Dragon Game

by Alicia Wolfe

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?” I said. That wasn’t what I’d expected to hear. But Ruby just stared back at me with an almost bored expression on her face. “Are you sure you understood me?”

  She stuck her tongue at me. “You said you wanted me to join the Guild of Thieves with you.”

  “I don’t want you to. I want you not to.”

  “But you’re still asking me.”

  I tried not to grind my teeth. She was so infuriating. We stood in the kitchen of the apartment we shared—that is, whenever I wasn’t at the Palace—and she was trying to get the cork off a wine bottle without ruining her nails. They were red to go with her hair.

  “I know you wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important,” she added. The cork popped off, and she poured herself a glass of red, then one for me.

  I hesitated a moment, then downed a sip. “Wow, that’s tart,” I said.

  “Bitch bitch bitch,” she laughed.

  I stared at her over the brim. “This is no joking matter, sis. The Guild of Thieves is dangerous.”

  “I know. Grrr, I’m not a baby.” She paused, the glass halfway to her lips. “Where did they come from, anyway? No other city has a guild like that, right?”

  I rolled my shoulders. “It started after the Fae Lords came, and all the shifters and mages and such came out of the shadows. Magic totally changed the criminal underworld. Some people thought we needed to start getting organized. We needed people who had a way in to a secure location to be able to find people who knew how to disable the magical booby-traps there. That kind of thing. The guild was small time at first, but now they’re flexing their muscle.”

  “And they’re kind of dicks.”

  “If by dicks you mean evil, then yeah, kind of.” I took another sip, then set the glass down. I needed to be relatively sober for what I wanted us to attempt. I wanted her sober, too. “You’d better quit or we won’t be able to go tonight.”

  “You want to go … right now?”

  “There’s no reason to delay. Already Nevos could be getting what he wants.”

  She slurped her wine, then made a face at me. “Party pooper.”

  “Actually, I hear the Guild of Thieves throws some pretty righteous shindigs.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  She beamed. “Then what are we waiting for?” She downed the rest of her wine, burped, then stoppered the bottle.

  I cleared my throat. She fixed me with a look.

  “This isn’t a social thing,” I said. “They’ll probably want to give us some sort of test or something. It could even be dangerous. And if they let us in, we’ll be bound by their rules and codes of secrecy. And they take that stuff seriously.”

  “I got, I got it. Sheesh! Now can we go before I rethink this whole thing?”

  Part of me had really been hoping that she’d wimp out and not want to do it. As her sister, I couldn’t stand the idea of putting her in jeopardy. But I knew this was the right thing to do. Nevos meant to bring the Shadow to our world, and for some reason he wanted the help of the Guild of Thieves to do it. I needed to know what they knew. Maybe even get access to the traitorous Fae Lord himself.

  What would happen if I did? Could I kill him? I wasn’t sure if I could just murder someone like that, and anyway that should be Davril’s thing, not mine. But either way I might be able to get close to him, find out what he was up to and stop him.

  “Well, sis?” Ruby said. “Are we going or not? My buzz is wearing off.”

  I’d parked on the roof, casting an invisibility spell over my sweet, sweet bike, so we marched upstairs and decloaked it. Gorgeous raven-black wings spread out from all that black metal and chrome, poised dramatically.

  Ruby whistled. “You do have a bitchin’ ride, girl.”

  I stroked the handlebars. “Don’t I know it. Come on, get on.”

  We were taking my motorcycle because we could both fit on it and bring Ruby’s broom, too. She strapped it to her back on a little sling she’d attached to it, then flung her arms around my waist as I goosed the throttle and shot us off into the sky. She whooped as we climbed higher. The motorcycle’s black wings stretched out to either side, stroking the air with powerful pumps, and the engine throbbed between my thighs. Below us lights of nighttime New York glimmered like stars. Cold wind ripped at us, flinging my hair and making my eyes mist.

  “Let me,” Ruby said, and muttered a quick spell. Instantly the wind died and it grew warmer.

