Speaking of evil…
“You know if you’d shown that they’d have never let you leave the house,” Jade said. “And I’m not just talking about your parents.”
“Yeah…”
“Listen, for once trust the Convocation to find them, and we can try to enjoy the Fall Festival.”
The final bell mercifully rang. As Kaylee gathered her things she tried to keep her mind on what Jade had said: The festival, not some evil dude with plans to destroy her and her kind.
For some reason, it wasn’t working.
Kaylee focused on her feet, coaxing the magic inside her to flow into them. To shift.
One toe changed into a talon.
Kaylee growled in frustration. Across the room, Edwin let his arms drop. The kettlebell he’d been magically keeping aloft thudded to the floor. At least she wasn’t the only one having an off day, though Edwin seemed to be having fewer and fewer of those every lesson. Kaylee had noticed how much better he’d gotten with most of his spells. It was almost like the more danger they’d gotten themselves into the faster he’d learned. But he still didn’t try any of the bigger spells, and Kaylee didn’t know if that was because he couldn’t, or because he was scared.
Kind of like her.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Edwin said. “I really am sorry about yesterday. If we could have just gotten an item or two from the tent—”
“I’m great, Edwin,” Kaylee said. She went to the couch and begin putting on her shoes.
“It still doesn’t make sense,” Edwin said. “Why would he let us go? He’s been trying to get you for weeks and there you are—”
“Yes, there I am, waltzing into the tent of the very man we’ve been trying to avoid ever since I found out I was a dragon-kin. There. I. Am.”
Edwin looked pathetically glum. Each word she shot at him seemed to pound him like a stake through the heart, further and further with each blow.
Kaylee heaved a sigh, flopping back onto the couch with her arms spread. “I’m sorry, Edwin. I know you were only trying to help, but I was really scared. We seriously could have died.”
“I never wanted you to get hurt. I wouldn’t have gone if I’d known you’d be the one coming after me.”
“You didn’t seem surprised when I followed you. And of course I’d come after you. Who else is going to get you out of trouble?”
The corners of Edwin’s mouth ticked up.
“I know the reason you were doing it,” Kaylee said.
“You…do?”
“You wanted to help the Convocation.”
“Right,” Edwin said, turning away a little from her. “I just wanted to help the Convocation. Anyway,” he cleared his throat.
“I’ve been thinking…I also know why Lesuvius let us go,” Kaylee said.
Edwin looked at her sharply.
“Because he knows we’ll never stop,” Kaylee said. “We can’t stop, not now when we’ve figured out how to beat them. How can we sit around and let that happen? We won’t. And Lesuvius probably figured out the Convocation won’t be any real help.”
“But we have to tell them now if we find out anything more about the Slayers,” Edwin said. “I thought maybe we could take them on, but that Lesuvius guy’s no joke.”
“Of course we’ll tell them if we find anything, but can they actually do anything? So far the Convocation hasn’t been able to really keep the Slayers away.”
“I guess…” Edwin trailed off. Then he suddenly stiffened.
Baba was leaning against the doorjamb, a flask dangling from one hand. She stared at Edwin standing in the corner, then Kaylee flopped on the couch.
“No, please, don’t actually train on my account.”
She took a small swig. Kaylee resisted the urge to snap that the woman had done next to nothing for them the last couple weeks. So why should they keep trying to train?
Baba walked over and nudged Kaylee’s feet. “You haven’t tried summoning a storm in a while. Kind of a useless storm dragon-kin, isn’t it? One that can’t summon its elemental powers.”
Kaylee glared at her. “I didn’t feel like adding your house to my property damage list.”
“Seems you two don’t care much for my personal property anyway. I can’t count how many of my things you’ve broken. And now secret rooms aren’t secret anymore. No,” she swirled the flask a few times. Edwin picked at his fingers, purposefully avoiding her gaze, “No, it’s something else. You fear your power, which is good. Healthy, even. Fear keeps you alive.” She peered deeply at Kaylee. “Keeps you from doing stupid things. But you need more than just fear. I suggest respect. Respect is even better. You respect the power the storm has.”
