I Dream of Dragons (Boston Dragons) (9 page)

“No. Don’t do it. I’ll tell you.”

After a brief hesitation, Shamus confessed.

“We leprechauns set them on the boat and gave it a tiny push. I don’t know where they be now.”

Finn clenched his fists and tried to wrestle his temper under control. This leprechaun knew more than he was telling.

“Do you have some magic in you? Can’t you see them if you close your eyes or somethin’?”

Shamus scratched his whiskered cheek. “First let me go, and I’ll tell you what I see.”

Finn laughed. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” He was careful not to use the words ‘I release you’ in any way. Not even with the word ‘if’ in front. “Sure’n you’d disappear down that tunnel and take your gold with you.”

Shamus looked as if he were trying to stomp his foot. Or maybe he was making one last desperate attempt to get free. “If I do as you wish, you must let me go.”

Finn mulled it over. He figured it was a good bargain—if it led to finding Shannon. “Go ahead.”

“How do I know you won’t take me pot of gold and leave me here as soon as I tell you what I see?”

“First, I don’t want your stinkin’ gold. Second, I couldn’t get it out of here without some help, and that would involve leavin’ and comin’ back. You’d be long gone by then. And third, I’m a man of my word, and I give you me word.”

Shamus stroked his beard and stared off into the distance. At last, he said, “All right. I’m trustin’ you, though you should know that if you try to take me gold, I’ll come after you. And leprechauns can be mighty creative when it comes to playin’ tricks on humans.”

Finn didn’t bother pointing out that if he’d lied and didn’t release the leprechaun, there was little Shamus could do to “come after him.” He wanted the little man to trust him completely, so he nodded.

The leprechaun took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes. He remained silent for so long that Finn worried he might have fallen asleep.

At last he opened his eyes. “I saw the young Arish women walkin’ up to a brick building. A brownstone, I think they call it, though it wasn’t brown. Trees lined the street, and many cars were drivin’ down the road. I’d say she’s in a city with her sister.”

Finn wondered why their brother wasn’t with them, but he’d have to find out later. Right now he needed the little bastard to narrow down the search. “They could be in any number of cities. I need more than that.”

Shamus shrugged. “I didn’t see much more.”

“Tell me everythin’ you saw. There must be a clue.”

The little man sighed. “I saw a sign. It said ‘Speed Limit,’ and under that it said ‘30.’”

“That doesn’t sound like kilometers.”

“It isn’t. I’m guessin’ they made it all the way to America.”

Finn snorted. “No thanks to you.”

“I did as you said. You must release me now.”

“Not yet. I need more to find her.”

“Like what?”

“Like what city in America are you talkin’ about?”

Shamus huffed in frustration. “I don’t know. I didn’t see much else.”

“Think harder.”

When no more information came, Finn strolled over to his harness. “Let’s see. There are some pretty sharp hooks on this equipment.”

Shamus held up both palms in a “Stop. I give up” gesture. “All right. All right! I saw two more things in the distance.”

“And those were?”

“Street signs. One said ‘Massachusetts Avenue,’ and the other said ‘Cambridge and MIT next right.’”

At last. Finn knew enough about American geography to know that Boston, Massachusetts, was a northern city in America.

“Could it be Boston?”

Shamus looked hopeful. “I suppose it could.”

“I need to be sure. Why don’t you go back into your trance and take a walk around the town?”

“It hurts me head to do that, you know.”

“More than it hurts your eyes to be gouged—”

“Fine!” Shamus spit in Finn’s general direction. “I’ll do it.”

I wouldn’t really gouge out his eyes, but I have to keep him believin’ I could if he doesn’t confess all.

Shamus closed his eyes and rattled off words as if reading every sign he saw. “Beacon Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology…”

Finn would check the references later, but he was pretty darn sure the leprechaun was visualizing somewhere in Boston.

Rory finished tuning his guitar and said to his sisters, “Thanks for gettin’ me guitar here so quickly. I was beginnin’ to feel naked.” He waggled his eyebrows at Amber.

She rolled her eyes.

“Did you bring everythin’?” he asked.

