Stolen Soul

by Alex Rivers

  And then Kane shifted, moving aside slightly. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the circle, hugging me close to him. I could smell the scent of clove and pine. Kane’s scent. Above me, his voice rose to a crescendo that vibrated through me.

  Would the spell work? It had to work. In a minute, we would be safe and sound, in the conference room of HHT.

  Beyond Kane’s body, the void widened, and in it, the silhouette of the dragon’s head began to materialize. Its jaw opened, emitting an ear-shattering roar. Harutaka yelled something, but it was impossible to hear, and Kane’s voice shouted strange ancient words above the din as his arms pulled me to him, one around my waist, the other on the back of my neck, pressing my head to his chest.

  A sharp glimmer, like lightning, and then, suddenly, darkness. We were out of the vault.

  My shuddering breath of relief caught in my throat. We weren’t in a conference room at all. We were surrounded by looming, dark shapes.

  The shapes of plants.

  Chapter Thirty

  For a few seconds I just stood frozen, petrified. Kane still held me tightly, protectively. His heartbeat was much louder now, with my ear to his chest. A fast, deep drumming sound.

  Then I pulled away. “Where are we?”

  “I don’t know,” Kane said. “Something went wrong. The dragon sensed the spell, he tried to pull us down. I took us as far as I could, but—”

  “I have eyes on you!” Harutaka shouted, and I winced in pain. “You’re in the damn greenhouse on the top of the mansion!”

  A sudden loud, sharp noise screamed around us, the wail of a siren going off.

  “Sinead, we need you to pick us up,” I said, praying she was still on the chat.

  “Turning the car around!” Her voice crackled above the sound of the car engine screaming. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  “Make it five, or we’re dead.”

  “Get the hell out of there, guys,” Harutaka said.

  The night was flooded with lights as spotlights were suddenly lit. Enormous beams of light moved, searching. Somewhere in the distance, I heard men shouting. Below us, the dragon roared again. The cacophony in my ears was hard to bear.

  We ran out of the greenhouse, the cold night wind momentarily taking my breath away. It was difficult to spot the roof’s edge in the dark, and I had to crouch as I ran, my hands before me, my eyes straining to see. I reached the edge of the roof and spotted our rope, dangling down the wall, where Sinead and Isabel had left it after climbing down.

  “Not there,” Harutaka said. “That way is full of guards. And you’ll never get out the front gate.”

  I looked around us. The roof spread in every direction, a mess of pipes, wires, and antennas. “Which way, then?”

  “You have to go to the rear of the house. If you climb the wall there, you’ll drop not far from Newton Street. Go to the western wall. There’s a drainpipe alongside the wall. Only one guard is currently there.”

  I knelt by the rope. It was taut and quivering violently. Someone was climbing it. Leaning over the edge, I could spot the burly shape of a man, pulling himself up clumsily. I tried to untie the rope, but the weight of the man climbing it made it impossible. I unfurled my hand, and it burst into flames. I gripped the rope and it caught fire immediately, breaking, snapping and peeling my skin as it slid across my palm. It flew over the edge of the roof, its tip still burning. I heard shouting from the men below, and a loud crashing noise as whoever had climbed the rope fell to the ground.

  “I have eyes on four men running up your way inside the mansion. They’ll be on the roof in a few seconds,” Harutaka said. “Get to the drainpipe, now!”

  I ran, Kane by my side, jumping over a small chimney, and again over a discarded bucket, then whipping my head down to avoid a stretched wire.

  “I’m about to kill the lights in the entire mansion,” Harutaka said. “It’ll buy you a few seconds until they figure out what’s going on. But after that, they’ll reset the system, and I’ll be kicked out.”

  “Don’t do it yet,” I said, my voice shuddery as I leaped over a small platform. “I want your eyes. Sinead, what about the car?”

  “I’m almost at Newton Street, but it’s a long street,” Sinead said. “Where should I go?”

  “Stop fifty yards after the turn to Doublet Hill Road,” Harutaka answered. “I’ll guide Lou and Kane there.”

