The Dragon Lords

by C. J. Hill

  Tori worked mechanically. It was hard to keep her mind on mundane things like packing door hangers when Aaron was in danger—danger that she had put him in.

  He was only twelve. So many things could go wrong with their plan to have him work as a mole. What would Overdrake do if he suspected Aaron’s intentions? Beat him? Threaten his family? Or perhaps Overdrake would act with more finesse. He’d undoubtedly try to convince Aaron that his upcoming attacks on America were warranted, just like he’d convinced Dirk.

  Tori grabbed a stack of Hampton T-shirts, dropped them in the box, then checked her phone. She half hoped Aaron would text her that he’d changed his mind and hadn’t gone to the Renaissance Festival after all.

  No new messages.

  “Is someone missing in action?” Aprilynne asked as she brought a stack of empty boxes to the dining room table where Tori stood.

  “What?” For one shocked second Tori wondered how her sister knew about Aaron.

  Aprilynne set the boxes down. “Jesse,” she said. “You’ve been checking your phone every five minutes and have been in a bad mood since you got home.”

  Tori had been at a journalism project with Jesse that morning. The reminder of their conversation made her heart squeeze painfully. “Yeah…he’s angry with me.” It was the truth, and talking about him was easier than coming up with a different reason for her anxiousness.

  “Because?” Aprilynne opened up one of the boxes and began filling it.

  Tori and Aprilynne stood apart from the rest of their father’s staff, but Tori still kept her voice low. “I saw an ex last night. I mean, it wasn’t a planned date or anything, but we ended up hanging out, and um...” She had no way to explain that she’d kissed Dirk in hopes of getting information about the dragons from him.

  “What happened at the ’and um’ part?” Aprilynne counted out yard signs for her box and placed some inside. “Because Jesse has no reason to be upset just because you talked to an ex.”

  “I kind of let Dirk kiss me.”

  “Oh,” Aprilynne said. “In that case, yeah, I see Jesse’s point.”

  Tori closed her box and ran tape across the flaps. “I wasn’t cheating on him. I wouldn’t have told him about it if I had.”

  Aprilynne blinked at Tori in disbelief. “You told Jesse you kissed another guy? How did you expect him to react?”

  Not as strongly as he’d reacted. “I wanted to explain what happened. I was trying to be honest and come clean.” Wasn’t that the right thing to do? She’d thought so at the time. “But Jesse wouldn’t accept my apology and I don’t know how to make things right.” She glanced at her phone again. No word from Aaron or Jesse.

  “First off,” Aprilynne said, “this isn’t something you can fix with a few texts. You need to talk to him in person.” She gazed around at the other staffers who were all busy either filling boxes or carrying them outside to a truck. “Go to Jesse’s house and apologize again. Sincerely and a lot. This is also a good time to employ feminine charms. If Mom comes by to check on us and asks where you are, I’ll cover for you.”

  Tori slid the box on the floor and picked up an empty one. “I can’t. I don’t know where he lives, and his address isn’t listed.” It wasn’t listed because Dr. B had moved the family and given them new identities.

  “You’ve never been to your boyfriend’s house?” Aprilynne asked in surprise.

  Tori shrugged. “His mother teaches at my school. It would be weird going to his house.”

  “Not any weirder than him coming to our house.” Their house was frequented by an assortment of bodyguards.

  “Which is why Jesse has never come to our house,” Tori said.

  “What’s his mom’s name?”

  Tori counted out yard signs for the next box. “Ms. Richardson. You didn’t have her. She’s new this year.”

  Aprilynne went to Veritas Academy’s website on her phone. “Laura Richardson.” She examined the faculty photo. “She looks nice enough.”

  “Obviously the result of Photoshop. She’s cold, prickly and doesn’t like Republicans.”

  “In that case you’d better change out of your vote-for-my-dad T-shirt before you show up on Jesse’s doorstep.” Aprilynne began texting someone. “I bet I can find her address. The school must have that information.”

  “You don’t need to look for it,” Tori said.

