I Dream of Dragons

by Ashlyn Chase

  “By the way,” Morgaine added, “if you happen to see the owner and recognize him, do not tell anyone he lives here. The place would be mobbed.”

  The Arishes glanced at each other. Finally, Chloe spoke up. “That shouldn’t be a problem for us, considerin’ we wouldn’t recognize anyone in your country—save maybe the president, and only because we’ve seen his picture in the local newspaper.”

  “We don’t even have a movie theater nearby,” Shannon said. “He could be a famous actor, and we wouldn’t know him if we tripped over him.”

  Sly nodded. “That’s good, but he’s not an actor. Are any of you fond of sports?”

  Rory folded his arms. “Everyone in my country loves football, but the United States plays it differently. We don’t know any of your footballers.”

  Nathan smirked. “Yeah. What you call football, we call soccer.” Then he glanced at Sly. “And the closest thing they have to baseball is cricket.”

  Ah, so he’s a baseball player.

  “How about you, Amber? Are you a sports fan?” Sly asked.

  She chuckled. “The only sport I’m remotely interested in is hunting, and by that I mean bargain hunting.”

  Gwyneth smiled. “Now ya’ll are speakin’ my language.”

  Finally, I scored a point with the redhead.

  Sly turned to Nathan and Gwyneth. “So, do you two have any more questions for the newcomers?”

  “Just one,” Nathan said. “How do you react to odd occurrences?”

  Rory and Amber glanced at each other. Finally, Rory laughed.

  Amber tried to keep her expression neutral. That question might have been a red flag under less desperate circumstances, but she wasn’t about to let anything drive her out of her prime spot. “I’m quite open-minded, actually,” she said. “I doubt I’d let anything odd bother me in the least.”

  “Well, me sisters can be a bit odd at times, but I haven’t abandoned ’em yet,” Rory said.

  Shannon chuckled and Chloe gave him a good-natured poke with her flute.

  “Do y’all get along?” Gwyneth asked, and she glanced at Morgaine. “Families can have some powerful rows.”

  Morgaine laughed.

  Maybe they’re speaking from experience. “Are you two related?” Amber asked.

  “Gwyneth and I are cousins,” Morgaine answered.

  “And if it weren’t for Konrad, one of us might not be here,” Gwyneth added. “He had to pull us apart more than once.”

  “Who’s Konrad?” Shannon and Chloe asked at once.

  Gwyneth smiled. “A good friend. He used to live in the apartment upstairs that’s now the para—” Nathan bumped her with his hip. “I mean, the place across from y’all.”

  Amber couldn’t help wondering what Gwyneth had been about to say.

  This place—and these people—had secrets.

  * * *

  Chad the ghost eavesdropped during the tenants’ meeting. After all, he had lived there longer than anyone—or, not lived, but still existed or… Oh hell. He haunted the place.

  Morgaine and Sly were at one end of the large table in their living and dining area. Gwyneth and Nathan were on the opposite side. Sly’s daughter, Merry, was at the head of the table with her toddler, but Jason Falco, her famous baseball player and falcon-shifter husband, was on the road at an away game.

  Nathan was clairvoyant, so Chad positioned himself out of the raven-shifter’s sight line. The witches, Morgaine and Gwyneth, were clairaudient and could hear Chad when he spoke, so he remained quiet. Truth be told, he loved being the proverbial “fly on the wall.”

  “Thanks for coming, everyone,” Morgaine said. “This is your home too, and I know everyone wants to retain our peaceful atmosphere. That can’t happen with the contentious situation in 1B.”

  Gwyneth raised her hand.

  “Go ahead, Gwyneth,” Sly said.

  “Are the two sisters part of this, or do they keep 2B no matter what y’all decide happens to their brother?”

  “Good question,” Morgaine said. “I see no reason why we should ask them to leave unless they cause problems.”

  “They’re all dragons, right?” Nathan asked.

