Tesser: A Dragon Among Us (A Reemergence Novel) (21 page)

Try as hard as he might, Tesser couldn't clear his mind of Matilde. Matty. He sat down the world almanac he was reading and let his mind wander.

Such a beautiful creature. Soft skin, intense eyes. And her scent. I know it from somewhere. Why can I not place it? Ahhh, she antagonizes me.

"Man, I feel like a million bucks, Tesser. Alexis is one hot woman. I do not know how you did it, but Tesser, you're the fucking man. Best wingman ever. Must be because you're a dragon, right? Get it? Wingman? Dragon?" Abe quipped. He collapsed happily into the luxurious couch in the lower sitting room of Mr. Doyle's opulent home.

Tesser smiled at his friend.
It is good to give you confidence, Abe. You are a beacon that is as yet unlit.

"I'm glad."

"You're glad? I'm fucking ecstatic. I went back to her place, Tesser. Do you understand what that's like for a guy like me?"

"Language, Abe, you wouldn't want Mr. Doyle to hear you." Tesser picked up the almanac once more.

"Ah, fuck him. I'm too happy still." Abe grabbed the remote and popped the television on. The sounds of reality television and news that pleased no one flooded the room. Both men's eyes drifted up to the widescreen television and immediately became entranced.

I think the television is evil.
"There is something strange with Matty," Tesser said before he realized it was a thought.

"Strange how? Dangerous strange? Or like, exotic and sexy strange?" Abe asked.

Tesser shook his head, unable to find the descriptive words needed. "She carries a scent. An old scent. She reminds me of snow, and running water, and long nights. I cannot place where it comes from, but it is familiar to me somehow. She perplexes me. It's going to drive me insane if I can't figure it out soon, Abe."

"You're crushing on her
hard
, bro," Abe teased.

Tesser gave Abe a hurt look. "My feelings for the lady aside, there is something quite incredible about her. Something old. It could be important."

"Well buddy, you should definitely stay in touch with her. If you're that interested in her scent, that is." Abe flipped the channel again. He found more news that depressed. "Does Alexis have a strange scent?"

"She smells of a woman about to pass her time of fertility. And I
am
that interested in Matty's scent. And I thank you for showing the appropriate level of concern over my challenged state regarding Matty. Typically when a dragon takes interest in something, it is worth putting some of your own time into that thing."

"You sound butt hurt, bro."

"You are taunting a dragon."

"I am taunting a man that says he is a dragon. There's a difference." Abe didn't even look over at Tesser. The magic of the television was in full effect.

"I could breathe fire on you and show you what's up."

Abe lolled his head to the side, completely unimpressed by the threat, "Whatever, dude. Come at me, bro. Breathe away. Kill your wingman."

Tesser sighed.
I want to see Matty again. I should've gotten her phone number. I should get a phone too. I suppose that should come first.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Alec Fitzgerald

Alec Fitzgerald sat in his corner office at the Amethyst Project facility. The office was lavishly appointed with mahogany bookcases, a desk to match, and plush leather chairs and couches. The rug was thick, and felt pleasant under the shoe. A large wall made of smoky, translucent glass looked out into the green suburbs of northern Massachusetts. If you looked high enough, and the sky was clear, you could see deep into New Hampshire and the White Mountains. The other walls were covered with awards and plaques that showered praise on Alec's achievements in the biomedical field and in the world at large. He'd given hundreds of his own hours to charity as well as millions of dollars. Fitzgerald Industries was the model of a good company, and Alec himself was the model of a good man. Alec was handsome, successful, philanthropic, witty, charming, and motivated. He was the full package. Some of his college friends from Yale used to call him that. The Full Package. The innuendo was lost on no one.

Alec was poring over a report that a close aide had handed to him earlier in the day. It was a short assessment of the amount of effort and energy required to keep the purple dragon in the vault far below contained. It was staggering.

The electricity required to maintain the subterranean complex each month was over $75,000. Alec required a rotating staff of thirty-seven specialists with a combined monthly salary of just under $200,000. Maintenance on tubes, wiring, air conditioning, hermetic sealing, security weapons, cameras, and such was over $10,000 per month. The true monetary costs were hidden in the exotic cocktails that were pumped straight into the bloodstream and airway of the massive dragon. Some of them weren't commercially available anywhere and needed to be manufactured from scratch by other Fitzgerald Industries companies. The legality of the powerful mixtures was dubious, but the FDA wasn’t paying attention to the safety of drugs for dragons yet.

All told, it was costing Fitzgerald Industries nearly a million dollars a month to house the slumbering dragon. Alec and company had been doing this for almost a decade now in this way. If Project Amethyst yielded the fruit he expected it to, he'd make that money back in year. There were other costs associated with keeping the dragon still, but that price had already been negotiated by Alec's father.

Alec sat the report down and spun in his chair, happy that everything was going according to his plan.
It pays to be King.

The phone on his desk toned an internal call. Alec spun around again and looked at the name on the call. It was Samuel Host, his head of security.
 

This can't be good.

Alec snatched up the receiver, "Yes, Sam?"

Samuel's voice was low and layered. He sounded like a three-pack-a day-soldier that had seen it all and could care less about what had happened to him. Samuel was the only 'person' in the world Alec feared.

"The sniffers have picked up a strange alert on the first floor. Dragon scent."

Alec sat forward in his seat. "Someone trying to steal something from the vault again?"

"No. The sniffers caught the alert at the main entrance coming in." Samuel didn't sound alarmed, despite the incredible strangeness of the situation.

