by Amelia Jade
The voice exploded through his mind, and Zeke shook himself, focusing back on the present.
Damn, he’d been daydreaming about Amber again. All morning he’d been unable to get her off his mind, and the feeling had become worse once he’d shifted and taken to the skies. Now Zander was going to ream him a new one.
“Yes, Instructor?” he replied.
“Did you hear a word I just said?” Zander shouted.
“No, Instructor,” he replied, cursing himself and his inattention.
“I thought not. That’s ten laps, wingtip formation, for all three of you.”
The others groaned and prepared to head for the start of their laps around Forlorn Peak.
“After all of today’s exercises are complete.”
The chorus of groans redoubled and Zeke could feel both Asher and Dom glaring at him.
It was going to be a long day.
***
“What the hell was that all about?”
Dom spoke first, which caught Zeke slightly off guard. He was normally the quieter of the trio, so for him to speak before Asher, it must mean they were truly ticked off at him.
“I’m sorry guys,” he said as they winged around the solitary mountain that marked the Academy.
The course they followed was marked out, and it managed to avoid any of the common thermal zones in and around the mountain. Which meant that for the ten-mile length of it, the dragons would be working, having to constantly keep themselves aloft. And they had to do so while staying tight to each other, wingtip to wingtip, hence the name of the formation. It was not fun.
“What happened?” Asher asked.
“I got distracted. Probably the way you did when those gryphons jumped you, and we had to do laps for you,” Zeke replied, turning it into a joke at the end.
“Yeah, but he only got us five laps!” Dom complained, though there was no malice in his voice.
“We’re also in better shape now. Five laps wouldn’t be nearly as painful anymore.”
Asher had a point about them being in better shape. Zeke knew he could have done five laps and only been winded now. Ten would hurt, especially after the full day of being aloft, but they could do it. It really wasn’t the worst punishment Zander could have come up with.
“What distracted you?” Asher said, prying further.
He thought about not answering, or playing it off. It would have been easier, less effort, but he couldn’t do that. Asher and Dom were quickly becoming more than just his friends. They were practically family to him, with all the time they spent together. They deserved an answer.
“It’s her,” he said slowly. “I can’t stop thinking about her. Sometimes, it doesn’t even feel conscious. It’s like something else is pushing thoughts and memories of her into my brain. I don’t know how to describe it any better than that.”
He abruptly fell silent, not sure what else to say. It sounded ridiculous, but it was the truth. The trio of dragons covered ground quickly, their wings now much stronger and capable of propelling them at much faster speeds, despite the lack of thermals. The ground below them rolled by as he became lost in his thoughts once more.
Dom broke the silence at last. “The human girl, from last night?”
Zeke nodded. “Her name is Amber, yes.”
“It’s your dragon.”
Zeke looked over at Asher, who had spoken so quietly he almost didn’t hear it over the whistle of the air as they cruised along. “Pardon?”
“The thing pushing memories and distracting you. It’s your dragon doing it.”
“How do you know?” he asked slowly, though Zeke had a feeling he knew the answer.
“Because it did the same for me.”
Zeke almost fell out of formation at that revelation.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Dom asked.
“That’s impossible,” Zeke said, wishing he could shake his dragon head as easily as he could his human one to indicate his disagreement. “I barely talked to her. It was just a couple of hours!”
The Frost Dragon looked at him, letting the facial features of his dragon do the talking.
“What the hell am I supposed to do now?” he protested.
“You have to go to her,” Asher told him.
“Ash, she’s being held by the Guardians. She might even be questioned and gone by now. How’s he supposed to see her?” Dom asked the questions Zeke wasn’t able to voice.
“You have to try.” Asher’s calm, measured tone was at direct odds with Dom’s disbelief.
“He’s right,” Zeke said, closing his eyes briefly, the image of her smiling up at him just before he left her clear as day on the underside of his eyelids. It never seemed to leave him.
“I need to see her. No matter what.”
***
His heart fluttered as he spread his wings wide, using the huge flaps to slow his descent, until he landed on the stone circle, touching down with a grace and ease he could never have dreamed of six months earlier.
Straight ahead, two men turned to face him, though they didn’t approach. Zeke filed that away, along with the other four Guardians he had seen patrolling the outer edges of the Guardian building, walking their rounds along the low stone wall that surrounded the property.
The security was much tighter than the night before.
He focused his mind, and the familiar flame-tinged smoke billowed out from around him. Forcing himself to take it slow, he waited until the wall of flame had spent itself trying to reach out past the edge of the stone circle before he began to stride forward.
“Hello,” he said, dipping his head formally in greeting to the two Guardians who stood before him.
“Good evening,” came the courteous reply.
“A few more of you around tonight than there were the other night,” he commented.
“Indeed. More than you know,” the same Guardian replied, the unspoken threat indicating that, if he were there with ill intent, they were ready for him.
“Easy, gentlemen,” he said, peacefully putting his hands out wide. “I was the one who brought her in.”
“Brought who in?”
