“Wizards can do magic without their rings, or without wands for those wizards who use wands. It makes sense, when you think about it. Their magic is an internal ability. Otherwise all it would take to be a wizard would be a wand or a ring.”
“I’m still confused,” Myles said. “Why do they carry wands and rings if they can do magic without them?”
“Wands and rings focus a wizard’s power,” Noah piped in. “They channel all their magic into a single point, making their spells stronger and more effective. For example, a spell to cast a light beam that runs through a magic ring will produce a concentrated beam of light, like a flashlight. That same spell done without the magic ring will still produce light, but it will be scattered.”
“So all we need to do is take away Bree’s ring and see if she can still do magic,” Vance said, finally understanding. “What are we waiting for, then?”
“We’re waiting for morning,” Knox said firmly. “Bree is exhausted, and my guess is she’s already asleep right now. I’m not going to go storming into the cabin, demanding that she hand over her ring and then perform magic tricks.”
Knox saw all of his men look at him in surprise. It wasn’t like him to be so defensive of someone who seemed to be barely more than a stranger. If Knox was honest, his strong reaction surprised even himself. He was starting to feel inexplicably protective of Bree, and the emotional reaction he was having to her scared him a bit. He was well aware of the heat that passed between them when their eyes met, and he could no longer deny that he was developing some sort of feelings for her. But he could not indulge those feelings right now. He was leader of this clan, and he could not allow romantic emotions to affect his decisions regarding whether he would trust Bree and her stories about the dragon stone. Knox glanced over at Noah. He was grateful beyond words that Noah had returned. Noah was always the voice of reason, and Noah would not hesitate to get in Knox’s face and yell at him if he was wrong.
“I think we should spend the rest of the night looking through whatever information Bree brought with her on the dragon stone,” Knox said. “That might help us determine whether the second stone actually exists.”
“It does,” Noah said, sounding weary. “I’m sure of it. Although I’m curious to see how Bree’s information lines up with what I heard while I was gone.”
“This is unbelievable,” Myles said, sounding equally excited and terrified. “I thought after the last dragon stone was found that we’d seen the most powerful artifact we were going to see in our lifetime.”
“It appears not,” Noah said. “Knox, you look exhausted, and I don’t think going through Bree’s information is urgent. Why don’t you go get some rest? I’ll look through everything with the guys, and we’ll update you in the morning. You can look through it all yourself then, when you’re fresh.”
Knox wanted to protest, but he knew that Noah was right. He was so tired now that he wouldn’t be very helpful reading through a bunch of stuff. Besides, he trusted Noah to take care of things, and he wanted to trust all of his clan members more. William had warned him that he needed to make sure every dragon in the clan was trained to lead, if necessary. So far, Knox had not been doing a good job of passing on leadership skills. This was a good time for him to show some trust, and let his best friend, Noah, take care of things while he got some much needed rest.
“Alright,” Knox said, standing slowly and realizing for the first time just how stiff and tired his muscles were. He gave his men a waving salute, clapped Noah on the shoulder, and then headed for his cabin. He felt a mixture of relief and nerves as he opened the door and stepped into his dark living room. Bree must be asleep by now, but the fact that she was here in his cabin twisted his stomach up in funny ways. He walked silently across the living room and peered into his bedroom. She was sprawled out on the bed, fast asleep and lying on top of the blankets. In the dim light, he could see her chest rising and falling with the rhythm of sleep, and he thought she looked more peaceful now than she had at any moment since he met her. Her right hand was flung across the bed, her large ruby ring gleaming brightly against her skin even though the room was mostly dark. In that moment, any last doubts about the truth of her words slipped away. Knox was always overly suspicious of everyone, and he could smell a lie from a mile away. But after spending hours with Bree today, he had seen nothing but truth in her eyes. He couldn’t understand it all, but he knew that somehow wizards still existed. And if Bree indeed was who she said she was, then that gave even more credibility to the rest of her story, and to the reality that the search for the dragon stone had not ended when the emerald stone had been found two years ago. In fact, the search had only just begun. Knox felt a sudden rush of emotion, and his protective instincts took over. If Bree was going chasing after dangerous supernatural artifacts, he sure as hell was going with her.
