Hard Boiled

by T L Christianson

  I pointed back toward the camp. “I don’t care. If they’re here to get my mom back, then I want to help. I believe George when he said she went through to the dragon realm.” I blew out a breath. “Look, I know you’ve seen him as this huge liar and criminal… but that’s not the real him. He usually doesn’t lie, and he’s just this quiet, strange English dude… besides, if there’s something else going on, then I need to protect him. Because he’s down there!”

  “You need to protect him?” she asked cynically.

  I nodded. “Look, I know everyone has seen him at his worst, but he took care of me. I owe him.”

  “No, Sydney.” Taya pursed her lips, shaking her head. “You owe that man jack shit! He’s made your life into a mess! Don’t you get it? George is selfish.” She held her hands up and twisted to motion around us. “He’s using you… he’s using all of us. Because if he doesn’t have something everyone wants, then he’s nothing. Can’t you see that?”

  She stood there, hands-on-hips, lips pressed together as she stared me down.

  Then I felt him—Baldy—and I spun, ready to try out some of my new moves. But he just looming over us like a giant.

  “Would you like to join us for lunch?” he asked in his thick Russian accent. I stepped forward to follow but then turned back to meet Taya’s eye.

  “Are you coming or not?” I asked her.

  She gazed warily up at Baldy. “I don’t think I have much of a choice, do I?”

  “Nyet,” he said, giving her a warning look before ushering us in front of him along the trail.

  We dropped into the flat bottom of the valley and began to walk toward the sound of running water.

  “Lev?” I asked… because I did actually know his name. But Baldy and I had history, and I wasn’t about to forget it. “Is Evgeni trying to go to the dragon realm?”

  I wanted confirmation. I wanted to prove that I hadn’t been duped or lied to again. I knew George had purposefully kept things from me, but this was real.

  When I looked back at the Russian, he only urged me forward.

  The bank had eroded along the river, dropping off about fifteen feet to the actual water. On the other side was the camp.

  I gazed up at Baldy. “How do we get across?”

  He shook his head. “You don’t think like a Dragonborn.” Smiling, a dark blue Harrow dragon burst from his chest. The beast prowled around the grass in a tight circle before bending a knee for his rider to climb up. “Fly across.”

  By the time Aaraeth landed and carried me over the water, both Taya and Baldy had been waiting for several minutes. Instead of calling Aaraeth into me, I allowed her to fly away again, to enjoy her freedom.

  Voices were coming from the military tent, and I followed the path in that direction.

  “George? Evgeni?” I called out as I peeked around the door flaps that hung loosely over the opening.

  My jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Inside were nearly a dozen people, and on tables and walls hung charts, maps, and various equations. A woman near the door startled at my appearance and looked up from her laptop with a gasp. It was Katie, dressed like a normal person, and we both eyed each other in surprise.

  Evgeni strode over to me as I looked for George.

  “Everyone,” my bio dad called out, “this is my daughter, Sydney.”

  I raised my hand and smiled at the curious hellos before the group went back to work.

  Evgeni wanted to talk to me, but I ducked his arm to search the room for George.

  “Darling!” Came a soft voice, as a clean and groomed George closed the space and hugged me. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  Evgeni shifted his stance, crossed his arms, and watched our exchange.

  “What? Why? I came to the cemetery to dig up Celine’s grave. You told me to do that!” I explained. “But the grave was already dug up.”

  He nodded. “Yes, I told you that… but that was a confession of a dead man. I at least wanted someone to know what had happened to your mother.”

  “So, what is all this? Are all these people going to the dragon realm?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No, and you aren’t either.”

  I let out a sarcastic breath. “No? I’m going. I have an anchor… Don’t I? I can get back.”

  George stared at me. We were almost eye to eye. “Not this time, Sydney. Look at all these people. They’re scientists that work for Mr. Garin. He’s researched this for a long time, but now with Celine’s notes, he’s able to go.”

  Evgeni was eyeing George as if he were a bug he wanted to squash.

  I turned to my bio dad. “You’re going? What happened to I’ll tell you everything later? Were you just going to leave without talking to me? Besides, how are you going to get back without an anchor?”

  “I’ve been trying to get to you, but I couldn’t alert Snyder to our presence. You saved me the trouble by coming to us. And about the anchor—we’re working on that. Yesterday we were even able to open a portal.” He shook his head, scowling at George. “We’re trying to use your anchor to make a portal back here.”

  Katie approached with a smile, saying, “Our readings from the tests this morning look good. The anchor looks like it’ll create a return gateway. So, I’m giving you the green light. Who does it belong to? We need to get him prepped for the trip.”

  Both George and Evgeni looked at me and said the same thing in unison, “No.”

  “Wait? If she’s talking about my anchor, then I should go. Ashe and I are separated for the next year, so what do I have to lose?” I turned to Katie. “Are you talking about the placenta? That’s mine.”

  “Ohhhh…” she trailed off, turning to Evgeni. “I see.”

  “Absolutely not!” George declared in his British accent.

  Evgeni stroked the stubble on his face. “No… There’s no need for you to go. If Katie thinks she can create a portal from this side to get back through, then we’ll do that instead. But…”

  “She isn’t going!” George asserted.

