Arousing a Dragon Read online

  After trudging through the shifting sand, cement felt blessedly stable under her feet. Hartshorne Woods Park read a sign at the edge of the trees. Aurora could hear music coming from a low, grey shingled building, which turned out to be a dive called The Salty Dog.

  The warmth of the bar and the sound of The Rolling Stones emanating from the jukebox in the corner acted as a tonic to Aurora’s fraying mind. She felt her nerves slowly settle back into place.

  She heard a raucous group at the far end of the bar, but couldn’t muster the energy to look their way. Pulling up a stool, she checked her pockets, locating a few soggy bills and her waterlogged phone.

  “Jesus Christ, darlin’,” the bartender greeted her, “where the hell did you wash up from?”

  Aurora didn’t bother to answer. Instead, she slapped a sodden twenty on the bar and said, “A drink. Please. A big one.”

  “O-kay,” the man said, raising an eyebrow. “What kinda drink?”

  “If you could mix the strongest alcohol you’ve got with the second strongest alcohol you’ve got then I think that’d do it,” she replied.

  The man’s other eyebrow slowly ascended to meet the first. “How about a hot rum?” he asked. “That’ll shake the cold from you.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Aurora replied with a dazed half-smile.

  The man set to work and Aurora looked about her for the first time. To her surprise, she realized that the rowdy group at the other end of the bar was the crew of the Scalded.

  Aurora murmured thanks as the bartender placed the steaming rum in front of her and continued to observe the crew. It was clear that the crew of the superyacht were all steaming drunk. The slurred voices and glassy eyes were a dead giveaway, as was the fact that one of the women was asleep with her head on the bar. As she watched, one of the crewmates took a pull of his beer, leaning towards the bartender and said, “I’m tellin’ you, man, I’m tellin’ you. Thirty feet long at least this thing was… I’m tellin’ you. Breathin’ fire like you’d imagine they would, you know? Massive great fuckin’ thing. Huge. I mean, you think you’ve seen everythin’, right? And then the next thing you know, boom, a dragon! Just like that.”

  The bartender wagged his head. “Right, right, yeah, a dragon. Just as you say, my friend. I mean, we hear about mermaids and the like around here, you know – mostly from little kids it’s true – but dragons are a new one!” He slapped the bar good-naturedly and said, “Another beer?”

  The drunken crewman nodded.

  At the periphery of the group, Miss Fang sat motionless. She was stone cold sober, her inscrutable features betraying no emotion as she watched over the drunken hooligans.

  Relieved to see a familiar face, Aurora was on her feet and moving toward Miss Fang before she could stop herself. However, the agile Asian beauty quickly intercepted her. She grabbed Aurora in a vice-like grip and propelled her back to her stool before she could start asking questions of the crew.

  Aurora sat heavily, grabbed her drink and knocked it back, wincing as the hot rum burned her throat.

  ”What the fuck is going on?” she asked in a strangled voice.

  The head of security just looked at her and signalled at the barman for another drink.

  “Look, I don’t really know what I saw, okay, but one minute I’m on the yacht with Mr. Hawthorne, the next moment a bunch of naked-ass people turn up out of nowhere, then I’m in the goddamn ocean and the yacht is on fire above me! And then…” Aurora flapped her arms, words failing her.

  “Dragon,” she managed to squeak.

  “Oh my lord!” the barman said, setting the rum down in front of Aurora and turning to a couple of grizzled locals perched in front of him. “Looks like we’ve got another one, boys! Drink up!”

  The grizzled men grinned, showing a distinct lack of teeth, and knocked back the whiskies they’d been nursing.

  “What the –?” Aurora began.

  “Just a little game, miss, just a little game!” the bartender said with a chuckle. “Those drunks at the other end of the bar have been talking shit about dragons ever since they rolled in smelling like a distillery. These boys have been taking a shot every time that the word dragon is mentioned. I doubt that they’ll be able to stand upright if this goes on much longer! And now here you are, talking the same sort of nonsense. I don’t really get it, but so long as everyone behaves and pays for their drinks then we’re all friends here.”

