Dragon Oracle Urban Fantasy Boxed Set (Dragon Oracle Complete Series: Books 1 - 9)

by Jada Fisher

  “Yes. We did. Well, except for…”

  “Except what?”

  “We… We left the garage door open.”

  “And why did you do that?”

  “We… We just couldn’t stand there and let them burn. It seemed so cruel. I… One of my worst fears is being burned alive, and the thought of destroying a whole family that way. It was…just too much.”

  “I see. And so you left this garage door open and then you left?”

  “Yes. We didn’t remain at our posts.”

  “But your daughter lived? That is her, sitting over there, yes?”

  “Yes.”

  “How is that possible, if you didn’t hold up your end of the bargain?”

  “Estelle followed through. She paid for everything. She paid for care afterwards. She paid for the physical therapy and follow-ups. She even helped pay off our second mortgage and get us a better insurance plan.”

  “It sounds like she did a lot for your family.”

  “She did. I know that Mallory wouldn’t be here now if it weren’t for Estelle’s intervention.”

  “So what happened after this? You and your husband continued to live with your daughter as she recuperated, and Estelle never came to you again?”

  “No. For a while it seemed that way, but then Mallory needed another surgery and suddenly, Estelle cut everything off. We went to her, begging for help, and she said that we never upheld our end and she had been more than generous with us. She said if we wanted to have things back to how they were, we needed to help her.

  “She said she understood that we were kind people. Soft civilians. That we couldn’t handle something like arson. But since Jacoby was good with cars, she told us to sabotage the car of an oracle. That was it.”

  “And did you?”

  Another long pause, one that made my stomach twist. I couldn’t help it when my eyes flicked right back to Mallory.

  It was hard to tell if she just looked physically sick or sick over what she was hearing. She was leaning forward, her arms wrapped around her waist and a thin sheen of sweat over her forehead. She was even more pale than before and the top of her scar was just visible above the collar of her shirt, stark pink against her otherwise pasty complexion.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you know what happened to the owner of that car and the seer after that?”

  “I… Yes. At first, we didn’t, and we were able to forget about it a bit. But then we saw it on the news. The mom and the kid died. Only the father survived. We didn’t need Estelle to call us to know exactly what it was. It fit all the details too perfectly.”

  “But that was the last time you helped Estelle?”

  “…no.”

  “No?”

  “No. We continued to help her on several more…missions.”

  “Such as?”

  Her voice faded to the background of my mind as I felt a cold finger trail down my spine. Turning, I saw the same spirit of death behind me, smirking slightly.

  I blinked at her, stomach dropping, but she just crooked one of her fingers.

  Come. Take a walk with me.

  “Uh, I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

  You won’t miss much, I promise.

  “I think everyone will notice if I just get up in the middle of this trial.”

  You’d be surprised what people will miss. Come on. We don’t have much time before things have to go back to the natural order.

  “And what exactly is the natural order?”

  Me taking you to your afterlife. Now, come on.

  She winked out of existence only to appear a few feet from the door. I gave one last look around then got up to follow her.

  Our footsteps seemed ominously loud as we walked through the empty hall. Dust particles hung in the air, suspended in sun beams. It was different from the visions I was used to. I definitely felt like I was walking through the real world, but like that world had been paused. Forced to come to a full stop just for us.

  Your friend there looks sick.

  “She has a lot to be sick about.”

  Ah, no denial that she’s your friend then?

  I turned to face the spirit, crossing my arms. “Is there something in particular you want? I think I liked it better when you were running around and trying to reap me.”

  Funny you should mention that, because we’re going to have to go back to that soon.

  I swallowed hard. “We are?”

  Yes. I bought quite a bit of time by arguing that you were about to stop a lot of souls perishing when they weren’t supposed to and—surprise, surprise—I was right.

  “You knew I was going to save the city?”

  I had a feeling.

  “Wait, so the people in the city weren’t supposed to die? Were the dark dragons not destined to attack the city?”

  It’s complicated. You see, there’s not exactly a set plan that must be followed no matter what. It’s more that there are…possibilities. But the death of this entire city was not one of the possibilities. Somehow, those dragons are working outside of fate, which is concerning.

  “Wait, if there’s no set plan, then why are you—”

  You died, Seer. Your fate was sealed and set. You were the one who had to play God and reanimate yourself.

  “I wasn’t…playing God. I needed to protect my friends.”

  Look, I don’t care how you say it. Point is, you died and, I don’t know if you know this, you’re supposed to stay dead once that happens. And you didn’t. So that’s why I’m here.

  But as I said, I was able to buy you some time.

  “Yeah, I got that. Is that what you came here for? For me to say thanks?”

  Touchy. Geez.

  “You know, you seem awfully flippant for the supposed grim reaper.”

  Do I? I’m just a reflection of you, really. I haven’t been alive in so long that I suppose I’ve forgotten how to act. Maybe even speak. It wasn’t until we were in the diner that I even remembered how a real conversation went.