“Don’t worry,” Shannon said. “Your precious squeeze box, bodhran, and tin whistles are upstairs.”

He grinned. “Ah, I knew I could count on you.”

He plays all those instruments?
Amber couldn’t help being a little impressed. “I imagine you had other belongings with you,” she said, hoping the answer was no.

All three siblings stared at her.

Shannon blinked first. “These aren’t belongin’s, luv. Our music is part of us. To leave me harp behind would be like leavin’ me arm or leg.”

Euterpe nodded. “I understand completely.” Sitting beside Amber on the futon, she elbowed her and rubbed her hands together like an excited teenager at a rock concert. “I can’t wait to hear them play.”

Amber sighed.
Why did I have to get the muse of music?
Amber was interested in hearing them play, of course, but she
could
wait until they were at the tearoom, playing for their supper. That would mean this stalemate was over.

“First, a ballad in honor of our home,” Rory announced.

His sisters nodded solemnly.

Shannon sat on the window seat and pulled her harp close. Standing, Chloe put the flute to her lips. Sitting on the other side of the window seat like Chloe’s bookend, Rory strummed the opening and his sisters joined in one by one. When all three instruments were harmonizing, the sound became so rich, it took on a life of its own. Amber had to admit the music they made together was amazing. It sounded like more than just three instruments. Then Rory added his deep bass voice to the mix.

“The Battle of Ballyhoo was a long and bloody thing,

But the invaders were defeated, led by our mighty King.

Nobody knows how long they fought. It lasted many days.

But in the end ’twas all for naught, repellin’ foreign ways.

’Tis said that time, it heals all wounds, and it healed our sacred land.

Yet time defeated what wars could not, and kingdoms did disband…”

A knock sounded at the door. The music ceased. Amber rose and strode to answer it.

The managers were on the other side. “I’m sorry. Was the music too loud?” she asked hopefully.

Morgaine and Sly stood there with Nathan and a beautiful redhead behind them. All were wearing neutral expressions and didn’t seem annoyed at all.
Darn it.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you,” Sly said. “We just wanted you to know that we’re having a tenants’ meeting to address who gets apartment 1B. We figured we’d let your neighbors decide who they’d like to live next to.”

Chloe piped up. “When is it? Me and Shannon would want to be there.”

Morgaine winced. “I’m sorry. You two are excluded for the obvious reason that you’d favor your brother.”

Chloe opened her mouth to say something else, but Shannon clamped a hand over it.

“’Tis fair,” Rory said. “Thank you for tellin’ us in advance.”

The redhead strode forward. “That music was beautiful. Are y’all part of a larger band?”

Rory aimed his charming, hundred-watt grin at her. “Thank you kindly, but no. This is it—the whole band.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Rory. I don’t think we’ve met.”

The gorgeous redhead shook his hand and said, “Gwyneth Wyatt. I live on the third floor.”

Amber was afraid he’d turn her hand and place a kiss on Gwyneth’s knuckles, just like he had with Euterpe, but he didn’t. And why did that thought bother her so much? She didn’t even know this woman, but she wanted to slam the door in her face.

Nathan strode forward and placed a possessive arm around the redhead’s waist. Amber was relieved for some reason, and that annoyed her even more.

“How often do you practice?” Nathan asked.

“Not so often as to bother you,” Chloe said. “We’ve been playin’ together since we were children. Not much need to practice.”

Shannon raised a finger. “But when me or me brother write a new song, we may have a session or two, makin’ sure to get it right before we play in public.”

Chloe focused on Nathan. “We can practice upstairs in 2B and not bother you overly much since you live across the hall.”

“If the music is always that good, I’d love it if y’all would practice upstairs. I live in 3A,” Gwyneth said and smiled up at Rory.

Nathan narrowed his eyes and pulled Gwyneth a little closer.

Ah, jealousy. Good
, Amber thought.
Maybe that’s another point in my favor.
And maybe this Nathan guy will keep a leash on the redhead.

So far it looked like two against two.

“Are there any other neighbors?” Amber asked.

