by J. P. Rice
Justinian had settled back in with the wolves. I held out hope that he would chase his dream and move to New York. Octavius seemed to be stalling on the date and time for the duel. He wouldn’t make a firm commitment.
Gareth had been making his rounds on the party scene, crashing at a different house almost every night. He’d forced his friends to call me up late night a couple of times so that he could make drunken small talk. Each time he’d forgotten the previous conversation and basically repeated himself. Otherwise, he seemed like he was living his best life.
I took pleasure in the Goblin Queen’s demise. Cheering anyone’s demise seemed morbid, but I’d liberated the children of Sleepy Willow from the constant goblin kidnappings. In fact, I’d destroyed two death factories. Burned one down and razed the other to the ground. Just thinking about it gave me a warm feeling that spread through my chest.
I saw my mother at the table in the corner with catered snacks. Alone. I pounced, my feet skipping across the stone floor. As I pulled up next to her, a shit-eating grin developed on my face.
“Why, hello there,” I said.
“Oh,” her voice cracked. “Can’t believe you’re spreading those lies.” She pretended to busy herself in choosing food.
I cut straight to the chase. “Tell me who has his soul. I still can’t believe you killed him to get to me.”
“What are you talking about?” Her hand shook as she spooned some whole grain mustard onto her plate.
“Don’t play stupid. I know you’re behind everything. Tell me where his soul is so the Morrigan can sort it out,” I growled soft enough so that the other guests wouldn’t hear, but loud enough so my mother knew I meant business.
She stabbed a square piece of cheddar with a toothpick and set it on her plate. “I know a few things too. I know you set up my husband to take the fall for all this.”
Even when she was caught, the lies still flowed freely. I said, “That’s some serious gaslighting lady. That’s exactly what you did. You should have heard him whimpering right before Merlin ki...”
“Stop, right there,” she warned, pointing a toothpick at me.
“What’s wrong? Afraid of a little truth bomb?” I asked and nudged her shoulder.
She stared me in the eyes for ten seconds. I prayed for her to take a swipe at me so I could whoop her ass in front of the Celtic Gods. Instead, she turned up her nose, then spun on her high heel with her small plate of corned beef bites and cheese. “It’s been quite a pleasure.” She sighed mockingly and charged off into the sea of Gods.
The Morrigan approached nodding her head. “Hell of a ride, kid.”
I grinned and nodded in return. “Hell of a ride.”
“So, what’s next?” the Goddess of Death asked.
“Not much. Trying to lie low for a while.” With my dragons hopefully on the way, I didn’t want to get involved with anything major right now.
“Like that’s going to happen,” teased the Morrigan.
The Dagda nestled in next to us. “Ladies, how are we?”
The Morrigan rolled her eyes. She had a strange relationship with her husband. “I’ll talk to you later.” She punched my shoulder, turned around and threw a handful of potato chips in her mouth. Crunching loudly, she headed toward Cerridwen and her obsidian cauldron.
An awkward silence ensued, and I smiled politely at the Dagda. No offense, but the God had been a dick to me in most of our previous encounters. He thought I was a bad influence on his wife, Mo. How rich.
He rubbed his chin and spoke in his soft, husky voice, “I wanted to know if you could assist with this never-ending winter in Pittsburgh. If you are willing to help me out.”
In a roundabout way, he was asking me to sneak into the Red Cavern of demons and steal his magical harp, which controlled the seasons. “I’d love to, but there’s not much I can do. I got no way of getting in. I can try, but don’t get your hopes up.”
“It would be appreciated mightily. If you can infiltrate and return my harp, I’ll post for you,” he said, staring up at me with raised eyebrows.
My jaw dropped and my eyelids flickered. “Are you saying what I think you are?”
He nodded affirmatively. “I’ll formally nominate you for the position Maeve vacated. That would put you in close proximity to your best friend.” He thumbed toward the Morrigan.
Still stunned, I realized this changed everything. “Let me see what I can do.”
“I see I’ve piqued your interest. Keep in contact.” He bowed his head and went for the corned beef bites.
“Will do.” I didn’t know how I would get into the Red Cavern, but with a chance to become an official deity on the line, I’d figure out something. It was finally happening. I wished my father were around to hear this. He would have told me I was being stupid for even worrying about becoming a Goddess, but deep down, I knew it would give him satisfaction.
I kissed my fingers and blew the kiss up to the heavens for my father. I still had unfinished business with his murderer. But first, it appeared I was headed for the place that had burdened me with an unbearable amount of emotional trauma. The place where I’d been covered in lava. The demonic underworld called the Red Cavern.
THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!
Book 3, Sapphire Scales will be on preorder in January and be available in early February. There is a sample of the book on the following pages.
If you started the series with this book, you probably want to check out the first book in the series. LINK TO GINGER STORM: ASIN B07MNQB5G7
This saga is connected to the Bloodline Awakened Supernatural Thriller Series featuring Mike Merlino. If you enjoyed this book, I strongly recommend picking up these books.