Zeke rolled his eyes. “The woman who you’re all here to guard.”
The two Guardians looked hesitant.
“Oh for—”
“Zeke? Is that you?”
“Tobias! Can you tell these two goons to relax, that I’m friendly?”
Tobias came jogging out of the shadows. “Guys it’s fine. He knows everything, he brought her in last night, and fought off those dicks who tried to take her.”
The other two Guardians relaxed at last, though not completely.
“What are you doing back here, Z?”
“I need to see her. Is she still here?” Zeke wasn’t in the mood to chitchat; he wanted to get it all out there right away.
“Yeah, they had to delay the meeting. A couple of key folks weren’t able to make it yesterday.”
“Good, can I see her?”
Tobias looked unhappy. “You’ll have to talk to Delilah,” he said with a grimace. “She’s on counter tonight, and she gets to decide.”
Zeke swore under his breath. Delilah was a Guardian, so he had to play nice. But she was nobody’s friend. Her penchant for following the rules to the finest detail was practically legendary, and she had made many enemies, and several powerful friends. All of which conspired to keep her as a Guardian, but also to ensure she never moved upward. Which meant Delilah had a chip on her shoulder.
“Well isn’t that just lovely.”
He glanced at the two whose names he did not know, noting that they were trying not to smile.
“Let’s see how this goes,” he said, jogging up the stairs, pushing open one of the doors and striding up to the desk.
“No visitors.”
He stopped in his tracks, jaw dropping open.
“How did—”
“I’m not an idiot. But no visitors, that’s the rules.”
“Come on Delilah. I brought her in. I said I’d visit tonight. I’m not going to try anything.”
“No visitors,” she repeated.
Zeke hissed in frustration and spun on his heel, descending the stairs to where everyone waited.
“That was quick,” Tobias joked.
Zeke shot him a glare. “I need to get in there. Can you help me?”
The shifters looked at each other. A grin spread slowly across Tobias’s face, and then to the others. “Yes, I think we can. But only because we all hate her equally.”
They walked around to the back of the building.
“That’s her room there,” Tobias said, pointing at one of the few with bars on it.
“Well, bars are no good. They would hear me ripping those off.”
“Yes, but that one is right next door,” Tobias said, pointing to a window free of bars or cage-mesh.
“Okay, nice. But how do I get up there? Shifting won’t help.”
The three shifters looked at him, walked below the window and then the pair he didn’t know locked hands together between them, like a platform. Tobias put his hands under.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Zeke said. “You guys have done this before, haven’t you?”
The Guardians all looked at him, and then shrugged innocently in unison, prompting a snort from Zeke. They were terrible liars.
“Okay, here we go,” he said, taking a few steps back.
He jogged forward, jumped onto their hands, and was hurled upward. The window went past, and he landed on the edge, arms flailing as he tried to recover his balance.
“Shit,” he said dully and fell backward, rotating in mid-air to land on one knee.
The Guardians were snickering, not making any attempt to hide their amusement.
“Yeah yeah,” he said, standing up.
The second time he landed smoothly on the little ledge, forcing the window up. He shouldn’t have been surprised at the fact there was no screen, but he was. Clearly this was a well-known entry point by the Guardians.
The room was empty, and a quick peek told him the hallway was too. The door was a simple bar lock, so he slid it aside and without further hesitation, slipped inside.
“Hey!”
“Shhh,” he said, throwing a finger to his lips as he closed the door behind him.
“Zeke?” Amber asked, dropping her voice. “What’s going on?”
He looked around awkwardly. “Uh, nothing?”
“What do you mean?”
He felt his face warm lightly at the embarrassment. “I just needed to talk to you.”
Amber frowned. “So you what, sneaked in here? I was told nobody would be allowed to visit today.”
Zeke nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. So I broke the rules.”
She smiled happily at him. “Really? Thank you. This has been such a ridiculous waste of my time. It’s nice to see someone willing to help me out.”
“I didn’t come to break you out,” he told her.
“So what are you here for then, more information?” she asked, her guard going back up.
He shook his head. “No, nothing like that.”
Amber looked at him quizzically. “You really went through all the sneaking around just to talk to me?”
Zeke shrugged helplessly. “Maybe?”
She relaxed once more, falling back onto the bed and motioning for him to take the chair at the desk. “Well, that’s sweet, but a rescue would have been nicer.”
“You don’t need a rescue,” he said with a chuckle, sitting gently into the chair as it groaned beneath his weight. “You’re safe here. Once they get your story and information, they’ll let you go. Someone will take you back across the border.”
“It doesn’t feel like it. I feel like I’m a prisoner,” she said, reaching up above her head and dragging a nail across the concrete wall to make her point. “Not exactly five-star accommodations.”
Zeke smiled. “It’s not to keep you in,” he explained. “It’s to keep others out.”
Amber sat up, looking at him. “You mean the people who brought me here in the first place.”
He nodded. “Or anyone else with a grudge against humans. Not everyone in Cadia is as easygoing as I am. Most are, the vast majority. But we have our fanatics too.”
