Dragon Guard: Book 1: Prophecy of the Dragons (20 page)

E.J. Krause lives minutes from Disneyland, and he does his best to grab the spare creativity the place bleeds off. He writes speculative fiction for many different age groups. Please visit him in his stomping grounds on the World Wide Web:

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Chapter 1

"Are you sure you two are okay not being included?" Ben's mom asked. "We can still get you tickets if you want them."

"Or you can stroll around the Hollywood Walk of Fame," his dad said. "Get me a few last minute Christmas gifts."

The adults all laughed, while Andi chuckled along, her politeness overriding her annoyance. Ben had no such thought as he sighed and rolled his eyes.

"We're fine," he said. "Go, before you miss your play."

"What are the big plans? You two are sure eager to get rid of us," Cassie, Andi's mom, said.

He and Andi both answered, her loud enough for them all to hear, while he muttered and hoped no one did.

"Pizza and a movie," she said. "Either a DVD or a trip to the theater. We haven't decided yet."

Ben's answer wasn't nearly as pleasant. "Not having sex, that's for sure." Though if their plan succeeded, that would be a lie.

Andi kicked his foot, not hard, but hard enough to tell him to knock it off. Neither of his parents, nor Lee, Andi's dad, heard, but Cassie flashed him a quick apologetic grin. He didn't mind if she heard; he'd bitched about the chastity spell to her enough. She'd tried to talk Lee out of it, but Ben's future father-in-law wouldn't hear of it. His little girl wasn't losing her virginity until she was married, and his parents whole-heartedly agreed. Only Cassie realized how incredibly difficult it was for a dragon and her mate to be bound and not express their physical love. But, as always when it came to that subject, Lee wouldn't budge, compromise, or otherwise see reason.

"Have fun, kids," the two moms called as they left, while the dads gave fatherly waves. The only positive thing to come from the spell was that Lee had become much friendlier. Ben had never been able to see the playful side of the man, the dragon, that Andi so loved, but now that he no longer viewed Ben as a threat to her innocence, as Cassie liked to put it, he was a lot more laid back. In fact, Ben rarely saw the big, scary man that he had grown accustomed to those first few weeks. That part was great, but he still couldn't help but hold a little bit of resentment at not being able to make love to his beautiful mate. Yes, as far as anyone knew, they were 16, though in dragon years they were still only 15, as they would be for another 40 or so years. To top it all off, if they were using human years, Andi was 759 years old. Just something else that would have blown the minds of most people. That sort of thing didn't make Ben blink twice since he'd been destined to be her Dragon Guard, her bound mate and protector. A soul mate, most people might have called it.

As soon as their parents were out the door, Andi leaped into his arms, and their lips devoured each others'. He hugged her tight and loved the way her arms squeezed him. He'd never get tired of this, her closeness, her touch. Their binding took care of that, and he couldn't be happier.

He moved his hand under her shirt and caressed her stomach. She moaned into his mouth and pressed herself tighter against him. He pushed up further, feeling her ribs under his fingers. She gazed into his eyes and nodded. They'd planned this for the past couple of days, when they knew for certain they'd have the house to themselves for an entire evening. Ben clutched his eyes shut and concentrated. He could feel the chastity spell engulfing her, same as always, but he still couldn't get a grip on it. It was like it was a part of her very essence, and he hated that he couldn't zap it away.

Yet.

Today, instead of focusing on a certain part of the spell, as he'd been doing, he planned to take it out as a whole. He didn't understand his powers anyway, so why not ask them to erase it all at once? He always surprised himself, along with Andi and both sets of parents, with the things he could do, so why not this? He pushed and prodded, and then braced himself for a big mental tug that would rid them of this indignity that was so unbecoming of a dragon and her guard.

