Sleeping Dragons

by Phoebe Ravencraft

  “No,” he said. “It resets each time you close it.”

  It took me a second to realize he was talking about the box, not his equipment. I shook my head to clear it. Damn, this guy was hard to work with. Felicia turned me on too, but Ash’s pheromones were really messed with me.

  I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath to try to focus. I could still smell him. Damn him.

  “Can you step back just a little bit?” I asked.

  “Sure,” he said sounding confused. “Why, what are you going to do?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “Your scent is making it hard to think.”

  I kept my eyes closed, but I could practically feel him blushing. I could easily imagine that cute, sheepish look.

  “Oh, uh, sure,” he said. “Sorry. Is that better?”

  I refused to breathe in to find out. If I caught another whiff of that powerful smell, I was certain I would be unable to focus on the job.

  “Yeah,” I lied. “That’s better.”

  “Okay,” he said, fighting to regain his status as mentor, “find your center and look for the magical energy.”

  It wasn’t easy. Ash’s raw sexuality was really distracting. But I located the green electrical bolt with some effort. Now that I knew how to draw the energy into the ring, it wasn’t as hard to do. I imagined my chi and drove that metaphorical punch through the target. Seconds later, I had the box open again.

  “Good,” Ash said. “Again.”

  His no-nonsense approach was helpful. Not only did it shift my mind away from the desire he was igniting in me, it put me back at the donjon. Kai didn’t put any frills on his teaching. He offered few compliments. When you got something right, he told you it was correct and then made you do it again. And that familiar approach, Ash teaching just like Kai did, made it possible to focus and learn. On the next five repetitions, I got it four times, missing only once.

  By the time we were supposed to go up for the briefing, I felt confident, like this was something I’d been doing for years. Big Bro was gonna be mad.

  Twenty-one

  I couldn’t keep the smug look off my face when I sauntered into the meeting room. Ephraim was already there. He grinned maliciously at me. I had no idea what the new plan was, but I could tell by Ephraim’s look it would be something I’d hate. He thought for sure the little upstart lovechild was going to be put in her place. Heh. Was he in for a surprise.

  Erin sat in her usual chair with her arm in a sling. My smirk vanished at the sight of her.

  “Hey,” I said. “How are you doing?”

  “Oh, fine,” she said, somehow sounding not at all pissed. “I’m sore, but I got a healing spell. It’ll be fine by tomorrow. They’re making me wear this damned thing, even though I told them it doesn’t hurt that much.”

  I nodded.

  “Listen, I’m really sorry, Erin. I shouldn’t have . . . I mean, I let my frustration get to me. It was a real asshole thing to do. I’m sorry.”

  She gave me a tight smile and nodded.

  “We’re cool, Sassy,” she said. “A dislocated shoulder isn’t the worst thing that could have happened. You didn’t break anything or tear any muscles. I’ll be good as new by tomorrow.”

  “Yes,” Ephraim said. “She’s very lucky. You could have done serious harm.”

  I turned to face him. He still had that triumphant look on his face. I couldn’t wait to wipe it off. For the moment, I held up my still-wrapped left wrist.

  “Look who’s talking,” I said. “I was an asshole, but at least I didn’t put the mission in danger by deliberately injuring someone who is immune to magic and can’t just be healed up. And unlike some people, I actually apologized instead of mansplaining why what I did was okay.”

  He crossed his arms and snorted.

  Before he could launch a new insult, though, Scott breezed into the room.

  “All right, everyone, sit down,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to cover today.”

  Ephraim offered me a final smirk. I returned it and sat down next to Erin.

  “Now,” Scott began, “since Ms. Kincaide has struggled to learn the decharmer—”

  “So just a little update on that,” I said, raising my hand but not waiting to be called on. “I’ve got it now.”

  “What?” Scott said.

  Ephraim snorted derisively again.

  “Yeah, I’ve been working on it all morning,” I said. “I can do it now.”

  “Oh, very good,” Ephraim drawled. “So you finally got it one time. That still doesn’t make you reliable to pull it off on the job.”