  “Thanks,” I said. I knew some magic, too, but Ruby was the true witch, and she was much more adept at it than I ever could be.

  I drove us to a seedy area of downtown, then landed on the road and kept driving. My ride tucked her wings up as I coasted along the street. Some pedestrians turned to watch appreciatively, but in post-Fae-rival New York aerial vehicles weren’t that uncommon, and they quickly went about their business.

  “There,” I said, pointing to a Gothic-looking building composed of dark brick, with large, ornate windows and gargoyles perched on the ledges. There weren’t any free parking spaces, so Ruby and I climbed off the bike. It stretched out its wings again and flew upwards. It would circle until I whistled for it, then it would come to collect us.

  “I bet that saves a lot on parking,” Ruby said.

  “You bet.”

  “Have you named her yet?”

  I sighed as the motorcycle vanished around the side of a building and was momentarily lost to view. “No. And it might not be a she.”

  “Yeah?”

  I shrugged. “I mean, Davril’s ride is female, so why can’t mine be male?”

  “True, I guess. So it’s male?”

  “No. It’s female.”

  She stuck her tongue out at me. “Lame-o. Anyway, so no name?”

  “I can’t think of one. I started to call her Bike-a-rella, but …”

  “But it sucks?”

  “Pretty much.”

  We regarded the looming, Gothic presence of the Guild House. Its gargoyles glared down at us with sinister expressions. Its grand door was truly huge, and its knocker was a big brass lion’s head.

  “Could they get any more cliché?” Ruby said.

  “Yeah, they’re really going for a certain look, aren’t they? Gotta admit, I like the gargoyles, though. Nice touch.”

  “I just hope these ones don’t fly.”

  I grimaced. “Don’t give them any ideas.”

  We approached the steps, then climbed them. An aura of quiet mystery surrounded the building, which looked to be about ten stories, and I’m sure it was an atmosphere the Guild cultivated. They didn’t exactly want tourists knocking on the door, right?

  Speaking of which …

  I grabbed the big brass knocker and banged on the door. Hollow booms reverberated within, and Ruby and I traded uneasy glances.

  “I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this,” she said.

  “Bah. I’m sure this is all for show. It’s probably an endless Cinco de Mayo in there.”

  “It better.”

  I squeezed her hand. “It’s not too late to back out, sis. I can join alone.”

  “But then we couldn’t do any more jobs together, right?”

  “Well, not on pain of death, no. We wouldn’t let a little thing like that stop us.”

  She rolled her eyes and groaned. “Fine, let’s just do this. Why are they taking so long to answer the door?”

  As if in response, the huge doors swung open, revealing a huge chamber wreathed in shadow with a stairway leading up into rooms on the far side. Feeling something cold curdle in my gut, I stepped across the threshold. Here goes nothing. Ruby swore under her breath and followed me. Together we stood in a grand lobby with marble floors and gleaming brass railings on the walls and staircase. Brooding oil portraits hung on the walls. The air was cool but dry.

  Not a single person could be seen.

  I stomped one of my sensible heels, and an echo rang th
roughout the lobby, off the marble floors and throughout the halls beyond.

  “Hello?” I called. “Hell-ooo?”

  No answer came back to us. I would have asked how the door had been opened if there was no one there to open, but the answer was obvious: magic. The question was whether the opening had been an automatic response or if some magic-user had remotely activated it. For all I knew, we were all alone in here.

  “I knew this would be creepy,” Ruby said, “but they’ve gone above and beyond.” Raising her voice, she said, “Above and beyond, assholes!”

  Her voice echoed through the halls, then bounced back to us with greater force than it should have, so much that it rattled the windows and set my eardrums ringing. Gooseflesh popped out along my arms.

  “You know what,” I said. “Screw this. If they’re going to play games, we’ll come back later. We don’t need this shit.”

  “Works for me,” Ruby said.

  We marched back toward the still-open door. Just before I reached it, the huge door slammed shut with a crack that had me reeling back. Blinking, I swore, then jumped forward and pulled desperately at the handles. They didn’t budge.

