Dragon 7 Chapter 6 (Patreon)

I stepped out of the limo very refreshed as Scarlett checked her makeup.

Her and Jadelyn took my arms while the two dragonettes hung back behind us like security. Then blended in with the others as we walked up the steps.

Pixie was somewhere nearby, but she’d kept at a distance, ready to intervene or support wherever she was needed.

“That was a lovely ride.” Jadelyn teased me.

“It’s fun to make him purr like a giant kitten.” Scarlett agreed from my side.

“He does, doesn’t he?” Jadelyn continued the joke.

I did not purr. I rumbled, like a well satisfied dragon, and they knew that.

“Jadelyn Scalewright!” A woman practically shrieked as she came out of the gallery. Her words turned heads, and more than a few of the onlookers started whispering.

“Carla.” Jadelyn didn’t let go of my arm as she offered her free hand to shake the woman’s. “I’m so happy to be here. We should go in and look at the art. I’d like to find the perfect spot for my The Shipwreck.”

Carla’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Of course. Here is the gallery manager. George.” She turned, making a gesture only to find open air. She’d clearly expected him to be following her.

Her face snapped into a scowl but she smoothed it over before she turned back to Jadelyn. “I’m so sorry. Let’s head in and I’ll get him.”

I scanned around, taking in the party goers. Everybody was fancily dressed, enjoying slow sips of champagne from delicate glasses as they stopped and studied the art.

More than a few were looking over at us and whispering.

“You really do attract a lot of attention.” I stopped by a painting as Carla scampered off to find her gallery manager. “What does Carla do?”

“She’s big in the art community. She married a man forty years older than her and has used his wealth to buy lots of art. She essentially runs this gallery.” Jadelyn picked a glass from a passing waiter. I gave it a quick sniff to make sure it was safe, making Jadelyn chuckle. Scarlett’s eyes were scanning the room as she looked for any threats, but we were just surrounded by rich debutant types.

The painting we stopped in front of looked like the floor of a painting studio. Splatters of paint covered it, but the brush stroke was odd. It looked like it had been smeared around by an actual foot.

“It’s wonderful, isn’t it? The piece shows the struggle of the modern woman having her rights stepped on left and right.” The man nearby also studying the painting tried to start up a conversation with Jadelyn.

“I think it’s more of a mention on being dominant. Crushing those below you when they get in your way, like a dragon.” Jadelyn smirked and extended a hand to the man.

“Henry Warner, as in Warner steel.” The man tossed his hair with a smirk that said he thought his last name was highly impressive.

“Jadelyn Scalewright. This is my husband, Zach Pendragon. Sorry, I’ve been out of the social scene for a few years, so I didn’t recognize you.”

The man shook her hand, but he lost all the color in his face as he hurried away. He’d clearly not realized who she fully was when he tried to introduce himself.

“She can also terrify them when she wants to.” Scarlett chuckled. “I don’t see much in this piece.” She tilted her head back and forth, studying it but coming up short.

“Of course not. It’s just paint smeared by someone’s feet. The front of the gallery is always low budget pieces that then make you more impressed as you work your way into the higher tier works.” Jadelyn clicked her tongue as Carla raced back over, hauling her gallery manager behind her.

Carla smiled and gestured at Jadelyn. “This is Miss. Scalewright.” She introduced Jadelyn before seeming to notice me. “And this is?”

“This is my husband.” Jadelyn gave an overly polite smile. “Zach Pendragon.”

Carla made an exaggerated noise of excitement and pulled my arm off Jadelyn, getting into my personal space as the gallery manager swooped in and introduced himself to Jadelyn. I tried not to growl at her being pulled away, but Carla didn’t seem to notice. “You are a large man. Handsome to boot. What do you do?”

“I’m a joint owner in a mercenary company. I do high end security, object retrieval or delivery. That sort of thing.” I kept it vague.

Carla had a wry grin forming on her face. “Jadelyn, you married your bodyguard?”

“No.” Jadelyn looked away from the gallery manager. “That’s my bodyguard.” She pointed at Scarlett. “And he married her too.”

There was a long pause. Carla clearly didn’t know how to react to that news for a few moments. Eventually she rebooted and gave a default laugh and smile. “You’re just full of surprises. What a lucky man indeed.” She tried to recover.

Scarlett just laughed. “Let’s look at where the artwork could go.” She gave Carla a nudge forward.

I knew that Scarlett didn’t like being in the crowded entrance. There were too many angles of approach. “Yes. I want to see the art.”

“Of course. Right this way. We were thinking something like a Turner needed to be placed with high contrast around it.” Carla tried to paint a picture with her hands. “Come, we have a romanticism section. I’m sure that’s more of your taste anyway, Jadelyn. How is that Fransico Goya piece treating you?”

