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want to
talk here? Fine, I get that. I can’t speak for Kabita, but if you
want me involved in this thing, and trust me you do, you’d better
get us somewhere you can talk. Now.”
    I didn’t know who was more surprised. Kabita,
because someone finally talked back to her dad, or Alister himself
because someone had the cojones to call his bullshit.
    “What’ll it be, Alister?” I let the dragon
scale catch the light, reminding him of what was at stake.
    I’m not sure what he saw in my eyes, but
whatever it was must have convinced him that I was one hundred
percent serious. And I was. Between Trevor Daly’s obnoxious
meddling, the crap with Jack and the Atlantis thing, I’d had my
fill of secrets and lies. I wanted the truth and Alister Jones
could either give it to me, or he could shove off.
    “Fine.” His voice was rife with irritation.
“Dex, go get the car.”
    I smiled as I slipped the scale into my
purse. No way was I handing it back to Alister Jones. I didn’t
trust the man. Not by half. Something about him didn’t add up.
    Dex, looking somewhat bemused, tossed his
napkin on the table and headed for the front door while Alister
glanced at the head waiter. Within minutes the bill had been paid
and we were on our way out the door. I guess that was the kind of
service you got when you dined Michelin.
    Kabita hopped into the front with her
brother, so I settled myself in the back with Alister. I started to
speak, but he held up his hand. “Not here. One never knows who is
listening. Dex, head for the Bridge.”
    I could deal with that. I settled back into
the plush leather seats, determined to enjoy the ride as we headed
down Embankment, the wide street that ran alongside the River
Thames.
    It wasn’t a long ride. Fifteen minutes later,
Dex was pulling into St. Katherine’s Dock and Alister was ushering
us from the car. I’d always enjoyed St. Katherine’s Dock. Best view
of the Tower Bridge in London. Tourists usually thought it was the
London Bridge because it was the fanciest one, but it was named
after the London Tower which lurked at the base of the bridge.
    “We’re all right here?” I asked.
    He nodded. “Yes. We should be fine.” He
sighed. “I suppose I should tell you about the dragons, first.”
    “Yeah, that would be a good place to start.”
I leaned my elbows against the cold metal railing and let my gaze
wander out across the Thames. I still didn’t entirely trust the
man, but I wanted to hear what he had to say.
    “Very well, I shall go back to the
beginning.” He leaned next to me while Kabita and Dex sat on a
bench nearby, chatting quietly while keeping watch.
    I nodded. “Also a good place to start.
Where’s the beginning?”
    “About seventeen hundred years ago.”
    “So, not a short story, then?” I let a thread
of amusement color my voice.
    “Not really, no.” Alister smiled, but there
was an edge of tension to it. I was beginning to realize that
Alister was not a very comfortable man. “Let me try to hit the
important bits.”
    He was quiet for a moment, staring out over
the water, gathering his thoughts. “About two thousand years ago
this country was being ravaged by dragons. Most of the world, in
fact, lived in fear of the creatures. It had been going on for
millennia. Between the dragons’ monstrous appetites for flesh, both
human and animal, and their vast intellect, our somewhat primitive
ancestors didn’t stand a chance.”
    Not really something one learned in history
class. “Something obviously changed,” I prompted. “Or we wouldn’t
be here.”
    He nodded, silver hair gleaming in the dim
orange light from a nearby street lamp. That was one thing it had
taken me a while to get used to when I first moved to London.
Street lamps in the UK were dim orange instead of bright yellow or
white. Energy saving or something. “Yes. Something did change. The
first Dragon Hunter was born,” Alister said.
    I blinked. I liked to read and the histories
of the