by Sarah Noffke
Cat’s eyes widened with total horror. “That’s a level red violation.” She rounded on Lee. “And you let this person in here! I’ll have to start cleaning from scratch.”
Lee encouraged her wife to back away from Sophia. “Dear, we run a business and usually want people to come into the shop, regardless of whether they’ve showered ten times that day.”
Cat gave her a scrutinizing expression. “Are you sure we can’t have a rule that requires customers to have showered multiple times before entering the shop?”
“I’m positive,” Lee chirped. “Oh, and look, Sophia dumped that hot Scotsman for an equally attractive fae.” She indicated Rudolf, who was frozen beside Sophia as fairies went to work dusting him.
“I didn’t dump Wilder,” Sophia argued. “And gross. Rudolf and I aren’t together.”
“What do you mean, gross?” Rudolf asked, offended. “I really must protest that I’m equally as attractive. I don’t have as cool a name as Sophia’s boy toy but—”
“Boyfriend,” she corrected.
He waved her off. “Same thing.”
“Not to me,” she disagreed.
“So you’re here because you need me to leave with you,” Lee said again. “I’ll just grab my machete and a ski mask.”
“We’re here for a cookie actually,” Rudolf said. He was nearly drooling at the case full of pastries and treats.
Sophia shook her head. “He wants a cookie. I need to ask for your help, Lee. I have a flower that must be picked by the hand of an assassin. I don’t know what it will entail—”
“Done,” Lee cut in, glancing over her shoulder as Cat threw a bucket of soapy water on the floor in the back and began mopping. “Can you believe we’ve been together for fourteen years?”
“That’s amazing!” Sophia watched as the soapy water nearly flooded the area.
“What’s amazing is that I haven’t killed her yet,” Lee muttered. “She’s been on a real cleaning spree lately, more so than usual. I need to get out of here, or her fairies and her are going to drive me mad…madder.”
“Well, I don’t actually know where this flower is yet,” Sophia explained as Lee went and grabbed a few chocolate chip cookies the size of her face and stuck them in a paper bag. “It’s called the moaning desmond. Have you heard of it?”
Lee shook her head. “No, I’m afraid I haven’t.”
Sophia pursed her mouth to the side. “Same here. I think I’ll have to do some research.”
“It’s probably in the Great Library,” Rudolf offered, taking the bag of cookies from Lee with a wide smile. “I can take you there.”
“I don’t need you to anymore since there’s a portal there from the Castle at the Gullington,” Sophia told him as her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out, thinking it might be a message from Alicia about the antidote for the cyborgs. It wasn’t, but the message got her immediate attention.
It was from Evan and read: “Get back to the Gullington quickly. We’ve got trouble.”
Chapter Sixteen
“This is going to have to wait,” Sophia said. She sent a quick message back to Evan, telling him she was on her way.
“It can’t wait!” Lee exclaimed as Cat yelled at a fairy for not scrubbing hard enough. “You can’t leave me alone with her! She’s going to make me kill her. I have to get away until this whole thing passes. It usually only takes a week or so, and then she tires herself out.”
Sophia could hardly focus, her thoughts overwhelmed with worry about the Gullington. She tried reaching out to Lunis, but he must have been busy because he wasn’t answering. She still felt him there, so she knew he was at least all right. “I’m sorry, but I have to get back to the Gullington.”
“I can take you to the Great Library,” Rudolf offered between bites. “I used to be the Fierce.”
“What’s that?” Lee asked.
“It’s the thing you have to follow in order to find the Great Library in Tanzania,” Sophia explained quickly. “But Rudolf, I’m sure you’re busy and have other things—”
“Not a thing to do,” Rudolf interrupted. “The kingdom of the fae pretty much runs itself, and since you helped Serena to live longer, she actually takes care of the Captains.”
“I could go with you,” Lee said excitedly. “I’ll do the research and find out where this moaning desmond is located. Then when you’re free again, we’ll go and pick it.”
