Clue and the Sea Dragon
By Wendie Nordgren
Copyright © 2016 by Wendie Nordgren
www.wendienordgren.com
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, places, and events are fictional and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design by Beyond Book Covers
www.beyondbookcovers.com
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter One
The wind blew coldly against my face and neck as I walked along the shore. Mindless of the small wave that rolled over the toe of my left black rain boot, I continued to make crunching and sloshing sounds as I walked along the deserted beach. An empty reusable pink shopping bag with yellow handles from Big Bubba’s grocery store moved like a trapped kite on my right arm. I ignored it, too. The small donut-shaped handheld metal detector had all of my attention. When it began to beep, I bent down. The blue and black plaid coat came to my knees and didn’t interfere with my movements. Moving the sand out of the way with a spoon from my kitchen, I freed an old fishing hook from the sand and dropped it into my shopping bag. At the moment, having some time alone with my thoughts meant more to me than the value of any hidden discoveries.
Things had been quiet at 888 Honjo Street for the past few weeks with the exception of my three suitors. My father, Colwyn Winks Taylor, had moved his apprentice, Cosmo Lenox, into our spare bedroom for the winter. Winks had said, “Cosmo, you risked your life for me in Dorado, and it was my idea that had you sailing out to the Shrine of the Widowed Bride. If it hadn’t been for me, you never would have been possessed by that angry spirit in the first place. You’re staying here until spring or until I’m certain you’re better.” Since then, Winks and Cosmo had been spending a lot of their time down in the basement where I assumed they were melting down stolen jewelry.
Every single visit that I had with Tadashi Shimizu, my fiancé, was either chaperoned or in a public place. Every attempt that I had made at slipping away through reality or ditching Winks to see Tadashi privately had been thwarted. My father was always several frustrating steps ahead of my every plan.
The metal detector beeped again. I dug into the sand with my spoon. The scrape of the metal against the wet sand gave way to a dull thud when I hit something. Grabbing hold of an edge, I pulled it out. It looked like an old roof shingle, but it was made of some kind of odd material I’d never before seen. Curious, I tossed it into my bag and kept walking. Lately, odd things had been washing up onto the shore, and a few huge waves had rocked the boats at the marina. The wind had picked up making my fingers and the tip of my nose feel cold. I decided to stop in at the Wisteria Hotel to warm up on my way home.
Tadashi greeted me in the lobby of the fancy hotel that his Okami alpha owned and operated. His brown eyes sparkled, and a smile was on his lips. Oh, how I wanted privacy to kiss those lips and run my fingers through his hair. Tadashi wore a suit with the intent of appearing professional. However, it just made him look sexy and dangerous.
“Clue, you are more beautiful to me today than you were yesterday,” Tadashi said as he kissed me hello. I reached up to touch his brown hair that appeared to have been cut earlier in the day.
“Maybe that’s because I was a sweaty mess yesterday.”
Under Dorian’s supervision, Tadashi had spent over an hour with me yesterday in the hotel’s exercise room teaching me to block punches and kicks. Quickly, I learned how very little I really knew about self-defense. Tadashi had covered everything I had learned in the mandatory self-defense classes on Eris Space Station in about ten minutes.
He lifted my cold hands up to his neck and held my fingers to his throat to warm them. His tenderness worked to melt another area of my anatomy. My bag rustled on my arm between us. “I thought you might have a cup of tea with me before I go home,” I said. Tadashi raised my fingers to his lips before stepping to my right side and walking with me into the hotel restaurant.
I smiled happily when a waiter brought us a tray of raspberry Linzer Torte cookies and cups of raspberry tea. Using a warm moist hand towel, I cleaned my hands before digging into the powdered sugar covered treats. Tadashi grinned. He had made a game out of learning my favorite things. Unfortunately, Tadashi’s smile soon became nonexistent. “What’s wrong?”
