Dragon Shadow

by Alicia Wolfe

  “Destroy it…or enslave it. As to why, it’s because he serves dark gods and wants to conquer the Fae Lands in their name…and any other world he can gain access to, as well. This is the world that’s harbored the Fae Lords, though, and it will especially earn his ire.”

  I began pacing, suddenly restless. “What do we need to do to stop him? I mean, if it is him that’s behind all this?”

  “I don’t know.” Davril frowned. “We didn’t discover much in our attempts to spy on Mistress Angela, other than her name. Maybe we could track her down.”

  I shook my head. “She’ll have gone to ground. She’ll be totally off the radar. Never mind,” I said when he raised his eyebrows. He’d been in our world for ten years, but he didn’t seem to know the word radar. Priorities. “We need some other thread to unravel,” I said. “Like…” I clapped my hands. “The horn!”

  “The antler?”

  “No, the demon’s horn! That’s what Angela needed at the cemetery. If we can find out what she needed it for, we’ll know what her game is. What her goal is. Then we can stop her.”

  Davril stroked his jaw. “There’s a Compendium of magical artifacts and items in Queen Calista’s palace. A vast list of magical things and what their various uses are, even if they’re just suspected uses. It doesn’t have everything, of course, but if Angela knew to retrieve that horn, and if she does have sympathetic compatriots inside the palace, then she might have had access to the Compendium. That’s where she found out about the demon’s horn.”

  “At least that’s what you’re guessing.”

  “Do you have a better plan?”

  “No, but…” I groaned. “Going back into the palace—that’s the one thing we were trying to avoid. That’s going back into the lion’s den.”

  “I know.”

  “Someone in that place is a traitor.”

  “I know.”

  “They could come after us.”

  “I know.”

  We looked at each other. At last, I smiled. When I did, he did, too.

  “Sounds like a party,” I said.

  He grinned more widely, then winced. I could tell he was still in pain—physical pain, this time.

  “You still need to heal,” I said, returning to the bed and sitting down next to him. I was tempted to run my hands across his chest or those tight abs, but I held myself back. It was a struggle.

  “I’ll be fine by tomorrow,” he said. “Then we’ll go together into the palace—the lion’s den, as you call it. Don’t worry, Jade. This lion’s claws are sharp.”

  I started to slap my hip, where I normally kept my crossbow, then remembered it was gone. “Mine, too,” I said lamely.

  An awkward silence stretched as we stared at each other, and I had a powerful urge to bend down and kiss him. One of his hands was opening and closing, slowly, as if he was having a hard time not reaching out and bringing me to him, but he was able to hold himself back—damn it. I was, too, if barely, and the moment eventually passed.

  I stood and stretched, liking the way his eyes watched my body when I did.

  “I guess I’ll go get some rest,” I said. “See you in the morning.”

  “First thing,” he said. “I heal fast. We’ll have breakfast together—I have an excellent chef—then fly into the palace.”

  Fly into the palace. It was amazing how easy it was to get used to flying around. Ruby and I had done some flying, but not that much; broomsticks just weren’t that comfortable. But Davril’s winged car…now that I could get used to.

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said.

  I didn’t kiss him, but I did squeeze his hand again. Then, using all my willpower, I left that sexy badass Fae Knight lying half-naked in bed and departed the Tower of Elshe, almost whistling as I did. Could there really be hope for Davril and me? It sounded crazy. I tried to tell myself that he was a stuck-up, self-righteous cop and I had no business with him, but that voice was getting fainter and fainter, replaced by a louder voice that said, Go for it, Jade! Go for it now! I smiled widely, listening to that voice, and returned to my rooms in the keep. Fae bowed to me as I went.

  Later, Liara invited me to supper, and I went gladly. We supped on a terrace of one of the battlements with a magnificent view of the sun setting over New York. A girl could really get used to this.

  Afterward, I returned to my room and tried to get some sleep. I tossed and turned for a long time before dreams finally took me, and I woke up feeling refreshed and optimistic for the first time since this whole mess began. Working together, Davril and I would solve this problem, save Ruby, and the forces of goodness would prevail. And then…who knew? I didn’t want to think that far in advance. Don’t count your pepperonis until the pizza is done, as my father used to say.

