“Is it supposed to do this?” Ki asked.
Fang shook his head. The boys shared a pointed glance.
Santiago’s own distressed expression made my fear spike. He was sweating, his arms extended like a kid playing zombie. But his eyes were not glazed or rolling back in his head. They were popped wide and filled with the terror of knowing that you have no idea what you are doing, and it is too late to turn back. Like he was riding a bike down a steep hill unable to stop himself as he plunged into a rocky ravine.
The table began to shake. Then the house. The cups rattled in the cupboards. The windows chattered like teeth, threatening to break. Pictures fell off the walls, the sounds of shattered glass echoing from the hallway.
“Santiago?” I called out, not wanting to break his concentration, but also worried we were now all in danger. Was he going to tear my house apart with us in it?
His head turned to me, but his arms stayed locked as if he was unable to put them down, or stop the spell that was unraveling and taking everything around us with it.
“You guys should go. Now!” He shot us a frantic look and then dragged his eyes to the door as if begging us to get out before the roof came crashing down.
I gripped Ki’s arm, unsure of what to do. I needed to get Dad out, but Santiago… what would happen to him?
“Stop the spell!” Ki shouted, rushing toward Santiago, but as he got closer the vibrations hit him, shaking him like a rag doll. He shimmied back, stunned and still vibrating.
“What do we do?” I yelled.
It was then that Black Rock stepped forward. Giant arms reaching out, he brought his hands together in a mighty clap.
The force of his magic knocked me back. I hit the wall and slid down, crumpling to the floor. Stunned, I lay there, blinking, trying to reboot my brain.
My consciousness finally returned, bringing with it the realization that Black Rock had snuffed out Santiago’s spell, and blown us all backwards in the process. Ki was beside me, his head lolling back and forth as he tried to rouse himself. Boys’ groans filled the room as they got up from their prone positions. Only Black Rock and the injured man remained in the same spot. The conciliatory leader strode to the man on the table and checked his pulse.
I stood with the help of a chair. “Is he…?”
Black Rock shook his head. “He’s dead.”
The door banged open. In it stood Mercedes. The bright, happy expression on her beautiful brown face quickly turned to horror as she took in the scene.
“Hi,” I said in as normal voice as I could. “I have a lot of explaining to do.”
* * *
Ten minutes later, Mercedes and I sat on my bed upstairs. The boys were downstairs tending to the body and my dad. They had ushered us up, telling me to clear things up with Mercedes and keep her occupied while they did what needed to be done. I more than happily accepted, though now I was starting to wonder if I didn’t have the harder task. Mercedes was trembling, her eyes darting around the room like it was about to shake apart again.
“What. Just. Happened?” She stared at me for answers.
I swallowed hard, held her hand, and gazed into her eyes, so happy to have her back and so worried about how all this was going to sound.
“So... you’re going to think I’m crazy, but just listen until I’m done, okay?”
Mercedes’ big brown eyes stared at me like I had grown three heads. “Lord and sweet baby Jesus, Lila, why you gotta start with that? That’s how all these movies start with the crazy lady saying, ‘You’re gonna think I’m crazy.’ Hell, yeah, I think you’re crazy. You’ve got a dead man on your table. When I walked up, I thought we were having an earthquake, but no. It turns out some the fine, Idris-Elba-looking-dude was doing some Hogwarts bullshit and…” She began to breathe heavily, a hand floating up to her head. “Oh Lord. I need to lay down.” She flopped back on my bed, her long braids splaying behind her, eyes on the ceiling.
This was exactly what I was worried about. Ever since Ki and Fang’s father erased her memory after Tara abducted her, I’ve had to hide my new life from Mercedes. Lucky for the truth, but not so lucky for our relationship, she’d been away at college, and we hadn’t really talked other than texts and DMs. But when she’d told me she wanted to stay at my house for Thanksgiving to rekindle our friendship, I jumped at the chance. And feared it. How could I hide what I’d become? How could I explain my father’s worsening condition and the four strapping boys now flooding my house twenty-four-seven? But how could I say no? She was my best friend.
