Dragons Prefer Blondes Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHARMED PRAISE FOR CANDACE HAVENS

  Like a Charm

  “Entertaining, wickedly funny, and completely charming . . . sure to delight readers.”—Romance Reviews Today

  “Havens has created another likeable heroine with extraordinary powers in this enjoyable tale about finding true love and a true calling.”—Booklist

  “Well-written, fast-paced, and filled with enchanting characters . . . a fun escape that captures readers’ attention and thoroughly entertains.”—Darque Reviews

  “A witty and engaging adventure . . . a magical treat!”

  —Romantic Times

  “When it comes to charming fans with entertaining paranormal romances, few writers match the consistent success of Candace Havens.”—Genre Go Round Reviews

  Charmed & Deadly

  “Adventure, romance, heartache, and magic . . . a rapid-fire read.”—Romance Reviews Today

  “As fun a read as anything I’ve had in my hot little hands in the last year . . . impossible to put down.”—Romance Divas

  “Super-talented Havens keeps doing a bang-up job with this highly entertaining, magical series . . . offbeat and filled with unforgettable characters.”—Romantic Times

  Charmed & Ready

  “Loaded with sass and wit . . . snappy, instantly engaging, and downright charming.” —Romantic Times

  “From demon hunting and club hopping to boyfriend minding and shoe shopping, this book has it all.”—Romance Divas

  “I’m thoroughly charmed and ready for book number three.”

  —The Oakland Tribune

  “A delightful ride from the first page to the last . . . the action is immediate and lightning fast.”—Romance Reviews Today

  Charmed & Dangerous

  “Simply bewitching!”

  —New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas

  “From assassination attempts to steamy sex scenes to the summoning of magical powers, Havens covers a lot of ground. Weaving together political intrigue, romance, and fantasy is definitely tricky, but Havens makes it work in this quick-paced, engaging story with unique and likeable characters.”—Booklist

  “Mix the mystique of all three Charlie’s Angels, Buffy’s brass and scrappy wit, add the globe-trotting smarts of Sydney Bristow, and you might come up with enough cool to fill Bronwyn’s little witchy finger . . . How can you not fall in love with a character who flies her own plane, combusts the bad guys with a flick of the wrists, and has a weakness for sexy men and deep-fried chicken?”—Britta Coleman, author of Potter Springs

  “Smart, sexy, and sinfully wicked.”

  —USA Today bestselling author Ronda Thompson

  “A funny, imaginative take on what it would be like being a young, single, powerful witch.”—Fresh Fiction

  “This is a refreshing, fast-paced entry for Havens, who pulls out all stops to put the world to rights with humor, some good old-fashioned street fighting—witch style—and some well-deserved romance.”—Romantic Times

  “Bronwyn, the tough, sassy heroine in Candace Havens’s Charmed & Dangerous, is one very wicked witch—as in wickedly clever, funny, sexy, and irresistible!”

  —Jennifer Archer, author of Body & Soul

  “Bewitched meets Buffy meets Bond . . . Ms. Havens does a fantastic job with her debut into the world of romance.”

  —Romance Divas

  “Laugh-out-loud, sexy fun! Candace Havens is a sparkling new voice that will draw you in and hold you captive.”

  —Gena Showalter, author of The Darkest Kiss

  “A bewitching read, full of easy humor and vivid descriptions.

  Debut novelist Candace Havens’s refreshing style and clever story weaving will leave you eager for more charming and dangerous adventures.”

  —Laurie Moore, Edgar® Award-nominated author of Constable’s Apprehension

  Titles by Candace Havens

  CHARMED & DANGEROUS

  CHARMED & READY

  CHARMED & DEADLY

  LIKE A CHARM

  THE DEMON KING AND I

  DRAGONS PREFER BLONDES

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

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  (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

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  (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

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  South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  Copyright © 2009 by Candace Havens.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  BERKLEY® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Berkley trade paperback edition / July 2009

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Havens, Candace, (date)

  Dragons prefer blondes / Candace Havens.—Berkley trade pbk. ed.

  p. cm.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-08002-3

  1. Chick lit. I. Title.

  PS3608.A878D73 2009

  813’.6—dc22 2008055691

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  PROLOGUE

  Guardians protect Earth from other worlds. We are the first line of defense against those who want to harm humanity.

