“Uh-huh. I’m sure most of the time you prefer high literature. You’re obviously very smart, since the High Council trusts your judgment so completely.”
Sofia sighed. “Leif, look, it’s Friday night and we’re both off the clock right now. Can we give it a rest? Let’s both politely acknowledge each other and then continue on alone with our shopping. There’s no need to argue about petty work disagreements right now.”
As soon as Sofia said the words, she knew they were a mistake. Leif’s eyes narrowed at her, and angry sparks flashed. Those sparks were becoming all too familiar. Sofia was beginning to think that at least ninety-nine percent of the time she’d spent around Leif had been spent with him mad at her. Now, he leaned in close to her face. She caught a whiff of his cologne, and despite the fact that she knew she was about to get chewed out, she couldn’t help but take a deeper breath and enjoy the scent. It was an earthy smell, one that brought to mind a walk through a grove of sandalwood trees. Before she could lose herself too much in his scent, though, his words brought her back to reality.
“It’s not a petty work disagreement. That’s the problem. It’s two dragons who are most likely going to move away from Torch Lake as soon as they’re back from their dark monster mission. That means we’ve lost two dragon shifters who might have been convinced to stay here permanently. Two dragon shifters who might have defended our city in the event of a dark magic attack. Two dragon shifters who could have made a big difference if evil tried to take our city. Didn’t the last war teach you anything? Even one dragon shifter can make a huge difference in battle. And we just lost two.”
Sofia found her own anger rising. She was tired of putting up a happy, professional front. She was tired of listening to Leif talk about how she didn’t understand anything. She understood far, far more than he knew. She stuck her chin out defiantly and shook her head.
“No. You are the one who didn’t learn anything in the last war. You should know by now that things aren’t always what they seem. You told me that it didn’t make sense that the High Council would give an emergency meeting to a junior audit officer. You told me that it didn’t make sense that they would pay millions of dollars to get dragons here, only to risk losing them by ending their training too soon. Think about it, Leif. If things don’t make sense, there’s probably a reason for that.”
“What are you saying,” he growled, his eyes searching hers. For perhaps the first time since Sofia had showed up by his truck, he looked uncertain instead of angry or annoyed.
“I’m saying, the High Council isn’t dumb. Don’t you think they’re smart enough not to make huge decisions about dragon shifters based on the opinion of one junior auditor?”
“You mean the lies of one junior auditor.”
Sofia sighed. She’d already said too much. Fueled by her frustration, and by the fact that she wasn’t wearing Vincent’s secret camera right now, she’d let down her guard and hinted at things that Leif could conceivably realize pointed to the fact that Sofia was a spy. Luckily for her, Leif seemed to be too furious to think clearly. He had his arms crossed now, waiting for her to deny that she had lied to the High Council.
Sofia had not lied, but she didn’t feel like defending herself to an angry dragon. Wearily, she shrugged and started to turn her shopping cart one hundred and eighty degrees, so she could walk away from Leif. “I never lied to the High Council,” she called over her shoulder.
Behind her, she heard Leif snorting again. “I’d have to be an idiot to believe that,” he said. “And I’m no idiot.”
Sofia sighed softly. She didn’t think Leif was an idiot. She thought he was brilliant, like most of the dragon shifters. Which was why she knew it had been a mistake to say as much as she had tonight. He was angry now, but when he calmed down and thought more carefully about what she’d said, would he figure out what she’d meant? Odds were good that he would.
Sofia clenched her teeth together, feeling suddenly nauseous. She was the one who was an idiot, if she thought she could hide the truth from a dragon.
Chapter Eight
Leif tossed and turned all night, barely sleeping as his mind whirled. He wondered how his trainees were doing, and whether they had managed to pick up the trails of any dark monsters yet. He wondered if there was still any way to convince them to stay in Torch Lake. But most of all, he wondered what the hell Sofia had meant by her words to him in the grocery store.
