The Dragon Pool: The Dragon Pool by Christopher Golden Read Free Book Online Page B

might have thought flirtatious if she'd been talking to anyone else. Anyone not huge and hooved and red. Anyone not Hellboy.
    "I appreciate the help," he said.
    Disappointment flickered in her eyes. "Ah. You've got to be off, then?"
    He frowned. "I don't think Martin wants me hanging around."
    "Bugger Martin," she said, and the bartender gave a good-natured shout of protest. "Fancy a pint? On me. For now, at least. I'll give the check to Dr. Campbell. Come, sit and talk. All the ruins you've visited, the ancient tombs you've unearthed. I want to hear about every one. The archaeologist in me is fascinated."
    The words were all business. Natural inquisitiveness. But the way she said it, the flash in her eyes, if he didn't know better...
    "You've done the job. Now you get the reward," she said.
    Under her expectant gaze, Hellboy found it impossible to refuse.
    "My kind of philosophy."
    "Ah, no, sorry. No philosophy allowed in the pub until you're too drunk to walk. Only then can true wisdom be found."
    Hellboy set the vacuum cleaner with the blue goblin smoke inside on the bar and glanced at Martin. "Keep that back there for me, will you? Don't want it getting into the wrong hands. And don't use it."
    Martin started to protest, but Anastasia was walking back to her table, where her mates waited in amazement, and Hellboy didn't hear a word the bartender said.
    He followed her.
    For the better part of two years.

Chapter 3
    T he village of Nakchu lay five miles northwest of Lake Tashi, still in the foothills of the snowcapped Nyenchen Tanghla mountain range, but at a slightly higher elevation. They were already at fifteen thousand feet on the plateau where Lake Tashi pooled among the mountains. They had prepared for the breathlessness caused by the elevation and the hard work, but when Anastasia led a small party on a hike to Nakchu, they were out of breath fairly quickly.
    She had left Mark Conrad in charge of the dig, and Eleanor Morris to keep an eye on Conrad. Danovich had to oversee the safety of the whole circus, so he had to be left behind as well. There were seven people in the detachment she led to the village that morning--herself; Professor Kyichu; a communications man named Horace Trotter; their local guide, Tenzin; a representative from the government in Beijing named Mr. Lao; and two diggers she had chosen for sheer muscle.
    Anastasia carried a gun. She didn't let anyone else have one except for Tenzin, who carried a rifle slung over his back every waking moment. In fact, she thought that the slim, powerful guide with the intense eyes might have been born with a tiny rifle across his back.
    Far too many times, they were forced to pause to rest. Tenzin became restless as a hunting dog with a snoutful of his prey's scent, but the rest of them weren't entirely used to the elevation. Tenzin understood this--his English was perfect; it was why they'd chosen him--but it didn't make him any less impatient. If she'd had to guess, Anastasia would have expected Han Kyichu to hold them up the most. He was the eldest among them by at least a decade. But it was the man from Beijing with his black eyes and black hair and new boots who slowed them down. His feet hurt.
    Anastasia didn't much care.
    Diplomacy was a part of her job. It came with the territory. But if the representative of the government that held Tibet against the will of its people had blisters on his toes, she figured that was a small price for him to pay.
    Tenzin led them to a narrow stream that flowed down from the foothills of the mountains and from there they turned northwest, following the water. A flock of black-necked cranes rested beside the stream but took flight at their approach. Anastasia paused and watched in wonder as they skirted low to the land. It seemed impossible to her that they could thrive at such elevations, but she did not question it. Many things she had seen in her life were impossible, and they had already seen ducks by the lake.
    As they