by Avril Sabine
Amber moved to stand beside Kade, Crystal’s arm still linked in hers. Kade draped his arm around her shoulders. “I never lied to you. I told you all the information I was given. But it doesn’t matter now. You should have talked to me first.” She started to move away.
“Amber.” Josh reached out for her.
Amber pushed his hand away. “Leave me alone. Are you blind? Can’t you see you’ve been replaced?”
“I wouldn’t have-” Josh began.
“You’re a complete bastard, Josh. And neither of us want anything to do with you,” Crystal interrupted him.
“Amber-”
“You heard Crystal. Now back off.” Amber took another few steps and was outside, Crystal and Kade still one on either side of her.
Josh followed, leaving his friends behind. “Or what? Your boyfriend will knock me out?”
“I don’t need anyone to fight my battles for me. You want someone to knock you out? Then come closer and let me have a go.” Amber shrugged Kade and Crystal off, stepping away from them.
Josh laughed. He stepped close and tapped the side of his chin. “Give it your best shot. You can’t even hit a ball with a cricket bat. Your threat’s empty.”
Amber felt her skin tighten. Adrenaline rushed through her. She could smell the other dragon coming closer. They had minutes to get out of here. Strength filled her limbs and she barely held the panther back. She wanted to pounce on him, rip him to shreds. Carve up the smirk on his face. Instead, she swung at him. She could feel the panther trying to crawl out, take over. Her fist connected with Josh’s chin, he landed on the ground and his mouth dropped open.
Kade’s arms wrapped around her and his mouth was near her ear. “Back down. You’re human Amber, and we’ve got to get out of here. Now.”
Amber struggled against the panther. Sweat broke out on her forehead. “Stay out of my way, Josh.” She turned away from him, walking beside Kade. She glanced at Crystal on her other side. Her friend looked dazed. Reaching out a hand, she squeezed Crystal’s, focusing on the humanness of her. The panther retreated. Amber relaxed slightly.
Maira had the car double parked in the street, the engine running. Brann was in the front with her. The three of them piled into the back, with Amber in the middle. She buckled up, pretending not to see the looks Crystal kept sending her way.
Maira let off the handbrake and put the car into gear. “Any suggestions before I die of starvation?”
Amber gave directions to the closest café, which also served meals, and then closed her eyes. They popped open and she looked upwards. She opened her mouth, forgetting this wasn’t something she could share with Crystal. Kade’s hand tightened on hers and she looked towards him. He shook his head slightly. Amber looked up again and then back at him.
Kade smiled at her. “I know. But there’s not much we can do while your friend is with us. Relax for now. He’s only tracking us. He’s probably curious.”
“Has he tried to contact you?”
“Only tried to barge in. Keep your shields up. It’s the only reason I know he’s still up there. He keeps trying to find a way into my mind.”
Kade had spent the past week teaching her how to block people from reading her mind. She wasn’t perfect at it, but could hold out long enough until Kade could help shore up her defences. “Okay.” She started to ask Kade why she could sense the dragon above them even though he wasn’t trying to invade her mind, but Crystal spoke.
“What happened back there?”
Amber grinned. “Josh landed on his butt.”
Crystal laughed. “I know that part. And as much as I loved every second of it, you can’t hit a ball that’s thrown directly at a bat you’re holding. You hit him on the exact spot he tapped. What have you been doing?”
“Self defence classes with me,” Maira said.
“Really?” Crystal glanced between Maira and Amber.
“It’s boring going to things like that on my own. And it’s not like these two would be comfortable going to a women’s self defence class.” Maira grinned, meeting Crystal’s eyes in the rear view mirror.
“I wouldn’t have thought you’d learn something like that.” Crystal looked at Amber carefully. “And why didn’t you tell me?”
Amber could only shrug. “Thanks, Maira. We know each other too well to be able to lie without the other picking up on it.”