  Add in the fact that we put our lives on the line every day and that the rest of the
universe really doesn’t care for humans, and you have to figure only a crazy person would be a Guardian.

  That’s definitely true. But I get to face down dragons, so it’s not all bad. These aren’t the dragons of myths and legends. The Ahi, which is their scientific name, come in all shapes and sizes. They are intelligent beings for the most part, but they have a warrior attitude that makes them hardheaded beasts.

  It’s my job to make certain they behave—and take them out if they won’t.

  I’m not alone. My sisters are also Guardians who protect the rest of the world from creatures that would scare the pee right out of you.

  We’re a tight-knit group, which comes in handy, since we’re in the middle of a big battle with evil trying to take over the universe. I’m talking darkness like we’ve never seen before. It hides in the most innocuous places and strikes at will. Scary stuff.

  Don’t worry. We Caruthers sisters have a plan: Extinguish the evil and put its sad, sorry ass in a sling. Trust me, we can do this. Anyone who can run in four-inch Prada heels and kill a dragon can certainly save the world from the big bad.

  CHAPTER 1

  “Alex, I’m getting married,” Aspen Randall screeched in my ear, her voice so high I could barely understand her. It didn’t help that I was holding the cell phone between my shoulder and ear as I pulled a dragon carcass out of the snow and into an industrial-strength trash bag. I was in front of a beautiful cathedral in Montreal, and thankfully, the streets were empty.

  When Aspen called I thought it was one of my sisters, so I’d picked it up without looking. I mean, who the hell calls in the wee hours of the morning if they aren’t family?

  It dawned on me that I hadn’t responded to her comment. “What a happy surprise. Who’s the lucky guy?” I pretended to be excited. Aspen went through men as fast as she changed shoes, so I couldn’t be sure who had been either brave or stupid enough to chance going down that path with the woman.

  “Silly girl, Lord Huffington, of course. That means a big ole royal wedding for me.” She squealed again, and I wondered if I might need a hearing aid after this conversation. “We’ve been dating for three months, and we just can’t wait to get married.”

  I sighed—on the inside. From what I knew about him, Huff was a stuck-up aristocrat who probably wanted to marry Aspen for her money. Everyone knew that his family had been struggling for years. His father’s investments were rot, and Huff had seemed more intent on living the playboy life than saving his family fortune.

  Then again, Aspen probably knew all that. She just wanted to be called Lady Huffington. I’d met her ten years ago at a birthday party for my sister Gillian, and Aspen declared us instant pals. My mother insisted I be nice, so I went along with the charade, which turned out to be a huge mistake.

  Aspen was as shallow as they came, but she was one of those poor little rich girls. At the ripe old age of fourteen, I’d figured out pretty quickly that her parents had given her everything except love. I felt sorry for her, so when she wanted to hang out, I always tried to be there for her. “Wow. That’s—wow. I don’t know what to say.”

  “I know, right? Beyond cool. Daddy says we can have a wedding in the States and at the castle in England. I can have the fairy tale twice.”

  Oh, my God. My heart went out to her wedding planner. “Well, that is wild.” I slid the dragon, which was still warm to the touch, into the garbage bag. Thankfully, he’d been in human form, except for the talons, or he wouldn’t have fit. I had caught him inside the cathedral stealing a gold cross from the altar.

  Dragons, demons, fairies, and a variety of other creatures had been giving my sisters and me hell the last few months. They were after treasures on Earth, and it was a constant battle to keep them from stealing. None of us knew exactly why these creatures wanted the valuables, but we felt certain it had something to do with the darkness trying to take over the universe. We are all Guardian Keys, and while it’s our job to protect Earth from these jerks, lately it had turned into a full-time occupation.

  I had the element of surprise on my side and was able to sneak up on him while he was busy stealing, but he went scaly fast. He managed a couple of good strikes against me before he died. With dragons it was almost always a fight to the death. They never backed down.

  The snow swirled around me, wet and cold. The damn dragon was slippery and almost too big for the bag. I had to shove it down with my boot.

  “Soooo,” Aspen trilled. “Since you are the premier party planner and one of my dearest friends, I want you to do it all. Everything down to the last detail.” She squealed again, and I dropped the phone into the bag with the dead dragon.

  No, no, no. The last thing I needed right now was to plan a wedding for a woman who had to have at least six choices of outfits for each day. She had two full-time stylists who could barely keep up with her. Planning Aspen’s wedding—I’d rather fight a cadre of dragons with my bare hands.

