Dragons of Cinderhollow Bundle

by Hawke Oakley

12

  Ryu

  As much as both of us wanted to stay home and take care of Angel, Scar and I faced the real responsibility of returning to work. But having separate jobs meant only one of us at a time would be caring for Angel, and that wouldn’t work out if our attention was divided between our child and our customers. I knew I had a difficult decision to make.

  “I think it’s best if I take a break from my magic school, at least until we figure out a better way to deal with all of this,” I told Scar.

  His eyes widened in surprise. “What? But you love your job.”

  “I know,” I said with a sigh. “But it’s not exactly as if business has been booming lately. My last student was Henry, and he couldn’t even do a little bit of magic. Probably because I’m a lousy teacher.”

  Scar growled and pointed a finger at me. “You shut up. You taught Gabriel everything he knows, and look how he turned out! He ended up doing high-level clear magic with your help.”

  “Gabriel was exceptionally gifted,” I admitted.

  “Doesn’t matter. Without a good teacher, he wouldn’t know what to do with his abilities,” Scar retorted.

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “I am.”

  “But I am serious about taking a break. Your bar is filled with more customers in a single night than my school is in a week. This way, we’ll both be in the same place to watch Angel,” I continued.

  Scar made a face. “Isn’t it kind of weird to bring an infant to a bar? Is that even, like, allowed?”

  “You are the owner of the facility, not some drunk customer lugging their baby along. You can keep her behind the counter, or I can babysit her in the back room. She won’t get into any drinks with us watching her, I promise. Just think of it as an extended take-your-kids-to-work day,” I said.

  “You’re nuts,” Scar said, but he was grinning. “Fine. I was getting stir crazy sitting in your apartment all day, anyway. A little time outside will be good for all of us. The bar opens at eight.”

  Angel happily slapped Scar’s prosthetic arm, enjoying the clunk sound it made. Scar blushed but was obviously amused.

  My phone rang and I fished it out of my pocket. Scar’s amusement faded. “That’s not Henry again, I hope.”

  “No, I’m done with him. You don’t ever have to worry about that. But it’s not him—it’s Lorenzo.”

  Scar’s face turned serious and interested. We’d been waiting on his call since we asked his mate Raja for his help.

  I put the call on speakerphone and said, “Hello?”

  “Ryu? How are you?” Something crashed in the background, then I heard a young girl’s laughter—it must have been his daughter, Charlotte Kali. “I have some things to discuss. I’d prefer to do it in person—” His voice was interrupted by the sound of sharp claws on a hard surface, then quickly followed by Raja’s exasperated voice as he called his daughter’s name, “— for obvious reasons. Sorry, Charlotte recently discovered how fun it is to ruin furniture in her panther form.”

  I grimaced at Lorenzo’s dismay but couldn’t help but be entertained. “That’s fine. You’re welcome to come over.”

  “Great. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  After I hung up, Scar turned to Angel and gently said, “I’ll always love you no matter what, but whatever you are, please don’t turn into a cat shifter.”

  * * *

  Both Scar and I were surprised to find that Lorenzo didn’t arrive alone.

  Little Charlotte Kali, who, like all shifter children, grew quickly compared to humans, was already old enough to walk—she stumbled confidently right into the apartment as soon as I opened the door.

  “Sorry,” Lorenzo said with a shy smile. “Raja—and the furniture—really needed a break from her. I’ll make sure to watch her so she doesn’t claw anything up.”

  “That’s okay,” I replied. “We’re happy to have her here.” I bent down to Charlotte, who was watching me intently with her violet eyes. They matched Lorenzo’s. “Do you want some applesauce, Charlotte?”

  She nodded.

  When I returned with some apple-raspberry applesauce for the kids, Lorenzo and Scar were already sitting around the table. Angel gurgled in Scar’s lap as she tried to gnaw on the table. Charlotte watched her doing so and began to do the same.

  Lorenzo sighed. “These little ones…”

  I distributed the applesauce. Lorenzo aided Charlotte in eating so she wouldn’t make a mess from how enthusiastically she did everything—he was probably embarrassed enough that his daughter tried to eat the table.

