Dragons and Destiny (Animage Academy Book 1) Page 14

  It was almost dawn when Willa came back out of her mom’s apartment.

  “Thank you, guys. For helping out. I hope neither of you get into any trouble.”

  “Don’t worry, Willa. My school really doesn’t care if we sneak off campus. Do you need me to come and check on your mom any?”

  “No. Thank you though, Simon. I’m afraid she won’t remember you and it’ll make it worse.”

  “Willa, do you want to talk to someone? Do you need help with your mom?” Standing in the morning light Willa looked much older than sixteen. She carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. I hated to see her like that.

  “No,” she said, her mouth set in a straight line. “Promise me you won’t talk to anyone. No one will help her; they will just try to shut her away.”

  “It’s okay.” I laid my hand on her arm. “We promise. We’re not going to say anything. But we are here if you need us.”

  “Let me walk you guys back to the Academy property. I know, I know, you’re the dragon. But let me fulfill my brotherly responsibilities this time, Soph.” I laughed and gave in. Besides, I didn’t want to separate from Simon just yet.

  Once we got to the Academy grounds, he gave me a hug before Willa and I snuck back in. I comforted myself with the fact that in just a few weeks I would get to spend a whole month with him at home.

  “Are you sure your mom will stay at the apartment this time, Willa?” I asked as we let ourselves back into our room.

  “No, but I have a way to find her now, wherever she goes.” She lifted up her wrist and showed me her charm bracelet. Inside the locket of her bracelet was a lock of her mom’s blond hair.

  “An essence spell. But Willa, those are—”

  “Illegal, I know. But I don’t know what else to do, Sophie. You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

  “No, no Willa, of course not.” As we both went to our room to get ready for class, I couldn’t help but think about Chief Winston’s request. Would getting Willa’s mother somewhere safe really be that bad? As I stared at myself in the mirror in the bathroom, I shook my head. No. I would never betray her like that. The supernatural community was so fond of secrets, this is one I would have of my own.

  Chapter Eleven

  Animage Academy dismissed for the holidays for the whole month of December. The week between Thanksgiving and break was the least productive of the whole term. The night before the last day of term I spent in the clubhouse playing video games on the vintage console and TV someone had snuck in. I didn’t know how, but members of our group were experts at sneaking things onto campus. Video games were never more fun than when I knew they were forbidden.

  It was almost 7 a.m. when we realized what time it was and scrambled to sneak back. I tried to sneak into my dorm, but when I got to the door, I could hear voices inside.

  “Where have you been?” Gracie asked as I walked in. The room was heavy and I felt the hum of distress. Hudson and Willa were sitting on the couch. His arm was around her and her face was tear streaked. When she saw me, she jumped up off the couch.

  “This is all your fault!”

  “What are you talking about?” My sense of the distress in the room hummed even louder in my mind.

  “My mother has been arrested, and it’s all your fault!” I looked at Gracie and Hudson for help, but they looked at me like I was a stranger.

  “Willa, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t tell anyone about your mom.”

  “It had to be you! They came and took my bracelet. They knew about the essence spell, and about us going to find her, and everything!”

  “Willa, it wasn’t me.”

  “You’re the only one I told about the bracelet.”

  I was frozen in place. Willa’s accusations hurt, but more than that I sensed how heartbroken Willa was. I needed to fix this. I had to fix this for my friend. But how could the Upholders have found out? Not from me. The realization hit me like a load of bricks. I glanced at the clock, it was almost eight. Today was a dragon lesson day. My dad would be here.

  “You guys stay right here. I’m going to fix this!” I left and ran across campus. Shifting and flying didn’t even occur to me in my hurry. I continued running through the administration building and burst into the conference room.

  My dad was sitting in a chair at the end of the table reading a paper. He looked up from the paper and smiled at me. The picture he made stopped me in my tracks. How could he be so peaceful right now?

  “Sophie, what’s wrong?”

