by C. J. Hill
Tori decided not to comment on that.
Rosa was breathlessly cheerful. Her walk had an extra spring to it. “People must have seen the dragon flying overhead. The government will have to launch an investigation. They’ll do things to protect the cities.”
Lilly let out a scoff. “The government is just as likely to try and use the dragons for themselves. You know what idiots politicians are.”
Tori decided not to comment on that, either.
Shang shook his head. “It will make it harder to keep what we do a secret. When our parents see pictures of a massive dead dragon, they won’t want us to have anything to do with dragons.”
“Speak for your own parents,” Bess said. “Mine are more than willing to shove me in front of huge, flying carnivores. Did my dad even make sure I was okay before he took off with Jesse?”
“Yes,” Lilly and Alyssa said at the same time, apparently used to this sort of complaint.
Rosa reached over and patted Bess’s arm soothingly. “You were the first person he hugged after we killed the dragon. He wouldn’t have known who you were unless he kept track of you the entire time you were fighting.”
“And not only that,” Theo put in, struggling to keep pace with everyone else. “When you were stuck at the enclosure your dad was getting ready to go after you himself. He was about to go into plan thirty-six mode.”
“Okay, he worries.” Bess sniffed, still sounding affronted. “But not enough to keep me away from danger like the rest of your parents would.”
“Oh come on.” Kody playfully swatted her on the shoulder. “You wouldn’t let him keep you away if he tried.” He sent her a wide grin. “So don’t go into Bess thirty-six mode now. We just had our first fight and our first victory. We killed the dragon with Overdrake’s own chain. So much for invincibility.”
“We still have an informant to worry about,” Shang pointed out.
“And we will worry about that,” Kody said. “But right now it’s time to gloat.”
Then some of the Slayers talked about strategies for fighting the next dragon, while some talked about the possibility of government help, and the rest talked about ways to trap the informant. Their enthusiasm should have been contagious. But Tori didn’t catch it.
She walked beside Dirk at the back and neither one of them spoke. Now that their powers had gone, she felt everything more keenly. The cold humid air, the strain of running around all night, and especially the ache in her hip where the dragon had hit her. It made her limp a little. The heartbeat of the embryonic dragons, she noticed, had returned to the back of her mind.
“I can hear the heartbeats again,” she told Dirk.
He only nodded.
“Why weren’t you and I tuned into the adult dragon all along? Why did we only connect with it when it attacked?”
He shrugged, unbothered by this fact. “Maybe because it was the signal from the eggs that triggered our DNA in the first place.”
She walked silently for a few more steps, not sure she wanted to voice her feelings, but then figured Dirk would understand, even if he didn’t know the answer to her next question. “Why did I feel so sick when Shang shot the dragon?”
“He was still alive until then, and you’d made a connection with him. You were inside his mind in order to hear what he heard. That affects you whether you want it to or not.”
She knew the connection had affected him, too, and wondered how long it would last and why no one had mentioned it would happen. She wished she’d been better prepared. She could still see, in a way that twisted her insides, the dragon’s eyes staring blankly at her, their glow fading.
About an hour later, Booker’s van pulled up to the group. Dr. B and Jesse were already inside. Tori hadn’t meant to leave Dirk and go sit by Jesse. It happened because she had trouble climbing into the van. Stepping up sent a sharp pain through her injured hip. As Dirk helped her up, Jesse reached down and half pulled, half lifted her inside. He guided her to the seat next to his.
Once they were all inside, Booker headed down the road, still driving toward the dragon instead of turning around. Tori stared past Jesse to the window. “Why are we going in this direction?”
“To take pictures of the dragon,” Jesse said.
Tori blinked at him. “What?”
“Booker was far enough away that the EMP didn’t affect his equipment,” Jesse explained as though that’s where her confusion came from. “His camera still works.”
Tori watched the trees flash into and out of the van’s headlights. Everything else was dark. “Why do we need pictures of a dead dragon?” Her voice came out high-pitched, but she didn’t care. She wanted to get as far away from this place as possible. “We already know what it looks like.”
Jesse leaned back against his seat, and rubbed his hand across his forehead tiredly. “The pictures aren’t for us. They’re to send to the news outlets and the government.”
Rosa twisted around in her seat so she could join the conversation. “Once everyone sees proof that dragons exist and people realize they’re connected to the power outage, the government will have to do something. They’ll form some sort of task force to fight them.”
Tori had supposed that somebody else had already gotten pictures. So many people had cell phones with cameras, and who wouldn’t take a picture if they saw a dragon flying overhead? But then again, it was in the middle of the night in a remote place. The dragon had flown over quickly and in the dark. Only cameras that were set up for low light and distant action shots would have been able to capture a picture of the dragon—and even if someone had been outside with one of those cameras, poised and ready, chances were the EMP would have destroyed the camera anyway.
In other words, there probably weren’t any pictures of the dragon.
Tori leaned her head back and stifled a groan. A person should only be required to be brave for so long and she’d reached her limit. She wanted to go somewhere safe and curl up and sleep. “I thought you didn’t want to tell the government about the dragons,” she said.
