I Dream of Dragons

by Ashlyn Chase

Rory smiled. “So Finn came after her. The lad just went up a few notches in my estimation.”

  “He’s a good man.”

  “He’s still a boy, but when they’re ready, I’ll be glad to give them my blessin’ and call him me brother.”

  Chloe snorted. “You’re daft. They don’t need your permission to marry.”

  A sly smile crossed Rory’s face. “Let’s let them think they do. I want him to work for it a little longer.”

  “Work for what? Her hand in marriage?”

  “That too. But I was thinkin’ more along the lines of the weddin’ night.”

  Chloe rolled her eyes. “Like I said…you’re daft. They’re together upstairs right now.”

  “What?” he roared. “Alone?”

  “You see me here right in front of you, don’t you?”

  “I’ll kill ’em both.” He strode toward the door, then halted with his hand on the doorknob. “Shite! I can’t leave the feckin’ apartment. You’ll have to go up there.”

  Chloe laughed. “And do what? Watch them sit next to each other with both feet on the floor, makin’ sure there’s room for the Holy Spirit between ’em?”

  “Please…and be fairly lively about it.”

  “Why? They’ve been alone before.”

  “Outdoors. Not with a private bedroom just steps away. Jaysus!”

  Chloe chuckled and strolled slowly to the door. “At least I’ll be sure to knock before I barge in. Somethin’ you wouldn’t have done.”

  * * *

  When Amber heard Rory yell, she opened the bedroom door and poked her head out. “Is everything all right?”

  Chloe was just leaving and he slammed the door behind her.

  Sheesh. Maybe they had a fight. She approached him slowly. “Rory?”

  He ignored her completely. A moment later there was a knock at the door. He raked his fingers through his hair and sighed. Then he glanced in Amber’s direction but didn’t acknowledge her. He simply went to the door and answered it.

  The tiniest man she’d ever seen walked in. “How’s it goin’, boy?”

  Rory’s lips thinned. “You have a nerve askin’, but we’re survivin’—despite your little stunt.”

  “And I’m glad of that.”

  An uncomfortable silence settled over them, so Amber strolled over to introduce herself. “Hi, I’m Amber. Rory’s—uh—unintentional roommate. I guess.”

  Neither of them even glanced in her direction! It was as if she was invisible. How rude.

  “Are you alone?” the little man asked.

  Rory glanced at Amber’s room and said. “Not entirely.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Rory nodded toward her slightly open door. “There’s a young lady in the bedroom who might be hearin’ every word that isn’t whispered.”

  “Ah. You work fast,” the man said and winked. “Then we’ll whisper.”

  “I’ll just close her door. She’ll probably yell at me, but we’ll see.”

  “You found yerself a feisty one, did you?”

  Rory snorted. “You have no idea.”

  “Hey, guys. I’m right here,” she said. Why the hell are they ignoring me? It occurred to Amber that perhaps she’d teleported into the ether without meaning to. She looked down at her body, and to her shock, she wasn’t there. At. All. What the…

  Rory returned to the tiny man, who had climbed up onto the window seat. He dragged the futon closer. “What do you want, Lucky?” he whispered. “We don’t have your feckin’ gold.”

  Lucky? Was that the guy’s name or a nickname he’d earned? Amber wondered what the hell was going on.

  “This is for your ears only,” the leprechaun said and glanced toward Amber’s bedroom.

  “Don’t worry. She’s probably too busy poutin’ to come out. She’s mad at me.”

  Lucky chuckled. “They’re always mad at you. Women.” He spat.

  “Hey. None of that now. I’ll have to clean it up.”

  “She won’t clean for you?”

  Rory laughed.

  “I’ll do it,” the little man said. Then, to her shock, he waved a hand and the spittle disappeared. The whole floor shone as if it had just been washed.

  “Nice. I wish I had your magic sometimes.”

  “And I wish I had your size and power to fly. We all get what we can handle.”

  Power to fly?

