Chapter 21

I stare at the algebra test, the variables and other mathematical symbols of an equation blurring into an indecipherable black-and-white slurry. I blink my eyes until the symbols start resolving into something decipherable. Only it’s not a mathematical equation. It’s a dragon with numbers, plus signs and equal signs spewing from its maw like fire. I slam my pencil against the desk and shut my eyes. When I open my eyes, I realize I have broken the pencil in two and glimpse Mr. Leonard along with several of my classmates glancing in my direction. Heaving a heavy sigh, I retrieve my spare pencil and turn my attention back to the test.

“Thank goodness,” I murmur as I interpret the algebraic equation.

When Mr. Leonard calls time, I’ve answered every question, and Officer Davenport didn’t burst into the classroom. All in all, not a bad first period.

I have two more classes before lunch. I worry about Dalia and Haji. We’re all in separate classes. I don’t think Dr. Radcliffe or Ion will try to do anything to us at school, but that doesn’t keep me from chewing on my lower lip. Dr. Radcliffe showed up at the Robotics Technology Center right after my dad did. Anyone we tell about the dragons is lunch meat for Ion. What if they think we told someone when we didn’t? Damn. Damn. Damn.

My third test of the day is writing a five-paragraph essay about Jane Eyre. Thank goodness I finished the book, despite its soporific qualities. All my lucid thoughts about the novel flit from my mind like startled birds. I stare at the college-ruled notepaper on my desk and obsess over hungry dragons.

“Fifteen minutes warning,” the teacher announces.

I gasp. Has it really already been forty-five minutes? God. I still haven’t scrawled a single word.

“What the hell,” I murmur.

I scribble down five halfway coherent paragraphs that at least mention the names of the major characters and lack any references to dragons. At the end of class, I rush to the common area to find my squad.

I spot my friends at a circular table in a far corner of the common room away from the congregating crowd of students. Leslie and Jason hold court at a table surrounded by friends and sycophants. I take a circuitous route to my friends to avoid the lovebirds.

I pull out a chair that scrapes loudly against the floor and flop down on it. Haji, his lunchbox before him on the table, is already biting into his sandwich with gusto. Dalia hasn’t even bothered to pull out her lunch.

I look around the room to ensure no one is close enough to overhear us. “No sign of Dr. Radcliffe or Ion?”

Dalia shakes her head.

Between bites of sandwich, Haji says, “Nope. We need to get one of the dragons to become visible like at the warehouse. Then I bet we can get it on camera.”

“Seriously? Are you out of your mind?” Dalia says. “Anything we do will put us and our families in danger. That dragon nearly crushed us to death.”

“We have to do something.” Haji sets his sandwich down in a glass container. He crosses his arms on the table and leans forward. “We need to fight back. I don’t care if they’re dragons or not. All we need is one picture or even better a video. Put it on the Internet, and the genie is out of the bottle.” He leans back in the chair and mimes an explosion with his fingers. “They’ll back off after that, believe me. Too much publicity.”

Dalia looks at me, lips trembling. “You don’t think that is a sane idea, do you? The dragon nearly killed us. Ion threatened to—”

“Quiet,” I hiss and gesture toward the expansive common room.

Dalia glances over her shoulder and mutters an expletive under her breath. Winding his way between the tables is none other than Jason. When he sees us watching him, a smile splits his face, and he waves. I look away, my sense of betrayal like thousands of little needles pricking my skin all at once.

“Hi, guys,” Jason says and pulls out a free chair. “Can I sit?”

I don’t say anything, and my two best friends in the whole world warily watch me. Jason shifts, hovering next to the chair.

“I just want to say—” Jason takes a deep breath. “—I’m really glad you’re back at school, Allison. Really. I’m sorry things haven’t been the same between us since Leslie and I started dating. I’m just glad you’re back.”

“Why do you care if I’m back at school? Does your girlfriend need a punching bag?”

Jason looks stricken. “Allison, it’s not like that. Leslie…she regrets what she did. Honest. She’s…she’s super competitive. Just like me.”

“She’s a racist just like you.”

His face turns red. I’m not sure if it’s in embarrassment or anger.

“That’s not fair! I’m not—”

“Leave Allison alone,” Dalia says and turns in her chair to glare at him. “Leave all of us alone. We don’t want anything to do with you. Right, Haji?”

“The shade Leslie threw, that’s not cool. I have brown skin. I have heard it all, and it’s not cool,” Haji says.

