Dragons Luck Read Online Free PDF

as calculating and manipulative as he can be, he tends to focus on the short-term goal.”
    Val stood and started to pace the room. She seemed so full of bound energy that it was surprising the small apartment could contain her. Mai took a seat, giving her more room and watching her.
    “How did you know?” Val said.
    “Besides the personality changes? Well, one big clue, it’s the French Quarter. You’ve stopped drinking,” Mai said.
    “Then others have noticed.”
    “Val, you have a bad habit of making statements of things that should be questions. No, I don’t think anyone else has noticed. One, most of them don’t know what to look for. Two, everyone has been wrapped up in their own business.”
    “But not you?”
    Mai shrugged and clasped her hands in her lap.
    “For the most part, I’ve been feeling a little lost. As much as I enjoy the area, and the company, I haven’t really heard anything from back home lately. Not even a request for updates. My days are my own and really beginning to drag.”
    “Must not be easy, being a spy,” Val said.
    Val’s tone was sarcastic, but some of the teasing was creeping back in.
    “I prefer to think of myself as a double agent, or at least a double entendre. I mean how much of a spy can I be when I told Griffen that’s why I’m here?” Mai said.
    “One of the reasons you are here, and you didn’t really tell him much of that.”
    “Hey, if I’m bored, maybe I should get a job like you! Need another relief bartender?”
    “Nice change of subject, but with the fortune-cookie mystique, you could probably make more as a fortune-teller.”
    Val grinned, and Mai smiled secretively. With dramatic motions, Mai draped the back of one hand over her forehead and held the other out toward Val, fingers spread. Val tensed as the motions were aimed at her stomach.
    “The wise one sees all and knows all. What lurks in your secret heart! Hear her words and tremble,” Mai said.
    “Get on with it.”
    “Don’t tell Griffen.”
    Val stopped in her tracks and stared at Mai.
    “I have to tell him. He’s my brother, and the last thing he needs after he starts to get everything under control is me surprising him with this.”
    “Exactly; right now he’s struggling. He has just started to gain proper confidence, and already burdens are being heaped onto him. This could be the very thing that overwhelms him completely,” Mai said.
    “If I don’t tell him, it leaves him in danger. If Nathaniel comes back because of this, Griffen won’t have any time to prepare.”
    “Why would Nathaniel come back? Even if he planned this, which I doubt, how could he know? You will worry Griffen for nothing, put his already taxed nerves even more on edge.”
    “But…”
    Val couldn’t say it. Keeping a secret like that from her brother would be nearly impossible. They were too close, and the strain on her would be great.
    “I know it will be hard,” Mai said, and frowned. “But if you tell him, he will want to protect you. He will charge off to find Nathaniel, charge right into Melinda’s territory. This way you protect him, not the other way around.”
    Valerie sank into a chair again and stared at Mai. Her mind whirled, but a part of her knew that Mai was exactly right. Between protecting her big brother and being honest with him, protection came first. She nodded.
    “It’s for the best,” Mai said, and got up to hug Val again. “Trust me.”
    After a moment’s silence, Mai spoke again.
    “So, are you going to keep it?”
    Val sighed, then shook her head.
    “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m still thinking about that one.”

Five
    Waiting in front of Tower Records, carrying a copy of the
Times-Picayune
as he had been instructed, Flynn spent his time surveying the passing crowd. Mostly they were obvious out-of-towners, suited conventioneers, and a smattering of tourists in shorts and T-shirts. Here and there were locals, including service-industry types in their tuxedo