Dragon Guard (Ever Witch Book 3)

by Kit Bladegrave

  “No,” I snarled. “She is not leaving my sight. Not after what Radnak said.”

  “He’s hunting any Descendant,” Preston reminded me. “And hybrids. He wants all of them.”

  “Exactly, which is why she does not leave the Underground, certainly not without me, and positively not alone. No. Figure something else out, but it’s not happening.” I didn’t want to be up there any longer, knowing Jenny would keep on it until they convinced me that using Everest could be the only thing to work in our favor. “I’m going to check on Tank.”

  “Slade, just wait a damned minute,” Jenny snapped, but Preston told her to back off.

  I doubt he did it for my sake. He knew me too well. He’d wait until I had time to calm down, then he’d track me down and make his argument for this plan. But I wasn’t backing down, not this time.

  I watched Everest nearly die too many times in the past few weeks, and after losing Zara, not being able to save her, I was not about to risk Everest’s life for anything. She would only leave this place alone as a last resort, and we were far from being that desperate.

  I moved through the Underground, ignoring everyone I passed on my way to the infirmary. Tank had taken a heavy hit during the rescue mission, in addition to his injuries when we were attacked at the warehouse. When I came closer, I heard his laughter and was surprised to see Morg there, keeping him company.

  “Well now, I was wondering when his highness would come visit my sorry ass,” Tank teased with a wink and I glowered at him as he shrugged. “Morg was just filling me in.”

  “On what?” I asked, joining Morg on the bed opposite Tank.

  “All the shit happening around here now. I take it we’re enemy number one, right?”

  I blew out a heavy breath. “What do you think? The Council thinks we’re kidnapping their own now and just lumped us in with Radnak’s forces. Not that they’ll admit the Black Diamonds aren’t dead, and they just had the chance to meet their leader one on one.”

  “Why would they? Then they’d have to do something about it.”

  The war was never going to end. It was only going to get worse, the longer the other dragon clans refused to admit the Black Diamonds survived. But all the Council had seen were the Shadowguards fighting alongside their enemy. They would never take the time to understand why. Those fighters, they had no choice. It was how Radnak had forced so many of our kin to fight for him all these centuries. He would kidnap their wives or husbands, their children. They were his slaves, and the moment a fighter refused to follow orders, the family members would be executed one at a time until compliance was gained, or the dragon was broken. I couldn’t count the number put to death I’d seen because someone stopped fighting. Many took their own lives, but if they had family left alive, Radnak would still kill them. That was all our lives had been, an endless cycle of death.

  “How’s Everest?” Tank asked, trying to sit up until he grunted in pain and flopped back down, holding his injured and bandaged side.

  “Don’t know, taking it in that Radnak wants her for something. She’s with her parents.”

  “She’s strong,” he said. “She’ll get through this better than most.”

  “Yeah. If she’d stop throwing herself into the jaws of death, I’d feel better.”

  I saw her throw herself at Radnak to break his grip on me without a care for her own safety. All she’d wanted was to get me out of there alive, and her friends. When in reality, she was the important one we would need before the end. I was sure of this about her—she was the important one. Me, I might have my secrets, but in my mind, I was the expendable one. A failure for not being able to do more.

  “She’s not as fragile as you think,” Tank said, nudging my leg. “She just needs some better training.”

  “Training, guess we could pick up where we left off. Not like we’re going to have anything else to do down here for a while anyway. Preston and Jenny have recalled everyone who was not a necessity.”

  We would keep all the hybrids and children safe the best we could, but if we took any more major hits, there would be no one to stand between Radnak and a full-on assault against the unprepared clans. If they believed us, they could start mounting defenses now, but instead, they would be no better than sitting ducks.

  “Where did the Blood Moon Priests come from?” I asked quietly. “How did he find so many?”

  “How does Radnak manage to do anything he does?” Tank countered.

