Rake My Lust (Dragons of Blood and Bone #3)

21. Find

21

FIND

L ater that night, we’re gussied up and ready to party. Though we struck out finding the twins before at their club near the Old Palace, Strom feels reasonably certain we’ll find Mikkel and L?rke Thorsen tonight at their club we are headed to now.

The place Strom saw in his vision today at the warehouse was their flagship club—a spot here in downtown Copenhagen called The Chartreuse. Just as we dressed up to find the Thorsens in Sweden, we’ve put on our best tonight to find them in their home city. Bjorn, Strom, and I look like a million bucks now as we saunter down the gilded stairs of the Forgyldt Bur hotel. Emil Beck’s eyebrows rise as he stops speaking with one of his hotel hosts.

Maneuvering to us, his smile wide.

“Out on the town tonight with your guests, Herre Axel Larsen?” he asks as he looks us up and down appreciatively. There’s a lot to look at, if I do say so myself.

Bjorn is wearing a classic black tux that fits him perfectly, showing off those mighty shoulders and drop-dead waist, and that tight shelf ass I so much love to grab. Strom has on slender, tawny leather pants that buckle all the way up, plus shitkicker boots and a ripped white t-shirt, inset with lace that still manages to be edgy and manly.

Though Bjorn wears no jewelry, Strom has paired his ensemble with a set of leather wrist cuffs, which make the most of the lean, mean cording of his forearms. Bjorn’s muscles speak for themselves, their ridges even visible through his tux, he’s just that built. Strom’s shirt gapes at the half-buckled neck, showing the last of his ornate clan tattooing upon his chest.

Yum, yum.

I’m wearing my classic best color, a dark lavender mini dress with a sweetheart bodice and ruching so it hides all the knives I insisted wearing on my thighs tonight, though Strom tells me I’ll never be able to get weapons into the Thorsen’s flagship club.

Still, I have to try, as I adjust the diamond and amethyst pendant necklace I’m wearing tonight, plus matching hoop earrings that throw the light, and a thick bracelet around my wrist. My high heels are black stilettos with silver spikes all over them.

Good in a fight, if it comes to that.

“We’re out on the town, but we need an invitation to a club, Emil. Think you could get it for us?” Strom leans an elbow on the high counter of the desk now, flashing a dashing smile.

“Of course! Anything for you, Herre Larsen. Where would you like to go?” Emil says with his beaming smile, and I wonder what in seven worlds Strom did to be forever in his good graces and merit the best suite in the hotel, anytime. It’s not a conversation we can have tonight, though, as Strom negotiates with Emil to get us tickets into the club.

A place that won’t let in casual outsiders—ever.

“We need to get into The Chartreuse. Think you can manage that?” Strom says with more seriousness now as he stares Emil down.

“I thought you were already good friends with the Proprietor and the Proprietress?” Emil says, taken aback now as he glances between us .

“I am, but my friends here are not. Not quite yet.” Strom watches Emil.

“You’ll need to take The Test, then.” Emil looks at Strom now, as a deeper shrewdness takes him. He glances at Bjorn and me. “They both will.”

“Lay it on us,” Strom says far more breezily than Emil’s manner, as if he’s not concerned. “We are no threat to the Proprietor and the Proprietress, nor any of the other clientele of The Chartreuse. We’re just looking to have a good time tonight.”

“Alright.” Though Emil balks, he at last steps behind the desk. Motioning us to a more secluded spot behind some greenery, he unlocks a vault beneath the desk, similar to the one we use at the Red Letter Hotel Paris, and removes an item from it.

“First, state your name. Then swear upon this object that you mean The Chartreuse no harm, and it’ll approve you for tonight’s VIP list.” As he extends it to Strom, Emil frowns. Strom takes it easily, however, and I see it’s a tiny green dragonfly charm made from diamonds and peridots, perfectly chartreuse in color.