  The Slayers weren’t supposed to know one another’s personal information. That way, if any of them were captured by Overdrake, they wouldn’t be able to divulge anything. Tori and Jesse had already broken the rules by exchanging phone numbers. She didn’t want to know his address too.

  Aprilynne kept texting. “You’ll feel better after you talk to him.”

  Tori went back to filling boxes. She shouldn’t worry about Aprilynne’s sources. Her sister wouldn’t be able to come up with much information about a fake name and the school wouldn’t give out personal details about the staff.

  After Tori finished her box, a message from Dr. B appeared on her Slayer watch.

  Her mouth went dry. Even before she opened the text, she knew it was about Aaron. Time to face the music and hope it wasn’t a funeral dirge.

  Aaron has disappeared. He went to the fair to sell a scale and may have had problems with a dealer, a customer, or Overdrake. Bianca has notified the local police but he hasn’t been gone long enough to worry them. She’ll keep me posted.

  Tori read and then reread the message. Overdrake must have Aaron. Why didn’t Bianca already understand what his disappearance meant? Had she missed the note Aaron left her? But no, she must have read it or she wouldn’t know his cover—that he’d gone to sell a scale.

  Tori taped up the box and set it on a stack with others, trying to make sense of the situation.

  Another message from Dr. B lit up her watch. This one sent only to her. Any possibility you could go to North Carolina with me? Your skill as a counterpart may be able to help locate Aaron.

  Counterparts could sense each other if they were within a few dozen yards and Tori was counterparts with both Dirk and Aaron. The skill wouldn’t be much help in this case. Aaron was long gone from the fairgrounds.

  It’s a slim hope, Dr. B went on, but Bianca is distraught and it’s all I have to offer her. She’s worried someone knifed Aaron, stole the scale, and now he’s lying in a ditch somewhere.

  A tight ball of recrimination formed in Tori’s stomach. Bianca didn’t know what Aaron had done. Was it possible he hadn’t been clear in his note?

  Tori needed to talk to Dr. B in private. She picked up her phone, held the screen so Aprilynne couldn’t see it, and pretended to read a text. “Jesse wants me to call him. I’m going to head to my room for a minute.”

  “You’re better off talking to him in person,” Aprilynne called after her.

  As soon as Tori reached her bedroom, she called Dr. B on her watch phone.

  He answered immediately. “If you can go, I’ll have the jet ready by the time you reach the airport.”

  She’d known she would eventually have to tell Dr. B what she’d done, but his worry for Aaron made the truth harder to admit. She took a deep breath and pushed her words out. “I’m pretty sure Aaron is with Overdrake. At least, that’s where he meant to go. He was supposed to explain everything in a note to Bianca.”

  “Wait,” Dr. B said, confused. “Aaron didn’t say anything about going to his father. Quite the contrary. And how do you know where he meant to go? Did he contact you?”

  “Yes. He got a hold of me through my father’s office.” Why hadn’t Aaron explained things to his mother? Had he changed his mind about what he was doing? “What did his note say?”

  “I’ve got a scan of it. Hold on.” A few moments later, Dr. B read, “I’m going to find a buyer for the scales. I’ve got to do it to protect our family. I don’t want to leave any evidence in the house that could let Overdrake know the truth about me.”

  Tori rubbed her forehead in frustration. She’d give
n Aaron one stipulation—that he tell his mother he’d decided to work as a mole—and he hadn’t done it. The last sentence of his note was most likely written for Tori, not Bianca. Aaron had told her in a roundabout way that he wasn’t giving his mother an explanation because he didn’t want to leave any evidence that Overdrake could find.

  Whatever his reasoning, he’d left Tori to break the news to Dr. B and his mother.

  “What did he tell you he was doing?” Dr. B repeated, an uncharacteristic sharpness in his voice.

  “We had a plan. His plan, actually. He said he’d go to Overdrake by himself if I didn’t help him.”

  Perhaps it was cowardly of Tori to emphasize how little choice Aaron had given her, but she wanted to let Dr. B know she hadn’t forced him to offer himself up. “You have to understand—Aaron grew up hearing stories about your brother, about how Nathan was drawn to the dragons on St. Helena, and Overdrake’s father killed him because of it. Aaron is afraid that when Overdrake attacks, the same thing will happen to his brother.”

