30. Chapter 30
Sienna looked around the office at her family by blood and by choice.
Adam, Tessa, Eric, and Megan were there along with Marcus who was like an uncle to her, which made Jonas her too-smart-for-his-own good cousin.
Of course her bestie, Ryan, was there too.
She could rely on all of them which is why she really needed to stop letting the weight of the world rest on her shoulders.
And then there was John. She watched him standing to the side, his arms folded across his chest to keep everyone at bay. In reality, he wanted to be a part of their clan as well, he just didn’t know it yet. Or, refused to entertain the idea that he was worthy of having a family.
Jonas had given them the green light on the file Mia sent, so Megan had been reviewing it and wanted to talk through what she’d found.
Megan stood next to a whiteboard. Her inner teacher really appeared to be kicking in with all this research.
“The file Mia sent is a compilation of what she’s been able to collect regarding the dragon sentries.
As John already told us along with the little bit of history I found in the archives, the sentries kept the peace in the magical world.
What’s interesting was that according to Mia’s research, dragons weren’t born as sentries. The job was bestowed to them.”
“What does that mean?” Eric asked.
“It means that dragons were chosen to become sentries,” Megan responded.
“How?” Tessa asked. “Were they given jewelry with the symbol like Adam and Eric wear?”
“Possibly. But I think it’s more complicated than that.”
Sienna sighed. “Does it say in the research who in the clan got to choose the sentries?”
Megan shook her head. “Not really. In the storybook the oldest brother was given the shield by an oracle. And Adam got his pendant from your mother.”
Eric frowned. “Maybe Mom was an oracle and she kept it a secret.”
“In the very least, she was a descendent, as is Sienna. And you gave Eric his ring,” Megan added.
“So are we saying that oracles pick the sentries?” Sienna asked.
Tessa leaned forward. “How could Bella and Lily do that? They’re too young.”
“Possibly.” Megan looked at her notes. “But I think it’s more than that. Mia’s research has notations about sentries having special powers.”
“What kind of powers?” Adam asked.
Megan pointed to the board. “Nothing specific so far. It just keeps saying peacekeepers.”
John uncrossed his arms. “If they were all powerful, how did the Templars destroy them?”
“A combination of sheer numbers and surprise back then. According to Mia’s notes, the Templars have shrunk in size until only a handful exist today.”
“She said the same thing to Ryan and me at the hotel. She called them the Templar Ten. Does it say how dragons get these powers or become sentries?” Sienna asked.
Megan flipped the page on her notebook. “In several places, Mia noted the ‘voice of the dragon’ giving the designation to members of their clan. And what’s interesting is that it looks like one clan contained all the sentries.
Which either meant one clan led the others, or there weren’t separate clans a thousand years ago.
Maybe the loss of the sentries not only pitted the witches against the dragons but the dragons against each other. But that’s just conjecture.”
Sienna tapped her foot as frustration threatened. “So where do we find this voice of the dragon?”
Megan hesitated for a moment before facing Sienna. “The storybooks all talk of Evie singing to keep the village safe. That makes her a bard. Historically, bards were known to be the storytellers. They passed down the histories through song or poem. Maybe you are the voice of the dragon.”
Sienna shot to her feet at the same time her stomach dropped. “I can barely carry a tune. And I’m not a poet.”
Tessa’s eyebrows rose. “No. But as clan leader technically you are the voice of the clan. Maybe you’re supposed to bring the sentries back.”
Sienna started to pace. “How? I don’t have any powers.”
“That you know of,” Tessa said. “I didn’t know I was a witch. And the only power I seem to have is being able to interpret the curse. All of this is leading us somewhere. I know it in my gut.”
And so did Sienna, but that didn’t make it less frustrating.
And now on top of everything else, everyone was counting on her to bring back the dragon sentries too?
She stopped her pacing and looked at John, hoping for…
what? Some sort of answer to all of this?
He was such an enigma most of the time, but the more time she spent with him, the more she was starting to see beneath the mask he kept.
Today his eyes were filled with concern. For her? For their future?
She wanted to figure all of this out and soon. The weight of her responsibilities was threatening to push her to her knees.
It had been three days since the meeting about dragon sentries.
And since then, everything seemed to have ground to a halt.
Megan continued to look at any clue as to what their next steps were, with Jonas scouring the Internet for anything that might help.
Sienna had reached out to Mia to ask for another meeting, but she had gone radio silent.
Which didn’t leave Sienna with a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Did she decide not to work with them? Was she back on team Templar?
Or did they find out she was double-crossing them?
Any of those scenarios made Sienna’s nerves rattle down her spine.
Sienna soared over the valley and landed on the outcropping of rocks hoping that her favorite spot would help her regroup.
Her flight so far hadn’t done the trick.
She stretched her wings out for the sunshine and breeze flowing through the valley.
After a minute she heard a rustling and glanced back to see John walking toward her.
His presence calmed her more than anything else had in the last seventy-two hours, and that gave her pause. What was she supposed to do with that?
He looked her over slowly, spending time admiring her wings. A mix of emotions ran over his face, and she had a hard time discerning what they meant.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
She shrugged. Her wings flared out a bit. “I thought I would take a flight to clear my head. I was wondering if you would like to go with me.”
A mask dropped over his face immediately, and he shook his head.
She tried not to let his quick refusal upset her. “Okay. Sorry I asked.”
John held up his hand. “Wait. I’m sorry. I would love more than anything to fly with you.” He cleared his throat. “But I can’t.”
Her stomach bottomed out. “You’ve lost your wings,” Sienna whispered.
He responded with a jerky nod.
She reached for his hand and grasped it before he could back away.