  “On it,” Sinead answered.

  We reached the edge of the roof, and I peered over. A long stretch of dark lawn stood between the mansion and the western wall; I estimated it to be about twenty or thirty yards. Behind the walls, I saw the shadowy outlines of the trees that surrounded the mansion. Newton Street was just beyond the trees, but I couldn’t see it in the dark. Looking down, I spotted the drainpipe Harutaka had mentioned, running along the wall.

  “The guards are in the greenhouse. I’m killing the lights,” Harutaka said. “Lou, your hand!”

  Damn! It was still burning. If Harutaka killed the lights now, I would be the only thing visible on the roof. Silhouettes of men moved urgently inside the greenhouse. I clenched my fist, breathing deeply, thinking of Tammi’s chiming laughter. The fire died.

  “Do it!” I barked.

  Almost instantly, we were drowned in darkness. I heard multiple shouts as men scrambled to figure out what was going on.

  I grabbed Kane’s arm. “The pipe is here,” I said in a low voice. “Go.”

  “You first.”

  “Don’t go gallant on me, you idiot. If you fall, I don’t want you taking me with you.”

  He hesitated, then crouched, following my guidance. He grabbed the drainpipe and began sliding down.

  I heard the greenhouse door opening, the guards pouring onto the roof, shouting blindly, searching for us. I counted seconds, giving Kane time to reach the ground. One… two… three.

  Then I vaulted over the wall and slid down.

  It turned out I had overestimated Kane’s ability to go down quickly. I hit his body as he was climbing down, about one floor aboveground. He tumbled down with a shout, and I jumped after him, landing on the soft grass.

  “Are you okay?” I asked in a low voice.

  “I think so,” he groaned.

  “Sinead, how are we doing with the getaway car?”

  “On my way!” she shouted, the engine of the car roaring in the background. “Just one minute!”

  “I doubt we have that long,” Harutaka said. “A guard is on his way to the server room. He’ll reset the system.”

  I helped Kane stand up. “Come on.”

  We ran to the wall, Kane limping.

  “They just reset the system,” Harutaka informed us. “I don’t have eyes on you anymore. The lights will probably turn on in about… twenty seconds. And the security cameras.”

  A car screeched somewhere beyond the wall.

  “Give me a lift,” I said to Kane.

  He hesitated for a moment, then interlaced his fingers to create a human ladder. I put my leg in it, and he gave me a boost up. I scrambled, my fingers feeling the edge of the wall, then pulled myself up. I vaulted over the iron poles at the top, landing on the other side, in the midst of bushes and trees. I could spot the dark shape of the road through the thick foliage.

  I bolted to it, stumbling over a gnarled root, crashing into a tree trunk, careening to the road. The car was about dozen yards away, its lights bright. I waved at it, and its tires screeched as it drove over to me. Sinead and Isabel leaped out of the car.

  “Rope!” I shouted.

  Sinead popped the trunk, took out a coil of rope, threw it over to me. I ran back through the trees, breathing heavily. Heaving, I slung the rope over the wall, and it tightened as Kane gripped it and began climbing.

  Lights flooded the mansion again. Sinead and Isabel were by my side, helping me pull the rope. Kane’s face appeared over the wall, and he struggled to climb up. From behind, I heard people shouting.

  He leaped over the wall, a
nd his shirt snagged one of the iron spikes. There was a loud tearing sound, and he collapsed to the ground. Isabel and I grabbed him, hauling him to the car. Sinead held the door as Isabel and Kane crawled inside, then she slammed it behind them.

  I opened the front passenger door just as Sinead slid behind the steering wheel.

  “Buckle up!” she barked at me, and slammed her foot on the gas pedal.

  With a lurch, our car hurtled into the night.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  For a while, none of us said anything. My heart hammered, my hearing still too sharp for comfort. The roads of Boston were mostly empty, traffic low this time of night. Twice, police cars with screaming sirens shot past us, probably on their way to the mansion of Ddraig Goch. Had the dragon found his unconscious security chief yet? Had they located the remnants of the burnt rope, tied on the roof? Had they checked the security feed from the evening, looking for us, only to find it had been deleted in its entirety?

