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Chapter One
Natalie
If I don’t save the world, my father is going to die.
“There’s nothing more I can do for him,” Henrietta says. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not over yet,” I tell her, but we both know what our options are right now. We both know that until we can find a shifter doctor who’s dealt with something like this before, we’re completely and totally screwed.
And I’m going to lose the only man who has ever loved me.
“I wish there was something I could do,” Henrietta says, wringing her hands. The dragon is tired. She probably hasn’t slept much the last few days. Who could blame her? Each day, new members of the clan get sick and she’s the only one even slightly qualified to help.
At first, we thought it was just a random virus. A few shifters got sick last week, but it’s more and more each day. Today there are half a dozen new cases. If it continues, we know exactly what’s going to happen.
The dragons are going to die.
The clan is going to perish.
“Henrietta,” I whisper. “Tell me something.” I have a theory, an idea, and it’s been bothering me for the last three weeks. The rescue from Lucky was too easy, too simple. We went in, we got our people, and then we left. As a human, I wasn’t allowed to go on the rescue mission, but I’ve heard all about it. The whole thing just seems a little too…neat. For a scientific organization that thrives on torturing shifters, Lucky wouldn’t give up its test subjects too easily.
Unless that was their plan all along.
“What is it, child?”
We’re standing on the porch to my parents’ house. My backpack is heavy and I’m dressed warmly because it’s going to get cold where I’m going. We both know this is our last chance. Clan Thunderstorm is suffering just as much as we are and their doctors are going crazy trying to keep more people from falling ill. They haven’t been able to find a cure, though, and if we don’t find something soon, dragons are going to die.
“It’s because of Lucky, isn’t it?” I ask her, lowering my voice. “We rescued eleven shifters.” It would have been twelve, but Henrietta’s son-in-law, David, gave his life to save her son, Cameron. I don’t want to bring that up right now. Not when things are still so stressful, so painful, so fresh. “They were infected with something, weren’t they?”
“I can’t say that for sure,” Henrietta says, but she doesn’t have to. Her eyes meet mine, and I know she thinks I’m onto something.
“I’m going to go meet with Peggy and Cameron,” I tell her. “And then I’m going to go.”
“Be fast,” Henrietta whispers. “And may the love of the dragons be with you.”
I give her a hug. We only just decided that I’d be going on this journey, and we aren’t telling anyone besides Henrietta’s immediate family. If the clan knew I was leaving to find the doctor who walked away so many years ago, they’d freak out. They’d either be angry or they’d jolt into a panic. Neither one of those things is what we need right now.
“I’ll do my best,” I promise her. “I won’t let you down.” I look back at the house one last time and I whisper. “Please take care of my father.”
“I’ll do everything I can.”
I nod once more, and then I leave.
This isn’t fair.
Fablestone is supposed to be a haven. It’s supposed to be the one place people like my parents can be safe. This world is tucked away from everything else, far from the watchful eyes of humans. Only, it’s not safe. It’s not a haven anymore.
I hike my backpack up. It’s heavy, but it has to be. It has to get me through the forest and to the mountains. I have to find Donald before it’s too late. He’s the only one who can help us now. He’s the only one who can save the clan, and I’m the only one who can go.
I don’t glance back at the little house I grew up in. My father is sick in bed and my mother is slowly going crazy watching over him. She’s unaffected by the virus, at least for now, but who knows how long that’s going to last? The incubation period is unknown. The length of the effects is unknown. The cure is unknown. Everything is unknown.
But maybe he’ll know.
Carefully, I make my way down the steps and head toward Peggy and Cameron’s house. Wilson, the clan leader, is sick. Cameron is acting as the head of the clan in Wilson’s time of illness. It’s a strange time for Cameron, I’m sure. He’s still in the honeymoon phase of his relationship with Peggy and he doesn’t know what’s happening.
But I do.
