by Terry Spear
“Why didn’t Ferdinand tell us that?”
“I suspect he’s sending the soldiers into speak with you, then running into the village to see if he can ask the boot merchant if he’s got it still. Ferdinand thinks the world of you, sir. He wouldn’t want to lose his position here for anything. I’m sure he’s afraid the locket is more valuable than anything and that’s why George was so eager to have it.”
“He wouldn’t lose his position. It was my mistake, not his. Ask the soldiers if they know of the locket. Kayla, uhm, Violet and I are going to see the bootmaker.” He turned to Kayla and took her hand. “We’re going to get it back. I promise.”
She didn’t look like she trusted that they would, as worried as she appeared. And he couldn’t be certain either.
Kayla didn’t think she’d ever been on this much of a wild goose chase before over anything. But she was still hopeful that someone had the locket, the bootmaker in particular, and that he hadn’t given it to anyone else. Did he know who it belonged to? And thought to ransom it to Sigrid? She wondered how that would turn out if the merchant threatened Sigrid and she used her magic on him.
When they arrived at the bootmaker’s shop, the sign in the window said the shop was closed, but then Ferdinand exited the shop and his eyes widened to see Alton and Kayla watching him.
“I’m so sorry. I guess you know why I’m here. I thought I could get it from Mr. Fitzwilliam. But he says he doesn’t have the locket.” Ferdinand looked downcast and Kayla felt bad for him.
“You are not losing your position over this, Ferdinand, but you should have told me. I’ll speak with him.” One of his staff members might not have the influence that a dragon could. Alton opened the door and walked in with Kayla.
The bootmaker’s black eyes widened. “I don’t have the locket,” George quickly said, his voice raspy. “I already told your man.”
“Okay, so where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You lost it? You thought it was something important. You were eager to receive it in payment. Why? If it’s that important, how could you lose it?” Alton sounded incredulous.
“She came in here to buy boots, okay?”
“Who?” Kayla asked.
“Sigrid. The falcon fae. The locket’s owner. I meant to send it back to her, not knowing how you ended up with it, but I was certain she would want it back. She always wore it.”
“She came here often?” Kayla asked, shocked.
“She…had a crush on a dragon shifter. She came here for the games last year and then she followed him in here to look at boots. So she didn’t look so conspicuous, which was hard not to do when she has wings, she bought a pair of boots. She loved them so much, she bought another pair before she returned home after the games. I noticed the necklace and asked if it was an heirloom, and she said it was.”
“So how did you lose it?” Alton asked.
“I had it in my hand, and I either dropped it on the floor when I was getting some different size boots out for someone, and then a shopper took it, or I dropped it in a boot and the new owner just kept it.”
“Do you have receipts for all the boots that were bought around that time?” Alton knew he did. The man kept meticulous records.
“I do.” He pulled out his records and showed them to Alton.
“Did you check with any of these people?”
“No. I really was busy about that time, resoling boots, selling new boots. Everyone wanted new ones for the games this year, like last year. So I forgot about it, quite frankly. I looked around several times, underneath the racks, and in the boots that were left. I kept thinking I’d run across it. I just didn’t think of contacting anyone who had bought boots. Well, and I’ve been too busy.”
“Do you mind if we contact the buyers? I know three of them are locals. But the other three?” Alton pointed out the names.
“Uh, yeah, they’re participants in the game. I only know they were taking part in it, but nothing else. They must be staying in the barracks.”
“Okay, thanks. We’ll talk to them.”
“I’m so sorry. I should have…well, I don’t know. Your advisor was trying to get rid of it as payment, and I didn’t think you would be interested in it at all. I just thought I’d return it to her. Do a good deed, you know.”
Kayla wondered if there was more to the situation than that. Did he know the falcon fae had all kinds of abilities? Did he hope if he turned it over to her, she’d do something good for him in return?
“Tell Ferdinand if you see him before I do, to reimburse you for the lost necklace. You still need to be reimbursed for your goods.”
