He had noticed her before, but only in the passing awareness any man has for an attractive woman in the room. This was the first time he had seen her up close, much less spoken with her, and the effect was startling.
She had a slender build and a heart-shaped face with clear blue eyes that sparkled when she smiled, as if she were harboring an unspoken joke. She also had a nose piercing and several visible tattoos.
Griffen knew he was in trouble. She was just the kind of woman he was drawn to. She also looked like five kinds of bad news, including the fact that, if she wanted to, she could probably wrap him around her little finger. He decided to set things straight before his fantasies went any further.
“Griffen,” he said, shaking her hand. “Have you known Maestro long?”
Meaning: Are you with Maestro?
“Oh, I run into him here and there. We’re just bar buddies.”
Meaning: No, we’re not attached.
He waited a moment for her to elaborate or clarify. Instead, she took a sip of her drink and smiled at him.
Big, BIG trouble.
Griffen chided himself, remembering that he was already plunging into a brand-new situation, one potentially fraught with unknown dangers. This really wasn’t the time for him to get involved with a new flame, however tempting.
“I heard you talking with Bone,” Lisa said, stepping into the silence. “It sounds like you’re as big a movie buff as he is.”
“It’s an old passion of mine,” he said with a shrug. “Things are always clearer and more easily resolved in movies. I guess the romantic in me is drawn to that.”
“Well, I happen to have one of the biggest collections of videos and DVDs in the Quarter.” Lisa smiled. “And my apartment’s only a block and a half from here. Maybe we could watch a movie together.”
Griffen felt his resolve weaken.
“That would be pleasant,” he said. “When did you have in mind?”
“Actually,” she said, wetting her lips with the tip of her tongue, “I was thinking about right now.”
For a moment Griffen was taken aback, then he remembered that this was the Quarter, where people would go to a party or head for a different bar at two o’clock in the morning. Then he realized that Lisa was inviting him back to her apartment.
Looking into her bright eyes, his resolve crumbled and he smiled.
“As I said, that sounds pleasant.”
They never did get around to watching a movie.
Fourteen
The place Jerome took Griffen and Valerie to was one of those small houses on a side street in the Quarter. It was set back slightly from the street and had its own fence and gate with room to park two cars in front of it.
Even in his brief time getting to know the neighborhood, Griffen knew that he was looking at expensive property, even though it did not look particularly pretentious. Parking was at a premium on these streets, with people paying ninety to a hundred and fifty dollars a month for an enclosed, secure parking place. A home like this one, with its own secured parking, meant money.
Jerome punched a code into the keypad mounted on the pedestrian gate, and led Griffen and Valerie up onto the porch. He knocked once, lightly, then opened the door on his own. Apparently they were expected.
While speculating about this meeting, Griffen had found himself wondering the most about exactly what Mose would look like. His visions of the man ranged from a ponderous fat man to one that was skeletally thin. If this was a movie, that would be how the role was cast. Powerful crime leaders should look dominating…or, at least, impressive.
The man sitting in the easy chair of the small living room they stepped into was nondescript. In fact, he looked so ordinary that Griffen would not have looked at him twice if they passed on the street. Medium height and build with short-cropped white hair, he could have been a doorman or cook, or maybe a shop owner. Even his dress, consisting of a plain sports shirt and a pair or khakis with his feet shoved into a pair of slippers, was unremarkable.
Perhaps the only noteworthy feature about him was his face. His milk-chocolate-colored skin was lined with deep smile wrinkles, and his dark eyes twinkled with vague amusement, as if he were waiting for you to catch onto a joke.
Griffen found himself liking the man before a single word had been spoken.
“Mose,” Jerome said. “This is Griffen and Valerie McCandles. Grif, Val, this is Mose.”
“Griffen. Miz Valerie,” Mose said, half rising from his seat. “Been looking forward to meeting you both. Just make yourselves comfortable. Can I get you anything? A drink? Some coffee?”
“Coffee would be fine,” Griffen said, taking the lead as they seated themselves on the sofa. “Val?”
She nodded.
Mose nodded to Jerome, who disappeared into the depths of the house.
“Well, before we start talking about our setup here in the Big Easy,” Mose said, “I expect you have some questions about being dragons. As I understand it, this is all pretty new to you.”
“Very new,” Griffen said. “Questions? Oh, only a couple dozen off the top of my head.”
Mose smiled.
“Fire away. I probably can’t answer them all, but maybe we can make a start of it.”
Jerome reappeared with a tray laden with coffee, cups, and the condiments including a small plate of croissants. The conversation paused while they all helped themselves.
“Well, for openers,” Griffen said, settling back, “everyone keeps talking about our ‘secondary powers’ starting to show as we come of age. What can you tell us about these ‘secondary powers’?”
“Not much,” Mose said. “Don’t think I’m trying to hold back information, though. It’s just that the powers have been diluted over the centuries, and now it’s hard to separate what’s fact from what’s brag or legend.”
“You mention centuries,” Valerie put in. “If you don’t mind my asking, just how old are you, Mose?”