  Morg tapped my shoulder and pointed up to the ceiling then down to the floor. I shook my head, not understanding his meaning. He rested his hands on his chest and shut his eyes, then opened them wide and gasped for air.

  “You think… he brought them back to life?” I asked, uncertain.

  Morg nodded. “How? He doesn’t have that kind of power. No one does.”

  Radnak didn’t have any power at all as far as I knew. He was just a dragon, the largest and strongest of the Black Diamond clan. How could he have raised Blood Moon Priests from the dead? He was very interested in Everest, almost more than he should’ve been if he was only after her for her Descendant powers. I guessed it was possible he used other Descendants to bring the priests back, but that intense magic was beyond my knowledge. Radnak was plotting against all the clans and using the priests, but using them to do what?

  Tank’s eyes started to close, and I left him to get some rest. Morg remained behind, assuring me he would watch over Tank and let me know if anything changed. I didn’t expect to see Everest at all today, but when I heard her laughter as I left the infirmary behind, I searched the faces around me, needing to see her.

  She stood with Jared and Amelie and seemed in good spirits. Meeting her father for the first time and seeing her mom did her good as I hoped it would. I was going to return to my tiny alcove and hide out for the rest of the day, but like a magnet, her eyes were suddenly drawn to mine, and she waved at me over her head. I debated making some excuse to avoid her, but found myself walking towards her without even meaning to.

  “How’s Tank?” she asked when I reached them.

  “He’ll live, but I’ll never hear the end of it, don’t worry,” I told her. “And you two?”

  Jared and Amelie both glanced at each other then shrugged. “We’re also alive, but I think I’m doing better than Jared,” Amelie said.

  “Having your father deny the truth that’s right in front of him is a bit harsh,” he muttered.

  “You don’t think he’ll come around? Even if you talk to him?” I asked, wondering if we had another option at our disposal after all. If we could send Jared back and have him tell the truth to his father, a member of the Council, there was a slim chance they’d finally see the light and join us in the fight against Radnak.

  But Jared sneered bitterly, shaking his head. “No, my father and I have not always gotten along.”

  “Why the hell not?” I asked hotly.

  Everest shot me a funny look, but it always baffled me how parents never just loved their kids for who they were. I lost my parents to a horrible fate. I missed out on so much time with them and here was a father who from what I could tell, had been annoyed to see his son.

  “My little sister, she was the prodigy in the family. Even after I started showing magical ability,” he said, shoving his hands in his pocket. “It wasn’t the same to him.”

  “Well I’m damned glad you’re here with us,” I slapped him on the back. “If the Council wants to be blind to the truth, we’re going to need all the help we can get, if you’re up for it that is.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I am. If my father won’t do a damned thing about it, I will.” Jared shook my hand hard. “I’m with you… can’t believe I just said that,” he added in a whisper and we both laughed.

  “Speaking of fighting,” I turned to Everest. “You and I have unfinished business.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Amelie asked.

  I opened my mouth to explain until I saw her waggling her eyebrows;
I clamped my mouth shut so hard and fast, my teeth clacked.

  I coughed, unsure how much of a good idea it was to bring Amelie here. Everest nudged her, whispering harshly in her friend’s ear, but that only made Amelie smile wider and shrug. She said she’d be around and walked away, thankfully.

  “What do you mean?” Everest asked, her voice higher pitched than normal.

  Jared shot us both a look but said nothing.

  “Your training.” I emphasized the last word. “We barely got started before the warehouse was attacked, remember? And you have a long way to go.”

  “Dunno, thought I held my own during those last two fights,” she argued.

  I scowled at her. “Flinging yourself at the enemy does not count as holding your own.”

  “What? It worked, didn’t it?”

  Jared started to laugh then covered it with a cough when I glared at him.

  “Not the point. You’re under my command now which means you are going to do as I tell you, understood?”

  Her jaw dropped.

  Jared didn’t try to hide his amusement this time. “He’s got a point.”