  Merry, the owner, gasped. “Dragons? You didn’t tell me anything about dragons. Remember what happened last time we let a dragon move in? Fire sneezes! I had to evict her.”

  Sly held up his hand. “They assured me they have no allergies and never sneeze fire. They have complete control over their powers.” He smiled at his daughter. “Don’t worry. I made sure of that right away.”

  She let out a relieved-sounding breath.

  “Except for Merry, you’ve all met them,” Sly said. “What did you think?”

  Nathan raised his hand. Sly nodded to let him know he had the floor.

  “Before we get to that, I have another question. What about the girl? Is Amber a dragon too?”

  “Great question,” Sly said as he stared at Morgaine. “We don’t know what she is. And on the off chance a human found her way to us, we can’t ask her.”

  Chad almost laughed. Another human? In this building? Now that 2A is the paranormal club, this could be very interesting.

  “Are you forgetting what it was like for me when I first moved in?” Merry asked.

  Morgaine smiled. “I put a spell on that newspaper ad so only you would see it.”

  Merry raised her eyebrows. “You never told me that.”

  Sly shrugged. “I wanted to get to know the daughter I had to give up when I was turned. I asked Morgaine to cast the spell.”

  “Ah. Now it makes sense,” Merry muttered. “So can we assume… No, that’s the wrong word. Can we suppose that Amber might be some kind of paranormal?”

  Nathan smirked. “Birds of a feather…”

  Clever, coming from the raven-shifter to the wife of a falcon-shifter, Chad thought.

  “I wish there was a surefire way to find out,” Gwyneth said.

  “Maybe there is.” Chad couldn’t contain himself any longer. He was in a unique position to spy—er, observe.

  Gwyneth bopped herself upside the head. “Chad. I shoulda known you’d be here.”

  Morgaine chuckled. “Hey, Chad. I think I know what you’re proposing, but go ahead. You have the floor.”

  The non-witch residents looked uncomfortable. “Be sure to tell us what he says, since no one else can hear him,” Merry said.

  “Of course.” Morgaine nodded.

  Nathan turned around. Chad had purposely stayed on the other side of the raven because he knew Nathan could see him, but now he could lip-read too.

  “Why don’t you give me a chance to observe her? If she wants that apartment so badly and has any powers or witchy ways, she’ll use them and I should be able to let you know.”

  Gwyneth snorted. “Witchy ways?”

  Morgaine raised her hand. Sly nodded to her.

  “Chad reminded us that he’s in the unique position to observe Amber for a while. If she wants the apartment and has some pertinent powers, she may use them.”

  Nathan and Merry remained quiet but appeared to be considering the idea.

  “That’s not a bad plan, depending on how long it takes,” Sly said.

  Gwyneth raised her hand and waited for Sly’s nod.

  “How long do y’all think you can give him to find out?”

  Sly and Morgaine stared at each other. Unfortunately, Chad couldn’t listen in on their telepathic conversation. That privilege was reserved for vampires and their fated mates.

  Sly refocused on the group. “Amber’s check hasn’t cleared yet. It may take a few more days. Are any of you uncomfortable with postponing the decision that long?”

  Everyone shook their heads.

  Chad chuckled but kept his secret plan to himself. It had been a long t
ime since he’d frightened a resident, and he missed watching the silly mortals dash out the door and down the street, screaming.

  * * *

  Amber needed to charge her cell phone before her battery ran down and all communication with the outside world was lost. She hoped her neighbor Candy was able to arrange a moving company to come with her things—including her charging cable—soon. She made one last phone call to her neighbor to see what the holdup was.

  Candy answered the phone on the second ring.

  “Candy! My battery is almost gone. Did you find a moving company?”

  “Yes, but they’re not cheap. I thought I’d call around—”

  “No. Don’t bother calling around for better deals. If they can get my stuff packed today and brought over no later than tomorrow, I’ll pay whatever they ask.”

  “When I called, they said they could come Thursday.”

  “Thursday?” Amber cried. “That may be too late.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I need my stuff. Especially my computer and charger cable. My phone is almost out of juice.”

