Dragon Magic: Book 3: Prophecy of the Dragons (5 page)

"We've been patient long enough," Ben said, as they sat around Max and Nix's kitchen table. Which was true. Felix had let he and Andi be lost in each other for a couple of minutes before he pulled them apart and down the pier to Max and Nix's house, with the promise they'd get alone time soon. For now, though, they needed to talk, to let Ben and Andi know what was going on.

"You have," Nix said, and she, Max, and Felix all shared a smile, likely because of how much he and Andi fidgeted towards each other.

Andi let out a loud sigh. "So?"

"Yes," Max said. "I'm assuming you noticed the help you got today, and not just from me and Nix, but by Angus and Gretchen, two members of the council. Sarah also had a hand in everything, but we figured you two should get to know her first before you put so much trust in her. She's the one who notified Nix and I right after you two saved the Demon of Dreams to get Felix to you as soon as possible."

"I've known her and Victor for ages," Felix said. "She's got as big a heart as you could ever hope for. Both of them."

"Jonas also sides with you two," Max said. "He'll hide that fact to the end for political reasons, but know he's there."

"And when we say their names," Nix said, "know, of course, we mean their guards, as well."

"Where were their guards?" Andi asked. "I never got a chance to ask Gretchen where Reggie was. It all happened too fast."

"Timothy told me they were keeping the others occupied so I had a clear shot in, and we had a clear shot out. How come you didn't mention him helping?"

Both Max and Nix said, "Timothy?" while a look of mild surprise came over Felix's face.

"He and Sasha were the only bright spots in my imprisonment," Andi said. "I didn't see them often, but when I did, they gave me good conversation. Sasha pointed me in the right direction for discovering my parents' past with the Dragon Council." She turned to Felix. "I figured out who you were, too."

He tipped an imaginary cap in her direction. "Those were the days. Plenty of adventures, not to mention mountains of treasure for the taking."

"Wait," Ben said. "You've never told me anything about your past, even when I asked."

"You were busy. Alexandria had some time on her hands. Besides, I didn't tell her anything. She researched it."

"Back to the point," Max said, "what happened with Timothy? Why would you think he was helping?"

"He said he was, but he also complimented me on not killing Marcel and his guard when I had the chance. He also let me pass easy enough to get to Andi."

"What happened with Marcel and Francine?" Nix asked.

"I ran into them in the hallway, and they tried to stop me. I blasted her with a bolt of dark energy, and I trapped him in a force bubble and sucked out the oxygen, knocking him out. They'll both be fine."

"Impressive," Felix said. "It's always nice to know a pupil is paying attention and putting the knowledge to good use when I'm not monitoring."

Max chuckled. "Knowing they're not hurt, it's nice to see Marcel get knocked down a peg. He can use that every once in a while."

"Be nice," Nix said, but a slight smile on her lips betrayed her.

"Did you think to scan Timothy?" Felix asked.

Ben gave himself a silent curse. "No, I was too amped up being so close to Andi."

"A master wouldn't forget, but, given the circumstances, I can't fault you."

"Why are you guys questioning him and Sasha, anyway?" Andi spat. Ben recoiled at both the venom in her tone, and in her emotions. What had brought on that burst of anger? Nothing that deserved it to that intensity, that was for sure.

"We have our reasons, Alexandria," Nix said.

"He and Sasha were the reason you two were split up," Max said. "Plus, there are other curious things we believe they're responsible for."

"Our guess is they're doing everything they can to make sure the prophecy goes the way of evil," Nix said.

"It's not true," Andi said, again with too much anger.

Ben reached over and clutched her hand. "Andi, sweetie, chill."

Her frown slowly melted, but she still said, "They're on the good side. If you guys can't see that, it's not their problem."

Nix stood up. "It's been a long, trying three months. I think the best thing right now is for you two to head home and try to get back to normal. Or as normal as possible, anyway."

"Yes," Max said, standing up next to his mate. "Keep training, and be ready. We'll let you know what we find out next."

