by Trudi Jaye
I’m led to a room just down the hall. The door opens and another stranger in a suit stands there, looking at me expectantly. “I’ll take her from here, MacKenzie. Wait outside,” he says.
He stands back and waves me into the room. It has the same metal casing, but with a metal table and chairs in the middle. There’s also a door at the other end of the room with an efficient-looking computerized lock on it.
My father enters the room after me and shuts the door with a small but particular click of the lock. “I’ll take it from here, Agent Harkness.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll wait outside.” The agent nods at my father and walks to the locked door. Instead of opening it, he simply slides through it. I gape at him. There’s a metal worker in the SIG?
“Sit, please, Mei. You’re making me nervous with all your standing.”
I glare down at him and look pointedly at the handcuffs on my wrist. I’m not going to do anything he says until he stops treating me like a prisoner.
And if he was ever nervous, I’ll eat my hat. If I had a hat.
“I’m not allowed to take those off. Not until I’ve secured your cooperation.” He holds his hands out wide, as if there’s nothing he can do.
“You’re not going to secure anything from me if you don’t take these damn handcuffs off,” I say, glaring at him. After everything I’ve been through in the last few days, intimidation and lying from my father isn’t going to throw me.
He sighs and stands up, pulling a set of keys out of his pocket. “I’m going to get in trouble for this,” he says. There’s a small knowing half-smile on his face, and I want to slap it away. Who the hell does he think he is?
The handcuffs come off, and I rub my wrists, working the circulation back in. “Now tell me why you double-crossed us.”
“Sit, and I’ll explain it all.” He waves to the chair opposite. Then sighs when I remain standing. “There was no double-cross. Just a case of handling a couple of runaways who’d gotten themselves in over their heads.”
He walks around behind me and puts one hand on my shoulder. He leans in. “If you want to live through this, sit down and shut the hell up,” he mutters into my ear in a hard voice that’s nothing like the charming tone he’s been using.
I glance up at the camera above our heads, then sit.
My brain is whirring with possibilities. Perhaps this isn’t as simple as I thought. When he sits across from me, the jovial expression is back in place. It’s almost like I’m in a room with two people. The jovial man in front of me, and the hard-edged agent who told me to sit. I can’t keep up.
“Where’s Seth?”
“He’s being debriefed. He is technically a rogue agent.”
“It wasn’t his fault. He was told to protect me; that was all he was trying to do.”
“Despite orders to the contrary from his supervisor?”
“He had reason to believe his supervisor tipped off the Earthbound to our whereabouts.”
“Tell me more about his accusations.”
“Tell me what this is about,” I counter. I’m not going to get Seth in trouble.
“All in good time. First I want you to tell me what happened after you left the hideout.”
“You mean after we were attacked by the Earthbound and Jeff and Si were brutally murdered?” I ask.
“Yes. After that.” His expression doesn’t change. I’m beginning to see why my father is such a good agent. He’s holding himself so tightly behind his mask, it’s impossible to know what he’s thinking or feeling underneath the charming exterior he presents to the world.
“We drove to a small town I know. Seth was shot, and I needed someone to heal him. Then we were captured by the Earthbound. They took us to their secret lair. Which by the way is not so secret now, because I can tell you exactly where it is.”
“Please do. We’re always keen for more information on our allies.”
“Ah, yes, your allies. I forgot that you’re on their side.” I give him my best snide look.
It bounces off him without even leaving a dent. “We have a long-standing agreement with the Earthbound.”
“Then why have they been trying to kill me since I was a child?”
“They haven’t been very successful at it, you must admit.”
I pause. “It actually turns out they only wanted to capture me for the last few years.”
He raises his eyebrows and nods. “That fits, I suppose. What happened then?”
“They held us prisoner, and the Earthbound leader Vincent informed me I was a dragon.” I watch my father’s face closely. A tiny twitch appears at the corner of his eye, but nothing else. “I told him he was insane, that of course I wasn’t a dragon. He then tried to kill me to prove his point.” I take a couple of breaths and glance around the metal room. It reminds me of the furnace, and I have to pull my hands off the table and clasp them together in my lap to keep my father from seeing how much they’re trembling.
“But he obviously didn’t succeed.”
“No.” I don’t elaborate. “After almost dying at the hands of a lunatic, his son Amos to helped me escape. Seth, Amos, and I went on a small road trip. Then Amos had a change of heart and tried to return me to his father. Seth and I escaped again and here we are.” I spread my arms wide to indicate my current position and glare at my father.
“How did you shoot down the helicopter?”
I shrug. “It was hit by lightning. They shouldn’t have been out in a storm.”
“What happened in the national park?” he asks.
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“The massive wave that destroyed the camping grounds.”
I bite my lip. “I don’t know. A freak of nature?” I have no logical explanation for that wave. But do I have to explain it? Just because I was there, doesn’t mean it was my fault.
I finger the small blue bottle tied around my neck and consider telling him about the pawnshop and all the dangerous goodies out the back. That I’m thinking I might actually be a dragon, after all.
But I can’t. I won’t. I’m still too mad at him to offer him anything.
