Skydance

by Katherine Rhodes

  Max was happy the two of them at least got along. He was also happy to know that Sia had made it back safely. She looked like she had been through the ringer, though.

  Amy sighed. “Any word on Keni?”

  Sia shook her head. “The Coven has been gathered, but we really can’t do anything until tonight.”

  Amy shook her head. “I couldn’t dreamwalk last night. I was entirely too exhausted to do anything. It’s dangerous when I’m that tired.”

  Max grabbed her hand. She had been too tired, and she had felt guilty about not being able to. He didn’t want her to feel that way. “You also needed to actually sleep, Amy. Especially if this is going to work.”

  “Where’s Rigel?” Aaron asked.

  “He stayed behind. He tried to fight me on it, but I told him…well. That’s not important.” A bit of mischievousness danced in her eyes and he was glad she held back on the details. “I can’t stand the idea of him being hit with another blackout and coming so close to death.”

  “Do not blame you,” Raissa whispered.

  “So,” Lola said, sitting on one of Niko’s chairs. “What is the plan?”

  “We use the stone against itself,” Amy said.

  “What?”

  Amy looked up at Max and smiled. “The thing sends out pulses. They’re a little unpredictable, but fairly regular now. We wait until it goes into a pulse, and Raissa is going to open her vault and you can grab it.”

  “Just like that?” Lola asked. “Couldn’t you have just asked someone else to pop in there?”

  “Well, no. Not just like that because we already tried it. Amy did, anyway.”

  Lola looked at the group around them. “So why me?”

  “Because you’re blood to the dragons,” Raissa said. “The only one here who is. Even when we don’t have our magic, we’ve found our dragons to be extremely territorial. By you having Niko’s blood we think that it would be a better bet.”

  Lola looked over at Max and Amy. “But Amy is a dragonmate. Wouldn’t she be the better choice for this?”

  “She isn’t, because she’s a dragonmate,” Aaron said.

  “My dragon won’t let her in the vault,” Raissa said.

  “But I thought you said the stone takes away magic.”

  “It separates the magic from the user,” Amy said. “We found that much out. But we have a plan now that will allow you to get into the vault and get the hell out. Do you want to take a day or—”

  “No,” Lola said. “Not another moment.”

  “We have to wait until tonight,” Max interjected. “Niko and I are going to go into the dreamworld with Amy. Lola, Aaron, and Raissa will be back here so that Raissa can open the vault while Lola and Aaron wait for the pulse and she can run down there and grab it.”

  “Why tonight?” Sia asked. “Why not now?”

  “I need Betsy’s help.” Amy smiled. “With any luck, by this time tomorrow, we’ll have this stupid stone out of Pine Valley and buried where no one will ever be able to get it.”

  “Did you know that they are considering me for early release?” Betsy’s smile gleamed, even in the dream.

  Amy knew hers matched her best friend’s. “Are they?”

  “I met with the lawyer yesterday after I got back from testifying in Georgia.” She nodded. “He said that because full restitution had been made, because I was more than a model prisoner, and had been so cooperative with the DA in Atlanta, there was a good chance that I was going to be out in January next year. Eighteen months to the day I walked in.”

  “Niko will be happy to see you.” I waggled my eyebrows.

  “Oh, I cannot wait to get back to Pine Valley. I didn’t realize how much I didn’t like living in the South. I feel bad leaving my dad back there, but…”

  “Bets, have you talked to your dad?”

  “No.” She raised an eyebrow. “He sends letters and says to save the phone time for Niko.”

  “I’m setting you up in a meeting. You two need to have some daddy daughter time.” Amy tried not to put any emotion in it, but Betsy and Carl had a lot of stuff to talk about. Especially now that he and her mother were a hot item.

  “All right. I’d appreciate that. I miss him.”

  “He misses you. We all do.” Smiling, Amy kept all accusation out of her voice. She didn’t want to pile on to the guilt she knew her friend carried with her.

  And either it worked, or Betsy chose not to hear it. “So what’s going on?”

