by C. J. Hill
“Next time I’ll bring Minerva. You want to see her too, don’t you? Maybe she’ll have better answers to your questions than Khan did.”
“You would let me go into Minerva’s mind?”
“Of course.” Dirk smiled, purposely tempting her.
He had to know that Tori would try to take control of Minerva, and every time she practiced, she would get better at being able to split her consciousness into three parts. Yet he didn’t seem to object.
“Why?” she asked suspiciously. There had to be a trap somewhere she wasn’t seeing.
His hands went to her shoulders, and he leaned over and dropped a kiss on her lips. “Because . . .”
He lengthened his explanation with another kiss. And then another. She waited patiently and tried not to kiss him back . . . too much. Then again, she was extracting information from the enemy, so it was okay to encourage him a little.
Finally, he lifted his head. “Because I know that once you’ve been inside a dragon’s mind, you’ll have a harder time killing it.” His hands slid off her shoulders. “My father says you had a clear shot at Kiha but didn’t take it. Jesse was the one who killed her.”
Tori stared back at him, her heart pounding in her chest. He had known about her hesitation with Kiha—and used it against her. He’d let her go into Khan’s mind so she’d have a harder time killing him later. This whole evening had been a ploy and she’d walked into it.
She shifted away from Dirk, angry. “In that case, I’d better not meet Minerva.”
“Are you sure? You want to practice your dragon lord skills. What other chance will you have?” Dirk smiled at her again. “Maybe I’ll even teach you a few things.”
He had her, and he knew it. She wanted to keep practicing, but she wasn’t going to admit that.
Instead she leaned toward him, slid her arms around his neck, and kissed him as though they really were boyfriend and girlfriend; without reservation.
When she pulled away, he looked at her startled but pleased. “What was that for?”
“I’m hoping it works both ways, and since I kissed you, you’ll have a harder time killing me.”
He laughed at her reasoning. She didn’t stay around to hear his commentary on it. Instead, she flew over the seat rail, down the dragon’s side—remembering not to fly in front of him—and glided toward her car.
Chapter 36
Tori awoke the next morning to the sound of Brindy barking to be let out of Tori’s room. She hadn’t set her alarm clock. She’d planned on sleeping in and skipping her journalism meeting this morning.
After all, teachers should know better than to schedule meetings on Saturdays. She needed sleep more than the school newspaper needed her help with the layout. Her decision had nothing to do with the fact she didn’t want to face Jesse. Dreaded facing Jesse, actually. She rolled over and shut her eyes. If she avoided him today, she’d have until Monday to figure out what to tell him about Dirk.
Last night when she’d kissed him, it had seemed justified. She’d kissed Dirk so he’d give her access to Khan’s mind, so she could figure out how to control him. She’d kissed Dirk in hopes of saving Jesse’s life, not to hurt him. She’d done it to protect the country, to prevent death and suffering.
And the time she’d kissed Dirk right before she left, well, she’d done that to make a point. At the moment, her actions hadn’t felt all that much out of line considering she’d already kissed him so many times.
As soon as Tori got home, though, the weight of guilt pressed on her. Now it felt like a persistent headache. What had she done? It had been a mistake. All of it.
She’d thought she was buying time inside the dragon’s mind with her kisses, but Dirk had wanted her to go into Khan’s mind all along. He would have probably let her stay connected to the dragon even if she’d refused his advances.
So she should have refused them. But how could she have known?
Well, maybe she should have realized that going inside Khan’s mind would make it harder for her to kill him. She’d already learned that the hard way with Kiha. She’d thought her hesitation was just a personal weakness—a glitch of being too softhearted. Apparently not. It was part of her genetic makeup. Her dragon lord side insisted she protect, not kill, dragons. And that part was activated when she went into a dragon’s mind.
Dirk had known what would happen if she went into Khan’s mind, and he used that knowledge against her.
