Dragon Knight

by Alicia Wolfe

  We found the Jordans’ apartment on the third floor and knocked. Martha Jordan answered and admitted us with a smile. Glen Jordan was in the kitchen cooking, little Abby helping him. Abby looked happy. They were making meatloaf. Glen seemed to know how to cook, I saw with surprise.

  “Come in, come in,” Martha said. She gave Ruby a hug, then me, and shook Davril’s hand. She only blinked a few times at Federico, then offered to shake his hand, too.

  Glen and Abby waved hello.

  “Hi, Jade, Ruby,” Abby said, coming over. She hesitated a moment, then hugged Ruby. She hugged me a moment later. “It’s good to see you two again.”

  “You too, kiddo,” Ruby said, ruffling her golden hair.

  Abby looked up at Federico and Davril with wonder. She seemed more incredulous at seeing Davril than Federico, interestingly. I guessed she could tell Davril was a Fae.

  “Would you like some meatloaf?” Martha said. “We have plenty.”

  “No no,” I said. “Thanks, anyway. We just, well…” For some reason, it felt crass to tell her we’d come for the money.

  “Came for that thing we mentioned,” Ruby finished.

  “Got it here for you,” Glen said, patting the pocket on his apron. Martha snatched something out of it, then brought it to Ruby—a check.

  “Thanks,” Ruby said, and made the check disappear seamlessly in her own pocket.

  “Are you a Fae Knight?” Abby asked Davril.

  Davril frowned down at the little girl, then lightened up. “Yes,” he said solemnly. “I am.”

  “Wow!”

  Davril looked amused. “Do you know much of the Fae?”

  “No, but I know magic users.” Abby flashed a smile at Ruby and me. “And heroes, too.”

  “Oh?” Davril raised his eyebrows.

  “That’s right,” Abby said. “They saved me from these evil dolls.”

  “Dolls?”

  “She’s telling the truth,” Glen said from the kitchen. The smell of onions being chopped was making my eyes tear up. “There were evil dolls being made by someone at a factory.”

  “One came to life and nearly killed Abigail,” Martha said, setting the table. Ruby helped.

  “It was terrible,” Ruby said. Her eyes bore into Davril’s. “Some madwoman was trying to serve some demon lord.”

  “Demon lord?” Federico said, and scratched his chin. “That sounds bad.”

  “It was,” Ruby said, and her voice was loaded as she continued to stare at Davril.

  “Hundreds of children might have died if Jade and Ruby hadn’t helped,” Martha said. “Thank God for them.”

  “They helped for a fee, though,” Davril said.

  Martha seemed surprised at this, but it only slowed her for a moment. Putting a plate down, she said, “Everyone has to eat, right?”

  Davril didn’t answer, but he gazed speculatively at the little girl, then at me. I shifted uncomfortably.

  I caught Ruby watching us.

  She shook herself. “Well, we’ll be going now. Have a good night.”

  The Jordans wished us good night, too, and we trooped back down the stairs to our vehicles. Ruby summoned her broom, and Davril whistled to call Lady Kay. In moments Davril and I were back in the air, but this time he drove. Ruby and Federico hovered beside us.

  “I know what you did,” Davril told Ruby.

  “Well?” she said. “Did it work?”

  I tensed. This was it, I knew. My fate was about to be decided.

  Davril opened his mouth to say something, then hesitated.

  “Well?” I said.

  Finally, at last, a smile split his face—not a big one, but a warm one. “Come, Jade, let’s go back to the Palace. We must debrief the Queen.”

  “And my …. extracurricular activities?”

  “I see no reason to bring the Queen into your matters,” Davril said. “Perhaps there are … some things … that might not be in her best interests to know. And you do need to maintain your cover. Then there is the fact that if you two hadn’t burgled the toy factory, a goblin army would even now be marching on the palace.”

  I breathed out, and in that instant a thousand pounds lifted off my shoulders. Tears sprang to the corners of my eyes, and I had to fight not to release them. I wanted to hug Davril, but I held that back, too.

  I turned to Ruby. Her eyes glistened, too, and her lower lip trembled.

  “Thank you, sis,” I said.

  She squeezed my hand. “Well,” she said, wiping at her eyes. “I have to get back home. Call me tomorrow.”

  “I will,” I promised.

  “Well?” Davril asked Federico. “Are you coming back with us?’

  “Naw,” said the imp. “I can make my own way. And I think you twos has some talkin’ to do.” He winked at me, snapped his fingers, and blinked out of existence.

