Page 28 of Here Be Dragons

Date number one was starting out strong.

Chapter 15

Desmon

Carly’s full skirt swishedaround her thighs as she walked through the numerous statues of fauns and nymphs in the museum. She wore a new floral print dress in shades of pink and orange that made me think of a warm island breeze. The skirt flared out around her legs playfully, and I decided I liked this just as much as the pencil skirt, even though they were very different.

The bright, oversized hibiscus print on the dress was a definite departure from the somber black clothes we’d just had her fitted for at my tailor. Alexander didn’t usually take female clients since he specialized in suits and shirts, but he was more than willing to whip up a few work-appropriate outfits for Carly. He did, however, let us know that if we ever needed women’s formalwear, we’d have to find someone else.

Trying to find anything to fit my curvaceous mate at the boutiques had been an exercise in patience. The plus size selection was not only limited but also made for the “ideal” plus size shape. With the exception of the dress she was now wearing, almost everything was too long in the torso for her; some had shoulders that were too wide; others looked like a size small that had been scaled up without once considering the distribution of flesh on a human body. More than once, I’d wanted to torch the stores.

We’d ended up finding a few things that fit at lower-end stores, places that Carly knew had stuff that would fit her. We bought those and took them to my tailor so he could copy them in better materials, keeping one outfit for her to wear to work tomorrow.

We’d gone back to my estate to drop it off before portaling into the museum. Carly had been nervous about stepping into the portal, especially since there was nothing but darkness on the other side. Portals usually showed a little glimpse of what lay beyond on the other side. I had the portals at both my home and my office at the museum spelled for privacy, however.

She’d clung to my arm as we stepped through, something I quite enjoyed. However, she looked a little green once she arrived, something I didn’t quite enjoy as much. I sat her in my chair, thehigh leather back engulfing her, as I ran down to the staff lounge to grab her some water and a package of salted peanuts. In my experience, salt and protein usually helped settle stomachs queasy from portal travel.

She now held the key in her hand as she went among the statues. I walked behind her, appreciative of every glimpse of her thighs her dress showed me.

She insisted on using her talent to find the right statue. Her precise words had been, “It’s no good for anything else. I might as well make use of it now.”

She went around the exhibit, ducking under the velvet ropes to put her hand on each of the statues, shaking her head and declaring, “This is not the one!” at every statue she touched.

She was now approaching the innocuous faun statue that was “the one.” It looked like any of the other statues on display here; that was the reason why I’d insisted on putting together this exhibit to begin with. She put her hand on the statue and frowned.

She pulled her hand away, said nothing, moved to the next statue, touched it, shook her head, then went back to the faun and put her hand on it again. She looked down at the “key” in her hand, then at the statue.

“This one… I think.”

“You are correct. What did it show you?”

She wrinkled her nose. “It’s not showing me anything. All I’m getting is a sound. It’s like the beeping sound that televisions used to make at the end of the broadcast day way back when. It’s kind of annoying. How have you tried to use this key so far?”

“I have tried using it like a literal key, seeing if there was anywhere I could fit it. There wasn’t. The flowers carved into the clay show up on his panpipe, and I tried pressing those too. It didn’t work either, but those actually looked like buttons, so I thought I would try.”

She looked up at the panpipe which was well over her head since the statue was on a pedestal.

“Let me help you.” I lifted her up so she could check out the details.

“May I touch?” she asked.

“Of course, go ahead.”

She touched the little square floral carvings on the panpipe. Nothing happened.

“You’re right, they do look like buttons,” she said.

“They do. Seth is pretty sure they are the key to the puzzle, but we haven’t figured out how exactly.”

“Do you mind if I stay here for a bit and spend some time with the statue to see if it shows me anything else?” she asked as I set her back down.

“Take all the time you need. The night guards know we’re here.”

She frowned. “Would it look suspicious if we are in here for too long? What if the she-dragon bribed your guards?”

“She cannot. The night guards at the museums are creatures of clay, mud, and stone, animated by magic to protect my museum only at night.”

“You mean like the Mökkurkálf from Norse mythology? Or the Greek Talos? Cool!” Her eyes were wide.

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