by Katie French
Sitting up was painful but manageable. Once I was up, I spotted the source of the tears. A figure in dirty clothes curled into the corner. A lank ponytail hung down her back as her slender arms hugged her knees. When she heard me stir, she whirled on me and I finally saw her face.
“Hailey?”
Terrified eyes zeroed in on me. Hailey was filthy and ragged, but it was definitely her. I remembered that bright pink T-shirt from the night of the bonfire, though now it was in tatters, her dirty bra showing through.
“You’re awake?” Hailey said, leaning forward, her blackened hands pressing on the stone floor of what appeared to be our cell. “H-how are you here, Lila? They didn’t take you when they took us, did they?”
I shook my head, examining our surroundings. The cell was solid rock except for a wall of bars on the far end. The locked door appeared to be the only exit. What lay beyond, I could only guess.
“Where are we?” I asked.
Hailey lifted one shoulder. It pained me to see her curl in on herself like a beaten dog. Long lacerations on her arm, like cuts from dragon talons, looked infected and ugly. I wondered when she’d last eaten. Probably hotdogs on the beach before her life was ripped away.
“Did you see Sam? Or Clare? Do you know where they are? That th-thing came in and took them. It keeps coming in and taking them.” Hailey’s lip quivered as tears pooled in her eyes.
Sam. I couldn’t tell her now. “Are you the only one left?”
“There’s another cell. We talk to each other when that thing isn’t around. But less people have been responding.” A sob stuttered in her throat as the dam broke, and Hailey began quietly weeping. “What’s going to happen, Lila? Are we going to d-d-die?”
I shook my head, touching her arm ever so lightly. “I’m going to get us out.” I reached behind me to grab my sword.
It was gone.
“Shit.” My hand clamped down on my ring finger, the band of metal still there. Thank God. But then, it hadn’t burned Tara Palmer. What kind of weapon only worked on irritating boys and not on the evil mastermind that was killing all my friends?
Refusing to give in to terror, I met Hailey’s big, scared eyes. “Hailey, have you seen my father? Tara Palmer took him.”
“Tara Palmer?” she said. “What does she have to do with this?”
“I’ll explain later. But have you seen him?”
Hailey nodded, a dirty strand of hair falling across her slight face. “He’s in the other cell. But, Lila.” She met my gaze, worry set deep in her features. “I haven’t heard from him in a while.”
Her words were like an icy blade in my heart. I shook the fear away. “Where’s the other cell?”
“Across the hallway and to the left.” She pointed, staying curled into her little ball as if she could blend into the rocks to save herself.
I stood, feeling the ache in my head, but choosing to ignore it. Limping a little, I walked to the metal bars and squinted across the dark cave, trying to make out the other cell.
“Dad?” I whispered into the echoey cavern. “Roger McCarty?”
There was the sound of movement. “Lila?”
“Dad!” Tears of relief sprung into my eyes.
“Oh, Lila,” his disembodied voice said. “She got you, too.”
He sounded so sad I wanted to find a way to reassure him. “It’s okay. I’m going to figure out a way to get us out of here.”
“Oh, honey,” he said mournfully. “Just do whatever she tells you to do. Whatever it takes to keep you alive. We tried to protect you… to save you from all of this.”
His words made it clear he had known about this the whole time. He’d probably known about Mom and the strange cave under the lighthouse, too. Was that why he’d encouraged me to stop daydreaming about dragons, why he sent me to therapy, to protect me from Tara Palmer and her den?
Whirling around, I pressed my back to the cold, wet bars, trying to think. The sword was gone, but I had the ring. I wondered why Tara hadn’t taken it from me. Maybe her giant talons couldn’t remove it without ripping my hands off. Whatever the reason, I was thankful. Closing my eyes, I tried to listen to it once again.
Concentrating, I channeled my thoughts toward my finger, but no force or heat came from the ring. I pushed harder, feeling like I could will its powers into action, but nothing happened.
Opening my eyes, I stared at the ring and the dragon’s lifeless eye. “Do something.”
