by Hati Bell
Okay, so the story had a kind of an open ending. She hated those. “So, all this hate between dragons and dryads is because Mathilda couldn’t make a choice?”
Mrs. Hofland threw the book on the coffee table. “That’s one way to look at it. Fact is that whoever married Mathilda could rightfully add a huge piece of land to his borders. Both sides claimed that it had been their prince who had won the one-on-one fight. There wasn’t really a winner in what later became to be known as the start of the now-centuries-old feud between dryads and dragons. However, there was one big losing side: the goblins. They saw everything they had built go up in smoke and turn to ashes.”
Amber stared at Mathilda’s drawing. It was hard to imagine that too much love had been, and still was, the cause of so much pain.
Jimmy got up and stretched, looking bored. “Sounds like a dime-a-dozen sappy Hollywood movie to me.”
His mother looked exhausted. “There are no records left of what happened to Mathilda after the invasion. I did find out that the newly crowned queen disappeared after the tragedy with the princes. Some say she entered a nunnery as penance for the war she’d caused. Others claim she took her own life in Exmoor Park and her ghost still roams the forest.” Mrs. Hofland’s eyes drooped shut.
Amber got up. It was time to go home, but not before she had asked one last question. “Mrs. Hofland, what exactly is the Scale?”
Her question startled the professor. “Who told you about that?”
“Meg has been there.”
A snort followed. “I sincerely doubt that. The Scale, or Witches’ Scales if you will, stems from the sixteenth century. With the courtesy of King Charles V, the Dutch town of Oudewater offered someone who was accused of witchcraft a chance of proving his or her innocence by being weighed on the Scale. After the weighing, and for the right price of course, you received an official certificate proclaiming you were not a witch. Nobody was ever found to be an actual witch by the Scale. It is said that the scale has an odd effect on supes. It would absorb the non-human part and bottle it, ready to be transferred. There are rumors of a black market dealing in such items, but no proof has been found to the market’s existence. Also, Meg doesn’t strike me as the type to give up her gift for any price, now does she?”
“She might not, but I would.”
Mrs. Hofland grabbed Amber’s wrist. “You can’t think like that. Even if somehow this urban legend is true, it wouldn’t be safe.”
A grim vision filled Amber’s mind.
A high table, like a judge’s bench. Her sitting in front of it. People behind it in black robes. One of them was Mrs. Hofland. The man in the middle couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than a dragon. She shivered when she saw glass-green eyes fixed on her. She had seen those eyes before.
Amber quickly pulled away her hand. “I’m sorry I upset you. I’d better get going.”
Jimmy pulled his mother up and was directing her to her bedroom. “See you later.”
After a goodbye to his mother, she left. The bus stop was only a ten-minute walk. She was studying the board, looking at what time the bus would arrive when a shadow fell over her.
When she turned around, she was no longer alone.
TWELVE
The first thing Amber felt, being cornered by a group of dragons, was panic.
“So, this is the tree-hugger who’s been after my Drake?” A set of furious eyes bored into her as a raven-haired girl towered over her.
“I think you’re confusing me with someone else,” Amber said, genuinely surprised.
“Cat?” the brunette asked, and looked at the girl next to her having a smoke. Amber suddenly remembered the girl from the first day of the new semester.
“It’s her, Jade. Amber O’Neill, the dryad with the skin disease. I’ve heard she trembles when you touch her.”
Amber tried not to show any fear, while the group of dragons boxed her in. She couldn’t see any further than the inside of the bus stand.
“You should pull out her hair for even looking at him,” a girl who barely reached Jade’s shoulder suggested.
“And stab out her eyes,” another one added.
Amber stared at Cat. “What have I ever done to you?” she asked, indignant.
“A skin disease, you say? How utterly disgusting and also… interesting,” Jade purred. Her hand hovered over Amber’s face. “Look at that, she’s actually trembling like a scared little kitten.” The rest of the group snickered as if on cue.
“Stay away from me,” Amber snapped, trying to pull back. Sadly, there was nowhere to go.
“Or what? This is my part of town and your kind isn’t welcome here. Who’s gonna save you this time? Your knight in shining armor?”
Somewhere from behind Jade’s back an amused laugh sounded. “Never thought of myself as a knight before, let alone a shining one, but, to answer your question, that would be me.”
Amber searched for his tall build when she heard Logan’s most welcome voice. He towered over the girls that surrounded her. His gray, wool coat was like a beacon showing her a safe harbor.
“Let her go, Jade,” he said, sounding bored. “You don’t want to piss me off, now do you?”
Jade stepped back and Amber released a breath. The inside of the bus stop was beginning to feel claustrophobic and she felt a headache forming behind her eyes.
“Hi, Logan,” Cat said softly. Her eyes looking at him with stars in them. Amber wanted to snort. At least that explained the hate she got from the girl.
Jade was less subdued. “Don’t tell me you’re really here to help this skinny little doll. Logan Stark doesn’t save damsels in distress. He eats them alive and when he’s finished with them he just spits them out. Usually before breakfast,” she sneered.
