Chapter Four
*L

I considered the sleeping guy that Josh had tied to the bed with a string tied in a pretty bow, and wondered if my friend had lost his mind. It didn't seem to matter though, because the guy was sleeping.

I sighed, moving from the room with a yawn as I listened. Brian had gone to the bathroom, and it was going on three in the morning.

I'd hoped, when I'd seen Ryan again, that we'd all just talk for a while and go to bed. Unfortunately, Josh had done whatever he'd done and kidnapped some thrall.

"Hey," Brian muttered, leaning against the doorjamb and indicating the room behind him. "Should we both just crash on this bed?"

"You okay with that?" I asked, moving across the room to start flicking off the lights.

"I don't really want to be alone," Brian supplied. "I'm exhausted—and honestly, I took care of my issues in the shower."

"Your issues?" I yawned, toeing my shoes off near the door.

"Ethan did something. He was torturing me...and..." he hesitated. "I couldn't attend to anything."

I blinked tiredly at him, moving across the room to the bed as I considered that. It took me a moment to understand what he meant, and I dropped onto the mattress to stare at him.

He waved a hand at me. "Josh fixed it," he muttered, shifting to sit. "I ache though."

"Why?" I asked blankly, trying not to imagine what he'd done in the shower or what might ache.

He smiled tiredly at me and shifted to pull off the huge sweater I'd gathered was Ryan's. He had a white wife beater on under it, and I blinked as he pulled the sweater off.

He had bruises on his chest and arms. The ones on the top of his shoulders were dark, and he ran a hand along the shirt as he met my eyes. Before I could think of anything to say, he pulled the wife-beater up.

There were bruises all over his torso.

"Oh," I muttered, grabbing the shirt and pulling it away to see how far the bruising spread.

"There's more on my back," he added. "Ethan thought it was great; he went and got that tattoo makeup and told me that if anyone notice the bruises, he'd bring a buck and let him have me. He told me that if I told Josh what was happening, he'd break me...he was making me beg for everything he was doing, and..." he looked away as he pulled the shirt back down. "It doesn't matter. Josh fixed it."

"I'm sorry," I sighed as he tossed the sweater down the bed.

He shook his head. "It's over now. Do you trust them?"

"Them?" I asked as we both shifted to lay on the bed. I stared up at the light that we'd left on and sighed.

"Ryan and Kevin," Brian muttered, groaning slightly as he shifted to grab something off the table beside him. It was a remote, and he used it to turn the light off.

"How does that work? Ry came through here."

"I think it's okay as long as the tech isn't used," Brian yawned. "But seriously, do you trust them?"

"I do," I agreed, tilting my head at him. "Why?"

"They were talking about me going with them when they leave...I know that Josh wants me to stay around, but that means working at Secrets and dealing with the whites...and considering the week I just had," he rubbed at a thigh. "I'm not so sure I can do it."

"Well," I muttered thoughtfully. "They're renting a little apartment over some warehouse. I guess it's the old office. He and Josh have this pissing contest going on, though, so he doesn't want Josh to find out where he lives. The rooms are office-sized, but it's well built and they don't have heat issues. I guess the area they live in has a lot of help-wanted, though."

He shifted slightly.

"I don't know," I added after a moment. "Don't dismiss Josh yet. He has you do stuff for him all the time, right?"

"L, it's his fault this happened at all," Brian sounded stressed. "He helps me all the time, but..."

I made a noise, though I understood what he meant. "I trust both of them," I noted quietly. "Ryan and Josh both, and Ryan relies on Kevin. If you need to get out of here, they will help."

He sighed quietly, shifting and making pained noises until he'd settled. He sighed hard, not commenting.

I rolled over as well, yawning as I also settled. Brian already seemed to be sleeping, and I yawned again.

I didn't know how long I'd slept. I looked around in confusion, not understanding what I was hearing. Someone was moving and I could feel coldness in the air...

Brian shouted.

I shoved myself up in confusion and blinked at Josh that split second it took me to realize that...it was Ethan.

He was licking Brian's throat, and he turned his head to smirk at me.