“Promise me you’ll tell me everything in future?” Crystal rested her hand on Amber’s arm. “Please? I don’t want us to grow apart. I hate that your mum dragged you away.”
“I hope you’re not expecting her to tell you absolutely everything.” Kade ran his finger down Amber’s cheek. “I’d have to protest that promise.” He smiled. “I’d end up with performance anxiety.”
Maira laughed. “Yeah sure. Your ego wouldn’t allow it.”
“Ego! You act like that’s a bad thing,” Kade said.
“Nah, it couldn’t be.” Brann shook his head, a slight grin as he turned towards the backseat.
Maira rolled her eyes. “Men! I’m constantly surrounded by testosterone.”
Brann reached out to rest his hand on her thigh. “But you love it.”
“Not when there’s five of you at home.”
“Five!” Crystal exclaimed. She turned to Amber. “Didn’t you say you stayed at Maira’s place?”
Amber nodded, relieved the conversation topic had changed. “Yeah, but don’t mention to anyone that five guys live there too. Mum’d freak if she found out.”
“I can’t believe you pulled that one off. Sleeping over at a house with five guys in it!”
Amber grinned. “And no parents.”
“So unfair,” Crystal muttered.
Amber laughed. “Well, if you ever met Flinn, you probably wouldn’t be so excited by the idea. He’s worse than Josh. Someone needs to knock him to the ground.”
Maira burst into laughter.
“Who?” Amber demanded. When Maira stopped laughing abruptly, she could only think it was because Kade had ordered her to shut up. She turned to him. “Why?”
“Because he annoys me.”
Amber’s eyes narrowed. “Try again.”
“Shut up, Amber. Your friend’s listening to every word.”
“Tell me!”
“You aren’t part of our society. He shouldn’t have left you to face the wyvern.” Kade smiled wryly. “Drop it. If you can.”
“Midnight snack time.” Maira parked the car. “Big, fat, juicy steak.”
Amber’s mouth watered. “Stop tormenting me.”
As they stepped into the café, Crystal lightly touched Amber on the arm to get her attention. “You’ve changed.”
Amber stopped, just inside the door. Kade hovered near her while Maira and Brann went to order food. “I’m still me.”
Crystal shook her head. “I’m not sure how, but you’re different. It’s… I don’t know… like someone else has invaded your body.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“I don’t know how else to describe it. When you hit Josh, it was like you were someone else. And a few minutes ago when you were thinking of eating. What’s going on?”
Amber sighed. “I’m still me.”
“I thought we were best friends. That we shared everything.”
Kade took a step closer. Amber shook her head as she met his eyes. “Give us a minute.” She took Crystal’s hand, dragging her over to a table in the corner. They sat across from each other.
“Don’t you dare tell her,” Kade warned.
“Back off. I’m not stupid. Order me a steak. Medium. And a salad for Crystal.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Crystal asked.
Amber shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I’ve stumbled onto someone else’s secret and I’ve promised to keep it. I wish I could tell you. You know I would if it was possible.”
“Kade’s secret? Is that why you said something about being enemies sometimes? Is he… I d
on’t know… threatening you? Blackmailing you?”
“No! It isn’t like that. I didn’t want to know his secret and it was his fault I found out. An accident, but his fault all the same.”
“Should I be worried about you?”
Amber’s laugh was brittle. “I really don’t know. I’m not meant to know his secret. I guess you could call it a life and death one.”
“Amber-”
“Now can you understand why, even though I can’t, I also don’t want to share it with you? I don’t want to put you at risk too.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Nothing. Just stay my friend. Even if I can’t tell you everything anymore.”
“Always.”
“And don’t treat Kade like a leper. He’s doing the best he can.”
Crystal smiled. “You know me too well.” Her smile faded. “I thought you said the two of you were only friends. But, you really like him, don’t you?”
Amber glanced over to the table Kade, Maira and Brann sat at. He was watching her. Her lips slowly curved into a smile, which he answered with one of his own. She turned back to Crystal.