Jason stands there glowering. Like most people, he doesn’t like uncomfortable truths flung in his face. He looks every bit like an angry, entitled white boy unable to look himself in the mirror and appreciate how good he has it. Yet I can’t help feeling I’m a little harsh on him. We all are. We have lots of shared history. You can’t choose who you love. I didn’t choose to have a crush on him for all those years. It just happened. If there is any logic to love, I’d have a crush on Haji, and we’d be together right now. It’s become obvious Joe is right. Haji is totally into me. He’s always throwing little sideways glances my way and trying to be alone with me. I’m sure he’s looking for an opportunity to ask me out. But Haji doesn’t set my heart aflutter the way Jason used to.

“Go away,” I say. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

Jason heaves a heavy sigh, shoulders sagging, and walks away.

“Do you think he overheard us?” Dalia whispers. “Talking about the dragons?”

Dalia scans the common room. I’m suspicious she is searching for signs of Ion or Dr. Radcliffe.

“I don’t think so,” I say. “Don’t worry.”

“Good,” Dalia says. “He is a jerk, like totally. But I don’t want him eaten.”

Haji is already back to chowing down on the sandwich. With his mouth full of an amalgamation of bread and peanut butter and jelly, he says, “What do you think?”

“About what?” I ask.

“Photographing the dragons.”

“It’s too dangerous!” Dalia says.

“Haji, do you really want to risk death?” I say. “Or have someone you love killed? Dalia is right. It’s asking for trouble.”

Frowning, Haji nods and tears into his sandwich. After swallowing, he says, “You guys need to eat. Classes are about to start.”

****

On Friday, an arctic blast from Canada makes the temperature plummet and brings snow. By the time school is out, a half-inch or more of the white stuff already blankets the sidewalk and makes driving treacherous. A school bus lost control while pulling into the school parking lot and slammed into a light pole.

The crash draws a curious crowd of high schoolers, including Haji and me. Dalia had already hopped into the front seat of an old two-door hatchback next to purple-haired Devin. The car peeled out of the parking lot, fishtailing on the slick road. I hope he doesn’t flip the car with her in it.

Anyway, the pole is teetering precariously when administrative staff comes bustling from the office to set up a safe perimeter and demand we teenagers go about our business.

“Let’s go. I’m freezing,” I say to Haji.

“Yeah, the crash will bring the police.”

I shiver at the mention of municipal muscle. We trudge to the sidewalk along the main road. I pause to unsling my backpack from my shoulders and pull out my sling pack containing my camera. The snow should make for a few interesting shots on the walk home. While I’m slinging my backpack onto my shoulders, a side door to the school building opens with a loud click that’s audible even from the sidewalk despite the cars zipping by well over the twenty miles per hour speed limit.

“Don’t look. It’s them,” Haji says.

Of course, I look. What else am I going to do? Leslie and Jason share a passionate kiss in a romantic winter wonderland.

“God,” I say. “Let’s go.”

Just as we turn away from the school, a Seattle PD car pulls up to the curb. I grab Haji’s hand. Snowflakes pass through the semitransparent silver dragon projecting out of the cop car.

“It’s her,” I say, clutching Haji’s hand in a death grip.

The passenger side window rolls down.

“Get in the back,” Ion says, her tone broaching no argument.

We dumbly stare at the irate officer.

“What are you waiting for? Get in.”

I nod, and we obey. The tires spin as the car pulls away from the curb. Jason stands on the sidewalk, staring at us with a puzzled expression. I mouth the word help to him.

Then we’re speeding away through traffic, and he is out of sight. Being in the cop car is discombobulating with Ion’s shimmering dragon form passing through the vehicle, Haji, and me. A fading and reappearing portion of torso impales me without any effect other than being disconcerting. I try not to obsess over it for the sake of my sanity.

I regret attempting to ask Jason for help. What’s he going to do? Call the cops? Ion is a cop and a dragon on top of that. Jason is a racist ass, but that doesn’t mean I want him hurt or dead. I don’t even want Leslie dead. I fear that’s what will happen if he interferes.

“Where’s your friend? The pink-haired girl?” Ion demands.

“We don’t know where she is,” Haji says.

Haji squeezes my hand, reminding me that I still clutch his. The cop car is warm, so I am very aware that his hand is icy cold. I pull my hand away and cross my arms before my chest, putting my hands underneath my armpits.

“Frederick will have to track her down then. Don’t think she’s going to get away.”

Ion takes us to the nearest onramp for I-5 south. Even early in the afternoon, the freeway is packed with cars and semis. Ion curses and flips on her lights and siren. Soon we’re darting down the shoulder at high speed, flashing by vehicles rolling through the falling snowflakes at no more than fifteen miles per hour.

Ion exits at the Sodo District. The snow picks up, creating a blurry haze that obscures everything. When we arrive at the warehouse, I’m unsure it’s the same one as before until Ion pulls the car inside after opening the rusted sliding door. The cruiser rolls to a halt just inside the large building. Ion gets out and slides the door shut with a resounding boom.

