by E. G. Foley
When he came up alongside her, he noticed in surprise that nowadays, she was only as tall as his shoulder. Why, he must’ve undergone another growth spurt without even realizing it. It did seem like every other week, he was walking around with his ankles hanging out and had to buy new trousers.
“Whaddya want?” Dani asked, staring straight ahead as they walked away from the bonfire and the crowd.
“I feel really terrible about how I reacted to your news today.”
She didn’t even look at him. “You should.”
“Please. I’m genuinely sorry. I didn’t react well at the time, but I truly am happy for you. I think it’s amazing that they’re going to make you a Lightrider. You deserve it, you really do. Blimey, I’d be dead a couple of times over if you hadn’t been there for me, like you always are.”
She stopped walking and turned to study him. “You hate it, though, don’t you? You hate that I got your dream. That means you’re going to hate me.” Her eyes welled up with tears.
“No it doesn’t!” he insisted, laying a hand on her shoulder. He leaned closer, feeling protective, and so very sorry for his thoughtless words. “I could never hate you, Dani O’Dell.”
“It looked like you did today when I told everyone the news.”
“Dani, I could thrash myself for hurting your feelings. I’m just stupid sometimes. You’re the grandest girl in all the world to me. Don’t you know that?”
She stared at him, her lips trembling a little.
Jake gathered up his nerve to get the words out. He wasn’t usually the sort to wear his heart on his sleeve, but she deserved it. “You’re going to make a great Lightrider, Dani. Just as good as Finnderool one day, I bet, once you’re all trained. They wouldn’t have picked you if you didn’t have it in you. I admit, I was jealous. But not enough to let it come between us. You mean more to me than any silver sash.”
“Really?” she asked in a small voice while the bonfire cast their shadows on the grass nearby.
Jake nodded, holding her hurt but still-trusting gaze. “I couldn’t do any of this if it weren’t for you. Just promise me you’ll be careful out there. It’s a dangerous life, and knowing I won’t be there to protect you is already driving me mad.”
She managed a nod, and to his relief, he saw the coldness leave her big green eyes. But the wounded look was still there, and it wrung his heart.
“You won’t have to worry about me, Jake, because you’ll be right there with me,” she said. “I know you will. They’ll pick you, too, you’ll see. They have to.”
He shrugged and shook his head. “I won’t hold my breath.” After all, Dani hadn’t heard Aunt Ramona rebuke him today.
Dani took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Just try to stay out of trouble for a while and they won’t have any choice but to recruit you. You’re the most talented kid here. Besides”—she nudged him—“once I’m established in the program, I could put in a good word for you.”
He smiled ruefully. Her fingers felt warm in his grasp, but his hands were cold. “Thanks,” he said, “but you don’t have to do that. I just need to know we’re all right, you and I. Can you forgive me?”
She tilted her head with a reluctant half-smile. “I suppose you’ve been under a lot of strain lately.”
“Yes, well, that’s no excuse.” He faltered, looking into her eyes. “The last thing I would ever want to do is hurt your feelings.”
“Well.” She dropped her gaze with a slight blush, holding tightly to his hand. “Fortunately, I’m tougher than I look.”
“Aye,” Jake murmured with heartfelt admiration, “that you are, carrot-cake.”
She flicked a glance up at him through her lashes, and her dimples showed this time when she smiled. His heart clenched, and relief at her forgiveness eased some of the bow-string tension out of him.
“You’re a right plum lass, Dani O’Dell.” Jake stepped closer and kissed her on the cheek.
“Aren’t I, though?” She gave a happy little sigh as he pulled away.
Still holding hands, they gazed at each other for a long moment. Jake was stunned at what a huge relief it was to know that they were friends again—or whatever it was they were.
All he knew was that they were essential to each other.
At that moment, a deep vibratory hum erupted out of the darkness, rousing shouts and exclamations from across the lawn and around the bonfire.
People sitting on the logs leaped to their feet. Shouts and eager exclamations began filling the air.
“They’re coming!”
