by Sadie Sears
As soon as I heard their footsteps on the path, I straightened up and plastered a calm expression on my face. Shae looked puffy-eyed but smiled as brightly as ever. Whatever Sophie had said to her had worked, and I ignored the sharp sting of betrayal. I’d thought we were really getting along.
“Ready?” I asked. I got to my feet, Vince and Theo following my lead, though watching me not-so-subtly.
They both nodded, but Sophie couldn’t hide the haunted look in her eyes. She was as upset about this as I was. We started back down the trail together without having to clear it with each other. After whatever Shae had gone through, we all wanted to get out of the woods and figure out what to do next.
As we headed down, Vincent and Theo flanked her, picking up where they left off, telling jokes and messing with each other. Their easy banter drew Shae in, and despite giving off emotions of confusion and upset, she began to relax more as we hiked back and talked. I stayed beside Sophie but kept my hands in my pockets to avoid touching her. This wasn’t the time to push things. What if she decided to pull away completely? After hearing her tell Shae that she’d create some space, I felt like I needed to guard my heart.
“Can we talk?” Sophie murmured. She’d wrapped her arms around herself as if she were preparing for the pain as well.
I nodded and we slowed our steps, letting Theo and Vincent draw ahead with Shae. My stomach clenched with dread, and some of the anxiety tried to rear its ugly head again.
“Cameron.” She sucked in a deep breath and let her head fall back. I knew she was trying to find a way to essentially break up with me, and it was all I could do not to try to stop her.
She was the kind of mom who would sacrifice her own happiness for her daughter’s. I couldn’t begrudge her for that. In six years, Shae would be an adult and could move on to the next stage in her life, then maybe Sophie would have me. But I was surprised to find that I wanted both of them in my life, even if Shae was an emotional wreck. After all of my experiences, who was I to judge?
Before she could continue, the world turned on its head. Dark clouds appeared out of nowhere and the trees shook violently. Dry branches and small creatures fell out of the cover above. Shae screamed and rushed back to us. Sophie wrapped her arms around her daughter and looked at me in panic. “What’s going on? What do we do?”
Stones rained down on us from all directions, small ones, thankfully. Theo, Vincent and I made a human shield around the girls, trying our best to catch anything that came at us.
“What the hell is happening?” Sophie screamed from behind me. I kept my back to her and my arms out, trying to figure out where the witch was. Without shifting and diving into my ether field, the sickly aura felt like it was coming from everywhere.
“It’s the shadow worker, it has to be,” I called to her.
“I think you’re right,” Vince yelled from the other side of the girls. A stone got through between me and Theo, and Shae yelped. They weren’t hitting us directly. The shadow worker was aiming for the girls. When they hit us, it was on our arms and hips as if Mary was trying to get the projectiles between us.
“How did she find us all the way out here?” Sophie called as we began working our way down the trail with her and Shae between the three of us.
My mind flipped rapidly through the day, hanging up on one particular event: the mark on Shae’s neck. We’d thought that since it had disappeared, she hadn’t finished her spell. I now suspected it was something else entirely.
“Back in the café. That must’ve been some kind of inert tracking spell, something I wouldn’t be able to sense right away,” I said. Another stone got through. “We have to shift!”
“Agreed.” We all turned toward Sophie and Shae.
“I’ll just give her the ring,” Sophie said with tears in her eyes. She started to pull it off her finger. “It’ll make her stop.”
“No, you can’t let someone this evil get hold of that much power.” I closed my hand over hers, stopping her. Our eyes met and I was nearly overwhelmed with the tide of emotion rolling off of her. I clamped down hard on my ability so I could concentrate.
“Cover your eyes,” Vince said.
Shae, sobbing, buried her face in her mom’s chest, and Sophie screwed her eyes shut. Vince and Theo stripped and shifted into their smaller dragon forms. They launched into the air to go after the witch. Vince pushed a strong wind through the trees from above, relying on irregularities in the air currents to find the witch in the woods, and I knew Theo was trying to sense anything unusual nearby. He’d tell me if he found anything. But now, Sophie and Shae were exposed, and the attack wasn’t slowing, even with my brothers on the hunt.
