Fic: Haven - The Epick Adventure of Princess Audrey and Sir Duke of Greygull - General

[tanaquific]

Title: The Epick Adventure of Princess Audrey and Sir Duke of Greygull
Fandom: Haven
Rating: General
Contains: Nothing beyond canon
Words: 12985 words
Summary: When the day starts with a 'routine' robbery at a jewelry store, neither Audrey and Nathan nor Duke has any clue how strange and dangerous things are about to get. Set between 3.06 Real Estate and 3.07 Magic Hour part 1.
Disclaimer: This story is a transformative work based on the Syfy/Entertainment One/Universal Networks International series Haven. It was written for entertainment only; the author does not profit from it.
Author's Note: Written for spook_me and the creature prompt Dragon, and partly inspired by the image in one of my Tarot card secret prompts. Dedicated to Scribbler (scribblesinink), who wanted dragons in Haven (along with several other elements in this story), and who provided cheerleading and beta support.

Chapter One

Duke pushed the cooler with today's catch for the Gull further into the bed of the Landrover and fastened the tailgate. Glancing up, he saw a crowd had gathered around a store a block inland from the harbor. Nathan's truck was parked a little way down on the opposite side of the street. Duke craned his neck and—yes, there she was: he caught a glimpse of Audrey talking to a uniformed officer.

Leaving the Landrover, he sauntered up the street. The store turned out to be the Haven Jewelry and Trophy Center, and Duke let out a silent whistle once he edged through the crowd and saw the reason for Haven PD's interest. The front window looked like it had been taken out by a bulldozer, while the contents of the store had been pretty much stripped. To judge from the large bubbles in the varnish on the smashed display cases and a number of soot marks scorching the walls, the thieves had then tried to cover up the theft by setting fire to the place, but the fire hadn't properly taken hold.

Audrey was now squatting next to the window, frowning down at the sidewalk outside the store.

"Hey, Audrey." Duke stepped up close to her, a narrow ribbon of Police—Do Not Cross tape separating them.

"Hey, Duke." She cast him a brief look, before returning her attention to the sidewalk. Following her gaze, Duke saw the stone had been glazed in an irregular pattern, as if a handful of maple leaves had drifted down and then been fired into the surface. Audrey prodded at one of the shapes with a gloved finger, before squinting along the street at the pristine sidewalk in front of the next store. "This is odd."

"What've you got?" Nathan had finished talking to a portly, red-faced, unhappy-looking man—likely the store owner—and was making his way over. He briefly caught Duke's eye, his expression unwelcoming, before turning back to Audrey.

"Good morning to you too, Nathan." Duke made a small, mocking bow.

Nathan didn't reply, simply went on regarding Audrey, who'd tilted her head back and was looking between them. After a moment, she shook her head, puffing out an exasperated breath, and bent back to the sidewalk. She gestured at the marks. "There's this odd pattern here. Almost like—" She put her hands out and began moving them around to cover the different patches. "—some big wading bird was standing here, shuffling its feet around." She climbed to her feet. "We should get some photographs." She nodded toward the store owner, wringing his hands as he talked to the uniformed cop Audrey had been speaking to earlier. "What did you find out?"

Nathan shot another unfriendly look in Duke's direction. "He says everything was fine when he closed up last night at eight o'clock. The damage was reported by a guy who works down at the pier." He gestured toward where Duke's Landrover was parked. "Saw it on his way in to work, about six. We'll canvas the neighborhood, see if anyone heard anything." He swung round and gave Duke a hard stare. "Starting with you."

"Me?" Duke pointed to himself, raising his eyebrows as if surprised. He knew very well why Nathan was asking, and it didn't have anything to do with thinking Duke could help solve the case.

"Yeah. You were on the Cape Rouge last night, right? You hear anything?"

Duke rolled his eyes. "Nathan, it's a half mile away and upwind." Seeing Nathan look unconvinced, he added firmly. "And no, I did not hear anything."

"See anything?" Nathan took a half step forward, getting in Duke's space, despite the yellow tape between them. He gestured toward the cleaned-out store. "Have anyone offer you any nice shiny baubles this morning?"

Duke took a step back, putting up his hands and giving Nathan a hurt look. "Nathan, I'm offended. Truly I am. I'm guilty of many things, I will confess—or actually, no, I won't—but fencing stolen goods is not one of them. And no," seeing Nathan open his mouth, he anticipated his question, "nobody asked me to."

Audrey was stripping off her gloves. "But you'll let us know if they do?"

"Of course." Duke tilted his head in her direction, ignoring Nathan's disbelieving snort, but he seemed to have already lost her attention. She was looking past him at someone in the crowd behind him.

"Hey, Zach." She lifted the tape and ducked underneath it, stepping past Duke to speak to a gangling teenager with a shock of mousy hair and an unfortunate face where it was hard to tell the freckles and the acne apart. "How're you doing today?"

"I'm fine." The reply came out in a mumble and he seemed to be finding it hard to look Audrey in the eye.

Audrey tilted her head toward the store. "You see anything here?"

"Nuh-huh." The boy shook his head.

"Hey, Parker." Nathan had been waved over by one of the uniformed officers and now he was beckoning Audrey to join him.

Audrey gave the kid an apologetic shrug. "Gotta go. Duty calls." She turned, encompassing Duke in her regretful smile.

Duke nodded, reaching out and giving her a parting slap on the arm with the back of his hand. "Sure. See you later, at the Gull?"

Audrey gave him a distracted nod, already turning away to make her way over to Nathan.

Duke watched her for a moment, aware that the kid—Zach—was still lingering. A glance showed him Zach was watching Audrey with the kind of smitten look he suspected might be on his own face. Audrey had that effect on people. Idly curious, he asked, "So, how d'you know Officer Parker?"

Zach shrugged. "She helped me out, yesterday. Some other kids were giving me a hard time…." He left the rest of it unsaid, but Duke could easily enough imagine Audrey wading in and giving them a hard time. "Then she talked to me a bit about the book I'm reading. She's nice."

Duke grinned to himself. "Yes, she is."

Zach cleared his throat. "How do you know her?"

Duke shot him a wry glance. "You mean, apart from the several times she's arrested me?" That raised a nervous chuckle from Zach. "Right now, I'm her landlord. She rents the upstairs at the Grey Gull. Which—" He glanced at his watch. "—is where I should be right now. See you around, kid." With a wave of his hand and a last glance at Audrey, he headed back toward his truck.

oOo

Duke finished pouring hot water into a coffee press, fitted the plunger, and added milk, sugar and a cup to the tray. He nodded to Tracy, who was polishing silverware but about to finish her shift. "I'll be outside. Let me know when you leave?"

"Uh-huh." She returned the nod.

Picking up the tray, Duke headed for the door. Sitting out on the deck in his preferred chair, sipping coffee and looking out at the best sea views in Haven once the lunch rush was over and before they had to get busy again for the dinner crowd, was one of his favorite parts of running the Gull. Reaching the door, he paused, remembering there was one chore left before he could enjoy his leisure.

He half turned and called back over his shoulder. "But I'll be upstairs at Audrey's for a few minutes, picking up some stuff I left there last night."

Tracy nodded again to show she'd heard.

Setting the tray down outside—the coffee would be nicely brewed by the time he returned—Duke dug his keys out of his pocket and sorted through them for the one to Audrey's place. You're OK if I—? he'd asked, when he'd handed over the new keys after changing the locks, holding up the spare one and indicating he wanted to hang on to it. She'd laughed. You do own the place, she'd pointed out. Besides, I doubt not having the key would stop you if you wanted to get in.

It also meant she didn't need to be around if things needed fixing, like the leak in the plumbing she'd reported. That had been yesterday afternoon's chore. He'd left his tools behind in case he needed to come back, but Tracy had relayed a message from Audrey, left on her way out to work, that everything was fine now.

