“You can’t fix what’s broken, mother.” Her anger spent, Adriane slumped back into the chair.
The two Charday women sat quietly, the tick-tock of the kitchen wall clock filling in the silence.
“Adriane,” Willow finally spoke. “Your father has been offered a grant at the Reinholdt Foundation. It’s a very prestigious gallery in Woodstock, New York.”
Adriane sat up. “New York?”
“We plan to buy a house and settle there. You could work with your father on your art. And we could visit Manhattan together—wouldn’t that be exciting?”
“I don’t want to live there!”
Suddenly a huge golden dragon eye covered the kitchen window.
“Mama?” Drake’s voice rumbled in her head.
“Drake, I’m okay!” Adriane’s jewel sparked as she tried to calm the dragon.
The dragon eye slowly inched out of sight as Ozzie, Emily, Kara, Lyra, Ariel, and Zach dragged him off by the tail.
“Adriane?” Willow was staring at the wolf stone. “Where did you get that jewel?”
“I, uh…” Awkwardly, she covered her bracelet. “It was a gift.”
Willow sighed. “You’ve made some kind of connection to this place, Adriane, and frankly, it scares me to death.”
“I…” How much did her mother really know about Ravenswood? How could she talk about something that wasn’t supposed to be real? “I belong here.”
“You belong with your family.”
“What will happen to the preserve if I leave?”
“That’s up to the town council.”
“I have to stay here!” Adriane pleaded.
“Why?”
“To find out…”
“Find out what, Adriane?”
“Who I am.”
A huge dragon eyeball popped in front of the window again, followed by a quick turn of his head, a roar, and a blazing burst of fire.
“What is going on out there?” Willow jumped up and opened the back door.
“Ahhhhh!” Ozzie flew by, tail smoking.
Kara, Emily, and Zach skidded around the corner and barged inside.
“Is everything okay?” Willow asked.
“Couldn’t be better—why?” Kara smiled.
Willow turned to her daughter. “Your father and I leave for New York on Saturday. You need to be packed and ready,” she said quietly, giving Adriane a quick hug.
“Ow.” Ozzie shuffled inside, rubbing his rear end.
Willow glanced at him quickly, then shook her head and walked to the front door. “It was nice to see all of you.”
The warrior watched her mother close the door.
Adriane stomped to the living room and sat on the couch. “What am I going to do? They’re going to make me leave and then turn the preserve over to the council.”
“You can’t leave!” Kara exclaimed.
“We have to do something!” Ozzie declared.
“And we don’t have much time,” Emily added.
Adriane glanced at Kara. “Any more bright ideas, Miss Artypants?”
“As a matter of fact, Morticia, yes.” Kara signaled to the mistwolves, brimbees, and quiffles all pressing their noses to the cottage’s windows. “Group huddle!”
The animals piled inside, cramming through the back door and shuffling through the kitchen. Once again, Adriane’s house was packed with animals.
“Everyone here?” Kara called out.
A loud thud sounded at the front door.
“Who is that?” Emily whispered.
“I thought she left.” Adriane nervously opened the door a crack—revealing a big red dragon snout.
“I help?” Drake asked, peering inside at the over-crowded living room.
“Of course.” She hugged the dragon so hard he started purring like a buzzsaw. “Why don’t you just stay right there,” she said, bringing a few pillows from the couch to prop up his head.
Drake squeezed his massive head through the front door, settling just outside the living room.
Zach turned to Adriane. “Everyone filled me in while you were talking with your mom.”
“We need a plan, but we still don’t know exactly what we’re up against,” Adriane said.
“Maybe we do,” Kara mused, looking at the group. “I think a power crystal landed in the astral planes.”
“Is that even possible?” Emily asked.
“A crystal ended up in the Otherworlds,” Kara pointed out. “It turned the Fairy Realms upside down. It’s doing the same thing to the astral planes.”
“So why is the witch attacking the Ravenswood sylph?” Adriane asked. “What’s the connection?”
“She can’t find the crystal,” Zach exclaimed. “She’s twisting the forest spirit to attract it.”