"Hey!" I shouted, kicking at him. He tried to grab my leg, then swore and grabbed the blanket. Before I could get any more of an idea what was happening, I hit the floor hard. My thigh throbbed, and I tried to start moving as Brian cried out again.

"Stop!" someone else was shouting in the background. "Ethan! Stop it!"

I saw the guy from the other room trying to pull at the vampire. Brian was crying and flailing around as he tried to climb away, and the vampire finally straightened and ran a hand through his own hair.

"I told you he didn't do anything else," Joey was insisting as he pulled more at the vampire. "Leave him alone!"

"No," Ethan said. "That's not what this is," he grabbed Brian's arm, pulling him off the bed as the bartender tried to grab at the railing.

"Hey!" I lunged at them again.

"You want to screw her?" Ethan asked Joey distantly. "My cousin deserves that at least."

"No," Joey said, not looking at me. "Leave him here," he tried to pull Brian away. "This isn't going to prove anything."

Ethan turned to glare at Joey, and I realized that his eyes were red. He'd been crying at some point.

What was going on? I jumped at them, grabbing Brian. Brian, in turn, wrapped his arms around me as he continued crying. I grabbed Ethan's wrist so I could pull the bartender away, and I spun so I was between the pair of them.

What was going on? Where was Josh?

Ethan swore, yanking at me hard. My shirt was covering my shoulders, so he was trying to grab at them...and Brian yanked my damn shirt up.

I squawked, but evidently Ethan hadn't noticed the action. He swore hard as he let me go, and I realized that Joey was begging Ethan to stop.

I shoved Brian at the hotel room door and he ran for it. There were a handful of people standing around there, and Brian came up short.

"Whoever catches her can have the girl," Ethan shouted from the room. "Bring the male to me."

The group focused on me, and I noted most of the men smirk wickedly.

"Run!" I snapped, shoving Brian at the door.

We bolted down the hall, past the elevator bank.

Nothing good was going to come of this, but at this point, we needed to keep away from them until Josh and Ryan got back.

*Josh

When I got a video sent to my burner phone of Brian, I realized that I wanted to kill Ethan. It was infuriating to see Brian that helpless, and a little part of my mind was made even angrier to note that he didn't have that stupid sweater on. The video jerked hard, and I realized that L had done something. It showed blankets for a moment before it showed L on the floor with a confused look.

Joey was yelling at Ethan.

I smirked at that, realizing that no matter what happened, Ethan and Joey were going to have a few problems. The video ended abruptly, and I turned to look at Ryan, who was standing not far away with that look...the destroyer. He had his staff in hand, and was very very still.

"What. was. that?" Kevin asked, moving up to Ry's side.

Holy shit they were going to kill me.

"I underestimated my cousin's ability to think," I retorted, moving toward them and glaring at the phone. "Ethan found them at the suite; we have to go now."

"What did he do?" Kevin demanded...as Ryan's hand moved very slightly. He was reaching for that damn rope.

"He was licking Brian," I said quickly. "L stopped him and Joey was yelling at him. We need to move."

I skittered back when Kevin grabbed his own staff, looking between the pair as I remembered Kevin saying something about putting him and the destroyer together. Something about things happening.

"I can't help it now!" I shouted at them, realizing that no matter what they decided to do, I had to get back to town. I turned and moved back to my car, sliding in and hitting the button to call L.

"So, asshole," she returned in a partially breathless voice. "Your darling cousin just showed up licking Brian, threw me down, neither of us have shoes on, and now his goons are chasing me with orders to rape me if they catch me. If you're not outside, I'm going to be furious with you."

Kevin slid into the car, and a moment later so did Ryan. I didn't even wait for them to close the doors properly before I took off. We fishtailed, but I didn't bother slowing down.

"Where are you?" she snapped.

"At the ambush point," I retorted as two vans slid up to the access point I'd used to leave the highway. "Oh look, more goons."

"What happened to your damn plan?" L snapped. "Bry, in here."

