Emergence of Fire

by Holly Hook

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Thank You For Being A Reviewer!

  Emergence of Fire

  Book Two of the Dragon Born Series

  By Holly Hook

  Copyright 2018 Holly Hook

  Chapter One

  "Felicia."

  All was darkness until someone poked me in the ribs.

  "Hey," I said, curling up on the couch. "You don't have to do that."

  "You don't sound like you mind," Sven said.

  I turned over on the couch and put the pillow over my head. It had been a long night as Sven kept watch for the entire duration, making sure none of the dragons returned to my house. So far, so good.

  "It's morning," Sven said. "Don't you want to go to school?"

  "Stop asking me in that innocent voice." I liked it when Sven joked around like that. "You know walking to school together might be a bad idea."

  "Principal Adler has already seen us together," Sven said.

  "But the other dragons don't know," I said. Then I removed the pillow to see Sven standing over me.

  Ever since the two of us had escaped the quarry last night, he hadn't taken off his iron chest plate or removed the quiver of arrows that still towered behind his back. He had, however, taken off his helmet, which rested on the coffee table. Sven's dark hair had regained its shape.

  "Are you sure you heard no one sneaking around last night?"

  Sven had suggested we stay at my house the night before. His logic? The dragons wouldn't expect me to run somewhere familiar where I'd know they'd find me. They'd expect me to try running away instead, or to hide at a friend's house. Coming back to my house was the last thing they'd think I'd do, and it turned out that for now, Sven was right. I sat up on the couch and blinked.

  He smiled. His blue eyes were brilliant in the early morning light. Already, I could kiss him.

  "How does breakfast sound?" he asked.

  "Breakfast?"

  "Yes. With toast, eggs, bacon—"

  "Of course I like breakfast." My stomach roared. I'd eaten nothing last night. But then a sense of dread washed over me as I recalled how Principal Adler had flown over us in full dragon form.

  She had almost devoured Sven to keep him away from me.

  The dragons also had my parents somewhere. Sven assured me that the dragons wouldn't want to hurt someone who had raised one of their own, but after last night, I was having doubts. Within a few months, I'd get forced by my changing body to take that same form. If Adler had her way, it would happen sooner rather than later.

  Then what?

  I loved a dragon Slayer. If either side found out, then we both might die. And what if when I matured, I hated him? My mind might change right along with my body and that was the scary part.

  "Then I shall make you breakfast," Sven said in his drop-dead accent. He did a little bow which was awkward with his chest plate on.

  With the pink sun shining through the window, I wanted to forget about the whole nightmare of learning my identity. Well, sort of. "So, you can cook?"

  "My twin sister and I used to make breakfast for my father," Sven said. He kept his tone light, but I detected something dark underneath. Something strained. Something painful.

  "Why doesn't your sister go to our school?" I asked.

  "She's not obligated to look for dragon shifters. I am."

  "Does she want to?" I asked, getting off the couch and following Sven to the kitchen. I had to watch him cook. Mom always said there was nothing sexier than a man who could master the culinary arts.

  Sven didn't answer at first. "My father doesn't think girls should be Slayers. Sofia hates me for that, to tell you the truth."

  "Your father? No," I said with sarcasm. "And that's not your fault. I thought girls could be Slayers if they passed the test? You said a few do?"

  Sven searched through my cupboards after glancing out the kitchen window. The curtains were open a couple inches, and we hadn't dared move them in case the dragon shifters came back—whoever they were. I didn't even know who my own "people" were except for Adler and Steve, the quarry manager.

  "Yes," Sven said. "If she were to pass her test, she would become a full member of the Wiglaf Society instead of me. But my father tries to stop her from training. He saddles her with domestic work. I help when I can."

  "No offense, but your father sounds like a total jerk."

  "That's a mild word," Sven said, getting out some pans.