Still, one good thing had come from the night. She’d seen the control center of a dragon’s mind. She’d experienced how dragon lords split their consciousness three ways—a crucial part of controlling a dragon or pushing another dragon lord out. Dirk had undoubtedly not meant for her to learn that.
Brindy barked again, lifting a paw to scratch at the door. The dog had heard people moving around the house and wanted to mingle.
Tori glanced at the clock. It was two minutes after seven. Why was her family up so early on a weekend? She’d only slept half an hour longer than usual.
“Stop it, Brindy,” she moaned and turned over.
The dog didn’t stop, wouldn’t. Tori reluctantly pulled herself out of bed and opened her door. Brindy shot down the hallway, tail wagging, barking wildly.
There was no point going back to sleep now. As soon as her family saw the dog, they would come into Tori’s room and ask where Brindy had come from.
Tori followed Brindy down the hallway, yawning. She’d only gotten five hours of sleep. Although that wasn’t entirely because of being out dragon riding. After she’d come home, she’d sent Aaron a message saying that Dirk had flat out said Aaron was too young to be involved in the revolution. So she doubted Dirk would tell Overdrake about him.
Tori hadn’t expected Aaron to write back until the following day, but he replied almost immediately. I’ll have to find a way to contact Overdrake myself. Suggestions?
She’d answered back I suggest you listen to Dirk. Stay away from Overdrake for a few years. Wait until you’re— She didn’t want to say “more mature,” that would offend him. Wait until you’re older. He’s controlling, and he plays mind games.
Aaron typed back quickly. If I wait until after the attacks, it will be too late. Jacob will do something stupid, like go fight the dragons. I’m trying to keep Overdrake from being able to attack. Why aren’t you helping me? I thought you wanted to stop him.
She did want to stop Overdrake. Aaron was right about that.
Aaron sent another message. I’ll list dragon scales for sale online. Someone who works for Overdrake will see the ad eventually and tell him about it. I’ll have to go through a lot of buyers, and some of them might be dangerous, especially when I refuse to sell them a scale. But sooner or later, Overdrake, will come for me.
Really, Aaron was almost as good at manipulation as Dirk. She’d probably regret helping him later, just like she regretted kissing Dirk.
She sighed and tapped out another message. Fine. I’ll write Dirk and say something about you. I’m pretty sure his father is spying on our conversations, so he’ll see it. I’ll do it on one condition. Before you go to the fair tomorrow, leave your mom a note telling her what you’re doing. She has a right to know.
Done, he wrote back.
Done.
It seemed like such a final word. A dangerous word.
She closed out of Aaron’s conversation and brought up her message thread with Dirk. The sound of flapping dragon wings hadn’t stopped in her head. Dirk was still out riding.
She wrote to Dirk, Thanks again for returning Brindy. It means so much to have her back safe. Tell Bridget thanks for the stuffed animals too. Brindy has already chewed off some of their limbs. I guess that’s her way of saying she loves them.
Tori sent the message then sat back, trying to think how to phrase the next few sentences.
Before she could, she heard his voice in her head. “Well, we all have our own ways of showing love, don’t we?”
She wrote, I wanted to t
alk to you more about your brother. You said Aaron is too young to be involved in the revolution—I agree—but he still needs you in his life. He doesn’t have anyone to help him adjust to being a dragon lord like you helped me. He’ll be at the North Carolina Renaissance Festival tomorrow. You should go. Start near The Black Unicorn shop. Aaron won’t be hard to recognize. He’s the twelve-year-old who looks like you.
Clicking the send link felt eerily like pulling a trigger. She just didn’t know who the bullet would strike yet—Overdrake or Aaron.
Dirk didn’t say anything at first. She only heard Khan’s wingbeats and the air rustling by. Finally, he said. “I can’t.” Then added, “We’ll talk about it next time.”
Next time. Meaning when they rode Minerva. He sounded so sure that there would be a next time.
Now as Tori followed her dog down the hallway, she wondered if she should allow a next time. Could she afford to go into Minerva’s mind, when she knew that doing so would make it harder for her to kill that dragon?