I heard a door open and close, realizing that they were running. It made my stomach clench, because I knew damn well that however Ethan had found out what was going on, he'd nearly gotten them both.

He probably thought it was a sure thing.

"I don't know what it would have been," I noted, frowning. "There could be a tracker on my car, I never thought to check. I've just been brought down by that fucker, so maybe it's time to do a little permanence."

"How far are you?" she snapped as another door closed on her end.

"Twenty minutes at least," I noted as the car got back onto the freeway. I was ignoring speed limits, but even at four thirty in the morning the roads weren't entirely clear. If we took too long we'd hit morning rush hour.

"Damn it, Josh," she said irritably. "I don't know if there's twenty minutes of running in this hotel; I don't dare tell the staff."

"No," I agreed. "I need to hang up and drive, I'm nearly doing a hundred."

"Shit," she hissed.

I ended the call, focusing back on the wheel as I accelerated.

"What is going on?" Kevin demanded.

I looked sidelong to see Ryan staring at me. There was an intensity to his expression that made my knees go a little watery; he didn't seem to have any emotions at all, which meant that he didn't care if I got hurt.

"Uh," I focused back on the road. "Ethan found them, he got ahold of Brian for a minute, but L is protected...at least I assume that's why he didn't catch them. They're running around the hotel."

"What happened?" Ryan asked in a voice that could command rocks to move and expect it to happen.

"I don't know," I admitted. "It might be a tracker on my car; I paid for the room in cash or I'd suggest my cards, but...I'm not entirely sure. Hell, he might have put a tracker in Joey."

Ryan took a long slow breath.

"I'll figure it out after we get them back," I snapped at him, taking my exit. I had to slow down because of the turn, and there was a chance I'd be spotted by the cops...but then, I was an incubus, right? That's what the wizards called me, that's what L called me. I could do something and get around the cops, unless they used a helicopter, and then well, I'd deal with it when I had to.

That was my philosophy the last few months, right? Sure, be in love with your high school sweetheart, let her run around and do her own thing. Protect her by avoiding her so she can meet a damn wizard who happens to be more impressive than you, no problems.

I glared as I ran a red light. I had too much ground to cover, too much shit to make up for, and not nearly enough time.

*Ryan

If I hadn't been scared for L and Brian, I'd have taken Josh down. I wasn't sure if this situation was Ethan's fault, or Josh's. Ethan seemed to have thought everything out in advance, and what was Josh doing? Making it up as he went? He really was the least white-court vampire I'd ever heard of. Most of them had plans inside plans inside plans, where nothing ever went wrong. Josh didn't even have one plan...or did he?

I frowned as I considered what could come of this, glancing around and wondering why there were no cops coming up on us. It had taken us a fair bit of driving to get out of town like that, but Josh was making up for it with speed now.

"What do we do?" Kevin asked me seriously, leaning forward.

"Hit him hard and run him off," I shrugged. "Either that or you go after L and Bry while I take him down."

"He's not alone," Josh pointed out.

"How much trouble do you honestly think I'd have with thralls?" I asked, blinking at him.

He didn't look at me long, shifting gears as he spun around a sharp corner. The car fishtailed hard, and we moved briefly into the oncoming lane.

I realized, a bit belatedly, that we were speeding to the point that a car crash would actually be deadly. Josh seemed in full control and comfortable with it, but...

I heard Kevin's seatbelt click.

"I'm going after L and Brian," Josh stated, looking to me sidelong. "I suggest you go up to the hotel room; Kevin, do whatever you want."

"And my only limit is not killing Ethan?" I asked.

"If you can help it," Josh agreed as I realized the tall building we were approaching was our hotel.

"Remember that there are humans all over," Kevin muttered to both of us. "I'm not talking about the thralls, either."

"I know," Josh said in a growling voice. "Do you suppose Joey will fight me?"

"I honestly can't care right now," I realized. "I want this done."

"I care," Kevin noted pointedly. "Don't hurt the kid, he's more than just Ethan."

Josh didn't respond as we crossed the parking lot. He'd barely stopped before I jumped out and headed for the entrance.