“I need to put an energy field around you, but I’ll have to shift to do it.”
Sophie had pulled Shae to the ground and was huddled over her, protecting her from the rocks. “Will it protect us?”
“Yes.” It would take a lot of energy, but I could get it done for them.
“Then do it, please!” She tucked her head down as more branches fell.
I stripped and shifted as fast as I could, then launched into the air, rising above the trees. Focusing on the area around my mate and her daughter, I circled faster and faster and pushed my magic downward.
After a few moments, a force field sprung up around them. All manner of rocks, large and small and everything between, and a number of branches kept pelting at them, but they bounced off the energy shield I’d created. Sophie and Shae peeked out to watch, frightened but curious.
I kept flying, waiting to see if Vince and Theo found the witch, but larger branches and bigger and bigger stones began hitting the force field. It was all I could do to keep the focus up and protect them. Every hit took a bit of energy. How was the witch keeping this up? Every time a branch or rock hit, I got a little weaker. Shae was terrified, screaming in her mother’s arms every time something big went flying at them. Even if she wasn’t injured, this would be traumatic for the poor girl.
I mustered all of my remaining energy and slipped into my deep meditation state while I flew. It was risky. I was already vulnerable, but if I could’ve found the shadow worker, I could’ve ended all of this. I found the same type of trail of bilious smoke that was at Sophie’s house. It led deeper into the woods and I considered chasing it. Theo!
He flew our way as soon as he heard me.
Have you found anything?
No.
How did Theo not sense it? Maybe it was because I was the one who’d initially picked up the trail around Sophie’s house. It was possible that he didn’t know precisely what to look for, but I already did. Sparks skittered across my scales as I found myself getting more worked up.
Stay with them. I see a trail. I called Vince too, and had him follow me for backup. We flew as fast as we could, and soon, we spotted her. She raced through the woods at a speed almost as fast as a dragon. We chased, of course, eager to end this, but the witch suddenly disappeared. Witches couldn’t move that fast. It had to have been a projection, but we’d had nothing else to go after.
Vince and I landed where she’d vanished, but the trail just stopped there. The smoke ended, there were no scents, no signs of passing hidden in the surrounding brush, no other clues to tell us where she’d gone. Damn it! We’d lost her. Now that she was gone, I was sure it had been a diversion.
Without any idea where she went or how, and no scent trail to track, we turned back and got to Theo and my girls as fast as we could. Thankfully, they were safe and unharmed with Theo already dressed beside them. “As soon as you went off, the attack stopped,” Theo explained.
Shae hid her eyes again and we shifted back, dressing quickly. This shadow worker was a lot more powerful than we’d expected, especially if three dragons couldn’t pin her down. And she was growing bold enough to attack when we were around. That wouldn’t bode well for anyone in town.
“She knew when I picked up her trail. She could sense it somehow,” I explained. Shae looked at me with wide eyes. �
��Are you okay?” I tried to put my hand on her arm, but she turned away and buried her face in Sophie again. She was terrified of me. Just what exactly had happened?
“Let’s get back to the Jeep as quickly as possible,” Theo said. I considered shifting and letting the girls ride, but I didn’t think Shae would’ve gone for that.
As we went back over the small creek, I stopped in the process of helping Sophie cross. “I don’t believe it,” I whispered.
Next to my foot was what looked like a witch stone, or at least something that looked like what Glenda had described. It was in the middle of the water, just a small river rock with a hole through it. Once Sophie was on the other side, I bent down and snatched it up.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“I’m not sure it’s what I think it is,” I explained. I pocketed the stone. “We’ll look at it closer later.”
When we got to the trailhead, we piled back into the Jeep. Theo began to strip again. “I’m going to fly back after doing another sweep of the woods,” he explained. “Contact the others and let them know what’s happened.”
