The bruised redcap fell with a howl. The shot hadn’t been lethal. Duncan read the fantasy his redcap had of stripping Moira down and having her, and shuddered. He reached out and looped a fantasy through the remaining redcap’s mind. He grimaced at what the redcap considered nirvana, but he shoved the redcap there anyway and left him to rot. He would never move from that spot without being lifted. He would not eat, drink or sleep.

Duncan had sentenced him to death, and the redcap would never know how or why it had happened, not that Duncan really cared.

Moira joined him, the swirls of her skin dancing with rage. Green firelights danced around her. She was panting, strain showing in fine lines around her eyes and mouth. She rolled her shoulders. “Are there more?”

Duncan picked up the gun and aimed at the howling redcap’s head. “I hope not.” He pulled the trigger and ended the redcap’s life. “Let’s go.”

Jaden stalked around the corner of the house, his eyes glittering red and green, his claws dripping with blood. “Any more?”

“Other than the one contemplating his navel? No.”

Jaden eyed the bodies with satisfaction. “Good.” He stared up at the sky, a huge grin crossing his face. “Look up. Akane’s playing.”

Duncan looked up. “Dear gods. Is that a salamander?”

“Yup.” Jaden put an arm around each of them, pulling them close. “And that’s my partner beating the shit out of it.”

Duncan wasn’t surprised when Moira elbowed Jaden in the side. “I thought you and Akane only worked together occasionally?”

Jaden winced. “Yeah, well. Mostly I work alone, but when I partner up I usually prefer Akane. She’s all right, you know?”

“She’s mine.” Shane Dunne stepped off the corner of the porch, his gaze glued to the black and gold dragon fighting the salamander. Unlike popular myth, the dragon wasn’t much bigger than the woman had been, and most of that was wingspan. The salamander was roughly the size of a German shepherd, long and sleek and sinewy. Flames shot out of the salamander’s mouth, but the dragon was immune, darting in and out, toying with the salamander.

“Gods above. Is that a salamander?” Sean Dunne stood next to his son, staring up at the battle raging above them.

The salamander was tiring. Its flame bursts were coming further and further apart. Akane forced it down, closer to the ground, using her tail to whip its ass into complying. The salamander landed, exhausted. The creature panted, watching them warily through flame red eyes. Its flame dimmed until it looked more like a tall Komodo dragon with longer limbs. After another second it took on its Seeming. The German Shepherd wagged its tail and settled down on its haunches.

Akane landed next to it, turning back into the elegant female she’d been inside the Dunne house. She petted the salamander, smiling when it licked her hand. “I think I’ll keep it.” She winked at Jaden, earning the vampire glares from two sets of Dunne eyes.

Jaden stared at Shane and Moira. “What did I do now?”

Duncan began herding them all back toward the house. “I think we need to finish that chat we were all having.”

“You go on. I think it’s time I left.” Akane stepped in front of Shane, her hands on her hips. “Where is my car?”

Shane, for the first time, looked uneasy. “The barn?” He gave her a weak grin, backing away from her slowly. “What kind of car was it again?”

Steam literally began to pour from the dragon’s ears. “A Porsche Boxster.”

Shane swallowed hard. “What year?”

“Brand new.”

Ouch. That was going to sting the man’s wallet. Duncan was pretty sure Shane could afford to replace the dragon’s car, but he was dressed so modestly that he wasn’t certain if the man wanted Akane to know how rich he truly was. Dragons were known to covet either wealth or the rare and exotic, and until he got to know her better Akane’s preferences would remain a mystery. But from the car she drove and the clothes she wore, he was betting she preferred wealth. Duncan decided to give his bondmate’s brother a hand keeping his wealth a secret. “Allow me replace it.”

Akane gifted him with a sweet smile. “Thank you, Mr. Malmayne. At least there are some gentlemen left in the world.”

Duncan wasn’t buying that for a moment, but he’d let her get away with it for now. He bowed his head before the Blade. “You’re welcome.”

“Whew. I’m not sure how much corn I’d have to sell before I could replace a fancy car like that.” Shane stuck his hands into his back pockets and rocked on his heels. “How much does one of them go for, anyway? Ten, fifteen thousand?”

The dragoness looked ready to sic her new pet on Shane. Duncan stepped between them, gesturing toward the house once more. “We could use your help, m’lady.”

She blew her hair out of her eyes. “Sure. It’s not like I can go anywhere, can I, Rhubarb?”

Shane shook his head. “Nope. Not until we get you a rental. Unless you want me to drive you in the tractor?”

Akane spun on her heel and headed for the house, stomping the entire way. The “dog” followed her, obviously seeing her as its new master. The heels of her expensive boots kept sinking into the earth. She let out an annoyed screech and leapt for the porch. She turned the corner and they could hear the screen door slam shut behind her.

“You’re bad.” Jaden draped his arm around Shane’s shoulders. “I like that about you.”

Shane’s shoulders were shaking with laughter. “Thank you kindly.”

“We need to do something about the…” Duncan turned, but there was no sign that the redcaps had ever been there. Even the one gazing at his own navel was missing. “Hmm.”

Sean merely whistled and ambled up onto his porch. “Coming?”

“Remind me not to piss him off.” Jaden followed his new father-in-law up onto the porch.

Duncan took Moira’s hand and followed them. Jaden wasn’t fooling him one little bit. That amused nonchalance was hiding a terrible anger. He had the feeling his personal Gray Knight was going to disappear some time during the night, and in the morning Duncan would hear about a tragedy at Charles Malmayne’s house.

Why? Why had Charles done something so drastically stupid? It didn’t make sense! Why hit the Dunne house?

Duncan pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed home.

“Hello?”

Shit. Ian sounded breathless. “Is everyone safe?”

“We’ve held off an invasion of redcaps, my lord.”

Duncan swore. “Is anyone injured?”

“No, thank goodness. But the strangest thing happened. One moment they were almost through the door, and the next they were…well, gone. All we could hear were these horrible screams and—” the man gulped, “—wet, crunching sounds.”

Duncan blinked. “Was there anything left of them?”

“No, sir. But we did find a note on the front step.”

“What did the note say?”

“Whoever it was charged us fifty dollars for yard clean up, sir.”

“Anything else?”

“The bill was made out to Lord Jaden, my lord.”

What the hell? “Thank you, Ian. Keep an eye out on things. We think Charles may be behind the attacks.”

“Very good, sir. If I may say so, please be careful.”

“I will. And thank you.” Duncan hung up the phone. There could only be two explanations for this. The first, Charles had declared war on him, deciding to take him out when he least expected it. By hitting the Dunnes and his home he guaranteed that the redcaps would find him. The other possibility was that Charles was aware that Jaden had been in his house. It was possible that he also knew Jaden had found incriminating evidence of his collusion with the Black Court. Either way, he had to have known what Jaden would do once he recognized those redcaps. Jaden would make a beeline to Charles, intent on killing him.

Duncan stopped. He had to have known.

“Jaden!” He raced toward the house, but it was too late. He heard the roar of an engine, and Jaden was gone.