"Don't run!" Kevin snapped, running up and grabbing my arm.

I slowed as we entered the building, greeting the security guy distantly as we headed for the stairs we'd come down. No one stopped us, and the noise of the slot machines around us seemed loud.

One of them warbled.

I didn't have time to control myself, and we used the key to get into the stairwell. I had a feeling it wouldn't work again after this. We moved quickly to the first flight, then slowed to look at the center shaft.

"I don't know if we can make it all the way up," Kevin muttered, considering the distance between floors. "And how tired will we be if we do?"

"Well, let's not do them all," I suggested, then climbed the railing and jumped. We'd done endurance training of all sorts before joining the war, and since then we'd been doing battle with all sorts of nasty things; it had settled to the point that we weren't being called out of our jurisdiction as much. Being able to take a class at the dojo had been proof of that.

I jumped up again, climbing over the railing to jog up a few layers, then jumped back to the railing.

I nearly missed our floor, but waited near the door for Kevin.

"Do we sneak?" Kevin asked quietly.

"I won't," I returned. "You do. Come in and take care of any thralls."

He nodded.

I turned and started down the hall, slamming my staff against the wall at intervals.

Ethan needed to know I was coming for him. It was really that simple.

*L

We'd reached a gym before the noises around us changed at all. It had taken a while for me to lose the goons. Brian, who had his hand in mine and looked dazed, turned his head toward the outer wall. He was looking around like he expected to see something.

"What?" I asked him.

"Something's coming," he supplied. "Something big."

I felt a nervous shudder as we moved down another hall. I could see glass doors ahead of us, and we both started for them. My feet were going to freeze, but I was at a loss; the best notion I could come up with was getting to my car. I had a magnetic case for a spare key in the bumper, and that was about what was left.

"What would be coming?" I asked. "Ethan?"

"I don't know," Brian shuddered slightly. "I can't think yet."

I made an unhappy noise. I hadn't realized anything was off with him at first, but as we'd gone on it had become clear. He looked almost drugged, and he was obeying me without thought. It made me nervous, because I didn't know what it meant.

The ground almost seemed to vibrate briefly, but I ducked out of the hotel.

Brian squeaked.

I looked around to him, then realized that off to the side...

A creature had landed in the parking lot to our immediate left. It was long, at least five hundred feet long, and thick. The head turned slowly to us, and it made me think of a male lion...just gigantic and in shades of red.

It was a dragon.

I screamed in spite of myself, forgetting that we were running from vampires. My knees, and Brian's, gave out when it stepped toward us. The ground vibrated beneath it, and I flinched down.

The ground shook again.

"You poor things," a male voice said.

We both looked up to see an Asian man. He was a bit stocky, but dressed impeccably. The dragon had vanished entirely.

"I'm sorry," he said, moving quickly toward us...and the ground vibrated with each step. "I didn't mean to frighten you," he leaned down to look between us, then focused on Brian. He tutted, reaching his hand over to cup his face.

Brian huffed out a breath, leaning into his hand a long moment, then jerked back.

"You're not influenced," the man noted, looking me over. "But you are mortal; hrm," his eyes were on my breasts. "A mating specimen."

I bristled at that.

He blinked at me, then smiled. "Excuse me, I misspoke."

"What do you want?" Brian demanded, trying to scramble away.

"There is a disturbance in my hotel," the male gestured to the building. "My manager called me to tell me that there were vampires making a fuss."

We stared at him.

"Don't give me that look, the boy was influenced by one," the dragon retorted, then turned toward the building. "With me, the pair of you."

"I don't think so," I started, but Brian grabbed my hand and yanked me after the creature. He gave me a wide-eyed and pointed look.

We followed the creature back into the building. There was something deeply intimidating in hearing those footsteps, and even stepping onto the carpet inside the hotel only muffled it slightly.

We were walking back toward the men who were ordered to rape me.

I clung to Brian's hand as he moved up to my side. I didn't understand why we were following this creature, but Brian wasn't letting me go.

Two of the people who'd been chasing us appeared from a side hall, and the female leered at me as she jumped toward us.

