Dragon Shadow Read online

  “What you…require?” I shook my head, dizzy with it all.

  “You must perform a task for us, a simple one, in order for us to return your sister Ruby.”

  My mouth had gone dry. “Let me talk to her.”

  “No.”

  “You’ve got to provide proof of life,” I said.

  “We don’t have to do anything. You must do what we tell you, or we’ll kill Ruby.”

  “No!” I raised the sword again, although I wasn’t sure why. What was I going to do, break my own mirror?

  “Bring us the golden antler.”

  I scowled at the floating white face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “We know you stole it. Bring it to us or suffer the consequences.”

  “Leave my sister alone!”

  “Bring it to us. We will make contact soon. Do not disappoint us.”

  “Hey! Wait!”

  The head rippled and vanished, and the mirror was once more just a mirror. I gazed at myself, seeing a shocked woman with tears in her eyes who held a shaking sword. Damn, I looked bad. I glanced away and staggered back, my spine striking the opposite wall.

  Who could that have been? I tried to figure it out. This didn’t feel like Walter Hawthorne or one of his agents; nor did it feel like the Fae Lords. This felt like another party entirely. But who? I couldn’t make any sense of it.

  Maybe—

  The front door exploded inward. Shocked, I whirled to face the threat, raising my sword again. Framed in the doorway was Davril Stormguard.

  Seeing my sword, Davril raised his, too. Coming inside, he kicked the remains of the door behind him. We were alone.

  “What are you doing here?” I demanded, my voice shaking as badly as my blade.

  His eyes narrowed, and an electric spark passed through me.

  “You left your purse behind.”

  The unexpected comment brought me up short. A disbelieving laugh came out when I saw it hanging from his belt. He hadn’t brought my shoes, though, or at least I didn’t see them.

  “What about my shoes?” I countered.

  He moved toward me, and I danced back.

  “You can get your own shoes.”

  I moved, being careful not to trip over anything.

  “I guess you got my address from my purse,” I said.

  “Yes. And your name. Jade McClaren.”

  “That’s my name. Don’t wear it out.” I nodded my chin at the remains of the door. “How did you get through the wards?”

  “I’m a Fae Knight.”

  I rounded a corner and kept going. I almost darted into a room so I could lock it behind me—the room was warded and could probably protect me for a couple of hours, anyway, even against the likes of him—but that would only be making myself a prisoner. I needed to get out.

  “I’m not going away to fucking Azkaban,” I said. “Fuck that.”

  “You already speak like a convict. And this isn’t Harry Potter.”

  “Fuck you.”

  His lips twisted, just slightly. “Come with me, Jade. You will not be harmed, and you will stand a fair trial.”

  “I’m not going any—”

  His sword came in, sharp and fast. Breathlessly, I batted it way, then jumped back, almost tripping on the carpet.

  “Come quietly,” Davril insisted.

  “Damn you,” I said. “They have my sister.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I will do my best to deliver her to safety.”

  “They told me I have to—”

  He thrust at me again, aiming for my shoulder. I batted his sword away and leapt back again.

  “What did they tell you?” he asked, wrinkling his brow. “The people in the mirror?”

  “That Fae Knights are assholes!”

  He slashed again. I didn’t bother parrying the blow but jumped back. There was no way I could defeat him or even hold my ground against him any longer. He was bad ass.

  My own ass slammed against the window. In a moment, I had it opened and was scrambling onto the fire escape. The wind howled icily about me, misting my eyes.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” he said.

  I slammed the window down and said a spell under my breath. He reached it before he could counter Ruby’s warding spell. When he stretched a hand toward the glass, sparks flashed out. The blow flung him down the hall.

  I scowled, unhitched Ruby’s spell-cloaked broom from the fire escape, and fled into the night. The wind shrieked even louder around me.

  Chapter 5

  “Shit,” I said, banking hard to the right as I swerved around a building. I tore through the city, my chest hitching. “How can Ruby fly this thing?”

