Dragon's Curse (Heir of Dragons: Book 2)

by Sean Fletcher

  “We might have heard something about it,” Kaylee admitted.

  Alastair frowned. “I’m sure. If I remember from last year, there were quite a few things you ‘heard something about’, whether you were supposed to or not.”

  Edwin opened his mouth, but Alastair went on, “Regardless of what you did, I admitted I was wrong in not listening to you. And so,” he opened a hand to Zaria, “when Zaria desired to meet to discuss a mutual concern, I decided it best to listen.”

  “Where’s Randy?” Kaylee said. “Shouldn’t he be here?”

  “That tool?” Zaria said.

  “That tool could whip you in a fight,” Kaylee shot back.

  “You think so, don’t you?”

  “Enough, girls!” Alastair said. He looked to already be regretting his decision to bring them together. “Zaria, we waited for them like you asked, but I still think I should alert my actual Convocation team—”

  “You can tell them later.” Zaria threw her legs up on the table, making Alastair wince. She turned to the others. “Remember our little talk earlier about the Book of Kells?”

  “Of course,” Edwin said.

  “Is this the Herald of the Hunt guy you were telling us about, Edwin?” Jade said.

  “Wait, I didn’t hear that,” Maddox said.

  “You kept falling asleep,” Jade said.

  Maddox mumbled something about lacrosse practice while Kaylee gestured for Zaria to go on.

  “We remember. What about it?”

  “We found it.”

  “We know, that’s why we’re here. What else?”

  Zaria looked chagrinned. “Someone’s impatient.”

  “Zaria, please,” Alastair said.

  Zaria picked at her nails. “The National Historic Society has it. They must’ve had it longer than we thought ‘cause it just showed up without warning, and we would’ve heard of them discovering it any time recently.”

  “What’s the National Historic Society?” Dani said in a quiet voice behind Kaylee, making her jump. She had forgotten the other girl was still there.

  “They’re part of an organization run by many of the top universities in the country,” Alastair said. “They also happen to house many magical items, though the Society believes them to be merely artifacts of great historical significance. Many of our Convocations go to great lengths to ensure it stays that way.”

  “How do we know this is the real Book of Kells and not another fake?” Edwin said.

  Zaria’s eyes flickered up from her nails. “You’ll just have to trust me, won’t you?”

  Jade’s fists clenched. “Guess we will.”

  “We do,” Kaylee said. About as much as they’d have to, anyway.

  Alastair reached across his desk and pulled up a map of their surrounding area. “Edwin, if you please.”

  Edwin chanted a few words under his breath. The map tugged free from Alastair’s hands and affixed itself to the air in front of them. Zaria stood and started pointing at each of the major cities around Scarsdale.

  “Syracuse, Rome, Albany, Rothsberg. Cities with museums big enough for the Historic Society to put the book on display.”

  “Why would they do that?” Jade demanded.

  “To gloat,” Maddox grumbled.

  “Ignorance,” Alastair corrected. “The Society has no idea what they’ve picked up, and their goal is to preserve historical objects for the public to enjoy. That means displaying them in museums.”

  “Which I know they’ll do soon.” Zaria had snagged a sharpie from Alastair’s desk and was drawing circles around the cities. “The second they put that book on display that’s when I can grab it.”

  “You mean we can grab it,” Maddox said. “It belongs to the Convocation.”

  A low growl escaped Zaria’s throat. Her arm thickened beneath her sleeve, metal coating her fingers. “The Convocation lost the book years ago. That’s why we’re in this mess now.”

  “All of you stop!” Alastair said. Kaylee hadn’t realized Jade and Maddox had pulled their weapons. Even Dani had stepped forward, ready to attack.

  “Typical thanks I get,” Zaria spat. “I came to you with this information out of the goodness of my heart, even after all the nothing the Convocation gave me.”

  “I’m sorry for any wrongs other Convocations may have committed against you,” Alastair said. “However, the book would be safer with our protection. For now, let’s focus on the bigger issue.”