I squawked as Brian shoved me backwards, trying to push her away at the same time.

The dragon turned to look, seeing me stumbling from them, then narrowed his eyes and moved forward. He yanked Brian aside, then stepped in and caught the male around the throat.

"Can I eat him?" the man asked us...no, Brian. He was asking Brian.

"I don't know," Brian gasped back, avoiding his eyes.

The man sighed slightly in disappointment and tossed the man toward the hallway he'd been in. The female, who'd frozen, fell to her knees without looking around. The dragon huffed, then turned and started to walk again.

Well, that was terrifying.

I turned to follow him again as Brian caught my hand a second time.

It didn't take us long to reach an elevator, and the man swiped something on his keychain. The elevator played a weird little song that made him smile slightly, and we followed him in as he swiped the thing again. The machine started moving immediately, and Brian and I clung to the railing.

"I need to meet with my manager," he explained to us. "And I assume the pair of you know exactly what's going on. Correct?"

"Yes," Brian said, licking nervously at his lips.

"Are you two mated?" he asked, looking at our hands. "I understand this gesture to mean that."

"No," Brian didn't meet his eyes. "Mated pairs will do this to be connected and close. Otherwise, friends do it for comfort and reassurance."

"Is that common?"

"For some," Brian agreed. "I've been confused and uncertain for the last week, and this connection is reassuring me."

"And it's usually the females who need comfort," he looked impressed, looking me over before focusing on my hips.

I frowned at him.

"Excuse me," he looked away.

The elevator doors opened, and he gestured for me to lead the way. I turned to do so, looking around...and spotting another pair of males. They both smirked at me as Brian froze.

"Honestly," the dragon sighed, moving past us and across the hall toward the pair. They both fell to their knees at his approach.

"Leave my hotel," he stated. "Take any of your friends or comrades and leave. If I see any of you again, I will dispose of you."

The two men nodded, not looking up at him.

The dragon gestured for us to follow him, and I did so hesitantly. I could feel something like pressure around us as we went, and the entire building seemed to be shaking very slightly with every step.

It wasn't until we came around a corner and found Josh stretching that I realized we were near the hotel room he'd rented. There was a dazed female laying on the ground, and Josh turned to look at us...and froze. His attention went from me to Brian, and he turned to bow low to the dragon.

"My name is Gable Bui," the dragon noted as he studied Josh and the female on the ground. "Why do you do this here in the hall like a randy mutt?"

"I apologize," Josh muttered, not rising. "I am Joshua Rossi, and this woman was pursuing my friends," he indicated us.

The dragon looked from him back to us, studying us both carefully.

"He is my friend," I said quickly.

The dragon accepted that, looking back to Josh and the woman on the ground. She was sleeping, her hands curled slightly into fists.

"I meant no disrespect," Josh muttered, blinking a few times. "But I can see that my actions were offensive. Please allow me..."

Another man came down the hall, looking us all over before bowing formally to Gable. "Good morning, Sir. I do hope we didn't inconvenience you with our call."

"That remains to be seen," Gable returned calmly, gesturing at the girl. "Get someone to put her into a room until she wakes up," he muttered. "What is your report?"

"Earlier tonight a vampire checked into a suite here; he was respectful and quiet. He and his friends took to their room and made no hassle. Not long after, the vampire and two males left the group. A half hour or so later, another vampire arrived, demanded my staff give him the room number and a key to the room, and brought a handful of...these," he made a disgusted face as he indicated the female. "Up. He is currently fighting with one of the returning males in the suite, though there has yet to be property damage."

Josh focused on him, straightening slowly and looking back to me.

Gable sighed and started forward. Josh and the new man both melted from his path, and Brian kept ahold of me so we followed.

Kevin froze as we all entered the suite, turning to stare at us. He shouted something in a different language, bowing immediately to Gable.

Ryan was sitting dazedly on Ethan, looking around until he saw me. I'd seen that focus before, and it was pure lust. He rose unsteadily as he watched me, then slowed as he actually noticed the dragon.

