Alton had been taking everything in, glad things were working out for the family, but he had a question for her dad. “So, you taught me a grand maneuver and if I wanted to use it in the games, it might appear as though I’ve found where you’ve been practicing and copied you.”
“You made enough changes to the maneuver to call it your own. Maybe those who watch us will think I copied you.” Her dad smiled at him.
“No. I would have used it before. It’s sheer genius.”
Arne laughed. “You’d better marry Alton, Kayla. I don’t think anyone could be right for the job otherwise.”
She smiled and looked delighted her parents were happy she was courting Alton. But then she frowned, turning her attention to him. “Ohmigoddess, in all the excitement, I forgot about Sigrid’s locket. Did you learn anything from the three dragons who had purchased new boots?”
“All of them said the same thing. They didn’t find anything in their boots.”
“What are we going to do about it?” Kayla asked. “If I don’t bring it back to her in payment for her—wait, she didn’t do anything for me that I hadn’t already done for myself. Still, I want to return it.”
“We can’t always keep our promises, even as much as we want to,” her mother said. “I learned that the hard way when I couldn’t stay with your father as I had intended.”
“We can look for it in the shop, see if maybe Mr. Fitzwilliam missed seeing it. Maybe it’s underneath one of the display stands,” Alton said.
“Okay, but my trials are tomorrow. I want to help look for the locket though.”
“We’ll watch you in the games tomorrow,” her mother said. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Right afterward, we can check out the shop,” Alton assured Kayla. And he prayed they would find it still in the shop. How many times had he looked for something and couldn’t find it, but another pair of eyes could?
In the middle of the night when Alton was sound asleep, someone knocked on his bedchamber door, jarring him awake. “Yes?”
“It’s me, Kayla,” she said in a low voice.
He hurried out of bed and threw on a robe to see her. Was she worried about the games tomorrow? Or something else?
“What’s wrong, Kayla?” He drew her into the study, but she started to pace and didn’t sit down.
“Halloran didn’t say no.”
“About?”
“About having the locket! He changed the subject. I can’t remember all that was said, but I was running it through my mind, unable to sleep, and Ena asked him if he had the locket. He didn’t say no. He asked why it was important and made all kinds of other comments.”
“It doesn’t mean he has it. He could very well have asked the questions, which is typical of him, and forgotten to answer the question Ena had put to him.”
“Maybe.” Kayla paused. “Okay, here’s a really far-out notion. Who was the dragon fae that Sigrid had the crush on? None of us even thought to ask Mr. Fitzwilliam who she had been following into the store.”
“Yeah, I agree, that’s far out.”
She frowned at Alton. “It is. But what if it was Halloran and what if he didn’t say he didn’t have the locket because he didn’t want to lie to Ena? Or if he did, he knew she would see through his lie because she knows him so well? He’s your best friend, right?” Kayla persisted.
“Yes, which is why I don’t want to go to his keep in the middle of the morning to bother him about this.”
“Well, I’m not his best friend and it won’t bother me to do it.”
“And get yourself arrested.” Alton sighed. “All right. Meet me downstairs. I’ll be right down.”
“Thank you.”
“You might not thank me if he throws both of us in the dungeon for waking him at this hour for disturbing the peace. His peace.”
“If he’s got Sigrid’s locket, it would serve him right.”
15
Alton hated waking his friend, who wasn’t a morning person in the least. Alton woke Halloran’s butler, and the man stated he would not disturb Halloran—that Alton had the honors if he so chose. Kayla waited down below in the foyer, while Alton went upstairs and knocked on Halloran’s bedchamber door.
“The world better be at war for anyone to wake me at this ungoddess hour,” Halloran growled, but he didn’t come to the door right away.
Alton was afraid he’d gone back to sleep. “Halloran, it’s me. I have to ask you a question.”
“Then ask already and go away.”
“Do you have the falcon fae’s locket? Sigrid’s?”
Silence followed.
Alton quickly came to several conclusions about the silence. Halloran had it and was trying to think of a way to dispute it or come up with a reason why he was keeping it. He had gone back to sleep. Or he was so annoyed Alton would wake him to ask such a question, that he wasn’t about to answer him.
Suddenly, the door jerked open. Alton hadn’t expected that and jumped a little. Halloran’s eyes were narrowed, and he was frowning as if he had been woken to fight in a war. “Yes. Now go away.”
Alton’s jaw dropped. Kayla had been right. “Sigrid has a crush on you?” Not that Halloran’s having the locket had anything to do with that, but Alton wondered if Halloran was the one Mr. Fitzwilliam had been referring to when he said Sigrid had liked one of the dragons.
Halloran grunted.
“Give it to me so I can let Kayla have it so that she can return it to her friend.”
“What will you pay me for it?”
Alton folded his arms. “It belongs to her. I took it from her when she tried to take Kayla’s locket from me.”
“I’ve heard Sigrid was being devious about the whole situation. Why would you want to give it back to her?”
“Because I took it and Kayla promised.”