Sophia looked between the baker assassin and King Rudolf, hesitating. “You two are willing to go on this mission together, and you haven’t even met before.”
“Hey, I’m Lee, and I’m going to kill my wife if I don’t get out of here.” The baker-assassin offered a hand to Rudolf.
“I’m King Rudolfus Sweetwater, and my wife tells me if I hang around the kingdom too long, she’ll kill me.”
“Sounds like the perfect arrangement,” Lee sang, glancing at Sophia. “Don’t worry. You’re doing me a favor. I’ll help you at no cost just for getting me away from that insane woman.”
Sophia didn’t see what harm it would do to have Lee and Rudolf go and find the location of the moaning desmond. It would be a time-saver for her and benefit them. “Okay. Well, message me when you find the location, and as soon as I can get away, you and I, Lee, will go pick this flower.”
“Do you think the purple monkey will want to go to the Great Library too?” Rudolf asked, pointing to a corner where a table and chairs sat but nothing else.
Sophia gave Lee a questioning expression. “What was in the cookie you gave him?”
She shrugged. “Just a few hallucinogens. They will wear off in a few minutes.”
“You better hope so,” Sophia warned. “Because your only hope of making it to the Great Library is with the help of that man.”
Lee gave the king of the fae a proud look. “He sounds like quite the competent fellow.”
Sophia backed for the door, wondering if she should explain to the two what they were in store for, working together. She decided it was best if they learned on their own. “You have no idea. Best of luck, you two.”
They waved to her as she left. “Good luck with dealing with that fungus problem you have,” Rudolf offered.
She shook her head. “That’s not what I’m rushing off to do.”
“Well, then,” Lee began, “don’t let your boy toy get away with gallivanting around with a promiscuous gnome. You make him pay, and if you need me, then I’ll make him.”
“Again, that’s not what I’m leaving for,” Sophia said, whipping the door open.
“Well, then what is it?” Rudolf asked.
Sophia shook her head with worry. She glanced over her shoulder. “That’s the thing. I really don’t know, but something tells me it isn’t good.”
Chapter Seventeen
Rushing through the Barrier, Sophia expected to see the Gullington on fire, like when Trin Currante invaded the Dragon Elite’s headquarters. To her surprise, the Expanse was quiet with no cyberpunk zeppelin dropping bombs on the Castle and no dragons warring against cyborgs.
Sophia glanced toward the Cave, where she again expected to see something, but it was strangely vacant. She still couldn’t communicate with Lunis, although she was relieved to feel him and know he was okay. Deciding her best option was to check the Castle, she sprinted in that direction.
Once inside, Sophia found the Castle irritatingly quiet. It wasn’t that she wanted to find war and devastation at the Gullington, but finding nothing was making her more fearful of what was actually happening. It felt like a ghost town.
Turning up her enhanced senses, Sophia closed her eyes and listened to the noises in the Castle. From the kitchen, she heard pots and pans clanking together. There was someone making noise on maybe the fifth story, which was mostly invisible unless Quiet decided otherwise. Then she heard voices coming from Hiker’s office and sped up the grand staircase.
Sophia charged into Hiker’s office to find the Viking looking out the bank of window
s with his hands pinned behind his back, tension heavy in his shoulders. On the couch was Mama Jamba sewing something small. Standing tentatively next to the desk with NO10JO were Evan and Mahkah. Wilder was absent.
“What’s wrong?” Sophia asked.
Hiker turned and gave her a scrutinizing stare. “How do you know something is wrong?”
She gulped. He didn’t know that Evan had a phone and had sent her a message telling her to return to the Castle. “Um…I just sensed it.”
He considered this before nodding. “I knew you wouldn’t have telepathy with Lunis since I instructed him to devote all of his attention to finding the dragons.”
“What?” Sophia asked, trying to piece it all together. “The dragons? What happened to them?”
“They escaped,” Evan cut in.
