“I know whose pocket this came from, but whose money is it really?” she said.
“Oh, my, that was a low blow,” Mai said.
Mai was purring.
“It’ll be mine soon. Mose, you are dealing for a while,” Mai said.
“Ha! Wondered why you invited me,” Mose said.
“Why to discuss my connections interested in your gambling ring, honored sir.”
Mai batted her eyelashes, and Griffen choked on his drink.
“Honored sir! That’s it; I’m heading to the nearest bomb shelter,” he said.
Griffen started to rise and the girls, laughing, grabbed his arms and yanked him back into his seat. Mose laughed with them as Griffen pretended to struggle. He decided to dodge the inquiry.
“That’s between you and Griffen, I’m just here to play.”
Mai nodded her head gracefully, and pushed the dominoes his way. If anything, he shuffled faster and with more skill than she had, and Griffen once again failed to be able to keep track.
The night progressed at about that speed, though despite being outclassed and distracted, Griffen did pick up the rules fairly quickly. It was not a highly complicated game, though it had touches based more on aesthetics than anything else. Which made it highly different from anything commonly seen in Western gambling.
After about an hour more, Mose rose and stretched. He started to gather up his winnings, and his coat, and took his glass to the kitchen sink.
“Well, kids, it’s about time I moseyed home. Can’t keep up these late hours anymore,” he said.
The others exchanged a glance, not believing it in the least.
“Need an escort home, Mose?” Griffen asked, rising from the table.
“Lad, you are a fool if you’d part such charming company for an old man. I can take care of myself. Though I will have a word outside with you if you’ll pardon us.”
Outside, Mose paused to look up at the sky. Despite being in a city, there were always a few stars visible in the fairly subdued lighting of the Quarter. A bright sliver of moon hung over the sky. He didn’t look at Griffen as he spoke.
“Young Dragon, you be careful with that one,” he said.
“Which one?”
“Don’t get cute, Grifter. I’m serious. My dealings with the Asian dragons hasn’t been much, but that is one dangerous lady. She will always have her own agenda, and you will never, ever, know what it is in whole. I think she honestly likes you, but that doesn’t make one bit of difference. And when dealing with her, don’t ever think that what you say is exactly what she hears.”
“Yeah, I had figured that out. I think.”
“Good. Now forget it for a night and go back in and enjoy yourself. Those two are planning the kind of night that is inevitable. Don’t fight your destiny.”
Mose smiled to himself and walked away. Griffen blinked and turned back into the apartment.
Fox Lisa and Mai watched him with a gleam that made him think of women looking at an intricate, seven-layered, chocolate confection. Something sinful and sensual but when all is said and done, something to be devoured. He closed the door behind him and surrendered to destiny.
Somehow, strip pai gow really did make it easier to remember the rules.
Forty-nine
One thing that Nathaniel truly seemed to revel in was taking Valerie out to dinner. She was such a contradiction at the dinner table. Poised and elegant, but with the same enthusiasm in indulgence that she always showed. Every reaction to each new treat was magnified, and for some reason her palate seemed to be fairly limited. He kept managing to find new dishes that she had never tried, and each time she attacked the new dish with childlike glee and ravenous hunger.
That evening, they were dining at the Rib Room, the hotel restaurant at the Omni Royal Orleans. It was New Orleans elegant, without the coat and tie rule of Antoine’s.
They had just gotten through their appetizers, chatting companionably, when Nathaniel stiffened violently. Valerie paused, forkful of crab cake halfway to her mouth. She rarely saw such sudden reactions in him, and this one left her puzzled. She turned in her seat, and if anything her expression became more confused. Coming through the door were Griffen and Mai.
“Nathaniel, what’s wrong?”
