Dragon Moon (21 page)

Samantha's husband ignores her question. He steps over me, grabs Henri from Derek.
“You damn well better show us if you can do this thing,”
he says.

“I can,”
Derek says. His features smooth as he begins to change to human shape.

Charles shoves Henri toward Philip.
“Take the boy!”

“I don't want to,”
Philip says.
“I don't like any of this.”

The older dragon growls.
“Boy, do as I say. I've killed sons for refusing less.”

Henri tries to rush toward me but Philip holds him, more hugging than restraining him.

I find if I breathe deeply I can persevere over the pain. My body fights me, but slowly I turn my eyes to Chloe.

She moves first her arms, then her legs, turning on her side, forcing herself half up, sitting on one haunch. Chloe looks at me.
“Oh, Peter!”
She turns to her mother.
“Why?”

Samantha Blood looks past her daughter, grins.

“Bloody good show of that!”
Charles Blood says.

I turn my head to see what they're looking at just as Chloe does too.

“NO!”
she mindspeaks, then lets out a long yowl.

If I could, I'd yell too at the perfectly copied blond human standing before us, completely like me down to his cleft chin. Only Derek's smug smile mars the replication.

18

“You're not my papa!”
Henri says.

Derek laughs, then says in a voice that sounds eerily like mine, “I'm Peter DelaSangre, son of Don Henri DelaSangre. I live on Blood Key, on the edge of Biscayne Bay, between Wayward Key and the Ragged Keys. I get around on the water in my Grady White — whatever the hell that kind of boat is — and I drive either a Mercedes or a Corvette on land.”

Samantha Blood claps her foreclaws together. “Go on,” she mindspeaks.

“My business, LaMar Associates, is located on the top floor of the Monroe Building, in Coconut Grove. Arturo Gomez and Ian Tindall manage it for me. Arturo's daughter, Claudia, is currently watching my house. Someone by the name of Rita works as my spy at the office.” Derek beams. “How's that?”

I groan, realizing now why Derek had been so full of questions about my life. What else did I tell him during our long journey to the valley? But a cloud seems to be filling my mind, blurring my vision. The voices and thoughts around me grow distant and I have to struggle to understand them.

“What are you going to do with Peter?”
Chloe says.

“He'll die in a little while,”
Samantha says.
“Besides the Death's Rose in the wedding potion — and the nightshade I gave you both instead of alchemist's powder — he's drunk a mugful of dogbane, snakeroot and powdered gumbo limbo sap. I've taught you how to mix potions. You know the strength of all that.”

“Chloe, you know better,”
Samantha says.
“Only the serum of Witch's Tongue I just gave him is keeping him alive right now. Once it fades, even the antidote I gave you won't be able to save him.”

Samantha Blood turns from her daughter, motions to Charles.
“Pick him up. Make him stand beside Derek. I want to be sure everything matches.”

The big dragon grabs me under my armpits, yanks me upright, holds me alongside Derek. I try to take control of my legs but they could just as well be made from rubber.

“There!”
Samantha says, pointing at my crotch, then at Derek's.
“You have it all wrong.”

Derek grabs himself between the legs. “Mum,” he says. “I like my own better than his. Who's to know anyway?”

“Who knows?”
she says.
“The way you are, you'll be using that as soon as you can. You have no way of knowing who he's been with. For this to work, everyone has to think you're Peter.”

“Are you done?”
Charles asks. Samantha nods and he releases me.

I slump to the floor. Chloe starts to sidle toward me and both of her parents glare at her, say in unison,
“STOP!”

Samantha changes into her human form, goes to the table returns with a pad and pencil. She crouches next to me, naked, her breasts swaying with each small movement. “I need phone numbers, Peter, names, addresses.”

“What about the treasure?”
Charles says.
“Ask him that.”

“You should know that's not the way Witch's Tongue works. You have to let it build, start with small questions. ...” Samantha turns her attention back to me. “Tell me the phone number of your company, Peter.”

The question seems to pierce the cloud in my mind. I answer her. She writes it down and asks another question. I answer that too, my voice strange to me, too willing. Still I continue to answer every question she asks as she fills a page, then another with her notes. “See?” Samantha says to her mate. “This is the way to do this. This way Derek will know what to do once he reaches Miami.”

As the questioning continues, I find I can shade my answers, never lying but, at least, omitting some details. We fill two more pages of notes before Samantha finally asks, “Do you have treasure too, Peter? Gold and silver?”

I tell myself not to answer but hear my voice say, “Yes.”

The naked woman grins. “Is it a large fortune?”

“Yes.”

“Where is it kept, Peter?”

It's a struggle for me to stop my mouth from revealing the location, but I try to allow myself a partial answer. “In my house.”

Samantha frowns, looks up from her pad. “But where?”

“Underneath.”

“Tell me more.”

“Underneath my house, in a stone room.”

“How can Derek find it?” Her voice turns stern. “Where should he look?”

If I could, I would grin at her frustration. “He should look underneath the house.”

The woman asks again and I give her the same answer. She rephrases the question and I still repeat the answer. The interrogation continues until pain overtakes me and my words become slurred, then meaningless.

Charles growls.
“What's this bloody nonsense?”

Samantha says, “The serum's lost its effect. I think we're done.”

“It would only give him a quicker, less painful death.”

The elder dragon glares at Derek.
“Our fool son managed to miss finding out the most important thing.”

“He has so much else, Pa ... stocks, bonds, businesses, real estate, all worth millions,” Derek says.

Charles whirls, slams his son with his tail, knocking him down. Then he straddles him and holds an extended talon to his throat.
“I WANT THE GOLD TOO.”