  “Oh, I didn’t say I’d gotten it one time,” I said. “Once I figured it out, I pulled it off every single time.”

  Okay, that was a bit of a lie. I omitted the one time I didn’t get it. But I didn’t want to give Big Brother Asshole any opening.

  “Well, that would change things considerably,” Scott said.

  “Oh, yeah,” I said, looking straight at Ephraim. “There’s no need to change the plan. We can go with the original. I’ll break into the vault, steal the knife, and kill the dragon. Ephraim can provide the distraction.”

  The last bit was totally unnecessary, but since he was such a dick, I decided Ephraim needed a little salt in his wounds.

  “Now, wait a minute,” Ephraim began.

  “Agent Shinoch,” Scott said. “Can you confirm that Ms. Kincaide is now able to operate the decharmer?”

  “I can,” Ash said. “Once she figured it out, it became easy for her.”

  “Prove it,” Ephraim said.

  “What?” Ash and I said in unison.

  “Prove you can do it,” he said. “This is a high-pressure job. Until this morning, you were unable to perform the first, most-basic task on it. I think you should have to prove you can do it. There’s no pressure like having to do something while everyone is watching.”

  “Jesus, Silverman,” Erin said.

  “Captain Silverman, I think that’s going a little far,” Scott said.

  “Is it?” he retorted. “You’re asking me to risk my life and the future of The Order on this novice, this girl who until last week knew nothing about us and until this morning couldn’t master the simplistic magic of a decharmer. I think a test isn’t much to ask at all.”

  “That girl, defeated a demon from The Guild of the Blade who tried to assassinate her,” Erin said.

  “No, she scared it off when its power didn’t work against her,” Ephraim said. “The demon came back the next night with two friends, and he would have succeeded in killing her if we hadn’t come along. She hasn’t accomplished anything. I say she needs to prove she is good enough. Otherwise, we’re asking for trouble.”

  “Silverman, you arrogant piece of—” Erin started, but I interrupted.

  “Fine. He wants a test, he can have it.”

  “Ms. Kincaide, are you sure?” Scott said.

  “Of course, I’m sure,” I said. “Big Bro thinks I’m not good enough. He’s worried about getting killed by a dragon. So fine. I get that. I don’t want to get killed by a dragon either. I’ll prove it. We can go down to the training room right now.”

  Ephraim smiled broadly. I knew why. He was planning to fuck with me. He no doubt figured that the pressure of everyone staring at me was gonna cause me to blow it. And if that didn’t work, he would deliberately try to distract me.

  “Sassy—” Ash began.

  “No, fuck this shit,” I said. “I am tired of him being all up in my business, making everything harder than it needs to be. I get that you’re hurting because your daddy tried to find me. But this bullshit ends today.

  “I’ll give you your test, Bro. But on one condition.”

  He barked out a humorless laugh.

  “And just what is that?”

  “After I pass it, you step the hell back. When I prove I can do exactly what I say I can, you lose all right to give me any shit, to punish me for being the child your dad was looking for instead of you, to ac
t like I’m not good enough or don’t belong.

  “Do we agree? Cuz I ain’t giving you your test without it. You want me to prove it? That’s fine. I’ll go down there right now. But when I pass, this shit ends.”

  Ephraim’s face was a war of conflicting emotions. He clearly wanted me to take the test. He wanted something to go wrong, so he could put his new plan into action.

  But he was afraid. What if I actually could do it? What if I was the N’Chai Toroth? What if our father was right – that I was the Chosen One, not him? Could he even live with himself after that?

  “If you fail,” he said, “we go with the new operation.”

  “Fine,” I said. “Hell, I’ll even be happy to quit altogether. I didn’t want any of this anyway.

  “But I mean it, Ephraim. When I pass this test, your assholery comes to an abrupt stop.”

  “If you pass,” he said.

  “Ain’t no ‘if.’ I’ll pass. Do you agree?”

  His jaw clenched. I watched him grind his teeth for several seconds. That fair face with the freckles just like mine flushed red.

