Soul of the Dragon (18 page)

“Talking to the doctor. Then I needed a breath of air,” she added when he looked skeptically at the empty hall. “It’s crowded in there.”
 

“Yeah. That’s why I had to leave. Dad keeps glaring at Vic and her brother. Aunt Ethel ignores Tars, but at least she’s nice to Vic.”
 

Alexa started strolling with her brother toward the nurse’s station. “I always liked Victoria. But Aunt Ethel is a good judge of character. Maybe you should pay attention about the brother.”
 

Peter shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I’m still marrying her.”
 

Alexa decided that was a conversation best left for later. “Where’s Dad staying?”
 

“With us. He called the insurance company already. The chief thinks it was a meteorite, but the company wants to send their own investigator.”
 

Alexa knew what that meant. If they got it into their heads that it could be arson, the policy wouldn’t cover the damages. “Great.” She didn’t want them to question Bing. Meteorites didn’t strike the sides of houses the way he described.
 

Peter slipped his hands into his pockets. “I gotta tell ya, Lex. I love Dad, but he hates—”
 

“Don’t even say it,” Alexa warned, knowing the poor relationship between father and son kept Peter’s self-esteem somewhere around his ankles.
 

“—the way I choose to live,” he continued, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. “And he really doesn’t want me to marry Vic. I don’t know how long we can live in harmony.”
 

“Don’t worry. I’ll get him and Aunt Ethel an efficiency apartment that will last them until the insurance comes through.” If it came through. “Do you know anything about Dad’s savings?”
 

“Not really.” They neared the nurse’s station and went silent until they passed it. “He won’t like you acting like he’s senile or something, Lex. He’ll say he can handle it.”
 

She sighed. “And he can, I know that. I just feel responsible.” She cursed herself the second that slipped out. Guilt was not an emotion she wore without cause, which meant she rarely wore it. That made it more difficult to deal with.
 

“Why should you feel responsible? You couldn’t have stopped it if you’d been here.”
 

Alexa didn’t correct his misinterpretation. “What happened? Were you around?”
 

“No.” He stopped and leaned his back against the wall. The corridor was deserted and they weren’t close to any patient rooms. Still, he kept his voice down. “Well, not at the beginning. You saw Bing?”
 

“Yeah.” She reiterated what the man had told her. Peter nodded gravely.
 

“I didn’t see the first blast. I was down the street with Tommy, hanging around after work. He has a scanner—he’s a volunteer firefighter now, did you know?” When Alexa shook her head, he continued. “Anyway, Bing must have called it in first, after he heard the explosion and saw the fire out back. Tommy and I heard the address on the scanner and ran down the street. Dad was helping Aunt Ethel out.”
 

“Then he ran back in.” Alexa wished someone would tell her something new. She felt like a lousy investigator.
 

“Yeah, he came out with the lockbox wrapped in a towel. Just as he got to the front yard, a fireball slammed down into the center of the roof. It must have gone straight through the house. The fire engulfed it in seconds and practically burned itself out before the trucks got here, it was so hot.”
 

“But the houses next door, the tree…”
 

“Were barely singed. I know. That’s what I meant on the phone, Lex. It’s weird.”
 

More than he knew. But Alexa couldn’t enlighten him. She couldn’t afford to focus on the fire or the aftermath, either. She had to neutralize Tars and his access to her family.
 

“It’s like when Mom died.”
 

Peter’s murmur whipped her attention back to him. “What?”
 

“Well, it’s like—”
 

“I heard what you said. I want to know what you meant.”
 

Peter’s brow went up at her curt tone. Alexa had to admire him. Six months ago he would have looked and acted like a whipped puppy.
 

“Don’t you remember the fire?” he asked.
 

Alexa tried, but all she remembered of her mother’s death was horror and fury. And she’d been much older than Peter. “Not really,” she admitted.
 

“I was upstairs. I saw you in the back yard. All I remember was her running across the lawn toward you, then she was on the ground and you were screaming.”
 

Alexa watched him, waiting for more. Something was tickling the edge of her memory, but her earlier image of Tarsuinn at the fence kept it at bay.
 

“What else?” she urged, but he shook his head.
 

“I just remember someone saying something about a ball of fire. I hid under my bed.” His voice tightened in anguish. “Our mother was dying, and all I could do was hide under the bed.”
 

Alexa wrapped her arms around his waist. “No, Pete, no. You were six, and frightened. You couldn’t have helped.”
 

“So my guilt is as dumb as yours, huh?” He sniffed and pulled back. “Anyway. Got any ideas?”
 

“A few,” she said, but didn’t like the spark of interest in Peter’s eyes. That was new, too. He’d changed, probably for the better, but it wasn’t safe for him to start investigating. “But whatever I think, this isn’t my area. We’ll let the fire chief and his inspector figure it out.”
 

“But…”
 

Alexa pursed her lips and jerked her head back down the hall. “Come on. Let’s go get the
game plan under way.” She strode back to her aunt’s room, Peter trailing, complaining that they hadn’t developed a game plan. When they got back to the room, however, she showed him that they had.
 

“Dad, have you decided where you want to stay until the insurance is settled?”
 

Paul straightened in his seat, his hands on his knees. “I called Little Suites out by the school. They have a two-bedroom suite with a kitchenette that we can rent by the week for a reduced rate.”
 

“Is your car okay?”
 

“It’s in the lot.”
 

“Good. Why don’t you go over and finalize arrangements for the room. Peter can go with you, then you two can gather whatever you have at the apartment and buy some clothes and stuff.” She turned to her aunt. “Aunt Ethel, what size do you wear?”
 

“A ten, of course.” Alexa just looked at her. “Okay, a twelve. And I need toiletries.”
 

