Dragon Blood 5: Mage

by Avril Sabine

  “Does that mean I get to keep my Pliethin?”

  “For now.” Ronan took them through the Void, bringing them out at his water garden.

  Kade looked from one to the other. “It didn’t work?”

  Amber repeated what Ronan had told her. “It felt odd. Like the air was trying to suffocate me or something. I mean, I could still breathe, it just felt like it was trying to press in on me.”

  “Enough of this. Stanley is being highly uncooperative. I thought you might like to help get something out of him,” Ronan said.

  “What makes you think I’ll be able to get anything out of him?” Amber asked.

  “I don’t.” Ronan grinned. “I want you there so I don’t have to be as careful about keeping him alive. That will be your job.”

  Amber shook her head. “Oh no you don’t. I’m not going to stand there and watch you torture him.”

  “Do you really think he’s going to tell you everything just because you ask?”

  “Probably not everything. But have you tried asking?”

  Ronan looked towards Kade. “Have you taught her nothing?”

  “Don’t go looking at him. You’re the one I should be asking that question of. Most of what I’ve learned, I’ve learned from you.”

  “Then you’re not a very good student,” Ronan said.

  Amber laughed softly. “A lot of my teachers have said that over the years.”

  Ronan pointed a finger at her. “This is not a game. We need all the information we can gather before we attack.”

  “Why don’t Amber and I see what we can do?” Kade asked.

  Ronan held his gaze for a moment, before he nodded. “I’m sure you can find the way. Or if you can’t Daray knows where the room is.” Ronan disappeared into the Void.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Amber glared at the spot where Ronan had been. That was such an annoying habit. She held back a sigh, glancing around. She wondered if Ronan was right and Daray was in the Void watching her. Probably. She headed inside, Kade at her side. Knowing Rian, Daray would be following her.

  When they reached the room, Amber tried the door and found it unlocked. She doubted Ronan would have left it unlocked and guessed he’d been there before them. She searched the area for Ronan and not finding him nearby, searched further afield. He wasn’t in her world. She guessed he’d returned to the dragon world. Swinging the door fully open, she remained in the doorway staring at Stanley who stood near a stool, a heavy chain on his ankle. The room was again empty of furnishings.

  “Have you come to gloat?” Stanley snarled.

  Amber wasn’t sure how to answer that. Stanley looked a mess. Bruises, broken skin and dried blood. For once she wasn’t tempted to heal someone. “They didn’t even try to rescue you. Your so called friends just left you in our dungeon.”

  Stanley glared at her, remaining silent.

  “They went straight for Wayne and the other man, but didn’t even bother with you.”

  “Why protect people who wouldn’t bother protecting you?” Kade asked.

  Again Stanley remained silent.

  Amber stared at him. Obviously asking wasn’t going to get her any information. But it looked like Ronan’s methods hadn’t worked either. “You know, Ronan wanted me here so I could heal you. So that no matter what he did while trying to make you talk, you wouldn’t be able to die.”

  “You’re wasting your time. I’ll never help dragons.”

  Amber nodded “I didn’t think so. I don’t know whether to tell Ronan to kill you and stop wasting time on you, or let you starve. Like you would have done to me.” She stared at Stanley a moment, pretty certain she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to suggest either option. “Do you even know what’s going on?”

  “If you knew anything, they wouldn’t have left you behind,” Kade said.

  “Did you know them?” Amber decided to play a hunch. “I mean obviously you knew Wayne and Martin, but did you know the other man? Or did you just blindly follow him?”

  “Do you know every single person you work with? Martin and Wayne knew him. That was enough for me.”

  She wished she’d been wrong. “And what about the Hell Hounds? Did they tell you about them?” Amber then spoke directly to Kade. “Can you go and get some of the pictures?”

  “I’m not about to leave you alone with him. Ask Daray.”

  “You made them up. Martin would have told me about them, if they existed.”