I was walking through a hotel with a dragon...who owned the hotel while two vampires and two wizards fought with goons.

What the hell had happened to my life?

I rubbed at my forehead.

"Mr. Bui," Ryan muttered, trying to focus as he bowed a bit clumsily. "To what do I owe the honor?"

"Are you currently acting as a warden?" Gable asked.

"No, sir, I do apologize for...my state," he swayed slightly as he stood again, looking around until he found Kevin.

He was covered in blood. There was a trickle from his left eyebrow, and his shirt had been torn. There was plenty of the usual red, but also a substantial amount of it was pink.

"In what capacity do you do this thing?" Gable asked, eyes on Ethan.

Ethan had been beaten again, and he'd curled onto his side. He was crying almost silently...and Joey was rocking as he leaned against the doorjamb.

"Aw, don't want to help him now?" Josh demanded of the young man, his eyes hard. "What's wrong, Joey?"

Joey pressed his face into his knees, covering his head with his arms.

"I act as a friend," Ryan said, wiping at something on his face and seeming to realize the amount of blood there. He stared at the back of his hand, then looked up and around to me again.

I turned, moving to dig out one of the bar towels. I tossed it to him, and he pressed it to his face with both hands.

"What is going on?" Gable asked, looking around to study me.

"A few months ago," Brian said quietly, indicating Ethan. "He and another vampire decided to poach L from Joshua."

"L?" Gable looked back to me with a frown. "Your name is L?"

"Yes," Brian stated. "I do apologize for not introducing us earlier. I am Brian, this is L—the man there is Ryan, he's Kevin, and that one," he pointed to Joey, "is Joey. Forgive me for not knowing their surnames."

"Of course," the man looked back to me thoughtfully.

"L is a dear friend of Joshua," Brian added, then proceeded into a short and polite recital of the previous encounter Ryan'd had with Ethan. He summed up the information he knew carefully, then added that Ethan had approached him with a job the previous week.

"And why was this one focused on?" Gable indicated Brian.

"To my knowledge it was phrasing," I supplied. "Joshua said that Ethan needed to leave me and the wizards alone, that he needed to leave us all alone. Ethan may have understood what he meant by the order, but decided to only obey the letter of the agreement."

"He was only required to obey the letter of the agreement," Gable pointed out.

"It was a verbal agreement," Josh noted, moving forward to look down at his cousin with his hands on his hips. "He tortured Brian out of spite because Brian is my friend."

"So what happened here exactly?" Gable looked the room over, shifting so he could see the furniture.

"I used the wizards to exact retribution," Josh supplied, indicating his cousin. "The wizards and I left the city with the intent of drawing the fight away from collateral damages. I'm not sure what happened at that point. We were set up and waiting for Ethan; he is Ethan Rossi, and I got a video message of Ethan...doing things to Brian." Gable sighed.

"I need to feed," Ethan said in a pained voice. "Now."

"That sounds like a you problem," Gable noted, moving across the room. He kneeled down next to Joey and touched his face much like he had Brian. Joey pressed back into his hand, gasping slightly, then pulled away to look up at him in confusion.

"Mr. Bui," Joshua said quietly, "is there some way I can make this up to you? I apologize, I never meant for my problems to inconvenience your staff or other guests."

"If I have a need of your assistance, I'll contact you," Gable returned, standing and looking around to the rest of us. "I see no damages. Roger?"

The man who'd met us in the hall turned and moved past Joey into the main suite.

"Barring actual collateral," Gable noted, looking around to me with interest, "I will simply request you leave my hotel."

"Of course," Joshua said quickly.

"Miss L," he added, moving across the room to bow politely to me. "I find your looks and demeanor appealing. I am un-schooled in the mortal practices, but I believe at this juncture it is appropriate for me to invite you to do something simple that you enjoy. Would you like to do something like that with me?"

I stared, shocked.

He looked to me with interest, then frowned and glanced to Brian.

"Coffee," Brian suggested.

"Yes, coffee!" Gable smiled at me. "Would you like to join me for some coffee?"