“Well, uh…”
By now the maître d’ had stepped up to the two and started to lead them to a table. Griffen saw Valerie, and a surprised smile lit his face. She realized that was a good thing, for if he had been coming just to check out her and Nathaniel on a date, she would have been seriously pissed. Griffen leaned over to whisper into Mai’s ear. She turned toward Valerie and Nathaniel, and the smile that had started to blossom froze instantly. So did her step.
Nathaniel and Mai stared at each other as the McCandles looked from their dates to each other, uncertain.
Mai straightened her back and an angry hiss escaped between gritted teeth. Nathaniel winced, and pushed his chair back. Just enough to stand and run without hesitation. Mai stalked forward, and suddenly every eye was on her. She dripped with anger, but the sway of her hips and the arc of her step was as sensual as it was dangerous. Griffen’s jaw dropped noticeably as he watched her from behind, and even Valerie was captivated.
“Nathaniel,” Mai said, voice dripping venom.
“Careful, Mai, you will corrode the silverware.”
Nathaniel made a negligent wave with his hand, and suddenly attention all around the room drifted away from Mai. The sudden and instant allure she had was broken, and conversations started up again. Griffen approached cautiously, shaking his head as if to clear it. Mai hissed again.
“How dare you,” she said.
“Compensate for your lack of control? It isn’t as if I don’t have practice.”
Nathaniel’s tone was almost unchanged. His usual confidence leaving it seemingly unhurried and unworried. However, his eyes kept drifting to the door, and to Valerie.
“Almost as much practice as you have in causing others to lose theirs.”
Mai’s eyes fell on Valerie directly. She stopped and stared, and comprehension dawned in her eyes. For an instant, her composure softened, then she turned back to Nathaniel and, if anything, her anger was magnified. Griffen thought he should interfere before someone got hurt.
“I take it you two know each other?” Griffen said.
“You might say that,” Nathaniel said.
“I know more than he wants you to know,” Mai said, then addressed Nathaniel. “How’s Malinda?”
It was Griffen’s turn to stiffen.
“That was unnecessary, and probably very unwise.” Nathaniel sighed. “But since you ask, Mother is fine.”
“What is going on here!?”
Valerie slammed her hand into the table. The fork, forgotten, buried itself into the surface and permanently imbedded a bit of crab cake into the wood. Nathaniel reached out and rested a hand on hers, talking a bit more quickly, though very soothingly.
“Nothing, my dear. A jealous and very ex-associate who wants to ruin an otherwise fine evening.”
“Stop that,” Mai said, looking at Valerie. “Stop it right now or I swear I’ll kill you like I should have last time.”
“Oh, really, there is no need to be so melodramatic,” Nathaniel said.
“I am not quite sure what you two have between you. But if you are doing anything to my sister at this moment, I will do worse than anything Mai can think of.”
All attention went to Griffen as he spoke. His voice was both cold and hot at once, and he seemed to swell with anger. His hand, which had been resting lightly on Mai’s waist, had begun to show the first signs of scales. Nathaniel very, very carefully let go of Valerie’s hand, and leaned back in his chair again.
“Very well, then it is over,” Nathaniel said. “You understand, of course, Mr. McCandles, this will change the game between yours and mine. Though not immediately.”
“I’m not sure which of you three I am supposed to be angry at just
now. So someone just answer my question.” Valerie’s hand clenched and Mai sighed.
“I suppose this is not the place. Well, time for an age-old escape. Valerie, let’s head to the ladies’ room. Lover, don’t kill the twip in public. We’ll be right back.”
Valerie let herself be led away, and the two men stared at each other for a long moment. Griffen bristled, rage and suspicion rolling in his blood. Nathaniel merely looked slightly put out, which irritated Griffen more and more. Nathaniel was the first to speak.
“Yes, Malinda is my mother. However, this was not about you and your little empire. My sole interest at this point was your sister. The whole thing with the animal people was a diversion to hold your attention while I courted her. We had a vague idea of trying to lure her into joining our family.”
“Of course, you left her completely free to make up her own mind. Not influencing her in any way.”
