Dragon Gate

by Gary Jonas

  He looked confused. “This must be a trick.”

  I held my arms out to my side. “Run me through.”

  He hesitated, as I knew he would. He couldn’t chance that this wasn’t a ploy to get him to commit so I could kill him, especially since he’d seen this move before when Kelly performed it. Of course, I didn’t have any hopes of killing him at this point, but he didn’t know that.

  “Drop the sword!” Detective Kramer said as she got out of the car behind Peter, gun drawn and ready.

  He spun toward her, and she shot him in the shoulder. He dropped the sword and grabbed his wound. A moment later, he sat down and blinked several times. He glanced over at me.

  I shrugged. “You should have obeyed her,” I said.

  Detective Kramer and her partner, Detective Fredericks, moved in to cuff Peter.

  “You all right, Mr. Shade?” Kramer asked.

  “I am now, thanks to you. There’s one more inside the spa. Thomas Marshall himself. And unless I’m way off my game, he’s the one who killed Graham.”

  Fredericks pulled Peter to his feet and shoved him into the back of the car. “I suppose I should call an ambulance.”

  “There should already be one on the way. Injured guy in the back alley.”

  Fredericks nodded. “Cool.”

  “You stay out here,” Kramer said to me.

  “No worries. I’ll keep an eye on Peter here.”

  Fredericks closed the door. “Anything else you can tell us?”

  “Thomas Marshall is armed with a sword.”

  Kramer nodded. Then she and Fredericks entered The Steam Room. I sat on the warm hood of their car and waited.

  RAYNA NOBLE

  Rayna held tight to the dragon. She didn’t know where to go. Should she circle back for Jonathan? That could be dangerous with the Marshalls right there. But he could be killed. Still, she knew he’d be angry because he sent her away to be safe.

  She didn’t feel safe going back to the unfinished castle because Lucas and his sons were probably engaged with the other Marshall sons. She couldn’t go home. It also didn’t make sense to fly all the way to Denver. A dragon in Denver wouldn’t exactly be keeping a low profile.

  She knew Brand and Esther were on their way to The Steam Room, but she wasn’t sure which route they would take. Ultimately she didn’t want to be too far from Jonathan, so she had the dragon take her down to the roof of a nearby strip mall. She climbed down and stroked Clara’s neck. Rayna didn’t care if people saw her with the dragon. After all, what could they do about it?

  Standing there with her dragon in the middle of Boulder, she found herself thinking about her brother. He had been a fixture in her life, and now he was gone. Her immediate family was dead. She was the last. Her future was uncertain at best. With a little luck, Lucas and his sons would take care of some of the Marshalls. Maybe Jonathan could handle the rest. But when the danger was over, what would she do?

  She had The Steam Room, of course. As long as she had Clara, she could keep the business going. If her uncle survived, he would have the hospice. One thing she hated was for the big things in life to be up in the air. She’d never had to consider such things when Graham was alive.

  Shouldn’t she feel something? Shouldn’t his death have some sort of impact on her? She felt bad because she didn’t seem to feel anything one way or the other at that moment. She knew it could just be shock. She’d certainly been through a lot in the past few days. Her vision clouded and she went to rub her eyes. Her fingers came away wet. Once she felt the tears, the emotions welled up in her and she had to sit down to cry.

  Life would never be the same.

  An emptiness opened within her, and she couldn’t fill it because it was a space abandoned by her family. She realized how alone she truly was. She had nowhere to go. No one could help her.

  She wiped the tears from her cheeks and wished she had a tissue so she could blow her nose. The dragon nudged her gently and she turned.

  “I’m okay, Clara. At least I have you.”

  She rose and wrapped her arms around the dragon’s neck. But it wasn’t the same. She needed a human touch. She wanted someone to hold her.

  That brought her thoughts back to Jonathan.

  Was he all right?

  What if the Marshalls killed him?

  She couldn’t let that happen.

  “Clara,” she said, “we need to save Jonathan.”

  She climbed onto the dragon, and they launched into the sky, heading back toward The Steam Room.

  JONATHAN SHADE

  Kramer and Fredericks came out of The Steam Room empty-handed. “There’s nobody in there,” Fredericks said.

  “I locked the back door from the outside,” I said. “Unless there’s another exit, he has to be in there.”

  “Maybe his son knows something,” Fredericks said, nodding toward Peter in the backseat.

  “You can ask.”

  “What the hell is that?” Kramer asked, pointing into the sky.

  I turned and saw Rayna riding the dragon. The dragon did a slow circle then came in for a landing in the parking lot.

  “That,” I said, “is a dragon. Didn’t you see The Hobbit?”

  Kramer and Fredericks stood with mouths open. Kramer shook her head.

  Rayna climbed off the dragon and hurried over to me. “You’re alive!” she said and threw herself into my arms. She held me tightly.

  She felt wonderful in my embrace. Holding her, I felt like life was once again worth living. That might be overstating things a bit, but the past several months, I’d worked hard at not feeling anything, so my perspective may have been skewed.

  “That is a real dragon,” Fredericks said, pointing.

  “Breathes fire and everything,” I said.

  “He’s amazing.”

  “She,” I said.

  “She? She’s beautiful. I think I should wake up any second now.”

  Detective Kramer stared at the dragon for a time then looked at me. “What about Thomas Marshall?”

  I shrugged. “Rayna,” I asked, pulling away from her a bit, but taking her hands in mine, “how many exits are there from The Steam Room?”

  “Four if you count the entrance.”

  I turned to Kramer but didn’t let go of Rayna’s left hand. It felt good to hold her hand. I half expected a Beatles song to play in the background. “I don’t want her going in there,” I said. “Marshall wants to kill her.”

  “Ms. Noble, where are the exits?”

  “The entrance right here, of course. There’s the back rollup door where we take deliveries. There are also emergency exits in both the men’s and women’s locker rooms. That doesn’t count the windows in the Upper Echelon.”

  “I didn’t see an exit in the men’s locker room,” Fredericks said.

  “At the end of the row of lockers. If you don’t go down the row, it’s easy to miss. Same thing in the women’s locker room.” As she spoke, Rayna gently squeezed my hand.

  “He probably got out through one of those exits before we cleared the building, but I’ll call for backup, just in case,” Fredericks said and moved to the car door, never taking his eyes off the dragon.

  “Is it wise to keep a dragon in the parking lot?” Kramer asked.

  “People driving by will think it’s a gimmick. They won’t think it’s real,” I said. “Anyone coming out of the bagel shop will think it’s animatronic. Right?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Tell you what, if anyone asks, I’ll tell them it’s for a movie and I’ll give them my best Sean Connery voice. A sequel to that dragon movie he did. The title escapes me.”

  “Dragonheart,” Rayna said.

  “That’s it. So we’re gearing up to film Dragonheart 2: Invasion of Boulder.”

  “They already filmed a sequel to Dragonheart,” Rayna said.

  “With Sean Connery?”

  “Robby Benson.”

  “I’m glad I missed that. So we’
re doing Dragonheart 3.”

  “You think that will work?” Kramer asked.

  “Well, it worked with zombies,” I said.

  “I don’t think I want to know.”

  “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 Ray
na, 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.