Dragon Guard: Book 1: Prophecy of the Dragons (8 page)

Ben's face heated up, and embarrassment rolled off Andi. He also heard a quiet chuckle from her mother and a disgusted groan from her father. Rico appeared quite pleased with himself.

"Since we'll be ridding the world of such a threat, shouldn't that be enough?" Mr. Thomas asked.

"I'm sure the other dragons and humans will appreciate it, but what does it matter to me? Most of my business comes from other realms. I'd miss your world, I won't lie, but I'd get over it."

"I hope you'll take our past performance into consideration."

"Of course, Leon, of course. You and Cassandra were superb last time. Tell you what. I promise whatever job I come up with won't go against your morality. It'll be something you'll want to do. Deal?"

"Deal," Mr. and Mrs. Thomas said. Andi echoed them.

"Benjamin? I need your word, too."

He looked to Andi's parents, and Mrs. Thomas nodded at him. Okay, what the heck. He had no clue what he was agreeing to, but he trusted them. "Deal."

"Excellent. I'll be in touch." Rico snapped his fingers, and all four of them stood at the exit of Reach for the Sky. Without a word, they headed back to the front of the park and the parking lot.

Andi stared out the window of the SUV, watching the various rides inside Orangeville Acres. Somewhere in the back of her mind she looked forward to coming back and trying them out, just as somewhere in the back of her mind she was aware of Ben's hand in hers. Mostly she dwelled on certain parts of the conversation with the demon. Two points in particular.

First, her parents had met him before, and preformed some sort of task. That wasn't the surprising part since they'd said as much already, but what had they done to pay back Rico? And what did he have planned for them this time? Especially since she and Ben were included.

The second thing seemed more important. What had Rico meant when he said early bindings ran in her family? She'd never thought about what age her parents had gotten bound. It had never come up. The way her dad was so insistent that they wait, she figured they'd done so at the appropriate age. But if they hadn't, why was he so against her and Ben binding? Mom didn't seem to care, but this morning she said there was a legitimate reason Dad was so upset. She wanted to ask, but now wasn't the time.

She glanced over at Ben and found him fixated on the top of Reach for the Sky. Confusion trickled off him, and she assumed he was searching for any sign of the realm they'd just visited. He wouldn't find it. She didn't know much about it herself, but they hadn't actually been above the ride. Technically they hadn't been anywhere on this planet, and maybe not even this universe. She squeezed his hand and smiled when he turned to her. He smiled, squeezed back, and returned his focus to the ride.

She'd never felt like this for anyone, not even close. Yeah, she'd found some guys cute in the past, but never had the urge to act on it. But with Ben, she couldn't not act. She wanted to always be touching him, even if it was just holding his hand like right now. It rattled her nerves that she wanted to give her body to him, but it scared her even more that she wanted to give him her soul. The scariest thing of all, though, was that she had no doubt he felt exactly the same.

As they pulled out of the large, half-empty parking lot and turned towards home, Ben broke the silence that had hung heavy since they'd exited Rico's realm. "Okay, so what just happened? What did he give us, and how does it help save my parents?"

"You can't feel it?" Andi asked. She knew the spell was in her head the moment Rico put it there.

"Feel what? I don't get any of this."

Mom turned around and said, "He put the key to the demon's realm in our heads. Now we can get to your parents."

Ben frowned and Andi sensed the concentration burrowing through him. She moved as close to him as the seatbelt allowed and put her other hand on his knee. Dad growled something, but to his credit didn't say anything else.

"I don't think he got it in me." Tears sprang into Ben's eyes, and Andi wanted to leap into his lap and comfort him, but with her parents in the front seat, that would no doubt have the opposite effect. How could Rico skip him? Did the spell only stick if they were bound? Or had Ben agreed too late?

"It's there," Mom said. "You can't feel it because you and Andi aren't linked yet. Not properly anyway."

"It'll work fine," Dad said. His eyes found hers in the rearview mirror, and she took her hand from Ben's knee. Dad nodded and returned his gaze to the road.

"So I can help rescue them?" He blinked back his tears, and she smiled at the enthusiasm in his voice.

