The Dragon Lords

by C. J. Hill

  “Dad didn’t say, and you’re not supposed to go spreading it around. The government doesn’t want people knowing some of the bases are crippled. Might give our enemies ideas.”

  Their enemies already had ideas. More attacks must be coming soon.

  Aprilynne put her bagel slices on a plate. “The news gets worse. You know the secure locations the government moves politicians to if they’re worried that DC will come under attack?”

  Tori nodded. “Is Dad going there?”

  “No. Those were attacked too. Explosives took out the bunkers. It had to be an inside job. Not many people know the bunkers’ location. Dad still won’t tell me where they are and they’re inoperable now.”

  That sort of attack didn’t make sense. “Why would someone hit bunkers when they’re empty?” If Overdrake had wanted to take out Congress, he would have staged an attack on DC, then hit the bunkers once the leaders show up.

  “Who knows,” Aprilynne said. “I guess they don’t want the leaders to evacuate. Although you can be sure the president is tucked away safely on Air Force One somewhere.”

  Tori’s dad was one of those leaders. He couldn’t go somewhere safe. Her stomach clenched. It felt hard to breathe. Were Overdrake’s troops in place, or had he started the attacks without them? “Where is Venezuela?” Tori asked.

  Aprilynne cocked an eyebrow. “Last I checked, still in South America.”

  “I meant their navy.”

  Aprilynne gave her a look that indicated she thought it was the wrong time to ask foreign country trivia. “Um, my guess their navy is in Venezuela.”

  Aprilynne obviously didn’t know that Venezuela had asked to do exercises near the country, and Tori didn’t bother explaining. “I need to talk to Dad.” She took her phone from her pocket, crossed to the other side of the kitchen, and called his number.

  “Good luck with that,” Aprilynne said. “He’ll be in meetings all day.”

  The call went directly to voicemail. Tori stepped into the dining room and paced while she left a message. “I know who’s responsible for this. A man named Brant Overdrake. He immigrated here about seventeen years ago from the Island of St Helena. I don’t know where he is now, but…”

  She hesitated to tell her father the rest. “I know it sounds unbelievable, but he’s using dragons. When they screech they create EMP. He’s connected with the Venezuelans. More attacks will be coming. You’re going to have to watch out for them both.”

  She hung up and walked back into the kitchen. Aprilynne stood by the door, staring at Tori with a raised eyebrow. “Uh huh. Dragons. And Venezuelans.” She took a glass from the cupboard. “You know those are fictional, right?”

  No good would come from arguing about it. “Venezuelans are real. Lots of people have seen them.”

  Their mother chose this moment to tune into their conversation. “What about Venezuelans?”

  “They’re going to attack the country,” Tori said.

  “Along with their dragons,” Aprilynne added.

  “I’m not crazy.” Tori pointed to the TV as though it were proof. “Someone attacked. You can’t deny that.”

  Their mother lowered the volume. “We’re not supposed to spread that information around.” She cast another glance at the TV. “Although I can’t see how the news will stay a secret. Too many people know about the attacks.”

  Tori chewed on her bottom lip. Was there a way to prove she was telling the truth? If she got hold of a simulator… No, that would only prove she had powers. It wouldn’t prove anything about dragons or Overdrake. And if her parents knew she had powers, they would keep tighter control on her, try to keep her from fighting like Bess’s grandfather. Now, more than ever, the Slayers needed her help. So she couldn’t prove anything.

  Tori’s mother sighed and looked Tori over again. Her voice softened and took on the parental tone she used to reassure her children. “We’re perfectly safe. However, if you’re feeling a lot of anxiety, you can stay home from school and help Aprilynne.”

  In case of more attacks, it might be tactically better for her to stay home, and yet Tori didn’t like the idea of her family thinking she was having anxiety issues. Would they believe her about anything else if she let them think she was having some sort of nervous breakdown?

  “I’m fine,” she said. “I’ll go to school.”

  When she got back to her room, she checked Dirk’s site. He’d written one word back. Sorry.