  Zaria reluctantly withdrew her arms. The others dropped their weapons. “Fine. We’ll discuss ownership once we get the book. Which is going to be the fun part. You can bet if I know the book’s whereabouts every Slayer in New York will too. Maybe even that Lesuvius guy I keep hearing about.”

  “He’s in New York?” Jade said abruptly.

  “We don’t know,” Alastair said. “And until we know, he’s not our main concern.”

  He went to the map and tapped a couple of the circles. “We have small clusters of Convocation members and safe houses in some of these cities. I can move supplies and people if necessary to whichever one the book pops up in.”

  “So can I.”

  They all gave Zaria a skeptical look.

  “What?” She fluttered her eyelashes at them. “You didn’t think my little gang ‘o misfits were the only ones who listened to me, did you?”

  “Yeah, we actually did,” Maddox said.

  “Then I’m just full of surprises. There you go, Alastair. I did my part and filled you in with what I know. I recommend you don’t forget this. And that you keep some ears—”

  “I know how to do my job, young lady—”

  “—and eyes on these guys.” Zaria indicated to Kaylee and the others. “Word is they have a knack for taking things into their own hands.” She pressed a mocking hand to her chest. “Kids after my own heart.”

  Alastair looked at them, weighing the possibility of what Zaria said. “I think they need to be part of this, too. I’m sure even if we were to exclude them they would come along regardless. Isn’t that right?”

  Kaylee nodded her head so fast it felt like it’d fall off her neck.

  Alastair sighed. “Very well. Zaria, your help is greatly appreciated. I’ll be in touch if we hear anything about the book. Now, we should prepare for whatever the Slayers use to retrieve it.”

  “Quite a lot, then,” Zaria said matter-a-factly. “The Book of Kells isn’t the final final chance they have at using any spooky ancient magic to kill us, but it’s definitely one of their best shots.”

  Alastair held the door open for Zaria and the two of them walked out of the study.

  “Are we…really going after it?” Dani said.

  “If we have to,” Kaylee said. “But we usually end up having to.”

  Dani nodded slowly.

  “You don’t need to come along,” Jade added. “We’d be the ones getting it. You haven’t had combat training like us.”

  “I think she should come,” Kaylee said.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

  “I think I should too,” Dani agreed. “I’m part of this now, aren’t I?”

  Jade looked at Maddox. He shrugged. “She’s part of this,” he agreed.

  “Okay, then.”

  “I’m gonna go start unpacking the car,” Maddox said. “You coming, Edwin?” He looked back. “Edwin?”

  Edwin was up at the still floating map, muttering to himself.

  “I’ll get him. You guys go ahead,” Kaylee said.

  The others trickled out, Jade gushing to Dani about some kick-butt fighting moves she could teach her. Kaylee joined Edwin.

  “Let’s hear what you’ve come up with.”

  “How do you know I’ve come up with anything?”

  “Because I know you. When you’re deep in thought you go into this vegetative state where you only respond to the promise of food and verbal threats.”

  Edwin chuckled. “My two greatest weaknesses.” He placed a finger on
one of the cities Zaria had nearly blacked out with a sharpie circle. Rothsberg.

  “I checked the Historical Society’s website while we were talking. There’s no announcement of when or where their next exhibit would be. My guess is the book will be put on display at an existing exhibit, so they probably wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. Then I did another search and Rothsberg is the only city with a museum with a Celtic display. It matches.”

  “You did all that while we were talking?”

  “Impressed?”

  Kaylee bumped him with her hip. “That I can’t find answers that fast in school? Yes.”

  Edwin laughed and bumped her back. His fingers brushed the circle around the city. Again. Again. Again. “Isn’t there a spring formal at your school or something?” He blurted.

  Kaylee cocked an eyebrow.

  “Maddox told me,” Edwin said quickly. “Not that I was asking—he just told me there was one in a couple weeks and—you were gonna go, right?”

  “I hadn’t really thought about it. I’ve kind of had other things on my mind.”

  “Right. Of course.”

