The Queen's Wings

by Jamie K. Schmidt

  “You’re an idiot,” I whispered to my reflection.

  “He’s my brother,” I whispered back. But my reflection was different. Green, blazing eyes stared back at me.

  “Arianna?” I clutched the sheet to my chest.

  “Jack would have been more appropriate, but my control-freak brother had to see to the matter himself.” My reflection glared at me. I reached up to smooth my hair down. Flying through the jungle gave you serious rat’s nests.

  “Oh my God, you’re haunting me!” I poked at the mirror. The mirror image just crossed her arms and glared at me.”Possessing you, actually.”

  “So I’m not a dragon. I’m just a human with a really bad acid reflux.” I was losing my mind. That was the only explanation.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I couldn’t meld into you if you weren’t a dragon. Now that you’ve freed my bones I can take a more active role in this investigation.”

  “It was you! You who made me say all those stupid things.”

  She hissed at me. “It’s not stupid to speak your mind.”

  Reed knocked on the door. “Carolyn, are you all right?”

  “No, I’m not all right. Get dressed and leave me alone,” I said a little hysterically, or maybe it was Arianna talking. I wasn’t sure who was who anymore.

  “Carolyn, get a grip,” Arianna, my reflection, said to me.

  “My brother was right,” I said. “I’m loony tunes.”

  “Your brother is a jerk. I can see all your memories,” she said. “Remember when he popped the heads off all your Barbies and replaced them with his G.I. Joe soldier’s heads?”

  I nodded. “He’s the weirdo.”

  “Cobra wishes he had legs like that.”

  “So do I,” I sniffled and glanced down.

  “I need your help to find my killers. My brother can’t know I’m guiding this.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s not allowed.” She narrowed her eyes. “I’m supposed to give up all my essence and magic into the weave.”

  “Why don’t you want to go into the weave?”

  “The weave is an energy source for all the dragons. Kind of like photosynthesis on plants. Dragons bask in the weave. But the weave is getting dimmer because there are fewer dragons being hatched. Something is stopping females from being born or, in your case, achieving your full potential.”

  “Why hasn’t anyone else sensed you in me?”

  “Because the males can’t see the aftereffects of magic. We need to go find the bastards that killed me.”

  “How?”

  “Just like my mother said.”

  I just didn’t get it. “What would they gain from stopping the dragons and weakening the weave?”

  “I don’t know,” Arianna said. “But there was a traitor all those years ago. And now that their spell is weakening, I think they’re involved in the objects being stolen from the dragons’ hoards.”

  “Why? What’s the connection?” I scratched my head, fascinated that Arianna mirrored my action.

  “I need to see a list of what was stolen, but I have some theories.”

  “I can help with that. Do you think Reed will let us see the list?”

  “Maybe. We won’t find out in this bathroom.”

  I frowned. “My clothes are outside, with your very hot brother.”

  “Jack is much nicer.”

  While I couldn’t argue with that, I also couldn’t deny which one my body liked better.

  “Ask him if my mother told him to seduce you,” Arianna ordered.

  “What are you saying? That he’s just not into me?”

  “Ask him.”

  “Carolyn?” Reed said from behind the door. “Who are you talking to?”

  Arianna raised an eyebrow at me in challenge. I hadn’t realized how snotty I looked when I did that. “Did Esmeralda tell you to fuck me?” I called out, keeping my eye on Arianna.

  There was a long silence. Her I-told-you-so grin got on my nerves.

  “No,” he finally said.

  I narrowed my eyes and stalked over to the door. Opening it a crack, I glared out at him. “Did she imply that it might be a good idea?”

  Reed’s face was unreadable.

  “Don’t you like me?” I asked in a small voice and then hated myself. Never give anyone an opening to hurt you.

  His face softened. “Of course I do.”

  I checked his eyes to make sure he wasn’t lying. I didn’t see any contempt in them. My fists unclenched, and I took a shaky breath. “Why did you start fooling around with me?”