“Of course not.” Nathaniel laughed, and Griffen almost broke his nose right there. “That is not how these things are handled. I did what came naturally to me. It is not my fault that your sister was all but unprotected.”
“No, but that is no longer the case. I think you should be leaving now.”
“Ah, quite so.”
Nathaniel rose, leaving money on the table for the check, and headed out the door. Griffen stared after him, still reining in his own impulses.
It was a good ten minutes before Mai and Valerie emerged. Valerie was red with fury, and stalked right past Griffen without a word. Mai and he exchanged a glance and followed after her.
Fifty
It was clear that Valerie’s path was taking her back to the complex where her and Griffen’s apartments lay. So, Mai and Griffen felt a bit more at ease hanging back some and giving her some space. As they approached the complex, the first thing Griffen noticed was that Valerie had left the gate open wide, maybe with a few new dings in it from being slammed much too hard, he thought. The door to Valerie’s apartment was half-open, and the crashing from inside left no doubt that she was still in.
Griffen and Mai exchanged another glance, and she took a step back to lean against the nearest wall. He nodded, and proceeded forward alone. At the door he pushed his head in slightly and knocked lightly. Valerie was bent over and digging for something in her closet.
“Val?”
She swung around, half-surprised, but mostly just still very angry. The shotgun in her hand finally came clear of whatever obstructions she had been clearing from the closet. It swung around with her.
“Jesus!”
Griffen yelled and ducked back out the door, but no gunshot rang out. He tentatively stuck his head back in the door, but Valerie was already coming out, pushing past him and heading toward the gate again.
New Orleans may be laid back in some respects, but a very pissed off woman holding a very large shotgun stalking through the streets was bound to attract attention.
Mai stepped between Valerie and the gate, standing straight and radiating outward calm. Valerie stopped in front of her, eyes narrowing. Griffen made a fast decision and stepped next to his sister, grabbing her hand tightly in his. The muzzle of the gun was pointed more or less safely at a patch of empty ground for the moment.
“Val, you have to stop and think,” he said.
“Too busy. I’ll save that for later, Big Brother.”
Her voice was oddly detached, and not like his sister at all. Griffen half wondered if it was some sort of backlash from the glamour breaking. He also fought the urge to glance at Mai, wondering if she had triggered this somehow. He quickly dismissed that idea, though; she was the one standing between Valerie and the gate after all.
“Valerie, this isn’t the way. Killing isn’t going to solve a damn thing,” he said.
“How about kneecapping?” she said.
“Little harsh for the crime, don’t you think?”
“No! No, I don’t!”
She whirled to face Griffen fully, and in a gesture of her anger hurled the gun away from her. It hit and chipped a brick under the impact. Thankfully it again did not go off. Though maybe, just maybe, the barrel was slightly bent now. She yelled into his face.
“How can you say that Griffen! That bastard completely invaded my mind, my personality! What punishment could ever be equal to that!?”
“Probably none can, so any you try is just going to leave you unfulfilled and unsatisfied,” Griffen said.
“Yeah, well, I’m feeling pretty damn hollow right now! So I won’t be any worse off.”
“You would be and you know it. Not only inside, but think of the trouble. Forget that this scumbag has family, dangerous family. You could wind up in jail, Sis. If you were lucky, it would be for one night for toting that damned gun around. If you succeeded, a damn sight longer.”
“So what am I supposed to do!?”
“Act like a dragon,” Mai said, and stepped forward.
Both McCandles looked at her. She took a step past them and found herself a seat in the open courtyard. With a passing glance at each other, brother and sister followed. Griffen gently but firmly took Valerie’s arm and helped her sit. She glared at him for a moment, but was grateful for the seat. Adrenaline and rage had made her muscles tense and unsteady.
“You do not slay a dragon by killing it,” Mai said. “Especially not one like Nathaniel who has many relatives who would avenge him. You are a dragon, you have the time, the ability, and the cunning to wait and plot. You find when he is most vulnerable and take from him what he took from you.”
