Jade's Awakening (Delacourt Saga Book 1) (3 page)

Seven ripped Jade’s red dress off. He stepped back.

Two wings formed out of her shoulder blades. She crouched then shook her head as her ears pulled upward and molded into sharp points. Her jawbone stretched. Her arms elongated. Her legs extended.

"Eeeeeeeeee!" she screamed. Atlanta's skyline twinkled with lights as Jade awakened. Her body continued to contort and expand as she morphed into a magnificent dragon.

She slumped to the ground and the pain lessened as she allowed her body to do what it was trying to do. Pain engulfed her and spread through her spine. Her claws scraped and scrabbled at the tile floor as she awakened.

"What is happening?" Jade screamed. She staggered, trying to reach for Seven or David. They stepped back, matching each step she took towards them. They obviously knew her claws were razor sharp and that she didn't know her strength, not yet.

"You are shapeshifting into a dragon. This is rare, but happens to powerful shapeshifters," Seven said, the awe evident in his voice.

Jade saw her claws and scrambled backward, knocking over tables and chairs. She didn't want to hurt either of them.

It began raining and Jade's fairy dust slowly lost its power. People were starting to move again. The magic would wear off soon.

Jade looked at the only exit out of the room, which was crowded with people. There was no way out for her except the sky.

"You're going to have to fly out of here, Jade," Seven said.

Jade extended her wings and felt a new strength.

"Look at what you are. You are beautiful," Seven murmured.

"You are still half-fairy, remember that," David said. His face was grim.

Jade craned her head to the left and then to the right. Her eyes blinked slowly as she translated their words into meaning. While she was awakening, her mind saw things in dimensions she never knew existed. Vision had three more levels than she was used to. Sound and touch were enhanced, too. She could feel the weight of her eyelashes and the heartbeat of the earth all at once.

Jade blinked the rain out of her eyes. She looked back at both David and Seven. She was grateful to them both for telling her who her parents were. She stretched her head and let out a powerful screeching sound. Jade leaped and landed on the ledge. Cars and people moved on the streets below.

Cool rain landed on Jade's new shapeshifter skin. She spread her dragon wings wide. She pushed herself off of the ledge and flew. Jade beat her wings and circled up past the clouds. Navigating through the skyline was easy as she swayed her long tail.

Seven and David stood looking at Jade as she flew away. Their clothes were plastered on them in the rain.

"We may have different mothers, but we do have the same taste, don't we?" They both watched as Jade flew higher and higher in the midnight sky. "Are you crying, brother?" David teased. He shoved Seven, causing him to almost lose his balance.

"No, are you?" Seven asked. He shoved David back. He kept his gaze on Jade as she disappeared behind the clouds. "Aren't you able to turn into a silly bird and find her?"

"Well, I may only be able to turn into a fairy bird, but Jade seemed to be impressed with me. I think we had a moment earlier. We almost kissed. Can't you turn into a tiger or some other beastly creature?" David asked.

"Yes, but this is Jade’s night," Seven answered. He frowned and looked at his brother. He was worried about her going back to the same fairies who wanted to kill her in order to keep their bloodline pure. Have they changed their attitude about Jade? What would they do to her?

"I will win her over, brother, don't feel like you've won, because she shapeshifted tonight," David warned. "We fairies seldom lose."

"Well, shapeshifters don't trust fairies, for good reason."

David chuckled. "We're just smarter than the others."

"So you say. You should have told Jade about Bex." He was frustrated that David found it easy to trust a fairy known for killing on a whim. He was glad his shapeshifter blood kept him sharp.

"Bex must be over her tirade by now. She has been curtailed by The Order. The attempted attack earlier this evening was most likely from the Faction. Bex warned me they’d try to attack tonight."

"She's part of The Cloyn and they kill for sport. She does what she wants and the last I heard, is that she wants to kill Jade. I'd be careful if I were you."

"You've always been one to exaggerate," David said. He shook his head.

"And you've always been gullible," Seven walked away from David and wove through the unaware crowd which had seamlessly continued their revelry. The dancing and festivities clashed with the feeling of impending doom that crept through him.

Jade flew in the darkness of the night and reveled in her new self. The exhilaration coursed through her body and warmed her heart.

She heard a whirring sound as the first arrow missed her, but the second landed in her left leg. Her balance was thrown off and she spiraled down. Her body convulsed as she returned to her natural form. She didn't see the candle at first but when she did, she pointed her head down and plummeted towards a balcony below.

Jade held her breath and crash landed on a balcony of an apartment building, scraping her elbows and knees. She could feel her blood pulse throughout her body.

Her body ached after her first shapeshift. She stood up and bent her elbows and moved her neck. "Crap!" She hunched back down, realizing she was naked. Being half fairy and half shapeshifter left Jade with a lot to learn.

* * *

Being a real fairy was much different than the watered down versions written about and portrayed in movies. First of all, there were dozens of different types of fairies. There were fairies that were cute and playful and others that were not as visually attractive and quite deadly. Their diversity helped keep them alive throughout the centuries. Just like humans, they were susceptible to disease and plagues. Also, their variety was to the fairies' benefit, because most were able to exist without ever being identified. Kind of like the undiscovered species of butterflies that roam freely in the world.

