Dragon Within (Book One) Page 6

  “One more question,” I said, ignoring the look he gave me. “Who is Derek and what does he have to do with any of this?”

  “That’s two questions.”

  “Fine, so it’s two questions. Answer me anyway. I think I have a right to know why he’s so dangerous.”

  “Derek was part of your mother’s clan,” he said hesitantly.

  “Was?” He made a face like he really didn’t want to say any more, but I wasn’t letting up. “Explain.”

  He sighed. “Derek went renegade. I don’t know how he found out about you or why he came here. I didn’t even know he was around until I found him outside your friend’s house right before he threw a fireball at me after I told him to leave. Which, by the way, should be all the proof you need of how dangerous and reckless he is.”

  I released his wrist and stepped back so he could make his call. I knew his words were true, or at least they seemed so to me at the time. It was all so clear to me in the moment. Derek had acted with violence and so he must be my enemy. I miss such certainty now; that clear line between black and white. Life is much harder to deal with once you have to start seeing in shades of gray.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Our ride turned out to be a helicopter. You heard me right. A big, silver helicopter, which landed right out there in the desert. As it touched down, I threw my hands up to shield my face from the blast of sand I expected to have hit me, only to feel like a fool when it didn’t. Not because the sand didn’t blow, but because it only blew in the opposite direction, away from where Zack and I were standing. It seemed odd to me, but I wasn’t sure why at first. It’s not like I was an expert on helicopters.

  The side door slid open and at first glance, I took the person who jumped out to be a girl of about twelve in a denim jumpsuit with a long braid of magenta hair hanging down her back. She waited until the blades stopped spinning, then came over to where we stood.

  “Hi,” she held her hand out toward me. “You must be Abigail. I’m Alice.”

  I took her offered hand and shook it. Up close I could immediately see my mistake. Alice wasn’t a child, she was a woman in her mid twenties. It was her height and slight figure which threw me. The top of her head barely reached my chest and she was built like a boy. Okay, maybe that last bit sounds kind of mean, but it’s true.

  I wondered if she was a dragon too, and somehow the thought that it wouldn’t be a strange question to ask her brought everything home to me in a way nothing else had. I was actually starting to really believe I was a dragon.

  Some of what I was feeling must have shown through on my face, because Alice gave me a sympathetic look and a pat on the arm. “I know this must be really strange and upsetting for you, but don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine.”

  Easy for her to say. “So, you’re a...a dragon too?”

  She smiled. “You bet. I’m an air dragon, like you. Come on.” She took hold of my arm and led me toward the helicopter.

  When she said those words it finally hit me why the direction the sand was blowing seemed so weird. Because it wasn’t natural. Alice was making the sand blow in that direction and she was doing it with no apparent concentration at all. As if it were nothing to her to be so totally in control. It made everything I’d done seem weak and childish in comparison.

  Once Zack had his bike stowed away and we were all settled in our seats, the pilot started the blades to whirring again. I leaned toward Alice, who was sitting opposite me, and asked, “Exactly where are we going?”

  “To the airstrip where we rented this helicopter,” she replied. “Our plane is waiting for us there. Then it’s off to California.”

  “Whoa, what now?” I guess I should have expected her to say that. After all, I knew from Curtis’ online friend that Zack lived outside Los Angeles, so it stood to reason we’d be going there. But I hadn’t expected it. Hadn’t expected much of anything, actually. Too caught up in the adventure of it all, if you recall.

  “You can’t be serious.” I looked over at Zack. Definitely serious. “I can’t go off to California. My parents will freak.”

  “You can call them from the plane and explain,” Alice said, still wearing her sunny smile.

  “Yeah, and I can imagine how that conversation will go.” I lifted my fist to my ear. “Hi, mom and dad. Where am I? On an airplane with a bunch of people I don’t know. Where am I going?

