Dragons Luck

by Robert Asprin

  Griffen felt himself feeling in a very small way grateful that things hadn’t been much, much worse.

  “And when I asked you to help the investigation?” Griffen asked.

  “The nerve! Asking me to help you, when you didn’t want me, want to help me.”

  A tear welled up in the corner of Tammy’s eye and she bit into her bottom lip.

  “I did help you, Tammy,” Griffen said.

  “Humph. Not enough! So I scried about for a big, nasty-looking power that looked unconnected to the conclave, and led the garou to it. Figured while they were getting the tar beat out of them, I could skip town.”

  Griffen nodded, having figured out that much. What he couldn’t figure out was how the other shifters had caught her. The only possibility seemed to be . . .

  “You were following the garou, figuring that they were better trackers after all but that you might be able to beat them back to me with any information they found?” Griffen said to the lesser shifters.

  There were some embarrassed glances about, and one of those who wasn’t holding Tammy at the time nodded. In other circumstances, Griffen might have smiled at how the young man blushed.

  “Not all of us, just one, me, keeping tabs on them. I saw Tammy break away from them as they went into a building, and a few seconds later the sound of fighting. I called the others and decided to follow Tammy. When she caught us, she tried to shove her fingers through my skull, and that kind of clinched the whole thing for us.”

  Griffen looked through the crowd for Jay, Tail, and Kane. The various representatives of the shifters gave embarrassed looks and shrugs back. Silently, he agreed with them; there were other things that took precedence just now.

  “You are all missing something very important,” Harrison said.

  The crowd turned its attention to him, and, one-handed, he drew a cigarette and lit it, taking a long drag. The other hand still held his firearm, but it was almost as if he had forgotten it was there.

  “I don’t know what you all are, or why you are all here. But I know perps and murderers. I can buy this kid doing something like this, but not thinking it up. You said, ‘sounded like a good idea at the time,’ but you said it oddly. So I have to ask—who did you hear it from?”

  Griffen played back the conversation in his head. Harrison was right. Tammy’s tone had tightened just a bit, her eyes glancing away for just a moment. She hadn’t come up with the scheme. Someone had played her like a violin.

  At the moment she just glared at the cop and clenched her jaw. It was clear she wasn’t going to answer.

  Tink, who no one seemed to pay attention to till he moved, slapped her again.

  “Answer,” he said, and this time Griffen could practically feel a chill breeze off his words.

  “He’s wrong; it was my idea!”

  “Bullshit. Maybe your impulse, but you never have been one for planning,” Tink said.

  “It was just a guy in a bar, pointed out I couldn’t take Griffen, or Tail, or anyone else I was really mad at. Suggested who I might get at.”

  “What guy?” Griffen said.

  “Why should I help you?!” Tammy spat, and struggled again in the shifters’ hands.

  Tink raised his hand, and Tammy subsided.

  “It was just a guy, tall, dark hair. No smell of serious power on him. Said he worked for a dragon. Someone who didn’t want your life to be all roses. Never said more,” Tammy said.

  It was Valerie who spoke up next, a handful of words that expressed all the frustration Griffen was suddenly feeling.

  “Well, that doesn’t narrow it down much,” she said.

  Griffen agreed, the list was long in his head. Stoner he hadn’t heard anything from in a while. Flynn he had begun to mistrust. It was the kind of indirect move that could be the style of Melinda, or even George if Tammy had been wrong about the dragon part.

  For that matter, where had Mai gone to when Lizzy appeared?

  And now he had no idea what to do. Tammy was half-right when she said he wouldn’t punish her. He didn’t really know how.

  Harrison was pulling a pair of handcuffs out.

  “Right, that’s enough for here. I will get more out of her behind bars. Will these hold her?”

  “Links of iron? Oh yes. But you aren’t taking her with you,” Tink said.

  And with those simple words the tension level in the room skyrocketed once more. The fairy, still dressed like Alice just out of the looking glass, squared off with the detective, his sheet of a costume lying forgotten on the floor somewhere.

