Now it was after midnight and I lay sleepless sleep. Too much on my mind, I supposed. I lay on my back, staring out through the bay window, the moon peeking in and washing me in a faint glow.
The ping of a stone hitting my window pulled my gaze sideways when it hit the side dormer windows. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the source. A wide grin split my face as I ran to the window and looked down at the two familiar faces smiling up at me.
One of them had snagged a ladder from the shed that wasn’t locked. I slid the window open as quiet as possible and waited for them both to climb through. For Sirris a simple thing, but Thomas was a tight squeeze. I grabbed them both to me as soon as we stood together inside my room. Sirris grabbed me back. Thomas stood stiff and awkward as I squeezed.
“I missed you guys so much!” I whispered, trying to be quiet.
“Me too!” Sirris hissed.
Thomas stepped back and plopped down onto the edge of my bed. “It’s great to see you both. Been boring as hell without you around.”
“Yeah, we both just got out of jail. They grounded us until yesterday.” Sirris complained and sat cross-legged in the middle of my bed.
I sat across from her and admitted, “I’m grounded all over again. The first time made me so mad I went back for more.” I told them about my trip up the mountain and about almost getting eaten by the werewolves. I left out the part where I took a trip inside a mountain and everything that came after.
I wanted to tell them the entire story.
Thomas glared at me as I finished. “That was so stupid; even for you.”
Sirris grimaced. “I hate to agree. But Sadie, they could have killed you.”
“You two do it all the time. Remember where we met?” I pointed out, not wanting to admit they had a point.
Their eyes met for a split second over the top of my head.
Thomas spoke up. “We were born in Breathless Sadie, we’re aware of the dangers better than you. We just don’t want to lose our best friend. Promise you won’t do anything like that again? It’s bad enough when we do crazy things together.”
Sirris nodded. “Promise us Sadie.”
I shrugged. Best friends—we were that. “Together then?” I held out a fist, and we did a quick fist-pump.
“We do have some news though.” Sirris murmured, twisting the edge of my comforter in her hands.
My gaze sharpened on Sirris face. Did she have a light pink tinge to her cheeks?
“Yeah. Dad has some experiment he’s gotta work on. Guess it’s something kinda dangerous and so he asked if I could spend some time at Thomas’ house. I’m bunking with Kimmy. Be closer to Aunt Cathy and Uncle Mark’s house, where they hold classes. The schedule is odd, and we don’t have normal weekends. We’ll have a long break at Thanksgiving though. We’ll see you then.”
Her words came out in a tumble, almost like they’d been rehearsed and she needed to spit them out. Thomas sat stiff beside her.
She was lying. Telling a whopper and I didn’t know why. Thomas was going along with it. I almost called her on it.
But suddenly it was just too much. The half-truths and people trying to protect my feelings and hide things from me. I’d always been good at detecting when someone wasn’t being honest. Since coming to Breathless, there’d been plenty of that to go around. What was with this place and the people who lived there? I took slight comfort because if they had a secret they couldn’t share with me; then so did I.
Drae Hallow was sounding better all the time.
All three jumped and swiveled towards the door when a distinct bang sounded from another part of the house.
Thomas piped up. “I think that’s our cue. We’ll figure something out, Sadie.” He gave me an awkward hug and moved to the window, hauling my desk chair beneath it. Behind him, Sirris grabbed me and hugged me so hard I felt my joints pop. I hugged her back. At least this was no lie.
TWO DAYS LATER A PACKAGE came in the mail for me. A small oblong box in plain script. I knew it was odd when mom handed it to me like it was nothing unusual; almost like she’d been expecting its arrival.
I took it to my room and opened it with fingers that shook to reveal a single folded piece of paper and a new backpack in some super light material that I’d never seen. Despite what the instructions promised, I doubted I’d be able to pack even two pairs of my jeans inside, let alone anything I wanted to bring with me as promised. I memorized the one line sentence that promised to set the spell in place. It was brief. Still, I read through everything twice.