He reached over to wipe powdered sugar gently from my mouth. “Annually, Dorian and I oversee delivery of Lord Tanaka’s pearls to buyers in Monoceros.” Monoceros was the location of the land port and was a couple of days away by train on the other side of Cassini. Magnetic fluctuations made landing in unsanctioned areas hazardous on the planet, and most starship captains weren’t reckless enough to risk their ships or crews by docking elsewhere. “We will leave tomorrow and may be gone for several days. Lord Tanaka will be remaining in Scorpius and will help you should you have need of him.”
Disappointment made my smile disappear along with Tadashi’s. “How about I ask Winks if I can go along with you? Dorian would be along as our chaperone.” I gripped Tadashi’s hand and gave him an eager smile. I knew that together we could manage to ditch Dorian and finally have some time alone together. Tadashi looked like he was in pain.
“It would be too dangerous for you in Monoceros. We have had to defend ourselves from thieves in the past,” he said with a raised eyebrow and a slight frown.
“From Winks?” I asked with wide worried eyes. My father, Colwyn Winks Taylor, was a master thief.
Tadashi snorted. “No, your father has only been caught that one time of which I am aware.” He referred to the Yokai infested former mob boss of Dorado who had kept Winks in a spirit box for about a year.
“I can defend myself or slip. Take me with you.” Winks had been giving me daily lessons on melding our reality with that of Cassini’s spirit realm for the past two weeks. I didn’t have to be in fear for my life to merge realities any longer and could slip at will. I could only pull myself a few blocks at a time, but Winks said I was a fast learner. Unfortunately, slipping still gave me a headache.
“This is business and not pleasure. It is my duty to make the delivery. I promise that you will not leave my thoughts.” On only one other occasion had I seen the look that was currently on Tadashi’s handsome face. It had been when Lord Tanaka had refused to help Cosmo and me rescue Winks. From experience, I knew Tadashi couldn’t be swayed once his mind was made up.
In resignation, I said, “Fine. I’ll miss you.”
Tadashi walked me home to 888 Honjo Street. I was on his lap, in front of the fire, with my fingers buried in his hair kissing him when Cosmo interrupted. Cosmo made a show of adding wood to the fire.
“It is getting late. I should go,” Tadashi said softly.
“No, please don’t go.”
Tadashi’s lids had lowered to slits, and I could feel his desire against my hip. I kissed his eyelids. “I must prepare to leave,” he whispered. Sadly, I stood and walked him to the door where I kissed him once more. “I will return to you as soon as I am able.”
“B
e careful.”
After closing the door behind Tadashi, I sat at the dining table and pouted with a bottle of cherry mint tea. Following me into the kitchen, Cosmo grabbed his own bottle from the cold storage unit.
“Dang. Would you look at that?” Cosmo exclaimed. I glanced up and over at him. He had spilled plum juice all down the front of his shirt. Cosmo placed his bottle on the counter and then pulled off his shirt revealing a stomach where every muscle was clearly distinct. A patch of black hair trailed from his belly button and down. Blushing, I looked back up just as he bunched up his shirt and used it to dry his chest. “It gets sticky when it dries,” he said as he dampened his shirt under the faucet and stroked the shirt over his stomach. Cosmo had very white teeth that were easy to see with the huge grin he was giving me.
“Cosmo!”
His grin got even bigger. “I love it when you yell out my name like that.” Cosmo strutted into the laundry room and tossed his shirt into the cleaning unit. Then, he pulled out a chair and pulled it close to me before he sat. “I’ve got something for you, Clue.” I snorted. Cosmo grinned. He held up his hand and dangled a beaded bracelet in front of me. It caught the light and sparkled. “I made this for you. I used a bezel setting so the stones wouldn’t scratch you or get caught on your clothes. I secured them to a snake chain so it would lay flat against your skin.” Cosmo focused on my lips for a moment as he spoke. “These pink stones are the rose quartz from the Widowed Bride’s necklace. They symbolize unconditional love. This here is aqua chalcedony. It was the nearest match I could find to the sea glass in your ring.” Cosmo took my hand in his and held the bracelet next to my ring. “Chalcedony supposedly banishes anger and turns sadness to joy, and you know these are diamonds. They are tough and strong just like you, Clue Taylor. I used white gold to match your ring. Do you like it?”