  Angel watched Charlotte with her intelligent eyes.

  I sat beside Scar and Angel. Both excited and nervous, I asked, “So, Lorenzo, did you find anything out? Ever since we requested Raja ask for your help, I’ve been hoping you could find out any information.”

  Lorenzo gave a strange gesture, like a half-shrug, as if he himself didn’t know exactly how to explain the situation. “Yes and no. Do both of you know how the Cinderhollow barrier functions?”

  I nodded. Although I wasn’t as skilled of a clear magic user as Lorenzo, I knew my fair share about magic.

  But Scar mumbled, “It’s been a long time since I arrived here. If it’s important to what you’re about to tell us, I could probably use a refresher.”

  “That’s fair,” Lorenzo said. “The Cinderhollow barrier was created a long time ago by a dragon named Halo Fire-Eater.”

  Scar nodded, eager to get to the meat of the story. “I know that part. He’s a powerful mage, he’s still alive but nobody knows where he is, etcetera.”

  “Yes. Although Cinderhollow is high in the mountains where it’s difficult to reach, he created the barrier to protect our tribe from outside threats. The legend has been distorted through time, but it’s believed Fire-Eater created it many hundreds of years ago to defend the tribe from enemies. There was a lot more turmoil in our tribe’s past than there is now.”

  Lorenzo continued. “Now, you asked me to find out if any outsiders had crossed in or out of the barrier anytime before you found Angel. The answer is yes.”

  Both Scar and I perked up.

  “Who? Maybe that person has something to do with Angel,” Scar asked urgently.

  Lorenzo gazed at him. “As you know—especially you, Scar—our tribe is somewhat of a safe haven for shifters with no place else to go. Outsiders only have to ask for access and usually receive it right at the barrier from one of the guards, who alters their energy signature to allow them past the barrier’s magic.”

  “They’re usually with someone from the tribe, right?” I asked. “That’s how Gabriel and Raja both got in.”

  “Yes,” Lorenzo confirmed. “Scar, it must have been the same for you, given the condition you were in.”

  Scar winced. “Yeah. I don’t remember her name, but a dragon shifter saved me from the human raiders and brought me here. Probably out of pity.”

  I wanted to lean closer to Scar and comfort him more, but his prickly energy told me he didn’t want to dwell on it any longer.

  I don’t know that much about his past, I thought. I hope one day he feels comfortable enough to tell me about it.

  Lorenzo continued. “A few nights ago, he guards who were on duty said a small group of omegas from a nearby fox shifter skulk begged for entry. They said they faced persecution in their skulk from the alphas, which is a story we sadly hear often. Unfortunately, there are many cruel people out there—both shifter and human.”

  Scar flinched as Lorenzo’s eyes drifted over to his prosthetic arm. Scar sunk somewhat in his seat. I placed my hand on his back sympathetically, trying to comfort him without being overbearing.

  “I’m sorry,” Lorenzo murmured. “Should I continue?”

  Scar nodded firmly. “Yes. I want to know everything, if it’ll help Angel in some way.”

  “Wait,” I interrupted. “You said fox omegas?”

  “Yes,” Lorenzo confirmed.

  Scar leane
d in curiously. “Do you know something, Ryu?”

  My brow furrowed in deep thought. “Did you happen to catch the names of the omega foxes? Because there’s a good chance I might know one of them.”

  “Who?” Scar asked urgently.

  “Henry,” I announced. “He’s an omega fox shifter.”

  Scar’s jaw dropped. “What?”

  Lorenzo stroked his chin. “Yes, I believe his name did come up when I asked.”

  Realization dawned in Scar’s eyes. “Wait—I just remembered something. That night when he first showed up at the bar, he said he was new here. I thought he meant to the bar itself, but could he have meant new to Cinderhollow?”

  “Maybe,” I added. “Perhaps that’s why none of us recognized him.”

  “There’s another thing you should know,” Lorenzo said. “The night that the fox shifters arrived, something… strange happened with the barrier itself.”

