Free Descended from Dragons: an Urban Fantasy (Moonlight Dragon Book 1) by Tricia Owens Page B

decision because of the dubiousness of the area and because Vale's weight threatened to pull my arms out of their sockets.
    "Liliana is multi-talented," I replied "She sucks up sexual energy, obviously, but she also can form impressions of people from touching things they've handled."
    "So what, you want her to hold the gargoyle? Rub him like an oil lamp?" Melanie cackled.
    "Not quite."
    We were in the alley now, which was bordered by the freeway noise reduction wall on one side and the long side of the strip club on the other. The bouncer at the front of the club had eyed us until we'd moved out of sight, and I worried that he might send someone back here to see what we were up to.
    At the back entrance, I set down the carrier and pulled out my phone. "I'll text her and let her know we're here. She works the day shift because she goes out at night and hits the clubs. She should be finishing up any time now."
    "Vegas must be full of succubi," Melanie marveled as she leaned back against the club and kicked up a boot. "Probably most of the escorts and hookers are. Heck, the entire city must be made up of sex demons. It'd explain why we have so much trouble getting dates!"
    "I'm not so sure sex demons are the problem," I said. "But yeah, Vegas is full of magickal beings. I bet we don't know what half of them are."
    It was both a comforting thought and an alarming one. Many of my friends were shifters with the odd succubus and incubus thrown in. I was also acquaintances with witches and warlocks, a couple of sorcerers, and a handful of people who were something , though I couldn't quite figure out what.
    Nonetheless, with perhaps the exception of one of the sorcerers, no one I knew could command the power that I could, which made me believe I was an anomaly. That was good, because it meant I didn't feel threatened. It was bad because it meant I stood out to the Oddsmakers.
    One year, two days after New Year's Day, a homeless guy had walked into the Tropicana casino and gone on the win streak of a lifetime, turning one hundred dollars into nearly two and a half million dollars. It wasn't the first time someone had become a millionaire in the city overnight, but it was the first time someone had started their run with such a small bankroll. It had been the talk of the town for a week.
    Later, we in the magickal community learned that the homeless guy had actually been an out of town warlock. A month prior, he had stumbled upon a Cambodian luck spell that he'd immediately thought to use on the blackjack tables. His punishment for drawing so much attention to himself? Well, none of us really knew. But for a few weeks afterward there had been a spot out in the desert on the way to the secret and notorious Air Force base, Area 51, that had glowed with magickal energy.
    No one had dared gone out to investigate, but it was assumed that it wasn't an alien corpse that was buried out there. The Oddsmakers didn't tolerate the indiscreet use of magick no matter who you were or what your intentions. The key to survival with them was not to be noticed at all.
    If I wanted to continue to live, I needed to fly beneath their radar. Too bad events of late were conspiring against that plan.
    As I was putting my phone away, I heard the sound of rubber scuffing over asphalt. Melanie and I shared a nervous look. I'd hoped to keep this quiet, but luck was rarely on my side.
    Except when I made it so.
    I called forth my dragon, but subtly, so he was only a cool breeze looping through the alley as two men emerged from the shadows.
    They were big, bruiser types. I assumed, perhaps uncharitably, that they possessed more attitude than brains.
    "What're you ladies doing back here?" the bald one asked. He smiled but I didn't believe it for a second.
    "Employees only," said the one with the goatee. Both of them wore leather jackets and motorcycle boots. Not the expected attire of security men and it increased my nervousness.
    "We're waiting for a friend who