Moonbreeze (The Dragonian Series Book 4) (61 page)

Once out we took the long road on the path that led to the cornfields. We chatted more about what Blake had gone through, and I knew I should stop but I couldn’t. I realized one thing, that it wasn’t just hard for me when I’d gone missing, they’d suffered too, in some way. Still, seeing Blake that day on the mountain, the way he’d rejected me, and seeing the guy in the lake, the one who’d kissed me, they were two different people and knowing that Emanual also questioned the things I did, made it so hard to trust this new Blake.

We reached the cornfield and this time, we didn’t have a gun cocked in our faces.

The Benson’s house came into sight and I saw three figures sitting on the porch: Charles, Luke and Blake.

Blake saw us immediately. “Elena?” he asked and he walked towards us.

He found Emanual. “What are you doing here?”

Emanual just laughed. “Change of plans Blake. Elena made a bit of shit.”

“Which I will handle.”

“Princess.”

“I told you not to call me that.” I sounded annoyed.

“What sort of shit?”

“It doesn’t matter, I’ll deal with the Ancients.”

“Emanual?” Blake sounded concerned as I walked over to Charles and Luke.

“Elle.” Luke was the first one to get up.

“Luke.” I hugged him as Emanual told Blake I’d threatened the Ancients when they wanted to put Annie in quarantine.

“What?”

“We need families, more kids preferably. Kids soften everything,” Emanual said as I greeted Charles.

“What is going on, Elle?”

“They want to put Annie in quarantine, but we have a plan.”

The old man stroked his face hard.

“Hey, over my dead body.”

He smiled and grabbed my arm.

I could hear Emanual and Blake getting closer.

“Emanual, King Helmut’s dragon, Luke, Charles.”

“I wanted to say you looked familiar. Haven’t aged in years.” Charles shook his hand.

He laughed. “It’s a dragon thing.”

“Don’t say that too loud here. Dragons are quite rare this side, well ones that still know how to become one.”

We followed Luke and Charles into the house and found Gertrude busy with her needlework and Daisy reading a book.

“Elle!” Gertrude got up. “And who is this?”

“Emanual.” He reached out for her hand. “King Helmut’s dragon.”

“Ahhh, I wanted to say you look familiar.”

“Elena?” Blake touched my arm softly and nodded towards a private spot to talk.

I sighed and followed him into Charles’s office.

I didn’t look at him as I folded my arms and leaned against Charles’s desk.

He stroked his face hard and cupped the back of his head as he started to pace.

“What exactly did you tell the Ancient’s guards?”

“They wanted to put her in quarantine, Blake. And I was angry, okay.”

“What did you say?” he asked again.

“I told them if they didn’t leave in two hours I was going to unleash you on them.” I spoke the last part softly.

He just stared at me with a look on his face I’d never seen before. It looked like he wanted to laugh, but he looked serious too.

Then he blew out a breath, his lips vibrated and he folded his arms.

“It’s the Ancients, Elena.”

“I didn’t give a shit who they are, Blake. She is your cousin, what did you want me to do, let them take her? She’s been through enough and there are no plagues here.”

“Okay, easy,” he sang. “All I’m saying is you have no idea what you just did. And it puts me in a completely different situation now.”

“Well I’m so fucking sorry that I spoiled your plans.” I was upset again. “I’ll deal with them myself, like I always do.” I walked past him and opened the door.

“Elena, it’s not…”

I shut the door without even hearing him out.

When was this going to stop? I couldn’t believe that I’d actually missed him the past two days.

Gertrude looked at me, concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. We should start getting some of the kids and parents out, Emanual.”

He squinted.

“Don’t look at me like that. He stays, as this is where he truly wants to be. I’ll handle the Ancients myself.”

“Elena.”

“Just stop it.”

“The Ancients?” Charles had a worried look on his face.

“It’s a long story, I’ll be fine.”

“You won’t be fine, Elena.” Emanual was getting angry. “Don’t be stupid.”

“I’m not the one….” I said and paused as Blake entered the kitchen.

“You’ve got people on the other side ready to take places?”

Emanual nodded.

“How many Buyos?” He stared at the one around Emanual’s chest.

“Blake?” Charles looked at him.

“We will show you first, Charles.”

“Ten,” Emanual said, “including me.”

“Okay, get ten grown-ups ready to leave. All the kids they don’t know about are coming with us tonight.”

“Oh so now it’s us?”

“You threatened the Ancients, Elena. I don’t even know how to handle this one.” Blake looked worried and I realized that I was in serious, serious shit, princess or no princess.

“We need to do this fast.” Blake looked back at Emanual.

“So ten of us have to pack?” Gertrude asked.

