California Imperium

by Aaron Crash

  Chazzie clicked her tongue. “Prudence Pride Wayne, you get your mind straight. You’ve been fighting our new life with Steven since Odessa. Let it go. What did Daddy used to say?”

  Pru slipped the credit card into her wallet, then stuffed it into her Luis Vuitton bag. “Win the game you’re playing, not the one you want to play. I know it. You certainly don’t have to quote Daddy to me.”

  “Well?” Chazzie lifted an eyebrow.

  A dusty Chevy with duallies banged up alongside of them in a stink of burning oil. The farm boys inside hooted and hollered at them, and the driver was cute. He had a little bit of a beard and blue eyes you could see from a distance. Pru didn’t have a ring on. She could call to him. She could forget about The Mystery of the Bad Mojo Americos Chambers for a minute.

  Steven would never know. Hell, she could even slip away from Chazzie for a bit.

  Then she thought of Steven, and her head went sideways. She didn’t want to cheat. She loved her Prime with all her heart, yet with only about a quarter of her head. Damn. Instead of flirting, she regally waved the cute boy on, and the truck drove off with hay swirling out the back.

  “Well?” Chazzie repeated, and then she nodded slowly. “Oh, I see it. I get how it is. As I live and breathe, Bob Wayne’s little Prudence is afraid. Would ya look at that.”

  Pru strode up to her sister. She pulled her bag back because she was going to square up. “Chazzie, you were afraid. During our little Texas showdown, you were close to tears the whole time.”

  “I was not!” Chazzie protested.

  Pru rolled her eyes. “I do believe you cried at one time. Real tears and everything.”

  Chazzie’s mouth grew small, and her brow furrowed. “Okay, maybe, but I don’t recall all that. I was scared. Do you know why?”

  Pru gave her sister a bored look. “Well, I certainly can’t imagine you’d stop there even if I asked you to.”

  Chazzie threw her hands down. “For years and years, you and I were in control. Yes, we had our Prime, but come on, Carlo Bart Baxter was always three steps behind us. Even at the end. Especially at the end. He was like a guy we had handcuffed and blindfolded in the back of our Camaro. With Steven Drokharis? You and I might be in the backseat, but he is driving a million miles an hour with the car on fire heading for perdition. We are merely along for the ride. And that, sister, is scary.”

  Pru had to unclench her jaws. Was that the sting of tears in her eyes? It was too early in the day, a little past noon, and she’d be damned if she was going to ruin her mascara over this sisterly tête-à-tête. She blinked them away. “Scary isn’t the word. Steven can’t walk in his own Primacies. And this Spider Finger? He tried to use the Americos Chambers to trick us in Odessa. Hell, if Steven hadn’t been on his game that day, he’d have walked into that trap. Once again, the chambers are in play. And what if this mystery we’re trying to solve is just another trap?”

  “Oh, dear, I’m gonna throw another Daddyism at you. You ready?”

  Pru knew exactly which one of Bob Wayne’s homespun quips Chazzie was going to quote. She beat her sister to it. “A hero is only as good as his villain.”

  Chazzie swept out her arms and bowed. “Let’s get that girl a prize. Yep. Which means, our hero Steven is the real deal. And please, for the love of biscuits, do not keep calling him Stevie.”

  Pru sighed and frowned and sighed some more. “You’re using that blonde girl’s catchphrase.”

  “Her name is Mouse.”

  “Don’t much care. You’ve been spending too much time around them girls.”

  “We’re a part of Steven’s Escort. It is what it is.”

  Pru let out a groan. “Fine, fine, fine. It’s not like I’m going to jump ship. But let me just say, I will not be putting my fine ass on the line for him.”

  “You already are,” Chazzie said.

  Pru took off her glasses, plucked another pair out of her sister’s hand, and put them on. She checked herself in the driver’s side rearview. “There’s playing the game, and then there’s that whole ‘dying for the cause’ bullshit that Aria just loves. And your Mouse. Hell, even the blind Mexican chickie we have in the back loves the grand sacrifice play.”

  Chazzie grabbed the sunglasses off Pru, put them on her own face, and shoved her sister to the side. “Prudence. We will not be doing that. That’s just stupid. No, we’ll play it right, we’ll play it good, and we’ll git ’er done. Now, let’s go see what Cactus Bill has to say about our Bad Mojo mystery.”

