Excerpt of Dragons Prefer Blondes by Candace Havens

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 One

“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 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
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 premiere 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 too, 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.