A hard hand reached out and landed on my shoulder, dragging me to a halt. I looked up. I was on the bottom steps of a rather plain looking building that looked way too official for my peace of mind. It looked like a courthouse—or a jail.
They marched me up the steps and straight through the door. Inside it took me a minute for my eyes to adjust to the dim interior, but my companions didn’t wait, pushing me forward down a long hall, past several doors. We entered the door at the end and I stopped dead on the other side.
“What are those?” I squeaked, my voice rising.
Steel bars from several unoccupied cells stared back at me.
The shorter of the two guards reached out and brushed his hand over the panel beside the front door of the nearest one. It opened with a click, though I didn’t see a key.
“You aren’t putting me in that!” I shrieked, digging in my heels as panic set in once more.
“We are. Until Mayor Seul arrives in the morning, that’s where you’re going. He will want answers. I don’t know who you are. But you’ll talk for the mayor, alright.”
“I will not speak to anyone if you put me in...” I screeched as the door closed behind after they shoved me in. I turned and stared at the bars as the lock engaged. Through them, my eyes met my captors. I realized they were young. Only a few years older than I. Something else snagged my notice. The eyes of the shorter one lit with a yellow gleam, something dark jumping at the edges. They reminded me of Thomas’ eyes.
It didn’t matter. I was trapped. Boy, was I ever regretting climbing through the window of my bedroom.
They turned without another word and left.
I looked at the closed door leading back the way I’d come. Reaching out, I gripped the bars. I screamed and let go as a painful jolt moving through my hands and down my arms made me leap back.
“What the hell! Are you people crazy?” I shouted. But nobody answered. Rubbing my hands together, I backed away from the bars until the back of my knees smacked into the edge of the cot behind me. I plopped down, gripping the light brown comforter and crumpling it in my hands. I wanted to cry. Instead, I leaned forward and buried my face in my hands. My instincts for staying out of trouble sucked. Because I was smack dab in the middle of it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I woke up when the movement of the air inside my cell shifted and I realized I wasn’t alone. I rocketed to a sitting position in less time than it took me to take my next breath. My heart beat like a jackhammer as I tried to figure out my surroundings; my sleep fogged brain playing catch-up.
I blinked. Dawn moved in through the single small barred window about my head. I stood up and looked towards the door. Voices approached. The door opened, and I jerked as the shorter of the guards from the night before entered with three others. The first was a taller man, sporting overlong salt and pepper hair that hung straight and contrasted sharply with his light grey eyes. He wore authority easily on his thin shoulders along with the full set of deep purple robes that draped his slender frame. A set of white tassels draped around his neck, one hanging lower than the other in front. The mayor had arrived.
The other two were similarly attired in canary yellow, minus the white decorations. The woman might have been attractive, if her mouth hadn’t been squeezed so tight in such a bitter line, looking like she’d been sucking on lemons. Her eyes fell on me and I immediately felt guilty of something. She had that effect. The man was forgettable and average from his head to his toes. Brown hair and eyes, medium and round. His ruddy cheeks crinkled, and he met mine with an easy smile. My eyes shot back to the mayor.
“I believe there’s been some mistake. I just spent the night in a jail cell. My mom’s gonna kill me. Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”
He inclined his head in my direction and waved a hand towards the lock as he spoke to the guard. An audible click sounded as the deadbolt released. “Can we get her out of there? Let’s have this conversation down the hall in meeting room one, shall we?” Without another word he turned and left, followed by the other two.
The guards stepped forward and opened the door, and I followed. Magically, the bars were no longer electrified.
My nose twitched when I entered the room. The others were already sitting. In the middle of the table a large white box sat, the source of the rich sweet smell. A carry out container of coffees sat next to it.
The mayor waived in the general direction of an empty chair and I took a seat. “Coffee? If you take cream, it’s there beside. Help yourself to a cinnamon roll. You must be hungry.”