“Not really,” Sly said. “The penthouse is occupied by the owners; my daughter, her husband, and their son. They value their privacy more than anything else—particularly my son-in-law. He’s rather famous. That’s why they appointed my wife and me to manage the rest of the building. I’ll certainly invite them to the tenants’ meeting, but there’s no guarantee they’ll be available.”

“By the way,” Morgaine added, “if you happen to see the owner and recognize him,
do not
tell anyone he lives here. The place would be mobbed.”

The Arishes glanced at each other. Finally, Chloe spoke up. “That shouldn’t be a problem for us, considerin’ we wouldn’t recognize anyone in your country—save maybe the president, and only because we’ve seen his picture in the local newspaper.”

“We don’t even have a movie theater nearby,” Shannon said. “He could be a famous actor, and we wouldn’t know him if we tripped over him.”

Sly nodded. “That’s good, but he’s not an actor. Are any of you fond of sports?”

Rory folded his arms. “Everyone in my country loves football, but the United States plays it differently. We don’t know any of your footballers.”

Nathan smirked. “Yeah. What you call football, we call soccer.” Then he glanced at Sly. “And the closest thing they have to baseball is cricket.”

Ah, so he’s a baseball player.

“How about you, Amber? Are you a sports fan?” Sly asked.

She chuckled. “The only sport I’m remotely interested in is hunting, and by that I mean
bargain
hunting.”

Gwyneth smiled. “Now ya’ll are speakin’ my language.”

Finally, I scored a point with the redhead.

Sly turned to Nathan and Gwyneth. “So, do you two have any more questions for the newcomers?”

“Just one,” Nathan said. “How do you react to
odd
occurrences?”

Rory and Amber glanced at each other. Finally, Rory laughed.

Amber tried to keep her expression neutral. That question might have been a red flag under less desperate circumstances, but she wasn’t about to let anything drive her out of her prime spot. “I’m quite open-minded, actually,” she said. “I doubt I’d let anything
odd
bother me in the least.”

“Well, me sisters can be a bit odd at times, but I haven’t abandoned ’em yet,” Rory said.

Shannon chuckled and Chloe gave him a good-natured poke with her flute.

“Do y’all get along?” Gwyneth asked, and she glanced at Morgaine. “Families can have some powerful rows.”

Morgaine laughed.

Maybe they’re speaking from experience.
“Are you two related?” Amber asked.

“Gwyneth and I are cousins,” Morgaine answered.

“And if it weren’t for Konrad, one of us might not be here,” Gwyneth added. “He had to pull us apart more than once.”

“Who’s Konrad?” Shannon and Chloe asked at once.

Gwyneth smiled. “A good friend. He used to live in the apartment upstairs that’s now the para—” Nathan bumped her with his hip. “I mean, the place across from y’all.”

Amber couldn’t help wondering what Gwyneth had been about to say.

This place—and these people—had secrets.

* * *

Chad the ghost eavesdropped during the tenants’ meeting. After all, he had lived there longer than anyone—or, not lived, but still existed or… Oh hell. He haunted the place.

Morgaine and Sly were at one end of the large table in their living and dining area. Gwyneth and Nathan were on the opposite side. Sly’s daughter, Merry, was at the head of the table with her toddler, but Jason Falco, her famous baseball player and falcon-shifter husband, was on the road at an away game.

Nathan was clairvoyant, so Chad positioned himself out of the raven-shifter’s sight line. The witches, Morgaine and Gwyneth, were clairaudient and could hear Chad when he spoke, so he remained quiet. Truth be told, he loved being the proverbial “fly on the wall.”

“Thanks for coming, everyone,” Morgaine said. “This is your home too, and I know everyone wants to retain our peaceful atmosphere. That can’t happen with the contentious situation in 1B.”

Gwyneth raised her hand.

“Go ahead, Gwyneth,” Sly said.

“Are the two sisters part of this, or do they keep 2B no matter what y’all decide happens to their brother?”

“Good question,” Morgaine said. “I see no reason why we should ask them to leave unless they cause problems.”

“They’re all dragons, right?” Nathan asked.

Merry, the owner, gasped. “Dragons? You didn’t tell me anything about dragons. Remember what happened last time we let a dragon move in? Fire sneezes! I had to evict her.”