Heading toward the stairs to the second floor, Duke saw the parking lot had emptied out. The only sign of life was a kid sitting on the bench at the far end of the lot, his whole posture suggesting a teenager at odds with the world. Duke shrugged: might be Tracy's son, waiting for his mom. If it wasn't, Duke wasn't going to chase him off; the kid wasn't doing anyone any harm.

Reaching the top of the stairs and rounding the corner, he took another look out to sea. The water was placid, only the occasional white cap of froth visible between the shore and the nearby islands shimmering in the afternoon heat. It really was a perfect day—if you didn't think about the cloud looming on the horizon: that unless they could find a way to prevent it, Audrey was going to disappear in less than a month from now.

Fumbling the key into the lock, something made him turn, a prickling in the back of his neck that told him things weren't right, that he was in danger. It was a feeling he'd learned never to ignore but, at first, as he checked around him, he couldn't identify the cause. Then a small shape in the air some way out over the water caught his attention. It seemed to be heading for the Gull at high speed and with definite purpose, quite unlike the usual motion of the restaurant's namesakes. Narrowing his eyes, he tried to make out what it might be.

As it got closer, he blinked, thinking his eyes must be playing tricks on him, or that someone had slipped something into his drink earlier. Because it couldn't—.

But when he looked again, it was still there. Quite unmistakable. Quite unbelievable—except this was Haven, and the impossible or ridiculous happened pretty much daily.

A dragon. A dark purple dragon, wings spread wide and head thrust forward, bearing straight down on him.

Chapter Two

Audrey and Nathan looked up from the files spread across Audrey's desk as Duke burst into the detectives' office twenty five minutes later. "There's a dragon," he managed to gasp out, slumping against the door frame and trying to catch his breath. He waved a hand over his shoulder, vaguely indicating the direction he'd come from. "There's a freaking dragon."

Nathan, who was bent forward, one hand resting on the desk, his head close to Audrey's, gave him a weary look. "Do you mind? We're busy here."

Duke took a step forward, lifting his hands in despair. "Did you not hear what I said? There's a freaking dragon out there." He gestured toward the door.

Nathan straightened, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrows. "A dragon? Really?"

"Really!" Duke emphasized the point with his hands. "Would I lie about something like that?"

"Well, let's see…." Nathan tilted his head as if considering the idea. "Yes. Yes you would."

Duke closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. Why did Nathan have to be so damn obtuse?

"Wait a minute…." That was Audrey. Duke opened his eyes and saw she'd leaned back in her chair and was regarding him thoughtfully. "This dragon. Where did you see it?"

"At the Gull. Damn thing tried to kill me." Duke shivered at the memory of the the wave of heat that had rolled over him as the dragon breathed a gout of flame in his direction.

Nathan scratched the back of his neck and said laconically, "Pity it didn't succeed."

"Nathan, please." Audrey shot him an annoyed look, before pushing back from the desk and coming round to take Duke's arm and sit him down on the couch. She looked sharply down at where her hand gripped his arm for a moment, before lifting her gaze to meet his again. He knew she could feel he was shaking—from shock and from sheer anger that some goddamn mythical creature had tried to take him out. As if the universe didn't hate him enough already.

Turning another chair around, Audrey settled herself opposite Duke and leaned forward. "Tell me what happened."

Duke took a deep breath, trying to get his thoughts in order. "It was after we'd finished serving lunch. I went up to your place to pick up the stuff I left up there last night. I—."

"You were at Audrey's last night?" Nathan had taken a step forward and was glowering down at them.

"Nathan!" Audrey twisted around and glared at him, before turning back to Duke and giving him a despairing look as she explained patiently, "Duke was fixing one of the faucets. And—" She held up a hand to prevent any further objections from Nathan. "—he's my landlord. It's his job." She dipped her head at Duke. "Go on."

Duke rested his elbows on his knees, closing his eyes and remembering. "I was just about to unlock the door when I got this feeling something was wrong. When I turned round…."

He didn't think he'd ever forget the sight of the dragon bearing down on him. When it was still some distance away, too far to do any damage, it belched a brief blast of flame, almost like it was experimenting, or giving him a warning. Duke, rooted to the spot, mouth open and gaping at the dragon as it loomed closer, was suddenly painfully aware that the building underneath him was made of wood. Not the place to be standing right now. But there was a whole damn ocean out there. That had to be safer, right?

The thought broke through the terror that had been holding him frozen. Adrenaline kicked in and, hurling himself along the side of the building, he threw himself around the corner. A glance over his shoulder showed him the dragon had changed course a little. Crap. Looked like the dragon wasn't after the Gull but him personally.

Scuttling down the stairs, he swerved along the deck just as the dragon swooped in. Maybe the swerve saved him, or maybe the dragon was out of practice—not as if it had been terrorizing the neighborhood recently; Duke was sure he would've heard—because the blast of flame it loosed in his direction just missed his heels. Not caring that the place might burn down, just wanting to get out of the way of another blast from a living flamethrower, Duke threw himself through the nearest open door and banged it shut behind him.

The Gull's walls rattled, a couple of pictures falling from their hooks, as the dragon smacked into the side of the building with an enraged roar. That, more than nearly being singed or the sight of the blackened deck outside and a couple of scorched wicker chairs that would never be the same again, convinced Duke he wasn't hallucinating.

Pushing open the door and cautiously peering around, Duke saw the dragon was heading back out to sea, climbing unsteadily before it leveled out. His relief was short-lived: a few hundred yards offshore, the dragon veered around, evidently readying for a second run.

Duke's eye fell on the fire extinguisher hanging next to the door. It wasn't much of a weapon, but he wasn't exactly drowning in options. He wouldn't be able to reach his truck in time, and he wasn't sure he could outrun the damn thing in it anyway. Short of a fire hydrant miraculously appearing out of nowhere, this was going to be as good as it got.

Seizing the extinguisher, he pulled open the door and stepped outside, tugging at the seal to break it. Pointing the nozzle at the dragon as it swooped down at him, he waited for it to get close enough. The dragon puffed its cheeks, likely getting ready to flame again, and Duke decided that was plenty close. He squeezed hard on the extinguisher's handle, letting the dragon have the full force of the jet in the face.

"…And then it… vanished." Duke spread his hands and shrugged as he told Audrey the end of the story. "Just… disappeared!"

It had popped out of existence so abruptly, it had taken Duke a moment to realize the threat was gone. Once his brain had caught up with his eyes, he'd lifted the extinguisher, shaking it in triumph at the heavens. "Thank you, God. Thank you."

Audrey was giving him a narrow-eyed look. "Did anyone else see it? The dragon?"

Duke shook his head. "Tracy was inside, in the kitchen. She says she felt the place shake when the dragon hit it, but she didn't see anything. It was all over pretty quick, I guess. Oh," Duke snapped his fingers, "I saw some kid hanging around the other end of the parking lot when I was heading up to your place. Didn't see him after, though. Can't say I blame him for not sticking around." He leaned back, spreading his arms along the couch. He'd caught his breath and his heart rate had slowed to something near normal, but he still wasn't feeling happy about the whole thing. Nor about the way Nathan was looking at him.

"So, we have a conveniently invisible, disappearing dragon." Nathan had rounded Audrey's desk and was leaning back against it, arms still crossed, his expression cynical. "And… a case for arresting you for wasting police time?"

Duke opened his mouth to protest, but Audrey beat him to a reply. "No, wait." A slight frown had settled on her forehead, as if she was trying to fit the pieces together. After a moment, she got to her feet and, turning around, began to gather together the reports and photos scattered across her desk. While her hands were busy, she threw a question over her shoulder at Duke. "You said there was some damage?"

