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

“You do?” I replied. “Oh, I have to hear this.”

Rick looked a little flustered and lowered his head. “Well, it’s more of an old legend, from ancient Egypt, really. It’s nothing much.”

“Oh come on, man! Just spill it already!” I begged.

“Yes, mon ami! I must know ze details.”

Rick stared straight at the Frenchman. “Are… are you sure?”

“Oui, monsieur.”

Rick straightened up a little again. “Well, okay, if you’re sure.” He took a deep breath and rummaged around in his briefcase for a moment, pulling out a loose sheet of paper.

“It all started three thousand years ago, during the reign of Pharaoh…”

9

“Ugh, my head,” I said, blinking a few times to ward off the light all around me. “Just five more minutes, Mom.”

“I’m not your mom,” someone said. It was Rick, and it sounded like he was right next to my face as he spoke.

I shot upright as the previous night’s activities came flooding back into my brain. “What the…? Where? Huh?”

“Easy, Damian,” Rick said, holding a hand out like he was trying to steady me. “I guess that bourbon hit you harder than I thought.”

My head felt a little faint from the sudden change in altitude, and I did swoon a little, but I managed to catch myself. I looked about the room. Sevin and Yuri were up and chatting in a corner by themselves. Rick was a few steps away, grinning at me.

Well, at least he hadn’t actually tried to bolt this time. Maybe he believed me after all. Doubtful, but hey, whatever the reason, at least he was still here.

“Heh.” I smiled back at Rick. “So, ready to head out?”

Rick nodded. “As ever. It’s twelve o’clock.”

“Twelve?” My head spun. More than half a day was already gone. How had I overslept so much? I pushed the thought from my head. “We’d better get going, then.”

Rick put a hand on my chest. “And just where are we going, Damian?”

“Oh yeah.” I let out a slight chuckle. “That would probably help, huh?”

Rick nodded.

“To Canada, of course. Just south of Vancouver, BC.”

Rick shot me an icy glare and folded his hands in front of his chest. “Canada? What for?”

“That inscription from last night, remember? About the queen and the rewards? I have a lead I want to follow up on.”

“A lead?” Rick sneered. “Care to be more specific? I’d rather not jaunt off on something as flimsy as a lead.”

I waved dismissively at him. “Let’s just get there first. You’ll understand when we get there. Promise.” I wanted to tell him more, but if I told him we were going to go see a mage he would have just balked at me, so I kept my mouth shut.

Rick rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Whatever, Damian.” He sighed. “Just so long as it’s far away from here, I guess it’s okay.”

Now that, I could agree with. Mei’s bar was safe enough, but there would still be cops out there patrolling for an Asian guy and a white dude, asking about last night’s murder. The further away we got from that nonsense, the better.

“Right. Well, let’s get going, then.” I picked up my katana and Grax’thor from their spots on the floor and belted them into place, then ran a hand through my hair.

“Shall we?” I held out a hand to him.

Rick shrugged. “Well, it’s not like I have any better ideas.”

I nodded once and headed for the door to Mei’s, turning once to make sure he was actually following this time. He was. I heard him grumble something about how this whole thing wasn’t worth the money I’d promised him, and I snickered a little at that.

Ah, hell. I’d almost forgotten I owed the guy a king’s ransom. Somehow, I was going to have to make good on that soon. Maybe Sevin and Yuri would chip in? But then, Yuri was a bit of a refugee himself, and I’d never seen Sevin order anything more expensive than a Shirley Temple, so I doubted either of them would be able to cover the five-thousand-dollar tab.

Still, it was nice to know that after a good night’s rest, Rick was back to being all about business. I guess a death scare only went so far these days.

Besides, there were other worries. Like how to get to Canada. It wasn’t like we could just walk there.

“Oh, dang,” I said over my shoulder, patting my pockets in a feigning motion. “Can we take your car? Mine’s... in the shop.”

I didn’t have a car, of course, but I didn’t want him to know that just yet. Somehow, that felt like a second night after saving someone’s life conversation, you know?

More grumbling from Rick. “My car? Ugh. Fine. It’s parked several blocks from here, but it’s not too far.”

I smiled and started for the door, but Rick put his hand on me to stop me and looked me up and down. “But no way are you getting into my car wearing those… rags.”

For the first time since the battle, I looked down at my clothes. My undershirt was in tatters, with a wide slash down the abdomen, and several tears in the sleeve where the dobhar-chu had bit me. A rather large bloodstain covered a majority of the fabric as well. My pants looked to be relatively unscathed other than scuff marks on the knees and a water stain on the cuffs at the bottom. Not exactly a great look.

I thought about stopping by my apartment to change and get ready, but immediately discarded that idea. If our enemies knew where Rick worked, they probably knew where I lived, too. That made any known locations all too dangerous for us to hang out in.

There was nothing for it. Guess I’d have to hit the shops in town.

At least I still had a little cash on me. I just hoped it’d be enough to get me some clothes and food and get us to Canada and back.

“Solid point, Rick.” I nodded at him. “Let’s hit up a