Sly held up his hand. “They assured me they have no allergies and never sneeze fire. They have complete control over their powers.” He smiled at his daughter. “Don’t worry. I made sure of that right away.”

She let out a relieved-sounding breath.

“Except for Merry, you’ve all met them,” Sly said. “What did you think?”

Nathan raised his hand. Sly nodded to let him know he had the floor.

“Before we get to that, I have another question. What about the girl? Is Amber a dragon too?”

“Great question,” Sly said as he stared at Morgaine. “We don’t know what she is. And on the off chance a human found her way to us, we can’t ask her.”

Chad almost laughed.
Another human? In this building? Now that 2A is the paranormal club, this could be
very
interesting.

“Are you forgetting what it was like for me when I first moved in?” Merry asked.

Morgaine smiled. “I put a spell on that newspaper ad so only you would see it.”

Merry raised her eyebrows. “You never told me that.”

Sly shrugged. “I wanted to get to know the daughter I had to give up when I was turned. I asked Morgaine to cast the spell.”

“Ah. Now it makes sense,” Merry muttered. “So can we assume… No, that’s the wrong word. Can we suppose that Amber might be some kind of paranormal?”

Nathan smirked. “Birds of a feather…”

Clever, coming from the raven-shifter to the wife of a falcon-shifter,
Chad thought.

“I wish there was a surefire way to find out,” Gwyneth said.

“Maybe there is.”
Chad couldn’t contain himself any longer. He was in a unique position to spy—er, observe.

Gwyneth bopped herself upside the head. “Chad. I shoulda known you’d be here.”

Morgaine chuckled. “Hey, Chad. I think I know what you’re proposing, but go ahead. You have the floor.”

The non-witch residents looked uncomfortable. “Be sure to tell us what he says, since no one else can hear him,” Merry said.

“Of course.” Morgaine nodded.

Nathan turned around. Chad had purposely stayed on the other side of the raven because he knew Nathan could see him, but now he could lip-read too.

“Why don’t you give me a chance to observe her? If she wants that apartment so badly and has any powers or witchy ways, she’ll use them and I should be able to let you know.”

Gwyneth snorted. “Witchy ways?”

Morgaine raised her hand. Sly nodded to her.

“Chad reminded us that he’s in the unique position to observe Amber for a while. If she wants the apartment and has some pertinent powers, she may use them.”

Nathan and Merry remained quiet but appeared to be considering the idea.

“That’s not a bad plan, depending on how long it takes,” Sly said.

Gwyneth raised her hand and waited for Sly’s nod.

“How long do y’all think you can give him to find out?”

Sly and Morgaine stared at each other. Unfortunately, Chad couldn’t listen in on their telepathic conversation. That privilege was reserved for vampires and their fated mates.

Sly refocused on the group. “Amber’s check hasn’t cleared yet. It may take a few more days. Are any of you uncomfortable with postponing the decision that long?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Chad chuckled but kept his secret plan to himself. It had been a long time since he’d frightened a resident, and he missed watching the silly mortals dash out the door and down the street, screaming.

* * *

Amber needed to charge her cell phone before her battery ran down and all communication with the outside world was lost. She hoped her neighbor Candy was able to arrange a moving company to come with her things—including her charging cable—soon. She made one last phone call to her neighbor to see what the holdup was.

Candy answered the phone on the second ring.

“Candy! My battery is almost gone. Did you find a moving company?”

“Yes, but they’re not cheap. I thought I’d call around—”

“No. Don’t bother calling around for better deals. If they can get my stuff packed today and brought over no later than tomorrow, I’ll pay whatever they ask.”

“When I called, they said they could come Thursday.”

“Thursday?” Amber cried. “That may be too late.”

“Why?”

“Because I need my stuff. Especially my computer and charger cable. My phone is almost out of juice.”

“Well, hang in there. Tomorrow is the best they can do, and it’s going to cost to a fortune if—”

Amber winced. At that moment, her phone died.

“Dammit!”

She stormed over to the door, opened it, and called out, “Euterpe, get in here.”

Euterpe strolled over to the bedroom door and said, “Hold on there. You don’t get to tell me what to do. You can ask nicely or not at all.”