  “Daray.” Amber was relieved when Daray came out of the Void behind her. She looked over her shoulder to where he stood in the corridor. “Bring me some pictures of the Hell Hounds.”

  Daray nodded, disappearing back into the Void.

  Amber faced Stanley, moving closer to him. “Or maybe you just aren’t important enough for them to tell you about the Hell Hounds.”

  “Nice try. I’m not about to fall for that,” Stanley sneered.

  Daray stepped out of the Void, entered the room and handed two pieces of paper to Amber. He remained at her shoulder.

  Amber held the two pictures up in front of Stanley. “This is what’s coming.”

  Stanley laughed. “Sure. I’ll look forward to meeting them.”

  She hadn’t expected him to believe, but she’d thought it was worth trying. “Vikki was the first one to tell me about them.” She handed the pictures back to Daray.

  “Don’t you even speak her name. You murdered her.”

  She started to argue against his comment, then stopped. She hadn’t needed to kill Vikki. Again she felt the anger and pain she’d experience when Vikki had told her Kade was dead. She nodded. “Yeah. Maybe. But that doesn’t change the fact that the Hell Hounds are coming.”

  “We’re wasting our time, Amber,” Kade said.

  Amber continued to stare at Stanley. Everyone was right. Stanley probably knew nothing. They wouldn’t have left him behind if he was important. But they had learned something. “The Hounds are coming, Stanley. And you’re going to wish you had listened to us.” Amber turned to Kade, holding out her hand. “Take me to Ronan’s water garden.” She made sure both Kade and Daray heard her.

  Kade took her through the Void, bringing her out beside the water feature. “Why here?”

  Amber took out her phone, dialling Ronan’s number. “Because we need to talk about Martin.”

  Ronan stepped out of the Void, his phone still ringing. “Very nice, kitten.”

  “What was?” She disconnected the call, returning her phone to her pocket.

  “Martin.”

  She should have known that Ronan was in the Void and not in the dragons’ world. “I thought so too. So what are we going to do about it?”

  Ronan grinned. “I think we need to have a talk to Martin.”

  “If he’s a Knight Mage, kidnapping him will have them attacking us again,” Kade said.

  “No, we don’t want to kidnap him. And we need others there. Other Knights. Stanley doesn’t know about the Hell Hounds. My grandparents didn’t know about the Hell Hounds. Not until we told them. So why don’t they? Why do only a handful of Knights know?”

  “What are you thinking of doing?” Ronan asked.

  Amber slowly shook her head. “I’m not sure. But I think we need to meet with him. Talk to him face-to-face. And I think there are others who need to hear what he has to say.”

  “What others?” Kade asked.

  “My grandparents. Isaac. I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Maybe there are others, but I wouldn’t know who.” Isaac probably did. “I’ll see my grandparents first. Then Isaac.”

  “You better not screw this up. I’m relying on you to do this right, kitten.”

  She nodded. “I haven’t failed yet.” She couldn’t afford to.

  “Don’t go getting cocky or you will fail.”

  She grinned. “Remember, I’ve got too many relying on me for failure to ever be an option.”

  Ronan handed her a business card sized piece of cardboard, which he drew
from a pocket. It had a hand written address. “Have your humans here by eight o’clock tomorrow night.”

  Amber stared at the card. “What’s here?”

  “The building I held Cooper in. Do not be late.”

  Amber was tempted to point out that he wasn’t always on time. Instead, she nodded. That wasn’t going to give her much time to notify everyone as well as see her grandparents and Isaac. Maybe she shouldn’t have spent the morning playing with the Pliethin. She’d have to ask Rian and Crystal to organise everybody while she spoke to her grandparents. “I’ll see you then.” She held out a hand to Kade, hoping Daray, who she guessed was in the Void, figured out where they’d go. “Can you take me to Temolae Keep?”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to try?” Kade took her hand as Ronan vanished.