  “I need you to control Niko’s dragon. We’ve found the problem, but I need his dragon, and you’re the only one who can control it when they’re separate.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “What the hell…I know I had to do that last time, but he was attacking you…”

  “I need him to attack this time.”

  She glanced around the cavern Amy had brought them to. “What the hell is going on in Pine Valley?”

  Before Amy could even start to answer that, she felt Niko flicker to sleep and pulled him into the cavern. The smile lit up Betsy’s face the way it always did when Niko was around. She trotted over to him and wrapped her arms around him.

  “Hey, sexy,” she whispered at him.

  “Hey yourself, gorgeous.” Niko grinned back. He looked up at Amy and then glanced around. “Where’s Max?”

  “Apparently I need to train him better to fall asleep fast.” She grinned.

  “I hope that’s only when you’re not there.” Niko snickered.

  “Make another comment, and I’m going to tease you about Lola.”

  Niko’s face was pathetic, and Amy couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up. Before she could get in a good tease, she felt Max slip into sleep and pulled him to them.

  He turned and found Amy and pulled her into his arms. “Hello, mój cenny.” Leaning down to her, she accepted the wonderfully tender kiss he dropped on her lips.

  “What’s this?” Betsy said. “Max? Amy?”

  “Yeah, so, you’ve missed a few things,” Niko answered, clearing his throat.

  “Well, I’m not missing this right now.” Betsy tried to make her voice angry, but it didn’t work.

  Amy looked at Max, then back at Betsy. “We’re mated.”

  “What?”

  “We’ll have another chance to talk, Bets. We need to get this rock out of Raissa’s vault. And I need you to control Niko’s dragon when the magic goes out. Max has the oldest dragon…” Her voice trailed off.

  “Henry is the oldest.”

  “Henry is in no shape to help,” Max said.

  Betsy looked at the three of them, and her eyes landed on Amy. “What the hell is going on here?”

  Before she could answer, the appalling sensation of the pulse of the stone rolled through them. Niko and Max had a scream ripped through them, and they disappeared.

  Leaving only their dragons in the cavern.

  Raissa’s dragon was back as well and was threading itself around the frame of her open vault.

  “Listen to me,” I said, grabbing Betsy’s arm. “Max has the senior dragon and we needed Niko’s muscle. We have to get Raissa away from the door of the vault so Lola can grab Balagancizk’s Rock. The whole contraption.”

  “Lola?” Betsy gasped. “Niko’s grandmother?”

  “I swear I will fill you in, but right now, we need Max and Niko to pull Raissa off that door. The two bigger, and one senior dragon are far more a threat than Lola in the waking world.”

  She got it and nodded. They walked to the door where the red dragon and her fire slinked around the edges.

  “Raissa!” Amy called.

  She swiveled her head to stare at them. The dragon without the woman was unnerving. There was no one to control that power, and Amy realized why the stone was truly dangerous.

  Tearing the magic from the user was to release it into the world as its own wild force. Untamed, uncontrolled, who knew what a magical dragon ripped from its shifter could do.

  Or how a harpy would be viewed.
Or how the wolves would fair against the humans. Or the magic that kept the vampires alive, or the magic the sorcerers tamed.

  The rock had to be destroyed.

  “Walk toward the vault,” Amy whispered.

  Betsy didn’t question her and followed her forward. Two steps and the red dragon hissed and spat fire.

  Max, I need you to move to the other side. Amy threw the words at the dragon that was usually ruled by her mate. The mating apparently still worked in the dreamworld—he moved around with a deep rumble in his chest.

  [What are you doing?] Raissa’s voice echoed through the air. It had been unnerving the first time. It was nerve-shattering this time. She was mad that there was an elder dragon near her hoard.

  “Betsy.”

  Without another word, her best friend did exactly the same thing she had: ordered her mate around the back of Raissa. The move really pissed off the red dragon and she let out several staccato blasts of fire to back them off.

  [We are here for your hoard, little one.] Max’s strange dragon voice bounced around the cavern. He moved in closer and the dragon shrieked, letting out another flash of her fire.

