The Dragon Heir (19 page)

“Me. Be careful that
glitter stuff doesn't get in the wet paint,” Grace said. “Now sit up,
Johnny, so I can give you your medicine.”

John Robert obediently sat up,
and Barber got a good look at his swollen eyes and red welts.

“What's wrong with
him?” Barber demanded, taking three steps back.

“It's real
catching,” Grace said, pretending to daub John Robert with a rag.

Barber looked horrified.
“Why? What's he got?”

“Chicken pox.” Grace
shrugged. “He was vaccinated and everything. I guess it itches like crazy.
Mama says I'll probably get it, too.”

As if on cue, J.R. sneezed
wetly.

Barber retreated hastily to
the steps, then took one last narrow-eyed look around the studio. “You
sure you haven't seen anyone?”

“Mama won't let anyone
in, since we're contagious,” Grace said importantly. “I'm real
surprised she let you in.”

Ha, Jason thought. He'd be
glad to visit the chicken pox or any other plague on Barber after what he'd
done to him. Maybe Leesha'd catch it from him.

Barber couldn't leave fast
enough. Jason heard him descending the steps, banging out through the barn
door, then his car starting up. Jason waited until the sound of the engine had
died away before he slumped back against the
wall, trying to gather enough strength to
make it back to his makeshift bed.

“That was lucky he didn't
see you,” Grace said, glaring at Jason. “Why didn't you hide?”

“Well, I …”

“Who are you talking to,
Grace?” John Robert erupted out of the quilt. “Where did that man
go?”

Jason looked from Grace to
John Robert, back to Grace. He disabled the unnoticeable charm. John Robert
flinched back, but Grace didn't react.

Ah, Jason thought. Elicitors
may be rare, but they come in bunches.

After the trauma of lunchtime,
Jason slept most of the afternoon. He half awoke twice to the sound of car
engines— Madison's mother leaving for
work, and Madison arriving back home. He woke up a third time when she switched
on the light.

“Hey,” she said
softly, sitting on the edge of the mattress. “How're you doing?”

“I've been better,”
he said. He managed to sit up. One of the yellow dogs was sprawled across his
feet. His chest wound had been seeping and his T-shirt was stuck to it. He
pulled it away from his body, gritting his teeth at the pain. “You?”

“I'm good,” she
said, fussing with the bedclothes, smoothing them down. She wore faded blue
jeans and an embroidered white cotton shirt and multiple necklaces looped
around her neck. Her hair was pulled back into a loose braid, exposing long,
dangly earrings.

“So, Barber was
here.” She had this way of getting right to the point.

He nodded. “Grace saved
the day. She was amazing. She's not afraid of anything.”

Madison nodded. “She's
fearless, all right. It's scary sometimes.”

“You never said she was
an elicitor, too.”

Madison froze in mid-fuss, her
eyes fixed on the quilt. “What are you talking about? She is not.”

“Madison. Hello. It's
me.”

“She's not,” she
repeated, louder.

“Have you told her?”
When Madison said nothing, he shrugged. “Guess not. She doesn't seem to
know anything about magic.”

She finally looked up at him,
her eyes darkening to a deep-water blue. “She's not in this.”

“Yet.”

“Never.” Madison was
like a person who presses her thumb over the hole in the dike while the water
gushes through all around her. “You can't tell anyone.”

“Maddie, it was just dumb
luck that Barber didn't figure it out when he was here.”

“That's why I have to
stay out of this thing. To protect her.”

Then, all of a sudden, she was
crying. Tears streaked down her face and Jason cast about for something,
anything to say. “Um, hey, listen, Madison, I …”

“It's been hell around
here, you know that?” Her voice rose and the dog stirred and opened his
eyes. “Last year, somebody was setting fires all over the county, and
everybody blamed it on us, saying we're witches. Kids were teasing Grace at school. Her
best friend's mother told her to stay away from her. It got vicious. When I
left, that finally died down.”

She sniffled a little and
dabbed at her eyes. “I was happy in Trinity. Then Second Sister happened.
I can't get involved with this. If they find out about Grace … My family—they're all I've got.”

“And now I've brought
Barber down here,” Jason said, thinking of Leesha. “I'm really
sorry.”

“Do you think he'll be
back?”

Jason shrugged. “He's
probably just checking everywhere close. I doubt he'll be back, unless he finds
out you live here. That would be too much of a clue.”

“It still says Booker on
the mailbox,” Madison said. “Everybody knows who lives here,
though.” She paused. “So. What does Barber want? What are you doing
here?”

I came to find out if you're
working for the Roses, Jason thought of saying. Or, I came to spy on you. Or, I
came to drag you back to Trinity, willing or not. Not that he was in any
condition now to do that.