“Well, that’s reassuring.”
“You’re perfectly safe here,” he reassured her. “But if you were to escape out into Cadia, you probably wouldn’t make it through the night.”
Amber’s eyes darted to the window, and then refocused on him. “So, Zeke the Fire Dragon, besides scaring me into staying put, what else did you come here for?”
He hesitated. Saying the true reason was unlikely to work. They’d met the night before. He wasn’t about to tell her that she had been on his mind all day. His dragon wouldn’t hesitate, but the human portion of Zeke knew that he couldn’t be so blunt. Fortunately, he had a ready-made excuse.
“I promised you that I would come back. I keep my promises,” he said.
Amber eyed him skeptically. He hadn’t promised he would be back, only that he would try. Sneaking in against the rules was a little more than was to be expected.
“I see. Well, now that you’re here, I guess I’m stuck talking to you, aren’t I?”
He grinned, moving the chair over to the bed so he could put his feet up.
“Yes, I think you are.”
Amber gave him that same little smile.
It was going to be a good night.
Chapter Five
Amber
The pounding on the door eventually forced her eyes open.
“Yes?” she called, her eyes slowly opening, greeted with the sight of bare whitewashed walls.
She frowned. That wasn’t right. The walls of her room were a desert beige. And they weren’t devoid of decoration either. There were pictures, and a mirror.
Amber sat up, looking around her in panic. Where was she? This wasn’t her room! She threw off the covers, halfway to her feet before the memories of the past thirty-six hours all came flooding in.
The room spun slightly as she put her hand out for support against one of the empty walls.
Head rush. Take it easy.
She blinked rapidly, inhaling slowly and exhaling the same until some semblance of balance and calm returned to her.
Right. She was in “protective custody” in the middle of Cadia, a shifter territory. The banging at the door came again.
“What?” she said, pulling the door open a crack.
Tobias, the only shifter whose name she’d been able to memorize, was standing there looking apologetic.
“Sorry to wake you, miss, but it’s time to go.”
“Are we actually doing it today?” she asked, pulling the door open and stepping back inside. She was already dressed in the only clothes she had, thankfully cleaned at least, though they still were sporting some rips in them. Sleeping clothes weren’t a thing here apparently, so she’d just stayed clothed.
“Yes, the Guardian Council is all assembled now, and ready to hear your story. They will likely have lots of questions.”
“There’s a surprise,” she said, pulling on her shoes and gesturing for him to lead the way.
Tobias shot her a look, but then realized she was being sarcastic.
“Ah, yes. Well, most of them will believe you, I think. But beware of the gryphon representatives. They’ve been rather snippy about the whole thing. They likely won’t believe a word you say. Just don’t rise to their challenge, and you should be okay.”
She looked at him sharply as they descended the last of the stairs, a grand set of double doors looming above them, dark wood inlaid with what appeared to be gold. Large brass handles stuck out, and Tobias reached for one.
“Wait, how will I know who the gryphons are?” she asked, suddenly nervous. The idea that not everyone would believe her had never crossed her mind until now.
“You’ll know,” he told her, a
nd with a nod, yanked on the door, swinging it open. With a gesture he escorted her inside.
The room wasn’t all that large. Black painted benches to either side, five rows worth, each of which could hold perhaps ten people. There was a metal wall separating them from the interior of the room, much like a courtroom. Tobias showed her down between rows, until he reached a gate in the wall, which slid open easily. He held it as she passed through, and then showed her to a chair in the center of the semi-circular portion of the room.
Amber sat, the empty pews behind her no longer visible. In front of her, fourteen chairs sat in an arc, raised up upon a dais so that they could look down upon the rest of the room, including her. Even as she sat, Amber realized the chair was quite squat, designed to enhance the feeling of being loomed over.
It’s like an evil boss’s lair in here.
“This is where I leave you,” Tobias said, giving her shoulder a squeeze and departing.
The door behind her banged open, and almost simultaneously a second door recessed somewhere behind the dais in front of her opened, and people began to file into the large chairs. There were footsteps behind her, and she realized others were assembling in the benches behind her. Why they waited for her, she wasn’t quite sure, but it seemed to give her a bit of power.
Seizing the moment, she crossed her legs and leaned back as imperiously as the she could, allowing a disinterested look to cross her face, as if she were bored, and unimpressed that she had been kept waiting on their presence instead of vice versa. She saw several of the newcomers reevaluate her as they settled into their seats.
Some looked permanently sullen and unhappy. The majority of the others looked neutral, while a few actually smiled or tilted their heads toward her.
The grumps must be the gryphons, she realized.
Ha ha. Grumpy Gryphons. Gee-Gee’s.
She realized her mind was wandering and snapped it back into focus almost at the same time a solemn, but not angry, figure in the center of the circle raised their hand.
“Thank you for coming.” His voice, though not a yell, boomed out across the room regardless, audible for all without being overwhelming.
That’s one hell of a trick.
She noticed now as she looked closer that there were crests inlaid into the top of the high-backed chairs they sat in.
