Josie decided to clean up and change clothes to one of the Mary Marvel things she
had in her closet. She would have to do something about that eventually. She liked
the Marvel lightning, but not enough to have it on everything she wore.
She dressed quickly, combing her short hair. She took a look in the mirror hanging
in her bathroom. She looked okay for an outing.
She went up to the next floor and knocked on Aviras’s door. She barely heard him say
come in.
She entered his lair. She found him on a perch. He looked distraught. She frowned at
him.
How did she fix this?
“I’m going back out,” said Josie. “I just came home to change clothes. Do you want
to go with me?”
“No,” said the dragon. “I should have given more thought to the reward. Instead I let
greed take over and make me suffer.”
“I’m going to give you a temporary fix,” said Josie. “When I get home, I will work
on a solution to make you feel better.”
“That’s very kind of you,” said Aviras.
“Let me do this quick,” said Josie. “Jack shamed someone into taking me out to a
show with the girls. I don’t know where I am supposed to meet him yet.”
“Really?,” said Aviras. “They haven’t come back as far as I know.”
“Do you want to go?,” asked Josie. “I don’t have a problem with it if you don’t have
a problem with it.”
“That would be very kind of you,” said Aviras. “And I can meet up with Matilda. I
hope she had fun fishing.”
“I’m sure they did,” said Josie. “I’m hoping that Case and Caroline didn’t try to do
something illicit before the marriage.”
“Will that be a problem?,” asked Aviras.
“Not for me,” said Josie. She called on Doctor Occult and threw out her scan. She
nodded when she saw the problem was too much food trying to digest at the same
time. She softly sped up the dragon’s metabolism. He started nodding his head. “All
right. It looks like you should be fine as long as you don’t eat anything for a bit.”
“That will be fine since I have ate too much already,”said Aviras.
Josie slowed his metabolism back to normal to let the rest burn up naturally. She had
done just enough to ease his discomfort, and nothing more.
“Maybe any future reward should be your weight in ice cream,” said Josie. She let the
Doctor go.
“I admit I didn’t know how Jack’s weight in ice cream would be, but now I am ready
for it,” said Aviras. “I will just have to eat slower.”
“I’ll let you explain what happened to Matilda,” said Josie. She smiled slightly. “Let’s
go. I have to pick up my date, and find the show.”
Josie’s com buzzed on her wrist. She looked down at it. Beatrice wanted to talk to
her?
“Go ahead, Bea,” said Josie.
“We’re at the theater,” said the younger woman. “Are you coming?”
“I need to pick up my date,” said Josie. “Which theater?”
“The Oblong,” said Beatrice. “There is a place where we can eat across the way
before the show if you hurry.”
“I’ll be there in five-ten minutes,” said Josie.
“We’ll be waiting,” said Beatrice. She cut the call.
“Something is going on,” said Josie. She frowned at the door out of the dragon’s den.
“Let’s go. We’ll know what it is soon enough.”
“Some kind of trickery?,” asked Aviras.
“Jack is involved, so I am going to say yes,” said Josie. “You’re welcome to stay here
if you want.”
“I would like to see what kind of trickery is going on,” said dragon. “I have been
cooped up without anything but gastrointestinal issues to occupy me. Maybe a small
adventure is due.”
“All right,” said Josie. She changed into Zatanna. “Let’s see where this takes us.”
She threw out a bird to carry her and Aviras to Markus’s place. She had said she
would pick him up when she was done changing. She didn’t want a date for the night,
but maybe introducing him to the Ducklings would give them someone else to rely
on when she wasn’t there to protect them.
They appeared outside a small house that had jammed between two other houses.
Josie let the change fade so she would be recognizable. Markus had seen some of her
other faces so he would know it was her if he saw Zatanna. She just wanted to put her
own face forward.
“The teleportation is smoother,” said Aviras.
“I think it’s because I am sending something to scry ahead for me, and then the actual
spell kicks in,” said Josie. She walked up to the door, dragon on her shoulder. She
knocked to let Markus know he had a visitor.