  “She is under arrest,” Harrison said.

  “Oh? You think you will get her to sign a confession? Think you can prove anything she has said? Hell, if you have a wire on you, I’ll bet you your pension it’s fried and with nothing usable on it,” Tink said.

  “You are just going to let a murderer go free?” Harrison shouted.

  “No, we will take her, and punish her. She was our responsibility; it is a matter of honor that one of ours who violated this conclave be dealt with by our hand,” Tink said.

  Griffen spoke up, feeling the weight of his responsibilities.

  “And just what ‘punishment’ do you have in mind, Tink?”

  “Death would seem appropriate, or the stripping of her glamour. Or we could just force her form into something else. Does this hotel need a new potted plant?” Tink asked.

  “I’m not sure I can let you do that. Another murder won’t erase the first, and I am responsible for this conclave and any decisions of this magnitude,” Griffen said.

  “Decisions between the groups perhaps; this is between us changelings.”

  “It’s vigilantism, and I won’t tolerate it,” Harrison said, outshouting the other two.

  George moved, and something about the swirl of his cape drew eyes all around the room. He bent next to Lizzy, glancing sidelong at Val, and picked up his fallen sword. The room watched as he wiped it off on a table napkin and slid it into its sheath.

  “Murderer aside, may I ask just what you plan to report about all this?” George asked.

  “That’s evidence, and self-defense for the brawl. I don’t think anyone needs to see jail time for it. But don’t push me. You were a chief agitator, and, at very least, I could drag you in for aiding and abetting.”

  George smiled.

  “No, you can’t.”

  He turned, took Val’s hand, and kissed it. She was too tired and shocked to pull it away. “Thank you for a lovely night.” He stood and vanished.

  “Show-off,” Valerie muttered.

  Harrison stared at where he had been and turned back to Tink and Tammy. Griffen could tell some of his resolve had been eaten away.

  “She has to go in. This must be settled by due process,” Harrison said.

  “Due process, yes, but not yours. This is outside your law,” Tink said.

  “No, nothing is outside the law.”

  Griffen fought down a clever remark, but it was a funny thing to hear from a vice detective. The room was beginning to fill with life again, people milling about. This was good and fascinating entertainment, but things were relaxing, with the immediate danger well past.

  There was a soft sigh behind him, one he recognized. He spoke softly, under his breath, as the two argued.

  “What took you so long, Rose?” he said.

  “Wrong kind of magic flaring up, things have only just settled down enough for my sort,” she said.

  “Did you know how much of a mess you were pulling me into?”

  “Would you be happier if I said yes or no? I only wanted what’s best for the conclave,” Rose said.

  “And what’s best, out of this mess?”

  Griffen waved his hand at the two men still arguing. Tammy had slumped in her captors’ grips, defeated. Tears running down her face. The shifters holding her kept looking about, not sure what to do next.

  “I am glad you asked, but you won’t like the answer.”

  Rose cl
eared her throat loudly enough to draw attention. A few of the voodoo practitioners gasped, including Estella. Rose walked through the crowd, careful not to brush against anyone, though most people moved back out of her way, even those who didn’t know who she was.

  Estella’s voice was strangled.

  “Rose?”

  “Shh, I know you have questions, but you do fine without my answers. Besides, I promised your mother I would let you go your own way,” Rose said, and walked past the high priestess.

  Tink was staring at Rose, something in his posture telling Griffen the changeling knew damn well what this was, if not who. Harrison likewise stood captivated, though Griffen wasn’t sure why.

  “Long time, no see, David,” Rose said with a sly smile, looking at Harrison.

  Griffen was tired of being shocked that night, but he was once more. He had never once caught Harrison’s full name.

  “Rose . . .” Harrison said, and his voice had the unmistakable tones of someone talking to an old love.

  She smiled and turned away from him, stepping up to Tammy.

