Dragon's Curse (Heir of Dragons: Book 2)

by Sean Fletcher

  It was then that the weight of what had happened at the museum truly hit Kaylee. Reese, with the Slayers. Yet Reese, being the kind of brother he always had been to her. Helping her. Protecting her. Staying by her side. She was as confused about where his loyalties lay as he surely was, and she didn’t know what to do about it.

  “I’m going on a walk,” Kaylee said.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jade said. “The Slayers could still be hanging around out there.”

  Kaylee pointed to the kitchen window, the only sliver of the outside world they’d had since coming back to the safe house. “It’s the middle of the day. I’ll stay in public with other people.”

  Edwin stood. “Maybe I should—”

  “And me,” Jade added, wobbling a bit as she tried to stand.

  “NO!”

  Her friends jumped. Kaylee was as surprised as they were at her outburst. She sucked in a deep breath. “I just need a few minutes alone. Please.”

  She left before they could argue. She was lucky Stephanie and the rest of the Protectors were still out scouting. They definitely wouldn’t have let her go, but Kaylee had the sudden, desperate desire to get outside; to free her body when she couldn’t free her mind from everything racing through her head.

  Reese. Randy. The Slayers. The Herald. The man she saw in the vision when she was…dead?

  Kaylee nearly stumbled taking the stairs down from the apartment. A man in front of his own apartment gave her a concerned look. Kaylee waved before making it the rest of the way to the street below.

  The fresh air and steady hum of the mid-day traffic instantly calmed her. Life. Despite all that had happened, life went on, trudging ever forward.

  And she would too.

  The Slayers had something else planned. They always did. Her brother…her brother had to figure things out for himself, things she couldn’t help him with. But she’d get through that too. She was stronger now. She had her friends. And…Edwin.

  Kaylee groaned, remembering the slightly shocked expression on his face when she’d shouted at them. He probably thought she hated him.

  No…that was silly. He was a smart guy, he could figure out what she’d really meant.

  What had she really meant?

  Kaylee resisted the urge to bang her head against the nearest brick wall. Some days her thoughts were purposefully trying to drive her insane.

  Kaylee cut right at the next street, drifting into the foot traffic frequenting the shops off the main strip. She stopped at an intersection. The museum was to her left. Even from here, Kaylee could see a number of emergency vehicles parked out front. The parking lot had been blocked, but a semi-truck with a tarp partially covering the bed rumbled out. As it turned, Kaylee caught a glimpse of a bony dinosaur arm poking out.

  “What do you think happened?” a woman said.

  “Robbery, I heard,” a man answered.

  “Terrorists,” another added. “Museum was probably a secret government installation.”

  “Oh, if only that were true.”

  Kaylee bumped into Zaria as she whipped around. The other girl smirked. Black circles hung under her eyes. Her hair was more frazzled than usual.

  “I see you’re still as clumsy about personal space as ever.”

  “What are you doing here?” Kaylee blurted. “I thought you left with…”

  “Randy?” Zaria guessed. “Please. Working alongside Alastair was bad enough. Put me next to Randall Conners and you would have a murder on your hands. No offense.”

  “I completely understand.”

  The stop light changed, and Kaylee and Zaria stepped to the side as a flood of pedestrians crossed the street. Zaria glared at the museum.

  “Where’re you going now?” Kaylee said.

  It took a moment for Zaria to bring her attention back to Kaylee. She looked amused. “Wherever we want. Perks of being a rogue. Don’t have to answer to anyone. You know, my offer still stands.”

  “Thanks, but no. I’m sure you’ll find more than enough dragon-kin to take you up on that, but I’ve got too many people I care about in Scarsdale.”

  “Fair enough. It’s not…it’s not the worst Convocation I’ve ever come across. You’ve got something good.”

  “You could always join…”

  “No,” Zaria said quickly. “But we’ll be in touch. I was promised that book and I intend to get it.”

  Kaylee planted a hand on her hip. “Alastair never said anything about giving it to you. And neither one of us got it.”