  “And you’re homeschooled, so a public school formal…”

  “Yeah, but it’s not like they would know I didn’t go there if I showed up. Especially if I went with—”

  Kaylee didn’t hear what he said next. Her eyes had caught something on Alastair’s desk behind Edwin, peeking out from beneath a stack of papers. It was a half-hearted attempt to hide it, as though Alastair had wanted her to discover it herself rather than be forced to explain it to her face-to-face.

  “Kaylee?” Edwin said as she brushed past him. Kaylee pushed aside the papers and picked up the bead bracelet. She didn’t have to look closely to know whose it was. But why?

  You know why. You’ve known for a while, haven’t you?

  Reese, picking at the beads as he drove her angrily home from Randy’s house.

  The hooded figure’s reluctance to attack her at the bowling alley.

  Randy, scooping something up from the rubble after all the Slayers had fled.

  No. NO. NO.

  “Kaylee?”

  It was Alastair. Kaylee realized her hand was shaking, causing the beads to clack together. Sparks of electricity buzzed from the tips of her fingers. This time she didn’t try to dim them.

  Kaylee held up the bracelet. “You want to explain what these are doing here?”

  When she turned, Alastair hadn’t moved from the doorway. He didn’t look sorry, or surprised, which confirmed Kaylee’s suspicions that he’d wanted her to see them. And if he had them, he’d known for a little while; at least since they’d been with Randy at the bowling alley, which meant Randy had told him and not her.

  The coward.

  “What’s going on, Dad?” Edwin said.

  “How long?” Kaylee said.

  “Only a little while. I was informed last week,” Alastair said.

  “No, how long has Reese—how long has he been with them?” She could barely get the words out. Imagining her brother, the one who comforted her, loved her, doing that.

  Alastair’s shoulders sagged. He took a step forward, but Kaylee held the beads out like a weapon. “How. Long?”

  “We’re not completely sure. Maybe a year or more. We think he may have run into some Slayers through a group at school and got caught up with them. We don’t think he knew exactly what he was doing.”

  “We, we, we. You mean Randy.”

  “Yes.”

  Kaylee swore, nearly tossing the beads down in disgust. Just when she thought she could trust him he went and did this to her. “Why didn’t he tell me himself when he found out?”

  “Frankly? Because he thought you would react like this.” Alastair indicated to the room.

  But Kaylee didn’t care if the wind had picked up or the temperature had dropped. She didn’t care if the ceiling lights had dimmed, as if a dark cloud had swallowed them whole. She didn’t even care that, for the first time she could remember she felt perfectly in control of the storm she was summoning. It was like having a single focal point of anger to aim towards had brought her powers under her control more than any training ever had.

  Randy, who’d lied. Randy, who’d sat there and told her a sob story about his daughter while knowing about Reese and not really caring at all about how that knowledge could destroy her family.

  “I need to go,” Kaylee said.

  “Not like this,” Alastair said. “I understand you’re upset—”

  “Upset? I just found out my brother’s probably been killing dragon-kin. Yeah, I’m upset.”

  “We’ve found no evidence he’s killed anyone, or even gone on missions for them.”

  “Kaylee, please calm down,” Edwin begged. “You know this isn’t going to help. We’ll find Randy and ask him.”

  “No, I’ll find Randy. Right now.”

  Kaylee tried to move, but her feet were caught. Thick roots had emerged from the ground and were wrapping their way around her ankles. The potted plants in the corner had grown three times as big, their enormous branches flailing around, mirroring Alastair’s arms.

  “I’m sorry I have to do this,” Alastair said, his claws growing, his eyes now green slits.

  Kaylee let more of her magic out. The storm growled. “So am I.”

  She ducked as one of the plants tried to grab her arms. In two slices she’d freed her ankles, sending the roots withering back into the ground. More burst forth to try to hold her but she froze the floor solid to slow them down.

  That left only Alastair in her way.

