Taming the Dragon. Kendra Leigh Castle

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СКАЧАТЬ was a weird way to put it.

      “I’m Morgan Le Fay, proprietor of Wicked Little Things,” the woman said, extending an elegant, long-fingered hand. The rings that glittered and glinted on it probably cost more than Tess paid in rent every year. She hesitated for the slightest instant, then lifted her own hand to clasp Morgan’s. The instant she did, Tess felt a sizzle up her arm so bright and hot that she jerked, startled. Morgan’s hand clamped hard around hers, though her expression stayed warm and welcoming.

      “I’m glad you’re here, actually. I think you’re exactly who I’ve been waiting for.”

      Tess’s mind started to fog up, but she fought against it, gritting her teeth.

      Morgan Le Fay? Like the sorceress in Arthurian legend? Who did this chick think she was kidding?

      With a great deal of effort, Tess, pulled her hand away. Morgan, or whatever her real name was, looked strangely pleased. She gave a small nod.

      “Good. You’ll need that backbone if you’re going to deal with him.”

      “Sorry, what?” Tess asked. That strange energy in the shop only seemed to intensify. She glanced around uneasily, half expecting the stuff on the shelves to start moving. Morgan laughed, and the soft sound of amusement was genuine. That, more than anything, began to settle Tess’s nerves.

      “You need work. I have a job. That’s why you’re here.”

      “A job,” Tess said. As weird as this woman was, the prospect of income went a long way toward banishing any lingering fear. “How do you know I need a job?”

      Morgan waved a hand. “You wouldn’t believe me. Yet. Wicked Little Things deals in the magical, the maligned and the misunderstood. The man I need your help with is all three. You’re the first who’s been suited to this task, so...I imagine you’ll come out in one piece.”

      Tess lifted her brows, feeling that strange fog trying to creep into her thoughts again, making her want to do nothing more than nod and smile. What was that?

      “You imagine? Just what kind of a job is this? I don’t know what you’re looking for, but I’m just a starving artist. I don’t do dangerous. Or kinky. Or violent.”

      Morgan’s grin was as sharp as a blade. “This isn’t about your body...Though that will work in your favor,” she added with a quick, assessing look at Tess’s figure. “It’s a small task, Tess McGarry.”

      Tess blinked, startled at Morgan’s casual use of her full name. Had she told her when Morgan introduced herself? She must have...but somehow, she didn’t think so.

      “If it’s so small then why don’t you do it yourself?”

      Morgan lifted her shoulders in an elegant little shrug. “He doesn’t like me. He doesn’t really like anyone, in fact. If I tried to deliver—return, really— this particular item, it would go...poorly.”

      Tess made a soft noise. “This job doesn’t sound all that promising, Ms. Le Fay.”

      “Morgan,” Morgan corrected her, gentle but firm. “And the job itself is a promise. One I made a long time ago. It’s time for him to stop hiding and remember what he is, but he’s a stubborn beast. Kaden will never go without a push. You’re the right one to give it to him. Beauty, ferocity, and of course, music—his kind adores music, you know—all in one rather reluctant package. It’s you. It’s time.”

      The words made Tess’s stomach flutter strangely.

      “I don’t—”

      “You’ll be handsomely rewarded, of course,” Morgan said, cutting Tess off smoothly. “All you have to do is give Kaden St. George his necklace. It is, as I said, a small task...for the right person. Can you really afford to be so picky?”

      Tess stared at Morgan, wondering why she was seriously considering this task. The whole deal was weird. There had to be more. She couldn’t do...whatever this was. She was just a singer. Well, she was trying to be. And a waitress. Or, well, she had been. No job ever seemed to be a fit for her. Until, according to this strange woman, now.

      And really, Morgan was right. One look at her checking account and anyone would know she had very little left to lose. She had no family to catch her, no friends who were any better off than she was. Maybe it was time to take a leap of faith.

      All around her, the air thrummed.

      “Okay,” Tess said, the word seeming to echo all around her. “What do I need to do?”

      Relief flickered across Morgan’s face before she took a step back and turned away, beckoning.

      “Step into my office.”

      TWO

      “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

      Tess pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket, cross-checked the handwritten directions with the GPS on her phone, and then looked back up at the ramshackle old house in front of her. Then she swore quietly.

      “Either she got it wrong, or the guy doesn’t live here anymore...or this is some kind of sick joke that ends with me being cut into tiny pieces,” Tess muttered to herself. Her eyes roamed over the sagging two-story structure squatting near the edge of a steep, rocky incline that bordered the edge of a river’s choppy waters.

      The wood siding had faded to the point where it was as gray as the day’s sky, weather beaten and badly in need of replacement. Most of the white paint had peeled off the wide porch, and what remained was so dingy it was almost indistinguishable from the color of the rest of the house. The curtains were drawn in every window, and what had once been a gravel driveway was so overgrown with weeds that it was tough to tell where it ended. So tough that she’d parked across the street in front of a scrubby little cottage, its front yard full of more windmills, gazing balls and ugly statuary than grass.

      This place gave her the creeps.

      The only surprise was that this supposed bazillionaire’s house hadn’t been vandalized. It might be in rough shape, but it looked to have gotten there naturally. There were no broken bottles, no busted windows, no garbage anywhere in sight. Weird. Like everything else about this job. Tess’s eyes narrowed as she tucked both the paper and her phone back in her back pocket.

      She hesitated, then lifted her hand to clasp the charm that hung from a glittering chain around her neck. The little silver dragon with emerald eyes that Morgan had insisted she deliver here was warm to the touch. It had been since she’d put it on for safekeeping earlier, though that had to be from lying against her skin all the time. Tess liked it. Okay, hell, she more than liked it. There was something about the necklace that made her want to just say forget the job and keep the trinket. Which wasn’t like her...she was no thief.

      She forced her fingers open and tucked the dragon back beneath the neck of her T-shirt, against her skin where she preferred it. The heat from it made her shiver with pleasure. Strange...it seemed to have heated up more just in the time she’d been standing here.

      “Time to get this over with,” she told herself. If no one answered the door, she’d just return the stupid necklace to Morgan, tell her Thanks but no thanks, and СКАЧАТЬ