53

Everybody Wants to

Rule the World

“I don’t know what happened,” I tell Jaxon for what feels like the thousandth time. “He helped me feel the power, helped me focus it, helped me use it, and then he just disappeared.”

“How can he disappear?” Jaxon answers, shoving a hand through his already messed-up hair. “I thought he was trapped in your head?”

“He is trapped in my head,” I soothe. “Sometimes he just goes to a part I can’t access very easily.”

“How does that even work?” Flint asks, his voice going up an octave on the last word, and for the first time I realize he’s almost as stressed out as Jaxon. “He’s just running around in your head, and you hope he’s not screwing up anything important?”

I start to take offense—it’s not like I have absolute control over Hudson, but I feel like he and I have been bumping along pretty well since the body-snatching incidents—at least until I remember that Flint’s older brother died because of Hudson. It’s what put such a strain on his friendship with Jaxon, and it’s what led to the weirdness that’s between them today.

“It’s not like that, Flint. We have different times when we give each other privacy—like when I’m in the shower, for instance—where we don’t know what the other person is doing. He’s still trapped in here with me; he’s just out of touch for a little while. He’ll be back.”

Jaxon looks sick. “I never thought about you taking a shower or getting dressed with him around. How come I never thought of that?”

“Because it doesn’t matter. We have a system worked out.”

“Is this part of your system?” Flint asks, and the tone he uses gets my back up. “Him directing his power through you and then disappearing while you take the consequences?”

“The consequences?” I answer. “You aren’t my teacher or my parents. There are no consequences in us having a discussion, no matter how unhappy you are.

“Plus.” I shoot him a narrow-eyed look. “I don’t even know what you’re so upset about. You wanted me to channel magic and I did, so back off a little, will you?”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Flint shoots back. “I just meant that you’re the one who’s going to have to fix things if he messes them up, and that doesn’t seem fair to you.”

His explanation takes a little of the fight out of me, and I slump down onto the back of the couch. “I get that you want answers, guys. I want answers, too. But there are times when something upsets me, and I want to be alone. I owe Hudson that same courtesy.”

Besides, after everything that happened, I want some time alone, too. Some time to process everything that happened and just sit with it for a while. So I’m in no hurry for Hudson to come back. Once he does, I’m pretty sure everything is going to get even more complicated.

Flint relaxes a little at my words, and so does Jaxon, but they both keep wary eyes on me. As does Macy, who has been uncharacteristically quiet since the whole magic-channeling thing happened. And while I appreciate the fact that all three of them are only looking out for me in their own ways, I also have to admit that the overprotectiveness is going to exhaust my patience sooner rather than later.

Macy must sense it, because out of the blue, she suddenly suggests, “Hey, why don’t you guys go flying?”

“Flying?” I ask, because just the thought of it makes me nervous.

“Yes, flying. It’s another one of those powers gargoyles have,” she tells me. “And the one power we knew about before we even started researching. So why don’t you take Flint up on his offer to teach you and just go for it?”

“I don’t know, Macy,” Jaxon says out of nowhere. “Grace has already had to deal with a lot today and—”

Just that easily, I make my decision. Maybe it’s contrary—okay, it’s probably contrary—but Jaxon doesn’t get to decide what I do or when I do it. The guy is a bulldozer, especially with the people he feels responsible for. If I give him an inch, he’ll take seven miles…and then start inquiring about mineral and air rights.

“I’d love to go flying, Flint!” I say with an enthusiasm that is at least partially fake. “But I think we should come up with a plan before we do anything else.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Macy agrees. “I mean, how many days do we have left before Hudson gives up on wandering to other parts of your brain and decides to just go back to doing his ‘adventures in vampire body snatching’ thing?”

It’s a legitimate question, considering Hudson has already gained enough strength to punch a hole in the wall. I didn’t tell Jaxon about that—he’s already so worried that giving him more to stress out about seems like a bad idea—but we’re running out of time. I know it and so does Hudson.

And while there’s a part of me that wants to believe he would never do that to me again now that we’ve gotten to know each other a little, there’s another part that’s smart enough to recognize that Hudson will do whatever he needs to do to get out of my head. That right now he’s going along with me because he knows I’m actively working for the same thing. I don’t know what he’d do if I changed my mind.