  California. Why California? Because that’s where my dragon clan lives and I have to go to them so I can learn how to control my powers. Call the FBI? No, there’s no need to do that, everything is going to be fine, even though there’s a chance I may never come home again. Okay? Love you, bye.” I lowered my hand to my lap. “How do you think that’s going to go over?”

  “We were too busy trying to keep you safe to worry about what your parents might think,” Zack said. “You’re just lucky I got to you before Derek did.”

  “Oh yeah? How do I know all this stuff with Derek isn’t a big lie to scare me into coming with you?” I asked. “Maybe he’s not part of my mother’s clan at all. Maybe you staged the whole argument outside Trudy’s house to freak me out.”

  “If you believe so, then why did you come?” he asked.

  I opened my mouth to reply, but couldn’t think of anything snappy or witty to say. I slumped back in my seat. “I don’t know.”

  “It’s because Zack has an honest face,” Alice said, a twinkle of mischief in her blue eyes. She turned and laid a hand on the muscular arm of our pilot. “Don’t you agree, Rick?”

  Rick chuckled and answered her in a deep, southern drawl. “Sure. That’s exactly what I think every time I look at Zack. What a honest face he’s got.”

  Under better circumstances I probably would have laughed at the expression on Zack’s face. But I couldn’t work up the good humor. Instead, I turned my head and looked out the window at the desert beneath us. Bad idea. As soon as I saw the ground so far below, my stomach gave a violent twist and it was all I could do not to throw up all over the place.

  Remember how my motorcycle ride went from terrifying to exhilarating? Yeah, well, the helicopter ride was nothing like that. I’d been on a plane a couple of times before and it was fine, but this was different somehow. I don’t know, maybe stress and nerves had some part in it. I wouldn’t be surprised.

  Were you thinking I had been on a helicopter before, seeing as how my best friend’s dad owned one? If so, then you were wrong. Mr. Levine’s helicopter was strictly for work. Even Brandy had never been up in it. I’d always wanted to go and used to wheedle Brandy into asking her dad to take us. She never would.

  Anyway, by the time we reached the airstrip I was thinking to myself if I never had to ride on a helicopter ever again I would be perfectly happy. As I stepped out onto the tarmac, my trembling legs gave way beneath me. Luckily, Zack was there to catch me as I started to fall.

  Have I mentioned how cute he was? I have? Well, I think it bears mentioning again, mostly because I’d never before been in the arms of any guy, cute or not.

  “First time in a helicopter, huh?” Rick smiled at me. He was equally as muscled from the front as from the back; he could have been on the cover of one of those bodybuilder magazines. Now, I know some girls find such guys swoon worthy, but not me. Besides, he was at least thirty and so far as I was concerned that was old. Not like Zack, who was just enough older than I was to make him an older man without getting all weird.

  Heat flooded my face and I could only hope they thought it was because I was embarrassed about being such a weakling when it came to helicopter rides and not because of Zack’s arms around me. I carefully drew away from his steadying hands and managed a weak laugh. “Am I so obvious?”

  “It’s okay,” Rick said. “Nothing to feel bad about. Helicopters tend to make people nervous.”

  “Not her,” I said, nodding toward Alice, who was jogging over to a small airplane.

  Rick looked at her with such warm affection I wondered if maybe
he might be her brother. “Nothing makes her nervous.”

  I fell in beside him as we walked. Zack trailed behind. “So, what kind of dragon are you?” Those words still felt weird coming out of my mouth.

  “I’m in the clan by marriage, not birth.” Again that soft look toward Alice, who was now having a conversation with a man in greasy overalls. “I’m one hundred percent human.”

  “Wait a minute, Alice is your wife?” I couldn’t stop my shock from coming through. A more mismatched pair I’d never seen. And I thought Kyle and Brandy were a weird couple.

  Rick laughed. “We always get that reaction when people first find out. Alice and I may not be compatible on the outside, but the inside is a different matter.”

  Alice trotted back to us. “We have a little bit of a problem.” From the way she said it I figured it couldn’t be much. She didn’t even look upset. “Chet over there,” she indicated the man, “tells me we have a fuel leak and something’s wrong with the motor. He thinks the plane was tampered with.”

