by Hati Bell
“Who locked you up?” Cally asked curiously.
“Fiona Claw and her entourage.” It came out a little snappier than she had intended, but Cally didn’t seem to be surprised.
“The queen bee,” Cally said with a nod. “I only started at Meadow a semester ago, but I can tell you that she won’t come back. It looks like we’ll be spending the night here.” Again, she didn’t seem too upset by that prospect.
“Sorry, but I can’t accept that,” Amber said, as she started banging on the door and yelling for help. Cally watched it for a minute, and then joined in, but Amber felt she only did out of solidarity.
Her voice got hoarse after a few minutes, and she gave up. “So you had only just started at Meadow when our schools merged.”
Cally nodded. “We moved here about three months ago, when my stepfather was offered a job out here. Meadow is… different than my previous school.”
“Different how?”
A frown appeared on Cally’s forehead. “You’re not fully human. Like a lot of people in this town. You’re a supe, just like my stepfather. He’s a pixie.”
Amber’s jaw almost dropped. “You know about supes?” It was prohibited to talk about this topic with outsiders.
“I overheard my mother and stepfather talking about it.”
“And you just believed what they said?”
Cally shrugged. “I believed in the Tooth Fairy until I was ten,” she said, as if that explained everything.
Amber didn’t know what to answer to that, so she decided to change the topic. “How can you be so sure they won’t come back?” This just went too far, even for a “prank.”
“In the hierarchy at Meadow, Fiona Claw was considered nobility,” Cally started to explain. “She is a pureblood. Both her parents are dragons and rich aristocrats, just like the parents of all the students who live in Seven Hill. In the world of precious metals, they would be gold, the rest silver or copper. People are afraid to cross her.”
“You’re wrong about that,” Amber said. “Drake went head to head with her.”
Cally rearranged the frame on her nose. “Do you mean Drake Kincaid?”
“Cage,” Amber automatically corrected her.
“He’s Alec Kincaid’s grandson. In the world of precious metals…”
“Let me guess: he’s also gold?”
Cally shook her head. “Titanium,” she claimed. “He’s the prodigal grandson, heir of Kincaid’s throne, returned from the slums. All the girls are crazy about him.”
Amber looked at her questioningly.
“Oh, no, not me. He is far too intimidating for me, and out of my league too.”
Amber knew the feeling. He was out of her league as well. She stepped back when she suddenly saw the doorknob move. Logan’s golden head appeared in the doorway.
“I had a feeling I’d find you in here,” he said, flashing a smile.
Behind him, a pouting blonde was waiting for him. She’d possessively wrapped an arm around his waist. The girl looked annoyed when she saw them.
Logan’s frame seemed to fill the entire closet when he stepped inside. “Why don’t you wait for me in the hallway, Lizzy?” he said without looking at his date.
“Lexie, my name is Lexie.” She sounded vexed behind his back.
“I have something to discuss with my little flower,” he continued with twinkling eyes.
He closed the door behind him, but not before Amber had looked into the furious eyes of the girl. Great. As if she didn’t have enough enemies as it was. “Let us out,” she demanded.
Cally stared at Logan, fascinated. Amber sighed and wished the girl would be a little more assertive, instead of treating him like he was manna that fell from the sky.
Logan wrapped his arms before his chest and leaned against the door. “I was just looking for a quiet place when I heard the ice queen brag about her little prank. It looks like I’m in a position to get you out of this pickle.” His icy blue eyes glistened, self-satisfied. Just like a fisherman must feel when he had trapped a mermaid in his nets.
Amber weighed her limited options. “History happens to be my best subject,” she said with a forced smile.
“Excellent,” Logan said in a tone like he hadn’t expected any other answer. “Why didn’t you run from Fiona’s clan, by the way? I thought you guys were supposed to be faster than us?”
“We are, with the exception of me,” she almost growled.
Logan looked surprised. “Really? Interesting.”
“Annoying, you mean. As you can see, it gets me stuck in the weirdest places, like a closet.”