"Yeah. Couple of chairs scorched, burn marks on the deck, some cracked boards where it hit the wall." He glowered at Nathan. "Unless you think I did all that myself just so I could waste your very valuable police time?"

"Not unless you have a ludicrously complex masterplan," Audrey remarked absently. She held up a photo so Nathan could see it but Duke couldn't. "I think we need to take a look."

Nathan made a face, before he gave a reluctant nod. "Yeah. I guess we do." He straightened and indicated to Audrey that she should lead the way.

"What?" Duke sat up, turning from one to the other.

Audrey gave him a pitying look as she bundled the rest of the papers together. "I think we have a Trouble. And a Troubled person out there who is apparently pretty upset with you."

"Well, that'll really narrow down the list of suspects," Nathan remarked in an undertone that Duke was quite sure was meant to be audible.

"Come on." Audrey headed out of the room, Nathan on her heels.

Following after them, Duke rolled his eyes heavenward and muttered to himself. "Why me, Buddha? Why is it always me?"


oOo

Nathan and Audrey were already examining the scorch marks on the deck by the time Duke pulled his Landrover alongside Nathan's truck. Tracy's car was gone; she'd agreed to lock up while he took off to find Audrey, but refused to stay longer, claiming she had to pick up her son from school and take him to a doctor's appointment.

As Duke joined Nathan and Audrey, Audrey pulled a photo from the file she carried—presumably the same one she'd showed Nathan back in her office. "See? They're the same."

Duke squinted at the photograph, which showed a wall with a similar pattern of sooty trails to those marking his deck. A corner of a glass-topped case filled one side of the picture. "Wait. Is that from this morning, at the jewelry store?"

Audrey nodded, still looking at Nathan, waiting for his response.

Nathan rubbed the back of his neck, his expression skeptical. "You're saying a dragon attacked the jewelry store?"

Audrey shrugged, her cheeks flushing a little. "Dragons like sparkly stuff…?" she offered. "Maybe it's making itself a nest somewhere. And the way the window was smashed in…." She gestured at the cracked boards on the wall of the Gull.

"And it attacked Duke because….?" Nathan raised his eyebrows.

Audrey dipped her head, conceding the point. "OK, that part I haven't figured out yet." She turned to Duke. "Any suggestions?"

Duke poked at the scarred deck with his toe. "Not that I can think of." He looked up and caught Audrey and Nathan exchanging a doubtful look. "Hey, okay, I'll admit it. I've pissed off a lot of people in my time. But not in the last few days. Not that I know of, anyway."

"So…." Audrey began pacing along the deck, looking at the damage to the chairs and wall and decking. "The dragon was at the jewelry store last night, stealing sparkly stuff. And then it was here this afternoon, trying to kill Duke. And now it's…?" She lifted her head looked around, as if she expected the dragon to reappear.

"You think it's going to come back?" Duke glanced nervously over his shoulder at the sea behind him.

Audrey waved a hand. "It must have gone somewhere."

Duke took a step closer to Nathan and muttered, "Are you buying this?"

Nathan shrugged. "It's your dragon." He was watching Audrey as she continued to pace about, mouthing silently to herself. "Besides, Parker has a theory." He invested the word with a high degree of disdain. "We're just gonna have to wait till she's worked her way through it and gotten it out of her system."

Audrey abruptly stopped her pacing and turned toward them. "The kid." She gestured along the parking lot. "You said there was a kid hanging around?"

Duke nodded. "I thought it might have been Tracy's son, but she said he was at school."

"Maybe if we can find him, he can tell us more," Nathan suggested. "He could have seen if someone else was hanging around. Or it could even be his Trouble. What did he look like?"

"Umm." Duke scrunched his eyes closed for a second and tried to remember. "Fifteen, sixteen, maybe? Mousy hair, kinda scrawny. A bit geeky looking…. Had a red jacket with… a Cutters logo, I think." Duke opened his eyes and looked at Audrey. "Could've been that kid who was at the jewelry store this morning."

Audrey raised her eyebrows. "Zach?" When Duke nodded, she closed the file she was still holding. "Sounds like we should go talk to him, then. Find out what he knows."

oOo

"This is it." Nathan drew his car to a halt in front of a white clapboard house to the right of the road.

From the back seat, Duke peered past him, scanning the place. The drive was empty and the place had a forlorn look. On the porch, a swing seat creaked a little in the wind. "You think anyone's in?"

"Let's go see." Audrey pushed open the passenger door.

There was no answer to her knock when the three of them climbed the steps to the front door. Nathan gestured to Duke to head around between the house and the fence. "You take the right. Audrey and I'll go check out the other side and the yard."

"Without a gun?" Duke didn't like the sound of that.

It was Nathan who answered, rolling his eyes. "He's a fifteen year old kid."

"Who can summon a dragon," Duke pointed out.

Audrey gave him a small push. "You'll be fine. If anything happens, we'll be right here."

"Okay." Duke reluctantly began to circle the house, squinting up at the windows. The wall next to the fence was largely blank, but when he rounded the corner, he thought he saw movement in the upstairs room at the far end of the house. Resting his hand on the wall, he tilted his head, trying to get a better look without being seen himself. Yep, he was sure of it now: a figure half hidden by the curtain was watching the yard.

Duke was about to slide back toward the corner and retrace his steps, so he could alert Audrey and Nathan, when he heard a high-pitched yelp from the far side of the house. Throwing caution to the wind, he sprinted along the back of the house toward where Nathan was yelling Audrey's name.

Reaching the corner, he saw the two them standing by a summerhouse at the other end of the yard. Audrey was shaking off Nathan's hand. "It was just a cat. It just… startled me." She sounded embarrassed.

Duke instinctively looked up, trying to find the watching figure in the window again, but either whoever was up there had moved away from the glass or he couldn't see from this angle. Turning back, he took a step forward, planning to head across the lawn and tell the other two what he'd seen. Then he stopped, frozen to the spot.

Above the rooftops of the houses opposite, he could see an all-too familiar shape approaching. He wanted to call out to warn the others, but the words stuck in his throat. Audrey must have seen the same thing a moment later, though, because Duke could see the shock on her face even across the width of the yard.

"Oh my god!" She put out a hand to turn Nathan and point him toward where the dragon was swooping down on them.

Duke had a moment to wonder if the dragon simply hadn't seen him yet, or if he wasn't the target this time, before Nathan shoved Audrey aside, wheeling round and placing himself between her and the dragon, one arm spread wide, his other hand fumbling for his gun.

Nathan, you idiot! Just because you can't feel doesn't mean you can't be burned to a crisp! Duke found his legs were moving as he tried to beat the dragon across the grass and drag Nathan into the inadequate safety of the summerhouse. He'd scarcely taken three steps when the dragon, already over the garden, sent a burst of flame in Nathan's direction. The flames scorched the ground under Nathan's feet as Nathan threw himself sideways. Sailing past, the dragon swung its tail, smacking Nathan with a loud thump and sending him sprawling.

Duke took another stride forward—and then instinctively dropped to his knees, arms over his head, as the rattle of gunfire rang out. When the bullets didn't seem to be coming in his direction, he risked a look.

Audrey had overturned the table on a small terrace a few yards away and was crouched behind it while she emptied her gun into the dragon. The weapon seemed to have no effect: the dragon closed on her, seizing the edge of the table in its claws and pulling it over completely, before grasping Audrey around the waist and—.

Oh crap! Duke watched in horror as the dragon lifted her into the air, its wings flapping laboriously as it fought to gain height with its extra burden. Audrey was kicking out and beating at it with her hands, to no avail. "Put me down, damn you." Her gun went sideways as she lost her grip on it.

Duke pushed to his feet, resuming his sprint across the grass, but the dragon was already laboring over the picket fence at the back of the yard, far above his head.