  “Doesn’t matter. The Slayers have no right to it, and I’ll make ‘em pay for taking it.”

  She lifted a finger. A few of the loitering bystanders threaded their way towards them. Kaylee recognized them as Zaria’s older rogues.

  “See you soon, dragon girl. Try not to die before then.”

  “Same.”

  And with that, Zaria and the rogues melted into the crowd.

  “She was exaggerating. I’m not that bad.”

  Randy smiled up at her, seated at an outside table at the corner Mexican café. The crinkles in his eyes rose when she gaped at him.

  Alastair, sitting next to him, pulled out a chair. “Please, sit. I see common sense about staying out of sight has evaded you yet again. Or you, it.”

  Kaylee sat, still keeping her eyes on Randy.

  “Look at her,” Randy chuckled. “Probably thinks I’m a ghost.” He poked her. “I’m really still here, Kaylee.”

  “I’m actually in shock that you and Alastair aren’t fighting.”

  Alastair delicately folded his fingers together. “We can act like adults when necessary. And Randy and I have come to understand one another a little better.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “Means after almost dying together we hate each other just a little bit less,” Randy said.

  A waitress dropped a bowl of chips in front of them. Randy dipped one and popped it in his mouth. “Try the guac. Place is known for it.”

  “Why are you still here?” Kaylee said.

  “In case you haven’t noticed, there was a commotion down at the museum last night. Figured I’d best stick around and make sure everything’s A-OK before I go.”

  “From what I’ve heard, right after a commotion is usually the time you’d be running.”

  Alastair snorted. Randy readjusted himself in his seat. “What you heard was only one side of the story. I hope my actions speak louder than words.”

  “They did this once,” Alastair said. “I hope they do again. As I said before the Convocation could use a man with your skills. And not just us; another could also benefit from having you around more…”

  Alastair was bobbing his head her direction. Kaylee rolled her eyes. Suave he might be, but subtle he was not.

  “I think I’ll stick around a little longer,” Randy finally said. “Some of Kaylee’s techniques could use some refining.”

  “Excellent,” Alastair said. “You also may have another joining you.”

  “Is Dani taking lessons?” Kaylee said.

  “Not yet, but I’m sure she’ll come around.”

  Randy shoveled a handful of chips into his jacket pocket. “Well then. Bright and early Monday, Kaylee. No excuses.”

  “Hold on!”

  Randy paused as he stepped to the curb and swung one leg over the side of his motorcycle. Kaylee glanced at Alastair and lowered her voice. “Did you see where Reese went after the fight?”

  Randy tugged his gloves down over his hands. “I’ll let Alastair do all that neat tidying up stuff, okay?”

  Customers glared and covered their ears as Randy kicked the engine to life and tore off down the road, weaving his way in and out of traffic.

  Alastair cleared his throat.

  “Tell me Reese didn’t go back to the Slayers,” Kaylee pleaded.

  “We aren’t sure where Reese is,” Alastair admitted. “But if we find him—”

  “He didn’t know what he w
as doing, Alastair. Lesuvius tricked him. He—he helped us.”

  “Which is why, when we do re-establish contact with him, and we will, it will be to strictly monitor him only. Just to ensure he doesn’t return to his old ways. According to what we know of his involvement with the Slayers, he’s not so far gone with them that he can’t change.”

  Kaylee sagged into her chair. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me. He may be your brother, Kaylee, but he is not our friend. We’ll have to watch him from now on. Especially whenever Lesuvuis makes his next attempt to hurt us.”

  “He got the book.”

  “He got the book. Zaria isn’t happy, as I’m sure you noticed, and neither are we. But you did manage to slow the Herald, and through him, the Hunt. Though for how long I can’t say.”

  Kaylee couldn’t help her eyes drifting back down the street to the emergency vehicles and front of the museum.

  “I don’t want you to worry about Reese,” Alastair said.

  “Excuse me?” Not worry? That was literally the exact opposite of what she should be doing, save actually getting out there and tearing up the roadways looking for him.

