Dragon Protecting (Torch Lake Shifters Book 4) Read online

  “Well, wait. Let me finish. She did have some insights into it. She said that what you’re describing does sound like a certain branch of magic, but it’s an old, old kind of magic that no one really practices anymore. They’re ancient spells that are hard to master, and I guess most of them aren’t even that useful in the modern world, so most wizard communities didn’t bother teaching them. There was only one wizard clan that still taught these spells with regularity, but that clan was completely destroyed by a fire in the Great Dark War. As far as we know, there were no survivors.”

  Clint puzzled over this. “She’s sure it’s that kind of magic? Someone might have survived the fire. After all, good records weren’t really kept during the War. Maybe someone from that clan made it and was so angry about losing everyone that they decided to start working for the evil wizards. That’s pretty common, you know.”

  “Yeah, but Sofia told me this fire was huge. Anyone who was in town at the time died. The only hope would be if someone hadn’t been around when the fire was set, but that seems unlikely. The clan leadership had apparently put the whole place on lockdown in an attempt to keep their members safe. Oh, look, Sofia just walked in from work. I’ll see if she can talk to you.”

  A few moments later, Sofia’s voice came on the line. “Hey, Clint.”

  “Hey. Thanks for looking into this for me.”

  “No problem, although I’m not sure how helpful I’m being. Describe for me again what’s going on.”

  “Well, we keep trying to go after dragons who are living in human towns. We have a long list, but so far we’ve been unable to bring in a single dragon. For each dragon, we send out a scout to make sure the dragon still lives where their file says they do. Once that’s confirmed, we work with the Dragon Recovery Bureau to send in a Dragon Recovery Specialist to convince the dragon to move to Torch Lake.”

  “Right. Standard processes.”

  “Exactly. The problem is that when our specialists get to the dragons, they’re gone. Even if we send someone out the very next day, the dragon has disappeared, and, what’s even more sinister is that there’s always a red “X” on the doorway. The first time we didn’t think much of it. We thought the dragon must have coincidentally moved or something. But now it’s every time. No matter how fast we move, the dragon is gone.”

  “Yeah, that sounds exactly like an Evanesco spell. It’s an ancient spell that makes a person and all their belongings disappear and reappear somewhere else. Rumor has it that there’s always a giant red “X” left behind when the spell is performed.”

  “So I’m not crazy! There is some sort of dark magic going on!”

  “Well, it’s not exactly dark magic. It’s not an evil spell, just an ancient one. But yes, my guess would be that someone from the Dark Warriors is doing this. They’re tracking your scouts and making the dragons you try to recruit disappear.”

  “How do I stop them?”

  “Well, that’s the tricky part. I don’t know how they are even managing to do this, since everyone from the Eagle Thicket Academy of Ancient Magic presumably died in the war.”

  Clint let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay, but someone must have actually survived.”

  “Yeah, someone. But you’ll need a second person who survived if you’re going to stop this. At least if you’re going to stop it anytime soon.”

  “Why?”

  “The counter spell is also ancient magic. And it’s rumored to be one of the most difficult of the ancient spells to perform. Even many in the Eagle Thicket Clan probably couldn’t have done it.”

  “So what do I do?”

  There was a long pause, and then a sigh on the other end of the line. “I don’t know, Clint. You need to talk to the High Council and tell them all of this. This problem is much bigger than just you. If the dragons keep disappearing at this rate, then we’ll never have more dragons in Torch Lake. We have too many people here to have so few dragon protectors. It’s not safe.”

  “I’ve tried talking to the High Council.”

  “Try again.”

  “Sofia, they’re convinced that it’s my fault. They told me today that my scouts are sloppy and that we aren’t coordinating properly with the Dragon Recovery Bureau. They don’t want to hear my theory about it being the Dark Warriors.”

  “Tell them what I told you. You have to make them understand, Clint. I know it’s not fun to stand up to them or get yelled at, but this is important. We need more dragons.”

  Clint stared angrily off at the lake, not saying anything for several long moments. He was tired of dealing with the High Council, and tired of being blamed for the shortcomings of the dragon recruiting efforts. But Sofia was right. He needed to act.