  I raised my eyebrows at him and was about to speak when bio dad cut him off. “That really isn’t up to you, now, is it George?”

  His face paled as he stared down at the papers strewn across a table. “I suppose that’s true,” he finally said, frowning.

  Evgeni sucked in a breath, “Sydney, you need to stay here. You’ll be our backup plan.”

  “I think,” George started off, with a shake of his finger. “I think that we let Syd examine all of Celine’s work, all the rituals, and whatnot.” He shook the finger again before pointing to the main table and laying everything out. “You’re a smart girl, aren’t you, my darling? You should know what’s going on, just in case.”

  George led me over to sit down at a desk. The papers spread before me were written in an elegant script, almost old fashioned in their perfection.

  This was Celine’s writing.

  I shuffled through some of the documents, reading out a supply list. My throat seemed to close up, and I swallowed hard against the pain that lodged in my chest.

  “I’ve never seen her handwriting before,” I said, just above a whisper. “I’ve never really put my hand where she put hers or read something she wrote.” I touched the indented letters with the tip of my fingers. “She’s been in the dragon realm for so long… and honestly, I don’t blame her for going. I would’ve done the same. But if we have a way to go there and bring her back, then we have to do it.” I looked up at both men. “I have to do it.”

  George gave me a resigned expression. “You can be their back up. But for now, it’s too dangerous for you to go. In the meantime, you need to start memorizing the runes and ritual words.”

  “Really?” I asked, unable to keep the smile from my face.

  “Yeah. You need to memorize the sequence… or ritual, if you will, to create the portal, just in case. Everyone who goes needs to do this,” he said, his bony hand squeezing my arm.

  When had George begun to look so ol
d and fragile? He never looked this old before, did he?

  I had to study because soon, Evgeni and Lev were going through to the dragon realm and all this research, everything and everyone here, would leave.

  26

  Ashe

  We started the drive confident and determined, but after sleeping in the bed of the truck outside Missoula, Montana, I began to worry.

  My bondmate felt strangely focused, which was not like her outside of school.

  I stood behind the truck, taking care of some business while Corbin sat on the tailgate in his sleeping bag.

  “Dude! You kept me up all night.”

  I finished up and turned toward him while buckling my belt. “Something’s wrong. I’m getting weird emotions from Syd, and I don’t like it.”

  My mind churned back to what George said to her. She wouldn’t really try to go to the dragon realm? Would she?

  Fuck no…. maybe?

  I wasn’t sure.

  Corbin’s pale blond hair stuck out in all directions under his knit cap. He gazed up at me as he rolled up his sleeping pad. “Dude, you’re freaking me out.”

  I stuffed away his sleeping bag into his backpack. My things were already packed, and there was nothing else to do but help my friend.

  “I’m freaking you out? I’m freaking out. I think… Oh! This is so stupid! I have to be wrong. But I feel like Syd is trying to go to the dragon realm,” even as I said the words, my mind rebelled. This whole thing sounded crazy.

  “But you don’t know, do you?” Corbin asked with a shake of his head as he tried to nod his wayward locks out of his eyes.

  I nearly laughed from fear or worry. “I don’t know, but George has this ridiculous theory that he told her about her mom being in the dragon realm… and I get it. It would be so much easier to believe that Celine was stuck in some faraway land instead of being a druggie who overdosed.”

  Cor shook his head, “I’ve seen it too much, man. It’s easy for Dragonborn to get pulled into that life.”

  I nodded sadly. “I know. Especially with Arthur and Elise as her parents. Could you imagine the kind of pressure that had to be? I thought we had it bad…but…” I paused.

  “What?” he asked.

  I screwed up my face, not wanting to admit that I could almost understand George taking Syd and raising her away from everything. “I disagree with what George did, but it almost makes sense, you know? Taking a little girl who you know would probably become a Prime and raising her outside the community. But then… why not have the ritual? They should’ve been able to find a solitary Dragonborn who could do it. After all, George is from a UK community. Why not go to them?”

  “No way, man. If I’d been given the Stygian Ritual, there’s no way I’d want anything to do with other Dragonborn. I’d stay clear,” he said.

  “So, you think it was selfishness?”

  “Prolly…” he said with a lopsided grin.

  Out of all of the Primes I knew around my age, I would’ve thought Corbin would be the one to make a random bond, not me. He was my opposite—impulsive and fly by night.

  Back in the truck, we continued north, my mind still troubled.

  Reaching out to Aaraeth, I asked, what is Sydney doing?

  The feeling of flight touched my mind as she answered, she is in the forest with Taya.

  She’s in the forest? Doing what? I demanded.

  Human things, she replied vaguely.

  “Hey, do you sense that?” Corbin glanced around the lone mountain road.

  “What?” I asked.

  He shook his head as he turned off onto the gravel road to Balaur. “Nothing… just, I thought I felt another Prime a little while ago.”

  I shrugged, too focused on Sydney to pay attention to anything else.

  The drive stretched out even though we didn’t have too far to go. As we neared the school property, I tapped Corbin’s shoulder. “Stop up here. Sydney isn’t at the school. She’s in the valley.”