He took off and I turned back to the girls. Shae was still crying and curled into her mom’s lap in the back seat. Sophie looked up at me piteously, running her fingers through Shae’s tangled curls.
“Can you drop us off at my house?” she asked. “I’ll come by and get our stuff later. It’s really important to Shae to be at home right now.”
Vince gave me a dark look. After everything that had happened, them being at home was the worst idea right now. But I had to respect her wishes. I’d just stay nearby. “I’ll have your stuff brought by later, if you want. Can I get some of the other dragons to keep an eye on you two?” I asked. If she didn’t want to be around me, maybe she’d accept my brothers.
Shae groaned and shook her head with her face still hidden against Sophie. I really wanted to know what had happened in the woods to turn her so adamantly against us after we’d been getting along so well. There was obviously something she wasn’t telling us, something that worried Sophie.
Sophie gave me a worried look. She was torn. “We have to have protection.” She rubbed Shae’s back. “I agreed for us to go home, honey, but we’ve got to have help. We can’t handle this on our own.”
Shae peeked her face out, but immediately lowered her eyes. She wouldn't even look at me. “Fine,” she whispered.
I nodded at Vince, who got us on the road as I sent out a message to the Dragons for Hire group text to see if anyone could come to meet us at Sophie’s. The drive back was mostly quiet, and I had to actively keep my senses closed up to keep from drowning in the tidal wave of emotions coming from everyone in the vehicle. With Theo out there sweeping the forest, I didn’t worry much about another attack on the road.
As soon as we pulled up to the house, Shae jumped out the back of the Jeep and took off into the house. Sophie gave me another sad look. “Thank you both so much.”
I helped her out of the Jeep, but she never said a word about when we might see each other next. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be soon. She turned without so much as a goodbye and followed Shae into the house. Pain scorched my lungs and I fought to swallow it back, convincing myself it wasn’t the end. I would fix all of this. Somehow.
Vince and I played sentry in the woods around the house until Dom and Ben arrived. After we filled them in on what happened, both at the café and on the trail, Theo landed in the yard. “Nothing,” he reported. “I don’t know how she’s hiding herself, but it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. There are no traces, no trails to pick up.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Dom scratched at his head. “People don’t just vanish.”
I shook my head, huffing in annoyance. This one could. She’d proven that on more than one occasion. “She’s at least old enough to know a few tricks, I can tell you that much. When I saw her at the café, her face looked so perfect that it looked fake, if you know what I mean. Almost like she was wearing a very realistic mask or something.” I glanced at the skies. “So, is it just the two of you?”
“Sam and Taurus are on assignment,” Ben said, “or they’d be here too.”
“Five of us will be enough,” Dom replied. He tilted his chin confidently. “The shadow worker won’t try anything.”
I wasn’t so sure about that, as she didn’t seem to hesitate with three of us around. I almost hoped she would, though. What I wouldn’t give for the chance to tear her apart.
No. If I was going to stop this, I needed to get more proactive about it. Waiting for another attack was asking for more trouble and stress for them. I needed to find her and deliver a swift message.
Nobody came after my girls.
13
Sophie
We’d called Glenda on the way home, and she came by to make sure Shae wasn’t still spelled. It didn’t take long. Glenda gave me a big hug after warning me not to let my guard down, then left quickly.
Shae didn’t come out of her room all night. Eventually, I gave in and took her a grilled cheese, but even after feeding the beast, she barely spoke to me. I told her I’d be in my room if she needed to sleep with me and then went to bed.
The next morning, the smell of bacon drew her downstairs. I chuckled under my breath when I heard her footsteps on the stairs.
“Honey, we need to go get our stuff from Cam’s.” I turned the bacon on the griddle and tried to sound casual.