“Right. Victoria, can you sit with her and make a list?” She handed the young woman a credit card. “Dad and Pete can pick you up after they do their stuff, and you can go shopping for the old folks.”
 

“Sure.” Victoria looked both uncertain and delighted at her role. She moved her chair closer to Ethel’s bedside and picked up a hospital notepad. “Let’s go from the inside out. Do you need vitamins or medications?”
 

“What can I do to help?” a cultured voice asked quietly. For the first time since re-entering the room, Alexa looked at Tars. He had that superiorly amused look on his face.
 

“You’re taking me grocery shopping, since I don’t have a car.”
 

His smirk dropped and his eyes widened just the smallest bit. “I have an assistant that usually handles that for me.”
 

“Is he here?”
 

“No.”
 

“Then we shop. Dad.”
 

Paul paused at the door. “Yes, my dear drill sergeant?”
 

“Call my cell when you know what room you’re in. We’re getting groceries.”
 

Paul looked doubtfully at Tars but nodded and left with his son.
 

Alexa led Tars away, hoping he wanted to be alone with her enough to follow without argument or show. He did. Neither spoke until they were outside. Tars pulled a small ring of keys from his pocket and aimed the remote. A double chirp called Alexa’s attention to a PT Cruiser in the center of the parking lot.
 

“Interesting choice,” she commented as they began crossing the lot. “I thought you preferred limos.”
 

“It wouldn’t do to be too pretentious around my sister and her fiancé,” he said.
 

Alexa let him help her into the car. When he’d circled the rear and slid into the driver’s seat, she put her hand on his arm before he could start the ignition.
 

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know you’re behind this. If you want it to get you even a hint of what you want, you’ll go along with me until I can deal with your intentions. Got it?”
 

“I understand, Alexa. I am delighted to be of service.” He started the car and slid out into traffic.
 

Ryc tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and tried not to grind his teeth too hard. Alexa’s rush to get rid of him had been of the don’t-let-him-find-out variety, not the can’t-stand-to-be-around-you kind. And her order to go check on Cyrgyn had been ridiculous. So here he sat, unable to enjoy the brand-new Mustang he’d rented, because he had to play detective-on-surveillance and find out what she was up to.
 

He also had to stop thinking in hyphens.
 

He leaned to the left and pulled a pack of gum out of his pocket, absently unwrapping the sharply flavored cinnamon stick and jamming it into his mouth. His attention focused on the front door, which was opening.
 

Alexa’s father and brother walked out. Paul looked much older than the last time Ryc had seen him. He wondered if it was time or the events of the past two days that had etched the lines in his face. Peter looked older, too, but more mature. He walked straighter, without cringing every few feet like he expected his father to lash out verbally. They walked to an old Caddy and climbed in. Peter drove, probably because of the white mitten-like bandage on Paul’s hand.
 

The front doors opened again, this time ejecting Alexa and another guy.
 

Slick bastard, Ryc thought, eyeing first the confident yet slimy walk. Rich, too, judging by the clothes. His tie was perfectly knotted. Ryc looked at his face, wondering what he was doing with Alexa. When he recognized Tarsuinn, the gum fell out of his mouth.
 

“What the—”
 

Was he the reason Alexa had blown him off? That goddamned, selfish, greedy, murdering bastard? Why would she want to be around the man, never mind alone with him?
 

He started the Mustang and gritted his teeth again, exerting control against the urge to rev the engine to match his anger. The PT Cruiser pulled slowly out of its parking slot and around toward the exit before Ryc began to follow. Alexa had acted in charge—as usual—but he knew Tarsuinn’s power, both of charm and of magic, and he wasn’t going to let them out of his sight.
 

They drove at a reasonable pace through the light mid-afternoon traffic. Ryc saw Alexa gesture a second before Tarsuinn signaled and changed to the right lane. He turned into a strip mall anchored by a supersize grocery store.
 

They were going shopping?
 

Ryc parked two rows away from the Cruiser and watched them climb out and walk to the main entrance of the store. They were going shopping.
 

Shaking his head, Ryc pulled the keys from the ignition and followed them at a distance. The last thing they all needed was for Tarsuinn to spot him, but he had to know what was going on.
 

* * *
 

Alexa grabbed a cart and shoved it at Tars, who took it without so much as a flick of an eyelash. He strode with her through the produce, saying little as she made her selections.
 

“The refrigerator will likely be rather small,” he mentioned when she dropped a bag of
salad on top of the bananas and tomatoes.
 

Alexa shrugged. “So they can’t fit a case of soda. This is better for both of them.” She led him to the deli and ordered a pound of turkey ham and half a pound of low-salt Swiss. She was about to take the cheese from the clerk when her entire back felt pricked by tiny fibers.
 

She took the cheese and set it in the cart, looking around but only catching a glimpse of black disappearing into a far aisle. She knew when she was being watched, but had no idea who could be watching. Her enemy was right next to her.
 

They were alone in the bread aisle when Tars spoke. “Have you considered the terms that will end this?” he asked.
 

Alexa didn’t look up from the peanut butter label she was reading. “Have you talked to Mark since you arrived at the hospital?” Too much sugar. She put the jar back on the shelf and selected another. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tars pull a small phone from his inner jacket pocket.
 

“I forgot to turn this back on when we left the hospital.” He pressed a button. It beeped, then beeped again. “Two messages.”
 

“I’ll save you some time.” She put the peanut butter in the cart and tossed her hair back. “Turn Cyrgyn to his human form, permanently, in front of me, and you can have me.”
 

“I must turn him first.”
 

“Of course. Otherwise I can’t trust you to do it.”
 

Tars shook his head.
 

“You turn me down awfully fast. You must not want me that bad after all these years.”