  “Really? You’re just going to side with him, just like that?”

  He cringed. “You forget I’ve seen your combat training so far and maybe working with Slade would do you some good, so you don’t wind up on your backside so much. I mean, wildly tackling the enemy won’t work when the enemy shifts into a full-blown dragon. Not sure you could wrap your arms around one of their necks,” he said, mimicking the motion and appearing to struggle as he did it.

  Everest rolled her eyes at him, but he didn’t stop.

  “Whatever. I’m going to talk to Amelie. You boys have fun.”

  She stalked away leaving me alone with Jared. We both watched her go, and I caught the glimpse of admiration in his eyes for her. When I was first watching Everest, I would’ve gladly stepped aside to leave room for a guy like Jared to take his chance. Now, now it wasn’t going to be so easy.

  “You know,” he said, “when I first met her, I thought she would never fit into our world. She was so outspoken about things she didn’t even understand. Had no idea what she was until a few weeks ago and now… now I’m eating my words.”

  I bet he was, but then again, so was I lately. I thought Everest was going to be nothing but a pain in my ass. And she was, but she was so much more than that now. I could just hear Zara laughing at me, wondering what new mess I’d gotten myself into. Not that I had feelings for Everest like that. I couldn’t. We were in too big of trouble for me to get emotionally involved with someone else.

  I mentally cursed, knowing I was just trying to fool myself. I liked Everest. How the hell could I not?

  “Has anyone shown you to a room yet? Or bed at least?” I asked Jared, wanting to get the topic of conversation away from Everest.

  “No, not yet. Not sure a lot of people here exactly trust me.”

  I followed his wary gaze and spied quite a few of our number shooting him dirty looks. “Can you blame them? Now that you know what’s really going on here?”

  “Guess not. I hate to say it, but if I hadn’t seen all of this, not sure I’d believe it was real.”

  “That’s the problem. That damned war ruined our reputation,” I muttered, leading him towards the alcoves to find him a cot to sleep on while he was here. “We’ve spent the past few hundred years trying to protect everyone while accepting the fact we’d be hunted forever.”

  Jared grabbed my shoulder and pulled me to a stop. He held out his hand again for mine, and I took it. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s worth more than you know. Come on, we’ll get you a bed, and then I’ll give you the grand tour. Welcome to your new home, Hollow Well.”

  THREE

  EVEREST

  Amelie plopped down on the edge of her bed and dragged me to sit down next to her. “You know, this is quite the adventure you’ve dragged us into.”

  “Yeah,” I said, trying to see Slade and Jared through the people. “Good or bad?”

  She nudged me. “I’d say good; the most fun I’ve ever had, although the near-death experience is a new one.” Her smile slipped away, and she sighed sadly. “So many people who need help and what are we doing? We’re pretending they don’t exist. I can’t believe this has been going on for so long.”

  I’d barely been part of this world, and I felt terrible thinking of how many innocents had been killed. Slade had told me very little so far, but I could tell from his haunted gaze it was far worse than what I could see here. I had the displeasure of seeing their tormentor up close and personal.

  Radnak. He was a piece of work, and I wished I never had to deal with him again. Too bad I doubted that was going to happen. He was looking for me. Needed me for something or other. A Descendant. Why did I have to be one of those? At least Mom had no magic, so he wouldn’t come after her too, but if there were others, none of us were safe.

  “I wanted to thank you for bringing me here and meeting all these other witches,” Amelie told me. “I’ve talked to a few already, and they’re going to show me some stuff the school doesn’t teach.”

  “Nice to know I won’t be the only one undergoing training then,” I mumbled.

  “You should brush up on your magic too, you know.”

  “It’s not just that,” I said. “Slade wants to train me to fight, like really fight. Apparently, I’m not that good at it and need to stop bodily chucking myself at the enemy.”

  “Where’s the downside to that?”

  “Being ordered around by a guy is not exactly on my list of good times,” I pointed out.

