Chapter 26 #2
Rush drummed his fingers on the desk. “These are my father’s most private books. He never lets me in here, never lets anyone in here.” There were hundreds of books in here. If each of them had a gemstone in the spine, there was also a small fortune sewn into the bindings in this room.
“He’ll know now.” I glanced at the destroyed book and back at Rush.
“Not if I get the book rebound before he ever knows it’s missing,” he said, gathering up the cover.
“Don’t you think whoever rebinds that will notice that the title changes?”
“I’m not going to have it rebound with the stone.”
I tilted my head. “Oh, and what do you plan to do with the stone?”
His gaze was distant, as if looking at something only he could see, a memory, perhaps.
He didn’t even blink as I moved toward him.
“As a child, I was rough on books,” he said, as if beginning a story.
The skin around his eyes tightened and his throat bobbed.
“My brother and I wouldn’t have a book a month before the cover was torn off.
My father warned us never to damage any of his precious books.
My brother listened. I didn’t.” His expression hardened, but he still wasn’t looking at me, gaze fixed far away.
“After…when he…the day my other brother was shot, I went on a bit of a rampage. I destroyed everything I could get my hands on before they got to me. After the beating I got that day, I decided to destroy things in a more…subtle way.”
My lips parted.
“First it was lighting rugs on fire.”
“That’s subtle?”
His hard eyes silenced me. “Then it was unraveling tapestries. I eventually turned back to the books. We weren’t allowed to touch them.
So, one night, he found me ripping pages out of a book I’d found on his desk.
” Both hands flattened against his face, then mussed his hair, leaving it a rumpled mess.
“He told me that if he ever caught me destroying his property again, he’d kill me.
” Rush gripped the desk on either side of him, his head hanging low.
I wasn’t sure what this had to do with his answer to my question, but I didn’t think it was right to interrupt him now.
“When my mother died, she left me the journal.” He flicked his thumb at it. “Read what it says on the inside cover.”
Slowly, gingerly, I leaned over the desk and took the journal. The pages were filled with handwritten notes, sketches. On the inside cover, beautiful penmanship had left a simple note: To my son, I could not keep you safe from him. Maybe this will help.
“It contains everything she could uncover about magic, though she never did confirm it was really magic. It’s theories and speculation, mostly, but I knew she was on to something,” Rush said, watching me.
“You asked what I plan to do with this stone?” He held it up.
“We’re one step closer to figuring out what my father does with magic.
We just learned he uses magic to cover up the existence of magic, for one, and I think my father uses magic to win races.
” Ignoring my small gasp, he continued, “I don’t know how, but I know he does.
” His eyes roved over my face, pausing briefly at my mouth.
“The first time he saw me fly on Azeron, he told me I’d never lose a race.
At first I thought it was a compliment.” His shoulders drooped.
“Then I realized he was telling me he was planning to use me as one of his many players in his racing empire.” He let out a sharp breath.
“He’s going to use magic to ensure you win the year-end race,” I said, voicing the thing I’d been after since starting at Cardan Lott. The answer Fairfax wanted.
Rush nodded. “So now you know what you’re up against, Arivelle Miro.”
Suddenly, my false name sounded wrong, even though the pronunciation was minutely different from the real thing. It was wrong that he didn’t even know who I was after all I now knew about him.
“My name is Mireaux,” I said, giving it the correct Resean pronunciation. His brow furrowed as he scooted himself toward me, half-perched on the desk. “Not Miro.” To most Cavarians, the two words sounded identical. “I’m not even related to Fairfax.”
That truth felt small in comparison to everything I’d learned lately.
Rush studied me a moment. To my surprise, he offered me the faintest smile. “What do you know? It was a lie all along.”
I shoved his shoulder away.
“But this will definitely make you famous. First, you prove that a wild dragon with flame can bond. Now a bottomsider can too? How many rules of our world do you intend to flip upside down?”
Blush heated my cheeks. “Just those two.”
“Oh, just two.”
“How exactly am I supposed to win the race if your father uses magic to win?” This was what Fairfax wanted…but it didn’t feel like this was for Fairfax anymore. “Seems like if you lose, your father will know we’ve discovered his secret.”
As his fingers curled around the tiny gemstone, his lips twitched in a faint grin.
“He’ll find out soon enough. The Archivists miss nothing.
Otherwise, someone would have revealed magic a long time ago.
Now, if you beat me in the race, there’s at least a chance my father won’t murder you for what you know. ”
“Well, when you put it that way…”
He bumped my shoulder, a sad laugh falling from his lips. “Stay alive, Mireaux.” His words were lighthearted, but there was a painful seriousness behind his eyes that chilled my blood. “We need to find out how he uses magic to win, and we do the same.”
“Magic? That’s your plan?”
“Got a better one?”
My head tilted back and forth as I considered.
“Or we could sell the information. Ruin him.” I now had the answers Fairfax wanted, but after the way he’d treated me, I wasn’t sure I wanted him to have this knowledge.
At least not yet. I wasn’t sure what was the right thing to do now that we knew magic was real.
“To the point.” He huffed, sliding off the desk. “But the Archivists have managed to rewrite history to keep their secrets safe. Whatever we do, it will be risky. Playing high stakes against my father means possibly losing everything.”
My father had bet everything and he’d lost. Pinching my eyes to shut out the visuals of my father crashing to the floor, I nodded. “I know.”
“Come on,” he said. “I want to see what your dragon does with this.”
Outside, the winter air carved its way through the seams of my clothing. I tucked my jacket around my middle and hurried toward Myth, who was now picking his claws clean. I jerked my gaze away from the remains of the sheep.
“Wait,” Rush said, grabbing my arm. He strode past me, eyes hard with a warning as he lifted his hand that held the emerald. “I don’t know what will happen.”
Myth instantly jumped up, his nostrils flaring. Smoke curled from his mouth into the cold air. Rush’s left hand pressed backward, tucking around my hip and pushing me behind him.
“Wait here,” he demanded.
“No, let me do it. He’s my dragon.” I reached around him, but he spun and backed toward Myth, the stone clutched at his chest.
“He trusts me!” I shouted, my breath ballooning before me. But Rush turned back to my dragon and extended his hand, emerald exposed on his open palm.
“What do you think?” he asked Myth, edging closer.
Myth’s nose tentatively crept forward, and stories of dragons and their hoards filled my mind. In the corner of the courtyard, Azeron stirred. Myth’s mouth opened, and a few sparks jumped out.
“Set it down!” I hissed, hands moving up to my face.
Rush bent slowly to set the stone on the bricks and backed away. As soon as he did, Myth pounced forward, tongue snatching up the stone and pulling it into his mouth. I yelped and found my fingers clutching the back of Rush’s blazer. Quickly, I let go, but Rush didn’t step away.
Still looking up at Myth, he said, “Well, that was unexpected.” He paced around me, then stopped short and turned, slowly, to face me. “Your dragon just ate a gemstone of questionable power. I think it might be wise if you didn’t bring him back to school tonight.”
My eyes cut to Myth, furious at the thought. “What, just leave him here again?”
“He’ll be fine here. No one will—”
“No, I didn’t mean that. I mean, aren’t we going to test what happens now?” I lifted my hand toward Myth.
Rush furrowed his brow. “We don’t know what magic that stone held, so we don’t know what his flame can do.”
“Want to find out?” I asked.
The smile that broke over his face struck a match inside me.