Magick and Lead: Dragons and Aces Book 2 by J. G. Gates

Author:J. G. Gates [Gates, J. G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steed Publishing and Media, LLC
Published: 2025-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

25

ESSA

I’d been to plenty of royal balls. I’d visited lavish palaces, danced under fae lights, and sipped sparkling wine with royals and dignitaries. I’d danced the oval at village harvest festivals. I’d even ridden on dragon back during the spring mating ritual, soaring two leagues above the earth as the sun rose over the Yrdam Mountains. But nothing could have prepared me for the Cat’s Meow.

The dance hall sat atop a building of reddish brick at least a dozen stories tall. From the street below, the sound of music trilled and trumpeted above, along with exuberant shouts and brays of laughter. Two shafts of light knifed up into the sky, shifting back and forth against the gray nighttime clouds—more necromancer tricks. I’d seen searchlights like these over Dorhane. Othura and I had avoided them while dodging gunfire. Here, their purpose was different—not to deter enemies, but to summon revelers. Still, the feeling of nervous energy it stirred in me was the same.

Fancily dressed people lined up along the sidewalk. At the club’s entrance, glass double doors stood open and a pair of burly men in tuxedos loomed on either end of a velvet rope, speaking a few words to each group of supplicants who approached them, then pulling back the rope to let them pass or, in some cases, sending them away. Charlie took my hand and led me past the line and directly up to one of the men, a dark-skinned giant of a man with a shaved head.

“Char-lie Inman!” the man said, drawing out the first name as if it were an exclamation—or a curse. “Been a long time. You snag any dragons lately?”

Charlie gave a brittle smile, cutting a glance toward me. “Just one,” he said.

The guard grinned and clapped him on the back. “Ah, you’ll get the rest pretty soon, Charlie.” He looked at me. “You know this guy is the best, right? A real ace.”

“I know,” I said, trying not to sound too prickly.

“Listen,” Charlie said. “Have you seen Kitty or Suzie?”

“Not yet,” the man said. “But you know they don’t miss a Saturday night.”

“I know,” Charlie said, handing the man some folded up money. “Let me know if you see them, alright?”

The man grinned. “You got it, Ace.” He unclipped the rope and ushered us inside, bellowing. “Stand aside. Hero coming through!”

At his shout, the people ahead parted to let us pass, as if Charlie were a monarch at court.

“Does everyone in this city fall at your feet because you’re the Silver Wraith?” I hissed.

“Most of them don’t know I’m the Wraith,” he said. “They just know I’m an ace. But still…”

“They lick your boots because of it…” I scoffed.

“Some lick more than my boots,” he said with a smirk.

I fought the urge to strike him in the throat as we walked on.

At the center of an ornate lobby, a broad, echo-filled staircase led up, up, up to the top floor of the building. All along the way, chattering voices and laughter rang out, and despite my annoyance with Charlie, I found my excitement rising with each step.

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