"Wait, coming in? As if someone were bringing parts back in? How did they slip the parts out in the first place? Is the inventory accurate? Are we missing scales? Or blood? Anything?"

"Inventories are tracking as accurate. There's something else."

Alec felt his temper start to flare. "What else?"

"It's a different signature."

"I'm sorry. Signature? Speak science to me, Sam." Alec's heart was racing. He was getting furious.

Sam explained the matter flatly, "A different signature. A new signature. A new scent. One that doesn't belong to the amethyst dragon. A different dragon, Mr. Fitzgerald."

Alec's heart stopped beating and was instantly covered in a cold sweat
. A different dragon? A second dragon? Here in the building? Here in America? This could be an incredible opportunity…
"Are you familiar with this dragon, Samuel? Are your… people familiar with it?"

"We had taken care of it, but it appears to have resurfaced, quite literally. This could be a significant issue."

Alec's blood slowly started to congeal inside his body.
A meddling dragon could be the end of me, the end of everything.
"Why didn’t your people kill it?"

"Killing a dragon isn't the best idea, Mr. Fitzgerald. If it were even possible, our reports indicate that destroying one of them would cause… issues. It is better to incapacitate it if you have the means. We've explained this at length already. Should I forward the memo again?"

I don't even want to know what he means by that.

"The alert came from Matilde Rindahl," Samuel said.

"Matty? We had her vetted; she's clean as a whistle."

"Nonetheless, the alert came from her and continues to trigger in her office. Would you like us to speak with her?" Samuel sounded… blunt.

"No. Not yet. Put a tail on her. See where she goes, who she speaks with. I want to know everything about her from this point forward. What she eats, where she shits it. Tap everything she owns."

"We've already started the process. Mr. Fitzgerald, you realize I'm required to pass this along to my superiors?" Samuel spoke the words as a warning. A dark courtesy.

A bead of sweat ran down Alec's cheek, despite the cool environment in the air-conditioned office.
 

Shit.
"Of course, Mr. Host. Pass the information along. Assure your superiors all will be taken care of."

"I'll tell them you're working diligently on the issue." Samuel hung up.

On an impulse, Alec stood up and left his office.

*****

"Hey Matty?" Alec asked from the hall.

"Yes, Alec? Matty replied. She was sitting at her office desk behind a pile of printouts. She had been combing data.
 

She looks great. Some color in her cheeks, a little bounce in her voice. I think she's working out. Or giving herself dragon blood transfusions.

Alec seized a thought out of thin air and started to speak it, "I was being a little nosy earlier today, Matty, and I noticed that your name was at the top of the list of people printing hardcopy information out." The lie gave him reason enough to be in her office.

Matty looked guilty as her eyes drifted across the small mountain of computer reports. "Yeah, about that… I think I'm just more effective when I can spread papers across a desk in front of me. My eyes get really strained when I sit and stare at a monitor."

Alec nodded knowingly. "I understand completely. I guess I'd just ask you to be judicious in what you're printing. We already spend a small fortune on this project, and if we can shave even a few dollars a month off our budget, it'll help the company in the long run."

"Alright, I'm sorry. I'll try to be more in control when I hit print from now on," Matty said sheepishly.

"No worries. How have you been by the way? You look great."

Matty's body perked up. "I'm doing wonderful, Alec; thank you. Work is good. I'm very happy."

She's getting laid. That's what it is. Time to go for the throat.

"Are you seeing someone?" Alec teased playfully.

Matty responded less awkwardly than he'd imagined she would. "I may have seen someone. Nothing too serious. Is that a problem? I can assure you my private life won't interfere with my work responsibilities."

Alec made a grand apologetic gesture. "No, no, no. Nonsense, Matty. I wouldn't dare tell you what to do with your love life. That's not the kind of company I run, or the environment I want to work in myself. I was just commenting because you look terrific, happy. I'm just being nosy and I took a stab in the dark. Truthfully, I was hoping you'd blush."

Now she blushed. "Okay, good. And uh yeah, I saw a guy. He's really sweet."

"Going to see him again?" Alec asked, playing the role of the supportive, platonic male friend. For every situation, a new face.

Matty shrugged hopefully. "I'd like to, but I didn't get his number. I think I could get it through a friend though."

"Well, if seeing him makes you look as happy as you look right now, I think getting his number is a smart move."

Matty looked up at the tile ceiling and spun in her chair. She looked like a teenage girl daydreaming in a summer hammock, staring at the clouds and thinking about a boy.

"Take care, Matty. It was nice to talk with you. Watch out for those print-outs, please."

"I will, Alec; sorry for the bother."

Alec smiled in his charming way. "It's no bother. It's always nice to see your face. Keep up the good work. You're appreciated around here."

"Thanks!"

Alec left her doorway and strode down the hall. He fished a secure, encrypted office portable phone from his slacks pocket and dialed Sam Host's number. The solemn guard answered on the first ring.

"Host."

"Samuel, I spoke with Matty. She's seeing someone. I'd bet the comatose dragon in my basement she's getting that scent from him. That's the new variable in her life. Home in on that. That's the key."

"As you wish." Samuel hung up.

Fuck yes. Another dragon. Of course, that means I will be pushing for more… outside support from Host and his people, but in the quest to better humanity, and make a fortune in the process, you need to make compromises. Big ones. But that means dragons could take the form of people. How is that even possible? If they can shape-shift, I wonder if we could extract that quality and synthesize it for plastic surgeons?

Alec strode towards the elevator and attempted to hide his excitement. A second dragon could mean untold riches, and leaps forward in medicine and science. It was a delicious thought.

Chapter Twenty-Seven