She leaned in. A faint hint of whiskey wafted off her breath.
“But—and you’ve heard this before, I’m sure—you need to embrace your power. Own it. Your failures and successes. Own them and stop pouting like a child.”
“Oh, you mean like you?” Kaylee shot back before she could stop. Edwin’s eyes bulged.
Baba cocked an amused eyebrow. She took another sip. “No. The exact opposite of me. We all deal with our stuff in our own way, kid.”
She stood. “That stupid Fall Festival is tonight, and tomorrow is the Dragon Moon. I’m sure you two will go to the festival, regardless of whether anyone tells you to or not.” She brushed a hand towards the door. “Leave.”
Kaylee threw her backpack on and stormed to the back door. Edwin followed soon after.
“And Kaylee,” Baba said behind her, “don’t come back here unless you can control a thunderhead.”
“What?” Kaylee snapped. Her fingers sparked. She clenched them until they stopped. Baba was staring at them, no longer amused.
“I think it’s best if you don’t come back here until you can control your storms. Save us both the trouble.”
The door slammed in her face.
The last thing Kaylee felt like doing was putting on her nicest jeans and shirt, only to cover it with a jacket and go freeze her butt off at a festival that was unknowingly celebrating the fact she would briefly be losing her powers the next day.
But that was just her. Jade had other plans.
“Forget what Baba said,” Jade said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to the festival’s ticket booth. “That old crone always has to find something to nitpick. Trust me, once the Dragon Moon is over you’ll be controlling storms in no time!”
That sounded painfully optimistic, even to Kaylee, but she smiled all the same.
Edwin came back with the tickets and together the three of them stepped through the mesh gate to the fairgrounds.
The Fall Festival was a collaborative effort between the two high schools of Scarsdale. On the opposite side of the fairgrounds was Scarsdale Heritage, dark and unlit. The field between them was jam packed. People were selling everything from crafts to funnel cakes to hand-knit wool hats from Peru. What those were doing all the way out here Kaylee didn’t know. Carnival rides had been stationed in a separate area and were set to run the whole night. A rich, sugary smell drew Kaylee to one of the nearby booths, and she purchased a caramel apple for each of them.
“Shame Maddox couldn’t make it,” she said.
Edwin shrugged, biting into the apple. “He’s been to the festival almost every year. He won’t miss anything.” He pulled out an orange flyer from his pocket. “Says here the parade starts at eight. We’ve got about twenty minutes. What do you want to do until then?”
“I know what I want to do,” Jade said, pointing to a hay ride that had rumbled to a stop ahead of them. Edwin’s face fell. Kaylee held her hands up. “I’m out. You two have fun.”
She laughed as Jade tugged a protesting Edwin away, Edwin casting pleading looks back at Kaylee to save him.
Kaylee wandered between the rest of the booths. She saw some friends from school, as well as plenty of people her age she didn’t know. She assumed they went to the other high school, and therefore were part of the ot
her Convocation in Scarsdale. Alastair hadn’t elaborated too much on the Northern Scarsdale Convocation, and Kaylee hadn’t asked. But now she wondered how many of these unfamiliar faces were Merlins or Protectors. Maybe even dragon-kin.
Kaylee rounded the corner of another line of booths. She spotted a familiar smiling face waving her over.
“Fancy seeing you here, stranger!” Dani said. She had planted herself directly between two booths. One had a runner draped over it that read: Scarsdale High Robotics Club. The other had a collection of homemade jewelry laid out in neat rows. A girl no more than seven was standing behind this one, beaming a gap-toothed grin right at Kaylee. She returned it.
“You’re in the Robotics club too?” Kaylee said to Dani. “But weren’t you already in—”
“Yes and yes,” Dani said cheerfully. “Idle hands, right?” She put an arm around the little girl. “And this is my sister, Marco, and her jewelry.”
“Are these all yours?” Kaylee said, impressed as she examined an intricate bronze ring.