I thought about refusing, but my stomach took that opportune moment to growl loud and clear. I reached out and snagged a cup and opened the box. I wasn’t shy.
I met his eyes around a mouthful of warm pastry.
He spoke up. “I’m Mayor Seul, Lucas Seul. This is Carol Shamon and Will Bennett. I head the council here in Drae Hallow and I’m also the mayor here. Ms. Shamon and Mr. Bennett are members of Drae Council.
Will nodded in my direction and reached forward for his own coffee and roll. He looked like he enjoyed them.
I swallowed a bite of roll and took a sip of coffee and burned my tongue, hissing.
“Sadie Cross. You can’t hold me. I have done nothing wrong.”
His dark brows rose, but his eyes were kind. “Sadie Cross, it’s nice to meet you. But you will find that there’s not much in Drae Hallow I can’t do, and locking up people who stumble into our valley uninvited is certainly on that list.”
He leaned forward on his elbows. I froze under his hypnotic gaze. A silvery glint over the darkness of his eyes I didn’t understand. My heart picked up speed, and I put my roll down on the napkin Will Bennett handed me.
“It was an accident.” I started.
Carol Shamon jerked. “Accident! I don’t think so.” She scoffed, fingernails drumming in agitation on top of the table, disdain rich in her doubting gaze.
What was with these people?
“Where are you from, Sadie Cross?” The mayor asked, ignoring her.
I saw no harm in answering. “Breathless Montana. I moved here—there, about a month ago with my mom, Carly.”
I was sure I imagined the brief frisson of surprise that crossed his features. He hid it almost immediately, and I imagined I was mistaken.
“Carly, how did you get inside the mountain? How did you get into Drae Hallow? In fact, if you’re from Breathless, that’s a long way down the mountain. You can imagine my confusion.”
I paused, not sure how much I should reveal. Ms. Shamon was already suspicious. If I told them about the werewolves, would they believe me nuts too?
“I was mad at mom. I took off for a walk up the trail and then something chased me. I didn’t stick around to see what it was. I ran up the mountain trail to get away and they trapped me by the wall of rocks at the end. There was this strange bunch of symbols and well, when I touched them the mountain opened up and let me in. And, well, here I am?” It was a series of crazy half-truths.
Carol’s face bloomed a lovely shade of red. I had fully captured everyone’s attention. Will Bennett’s eyes had frosted over and he stared at me in shock, donut forgotten. Mayor Seul stared at me as if I’d just sprouted two heads and a set of wings.
“Symbols? You saw them?” he asked, disbelieving.
“Well, yeah. They’re right there on the rocky wall, bout the size of my fist and round. Kinda looked like a maze. I traced them with my fingers and they lit up.”
Carol was unable to contain herself no longer. “Lies, she’s lying. No human can see those symbols!” The Mayor shot her a sharp look, and she snapped her mouth shut in irritation.
I glared at Carol Shamon. I didn’t like her one bit. “Yeah, as I said, I traced them and they lit up and I fell inside that corridor in the mountain. The wall became transparent at first and I saw the... bears, but they couldn’t get to me. It dark and it wasn’t safe to go back out. So I followed the path in the mountain and your guard
s caught me. And here I am. Ta Da!” I added, striking a pose with my hands in the air. Nobody thought I was funny.
“You say bears were chasing you? Like a pack of them. That’s unusual, isn’t it. Bears don’t hunt in packs.” Will observed.
I squirmed. No, they didn’t.
“Carol is right. Non magicals can’t see the key. They can’t get into Drae Hallow. What did the ‘bears’ look like, hmm?” Lucas Seul asked, now leaning back in his chair, one finger tapping a pencil on the table.
I blinked. I had the awful feeling he was aware I wasn’t telling the entire truth and was curious to see what I would come up with by way of a story next.
“Um... Hairy? They were tall. They had yellow eyes.” The last I added and frowned. Bears didn’t have yellow eyes.
“I see. Is it possible they weren’t bears?” he asked.
