The Dragon Lords

by C. J. Hill

  “Right,” Leo pushed his chair back from the table and stood. “I’ll watch for the bat signal.”

  Jesse rubbed his forehead. This had all gone so badly and now Leo was leaving, still unconvinced about everything they’d told him. How could he ignore the facts?

  Leo took three steps then thudded against Bess’s shield. He cursed and rubbed his nose. “Would you stop that?”

  “At least start taking the Ling Zhi,” she said.

  “Fine,” he said, still facing the door. “Just let me go.”

  She picked up a fry. “You know, I can tell when you’re lying.”

  “I’ll take them,” Leo said louder then marched forward, one hand lifted in front of him to check for shields.

  Bess leaned toward her father and lowered her voice. “We can’t let him leave. Do something.”

  Dr. B stared at Leo’s retreating back with the mournful expression. “He has a choice in the matter. I can’t make him choose us.”

  “But his life is in danger,” she persisted. “Sometimes you have to kidnap someone for their own good.”

  Dr. B shook his head. “If we forced him to come with us the FBI would investigate and we would put our whole operation at risk. And what for? Leo would hate us.” He let out a heavy sigh. “I’ll have some of our people keep an eye on him and help him if he’s in trouble. We can’t do more than that.”

  Leo opened the café door and strode outside, phone in hand, without looking back at them.

  He was gone and they might never see him again. Overdrake could make sure of that.

  Bess opened her mouth to speak, then swallowed the words instead. She put her elbows on the table, buried her face in her hands, and began to cry. Jesse reached over and rubbed her back in consolation.

  The way Leo had stalked off and left—it felt like losing him all over again. They’d failed. Jesse hated that he couldn’t change that fact, and he hated that he couldn’t do anything to make Bess feel better.

  Chapter 10

  Tori didn’t hear from Jesse over Thanksgiving break, didn’t hear from Dirk either, for that matter. Although she did hear from Bess and Rosa, her closest Slayer friends. Dr. B didn’t like the Slayers to use their watches for personal communications, but Tori ignored this rule and messaged both of them. Whether you agree with what I’ve done or not, please understand I did it to help—because I’m trying to keep us all safe. Don’t be mad.

  Back when Tori had agreed to join the Slayers, she’d known she might face death, and she’d accepted that. But she’d never thought about how much her life itself would change. Not just because of the secrets, but because her knowledge of the danger and dragons set her apart from her family and friends in a way she hadn’t expected.

  So many things seemed different now. She knew of Overdrake’s threat and had faced and fought him and his men more than once. She’d flown through the sky, ridden on dragons, and delved into the mind of one. She wasn’t the same person anymore—was stronger, deeper and more intense—but she couldn’t explain any of it to other people. Really, only the other Slayers understood her. A small group. And she couldn’t bear the thought that she’d disappointed them.

  Rosa had written back right away. Tori had known she would. Rosa was too sweet, too kind to ignore an apology.

  I understand and I’m not angry anymore. But next time, talk to us first. You’ve got to learn to trust us.

  Bess didn’t reply for a few hours—perhaps she had to think over her response, or perhaps she was out somewhere busy with her social life. Or both.

  We’re cool, she finally wrote. Either your gamble will pay off and everyone will be forced to agree it was brilliant, or we’ll be dead and it won’t matter. Well played, my friend.

  Typical Bess. She refused on principle to take most things seriously.

  When Tori walked into journalism class on Monday, Tacy was as beautiful and perky as always, and nearly draped over Jesse’s desk. Jesse didn’t seem to mind. He was chatting with her.

  Jealousy spiked through Tori. She supposed that was Jesse’s intent. He was showing her how easy it was for him to move on and forget about her.

  Tori was so not in the mood for this. She ignored him through class and through lunch too.

  Dr. B sent a private message to her watch during last period.

  I’ve called a Slayer practice after school. Have your driver drop you off at Jesse’s house for a study group. Jesse will tell his parents that the two of you are going out on a date and he’ll drive you to the practice grounds. Let me know if you can’t comply.

  Well, that was just what she wanted to do—spend time in a car with Jesse, then face the Slayers. How many of them were still angry at her?