Reaching the fence, Duke leaned over it, his hands digging into the rough wood, and helplessly yelled Audrey's name after the rapidly dwindling shape.

Chapter Three

Duke smacked his fist into the fence in frustration as he lost sight of the dragon. How the hell were they going to find it—and Audrey?

A groan from behind him and a groggy "What happened?" made him turn. Nathan was raising himself up on his elbows, shaking his head.

Duke hurried across to him and helped him sit up. "The dragon got you." He leaned back as he saw Nathan had a cut on his cheek. "You're bleeding," he pointed out.

"What?" Nathan put his hand up and prodded at the cut. He examined the blood smeared on his fingers, before looking up and around. "Where's Audrey?"

"The dragon took her," Duke admitted reluctantly. He knew Nathan wasn't going to like the answer.

He was right. Nathan scrambled to his knees and grabbed Duke's shoulder. "What the hell? Why didn't you stop it?"

"Hey!" Duke shoved Nathan's hand away. The last thing they needed was for Nathan to get blood on him. "What d'you expect me to do? Audrey emptied her gun into it and the damn thing didn't even blink."

From the corner of his eye, he caught a movement near the front of the house. He whipped his head up and saw the kid—Zach—was trying to sneak down the front steps. "Oh, no you don't." Scrambling to his feet, Duke hurled himself after Zach. The kid tried to run but Duke reached him in a few quick strides and seized his arm. Holding Zach tight enough to make him squeak in protest, Duke marched him back toward where Nathan had lurched unsteadily upright. "You're not going anywhere until you tell us exactly what's going on."

Twenty minutes later, Nathan was sitting on the back step of the ambulance Duke had insisted on calling. He'd wanted to head straight off to find Audrey, but Duke had pointed out they had no idea where to even begin to look—and that Nathan was in no fit state to go anywhere right then. Nathan had tried to argue, but after trying to take a couple of steps and needing Duke to catch him with the hand that wasn't still tightly gripped around Zach's arm, he'd reluctantly agreed to sit down again and wait for the EMTs to check him out.

Duke hadn't been able to get much out of Zach while they stuck around for the ambulance and Nathan got patched up. The kid kept insisting he didn't know anything and he certainly didn't know where Audrey was. With Nathan no longer bleeding and looking a little more together—although the EMTs reckoned he likely had a concussion—Duke tried again.

"So, how d'you get the dragon to turn up?" Duke gave Zach's arm a little shake, pressing down on his own fear that the longer they took to find Audrey, the less chance there was of finding her alive. "Where does it come from? Where does it go?"

"I don't know." Zach scowled down at his trainers, refusing to meet Duke's gaze. "I don't know about any dragon, okay?"

"But you know about the Troubles, right?" Nathan had pulled out his cellphone and was ruefully looking at the smashed screen: seemed he'd landed full on it when the dragon had knocked him sideways. He wearily closed the phone and looked up at Zach.

Zach gave a grudging nod.

Duke resisted the urge to shake Zach harder. "But you were at the jewelry store. And you were outside the Grey Gull when the dragon showed up, weren't you?" Zach shrugged sulkily in acknowledgment. "And then you were here. Right when the dragon swooped down, picked up Audrey—Officer Parker, and carried her off." Duke's voice rose as he struggled to stay calm: what if the dragon had disappeared as suddenly as it had back at the Gull, but while Audrey was a few hundred feet up in the air or somewhere over the middle of the sea?

"I don't know anything." Zach swung his head up, his expression anguished. "Why would I want anything bad to happen to Officer Parker? She was nice. She stopped those other kids—." He turned red. "And she got my book back from them, and then she talked to me about it." He pulled a dog-eared paperback out of his coat pocket.

Duke snatched the book off him and stared at it in disbelief: the cover was filled with an illustration of a large purple dragon with malevolent golden eyes. He turned the book around and waved it in Zach's face. "This?" He jabbed it closer. "This is what attacked me and took Officer Parker. So don't tell me you don't know anything." Shoving the book back into Zach's hands, he leaned closer. "Now, where did it take her?"

"I—I don't know," Zach stuttered. His eyes were wide with fear. "I swear. I don't know where the dragon came from, or… or how it got here, or where it went."

Nathan had his hand to his forehead, blinking like he was having trouble focusing. "Were you at the jewelry store last night?"

Zach shook his head. "No. But I—I had this really weird dream. That I broke in and stole a bunch of stuff and I was… really big." He dropped his head and added in a mutter. "And… I could breathe fire…."

Duke huffed a sigh. "So you do know about the dragon?"

"Yes, but…." Zach was talking to his shoes again. "I thought it was just a dream. And then when I stopped by the jewelry store and saw what happened…. I wanted to tell Officer Parker, but she got called away. And then you said she lived at the Grey Gull, so I thought…."

That instead of trying to get her attention again, or going to the police station and asking to speak to her, you'd go to her home and talk to her there. Duke reckoned he was beginning to get a handle on what might be going on here. "And you brought the dragon to the Gull and had it attack me because…?" He quirked an eyebrow, not really needing to ask the question to know the answer.

Zach shuffled his feet. "I saw you go upstairs. I heard you say you left some things there last night. I thought…."

"That Officer Parker was my girlfriend," Duke finished for him. "And you were jealous."

Zach nodded, what was visible of his lowered face bright red between the freckles and the acne.

Nathan snorted quietly, though whether in disbelief that all of this had been caused by a teenager's hopeless crush or at the notion of Duke and Audrey dating wasn't clear. He rubbed a hand across his chin. "So now all we need to do is figure out where Audrey is and how to get her back…."

Duke let go of Zach. His stomach was still churning with fear, but he was no longer angry with the kid. He had a feeling that if either he or Nathan had Zach's Trouble, the same thing would've happened eventually. "And you're gonna help us find her, right?"

Zach nodded, relaxing slightly and making no move to run.

Duke was trying to work out what question to ask Zach next when his phone rang. His heart skipped a beat when he saw who the caller was. He pressed the phone to his ear. "Audrey? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just a bit shaken up." Audrey sounded like she was whispering.

Seeing the mixture of hope and fear on Nathan's face, Duke nodded at him to relay Audrey's answer. "Where are you?"

"In a cave on the cliffs somewhere." Audrey gave a choked half-chuckle. "I found the stolen jewelry." There was a faint clink on the other end of the line, as if she'd poked or kicked something metallic—a heap of shiny stuff piled into a bed for the dragon, Duke guessed. Before he could ask her where the dragon was, she said hurriedly, "How are you guys?"

"We're fine. Nathan's a bit woozy, but he's okay." Duke took a step back and batted Nathan's hand away as Nathan made to take the phone from him. "What about the dragon?"

"It's asleep." That would explain the whispering. "Flew in here, dropped me on the floor and curled up for a nap. Guess it thinks I can't escape—and it'd be right." The sound of the sea in the background grew louder, suggesting she'd moved toward the cave entrance. "We're twenty or thirty feet above the sea, and the waves are breaking pretty hard. I could maybe climb up, but I sprained my wrist. Can't put much weight on it…."

"Okay." Duke scrubbed a hand through his hair and tried to think logically. "We'll come find you and get you out. Could you see which way it took you?" He mouthed the word Map at Nathan and gestured for them to follow him over to the truck.

"I know we went past Walton Lighthouse…." She sounded uncertain. Duke cursed her lack of local knowledge—but the lighthouse was pretty distinctive, and at least now he had a bead on whether they'd gone north or south.

Zach hovered at Nathan's shoulder, his expression anxious, as Nathan spread a map of the area out on the hood. Duke indicated the right direction. "What else can you see?"

"Umm, there's a pretty long island… kinda low? And a couple of little pointy ones to the left of that." Her voice faded in and out and Duke guessed she was turning her head to see what other landmarks were in sight.

