Chapter 2
Chapter
Two
P oe woke up to bright sunshine streaming through an old glass window, the pane a little like glass blurred by rain. He’d been ensconced in a bedroom the night before, after a long flight to God knew where and a meal that left him feeling full to the top of his head and sleepy.
Tanya had been asleep by the time he carried her upstairs to her own room, which a very pink dragon named Cosmo had said was next to his in case she got scared.
Now he was hungry again, he needed a bath, and he needed to check on Tanya. Poor kiddo.
There was a pile of clean clothes sitting at the end of the bed on top of a press along with some towels, so he went searching of a bathroom.
He found it right across the hall, the door open as if to say, Bathe Here. So, after opening Tanya’s door the slightest bit to make sure she was still asleep, and she was, he went to bathe.
The bathroom wasn’t fancy, but it was fine. There was an old claw-foot bathtub and one of those fake showers that had been installed later with the big curvy copper pipes that held up the shower head. The shower curtain that spun around another set of pipes reminded him of being in an old saloon one hundred and fifty years ago.
He’d been a cowboy back then, and he’d loved it. There was so much to do, so much to see. Days and days and days on horseback. They’d been magical. He’d been a cowboy, then a miner. He’d spent a little bit of time as a shopkeep too.
He washed himself, soaping up his hair twice just because he could. By the time he was done, he was beginning to shake, exhaustion wearing on him. He climbed out of the claw-foot tub feeling about as weak as a kitten.
He swore it took him a decade to dry off and put on clothes, then brush his teeth with the new toothbrush. So much better, though.
Now he needed to check on Tanya for real.
Poe opened the bathroom door, coming face-to-face with a fierce, smoke gray toddler who stared at him with a deep little glare. “Who you?”
“I’m Poe. Who are you?”
“Lellilot.”
“Well, hello, Elliot. I’m very glad to meet you.”
He got a once-over, little arms crossed over his chest. Elliot wore footie pajamas with bears all over them, and Poe had never seen anything as cute.
“You got owwies.”
He nodded. The bite marks were…lurid. “I do. But I’m better now. Your papa came. Saved me and Tanya.”
“Who dat?”
“She’s sleeping in the pink room.”
“Oh.”
“Elliot? Elliot, where the hell are you?”
He got an evil little grin and a wink, and then the little shit just kind of popped out of existence.
“I think he was here.”
“Ah. But he poofed, didn’t he?” That was the pink one. Cosmo? The one who had come for him was green, and the big guy had been black and red, but looked mostly human as, well, a human.
“He did. That’s quite a talent.”
Cosmo pushed his pink hair back and blew out a sigh. “It’s maddening. Come on, breakfast is ready.”
It was maddening, all right.
“Surely popping out of existence is bad?”
“Don’t worry about it. Believe it or not, his uncle Cullen always knows where he is. Always. Something about the magic. My brother is an illusionist, and he can just pull, pull him back out.” Cosmo made this great little motion with his hand, as if he was pinching something out of thin air. And in response, there was a soft little giggle.
“Besides, right now I think that Mr. Magic is saying good morning to Tanya. How’s she doing?”
“She was asleep when I peeked in on her before my shower.” Poe thought sleep was good for her.
“Well, she’s not asleep now. Let’s go rescue her.” Cosmo tapped on the bedroom door and opened it. Sure enough, Tanya was sitting up, that little boy on her lap holding her tight.
“Da! Dis girl cwry! Hers hungy. This my friend.”
“Is she? Good morning, Tanya. Are you hungry?”
She nodded, her wet eyes searching, and when they landed on Poe, she relaxed. “You didn’t leave.”
“I told you, I will not leave you.”
“No matter what?”
“No matter what.” He wasn’t sure why this little girl had been brought into his orbit, but she’d saved his life, he’d saved hers, and that made them family.
“Okay. I believe you. Can we have food?”
Cosmo offered her a gentle smile. “We can. There’s bacon and eggs and rolls and fruit. Lots of fruit. I found you some clothes. They’re warm. It’s chilly up here.”