  “He does know how to make an exit,” I said.

  Ruby blew kisses at us and gunned the metaphorical motor of her broom, vanishing around the side of a building in moments. Davril and I were left all alone … in a huge, roomy car.

  “So,” I said, fidgeting. “What now?”

  He raised the car back in the air and aimed it toward the Palace.

  “Now,” he said, “we go home.”

  Epilogue

  I was plotting murder in the archive department of the Tower of the Shield when Jessela found me.

  “You have training in five minutes,” she said.

  I closed the book I was reading, making sure to mark my place. It hadn’t contained anything useful so far in my quest for finding Walsh, but it might yet.

  Gesturing to my athletic clothes, I said, “I’m ready. Don’t worry, I won’t be late anymore. Well, not unless something important comes up.”

  Jessela laughed. “Well, let’s hope that doesn’t happen too often.”

  She accompanied me as we wound our way down through the tower to the practice hall, chatting as we went. I was really starting to settle in here, and she and I were becoming close. Of course, I was dividing my time between the Tower of the Shield and Ruby’s place these days, as I’d promised Ruby. Well, now our place. But I still spent plenty of time here.

  “Everyone’s talking about what you and Davril did,” Jessela said as we neared the practice hall. The walls echoed to the sounds of grunts and steel ringing on steel.

  I thought of Davril pressed against me in the mushroom fields of Shadowpark. “What about what we did?”

  She snickered. “How you stopped that witch, of course.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  She elbowed me playfully. “What else is there to talk about?”

  I couldn’t resist a grin. “Not much, unfortunately.”

  “You’ll get there, dear, don’t worry. I’ve seen how he looks at you.”

  “You’ve seen more than I have, then.”

  We entered the practice hall. Around us Fae Knights and knights-in-training sparred and drilled. Some floated through the air, practicing fighting with each other wearing winged shoes, or defying gravity in other, less obvious ways.

  Davril waited for me in the middle of it all. Wearing his tight white athletic garments, he looked quite commanding and damn sexy. In that clingy white material, I could see every bulge of his eight-pack … and every other bulge, too. I felt my cheeks warm. There were some benefits to showing up at practice, I had to admit.

  “I’ll leave you to it,” Jessela said. “And you can find out what ‘it’ is yourself.”

  Wearing a mischievous smile, she scampered away, and I stopped before Davril, with his broad shoulders, tapered waist and penetrating blue eyes. They seemed to pierce to the core of me.

  “Thank you for showing up on time,” he said, not without a small smile playing at the corner of his (very kissable) lips.

  “Yeah, well, I made room in my schedule.”

  “I appreciate it. On guard!”

  He aimed a kick at my head. I ducked and wove, then jabbed out at his abdomen w
ith my fist. He caught my swing in his fist, then shoved my shoulder, pushing me back. I hooked a foot behind his heel, trying to trip him. Instead, I lost my balance and fell to the matt, already panting.

  “I’m out of shape,” I said.

  He offered me a hand up, and I took it. As I came up, I overbalanced, slamming up against him. For a moment, our bodies touched all along our lengths, both of us wearing skin-tight outfits. I could feel his hardness against me.

  Clearing my throat, I stepped back. “Did someone turn up the heat?”

  “Come,” he said.

  Not waiting to see if I followed, he turned and made his way through the hall, making for one of the terraces. Confused, I followed. Normally we practiced inside. The terraces were mainly for breaks.

  “Don’t tell me we’re going to spar on the railing,” I said. “I may be a cat burglar, but my balance isn’t that good. And it’s a long way down.”

  “You’d better get over that fear of heights,” he said.

  We stepped out onto the balcony, and I gasped. Before me stood a black motorcycle, gleaming with chrome here and there, with gorgeous black-feathered wings stretching out to either side. An electric thrill ran through me. I stared from the motorcycle to Davril.

  “Is this … mine?”

  He gave a single nod. “If you can take care of it.”

  “But I thought only fully trained knights received steeds.”

  “Recent events have made me realize that you hold a unique place amongst us. For you are both with us and with … the world.” He gestured at the skyline all around. “You belong to both. And you need to be able to travel back and forth. Besides, we were tired of reimbursing your Skycab fares.”

  Slowly, I stepped forward, feeling as if I were approaching a horse for the first time, only I was the one who was nervous. I ran a hand along one of the black wings, feeling how soft and silky the feathers were. The wing responded, stretching out for me to stroke it.

  “Is it alive?” I said.

  “Yes, in a way.”