“I know that’s not what happened, Mei.” He sounds tired. I always thought of him as this renegade agent, who travelled the world and could spin a situation on a dime. Turns out that was just a dream, an illusion I created to make myself feel better about him neglecting me.
“Then what’s the truth? Tell me what this is all about.” I lean forward across the table and place both my hands palm down on the metal surface. I stare directly into his eyes, pushing through his mask, to the real man behind. “Tell me why I’m here.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
His face pales, but that’s the only indication that my words have affected him. I lean back in my chair with a huff of breath and wait. My gaze doesn’t leave his face however, and he starts squirming. I don’t know how I know, because his bland expression is still in place, but I do.
Will he tell me I’m a dragon? Or that I’m not a dragon? I don’t even care which it is at this point. I just want to move on with my life in one direction or another.
He clears his throat and taps one finger against the table and then stops. The silence feels enormous, like it could never be filled even if one of us speaks.
But I wait. Jeff has been training me since I was eight years old. He was the master of the uncomfortable moment, the awkward silence. It’s almost like breathing to me.
My father breaks first, although it’s not so much breaking as giving in to the inevitable. “There are two of you. Two babies born on the same day. One of you is a dragon, and one of you is not.”
“So the story Vincent told me is true? About a dragon child?”
He shakes his head. “I doubt it. The Earthbound have their own version of these stories, and they often don’t match the truth.” He pauses, staring at me through narrowed eyes, as if trying to see inside me. I hold my breath.
Eventually he speaks again. “I was in Chi
na on assignment for the SIG. We were trying to confirm rumors that the dragon race hadn’t died out as we had previously believed. There had been sightings and it turned out it was true. An earthquake in the region had woken an ancient dragon from her hibernation. While I was in the region, I met and fell in love with a beautiful woman. I didn’t know she was the dragon Xinglong, who I was there to find, until it was too late.”
“So you turned on her and killed her?” I can’t keep the bitterness from my voice.
“Of course not. I tried to protect her. I helped her hide in a village far from where she’d been sighted. We were married, and she gave birth to our child, a tiny, beautiful baby girl. But in the end, her enemies were too powerful.” He stops and swallows hard. “While I was away from home, just days after the baby was born, the Earthbound found and attacked the house we were living in. They eventually destroyed it, killing everyone inside, including my beloved Xinglong.” He pauses and I see a crack in his mask. He’s telling the truth.
Taking a deep, raw breath, my father continues. “I returned too late to save her, but while I was searching the rubble, I heard the sound of crying. I found two tiny babies hidden inside a metal box deep in the basement. One belonged to Xinglong’s wet nurse, and the other child was my daughter.”
“Why did you take both babies?”
“The wet nurse died with my wife. There was no one else to look after the second baby. But also, they were both so little. I could not tell...” He lets the sentence dangle and looks up at me with a hopeless expression in his eyes.
I feel my jaw drop. “You couldn’t tell which was which?”
“The wet nurse had wrapped both of you in matching swaddles, and you were both so young. The same brown eyes, the same dark downy hair, and even the same rounded heads. I couldn’t tell which one was my own damn daughter.” His voice is rough.
“So you brought both of us back to the US?”
He nods.
“Which one am I?” Surely they know now? Except... Why tell me this whole story if he knew?
He clears his throat. “We’ve never been able to tell. Tests were done when you were babies. We could tell you were both supernatural, and both had an affinity for water, but nothing further. It was determined at the time that the only way to know for sure was to wait until you both turned twenty.”
“And now? Do you know now?”
He shifts uncomfortably on his seat. His mask is breaking up, but I don’t know if he’s doing it on purpose to make me think I’m winning somehow. As if this is going to end well for me, whatever he says. “We’ve had an idea for a long time. The other girl... Liling. She’s much bigger and stronger than you. More fiery.”
I blink, trying to take in what he’s saying. He thinks the other woman is probably the dragon. I let out a breath, so small it’s almost a sigh.
I’m not a dragon.
“Where is she? Was she raised like me?”
He nods. “She had protectors and SIG agents like you. But her cover was never broken like yours and she had a much more sheltered upbringing.”
I hesitate. “Does that mean... You’re not my father?”
He shakes his head, looking sad for the first time. “I’m sorry. I don’t know who your father is. All I know is that your mother died alongside Xinglong.”
I nod and bow my head. I’ve never had a mother, but I always thought I had a father, no matter how reluctant he might have been. Now I’ve lost even that much. I clench my hands in my lap. It doesn’t matter anyway. This man never acted like a real father. It was Jeff and Si who raised me, who taught me what I needed to know to survive. I shouldn’t be sad to find out that SIG Agent Damien Walker isn’t my father. He never really was.
I straighten my shoulders and look back up at him. Waiting.
He takes a breath and glances at the camera above our heads. It’s a tiny glance, but I catch it.
I’m not sure, but I think he’s trying to tell me something. It’s just a pity that I don’t know what the hell it is. “What are you going to do with me, now you have me here?”
