Free Dragon's Chase (Paranormal Protection Agency) (Paranormal Protection Agency Book 7) by Mina Carter Page B

much. The words escaped before she could stop them. Far, far too much.
    Whatever you did, was in the past. We can get through this, I promise.
    What she’d done in the past? All she’d done was to serve her queen and her duty, nothing that would get her saddled with the criminal past he seemed to think she had. But then, they had no clue what the collar did, that it forced her to do Sellers’ bidding. So, as far as he’d seen, she was working with the enemy.
    She opened her mouth to answer, to tell him not to judge a book by its cover, when a sound outside the front door of the apartment caught her attention. A frown creased her brow and she glanced down. Duke was still visible down there, waiting for a crossing light to change. It wasn’t him.
    She slid off the window seat, her bare feet soundless on the thick carpet and her gaze fixed on the door opposite. The build-up of magic beyond it confirmed that it wasn’t Duke. No, the foul feeling crawling over her skin was familiar. Disgustingly familiar. Her lip curled at the corner. Sellers. The collar around her throat throbbed as if in welcome of its master.
    She padded lightly across the room to the small kitchenette. Her senses extended to full stretch, all of them. Both magical and mortal. Hearing and smell were both boosted by her non-human nature. There were Red Caps in the corridor. Their stench was unmistakable. She took another deep breath, rolling it over her tongue to taste the scents. Red Caps and a pixie. Just one. A snarl rumbled softly in the back of her throat. Rat. Sellers had sent his pet to collect her.
    Well, they might have locked her magic down but that didn’t mean she was defenseless. Back in her day, warrior-mages had to be just that. Warriors as adept with normal weaponry as they were with magical ones. She wrapped her hand around the heavy skillet on the stove, hefting it in her hand. A good weight, and it was iron. The snarl at the corner of her lips turned into a smile. Perfect.
    You’ve gone quiet on me, sweetness.
    Her mate’s voice sliding into her mind made Chase pause between one step and the next. Shit, her mate was on his way up here. Panic surged through her as magic rose in the corridor. If it had been just the Red Caps out there, she wouldn’t have worried. But Rat was a completely different matter, especially if he was armed with some of Sellers’ toys—the Dragos charm wasn’t the only magical artifact the mad warlock had at his disposal—as she suspected.
    Yeah, well... She injected a breathy, flustered note into her mental voice to hide her true purpose from him, and crept toward the door. A lady has to use the facilities once in a while. It’s not the sort of thing she wants her beau to hear, now is it?
    She reached the wall by the side of the door, the plaster cool at her back. Scant inches of wall separated her from the occupants of the corridor but she could feel their malevolence pulsing through it. No doubt they’d realized the fate of John, Karl and their companions.
    Oh, I’m your beau now, am I? Are you finally ready to concede we’re mates?
    Shit. She had to get him out of here. The magic built further, an uneasy, sickly pressure in the air that didn’t bode well. Not at all. Instinctively she reached for her magic, only to have the collar throb again, almost throwing her to her knees.
    Maaaaaybe…. If you get me a pastry. She closed her eyes and pulled strength from her beast to bolster her knees. All the time she whispered a little prayer to Hegra that he’d take the bait. Go back and get her a pastry, giving her time to sort out their visitors.
    A pastry? You’re kidding me, right? His mental voice was incredulous. You want me to go back—
    Please. Shit, she shouldn’t beg. It wasn’t her and would tip him off something was wrong. I really like them. And I’m hungry. Really hungry. Being injured and all….
    Okay, okay. He huffed, but she could hear the smile in his voice. Pastry it is. Any