“Oh, I’ve been stuck in far weirder places.”
Yeah, I imagine hiding under a bed or in a closet. “I’m sure you have,” she said and quickly stepped forward. Just when she wanted to pass him, he stopped her.
“If I may give you some advice…” he started.
“I thought your kind never did anything for free.”
“Trust me. I have as much to gain from this as you do. The Seven Hill women are like a pack of hungry wolves. Once they smell fear on their prey, they will hunt it down and tear it apart. You will find yourself in this type of situation more often if you don’t fight back. Your brothers won’t always be there to protect you.”
He’d told her nothing that she hadn’t already thought of herself. “Trust me, I would love to fight back, but unfortunately I wasn’t gifted with claws or super speed,” Amber said ruefully.
He had an answer to that, as well. “Didn’t anybody ever tell you that the most dangerous weapons of a woman are her pretty face and her voice? I heard about the surprise birthday party. Use the talents you were born with. Shine like the star that you are. Let them know that they won’t get to you.”
Did everybody know about the surprise party? “Why do you care if I shine or not?”
“I don’t,” he said bluntly. “But maybe it would finally drag Drake out of the brooding state he’s in. He’s just no fun to be around anymore.” After a friendly wink to Cally, he threw open the door.
Amber wasn’t planning on taking advice from someone who couldn’t even remember the name of his girlfriend. “I’m so sorry for your suffering. Can you now please step aside?” Unfortunately he didn’t move an inch from his comfortable position against the door frame. She felt her cheeks burn when she barely squeezed past him. Her heel accidentally-on-purpose landed on his foot, but he only smirked.
“I like your shoes. They are fierce and sexy, just like you,” he whispered.
His voice sent an unexpected shiver down her spine, and she got away as fast as she could. Logan was a menace.
In the hallway, they were awaited by a pacing Izzy, or Lizzy. Amber didn’t remember her name. It didn’t matter anyway. Judging by her glare, the girl hated her guts and wouldn’t become a friend.
Logan turned around, and the girl jumped in his arms like a bear into a honey pot. He bent his head to kiss her, but before he did, his eyes locked with Amber. “Until we meet again,” he said with a wink, and then he pulled Izzy or Lizzie into the janitor’s closet.
“That was… intense,” Cally uttered. “Logan Stark is so dreamy.”
“Let me guess. He’s gold?”
Cally shook her head. “Did you not see those bulging biceps? He’s titanium for sure.”
Amber stared at her for a moment, and then they simultaneously burst out laughing. “Let’s go. A closet is not the place to celebrate your birthday.” She hooked her arm through Cally’s and they walked back to the party.
She thought she’d been gone for hours, but nobody seemed to have noticed her absence. Fiona’s crew were the first to notice her return. Somebody nudged Fiona, and the ice queen turned around. Fiona nodded, self-satisfied, to Annabel, who had wrapped herself around Drake.
Amber decided to ignore them. Arm in arm with Cally, she walked over to her side of the room. “I have to do something,” she said to Cally and she climbed up on the stage.
Jimm
y’s band was on a break and background music was playing. “I need your help,” she said, and she whispered instructions in his ear. Jimmy signaled the band and they took their places. One of them turned off the music, and the room fell silent. All eyes were now on the stage.
Amber straightened her dress and stepped behind the microphone. Oddly, all her insecurities disappeared as soon as she stepped behind a microphone. She pointed at Cally. “This song by My Chemical Romance is for my new friend Cally, who’s celebrating her birthday today!”
A cheer went up for Cally and she beamed, surprised, but also clearly pleased because she was the center of attention.
Amber channeled her inner Gerard Way when she sang, “The world is ugly, but you’re beautiful to me.” She lost herself in the music and the emotions that were hidden behind each word, each tone. This time, it was different. She poured her heart and soul in it.
Drake stood in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by dancing couples. Annabel tugged on his arm a couple of times, but he remained standing like an unmovable rock.