It’s then that I feel power emanating from it—serious power. Closing his hand around the object, Strom glances at me and Bjorn. I hear his thoughts now, as he opens them to us, Bjorn hearing them, as well.

You have to swear upon this object that you mean Mikkel and L?rke no harm, nor their club, nor anyone in there tonight. Strom tells us mind-to-mind now, so Emil can’t hear. If the dragonfly deems you swear false, it’ll kill you. It’s an extremely potent charm, made from pure Bone Magic—L?rke’s design. But Mik’s energy is in it, also, and together, they’re a potent combination… If you have any reservations about the twins, now’s the time to set them aside. We have to find them tonight and we can’t just bust in there as ourselves, since they already know I’m a wanted man with the Council and could lead the Knights right to them. We have to be approved as our alter egos. I’ll go first.

Bjorn and I don’t even have a moment to object, before Strom grips the little green dragonfly in his fist. “My name is Axel Larsen, and I swear I mean The Chartreuse no harm tonight.”

Fortunately, the thing seems to take Strom at his word, and doesn’t care that he lied about his name. As I feel a dark flare of Bone Magic, then a smooth hum of approval ring from the green dragonfly, Strom smiles, then opens his palm. I see his hand has been marked with the imprint of the little bug. Done in beautiful chartreuse tattooing, the design is Blood Dragon in nature, but scripted through with the tiniest phrases of rune-magic.

Which hum with quiet power, as they give Strom his in tonight.

“Done.” He hands it to Bjorn. “Next.”

Bjorn growls as he receives the little jeweled dragonfly. I feel emotions cascade through him, then. Even though he hasn’t met the Thorsens yet, he knows my first impression of Mikkel and L?rke wasn’t good, and not just because my magic rose hard for a new bond the moment Mikkel mate-tasted me.

Bjorn has beef with the twins already, especially Mikkel. But with a deep sigh, I see his gold eyes clear as his practical side comes online. Regardless of our feelings about them, we need the twins’ help. I see Bjorn decide he doesn’t mean them harm—at least, not tonight.

Tomorrow might be another matter, as he grips the jeweled dragonfly in his fist.

“My name is Anders Karlsson,” Bjorn says now, his iron mind recalling his alter ego, “and I swear I mean The Chartreuse no harm tonight.”

The green dragonfly floods with energy, then chimes with the same sound it made with Strom. Before I know it, Bjorn is handing the object to me.

And I hesitate, wondering if there’s another way.

There’s not, Rikyava. Strom’s voice cuts into my mind as he holds my gaze. Mikkel and L?rke are clandestine on a regular day, and you can bet they’re even more so now that they know they’re being hunted. We won’t find them if we just truck on down there ourselves tonight and bang on the door. We need an in. Some way for them to at least trust us for tonight. This is it.

I want it known that I think this is a bad idea, I say as I grip the object, feeling dark surges of power coming off it now that it’s in my palm. Strom only holds my gaze seriously, then nods.

And I know I have to do or die tonight.

I think back over the Danish twins as I grip the little jeweled dragonfly in my fist. I don’t exactly mean Mikkel harm; in fact, my drakaina surges high in my veins now just considering him, and that lovely, disastrous mate-taste we shared when we met.

His power surges through me now, tasting me again via the little object he and his sister made pulsing in my palm. Like the darkest, most sensual aphrodisiacal cordial, it rolls me.

As everything inside me sears with heat.

“My name is Annika Johansson,” I gasp as that power floods me, “and I swear I mean The Chartreuse no harm tonight.”

Like a bonfire out of control, Mikkel’s power in the little charm has grabbed ahold of me now, and it isn’t letting go. I feel it war inside me with my bright drakaina, and my darker Bone Magic power. But this is the hot battle of the fuck and not the fight.

At least, not any kind of fight that doesn’t end in fucking.

Even as that magic sweeps me from Mikkel’s power resonating with mine, something else slaps it back. I feel L?rke’s magnificent magic in the mix now, as it roars around me, just as potent as when we first met.