  “Fine. I’ll talk to them. But I’m going to need one hell of a vacation when this whole mess is over.”

  Sofia laughed. “I hear you. But don’t start planning your trip to Cancun just yet. It’s probably going to take a long time to get this mess sorted out. My guess is the High Council is going to have to train a wizard on how to perform the counter spell. And it will probably take even the best and brightest wizard the better part of a year to learn it.”

  Clint’s heart dropped. “Great. And in the meantime, we’re losing dragons left and right. Where do they go, by the way, when they disappear? Are they just gone forever?”

  “No. The spell relocates them, but at random.”

  “What? How does that work.”

  “I don’t know, exactly. But the ancient spell sends its target somewhere completely random. Could be down the street, could be halfway across the world, could be in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, like I said, completely random. Odds are good that most of the dragons that have been relocated will never be seen or heard from again.”

  Clint felt sick. These dragon shifters had all been hiding away in human towns, trying to stay away from world of magic and shifters. But he had brought that world to them in the worst way, by leading the Dark Warriors to their doorsteps. Now, the shifters’ whole lives had been turned upside down, and they would never see their homes again.

  “Clint?” Sofia asked. “You still there?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Listen, Sofia, I think I need some time to think through all this.”

  “Sure. Let me know if you have other questions or if there’s anything else I can help with.”

  “Will do.”

  Clint hung up the call, and for several minutes just sat there, staring at the lake again and trying to process everything he’d just learned. He had his work cut out for him, that much he knew. He didn’t know why the High Council was in so much denial about this being a Dark Warriors problem, but his first task was going to be convincing them to open their eyes and see that the longer they waited to deal with this, the more dragons they were going to lose.

  The screeching of tires startled Clint, and he swung his gaze around to look at the beginning of the cul-de-sac, where Sunny’s car had just appeared. She had taken the turn way too fast on the slick, muddy road, and had nearly taken out the mailbox of the first house on the street. Clint scowled. There went his peace and quiet.

  Sunny pulled into her driveway, parking her car at a somewhat crooked angle before hopping out. Clint sucked in his breath at the sight of her. As annoying as it was to have a neighbor, he had to admit that she was easy on the eyes. Somehow, even her Bewitched Bean apron managed to look sexy on her. It hugged her curves perfectly, and the deep purple color looked good with her olive skin tone and dove gray eyes. She turned toward him, then, noticing that he was sitting on his front porch. Her face brightened and she waved excitedly, like a kid at a school play does when she’s just spotted her parents in the audience.

  “Hey! How was your Hocus Pocus latte?” she asked. “I’d never tried one of those before today. They’re pretty good, huh?”

  Clint only grunted in response. Then he stood, grabbed the empty cup from his latte, and turned
to go inside, letting the door slam shut behind him.

  Chapter Five

  Several hours later, Clint felt like his brain had disappeared just like the dragons. He couldn’t think straight anymore, and he finally admitted to himself that he needed a break. He ordered a pizza—something he rarely did, since he felt badly for the delivery guys who had to drive all the way out to his house in the middle of nowhere—and started packing up the papers he’d been reading through.

  He’d tried to find out more about the ancient magic Sofia had mentioned, but so far he hadn’t had much luck. No wonder he’d been having such a hard time figuring out what was going on with the Dark Warriors and disappearing dragons. The information he needed just wasn’t out there. According to Sofia, it had all burned along with the Eagle Thicket’s Academy of Ancient Magic.

  The doorbell rang, and Clint nearly jumped out of his skin. He hadn’t expected the pizza to be here so soon. Setting aside the copy of A History of Forgotten Spells that he’d been holding in his hand, he went to get the door. There on his doorstep was a greasy haired teenage wizard, holding a broomstick in one hand and a pizza box in the other.

  “Delivery, Mr. Wallace,” the boy said proudly.

  Clint raised an eyebrow. “Did you fly here?” Broomstick flying was strictly regulated, and the High Council had written a prohibition in Torch Lake’s civil code that prevented companies from using broomsticks for deliveries. But the boy didn’t seem at all concerned by Clint’s question.