  I kept going over the evening in my mind. Did we leave anything behind that would lead them to us? No fingerprints, no security feed, no names. Despite the evening’s mishaps, we’d handled ourselves well.

  We had broken into a dragon’s vault, stolen the contents of his safe, and gotten away with it.

  I let out a small giggle, the sudden feeling of euphoria blooming in me. Then the giggle morphed into a rolling wave of laughter. Sinead joined me, and we both laughed helplessly, tears clouding my eyes. Just as I was about to calm down, I glanced into the rearview mirror and saw Kane’s face as he gaped at us, aghast, which made me collapse into a new fit of laughter.

  “Stop,” Sinead begged amid bursts of laughter. “I’m going to pee myself.”

  “I also have to pee,” Isabel said. “I drank a whole thermos of tea.”

  This made us start laughing all over again.

  Sinead slowed down as we approached a gas station.

  “What are you doing?” Kane asked, incredulous.

  “We all need to pee,” I said. “And some celebratory ice cream couldn’t hurt.”

  “We have a dragon, a vampire, and the police looking for us,” he pointed out. “And we have the dragon scales in the car, which are very incriminating—”

  “We. Need. To. Pee,” I explained again. “We’ll only be a second.”

  If he argued, the sound of it was muffled as we slammed the car doors. Sinead and Isabel went to the bathroom while I stayed outside, breathing in the smell of gasoline while watching the car, just to make sure Kane didn’t decide he was better off running with the loot. When they came back, Sinead went inside the all-night store to get us some ice cream while I went to the bathroom. The tiny space stank, but I found a reasonably clean stall and peed for what felt like a blissful eternity.

  When I came out, Sinead and Isabel were already back in the car. I quickly got in, smiling at Sinead.

  “What did you get?” I asked.

  “One container of chocolate chip cookie dough, and one peanut butter and fudge.”

  “I love you, Sinead.”

  “I love you too, sweetie.” She started the car, and steered it back into the sparse night traffic. I turned on the radio, and Katy Perry’s “Chained to the Rhythm” filled the silence. I raised the volume a notch and leaned back, shutting my eyes.

  Something rumbled, followed by a patch of static, the radio hissing loudly. I tensed, could almost feel the predatory eyes from above.

  “What was that?” Sinead asked.

  Katy Perry was singing again, and I wanted to say it was a small earthquake, or distant thunder, but I knew better.

  “The dragon,” I said. “It’s hunting for us.”

  Another rumble, a roar. Did I imagine it, or did the light outside dim as the dragon’s body blocked the moonlight?

  “Can it sense us?” Sinead asked. “Can it feel its scales?”

  “I think we’re about to find out,” Kane said.

  I could almost feel the oppressive weight of the dragon’s searching gaze. I imagined him above us, watching the tiny car, so easy to incinerate with one breath. Or he could swoop down, pluck us up, fly with the car in its clutches back to his lair, where he would take us apart, limb by limb. Fear thrummed through my chest, and wisps of smoke floated from my palms. I tried to breathe deeply, to calm down, clenching my fists as if that would stop the fires from erupting.

  What did the regular citizens of Boston make of it? Did they think it was some sort of plane, flying low above the city? Were people pointing at the sky, at a dark shape far above them, thinking it was some sort of bird? Did some of them suddenly realize there were monsters in the night, that the world was a much darker place than they had originally thought?

  And then came another roar, much farther off. The dragon was flying away. He could not sense us, could not find us. I let a victorious smile materialize again. We’ve done it.

  Harutaka reached the meeting room of the Hippopotamus Hunting Trips office a few minutes before us. When I walked inside, a huge smile broke across his face. It mirrored my own smile, and I approached him, thinking of shaking his hand, or maybe slapping him on the shoulder. Then Sinead whisked past me and caught Harutaka in a long, squeezing hug.

  “You wonderful, magical man,” she said, grinning at him. “You were amazing.”