I sat at supper with mom that Sunday night. I’d cooked the one dish that I knew how to prepare well. We had Garlicky rolls with the Lasagna and I knew it tasted good. But we both picked at the saucy dish, neither one of us very hungry.
I stared at the woman who’d raised me and loved me, even when I was difficult, and that had been often. I held back tears. I will miss you Momma.
Our relationship over the last few months had been changing. We’d had our issues, but the stilted horror show that had been present when we first arrived was changing into something else. We weren’t close, not like Sirris and her dad, or Thomas’ entire family.
But I wondered if we were working on bridging the gap.
And now I’m leaving.
“I love you momma.” I blurted, and knew it was true.
Her eyes flashed to mine. “I love you back Sadie Cross—more than you know.” And she meant it, her voice trembling with the force of those simple words. We hadn’t said them in a while and perhaps they were long overdue.
After supper, I pushed back from the table and gathered her dishes and mine. I looked at her tired face, the long tumble of messy blond hair and the weary eyes. She was getting older. When had that happened?
“Mom?” Her eyes met mine almost as if she knew. But that was impossible.
“Mom, the blue forget-me-knots are blooming on the mountain, would you like me to pick you some?”
Her eyes glazed and blinked for several seconds before clearing. It was done.
She nodded and gathered the milk and butter to help me.
“You’d better finish packing, I’ll get the dishes. I’ll fix you breakfast in the morning before I go to work,” she said, almost as if we’d been having a totally different conversation.
I waited for the giddy excitement of fresh adventure to fill me. But all I felt was a crushing despair. I was already missing her.
BREAKFAST THE NEXT morning was a bittersweet affair. My new bag sat beside me in an empty chair. It held my worldly possessions, including the crossbow that had somehow magically fit, and almost my entire wardrobe, which wasn’t saying much. My clothing had always favored function over frill. Every item serving a purpose.
I helped mom with breakfast, opting to flip pancakes over sitting and letting what I was doing send me into a tizzy of worry. Mom talked about Thanksgiving like it wasn’t almost three months away, making plans and telling me she’d miss me. I figured my absence would give her a well-deserved break.
She did most of the talking over breakfast. I promised to Skype and wrote the first couple of dates and times in my planner so I wouldn’t forget. For once I helped with the dishes and she didn’t have to ask. And then we were out of time.
I watched her back down the drive and something caught in my throat and I struggled to swallow the lump there.
The night before we’d worked together on the shrubbery at the back of the house, hacking at the jungle that had grown up through disuse and neglect to rainforest like proportions. I remember that the bitter anger over the divorce had been absent for once. Instead, I had questions that needed answers. I’d been too bitter to ask them before. I hadn’t wanted the truth. It was easier sometimes to just blame the closest target. Had that always been Mom?
“Mom, who asked for the divorce?” The question startled her because the handle of the shovel jerked and she swore as it slipped.
She dug harder at the stubborn roots of the dead
azalea bush, the head slipping under a rock to pry it up.
It was several moments before she answered. “Your dad did. But I agreed it was for the best,” she admitted.
“Why? Were you both that unhappy?”
A quick laugh and the rock popped loose.
“We were that incompatible. We agreed to disagree on too many things.” She bent at the knees to pick up the heavy rock and move it to the wheel barrow.
“Was I one of those things; that you disagreed on, I mean?”
Mom looked at me as she dusted her hands on her jeans.
“What? No! You were probably the only thing we were in complete agreement on. You held us together Sadie long after things turned south.”
My head spun. Had I been that far off base in my assumption I was to blame?
I pushed. “I was difficult all the time. Didn’t listen worth a damn... I mean darn.” She laughed and looked at me, gripping the handles to empty the wheel barrow beyond the edge of the yard.
“Well, that hasn’t changed one damned lick.” But she didn’t seem angry about it, her voice thick with amusement.
She sat the barrel back down and stood staring at me; a certain look in her eyes that made me squirm.
