Holding that thought firmly in his mind, he stepped up and offered a hand to Hanna. “Come on.”
She gave Conner a guilty look before taking his hand. Aiden helped her up and led her several feet back.
“Are you okay?” he repeated.
“Yeah, yeah,” she said, still dazed. “What are you doing here?”
“I was worried when I got your text, and more worried when you cut off the call.” He searched her face again for any damage. He’d only seen her that once, and only for a moment. She was just as pretty as he remembered.
“I knew it,” Conner growled. “I knew you’d try to steal my girl.” He pointed a finger at Hanna. “I knew you were cheating on me, you slut.”
A fireball streaked past Conner’s head, and he ducked with a surprised yelp.
“Watch your mouth, asshole,” Dylan said.
“I wasn’t cheating!” Fresh tears leaked out of Hanna eyes. “I just wanted a friend. That’s all. Just a friend. You don’t let me have any friends outside the pack.”
“You don’t need anyone outside the pack. The pack is everything.” Conner threw back his head and howled.
“I can deep-fry your ass before any of your friends get here,” Dylan said. He looked like nothing would make him happier.
“She’s safe. Let’s just go,” Aiden said.
“Safe for now, but I’ll make sure Hanna is sorry.” Conner glared and started to smile; then Dylan was on him.
Dylan slammed the werewolf into a tree. “You won’t touch her.” Dylan had his arm across the other boy’s throat.
Conner’s eyes were wide with fear. “Hey, get off!”
“Dylan, let him go,” Aiden said.
“Don’t hurt him,” Hanna said.
“You’re gonna leave her alone and leave Aiden alone. Got that?” Dylan brought his free hand up and a small flame appeared, dancing in his palm.
Conner’s eyes flicked to the fire, then back to Dylan. His jaw set. “Is she slutting around with you too?”
Aiden ran the few feet between them and grabbed Dylan’s arm, pulling the hand with the fire away. “That’s enough.”
Dylan turned his glowing green eyes on Aiden. “No, it’s not.”
His heart was in his throat, seeing his friend like this again. The kind of monster the other monsters were afraid of. It took all his courage not to back away. “Please. Let’s go.”
Either his words or the look of fear that must have been on his face, or maybe both, got through to Dylan. With a growl, he took his arm off Conner’s throat. Just as relief crossed Conner’s face, Dylan’s leg came up, kneeing him in the stomach.
Dylan stepped away as Conner doubled over. “Fine, let’s go.”
Two other werewolves appeared through the trees. They hesitated when they saw Dylan, their eyes flicking to their alpha. Aiden tensed.
“Try it. I dare you,” Dylan said.
Their gazes dropped and their shoulders hunched. One of them whined.
Aiden took Hanna’s hand and headed back in the general direction of the school. “Dylan?”
“Right behind you.”
Aiden glanced back to make sure his friend was following. The two werewolves went to help their alpha, and the glare Conner shot at them made Aiden shiver.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
All the way back to school, Dylan hoped one of the werewolves would try something. Nothing happened, and the built-up anger had nowhere to go, burning inside him and begging for release. He didn’t even have the usual outlet of Major Magical Control. Class was half over.
“Is there somewhere I can take you? Somewhere you’ll be safe?” Aiden asked Hanna.
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I’ll just get my stuff and wait for the bus.” She smelled of fear and shock. Dylan couldn’t believe he’d skipped Major Magical Control to go rescue her. Well, no. He’d done it for Aiden.
“We’ll walk you to your locker.”
Aiden smelled of fear too. Dylan had scared him again, and he felt sorry for that. Aiden was one of the few people who weren’t afraid of him, and he wanted to keep it that way.
They reached her locker, and she took out her bag and a few books with shaking hands. “My phone. It’s out in the woods somewhere. He… he threw it when he caught me talking to you.”
“We’ll find it tomorrow. You’ll be fine.”
Did Aiden do this all the time? Rescue the damsel in distress and whatever? He wasn’t exactly calm about it, but he did seem to have some idea of what he was doing, trying to reassure her.