  “Well, hang in there. Tomorrow is the best they can do, and it’s going to cost to a fortune if—”

  Amber winced. At that moment, her phone died.

  “Dammit!”

  She stormed over to the door, opened it, and called out, “Euterpe, get in here.”

  Euterpe strolled over to the bedroom door and said, “Hold on there. You don’t get to tell me what to do. You can ask nicely or not at all.”

  Frustrated, Amber raked her fingers through her hair. “I’m sorry.” She lowered her voice. “I need you to be on my side, Ms. Muse. I know you’re into music and Rory is a musical genius or something, but I’m supposed to be learning from you. And here you are enjoying my nemesis.”

  “Point taken.” Euterpe strolled into the room and closed the door behind her. “Have a seat. What do you want to learn?”

  Amber scowled. “I need to learn how to leave this room undetected and then return with no one the wiser. I have shit to do.”

  “I don’t think he’s preventing you from using the bathroom…”

  Amber whooshed out a deep breath, realizing the muse might be rather literal. “I meant to say, I have things to do.”

  The muse smirked. “I knew what you meant.”

  Oh, great. A muse with a literal sense of humor. Spare me.

  “Let’s take it slow,” Euterpe was saying. “Think of where you want to be, but before you go, make sure no one else is there.”

  “My old apartment is where I need to go, and no one else will be there… I’m pretty sure.”

  “Until you know how to hover in the ether and check to make sure you’re alone, you’ll need to find a place where you’re guaranteed not to be discovered.”

  “How about my walk-in closet?”

  “Is anyone apt to be in there?”

  Amber was tempted to make a smart remark until she realized that potentially the movers could have arrived, if her neighbor had managed to get them to come instantly. “Let’s call it highly unlikely.”

  Euterpe nodded. “In that case I’ll go with you and hold you in the ether until you can check the area without being seen. I can’t stress enough how important it is not to be caught appearing and disappearing.”

  Amber nodded. “Okay. How do we do that?”

  Euterpe took her hand. “Close your eyes and picture your closet.”

  Amber did.

  A few moments later, Euterpe said, “Now open your eyes.”

  Amber found herself staring at the fluffy blue bathrobe she’d hung on the back of her closet door.

  Euterpe dropped her hand. “We’re here. I took a brief look around the place and didn’t see anyone.”

  Amber’s mouth had gone dry and she was barely able to speak. “How…how did we—”

  “How did we find your tiny closet that you laughingly call a walk-in?”

  “Hey, I’ll have you know it’s rare to have more than a tiny closet in Boston apartments.”

  “My sisters and I love clothes. We have several walk-in closets all over the world. They’re called retail stores.”

  Amber’s jaw dropped. “You steal your clothes?”

  Euterpe frowned. “Certainly not. We merely borrow what we need for a few hours and then return them. Haven’t you ever been shopping and had a clerk tell you she had the item you were looking for in your size, only to return from the back room confused, saying she must have been mistaken?”

  “Huh. That’s because one of you muses was wearing it?”

  “Yes. At least you know you had good taste.” Euterpe pulled out a navy-blue-and-white color-blocked designer dress. “Why did you buy this? It’s the wrong color for you.”

  “No, it’s not. It looks fine.”

  Euterpe swiveled the hanger so she could see the back. “It might be cute on the right person, but you’re not that person.”

  Amber examined the garment. It’s true she didn’t wear that outfit often, but not because it looked bad on her. “Oh, I see. The dress is all right, but the person wearing it is all wrong.”

  “Exactly.” Euterpe looked pleased that her charge had understood.

  Amber sighed. “Well, if you don’t mind, I’d rather get what I came for. We can dissect my closet another time.”

  Euterpe shrugged. “As you wish. I’ll stay here and see if I can find something that will flatter you.”

  She’ll see if she can find something? Amber pushed her way out of her closet in disgust.