“Sadie Cross, I was in love with you from the moment they placed you wrinkled and screaming in my arms sixteen years ago. Your father bawled like a baby. Believe me, you had nothing to do with the break-up. Our brightest star, Sadie, that’s what you were. Do well at school, baby; I’ll miss you. Don’t forget our Skyping dates on the weekends, right?”
I nodded, unable to speak; my mind spinning and my heart hurting. I’d watched her wheel the barrel away.
MY NERVES JUMBLED IN UNCERTAINTY that morning. Knowing I was going to miss her was part of it. But also the fear of the unknown.
Was I only taking this awful chance to find out I wasn’t what they thought? I didn’t feel special or powerful. I was just a scared teen with a chip on my shoulder and an inferiority complex. I couldn’t do this.
But I was also my Daddy’s stubborn. I shouldered the backpack that should have weighed at least seventy pounds of awkward, but felt like twenty.
The clouds hung low and gray and I felt a raindrop wet on my cheek. I headed up the mountain, snatching rain gear out as I walked.
What started out as a sprinkle, thickened until it came down in a deluge, seeping beneath my poncho and decorating my boots with thick mud. It slowed my progress as I avoided the new formed eddies of rainwater racing down the mountain. What should have taken an hour, ended up taking half again as long. Good thing I’d given myself a little extra time. I was in a lot better shape than I had been the first time I stumbled up Shephard’s mountain. The rain made walking difficult, and I was huffing by the time I reached the log that crossed the swollen creek. Muddy footprints decorated the surface and made it slick as I moved over it with care. I had no desire to take a swim. On the other side, I entered the clearing and stopped. The immense rocks that concealed the doorway were straight ahead, but I couldn’t see the patterns on the rock. Close to twenty other teenagers my age or older stood clustered together near the entry, miserable and wet. Most had rain-gear. The rest wished they did. I edged my phone out of my jeans beneath the clear poncho I wore and checked the time. Up here my phone was nothing but a glorified watch and not good for much else. It was 7:42. I’d made decent time despite the conditions. Even as I started forward to join them, several others entered the clearing from distinct paths and joined. A streaming swath of pale hair caught my attention from a girl off to one side. I blinked and gasped in shock, my pace picking up.
“Sirris? Sirris, is that you? What are you doing here?” My best friend whirled, her mouth forming a small moue of surprise.
“No, what are you doing here?” She squealed, grinning. I reached her and never paused, hugging her up. I had questions, and dammit, she’d better have some answers. But I was too glad to see her to worry about that just yet. I stepped back.
“Thomas?” They almost always came as a package deal, so I had to wonder.
Sirris grinned and nodded to a group of students I had paid no attention to as I walked up. I realized the ‘group’ made up Thomas and his five brother’s and sister’s. Kimmy spotted me and waved. I gave her a thumbs up back, my head spinning.
I looked back at Sirris. “You lied to me.”
She grinned and nodded. “And you lied to me! Isn’t it great?” And it was. We’d both been keeping the same secret.
I smirked. “I wasn’t allowed talk to anyone about Drae Hallow.”
Sirris nodded. “Ayup. Forbidden.” Her voice became gloomy, and we finished together.
“Or it’s automatic expulsion from Rule 9 and a Mind Wipe!”
We dissolved into giggles.
Sirris sobered. “Necessary though. The Human world isn’t ready for what we are or the Magic we possess. Most of them don’t trust what they don’t know or control. That hasn’t changed in the last three hundred years.”
Part of me understood what she meant. People didn’t respond well to what they didn’t understand and feared.
I experienced that first hand.
But another part of me argued that courage and risk made that happen.
“So, your dad and the Major don’t know, do they?”
Sirris looked at me oddly.
“Of course they do. Thomas entire family attended Rule 9. They’re all Other.”
“What about your dad? What does he do then?”
She looked puzzled. “He’s a scientist. He does top secret experiments.”
I shook my head. “No, I mean if he’s a Magical, what is he? What does he do?
“Oh! nothing. Daddy’s human. Remember, I said, most don’t know. Daddy’s a huge exception.”