Duke tracked a finger up the map. "Okay, sounds like—"

"Uh-oh, gotta go…." The line went dead.

"Audrey?" Duke knew she'd hung up—or, at least, he hoped to God she'd hung up and not, say, had the phone smashed out of her hand—but it didn't stop him trying to see if she was still there. "Audrey?" He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the display to confirm the line was dead.

"What happened?" Nathan looked like he was ready to snatch the phone again.

Duke shrugged. "She hung up. I think the dragon was waking up."

"It's there with her?" Nathan's eyes widened.

"Uh-huh." Duke leaned over the map again. "She said it was asleep on all that shiny stuff from the jewelry store. Sounds like she's stuck in a cave on the cliffs somewhere across from Gifford Island." He tapped the map.

Nathan studied the area Duke had indicated for a moment and then shook his head. "We need a boat. We'll never be able to see her from above."

"We can take mine." Duke shoved his phone back in his pocket and began folding up the map.

"We should get the harbormaster—," Nathan began to object

"This'll be quicker and the Gull's halfway in the right direction already," Duke pointed out. Nathan looked like he was going to argue, but then he shook his head, as if trying to clear it. Duke saw his hands tense on the hood as he leaned more heavily against the truck; he guessed Nathan's concussion was kicking up a notch. "And I'm driving us there. You're in no fit state."

Nathan again opened his mouth, before once more snapping it shut. He squeezed his eyes closed and nodded.

Duke headed for the driver's door, clamping a hand on Zach's shoulder as he passed him and steering him toward the door. "You too. Whatever the hell your Trouble is, we need to fix it."

oOo

Duke steered Nathan's truck toward the Gull as fast as he dared without incurring a reprimand from Nathan for either speeding or mishandling the Bronco. He'd brought the others up to speed on the rest of his conversation with Audrey. Now he glanced in the mirror, catching Zach's eye where he sat in the middle of the rear seat. "So, this book with the dragon. What happens to it?"

"The dragon?" Zach sounded surprised.

Nathan snorted. "You think some elves-and-swords fantasy's gonna help us rescue Audrey?"

"There aren't any elves." Now Zach sounded offended. There was a pause and then he added. "There is a sword, though. A magic one."

Duke slowed a little as they approached a corner. Once they were safely round it, he explained patiently, "This thing looks like that picture on the cover. And it's being created by Zach's mind. So we need to know what's in the book and what Zach's imagining, so we know what we're up against."

Nathan sniffed disdainfully, but didn't say anything.

Duke turned his attention back to Zach. "So what happens to the dragon?"

"Umm… the guy kills it. With the magic sword." The last came out in a mumble. Another glance in the mirror showed Duke that Zach had his head bent and had gone bright red again.

"Of course he does," Duke muttered to himself. Where the hell were they going to find a magic sword?

There was a moment's silence, during which Nathan was apparently asking himself the same question. "We can't find another way to get rid of it?" He put one hand on the dash to steady himself as Duke swung the truck on to the coast road.

"Who knows?" Duke straightened the wheel and pressed down on the gas again. "But I reckon Audrey needs to talk to Zach to make it go away permanently. Before that…?" He shrugged. "I'd rather not be burned to a crisp. And bullets didn't work, but the fire extinguisher did. So either the dragon's gotten stronger or… or guns don't exist in the book but water does." Seeing Nathan rolling his eyes, he lifted a hand off the wheel, waving off his unspoken objection. "Hey, I'm not making the rules here. I'm just trying to figure them out."

There was a minute's silence while they all pondered that, before Zach confirmed quietly, "There's no guns. Swords, bows, an ax, I think…."

Duke wished he'd bothered to have a fire ax installed at the Gull. If there'd been time, he would've swung by the Cape Rouge and picked up the cutlass hanging above the entrance to his stateroom—but the detour would add another thirty minutes to the trip. He ran through an inventory in his mind of the Gull's decor, the equipment in the kitchen, the—.

The answer came to him even as he turned into the Gull's parking lot and slewed the truck to a halt by the front door. He scrabbled for his keys as he killed the truck's ignition. "Get to the boat and get ready to cast off," he told Nathan. "I need to pick up something from inside."

Not waiting for Nathan's nod, he headed toward the building. Two minutes later, he was back outside, locking the door and hurrying around to the dock. Nathan was standing ready to unhook the rope from the mooring. He had a pair of binoculars slung round his neck and a rope coiled by his feet that he must have brought from the truck. Zach was cowering in one of the seats.

"You have got to be kidding me…." Nathan was staring at the sharpening steel Duke had snatched from the kitchen.

"Best I could come up with, okay?" Duke snarled back. He wasn't exactly happy about it, either.

With the boat rocking under him as he leaped on board, he lunged for the control panel and slotted the ignition key into place. The outboard coughed into life as he pressed the starter. "Let's go!"

A glance over his shoulder showed him Nathan had cast off, and he eased open the throttle.

Five minutes later, they were speeding across the bay toward the cliffs on the far side. Gifford's Island bulked low a mile or so out from the shore and Duke steered them toward the gap between.

Nathan already had the binoculars up and was scanning the cliffs on the mainland. "Could be a while before we can see her," he warned. "Sounds like she's at the other end if she can see the Shaws…."

Duke nodded: that had been his guess when Audrey had told him she could see the two smaller islands. Even so, he slowed the boat a little as they came into the lee of Gifford's Island, giving Nathan plenty of time to search. While they motored on, he dug out his phone and glanced at it: they were still too far from shore for him to get a signal. He shoved the phone back in his pocket, hoping Audrey hadn't been trying to phone him all this time.

Another twenty minutes passed. Duke was just about ready to suggest they swap places, finally finding it impossible to keep a lid on his impatience, even though he knew Nathan was doing his best, when Nathan said, "I see her." The relief in his voice was palpable. He offered the binoculars to Duke. "Just to the left of that headland with the clump of firs.

Duke focused the binoculars on the headland, before tracking down and then left until he saw something being waved—Audrey's sheepskin coat. His heart leaped at the sight. Handing the binoculars back to Nathan, he put the wheel over and pointed the boat toward the cliff.

Audrey still seemed impossibly small against the looming rocks, even as they drew closer. Then Duke lost sight of her altogether as he eased the boat closer and concentrated on making sure they weren't smashed against the cliff by the waves breaking against the base of it. Nathan was leaning back, apparently still able to see her, because he reached out a hand to tell Duke to stop. "We're almost there."

Duke brought the boat to a halt, swinging the bow round to face the incoming waves, using just enough power to hold her stern two or three feet from the cliff.

"Hey, guys," Audrey's voice floated down to them over the slap of water against rock. Duke thought it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard. "Great timing. The dragon left about ten minutes ago."

Duke wondered why they hadn't seen it leave, but maybe they hadn't been looking in the right direction. Or maybe it had just looked like a large seabird at that distance.

Nathan still had his head tipped back. "You okay?" he called back.

"Yeah." She sounded cheerful enough, though Duke could hear the worry in her voice as she added, "Still can't put any real weight on my left wrist, though."

Duke waved a hand in front of Nathan's face to get his attention. "You hold the boat steady while I climb up with a rope. Then I can lower her down."

Nathan automatically began to move toward the pilot's seat as Duke eased away from it, though he offered a token objection. "I should—."

Duke didn't let him finish. "You hit your head, remember? Best I go." Once he was sure Nathan had the controls, he picked up the coil of rope and slung it across his body. He caught Zach's eye as he made his way past him. "Be ready to climb up once I've got the rope secure. We may need you." Zach gave him a nod, his eyes wide with fear.