Brindy bounded down the stairs, all enthusiasm and tail wags, and rushed into the kitchen. Tori’s mother let out an astonished cry, “Brindy! How did you get here? Look at you, girl!”
“Brindy is here?” came her father’s voice.
Tori trudged down the stairs, went into the kitchen, and recited the story she’d come up with. “One of my friends texted me last night that he’d seen a German shepherd wandering the streets near his house. He knew our dog was missing so he took Brindy inside and texted me a picture. I was too excited to wait until the morning to get her.”
“Oh my heavens,” her mother said, relieved. She was kneeling in front of the dog and Brindy was doing her best to lick the makeup off her face. “Where was she?”
“Over by Chain Bridge Road.” If Tori’s parents checked the security footage and noticed how long she was gone last night, she’d tell them she spent a while talking with her friend.
“How did she get all the way over there?” her father asked, petting Brindy and checking her over at the same time.
Aprilynne came into the kitchen to join the welcome-home petting. “I guess this ruins your theory that Brindy was taken by the boogeyman.”
“I never said she was taken by the boogeyman.” Tori leaned against the counter. “I said she was taken by someone who didn’t want her barking while they attacked our house. And if you recall, our house was attacked.”
“But we’re safe now,” her mother said with firm insistence, as though the assertion could make it true. “And so is Brindy.”
Tori’s father straightened. “Speaking of which, you really shouldn’t drive off by yourself late at night without letting us know where you’re going.”
A lecture was coming, maybe more restrictions. Tori edged toward the kitchen door. “I knew you guys needed your sleep. And speaking of sleep, I’m really tired, so I’m going back to bed.”
“You can’t,” her mother said before Tori finished her sentence. “You’ve got your newspaper layout to do at school this morning, remember?”
“Oh, that.” Tori kept going toward the door. “I decided to skip it. The whole class will be there and I already sent in my article. They don’t need me.”
She should have learned by now that there were some excuses that didn’t work on her parents. She could have said she was sick, that the meeting had been cancelled, anything else. Instead of letting her go back to bed, her parents launched into speeches about the importance of fulfilling responsibilities and finishing school assignments.
She barely had time to shower and dress before Lars whisked her off to the school. There would be no delaying her meeting with Jesse. During the ride, she debated what to say and how much to tell him.
On one hand, telling Jesse about kissing Dirk seemed like the honest thing.
On the other hand, what good would it do? Telling the truth would only hurt him and make him angry. And since she’d only kissed Dirk as a tactical strategy, why mention it at all and cause Jesse unnecessary pain?
The kisses hadn’t meant anything. Not really. She wasn’t going to take Dirk up on his offer to rule with him. Or to eventually marry him and have children.
Then again, if she didn’t tell Jesse, and he somehow found out about it later, he would know she’d hidden it from him. It would be an admission of guilt. It would be like lying. He’d think she’d cheated on him.
Tori let out a long sigh of resignation. Fine. She’d tell him she’d kissed Dirk.
By the time Lars dropped her off, she’d changed her mind a dozen times. As she walked into the school, she was back to tell Jesse . . . until she saw him down the hall halfway to their classroom. He must have heard her footsteps, because he glanced over his shoulder, and when he saw her, he smiled and waited for her to catch up. The smile made remorse thunk around inside of her. He was tall, gorgeous, and full of the knight-in-shining-armor, do-the-right-thing Jesse-ness. She wanted to wrap her arms around his chest, sink into him, and forget that last night ever happened.
When she caught up to him, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a stuffed elephant with a pink bow around its neck. “This is for you,” he said holding it out. “I was going to go with a teddy bear but when I saw this, I figured an elephant was fitting for a Republican.”
She took the toy and ran her hand over its soft, gray material. “Thanks.” He was only making this harder. “Did I forget a special occasion? I mean, I didn’t bring a donkey for you.”
“No occasion. I just wanted to cheer you up. You know, because of yesterday.”