“Magic attracts magic,” Ozzie reminded them.
“And only a mistwolf could bring the crystal from the spirit world to the real world,” Moonshadow growled.
“Dreamer is a gifted magic tracker,” Adriane said.
“Gifted enough to walk the spirit world without the Spirit Trail,” Dawnrunner said.
“But why Adriane?” Emily asked. “We’re all tied to the magic of Ravenswood.”
Adriane raised her amber wolf stone.
“They get to you, they get Dreamer,” Zach concluded.
“And now he’s all alone!” Adriane began pacing.
Kara had her cell in her hand, beeping up a storm.
“Gran got sick because of all this,” Adriane realized, anger and fear surging through her. “I’m responsible. Ravenswood is going be destroyed because of me.”
“We won’t let that happen,” Zach promised, dragon stone gleaming.
Moonshadow rose. “The mistwolves stand with Ravenswood!”
Adriane knew what she had to do.
“He’s being held at the Amazing Adventures Animal Park,” Kara said, clicking off her phone.
“That’s almost three hours away!” Emily exclaimed.
Adriane walked over and kissed Drake’s nose. “I’d say more like twenty minutes.”
Then she turned and bowed to Moonshadow and Dawnrunner. “I am a warrior, sister of the mistwolves.” The wolf stone reflected the determination in her dark eyes. “And I am going to save my packmate!”
HIS MAGNIFICENT WINGS angled back, Drake dove through light cloud cover, soaring over the sprawling animal park. The four mages huddled on the dragon’s back.
Adriane sat behind Zach, Kara in the rear. In the middle, Emily gazed over the gingko and baobab trees dotting the plains below. “We’re over the African Savannah.”
“Safari so good. Lyra, what can you see?” Kara called out.
Golden wings shimmering against the night, Lyra dropped from the clouds and came up alongside the dragon. Ozzie rode on her back.“The guards are approaching the yak corral.”
“Good.” Kara opened the map from the park’s website on her phone. “There’s a jungle garden behind the aviary. Over that way.”
With a touch from Zach the dragon responded instantly, banking left and gliding low over a panicked herd of zebras.
“Doesn’t seem natural to have so many animals penned up,” the boy observed.
“It’s for their own good,” Emily responded, sounding surprisingly like her mother. “They’re taken care of here, and zoologists do research to learn more about them and how to save them in the wild.”
“It’s so different here.”
“Wait till you see the mall,” Kara said excitedly.
Adriane watched the boy and dragon flying together, perfectly in sync. She recognized the low-slung leather saddle and attaching saddlebags. They once belonged to a griffin named Winddancer, Zach’s former bonded magical animal. Windy had sacrificed himself to save Zach and Adriane. Despite his grief, Zach had opened his heart to Drake.
Adriane turned her attention to the animal park and tried to focus on connecting with her own bonded, Dreamer. But all she got was the buzzing of hundr
eds of different wildlife.
“Six o’clock.” Kara pointed to a large building spiked with a wire-mesh roof. It was next to the main zoo, where animals lived in spacious pens.
“Take us in, Drake.” Zach’s dragon stone pulsed bright red as he guided the dragon over a dark canopy of green trees. “Hold on.”
“Wha-aaaaaaaaht?”
Drake dropped, his huge feet, cushioning the landing as they crunched to a jarring stop. They were in the middle of a dense tropical jungle.
“He said hold on,” Adriane called over Emily’s shoulder as she swung off the dragon.
“Next time, speak up.” The blazing star landed daintily on her pink sneakers, trying to gauge just how muddy this rescue mission could get.
The garden enveloped them in the scent of sweet flowers mingled with the soft mist of the mini rainforest. Chirping of birds filled the air as the larger predators in the aviary squawked out warnings.
“Next time, call a taxi,” the windblown ferret said through chattering teeth. He slid from Lyra’s back as the cat landed gracefully.
The group peered from the garden onto the pathway that circled the aviary. On the far side it forked—one path toward Polar Bear Cove, the other to the Elephant Camp.