  The group of people that had been blocking Slade and Jared moved, and there they were, both tall and broad-shouldered, but my gaze lingered longer on those intense blue eyes, and long blond hair pulled back. A wave of heat washed over me, and I averted my eyes before Slade looked my way and saw me blushing furiously.

  “You get to watch him fight, too. That’s gotta be a sight.”

  I reflected back on the brief sparring we’d done at the warehouse and grinned. “Yeah, it is.”

  “Look at you. Checking him out like that. How hasn’t he noticed yet?”

  “I’m not doing that,” I argued. “It’s nothing, alright? Hard not to like the guy that’s saved my butt a few times is all. I’m going to, uh, go check in with Fredwin and Elsa. Haven’t seen them around since I left the parents behind.”

  “You going to tell me more about this mysterious father of yours?” she asked, but I was already walking away. “Or just leave your friend hanging? That’s fine, too.”

  I smirked and waved at her over my shoulder. I’d fill her in on all the family drama eventually, but right now I was more worried about Fredwin and Elsa. The latter, more. She was the headmistress of our school and bringing her here had been a risk, but it was either that or risk her life in the fight. It took a while to find them, lots of asking if anyone had seen two disgruntled new arrivals—a witch and a Hollow Well. Several people grimaced as they pointed me deeper into the Underground, as Slade called it, and eventually, I found them in a makeshift room with two others, I thought they were Jenny and Preston.

  “—understand your position, but I have to get a message back to the school,” Elsa was saying in that stern voice that usually scared her students. “At least to let them know to heighten our security for the safety of the students.”

  “And how do I know you won’t contact the Hunters? Or the Council?” Jenny snapped.

  “You have my word as a witch, as one of the Communion, I will not give your location away,” Elsa argued. “I only care about keeping my students safe. I only need to speak to one person, that is it.”

  “And if they track your call?”

  “They won’t, not from my school.”

  Preston smirked. “You really are blind to what your Hunters do, aren’t you? They track everything that goes in and out of that school, just like they do every other schoo
l. Your phone call will be tracked.”

  Elsa looked ready to cast a spell at him, but then she smiled. “What if I don’t use a phone?”

  “No,” Jenny growled. “Magic can be tracked just as easily.”

  “What if it wasn’t her magic?” I asked, stepping into the room.

  Four sets of eyes turned to stare at me.

  I attempted a smile. “Sorry, I was just, uh, checking on Professor Fredwin and Elsa. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  “Whose magic?” Fredwin asked curiously, not seeming upset at all by finding himself surrounded by Shadowguard dragons, stuck in an Underground hideout, and currently on the run from Black Diamonds and Hunters, alike. “Everest?”

  I was just going on a theory here, but if she’d been able to open a portal just using her blood, then why couldn’t she do the same with a message? It was true she had no active magic, but from what I’d been taught in my brief time at school, magic was in the blood. Mom just no longer had access to it, but if she combined her blood with Elsa’s power… there was a chance it could work, just like how they opened the portal. “Mahlia’s, my mom’s.”

  At the sound of Mom’s name, the four exchanged blank stares.

  Elsa and Jenny nodded in agreement.

  “That just might work. Everest, mind fetching your mother for us?” Jenny asked. “You take after your parents with smarts like those.”

  “Thanks.” I backed out of the room. “I’ll go get her.”

  I’d just started to go, when Fredwin asked me to wait, and caught up with me in the hall. “Just wanted to see how Jared and Amelie were doing here,” he said as we walked.

  “Good, enjoying it more than I thought they would. What about Elsa? How mad is she?”

  “Between you and me, she’s more furious at the Council for dismissing us than at you for bringing a Shadowguard to her school,” he said with a wink as I hung my head. “Don’t worry. If you hadn’t, Slade would probably be dead and you, well, you would’ve been kidnapped by Black Diamonds. That would’ve been blamed on the wrong clan, and nothing would’ve changed.”