Up ahead is the same table with a laptop on it as last time. What is new is a cluster of folding chairs positioned haphazardly before the table and three individuals, each accompanied by a draconic companion. The shimmering light from the beasts is almost hypnotic. I can’t look away, nor can I slow my racing heartbeat that thrums like a race car engine. Dr. Radcliffe is conspicuously missing from the draconic crowd.

“What is it?” Haji whispers.

“Those people. They’re dragons.”

“What? No way. I’m going to message…”

Haji falls silent when Officer Davenport opens the driver’s door.

“Message whom?” Davenport asks.

Haji glances at me with earnest puzzlement on his face and turns to the officer. “Message? What are you talking about?”

“Give me your phones. Now,” Ion says and maneuvers around to the back door and opens it. She leans into the back, her draconic companion’s foreleg and torso passing through the roof and side of the vehicle. She holds out her hand for the phones. “I can hear everything you say.”

Haji nods and paws at his pants’ pocket for his phone. I unzip my backpack, snag my ancient flip phone, and, flinching as my forearm passes through glimmering silver scales, hand it to Ion. With a trembling hand, Haji surrenders his smartphone.

“Any other electronics I need to confiscate?”

We shake our heads.

Ion slams the back door, slides into the driver’s seat, and drives us to the gathered dragons. She opens the back door and orders us out, telling us to leave our bags, and demands the passcodes for our phones. Part of me wants to resist, wants to tell her to shove my phone up her ass, but I don’t dare without Dr. Radcliffe here. We stand in the warehouse with the cruiser between us and the three newcomers.

“If I find out you texted anyone while you were with me, I promise you I will hunt them down and eat them. You do not want to mess with me. Is that understood?”

“Yes,” Haji says.

“Yeah,” I say.

An old white-haired woman, I recall her name is Tanis, walks around the police car to stand in front of us beside Ion. Her draconic companion is white like the snow falling outside, and its pale pink wings are pressed tightly to its torso. The beast is far smaller than Ion’s long and lean dragon.

The old woman stares at me with pale blue eyes that seem to see right through me into my soul. I fidget under her gaze. Her draconic companion lowers its head that looks remarkably like a poodle minus the floppy ears and with glimmering white scales instead of hair. It stares at me with pink eyes that are as large as saucers and split by black vertical irises. The beast lunges at me.

Screaming, I flinch and grab Haji by the hand. My fingers burrow into his skin, but he doesn’t pull away.

“What is it?” Haji asks.

The giant poodle face hovers mere inches from me, scanning me up and down from head to toe. I dare not move. I have the uneasy suspicion the dragon can exit the slipstream and bite my head off.

“The dragon has its face in mine,” I say.

“Which one?” Haji asks.

Haji swivels his head toward Ion.

“Not her,” I say.

Tanis stares at me with a wolfish grin. “So you are Allison Lee. I’ve looked forward to meeting you. Come here. I want to smell you.”

I hesitate and look at Haji. He shakes his head in the negative.

“I won’t hurt you, girl, not yet. Not until Frederick arrives, at least,” Tanis says and looks at Ion. “Where is their companion? The girl with the pink hair?”

“She wasn’t with them. Frederick will retrieve her.”

“We will begin without him. There is magic on this girl. Magic I cannot easily penetrate. It will take time to unravel the spell or spells.”

“The sooner you start, the sooner you’re done,” Ion says.

Ion swaggers around the back of the cop car, pausing to say, “I’m going to check these for any recent texts.” She holds up our phones. “Calls, recordings, videos. All of it.”

The officer swaggers out of sight.

Tanis speaks, her voice like a scourge. “I said, come here, girl.”

She points to the floor less than half a foot in front of her. I release Haji’s hand. He holds on to me, so I pull myself free. I move to where Tanis indicates.

“Please, leave my friends alone,” I say. “I’m the one you want.”

Tanis leans close to my neck, her long white hair draping against my arm, and sniffs. With a groan, she backs away.

“Well.” Tanis scrunches up her nose. “You’re not human, but you’re not skaag either. It will prove fascinating to decipher what you are.”

Tanis snatches my hand. Her skin is brittle, like old parchment, but her grip is firm as she half leads, half drags me around the cruiser.

“Hey. Let her go,” Haji protests.

“It’s okay, Haji,” I say.

“Come along, boy, but don’t interfere,” Tanis growls.

“It’s okay, Haji, really. Don’t cause trouble.”

Haji scowls but follows without argument. On the other side of the cruiser, Ion sits on one of the metallic folding chairs inspecting our phones. Two more people with sparkling dragons projecting out of them stand near the table with the laptop.