Backyard Dragons (16 page)

“This stuff is cool.”

“Thank you.” Anne led them into the living room and patted the floral print couch for them. She sat in a matching wingback armchair.

Nervous about saying the wrong thing, Claire kept her grip on Drew. “How long have you lived here?”

“Several years. The dragons moved in shortly after.” Anne crossed her legs and laced her fingers over her lap. “They’re quite easy to look after. For the most part, I toss birdseed out for them once a week, and they do the rest. I haven’t noticed any particular diseases bothering them.”

Claire nodded, trying to think of questions to ask about dragons when she really wanted to know why Anne kept looking at Drew like she expected him to say something. “Mine’s going to be a house pet, I guess. Do you know what they like to sleep on, or if they like to scratch things up like cats do?”

“I’ve seen them rooting in dirt, though I think they do that for food. I’d recommend letting yours stay outside as much as he wants.” Anne looked to Drew again. “Are you okay?” Her interest didn’t seem to come from concern, and her gaze reminded Claire of a teacher waiting for a student to answer an easy question.

“Me?” Drew let go of Claire and crossed his arms. “I’m fine, I guess.”

Anne’s face twitched as if she didn’t believe him. “Are you sure?”

Claire looked from one to the other, not sure what to make of Anne. “Do you know him?”

“We met this morning, certainly.” Anne slid to the edge of her chair, still fixing Drew with a pointed, anticipatory stare. “I think I’d like tea. Can I bring you a cup?”

“Uh.” Drew shifted and looked away from her. “No thanks. I’m good.”

Claire opened her mouth to ask for a cup, but Anne bolted from the room. “I guess not,” Claire said, too quiet to be overheard. Leaning closer to Drew, she murmured, “She’s kind of weird. Justin said she is, but I thought he meant…something different.”

“Yeah. I don’t like her. We should go. Coming here was a mistake.”

“Where do you think we should go? Wander the city until we accidentally wind up in the right place at the right time?”

“I don’t know. I’d just rather be someplace else.”

Claire bounced her feet, trying to think. As a Knight, she should be investigating and dealing with crazy stuff. Without training, she barely knew what to look for. Justin probably had all kinds of tips and tricks to share, if he ever decided to move beyond making her run, chop wood, and dodge old socks. What little he’d taught her about fighting so far had only bolstered her already robust self-defense skills.

Anne returned with two flowery little cups of tea. She shoved one at Drew. “You should drink this. You’ll feel better.”

Drew stared up at her, his brow furrowed. “I don’t want any.”

“I insist.” Anne put the cup in his hand.

“Knock it off.” Claire smacked the cup away. It flew across the room and smashed on the hardwood floor.

“How dare you!” Anne threw the tea from the second cup into Claire’s face. While Claire sputtered and hissed from near-boiling water hitting her skin, Anne grabbed Drew by the front of his coat and hauled him off the couch.

Drew stammered in surprise and shock. Claire wiped her sleeve across her face. Anne shoved Drew out of the room and snatched a handful of the crystals hanging in the doorway. Snaking her dagger out from under her coat, Claire leaped off the couch and slipped on the spilled tea. She landed on one knee and heard a door slam shut at the end of the hallway.

Claire’s head spun. She wiped more tea off her face and shook her head. Iulia had drugged Caius with a drink. Had Anne tried to do the same to them? She stood and leaned against the wall, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

“What’s wrong with you, Kay?” Anne’s muffled voice came from the door at the end of the hall.

“Let go of me. Claire!”

Claire rubbed her face again and knew she needed to do something. Dropping her shoulder, she lurched down the hall and rammed the door. She smashed a hole in the thin wood, making Anne shriek. While wrestling with her dagger, Claire heard a sharp slap and Drew squawked in surprised pain.

“Hit him again and I’ll kill you,” Claire snarled. She slammed the blade into the door and ripped through it until she saw Anne’s eyes, magnified by her glasses and glowing the same bright green as the crystal in her hand.

Anne shouted something in a foreign language, her voice echoing inside Claire’s head. Green filled Claire’s vision, and she flew into the wall, hitting her head and dropping her dagger.

