“What am I doing here?” Valerie said.
“Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but I was about to ask the same thing,” Mose said.
She waved off his comment with an impatient gesture.
“Oh, I didn’t mean here, Mose. I meant here!”
“Thank you for clearing that up.”
Valerie drew her self up sharply, but saw his twinkling eyes and the laughter lines on his face start to deepen. With an exasperated sigh she folded herself into a chair. Sitting stiff backed and wire tight, she seemed to tower over Mose’s relaxed form. Her expression, however, had relaxed marginally, and she clasped her hands in her lap to keep them from fidgeting.
“I’m not making much sense am I?”
“Well now, I wouldn’t go that far. Let me take a guess.”
Mose steepled his fingers and looked over Valerie closely. She didn’t realize some of the changes that showed in her. Her strength and natural confidence had grown, as had her pride. Though she hadn’t changed dress habits as drastically as her brother, what she wore began to cling to her differently as she began to hold herself differently. More noticeably, though, she had a new light burning in her eye, that even with Mose’s long experience he couldn’t quite place.
He looked over her long enough, that she felt like getting up and pacing again. Finally he opened his hands wide and spoke.
“You meant here as in New Orleans. Big Brother Dragon has been changing and growing and coming into his own, and you’re wondering where yours is. Feeling restless.”
“More like useless. I came down here to protect Grifter, even if he thinks it was his idea to protect me.”
“And you’ve been doing a fine job at it by my reckoning.”
In a flash she was up on her feet again and Mose fought a reaction to wince. She tried to pace, gave up on it, and contented herself to lean against the back of the chair. Her hands gripped it so hard it creaked, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“Fine! How do you figure fine! I haven’t done a single thing, and he’s got his other protectors now.”
“Jealous?”
Mose braced himself, but it was a necessary risk. Instead of another outburst, Valerie looked shocked, and with the shock came serious consideration. She sighed and leaned more against the chair, folding her elbows under her to brace herself.
“Oh, hell, I can’t be. It’s good that he’s got things working so well. It’s only; I don’t seem to have a place in it right now. Grifter doesn’t even realize that we are seeing each other less and less each week, and he doesn’t even think to ask what I’ve been up to in between.”
“Which brings up a damn fine question. What have you been up to? More to the point, what got you so agitated that you found yourself at my door?”
“Er…”
“Are you blushing?”
“No! Of course not.”
She turned away from him, and as a gentleman, Mose discreetly looked out the window. After several moments passed, she spoke again. This time her voice was softer than he had ever heard from her, and more than a little lost.
“Let’s just say I’m not used to being saved in my brother’s name. It should be the other way around.”
“Ah. Now you are being a silly little girl.”
“WHAT!?”
Now she really did tower over Mose, seeming to have swelled several inches. Her already well-defined muscles strained in tension, and Mose had to quell his imagination. For just an instant, it had felt much warmer in the room. As if a blast of heat had come out of her mouth with the exclamation.
“I’m sorry, did I say ‘little girl’? That was wrong of me.”
Mose watched carefully as she seemed to deflate, and carefully kept his tone mild and bland.
“No, it’s usually the boys that have such easily bruised egos. The insecure, overly macho ones at that. Surely you don’t have anything in common with that sort; do you, dear?”
“Okay, no need to rub it in. Make your point.”
“First, sit down. And try to relax a bit. You’re impressive enough without having to try and intimidate an old man.”
“I wasn’t trying—”
“Sit!”
Valerie found herself sitting without realizing it, and looking deep into Mose’s eyes. They flashed in a manner she hadn’t seen before, and his relaxed pose was gone. Now he was straight and tall, and seemed filled with strength that normally lay quiet and dormant in him. He made sure he had her attention, then leaned back again, not quite going as relaxed as before.
“Now it’s my turn to talk and yours to listen. Okay?”
He waited for her to nod and gave one in return. As he spoke, he ticked points off on his fingers.
“First of all, you don’t know what a mark you have made here. And not just because you are Griffen’s sister. I bet there isn’t a doorman, shill, or bartender who doesn’t nod to you when you walk by. And considering from what I’ve heard you haven’t been spending most of your time in their establishments. But you are known just the same.”
“What do you mean you’ve heard?”
“And that’s the second thing. If you haven’t figured out by now that everyone talks about everybody in this town, you aren’t as smart as I know you are. Big Brother doesn’t ask after you? That’s because if anything goes wrong, you can bet he would hear about it in twenty minutes flat. Good news takes longer, and gets a bit more respect privacy wise, but that filters in, too.”
Mose held up a finger as she began to interrupt again. She shut her mouth sharply.
“Third, none of that matters. If you think you aren’t keeping Griffen safe, you’re underrating yourself. And I don’t just mean like with Gris-gris.”
He sighed and shook his head, then stood and walked over to a small bureau. After a few clinking sounds, he walked back over to Valerie and handed her a glass filled with rich brandy. He sat again, cradling his own glass and took a long sip.
“In some ways, you’ve got it a lot harder than he does, Valerie. You’ve got a tighter line to walk. You wonder what you are doing in New Orleans, and how that helps your brother. Well, I’ll tell you, you are keeping him safe, by being safe yourself. Wouldn’t be the first damn time a dragon went through family to manipulate or hurt another one. Not to mention in some circles you would be considered a prize and target on your own merits. Here, he knows you’re safe, and you know you’re keeping him likewise.”
He took another sip and this time she joined him, rolling the amber fluid around in her mouth thoughtfully.
“See, the thing is, the more active you are in his operations, the more danger you put yourself in. I know that isn’t easy to accept, but you really have to balance out how much you are helping him in the long run, by sticking your neck out in the short. And if you went anywhere else, he’d have his attention divided, and as good as he seems to be adapting that would be downright deadly.”
Silently, Mose pondered that those were exactly the reasons he was glad Griffen hadn’t told her about the most direct threat to him. What help she could offer would be outweighed by his own worry.
“I think I understand,” she said, and leaned back in her chair, thinking over and over his words.
“If you don’t, you will. I want you to think hard about it, and we’ll talk again. The best thing you can do is live your life, well and happy. ’Cause you are the boy’s joy and hope, and if something happened to you, everything we’ve been working to build would crumble to the winds.”
Valerie rose wordlessly and set her empty glass on the table. She looked over Mose thoughtfully, and leaned down and kissed his cheek. As she turned and walked out he watched her very carefully, and at least part of his attention was on just how nice a sight he was watching. He chuckled to himself as the door closed and shook his head.