Clockwork Twist : Missing (13 page)

“You’re not nuts,” she said as if it were a solid enough truth to build an empire upon.

“Yeah…” Twist shifted himself an inch away along the wall.

“Okay, forget about the dragon,” she said, leaning back again. “Just look at that watch again. You tell me. Is Jonas real or not?”

Twist did as he was told. He opened the watch to look down at the time. The watch still ticked off the time in London, oblivious to all the fear and confusion that Twist’s life had become. Memories wafted to Twist’s mind: the first time Jonas had asked to set the time, the terrible sense of loneliness Twist had felt when he had been taken by Aden, and the delicious relief of seeing Jonas fly through the face of Big Ben to save him.

Another memory filled his vision slowly: Jonas and Myra dancing happily before him on the deck of a sailing ship, under a bright-silver moon, in the warm night air on the Arabian Sea. For a moment, Twist didn’t realize that his Sight had found that memory locked away in the clockwork of his watch. He pulled his attention back out of the vision and felt the world settle into order around him.

“Yes, he’s real,” Twist said softly, smiling now as his fear and confusion fell away. “Jonas is as real as I am.”

“Then I can’t wait to meet him,” Skye said with a smile of her own. “Now come on, let’s see what we can do to rescue him from the dragon in outer space.”

Twist sat on the chair at the dressing table in his cabin while Kali sat before him, staring up at him silently while her rope-like tail swept over the floor around her huge paws. After a moment of contemplation, Twist slowly reached out a hand toward her furry brow. The tiger watched him but didn’t move away or bite his hand off. Twist brushed the soft fur on her wide head lightly with his fingertips. Once again, his Sight sparkled to light with incomprehensible chaos and wild color. Though the sensation was strange to him, it was not unpleasant, and didn’t seem to stress his Sight very much at all.

Twist’s fingertips wandered to the tiger’s ear, and the animal moved into his touch as a low, bone-deep sound emanated from her throat. Concerned that the tiger was angry, Twist jerked his hand away. Kali stopped making the sound and moved closer to him, putting her furry chin on his knee as she stared at him expectantly. The tail moved over the floor more quickly.

“And you think you’re not likable,” Skye said from near the door. “That was purring, by the way,” she added.

“Tigers purr?” Twist put his hand on the tiger’s head again, before it grew impatient with him.

“Kali’s just a big tabby cat. She grew up with me, so she’s used to people. Plus, being a familiar, she’s a lot smarter than a normal tiger.” She reached for the door handle. “Now, you stay here with Kali, and I’ll go get Myra.”

“Myra…” Twist muttered, remembering the last time he’d seen her. She had been at the table, sitting right beside him, when he’d yelled at the little badger and run off in a rage. He grimaced against the idea of seeing her now.

“You need a hug, and I can’t give you one,” Skye said, smiling at him warmly. “But I think we’ll leave Arabel out of it for now. I’m starting to think she has something against you.” Skye looked to the tiger. “Kali, honey?”

Kali lifted her head and looked to Skye silently.

“Stay here and take care of Twist for me, okay?” Skye said to her.

Kali made a deep, half-barking sound.

“Good girl,” Skye said with a smile. She opened the door. “Be right back.”

“Skye,” Twist said quickly before she closed the door behind her, drawing her attention to him on the threshold. “Thank you,” he said softly. “Thank you for believing me.”

Skye smiled at him but said nothing as she closed the door, leaving him alone in his room with Kali. Twist looked back to the tiger with a sigh. They stared at each other for a long, silent moment.

“So,” he said finally. “You’re a tiger, then.”

Kali made another low barking sound and put her chin back onto his knee. Twist did as he was told and petted her ear. The same strange purring sound began to waft out of her again. Twist smiled softly.

“It really does seem like you understand English,” Twist said to her. “Skye speaks to you as if you do. Can you understand me? Blink once for yes,” he added.

Kali looked up at him blankly, though he somehow got a very clear impression that she thought he was being a bit silly.

“Fine, we don’t have to talk,” Twist said with a sigh.