"You're stuck whether you want to or not," Mom said.

"They're my parents. Of course I want to."

Dad barked a humorless laugh. "You say that now. I'd sure like to sit it out if I had the option."

Mom smacked his shoulder. "Lee, no need to scare them."

"I'd say both could use a healthy dose of fear."

They rode in silence for awhile. Andi thought about what Dad had said. She'd been so focused on Ben that she hadn't considered what they were going to have to do to rescue his parents. Fight Derian, she supposed. From how Ben described the demon realm, it was empty except for the necromancer and the cell that held his parents. Mom and Dad beat him before, so this time should be no different. She hoped.

As they pulled off the freeway, almost home, Ben broke the silence again. "What did we agree to? When Rico put the spell in us, I mean. I know you said we have to do a job for him, but how does it work? Are we going to have to kill someone?"

Andi's eyes opened wide. "Is that what you guys did last time?"

"What we did last time isn't any of your concern," Dad said.

"It might be necessary," Mom said. "We won't be killing a someone, but a something. A demon or monster. Rico will choose a task we won't be morally opposed to. Maybe it'll be a retrieval mission. Or reconnaissance. We have no way of knowing. Rico isn't one of the good guys, but he's not our enemy, either."

"Why can't you say what you did last time?" Andi asked. "Did he vow you to secrecy?"

"Some things don't need to be discussed," Dad said. "Not at the moment, anyway."

She frowned. Why wouldn't they talk about it, especially since they'd have to do something similar soon? Hadn't Dad said they needed to have some fear injected into them? Why was he protecting them now? She wanted to press the issue, but the stony look on Dad's face proved it would do no good. Mom wouldn't be of any help, either; not in this case.

As they pulled into the driveway, Ben put a button on the whole conversation. "So when do we rescue them?"

"Tomorrow morning," Mom said, and Andi's stomach sank. Mom was never afraid of anything, but there was no hiding the quake of fear in her voice.

*****

Trent huddled at the wall of the rock cell, his hand entwined with Heidi's. The worst part of this whole mess was not knowing what was going on. At all. He had no idea where they were, who put them here, why they were here, or even how long it had been. It seemed like days, but that wasn't possible. Neither of them had slept nor even felt sleepy. Nor hungry or thirsty. They'd discussed it, in a civil manner for a change, and decided even through the worry, they should feel pangs of hunger and thirst.

"Do you suppose Ben's okay?" Heidi asked.

"How should I know?" he snapped.

She started crying. "I don't know. I was just wondering. He must've been so worried when he got home and we weren't there. I hope they didn't take him, too."

Trent took a deep breath, scooted closer, and wrapped his arms around her. It was the most he'd touched her in, well, years. "Heidi, honey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. It's just …"

She looked at him, the pain of the world etched on her face. "We haven't been very nice to each other lately, have we?"

He shook his head, tears of his own flooding into his eyes. "I'm sure Ben is fine. You said it yourself, that girl's parents seemed very nice. I'm sure they're taking care of him."

He shocked them both by kissing the tip of her nose. Heidi gasped, her eyes wide, and then snuggled into him. He hugged back. How could they have drifted so far apart? They'd hurt each other, hurt Ben, and for what? Some stupid argument that neither would budge on. He couldn't even remember what it was about. Everything snowballed, and neither of them would back down. How stupid was that? Sobs wracked through him, built up from years of staying emotionally distant, and they triggered hers.

Just as he had no idea how long they'd been in this strange cell, Trent couldn’t tell how long they cried in each other's arms. Once they used up all their tears, they held each other. He leaned in and kissed her, and to his delight, she kissed back. Their first real kiss in forever.

A loud bang jarred them apart. A stooped-over man with a withered face stepped into the cell. "How sweet. Love rekindles in the face of adversity." None of the apparent age on his face sounded in his voice.

Trent pushed himself to his feet. "Who are you? What in the world is going on?"