So of course he said none of
those things. “Barber's looking for the Dragonheart. I guess he thinks I
have it.”

“But you don't.” She
slid a sideways glance at him, trying to act casual. “Is it … is it still
in the church?”

“Yeah,” he said. She
still wants it, he thought.

“Any luck using it?
Figuring it out?”

He shook his head. He thought
of saying, No, the thing bites me every time I try and lay a hand on it. But he
didn't say that, either. He still had hopes. “We've got the rest of the
stuff pretty much sorted.”

They both fell silent,
checking each other out like candidates for the same job.

“So,” he said
finally. “You met with your art teacher?”

She nodded distractedly.
“My teacher from Trinity College. I met her in Columbus so she could look
over what I'd done so far. She was there for an opening.”

“So what'd she say?”

She stared at him a moment,
then reached forward and grabbed the front of his T-shirt and pulled his face
perilously close to hers. “Jason Haley! You did not drive all the way down
here to ask about my homework!” And she gave him a little shake.

“Easy! I'm an invalid,
you know,” he said, and she let go of him. “I came because someone
broke into your room at the Legends and tore it all up.” He watched
carefully for her reaction, and got basic bewilderment.

“Why would anyone do
that? There's nothing there to steal.”

“It was a wizard,”
Jason went on. “Seph thought it might have been the Roses.”

“The Roses! Why would
they break into my room?”

“They might be trying to
find you,” Jason suggested. “You sure there wasn't anything there
worth stealing?” And then, on impulse, asked, “Did you leave any of
your paintings behind?”

Madison turned a kind of
skim-milk color, revealing freckles Jason hadn't even known were there. “Paintings?
Well, I didn't … I mean, I …”

Jason stared at her.
“It's not a hard question.”

“No, but…” She
swallowed hard. “I don't think I left…anything. Why do you ask?”

“Well, Seph took a look
around, but he couldn't tell if anything was missing.”

Now Madison looked positively
panic-stricken. “Seph was in my room?”

“Well, yeah, he and Nick…”

“Seph and Nick?
What were they doing? How did they get in there?” Madison leaned
forward.

“Um. I guess Rachel asked
Seph to come over. Actually, she thought maybe you two had a fight, and he
trashed your room for revenge.”

Madison laced her long fingers
together. “Did they … did they mention seeing any paintings?”

Damn, Jason thought. I don't
believe it. She's totally guilty. She knows that painting was bad news.

But if she meant for Seph to
find it, why is she acting so freaky? Was she going to give the thing to
somebody—some coconspirator? Did she have
a plan for it and now it's messed up? If it's messed up, do I want her to know
it's messed up?

“Jason?” Madison was
staring at him, biting her lip, waiting for some kind of response.

Acting on instinct, he shook
his head. “No, he didn't say anything about a painting. Why? Is one
missing?”

“Um, no,” Madison
said. “Just wondered.”

She was absolutely hopeless as
a liar. There was something wrong with this whole picture of Madison as secret
agent or assassin. Like maybe he'd put the puzzle together by forcing the
pieces in a way they were not meant to go.

They avoided looking at each
other.

Finally, Madison spoke.
“So. You came all the way down here to tell me about…about a
burglary?”

“Well, ah … pretty
much.” Jason cleared his throat. “Seph wants you to come back to
Trinity. He'd…like to keep a better eye on you.” Well. That was true enough.

“What?” She sat down
on the floor next to the mattress, wrapping her arms around her knees.
“Did anyone think of asking me about it?”

“He doesn't think it's
safe for you to be down here on your own.”

“I'm sorry, Jason, but I
really don't think anyone's out to get me.”

Well, no, not if they're
coconspirators. Another puzzle piece jammed into place.

“I'm safer here than
there, anyway,” Madison went on. “If someone could break into my room
with Rachel on guard, they could do anything else they wanted, too. If a
stranger showed up in Coal Grove, he'd be noticed in a hot second. The only
wizards I know of in the whole county are you, Warren Barber, and Brice Roper.
And Barber followed you down here.”

Jason blinked. Grace had
mentioned that name. “Who's Brice Roper?”

“A jerk and a liar. He
lives at the base of the mountain. He has horses.” She seemed to think
that was word enough on Brice Roper because she clamped her mouth shut, and
Jason felt sort of sorry for Brice Roper, whoever he was.

Jason turned and dug in his
backpack, pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He looked up to find
Madison glaring at him. “What?”

“You think I'm going to
let you light up in a barn?”

“Oh. Sorry.”

She snatched the cigarettes
away from him. “Matter of fact, this entire mountain is smoke free where
you're concerned.”

“Huh?” But Madison
had that mulish look on her face again. “Look, I'll smoke in the yard. I'll smoke
in the woods. I'll smoke in the fricking outhouse. Whatever you want.” He
extended his hand.