“You know the truth. Now leave me to sleep.”
“Halloran—“
Halloran closed the door in his face and the bolt slid across.
Furious with him, Alton didn’t know what to do about it. He transported downstairs to tell Kayla what had happened, but she was gone and the butler said, “She left, sir. She heard what was said as loud as Halloran was growling about it.”
Alton frowned. “She didn’t say where she was going?”
“No, sir. She just said, ‘Fine.’ And then she left.”
Alton knew it wasn’t fine with her. Did she intend to return later and steal it from Halloran? If she did, she could be in real trouble. He returned to his keep, but when he knocked on her bedchamber door, there was no answer. Concerned, he opened the door and called into the dark room, “Kayla?”
No answer still. He turned on a light and went to the bed where the curtains were closed, expecting her to be lying there, arms folded, her face a mask of fury. The bed was empty.
“Kayla!” he said in exasperation. Where would she have gone? To see Sigrid? To tell her who had the locket but wouldn’t give it up? He figured that was as good a bet as any.
Kayla knocked on Sigrid’s door, having to do this, even though she would need to be at the games in just a couple of hours. She wanted Sigrid to know where her locket was, just in case they had trouble getting it back from Halloran.
Sigrid came to the door, raised her brows at Kayla, then left the door standing open while she retreated to the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”
“Sorry for coming so early, but we finally discovered where your locket is.” Kayla shut the door behind her.
“I see you have yours back.” Sigrid made them some tea.
“Yes. But long story short, Halloran’s got yours. We just learned of it, but he’s not giving it back.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Sigrid, why didn’t you tell me that I’m a dragon shifter besides being a golden fae?”
“My mother swore me to secrecy, once I overheard your mother talking to mine about making the locket more powerful. I couldn’t let you go on
thinking you were only a golden fae when you were clearly interested in the dragons. And then one in particular.”
“Why did you try to steal the locket from Alton?”
“To hide it away. I wanted to make sure it stayed safe, but that you had a chance to really get to know Alton. It didn’t work, and he stole my locket instead.”
“And that was the reason you helped me ‘become a dragon.’”
Sigrid smiled. “I thought that was genius, didn’t you?”
Kayla smiled. “Yeah. It was very clever of you. What of the transporting?”
“It was tied in with the locket. I had to give you the ability to transport on your own.”
Kayla felt the gold necklace in her pocket. “So I can’t transport if I don’t wear the locket?”
“Once you come of age, you’ll be able to do so without it.” Sigrid brought over the tray of tea. “That comes naturally.”
Kayla let out her breath with relief.
“You have doubts whether you’re going to wear the locket when you come of age?”
“I care for Alton, and I might lose my dragon shifter abilities if I choose the golden fae abilities over that. What will you lose if you don’t have your locket back on time?”
“Can I tell you a secret?”
Kayla nodded. “Of course.”
“The deadline has passed. I have come of age and I can fae transport again.”
Kayla felt terrible about it. “Ohmigoddess. I’ve failed you.”
“You and Tanya have been my friends when no one else wanted to be. You were willing to face danger to get both our lockets back. Not just yours. You can’t know how much I’ve wanted to have friends when everyone has avoided me or put me down because of what I can do.”
“What have you lost because I didn’t get your locket back to you in time?” Kayla didn’t think the loss of Sigrid’s abilities was worth that.
“I have lost nothing and gained everything. Invite me to watch the trials. I will get my locket back.”
“It’s done,” Kayla said. “Wait, come stay with us at Alton’s castle. I’m sure he won’t mind having you. And let’s ask Tanya too.”
“Ask Tanya what?” Tanya asked, coming out of the guestroom, rubbing her eyes.
“You’re here.”
“Yeah, having a sleepover.”
A knock at the door made them all turn to look at it.
“Alton, I’m guessing,” Sigrid said.
While Kayla went to get the door, Sigrid explained to Tanya what was going on.
As soon as Kayla opened the door and saw a tired looking dragon, she said, “Alton.” She was worried then that he’d be upset with her for taking off without a word to him.
“I hoped I’d find you here,” he said.
She took his hand and led him into the cottage, and she introduced him, as if they didn’t all know who he was. “I asked if they would come and stay with us at your keep, if that’s all right with you. Then they can watch the games.” Not that she wanted them to see how poorly she could do, but she wanted her friends there who she thought would enjoy the games as much as she did.
“Of course. You’re both welcome to stay with us for as long as you like.”
“After the games, I’ll be returning home,” Kayla said. Alton looked astonished, but she shook her head. “We need to court longer. What if I found another dragon who suited me more?”
“You wouldn’t.” Then he smiled at Sigrid and Tanya. “Come join us.” Then he pulled Kayla into his arms and transported her back to his castle. He pressed his mouth against hers as they traveled in a void of blackness, and she held him tight and kissed him back.
“You are so sure of yourself.”
He laughed. “That’s because I know you love me.”