  Miss Fang gave the man a look that stopped his blather as effectively as a kick in the guts and he moseyed off to the other end of the bar to make sure that the crew were fixed for drinks.

  “I don’t know what the hell happened to Finn,” Aurora continued, as if they hadn’t been interrupted. “I don’t know if he’s alive or if he burned in the fire. Look, I know that we’re far from best buddies, but the least you can do is tell me what is going on! I feel like I’ve slipped into some insane dream, you know? Dragons! I mean, are you shitting me? I can’t have been rescued by a mythical flying lizard, right? That doesn’t make any sense. Yet, here I am, still alive, and tossing ‘em back at the goddamn Salty Dog!”

  She picked up her glass and gulped the fiery liquid, letting out a shuddering breath. She didn’t expect a response from the notoriously prickly woman, but to her surprise the security chief said, “Do not worry. Mr. Hawthorne is fine. He is a strong man. Resolute. More than you know. As for the crew, best to think of them as irate investors in a business deal gone bad.”

  Aurora gaped at her.

  “And the fire - that was nothing more than an engine fire,” she continued casually.

  Aurora blinked. “Oh, right, yeah, investors…engine fire…business deal gone wrong, yeah.” She cleared her throat and finished her drink. “How about the fucking giant lizard, huh?”

  Miss Fang held up a hand, her dark eyes glittering dangerously. What little patience she possessed had reached its limit.

  “Evidently, Miss Laurent,” she said, “you sustained a head injury when you fell overboard. It is fortuitous that you were carried here by the current.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “The stress,” the woman continued, “has affected your ability to think clearly. I will summon the helicopter to return you to the City.”

  ***

  Miss Fang had no interest in continuing a conversation with Aurora, nor would she allow Aurora to speak with the crew. By the time the chopper touched down on the empty baseball field next to The Salty Dog, Aurora had drunk enough to become comfortably anesthetised. Unsteady on her feet, she was helped into the helicopter by the pilot. It was funny, she thought, how until a few weeks ago she had never even been near a helicopter, and now she was so used to it that she could hardly keep her eyes open as they flew to Manhattan.

  Human beings; we’re pretty adaptable. Doesn’t take long before the novel turns into the everyday.

  The flight to Hawthorne Industries took about 45 minutes. She expected to be met by Travers, but there was no sign of the old butler. Gliding silently through the busy lunchtime lobby, she found herself at the entrance of Hawthorne headquarters.

  “Miss?” a voice cut into the fuzzy blankness inside her brain.

  “Miss? Do you need a taxi?”

  “Uh, sure. Yeah. A taxi. Sure.”

  The doorman signalled and the yellow cab pulled forward.

  “Where to, miss?” the driver asked.

  Not really knowing where to go, Aurora gave him the address of Harper Hill.

  It took just over half an hour to get to Harper’s apartment in Brooklyn.

  “Oh. Shit. Hi!” Harper said on opening the door to her best friend. “You’re back. Already.”

  She reached behind her to pull the bedroom door closed while Aurora struggled out of her damp jacket.

  “I guess you got fired, huh?” Harper asked. “That’s the only reason that you’d be back so soon.”

  Aurora tried to explain, but she found that there was a lump in her throat holding back te
ars. She went into full ugly cry in Harper’s hallway, hiccupping as she tried to tell her friend about the morning’s events.

  “So, I got back to the yacht and Finn and I had this big fight and he fired me,” she gulped.

  Harper patted her awkwardly on the shoulder, her eyes darting to the bedroom door every now and again.

  “That’s too bad,” she said.

  “Then,” Aurora continued, wiping her nose on her sleeve, “the yacht was attacked – these people appeared out of nowhere, and they were naked! I mean, not a stitch of clothing on them. I thought Brodie was ripped, but he looks like the Pillsbury Dough Boy in comparison!”

  “Ri-ight,” Harper said.

  “Then the ship was on fire. It was burning all around us, and Finn threw me overboard to try to save me. Harp, you know I don’t swim very well, and I felt myself starting to sink. But I was rescued – by a dragon. I swear to God, Harp, it was a living, breathing, massive dragon!”