The condescending tone pissed me off. “It’s possible they were werewolves, but since I don’t believe in such nonsense, I don’t know what else to tell you. Whatever they are, they’ve been attacking the wildlife on the mountain for sport and more recently have moved on to domestic farm animals. Farmers are locking their stock up at night. And then there were the campers. We still don’t know what happened to them. They like disappeared.” I snapped my mouth shut. Now just where had all of that come from?
“We?” Will asked, eyes intent.
My mouth drew down in a thin line. I wasn’t talking about my friends. That was my business—not theirs.
I threw back a question of my own. “What are you talking about humans not being able open the lock? I did it, no problem. You’re human and you do it, right? You’re asking me to make sense of something that doesn’t and speaking in riddles.” I watched them watching me. The fact I was here seemed startling to them. But telling them I was being chased by a pack of marauding werewolves hadn’t even cracked a smile of disbelief. Something told me there was more going on here than I could see. What came out of my mouth next surprised even me.
“You know what they are, don’t you? Is this some super-secret government facility? Like a branch of the CIA or something?”
“More like the X-files.” Will mumbled beneath his breath, but I heard him fine.
“Would you shut up! This is no laughing matter. Be serious for once.” Carol railed on Will, who fell silent with a slight grin.
Only, my instincts told me they were all taking this seriously. I’d apparently performed some feat I shouldn’t have been able to. I just wanted to go home.
Carol continued. “Of course we’re human. That was a poor choice of words, perhaps. We just have to be careful who we let into our ‘top-secret’ facility. Which brings us to what we’re going to do with you?”
Will snorted. “Now who’s spinning yarns Carol. Stop trying to scare the girl. I think Sadie is smarter than to believe that at this point—”
The Mayor cleared his throat. “That’s enough.”
Silence.
The mayor stared at me like I might be some sort of puzzle box he needed to figure out.
“Sadie, what if I told you you were right. That those were ‘werewolves’—”
“Don’t!” Carol interrupted him. He silenced her with a look. She was livid. He continued unabated.
“—that yes, we are all human. But only those who are also Other or Magicals are capable of opening that lock.”
“Other?” I asked. My first guess was right. I’d wandered into the twilight zone and was surrounded by a bunch of delusional nuts.
Will nodded, eyes gleaming as he started on his second roll.
“Sure, you know, shifters. Or Magicals,” he added, waving his roll in the air for emphasis. Carol was almost purple by now, her teeth grinding as she struggled to stay silent.
The mayors eye never left mine. He ignored the others. “So you don’t believe in werewolves. What about sorcerer’s?”
My mouth was open to tell Lucas Seul to stop playing games when he held his left hand out, snapped his fingers and a small flickering flame formed at the end of them, dancing in the air, slight sparks shooting into the air.
Shock held me rooted to my chair. I blinked. Go away. I did not just see that.
With another snap of his fingers, he extinguished the small flames. He nodded in Carol’s direction. “I can tell you what Carol is but I don’t want her to scratch my eyes out. Besides, It’s her story to tell, not mine.”
Will grinned, enjoying himself. He shoved the last donut, three-quarters of it, into his mouth and then began twirling his fingers in the air in an odd loopy circle. His eyes darkened from light brown to black until I couldn’t see the iris at all. He focused on the remaining four donuts. I watched in fascination as they shuddered and then rose one by one and started spinning in a controlled circle above the table.
Was my mouth hanging open?
Carol broke the spell by reaching forward and snagging an apple fritter out of the air and taking a savage bite. The spell broken, the other three tumbled to the table, and we scrambled to catch them before they could roll off. Will gave Carol a dirty look. She took a second bite and glared back.
“Idiots.” She mumbled around the donut.
“I didn’t just see that.” I whispered in disbelief.
“Well, I guess you’re in charge of what you saw and what you allow yourself to believe. As for those bears? Werewolf is much closer to the mark. Though being honest, it’s not right either. We’re still trying to figure that one out. We know they aren’t from Drae Hallow, and no one in Breathless maintains that level of power either.”
