by Lee French
The sound gave Drew pause. Wild, flickering hope drowned out his anger, pain, and frustration. He didn’t dare assume, though. “No, not really,” he said, his voice wavering and cracking.
She strained half-heartedly against Drew, then opened her eyes. “Why are you holding me down?”
His heart raced. He struggled to breathe. “Claire?”
“Who else would I be?”
“Iulia.”
She blinked and looked around as much as his restraint allowed. “We’re back in the tunnel.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re holding me down.”
Tears rolled down his cheeks. “Yes.” He let go. His hands shook. His everything shook.
She surged up and hugged him. “I’m solid. I’m real. I’m real!” Holding onto him so tight he thought she might crush him, she laughed.
He sat up with her, hugging her with more fervor than he’d ever felt before. A second chance. Claire got a second chance. He got a second chance. No, a third chance. He’d fumbled the second when he threw Iulia at Claire. This time, he’d do things right. No more shooting power from the hip. Tomorrow, he intended to go to Anne and ask her to train him. Properly. And if she refused, he’d find someone else.
For now, he reveled in the feel of Claire in his arms.
“Never die again.”
Kay barked a laugh. “That might be the weirdest thing you’ve ever said.”
Claire pulled away to look him in the eyes. She sniffled. “Much better plan.”
He caught sight of her hand and noticed a red-gold glow in the middle. Taking it in his, he held it up to get a good look at it. The locket face had melted into her hand, replacing the flesh and bones. Light passed through the gaps between the whorls and dots. The design pulsed in time with Claire’s heartbeat.
“I have no idea,” Claire said, staring at her hand. “None. This is… insane.” She poked the design. “Feels like me, inside and out, but is not me. But it also is me.”
“That’s amazing,” Kay gushed. “I can’t even imagine how that happened.”
Drew moved her hand so he could see her through it. “This is wild.”
“I guess I was holding it.” She looked down at herself and saw Iulia’s white dress. “I stole Iulia’s body?”
“Seems so.” Drew didn’t know how to feel about that. He still didn’t want Iulia dead. She’d done something he considered awful and she’d lived much longer than anyone had a right to, but he had to sort out his thoughts on it.
Claire kissed him.
He remembered that he had Claire. In his arms. Tangible. She chased away his nightmares and rescued him from disaster.
Kay cleared his throat inside Drew’s head. “Excuse me. This is all very heartwarming, but I’d like to point out you’re still in that wretched dirt tunnel under Portland, next to the node that almost killed us. Enion is who-knows-where, and you both have school tomorrow.”
Drew broke off the kiss and blushed. He needed to accept that Kay saw everything, and he had no true privacy anymore. “Kay’s right. We’re covered in dirt and should get out of here. Can you find Enion? I think he might’ve gone for help.”
Claire took his wrist and held his arm out. She wrapped her hand over the hole in his sleeve, positioning the locket face over the brand on the inside of his elbow. When they touched, he sucked in a breath. He heard her heartbeat as a soft, gentle pulse in the background. His own heart slowed to match hers.
Underneath her pulse, a subtle connecting thread of affection and trust spun into the distance. Though it was invisible, the thread struck him as silver. As soon as he realized that, he knew it led to Enion.
“Wow,” Kay said. “It didn’t do that before.”
“I can hear you, Kay. It didn’t do that before, either.”
“Oh.” Kay gulped. “Ah. A-all the time, or just when these touch?”
With a mischievous grin, Claire said, “We’ll see.”
Drew smirked, pleased to have someone else forced to listen to Kay. Something about misery and company ran through his head. “Can we use this thread thing to call Enion back?”
“Let’s find out.” Claire closed her eyes.
Following suit, Drew paid attention to the thread. Without hearing it, feeling it, or seeing it, he heard, felt, and saw Claire pluck the string. She breathed Enion’s name down the vibrating line in a soft whisper. Drew shivered.
“Just when you think you understand magic,” Kay murmured with reverent awe, “she does something like that.”