“Thank you.”
Then Alton took Kayla outside.
“Who are the three dragons you know that had bought the boots?” Kayla asked, not having seen the list.
“Ena, but she would have given it back to the bootmaker. Kiernan, not sure. I’ll ask him. And…Halloran.”
“Oh, great.”
Alton smiled at her. “I’ll ask him.”
“They’ll probably be at the games, won’t they?”
“Yeah. Oh, I meant to give you back your other necklaces, bracelets, and rings.”
“They don’t mean half as much to me as my locket does. And Sigrid’s locket. I’m ready to go to the games if you are.” All she cared about right now was finding the other locket.
When Kayla and Alton arrived at the games site, they found the beginners all taking part in the trials and the winners of the first round posted. Some of the higher level dragons were watching them.
“Faster!” “You can do it!” “Go for it!”
Kayla thought it was nice that they weren’t making condescending remarks to those in the beginners’ trials, but instead were encouraging them.
Then she and Alton saw Ena and Olaf near the viewing stands for the expert flyers. Brett and Kiernan were watching the beginners. “I’ll talk to Ena,” Kayla said.
“Okay, I’ll check with Kiernan.”
Kayla joined Ena and Olaf and told them the news.
“I’m so glad you found your locket,” Ena said. “I’ll pop into the castle and check inside my boots. After I tried them on, I put them in a box and haven’t worn them yet. I planned to wear them tomorrow for the trials.”
“Okay, thanks.”
They saw Halloran headed their way, and Ena grabbed Kayla’s hand. “Why don’t you come with me?”
Before Kayla could say yes or no, she was standing at the front door of Ena’s castle.
“Sorry for the abrupt transport and no warning.” Ena opened the door. “I didn’t want to leave you with Olaf to deal with my brother if he decided to hassle you further.”
“Thanks, Ena. You don’t know how much that means to me.”
“I’ve known my brother forever, so I completely understand.”
Ena took her up to her room, and it was so lavish, just astonishing: everything gold gilt painted, a huge bed with gold embroidered navy curtains surrounding it, gold tassels pulling them back. Just what a golden fae would love.
Ena pulled out a box from a closet and opened it up. Lovely black leather boots were sitting in it. Kayla practically held her breath when Ena pulled one out, turned it upside down, and shook it. Kayla knew finding the locket in one of them would be too easy.
“So have you shifted into the dragon since you found your locket?” Ena asked, pulling out the other boot.
“No.”
“I’m wondering if Alton’s scales will still be violet when he’s near you. Or if they’ll continue to change until the falcon’s locket is returned to her.”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Kayla wished now that they had shifted just to see what difference it would make.
“Nothing here,” Ena said, sounding disappointed.
Kayla was too. “Okay, so your brother also bought a new pair of boots that day.” Kayla hoped maybe he had the locket then. Surely as a Dragon at Arms though, he would have returned it t
o Mr. Fitzwilliam if he had discovered it.
“All right, let’s go talk to him then,” Ena said cheerfully.
“What if he doesn’t want to tell us if he’s got it?”
“I’ll know if he does or doesn’t. I’m sure he wouldn’t keep it if he found it. What would he need it for?”
Still, Kayla was hopeful that he had it so that she could return it to Sigrid. They left Ena’s castle and transported back to the games where they saw Halloran speaking with Olaf, and they quickly joined him.
“Have you worn your new boots yet?” Ena asked Halloran.
“Couple of times.”
“You didn’t happen to find a locket in one of the boots, did you?”
Halloran folded his arms, glanced at Kayla and saw her locket, then turned his attention back to Ena. “What’s this all about?”
“Just that the bootmaker lost a locket in his shop and the only other place it could have been was if he’d dropped it into a boot that he’d sold at the time. You were in the store when I was, so I knew you had bought a pair. Alton’s checking with someone else. Three are here at the games.”
