Heart of a Dragon Read Online Free

preserved Asian scroll.   All indicated a set of corridors, a nexus providing a central entrance and exit to a series of portals.   The network was vast, and if everything he'd read was correct, all of those doorways might not open onto Earth.   Fortunately, all of those he'd managed to open did.
    There were lesser portals known to many of the denizens of San Valencez, but to his knowledge, Donovan was the only one to discover this older route, and he kept his secrets very close.   Sometimes a secret was the difference between life and death.
    When he'd discovered this first entrance, he'd purchased the building closest to it.   The wall and the brick were an illusion – the steps that led down to the portals each had their own wards.   His opened with a simple mathematical solution contrived of climbing and descending the correct number of stairs in the proper order.   Others required more intricate keys and rituals.   It was a mystery he'd only begun to unravel, but it had proven very useful.   He believed that there had once been keys, possibly formed of crystal, but their location was lost to time
    The corridor was ancient and powerful, and he never stepped into it without a twinge of nerves. Whatever power had created the portals and the corridor that joined them had stood for centuries, perhaps longer.   The thought of how far they might stretch, and of who – or what– might share that corridor at any given time was sobering.   It was also possible for magic – over time – to fade, or warp.   He didn't think he wanted to be in the corridor when that happened.
    Donovan walked slowly away from the doorway that led to his alley.   As he walked, he counted the doorways on his right.   He'd found that if he tried to watch the doorways on both sides, it threw off the count in some arcane manner.   Fourteen doors down he stopped, turned to his left, and crossed to the portal directly opposite.   He opened the latch and stepped onto a short stone stair that led up into the alley outside Club Chaos.

Chapter Three

    The sky was dark with clouds.   Drizzle misted the air and dripped down the glass windows of shops and diners.   Neon signs blinked, flashing their multi-colored messages to shadow people on the streets.   Donovan walked to the end of the alley and glanced up and down Hawthorne before ducking back into the shadows beside Club Chaos.   There were other entrances, but they wouldn't take him where he needed to go.
    There are cities within cities.   What we know and believe we know about places and events is based on our observations, and experiences.   The alley beside Club Chaos looked like any other alley; it was dark and littered with debris blown in by the wind.   One thing set it off.   Near the center,   there was a phone booth.   There was nothing remarkable about it, and unless you really thought about it, even the most logical question might not occur.   Why was it there?
    There was no reason for a phone to be located in a dark alley.   It was unlikely that those passing on the street would see if it they needed it.   It was even less likely they would leave the safety of the street lights and rummage in their pockets for money to make a call there in the shadows, particularly in a time when everyone from school children to the elderly had a cell phone.
    Donovan glanced over his shoulder toward the street and saw that he was alone.   He ducked into the booth, tucked the receiver under his chin, and dialed 360.
    The phone booth was the entrance to the many facets of Club Chaos.   There were levels upon levels to the place, each serving a different segment of the city's population.   Live music played on most levels. There was jazz, reggae, rock and even swing in one of the older sections.   Donovan wasn't interested in the night life, or the parties.   Not this time, anyway.
    When the booth