They headed back down the beach, and once they were a distance from the house, he called Kade. “It’s Cyntag. Apologies for calling so early in the morning. I require your Deuce expertise. I’ve got a book I need deciphered.”
Kade’s voice was husky with sleep. “Is it in code?”
“It’s hidden. It belongs to Brom Winston.”
“The Brom Winston?”
“Yes, and you didn’t hear that name from me.”
“You taunt me, Cyntag. You know I can’t resist all this secrecy.”
He chuckled. “Yes, I do.” He slid a glance to Ruby. “I hear I’m a master manipulator, as a matter of fact.”
Kade’s low laugh rumbled over the phone. “Oh, yeah, I gotta hear this.”
“Where can we meet? Like now.”
Once he’d made arrangements and disconnected, Ruby asked, “Can you trust this guy?”
“We worked together in the Guard for a long time. Serving in the Guard is like being a cop or in the military. We’ve covered each other’s asses, kept each other’s secrets, and saved each other’s lives. He’s still there, so we haven’t had much to talk about since I quit. So the answer to your question is: mostly.”
“Why did you quit? Seems like you were in it a long time.”
Careful. “It was time to do something else. I’d lost the fire.”
“That’s sad, a Dragon who’s lost his fire.”
Her words burrowed into him like a drill aimed for his heart. “It’s just the way of it, Ruby. The longer you’ve lived, the more you’ve seen, the less you care. You’ve got a long way to go before you start feeling that way.”
She touched his arm but quickly let her hand drop. “I wasn’t worried about it happening to me. I was thinking of you.”
The breeze toyed with the strands of her honey hair that had escaped the braid. He resisted the urge to twine one around his finger. His Dragon strained, pulling him toward her. Want.
He held strong. No.
Something about her sparked his soul, the first time he’d felt such a thing in…he didn’t even know how long. She, of all women. Talk about karma.
He smacked the walking stick into his palm, feeling the sting of it. “Don’t feel sorry for me.” The words blasted out like bullets. “Don’t feel anything for me.”
The Book of the Hidden
Garnet returned to her castle at last, accompanied by Dragons to keep her safe on her journey. She had left her home a girl and returned a woman. A fighter. A widow. The Dragon Prince’s spell must still dwell inside her, as his death was an ache in her soul.
As they neared, they were met by a band of villagers who shared terrible news. Much of her kingdom was held under the dark reign of the Shadows, even though their master was dead. Now Garnet and those who would fight beside her would banish them.
The word spread through the hovels and exile camps throughout the woods that the princess had come back to save them. Garnet gathered an army of Dragons and Deuces. Elves and fairies joined, too. One fairy, Emerald, took the form of a dove. Had her beloved Opal been a fairy all along? This dove would spy on the castle and report on the enemy’s movements.
Emerald brought back both intelligence and the horrors of what was going on at the castle. The Shadows were killing Dragons and using their power to create a new master. And even worse, children were being sacrificed for their purity and innocence.
Garnet and her army readied a plan to take back the kingdom…
Chapter 13
Ruby and Cyn walked down a long dock, searching for the right slip number. Boats—scratch that—yachts lined either side, some occupied if the lights inside the cabins were any indication. A dog barked as they passed a sailboat.
She inhaled. “The smell of the sea and lapping sound of the water brings back good memories.” Until that last hurried night when her father had gone on the run.
Cyn blended into the night with his dark hair and clothing. They’d stopped at his house to wash up and gather what they’d need in case Mr. Smith found where Cyn lived. She’d brought The Hidden to see if this Kade could resurrect that, too.
It was now a little less of a god-awful hour of the morning, nearly five o’clock.
“Here it is,” Cyn said, coming to a stop in front of a vintage beauty fully ablaze with lights. Polished chrome reflected them like starbursts.
“The Guard must pay pretty well.” It wasn’t a huge boat, maybe the size of the one her dad bought right before the accident.
“When you get to the top, as a Vega, it does. Not like how the Mundanes pay the people who protect their citizens.” He stepped easily onto the top of the edge and jumped down, then held his hand out for her.