Balancing on the stern, Duke sized up possible hand and footholds while he accustomed himself to the swell. Each wave lifted the boat up and down a few inches and carried it a short distance toward the cliff, before the engine took over again and returned them to their previous position. Sucking in a deep breath, he leaned forward and pushed off, his hands and feet scrabbling for purchase. He clung to the cliff for a moment, making sure he had a secure grip, before beginning climb, slowly and carefully. Somewhere out there was a fire-breathing dragon that might return at any moment, but he couldn't afford to make a mistake and slip.

At last, he reached the cave entrance, reaching up to grab the weathered edge of the floor, checking it wasn't going to crumble when he put his weight on it. Another heave and he could lift his head high enough to gain his first sight of Audrey and—.

"Woah!" Duke froze where he was, not quite able to believe his eyes. Back at Zach's house, Audrey had been dressed in jeans and a sweater and the sheepskin coat. Now—.

She reached forward and helped him haul himself over the edge. He rolled onto his back, catching his breath, and gawped up at her again.

"Hey, don't blame me." Audrey gave an exasperated shrug. "It happened while you were climbing up. One minute I'm dressed like normal. Next thing I know, I'm wearing this." She plucked fretfully at her new outfit.

Duke blinked but it made no difference. Audrey now looked like she and the dragon had made a side-trip on their way to the cave and stopped by Haven Maskerade—Haven's finest fancy dress store, according to the banner strung inside the window; it was also the town's only fancy dress store—and picked up a Disney Princess outfit. A very sexy Disney Princess, at that….

Duke closed his eyes again, reflecting he now knew far more than ever he wanted to about what turned Zach's crank.

Chapter Four

"So, are you just going to lie there, or are we going to do something about getting out of here before the dragon comes back?" Audrey poked Duke gently with her toe.

"Dragon. Right," Duke muttered to himself. Opening his eyes again, he scrambled to his feet and pulled the coiled rope over his head. He looked around the cave for somewhere to secure it, glad to see there were plenty of outcrops that looked like they'd make a suitable anchor point. Choosing one, he began looping the rope around it. "We'll make a harness and lower you down."

"Uh-huh." Audrey took a few steps back toward the cave entrance, peering out.

Glancing up, he noticed she was cradling her left wrist in her right hand. It wasn't the only thing he was noticing: he didn't know much about what kind of underpinnings were needed to achieve the effect—a Trouble and an overactive imagination, the more rational part of his brain pointed out—but Audrey seemed to be all breasts in her Princess get-up: a vast expanse of bare skin and cleavage exposed by the low scoop of the neckline. Below that, the material clung and swirled about her hips and legs, showing off her curves to best advantage. Not that Duke didn't already know Audrey was an attractive woman, but hot damn…. Apparently what turned Zach's crank turned his own as well.

Snorting quietly to himself, he shook his head to clear it. So not the time, Crocker. He focused again on fixing the rope in place. "You're really okay?" he asked.

"Uh-huh." Audrey kicked impatiently at the train of her dress: another half dozen impractical yards of material fastened to her shoulders and dragging along the floor behind her, threatening to wrap themselves around her ankles and trip her up with each step she took. "I don't think the dragon wants to hurt me. Actually," she turned back to face Duke, "I don't think it quite knows what to do with me. It didn't like me being near the entrance when it woke up, but all it did was growl at me and nudge me back. Then it sat and looked at me for a while. And when I tried to call you again, it knocked the phone out of my hand and trod on it." She pointed and Duke saw a small heap of splintered plastic and circuit board near the larger pile of jewelry and silverware toward the rear of the cave. "I guess it wants to keep me here. But do dragons even know about cellphones?"

"This one might." Duke finished tying the final knot and gave the rope a hard yank to make sure it was secure. Uncoiling the rest of the rope, he began working on a harness. "We talked to Zach. Turns out he has a bit of crush on you—and a book with a dragon…."

"Right!" Audrey leaned back against the wall, tipping her head back and letting out a heavy sigh. "I remember now. I even read the damn thing, years ago. Or, at least, the real Audrey did." She sighed again. "So this is all about Zach wanting to be a hero and win the princess's heart?"

Duke nodded, his attention fixed on the harness emerging under his hands. He heard Audrey puff out another frustrated breath.

"Well I guess that at least explains this," she muttered. Glancing up, he saw she was poking at the dress again.

"Uh-huh." He studied her for a moment, before remarking in an offhanded way he knew would get a rise out of her, "It is kinda hot…."

She gave him a glare that could have put Medusa to shame.

He bent back to the harness, grinning despite the seriousness of the situation. "Could always say you look nice, if you prefer…." He remembered how much that had bothered her, back when they'd first met.

"I swear, Crocker, when we get out of here—."

Whatever threat Audrey had been about to make was cut short by a hail from Nathan down at the foot of cliff. "Hey, guys, better hurry it up. The dragon's coming back."

oOo

The half finished harness still in his hands, Duke hurried toward the cave entrance, squinting against the light bouncing off the water as he searched for the dragon.

Audrey joined him, shading her eyes with her hand. "There." She pointed and he saw it now: still some way off but growing larger by the second. There was no way he was going to get the harness finished and Audrey lowered down before it arrived—and he reckoned it wasn't going to be happy to find him in the cave with her.

Apparently Audrey was thinking the same thing. "We need to get Zach up here," she murmured. "See if I can talk him out of this."

Duke nodded. He leaned further out until he could see the boat holding station below. "Zach, you need to get up here." Nathan, looking back over his shoulder as he worked to keep the boat steady, started to object, but Duke shook his head. "There's no way we'll make it down in time."

Nathan looked like he still wasn't happy with the idea, but he gave a grim nod of acceptance.

Leaving the harness unfinished, Duke cast the rope down, aiming for the boat. Zach had the presence of mind to grab it before the end slid into the water.

He looked up, his expression terrified. "How do I—?"

"I can pull you up." Duke was stepping over the rope, wrapping it around him. "You'll need to wrap the rope round your hands and hold on, and then walk your feet up the cliff to take some of the weight, okay?"

Zach nodded, not looking much reassured.

"Duke!" Nathan raised a hand to get his attention. "Once Zach's started, I'll take the boat away from the cliff. Might distract the dragon for a few minutes."

"Okay. Just—" Duke rolled his eyes. "—don't let it set fire to the boat." Backing up a couple of steps, he braced himself and then nodded at Audrey to signal to Zach he was ready.

Zach's weight was heavy on the rope for a moment—lucky he was a skinny kid and not a linebacker on the high school football team—and then eased a little, suggesting the kid must have found some purchase for his feet. At a gesture from Audrey to indicate Zach was ready, Duke began to shuffle backward, bringing Zach slowly with him.

It still seemed a painfully long time before Zach's head emerged above the cave floor and Audrey reached down and put a hand under his arm to help pull him over the edge. Puffing out a relieved breath, Duke let the rope drop and stepped toward where Zach was bent over on his hands and knees, gasping. "Where's the dragon now?"

Audrey took another look outside. "Checking out Nathan and the boat." She touched Zach's shoulder. "We should move back. Give it space to land if it wants to."

Zach nodded, lifting his head as he began to push to his feet. He froze, his eyes wide with shock. Duke saw him swallow hard. "Did I do that?" he managed to croak out.

"This?" Audrey touched her skirt. She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, you did."

"Jeez, I'm—." He scrambled to his feet and backed away from her, his face bright red, looking everywhere but at her. "God, I'm so sorry. I—."

"It's okay." She took a step after him, but Duke saw she was careful not to crowd him. Probably wise: if she got too close, she'd be shoving that impressive cleavage in his face. Duke was having a hard time not staring at it himself. Audrey added, with a quiet chuckle, "I suppose it's kinda flattering, in a way…."

She caught Duke's eye and tilted her head toward the sea: Keep an eye out? Duke nodded and edged towards the cave entrance, keeping well to the side. The dragon was still hovering above Nathan, who was heading straight across to Gifford's Island.