“Mum?” Derek stays down, looks at Samantha. “Please?”

She holds up one hand toward Charles. “Let him speak.”

“I found out everything else — just as you asked. I'm sure I can find the treasure. It's probably in a room under his house. By their cells, like ours is.”

“You could help!” Derek says, sitting up. “There's nothing that stops you from leaving Cockpit Country!”

“Enough!” Samantha Blood says. “There's nothing to be done now but to go on with the plan. If Derek can't find the treasure, so be it.”

“You could ask Peter,” Chloe says.

Samantha snorts. “He's dying. He already has lost all ability to control any speech.”

Chloe forces herself to her feet and faces her mother.
“I know you and your potions. You can save him ... if you want to.”

Her mother frowns. “If I wanted to ... maybe. It still might take weeks to bring him back to full consciousness.”

“And why would he tell us then?”
Charles says.

“You have his son,”
Chloe says.

Charles laughs.
“I'd give up either of my two for enough gold.”

“But Peter wouldn't,”
Chloe says.
“He understands what it is to love a child.”

19

{
Papa? Papa? PAPA!
}

I'm lifted, pulled, carried and laid down. A new vile liquid, thick and bitter, is forced into my mouth. I hack and cough, but can't stop it from flowing down my throat, burning my insides. My pain lessens but I begin to shiver. Someone covers my nakedness with a thin blanket.

Still, cold wet air continues to chill me. Not that I care. Asleep or awake, my world's the same. Pain no longer bothers me. Time means nothing. Voices, mindthoughts are just sounds that come and go, like the creak of my cell door's hinges, or the tiny patter of the rats' feet under my cot.

{
Papa, please, he's taking me away! I don't want to go with him! Please, Papa!
}

Darkness comes, settles around me like an ocean of black ink and I sleep.

{
Peter, can you hear me? Oh, I know you can't answer yet but you have to listen to me. You have to make yourself strong. Mum is doing her best to save you. She says her potions alone can't bring you back. Henri needs you. So do I.
}

Gloom replaces dark and doors open and close.

“Here.” A liquid is forced into my throat. Cow's blood this time, not medicine and I welcome its nourishment. But the bitter fluid follows, leaves me shivering again.

Dark again, another night with no thoughts, no dreams, no wishes, no hope.

{
Peter, my love. You must grow strong. My mother and father promise me they won't, but I know they'll kill you when they no longer need you. Derek has already closed up your house and left with Henri. If he sends back word from Miami that he's found your treasure room, Mum will give you poison again. Please, Peter, you must grow strong soon!
}

Dark turns to gloom, turns to dark and then gloom again. Each night Chloe mindspeaks to me. Each night I'm unable to answer. Twice each day, blood is poured down my throat, followed by more of Samantha's disgusting potion. But vile as it is, it works. The shivering declines. I begin to hear more, see more.

On the fifth night, I wake, wait until all's quiet and sit up. The blood rushes from my head. My ears roar and a white circle of light blocks my vision. Not willing to risk fainting, I lie down. When my eyes clear and the roaring in my ears finally subsides, I sit up again. Flexing my arms and legs, I'm amazed at my weakness.

{
Chloe?
} I mindspeak, masked.

{
Peter! You can't know how happy I am to hear you!
}

{
Is Henri okay?
}

{
I think so. I'm not sure just when they left Jamaica. None of us will know anything for certain until Pa goes to Claypool and Son's in Kingston and finds out what messages Derek's sent back.
}

Of course, I think. The Bloods have no phones. Certainly no mailman would dare venture into this wilderness. I could never live like this — so cut off from the world. But, I realize, for the time being I'm as isolated as they are. And my son must feel more alone than I do.

Poor Henri, far away with only an indifferent uncle for company. Rage rises within me. {
Chloe, I am going to kill all of them — your brother and your parents.
}

{
No. You can't. If Henri hasn't been hurt, you can't kill any of them. They're still my family.
}

{
And if Henri's been harmed?
} I shudder at the thought.

{
Then I will help you kill each and every one of them,
} Chloe says.

I force myself to my feet, waver in the darkness. {
Come help me get out of here.
}

{
You need to rest. You need to get stronger first.
}

Feeling my way to the cell door, I say, {
I don't want to wait. Please come.
} I find the door, tug on it. It doesn't budge.

{
I can't,
} Chloe says. {
They've locked me in my room and shuttered my windows. Not even Philip is allowed to visit me. The only time I see anyone beside Mum and Pa is when my servant, Lila, brings me my meals. See, Peter, you have to grow strong so you can escape and come back to rescue me.
}

{
All of it without hurting your family,
}
I say.

{
No, dear. I didn't say you can't hurt them. I just said you can't kill them.
}

It takes all my will to feign unconsciousness when Samantha Blood and her servant come in to feed me and administer her potion. But I lie still and allow her to treat me. At first, I doubt whether I have the strength to overpower her anyway. Later, as I feel my muscles growing, I still doubt whether, at full strength, I could best both her and her husband in any struggle.

I begin to pester Chloe about my escape. Each day of waiting must be unbearable for Henri. I can hardly stand it myself. {
No,
} she says. {
Lila's told me of a way you can leave without any chance of my parents' stopping you or finding you. Philip's promised to help. Lila warned it might be very difficult. You must be as strong as you can be before you attempt it.
}

{
Aren't you coming with me?
}

{
I would if it was just me — no matter how dangerous it was. But we have a child to worry about. I won't risk our daughter. You'll just have to remember to come back for me once you get out.
}

I wait, feigning unconsciousness each day, exercising in the dark each night, worrying about my son in Miami and my mate imprisoned above me.