  But there was no getting around it. She’d already missed too many Slayer practices and she was on probation. Time to face them. She phoned her mother and told her about the study group.

  After school, Tori gave Jesse’s address to Lars and he dutifully drove her there.

  Jesse lived in an average suburb: narrow streets lined with cars, homes made of brick and clapboard siding, yards with bare trees and the occasional forgotten toy laying on the grass, soon to be buried until the spring thaw.

  Jesse’s house was a boxy, one-story brick with black shutters and a sit-down porch that attempted charm, but didn’t quite manage it. Too sparse. The chairs sitting there looked like an afterthought, as though they hadn’t fit in the kitchen and had therefore been relegated outside.

  Lars scanned the area and opened his door. As he got out, his hands never strayed far from the gun he kept tucked in his holster. He doubled as a bodyguard, making sure she got where she needed to go.

  Tori climbed out of the car. “You don’t have to see me to the door.”

  He marched up the walk beside her anyway, swaggering as though attempting to intimidate the surrounding shrubbery. “I take orders from your parents, not you.”

  Okay, maybe she had ditched him once too often, but she’d had good reasons. Now he made a habit of giving her curt little lectures or pointedly asked her if she was trying to get him fired. You wouldn’t think a six-foot-four war veteran would be so touchy. But yeah, he was.

  When she reached the door, she rang the bell.

  After a few moments, Jesse’s mother answered. She was a middle-aged woman with straight dark hair cut in a no-nonsense bob. Her brown eyes were similar to Jesse’s but her other features seemed to belong solely to her. Crisp, professional, unforgivably competent. Tori had to pretend she didn’t know the woman’s real last name was Harris. The family went by Richardson now, just as Jesse went by Jonathan.

  Mrs. Harris-now-Richardson looked from Lars to Tori with surprise. “Hello,” she said. Tori could tell she meant, “Why are you standing on my doorstep?”

  Hadn’t Jesse told her they were going on a date? Then again, maybe it was for the best that he hadn’t. Lars thought she’d come to do homework.

  “Hi,” Tori said. “I’m here to see Jonathan.”

  Mrs. Harris stared at her blankly.

  “We’re studying,” Tori added.

  Mrs. Harris’s eyes turned to Lars, a question forming on her lips.

  “Lars isn’t staying,” Tori assured her. “He just drives me around and makes sure I’m not kidnapped on the way to people’s doorsteps.” She waved a goodbye at her bodyguard. “See, I’m fine. I’ll give you a call when we’re done.”

  Jesse had apparently been changing out of his school uniform. He sauntered into the room wearing jeans and pulling a T-shirt over his head. “Hi, Tori.”

  The sight of him—that flash of his abs—shouldn’t have made Tori stare. She’d gone swimming with Jesse a dozen times during the summer, and besides, at camp most of the Slayer guys had considered shirts optional. But months had passed since then. Her immunity to chiseled abs had worn off.

  Mrs. Harris moved out of the way to allow Tori entrance. “Come in.”

  Tori’s gaze snapped back to Jesse’s mother. Ha
d she seen Tori gawking at her son? “Thanks,” Tori murmured and tried not to blush as she walked inside.

  Mrs. Harris smiled, but it was decidedly forced and a bit horrified. Back when Jesse had first introduced them, his mom had pretty much disliked Tori at first sight. Her feelings didn’t appear to have changed since then. “The two of you are studying?”

  “Yeah,” Jesse said. “We’re going out to eat and we’ll do some studying afterward.”

  “Oh,” Mrs. Harris said. “How nice.” To her credit, by the time she said the last sentence, her disapproval was hidden in politeness. “Don’t stay out too late. It’s a school night.”

  “Might take a while,” Jesse said. “We’ve got a lot to go over.” He crossed to the window and glanced out—no doubt checking to make sure Lars hadn’t stationed himself out front—then he motioned for Tori to follow him through the house to the garage.

