Ready to Were by Robyn Peterman Page B

morning and I gave him the eyeball.
    “You will be careful,” I told him. “If you get hurt, I will kick your ass.”
    I walked away as his eyes filled with happy tears. Dwayne was a piece of work, but he was my piece of work and I was going to keep him.

Chapter 12
     
    “Did you use the self tanner, dear?” Puck the Schmuck inquired. Of course he knew I had used it because he was a freakin’ Dragon. His nose was as good or better than mine.
    I nodded and smiled coyly as I listened for the Tinas. Where were they? “I did. I used it all over, Pucky—just like you instructed.”
    “Wonderful.” He stared at me like I was a tasty piece of meat and an alarming thought burst through my head. Are wolves a tasty treat for Dragons? Are they fattening up the girls so they can eat them? It seemed a lot of trouble to go to just to eat wolves, but Dragons were weird.
    “What are we doing today? More pictures?” I asked as I dropped my overnight bag on the floor at my feet. It landed with a loud thud in the quiet office.
    “No, no, sweet girl. I have thrilling news for you. I scanned the Polaroids we took yesterday and sent them to New York. You have booked a major magazine spread.” He leered at me and it took everything I had to feign excitement.
    “Oh my god,” I gushed and fanned myself. “What magazine?”
    He was typing quickly into his phone, a slight smile played on his lips.
    “I’m sorry, what?” he asked as he pocketed his phone.
    “What magazine?” I repeated.
    He stared at me blankly for a moment and then recovered. “Oh, yes… Glamour . Glamour Magazine .”
    I squealed with glee as the bastard laughed and stared straight at my chest. I smelled the Tinas before I saw them. It all happened so fast I was shocked. He had clearly just texted them and I got blindsided. I felt the needle pierce the skin on the back of my neck and the burning substance enter my body. The Tinas watched with rabid pleasure as my body hit the floor. I was furious that I had left myself open for an attack from behind. That was 101 and Hank was going to kill me if the Dragons didn’t do the job first.
    “That will knock a wolf out for days,” Tina #1 hissed.
    “How much did you use?” Puck demanded angrily. Tina blanched and backed away.
    “Just a little more than usual,” she said. “She’s strong. We wouldn’t want her to wake up and ruin everything.”
    Puck seemed mollified and watched me sink into lala land. I closed my eyes and waited for the darkness to come, but it didn’t. What was going on ?
    “She’s out,” he said. “Let’s go.”
    But I wasn’t… The shot they gave me might have knocked out a Werewolf, but it did nothing to a Vampyre. Keeping my eyes closed and my body slack, I mentally gave Dwayne the biggest kiss and hug imaginable. I was going to live and I was going to take no prisoners.
    The Tinas dragged me through the office and dumped me into the trunk of a car, banging my head on as many hard surfaces as they could find. They laughed and congratulated themselves on the impending end of my life. It took an enormous amount of restraint on my part not to kill them dead. I consoled myself that there would be time enough for killing them very soon.
    The ride was short and I knew we hadn’t crossed the bridge back to the mainland. The scent of the ocean was in the distance, so we had clearly driven inland. I was surprised and greatly relieved they were keeping the girls in Hung. It occurred to me there might be more Dragons involved than the three we knew about, but Dragons were an egotistical bunch. I was hedging my bets that whatever they were doing, they wanted full credit for it and they were working rogue.
    The car stopped and I was yanked from the trunk. The lovely Tinas dragged my body across a rock-strewn path and I chanced a peek. We were at an old deserted resort. It had been abandoned when I was a child. A cult from out West had owned the place and a drug bust turned shootout had