“He might have changed his mind,” said Josie. “He said he hasn’t had a lot of good
luck with women.”
“But he is accompanying you?,” said Aviras.
“I think it’s because his partner won’t leave him alone about finding someone,” said
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.Josie. She knocked again. “I think he sees this as a transaction where he can silence
his friend and have nothing to do with me later outside of work.”
“You are the extremely scary one of your cohort,” said Aviras. “Even though Jack
gave me this cursed form, I am glad he showed up to oppose me and not you. I would
not be alive if you had been there, and I wouldn’t have met Matilda.”
“Matilda might have adopted you in her mind as her brother,” said Josie.
“She is my best friend,” said Aviras.
The door opened. Markus couldn’t make up his mind whether to smile or frown at his
guest and her companion. He decided to fall back to a neutral expression. He stepped
back out of the doorway.
“Markus,” said Josie. “This is Matilda’s dragon, Aviras. He decided to come along
to protect my honor.”
“I decided to come along because I was bored,” said Aviras. “It is a small pleasure to
meet you. How do you do?”
“I just need to shine my boots,” said Markus. He retreated to a room at the rear of the
house. “If you will give me a second, I will be right there.”
“This is a very neat place,” said Aviras. “Soldier?”
“Adventurer,” said Josie. “How long have you been an adventurer, Markus?”
“About fifteen years,” said Markus from the other room. “I have had a lot of traveling
so the place is usually left standing alone while I am on escort jobs for the guild.”
“I suppose the hospital work is the easiest thing you have done,” said Josie.
“Not really,” said Markus. He came back in the room. He had pulled on an old but
neat suit in dark green. His boots shined from the treatment he had given them. “But
I don’t have to leave the city so it is better than some of the jobs I have done.”
“Beatrice called and said they are waiting at the Oblong,” said Josie. “There is
supposed to be a restaurant close by. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes,” said Markus. “How are we handling payment for everything.”
“I will pay for us with the excess money of what I took out to pay Sally for the
adventurers helping me with the hospital,” said Josie. “If you want to pay me back
later, we’ll talk about it then.”
“I guess that is okay,” said Markus. “It’s been a long time since I have gone to a
dinner and a show.”
“All right,” said Josie. “I am going to transport us there, and we just have to find the
girls and see about things.”
Josie pulled on Zatanna one more time to get them across town. They landed on the
street next to the theater. She changed back, looking for her Ducklings.
“Missus!,” called Beatrice. She waved her hand to attract their attention.
“I don’t see anyone else,” said Josie.
“Maybe they are inside,” said Markus.
They started down the street to where Beatrice stood. She smiled at them.
“Matilda?,” asked Aviras when they were close enough. He peered at Beatrice from
Josie’s shoulder.
“Jack and Elaine have her,” said Beatrice. “They were trying to find a traveling show
to visit.”
Josie looked inside the restaurant. She frowned like a thundercloud. Aviras hopped
to Markus’s shoulder at the sudden change of temperature.
Beatrice winced. She decided the next time she would do the asking instead of letting
Jack do it.
“I can explain,” said Beatrice.
“Please do,” said Josie. She turned her glittering eyes on her eldest sister. She made
a go ahead gesture with one hand.
“Thad and I were talking about going out, and Case and Caroline wanted to come
too,” said Beatrice. “I talked to Jack, and he decided to call you about it.”
“I see where the rest of this is going,” said Josie. She turned her frown on Beatrice.
“Excuse me,” said Markus. He grabbed Josie’s arm. He let go when her glare dropped
down to his hand. “Can we step over here for a second?”
“Don’t go anywhere, Bea,” said Josie. She walked a few feet away and took a breath
to center herself. “Yes?”
“Do you want to give up and not see the show?,” asked Markus. “You already
suspected skullduggery, and now you have the evidence of your eyes. I am not going
to press to go forward if you don’t want it.”
“I feel like I should set someone on fire,” said Josie. “I just can’t decide who. I know
that you have been okay, and I don’t know if I want to throw away the time I took to
get ready and wear this new dress.”
