The Vigilante & The Dragon - Book 1 of the Guardians Saga [COMPLETED]

Smuggling A Dragon Ch. 1.2

Alex knelt by Gabe, supporting the injured humanoid dragon. She was glad for her tough black leather pants that protected her against the grimy cobblestones of the alley.

Gabe's muzzle was blunt, a leathery human-type jawline rather than a pointed alligator-type mouth. A Stetson cowboy hat pulled low could overshadow it and help him pass for human.

"Where were you shot?" Alex asked.

"Here." His hand moved to his chest.

She patted his hand-woven tunic, found what felt like a tranquilizer dart for an elephant, and pulled it out. She peeked at his chest and saw only golden leathery hide, no scales.

"You should be okay. This is probably a sedative," she said.

Probably. What drug would they use on a dragon like human? Or is that humanoid dragon? If they wanted to kill him, there would be bullets in him, not darts. Now I don't regret letting them live. They didn't mean to kill him.

"Cold, need warmth." Gabe's voice grew fainter and his weight heavier. He slid down and she sat so that he ended up in her lap.

"Where do you live?" Alex asked but received no answer from the now unconscious Gabe.

Now what? I can't leave him. Well, I could, but my conscience would give me hell.

"Time to go to my place, tall, leathery, and unconscious." Alex looped his arm around her neck and flew up. The nuclear fission slipstream generator in her chest surrounded what she carried, so she could fly with him. So far she hadn't found a limit to its carrying capacity but was unwilling to test it by flying around New Orleans with cargo. She began to regret her impulsive decision.

All my impulsive decisions tonight. What am I getting involved in? Fighting and dying is easy, but this ?

After a few minutes of this continued mental tirade, Alex grew tired of beating herself up.

What was I supposed to do? Let this guy be shot by thugs? Those weren't knights in shining armor saving a damsel in distress.

It had too much of a feel of an ambush, not an honest confrontation, or a simple mugging. Those thugs had rifles and hadn't hesitated to fire at her.

Of course, I was flying right at them. Now how am I supposed to smuggle this dragon guy into my apartment?

If she had left a window unlocked, she could have flown him up. Now she had to land, enter her building, and take the elevator. There wasn't a large, convenient ledge outside her window for her to stand on while she broke in, as the movie heroes always had.

This night keeps getting better and better.

She landed in the alley next to her apartment building and threw her black leather jacket over Gabe's head, with a tiny bit of eyes and muzzle showing so he could breathe and see. She hated that her leather corset was now exposed. She didn't need that type of attention from other apartment dwellers, only from the pimps she pummeled.

"Wake up, " Alex shook him and Gabe blinked woozily at her. "Welcome back to the land of the living. Can you take a few steps if I help you?"

Half-lidded eyes regarded her for a moment before he nodded. They approached the red brick apartment complex, the black wrought iron railings a remembrance of New Orleans' elegance of the past. A lush tree cracked the concrete in front of the building. The lobby was shabby, the once richly patterned carpet worn and with water stains from various hurricanes.

A red tabby meowed and wound itself around Alex's legs. Part of its tail had been cut off in some accident, but Alex had trapped it and taken it to the shelter for shots, neutering, and stitching. It had forgiven her because she continued to feed it.

"Sorry, TNR, I can't feed you now," she told the cat, "Later, I promise." She had named it after the Trap, Neuter, Release program the humane society had discovered was more effective for population control than straight euthanasia.

It huffed away, legs stiff and remaining tail straight in the air.

Alex and Gabe shuffled to the ancient elevator. She punched the button repeatedly, willing the grinding elevator to arrive quickly.

"Why, it's little Alex!"

Alex rolled her eyes at the sound of the cracked voice, but composed her face into a softer expression. Alex considered herself average height, but this old lady loved calling her 'little'. A short, stout, elderly woman in a flowered house dress and a frizzy halo of grey hair stumped up to her.

"Mrs. Bonifay, what a pleasant surprise," Alex answered in her sweetest tone.

"Who is that with you?" The old lady peered suspiciously through her coke bottle glasses at the figure propped on Alex.

"Uh, well, Mrs. Bonifay, how was the Audubon Zoo today?" Alex smiled. She knew the cranky old lady would melt if she could bait her into talking about the animals.

"Where were the white alligators ? I wanted to see them."

"I don't know, Mrs. Bonifay. I'll call tomorrow and ask."

"Don't you Mrs. Bonifay me. You're hauling around some drunken boyfriend." She glared at Gabe and poked his midsection with her ugly, mass produced aluminum cane.

"Mrs. Bonifay!" Alex clapped her hand over Gabe's mouth to suppress his cry. "That isn't very polite."

Thank goodness she's almost blind.

"It's only temporary. He was upset when I broke up with him, got drunk, and you know what a softie I am. I can't leave him passed out cold somewhere."

"Humph! Young people today!"

"The elevator's here," Alex told her, cutting off the inevitable tirade. "Please go in and I'll push the buttons."

If I wait for the next elevator, sharper-eyed people might arrive.

The elevator door creaked open with a metallic sound that set Alex's teeth on edge. Mrs. Bonifay continued her harangue and intermittently jabbed the hapless Gabe with her cane. Sometimes she missed him and nailed Alex. Both of them oof'd with pain.

"Why are you out so late, Mrs. Bonifay?" Alex asked. "The streets aren't safe."

"I've been walking the streets of New Orleans longer than you've been alive. I will not be scared by teenage hooligans!" She waved her cane again and although Alex swerved right, the tip hit her hip.

"Okay, Mrs Bonifay. Don't worry about your groceries Tuesday. I'll buy them off your list when your pension check comes."

"No you won't. You'll steal it like you did on the Fourth of July." The old lady rapped Gabe on the head with her cane.

Gabe groaned and Alex shielded his head. "Mrs. Bonifay, I didn't live here then."

"That Shania on the fourth floor." She waved her cane more.

I'll shake down that Shania and see if she's been stealing the old lady's money. Time for payback.

"Let me come with you to the grocery store like we did last week. You handle your money and we can carry more groceries together. I won't be scared off by teenagers either," Alex said sweetly through gritted teeth. "Look, your floor's here."

Not a second too soon. That little old lady can wield a mean cane. Good for her, though.

"Take my advice, Alex, and dump that creature," Mrs. Bonifay called out as she walked off and the elevator doors slid shut with a creak.

*****

A/N

Mrs. Bonifay became a fan fave so I wrote her return at the end of the book!

If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider tapping the star below to make it yellow! It means more than I can say!

Dedicated to Red_Leasia

Who has read the entire book and went back to the beginning to comment on discrepancies! have built an entire universe with spin off books!That's dedication! Their books are wonderfully imaginative, with augmented humans, love, spaceships, prison breaks and more!