Draft of Dragons Read online

  I smiled and cocked my head in her direction. “A couple of hours? It hurt like crazy just getting into the position, but once there I thought I would try the exercises that Montgomery gave me. It really did sound like a good idea at the time.”

  “Then this Montgomery, whoever he is, is a fool. Can you move them at all?” Cat pulled harder on my left leg and I felt it move just a bit.

  “They’ve gone to sleep on me,” I poked at my calves with my fingers. “Totally numb.”

  Cat whipped out her cell phone and mashed a button. “Hold on. I need help for this one. I can pull you apart, but I’m afraid I would literally pull you apart and your grandmother would kill me.”

  “Who did you call?” I had thoughts of campus security or one of the RA’s seeing me like this. I’d be the laughingstock of the academy before you knew it.

  “You get one guess,” Cat replied.

  Chuck Winthrop wasn’t the smartest man in the world sometimes, but when your Pack leader, the woman you’d been pining for, calls you and says it’s an emergency, you haul ass to get there!

  “Excuse me! Watch out!” Chuck called out as he ran at top human speed from the forensics lab on the far side of the campus. Without thinking, he dropped the phone into his pocket, shoved his papers and books into his bag, and took off. Taking his car never even entered his mind.

  To a Were, running a full mile was like walking to the mailbox. For humans, the average time is about ten minutes. The record, set in the 1970s, is three minutes, forty-three seconds. That is near superhuman. Chuck was trying to beat that time all on his own without pausing for anyone in his way.

  Leaping a bench with people sitting on it, Chuck barely paused. His brain and Pack sense were screaming at him to move it!

  “Hey! Watch where the hell you’re going!” a fellow student cried out as he brushed past him at what felt like ninety miles an hour.

  All Chuck could feel was the wind in his face, his backpack flapping against him, and the concrete under his feet. Every species of Were had some sort of affinity. Werewolves had the scent tracking thing down better than just about everyone. The Bears, all types, were massive and strong. Nobody messed with them if they could help it. The various rodent Weres were quick and extremely sneaky. The various military and secret organizations around the world loved recruiting them for spy or intelligence operations. He’d only met one Wereshark in his lifetime. On land, they only had the strength that most Weres sported. At sea, however, they were fierce and extremely violent hunters. Werecats could hunt, stalk, and fight like their lives depended on it. Chuck’s own people were a combination of bears, wolves, and rodents.

  Bouncing from pathway to pathway Chuck raced across the quad and into Agatha’s dormitory. “Chuck, you need to sign in,” one of the resident attendants yelled as he flew by.

  Taking the stairs four at a time he went up all three flights in less than ten seconds. Agatha’s door was locked, but it was nothing an application of Were strength couldn’t fix. Like tissue paper, the knob ripped free and the door flew open. Chuck looked inside and two very surprised faces looked back at him.

  “Ah, oops?” Cat said.

  Both Cat and I learned a valuable lesson from that little mishap. Pack powers are not to be taken lightly.

  Meditation. Time to free your soul from the body and relax. I took another deep breath and closed my eyes. Muttering to myself, I commented, “Inner peace.”

  “What’cha doing?” Fergus asked.

  “Inner peace,” I grimaced.

  I heard a small thump and could feel tiny hooves on my knee. “Isn’t that the movie where that guy gets really small and drives around in a spaceship like thing?”

  Opening one I eye, I looked down at Fergus, my unicorn. “You’re thinking of Inner Space.”

  Fergus hopped to my other knee. “You sure? I thought it was peace. Maybe that was that one about the panda.”

  “Panda?” I asked. Both eyes were open now as I watched him.

  “You know. With the talking animals. The monkey is my favorite. She’s hot,” Fergus explained.

  I unfolded my legs, tossing Fergus aside. “We’re done here. The moment you start talking about fictional cartoon animals who use kung fu is where I get off this train.”

  “You’ve seen it! Which one is your favorite?” Fergus asked as he jumped up and down.