Things aren’t always what they seem…if things don’t make sense, there’s probably a reason for that.
Her ominous words were trying to tell him something, and he needed to figure out what. Had he been so caught up in his pride that he missed something deeper? The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he’d blinded himself with rage. From the first moment that he’d heard that the High Council wanted to end the training program early, he’d said that there was something fishy going on. He’d known deep down that there had to be more to this than just efficiency or budget concerns. And yet, instead of thinking through all the possibilities, he had immediately jumped to blaming Sofia and being angry at her. That was the easy way out, though. It was the most obvious answer, but perhaps it wasn’t the correct one.
What else could it be, though? Leif racked his brain, but nothing seemed to make sense. Since, the town’s inception, the top priority of the Torch Lake High Council had been to recruit dragons to live here. The more dragons they had, the more secure the place was against any dark magic attacks. What could be better at repelling dark magic than a town full of dragons? And what could be more important than securing against dark magic?
By the time the sun started peeking over the horizon, a weary Leif had decided that he needed to pay another visit to the High Council. They hadn’t wanted him to know about whatever secret they were hiding, but now that he knew that they were definitely hiding something, he was going to go crazy until he figured it out. Maybe if he went in there and told them that he’d started to put together the pieces, and that Sofia couldn’t possibly be just an ordinary junior audit agent, they would be persuaded to talk. They also might be just as tightlipped as ever, and insist that there was nothing more going on than some bullshit budget audit. But he had to at least try.
It was still early when Leif drove toward downtown, and traffic was almost nonexistent. The few sleepy people walking along on the sidewalk looked like they were in dire need of caffeine. A few even held paper coffee cups in their hands. Leif’s stomach growled at the thought of coffee. He had forgotten to eat in his haste to leave his house, and now he would have loved to grab some muffins or a breakfast sandwich. But for once, he told his impatient stomach that it would have to wait. He wanted to get to the High Council building and catch some of the High Council members before the day got too busy. If he caught them off guard first thing in the morning, perhaps they’d be more willing to talk. Leif was grasping at straws here.
Leif parked his truck in a city lot a few blocks away from the High Council building, and started walking down the sidewalk at a brisk pace. But before he’d gotten a half dozen steps, he realized something was wrong. The air was filled with the sound of a dull, distant beeping. It sounded almost like a fire alarm, but Leif quickly realized that it was one of the city’s red alert alarms going off in one of the government buildings. And as he turned the corner to get a full view of the front of the High Council building, he saw that there were several police, fire, and ambulance vehicles parked in front. The red and blue lights were dizzying against the bright morning sky.
Leif broke into a run toward the scene. On the steps of the High Council building were several people in business attire, but many of them had tears in their clothes. A few people looked like they had blood and dirt stains on their shirts, and many more had scratches or hair that was sticking wildly in every direction. Everyone was in a state of disarray, and everyone looked panicked. Some of them were huddling together and sobbing, and some of them were speaking with police officers, gestur
ing wildly. Others stood frozen, looking off into the distance in a state of shock.
As Leif reached the steps, he saw a few of the High Council members standing near the top, in a conversation with two police officers. Leif bounded up toward them, his heart pumping with adrenaline.
“Councilors!” he panted out as he approached. “What’s going on? What can I do to help?”
Councilor Ceyus turned toward him, his eyes wide. “There was a dark magic attack on the High Council building.”
“What?”
Councilor Isviar nodded. “Unfortunately it’s true. Early this morning a group of dark wizards broke into the building. They were apparently searching for the records we keep of dragon shifters who live in human towns.”
Leif felt his heart pounding. “Why not break into the Dragon Recovery Bureau, then? There are more records there, I’m sure.”
Councilor Isviar’s face darkened. “Because they don’t have someone with top security clearance to the Dragon Recovery Bureau. But they do have someone with access to the High Council building.”
Leif’s heart pounded even faster. This had been an inside job? “Who?”