  Niko moved in closer too, pushing her to one side, making her climb on top of the vault door, away from the entrance. [You have a wealthy hoard, fire-sister. Surely some could go to my own.]

  Screeching, she scrambled down the front of the vault and tried to snap at the two larger males.

  “Raissa!” Betsy yelled at her. “We won’t take much.”

  “Just a trinket or two.”

  Amy felt like hell doing this to her friend, but they had to get her away from the door. She glanced at the contraption that held the rock and watched as it turned and another drop fell.

  The blast ripped through the real and dreamworlds and pushed on all of them.

  “Holy shit,” Betsy whispered.

  “Yeah, that’s the problem,” Amy answered. She really hoped that Lola was on the move.

  “Aim, you can be anything in this dreamworld, right?” Betsy asked.

  “Yes?”

  She turned and looked right at me. “You want to get Raissa away, be a dragon.”

  Amy stared at her, eyes wide.

  “She won’t know you at all. This dragon knows Niko and Max. She won’t know you at all and that will get her away from the door. She’ll give chase.” Betsy grabbed her elbow. “I’ve been at this for just about two years, Aims. Trust me, please. Be a dragon.”

  Amy hadn’t really tried anything like that at all in the dreamworld—but her father had always said she was in charge. They had to get the stone out, and if that was going to lure Raissa away, she’d have to try.

  Leaning in close to her best friend, Betsy whispered, “Remember how it feels when Max shifts. You’re mated, you know what I’m talking about. That chill, the resorting of reality, the stretch of bones and skin. The shift of perception from human to more. The sense of magic racing over your skin, and the expansion of being.”

  Amy did know. Max had shifted a few times after they mated, and she knew the sensations. It was a deep-down change, grabbing and holding on to the most recessed parts of their being.

  She held up her hand and watched the purple-white fire Max had race around her skin, spinning and swirling, catching eddies and hurling out around in great arcs like an eruption on the sun.

  Everything grew.

  She watched her hand change from fingers to claws. She felt the wings emerge from her back as the scales formed and closed to protect her. Her teeth were sharp, and a hot flame burst to life in her stomach.

  It felt amazing.

  She glanced down, way down, at Betsy, whose mouth had fallen open while her eyes twinkled in delight. She shook off her shock and pointed. “Raissa.”

  Turning, she found herself at eye level with Max and Niko. Momentarily shocked and stuck in Max’s eyes, Amy took a second to look away, and back at the bright red dragon on the door.

  [Mine!] she shrieked.

  Amy walked backward—awkward with a tail behind her—to draw Raissa away from the door. She chose to walk deeper into the cavern rather than toward the door.

  As Betsy thought, the dragon followed her. Down off the vault door and toward the back of the cavern. There were blasts of red, hot fire that did nothing to her. There were claws raking out that didn’t hurt. When Amy looked up, Max and Niko were barring the path back to the vault.

  God, I hope they got that damn stone!

  A second later, Raissa’s open vault shivered and shuddered in the dreamworld, and they all turned to look. Betsy raced over, between the legs of all the dragons, and skidded to a halt.

  “Amy, is this your dream or Raissa’s?”

  [Mine,] she answered.

  “They got the stone. It’s gone.”

  “No one touch it!” Carl snapped, backing everyone off the stone and its housing. “Not even the non-magicals.”

  Max looked around. “In fact, anyone who is in danger of being exposed, killed, or knocked the hell out by this thing, get out of the room.” He spread his arms and scooped a dozen people or more toward the door. “Out, out.”

  After nearly everyone was out of Rijn’s barn, Max found himself, Niko, and Raissa pinning themselves against the door to stay away. Rijn was seated on a chair, and Carl, Lola, Patricia, and Amy were circled halfway around the contraption.

  “First thing,” Lola said. “Let’s get the water diverted. That will stop shocks and outages for now.”

  “Do we scoop it out, or do we divert?” Patricia asked.

