The Jade Dragon by Rowena May O'Sullivan Page B

give himself up.”
    â€œBut how?” Alanna asked. “How could he best you both at the same time? I thought Anton as Grand Dragon would be the most powerful?”
    â€œAnton might be the leader, but Gregori
is
the one with the power. He has an arsenal of magic to draw from when at full strength. He’s so ancient, he can probably recall the invention of the wheel.”
    â€œMore importantly, how did he escape? How did he actually manage to siphon your energy?” Alanna was impatient to hear how Gregori actually bested the leader of Marylebone and Goran. She scanned the studio as if maybe he was still there, merely invisible.
    â€œTouch.” Goran muttered. “All he had to do was touch us and — “ Goran made a sucking sound through his teeth, “ — my magical energy was gone. I figure he’s done the same with Anton.” Admiration filtered into his voice. “He drew enough to leave me weakened, unable to follow him.”
    â€œHe could have killed you,” Alanna muttered. She so needed that coffee now. Her insides were shaking almost as much as her legs. She felt light-headed. She collapsed on the floor next to him. “So where would he take Anton?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œWhy would he take him?” Beth asked, always reasonable and calm in a bad situation.
    Goran shrugged but Alanna could tell he was infuriated. “I don’t know. Being Earth bound is a complete waste of my talent,” he ground out. “I feel useless.”
    â€œI know what that feels like.” Alanna sighed, refusing to allow guilt to cloud her mind. She leaned back against the wall next to him and closed her eyes. What a morning. “So what can we do with the resources we have?”
    â€œClarissa,” Goran barked and both sisters jumped. “I need you!”
    Within seconds, Clarissa appeared in a burst of blinding, urgent light. “I come. I’m here!” Large flames erupted from her nostrils, singeing Goran’s hair and earlobe as she alighted on his shoulder.
    â€œGregori has taken Anton. Do you know anything?”
    Larger flames erupted from Clarissa. “Nothing to report. Clarissa was making goo-goo eyes at Albert.”
    Goran held up his hand. “No need to reveal the details of your love-life. Go to Aden.” He gave a brief explanation to his familiar. “Get him to look for Anton at Marylebone. Do not reveal anything to Eleisha. We will ascertain facts first. Perhaps Gregori will release Anton, but he could also be planning revenge on those who encased him in stone.”
    Clarissa’s head nodded up and down. “Aden. And Rosa?”
    â€œTell Rosa, if she’s there, to return to Raven’s Creek. Her sisters need her.”
    â€œI go now,” Clarissa responded and winked out as quickly as she’d arrived.

Chapter Nine
    â€œI need a change of clothes,” Gregori muttered as he rifled through Anton’s wardrobe. “What have you got in here that won’t make me stand out in a crowd?”
    â€œSteal my energy and now my clothes as well?”
    â€œA few hours rest and you’ll be good as new.”
    â€œAnd who, in the meantime, will govern Marylebone?”
    â€œIf you’re lucky, nothing momentous will happen between now and then. You should be fully recharged in — ” Gregori estimated, “ — say, a day and a half.”
    â€œWhich gives you plenty of time to escape and evade your fate.”
    â€œI could have killed you both.” Gregori continued to work his way through Anton’s wardrobe. He didn’t want to waste magic unnecessarily to conjure up items he could
borrow
from Anton. “But I didn’t. I’ve every reason to hate you for what you did to me.”
    Anton lay back in the chair in his changing room, too weak to call Mistletoe to his side and too embarrassed to alert Eleisha as to his current situation. It