Heath

by Arcadia Shield

  Her gaze turned to the building. She spotted a headless stone dragon sitting on the top. She smiled and shook her head. Trust Heath to have his base where a dragon stood guard out front.

  An arm wrapped around Annie’s waist. Something cold pressed against her throat. “What business have you here?” asked a deep, male voice.

  Annie tried to twist out of her attacker’s grip and felt the cold edge of the knife press harder into her flesh.

  “Keep your head and no one gets hurt,” said the man. “What’s your name?”

  Panic flooded her system. “Annie.”

  “Good answer. And why are you here, Annie?”

  “Sheltering from the rain.” The words came out shaky.

  “You might like to get underground to do that.”

  Annie’s muscles tensed. Was this someone who worked with Heath? He hadn’t said anything about being escorted by a knife-wielding thug. “Care to show me how I do that?”

  The knife disappeared. “Need ID first, before we show our secrets.”

  Heath had told her to bring ID. She pulled out her citizen’s card and held it up over her shoulder. “Convinced?”

  The hand holding Annie disappeared. “You passed. Follow me.”

  Annie spun around, her breath jolting out of her as she saw a black-clad figure, with a hat pulled low over his face, striding away. She hurried to catch up. “And you are?”

  “A new friend.”

  “One of Heath’s brothers?”

  The man raised a finger to his lips. “It’s not safe to talk out here.” He continued walking before stopping by a dented metal door with no handle. He pulled out a loose brick from the wall next to the door and slid his fingers into the hole. A few seconds later, the metal door sprung open.

  Annie looked around, the nagging shove of paranoia making her think they were being watched, but there was no one around.

  “This way.”

  She followed the mystery man into a dark corridor and past two armed guards, who gave her a cautious glance before fixing their eyes back on the door. If this wasn’t Lincoln, she was in big trouble. Annie licked her dry lips and looked back at the door. It wasn’t too late to run.

  “Wait a second. The lights come on once the door seals shut.”

  Annie’s heart thudded in her chest, as the rectangle of daylight shrank further and further. Finally, the door clicked shut, and low lighting flared to life on either side of the corridor.

  The man in front of her pulled off the hat and ran a hand through messy, dark hair. She relaxed as she saw the resemblance to Heath. He had the same green eyes, but was taller, and not so broad in the shoulder.

  “You must be Lincoln,” said Annie.

  “That’s right.” Lincoln extended a hand. “Sorry for the dramatics, but you get all sorts of crazies trying to break into the tunnels, no matter how careful we are in keeping the entrances concealed. Plus, if the State sees you being taken at knifepoint by an evil fugitive, you can plead ignorance if you get questioned.”

  Annie shook Lincoln’s hand. “I appreciate that. And hope you don’t consider me crazy.”

  “Sometimes the prettiest ones are the craziest.” Lincoln grinned. “Come on, we’ve got quite a walk before we get to the briefing room. Hope you don’t mind small spaces.”

  “How long have you been in this bunker?” Annie followed Lincoln along a narrow corridor, skirting the pools of water on the floor.

  “Six months. It’s a good location, Power, supplies, escape points. Just perfect.”

  “This is where Heath lives?”

  “When he’s not out on one of his expeditions,” said Lincoln. “He never spends more than a couple of nights a week here. Always looking for the next nest to plunder.”

  “You believe in his dragon theory?”

  Lincoln slowed as they reached the top of a set of stairs. “It’s why we’re here.”

  “That doesn’t answer the question,” said Annie. “Can you remember the dragons being here?”

  “I can,” said Lincoln. “But the memories are disjointed. I’m getting help with that.”

  “My memory of them is the same,” said Annie. “A part of me wants them to be real, but I can’t believe.”

  “You need to start,” came a voice from the bottom of the stairs.

  Chapter 4

  Heath had stopped when he’d heard Annie’s voice. His initial excitement at seeing her again had faded when he’d heard her debating the reality of dragons with Lincoln.