"Um," I hesitated, glancing to see Josh's eyes had narrowed. "I suppose, if you'd like; I'm not currently looking for a relationship."

"What does that mean?" he asked, blinking to Brian.

"She's not interested in pursuing the attraction," Brian glanced embarrassedly at me.

"Ah," the man frowned. "Can I change that?"

"I suggest you don't speak of it in front of her," Brian smiled briefly at me. "It might offend her."

Gable blinked a few times, then nodded his head and passed me a card. "When you are available, please call my..."

"Secretary?" I demanded, staring at the card.

Brian snatched the thing from me, passing it back to him quickly. "You have to do it."

"What?" Gable complained. "But I have numerous..."

"Just ask for her number," Brian retorted. "I'll talk you through it when we're not being stared at."

Gable huffed at that, then looked back to me. "Can I have your cell phone number?"

I considered him and Brian both as Joshua crossed his arms over his chest. I knew Josh wanted me to say no, but I had this feeling that the dragon was only being so considerate of us because I was a damn mating specimen.

I wasn't sure if that was offensive of not, actually.

I turned to the bar and grabbed a napkin, then moved around them all to the notepad on one of the tables.

Josh huffed at me.

I ignored him, feeling bad, and wrote my number on the napkin. I turned and passed it to the dragon.

I wondered, as he took the napkin with a concerned expression, if I was actually in a coma. That could explain the vampires, wizards, and dragons...not why the vampire fed through sex instead of blood, though. Maybe my mind was just weird.

"...thank you," Gable muttered in a way that made me assume Brian was feeding him lines.

The hotel manager reappeared, ducking into the second room.

"Um," Josh muttered as he watched Joey rubbing at his face. "I know you're uninterested in our problems, but Ethan might kill someone if he's not fed."

Gable blinked at him.

"We need to get him out of here?" Josh asked.

"Do you?" Gable returned, looking around to Brian again.

"He's trying to politely ask if we can leave," Brian supplied.

"I need you to work for me," Gable informed him.

"Can you one-up that, Wizard?" Brian asked, turning to look at Ryan.

"Huh?" Ryan asked.

I snickered slightly. "He's high, Brian. He can't think straight right now."

Brian blinked, then looked back to the dragon.

Gable smiled slightly at him, more teeth showing than any human mouth should have had. "I can promise that you'll never be bothered by vampires again."

"Now, just a damn second," Josh snapped, moving nearer him. "First you try to date the woman I love, now you're trying to promise my friend he'll never have to see me again? I'm still standing here."

That made the dragon turn and blink at him—which was damn creepy, since he had an inner eyelid.

Josh seethed, then turned away to the second room. He was there a moment, and when he reappeared he was holding Ryan's sweater. He threw it at Brian, not meeting eyes as he moved to start gathering up his bag.

Brian blinked at him, then down at the sweater. He slid it over his head, pressing it down around his hips and crossing his arms over his chest.

"It still looks ridiculous," Josh complained without looking around.

Brian smiled at him, then blinked at the card Gable was offering him.

"The only damages are within the usual range of linens," the manager noted as he moved back into the room. "Possibly a stain under than young man," he indicated Ethan.

"You may leave," the dragon noted seriously to Joshua. "Take your wizards, and that young man," he pointed at Joey.

Joshua froze, looking at him.

"You and yours have done no damages, and the disturbances you've caused are minimal," Gable noted. "That one, however," he indicated Ethan, "has done several things I disapprove of, not least of which is causing young Brian discomfort."

Brian blinked at him.

"That's why the wizard just beat him down," Joshua muttered. "I can't stand back and..."

"You don't have that choice," Gable said seriously. "If you don't leave, immediately, I'll attend to my attraction to your female."

I froze.

Josh did as well, then stormed over to grab his bag off the table.

"You will, of course, receive a partial refund on the suite rental," Gable noted, smiling almost wickedly at me as I moved quickly to join Joshua. Kevin grabbed his and Ryan's bags, and Brian moved quickly to grab Ryan's arm and lead him toward the door. He stopped, looking to Gable, then turned and grabbed Joey from the ground.