  I got out the eggs. Maybe it was the farm girl in me, but I wouldn't make him cook a big breakfast all by himself, as much as watching that was enticing. Then I cracked six of them—my stomach roared as I did—and emptied them into the pan. Drawing up beside Sven, I turned on the heat as my arm brushed his. His chest plate didn't include armguards. Our skin touched and electricity flew.

  "What about school?" I asked.

  "If Principal Adler took a vow that she wouldn't let anyone near you who had harmed you, then she won't be there. Maybe she will quit her job."

  I took a breath. My ribs were still sore from where she'd bitten me, thinking I was Sven. She flew off after that and hadn't returned. Adler had to follow her own vow even if that meant removing herself from my presence. A slimy feeling filled me and I pulled away from Sven as if I didn't want it to infect him. "I don't want her to have to lose her job," I said. My feelings towards Adler were something I still hadn't figured out.

  "Dragons have treasure," Sven said. "They don't even have to work."

  "But—" I started. Adler told me that dragon treasure connected them to the Earth and gave them magic. Without it, the species withered away. "That's not how it works."

  I waited for Sven to say something, but he put several sausage patties on the pan and turned up the burner. They sizzled. "At least you can put out grease fires if you need to," he said. "I feel safe with you."

  "For now," I said. "I don't know if Adler will be at school. Maybe she will be and she'll just keep her distance. And I don't know where to go after classes. The dragons will figure out where I am once they rule out Tasha's place and even Dirk's place."

  Sven faced me, blue eyes serious. "Then maybe you can stay at mine?"

  "But—"

  "None of the dragons except for Adler would expect to find you there," he said. "I can hide you. Staying here tonight worked, but coming back this afternoon might be too risky."

  "But isn't staying in a house of Slayers risky?"

  "They won't know what you are," Sven said. He reached into his pocket with his free hand, almost hitting the cabinet with his spatula. He drew out his fake Gem, the ruby that didn't glow in my presence. "And if we do this right, then they won't even know you're there."

  "But it's a house of Slayers. And we don't know when I'm going to...mature."

  "I think you'll feel it before it happens. You'll have a warning."

  "It'll happen soon," I said. Already, I had the strength to push and pull Sven around at times. It happened when I was protecting him from Adler's literal fire breath and it had saved his life. But if something happened while I was at Sven's place, then it might be bad. Sven's father wouldn't hesitate to kill me. And I had already killed Sven's cousin by mistake. I didn't have full control of my powers yet, whatever they were. What good were they when I had zero control?

  "But you need so
mewhere to go after school today," Sven said. "And for the weekend. If my family gets to know you, they might start to change their minds about slaying."

  "What about my parents?"

  "The dragons might hide them in the caves until you mature," Sven said. "We need to figure out a way to get them out."

  Translation: we needed a way that wouldn't get Sven killed. And if I went down there, the dragons might do whatever it took to make me mature...and then make me fight Sven and his family. Adler said it was my role since I was supposed to be full of magic. It was that last part that terrified me the most. I couldn't imagine any of them having any sympathy for my relationship. I was still a child to them.

  But if I waited, then what? For Sven and his family to leave and get to safety? His father knew there was a dragon den around here. Jen's death had proven that. He didn't know where it was.

  If I waited, there was a bigger chance I'd die.

  "You shouldn't go down there," I said. "Not again. And maybe they moved my parents to a house somewhere?"

  Outside, the automatic irrigation system kicked on with its quiet hum. Sadness exploded in me. Mom and Dad would be up by now, getting ready to do a day's work. And I argued with them a lot during the past couple of weeks. They might stay missing for the next couple of months or longer.

  "It's possible," he said, flipping one patty. "Since you don't know who the dragons of Olivia are, we might not find them. Or maybe you know. Has anyone been hanging around you more than usual?"

  "No," I told him. Then I got to work scrambling the eggs before they turned into fried eggs. "Just Adler." Then I poured milk into the eggs and ripped up a piece of cheese to add to them. My stomach roared. The protein would bring me closer to maturity, but I didn't care at the moment. Sven helped me push the internal storm back when I talked to him. "But I'll pay attention. Are you sure they won't hurt my parents?"