Logan put a hand on his heart, pretending to be hurt, completely ignoring Cat. “Before breakfast? I’m sure you meant before dinner. All I can tell you about this little flower is that I’m forever changed since I’ve met her. My mind is occupied with rainbows and unicorns, and I spend my days drawing hearts with our initials in them. I’m sure you know what that’s like.”
Jade’s eyes spat fire at this sarcasm, but she kept her mouth shut, obviously not willing to take him on.
Logan didn’t waste time waiting for a reaction. He put his hand around Amber’s waist and pulled her from the bus stop straight into his car, leaving the group behind. She was flooded with relief when she sagged in the comfortable car seat.
Once they’d turned a corner, his face lost all humor. “What the fuck made you think you could safely stroll into this part of town? I thought I’d warned you about her.”
Amber returned his frown. She had just escaped from a brawl which would not have ended well for her, the adrenaline still coursing through her body. She wasn’t in the mood for a lecture. “I didn’t come here by myself. Benn brought me. Also, I can’t remember you ever warning me about this Jade person.”
Logan took a left turn, and reached over to fasten her seatbelt. A finger touched her wrist and her cheeks burned when she was bombarded with an image of him-yet again-kissing a woman. This time a beautiful redhead. Was that all he ever thought about?
“First time we met, I said: Jade isn’t going to like this,” he said, his words clipped.
Aha. “Well, I’d already forgotten about that since I’ve had a lot on my mind. And how was I supposed to know what you’d meant? You didn’t explain that Drake had a crazy girlfriend.” Something he hadn’t mentioned himself.
He seemed to ponder that for a second. “Jade doesn’t like you and she would gladly rip out your roots,” he said in a serious tone of voice. “Now, you get me?”
“You don’t exactly seem to be on her friends list either,” she shot back.
Logan produced a wolf’s grin. “Let’s keep it at this: Jade isn’t used to being turned down.”
Obviously she was missing something. “I thought she was into Drake?”
“She is, but as with all scorned
women, she tried to get back at him in the most obvious way. By trying to showing him what he was missing by hitching up with another guy. Unfortunately I wasn’t willing to play along her little game.”
“Oh. She tried to seduce you,” she said, understanding dawning. Okay, she had not seen that one coming. It was like living in a soap.
“Yep, but she had bet on the wrong dragon.”
She cast him a sidelong glance to see if he was making fun at her, but his face remained serious. “Of course, she hadn’t expected that, considering your womanizer rep,” she guessed.
Logan fake-shivered, as if someone had put chewing gum into his perfect mohawk. “There’s no way I’d betray my brother over a woman. Not that Drake would even care about her anymore, but it’s the principle of it. No woman is worth a night of fun if she actually believes she managed to pull one over you, in her ploy to get back at her ex.”
Not exactly words that raised much sympathy towards her ‘knight in a shining car’ but still, he did manage to get her out of trouble. “I’m sure one day you’ll meet someone who… is worthy of that,” was all she could come up with.
Logan’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I doubt that.”
“So, your last name is Stark,” she changed the subject.
“That’s what it says on my passport. According to my mum, it was my father’s only legacy before he took off.” He stopped at a red light and raised a brow at her. “What? No false sympathy? An offer to become the woman who will fix my broken, fatherless youth?”
She sincerely doubted if he would appreciate her sympathy. “The way I see it, one parent is better than none. I’m merely surprised to hear that, like James Dean, you didn’t get along with your father as well. You remind me of him,” she admitted. That seemed to catch him off guard.
“You think I look like James Dean?”
“Yep. James Byron Dean.”
“I know who he is. I’m just surprised you have such fantasies about me. Less surprised that this arouses me, though.”
That’s what you get if you don’t shut your hole.
She ignored his assessment that she found him hot. She’d have to be blind and dead not to. He was cocky enough without her admitting that, though. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” she mumbled.
“‘Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today,’” Logan quoted. “From Mister Sex Bomb himself.”
“You can quote James Dean?” She feigned being shocked.
“My mum used to play in his musical.”
This piece of unexpected info perked her right up. “Your mum’s a musical star?”
“It was a long time ago, so don’t be getting any ideas in that pretty head of yours. You’d better focus on other things.”
“Such as?”
“Has my job as Cupid been fruitful, or was my kiss a waste of time? Not that I minded it.”
She sent him an acid look. “If you’re referring to your half-assed attempt to show Drake what he’s been missing, you failed.”
“I never fail,” he claimed. “If a plan doesn’t come together the first time around, I simply adapt it, so the second time it can’t go wrong.”
“Well, I’m sorry to have disappointed you. Apparently you’re not that great at playing games yourself.”
“Don’t make me actually put effort into seducing you, Aphrodite.”
With Logan you could never entirely tell if he was being serious or not. “Now who’s the one getting ideas? You know I would only break your heart,” she said in what she hoped was a seductive tone of voice. She pouted and fluttered her eyelashes in an exaggerated fashion. As expected, her attempt at channeling her inner sex goddess was more comical than sexy because he burst into laughter.
“There’s a first time for everything,” he claimed.
“Are you telling me you’ve never had your heart broken?”