  “You’ll have to tell me how that works sometime.”

  “Do you want to take it for a ride?”

  I touched the handlebars, then the seat. “Are you coming with me?”

  “Your first trip should be by yourself.”

  I swallowed. “I’ll miss flying with you in Lady Kay.”

  “Oh, you’ll still be flying with me. You’re still my partner. But for those occasions when I can’t be there, or when you need your own means of transportation, well, now you have it.”

  I couldn’t resist. I threw my arms around him and hugged him. Once more, I rejoiced at the feel of his hard body against me.

  “I’d kiss you if you weren’t so tall,” I said.

  He didn’t offer to bend down. “We’re partners, Jade. Not anything else.”

  Not according to Jessela, I thought, stepping away.

  “Well?” he said. “Are you going to go for a ride or not?”

  He didn’t have to tell me twice. I hopped astride the bike and gunned the motor. As the bike throbbed noisily under me, I smiled. The black wings stretched out to either side.

  Davril watched on, seemingly pleased, but some strange emotion flickered across his features, then was gone. We’d both given our debriefings to the Queen, but we’d done so separately, and I hadn’t heard what he’d told Calista. There clearly was something important I didn’t know about, something he’d kept from me. Something that was bothering him. He swung his gaze from me to the towers of the city, and I could see something odd behind his eyes, as if he were searching for something. Or someone.

  I switched off the engine.

  Surprised, he said, “Aren’t you going?”

  “I will,” I said. “In a minute. But if we’re going to be partners, we should be honest with each other. Something’s been bothering you, Davril. What is it? Come clean.”

  “It’s…” He started to say nothing, I could see the word forming on his lips, but then he stopped himself. Wind whipped around us, making my hair trail out to the side and his blue eyes glisten. Davril didn’t speak right away, but at last he sighed. “Very well. I guess you deserve to know the truth.”

  “Yes? What is it? Something to do with that taron rider, right?”

  “You’re very perceptive.”

  “I’d make a lousy thief if I wasn’t. So? Spill!”

  Davril closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. “The taron rider who came through the mirror first, the one who must be the general leading the goblin army—he was Nevos.”

  Astonishment flooded me—and fear, too. “Nevos? Your traitorous brother? The one who doomed your people and forced you to flee the Fae Lands?”

  “That’s right, Jade. And now he’s here. In your world. And he’s helping Angela against us. With or without his army, he’ll have resources and knowledge that she won’t.”

  “Shit. So we’re in greater danger than ever.”

  Davril squeezed my shoulder. “I’m going to need your help to find him, Jade.”

  I saluted. “You’ve got it.”

  He stepped back. “Now go. Enjoy your ride.”

  “After that?”

  He smiled. “Nevos can wait. You’ve got a steed to break in.”

  I watched him for a moment, then nodded. Nevos could wait, indeed. But damn. That was huge. And it might change everything.

  Reluctantly, I gunned the motor again. The bike throbbed under me, and the wings stretched back out. There wasn’t much room on the terrace, but I didn’t think I would need too much to take off.

  “Go for it,” Davril said over the noise of the engine.

  “Here goes nothing,” I muttered, and hit the gas.

  I raced forward. Intuitively, I pulled back the handles, and the bike lifted off the ground, just barely clearing the terrace railing. My heart leapt into my throat as I soared out over empty space. It was a long drop to the city street below. For a terrible moment, I thought I was going to fall. Then the wings straightened to either side, stabilizing me, and I started to gain altitude.

  I noticed Jessela on a pegasus riding overhead and understood. This had all been planned. She was there to rescue me in case anything went wrong.

  Well, I didn’t need any rescuing.

  I turned back to Davril to see him looking proud. I waved and rocketed past. The engine roared, and the black wings shone brilliantly in the daylight as they pumped the air.

  “Wow,” I said, seeing the city laid out before me. After all these years, I was finally able to fly again. Vincent Walsh may have stolen my wings, but Davril had given them back. Or maybe, just maybe, I’d done it myself. Hell, I’d earned this, right?

  I grinned, leaning into the wind and giving the bike some juice.

  “Let’s see what you can do,” I said, and flew off toward the sun.

  THE END

  A Note from Alicia Wolfe

  Want to be notified when the next book in the series comes out? You can sign up for my email update list here: http://eepurl.com/cWPS55 . Come on in! The water’s warm! I promise not to spam you.

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  Till next time!

  Hugs,

  Alicia Wolfe

  Email: aliciawolfebooks@gmail.com

 

 

 
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