“Walking stick.”
It didn’t have a hooked handle like a cane, only a rounded knob at the top that was a perfect fit for his hand.
She came around and met him at the front of the car.“I saw you teaching cane fighting.I’ve never heard of that.”
He flipped the stick and pressed it across her collarbone.“I want to teach you some of the basics.It’s a great weapon, one you can take everywhere.”
She plucked the stick from his grip, hefting it in her hands.“Why would I want to use this when I can become a snarling beast with fangs?”
“Because you can’t do that just anyplace.Even in the dark there’s a chance of being spotted.”
“Rule Number One,” she said on a sigh.
They walked toward the beach, and she ran her fingers down the length of the stick.She might as well have been stroking him again because he couldfeelher fingers.But it wasn’t his back that he wanted her to touch.
And more unnerving, it wasn’t his Dragon that wanted her touch.
Maybe she was thinking the same thing because she abruptly handed it back to him.“We’re not ugly.You were right; we’re magnificent.If I don’t say so myself.”
He smiled though she couldn’t see it.“Indeed.There’s a rocky history between Deuces and Dragons.The fighting goes back to the gods, who argued about who was the first to hold magick and whose magick was better.They see us as drooling, stinky beasts, and we see them as pompous douche bags.”He didn’t pardon his French.
“Is that why Mon hated you?”
“Part of it.”He found it almost impossible to deceive her.What the hell was wrong with him?
Moonlight glittered across the ripples on the ocean, calling him to fly.He’d fallen a step behind her so he could keep an eye on anything that might sneak up on them.Their feet madeshush-shushsounds as they trudged through the thick sand.Ruby had braided her hair though he liked it better loose.The braid probably represented her need for control and order.And her hairwaspretty wild.He could easily imagine his fingers tangled in it as he tugged her closer.He remembered burying his face in it, smelling the apple scent of her shampoo.He shifted his gaze seaward again because looking at Ruby in the moonlight called to him even harder than the prospect of flying did.
Not her.Anyone but her.Because he would make good on his promise and introduce her to the man who killed her parents.
She followed his gaze to the waves rolling in only a few feet away.“You were a pirate, weren’t you?”
Her question surprised him.“Why do you ask that?”
She stopped and faced him, and the moonlight kissed her cheeks, casting her eyes in shadow.“The pirate memorabilia you have all over your dojo.If you’re that old?—”
“I’m not old enough to have been a pirate.They were in the area in the sixteen hundreds to the early seventeen hundreds, right around the time I was born.But my Spanish ancestors were.I’ve tracked down some of the booty they availed themselves of.”
“A pirate heritage.Figures.”
“Figures?”He forced himself to continue walking, digging the stick into the sand.
“It fits you, that’s all.”She fell into step beside him.“Dark, dangerous.”
Murderer.
A few minutes later, Cyn pointed to one of the homes.“This is his place.”It was hard to miss the stained-glass windows, even in the dark.“Quiet.Whoever put the parasite on him could be here waiting.Once we’re in the privacy of the yard or the house, you can Catalyze if necessary.”
She followed him up a trail toward the sixties-era house, with its slanted roof.A dim light was on inside the house, and classical music floated through the air.Moonlight spilled onto the concrete deck but left shadows behind the many plants.His nostrils flared as he sensed the area.He picked up nothing human, Crescent, or magick.He broke one of the rear windows and then opened the door for her.
“It’s clear.”
She grimaced.“Smells musty.Did he really go crazy?He looked crazy.”Revulsion edged her voice.
“After your parents died, he went crazy with grief.With impotency.”He flicked on a light switch.
“He had ED?Do I really need to know this?”
He laughed despite himself.“I forget that word is now used for sexual issues.It’s damned irritating when society changes what a word means.Gay.Bitch.Ass.Somehow, they gained different meanings.”He opened the fridge, finding no stores of food.“Imagine having the power to see the future but not being able to save those who mean the most to you.”
