by E. J. Krause
"Take them all," she said.
"What? No. We were sent here for Timothy and Sasha's disc. I feel bad enough about what we've done to that keeper, so I don't want to heap more trouble on."
An intense anger flared off her, like a volcano erupting. It wasn't directed at him or his decision, as she'd liked the keeper, too, but at the Dragon Council as a whole. Neither said anything, but they'd have to have that long, intense discussion as soon as they got back. He knew it before, but now it was inevitable.
He pushed it from his mind and reached out with magic. No answers popped out at him. Each one continued to look the same, even to his powers. Maybe if he focused on them individually, tried reading them, it would come. He gazed at the one closest to him and concentrated. He got that it was a circular disc of mystical powers that held untold riches of information but that was it. He already knew that, so he was no closer to figuring out which disc was which.
While he did that, Andi walked to each one, picked it up, and let her mind go blank. After the first couple, he stood and watched. Her anger had died down as concentration and determination flowed from her. On the seventh disc she picked up, she smiled and tossed it his way. "Magic doesn't solve everything, babe. Clear your mind and ask it who it belongs to."
He did, and there was no question this was Timothy and Sasha's disc. "Nice work," he said, and when they exited the chamber, the door slid shut behind them. They both apologized to the keeper, though he couldn't hear them. Rico had assured him he would be able to teleport back home since he knew where that was, so he took Andi in his arms and cast the spell to get them home.
*****
They materialized inside the training room, and went out into the living room. Ben set the disc down on the coffee table, next to his truck's keys that Felix had left, and texted Max that they were back. This had been the plan all along. Everyone exited Rico's realm and headed to Max and Nix's place to discuss what the next step would be, either with the recording disc, or without it. Felix didn't stay, but drove Ben's truck here, and then teleported back to the house in Newport Beach.
He looked over at Andi, who had a strange look in her eye. Confusion and lust wrestled to be the primary emotion inside of her. He shook his head to clear his mind. This would be the perfect time for their talk. Why such hate for the council? How can they all be corrupt except Timothy and Sasha? It was so clear the other way was more likely. He'd hear her out, but why was she convinced he'd been brainwashed when it would have been much easier for her to be since she was imprisoned?
Ben motioned for her to sit, but before he could get any words out, she pounced on him. He had trouble breathing for a few seconds as her mouth devoured his. He kissed back hard and tried to gain control of the situation, but she wouldn't let it go. Had she known the talk was coming and decided to distract him, or was this something else? As she continued her all-out assault, though, he decided he didn't care and went with it.
Andi gripped the neckline of his shirt and pulled, literally ripping it right off him. That was new. And unfortunate. He liked that shirt, and would have gladly pulled it over his head in the more conventional manner. He'd have pointed this out, but with her tongue so far in his mouth, there was no way he could bring it up. Instead, he decided turnabout was fair play and pulled her shirt over her head, which she gladly let him do. Once it was off, their mouths again met in a frantic kiss. He couldn't remember a time that surpassed the intensity of this, and even that went through the roof when she grabbed his belt and undid it. He suddenly couldn't get enough air, and had to pull away from her mouth to turn his attention to her neck while she started on the top button of his jeans. This was going to happen. It was actually going to happen.
She put her hand on his zipper, but gasped, stopped, and backed away a step. He looked her in the eyes and found fear, but also excitement. Her hunger for him pushed through everything. Their lips met again, and as they continued kissing as if they were trying to push together into one body, he rubbed her smooth back. Her fear was now gone, replaced by her intense desire for him. He had to imagine that's what she felt from him, too.
Then he did it, something the chastity spell would never have allowed – he knew because he tried once. If she let him do it now, there was no doubt this was really truly for real happening. He grabbed the back of her bra to unhook it, and pulled and twisted, but it didn't unclasp. Andi giggled into his mouth, but didn't move to help. He played with it for a few more seconds, and then…voila! They pulled apart, both having trouble breathing. He looked into her eyes, and they read, loud and clear, do it!