Still, I had wanted to keep it all hidden. Or at least, ease her into a few aspects of my life.
Then she walked in at the worst possible moment.
I lay back on the bed beside her, our arms lightly touching. How many times had we done this at sleepovers, or while getting ready to go out to some high school party or activity? How had it gone from silly talks about makeup and what boys were going to be there to me explaining I was a dragon warden? Oh, and by the way, magic exists and there’s an evil force out there wanting to kill us, and I can turn into a magenta lizard, so that’s cool.
I blew out a breath and started. “There’s a lot of things you don’t know about my life. But I want you to. If you’re willing to suspend disbelief. A lot of disbelief.”
She leaned up on her elbow and her eyes scanned my face. “Lila, when you said nothing was happening at home, this is not what I was expecting. You didn’t tell me anything. How could you keep all this from me? We used to tell each other everything.”
It hit me like a blow to the chest. I’d built a wall between us. Me. Not the distance or the fact that her parents had moved her away. I’d done it. Mercedes had begged me to come visit her at college over and over. I’d made excuses. She’d offered to come home and visit and I’d put her off. Sure, I was scared for her safety. She had been abducted and nearly killed by Tara Palmer and worrying that Mercedes was dead had nearly buried me. But it was more than that. I hadn’t wanted her to see what I’d become. Would she even like me like this? A… freak of nature?
Tears formed in my eyes and I wiped them away with the back of my hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you away.”
She gripped my arm, her hand warm on my cold skin. “You’re my best damn friend, Lila. Don’t do it again.”
Pulling me into a hug, she held me for a long time. It felt like coming home.
Then she leaned back, holding me at arm’s length.
“Tell me everything, but first, I’m going to need you to start with Mr. ‘I’m so fine’ Black Rock down there.”
Chapter 3
“I know you told me to suspend my disbelief,” Mercedes said, “but you mentioned nothing about having to be Looney Toons to believe any of it.” Her brows were raised, her eyes were wide with incredulity, and her mouth was twisted and pouty at the same time.
In short, she thought I was off my rocker.
It’d taken me over an hour to tell Mercedes everything. From how the memories of the kidnapping had been erased from her mind, to how I’d become a warden and then a dragon. To her credit, she listened intently, asking questions here and there as if she were on her way to believing me, but apparently I’d lost her when I mentioned I could turn into a magenta dragon.
“I don’t blame you for looking at me as if you’re constipated,” I said with a shrug. “It’s a lot to take in.”
She relaxed her features into a non-constipated expression. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to need proof. This is just—”
Someone cleared his throat at the door, cutting her off. It was Fang, looking grim.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he said, “but Black Rock would like to talk to you before he leaves.”
“What?” I stood up from the bed. “He’s leaving?” I pushed past Fang, rushing toward the steps.
“Hi, I’m Fang,” I heard him introduce himself to Mercedes, though I didn’t hear the rest because I was taking the stairs two at a time. Black
Rock could not just leave.
I marched into the kitchen. The smell of disinfectant stung my nose. I searched the room for traces of blood, but found none. The boys had done an excellent job cleaning. (Too bad they couldn’t do that with the toilet seat.) Still, I eyed the kitchen table with a frown. I was pretty sure I’d never be able to eat on it again. We’d have to find a new one at a yard sale or something. Pickles was under the table, sniffing the floor and tiptoeing daintily. He didn’t seem to like the bad vibe left in here either.
Pushing images of the dead man out of my mind, I continued into the living room where everyone had congregated. Santiago was standing by the window, peering out. Tom and Ki sat at the edge of the sofa, their knees bouncing anxiously in unison. Black Rock stood in front of the bookshelf in the corner, examining the titles.
My gaze darted around, searching for Dad.
“I put him to bed,” Ki said as if reading my thoughts. “He’s fine.”
“Thank you, Ki.” I was so grateful to him for always looking out for Dad even though it wasn’t his responsibility. He had a huge giving heart, full of empathy like no one I’d ever met.
Black Rock turned away from the books and faced us.