“Stand back, the portal’s about to open!”
Jake drew in his breath. “They’re back. Let’s go!” Still clutching Dani’s hand, he tugged her toward the sound.
Hand in hand, the two of them started running full-tilt toward the waypoint—a metal spike like a huge drawing pin driven flat into the lawn and running some twenty feet deep. Waypoints studded the ley lines of the Grid and marked the only known spots where portals could be opened.
As Dani and Jake barreled toward it, everyone else seemed to have the same idea. The crowd converged at that particular spot, but Sir Peter wasn’t having it. The bespectacled chancellor strode out into their midst, his black robes billowing as he waved everybody back from the waypoint.
“Stand back, people! Let’s give the team some room when they arrive. Excuse me! You there!” he shouted, gesturing to some centaurs. “Don’t get too close to the portal unless you wish to be incinerated. That’s right, everyone, back a little farther, please! Safety first, ladies and gentlemen.”
Turning, Sir Peter pointed at someone in the crowd. Jake saw that it was Jillian. “Tell the healers on standby that the team is coming in!”
The tidy blonde nodded to her husband, then dashed into the palace.
The hum was getting louder, emanating from the space around the waypoint.
Jake and Dani struggled to reach the front row, but the adults jostling ahead of them were larger and blocked their view.
Jake stood on his toes just in time to see Sir Peter gesturing impatiently at one section of the throng. “Clear a path for the gnomes, if you please!”
“Out of the way!” a few people yelled.
Then several sets of gnomes trundled out onto the lawn in formation, each group together carrying a stretcher on their shoulders.
Jake and Dani exchanged a dire glance. Stretchers were merely a reminder of how dangerous this mission was. Oh, Lord, what if Derek didn’t come back?
Or Janos?
Or Red…
Jake turned to Dani, dry-mouthed with fear.
“Whatever happens”—she gave his hand a squeeze—“you’ve still got me.”
Thank you, he thought, but Jake could only nod, his voice trapped in his throat. He gripped her hand, his own icy with dread as the two of them stared toward the waypoint, waiting to see if the mission had been a success.
CHAPTER 24
The Price of Freedom
Dani prayed that everyone was safe and that Janos had indeed managed to rescue Jake’s beloved Gryphon. But if that was not to be—whatever outcome the next few minutes might hold—she prayed above all for the wisdom to know what to say to Jake, how to help him if the mission had gone wrong.
Meanwhile, the sound of the energy throbbing through the ley line enfolded them, a deep vibrational resonance that pulsated like a heartbeat.
The sound grew louder as the team approached, and then, suddenly, the portal flashed open: an upright circle of dazzling light about eight feet in diameter, mirrorlike, its watery surface rippling with faint rainbow colors like a soap bubble.
She peeked in between the larger bodies of the adults in the way, trying to get a better view. Though she had seen portals before, it was different now, knowing that someday she would be one of the privileged few who could open them at will, travel through them anytime.
Of course, it wouldn’t be much fun having that navigational device that Lightriders used, the Flo
wer of Life, surgically implanted in her forearm. But she pushed that thought out of her mind. Considering she hadn’t even been to her first class yet, it was far too soon to start worrying about that.
Beside her, Jake growled with frustration. Standing on his toes, he craned his neck this way and that. “Blast it, I can’t see a thing! Too many people in the way!”
“Go.” Dani let go of his icy hand and nodded to him. Any former pickpocket worth his salt could easily shimmy his way up to gain a front-row view in any crowd. “Just don’t get incinerated.”
To her surprise, Jake clasped her hand again. “C’mon, carrot, you’re coming too.”
He pulled her with him, and together, they wove through the crowd, dodging here, ducking there, and twisting under arms like it was the world’s roughest game of London Bridge Is Falling Down. But they ended up in the front row. Jake winked at her, and Dani smiled back.
Then they waited, squinting as they stared down the brilliant tunnel of light. A shape began materializing in the glare, molecules collecting…
The shape wasn’t human.
