by Sarah Noffke
“Hey, Soph,” he said, hugging her before pulling back, looking the Castle over with amazement. “This place is…”
“Falling apart,” Sophia supplied when her brother trailed away. “I mean, you can’t really tell right now because Mama Jamba has been repairing things, but when she stops protecting it and the Barrier comes back down, well, it will start to degrade again.”
“That is why we are here,” Liv offered, laying a consoling hand on her sister’s shoulder.
Clark’s eyes fluttered with annoyance. “Some of us have the illustrious job of protecting and strategizing with the Dragon Elite. And some of us have been recruited to cook.”
Sophia couldn’t help but giggle. “But that is the most important job of all. Our housekeeper is sort of crazier than usual, which is saying a lot. She can’t cook, and the Castle can’t help like it usually does. None of the rest of us can so much as boil water. Without you, Clark, we would surely starve, and then we’d really be in trouble.”
“Okay, fine. I will be your chef in the interim.”
“Thank you,” Sophia gushed as the portal door opened again.
Rory Laurens ducked to enter through the doorway without hitting his head. He was carrying a crate of food and wore a curious expression. Behind him, Bermuda Laurens followed into the Castle, her eyes wide as she took in the sights around them. She didn’t say a word to Sophia or the others when she entered. Instead, she began furiously writing in a book she held in her hands.
“Oh, this is too much,” Bermuda said, scribbling away, her chin high as she took in the details on the high ceiling. She ran her hands over the wall, studying it with a keen eye. “The material isn’t anything I have seen before. It appears to be a combination of—”
Sophia never learned what the combination of materials were that comprised the walls of the Castle because the thundering of Hiker Wallace’s boots echoing down the corridor interrupted everything. All eyes turned to take in the hulking Viking, who wasn’t dwarfed by the two giants standing nearby.
Sophia was about to make introductions, but before she could, Hiker plucked the book from Bermuda’s hand, yanking it up to read what she had just written.
A sound of surprise spilled from the giantess’s mouth, but Hiker took no notice as he shut the book with a snap. “There will be no notes taken about the Castle, the Gullington, or the Dragon Elite.”
Bermuda bowed slightly, showing respect to Hiker Wallace that Sophia had never seen the stern woman show to anyone. The giantess didn’t bow to others. Usually, she only cast disapproving glares. “I understand your need to keep your secrets. But you must know the world wants to know—”
“I don’t care what the world wants to know,” Hiker interrupted. “If you so much as breathe a single detail to the outside world about my Castle, that will be your last one on this Earth.”
There was no one Sophia could think of who could silence the giantess like Hiker Wallace had just done. Bermuda looked like she had just eaten a particularly chewy peanut butter sandwich, her jaw locked as her eyes bulged.
Hiker grabbed both ends of the book and quite easily ripped it in two. If Wilder had been there right then, he would be happy to see their leader using more of his strength. That had to be a part of the power he inherited from his twin brother, Thad Reinhart. It appeared Hiker simply needed to be motivated to embrace it.
“Sir,” Sophia began. “You have already met my sister, Liv Beaufont.”
Hiker didn’t appear happy to see the warrior for the House of Fourteen again. He barely glanced in Liv’s direction. They had gotten off to a bad start when the leader of the Dragon Elite trespassed into Liv’s apartment a while back, demanding information on a new rider. According to Liv, Hiker kept going on about this man he suspected had magnetized to a dragon egg. Sophia’s sister didn’t feel the need to give up any information since she didn’t know of any “man” who had done such a thing.
“And this is my brother, Clark,” Sophia said, presenting the councilor for the House of Fourteen.
“You can cook?” Hiker asked, his voice strict.
“Absolutely. And an honor to make your acquaintance.” Clark offered a hand, but when Hiker didn’t take it, he stepped back awkwardly.
“Rory and Bermuda Laurens have offered to help with securing the Barrier and shielding the Gullington when Mama Jamba’s security comes down,” Sophia explained.