When the last notes had died down, a roaring applause followed. Amber barely heard it. All she heard was her heart, pounding in her ears. Drake still hadn’t moved an inch. Her heart dropped when he didn’t step closer to her to acknowledge the nights he’d spent in her room, watching over her, keeping the nightmares away. It was going above and beyond his “deal” with Meg.
Apparently, she was wrong. He didn’t feel the same way she felt about him. Not even close. Something must have been wrong with her vision. That had never happened before, but there was a first time for everything. She should be glad about that, but strangely, she was disappointed.
She looked away from him, and her look met Cally’s. The band had started a new upbeat song, and she was dancing, looking happy. At least something good had come from this evening.
Sunk away in thoughts, she walked out of the gym and onto the football field. The field was illuminated by lampposts and an infinite ceiling of a million stars. She wished that Pinky were here. She would have never allowed her to wallow in self-pity. In her typical way, she would say just the right things, which would make everything seem better. Her love for pink wasn’t the only reason for Kalinda Jones’ nickname.
She sat down on the spectators’ benches and wrapped her arms around her knees. When she’d close her eyes, she could hear the wind rustle through the treetops, like the song of the fairies.
“There are no words to describe your voice or its effect on me,” a voice sounded behind her.
She didn’t have to open her eyes to know it was him. He was standing or sitting right behind her bench. Forget butterflies in your stomach. She was possessed by an entire swarm that was dancing the lambada and which made her shiver. “I’m glad you finally admit it. I was starting to think I was seeing things,” she admitted.
His hand stroked through her hair. Her heart skipped a beat when his arms glided around her waist as he pulled her back against his chest. She had no idea how long they were sitting there like that. Silently, but oh-so-comfortable in each other’s presence. It could’ve been fifteen minutes, or an hour. The knowledge that he had chosen to be with her was enough.
His fingers touched her skull, and a vision immediately intruded. Fire flashed through her brain. Fire, so much fire. She shivered and she clenched her hands together.
“This thing between us… it’s insane to even think about it,” he said.
His words didn’t surprise her. “You’re some sort of dragon prince with a powerful grandfather who would probably consider most dragons below your standards, let alone that he would approve of a dryad girlfriend. I can see that being a problem,” she said dryly. Only her heart didn’t give a crap about what her brain was telling her. All the problems she should be worried about simply didn’t matter. Not now that she was sitting here with him and it seemed as if they were the only two people on the planet.
“You do strange things to me, Amber O’Neill. You make me feel things I never felt. You make me long for something I can never have or call mine.”
She didn’t want to hear about all the obstacles that they would have to face. She turned around and put her hand on his chest. His heart beat like a drum. She’d seen a moment like this so many times. But then they had stood under a tree near a sunset. “I don’t care about any of that,” she said, and she realized that that was true. She would find a way to stop the vision. Something that felt this right simply couldn’t be wrong.
He put her hand on her cheek. “You shouldn’t say things like that. Don’t even think them. Because when you say it, I want to make it happen. When you step towards me, I want to run to you. It’s too dangerous. I’m not the right person for you. There is so much more at stake than you know.”
“Then tell me,” she said. The last time he hadn’t answered her question. However, she would give him another chance.
When a curtain fell before his eyes, she knew that he wasn’t going to confide in her. Maybe to him she would always remain a dryad, his enemy by birth. This while she just saw him as a man, not caring about his race, his family, or any other stuff that made them different. She pulled her hand away and turned around.
“Watch out!” Drake shoved her aside, and she fell backward, landing on her back between the benches.
Drake was engaged in a fight, his hands changed into lethal weapons. He was surrounded by at least four men, whom she recognized as goblins. For a moment there, she thought they were going to make it. But then four more showed up.
“Give it up. It’s eight against one. You can’t fight all of us,” one of them yelled.
“Actually, it’s eight against two.” Bryan appeared at the edge of the field. In a flash, he was at their side.
“One or two, it doesn’t matter. You can’t win this, lads. Give us the girl, and we’ll let you go,” one of them stated.
