The Dragon Conspiracy by Lisa Shearin Read Free Book Online

like I was embarrassed at having to scrape together the guts to stand up to a creature that in his true form and real size had teeth taller than me. There was no shame in being scared of that.
    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ben Sadler stumble to his feet. He had to brace against the table more than I did, but he’d been whapped by a harpy. Still, he got up. Good for him.
    Kain’s shadow loomed over us both. “We will see if your answer is the same once—”
    “Once you cooperate fully with the authorities in their investigation,” Ian said from where he now stood at my side. “I am certain they will do everything in their power to return your property to you.”
    “And I assure you, agent of SPI,” Kain said in a quiet voice used by the crazy-and-proud-of-it brand of criminal the world over, “that I will do everything in
my
power to bring the thieves—and those conspiring against me—to justice. My justice.” His tone left no doubt that he considered SPI to be at the front of the conspiracy line.
    “There is law in this country, Mr. Kain,” Ian responded smoothly. “And you are not it.”
    “If you had not broken the treaty and come here, this never would have happened.” The words were as crisp and cold as only a multi-millennia-old British dragon could make them. That they came from a small woman didn’t lessen their impact one bit. She was within lethal violence-dispensing distance of Viktor Kain.
    “Agents Byrne and Fraser,” Vivienne Sagadraco said, without taking her blazing blue eyes from Viktor Kain, “remove the injured gentleman from this building. Now.”
    The Russian’s full attention was locked on the boss. I didn’t know if the glaring contest was some kind of alpha dragon dominance thing, and I didn’t care. My boss had just ordered me and Ian to take Ben and get the hell out of Dodge before the gunfight started, and I was going to obey her immediately and without question.
    Ben Sadler was understandably unsteady on his feet, either from the knock on the head or from being threatened by what he saw as a Russian mafioso. He made no protest when Ian took one of his arms and pulled it over his shoulder, with the other used to steady him around the waist.
    Ian led us out of the Sackler Wing by a door that appeared to be part of the far wall. It opened into a fluorescent-lit hallway that was wide enough to accommodate people moving exhibits. He closed the door behind us.
    My muscles, which had been tensed in quivering readiness for either fight or flight, dissolved into a world-class case of the shakes as I exhaled a word my grandma Fraser would’ve washed my mouth out with soap if she’d heard.
    “Are you all right?” Ian asked.
    “Oh yeah.” My voice was high and thin, but since I was still alive to speak, I could more than deal with it. “I’m good.”
    “Why would Mr. Kain . . . think I know where his . . . diamonds are?” It sounded like Ben was running out of steam along with air.
    “He’s looking for somebody to blame,” I told him.
    “But why us? I tried to stop the robbery, and you . . .” His still-bleeding forehead creased in confusion. “What
did
you do?”
    I opted to downgrade “stop you from being stupid and getting gutted by a harpy” to something less alarming. “I tried to keep you from getting hurt. I didn’t quite succeed. Sorry about that.”
    “I’m certain that you did what you could. Thank you.”
    Did what I could?
I mustered a tight smile. “Don’t mention it.”
    “Let’s sit you down here for a minute, sir,” Ian said, easing Ben down a wall to sit on the floor. “I need to make a quick call to get us a ride, and we’ll be out of here and get you to a hospital.”
    “I need to contact my supervisor.” Ben tried to smile. It didn’t make it. “To let him know where I am.” The attempt at a smile turned to dread. “And to report an on-the-job accident.”
    Ian gave him an easy and relaxed smile. “You can use my