Dragon Blood 4: Knight (9 page)

Monday morning Amber followed Roy to the exit, glad to be going home again. Even though yesterday had been uneventful, she’d still had to put up with Stanley. She pitied the Knights who didn’t seem to have any breaks. They trained seven days a week.

“When do you have time off?”

“We get holidays.”

“When?”

“At set intervals.” Roy opened the door to the reception room, staying in the corridor. “I’ll see you Tuesday afternoon.”

She started to ask him her question again, then nodded. What did it matter? She wasn’t about to become a Knight. “Okay. See you Tuesday arve.” She crossed the reception room and stepped outside, glad to see Kade emerge from the Void under the shadowy branches of the fig tree. She hurried towards him, wrapping her arms around him.

When they came out of the Void onto his verandah, they were kissing and Cooper cleared his throat to get their attention. Amber reluctantly pulled away. “What?”

“Why can I smell blood?”

Kade frowned. “Dried blood. What happened?”

She tossed her bag to Cooper. “Make yourself useful. See if you can get blood out of dragon-leather.”

Cooper caught the bag. “Are you hurt?”

“It’s not my blood.”

“Whose is it?” Kade demanded.

“Give me a break. I just got home. Can we talk about it later?” It was the last thing she wanted to discuss after having spent an entire weekend with the Knights. She just wanted to forget all about them for a bit.

“You were hurt, weren’t you?”

At the anger in Kade’s voice, Cooper yelped and scurried inside.

“Of course I wasn’t.”

“Then why won’t you tell me?”

“Because it’s complicated.”

“We’ve got time.”

Amber shook her head. “No we don’t. We’ve got school.”

“Then you better hurry up and tell me or we’ll be late.”

She could see he wasn’t going to relent. Sighing, she slowly shook her head. “Damn dragon.”

“I’m waiting.”

“You have to remember this happened before Amos promised not to kill me. And you’re not to retaliate. I nearly killed Isaac.”

“Why would I want to retaliate if you were the one who nearly killed them?”

“Because I didn’t start it. And before you go thinking I should have told you at Ronan’s, I didn’t want to tell you while we were with the Knights.” She quickly explained what had happened, knowing she was going to have to retell it to Ronan again later. When she finished, she sent Ronan a text telling him that when she had time after school she’d tell him the full story of how she’d ended up bringing Isaac and Amos to dinner.

She read the text he sent back.
Don’t bother. Alsandair just arrived to tell me all about it.

He better get it right.
When no reply came back, she put her phone away. Damn dragons interfering all the time. “Ready to go?”

Kade nodded and Maira and Brann came out of the house. On the way to school Amber told them about her training fight.

“Did he get the dagger out before you had his throat?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Then it wasn’t a tie.”

Amber grinned. “Let him have his tie. I know how much you dragons hate to lose.”

Maira chuckled. “Some more than others.” She parked out the front of the school and everyone clambered out, heading to their classes.

Amber was relieved school was uneventful that week. Keeping up with both school and Knight’s training was becoming exhausting. She probably shouldn’t have asked Kade and Rian to start teaching her to use a sword each morning, but she needed to learn. It was a matter of life and death. By the time Friday afternoon came around she hadn’t improved much, but Rian had given her a sword of her own and she had returned his.

When Amber reluctantly drew away from Kade and headed inside the headquarters, she found Roy waiting for her. He silently led her to her room where she could dump her bag and Amber wondered if there was a problem. The walk to class was equally quiet. Afterwards, the walk to the dinning room and then to her room were also silent.

“Roy?”

About to walk away, he turned back to her.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you certain?”

“What do you want me to tell you? I think it’s awesome you hold our lives in your hands? That I think Ronan is going to keep quiet? It’s only a matter of time. No matter what I do one of you will eventually get us killed.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t have any plans to harm you or your family, but I can’t promise you that your secret will always be safe.”

“That’s what I thought.”
He strode away.

“It won’t necessarily be Ronan or me who lets the secret escape.”

He kept walking.

Amber watched until he entered his room before she stepped into her own. It wasn’t a good start to the weekend. She thought the same thing again when he walked with her to class the next morning. Silently.

They were about an hour into the lesson when Amber’s phone rang. She answered, ignoring the glare from Stanley. He’d been the one to ask to have her in his class. His problem if he didn’t like the results. “What’s wrong, Mum? Can’t it wait until Monday morning when I’m out of this dump?”