“Thank you. All mine are gone.”
Poe wanted to cry, but Cosmo just nodded as if he’d heard this a hundred times before and held out his arms. “Come on, little monkey. Come with me, and we’ll let Tanya get dressed so that she can come have breakfast with us.”
“Ook ook ook.” The monkey sounds were absolutely adorable, and that little boy just flew into Cosmo’s arms, snuggling right in. “Luff you.”
“I love you too, monkey. We’ll wait right outside the door, okay? And that way you’ll know how to get down to the kitchen. This house is big.”
They headed out, Cosmo motioning to an overstuffed chair in one corner of the landing. “You look like you’re going to fall down. Sit.”
“I’m sorry, I’m just so tired.”
“It’s hard to get eaten alive by vampires,” Cosmo said, and the little boy’s eyes went wide.
“Hims got eaded?”
Cosmo’s smile disappeared, the expression deadly serious. “Vampires bite. They’re bad. What do we do if we see one?”
“Poof to Papa.”
“That’s absolutely right. You poof to Papa. Your Papa will protect you.”
“Papa huge.” Elliot spread his arms as if spreading wings.
“Yes, he is. And he’s so fierce, hmm?”
“Rawr.”
That was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in all his life, and he had to smile. Rawr.
“Okay.” Tanya came out of her temporary room, wearing a sweater and pants that were at least five sizes too big. “I’m ready.”
“Coolios! To the kitchen!”
“Maaaarch,” Elliot yelled, and they all trooped down the stairs.
“Ooooh, a parade.” That was the other brother, Cullen. He was violet colored.
Tanya flinched away, blinking. “You’re pretty. Such a pretty color.”
“Thank you, lady,” Cullen bowed, sparkles flying from his outstretched hand.
She gasped, clapping. “So fun!”
“Would you like to come with me to breakfast?” Cullen offered his arm, and a single flower popped up in his other hand.
“Oh…yes. Yes, I would. Thank you!” Tanya grinned at him. “Did you see?”
“I did. Very impressive.”
“It was okay,” Cosmo muttered.
Cullen chuckled. “Pink weirdo.”
“You know it, but you love me.”
The two brothers cracked up. He’d never had any siblings, so he had no idea what that felt like, but clearly these two loved one another and enjoyed teasing.
Poe was going to wallow in the peace while he could.
The scent of breakfast hit him as soon as they got downstairs, and he breathed deep, his belly snarling at him. “Oh.”
Tanya nodded. “Yum. I love bread. I can smell it.”
“Honey, do you have people that we need to find? We have a phone.” Cosmo was so calm, so gentle.
“No. No, they died. They all died.” She looked devastated, and Poe opened his arms automatically. She ran to him, and he held on.
“I promise, Tanya. I will never leave you. You’re safe.”
She sniffled against his chest. “I was so scared.”
Corbin was in the kitchen, and he nodded toward a chair. “Of course you were, poppet. But it’s going to be okay. And there’s tons of food. What’s your favorite thing?”
“I think you said bread?” Cosmo asked.
Tanya nodded, still hiding a little.
“Do you like butter, sweetpea? Jam? Honey?” Hopefully they had these foodstuffs.
“Butter! Honey.” She smiled up at him, then at Corbin.
“Well, that we have. I like my bread with my egg yolks.” Corbin moved about the kitchen easily.
“My mama called those dippy eggs.” She died because of me.
No. She died because of vampires.
“No crwy! I good. Hungry. Eat! Eat!”
Tanya gave Elliot a watery smile. “Yes. We should eat.”
“Dere’s fruits.” He handed Tanya a slice of apple.
“Thank you. Yum. I like fruits.”
Little Elliot just beamed. “Her likes.”
Cosmo rolled his eyes, but the man’s smile was fond. “She does like it. Good job, monkey.”
He helped Tanya make up a plate. And then he got one of his own, thanking everyone as he did. “I’ll pay you back, I promise. As soon as I get back home to my hoard.”
