"Uh Davy, that's great and all, but I know nothing about human children."
"And I just told you, she's not a human, she's a godsdamned dragon!" Davy hissed as he glanced over his shoulder. Gecko was sitting at the kitchen table completely engrossed in gluing a few more newly-found prize seashells onto her vampire princess crown. "C'mon, Io, just for a few minutes, just while I have a little talk with my brother. Please?"
"But Daaaaaavy...." Iolanthe whined back.
"Please?"
"Gods, I love it when you beg. Okay, I'm there. But you're gonna make this up to me later, boy-toy."
"Gladly. Thank you Io." Davy grinned into the phone.
"You're welcome. I think," Io said, and hung up.
* * * * *
The succubus arrived less than half an hour later in a swirl and flutter of lavender and violet feathers. She dropped lightly to the ground before the front door, and walked right in. Her soft skin-tight black suede jeans couldn't get any lower without breaking the law, and her cropped, fringed and beaded lavender top barely contained her chest. Gecko's eyes went wide as saucers, and she scrambled up and away from the television, dropping her plate of pancakes in her haste, nearly upsetting her orange juice, and fled to the kitchen, yelling,
"Daaaavy!!! There's an angel in your house!"
Davy stuck his head around the corner, grinned and remarked, "Not exactly. In fact, she's about the furthest thing from an angel you'll ever meet."
"Bite me," Iolanthe snorted.
Davy grinned wider, displaying his fangs. "As you wish. Where do you want it?"
"Hey!" interrupted Gecko, with an indignant stomp, "You'll bite her, but you won't bite me? I asked first!"
"Uh..." Davy blushed scarlet, and patted Gecko's head. "I was, um, just kidding with the pretty angel."
"Yeah, sure, right," Gecko growled, and she put one hand on her hip and narrowed her eyes at Iolanthe. "She's not that pretty you know!"
Davy and Iolanthe looked at each other.
"So are you gonna introduce me to your new girlfriend?"
Davy ran his hands through his hair. "Er... Gecko, this is my girlfriend Iolanthe. You can call her Io. Io, Gecko."
"Hi, Gecko." Iolanthe offered her hand. Gecko shook it, and then looked at Io with mind-numbing intensity.
"What's wrong, kid?"
"You have funny eyes. There's a baby goat at the zoo that has eyes like yours. He has horns like you, too. He's cuter, though."
"Ah, heh, um... actually, I think her eyes look more like a cat's myself. I think they're beautiful, don't you?" Davy interrupted, as he saw Iolanthe's feathers start to fluff and bristle.
Gecko sniffed. "And you smell like an snow cone." She gave the succubus' exposed stomach a poke. "You don't feel cold. Why do you have purple hair? That's weird. Did you dye it to match your wings? How come you're dressed like Brittany Spears?"
"No, no, I don't feel cold. And the hair color is natural." Iolanthe glared at Davy. "Brittany Spears?"
"She said it, why are you looking at me?" Davy protested.
"Because I can't smack her around. But I can smack the guy that's making me watch this brat while he runs off to play detective."
"Oh no! You're not leaving me with her, are you? I thought you were supposed to look after me!" Gecko wailed.
"It's just for a little while, honey - there's something I have to do. Give Io a chance, she's a lot of fun."
"She's not old enough for my kind of fun." Iolanthe retorted, arms folded under her generous breasts.
"Iolanthe!"
"Whaaaaat?" Total wide-eyed innocence, complete with dimples.
"Forget it." Davy threw his hands in the air. "I'm going to go. I'd tell you two to try to get along, but hells, I'll settle for 'try not to kill each other, and please, no blood stains on the carpet.' Gods above, what did I do to deserve this?"
The drakthos was still muttering under his breath when he walked out the door.
* * * * *
"So what's the deal with the fledgling dragon?" Davy asked the minute he walked into Mark's study. Mark didn't even look up from the book he was reading.
"I'm afraid that's none of your concern. You'll give her back to Lauren when she returns and keep your big mouth shut."
"C'mon Mark, spill! Or I'll tell Miss Hawthorne."
Mark sighed, and casually flicked away a speck of lint from one sleeve. "You'd feel very guilty when I have to have her... replaced."
"You wouldn't dare. You're not allowed to touch her, remember?"
"I'm in the position where I don't have to anymore. Any number of others could touch her for me. Now, you were leaving?"
"Shit!" Davy snarled in frustration. "Why can't I know? What's the big deal? You're willing to actually kill Miss Hawthorne over this, but you dumped Gecko on me knowing that I'd find out what she was?"
"Yes, because I'm not interested in babysitting a child. And because I know that you're not going to tell anyone. Because, while Lauren is a capable parent, she'll surely insist the child be sent back to Faerie, and I can't afford that. And because the details are None. Of. Your. Business. Now run along and play with your little friend." Mark suddenly frowned. "Speaking of the child, where is she?"
"Io's keeping an eye on her."
Mark's mouth twisted into a smirk, but his eyes glittered coldly. "The other way around is much more likely. At any rate, you'd better hurry back. It would be very unwise to let the little darling come to harm." Mark promptly turned back to his book, leaving Davy little choice but to stomp out of the room scowling.
I'll figure this out... I know, I'll just go to work and check out the archives. There's got to be something on her, he has everything else catalogued. It's just got to be listed in a way that even Miss Hawthorne wouldn't pay it any undue attention if she saw it....
* * * * *
"So how's it going, Io?" Davy asked, cell phone in one hand, as he shuffled through a filing cabinet with the other. "Ow, damn, paper cut." He stuffed a finger into his mouth for a moment, then resumed shuffling.
"Oh, much better now."
"You two worked out your differences?"
"Naw... I just duct-taped her to a chair."
"Ha. Ha. I don't hear anything. What's she doing, taking a nap? Coloring?"
"Nothing. I told you - I duct-taped her to a chair. I gagged her too."
"Wait. I thought you were kidding. You are kidding, right?"
"It was a bitch, let me tell you. That little twerp kicked me," Iolanthe muttered darkly.
"Iolanthe... dear gods... you... and you... Io, she could choke or suffocate or "
"You forget who you're talking to. I'm an expert in the fine art of
restraining people. But you know that already." Iolanthe giggled. "Io, let her go."
"Hell no! She's evil. Really evil. She started with this bad Count Dracula Transylvanian accent, and bit me! Did you ever see The Exorcist? I think she's possessed. If you want her out of that chair, then you come home and get her!"
"She's just playing vampire princess. C'mon, Io, let me talk to her."
"Uh uh. I'm not going near that thing. She's staying right there until you come back."
"I'm gonna be a few Mark wouldn't talk I'm going through the Archives, Io, please " Davy pleaded as he struggled with an armload of files. Despite his best efforts, a number of them slipped loose and fell to the floor.
"Oh. Oh well. See you when you get back." Click.
"Io? Iolanthe? Oh, dammit!"
Davy looked irritably at the files scattered all over the floor, sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. There was nothing else he could do, other than put everything back were it belonged, and go home. He bent down and started picking up documents, placing them back in their folders, and returning them to their place in t he cabinet. And then he paused.
"Item: One power source, draconic in origin. Acquired 11/14. Installed successfully, 11/16. Transition also successful, 11/24. Remnant turned over to Archives for safe-keeping.... signed off by Mark... Hmm..." Taken by itself, not unusual. There were a number of acquisitions that Mark had signed off on, most of them for his own personal collection, rather than for the office. But this was a draconic item. And... "Remnant turned over to Archives for safe-keeping..." Maybe that referred to Gecko? But why was she a 'remnant'?
"Looks like it's about time I finally got a good look at this company's mystical power source."