“Yep, they’re all mine!” Marco said proudly. “Well…Dani and mom helped a little.”
“Just with the designing, crafting, and handling the money part,” Dani said, winking at Kaylee. “But we needed an adorable face for the business. The festival was kind enough to let her have a booth as long as I supervised.”
“My mom said it’ll teach me great enterpu—entruper—entrepernerd skills,” Marco said.
“Close enough,” Dani said. She peeked over Kaylee’s shoulder.
“Jade and Edwin are on a hay ride,” Kaylee said.
“Just them?” Dani said.
“Not like that,” Kaylee said quickly, not sure why she felt annoyed with imagining Edwin going on the ride with anyone. “We’re just killing time until the parade.”
Dani readjusted the position of one of the lines of bracelets. “And do you and Edwin…get along?”
Kaylee thought about it. “He can be super stubborn. And stupid. And I constantly have to call him out on it. But he’s getting better at…” Kaylee glanced at Marco who was actively messing up whatever order there had been at the table. “Our…after school curriculum.”
“He’s kind of cute, isn’t he,” Dani asked off hand. “In that Dr. Who, Time Lord sort of way?”
Kaylee felt a blush rising to her cheeks. Which didn’t make sense because this was Edwin they were talking about. He was…Edwin.
“I…uh, guess. I never really noticed.”
“Even after all the time you guys spend training?”
“I—”
“Here, try this on!” Marco said, leaning over the table and thrusting a necklace in Kaylee’s face. Kaylee had never been so happy for a distraction, even if it did mean she was being assaulted by jewelry. “It’ll make you look pretty!” Marco added.
“Manners, Marco,” Dani chastised. “Kaylee already looks pretty.”
“I’ll say she does,” said a voice.
Kaylee’s breath hitched. A hand reached around, plucked the necklace from Marco’s hand and clasped it around Kaylee’s neck.
“There,” Brendan said, his voice low. “Doesn’t that look nice?”
“Perfect!” Marco said. “That’ll be twenty bucks!”
“Kaylee, who’s this?” Dani said.
Kaylee struggled to keep her composure as Brendan pressed up behind her, one arm looping through hers. This close, she could smell his disgusting stench, feel the hairs at the back of her neck prickle as he pulled her closer to him.
“Nothing,” he whispered.
“He’s…a friend,” Kaylee managed.
“I need to borrow Kaylee for a while,” Brendan said. He threw some money on the table and steered her away.
After a bit, Brendan forced her to slow and they meandered through the crowd. Kaylee forced her heart to stop racing. She needed to think, and she couldn’t do that if she was panicking.
“I hate festivals,” Brendan said. “It brings out all the undesirables. You know what I mean?”
“I only see one of those here,” Kaylee said, a growl forming in her throat now that they were safely away from Dani.
“Don’t get smart with me. Took a long time to get even one of us past all the charms the Convocation set around you and this stupid town. I made a big effort to come see you. The least you could do is say thanks.”
“What are you doing here, Brendan? The Slayers had better not try anything or I’ll—”
“You’ll what? Fry us with that lightning you can barely control? Or, I know, fly at us with wings you still can’t shift. Please, Kaylee,” he pulled her closer and Kaylee forced a fake smile on her face as an older couple ‘awwed’ at them. Where were Edwin and Jade?
“Even if you could do any of those things, I know your powers are waning thanks to the Dragon Moon,” Brendan purred. “You’re growing more helpless by the minute. You just don’t know it yet.”
“They’re not—” But even as Kaylee spoke she tried drawing on her magic and found it harder to reach than it had been that morning. Kaylee allowed herself a brief moment of panic. Okay, so her magic was already fading. That was okay. She could deal with it.
She hoped.
“What do you want, Brendan?” She repeated.
Brendan took his time plucking a strand of hair from across her lips.
“I’m here on a little errand before I see you at the main event. Lesuvius needed something from you and I said it would be my pleasure to retrieve it.”