Hiker shook his head. “No, they left, as they are permitted to do.”
“Wait, what?” Sophia questioned, unclear exactly who they were talking about.
Pressing his lips together, Hiker suddenly looked a lot older. “A lot of evil dragons left the Gullington. The ones that had just learned to fly anyways.” He pointed to the bank of windows. “There’s roughly a few dozen out there.”
“So, you sent Lunis to find them?” Sophia asked.
Hiker nodded. “As well as Coral, Bell, and Tala.” He indicated the Dragon Elite Globe. “It doesn’t show their location since they don’t want to be a part of us. I only ever get a small blip when they hatch, and then the evil ones all disappear from the globe.”
Sophia studied the large globe in the corner. It was full of little dots, all hovering over Scotland. Hiker and her dot had a circle around it since they were twins, she believed. There were other dots around the world, showing the location of the other mature dragons like Lunis. She wasn’t sure that mature was the right word to describe him, especially after the joke he told her the other day.
“If they are allowed to leave,” Sophia began slowly. “Then why did you send the other dragons after them?”
He understood her confusion on the subject. “It is their prerogative to leave the Gullington. I’ve never forced a rider or a dragon to stay here.”
“Actually, just the opposite,” Evan joked. “Usually, you’re kicking them out left and right.”
The grimace on Hiker’s face made the rider shush immediately.
“However,” the leader of the Dragon Elite continued, “this is a very different time globally than we’ve ever experienced. Dragons have been persecuted before during my time, but never like this. Nevin Gooseman has managed to make people fearful of dragons—no matter whether they are considered good or bad. And in this modern world, there’s technology that can shoot them down.” He shook his head with real worry on his face. “The dragons out there are all untrained and brand new. Not only will they not know how to avoid attacks, I fear they will respond with violence.”
“And that will make everything worse,” Sophia said through a loose gasp.
“That’s right,” Hiker agreed.
“If dragons start attacking people in self-defense, the world will see them as dangerous,” Mahkah explained in his calm, matter-of-fact tone. “It will become impossible for us to defend their actions.”
“And that might be the end of them.” Sophia’s eyes were distant as all the repercussions added up in her mind.
This was bad. Very, very bad.
“What can we do?” Sophia asked, her chest suddenly vibrating with adrenaline. “Can you call the dragons back here so that I can take off on Lunis?”
“I can,” Hiker began, his tone tentative. “But I’m not going to.”
The Viking began pacing suddenly, his chin down and eyes scanning.
“I’m thinking you’re on the brink of elaborating,” Sophia guessed.
“That’s how he thinks,” Mama Jamba offered, pulling a needle through the fabric she was sewing. It was a small square as if she was making a pillow for a field mouse. Knowing her, she probably was.
Hiker paused his pacing. “I believe that if the dragons see you riders on Lunis, Coral, or Tala, they will be less likely to cooperate. Dragons who haven’t magnetized to a rider are naturally skeptical of magicians. It is only when a dragon wants the companionship that only a rider can offer, they let down that guard and embrace humans, but that’s not their first instinct.”
Sophia had read that in The Complete History of Dragonriders recently. Ironically, it was dragons abandoning this survival instinct that rewarded them with the gift of companionship with a rider who was intimately linked to them. It just proved that sometimes going against natural forces could be beneficial.
“The dragons will hopefully be able to negotiate with those that have left and encourage them to return for their own good,” Hiker continued. “I think that’s the only way because forcing them would turn into an all-out war.”
“And the media would be all over that,” Sophia stated, realizing how delicate this situation was.
“Yeah, can you imagine how that would fan the flames of this already hot fire globally?” Evan asked. “We’re all trying to convince the world that dragons are good and for the benefit of the Earth, and then they witness a ton of dragons fighting in the skies. It would turn into complete chaos everywhere.”
