Nentres

I landed in the middle of Jackson Square inside the French Quarter and faced the outlaw housing on St. Ann’s Street where Eddy’s goons couldn’t possibly miss me even if they tried. Yeah, I know y’all live here. I looked around for them and didn’t see a single one, which meant nothing. Landing in the square left me wide open if they wanted to shoot me down.

Outlaws could be stationed anywhere, on top of any high point in the area, and with Eddy suspecting the Cy were stealing his people, the security near their den would be tightened.

I peeled back my lips and snorted. Sulfurous smoke came out, but no fire. Just checking my element to see if Amy and I were on the same page. Not yet, or there would be fire. It seemed to come out sometimes, not others, and I didn’t have control of it. Not even a spark, and I didn’t think Amy knew how to wield fire either. Not a problem, since I played our little fling game for keeps.

I eyed the various hotels in my line of view, the damn franchise ones specifically. They had an advantage of height, and I could land on their roofs, whereas if I landed on some of the smaller ones, I feared I’d crush them under my weight. Nobody wanted that, least of all me. These buildings had barely stood the test of the Ice Age as it was.

I grumbled, snorted some more smoke, and walked around the square, watching for outlaws and picking out a hotel.

“Where are we?” Amy asked.

“In the town,” I answered with my mind. Again testing, this time our mind link. We didn’t have one or else she would’ve heard me. Dragons communicated via a mind link, and Lance communicated with his spirit via that link too. I presumed I’d be able to communicate with Amy had we actually formed our bond.

“What the…?” I heard her say, and she stood, trying to come out of her designated riding space. I lifted my scales, forming a wall around her. I needed to keep her inside while I waited for Eddy just in case he or one of his men decided to fire on the giant creature on “their” turf. I made a mental note to finalize the turf thing with Eddy. If he didn’t cave in, I would simply eat him and replace him. Oh, they’d try to rebel, in which case I would exile them all. The south was mine, and I’d be damned if a human called my home his turf. With territory in mind, I lifted my leg and pissed, showing all my teeth.

“From a pretty boy to an ugly-ass beast.” Eddy stood on the balcony on top of a former nineteenth-century furniture shop I contemplated moving into. He’d vacate, of course. Immediately.

“Hey, Eddy!” Amy said.

Huh? I would land on his head! I snarled. The wind came rushing out, carrying smoke with it. Smoke was better than nothing, I thought. Fire would come; eventually, it would come. I felt it coursing through my veins. Or it could be that I was pissed off that Amy and Eddy were all buddy-buddy right now. I snarled again, thinking I didn’t have to land on Eddy’s head when I could fry him.

I tried. More smoke came out.

Eddy raised his hand and walked down the balcony that wrapped around the building, which stretched the entire block. He tried to peek behind me, looking for Amy, I supposed. I walked closer to him so he could see her and lowered my scales.

“Hey, sugar. Whatcha doing up there?”

My chin rested on the rail.

Eddy backed up. I inhaled his fear, though you’d never know it because Eddy appeared cool as a cucumber.

I whipped my tail, his fear making me excited.

The tip of my tail caught a car and swiped an entire row of them. They flew and crashed into a pile of metal inside the square. Okay, so I should assume my human form for the sake of the city. In dragon form, I was a bit less tolerant of Eddy’s attempts to charm my spirit. White light burst around us as I changed back to human and caught a screaming Amy in my arms. “I got you, baby.”

“What in the world? You could’ve warned me, you know.”

“I couldn’t have. Dragons don’t talk.” I put her down.

“We’re like…a few miles from the house.”

Oh, that. I thought she was talking about the way I’d shifted and caught her. A trick I’d practiced when I collected treasure and stored it up in the spirit’s designated riding space. I thought it would impress her. Failed attempt again.

I took her hand in mine and surveyed the outlaw stronghold, a two-story building that stretched through the block, the breakfast place on the far end to my left. I remembered the small shops on the bottom, and benches where the elderly and mommas with strollers sat right behind me, and the greenery of Jackson Square. Now it was gloomy, gray, and it smelled like crap. I wrinkled my nose. “You wanted to open up a shop, but I think it means you want to be free of your stepmom, the ball, and everything you’ve ever known. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right.”

“And I told you I can’t take you to Pittsburgh. So here.” I pointed at the boarded-up windows. “Take any shop you want. Up there”—I pointed smack dab in the middle, not seeing Eddy upstairs anymore—“there’s an apartment with a king-size bed. Now, sugar, if you ask me, I prefer the penthouse, but I won’t stay in one of them shitty franchise hotels. Also, I can land in the square, so I’ve got a parking spot. Does all that suit you fine?”

Amy looked stunned. “What am I supposed to do?”

