How to Lose Your Dragon (The Immortality Curse Book 1) by Peter Glenn (beach read TXT) 📕

in Lao’s face. It was uncharacteristic of me, but he was getting on my nerves. “Your daughter goes missing without a trace and all you can say is it’s unfortunate? Tch. Unbelievable.”

Lao backed away slightly, his face contorting into something bordering on confusion before he regained control of his complexion again. “Indeed,” was all he said.

I shook my head. I wanted to spit on him, or deck him, but I held back my anger. If I got into a fight with her father, he’d kill me. Then who would search for Mei? No, she needed me. So I bit it down.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t call him out a little bit.

“I can’t believe you types. You treat Mei like an outcast, all but cutting her out of your wills and disinviting her to social functions.”

There was another slightly perceptible widening of Lao’s eyes at that. He hadn’t known she’d told me about that part.

I kept going. “You treat her like a complete pariah when it’s convenient, all but ignoring her as best you can. And for what? Deigning to speak to us human types on equal footing?” I scowled. “And now that she’s missing, you’re suddenly the concerned parent? Unbelievable.”

Lao looked down at his robes for a second and brushed away a tiny spot of my saliva that had landed there during my tirade, then he took another half-step backward until he was almost against the couch and looked straight at me.

He bowed his head. “My apologies,” he said. “I did not know you had such strong feelings on the matter.”

I let out a sharp laugh that came out sounding almost like a bark. “Yeah, well you got that right.”

Lao lowered his gaze again. “Allow me to explain. Even a black sheep is still a member of the herd and deserves to be protected from danger as much as any other.”

In spite of myself, I nodded. That, I could understand. My mother didn’t approve of many of my antics, either, but she still called me every other week and came by for visits twice a year. Mei’s dad was doing the same thing.

My expression softened a bit, and I felt the tension leave my shoulders. I hadn’t even realized it had been there until that moment.

“Look,” I said, “this is a hard situation for all of us. We’re all doing the best we can.”

I took a few steps backward and slumped back into my chair. Its comforting warmth soothed my frayed nerves even further.

Lao nodded again. “Indeed.”

I held back another snort. It was like the only word he knew or something. “So, about this favor you wanted of me?”

A flash of something washed over the elder’s face, and he nodded once more. “Indeed. The favor.” He turned his back to me again. “You are an occult investigator by trade, are you not?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

Technically, it was true. I was something of a private eye for the magically inclined. It’s how I made enough money to pay rent and drink. Not that I worked that often. I maybe took on one case a month. But the pay was good. Not as high as Rick’s, perhaps, but still good.

“Excellent,” Lao continued. “The Dragon Clan would like to hire your services, then.”

I balked. “You want to hire me? Like, pay me actual money or something?”

That was the last thing I’d expected to hear coming out of his mouth. The guy could barely stand me.

“Indeed,” he said, turning around to face me again. “We would like to hire you to find Mei for us. The reward will be considerable, of course.”

Before I knew what I was doing, I waved my hand dismissively. “That won’t be necessary. I’d search for her anyway.”

Lao nodded again. “A generous offer, but we must insist. It is tradition.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. To be honest, I still wasn’t sure how I was going to pay Rick off, let alone cover the rent payment due next week. A little extra cash could go a long way right now. And to get paid for something I was going to do anyway? Score!

“Very well,” I said, trying to sound as disappointed as I could. “I accept your offer. I will look for Mei for you and keep you apprised of my progress in the matter.”

Another nod from Lao. “Excellent. It is settled, then.” He gave me another slight bow, this one a little deeper than before.

“Yes. It’s settled.” I inclined my head, since I was still sitting.

I got up from my chair again and started toward the door. “Was there anything else I could help you with?” It was a courtesy question, but I was really hoping the answer would be no.

Lao shook his head softly and followed after me. It looked like he was just as eager to leave my dingy apartment as I was to have him leave. I opened the door and beckoned for him to waltz on through.

The elder brushed past me wordlessly, doing his best not to touch anything in the process, and left my apartment.

But before I could fully close the door, he spun on his heels, one bony finger raised in the air. “Oh, and there is one more thing, Li Xiang.”

I groaned. It was all I could do to keep from rolling my eyes. It was always one more thing with these types. “Yes, Lao? How else can I be of service?”

“Mei’s… health is of the utmost importance to us. If she is not found in three days’ time, we will be forced to go looking for her ourselves.” The slightest hint of a grin formed on his pale lips. “You understand?”

My blood went cold and all the life drained from my face. That had been a veiled threat, and I knew just what it meant. If I was unsuccessful, the Dragon Clan would wage war on the human realm, stopping at nothing until they found her, dead or alive.

To my knowledge, such an event had only happened a