  “Derek.” Zack said the man’s name like a curse. “So what do we do now? Can he fix it?”

  “Not tonight,” Alice said. “Maybe not tomorrow either. Eventually, yes, he says he can fix it. But it looks like we might be grounded here for a couple of days.”

  “We can’t stay here. Not with...Derek hanging around,” Zack said. “It’s too dangerous.”

  Did you catch his little pause there? Yeah, me too. I figured Zack had started to say something else, maybe something he wasn’t supposed to. I wanted to ask, but the way he changed his words so fast made it clear he wouldn’t tell me. So I pretended not to notice. But I wondered.

  “We’re here,” Alice said. “Abigail will be perfectly safe from Derek.”

  “Um, where are you guys planning on staying?” I asked, even though I had a bad feeling I already knew the answer.

  “We are not staying,” Zack said firmly.

  “Nothing else we can do,” Rick said. “Not until our bird is up and running. Alice is right, with the two of you here Derek won’t come around. He’s not stupid.”

  “He was stupid enough to let me know he’s here,” Zack said. “And he was stupid enough to attack me with his powers right out in the open where anybody could see. So I don’t think we should underestimate the level of stupid he might be willing to reach in order to get to Abigail.”

  “We could go to Phoenix,” Rick said. “Big city like that, there’s no chance Derek would even be able to find us. Then we can come back for the bird once it’s fixed.”

  Zack and Alice exchanged a look which had me thinking I wasn’t the only one without all the facts. It seemed like they were keeping something from Rick too.

  “We’re staying here.” Alice spoke with the air of someone who, having put her foot down, was not apt to lift it again. I guess Zack and Rick knew it too, because neither of them said another word.

  “Good.” Out came the sunny smile. “Now it’s all settled.” Alice turned to me. “Where do you live?”

  Exactly what I was afraid she was going to ask. “Couldn’t you guys stay at a motel? There’s a nice one right outside town, by the highway.”

  Rick was shaking his head. “Zack isn’t being paranoid. Derek is dangerous. You need us with you to keep him from trying to make contact.”

  “But how will I explain you to my parents?” I asked. “There’s no way they’ll let three

  strangers camp out at our house. Besides, we don’t have enough room.”

  “What about your obnoxious friend with the big house?” Zack asked. “She has plenty of room.”

  I shot him a dirty look. “Brandy is not obnoxious. And her parents won’t let you stay at their house any more than mine will.”

  “Her family is rich,” Zack said. “Surely they have some kind of little weekend getaway place nearby.”

  I really could have smacked him for that, because he was right. The Levine’s did own a house at a nearby resort. A place where we could easily hide out from Derek and whoever else it was whose name Zack had almost said.

  I took out my cell and saw I had one missed call from my mom and three from Brandy. The phone wasn’t muted so I don’t know how I missed them unless they called during the helicopter ride and I couldn’t hear the ringing over the noise. But I couldn’t call my mom back, not until I could think of something to say to her. So I brought up Brandy’s number instead and braced myself for the tirade.

  Brandy answered on the second ring. “Abigail, thank god. Where are you?”

  “An airstrip.”

  “A what?” Her voice shrilled in my ear. “What are you doing at an airstrip? Where are you going? Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” I said. “And I’m not going anywhere right now because something is wrong with the plane.”

  “What plane?” If her voice got any higher she was going to do herself permanent damage. “Abby, what is going on?”

  I knew I was going to have to talk fast to get everything explained before I was interrupted with a barrage of questions. It was getting late and I didn’t want to be standing out in the middle of nowhere all night.

  “Zack and I have met up with two other people from his clan, my clan, I guess, and we were going to California, where the clan lives, but the plane is broken down so we need a place to stay until it gets fixed. Someplace safe, because this Derek guy sounds dangerous. I was thinking we might take a helicopter to The Oasis.”