  Liara had provided me with a toothbrush and other accessories, so I made myself ready, then dressed. The Fae had washed my cat-burglar outfit and mended the tears I’d received during the fight in the cemetery, so I just put that back on. I liked how tight and clingy it was, but it felt weird wearing it here amidst all the knights and Sisters. I felt like my modern-day criminal world was a taint upon the pristine medieval vibe they had going. But whatever, I wasn’t going to let that get me down, and in this get-up, Davril could get a much better view of my curves. Such as they were. I never had a lot going on in that department, to be honest, but you work with what you got.

  Just as I was putting the finishing touches on my hair, staring into the mirror, the mirror rippled…and the scene reflecting me and the bathroom faded way, replaced by an eerie black background.

  A floating yellow skull bobbed in the foreground, eyes alight with fire.

  I screamed and jumped back. I’d replaced my crossbow with the knife, and my hand flew to it and lifted it up, blade gleaming. Instantly, I realized how foolish this was. The floating face in the mirror couldn’t be hurt by my knife. I wasn’t sure what could hurt it, if anything.

  “Good morning, Jade,” Skull-Face said.

  I repressed a shudder. I wasn’t going to let this bastard see my fear. “Where the hell’s Ruby?” I demanded.

  The mirror rippled again. The skull disappeared, replaced by an image of Ruby in a stone cell. She looked weary but safe and unharmed. Of course, I had no way of knowing if this depiction of her was real or not. It could have been every bit as fake as the floating skull.

  “She’s safe and well. But only until I decide I have no more use for her. Or you.” With new menace, Skull-Face said, “I need the golden antler. Bring it to the penthouse atop Hartson Tower by tomorrow.”

  “I’ll get you your damned antler,” I snarled. “But if you touch my sister, I’ll gut you like a fish, you ugly bastard. Just what do you want with the antler, anyway?”

  “That’s my own affair.”

  “Are you mixed up in all this? Do you have something going on with Mistress Angela? What the hell does she want with the demon’s horn, anyway?”

  The fire-eyed skull threw back his head and laughed—long and loud. I wasn’t sure if he was amused by my frustration or if he knew something and was just amused he had all the answers I needed, and that the fate of the Queen herself lay in his clawed hands. Or whatever kind of hands he really had. The skull was only his avatar, not the real villain.

  I opened my mouth to snap something, but the door burst open and Davril leapt into my apartment. He must have come to escort me to breakfast himself and heard the sinister laughing. The threshold of the apartment was right near the bathroom, and he could see both me and the face in the mirror.

  “Jade!” he said.

  Belatedly, I realized his sword was out, gleaming with pale fire.

  “Davril!” I was horrified. Because I could see from the look on his face that this had come as a shock to him, and not in a good way. He’d just caught the woman he’d come to trust engaged in a secret talk with a floating skull in a mirror.

  Skull-Face just laughed louder. “Give me the antler and your sister lives,” h
e said between sinister laughs. “You have until tomorrow.”

  With that, the mirror rippled again, and Skull-Face vanished, replaced by my reflection.

  I stared at Davril, and he glared back. I could see all the trust and positive feelings I’d earned dissolve in an instant. Seeing that, my heart twisted, and I lost the strength in my legs. I staggered back and almost sat down on the toilet, I was so crushed. I just barely kept my feet.

  “Jade,” Davril said, stepping toward me. He moved like a man in a dream. Completely healed now, he wore his street clothes—a black silk shirt, brown leather jacket, and jeans. As he moved, he thrust his sword back into its sheath, and it became invisible. Good. At least he wasn’t going to chop me into pieces. But that look…

  “Davril,” I said, and raised my hands, palms out, as if trying to calm a spooked horse. Only I was the one spooked. My heart was smashing against my ribs like a drum. “This isn’t what it looks like. That thing, Skull-Face, it kidnapped Ruby…”

  “And you’ve been working with it to steal back the antler. You were never in this for me or the Queen. You were never in this to save my kingdom from Vorkoth. You just wanted to save your sister. Even if it meant my whole race would be wiped out.”