“Amber.”

Fear skittered through her at the whispered wail. “Mum? Where are you? What’s wrong?”

“He has a gun.”

“Who-”

A man cut off her words. “I want you, Cooper and Miles. And I want the three of you here within the hour or I’ll be using this gun.”

Why didn’t he have Miles? Shouldn’t he be with her mother? “I don’t have Miles. I wouldn’t have a clue where he is. I haven’t see him in ages.”

“Then you and Cooper and you better have some information on Miles that we can use to find him.”

“Who are you?” Amber strode towards the classroom door, ignoring Stanley who called her back.

“It doesn’t matter. One hour. You and the boy.”

The phone went dead and Amber stared at it, trying to keep calm.

“Get back here now. Class isn’t over. You won’t get any special treatment in here just because of whose granddaughter you are.”

Amber spun, pointing a finger at Stanley. “Shut up. My mother is being held at gunpoint by a dragon.” A murmur went around the classroom. Amber strode for the door, opening it as she rang Ronan. She stopped in the corridor, not sure which direction to take.

Roy came out of the room and silently led the way when she told him she needed to go to her room.

Ronan answered the phone. “Have they broken the rules?”

“No. I need-” she stopped her plea for his help. She had to think clearer. Panicking wasn’t going to save her mother. “A dragon is holding my mum hostage. At gunpoint. He wants Cooper and me. Do you think it’s Tahmid?”

“I doubt it. Probably one of his warriors.”

“Is Chait and Alsandair still out the front?” She continued to follow Roy through the corridors towards her room.

“Yes. But don’t you even think about handing yourself over. You still owe me.”

“No I don’t. You were the one who asked for my help, not the other way around.”

“In payment for the favours you owed me.”

“What you want is worth way more than two minor favours. I’ll see you out the front of the headquarters in a few minutes. This will go a little way towards making things even between us.”

“Nice try, Amber. This’ll make us even. Don’t be long.”

Amber slid her phone into her pocket as she reached her room. Inside she pulled off her shirt, replacing the skimpy dragon-leather top with a dragon-leather vest. She was already wearing dragon-leather trousers. She threw her door open, running into Charles who came to a stop in front of her.

“Leaving will break our agreement.”

Amber glanced behind Charles to see Martin and Helen coming along the corridor, several metres behind him. Roy still waited for her. “Mum is being held by a dragon, at gunpoint.”

“I doubt it very much.” Martin stopped beside Charles. “Didn’t you say she has nothing to do with the dragons?”

“He wants me in exchange for her. Now out of my way.” She tried to push past them, but Martin grabbed hold of her arm.

“Are you certain?” Helen demanded.

“Of course I’m certain.” Amber tried to pull her arm out of Martin’s grip. “Let go of me now. You call yourself a Knight and yet you’re about to let an innocent human be killed by a dragon.”

“Let her go, Martin,” Charles ordered. He turned to Amber. “Don’t leave without us. Hel and I are coming too.”

“If you’re not ready, I’ll be gone.” Amber turned to Roy. “Run. I’ll keep up with you.” Even if she had to turn into a panther to do it. She followed Roy, pulling her phone out again and dialling Kade’s number.

“I heard. Ronan told me. I’m on my way.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t do anything stupid until I get there.”

Amber laughed, an abrupt sound that was lacking humour. “Does that mean I can do something stupid when you arrive?”

Kade chuckled. “Yeah. Then I can help you with it.”

“Okay.” About to say goodbye, she remembered her grandfather’s order. “My grandparents are coming too.”

Kade swore. “We really need to get more of our own Golds. We can’t keep relying on Ronan.”

“I’m going with you,” Roy said.

She started to argue then decided that another Knight, even one still in training, might be a good idea. “We’ve got one more Knight coming with us,” Amber said.

“Who?”

“Roy. I’ll see you shortly.” Amber hung up as she reached the reception area, her eyes drawn to Dominic, his hand resting on the hilt of the sword hanging at his side.

“I want to come with you.”

She shook her head. “No way. You treat me like I’m contagious and then you expect me to let you fight at my side when you ask. I doubt it. I wouldn’t trust you not to stab me in the back.”

“You were the one treating me like I was contagious.” Dominic pointed to Roy. “Are you taking him with you?”

“I don’t have time for this.” Crossing the room, she opened the door, stepping outside, Roy following.