Hiker covered his head with his hand. “Which is why I think the young dragons have to be convinced. But finding them is key. You can cover more ground if you spread out. Then you can communicate with your dragons to tell them of their location. I’m informing Bell to have your dragons open up the telepathic link to their riders. I think that’s more important than them devoting everything to finding the dragons right now.”
“I’ll take Europe since I know it best,” Evan stated smugly.
“I can take North and South America,” Mahkah offered.
“And I can—”
“You aren’t going,” Hiker interrupted Sophia.
Everyone looked up with confused expressions.
He glanced at the two men and pointed to the door. “Yes, that’s fine. Continue to divide up countries and search. Portal to locations, check the skies, and then move on until you find evidence of the dragonettes.”
That was the first time that Sophia had heard the term dragonettes. It made the new dragons seem cute and small and, more importantly, harmless, which was the farthest thing from the truth.
When Evan and Mahkah didn’t move, Hiker gave them a stern expression. “You’ve got your orders. Go on now.”
Mahkah was the first to the door. Evan was a little slower and gave Sophia a strange expression when he passed, NO10JO on his heels. When he went by, he whispered, “Tell me what happens after I go.”
She shook her head, knowing Hiker had heard the other dragonrider. “I won’t be doing that.”
Evan winked. “Okay. Good cover-up.”
She nearly laughed at him but remained stone-faced as she looked at the leader of the Dragon Elite. “Sir, you don’t want me to search for the dragonettes?”
“No,” he answered at once, putting his back to her as he faced the bank of windows once more, taking the stance he had been in when she entered. “I want your attention centered on helping Ainsley. Finding the dragonettes is important, but so is she. If things do go from bad to worse for the Dragon Elite, I at least want her to have her freedom. We might lose it all, Sophia. And if that happens, our resources will be limited. Everything will change.”
Sophia couldn’t believe it. This didn’t sound like Hiker Wallace at all. He was genuinely worried about Ainsley’s wellbeing in the face of potentially losing the Dragon Elite. It was solid reasoning. Saving their reputation was important. But if they did lose it, then helping Ainsley would be nearly impossible. If the governments banned dragons, or worse, imprisoned them, fearing what they were, Ainsley would be on her own, forever stuck at the Gullington without her memories.
“Okay,” she began, finding her voice as she was suddenly overcome by emotion. “I’ll get to work.
I’ve already made some progress in finding the cure, but I don’t think it will be fast. I suspect I’ll restore her memories before then.”
He nodded, his back still to her, his expression hidden. “Very well. Then you should be off.”
“But first,” Mama Jamba said, holding out the patch of material she’d been working on. “I made you something.”
It was just a simple square of brown material, like the dresses Ainsley wore all the time.
“Thank you.” Sophia’s voice was uncertain. “It’s lovely.”
“It’s drab and boring,” Mama Jamba corrected. “But it will get the job done.”
“Job?” Sophia asked.
“Well, apparently you don’t know, but the moaning desmond can only be touched by the hands of an assassin, so you’ll need your friend to deposit it in here,” Mama Jamba explained. “And then you hand it off to the potions expert, and they can empty it into their cauldron. Once it’s in the potion, everything will be fine. As long as they get the metrics right for the conversions, otherwise, the Rose Apothecary will go up in flames and destroy Roya Lane.”
“So no pressure, then,” Sophia joked, slipping the pouch into her cape.
“There’s always pressure, my dear,” Mama Jamba told her. “That’s by design.”
“Well, thank you,” Sophia said, gratefully. “It makes sense the flower will need to be protected. You don’t by chance know where to find it, do you?”
To this, Hiker actually laughed. “You bet she does.”
Mama Jamba smiled sweetly. “Of course I do. But why tell you when your friends are working hard to find the information for you?”
Sophia should have guessed Mama Jamba was already privy to this. “Yeah, let’s just hope Lee doesn’t first kill King Rudolf before they discover it.”
Chapter Eighteen
“I’m going to kill you,” Lee said, holding her fist by her face.
Rudolf laughed, nearly doubling over. “Then what did he say?”