“What?” Hailey said, looking up from her crouch.
“Nothing.” I turned back to face the bars. Bringing the ring to my lips, I spoke to it again. “My mother gave you to me. I’m the new dragon warden. Wake up.”
In the dark, the ruby-red eye flared like a dying candle. Hope renewed, I tried again. “My mother was the dragon warden. You need to—” The light flashed again.
“Dragon warden,” I said as loud as I dared.
As I watched, the light expanded, radiating through the cell and the hallway beyond. Rough shapes beyond the cell door took form—cave walls, floor, a dripping stalagmite.
“What’s happening?” Hailey said behind me, terror in her voice.
“Shh.” I concentrated on the ring’s heat and light. As it grew hotter, an invisible force tugged my ring toward the hallway. I stretched my hand out, reaching as far as it could. Still, the pull continued. Was it trying to squeeze me through the steel bars?
Following its lead, I shimmied my body as far as I could, but my hips wedged tight, not letting me through. I placed my hand on the bars so the ring’s heat could melt them, but that didn’t work, either. Time was running out. The brighter my light got, the more likely Tara and her ilk would show up.
“Crap,” I whispered, trying once again to wedge myself through to no avail.
“What are you doing?” Hailey asked, finally standing next to me.
“I’m the dragon warden,” I said, distracted and wishing she’d be quiet.
She looked from my ring to my face like I had two heads. Her face glowed red in my ring’s light. “What’s a dragon warden?”
“I’ll tell you later. Now, please, let me concentrate.”
“But you aren’t doing anything,” Hailey said. “And your light will bring that thing back. Put it out.”
Anger pulsed in my veins, making the ring glow brighter. “Look. I’m trying to save your ass, so if you could just—”
Heavy footsteps rumbled the cave. Something was coming.
“Put it out!” Hailey shrieked, reaching for my hand through the bars.
“Stop!” I said, wrestling with her. “I almost got it. Let me do this!”
At my last words, the ring’s halo of light flared to life. A blinding beam lit up the cell, the hallway and everything else in its path. For a split second, I saw Dad’s astonished face as he gripped his cell’s bars. I saw the tunnels stretching in either direction as far as the light would go. And I saw a large dark shadow heading toward us at a clipped pace.
I’d alerted the cavalry. Shit.
The light dimmed to a faint glow. I’d lost it.
The ring yanked my hand hard, jarring my shoulder against the bars. “Ow.”
The sound of something much like a slim projectile slicing through the air filled the tunnel. Something hard slammed into the palm of my hand. On reflex, my fingers closed over an object that had more heft than I’d expected. Pulling it into the cell, I saw what I’d done. The sword was in my hands. I’d summoned it to me.
Hailey’s eyes were giant orbs. “That’s some Jedi shit right there!” She stepped back from me, shocked, awed, and maybe a little hopeful.
As I unsheathed the blade, it made the most marvelous shing sound. In the dim light of my ring, the metal blade looked sharp enough to take on Tara’s hide.
It was the thundering footsteps that drained the joy out of my body.
Huge, earthshaking thuds made the floor quake. Hailey dove back into her corner. Gripping my blade, I faced the cell door as a dragon
lowered its head and peered into my cell.
Chapter Twenty
Huge round eyes peered in at me. The smell was all dragon—lake water, dank air, and the sulfuric smell of eggs. A snout hovered near the bars, blowing in puffs of air that didn’t smell too hot either.
I readied the blade and myself.
“Leave her alone!” Dad called from behind the dragon. What sounded like rocks pelted the dragon’s backside, but the beast didn’t seem to notice in the slightest. Its big blue eyes stared at me intently.
Blue eyes.
“Tom?”
His head tilted up and down.
“Jesus.” I lowered and sheathed my blade. “You scared the crap out of me.”
Tom tilted his head left to right as if saying, well, what did you expect?
“Can you shift?” I asked. “I need to talk to you.”
The dragon gave a shiver, which at first looked like a head shake, but then his body began to shift. Scales retracted, a tail slithered against stone until it disappeared, limbs shrunk, and his head morphed into a more humanoid shape until Tom Palmer was standing before me.