Claire touched Drew’s cheek with two fingertips and smiled at him when he opened his eyes. “When we get home, I have to do something. While I’m busy, would you find Justin and explain what happened? I don’t want him to think I’m Iulia when he sees me. And Avery. He should know too.”
Obeying this request meant letting go and leaving her behind. Drew saw the logic, but he hated the idea. He forced an answering smile. At least no one wanted to kill her right now. Or use her, devour her soul, or anything else. He’d see her again. “Yeah, of course. They’re probably taking care of the rest of the ants.”
“Thanks. As soon as Enion gets back, take us to the cottage instead of the woods?”
He nodded and hugged her again, wondering what task seemed so urgent to her. But he didn’t ask. If she chose not to volunteer, then maybe she needed to do it first and explain later. She’d won his trust again, after losing it for a stupid reason, and he honored that. “When I’m done, I’m going to spend some time with Mutt outside. If you take a while, I might be in the farmhouse when you get back, so check there first.”
“I’ll find you.” She squeezed him, then jumped out of the embrace to hop to her feet and hold her hands out.
“Can you hear me now?” Kay asked.
Claire failed to react with even a glance. She caught something small. Joyful dragon chirping filled the air. She hugged Enion’s tiny form.
“Thank goodness for that.” Kay coughed. “I mean, now I know. Obviously, it would’ve been fine for her to hear me all the time. Just an adjustment. Not a big deal. Hey, look, there’s Enion. How convenient her weird magic thing worked. I mean good. That’s a good thing. I don’t know why I said convenient when I meant good.”
“Sure.” Drew snorted as he stood and wrapped them all in mist. They shifted to the inside of the cottage, standing beneath the tarps. The remaining debris had been cleared away. He checked the ceiling and found it still had a gaping hole, though the ragged edges had been smoothed out. As soon as he had a chance, he’d take a stab at helping fix it with magic.
He didn’t live here, but Claire did. Besides, he shouldn’t hate Justin. Kurt shoved Kay on him, not Justin. As it happened, he didn’t mind Kay so much anymore. In the coming days, he’d need the help. With a few more chats, he and Kay would come to agreements and figure out how to timeshare his body. They’d both get used to it.
Enion, curled up in Claire’s arms, chirped at Drew. Even with his features so small, Drew could tell he didn’t glare. For once.
Claire chuckled. “Enion says he doesn’t hate you anymore. He doesn’t like you, but he doesn’t hate you.”
“I guess that’s progress.” Drew held his hand out for Enion, no longer worried about the dragon biting his finger.
Enion sniffed him, reminding Drew of a dog. The dragon reached out with one tiny claw and poked Drew’s fingertip without breaking the skin. Then he retracted all body parts in favor of snuggling with Claire.
Not wanting to push his luck with the dragon between them, Drew touched Claire’s shoulder. “Are you sure this is where you want to be?”
“I’m sure. I’ll see you soon.”
“Yeah. Good luck.” He stepped away from her and let his mist take him to Nine Cans. If anyone would know where to find Justin in Portland, it was Ki.
He landed inside the bar, facing the windows. Outside, a woman wearing a blue Portland Police jacket snapped pictures of the devastation. A uniformed off
icer watched over her. Pedestrians walked past the debris and abandoned cars. Two men lifted boards into place to cover broken windows.
Life went on. The threat had passed, and now the work of cleaning up began. Drew smiled to see the world returning to something like normal. He still had to do his homework, but he’d get there. Things would be weird. But they’d also be okay. One day at a time.
Chapter 32
Claire
Drew’s mist cleared, leaving Claire alone in the cold, dark house with Enion. She went to her room first and changed into her own clothes. The body she wore felt like her own, but a few foreign scars and stretchmarks made her question her sanity. Those belonged to Iulia, yet they also belonged to Claire. She wondered how many times she’d need to look in the mirror before those little differences stopped bugging her.
Leaving the dress on the floor, she returned to the living room in her more usual clothes—a long-sleeved shirt, miniskirt, leggings, and combat boots. Nothing matched. She ran her hand over the couch, enjoying the feel of it. Touching things in the real world drove home the weight of what had happened.
