Dragons Luck

Griffen shook their hands and blinked a bit. Johansson was a small, round man with a red complexion that made him look permanently flushed. Margie was thinner than Slim, and almost as tall. Her face was hard and serious, as if she had never smiled.

“Not what you expected?” Margie said.

“No, I hadn’t realized that there would be so few of you. Or that you would come from so far,” Griffen said.

“There aren’t that few of us, but most don’t care about dealings with others. Margie and I come from hubs, like Slim, so have to keep an eye on the world at large,” Johansson said.

Griffen was hard-pressed to try to figure out what Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Wyoming had in common. Or why they would be called hubs. For once, he was saved having to ask.

“You seem distracted. We can talk later,” Margie said, and abruptly turned and walked to the door.

Slim and Johansson shared a look.

“Well, she’s hardly ever wrong. What’s on your mind, Griffen?” Slim asked.

“I didn’t want to be rude, but I was hoping to talk with some of the shape-shifters tonight,” Griffen said.

Again, there was a look. Johansson shrugged and walked toward the door, leaving Slim and Griffen alone in the big room.

“Shouldn’ be a problem. The talk is they is stayin’ in this hotel. Most of the lower ones will still be hanging around. Go check the lobby bar,” Slim said.

Griffen noticed a bit of an edge in his voice that hadn’t been there before.

“I didn’t mean to step on your toes, or ruffle your friends.”

“Not friends, just like-minded folk. And you didn’t. Just don’t expect me to come share a drink with you and them.”

Then Griffen was completely alone as Slim walked out. More than ever, Griffen wanted to talk with the shape-shifters. If only to find out why Slim’s attitude had changed so abruptly. He felt woefully underqualified for this job.

Sure enough, the lobby bar was full. It was an open bar, with several low, comfortable chairs strewn away from the bar itself. Someone had moved the chairs together in a great amoeba-like configuration for the sake of conversation. Griffen stopped and saw a repeat of what he had seen during his speech.

There were essentially two rings of chairs. An inner ring held only five chairs, one of which was empty. Sitting in the other four were the group of shifters who had stood in the center of the room earlier.

Then, a foot or so away, was a much looser and wider ring of chairs. Here sat the other shifters, again talking among themselves, but at the same time keeping an eye on those in the center. It was as if they didn’t want to miss anything said but didn’t feel comfortable interfering.

As Griffen approached, most eyes turned his way. Particularly those of the inner circle. No one said anything or so much as gestured. But the vacant chair was plain enough. Without asking, Griffen walked over and took a seat in it.

There was an excited murmuring behind and around him from the outer ring. Those four he was now sitting with merely nodded to him. A small gesture of welcome, or of acceptance.

One man nodded a bit more deeply than the others. He was a fragile-looking man, with short black hair that Griffen noticed seemed very soft. He was dressed elegantly, though a bit too flashy. By Quarter standards they were gay men’s fashions.

“Mr. McCandles, I am Jay. It has been decided that I will do most of the speaking for the shape-shifters you see here,” he said.

“A pleasure,” Griffen replied.

He noticed that the group he had seen lurking in the corner was not present. He asked the obvious question.

“What about the other group I saw?” he said.

The four shared a glance. Griffen was getting a bit tired of that.

“I do not speak for them. How much do you know about shape-shifters?” Jay asked.

“Not much at all. To my knowledge I’ve only met one other.”

“You have met others. But you speak of the chimera you battled.”

“Yes, but what do you mean by ‘others’?”

Griffen didn’t wonder how he knew about his fight with George. Though he couldn’t be sure whether he was getting more used to supernatural sources of information or to the French Quarter rumor mill.

“You and your sister have the power, to some extent at least. You see, that is one of the difficulties faced by choosing who and how many speak for us in such a gathering as this.”

As Jay spoke, Griffen noticed that his accent and speech were very refined, cultured. His movements and gestures were short, seemingly abrupt, but he also seemed to have an uncommon grace. Except for an occasional odd tilt of the head, he was what Griffen thought of as a well-bred gentleman.

“We shifters share nothing in common except our ability. Even more than the animal-control types, those you see here have different ranges, origins, even blood. But we are lumped together because our primary attribute is to change form. Even though by that definition alone, you would be one of us.”