“You don’t need to answer. I can see you do.”
Even though she knew Kade could probably hear her, Crystal deserved some kind of answer. Particularly since there was so much else she couldn’t share with her. “Sometimes I feel like punching him like I did Josh. Other times I feel like dragging him off to the closest bedroom. He annoys the hell out of me, makes me laugh, drives me insane, makes me feel like I could fly to the moon and I miss him when he’s not with me.”
“You love him.”
Amber shrugged. “I thought I loved Josh. Look how that turned out.”
“He’s different from Josh. Dangerous. But I don’t think he’d ever hurt you. You know that movie we watched, the one with the sword fighting and I said a man like that would die for his woman?” Crystal waited for Amber to nod. “That’s who he makes me think of. A warrior.”
“That’s how I think of him too.”
Crystal glanced at the other table. “Do you think I could stay with you next weekend? I could catch a bus Friday afternoon. I looked into it.”
“I don’t know. I want you to, but I don’t want to risk you getting involved. I thought it’d be safe for me to see you here, but now I’m not so sure. I’ve got a bad feeling we brought some of the problems with us.”
“I don’t care. Friends face problems together.”
“Crystal-”
“Together.”
Amber sighed. “I’ll think about it. I’m not putting you in danger because I miss spending time with you.”
“How dangerous can Hicksville be?”
Amber smiled slightly when Crystal used her name for the town. “You’d be surprised.” She glanced over to Kade again. “Come on, let’s go and eat. The food’s arrived.”
“I didn’t order anything.” Crystal rose to her feet.
“There’s a salad over there with your name on it.”
Crystal linked her arm through Amber’s. “See. We know each other perfectly. We need to stick together. Who else is going to look out for you like I would?”
They reached the table and Amber sat in front of the large steak that was the same as those in front of the other three. Crystal stared at the food, looking from hers to Amber’s.
Amber met Crystal’s eyes. “Maybe not perfectly anymore. I’m sorry.”
Crystal looked at the steak that would normally have a salad on the side and only take up half the space it did. “So am I.”
Chapter Thirteen
Sitting in the backseat of Maira’s car, Amber leaned against Kade, wishing the weekended didn’t have to end. Or that she had to return to her grandmother’s house. But she had school tomorrow.
“Pull over at the rest area ahead,” Kade ordered Maira. “And stay with Amber. Take her home.”
Amber noticed the dragon from Saturday night was still flying above them. He had followed them the entire drive from the city and he wasn’t alone. There were three of them up there. “I’m not going to leave you behind.”
“I’ll have Brann with me.”
“Two against three. Not good odds.”
“Amber-”
“No! I won’t have you risk yourself so Maira can get me to safety.”
“I don’t know who’s up there. I can’t have them finding out about you. They aren’t young dragons. Or at least one of them isn’t. I had a sense of quite a few years when he tried to invade my mind. At least fifty years. Maybe even a hundred.”
“I’ll stay in the car. You take Maira with you. I’ll be fine.”
Kade stared at her thoughtfully. “Don’t go looking for trouble.”
Amber smiled. “I never go looking for trouble. It has a tendency to come after me.”
Kade frowned. “That’s why-”
“Kade! I’ll be fine. I’ll lock the doors and wait for you.”
Maira pulled up at the rest area, parking as far from the road as possible. “So, what’s the plan? All?”
Kade hesitated. Then he nodded. “All.” He unbuttoned his shirt and dropped it on the seat. “Lock the car and don’t go anywhere.” He pulled Amber to him, kissing her before he got out of the car.
Amber watched as the three of them shimmered into dragons and took to the sky. She loved watching them do that. Locking the car, she slid into the front passenger’s seat. For some reason it felt safer in there. It was probably because she had a better view of her surroundings. Winding the window down slightly, she breathed deep, picking up the scents in the area. Three familiar dragons, three strange ones. Reaching out with her mind, she felt them out there. They moved further away. She didn’t try to invade any of their minds. She wasn’t good enough for that. All she wanted to do was keep track of where they were.