She stole Iulia’s body. By accident. Except she wasn’t so sure it had been an accident. The conscious thought to find a way to force Iulia out and insert herself had never surfaced. Subconsciously? Maybe. She knew she’d looked at Iulia and seen her own face with a simmering jealousy. Iulia got to live while Claire had to die. The unfairness, even after she’d turned the tables and won, gnawed at her.
Once upon a time, she’d been taught that two wrongs didn’t make a right. In this case, it seemed justice had been served. And yet, she had no other word for what happened than stealing. Claire lived and Iulia died. Or became a ghost. Maybe they traded places. Did Iulia deserve that? Did Claire deserve a body?
“Why Claire sad?”
“I’m not sad, just…I dunno. I feel like I’m supposed to be three feet to the left.”
“Move three feet to the left.”
Enion’s simplicity made her smirk. She sat and settled Enion on her lap. “I have a better idea.” Holding a hand over Enion to keep him with her, she focused on crossing to her demesne and waited. They fell through the couch to land in the woods. Claire dropped onto her back. Enion sprang into the air and flashed silver. Large Enion stood over her, growling protectively.
“I was starting to wonder—” Rondy stared at her. “What happened?”
Claire grinned. “Stand down, Enion. This is my demesne. Where I went when I died.”
Her dragon stepped to the side and shoved his face at Rondy to sniff him. “No smell.” He glared up at Rondy.
Rondy raised his hands in surrender.
Rolling to her feet, Claire snorted. “Of course he has no smell. He’s a ghost.” She patted Enion’s flank, then shoved against him. “He’s not dangerous or scary, he’s Rondy. He was there with us when we attacked the Palace, and he’s my friend.”
Enion snapped his head around to eye her. “Friend like boy?”
She crossed her arms. “The boy has a name.”
Scowling, Enion huffed. “Is Rondy friend like Drew?”
“More like Justin.”
His demeanor changed instantly. He stopped scowling and all tension drained from his body. Sitting on his haunches, he offered Rondy a claw to shake. “Friend Rondy.”
With this, Claire understood. All this time, she thought Enion had some legitimate gripe about Drew. But her dragon had only been jealous of him.
“I’m pleased to see you again, Enion.” Rondy shook the claw with gravitas and added a polite bow.
“I’ll tell you everything, Rondy, but first, Enion, you understand that you’re my sprite, right? And there’s only one Enion, and only one sprite for any Knight?”
Enion looked away. He wriggled a claw in the dirt, disturbing the grass.
“Drew has been my friend for six years. I met him in a house where they send kids whose parents die. His parents died a year and a half before mine. He’s smarter than me and I’m stronger than him. Before I ever became a Knight, we looked out for each other. He helped me with homework and I kept people from bullying him.
“I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen between us. But we had plans, both of us. He was going to go to college and I was going to get a job, and we were going to help each other. He’s probably not going to college anymore, and I have no idea what kind of job I can get, but we’re still going to help each other.”
She cupped Enion’s lower jaw and turned his head so he saw her. “He’s part of my life. Thing is, so are you. You’re my dragon. I’m your Knight. I get different things from you than I do from him. You get different things from me than he does. Not better, not more important, just different.”
Enion turned his head to make her hand rub his nose. “Boy okay.”
Claire kissed the ridge between his eyes. “Dragon okay.” She scratched under his chin.
He purred. “Knight okay.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned in with a smile. “Yep. We’re all okay. Portland is weirder than before, but we’re going to be fine.”
Enion hugged her with one forelimb, then he let go. “Want to fly here. See land.”
“Go ahead. I’m going to talk to Rondy.” She patted Enion and watched him run, jump, and flap into the sky. Flexing her will, she made more sky for him. In the distance, she crafted rocky pillars and crags for him to play in. The river gained a lake to spill into and a snowy mountain pass to feed it.