  “Wait, so you’re saying you’re just parroting me?”

  Parroting is pretty reductive. I’m not consciously doing it. I suppose it’s just the curse making sure we can communicate. I gotta say, though, it’s a nice change, because communication isn’t normally a part of my experience.

  “You’ve mentioned that curse before. What is that? Is it breakable?”

  Hey. You’re missing the point of why I’m even here.

  “Which is?”

  I’ve already said. I bought you time because you stopped the dragons from going outside of fate and taking a whole bunch of lives that weren’t up for the taking.

  “Yeah, I got that.”

  No, you clearly don’t. Come on now, Davie. I need you to get it. Think.

  “I… I am thinking. You’re giving me a countdown. I get it.”

  The spirit let out a growl. Ugh, for someone who’s supposed to be so selfless, you don’t seem to be able to think outside of yourself.

  “Hey!” I had more to say, but suddenly, I was jolting forward, practically falling out of my seat. I felt Bronn and Mickey’s hands on either side of me, pulling me back into my chair, and far too many eyes on me.

  “Hey, are you alright?” Bronn whispered in my ear.

  “Uh, fine. Yes. I, uh, I think.” I shook my head and looked back at the circle. Mavis was gone and it was Jacoby standing in the center, his face red and tear-tracks down his cheeks. What had he even been saying? How much had I missed?

  Did I even want to know? Seeing it once had been hard enough. Sitting there and listening to them say it all out loud seemed like far too great a punishment.

  “Seer, are you well?” one of the circle asked.

  “I… I don’t know if well is the right word. But I’m not, uh… I’m not harmed, if that’s what you mean. Just got a little swept up in things.”

  They nodded then turned back to the circle. “Proceed.”

  “Accused, that was
the last time that you worked with Estelle?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why? Did you tell her that you would no longer cooperate?”

  “No. Like I said, she threatened to rat us out for what we’d done, and at that point, we’d just learned that the girls had lived. We… We wanted to see if we could hide them. Protect them from her.”

  “So why did the missions stop then?”

  “We didn’t know at first. We always assumed she would come back. But then we heard that their source for finding the seers had dried up.”

  “So there was someone telling her who to target? It wasn’t information she was able to come by on her own?”

  “As far as I know, no. She was getting messages from…someone. Or something. I’m not really clear on that. Those messages either told her about the next seer or gave her a clue. You’ll have to ask her. Mavis and I weren’t high up enough to know the details.”

  “So, after that day, you never interacted with Estelle again?”

  “No. Never again.”

  “And you took care of the two girls?”

  “I don’t know if ‘take care of’ are the right words. They were sent off to different foster homes and sometimes it was difficult to keep track of their whereabouts without alerting anyone to the fact that we were keeping an eye on them. It was easier once they both were allowed to go back to school, because we were able to have our daughter make friends with the younger one.”

  “Did she know why?”

  “We didn’t tell her directly at first. We told her there was a lonely girl in her class that had been through a lot of medical stuff just like she had and needed a good friend. Later, as she got older and they grew closer, we told her that we needed to protect her from people who might hurt her. It wasn’t until they graduated from high school that we told her the part we played in the seer’s family’s death.”

  “And did you tell her all of it?”

  “No.”

  “What did you tell her?”

  “Only the parts about the seer sisters. The part where we walked away. Left the garage door open.”

  “And nothing else?”

  “No. Nothing else.”

  “And what was her response to what you did tell her?”

  “She went away for a while. Told Davie— I mean, the seer that she’d been hired for a MMA rookie tour on the west coast and took off. She didn’t return until a month later, and then she stayed in a hotel for a while.

  “When she finally came home, she told us she was moving into her own studio. She said that we had a lot to make up for, probably more than anyone could in a lifetime, and then that was that. If anything, she seemed more dedicated than ever to protecting the seer and making sure she didn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

  “And both she and the seer sisters had no idea of the scope of your actions until recently, when the younger seer discovered the plot?”

  “Yes.”

  “Your confession has been recounted in front of your peers. I only have a single question remaining. Do you realize what you’ve done?”

  There was another pause, and it seemed to grate along my very skin. Maybe it was a good thing the spirit of death had taken me out of the conversation when it did. I felt an overwhelming combination of nausea, rage, and horror as my mind took in everything being said.

  “Yes.”

  “And what is it that you’ve done?”

  “My wife and I were a party to wiping out an entire race. We murdered children and innocent people for gain and because of fear.”

  “Do you believe that you were justified in your actions? That the cost was worth protecting us, your brothers and sisters?”

  “No. No, I don’t. It was easy to tell myself that at the time, and I would never take back saving my daughter, but what we did was wrong. It was murder, out and out. It was something born out of hate and fear, and I will always regret that we were active participants in it.”

  “Thank you. You may return to your seat.”

  Jacoby nodded, and I steeled myself for the next plotter. The several other faces I didn’t recognize, and I didn’t know if that was going to be worse or better. But instead of calling any of them, the speaker turned to look at the other seated folks.

