by A Lonergan
"Not exactly." I dragged my hand across my brow. She lifted one of her strawberry blond eyebrows at me in question. "My emotions put me through the mirror. I couldn't stand to see him touch you." I took a hesitant step toward her. She was just within my reach. "You don't know me like I feel I know you."
I could have smacked myself. I sounded like such a creep. I closed my eyes and stepped away from her. She was too good for me anyhow. I fled the room and was just about to escape the compound when I heard Arye yell. "Ugh! You fun sucker!"
Chapter Twenty-Four
Freya
Harry Potter droned on in the background. Where it had been one of my favorites, I could hardly focus on it. All I kept thinking about was what Sterling had seen. What had I done while he had watched? It was consuming me.
Ayre's shoulder bumped mine and jostled me from my thoughts. "I really hate him sometimes." She sipped on her hot chocolate audibly. Mine sat untouched. It was too hot in Louisiana for that. "What did he say to you anyhow?"
"Did you know that Sterling watched me while I was there?" Her eyes grew to the size of saucers and answered my question. "And you and your mother stopped him?"
She paused the movie. By the looks of it, we were on the fourth one."We were worried about you there... " She trailed off and didn't continue.
"And?" I crossed my arms over my chest, agitation filled my voice.
"And what? He saw you getting cozy with Cal, that slimeball." I narrowed my eyes at her. By the sounds of it, she was team Sterling all the way. Not that it mattered, I tried to reason with myself. There were no teams.
"Cal is in another realm. You two realize that, right?" I asked, incredulously.
"A realm that you can easily get to, through a mirror." She raised her eyebrows at me. She had a point, but still.
"Well, if you were both peeping toms then you would know that he is a player and his own sister called him out." I quirked an eyebrow.
"I don't know, something was really strange about it all." She said. She narrowed her eyes at me.
"Whatever. He's gorgeous and a prince, what's suspicious about that?" I watched the windows at the balcony, worried my beasty had gotten himself into trouble.
"Oh my gosh, what's not suspicious about that?" She threw her hands up in the air.
"Nothing, never mind, forget I said anything," I mumbled.
Ayre's face softened. "Okay, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be arguing with you. I just got you back." She grabbed my hand in hers."Tell me about it."
What was there to tell? She had already watched it all unfold before her, like a movie.
"Okay," I closed my eyes and imagined the sweet smell oo the air. The air I had come to love.
I imagined the fairies and the unicorns and all the things I would probably never experience again. After a few moments of silence, Ayre gasped. My eyes flew open. I expected my dragon to be back. She had her hand covering her mouth. "Is that what it's really like there?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, now worried.
"The smell in here, you're doing that, right?" My hands were open, palms down and fingers splayed out. There was the smallest amount of pink mist floating off of the tips of my fingers. It reminded me of the pollen from Cal's mother's garden. When it started to coat the hardwood floors, I knew that my magic was creating it. I had thought it was just an illusion, but when I touched it, the powder coated my fingers in a thick film.
"I've never seen anyone do that before." She trailed off. Almost as if on cue, my dragon landed on the window's ledge. He had shrunk to the size of Wyna and blinked at me slowly, almost sizing me up.
Ayre gave me a worried glance. "What's his name?”
"I'm not sure yet, I don't think he would appreciate me trying to name him. I'm almost certain he already has a name, and I just need to figure it out." The dragon tolled his tongue out happily, and I knew I had answered correctly.
"So, what are you going to call him until you figure it out?" Ayre took a step closer to the red monster.
"Hmm, well," I paused and thought for a moment. "I always call him my beasty."
The animal in question snorted loudly and then rolled his eyes. He would probably find some way to tell me VERY soon if I kept it up.
"I don't think he likes that very much." Ayre covered her mouth as she giggled. “He won’t hurt me, right?”
I shook my head, “Just don’t provoke him. I’m sure he would have no problem showing his power.” I turned to beasty as he was starting to grow bigger. “So, where did you go off to?”