“We want the government to know about the dragons,” Jesse said. “We just don’t want them to know about us. There wasn’t a way to do one without the other before. But now we can submit the pictures anonymously. That way, the government will work on ways to fight the dragons without endangering us in the process.”
He and Rosa seemed so happy about this that Tori couldn’t complain anymore about their return trip, but she watched the passing trees with a growing dread. Hadn’t anyone else in this van ever watched a horror film? You always thought the monster was dead and then somehow it managed to get back up one last time to tear someone’s head off.
And okay, those were just movies, but still. The sanest thing would be to drive as fast as they could back to camp.
When the van got close to the area where they’d fought the dragon, Booker slowed down and cut the headlights. Since the traffic lights had been destroyed by the EMP, the van was plunged into darkness. Booker put his infrared glasses on and kept driving. He may have been able to see, but no one else could, and Tori found herself gripping the edge of her seat. It was no use telling herself that the dragon obviously wasn’t alive or she would have her powers back. It wasn’t the dragon she was worrying about now. It was Overdrake. He wouldn’t leave the dragon sitting there for people to find. He would come back for it. In all likelihood he was already there. And they were driving right to him.
CHAPTER 42
Dirk’s head was throbbing even before Booker stopped the van and threw it into reverse. No one asked why. They didn’t need infrared glasses to see what Booker had seen. Down the road, a truck was stopped and shining its headlights on the lifeless form of the dragon. Two large cranes and a flatbed semi completed the semicircle in the road.
Some of his father’s men were getting the cranes in position to lift the dragon onto the flatbed.
“I don’t think anyone saw us,” Booker said as he guided the van backward,
out of sight of any headlights.
“Pull off on the side of the road.” Dr. B twisted in his seat, checking the windows. “We don’t want to be hit from behind.”
Dirk knew what Dr. B would say next. He and Jesse were the fastest runners of the group and Jesse was already worn out. That meant the job would fall to him.
Sure enough, Dr. B handed Dirk Booker’s night-vision goggles and the camera. The long telephoto lens was already attached. “Get as close as you can without being seen.”
Dirk nodded. As he made his way to the door, he thought about handing the equipment to Kody and asking him to do it instead. But that sort of request would raise questions, and Dirk wanted to answer questions even less than he wanted to take pictures. So he said nothing and got out for the third time that night.
He jogged into the cover of the trees until he was hidden from sight of the van, then took off the infrared glasses and let them hang around his neck. He stepped into the air and glided, flying just a few inches off the ground, so his footsteps wouldn’t make noises that his father’s men might hear.
Dragon lords could fly longer than Slayers, and his powers hadn’t worn off yet.
He’d always kept his ability to fly a secret. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself by having two powers, and he didn’t want people wondering why he could fly and yet wasn’t Jesse’s counterpart. But now that Tori knew she could fly, would she put the pieces together? She must have wondered how he got on the roof so quickly.
He shook his head. He was still trying to figure out just what her power of flight meant.
He would have thought that she came from a dragon lord line and wasn’t a Slayer at all—the dragon lords’ powers were close enough to the Slayers’ that Dirk had been able to masquerade as one for years.
But that didn’t make sense, either. Women hardly ever inherited the gene that allowed them access to a dragon lord’s powers. His own sister hadn’t inherited it. His aunts hadn’t either. You had to look a long ways back in the records to find any women dragon lords. And besides, Tori was the same age as the Slayers, and her powers faded at the same time. If they’d remained longer, she certainly would have mentioned it.
He didn’t think about the mystery for long. The dragon came into view. His dragon. Tamerlane. Named for the medieval conqueror of Western, South, and Central Asia.
Dirk’s stomach lurched, clenching with anger and sadness all over again.
His father had undoubtedly thought it was a fitting punishment to attack the Slayers with Tamerlane—the dragon Dirk took care of, connected with, and rode. Dirk had had to choose whether to help kill his own dragon or see it destroy his friends.
Once a dragon lord established a mind link with a dragon, it was nearly impossible to sever, even by another dragon lord. Dirk had only managed it one time tonight—when Tamerlane chased Tori into the foliage. The dragon would have killed her if Dirk hadn’t turned it away. And Dirk had probably only managed to do it then because the dragon had been his, because he’d slipped into Tamerlane’s mind so many times before.
Dirk focused the camera lens on the limp form sprawled across the road. The car headlights spotlighted the dragon’s neck and back so that his face was half-hidden in shadows. Dirk didn’t need the light to see Tamerlane clearly, though. Every line and curve had been etched into his memory long ago.
Dirk would never experience the raw power of Tamerlane’s mind again, the feeling that he had bridled a lightning bolt. Dirk already felt the emptiness of that fact.
He took several pictures, then moved farther down the tree line and took some more. It was ironic, because he had wanted to take pictures of the dragons since he was old enough to know what a camera did, but his father had never allowed it. Now Dirk was being forced to do it when he didn’t want to.
Dirk switched the camera to video and slowly moved farther along the road. If he didn’t bring back good footage, Dr. B would probably come out here himself, making enough noise in the process that he’d end up getting shot.
As hard as this was, Dirk had chosen his side tonight. He had to see it through.
