Chapter 56

"Derek!" Dana swallowed hard as she saw the captive policeman. So much for backup.
"Sorry, love." He winked at Dana. "Guess it's all over then."
He had something up his sleeve, she was sure of it. She opened her mouth to say something but Beau beat her to it. So fast she'd barely seen him move, she'd stepped back from the case and pushed Dana behind his back. With her hands hidden, she let her talons and teeth lengthen. If it came down to a fight, survival was more important than concealing her species. The vampire certainly knew about the paranormal and human brains, if indeed the thugs were human, could be messed with after the fact - assuming anyone would believe their claims of seeing a dragon lady in the first place.
"So, Mr. Dumont," Sterling dropped the fawning use of French and addressed Beau in crisp, proper English. "Care to tell me what brings you snooping around my warehouse? And don't even think of screaming for help. These walls are fully soundproofed."
Beau shrugged. "Just looking for some missing antiques. That ring you're wearing for instance. Who'd you steal that one from?"
Sterling laughed. "A crumbling manor in the Scottish Highlands," he replied carelessly. Part of a whole estate sale. The fools had no idea this ring was an item of power."
While Derek wiggled almost imperceptibly in his chains, Dana stepped back, away from Beau, away from Sterling and looked around for a weapon. There was a case of swords on the wall, though it was probably covered with bulletproof glass. She picked up a small stone statue from a niche and inched her way toward the case. With her dragon's strength, she might have a chance.
One of the henchmen produced a matte black pistol and pointed it at Dana. Sterling tipped his head at Beau. "Now, my friend, if you don't want your little witch to be shot, you'll please place your hands behind your back. John here will do me the honor of placing you in these handcuffs."
Okay, he'd pegged her for a witch, not a dragon. It was good to be underestimated, right? As John rounded the case to cuff Beau, she sidled up to the glass case.
Beau did not submit quietly. Instead of allowing John to cuff him, he leapt sideways at the guard holding the gun. The thug, of course fired at Dana when he saw Beau move. Dana saw the bullet enter Beau's shoulder and saw the spray of blood as it exited his back. Beau fell forward, trapping the hapless guard beneath his weight as his body immediately turned to his full gargoyle shape and then to stone to heal what would otherwise have been a mortal wound.
She screamed his name and swung the statue with all her strength into the glass case, shattering the pane. She willed herself to change into her full half-dragon shape, uncaring that her wings would rip out the back of her dress.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the chained werewolf leap to his feet - all four of them - and take down the guard. More blood sprayed. The vampire turned to pull the werewolf from his minion's back and he shouted to John over his shoulder, "Dump the gargoyle off the roof."
John ran over to lever the stone gargoyle off the guard, just as Dana grabbed the sword. Since Sterling had turned his back to her to fight the werewolf, she was able to swing the sword from behind. Blood spattered her now tattered dress as the beheaded vampire first froze, then toppled, then the body vanished into a pile of dust - leaving behind a blood-stained tuxedo and a gold and topaz ring that rolled on the carpet.
"Quick," Derek shouted, changing back into a bloody, naked man. "The gargoyle!"
Dana turned to see that John and the guard had dragged Beau's stony form out onto the rooftop garden. Instinctively, she grabbed the ring from the carpet, slid it onto her right index finger and ran. She'd take any help she could get to save her man. She reached the duo just as they'd gotten the gargoyle to the rail overlooking the alley behind the building. She swung the sword, incapacitating the guard. John just grinned at her from the other side of Beau.
Before she could raise the sword again, he pushed - with what looked to be superhuman strength and Beau's stone shape toppled over the balcony toward the pavement five stories below.
Dana didn't even think. She threw the sword at John and dived over the edge. As soon as she cleared the railing, she shifted to full-dragon shape and prayed her idea would work. A thick layer of fog surrounded the building, so she couldn't see the ground but she managed to get her body under Beau's, then flipped belly up under him, grabbing him with her arms - or forelegs, she supposed - and gripping him in a dragonny hug. She remembered Katie telling her that any damage a gargoyle took in stone shape was permanent. If his body was shattered by the fall, he would die, just like any human.
Her back and wings slammed into the pavement, forcing every bit of breath out of Dana's lungs. She heard the smack of her flesh on the ground but miraculously didn't hear the sound of cracking stone. She lay still on the pavement too hurt and frightened to care if some unwitting human tripped over her. She was alive. She thought she'd saved Beau. That was all that mattered.
"Get the lorry over here." The voice seemed to come from a long way off but it was familiar. Then she saw a pair of big brown eyes regarding her from a rough-hewn masculine face, bearing a distinct five o'clock shadow. "Dana? You okay there?"
"D-Derek?" She forced a breath into her aching lungs and whispered his name. It sounded funny coming from her reptilian mouth but the words were recognizable. "How'd you get down here so fast?"
"Jumped." He shrugged, then tugged on a pair of sweatpants somebody handed him. "Now let's get you and your friend into the van and off the street."
A big delivery van pulled up and two black-clad men opened the doors. Carefully they lifted the man-sized statue from atop Dana's body and moved it into the truck. They were more than human but right now she didn't know what and didn't care. Dana stood and followed. There wasn't room for her in dragon form, so she changed back, gratefully accepting a blanket one of Derek's men handed her. She curled up against Beau's stone body in the truck and looked up at Derek. "John?"
"Dead. You knew he was a troll, didn't you? Hence the super-strength?"
Dana shook her head. "I assume your team can handle all the - legal issues?" She was about ready to pass out. Changing forms had healed the bones she'd broken on landing but it had also exhausted her body's resources.
"You were never here, this never happened," he assured her. "Was there anything you needed me to liberate from the apartment before the official inventory?"
She told him about the amulet and the bracelet, then allowed her eyes to flutter shut.