  He climbed the stairs until Annie and Lincoln came into view. The nervousness on Annie’s face were clear, but she still smiled at him. The sight made his heart stutter. “Glad to see you got here safely.”

  “Nobody followed me.” Annie’s cheeks were pink as she descended the stairs. “I left the car two streets away and walked here.”

  “Lincoln could have got you on his bike.” Heath noticed Annie’s hair was shorter than it used to be, but other than that she was just the same, her intelligent gaze not leaving his.

  “The streets were empty,” said Annie. “No one knows I’m here.”

  “We need to keep it that way,” said Heath. “What we’ve got here works well. We don’t want to mess it up.”

  “Me being here won’t mess things up for you,” said Annie.

  Heath winced. “I didn’t mean that. You’re welcome here. We’re glad to have you.”

  Lincoln slapped Heath on the back as he passed him. “I’ll leave you to settle our new visitor in.”

  Heath smiled at Annie and his gut tightened when her dimples popped. He’d forgotten how she had this effect on him. In truth, he hadn’t, but he’d chosen to bury those thoughts. “Let me show you around. This place takes a bit of getting used to. Especially when you’re used to life at the university.”

  Annie’s smile faded. “Yes, I’m still there, and still love my work. The university is good to me.”

  Heath led them down the rest of the stairs, forcing his shoulders to relax. They were two former colleagues getting reacquainted. He was helping her out, that was all. “I enjoyed my time there. I can see why you want to stay.”

  “Since the State took over, funding has increased,” said Annie. “Although the opportunities for independent research have declined.”

  “Have they got you looking into any dragon sites?”

  “No, nothing to do with dragons,” said Annie. “There is a study on the delusions people have regarding dragons, though.”

  “Like my delusions, you mean?” Heath gritted his teeth, his nostrils flaring.

  “It’s not so rare,” said Annie. “The State are worried why a minority in the population think they’re real. There’s been a lot of funding going around to assess the psychological analysis of individuals. Figure out if it’s a brain disorder or an infection. Dragon sickness if you like.”

  “Or it’s because some of us know the truth,” said Heath.

  “Maybe,” said Annie, giving him a cautious look.

  Heath pressed his lips together. “Have you taken credits to do this kind of work with the dragon-mad among us?”

  “That’s not my speciality,” said Annie. “You know that. I’m still into the bones and old artifacts. No one will switch me onto anything else.”

  “You’ll like it here, then,” said Heath. “We have quite a collection now.”

  “Are you collecting bones, like my father?”

  “I’m more interested in the egg fragments.” Heath stopped by a door with a red light over it. “This is where we keep the finds. You want to take a look?”

  “Of course.”

  Heath smiled at the cautiousness in Annie’s voice. “This collection started out as my own personal entertainment when I was at Helstone. I’d go away on the weekends, hunt for sites that contained dragon remains.”

  Annie walked in behind Heath. He stood to one side to show her the collection. He was pleased when Annie gasped at the sight in front of her.

  “T
here must be over a thousand egg fragments in here.” She walked toward a table where a glass container sat with six neatly labeled egg pieces inside.

  “Actually, we’re closer to two thousand unique fragments,” said Heath.

  “And you’re doing this because...” Annie raised her gaze to Heath’s. “You’re bringing back a dragon? You believe the myth about rebuilding a complete dragon’s nest and getting them to return?”

  “It’s not a myth.” Heath folded his arms over his chest. “Most of these fragments are useless, but they sometimes hold trace DNA in them. But we’re looking for the ones with the writing on the inside.”

  Annie let out a gentle sigh. “I know what the myth says. You’re looking for six complete eggs, with the dragons’ scripture on the inside. Once the eggs are put together and the Dragon Leixh reads the message, the dragons come back to life.”

  Heath gritted his teeth at the mocking tone Annie used. “I can see from the look on your face you think it’s nonsense.”