Dominic grabbed her arm. “Amber-”

Ronan stepped out of the Void. “Let her go boy or I’ll tear your arms off.”

Dominic let her go to draw his sword. “A dragon?”

“Put your weapon away. He’s with me.” Amber stepped in front of Dominic.

“But, I heard you. On the phone. You’re going to kill dragons.” Dominic lowered his sword his gaze going from Amber to Ronan.

“I’m not planning on killing anyone.”

Ronan laughed. “Don’t we know it, kitten. Yet how many dragons have you killed so far?”

Alsandair stepped out of the Void. “I hear it’s two.” He came closer to Amber. “Want me to take you to your mother?”

She wanted to protest that she hadn’t been the only one to kill Queran, but she didn’t. She had been the one to decide that he’d needed to die. “Kade can take me to Mum.”

“Then why isn’t he here?”

“Two dragons?” Dominic sounded confused. “They’re dragons.”

Chait stepped out of the Void. “Three dragons, little Knight.” He grinned.

Kade joined him. “Four.”

Amber began to worry there’d be a fight. “Go inside, Dominic. We don’t need your help and we wouldn’t trust you anyway.”

“But you’ll trust him.” Again Dominic pointed to Roy. “Or has he changed sides and is helping the dragons.”

Roy started to speak, but Martin, Charles and Helen came out the front door. Martin grabbed Dominic by the arm, pushing him towards the entrance. “Get inside and put that away. What are you trying to do? Have someone call the police?”

Dominic sheathed his sword. “I want to go too.”

“Inside.” Martin’s tone cut off any arguments. As soon as Dominic left, he turned to Ronan. “I’m going with you.”

Ronan laughed. “That’s as likely as me taking your son. You might as well go inside with him.”

“We don’t have time for this. We have to save Mum.”

Ronan nodded. “Your grandparents and the boy? Any others, Amber?”

“I’ve already said-”

Amber cut off Martin. “No others.”

Ronan grabbed her arm and took her through the Void to his water garden.

Amber pulled away from him. “What are we doing here? My mum is in danger.”

The rest appeared out of the Void, including Anrai, one of Ronan’s Golds, bringing Cooper with him. Anrai held onto Cooper tightly while he begged to be left alone.

“Cooper. Cooper!” Amber was about to shout his name again when he stopped babbling and faced her. “They’ve got my mum.”

“What about Miles?”

Amber shrugged. She didn’t know where the other Dragon Mage, who had been made at the same time as Cooper, was. Nor did she know if they had her mother’s boyfriend Gary, who also lived with her. “They want you and me in exchange for her.”

“You’re going to give me to them?” His voice grew high pitched.

“I’m getting my mum back. If that means you and I going in there and letting them think we’ll exchange ourselves for her, then that’s what we’re going to do.”

“They’ll kill me. They said they’d kill me if I didn’t come willingly.” Cooper tried to break free from Anrai.

“Shut him up,” Ronan ordered.

Anrai knocked Cooper out, letting him collapse onto the ground.

Amber opened her mouth to yell at Ronan, then closed it when she saw his amused expression. She didn’t have time for this. “We need to go right now.”

“Not without figuring out a plan.” Charles pointed a finger at her. “If you get my daughter killed I will kill you.”

“She’s my mother. I’m not about to get her killed.”

“Chait. Give the Knights some of your blood so we can communicate with them.” Ronan sent a look to Roy. “All the Knights.”

Roy took a step backwards away from a dragon Amber didn’t recognise, shaking his head. “I’m not having anyone’s blood.”

Amber said directly to Roy,
“Don’t fight him on this. It gives you a reason to be able to hear the conversations in our minds and he’s also letting his dragons know that you’re a Knight, not the dragon you smell like. They’ll think you’re one of his people, which is safer for you.”
Then aloud, “Take the blood or be sent back to the Knights’ headquarters.”

Roy nodded.

“You haven’t had any dragon bone in the past week, have you? They can make you sick if you have them too close together,” Charles said.

Roy shook his head.

“Make sure you leave it at least a week before you have any more dragon bone,” Charles said.

“If you’re all finished?” Ronan continued when they remained silent, “Kade will take Amber. Anrai will carry Cooper. The rest of us will stay in the Void until we’re needed. No one else is to come out of the Void unless I do. Turi.” A gold stepped out of the Void. “You will take the young Knight.”