“I’ll bet you did. But you’re not getting anything from—”
Brendan smashed a kiss on her lips. Every cell in Kaylee’s body fought back as he dragged her closer. Her magic screamed to be released and allowed to pummel Brendan. Her arm beneath her jacket shifted to scales, but that effort alone was much harder now. And she couldn’t reveal her magic here, she couldn’t do anything—
Sharp pain lanced up her arm and Kaylee managed to break apart from Brendan with a gasp. “What the heck, you bastard!” she hissed. She shoved him again. People were starting to stare. “What did you do to me?”
She pulled up the sleeve of her arm to find a circle of blood near her wrist, as if scab had been ripped off there. Brendan smiled and held up a single dark dragon scale.
“Your contribution to the cause is greatly appreciated.”
Then he slipped into the crowd.
“Hey!”
“Kaylee!” Jade appeared at her side. She was panting, her expression on high alert “Was that Brendan? Did I see him kissing you?”
“He took one of my scales! Get Edwin and let’s go after him!”
“The parade’s already started. Edwin went to get us some spots.”
Kaylee pointed across the field towards the parking lot. “See if Brendan went that way. I’ll head towards the school.”
Jade nodded and took off. Kaylee plunged into the crowd.
Most people were drifting towards a line of floats that had begun from the athletic track then looped around towards the high school. Kaylee pushed her way through clusters of people, trying to raise her head high enough to catch any sign of Brendan. Her eyes landed on the school. The school Trevor had said the star-kiss meteorite was being kept. If there was anywhere and anytime Brendan was going to make a grab for that, it was now.
Kaylee ignored the cries of alarm around her as she broke away from the bystanders and ran parallel to the parade. Maybe Brendan had hidden among the participants. Maybe he’d snuck out to one of the floats.
She stopped to catch her breath and scan them. She’d reached the end of the parade. Fewer people were around and the floats were now being ushered off the track and into the high school’s gymnasium. Brendan was nowhere to be seen. Kaylee wanted to zap something in frustration.
Until she spotted Edwin break from the edge of the crowd and slip beneath the flap of the nearest float.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Oh, she was going to kill him. She was definitely going to kill him.
>
Kaylee double-checked nobody was watching—They weren’t. A float six back was throwing candy and that was all anyone cared about—then sprinted forward and slid into the float beside Edwin.
He gawked. “Kaylee!”
“Ride’s over. We’re getting off. Now.” Kaylee tried to pull him out but Edwin held fast.
“Let go of me, Kaylee.”
“I don’t care about whatever crazy plan you have now, Edwin, Brendan—”
“Is after the meteorite. Why do you think I’m here?” He yanked her arm away. “I saw him go into the school.”
“And you thought you’d go after him alone?”
“That’s probably exactly what you were doing when you found me!”
“That’s—I didn’t—That’s not the point! You and this obsession with proving yourself to the Convocation is going—”
Edwin was momentarily taken aback. “Prove…myself? Really, Kaylee? You think ‘proving myself’ is the only reason I’m doing any of this?” His eyes bored hard into hers. “You can’t think of any other reason I’m doing all this?”
“Other than to stroke your ego, no.”
“My…ego?” Edwin sputtered. “What ego? What do I have to be proud of?”
Kaylee tried pulling him again, but this time Edwin yanked it back harder. Kaylee seriously considered knocking him out and dragging his sorry butt out. The sounds of the crowd had filtered away, leaving only the creak of the wheels on blacktop.
“Don’t give me that woe is me crap. It doesn’t fit you,” Kaylee said. “You’re a good Merlin.”
Edwin laughed bitterly.
“I’m a terrible Merlin. Did you ever wonder why I have private lessons with Baba instead of training with the other Convocation Merlins?”
“I…didn’t know the other Merlins trained together.”
“Well, surprise, they do. And I trained with them. Then I tried a bigger spell than I ever had before and nearly killed a kid. He was in a coma for a week. The only reason the Convocation let me keep practicing magic at all is because of Alastair. But even then, Baba was the only one who would agree to take me on after that.”
Dragon's Awakening (Heir of Dragons: Book 1) Page 21
