Aspen (The Dragon Kings #2)(23)

He laughed. “You know, tonight when your parents are here, we’re going to have to go back to being friends.”

Aspen scowled. “I know. But that’s not any different than at school. Though I’m not used to it here at your house.”

Aspen’s phone buzzed. She reached around and pulled it out of her pocket. It was the reporter she turned all her dragon pictures over to. Weird, what did he want?

“Hello,” she said as Sid and Rowan descended on Skye. They both stuck their fingers in the bowl, and she squealed.

The reporter’s gravelly voice came out of the phone. “Hey, I wanted to be the first one to talk to you. I figured you owed me as much given all the restrictions you put on the photos you gave us.”

“Excuse me, what are you talking about?”

“You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

“Early this morning a camera was recovered from a fella doing a documentary on the birds in Yellowstone. A massive golden dragon ate him. Same one that got that Dufour woman.”

“Are you sure? Maybe it was a hoax. There are people who’d do anything to bring the dragons down. You saw the pictures I got of the dragons killing the one who was eating people.”

“I’m certain of it. Saw the footage myself. There is no mistaking it. Now, would you mind answering a few questions for me?”

“Has the video already been released?”

“Yep, I’m sure you can find it on any local station. The park’s shutting down until the dragon is found and killed.”

Aspen’s heart clenched. “Do they have a plan?”

“No idea, the announcement was just made. Now, can I ask you a few questions?”

“No.” Aspen hung up the phone.

Sid was at her side in a second. “What’s the matter?”

“The news, we need to turn on the news.”

Skye produced a remote and turned on the TV by the table.

“No reports yet on what authorities are going to do about the dragon killing, but only authorized personnel will be allowed in and out of the park.”

Behind the newscaster played a video. A man was attempting to get close to a bald eagle when a mass of gold appeared in front of the camera. When the mass disappeared, the man was gone, and the eagle flew away.

Aspen turned to Sid with her eyes wide. She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to ask if he recognized the dragon, but she couldn’t with Rowan there.

“Aspen, you okay?” Rowan asked. “I know how much you love the dragons.”

“We need to go home, find out what Mom and Dad know.”

Rowan nodded.

Aspen turned to Sid. “I’ll call you later.” Then she took out her phone and sent him a text. I’m going to drop Rowan off at home, and then I’ll be back.

Sid nodded, and she flew out of the room, Rowan on her heels.

“I need you to grill Mom and Dad for me, can you do that?”

“Sure, are you going to see Obsidian?”

Aspen nodded. “He’ll know what’s going on and how to fix it. Will you tell Mom that I’m at Sid’s house? Tell her you weren’t feeling well or something.”

“Sure thing.” He grabbed her hand. “Hey, this is all going to be okay.”

“I hope so.”

As soon as they arrived, Rowan jumped out of the car. Her parent’s car was still gone, but she figured they’d be home soon to check on them. Anytime the park got shut down, they came home to lay down new ground rules.

Aspen spun out of the driveway and sped all the way back to Sid’s house. She found Sid, Skye, Theo, and Pearl in the living room. Pearl was the last person she wanted to see.

“What’s she doing here?” Pearl asked with a sneer.

“Just because Sid and I broke up doesn’t mean I don’t care about the dragons. Besides, Skye is my friend.” Aspen sat next to Skye and waited for someone to say something, but they were all quiet.

“Any idea who it is?” Aspen finally asked.

“No,” Sid replied. “The section of the dragon we saw on the film could’ve been just about any dragon. If the camera had gotten his face, we’d be having a different conversation right now. I thought for sure Marc was the one.”

“Well, he wasn’t,” Pearl said. “We have to fix this and fast. If we don’t, we’ll have another problem like we did in the seventies.”

“What happened in the seventies?” Aspen asked.

“Nothing good.” Theo chuckled. Pearl glared at him and turned to Aspen.

“There have always been those who wanted to slay the dragons. Every once in a while, a human would get lucky. Like George the Dragon Slayer, but he only got the small ones. They are mostly unsuccessful. However, in the forties a weapon was developed that would take out any creature, including us.”

Aspen thought back to her world history course. The forties was World War II. Her stomach fell when she remembered what happened during the war.

“The nuclear bomb?”

Pearl nodded.

“How do you know this?”

“There was a family of dragons that lived near the first test of the bomb. They found their carcasses in a crater. Not only do they have a weapon that will kill us, but they know it will.”