The old man laughed.
“There them that say everyone calls me ‘Mose’ because I’m as old as Moses. Truth to tell, I’m not that old…and they’ve been calling me ‘Mose’ even when I was young. Say I’m over a hundred and fifty years old and you’ll be in the right neighborhood. But don’t start asking me about the old days or I’ll never shut up. Nothing as boring as an old man talking about how things used to be. You’ve got to realize, though, that a lot of what you learned as history to me are memories…and I got lots of memories. Mostly these days I try to keep focused on the here and now. That’s enough to keep me busy.”
He cocked his head at Griffen.
“But you were asking about the ‘secondary powers.’ Again, it’s hard to tell for sure, because even those that have some tend to try to keep them secret. Draws less attention that way.”
“My uncle Malcolm lit a cigar just by blowing on it,” Griffen said.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that some can do that,” Mose said. “Of course, Mal is a half blood. Folks like Jerome and me who are lesser bloods don’t have as many powers.”
He picked up a cigarette lighter from the coffee table, lit it, then held his hand in the flame as he continued.
“I’ve always been good with fire. I could hold my hand here all day and it wouldn’t burn me. I’d feel some heat, but it wouldn’t hurt.”
He extinguished the flame.
“Dragon skin is one of the secondary powers that pops up in varying degrees. I don’t burn and I don’t bruise. Now, if you was to stick me hard with a knife, I’d bleed like a human…but even then, it wouldn’t penetrate too far. It would be like trying to stick a human through a thick leather coat. You could get through, but not as easily as if you were just dealing with bare skin.
“Some say that the closer to pure-blood you are, the tougher your skin will be. I’m not sure you could get through Mal’s skin with a knife at all. A true pureblood is supposed to be able to shrug off bullets. Of course, even though the skin doesn’t break, I’m not sure w
hat it would do to the bones underneath if you got hit with a big enough caliber.”
While he was considering trying the flame trick, Griffen mentally decided holding off testing whether or not he was bulletproof for as long as possible.
“There are all sorts of things some say dragons can have as secondary powers.” Mose continued. “Dragon skin and breathing flame are both pretty well-known and documented. Size changing and shape-shifting are talked about, but you don’t actually see it very often.”
“How do those work, exactly?” Valerie said. “I mean, is it like the Human Torch from the Fantastic Four? Do you say ‘flame on’ or ‘shape-shift’ to trigger it?”
“As I understand it, it’s kind of like your voluntary muscles,” Mose said. “I mean, the dragon skin, if you get it, will always be with you. As to the others, once you discover you have it, you have to train it and learn control.”
“How do you do that?” Griffen said.
“Like I say, it’s like a muscle you just learned you have. Imagine if you were just learning to use your arm. With a little practice, you can learn to make it reach out without thinking of exactly how you’re doing it. You also learn how far it reaches, how fast, and how strong it is.”
“And with exercise,” Griffen said, “you can make it stronger.”
“To a degree,” Mose said. “But it’s more complex than that. Sticking with the arm example, if someone hits you unexpectedly, your arm will flinch away without your thinking. Boxers and karate artists learn to control that reflex. If you develop some of the stronger secondary powers, you have to learn to control them as well. An unthinking flinch with a secondary power can not only be noticeable to the humans around you, the actual immediate effects could be disastrous.”
“I can see where that could be a problem,” Griffen said, winking at his sister.
Mose leaned back in his seat and looked at them both.
“It’s no laughing matter,” he said. “Now, I want both you young dragons to listen to me real close. I’m answering your questions about primary and secondary powers as best I can because you’ve asked and I don’t want you to think I’m holding back on you. The truth of the matter is that, for the most part, the various powers don’t mean squat. It’s how you handle yourself that counts. People should do what you want them to because they’re convinced you’re right, not because they’re afraid of what you’ll do to them if they don’t go along. Sure, dragons have powers to some extent or other, but mostly it’s frame of mind.”
Griffen frowned.
“Please excuse me, sir. I didn’t mean to act like I’m taking all this lightly. It’s just that it’s all so new to me that I automatically drop back to old defense patterns…like laughing…to keep from showing how confused I am. Some of this stuff you’re telling me I just don’t understand.”
“Like what, for example.”
“Well, like what you were just saying. I understand that one doesn’t use these powers without a good reason, and even then only use them very carefully. It’s just…well, I keep being told I’m getting this generous offer because of my power potential, but then you say it’s a frame of mind, not the powers. If it isn’t the powers, or potential powers, and just a state of mind, then what do you need me for? What is it exactly that you expect me to do?”
Mose heaved a sigh and ran his hand through his hair.
“That’s a fair question,” he said. “It’s the answer that’s not so easy. Let me try to cover this in pieces. First of all, as you say, you’re new to all this. Part of why I wanted you down here is because I’ve got some things I can teach you.”
He held up a restraining hand.
“Let me get through this. I know what you’re thinking. How is that different from what Mal offered when he asked you to sign up with him. Well, the big difference is that you don’t have to be subservient to me to learn. This is going to be your operation. We’re joining you, not the other way around.