Jake gasped as Claw the Courageous himself came bounding out of the portal, his splendid scarlet wings outstretched.
Red roared the second he was free, all four paws pouncing down onto green earth again.
Jake shouted his name; the Gryphon spied his master and went racing to him.
Dani cheered along with the crowd as Red bowled Jake over, playfully rolling around with him like an oversized dog.
Jake’s laughter brought tears to Dani’s eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand to hold back a sob of joy. Then Maddox fought his way to the front of the crowd as Ravyn Vambrace came running out of the shining circle.
“Mother!” he yelled, a title he usually reserved for his adoptive mum.
Ravyn turned toward the sound of his voice. “Maddox?”
The Guardian lad ran over and hugged her, but Sir Peter quickly motioned them aside because Derek and Janos were on their way, materializing even now in the tunnel.
Dani drew in her breath, because the two fighters were carrying Lightrider Tex in between them.
They did it! They got him!
That was the instant she knew the whole mission had been a resounding success.
More members of the rescue team followed them out of the portal, but Dani was so relieved to see Tex. All the kids were fond of the crazy cowboy. His arms draped over Derek and Janos’s shoulders, Tex looked barely conscious, his feet dragging behind him.
Jake climbed to his feet, one hand still resting on Red’s back. Dani went over to them, and Red nuzzled her like a giant housecat.
Dani threw her arms around the Gryphon’s feathered neck and hugged him hard. “Oh, Red, we missed you so much!”
“Becaw,” the beast answered with affection. He seemed fine as far as Dani could tell.
“Looks like Tex is hurt,” Jake said grimly.
Dani looked over and saw Derek and Janos easing the long, lanky Lightrider down onto the grass.
Jake and Dani ventured closer, Red prowling in between them.
“Is he going to be all right?” Jake called.
“You need to stay back,” Derek said gruffly, but Dani could not see where on his body Tex was injured.
Janos noticed them gawking and sent Jake and Dani a grim nod. The streak of blood on his cheek looked like war paint, but Dani doubted it was his own.
“Thank you,” Jake said. His voice was barely audible, but Janos heard with his acute vampire senses and smiled, sending him a little salute.
Then Sir Peter waved them back. “Clear the way, children! Too close!”
Jake and Dani obeyed.
“Welcome back, Tex!” Jake called as they retreated a few steps.
The cowboy lifted his hand wearily, tipping his hat. “Yeehaw, kid,” he answered in a weak voice.
Jake and Dani both smiled when they heard it. Whatever he had been through, at least Tex sounded like his old self.
Then the gnomes lifted the wounded Lightrider onto one of the stretchers and sped him off to the healers inside the palace.
Ravyn refused to lie down on a stretcher, for her part, but limped toward the castle with Maddox holding her up on one side. The sinewy female fighter nodded at the well-wishers along the way.
Judging by how skinny Ravyn looked, Dani thought that rather than a visit to the healers, the fierce Guardian lady ought to start with a large meal.
Then Finnderool stepped through the portal, followed by towering Ebrahim Sly, another master Guardian like Derek. Exiting the tunnel with a firm step, the giant black man nodded at the wood elf; it seemed he was the last one through.
Dani knew Master Ebrahim was in charge of training the apprentice Guardians like Maddox, but he still went out on missions all the time.
Finnderool, meanwhile, stood by, cool and elegant as ever. The tall, slender wood elf remained beside the portal a moment longer, as though he’d been holding the door for the others.
Dani watched in wonder. To think that one day, that would be her role, too…
Then she glanced around, amazed. It seemed that everything really was all right now.
The whole crowd was deliriously happy. Lady Bradford was there, applauding the victorious team. Archie and Nixie were jumping up and down gleefully, then rushing over to hug Red. Miss Helena was kissing Derek.
Dani wrinkled her nose at that and looked away.
She glanced around to find Isabelle just as the older girl exchanged a private nod with Janos from a distance. For a second, they stared at each other like no one else was there.
Then Finnderool closed the portal, and its brightness vanished in the night.