She stuck the cigarettes in
her jeans pocket. “If you think I'm going to let you poison yourself after
all the yick I went through to save your life, you are a crazy man.” She
made a face and wiped her hands on her shirt.

“Fine,” he said.
“I'll smoke twice as much after I leave.” He paused. “So. Are
you coming back with me?”

Madison stood and began to
pace, flinging her hands out as she talked. “I can't just pack up and
leave. Judge Ragland released Grace and J.R. on condition that I'm here to
watch them. If I leave, the county will take custody again.”

Jason sighed. He'd known this
wouldn't be easy. And if Madison was conspiring with someone, it was a tough
call whether it was better to bring her back into the sanctuary where they could
watch her, or to keep her at a distance. The ban on attack magic didn't seem to
work in her case. But he still didn't understand how she could put a hex in a
painting, if she wasn't gifted.

If she was working for the
Roses, though, wouldn't she be hot to come back to Trinity so she could get her
hands on the Dragonheart?

Realizing she was waiting for
a response, he said, “So what are you going to do?” It was no use to
try and force Madison into anything. Wizardry would do no good on her, and in
his present condition he couldn't very well carry her kicking and screaming to
the car.

If he had a car.

“Look,” Madison
said, “If I don't get this portfolio done, I'll lose the whole semester.
And the kids are depending on me. I can't go tearing back to Trinity because of a
break-in. Seems like I'd be heading for trouble instead of away from it.”
Madison waited, twisting a lock of hair between her thumb and forefinger. When
Jason didn't respond, she said, “How is Seph doing?”

“Cranky as hell. He
misses you.”

“I thought he'd be
feeling better…with me out of the way.”

Jason stared at her. He'd
decided a long time ago that girls had this totally warped world view. This
just confirmed it. “He's crazy about you, Madison. Why would he be feeling
better?”

“I told him he should get
out of Trinity. I warned him. I told him it was going to end up bad.”

By now Jason's paranoia was in
overdrive. Did she know it was going to end up bad because she had inside
information?

“He won't leave, Maddie.
They don't have anyone else.”

She stared down at her hands.
“I am coming back. When I get things settled here. In the meantime, I'll
lay low.”

Right. Like she could lose
herself in the teeming crowds of Coal Grove, Jason thought.

“Seph won't be
happy.” The argument was wearing him out. The cold pain in his chest had
returned. Was he ever going to be back to normal?

“When you get back, you
tell Seph to stop worrying about me and take better care of himself,”
Madison said.

“I'm not going back to
Trinity,” Jason said, without thinking. Damn! He was an idiot, trying to
play this complicated game with his head still swimming from the effects of the
poison.

“Where are you
going?”

“Back to England.”
He paused, then brandished the only weapon he had. The one he would never use.
“So. No one needs to know about Grace. And no one needs to know I'm
here.” He met Madison's blue eyes straight on. He needed time to recover,
and he didn't want them sending someone down to interrogate him in the
meantime.

Her eyes narrowed and her
mouth tightened into an angry line. “Fine! It's your funeral.”

“Exactly,” he said,
smiling a little, trying to defuse the tension.

“What am I supposed to
tell Seph? He's expecting to hear from you.”

“If he asks, tell him I
never showed.”

Madison's eyes went wide with
shock, “If he asks? Jason! He'll think you either ran off or
something happened to you.”

Jason beat back a wave of
guilt, knowing Seph deserved to know about Barber, at least. But Jason would be
staying a while, in case Barber came back.

Right. Last time, a ten-year-old
saved your butt.

“Trinity would be safer
for you, you know,” Madison said, as if reading his mind.

“Safer for me, but not
for you?” He paused, and when she couldn't come up with an answer, added,
“Anyway, I'm not looking for a hideout.”

She stood. “Still. You
better lay low. In case Barber's looking for you.”

“He'd better worry about
me looking for him!” he called after her.

When the door closed behind
her, he settled gratefully back against the pillows. He wasn't afraid of Warren
Barber. He just needed to rest a bit and get back in shape.

If Madison were involved in
some kind of conspiracy, he couldn't very well leave Seph at her mercy. But
Seph would never believe anything bad about Madison without evidence. Since he
had to hang around Coal Grove for a while, maybe he could find out for sure
whose side Madison Moss was on, and who she was hanging with, and who this
Brice Roper was.

Perhaps if he just closed his
eyes …

Madison threaded the pickup
between the twin brick pillars that marked the entrance to Bry-Son Farms.
Pristine white fencing marched away in both directions, marking the boundary of
the Roper property. She navigated the long drive, past the Greek Revival
mansion and around back to the horse barn.