I wanted to ask her more, but a sudden commotion near the front of the rock wall caught my attention. More questions would have to wait.
We all stood together, too far back to see who worked the pattern. But all of us saw the wall as it shimmered and shifted, fading translucent before it disappeared. It was 8:00. They were letting us in.
CHAPTER TEN
Sirris and I moved closer, butting up against Kimmy and Thomas. Kimmy reached out and snagged Sirris about the neck and gave her a one-armed hug.
At the front, the crowd parted just enough for me to realize that Lucas Seul, the mayor himself, stood tall and straight in the entryway. A pleasant smile split his handsome, aesthetic face.
“Welcome!” he boomed, the words carrying to us in the back. Gathered behind him were several others. I thought I recognized Professor Shamon’s pinched face in the crowd. All but the mayor dressed similarly in robes of deep goldenrod, trimmed in purple. Lucas Seul’s were deep purple, denoting his status as not only the Mayor but also the Headmaster of Rule 9 Academy.
“Let’s get you in out of this lovely weather. We’ll convene in the Cafeteria for a Welcome breakfast. When you finish, we’ll have our prefects, some of our third and fourth-year students, take you on a walking tour and hand out class schedules based on your abilities and preferences.
I groaned inside. Great, more walking. And I hadn’t put down any preferences and had no clue what ‘abilities’ I might possess.
We started walking. Sirris, Thomas and I hung towards the back. Kimmy joined us. I noticed that most hung in groups with other kids they knew, chatting as they walked, catching up. But, like any school I’d ever attended, there were the loners too. Those that kept to themselves and held their own council.
Sirris nudged me as we walked. “So, you going to tell us how you ended up here. We—” she indicated Kimmy, Thomas and herself. “—all were born into Magic. Our parents, one or both, attended Rule 9 as children too. We grew up knowing we were Other. What’s your story?”
I saw no reason to hold back what I’d only hinted at before. I told them about my escape into the mountain to get away from the werewolves, my night in jail, and the next morning’s interrogation with t
he Mayor, Will Bennett and Carol Shamon.
“I think Will Bennett seems nice enough, talk about a sweet tooth. Carol Shamon though? What a witch, no pun intended.”
Sirris and Thomas were nodding. “True, but don’t discount her ability to teach. Her ‘winning’ personality is countered by her knowledge of mythical—and not so mythical creatures. She knows her stuff. Mr. Bennett Teaches Potions and Spells by the book.” Thomas finished.
“Mayor Seul told me he knew I was more than human the moment I tripped the pattern and the door opened and let me in. He said only Magicals can do that?”
Sirris looked grim. “I bet he didn’t tell you that if you’d kept trying to trip that maze? It would have given you a shock big enough to knock you out, and the werewolves would have enjoyed their lunch.”
I started. No, they’d missed that part. “I don’t feel special. I mean, I can hear a little better, see more in the dark. So what? That’s not that unusual.”
Thomas spoke up. “Don’t forget the fire? I never told you, but I checked the fire you used to heat those bolts? It was almost out. It shouldn’t have been enough to make those bolt tips so hot they glowed orange. And speaking of which? You are incredible with that bow.”
I shrugged. “I practice a lot.” All three stared at me, skeptical.
“Do you have any unusual marks? Like a birthmark or something anywhere?” Kimmy asked, speaking for the first time.
I jolted. “The Council asked me the same thing. I do, but it’s not very clear.” They stared at me and I stumbled. We were off to the side and no one was paying us any attention. With a sigh, I reached up and inched my jacket aside. We’d already stored our ponchos; the corridor was steamy. Sirris and Kimmy Gasped as I revealed the front of my dragon’s head and foreleg. Thomas looked worried.
“A dragon.” Sirris breathed. “We have a few of those here. The valley is named for the Dragon Shifters that used to be common to this region. She touched a cool finger to the snout. That’s a little different from the others, though I can’t put my finger on how.”
Fire Born Dragon (Rule 9 Academy Book 1) Page 11
