Dragon Gate (30 page)

“You probably don’t.”

“Backup’s on the way,” Fredericks said. “Marshall’s son is bitching about being left in the car too. Says something about the dragon being his and he’ll kill anyone who tries to keep them apart.”

“He has a rather strange view of animal husbandry,” I said.

“I don’t need that image in my head,” Fredericks said.

Esther popped into view in front of me.

“We’re here,” she said. “Brand is parking. Is everything okay?”

I nodded because I was the only one who could see her. I didn’t want Kramer and Fredericks wondering about a ghost they couldn’t see. They might start playing Gordon Lightfoot songs.

I grinned.

“Something funny?” Kramer asked, trying to keep an eye on the front door and the dragon.

“I’m just glad you guys are here to check out the building so I don’t have to mess with it.”

Brand approached a moment later. “You under arrest again, Shade?”

“Not yet but the day is still young.”

Kramer nodded at Brand. “Hello, Mr. Easton.”

“Fill me in.”

I told him as much as I could in front of the cops. That meant it wasn’t much. Just that Thomas was possibly inside with a sword.

“You going in after him?” He glanced down at my hand, which still held Rayna’s, but he didn’t say anything.

“Not my job,” I said. “Boulder’s finest have it under control.”

Three more police cars rolled in and parked.

The cops stared at the dragon. “What the hell?” one cop asked.

“We’re going to be filming a sequel to
Dragonheart
next month,” I said. “Just testing the dragon to see if it works. What do you think?”

“Looks kinda fake to me,” the cop said.

“Yeah, well, the special effects guys will fix it in post,” I said and gave Kramer an
I told you so
look.

Fredericks gave the cops directions, and I motioned for Kramer to come closer.

“You have my number. I want to get Rayna to safety. Can you call me when you get Thomas Marshall in custody?”

She hesitated but finally nodded. “You’ll get that dragon out of here so I don’t have to explain it to anyone?”

“You bet.”

“Go.”

Kramer and the other cops entered The Steam Room again.

“Where can we take the dragon?” I asked.

“Clara normally lives in the basement here.”

“Shit. Thomas could be down there.”

“We could take her back to the house,” Rayna said, “but I’m afraid there might be a few of the Marshall Clan keeping an eye on it.”

“Yeah, not a good plan there either.”

“We could go to your place,” Rayna said. There was a hint of something more there, but it could have been my imagination.

I shook my head. “I live in an apartment. I can’t imagine the pet deposit for a twenty-foot dragon.”

Brand grinned. He tossed a significant glance at Esther, and she grinned too.

“What?” I said.

“You made a joke,” she said. “That makes me happy.”

I shrugged but I knew she was right. I felt different in spite of all the danger and stress. Kelly was alive; I knew that one way or another, we’d get through this without any more casualties; and I knew I’d be spending more time with Rayna. That last made me smile.

The smile was contagious, and soon everyone was smiling, even the damn dragon.

“Okay, Brand, you and Esther go look after Kelly. Lucas and his sons have the castle place covered. If we’re lucky, the cops have Thomas Marshall cornered, but we can’t count on that. Rayna and I need to find a place to hide a dragon, but there’s no reason for you two to hang here.”

“What about the dojo?” Brand asked.

“What about it?”

“If you can get it through the door, it’s big enough for the dragon. But if it shits on the floor, you’re cleaning it up. If it doesn’t fit, there’s that little courtyard out back.”

“And how do you propose we get the dragon over to the dojo?”

“Fly. Just avoid the traffic copters, and you’ll be fine. People might report a UFO or something, but even if they film it and put it on YouTube, nobody will believe it.”

“Point taken.”

Brand punched my shoulder lightly and pointed at me. “You keep smiling.”

“What was that all about?” Rayna asked after Brand left.

“Nothing.”

As we were climbing onto the dragon, my cell phone rang. It was Brand. I answered, “You forget something?”

“Yep. You two can stay in the storage room above the dojo. It’s tiny, and crowded with junk, but there is a cot up there. That said, you’d better change the damn sheets.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

JONATHAN SHADE

You’d think that flying on a dragon from Boulder to Denver would attract some attention. Not so. We made the trip from The Steam Room to Kelly’s dojo near 32nd and Sheridan in about thirty minutes. I wasn’t nervous this time. I just held on to Rayna, which was great. I breathed in her scent and felt calm. She was beautiful, smart, and single. In the past several months, it seemed every woman I met was married.

Not that I was relationship material. I was hardened by life, saddened by the knowledge that any of us can die at any time with no way to prevent it, and saddled with an attitude that I’d better be the meanest son of a bitch on the block or I’d pay the ultimate price.

Holding Rayna, I recalled what it felt like to be alive. She’d suffered loss but she seemed to understand that death was simply part of life. That was something I knew intellectually but tried to fight every step of the way. She mourned her parents, her brother, and her cousins, but she knew they’d want her to live a full life in the time she had remaining.

Her influence on me was powerful. I realized now that whenever I was with her, I felt better about life in general. She exuded a sense that no matter what kind of hell you’ve gone through, if you’re still alive, you have value and purpose. The purpose part I had down. My purpose was to help people, and while Graham had died, he hadn’t wanted my help, so that wasn’t my responsibility. After all, you can’t fix stupid. Rayna was my responsibility, and she was still very much alive.

The professional in me told me I should keep things platonic. I was her protector and nothing more. Emotions would only cloud the issue and might affect my judgment. I also knew I was her only real hope of surviving. Her upbringing would be difficult to overcome, so if Thomas Marshall caught her, she’d give in to the customs she’d learned from her family, bow her head, and wait for death.