Cullen winced. “Okay, so about that.”
Poe tilted his head. “The vampires didn’t know where I lived. I didn’t tell them.”
He knew he hadn’t.
“No, you didn’t have to,” Cosmo explained. “And it doesn’t really matter. We have a little bit of a problem.”
“What?” He wasn’t in the mood to play games.
“So…” Cosmo’s lips pursed, and it was Hawk, the big dragon, who continued.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but dragons are disappearing from this world. They’re crossing over the veil, and, well, this is a portal of sorts. Once dragons come in to the house, I’ve found the hoards start to appear.”
“Appear where?” Poe wasn’t following.
“Here, not to put too fine a point on it. We assume it’s that you can take them over with you when you go. We even cleared out a part of the basement. The universe seems to understand that, so instead of just putting it randomly through the house, if you go down to the basement, there’s a chance that already part of your horde has appeared.”
“I don’t understand.” And there was no way—no way—he was going down into another basement, whether or not his hoard of glass appeared.
“I don’t think any of us actually understand.” That was Corbin, one green eyebrow winging up. “I mean, seriously. Understanding is really not the thing here. The magic is pulling everyone to the other side. We’re just here to guard the portal.”
Like that made sense.
“What other side? Is that some sort of a euphemism?” Because he was not going to jump from the frying pan to the fire. He was not going to let Tanya get hurt.
“No, no,” Cosmo said, obviously trying to reassure him. “It’s the dragonlands. The thing is just on the other side of the house, through the door.”
Elliot nodded, his little eyes lit up. “Oh, Papa! Go bye bye? Da? We go play with friends?”
Cosmo shook his head. “Not right now, monkey. We’re having breakfast, remember?”
“I memember!” That little boy grinned, gnawing on a piece of bacon. “I memember.”
Elliot’s response made him feel only a tiny bit better. “I think you need to be very clear about what you’re talking about. Because I am very confused.”
“I get it,” Cosmo said.
Then Cullen took over. “The problem is when you cross, you can’t come back to this world. So…”
“I suggest you take a few breaths, take a few days.” That was the jolly green dragon, and this was dizzying.
“Let your hoard show up.”
“You both will be able to see through to the dragon world from the back door.”
“You can’t go there, but you can see it.”
“I mean, you can go there, but once you do, you’re there.”
“Like there there.”
“So, you need to make sure that that’s what you want, and?—”
Hawk blew out a line of smoke. “Guys! Enough!”
That stopped the constant flow of words, at least.
“Are there vampires there?” Tanya asked, and Hawk shook his head.
“No.”
“Then I’m going. I want to go there where there aren’t any.”
“We need to talk about it, okay?” Poe didn’t understand. Were they insane? Did they make insane dragons? He’d never met any insane dragons. Eccentric, yes. But insane? Not really.
These guys seemed…pretty normal, aside from their wild coloring, but they sounded like maniacs.
He nibbled a piece of fresh-cut bread slathered with butter, and he hummed. “That’s so good.”
“Thanks.” Cosmo grinned. “I can see you think we’re nuts. Look, you can hang out here as long as you need. Once your hoard shows up, and I guarantee it will, then we’ll talk again.”
“Mmmhmm.”
“So what did you do before, uh…”
Corbin broke in. “BV.”
BV. Before vampires. Okay, that was kind of hilarious. He had to laugh, which made Tanya grin at him, even though he was pretty sure she had no idea what was so funny.
“I’ve worked a lot with animals. I used to be a cowboy, believe it or not.”
“Oh, wow.” Corbin leaned forward, elbows on the kitchen table. “I bet you have a tale to tell.”
“I have a few.” He winked at Tanya, happy to change the subject. “But if you have any animals that need tending, cows or goats or chickens, I’m your guy. And I’d like to work as long as I’m here. I’m pretty handy, too. Hammer-and-nails kind of handy.”
“Well, a house this big can always use another set of hands,” Hawk told him over his coffee cup. “We appreciate you offering.”