  Amber laughed. She hadn’t thought about that. “Sure, why not?” She pushed her fingers inside the cage, feeling the sting of the Pliethin as she came in contact with it. Taking a step away from Kade she entered the Void, drawing the thread to her that would take them to Temolae Keep. When she stepped out of the Void and into their bedroom, she let go of the Pliethin to throw her arms around Kade. “I did it.”

  “I didn’t doubt you could.”

  “I have to talk to Rian and Crystal, ring Isaac to organise a meeting and then we can go and see my grandparents.”

  “I’m sure they’re going to be thrilled to see us.”

  “Aren’t they always?”

  It didn’t take Amber long to find Rian and Crystal. She met with them in the planning room, leaving Daray who left the Void when they entered the room, to guard the door and make sure they weren’t disturbed. They agreed to notify everyone. There would only be a couple that they’d have to visit, which Rian would do with the help of a Gold while Crystal rang or emailed everyone on their list. Amber also told them about Martin and what they suspected.

  Once Rian and Crystal left the planning room, Amber rang Charles. When he took so long to answer, she began to think he was ignoring her.

  “You had better not be calling to try and convince me to become a Knight Mage. I’m not weak like Donna.”

  Her first instinct was to defend her mother. She resisted the urge. Barely. “No. I’ve come across other information I thought you should have.”

  “Has this information come from dragons?”

  “It came from a Knight.”

  “What is it?”

  “I want to see you in person, you and Grandma, if you want the information.”

  There was nearly a minute’s silence before Charles replied. “I’ll be home in twenty minutes. Meet me there.”

  “Both of you?”

  “Yes.” Charles hung up.

  Amber leaned forward to rest her head on the table. “Why does everything have to be so complicated?”

  Kade chuckled. “Things aren’t even close to being complicated yet.”

  “Bloody Dragons,” Amber muttered as she rose to her feet. “And Knights. You’re all as bad as each other.”

  Kade laughed, reaching out and drawing her close. “You wouldn’t have us any other way.”

  She started to protest, then smiled. “Maybe.” She drew away from him. “I need to ring Isaac.”

  It was a much easier call than the one to her grandparent’s had been. He suggested meeting her at his sister’s house once she’d finished seeing her grandparents. After hanging up, she stared at her phone for a moment, wondering if she was doing the right thing. But what other options were there? She rose to her feet, holding her hand out to Kade. “Ready?”

  When they arrived out the front of her grandparents’ house, Amber wondered if she should have brought her brother. Jasper was much better at getting their grandmother to see his point of view than she was. She was only good at getting her grandmother to argue.

  Charles opened the door when Amber knocked. He stood silently in the doorway for nearly a minute, before he stepped to the side and let them enter, closing the door behind them. He led the way to a lounge room where Helen sat waiting for them in a single seater armchair. Charles sat in the only other single seater armchair, leaving the double one for Amber and Kade.

  Amber wasn’t certain how to start. She looked from Helen to Charles, then back to Helen. They probably weren’t going to believe her, but she had to try anyway.

  “Well?” Charles demanded.

  Amber glanced at him before she turned her attention back to her grandmother. “I learned that Martin knows about Knight Mages.”

  “Who told you?” Charles asked.

  “Well, they didn’t exactly come out and say that he knows, but he was working with one. We think he knows about them and is involved with their organization,” Amber said.

  “So you’re making this accusation because of who he associates with,” Charles said.

  Amber shrugged. It sounded bad when it was put like that. “We haven’t accused him of anything. Well, not really. We need people, Knights, willing to hide nearby and listen when we ask him about it. He may not say anything, but just in case he does, we want someone there who’ll know what to do about it,” Amber said.

  “Who else will be there?” Helen asked.

  “The only person we’ve asked at the moment is you,” Kade said.

  Amber almost glanced towards Kade. “Do you really trust Martin? Just because he’s the High Protector, doesn’t mean he’s trustworthy.”