  He wasn’t, she knew. He’d flung the word back at her because her apology for demolishing the eggs wasn’t sufficient. No amount of apologizing would be. She’d killed something he cared about.

  She ran her hand over the phone. Perhaps this wasn’t really the beginning of Overdrake’s attacks. Perhaps this was just his way of getting back at the Slayers. They’d destroyed his weapons, so he was destroying theirs.

  Wishful thinking, probably.

  She wrote a message to Dirk. Please don’t blame me for trying to protect people. I didn’t want to do it, but your father didn’t leave us many choices.

  Dirk didn’t reply.

  She was about to send Dr. B a message when her watch chimed with a warning message to the entire group.

  Twelve key bases were hit with EMP last night. Be on alert today.

  The news had already made the rounds to Dr. B’s people. He didn’t mention the bunkers, so when she got to her room, she called him with that information.

  “He’s sending a message,” she said. “The leaders aren’t safe.”

  “True,” he said, “but he’s also sending a message that he doesn’t want to hurt them. He could have, easily enough.”

  She hoped Dr. B was right about that. “Do you think this is an isolated strike or the beginning of his revolution?”

  “Regardless, we should treat it as though his attacks will continue.”

  The answer didn’t make her feel better.

  “In light of these strikes,” Dr. B continued, “we need to discuss your position as captain.”

  Well, he was finally getting around to breaking the news to her. His voice was casual, didn’t show any hint of guilt. She didn’t know whether to hold that against him or not—that he obviously thought demoting her wouldn’t cause her any pain. Was it better to think him clueless or cruel?

  “After much consideration and weighing the pros and cons, I’ve decided that Ryker should take your place as captain.”

  Tori swallowed and shut her eyes. It was official.

  “You’ve done an excellent job as captain,” he said. “A-team couldn’t have asked for a better leader.”

  As far as breakup lines went, that one was too much. “Then why are you giving Ryker my position?” She hated that her voice sounded petulant. She shouldn’t have asked the question in the first place. She knew what he would say: Ryker was Jesse’s counterpart so the two of them could work better together. Blah blah you’re not good enough.

  “Because you’re a dragon lord,” Dr. B said.

  The words were all the worse for being spoken so calmly. If he’d been yelling, she might have been able to convince herself he didn’t mean them. But said in such a matter of fact way—yeah, he meant them.

  He started to say more, but she cut him off. “You don’t trust me?”

  “Of course I trust you,” he said as though she was missing the point.

  “Just not enough to be a captain?”

  “Tori, you can go into the dragon’s mind. Despite what Jesse thinks of the dangers, a time may come when you need to leave the Slayers and fight for us there. If you’re leading A-team, you won’t have that luxury. I want to leave your options open.”

  As quickly as Tori’s anger had spiked, it dissolved. “You think I should go into the dragon’s mind?”

  “I didn’t say that. I said I want to leave the option open.”

  “Oh.” It felt odd to have his approval. Her view of him suddenly shifted. Or maybe it was her view of herself. Being a dragon lord didn’t s
eem like something she had to defend quite so much.

  “Sometimes the best way to fight fire is with fire,” he said. “That may be what you become—our fire.”

  Long after Tori hung up with Dr. B, the comment still echoed in her mind. If she was fire, she was a small flame at best. She’d never managed to control a dragon and Dirk wasn’t likely to give her another chance to learn now. Had it been a horrible tactical mistake to kill the dragon eggs?

  All day at school, her nerves were stretched tight, waiting for more news, for a message from Dr. B that another attack had happened. Pointless anxiety. Overdrake wouldn’t attack during the day. He would wait until he had darkness on his side. He would wait until tonight.

  Chapter 31

  When Dirk woke up that afternoon, he checked his phone. Tori had written him. Please don’t blame me for trying to protect people. I didn’t want to do it, but your father didn’t leave us many choices.

  He grunted and wrote Who were the eggs attacking?