Kara checked the map on her phone. “There are administration buildings here, here, and here.”
Emily peered over Kara’s shoulder. “Does it say where the hospital or lab is? That would be where they keep new animals.”
Adriane turned away from her friends and held up her jewel, sending golden rays into the night like a beacon.
“Turn that off!” Kara cried, pulling the warrior’s arm down. “Someone’s going to see that!”
The warrior angrily shook off Kara. “I don’t need a map to find Dreamer.”
“The key word is ‘find him without getting our rear ends caught.’”
“That’s eight words,” Ozzie corrected.
Zach led Drake back into the colorful flora. “Drake, you stay here and hide while we look around, okay?”
Drake snorted, settling his bulk gingerly in a patch of ferns, tail squashing a dozen bushes.
“Lyra, up and at ’em,” Kara ordered. “You see anything with two legs, give me a shout.”
“Right.” The cat spread her wings and took off, disappearing into the night sky.
“Let’s head to the conservation center,” Kara said, heading to the left.
Adriane started walking in the opposite direction.
Ozzie looked from the blazing star to the warrior.
“I’ll go with Adriane.” Zach shrugged, walking off behind the warrior. “Emily and Ozzie, go with Kara.”
“Fine!” Kara called out. “We’ll cover more ground if we split up, anyway.”
The warrior hurried away, dark eyes flashing. Time was slipping away. She shook her jewel and tried to sense Dreamer, pull him to her. Red heat flared over her wrist, and she gasped.
Zach fell into step beside her. “What’s wrong?”
“He’s in trouble.” Adriane spun to face the boy, fighting to control her emotions. “I can feel it.”
“We’ll find him.” Zach looked at her, blue eyes full of understanding.
Adriane fell silent as they walked quickly past a pile of curious lemurs. Her heart pounded, tears welling in her eyes. “In my dreams, I try to save Storm, try to do things differently. But I wake up, and she’s always gone.”
“When Windy died, I kept telling myself there was something I could have done,” Zach said quietly. “If only I’d known a little more magic, or if I’d been able to fly better…”
“You’ve done such an amazing job with Drake,” Adriane said.
“Drake and I share something even more magical than a jewel.”
“What’s that?”
“You.”
Adriane blushed. “Then I’m surprised you can still fly.”
“Dreamer is special—even Moonshadow says so,” Zach said. “And that wolf would rather eat his foot than say something complimentary.”
“I couldn’t help Dreamer, either, could I?” Adriane said quietly.
Zach stopped and took her hand in his. He focused on his dragon stone, adding his magic to hers.
The wolf stone suddenly flashed. Adriane’s eyes went wide as she caught the sounds of ragged breathing, the cold glint of a steel cage.
“I felt something.” Adriane swung her wrist up, trying to hone in on the magic. She sped ahead—and ran smack into Kara.
“Oof!” Kara bounced back into Emily, her unicorn jewel flashing with pinks and reds. “Well?”
Adriane shook her head, jewel fire dying. “I lost him.”
“He’s here somewhere,” Kara stated, polishing her jewel with the sleeve of her black cashmere sweater.
Adriane glared at the blonde girl. “I almost found him until you got in the way!”
“Cool it.” Emily stepped between the two, gently pushing the warrior back. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”
“Where’s Zach?” Ozzie asked, looking around in the dark.
“Great. You lost him, too,” Kara said.
“Over here.” Zach stood outside of the elephant pen. “These are remarkably intelligent animals.”
“Africans,” Emily said, walking to the pen. “You can tell from their ears.” She pointed to the large, droopy ears fluttering like drapes.
“Heads up.” Lyra’s voice suddenly popped in their heads. “Two guards heading your way.”
“What do we do?” Ozzie shuffled back and forth.
“Why not just ask them?” Kara asked sarcastically, pointing to the elephants.
“Good idea,” Emily answered. “Ozzie?”
Ozzie straightened his ferret stone importantly. “Well, I have learned some interesting bytes from Tweek on interspecies communication.”