“My little wizard,” he whispered, even though he had no real claim to her. But something told him that fate had brought them together, and that their fates were intertwined. He found himself hoping that their destiny included more than just working together to find an ancient dragon stone. He hoped it meant that their hearts would intertwine as well.
It occurred to him that no one in his clan had ever really had a steady girlfriend. Their lifestyles didn’t lend themselves well to a partner. He knew that some of the shifters had enjoyed flings with girls here and there when they were off on missions, but nothing serious had ever come of any of it. Was Knox crazy to think that there might be something more than just lust between Bree and him? Was he even crazier to think it might be possible to date a girl and convince her to move into the woods with a group of bachelors? She was a fugitive now, but that might change. She would probably want to go back to her wizard clan if she could, and there was no way he was leaving his clan.
Knox sighed. There was no sense worrying about things like that right now. He was trying to plan out a life with someone he barely knew, and who might not be all that interested in him anyway. He needed to slow down, focus on what to do about this new dragon stone, and worry about love later.
Moving noiselessly, Knox went to his closet and grabbed an extra blanket he stored in there, then laid it over Bree. Despite his admonitions to himself to let his feelings for her go for now, he couldn’t help standing in the doorway for several moments, watching her as she slept, wondering if she might possibly be dreaming of him when she smiled in her sleep.
With a sigh, he finally moved back into the living room and fell across the couch. He was a bit too tall to fit well on the couch, but he was too tired to notice. Within moments of his head hitting the soft cushions, he was asleep.
And he was definitely dreaming of Bree.
Chapter Ten
Knox awoke when the first rays of morning sunlight came streaming in through the cabin’s front window. He sat up and stretched, trying to work the kinks out of his muscles. It took him a moment to remember why he was sleeping on his couch, and when he did his heart did one of its now-familiar flip-flops.
Bree. She was here, in his cabin, on his bed. Even though he was, of course, being a gentlemen and sleeping on the couch, the thought of her in his bed sent a thrill though his body. Knox stood up and walked over to the bedroom doorway to peek in. Bree was still fast asleep under the blanket he had laid over her last night.
Knox turned and walked across the cabin to look out its front window. He saw wisps of smoke curling up from the fire pit, and Noah and Myles were already sitting out there, mugs of coffee in hand as they leaned over what looked like the folder of papers Bree had brought with her.
Knox left the cabin, closing the door gently behind him so that he wouldn’t wake Bree, and then walked toward where Noah and Myles were sitting.
“Morning,” Knox said when they looked up at the sound of his approaching footsteps. “Still looking over Bree’s information?”
Noah nodded. “It all fits with what I’ve already heard. There is another stone, that has been missing f
or centuries. In fact, there are four stones in total. They were all created around the same time as the emerald dragon stone, which is the one that our shifter friends in Texas already recovered. Two of them—a ruby stone and an amethyst stone—are still missing as far as we can tell. They’ve been missing since the shifter-wizard war that almost destroyed the wizards. But the sapphire stone has been found, seemingly by accident. It was held by a wealthy family in England for a long time—a human family who had no idea what power it held. The last of that family line died, and the sapphire dragon stone, which seems to most to be just a normal gemstone, was put up for auction. A gem collector has the stone now, and is on his way back to Silicon Valley, which luckily isn’t far from here. Some ex-drug lords are chasing him down.”
“Why haven’t they been able to get him, if they’re ex-drug lords? I would think they’re pretty tough,” Knox said.
“It is pretty strange, but perhaps they are afraid to kill the gem collector. There are rumors that if you kill the one who holds the stone, that the stone will turn its wrath on you.”
“Is that true?” Knox asked.