Her Bone Magic can paralyze—I feel it grip me now through this tiny talisman as it curls all around my chest like a boa constrictor. It’s inside my chest now, too, wrapped right around my heart.

And I know how people die when they swear false to this object—because L?rke’s power squeezes them to death.

That magic will stop my heart, I know as I gasp, realizing I have to do something. Mikkel’s power has approved me to come to the club tonight, but L?rke’s has judged me as an enemy. Her power squeezes all through me now, making me cry out as my thundering heart struggles for its next few beats.

She’s crushing me, crushing everything inside me as her power works to stop my heart. Even as my power flares, it can do nothing; but I don’t feel that L?rke’s consciously controlling this power right now. It’s just her talisman doing the judgement for her.

I don’t know why L?rke’s magic has judged me as an enemy tonight; I’m down on my knees coughing now as I struggle for breath, my heart struggling even harder. Bjorn and Strom are with me, both gripping my arms as they pour their dual magics inside me to prevent me from succumbing.

L?rke’s power is mighty, however; maybe even stronger than my own Bone Magic, as I struggle and cuss now to fight back.

It’s then I feel my dual powers unite deep inside. As the dark power of my Bone Magic twists into the bright fury of my Blood Magic, I feel them become one. As that unified dragon of burning night and searing day floods me red, white, and gold like it has only a few times before, I rise, roaring.

I thrust up to my feet, my massive wave of Bloodwalker power launching Bjorn and Strom from me as a blast of Bloodwind surges from me. I roar with a thousand harpy voices down at the little charm in my fist as I close my hand, crushing it with my diabolical power.

The jeweled dragonfly crunches to pieces in my fist. The magic is gone. Gradually, my power calms from its former fury as I realize I bested L?rke’s magic, and am no longer being strangled by it.

But the little dragonfly lies in ruins in my hand. Not only that, Strom and Bjorn are gasping—drained by my power when it heaved out to best L?rke’s.

Thankfully, the chartreuse tattooing on my palm is already present, from my approval by Mikkel’s magic, but half the runic script is missing from the tattoo. I don’t have any idea what that means, as I offer the shards of the ruined dragonfly back to Emil, and Bjorn and Strom push back to their feet.

I do know it isn’t good.

“The drakaina of Blood and Bone is mighty,” Emil says with a serious look now, as he receives the ruined object back, then eyeballs my recovering drakes. I’d thought he might be mad that I crushed his trinket; instead, he seems impressed.

As he slowly gives me a nod.

“Few dragons can best the magic of the Proprietor or the Proprietress.” Emil watches me, then glances at the recovering Bjorn and Strom. His gaze lands on Strom, as Strom smoothes his outfit and tawny hair, composed once more. “But then, I always knew you were far more than what you say you are, Axel Larsen . Perhaps one day I might hear that tale of how you formed your trio. For tonight, though, I shall let my curiosity rest.”

It’s clear that Emil is savvy and knows Strom is using a pseudonym, though he doesn’t pry as he nods at us all.

Then glances down at the incomplete marking on my palm.

“You’ll never get in to The Chartreuse that way,” he muses now, as he frowns. He lifts my hand, examining it for a moment, then nods to himself. “Time to get you three in another way.”

“Another way?” Strom blinks at him then, as Bjorn lifts his eyebrows. Both seem back to normal, though I can feel how shaken they are from what I just did, deep inside. But we have to deal with the task at hand right now.

Our metaphysical issues saved for another day.

“I thought there was no other way.” I glance at Strom.

“I don’t—” Strom begins, but Emil holds up a hand.

“Come.” Emil nods for one of his people to man the desk for him. “This way.”

I’d thought we were heading out to a taxi to get us to the club tonight. Instead, Emil beckons for us to follow as he maneuvers us behind the desk and around the corner, behind a group of potted palms and a large, gilded screen.

