Tears burned in my eyes and I wiped them away quickly as Mason nudged my arm in for comfort.
“Was that them?” he asked for me.
Edgar sighed and bowed his head. “I’m afraid there is a reason for your mother’s condition these past years. And your father… let’s just say I need you both to swear to me you will not say anything of your father, to anyone.”
“Who is he?” I asked again, but he was shaking his head.
“It’s too dangerous to tell you that, but,” he said, holding up his hand when we both started to protest, “I will tell you what happened to Mahlia.”
I guessed it was an even trade, but one way or another, I’d figure out who our dad was. “So, what I saw, it actually happened then?” I asked. “She made him leave us? Why? What could’ve been that bad?”
Edgar gripped the head of his cane hard in a white-knuckled grip as he turned his back on us and stared out over the small pond nearby. “Your mother was the most powerful witch I’d ever seen,” he whispered. “Such promise and grace. She was beyond incredible, even for a Descendant.”
Mason moved closer to me, and I put my arm around his shoulders as Edgar went on.
“She had not been a drunk before… but it was the only way she could cope with her world crashing down around her. For so long, she tried to keep it together, but the pain was too much.”
“Edgar please,” I said, and he turned back around to face us. There was so much sorrow in his eyes, it made my own chest ache.
“Your mother was a bright, intelligent, skilled witch on her way to great things. She would’ve been a great force to be reckoned with against our enemies; sadly, they thought the same and decided they would not risk her getting to a point of power within our society.” Edgar’s eyes started to water. “Shadowguard Dragons kidnapped her. It was when you kids were really young. The Council sent Hunters after her, trying to find her, but the time they reached her… by the time they found her, it was too late.”
“What do you mean?” Mason asked, his voice watery.
“We honestly figured we’d find her dead; she’s a Descendant, and the Shadowguards are particularly vengeful toward us. But when the Hunters found her, she was out of their grasp, but something much worse happened to her.” He licked his lips nervously, and his hands shook as he held himself up by his cane. “They had summoned a demon using black magic, blood magic we thought long gone. Her magic, everything that made her who she was… it was stolen away from her. She was mortal.”
I shook my head, horrified to hear that. I might’ve only known I was a witch for a few weeks, but now it was such a huge part of what I was, of who I was. To have that stolen away… it’d be hard for me, but for Mom, it must’ve been tragic, like ripping out part of her soul.
“For a witch, particularly one as powerful as your mother, to lose her magic… it’s haunting,” Edgar went on, wiping at his eyes. “I’ve heard it described as an emptiness. Like a part of you is just missing. Broken. Your mother dealt with her depression poorly, I know. The alcohol… it filled a void. She tried. She has tried so hard to deal with it. But, eventually… she just gave up. Recently, I thought she finally had started to manage the problem. Well, you heard me tell the people at the police station what happened. One little thing sent her right over the edge again. Right now, I don’t even know where she is. I just have to wait until she decides to contact me again.”
Now, I felt like crap. Mom’s alcoholism was a lot more complicated than I had originally thought. “I didn’t know.”
“It doesn’t excuse the way she’s treated you kids,” Edgar said. “But, she’s not a bad person. She loves you two more than anything. But, what those damn… what those Shadowguard monsters did to her… it’s not something a person gets over easily.”
“And our dad?” Mason asked. “Can’t you tell us anything about him? Or how Mom escaped?”
Edgar walked over to us and sighed. “Know that he too was a great man who risked everything he was for your mother, and for you both… but things happened, and he had to flee, or he would’ve been killed.”
I flinched at those words. “Why? What did he do?”
“I’m afraid I cannot tell you any more than that. I’ve probably said too much already.” He sat down beside us on the bench, nodding slowly. “He would’ve been good for Mahlia, helped her get through the madness that became her life, but she loved him too much to risk it. She sent him away.”
“And do you know where he is?” It was a long shot, but if there was a chance he was still out there somewhere, maybe I could find him.
“No, and I hate to admit I’m not even certain he’s still alive.”
The three of us sat in silence for a long while, letting the afternoon breeze fill the empty space with the soft rustling of leaves around us.
“I miss her,” I finally said after a long while. “I just wish… I wish she’d told us the truth, about everything.” My mind went back to Jared. When he had apologized about my mom out in the hall; he had not been talking about her drinking. He had probably been talking about her losing her magic. That’s probably what everyone knew, the rumors that went around about how she went off the deep end. They pitied me for the life I had.
If only I knew more about my dad, then maybe I could find a way to help Mom. If she ever came back to us.
“When she is ready, you’ll see her again,” Edgar assured us. “I have faith in her, even when she lacks it in herself. All I want you two to focus on is your schooling, nothing more.”
“Right, because it’s been oh-soeasy thus far,” I teased, happy to change the subject, for now at least.
One of these days, I’d sit down with Edgar alone and see what else I could get out of him.
“So, Elsa tells me you have a job on campus?” Edgar asked. “Many students find a way to help out.”
“Yeah, actually,” I said. “I work in the library now.”
