I do. I also feel a little sad for Miranda. I can’t imagine being that desperate. And she seemed genuinely horrified and contrite after that moment of madness when she tried to stab me. But she brought the scalpel along and people don’t randomly carry scalpels—not even doctor-people—so she’d clearly thought about hurting me or Daddy before the confrontation. I don’t feel so sorry for her that I stopped Daddy from calling Theo and lodging an official complaint. If Miranda can’t come back to New York because of an outstanding warrant that would be too bad.
But what I mostly feel is proud. I handled Miranda. No one got hurt, except three Little Larrys and I think they might be salvageable with some careful stitching, and I didn’t break any rules. Daddy’s super-proud of me and I got all the Os last night after we put Livvy to bed. I’m proud of myself.
I’m a fierce, white, baby dragon. Hear me roar.
I tamp down my roar through breakfast because it turns into another strategy session when Jiro, Laurel, Bravo, Yummy, Maude, Javier, and Master Theo join us. I gather from the discussion that Master Chess has called the emergency meeting Daddy was pushing for. I don’t have anything to add and they’re talking serious stuff. I just listen and play with the world’s cutest dragon-baby.
After breakfast, Master Theo takes a statement from me and I send him the recording from my phone. He takes the scalpel and puts it in an official-looking plastic bag that has “Evidence” printed in red across it. I see Daddy eying the bag and wonder what he’s thinking until he murmurs that he’s going to order a bunch of evidence bags so he can collect glitter as evidence of the Littles’ Army’s crimes. I object to that almost as loudly as Bren objected to Master Mac leaving her behind. Yummy joins in, berating Daddy for maligning the Littles’ Army, until Daddy has to throw up his hands and apologize. I take my apology in kisses.
It's a very good apology.
True arrives after breakfast and we retreat to Daddy’s office. I don’t want to make the Avengers angry.
True watches two recorded classes and submits a quiz while I write. When I take a break to make tea for both of us, she takes off her headphones. “Is Fleur mad at me?” she asks.
“What?”
“She hasn’t answered my texts in two days.”
Something niggles in the back of my head. I pick up my phone. I don’t have Fleur saved as a contact because I’ve never had a need to call her but she’s in a bunch of chats with me, including the Littles’ Army Plus chat where we organize outings. I flip through them and see that she hasn’t looked at any of the recent messages.
I call Cappa.
“Hey, babe,” he answers. His voice is ridiculously cheerful, particularly for someone who is not long offfive whole daysof orgasm-restriction. If something was bad wrong, he wouldn’t sound so happy. My muscles relax a fraction.
“Is everything okay with Fleur?” I ask. “True says she’s ignored her texts and I can’t see that she’s checked any of our chats.”
“Mmm, hold on.” I hear him tapping. “She hasn’t answered me from yesterday, either.”
I thought they lived together?
“Where are you, Cappa?” I ask.
“At Myles’ apartment,” he says, his tone sheepish.
That explains why he hasn’t seen Fleur, although I suppose they could just be on very different schedules.
“Master Theo was trying to get in touch with her yesterday,” I tell him, having placed that niggling feeling. “Is there any way you can check on her?”
“Yeah,” Cappa says. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll track her down. She’s probably in monster-mode, creating somethingnew. She tends to turn off her phone. Tell True it’s nothing personal and I’ll make sure Fleur gets back to her. Is the kid doing okay?”
I glance at True, taking in the jeans and sweatshirt that fit, the glossy hair she’s done in a Katniss Everdeen-type braid, the bright eyes. “She’s good. Do you want to say hi?”
“Yeah, pass me over.”
I hand True my phone and let them greet each other while I think. I don’t want to make a big deal out of it if Fleur’s just retreated into a creative space. And the last few days have been a lot. Everyone’s on edge.
But I am a fierce, white, baby dragon. I have good instincts. I protect my dragon-friends.
I open the office door and walk into the kitchen. Daddy and several other people sitting at the table glance up.
“Fleur’s missing,” I tell them.
In the kerfuffle that follows, Daddy herds me back into the office.
“Sweetheart, this is your writing time. We’ll find Fleur. You focus on meeting your deadlines.”
I don’t resist. I huggle him and kiss his chin. I know my Daddy will take care of it because that’s what he does. I’ve done my part; I’ve roared. Now I need to retreat back into my cave and do the things I should be doing.