  “To use a phrase I hear all the time, I have no idea what you are talking about. I’m going downstairs,” I told him. It was chaotic down there but Unicorn-free. Maybe Boarmire had something to say. He might be able to help me with concentration.

  Grandmother’s house is wicked cool. It looks like a Victorian mansion on the outside and a castle on the inside. The family story is that Verity built the original house out of field stone and hewn timber. Minerva’s room and part of the kitchen are all that is left of it. Later additions were added slowly as time allowed and the town grew. Care of the Garden and the Gates that came with it outweighed the need for large homes. As the years passed though, additions were needed as the family itself grew. Children need space, after all. But Witches will be Witches and certain modifications with an eye to defense were made during the last bit of construction in the 1860’s. The house had reinforced walls with actual gun loops along the porch. Minerva showed them to me when I was ten.

  Reaching the landing at the bottom of the stairs, I looked around. The commotion I had heard upstairs was louder here. At least half the Coven was here. They were dusting, mopping, and cleaning everywhere. Whirling dervishes had nothing on these Witches.

  “Agatha?”

  I looked to my left past the cleaning crew and saw Cat and Chuck keeping Boarmire company. Carefully dodging the whirling women, I made my way to what Grams calls the den. “Hey guys.”

  Talking through a mouthful of pizza Chuck asked, “Is it always like this?”

  I slid in next to him, giving him a bump with my hip. As he moved, I snaked a slice of his pie. “Sort of. You guys didn’t exactly get to meet the Coven when we were here last time. Everyone was still in shock over Aunt Camilla’s death, kidnapping, or whatever that was. I just try to stay out of the way.”

  Cat snorted. “This seems to be about the only spot they aren’t cleaning.”

  I smiled at her comment. “It’s because of Boarmire. They’re still a bit freaked out about him. Minerva usually cleans in here herself.”

  “That’s the tree, right?” Chuck asked.

  “Yup. It was my first big Magickal act after Fergus. This time it wasn’t really an accident.” I smiled as thoughts and feelings came into my mind. I’m not really sure how it is I can talk to this particular tree. But ever since that one Winter Solstice, he and I have been friends. “He says you are welcome here whenever you like, by the way.”

  “The tree just spoke to you?” Cat asked me.

  I nodded. “He and I are friends.”

  “But it’s a tree,” Chuck said. He waved his hands and looked back at Boarmire. “I don’t understand.”

  “Nobody does, dear. Agatha and Boarmire are a unique experience in the history of Witchcraft,” Grandmother replied. She had appeared in front of us while we weren’t looking.

  Cat turned toward her and blinked. She pursed her lips and glanced in my direction before speaking. “All of history?”

  “That we or the Councils are aware of. I know of several spells that will allow a Witch to speak to plants. We use several of them in the Garden. But Agatha couldn’t have known of them and they do require some preparation. It was a bit of a shock to have someone of her age and lack of maturity talk to a tree during a party, then add it to the house. The party wasn’t the same after that.” Grandmother looked past all of us to the tree. “If it invited you here I cannot naysay it. Boarmire is the house and the house is Boarmire now. Integration is complete. Or that is what the Hedge Witches tell me.”

  A soft feeling came over me as Boarmire’s thoughts entered my mind again. Usually he only sent feelings
and emotion. “He says the house is more Magickal than he is, but it wanted him to be a part of the whole. When roots run deep, there is very little that will hurt things. Rot usually comes from within and purity of thought conquers all.”

  Grandmother looked at me for a long moment and then smiled. “So much turmoil and change for one so young,” she said softly. “Tell your friend that we will honor his wishes and do our best to stay in the light.”

  “Now, do any of you wish to participate in tonight’s event?” Grandmother asked.

  I looked up at her and frowned. “Would we even be welcome? I did kill her, after all.”

  Cat reached across Chuck and touched my arm. I could feel waves of support coming from both Werecats through our Pack bonds as well.

  “Child, if that were the case I wouldn’t have asked, now would I?” My grandmother sat down in a chair opposite the couch. “Demons killed Camilla and her daughter, my grandchild. It’s as simple as that. We discussed this during my lessons on Demonology. What is the first thing a Demonic entity does when it either breaks free of containment or is set free?”