“Okay.” She slung her bag over her shoulder. “Thank you,” she told Aiden, her voice just above a whisper. Her gaze flicked up to Dylan. “You too.”
“If he tries to hurt you again, call me or come find one of us, okay?” Aiden said.
She nodded.
“And you should tell your parents and the school so they know he’s threatened to hurt you.”
Her eyes went wide. “I can’t tell my parents. They’d be so…” She shook her head. “No way.”
“You should tell somebody,” Aiden said. “Come on. We’ll walk you outside and wait until your bus comes.”
So much for getting back to gym class. They went out and waited with Hanna on the front steps of the school. There were a few other kids outside, lounging or smoking.
“Are you cold, Dylan?” Aiden asked. “You can go get your coat.”
“I’m fine.” He glanced around, looking for Conner. It would feel so good to burn him, or beat the crap out of him. Kneeing him in the gut had felt nice, but he wanted more. Someone to take all this anger out on.
The buses showed up, and Hanna pointed out the one that was hers. She thanked them and got on. Dylan and Aiden stayed on the steps, watching to make sure Conner didn’t go after her.
“Will your mom give me a ride home if I stay late?”
Dylan shrugged. “Sure.”
So they waited until her bus had left, all the other kids streaming past them on their way home. Then he and Aiden went back to the locker room so Dylan could get his coat and other things. The locker room was even quieter than usual.
Aiden sat on the bench while Dylan pulled things out of his locker. “Why are you so angry all the time?”
“Just my nature, I guess.”
“Your parents don’t hurt you or anything, do they?”
Dylan laughed. “God, no. They’re way too nice. They hardly even yell at me.” He pulled on his coat.
“Then what is it? You looked like you were going to kill him.”
“I told you about my choices, staying here or hiding what I am in the human world. The frustration builds up and I look for a way to let it out.” He closed his locker, the sound echoing through the empty room. “That’s why I go out to the gravel pit.”
Aiden was still looking at him. “But is that all? I’m not trying to be nosy, but I want to understand. Maybe I can help.”
Dylan snorted. “Help. Right.”
Aiden looked hurt. “Fine. Forget it.” He got up.
First scaring him in the woods and now this. Guilt was almost as bad as anger. “You know how I told you my grandfather is a dragon? That the virgin sacrifice didn’t always get eaten?”
“Yeah.”
Dylan took a breath. And another. It was hard to say. Disgust and anger trapped the words in his throat. “My grandmother didn’t want to… The dragon said he would eat her if she didn’t…” He swallowed. Why couldn’t he just say the words? His mom had been able to. All he could manage was, “You know.”
Aiden frowned and a moment later the color drained from his face. “Do you mean”—his voice dropped into a whisper—“rape?”
Dylan looked away, staring at the far wall. “Yeah. My mom told me last year. And I just, I want to go kill him for that, but he’s already dead.” And that meant his anger had nowhere to go, no outlet. “What I am, this magic I have… I’ve always loved it. But now I think about where it came from, and I want to hate it.�
� Dylan shoved his hands in his pockets and shifted his feet. The words clogged in his throat again, but this time it was because he felt like crying.
“That makes sense,” Aiden said quietly.
“I hate it but I still love it. I feel like it’s ripping me apart all the time. It feels so good to let it out, at the gravel pit or in class, but then I think about where it came from. I was born, I exist, because something horrible happened.” Although his voice was thick, he managed to keep the tears from falling. Crying in front of Aiden would be the ultimate humiliation.
Then he thought about what he’d just admitted. With horror, he realized Aiden was going to look at him differently now. The same way Dylan looked at himself. And Aiden didn’t even know the worst of it yet. Dylan finally looked at his friend and saw nothing but sympathy there.
“You can’t help what happened. It’s not your fault.” Aiden lifted his arms and took a step toward him.
Dylan realized what was happening just in time and backed away. “Are you trying to hug me?”
“Well, yeah. I thought it would help.”
