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

Couches, Recliners and Who Sleeps Where Ch. 5.2

"We'll be careful. Rile, you walk up the stairs first," Cale said.

The recliner triggered and opened on the stairs halfway up.  The foot mechanism hit Rile in the belly and Alex giggled. Rile hissed at her.

"I'll buy boudin for breakfast one morning," she said in a conciliatory tone.

Once the recliner was in the living room, Alex whispered to Cale, "Did you do that on purpose?"

He only smiled.

*****

The Greek restaurant was off Veteran's Highway, a white washed cubicle of a building fronted by an Astroturf patio with a bubbling fountain with a fake Greek statue. They pushed open the cheap glass doors to find small round tables with white tablecloths circling another fountain with a different faux Greek statue. Peeling, yellowed posters of landmarks of Greece adorned the walls. Plinking music carried from the black speakers sitting on plywood shelves. A small, smiling man in the obligatory white shirt, black pants, and white apron waved them to a table.

"Flaming saganaki to start, please," Alex said as the waiter handed them menus. "We'll have moussaka, pastitsio, and gyros." She handed her menu back and the brothers copied her. "Now watch," she said with a grin.

A few minutes later, the waiter carried out a tray. He set it on the table and took out a lighter. He set it to the tray of square cheese.

"Opa!" he cried and lit the cheese aflame.

"Opa!" Alex cried.

"Fire!" Cale pushed away from the table.

"What part of flaming didn't you understand?" Rile elbowed him.

The waiter extinguished the flames by squeezing a lemon over it. He bowed to Alex who clapped.

"Now we eat." Alex served the dish. "This is the appetizer."

"And baklava for dessert like you promised," Rile said.

"And baklava for dessert," Alex repeated.

*****

The waiter presented the baklava with a flourish. Honey dripped down the sides of the exquisite, paper thin layers of phyllo dough stuffed with chopped nuts.

Cale eyed the waiter. "You are not setting it on fire, are you?"

The waiter smiled and bowed. "No, my friend. This you enjoy just as my mama made it." He left after another smile.

Alex cut through hers with her fork, but Cale alerted, head up and turned to the door. He sniffed carefully and flicked his serpentine tongue out a second. His eyes narrowed and he said one word before he bounded out the door:

Hermann

Rile jumped up and raced out, with Gabe trailing him. The waiter rushed over and Alex threw her purse at him. He caught it deftly.

"Take the cash," Alex said. "Enough for dinner and a big tip. I may or may not be back."

Alex ran out to see Cale gaining on a man, who was pounding down the pavement. Rile was on Cale's heels but Gabe was fanning out to the side. The man skidded a sharp left into an alley. Alex speed-burst up, temporarily invisible. She could never maintain the speed-burst and thus the invisibility, so she flew low into the alley. The man was almost at a white van and its back doors opened.

"Ambush!" Alex screamed In warning and dove for the man.

In response, Rile grabbed Cale's arm, deployed his wings to help brake them, and swung Cale 180 degrees so that he now faced out of the alley. Cale dashed out, catching Gabe's arm as he passed and swung him in the exact same manner.