Keeper of the Stones: Black Dragons (4)

Chapter Four

Vara jerked awake, and found the first thing her eyes focused on was a banner pinned on the ceiling. Welcome back!! The cheery red letters spelled, of course accompanied by a couple of ecstatic exclamation marks.

What a joke, Vara thought, closing her eyes.

“I see you’re awake then,” said a dreary voice.

Vara jack-knifed into a sitting position and whipped around to see Darius slouched in a cushioned chair. He absentmindedly pulled at the threads of the chair’s arm as he continued gloomily, “You should have stayed sleeping. Any nightmare’s better than what’s waiting for you when you wake up.”

Vara rubbed at her gritty eyes, feeling her tense muscles relax. Darius was only a major threat to himself, so she had nothing to worry about.

“Glad to see you’re as cheerful as ever,” she replied sarcastically.

“You were lucky,” he said, ignoring her comment. “I wish I could have my memories hidden from me. To be as oblivious as those ordinary people who know nothing of our real purpose…”

Vara swung her legs over the side of the bed and looked around the room. It was nothing special, just another cream-coloured bedroom, saved for those members who’d only just been Awakened. About a thousand others had probably opened their eyes to be confronted by that same stupid banner, and those same others had probably all realised the same thing: Two words needed to be tacked on to the end of its happy, little message. Two words, so the whole truth was revealed.

Welcome back to hell!!

She shook her head and looked back at Darius. “What’s the time?” she asked, rubbing at her aching wrist.

“What does it matter? It’s always too late whatever the hour.”

“Right.” Vara did a quick scan for a wall clock before she realised she still had her watch on. “Wow, it’s been three hours.” She glanced back at Darius. “You’ve been on guard duty for that long?”

“I was forgotten. As usual.” He shrugged.

Vara shook her head, once again amazed at his determinedly negative outlook on life. Sure, she wasn’t known to be constantly singing about the wonder of the world, but at least she wasn’t as manically depressed as this guy. “Well… you can go now. I’m fine.”

He ignored her, still picking the chair to pieces.

Vara sighed. He obviously had something on his mind. Sure enough, he told her, “The Master said you’re going to be leading an expedition to bring Kieran back.”

Vara sat up straighter as she remembered what had happened as she’d been Asleep. Rick and Sven were dead, killed by Kieran. Who had also stolen a jewel that could take him to another world. She’d thought the Master had been jerking her around, but then he’d Awakened her. Now she wasn’t so upset. The whole reason for the Black Dragons was getting the funds to go and look for these magic stones. Except those who were Asleep didn't really remember that...

“And for some reason I’ve been assigned to your group.”

Vara rolled her eyes. Fantastic. Mr. Happy was sure to illuminate the party with his fun-loving personality. Jeez, he was a light that never went out, that one.

“So has Leo.”

Vara froze, her heart squeezing painfully in her chest. Great, just … great. Not only did she have Darius, but Leo, too? Ah, hell. He was sure to creep her out any chance he got. As well as challenge every damn word that left her mouth. Vara wasn’t stupid, and she knew why the Master had stuck him in her group. He and Leo were as tight as a nancy boy’s hold on his girl’s hand in a dark alleyway.

Just her luck.

She cleared her throat. “Anyone else?”

“Omar. Kerr. A couple of Guns.”

“We’ve got backup on this?” Vara asked, surprised at the mention of the Guns. “Ain’t five enough? What’s with the assistance?”

Darius pushed out a heavy sigh. “Guess they’re for Leo to use as shooting practice.”

Vara wasn’t buying his casual dismissal. There was a reason the Master was sending off such a large group. Shit, this was big. All of the famous names of the Black Dragons were on it. He’d even sent his right-hand man, Leo, with her. And Leo wasn’t the type sent out for mice. Nah, he was a bloodthirsty-mutated-rats kind of person.

Plus there was the fact they were all Awakened.

This wasn’t some everyday, ‘normal’ problem. Kieran wasn’t going to be squatting with a couple of drug dealers. This was big.

This was serious.

“Why are you smiling?” Darius asked her suspiciously. “There’s nothing to smile about. We’re all going to die.”

“Thanks for your confidence in my leading skills,” Vara grunted, pushing up from the bed so she could stand. Which…wasn’t going to happen. She slumped back as the room spun around so much it was like she’d been tied on a merry-go-round. “Ah, hell.”

“Dizzy?”

“Uh huh.”

“Oh well.”

She scowled, thinking Darius was lucky she was so light-headed; otherwise she’d be across the room with her knuckles in his face. She always hated that disoriented feeling she got after she was freshly Awakened. Yeah, she got the necessity of it. Having someone permanently Awakened was bad for the Master; when you were Awakened the Master couldn’t touch your mind. So any memories that needed to be erased for his and your sake were as unfading as an embarrassing stain. Well, until he touched the Dragon tattoo and sent you back into the puppet state he totally preferred. Better to have an army of chess pieces than a board filled with independent pawns running all over the place.

It was important to remember there was always a bigger picture. That was why none of them got whiney about the situation. You got whiney, you got out. And there was only one way to exit the Black Dragons.

