Dragons Luck

“Surely he gave you a way to contact him. You aren’t the type to let a man, any man, defend you. Why the hell aren’t you on the horn with him asking for advice. Tips. Training?”

Val looked at Mai for another long moment. Without responding, she reached down and pulled out her cell phone. A few numbers later, she was speaking into it.

“George?” Val said.

Mai focused on her ears, extending her senses in a way that few nondragons could.

“Ms. McCandles,” George said on the other end. “Called to make arrangements?”

“Perhaps, but not for the date. We need to meet, George. Someplace big, someplace open. Someplace without witnesses,” Val said.

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone.

“Is this a challenge? A fight?” George said.

“Something like that, only we should both walk away after. If you want a date, Georgey boy, you are going to damn well earn one,” Val said.

Mai could just make out George’s low chuckle on the other end of the line.

“Oh, really. Very well. I will call you back with a time and place. And soon, because you have intrigued me, Ms. McCandles.”

“Valerie,” Val said, as automatically as her brother would have said “Griffen,” “and good. I will expect your call.”

Valerie closed the phone, and when her eyes met Mai’s, they were filled with uncertainty. Uncertainty that grew when she saw a bit of answering insecurity in Mai’s eyes.

“What? That seemed right,” Val said.

“It was,” Mai answered. “I am just realizing. With everything going on . . . I am going to have to secure my own invitation to this damn ball.”

Thirty-five

“How could you be so stupid?”

Flynn dug his fingers into his thigh, pain helping control his temper. It was that or crush the flimsy cell phone in his hand, and he didn’t have the time or energy to replace it. Years of practice meant he did not start to grow scales or claws or anything similar, yet the impulse was close.

“I’m sorry, sir,” a thin, contrite voice said on the other end.

“Do you have any idea what that will cost me in the long run? That no-talent hack could have been president one day! And you let him sign on with another firm,” Flynn said.

“But, sir, you said he wasn’t important. That your project there was far more valuable, and I should just handle it as best I could.”

“I had assumed your best wasn’t quite so inadequate. Why did I ever let your mother talk me into hiring you?” Flynn said.

“Because it was the only way you could get her to sign a nudity clause in her contract, sir, and you owed the studio head.”

“Yes, well, her career has been over for a year. So your career is over now. I’m calling security next to make sure you clean out your desk without any fuss.”

Flynn disconnected, cutting off any further protests from the lackey on the other end. If he admitted the truth to himself, he should never have let the kid handle such a job. He just hadn’t thought the actor in question bright enough to jump on his current absence. Still, he had to set an example. Besides, he was still disappointed over the low box-office returns off his mother.

“Hey, Flynn, mind if I join you?”

He looked up, surprised to see Griffen McCandles leaning over the railing that surrounded the tables at the Café Du Monde. He smiled, openly to Griffen, inwardly to himself. The folly back at the office aside, the deal he was working on certainly did have the potential to be great. More important, since Mai’s little encounter, it was proving to be more and more intriguing.

It was a good thing, to be able to enjoy one’s work.

“Sure, Griffen, come on over and order something. Excuse me, though, while I finish up a little business.”

Griffen nodded and moved around the railing and into the Cafe proper. Flynn dialed his office number, and the extension to on-site security. If the son was anything like his mother, he would throw a temper tantrum before leaving.

“This is Flynn,” he said, as the line was picked up. “I’ve fired Bradley . . . Yes, that’s the one. Let him make some fuss, draw some attention, then put him out on his ass . . . Yes, that’s right, he’s the example of the year . . . Good. I’ll call back for a report later.”

He hung up and noticed Griffen looking at him a little oddly. He didn’t think the young dragon could pick up on his tension, his anger over the whole issue. Minor though it was. After a few quick thoughts, he decided to probe the issue.

“Never fired anyone?” Flynn asked.

“Not directly, no; when I first got started, I set some policy. Made people make a choice, but there weren’t any big issues with the organization itself. Just some of those connected on the periphery,” Griffen said.

“Well, sometimes it’s necessary. Particularly if someone messes up badly.”

“What, no second chances?”

Flynn picked up his coffee and sipped, letting the bitterness roll over his tongue. He was more in the mood for that than the too-sweet beignets so popular here.