Her glare told me what she thought about that, but in case I wasn’t sure, she reiterated verbally. “I’m not going.” She yanked out a kitchen chair. Normally, she would’ve been all over me, trying to help cook. Or actually, she would’ve beaten me out of bed and had breakfast half done, but I couldn’t blame her for sleeping late. Yesterday had been pretty traumatic.
Leaving her alone wasn’t an option. “You’re going,” I said firmly. It wasn’t like I could leave her here alone. “I don’t think Cam will be there, anyway.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Why would he let us go in his home without him there?”
“He’s looking for Mary. He and Theo seem to have the best shot at finding her.” Not only were their senses heightened, but Cam was also a whiz on the internet. He was narrowing down all the Marys in a hundred-mile radius and looking for the most likely candidates. He’d texted me late the night before, letting me know the dragons would be with us in rotation, always three of them or more. He’d also asked that Shae stay home from school Monday and until this was settled.
I hated to stop her routine, but until Mary was caught and the threat to our very lives gone, it didn’t make sense to split Shae and me up. We needed protection, and there were only so many dragons. Plus, they all had other jobs and responsibilities. All eight of them couldn’t drop everything just for me.
“I want Leath,” Shae said. “And Vince.”
If she’d go without argument, I’d get her anyone she wanted. I cracked some eggs on the other side of the griddle and nodded. “We have to have three, and I can ask them if they’re available, but can’t promise anything. Who else?”
She sighed, but she gave in. “Fine. Lila.”
I nodded, but then processed what she said. “No. One of the Dragons for Hire. Lila is too new.” And as far as I knew, Lila didn’t know how to fight as a human, much less as a dragon.
“Sam,” she replied grumpily. “Nobody else!”
“Okay,” I said gently. “Nobody else. But you’ve got to understand that everything that happened in that clearing was because of a witch, not a dragon.”
She turned away from me in the kitchen chair. “And remember, all I can do is ask if Sam, Leath, and Vince can be there.”
“I know.” Her voice was sullen, yes, but I heard the pain underneath.
“Look at me, please.”
Shae let out a long, suffering sigh but turned. “What?”
Her sass ran all over me. I’d given her allowance after allowance, but enough was enough. “First of all, the a
ttitude stops now, or you’ll be all kinds of grounded, despite the fact that we’re dealing with a psychotic witch. You know what it means to be respectful and you’ll speak to me with the respect I deserve. Got it?”
Her eyes filled with tears, which broke my heart, but I held firm as I moved the eggs around on the griddle. “Sorry, Mama.”
I softened my face. “It’s okay. I know you’re figuring out how to deal with all this, and being your age isn’t easy at the best of times. Now, second of all, and you have to listen to this, okay?”
My heart soared with hope when she seemed to really listen. I turned off the griddle, letting the eggs finish cooking with the residual heat as I walked around the kitchen island. “That was not your father out in the woods.”
Her eyebrows lowered. My hope that she’d be reasonable faded as her face hardened again. Scraping the chair back, Shae stood and brushed past me. “What time are we leaving?” she yelled as she jogged up the stairs.
“In an hour! Be ready.”
She slammed her door as a response.
Well, that had gone well. I knew she wanted that to be her father, anything to get a glimpse of him again. Hell, I would've loved to have seen him, too, even if it wasn’t real.
But she couldn’t believe that he was trying to guide her toward hating the dragons. I couldn’t imagine Riley doing something like that, and after the attack, we knew for certain it had been a spell.
Now how to convince Shae of that? She either didn’t believe it or just didn’t want to.
I walked outside to see who was on dragon duty today. “Breakfast!” I called.
A few minutes later, Vince walked around the corner with a wide smile on his face and a backpack in his hand. Two dragons landed in the yard in front of the porch as Vince began pulling clothes out of his bag. I didn’t fully recognize them shifted, but I was fairly sure the red and orange one was Sam, Gretta’s mate, and earth dragons were normally supposed to be the greens and browns of the second dragon. I turned around to give them privacy for shifting, hoping I’d gotten lucky and the earthy one was Leath.