Chapter 28

Rogue Rider Mansion, Beverly Hills, California. United States

A woman who reeked of strange magic but also, seemed quite normal, strode from a bright archway off to the right. The magician had shoulder-length brown hair and wore glasses and unlike the tough riders Gen had just met, she was smiling. Amanda wore yoga pants, a workout top and sneakers and looked ready to take a run. Gen only knew about these outfit details because of the quick lessons that she'd gotten from Jeremy Bearimy and Juergen when they were explaining to her options for her own clothes.

The woman was holding one of those mobile phones that everyone was obsessed with in this time period. Apparently, they did everything for them and no one could live without them. Gen expected she'd see a lot more people with them at the Rogue Rider Mansion than even at the Gullington.

Smiling, chewing gum, Amanda glanced at her phone. "Give me a five-letter word."

"What?" Gen asked, looking at Sophia for clarification.

Sophia grinned, encouraging Gen to comply. "Go on then. You know words. You can't pull the medieval card with that one."

Amanda nodded, an intrigued look in her eyes. "I overheard about that from Dwayne when he was talking on the phone to someone at the House of Fourteen. He is all sorts of flustered. It's simply amazing!" She combed a hand through the air at Gen. "I'm going to love watching the drama you'll bring to this place."

"Thanks," Gen said, drawing out the word, thinking that this woman was like the modern version of Ainsley at the Gullington—that was maybe a good thing…or really bad…

"By overheard, you mean…" Sophia trailed away, giving Amanda a pointed look.

"I was eavesdropping," Amanda replied matter-of-factly. "That man never tells me a damn thing and I'm the house manager of this place. Oh, and that reminds me I totally forgot introductions." She extended her hand, her fingernails covered in bright paint and little designs. Gen got the impression they weren't her real nails, but she didn't know how that could be the case or why someone would do such a thing, inhibiting their movement with long, fake nails. Still, Gen shook her hand.

"I'm Amanda, House Manager Extraordinaire for the Rogue Riders. I take care of…well, just about everything. This place would fall to ruin without me. I do the cleaning, the cooking, the room design, the purchasing and I work to try to make the lives of all the riders and their dragons as easy as possible. Well, besides Dwayne's. I work to make his as impossible as possible."

"Oh, because he's the boss?" Gen asked, confused by this woman's brazen nature and then also intrigued.

Amanda shook her head. "Oh, no. I loved Sophia when she was our boss. I catered to her every whim. But Dwayne is on a real power trip, so it is my mission to humble him." She winked at Sophia. "I replaced his toothpaste with hemorrhoid cream. He's about to be able to whistle really well."

Sophia giggled. "I'm not sure that was a good idea. I'm certain that Dwayne is just on edge because he was thrust into the leadership role without warning."

"He was thrust into the leadership role without merit," Amanda argued. "Whatever were the Founders of the House of Fourteen thinking when they made that appointment and fired you, Sophia? I just don't get it."

Gen stiffened at the mention of the Founders, knowing that involved her father and sister watching from the Land of Chimera. They were electing the leaders of the various organizations and had recently gotten rid of Sophia and put this Dwayne Stone in charge of the Rogue Riders. It had to be for a good reason, and Sophia seemed to support the decision, saying as an angel dragonrider, she shouldn't be leading the Rogue Riders.

"Anyway," Amanda sang, glancing back at her phone which was covered in a pink and blue unicorn on the back and appeared to have jewelry hanging from the corner. "I still need a five-letter word."

"Okay, how about ‘rogue,'" Gen offered.

"Rogue," Amanda said, typing on her phone. "Not bad. The ‘e' is in the right place and we know we have an ‘r'."

Sophia glanced at Gen. "She's playing Wordle. It's a word game on the phone. I'll teach it to you later."

"I don't have a phone," Gen stated.

"Do you want one?" Sophia questioned.

Gen looked around at the strange, modern mansion and shook her head. "Let me get used to this thing you call electricity and plumbing first."

"Which brings me to your room," Amanda said, putting her phone away. "I do all the design and I'm sure you'll have specific needs. I simply adore that everything is brand new to you. I can't wait to introduce you to Real Housewives. You're going to hate it!"

"Great…" Gen glanced at Sophia, again for help, but she was enjoying this way too much, stifling a laugh.

"So your room," Amanda went on. "Tell me what aesthetic you want. Cottagecore, boho, emo core, grunge, wabi-sabi or maybe fairycore?"

Gen's eyes widened. She looked at Sophia and then pointed at Amanda. "Is she still speaking English? Is my communication device suddenly broken? I don't know what she's saying…"

Sophia's eyes sparkled with amusement. "Yeah, she's speaking modern-day English but even your device can't decode those words because they are ridiculous."

"Oh, so you have a thingy that decodes what we say, huh?" Amanda asked. "That's so cool."

Sophia nodded. "Yes, and it translates what Gen is saying or otherwise, well, I'm afraid we wouldn't understand her."

"Yeah, it would be all like, ‘I desire my chamber to be worthy of a queen and fetch me tea before I goeth to my dragon,'" Amanda said in a sudden refined voice.

Gen laughed at this. "I'm certain that you wouldn't understand me or me you, without the communication device."

"Amanda was asking you how you want your room designed," Sophia explained.

"Oh," Gen said, a bit stumped, looking around at the bright, shiny marble. "I don't know. Maybe something warmer and rustic. Something that reminds me of being outside and has a rugged beauty, rather than makes me feel like I'm living inside a stone."

The house manager grinned at Sophia. "I love her so much, already. She's going to shake things up." She returned her gaze to Gen. "And how about food? Do you have any food allergies?"

Gen pursed her lips, wondering what this could possibly refer to in his context. "I don't think so, but I know how to eat with a fork."

Amanda laughed loudly, the sound carrying in the large space. "You're already ten steps ahead of most of the Rogue Riders. I swear, if I can get them to wash their hands before meals, it's a miracle."

"Told you," Sophia said, winking at Gen.

"You're going to like it here," Amanda said, pulling out her phone again. "I'll see to it. Come back around and find me later and I'll take you to your room. Oh, and I can't wait to meet your dragon—Emperor. When Dwayne found out about that, the gross vein on his forehead popped out. It was simply marvelous."

"So he knows everything, then?" Sophia asked. "Hiker gave him the full rundown?"

Amanda nodded, pointing to a far hallway. "And he asked me to send Gen to him as soon as she arrived."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sophia said, urgently taking Gen by the arm and leading her toward the long hallway behind the stairway to the right.

"Because he asked me to," Amanda said. "Oh, and Sophia…"

She paused, halting Gen too. "Dwayne wants to see Gen alone. He said, and I quote, ‘Tell Mrs. Goody-Goody Beaufont that she's not invited to the meeting.'"

A worried expression crossed Sophia's face, but Gen could tell she worked quickly to cover it, nodding and pointing to a door ahead. "Fine, he's through there. And you'll be fine. I'm sure you'll be okay…"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Gen asked, sensing the tension in Sophia's reply.

"Because he's going to try and bully you," Amanda answered.

"And my advice," Sophia said in a low voice suddenly, "is let him. Just lay low and don't cause problems."

"But that's not what Emperor told me to do out there." Gen pointed to the door where the dragons were.

Sophia nodded, understandingly. "That was with other, fellow riders. This is different. Dwayne is your leader. Don't start off on the wrong foot with him. I promise you, it's for the best. You're in a better position to see things if you don't put a target on your back on day one with that man."