“As to what you’ll be doing, first of all we have to teach you the operation. I understand from Jerome you’re no stranger to betting or bookies, but I don’t think your real familiar with the ins and outs of how it all works. It’s going to take you a while to learn what we do and to meet the people who do the day-to-day work.”
“Once you get the feel of things, though, you probably won’t be that involved in the actual work. You’ll be management, and most of what you do will be setting policy and making decisions.”
“If I can interrupt for a moment,” Griffen said, “could you elaborate a bit on what it is I’ll be deciding?”
“I’ll give you an example,” Mose said. “Something that’s just come up that I’m trying to decide how to handle. There are some poker games around town that aren’t really a part of our group, but that pay us a percentage to operate. Now one of them that’s run by a young kid named Gris-gris has decided to stop paying us that percentage. It’s up to me to decide how to react. If it were you in my seat right now, Young Dragon, what would you do?”
“Me?” Griffen blinked, taken aback. “I…I don’t know. I guess you’d have to arrange for some kind of punishment to make an example of him.”
Mose threw back his head and laughed.
“I can see what Jerome means that you truly love your movies. Well, in part you’re right. But if you’re thinking of roughing him up or shooting up his game, you couldn’t be more wrong. We just don’t do that kind of thing. The kind of punishment we deal in would be to cut him off from the network.”
“The network?” Griffen said.
“That’s right.” Mose nodded. “You see, we have a whole network of people all through town who operate cabs or work at the hotels. When tourists or conventioneers are looking for a game, these folks check them out to be sure they aren’t the law, then send them along to one of our games with an initialed business card to show they’re clean. That’s where we get a lot of our business and most of our new regulars. If Gris-gris wants to operate independently, his game gets dropped from the spotters’ list and he has to make do with locals. That’s the kind of punishment we usually deal in.”
“That’s all?” Griffen said. “I guess it makes sense. I was just expecting something a little more dramatic.”
“Uh-huh,” Mose said. “Well, it can be a bit more tricky once you really get into it. Like in this case, Gris-gris has been shooting his mouth off about how he’s going independent and there isn’t anything we can do about it. Now, whether he stays with us or not I figure is his business, but talking that kind of trash is disrespectful. That’s a whole different issue to be settled.”
“So what are you going to do?” Griffen said.
Mose looked at him and smiled.
“Tell you what,” he said. “Why don’t you think about it for a day or two, then we’ll sit down and talk it out together.”
“Um…excuse me?” Valerie said. “But before Big Brother here got you sidetracked on the Gris-gris business, you were about to explain how the powers factor in at all.”
“That’s right.” Mose nodded. “Now, realize that not everyone in our organization is a dragon. In fact, most of them know even less about dragons than you do. Those people you should be able to lead and control with nothing but your attitude and presence. There are some folks you’ll run into who will stand out as having dragon blood in them, but are totally unaware of it. They’re a little more tricky to deal with, because they’ll be drawn to you without knowing why…some will want to ally with you, some will feel the need for a confrontation. Again, you should be able to handle them without using any kind of powers.”
“The problem is the dragons who know what they are and what you are. Most will be willing to leave you alone if you don’t pose a threat to them. There are others, though, who will want to test you or simply eliminate you. That’s when it will be a good thing if your secondary power potential proves to be true.”
“Would this guy Stoner be one of those?” Griffen said.
“Definitely,” Mose said. “Jerome told me about your little set-to on the expressway. He would have the contacts to try something like that, but it just doesn’t seem like his style. Don’t focus all your attention on him. There are others out there that can be just as nasty.”
“Speaking of that,” Griffen said, “do you happen to know a guy who goes by the name of Maestro?”
Mose and Jerome exchanged glances.
“We’ve crossed paths a couple of times,” Mose said carefully. “Why do you ask?”
“I ran into him at the Irish pub the other night, and he recognized my name,” Griffen said. “He even specifically asked if I knew you.”
Again Mose and Jerome looked at each other.
“Don’t worry about him,” Mose said at last. “He’s got his own thing going that doesn’t affect us one way or the other. Not a bad man to have for a friend, though.”
“Is he a dragon?”
“I figure him for one of those I was telling you about,” Mose said. “The ones with dragon blood who don’t know it.”
“Does he have any secondary powers?” Griffen pressed. “Does he use them?”
Mose shook his head.
“No,” he said. “He uses a knife.”
Fifteen
Mose studied the tarot card Griffen had passed him, then glanced at Jerome.
“Is that what I think it is?” Jerome said.
“Depends on what you think it is,” Mose said with a sigh, “but probably yes. My only question is why you didn’t tell me about this before?”
“If you mean before today, I wanted Griffen to show it to you himself.” Jerome shrugged. “Besides, I figured we had a bit of time, what with him just having hit town and all. I wasn’t even sure it was the real thing. If you mean why not earlier, I wanted to wait until Valerie wasn’t around.”
Valerie had finally gotten bored with the details of even a preliminary briefing on Mose’s gambling operation and had excused herself to run some errands.
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