  “I’m afraid that you will be coming with me, my dear. It is best for everyone,” Rose said.

  She leaned in, and brushed her lips against Tammy’s forehead. The fey girl’s eyes widened, then closed, and her breath went out in a long sigh.

  Then she slumped, a deadweight in the shifters’ hands.

  Harrison’s hands trembled as he pointed his gun at Rose. Griffen stood rigid, no question in his mind what Rose had just done. He was appalled and relieved and terrified all at once, and hated having to be in this position.

  “What did you do?” Harrison said.

  “What I had to,” Rose said.

  “Don’t make me . . .”

  “What? Shoot me? Oh, David, I am so glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”

  Rose moved into him, and the gun passed through her body as if it weren’t there. She smiled, and brushed a barely tangible hand over Harrison’s cheek. For just a moment, Griffen could see a vague, coltish outline standing behind Rose. Tammy’s wide eyes looked at him, even though he could see right through her.

  Then both ghosts vanished, and the shifters lowered the body to the floor.

  There was a long silence.

  “McCandles,” Harrison said.

  “Yes, Detective?”

  “I just remembered something.”

  “What would that be, Detective?” Griffen asked.

  “I’m a fucking vice cop. None of this shit is my problem.”

  With that, Harrison holstered his pistol and looked around the room.

  “Far as I’m concerned, I was never here. I suggest you find the psycho Lizzy a nice, small clinic where they might not file police reports. You decide what to do about Tammy, but I’d call it in.”

  He paused to look down at the body, which looked like that of a coltish young woman in her early teens.

  “Looks like heart failure. Natural, happens all the time,” he said.

  He glared momentarily at Griffen, in a clear message that said “but we will be talking about all of this, after I’ve had a few days, and probably a few drinks.” Then he walked out of the ballroom.

  Tink shook his head and muttered half to himself, half for Griffen.

  “Good man, stubborn, but good. Don’t worry. We won’t have to put him on a spot. Her body will fade in three days.”

  Griffen blinked at him but didn’t have room to doubt him.

  Griffen looked around the room. The decorations had been trashed. There were signs of blood and debris from the fighting. Lowell was still sipping his drink, and the floor contained one corpse, four unconscious werewolves, and a still-bleeding dragon.

  Kane spoke up, his accent thick.

  “Well now, dat sure was one helluva party! Not no bad conclave either, when all is tol’ and done.”

  Griffen did something he wouldn’t have thought possible on a night like this.

  He smiled.

  Fifty-five

  It was the night after the masked ball.

  Valerie sat alone in the courtyard of the complex. She was always slightly amazed by being able to see so many stars from what was essentially the heart of a major city. The skies always seemed to glitter in the French Quarter if one looked past the neon of Bourbon Street.

  It had been a long while since she had taken the time simply to enjoy that. Her job was hardly demanding; she could change a beer keg or unload boxes faster and better than any of the men at the bar. Still, it seemed when she got home there was always some major or minor crisis that drew everyone’s attention. A part of her was grateful for that. After all, it distracted her from her own worries.

  It was nice, though, to take a few minutes of solitude, with nobody else intruding on her thoughts. It didn’t last as long as she liked. The gate opened and closed noisily, stirring her from her thoughts. Despite a bit of irritation at the interruption, there was a small smile on her face as she saw her brother approaching. Some company was always welcome.

  “Hey, Big Brother, it’s barely after midnight. What’s the matter, you sick?”

  “Just didn’t feel like drinking. Shocking, isn’t it?” Griffen said.

  “Very. What’s the matter? No female companionship to stroke your . . . ego?”

  “Wasn’t really what was getting to me. I’ve spent the day wrapping up the conclave. Most everyone’s left town, or at least gone back to their own parts of it. Though I’m afraid to say a few will be back.”

  “Yeah, but some of them are okay. I think there is a good chance of Robin and Hobb coming down here to settle,” Valerie said.

