KDBookOnline
Share Us
“Yes, of course. That old lout wasn’t expecting you to fight back. The brothel workers never do, so he was going to give you a nick with the blade and wait for the sedative to kick in before carrying you off. That wouldn’t have taken long. That cut was longer than expected. I give you credit. You kicked him pretty good.”
Telling her that I’d once been a cop would do me no good, so I settled with a half-truth. “Before I came to Dragon Heights, I lived in a rough city. For the most part, humans are more dangerous than dragons. Dragons typically obey rules of conduct.”
The woman’s expression brightened. “We do. This is a problem, however. You’re not a brothel worker? You’re also not a pilgrim?”
“I’m neither. I’m sorry. I’m friends with brothel workers, though. I don’t have any interest in hiring anyone at a brothel.” I forced myself to appear as sheepish as possible under the circumstances. “I’m too jealous.”
“It is good to be a little jealous over your partner,” the woman soothed. “Well, well, well. Apologies are certainly in order. Perhaps we can discuss this further. I had not anticipated this talk going like this.” She held up her hand, uncurled her fingers, and revealed a clear crystal mounted to a silvery string. “This can detect lies.”
I widened my eyes, wondering how a crystal could detect lies. “Really?”
“Tell a lie, one as far from the truth as you can think of.”
“I refuse to share my mashed potatoes with Garnet.”
The crystal turned a deep gray, and the woman holding it chuckled. “Well, it seems you are a generous soul when it comes to your carbunclo.”
“She deserves the best I can give her.”
The crystal returned to its clear color, and the woman slipped it into her pocket. “I will have supper brought for you, and my physician will check on your wounds to make certain they are healing appropriately. For now, rest. In a day or two, we will talk and come to an agreement, I am sure.”
Like hell we’d agree on anything. However, as I wanted to find out what she was about, what she had against brothel workers and pilgrims, I said, “I look forward to our discussion.”
If all went well, I’d be skipping out before having any more discussions with anyone, but she didn’t need to know that. She’d find out soon enough.
* * *
Tuesday, April 28, 2167
The Fringe
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
The woman returned, and she’d thrown a doctor’s coat over her clothing to make it appear as though she were someone else. She’d had the sense to take off her odd horns, but her hair bore evidence of where they’d rested on her head. Supper proved to be a can of pasta with sauce, and she wandered back and forth around the bed without actually looking at the gash or my calf before declaring me healthy enough and staggering out of the door.
I stared at the can, which she’d left at the foot of the bed.
Then I turned my gaze to the door, which she’d left open. During my time as a cop, I’d seen a few truly insane people. I’d also witnessed a few who straddled the line but had attempted to plead insanity. Never before had I dealt with someone so far off their rocker that I questioned how she’d held it together long enough to have a conversation at all.
While I expected attempting to walk would hurt like hell and pull the stitches, it beat sitting around and waiting for the crazy woman to return. Bracing for misery, I moved my left arm. It hurt less than I expected, and I took the time to take a closer look at my injury. While the stitching appeared to be shady, either the mercury dragon hadn’t scored me all that deep or someone had used some form of healing magic on me.
A purple dragon wouldn’t have abided by leaving a patient in such a state, and I wasn’t aware of any other color who could mend wounds. Had my education on dragons been lacking? I suspected so.
Could mixing colors create new abilities? I made a mental note to ask my parents about it later, sometime after I went somewhere I could summon an ambulance and find out what the hell the mercury dragon had done to me while taking me on an unwanted flight across Dragon Heights.
As my parents had been nearby, I could only assume other mercury dragons had been involved with my kidnapping and faced my parents’ wrath.
Any other day, I would’ve felt sorry for the poor bastards destined to go out in a blaze, and not of glory. My parents would fight over the bodies, and without me there to stop them, there would be no hope for their victims.
Worse, I could see my mother peeling information out of her prey before tearing them to pieces and then incinerating their remains.
I needed to find a phone before my parents burned Dragon Heights down to its foundations.
I eased out of bed, careful with my injured calf, and checked the wound to determine I’d gotten off lucky; there were a few stitches, which would make a mess of my day, but it otherwise had been limited to shallow but painful. A rash marked where the blade had done more damage than simply cutting me, something I’d have to deal with sooner than later.
I stood, and while my leg and side protested the abuse, I remained on my feet.
Taking care with each step, I limped to the door and peeked outside. Instead of a hallway, a lab waited, one loaded with stainless steel tables, counters, and shelves filled with a disturbing variety of glass jars. Thanks to years as a homicide detective, I recognized most of the organs floating in fluid, likely formaldehyde. As I doubted the organs had come from willing donors, nor were they registered as such, local law enforcement would have a field day with the find.