Page 10 of Draekora

True enough, the headache Alex had endured since being Stabilised had disappeared the moment she’d begun drinking thelaendra, and now that she thought about it, she couldn’t feel her itchy bites anymore, either. Looking at her friends, she could see the blisters on Bear’s forearm were healing before her eyes. D.C., too, was in the process of unwrapping Alex’s scarf bandage from her wrist, and when she was free of the makeshift splint, she handed the ComTCD back to Alex, rotating her hand with a look of incredulous wonder.

Swallowing her ire—because Zainhadgone to retrieve the medicine after hearing her complain about her headache—Alex finished the remains of her goblet and offered a quiet, “Thanks, Zain.”

He chuckled quietly in response, still amused by the whole scenario, making it challenging for Alex to maintain her gratitude. She decided her best course of action was to instead turn her attention to the other Meyarins.

“Thanks for sending Zain to come get us,” she said to Roka. “His timing was perfect.”

“Yes, Hunter mentioned you could use some assistance,” the prince said, his lips quirking at the corners. “Tell me, did you find what you were after?”

At his question, Alex turned wide eyes to D.C. and Bear. “Johnny! He’s probably freaking out!”

Understanding immediately, Bear pulled out his ComTCD and activated a link to his brother. Just before it connected, he glanced around the opulent room and evidently remembered that even if Johnny knew a lot more about their story than most, they were still technically in a hidden city and it was probably best to keep it that way until someone more important decided to change the ‘Lost City’ status. Upon making that realisation, Bear swiftly deactivated the holograph feature so that their connection was audio only.

“Bear? You there?” Johnny’s voice called.

“We’re all here,” Bear answered. “We’re okay.”

Johnny let out an audible sound of relief. “You had me worried, little bro. I watched on the surveillance feed as they blasted you and dragged you through a Bubbledoor—that was intense! It took me a while to find you again at the High Court since that place is wired like you wouldn’t believe, but when I finally made it into their system and found a way to get you past their security, you were gone. The guards are still in an uproar—what gives?”

Bear shuffled his feet and mumbled, “Long story. I can’t really talk now, but I wanted you to know we’re all safe. Do me a favour and distract Mum and Dad until we get home, yeah?”

“Blake’s already on that,” Johnny answered. “He’s been running interference all day.”

At that moment, Alex was relieved they’d decided to trust not only Johnny, but also Bear’s other brother, Blake, with the truth about Jordan’s Claiming. Both brothers had helped to keep the rest of the Ronnigan household—Dorothy, William, Gammy and Evie—oblivious to what was going on.

“They think you’ve spent the last few hours at On The House with Benny and Sal,” Johnny continued. “But I’m not sure how long you’ve got left before they send one of us down to get you. They probably think you’re all in dillyberry-induced comas by now.”

Alex shuddered at the thought, knowing all too well the crazy side effects that came from overdosing on the bubbly purple drink.

“Don’t worry,” Bear said. He looked from Roka, Kyia and Zain and then to Alex before adding, “I have a feeling we’ll be home soon.”

Johnny was silent for a beat. “Whereareyou?”

“Gotta go,” Bear said, avoiding the question. “See you soon.”

Just as Bear moved to disconnect their call, Johnny called out, “Wait!” causing Bear to pause.

“What?”

“News of three teenagers escaping the High Court is all over the Warden network and Dad’s probably already putting the pieces together, so in case we don’t get a chance to talk later, I want you to know I ran the footage I downloaded through another decryption program, just to be sure.”

Alex spoke up then, stepping closer to Bear and ignoring the curious looks from the Meyarins. “And?”

“I’m sorry,” Johnny said. “There’s no doubt about it now— it’s definitely fake.”

Alex let out a quiet sigh, as did both D.C. and Bear.

“Thanks for checking anyway, Johnny,” Alex said. “We appreciate it.”

“I only wish I could have given you different news,” he returned. “But anyway, I better let you—”

“Johnny? Can you go into town with Blake and find your brother? It’s nearly time for dinner and I’m beginning to worry about him and the girls. Also, would you mind—”

Whatever Bear’s mother said next was cut off when Johnny disconnected their communication.

D.C. was the first to say what they were all thinking. “We’d better get going before Johnny and Blake turn up empty handed and have to come up with some excuse for why they couldn’t find us.”

When Bear nodded his agreement along with Alex, Roka stepped forward to say, “Zain will take you two directly back to Woodhaven. TheValispathwill return you in time for no one to be further concerned by your absence.”

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