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26

DRAGON HUNTING

L ennon…

It seemed like Griffon and I had been sneaking around Hestia for a lifetime, but it had only been a matter of days. We had landed at the palace in the middle of the night, and because Griffon had wanted nothing to do with distant Hestian relatives, we had left with only a few parting words.

"Won't you stay?" His father had asked. "You should know where you come from."

Griffon shook his head briskly. "I know enough."

"You don't want to meet Moire?"

"I wouldn't want her to start another prophecy that includes us. I am done with prophecies."

But Griffon was wrong. We were still dealing with the last one.

Yes, it was tempting to just take Kivi and go. But now we had new friends who had defended us and were paying the price for it. We couldn't leave them behind.

Griffon, Bain, and I stepped free of the castle doors, and I closed my eyes to get a sense of direction. Though I reached out to Kivi in my mind, I got no answer in return. Instead, the clear impression that she was sleeping.

Come on, Kivi. Wake up, baby. But be quiet about it. Let them think you're still asleep.

No answer.

"Which way?" Griffon was ready to grab us and fly.

"Give me a minute. She's not answering. She's asleep."

Griffon nodded and tried to be patient.

I made another attempt. Reached out. Tried to sense the direction. Further east. Beyond the large building at the bottom of the hill. I prodded Kivi's memories and found flashes of a stable. Bars on the windows. A space little bigger than she was. Hardly the pampering Ciro had promised.

I nodded, and Griffon wrapped one arm around me and grabbed Bain. When we shot into the sky, I nearly laughed with relief. Though there was a dome above us somewhere, we were free for the moment.

I pointed to a small, long structure not far from the giant one. As we flew over the latter, its purpose was clear. The rows of seating resembled a football stadium but on a small scale. Like a high school one in size, but taller and deeper. To the south lay another building that must have been the Recovery, where Sweetie and Minkin had spent the day.

Sweetie was right. The place did smell like blood, even in the sky above.

Again, I tried to wake Kivi. I could feel the ache in her bones and wished she wasn’t stuck in her physical state. But since we'd arrived on Hestia, her physical body was the only form she'd been able to take.

On Earth, she was able to make herself invisible at will. When I no longer needed her, she was able to revert to a spirit form and wait on some other plane of existence until I needed her again.

Not so here.

Apparently, she was forced to be her true self when in her true home. Though the Fae race on Earth had also originated from Hestia, we’d seen few traces of magic here. But thankfully, Kivi and I had still been able to communicate privately.

Or was that no longer the case?

Either way, I would be able to wake her in person if we could just get to her.

No alarms were triggered when we touched down in the yard. I didn’t know if the cover of snow kept insects and birds quiet, but the silence was deafening, like the first snow of winter, where fat snowflakes absorb every whisper.

Bain touched my arm. “A drakehouse is never this quiet, even at night.”

Griffon shrugged. “Maybe there’s only one dragon inside.”

“Something is wrong,” I said.

Griffon agreed with a nod. “But what else can we do? We can’t go back, and we can’t leave her behind. Besides, we mustn’t fail. They’re waiting for us.”

He was right. The rest of our friends would be gathering at the edge of the courtyard, waiting for their ride to freedom. And so, with no other options, we moved to the doors, slid one of them to the side, and stepped into stables meant for dragons.

There was instant recognition, an instant satisfaction that my dragon and I were back together again. I hurried silently along the empty stalls, sure that if I could just get to her, we would be okay. Together, we were invincible.

Our connection strengthened as I reached the last stall and slid the door open. I expected to find her curled in a corner when she wasn’t immediately visible. But the space was empty. No dragon. No trap. It was as if the entire compound had been abandoned.

I turned to Griffon. “I know she’s here. I feel her here. And she can’t be invisible. How can they hide my own dragon from me?"

“Call to her.”

I called in my mind, sure that this time, she would wake. When I heard nothing back, I whispered loudly. “Kivi, where are you?”

Outside the stall, Griffon pushed his wings out behind him and squatted to run his hand along the floor. “Look here.” Where most of the surface was covered in chopped straw, there were two parallel lines about four inches wide that were bare. “This is a ramp. Kivi must be underground.” He straightened and pointed to the far wall. “Look for some sort of pully.”

Bain searched while I tried again and again to wake my dragon. “Here,” he hissed, then rested his hand on a lever and waited for Griffon’s nod before he pulled it.

Somewhere, chains rattled against cogs and a large portion of the floor fell away, lowering like a heavy steel drawbridge until the end landed on the level below. Standing at the top of the ramp, Bain watched our backs. Griffon and I pulled out the glow stones Tearloch had given us and started down. At the bottom, I couldn’t hear Kivi, but she was there. My nearness roused her, but only barely.

I’m here, baby. I’m right here.

A gentle stroke of a thought and she was gone again.

In the corner stall, we found her. Griffon struck off the lock on the door so we could get to her. The space reeked of chemicals. Heavily drugged, she wouldn’t be walking, let alone flying.

I went to the ramp and whispered loudly to Bain. “Go tell the others that Kivi’s been drugged. You have to leave without us. Get out while you can.”

“Uh, Lennon?”

“No arguments. Just go!”

“Lennon, we’re not alone.”