  “Allow me,” Ruby said.

  I stepped back. She muttered a spell, weaving her hands like a dance, and light began to gather on them. At the climax of her casting, she flung her fingers wide. The green light shot off her palms and encased the doorknob, which began to glow.

  “It’s working!” I said.

  Ruby grinned at me. “It’s all in—”

  Green light flashed off the door, struck her in the chest and flung her through the air. She hit the marble floor and went skidding. I screamed and ran to her, then knelt over her.

  “Ruby! Ruby!” I cradled her head and shook her.

  She blinked her eyes and lurched up. A huge swell of relief swept through me, and I felt tears burn my eyes. Speaking past the lump in my throat, I said, “Thank God. Are you all right?”

  She nodded shakily, but her face had gone pale. “I’m fine.” Her voice was rough.

  I helped her to her feet and together we glared at the doors. The knob no longer glowed, and I knew it had simply rebounded her power back at her. The spell hadn’t worked at all.

  “You have anything else that might get us out of here?” I said.

  “That was my most powerful unlocking spell.”

  I bit back a curse and moved to one of the windows. Reaching out a hand toward it slowly, I allowed my senses to feel it, really study it, and almost instantly I could feel the subtle power radiating off of it. Feeling suddenly hollow inside, I turned back to Ruby and shook my head.

  “Damn,” she said.

  I went back to her and hugged her. “I’m so sorry I got you into this, Rubes.”

  She sniffed. “It’s okay, Jade. It was my decision, not yours. We both knew it could be dangerous.” Then, lifting her voice again: “Because you guys are assholes!”

  Her words echoed back at us so powerfully we had to clamp our hands over our ears, and the windows rattled violently.

  When the sound had faded, I said, “I’d say we should do that until the windows break, but I think that would kill us first, so maybe not.” I gestured toward one of the large doorways leading deeper into the building. “Why don’t we go exploring?”

  Ruby watched the shadowy doorway as if daring it to act against us, squared her shoulders and raised her chin. “Let’s do it,” she agreed.

  We passed through the doorway and into another large room. Other than the dim light filtering in through the drapes over the windows, the whole place was plunged into darkness. Luckily my half-shifter senses allowed me to see well in the dark, and Ruby had magical tricks up her sleeve that enabled her to see.

  “Trying to test us,” I guessed as we went along, finding another room, then another, then passing down a long hall.

  “I guess. Testing our ability to overcome traps, see in the dark, improvise … all good stuff for a thief to be able to do.”

  “So you think this is like some sort of initiation?”

  “Probably.”

  I nodded. “Well, they’ve got another thing coming, because the McClaren sisters—”

  Before I could finish the sentence, a huge sword made of what looked like shadow swept toward my head. With a shriek, I ducked, and the blade thunked into the wood paneling of the wall to my right.

  The wielder of the blade was a huge giant of shadow, which had either sprung from a nearby doorway or had congealed from the gloom of the building itself. It had the shape of a man, but very tall and gaunt, and its legs were fused together into a sort of tail so that it slithered like a snake.

  Even as I was collecting myself, the shadowy swordsman ripped his blade loose of the wall, sending chunks of wood flying. His sword might look insubstantial, but it still packed a hell of a wallop. I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that thing.

  “This way!” Ruby said.

  She grabbed my hand and tugged me down the hall, around the nightmarish apparition and toward a high doorway. Sweat burned my eyes as I followed her, and my heart pounded wildly in my chest. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the swordsman slithering after us, sword clenched firmly in a claw-like hand.

  “Who are you?” I screamed, but the thing didn’t respond other than to come closer.

  Tearing my hand loose from Ruby’s, I grabbed my crossbow off my hip and made sure that a bolt was loaded. I stumbled on the rug and looked up, righting myself. Ruby was a few strides ahead. I pushed myself to go faster. I couldn’t hear the footsteps or, more likely, the rasp of scales behind me, but I knew our attacker couldn’t be far behind.

  Ruby reached the doorway ahead of me and passed through it. I was almost to it when suddenly the door slammed closed, almost smashing me across the nose.