  "We Slayers don't know everything about dragons."

  "Only that you're supposed to kill them," I said.

  Sven faced me. He frowned. "I think my father was wrong about them being evil and greedy. And ugly."

  He leaned down to kiss me. Our lips brushed and my nerves burst to life. Sven wrapped his arm around me, resting his hand on my back and pulling my body to his chest plate. Breakfast sizzled as we made out and the world filled with freedom and fresh air.

  "We should make breakfast together every morning," I said once we came up for air. "The eggs!"

  I flipped them over to discover I'd burned them. Great.

  "Maybe we can," he said with a smile. "But if you come to my house, I might just have to bring you breakfast in the mornings."

  "That sounds great," I said, unable to shake a nervous feeling in my gut. Sven's house was enemy territory. If he knew about me, he wouldn't just try to murder me. The man might even go after his son.

  Honor was the first thing he cared about. I'd only glimpsed the guy but was what mattered in the Olsen household.

  It didn't seem responsible for Sven to take me there, and yet we had no other options. I'd appear human if I got caught. The Olsens didn't wear their dragon-detecting Gems in the house, according to him—only when they were out and about.

  We sat down at the kitchen table where I wolfed down my breakfast. Neither of us spoke. I wanted to ask Sven all the logistics of how to stay at his house undetected since it might become much harder to talk to each other at school.

  I'd almost cleaned my plate when I noticed movement coming up my driveway.

  "Sven—duck!"

  He jumped and seized his arrow quiver off the back of the chair, ducking under the kitchen table. The tablecloth swung as he vanished underneath.

  Dirk was walking up the driveway.

  I hadn't met him at the end as I promised and I hadn't shown up at school yesterday. We had to walk together, according to my parents. The guy was worried about me.

  And Principal Adler had also asked him if he'd given me the sword pendant around my neck. I took it and slid it under my tank top. Dirk certainly had questions.

  "Is it Adler?" Sven asked.

  "No. Just a friend from school who's supposed to walk with me at my parents' order," I said. "It's Dirk."

  "Oh." Understanding filled his voice. "Do you want me to tell him the truth?"

  "No. Not yet," I said. He'd ask me about why Adler had asked him if he gave me the pendant. I was sure I'd put a bunch of ideas in his head. I hated lying to Dirk, but I didn't want the word of me and Sven getting out to anyone else. Tasha had taken a vow to keep it a secret, but she hadn't. Not to Dirk, anyway. At least I knew she was unlikely to be one of Olivia's dragons—unless she wasn't mature yet and keeping vows didn't kick in until adulthood.

  "There's no one with him?" Sven asked. "I don't like hiding under a table. It's cowardice."

  "Get off this cowardice kick," I told him, poking him with my toes.

  "Hey!"

  Dirk knocked on the door. I answered it, relieved it was him.

  "Hey," I said.

  Dirk shifted on the porch. Yeah, this would be an awkward morning. "I didn't see you at the end of the driveway."

  "Making breakfast. I'm sorry," I said, mind already trying to plan a story for him. At least she'd figured out he hadn't given it to me. I didn't want Dirk to get caught up in this crap.

  "Well, since we're walking to school, and the bus isn't here yet, I figured I'd ask," he said, forcing a smile.

  Yeah. He wanted to talk about that.

  And Sven was listening to this conversation. He'd follow us to school, and I hoped he wouldn't wear his chest plate and quiver on the way. There was no bigger way to scream, I'm a dragon Slayer!

  "Look," I said. I'd clear this while Sven could listen in. "I said you gave me a necklace I was wearing yesterday." Then I reached under my tank top and pulled out the iron sword pendant. "My parents gave me this and told me it was from my birth family. They didn't want me to tell anyone that, so when Adler asked me where it came from, I blurted out a lie. I've told you how my parents are."