My eyes rose and met Will’s, friendly and warm as soon as he realized I was looking.
I realized my hands trembled. I suddenly needed to chew every burgeoning new nail on my fingers to bloody nubs. I slid my hands beneath my butt to remove the temptation.
“Okay. Magical, sure, like that happens to me every day. But whatever. What does any of that have to do with me?”
“Everything Sadie Cross. It has everything to do with whom... and what you are. Only Magicals and Other can trip that lock. It’s a safety feature hard-wired into every airlock that lets us travel between the magical world of Drae Hallow and the non-magical world on the outside of Shephard’s Mountain.
“So this is where all the Magicals live? Inside Shephard’s Mountain in... what... Drae Hallow, right?” I scoffed.
But he didn’t answer my question.
“That leads us to you. If you opened that lock, you, Sadie Cross, are a Magical or at the least; Other.”
I shook my head, shoving my chair back and preparing to stand.
“Sit!” The Mayor commanded. I sat, but I wasn’t quiet.
“That is the stupidest thing I’ve heard yet today. I. Am. Human. Look at me? Do I seem like I can make fire or spin donuts? I can’t even get geometry right in school. Let’s deal okay? You let me go back to my normal boring life and I promise not to tell anyone about you? No secret symbols, hidden passages in the mountains, an entire town inside a mountain nobody knows about, and... the magic tricks? Did I miss anything? I won’t say a word. Pinky swear.” I thrust my little finger out, wondering if there would be any takers.
“School.” Will added with a smirk. “Can’t forget the school.” Carol gave him another glare and spoke up, unable to contain herself a moment longer, and turned on me.
“Are you working for someone? Is it the Dark Faction? They’ve been stirring trouble up for years...”
“She’s not working for them Carol. Be still and let me handle this. You too Will, neither of you are helping.” Lucas Seul finished.
He met my eyes. “There is one way to tell. Not all others have them, but if you’re a Magical, it’s a given. A birthmark Sadie. Do you have a birthmark? It would be a rather distinct one.”
I stood up, the chair sliding away behind me. “Nope. So there you go. No mark, no magic powers. No woo, woo stuff!” I said, waggling my fingers and rolling my eyes. “Time to go,” I finished.
Carol nodded. “Told you! Human, like I said. She’s working with someone else.” She looked to the Mayor. “I think we should do a mind-wipe and send her back down the mountain. She won’t remember a thing.”
“A mind—who?” I squeaked.
“You know we can’t do that to a minor. It’s dangerous.” Will reminded her.
“So is letting Non-Magicals into Drae Hallow. We have to protect everyone. Too many depend on us to keep them safe!”
“I’m well aware of the stakes, Carol!” Lucas argued, voice cold.
He turned to me and I could see his patience was growing thing.
“You’re lying. Show me the mark now, Sadie Cross.” His voice echoed in the compact space and something cold whispered through my mind. I wanted, no—needed to show them.
Before I was aware of what was happening, I had turned around and snugged the sleeve of my t-shirt off to the side, revealing the back of my shoulder. I could only reveal part of it without disrobing more than was comfortable. It started at the base of my neck and swirled around to my front and draped over my shoulder like a half cape. I had always told people who wondered that it was a bad tattoo. That was a lie—I had no tattoos.
Behind me there were gasps. I trembled with effort, trying to fight off whatever controlled my actions.
“It can’t be.” I heard Will protest.
“Even more reason for a mind-wipe. She goes rogue, she could kill us all.”
I whirled at that, yanking my shirt up to cover the too large and unsightly imperfection I hated.
Mayor Seul jerked and looked ill.
“See? Satisfied. It’s a horrible thing. Who wants to see a deformity like that?”
They all blinked at the venom dripping from my voice. I hated being different.
Fire Born Dragon (Rule 9 Academy Book 1) Page 9