Chapter 24

Justin

Justin kicked over the third headstone. As with the second, he didn’t recognize the name, but had a suspicion about the connection he’d discover between them if he dug enough. Knighthood tended to run in families. Including his own, he knew of four Knight bloodlines in the area. Other graves near both brought those families to mind. That whorl symbol appeared on both of these stones too. Justin figured he’d probably seen it in the Palace at some point.

Kurt had been guarding power stored in the graves of long-dead Knights. At once, it seemed fitting and profane. The old man must have discovered them well before he met Justin or he would have mentioned them.

For the third time, Justin plunged his sword into the ground and experienced the surge of raw magic lifting him into the air. When it released him, he sat to catch his breath on the nearby flat headstone marking Claire’s family’s shared grave. Thankfully, all three graves he’d had to vandalize had standing stones or this would have taken much longer.

“Tariel, whenever you’re ready!”

Leaves rustled where she’d laid out of sight. “When this is over, I want a vacation. Get a slave to scrub me.”

He smirked. “When this is over, I’d like to have a beer and watch some football.” “You don’t drink.”

“This mission is making me rethink that.” He grunted as he stood, weariness making it an effort. His legs still hurt too. If he could punch someone to make that go away, he would. Any other possible solution would have to wait.

Tariel stepped through the trees. “Are you sure you’re up to more of this today? We could call it a night and get some rest. You’ve got dark circles forming under your eyes. It takes away some of your inherent charm.”

“I’m fine.” He sheathed his sword and climbed into the saddle with a groan.

“You’re actually fine, or you’re the kind of fine where you’re pretending to be fine because you have some half-cocked idea about your own invincibility?”

“The second one.” Grabbing the reins, he tried to figure out where they should go for an old map.

“Being a smartass is
my
job.”

“And you do it well. Take us to the Historical Society.”

Tariel turned her head to regard him with one big, blue eye. “Do you think that’s wise?”

“Probably not, but I can’t come up with a better place. We’ll hit the fountain later. Let’s go.”

The horse set off, galloping across the cemetery and leaping over the chain-link fence surrounding it. Returning to downtown Portland, she took him up the green belt between the two directions of Park Avenue. Bronze statues dotted the long strip of grass, trees, benches. Tariel stopped in front of Teddy Roosevelt on his horse.

“We first met Claire here.”

Justin nodded as he dismounted. “I’m glad she’s not here. She’d ask fifty questions I don’t know the answer to and call me stupid for it, then suggest we run to Rondy for the information.”

“You’re cranky. Hurry up so we can get you home for a nap and a bottle.”

He grunted and left Tariel behind, too tired to deal with her barbs. The Oregon Historical Society, a grand stone building with bright blue awnings, awaited him. He crossed the street and used the wheelchair ramp. Even three brickwork steps looked daunting, a sure sign he needed rest.

Going home would mean facing Marie, a challenge he thought might break him right now. She was already upset when he left. Dropping off Drew without a word probably hadn’t helped. Now he’d be dragging himself in half-dead after dinner. If he stopped to pick something up for her, like those wool socks he knew she wanted, he’d be even later.

As he gripped the handle of the door, he decided he’d hit up Kurt for a nap. Maybe the old man could explain why his legs wouldn’t heal all the way. He stepped inside the building onto regal blue carpet edged with brick flooring. Off to the side, a familiar man stood behind a counter with a cash register and pamphlets about the current featured exhibit.

“Oh, no. Wait.” The tall, skinny man hurried out from behind the counter to accost Justin.

Justin ignored him, heading for the back of the building, until the man jumped into his way. He glared at the employee, setting his hand on the hilt of his sword. “You can’t stop me.”

The man held up his hands. “I’m not trying to. The trustees decided that if you ever returned, the staff should see if we can come to some sort of arrangement about whatever you’re here to liberate.”

“Oh.” For once, things seemed to go his way. Justin smiled. “That’ll make things simpler. I need a map of Goose Hollow from 1920.”

“Do you need an original map, or will a reproduction work?”

“Huh. A copy should be fine.”

“Okay. We actually have those in the gift shop? Do you need to take it, or just look it over?”