“Wait!” Janos said quickly, turning to stride toward the wood elf.
Dani’s eyes had not fully adjusted to the darkness yet after that dazzling light, but she recognized the vampire’s voice.
It held a strange undertone of fear she had never heard from Janos before.
“What is it?” Finderool asked. With his pale blond hair, he was easy to pick out in the darkness.
“Wyvern will know that I was the one behind this. Please transport me to Castle Gregorian so I can secure my home before he retaliates.”
Finnderool glanced at Sir Peter, and the wizard nodded.
“Do as he asks,” the chancellor said. “In fact, let’s go with him.” Sir Peter clapped Janos on the back. “Don’t worry, man, we’ll help you make sure your family’s safe. I’d be happy to cast a few good protection spells around your castle, if you like.”
Hands on hips, Janos gave him a weary nod. “I’d appreciate that.” He sounded relieved. Looked it, too.
Dani’s eyes had adjusted, so now she could see. All her friends were nearby, clamoring over the Gryphon, but Dani was quiet, and so was Isabelle, who had drifted over to her side.
Both girls watched the scene unfolding nearby.
“Open the portal,” Sir Peter instructed the wood elf, then turned to Derek. “Guardian Stone?”
Derek gave a firm nod. “I’m in.”
“Janos?” Finnderool called, beckoning him over. “Come tell me the coordinates to the waypoint nearest your castle. I trust you have them memorized?”
Janos nodded and went over to give him the numbers. Finnderool punched them into the magical-scientific device discreetly embedded in his left forearm.
Dani watched with avid interest from her spot a safe distance away.
“Derek?” Miss Helena pushed her way into the men’s midst. “You’re leaving again?” she exclaimed.
“This won’t take long,” Derek assured her, then gave the shapeshifter lady a quick kiss on the forehead. “Janos put himself on the line for us—twice now. The least I can do is repay the favor.”
“I’m coming with you!” Henry hurried after them.
“Not you too?” Miss Helena exclaimed.
“It’s all right, sis. I’ve been there before, remember?” Henry said. “I know the
ground, the wolf packs there. Perhaps I can help.”
“We should move quickly if we are going to beat Wyvern to the castle,” Derek said with a grim glance around at the others who were going.
“Be careful, please, all of you,” Miss Helena said.
As the portal flared open, dazzling their eyes once again, Dani saw Janos send Isabelle a slight bow of farewell.
Izzy nodded back to him, then Finnderool began waving his team into the tunnel. “Look lively, people. Who wants to go first?”
Janos ran in doggedly, his black ponytail flying out behind him.
“Next?” Finderool asked.
“After me,” Sir Peter quipped, then ambled into the shining tunnel, wand in hand.
Henry jogged after him and Derek marched in last.
“I trust you’re taking notes, Miss O’Dell,” Finnderool said, arching a brow when he saw her gawking. “Nine o’clock sharp tomorrow morning. Don’t be late.”
Dani smiled eagerly. “I’ll be there. Good luck!”
“Only the unprepared rely on luck, Miss O’Dell—lesson one. Farewell,” he added, then he stepped through and touched another button on his left wrist, and the portal winked closed.
* * *
As Janos went hurtling homeward through the Grid, every one of his molecules was filled with a sharpening sense of urgency. His Guardian instincts were going mad with the certainty that his family was under threat, and as the ley line carried the team toward the Carpathians, the feeling only grew stronger.
In seconds, he could see the circular opening ahead. They were nearing the waypoint. He braced himself for the landing as his molecules started re-forming, buzzing back into place, reconstituting his usual shape.
Seconds later, he ran out of the shining circle of light and stepped aside for the next arrival. Sir Peter, Henry DuVal, and Derek followed, with the haughty wood elf bringing up the rear.
Fortunately, it had been years since any of them had suffered the adverse reactions to Grid travel that newcomers dealt with. The only symptom now was a brief second or two of mild disorientation.
Janos experienced it now as he landed in the woods, feet planted in the turf. The waypoint was hidden in the forest, about four miles from his castle.