  His home was about what she’d imagined it would be. Worn furniture spread through the rooms, the kind that looked comfortably lived in. A large family picture hung on the wall. Jesse smiled in a way that was more posed than natural. His real smile lit up his eyes, made everything about him seem warm and shining. But even his posed smile was nice. It was probably hard to take a bad picture of Jesse.

  The bookshelves in the living room told her that this family took reading seriously. That was bound to happen when both parents were teachers.

  It was odd to see this part of Jesse’s life, to see the place where he was just a normal teenager and not a Slayer captain. And it was especially odd to be alone with him after they’d spent the last week ignoring each other.

  In the garage, an aging silver Prius waited for them among stacks of moving boxes. Tori climbed in the passenger side and wished she’d been able to change out of her school uniform. Her fireproof pants and jacket were much more comfortable when worn over jeans.

  Jesse got in beside her, opened the garage door, and drove onto the street. The grass in the yards they passed was a faded green. Patches of fallen leaves clumped together along the roadside. Everything looked tired and dismal.

  Neither of them spoke for a few minutes. The silence that hung between them was thick, filled with things that still needed to be said. Tori glanced at Jesse from the corner of her eyes, taking in the sweep of his bangs lying against his forehead, his tan skin, his brown eyes fringed by thick lashes. His profile was so familiar and now so untouchable.

  He’d had enough time to cool down, hadn’t he? Did he still want things to be this way between them?

  “So,” she began as though this were any other conversation, “why didn’t you tell your mom we were going out?”

  Jesse’s gaze stayed on the street. “I told her I was going out. I just didn’t specify who I was going with.”

  “Oh. Does she dislike me because my dad is a Republican or for some other reason?”

  “She doesn’t dislike you.” He barely stopped at a stop sign before turning onto another street. “I told her she shouldn’t vote for Senator Ethington, and so now she thinks you’re converting me to the Republican Party.”

  Tori scoffed at the idea. “I can’t even get you to listen to my Slayer strategies. I doubt I’d have much luck with politics.”

  “I listen to you about Slayer stuff. I just question the dragon lord stuff.”

  Ever since Thanksgiving, whenever Tori had thought about Aaron, she’d felt a sense of dread well up inside of her. She wasn’t about to admit to Jesse that Aaron had wanted Overdrake’s approval, that Aaron wanted to please his father. “You’re the one who told me that in battle you can’t play it safe. You’ve got to take chances. That’s what I did by sending Aaron in. I took a chance.”

  Jesse shook his head, jaw tight. “It was Dirk who always said you can’t play it safe. I tend to err on the side of caution.”

  Jesse was right. It was Dirk who encouraged her to take chances. She’d heard the advice so often, she’d thought it came from Jesse too.

  He was still shaking his head. “I can see how you’d get us mixed up, though.”

  She didn’t miss the barb in his words. “I kissed Dirk for a strategic advantage. If kissing some girl gave you a strategic advantage against Overdrake, you’d do it, wouldn’t you?”

  He didn’t answer. Which meant he knew she had a point. “And I would be more understanding about it,” she added.

  “How attractive is the girl in question?”

  “Why does that matter?”

  “I think it would matter in how understanding you were afterward.”

  He was determined to be difficult. “I would be understanding either way. I’d just be less happy if she was hot.”

  Jesse tapped his fingers against the steering wheel and put on a contemplative expression. “Tacy might have dragon lord information.”

  “She doesn’t.”

  “You never know.”

  He was teasing her. Was that a good sign or a bad one? If his anger had faded and he was still keeping his distance from Tori, where did that leave her?

  “The last time we talked,” she said, “you told me I needed to figure out if I was a Slayer or a dragon lord. But I think I can be both. Our best bet during a fight might be if I’m down on the ground, hidden somewhere, while I try to get control of the dragon. At the very least, I’ll be able to distract Overdrake.”

  “Distracting Overdrake isn’t enough. We need you in the sky as a flyer.” He said the words earnestly, which made them feel like a compliment. “We wouldn’t have killed either of the last dragons without you.”

  “If I can control a dragon, we won’t have to kill it.”

  “And if you try to control it, you might not be able to kill it.” Jesse shot her a quick glance. “Dirk obviously thinks that if he turns you into a dragon lord, you’ll switch to his side. How do we know he’s not right?”