  I used to be able to fly without a broom when I could sprout wings, but I couldn’t do that anymore. This sort of flying made me break out into a fierce sweat. I had only attempted to fly Ruby’s broomstick a couple of times and never for so long. I nearly dashed myself against one building after another.

  Ruby’s spell cloaked the broom from anyone who wasn’t one of us…or that wasn’t a powerful magic-user. I had to watch out for the griffon-mounted police, too. I thought Ruby’s magic was a step ahead of theirs, but I couldn’t be sure, and both sides, police and criminal, were always leveling up.

  “Shit shit shit,” I said again, but not because of the flying. I couldn’t believe everything that had just happened—Ruby gone, me being hunted by a Fae Knight, a strange skull-like face in the mirror giving me an ultimatum that would get Ruby killed if I didn’t comply.

  It’ll be all right. I’ll just go get the antler from Jason, and they’ll give Ruby back. The knight would see I no longer had the antler or whatever and he’d leave us alone.

  I repeated that to myself all the way to Queens, but when I finally reached Jason’s pawnshop, I saw flashing police lights and squad cars camped outside. What now? A sick feeling rose in me, and I tried to push it down.

  I landed the broomstick on the roof and took the access stairway down to Jason’s murky workshop, where I heard activity and noises. That sick feeling welled in me again, even stronger than before. I said a spell to make myself invisible for a few minutes, which was as long as the incantation would last, and that was using expensive ingredients I wasn’t sure I could replace. Stepping into the main room, I found police officers interviewing the pawnshop employees and technicians snapping photos.

  A great hole gaped in the side of the building, wind fluttering through it and bringing leaves and dust. I stared. Had something smashed its way in here?

  Fear shot bile into the back of my mouth. No, I thought. Please no. Anything but this. Then I saw it—a form on the floor draped with a white sheet blotched with crimson. Grief twisted through me. This is too much. This is all too much. I can’t take anymore.

  I staggered off into a corner and puked as silently as I could. No one seemed to notice.

  Poor Jason. He had been a kind and good man. The world would be a worse place without him. And Ruby, when I could get her free, which I was determined to do, would be devastated.

  But how had this horrible thing happened? I saw overturned tables and busted magical items that Jason had been repairing or inspecting prior to selling them. The beautiful cuckoo clock he’d been showing us earlier lay in splintered pieces on the floor, and the sight brought me to tears. He’d been so excited about it.

  I waited until a police officer finished interviewing one of the employees, a woman named Mindy, and approached her.

  “Mindy,” I whispered.

  She jumped. “Who’s there?”

  “It’s me, Jade McClaren. Don’t look around or they’ll know I’m here.”

  “Where…?”

  “I’m invisible. It’s a spell. Come on.”

  I gently tugged her toward a hallway, and she came willingly. Giving her directions, I succeeded in getting her into the women’s restroom and locked the door behind us. Decloaking to save my limited magical mojo—derived from ite
ms in my belt pouches—I said, “What happened?”

  She swallowed, then hugged me tight. Her body trembled.

  “He’s gone, Jade, just gone!”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  I pulled back and studied her. Tears glittered in her eyes, and her face had gone pale. In a quavering voice, she said, “It just barged right in…right through the wall…and went after him.”

  “What did?

  “No one knows. Some sort of creature, we think. The police have found claw marks and what might be drool stains.”

  “Damn. Where did it go?”

  “I don’t know, dear, but there was ice on the floor.”

  I wrinkled my brow. “Ice? I don’t get it.”

  “Jason’s ice wand, remember? He was so proud when he acquired it last year. Well, he still has it. Had it.”

  I snapped my fingers. “The wand that only does ice spells. Yeah, I remember. You think he used that to freeze the creature?”

  “I don’t know, but I think so. It didn’t help Jason, but the police are trying to track the ice particles to see if they’ll lead them to it. I doubt they’ll have any luck.”

  I nodded. “They need more witches on the payroll. I guess they’ll get the point eventually. What about the antler, the golden one?”