  Aaron had inherited both dragon lord and Slayer genes, but his eleven-year-old half brother Jacob was only a Slayer. And therefore a potential threat to dragons.

  “Aaron asked me to leak his location so Overdrake would come for him. He’s going to pass information to me.”

  Since Tori didn’t know which dragon she was connected to, Aaron would have to repeat any information he got to all four dragons. It was by no means a foolproof system but it was better than nothing.

  Dr. B’s voice came through her watch, crisp with judgment. “You sent a twelve-year-old to spy on a ruthless tyrant? What sort of information do you think Overdrake would give a child? The name of his government contacts? His battle plans?” Dr. B had never yelled at Tori before. She’d always thought the man was made of solid patience. His anger, although not loud, cut twice as deep.

  “No,” she said quietly, “but Aaron was determined to go and he might be able to give us important information—like Overdrake’s location. Overdrake will train him to be a dragon lord, so eventually he’ll have access to the dragons. When he does, he’ll be able to pass along information about how to control them. Isn’t that worth something?”

  Dr. B didn’t answer. He was either considering her point or was too furious to form words.

  Tori paced across her room. “Both times when we fought dragons, luck saved us as much as skill—that, and Dirk’s help. Next time, we might not have either. But if I can control a dragon, or even if I can break Overdrake’s control of one for a little while, that might be the difference between life and death for all of us. So yes, I thought sending Aaron to Overdrake’s was worth the risk. Tell Bianca I’m sorry.”

  “I won’t tell her that.” Dr. B voice was mostly controlled again, his temper back in check. “At this point, telling her the truth will only further wound her. She can’t know that Aaron chose to leave her because he thought her so incapable of protecting Jacob, he decided to take on Overdrake himself.”

  Guilt twisted through Tori. “Aaron didn’t want to hurt her. I can reassure Bianca of that.”

  “You’ll do no such thing. We need her as an ally and right now she trusts us. I won’t ruin that by making her think we’re willing to sacrifice her children to our cause. I’ll tell her we have reason to believe that Overdrake has Aaron and promise that as soon as we have more information about him, I’ll call her.”

  “Okay,” Tori said. Even Dr. B seemed to be insisting that honesty wasn’t always the best policy, or at least not the best strategy. “I’ll let you know when I hear anything from Aaron.” It was a small offering but it was all she had.

  “Your actions in this affair,” Dr. B continued, “are unacceptable, to say the least.”

  Tori sank down onto her window seat, leaning against a row of pillows there. “I only—”

  Dr. B didn’t let her finish. “Not because you helped Aaron enact this plan, but because you did so without any consultation from the rest of the Slayers. Sending Aaron in may prove to be a valuable strategy, but you shouldn’t make far-reaching decisions without any debate or vote. Doing away with democracy is Overdrake’s plan, not ours.”

  That stung. Granted, Dr. B always made the Slayers discuss any important mission beforehand, but he’d also taught her that being a captain meant that sometimes you had to make hard decisions alone. That’s what she’d done this time. “I didn’t tell the other Slayers because they’re predisposed to distrust dragon lords. Jesse doesn’t want me to even try to learn how to control dragons.” It was one of the things they’d fought about this morning. “The Slayers refuse to see the potential of training Aaron.”

  “And you refuse to see the danger. Twelve-year-olds are impressionable and easily influenced. What if Overdrake converts Aaron to his side? If Dirk and Aaron both help their father during an attack, we’ll have to simultaneously fight three dragons. What will our chances be then?”

  She didn’t answer. As it was, they hardly had a chance against two.

  “Captains can’t function without the trust of their team and I’m afraid this bit of subterfuge will cost you the other Slayers’ trust. You’ve left me no choice but to put you on probation.”

  The words clanged in Tori’s ears. Her fight with Jesse and her worry about Aaron had made her overly emotional. Otherwise, tears wouldn’t have sprung to her eyes at this pronouncement. Probation meant she’d be temporarily demoted from being A-Team’s captain, not kicked off the team. Still, hot tears spilled onto her cheeks. She felt as though Dr. B had told her he no longer liked her and doubted the Slayers would either.