Noah shrugged. “No idea. But for now, at least, the rumor is keeping the stone safe. Of course it’s very well guarded. Once it gets back to Silicon Valley and is stored in one place, though, it will be easier for the men trying to steal it to do so, since the stone will be in one spot and they can make a solid plan for getting to it.”
“How did they find out about the stone and its power in the first place?” Knox asked. “It seems really strange to me that two full humans suddenly know about a dragon stone.”
“No one knows,” Noah said. “It’s quite perplexing. And from what I’ve heard, it seems like these two guys know that shifters exist. Possibly wizards as well. They’re getting information from somewhere, but no one seems to know who. One possibility is that there was some information on the stone in the English family’s estate, a journal or something, that had fallen into the wrong hands.”
“That seems like a weak explanation,” Knox said. “If the English family had information on the stone they probably would have treated it with more care.”
Noah shrugged. “It’s the best explanation anyone can come up with. Maybe the English family knew about the stone’s supposed powers but thought it was a fairy tale or a made up story.”
Knox frowned. “Well, I guess it doesn’t so much matter how they found out at this point. What matters is that they know, and they’re trying to get the stone to use it for evil.”
“Exactly,” Myles said. “No one knows what they have planned, but these guys have a track record of violent crimes already. Who knows what evil they would do with a powerful dragon stone on their side.”
“And we’re sure that it is indeed powerful? As powerful as the emerald dragon stone?” Knox asked.
“Well, we can’t be sure until we actually see the stone ourselves, I suppose. But there’s no reason to think that it’s not as powerful as the emerald dragon stone. From the information Bree has here, it looks like the stone was made in the same way as the other dragon stone. An ancient dragon king stored all his magic power in the stone for safekeeping, so that it would help future generations fight evil.”
“Didn’t they realize that the stones could help evil if they fell into the wrong hands?” Knox asked.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” a woman’s voice said.
Knox whirled around to see Bree standing there. He hadn’t heard her approaching, and he had to admit that her stealth skills impressed him.
“I suppose you know that better than anyone,” Noah said, extending his hand to Bree. “I’m Noah, another one of Knox’s dragons. I got in after you’d already gone to the cabin last night, but the crew has told me all about how you left your wizard clan behind, risking your own future as a wizard to do so.”
Bree shook Noah’s hand politely, then immediately grabbed a mug to help herself to some of the coffee that was keeping warm in a thermos near the fire. She raised her eyes to look at Knox as soon as she had taken a sip.
“So,” she asked. “Did your clan members decide to believe that I’m telling the truth, then? Can we get on with actually finding and protecting the sapphire dragon stone?”
“I’m all for getting started,” Knox said, looking carefully over at Noah and Myles, but I think that my men would like it if you could prove you’re a wizard.”
Bree sighed. “You want me to do magic without my ring, I assume? I’ve been expecting this request, although I had hoped you might come to trust me for my word, instead of forcing me to do party tricks to show that wizards still exist.”
Bree’s sharp words stung Knox to his core. “I do trust you,” he said as calmly as he could. “But I have a clan to think about. And if I’m going to leave them here to go chasing after stones with a supposed wizard, I would appreciate any help I could get in reassuring them that my leaving is necessary.”
Bree’s eyes shot up to meet his. “You’re going with me?” she asked, surprised. “I would have thought that now that we were back here and you had a whole clan at your disposal, you’d send one of them so you could stay here and lead.”
Knox glanced over at Noah, who was smiling broadly at him now.
“You’re finally gonna go somewhere, boss?” Myles asked.
Knox felt his cheeks heat up a bit with embarrassment. It really had been too long since he’d shown his dragons that he trusted them.
“I’m gonna go,” Knox said. “This mission will be the most dangerous one out of all the missions that have come up since I started leading this clan. I would never ask any of you to face such danger.”
“You know we would, though,” Noah said. “We’d face any dangers you asked us to face. We all have the same job here: to protect the ancient artifacts, and keep the shifter world safe by doing so.”