“Sofia Hayes.”
“I knew it!” Leif said, his voice rising higher than he’d intended it to. “I knew from the beginning that she was trouble.”
“Keep your voice down, Leif,” Councilor Ceyus hissed. “It’s not what you think.”
“You better come with us,” Councilor Isviar said. “It’s time you knew the truth.”
Leif looked around at the chaotic scene. “Is everyone alright here?”
Councilor Ceyus nodded. “Don’t worry. Everyone is fine. Most of them are just in shock. The dark wizards didn’t hurt anyone seriously. They came in and took the records they wanted and then left as quickly as they could.”
Leif looked around doubtfully at the shocked faces. Several women were huddled together at the bottom of the steps crying, and a few men were still talking to the police officers and gesturing wildly. “Alright,” he finally said. “But this better be good. I’m tired of sitting around while people tell me things aren’t what I think. All I think is that dark magic is growing again, and we must do something to stop it.”
“We all want to hold back evil. Come on, you’ll understand much better once I’ve explained everything to you.”
Leif bit his tongue to keep from making more sarcastic remarks, and then followed Councilor Ceyus and Councilor Isviar into the building. They took him to the same conference room where he had been the last time he was here, pleading with them to not send his dragon trainees out on a mission so soon. This time, the room was fairly empty, since most of the other High Council members hadn’t made it into the building yet.
Leif sat down without waiting to be asked, but the two Council members didn’t follow his lead. One of them was looking down at his mobile phone and furrowing his brow.
“Excuse us for a few minutes, Leif,” Councilor Ceyus finally said. “We’ve just received word of a new, uh, development in relation to the attack this morning. We need to check on something. Make yourself at home and we’ll be back as soon as possible.”
They disappeared from the room before Leif could reply. He let out a frustrated grunt and stood, then started pacing the room. He didn’t want to be stuck here alone in a room. He wanted to be out helping the people who had been affected by this attack. He wanted to know more about what had happened. He wanted to go check that everything at the Dragon Utilization department was okay. He wanted to do anything other than sit here and wait for someone to come fetch him.
He paced for another thirty minutes, and was about to give up and leave, despite the fact that the High Councilors had asked him to wait here, when the door to the conference room suddenly burst open. Councilor Ceyus and Councilor Isviar were back, but it wasn’t just them. The rest of the High Council was with them, all talking at once in excited voices. Leif tried to make out what they were saying, but their voices were so jumbled together that he had a hard time making out more than a few words at a time. He caught the name “Sofia” several times, as well as “dark magic” and “treason.” His heart started pounding once again, and he wondered if Sofia was guilty of treason. It wouldn’t have surprised him. She always rubbed him the wrong way. She was pretty, true. No one could deny her beauty. But that seemed to be about all she had going for her. She didn’t seem very smart, and she was definitely an idiot if she thought she was going to be able to get away with treason against the High Council.
Leif stood there awkwardly for a moment until the Councilors noticed him.
“Oh, Leif!” said Councilor Isviar. “I’m glad you’re here. I completely forgot about you in all the commotion, but we are probably going to need your help.”
“We’re going to need all the help we can get,” Head Councilor Morgan said. “Please, everyone, take a seat.”
Leif sat, along with the other Councilors. Councilor Morgan was about to begin speaking when the door opened again and Jake Palmer walked in. Jake was the People’s Governor of Torch Lake, and as such he was responsible for communication between the High Council and the citizens of Torch Lake. Jake was also one of Leif’s best friends, and Leif felt a rush of relief as Jake came and sat next to him. No matter how bad the news was, at least Leif had Jake beside him.
“Jake,” Head Councilor Morgan said in acknowledgement. “I’m glad you could make it.”
Jake nodded respectfully. “Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. Please, continue.”
As Councilor Morgan cleared his throat, Jake leaned over to whisper in Leif’s ear. “Didn’t expect to see you here, although it’s a nice surprise. How did you get caught up in all of this?”