I stared in complete awe at the delicate bracelet with its alternating diamonds, and pink and aqua stones. “It’s gorgeous.”
“May I put it on you?”
I smiled and nodded. Cosmo reached down, took my left foot in his hand, and placed my toes against his crotch. “Cosmo!”
“Say my name, baby.” He grinned as he fastened the bracelet around my ankle. “No mononoke or Yokai will be able to help you lose a talisman that’s hidden beneath a sock or under a boot,” Cosmo stated. He trailed his fingers from my ankle up my leg.
“Thank you, Cosmo. It’s beautiful.” I began to remove my foot from his lap. He slid his hand along my leg to my knee.
Cosmo’s eyes sparkled as he stood, pushed his chair back, and went into the laundry room to get his clean shirt. My repeated reiterations to him that I had made up my heart to marry Tadashi meant nothing to him. Cosmo wasn’t a quitter.
Chapter Two
The next morning, I was sitting at the table wearing a robe and pajamas while eating a bowl of blueberries covered in milk and sugar when Winks strolled into the kitchen.
“Daddy’s little princess looks so sad,” he said with feigned sympathy. Winks had been the one to wake me up a few minutes ago when Tadashi had dropped by to say goodbye. Winks sat across from me with a cup of coffee and a muffin. I frowned at him. “Don’t be like that, baby girl. Now, look. Since that leg humper of yours is out of town and I don’t have to constantly guard your virtue, I’m going to take care of some business. Cosmo will be here to protect you. Also, a friend of mine has agreed to watch out for you. Finish eating so I can introduce the two of you.”
“You’re leaving?” I asked incredulously.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back before Tadashi.”
Cosmo had entered the kitchen in time to hear the news and looked thrilled.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
Winks shook his finger at me. “Don’t ask. The least you and Cosmo know the better. I want that room of yours clean by the time I get home.”
I gave him another frown. “Momma never made me clean anything.”
Winks raised an eyebrow at me. “Yes, I’ve learned that by observation.” I sighed, pushed my bowl away, and stood so I could go get dressed. “Clue, dishes go in the sink,” my father said.
“I’ll take care of it for you,” Cosmo said with an innocent smile.
“Thanks.” I trudged upstairs.
Once I was dressed, I found Winks waiting for me in front of the large red brick fireplace in the living room. He held his hand out to me, and I took it. I blinked, and we were in an alley. Smelling coffee and baked goods, I placed us near the café on Swan Street. Winks linked our arms together and walked from the alley with me. Inside, a man stood when he saw us. He twisted his pale-blue knitted cap in his hands and gave me a nervous nod. Winks shook hands with him.
“Clue, this is my friend, Yago.”
Yago had cups of coffee and donuts on the table waiting for us. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Taylor.”
Yago looked familiar, and my face drained of color when I placed from where I had seen him. “Hello, Yago.”
I sat down beside Winks, and Yago sat across from us.
“Now, Clue. I know the first time you saw Yago it wasn’t under the best of circumstances, but he’s a good friend of mine, and you can trust him.”
I was sitting with wide eyes, and my mouth was partially opened. Winks shoved a chocolate donut into it. I furrowed my brows at him in worry but chewed. After swallowing, I said, “You’ve got legs like a normal person.” I had another bite of donut.
Yago took a look around us. “Yes, in this realm, I and others like me are indistinguishable from mortals,” Yago said in a whisper.
“Others like you?” I asked.
“Yes, you’ve met Kiyohime. Some demons can pass as humans and live and work among us on Cassini. In most cases, only when we slip can we discern the difference,” Winks said. “Now, I’m going out of town. While I’m away, Yago has agreed to watch out for you. Here is his address,” Winks said as he handed me a small business card.
It read, “Yago Felipe, Independent Contractor, 221 Frog Street, Scorpius.”
