16.Horde’s Revenge

16. Horde’s Revenge

This is your last chance.

I stare at the chilling words on the scrap of paper. Our last chance. The dragons sent a message we can’t ignore. They want compensation for what was taken from them and are tired of waiting. They’ve taken Toby as collateral. Either we pay or…

Or there is no good way to finish that sentence.

I'm not sure how far they’ll go or what they’d do to recover their lost assets. I don't want to find out.

It hasn’t sunk in yet. Toby’s gone; they took him. Liam and I were wrong the whole time. The dragons were not coming after me personally. They were trying to get Liam’s attention, because his family were the ones in trouble, not mine .

If only we’d have known, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. I jumped to conclusions right from the start and immediately assumed this involved my family’s underhanded schemes.

“It isn’t your fault,” Liam says when he sees the direction my thoughts head in. “Obviously we were both in the dark about what was really going on.” His gaze is darker than the sky when cast at his brother-in-law. “And nobody bothered to fill us in.”

Bill is the one who knows more. He withers under the attention as we crowd onto the porch. He flips the note over to where instructions are written. “They set up a time and place to meet them tonight, with their gems, money, or something of equal value.”

Gems? So many questions swirl around in my head as I sit on the porch swing. Hard to believe dragons just invaded this cozy little street and took a hostage.

"Doing maintenance work is how I pay the bills.” Apparently, he’s decided it’s easier to talk to me than his murderous in-law. “I work for a company that rents properties around campus to college kids. Not too long ago, I saw lights on at a property that's supposed to be empty, so…so…"

He sucks in a shuddering breath, clutching Toby’s car keys tightly as he composes himself. The cheery pale-yellow front door behind him is an odd contrast.

"Watched the property for a while," Bill continues. “Figured out dragons were staying there off the books. There are rumors about dragons, you know, that they always keep some valuables handy. Figured the rumor might be true. They were keeping a fairly low profile. The landlord arranged everything privately and didn’t even tell me anybody was staying there.”

"And you decided stealing from a horde of dragons was a fantastic idea?" Liam's question is so sarcastic it must break records; he's the new high scorer in sarcasm.

"Hey, money is tight," Bill defends, the keys jangling in his hands. "Toby's scholarships don't cover everything and we help him with school as much as we can.” He turns pitiful eyes to me, the more sympathetic ear. “My wife and I don’t work with our brands, we don't make much. This was our chance for a better life."

“By stealing something from an incredibly dangerous, retaliatory horde of dragons?” Liam gives a sarcastic thumbs up. “Great plan.”

There he goes breaking more sarcasm records.

Bill makes a pathetic noise. "I know, okay? I screwed up."

There's an ugly lawn gnome decoration near the door with a bright red hat and bushy white beard. Liam glares at the garden accessory like it's the reason his nephew was kidnapped and kicks it over with his foot.

Bill jumps as it falls but doesn't scold Liam for taking his anger out on his property. So red-faced and upset, I'm worried he might faint before he reveals everything. This version of him is a lot less high and mighty. I'm proud of myself for standing up to him before, but he's so pathetic it's hard to imagine ever being intimidated by him.

He grunts as he bends down to grab the plastic gnome Liam knocked over. Bill flips the gnome over, exposing a hidden compartment where he places Toby’s keys for safe keeping.

"At the time, it seemed like the perfect plan. The dragons would never find out I stole from them. I wasn't even supposed to know they were staying there, so how could they trace it back to me?"

"They obviously did,” the professor states. “Finding out who had access to the property was probably their first priority when they realized they were robbed.”

"I'm not the only one!" he defends himself.

"But they still investigated and decided you were indeed the guilty one," I reply.

"Yeah, I thought I got away with it, so I pawned the gems I found and spent the money. Then suddenly scary looking guys showed up everywhere I went. They were watching me." He collapses back against the door, defeated. "I had no idea they'd do all this. These dragons are relentless. They aren't just coming after me; they targeted my family too."

"We know that," I point out quietly.

"I was scared. My wife and son were in danger, they were watching my family, and I had to do something.” He barely manages to face Liam as he continues. “When they confronted me, I pretended you were with me when I discovered the dragons crashing in the empty property. I-I wasn’t thinking and… I tried to say it was all your idea and pin the theft on you.”

"Wow," Liam mutters, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Liam, you have to believe me," Bill pleads. "I'd never have put Toby in danger if I thought any of this was possible. He wasn't supposed to be involved."

The sad part is I do believe him. He truly thought he got away with the perfect crime, blind to the mistakes he made and too foolish to even realize the danger until it was too late. I believe he thought it was the right choice to offer Liam up to protect his son.

It doesn’t seem to have crossed his mind to take responsibility for his actions with the dragons. He never intended to hurt his own son but had no problem letting Liam be hurt.

"Who cares what you meant to do?” Liam snaps. “Both Toby and Oliver were in danger, and they had no idea why or what to look out for. You let us all carry on obliviously."

Saying it out loud drains Liam. He drops down on the porch swing next to me. The swing rocks back under our weight.

“This is why they came after me?” I ask. “As a message to Liam? "

Bill nods. "Nobody's safe when dragons are after you."

The dragons threatened Toby to warn Bill. And me to warn Liam.

Liam's amazingness and my family's anything-but-amazingness led me to one obvious conclusion: someone holding a grudge against my family was coming after me. The dragons confirmed that they had a score to settle, they just never specified with who.

"I gave you up to protect Toby," Bill says. "You may be his uncle, but I didn't think you saw each other much." He coughs uncomfortably as Liam's expression darkens further. "I know that's my fault—we give him a hard time when he tries to see you. Then I found out... found out he was taking your class."

"And Oliver was borrowing his car."

Bill groans. "I tried to get him out of town, out of danger. I gave him the hotel and buffet vouchers and told him to have a little fun. And then he goes and gives his car to you!"

Ultimately, everything Bill did was in vain. Liam’s only connection to all this is through Bill. Bill is the one who has access to the rental property. His efforts at misdirection weren’t enough to convince the horde he was entirely innocent. All he ended up doing was implicating Liam and making the dragons think the two men are accomplices. They're coming after both men, and those close to them, to recover their losses. Or deliver retribution .

"Can I ask a stupid question here?" Liam asks cautiously. "The dragons have their own methods of settling things, but we aren’t dragons. We’re human. Shouldn’t we involve the police?"

"No, you can't!” Bill panics. “It would only make things worse.”

His words remind me of what my mother said. “It's not the police's jurisdiction, not from a dragon perspective. If this was started using tactics outside the law, they feel it's fair to continue using the same tactics."

Liam’s mouth tightens, he tries to react calmly… and he jams his fist down against the armrest of the porch swing, making it all seize wildly. “Goddammit! This is fucking insane.”

“Liam, I know you're angry and you have every right to be—”

"Oh yeah? Thank you so fucking much," Liam snaps.

"But they have my son,” Bill continues. “Is there any way... we... I have to do something; if you don't want to help, I get it, but—"

"Of course I'm going to help."

Bill trips over himself as he rushes towards Liam, falling to his knees and not bothering to get up. “Thank you, Liam, thank you so much.” He reaches out and seizes Liam's hands within his own. "You're saving my boy, thank you—"

Liam looks upon Bill with such disgust. If he were a firebrand, then surely Bill would be engulfed in flames. He pries off Bill's grasp and pushes the other man’s hands away.

"Don't thank me, I'm not doing this for you. You deserve much worse, but Toby deserves better. I'm helping him."

“I want to help too,” I offer immediately.

Liam smiles sadly and puts a hand on my shoulder. “We should talk in private.”