“Once we have confirmed that Liling is the dragon, we need to determine what kind of supernatural you are, and the level of threat you pose to the security and safety of the world. If you’re not a high risk, you will be recruited to the SIG.”
“And if I’m dangerous? Or I don’t want to work for the SIG?”
“Then you will be... disposed of.” He says the words like he’s talking about putting the rubbish out at the curb. I guess that is what he’s talking about.
Again, I try to find some emotion on his face but the mask is firmly back in place. “So if I don’t agree to be recruited, you’re going to kill me?” I can’t believe what I’m hearing. What happened to liberty and democracy for all?
“Jeff never told me you were such a drama queen,” he says softly, his hard eyes boring into mine.
I open and close my mouth like a fish. It’s the first time he’s admitted to any knowledge of my life with Jeff and Si. For a second, all I can see is their familiar faces. “Don’t you dare talk to me about Jeff.”
He shrugs. “Jeff kept me informed. I can see now that he was glossing over a few personality issues.”
For a second, I don’t know how to deal with it. But then I hear Jeff’s voice in my head. He’s just trying to mess with you. Don’t let him get into your head. You’re stronger than that.
And then I’m fine. I let out my breath slowly and look up into Damien Walker’s eyes. Holding my hands loosely together in front of me on the table, I smile and say “Thank you for your interest, but I won’t be joining the SIG.”
He leans back in his chair and smiles back at me. This time with genuine amusement. “Didn’t we just establish that you have no choice?”
“I was just letting you know my stance, so you know what to do with me later on. In fact, perhaps you should just get it over with right now?” I glance meaningfully at the gun in the holster under his jacket.
“Don’t be too hasty. We have time to discuss a few things. Like who you are, for example.”
“And who am I?” I lean back, trying to act casual. My heart is beating a mile a minute. If I’m not a dragon, then I’m not sure it matters.
He leans toward me, his hands clasped together on the table—a mirror of my previous posture. “You are anything you want to be,” he says softly, his eyes intent on my face. For the first time, I feel like I’m seeing the real him.
“What if I want to be a hula dancer in the circus?” I whisper back. I can feel tears welling in my eyes, and I blink them back.
“It would be a great waste, given your unique talents.”
I let out a frustrated breath. “And just what unique talents are those?”
He doesn’t even blink at my outburst, just looks at me. There is a long silence. I cross my arms, but don’t say anything. I suffer through his uncomfortable silence.
“Jeff taught you well. As did Si. You would be a huge asset to the SIG.”
“I don’t want to be an asset to the organization that got them both killed.”
“That’s not quite true.”
“What do you mean? Seth had a tracking spell inserted inside him. It could only have come from someone inside the SIG. I know it’s true, I saw it.”
“There’s someone I want you to see.” He nods to the camera, and the locked door opens again. A man literally falls through the doorway, as if someone has just pushed him. He’s tall, with straight dark hair, warm skin, and almond-shaped eyes. He picks himself up off the floor. He glares behind him at whoever pushed him through the door, but when he turns to face the room and sees me, he freezes.
The blood drains from my body.
Si.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
I stand up slowly. “I saw them shoot you,” I whisper. “I thought you were dead.”
He nods. “Yes. But I don’t have lizard skin for nothing, Mei. You know that.”
I run over to him,
throwing my arms around his shoulders. Sobbing all over his shirt, I can’t control my reaction. He’s back from the dead. Si puts his arms up and holds me close, giving me the comfort I need.
I pull back for a moment. “Jeff?” I ask. A small tendril of hope crawls out of my stomach.
He shakes his head sadly. “I’m sorry, little one. I could not save him.”
I crush my face against his shoulder again and squeeze my eyes shut.
“I hate to interrupt this touching scene, but you’re here for a reason, Protector.” My father’s voice is hard.
Si pulls back a little and holds onto my arms. He looks down into my eyes. “If I’m here, it’s because you’re not cooperating,” he says quietly.
Shaking my head, I try to lean back against him. He resists, holding me at a distance.
“You must do what they say, Mei. It’s a matter of life and death. There are nasty people out there in the world, and you can’t afford to be without allies. The SIG are powerful allies.”
“So I should join the morons who gave away our position to the Earthbound? Who got Jeff killed?”
“It’s not possible to be perfect in this life, Mei.”
“I don’t want to work for them,” I whisper. I don’t think I have what it takes to be part of an organization like the SIG. They’d want me to follow too many rules, be a certain kind of person. “I’m not a dragon. They don’t need me.”
“So I hear.” He glances at Agent Walker. “However, you will be safer if you are part of the beast, than if you are outside of it.”
“Do you really think it’s the right thing to do?” I ask. Perhaps I shouldn’t be so stubborn. I wipe the tears from my face with one hand and try to think clearly.
“Yes. Absolutely,” Si confirms. “It’s what Jeff would have told you to do.”
Frowning, I peer up at Si. Jeff always said he wished he’d never joined the SIG. It was the last thing he’d want me to do. Si grasps my hands and covertly pushes a folded-up piece of paper into my palm. I try to act casual and pretend nothing is happening.