  “Yup, I flew here. And I beat the GPS estimate by a good two minutes at least.”

  Clint frowned. “Isn’t delivery flying, you know, illegal?”

  The boy laughed. “Not anymore. Didn’t you hear the news? It was on the front page of the paper this morning. The High Council ruled yesterday afternoon to lift the ban on commercial broomstick flying. They’re hoping to boost the economy a bit by allowing it.”

  Clint felt a rush of anger. Here he was, busting his ass to try to solve this dragon problem, and the High Council was worrying about petty things like broomstick flying. The boy seemed to notice Clint’s mood, because he wiped the proud grin off his face and pushed the pizza box forward.

  “Uh, anyway, here you go sir. Thank you for your business.”

  Clint sighed. “Wait a sec.” He dug into his wallet and pulled out a five dollar bill to tip the kid. It wasn’t the boy’s fault that the High Council couldn’t seem to get its priorities straight. “Thanks for the delivery. Have a good night. And be careful out there. The skies are going to be a lot more congested with that ban lifted.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” the boy said. Then he hopped onto his broomstick and took off into the dark night. Clint watched him go until he couldn’t see him anymore, then looked down at the pizza box. The words Peregrine Pizza were written in elegant script across the cardboard box top, and the smell of cheese, pepperoni, and sauce drifted up to Clint’s nose. Normally, his mouth would have already been watering. Peregrine Pizza was his favorite pizza joint, and he had been starving just a few minutes ago. But now, he had lost his appetite.

  He had moved to Torch Lake because he believed in this town, and in its High Council. Had that belief been misplaced? Had the High Council become too comfortable and complacent? Didn’t they realize that the threat of dark magic still lurked in the shadows?

  The sound of snorting and scraping interrupted Clint’s thoughts. Frowning, he set the pizza box down on the seat of one of the patio chairs and went to lean over the porch railing. There, in his flowerbeds, where the tulips he had so lovingly planted last fall were just starting to peek through the earth, a large dark shape bounced around and clawed at the ground.

  “What the…” Clint hadn’t had much trouble with animals out here. Most of the forest creatures seemed content to stay in the forest, away from the growing town that was slowly encroaching on their habitat. But this creature was going to town on the flowerbed, sending dirt flying behind its paws, along with a few baby tulips.

  “Hey!” Clint shouted at the animal, squinting to try to see what it was. It paused and looked up, giving a few curious sniffs in Clint’s direction. That’s when he realized it was a dog. A mutt, but with quite a bit of lab in it. The dog seemed to decide that Clint wasn’t all that interesting, because she gave a happy yip and went back to digging.

  “You must be Mocha,” Clint said, gritting his teeth as he took the steps down from the porch in two big leaps. “And you are not allowed to dig in these flowerbeds. Come on, let’s take you back to your momma.”

  Clint picked the animal up in his arms and started marching toward Sunny’s house. Mocha must have decided that this was some sort of game, because she wagged her tail furiously, slapping Clint’s back with it while planting sloppy, wet kisses on Clint’s face.

  “Hey, now. We are not friends, Mocha. I don’t have time for a misbehaving dog in my life right now, so do me a favor and stay in your own yard, okay?”

  Clint had tried to sound stern, but Mocha only wagged her tail harder. Clint could feel cold mud on his face where Mocha had pushed her muddy snout up against his cheek. With a sigh, Clint reached to ring Sunny’s doorbell. A few moments later, Sunny threw open the door, and Clint’s jaw nearly dropped. She was wearing only a white tank top and cotton pajama shorts now. No bra—that was obvious from the clear outline of her nipples under her shirt. Her hair was pulled up into some sort of messy ponytail, with loose strands falling out everywhere. Clint felt himself going hard between his legs. He would have to have been blind to not have some sort of reaction to what was in front of him.

  “Uh…” he said, trying to remember the little speech he’d been preparing in his head about keeping her dog under control.

