“Well, if it helps, we don’t have snow yet, and I’m sure Detroit doesn’t either. You probably have another two months for your son to work on you about going to visit.”
She laughed. “Good to know. Say, would you like to join us? We were out visiting some of our elderly colony members and stopped in for a drink. We’re going to sit outside since it’s so nice.” She waved at the man she’d indicated earlier. He was holding pint glasses in each hand and had just turned to head their way.
“Ketu, this is Griffin. Griffin, Ketu.”
The men nodded at each other.
“What would you like?” Antoinette asked Griffin while waving at Mitch, who was behind the bar. The owner lifted his chin, no doubt waiting on Griffin’s order.
“How about a pilsner. Something local?”
Mitch nodded, reached under the bar, and pulled a bottle out of the fridge. “It’s called The Boot. Made by Abita and sold only here in Louisiana.”
“That sounds great, thanks.”
Mitch popped the top and poured the pale, foamy liquid into a pint glass before placing it in front of Griffin.
When Griffin reached for his wallet, Mitch waved him off. “You more than paid for this already.”
“Thanks.” He accepted the beer and followed Antoinette and Ketu onto the patio.
“What did Mitch mean by that?” Antoinette asked after they’d seated themselves at one of the wrought iron tables.
“I accidentally caused one of the waitresses to drop a couple of drinks last night, and I guess I gave him more money to cover it than was necessary.”
“That was nice of you,” Antoinette said.
Griffin shrugged and took a drink of his beer. “Wow. This stuff is fantastic.”
Ketu chuckled and lifted his much darker brew. “Louisiana makes some damn good beer.”
“I’ll say.”
They lounged in their chairs, chatting about nothing of great importance. They were simply being friendly. It wasn’t something Griffin was normally comfortable doing, but Antoinette and Ketu made it easy to relax.
After the second round of drinks, he leaned forward and said, “Do you know a dragon by the name of Darius?”
Just like that, the relaxed atmosphere was gone. Both Antoinette and Ketu sat up straighter, their focus more intense. Antoinette was holding her glass so tightly Griffin half feared it would crack under the pressure. Ketu kept opening and closing his fist.
“Based on your reactions, I’m going with yes. Who is he?”
“How do you know that name?” Antoinette shot back.
He carefully worded his answer. “I was at the park earlier and overheard someone say it. And they reacted with a great deal of fear.”
Ketu nodded. “He’s been in hiding for almost a year now, but many in the colony are still very much afraid of him.”
In hiding? Why? Should he tell them that he saw Darius only a few hours ago?
If he did, would that put Sofia in danger? Because if that were the case, the answer was a resounding no.
He finally settled on, “Why?”
Antoinette and Ketu exchanged one of those glances couples did when they were trying to communicate without letting the outsider know what they were saying. And then Antoinette said, “We might as well tell him. It affects his brethren as well, so he’ll find out eventually.”
Ketu shrugged, which was apparently his consent, because Antoinette leaned back in her chair and proceeded to weave a tale of dragon-manufactured drugs and witches as dealers and gargoyles in forced servitude.
“Hold on,” Griffin interrupted, leaning forward as if that would ensure he did not miss a single word. “Argyle and several others from the brethren were forced to protect someone who did not deserve it?”
“She tricked them into believing they were protecting her mother, who did deserve it,” Ketu said.
“She must be very clever,” Griffin said. “Gargoyles are not so easily duped.”
“She is,” Antoinette assured him. “And now that she is on our side, her cleverness has come in handy, although the process of getting information out of her is more often than not frustrating as hell.”
“What do you mean, on your side?”
Antoinette rolled her eyes and then Ketu explained, “We approached her and made a lucrative arrangement with her if she would stop dealing dragon’s blood. We needed to cut Darius off at the knees, and she was his largest distributor. The plan worked…sort of.”
Antoinette picked up the story. “And now she’s mated to the previous reeve, who happens to be Darius’s father.”
Darius’s father? Sofia had said Darius was her brother. “How many offspring did the previous reeve have?”
If they thought it was an odd question, they didn’t let it show. Antoinette said, “One, which was more than enough.”
So they didn’t know about Sofia. Or at least that she was Darius’s sister.
“What happened to Darius’s mother?” Griffin asked.
“I assume you know that dragons have fated mates?” Antoinette asked.
He hadn’t realized that, but he nodded at her to continue.
“According to Trennon—that’s the previous reeve—he never mated with Darius’s mother. Darius was six when she found her fated mate and moved away to be with him.”
Where did Sofia fit into this picture? Was Trennon her father, or did she and Darius share the same mother? He had so many questions, and most he could not ask.
“Hey.”
He glanced up at the softly spoken word. Sofia stood before them, Penelope on her hip. She wore a pair of pale blue capri pants and a white-and-blue striped shirt, and her dark hair was mussed as if she maybe fell asleep during the movie.
“Hi, Sofia,” Antoinette said, waving and smiling. “And look at you, Penelope. You’ve gotten so big. Or, more likely, I haven’t seen you in forever.” She shifted her attention to Sofia. “You need to bring her over to have a playdate with Henri.”
Sofia paled, and that fear