Leif shrugged. “Long story,” he whispered back.
“Gentleman, we have a lot to discuss, and we have some urgent decisions that need to be made. I’ll try to be as concise as possible, but the first thing I need to do is bring Jake and Leif up to speed on the Dark Warriors.”
Leif and Jake exchanged glances.
“The Dark Warriors?” Jake asked. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not,” Councilor Morgan said. “The Dark Warriors is pretty much what it sounds like—a group of shifters and wizards who are intent on bringing back dark magic. As best we can tell, the group formed from some individuals who had been working with Commander Hawkins but escaped detection when Commander Hawkins was exposed as a proponent of dark magic. The group is headed up by a wizard named Vincent, who has been actively trying to recruit members over the last few months. He’s been alarmingly successful in those efforts.”
Leif’s mouth dropped. He should have known by now not to be surprised when he heard about dark magic uprisings, but he still couldn’t help it. How anyone could follow dark magic after the horrors of the last war, he would never understand.
“Was Sofia a part of this?” Leif asked in a tight voice. He was still trying to figure out how Sofia had been tangled up in this morning’s events. If that woman had been tangled up in dark magic, and had thought she could get away with destroying his dragon training program, then she was a bigger fool than he thought.
“Sofia was a part of it, but not in the way you think.”
“Well in what way then?” Leif demanded, his anger exploding. “I’m sick and tired of everyone talking in riddles to me. Tell me, plain and simple, who is Sofia and what the hell was she doing meddling in the dragon training programs.”
Jake looked at Leif, confused. “Sofia? The junior audit agent you were griping about at the bar a few nights ago?”
Leif nodded. “Yes, her. I knew she was nothing but trouble from the first moment I saw her.”
Councilor Morgan was unfazed by Leif’s outburst. “Sofia Hayes is not actually a junior audit agent. She is a spy for the city of Torch Lake. She managed to infiltrate the Dark Warriors and win the trust of Vincent, which has allowed her to feed information back to us about their strategies and plans.”
/> Leif blinked in surprise. “Sofia…is a spy?”
Councilor Morgan nodded wearily. “Yes. And one of our best. But it appears her cover was somehow blown. She was forced by Vincent to open the High Council building this morning. Several of the employees who were already here this morning reported seeing her held hostage and being threatened with death if she did not comply with Vincent’s wishes. According to eyewitnesses, she was dragged out of the building after the records were retrieved, and the Dark Warriors she was with were threatening to kill her. The last transmission we received from her was an S.O.S., sent from somewhere far north of Torch Lake. That was about forty-five minutes ago, and we haven’t heard from her since. We’re assuming the worst at this point.”
Leif felt his stomach turn. “The worst? Meaning you think she’s been…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say the words.
“Meaning we think she’s been killed,” Councilor Morgan finished for him.
Leif felt like the ground had disappeared from beneath him. His hatred for Sofia suddenly didn’t seem as legitimate as it had a few minutes earlier, but confusion still clouded his mind.
“What was the purpose of ending the dragon training programs, then?” Leif asked. “Was that somehow tied to these attacks?”
Councilor Morgan shook his head. “Not exactly. The dragon training program had to be ended early because Vincent was angry that he couldn’t recruit dragons to his cause, and he decided that if he couldn’t have dragons, no one could. He demanded that Sofia prove her loyalty by convincing the High Council to end the training program early. We decided that losing two dragons was better than blowing Sofia’s cover. We hadn’t been able to sneak any other spies into the Dark Warriors, and we needed an insider’s view of what was going on. We were trying to bide our time and not make arrests until we had more information on where all of the recruits were coming from. Some are from Torch Lake, but many are from other places. We wanted to see if Sofia could get more information on the dark magic underground network before we swooped in to end Vincent’s little project.”
Dragon Rescuing (Torch Lake Shifters Book 3) Page 5