“That’s what we’re here for.” Cosmo said it cheerfully, munching on the half-chewed apple piece Elliot had offered him.
“Once upon a time, I owned a store, like a general store. That was a great job.” He’d had a ball.
“Oh yeah?” Hawk asked.
“Yeah, I liked the Old West. I spent a lot of time not fighting in wars and being a cowboy, but then, once the silver rush happened, I got a store. I haven’t had it for a long time, now, but I have fun memories.”
Tanya whispered, “I want to make people feel better when things hurt. That’s what I want to do when I grow up.”
“Being a healer is an amazing thing, sweetpea. Honest. Tanya. What about you, Elliot? What are you going to be when you grow up?”
Elliot beamed at him. “Papa! I be Papa!”
Okay, that was just too cute for words.
“Are you going to be here, Papa? That’s too fun.” Poe would bet Elliot would make a great father.
Elliot nodded. “I willed.”
“I’m sorry all of this has happened to you. I know that it’s incredibly painful, but I’m glad that we found you.”
Cullen’s words made him proud, but curious. “How did you find us?”
“Cosmo, he’s a seer. He saw little Tanya, and he sent us to figure out what happened.”
“Well, thank you.” Poe tried not to feel hurt because it wasn’t him that Cosmo had seen. Of course it wasn’t. Tanya had lost her family. Tanya was young. Tanya was more powerful as far as being able to scream for help. It didn’t have anything to do with him.
Being hurt was pointless.
And beneath him.
And exhausting.
Cosmo gave him a glimmering smile. “I would have found you, Poe.”
“Sure.”
Cullen blew into his palm, and a tiny bunny hopped off of it, scampering around the table. Both Elliot and Tanya shrieked with laughter, and the distraction worked on him, as well. There was no way he couldn’t smile.
And maybe Cosmo would have Seen him if Tanya hadn’t been there. Who knew how that sort of thing worked? He sure didn’t. He was just a simple dragon. His talent was…well, it wasn’t terribly useful a lot of the time.
He knew a lot about the human world. Knew how to trade for the things humans wanted. He hoarded glass. Beautiful glass art. Ugly old bottles. Power line insulators. Anything that was shiny.
Poe sighed, and he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he looked up, Corbin grinned at him. “It’ll get better. Losing all that blood, and power, to the vamps? It’ll make a guy a little down in the dumps.”
“True enough.” He did feel weak in more ways than one. He needed to remember that when he was all emotional and shit.
“I probably just need a really long nap. I mean, I’m full now and clean.”
“Why don’t we all go sit and watch cartoons? It’s the perfect day for it. We can just bundle up on the couches with the kids and get some pillows and blankets and veg.” Cullen beamed at them. “Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
Tanya nodded and smiled. “I would like that. I like cartoons.”
“Toooooooons!” Elliot howled and then disappeared. Poof.
“That’s pretty cool,” Tanya said, her eyes wide. “Can he do it any time?”
“Yeah, he pretty much does it whenever he wants to.” Cosmo sounded long-suffering.
Cullen chuckled. “But I always know where he is, and just so you know, he can only go about twenty feet.”
Man, when that little dragon grew up, he was going to be a problem. Like a hardcore, co-locating problem. Hopefully he learned control.
“Well, that’s good. Do you know where he is now?”
“Waiting for you on the sofa. Finish your cinnamon roll, and you can go,” Hawk said to Tanya with a smile.
As soon as she ran off. Poe shook his head. “She seems to be healing already.”
Corbin nodded. “At that age, they really don’t have another choice.”
“No. No, I don’t suppose they do.”
He was beginning to think none of them did. It was heal or die. He knew he would take a bit longer to wrap his head around things, but at least for now, they were safe. This goofy family might be nuts, but his gut told him they weren’t dangerous.
He took his coffee cup with him, and Cosmo loaded up a big plate of non-sticky fruit like apples and mandarin segments, and off they went.
He was looking forward to a few days of rest before he had to think about survival again.
And he owed it all to these violently colored, happy dragons.