He lazily walked back to the window and motioned with his head for me to come too. “What is it, boy?” He pressed his snout to my hand, and I was transported from the room. Everything I was seeing, it seemed as if I was gazing through a fishbowl. Then I realized I was experiencing a memory through my dragon’s eyes and I was in his shoes, so to speak.
My mother was looking out a gaping hole, in what looked to be, a dystopian tower, held together by vines and black roses. She rolled her eyes and paced. “She has been back in this realm for a few hours, and we have heard nothing?! You were supposed to guarantee that she would want to come back through the mirror I gave you!” She shouted at something, but from the dragon’s view, I couldn’t see. He moved slightly and flew to another rooftop, blending with the shadows.
“It wasn’t me that saw her through the mirror. I was in the Eleven Kingdom and didn’t think things would escalate so quickly.” There was something about the voice. Something familiar that I couldn’t place. Almost as if on cue, the dragon moved again to get a better look at the person Sariah was talking to. It was a mirror that matched the one that I had gone through, but her’s was gold and not bronze.
“I told you to leave that stupid prince alone until everything had been finalized.” Sariah moved slightly, and I got a glimpse of Armia in the mirror. It all made sense. She had a thing for the Elven Prince, and I didn’t know why I hadn’t seen through her facade sooner. She had been far too inviting. I swallowed hard, wondering if Wyna was in on it all also, I had come to really like her.
“The stupid fairy didn’t listen to me and sent her off quickly,” Armia said.
“Do you think she knows?” Sariah asked, worry taking over her flawless face.
“No, she doesn’t suspect anything,” Armia replied, giddy.
“Perfect. And the dragon?”
“I don’t have any idea. They have been extinct for years, this shouldn’t be possible, at all.” Armia turned away from the mirror before she looked at Sariah solemnly. “I think it’s her magic. I couldn’t get a good read on her when we spoke or anything, but before the dragon burst forth, I felt power like I have never experienced. If he is her familiar their bond will continue to grow, and his magic will intertwine with hers. They will be unstoppable.”
“How do we stop this bonding?” Sariah asked, biting her lip. I caught myself doing the same thing and grimaced.
“You’ll have to kill him first. With his magic aiding her, it will be harder for you to control her or get her on to our cause.” Armia went to say something else, but my dragon was already flying away. If they got their hands on him, they wouldn’t hesitate to take him out of the equation.
My dragon removed his snout from my skin, and I was brought back to the present. He looked down to the floors before he looked back up at me. Worry was shining brightly in his eyes.
Ayre just sat on the bed with her mouth hanging open. “Well, that was weird.”
“What?”
“Oh, no big deal, your eyes just were open, staring blankly outside and they were the eyes of your dragon. Your human eyes were gone.” Her voice sounded terrified, but I couldn’t help but smile. I figured that was all apart of the bonding and we needed that to happen.
The dragon nodded as if he heard my thoughts. He nodded again to confirm my suspicions. I winked at him. This could be kind of cool. Scary, but cool.
“Soooo, what happened?” Ayre crossed her arms over her chest and g
ave me a suspicious glance.
“Sariah is planning something with the Mirror Realm,” I said.
“Maybe we should get my parents in for this one.” She muttered before she fled from the room.
My dragon gave a sideways glance, wondering if this was a good idea. I nodded to him, trying to reassure him.
Ayre’s parents were in the room rather quickly, but Sterling wasn’t with them. A little bit of curiosity touched my mind, but I quickly pushed it away. I could almost hear the snicker of the dragon in my mind.
“Oh, hush you.” I pointed at him and tried my hardest to give him a serious look.
“Interesting,” Jonathan said from the doorway. “Looks like our new little witch has gained herself a familiar.”
Camey looked at me surprised then looked at her husband. “I haven’t heard that term used in a very long time.”
“If a familiar is what I think it is, then I am pretty sure that is what her dragon is,” Ayre said quickly.