  “Ryker will be captain until I reassess the matter,” he said. Ryker was the other flyer on A-team. He’d only been with the Slayers since Halloween, less than a month.

  Tori’s voice lodged halfway in her throat, making it hard to speak. “I understand.”

  Dr. B said his goodbyes and Tori slumped against the back of the window seat, exhausted.

  It was stupid to feel so hurt. She hadn’t wanted to be a captain in the first place, but having the position taken away from her as a punishment made her feel small and breakable and completely wrong about everything she’d done. She kept trying to do the right thing, so why did everything seem to turn out horrible?

  Aprilynne peeked her head into Tori’s room, then came over and sat next to her. “I take it the conversation with Jesse didn’t go well?”

  “No.” Another lie. For someone who’d always prided herself on her honesty, she’d become nothing but an assortment of untruths.

  Aprilynne put her arm around Tori’s shoulder. “I told you that you should have talked to him in person.”

  Tori nodded.

  “We’ll find a way to fix things,” Aprilynne said reassuringly.

  Hopefully her sister was right about that. Surely after Jesse’s anger simmered down, he’d realize she’d been acting with good motives. He’d realize that the two of them belonged together. They’d gone through so much—meant so much to one another. He couldn’t really want to throw everything away because of a few strategic kisses.

  Tori leaned against her sister and shut her eyes. She enlarged her dragon hearing as far as it could go, hoping to hear Aaron’s voice in the background, some reassurance that he was okay. All she heard was the slow rattle of the dragon’s breath.

  Where was Aaron right now?

  Chapter 2

  When Aaron woke up, he lay on the floor of a small living room, one that vibrated with a loud hum. He sat up quickly, heart racing. His head felt like it weighed ten pounds. He shook it, trying to clear his mind. Part of his brain was screaming at him to get up and run. He’d meant to meet his father and go with him—but not like this. He hadn’t planned on being drugged and kidnapped.

  As his vision focused, he realized he wasn’t in a living room. He was on an airplane, a moving one. Not the sort of commercial plane he’d flown on before. A smaller private jet.

  The oversized chairs and coffee t
able were bolted to the ground. Dirk sat in one of them, a calculus book open in his lap. It was odd to see Dirk—and not just because he was the older brother his mother had always spoken about with so much wistful reverence that the guy might have been a mythological being instead of a person. It was odd because everyone had told Aaron how much he looked like Dirk.

  They had the same blond hair, blue eyes, and their features were similar enough that Tori and Dr. B had pegged them for brothers as soon as they’d met Aaron. Dirk was taller with broader shoulders and a squarer jaw, but that was because his brother was almost eighteen. When Aaron reached the same age, he’d probably have those things too.

  Maybe everyone was right. Maybe looking at Dirk was like looking at his own future.

  Dirk only gave Aaron a passing glance, then went back to writing equations in a notebook next to his calculus book. Somehow seeing him calmly do math problems bothered Aaron. If you were going to kidnap someone, you shouldn’t do something as normal as homework while it was happening.

  “You’re awake,” a voice behind him said. “Good.”

  Aaron turned and noted Brant Overdrake sitting on a couch. Aaron had seen pictures of his father taken when his parents had still been married. His dark hair was streaked with gray, and he had more wrinkles around his brown eyes, but other than that, he hadn’t changed much. He was tall, fit, and stern-looking. The sort of person who could dissect you with a gaze.

  Overdrake eyed Aaron with smug approval. “It’s hard to keep a dragon lord drugged for long. We have a resistance to drugs. The fact that you’re up already is a piece of proof that you’re my son. Although we’ll need to go to my compound to see for certain.” Overdrake gestured to the seat next to Dirk’s, inviting him to sit. “Your mother told you about me, I assume. You know who I am?”

  Aaron got to his feet, still feeling clumsy and tired from the drug. He slumped into one of the leather chairs. “Yeah, you’re Brant Overdrake.” Aaron brushed his hand against his pocket, checking for his phone. Gone. “Where is my phone?”