A few days ago, I would not have been willing to lay down my life for her, but now I’d gladly die if I could guarantee her survival. I didn’t want to die, of course, but if it came down to it, I’d be okay with it.

At that moment, I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could. I didn’t know her well enough to be in love with her, but I wanted to know her, and I wanted to love her. Holding her felt right. Of course, it always feels right when you’re “in the new” or getting ready to go there.

The dragon’s muscles flexed, and the wings flapped to take us higher. The rhythm was reassuring. The air was a bit chilly, but it felt good. We glided along for a time, and I stared down at the buildings. I didn’t know Denver that well from the sky, so I kept my eyes open for landmarks to keep my bearings.

“We’re getting close,” I said. “There’s Lakeside Amusement Park.”

“I love roller coasters,” Rayna said. “That one goes right up to the lake.”

It had been years since I’d been on a roller coaster. I imagined riding the Cyclone with Rayna, and I could have lost myself in that image, but we were close to the dojo.

“That’s Sheridan, so we’re around 46th. We need to go south about fourteen blocks.”

Rayna guided the dragon south. Traffic was snarled up, but one of the obvious benefits of flying the Dragon Express was that traffic didn’t slow us down.

“It’s up there on the left,” I said.

Rayna nodded. “I see it. Should we land in back?”

“That might be best. Fewer people to see us.”

The dragon coasted down for a nice, easy landing in the small courtyard behind the building. Technically, it was really more like two parking spaces with room for a Dumpster backed up to an alley, but there you go. I bounced a bit but nothing like the first time.

I hopped down and Rayna followed. We stroked the dragon’s neck. “Thanks for the ride,” I said.

The dragon chuffed. I wasn’t sure if she understood, but I took it as a
you’re welcome
anyway.

I looked at Clara then looked at the door. “There’s no way we’re getting her in through there.”

“I doubt anyone will mess with a dragon in an alley.”

“Good point.”

“I think she’s hungry. She loves steaks and roasts.”

“We flew over a King Soopers. It’s about six blocks north. We can walk over there to get her some food.”

“We can get some food for us too,” she said.

“I’m not much of a cook,” I said. “But we can pop over to the Edgewater Inn to get some pizza.”

“You’re trying to fatten me up,” Rayna said. “I’ll have to work out for three weeks to get rid of the sandwiches and pizza.”

“You’re not in any danger of getting fat,” I said. “Besides, you said this was your cheat day.”

She smiled. “Yeah. But I have to keep myself fit. Wouldn’t be right to run a spa and work as a personal trainer if I didn’t look the part.”

“Oh, I think you could look the part with no effort.”

She smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Well, you’re not too ugly, I guess.”

She laughed and punched my arm. “Fine. We’ll get some food for Clara; then we’ll go get fat on pizza. You just have to promise me we’ll work it off tonight.”

The look in her eyes made me really look forward to the workout.

oOo

With the dragon fed and hanging out behind the dojo, Rayna and I took a cab to the Edgewater Inn. We grabbed a booth in the back and ordered a pizza. As always, the food was terrific. After we finished eating, we ordered a few more beers and talked.

“What do you remember of the world you came from?” I asked.

“Not much. We came through the gate when I was six.”

“And they speak English over there?”

“Languages bleed across the veils.”

“So the Dragon Gate literally leads to another dimension.” I knew this, of course, but it still seemed odd.

She nodded. “Does that scare you?”

“Not especially. I’ve been to a few dimensions in my day.”

She laughed, thinking I was joking, but the Underworld was located in another dimension, and I’d been there several times. I’d also been to another dimension, or perhaps a domain between dimensions, when I sent my spirit back in time last year. The denizens of that place would kill me if I ever returned. I let Rayna think what she wanted. Her laugh made me feel good, and her smile warmed my heart.

It had been years since I felt like this, and I didn’t want to do anything to change that. I’d been dead inside for so long, and waking up to life changed my perspective on everything. I found myself smiling, which felt alien to me, but it also felt great.

“So, my handsome dimension hopper, where all have you been?”

“Let’s talk about you,” I said. “You haven’t mentioned any boyfriends.”

“Subtle,” she said.

“Subtlety is my specialty. I studied with Mike Hammer.”

She gave me a grin, but I suspected she’d never read a Mickey Spillane novel. “I’m not seeing anyone right now. My last relationship ended amicably enough. Scott was an engineer, and he was offered an incredible job in Seattle. I wanted to stay here. I like rain but I prefer sunshine. Besides, my family was here, and I love working at The Steam Room. So he moved and while I’ve had some dates, I haven’t been serious about anyone since then. A lot of men are either after my money or they’re intimidated by it. Of course, most of them just want sex.”

“That does not surprise me.”

“The money part or the sex part?”

“Both.”

“And what do you want?”

“Professionally, I want to keep you alive.”

“And personally?”

I looked at the table. My luck with relationships lately had been dismal by anyone’s definition. Miranda turned out to be a dead woman whose body was controlled by a goddess, which sounds better than it was since that goddess destroyed my life. The girlfriend before that died because I couldn’t find a way to save her. Most of the women I dated were fine until they encountered the darker side of my life. They want a hint of danger, not life-threatening reality.

Rayna remained silent. I knew she’d allow that silence to drag until I answered. I’ve used that trick on people myself. You leave a long, awkward silence, and people will say something to fill the void. They often tell you things they didn’t mean to tell you, which is great if you’re trying to get information. But Rayna’s silence wasn’t to get information, really. I knew she was silent out of respect because she seemed to know things were a lot more complicated than they might have looked.