Naked.
He held his hands over his… er, boy parts, and I averted my eyes. I knew this was a very serious moment, but I couldn’t help but notice the taut outline of his muscles, his broad shoulders, tight abs, and sculpted pecs.
“Tom?” Hailey said, peeking up from her corner.
“Hi, Hailey.” He tried to wave with one hand, but then realized he’d uncovered bits of himself he ought not share with girls from his graduating class.
“I’m in a coma,” Hailey said, shaking her head. “It’s like General Hospital. I’ll wake up with tubes up my nose and flowers all around my room.”
Ignoring her, I turned to Tom. “You have to get me out of here. Now, Tom.”
His eyes locked into mine. “What do you think I’m here for?”
“Oh, I don’t know, helping your mother murder everyone in town?” My anger burned hot, and my ring began to glow again.
“Put that out,” he said, peering down the hallway.
I stuffed my hand in my pants pocket, but the anger still burned. “People are dead. You have a lot to account for.”
“Do you think I haven’t been trying?” His voice was strained with frustration and anguish. “My mother locked me up in the attic of our house! I had to break out.”
“Oh, she locked a dragon in an attic? I’m sure that was really hard to break out.”
He gave me the eye. “She used magic, Lila. She’s not stupid. Heartless? Yeah. Insane? Probably. But stupid?” He shook his head, his blond waves falling into his eyes. “Now let’s go.” He reached for the antiquated lock on my cage door, closed his eyes, and muttered like Santiago had done to get us to the mirror island.
When the door cracked open, I gave a little yip of triumph and ran over to Dad’s cage.
“Lila?” He gripped my hands through the bars. He was thin and dirty. A cut above his eyebrow had leaked blood into a dried brown river that spread across the creases in his forehead.
“We’re going to get you out of here. We’re going to get everyone out of here.” Three more lifeless bodies lay on the stone behind Dad. I prayed they were alive.
“Tom, you have to shift and carry us out of here.” I whirled to find him dressed in a pair of loose shorts from who knew where. He was swinging the cell door shut with Hailey still on the other side looking bewildered.
“What are you doing?” I ran forward and gripped his arm.
He whirled on me, his blue eyes flashing. “I can’t carry them all. Only two. You and your father. And we have to go now.”
“What? No!”
Tears slid into the dirty ruts on Hailey’s cheeks. “Please, don’t leave me here.”
“Don’t worry, Hailey. We’ll get you out.”
Tom took my arm and led me over to a dark corner. “We can’t do that, and promising her isn’t going to help anyone. Now get your dad. They’re coming for another one soon.”
“Another one? Another person? To torture and murder?” I couldn’t believe what he was saying. I pulled my arm out of his grasp. “There’s no way we can stand by and let that happen. Tom, tell me you’re not considering just leaving the rest of them.”
He leaned forward, light pulsing in his intense stare. “We get one shot out of here, Hailey. The exits and entrances are enchanted. I can break it once before she changes the enchantment. Once. And I can only carry two humans. Any more than that and we’re done for. I can’t save everyone. I want to. I really do, but I can’t. Please.” This time he grabbed my hand in a tender way I wasn’t expecting. His eyes locked with mine. “I came here for you. I’m not leaving here without you.”
I studied the expression on his face, the longing, the desire. Tom wanted me? “I don’t understand.”
“Maybe you’ll understand this.”
He bridged the gap between us in two steps. One of his hands curled around the back of my neck as the other slipped around me. His head tilted down as his eyes fluttered closed. My eyes closed, too, whether a reflex or anticipation of something I’d been yearning for, I didn’t know.
Then his lips pressed against mine.
Heat and light tingled my skin as his kiss melted into me. His lips were soft. He smelled of pine and sandy beaches and tasted of peppermint. Gentle hands gripped my body, tying us together. I slid my fingers along his shoulder, drawing him closer as the kiss deepened. My body vibrated under his touch, an elation spreading through my chest. His hands were in my hair, gripping my chin. His lips and tongue were urgent, like our kiss would be cut short. I pulled him closer, knowing this expanding feeling in my chest would end soon.