“I feel like we have at least a few more days,” I settle for telling everyone. “But I’m not sure about much more than that.”

“Which means we need to get this show on the road,” Flint says. “I have a general idea of where the Boneyard is and how to get there. I just need to get my hands on a map so we’re not wandering around forever trying to find the right spot.”

“Good plan,” Jaxon says dryly.

Flint pauses. Then he shoots me—and Jaxon—his typical goofy grin. “I’ve already texted my grandma about the map, told her I needed it for a school project, and she promised to text me a pic when she gets back to her lair tonight. Then we should be good to go.”

“That’s awesome!” I tell him. “So we have the Ludares tournament on Wednesday, and that will get us the bloodstone. So we can go to the Dragon Boneyard on Thursday? Or should we go before?”

“Definitely not before,” Flint answers in an “obviously” kind of tone. “The Boneyard is dangerous. If one of us gets hurt, we’ll risk losing Ludares. No way am I going to let that happen.”

“Good point,” Macy says. “If we lose, we don’t get the bloodstone.”

“Pretty sure Flint is more worried about the bragging rights than the bloodstone,” I tease. “But either way, I agree. We can’t risk being hurt going into the tournament.”

“But we can risk being hurt in the Dragon Boneyard?” Macy asks. “I mean, not to sound like a baby, but what kind of hurt are we talking about? A broken finger or full-on dismemberment? Because I can deal with a couple of broken bones, but I need my limbs.”

Jaxon laughs. “Pretty sure we all need our limbs, Macy.”

“Yeah, but now that Grace is a gargoyle, I have the highest chance of actually losing a limb in this whole group. And I just want to go on record as saying, I’m not okay with that,” Macy says.

“Fair enough,” Flint tells her. “Ludares and then a trip to the Boneyard with absolutely no dismemberment. I think we can pull that off.”

“So Boneyard on Thursday night,” Jaxon says. “And if no one loses a leg, we can plan on going after the Unkillable Beast on Friday or Saturday—depending on what shape we’re in?”

“Do we even know where the Unkillable Beast is?” Macy asks. “I mean, you mentioned it’s somewhere near the North Pole, but the Arctic is a huge area. And not exactly hospitable. We don’t want to be bumbling around in freezing temperatures.”

“Actually, I kept researching and discovered it’s on an enchanted island in the Arctic off the coast of Siberia,” Jaxon adds.

“It’s on an enchanted island?” I ask. “Seriously?”

“That’s what the legends say,” Flint agrees.

“Not a legend if it’s true,” Jaxon says. “I spent the last several hours looking for info on the Unkillable Beast’s location, and I think I’ve found it. I’m going to do more research tonight and tomorrow, just to make sure I’m right. But if I am, I say we aim for Saturday.”

“So…Ludares Wednesday, Boneyard Thursday, and Beast on Saturday.” Flint recites the plan, a questioning look on his face. “Everyone good with that?”

“I am,” I tell him, although the truth is that my hands are shaking a little at the thought of that lineup.

“Me too,” Macy agrees.

Jaxon nods.

“Awesome. Can’t wait.” Flint rubs his hands together, then waggles his brows at me. “So how about that flying lesson now?”

54

Who Needs a Magic

Carpet When Your

Bestie’s a Dragon?

“So there’s one big problem with flying lessons for me,” I tell him ten minutes later, after I’ve run back to my room for all the cold-weather clothes I need to survive stepping outside in Alaska in March. Which, it turns out, are pretty much the same ones I needed in November, so yay me for missing the really cold months. At least there’s one point in the gargoyle column. “I don’t know how to shift, which means I have no wings. No wings, no flying.” I glance around. “But maybe we could get some of those assignment pictures over for Mr. Damasen?”

I try to hide how positively scared witless I am at letting him take me up in the air in something even less secure than the puddle jumper that brought me to Denali to begin with.

He smiles ruefully. “You know, we don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. I honestly thought it might be fun, might give you a different perspective than before. We can do something else, but eventually you’re going to have to get in the air.”