I searched his stern, worried expression. “Fang said you wanted to talk to me.”
As if on cue, Fang and Mercedes appeared by my side.
Black Rock circled around to the recliner and sat. “Yes, Warden.”
Mercedes snickered at the name. I threw a warning glance in her direction, and she tightened her mouth into a thin line.
“I must warn you,” Black Rock said. “Your territory isn’t safe. You must be careful.”
Tom and I exchanged a glance. His blue eyes shone with distrust and seemed to carry their own warning against the Dragon Conciliatory leader.
“What happened to that man?” I asked. “And don’t tell me you don’t know and you just randomly happened to find him in the forest. I don’t buy it.”
The muscles in Black Rock’s strong jaw jumped as he seemed to consider what to say next. “It’s conciliatory business.”
“Not if it’s in my territory.”
Black Rock’s eyes shifted towards Mercedes, and they seemed to say “there’s a human in the room.” As if to affirm she wasn’t going anywhere, Mercedes strolled further into the room and positioned herself behind the sofa where Tom and Ki were sitting. She crossed her arms in answer to Black Rock’s cold stare. I’m not going anywhere, Mister, I almost heard her say.
“I trust everyone in this room,” I said in a tone that suggested that the only person I didn’t trust was him.
“That’s fair,” Black Rock said with a sigh. “I’ll tell you what I can, though it’s not much at the moment. All we know is that many ferals have turned up dead in different areas around the northwest…Vancouver, Washington State, Oregon. We are also seeing something similar in our territory. As it happens, the untamed Tara brought here were from a den south of Seattle. That man,” he pointed past me and toward the kitchen table, “he was one of them, though he had escaped from Tara at some point, I suppose.”
“Untamed stick to their own,” Black Rock continued, “and I don’t think they would have ever asked us to get involved if so many of them hadn’t turned up dead with more showing signs of infection.”
“Turned up dead?” Tom echoed. “What? Just like that?”
“I don’t know that I would call it just like that,” Black Rock said. “It’s a gruesome death, painful and inexplicable. They grow very violent in the end, almost rabid.”
“So…” I tentatively said, “you found him in that shape? Bleeding from…” I gestured toward my face, the image of all the blood pouring from the man’s nostrils, eyes, mouth, and ears making me too queasy to finish my sentence.
Black Rock nodded. “We are lucky he didn’t hurt anyone when he was in his rabid state. Thankfully your woods are very thick and sparsely inhabited.”
“Where did you find him?” Tom asked, his voice full of suspicion.
For a moment, it seemed as if Black Rock would not answer but, at last, he said, “Your mother’s property. It seemed the wretched creature had been surviving on the decomposing bodies of… dogs.”
My stomach roiled.
Mercedes gasped and took a step back. She smacked right into Fang who had moved to stand behind her. “Uh, sorry,” she mumbled.
“No worries,” Fang said, gently patting her forearm and giving her a huge smile.
Who in the world could smile after hearing such a disgusting thing?
Eating decomposing dogs, ugh!
Tara Palmer, the evil vet, had experimented on dogs and buried them in the woods behind her house. Untamed or not, that man must have been desperate and crazy to do that. He would have had to dig the dogs up, too.
Tom lowered his head as if what his mother had done was somehow his fault. Would he ever stop feeling this way? I surely hoped so. He was nothing like Tara.
“Do you know what caused him to get in that shape?” Ki asked.
Black Rock rubbed the back of his neck. “For all intents and purposes and based on what little we know, the illness seems to behave as if it were caused by a virus.”
“A virus?!” Ki asked, alarmed. “And you brought him here?”
“There’s nothing to worry about. It only seems to affect the untamed.”
“Seems?” Fang scoffed. “Well, that’s a relief.”
“Tara did this to them, didn’t she?” Tom lifted his head and met Black Rock’s gaze. “It’s more of her twisted experiments.”
Black Rock shrugged. “It’s very likely, though we have no concrete evidence of any kind. We’ve only begun to study the disease. A couple of victims have survived with our help, and we’re trying to understand how and why. Maybe there is a cure.”
