As I look for the baby, Callia's training comes back to me. "Use your magic to amplify your senses," she would tell me. "You are so much more powerful than you realize."
So I do. I close my eyes and dig deep into myself, into the well of elemental power that lives within me, and I gently tug at a string. Another trick Callia taught me. To braid the elements into a string that I can use when I need a little bit of all six of my abilities.
My skin tingles as the magic dances over me, as if it's lighting me up. I send the string out, imbuing it with myself, with my senses. What it sees, I see. What it hears or feels, I hear and feel. And that is how I sense the presence of Zara, hiding behind the waterfall deep within the cave. She's scared. And she's not alone.
"I've found her," I announce to the guys, who all approach me. "She's close, but someone is with her."
Sebastian moves to leave. "Stay here, I'll be back."
I grab his arm. "We go together. I'm no damsel in distress, remember?"
As if to prove my point, I raise my arms and as I do, the water before us parts, revealing the bottom of the pool and a path straight to the waterfall. Even Derek—the Water Druid himself—looks impressed, and we all walk forward, each of us on alert. We don't know what we'll find in the cave. Someone helping the child, or the person who killed Lyx.
My fingers ignite with flames as my protective instincts flare up, and Liam looks at my hands and shows me his. He's got a fireball ready.
I nod and we continue. The waterfall parts for us at my command and I guide the brothers past the damp entrance into the depth of the cave that divides into tunnels leading in several directions.
"Which way?" Sebastian asks, his muscles tense, his jaw clenched. All four of them look on edge, and I'm sure I look the same.
I close my eyes and pull on that thread of power again, letting it guide me. "To the left," I say, pointing.
The cave is musty and wet, and everything I step on makes a dead kind of squishy sound that makes my skin crawl.
I hear a tiny roar, like that of a baby dragon, and I move faster, using the fire in my hands as flashlights to see. The others don't need it, they can see fine in the dark.
The tunnel expands into an open space with crystals hanging from the ceiling and a small pond of muddy water in the center. A tiny blue dragon floats in the water, making playful growling sounds and spitting water from her mouth as she practices her dragon gifts.
"Zara!" She looks up at me and makes a cute chirping noise, then flaps her wings and awkwardly flies to my arms, landing heavily against my chest, soaking me with mud and water. But I don't care. I'm too relieved that she's unharmed. She nuzzles her head against my chest and I hold her more tightly as I look around.
"I know you're here," I say to the other person hiding in the cave. "You can come out now. We're not going to hurt you."
I wait a moment, the silence deafening, but I caution the brothers to stay still with a sharp glance. If we make a ruckus, the person won't come out.
Finally, a small shuffling sound alerts us to the presence of a young girl. She is soaking wet and looks about nine or ten years old. She wears rags that stick to her frail, bone thin body, her dirty blond hair caked with grime and clinging to a face that looks sunken in from hunger. Tears streak her skin, creating trails as they clear off the dirt from her cheeks.
I kneel down to her level. "What's your name?" I ask in my softest voice. The child looks like a wild animal ready to bolt at the slightest hint of danger.
"Ana," she says.
"What are you doing in here?" Sebastian asks, his voice gruff, and she shies back, sinking into the shadows around her.
"Sebastian, she's scared. Use your gentle voice." I reprimand.
I hand him the dragon, who curls up in his arms happily, and take small steps towards the girl. "I'm Eve," I say. "I'm a friend of Lyx. Were you her friend too?"
From the shadows I see her small head bob. "I tried to save her," she says softly.
My heart leaps at that. "Did you see what happened to Lyx?" I ask. "Who hurt her?"
The girl shakes her head, and my heart plummets. If only it had been that easy. "I was taking Zara for a walk. Lyx let's me help with the baby sometimes." She puffs out her chest, clearly proud of her trusted standing with the Light Dragon. "We got back and she was floating in the water, bleeding. I went to her, and she looked at me, like she was okay. But, but she was scared. She said to go, to… " She hesitates, her lower lip quivering. "To take the baby and hide. Then the light went out of her eyes and I ran in here with Zara. I… " She sniffles. "I didn't know what else to do."
The child begins sobbing, and I close the distance between us and pull her into my arms, holding her close. She cries on my shoulder until her tears are used up, then sniffles and wipes her face with the back of her hand. "Is it my fault?" she asks in a voice that cracks my heart open.
"No, love, it's not your fault. You did the right thing. You saved Zara."
Liam clears his throat. "We need to leave. Once word spreads, Enforcers will be here."
Shit.
"We have to get Zara out of here before they arrive. I don't trust anyone else to take her right now."
Derek looks like he's about to argue, but I stand firm. "She's coming with us, until we know what happened. All I know for sure is that none of us killed Lyx, so we are the only ones I trust at the moment."
I take Ana's hand and lead her out of the cave. "Where are your parents?" I ask.
She shrugs. "Don't got none. Lyx took care of me."
Double shit.
"Would you like to come home with us? At least until we can find you a proper home."
Derek frowns again, but says nothing. Smart man.
The girl looks at the brothers, then back at me, and slowly nods.
"Good, let's get out of here and we'll show you the castle we live in. You're going to love it."
The girl's eyes widen as I once again part the waters so we can cross back to land. "How'd you do that?" she asks.
"It's part of my powers," I say. Then I point to our carriage. "I need you to go get in there okay? We'll be right behind you."
She reluctantly releases my hand and does as instructed, petting the horses on the way, and I approach the Night brothers. Sebastian still has the baby dragon in his arms.
"We shouldn't take the kids with us," Derek says, frowning. "It's a bad idea on so many levels."
"I know," I say, "but what choice do we have? Ana has nowhere to go. She's skin and bones as it is, plus she may have witnessed the murder, or at least seen more than she remembers. And Zara's life could be in danger. We don't know why Lyx was killed or how, so we have to assume the baby dragon's a target until we learn more. And that means hiding her from the Enforcers and especially the dragons."
Liam shifts, his posture still on alert. "I agree with Eve. We can't leave them behind."
Elijah shrugs. "It would be fascinating to learn more about the behaviors and habits of a newly hatched dragon. So little is known about them given how rare they are in general."