  “By the way, it’s a bit chilly in here. Can you build a fire?”

  “It’s not allowed. All I can do is light the candles.”

  “Please do, then.”

  Rory didn’t get up. Instead he stayed where he was and breathed a column of fire! The candles caught and Lucky smiled.

  “So what is it you want?”

  “We want Clancy’s gold, of course.”

  “We don’t have it. Never did. You blamed the wrong dragons.”

  “Are there other dragons?”

  Rory fell silent.

  Dragons? Flying? Fire? Holy shit! I’ve been falling for a genuine fire-breathing dragon! She wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t seen with her own eyes.

  “So, you still haven’t said why you’re here.”

  “I’m gettin’ to that.”

  “Then get to it.”

  * * *

  Rory heard a thunk. “What was that?”

  “Oh, probably just the ghost.”

  “Chloe mentioned a ghost. What do you know of it? Is he hauntin’ this buildin’ after livin’ here?”

  “I don’t know any other kind of ghost, do you?” Lucky asked.

  “No.” Now it makes sense. He had turned off the gas, but a ghost had turned it back on. That was unsettling. Maybe the spirit was also responsible for the lights that wouldn’t work.

  “I take it you didn’t know the place was haunted,” Lucky said.

  “I didn’t, though I might have suspected. Tell me about our spirit. Is he dangerous?”

  Lucky shrugged. “He’s an odd man. Says he died in the sixties.”

  “Is that all?”

  “Other than a very strange way of dressin’ he seems harmless enough.”

  Rory stroked his chin. I don’t know about that. “Can he communicate with anyone but you leprechauns?”

  “Don’t know. I didn’t ask.”

  Rory dropped his head in his hands. “Holy mother.”

  “Look at it this way. What can you do about it? Nothin’.”

  Rory raised his head and scowled. “That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

  “No. It’s just a fact. If you want to talk in private, we can go outside. I saw a nice strip of green with some benches not far from here. Cars are speedin’ by so I doubt we’d be overheard.”

  Rory leaned back. “Here’s the rub… I can’t leave the apartment. The young lady I mentioned wants it and so do I. We’re goin’ by the old adage that ‘possession is nine-tenths of the law’ until the management says otherwise.”

  “Oh.”

  Lucky didn’t seem as surprised as Rory had expected he’d be. Did he know more than he was letting on?

  “We’re gettin’ off the subject again,” Rory said. “I still want to know why you’re here—and it makes no difference whether we’re bein’ overheard by a spirit or no. We have no gold.”

  “All right. Here ’tis. We cannot find Clancy’s gold in Ireland. He wants to talk to you. Mayhaps you found a way to bring it with you, or you found another type of magic to hide it from us.”

  “Neither. We don’t have your feckin’ gold.”

  “So, if that’s true, you won’t mind if I pay a visit to your sisters now.”

  “I didn’t say that. Leave me sisters out of it.”

  “We can’t do that. If one of them knows somethin’…”


  “They know what I know. We didn’t take your feckin’ gold!”

  Lucky raised his palms to calm the dragon. “All right. All right. Relax. To tell you true, I don’t think you took it either.”

  “Then why did you come?”

  Lucky screwed up his face as if it pained him to admit something.

  “Tell me,” Rory encouraged.

  The little man sighed. “I may be the only one with me head screwed on straight, and I came to make sure me brothers behaved. Shamus and Clancy are convinced you either have it with you, or you’ve hidden it somewhere deep.”

  “Jaysus. How could we have it with us? You cast us out on a boat with nothin’. We were lucky to get our other treasures to sell. Do you know how hard it was to part with priceless family heirlooms like that? I had to take a tenth of what we could have sold them for, just to feed me sisters and get them to a comfortable new home.”

  Lucky wouldn’t admit they’d made a mistake. Leprechauns never did. But the look on his face could only be called contrite.

  “I’ll have to tell me brothers that I found you.”

  “That would be grand,” Rory said as sarcastically as he could.