“No. No hugging.”
Aiden dropped his arms, and suddenly he looked angry. “What’s wrong with hugging? You think it’s gay or something?”
“Uh, what? No. I just… don’t do hugs.” He’d even gotten his parents to stop hugging him. “Come on. My mom is waiting.”
Aiden gave him a skeptical look but followed him out to the parking lot. Good. Dylan was glad that was over with.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The burning city, the power of his dragon body. Dylan hadn’t had this dream for a while, and he knew instantly what it meant. Morgan had come for another visit. It had been two weeks since he’d last spoken to the dark fae.
He went straight for the untouched building, landing on the roof.
Instead of forming out of the shadows, Morgan was already waiting for him. “Greetings, dragonkin Dylan.”
“I’ve been making the blood potion. So what’s next?” Dylan shifted, claws scraping on concrete. So far he hadn’t been able to take this shape in the real world, but he kept trying.
“Patience, young one.” The dark fae smiled. “We must wait until the potion is complete, two and a half more cycles of the moon.” He tapped a long nail against his lower lip. “However, there is one task you can undertake. We must find a place of power, such as a fairy ring, or a mound, or a circular grove. It should be as close to the barrier surrounding your town as possible.”
“And why is that?”
“I need to draw on the power of the barrier to open the pathways between our worlds. It will take a large amount of magic, so we must have as much as possible.”
“And once you’re through, you’ll… take care of the wardens?” That probably meant kill them, and Dylan tried to figure out if that bothered him or not. One came to his house once a year to check on him, and that was the only contact he’d had with them. But he knew they were out there, preventing him from living a free life.
A smile curved the dark fae’s lips. “Yes. Freeing us all to do as we please. Returning things to their natural order.”
Dylan shifted, lowering his head. “Why were the pathways closed?”
Morgan began to pace. “Many of your years ago, before the treaty, the ancestors of your wardens decided that your world had too much magic, that it was too dangerous for mundane humans. So they built a powerful spell that closed off Faery from the human world to prevent us from traveling back and forth. I have heard they closed off other realms as well. It is very difficult to cross realms now. Those who can manage must use powerful magics and risk being trapped on the other side.”
It made him think of Aiden. Someone had brought him from Faery, traded him with a human child. “Do you know Aiden’s parents? Do you know how they got across or why they did it?” What would he do with the information if he got it, though? If he told Aiden, his friend would wonder how he got it, and he’d have to explain the visits from the dark fae.
The dark fae put his hands behind his back and stopped pacing. “Who is Aiden?”
“He’s my… he’s a changeling. So someone must have brought him over from Faery. He doesn’t know who his parents are, or why they brought him here. I was hoping you might.”
“Ah, a changeling.” His black eyes sparkled and Dylan regretted giving him the information. “Alas, I do not know all the fae in the realm and have not heard of anyone who might have made such an exchange. But I can make inquiries if you wish.”
“You know what, never mind.” Dark fae were dangerous allies, and he didn’t want to be in this one’s debt. Opening the pathways between their worlds would benefit them both, so it was an even exchange. And Dylan would be sure to bring that up if Morgan ever mentioned payment.
The dark fae made a little bow. “Very well.” The colors started to fade around him. “Find me a suitable place within your world. Remember, a place of power near the barrier that hides your town from the human world.”
“A grove, a mound, or a fairy ring. I’ll remember,” Dylan told him. He always missed his deep dragon voice when he woke up. His regular voice still cracked sometimes, and it was just… embarrassing.
“Good. I shall visit you again in one month. That should give you enough time to find a suitable location.” The dark fae made a deeper bow and was gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Nature magic is harder in the winter. So many things are asleep,” Phoebe said.
Aiden shivered on the bench. It was cold today, and there was a fresh layer of snow on the ground. He wished he was practicing with Dylan because there would be fire to keep him warm.
“But the magic is still there. You can even make things bloom out of season. Come on.” She led him farther into the park and pointed at a spot that looked no different than the rest of the snow-covered ground. “There are flowers here. Dig down until you see leaves.”