  "Oh," Dirk said, understanding coming over him. He'd been wondering if there was another guy in the picture. Dirk had crushed on me since elementary school and everyone knew, but he was the only one without the bravery to approach me about it. Tasha had told me many times over the years that Dirk wanted to ask me out. The poor guy had trouble socializing at times.

  Was I lying? If this was stolen dragon treasure, then maybe it belonged to my birth family after all.

  Who, if Adler was right, had been two ten-thousand-year-old dragon shifters who had a rare egg a thousand years ago, right before getting killed by a mysterious Slayer. I came from an egg after sitting in it for a millennium. The thought hit me for the first time even though Adler mentioned that two days ago.

  "Felicia, are you okay?"

  "Yes. Peachy," I said. "Let me get my backpack and then I'll—never mind. I think I left it at school." I'd dropped my backpack when Principal Adler kidnapped me. Or had I? And my stomach turned at the thought of returning to the school she ran.

  "You weren't there yesterday."

  "My parents kept me home. I was sick," I said.

  "With what?"

  "I don't know. Stomach flu," I said. "Hence the big breakfast this morning. I was hungry after I recovered. And don't worry. I won't give it to you."

  "Your breakfast or your illness?" Dirk grinned. At least I'd cleared the air.

  I tensed. Sven was listening to him trying to flirt with me in that subtle way of his. I feared he'd follow us to make sure Dirk tried nothing. For a moment, right before he realized I wasn't with Dirk in the quarry shed, he'd believed the two of us were together. This wasn't going well.

  "My illness," I said, not daring to make my tone anything other than serious. "Let me see if I can find my backpack and then I'll start the hike to school."

  I left Dirk standing there while I searched the house. It turned out that whoever held my parents hostage—or perhaps even Adler herself
—had taken my backpack to my bedroom door and left it there. How considerate. I grabbed it as guilt washed over me about lying yet again. Why couldn't I stop? Sure, it had been my survival tactic with my parents for as long as I remembered, but now that I was about to mature, I'd need to kick the habit.

  It wasn't as if I had lied to Sven. His cousin's death had been an accident. It wasn't something I meant to do. And he hadn't asked me if I'd done it.

  Dirk still waited after I checked my backpack for any tracking devices. He hadn't tried to come into the house. I didn't want him to find Sven under the table. But that also meant I was dragging him along, making him think he had a chance. Perhaps, before Sven showed up, he might have, even if he wanted to stay in Olivia and run the family paper for the rest of his life.

  And then I left Sven in the house without cleaning up the mess in the kitchen or scraping my plate. I'd help my parents clean up before even thinking of leaving for school. But they weren't coming back to the house until after I was mature.

  Dirk talked about the paper once again and his plans for the Journalism Club. At least I'd taken the subject off my necklace, but he held me in a questioning gaze as he spoke all the way to school. My lying about him giving me the necklace had raised a question in his mind, and now that would bother me all the way to school. My throat dried, and I opened my mouth to tell him he was just my friend, but the words wouldn't form. Dirk had too much hope on his face and I didn't want to dash it after he'd landed me a job.

  But I refused to hide the pendant Sven had given me.

  "I didn't miss a meeting, did I?"

  "No," he said. "We meet every other week."

  "And what day of the week is it now?"

  "Thursday," Dirk said, pulling out his phone. He checked his calendar. "I have an app that tells me which day of the week it is every morning. I programmed it myself. Look." He showed me his program as we finished the walk to school.

  It took everything I had not to check whether Sven was following. I'd left him alone in my parents' house and I'd have to lie about that, too.

  My parents might be somewhere below.

  They didn't deserve imprisonment just for trying to protect me. I thought of going down in the caves to search for them myself. A door to the caves was down in the school's basement and another entrance was down in the gravel quarry. There might be more in Olivia. A third option was the Water Company. Well, the river that fed it.