Halfway through my second beer, Iyadre returned. He was followed by Nariti, Vadriq, and an Olivia without her precious bundle. I stood immediately, lightning shooting up my spine. "Where is the whelp?"
"I tucked him into an old dog kennel you had lying around. You don't seem like the dog type," Olivia said. She stole one of my bottles without permission and sat down across from me.
I enjoyed her struggle with the bottle until she realized it twisted off as easily as it peeled. I scowled at her. "There are strays now and then. I send them to the Fontaine's sanctuary. They require a place to stay until the Fontaines can get here to pick them up, in most cases so they do not ruin my home."
"Ah. Big rescue nut, huh? Didn't they make some kind of news a little while back about putting up shelters all over the country?"
She gestured at me with the bottle when she asked. I raised both brows at her. "You follow dog rescue news?"
"No, but Nicole does. She adores the stuff. You know, those videos online where the dog gets rescued from a bad situation and suddenly, they're happy and furry and wiggling again? Totally her stuff."
I shook my head at her. "They have been considerably charitable throughout the years and I shall leave it at that. We need to discuss what we are going to do to get into your precious museum."
"Then I need six more packs of these," she said, wiggling the bottle at me. "Minimum."
"I see no reason for that, or for these to be here in the first place," Iyadre frowned. "Is it that complicated?"
"You're looking at advanced security systems and fingerprint scanning door locks to get into the areas where your eggs would be kept," Olivia said.
I leaned forward. "What are the doors made from?"
"Steel, I guess? Big, thick cores? I don't know. I've never asked anyone. It's even possible that they've put them down in the vault, and if they've done that, you're never getting in there."
Vadriq snickered as he settled beside Iyadre. "Oh no, big scary vault door."
"Vadriq," I chided. "She doesn't realize what she's dealing with. Be kind."
"Big scary vault door, what ever will a bunch of dragons do when they're stuck with that?"
Olivia looked between us and picked up another bottle. "If you intend to rip down the museum, I'm not helping. The place is great. They have so much stuff that you've never seen before."
"If it was made in the past thousand years, it is entirely possible we have seen it before," I told her. "Yet, I have no interest in bringing the building down. Rather, I simply prefer to remind you that it is plausible for us to smash stone castle wall to steal the taxes within. Do you truly believe that a vault offers us any resistance whatsoever?"
She gave me a level look as she thought about it. It was if I could see the gears turning in her head. "I think it's harder than you might think it is. Vaults have been upgraded in the past century or so, ever since all the western movies made people think they could plot a bank robbery and get away with the cash."
"It's still no match for a dragon's bulk and heft."
"And how are you going to get a dragon's 'bulk and heft' into a space that's six-foot square?" she asked.
I paused, then looked at Nariti for help. He blinked at me and shrugged. "She has a good point. I have no idea how we could possibly use our dragon forms without smashing the place to piece. And I'd rather not ruin the museum. They have such an interesting display on the American Revolution-"
"You like that?" Olivia asked, brightening. "I put most of it together myself in between digs. No one stops to look at it."
"I do. It's my favorite thing there. Did you know-"
I stopped listening and ran through my thoughts instead. The American Revolution was well and good, but it got us no closer to our goals. Sadly, the only time I had been to the museum was when it had fallen on hard luck. We had considered purchasing the property but were outbid at the last moment. Thankfully, I'd gotten a good look at the grounds. It was doubtless that displays had come and gone since I had been inside, but perhaps the manner in which the museum was laid out differed little.
Besides that, we had Olivia to help us. She clearly had ideas about where they would stow our eggs, how to get there, and the possibility of getting them out. Would vault doors melt or burn as they had years ago? With the advent of video recording, we'd stopped laying siege to add to our treasure hoards and acquired things as they caught our eye with a fairly strict legal guideline.
Most dragons had continued in that manner, amassing the sparklies they desired with little ill intent. Most of us had proceeded to get into mineral or gemstone trades that involved buying low and selling off what we didn't care for.
Given the problems surrounding some of the gem trade, I had avoided such ventures. Instead, the humans had decided real estate was the best way to secure their money. And I was happy to take that money from their hands. Then I purchased the sparklies I so enjoyed.
And perhaps that was the best manner in which to attain our eggs once again. I took the last bottle from the pack and interrupted the display chatter. "Is it possible to donate something to the museum in exchange for the eggs?"