The worst fairies were The Cloyn. They had beauty and a thirst for killing. The Order said that they were an anomaly, because they killed without reason. Bex was that type of fairy.

Although it was after midnight, not everyone was partying or sleeping. One fairy boiled with hatred and anger. Bex's heels clacked with each step as she walked into the large room. Her shoes were made of the wood from the Dragon's Blood tree. She stopped under the crystal chandelier, knowing it highlighted her beauty and anger. The thousands of sewn on dragonfly wings created a glimmering iridescent glow to her black dress. They were harvested yesterday for the party she had to leave in order to handle the latest fiasco. The pasted on dragonfly wings itched her eyelids but gave her eyes an iridescent look which matched her dress. The tips of her black hair glowed red with anger. The only thing one could hear in the room was the breathing of the anxious fairies and Bex's tapping foot. Its tempo hastened from a lazy beat to a frantic tapping that only her fairy blood allowed her to do.

She looked at the line of a dozen fairies and wished she could kill them all, but after last year’s murders, she was told by The Order that it sent the wrong message.

Wyle said, "It was entirely my fault, Queen Bex."

Bex sighed. Her eyes perused his face then she held up a hand. "Don't you dare speak."

Her half lidded eyes fell on Wyle. Bex's usual beautiful face was contorted with anger, "How did David manage to find Jade, help her with her awakening and evade our attack earlier? How in the world is this little teen able to still be alive with one of my best fighters shooting his magical arrows? David obviously didn't tell us everything about this one's parenting. There's something even more powerful to this little twit." She turned around glaring at everyone in the room.

"She isn't stronger than you, my Enthrall," Wyle said. He cleared his throat and kept his gaze at his green high top sneakers. His stare became bolder and he dared to look at the tiles and gradually up towards the walls. He didn't have the nerve to look at Bex, though.

Bex scoffed, "Why am I listening to you imbeciles?" She stalked towards them, her dress swayed with each step. She stopped inches from the line of fairies who were hanging on her every word. "This is what we're going to do," she held out a finger with a sharp gold nail, "Number one, we have to find David and kill him. He's no longer on our side since he's colluded with our enemy. Jade's not a full fairy and he has crossed the line." Bex shot out a second finger, "Second, Jade has to die."

One of the fairies gasped. Then it was quiet. The Atlanta breeze blew through the open windows overlooking a lake. A hint of gardenias mingled with the humid air.

She paused, looking around. Her voice became louder, "There is no three, idiots. Kill David and kill Jade. I will not let any members of the Order think that creature can replace my position as Fairy Enthrall." She threw a bolt of light from her fingertips and singed a potted plant that was perched on a stand. A flame rose then died out leaving a charred stem that disintegrated into the black soil. "Leave and
don't
become my number three."

* * *

Miles away on a fifth-floor hotel room, Jade sat huddled in the corner of the cement balcony of a stranger's hotel room.

"Relax. You're not the first naked person I've seen. I'm Nina." She walked over to Jade. Her red kimono swayed in the evening air, "You just shapeshifted, I see. I can still smell the magic in the air." Her rollers bobbed with every step. She held a robe in one hand and a glass of water in the other. "These are for you."

"Thanks," Jade put the soft robe on quickly and looked around the apartment. She put the glass to her lips then paused.

"Relax. I'm on your side. I'm not going to poison you. Those brothers would kill me."

"Brothers? Seven and David are brothers?"

"Yeah, David's parents found Seven abandoned in the woods. They raised them as their own. It was a scandal. You shouldn't worry about that because you have bigger things to worry about."

"I need to know who I'm working with. Everyone's new to me. This is all new to me." She motioned with her hands.

"Speaking of new it makes me think of nude. Next time, think before you shapeshift. From what I've read in the ancient journals, you won't always shift into a dragon, so don't get too excited. Sometimes it can be a dragon, sometimes another person, who knows in the beginning—but clothes. Always think, ‘how can I stash clothes somewhere so I won't be nude?' That's the number one rule," Nina said with a sarcastic smile. "Actually rule number two. Rule number one is don't die." She lifted her mug covered with drawings of books to her lips and sipped loudly.

Jade wondered if Nina was trying to annoy her on purpose. If she was, she was doing a great job. She managed to roll all that Jade found annoying into one person.

"I've never shapeshifted before and only learned I was part shapeshifter a few hours ago," Jade said, following the woman into the large apartment. Jade hoped she would get a bit of sympathy after all she had just gone through.

"Well, now you know." Nina eyed Jade as she removed three pink rollers from her hair. Her perfect curls were a contrast to her starched personality.

Jade felt the warm blood trail down her calf and arms. Jade looked at her scraped knees and bleeding elbows and winced. She didn't feel much pain at first but now she felt the stinging ache.

"Let's patch you up. I've been expecting you, you know." Nina shuffled her feet along the hardwood floors into the living room crowded with books. Gray hair and thick glasses framed her round face. She wore a blue shirt below her red kimono.

"Sit down, Jade."

"How do you know my name?" Jade asked.