He raised his hands to her shoulders to pull the straps down and expose her to him for the first time. He took a deep breath, but as he reached up, she yelled, "No!" in a voice that wasn't hers, and pushed him away. Now she stared at him with eyes that weren't her own. Those eyes, that voice, they belonged to Sasha. They had to. The Dragon Guard wasn't actually inside of Andi, but some strong piece of her power was there. He also now knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Sasha had been the one to possess Melissa earlier today at school.
After a second or two, Andi returned to herself and blanched. She fastened her bra back on, and then fell into his arms and cried. Her lust for him was still strong, but she also had no clue what had happened, and it scared her. Scared her more, maybe, than he'd ever felt from her before. She cried into his bare chest and kept whispering, over and over, "I'm sorry."
He wasn't. She gave him a better answer about what was wrong than if they'd had the conversation he wanted. Sasha, and by proxy, Timothy, had brainwashed her at the Stronghold. That was one-hundred percent confirmed as far as he was concerned. The thing that worried him most about this, though, was that his magic couldn't sense it. Even now that he knew, he still couldn't find the evidence, same as before. It was something he and Felix, and maybe his group of friends on the council, could worry about after the disc was taken care of.
Andi composed herself and stepped away to retrieve her shirt. After she'd put it on, she gave him a quick kiss. "I'll be back in a minute," she said, and headed for the stairs.
He picked up his ripped shirt and threw it at her. "Bring me down a new one." She giggled, blushed hard enough for him to see from the middle of the living room, and hustled up the stairs.
The notification light blinked on his phone. Max. He opened up the text and read.
Chapter 24
Andi entered her room and closed the door. What was that all about? She wanted him. She wanted him so bad. So, again, what happened? It was like she'd been ejected from her body for an instant when she pushed him away. Maybe whatever was going on was her fault. She shook her head. It couldn't be, though, could it? She felt Ben's power swirling around her, and it would ferret out any source of evil or whatever. Right?
Well, she said Ben's power, but that wasn't true. It was her power, too. Their power. It was the reason he'd been destined to be her guard, same as she'd been destined to be the whatever to his magic-user. She took a deep breath. When was the last time she felt so unsure about herself? Ever? If only Mom were here. She always knew how to fix things like this.
Another deep breath. No, don't go down that path right now. Enough was messed up in her mind for the moment. She reached into one of Ben's drawers and pulled out a plain gray T. Yeah, he always looked extra hot in that one. She then opened her sock drawer, which was filled to the brim with both practical socks for everyday use, along with fun ones for special occasions, and burrowed her hand down to the bottom to pull the envelope out from under the shelf paper. The letter inside was from Timothy and Sasha. She reread the familiar script.
"The Dragon Council is corrupt. Only we can be trusted. Do not show this note to anyone, especially Benjamin. Hide it somewhere safe. Check back to this note every so often." And signed, "Timothy and Sasha." She had checked back, at least once a day, and today she was rewarded. Underneath, a P.S. appeared. "You two are now powerful enough to take on the Dragon Council. Crush them
as you see fit."
She smiled. Good. This purging of the corrupt council would free Ben from whatever mind control they'd placed on him. She replaced the note in the envelope, and the envelope under the shelf paper in her sock drawer. She headed out of her room to join her soon-to-be perfect again mate.
Once she was halfway down the stairs, the first thing she noticed was that triumph flashed off Ben. What was that about? Shouldn't he feel dejected, frustrated, and maybe a bit angry? What had his mind been like when she went upstairs? She couldn't remember. She'd been too caught up in her own thoughts.
As she reached him, he smiled and gathered her in his arms. After a quick kiss, which she wanted to make more, he said, "Max texted back. He wants us to bring the disc to the pier. We'll head to the Stronghold. It's the safest place."