Dinner had started less than five minutes prior, but Andi already found herself on her third hunk of lasagna. Luckily, Heidi had the foresight to make a couple of extra pans. The food at the Stronghold had been excellent, but being away from Ben had drained her normal enthusiasm for eating. She'd eaten enough those three months, but not with her normal teenage dragon appetite.

They'd gotten the emotional breakdowns out of the way when Ben brought her in the house, so that made dinner that much more comfortable. It still hurt not having Mom and Dad here, but being with Heidi and Trent again, to say nothing of the joy of being with Ben, helped an immeasurable amount.

"Felix said you'll start training soon with us," Ben said between bites of his own lasagna. He'd already dished up his second helping, while his parents were both still halfway through their first.

"Cool," she said, and meant it. It would be interesting to see the inner workings of magic, something she wasn't familiar with. Before she'd been abducted, Ben had cast a lot of spells, but he didn't understand what he was doing. Now it sounded like he had a real handle on it. "Do you normally only see Felix during training?"

Ben shook his head. "He's usually here for dinner, but he thought you'd appreciate some quiet family time your first night back."

"Which is silly," Heidi said, "since he almost feels like family by now."

Andi nodded, but she was glad he wasn't here. She'd been awful to him when he first showed up. When she mentioned that earlier to Ben, he said Felix understood – it had been the worst night of her life up to that point, after all – but she still felt weird around him. The drive home from Newport Beach had been especially awkward. Not that Felix had been anything but great towards her, but she couldn't shake her embarrassment.

"He keeps me company every day while Heidi's at work and Ben's at school," Trent said. "He's a good guy."

She turned to Ben. "I'm glad you stayed in school. I wasn't sure if you would."

"Yeah. Felix wanted me to since it would be something else to think about rather than magic and you, but I also knew you'd be happy. I'm even getting straight-A's in your honor." He gave her a wink which made her heart flutter.

"What did you say about me?" she asked.

"You moved away suddenly during winter break," Ben said. "If anyone asked, that's all I said. I didn't have to pretend to be heartbroken, so everyone pretty much left me alone about it. Dad took care of the official stuff with the school."

"The Dragon Council helped with all that," Trent added. "They basically took care of everything."

Before she could ask what everything was, and what they did, Ben said, "Melissa thought at first that she could win me back, but that didn't last long."

"She gave up? That doesn't sound like her." Andi couldn't help but let out a giggle. She hadn't given Melissa even a smidge of a thought these past three months, but thinking about her now, she sort of missed the spoiled little rich girl.

"I told her the real story was that there were problems with a zombie hunt. If she wanted to stay safe, she needed to keep her mouth shut, and keep away from me."

Melissa had been Ben's girlfriend before Andi had arrived. Once Andi pushed her out of Ben's mind, Melissa had begun spreading ugly rumors about them all over school. It only stopped when she unwittingly stumbled into a zombie attack that Andi and Ben saved her from. From that moment on, she believed that Andi and Ben were zombie hunters, and they didn't bother correcting her. Andi and Melissa even became friends, much to the chagrin of Ben. She supposed she wouldn't be seeing Melissa again, at least not in the near future.

"Benjamin Aaron Phillips, that wasn't nice," Heidi said. "You could have found an easier way to let the poor girl down."

"I don't know," Trent said. "I'm guessing you wish you would have thought to tell her that ages ago."

Ben laughed, while Andi and Heidi gave simultaneous eye rolls, like she and Mom used to do. All at once, the loss of Mom and Dad hit her like a ton of bricks, and it took every ounce of self-control to not fall off her chair and curl up into a tear-soaked ball.

Ben was by her side in an instant, and pulled her into his arms. She lost herself in his embrace and let the tears flow. She hoped not to ruin dinner, but she couldn't help it. Heidi and Trent would understand, but she didn't like losing herself like this. Not that she could stop now. She'd worry about the embarrassment in a few minutes.

Andi had no idea how long it lasted, but when she pulled her head away from Ben's chest, the table had been cleared. She didn't want any more, but hoped everyone else got their fill. She started to apologize when Heidi came over, abstracted her from Ben's arms, and pulled her into a hug of her own.