Ben gave everything he had and went lightheaded, while Andi swooned next to him. They stared each other in the eyes, too nervous to speak aloud. He scanned her again, and this time felt nothing of the omnipresent spell that had been the bane of their existence for over a year. Her emotions sang that she couldn't feel it, either. His hand trembled as he moved it up further. His breath caught in his throat as he brushed the bottom swell of her left breast.

"No!" she shouted, shocking him back from her. He read right away that her outburst was both from the spell in place and her frustration at that fact. She crashed into his arms and fought hard to keep from crying, while he did the same. Now that they knew it was still there, he could feel the stupid spell as strong as ever.

"I think whatever I did erased it from our minds for a minute. I don't know what else to do."

She nodded into his chest. "I guess we put up with it for another year and a half." The spell would be lifted as soon as they graduated high school and had a proper human wedding. The day after graduation, if they had their way.

Ben gave her forehead a peck, stood up, and punched the back of the couch. Controlling his anger had become harder and harder lately, so he'd taken Cassie's advice and hit something soft or swatted his sword against something inanimate in order to ward off a huge temper tantrum, as Andi was fond of calling them. He hated that assessment, but, of course, she had a knack of saying it at the perfect moment to calm him down.

"It's not fair." Another punch to the couch. "It's not." Another punch, this one digging through the cushions so much it stung his hand.

Before he could deliver another blow, Andi stood and engulfed him in a hug. "I agree, but freaking out about it isn't going to help. If you insist on hitting things, go into Mom's practice room and cream some targets with a sword. I was hoping to have a good time tonight, not a trip to the ER."

Ben slumped down on the couch. "It'd heal on its own if it broke. Before we even made it to the hospital."

She sat next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. "I know. But are you picking up on what I'm saying?"

He did, and wanted to put an end to the subject for the night, but it wouldn't quit nagging at him. The best thing in the world would be to pull out his phone and fire up the pizza delivery app, and maybe see if there was anything good showing at the Citrus Valley 12 Theaters. Andi thought so, even if she didn't voice it. Not that she had to since they could sense each other's emotions so clearly, and right now she was shooting positive energy at him.  That was usually enough to quell one of his outbursts, but not tonight. Not when one name came to mind.

Rico.

"It's that damn demon," he said, venom dripping off every word.

Andi rolled her eyes. "You keep blaming him for no reason."

"He's the one who gave your dad the spell."

"So are you going to blame Amazon when your iPad breaks?"

"That's not the same thing."

"It is, too. Close enough, anyway. If you want to be mad at someone, you should be mad at my dad."

"Rico didn't have to give him such a good one. That demon has had it out for me from the start."

"Ben, that's enough. Can't we order the pizza? I'm getting hungry."

He brooded for a second, almost gave in, and then the fire reignited. "I want to go to Orangeville Acres."

Andi's face lit up. "Yeah, that'll be fun. I want a Whirlyburger, fries, and a Secret Society Chocolate Shake. Unless you think you might puke that all up when we go on the Secret of the Whirlybird."

That was the newest rollercoaster in the amusement park, an awesome ride in and of itself, with its explosive launch and multiple loops, but it also had a whole spy story to go along with it. It was so cool it even had a themed restaurant and shop. That little area in itself made the annual passes they got last Christmas worth it, to say nothing of the rest of the already awesome theme park.

"I'm not lucky enough to have a bottomless dragon gullet," he said. "Besides, you're going to have to wait until after we see Rico to do anything."

"Ben, no. What would be the point? He's not going to take it back, and he won't give us a chance to earn it off. Not against my dad's wishes."

Ben stood and went to get his coat, car keys, and wallet. Andi zipped up to her room to get her purse and a jacket of her own. Even if she wasn't thrilled with the prospect of confronting Rico, there was no way she'd pass on a chance to hit Orangeville Acres.