Ferret stone flashing orange, Ozzie hopped up on the wall that separated the park visitors from the pen. “Hey you!”
The largest elephant turned slowly, dropping a trunk full of hay. Its trunk snaked over and poked Ozzie in the stomach.
“Gah!”
“Try to make contact,” Emily directed.
“I just did!” The ferret took a deep breath and concentrated. Soon his stone glowed bright gold as orange magic shimmered around the elephant.
Ozzie held up a paw and waved. “We come in peace!”
Water blasted from the elephant’s trunk, dousing the ferret.
“FrruFpmph!”
“Send the elephant a visual,” Kara suggested.
Ozzie squeezed his eyes shut. His fur stood straight out as his ferret stone blasted a beam at the elephant.
Emily added a touch of her magic to Ozzie’s as she faced the ten thousand pound pachyderm. “We’re looking for a wolf that was brought here yesterday. Can you help us find our friend?”
The elephant waved his trunk, trumpeting to an ostrich flock next door. An ostrich ran and stuck his head through the next fence over, screeching loudly to a sleeping zebra.
“They’re talking to each other!” the healer exclaimed.
The zebra brayed at the Monkey House. From a tree, a lanky spider monkey hung upside down, chattering at the group.
“The monkey’s got something!” Zach exclaimed.
They ran down the path and stopped in front of a tree-filled pen.
“Ozzie! Quick!” The warrior pushed Ozzie over the barrier and into the monkey pen.
“Gag! I don’t speak monkey!”
The excited monkey grabbed Ozzie, shaking him up and down.
“Help!” Ozzie took off, the monkey chasing him to the far wall that bordered a large pool.
“Now listen here.” Ozzie turned and confronted the monkey. “Let’s discuss this like animals.”
The excited monkey picked up Ozzie and threw him over the fence into a pool.
“Oh no!” Emily cried. “Ozzie?”
Suddenly the ferret appeared above the water, rising on the head of massive hipp
o. Swimming to the far end of its pool, the hippo bellowed loudly and deposited Ozzie back into the elephant cage.
“Okay, the elephant has gotten the message,” Emily confirmed as the group made their way back to the elephant pen.
“Spill it,” the soggy ferret commanded, glaring up at the enormous animal.
The elephant trumpeted into Ozzie’s ear.
“GDOO!” The ferret tumbled back.
“What’d he say?” Adriane asked impatiently.
“He said ‘We’d love some ice cream. When can we leave?’”
“What?” The warrior stared at him. “Where’s Dreamer?”
“Er…” the ferret stammered.
“What did you project to the elephant?” Emily asked.
“Uh… I wanted to appear friendly.”
“You furball!” Kara cried. “You sent an ice cream sundae!”
The monkey had leaped into a tree, gibbering and pointing excitedly across the path toward the reptile house.
“Oh no,” Ozzie said. “I am not talking to a snake!”
“There’s a facility behind it,” Emily said.
“Hurry, the guards are coming!” Lyra shouted, swooping by on her patrol.
“Let’s go.” Adriane sprinted past the Reptile Hut toward a secluded two-story adobe building.
She stopped at the bolted front door. A sign read, AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
“We can’t break in there!” Ozzie cried, stomping up behind her.
The warrior whipped golden fire into the air. With a loud crack, the magic blasted the lock. Adriane kicked the door open.
“Well, maybe.”
Alarms screeched through the night as floodlights blazed to life, illuminating the mages in fluorescent light.
“Very stealthy, Godzilla,” Kara said, looking around nervously as her jewel light bounced off the dark interior.
“What was that?” Lyra cried.
“We’re rescuing,” Kara called back.
“Can you do it a little more quietly?”
“This way!” Adriane rushed down the dimly lit corridor, Zach and the others close behind. Growling and hooting echoed through the hallway as the animals inside reacted to the piercing alarms.
Adriane scanned every room, her wolf light ricocheting off the metal walls. “There!” She ran to the end of the corridor, smashing the door open.
Ghost Wolf (Avalon: Web of Magic #9) Page 8