Dragon Call by Emily Ryan-Davis Read Free Book Online Page A

mousey Jane Eyre look-alike to
intercept Cora and Diane. He started with a smile, which Cora
returned, but his gaze shifted behind her. His expression darkened
as she came closer. Cora frowned and glanced over her shoulder to
see Salim entering after her. Salim didn’t meet her eyes. He had
noticed Greg, and his attention focused entirely on the other
man.
    “Don’t stop,” Diane said, taking Cora’s hand.
“We have to leave.”
    “Why is everybody determined to drag and push
me around?” Cora asked, exasperated. She yanked her hand free of
Diane’s and turned back to Greg and Salim. Every other guest
appeared determined to watch the latest drama play itself out;
Cora, after freezing her butt off out on the balcony, had earned
the right to do so as well.
    “It’s not safe,” Diane hissed and grabbed a
fistful of lace at Cora’s back. Cora shrugged the shawl away.
    “What were you doing with her?” Greg
demanded.
    Cora stared at him. His features had twisted
in fury during her small scuffle with Diane, rendering him almost
unrecognizable from the man she’d enjoyed casual dinner with so
recently. She glanced at Salim, whose own expression remained
neutral, and said to Greg, “He thought I looked familiar.”
    Salim’s gaze flicked to her face and away. He
didn’t acknowledge her otherwise.
    Greg didn’t acknowledge her at all. “You’re
not even supposed to be here. Did you come for her?”
    Nobody spoke but Greg and Salim; someone had
cut the music. The energy of the room changed. Otherwise
uninvolved, spectators and bystanders pushed forward to drink up
the tension. Several people studied Cora with speculation in their
eyes.
    “I came because I have an invitation,” Salim
said. “Perhaps we should discuss this privately.”
    “What do you want to hide? Everybody here
already knows about you.”
    “But they don’t know about you.” A soft
threat padded Salim’s words.
    He was blackmailing Greg. Cora’s pulse
kicked up in fear. What would Salim do with his knowledge about her
family if he held Greg’s secrets for a price? She couldn’t meet an
extortion fee.
    Greg clenched his fists until his knuckles
whitened. Cora retreated into the dubious safety of the crowd,
glancing at Diane. “What is this?” she whispered.
    “Men making jackasses of themselves,” Diane
responded beneath her breath. “Are you ready to leave now?”
    Cora nodded. She stole a last glance at Greg
and Salim, Greg trembling with emotion and Salim as emotionless as
a stick of gum. Ironic that neither had reason to clash over
her—she wasn’t interested in Greg’s inability to control his anger
or Salim’s capacity for cruelty.
    Outside in the corridor, Diane jabbed the Up
arrow beside the elevator. “What was that about?” she asked. “Never
mind, it doesn’t matter. Now you know firsthand why you shouldn’t
get involved with either of them.”
    Down the hall, the door to the apartment
they’d just left opened. The sound of voices spilled forth. At the
same time, the elevator chimed, and the doors slid open. Cora
looked back in time to see a man’s silhouette before Diane yanked
her into the elevator car and mashed her hand against the 14
button.
    “You’re on 17,” Cora said, bristling. She
didn’t appreciate Diane’s dig about her choices in companionship
even if she was right.
    “We’ll walk the other three floors.”
    Diane pounded on the Close Door button until
the doors whooshed, then she leaned back against the wall and
closed her eyes.
    “He’s the Collector,” she said a second
later. “If I’d known he was coming, we wouldn’t have gone.”
    “Who? Salim? Collector of what?” Cora asked,
eyeing Diane. “Something besides blackmail money? What do you know
about him?” Her confusion had most definitely become annoyance, no
doubt about it.
    Diane opened her eyes and straightened when
they reached the 14 th floor. “He’s some kind of monster.
I wouldn’t leave my worst enemy alone with