Bound to the Dragon King (6 page)

“We have,” I confess, blushing.

“Like, more than once?”

“Well, just once so far in the real world, but I started meeting him in my dreams when I was 15, so…”

Her eyes bug out and she grins at me. “Did you like it?”

“Quite a bit, yes. You’ve really never?” I ask incredulously. It’s pretty common in the Underground for witches to have had multiple partners by now. I always got a kick out of watching human movies that glorify waiting until you’re married to have sex. I thought I was the weird one.

“I’ve never even had a boyfriend! This human asked me out on a date once and he definitely tried to put the moves on me, but it just didn’t feel right. You must think I’m such a prude! I bet you’ve had tons of guys by now.”

I can’t help but laugh at that one. The shopkeeper gives us an angry and suspicious glance so I grab Ruby and drag her unceremoniously out of the shop. She looks hurt by my reaction so I have to explain.

“Ruby, I’m sorry! It’s just that Ash is the only guy I’ve ever been with. I would probably be in the same boat as you if I hadn’t met him. Remember I’m a ‘witch with broken magic’ too.” I look around at the throngs of magicfolk. “I usually avoid the Underground and all the people in it. Especially places like this.”

“That’s right.”  Her frown turns into a bright smile. “How could I forget, you’re just like me! You just got the better end of the bargain,” she says with a wink.

“Come on silly,” I jokingly admonish. “Let’s go find this girl.” We set off arm in arm, pushing our way through the crowd. She’s right though, I definitely got the better deal in all of this. I feel kind of guilty for it. Why did the spell choose me? Ash could have been with any of the women on this long list of candidates. And I’m not even doing that great of a job as his partner, I mean I ran away from him after all. But if being the right witch means giving up my free will, I’m not sure I want it to be me. I love Asher more than anything, but I’m not sure about giving up all my control. I’ve fought hard to get where I am, broken magic or no broken magic. I sigh and look over at Ruby as we walk together. I can’t believe how easy it is to be here. My magic might still be on the fritz, but having a friend gives me an unexpected confidence boost.

“So since we’re asking personal questions,” I say, hoping that I’m not going too far, “how did you come to live with Georgia?”

“Well, my biological parents were pretty terrible people. They were con artists who managed to weasel their way onto the Council back in the day. They figured that since I was a candidate they could bargain with them for more power. When they found out how many witches have fit the prophecy over the years, they dumped me and took off across the country. I lived on the streets Uptop for a few months before Georgia found me again. She took me under her wing and eventually adopted me. I guess I did get pretty lucky. What about you? What are your parents like?”

“I don’t talk to my father,” I say, hoping she can’t hear the anger in my voice. “My mom’s dead. Been living Uptop on my own ever since leaving school.”

“Alone?” she asks hesitantly. I can tell she’s curious but doesn’t want to press me.

“Well I did have Edgar for company and Fee when I worked at the library. Of course Asher when I fell asleep. Though, I thought I was crazy for a long time. I mean who falls in love with a guy they see every night when they sleep?”

“So you really fell for him in your sleep?”

“Yeah actually. I know that sounds so stupid! I started dreaming about him when I was so young. He’s been my only friend, well until now.” I look shyly at her expecting rejection. Instead I find that she’s wiping away a tear. I tighten my grip on her arm and she does the same.

Chapter Seven

We eventually find the shop we’ve been searching for. A bell rings as we push the door open and a frazzled girl appears from the back.

“Can I help you?” she asks with a strong Irish accent. Her short bob is a bright shade of pink. I suppose that counts as the flame haired variety. She has piercing, deep set blue eyes and pale porcelain skin.

“Are you Cera?” Ruby asks. I reach out with my mind to find her spark and I know instantly that we need her in the coven.

“Depends on who’s asking,” she says defensively. I step forward in front of Ruby so I can get a better look at her.  Her energy is bright and pulsing, but not very strong. I can sense how it will fit snuggly in the core of magic from the coven.

“I’m Melinda,” I say, sticking out my hand for her to shake. She takes it tentatively.

“Cera! What do you think you are you doing? I asked you to finish hemming these robes!” A sour faced man comes out from the back of the shop shaking a purple robe at Cera. A mixture of fear and rage crosses her face as she backs away from him.

“Oh, we have customers,” he says, noticing us and quickly changing his tone. “Why didn’t you say something, silly girl?” His fake smile is infuriating. I can’t imagine having to put up with this guy every day. “It’s hard to find decent help,” he says in a mock whisper to us. “This one can hardly do a basic Sew spell, but she’s decent enough at doing it by hand. And cheap. Kind of a novelty these days, if that’s what you’re in the market for. Anyway, how can I help you ladies?”

“Actually, Cera here was helping us,” I lie, hoping the man will go away before I do something more drastic.

“We prefer to work with her,” Ruby adds. I shoot him my best go-to-hell glare and cross my arms across my chest.

“Is that so?” He squints his eyes at us questioningly. “Suit yourself,” he says with a huff. “Don’t mess this up, girl,” he whispers to Cera before disappearing in the back. She shifts uncomfortably and hides her hands in her sleeves.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” she says, looking at both of us angrily.

“That guy’s a real asshole” Ruby says to her. “I’m Ruby by the way.” She smiles warmly and nudges me forward.

“So what do you want?” Cera asks suspiciously.

“First of all, we want to talk to you,” I answer her, trying to think of the best way to ask her to join us. This is harder than I thought it would be. I can’t even begin to imagine asking this girl to risk anything to help us.  She looks like she has nothing. Her clothes are baggy and ill-fitting on her slender frame. The dark circles under her eyes have me guessing about how much sleep she’s getting if she’s hand sewing everything for this jerk. “Are you-”

“Look,” she says, interrupting me. “I can’t just talk to you. If I don’t actually sell you something he’s probably going to…” She stops at the sound of shuffling from the back and peeks around the corner. That guy must be treating her pretty badly. She’s got a sassy edge to her, probably from being afraid every day. We’ve got to get her out of here.