“Can you do it?” Hiker demanded, glaring up at the giants.
“Well, we were able to shield the Dragon Elite from seeing Lunis and Sophia before they were ready to join you,” Bermuda told him.
Hiker’s eyes widened with alarm as he rotated to face Sophia. “What is this?”
Sophia’s gaze darted to the side. “Oh, about that…”
Bermuda shook her head. “You never told Hiker about that?”
“I was going to,” Sophia remarked.
“When?” Hiker insisted.
“Things have just been so busy,” Sophia said. “I mean, since the beginning, there hasn’t really been a chance to share those unimportant details.”
“They seem pretty important to me,” Hiker argued.
Thankfully, the angels seemed to be looking out for Sophia because the closet door opened, and the last invited member from the House of Fourteen entered, her windswept gray hair brushed back off her forehead.
Sophia didn’t know Hester DeVries very well, but Liv did and had promised the healer for the House of Fourteen could be trusted.
With the confidence to impress, the Councilor walked straight up to Hiker, her chin held high. “You must be the leader of the Dragon Elite.”
“And you are?” Hiker asked her.
“I’m the person who is going to heal your riders,” Hester answered. “Lead me in the right direction, and I will get straight to work.”
Hiker seemed to appreciate the healer’s straightforward style. He nodded and pointed down the corridor, explaining where Evan and Mahkah could be found.
Sophia took a moment to appreciate that so many of her friends were at the Castle. She couldn’t wait to show Liv her bedroom. Although her sister had a lot of work to do, helping the Dragon Elite to strategize for when the Barrier came down in a day or two, Sophia hoped they had a chance to catch up properly. She had so many things she wanted to tell her, and one thing she needed Liv’s advice about.
Sophia was excited to introduce her brother to Ainsley and the others. She was looking forward to having her brother’s cooking, which would no doubt bring back a flood of nostalgia.
The giants would be an interesting addition to the Gullington. It was uncertain how effective they would be at securing the Barrier and keeping the Gullington hidden. It was a large piece of land, and there were only two of them. However, if they at least bought them some time, that would be good. The cyborg pirates would probably be back, and they needed a way to secure the borders until they knew how to defend the dragon eggs and protect them from would-be thieves.
“Okay, Sophia,” Hiker began, “I need you to—”
“Actually, sir,” Sophia dared to interrupt. “King Rudolf is going to take me to get something I think will save Quiet.”
While she knew Hiker would want to argue with her, this was one subject he knew he couldn’t. Something had to be done to help the groundskeeper.
Reluctantly, he agreed. “Yes, that will be good anyway, because the Castle is no place for babies.”
“Actually,” Sophia said, grimacing slightly.
She never got a chance to deliver the bad news because all heads turned when Wilder sprinted down the corridor, sliding stealthily between bodies as if he didn’t notice the crowd of strangers congregated in the Castle. He ignored everyone, including Hiker, and grabbed Sophia’s hand, panic in his eyes.
“Soph, I need your help!” Wilder exclaimed. “And right away! No questions asked!”
Chapter Sixty-Nine
“What is going on here?” Hiker’s voice boomed with d
isapproval.
Rudolf shook his head and clicked his tongue. “I believe the young lad said, ‘no questions asked,’ Walker.”
Hiker narrowed his eyes at the fae before turning to Wilder. “What is going on?”
Wilder finally seemed to notice he was surrounded by strangers, and everyone was regarding him with curious stares. “Oh, hey…um…Sir, I need Sophia’s help with something right away. It’s really important.”
“That mission you abandoned us to do for Subner, is it?” Hiker asked.
Wilder slid his eyes nervously to the group before nodding. “Yes, sir.”
“Why do you need Sophia?”
“I-I-I can’t say,” Wilder replied.
The Viking looked ready to punch a wall. After a long moment, he seemed to get control internally and let out a long breath. “Fine, Sophia, you can go. But I want you to be fast with whatever this secret mission is.”