  His brows came together as he searched my gaze. “Seriously?”

  I nodded. “I can do this alone if you want to head back.”

  “No way. Your adventure is my adventure, bro,” he replied, pulling off the road to park. Turning the engine off, he met my eye. “We taking packs?”

  I nodded, examining the thick canopy of trees that surrounded us. We were quiet as we strapped on our backpacks and began to follow a game trail into the woods. The scent of pine washed over me, and the wind and rustling of the trees helped to calm me a bit.

  I just couldn’t shake the thought that Sydney had gotten caught up in something dangerous.

  Also, why was Aaraeth flying solo so much? None of this made sense. Was she alone doing all this crap? Was Taya involved or trying to stop her?

  On top of my worries, she hadn’t answered any of my texts or emails since she left Briony. Had someone taken away her phone?

  Also, was Evgeni involved? I couldn’t imagine he’d let Syd get into trouble, but who knew? If Sydney was the only one who could reach Celine, would he allow her to do it?

  A branch broke behind us with a crunch.

  “Down!” Corbin spat, and we both dropped to a crouch.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  He motioned behind us with two fingers. Another crunch of footfalls on the dried pine needles and leaves sounded behind us.

  “We’ve got a tail,” he whispered, his brown eyes wide.

  I nodded and reached out to feel who was nearby.

  “Shit,” I muttered.

  I didn’t know their names or who they were, but I recognized their signature. “It’s the same group that attacked Syd and me in California.” I wondered how long they’d been following us—since Briony? I’d been too distracted to notice.

  “Seriously?” he asked.

  “I think they must have someone on the inside—in Briony…”

  He cut me off, “Yeah, and it’s not a surprise that you’d lead them to Sydney.”

  I pressed my lips together. “Of course. Somewhere remote, somewhere where we’d be alone without security or back-up.”

  “What do you want to do?” he asked. “Turn back and get help?”

  I shook my head. “No. I need to warn Sydney. What if they already got to her? Let’s lose them first.”

  “Do you want to fly?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No, they have wyverns. Let’s try to lead them away from Syd. Then we’ll shield ourselves and double back once we’ve lost them.”

  He nodded. We moved fast, heading in the opposite direction of my mate’s location.

  After backtracking for a little over an hour, we crouched down next to a boulder.

  “I’m pretty sure we lost them,” I whispered to Corbin.

  Sweat dripped down the side of his face from the exertion and midday heat.

  “Yeah… I haven’t sensed them for at least an hour,” he replied.

  “We know these woods—I don’t think they do.”

  “Exactly. I mean, who would come after Syd? I can’t believe that anyone from Briony would do this.”

  “I know,” I sighed. “Two of them were Harrow, but I’ve never met them before. Maybe they’re rogue.”

  I moved off of the game trail and began crossing the forest in the direction we needed to go, climbing over fallen trees, ferns, and rocks. The going was slow, but at least we were heading in the right direction.

  After several hours of hiking, we came to a clearing near the river. Corbin picked something off the ground and held it up.

  “Look,” he said. “Protein bar. Someone camped here.” He pointed out the large flattened areas in the grass and recent fire in a makeshift firepit.

  I shook my head. “This wasn’t just Syd… look.” I pointed to four different tent sites where the meadow grass had been flattened. “And look at the worn area over there.”

  Corbin nodded. “Yeah, military tent. What do you think? Briony?”

  I ran my hand over my fac
e, scratching the new stubble. “I don’t know. I think this is where Syd’s been. I only hope that this was Evgeni and his people and not someone else.” A bead of perspiration ran down my back. It was hot and we’d been moving fast over steep terrain. “We have to get to the caves.”

  “Can you still feel her?” he asked.

  I nodded grimly. “Yes. Fuck! I leave her for like five seconds, and she’s already in trouble!”

  I ran my hands through my damp hair, pushing it out of my eyes.

  Corbin’s eyes narrowed, “But, it’s all bullshit, isn’t it? The dragon realm thing… the mom not being dead. I mean, people can’t go there… can they?”

  Just as I considered the Eton’s words, the shadow of a wyvern darkened the sky. We both gazed up, shielding our eyes from the sun to glimpse the dark shape.

  “Dragon’s blood! It’s those fuckers that were following us.” Corbin spat. “They’re trying to track us from the air!”

  “They can’t feel us right now. We’re both shielded.” I motioned to the horse trail that led to the ritual cave, then I began running. “We have to go on foot.”

  As I ran, Corbin’s seed of doubt gnawed at me.

  Could George actually be telling the truth?

  Could this really be the reason that Evgeni wanted him?

  Not something else… but to find his bondmate? Could Celine actually be alive?

  I scoffed. It was impossible… wasn’t it?

  27

  Sydney

  After spending the past few days memorizing everything—the symbols, the words, the sequence, I was surprised when I found the camp gone—empty. This was the day Evgeni and Lev were going through to the dragon realm. Had they left without saying goodbye?

  Panting, I gazed around, "Taya?"

  "There," she said, pointing farther down the river bank.

  Evgeni and Baldy were examining a notebook spread out on a rock.