The men had finished attaching chains to the dragon. One of the men signaled to the cranes and the machines let out a grinding protest. Thirty tons fought against the chains, but slowly the dragon was dragged, lifted upward toward the semi’s open bed. Tamerlane’s head flopped. The lifeless eyes seemed to stare in Dirk’s direction.
Dirk looked away and turned off the camera.
It didn’t matter that, had his father commanded it, Tamerlane would have attacked and killed Dirk without a second thought. It didn’t matter that loyalty between a dragon lord and dragon could only be one-sided. Dragons didn’t form attachments for other dragons, let alone people. Still, Dirk wished he could have connected to Tamerlane one last time, to try to explain, to apologize.
It was a stupid thought. He might as well try to explain the years of intrigue and divided loyalty to his horse. Animals couldn’t understand because only people did this sort of thing to themselves.
Dirk hoped the video was long enough to satisfy Dr. B. He turned away from his father’s men and headed to the van.
CHAPTER 43
It seemed to Tori that the trip back to camp took forever. This was partially because they drove to D.C. first. Booker got out at an all-night Internet cafe. He was going to download the video and send it to as many news sources as possible, along with the address of Overdrake’s compound. Booker would also send the files to several departments in the Pentagon, and offer to give them information, as well.
The trip also took longer because Dr. B drove in a roundabout way, making sure no one had followed them. Before Booker had gotten out, he and Dr. B had talked in hushed voices about whether it was even safe to go back to camp. Did the fact that Overdrake knew so much about them also mean he knew where the camp was? Could he already be planning an attack there?
A call to Shirley reassured them that nothing strange had turned up on any of the camp monitors. With the Slayers’ weapons and equipment already there, and with cameras set up to warn them of incoming danger, Dr. B and Booker finally decided camp was still one of the safest places to be.
About half an hour after they’d left D.C. Tori fell asleep sitting up. The jostling of the van made her head slide sideways onto Jesse’s shoulder. She jerked awake, said a groggy, “Sorry,” and sat back up.
He gave her a smile. “It’s okay. I don’t mind. You need some sleep.” He had taken off his jacket to use as a pillow against the window, and he leaned back into it, shutting his eyes. Her head probably didn’t bother him that much. Besides, she wasn’t the only one using a guy as a headrest. In the seat behind them, Lilly was nestled into Shang’s side. Her blonde hair cascaded down his arm as she slept.
Tori leaned against Jesse’s shoulder, relaxing into him and inhaling the smoky scent of his clothes. She enjoyed the warmth from his body underneath her cheek so much that it made her feel a little bit wicked. He had most likely only offered his shoulder to be polite, and she was memorizing the smell of his clothes like some stalker.
A moment later she opened her eyes, positive Dirk was staring at her.
He rolled his eyes at her, then turned away.
She blushed, hating how transparent the whole counterpart thing made her. Then she wondered if Jesse could sense that she liked snuggling up against him. Probably. And he probably thought she was an idiot, too, but was too nice to show it.
She didn’t think about it for long. She drifted back to sleep and the next thing she knew, the van had stopped and Jesse was shaking her awake. They were in the camp parking lot. The sun was up, infusing the world with color again, and the clock on the dashboard read 6:35.
Dr. B took the keys from the ignition and slipped them into his pocket. Dirt smudged his sleeves and face. “Leave any equipment you have in the van. You can go to your cabins and get some sleep. We’ll meet at one o’clock in the Dragon Hall for lunch.”
Tori climbed out of the van, the chain rattling with every step she took. As she walked across the parking lot, Theo came up beside her. “I can get that collar off in my shop now.”
She nodded and followed him toward the main office where the carts waited. It felt odd to be walking through camp in the daylight—the group of them dressed in black and Tori dragging a huge chain connected to her waist. She wound some of the chain around one arm. It wasn’t much less conspicuous. Fortunately, it was early enough in the morning that no one would be around to see them.
Dirk walked a little ways ahead of her. When she caught sight of his back, she quickened her pace to catch up with him. The sick feeling she’d had last night had gone, like a memory that didn’t quite make sense. She assumed Dirk’s connection to the dragon had stopped bothering him, too, but when she reached him she could tell by the set of his jaw and the tenseness in his eyes that he was in a dark mood about something.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
He nodded, looking at the trees, not at her.
“I never thanked you for saving my life back on the enclosure roof.”
He momentarily glanced at her. “No problem.”
“I would say I hope to return the favor someday, but that seems like wishing something bad on you.”
He let out a grunt. “Heaven knows, I don’t need that.” His dark mood flickered and a smile lifted the corner of his lips. “I guess you’ll just have to be in my debt.”
Before she came up with an answer to that, Dr. B called out, “I need to talk to the captains.”
Dirk said, “Later,” then walked over to where Dr. B stood. Jesse was already there waiting.
Tori slowed her pace and let her gaze linger on them. Dr. B spoke in a hushed tone, his eyes on Dirk. Judging by the stern line of Dirk’s brow, he didn’t like what Dr. B said. She was watching them so intently she didn’t notice Cole and David—the guys she’d met on her first day of camp—until she went right by them. They stood by the trail in shorts and T-shirts, warming up for a run.