“Lovely.” Jadelyn smiled at me. “It’s in our new mansion. We had one built so we could move in together.”

“Of course.” Carla was all smiles though there was a hint of confusion. “This way. George, why don’t you introduce yourself to Zach. Zach, do you have a fondness for art?”

“I like the naked ones.” I joked, but the joke fell flat as both of them frowned at me. I shrugged it off. I cared enough to make an effort in Jadelyn’s social circles, but it was never going to be where I wanted to spend my time.

I stood tall, letting my dragon aura slip through a little so they would move on. Sure enough, they both laughed nervously and motioned us ahead into the gallery.

Scarlett stole an h'orderve as a waiter passed and handed it to me. “I thought it was funny.”

“Thank you.” I ate the snack, but the thing was tiny. I was really happy we’d eaten before we’d come. The petite servings would have starved me and I don’t think they would have let me take whole platters at a time.

Carla and George focused their attention on Jadelyn. She played nice, fawning over the pieces they showed her as they tried to entice her into buying a new piece.

But Jadelyn was an expert. She politely deflected them, moving them forward until we got to the area that was more like the painting I had retrieved. It was also more similar to what I’d seen when I searched ‘The Shipwreck’ in an attempt to be prepared for any questions.

“Hey a naked lady. But I don’t get why there’s an ugly little demon on her.” Scarlett pointed at one as we passed.

“Me neither.” I shrugged and enjoyed joking about the art we didn’t understand much more than pretending to understand it. “Though, that one feels like it has a lot more skill involved over the paint splatter ones at the front.”

“For sure.” Scarlett had another snack in her hand and was eating it daintily, trying not to get any crumbs on her red dress as we hung back and let the two fawn over Jadelyn.

At one point, Jadelyn met my eyes, giving me a look that said I couldn’t hide forever as she motioned for me to come join her.

As I approached, I could see a hastily made spot on the wall. The paintings on both sides looked like they had been moved at the last moment to make room for an empty frame with a ‘coming soon’ handwritten sign in the middle.

“This is where we’d put The Shipwreck, right between two paintings of ships to give it a more dramatic feeling and make people realize the risk that all maritime activities take on for us all.” Carla was overly dramatic as she said the last part, clearly trying to appeal for Jadelyn.

But my wife wasn’t entirely happy with the spot, tapping her lips and slowly shaking her head. “I don’t know. That one isn’t even a Romanticism piece. It’s modern romantic.”

“Yes. But he’s quite popular, leading a renaissance on Romanticism. With so much digital art these days, he’s taking back control of art with sweeping brush strokes.” Carla tried to puff up the pieces, but Jadelyn clearly wasn’t buying it.

She pursed her lips. “Let me think. We’ll wander for a bit. It’s a lovely party; it would be a shame to miss it by overanalyzing this. We’ll keep an eye out for the spot that feels right.”

“Yes. Yes. Do that. Enjoy yourselves.” Carla subtly shooed George away and slipped away with a smile and a few last words. “If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask one of the staff for me.”

Jadelyn reclaimed my arm and sighed. “This is why I got tired of the social scene. Too fake. Also, that painting on the right is tacky.”

“Because it’s not old from a well known name?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No. The old names certainly get put on a pedestal , mostly because that artist is gone and they are collectibles of someone who dedicated themselves to the craft. The modern artists can create wonderful works. This one however feels like a cheap rendition of something. It just doesn’t have that… something that real art gives.”

I snagged a glass of champagne. It would be vital for a night where I was trying to decipher art. “I never knew you were such an art snob.” I teased her.

But Jadelyn seemed to take it more seriously. “I’m not a snob.”

Scarlett pinched the air. “A little bit. But you were also raised in a house with hundreds of millions of dollars of art on the walls.”

“Yeah. We bought a lot of art that had paranormals referenced in them back in the days. The Scalewrights have always done their part to keep the paranormal world hidden.” She spoke in low tones, but there was noise all around us. It would be difficult to pick hers out.

“What does that mean?” I was curious.

Scarlett jumped to answer. “Meaning her family holds onto a lot of unknown pieces by famous artists, ones that if they got out would, might make people ask questions.”

“Painters capture the history and world around them. Sometimes they saw things they shouldn’t have when sitting on a cliff watching the waves.” She crossed her arms defensively.

“Huh. Well, I’d love to see those one day. Those actually sound interesting. You collect other ones?”

“The Scalewright family only became a prominent shipping company in the 1800’s. But we’ve collected a lot since that time.” She waved it away. “I saw a few lovely pieces down here. Come, let’s look at some art together.”