  For a long moment Brandy was so quiet I might have thought she’d hung up, if I hadn’t been able to hear her breathing. Then she sighed. “You have completely lost your mind, haven’t you?”

  “Maybe I have, but as my official best friend it’s your sworn duty to help me in my time of crisis. So what do you say? Do you think your parents would agree to us taking a last minute trip out to The Oasis?”

  “I don’t know.” Now she sounded irritated. “Your mother called me. She said she tried your cell but you didn’t answer. I told her you must have muted it. I also told her you were in the bathroom and would call her back. I lied to your mother, Abigail, while I was freaking out wondering why you weren’t answering your phone. I hope you can appreciate it.”

  “I do.” I felt really bad for getting all caught up in myself and not thinking about the people in my life who might worry about me. I should have called my mom, and Brandy, already. Even if I couldn’t have really told them anything, at least they wouldn’t have had to worry I was lying in a ditch somewhere.

  “You had better,” Brandy said. At least her voice had calmed down some. Now she merely

  sounded resigned. “I’ll call my mother and ask about The Oasis. I’m sure she’ll say yes.”

  “Thanks, you’re the best. Oh, by the way, are Trudy and Curtis still with you?”

  “Yes.” She didn’t sound too happy about it either and I suspect it was mostly due to Trudy.

  “Bring them with you, if you can.”

  Brandy sighed. “Fine. Anything else? Want me to order you a pizza? Rent some movies? I’m at your service, obviously.”

  “Brandy--”

  “I’ll see you in about an hour.” She hung up on me without even saying goodbye. I don’t think she’d ever done that before in all the years of our friendship. That, more than anything else, told me exactly how much I had upset her. Some friend I was.

  “What’s The Oasis?” Zack asked.

  I brought my mom’s number up and hit the call button. “A manmade lake surrounded by a few acres of woods. It’s about a forty minute drive from here. It’s kind of a resort type place. Brandy’s parents have a house there big enough for all of us and nobody around to ask questions.”

  “Sounds good,” Alice said brightly. “If it’s secluded enough, we might even start your training. What do you think, sound fun?”

  “Yeah, sure.” I turned away from them as my mom picked up. “Hey, what’s up?” Do you have any idea how hard it was to sound all calm and cool like nothing was
wrong? Maybe the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life. It sure felt like it was.

  “Hi, honey, I’m so glad you called back. When I came home and you were gone... Well, I figured since Curtis wasn’t here either you must have both went with Brandy, but I was still a little worried because of what we discussed in the kitchen earlier. Dad’s home, so maybe you could come back and we could have a little family meeting. We all need to sit down together and talk this out.”

  The love and concern in her voice filled me with a hollow ache. Now the initial shock had worn off, I wasn’t even mad at her and dad for keeping such a huge secret from me. Brandy was right, as she had an annoying habit of being. My parents did what they did to protect me, not hurt me. And I loved them all the more for it. I wanted to tell her the truth so bad, but I knew I couldn’t.

  “What I really need right now is some space,” I said. “Brandy asked me and Curtis to go up to The Oasis with her for a couple of days. If it’s okay with you?”

  Mom hesitated. “Well, I suppose so. If you’re sure you don’t want to talk.”

  “Not now, mom. Later, okay?”

  “Okay.” I heard relief in her voice, I think it’s because I called her mom. And it made me feel even worse. Had she been sitting around the house wondering if I ran off because I didn’t love her anymore? I don’t know, but I think so. And that is a guilt trip like you can’t believe.

  “If you need anything,” mom said, “anything at all, you call me. Even if you only want to talk. Even if I’m at work. I’m always here for you, no matter what.”

  My throat felt hot and tight; tears stung the back of my eyes. “Thanks, mom. I love you. Dad too. Everything is okay.”

  “We love you too, honey. We love you more than anything in the world.” Her voice cracked a little. “Have fun, okay? Bye.”

  “Bye.” I hung up and then had to stand there a minute gathering myself back together before I