“That’s for sure,” Leland agreed, a sense of sadness washing over him at the thought of her breathing stale Institute air. He had never been subjected to that in the Paladin quarters. Was that how she’d been treated for years? It pained him to admit the Order wasn’t as righteous as they’d made themselves out to be. He’d been taught that dragon shifters like Catori were dangerous—violent. This girl would defend herself, yes, but she was nothing like he’d feared when he’d been sent to bring her back.
Brushing the mood away, he smiled and took a nice whiff of the town’s pleasantly smog-free air. He never had liked being underground in the Institute, but it was part of his job as a Paladin. The part where he got to wander the wilderness for weeks on end was his favorite—exploring the world without restraint.
How would it be now, under Catori’s watchful eyes? Where would his life lead next? He eyed the girl and grinned sheepishly to himself. Wherever it went, he would follow this girl without remorse. It couldn’t be worse than a lifetime of servitude to the Order, could it?
“Come on, let’s eat.”
Chapter Nine
“Catori?”
Her soft breathing paused, momentarily filling the air with silence. Leland swallowed down his apprehension. The night was still young, but they had fallen asleep early, Leland and Catori on the two queen beds and Tarek passed out cold on the pull-out sofa.
“What is it?” Her voice sounded odd, like she was still asleep, speaking unconsciously.
“Are you awake?” He frowned in the darkness, aware of his unnecessary question.
“I am now.” Her voice cleared, snappier than before.
“Sorry. I just wanted to ask you something, and I can’t sleep.”
“Can’t it wait until morning?” she groaned and rolled away from him, murmuring about the day coming far too soon.
“I tried to wait, but it’s bothering me.”
Seconds passed before Catori finally exhaled hard and turned back toward Leland.
“Spit it out already.”
“What’ll happen when we meet your people? Will they kill me and my brother?”
Catori rubbed her eyes as she thought it over. “I don’t know. The Lucidium Order is more of a nightmarish folktale told to kids to keep them from wandering off in the night. It truly wasn’t a threat until, of course, it was. It happened so fast. One minute everyone was settling down for dinner, and the next it was pure chaos, and I was tossed into the back of transport vehicle with a bag over my head. I don’t remember much after that. I don’t think my people even knew what hit them.”
“They might know by now that the Lucidium Order did it.”
“Maybe. If they do, then you are as good as dead. I might be able to save you if I tell them you spared my life.”
“But I didn’t. You spared my brother’s life.”
“But you could have gotten to me if you wanted to. It might have meant Tarek’s death, but you could have completed your mission. So, given all that, you might be told to just leave. Maybe. I really can’t say. I didn’t grow up with them. I will be as much of an outsider as you are.”
“I doubt that.”
Leland thought over Catori’s words, worried she might be right. They could be walking into a death trap. Maybe she could save Leland, for he was bound to guard her, but what of Tarek? They would slaughter him, wouldn’t they? He was still an apprentice, but even so he would be considered an enemy.
“I can’t take Tarek there.”
“Hmm?” Catori’s sleepy question made him turn toward her. He had to speak loudly enough for her to hear him but not enough to rouse Tarek. His brother’s soft snores echoed through the room, ensuring that he was far from listening.
“We can’t take Tarek. He hasn’t had a good look at your map, has he?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. He didn’t seem too interested when I was drawing it.”
“There is a chance he… no. Never mind.”
“What?”
“It’s nothing. Like you said, he wasn’t interested.” Leland fell silent for a moment. “We have to leave him here. We have to go before he wakes.”
Catori turned back to look at him as he waited for her absorb what he’d said.
“You’re right. He needs to stay behind. We can wake early and leave him here, but are you sure you want to do that?”
Leland nodded, even though she probably couldn’t see him. “Yes. I need him safe. I can’t guarantee your people won’t attack us. I can’t let him be killed just for being part of the Order.”
Catori shifted. “Okay. We go early. Now go to sleep already! I’m dying here.”
He chuckled softly at her cattiness. At least she had agreed to keep Tarek out of it. Leland’s chest tightened at the thought of leaving his little brother; they’d been training together almost their entire lives. Now they’d be separated for the first time. It was the worst thing he could think of and couldn’t settle to sleep no matter how hard he tried.
Tossing and turning, he prayed his brother would come to no harm either from Catori’s people or the Lucidium Order. They did not take kindly to deserters. He would either have to lie—convincingly—or betray Leland to save himself. But it was necessary.
Sleep evaded him for hours. When he finally did drift off to sleep, he felt like he’d rested but minutes before waking up to Catori softly shaking his shoulders.
“Leland, it’s time.”
Chapter Ten
The drive across Nevada passed without a word between Catori and Leland. From the way his fingers curled tightly around the steering wheel and his jaw tensed, she could tell leaving his brother had left him torn. Not even death would be harder for him than losing his brother. She could see the love he had for his kin and hoped there was someone from her own family who’d love her the same way.
Were they still alive? Would they recognize her after all these years? Would they attack them because she’d brought a former Lucidium Paladin with her? So many questions plagued her thoughts, and she shook her head to brush them off before they drove her mad.
