Dragon Blood 3: Surety (17 page)

“Is it very big?” Donna asked

“Of course it’s big. It’s a castle.” She couldn’t believe her mother had asked such a stupid question.

“Will I get to see it one day?”

“How many times do I have to tell you no one can know you’re here?” Her mother was driving her crazy. If her uncle didn’t hurry up and arrive shortly she’d ditch the entire plan.

Kade drew out his phone and looked at the screen.
“Gary said she’s nervous. Let her talk.”

Amber glanced towards Gary who was returning his phone to his pocket. Was he right?

“I know I can’t go out there tonight, but later. You’ll bring me back here later, won’t you?”

Amber eyed her mother. Was she nervous? Maybe. “Sure. Of course I will. And I’ll even get Rian to give you the full tour.”

“Why can’t you give me one?”

“Because I don’t know this place like he does.” And if her mother asked her as many stupid questions as she had tonight, she’d more than likely lose patience with her and end up in an argument.

“It is your castle, isn’t it?” Donna looked at her suspiciously.

“Yes, I’m one of the owners, but so is Rian. He’s also my first warrior so it’s his job to know this place better than anyone. It’s his job to know all my environments.”

The door of the planning room opened and Crystal stood in the doorway, a grin on her face. Behind her was Rian and the man from the photo. Roger. Crystal stepped to the side, letting Roger in. Rian remained in the hallway. “The Void is still clear.” She closed the door and Roger was left standing with his back against it.

Donna burst into tears. “You look so young.”

“Donna?” Roger looked around the room. “I thought I was to meet Amber.” His gaze arrowed in on her. “You’re Amber?”

She nodded, stepping forward. This wasn’t going exactly like she’d planned. “There are no Golds hiding in the Void. No one will know you ever saw your sister. Kade will take her home and everyone will think I wanted our first meeting to be private.”

“So she’s safe? And my parents? They’re all safe?”

“Yeah.”

He came towards her, wrapping his arms around her, Kade standing away from the wall watching him warily. Then he turned to Donna, a grin on his face. “I never thought I’d get to see you again.” Then he was hugging his sister and both of them were crying and speaking at once.

Amber joined Kade who was leaning against the wall again. “How long do you think we can give them before people start to wonder?”

He shrugged. “Ten minutes?”

“She’s not going to be happy to go.”

“I’ll take Gary back first. Then she can cry on his shoulder instead of mine.”

Amber laughed. “Good plan.” She looked him up and down. “We don’t want to ruin your outfit when you look so good in it.” He wore a suit coat and buttoned shirt with his dragon-leather pants.

With a grin, Kade took Gary into the Void, returning a couple of minutes later. He stared at Donna who was still crying and talking quickly, clutching at her brother. “She’s your mother. You’re the one who has to break the news it’s time for her to go.”

Amber sighed heavily. She better get it over and done with. “Mum.” She stepped closer. “Mum.”

“What?” Donna continued to hold onto Roger, staring up at him.

“It’s time to go.”

“But we’ve barely spoken.”

“Come on, Mum. You promised. We can’t risk anyone finding out you were here.”

Roger held her from him. “Amber is right. I won’t risk you after all these years of protecting you. We’ll find another time to meet.”

Donna nodded, backing away. “I can’t believe how young you look.”

“Just say goodbye already,” Amber said impatiently.

“Goodbye, Roger.” She turned to her daughter. “And you need to be back before the end of the school holidays. I’ve accepted a dinner invite from Wayne Smith and his daughter for last day of the holidays.”

“Mum!”

“No arguments.” With a last look at her brother, Donna let Kade take her into the Void. He returned while Roger was still thanking Amber for setting up the meeting.

“Are you both ready to join the celebrations?” Kade looked from one to the other.

Amber nodded. “Yeah. Crystal will be annoyed if we don’t put in an appearance at her party. But seriously, how many balls are we going to have to throw in a year?”

Kade slid an arm around her waist. “You’ll get used to them.”

“I doubt it,” Amber muttered. She walked beside Kade, a glance over her shoulder towards her uncle who followed them to the ballroom. There were so many things in her life that needed dealing with.

Her grandparents were demanding to be let go now Ronan’s lands had been captured and wouldn’t stop telling her about the Knights. Cooper needed somewhere more permanent to stay, Roger had to be released from his promise before her mother risked her life trying to see him and Miles hadn’t shown any improvement. There was still another Dragon Mage out there somewhere and an Elder they needed to take down. At least Ronan was happy for the moment, busy taking over his lands. Hopefully that would help slow down his plotting. Although she doubted it.

Crystal pushed through the crowd, tugging Amber away from Kade. “Come and dance with me. I’m seventeen, we own a castle and life is perfect. We have to celebrate.”

Amber let Crystal pull her into the dancing crowd, wishing she could feel the same way about everything. She was seventeen and was also an owner of the castle, but life was far from perfect. Crystal threw her head back and laughed, spinning on the spot, arms stretched out, light catching on the diamond necklace they’d recently captured, having begged to borrow it for the ball. Amber grinned. Tomorrow she’d go back to worrying about everything. Tonight Crystal deserved a celebration.

As always, thanks to the usual crew.

Avril is an Australian fiction writer who lives with her family on acreage in South East Queensland. She writes mostly young adult speculative fiction, but has been known to dabble in other genres. You can find more information about her at her website
www.avrilsabine.com
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Dragon Blood- Young Adult Urban Fantasy (with elements of romance)

Book 1: Pliethin

Book 2: Wyvern

Book 3: Surety

Book 4: Knight

Book 5: Mage

Book 1: Blood Sacrifice

Book 2: Retribution

Book 3: Tainted

Book 1: Forgive Me Lucy

Snow-White And Rose-Red

The Twelve Brothers

The Light Princess

Beauty And The Beast

Sleeping Beauty

Aschenputtel

Elf Sight

Earth Bound

Stone Warrior (with elements of romance)

The Jungle Inside

Through Your Eyes

The Ugly Stepsister

Whispers In The Dark (with elements of romance and same sex relationships)

Dragon Lord (Preteen/early teens) (Fantasy)

The Irish Wizard (Upper middle grade) (Urban Fantasy)

Eternally Late

Dealings With Joe

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.