The evil-looking man – Trent couldn't think of a more appropriate description – sneered and pointed at him. Some sort of sickly black energy flowed from the finger into Trent. It didn't hurt, not exactly, but it felt like every bit of moisture was sucked out of his body. He gasped, hunger and thirst wracking him for the first time since they'd been there. He slumped against the wall, and then toppled to the ground when his legs couldn't support his weight.

Heidi screamed. "What did you do to him?

"I'd be more worried about yourself," the evil man said. "Pray your rescuers come soon, or you'll be next."

"What do you want from us?" Heidi's voice rose to near hysterics.

"To be terrified." With that, the evil man walked out, and the door to the rocky cell slammed shut. Heidi rushed to his side.

"Trent, are you okay?"

He wanted to sit up, to be brave for her sake, but it proved impossible. All he managed to squeak out was, "Water," though he knew she couldn't provide any. As she cried on his chest, he lay there and wonder who the rescuers were that the evil man mentioned. Ben?

Ben lay in bed, trying to sleep, but thoughts of tomorrow made it impossible. How were they going to save his parents from a demon realm? Were they even still alive? Yes, they had to be, but he couldn't shake that thought. He snapped back to the moment. Andi stood outside his room.

She opened and closed the door without a sound before tiptoeing to the bed. "Scoot over," she whispered and climbed in with him. He couldn't sense anything other than concern, so maybe she wasn't expecting anything … well, anything he wasn't sure he was ready for, especially with her parents a few doors down.

She must have sensed his apprehension because as soon as she pulled the covers over them, she said, "Don't worry. My parents are asleep. I knew you couldn't sleep, so I figured you'd want to talk."

He nodded, but couldn't force any words out. The thoughts of tomorrow pushed to the side by her lying next to him wearing that nightgown. He tried again to talk, and her eyes went wide.

"Oh, Ben, I'm sorry. I didn't think about this." She motioned to being in bed with him. "I should go."

"No, don't. I'd like to talk. You just … you took me by surprise. You're so pretty, and …"

She blushed and turned to snuggle her back into him so his face was right next to her ear. "There," she said, a bit breathless, "now we can talk in whispers so there's no way they'll hear us." His hands wrapped around her, and he was hyper-aware of how they brushed against her stomach.

It took a minute, but they both regained their composure. "What worries you the most?" Andi said, opening the conversation.

"If they're still alive," he said, his voice shaking.

She squeezed his hands. "They are. And we're going to save them. You got it?"

"Yeah. I hope so." He sighed.

"What?"

"I don't know. They've hated each other so much these past few years that I wonder what's going to happen when they find out what I am, what you are. Is it going to drive them apart even further? It's stupid, but …"

"But you can't help but blame yourself for all of it. Even though it's not your fault."

"You sound like a therapist," he said with a snort.

"Well, I do have a few years on any of them."

They both giggled, and he brushed her neck with his lips, causing her to shiver. He admonished himself for trying to start something when what he really needed was to talk. He already felt better.

"So, how do you think this is going to go tomorrow?" he asked. That hadn't been brought up yet, at least not around him.

"Other than we use the spell to get there, I don't know. I'm not sure if Mom and Dad do, either."

Yeah, the spell. The one that was supposedly in his head. Even after Mr. and Mrs. Thomas assured him it was there, he wasn't convinced. He'd tried to feel it swimming around somewhere in his brain, but couldn't. Nothing seemed different.

Andi craned her neck and gave him a soft kiss on the side of his jaw. "Don't worry, it's there."

"How did you know that's what I was thinking about?"

"It wasn't hard. When I mentioned it, I felt dread and concern on you."

"I could have been worried about the whole thing in general."

"Maybe, but I guessed right, didn't I?" He heard the smile in her voice. "I'm just making this all up as I go along. I haven't been in a relationship, unlike some people in this room."

It was Ben's turn to leave a lingering kiss on the side of her jaw. "Don't be jealous. Besides, I wasn't really in a relationship. Melissa was, and I went along for the ride."

Andi turned and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "I'm not jealous … mostly. But at least I'll always be able to say my first real kiss was with you."