“Take what?” Valerie said softly.
“Power.”
Griffen looked at his sister carefully, mind racing. Pieces clicked into place, and he found himself nodding without realizing it.
“We forget sometimes,” he said. “Being a dragon is more than just how we act or what we can do. It’s what we are. I’ve never seen you this upset, and that’s because Nathaniel attacked something that every dragon seems to deeply love. In their bone and blood.”
“Power,” Valerie said softly, and nodded.
“So you wait. You plot. You think! And when the time comes, you will make Nathaniel feel every inch what you are feeling now,” Mai said.
“Yeah. That I can do.”
Valerie’s eye gleamed, but it was a gleam Griffen knew and was happy to see. She was still pissed, but her spark was back. Silently he hoped Nathaniel had the good sense to never, ever come within a thousand miles of Valerie again. For his own sake.
“And in the process you are living your life, building your own power back, growing and learning. So that when the time comes you will already have moved so far beyond this that he is nothing but a tiny flea to you. A flea you will squash anyway, because you are a dragon, and we do not tolerate vermin.”
Mai’s eyes burned, too, as she spoke, and that was an entirely different spark. One that Griffen wasn’t sure he was comfortable with at all. He wondered just how long Mai had been waiting for her own retribution, and just how safe it would be to be near the two female dragons, as allies.
He decided to change the subject.
“Now, where the hell did you get a shotgun?!” he said.
“Oh, umm…Gris-gris gave it to me. Just in case.”
Valerie flushed a bit, and it was such a change in her that Griffen was almost happy enough to drop the whole thing right there. Almost.
“We live in the French Quarter, behind security gates, and under protection. And you need a shotgun in your closet that you couldn’t even get out quickly?”
“Hey, I didn’t say the idea was great, but it was a present,” she said.
“And just where were you marching off to with it?”
“He pointed out his condo to me one time when we were out walking,” she said. “I figured I’d start there.”
“Sis…”
“Leave your sister alone, Griffen. In fact, I think it is time you let her alone for the night. She needs to decompress,” Mai said.
&nbs
p; “What about you?” he said.
“If she doesn’t mind, I will stay with Valerie. We will have girl talk and ice cream and single malt scotch. Important healing things. No men allowed.”
“Hey, that doesn’t sound half-bad,” Valerie said.
“Okay, okay, I can take a hint. Hell, it’s not like I ever got dinner. Val, you sure you’re okay?”
“No, but I will be.”
Griffen nodded and left. Mai watched him go, but Valerie was looking down at her hands. When the gate had shut, Mai let out a long sigh.
“Men. They have no understanding of closure.”
“Huh?” Valerie blinked, surprised by the change of tone.
“Come. We shall pay Nathaniel a little visit.”
“What about all that crap you just said about power and waiting?”
“I meant every word. That does not mean you let the little shit slip away scot-free thinking he is safe. Leave the silly gun. It won’t come to violence. But you deserve more resolution than ice cream.”
Valerie looked at Mai closely, and slowly smiled. She nodded and stood, heading into her apartment to grab a coat. And maybe to run a comb through her hair. Never let them see you less than perfect. Mai grinned, and whispered to herself a bit breathlessly.
“Besides, if there is one thing all dragons crave besides power, it’s drama!”
Fifty-one
The two didn’t have much trouble getting into the building. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Mai didn’t have any trouble getting past security gates and locks. Valerie wondered more and more about her brother’s ex, but was more intent on the current goal. That goal was clear. To confront Nathaniel, and let him know she was no longer under his thrall. Also to let him know there would be a reckoning in the future.
They climbed the stairs to the top floor of a fairly upscale condo, one that in the Quarter could easily rent out for twenty-five hundred dollars plus. The two looked at each other as they reached the actual apartment door. Mai smirked, and stepped to the side, gesturing that it was all Valerie’s.
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