Meredith Mansfield, Author

And, since my contribution to this party is actually a two-book set, here’s an excerpt from the second book, BLOOD IS THICKER.

To set this one up: Valeriah has teamed up with some dragons. (Pretty closely with one dragon in particular.) They’re out of Chimeria, in our world (disguised as humans), where the dragons maintain a palatial estate. Of course, they really don’t want to reveal their true identities to anyone over here. The dragons, all in human form, in this scene are: Rolf, his older brother Drake, and their baby sister, Kamara.

While Kamara is about Valeriah’s age, as the heiress of the Matriarch of the gold dragons, she’s been coddled and sheltered all her life. Her maturity level is closer to a fourteen-year-old than a twenty-something. And she’s made up her mind to go out to a party with a young man neither of her over-protective brothers, nor Valeriah, approve of.

Oh, and it appears the young man knows more about Kamara’s origins than he really should.

Kamara excused herself from the supper table as early as she could and rushed to get herself ready for Daniel. She wanted to be beautiful tonight. It would be nice if Valeriah could do her hair, the way she had for the Christmas party. Never mind. Kamara’d just have to do it herself. It wouldn’t be as elaborate, is all. She’d go for something simpler, like the way Valeriah had worn her hair that night. Rolf had seemed to like that. At least, he’d played with it a lot. The idea of Daniel playing with her hair like that made Kamara smile. Last of all, she drew the chain of her topaz pendant over her head, admiring the way it winked in the light, sending golden reflections across the room.

At two minutes to eight, she slipped down the back stairs. The others were in the study, so she wanted to avoid that side of the house and the entry hall, where her gold high-heeled shoes would echo on the marble tiles. Past the gym and out the French doors to the patio. She breathed a sigh of relief at escaping the house. This time, she was going to make it.

Around the kitchen side of the house to the front was easy. She walked on the grass, not the concrete driveway, despite the unpleasant way her heels sank into the damp soil. That was better than making too much noise and attracting attention. She had to step onto the concrete to open the smaller pedestrian gate, set into the larger one. Hopefully, she was far enough from the house now not to be heard.

As soon as she’d palmed the lock, the gate pushed open from the other side and Daniel stepped through. She smiled brightly at him. Two other men she didn’t recognize came through behind him. Well, he’d said they were going to a party with some of his friends.

Daniel didn’t introduce his friends, but they moved to either side of her.

“Hello, Kamara.” Daniel’s voice was harsh, nothing like the sweet, charming tones she was used to. And his smile was almost predatory. For the first time, Kamara started to wonder if she should have listened to Valeriah after all.

“Um, hi. Who’re you’re friends?” she asked.

Daniel flicked a hand to his left at a big man–bigger than Father–with reddish hair and a long, horsey face. “Ben.” Then he gestured to his right as a slight fellow with golden blond, feathery hair like Daniel’s, but without the interesting blue highlights. “Patrick.” He swept his hand toward her in a mocking imitation of a bow. “I give you Kamara of Chimeria.”

Kamara’s heart dropped to her stomach. How did he know who she was? She backed up a step. Ben closed in behind her, cutting off her retreat. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all.” Daniel’s hand stroked her cheek, but this time she didn’t get any of those pleasant tingles. Instead, a shiver of fear coursed through her, mixed with overwhelming hurt.

Daniel continued to smile. “Don’t worry. No one’s going to hurt you. We’re just going to play a little joke on your brothers.”

“I don’t think they’ll have much of a sense of humor on that subject,” Kamara said, trying to keep her voice steady.

“Oh, they’ll play along. They’ll have to if they want to get you back. And they’ll give us what should always have been our birthright, too–access to the portals.”

“Let’s just go to the party, like we planned.” Kamara’s voice sounded pleading in her own ears.

Kamara dodged to the side, trying to get around Ben and make a run for the house. Patrick grabbed her arm to stop her. She spun in a move Valeriah had taught her, stomping on his foot and freeing herself. But then Ben grabbed her from behind so that her arms were pinned to her sides and lifted her feet off the ground. Valeriah hadn’t covered what to do in a case like this. Kamara struggled in vain.