  They took off south from Barstow, and ninety minutes later, entered Joshua Tree National Park. Sabina woke up, but she was quiet in the back. She hadn’t cast a spell, so she couldn’t see.

  “Well, Sabina,” Pru said. “You ain’t missing a thing. This is a national park? It’s ugly and getting uglier. It’s dust and rocks and the ugliest trees I ever did see. If I wanted ugly, I’d go visit Earl over in Laredo.”

  “Earl is an ugly one,” Chazzie agreed.

  Sabina added to the conversation. “I like the ugly. They try harder. The pretty get it easy. You two are very fine examples of that, I think.”

  “Uh, yeah we are.” Pru thought that was very, very obvious.

  They paid, drove into the park itself, and then on to Skull Rock.

  The place wasn’t helping Pru feel better. Didn’t national park mean pretty? Guess not. And now she had to deal with Cactus Bill, who could be exhausting. He wasn’t all there. The Dragonskin ritual had done a number on him. Well, he and Sabina could compare skin-burning tips.

  They parked near the entrance to the quick trail that led to the rock. Pru didn’t see a skull in the stone, but then she knew she wasn’t very imaginative. She liked real things—money, nice clothes, and ammunition for her guns—not fancy thoughts, and that was good enough for her, thank you very much.

  They banged out of the Expedition. Chazzie went around the back and grabbed a new goody bag they’d bought in the Bay Area. “Hey, sis, you want a Mossberg or a Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum?”

  Pru pursed her lips to think. “Let’s both take the .44 Magnums. I don’t expect much trouble from Cactus Bill. Certainly not shotgun trouble.”

  Sabina was already on the path. She turned, her eyes glowing. “You should bring the guns. We might not need them, but they will make you feel better. And you’ll need to be relaxed for this.” She turned and continued to walk through the scrub and cactus of the desert.

  “See?” Pru said. “That makes me want to bring every gun we got. Cryptic and unhelpful.”

  Chazzie tsked her sister. “Girlfriend, we’re dragons. We can claw it up if we have to. But let’s still bring the Magnums.”

  They stuffed the huge revolvers into Prada bags, added in some extra ammo, and slammed the trunk. The twins then followed Sabina down the path through the rocks. The ground was anything but even; Pru knew she was going to break a heel, and they didn’t have time for her to shop for new shoes. Her bag lay heavy on her shoulder. She should’ve just walked with the revolver, but hikers generally didn’t like their fellow nature enthusiasts to be armed, especially in California.

  The smell of burning sage drifted over to them, and they heard a hoot. Then a scream. Then another hoot.

  Drawing near, they found Cactus Bill in a clearing by his fire, dancing. He was naked, and he’d been rolling around in the dust, so it coated him, every ridge of every muscle on his lean, gorgeous frame. Even his unit was dusty. He was tall, clean-shaven, with a mop of blond hair that was now grey. There was an actor, Chris Hemsworth, and Cactus Bill could’ve been his twin. Except Cactus Bill was insane.

  “Chastity! Prudence! What do you two know about King Arthur?” Bill shifted his legs into silver-blue scales and then stood in the fire. He then hopped out of it. His claws smoked.

  “Wrong mystery,” Sabina murmured serenely. “We’re doing the Americos Chambers. But Bill, you and I know you don’t have the answers. You have three things to tell us. Let us not waste time, comprende?” />
  “Hey, Sabina,” the handsome man said. “I saw you were coming.”

  “Wait,” Pru said, “you know each other?”

  “I’ve seen her, and she’s seen me. Through the power of magic!” Cactus Bill got very dramatic and yelled, “Magica Divinatio!” His eyes flashed a silvery blue. He went to open his mouth.

  “Not that prophecy, Bill,” Sabina said. “We know we’ll be in Palm Springs tonight, at a nice hotel, and I’ll kiss Pru.”

  “Oh, snappers, you might do more.” Wings sprouted from his back. He danced around the fire, flapping his wings and snapping his fingers. “A little lady love tonight. If she’s brave, if she gets it, and if she gets you. Wanna know more?”

  Pru felt her throat go dry. This was an unexpected turn of events. “I’d like to know more.”

  “We’ll talk later,” Sabina said. “Not that, Bill. Let’s keep it simple. I’ll give you the three topics. Javier Jones. Animus vacuums. The three Dragonlord Primes.”