As soon as they reached his keep, he roused Ferdinand to let his staff know they were having two more guests, important friends of Kayla’s. His butler quickly got hold of a couple of the maids to prepare the rooms. “Go to bed, Kayla. I’ll greet the ladies and let them know where their rooms are, but if you don’t get more sleep, you’ll be too groggy to perform well at the games,” Alton said.
She didn’t care. All she cared about was that her friends were here, her family was here, and Alton was the dragon of her heart.
At the games the next morning, Kayla was a nervous wreck, trying not to think about her turn. Because she had come in with the lowest of passable scores at the prequalification trials, she and the others who were at the bottom of the ranking went last. To get her nervousness under control, she would have liked to have stayed away, but if someone fell out at the last minute, she might be substituted, so she had to watch all of the contestants participate. Since the first had done best, they looked like they were ready for the next level in the games.
She was certain she wouldn’t do half as well, though she’d give it her best shot. Her mother’s words to her, “no matter what, have fun,” stuck with Kayla, though in the beginning, she was just going through her paces, trying so hard not to make a mistake. Every lesson she had been taught kept coming up in her thoughts as she hoped she did all of this right. She didn’t hope to win, but just to make the best score that she could. Next year, after a year of practicing, watch out!
While she flew the course where she was to pick up different weighted objects from a beach ball to a bowling ball, she thought she was doing really well. She was moving much faster than she had during the prequalification trials. She hadn’t missed grabbing the objects from the baskets or tops of pillars like the first time she went to grasp them, which helped her speed considerably. Before, she had been trying to play catch up with the other dragons during the whole trial. During the real game, she was doing much better. She knew it all had to do with Alton’s, Olaf’s, and her father’s lessons.
Her mother had cautioned her about taking unnecessary risks, which she had expected. Then her father and Alton had worried about her too. She reminded them this was only one level up from the beginners. They reminded her it wasn’t the beginners’ game and she was as new as they come. But she could tell both Alton and her father were proud of her for giving it a try.
She had picked up half of the objects she needed to finish this game, when a high gust of wind coming out of nowhere knocked her off balance, and she did a roll to compensate for her mistake. Not to gain her speed, but in a fun way, reacting to her blunder. She hadn’t done one before, only watched her father and Alton doing them over and over again, and she had no idea if she’d done it right. Or if it might even disqualify her. It also slowed her down so that she was playing catch up again. She told herself not to panic. She’d make even more mistakes if she freaked: lose the object, fumble with it, pass the next place she had to set the object on in her attempt to make up her time.
It didn’t help that her family and Alton were watching her. Nor that all her new friends and old were too, silently wishing her the best because during the actual games, everyone in the stands had to be absolutely quiet so the contestants weren’t distracted. The experts would have no problem with it. But for those in the other games, it could make a difference in their performance, she suspected. She could just imagine people shouting for their favorites and instead of paying attention to what she was doing, she would be listening to see if she could hear Alton’s voice above all the rest.
For now, she was trying to catch up to the olive green dragon to her right, and the emerald green dragon to her left. She couldn’t watch the other dragons’ progress since they were too far away. Because of her speed—though she’d nearly compensated for being behind—she overshot her eleventh drop basket. She did a flip, so annoyed with herself, she hadn’t realized she’d done anything so wild until after she had done it, hoping again the judges wouldn’t disqualify her.
She dropped the item into the basket, but she was too high and it bounced! Right out of the basket. She swooped down and grabbed it, twisting around with the use of her tail until she was over the basket,
closer this time, stretching her legs out, and dropped it again.
She hovered for a second, worried the ball would just hop right back out of its own accord, but this time, it stayed put. Hovering in place made her more behind than before. She dove after the other dragons who were already at their baskets, and she was certain she’d never catch up this time. She remembered her mother’s words to have fun. And so she did. She didn’t do what she was supposed to do, the regular routine for speed and agility. She experimented with some of the moves her father had taught Alton, and some he’d shown her, slowing her down even more—twists and turns and loops.
She picked up the pace and thought about her lavender fields, growing them, breathing in their intoxicating scent, drinking the calming tea made from the flowers, and was at peace. She couldn’t win at this rate because she was too far behind. But she realized there would always be next year, and she could do practice sessions with Alton and her father and Olaf, if he wanted to work with her further, and maybe next year or the next, she would have an unbeatable score.
She finally finished replacing the objects in their original places and hurried back to end the game. She was done, glad to have participated, but glad it was nearly over, and hated being the last one in. The other dragons must have left already, yet everyone observing seemed to still be in the stands.
She dropped down before the judge’s table, did a dragon’s version of a bow, then shifted and saw all the smiles on their faces.
Well, she might not have been the fastest, most accurate dragon in the competition, but she hoped she’d made it fun for the judges to watch too.
Then she headed for the stands, wondering why no one was leaving. That’s when she saw the other dragons heading in. The two green ones, a brown one, and a red. She paused, staring at them in disbelief. How in the world had she gotten ahead of them?
Her family and friends quickly surrounded her, giving her hugs, and just shaking their heads.