  “They will be here in a few minutes. Would you like to prepare your roommate for their arrival?”

  Defeated, Rory nodded and slowly approached Amber’s room as if going to the gallows.

  He knocked on the partially open door. “Amber?”

  When he heard no answer, he nudged the door open a few inches. “Amber? Where are you, luv?”

  He glanced over his shoulder at the bathroom in case she’d gone in there when he wasn’t looking. That door stood wide open. She should be able to hear him from there, but he went to investigate just the same.

  No Amber in there. He sighed. She must be in the bedroom and simply ignoring him. But if their place was about to be overrun with little people, he had to be sure she was warned and would agree to stay in their bedroom with the door closed.

  Since when have I been thinking of this as our place?

  Well, if it was theirs, he had a right to go into the bedroom and find the stubborn lass. He pushed his way into the bedroom and glanced around the boxes, looking for those shiny strands of amber hair.

  She must be in the closet. He stepped over boxes and around the bed, and eventually wove his way to the walk-in closet. “C’mon, lass. There’s no need to hide from me. I have somethin’ important to tell you.”

  No Amber.

  “Where the feck did she go?”

  Suddenly, he realized she must have left the building, and that meant he won the apartment!

  So why did that make him sad?

  “It must be a trick. She’s got to be in here somewhere…”

  * * *

  “Chad, is it?” Lucky had closeted himself just inside the door leading to the building’s basement.

  “I’m here, Lucky.”

  The leprechaun folded his arms and looked pleased with himself. “Did you see what we did?”

  Chad chuckled. “Yeah. I’d say it’s working. You did a groovy thing, little guy.”

  “I’ll thank you not to call me ‘little guy.’ It sounds like somethin’ you’d call a child. As for groovy—I’m not even goin’ to guess what that means.”

  “It means you did something great.”

  Lucky smiled. “So, I didn’t see what happened after I left. Has he looked for her? Does he know she’s invisible?”

  “Yes. He looked for her, and I’d say he has no idea she’s invisible. Right now he’s sitting on the floor of her bedroom looking a little stunned.”

  “Hee, hee, hee,” Lucky giggled. “How long should we let him stew?”

  “Until it’s no fun anymore.” And that could take a while, Chad thought, as he poked his head into the apartment and saw Rory muttering something about composing a song.

  “Ah, I wish I could watch,” Lucky said when Chad returned.

  “I’ll watch for you and let you know if anything special happens. Meanwhile, weren’t you going to talk to the sisters?”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ll get to that. When it comes to a leprechaun’s priorities, mischief always takes first place.”

  * * *

  Amber came to on the hardwood floor. Did I faint?

  Rory walked out of her bedroom. What was he doing in there? All the thoughts that had overwhelmed her shortly before she fainted came rushing back. Shit! She held up what should have been her hand, right in front of her face. She even waved it back and forth, but saw nothing.

  I really am invisible.

  Rory walked right past her and picked up his guitar, then sat in the middle of his futon and strummed a few sad notes.

  Why isn’t he celebrating? He must realize I’m not in the apartment. It’s not that big a place, and he just came out of the only spot where I could have hidden myself if I’d wanted to.

  She had tried to speak to him and his friend before, but neither acted like they’d heard her. Oh well. It’s worth another shot.

  “Hey, Mr. Stubborn! Yeah, you, with the big…handsome…face.” Damn it. He can’t hear me.

  He began to sing, haltingly at first.

  “Me Amber is the woman I always dreamed about.”

  Huh? It’s as if he’s composing a whole new—

  “Her lips they are incredible, especially when she pouts…”

  “No, that’s not it.” He strode to the paper and pencil he’d left on the window seat and flipped the paper over. Then he sat down and resumed his song, writing the lines as he composed them.

  “Me Amber is the woman I always dreamed about.

  Her lips are soft and beautiful, even in a pout…”

  “Ah, that’s better.”