  “What have you done?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Are you having me followed? You are the one who told the Upholders about Willa’s mom, didn’t you?” Dad didn’t say anything.

  “I knew it! You’re not going to deny it, are you?” Dad just shook his head.

  “I can’t believe this. You need to fix this right now, Dad!”

  Dad sighed and sat back down in his chair. “There’s nothing to fix, Sophie.”

  “My friend’s mother has been arrested. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “She’s a danger to herself and others. She can’t be allowed to risk our exposure.”

  “I’ve met her, Dad, which I’m sure you already know. She’s not dangerous. She needs help. And you’re okay if they just lock her away?” Once again, Dad was silent.

  That was it. He wasn’t going to help.

  “Is secrecy so important that we’re willing to ruin the lives of people like Emily and Willa? Willa is my roommate and one of my best friends, this is going to just kill her, Dad.”

  “Your friend worked some very powerful essence magic that is illegal. Be thankful she’s not getting arrested, too.”

  I stopped talking. Willa, arrested? Dad couldn’t be serious. “I should be thankful that you made sure my friend wasn’t arrested for doing the only thing she could to keep her mother safe?”

  “Sophie, I’m surprised at you. I know the request from the Upholders took you by surprise, but I expected you to come to terms with it and do your duty. I’m surprised that both you and your brother didn’t immediately come to me with this security concern.”

  “Security concern? That’s all you have to say about this? Emily isn’t a security concern. She’s someone’s mom. How would you feel if people were hunting Mom down like an animal? It’s not okay.”

  “Sophie, come on. You’re acting like a teenager. You have a responsibility to all supernaturals, not just your friends. I expected you to realize that by now.”

  As I watched this thousand-year-old man in front of me, I realized I didn’t know him at all. My dad was a stranger. I slammed the conference room door on my out.

  The sound of Willa’s crying sounded down the hall. I leaned my head against the wooden door. I wiped my own tears away. I’d been defeated. I knew my father was hard, but I never imagined he was also cruel. Now I had to go tell my friend there was nothing I could do to help her.

  “Sophie! Where did you go?” Gracie asked.

  “I went to talk to my dad.”

  “Can he help?” Willa asked. I avoided her gaze.

  “He won’t. I’m sorry, Willa.”

  “What do you mean, he won’t?”

  “He sa—he said your mom risked exposing us and he couldn’t let that happen.”

  Willa looked away from me and wiped her eyes. I stepped closer.

  “Willa, I’m so sorry. I’ll try again. I won’t leave him alone until he helps.”

  “How did he find out?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Did you tell him?”

  “No, Willa, I swear.” The accusation in her eyes was startling. “You don’t believe me.”

  “No, I don’t.” Her words were a slap in the face. I looked at Hudson and Gracie, but they looked at me the same way.

  “Guys, do you seriously think I would betray you?”

  “Sophie, you’ve been hiding things for months,” Gracie said. “You sneak ou
t at night. You let your new friends be mean to us when you’re not around and you won’t tell us where you disappear to. What are we supposed to think? You said when you shifted that being a dragon didn’t change anything, but you were wrong. You changed.”

  My eyes were burning. The world was spinning under my feet. I looked to Hudson, my best friend. He knew me. “Do you feel the same way?”

  “You have been acting strange lately.” His voice sounded like it was coming from far away. “And Willa told us the story. You’re the only one who knew about the bracelet. How else could the Upholders have found out?”

  My whole body was numb. I wanted to be angry. I wanted to fight and argue with them, but I couldn’t. Maybe they were right. I knew I didn’t tell the Upholders, but somehow my dad found out anyway. This was all my fault.

  “Willa, I’m sorry.” She was sitting on the couch again, sobbing into her arms. I moved to go and comfort her, but Hudson raised his hand to stop me.

  “Maybe you should just go, Sophie.” I fled.

