“Crap,” Alexei said. He thought for a moment. “So according to the centaur, the amulet that controlled the kraken belonged to a dragon who perhaps used to disguise himself as a pirate. Is it possible that our Blackbeard is this dragon? They can do small magics, so that might explain the illusion of a ghost ship.”
Beka shrugged. “This is the Paranormal we’re talking about here. Anything is possible. You met this ah, person. What do you think? Could he have been a dragon in Human guise?”
Alexei clenched his fists. He just wanted to get his hands on whoever this guy was and make him give Bethany back. “He was arrogant enough. Could have been. I’m sorry, I just don’t know.” He grimaced. “If I’d known it was a dragon, I wouldn’t have provoked it. Dragons aren’t exactly known for their even tempers.”
Beka laughed. “Alexei, you would have provoked this creature if it had been the queen of England.” She sobered. “But if it is a dragon, that does put a different spin on things. We’re pretty tough, but we’re not really equipped to take on a dragon in a direct fight. Especially not in the middle of the ocean, where my powers are at their weakest.”
“What about your dog?” Calum asked. “I mean, he’s a dragon, right?” He grunted. “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation.”
“He is,” Beka said. “But although Chewie is a very large dog, he is actually a pretty small dragon. All the Chudo-Yudos are, since they have to be able to take on reasonable size forms. If our mystery pirate really is a traditional dragon, Chewie would be way out of his weight class. But I sent word to an old friend - well, an old friend of my sister Barbara, to be more exact. We’ll see if he shows up. In the meanwhile, we’ll just have to do the best we can, and pray that the dragon who commissioned the amulet lost or sold it years ago, and it is currently in the hands of someone more manageable.”
“And what do you think the odds of that are?” Calum asked, sounding discouraged.
Alexei and Beka exchanged glances. “Not great,” Alexei admitted. “It would be out of character for a dragon to give up anything valuable. But you never know. Denizens of the Otherworld do a lot of barter and swapping, so anything is possible.” He ground his teeth. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. I’m going after Bethany.”
“We’re both going after her,” Beka said, crossing her arms and looking determined as only a Baba Yaga could. Even one who was blonde and perky.
“I’m going too,” Calum said. “I know I probably won’t be much help in a fight, what with these.” He patted his useless legs. “But she’s my daughter, and if there is any chance she might need me, I’m not staying behind.”
“Neither am I,” said a deep voice from the doorway. An extremely large black Newfoundland stood there, the door still swinging behind him. “If you’re up against a dragon, and Beka’s backup doesn’t show, I’m your best chance at coming out on top.”
“Chewie,” Beka said, affection and admonition warring in her voice. “How many times have I told you that it isn’t polite to eavesdrop?”
The dragon-dog gave a barking laugh and came the rest of the way into the room. “About as many times as I have told you not to leave me out of important discussions. So which one of us isn’t teachable?”
Calum’s jaw was open so wide, Alexei thought he might accidentally unhinge it.
“I can understand what he’s saying,” Calum said with amazement. “Holy shit. I’m hearing a dog talk. Have I lost my mind? Or have I caught whatever it is that Alexei has that lets him understand animals?”
Beka laughed. “You’re hearing a dragon talk. That’s completely different. Only Alexei can actually hear dogs talk, as far as I know. It’s probably something to do with the huge dose of The Water of Life and Death he got.” When Calum looked like he was going to ask her what she meant, she waved a hand in his direction to stop him. “Sorry. We don’t have time to get into that. Chewie can make himself understood by anyone he chooses. Obviously, he has decided it will save time if I don’t have to constantly translate for him.”
“Speaking of time,” Alexei said. “We should get going. We don’t know what that bastard is doing to Bethany while we’re standing around talking about who or what he might be.”
“Going where?” Calum asked plaintively. “We don’t even know where to look.”
“I have a couple of ideas about that,” Beka said. “Do you have a map of the local waters?”
“Of course,” Calum said indignantly. “I’m a fisherman.” He pointed Alexei toward a drawer in the living room, and Alexei went to fetch it. He unrolled it on the table in front of them and Beka grabbed a pen.
“Alexei, do you have any idea where this so-called Blackbeard’s boat was when you confronted him?”
He nodded. “Around here somewhere,” he said, circling a spot on the map.
“I see what you’re doing,” Calum said, holding his hand out. “I should be able to add in most of the spots where the local fishermen saw the kraken, or said they spotted this pirate.”
When they were done, they had about a dozen places indicated on the nautical chart, in a rough triangle.
“That narrows it down quite a bit,” Alexei said, tugging on his beard. “But it still leaves us a lot of ocean to cover.” The thought of Bethany waiting for him to come and rescue her, while her captor was doing who knew what to her, was making him crazy. He wanted to tear the room apart with his bare hands and acid churned in his stomach.
“I had a thought about that too,” Beka said. “Once we get close to the area where this mystery ship might be, hopefully we can find a dolphin or a shark or some other sea creature who has seen it, and can direct us to where it is.”
Alexei took a deep breath. “Oh. That might even work.” It had never occurred to him that his new gift might end up being so vital.
Calum blinked. “I forgot about Alexei being able to talk to sharks. It’s such a bizarre thing.”
“It’s an Alexei thing,” Beka said. “He’s still figuring it out. But it may come in very handy under these circumstances.” She stood up decisively. “Well, if we’re going to do this, I should go out to the bus and get some supplies. No point in going up against a pirate without a few swords.”
She grinned happily at Alexei, who gave her a ferocious smile back. Beka might look like a harmless California surfer girl, but the walls of her reconditioned bus were decorated with an extensive and completely usable sword collection. Along with the shells and driftwood, of course. The Baba Yagas didn’t much like guns, but they were quite fond of sharp pointy objects.
“Uh, I hate to point out the obvious,” Calum said, gesturing at his chair. “But we’re not all going to fit on the back of Alexei’s motorcycle. Or in my truck, even if it weren’t still parked in front of the bar.”
“Hmmm. Good point,” Beka said. “Besides which, we want whoever left that note to think that Alexei might have done what he was told and left town.” She turned to Alexei. “You should probably put the Harley away in Calum’s garage, out of sight.”