  “I looked for it earlier—I knew how excited he was about it and was kind of wondering if it was the cause of the attack—a big magical thing like that’s got to be dangerous—but I couldn’t find it.”

  “So the creature killed Jason and stole it.” I stuck out my chin. “Maybe I can track the ice particles and get it back.”

  “Don’t! The creature…”

  “You let me worry about that.”

  “Promise me you’ll stay safe,” she said.

  I couldn’t make any such promise. Jason would never have been in danger if not for me. I was the one who stole the antler. I was the one who caused all this.

  “Thank you,” was all I said.

  I said a magic word and cloaked myself again. Stepping lightly, I returned to the workroom and tiptoed through the activity. The medical examiner had just arrived and was taking photographs of Jason’s body. I tried not to look but edged around them, through the gaping hole the creature had torn in the wall, and stepped outside. Wind shoved against me, and I inhaled deeply, letting it stream through my hair and clothes as if it could cleanse me.

  My stomach bunched in knots. I hoped I didn’t throw up again. Just what the hell was going on in the city? Things seemed to be spinning out of control, and it all had to do with the antler of the Golden Hind.

  Several police officers inspected the thin trail of water that led across the parking lot away from the hole in the wall. Presumably, the melted ice. By the way they were frowning and shaking their heads, I could tell they weren’t making much progress, and how could they? The drops of water would only be trackable to a human for so long, but perhaps with my shifter senses, I could make more progress. I could find the creature, steal the antler from it, and save Ruby.

  Guilt at what had happened to Jason ripped through me as I slipped past the cops, my nostrils quivering as I caught the scent of magic-laced water and…something else. The creature reeked of unwashed hair, sweat, and decay. It was revolting. Now that I was concentrating on it, I couldn’t smell anything else. I followed it down a street, then an alley, then ducked up a cross-alley. The pawnshop and the police were far away now. Where had the thing gone? Where had it come from?

  A sudden tingle on the back of my neck made me spin around.

  The icy eyes of Davril Stormguard stared back at me. His sword shone a pale yellow in the murk of the alley.

  “You,” I said, and braced myself.

  “Me,” he affirmed. “And you are coming with me.”

  “I don’t think so. That monster killed a friend of mine, and I mean to do something about it.”

  “You think you can defeat it?”

  His pompous tone made my hackles rise. “I may not be able to beat it, but I can damn well make sure it didn’t get what it came for.”

  Davril gave me a measured look. “Do you even know what you’re fighting for? What the antler is for?”

  “Well…no. What does it do?”

  “Never mind that now.” He fished out a pair of handcuffs, which glittered faintly by the light of his sword. “Put these on and come with me.”

  “Didn’t you hear me? I’m going after the creature!”

  His eyes held no pity. “It will kill you, Jade. And no, you’re not fast enough to steal the antler back from it. It will only reduce you to the same state as your friend Jason. Did you see his body?”

  I swallowed. “I…tried not to look.” Images of wet redness flashed before my eyes anyway.

  Davril nodded slowly. “I think you understand, at least on some level. What you’re on is a suicide mission. And if you commit suicide, you can’t answer for your crimes.”

  “And my crimes are so important, aren’t they?”

  “They’ve already gotten one man killed. How many more will follow?”

  I tore my eyes away, guilt rising once more.

  Davril used my distraction to his advantage, stalking toward me, his gaze unwavering and determined. His palely burning sword lit the way before him. I stumbled back and turned to flee, but before I got two steps, he kicked my feet out from under me and dropped me onto my back. I felt his weight crushing me into the asphalt.

  “Get—off—you—stupid—cop,” I said, but it was hard to talk with a Fae Knight on my back.

  His breath teased at my ear. “I told you, Jade. You’re coming with me.”

  Cold cuffs snapped around my wrists.

  Chapter 6

  I cursed as he hauled me to my feet and removed the belt containing my spellgredients.

  “You won’t be needing this anymore, thief,” he said.