  “He’s more trustworthy than your dragons,” Charles said.

  “My dragons helped ransom you,” Amber said.

  “What would you know about it? It’s policy. Being High Protector, doesn’t change anything,” Charles snapped.

  Amber looked from Charles, then to Helen again, her eyes returning to Charles. “Why do I feel like I’m missing something here?”

  Helen shook her head when Charles looked towards her. “I didn’t say a word.”

  “Well?” Amber asked.

  “Nothing that concerns you,” Charles said.

  “Are you sure it doesn’t affect what we were asking of you?” Kade asked.

  “I will come with you,” Charles said. “But if nothing happens, Martin isn’t to know I was there.”

  “I’ll come too,” Helen said.

  “I’ll organise for you to watch from the Void,” Amber said.

  “When?” Charles asked.

  “I don’t know.” Amber shrugged. “I’ll let you know when he agrees to meet with me.”

  Charles rose to his feet. “No matter what we learn, it won’t change anything between us. Like I told Donna, if she chooses the dragons then we have no other family.”

  Amber jumped to her feet. “Being a mage doesn’t mean Mum has sided with the dragons. How can you be so… so-” Amber threw her hands up with a growl. “She loves you.” Amber jabbed a finger in his direction. “You can’t do that to her.” She thought of how excited her mother had been about seeing her father for the first time since she was a toddler.

  “Don’t tell me what I can or can’t do. I’ll never forgive the dragons for what they stole from me. Roger, Donna, even you and your brother, should have been Knights. Instead they’ve stolen you too.”

  “No, they haven’t. You’re throwing us away.” Amber started to stride from the room. She paused at the doorway. “I’ll let you know when I’m meeting Martin.” She held his gaze a moment. There were other words she wanted to speak. Angry words. But it was pointless. He wouldn’t listen. He’d already made up his mind. With a glance towards her grandmother, she left the room, striding towards the front door, Kade at her side.

  She still had to speak with Isaac. Maybe she shouldn’t have organised to meet with him straight after her grandparents. She wasn’t in the mood to see anyone else. When they stepped outside, Kade took her hand, taking her through the Void. She was relieved to find herself in their bedroom at Temolae Keep. “Why here?”

  “I thought you might want a minute before we visit Isaac.”

  Amber smile
d, sliding her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. “Yeah, I do.” Behind him she could feel the Pliethin pulsing with energy and was tempted to take it with her. But she shouldn’t need it. Not tonight. Breathing out heavily, she relaxed against Kade.

  “Let me know when you’re ready to go.”

  “I will.”

  “We probably don’t want to leave it too late.”

  She chuckled, drawing back enough to be able to meet his gaze. “Is this your way of telling me to hurry up?”

  Kade grinned. “No, just pointing out the facts.”

  “Okay. Let’s go.”

  “Eliza’s kitchen?”

  She hesitated, then nodded. Drawing away from him as soon as they arrived, she grinned in greeting at the glare Amos sent towards her as he stopped pacing the room.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “What’s wrong with the front door.” Eliza rose from the table, where she sat across from Isaac, also glaring at Amber.

  She ignored the question and faced Isaac. “I’m going to try and set up a meeting with Martin. I’d like you there in the Void to hear what he has to say.”

  “You’re not leaving me behind,” Amos said at the same time as Eliza said, “I’m coming too.”

  “My grandparents will be in the Void also.”

  Isaac nodded. “When are you going to organise this?”

  “As soon as possible.”

  “What makes you think you can get Martin to admit to anything?” Amos demanded.

  “I may not be able to, but I’m going to try,” Amber said.

  “What if he’s guilty of using the Knights for his own agenda?” Isaac asked. “What do you plan to do then?”

  Amber held his gaze for a moment, thinking over her answer before she spoke. “I don’t plan to do anything. I’m not a Knight. That’ll be something you lot will have to figure out.”

  “We’re not idiots,” Amos muttered. “What are you really up to?”