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When I had walked out of the place, there hadn’t been any dragons at all.
I could only assume magic had played a significant part in my escape—the same magic that had left me exploring Shrine Hill with Garnet. I would need to do more research into the various colors and try to figure out which dragon clan could effectively make themselves disappear.
I regretted the loss of my phone, and I heaved a sigh. “Did anyone find my phone?”
“Not yet. John’s working on getting clearance to allow you into the mansion to look for your phone and begin helping with the investigation. Chief Hawthorne likes the idea, and it’s generally agreed that your phone will be returned to you after it’s checked for fingerprints and any other evidence.”
That was something. “Chief Hawthorne?”
“He’s the Fringe’s chief.”
I nodded. “Any idea on the timeline?”
“I expect we’ll be making a field trip tomorrow to the mansion. You’ll be interviewed first, but the general consensus is that even if you can answer some basic questions, your testimony will be deemed unreliable due to the drug cocktail you’d been given. It’s notorious for creating memory issues.”
How lovely. Not. “Hallucinations?”
My father shrugged. “It can cause those, yes. So, your testimony will be considered questionable at best. The purples who treated you promised you’d suffer from no general impairment, so if things are a bit hazy, that’s fine. Good job on taking the scalpel to the leg rather than face.”
“Or the arm. I’m rusty on my self-defense, though.”
My mother snorted, wrinkled her nose, and gave me a dose of parental disapproval. “I’m sure Erik will be addressing that as soon as he settles down. He has to go back to work tomorrow, else I’m sure he’d be educating you on why you need to keep up with your self-defense skills.”
I considered her through narrowed eyes; I could see Erik trying to help me with self-defense going one of two ways. The first way involved tested patience and a trip to the bedroom. The second way involved a ten second scolding over how self-defense was important before heading to the bedroom.
Self-defense education only worked when in a public place where indulgence was not permitted.
Even then, we’d kept score, and the person who had done the best at the class ruled the roost for the evening.
“I have had all the education on why self-defense is important for a week.” I lifted my chin, sniffed my disdain over the situation, and kept an eye on Erik, who seemed to be scolding the house. “Is he really telling his house he is never going to forgive it if it falls down before he can repair it?”
Heaving a rather dramatic sigh, my father replied, “I’m afraid so. Did you really have to pick a yellow? Yellow hatchlings are insufferable troublemakers. He’s going to be trying to build a nest for months. Yellows can’t help it. They must build a nest.”
My mother joined my father in being dramatic. “It’s true. The yellows are really insufferable when they’re young hatchlings. He’s going to drive himself and us mad with his nesting tendencies.”
I whistled for Erik, who turned to face me. After waving him over and waiting for him to cross the street, I said, “I’m all in on the wattle and daub theme, but you’re going to have to let these two dragons handle the renovations and restorations. If it can’t be fixed safely, they’ll rebuild it to have a similar look but making better use of your land. They’re paying for it because it’s their fault I was kidnapped.”
Erik eyed me, turned to eye his house, and then eyed my parents. “You’re going to destroy my house, aren’t you?”
“Little hatchling, the place is a stiff breeze from falling down. It’s easier to shovel out ash than it is to do that sort of demolition work. Just look the other way for a few days.” My mother reached out and patted Erik’s shoulder. “Get that captain of yours to let you drive a cruiser home and park it on the street in front of Kinsley’s apartment until the renovation work is done. Sure, it’s a longer commute to work, but it’ll keep her street safe for a few weeks while things settle down.”
It took Erik a few minutes of muttering to himself, but he nodded. “I can probably do that. But why her place and not mine?”
“Garnet’s used to her home now. Don’t displace her so soon after settling—and Kinsley will need to get used to having you underfoot again. But give it a few weeks, and you’ll have a new home ready for you to move into, one that doesn’t look like it barely survived a war zone.” My mother considered the wattle and daub. “With a little bit of magic and a team of dragons, and this place will be ready to survive two hatchlings, I’m sure.”
Having witnessed a neighbor in Miami build their house, I doubted there’d be anything done beyond the foundation in three weeks. “How are you going to build an entire house in three weeks, Mom? Remember the Carlisles? Their house took a year.”
“They weren’t dragons, baby.” My mother grinned at me. “Dragon crews compete for fastest and best build times. We’ll set up a competition, get a bid war going, and have an offer for the job within a few days. Erik, do you want it to still be a wattle and daub?”
He nodded. “It’s the one thing we agreed on when we were looking around Miami. We both like wattle and daubs, but there weren’t any in our price range.” He glanced at me. “Well, the price range you thought we had.”
I shrugged. “I’m pretty sure I have parents who would have helped pay for a house in Miami if I’d had a little less pride and asked. Technically, neither one of us had the money, but we could have, pride allowing, mooched off our parents.”
We both had a laugh over how life had thrown a few curveballs our way. In hindsight, we’d been our worst enemies in some ways.
“Hatchlings,” my father complained. “No skipping work tomorrow, Erik. We’ll keep an eye on Kinsley, and she will not be permitted to roam off on her own until we’re sure the remaining mercury dragons involved with her kidnapping are all accounted for. You’ll be a mess if you’re around for the questioning session, anyway. Prove to those Diamond captains you’re their equal. I’d hate to have to talk to them about such things.”
“Don’t bully the police captains, Dad,” I scolded.