Obsidian (The Dragon Kings) Page 17

  Aspen saw him making his way toward her. She jumped onto the stage and waited. The sword swallower was still juggling. She waited for a sword to come close to the ground and grabbed it. She ran before he had a chance to stop her.

  “Hey,” he yelled. “Hey, get back here. Those are dangerous.”

  But Aspen didn’t listen to him. Marc was close. As she shoved through the crowd, people muttered. Marc was yelling her name. Stupid oaf. As long as she could hear him, she could avoid him. Especially since he was obviously drunk. No way she would let him get close. The stairs were tricky. She didn’t want to hurt anyone, but she needed to put space between Marc and herself. And she needed to find Sid, Theo, or Vicki. Marc wouldn’t dream of attacking her if she were with someone. Though he didn’t think twice over grabbing her in the crowd. Who knew what he would do.

  Aspen kept the sword down and close to the wall as she wove down the stairs. “Aspen, Aspen. I see you.” His voice rang out above the crowd. Once she was downstairs, it would be easier. Sid was down there. And her mom and dad. Thinking about it now, she realized how stupid it was for her not to tell them what happened. If she had, then she wouldn’t be in this mess right now. He would be in jail.

  The stairs gave way to another huge group of people. Aspen hurried into the entryway. She could no longer hear Marc yelling behind her. That was scarier, though, because she had no idea where he was. The smell of corn dogs and candied apples made her stomach turn.

  “What’s with the sword?” asked Vicki, who was standing near the front door.

  “I stole it from the sword swallower. Don’t ask.”

  Vicki opened her mouth to stay something, but another family walked in. She probably wouldn’t be Aspen’s best protection. The hallway cleared, and she saw Sid on the far side of the great room. He was arguing with his sister, but now Theo and Ella were with him, although Ella was busy playing with the cotton candy machine.

  Aspen sighed from relief and made her way toward him. Sid wouldn’t let anything happen to her. When she passed the stairs, a hand grabbed her arm. Marc pulled her into a cubbyhole under to the steps. She struggled, but the space was too tight, and she couldn’t get the sword around.

  “You can’t even scream, because all the little kids are screaming. No one will think anything of a scream. This will be fun.”

  He placed a grimy hand on Aspen’s stomach and slid it downward. Breathe and think. The sword was too big to bring up but she could drop it. She’d have to adjust a little more, which involved moving her body closer to the creep. Aspen moved her hand behind her and leaned into Marc. Then she thrust the sword down, hard. Marc howled. Target reached. She hoped she cut off a toe.

  She pushed her way out of the cubby, ran down the hall and into the crowded living room. This time she didn’t even look for Sid. She just ran. When she made her way around the crowd, Sid still stood there with his sister.

  “Sid,” Aspen hollered, grabbing his arm. “Sid, he’s here.”

  “Who?”

  “Marc. He’s chasing me. Do you have security?”

  Pearl brought her eyebrows up. “Is she talking about Marcellus?”

  “Yes. And he’s here. Theo, go with Raja and find him. Don’t let him leave. Kill him if you have to but don’t let him leave,” said Sid.

  “Sid, wait. You don’t have to kill him. We can just call the police. Seriously. I don’t want you guys going to jail.”

  She met his eyes, comprehension dawning. Marc was a dragon. That’s what he meant by cousin. Unbelievable.

  Sid put his hands on Aspen’s shoulders. “Nothing’s going to happen to us. But we are not letting him get away. I promise you.”

  Raja spoke up. “Where did you see him?”

  Aspen pointed toward the cubbyhole. “I left him there. But he’s probably disappeared by now.”

  Theo and Raja took off.

  Sid dragged Aspen and Pearl up the stairs and into the empty theater room.

  “You two wait in here. I’m going to go help Raja and Theo. We’re going to catch this bastard.”

  Sid kissed her and ducked out of the room. Before the door shut all the way, Pearl’s eyes widened.

  “I have to put out my own fire. I’ll be back in a second.” Pearl grabbed the door handle.

  “Please don’t leave me,” Aspen whispered.

  “I told you that you were in over your head. You have no idea what’s going on. Now I have to go, or things are going to get worse.”

  The door clicked shut, and Aspen walked to the couch and sank into the cool leather. A hand gripped her ankle, and she froze.

  “You’ve got a mighty big secret here. One I think Obsidian wouldn’t want coming out.”

  She jerked her foot out of his hand. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” she said.

  Marc pulled at the leather band, and it came right off. “I saw you come in tonight.”

  Aspen looked into Marc’s creepy eyes. He pulled himself up, wincing.

  “You did a number to my foot. I can’t walk very well. Imagine my luck when I remembered your little secret. I thought I was a dead man, but you may have just given me the ability to stay alive.”

  Aspen moved away from him.

  “What do you mean?”

  He laughed. “You mean you don’t know? That tattoo means Obsidian has to die.”

  Aspen’s heart clenched. Was that true? Obsidian had always said they had to be careful, but she didn’t realize it meant he would die. On the off chance Marc was right, she had to play nice, or he would spill the beans.

