We entered, and once more, I admired the sleek and simple beauty. Unlike my dragon, I enjoyed the lack of clutter. Clean open spaces. So nice. Rather than lead us to the dining room, given the nice day, Apollo directed us to go through the open sliding glass doors at the rear. We emerged onto an interlock stone patio that offered an insane view of the ocean.
“Now there’s a bath fit for a dragon,” Tigger declared, waddling to the edge of the infinity pool.
“And here I would have said that bucket was more your size.” Tutu continued to goad Tigger.
“At least some of us aren’t afraid to cleanse,” a riposte that had Tutu yelling, “That’s it. I am going to strangle you.” He darted for Tigger, who ran quicker on his stubby legs than expected, taunting, “As if you could ever catch me, fat man.”
“Be careful,” I yelled, noticing the edge of the property lacked a railing. The sheer drop might not kill, but it would hurt.
“You can’t tell me what to do!” Tigger shouted, repeating my own words from earlier.
I sighed as the pair, behaving like toddlers, chased each other. “Is it too late to escape?” Because it didn’t look as if I’d get my romantic evening.
“Once we feed them, they should both calm down. Come over here and sit. Enjoy the ocean breeze.”
Apollo led me to a couch, the plush kind that could have fit numerous people. It sat in front of a fire table, unlit for the moment. Other chairs flanked it, along with small side tables, one of which held a sweating pitcher with lemon slices floating above the ice cubes suspended in the liquid.
“Drink?” Apollo offered, holding up a glass.
“Only if it’s got something stiff in it.” I only half-joked. I could use alcohol, and lots of it.
Splash. Tutu hit the water, likely not intentionally, since he surfaced sputtering. Tigger cackled on the edge until Tutu slapped the water hard enough to soak the dragon.
“Why, you insolent beast.” Tigger cannonballed, which, I had to admit, I wouldn’t have expected of his high and mightiness.
Every now and then, he did something that reminded me of his young age. Then he opened his mouth, and I forgot.
“You know, I think this whole hate thing might be an act,” Apollo murmured.
“I wish they’d pretend to hate more quietly,” I grumbled as I took a sip of what turned out to be Long Island iced tea—with plenty booze.
“There was an interesting development overnight in regard to those dragon videos I mentioned last night.”
I stiffened. “What happened? Did they capture one?”
“No. However, the videos, and every single mention of them, have disappeared.”
I took a big sip of my drink as I digested the news. “You think someone intentionally wiped them out.”
“Things that go viral always leave a trace, unless someone with the skills methodically removes them.”
“Seems time consuming.”
“Not if they created a program to do the work for them.”
“That’s possible?”
“Oh yes, and likely what happened. Hackers don’t mind working hard if they have to, but most will look at a task and create software that minimizes the task.”
“Does this mean those videos were real?”
“Seems likely, why else remove them? The real question is, who gave the order?”
“The dragon depicted makes the most sense.” I leaned forward, watching Tigger float, his belly protruding from the water. “One that understands the danger of being exposed, unlike mine.”
“Tigger’s young and, as such, brash. As he learns and matures, he’ll realize he needs to exercise caution.”
“Here’s to hoping he doesn’t do anything too dumb before then.”