“The Master tell you when we set out?” She paused for a second before adding, “Or even what the hell we’re doing to bring him back?”

“We’ve got a week to cram in ‘proper training’ – for your benefit, I guess – and then we’re reporting to the Master’s room so he can dish out the death sentence.”

Death sentence. Nice. Well, it wasn’t like Kieran would be thoughtful and be kicking back in the Bahamas. He’d always been an awkward SOB. Dangerous Places ‘R’ Us would be a more likely place for him to wait in, much to Vara’s delight.

“Is that everything?”

He shrugged, ripping free a long piece of thread.

“Damn, will you stop shredding the furniture? Get outta here before the Master goes after you for a cheque. ‘Cept instead of zeros he’ll be hunting for pints of your blood.”

He shrugged. Again. “Doesn’t matter if he does.”

Huh. A tough guy act from Darius. Who’d have thought? Except it became clear that it wasn’t when he followed with, “Gonna end up dead sooner or later.”

Right. Cheery little chap, wasn’t he?

Something buzzed in her pocket, making her leap about three feet in the air. Her phone, ringing. Apart from it wasn’t her phone. It was the one Cherry had given her: Kieran’s phone.

Kieran’s phone was ringing.

“Darius, get out of here. Now.”

He straightened at her sharp bark, surprised at her sudden change in mood. Yeah, well, this was serious. Who would be ringing Kieran? Kieran himself, just to gloat? Or… No names came to mind, except for Sven, but he was dead. Kieran had shot him.

The phone kept on humming, but Darius didn’t move a muscle. Soon it would ring out, and Vara would still have no idea who was trying to get through.

She locked her eyes on Darius, no longer kidding around. “Now.”

He slid from the chair with a full, sulky pout on his face. “Hmm… I see once again I’m no longer wanted.” He paused, and then added, “If I ever was in the first place.”

She let him slip out of the room, not saying a word, ‘cause that would only encourage him to linger. Right now he was that annoying guy who always stuck around long after the party had finished and all the other guests had gone home.

The door clicked into place and Vara whipped the phone out from her pocket. She put it to her ear, letting the caller say the first word. Like she was gonna point out the phone had now swapped owners? They’d just hang up, and Vara was now dying to give the Master a lead on the case. This person could help them find Kieran.

Except when Vara heard the desperate “Kieran!” she lost all hope. Disappointment was a blade spearing her heart, keeping her from talking as the voice twittered on, oblivious that Kieran wasn’t on the other end. This voice wasn’t the sort who’d give her a lead. Nah, this voice sounded like it should be singing “All Things Bright and Beautiful” solo. High and undoubtedly feminine, you’d expect to hear it on those CDs that sung lullabies to children ‘cause the parents were too lazy to, even if it was slightly strained from worry.

Huh. Kieran had had a secret. One he didn’t want the master to find out about. That was why the phone had gone to Cherry instead of the Master. Which was understandable; this girl, with the voice like bird-song, wasn’t someone who’d last five seconds under the Master’s scrutiny.

She was going to be no help whatso-

“You were having a bad time, and said something about two of your brothers dying…”

Well, that threw Vara. How the hell did this girl know about Sven and Rick? Had Kieran talked to her about what had gone down? If so, then why was this girl calling him, asking if he was okay? Murderers didn’t usually get much concern from upper-class sounding people like this girl.

Vara clutched the phone until her fingers turned white and the plastic creaked, threatening to crack. That would have been great, wouldn’t it? Just as the girl had caught Vara’s interest, she’d destroyed the phone and any chance of contacting Miss Innocent.

What was she doing mixed up with Kieran? Members of the public were not allowed to know about the Black Dragons. If they did and the Master found out, they would soon have an ‘accident’.

“Kieran?” The girl’s voice grabbed Vara’s wandering thoughts and dragged them back to the phone call. Great, she’d gotten fed up of speaking to fill the silence. Now Vara would have to speak to keep her on the phone, and Vara and Kieran’s voices were very different.

“Who is this?” Vara asked, trying to sound as gentle as possible. Which was useless. On the other end, the girl sucked in a sharp breath.

“Who are you?” Her voice, which had been so soft and filled with concern when she’d thought she’d been talking to Kieran, was now as hard as a slab of concrete in the face.

“A friend of Kieran’s,” Vara said, trying to calm her and keep her on the phone. “Who is this?”

“Emily. Emily Green.” There was a pause, filled with Emily’s suspicion. Vara could almost hear her mind whirring as she tried to figure out this situation. “Where is Kieran?”

“Away. Listen, Emily. Is there any chance we could meet? I need to talk to you about something. About Kieran. Where do you live?”

Damn, the last question had been too much. Vara knew it as soon as it left her lips, and with a wince she listened to the silence on the other end of the phone.

“Emily,” she began again desperately. “Emily, listen-”

There was a click as Emily hung up.

Vara let the phone fall from her hand and clatter to the floor. She was too amazed to move, and just gazed straight ahead, drilling a hole into the wall with her stare. As millions of thoughts buzzed around her mind, it soon became pretty clear about one thing. One major, screaming thing.

They had a problem.

A problem called Emily Green.