“I don’t think so,” Drake growled.
There appeared an opening in the circle, and a tall, older dragon stepped forward. He was wearing a suit, shiny shoes, and a white scarf around his neck. His silver-plated cane ominously clicked on the spectator’s benches. Amber thought he resembled an American gangster during Prohibition.
He stopped a couple of feet away from them and pointed his cane at Drake, like some sort of primal greeting.
“Zacharias,” Drake greeted him coolly.
Bryan looked from one dragon to the next. “You two know each other?”
The man called Zacharias looked amused. “Drake Dragonheart used to be my best cage fighter, until Alec Kincaid hauled him into his illustrious kingdom. Now he apparently saves damsels in distress,” he said in a mocking tone of voice.
“Cage, not Kincaid,” Drake corrected him.
“That’s just a formality.” Zacharias waved the objection away. He threw a curious look at Bryan. “And in the company of more than one dryad, I see. I wonder what Kincaid would think of that.”
“What do you want from her? Are you going to make her an offer she can’t refuse?” Drake taunted.
Zacharias smiled and took a stack of papers from his pocket. “Wrong guess, but in the right profession,” he admitted frankly. “I have a contract signed by Margaret Maria Petronella Garden, in which she gave her granddaughter Amber Anne O’Neill as collateral for her gambling debts. She’s late with her payment, so I’m here to collect. Including interest, this gives me the right to the girl’s gift for at least a week.”
Some legal words were vomited into the ether, after which he named an amount of money that made Amber dizzy. A chill ran from her toes to her spine, which paralyzed her for a moment. Bryan looked as shocked as she was, but Drake didn’t seem to be surprised.
“That’s impossible,” she whispered. She refused to believe Meg had sold her. She wouldn’t do that. Not even Meg would do that.
A look of pity crossed Zacharias’ face. “I can assure you that this is possible according to our laws. Both the contractor and the collate
ral are supes. As the oldest ancestor of the girl on Anglo-Saxon territory, Meg is her chieftain, and the girl therefore falls under her reign. Meg has the right to use the girl’s gift in the game. You are only postponing the inevitable.”
Amber turned to her brother, expecting his sharp, brilliant mind to come up with something to undermine this semi-legal story. Her stomach dropped when she saw his empty look. A beat later, he did something she had never seen him do before.
Bryan cursed and kicked the spectator’s bench. The part that he had kicked broke off and tumbled down, together with her mood. “That is a ridiculous, archaic law from a time when there were chieftains,” he raged. “No person in their right mind still uses that law.”
Zacharias calmly smoothed out his scarf. “Nevertheless, it is still an existing law. We could of course take this up to the Council. That is, if you want this contract to become common knowledge.”
The truth hit her like a ton of bricks. Meg, her own grandmother, had traded her like livestock, and there was nothing she could do about it. Apparently, Drake was right. Blood ties were overrated.
“Give me a week to get you the money,” Drake said.
Bryan opened his mouth, but closed it. Amber knew what he thought. Even a triple mortgage on their house wouldn’t get them the kind of money they needed.
Zacharias shook his head. “I should’ve gotten the money on that Monday. That would have happened, if you hadn’t interfered. I have some impatient clients who are willing to pay good money for her gift. Every day I can’t use her, I lose money,” he argued.
“Amber can’t use her gift like Meg can,” Bryan tried.
“Practice makes perfect.”
“Three days,” Drake negotiated. “Give me three days, and you and your men can leave here without a scratch.”
Zacharias didn’t seem impressed by the threat. “All it takes is one phone call and I’ll have an entire busload of men at my disposal. Besides, legally I have the Council behind me. So even if you could miraculously get away from here, it would only be temporary. However, there is something you can give me, so I’ll grant you twenty-four hours to find my money,” he suddenly said. “You are the most likely heir to Kincaid’s throne. Even he will have to hand his soul over to Lucifer at some point. Give me a dragon promise that I can one day come collect this favor with you, and we have a deal.”