I was kissing Tom Palmer. I never wanted to stop.
He pulled back, panting. Wild eyes met mine for an instant before his head swiveled toward the corridor.
“She’s coming.” The terror on his face was my cue.
“Save them,” I said, letting go.
Ripping my sword from its sheath, I rushed toward the sound of a dragon’s approach.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sword in hand, I ran away from the cells while Dad screamed my name. It was hard to ignore him, but I couldn’t leave the others behind. I had to protect them.
I ran up the tunnel, a space wide enough to allow a large dragon to pass. The lonely lantern that had provided some illumination for the cells did nothing to cast any light into the pitch-black passage. I hesitated but, as if in response, the sword began to glow.
That was new and freakin’ sweet.
Reassured, I ran forward. Every time I turned a corner, I slowed, afraid I would fall into a dragon’s gaping mouth. The passage climbed up and up. My legs burned with the effort, and I started to doubt the creepy tunnel would ever end.
The ground shook around me. Rocks and dust came loose from the walls, making me fear a collapse. If the tunnel caved in, no one would find us, no one would know what happened.
A dragon was headed my way. I gripped my sword in my fist, telling myself I’d be ready.
A sharp turn loomed ahead. The sword cast a brighter light as I got closer. Coming to a stop, I held my breath, listening. A low, barely perceptible rumble reached my ears. The dragon was waiting for me around the corner.
I glanced over my shoulder, trying to come up with other possibilities besides facing a beast two-hundred times my size, but there really were no other options. Tom was afraid of his mother, and was willing to abandon our friends. Super-hot kiss aside, I didn’t know how to feel about that. Because how could he ever live with himself after abandoning our classmates to their deaths? Could I date a coward?
All I knew was I couldn’t leave them.
I took a deep breath and ran forward. The sword led the charge.
Two reptilian eyes reflected the glow of the weapon back at me. I put my weight into the sword, then aimed at the huge snout with a battle cry.
But the weapon never hit its mark
because the dragon jumped back. In shock, I watched her retreat like a rat in a maze, front talons pushing backward, body wiggling from side to side. It scurried out faster than an animal of that bulk should be able to.
She wouldn’t face me? Maybe the sword was more powerful than I’d imagined.
Screaming my head off, I kept charging until I flushed the beast out of the tunnel into what looked like open space. The dragon leaped back, filling the larger cavern and beating its wings in a reverse stroke to triple the distance between us.
I stopped, panting. A stabbing pain made itself comfortable under my ribs.
The dragon held my gaze as I walked around it in a wide circle. I caught glimpses of my surroundings, quickly realizing we were still underground, expect this space was bigger—much bigger.
The length of a basketball court, the cavern was spacious enough to comfortably accommodate several dragons. The roof of the cave must have been fifty feet tall, full of stalactites that glistened with moisture under the lanterns that illuminated the far corner. As if by a magnet, my gaze was drawn to the spotlighted section of the cavern.
Lights hung from the wall and sat on the ground on tripods, forming a circle around what appeared to be an improvised vet’s exam room. I drew closer, instigating a growl from the dragon. I brandished the sword while I took two steps back to get a better look at the makeshift clinic. The dragon grumbled and stalked in my direction, searching for an angle and opportunity to attack.
I cast furtive glances behind me, but kept an eye on the beast.
During the quick glances, I registered glimpses of what lay there: heavy metal shelves against the wall, stacks of sealed medical supplies, a metal gurney with thick straps, stainless steel trays full of sharp instruments, IV bags of a shimmering liquid that seemed unnatural. And on the floor… wads and wads of gauze. Soaked in blood.
My stomach flipped. I swallowed hard, whipping my head in the dragon’s direction.
“You really are a monster, Tara Palmer,” I said, my voice echoing in the hollow area.
The dragon shrugged, its wings lifting slightly. The gesture was as cold as the beast’s dark blue eyes, and I hated her more for it.