Gaia sighed deeply. “The clan is small. That’s the good news. Only one female and her brother are left.”
“And the bad news is?”
“They’re extremely dangerous.”
She stared at Drake, sizing him up, as if she was deciding whether or not she could trust him. “Look, I’m not proud of this, but when I created dragons I didn’t foresee the problems they would cause if they came up with their own agendas. I had a completely different purpose for them.”
“Really? What’s our purpose?”
“You mean, what was your purpose… It was a long time ago, long before humans invented the airplane.”
He raised his eyebrows. “So we were supposed to be the first Cessnas?”
“Right. I tried flying horses, but they died out too easily. I thought I’d make a tougher animal that lived in caves. When I saw them shivering with cold I felt for them, so I gave them a way to light a fire for warmth—with their breath, so naturally they had to be fireproof. And then, because I’d gone to so much trouble, I made them almost impossible to kill. Boy, was that a mistake. Suddenly, they felt all powerful and thought nothing of swooping down and burning up some of my favorite creations. Forests. Villages. Innocent people.”
“So, what did you do?”
“I marked the whole race for extinction. Your parents hid you well in Canada, or you wouldn’t be here like the rest of the Eurotrash I took out. But you seem like a good guy.” She rose and paced as she finished her story.
“Before I could wipe out the dragons of Central America, one momma dragon saw what was going on and sought out a voodoo priestess. She managed to put a spell on those kids to protect them, even from me.”
Mother Nature let out a long sigh. “Because they grew up with no parental guidance, they’re… well, I hate to label anyone, but does the word sociopath mean anything to you?”
“Uh, kind of. I’m not a shrink, but I could look it up and learn about it if you think it might help.”
“Nothing will help, but you might as well know what you’re up against.”
Drake’s dragon warning tingles vibrated wildly.
“Here’s what I want you to do,” Mother Nature said. “I want you to trick her into coming to me.”
“Huh? How?”
“That’s your problem.”
“Look, with all due respect, I want nothing to do with her. She already attacked me, and now that I know I’m not immortal and she is… Besides, I don’t even know where you’re located and how to get back here.”
Mother Nature threw her hands in the air. “Must I do everything?”
One of the robed gentlemen strolled over to them. He was not a handsome man. Some might even call him ugly. His face was wrought with deep lines. His eyes were too small and his nose was too large. “Gaia, may I be of service?”
She closed her eyes and mumbled something that sounded like “brownnoser,” then turned to the god with a bright smile. “Thank you, Hephaestus. Actually, your help would be very much appreciated.”
Drake’s eyes widened. “Hephaestus? Greek god of fire?”
The gentleman straightened and puffed out his chest. “That’s me. You may have heard my Roman name as well. Vulcan. You may call me either.”
“Which do you prefer?” Drake asked.
“Actually, I like Vulcan. It reminds me of my workshop in my Italian volcano.” His smile faded. “Although on earth these days, people seem to think I was named after a race on a TV show.”
“Oh, that would be Star Trek,” Drake said. “Great show.”
“That’s little comfort.”
Mother Nature snickered. “Well, it looks like you two are hitting it off, so I’ll let you get on with your business.”
“Wait,” Drake said. “My girlfriend.”
Mother Nature frowned. “Sounds like a complication. I hate complications.” She let out a defeatist sigh. “What about her?”
“I was just visiting her. I was only there a few minutes before that Adolf kid practically kidnapped me and dragged me here.”
“Is she human?”
“Yes.” And in some ways, you remind me of her.
Gaia’s eyes widened. “She didn’t see you disappear, did she?”
“No. We were out in the hall. I closed the door, but right before I did, I told Bliss I’d be right back.”
Mother Nature laughed. “Yeah… never say that.” Then she pointed straight at his chest. “And never—I mean never reveal your knowledge of this Council. As far as you’re concerned from this moment forward, we don’t exist. Got it?”
Drake glanced around. “Did somebody say something?”
Gaia patted him on the head. “Good boy.”
Bliss paced across the living room, wondering what the heck was taking so long. “We finally get some time together, and some kid comes and takes him out in the hall,” she muttered. Well, too bad. I’m not going to stand for it.
Prepared to do battle, Bliss marched over to the door and threw it open. Odd. There’s no one here.
She heard a cough coming from the bottom of the stairs. Thinking Drake might have been beaten again, she hurried down the steps. At the landing where the stairs took a right turn, she stopped. It was Angie. She was sitting on the bottom step, reading a book.
Bliss rested a hand on her hip. “Is this the ‘stuff’ you had to do?”
Angie startled, then swiveled so she could look at her roommate. “Oh, I didn’t see you there. I was engrossed in this book.”
Bliss noted Angie’s dry hair and coat. “Have you been there the whole time?”
Angie gave her a sheepish grin. “Kind of.”
“What do you mean, ‘kind of’?”
“Well, I was gonna go out and do some errands, but I decided to wait and see if the rain let up.”
“Then you must have seen Drake leave. Did he say where he was going?”
“Drake? I thought he was upstairs with you.”
“No. The kid who lives upstairs asked to see him privately, and I thought he just stepped into the hall. He said he’d be right back, but it’s been about an hour.”
“Adolf? Maybe they went upstairs to the Balogs’ apartment. I can get engrossed in a book, but I’d have noticed if a couple of guys stepped over me to go outside.”
“Yeah, that must be it.”
Angie had been giving them their privacy, and Bliss just fell in love with her roommate a little bit.
Hmmm… to intrude or not to intrude? “So, do you know the people upstairs?”
“Not very well. They keep to themselves, and that’s fine by me. They’re kind of creepy.”
“Creepy, huh? Now my curiosity is piqued. Want to go upstairs with me?”
Angie’s jaw dropped. “You’re going up to the Balogs’ apartment?”
“Why not? I haven’t met the creep I can’t outrun.”
Angie giggled. It may have been a nervous giggle, but a moment later she jumped up. “I’m in.”
The girls tromped upstairs. Bliss heard music on the other side of the door. It sounded like an acoustic guitar and a violin harmonizing, and the melody had a Gipsy Kings quality.
When Bliss knocked, the music stopped. She and Angie waited for quite a while before she knocked again. Even after the second knock, no one came to the door.
That’s weird. She frowned and knocked a third time. “Hellooo,” she called out. “It’s Bliss Russo, from downstairs.” They waited. Still nothing.
She and Angie stared at each other. At last, Angie shrugged. “I guess no one’s going to answer the door.” She headed back down the stairs.
“That’s kind of rude, isn’t it?” Bliss whispered.
“I guess so, but it doesn’t surprise me. They’ve always kept to themselves.”