  “Makin’ love to her lips is all I got to do,

  ’cuz me Amber is a missin’, and I’m missin’ Amber too.”

  Amber slapped her invisible hand over her mouth. What? I thought I was the only one feeling something, and I-I… Oh God. I was so horrible to him. How could he possibly miss me?

  “Feckers,” he muttered. “How can I sit here and wait for the leprechaun committee when Amber might be in trouble?”

  He rose, set his guitar aside, and raked his hands through his auburn hair. “There must be somethin’ I can do.”

  “Ah!” He snapped his fingers, tipped his face toward the ceiling, and yelled, “Euterpe! Euterpe, I need you!”

  The muse strode from the bedroom. “Did I hear my name?”

  He folded his arms. “You did. Now, mayhaps you can tell me what’s goin’ on here. And don’t pretend I don’t know exactly who you are. I know that you were not in that bedroom chattin’ with Amber one minute ago.”

  She cocked her head. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m on to you. Not to Amber. I don’t know what she’s about—or where she’s gone off to, but I mean to find out.”

  “Where she’s what?”

  “I searched her room. Hell, I searched the whole apartment. I looked in and under every box and behind every door.”

  Euterpe frowned and muttered “uh-oh” under her breath.

  “You see? It’s no use lyin’ to me anymore. I want to know what’s goin’ on.”

  “Did you two have a fight?”

  “You mean besides the one we started the minute we walked into this feckin’ apartment?”

  “Hmmm… You seem on edge.”

  He raked his hands through his hair again. “You could say I’m on the edge of sanity. Now, if you’ve any pity in your heart at all…”

  Euterpe shrugged. “What does it matter? She’s gone. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

  “No,” he mumbled.

  “No?”

  “Not anymore.”

  She beame
d. “Well, isn’t this an interesting turn of events. If I help you, what will you do for Amber?”

  “I’ll give her the apartment. I don’t care about anythin’ except findin’ the lass and makin’ sure she’s all right.”

  “Well, I don’t know where she is, but I’ll do my best to find her.” Euterpe walked toward the bedroom, totally ignoring Amber, who was right beside her. Then she halted and faced Rory. “I don’t suppose keeping up the ruse matters anymore.” She snapped her fingers and disappeared.

  Amber froze in shock. Rory knew Euterpe was supernatural? And he didn’t freak out—or even bat an eyelash when she disappeared.

  Did Euterpe really not see her? Would Brandee or Bliss pop in if she called to them?

  Knowing they’d want to stay out of sight, Amber returned to her bedroom and shouted, “Bliss! Brandee! I need you!”

  She waited, but no one appeared. She leaned out the door to see if Rory had possibly heard her this time, but no. He had just picked up his guitar and resumed his composition.

  Do I dare call on the Grand-Momma of all?

  She was just about to when she heard a voice.

  “Yelling won’t do any good. I should know.”

  “Huh? Who’s there?”

  “My name is Chad. I’m one of the residents of apartment 3A. You’d probably think of me as a spirit haunting the building, but I prefer to think of myself as a corporeally challenged resident.”

  “Do you pay rent?”

  “Fuck no.”

  “Then I don’t see how you’re a resident.”

  “Funny. I don’t see you at all.”

  “This is just a temporary glitch. I’m not dead…” A sudden terrifying thought entered her head. “Am I?”

  He laughed. “You’re just now wondering?”

  “Well, I don’t see my body anywhere…but I did lose consciousness for a bit. Who could have snatched my body right out from under Rory’s nose? And how can you hear me?”

  “Shouldn’t the better question be why can’t anyone else?”

  “I don’t understand what’s happening. Do you know?”

  “I know more than you do.”

  “Great. So tell me, wise spirit.”

  Chad chuckled. “Look, I don’t have to explain a thing to you. One of the best things about being a ghost is that there’s absolutely nothing you can do about me. If I want you to know something, I’ll tell you. I come and go as I please. I can be nice to those I like, and I can devise all kinds of unpleasantness for those I don’t like.”