  “What do you mean something happened to it?” I asked, somewhat frantic. “I’ve never heard of anything happening to that barrier. From a magical standpoint, it’s completely solid.”

  “You’re right, Ryu. That’s just it,” Lorenzo said seriously. “It concerned me deeply when the guards told me about this.”

  “Well, what the hell is it?” Scar asked, clearly getting fed up. “And not all of us are amazing mages, so put it in terms I can actually understand.”

  Lorenzo gazed at us seriously. “It flickered.”

  I gasped.

  “Like a lightbulb?” Scar asked.

  “Yes,” Lorenzo said slowly.

  My head was spinning. “Hang on… Are you telling me it flickered out of existence?”

  “Yes, I am,” Lorenzo added gravely.

  “The whole thing?”

  “Yes, Ryu.”

  I leaned back as the weight of this news hit me.

  “Wait, what’s the big deal? It came back, didn’t it?” Scar asked.

  “It did, but there are only three conditions under which the barrier should theoretically disappear; one, if Halo Fire-Eater’s magic was somehow suspended; two, if someone employed even stronger magic against his, which is highly unlikely given that Fire-Eater was one of the most powerful mages of all time; or three, if Fire-Eater was dead.”

  Scar narrowed his eyes. “Well, it’s obviously not the last one, since it came back. So everything should be fine.”

  But Lorenzo and I both knew it was more serious than that. The barrier flickering out of existence, even for just a single moment, was critically important to our future. The uncertainty was the worst part. If it went out once, who was to say it wouldn’t go out again—forever?

  “Since nobody knows where Fire-Eater is, it’s impossible to know what happened,” Lorenzo said.

  “Scar is right. Let’s rule out the idea that he’s dead,” I began. “Out of the other two options, which is more likely?”

  Lorenzo frowned in thought. “I would say the first. That Fire-Eater’s magic was momentarily suspended.”

  “Right—but how? Why? If he’s so powerful, he wouldn’t just let it drop,” I countered.

  Lorenzo’s eyes widened in shock. “Are you suggesting someone even more skilled than him interrupted his magic?”

  “Okay, okay, wait,” Scar declared. “What the hell does any of this have to do with Angel?”

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, Lorenzo sighed in frustration. “This happened the night before you found Angel. The barrier’s flickering and Henry’s appearance. They all have to be connected somehow.”

  Scar glanced up suddenly. “Hang on. Do you guys think this has anything to do with the scent trail?”

  “The one that vanished into thin air,” I added, the realization dawning on me. “Yes, it has to. That’s the only way any of this makes sense.”

  The chaotic puzzle pieces began to rotate in my mind. “I have a theory. It’s a bit crazy, but hear me out.”

  Lorenzo and Scar stared at me intently, waiting for any sort of clue.

  “What if Henry interrupted the magic?” I suggested.

  Scar frowned, obviously let down by this idea. “But didn’t you just say earlier he was a lousy magic student?”

  “Yes,” I replied, “but what if that was a lie?”

  Lorenzo’s brows raised in sudden interest. “I see. So you’re saying he lied to you to cover his tracks, because it would be easy to find out that his sudden appearance and the flickering barrier would be connected.”

  “Exactly!”

  Scar’s face twisted with confusion and irritation. “So… Henry has something to do with Angel? That he was the one who abandoned her? I knew I hated that guy!”

  The puzzle pieces continued to fall into place. “You know, he did get strangely aggressive when I brought up Angel the night we broke up. It was almost like he disliked this child—this baby he had, supposedly, never met. I thought it was a bizarre that an omega, who is supposed to be naturally nurturing and kind to children, was essentially telling me to leave her.”

  Scar’s face twisted into a snarl. “That bastard! He was the one who abandoned Angel?”

  Angel, who had been sitting and gurgling in Scar’s lap the entire time, half-heartedly tossed the empty applesauce cup across the table. The plastic container hit Charlotte gently in the head.

  Charlotte, who had been playing with some of Angel’s toys, was taken off guard by the sudden impact. She growled and shifted into her panther form, glaring right at Angel. Angel began laughing at the way Charlotte’s tail lashed back and forth.