  He gave her an embarrassed smile, and then glanced at the shopping bag in her hands. “Is this it?” he asked, his voice full of awe.

  “Yes, Harutaka,” she whispered. “The dragon’s safe had so much more than you’d ever believe.” She lay the bag on the table, and opened it to display the contents. “Not one, but two ice cream containers. One is peanut butter and fudge.”

  Harutaka blinked, and I let out a snort of laughter. Kane strode forward, shaking his head in amusement, and drew the leather pouch from his coat pocket. “I have the dragon scales right here.”

  He opened the pouch and poured its contents on the table. We all strained forward, looking at the small pile in awe.

  “They’re beautiful,” I said softly.

  On the smooth wooden table lay five scales. They seemed to be mostly blue, though they caught the light strangely, the color at the edges seeming to move and change constantly. Green, yellow, orange, red. Tear-shaped, each the approximate size of my palm. They glimmered hauntingly, emanating their own ghostly light.

  Harutaka picked one up between thumb and forefinger, and raised it to the light. The scale’s light reflected in his eyes, giving them an eerie color.

  “What about the box?” Isabel suddenly asked. “Do you have it?”

  “Yeah,” I said, and pulled it from my pocket. I hesitated for a moment, then lay it on the table. I turned the key in the lock, and lifted the lid gently. Inside was a white crystal sitting atop a black velvet material. A thin golden chain was latched to it, a necklace, the crystal its pendant. I slid a finger under the necklace and lifted it, plucking the crystal pendant from its velvety home. A strange orange glow seemed to pulse inside the crystal, but I couldn’t decide if it was really inside it, or simply a reflection of the ceiling light.

  “Is this the Yliaster crystal?” Kane asked. “Is there a soul inside?” His voice was intense, almost eager.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “As far as I know, the Yliaster crystal is a myth. I’ve never even seen a picture or drawing of one.”

  The crystal mesmerized me. I watched it, slowly convincing myself that the light really was within. A warm, pulsing, orange light. I had an urge to clasp the crystal, to touch it to my chest.

  Instead I lowered it back to the box, closing the lid and locking it shut. This was Breadknife’s part of the loot.

  “It’s ice cream time,” Sinead declared. She opened both containers and retrieved a dozen plastic spoons from the shopping bag, which she scattered on the table. I picked up one, and dug into the peanut butter and fudge container. The world is flawed and full of pain, and the only perfect thing in it is peanut butter and fudge ice cream. I put it in
my mouth and closed my eyes, inhaling through my nose, becoming one with the euphoria in my mouth.

  After a few minutes of eating, Sinead left the room, and returned with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a stack of plastic cups. She poured half a cup for each of us and toasted to Ddraig Goch.

  Ice cream and whiskey blend well.

  It’s a special kind of feeling, to come out victorious with a good team. It brings you closer, cements a special kind of connection that’s hard to explain to outsiders. That night, as we sat and drank and ate ice cream, a pile of treasure on the table, my heart filled to the brim. Too often in my life I felt as if I were alone, but now I was part of a unique, wonderful group, and I had to blink away the tears of gratitude that materialized in my eyes.

  At some point, when the ice cream was gone, Sinead put on music and, to my amazement, Harutaka jumped atop the table and began to dance. It was a clumsy sort of dancing, full of twisting limbs and ridiculous hops. Sinead, not one to be beaten at partying, joined him on the table and tried to teach him some basic salsa moves, to no apparent success. I just watched them, smiling, feeling content and calm and full of warmth.

  Then a chilly breeze brushed my cheek. I glanced aside and saw Kane standing by the window, a cigarette in his hand. He had cranked the window slightly open, letting in the cold night air. He gazed outside, his body still. He took a drag on his cigarette, its tip glowing against the dark cityscape, and breathed a plume of smoke out the window.

  “Scrumptious, isn’t it?” Sinead whispered in my ear. She was kneeling on the table, her lips by my ear.

  “What?”

  “His ass. You were staring at it for the past minute.”

  “I was not!” Blood rushed to my face.