"That's a boring question, Jade. I know things from really old books others don't have access to. We librarians rule the world, really." Nina gestured up to the ceiling with her wrinkled hands.

"How did you know I'd come here?"

She looked at Jade and shook her hair. "Okay, okay, the legend talks about a shapeshifter finding her way with the light of the full Harvest moon. I knew it had to be today or in seven years." Nina pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "We humans may not have magical powers like fairies and shapeshifters, but we've got smarts and courage." She walked to the oven and pulled out a covered dish. "Here you go."

"Thanks." She uncovered the meal and realized she was hungry. The smell made her want to devour the meal in one bite. She looked at Nina and smiled. Maybe her host wasn't that bad after all. Jade was about to dive into the meal then she looked at her aching leg.

"You're not going to die, just eat while I gather the supplies to tend to your wound," Nina said as she left the room. She walked away humming a tune.

Jade ate ravenously.

* * *

Only a few blocks away, Seven went back to his hotel room and paced. His phone rang, it was Nina. Jade must have found Nina already. Poor girl had no idea what was going on, he thought. He rubbed his hands together. He should just ignore it all. The phone rang a few more times then stopped. He took a deep breath in and blew it out hard.

"What if the legend is wrong and it's not David that's supposed to protect her? If so, then I'd be the brother who's to partner with Jade. That would be weird, but it could be me. Nah." He said out loud. He rubbed his hands over his face, "Damn. I don't want this in my life right now. It's got to be David." He swiped the phone and hung up on Nina. Just in case, he had to clear the next few weeks to deal with the Jade situation. At nineteen years old, this was the last thing he wanted to deal with. Babysitting or protecting, or whatever Nina called it, wasn't for him.

Seven picked up his cell phone and dialed a number that he hadn't called in years,"Hi Murray, it's me, Seven. Sorry, it's so late."

"Hey, how you doing? It's been a while," Murray said.

"You told me that I could call in the favor anytime, well, I'm calling it in now."

"I owe you my life. As, I said, anything you want. What's the favor, Seven?"

"I need you to be me for several weeks on the show. We start filming in a couple of days," Seven said.

"I haven't acted in a while, but I can pull it off," Murray said. He rubbed his pot belly. "Good thing I'm a shapeshifter, because I am totally out of shape."

Seven laughed then asked, "So, you in? I'll go over all the ‘who's who' and other details later. Be warned, I'm a bit of a player, so…"

"Say no more, I'll keep your ladies from finding out about the other."

"All I can say is you're going to like being me. Plus all the days you work for me, you get my pay."

"You don't have to," Murray said.

"Yeah, I do,"

"I want to get back to my life and forget this legend crap, but I have to make sure Jade's okay first." Seven took another breath then dialed Nina.

* * *

David knew the hours between three and five in the morning were the time the darkest of magic roamed the streets. He kept looking over his shoulders. He had to find Jade before Bex did. Where could the new shapeshifting fairy be? He dialed Seven but he wasn't answering. If he was supposed to be Jade's protector, why was it so hard to find her? David knew Bex might locate him if he tapped into the realm world by trying to locate Jade, but he'd been trying on his own for over an hour. He had to warn her about Bex before it was too late.

David found an alley between two hotels. He faced the wall and focused on Jade's face. Her image came to him, she was eating. She was in a building about half a block from him. "Yes," he said. Now he knew exactly where to find Jade. She was in an apartment building that would only take him two minutes to walk to. He felt like a dark cloud finally blew away. He ran back onto the main sidewalk and looked towards the sky. He heard footsteps but by the time he turned it was too late. Androk thrust a sword into David's chest. He saw his killer, but instead of focusing on Androk's face and being caught up in regrets, he looked up into the dawn sky and focused on a distant star.

"This is what you get for turning your back on fairies. True fairies, not that half-blood mutant."

David coughed up blood. He saw faces of his family speed by and he felt a calmness invade his senses. He relinquished all worries. He slumped against an alley wall, with a smile on his face. He closed his eyes and fell with his hands on the hilt of the sword.

* * *

"Shouldn't you be sleeping? You should be very tired after your awakening. Nina laid a hand on the book by her side and slid it behind her. It looked to be over a hundred years old and was bound in dark blue leather. She placed a cushion over it.

"I am tired. But I couldn't sleep. I had a bad dream," she frowned, trying to remember her dream. Jade looked through the windows and on the chair beside huge flower pot. The dawn was announced with a timid streak of pink in the sky.

"Sounds like it shook you up."

Jade's mind felt clouded. She looked up and her eyebrows raised then said, "Some thing's wrong."

"What's wrong?" Nina asked. She put down her morning coffee on the table beside them.

Jade stood up and rubbed her arms. She felt a chill cover her skin. An emotion she couldn't pinpoint crept into her tightened throat first. It was deep sadness. "I don't know, but something has changed and it can't be fixed again—ever." She walked to the window and looked into the dawn sky.

"You get visions?" Nina asked.

"I shut it down most of the time. It's annoying." She wondered what her life would be like now that that last pill was crushed. So far, she'd shifted into a flying dragon, been shot at with an arrow and now visions. She wasn't sure she was cut out for supernatural life.