  “It finds a host,” I answered.

  Grandmother nodded. “Exactly. It finds a host. Some rules cannot be broken. Even the Strega knew this. Why else take her from here in the first place? Most recently you learned a secret that few on Earth know. I expect that Charleston was a prelude to something else. Nothing happens accidentally when the Gods are involved. They are watching you, dear. We just don’t know why yet.”

  Cat started to speak, but grandmother shut her down quickly, saying, “Tell your friends as much as you can so they know. As my dear friend Joseph used to say, the game is afoot. Bring your friends tonight, Agatha. I promise that no one blames you.”

  “Joseph? Joseph who? Do I know this man?” I asked her.

  Grams chuckled, “I doubt it. He died many a year ago. Joseph Bell was his real name but another dear friend of mine used him as the model for a detective character in his books.” Quickly changing the subject, Grandmother went back to the other conversation. “Circle wear tonight, Agatha. No one is going skyclad for this, but it is a warm night.”

  “Please Goddess, no,” I replied, covering my eyes.

  “I’ve still got the body for it, so there,” my grandmother actually stuck her tongue out at me and hopped away, joining the still whirling cleaners.

  “Skyclad? Does that mean what I think it does?” Chuck asked as he watched my grandmother spin away. She grabbed a mop and joined the cleaning madness.

  Groaning, I removed my hands from eyes. “It means naked. There are some rituals that require it.”

  “Naked as in naked, naked?” Cat asked me, her eyes very wide.

  I nodded. “Remember, grandmother trained me to become her successor. Skyclad is all about truth and your loyalty to the concept of truth. True to yourself is a tenet of Witchcraft. It is a beautiful concept when performed properly. It’s not sexual in any form. Our Coven does not perform the Great Rite as some human groups do. There are other ways to raise that sort of power.”

  “I knew a Wiccan back when I was still with my family,” Chuck mused as he watched the cleaning crew.

  Cat and I exchanged glances then turned toward him and asked, “a girlfriend, Chuck?”

  Chuck shook his head and then noticed us. “No.” He raised his hands and spoke a bit more forcefully. “NO.”

  He continued after another shake of his head. “It wasn’t like that, gods no. I’ve told you about my uncle. If I dated a human, the repercussions would have killed my whole family. No, she was a girl I went to school with. We were both outcasts of a sort. The Witch and the Were. My brother, the enforcer, checked her out when someone called attention to us, and they watched me for weeks with her. All we did was eat lunch together and talk. That’s it. She wasn’t like you, Agatha. She knew some stuff but didn’t have powers. Or at least not ones she knew about,” Chuck explained.

  I patted Chuck’s shoulder. “Sorry, big guy. We were just messing with you. Briarwood has a few small groups like that, humans who worship what we do but don’t have the same sort of power. Everyone has Magick. Even humans. It’s that part of you that makes things happen unexpectedly. When you’re driving and you somehow know just when to change lanes to avoid an accident, or you have a flash of deja vu. Those are examples of small amounts of Magick, finding a way to make itself known. Those Arcane folks were human Mages. That is a more extreme version of what humans can have. Your friend may have been just a norm, though. At least she recognized something in you.”

  Chuck shook his head and said, “For all the good it did. Her home burned down that summer. I heard she and her family moved out of state. My uncle liked to destroy what he couldn’t control.”

  Cat gave Chuck a big hug and for just a moment I saw something in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. “We’re your family now buddy,” Cat said, patting his cheek.

  Almost hesitantly, Chuck wrapped his arms around Cat and hugged her back. “Thanks.”

  I looked at my watch, then back at my friends. “If we are participating in this, we need to get changed.”

  “Changed into what? All I have with me is work stuff and a couple pairs of shorts,” Chuck said.

  “If Grams suggested it, I can almost guarantee you that there is Coven wear in your closets that will fit you. Very little happens around here by chance,” I told him.