  “I liked the feel of your body when I was massaging you. You seemed equally enthusiastic.” He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Why shouldn’t we enjoy ourselves?”

  My face heated. “I’ll be right back.”

  I slammed the door and locked it. Storming back to the mirror, I shook my finger at it. “Don’t do that to me. He likes me.”

  “It doesn’t mean he’s not under orders to keep you compliant and happy.”

  “I want to be happy. I deserve a little hot dragon sex.” I lowered my voice. “Are you going to always be around?”

  “I just want vengeance before I go into the weave,” she pleaded. “And maybe the chance to live a little. I was killed before I could do anything on my own. I’ve been sentient for a thousand years, just watching the world grow up around me. You’re the first of my kind to come close enough for me to touch. And you brought me in contact with my parents and brother. I owe you so much. But I need to do this. If you help me, it may help you become a full dragon.”

  She batted my eyelashes at me.

  “I’ll help you,” I said, “but it’s going to take some getting used to having you in my head.”

  “I’ve been in your head a while. I have more control over my powers now that I’ve been freed. Sorry about your house.”

  I shrugged. “That’s nothing compared to what happened to you. What did happen?”

  Arianna frowned. “I don’t remember much, thankfully. I was in the rookery with the unhatched eggs and some of my brothers. Two men came in. Definitely human. My brothers went to protect the eggs. I went for help and they grabbed me and stuffed me into a bag. The next thing I knew I was on an altar in the woods, where your house would be built many, many years later. They were part of a cult. There was a lot of chanting. I was bled out as they cast a spell. My body died. You saw where it was buried, but my soul remained.”

  Her loneliness cut into me, dotted with fear and confusion. Over those emotions was anger and determination. I could relate to the loneliness and isolation. Whenever I felt lost or alone, I could always lose myself in a book. Arianna hadn’t had that luxury. They killed her so all the other Queens and I could never achieve our true potential. That shit stopped now.

  “Okay,” I said. “Let’s go be bait.”

  Chapter Nine

  Ninth Rule of Dragons: The Queen is always right, even if she isn’t

  I took the shuttle bus from the hotel to the main drag of Cozumel, the conversation with Reed still ringing in my ears. I came out of the bathroom with the great plan of pretending the horizontal mambo never happened. He let it slide, probably because I hit him with my plan for outing the cult and I think his brain exploded a bit.

  “I am going to be right next to you the entire time,” he said, when he realized that I had Esmeralda’s backing and the mission was going down with or without him.

  “You can’t.” I was proud of myself for maintaining my patience. “People know you. Or at least they’ve seen you around and know you’re a dragon.”

  “I can disguise myself.”

  “But you can’t disguise that you’re a dragon.” I gestured at him. “You’re too…you.”

  “As the word is getting out about you, you’re placing yourself in great danger. It’s not just the cult I’m worried about. In fact, I think the cult is long dead. Their spell is unraveling. You’re proof of that.” He crossed his arms and glowered at m
e.

  “You have proof?” I considered running again, but there was no way he could lock me down this close to Esmeralda. Could he?

  “The labs found an anomaly in your glands.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “It means you’re developing poison sacs—not unlike mine.”

  I sat down on the bed. “Shut the front door.” I guess Reed’s guys were more on the ball than Zhang’s. They never came close to proving I was going to be a dragon.

  “You are vulnerable right now. You should be protected, not throwing yourself in danger.” Reed paced around the hotel room.

  “Would you be saying this if the lab results came back different?”

  He didn’t answer, which of course was an answer. I watched him stalk around the room a few times.

  “I’m doing this,” I said. “If only to appease Esmeralda.”

  Arianna snorted.

  Reed’s hand tightened into a fist. “If I had my way—”

  “I’d be in Paisley locked down like a criminal.” I glared at him. Let him try and talk his way out of that one.

  “Who told you that?” Again, he wasn’t denying anything.

  “I overheard Jack talking to Zhang.” Standing up so I was toe-to-toe with him, I put my hands on my hips.