Ben was about to shoot back something when he remembered a text from earlier in the day. Andi must have felt his mood change because she said, "Ben, I'm teasing. It doesn't bother me. Honestly."

"No, that's not it. I just remembered that she sent me a text earlier today."

"Well, you text her right back. Be firm but gentle. You're spoken for."

He shook his head. "Too late. She's already pissed. She called you a slut and said we'd have fun when we decided to come back to school. I think she meant it as a threat."

Andi snuggled back into him and rubbed his forearms. "Of course she meant it as a threat. This is high school."

"How can you be so calm?"

"Oh no, she called me a slut and told awful lies to everyone about us. We'll be a laughing stock to the whole school."

"Exactly."

"I've seen this sort of thing more times than you can imagine. I'm sure we'll have a rough week, maybe two, and then everyone will move onto the next big scandal."

"Easy for you to say. This is my first trip through, and I'm not very good at it, even without the mocking and hate and all that."

"At least we'll go though it together."

"Yeah. Party of two to the gallows. Terrific."

"Everything will be fine. You'll see." She turned in his arms and poked him playfully in the ribs. He retaliated, and both had to bite their lips to keep from busting out laughing. In it all, Ben's hand dropped down to her bare knee, and she didn't push it away.

They stared into each other's eyes, neither breathing, and he slid his hand a few inches up her leg. What was he doing? This was a dangerous situation. With her parents just a couple rooms away, he could get them into huge trouble.

When she didn't knock his hand away this time, he pushed it a little further, halfway up her thigh. No, no, no. This was bad. At some point he'd love to continue, but not tonight. Too many things were playing against them: rescuing his parents in the morning, possible future undead attacks, her parents down the hall. All excellent reasons to stop, but his hand had an agenda all its own. It inched higher, eliciting a soft moan from Andi.

The door flew open, and they jumped apart. Her dad stormed in and pointed at Andi. "To your room." He turned to Ben, but before he could say anything, Mrs. Thomas walked in.

"Lee, calm down. We knew it was going to happen. That's why the wards are in place."

"What wards?" Andi asked. "What are you talking about?"

Mr. Thomas spun and glared at her. "The wards that warn us when you two get out of hand. And it's a damn good thing we installed them."

"Lee, that's enough. Why don't you go back to bed? You've saved the day."

He grunted and gave her a sour look. "This is not a laughing matter, Cassandra." He turned, gave the stink-eye to Ben, and stomped out. Ben stayed lying on the bed, wishing he could crawl under it.

"What was that all about?" Andi asked from the doorway.

"Magical wards to warn us when you two start to go too far. We've included them in every room, including both the front and back yards. And soon we'll get them to Ben's house, too, so his parents can monitor you two when you're over there."

"Unbelievable," Andi said, throwing up her hands. She stomped to her room in the same manner as her father.

When she was gone, Mrs. Thomas turned to Ben and smiled. "Lee's insistence, of course. I have it set so you can share some kisses without us knowing. But, remember, I still don't want to see it, so be subtle." She gave him a wink. "You two did a much better job of that tonight." She said goodnight and closed his door.

Oh, god, Mrs. Thomas's reaction aside, how could that have gone any worse? He lay there, feeling like he was going to burst into flames from embarrassment. How was he supposes to go downstairs in the morning and face Mr. Thomas? If he didn't hate Ben enough already, now he'd really have it out for him.

Anger and embarrassment flooded through the walls from Andi. A bit of frustration also bubbled under it all, which freaked him out. She wanted him to keep moving his hand up. And if her parents hadn't busted in, he would have. He tried to push that out of his mind so he didn't start hyperventilating.

As if on cue, the back of his neck prickled. He sat up, and the tingles ran down his spine. This was different from anything he'd felt before. With the zombies and the ghost, he couldn't tell what was going on or where they were, other than a general area. But this time he knew he needed to get downstairs to the sliding glass door. Something dangerous was about to happen.

Ben grabbed his sword and shield and hustled down the stairs. He didn't bother keeping quiet, since he'd be glad for any help, but neither did he call out. This warning felt so different, so much more direct, that maybe he was inventing it. He had wanted to think of something else, after all. If he pulled everyone out of bed for a false alarm right after that fiasco, he'd have to leave and never show his face here again.