  “Let’s touch this as little as possible,” Carl answered.

  Max watched Patricia walk over to the bench and grab a hose and wires that were sitting there. She quickly rigged something up and slipped the whole thing over the drip pipe and let it drape on the ground.

  Niko glanced over at Max, who nodded. He mouthed the words Smart, like her daughter to him and was pleased when Niko agreed.

  “Neatly done, Trish.” Rijn smiled. “Thank you.”

  “No one touch the sodium, either, please,” Niko called out. “It will burn you, because the sweat on your skin could react.”

  “As sensitive as that?” Raissa asked quietly.

  “Not quite, but why take the chance?”

  She nodded and the three of them finally decided it was time to move in closer. The water dripping away and there would have been no reason to stay back. Rijn nodded and joined them.

  “Raissa, do you remember everything that the box used to contain this?” Max asked.

  “Glass, salt, and granite,” she answered.

  “Could we add lead to it?” Niko asked.

  “Lead is a neutral, just like salt,” Lola said. “It wouldn’t hurt.”

  “Where are we going to keep it?” Raissa asked. “We can’t keep it here. We can’t put it back. Where does it go?”

  It was quiet in the barn for a few heartbeats.

  “It has to be buried,” Amy said. She looked up at the people around and settled on Carl. “When I was in the dreamworld, I realized how terrible it would be to separate man from magic. Yes, sorcerers would adapt, but pulling the magic from wolves, dragons, harpies… With nothing to tether them would be the end of life the way we know it.”

  “I need a piece of it,” Rijn whispered.

  Everyone turned and stared at him.

  He moved toward the stone and sighed. “I need a piece of the stone. A small one, nearly microscopic.”

  “Rijn—”

  “Do you know what it’s like to constantly have other people and other times and alternate futures running through your head? I can’t go near humanity for more than a few minutes. Even the times you’ve seen me, I promise you, there was more pain that you could imagine. I can’t shut it off. I don’t want to be a hermit anymore. I need a small piece. I will put it in glass, lead, granite, and salt. I will wear it around my neck when I go into town.”

  “Rijn.” Max huffed a breath. “We don’t have the
time to mess with this. We just don’t. Trying to figure out how big of a piece you need, how it works, how to break it off and preserve it—”

  “I could lose my powers tomorrow and I wouldn’t care.”

  “Rijn!” Raissa gasped.

  “I’ll do it,” Patricia said.

  “Mom!” Amy hissed as Carl exclaimed her name.

  “You are all too close to your magic to see how much pain this man is in,” Patricia said, looking around. “He’s in pain. The agony is plain to see. I may not have a drop of magic in my blood, but I can read people and faces. And his says pain.”

  Max found they were all staring at Rijn, who was standing in front of Patricia. He held her gaze.

  “I have dreamed of not being able to see the future. To not give predictions, to control all of this. And if it means I have to lose my magic forever, I don’t care. I want to live in my own head, in my own time.”

  Max held his breath.

  “Can you give us a chance to figure out how much you’ll need, how to contain the field just large enough for you?” Patricia’s voice was quiet.

  Max wasn’t sure who she was talking to, but he chose to answer. “There are chem labs at the school…”

  “I can work with you on cracking the sodium while I melt the lead for the box,” Niko said.

  “We can get Gentry to work up something to hold the sliver,” Max continued. “I’ll…uh. I’ll run the math on the ratio and amounts we need.”

  “Let me do that, Dad,” came a new voice.

  Max turned and saw Collin pushing into the room. “I’ve got a bunch of math and physics degrees. I can run them faster if you give me access to the network.”

  “This is insane,” Raissa said. “You can’t let Rijn lose his powers. He’s not just a seer! He has wizard blood and—”

  “Not your call,” Max said. “He’s been suffering for years. Don’t argue. I remember when he was born.”

  “This is harebrained.” Raissa folded her arms.

  “Before we do anything, we have to figure out what we’re going to do with the rest of it,” Collin said, staring at the rock. “I won’t run any calcs until we have a plan.”