can help you with?”
    “Have you been to the cafe down the street? It’s the Pink Something-or-other.”
    “I was just there for lunch, actually.”
    “Oh, you’ve eaten already.” She sighed. “I was hoping I could catch you. Well, maybe you’d want to go for a dessert or a snack or something?”
    Truthfully, I did eat little snacks here and there to stave off the pregnancy nausea. But I was thrown by Darla’s appearance. “You came here to take me to lunch?”
    She smiled. “Well, we all have to eat, don’t we?”
    “Just… lunch?”
    “Well, a snack now, I suppose,” she said. “Although I might get something more substantial. Really, since relocating to the States, I haven’t made a lot of friends, and I felt as though we hit it off. It would be my treat, of course.”
    “Friends?” I narrowed my eyes. She wanted to be friends? What?
    “Yes,” she said, still grinning. “So, what will it be? Can you come with me for a bit?”
    Like I was going to say no. “Sure,” I said. “Sure thing.”
    “Wonderful.” She started for the door.
    I went after her.
    Outside, the sun was beating down onto the pavement and the sidewalk. It was hot and humid, and it would have been miserable if it weren’t for a breeze blowing in off the ocean. Overhead gulls soared in the blue sky, calling to each other. In the distance, I could hear the sound of traffic on Atlantic Avenue.
    We strolled down the sidewalk to the Flamingo.
    I was hoping Ophelia would be there again, so that I could get her to see Darla, but when I asked after her, the waitress said she was on break and wouldn’t be back until the dinner hour crush.
    Darla and I sat on opposite sides of the table. She ordered a sandwich and fries. I looked at the dessert menu, but opted for an appetizer instead—spinach and artichoke dip—because this baby had really turned off my sweet tooth. Sweet stuff just sounded gross to me.
    While we waited for our food, Darla made small talk about the weather and traffic. She babbled on about how there were more cars on Atlantic Avenue every day, and how it took twice as long to get anywhere.
    For my part, I tended to agree. I needed the influx of people during the summer, because I needed paying customers. But they did gum up the works around here. Because of my passion on the subject, I found myself joining rather eagerly into the conversation.
    Before I knew it, our food was