Robert Asprin - Dragons Wild

“Hey, brat,” he said finally. “Still working out, I see.”

“My God, Grifter. What happened to the Goblin?”

She was staring at the recent damage to his vehicle. He had been avoiding looking at it too closely, himself, and her attention made him uncomfortable.

“A couple guys in pickups decided to contest my right to use their road,” he said quickly. “I’ll tell you about it some other time. Right now, we’ve got to talk.”

“Yeah? What kind of trouble have you got yourself into now, Big Brother?”

Instead of answering immediately, Griffen peered closely at the hand she was waving.

“Speaking of trouble, Val,” he said, “would it be impolite to point out that you’re bleeding?”

Valerie glanced at her hand briefly, then licked the wet and drying blood from her knuckles like an animal before answering.

“No big deal,” she said. “Just some muscle flexer who wouldn’t take ‘No’ for an answer.”

“Some things never change,” Griffen said, shaking his head.

“Now don’t change the subject,” Valerie pressed. “What’s up that brings you my way…and while the sun’s up, even.”

Griffen glanced up and down the street before answering.

“First, let’s find somewhere we can talk without being interrupted. Someplace other than your apartment, if possible. I have a lot to tell you.”

Over an hour, and several coffees, later at one of the campus hangouts, Griffen finally concluded his narration of what he had heard and experienced since visiting their uncle.

Valerie leaned back in her seat and sipped at her lukewarm beverage.

“Huh,” she said at last. “That’s got to be the weirdest thing I’ve heard in a long time. So what are we going to do?”

“I dunno,” Griffen admitted. “I’m still trying to figure out if I believe it at all.”

“Does it matter?” His sister shrugged.

“What do you mean, ‘Does it matter’?” he said sharply. “Either the world has just been redefined for us, or a lot of people including our uncle have gone round the bend.”

“And I repeat, does it matter?” Valerie shot back. “Whether this dragon thing is for real or not, enough people seem to believe in it that it already has redefined our world. I mean, if they’re trying to pressure us or kill us, does it matter if they’re right or wrong? It makes a difference to us and we’ve got to decide what we’re going to do.”

“You know, Val, that’s why I wanted to talk this out with you.” Griffen smiled. “You always manage to cut through the bullshit and get right to the heart of the matter. You’re right, of course.”

“So what are we going to do?”

He had missed it the first couple times, but it finally sank in.

“What do you mean ‘we’?” he said. “I’m the one they’re after. I just wanted to get your opinion and give you a heads-up.”

“This affects both of us, doesn’t it?” Valerie said stubbornly. “First of all, I’m not going to let you try to deal with this alone. Second, if they’ll be after both of us eventually, it’s easier to plan a defense if we stick together. Besides, I don’t like the sound of that ‘We have other plans for her’ bit. If they’re thinking of trying to use me for breeding stock, they’ve got another think coming.”

“But what about school? You can’t just pick up and go.”

“Why not?” she said. “The semester’s nearly over, and my grades are good enough that I can skip the finals without serious consequences. I couldn’t concentrate anyway with this thing hanging over our heads.”

“Val, look—”

“No, you look.” Valerie cut him off abruptly.

Griffen was used to her changes in mood, but her sharp tone surprised him. She seemed to sense this and her tone softened.

“Forget school, school isn’t important. This sounds important, and you need someone you can trust. Oh, sure, Uncle Malcolm was never exactly hands-on with our lives, but a betrayal is a betrayal. Not to mention your little…friend Mai.”

He couldn’t help but wince. When he had been telling her the story, she had been most furious over Mai. At this point, Griffen had doubts he would ever see Mai again, but if he did, he’d have to see about keeping Valerie away from her.

“And the senator, that makes this serious, even if it’s ridiculous,” Valerie continued, smiling a little. “I’m with you, Big Brother. Period.”

Griffen couldn’t think of a good argument for her reasoning. Truth to tell, he rather liked the idea of her coming along, even though he hadn’t thought of it originally. Still, something nagged at him.

“I know you too well, Sis. Do you know something else that is prompting you?” he said.

“No…maybe. Just thinking back. How many times would I catch some guy staring at me or following me, and how often was it just your average stalkeresque loser? Maybe, just maybe someone was keeping an eye on me for more than my looks.”

Griffen shivered.

“Recently?”

“No, not recently. Still, you’re stuck with me. Accept it.”

“Oh, darn, do I have to?”

He grinned and she chucked him affectionately on the shoulder. He managed not to wince from impact.

“So what now?” she said.

“Well, all I can think of is for us to find a safe place to go to ground while we try to figure out a game plan,” he said. “Someplace no one would think to look for us.”

“Sounds good for a start,” Valerie said, rising to her feet. “Just swing by my place so I can pack a few things and we’ll be off.”

“Actually, Val, I’m kinda beat from driving all night,” Griffen admitted, suddenly not relishing the thought of hitting the road again so soon. “Why don’t I drop you off and check into a motel so I can sleep a couple of hours before we take on the great unknown.”

“If you worked out once in a while, you’d have more stamina,” his sister chided him. “Okay then, that will give me a little time to pick and choose what I’m bringing. A girl’s gotta look her best, even if she’s on the run.”

There was a motel only a few blocks from where his sister lived. The clerk gave the crumpled back of his Sunbeam a hard look, but when Griffen carded over twenty-one and paid cash in advance there was no problem. His room was on the first floor on the back side of the long, low bulding. Throwing his bags on the floor next to a bed covered by a garish purple quilt, the young man turned and left the room. He should be tired, but somehow he wasn’t. He went back outside and paused in front of his room to just stare at the stars. They were reassuringly the same.

A chill ran up his spine and the hint of a sound caused the young man to look to his right. A figure a hundred feet away was silhouetted in distant streetlights. There was something about the way the man stood there that set off alarm bells. Griffen backed into a shadow near his doorway and watched. The dark figure paused and then took a few steps. It seemed to the young man that he could sense the dark man was smiling, but he was equally certain there was no humor in that smile.

Both stood perhaps a hundred feet apart and half-visible in the shadows of the badly lit back of the college-town motel. The sounds of traffic and a dog baying a few blocks away seemed to get louder. Then it happened.

For the first time, Griffen understood what was meant by a fight or flight reaction. The need to do something screamed inside him. The man, thing, dragon, or whatever it was, had seemed to be bigger and taller now. Without knowing it, he took a step back.

Then it hit him. If he was a dragon, there would never be a better time to become one. Which only left one urgent question. How did you change into a dragon?