by Avril Sabine
Amber shook her head. “No. But if you’re not going to fight, just don’t get in the way when we need to.” She held his gaze until he nodded.
“Are you going to tell us about the Hell Hounds?” Cooper asked, still at her shoulder.
Amber faced him. “I’ll get Rian to tell you. I’ve got other things to do tonight.” Things she’d been putting off.
“Okay.”
Amber stretched out her hand towards Kade. “Take us to our room, please.”
He crossed the space between them, holding her hand and instantly taking them through the Void, coming out into their room. “What things?”
“I need to ring Mum.” She dreaded it more than she’d dreaded stepping into the lounge room earlier, knowing she was about to face three Knights with guns. There was definitely something seriously wrong with her.
“You could leave it until tomorrow,” Kade said.
She shook her head. “No. I’ve put it off every day. She’ll probably want some time to think about it.”
“I’ll go with you.” He continued to hold her hand.
“Good.” She grinned. “Just in case I need a quick escape.” She held onto his hand a moment longer before she let it go to sit on the edge of the bed, pulling out her phone. She stared at it a moment then decided she should probably let Rian know that Cooper and Elliot needed to be told about the Hell Hounds. Even after she mentally contacted him, she continued to sit there.
Kade sat beside her. “You could tell her you want to see her tomorrow. Just because you ring her now doesn’t mean you have to see her tonight.”
She thought about it. Almost agreed, then shook her head. “No, it’s probably better to get it over and done with.” Taking a deep and not so calming breath she dialled her mother’s number.
“I don’t hear from you for ages and when you do ring, it’s during dinner,” Donna complained.
Maybe Kade was right. She probably could leave it until tomorrow. What was one night? An image of a gun at her mother’s head came to mind. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“Can it wait until after dinner? Can’t you ring me back then?”
She guessed it could wait that long. And she should probably eat too. Although letting herself get hungry wasn’t as big a problem for the panther as it used to be. Not now she had more control over it, but it still wasn’t a good idea. “I need to see you in person. Where are you?”
“In Brisbane. At my parents’ house.”
“What? They have a house in Brisbane? Since when?”
“They’ve owned it for decades. Even before I was born.”
“Then why didn’t Grandma stay there? Why move?”
“If you’re just planing on arguing with your grandparents you can wait until I leave to see me.”
She wasn’t planning to, but there was a good chance it would happen anyway. “How long will you be there?”
“We’re staying the weekend.”
“We?”
“Gary, Miles and myself.”
Amber rose to her feet, starting to pace the floor. “You should have told me.”
“I don’t need to get your permission to do things, Amber. How about we drive up to the coast tomorrow and see you?”
“I’m not there. I’m with Kade.”
“When did you get back with him?”
She hesitated. “Friday.”
“Nearly a week ago.”
“Yeah.”
“So I’m meant to tell you things and you don’t have to tell me anything.”
She winced at the anger in her mother’s voice. Maybe she should have rung her earlier. “I need to talk to you.”
“What about?”
She started to tell her mother, but decided to use the easiest topic instead. “Miles.”
“I should have known. It’s always about everyone else.”
“You and Gary too.”
“Don’t even think about it.”
Amber halted in her pacing. Did her mother know? “Think about what?” Her words were cautious.
“I’m not getting back with your father. He’s only interested because his girlfriend is dead.”
She shook her head, trying to make sense of the conversation. Maybe she could put the discussion off one more day. No, then she was sure to find yet another excuse not to see her mother. “Where are you?”
“I already told you. At my parents’ place.”
Amber gritted her teeth, holding back the sarcastic comment that immediately came to mind. “I need an address.”
“Why? You’re not coming here to cause problems. I’ll meet you somewhere tomorrow.”
She took another deep breath. It helped calm her as much as the earlier one had. “Either tell me or I’ll track you down myself and I’m likely to be really pissed off by the time I get there.”
“Don’t talk to me like that, Amber. I’m still your mother even if you think you’re some great warrior who has to save the world.”
“Oh forget it. I was probably wasting my time even thinking about asking you.” She hung up, tossing her phone onto the bed before she started to pace again.
Kade stepped in front of her. “Rian’s organised dinner for us. Want me to take you to the dinning room?”
“Is anyone else there?”
Kade shook his head.
“Okay.”
“Do you want to get your phone first?”
“No,” she muttered, glancing towards the bed.
Chuckling, Kade grabbed her phone before he took them through the Void to the dinning room. He placed the phone on the table near her plate.
“I didn’t need it.” She dropped into her seat, staring at the phone. It wasn’t like she’d left it that long to tell her mother she’d returned. It wasn’t even a week.
“Are you going to eat?” Kade sat beside her, picking up his cutlery.
“Yeah.” She sighed. “Why couldn’t things have stayed quiet for at least a couple of days? Why’d they have to go crazy the moment I returned?” She picked up a fork, pushing the roasted vegetables around on her plate. “Even a day. Surely one day of peace wasn’t too much to ask.”
“It would have been nice. Especially after how long you were gone.” Kade reached out to draw her closer, his arm staying at her waist as his head rested on hers. “We’ve got tonight to ourselves now.”