LINK TO BLOODLINE AWAKENED SERIES
Book 1: DRAGON HORN ASIN: B07DDM92JN
Book 2: BLOOD GOBLET ASIN: B07G233H3G
Book 3: CLIPPED WINGS ASIN: B07JM6Y27M
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Sapphire Scales
The Scarlet Dragon Saga
Book 3
J.P. Rice
Chapter 1
I GAZED AT THE MESMERIZING sapphire dragon egg inside the incubator. All I wanted to do was touch it, but the thick plastic prevented me from any contact with my babies. Owen adjusted the temperature and sat down on the edge of his brick fireplace. I had convinced him to keep a constant fire going for the dragons.
The dragon eggs were packed in ice when I’d found them, but Owen and I didn’t believe they would hatch under those conditions. Even if they were ice dragons, they still needed warmth for birth. Right?
When were my dragons going to hatch? Patience wasn’t on my list of attributes. My inner dragon wanted some friends to play with. I still hadn’t told anyone about them, which was killing me.
I sat down and tried to calm myself. We’d dubbed Owen’s basement the dragon den, although we hadn’t seen any signs of life from the eggs. Owen had offered to have one of them scanned to reveal the interior contents, but I didn’t want to take the chance of messing something up.
That angry beast known as doubt showed up periodically, trying to convince me that the eggs were fakes, but then I remembered the black dragons coming after them. They had to be real.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a book detailing the birth process of dragons. So, I didn’t know how long it took for them to hatch. I also didn’t know how long they had been packed under the snow.
Jonathan had told me that the black dragons had crashed Pittsburgh about two months ago. And he’d said Mike Merlino’s teleportation mistake that had resulted in two black dragons ending up in Pittsburgh only happened a few weeks ago.
Regardless, it drove me crazy. The eggs hadn’t grown at all, which was my biggest worry. I debated
packing one back in the snow to see what happened.
“Have you given more thought about going after the Dagda’s Harp?” Owen asked as he warmed his paw-hands near the fire.
“I have,” I said and paused for a moment. “But I don’t know. There’s just so many bad memories. And I have no surefire way of getting in, and from there, I have no plan on how to infiltrate the ranks and obtain the Harp.”
“It is quite the undertaking. You know what they say about going into battle without a clear head,” Owen said and tapped his chin in thought.
He looked like he was trying to unravel a phrase before he made one of his famous verbal gaffes. Before he found his words, I said, “Exactly. I’ve often said that you can’t fight two opponents at the same time. At least, if one of them is your own brain. Or something like that. I’m so frazzled over it and obviously, I don’t want to leave my dragons behind.”
“You know I’ll watch them with my life,” he reminded me, holding his hand over his heart.
Staring at the sizable incubator, I said, “I know, but I want to be here when they finally come out. I have a motherly attachment to them, and I would kick my own ass if I missed their births.”
“I’ll call you the instant it happens. I have a motion detection device set up so that any movement inside the incubator will trigger a text message to me. I’ll relay the message to you as soon as I receive it,” he promised and pulled out his cell phone.
My foot moved up and down nervously, tapping the ground with the front of my shoe. “That makes me not want to go to the Red Cavern even more. I won’t even be bringing my phone with me if I go.”
“Children can complicate things, it should seem. Even before they are born. Have you thought about where you are to raise them? Or names?”
A slow grin formed on my face, and Owen said, “Oh, heavens. I’ve witnessed that look before. What are you cooking up?”
With a goofy smirk, I said, “I had a crazy thought that I would claim my father’s house.”
“Did his current family vacate the property?” Owen asked, confused.
“Not exactly.” I lowered my voice. “I was planning to evict them.”
“Evict them how? Under what authority?” Owen stood up and loosened his gold tie, clearly uncomfortable with my decision. “Even if you wrest it by bloody force, the rest of their family will still hold legal standing.”
I tried to explain, “They have plenty of money from my father’s inheritance. I just want his castle. All I need is the chance to explain to them why they shouldn’t call the authorities. I can be pretty convincing.”
Owen smirked. “Don’t I know about that. Intoxication. Thy name is Junipher.”
“It would be the perfect place to raise dragons. What better way to honor my father, right?” I said energetically. Owen tossed his head around and pulled out his pipe. I said, “Please don’t do that down here, around the babies.”
“They are completely enclosed in there. But I’ll oblige.” He tucked his pipe back into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “Look at you, being overprotective already.”
I shrugged my shoulders and tried to play it off, but I had already formed a bond with these sapphire eggs. The family I’d never had.
Owen rubbed his eyes and said, “Where were we? Where were we? Right-e-o. Perhaps you could offer to buy the house. If you are low on liquid assets, I could help you out.”
“I’m not paying for something I deserve,” I said angrily and continued, “Those skanks have only known my father for a little more than a decade. I saved his life at Machu Picchu. What did they ever do for him? Nothing. They deserve nothing, yet they are receiving everything on a silver platter. I’m taking what’s mine.”
“I do not like the plan, but it seems your mind is set. I’ll offer this.” Owen sighed and thought for a moment. “If you obtain the property through dubious means, can you be entirely comfortable keeping a secret such as dragons. It opens the prospect that other people might try to take the property from you. And that would leave the dragons at risk.”