“We’re close, but it’s getting late. Do you want to pull over at the next stop and sleep some? We want to have our wits about us when we enter your tribe’s domain.”
Catori nodded, feeling her stomach tighten when he mentioned how close they were. She wanted to be there already, but her fear amplified with every mile. They needed rest and some food, even though she didn’t think she could slip but a mouthful of it past her tight throat.
“We rest. Tomorrow, we’ll be fresh to face whatever may come.”
Leland nodded, but his grip did not loosen on the steering wheel. If he’d been a shifter like Catori, he would’ve dented the darn thing. She felt his pain, felt as apprehensive of everything as much as him. It was odd to feel such empathy for a human, especially one who was indirectly responsible for her capture, but emotions were something dragons felt more than any normal human. It affected their lives so much that they had to live separately from the thousands and millions of humans in the cities.
Just being next to Leland while he was in distress was almost as unbearable as losing her own family. She fought the urge to reach out and hug him. Besides making it awkward, he’d probably veer off the road in surprise.
The motel signs pointed to a desolate road off the main highway. Turning down it, Leland followed the infrequent signs until they reached the edge of a mountain range surrounding the valley. He pulled the car up to a rundown motel which looked like it had seen better decades, but it had a partially burned-out neon vacancy sign. Catori stared up at it. With its missing letters, it read “CANY.”
This was not a place she wanted to spend the night, but it was better than sleeping in the dang car.
“Is this the only motel around here?”
Leland nodded. “Yeah. There’s not another one for several miles.”
He threw her an apologetic frown as he grabbed their bags from the trunk and headed int
o the office to get a room. She sighed, sinking back into the bucket seat of the Honda. Leland had left the keys in the ignition, and she flicked through the channels on the radio.
Staring at the dangling keys, she wondered if she should jump in the driver’s seat and take off, leaving him behind, to seek out her tribe without the Paladin in tow. The temptation crept into her bones as she reached out toward the keys, letting the cool metal slide across her fingers.
She could leave if she wanted to. Leave this place and this boy forever. It was as easy as sliding over, cranking the ignition and hightailing it out of there. She’d never driven a car before, but she had intently watched him control the vehicle for a couple days now. She was positive she could do it. It might lurch and roll unevenly at first, but she could.
It was so very tempting.
The door clicked open, and she let her hand fall onto her thigh, feeling her heart race from her momentary thoughts of escape. Her chance had come and gone in the blink of an eye.
“I forgot my ID.” Leland eyed the keys swaying slightly in the ignition, and after grabbing his wallet, he snatched the keys up as well, throwing Catori an inquisitive glance before shutting the door and heading into the motel again.
Damn, she thought. There was no escaping but on foot now, a route she’d rather not take. Her feet still hurt from her trek out of the Lucidium Order’s Institute, even after resting at Farryn’s lodge for a few days. She groaned and leaned against the door of the car, closing her eyes and letting the weariness creep into her bones. A good night’s sleep would be perfect at this point. No need to rush out of the mess they were already in.
Besides, she wasn’t in a hurry to run from the company of Leland.
In fact, the more time she spent with the Paladin, the more she realized they weren’t all like the guards who had treated her harshly and without regard to her comfort all those years. The guards were obviously inferior to the Paladins; they rarely had any kind of special skills except brute force and a severe lack of manners. Catori rubbed her arms where she’d often been grabbed, tossed about, and shoved.
The old pains surfaced on command, and she frowned at the thought. She doubted Tarek or Leland would’ve treated her with so much brutality. No, they were different, and she hoped that when she caught up with her tribe, their differences could be settled in a more humane way.
We are not the monsters. Not anymore.
Chapter Eleven
“Ow!”
Catori brushed a spur from her sock, tossing the small spiky burr off to the side and grumbling under her breath. They’d had to abandon the car, as the terrain had proven too rough for the low-slung chassis of the vehicle, but at least it had gotten them most of the way to their destination. Her feet ached, and the rough, uneven ground of the desert made her legs hurt even more. Leland stopped now and then to brush off sticks and burrs sticking to his socks and pants too, but with a lot less complaining. The guy was unflappable when he had his mind set on something, and Catori wasn’t sure if she liked that about him or loathed it.
Leland paused, pulled out two bottles of water, and handed one to Catori. “How much longer, do you think?”
“Not long. See the edge of the mountain range there? The entrance to the hideaway Jack told me about should be at the base of the hills. I only hope they’re still there, or we’re screwed.”
They sipped in silence and wiped the sweat from their brows. The unrelenting heat was bearing down on them from the clear blue sky above. There were trees in the distance, up on the mountains, but here in the flat plains of the valley, far from the motel they’d spent the night in, there was no shelter, food, or water. The perfect place to disappear and die.
Minutes passed as they let the slight breeze cool them. Once they’d tucked their bottles away for later, they continued hiking through the dusty land, avoiding the boulders jutting out randomly.
They had just reached edge of the mountain when the ground suddenly disappeared, and they slid into a deep pit carved into the desert floor. They tumbled onto the cool, damp dirt and coughed as they dusted themselves off and peered up toward the light from above.
