Free Prince of Dragons by Cathryn Cade Page A

to drag her partner away. Sirena shrugged at him with a moue of amused regret and snagged another drink off of a passing servant’s tray.
    She sipped it, surveying the room over her glass. Strangely, she was not in the mood for further flirting, even with the gorgeous Azuran. It was more entertaining to spar with her maddening co-commander.
    Ah, well. Perhaps this would be a good time to check out the prince’s menagerie. She sauntered slowly around the perimeter of the room, inhaling delicately. Through the scents of food, drink, perfumes and the assorted fumes of aroused and overheated dancers, she could still make out the faint scent of creatures.
    Slyde stood in a group on the far side of the room, his princesses hanging on him like icicles. Well, she could call him on her com-link if she needed help. As if anything was likely to arise that she couldn’t handle.
    Still carrying her flute of wine, she glided out of the ballroom.

Chapter Eleven
    Slyde watched her go. Damn the female, where was she going? She wasn’t slipping off to meet Azuran—he was talking with Craig. If she’d found another lover, Slyde would have noticed—he’d been watching her like a cobra.
    If she wasn’t trysting with a male, that meant she was going to look at the prince’s menagerie, searching for the source of the scent. Sirena cared fiercely about her job. He knew she would die to protect the Orion and its crew and passengers, just as he would. He considered it one of her most admirable traits. However, she was supposed to wait for him. If necessary, he could shift into his brother dragon and deal with any dangerous serpent.
    One of the Aquarian princesses stroked her hand up his arm, swaying closer to him so that her fragrance wafted up around him. Her silver hair shimmered as she tilted her head to smile up at him, and her milky skin gleamed.
    “More wine?”
    “Thank you, but no,” he said. The two were a pleasant distraction and a useful screen between him and any other interested females, but he’d had enough of their clinging ways.
    Extricating himself from them with an apologetic smile, he strolled behind a screen as if headed for the men’s room. Instead, he worked his way around the perimeter of the room, until he reached the door where Sirena had disappeared. He could still catch the faint scent of her alluring perfume, though here it competed with the scent of animals. He grinned to himself. His lovely co-commander would not appreciate the juxtaposition.
    The scent of creatures was stronger in the passageway, the music fainter. Crossing the passageway, he used his com-link to unlock the door of the large storeroom, and the door hissed open.
    The first thing he saw was her wine flute, sitting atop a large cage. Cages of varying sizes had been set in rows the length of the room. From behind the narrow bars, eyes watched him, some beady, some large and bright, some flat and shiny. The blue iguana flicked its tongue from a large cage to his right, and he tapped the bars in casual greeting as he passed.
    Then Sirena’s auburn head popped up near the far end of the room.
    “Ah, you’re here,” she said coolly. “I’m nearly done with this row.”
    “It’ll be faster if we work together.”
    “True. Come and help with this creature, then. I’m not at all certain what this is, much less if it has teeth.”
    He strode the length of the room, past snakes, iguanas and lizards, which he knew she would’ve handled without a qualm, being a Serpentian. He bit back a smile as he saw the creature she was regarding warily. A dark, hairy hump in the center of its cage, it regarded them with two liquid eyes, but did not move until Sirena opened the latch of its cage. Lifting its head, it whined plaintively.
    “C’mere, fella.” Slyde reached into the cage, lifting out the silky animal in one hand. A long pink tongue shot out and swiped his chin. Slyde grinned at Sirena. “It’s a juvenile canine—known as a