  Chapter Twelve

  The wind whistled as it raced past my ears. It rushed past my face so fast it whipped off my hat, and my hair streamed out behind me. The bottom of the hill surged closer and closer. I was going too fast. I couldn’t stop. My eyes clenched shut as I braced for impact. This was the end.

  I hit the bottom of the hill and landed face first in the snow. Laughter echoed behind me. Snow and hair clung to my neck and face. My gloved hand was useless. I jerked the glove off with my teeth and winced as the cold made my fingers cramp. I wiped my face and pulled my glove back on as quick as I could. Behind me, the laughter continued.

  “I’m so glad you all think this is funny.” I was fighting with the skis on my feet. Drew stumbled over and helped me get out of them. Grabbing my arm, he hoisted me up as easily as a feather. I’d made the last-minute decision to spend the holiday break at his chalet. Home was the last place I wanted to be right then.

  “I’m sorry, Sophie.” Tears streamed down his face from laughter. “At least you didn’t shift this time.”

  “I was too terrified. Do you see how tall that hill is? You tricked me. I had no idea it was so steep around that last curve.”

  “Oh, come on, we just wanted to give you a thrill. I never would have guessed you’d be afraid of skiing. You fly!” He melted into laughter again. I smiled despite myself. There were only a few of us there. Drew, myself, Kylee, Penelope, and a fourth year boy named Nick. As a group, we gathered our things and headed back inside. Good. I’d enjoyed the break. But I could do without the bone chilling cold.

  John, Drew’s dad, greeted us as we returned.

  “There are the intrepid explorers. Did you shift this time, Sophie?”

  “No.” I fell into the closest chair. “I managed to stay human. It didn’t help.”

  “Dragons are made for the desert, not the snow.” John attempted to comfort me. “Do you want to finish up your figurines?”

  “Oh yeah!” Spending a couple of hours in a sweltering workshop sounded like heaven.

  “Remember, when you pack tonight, leave your phones and electronics on the counter.” I followed John to his workshop in the back of the house.

  “What are you working on today?” He asked me as I set up. John had taken notice how amazed I was with all his blown glass creations when I’d first arrived. He’d taken me under his wing and taught me how it worked.

  “I want to make a wolf for one of my friends.” The thing about being able to create fire meant I didn’t have to worry about using a blowtorch. I pulled up fire from my chest and let a steady stream of it heat up the ball of glass in my hands. Watching the glass melt in my hands was fascinating. I pulled and shaped it. I was so deep in concentration I didn’t realize John had stopped what he was doing to watch me.

  He clapped when I finished.

  “Bravo. That was much better keeping a steady stream of heat this time. You don’t run out of breath?”

  “No. The fire doesn’t come from my lungs exactly so I can still breathe through my nose.”

  “And it doesn’t burn you?” I rolled the howling glass wolf around in my hands a couple of times.

  “Nope. I’ve not tested normal fire, yet, but my own doesn’t burn me at all. Barely feels hot.”

  “That’s absolutely fascinating.” I shrugged. Being a dragon just seemed normal to me now. I set the now cooled wolf on a shelf next to the dragon, doe, crystal ball, lark, and butterfly I’d already created.

  “Done! A little belated for Christmas, maybe, but I think everyone will like them.” I wiped my hands on a nearby rag and turned back to John. “So how did you get into glass blowing?”

  “It’s my magic. I can manipulate glass and metals.” He flicked a wrist and a ball of glass levitated in front of him. He held a hand on either side of it and it became liquid in the air. From there John was able to twist his fingers and change it. I leaned forward on my stool and watched as he worked on the glass until it became a tree. With another flick of his wrist, the tree floated over to a shelf next to a round disk with a bear track and a crown etched into it. The wings on John’s back fluttered as the magic faded from the room.

  “Wow, I’m impressed.” It was John’s turn to shrug.

  “I like to do it the human way more. Makes it more challenging.”

  After dinner, I checked my phone one last time. No messages. With a sigh I turned it off and tossed it on the counter with my smart watch and my headphones.