  As we all stood up, Cat jabbed me in the chest with her finger. “You’ve been holding out on us again, too. What was it she was saying about wars and stuff, hmmm?”

  I winced. “Caught that did you? We can talk about it upstairs.”

  “You’ll start right now missy. Enough of this protecting us from stuff, stuff,” Cat lectured.

  “Fine. So I know I told you about my summer vacation in Otherwhere. It was the whole Mystical Library thing. There is a war of sorts that has been going on for an eternity. The Gods of Light versus the Gods of Dark. They’ve been fighting through the use of pawns and avatars for more than a thousand years, this round,” I explained as we climbed up the stairs.

  “You said something about this before,” Chuck replied. “When we ran into those Voodoo guys last Thanksgiving. They said something about Loas.”

  “Right. They used to fight each other directly. I know you’ve read the Iliad and the Odyssey. There was an agreement drafted among them that laid out who and what could fight, and who couldn’t. This was more than three thousand years ago or so. Humanity grew up and lost touch with the Gods. So they went to sleep. While the Gods of Light slumbered, much of the world fell under the influence of the Dark ones. Empires rose and fell and still they slept. Some fail-safes were put in place, though. The Library and what it became is one. The Garden is another. But only a few remain. Demons don’t just plan something like California or Charleston. They had to have help.” Opening my bedroom door, I let them inside. “The war is eternal. It will never end. But we fight to minimize how much of the world will be destroyed during it. If the Gods throw down directly, the world will die.”

  “So all of this, the Demons, Blake, and everything we’ve dealt with is part of a war?” Chuck asked me.

  “Not everything. Some is just human nature. But the Demons are part of this. Camilla was influenced somehow, and the Strega took advantage. Set or Seth was who they worshiped, and he is big time on the Dark side. Blake is working for someone, but I think he’s just mean. He had us snowed for sure. We’ll just have to keep our eyes open in the future.” I looked him in the eyes. “You can’t tell anyone about this, Chuck. They won’t believe you for one, but the Dark is ever watchful. More interference than usual isn’t something we want to deal with right now.”

  I chuckled at the look on my friends’ faces. “Go, get dressed. We can plan and plot over this stuff later. This might be a funeral, but for Witches it’s a celebration of life as much as it is of death. Trust me, this will be something you don’t want to miss.”

  Leaning b
ack on my bed, I watched my friends leave and said a silent prayer to my own patron Goddess. So many things were changing.

  Chapter 3

  Morning found us all sitting around the kitchen table. Even Anastasia was there for once.

  My grandmother stared at our Vampire for what seemed like forever before speaking. “Did you know that you’re the first Vampire to ever sit there?”

  Ana smiled. “You’re half right. It was quite a long time ago, but I’ve been here before. Verity said something quite similar to me at the time.”

  Both Minerva and Grandmother started. With wide eyes, Grandmother gave Ana a closer look. “So it’s true then. You knew my grandmother.”

  “I did. Our chance meeting at the siege of Constantinople forced me to keep track of her over the years. It was her Magick that enabled me to prevent Alukah from ordering me home.” Ana turned toward me. “They truly thought me long dead. That was the reason for Lord Clearchus’s outburst. He couldn’t figure who I really was. Women in the Vampire cities of the past were second-class citizens. I’m still trying to change that in the city I control, but old habits are hard to change. I’ve had to be quite…forceful with a few of my subjects over it. My Master only made me at the behest of my brother, Varro. He saw something in me that others missed. Varro and Varro alone is why I made the deal I did. If Agatha hadn’t been chasing me, I could’ve faded away again.” Ana smiled across the table from me. “But back to Verity. I was here, in this new world, in 1673.”

  “What was here then, a couple of Native Americans and some trappers?” Chuck asked her.

  “You, my friend, need to bone up on your early American history. There was a Vampire colony, of sorts, in New Orange. I was sent to make contact and bring them in line with the current rules and observations,” Ana explained.

  Everyone at the table was silent, including Chuck. Grandmother raised a single eyebrow and spoke first. “New Orange?”