  “It’s not nonsense,” said Annie. “But it is fanciful. My dad used to tell me the tales. I thought it was fun. It wasn’t until they took over his life, ruined his career, and almost bankrupted him, that I realized people could get too involved in make-believe. It got dangerous for him, especially when the State made it illegal to go on dragon expeditions.”

  “And why did they do that, if they’ve nothing to hide?” asked Heath. “If this stuff isn’t real, then why does the State care what people do in their spare time? Why shouldn’t I be able to go anywhere I like and dig up bits of bone and egg fragments?”

  “They say it isn’t safe,” said Annie.

  “They don’t want people knowing the truth, that’s why,” said Heath. It was just like old times. They’d fallen into the pattern of debating with each other. Heath liked seeing the color rise on Annie’s cheeks as she grew agitated. It made him think of other ways he could bring color to her cheeks.

  “We’ll never agree on this.” Annie gestured to the fragments.

  “Take a look at my latest finds,” said Heath, determined not to let her off. “I found these in one of the underground tunnels used by railway workers to transport equipment. The preliminary analysis is promising.” He flipped open a glass lid and lifted out the fragment before passing it to Annie.

  She turned it over in her hands several times. “Looks like a piece of egg. Something a giant bird would lay.”

  “We don’t have any giant birds on this island,” said Heath, as he leaned closer. “But we had dragons.”

  “Putting aside everything I know to be true for a moment, it will take you forever to sort through these.” Annie handed back the egg. “What method are you using to decide which fragments are of value?”

  Heath smiled at the gleam of interest in Annie’s eyes. She was always the researcher, always looking for the right methodology to use and get accurate information from her studies.

  “I work on the fragments, along with a few others,” said Heath. “When we return from an expedition, we hand over the fragments and they get cataloged. They’re then cleaned and go through the electro-scanner, checking for any residue or writing.”

  “Residue?”

  “Dragon DNA,” said Heath. “That’s my backup plan, another theory I’m working on. If we can’t get the eggs back together, I have an idea about reconstructing dragon DNA.”

  “You’ll never get a complete sequence,” said Annie. “It will take hundreds of years to achieve.”

  “This work will carry on long after I’m gone,” said Heath, a sense of pride filling him. “There are others who believe. Even if you don’t.”

  Annie looked around the room at the piles of finds and scanning equipment. “It’s not that I don’t want to believe. I see how much this means to you, but I have to believe the facts.”

  “You’re surrounded by facts,” said Heath. “Thousands of facts.”

  Annie shook her head. “I need to focus on finding my father.”

  “And we will. He’d love it here,” said Heath. “I can get him involved in the egg fragment analysis if he’s interested. It would keep him out of places like the Badlands.”

  “Not for long.” Annie smiled wryly at Heath. “He would enjoy himself here, though. But when we get him back that’s the end of his expeditions. No more dangerous trips, it’s too risky to be out there. I’ve barely slept since he went missing.”

  “He doesn’t do it to worry you,” said Heath. “He does it because he believes in something better than the State.”

  “No more!” Annie waved her hands in the air. “Show me your plan for getting Dad out of the Badlands. Then I can take him somewhere safe and away from all of this.”

  Heath frowned as he secured the egg fragment before locking the door and leading Annie to the briefing room. He’d hoped showing her the finds would be enough to convince her they were onto something real. But he’d seen the stubborn set of her jaw and the way her eyes had flashed. It would take a real dragon strolling through the bunker to convince her of what was going on. But likely even then, she’d claim it was a fake.

  Lincoln, Jude, and Kade were already in the briefing room when they arrived. Arlo appeared a few seconds later and spun a chair around before sitting on it with a flourish.

  Heath made the introductions and then sat at the table, Annie joining him. “Tobias is off-base. He’s my other brother.”

  “The one who hates being underground,” said Lincoln, shooting a look at Heath.

  “He was buried alive for three days,” said Heath. “That would make anyone jumpy about being confined beneath tons of rock.”