“I know you’d all face any danger,” Knox said, his chest swelling with pride and gratitude as he looked at Noah and Myles. “But I think it’s time for me to take a mission. William, as clan leader, took the last dragon stone mission. It seems only fitting that I, as clan leader, should take this mission.”
Knox looked over at Bree and raised his eyes to her, asking her an unspoken question. She understood, even though he said no words. He needed her help to make his clan feel secure. He trusted her completely now. Would she please just show the rest of the dragons that they could trust her, too?
With a sigh, Bree nodded at him. Without a word, she took off her magic ring and handed it to Knox. It felt heavy in his hand. Its weight was greater than you would have expected, even for such a large stone.
“Vance! Owen! Get out here,” Knox yelled. A few minutes later, Vance and Owen, both with sleepy eyes and bed-head hair, came stumbling out of their cabins.
“What’s up?” Owen asked.
“Come. Sit,” Knox said as they got closer to the fire pit. He held up Bree’s ring. “I have Bree’s magic ring. She’s going to perform a magic spell without it, to prove to all of you that she is indeed a wizard, and that wizards still exist.”
Vance and Owen nodded, looking somewhat sleepy still, and sat on the same log that Noah was seated on. Knox went to sit by Myles, holding up the magic ring so all could see.
“Alright, Bree. I’ve got your ring. Let’s see what you can do without it.”
Knox held his breath for a moment as Bree stared into the small fire that was glowing in the fire pit. She was concentrating deeply, and for a full minute, no one spoke or moved. Then, Bree raised her hands and pointed them both toward the fire, all of her fingers outstretched toward the flames.
“Magicae ignis,” she yelled out, her voice loud and authoritative. Almost instantly, red hot flames came shooting from each of her fingers. As they hit the small fire in the pit, it swelled and roared until the dragon shifters had to stand and step backwards away from it. The heat had become too much for them.
Vance rubbed his eyes, looking from the f
ire to Bree and back again, his face glowing red-orange from the flames.
“My god,” Owen said. “It is true. There are still wizards.”
Knox’s heart leapt in his chest as Bree looked over at him and smiled, flames still shooting wildly from her fingers.
“Come on, my little wizard,” he said. “Let’s go find that sapphire and redeem your name to your clan.”
Bree smiled at him and nodded.
“Ignis terminantur,” she yelled.
The flames leaping from her fingers stopped instantly, but Knox knew that the fire in his heart had only just begun to burn.
Chapter Eleven
Bree had checked and double-checked her backpack, and yet she still felt like she was forgetting something. It was ridiculous for her to feel that way, since everything she owned at the moment fit into that backpack. She figured it was just nerves. If this mission went badly, things would go badly for a whole lot of people. Bree hated feeling like she quite literally had the weight of the world on her shoulders, but she figured it couldn’t be helped. She had chosen her path when she decided to run away from Falcon Cross. She had decided to be courageous, and now she had no choice but to remain courageous until the end, whenever that might be.
“Ready?” Knox asked, poking his head into the doorway of his cabin. Bree looked up at him, and, as usual, her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. She had tried to ignore her growing feelings for him, but the more she tried to act like he didn’t mean anything special to her, the more he seemed to make her heart pound. She suspected that a big part of her nerves surrounding this journey were due to the fact that he was the one going with her.
“I’m ready,” she said. “Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”
He nodded. “Give me a few minutes to give Noah some last minute instructions. I’ll meet you out by the fire pit in about five minutes.”
“Alright,” Bree said. Knox disappeared from view as Bree pulled her backpack onto her shoulders, wondering for the thousandth time that day whether she and Knox actually had a chance at pulling this off. Their plan was basic and haphazard. They were going to rent out an apartment in Mountain View, California, the city in the heart of Silicon Valley where the gem collector lived. They would stalk him, trying to figure out where the stone was and how they could steal it and replace it with a fake sapphire.
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