  “I…I…” I racked my brain for some explanation, something to tell him that would restore that trust, but at the moment, my mind was horribly, hideously blank. I could only manage to say again, “Davril, it’s not what it looks like.”

  He stepped forward again, anguish in his eyes. Suddenly, he stood straighter. His jaw stuck out. His eyes became flinty.

  Oh shit, I thought. What now? Because it was clear Davril had reached a decision, and I didn’t think it was going to go well for me.

  He reached behind his back and yanked out his set of handcuffs. They sparkled almost prettily, like ice. Like doom.

  Swaying on my feet, I stepped back again, nearly falling into the marble bathtub. Feeling it whack my thighs, I realized I could go no further. I could fight Davril…or I could submit.

  “Don’t do this,” I said as he moved closer. “I…I never would have hurt you or the Queen…and I just found out about Vorkoth yesterday!” I could hear the pitiful tone of my voice. I sounded like I was on the edge of tears.

  No…I felt the sting in my eyes and the saltiness on my lips. I was crying. My chest hitched, and my lips trembled. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

  “You betrayed me,” he said, and his voice was like stone grating on stone. “You betrayed the Queen. I…” He cleared his throat. “You must come with me, Jade. I must take you back to the dungeon at the palace.”

  “But…I never would have…”

  “The Queen will have to make that determination, not me.”

  He reached me. Grabbing my left arm, he twisted it behind my back, then my right, and I could feel the cold bite of metal as it snapped around my wrists. It didn’t physically hurt—he was as gentle as he could have been—but I hurt just the same.

  “I can’t believe you’re doing this,” I said as he marched me through the halls. I tried to avoid the eyes of the Fae we passed. “After…” Somehow I couldn’t say it.

  “After what?” Davril said.

  Was he really going to make me go there? Damn it, he was. Sucking up my courage, I said, “After yesterday.”

  “What happened yesterday?”

  Rage flooded my veins. The bastard! We only bared our souls to each other, that’s all. I wanted to snap at him in fury, but I felt defeated by it all. I had come so close to happiness, or at least to the possibility of maybe achieving it someday, after this whole mess was over with. Or at least the hope. But now it was all in tatters, ruined because I’d kept the wrong secret.

  Because that was the problem. Davril was correct to be mad. But…I’d had to keep the secret.

  Right?

  With a sigh, I hung my head as he carefully propelled me into Lady Kay—into the partitioned backseat of Lady Kay. A new wave of glum settled over me as I dropped onto the seat. How many criminals had Davril driven to the palace dungeon in this car? How many had sat here, watching the city scroll by just like I was doing?

  I studied him as he drove. Jaws bunched like he was chewing steel, he hurled us through the city. Anger boiled off him like a cloud. He was furious. More than furious. Hurt. Davril had been wounded by what I’d done.

  Damn it all, I thought. I’d really blown it. Like, epically.

  Then I realized something.

  “Wait! Davril, wait!”

  He didn’t slow down, but he did turn his head a bit. “Yes?”

  “We can’t return to the palace! Not like this. We were going into the lion’s den, anyway. But that was with two lions that knew the score on the lookout for the bad lions. Okay, this metaphor is starting to break down, but you know what I mean. Now we’re going into the lion’s den with one lion down and the other with his head totally in the wrong place. No, don’t bother to deny it. I can tell. It’s really in the wrong place. I’m on your side, you idiot!”

  “No. You’re on your sister’s side.”

  I growled in frustration. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. Of course I’m on my sister’s side. Why wouldn’t I be? She’s my sister! But that doesn’t mean I’m not on your side. It just…”

  “Yes?”

  I let out a breath. “It just seemed best not to tell you. If I had, you wouldn’t have trusted me.”

  “Damned right.”

  I wanted to kick the back of his chair but resisted. I remembered the last time I’d tried it. “Don’t you see, you blockhead?” I said. “I couldn’t have told you. Otherwise I’d still be in that cell!”