“It’s Alton’s mission then? He’s getting paid for it?” Halloran sounded suspicious.
“His obligation, he feels. He wants to make it right since the locket was part of his payment for merchandise.”
“But Alton didn’t lose it.” Halloran appeared as though he figured something else was going on. “So why should he feel obligated to pay for something the bootmaker lost? More than that, what is the locket’s importance?”
“It belongs to a falcon fae,” Kayla said, her brows raised, waiting for Halloran to challenge her. “She’s a friend of mine.”
“So that’s why you’re here. To get it back. Yet Alton is the one paying for the locket.”
“He took it from her.”
Halloran smiled. “I see. I was beginning to worry that Alton was losing his common sense. Good. So why does he feel obligated now to return it to her?” He raised his hand in a universal sign to stop and not answer the question. “I know the answer. You have gotten under his scales, and he is doing it as a favor to you. Maybe there is something more to his liking you than just protecting you for saving his life. I still don’t know how you could change auras and suddenly have a dragon shifter ability. Unless—” Halloran glanced off to see Brett headed their way “—it has something to do with magic.”
“Sure it does,” Kayla said. “I think anyone who can shift, even the wolves, makes them magical.”
Halloran greeted Brett with a question right off. “Can magic be used to turn a fae, any fae, into a dragon shifter?”
“If you’re asking if I used magic to turn myself into a dragon shifter, no, and it can’t be done.”
“What if someone else had the magic that could do so?” Halloran persisted.
“How long have you been questioning what I am?” Brett asked, sounding surprised.
“Not you. Her.” Halloran motioned to Kayla.
“In my opinion, no. There is no magic that can turn a fae into any kind of shifter. They have to be born with the genetics to make it happen.”
“In your opinion.”
“In my expert opinion.”
Halloran smiled a little.
Willow waved at Kayla from a distance and ran to where they were standing. “Kayla, there was an older dragon asking all about you because he saw we were friends.”
“Who?” Kayla couldn’t imagine anyone would be asking about her, unless it was some of Alton’s close friends, and they wanted to know who she really was.
“He’s a blue dragon and he’s older. Maybe forties? He was flying in the expert trials. I noticed him because he looks a little like one of my uncles, and I thought he had shown up for the games after all when he said he wasn’t entering. Anyway, he said you caught his eye because of your beautiful scale color. I told him you were Violet, or Kayla, depending on which alias you were using at the time. He was confused. I told him it was a joke. His name was Arne.”
“The dragon who did so well when Kiernan and I were flying,” Brett said.
“Yeah. He came out with the highest score. I looked,” Willow said. “Anyway, he wanted to know who the violet dragon was who had been with you. When I told him Alton, he wanted to know all about him. Then he said he wanted to meet Violet.”
“Why?” Kayla wondered if the dragon knew what a fraud she was and wanted to expose her.
Willow shrugged. “He said he’d meet you at the barracks in a few minutes.”
Kayla glanced around for any sign of Alton, but didn’t see him anywhere. He probably was questioning the three contestants about their new boots and if they’d discovered a locket.
“I’ll go with you,” Willow said. “Since Alton doesn’t seem to be around at the moment.”
Ena opened her mouth to speak, when Halloran intervened. “I’ve got this. All right, Ena? I promise I’m not going to throw Kayla in the dungeon.”
“If she tells me you’re questioning her further…” Ena folded her arms and tilted her chin up as if she intended to take Halloran to task if he hassled Kayla any longer.
Halloran only smiled and escorted Kayla across the field to the barracks.
“Thanks,” Kayla said, not that she didn’t worry about the questions she thought Halloran would ask her again, but she was a little nervous about what the blue dragon wanted with her.
“You probably wonder why I offered to stay with you,” Halloran said.
“You want to question me more.”
Halloran chuckled. “I would like some straight answers. But truthfully, I want to know what Arne’s interest is in you. Maybe he will shed more light on who you are.”