  “Mocha!” Sunny said. She reached out and grabbed the dog from him, not seeming to notice or care that it was covered in mud. “Oh my god Clint, was she digging in your yard? I’m so sorry. She’s such a bad digger and I’ve told her a thousand times not to wander around making holes but she never listens. Bad girl, Mocha.”

  In response to her mistress’s scolding, Mocha began planting sloppy wet kisses on Sunny’s face. Clint found himself at a loss for words. It was hard to be angry when you found yourself hopelessly attracted to someone. If anything, he was angry at himself now. What was he thinking, letting himself think about how beautiful Sunny was? He could not let himself go down that road or he was going to start liking her. Then he was going to start acting neighborly, and then Sunny would decide she liked living on this street and stay. Clint didn’t want her to stay. He wanted his quiet street back to himself, thank you very much.

  “Yeah, well, keep her out of my flowerbeds,” he said, managing to sound at least a little bit stern. Then he spun around and started walking away as quickly as he could, hoping that his momentary attraction to her had not been as obvious on his face as he felt it was. He’d already made it halfway back to his yard before her voice stopped him.

  “Wait!”

  Groaning inwardly, he turned back to her. “Yeah?”

  “I was just wondering if you know of any pizza places that deliver out this way. I’m starving, but I haven’t had a chance to go grocery shopping yet. All my kitchen stuff is still packed up anyway.”

  Clint felt a pang of guilt. He knew he should just invite her over to share his pizza. That’s what neighbors did, right? But he didn’t want a neighbor. Not even one as beautiful as Sunny. For a few moments, he wrestled with the decision, but, once again, his manners finally won out.

  “There is a place that delivers. Peregrine Pizza. I actually just got a pizza from them. You’re welcome to join me for a slice or two if you want.”

  Sunny’s face lit up. “Really? I’d love that. Do you have enough?”

  Clint nodded. “I always get the biggest pie they have because I love cold pizza for breakfast.”

  Sunny laughed. “Me too. It’s the best!”

  Clint managed a smile. “See, I knew you weren’t all bad.”

/>   Sunny laughed again, and Clint found himself drawn to the sound. It sounded even better tonight than it had the night before in the midst of the torrential rain. Tonight, with the clear skies and otherwise silent air, her laugh sounded almost like a song.

  “Just let me get some decent clothes on and I’ll be right over.”

  Clint nodded, then turned to head back toward his house before the streetlight gave away the fact that a blush was creeping onto his face. What was wrong with him? He definitely didn’t have time for a relationship right now, especially with his neighbor whom he hoped would move away the day her lease ended. He needed to keep his fantasies in line and focus on what actually mattered right now, which was his work. The safety of Torch Lake, and of countless dragons, depended on his convincing the High Council to take action against the Dark Warriors and their ancient magic threats.

  Clint took a few deep, calming breaths as he reached his house and went inside to grab a couple of beers from the refrigerator. He popped the tops off and then grabbed a couple paper plates. They would eat outside on the porch. He wasn’t ready to show Sunny his house yet. That somehow felt too intimate. Besides, the night was gorgeous. It was warm for April, and for once the skies were clear. Might as well enjoy the evening.

  He had a feeling that, despite all his little pep talks to himself about not falling for Sunny, he was going to enjoy this evening much more than he should.

  Chapter Six

  Sunny threw back her head and laughed, then started choking so hard that she got beer up her nose. The alcohol burned, but she didn’t care. It had been ages since she had laughed this much. Clint seemed so cool and standoffish at first that she’d thought the whole evening was going to be hopelessly strained. But after a few beers he’d loosened up quite a bit. Now, well past when they both probably should have been in bed, they were out here trying to outdo each other with stories of stupid stuff they’d done. Clint had just finished telling her about the time in high school that he and some friends got a bullhorn and a flashing light and went around using the bullhorn’s siren sound along with the light to make people think they were police. They had pulled over car after car and then driven by hanging out the window of Clint’s truck yelling “Just kidding.” They got away with it until they accidentally pulled over an undercover cop and earned themselves a trip to the county jail—and threats from their parents that they would be grounded for life if they ever tried something like that again.