The sharpening steel he'd forgotten he was carrying clinked against the rock as he leaned against the cave wall. Snorting to himself, he pulled it out of his belt, testing its weight in his hand. He hoped Audrey could do her thing with Zach before he was forced to use it.

She'd settled the two of them on a couple of boulders on the opposite side of the cave from where Duke stood. It meant he'd be able to follow the conversation while still watching for the dragon, though he would've preferred to have them behind him, so he'd be between them and the dragon if it returned. On the other hand, they'd all seen how well that had worked out for Nathan, back at Zach's house. Audrey was likely doing what she could to protect him, making sure he wouldn't be—literally—in the line of fire.

Audrey gave Zach another smile, before saying, very gently, "I am flattered you like me, Zach. Really. And I did enjoy talking to you. You're smart and you're funny. But…." She quirked an eyebrow. "I am a little on the old side for you, don't you think? I know it's a cliche, but it usually is better to date people your own age. You've got more in common—not just interests but where you are in life. I mean, you've got school and, uh, SAT tests, and getting into college, and all those other things in your future, right? And I've got…."

She paused, her gaze flicking past Zach to Duke. Duke silently supplied the rest for her: Not much future at all. Less than a month now. Though he intended to do everything he could to change that.

Audrey looked back at Zach and said, with a visible effort, "…worrying about my job and paying the rent and… and all sorts of boring grown-up things like that."

Zach bit his lip. "But we could still be friends?"

Audrey nodded. "Yes. I'd like that. But I'm not exactly good girlfriend material right now…."

Zach bent his head, apparently considering what Audrey had said. She took the opportunity to catch Duke's eye, raising one eyebrow questioning. Taking another look outside to confirm what was going on, Duke saw Nathan had reached the middle of the channel between the mainland and the island and had turned the boat to begin running slowly along the coast. The dragon was circling around him, apparently still interested but not inclined to act.

Turning back to face Audrey, Duke raised the hand holding the sharpening steel in a fist, mouthing Nathan's name, and then circled his other hand around it. Audrey nodded to show she'd understood.

Lowering his hands, Duke saw Zach was watching them from underneath his lashes. A frown creased his forehead. His gaze slipped past Duke toward the cave entrance, making Duke turn as well.

"Oh, crap!" Duke breathed, shifting his grip on the sharpening steel. The dragon had broken off from its examination of Nathan and was now heading straight toward the cave.

"What?" Audrey had obviously picked up that something was wrong.

Duke swallowed, remembering the attack at the Gull, remembering the damn thing could breathe fire. "It's coming back. Half a mile, maybe."

"Okay." Audrey still sounded remarkably calm, although he could hear an edge of fear in her voice that matched his own as she said, speaking urgently. "Zach? Zach? Listen to me! You created the dragon so you could be a hero, right? So that I'd be grateful when you rescued me, like the characters in the book?" There was a slight pause, when she must have been waiting for Zach to agree, before she went on hurriedly. "Well, you know, life isn't really like fiction. Rescuing the girl: that doesn't guarantee she'll fall in love with you. In fact, a lot of girls would quite like to be able to rescue themselves. Or to work with the guy so they can rescue each other. Help each other, you know?"

Duke heard Zach mumble something that sounded half accepting and half resentful, though he didn't catch the words and didn't try to. Most of his attention was fixed on the dragon, which had nearly halved the distance to the cave. Not looking at Audrey, Duke held up three fingers and then shook his head and put one of them down, indicating she maybe had two minutes left.

"Other people aren't just, uh, NPCs,—"

Aren't what? Duke wondered, only just stopping himself from asking the question out loud. Had Audrey lost her mind?

"—there to help us along on our quest. They have their own quests. Their own ambitions. Girls like guys who want to help them with that. Or who maybe just make life a little more fun or a little easier. Make them laugh. Or who help other people just because other people need help. Because it's the right thing to do. Not to impress the girl."

The cave fell silent, apart from the soft echo of the slap of the waves at the base of the cliff and, at the edge of hearing, the slow thump of the dragon's wings beating against the air as it drew closer. Duke risked a quick glance and saw Audrey had her gaze fixed on Zach, who had his head bent and seemed to be considering her words. He wanted to go across and shake the kid—Don't you know there's a damn dragon outside?—but he trusted Audrey to know what she was doing.

The dragon was no more than a hundred yards away from the cave when Zach finally spoke. "Like he does for you?" Duke guessed Zach meant himself. Seemed the kid was more perceptive than he would've given him credit for. Or Duke wasn't as good at hiding how he felt about Audrey as he'd hoped.

"Yeah." Audrey's voice had a catch in it. "And like I try to do for him. And you'll find someone you can do that with, too. But it's not me."

"Yeah." Zach sounded a little sad. "Yeah. I get it now."

"Uh, guys…?" Duke took a step back. Whether or not Zach got it, the dragon was still coming—was nearly there. Duke opened his mouth to tell them that—and then froze as he felt a sudden and unexpected weight on the top of his head, and on his shoulders and chest and legs. He looked down—the movement created a soft cascade of clinking—and blinked.

He was dressed from head to toe in armor: chainmail on his body; leather guards on his arms and shins; a helmet with the visor pushed up on his head. The sharpening steel had transformed itself into a long and very shiny sword.

"Oh, crap," was all he had time to say before, with a clatter of folding wings and scrabbling claws, the dragon landed in the cave mouth and lunged toward him.

Chapter Five

Duke leaped back, automatically bringing up the sword to defend himself. It bounced off the dragon's snout with a dull clang that jarred his arm, but at least seemed to make the dragon check.

He took another slow and clumsy pace back, the armor weighing heavily on him. He suddenly had a lot more sympathy for Audrey and her ridiculous dress. Who on earth thought it was a good idea to wear stuff like this?

He was half-aware of Audrey pushing Zach deeper into the cave, with an insistent, "Stay there!", while he used the sword to parry another attempt by the dragon to grab him. The dragon growled, wisps of smoke or steam rising from its nostrils. Duke shuffled a bit further back, wondering if the damn thing was about to flame. It would have been far more helpful if Zach's imagination had provided him with a nice heatproof shield instead of trussing him up in glorified aluminum foil like a Thanksgiving turkey. How was he even supposed to defeat this thing, anyway?

At least the couple of blows he'd landed seemed to be making the dragon think twice. It was now studying him with those large golden eyes as intently as he was studying it. A vague memory came back to him of reading something about dragons being "softer underneath". He lowered his head, trying to get a better look at the dragon's chest.

The movement was a mistake: the visor on his helmet came clanging down, limiting his view of the world to a narrow slit. "Dammit!"

He reached up with his free hand and fumbled at the visor, trying to figure out how to flip it back up.

"Here." The visor lifted; a glance across showed him Audrey at his shoulder. She was watching the dragon cautiously. "Any ideas?"

"Stab the damn thing?" Duke suggested, waggling the sword a little. Now that he could see properly again, he would have sworn the dragon was wearing a confused expression—though he had no idea how he could tell. Something about the set of its brow ridges, maybe? It was definitely hesitating, though, perhaps worried about hurting Audrey if it attacked.

Duke could also now see that the dragon had hide rather than scales on its chest and belly, but there was no way to reach a vulnerable spot with the dragon crouched low in front of him.

"Maybe we can still talk to—?" Audrey began, but she didn't get a chance to finish the sentence. The dragon had apparently had enough of waiting—or Zach didn't want his Trouble talked away and would prefer Duke fried to a crisp—because it lunged forward again. Duke thrust at it with the sword, trying to aim for its eye but unable to get near enough before the dragon's snout caught him in the chest and knocked him backward. Duke staggered, the unaccustomed armor threatening to drag him over entirely, before he managed to push himself back upright using the sword.