  “Jack exaggerates.” Reed dismissed me with a wave of his hand.

  Oh no. You didn’t.

  “He also said that there have been a lot of thefts from the dragon hoards.” I drilled a finger into Reed’s chest. “Could it be related to the cult?”

  Batting it away, he said, “No.”

  Arianna fed me the next lines. “Liar.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me.

  “You think only certain pieces are being stolen from each dragon’s hoard. Whether it’s for a ritual involving all of us or if they’re trying to do something specific, you’re not sure.”

  “You’re pretty good at espionage.” He gave me a grudging smile.

  It paid to have a ghost on your side, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.

  “Maybe I should hire you.”

  Hope danced a jig with delight in my tummy. “Are you serious?”

  “I wish I could be.”

  Delight twisted her ankle and had to sit out the next dance. Okay, time to compromise. “When this is done, I’ll go back to Paisley with the following conditions. I get to see that list of thefts and be allowed to investigate.” I held up a hand. “Under guard of course—just not lock and key.”

  “I don’t like this.” He frowned.

  “You don’t have to. Besides, if the cult is as dead as you say, the only thing we have to worry about is other dragons. We’ve got Esmeralda’s army on our side. It’s no contest.”

  “I’ll be close by.” He pulled me in for a kiss. I did the mental equivalent of holding Arianna’s head under the water and counted to ten. She fought like a spitting cat and I had to break off the kiss too soon. We were going to have to come to an agreement because I liked kissing her brother too much to have her ruin it.

  I peeked out the bus window. Reed said he was going to follow but I was too embarrassed to ask him if that would be in dragon form or not. Probably not. It was hard to be stealthy when you were the size of a bus and had long, sharp teeth. I shivered a bit, remembering his teeth on other parts of me.

  Focus.

  “Oh shut up, Arianna,” I said, earning a few stares from other passengers. I pressed my hand to my ear and nodded. It was a thin line if you were a mental patient talking to yourself, or if you had your Bluetooth in your ear.

  I decided to avoid Senor Frog’s, and Carlos and Charlie’s. There were too many college students. I didn’t think a dragon snatcher would lurk there, unless they were trying to score. So I headed to Diamonds International. It wasn’t hard to find. There were like five of them on the same street. And what better way to attract attention than to act like I was trying to add to my hoard.

  Of course, I didn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. I didn’t even have a home unless you counted the various ones Reed already offered me. So I had to rely on just window-shopping.

  “Can I help you, senora?” the clerk asked. She could have been a runway model. Just seeing her perfect skin was enough to make me break out.

  “I’d like to see one of your dragon stones,” I said searching for a shiny black one.

  “Lo siento, but I cannot take them out of the case.” She glanced around and I saw her catch the eye of an older man. He glided over, and I just hoped he wasn’t Ramone’s second cousin or something. He smelled like money, crisp and slightly dirty. “And only a dragon can handle one. Perhaps, I could interest you in the tanzanite globes. They are very similar and aren’t quite as expensive.”

  “Oh, money is no object,” I said and I at least hoped it wasn’t. Maybe I should have asked the Queen for an account. Yeah, that will be the day.

  “Put it on my mother’s account,” I heard my voice say. I pressed my lips together. Damn it, Arianna. That’s playing your cards a little too out from your chest. Hell, we were practically letting it all hang out.

  “And who is your mother?” the man asked, opening the case and taking out one of the dragon stones. When I was first studying under Niall, I kept calling them dragon balls.

  Dragon stones, Niall would emphasize, are scales that have been shed and rolled up to form spheres. They are highly prized as ornaments, but due to the slight magical essence they have, humans can’t wear them against their skin. They are also very rare. But I was right that a high-end shop like this one would carry them.

  “Perhaps you’d like to feel one,” the dragon said and with a malicious grin dropped the stone into my open palm. “And your mother is…?”