  “Apparently that’s where you belong.”

  Now I did kick the back of his chair. Sure enough, a magical blast threw me backward, and I could feel my hair stand on end. Real smooth, Jade. Idly I wondered if they’d serve me breakfast in jail. I was starving. And I could sure as hell use some coffee, too. Did Fae drink coffee? I guessed I was about to find out.

  The palace came into view ahead. I braced myself. We landed, and Davril escorted me through the high clean halls, bound for the dungeon. Fae stared at me as I walked past, and I wanted to hang my head in shame but made myself keep my head straight. I still couldn’t look anyone in the eye, but at least I kept some pride. Then I saw Jessela gaping at me and I had to twist my head as I passed her.

  Once again, Davril showed me down to the dungeon, through the dank, squalid passages, and installed me in a cell. It made sense to me now why the dungeon was so eerie and grotesque; it had probably once been underground. This had to be Queen Calista’s original palace from her homeworld.

  Davril twisted the key, then gazed at me through the crusted iron grate. “It didn’t have to be like this,” he said quietly.

  I watched him. “I know.”

  He held my gaze for another moment, then looked away. I tried to read his emotions, but he’d clammed up again. Great. How could people communicate if they didn’t know where they stood with each other? Of course, I was all too worried that I knew full well where we stood. I was persona non-grata to Davril now.

  “I am sorry,” I told him. “I…really, I never would have betrayed you.”

  He didn’t turn back to me. Still looking away, he said, “I wish I could believe that.”

  My heart leapt. “You can. You really can.”

  His chest rose, then fell. Still not looking at me, he said, “I must see the Queen.” He moved off through the darkness, leaving me alone.

  “Wait!” I called, but he didn’t turn back. “Wait! You’re in danger, remember! Someone might be after you. Be careful!”

  But he was gone.

  Chapter 16

  For hours, I beat my fists against the walls or paced restlessly. A fierce anger had consumed me—anger at myself for allowing this to happen, anger at Davril for overreacting, but most of all, anger at Skull-Face for abducting Ruby in the first place. He was the one who’d cau
sed all this. Just wait till I get my hands on you, I thought. Of course, for all I knew, I’d never leave this cell.

  Finally, when the sun was setting over the city—which I could just barely see through the tiny, high-set window—someone came to get me. I jerked up from where I was slumped against the wall, my energy finally exhausted, to see none other than Lord Gerwyn Seafoam, the Fae Lord with the brown hair and mustache who I’d met the night of the feast.

  “Hello there,” he said.

  “Er…hello?”

  He smiled. I heard the lock click and the door swung open. I rose from the bed and stood before him as he entered. With him in the cell, I was suddenly aware of how small it was. It had been tight before, but now it was claustrophobic. Just why the hell was he coming in here?

  “You wanted to see me?” I said. God, had Davril sent Seafoam in his stead because he couldn’t stand the sight of me any longer? Had Seafoam come to fetch me to the Queen?

  “Yes, I did,” Seafoam said. “There is an urgent matter I need to address.”

  “I hope it’s about freeing me, because—”

  He yanked a knife from his belt. It glittered like death itself in the dim light streaming in from the window.

  “A very urgent matter,” he said. For the first time, I heard the menace in his voice.

  I stumbled back. Fear filled me. “You,” I said. “You’re the mole!”

  He offered a ghastly grin. “Who says there’s just one?”

  I swallowed, hard.

  He stepped forward. I tried to dodge around him, but he was too quick. He interposed himself between me and the door, slashing at me with his blade. Crying out, I danced back.

  He stabbed out again. I jumped back. My spine struck the wall. Shit. There was nowhere else for me to go.

  “Why?” I asked desperately. “Why are you doing this? Do you serve Vorkoth?”

  Instead of answering, he coiled his arm for the killing blow. I was dead, I knew, and there was nothing I could do about it.

  Suddenly, a shining sword point stabbed out from Seafoam’s chest, spraying blood. His eyes widened, and he gasped. Blood flecked his lips. The sword was yanked back through his chest, leaving a hole, and he fell to his knees. The knife clattered to the floor.