“And you look lovely in it,” said Markus. “You can decide whom you are going to
set on fire after dinner and the show. That way I will be at home with my feet up, and
out of the way.”
“All right,” said Josie. “We can make a go of it.”
“Feel better?,” asked Markus.
“Not really,” said Josie. “But I should have known this was going to be some kind of
romantic entanglement thing.”
“It will be fine,” said Markus.
“All right,” said Josie. “I think I am ready to go in.”
“Just let the anger go,” said Markus. “You are eating with your sister and her friends.
It will be okay.”
“I can handle it,” said Josie. “Let’s go in before I change my mind and decide to do
something lasting.”
“I will rip Case’s face off for you,” said Aviras.
“No,” said Josie. She took Markus’s arm. “If it comes to that, I want the pleasure of
doing the job myself.”
They walked over to where Beatrice waited. She tried to put on a smile but decided
that she should wait a bit before trying to be merry.
“Take us to our table,” said Josie. “This is Markus. He works for me at the hospital.
Markus, this is Beatrice, my oldest sister.”
“Hello,” said Beatrice. “The pleasure is mine. It is good to see the Missus with
someone.”
Josie thought she heard the dragon choke back a laugh. She didn’t turn to deal him
a lethal blow to knock him off his perch.
“We’re not together,” said Markus. “My partner told her I was a desperately lonely
man because I don’t have a wife to go home to like he does. This is more of a
temporary thing that will end as soon as I head home.”
“Oh, I see,” said Beatrice. “Let’s go in and eat. We have some time, but we want to
be ready when the theater opens so we can watch the play.”
“A temporary thing that will end as soon as you head home?,” whispered Josie.
“She would have expected us to act romantic with handholding and kissing,” said
Markus in a low voice. “We don’t know each other well enough to take steps that
far.”
Josie smiled slightly.
“Would you like to?,” asked Josie.
“I don’t know yet,” said Markus. He leaned in over the shorter woman. “If I did, I
would be feared and respected among adventurers in the city. I don’t think I could
live with a reputation that big.”
“I think that you could,” said Josie. “Let’s get through this date with these kids, and
we can talk about what we want to do for the future. If you want to just keep it to this,
that would be fine.”
“What do you want to do?,” asked Markus.
“I have no idea,” said Josie. “I’m trying to clear Jane’s lawn, and get the people in the
Enterprise’s transporter buffer out and back to where they belong. And I will have
quests popping up sooner or later. I might have to leave the city suddenly.”
“Sounds like a lot of work,” said Markus.
“Aviras and the Ducklings are helping me and Jack get things done,” said Josie. “And
we’re waiting on Mister Warner and June to come back to help us out.”
“Markus,” said Budd. “How are you? Still working with Vin Sten?”
“We have a patrol route around the hospital,” said Markus. “It’s slow and easy like
I like it. We’re helping the Watch keep the peace around the building and grounds.
Vin loves it. He has found three new taverns that he can pick up some beer as we go.
I guess I should thank you for the invitation to the show tonight.”
“So you know these adventurers?,” asked Josie.
“Aye,” said Markus. “Emily is the best of them.”
“I’m pretty good,” said Case.
“Sure,” said Markus. “Are we splitting the cost?”
“Missus?,” asked Beatrice.
“We can split the costs,” said Josie. “I will cover for Markus until he can pay me
back.”
Thad and Case pulled out their money pouches. They calculated what they could buy
with what they had in their hands.
“You guys don’t have enough?,” said Josie.
“I do,” said Thad. “I’m just calculating the costs for the tickets for me and Beatrice
to go into the show.”
“I have enough for Caroline and me,” said Case. He gave his money to his date.
“I can pay for myself,” said Emily.
“Keep the receipts and I will add your expenditures to your pay to reimburse you,”
said Josie.
“All right,” said Emily. “What shall we eat?”
“Not fish,” said Beatrice.
“Not fish,” agreed the others at the table.