Eskal loomed over me, too big and too strong to ignore. I shrank inside his arms, trying not to go to pieces.
"If you scream, I will be forced to move indelicately," he said. "Should I be required to do such a thing, I may harm you."
"But if you kill me, everyone will know it was you or your buddy. Iceydycey or whatever his name is," I said, my voice definitely not shaking.
Amusement touched his expression. "Iceydycey."
"You heard me."
"Indeed. Are you a hedge witch? An herbalist? A mage?"
I swallowed and shook my head at each one. "I'm a scientist, a paleontologist. I work with stuff that's real, not the junk in fairy tales."
"Strange you would say that when most of your work requires you to guess how bones fit."
I whipped my head up and glared at him. "It's science. We work off of facts and discovery. We're always learning but we have methods, tried and true methods, that guide our estimations and our practice. What you're talking about is nonsense. I'm not a witch!"
The last word came out louder than I'd meant. It also carried with it a hurricane-force gale that sent everything in the office swirling around Eskal and I. As the papers landed like snowflakes, I watched a smile curl his features and shivered.
I was in so much trouble.
"Little witch, little mage," Eskal said. "I have a proposition for you."
His chest nearly touched mine and I held my breath, pressing back into the wall for all I was worth. It was his voice, right up against my ear, that made my knees tremble. Out of fear, terror, that stuff. I was in so much trouble. This man was going to eat me up and throw me away, maybe even sell me off somewhere. I hadn't used magic in so many years and I sure hadn't meant to use it right then.
"I don't want any deal with you, whatever you are," I said, putting as much power into my words as I could.
That drew a laugh from him. It was made of spikes that tore through me like so much tissue paper. "I could make you rich beyond your wildest imagination. Your parents? Forever cared for. You? Never another day digging in the dirt. You are part of our world, not this. One favor, witch. You need only gift me a single favor of my choosing and you need never work again."
"My parents are dead," I snapped. "And I don't want you to owe me anything."
But I had to admit, the idea of being rich was tempting. And if my guess was right, the man in front of me wasn't a man at all. Not if those opals were eggs.
Not if they were important to him.
"My condolences," he said. "I, too, suffer from the effects of a loss of family."
"Which is why you want the eggs," I growled.
His brows raised. "You are experienced to recognize them. Most practitioners never come across such treasures. But you know them. You knew them on sight. What a confusing person you are, Olivia. Why fight me for my own kin if you knew?"
There was a sincerely curious tone in his voice. I watched him, trying to figure out what his game was. If I lied, would he know? Dragons were dragons, as far as I knew, but if dragons were real perhaps, they could become people, too? But then, where did the scales and the wings go when they were pretending to be normal humans?
God, what was I thinking? I'd left that ridiculous life behind years ago. We had proof that dragons didn't exist; no more than werewolves or unicorns. I shook my head and put my hand on his chest. "Get out of my way before I call the cops. You don't have any right to detain me and I'm not keeping you from anything. They're just opals and you're some kind of crazy."
"If I'm so crazed, what happened to the paperwork in this room?" he asked. "No, little witch. I think we'll be seeing more of each other. Alas, your overseer is coming to bother us. Shall I remove him from this trailer before he gets here?"
"You lay a hand on him and I'll see you in prison," I said, caught somewhere between fear and anger. It wasn't like I liked my boss, but I wasn't about to see this supernatural weirdo hurt him, either.
I needed to report this guy to the cops, to the Fontaines, to anyone who would listen. Hell, the Fontaines may have been the only ones who had the power to slow him down. They seemed like weirdos, too, but the more approachable kind. Besides, how weird could they be? They ran a dog food factory, for crying out loud.
The door opened and the room seemed to flash around me. I was back in the chair across from Eskal, sitting quietly. The paperwork had replaced itself, everything as it was when I'd entered the trailer. Nicole came out of the office laughing, shaking her head and saying something that I didn't fully catch.
I eyed Eskal, who sat sipping a coffee cup that was once again full. He placed his sunglasses on his nose, the same pair he'd had the day before.
"I apologize, gentlemen, but I really do have to have these girls head back to work," said Sonnet.
Eskal waved a hand dismissively. "They gave us nothing to work with, in any case.
