Hidden Dragon (Dragon Rising Urban Fantasy Series Book 1)

by Trudi Jaye

  “You have to take this opportunity with both hands, Mei. It will keep you safe but also give you the skills you need to survive. Just promise me you’ll think about it, at least?”

  I nod jerkily. Stepping away from Si, I put my hand in the pocket of my shorts. He turns and heads back to the door. It opens and he walks through without a backward glance. The door slams and the sound echoes around the interview room.

  I turn back to Agent Walker. “So what now?” I ask, fingering the paper in my pocket.

  “Have you changed your mind about working with the SIG?”

  “I need time to think about it,” I say, glancing up at the camera.

  “Then you can go back to your sleeping quarters. We can do nothing official until you both turn twenty.”

  “It’s not for another few weeks,” I say. “You can’t keep me waiting around here for that long.”

  “You turn twenty in exactly one week. We altered the date, so we would be the only ones who knew precisely.”

  “You changed my birth date?” A lifetime of birthday candles and presents becomes a lie with one casual statement. This day just keeps getting worse.

  “Yes.” He snaps his fingers at the camera, and seconds later, a new guard comes into the room.

  “I had the last man reassigned,” says Agent Walker. “I didn’t like his attitude.”

  I’m grateful, but I’m not going to show it. Not now I know whose side he’s working on.

  “Goodbye, Mei. We’ll talk again soon,” he says as I’m led out the door by my new guard.

  As I head back to my room, I become determined about one thing.

  I’m not going to see him again if I can help it.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  I go straight to the bed and lie down, facing away from the camera. I stay there, curled up and unmoving for at least ten minutes. Long enough for whoever is watching me to get bored and look away.

  Putting my hand in my pocket again, I pull out the note, keeping it hidden in my hand. I pass it down to the hand that’s lying against the bed, and hold it there against my chest for another five minutes. Luckily, Si taught me the value of patience, because all I want to do is leap up and tear open the piece of paper and figure out what it says.

  Eventually, I allow myself to open the folds, until there it is. A note from Si.

  Don’t worry. Your father is working on getting us out. Just stay where you are. We have a plan.

  I re-read it, my hands shaking. He’s working with my father? The one who ratted us out to begin with? I crush the note into my palm. My father is working an angle on Si. He’s tricked him into thinking he’s on our side.

  What Si doesn’t know is that my father values the SIG more than he values his own daughter. Except I’m not even his daughter anymore. I’m just the other baby.

  I clench my hand into a fist and roll onto my back, staring up at the metallic ceiling. If I’m going to get out of here, I’m going to have to do it myself. And I need to figure out how to get Si, and maybe Seth, out at the same time. It seems an almost impossible task, and I want to cry with frustration.

  I didn’t ask for any of this. I don’t want to work for the SIG, and I don’t want to have unnamed special powers that everyone is trying to use for their own benefit. Everyone except me. Putting my hands on my stomach, I close my eyes, trying to lose myself in an internal world.

  Unthinkingly, I reach out for the spell web. Usually that’s enough to comfort me, but the absence of the grid in this building is just another jarring reminder that these people are more powerful than I’d ever realized. It makes me feel off balance, and out of step. It also makes me understand how much I rely on the spell web in my everyday life.

  The lack of the spell web at the headquarters is another puzzle I want to solve before I leave this place. If it can be taken down or removed in one particular area, then surely the same thing can be done in other places. How come no one has ever heard of it? Do the Earthbound know?

  I must be able to access the spell web, even just a little bit? It can’t be completely gone. I concentrate hard, locking down all my outside senses and creating a laser-sharp focus inside my head. There’s nothing there. The spell web is well and truly hidden.

  But as I’m about to retreat, I sense something new. It’s a small hot kernel of energy in the depths of my consciousness. I poke at it. Is it something they put inside me when they captured me? Some kind of tracking spell like Seth had?

  But when? I haven’t been unconscious at any time since they captured us. It feels like forever, but it’s really only been hours.

  I poke at it a second time, and the ball of energy flares to life. Warmth spreads over my whole body and I can’t remember when I’ve ever felt this good before. Maybe I haven’t.

  I stretch out on the bed, holding my hands high over my head, and pointing my toes like a dancer. I open my eyes slowly, trying to hold onto the feeling of contentment.

  The view before me has changed. Instead of the metallic grey of the walls and ceiling, and the white of the sheets on the bed, all I see is shades of red, orange, and yellow. I blink. The area around the camera in the corner is red, as is the lock on the door. I look down at myself and I’m a vibrant red that almost hurts my eyes. The metal on the roof is a pale, dull yellow.

  It takes a few moments for my brain to tick over but then it hits me, I know what’s happening. I’m seeing heat signatures. My eyes are translating heat, rather than visual signals for my brain. What does it mean? If I’m not a dragon, what the hell am I? For the first time, I start to wonder if I might not be better off as a dragon. At least I’d know where I stand.