We’re in the employees’ area now and Emil has cleverly gotten us here without any of the other patrons noticing. As we head down a tight, ornately gilded hallway, he waves his hand over a beautiful door, unlocking copious Bone Magic warding upon it.

He ushers us in, and we head down a wrought-iron stairwell behind the door, which heads into a cellar. An ancient space, probably far older than the hotel above, this cellar of vaulted catacombs has a musty smell, like maybe it was even here a few thousand years before the Danish Blood Dragons founded the city above.

A wealth of priceless oddities are being stored down here in tastefully lit cases all around. I notice it’s not glass, but a clear crystal that is Crystal Dragon made; though one of my best friends is a Crystal Dragon, Blood Dragons and Crystal Dragons rarely get along. My eyebrows rise as Emil ushers us past the vaults of oddities in their dragon-made cases. We head into another short hallway.

Guarded by a snarling dragon gate, made of stunning wrought iron.

That iron has silver, copper, even gold woven all through it; with just one look, I know this is Blood Dragon craftsmanship, and a masterwork of sigildric protection, at that. Some of it is in a fairly modern runic vernacular, and I’m able to read it. Some of it is clearly ancient, like our Blood Dragon scrolls, as Emil whispers his magic over seven different parts of it now.

Unlocking the wrought-iron gate with power mine recognizes.

I feel it as Emil unleashes his true magic for the very first time to open this door. As I sense a whirl of bright Blood Magic in his power, along with a dark slither of Bone Magic, I know at once he’s a Bloodwalker.

But I don’t know how that’s possible; to my knowledge, only drakainas have been Bloodwalkers in the past. He gives me a clever look now as he feels me recognize him.

Holding the gate wide, as he nods us through .

“This way,” he says as he nods at the vaulted underground hall beyond, deep beneath the city. “The torches will guide you to The Chartreuse. When you get there, tell the bouncers at the door you’re Emil’s special friends. They’ll let you in… no matter the state of the inkings upon your palms.”

“You’re vouching for us, personally.” I stare hard at him now. “Why?”

“Us Bloodwalkers have to stick together,” he says with a clever wink. “My hotel is a safe space for Bloodwalkers and their mates, of all varieties. There are many here in Copenhagen. Not all of us are female, however; and not all of us prefer heterosexual mates. Our Danish Blood Dragon rulers don’t like that. It makes them fear we are too powerful, and they raid the homes of known Bloodwalkers from time to time. Many of us live protected at my hotel for this reason. If we do a little crime on the side, since our rulers restrict us in our livelihoods, so be it.”

I’m impressed by Emil, even though he’s also admitted his hotel truly is a den of gamblers and thieves. I offer my hand and he takes it, and we shake. “I will return the favor for you someday.”

“Not necessary. Though having friends in other countries when my rulers come calling is always welcome.” Emil has a knowing glint in his eyes, as if vicious raids from his Danish Blood Dragon rulers have broken all the copious warding on his hotel in the past, and his people have had to flee. He confirms my thought by waving a hand at the tunnel. “This is an ancient Bloodwalker escape route and goes to many locations beneath and beyond Copenhagen. I’ve enchanted the torches to lead you to the club. The Proprietor and Proprietress have offered The Chartreuse up to friends of mine in the past, when they needed escape. So the guards on this tunnel will see you, and they will take you straight to Mikkel and L?rke… wherever they are hiding in their clubs’ network.”

As he speaks, I understand Emil knows far more about Mikkel and L?rke’s situation, and our own, than he’s telling. But he’s got people to protect and only sticks out his hand to Strom now, smiling.

“Be well, Emil… and thanks,” Strom says quietly as he grips it .

“You as well.” Emil winks. “Don’t say all Danish Blood Dragons are frightful. Some of us are really quite nice, when our backs aren’t up against a wall.”

“And then—watch out.” Strom grins as he shakes Emil’s hand, then claps him on the shoulder.

“Watch out, indeed,” Emil says with a dark, fierce look now.

Then ushers us all inside the tunnel, closing the gate behind us.