As they drove the half-hour or so trek, Andi did all she could to talk about any subject besides Rico. Though his anger had died down considerably, Ben held onto enough so that he still obsessed over the demon. The first time he'd met Rico, on the quest to rescue his parents, the demon had looked down upon him and Andi because they'd had a partial rather than a full bind. When he and Andi had gone back later by themselves, Rico threatened to take their future child as payment for his help. Ben tried to attack the demon, and it hadn't ended well, with Rico putting Ben on his back in less than a second. After that, Ben and Rico didn't get along. Andi contended he was imagining things, especially since they'd rescued that ugly statue for him, but he knew he wasn't. Rico didn't like him, and he didn't like Rico.

Parking proved no problem. The lot had a ton of cars, thanks to it being the Winter Holiday Season, but it wasn't near capacity. Next week, between Christmas and New Year's, would be a better test of how much parking there was. The park was also crowded, but not so busy that it wouldn't be fun. Later. After he took care of business.

Andi continued chiseling away, hoping to change his mind. She didn't say anything overt, but she ignored his wishes and planned out what she wanted to do. Normally he'd let her have her way, but not tonight. He worked himself up enough to where this confrontation was needed; it wasn't just about the chastity spell anymore.

"Is Whirlybird Burgers okay with you for dinner?" she asked after they'd gone through the gates.

"It's fine. Sounds good, actually. We'll go right after Reach for the Sky." That was the only way to get into Rico's realm from this part of the world. The ride shot you out at a hundred miles an hour, through a loop, and up a 90 degree incline. Most people then ran through the track backwards, but if one went to Rico's, you entered at the apex of the climb. When you left his realm, he deposited you right outside the ride's exit gates.

"Let's at least eat first. I'm hungry."

"Dragons are always hungry. You can deal with it."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"We'll spend the rest of the night doing whatever you want. We'll even stay until closing. But I want to see Rico now."

Andi opened her mouth to argue, but swallowed her retort. Instead, she said, "Fine. But I want to browse the jewelry store at the exit of the mine car ride.
And
I want to have a waffle cone sundae from that ice cream shop on the boardwalk, no matter how long the line is." Ben usually managed to talk her out of the wait if the queue stuck out the door, as it did most every time they were here. No doubt it would do the same again tonight.

"Deal."

"I don't even know why this is so important," she said. "It's not like this was the first time you've tried to break the spell and failed."

"Because," he said, but didn't have anything to add to that. Yeah, they'd been thwarted from sex many times before, and he'd blamed Rico then, too. They'd even had opportunities to come to Orangeville Acres some of those times, but lately the anger engulfed him so much easier. Times before he'd explode, let it all out, and be fine. Now he didn't explode quite as powerfully, but the anger lingered. It poisoned him, his mom said. Andi feared that, too, but for a different reason than his mom, who was simply afraid he was turning into a pain in the butt. Concern filled Andi because of the prophecy. His often irrational anger could very well be pointing him towards turning evil. Neither of them actually knew what the prophecy said, but that little fact didn't keep them from fretting over it.

"Last chance to not be a butthead," she said as they climbed past the open safety gates into the train for Reach for the Sky. "We can decide to not say the incantation and go off and have fun tonight."

He placed a kiss on her neck. "I know. I'm sorry. I can't explain it, but we need to do this. Okay?"

As they buckled up and pulled the shoulder restraints down, he could feel all of her concentration on him.

"Fine. I don't get it, but if it's that important to you, we'll go. Remember, I speak the incantation, and you picture Rico's realm and keep me in mind."

"Okay. Thanks, Andi. I love you."

"You better," she said, but he heard the smile in her voice. "I'm not kidding about the jewelry store. And we're waiting for ice cream even if the line goes all the way down the boardwalk."

He started to laugh when the train exploded out of the station. He hadn't braced himself, and his stomach sat back there, probably never to return. It wasn't until they were on the downside of the loop that he remembered to think about both Rico's realm and Andi saying the incantation. At the top of the incline, the other passengers felt weightless for a split-second before plummeting down backwards, while Ben and Andi kept moving up, now not physically, but climbing through the multiverse to Rico's small patch of reality.