  “Esmeralda,” I said, holding the ball up to the light. It was black, and I could see a void where all colors were absorbed.

  The clerk and her boss gaped at me with wide-open eyes. Even if a human was stupid enough to claim kinship to the Brood Mother, by now one would be covered in hives from the contact of the stone.

  “What is your name?” the man asked.

  “Arianna,” I said, then clenched my hand around the stone when I realized I wasn’t the one to say it.

  “The lost one? Child, I am Balthazar. I remember when you were hatched. Where have you been all these years?”

  I smiled and handed back the stone. “I’ve been away, but now I’m back. It’s lovely, but not exactly what I was looking for.”

  He reluctantly took it back. “Is there something else I can get for you?”

  “A tiara?” It slipped out before I could stop it.

  Now, you’re just being ridiculous. I told her. Arianna ignored me, and we happily followed Balthazar to the diamonds section.

  About a half hour later, I walked out with a lovely diamond tiara. I insisted on an emerald in the center, because Arianna and I were Green Westerns and all. The fact Balthazar wouldn’t accept my credit card gave me a twinge of dismay. Nothing is ever free. But it also meant I wouldn’t have to charge seventeen grand on my Amex. A part of me was worried a pickpocket would try to take it off my head, but Arianna steered us to La Ultima Moda, which had designer togs with prices that made me shake my head.

  Apparently word leaked out and I left with some very nice hand-painted cotton dresses and silk scarves without paying for them either. I was about to have a talk with Arianna when a government vehicle roared down the street and soldiers began piling out with machine guns. I backed up into the alley, which was my first mistake. The second mistake came when I turned to see three large men carrying Tasers. I stood my ground and tried to roar acid at them. But I hadn’t eaten that poorly and three bolts lit into my nice new dress and I dropped to the ground. I could hear Arianna screaming in my head before they clubbed me unconscious.

  …

  When I came to, I was tied to a chair. Arianna was sobbing in the corner of my mind. I wasn’t far behind her. My head ached, and my brui
ses had bruises. When was the last time I had the shit kicked out of me like that? Oh yeah, I remember. Never.

  “Hello? Is anyone here?” I whispered and then coughed at the dryness of my throat. My chest was on fire and I was having a hard time feeling my legs. I understood why Arianna was inconsolable. We were in a dark room illuminated only by candles, but in the dim light I could make out an altar and a pentagram on the floor. Dragon runes were scrawled over the walls and the impending presence of something awful suffocated me. I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. My face hurt. My head hurt.

  We are going to die!

  Arianna, I thought. You need to snap out of this. You can read these runes. Tell us what they’re planning.

  “It’s a summoning. They’ve weakened the weave enough to let Nidhogg escape. They’re going to sacrifice us to breach the ties that bind him and solidify the curse.”

  “Who’s Nidhogg?” I asked.

  “The closest thing we dragons have to a god,” she said.

  “Why is he trapped in the weave?”

  “He wanted to be the only dragon on Earth. He made it his mission to kill us all. He was overpowered and locked away.”

  “So if he escapes…?”

  “He’ll hunt and kill all other dragons to extinction,” a man’s voice said from the top of the stairs.

  I guess I was speaking aloud again. “Don’t you think he’ll turn on you, once the dragons are all gone?”

  “If he does, there will be one of him against billions of us.”

  “How did you get into the palace to kidnap me?” Arianna asked in my voice when her rage conquered her fear.

  “Nidhogg’s sons gained favor with the Brood Mother and let our people in.”

  “I will see them dead for it,” I vowed.

  “You will see nothing but the ceiling,” he told me.

  “Oh yeah? Wait until the cavalry arrives.”

  “You mean him?” The man turned on the light, and I blinked as the harsh bulb burned my eyes. In a cage near the altar was Reed.

  “You killed him.” My stomach roiled, acid burning its way up my throat.

  “You can’t change forms,” he told me. “The magic is too strong here.”

  “I don’t have to.” I spit over my shoulder into the knot holding my wrists together.