Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [135]
"I knew how much the dragon meant to her." He smiled again at Jasmine. "When I saw it, I wanted to give it to you, to free you from the dreams that kept you awake night after night. I probably should have left it with you. It would have been safer here. Or perhaps not. It might have brought you even more trouble."
"It is cursed, David. I believe that now even more."
"Yes." He paused. "I do need to ask you both a favor."
Alyssa's newfound serenity quickly fled. "What do you want?"
"Paige told me you are all going to your grandparents' house tonight. I want to go with you."
"Oh, David," Jasmine said. "They would not like it."
"Who cares if they like it or not?" Alyssa asked. "We know they've been lying to you about the dragon. We have to confront them, and you must come with us."
"I am afraid," Jasmine replied. "I don't have a good feeling about this."
David took Jasmine's hand in his "I will be there for you. It's about time I gave you back some of the strength you once gave me."
Chapter Twenty-Five
The colors were amazing, lighting up the twilight sky with mystery and excitement, Paige thought as she and Riley stopped to look at the parade that was currently blocking their way into Chinatown. There were children in costumes, some playing instruments, some dancing, others just walking and waving amid the colorful floats weaving their way down the street.
"This is incredible. I've never seen this before," she said loudly as Riley bent down to hear her.
"Me, either, except on the news."
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, reminding her of just how close they'd spent most of the day. They'd made love several times, each time more passionate and demanding than the last, as if they both were testing the limits of their feelings. Her body felt sore and achy, but wonderfully satisfied, she thought with a smile. Whatever happened tonight, she would never regret this day.
"Look at that," Riley said, pointing to several enormous lions that were now dancing through the streets. Each lion was operated by two men. The head was carried by one dancer who would rear up, then crouch down, while the other man carried the body, carefully copying his moves. The lion danced to the accompaniment of gongs and drums. As they watched, more characters, including monkeys and clowns, entertained the crowd with acrobatics.
"Amazing," Paige said. "I never knew until this past week how really isolated I've been. I live in a city of intensely different cultures, and I've hardly experienced any of them."
"Hard to do that from a mansion on the hill."
"I'll be spending more time on the street from now on. I like all the excitement, the music, the laughter, the life. Don't laugh at me," she said, seeing amusement on his face. "I can't help how I was raised. It's what I do with the rest of my life that counts, isn't it?"
"Absolutely," he said. "And I can't wait to see what you do with it."
"Neither can I."
"We better go."
"Wait, there it is, the dragon." But she wasn't talking about the dragon statue, she was talking about the enormous paper dragon coming down the street toward them. A man paraded in front of the dragon, carrying a lantern. The dragon's head was held up by a pole carried by another man. The tail of the dragon followed, as far back as she could see, with thirty, forty, maybe fifty people carrying the tail as it danced down the street.
Once the dragon had passed by them, Riley took her hand and pulled her down the street, looking for an opportunity to cross to the other side. Most of the crowd was following the dragon, so the streets were thinning out quickly. A few minutes later they were passing in front of the herb shop, which was currently closed. There was a door next to the shop leading