She sat with Rondy and told him everything that had happened since she last saw him. He listened and asked a few questions. “I’m a horrible person,” she finished.
Rondy took her hand and examined it. “I disagree with your assessment that you stole Iulia’s body. It sounds like Drew killed her, in a manner of speaking, leaving her body empty. You filled it. Circumstances caused a one-in-a-million opportunity that you seized, knowingly or not. Unless I miss my mark on him, Drew probably feels a tremendous load of guilt about that. He’ll need help to work through it.”
“Yeah, I guess. I don’t really understand why she went up in flames but her body was fine, though.”
“I don’t have an explanation because I don’t know anything about that situation you were in. I would, however, recommend chatting with Justin about his father. He deserves to know what happened and what you know. He can probably also tell the story of that scene you battled in. He always struck me as well-adjusted despite his past, but you never know what demons lurk in a man’s heart. He may need to talk about it without being aware of that.”
Claire nodded. “Yeah. But not right now.”
In the distance, Enion crowed with joy, putting an echoing smile on Claire’s face.
“Right now, Enion and I deserve a little relaxation and fun. Because that sounds serious, and I have to go to school tomorrow. After the longest, weirdest, worst week ever. I could really use a do-over on Thanksgiving. On the whole weekend.”
Rondy nodded with a somber smile. “Not my favorite week either.”
“That reminds me.” She stood and stretched. Iulia’s muscles seemed weaker than Claire’s had been, but she knew how to fix that. “You gave me your daughter’s address to send a letter, but fifteen million things happened since then, and I forgot everything. I think I can handle it today.”
“I appreciate that, Claire.” He gave her a Cleveland address, repeating it a few times for her to memorize it. “Before you go to do that, I’m curious about something.” When Claire nodded, he asked, “Did you get all your memories back?”
The question blindsided Claire. She blinked and had to shake herself. “Of course I did.” Then she tried to picture her father as a person instead of a ghost. Nothing. A blank, anonymous man stood with his arm around a blank anonymous woman and a blank, anonymous boy. She knew their names. She knew her brother was younger. She knew they had a horse. Details refused to surface.
She frowned. “I take that back. No. I don’t remember
anything before my parents died.”
“Interesting. I hope that comes back to you, Claire. I’ll try to help as I can.”
Enion landed nearby and trotted to her side. “Like this place. Dragons live here?”
Wiping away the frown for Enion’s sake, Claire shrugged. “I don’t know if they can get in here, and if I have to come with each of you every single time you go from one side to the other, it won’t work. But we’ll try. See you later, Rondy.” With a wave, she took her dragon home.
The house remained dark and quiet. Claire stood and wondered if anyone would notice she wore a different body. With a snort, she realized her gym teacher would realize something had changed. Last Tuesday, she’d been his star pupil. Maybe he’d buy that she’d been ill the whole time and needed to build her endurance back up.
Enion shrank in a flash of silver and hopped onto her shoulder. She pushed open the door and grinned for no reason. On second thought, she had a reason. The last time she came through the mudroom, she floated. This time, she walked with her feet on the floor and opened the front door.
Sunshine bathed the walk as she headed to the old stump. The smells of mud and pine hit her full force. She ran her hand over the old wood and smiled when she heard hooves chiming on the street at a fast clip. The sound passed her and circled as Tariel ran up the driveway.
As soon as he saw her, Justin jumped off Tariel’s back and ran to pick Claire up in a bear hug. “I didn’t understand most of what Drew said, but I’m really happy to see you whole and solid.”
“I’m pretty happy about that too.”
“I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I’m excited not to have to explain anything to anyone about you.”
Claire laughed. “Yeah, me too.” When he let go, she hugged Tariel around the neck and discovered she couldn’t understand the sprite anymore, which suited her fine. They took the horse to her stable and fed her, then left her behind in favor of the farmhouse. Claire stepped inside and basked in the warmth.
“Claire!” Missy jumped up from her coloring book and ran to wrap herself around Claire’s leg. Lisa followed. Marie watched from the kitchen with a bemused smirk.