Thanks to Mr. Hansen, Mr. Gideon was set to give them a lift.
“Good luck guys,” The man said pleasantly, opening a portal a small distance away from the gates to a large, sprawling Japanese estate. He gave them a small wave, and then watched as Clem, Hugo and CJ walked through.
“Thanks Mr. Gideon!” CJ said enthusiastically, waving as he nodded his head and then closed the portal. Once he was gone though, the girl returned to fussing with the black suit she was wearing, tugging at the clip-on tie she’d insisted on wearing when she saw that Clem and Hugo were wearing ties. She groaned, “Why do I have to wear this? Why can’t I just sneak around like normal?”
Hugo opened his mouth to say something about politeness, but Clem cut over him with the real reason, “It’s to show the Dragon that we’re not scared of him. You are clearly not here to negotiate, so the Dragon will come to the conclusion that you’re the bodyguard.”
“And if I’m not being all sneaky they’ll know how badass I am, Right?”
Clem nodded, smiling, “Exactly. We have to show them that we’re not talking to them about Shin because we’re afraid that they’ll retaliate, but because it is a show of respect. So that’s why Hugo forced us all to dress up.”
Hugo blushed at that, “Let’s go.”
The three of them walked up to the peculiar wrought-iron gate and Clem gave a small wave, “We are the representatives from Gideon Enterprises, here to see the Dragon.”
One of the two visible guards at the gate looked each of them up and down, presumably checking for weapons, and then nodded to his compatriot. A moment later the gate was swinging open and the three of them were escorted down a long, winding path through a courtyard to a small building. The rice paper door slid open to reveal a young woman in a bright red kimono.
“Welcome,” The woman said in English with a thick accent, “Please come in.”
That’s Akemi, the Dragon’s daughter. She quite wants to kill us. Clem entered Hugo’s mind, amusement flickering through his statement. Out loud he thanked Akemi for her hospitality, in Japanese. Clem knew quite a bit of Japanese, and so they decided he would do the talking, Hugo supplementing his vocabulary telepathically when necessary.
Hugo’s eyes flicked to her as they passed her, into the bright confines of the meeting room. Is she going to try anything?
Not yet. But she’s certainly hoping we piss off her father so she can do something.
“Please, have a seat,” Akemi motioned to the small embroidered pillows before a slightly raised dais in the sparse, square room. Hugo knelt, and Clem and CJ followed suit. The Dragon’s daughter shuffled over to another sliding door on the raised part of the room, and then a tall, imposing figure wearing a deep black kimono walked in. He was almost too tall for the room. Piercing silver eyes swept over the three of them before the man settled down on the large black pillow on the dais. It was clear this man ruled through fear and intimidation; great motivators. However Hugo couldn’t seem to work up the emotion that normally would have been invoked by the man’s presence. He found his own father more terrifying.
“Welcome to my home,” The man’s voice was a rumble of thunder. CJ grinned despite the fact that he was speaking a language she didn’t understand. Either Clem was translating, or she was simply pleased that her dragon had an impressive voice to go along with her mental picture of him.
“Thanks for having us,” Clem said breezily. I can’t read his mind. This is going to be interesting.
The Dragon glanced at his daughter, still standing by the sliding door, and she left the room, her steps hesitant. “You wish to make excuses for my son’s death?”
Clem shook his head slightly, smiling, “Oh, not at all. We take responsibility for our actions,” the Dragon tensed ever-so-slightly at that, his eyes flicking to CJ, “however, we wanted to assure you it was nothing personal. In fact, if anything could be said, Gregori should be to blame. He’s the one that was using your son in such a carless way.”
“Using my son?” The Dragon repeated, a sharp edge to his voice. CJ straightened on her pillow, her grin widening.
“Yes. Your son wasn’t given the full situation; he wasn’t informed that he would be dealing with Gideon Enterprises, was he?”
The Dragon paused at that, “No, I heard nothing of that. But why should Gregori be blamed for your actions?”
“Because he was having your son attack us, unprovoked, and I know your intention wasn’t to make an enemy of us.”
The Dragon raised an eyebrow, “Is that so? How do you presume to know my intentions?”
Hugo glanced side-long at Clem. What are you doing? You’re going to piss him off even more than he already is! And he knew, logically, he should have been more afraid. CJ would be fine, and Clem could easily hide with her, but he had no escape route if things went poorly, he would just have to fight and probably die. Despite all that he was only irritated at Clem.
Relax, I’ve got this under control. “Because you’re a business man, and wouldn’t want to make an enemy of a potential ally for such a petty reason.”
The Dragon raised his eyebrows, “Petty reason?”
“Oh, you don’t know what happened?” Clem asked, the note of sarcasm in his voice unmistakable. Hugo almost hit him. This was him keeping everything under control?
The Dragon definitely heard the tone and scowled at it, his light eyes seeming to darken. The walls of the small building rattled slightly. CJ’s eyes widened and Hugo could tell she was keeping herself from turning into electricity by a fraying will.
“Why don’t you tell me,” The Dragon finally spoke, his voice heavy with rage.
“Gregori tried to kill a psychic who was warning him that his plan was going to go horribly wrong. Gregori was trying to kill a women for giving him good advice; a woman that worked at Gideon Enterprises. We were just trying to defend her.”
Silence clouded the room as The Dragon took everything in.
See, he had no idea what was going on. I just needed to make him see that. Clem was all smugness.
You could have done it more politely! If I knew you were going to be an asshole, I would have done the talking!
But I didn’t screw it up. Look at his face.
Hugo turned his attention back to the Dragon, the silver eyes were focused on Clem, but the certainty had been stripped away. “The fact remains, you killed my son.”
Yeah, and his son tried to kill Madeline, he’s just pissed because we won.
Clem, if you say that…
Ooooh, scary! Don’t worry, I’ll behave. Clem nodded solemnly, “And for that you have our sincerest apologies. But the Russian Mob are the ones that put you and your son in a compromising position, without even consulting you. We were simply reacting.”
The Dragon’s expression darkened; this was the fury that probably kept everyone in line, but Hugo could tell that it wasn’t directed at them anymore. Oh, they were far from on good terms, but Clem had dangled a bigger fish in front of him.
“You’re excused,” The Dragon said shortly, then stood and strode out of the room.
They left the compound shortly after, Clem all smiles, CJ disappointed, and Hugo trying very hard not to start yelling. Mr. Gideon picked them up, and then Hugo immediately stormed off.
The Sound of Wind Page 60
