Dragons Luck

The tightening of Val’s lips and the narrowing of her eyes were answer enough. Griffen knew his sister, knew that beneath the mask of anger was a good deal of fear. He’d ask questions later.

For once, Griffen didn’t hesitate. He had taken this job, and whatever this was, he would deal with it. A surge of anger built, fueled by his sister’s. He went with his instincts, stepped forward, and said the first thing that came to mind.

“I can handle this.”

Fifty-two

Lizzy’s laughter filled the ballroom, and all around people flinched. Griffen himself felt a heavy, cold weight in his stomach as the laugh filled his ears. No syllable matched, as if it were a dozen different laughs all fighting to burst free. It wasn’t even the raw anger underneath that made it so terrible. Worse than that, something in it pulled at those hearing it, something infectious.

Madness that wanted to spread.

Griffen kept his reactions off his face and took another step forward. The laughter snapped off as Lizzy’s eyes narrowed watching him.

“Handle this? You mean handle me! Darling, sweet baby boy, you couldn’t handle me—well, not and survive anyway. Though the actual handling could be fun, come to think of it. Hey, I know! Let’s ditch this place and go find out; I can always butcher your sister and friends later.”

The last traces of fear evaporated under Griffen’s anger. His fists clenched, and he felt his skin start to harden into scales. Lizzy smiled, a beaming grin of a happy child. Griffen realized she liked seeing him react, liked pushing his buttons. And realized just as quickly that he couldn’t afford the luxury. He got his face under control, though under his skin he could feel the itch of the scales ready to manifest.

Lizzy’s smile faded to a small pout as Griffen pulled himself together. She started to stalk in a wide circle around him, broken eyes riveted to him. People moved out of her way, clearing the floor space surrounding them. Though he noticed she circled away from Valerie, putting him between the two. As if reading his thoughts, her eyes flicked over his shoulder to his sister, then back to him. A new smile, sly and cruel, worked across her lips.

“So . . . Griffen McCandles. I’ve watched you, you know. Not much; you didn’t look like much fun, but it was amusing. Watching you scurry about as I sorted things out in my head. Watching you walk with your ‘friend’ Mai, my my Mai, wasn’t she a surprise. I sorted things out . . . things out of sort . . .”

Lizzy’s eyes started to glaze, just for a moment, as her train of thought derailed. Griffen couldn’t help but tense, almost leaped on her in that instant of distraction, but hesitated, trying to think through all the angles. She snapped back into focus and shouted, loud enough to shake the chandeliers, “Don’t think it, baby boy!”

More people flinched, a few of the shifters actually falling to their knees clutching their ears. Griffen could practically feel Val’s glare from behind him and could just make out a rustle of clothes he thought was her moving closer. Lizzy kept shouting, quieter now but just as emphatic, hands sawing through the air as she gestured, spittle flying from her lips unnoticed as she raved.

“Baby! Hatchling! Both of you are just sooo. Young! And stupid! And you still cause me all these headaches, all this confusion! I should have killed you both, blown up your house, blown up your city, never gotten close enough to have to think!”

She paused, going calm and suddenly serious, rubbing two fingers to her temple.

“It’s problems like this that really make me wonder if I am . . . a little off . . . after all.”

Griffen stared, without any clue of what to do. Someone that crazy, that confused, and she only wondered if she were a little off? And he had no question that she was very dangerous. Any direct fight, and who knew what damage it would cause. But how could you reason with someone like this? Or even talk them down?

Val made the decision for him.

“I really don’t think ‘a little’ covers it, Lizzy, dear,” Val said.

She stepped toward them both, and a little to Griffen’s side, though he didn’t dare take his eyes off Lizzy to look at her. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he could tell she was angry.

Valerie had come to the party as something out of the Greek pantheon. White dress, not quite a toga, embroidered with gold on the hem and neckline. A wreath of flowers and vines was in her hair. She looked more the part now as she stepped toward the threat of Lizzy. She was a good four inches taller than usual, and so tense she almost trembled.

Yet her voice was calm, quiet. Mocking, yes, but none of the warlike anger he usually expected from his sister in this kind of situation.

“Oh? What would you say, heifer?” Lizzy snapped, angry again.

“I’d say ‘crazy,’ but then I would have to spend the rest of my life going around to asylums and apologizing to the inmates for the comparison. I think we need a new word for the level of insane you are.”