  I fished out the phone and wiped off the dragon goo. Pushing the speaker function so I didn’t have to hold it close to my face, I prepared to put her off. “Oh, Aspen, hon, really I’d love to, but—”

  “I knew you would.” She cut me off. “Oh, the jet’s here. I have to run. I’ll e-mail you with the dates. Did I mention we want to do it before the end of the month? And my color choices. I’m in a strawberry mood right now, so think luscious red with lots of white, and maybe some pink. Oh, I don’t know, maybe more of a sapphire since it’ll be a winter wedding. I’ll think about it on my way to London to see the castle. Ta! Oh, listen to me, I sound like English royalty already.”

  The line went dead.

  I snorted. Aspen was in for a rude awakening when she saw that castle. The last time I’d been there was four years ago for a charity event. I’d stayed in the dusty, drafty hunk of stone for one night and swore never to do it again.

  Of course it didn’t help that Huffington’s great-uncle George kept pawing at me every time he was around. He told me that he had a thing for my bum. Ick. If he hadn’t been nearly eighty, it wouldn’t have been so disturbing.

  I slay dragons on a daily basis, and I’d been reduced to peeping around corners to make sure he wasn’t in the room I was about to enter.

  Crap, now I have to plan a wedding there. Make that two weddings for a woman who couldn’t make a decision. Dread settled in my stomach like an ulcer waiting to happen.

  The dragon had taken a quick shot at my ribs with its claws and had succeeded in bruising them pretty good. A nasty four-inch scrape on my arm wouldn’t stop bleeding. I’d have to deal with that later. As I hauled the bag o’ beast up onto my shoulder, I winced.

  A chill settled down my spine that had nothing to do with the wintry weather, and I felt like someone was watching me. I made a three sixty to assure myself that no one had observed my actions. The last thing I needed was paparazzi catching me in the act of stuffing a body in a garbage bag. I’d make the cover of every tab rag in the world with that one.

  The street was as empty as before, but that’s when I saw the building. The two gargoyles above the door caught my eye first. There were three more up on the roof. On any other edifice so many of the wicked monsters would have been too much, but they fit right in here.

  They had these intriguing grins on their faces, as if they knew a fantastic secret they wanted to share.

  I can’t believe I didn’t see this before. The place was beyond romantic, straight out of a Dickens novel, and I couldn’t resist. I’m a sucker when it comes to great architecture, and I’m not picky. Buildings from any time period, in any place—if it’s cool, I have to explore it.

  This particular building was from the late eighteen hundreds with beautiful tall, arched windows. It looked like an old London shop. It was a little beat up, but a good power washing on the stone and windows would do wonders.

  My spine tingled, and I suddenly decided I had to check out the inside. I couldn’t explain it if I tried, but I had to go in that building. Breakin
g in through the front door, even though the street was vacant, wasn’t a good idea, so I made my way around to the alley and I stored the dead dragon by the back door. The real estate gods were smiling on me, because I tried the knob, and the darn thing opened.

  Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the darkness.

  CHAPTER 2

  It took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust. The light from the lamppost outside helped illuminate the front room just enough that I could see it had once been some kind of pub. The massive bar was carved from cherrywood with a low brass footrail. Lion heads flanked each end, and intricate fleur-de-lis patterns wove along the curved edge. Battered and scratched, it was still an amazing piece of work. I smoothed a hand over the wood. “Beautiful.”

  I glanced up to the ceiling and saw several chandeliers. “Those look like Swarovski crystals. What the hell are they doing in a bar?” I said aloud. I’d seen the light fixtures in many homes of my friends and knew they sometimes went for several hundred thousand apiece.

  “They were my mother’s.” A hoarse-sounding voice answered me out of the darkness and made me jump.

  Turning my back against the bar, I searched the room. I had a modified Beretta Px4 in my back holster for emergencies and pulled it out. “Who’s there?”

  “No need for the weapon, young lady; I’m unarmed.” There was a shuffling, and then I saw a small, white-haired man come out of the shadow of the staircase. He’d told the truth about not having a weapon, but I kept my gun trained on him. In my line of work, a girl can never be too careful.

  He held up his hands. “You will come to no harm here, lass. I am a friend. This is my place, and you are welcome.” His soft Irish lilt was comforting.