  He erased the sentence. Sending it would only encourage her to defend her position. Instead, he sent the message Don’t blame me for trying to change the country. I don’t want to do it, but my father doesn’t leave me many choices.

  If she could make sweeping generalizations, so could he.

  He went downstairs to get something to eat. Bridget and Aaron were in the family room playing Uno. When Bridget saw him, she loudly whispered, “Dad wants us to be quiet. He’s in a grumpy mood.”

  Dirk walked through the room and into the kitchen. “That’s because Dad was up all last night.”

  Bridget held her cards to her chest so Aaron couldn’t peek while she talked to Dirk. “He’s been in a grumpy mood since bad guys killed our dragon eggs. They just smashed up five of them.”

  Aaron put a card down on the pile. “He already knows. That’s why he was with Dad last night. They were getting revenge.”

  Bridget’s eyes went wider as she watched Dirk. “Did you catch the bad guys?”

  “Not this time.”

  She let out a disappointed breath and looked at her cards again. “Those poor dragon babies. I wanted Minerva’s hatchlings to be red like her. She would have liked that.”

  Actually Minerva wouldn’t have cared what color they were or that they were her children. When dragons had lived in the wild, they either steered clear of each other or fought over territory.

  Dirk had explained this fact to Bridget a dozen times, but she insisted on believing that if given the chance, Minerva would lead her brood around like they were ducklings.

  “Not all mothers love their children,” Dirk said.

  The sentence earned him a sharp look from Aaron. Dirk hadn’t been talking about his own mother, but yeah, case in point.

  Dirk opened the fridge and grabbed leftover pizza. “Khan and Minerva need to rest,” he told Aaron. “So today you’ll work with the hatchlings.”

  Bridget played a card. “The hatchlings are always grumpy. They tried to bite me once.”

  “Only once?” Aaron drew a card. “They must like you.”

  “Dirk saved me.” Bridget slapped down another card.

  Dirk didn’t want Bridget telling that story, as his father didn’t know about the event. It involved Dirk breaking several rules in order to warn Tori that a dragon was about to attack the Slayers’ plane.

  “Shouldn’t you be doing homework?” Dirk asked. Cassie homeschooled Bridget. Although now that she was pregnant, she spent a lot of time resting. Bridget’s study work was sporadic at best.

  “I’m done,” Bridget said proudly. “Aaron helped me do it because I played spy with him.”

  Aaron leaned toward Bridget. “Do you have more than one card? Because you didn’t say, ’Uno.’” He said the phrase too quickly, with a surge of worry.

  Dirk took a bite of pizza and eyed him. “How do you play spy?”

  Aaron didn’t answer. His attention stayed firmly on his cards.

  Bridget drew a card and added it to her hand. “Aaron is a spy, and I start singing a song if I see anyone coming. Then I don’t tell anyone.”

  Aaron sent her a dark look. “I think you forgot to do that last part.”

  “We’re not playing anymore,” she said. “So it’s okay to tell now.”

  Dirk put his pizza on the counter and walked into the family room. He kept his gaze on Aaron so he could read him. “Did you play that today?” With Dirk and his father sleeping and Cassie resting, only Norma, the housekeeper, would have been keeping an eye on Bridget and Aaron. And Norma was easy enough to get around. “How many times have you played spy with Aaron?”

  “A few,” Bridget said. “But I like hide-and-seek better.”

  Aaron shrugged casually. “It’s just one of her pretend games. She makes me play pirates too.”

  Aaron might have pulled off the casual tone if Dirk hadn’t been his counterpart. Aaron’s emotions were bowstring-tense and he was trying hard not to show it.

  Dirk put his hand firmly on his brother’s shoulder. “Sorry to interrupt your game, Bridget, but Aaron and I need to talk.” Dirk took hold of his brother’s arm and yanked him up.

  “Hey,” Bridget protested. “We’re not done with our game.”

  “Yes, you are,” Dirk said, pulling Aaron out of the family room. “You won.”

  “Stop it!" Aaron jerked his arm away from Dirk. "You’ll rip my arm off."