She looked out over the valley so that he couldn’t see her expression.
She knew he wouldn’t appreciate the emotion.
“That’s terrible. Is it awful of me that I wish your grandmother was alive so that I could beat the snot out of her? ”
He huffed out a surprised laugh before turning to face her. “You astonish me, Sienna.”
“Is that a good thing?” she asked.
His eyes danced. “It’s a very good thing.”
“Can I give you a hug?”
He looked like he was going to protest, so she plowed on. “I could really use one.”
He nodded and she wrapped her arms around him and then wrapped her wings too. Like they were in a cocoon. Just the two of them safe from all the obstacles they faced. He took a shuddering breath and then another.
She breathed slowly herself, taking in his forest scent for a few minutes until they broke apart. She furled her wings, still holding on to his hand. “Let’s go for a walk.”
They walked past the cabin and toward the clan house, not speaking.
She didn’t think that John needed a bunch of superfluous words right now, even though Veronica kept trying to get her to sing “You Are My Sunshine” to him.
Sienna’s mother used to sing that to her when she was sad or scared.
But this was not the time for that. Of course Veronica didn’t agree and decided to sing a spectacularly bad version of it herself.
When the clan house came into view, the girls were in the yard running around while Ryan flew above them and then down to tap them on the heads, making them squeal.
Tessa and Megan sat on a blanket in the grass with what looked like the remnants of a picnic lunch.
John dropped her hand when he saw everyone, and Sienna tried not to take it personally.
Tessa and Megan waved them over. As they crossed the backyard, Veronica’s singing ramped up several decibels.
Sienna closed her eyes for a moment when they came to a stop to give herself strength and to try and convince Veronica to shut up. As she opened her eyes, Ryan landed next to the blanket and furled his wings before sitting on the ground, grabbing his shirt, and putting it on.
A giggle sounded beside her, and she turned to see Lily and Bella dancing.
She smiled down at them. “Are you ready for another dance party?”
Lily beamed up at her. “Yes. We like that song. My teacher taught it to me.”
She glanced at Tessa to see if they had missed something, but she looked as confused as Megan and Ryan.
“What song, sweetheart?” Tessa asked.
Lily spun around and in a clear voice started singing “You Are My Sunshine” in time with Veronica.
The blood drained from Sienna’s face, and she tried to control her breathing so that she didn’t upset the girls. “You hear the voice?”
“Yes,” Lily said.
“What voice?” Megan asked.
Lily smiled. “Veronica.”
Ryan shot to his feet. “Holy shi-oot.”
Veronica started cheering. Yahoo. Lily and Bella are the best girls in the whole wide world! They deserve all the cookies!
“Cookies!” Bella hollered and Lily clapped.
Sienna’s legs wouldn’t hold her up any longer. John grabbed onto her before she hit the ground and lowered her down with him squatting next to her. Megan and Tessa both scrambled to their knees with concern etched on their faces.
“What are they talking about? Who’s Veronica?” John demanded.
She looked up at Ryan, whose pale, shocked face more than likely mirrored her own. “Ryan, can you take the girls inside for some cookies?”
“Of course.” As he wrangled the girls and they danced away, Lily sang again. Megan grabbed her phone and started typing on it.
John wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “What just happened?”
“Give me a second.” Sienna blew out a deep breath and then another, trying to make sense of everything. For once Veronica had gone silent. The back door of the house opened, and Eric and Adam jogged across the deck and over the grass.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick?” Adam asked.
“You might want to sit down,” Sienna said.
Adam and Eric dropped down next to their spouses.
“I don’t even know how to explain what just happened because I don’t understand it myself,” Sienna said, trying to calm her heartbeat.
“Take your time,” Eric said.
Sienna nodded. “When I was little, I had an imaginary friend. I could hear her in my head all the time. As I got older, the voice didn’t exactly go away.
I know that people talk about sometimes hearing a voice in their head telling them that something is bad, like their gut instinct.
But my voice is more than that. She has no problem voicing her opinions at any time.
“When John and I walked up here a few minutes ago, my inner voice was singing ‘You Are My Sunshine.’”
Tessa and Megan gasped.
Adam looked between them. “What did we miss?”
“The girls started dancing, and Lily started singing ‘You Are My Sunshine’ at the same time,” Megan said.
Eric grabbed Megan’s hand. “What the hell?”
Sienna’s thoughts exactly. “And my name for my inner voice is Veronica, which Lily knew. When Veronica realized that the girls could hear her, she shouted that they deserved cookies. Which is when Bella started yelling for them.”
John’s arm tightened around her. “And from Ryan’s reaction, he knows about Veronica?”
“Yeah. I told him about her when we were kids, and he knows she’s still in my head.
I always wondered if there was something wrong with me.
I don’t understand why the girls can hear my imaginary voice in my head.
” She turned to John. He looked like he was trying to figure out a puzzle.
“Do you have an idea of what this means?”
“I might, but it can’t be the reason.”
Before Sienna could ask why not, Ryan jogged back toward them carrying Lily’s drawing book. Sienna’s stomach dropped again. Now what?
Ryan stopped and knelt down. “Lily and Bella are fine. Marilyn is watching them. When we got into the kitchen, Lily kept talking about Veronica and I asked her how she knew her. Lily told me that she had drawn a picture of her.”
Let me see! Let me see! Veronica’s singsong voice made Sienna flinch. John pulled her tighter to his side.
Ryan swallowed hard as he opened the sketchbook and turned it around to show everyone.
Sienna blinked and then blinked again as Veronica’s joyful laugh filled her head.
The drawing was of a sparkly yellow dragon.