The Dragon Guard (13 page)

“But ish . . . it's your birthday!”

“No, Dad, it's not. My birthday was weeks ago.” And he hadn't even sent her a card. Too busy with his new wife and probably a new kid by now, too. “Why don't you just leave me alone?”

“I'm your father!”

“Why is it you're drunk whenever I hear from you? Once a year or so, that is.” She glared into the dark of her bedroom as if he could see the anger on her face.

“Baby girl, your mother makes it very difficult on me.”

“I don't want to talk about it. I am going to bed. Don't call back.” And Bailey hung up, hot tears smarting in her eyes, for the things she wanted to say, and couldn't, and for the things she wanted to hear him say, that he never would.

It was the perfect end to a disastrous week, she thought, as she threw herself backward onto her pillow.

B
AILEY staggered to the kitchen table at what felt like the crack of dawn, her alarm clock having gone off with a furious blast of music. Her note was gone, with another in its place.
Don't forget, you have a half day at school for testing today!

She had forgotten. Just peachy. She had just enough time to bolt down a bowl of cereal, dress, and dash to make the bus. She could use her crystal to arrive, but there was too much chance of her being seen and causing a riot, or at least a lot of questions. She didn't even take time to sit down but ate her cereal right at the counter standing up. Lacey never stirred as she made sure the cage held fresh water, but it seemed best to leave the tiny creature home this morning.

Bailey reflected—when she finally got to the assembly hall, and waited as they passed the tests out and explained the rules about filling in the tiny areas with a number two pencil and not going on to another section till told, and that they'd be there till noon—that on the other hand, having Lacey would keep her from being bored to tears. Still, this was serious business and she swung her backpack between her feet under the tiny dropdown desktop and tried to have the proper expression on her face when receiving her test booklet, scantron sheet, and number two pencil.

She sped through the sections and halted where instructed, bored and half asleep, until given the go-ahead to start the next. Luckily once the last section was begun, she could leave the minute she finished, and Bailey was one of the first to hand in her test and bolt from the stuffy hall. Outside, she took a deep breath. School buses stood waiting, but she hated to just go and sit, for it was obvious they wouldn't leave till near full. It was a beautiful spring day, with just a scattering of clouds. Sinking down onto the grass, she sat cross-legged, and enjoyed the feel of the breeze and sun on her face.

If she could manage it, she wanted to go to Jason's soccer game tomorrow. That meant a bit of planning on her part, because Sunday was laundry day, and catch-up day, and with her mom working today, it also meant a much needed rest day. She hated to ask her mom to drive her over and pick her up in the midst of all that. The temptation to just use her crystal to go back and forth grew stronger. After all, what could go wrong?

Bailey seemed to have sat on a rock, bruising her left hip, and so she squirmed about slightly, resettling herself. The obvious problem, naturally, was knowing where she would be Crystaling to. She needed to either see it clearly, or have seen it before well enough that she was fairly familiar with it. Otherwise, she could get in all sorts of trouble transporting. She could end up in some sort of parallel limbo where things were almost as she had pictured, but
not quite
, and she'd be lost forever in that in-between. She'd almost done that once before!

Bailey shivered despite the warming spring sun beaming down on her. She could count on Jason to anchor her, though, if he wasn't too busy getting ready to play, and getting home should be no problem. The other difficulty would be in getting permission to go without telling her mom about the mode of transportation. Her mom could be pretty trusting, but there were days when Bailey thought she was facing the Spanish Inquisition! And there was no way she was going to be able to explain this convincingly. So, if not by car or her crystal, how was she going to get to the soccer game?

Kids had begun to drift out of the assembly hall and down toward the parking lots and buses. Bailey perked up. Hopefully, the downtown bus would fill enough so that the first one could leave. With a grunt as she hoisted her backpack and got to her feet, she noticed the teachers' parking lot beyond the buses. It was, as would befit a Saturday, nearly empty.

But not quite.

