Broken Dragon (The Chronicles of Mara Lantern, Book 3) by D.W. Moneypenny Read Free Book Online Page A

on his stuffing, spraying crumbs across the table.
    * * *
    Mara figured her mother needed a break and that Sam probably needed his mother’s support in the living room with Hannah, so Mara volunteered to clean up after dinner, even before Diana suggested it. Ping said he would pitch in. After putting away the leftovers and stacking the dirty dishes on the counter next to the sink, Mara washed, while Ping stood next to her, rinsing and drying.
    She gave him a sidelong glance, while she scrubbed. “Are you sure you don’t want to just have a seat? I can get this on my own. You look a little pale and tired to me.”
    He shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I’m still getting over the other night. I guess I’m not bouncing back as fast as I used to when I was younger.”
    “The dragon still tossing and turning?”
    Nodding, he said, “It is still sensing danger, and I think the anxiety level is growing.”
    “Is there any way for you to figure out what this danger is?”
    “I’m assuming it’s related to the events on the roof over the shop. That’s when it peaked, and it doesn’t appear to be abating,” he said.
    “So do you get the feeling that this Aphotis is still a threat? That it’s coming back? Is that why the dragon is so worked up?”
    He paused with the towel. “That would be the logical conclusion, especially considering the allusions that have been made about battles and whatnot. Even if the dragon weren’t acting up, it would be prudent to work under that assumption. You said yourself the Aphotis may have taken some of your abilities, and it does have the Chronicle of Creation, so it has the means and the ability to return at some point.”
    “At some point? What do you mean by that?”
    “If this wraith did absorb some of your abilities and transfer them to Abby, it’s reasonable to assume it would need time to assimilate them, learn to use them, just as you’ve had to.”
    Mara didn’t respond and washed in silence. It took a few minutes for Ping to sense something was wrong. “Mara?” he asked. “Something bothering you?”
    “I don’t like calling that thing Abby .” She pulled the plug on the greasy water in the sink and stared at it, as it swirled down the drain. “I went by her house today.”
    “I see. Why did you do that?”
    “I thought maybe I could talk to her father, maybe explain what happened to her or console him or something—I don’t know.”
    “How did it go?”
    “I rode a bike over there. As I pulled up, he was leaving in his truck, and he just smiled and waved as he drove away, like nothing was out of the ordinary—just waving to a kid on the way out, no big deal.”
    “Perhaps he was expecting Abby to be away. It is a holiday week.”
    “No. I would have known.” She rinsed out the sink, plugged it again and refilled it. “The whole experience gave me the heebie-jeebies. It felt like she was there, like Abby was home. You see, the logical thing for Mr. Gibson to do, if Abby was gone, would be to stop and tell me, not wave and smile.”
    “Could he have been in a hurry?”
    “That wasn’t the impression I got.” She dumped some plates into the fresh water and turned to Ping. “What should I do?”
    “You need to follow your instincts. I think that’s your best course of action right now.”
    “I don’t have a clue.”
    He pointed the towel at her. “That’s where you’re wrong. Herein find the clues . You wrote that yourself in the Chronicle of Continuity earlier this evening. Follow your own advice— Seek out passengers. Ignore a dragon’s folly. Find the trail of mist. ”
    “We both know what ‘passengers’ refers to. What’s the ‘dragon’s folly’ or the ‘trail of mist’?”
    “Seeking out the passengers is the first line in the haiku. Perhaps it is the first upon which you should act. It’s possible the others will become obvious or actionable afterward.”
    Mara handed the last plate to Ping and then began scrubbing glasses.