I took a deep gulp of champagne and followed after her.

We toured the gallery and Jadelyn became very animated at several pieces, gushing over some feeling imparted on the piece. Seeing it all through her eyes, I learned to respect a few of them.

“Yes. I feel the sorrow he had in painting this one.” I agreed as we stood before a giant canvas of a woman holding a man’s head. It was an easy one.

Jadelyn nodded along. “Simple, but pointed.”

There were a few shouts around us, and I turned, instinctively putting my body in front of Jadelyn.

I wondered if the manager was getting arrested.

The insurance company was likely going to send the police after the other piece of art, and then they’d come here. I’d been waiting for the entertainment all night.

Sure enough, officer’s trooped in, but behind them were suits. It was more than they’d typically do for a robbery.

“Is that Norton?” Scarlett asked.

I frowned when he smiled at me. “Why the hell is he here?”

The group split into two, and the local police went for Carla and the manager. But Norton and the two men with him smiled and moved towards me.

“I don’t like the look of this.” Scarlett held onto my arm.

Jadelyn was already dialing our lawyer.

“Zach Pendragon?” Norton smiled, and Agent Lopez grinned at me from behind Norton.

“You know who I am.” I growled.

“You are under arrest for the death of Simon Greenleaf.” Norton pulled out a pair of handcuffs as the party rippled, onlookers weren’t paying attention to me though, instead Carla and the manager were the ones getting cuffed and receiving all of the attention.

“I’m sorry? Who?” I struggled to place a face to the name Simon.

Lopez pulled a few photos out of his pocket. One of them I recognized instantly, flashing back to somebody I had most certainly killed.

He’d died in a duel before the council. Simon had been an ass and the source of my conflict with the elves here in Philly.

“So, you do know him? Such a brutal murder.” Lopez held up several other pictures of a dug up body.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. If you don’t have an attorney, one will be provided for you.” Norton read me my miranda rights as he put my hands behind my back.

We were surrounded by people; There was little I could do magically in that moment. I needed to think more like a human.

“Say nothing.” Jadelyn reminded me. “Where are you taking him?”

“Down to the police station. You can meet us there with your army of lawyers. But we have his fingerprints all over the body, a murder weapon with his prints that match those off the lovely car he was driving around earlier.” Norton sneered at Jadelyn.

I tried to stay calm. We had the resources to figure it out, but the fact that they’d found the body was shocking to me.

Elves buried their dead under their family’s sacred tree. Digging one of them up would be an atrocity that I wasn’t even sure the elves would do, even for revenge.

And it had all happened before I was under surveillance from the FBI.

That meant that somebody was feeding Norton information. My brain started swirling as I realized the implications.

Somebody had inner knowledge about the duel and where Simon would be buried.

I wished Agent Till or Morgana were with me; I desperately wanted to work my own case, but I was about to be tied up in stupid interviews and nonsense at the police station.

“Zach, we’ll meet you there. I called my driver back early.” Jadelyn was furiously using her phone. “Agents, I’ll have you know this is a false arrest and he’ll be walking free in just a few hours.” She was fuming as the agents walked me out of the party.

Chloe and Sarisha perked up as we left, giving me a look wondering if I wanted them to take the agents down. But I gave them a shake of my head.

We’d play by the rules.

The third agent had disappeared and now reappeared in an unmarked car, with a divider between the driver and the back.

“Get in.” Norton shoved me.

I rolled my eyes and got into the car, ducking my head and looking back at a fretting Jadelyn and a calm Scarlett and Pixie.

At least they had confidence in me.

“Get going.” Norton got into the passenger seat and smacked the dash as the drive pulled out. Lopez went jogging off to get what I assumed was another car. Norton turned around in his seat to look at me as the car took off. “Comfortable back there?”

“Not really, but I doubt that matters much. Didn’t even buckle me in.” I looked at the seatbelt. They were important tools.

The other agent scoffed. “Not like a fanger like you needs a seatbelt.”

“Hmm? A fanger? What the fuck is that?” I played my role correctly, but I was also curious. They certainly knew something about paranormals if Till was right with her research.

I wondered if they thought I was a vampire.

“Oh, you are going to pretend? Wanna shift for me on camera?” He tapped one pointed in my direction in the car. “Sound is off. Don’t need that legally. We’ve been cleaning up your fangs across the country. We know you’re a werewolf the way your bodyguard smashed the boss into the table.”

I just laughed, it wasn’t even forced. “You think I’m a werewolf?”

“Stop it, Carl. Just drive. We’ll deal with this quickly.” Norton scolded the other agent.

I didn’t like the sound of ‘deal with this’, but if they thought they were going to take me down easily, they hadn’t done their research very well.