  “Yes,” he said. “I agree.”

  “Good,” I said, popping up from my chair. “Then let’s go. Right now. I want this done and out of the way, so we can move forward. I’m tired of your shit.”

  I breezed past Ephraim on my way out the door. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure I could do this, but I figured I won either way. If I passed, he would have to shut up, and I was very much looking forward to that. And if I failed, then I got out of all this bullshit. It was all good.

  Ash, Erin, and Scott followed me wordlessly downstairs and into the training room. I walked confidently to the pedestal and turned to Ash.

  “Hand me the decharmer,” I said.

  That’s when I noticed Ephraim wasn’t with us. What the hell? He was the one who wanted to do this.

  Ash stepped forward and held out the ring with the ugly stone on it.

  “The mission is tomorrow,” I said. “I told you I’m not wearing this ugly-ass ring. You are working on getting me a better one?”

  Erin laughed. See? Girls get it.

  “Yes, I’ll have one with a diamond as the setting tomorrow,” Ash said, sounding irritated.

  “Ooh, diamonds,” I teased. “Why Agent Shinoch, what are you trying to say?”

  “Ms. Kincaide, if we could move forward with this,” Scott said before Ash even had time to blush.

  Damn but he was uptight. How was I supposed to have any fun with this?

  I took the ring and stepped forward.

  “Just a minute,” Ephraim called.

  He entered the room at last, carrying another case.

  “Damn, Bro,” I said. “You’re late to your own challenge.”

  “Forgive me,” he said. “I needed to make some arrangements.”

  “What sort of arrangements?” Ash asked.

  “Well,” he drawled, “Cecily may have defeated the simple ward on this training case. But D’Krisch Mk’Rai will surely have better security than that. I have therefore procured a different case. One with multiple wards that will be more difficult to open.”

  “Captain,” Erin said, her voice covered in contempt.

  “Listen, asshole,” I said. “Two things. First, it’s ‘Sassy,’ not ‘Cecily.’ I don’t give a good God damn what it says on my birth certificate. My name is Sassy. Got it?

  “Secondly, that was not what I agreed to. You’re changing the rules after the bet was made to try to make it harder for you to lose.”

  Ephraim smiled wickedly. I swear, he was the damned dragon, not Dirk McCray. Seriously, I had not seen so much hate outside of an alt-right march.

  “You’re here to prove you can perform the job tomorrow night,” he said. “The security will be tight, the pressure high. I think, if we’re going to trust you with this mission, we should be sure you can actually handle it.”

  “That’s crap, and you know it, Captain,” Ash said. “The ward on Mk’Rai’s case will not be nearly as sophisticated as the one you’ve got. You’re trying to stack the odds against Sassy.”

  “Am I?” Ephraim shot back. “Until this morning, she couldn’t work a decharmer at all. She finally got it right on the lowest level of security. The dragon’s defenses will be stronger than what she has faced to date. If she makes a mistake in a live environment, the whole mission falls apart. Mk’Rai will know someone is in his vault, and he may decide to blow The Veil to pieces right there.

  “This is a delicate operation, and it requires a delicate touch. I don’t think it’s too much to ask to make sure Sassy knows what’s she doing.”

  “Sassy, you don’t have to do this,” Ash said. “He’s setting you up.”

  Oh, I knew that. I knew exactly what sort of shit Big Bro was pulling.

  The smart thing to do would have been to refuse. Maybe Scott calls me off the mission; maybe he doesn’t. Didn’t matter to me one way or the other.

  But I was sick of Ephraim’s shit. I was dying to show his ass up. And I don’t back down from challenges easily. That’s never been part of my DNA.

  “Fine,” I said. “You win.”

  Twenty-two

  E veryone stared at me in shock. Big Brother Asshole beamed like the morning sun.

  “So you’re giving up then?” he said, the smug look back on his face.

  “Hell no, I ain’t giving up,” I practically shouted. “You’re a dick, Ephraim. Maybe that’s why you’ve got daddy issues. Maybe Dear Old Dad didn’t like you. I know I don’t.