“If you have any problems, Yago will help you. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
Over coffee and donuts, they discussed the renovations that I learned Yago had done to our house. I tried not to look under the table at the human legs he used in this reality. However, I couldn’t stop thinking about the first time I had seen Yago in the tunnels under Scorpius. In the nightmarish memory, Yago had been about to eat a screaming rat that he had held in his hands. His human torso had given way to the abdomen and eight legs of a spider. Yago was the first monster I’d ever seen. Sitting in a café with him and chatting over coffee and donuts was surreal. I wanted to slip so I could see how he managed to sit at the café table with the lower half of a spider. Winks seemed to know what I was thinking and gave me a warning look.
“It’s okay, Colwyn,” Yago said. He turned to me. “I can control my forms. If you were to look at me now in the other realm, you would see me there as you see me here.”
Kind of disappointed, I said, “Oh, like Tadashi.” He could be either in human or wolf form in either reality.
Yago nodded.
A short time later, Winks dropped me off at home and vanished. I moped around until Cosmo got home from work. Apparently, just because it was winter didn’t mean there was nothing for fishermen, dock, or marina workers to do. They were busy with repairs to boats, nets, and traps. Cosmo and I went out to eat dinner together at the diner. After we got back home, I was stunned when rather than throwing himself at me, he took a shower and went to sleep.
The next morning, Cosmo was gone before I woke up. Mrs. Stone and her friends were spending the week making preserves. They had invited me to join them, but I didn’t want to. Instead, I decided to go to the café and scan the news feed for a job.
The sun hadn’t yet risen as I sat sipping my coffee and searching for work for which I wouldn’t be underqualified or under aged. A new post caught my attention. Elan Tavora was advertising
for a personal assistant. The hours and pay would be discussed after the interview. Applicants were encouraged to apply during business hours at 117 Wharf Street. I wasn’t sure what the responsibilities of a personal assistant might be, but one thing was certain. I needed something with which to occupy my time until my Hyperion College distance education classes started.
I rushed home and changed into one of the stupid dresses Winks had picked out for me. It was a dark, dusty pink, and I wore my brown leather boots and jacket with it. I thought I looked professional. Then, I put on my blue helmet with its frolicking cartoon dolphins, grabbed my hover board, and began the cold trip to Wharf Street.
The business was just past the marina in a paved courtyard with other fancy business offices. I saw a lawyer’s office, a bank, an art dealer, and at 117 Wharf Street a sign for Tavora Shipping. I sighed. I’d been on the Finns’ fishing boat, Cosmo’s Sea Harpy, Fang, and a rented speed boat. I knew nothing about shipping. I felt even more inadequate as I entered the building. I removed my helmet, ran my fingers through my hair, and approached the lady at the desk. She had long, smooth blonde hair, pale skin, blue eyes, and a well-tailored jacket and skirt of a pale cream shade. I saw a couple of men in suits seated nearby. Each of them had a portfolio in hand.
Feeling inferior, I entertained the thought of turning and leaving, but then I thought, “Why the heck not give it a try?” The experience might help me for my next interview. I sauntered over to the tiny blonde and grinned at her.
“Good morning. I’m Clue Taylor. I’m here to apply for your personal assistant position.” The professional attitude was beyond me, but cocky came to me naturally.
Sighing and giving me a bored look, she said, “Please, have a seat. Someone will be right with you.”
I took a seat between the two suit clad gentlemen, put my helmet and board under my chair, and watched as the light from the room’s chandelier played on my three carat engagement ring. A man entered the waiting room. His shoulder-length hair was a light ash grey-brown that reminded me of the bulkheads on Eris Space Station. His eyes were like the flames of a bright fire, full of orange and brown like a spessartine garnet I’d seen at Mr. Julian’s jewelry store once. He wore an expensive suit that looked similar to the ones Lord Tanaka favored. I figured they bought them at the same place and gave the man a half grin.
Clue and the Sea Dragon (The Clue Taylor Series Book 2) Page 1