  She refused to let her mind wander to Dirk’s techniques. “I guess you’ll have to trust me.”

  Jesse huffed out a breath, one that mixed with the hum of the tires on the road. They’d come to the highway and the Prius rattled slightly while attempting higher speeds. “No one ever thinks they’re vulnerable. But sometimes people aren’t as strong as they imagine.”

  She thought of Aaron again, of the pleasure he’d felt on the day he’d learned to fly and he’d earned Overdrake’s approval. Aaron had thought he wouldn’t be vulnerable to his father’s influences, but maybe he was.

  Tori wasn’t vulnerable, though. She couldn’t be won over by Ferraris. Or dragon rides. Or Dirk’s kisses. “You’ll have to trust me,” she said again, and added more quietly, “If I wanted to date Dirk, I could. I don’t, though. I want you.” She wished she could slip her hand into his and scoot closer. Doing that would make everything feel normal again. But he was keeping both hands on the wheel and she was belted in. And besides, things weren’t normal between them.

  Jesse’s gaze went to hers and she saw a flash of happiness in his eyes that was quickly replaced by caution, perhaps mistrust even. He returned his attention to the road. “Are you going to see Dirk again? Because we both know he’ll be willing to offer you as many chances for that sort of strategic advantage as you’ll take.”

  Tori leaned back in her seat with a sigh. Jesse made the issue seem simple, but it wasn’t. “No. I mean, probably not.” Dirk had helped the Slayers before. Shouldn’t she be on good terms with him? “I can’t just…things might happen, so I don’t know.” Why did she always sound like she was spouting gibberish when she talked about Dirk?

  “Well,” Jesse said slowly, “as long as you don’t know the answer to that question, I don’t think we should be a couple.”

  He was giving her an ultimatum? She was supposed to cut Dirk off even though he’d turned against his father more than once to help the Slayers? Her heart cracked a little right then, but sadness didn’t seep through the fissures, frustration did. “You’re telling me to forget what’s good for the country and put our relationship first?�
�� Jesse had always, always put what was good for the country first, but now he wasn’t going to do that?

  “No,” he said, his tone matching hers in frustration. “I’m telling you I’m not going to sit by while you see Dirk again. The guy is our enemy and you keep making out with him. Sorry, but I’m not that understanding.”

  She looked out of the window, out at the cars on the highway they were passing. “I should have never told you the truth about Dirk.” It was a petty thing to say, but she didn’t care. Her choices had been to break into tears or be petty, and she didn’t feel like crying.

  Jesse’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Eventually, you’re going to have to fight Dirk face to face. You realize that, don’t you? When Overdrake attacks, Dirk will be there too, shooting at us and telling his dragons to attack us. If you can’t fight him, you’ll end up dead.”

  Part of her knew that what Jesse said was the truth, but another part of her couldn’t believe it. Dirk wouldn’t kill her. He wouldn’t. She couldn’t imagine him shooting at any of the Slayers, let alone commanding a dragon to attack them. Overdrake was their enemy. Not Dirk. She didn’t argue the point, though. She had no proof to offer. Maybe she was just deluding herself.

  Jesse’s voice softened. “I know this is hard. Really, I do. When we’re done fighting Overdrake, things will change.”

  Of course things would change. Overdrake had four dragons and ten eggs. Even if the Slayers were lucky and managed to kill the next two dragons he attacked with, he would eventually whittle their numbers away.

  One of Dirk’s lessons on World War Two came to mind, a joke he’d told her about a German and an American soldier talking after the war. The American said, “I heard that in a battle, one German Tiger Tank was worth ten of our American Sherman Tanks.”

  “You heard right,” the German said.

  “Then how did we win the war?” The American asked.

  “When we had a battle, you always brought eleven tanks.”

  Overdrake certainly had enough dragons to kill the Slayers. And flyers were the most vulnerable, the ones that Overdrake targeted first. She and Jesse might not both make it out alive and then the whole dating point would be moot. Jesse must know this, but he still wanted to spend their remaining time together as nothing more than teammates.