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Noto kill her, they’d tracked her down once and could do it again And they wouldn’t give up after one missed chance
As a dragon, Raluca could defeat a huonsbane, she wouldn’t be able to transforonsbane first and the knife second As a huon princesses learned fe or boxing She needed a bodyguard
Luckily, she used to be engaged to one
Raluca didn’t know Lucas’s home address — they hadn’t been in contact since the balcony, and she’d checked into hotels under an assumed name — but his workplace, Protection, Inc, had a website with a business address And Raluca had looked it up often enough since she’d fled to have itup with the one ould understand why she’d given up her royal title
She flew over the beaches of Santa Martina, her dragon ht, and into the city It wasn’t easy finding an address from above, and she had to circle repeatedly befor
e she finally figured out which of the several towering office buildings was the one she was looking for
Raluca landed on the roof of Protection, Inc She glanced around to ical invisibility slip away She thought of huhs, the clack of high heels across a marble floor, and the lonely ache in her heart — and became a woman
To her chagrin, she found herself standing barefoot in a nightgoearing noa heavy pack She must look like a hobo! It was hardly the impression she wanted to make, especially if anyone but Lucas, as as close to a friend as she’d ever had, was at Protection, Inc
It could be worse, Raluca thought If I was any other type of shifter, I’d be naked
Only dragons could transfor and their hoards with theht to the death rather than abandon her hoard All the same, her lack of nudity was cold coown, but a simple fall of pewter silk she’d picked up in Vienna, unadorned and cut low in the chest Every time she bent over, it threatened to expose her nipples
Raluca opened her pack, wishing a golden hairbrush and ically appear Unfortunately, she knew every ites But she certainly wasn’t going to walk into Protection, Inc half-naked and unadorned She race herself
She coers and rubbed her eyes,to her lashes For jewelry, she made do with a pair of pearl hair clips, a delicate silver necklace, a gold and pearl bracelet, and athatthat had been a favorite since she’d been a little girl
The touch of gold and ge upon the strength and pride of dragonkind, Raluca strapped on her pack, tugged the nightgown up, lifted her chin, straightened her back, and marched downstairs to knock on the door of Protection, Inc
A e that he nearly filled the doorway, made of pure muscle without an ounce of fat His brown hair brushed the top of the doorframe, and his hazel eyes blinked at her in surprise
“Whoa,” said thevoice “Uh May I help you?”
Inwardly, Raluca gritted her teeth; outwardly, she drew herself up to her full height Her nightgown instantly slithered down She snatched at it and clutched it in her fist, destroying whatever dignity she’d briefly achieved
“I a her voice
The big ht she was a robber bedecked in her ill-gotten finery “Lucas isn’t here Are you” He stared so from her bare feet to her fistful of silk to her necklace “a relative? Or a friend?”