Blake nodded and looked at Emanual. “But first we have some convincing to do.”

CHARLES AND THE entire Benson family, with Luke, were all sitting in the lounge.

Emanual took a hair from Charles and put it in the orb section right in the middle of the harness that was on his chest. He closed the lid and the orb started to glow.

Emanual closed his eyes and sort of disappeared, then Charles appeared in his place.

Everyone gasped.

“Come here, Charles,” Blake said while Emanual was super quiet. “Speak into the device.” Blake tapped softly on the middle section that had a funny black-looking orb.

“What?” Charles asked not taking his eyes off Emanual who was the spitting image of himself.

“Here.” Blake showed with his hand. “Just say your name.”

Charles bent down and cleared his throat. “I’m Charles Benson.”

The device played the recording back and then Emanual spoke. It was still his voice but the more he said the line, the more his own voice started to disappear and then we were left with two Charles and no Emanual.

“Good enough for you?” Blake looked at the real Charles.

He just stared at Emanual, or his replica. All of us did. “Brilliant.”

Emanual caught my eyes. “It’s still me Princess.” He still sounded like Charles. 

“It doesn’t look or sound like you anymore.”

“That is the plan, right?”

“Yes, it is.”

“You feel old?” Charles asked and Emanual and Blake laughed.

“No, I still feel like me. It’s just an appearance device. A trick as Helmut calls them. They are quite protective of these because in the wrong hands, these could lead to many horrors.”

“Now that, I can understand.”

“The scientists are working around the clock to get the first 150 finished. We are going to use the farms to station ourselves.”

“Who is going to work the farms, Emanual?” Gertrude sounded worried. “If you take all of us out, the Council will know by the next—”

“Relax, Elena has informed me of what it’s like here.”

Blake looked up at him.

“You’re kidding me right?” Emanual grinned as he caught Blake’s eyes.

“Just making sure.”

Everyone chuckled, except me. It wasn’t like that with me and Blake.

“You still haven’t answered my questions.”

“Magic, Gertrude.”

I smiled.

“Magic?” Charles said, skeptical.

“It’s war time, Charles. And every war has its casualties. I don’t want it to be the people that are actually helping the princess.”

Blake’s face fell and he rubbed it hard. Emanual looked at him and laughed, just like Charles. “Let me guess, took the words right out of your mouth?”

“Shut up. Still a pain in the ass.”

Emanual laughed.

It was so weird. Blake loved to fight, that was for sure, but he did have nice words for me now and then, especially around nighttime.

“So nine of us leave tonight?” Daisy asked.

“You and Cassy have to come,” I said.

“Elle, if they want to put us in quarantine…”

“Not going to happen, Daisy.” Blake took the words out of my mouth this time.

“Promise? I don’t want her to be more afraid than what she is used to.”

“She won’t. Freedom is what we offer and freedom is what each and every one is going to get,” Blake said again. I looked at him. For someone that wasn’t able to read my mind anymore he sure knew just what I was thinking.

“Okay, I trust you.”

“I won’t disappoint. I promise.”

She nodded.

BLAKE TOOK EMANUAL around the farm. It didn’t matter if it was dark, the two of them had night vision and would see everything clearly. Charles and some of the other house heads were sitting in the kitchen.

They drew up a list to choose the ten that were going to leave with us.

It was going to be Cassy, Daisy, Olive and her girl. Two adults. Then it was Luke and his two girls. Three adults.

Maggie and little Simon and Trevor. Four adults as Trevor was only fifteen, still too young to be trained.

Gertrude wanted to stay with Marcus so we let her stay for now.

And five adults from one of the other farm houses.

They all came to the house around eleven so we could move out under the cover of darkness.

Blake was packed, I was glad as he would be out of this dark place where they toy with dragons, but a part of me wasn’t glad. I knew he didn’t want to and it made me feel like one of those Dragonians again that tell their dragons what to do. I wasn’t like that.

He really knew how to make me feel so useless at times, but Emanual was staying. Even though he was all warmed up for this war. I didn’t like it.

Around twelve, families said goodbye to their loved ones. I hated this part and all of us with Charles, Marcus, Tom and August left with Emanual and Blake to head to the Creepers.

I took Cassy out first and found David with Annie and a truck waiting nearby. They’d known we were coming.

Annie rushed to my side as she took Cassy from me and hugged the poor, shaking little girl. Stupid Creepers.

I took Raymond in. He carried me just like Emanual had. He didn’t want to take any chances, and he wasn’t scared either.

Daisy came out. And Dicky went in.

Then it was Olivia’s girl and after I took Taylor in, she didn’t carry me and actually hissed at one of the creepers that came too close as we exited.

Emanual and Raymond just laughed. Olivia came out.