“You need to find Tara!” I was still angry at Black Rock for allowing her to escape. He’d promised he’d capture her, but so far, she had outsmarted him and his mighty conciliatory.
At least, he had the decency to look embarrassed. “She’s proved to be smarter than I expected. It’s like she’s always a step ahead of us. But we haven’t given up. We’ll find her. For now…” he stood, stretching to his impressive height, “I must return and fulfill my duties with the conciliatory.”
Black Rock made his way across the cramped living room and walked past me into the adjacent kitchen. Speechless, we turned to watch him reach the door and pull it open. I felt there was something I should say, some other question I should ask, but it seemed my words had dried up.
Before exiting, however, he caught my eye and said, “Warden, may I talk to you in private?”
I blinked, taken by surprise. Tom stood up from the sofa and walked to my side. He seemed about to answer Black Rock’s request with a raised middle finger.
Gently, I placed a hand on Tom’s arm. “It’s fine.”
I’ll call you if I need you, I said through our private channel. He seemed to get the message because he relaxed, and walked to the coffee maker to start a fresh brew.
I nearly hugged him. I really needed some caffeine in my veins to help me process some of this crap. Dragging my feet, I followed Black Rock outside after giving Mercedes a reassuring glance. Poor girl. God only knew what thoughts were whirling inside her head by now. Hopefully she hadn’t decided to get another memory reboot and run back to her parents, wishing she’d never returned to Summers Lake. I feared I had some serious damage control to do when I went back in.
Leaving the door cracked open, I joined Black Rock outside. The stir of the November wind through the trees filled the night with soft rustling while the beam from the lighthouse silently swiveled, illuminating the lake.
Black Rock waited for me. His light jacket was stained with blood and, for once, he didn’t appear as put together and self-confident as he always did.
“What do you want?” I asked, unable to keep the biting tone out of my voice. But really, he’d brought a dying man to
my house, what did he expect? Confetti?
“I wanted to apologize for bringing trouble into your home,” he said as if he’d been reading my thoughts. He sounded so contrite and appeared so lost that I felt sorry for him.
“Oh, it’s okay. I mean… what else were you supposed to do?” I rambled. “You were here, and we were here, so it sort of made sense.”
What? Seriously? I might as well have invited him to bring every dying vagabond he found lying around. Peely Point Lighthouse, we dispose of bodies for free. I could almost see the slogan shining in neon letters above the door. Sheesh.
“Thank you for understanding,” he said, taking a step closer.
I lifted my chin a fraction and made a point of keeping eye contact. I didn’t need to stare into his wide chest and remember it in that unbuttoned shirt the last time he’d visited.
“I also wanted to…” he went on tentatively.
Oh, God. Please don’t push another lock of hair behind my ear.
“Um… to ask you about your father,” he finished.
I blinked. My father?
“I noticed he looks… unwell.” Black Rock took my hand and squeezed it.
Stunned by his touch, I could do nothing but stare into his golden eyes and soak in the warmth from his large hand.
His thumb started tracing circles over my the back of my fingers. “I suspect he went through a lot while Tara held him captive and, perhaps, regular doctors can’t understand what ails him.”
“They sure don’t. They insist all of his tests appear normal,” I said. His touch was doing weird thing to my internal thermostat, and it took all my focus to answer. “Um… but Santiago’s father tried everything before he left and nothing helped.”
“Ivy—you might remember her after the battle at Mirror Island—she is the most powerful dragon healer I know and might be able to help him.”
“Really?” My heart leapt with hope.
He nodded once, then caressed my cheek with the back of his free hand. “Since you last saw her, she’s been using medical science exclusively, not magic, but it’s advanced, far beyond what humans can do. I know he is the only family you have left, so I’d like to offer our help. You are incredibly strong.” His voice turned low and husky. “You have been through so much in such a short time. The way you have responded is… admirable. I tremble to imagine what you’ll become in time.”
Perilous: The Dragon’s Creed Series Book 3 Page 2