“Very good. I hope that’s not interfering with your school work?”
“No, if anything, being in the library after class makes me study more. Actually, I read something interesting last time I was working I wanted to ask you about.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, it was a book called Spells for Descendants. It said there were certain classifications of spells that only Descendants could do. There was this thing called hidden genetics, and it was way too science-y for me to understand. Science isn’t really my best subject.”
He grinned. “Well, hidden genetics is basically talking about recessive genes that all organisms carry. The hidden genetics spell is a powerful spell that only Descendants can do. Let’s say you have a Hollow Well Dragon. A rare genetic trait for them is fire-breathing, though all of them carry the genetic marker for it. A hidden genetics spell would take that recessive gene and make it dominant, giving the Hollow Well the ability to breathe fire.”
“Wow, I can do that?” Maybe that book would be more useful than I thought.
“Sweetheart, I can’t even do that,” he said with a wink. “I’m a Descendant much like you. Those spells are very complicated.” His gaze took on a faraway look again, and he sighed. “Your mother, she could. She was one of the most powerful witches I have ever seen. One of the few who could’ve cast nearly every spell in that book without breaking a sweat.”
And she just had to up and leave right when things were getting interesting. I closed my eyes and imagined Mom being here, teaching me how to use spells, showing me her magic. Talking to me about what she went through. Though she couldn’t use magic anymore, there was so much she still could’ve done for me, and for Mason.
We wound up sitting around talking a lot longer than I expected on that bench after Edgar finally lowered the spell, so others could hear us again if they passed by.
Much to my surprise, I was actually enjoying spending time with Edgar. He had stories about Mom that were pleasant—not crazy binge-drinking stories the neighbors back in Jersey would like to tell me. N
o, honest stories about her before she hit rock bottom. It was nice being reminded that Mom had been Descendant once. But, not only that, he had fun stories of Mom being this amazing sorceress as a prestigious Descendant of the First Communion. It was all really exciting to hear about now that it was all out in the open.
Once the sun started to sink lower into the sky and Edgar was running low on steam from looking back on the good old times, we headed out. His intentions were to drive us both back to our prospective schools, but that’s when I saw him.
We were at the edge of the park, and it was only for a moment, but those blue eyes I’d know anywhere.
He’d been watching me, again.
I wanted to chase after him, but wasn’t about to explain to Edgar or Mason why I suddenly took off after some guy who saved my butt back in Jersey. I searched for him until we were finally back at the car, but never spotted him again.
Slade.
One of these days, I was going to figure who the hell he was. And why he seemed intent on following me around.
I figured I should’ve been more upset than I was, having some stranger following me around. But in reality, ever since that night he stopped me from being run over by a car, I’d started picturing him as some weird guardian angel.
A very sad guardian angel.
I barely said anything the entire drive back to campus, too occupied by those blue eyes that held so much pain and anger.
Six
Everest
Several days later.
I was watching Mom and Dad again, watching while they talked in hushed voices by a door as I ran towards him. He scooped me up into his arms and hugged me close, begging me to stay… I wanted to stay there, at that moment with the man I knew now was Dad, but then someone was yelling, and there was fighting…
“Dad!” I yelled as I sat up in bed, staring around confused for a few minutes before it all came back to me.
Rubbing my hands over my face, I tried to clear the images from my head and go back to sleep, but sleep didn’t come. After another hour of failing to relax, I got up, slipped into some jeans and a heavy flannel shirt and decided an early walk around the gardens might clear my head.
It was barely four in the morning, and technically I didn’t think I was supposed to be out of bed, but figured worst case scenario, I’d get caught and sent back to bed.
I made it outside the dorm building without seeing anyone and wandered through the gardens, the last bit of moonlight streaming over the lawns.
I ran my fingers over the blooming flowers along the path, trying to hold onto every little detail I could remember about Dad’s face. How strong he was as he held me in his arms. Why did Mom send him away? Who was he that it wasn’t safe enough for him to be with her when she needed him the most?
I found my way to the greenhouse and moved around it, headed for the weeping willows I liked so much back by the wall.
I was just about to sit down on a stone bench and watch the sun come up over the wall before I had to hurry back to my room and get ready when bells rang loud and clear across the grounds.
I stared wide-eyed, not sure what was happening when a voice came over a loudspeaker, sounding like Elsa.
“All students, we are on lockdown. I repeat, we are on lockdown. This is not a drill. Remain in your dorms. The doors will be locked. All staff, report to your stations immediately. I repeat, this is not a drill.”
“Seriously?” I muttered and cursed under my breath as I took off for the dorm building.
Now I was going to be in serious trouble, but I had no idea what could even be wrong enough to cause a lockdown.
When dark shapes started moving across the roof of the greenhouse nearby, I froze until one of them turned, and I caught the stone face of a gargoyle. It spread its wings and took to the sky, two more joining it. For a moment, I was frozen in awe as other gargoyles all across the campus became flesh and blood and went wherever the threat was, I guessed.
No one ever went over emergency procedures with me.