"You let it all out, sweet girl. I know you were about to apologize, but don't. If anyone deserves a good cry, it's you. Trent and I know we'll never be able to replace your mom and dad, but we'll do the absolute best we can. We promise you that." She kissed the top of Andi's head, and Andi lost herself to tears again, this time in Heidi's arms.

It took another few minutes for her to again regain control, and when she did, she stepped back and said thank you. It was aimed at all three of them, and their return smiles showed they knew. Ben wrapped his arms around her, and she felt herself return to normal. Well, as normal as she was going to get at the moment.

Trent cleared his throat. "What does everyone say to a light-hearted comedy or two on DVD? Tomorrow's Saturday, so we can stay up late."

Andi smiled. "Sounds great. I can use a laugh tonight."

Heidi stepped over to the sink. "You two go pick out the movies while we finish the dishes."

Ben pulled Andi out into the living room, saying, "Sure. Especially if it means getting out of doing the dishes." They all laughed, and when she and Ben were alone in the living room, he pulled her to him, and their lips met. Yes, that's exactly what she needed at the moment. She melted into him and let all the bad feelings float away.

Ben closed the bedroom door and looked over to Andi, lying on the bed. Feelings of joy of being at home and with him, as well as sadness at being in her house where her parents would never again tread, radiated off her. She needed to come face-to-face with the knowledge that her parents would never be there again. No nervousness flashed off her, though, which he found interesting. That had to be the prevailing emotion flashing off him. With Mom and Dad back home, and Felix on an errand that would keep him in another dimension until morning, this was going to be the night.
The
night. He had a feeling Mom and Dad still thought the chastity spell was in place, and the only errand Felix was likely running was staying out of the house.

"I didn't ask about your writing," she said, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Do you have any shiny new stories for me to read?"

He shook his head. "Between learning magic, keeping my grades up, and missing the heck out of you, I didn't have any time for it."

She got up off the bed and hugged him. "I hope you make time now. I love reading your stuff." She kissed his cheek. "You're so nervous."

"I can't believe you're not," he whispered, running a fingertip over her nightgown-covered stomach. "We haven't talked about it, but you had to feel that the chastity spell dropped."

She buried her head into his chest. "Yes, but…"

"But what? What's wrong?"

"It's…well, it's just that my dad wanted us to wait until we have a human wedding. He was being stubborn, yes, but it was still important to him."

It took him a second to process that. "Wait, what? But you never agreed with him. Now you're going to choose that to honor him?"

She hugged him tighter. "I know, I'm sorry, but it's important."

He opened his mouth to argue, but closed it just as quick. This was her first night back, and he could sense her barely succeeding in keeping herself from being overwhelmed with everything. His job tonight was to be her rock. She'd change her mind in this soon.

Or not. As much as he hated to admit it, he sensed something about her, something not quite right, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He'd felt it all day, but hoped he was wrong. Maybe he still was. After all, shouldn't his powers tell him what was going on? They always had before. Besides, he was overwhelmed himself, and being paranoid was his way of coping. For all he knew the overwhelming flood of emotions, that which he'd been void of for the last three months, were playing havoc with his thinking.

She looked up at him, tears brimming her eyes, and a shy smile on her lips. "Your emotions are spinning so fast I can't get a grasp on them, but I don't sense any anger."

He kissed her, tender, lingering, taking both their breaths away. He nibbled on her lower lip, and then backed away. "No, there's no anger. Mostly concern. It's been a trying three months."

She reached up and kissed him again, this one short but no less sweet. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He pulled the bed covers down, picked her up, and gently placed her on the comfy mattress before joining her. As he engulfed her in their normal sleep embrace, his hand came down right on her breast. It was a natural arm placement, so without the chastity spell to deflect it, that's where his hand landed. They both gasped, but she didn't push it away. He could tell she wouldn't let him go any further, but that was fine. She snuggled closer to him, but it took him a few minutes before he could breathe normally again. She noticed, and he sensed her smile. She fell asleep well before him.