  I look around the room, testing out my new ability. Standing up, I attempt to walk around without banging into the walls or the bed. It takes some practice, but eventually I get used to it. A large patch of heat in one corner of the room attracts my attention. Wandering over, I assess what I can see. It’s a motor of some kind, maybe the ventilation system. There’s a faint whirring noise coming through the metal walls. I put my hand against the metal, testing what my senses are telling me. If I’ve got new vision, perhaps I have other helpful new skills.

  But I can’t feel anything more than the vibration.

  Huffing out a disgruntled breath, I let my vision switch back to normal, and go back to my bed and sit down. My best hope for getting out of here will be when they take me down the hallway into the interrogation room again. There must be some way I can overpower the guard, run for my life, and escape. Hopefully grabbing Si and Seth along the way. The very idea is a little overwhelming, but I’m determined to at least try.

  In the meantime, there’s nothing for me to do, but wait.

  Except I’ve never been much good at waiting.

  First I lie facedown on the floor and do one hundred pushups. Then I switch to my back and do sit-ups. It occurs to me that I should be saving my energy, but I’m too restless to sit still. And my body hasn’t had a proper workout in days.

  I’m just deciding whether to do more pushups or switch to another exercise when the door opens sharply, and a tall, broad man walks in. I sit up, holding my arms around my knees, watching as he stops two yards away from me. He’s got a greying goatee and sharp blue eyes that seem to take in and assess everything around him, including me.

  “I’m Director Holden of the SIG.” He pauses to see my reaction. “I have decided to introduce you to the other woman. The real dragon.”

  I manage to keep my face blank. “Why?”

  He clears his throat. “To compare you side by side. To run some tests.”

  I tip my head to one side. “I thought you knew she was the one?”

  “Just stand and come with me. No more questions.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  I follow Director Holden down the hallway, past room seven. My guard is holding my arm so tightly, it’s as if he knows I’m thinking of escape. We turn down different corridors a couple times and then arrive at a door already
being guarded by a large man in the red and blue SIG guard uniform.

  The guard salutes and then opens the door for us.

  It’s a large gym, with a basketball court taking up the middle of the floor, but with other equipment around the room. Another woman is already there. She’s doing a flip over a vault that has been set up with a trampoline at the beginning and a padded mat after it.

  “Gym class?” I ask. Not that I’ve ever been to a gym class, I was never allowed to go to school, or any other organized activities.

  “Liling has shown a high level of proficiency in gym activities. She has been training as a gymnast since she was young.” He watches Liling closely, his eyes narrowed.

  “Is that a common dragon trait?”

  He nods. “Yes. She exhibits many of the dragon characteristics we would expect.”

  “And I don’t?”

  He shakes his head. “We have been unable to categorize you. That is why our researchers have requested this series of tests.”

  “What if I refuse?” I won’t be paraded around like a lab rat.

  “You have no choice but to do these tests. Your life is at stake.”

  I shake my head. “I won’t do it.”

  “If you won’t do it for your own sake, then think of your friend Si,” he says in a silky voice.

  He doesn’t say the actual words, but the threat hangs heavy in the air between us.

  My eyes feel like they’re as big and round as saucers. “You can’t do this. I have rights! I’m a citizen of this country.”

  “Actually, you’re not. You were smuggled into the US as a baby and never received citizenship of any kind. Added to this, you have been determined to be a threat to national security. You have no rights.”

  It hits me like a punch in the stomach. To this man, I’m no one. His lack of concern is evident in the way he’s speaking to me, and in the bland expression on his face.

  “Where’s Agent Walker? I need to speak to him,” I say desperately.

  “Agent Walker cannot make an impartial decision in this matter. He has been reassigned to another case. He left an hour ago.”

  “What about Seth? What have you done with him?” There must be someone around who’s on my side.

  “Agent Barnes is going through a debriefing process. He will be reassigned.”

  It gives me hope that Seth is okay at least. “Can I see him?”

  “No, you may not.”

  The director motions behind him, and two large guards stride into the room. They each grab one of my arms and drag me toward the vault. I wonder what they intend to do? Force me to do flips? I give a single hysterical laugh before shaking myself out of it.

  The director has followed behind me and stands to one side as we wait for Liling to join us. She’s taller than I am, with strong shoulders and a serious expression. She has long dark hair like mine, the same almond-shaped eyes and brown irises. We’re clearly both of half-Chinese heritage. I try to spot any of Agent Walker’s characteristics in her face, but can see nothing that hints of him.

  “So you are the other one?” she says. Her voice is musical, soft. She glances at the guards with a frown, but says nothing.

  I nod, with a half-smile. It’s not her fault that I’m being held by my two guards.

  “We are to do some tests?” she asks the director.

  “Yes. We wish to see how you both perform next to each other.” The director almost sounds differential to her.

  I already see why they’re sure she’s the dragon. She has a commanding presence. She’s much bigger than me, taller, more poised. She holds herself like a ballet dancer, despite her size. I wish I could be half as graceful. I tug at the sleeve of my shirt. It makes me feel like the grubby younger cousin.

  “Are you going to cooperate?” the director asks.

  I nod. I’m fascinated by Liling now. I want a chance to talk to her.