Kali closed her big brown eyes and purred softly as he petted her. Somehow, Twist felt himself calm slowly as he did. Her deep, reverberating breaths took on a soothing quality, while her soft, warm fur became more and more delightful to touch. It took Twist a while to realize that he hadn’t felt the simple, soothing joy of touching another living being for quite some time. It almost shocked him how much he’d missed it. It seemed like a rather long time to him before the door opened again.

Myra rushed into the room toward Twist, but she stopped short, staring at Kali. “Is that a tiger?” she asked him.

“I think so,” Twist said, still petting Kali’s ear.

“Can I pet it too?” Myra asked, a smile growing on her face.

“Sure, you can,” Skye answered as she shut the door behind her. “Her name is Kali. Kali, this is Myra,” she added to the tiger.

Kali opened one eye to look at Myra but gave no other remark. Myra dropped to her knees beside the tiger and reached out a hand to stroke her orange fur.

“Oh! She’s so soft,” Myra said brightly. “Well, aren’t you a nice, big kitty cat?” she cooed. Kali purred a little more loudly. Skye took a seat on Twist’s bed, watching them. Myra looked up to Twist, and to his horror, she appeared careful and worried. “Are you all right now?” she asked him gently.

“I’m fine,” Twist said quickly, desperate to remove the tension from her eyes. “I’m sorry I got so angry.”

“Oh no, no,” Myra said, getting to her feet quickly and reaching out to take his hand as she bent closer. “You had every right to be angry. I didn’t understand what that silly little man meant until you said it more clearly. But that was an awful thing to say to you!” She paused, looking at him with considerably more strength in her eyes now. “Twist, you know that I believe you, don’t you?”

A chill broke over Twist’s skin as he felt honesty and warmth in her touch, even as she spoke those beautiful words. “Thank you,” he said softly, still too stunned by her trust to say anything more.

Myra draped her copper arms around him, showering his Sight in a sunny warmth. Twist felt the last of his fears melt away in her embrace, leaving only fading shadows behind when she moved back to smile at him. Myra then dropped back to her knees and returned to petting Kali. Twist caught Skye watching him. She seemed to study him for a moment and then gave a slight nod.

“All right,” Skye said, reaching for the locket around her neck. “Now on to this dragon business.” Myra looked to her curiously.

Skye pressed the catch on the top of her locket, and the cage-like brass front opened to reveal a small pocket watch within. She touched the catch again, and the clock face flipped over. A blue light appeared on the other side and glowed up to her face, while an indistinct, rain-like sound wafted out of the watch.

“I’m gonna call in to see if anyone else has seen one,” Skye said, staring into the blue light. “Hello, Central? This is Agent Blue.”

A moment later, a voice rose out of the dim, rain-like sound. “
Agent Blue
,” the distant, mechanically distorted voice said. “
What do you have to report
?
”

“What is that?” Twist asked, peering at it. “Aden had a watch like that as well.”

Skye only gave Twist a smile in answer. “Hi, Paul,” she said into the light. “No report, just a question. Are dragons real?”

“
Dragons
?
” the voice asked in response. “
As in big, scaly, fire-breathing beasts
?
”

“That’s them,” Skye confirmed. “Anyone ever seen one?”

Myra leaned closer to Twist. “Do all Rooks have talking watches?” she whispered to him. Twist could only shake his head uncertainly.

“
I’ll check the archives…
” the voice murmured. “
Do you have any specific details?
”

Skye looked up to Twist, tilted the glowing watch to point toward his face, and gave him an encouraging gesture. Twist looked into the light but saw nothing in it.

“Well, it was silver,” he said slowly to the watch. “Huge. Long whiskers. Golden eyes. And it looked like a man at first.”

“
Got it…
” the voice said absently. “
Anything else, Blue? Do you need backup? I could contact Agent Snow for you.
”

“No, I’ve got it under control right now,” Skye said, shaking her head. “Kali’s with me, besides. I just need the info, if you’ve got any.”

“
Relaying now. Stand by for a reply
.”

Skye nodded and snapped her watch closed again, shutting off the blue light. “It’ll take him a little while to get back to me.”

“What in the world
is
that?” Twist asked finally.

“Oh, this is a communication device,” Skye said, gesturing to the watch. “It uses all kinds of science I don’t understand, but it works real well.” Twist’s fingers itched to touch the device, to understand its strange workings.