Then something small flew at the dragon, followed by a second object. As the missiles bounced off the dragon's crest and cheek, he realized Audrey had pulled off her shoes and thrown them. A moment later, a fist-sized rock followed, and then a larger one. "Rocks. Right," Duke muttered to himself. "Why didn't I think of that?" Maybe because bending down while wearing what felt like his own body weight in armor hadn't seemed like a good move.

He was still trying to decide what he should do next when a third rock from Audrey hit the dragon smack between the eyes. It reared up, front legs flailing in the air while it roared its anger, the sound deafening as it bounced back from the cave walls. For a brief moment, its chest was exposed, and Duke's instinct for self-preservation kicked in. Throwing himself forward, he plunged the point of his sword into the bare hide, trusting that if he didn't find the dragon's heart, he'd hit something equally vital.

The dragon squealed in pain, legs thrashing wildly. One of them caught Duke a blow that made the helmet and his head ring. Then the dragon reeled back, tearing the sword from Duke's hand as it tottered and swayed. It sucked in a deep breath and made a sorry effort to flame, the hot gust sailing high and harmless over Duke's head, before it toppled backward and, with a final, feeble wave of its forelegs, slumped into stillness.

The next instant, there was a bright flash and a thunderclap—and the dragon vanished. Duke found himself looking at a cave floor littered with nothing more than a scattering of rocks, Audrey's shoes—her real shoes—and the sharpening steel, rolling quietly until it came to a stop against a rock.

He sensed Audrey stepping closer to him and he instinctively put out his hand to catch her shoulder. She leaned against him and he turned his head and rested his cheek against her hair for a moment, drawing in a deep, shuddering breath of relief. The weight had lifted from his body, and he knew he was back in his own clothes, just as he could feel, under his hand, that Audrey was once more wearing her sheepskin jacket.

"You okay?" Audrey murmured after a moment.

"Yeah." Duke drew in another deep breath and then reluctantly pushed away from her. He took a careful look at her. For a second or two, he felt a small amount of regret that the dress was gone—she really had looked very hot in it—but, no: there was no better sight than Audrey dressed the way she usually was. "You?"

She nodded at him, before her gaze slid past him. He turned and saw Zach was making his way toward them from the back of the cave.

"I get it now," Zach mumbled. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, shoulders hunched. "Stupid of me to think…."

"Hey." Audrey reached out and lightly touched his shoulder. "It's never stupid to have feelings for someone. You just have to accept they may not feel exactly the same way. And that you can't expect anything more than friendship, even if you do help them save the world."

She started to turn her head in Duke's direction and then stopped. He still got the message loud and clear. Ignoring a sudden tightness in his chest, he made his way toward the cave entrance and peered outside.

Nathan had brought the boat back toward the cliff, although he was still a couple of hundred yards offshore. Duke waved. After a moment, Nathan raised his hand in acknowledgment, and then began to bring the boat closer. Waiting for it to reach them, Duke bent and hauled up the rope, checking it as he paid it through his hands. It seemed undamaged, and he set to finishing the harness he'd been working on.

Behind him, Audrey was still talking to Zach—something about being more into teen vampires herself, but maybe they could hang out some time for coffee and to talk about books. "When my life's a little less complicated…," she added, her voice, colored with regret, growing louder as she moved closer.

Again, Duke felt his chest constrict. Less than a month until the Hunter…. A glance over his shoulder showed him Audrey had collected up her shoes and was slipping them on. She picked up the sharpening steel and offered it to him. "Nice sword." She chuckled softly, her mouth curving into a grin.

Duke nodded, wanting to lean forward and kiss her, seized by an urgent need to not waste the little time they had. Less than a month…. Instead, he finished tying the last knot on the harness and offered it to her in exchange for the steel. "Nathan's bringing the boat back. I'll lower you down." Another look over the cliff edge showed Nathan cautiously maneuvering the boat into place below them. He turned back and dipped his head in Zach's direction. "You too."

Ten minutes of physical effort later, Duke was following the two of them down into the boat.

"We can send a properly equipped team to recover the items from the jewelry store," Audrey was saying as Duke stepped across to the boat's transom and let go the rope. She reached out a hand to steady him.

"Dwight can handle it," Nathan pointed out, waiting until he was sure Duke was securely on board before gently opening the throttle and easing them away from the cliff. Once they were far enough offshore for him to point the boat back toward the Gull, he offered the controls back to Duke.

Audrey let go of Duke's arm as he swapped places with Nathan. He'd liked that she hadn't let go until then; liked it a lot, though he told himself it didn't mean anything. Nathan settled into the corner Duke had been occupying—Zach had been huddled in the seat next to the pilot's the whole time—while Duke concentrated on getting them all safely home. Duke heard him ask, "So, what happened back there?"

There was a moment's hesitation from Audrey, and then she said, a little too casually, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Duke reckoned ducking the question was the right choice. He couldn't imagine The Epick Adventure of Princess Audrey and Sir Duke of Greygull would go down too well with Nathan. Audrey cleared her throat. "What about you? Let me take a look at that."

Twisting around a little, he saw Audrey had her hands on either side of Nathan's face and was examining the cuts and bruises on his cheek and forehead. Nathan was muttering, "I'm okay…," but he didn't seem inclined to shake Audrey off.

Duke forced himself to face forward again, grateful that Zach didn't seem to be paying attention to the other two. Grateful that his own Trouble didn't involve jealousy-induced fire-breathing dragons. Because if it did, he admitted to himself with a roll of his eyes, they'd all of them be in a whole heap of danger right now…..

oOo

It was fully dark and the Gull was starting to get busy by the time Audrey came in. Duke saw her scan the place and then nod at him when she caught sight of him behind the bar.

He headed toward her as, grimacing wearily, she settled herself on a stool. "What can I get you?"

"A dirty martini." She rested her elbows on the bar and watched him as he mixed the drink.

He glanced up at her, noticing she'd changed her clothes for something a little dressier than earlier in the day, if not as show-stopping as her Princess outfit. She still looked good, though—despite the frown between her eyes. "No more dragons for me to slay?"

She shook her head. "Not the fire-breathing, imaginary kind."

Spearing an olive on a cocktail stick, he dropped it in the drink and pushed the glass toward her, waiting for the rest.

She stirred the drink for a moment with the olive. "Maybe some personal ones." She peered up at him from under her lashes.

He put his hands on the bar, leaning forward, eyebrows raised, inviting her to go on.

She twirled the olive around the drink again, before sucking it off the stick and then tossing back a gulp of the martini. Putting the glass down, not looking at him, she said. "Now I've found out who the Colorado Kid is, I want to go to Colorado, track down his family. See what they can tell me."

She lapsed into silence. Duke waited for her to say more, because he was sure there was more. When she didn't speak, he said, keeping his tone casual, "Sounds like a good idea."

She ran her finger round the top of her glass, still not meeting his eye. "I'd like you to come with me. If—" She shot him another quick glance.

He scrubbed a hand through his hair, surprised. "Don't you want Nathan—?" He stopped, feeling like he was treading on dangerous ground.

Audrey gave a slight shake of the head. "One of us needs to stay here. Keep working the murders. Besides…."

It was her turn not to finish, but Duke had a pretty good idea what she'd been going to say. Things had been rough between her and Nathan ever since she'd told him about the Hunter, about her going away. Duke didn't want to know the details, any more than he wanted to acknowledge to himself how his heart had beat a little faster when she'd first walked into the Gull a few minutes ago, or any of the other dozen signs that made it abundantly clear to him how he felt about her. Some things were better left alone.

She looked up at him, meeting his gaze at last. "Will you come?"

He could see the fear of what she might find, what she might not find, in her face. She needed a friend—to watch her back, to help her make sense of what the Cogans could tell her, to deal with the fallout.

Duke didn't want to be her friend; he wanted to be something else entirely. But what she needed was a friend.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'll come."