Chapter 3
Three
BECKS
I lean back in the seat, sighing as I crack my neck. My back aches from hours spent hunched in front of a computer screen. A complete waste of my time.
I clench my fists, feeling the urge to punch the black screen. Or maybe melt it with a blast of fire. The last half dozen leads on Locklyn’s sister and parents have either gone cold or led nowhere. After the devastating trip to San Diego earlier this week, I really need a win.
Unbidden, the image of the Locklyn lookalike surfaces in my mind’s eye: her vacant stare, her guts ripped out and strewn across the room, blood painting the white walls like a grotesque work of modern art.
If we had only arrived a few minutes earlier . . .
I shake my head. Would it have really made a difference? As far as we know, this demon, even at only half strength, is almost unstoppable. If we’d gotten there in time, would our innards be decorating that dorm room as well?
Heat licks over my skin, and the smell of ash permeates the air.
Taking a deep breath through my nose, I hold it in for five seconds and then exhale.
Control is something I’ve always been good at, but it feels like I’ve been on the brink of losing it more and more. Is it the stress of trying to find this girl? Is the exposure to the Locklyn and Talon show finally making me crack? Or maybe it’s something completely unrelated?
I don’t know, but there’s a restlessness inside that I’ve been unable to quiet.
Sleep. I need more sleep.
I go to power off the computer when an alert catches my eye.
Besides scouring the internet and social media for breadcrumbs to find Locklyn’s sister, I have alerts set up to notify me of news with particular keywords in it.
A new email has just popped up. I should just ignore it and check it in the morning, but instead I find myself opening it and clicking on the link.
It takes me to an unfamiliar news site. A West Virginia college paper.
I scan the article about a fire that broke out the day before at a frat house during a party.
No one was injured, but the witnesses claim the flames came out of nowhere, sprouting out of battery-operated jack-o’-lanterns all around a room at the same time.
And the flames weren’t normal. They were purple and magenta.
There’s a video link, and when I click on it, my heart starts to beat faster.
It’s not much at first. The video starts on a couple making out then screams arise.
The picture jerks away as students start to flee.
It’s a chaotic mess for a few moments of blurred figures running through the smoke or fog-filled room, then I see the flames, unnaturally colored like the reports suggested, licking their way up the curtains toward the ceiling.
The camera is suddenly dropped, facing up. Students run past, frantic to escape. It’s picked up again and directed at the flames one more time before the picture cuts out.
Just before the video ended, it scanned over the room. Everyone was either running for the exit or trying to put the flames out, everyone except for one figure draped in a red-hooded cloak. They’re standing perfectly still amidst the chaos around them.
At first, I can’t even tell if it’s a male or female, but just before the video ends the figure turns their head and there’s a blurry side profile.
Going back, I watch the video several more times, watching the end frame-by-frame until I determine it’s a girl. The gentle slope of her nose and a lock of her auburn hair is visible for only a single frame, but it’s enough.
Leaning forward, my fingers fly over the keys as I start researching. It’s not a lot to go off of, but my gut tells me there’s something here.
Kade leans back in his seat and crosses his arms over his chest. “You want to go to West Virginia because of a frat house fire?”
“Pretty much.” I rub the back of my neck, knowing the evidence is weak. But that’s why I’m not asking for anyone to go with me.
I showed Kade the footage and he agrees the fire was magical in nature, but besides the single frame of the red-hooded figure, I haven’t been able to find anything to potentially link Locklyn’s sister to the event.
Even after eight straight hours of research and a sleepless night, I’ve found nothing to prove Locklyn’s sister is in West Virginia.
No strange activity in the area. No leads from the hacked university student list. Nothing.
I have no idea who the girl was, and even if I did, I don’t have any proof she had anything to do with the fire besides her being there.
There’s every possibility that whoever she is, she just locked up in fear that night.
And yet . . . a nagging voice won’t let me walk away. It’s calling me to dig deeper. The only option left is to go to West Virginia and see what I can uncover.
“Are you sure?” Kade asks. “I think the lead in Ohio is promising. The team is assembling now. You could be on the plane with them.”
I shake my head. “Talon and Locklyn are on it, along with some of your best men. I need to check out what’s going on in West Virginia. Just give me a day or two down there to look into it and then I’ll come back.”
Kade eyes me. “This isn’t to avoid Talon and Locklyn, is it?” he asks, pissing me off.
“This has nothing to do with them.”
He lifts his hands in front of him. “All right, I just had to ask. If you feel like this thing down south is worth looking into, I trust your judgment. Besides, you don’t really need my permission.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate you bringing me into the loop, and your help with this situation has been invaluable, but since you’re not an official Order member, I’m not your superior.
If you want to check this lead out, or any other lead, you’re free to do so with my blessing, even though it isn’t required. ”
It means something to hear him say that.
I spent my life under the thumb of the Dragon Council.
At least up until I returned from the human world a year and a half ago when I turned my back on them and everything to do with their controlling and manipulative ways.
They’d picked a new dragon heir when I was presumed dead, and when I found out, I’d thought, “Good riddance.” But since I was more powerful than my replacement, they had wanted to reinstate me to my former position when I returned.
For the first time in my life, I stood up to them, refusing to be dragon heir.
They were furious and tried to coerce me into changing my mind for the next six months, but I was firm.
At the time, I thought there might still be a chance for Locklyn and me, and I wasn’t going to mess it up again.
Especially for the same reason I had the first time.
I’d learned my lesson the hard way, and didn’t intend to repeat the same mistakes.
It didn’t end up mattering though, at least where Locklyn was concerned. She went back to Talon.
My only regret is that I waited so long to stop letting the council control my life.
Even so, the chain of command was ingrained in me for years. It’s second nature for me, and still hard to break. But more than that, I respect Kade. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have still gone if he’d asked me not to, but having his approval, even if I don’t need it, makes me feel more confident.
I nod to acknowledge him and stand. Kade rises with me.
“Keep me updated. If you’re on to something, I’ll send people your way.”