  Lorenzo frowned at his daughter. “Charlotte,” he began warningly.

  But Charlotte didn’t listen. Half playful and half annoyed, Charlotte pounced across the table at Angel before of us knew what was happening.

  “Angel!” Scar cried fearfully.

  My blood ran cold. Even a playful panther cub’s claws could inflict serious damage on a baby as young as Angel. My whole body twisted and tensed, ready to shift and body block Charlotte from touching Angel.

  But then something amazing happened.

  Charlotte hit something. Her body bounced back as she yelped in surprise, stumbling upside down over the table.

  My heart nearly stopped beating when I saw it—the translucent, shimmering sliver hovering in midair. It was small, only a sloppy rectangle of a few inches across, but it had been enough to repel Charlotte. Angel suddenly laughed again, full of excitement, and clapped her hands. As she did so, the barrier sliver faded.

  The awe and realization hit me like a tidal wave.

  “She knows clear magic,” I breathed.

  Lorenzo’s expression matched how shocked I felt. “I can’t believe this… A child so young shouldn’t be so capable of any magic, especially not as something as powerful and difficult as clear magic. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

  All of us turned to stare at her. Under the attention, she grinned a toothy grin and clapped with excitement.

  “So, what does this mean?” Scar asked quietly—cautious, like he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.

  I faced him. “Angel is Henry’s biological child.”

  13

  Scar

  The bar was packed. Apparently, all my customers were pissed that I closed up for a single night because they had to go to some other bar, which—by their tones—they clearly didn’t enjoy as much as mine. That filled me with a bit of pride. My customers weren’t exactly my friends, but at least they missed my presence enough to be upset about it.

  “Hey, man, where the hell’ve you been?” an alpha at the bar asked, visibly happy to see me back. I recognized his face as a regular, but not his name, even though it was on the tip of my tongue. I knew it was kind of rude of me not to remember everyone, but it became hard to keep track of so many drunk alphas in one place.

  I shrugged as I wiped down the counter. “I had something to take care of. I’m here now, ain’t I?”

  The man grinned. “Damn straight. Get
me a scotch.”

  “Right away.”

  Scotch, scotch… Oh, right, I know who he is now. His name is Nate. I think.

  “So,” the man who might-have-been Nate said, leaning on the counter, “who’s this guy? New employee of yours?”

  I knew he meant Ryu, who sat behind the counter with me. He held Angel’s carrier in his arms. He could have held her on his lap, but we wanted the extra support and protection of the carrier, since she would be here all night.

  Ryu offered him a smile. “Something like that.”

  Nate shot him a curious look. “What’s that you’re holding? Wait a sec… Is that a baby?”

  “Yeah, and if you got a problem with my kid being here, then tough—you can find another bar to get drunk at,” I growled at him.

  Instantly Nate raised his hands in appeasement. “Whoa, no, I don’t got a problem! I mean, I just never saw a kid at a bar before. Didn’t know it was allowed.”

  I glared. “Well, it’s my kid and it’s my bar. I can do whatever I want.”

  “Wait, your kid?” Nate’s brows shot up. “I didn’t know you had a baby, Scar.”

  Clearly Nate thought the idea of me bearing a child was wildly unrealistic. I scowled, even though he wasn’t entirely wrong—before Angel showed up in my life, I never thought I would have a child of my own, blood-related or not. But it still stung to know that everybody else thought the same way of me.

  “I didn’t have her,” I admitted. “She’s… adopted, I guess.”

  Nate smiled nonetheless. “Ah, that makes sense. Right on, man. Good for you.” He took another glance at Angel, who was gurgling happily, and said, “She’s beautiful.”

  His strange remark was lost under the sudden praise of both me and Angel, taking me off guard. I turned away so nobody except Ryu would see the flush across my cheeks. I wasn’t used to any kind of positive remarks. I slung his scotch back towards him and muttered, “Thanks.”

  “What’s her name?” Nate asked.

  “Angel,” I replied.

  He lifted his drink in the air. “To you and Angel, then.”