“I doubt it. I don’t know the dragon.” Kayla looked at the men and women standing near the barracks talking, but she didn’t have a clue which was…no, a man with light brown hair and penetrating green eyes was watching them approach. Before they reached him, she saw Alton headed for them, and she thought he might be concerned about her being alone with Halloran.
“Kayla? Or is it Violet?” the man asked.
“Kayla. And you’re Arne?”
“No. That’s my brother. He’s off talking to one of his competition and will be here in a second. I’m Sid. Uncle Sid. Your uncle.”
Kayla felt her legs give out, but thankfully, Halloran grabbed her arm to steady her.
Alton reached her then, pulled her into his arms, and held her close. “What’s going on?” he asked, practically growling.
“Looks like some of Kayla’s family showed up for the games,” Halloran said. “Only she doesn’t even know them.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I’ll let your father tell you all about it, but I wanted to tell you that I’m your uncle too,” Sid said.
“You’re…you’re a dragon,” she said, her thoughts reeling from the news, and realized belatedly she shouldn’t have said that. Not when she was supposed to be a dragon.
“Just like you are.” Sid glanced at a man approaching them who looked similar, except his eyes were bluer, his hair darker brown, and he was a little taller. “You were right, Arne. Her mother hasn’t told her.”
“How can that be? You’re…” Kayla paused. “Can we take this discussion somewhere else?” She’d already said way too much in front of Halloran, but she had to learn if what the men said was true. Her father and his brother were dragon shifters.
Which meant she was too.
14
“I agree. Let’s talk where it’s less crowded,” Arne said to Kayla.
“I’m going with you.” Alton still had his arm around her waist.
She felt so lightheaded, she was glad for it.
His brows furrowing deeply, Arne didn’t look happy about Alton going with them, but finally just nodded.
“We can go to the clearing where I practice flying with Kayla,” Alton said.
“You sure you don’t want me to go too?” Halloran asked Alton.
He just smiled as if he knew that was the answer he’d get.
“We can go there then. Lead the way.” Arne shifted into a dragon and he was big, his form imposing, a little frightening.
Then Alton kissed Kayla’s cheek, to her surprise. Was he still playing his courting role to the hilt in front of Halloran? It appeared he no longer needed to. Not when she was part dragon shifter. She still couldn’t believe that she was.
But when she tried to shift, she couldn’t. Her lips parted in surprise, but she didn’t want Halloran to learn she couldn’t shift. Had Arne lied about being her father? She was so confused, she didn’t know what to think.
Then her Uncle Sid said, “I see you’re wearing Tasha’s locket.”
“The one my mother gave to me, yes.”
“Why don’t you remove it and slip it into your pocket. Or I can keep it safe for you.”
No way was she ever letting go of it. But something about the way he said the words, as if her mother had been devious about gifting the locket to her angered her, that he would even suggest it, yet, she wasn’t shifting. Could the locket be the cause? She didn’t believe it, but she pulled it off and slipped it into her pocket, buttoned it, and tried to shift. And it happened. At once, she was a violet dragon, and she felt an incredible amount of relief. And annoyance too. Her mother had kept her from shifting all these years?
She didn’t think Halloran would attempt to arrest her with two big dragon shifters who said they were related to her, watching over her. Not to mention he would have had a fight with Alton, if she hadn’t been able to shift.
Then Alton shifted and kissed her again, but as a dragon this time. He smiled at her, showing off his wickedly beautiful teeth, and she smiled at him, though she hadn’t seen what her own dragon teeth would like. She imagined hers were just as wicked to look at. His long snout nuzzled hers, their long tongues did a little dance together and then he smiled again. Wow, she could really get used to this.
Then Alton took off, and she flew to catch up to him, and realized he was just as violet as her still. If she wore the locket, would he be blue scaled again? She still hadn’t tried that. Had the locket truly prevented her from turning into a dragon? From shifting all these years? If so, she couldn’t help being furious with her mother. How could she do this to her? Lie to her?