The window of the driver’s door shattered, a fist reached for the keys, dragging Amber’s attention back. She stared at the hand in shock for a few seconds before fear kicked in and had her moving. Unlocking the passenger door, she jumped out. Pulling her shirt over her head, she threw it into the car through the still open door. If she had to change into a panther to escape, she didn’t want to have to explain to her mother yet another missing garment.
A man moved towards Amber, the car keys dangling in his hands. He grinned at her and threw them into the bushes at the side of the road. “What are you?”
Amber slowly retreated, warily watching him. She hadn’t even noticed him coming. She’d been too focused on the six dragons in the sky. For a split second she considered calling Kade, but she didn’t know what was happening up there. She wasn’t going to risk distracting him.
“Don’t you mean who?”
The man laughed. “I don’t care who you are. It’s the ‘what’ I want to know. We thought you were a young dragon at first. But there’s a mixture of smells. Prey, predator. Human, dragon. Something I can’t quite put my finger on. So what are you?”
Amber tried to ignore how much taller he was than her. How the muscles in his arms rippled when they moved and how broad his chest was. His legs were encased in dragon-leather. He looked to be in his thirties, but gave an impression of being much older. It was his eyes. Pale blue eyes that looked like they’d seen and experienced everything.
Fear skittered through Amber and she tried to rein in the panther. She’d learned it wasn’t only hunger that made her want to change. Strong emotions of any kind did. “I don’t know what you’re going on about.”
“Cat. I can smell cat.”
“Probably ferals in the area.”
“Come here, little kitty.”
Amber felt a tree at her back. She stepped to the side so she could retreat further. “Get away from me.”
“What’s wrong, kitty?”
Amber was glad cats could see in the dark as she stepped further into the trees at the edge of the rest area. She almost laughed when the thought of being late home and risking being ground
ed popped into her mind. That was the least of her problems. She didn’t even know if she’d make it home.
“Come on, kitty. Come quietly and I’ll call my people back and leave yours alone. Make things difficult…” he let the threat hang in the air.
Amber took a deep breath. Surely they could take care of themselves. Maybe. She ran up against barbed wire and quickly slipped through the strands of the fence and into an open paddock.
The man followed. “My patience is wearing thin. Now, what are you?”
“Human.”
“You lie.” The man leapt towards her, transforming into a dragon. Claws aimed at her, a blue and silver dragon attached to them.
Amber raised her hands. Balls of fire struck the dragon. He faltered and Amber leapt to the side, fire sitting in her palms, ready to be thrown again. She reminded herself to thank Kade for making her practice how to call the fire to her hands.
The dragon roared, landing on the ground as a human. “Where’s your Gold Warrior? Is he one of the ones up there?” He pointed skyward.
Amber shook her head.
“Why are Dragon Mages being made again? Who’s making them? How are they making them?”
Amber continued to retreat. The man continued to stalk forward. “None of your business.”
“I’m making it my business. Now start talking, mage.”
Amber wanted answers. This man had them. She couldn’t see him willingly giving them to her. “What’s your name?”
“Ronan. What’s yours?”
She hesitated then guessed it was only fair. “Amber.”
“Where’s your Gold Warrior, Amber?”
“Why do you keep asking that?”
“I’m not stupid. A Dragon Mage can’t exist without a Gold Warrior.”
Amber ignored the fear that comment brought. Can’t exist? Because it took a Gold Warrior to make one or because they died when the dragon did? She pushed that thought from her mind. She had far too many other problems to deal with right now. “What’s it to you, anyway?”
“Because I want my own Dragon Mage. You come with me and I’ll leave your friends alone. Help me take my lands back and afterwards you can return to your own dragon. Which powers do you have?”