“Who will you take?” Amber asked.

Ronan smiled. “Your mother.”

She nodded. “Then let’s do this.” She held out her hand to Kade. He took her to her mother’s front yard, coming out of the Void on the concrete footpath leading to the front door of the lowset, unpainted, besser block house. The place wasn’t much to look at, but it had a solid two metre high fence all around it and all the neighbours had lowset houses. Which made it perfect for coming unnoticed out of the Void.

Anrai came out of the Void next to them, Cooper thrown over his shoulder.

“Be careful.” Kade tightened his grip on her hand before he let go and vanished into the Void.

Amber stared at the open door of her mother’s home. “I’m here.”

“Come inside and get your Gold to step out of the Void.”

“Kade.” He stepped out when she called his name and she began to wonder why they hadn’t thought to call Crystal. There could be dragons in the Void all around them.

“Come inside,” the man ordered again.

Amber led the group, scanning the area as she slowly walked up the path, Anrai behind her, Kade following him. When she stepped inside, she blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the dimness of the lounge room. Her mother sat in a chair that had been brought out of the kitchen, a dragon standing beside her, a gun in his hand. The rest of the lounge room looked untouched. If there’d been a fight, someone had cleaned up. “Who are you?”

The man laughed. “Gethin. Not that it’ll matter. You don’t know me, but I’ve heard all about you.” He pointed the gun in her direction.

“Who sent you?” Amber asked. She reached out checking for others in the house. It was empty. Where was Gary and Miles? They could be anywhere. What if Tahmid had Gary and why did no one know where Miles was?

Gethin laughed again. “Do you really think I’m about to tell you that?” He gestured towards Cooper who Anrai still carried over his shoulder. “Is that Cooper?”

Amber nodded.

“Looks like he didn’t want to come with you.”

Amber nodded again. What were they supposed to do? How quickly could she cross the room? Could she reach Gethin before he turned the gun on her mother?

“You!” He aimed the gun at Anrai. “Put the mage down over there and you can sit on the ground near him, your hands on the carpet where I can see them.” He gestured to the place with his gun. “And you too.” This time he pointed the gun at Kade.

Amber tensed, watching the gun as it was casually pointed around the room. What was she supposed to do? “Are you okay, Mum? He didn’t hurt you?”

Donna nodded then shook her head.

“Anyone else hurt?”

Again Donna shook her head. “They weren’t-”

“Shut up.” Gethin pointed the gun at Donna.

Amber’s breath caught in her throat. “You’ve got Cooper. And me. Let her go.”

“I don’t think so.” He continued to hold the gun on Donna. “I never said anything about letting her go. Only that I’d shoot her if you weren’t here in time.”

“Then what’s the point? If you don’t let her go she’s still in danger and probably dead. I’m not about to stay and let you take out the two of us.” She took a step forward. “What would be the point?” Another step. There was no way she was going to let him kill her mother.

The gun swung in her direction. “Don’t move. He said not to kill you. Nothing was said about not harming you.”

The moment the gun was on her, Amber flew at him, turning into a goshawk in mid leap. The gun went off and she felt the bullet fly past her. Then she was landing behind him, drawing her sword and plunging it into his back. Blood gushed over her hands. Her mother stared at her, mouth open. She didn’t have a clue where Ronan was, but she wasn’t about to wait for him to get her mother to safety. “Anrai! Take Cooper out of here. Kade, take Mum.”

Chaos erupted. Knights and dragons poured out of the Void, not all of them allies. Amber didn’t have time to think about the dragon dying at her feet. Another one attacked her, his sword swinging fiercely. She ducked, sheathed her sword and become a goshawk to dash out of the way. She came up behind him, but he was ready for her, spinning to face her as she landed and turned human. Dodging out of the way, this time she became a panther, leaping on him and going for the throat. These dragons had threatened her mother. They’d held a gun at her head and terrified her. Mind numbing rage filled Amber and she launched herself at a man who was attacking Kade, who’d returned, roaring as she landed on him.

The battle became a blur of friend and foe. Torn out throats, bodies littering the ground and blood. An ocean of blood. Snarling, Amber turned on the person who touched her. Shock filled her when she realised it was Kade and he was saying her name over and over again in her mind.