“In the meantime,” Rudolf sang, “the Captains and I will be waiting for you for our secret mission.”
Hiker had forgotten about the fae standing there with infants strapped to him and resting in the carriage.
He growled, his eyes vibrating with irritation. “Sophia, you better hurry.”
Liv and Clark offered her encouraging smiles as Wilder tugged her away, back the way he had come.
“I will see you soon,” she called as she was dragged away on a mission with the last person she wanted to be alone with right then.
Chapter Seventy
“Where are you taking me?” Sophia asked as Wilder held tight to her hand and pulled her across the Expanse toward the mountains in the distance.
He looked over his shoulder at her. “No questions, remember.”
Sophia yanked her hand from his grip. “Well, then, no help.”
Wilder halted and spun around to face her directly. “Please, Soph. This is important.”
“I get that,” Sophia replied. “But so is my ability to know what is going on. If you need my help, you are going to have to explain.”
Wilder seemed to waver with indecision. “Fine, can I tell you as we go? We don’t really have much time, so I can’t go into too many details at once.”
“Fair enough,” Sophia answered. “Start by telling me where we are going.”
He pointed in the distance. “Falconer’s cave. There is something there I need your help with.”
“Do you need to meditate?” she asked, remembering when Hiker dragged her out on a ten-mile hike so she could connect with the universe and hear the voices of the angels.
“Heavens no,” Wilder answered. “There is something in the cave I need you to see.”
Sophia thought back to the last time she had been in Falconer’s cave. She hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary—a lot of rock, some bugs, and dripping water. And a whole lot of darkness.
“Well, fine,” she affirmed. “But we aren’t hiking ten miles to the cave. That will take forever.” She turned toward the Cave where the dragons would be resting. “Call Simi, and I will get Lunis, and we can get there quickly.”
The look of regret that crossed Wilder’s face was palpable. “The thing is, Simi is not available.”
“What do you mean, she’s not available?” Sophia demanded.
Wilder slid his hands into his pockets, nervousness exuding from his every movement. “She is sort of being detained…”
Sophia gasped. “By whatever is in Falconer’s Cave?”
The look on Wilder’s face was all the confirmation she needed.
“Fine.” Sophia reached out and called Lunis. Seconds later, the blue dragon poked his head from the Cave and sprang into the air, flapping his long wings and making quick progress in their direction.
“Wait, you are going to take Lunis and make me hike alone?” Wilder sounded offended.
Sophia rolled her eyes at him as her dragon landed before them. “No, we are both going to ride Lunis.”
She looked her dragon in the eye, a silent question in her gaze. She didn’t need him to answer for her to know he had agreed to taxi both her and Wilder, something he hadn’t done before. Only Sophia had ever ridden him, which was common for dragons. There was usually little reason for a dragon to be ridden by anyone but their riders. This seemed to be a desperate situation, though, and Lunis had understood immediately that Simi was in trouble and needed their help.
“But I can’t,” Wilder argued, as she mounted Lunis, swinging her leg around and sliding into the saddle made for one.
Sophia gave him an annoyed expression. “Seriously, Wild now is not the time for pretenses. I get it’s a bit unorthodox, but if I must wait for you to hike ten miles, we are going to lose valuable time. Decide right now if you want to ride with me on Lunis or risk your dragon by being stubborn.”
Apparently, that was the kick in the pants Wilder needed because he nodded. Sophia extended a hand to him he really didn’t need. Still, he grabbed her fingers and allowed her assistance as he swung his leg around and slid into the spot behind her. A shock of electricity radiated from their touch, and she yanked her hand away at once. He grabbed onto the saddle to secure his precarious position.
Sophia grabbed the reins and directed Lunis into the air, feeling strange sharing her dragon with someone else, but if she was going to ride through the clouds, it made sense it would be with Wilder.