“Cera,” Ruby jumps in. “We’re broken witches too and we’re here to help you.” I have no idea where Ruby’s going with this so I hang back and listen. We probably should have rehearsed or even talked about how we were going to do this.

“What are you? Some kind of defective witch union? I don’t want your help,” Cera snaps at her.

“Look, do you want to keep working for this guy or what? I don’t know what he’s paying you, but it’s definitely not enough. Just hear us out for a minute. If you don’t like what we have to say, we’ll buy something stupidly expensive to get that guy off your back. Deal?” Ruby asks her pointedly. I hope she’s got a lot of money because I definitely don’t! I gulp down my insecurities and dive in.

“Your magic doesn’t work, right? Never has?” I ask her even though I know her answer already. Her lack of response tells me I’m right. “Ours never has either.”

“Great, so all of us are going to what? Sit around and hand sew together? Talk about our problems?” she says sarcastically.

“No, we’re going to do something about it,” I snap back defensively. I can see that it was the right move because instead of staring at me like I’m stupid, she’s watching me like a hawk, probably trying to figure out my next move. “We know why our magic doesn’t work. We think we can fix it but we need help from people like you, like us. We’re gathering a coven and we want you to be a part of it,” I spit out, hoping that didn’t sound too crazy.

She purses her lips and folds her arms across her chest. “I don’t have time to join a coven. I barely have time for anything with this schedule…”

“What if we could get you a new job?” Ruby asks. What is she talking about? I grab her arm and pull her aside.

“Ruby you can’t promise people jobs if you don’t have them! What are you doing?” I whisper.

“Oh don’t worry, I can get her a job. It’s one of the things the Council can do. I will talk to Georgia about it when we get back. There’s no way I’m leaving her here with that guy!” Ruby whispers back. She’s right. If the Council wants to appease the Dragon King, they will find jobs for any of the candidates that need it. They don’t have to know the order actually came from me.

“You can really get me a new job?” Cera asks tentatively.

“Yes,” I answer. “But it might be Uptop. Is that a problem?”

Her brow furrows as she considers the offer. I watch as she pushes the hair out of her eyes. She looks up at us with a serious look on her face. “Let’s say, hypothetically, that I take you up on this offer. What do I have to do for you?” she asks suspiciously.

“Look, there’s a lot to explain and we can’t exactly talk about it freely down here…” Ruby starts to explain.

“We honestly just want you to join our coven,” I interrupt. “You don’t have to do anything else for us. I’m the leader of the group and Ruby’s my number two. The magic we’ll be working together won’t be easy and it’s probably going to be more than a little dangerous.” I don’t want to hide the truth from her. “I know we are probably overwhelming you right now with all of this and I’m sorry for that, but we don’t have a lot of time.”

“I don’t know.” She looks around the little shop sadly. This place is probably her home and also her prison. “I don’t even know you guys. This is a lot to think about.”

“You don’t have to answer now if you’re not ready. We’ll come back around closing time. Okay?” Ruby proposes to her.

“Okay…” she responds. The fear has returned to her eyes and I know we can’t leave just yet. I reach down into my bag and find my wallet, spotting a swath of black satin on the shelf behind the counter.

“Can you make a dress out of that? Something with a slit?” I ask, thinking of the dress that I had on in my dreams with Ash. That one drove him wild. Maybe that’s how I can convince him to go along with this plan...

“Sure,” she says measuring out a piece big enough. Cera takes my measurements, writes up the order, and gives us a total. It’s more than a paycheck at the library, but I hope it’s enough to soothe her boss. I pay her and we leave the shop, fighting the urge to walk back in and demand that she come with us. If she’s anything like me I know that tactic won’t work.

“We should have done more… said more. I don’t know...” Ruby is obviously feeling much the same.

We amble down the street with our tails tucked between our legs and our confidence from earlier completely shattered. I don’t know how we are going to get through this list if this is any indication. We only make it a few shops before we hear a shout from behind us.

“Hey! Wait!” Cera hitches a backpack up onto her shoulder as she makes her way to us.

“Did you think about it?” Ruby asks her with a big smile on her face.

“I did. And I brought your money back.” She puts a hand up to her face and I notice a welt forming on her cheek. That bastard must have hit her! She brushes her hair over that side of her face and looks up at me. “This is crazy,” she says with a laugh, “but I’m in.” She pulls the length of black satin out and smiles at me. I knew I liked this girl for a reason.

Ruby gives her Georgia’s address and tells her to go straight there. She sets off with determination and our excitement returns. We move eagerly down the list to the next candidate, Bettina. According to the address, she lives just off Market Street inside one of the cavern apartments. I’ve never actually been to that part of the city, but I know the rumors about it. Like the cities Uptop, the Underground has slums and the caverns were about as slummy as it gets down here. They’re built into the actual bedrock walls that surround the city and were supposedly damp, dark, and wildly confusing to navigate.

“Ruby have you ever been inside the caverns?” I ask hoping that she has. I definitely don’t want to experience the adventure of getting lost in there.

“No,” she replies with a shiver. She must be on the same page as me. “But I know someone who knows it like the back of her hand!”

“Who?” I ask.

“Fee!” Ruby smiles at her own cleverness. I can’t believe I didn’t think of her. She would actually be a ton of help with this whole scheme.

“Do you know where she lives?” I’m embarrassed that I never asked her about it during our nights at work, but she never liked to talk about her personal life much. Sprites can be very secretive.

“Of course. She lives with all of the other sprites, on a cliff face with all these little holes in it, like those birds live in.”