“Yeah. I-” Her phone, beeping a message, cut her sentence short.
“Don’t look at it,” Kade said. “I should have listened and left it in our room.”
She tried to ignore it. Tried to eat her dinner. But her eyes kept being drawn back to her phone. In the end she gave up and checked the message.
“It’s from your mother, isn’t it?”
Amber nodded. “She sent the address.”
“When are we going?”
“I haven’t decided if I will yet.” She was still annoyed.
Kade raised his eyebrow. “Really?”
“Okay. Fine. We’re going. But not until after dinner. She can wait.”
Chapter Eleven
They didn’t leave straight after dinner. Rian came to tell them that Ronan had arrived to question their prisoners.
“Try not to let him hurt them,” Amber said to Rian.
Kade shared a look with Rian before he turned back to Amber. “It’s an interrogation, Amber.”
“Yes but-”
Rian interrupted her. “I will tell him he is not to kill them.”
She wanted to argue his words, but doubted he’d be able to make Ronan listen anyway. “Fine. I’m going to see my mum.”
“Where will you be?”
Amber pulled up the message on her phone and read off the address. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be. She’s at my grandparents’ place.”
“Take Daray with you,” Rian said.
“No. I’ll be fine.”
Rian stared at her a moment. “I will be telling Ronan yes. I am your first warrior. I should not have been left behind toda
y. I should have been in the Void watching over you.”
“Don’t do this for me. Only do it because you want to.”
Rian grinned fleetingly. “Does it count that I want to do it for you? And for Crystal.”
Amber shrugged. “I wouldn’t have a clue.”
“It must remain a secret. You, Kade and Crystal are the only ones Ronan will allow me to tell. Everyone else is to believe that I hid what I was, like Ronan did. Not even my mother or brothers are to know. Everyone will think that first Ronan helped me hide what I am, then I continued to.”
“Why won’t he let your brothers know?”
“In case they are jealous that he chose me over them.”
“Are they likely to be?”
Rian shrugged. “Anything is possible.” He looked towards Kade, drawing him into the conversation. “I will tell you when I tell Crystal. I will inform Ronan he is not to kill the prisoners.” When Amber nodded, Rian headed for the door.
Kade waited until Rian had left before he held out his hand. “Ready to go?”
“No, but I guess we should.”
“You want to remove any of your weapons first?”
“Not bloody likely. We’re going to my grandparents’ home.”
Kade chuckled as he took her hand. “I can’t get us straight there, so are you sure you don’t want to disarm?”
She hesitated. “I’ll leave my sword behind and wear long sleeves to hide my wrist sheaths. I’m not about to walk in there unarmed.”
Kade took them first to their room where they left their swords, and Kade slid a knife into his boot, while Amber pulled on a long sleeved shirt over her dragon-leather vest. Then he took them to a narrow grassed laneway between two houses, unpainted, timber fences bordering it. A taxi was waiting around the corner for them.
“When did you organise this?” Amber gestured towards the taxi.
“I got Maira to organise it as soon as you decided we were going.”
Amber turned to glare at Daray as he came around the corner after them. Obviously Rian had ignored her when she’d said she didn’t need Daray. And Kade must have known he was coming since Daray knew exactly where they’d be. She sat silently in the back of the taxi, between Kade and Daray. She had no idea what she was going to say to her mother. She’d even forgotten that she was going to ask her brother to be there with her. Quickly sending him a message, she waited for his reply.
It arrived just as the taxi pulled up in front of her grandparents’ house. She hopped out and stared at the brick and wrought iron gates that rose in front of her, an imposing brick house set well back behind them. This was her grandparents’ house? When Daray came to stand beside her she turned to him. “Can you collect Jasper? He’s at home.”
With a nod Daray strolled away. As soon as he was hidden by the shadows he entered the Void. Amber wasn’t certain if she should wait for Daray to return with Jasper, or go inside.
Kade joined her on the footpath. “Are we going in?”
“Maybe.”
“They probably already know we’re here. See the camera?”
Great. That was just what she needed. Striding forward she found that the gate was locked. “How are we meant to get in?”
“Probably by asking. But I don’t think you want to do that.” With a grin, Kade held out his hand.
Wondering what he planned to do, she took it. They entered the Void and Kade dragged her through the fence. She felt a moment of pain then they were on the other side, pushing their way through the Void towards the front door.
Kade pressed his hand against the door. “They’ve done something to prevent us from staying in the Void inside the house. Or at least entering while in the Void.”
“Alright, let’s do this.” The moment they were out of the Void she let go of his hand, knocking on the door. Before the door could be opened, Jasper and Daray stepped out of the Void beside her. She guessed Daray had also tried to walk through the Void and into the house.
“Who’s in there?” Jasper asked.
Amber shrugged. “I haven’t got a clue. We’re going in there blind.”
“Not exactly what I wanted to hear,” Jasper said.
The door swung open and her grandfather stood there. From the look of it, she guessed he wasn’t happy to see her. He was probably going to be even more unhappy once he found out why she was there. “I need to see my mum.”