  “What do you want?” Aspen asked.

  “I see you understand. First, I need you to get me safely out of here. Then I think you’ll need to stay with me for a little while. Someone needs to nurse my foot back to health. Then my spirits will need lifting.” He winked, and Aspen gagged.

  He tried to put weight on his foot and winced.

  “Come here.” He waved her over and put his arm around her shoulder. It was all Aspen could do to not punch him in the nose. But he knew about their secret, which meant she had to cooperate. Plus, she was terrified to be alone in a room with him. Maybe out in public Sid would see them and take care of him.

  “Wait,” Aspen said and lightly pressed down on his foot with her own.

  “What?” he growled.

  “I’ll go with you and help you with your foot, but we are not sleeping together again. If you even so much as try to touch to me, I’ll break every one of your fingers. I learned how after our adventure in the woods. I could probably blind you too. Do you understand?”

  Aspen pressed down a little harder, and he whimpered. “Okay, yes. Just get me out of here. If Sid and Theo catch me, I’m a dead man.”

  Aspen had no doubt about that.

  He leaned on her as they wove in and out of the crowds. There was no sign of Sid, Theo, or Pearl. Aspen looked everywhere for them. That was her only hope. She didn’t know what she would do if they made it outside.

  As soon as they were clear of the door, Marc pointed to a black Mustang and handed her the keys.

  “I can’t drive,” he said.

  “Fair enough.”

  Aspen climbed into the driver’s seat and took two deep breaths. She should run now, find Sid, and he could get Marc. Especially if Marc couldn’t drive. Marc climbed into the passenger seat, pulled something out from underneath his seat, and pointed it at her.

  “I figured you might need some additional persuading.” Aspen didn’t know much about guns, but that one looked scary.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, her palms sweating.

  “Into the park.”

  Aspen nodded. They drove about fifteen minutes and came to a large clearing.

  “Here’s good. Pull over and help me out.”

  Aspen did as he said, and he leaned on her while limping into the field, the gun still held in his other hand.

  “Okay, stand back.”

  She backed up, and he collapsed on the gr
ound. A few seconds later his body began to transform.

  His arms became golden wings, his neck elongated, and he grew a long tail.

  He looked down at her.

  I should take you with me.

  Aspen crossed her arms and backed up a little bit. How do I know you won’t spill the beans on Obsidian?

  He snorted, and gold colored smoke came out of his nostrils.

  With you here, Obsidian will hang himself. I don’t have to do that for him. Don’t worry, though. After Obsidian is dead, I will come for you, and we’ll spend a lot of time together.

  He spread his wings and lifted off. Out of nowhere another golden dragon swooped down and drug his claws through Marc’s wing. Marc roared, golden flames shooting from his mouth, and dropped to the ground.

  Obsidian flew in from the other side and landed in front of Marc. He never looked so fierce before. He turned to look at Aspen.

  This isn’t safe. Get out of here.

  She grabbed her phone and hid in a small stand of trees. She’d be able to get good pictures of whatever was about to go down.

  Obsidian looked at the despicable creature in front of him who lay in a heap. He knew what he had to do, but that didn’t mean he wanted to.

  Your days are numbered, he said to Marc.

  Marc snorted. I could say the same about you, foolish king. That girl is going to be the death of us both.

  Don’t blame Aspen for your crimes.

  My crimes are minor compared to yours.

  Good thing mine can be kept a secret.

  No, I’m going to the council. They’ll pardon me after I tell them about you.

  Obsidian couldn’t believe Marcellus actually thought he’d get away. He crept closer to Marcellus.

  You aren’t going to make it through the night.

  Marcellus looked up at him, his eyes showing fear for the first time since Obsidian arrived.

  Are you sure you want to kill me? I’m defenseless. I thought you were better than that. This isn’t a fair fight.

  This isn’t a fight. This is me taking my position as king. I’m rendering judgment, and you’ve been found guilty.

  Marcellus snorted. What’s my crime?

  Forcibly mating with a human girl.

  Not a crime worth death.

  It is actually, but that’s not all. You’ve also been preying on innocent humans in Yellowstone. We do not eat human flesh. It’s an abomination.

  Wait? What are you—

  Obsidian clamped his jaws around Marcellus’s head, and with a powerful jerk, tore it from his body.

  He dropped the head and backed away. He had to finish the job. Marcellus was dead, but he couldn’t leave the body there. No dragon deserved the disgrace of decay, even wretched ones like Marcellus. He turned to Theo, who had been watching from the side.

  Will you help me?

  Of course.

  They both opened their mouths and released the hottest fire they had. Obsidian’s black flames mingled with Theo’s gold. Within a few seconds all evidence of Marcellus’s life was reduced to a pile of ash.

  Obsidian turned to Theo.

  I’m going to find Pearl and let her know that Marcellus has been taken care of. Do you mind going home?

  Whatever you want. Good luck with Pearl. It’s a good thing it’s dark tonight.

  Theo nodded toward Sid’s ankle.

  I’ll explain later, said Sid.