It wasn't so much the few cars parked there, but that a man sat in one of them, a nondescript Taurus, over by the treed edge of the lot. Or even that he sat there, when he should have been in the school working, if he was here on a Saturday at all, but that he sat there with great dark sunglasses on and yet he seemed to be watching her. She couldn't be sure of it, actually, except for the tiny fine hairs on her arms that seemed to be standing on edge, or the way his face turned as she paced by the school buses impatiently, and he reminded her of one of those paintings. The creepy kind, where no matter where you stood in the room, the eyes in the painting always seemed to be looking at you.

She darted behind one of the buses and waited a few moments. Then she peered around the back fender to see if she could catch a closer glimpse of the watcher from another angle. She couldn't, really, but she did see him moving restlessly inside the car as if looking over the growing crowd of kids beginning to mill around the quad, his head swiveling back and forth.

Bailey ducked back.

This really couldn't be happening to her. Who could it be? It had to be one of Brennard's Dark Hands, but why. What had she done to attract notice? Was it because of Jason or something she herself had done? Since a wolfjackal had come sniffing at her door months ago and been dealt with, she'd had no other sign, no problems at all. Maybe her luck was just due to run out.

Bailey reemerged, trying to blend into a group. From the corner of her eyes, she saw the watcher in the Taurus stop shifting inside the car, and fix his attention on her, as though she were a target and he'd suddenly been able to home in on her again. He
was
tracking her. Why, she had no idea, but that he was, she was sure.

She wasn't certain how she was going to get home without his following, but she immediately decided a bus was out of the question. Nothing like trying to be inconspicuous on a big fat yellow school bus. Her crystal jangled in its jewelry cage on her wrist. Buffeted by a growing crowd of kids who were now happy to be out of the test and eager to get home to lunch, she found herself carried along in a wave of T-shirts, backpacks, and denims. Bailey tossed a look toward the other parking lot. Whoever sat in the Taurus had opened the door and begun to swing out. Hidden eyes behind the sunglasses searched for her.

She had no time to lose.

Bailey took a deep breath. She darted between buses parked at the far end of the circle—empty buses—and cupped her crystal.
Home
, she thought desperately, as she looked into the amethyst.
Home!

She had two crystal clear moments. The first was of being drawn into the purple facets of her gem. The other was of looking up, and seeing that what she had thought an empty bus was actually full of passengers looking down at her, their jaws agape as she vanished into thin air.

 

Bailey put her back to the door, bracing it. What had she done? She could see it now: Local Student Vanishes into Midair, Abducted by Aliens? Film at Eleven!

What to do now? What could she do? She didn't think the Dark Hand itself could have done much more damage. She sighed.

From the depths of her room came a metallic rattling and scrabbling. Lacey, usually nocturnal, seemed to be awake with a vengeance. Bailey went in to see what the matter was. The little pack rat sat on her haunches, vigorously cleaning her face and paws. She looked up with a soft chirr as Bailey appeared.

She undid the latch and reached in. Lacey immediately jumped to her hand and then scrambled up her arm to perch against the curve of Bailey's neck. She knew the small rodent loved cookies and bright objects, but there were many times when she felt as though Lacey also loved
her
. Bailey stroked her silky flank, making Lacey's tufted tail twitch a few times in pleasure. They stayed quiet for a few moments, and then Lacey's tail went stiff in fear. Bailey swung around on one heel.

Something trod down the outside hall. And fiddled with the apartment door, as though trying to decide if it were open or locked or could be opened. Not a knock. But . . . something else.

An intrusion.

Already in trouble or not, she had nothing else she could do. Bailey scooped up the pack rat and dropped her in her shirt pocket, and clasped her crystal tightly between both palms. She dared not call on the elders. Gavan and FireAnn were probably busy with Eleanora. Tomaz had gone who knows where for a while. She reached out wildly for Trent and Jason, and caught Trent in the net of her thoughts. That was no good. Trent had no Talent.