“He is my familiar, but we haven’t gone through the bond yet,” I said.
Jonathan raised his eyebrows at my confidence. “What makes you think this?”
“Sariah told Queen Armia in the mirror earlier tonight.” My voice sounded cold.
Camey looked at her daughter, then looked back at me. “But neither of you left the compound tonight. How would you know…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at the dragon resting on my bed with one eye open, lazily listening to the entire conversation.
“He left the compound a few hours ago to hunt or do whatever it is he does. He came back with knowledge instead.” I said, pride shining from me.
Jonathan took a few timid steps toward the scaled monster. “I’m not going to hurt you, I just would like to confirm some theories.”
“Theories? I hate the Mirror Realm witches.” A voice boomed in my mind. I whipped my head up, and the dragon rolled his eyes at the slow approaching man.
My thoughts were a jumble, and I didn’t know if I could even think a coherent thought back to him. I wrinkled my eyebrows and tried it out. The dragon’s shoulders just slumped with each of my attempts.
“How do you know he’s a Mirror Realm witch?” My thought must have gone through loud and clear because the beast winced and gave me an agitated glare.
“They are growing suspicious, you must learn to multitask, Earth Dweller.”
I rolled my eyes and answered audibly. “Whatever, dragon. How old are you again? Also, you’re an Earth Dweller too.”
The dragon let out a breath of smoke and hopped from the bed. Jonathan scurried backward. It almost made me laugh. How interesting that a dragon would have a powerful witch scrambling around like this.
“I don’t mean to interrupt, but from ancient dragon text, I have read that dragons are reincarnated,” Jonathan said, making an attempt to get closer to my familiar.
“I would love to hear more about this text,” Camey said, narrowing her eyes, almost suspiciously.
Jonathan was about to ignore her when my dragon friend had other ideas. He spit a quarter size amount of fire, and it hit Jonathan’s shiny leather shoe. He jumped up and tried to put the flame out with his magic, at least that's what I thought he was doing with his wild flailing hands. “Okay, okay, you can put the flame out now.” He grimaced in pain and kept stamping his foot; finally, my friend put the flame out with his saliva.
“I read about dragons in the Mirror Realm once.” He paused.
Camey opened and closed her mouth like a gaping fish. “I always knew. I always knew that you had a major secret life that I wasn’t a part of.”
Ayre just looked plain uncomfortable and kept giving me a strange smile.
I interrupted, putting my hand up. “How about we wait for Sterling to have this conversation, Mirror Realm dweller?”
Jonathan’s eyes flicked from me to the dragon, and he shook his head. “Dragons are brilliant creatures, and you are lucky he chose you to be his witch.”
I frowned and looked at the creature perched on my bed. He just rested his head on his front legs and closed his eyes, choosing to ignore me. It was all the answer I needed.
“Anyway, when he got back, he pressed his nose against my skin, and I saw his memories.”
Ayre interrupted my retelling of it then. “And her eyes mirrored his.”
Jonathan nodded, and Camey leaned against the wall for support, she looked way out of her element. It reaffirmed to me that she wasn’t ever meant to be the High Priestess. Since getting thrown into all of this mess, I kept coming back to her, wondering if it was just a mistake, that she was the one meant to rule. But as I looked at her, with confusion apparent on her face and dread filling her eyes, I knew that she had put on a brave face and done what she had to for her people. She had faked it till she made it, but she had done what she needed to. Now that she no longer held those powers, it was evident that she was losing her grip on the leadership role.
“Queen Armia was in the mirror. She is the Queen of one of the four kingdoms in the Mirror Realm. She has a budding relationship with a prince in the Elven kingdom, and I was romantically involved with her brother, Cal.” I took a deep breath, trying not to look anyone in the eye. “I don’t believe Cal is involved, but I am worried about him. He has no idea that Armia is working with Sariah, and I don’t know how long they have been in cahoots.”