His smile disappeared. “Just once,” he said softly. “Her name was Sandy Zuko. It was a short summer love at the beach, but she’s the only woman I’ve ever loved.”
Who would have thought that even infallible Logan Stark had a heart? “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“No, you’re not,” he rebuked, sounding amused.
Yeah, okay, she wasn’t. “What went wrong?”
Logan stared before him. “She did something unforgivable, so I ended it.” He looked straight at her face. “She kicked my sand castle. I was immediately cured from my crush.”
With his laughter still echoing in her ears, he parked in front of an old cottage.
She quickly got out of the car, before he could suggest she should remain seated. It was the first time she was in this part of town and she was curious.
“I was on my way home to grab my gym bag when I saw you. Be right back.”
That suited her just fine. She wasn’t looking forward to going back to the bus stop where she could encounter Jade and her crew again.
She was surprised to see a blonde woman, who was clearly Logan’s mother, waiting for them at the front door. Mrs. Stark wore a red robe and had a glass with a brown substance in her hand. The night was starting to turn out as a remarkable one of intoxicated parents.
“Don’t hide her from me, love. You never bring guests home,” Logan’s mum called.
Logan didn’t say anything. He just kissed his mother on the cheek and went inside.
Amber remained standing on their doorstep, trying not to be insulted that he hadn’t introduced her. Maybe he was afraid that his mother would disapprove him hanging out with a dryad. After all, this was the Fire Mountain. Her kind was as welcome in this part of town as germs in a hospitable or pus in a wound.
It was obvious where Logan got his looks from. Mrs. Stark was a beautiful woman. Her thick bob with bangs reminded her of silent movie actresses.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Stark,” she greeted her.
“Yes, very nice,” the older woman said and she hold out her hand.
Amber only hesitated for a second before she took her hand. “You’re Gaby Grayson, the musical star,” she said, excited, trying not to sound like a groupie. Grayson must be her stage name.
Logan’s mum cocked a thin eyebrow. “And you are?”
“Amber O’Neill. I’m a…” To call her and Logan friends was a stretch. “I go to the same college as your son,” she finished her sentence.
“You’re Emily’s daughter. The dryad girl with the gift.” Mrs. Stark’s eyes looked glazed, but her mind was clearly as sharp as a razor.
“You knew my mum?” Amber asked, somewhat surprised. It was the first time she’d come across an old acquaintance of her mother who was a dragon.
“Oh, yes, Emily O’Neill was a remarkable woman, for a dryad. She protested against the Council’s order banishing certain supes from Somerset. Emily believed in co-existence between supes. She was so passionate and brave. I sang about it, but Emily O’Neill was the one who made the ultimate sacrifice for love.”
For some reason, this brought tears into Amber’s eyes. Mrs. Stark raised her hand as if she wanted to give her a pat on the shoulder, but changed her mind and shoved her hand into her robe.
“I’m okay. You just reminded me of my mother.”
“No one has ever said that to me before,” she said, sounding amused. “Please, call me Gaby.”
Logan came outside, a bag in his hand. “I leave you alone with her for two minutes and you’ve already made her cry, I see,” he said.
Gaby Stark sipped from her glass. “I reminded your girlfriend of her mother.”
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Of course she isn’t, love,” his mother said in a placating tone. “She’s far too innocent and probably also too smart for your taste.”
Logan’s face was void of expression when he beelined for his car.
His mother scrunched up her nose. Without a word of goodbye, she spun around and walked inside. The door slammed shut behind her.
Amber hu
rried back into the car. Logan turned on the radio, his face hard as stone, and cranked the engine. He was obviously regretting her meeting his mother.
She felt like she had to say something to break the tension. “I like your house.”
“Small talk, O’Neill? I expected better from you. Wanna discuss the weather as well?”
His sarcasm stung, but she decided to ignore it. Clearly something was going on with him. “I’m sorry.”
He stepped on the gas, hurling the car forward. “Don’t be ridiculous, feeling sorry. I don’t want your pity. You’re not used to people getting in your face and telling you how it is, are you?”
Amber was done with his surly attitude. “Hey, how about this for telling it how it is to you? Your roof really needs a paint job and it wouldn’t kill you to mow your lawn. It looks like a freaking jungle,” she exaggerated.
Logan floored the accelerator, propelling the car to an alarming speed. “Half the time my mum doesn’t even know whether she’s standing on the front lawn or in the back yard. I don’t think she gives a crap about the grass and weeds.”
He misunderstood her on purpose. She turned up the volume of the radio in a silent protest.
Dawn had set in by the time they arrived at her house. The lights were out, indicating her father was still at work. Bryan spent every free minute in the library and Ian must be at football practice. She grabbed her bag and was about to get out of the car when Logan spoke.
“That’s the second time I saved your ass,” he said, his arms loosely on the steering wheel. “But don’t fret about it. I’ll collect my reward afterwards.”
She knew what he was trying to tell her and hoped his next assignment wasn’t calculus, for that wasn’t her strong suit. “Thanks, Logan, for everything.” Not only had he saved her from Jade’s clutches but he was also the reason why she had met one of her idols tonight.