  “I wouldn’t know . . . None of the changelings wanted to see me today. Tink just left a voice mail on my phone. Thanking me for all my courtesy and assuring me none of this was my fault.”

  “Which you won’t believe even if it’s true,” Val said.

  “You know me so well, sister of mine.”

  Val smiled and stared up at the stars.

  “Have all the chats you need to? Harrison, for example?”

  “Tried that one; he gave me a very definite ‘you don’t call me, I will call you.’ A lot to get his head around I suppose.”

  “Ya think? How about Fox Lisa? I half expected you and her to end up here tonight. You know, ‘talking’ things over.” Val smirked.

  “You couldn’t be more wrong. Lisa is currently staying at Mai’s.”

  “What?!”

  “You heard right. It seems when Lizzy burst in, Mai took it upon herself to gather up the waitstaff and get them out the back. Clear out those who really didn’t need to see dragons brawling. I’m amazed that no one else had the sense to think of it.”

  “For the most part everyone ignored the waiters all night—something about the fog . . . or a ward . . . or something,” Val said.

  “Yeah, and I’m glad Mai did remember. I don’t trust whatever Estella and the rest had cooked up to deal with the image of warring dragons. But it still left her and a still-pissed Fox Lisa alone in an alleyway. And I have no idea yet what they have talked about,” Griffen said.

  “Mhmm, and whether it is good or bad, both will enjoy making you sweat it out. So they decided to camp out together. You do realize your love life is going to start becoming one of the Quarter’s most popular spectator sports?”

  “Maybe I should have Jerome start a new betting pool.”

  “He’d give you lousy odds. Sit down and shut up, Big Brother. Join me in a little stargazing.”

  Griffen did as he was told, pulling up a lawn chair and setting it next to Valerie’s. He stared upward, watching a light cloud drift over a sliver of moon. It seemed to glow and sparkle as it obscured and revealed stars in its passing.

  “So what does it look like to you?” Griffen said, looking for a shape in the cloud.

  “Perfect timing,” Valerie said.

  It was such an odd comment that Griffen looked over at her. She knew that she was worrying
him but couldn’t help it. Even in the darkness, he could see the twin trails of tears that had begun to streak her face.

  “Val!” Griffen sat up straight. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing . . . everything. No, nothing. I’ve just made a decision I should have made a while ago.”

  “And that would be?”

  “To tell you something. Relax, Griffen. Lean back, look at the stars, or at least not at me.”

  Again, Griffen did as he was told, though this time it was obviously a lot harder. She watched the tension in him as he leaned back and looked upward. The night went silent, but for the soft sounds of Valerie crying. It wasn’t sobs, it wasn’t sniffles, just the gentle flow of emotion too long pent up. Griffen watched the cloud and waited.

  “I’m sorry I held this back . . . You’ve just been so busy. So many things going on. Romance, the conclave, so much pressure, so much responsibility. I wanted to be strong for you, Big Brother.”

  “You are one of the strongest people I know, Valerie. Even though I’m still ticked that you could hide something like Lizzy from me, the reasons you did it for . . . Well, stupid as it was, strong and brave and self-sacrificing doesn’t cover it. I’ve always admired that. Hell, I’ve always envied it, a little.”

  “That’s because you’re a dope.”

  “Well, of course.”

  Griffen’s eyes flickered to his sister. She smiled a bit, so he did, too, then looked back up.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  Griffen opened his mouth and closed it, as if he couldn’t find the words. When he finally managed to find his voice, it was strained. Valerie couldn’t sort through whatever mixed emotions filled that voice and doubted he could either.

  “So that’s what Lizzy meant. How long?”

  “I’ve known for over a month, but . . . It was Nathaniel. No one else possible.”

  Valerie watched him out of the corner of her eye, and to his credit he kept his eyes firmly on the clouds above. Again, his mouth and throat worked, as if he were tasting words before letting them out. Still looking up, he reached out, and managed to find her hand in the darkness.