  Pru sighed. “Sabina, if you know all this, why are we here? Why couldn’t you just tell us?”

  “We had to come to Bill first, mi amiga,” the Latina Magician said. “I must admit, dirty or not, he still is very handsome. And I was supposed to ask him about those three things.”

  Bill let out another howl and shifted into a Homo Draconis. He inhaled and then breathed ArcticWind down on the fire, putting it out. The ice immediately began to melt in the hot sun. The air smelled of the dead coals. “Javier Jones! You’ll see him tonight. He’s looking for you, and he called me. I like that Javier. He’s of the desert, by the desert, for the desert!”

  “Which hotel?” Chazzie asked. “If you say Motel 6, I’ll beat your ass.”

  Bill turned human, slinked up to Sabina, and got his face in her eyes. He blew on her glowing green eyes. “Nice hotel. You know that part. I don’t know if Prudence will take you, but she might, she might.”

  “Not. That.” Sabina emphasized each word. “So tonight, we will meet Javier Jones. Will there be trouble?”

  Bill nodded. “Always trouble with the dragons. Always. The three of them, were they brothers? Or were they friends? Two were dragons, one was not. Look closely and you’ll see. They created the Americos Chambers because of—” He danced back and crouched by the sagebrush. He picked up a handful of dust and then let it drop from his fingers.

  They waited.

  Sabina’s spell failed, and she didn’t cast another one. She pulled a collapsible white cane out of her purse and clicked it together.

  Pru turned to Chazzie. “He’s not getting any better. I’m thinking we buy a Magic Eight Ball. It might be about the same in the end.”

  Chazzie shook her head. “No, he’s always like this. Remember, he helped us warn Steven he’d be attacked in Chicago. When he’s good, he’s good.”

  The Latina Magician cleared her throat and tapped at the ground with her white cane.

  Bill waved the Wayne twins over. They went, crouching in front of him.

  “The Zothoric,” Bill hissed. “The Americos Chambers were created to repulse them. The three of them cast the magic. A Dragonsoul messiah. A powerful Magician. And the third worm, a mind lost to time. But Spider Finger needed the chambers to send Steven Drokharis away. The Drokharis son. The dragon’s son.”

  Bill stood. He took Pru’s and Chazzie’s hands in his big mitts. “One chamber is the master cave. The three now aren’t the three then. The three now are enemies, never friends, and not blood. One is old, one is young, and one is full of sorrow and scars. The one chamber is the master cave. Blood from the dragon and the dragon is sent away. Blood on the eye, and the dragon can stay. In the one chamber. In the master’s chamber.”

  Pru squeezed Bill’s hand. “There you go, Billy Boy. That’s good stuff right there. Keep on going.”

  “Did he just quote ‘Hotel California’?” Chazzie asked.

  Bill looked past them. He opened his mouth, and strings of saliva dripped from his fine white teeth. Tears filled his eyes. He looked like he was about to say something, on the cusp, but then he closed his mouth. The tears tracked down his face.

  He blinked. “Hey, Pru. Chazzie, don’t you just love Joshua Tree? I love it.”

  And just like that, Cactus Bill wasn’t crazy anymore. He was just a guy. He dropped the twins’ hands. He winced. “Oh, I’m naked. Will you look at that? Don’t much need clothes, though, since I’ll be flying home. Hey, not sure if you’ve heard, but Roy Right is getting a little California coalition going. Rumor has it, he’s been meeting with Javier, Savedra, even Jem Osprey. What do you think of that?”

  “We can go now,” Sabina said. “He has nothing else left to say.”

  Pru swiveled on her heel. “He just told us about the coalition. That was something.”

  The Latina Magician raised and lowered her shoulders. “He already told us that. The three Dragonlords. We can take it from here.”

  The numbers didn’t add up for Pru. “Okay, we have three Primes working against Steven. They are using the Americos Chambers to strip away his Animus, and sure, Spider Finger might be behind this, but he’s not one of the three. Bill mentioned four names. So who’s the guy not messing with our Stevie?”

  Sabina didn’t say anything.

  “Don’t know much more.” Bill stepped away and shifted into his partial form. The sunlight glistened off his silvery-blue scales. “Be seeing you girls. Have I ever told you how sweet and pretty you two look?”