“If I assume his property, it will be well guarded. The dragons will only be vulnerable when they are young. Until they can protect the property for me, I will have plenty of soldiers making sure nobody comes close to my babies,” I informed him.
He paced in front of the fireplace, the flames dancing behind him. “Yes, well, I wish you luck with that. It’s not that I disapprove of bending or breaking the law, but you aren’t doing it because you absolutely need to. You are doing it simply because you can. Remember the famous line from Jurassic Park. They were too busy or enamored with the idea that they could, but they didn’t stop and think whether they really should. Or something like that.”
His pacing was making me nervous, so I stood up. “I’m not opening a dinosaur park here. And I can’t believe you are taking their side on this.”
Owen’s yellow eyes narrowed, giving him a fierce look, and he spoke sharply, “This is not about sides. I know you despise them, but they haven’t done anything wrong or broken the law. Taking their house just rubs me the wrong way.”
“Well, don’t worry. I won’t bring it up again. I’ve got to go see Thor now, but I’ll be waiting for that text,” I said and walked over to my dragons.
I leaned down close to the plastic and looked over the thirteen eggs. My eyes were drawn to the egg in the top right corner. Inexplicably, I couldn’t look away. Slowly and deliberately, the egg began to beat like a heart. The shell expanded, and when it appeared as if it would pop, it contracted back to the original size.
Owen’s phone buzzed from the text signal from the incubator. “What is going on?” He walked over to me.
Speechless, I pointed to the back corner and watched the egg pump in and out. We had signs of life. Owen leaned down, and we saw the miracle of life in the form of a shimmering sapphire dragon egg.
Dumbfounded, Owen said, “Oh, heavens. We’ve got action.”
As much as I wanted a baby dragon to burst out that shell right this second, a much-needed surge of excitement shot through me knowing there was life inside those eggs.
I waited a half hour, just in case anything exciting happened, but the egg kept beating slowly. It took a lot to pry myself away, but I needed to see Thor.
Chapter 2
I RACED ACROSS THE city to a little town called Blawnox. Thor worked in a dive bar called Dietches, and although I wasn’t sure he was working, I couldn’t wait any longer. Loki and Hel were on my ass and Thor could be my saving grace. But I had to track him down first.
I opened the big wooden door and entered the smoky bar. It was only a few degrees warmer inside, so I kept my coat on and walked up to the bar. An older man bartending stared at the basketball game on the TV with his back to me.
I coughed and sniffled, trying to get his attention. He waited for the game to go to commercial and turned to me. He threw a coaster on the bar in front of me and said, “Can I get for yinz?”
“I’m here to talk to Todd,” I said, leaning my forearms against the front of the bar.
“You friends with him?” the bartender asked.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
He leaned down behind the bar and I heard bottles clanging. The bartender rose with a sawed-off shotgun in his hands. He cocked the gun and pointed it at my face.
“Whoa. What the fook is going on?” I asked and put up my hands. Was I being robbed?
“You trying to steal from us too?” he asked and used the stock of the gun to push up his glasses.
“I don’t know what’s going on. I haven’t seen Todd in almost a year and heard he was working here,” I explained. Of all the supernatural brawls I’d been in with Gods and powerful beasts, I had a hard time believing some yinzer bartender would be the one.
The bartender lowered the gun. He shook his head and his tinted glasses slid down his nose. He pushed the spectacles back up and said, “You know where he’s at?”
“No. That’s why I’
m here to see him,” I said with my open hands next to my face.
The bartender’s face turned red. “Son of a bitch took off last week. Cleaned out the register ‘fore he left. We got it on security footage. Yinz see him, tell him he better pay back the two-hundred and fifty bucks he owes us,” he said, getting increasingly agitated.
What the fook was Thor doing? Was he even worth trying to save? I said, “I’ll tell you what. I can pay you what he owes if you can give me the address he left. He had to fill out paperwork, right?”
He leaned down again and stood back up without the weapon. I lowered my hands.
“He filled out an application. But he was being paid under the table. You give us the two-fifty and I’ll give you his application,” the bartender said and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Deal,” I agreed and dug into my purse. I opened my wallet and paid off the bartender. He stuffed the bills into the register and went downstairs.
I waited in the frosty bar for Thor’s application, so I could find out where he was living. How had the God of Thunder turned into a complete degenerate? It didn’t make any sense and destroyed my plan to have him reclaim his birthright as heir to the throne of Asgard.
The bartender came back up and handed me the piece of paper. He said, “Thanks for paying that deadbeat’s tab. Now you can tell him never come back round here.”
“I’ll do that,” I said and looked at the application. I zeroed in on the name and address.
Shitface Odin
123 Loki Sucks Lane
Asshole, Pennsylvania 12345
It appeared Thor hadn’t lost his sense of humor, but a lot of good it did me. Just for shits and giggles, I looked at the phone number.
123-456-7890
Of course. I was glad to see this bar handled hiring seriously. The last time I was here, a different bartender had told me they were paying Thor in drinks. Before I got mad at the bar’s lax hiring policies, I stormed out without the application.