Bailey let her crystal fall from her fingers, its purple facets sending a soft lavender light over the closed door. She had never felt so alone. Lacey peeked out from her pocket, and gave a soft chirp. Bailey stroked her head gently, and the pack rat wiggled her whiskers before diving back to the bottom of the pocket. She could send Lacey out to take a look, if she could get the tiny creature out a side door, but they had none. The apartment door was all the entrance and exit and protection she had.

Why did she feel it wasn't enough?

The hall floor outside creaked, as if someone moved or took a step. Bailey inhaled deeply. This was not the first time she'd had an intruder at the door. Last time it had been a wolfjackal, noisily snuffling and clawing, until scared away. This time . . . this time it might be a member of the Dark Hand itself. She stared into her amethyst, and met nothing. It was as though something blocked her cry. She knew they were out there, but she couldn't reach out. Her call for elder help would go unheeded. That meant it was up to her.

And Jason and Trent and anyone else she could grab. There was no Magick that could ever seal away her friends. She cupped her crystal again, gazing deep into the planes of the rock, sending her thoughts spiraling after Jason. She Focused her gemstone until she found him, his image hazy, intertwined with Trent. The two had to be talking, which explained why she'd had a handle on Trent earlier. It was a package deal.

“Help!” Bailey cried through her crystal.

Trent could never get there on his own. He couldn't Crystal. But if something were setting up a magickal trap or net around her home, that he could see. He'd done it before. The Dark Hand couldn't hide their webs from Trent.

Trent stood blinking in her thoughts, a clear image even though Jason was not. The remains of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich dropped down the palm of his hands.

“Someone's stalking me.”

“What the . . . Wolfjackals?”

“No, a man. He's been at school, everywhere, and I think he followed me home!”

“Get Jason! And pull us both through!”

Her hand shook so she could hardly hold her concentration. “I'm trying!” And then Bailey yanked.

T
HE air filled with a prism, sparkling and shining in large waves, like windowpanes of color, and then everything went back to normal, leaving the two boys in its wake. Jason caught his balance, but Trent just gave Bailey a very baffled look, then put a hand to his ear and wiggled it, as if trying to pop it.

“This is so not my favorite way to travel,” he said, and then gave a barely stifled yawn.

Jason put an elbow to his ribs. “I don't think you were invited.”

“True.” Both boys stared at Bailey. “How did you do that?”

“I didn't. I focused on Jason. You're just a bonus prize.”

The taller and lankier of the two grunted and wiggled his ear again, then made a noise of relief as he half-yawned. He finished his sandwich, wiped up with a napkin that looked as if it had seen other sticky messes, and smiled with well-fed contentment. “There. About time.” Trent stuck his hands in his jeans pocket. “What's up?”

Bailey's pocket wiggled. “I need help.”

“We heard that coming through the crystal. What's wrong?” Jason frowned slightly. He was still wearing his practice uniform, although he stood in his stocking feet with his regular tennis shoes dangling from one hand.

“The stalker is back. It has to be someone from the Dark Hand. I couldn't get Gavan or any one. My crystal was blocked.”

“Blocked?” Trent raised an eyebrow as Jason swiftly bent to pull on his shoes and tie them. “I didn't know Brennard's crew could do that. But then . . .” he flushed slightly at his own reference to being relatively Talentless. “I'm always blocked, huh.” He shrugged.

“Something brought you through with me,” Jason said pointedly. “I didn't do it, and Bailey didn't. So, enough of that. You've Talent, but just don't know what it is yet.” He rubbed his hands together, pausing. “Uhh . . . Bailey. I don't think it's anyone from the Dark Hand.” He stared at the back of the apartment door as if he could see through it, then shook his head. “No. If there's someone out there, it's not anyone with Magick.”

“How can you tell?” Bailey looked at Jason curiously. Her pocket flapped about vigorously as Lacey appeared, then ran up to perch on her shoulder, and curled up against her neck. The tiny squeaker watched them with shining onyx-colored eyes.