“But why are you asking about the dragons?” Myra asked suddenly. “Oh, I love dragons!” she added with a huge smile. Twist shot her a highly confused glance.

“Twist thinks a dragon might have taken Jonas,” Skye said, as if it were a normal thing to say.

“Oh no…” Myra said, her eyes going wide. She looked to Twist earnestly. “But why would they take your friend? He’s a man, right? He can’t be a princess. Is he very pure?”

The scoff escaped Twist before he managed to catch it. “No, I don’t think so,” he amended quickly.

“But they never take normal people willy-nilly,” Myra said, frowning in thought. “Not, of course, unless they’re culling a village.”

“Well, they want to use his Sight,” Twist said, watching her carefully. “At least, that’s what I saw in a dream,” he added, giving a sigh. “A dragon told Jonas that it wanted to go to Jupiter and needed Jonas’s eyes to guide it there.”

“Jupiter?” Myra asked. “Isn’t that a god?”

“It’s a planet, too,” Skye offered.

“Actually,” Twist added, “if I remember right, they wanted to take Jonas to Io. One of Jupiter’s moons.”

“Io?” Skye echoed curiously. “Is that the volcanic one, or is that Callisto?” she asked, glancing off to her thoughts. “I always get those two confused.”

“You are asking the wrong person,” Twist said, shaking his head. “I know even less of the stars than I do of the Earth.”

“Well, if this place you’re talking about has volcanoes, that does makes sense, though,” Myra added, nodding. Twist looked to her sharply. “I mean, dragons live in volcanoes. I’m sure a volcanic world would seem like a lovely vacation spot to them.”

“How much do you know about dragons, Myra?” Skye asked. Twist watched Myra questioningly as well.

“Oh, well, not all that much,” she said, glancing between the two of them. “I’ve only met one, once. And that was such a long time ago now…”

“Wait, what do you mean, you’ve met one?” Twist asked quickly.

Myra looked to him uncertainly. “My father paid a dragon to come do magic tricks for me. It must have cost a lot of gold,” she added with a soft smile. “Dragons don’t usually even speak to human beings unless you pay them in gold or maidens. They can be rather snooty. But Daddy never said anything about the cost. He just said that he wanted to see me smile.”

Twist’s mind filled with the thought of Myra—still alive, human, and childlike—smiling and laughing in the sunny halls of her palace as it had once been. He could almost see her in that high, misty air, under the bright fingers of the sun, surrounded by admirers and entertainers, while a shimmering dragon did magic for her. Twist realized instantly that he too would pay any amount of gold just to see that.

“Wow,” Skye toned, staring at Myra in wonder. “You really are a true, legit, fairy tale, aren’t you?”

“What am I saying that’s so strange?” Myra asked, looking to Twist.

“Well…” Twist muttered. “Until a moment ago, I thought dragons were a myth.”

“Oh,” Myra said, frowning. “Why? Have they gone away, again? When I was young, they used to attack small villages, or help people along quests, or things like that. But people said that they sort of disappear from time to time.”

“I haven’t a clue.” Twist shrugged. “I’ve heard of dragons, of course. Only…those were just stories. Fairy tales.” Twist paused, looking at Myra’s shining copper face and innocent jewel eyes. Maybe Skye had a point about embracing madness.

Myra shook her head and gave a sigh. “Things were so different when I was little.”

“But if you’ve actually met a dragon,” Skye said slowly, with a thoughtful expression on her face, “then you must know a lot more about them than Twist or I do. Can I just ask, did you ever see one look like a human being?”

“Oh sure,” Myra said, nodding. “They can change their shape. Just like that fox, Vane.”

“And what kind of magic can they do?” Skye asked. “I mean, beyond fire-breathing, of course. Can they transport things from place to place quickly? Or can they mess with people’s memories?”

“Maybe,” Myra answered with a shrug. “The tricks I saw were lovely, but they mostly had to do with fire. The best was when he handed me a rose made of glowing orange flames that felt cool to the touch,” she added, her eyes filled with delight. “But there’s no telling what they can do. Their power comes from the center of the Earth. They live forever. They can’t even be killed, really. You can destroy their bodies, but they always come back together after a hundred years. I’ve never actually heard of anything that a dragon couldn’t do with magic.”