Daniel’s smiled widened, but not pleasantly. “There isn’t any party, you little fool. There never was. That was just a way to get you away from your brothers.” His hand traced down her neck to the chain and followed the chain down to her topaz. His fist closed around it. “We’ll start with this. I don’t know what it does, but we can’t have you using magic against us.” He yanked on the chain, but it was stronger than he expected, enhanced with magic.

Her shivering fear and hurt turned in a flash to purely draconic outrage. No one, ever, laid a hand on a dragon’s jewels. Not if they wanted to live. The roar that issued from Kamara’s throat was not a sound any human could produce.

“What the hell!” Patrick said, putting his hands over his ears. “I thought you said they were wizards.”

Even Daniel looked stunned, though Ben’s arms were just as firm as ever. Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “That wasn’t human. What are you?”

~

Valeriah dropped the bowl of popcorn she’d been about to take into the study. That roar could only have come from a dragon. It wasn’t Rolf or Drake. It sounded female. Kamara!

And the roar had come, not from upstairs where they all thought Kamara was sulking, but from outside. She dashed through the kitchen door and paused. Which way? The sound of a boot scuffing on concrete decided her. The patio and all the paths in the garden were stone. The only concrete was in the driveway out front. The difference in sound was subtle, but perceptible to her sensitive ears. She raced to the front of the house.

Her werewolf’s night vision showed her the scene long before even her speed could close the distance. Three to one. For her, that wasn’t such bad odds–if only Kamara weren’t at risk.

Well, getting Kamara out of harm’s way was the first priority. She launched herself into the biggest man, the one who was holding Kamara, hitting him with both feet in the small of his back. The man dropped Kamara and fell to his knees, coughing. Valeriah had bounced back to her feet before either of the other two could react. Daniel next. He was almost certainly the ringleader, here.

“It’s the new wife,” Daniel said. “Grab her, too. We’ll get anything we want for the both of them.”

“You’ll get much more than you bargained for,” Valeriah answered. “I promise you that much.”

“Spoiled little rich girls don’t scare me.”

Valeriah actually smiled. “Your mistake.” Her kick took Daniel in the chin, dropping him like a stone. She ignored him as she turned for the third man.

The skinny one had grabbed Kamara’s arm, pulling her in front of him and was in the act of reaching into his jacket for something. Most likely a gun. Possibly a knife. Either was bad news. Valeriah could hear Rolf and Drake pounding up the driveway towards them, but they’d be too late to help with this. She needed to take this guy out before he could put a gun in play.

Kamara, bless her, drove her elbow into the smaller man’s gut. He didn’t release her, but Kamara’s continuing struggles did pull him part way around. It was all the opportunity Valeriah needed. She was behind him, with her arm across his throat, choking him, before he could straighten from Kamara’s blow.

“Drop it,” Valeriah hissed, “or you’ll end up like Daniel.” She heard the clatter of metal on the concrete followed by a deafening bang. Damned cheap gun had gone off. Valeriah automatically checked Kamara to be sure she hadn’t been hit by the stray bullet or any shrapnel it might have caused striking the concrete driveway.

By then, Rolf and Drake ran up. Drake quickly picked up the discarded gun and took charge of the two men already down. Rolf pulled first Valeriah and then Kamara into his arms. After a quick, reassuring hug, Valeriah squirmed free to check on Daniel. She didn’t think she’d kicked him hard enough to break his neck, but it wouldn’t hurt to make sure. No. There was a steady pulse, but he was certainly out cold.

She straightened at the sound of sirens coming up the hill. Damn. That was precisely what they didn’t need. She pointed to the biggest of the three. “You. Pick up Daniel and hide in those trees.” She pointed back up to a curve in the driveway where a thick stand of Italian cypress screened the house from the gate.

The big one just stared at her. “Go. Unless you really want to be arrested for attempted kidnapping. We don’t need to be dealing with the police right now. We’ll just tell them it was a mistake. We heard it, too, but think it must have been some kids setting off a firecracker or something. Then we’ll deal with you later.”

“Right,” Drake said, pocketing the gun.

The skinny one jumped up and pushed his companion into action. By the time the patrol cars arrived at the gate, they were hidden from ordinary eyes. Valeriah could still see them. Probably Rolf and Drake could, too. But ordinary human police wouldn’t.

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