  He moved in a blur. First he was at the door, then he was in front of her. But as he reached to hold her in place, magic tugged at Kaylee’s gut. The windows exploded inward. Edwin cried out and covered his face. Alastair was momentarily distracted and Kaylee used it to barrel past him, sending him flying into one of his plants with a loud crash.

  “Kaylee!” Edwin yelled after her. But Kaylee was moving so fast it was as if the wind had kicked up her heels, as if she had wings.

  She only slowed a bit when she reached the sidewalk out front and took off towards home.

  Chapter Twenty

  Reese’s car wasn’t at their house. Kaylee wasn’t surprised. She doubted he’d come home at all. He’d known. Their whole trip he’d known. The darting looks he’d given her following that night with the Slayers he’d known.

  Kaylee was forced to walk as she made her way down Scarsdale’s main road. She ignored the traffic and people passing by her, her focus lasered ahead, the rhythm of her feet staying consistent with the pounding in her chest. Each beat was like a chant.

  Wrong.

  Wrong.

  Wrong.

  This was wrong. She was being dumb. She was overreacting. She’d get there and nothing would be the matter. Randy and Reese would just be talking and they’d both laugh at how upset she looked.

  The second Kaylee felt she was out of sight of any bystanders she took off down the farm to market road, drawing on her magic to speed her up as it’d done before. The grass whipped by in a blur. Gravel kicked out of her way. The rocks picked through the soles of her shoes and made her feet feel like she’d stepped on a field of marbles, but she didn’t stop until she reached the end of Randy’s driveway.

  Kaylee stood there panting, letting her tired, magic-drained muscles recover. Then she began walking towards the house. All was quiet. A loose panel from the roof of the shed slapped in the breeze. Reese’s car sat in front. The engine still clicked, cooling down. He hadn’t been there long.

  This time Kaylee went around the back. Twice she peered in the side windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of something. Anything. The kitchen was empty. One of the bottom floor bedrooms was bare. The living room was as clean as she’d ever seen it.

  Kaylee sucked in a breath before yanking the screen door open and going inside.

  “Randy? Reese?”

  Sudden movement upstairs startled her; the sound of scuf
fling coming to an abrupt halt.

  Kaylee took the stairs two at a time. The office door at the end of the hall was ajar. She pushed it open.

  “What are you doing here, Kaylee?”

  Randy stood leaned against his desk, hands clamped on the edge. The wood beneath his fingers was blackened, his face grim and facing Reese across the room. The air smelled charred.

  “Go wait in the car, Kaylee,” Reese managed to say. He stood across from Randy, casually leaning against the closet wall, one hand behind his back.

  “No,” Kaylee said.

  “Kaylee—”

  “I know, Reese. I know what Randy found.”

  They both winced.

  “How long?” Reese said quietly.

  “Did I suspect? A little while. Did I know for sure? Just now.”

  Reese shifted uncomfortably, his arm never leaving his back. “How?”

  “Alastair. Or really, Randy.”

  “Found the bracelet, did you?” Randy grunted. “Yeah, that one, boy,” he added when Reese glanced down at his naked wrist on his exposed arm. “Took you both long enough to put two and two together. Never wear anything distinguishable, boy. First rule of doing something illicit.”

  “I wanted to tell her,” Reese snarled.

  “No, you wanted to kill her. It’s what your little fan club likes to do, get it?”

  “I would never—”

  “When were you going to tell me, Reese?” Kaylee said.

  Reese continued glaring at Randy.

  “Reese?”

  “I didn’t know they were—when they recruited me they promised I could make a difference.”

  “Oh, you could. For them,” Randy said.

  “Shut up!” Reese roared. He took a menacing step towards him but still didn’t remove his arm from behind his back. “Because of you this is all ruined. All I had to do was stay in Scarsdale and let them know if I found out anything about the book. Then you were here and wouldn’t leave. You wrecked everything.”

  “I’d say you did a pretty good job of that yourself. Maybe next time, when you join a group, you read the fine print instead of ingesting word-for-word the BS they spoon feed you.”

  “I’m making the world safer. I’m making a difference. How can someone like you possibly understand?”