Ideally, Justin would take the map to Kurt and they’d pore over it. Then he’d know where to go for this stone. If it happened to be something of significance, though, he should be able to figure it out on his own. “Looking it over might be fine. Do you have a current map I can compare it to?”

“Sure. Have a seat. I’ll help you out with that.”

The employee ushered Justin to a table where he could wait. Justin stared out the window, watching dead leaves swirl across concrete. Marie wanted him to bring something home, and he couldn’t remember what it was. She needed silly things, though, so it probably didn’t matter. It’d be something for the girls they couldn’t really afford, or another luxury like that wine he wouldn’t drink.

Come to think of it, his reasons for not drinking seemed silly too. Just because his father had been an alcoholic didn’t mean he’d be one. He should be able to handle a drink with dinner. He’d never hit his girls before and didn’t intend to start. They didn’t even spank Missy and Lisa. Marie felt strongly that violence couldn’t solve discipline problems, and he never had a reason to argue.

Sometimes, though, they pushed him. When Missy wrapped herself around his leg this morning, demanding he play with her, he should’ve smacked the little brat. Maybe a good swat on her behind would help her learn the world didn’t revolve around her.

“Here we go,” the cashier said as he returned. He laid a paper map on the table and held out his cellphone with another map of the same location already loaded. “What can I help you find?”

Half an hour later, the sun had set and Justin strode out of the museum, pleased with himself. Goose Hollow had one park and no cemeteries. Figuring that park must be the place, he chose to head straight there and take care of it.

Chapter 25

Claire

Anne yanked the broken door open while Claire shook her head to clear it. Before she gathered her scrambled wits, Anne kicked her dagger across the floor. Claire rose to her hands and knees, feeling dizzy for no reason. Anne kicked her in the gut. Bile rose in Claire’s throat. She tried to swallow it down and failed.

“Are you kay?”

“No,” Claire said. She threw up.

“Yes,” Drew said. “I’m here. Watch out. This girl is dangerous.”

“I’ll take care of her. The third seal is broken, so Justin should be heading for Skidmore Fountain soon. Go there and make sure he thinks he’s in real danger.”

“Don’t kill the girl. Kurt might find her useful.”

“Like I would. Get going.”

Claire burped and spat a gob of yellow bile. She thought about trying to lunge at Anne and Drew. The smell of her own vomit made her do nothing more than shuffle back on her hands and knees. Enion needed to come back to her. Soon.

Drew’s shoes thumped away until the front door opened and shut. Anne set a shoe on Claire’s back.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“I guess you’re the witch.”

Anne laughed, no longer the harmless crystal lady. “You say that like there’s only ever one at a time. There are at least thirteen of us in Portland alone.”

“The Knights think all witches are a danger.” Given her experience so far, Claire agreed.

“The Knights are a bunch of whiny, idiot men. How much can you really expect them to understand?” Anne put her weight on Claire’s back, forcing her flat against the floor. “They don’t even realize they’re causing the problem, not solving it.”

Claire froze, suddenly aware of exactly what she faced. Drew had mentioned Kurt, which she remembered as the name of Justin’s mentor. That Knight had died recently, making him a Phasm. Anne hadn’t asked if Claire was “okay,” she’d referred to Drew as “Kay.” In her limited experience with ur-phasms and ne-phasms, she knew they tended to not have names of their own. Kay probably stood for Kurt, the master of the spirit possessing Drew.

None of that would be a problem, except Anne had just said the magic words. For reasons Claire didn’t understand, all corrupted Phasms wanted to destroy the Knights and the Palace. She didn’t know if corrupted Phasms could taint a witch the same way they could taint a Knight, but Anne made it seem likely. If not, she could be possessed like Drew had been.

Claire spat on the floor, trying to clear the stinging in her throat and nose. “Can I have a glass of water?”

“No. I’m not stupid.” Anne walked past her and picked up Claire’s dagger. Claire tried to get up and scurry away. She failed, the dizziness still too strong. “This is an interesting weapon,” Anne said as she examined the blade. “It looks like custom work. Where did you get it?”

“Was a gift.”

Anne held the dagger by the hilt, between her thumb and forefinger. “From a Knight to an adopted daughter? How sentimental.” She snorted. “Violence is the only currency he understands. Come on, up you get. Time to go see Kurt.”