  “Fuck!” I said, and pounded on the door.

  Ruby smashed on her side, too. “Jade!”

  We were trapped, or at least I was. The building had deliberately separated us. With a swear, I wheeled and lifted my crossbow. The swordsman was already raising his blade as he descended on me. I fired. The bolt passed through his chest and kept going, as if he really were only shadow. Damn!

  His blade chopped down at my head.

  I spun to the side. The blade gouged into the wood of the door, showering chips. I kicked at the bastard’s knee while he was trying to get his blade lose, but my foot went right through him.

  No fair! I thought. He could hurt me but I couldn’t hurt him.

  “Run, Jade!” Ruby cried from the other side of the door. “I’ll meet you further on. Hey, who are you?” This last part had a strange note to it, and I knew she must be talking to someone—or something—on the other side. Fuck. She was being attacked just like I was.

  This was a really bad idea. I ducked under the swordsman’s arm and ran by him, traveling up the hall I’d just come down. I heard the crack of wood and knew he’d torn his blade lose and would be after me. Where could I go?

  I ducked into an open doorway and slammed the door closed behind me.

  Backing away from it, I raised my hands and said a spell, magically locking the door and sealing it with a mystical ward.

  The shadow swordsman appeared, passing through the door as if it weren’t there. With not a sound or a pause, he came straight at me. I turned and ran, passing through one huge, opulent room and then another. At last I saw a set of stairs and ran up them. I paused on the landing to turn and shoot at the monster, enchanting the bolts as I did. These bolts too passed through the thing as if he were made of air.

  “Not fair!”

  I turned and ran up the rest of the stairs, racking my brains for some solution. What was this thing? I vaguely recalled reading about something similar. Ruby had schooled me on magical avatars and guardians, and I thought this was one she’d instructed me on. One that would be good for a thief to know about.

  Think think think!

  I reached the head of the stairs. I
swung my head, looking one way and another. Neither offered any help. Picking one randomly, I ran to the right.

  The swordsman slithered after me, gaining speed as he went. Damn! I couldn’t outrun him forever.

  All at once, I realized what he must be. A Gorian Construct, woven by Peruvian shadow-magic. A so-called shadowman. Yes indeed, I’d read up on them just in case I ever ran into one.

  I slipped into a doorway, ran across it and disappeared around the next doorway before the shadowman could see which way I’d gone. I said a spell to deepen the shadows around me, ducked into another room and slid under a bed. This had better work. Shadowmen might be made of shadows, but they couldn’t see well in them. Hilarious, right?

  And they were powered by … I strained my memory … there it was, yes … Peruvian psych-jewels! Very rare things, and they went for quite a bit on the black market.

  I held my breath as a shadow swept across the doorway. I peered out from under the bed, sensing the cold wood against my palms, and felt like a little girl hiding from a boogeyman. But this boogeyman was very real, and very deadly. The thing paused at the doorway. Its head swung this way and that, as if trying to sniff me out. At long last, it slithered up the hall and was gone.

  Sucking in a deep breath, I scooted out from under the bed. No sense wandering the halls trying to avoid that bastard. I couldn’t hurt him, and neither could I escape. Not only that, but my shadow spell wouldn’t last indefinitely. And somewhere Ruby might be needing my help. My only hope was to find the Peruvian psych-jewel that powered the shadowman and deactivate it.

  I located the grate over an air duct high up on the wall, dragged a chair over to it and removed it. Pulling myself up and into the vent, I wormed my way forward through the darkness. My heart still pounded wildly, and my hair lay across my forehead, stuck to it with sweat. Filth from the duct clomped to me as I went, glued to me by sweat. I spat it out of my mouth and cursed as I went. I inched my way down one tube, then another, peering through grates as I did, and at last I saw what I was looking for: a shining green jewel floating over a squat pedestal in a small, dark room. The green radiance from the jewel was the only light.

  Acting quickly, I used a spell to scan the room for magical boobytraps, finding several, one on the very grate of the duct.