“My mom handed me this book over five years ago, so these people could be gone by now … or they could be just regular humans sheknew.”
“Or not…” Sophie added, and I felt a smile creep onto myface.
“Or not.” How exciting would it be to find more skyborn? To know that my mom was protecting them this whole time? It both excited and scaredme.
“Let’s go,” I told Logan and he slipped his hand intomine.
As we were making our way off the bus, Isaac stoppedme.
“Forgetting something?” he asked, and eyed my emptyhands.
It took me a second to realize he was talking about mystaff.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m just going to meet thesepeople.”
Isaac shook his head. “I’m afraid I must insist. If this is an ambush and you lash out again, you may not surviveit.”
Geeze. Way to bring theheavy.
“I thought I couldn’t die unless Logan died too?” I think deep down I was afraid of that staff, afraid to train and learn withit.
Isaac crossed his arms. “Oh, you’ll survive just fine. You might be brain-dead for the rest of your life, but sure, you’ll bebreathing.”
My eyes bulged. “Okay. Sorry,” I quipped, and ran back to get the staff. Fear or no fear, I needed to trustIsaac.
Once my fingers wrapped around the cool wood, I felt a calmness settle over my frazzled energy, but there was also power there; it licked across my skin, sending small surges throughme.
When I exited the bus and met Logan on the lawn, I became suddenly nervous. What if these people were skyborn … and what if they did know my mother? What would Isay?
Logan took my hand. “We got this,” he assuredme.
A voice next to me made me jump, startled. “I’m going too, but I’ll camouflage myself. I want to smell them out for any intricate spell work,” Eva said, in the space of air next tome.
“You can go invisible!” I whisper-screamed.
“Just for a short while when circumstances permit. So hurryup.”
There was an invisible witch standing next to me. My life was officially weird. I had come to terms withthat.
Without another word, I started up the paved walkway to the chipped yellow door, leaving Sophie, Danny, and the crew back on the sidewalk looking like a bunch of vigilantes about to rob an old folks’ homebus.
I should have done this when my mom died. She put so much importance on that stupid address book and I ignored it. But I was only sixteen and grieving the loss of my mother, having to worry about proving to a judge that I could take care of myself and didn’t need a court-appointed guardian. Filing for emancipation from the state was no small feat. If my mom hadn’t left me the small life insurance policy, I wouldn’t have made it. In the end, the court agreed I could live on my own, provided I had weekly check-ins from a state-appointed guardian, and my grades stayed the same. I’d had to hold down a part-time job, finish high school, and get into college all on my own. So this address book had been the last thing on my mind. But I couldn’t help but feel guiltynow.
Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t realize I’d been standing at the door for too long until Logan reached out and knocked, no longer waiting for me to get my shit together. This was just as big for him. He’d lived a long time thinking he was alone. If we found more dragon shifters today, I knew that would fill some void inside ofhim.
I heard a kid’s laugh and I froze. Logan’s hand clenched in mine. Three, the number had said in my mom’s book. Three skyborn? A mother, father, and kid? Or just three friends to send her yearly Christmas cardto?
A shadow passed over the peephole and a man spoke through thedoor.
“Can I help you?” he asked, with a hint of nervousness in hisvoice.
Why wasn’t he opening the door? Normal people weren’t this suspicious, were they? Logan was a little scary looking, I had to admit. I decided honesty was the best way to gohere.
“Umm, my mother … Lily Murphy … gave me an address book and—” Before I finished my sentence the door ripped open and a man stood there with his mouth gaping open. He was shorter for a male, with dusty brown hair and bright green eyes. Kind and shocked eyes. Relievedeyes.
“Sloane,” he breathed, and surprise ran through me at his knowledge of my name. “You look just like Lily.” His eyes fell to my staff, but he didn’t seem fazed by the magicalweapon.
It felt like time slowed down then. We were ushered into the house, and asked to sit on the couch. I was just sitting there in complete astonishment as he called for his wife to comedown.