  “You have many, many other things that will need your attention. And Reese is, I believe at heart, a good kid. I trust—as should you—that he will make the right choices. In a way his time with the Slayers can almost be counted as a good thing.”

  “Okay, now you’re really losing me.”

  “He was on his self-destructive pathway and mindset long before the Slayers got to him. Most of their members are. The Slayers don’t convince people to join their cause, they incite what someone already believes, feeding on their perceived injustices in the world. In that sense Reese was already doomed. But now that he’s seen the Slayers’ way of trying to solve problems, maybe he won’t go down that road again.”

  Alastair sighed. “I know you’ve talked quite a bit with Zaria, and I know her feelings about how the Convocation and even some of our kind have treated her and others like her. They’re not unfounded. In a lot of ways, the grudge she holds for the slights against her are the same as Lesuvius’. They just have different ways of dealing with it.”

  “I’m not sure I understand,” Kaylee said.

  Alastair gave her an amused look. “I suppose I’m blabbering. Do you blame the Convocation, Kaylee, for our failures?”

  “Of course not. The Slayers—they were—”

  “And what about the things we fail to prevent that the Slayers aren’t involved with? What about all those dragon-kin and Merlins we unintentionally miss, like Dani, and Zaria?”

  “You’re…not perfect.”

  “But maybe there’s a better way. A way in which every injustice and slight is eliminated.” Alastair slipped one leg over the other. “At least Lesuvius seems to think so. Maybe at one time he sought to replace the Convocation with something grander, but now I fear he’s lost sight of that goal.”

  The man in Kaylee’s vision was still stark in the back of her mind. But she didn’t tell Alastair about him, mostly because she wasn’t sure how she could explain it. However, the man’s resemblance to Lesuvius was something that had been slowly eating away at her.

  “Alastair, who is Lesuvius?”

  “You know who he is.”

  “That’s not what I mean. Who is he, really? You know a lot more about him than you’re telling.”

  Alastair had gone still. “He is a very dangerous man, and one I pity far more than I fear. That’s all you need to know right now.”

  “Does he have any relatives?”

  Alastair looked genuinely confused. “Relatives?”

  “You know, brothers? Cousins? Descendants?”

  “No. Of course not.”

  The man’s eyes were embers in the dark.

  Alastair looked over Kaylee’s shoulder. The corner of his mouth twitched. “I will see you back at the safe house. We’ll be heading back to Scarsdale today, much to the relief of your parents, I’m sure.”

  He grabbed one more chip then sauntered off down the sidewalk.

  “I know you didn’t want company,” Edwin said.

  He stood out of the flow of the passing crowd, hands in his pockets, an adorable smile on his lips. Kaylee found now she wasn’t upset to see him. In fact, she was happy. Ecstatic, even. And maybe a little bit nervous.

  Kaylee held out the bowl and Edwin gratefully scooped some guac.

  “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re here,” Kaylee said.

  Edwin nodded his head. “My dad…did he say…you’re not in trouble, are you?”

  “Not in the way you think.”

  “And your brother? And Randy?”

  “They’re…” Kaylee thought about it. “You know what? They’re okay. I’m okay. Is that really what you followed me out here for?”

  Edwin hesitated. Then he stepped closer to her. He brushed the side of her cheek, the rough callouses he’d gotten from spellcasting gently rubbing over the scrapes she had there.

  “Yeah, I was…hoping to ask you something. There’s this dance coming up. Some kind of formal. I’m not technically invited, but I was wondering if you’d be interested in going?”

  “With you?” Kaylee said innocently.

  Edwin cocked an eyebrow. “Um, yeah. With me.”

  Kaylee pretended to think. “I think…that sounds like fun—”

  Edwin kissed her. It was just a brush of his lips, but it sent off fireworks in her head all the same.

  “Oh so now you’re finally being bold,” she said.

  Edwin shrugged, but he was flushed and grinning like he’d just run a marathon. “I’ve faced more monsters in the last couple days than I have in my entire life. I think I can survive asking you out.”