  “I believe there is one who wishes to speak to the character of the first accused. The daughter in question, yes?”

  Mallory stood, her shoulders squared despite how clammy and exhausted she looked. “Yes, I am the daughter, and I am here to speak on my parents’ behalf.”

  4

  That Jagged Rift

  I had thought that I’d pretty much already felt the most intense mix of emotions possible in my short life. After all, hopping dimensions, literally dying, and seeing the near extinction of my people had all been pretty traumatic and heady events. But as my former(?) best friend walked to the center of the circle, I felt a whole new mix burst within my chest.

  Betrayal, anger, hurt, bewilderment, disbelief. They all tangled together, wrapping tightly around my heart and squeezing it so hard I thought I might choke right then and there. It was one thing to stop me from beating the absolute crap out of them when I was in the throes of my rage, it was another entirely to defend them in a Fey Court!

  “You are not accused. You are not seer. State who you are for the court.”

  “I am Mallory, of Jacoby and Mavis. I am your dwarven sister, and I am here to beg mercy for my parents.”

  “And do you believe your parents are deserving of mercy?”

  “No.” Her answer surprised me, and I just blinked at her a moment, confused. She was trying to speak for her parents, right? “Mercy isn’t supposed to be something you can deserve. It isn’t quantifiable in that way. My parents did evil, evil things. Things that give me nightmares at night.

  “But I know they didn’t do them out of malice. They were scared. They were desperate. And the very fact of the matter is that if I hadn’t been born, they would have never agreed to any of Estelle’s offers. In fact, they would have turned her in, had they found out.”

  “Are you saying that you are responsible for what happened?”

  “No. Responsibility implies that I understood what was going on. I was just a baby. A very, very sick baby. If anything, I was the catalyst.”

  “But many people—humans, fey, and dragon alike—have had dying children and have managed not to attempt genocide.”

  “And yet how many parents do you know who say they’d kill someone for their child.” My stomach rolled at that. I felt like I was pitching between rage and understanding. Like her words made sense in the part of my head that interpreted language, but only made my heart shatter that much more.

  “So, you think your being sick excuses their action?”

  “No. It simply explains it. You see, my mother told you that doctors told her she couldn’t ever have kids. But she didn’t tell you why.

  “I’m sure some of you were there, and all of you have heard of the attack on the Baleford Mines in the Old Country almost two hundred years ago.” There was another positive murmur, and Mallory continued. “I’ll explain for anyone who isn’t familiar with our history—” She was talking to me, wasn’t she? “—the Baleford Mines was the largest community of us left in the world. We built schools, meeting grounds, even our own hospitals under the ground where we could share our culture and not worry about blending in with the humans above.

  “My mother was just a teenager then, going to school and just living her life, when the anti-humanists attacked. As you all know, they were upset with our tentative peace with the reformist dragons, afraid that our support would tip the balance. So they tried to kill us all with a blitz attack.

  “Instead of running, my mother was one of the few in the school who stayed to make sure all the children got out. She went back, trip after trip, up through burning levels, until every single child from that school was heading down to the depths.

  “But she and the other rescuers didn’t m
ake it. There was a tunnel collapse. Several of them were crushed and burned, including my mother. When they pulled her out after the attack, her spine was broken as well as both her legs and her pelvis. It took years and years for her to recover, but by then, the damage had already been done.

  “Did you know that burn survivors have a long-documented history of infertility? Something about that trauma just tells the body that it can’t survive carrying a child to term. Add that to the difficulty that comes from having all sorts of pins and screws in your spine and pelvis, and you’ve got a recipe for pretty solid sterility.

  “So when I finally came along, after years and years of my mother hoping and praying for me, you can understand how hard that was for her to give up. My mother, who basically sacrificed her life to save others, had lost something that was so important to her, so who can blame her for being desperate to hold onto her little girl? The only little girl that she would ever have.

  “I know none of this excuses them. I don’t want them to be excused. They did something unforgivable, but I’m asking you to forgive them. Not entirely. But just enough so that I don’t have to lose any more of my family than I already have.

  “Because, despite what they’ve done, I love them. And I know they did it to protect me. And that they’ve dedicated much of their lives to helping behind the scenes. Trying to make up for what you can’t really make up for. Surely that has to account for something. It has to, right?” Her head dropped and she swayed a little.

  “Are you well?” the speaker asked, taking a step toward her and catching her arm.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just not sleeping very well.”

  “Do you wish to sit down? Do you have anything more to say?”

  “…no. I’m done for now. I’ve said everything I can.”

  “Thank you for your words, sister.” The speaker gestured for one of the guards to come over and help Mallory to her seat. Of course, she pulled away, but I could see her legs shaking even from where I was.

  I couldn’t help but worry if she was alright. I couldn’t imagine being in her shoes, but at the same time, I didn’t have it in me to feel pity for her. And yet… She hadn’t known the true evil of what her parents did. Only the filtered, sugarcoated story. Could I really blame her?