“Why? To upset her some more?”
‘None of your business’ probably wasn’t going to get her through the door. “If she didn’t want to see me, she wouldn’t have given me your address.”
“We actually need to see all of you,” Jasper said.
“Why?” Charles demanded.
“We want to talk to everyone at the same time,” Jasper said.
Charles stared at him for several minutes, and Amber had begun to think he’d say no, when he stepped out of the doorway so they could enter. He stepped back into the doorway once Jasper and Amber were inside.
“You’re not going to leave my friends outside,” Amber said.
“I’m not about to have dragons in my house,” Charles said.
Amber started to argue, but Jasper interrupted. “Then I guess we won’t be sharing any information with you. That’ll make Ronan happy. He didn’t want us to tell you.”
Amber almost laughed at her grandfather’s expression. “Tell Mum I’ll talk to her tomorrow. I’ll meet her somewhere away from here.”
Charles pointed at Jasper. “You better not be lying.” When Jasper shook his head, Charles stepped aside and let Kade and Daray in. “Try anything and I will kill you. Both of you.”
Kade glanced towards Amber. “Looks like your family are as happy as ever to see me.”
She tried not to laugh and only succeeded in making a slightly strangled sound. The smile she couldn’t hold back, especially when her grandfather glared at her.
“I can throw you out just as easily as I let you in,” Charles warned.
Amber mentally searched the area, thinking he might have other Knights visiting to be able to speak that statement like he believed it was possible. She couldn’t find anyone. Not even her mother. It was like being in the Knights’ headquarters. She tried to search beyond the house. It was impossible now the front door was closed. “Where’s my mum?” While she waited for Charles to answer, she spoke directly to her companions. “This place it built out of the same stuff the Knights’ headquarters is made from.”
“What I want to know, is how he got this house so quickly,” Jasper said.
“Mum said they’ve had it for decades. I guess this is their house from when they used to live in Brisbane. Back when Grandad was the High Protector,” Amber said.
Charles gestured towards the closed door on the far side of the entryway. “Through there.”
Amber led the way, opening the door to find another corridor. “Where?”
“Third door on the left.”
She hurried along the hallway, sensing everyone following behind her. When she reached the door she cracked it open, mentally searching the room before she swung it open. Seated around a table was her mother, Gary, Miles and Helen. Everyone except for Miles turned in her direction.
Donna rose, heading towards Jasper. “Your sister didn’t tell me you were coming.” She hugged him, kissing his cheek.
Jasper smiled. “It was a last minute decision. But aren’t you glad to see me?”
“Of course I am.” She tugged him towards the table. “Come and sit down. Have you had dinner?”
Jasper sat next to Helen. “I’m fine. We’re not here to eat. We’ve got some information to share with you.”
Amber crossed the room to the table, Daray and Kade on either side of her. She sat down, Kade beside her, Daray remained standing behind her. “We’ve got two things to talk to you about.”
It didn’t take Amber long to wish she’d waited to talk to her mother alone. Charles and Helen constantly interrupted with questions, argum
ents and demands. When Amber asked her mother if she wanted to become a Dragon Mage there was only arguments. Even Jasper couldn’t calm Charles and Helen.
When Charles rose to his feet to glare across the table and yell some more, Amber rose too. “Would you rather someone kill her? As long as I’m a mage, she’s at risk too. And we’ve already figured out that the only way I can stop being a mage is if someone kills me.”
“Will you stop talking about killing all the time?” Donna asked.
“I wasn’t. I was talking about dying,” Amber said.
“Killing, dying, all of it. Just stop.” Donna brushed Gary’s hand away when he reached for her.
“I’m trying to keep you safe,” Amber said.
“That’s not your responsibility.” Donna looked from Amber to Jasper and back again. “Don’t either of you understand? That’s my job, not yours.”
Amber slammed her hands against the table, wishing she hadn’t when she recalled her grandfather had done the same earlier. “Then become a mage. Take the responsibility and become a mage.”
Donna rose from her seat, holding Amber’s gaze. “Why? So I can become a killer like my children?”
Amber’s jaw dropped as she continued to stare at her mother. She took a step back, her mouth closing. “Is that how you see us? As killers?”
Gary rose to his feet. “Your mother doesn’t mean that, she’s just upset. Finding out you’ll have to face something worse than dragons-”
Amber interrupted Gary as Helen, Kade and Jasper stood up, leaving only Miles seated. “There’s nothing wrong with dragons. Or at least not all dragons.”
“Of course there’s something wrong with dragons,” Charles said.
Amber opened her mouth to argue with him then snapped it closed. There was no point. She was obviously wasting her time. “The lot of you can get killed. See if I care.”
“You obviously do care.”
Amber ignored Gary’s words, his soothing tone annoying her. She pointed a finger at Charles. “I didn’t have to warn you. I don’t know you, I don’t want to know you and I don’t care about you.” She gestured towards Helen and Donna. “I came here for them. And as much of a bitch as Grandma is, she’s still my family.”
“Amber! Apologise immediately,” Donna ordered.