Antebellum Awakening (The Network Series #2)(5)

“No harm here,” I said to him in a low, soothing voice. He grunted, glancing between Camille and me. I couldn’t have been unconscious for very long. “What happened, Camille?”

“I ran back to make sure you were okay,” she said in a tremulous voice. “I screamed for the butlers, then when I turned around you were gone and I was scared that something happened to you. I-I didn’t know what to do so I ran back!”

“It’s all right,” I said in a calm voice, my eyes still locked on the dragon. “Where are the poachers?”

“Those two witches? They’re lying on the grass. I think they’re knocked out. They might be dead!”

“I’m going to stand up, and I want you to follow but stay behind me. Understand?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Here we go.”

We stood together. The dragon’s nostrils widened when he sniffed the air, but he didn’t move toward us.

Great job saving his life and nearly losing your own in the process, Bianca, I thought. Wonderful idea. Dragons really don’t care about morals, do they?

You saved at least one innocent creature, my heart replied. Even though you didn’t save— I cut the thought off and turned my whole attention back to our sticky situation.

The dragon’s ears quivered. His great head swung to gaze back over his shoulder. I took advantage of the break from his stare to check on the poachers. They lay prostrate on the ground, their arms thrown wide and eyes closed. A few streaks of black smudged their faces.

Blessed be, I thought with a flutter of fear. I really might have killed them.

“Bianca?” Camille asked again, her face averted to the ground to avoid the large eyes peering down at us again. “What about the dragon?”

“He won’t hurt us,” I said, my eyes flicking up to meet his intense gaze. “He won’t. I can feel it.”

“Are you mad?” she breathed. “It’s a dragon!”

“Maybe,” I whispered, and thought that maybe the grief had finally taken my last ounce of sanity.

Guttural shouts broke the tense silence. Five Guardians appeared in the air surrounding Camille and me, pressing their backs to us. Two witches in plain clothes appeared near the edge of Letum Wood carrying the corpses of forest creatures. The dragon, smelling the decaying bodies, instantly ducked his head and swiveled toward the offering.

“That’s it,” one of the witches taunted, shaking the dead animals and side stepping into the woods. Zane. A Protector that often worked with my father. “Come get this nasty little skunk. Whatta treat, huh, dragon? Just for you!”

The forest dragon slipped into the trees after the carcasses, disappearing with nothing more than a rustle of leaves.

“Are you all right, Miss Bianca?”

Brecken, a Captain of the Guardians, called to me from near the poachers. His curly dark brown hair bounced as he stepped toward us with a determined stride, his bright blue eyes looking us over in concern. His wide set of shoulders stood out from beneath the half-armor of leather and metal that Guardians wore on patrol. The Guardians were a massive, all-male force that protected the castle and the Network, a veritable army of witches trained to fight and defend.

“Yes. I’m not hurt.”

“Ya don’t belong here!” a weak voice cried. “Coven Leader Clive is right! They should exile ya and yer father and send ya to the Northern Network where liars belong.”

I looked up to find Alvyn shaking a fist at me from where he lay in the grass, his face pressed into the ground by the heel of a Guardian. Another stood over him, a drawn bow and arrow pointed at his head.

“Silence!” the Guardian barked, then kicked Alvyn in the ribs. “Traitors don’t get to speak to anyone but Derek.”

I turned to Brecken.

“Traitors?” I asked, grateful to turn the conversation away from Papa and I. Ever since the Central Network found out Papa’s secret—that he’d flouted the unbroken tradition that the Head of Protectors give up family life—hatred for us had run deep in some regions. Witches could be unusually attached to the traditions of old. Some believed that upholding the rules laid down by our forefathers established safety in our land. I agreed with them to some extent, but not on every account.

Despite Papa’s unpopularity, the Guardians remained steadfast in their loyalty to him. “I thought they were just poachers?”

Brecken’s lips formed a grim line.

“Trying to kill a forest dragon when we teeter on the brink of war?” he asked. “The act of a traitor. They probably work for the Western Network.”

And Miss Mabel.

The thought tightened my fists so hard my nails bit into the skin.

“Let’s get you back,” Brecken said, with a glance at both of us. He held out an arm to motion us to the castle, and I saw the tattoo of a shield on his inner wrist. Instead of a circlus like mine, Brecken bore the Mark of the Captain. “Your father will be hearing of this by now, no doubt, and will want to see you himself. I’ll walk you back.”

He motioned for us to follow with a jerk of his head. Camille, who had remained mostly silent, bounded forward to walk at his side, her eyes bright.

“I’m Camille,” she said, eyeing him with an appreciative little grin. “I don’t believe we’ve met before.”