  “Back to the Dark Ages.” Drew slid me a steaming mug of hot chocolate across the counter.

  “Hmm? Oh, yeah.” I took and sip and let the warmth travel through my body before answering.

  “Why so glum, Princess?”

  “I’m just tired, I guess.”

  “You’re lying.” Instead of answering I walked away to sit down on a couch.

  “Are you still fighting with your friends?” Penelope asked. A wave of annoyance washed over me. I really didn’t want to have that conversation.

  “Well, fighting would involve talking. So, no.” I hadn’t told anyone why we were fighting or mentioned my dad’s involvement. I was grateful for that now. Dad didn’t even get on the video chat with Mom and Simon on Christmas. I didn’t want to think about it. Penelope sat down beside me and patted my knee.

  “Don’t worry about them. You have us. What better friends could you find?” A weight lifted off my shoulders at her words. It was so simple, why hadn’t I thought about it before? It was clear Dad wasn’t going to apologize. Willa, Gracie, and Hudson had written me off. So why should I spend my time worrying about them? I had friends. Good friends. Friends that liked me for me.

  “You’re right.”

  We spent the rest of the evening cuddled up on the couches together under blankets watching Christmas movies. Drew ended up beside me. I tried to focus on the movie but the heat of his body next to mine pulled my attention away. Every time he moved, I flinched. Could I be any more awkward? As much as I could, I tried to relax and enjoy his arm around my shoulders and the warmth of our legs touching under the blankets.

  Sleep wouldn’t come that night. Gracie, Willa, and Hudson’s faces kept popping up in my dreams. I gave it up and left the room I was sharing with Penelope to go back downstairs. Snow was falling outside. The moon and the starlight made it possible to see the whole mountain through the large windows. Someone shifted on one of the couches. Kylee. We’d reached an uneasy truce over the last month. Habit made me turn back around to leave the room. Two steps up the staircase I paused. Since my fight my with my father, an idea had been floating around in my head. Kylee was the only one who could help me with it. My hand clenched the railing as I worked up my courage.

  “Hey Kylee?” She started when I said her name. She saw me staring at her from the stairs and raised her eyebrows at me. “Would you—um—could you tell me more about the Faction?”

  She studied me for a long moment without saying anything and then patted the c
ushion next to her.

  “What do you want to know?” I wasn’t entirely sure. The thought of Willa’s mom locked away somewhere alone and confused haunted me. There had to be a better way. And if that was the way the Council did things, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a part of it.

  “How did the Faction start? What’s the goal?” Kylee sat forward in her seat.

  “My dad started the Faction after the death of my mother. She was an alchemist and was injured when she was experimenting with a new potion. The potion caused a huge explosion. It took out a whole city block in the city we lived in in Colorado. The Council convicted her of violating the Secrecy Act and potentially exposing us to humans. She was stripped of her titles, her job, and was even stripped of her powers. She never recovered. There’s no doubt in my mind that she died because of what the Council did to her. But here’s the thing, the Council was the one who hired her to do the work. They knew what the risks were, asked her to do it, and then blamed her for the fallout.”

  My stomach was uneasy. I didn’t want to hear this. A month ago, I would have argued with Kylee. I would’ve told her there was no way my dad would have had a part in something like that. But now? Now, I didn’t doubt it at all.

  I needed to move. I walked to the kitchen and got a glass of water. Feeling generous, I brought one back to Kylee too.

  “I’m sorry about your mom. That’s terrible.”

  “I’m sorry, too. I’ve always picked on you and Simon because of your dad. It’s not an excuse, but I blamed you because of your father. But hanging out with you this year made me see I was wrong.”

  “I appreciate you telling me that.” It was the best I could do right then. Maybe one day Kylee and I could be friends, but she had tormented me for years. I didn’t know if I could let that go so easily. “So, what’s the Faction’s goal? Just reveal the supernatural world to humans and hope for the best?”