Ah, so she hadn’t figured out exactly what she wanted, only that she wanted something to call her own. “What were you gonna do for work in Pittsburgh?”

“Um, I planned to hang out with my cousins until I figured what I wanted to do with my life.”

“You can hang out here. Come on.” I picked up my backpack and slung it over my shoulder, then got her suitcase.

“Wait a minute.” Amy’s boots clicked the pavement behind me.

Eddy flung open the door.

We walked into the empty shop. “Eddy, my friend.” I put the suitcase in front of him. “Take the lady’s bag upstairs. We’re gonna call it the penthouse.”

“Do I look like your butler?” He closed the door, then smashed the iron door behind it.

Oh, so the den was fortified. Nice. “My butler is excellent. I wouldn’t let you wash my car.”

“You don’t have a car.”

“Exactly.” I slung an arm over Amy’s shoulders and tucked her near me. “This is Amy. I see you’ve already met.”

“We have,” she said.

“When and where?” I gritted out. “How is even more important.”

Amy slapped the sweatpants over my chest. “Stop it. And put some clothes on.”

Right. I thrust my feet into the damn pants, and she handed me my sneakers. I grabbed her hand and held on when she tugged. “We’re getting a room,” I told Eddy.

“Be my guest. It’s gonna cost ya. Which room you want?”

I’d chew his cheek off with my human teeth. “Yours, of course. And I ain’t paying.”

“Everyone pays or brings something when they step into my turf uninvited.”

The turf conversation would have to wait. “We’re paying with the jewelry she stole from me and gave to you the other day. You know what I’m talking about.”

Eddy eyed me sideways. “Get to it, blondie. Whatcha doing here?”

“We’re on a honeymoon.”

“In his fantasy world,” Amy said. “In the real world, I’m starting over.”

Eddy gave us a blank stare. I knew we made no sense, and I felt the same way, which was the reason I didn’t know what else to tell him.

“The girl is welcome,” he said.

I didn’t want to do this with Amy around, but now that Eddy basically told me he controlled who stayed where in this town, I deemed it necessary.

“Eddy,” I said, then paused when his men filled the room. They trained all manner of weapons on us.

Eddy cracked his neck. “Like I said, the girl is welcome.”

“I don’t think you want to do this.”

“You and I had an understanding. My town.” He pointed outside. “Your mansion over there.” He pointed in the direction of my house. “You don’t see me landing in your yard.”

“Let me explain somethin’ to you. There are four dragons on this Earth. One for each pole. My brother Lance, the one from the West, is coming to my ball, should be here by Saturday morning. He flooded the habitat when they tried to take his…girlfriend. I will burn everything in my path, he’ll flood the town to take out the fires after. By the time we get done, there’ll be nothing left. Nobody wants that, or do you?”

Eddy and I came chest to chest, and I remembered us brawling over the skateboard. It seemed like it had happened in another life.

Amy tugged my hand. “We’ll pay if you let us stay in your nice place, Eddy.” She extended her hand, and in her palm sat an amber ring, the one she would give up everything for. “Take it,” she said.

I snatched it from her hand before Eddy could even think about it. “What the hell?”

“You threatened to burn and flood the city with all the people in it. I think the ring is worth all those lives, not to mention I’ll have nowhere to go. You brought me here, and you know what? It’s a great idea. We could use some cheer around here.”

“Cheer?”

“A birthday party. A wedding party. Something.”

“That’s what I said!” a woman pitched in from the peanut gallery. “We’re planning a parade.”

Amy spun around, and I glanced over her head at a middle-aged woman with two kids holding her skirts. Shit. Amy would hate me for threatening these people. For the record, I would not hurt the humans and neither would Lance, but that didn’t mean I would give up my claim on Amy or New Orleans or the South.

Amy tugged my hand again, but I couldn’t let go. Yet.

If I resorted to violence, it would set me back with Amy, not that I was making any progress with her anyhow, but still, no progress sounded better than digressing. I released her hand and shrugged off my backpack, then thrust the damn thing at Eddy.

He smirked and opened it, then closed it back up immediately. I didn’t think any of his people knew at what part of his life Eddy had come into a fortune. I’d handed him back his Confederate gold. In exchange, he would shut up and let me get on with my plan. As thieves, we understood each other, no agreement necessary.

Eddy moved out of my way. “I don’t live up there anymore, so you can have my old apartment.”

Amy thanked him and climbed the steps.

I didn’t like how Eddy watched her fine ass sway.

We stood shoulder to shoulder. I nudged him. “I’ll poke your eyes out.”

He chuckled. “You’re in love.”

“Eat me.”

He clapped me on the back. “Got time for a game tonight?”

“Let me check with my lady.”

He snorted. “Pussy whipped.”

I climbed the steps and threw him a middle finger over my shoulder.