  “I’m not just a thief,” I said, struggling to break free of his grip on my arms. He had twisted them behind my back. His hold was too strong, though. “I help people.”

  “Tell it to the Queen.”

  Ice flooded my veins. “The…Queen?”

  I couldn’t figure out why the Queen of the Fae would personally sentence me. Then again, the Fae were sort of medieval, and ancient kings used to settle legal matters among their subjects, didn’t they?

  I kicked and struggled, but Davril didn’t even slow down as he dragged me from the alley and into the street. At some point along the way, he’d disabled my cloaking spell and I hadn’t even noticed. People stopped and stared as he paused on the sidewalk and thrust his sword through his sheath. Instantly, both vanished.

  “Fae business,” he told gawking passersby, then placed his fingers in his mouth and whistled.

  “Who do you…?” I started, but stopped in midsentence as a flying car—it had wings—swept gracefully down from the skies and landed on the road, then coasted to a stop before us. I sucked in my breath. It was gorgeous, like some 1960’s muscle car mixed with a modern Lamborghini, and all of silver chrome like the armor of a knight. Did Davril have armor? I wouldn’t put it past him. White wings like a swan’s arced out to either side of the car, but they folded up when it landed, and the doors opened by themselves.

  “Meet Lady Kay,” Davril said, a small smile tugging at one corner of his lips. I could see that he really loved that car, and no wonder. It was a miracle.

  Still, I sniffed and tried to act unimpressed. “It would look better if it only had two doors,” I said. The car had four.

  His smile widened slightly. “Yes, but then I couldn’t do this.” He placed his hand on my head and shoved it down, propelling me into the rear seat of Lady Kay. Polished leather enfolded me, and I breathed in the scent of it. Mm, new leather. Just like a cop car, the rear doors didn’t have knobs on the inside, and though there was no physical barrier between the front and the back, I could sense a magical shield dividing the space. No way I could smash my way forward and escape.

>   Damn. I’m really caught this time.

  Davril slid smoothly behind the wheel and gunned the engine. It purred like a cat, almost sounding eager. It likes his touch, I thought, mortified to realize I was a little jealous. Of a car. Get it together, Jade. Jason just died!

  The car bucked under me. It took off, flying through the airspace above New York. Below, people were stopping to point. They had seen enchanted flying cars before, but few of them would have seen the car-steed of a Fae Knight as it took a dangerous criminal off the city streets. Yeah, I was a real terror, all right.

  Angrily, I kicked the back of his seat, but a magical shock blasted me and I winced in pain. The blow didn’t seem to have affected Davril at all. In fact, his laughter taunted me.

  “What are you laughing at, you bastard?” I said. “I have to track down that creature before it kills again! I have to get the antler back!”

  His laughter died. Suddenly sober, he said, “That’s Fae business, Jade. And you won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.”

  I smacked my lips. “Will I really be…imprisoned?” The thought of being confined terrified me.

  “That will be up to Queen Calista.”

  “How did you find me, anyway?”

  “I’ll tell you later.”

  We reached the upper levels of the city, and I couldn’t help but stare in amazement out over the metropolis. I rarely got to see it during daylight, not from this height. I could see the city all laid out before me, from the harbor to the sea, from demon-haunted Central Park to Mandesti Witches’ University to the north. The sun heaved upward to the east, casting a golden glow across the spires and shining on the envelopes of dirigibles in the distance and on the gorgeous white wings of Lady Kay, which pumped slowly up and down to either side of us, stroking the air like the fingers of a lover. The wealthy piloted their airships or flew their enchanted animals along the traffic corridors of the sky, but Davril didn’t pay attention to the prescribed traffic lanes. He flew where he wanted, as only Fae Knights and other Fae could do.

  I jerked my eyes away from the sights when I noticed Davril watching my reaction in the rearview mirror. Making my face hard, I straightened my spine. Cops had been my enemies for years, but a Fae cop, or whatever he was, being so high and mighty, well, that just made it worse. It meant he and I really were on the opposite side of the world, intrinsically opposed to each other.