  He watched as Annie studied his brothers with interest. Lincoln’s perfect looks always got women excited, but Annie paid him no more attention than any of them. He couldn’t help but feel a tug of satisfaction when her gaze returned to him and she smiled.

  “What’s the latest on Dmitri?” Heath asked Jude.

  “We haven’t found any recent reports of your father.” Jude shot Annie an apologetic look. “His last known whereabouts were at a site called Alpha Fourteen.”

  “When was he last seen there?” asked Annie.

  “Over a week ago.”

  Annie frowned. “Where’s Alpha Fourteen? Outside the Badlands?”

  “No. He was definitely there. It’s part of the Badlands. The State stopped using city names for places they tried to destroy,” said Jude.

  Annie nodded. “And they’ll keep dropping bombs on places like that until they’re destroyed. Nothing good comes out of the Badlands.”

  Heath raised his eyebrows. The State had done a number on Annie if she believed that. “We’ll search Alpha Fourteen and see if we can discover where your father’s been. We have an underground operation in that area, so we can retreat if we get into trouble. But I don’t think we’ll need our local resources for this job.”

  “How many underground bases do you have?” asked Annie.

  “Thirty,” said Heath. “This is not the biggest.”

  “Our biggest base holds five thousand people,” said Kade. “They’re mostly civilians, volunteering for research and records work that comes with the finds we discover.”

  “Which is all valuable,” said Heath. “It’s important to ensure the validity of all the finds.”

  “My dad always said you had to love the paperwork as well as the exciting research trips,” said Annie. “I’m sure he’ll have plenty of tales to tell when you find him.”

  “If he’s still there,” said Lincoln. “He could be long gone by now.”

  “We’ll find him,” said Heath, shooting Lincoln a sharp look. There was no need to worry Annie when they didn’t know what had happened to Dmitri.

  Lincoln shrugged. “I’m only saying we don’t want to be too optimistic. You don’t go into the Badlands and expect to get out without a few bruises.”

  Annie ducked her head and swiped a hand across her face. “We have to find him.”

  Heat
h drew his chair closer and rested a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll get him out.”

  Annie looked up, and he could see tears in her eyes. She nodded. “I knew you’d help me.”

  Heath hoped the trust in her eyes wasn’t misplaced. He was as doubtful as Lincoln that Dmitri was simply having fun in the Badlands. “Let’s get out of here. The guys can finish mapping our trip. I’ll show you the rest of the base.”

  Annie looked at the others. “Do you need any more information? Anything that will help you track my dad?”

  Lincoln shook his head, his normally smiling face serious. “We’re good.”

  Heath kept his hand on Annie’s arm as they left the room, hating the way her shoulders slumped. If circumstances had been better, maybe they could get past their differing opinions. And he wanted to see her happy and laughing, not stuck underground with a bunch of criminals, suffering because of her loss.

  He shook his head. This wasn’t the place to start a relationship. You never knew what would happen when you went aboveground. You were an idiot if you got attached to someone, only for them to get themselves killed. Heath had fun when he needed it, everyone did, but relationships in general weren’t possible. Not that Annie would be interested in something casual, anyway.

  Annie let out a shaky sigh. “I didn’t mean to get upset, but thinking about what might have happened to my dad is horrible. What Lincoln said is true, the Badlands aren’t the place to roam alone. Dad must have been out of his mind.”

  “He’s not crazy, but I imagine he is desperate,” said Heath. “And I’m the same. We need to get the truth uncovered. And if that means taking a dangerous trip or two into a place like the Badlands, then we’ll do it.”

  Annie whipped around and glared at Heath. “Then you’re as crazy and dangerous as each other.”

  THE ANGER ANNIE HAD been holding back flooded through her. “You’ve dragged your whole family into this sick joke. You’ll get them killed because you can’t see what’s real and what isn’t.”

  Heath took a step back, surprise flashing in his eyes. “They want to be here. What other choice have we got? Get sent to be test subjects in the research the State are doing on why crazy people see dragons?”