Aiden knelt in the snow, wincing at the cold soaking through his jeans. He held his hands against the patch of snow and concentrated. In a moment, the snow started to melt. Dylan had taught him that. A warming spell. Aiden didn’t use it on himself because he didn’t yet have enough control not to make it too warm.
“That works too,” she said.
Aiden glanced up at her with a smile. “I’m learning all kinds of things.” He still struggled in his classes, but he’d seen a lot of progress. On his best days he believed he was catching up.
“Now focus on the plant. It’s sleeping, so you need to wake it up. As soon as you feel the energy shift, tell it to bloom.”
It was like the plant they’d grown for Minor Magical Control. Aiden closed his eyes and focused. It took longer to find the energy because, as she’d said, it was sleeping. But once he did, it didn’t take much effort to wake it up. The hum of power zipped through him and he opened his eyes to see a flower growing up through the little hole in the snow. A bud appeared at the end and opened to reveal a pink bloom. In seconds it had fully blossomed, a bright splash of color against the snow.
“Excellent job. You’re learning very fast.”
“You’re a good teacher.” He stood and dusted snow from his pants.
She laughed a little. “Thanks. But you didn’t learn that warming spell from me. You have excellent teachers at school.”
“I didn’t learn that in school. Dylan taught me.”
“Dylan Galloway? The dragonkin?” She stared at him.
Uh-oh. He’d forgotten he hadn’t told her. “Yeah. He’s my friend. He’s been training me on weekends.”
“Dragonkin are dangerous. You should stay away from him.”
“God, everybody says that! You don’t know him. Nobody’s bothered to try to get to know him because they’re all too busy being afraid of him.” He thought about the confrontation with Conner in the woods behind school. “Yeah, he’s dangerous. So am I. I threw a kid across the hall because I got scared. I could do a lot worse now.”
; “That’s not the same thing, Aiden.”
“How is it not? I have this power inside me that can hurt people, kill people. We’re the same.”
“Dragonkin are different,” she said firmly. “It’s in their nature to destroy. We create. They’re the opposite of light fae.”
“Dark fae are the opposite of light fae. Dylan has problems, but he’s a good person.”
She sighed. “All right. Maybe it’s possible Dylan is different.”
“He is. And so is his mom. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and she’s more dragon than he is.” Dylan’s mom had a serene air about her. He never would have guessed she was part dragon.
“Still, just… be careful.”
Aiden tried to calm down. He turned to look at the flower. “That’s what I’m doing. Learning to control my power so I can be careful.”
“I wasn’t talking about your power.”
“I know.”
“Has the dark fae shown up in your dreams again?” she asked after a moment.
He appreciated the change in subject. “No.”
“Good. Keep the dagger under your pillow and repeat the spell about once a month to make sure it stays effective.”
“What do you think he wanted from me?” Aiden pictured him and shivered. He’d had a bad feeling about him right from the start. Although a little twinge made him think about what he’d offered. Meeting his birth parents, his brother. It was probably all a lie, anyway.
“Your power, to use it or take it. The fae world was locked away for a reason. Even light fae aren’t good. They caused a lot of trouble for regular humans.”
“Will I cause trouble?”
Phoebe smiled. “That’s up to you. You’re already getting a good grasp of your power. I don’t think it’ll be long before you don’t have to worry about it getting out of control. So what you do with your magic will be entirely your choice.”
Only a few months ago, he’d planned to learn magic only so he could lock it away. To make sure he wouldn’t use it by accident. But now he thought using a little magic here and there might not be too bad. There were amazing things he could do, especially with plants. Even after he was certified and went back to the human world, he was allowed to use magic that wasn’t harmful and where regular humans couldn’t see. Despite the way Dylan talked about it, being certified wasn’t about never using magic in the human world. It was about making sure magic stayed hidden and that humans didn’t get hurt.
How to Make Friends and Not Incinerate People Page 12