  Aaron followed Dirk into the living room, grumbling. He was trying at anger but guilt and fear leaked from every word.

  Dirk stopped and faced him, hands on his hips. “What were you doing that you needed Bridget for your lookout?”

  “Nothing.” Aaron rubbed his arm where Dirk had grabbed it. “She wanted to play and it was my way of keeping her busy while I went off and played computer games.”

  “I can tell when you’re lying. You know that, right?”

  Aaron rolled his eyes. “Then you can tell this next confession is true too: when Bridget and I play hide-and-seek, I do other stuff and take a long time to find her. So sue me for being a lousy playmate. Maybe you should go kidnap someone her age.”

  With that sentence, Aaron’s anger overshadowed his nervousness. But neither emotion helped his case for innocence. What was he up to?

  Dirk watched him carefully, judging his emotions. “I found you in Dad’s den once. Why were you there?”

  Aaron held his gaze, blue eyes stubborn. “I already told you. I was looking for Dad.”

  Not the truth. Dirk cocked his head. “Did I believe you when you told me that the first time? Because if I did, I was clearly not paying attention.”

  “Okay,” Aaron said with a huff of confession. “I admit I was snooping.”

  Before Dirk could comment, he added, “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same thing if you’d been abducted. I was hoping to find something that would tell me where I was. An envelope with an address or a bill.”

  This was the truth, even if Aaron was still holding things back.

  “Did you find out where we are?” Dirk asked.

  Aaron’s shoulders slumped. “I’ve got no idea. There wasn’t an envelope in the place. You guys don’t even have a mailbox, do you?”

  They didn’t. His father had a PO box in the city.

  Dirk didn’t answer the question. He just studied Aaron. The kid was watching Dirk warily—afraid, but pretending he wasn’t. Dirk couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Maybe it was because Aaron reminded Dirk of himself at that age—trying to please his father and at the same time trying to resist him. Come to think of it, Dirk was still doing that.

  He ran his hand across the back of his neck, thinking. If Aaron wanted to escape, he would always be more of a danger than an asset. His father should have realized that in the beginning.

  Eventually Aaron would figure out some clue to their location. Their father wouldn’t slip up, but Cassie might. Norma might. Bridget would willingly spill everything she knew—which fortunately wasn’t much. But if
Aaron found a way to get information to their mother, the feds would show up on their doorstep.

  As much as their father wanted another dragon lord around, losing Aaron now would be better than having to do damage control later.

  Of course, his father was not going to listen to that sort of reasoning. “Look,” Dirk said, lowering his voice, “if you want to leave, I’ll help you. Just don’t do anything stupid that we’ll all regret.”

  Aaron returned Dirk’s stare, weighing his words to see if they were true.

  “I’ll help you leave,” Dirk said again. “But we’ll have to do it my way.” Dirk would blindfold him and drop him off somewhere far away so he wouldn’t have any clue as to where he’d been. Dirk would also have to arrange the escape for a time when he had an alibi because if their father found out Dirk had helped Aaron leave, he would make Dirk suffer for it.

  “I don’t want to leave,” Aaron said. “At least not yet.”

  Dirk hadn’t heard Bridget come into the room, but she launched herself at Aaron holding onto him in a hug. “Don’t make him leave!”

  Dirk leaned down to hush her. “I’m not making him leave.”

  Aaron joined in making shushing noises. “I’m not going anywhere. We were talking about someday when I go off to college—that’s a school for grownups. But I won’t go there for a lot of years.” The lie came off Aaron’s tongue so effortlessly that it hardly even registered as an untruth.

  Bridget’s eyebrows crinkled as she tried to make this information fit with what she’d heard. “Promise?”

  “Promise,” Aaron said.

  Dirk unpeeled her from Aaron’s legs and bent down to be on her level. “Listen, Bridget, you can’t tell anyone that Aaron and I were talking about him leaving. It would make Dad mad.”

  She nodded, a look of understanding in her large brown eyes. “He doesn’t like regular schools. That’s why I can’t go to one.”