She forced the panther away, finally becoming human. Kade’s hand rested on her shoulder and she wiped her mouth on her arm, leaving a smear of blood behind. There was blood on her hands and she could taste it. A metallic flavour that made her want to throw up. Everywhere she looked she could see blood. Panic hit her.
“Get me out of here. Now!”
She spoke directly to Kade.

With a nod, he took her through the Void to his bedroom, wrapping his arms around her.

“How many?”

“How many what?”

Amber drew away from him. “How many did I kill?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

She began to tremble. “They had my mum.” Tears filled her eyes and she held them back, her throat aching. “They were going to shoot her.”

Kade reached for her again. “Survival of the fittest.”

Amber stepped backwards, out of his reach. “No. I’m not a killer. I’m not.” The last words were softer. Broken.

“They threatened your family.” Again he reached for her.

She let his arms wrap around her, sliding her own arms around his waist. “I need a shower.” She could still taste the blood in her mouth. “How many did I kill?” She spun, pulling away from Kade as she felt someone enter the room from the Void. Her hands dropped when she saw it was Ronan.

“You can’t imagine how proud I am of you, kitten. Well, I was until I found you in here sobbing about the lives you took. You were magnificent. If I had of known that all it took to bring the dragon out in you was to hold a gun on your mother I would have done it months ago.”

Guilt was instantly replaced by a fierce protectiveness and she stepped forward to jab a finger at Ronan’s chest. “Don’t even think about it.” Her words were low and threatening.

“Are you sure you won’t reconsider mating with one of my sons? What about Rian? With his level headedness and your fierceness my grandchildren would be invincible.”

“No.” Amber and Kade spoke at the same time.

Ronan shrugged. “It was worth a try. Maybe one day you’ll say yes.”

“Why are you here, Ronan?”

“Your mother is having hysterics and after the way you fought for her I thought it was probably not a good idea to deal with her the same way I dealt with Cooper.”

“Where is she?”

“My place. Everyone’s there. Including Gary and Miles who were at his office.”

Amber turned to Kade. “Take me there.”

“Are you sure you don’t want a shower first?”

She looked at her bloodstained hands. She could also feel blood on her face. “Ronan, tell her I’ll be there shortly.” Flinging open the bedroom door, she strode towards the bathroom.

“I’m not a messenger boy,” Ronan called after her.

She ignored him and guessed he left through the Void because she could no longer feel him in the house. When she returned to the bedroom after having a shower, she found dragon-leather trousers and a vest laid out on the bed for her. Mentally searching for Kade she found him in the lounge room. As soon as she was dressed, she headed there.

Kade rose from an armchair. “Are you ready to go?”

She nodded when all she really wanted to do was go somewhere else and try and forget this day had ever happened. An image of her tearing someone’s throat out came to mind and she quickly pushed it away. “Yeah.”

They arrived at the water garden to find Anrai waiting for them. He showed them to the lounge room where everyone was. Amber heard them long before she reached the room. Charles and Ronan were fighting. She stopped in the doorway, not wanting to deal with more problems.

She felt eyes on her and looked over to see Roy staring at her.
“What’s wrong?”
She began to think he wouldn’t answer her.

“You killed six.”

A shudder went through her.
“I couldn’t have.”
The battle hadn’t lasted that long. Surely there’d only been two, maybe three.

“I saw you. You killed six.”

Amber swallowed hard, her stomach somersaulting like it was about to empty its contents. She thought of all the blood on her mouth when she’d become human and wondered how much of it she’d swallowed. Her stomach flipped again and she took a deep, shuddering breath. It didn’t help. The scent of blood still on everyone else both repulsed and drew her, making the panther want to escape.

She held Roy’s eyes.
“They threatened my mum.”

He nodded.
“I’d do the same for my family.”

“Are you going to stand there all day, kitten?”

Amber looked towards Ronan. “No.”

“What were you doing?”

“Talking to Roy.”

“Don’t worry, Roy, it’ll wear off in a couple of weeks. Four at the most,” Charles said.

“What were you talking about?” Ronan asked.

She couldn’t bring herself to say.

“Her kill count,” Roy said.

Amber tried not to wince.

“It was six,” Ronan said.

Roy met Amber’s eyes. “I told you.”

Ronan laughed. “Guess that makes it eight now, kitten.” He smiled at her, a mixture of pride in his predatory smile.

Amber felt uncomfortable, especially with her mother listening to the conversation. She came into the room. “What were you arguing about?”