  “But I’ll take your challenge. I’m gonna prove to you I’m the best person for this job. And you’re gonna have to live with that and shut the fuck up about it.”

  He scowled. Hatred flashed brightly in those green eyes. He brushed past me, removed the case I’d been working on and replaced it with his new one. Then he stepped back and glared.

  I slipped the decharmer on my finger and stepped to the table.

  “What do I need to know about this?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?” Ephraim said. “It’s a box like the last one that must be disarmed to be opened. Fail, and it will shock you.”

  “Uh-uh,” I said. “Fair is fair. You want to give me a tougher safe to crack so I can prove I’ll be able to do it, that’s fine. But I’m not going into tomorrow night’s mission blind. I’ve been briefed on what to expect. So it’s the same here. I get to know what I’m stepping into.”

  “Is that the high-security case?” Ash asked.

  “Yes,” Ephraim replied.

  “Okay, Sassy,” Ash said, “there are three separate wards. They interconnect. First, you must separate them, so they can be disarmed one at a time. Then they must be solved in the correct order.”

  I turned and threw Ephraim a death-glare. He smiled broadly and crossed his arms.

  “How will I know what the correct order is?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Ash replied. “Once you have them separated, you’ll have to tell me what you perceive. Then I’ll be able to guide you.”

  “That’s cheating,” Ephraim said.

  “No,” Ash said. “It’s giving her a fair playing field. You wanted this to be tougher on her? That’s fine. But making it impossible is no test of anything other than her ability to guess right. That will not accurately simulate what she will face tomorrow night.”

  Ephraim huffed in protest.

  “That’s enough, Captain Silverman,” Scott said. “You’re getting your test. Agent Shinoch will guide Ms. Kincaide so that she has a chance to succeed.”

  I smirked at Ephraim, who scowled. Then I returned my attention to the case.

  “Okay,” I said. “Here goes.”

  I set my hand on the box and closed my eyes. I pulled in two deep breaths through my nose.

  A jolt of electricity stronger than any I’d felt before zapped my hand. Reflexively I pulled it away.

  “A strong beginning,” Ephraim taunted.

  “S
hut up, Silverman,” Erin said.

  Carefully, I put my hand back on the case. The energy was still there – powerful, warm, loud. I listened to my heartbeat. Magic pulsed up my arm, and I heard a sound. It was sheer cacophony, like three songs being played at the same time. Three songs that didn’t go together – each with a different beat, different key, and different instruments. It hurt my ears.

  “What do you see, Sassy?” Ash asked.

  “I don’t see anything,” I said.

  Ephraim chuckled. I flipped him off with my free hand.

  “But I hear,” I said. “It’s noise. Loud, discordant.”

  Okay, good,” Ash said. “That’s the dissonance of the three spells woven together. Try to pick out the separate melodies.”

  I nodded as if that would be possible. It was so loud it was hard to separate one sound from the next.

  Breathing deeply, I listened to my heart again. It beat steadily, softly.

  And there, in the cacophony, was a sweet, sad melody. Hearing it made me want to cry, it was so plaintive.

  “I’ve got one,” I said.

  “Good,” Ash said. “Find the other two.”

  With one of them identified, it was easier to isolate the second. It was loud and rough – like some high school kid wailing on a guitar for the sheer joy of making a sound he knew his parents would hate.

  “One more,” I said.

  The last one was elusive. The guitar banging was raucous, and the sad song was so sweet, it kept pulling my attention whenever I tried to ignore the other.

  I squeezed my eyes more tightly shut, kept sucking in those deep, meditative breaths. Where was it?

  There. Another guitar, but this one was more sophisticated, played by a master classical guitarist instead of some kid in a garage band.

  “Found it,” I said.

  “Okay, Sassy,” Ash said. “Now, draw the wards into the decharmer, and disentangle them. Careful. It’s trickier than it sounds.”

  I nodded without opening my eyes. I decided to go with Garage Band Kid first. It was hard to hear the others with that shit playing.