  Heading to her charging station in the kitchen, she unplugged and wrapped up the cord. Her stomach rumbled. “Christ, I’m starving,” she muttered.

  She found one of her reusable grocery bags and opened her fridge. Let’s see. Yogurt is something I can grab and eat in my room. She loaded all the yogurts into the bag.

  Ah, snacks. She didn’t eat a lot of junk food, but she had a few packages of chips and pretzels. She wouldn’t even have to leave her room for those.

  “Wait a minute,” she said aloud. “I’m supposed to be learning how to travel in the blink of an eye. I ought to be able to pop into restaurants whenever I want to.”

  She tossed the snacks into the bag anyway. There was no telling when she might need a midnight snack and wouldn’t want to get dressed and find a restaurant or a convenience store.

  Euterpe breezed around the corner with an ivory blouse that Amber didn’t recognize.

  “Where did you find that?”

  Euterpe held the item up against her. “Lord and Taylor,” she said, then giggled. “See? Even the gods need a tailor.”

  Amber rolled her eyes. “Listen, I have a few things to get me by, but I still don’t really know how to pull off that travel trick by myself.”

  “I know, and I’ll teach you. I will. But right now we should get back before you’re missed.” She thrust the blouse at Amber. “Try this on.”

  “Why?” Amber glanced down at her serviceable gray sweater and blue jeans. “There’s nothing wrong with what I’m wearing.”

  Euterpe shook her head. “There’s nothing right with it either.”

  “Argh.” Amber swiped the blouse out of Euterpe’s hand and marched to her bathroom. She pulled the sweater over her head and tossed it onto the floor. Then she let the silky cream material float over her head. Her eyes shone in the mirror. She could tell in an instant that she looked better and suddenly felt a surge of confidence. She grabbed her brush and quickly ran it through her hair. Yup. As much as she hated to admit it, Euterpe was right. She looked much better.

  Deciding to give the muse the thanks she was due, she strode back toward the bedroom and almost tripped over a suitcase. “Sheesh. Where did that come from?”

  “I put it there. You needed a few other necessities,
so I packed for you.”

  “But how would you know…”

  Euterpe tipped her head and smiled at the blouse and its wearer.

  Yeah, she probably did know what to pack. Still, there were a few items the muse might miss. “What about my toiletries?”

  “I got you all new products. That bargain junk will dry out your hair, and the makeup was about a year old.”

  “Oh.” Amber was torn. She didn’t like people making decisions for her, but the muse was probably right—about everything.

  “Okay. Well, I guess we can come back later if I need anything else.”

  “Sure.” Euterpe looked put out.

  “What?”

  “You didn’t even say thank you for the blouse. I bought that for you with my own money.”

  Amber slapped herself upside the head. “I’m so sorry. I was about to thank you but I got distracted. It’s beautiful. You really do have wonderful taste.”

  The muse smiled. “I know, don’t I? You look amazing in it.”

  “Thank you.” Amber picked up the suitcase. “Well, let’s get back.”

  “Put that down and we’ll go.” Euterpe nodded at the suitcase.

  “Put it down? But I need these things. You said so yourself.”

  “And how would it look if you walked out of your bedroom with all these new things when fifteen minutes ago you had nothing but your purse and the clothes you were wearing?”

  Amber dropped the suitcase on the hardwood floor with a plunk.

  “So I should leave this for the movers?”

  “No. I’ll leave your apartment and come back with it and your bag of snacks in about three hours. Muse lesson number two…everything needs to look as normal as possible.”

  Amber didn’t like it, but she certainly could see the wisdom in not angering the goddess or raising suspicion in others.

  “Okay. Sounds like a plan.”

  Euterpe grabbed Amber’s hand, and an eye blink later, they were in her empty bedroom.

  “Wait! My charger. That’s what I went there for.”

  “And you’ll have it in three hours,” Euterpe said.

  * * *

  Ballyhoo had disappointed the archeologists and they’d finally left the little town. Finn breathed a secret sigh of relief.