Dragon’s Reckless Journalist (Dragon Secrets of Parkhurst College #8)

Prologue

The sound of someone pounding on his front door woke Steven Proctor from a sound sleep, and he sat straight up in bed, adrenaline already flooding his veins and making his heart pound faster.

Throwing the covers off, he jumped out of bed, stumbling a little as he headed for the stairs, wincing when the pounding didn’t stop, hoping his neighbors didn’t wake up.

He threw the door open when he got there, only mildly surprised to see Marcus Reynolds standing on his front porch, then opened it further and stepped back to let the regent and clan council member in, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do in the middle of the night.

“It’s about time,” Marcus said, shoving past him. “I’ve been standing out here for ten minutes trying to wake you up.”

“It’s the middle of the night, most people are asleep right now,” he said, running his fingers through his hair. “Can I assume this isn’t a social visit?”

“I just thought you’d want to know that I’m off to clean up another one of your messes,” Marcus said, glaring at him. “You’re supposed to be keeping an eye on these boys, Steven, but now we’ve got another crisis on our hands.”

He just stared at Marcus for a second, wondering if the older man was slipping, then finally shook his head.

“For the hundredth time, I can’t watch them any closer than I am right now.

I’m the Dean of the school. I have too many responsibilities, and don’t forget you let that happen.

You could have blocked my appointment,” he said.

“And let’s not forget the fact that those boys don’t know that I’m one of them; if they did, they might come to me for advice before these situations get out of control. What happened this time?”

“Apparently, one of the Kappas, Thomas someone or the other, decided to try and ruin Walker’s life, including stealing the mother of his child, and when she didn’t cooperate, he kidnapped her,” Marcus said, starting to pace back and forth in the tiny entryway.

“He almost had her into Marbury territory, but she managed to escape. Walker found her and took her into our territory and married her. When this Thomas found out, he tried to burn down the cabin where they were spending the night, but it didn’t work very well, and from what I understand, he’s got burns over most of his body and is refusing help. ”

“How much longer is this going to go on?” he asked, anger welling up inside him. “This used to be a peaceful place, a place where young people could come to get a good education, but now it’s turned into a war zone. People are starting to ask questions, and I don’t have the answers.”

“Well, you’d better find them; the clan is depending on you.

I hope I don’t have to remind you about your duty,” the older man said, his face creased with anger.

“You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for the clan.

You owe a debt, Steven, and until that debt is paid off, you’d better find a way to smooth this all over.

We need these boys. They’re the future of the clan, they all have to graduate, just hold it together for a few more months, and it will all be over. ”

“I’m not going to tell you that you’re making a mistake; we’ve had that discussion before as well, but this little plan of yours is already backfiring,” he said.

“The Marbury’s aren’t going to stop trying to destroy your dream team.

Don’t be surprised if you get another call like the one you got tonight. ”

“Just get ready to do damage control,” Marcus snarled at him. “We could still replace you, don’t forget that, play by the rules or you’ll find yourself out of a job.”

He didn’t say anything, because there was nothing he could say. Marcus was right, he could be replaced, ending his entire career. “That’s what I thought,” the older man said, striding past him. “Do your job, Proctor, keep the clan happy, and everything will work out just fine.”

To his complete shock, instead of getting into the big black car parked on the curb, Marcus walked to the middle of the street, then paused for a second to look around.

A second later, his dragon form appeared, and the man vanished.

Then he spread his wings and, with a swish, took to the air and flew off into the night.

He stood there for a second, then shook his head and slowly closed his front door, hoping that no one had seen Marcus, and then went to the kitchen to make coffee.

There would be no more sleep for him, just a string of phone calls that were sure to start in only a few hours, not much time to come up with a reasonable explanation for what happened.

Wondering how many more of these emergencies he could handle, he left the kitchen to get dressed, feeling more tired than he’d ever felt in his entire life.