“Great. A trap,” Catori moaned.
“Do you think your tribe made it?”
Catori coughed, rubbing the dirt from her eyes. “It’s possible.”
“Well”—Leland scanned the perimeter of the pit— “at least we know it’s manmade. Someone made this and will probably come check it soon. Bad news, we’re in it.”
Catori sighed and slumped down against the wall of the pit. At least it was cooler down here, and as the dust cleared, she curled her knees up to her chest and closed her eyes. If they had found her tribe, they’d soon find out if they’d be killed or spared.
“Who’s down there?”
Catori and Leland peered up into the wide-open maw of the pit, into the glare of the light. A silhouette of a person stared down at them, but the features were impossible to make out.
“My name is Catori. I’m searching for my family, a dragon clan known by the surname Reinhardt.”
The person stared down at them for several moments before they turned and waved for someone to approach. There were apparently other people around, and their captor barked commands at them before looking back down and throwing a heavy length of rope into the pit.
Catori and Leland could only assume it was okay for them to climb out, but once they reached topside, would they be attacked, tied up, thrown into another prison, or would they be accepted and just questioned? They glanced at each other with apprehension before the voice sounded out once more from above.
“You could stay there forever if you want, but I don’t recommend it. The coyotes are mighty ravenous out here in the desert. I’m sure you would make for a tasty snack.”
Leland motioned for Catori to go first. Grabbing the rope, she pulled herself up toward the light, hoping these people were friendly. The sharp voice from above wasn’t reassuring. When she reached the top, a hand was held out for her to grab, which she did, and it heaved her out of the hole.
The moment she had her feet topside, another person grabbed her arm and gave her a good, swift tug.
“Catori of the Reinhardt clan, eh? Our leader is going to want to see you. By the way, the Reinhardts are all dead. I highly doubt you are who you say you are.”
The man flashed his brilliant emerald eyes at her. The unnatural, luminescent color marked him as a dragon shifter. Maybe it was a challenge or to show Catori he wasn’t quite human. Maybe it should have scared her, but it didn’t. Leland would’ve been terrified of such a display, though, as he had not seen a dragon shifter use magic to change their eyes before Catori had held Tarek in her grip.
All the time Catori had been in the Institute with Jack, they’d been given serums to suppress their shifting abilities, trapping them in their human forms. But it had been a long time since her last injection of serum, and she mimicked his display, flashing her own emerald dragon eyes back toward him, proving that she had dragon blood.
Stunned, the guy looked away but continued to pull on her arm, causing her to yelp. “Our leader does not tolerate insubordination. You will do as you’re told or you’ll suffer the consequences, girl. Until we can figure out who you are, you’re still highly suspect.”
Catori bit into her lip to keep from crying out again as he dug his fingers into her arm. She glanced back at Leland, who had emerged from the pit and was being treated just as roughly by the other soldier. Maybe after her show of power, they had assumed Leland was a dragon shifter as well. She hoped they didn’t treat them too harshly, for his hide was a lot softer than a dragon shifter’s skin and would bruise easily. Soon enough, they would find out they were dealing with a human. Would that be the end of Leland? She hoped not.
They dragged them both toward a cave in the lower mountain range which led down into cool underground caverns lined with pools of water. Who knew all this existed below the unrelenting desert heat? The smooth, waver
ing pools beckoned to her. Catori had lost her bottle of water in the pit, and her mouth was already sticking to itself, aching for just one little taste.
She’d have to wait, for they tugged them along past the pools and deeper into the cavern. Surrounding them were countless glowing eyes. People lined the main hallway, staring at them, studying the new prisoners. If nothing else, the darkness would be Leland’s undoing. His eyes would fail to reflect the dim lantern light, and he’d surely be done once they noticed that.
Catori gulped and hoped she could cause a distraction before they noticed his lack of abilities. They approached a sort of throne room where a man sat looking bored, his boots laced up tight on his feet and kicked up on the arm of the chair. His entire uniform was dark leather, laced all the way up to his shoulders. It was a riding outfit, and he looked like he’d just returned from a desert outing himself, for pale dirt caked his boots and lightly dusted the rest of him, including his long dark brown hair.
They were pushed forward, and he sat up to get a good look at them both. Close up, the leader was revealed as handsome. He was older than Catori by at least five years. When his interest shifted toward Leland, his eyes widened just enough that Catori knew they were done for. He knew Leland was no shifter. If the fact Leland was a former Paladin of the Lucidium Order was revealed, he would surely be put to death.
“What creatures have you brought me, Bran?” the leader asked.
The man holding onto Catori bowed his head. “They fell into one of our traps along the perimeter of the nest. They got far too close. This one claims she’s of the Reinhardt clan, but I highly doubt it. She’s been confirmed as a shifter, but I don’t know if she’s a friendly or not.”
There was a murmur of voices from the left, and everybody, including the leader, turned to watch as an older man pushed and shoved through the thick crowd until he was right next to Bran, eyeing Catori with wide, brilliant grey eyes.