Chapter Seventy-One
Lunis had a zillion questions for Sophia, but none of them were very relevant.
I don’t see why you won’t answer me, he said with a laugh as he landed smoothly outside Falconer Cave.
Because I’m a mean and stingy person, she answered. She waited for Wilder to dismount first before sliding down the side of her dragon and landing on the grass.
Wilder had held out a hand to help her down, but she wasn’t going to take his assistance in a million years. This was her dragon, and she didn’t need help getting down.
Wilder had asked for her help, and she was beyond curious to find out what he needed her to do. She reasoned he had chosen her because he didn’t really have any other choice. Evan was still injured and Mahkah was on the reconnaissance mission investigating the Saverus organization. Of course, Hester would fix both dragonriders, and Wilder could call on them in the future when he needed help.
You are not mean, nor are you stingy, Lunis said. But I would say you are a certain river in Egypt.
Sinai, she retorted. Is that the river you are referring to?
No, I was thinking more along the lines of—
Tanitic? Mendesian? Pelusia? Sophia asked her dragon, cutting him off.
Have fun exploring the dark cave with Wilder, Lunis sang as she made her way up to the opening at the top of the hill.
I’m almost certain whatever the weapons expert has in store for me is going to be anything but fun, Sophia stated.
Oh, well, I think with the right person, just about anything could be fun, Lunis mused with a snicker.
Sophia looked over her shoulder and shook her head at her dragon as they neared Falconer Cave.
“Everything okay?” Wilder asked, noticing her irritated gaze at Lunis.
“Yeah, I was just considering how my dragon would look with a muzzle,” Sophia answered.
It wouldn’t stop me from talking in your head, Lunis teased.
What? I can’t hear you, Lun. What did you say?
I said that—
Can’t hear you, she interrupted, unable to hide the grin on her face as she taunted her dragon.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Just playing with Lunis,” she answered. “He likes to dish it out, but let’s see if he can take it.”
Wilder shook his head at her, a small smile lighting up his eyes. “I wouldn’t trade Simi for all the riches in the world, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have what you do with Lunis.”
“A back talking dragon who is obsessed with pop culture and Pringles chips?”
Wilder laughed. “No,
I was thinking more along the lines of a dragon that is more your friend. Mahkah and I are the older riders. Evan too, for that matter, but maybe a little less so. We are from the old mindset that dragons are serious and can’t indulge in modern things. Hiker, I’m certain, up until recently, absolutely believed technology would corrupt their power. There has never been a rider and dragon like you and Lunis. You two are something new, something amazing.”
Sophia coughed nervously. “Anyway, so what are we doing here?”
Wilder’s light expression dropped as he stared at the mouth of the cave. “Follow me. I have something to show you.”
Sophia’s hand went for her sword, but Wilder stopped her.
“You won’t need that…yet,” he told her.
Chapter Seventy-Two
The chill of Falconer Cave and the ominous feeling drifting in the crisp air made Sophia shiver upon entering.
Her eyes scanned, looking for any clues to tell her what this was all about.
“Is this when you tell me what is going on here?” she asked Wilder as they went further into the dark cave, her voice echoing.
He created a light orb to show their path. “It’s easier if I show you.”
When she had been there with Hiker to meditate, they hadn’t ventured too deeply into the cave, but Wilder went past the initial area, and around a bend. The light from the opening disappeared, and Sophia was grateful for the orb Wilder was carrying to help guide their path.
“Is Simi in here somewhere?” Sophia inquired. The cave was large enough to house a dragon, although the area where they were now was a bit narrow. She doubted the white dragon could have made it through.
Wilder shook his head, his jaw flexing.
“But this is the way to get to her?” Sophia wondered what had happened to the dragon connected to the element of wind.
She suddenly felt like she had been hit in the chest. Wind. How had she forgotten wind was the element connected to Wilder’s dragon? She shrugged it off. It was just a stupid coincidence. Sophia knew better.