“Yesterday?” For a moment she thought he was referring to last night—that he already knew. Why was he looking at her sympathetically and buying her gifts?
“I’m sorry about your dog,” Jesse said softly.
Then it made sense. “Oh, Brindy. Right. Great news. She didn’t die after all. Dirk brought her back to me.”
While she spoke, Melinda came up behind Tori and let out a happy gasp. “Your dog didn’t die? I thought she was run over by a car.”
Tori cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Um yeah, it turns out she’ll be fine. The car was, uh, going slowly, and it was one of those little ones . . . so Brindy was only stunned.”
This was the problem with lying. It always came back to bite you. The next time Melinda came over to Tori’s house, Brindy would trot over to greet her, and Melinda was bound to mention the dog’s miraculous survival to someone in Tori’s family.
How would Tori explain that? She couldn’t. She’d have to go the rest of her high school years without friends—or anyone who knew the dog story—coming over to her house.
Melinda put a hand to her chest. “I’m so relieved. Did Brindy break any bones?”
“Um, no actually. We got lucky.” And to be safe, Tori should also avoid bringing her parents to school functions where her friends might talk to them.
“Amazing,” Melinda said.
“Yeah,” Tori agreed.
Melinda noticed the elephant in Tori’s hand. “What’s the stuffed animal for?”
“I gave it to her.” Jesse’s voice sounded tighter than before. He was most likely thinking about Dirk and wondering how he’d delivered Brindy. “I wanted to cheer her up, you know, back when her dog was dead.”
Jesse’s eyes narrowed, and Tori could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. Dirk didn’t know where Tori lived, so to bring her the dog, they would have had to meet somewhere. A meeting with Dirk could have been a trap—and Tori didn’t tell any of the Slayers about it.
She’d been so guilt ridden about kissing Dirk, she’d completely forgotten about the not-telling-the-Slayers-she-was-going-off-to-meet-the-enemy part of last night.
“Ohhh,” Melinda cooed over the stuffed animal. “That’s so sweet.”
“It really was thoughtful,” Tori told Jesse. “Thanks again.” She set her backpack on the floor and put the elephant inside so she didn’t have to look at him anymore. He didn’t speak, but she coul
d feel him staring at her, probably going over all the rules she’d broken.
“They say elephants never forget,” Melinda said, filling the silence. “The same probably holds true for elephant gifts. Tori will always remember it.”
“I don’t know,” Jesse said. “Tori seems to forget a lot of stuff.”
Tori glanced at the classroom door but didn’t move toward it. Neither did Jesse.
Melinda’s gaze ricochet back and forth between them, noting the tension. “Well,” she finally said, “I’m going to journalism now. You guys coming?”
“In a minute,” Tori said. “I need to talk to Jesse.”
“Jonathan,” Jesse said.
“Jonathan,” Tori repeated with a wince. How long would it take her to remember he had a different name here? “Sorry. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Right,” Melinda said with a wave.” See you guys later.” She went inside and shut the door behind her.
Jesse set his backpack on the ground, an indication the conversation wasn’t going to be a quick one. “So, what exactly happened with Dirk last night, and why do you look guilty about it?”
This was not going to go well.
Tori fiddled with the strap of her watch. “Dirk made his father promise not to hurt Brindy, so he fed a different dog to the dragon. Which is still horrible. But we’ve always known he’s a horrible person.” She was rambling. She stopped fiddling with her watch. “Anyway, when Dirk found out about Brindy, he said he’d return her, but I had to come alone. I knew Dr. B wouldn’t let me, so I didn’t tell anyone.”
Jesse sighed in aggravation and raked a hand through his hair. “Why would you agree to something like that? You know what happened to Shang.”
“Dirk promised not to hurt or kidnap me, I could tell he meant it. As you can see, I’m safe, and he didn’t kidnap me. Well, mostly.”
Jesse raised an eyebrow.
“He sort of flew off with me and brought me to see his dragon. For a while now, he’s been saying that if I were around a dragon that wasn’t attacking me, I’d love it.”