“What did you see?” Jonathan grabbed his wife’s hand, and his thumb rubbed circles on the inside of her wrist, reassuringly.
“She has another mirror, and she intended Armia to send me home through it, so I would technically be stuck with her as soon as I went through. I’m guessing that she didn’t expect Sterling’s emotions to bring me home. They don’t want me to complete the bonding with my dragon.” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I don’t know why, he came back before they were finished, but at least we have some idea of what we are up against.”
Jonathan bit the inside of his lip. “I wish I knew what they were planning, but it was a good thing that your dragon came back as soon as he did. If they had spotted him, they could have taken him out.” Jonathan looked to the beast on the bed, his eyes were still closed. “You probably already know this, but until you are fully bonded to Freya, you can’t leave the compound. We can’t risk you getting caught by them. You are a new dragon and not as healthy or as strong as you were in your previous life.”
The dragon didn’t open his eyes or even acknowledge Jonathan. I guess he wasn’t a fan of the man. It didn’t seem like many cared for him either.
“Vailen.” The dragon’s voice whispered quietly through my mind.
“His name is Vailen,” I said, as I smiled.
It was Jonathan’s turn to smile. “I see the bond is becoming stronger. This is good. We need to formulate a plan, but it is getting late, and I need to find Sterling.” He pulled his wife off of the floor, and she smiled at me sleepily and laid her head on Jonathan’s shoulder.
Ayre pushed Vailen out of the way and pulled my comforter around her shoulders. “I’m sleeping in here tonight. Goodnight world.”
Vailen just rolled his eyes and pushed her off the bed with his thick tail.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sterling
The music thumped wildly around me, and I felt an odd sense of déjà vu. I knocked back a shot, knowing full well what it would do to me and I surveyed the floor. I hadn’t felt the pull to come back, but I had come anyway. New faces littered the dance floor, but there was nothing that set them apart. The people were all the same. Same hair, same clothes, and the same drug hazy eyes and the sheeple mindset. Why had I allowed myself too enthralled by these people? What had pushed me to want to wrap myself in their embraces almost nightly? And the worst question of all, why was I back here, to begin with?
I didn't know the answers to the other questions, but the last one? I knew it All too well.
Freya.
I didn't understand why she was stuck in my thoughts still. She had give
n me proof time and time again about her character while she hadn’t even realized that was what she was doing. Yes, she was special.
But was she really this special?
A brunette across the dance floor caught my eye. Her lavender eyes glittered mischievously. She smiled at me and motioned me to meet her. I hadn't seen her before, and when I got close to her, her exotic scent pulled me in. Then I realized, besides her eyes, what had drawn me to her. She wasn't like the others. She was wearing a pantsuit and was holding a glass of wine.
I nodded my head toward her glass. "I think you're in the wrong place.”
"Perhaps, but it just got more interesting." I couldn't place her accent, though I wondered if it might be French.
I leaned against the wall, and her eyes watched my every movement. "I have to agree."
She took a sip out of her glass and looked away from me as she spoke. "I hope that I'm not asking the wrong person this, but I'm in search of the Master's Compound."
My back straightened on its own accord. "Who's asking?"
"I'm Shay DeVille, I'm from the coven in Paris." She looked away from me again.
"Really? What brings you here?" I said coolly, as I crossed my arms over my chest. My head was starting to spin, but I was trying to play it off. I should have known to stay away from the poison.
"I'm on the run from my past. I understand there is a slight turf war going on, but the essence calls to me here. More than anywhere else, even Paris." She tilted her wine glass and sloshed the drink around the rim.
I nodded my head. She wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last to come to us, for the same exact reasoning. "I'm Sterling Master, it's nice to meet you, Shay."
The walk back to the compound was comfortable and a first. I had never left a club slowly or with a woman I wasn't trying to get naked. Not that I didn't want to, I just didn't feel so rushed. I actually wanted to get to know her. It also didn't help that my magi was trying to burn off the effects of the alcohol I had consumed.