"Sounds good." She did her best to keep her anger down at the thought of the corrupt council possessing Timothy and Sasha's disc, but did everything she could to not reveal it to Ben. She had the sinking suspicion he knew, but kept it to himself. He probably planned to bombard her with questions on the way to Newport Beach.
He surprised her during the drive. Instead of bringing up potential brain washings, he talked about goofy little things, like movies they'd missed while she was gone, television shows he had no interest in when they'd been on, but now wanted to revisit with her, and even a Damaged Crow concert he had wanted to see but couldn't bear the thought of going without her, even though Felix had offered to accompany him.
After that, she tuned him out and did her best to discreetly text Timothy and Sasha about the plans. It took her almost the whole way to the beach before she managed to fully construct and send the text while he talked. She didn't think he noticed, but couldn't quite tell. He acted like he had no idea. He did ask her once what she was doing, and she told him she was on Pintrest. He accepted that and kept babbling on about nothing.
After the text to Timothy and Sasha, she had to worry about how to overthrow the council. Not only that, but how to get Ben involved, too. He'd ultimately join her in the fight to rid the council of corruption, but that initial shock could throw him. He kept talking, and when she realized he was going on about old video games, she knew something was up, but she still couldn't place what. Maybe he knew Timothy and Sasha were on their way. Or maybe he'd set a trap for her. Would he do that? No, his emotions would give that away. Right?
As they pulled into Max and Nix's miniscule driveway in Newport Beach, Max walked out to meet them. "What's it look like?" he asked, meaning the disc, before even saying hi. Ben chuckled, while Andi forced out a smile. She had no clue if Max was also corrupt, but since he and Nix were working so close with the others, she had to assume the record keeper and his mate were. Ben handed him the disc through the window, and he and Andi climbed out of the truck.
"Amazing. To think whole lives are collected on this small thing, and they've been around for so long, even longer than any book I've ever seen."
Ben took back the disc. Andi should have anticipated that and stepped in to grab it. She needed it in her possession soon, but still had the luxury of patience. Timothy and Sasha would see that everything worked out. She received their return text that they'd be there shortly not long after she sent it.
On the walk to the pier, Ben regaled Max with the tale of their adventure. Having never been to the realm, having never even read about it, Max hung on every word. Andi might have found that cute if she wasn't both trying not to let Ben sense her hate for the council's record keeper, and attempting to position herself to gain possession of the disc. It wasn't until they were steps away from the edge of the pier, and Ben had finished up the story to the delight of Max, that Andi got her hand on the disc. She discreetly but firmly yanked it away from Ben, and while he didn't let on for Max to notice, his nerves shot out in a big, bad way. Before he could attempt to wrestle it back from her, they were at the spot, and Max teleported them to the Stronghold.
They arrived to find Angus, Ingrid, Gretchen, Reggie, Sarah, and Victor, along with Felix and Nix in the entry garden. All stood with triumphant smiles on their faces, though Felix's faltered a bit when he looked at them. Did he not like that she held the disc, or had Ben relayed some sort of message to him? Not that she could blame Ben. After all, he'd been brainwashed, so of course he was going to help them. She'd break him out of this soon enough, and he'd be his old self again.
"We're glad you two are safe," Sarah said. "Now, if you'd hand the disc over, Alexandria, we'll get to the bottom of this entire mess."
"Wouldn't you guys like to hear how we got it?" she asked.
Sarah stepped forward. "Of course we want to hear, but first let me have the disc." Ben, she noticed, also positioned himself to make a grab for it. Before she had to make a decision on what to do, Timothy and Sasha strode into the garden.
"Hand it to me, Alexandria," Timothy said.
"Don't do it, Andi," Ben whispered, but she moved to them right away and gave up the disc.
Dread poured off Ben, and she saw it on everyone else's face. Sasha smirked, while Timothy, his face neutral, held up the disc and said, "There could be a momentous amount of trouble for this, but since Sasha and I now hold it, we'll consider it no damage done. No one else need know. Is there any objection to that statement?"