  Silence followed this garbled recounting of events.

  “Um, Aurora?” Harper said.

  “Yeah?”

  “You don’t think Hawthorne slipped you something, do you? You didn’t drink or smoke anything suss?”

  “What? No!”

  “Okay, okay, I guess you must’ve just hit your head, huh?”

  “Hit my head? What’re you talking about?”

  “Well, are you listening to the words spewing out of your mouth right now? Naked people and dragons? It must have been one hell of a boozy brunch.”

  “Damn it, Harp, you’re not listening! Some insane shit went down, and I’m just trying to explain what I saw.”

  “Look, I love you, but it sounds like you just had yourself a good old-fashioned meltdown. Have you been drinking?”

  “No!”

  “Well, you smell like you’ve been fished out of a barrel of rum.”

  “Okay, I had a few drinks. To calm my nerves, you know.”

  “Right. Well, whatever wacky shit went down, Hawthorne sounds like an asshole for firing you just because you were late one time.”

  Aurora wanted to shake her friend out of pure frustration, but instead she said, “He did kiss me though.”

  “What? Who?” Harper asked.

  “Finn. After he fired me.”

  “He fired you and then you made out?”

  “Not really, because that’s when the ship was attacked. But there was definitely something there.”

  Harper raised her hands and shrugged. “I don’t even know what to say.”

  The door to Harper’s bedroom flew open and Brodie Wood emerged. He was clad only in a bed sheet.

  “What the hell? You hooked up with another guy? Who is he? I’ll use his face to wipe the floor like I did with that other douche.”

  “What are you doing here?” Aurora asked. “And where are your pants?”

  Her sluggish brain stepped in to supply the obvious facts.

  They’ve been banging, idiot.

  Aurora looked at Harper.

  Brodie grinned over Harper’s shoulder and slapped her on the ass.

  Harper winced at his touch, embarrassed. Then she said, “Aurora, it just happened, you know? After you took off Ryker left, and Brodie was just here and he was all worked up and sweaty…”

  Aurora squeezed her temples; she just couldn’t handle one more bizarre episode today. She was about call out Harper for sleeping with Brodie, but then she realized that she didn’t care. Brodie had only been a distraction; she was just killing time with him while she figured out what life after Ryker looked like. “He’s a clown. You can have him,” she said wearily.

  “Hey!” Brodie said.

  Aurora gave him a withering look.

  “Babe,” Brodie said, attempting to be persuasive, “this doesn’t mean anything. I tapped Harper because you and I were on a break and I was bored and shit.”

  Harper turned slowly to face him. “What? So, I’m just your backup plan, is that it? Your consolation prize?”

  Brodie put up his hands in mock surrender.

  “Ladies, ladies, don’t get your panties in a wad! There’s plenty of Brodie and his wood to go around! Let’s be civil, yeah? How about we take this dispute back into the bedroom and figure it out through the act of love. Anyone for a threesome?” He raised his hand like a school kid answering a question in class.

  “Brodie,” Harper said, her voice tight with anger, “if you’re not out of my house in the next twenty-four seconds, I’m going to turn your scrotum into a hacky sack and punt it into the East River. Get the fuck out!”

  “Jesus, chill, woman,” Brodie said, lowering his hands. “You had nothing but good things to say about my hacky sack a little while ago.”

  “I fucking mean it, Brodie! Get out!”

  Brodie went back in the bedroom to get dressed.

  “I can’t believe you,” Aurora said to her friend when they were alone.

  “You can’t believe me? I thought you were back with Ryker!” Harper said defensively. “Not to mention that you’re now getting cozy with your boss or ex-boss or whatever he is. You might want to look at your own romantic life before you jump down my throat.”

  “No, no. I’m not mad. I just can’t believe you fell for that jerk.” Her shoulders sagged and she suddenly felt exhausted. “What am I going to do, Harp?” she asked her friend, leaning her head back against the hallway wall.

  “Well, do you love him?”

  “Who?”

  Harper chuckled.