“What are you doing out here all alone?” a growling voice said behind me and I jumped, hand flying to my chest as I turned around.
“Sorry,” I started to say, expecting it to be a professor, but the evil glint in his eyes told me he was not staff. “I uh, I’m just heading back inside. Right now,” I said, voice shaking as I backpedaled, wondering if I could outrun this intruder.
“No point in doing that, love,” he leered.
I was about to take off anyway, but then I heard steps behind me on the stone path and turned to find two more men closing off my chance of escape.
I gulped and curled my hands into fists, trying to remember everything I learned in my combat training so far.
I considered a spell, but my mind went blank in the face of three men, twice my size.
As I turned back to face the first one, I held up my fists and planted my feet.
He cackled, mocking me in some rough language I didn’t understand.
The guys behind me laughed with him, and when he tilted his head, I caught sight of his eyes and the strange coloring of them, red near the pupil, but black again at the outset. There was also a tattoo on his neck, diamonds interwoven together with red vines.
“Come with us now, love, and there won’t be any need to harm you.”
“I’m not leaving with you,” I snapped.
“Right then, if this how you want to do it—”
I lunged forward and clocked him in the jaw before he could finish his sentence.
The laughter cut off behind me as I winced, shaking out my hand.
The man had barely moved, and I realized my mistake far too late. He backhanded me, and I staggered to the side, trying to keep my balance, but then his fist came out of nowhere, and I flew backward onto the grass.
A solid kick hit my stomach; I gasped for air. This was nothing like training.
“Nice going, Everest,” I muttered to myself and tried to get back up when he grabbed a fistful of my hair.
I yelled, trying to get myself free, but then he was dragging me along, and it was all I could do to keep on my feet.
“I’ll knock your teeth out if I have to, girl,” he warned.
“Let her go,” another voice growled, and my heart leapt with excitement to know I was going to be saved.
When I managed to shift around to see who it was, a set of blue eyes glared intently at my three abductors.
“Slade,” I whispered, but if he heard me, he didn’t say anything.
And he was alone.
“Get out of here!” I yelled, not wanting him to get hurt, but he ignored me.
“You alone?” the man still clutching my hair snapped, glancing around.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you all,” Slade said with a wicked grin.
I hadn’t noticed them before, but there were blades against his forearms. He held them easily in his hands, and his whole body was relaxed. I didn’t want to watch him die, not trying to save me again, but before I could open my mouth again to yell at him, the man who had hold of me threw me to the others and charged Slade.
I scrambled to keep watching as rough hands dragged me further away before all three of us paused to watch the fight.
I heard one of them growl behind me as Slade punched their main man in the nose and blood spurted everywhere. The man staggered backward and a second one rushed in.
“Slade!” I yelled in warning, earning a slap to the face for it.
I winced, but glared at the man. He was the smallest of the three. I might not be able to take him out, but I could keep him from aiding his friends.
As Slade threw the second man to the ground while the main one managed to get back into the fray, I threw my elbow back into the last one’s ribs.
He gasped for air, and I stomped on his foot before I swung around with both fists clasped together and nailed him in the face.
I had about a second to celebrate my quick moves before he came at me, fis
ts flying so fast, I barely managed to avoid getting hit.
I ducked under a fourth attack, but a grunt of pain made me turn to see Slade on the ground, one of the men looking unconscious, but the other had him pinned. The daggers were gone, and as I watched, the man’s arms shimmered before they shifted and suddenly he bore claws he swiped across Slade’s face.
“No!” I yelled, but the other guy was back on me and tried to throw me to the side.
I have no idea what came over me, but I brought the heel of my palm up under his nose, heard it crack, and threw myself at Slade’s attacker.
I latched my arms around his neck, pulling back as hard I as I could.
He choked, then released Slade, stumbling backward as he tried to grab me, but I held on.
His claws dug into my side, and I screamed at the sharp pain, struggling to keep my arms tight around his neck, but the warmth rushing down my side distracted me, and my grip slipped.
He whirled around, and I fell off, hitting the walkway hard on my hip.
Slade leapt over me and with dagger in hand, attacked the man again. I tried to stay focused, but the agony in my side was growing. Slade snarled as those sharp claws slashed across his chest, but then he stabbed the man in the shoulder and twisted the blade.
Somewhere, more voices were calling out to us, but my vision was going blurry. I glanced down at my side to see it soaked with blood.
“Huh, that’s nice,” I mumbled, wondering how bad this wound really was.
Slade and the other man were glaring at each other before the latter growled and yelled for his men to retreat. The other one was finally getting back to his feet and they hightailed it away.
Slade shook his head as he rushed towards my side.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he snapped, glaring at my wounded side. “Are you insane?”
“I was trying to save you since you’ve already saved my ass,” I grumbled. “Damn, why does this hurt so much?” I reached down to my side even as Slade tried to stop me, and my eyes widened at the sight of the deep puncture wounds. My vision spun, and I thought I was going to be sick. “That’s wonderful.”
Dragon Feared Page 5