"No," Angus said, and was then echoed by everyone else in the room except Felix and Ben. Sasha's smirk grew wider, which made Andi smile. The good guys had won, and they were gracious in victory. But then Timothy said something that made her remember why they weren't turning the traitors in.
"Did you read the addition to your note, Alexandria?"
"Yes."
"Good. This is the perfect time to start." He turned to Felix. "This doesn't concern you. I'd advise you to stand down and remain neutral."
"What's going on?" Gretchen asked, which was echoed by all the other dragons and guards.
It was time to act, and she needed Ben. The best way was to inform him via their headache voice that this was how it was going down. Of course it would hurt, but she didn't want to go dragon yet. That would happen in a few seconds. Until then, with all of the focus on Timothy and Sasha, maybe no one would even notice her and Ben.
As always, it felt like her brain was splitting apart, but Ben was in her head. She didn't waste any time. "I'm attacking the council members and their guards. If you don't help, I'll probably die, and who knows if you can resurrect us, despite what that master guy said. No dragon has ever come back before."
Though he was in the same agony as her, he didn't say anything. Instead, he managed to give her a nonchalant shrug and look that said, "Do what you gotta do."
She broke off the communication, ending the pain, but before she could do anything else, Ben yelled, "Felix, if you've ever respected me as a student and a person, you'll test my mastery of mortality right now."
That held her in check for a second while she tried to decipher what it meant. That was all the time Felix and Ben needed. Everyone turned as Felix, a grim look of determination on his face, blasted a bolt of magic into Ben's chest. Everything went dark.
Chapter 25
A gray fog swirled around Ben, one so thick he couldn't even see his feet. This was death; he knew that as well as he'd ever known anything. Strange how alive he felt, like nothing was wrong. Like he could jump up and take on anyone or anything in his path.
First he needed Andi. He sensed her, same as always, except now, for the first time since he rescued her from the Stronghold, she felt pure. From her emotions, she sensed him, too. She wasn't far, and as he moved towards her, she did the same. Seconds later, they were in each others' arms. Their lips met, and she felt as solid now as she did in life. He had figured it wouldn't, but was glad he now knew for certain death would do nothing to diminish their love.
The kiss lasted an instant, days, years, and forever. Time had no meaning here, so it could have been any or all of those. It meant no less, no more, here than back home. They broke apart
far too soon for his taste, but they knew they didn't belong here. This particular realm, this plane of existence, only served to hold them for the time being. Their spirits either needed to return to their mortal coil or move on to the next reality.
"Sorry about how I acted," Andi said. "Deep down I knew I was wrong, but I didn't know how to relay that to my conscious self. Every time I thought I could get it under control, it spiraled further and further away from me. I know Timothy and Sasha were behind it, but I don't know how."
"Don't worry about it. Whatever they did to you was a powerful whammy. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what. It wasn't even until earlier today, when we were…well, when we almost…you know. The magic slipped and showed it was Sasha."
She nodded. "Even I felt that, but it was wound so tight inside of me that I brushed it off. I feel stupid now."
He kissed the tip of her nose. "Don't. We're supposed to be the most powerful beings around, and we couldn't figure it out together. What chance did either of us have alone?"
"When I was in the Stronghold, they were nice to me, that much was true, but it was all an act. I see that now. When they first cast the spell on me, our powers swirled around and detected something, but they were pleased rather than angry, which was a huge warning sign. Of course, I couldn't act on it because they forced me to forget. There are some blanks I still can't see, but it all adds up to those two being the corrupt force on the Dragon Council."
"We can worry about them when we're alive again."
"Why did you have Felix kill you? Was that something you two worked out beforehand?"
"No, but I knew he'd figure it out. He taught me that death is the great cleanser. Whatever spell they have on you will be obliterated when you die. Now, when we wake up, you won't be under their control."