  “Every single time,” Chazzie said with a soft grin.

  Cactus Bill launched himself off the dirt and into the air. He floated off.

  Sabina tapped the ground with her cane. “Come on, I want to get to the hotel. I’m looking forward to my kiss.”

  Pru was a girl who always knew what to say. But right then, her mind was blank, and her heart beat fast. She had no way of knowing what the events of the evening would bring. However, she did know they would involve less dust, rocks, and stupidly ugly trees.

  Pru reached into her purse and pulled her cell phone out. She’d gotten Javier Jones’s phone number during their hijinks in Odessa, Texas. She buzzed him.

  “Hey Javier, this is Prudence Wayne. I don’t suppose you’re anywhere near Palm Springs.”

  A long pause. “Si, I am, Prudence. Or it’s Pru, is it not? I’d forgotten you had my number.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “A call from Steven Drokharis would’ve been a surprise. But from one of the Wayne twins? That is a pleasure.”

  “Whatcha doing in California?” Pru asked.

  Another long pause. “Business. I’m currently in Coachella. But I could fly to Palm Springs. I need to meet an... associate... tonight. Could I invite her along?”

  “Invite her?” Pru laughed. “I didn’t say I wanted to see you, Javier, now did I?”

  “I will call her. I will see you. Isn’t that what you wanted, chica?”

  Pru didn’t think she needed to play hard to get. “I’ll text you the place and the time. You can bring your friend, but I’d rather you come alone.”

  She made sure to emphasize that one word because Javier was a man, and you could lead them around by their libidos.

  Pru shot a glance at Sabina and saw her in a different light. And then it was Pru who felt like she was on the end of a lustful leash.

  Chapter Eighteen

  STEVEN SOARED THROUGH the air as a Homo Draconis over the twelve Glass House Mountains. Dawn was beautiful, a gift just for him. Later that day, they would fly to Bali to continue investigating The Mystery of the Dragonknights and Merlin’s Daughter. But first? Training.

  He gripped Samael’s Lash, in its sword form, and he turned to see Mouse coming in fast. She held the Slayer Blade, the green flames tracing the edge of the blade.

  One good thing about being exiled from America? He was back in Australia, so jet lag wasn’t a thing. He’d gotten up early to train with Mouse. Zoey was sleeping, and Steven had some time with just him and Mouse.

 
He’d spent most of the night having sex with Matilda for the first time, alone, just the two of them. After that Abby Free ambushed him along with Aria, Skylar, and the wilder women of his Escort. He’d crawled out from under their bodies to find Michaela Montes waiting for him. After some dirty talk with her, it was Teegan Thornrose, who liked a little smack and grab.

  He’d crashed for a couple of hours, but he was buzzing with so much Animus he’d woken up early, refreshed, his cells buzzing.

  Now he had to make sure that Mouse’s blade didn’t nick him. They were playing a game of first blood—just a minor cut would end things. It tested their skill because neither wanted to do the other any serious injury. At the same time, neither wanted to lose. They’d agreed on no spells. That put Steven at a disadvantage.

  The air was cool still, wet from the dew, but already thermals were rising from the ground as the sun climbed higher and hotter into the sky.

  Steven grabbed a thermal, spread his wings out, and let the hot air push him straight up.

  Mouse didn’t follow, but banked around, her eyes on him. Her slim, sleek Homo Draconis form was a bit of amber against the green below. Both were hidden from the humans by Magica Defensio spells.

  Steven sailed up, shifted into True Form, and caught Samael’s Lash in his claw. He then used his greater wingspan to streak ahead, going for the top of one of the rock mounds. He landed at the top, shifted human, and picked up his sword off the ground.

  Mouse raced toward him. She’d pull out of the dive at the last second. Would she go to the left or the right? He was ready.

  Or he thought he was.

  The dragon woman in front of him came up short, her wings full of wind, and then she flicked her left hand at him. A shield spell smacked into him, pushing him down to the ground. Mouse was cheating. Well, he owed her that. He’d cheated before during their fights, especially one important one they’d fought in the Nebraska fields outside Liam Strider’s secret Aerie.

  Steven was on the ground. The amber outlines of the force field flashed toward him. He rolled across the rocks before it could hit him again. The shield floated above him. He knew Mouse’s tactics. She would keep him pinned, then at the last second, she’d sweep her shield away and get first blood.