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CHAPTERONE
I was trapped.
Not like a rat, because I was just too darn cute to be compared to such a creature. I was more like a damsel in distress and I was desperately searching for my white knight.
“Come on, Ben. . .” I muttered as I pressed my back against the wall even more.
“Quiet, witch!” Commander Edouard snapped at me as a half dozen of his men pointed their halberds at my chest. “You will hand over the Prima Staff and surrender yourself to the mercy of the king!”
I snorted. “I’ll pass. I’ve already seen what kind of mercy those guys deal out.”
He narrowed his cold eyes at me. “Then you will be taken to the dungeons and be made to tell us where you have hidden the staff.”
I had a hard time keeping my eyes off the canister on my left arm. My heart pounded in my chest as I squirmed against the brick wall. Damn me for readjusting the ribbon at the worst possible time! I was still getting used to it being back on my arm and then that soldier came along in time to spot me in my true self.
“That is hardly a way to treat a lady,” a voice spoke up from the shadows.
My heart leapt as the commander spun around to face the mouth of the dead-end alley in which I found myself. A tall figure with a billowing cloak stood there. Their red eyes glowed in the dim light of twilight with the last rays of the setting sun at their back.
A smile curled onto Commander Edouard’s lips as he raised one finger. “I am most pleased to see you, Dragon Thief. You have been absent of late.”
Ben bowed his head. “My sincerest apologies. I decided to take a vacation elsewhere.”
“That was fortuitous for me, as I have a surprise welcome for you,” Edouard countered as one of the men stepped forward.
The soldier’s halberd was quite fat at the top, and the reason was revealed when he pressed a switch on the stick and the blade popped off. His action revealed a small crystalline orb that glowed a soft and sickly yellow in the fading light.
Ben folded his arms over his chest. “Surely you haven’t forgotten already, my dear commander, that magic doesn’t work on me.”
“We shall see,” Edouard countered as he nodded at the orb’s handler.
The soldier stepped forward and held aloft the spear. The faint light spread across the ground and touched Ben’s feet. My eyes widened as his dark boots shimmered like disturbed water and I nearly beheld his normal shoes.
Ben stepped back and a growl escaped him. Commander Edouard laughed. “I see we have finally found a magic more potent than yours. Now we’ll see the face behind the mask.”
His eyes flickered to his man and the soldier rushed forward with the light held aloft. Ben stepped to the side and out of sight. The soldier skidded to a stop at the mouth and grasped the glowing spear in both hands as he searched the area.
“Sir, he’s gone!” he announced after a brief examination.
Edouard’s eyes widened and he frothed at the mouth. “That spineless fool!” He whipped around to face me. “But I have his accomplice-”
His words caught in his throat. Ben stood behind me with his wings spread out from wall to wall. He wrapped his arms around my waist and bowed his head to the commander. “It was a pleasure to play with again, commander. Let’s hope you don’t bring any new rules to the game next time.”
He leapt into the air as the commander leapt at us. Edouard just barely missed my foot as we flew up the wall and into the night sky. I wiggled my fingers at the furious commander in a playful wave as he roared beneath us.
Ben glided us over the rooftops and in a direction not quite straight for home. I breathed a sigh of relief and my body slightly slumped. “Something bothering you?” he wondered.
“Oh, just a few things,” I told him as I patted my pocket where the ribbon was safely tucked. “I think this got stretched during its time in Ramaal’s possession.”
“And another?”
“What was that orb he was using to see you?”
Ben sighed as he stared ahead. “I don’t know, but that’s a contemplation under the auspices of a warm fire and a stiff drink.”
Eventually, he bent his wings toward home and we landed a block away before traveling on foot the rest of the distance. Ferox greeted us from the stables and Tully at the back door.
“All quiet on the home front, I hope,” Ben mused to his servant.
