Page 118 of Dragon Fires Everywhere
Jacob moves past me, ignoring all of our protests. He’s still pale, still so obviously hurting, but he is moving on his owntwo feet, and his voice is strong when he speaks.
“I was there. I healed my sister. It was no dragon attack.” He turns to face the crowd. “Mysister. I’d know if she was attacked by a dragon.”
I realize I’ve only ever seen Jacob this furious twice before. Once ten years ago when Emerson was suddenly unable to rememberanything magical in one fell swoop. And once again earlier this year, when Emerson was directly attacked.
“Why are you all so desperate to protect this dragon?” Carol asks, eyes wide and full of feigned innocence, like she simplycan’t understand this need of ours to consort with predators. “It does speak of a coven not entirely in touch with their community’sneeds and fears, I have to say.”
“Youimprisoned him, Carol. How did he have the magic to attack Evie, and what was she doing in thecemetery?” I demand. “Last I checked, Healers can’t fix the dead.”
“Who knows what these monsters are capable of?” Carol lifts a shoulder. She doesn’t need to answer any of these questions.She’s instilled the fear she wanted to. “Now, what are we going to do about it?” she asks the crowd.
“Enough,” Jacob says. He grabs Emerson’s hand and marches her up the aisle. She’s whispering things about how he should sit,be careful, calm down—but he’s not having it.
“I’m fine,” Jacob says firmly. It’s his brook-no-argument voice, and even Emerson doesn’t try her luck with it. “We are gettingmarried, Emerson. Now.” He pulls her up onto the stage and stares Carol down, reminding everyone that Emerson might be powerful,butheis the man she leans on. The man who is not intimidated by her like every other person around. “We have something to do. Ifyou’re concerned about the dragon, perhaps you should be in the cemetery. Not here.”
I hate that he would suggest such a thing, but Carol only smiles. Like she hoped he’d respond this way.
“Of course, your needs should come first,” Carol all but purrs.
Emerson is unfazed, even as I’m huffing and puffing in outrage. She doesn’t look at Carol. She turns to the crowd. She’s readyto give a speech, even in her elegant wedding dress.
She’s always ready to give a speech, Hecate love her. “I have outlined our feelings on the dragon, on magical creatures in general,” she says calmly and even cheerfully, as if she sees no cause for concern here. “I have spoken with all of you about the important andhiddenhistorical information Georgie found for us thatprovesthe strongest covens have a fabulae by their side. We have shown you thefacts.”
“Facts?” Carol demands. “Georgie and facts?” She turns to me then, and I feel the gazes of many of the crowd on me too. “Anyonewho knows Georgie knows that she’d rather believe in afairy talethan facts. Princesses and dragons andcrows.”
The way she sneers those last few words at me makes me certain that she knows about the book. That it’s some kind of threattoward all those things. But how?
“We let you imprison Azrael, even though we didn’t agree with it,” Emerson continues calmly. Her hand is still in Jacob’s.“We have let your vote on the matter govern how long he stays, and just yesterday...”
I see it dawn on Emerson that Carol’s timing is very specific.
Becausethe vote went our way. And Carolshouldn’tknow that since we haven’t announced it. So she can’t come out andsaythe dragon was free when Evie was attacked without ruining her case.
Emerson changes tactics immediately. “Solstice is coming. Does this not seem like questionable timing that stems from bitternessover losing a bid to keep ruling over witchdom?”
There are more murmurs in the crowd, but they seem less dark than before. Families and friend groups talk amongst themselves.
“Let them have their wedding, Carol,” Holly calls out. “We can deal with the dragon after.”
“After?” Carol screeches. I swear it seems like her eyes might bulge clear out of her head, but at least she’s still intact,despite the condition of the other Joywood members the last time we saw them.
A lot of people in the crowd murmur their agreement. Maybe they don’t trust Azrael, but they came for a wedding. They also trust Jacob beyond a shadow of a doubt. He’s helped so many of them, or his parents have.
The last remaining member of the Joywood doesn’t have the stranglehold on the crowd she used to.
Maybe no one ever trusts people in power completely, and they shouldn’t. But they trust us more than Carol right now.
I’ll admit that it feels sweet.
After more and more vocal support for the wedding from the crowd, Carol stalks off the stage. I watch her go sinceIdon’t trust her in the least. Particularly when she doesn’t go far. She stands off to the side, arms folded, glaring at Jacoband Emerson on the stage while snow falls all around her but doesn’t accumulate on the bricks.
I can’t get past the fact that none of the other members of the Joywood are here. Not a single one. Have they all really diedoff? Crumbled apart or rotted away or drowned horribly like that dream I’m delighted I didn’t share?
But then, why does Carol look so good? How can she wield so much power alone?
As I watch her, I notice something else. She is standing very close to a certain Desmond Wilde. He’s seated, but not up frontwith Elspeth or any other member of Emerson’s family. He’s off to the side, in the middle of a group of people Emerson wouldlikely tell me are deeply important to witchdom, but who seem random to me.
Maybe Emerson sat him there because she knows how much he likes to feel important—and it also keeps him away from her—butit just feelsoff.