  Of course, Your Majesty.

  Aspen waited until both dragons had disappeared before she crept out of her hiding place. She’d taken enough pictures to prove to the world that the dragons could police themselves. Now that Obsidian had killed Marc, she knew there would be no more dragon killings. It was a little terrifying seeing Obsidian attack Marc. She had to remember not to anger him while he was in dragon form.

  She walked out to the middle of the field. Marc’s glittering ashes were scattered around the grass. Aspen thought about touching it but just took pictures of instead. She didn’t want to touch any part of Marc.

  She heard a whoosh of wings behind her and looked up. In the moonlight the scales of a gigantic golden dragon sparkled. He flew low, and she adjusted her phone to capture him. She snapped away, but the setting wasn’t quite right. She made a small adjustment on her camera and searched for him again. He was closer, maybe twenty feet away, and headed straight for her. At first she couldn’t believe her luck, but as he got nearer, fear snuck into her heart. His jaws were wide open.

  I hoped you enjoyed reading Obsidian. If you are interested in the next book in the series, it will be released in April 2016 and can be purchased here: www.kimberlyloth.com/aspen

  Want to a free book? Click here to get the first book of my other series, The Thorn Chronicles absolutely free: www.kimberlyloth.com

  If you enjoyed this book, or even if you didn’t, please consider leaving a review. As an Indie author, reviews are crucial.

  Thank you for reading!

  Kimberly Loth can’t decide where she wants to settle down. She’s lived in Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Utah, California, Oregon, and South Carolina. She finally decided to make the leap and leave the U.S. behind for a few years. She spent two wild years in Cairo, Egypt. Currently, she lives in Shenzhen, China with her husband and two kids. She is a middle school math teacher by day (please don’t hold that against her) and YA author by night. She loves romantic movies, chocolate, roses, and crazy adventures. Obsidian is her sixth novel.

  Acknowledgments

  It’s rare that I discuss God in my books. I do this for a variety of reason. I write secular fiction. It can be career suicide if I offend the wrong person, so I usually keep my faith and my books completely separate. I’m sure as a reader you can sometimes see my faith come through, but I try to make sure that I don’t preach (because I can’t stand books that preach.)

  But if I were to leave God out of these acknowledgements I would be doing a grave disservice. For you to understand what role he played in my career I have to back up. Seven years. I’m a Mormon. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe in modern day prophets and apostles. Every six months I sit down for around twelve hours and listen to them speak (spread out over a weekend. Twelve hours all at once would be a little much.) Those two weekends are my favorite weekends of the year. In 2008, a talk was given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. He’s a German apostle and my favorite. He spoke about the fact that we are all creative beings because we are literal sons and daughter of the most creative being in the universe and to be happy we have to create also. That talk changed my life. (If you want to read the whole thing you can here: http://bit.ly/1grWXJJ). I started writing Obsidian the very next week and now I’ve finally published it. I thank God everyday that he inspires me and allows me to be creative in this way. I’ve never been happier.

  I also want to publically thank God for bringing the following individuals into my life that helped in its creation.

  Virginia and Leah: You two were the first to read it and without your feedback and cheers, I’m not sure I would’ve had the courage to continue.

  Mandy, Kristin, and Karen: How long did we work on this thing together? Two years? Three? A lot. Thanks for being my team. Love you all more than you know.

  Kate, Tiffany, Brittany, Chad, Holly, and others the others who beta read for me, thank you!

  Will, Xandi and AJ: You three keep me sane and far more supportive than I’ve ever deserved. I have no words to express how grateful I am to have you in my life and tell you how much I love you.

  Mom: Thanks for raising me in the faith. You’ve given me a lot over the years, but your testimony never ceases to amaze me and you’ve been my rock.

  Matt: Thank you for challenging my faith. Without you I would’ve been blind to what I believed. You made sure I did my research. To this day I remember arguments we had when I was a kid and I’m always tickled when I find an answer.

  Sarah, Suzi, and Kelly: Your editing skills are superb and I can’t imagine how awful t
his would be without you.

  Rebecca Frank: Holy cow girl! People are going to buy the book without even looking at the description because that cover is too amazing. Thank you!!!!

  Colleen: With every book, I’m reminded why I love you so much. Thanks for making it look pretty.

  My QSI family: Before I arrived, I didn’t feel like a real author. Thank you for the opportunity to speak and show off my talent.

  I would like to end this with publicly declaring my faith. Here is my testimony:

  I believe I am daughter of God. He created this amazing universe in which we live and he wants nothing more than for me to be like him. As a parent, he knew I would struggle on this earth. He knew I would fall, but he also knew I would dust myself off and stand back up. Thousands of years ago he sent his first born son, Jesus Christ, to earth to die and more importantly, live again, so that I can also live again after I die. His words are written down in the bible and the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ. He speaks today through modern day prophets and apostles. He also speaks to all of us through the Holy Ghost. I know that I will be with my family for eternity.

  For more information on what I believe go to: www.mormon.org.

  Table of Contents

  Obsidian

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24