  Kaylee pulled him closer. A happy feeling expanded in her chest. “Well then, I think I’ll have to say…yes.”

  And when she kissed him again, his lips tasted like guacamole.

  Kaylee didn’t hear him until he’d made it to his room.

  She’d just finished smoothing out the last of any non-existent wrinkles on the dress she was wearing.

  “It’s just a formal,” Jade had said when she’d come over earlier to help her pick it out. “We’ll wear something nice, but it isn’t like senior prom or anything. When that comes, then we can go all out, with limos and everything.”

  With the way things were going in her life, Kaylee wondered if she’d care at all when senior prom came. When she told Jade this, she’d said to stop being so dramatic.

  “Let’s just have fun tonight,” she insisted. “It’s your first date with Edwin. Finally,” she added under her breath.

  Kaylee rolled her eyes. Ever since she’d told Jade Edwin was taking her Jade had acted as if their impending relationship had been the most obvious thing in the world. And maybe it had been.

  But Jade was happy for her, and after helping Kaylee she’d left to prep her own dress at her house. She and Maddox were flying solo at the formal. Together. Kaylee had a few choice thoughts about that being obvious, but she was a good enough friend to keep them to herself.

  But now…Jade was gone. Kaylee’s parents were out with Jeremy. There shouldn’t have been anybody in the house.

  But someone was rummaging around in Reese’s room.

  Kaylee shifted to claws (she really hoped it didn’t ruin her nails. They’d taken forever to do). Reese’s door was slightly open. The light was on.

  “Reese?”

  He started when she came in. His room had been picked apart. Most of the things he’d brought home were either spread around the floor, or stuffed in a small duffel on his bed.

  Reese just stood there when Kaylee came in. He looked as though he’d been caught halfway through a murder.

  “I didn’t think anyone else was home.”

  “They’re not. I’m about to go out.” Kaylee gestured to the dress. “Spring formal.”

  A flicker of regret crossed Reese’s face. “Sounds like fun. I rememb
er mine.”

  “So do I. Mostly I remember Mom and Dad having to pick you up from the principal’s office at midnight.”

  Reese smiled faintly. “Nobody could prove we switched the punch with vinegar.”

  “And the streaking on the football field after?”

  Reese just grinned. Kaylee felt herself grinning too, but it didn’t come as easily as it once had with him. She looked at his bed, and Reese followed her eyes to the duffel.

  “Ah. To be honest, I’m glad Mom and Dad aren’t here. I’ll call them from college and apologize, but it’s best I’m as far away as I can be before they chew me out.”

  “You’re going back?”

  “For a short time. As long as I can before…before I have to leave. I’m sure the Convocation will have their eyes on me once they find out where I am, too.”

  Kaylee only nudged the edge of the carpet, eyes down.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Reese said.

  “Why?” Kaylee blurted out. She hadn’t meant to say it, and she felt like she needed to explain everything she wanted to ask behind that question.

  “I can’t answer that right now,” Reese said. He pushed more things into his bag, then brushed aside some books and dug through the desk.

  “I deserve an explanation.”

  “Well I don’t have one. Probably won’t for a while. But when I do you’ll be the first to know.”

  “Do you have to go?”

  “Honestly, yes. And if I want closure, yes. I pissed off some very powerful people. I may have to lay low for a while. Randy gave me some contacts I could follow up on soon. I might even start working with the Convocation eventually. If they’d take me.”

  He zipped his bag the rest of the way shut and hefted it over his shoulder.

  “I will say this: I never meant to hurt you, physically or otherwise. And I’m…proud of you. Really.”

  “I know that—”

  “You don’t. Not really, if you had to ask me why I did what I did. But I am proud of you.”

  He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be in touch. Maybe soon we’ll be fighting alongside each other again, though that might not be such a good thing.”

  Kaylee was about to say more when the doorbell rang.

  “It’s Edwin,” Kaylee said quickly as Reese went for something tucked behind his back. “He’s taking me to formal.”