  “I miss our dinners on the yacht,” she said. “I miss the way we laugh and flirt.”

  Harper shook her head in astonishment. “Jesus, I was talking about Ryker, Aurora!”

  “Oh. Of course I love him.”

  “But are you in love with him?”

  Aurora sighed and closed her eyes. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m so confused right now.”

  “Well, he’s still in the city. You could go see him and figure it out. If it wasn’t for your bail, I’d say jump in his truck and head west.”

  “Finn took care of my bail,” Aurora muttered.

  “Then go! That rich bastard probably has a different woman in every city where he owns a mansion. Don’t throw away a second chance at being with your soul mate. Not for some sugar daddy who’s already thrown you overboard!”

  “He did do that,” Aurora said, dreamily.

  “Did what?”

  “Threw me overboard.”

  “Wait. Rewind.”

  “Finn saved me from the fire. And I suspect that he helped save me from drowning as well.”

  There was a heavy thud and a lot of swearing from inside her room.

  “Sounds like Brodie got tripped by his jeans again,” Harper said, rolling her eyes. “Look, I’m going to call Ryker. I think you should go to his hotel and then you two leave town, hon. Seriously.”

  Aurora shook her head.

  “No,” she said. “No, Harp. I’ve got to know what the hell happened. It’s driving me nuts. If I don’t find out, I’ll always wonder what went down on that goddamn boat.” She took a deep breath and squared her delicate shoulders. “I have to know what happened. And I have to find out if there really is anything between me and Finn Hawthorne.”10

  Aurora stepped onto the curb outside the gleaming glass edifice that was Hawthorne Industries. She tipped the cabbie generously for running at least two red lights, and hurried up the steps of the building.

  Before she could figure out her next move, Abraham Travers appeared at her side.

  “Travers!” she said, trying to cover her surprise at his abrupt appearance.

  “Miss Laurent,” the old butler said with a benevolent smile, “it’s quite unexpected, but lovely, to see you again.”

  “Um, same here, Travers,” Aurora managed, her deeply ingrained mid-western manners refusing to be ignored, despite the urgency she felt about tracking down Finn.

  “Travers, you’re a sweet man,” Aurora said, “and I’m eve
r so sorry about waking you up the other night. I’ve got to see Mr. Hawthorne, you understand? He and I have some unfinished business.”

  “But, Miss –”

  Determined to win him over, Aurora fought back her manners and continued talking. “Now, like we say back home, this is going to sound as nutty as squirrel shit, but I really need to find out about the pirates and the dragons.”

  Travers started to respond, but Aurora plowed on, her hand raised apologetically.

  “If I try to explain any further it’s only going to sound nuttier, Travers, trust me. So, please can you just take me to the penthouse? Please, Travers? Otherwise, I might just be driven clean around the bend and wind up in Crazy Town trying to figure out what happened!”

  To his credit, Travers did not call immediately for Security. Instead he laid a fatherly hand on her shoulder and said, “Miss Laurent, pirate and dragons? Come now. Clearly there’s a tale worth hearing behind the master’s sudden return to the city and your slightly bedraggled appearance, but pirates and dragons?.” He gave her another of his warming smiles and added, “I might be old, Miss, but I still have some wits left.”

  “Travers,” Aurora said, fighting the urge to yell in frustration, “I’m pretty sure that you have more wits now then I’ve ever had, but I still need to see the boss.”

  “Mr. Hawthorne is – has been – around already. He told me about what transpired this morning.”

  “He did?”

  “Yes, indeed. He told me, in detail, about the engine fire and the explosion and how you were thrown overboard by the blast. He went on at some length about how grateful he is that the Coast Guard was able to bring you to shore. I know that I speak for both Mr. Hawthorne and myself when I say that we are gratified to find you safe and sound. Clearly, you are in a state of profound shock. I imagine, although I am not a medical professional, that what you really need is some bed rest and – a personal recommendation of mine – a good cup of Earl Grey tea.”

  “Earl Grey tea? Coast Guard? Wait – no, that’s not – no, it wasn’t anything like that, Travers. What about the four naked people who appeared on deck before the explosion?”