  The guards let go of my arms, and I shake them out. Liling nods to me and then leads the way to the vault.

  “Have you ever done this before?” she asks gently.

  I shake my head. “I can do flips and cartwheels, stuff like that. I use them in fighting.”

  Her eyes widen at the mention of fighting, but she nods. “I’ll show you the move, and how you’re supposed to use the vault. Then you can have a try.”

  “Have you been doing this long?”

  “All my life.”

  I want to keep peppering her with questions, but the director is glaring at us, and Liling seems impatient to get started.

  As she’s instructing me on the best way to gather momentum, I notice a string of people in white lab coats entering the far end of the gym. They’re carrying all sorts of equipment. “I thought he was lying about the researchers,” I blurt out.

  “Oh no. The director never lies,” says Liling.

  “How do you know?” I ask with a frown.

  “I’ve lived with him my entire life,” she says simply. “I was raised with his family.”

  My body goes cold. I glance over at the director. What’s going on?

  Liling doesn’t seem to understand the implications of this information, and continues her monologue on how to traverse over the vault in the most graceful manner.

  I try to unravel the strands based on this new piece of information and struggle to know where to even begin. Did he lie to Agent Walker about the babies? Did they always know which of us was the dragon?

  Am I truly the decoy baby I imagined myself to be?

  The thought leaves me breathless. But it feels like there is more going on here than I fully understand. What is the point of having a dragon on a lead? Does he intend to do something with that power?

  The director has effectively stolen Agent Walker’s daughter out from under the agent’s nose, changed her loyalties and her behavior in favor of himself. I glance at Liling. She’s tall, graceful, and strong. Everything I imagine a dragon should be in human form. But she seems strangely docile, accepting of whatever the director throws at us. I have a terrible feeling she will do whatever he tells her to do.

  He’s got a dragon on a leash. Does Agent Walker realize this?

  I have a feeling that his reassignment has something to do with the discovery of this fact.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  My first go at vaulting is an utter disaster.

  I run up, jump on the small angled trampoline, as Liling has instructed, and then slam directly into the vault. Hard. The wind is knocked out of my lungs and I dangle there for a moment.

  “You didn’t angle yourself correctly,” says Liling from just behind me. Her voice is like a gentle river flowing over rocks.

  I try again, and again, and again.

  “Can we try something else?” I eventually ask in desperation.

  “You mentioned being able to do flips?” Liling asks. “Perhaps we can move onto that.”

  The guards help us haul a few mats together in a long row, and Liling stands at the beginning. She holds her hands high and then pulls them down in some kind of gymnastics move. Then she’s off. Every eye in the room is spellbound by her graceful display of coordination and limber moves.

  When it’s my turn, I decide to use my fighting moves instead, knowing I can’t do the same kind of moves that she displayed. I bow, facing the long row of mats, and let out a breath. My concentration narrows and I focus on the last kata—a series of moves used in karate—that Si had been teaching me before he... well, before I thought he died. I step to one side of the mats; I’m not going to use them for this.

  I don’t really think of anything else as I start my kata. It’s a chance for me to forget everything else that has been going on and focus on my body and doing the moves to the best of my ability. It involves a couple turning leaps that end in kicks, some complicated punches and blocks, and ends on a series of moves that it took me days of practice to learn. Si says I would be a black belt if I’d ever been formally tested.

  I land on the last
twisting kick, and kiai as loud as I can. I don’t notice the silence in the room around me at first, but when I look up, everyone is staring, stunned.

  Bowing to an imaginary judge, I return to standing at attention. Then I break out of my karate stance. No one has moved. They’re all still looking at me like I’m another species. And I guess I am. Not that any of us know what species that might be.

  The director takes a step backward. “That’s enough for today. Guards, take Mei back to her room.”

  The guards grasp my arms, although it’s looser this time. They understand I’m not as easy to compel as they thought I was, I guess. Not that I’m going to try anything right now.

  They lead me out into the hallway, and I try to understand what just happened. Surely watching me do the kata wasn’t that life-changing?

  “Wait!” The sound of the director’s footsteps follows us up the corridor and the two guards stop.

  He stands in front of me and swallows. “That... display... back there makes it obvious to me that you are highly dangerous. It has been decided that you will be remanded into the custody of our partner organization, the Earthbound. They have the appropriate facilities to ensure that you are no longer a threat.”

  My heart leaps into my throat. Locked rooms, water chambers. “You can’t do that!” I pause, thinking quickly. “They won’t even want me, now they know I’m not a dragon.”

  “Vincent assures me he still has use for one such as you. And he has promised they will ensure your continued well-being.”

  “Vincent is lying!” I strain against the arms holding me. “You know he’s lying.” Then I think about what he’s saying. He’s already talked to Vincent and made a deal with the Earthbound leader. The decision to send me right this minute is the only change in a plan that has already been made. The blood is pounding through my veins as I think about going back there to Vincent. “He’s already tried to kill me,” I say desperately.

  “Enough. This is not a discussion.” He glances at the guards. “Take her to the transport.”