“Move,” Derek ordered. He shoved Bryn out the door while he grabbed his cell phone, barking orders at whoever was on the other end.
She didn’t know where they were, but she followed Clint and Ivy. They made it out onto Main Street where everything seemed perfectly normal. Her grandmother’s SUV sped toward them and screeched to a halt inches from Clint.
“Get in,” Derek ordered.
Clint yanked the door open and shoved Ivy inside, climbing in after her. Bryn went in next. Derek followed. Despite the fact that no one seemed to be chasing them, the driver sped away like a bat out of hell while Derek continued to talk to people on his phone.
When they reached Sinclair Estate, Ferrin greeted her at the door with, “Why in the hell did you give him your bracelet?”
“I didn’t think he could use it. Only Red-Blue hybrids should be able to use that bracelet.”
Her grandfather put a hand on Ferrin’s shoulder and pulled him back. “We had no way of knowing he’d be able to use the sword.”
“Plus, they had people in my parents’ house,” Bryn reminded him.
“We sent guards out there to make sure they were okay,” her grandfather said. “They’re fine. I’ve left someone to watch over them.”
Ivy held out her wrist. The black pearl bracelet shone in the light. “It’s a good thing he didn’t know about my bracelet.”
“And if he ever finds out, you’ll know not to hand it over without a fight,” Ferrin snapped.
“Bite me,” Bryn said.
“You’ve caused yet another mess—” Ferrin started.
“Keep yelling at me and I’ll name your grandchildren after my parents,” Bryn shot back.
Ferrin blinked, looking dumbfounded.
“Hey, look at that,” Bryn said. “I have a new way to annoy Ferrin.”
Clint and Ivy both turned away, trying not to laugh. Her grandfather sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Bryn, I need you and your friends to give a factual account of everything that happened. Come with me.”
Ferrin stalked ahead.
Clint caught up to Bryn. “That was freaking brilliant.”
“Thanks. It just sort of came to me.”
“Next time,” Ivy said, “tell him you’ll get his grandkids tattoos like Aunt Ivy and Uncle Clint.”
Bryn laughed. When they entered the dining room she did her best to put on a serious face.
“Derek, come with us,” her grandfather said. “Bryn, we’ll be back for you in a few minutes.”
They walked across the hall to the small living room where she’d first kissed Jaxon. Her grandmother came into the room, followed by Abigail who had a cart of snacks and drinks.
“Bryn, I thought we discussed this,” her grandmother said in a joking tone before coming over to give her a hug.
“Sorry, my status as a chaos-magnet continues.”
“Help yourselves to whatever you like,” her grandmother said to Clint and Ivy. “After you’ve given your statement I can have a driver take you home.”
“My car is in Dragon’s Bluff,” Clint said.
“Then we’ll take you back there,” her grandmother said.
When Derek came back into the room, the veins on his neck were bulging. Her grandfather or Ferrin must have ripped him a new one.
Before walking across the hall Bryn grabbed a soda and took it to him. “Thank you for protecting me today.”
“I did what I thought best at the time.” He accepted the drink. “Thank you.”
Bryn went across the hall and told them about everything that had happened in the art store. “I don’t know where Adden came from, but Derek made sure he couldn’t physically reach me. I swear I thought the bracelet would poison him or kill him.”
“And you were okay with that?” Ferrin asked.
“He had my parents. I would have been happy to see him drop dead.”
“Now he knows he can use any artifact,” her grandfather said. “We need to round them up to keep them out of his hands.”
“Ivy has her bracelet and Jaxon has his cuff links. What else could he be looking for?”
“Don’t,” Ferrin stated like he was king of the world.
Her grandfather ignored the decree. “We had several more knight volunteers who retrieved artifacts for us. There are weapons for Orange and Green dragons as well as Red. We were considering taking hybrid volunteers to find more weapons like yours.”
“What did you do with the knights?” Bryn asked.
“They were released once the artifacts were found.”
“So you think Adden and his Silver friends will be looking for anyone with an artifact? What does he plan to do with them?”
“Is there any point in asking you not to share?” Ferrin asked.
“No,” her grandfather said. “From what we’ve read, combining certain artifacts will create some sort of super weapon.”
“That does what?” Bryn asked.
“We have no idea. Miss Enid has been scouring the history books for us, but she’s yet to find anything conclusive.”
Something about this didn’t make sense. “Why would they need weapons if they’re immune to all of our breath weapons?”
Her grandfather squinted at her. “Why would you think they’re immune?”
“I was curious about the Silver dragons, so I read some articles in the library.”
“The Silvers may develop control over all of our breath weapons once they’ve fed off enough dragons from each Clan, but they’re not impervious to them. They may have claimed immunity to make themselves seem more impressive, but that’s not the case.”
“Good to know.” It made them seem little less threatening.
“You can share what we’ve told you today with your friends and Jaxon, but no one else.”
“Why even bother to keep it a secret?” Ferrin asked.
“What has your panties in a bunch today?” Bryn asked.
Ferrin rounded on her. “I am the Speaker for the Directorate. You will treat me with respect.” Frost shot from his mouth. Her grandfather was giving her a look like she’d crossed the line. Maybe she had.
“You’re right. That was rude. I apologize.”
“Send Clint in,” her grandfather said.
Bryn went back out and whispered to her friends. “I set Ferrin off. Tread lightly.” In a louder voice, she said, “Clint, you’re up.”
Bryn went to the phone and called her parents. After trading assurances that all was well and confirming that someone was watching their house, she sat and ate some more Christmas cookies.
After giving their statements, Clint and Ivy had a guard drive them back to their car in Dragon’s Bluff.
Once they were gone, Bryn sat on the chaise lounge and reran the day’s events in her head. A wave of self-doubt hit her. Had she been stupid to give Adden the bracelet?
“May I sit with you?” Derek asked.
“Of course.” She scooted over to the edge so he’d have plenty of room.
“I wanted to apologize for what happened today,” he said. “I never should have let Adden enter the store.”
What could she say to that? “You protected me. You have nothing to apologize for.”
“I saw him coming down the street, blasting ice in different directions. I didn’t know what he was doing, but I knew he was trouble. I should have blocked the entrance until backup arrived,” he said. “But all I could think about was making sure you were okay and I couldn’t do that from outside the store.”
“You can second-guess yourself all you want, but it won’t do any good.” Not that she wasn’t guilty of the exact same thing. “I’m just grateful you kept him from reaching me, so don’t beat yourself up over the rest of it.”
“Thank you.” He cleared his throat. “I just wanted to say my piece before your grandfather reassigns me.”
That wasn’t right. “You think he’d reassign you because of today?”
“I believe he will. As is his right.”
“That sucks,” Bryn said.
He smiled. “It would be best if you didn’t mention this conversation to anyone. We aren’t supposed to interact on a personal level with the people we protect.”
“That sucks, too,” Bryn said.
He laughed, and his green eyes sparkled, and his smile was genuine. Ivy was right. He was cute, and it would be easy for a girl to fall for someone like him.
Male voices could be heard coming down the hall. Derek jumped to his feet and stood off to the side in guard mode a split second before Jaxon entered the room.