Chapter One
Daisy Chadwick was about to give up reading her current book, the one supposedly about Stonefire’s history, when she spotted the next chapter title:World War II’s Forgotten Secrets.
Since she was inside the clan’s library, she resisted squealing and instead made pumping motions with one arm.
Days and days, weeks even, she’d been looking for this. As soon as she’d heard about Clan Stonefire burying treasure during World War II, just in case the bombing and fighting reached them, she’d been searching all the books and newspapers she could find for clues. Because if she had any sort of hint, even a tiny one, then she might be able to convince Freddie to have an adventure and help her go look for it.
She tried to be a good person and understand that he was learning so much as a dragon-shifter. Her stepdad, Blake, had explained that as dragon-shifter children grew, they had to learn to maneuver their ever-changing bodies in both forms. And because of that, they had to fly a lot and practice drills a lot, and it was all for their safety.
Of course she wanted Freddie safe. He was her best friend, the one who didn’t mind her chatter and who liked her impulsiveness. Well, most of the time. Unless they got caught.
However, it’d been so long since they’d gotten into trouble and been caught by Nikki—the second-in-command of the Protectors—that Freddie might’ve forgotten about it, even if Daisy hadn’t. They’d faced Kai Sutherland, who was in charge of Stonefire’s security, and his stare had made her feel guilty and ashamed, all with him not saying a word.
It was pretty impressive, but all the same, she didn’t really want to face that stare again.
Sure, her latest plan included them sneaking off Stonefire. But they were thirteen, getting closer and closer to adulthood, and she wanted to prove she could have some fun, not get into trouble, and that even without being able to change into a dragon, she was strong and resourceful.
Focus, Daisy. Look for the information first, and then you can make plans.
She read a few paragraphs until she stopped at the next subheading:The Myth of the Missing Treasure.
Taking a deep breath, Daisy read and reread the next few paragraphs:
After the Christmas Blitz of 1940, when the Nazis bombed Manchester and caused 684 deaths, Clan Stonefire took precautions. Rumors at the time said the German dragons might mobilize further north, and in case that happened, they wanted to ensure the safety and future stability of their clan.
In doing so, they built the underground bunker that still stands under Stonefire today, as well as a few smaller ones in the outlying clan farms. It’s said that the clan’s treasures and secrets were buried somewhere outside of the clan’s boundaries. While many have tried to find the treasure orburied secrets, no one has succeeded. There is debate to this day whether anything was ever hidden away at all.
Regardless, many still talk of the post-Christmas Blitz reinforcements of Clan Stonefire. Since no maps or records survive that document the construction or dismantling of smaller bunkers and cisterns in the outlying areas, only time and curious individuals might solve one of the biggest World War II mysteries for Stonefire.
She skimmed the next few pages, but the only other interesting thing was an old map of the nearby farms around 1940. While there were still some working farms outside of Stonefire—to help feed the clan—there were way less than what was on this map.
After snapping a picture with her mobile phone of both the pages and the map, she quietly put the book away and rushed home.
She would find a map of the current working farms around Stonefire and compare it to the one from 1940. Maybe any missing ones would be a good place to start looking for the treasure.
And it might be the proof she needed to convince Freddie to help her.
Yes, he needed extra training. She knew that. But she also missed spending more time with her best friend, and if there was one thing Freddie Atherton couldn’t resist, it was an adventure.
And Daisy might have just found their next one.
Chapter Two
Freddie Atherton stretched his arms as he headed home from yet another flight lesson. Almost every month he was a little taller, and it threw off his balance and maneuvers. And he had quite a few more years of this to look forward to.
It was the only time he envied the girls because they usually stopped growing sooner.
His inner dragon—the second personality inside his head—spoke up.I like all the extra flying.
You would. But then it makes me hungry all the time, and tired, and I want to do more than fly.
His beast grunted.Speaking of which, I want to hunt again soon.
That was another thing Freddie had been learning—how to hunt in his dragon form. Something that took getting used to and was new since Mr. MacLeod never allowed anyone under the age of thirteen to do it. Their inner dragons had to be content with eating only in their human forms until then.
His beast spoke up.We have a big hunt coming up, along with a camping trip to learn survival skills. If we fail that, we’ll have to get extra training. So you need to focus.
He was about to say he was too tired to argue when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him into a nearby hedgerow.