By the time he hit the bottom step, his shield was strapped on, and he had a firm fighting grip on his sword. This was no hallucination. Evil prickled though his entire body, now not relegated to his neck. Battle lust swarmed his soul. Calling for help no longer occurred to him, though somewhere in the back of his mind he felt Andi taking notice.

Once next to the sliding glass door, Ben flicked on the patio light. Outside stood a monster. It was a mix between a giant bat and a man. Its body was that of a human, but with the membrane of wings beneath each arm. Its face was pure bat, straight out of an Animal Planet special. It had huge ears, beady eyes, and sharp teeth. This was a real vampire. Hollywood, from the olden days until now, had always gotten them wrong.

Ben took a step back, raised his shield, and motioned it towards him. The vampire tilted its head in a way that said, "Okay, I accept your challenge," and exploded through the glass. It smashed into his shield, knocking him onto the floor. He twisted, throwing it off, and braced for another assault. The vampire swiped at his face with sharp claws, which he saw on both hands, as well as its feet. As he parried the attack with the smooth face of his sword, he heard commotion upstairs. The cavalry was on its way, led by Andi and her thoughts of dread that she might lose him. He couldn't have her always worrying about him, so he needed to prove he wasn't a liability. He blocked another swipe by the vampire with his shield, spun, and brought his blade down on its neck, severing its head.

"What's going on?" Mr. Thomas yelled, but Ben couldn't answer. The evil vibrations on his neck incapacitated him for a beat. He managed to shout, "Incoming!" seconds before three more vampires burst through the now destroyed sliding glass door. One flew straight at Andi, one towards her parents, and one towards him.

He smacked the one coming at him with his shield, stunning it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Andi fall backwards. He screamed, "No!" lopped off the head of the vampire at his feet, and leaped in to help her. She transformed her neck and head into a dragon's, but before she could strike, Ben concentrated on his blade, like he did with the ghost, and stabbed it through the heart. It disintegrated, not even leaving behind dust.

Ben and Andi spun to help her parents, but it wasn't necessary. All evil pricklings had stopped, and they found her mother standing over their dismembered vampire. It was a mix between Mr. Thomas's powerful jaws and Mrs. Thomas's deadly short swords. She watched them with a smile of approval on her face.

"Dad?" Andi asked.

"He's fine. He went to get a wooden stake."

Ben nodded and said, "But that and sunlight killing them are about all the movies and books got right."

Surprise flashed off Andi, and her mom's face read the same. "Yeah," Mrs. Thomas said. "Those were the only two ways, but you seemed to have found a new one."

He shrugged and walked over to the one she and Mr. Thomas tore apart. He concentrated again and plunged the blade through its chest. All the scattered parts disappeared. He walked over to the one he'd taken care of before helping Andi and did the same. A slight buzzing, almost undetectable, hit the back of his neck. The first vampire's body clawed its way towards its head, but he destroyed it before it got there. The buzzing stopped.

He turned towards Andi and her mom. "We're safe."

Before either could answer, Mr. Thomas walked in. He looked around the now vampire-free room and nodded at Ben. "Well done. Though a little heads-up would have been nice."

"Jeez, Lee, since when has it been so hard for you to give a compliment?"

Ben started to say it was fine, that it had been the most support Mr. Thomas had ever given him. Before he could, Mr. Thomas said, "He's proven he'll make an excellent guard to Andi."

"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

That brought another grunt, but this one followed by an approving nod to Ben, who smiled both at the comment and the joy permeating off Andi.

"And speaking of him being a Dragon Guard, Lee, he's also proven he's going to have some spectacular powers against the undead. Talk about an asset against a necromancer, right?"

Mr. Thomas sighed, which caused Andi to gasp and reach for Ben's arm. Oh no, was this it? He wasn't ready. He was too young to be married, bound. But he also couldn't wait. He almost giggled in a manic, crazy way because the feelings oozing off Andi matched his own so perfectly.

"No, Cassie, we can't."