Dragon’s Secret Spy (Dragon Secrets of Parkhurst College #4)

Prologue

Steven Proctor stood outside the fence that protected the public from the ruined stadium, wondering if it had only been six months since he’d been forced to take the job as Dean of Parkhurst College.

It felt more like six years; first, he’d had to do damage repair after the former Dean had been exposed as a criminal, then there’d been the vandalism on campus, quickly followed by the bombing of the stadium.

When they’d found the old ruins under the stadium while cleaning up the debris, he’d been sure that could only be a good thing, but that seemed to have backfired on him as well.

Now he had two missing students instead of one, angry parents and professors, a board of regents who were less than helpful, and the clan breathing down his neck.

He would have loved to chuck it all in, write a letter stepping down and walk away, but his debt to the clan was too big for that.

His only choice was to stick it out and do his best to get control of the campus.

With that thought in mind, he watched the big black car pull into the parking lot and head for where he was standing, the tinted windows making it impossible to see who was in the backseat.

He didn’t need to see his visitor to know who it was, however.

He’d been woken at the crack of dawn by a phone call arranging the meeting, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still nervous.

The car pulled to a stop, and a second later, the back door opened.

Marcus Reynolds stepped out and walked over to him, a frown on his face.

“That got messy, but no one will ever discover the truth. I just wish they’d blown the whole thing away like I instructed,” Marcus said, shaking his head.

“These kids today have to respect their elders.”

“It isn’t over yet, and it might get even messier.

There’s another student missing; he was tangled up in all this somehow, although I’m not sure how.

The boys don’t exactly confide in me,” he said.

“When Diego disappeared, it was easy enough to claim he left on his own, but Sebastain is a totally different story; his grandfather isn’t going to rest until he finds him. ”

“I’ll deal with old man Marbury,” Marcus said.

“You just worry about the boys, we need them to graduate. Our plan won’t work if they don’t.

I hope I don’t have to remind you that’s your job.

You need to keep closer tabs on these boys, catch them before they get themselves in trouble. That was our agreement.”

It took him a second to answer as he wrestled with a burst of anger. “It wasn’t an agreement so much as an order,” he finally said, his voice level. “And it’s a bit difficult for me to be involved with them from the dean’s office. Maybe you should think about getting someone else to step in.”

“We’ve been over this, you’re the man we’ve chosen,” Marcus said, shutting him down. “Get it together, Proctor, the clan is depending on you. Our very existence depends on these eight boys and their special talents.”

“You don’t have to remind me, this battle with the Marbury clan has been going on since I was a child. I’m doing the best I can,” he said, then let out a long sigh. “I’ll try to get closer to the boys again, but there’s just so much on my plate that it’s difficult to find the time.”

“Have you spoken to Dr. Warner about staying on full time?” Marcus asked.

“I think the regents made their wishes clear, we want her here permanently. This is a chance to expand the college, and we need this after the disaster last year. The boost in enrollment is just the thing we need to invigorate the school; we need new blood, new students excited to be here. I understand young Cooper and Dr. Warner are…involved. Keeping her here will make him happy as well. I don’t want to risk him taking off after her. ”

“I don’t think it will be hard to convince her to stay. I’ll talk to her as soon as I can,” he said. “I’d just like a few weeks of peace and quiet. Do something to keep the Marburys busy just long enough to get us to Christmas break.”

“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try,” Marcus said. “Just try to find out what happened to Diego and Sebastain, the council would really like to know.”

“You mean you’re wondering if the weapon you’ve been creating is already functional,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t answer that either, but I hope this doesn’t blow up in your face, it could be really ugly, and you’ll only have yourselves to blame.”

“You let us worry about that,” Marcus said, striding over to the car and opening the door. “Just do your part like you’ve been asked.”

The door slammed and Marcus drove away, leaving him with just as many headaches as he’d had before and with a long sigh, he turned and headed for his office, hoping Mindy had the coffee ready.