Ambush. Part 14

"Not yet," I reported.

"Tell me everything," he insisted, sitting down in the chair in the corner.

I told my dad everything. I told him about the elevator and how the nest was growing and the preparation I had been making. I told him about keeping it a secret from the rest of the staff so they wouldn't stop me.

After I had filled him in, my dad just stood there and shook. He looked like an aspen tree under the influence of a zephyr.

"Excellent," my father whispered.

"Thanks," I replied, not knowing what the proper thing to say was when someone complimented you on your deceptive dragon-rearing.

"Beck, you have to get me out of here," my dad insisted.

"What?" I asked. "I can't do that."

"Nonsense," he said. "I'm well. There's nothing wrong with me. You must get me to the manor."

My father's speech was suddenly awkward and stilted.

"I thought you said you weren't better yet," I reminded him.

"I never said that," my father snapped.

"You did," I argued. "You told me to plant the stone because you were sick and wouldn't get better unless I did."

"Well," my father said, looking confused, "you've planted it and all is well. Now get me out of here."

"Are you allowed to leave?" I asked.

"Yes," he lied. "They just won't listen to reason. There's a great need for me to return to the manor and they won't listen to reason. You'll tell them, right?"

"I can try," I said.

"I knew you would come through for me," my dad said, springing out of his chair and rus.h.i.+ng around the room. "We'll be back to the manor by sunrise. Who brought you?"

"Wane," I answered.

"We'll leave her here in town then."

"What?" I asked, confused. "Why can't we bring her back to the manor with us?"

"She'll be in harm's way," my dad said. "We'll have to release Thomas and Millie as well. Scott knows enough to stay. Besides, we might be able to use him."

"I don't understand," I said, beginning to feel a bit frantic myself. "Release Wane and Thomas and Millie?"

"Everything is about to change," my dad said excitedly. "Don't you see? I was a coward. For too long I have been fighting against what is rightfully mine-rightfully ours. I thought I was being valiant, but I was simply starving the real me."

I wanted to tell him that he was mad, but the words he was saying swirled around my brain and made me dozy. They felt warm and soothing.

"I-"

"Do you know what we have?" my dad asked. "Now with the soil under our control, when the dragon hatches, we will finally take what is rightfully ours."

"But . . ."

My dad packed up a few things and then marched to the door. He knocked, and the orderly looked through the reverse peephole.

"Step away from the door," the orderly said through the intercom.

"Nonsense," my father said. "Let me out."

"We can't do that, Aeron," the orderly insisted. "Step back and we'll let your son out."

My father laughed and then spun around and ran toward me. I couldn't tell if I was in trouble or if my father was revving up to give me some sort of aggressive hug. He grabbed my right arm and twisted me around. He pulled my right arm back and put his left around my neck. He pulled me tightly against his chest as I faced away from him.

"Dad!"

My father shoved me forward to the door.

"Let me out!"

My dad had officially gone off his rocker. Memories of him disguised as Whitey and his willingness to let me die with Lizzy came was.h.i.+ng over me like cold, dirty water.

The door swung open, and two large orderlies burst in. They both had big gloves on and looked like dog trainers getting ready to tussle with a ferocious beast.

"Let go of your son!" one of the orderlies commanded. "Release him!"

"No!" my father insisted. "Let me out and you can have him."

I looked at the mirror and saw the image of my father holding me captive. The room seemed to swirl and rock. I could see the darkness in my father's mind leaking from his eyes and nose. The Pillage scourge had completely taken him over. The madness that he had fought against was out in full force.

I tried to wriggle out from under my dad's arm. As I kicked and squirmed, one of the orderlies used the confusion to rush over and inject something into my father's right shoulder.

My father screamed, and the orderly wrapped his arms around my dad. I pulled free and fell to the floor.

"Let me be!" my father yelled. "You will be devoured."

"Out!" the other orderly yelled at me. "Out!"

I crawled frantically across the floor and out into the hallway. My father was screaming about dragons and tyranny and destruction.

There were four more orderlies in the hallway. One of them pulled me up onto my feet, while the other three rushed into the room.

"Are you okay, kid?" the orderly asked me.

"Fine, I think," I replied. "My dad's not so good."

"We'll take care of him," he said kindly.

"What's going to happen?"

"We'll have to move him," the orderly said. "We have some rooms that are a bit more secure."

My dad was still screaming, but now his words were slurred and incomprehensible. He made one last attempt to argue and then succ.u.mbed to the medication.

"You need to leave," an orderly said, taking me by the left elbow. "Come on."

When I got back to the car, it was beginning to turn light. Morning was starting to peek its head into the scenery.

I guess I looked disheveled because the second I got in, Wane said, "What happened to you?"

I filled Wane in on my father as we drove back home. I felt bad about my dad, but I was also surprised. There was something inside me that seemed pleased. With my father locked up, maybe I wouldn't have to share the dragon with anyone.

The thought made me feel powerful and momentarily happy.

I was so tired by the time I got back home that I could barely walk. Millie met us at the door and handed me a gla.s.s of something liquid and white.

"What is this?" I asked. "I'm not hungry. I'm going to bed."

"Drink it," Millie insisted. "A tough night can make for a fitful sleep. It'll help you rest."

I drank the warm frothy drink in four gulps. I thought it was milk, but it tasted like something completely different. It was so good that I actually wished there were more.

"There isn't," Millie said. "Now go to sleep."

I walked slowly up the stairs and directly to my bedroom. I didn't bother to take off my shoes or wash up. I just dropped down onto my bed and let sleep do the rest.

Chapter 19.

Tell Me Why Even I was surprised by how long I slept. When I finally woke up, the sun was traveling back down and the clock said 3:17 p.m. The bright sunny day had almost completely pa.s.sed me by.

"Wow," I said groggily. "What did Millie give me?"

I lay on my bed for half an hour more, just staring at the ceiling and trying to shake the cobwebs from my head. I thought about my dad and how ill he was. I thought about what I had done at the base of the elevator. And I thought about Kate and how much she was going to be hurt when she found out that I was lying to her.

"She has no right to be mad," I heard myself say. The words sounded selfish and mean and unlike anything I had ever said about Kate before. I sat up in bed and shook my head. "What's wrong with me?"

Mr. Binkers was sitting on my dresser staring at me.

"Don't judge me," I scolded him.

I wanted to throw something at him so he'd look away, but there was nothing to throw. I could feel my mind changing, and I didn't like it.

I got out of bed, took a shower, and then put on a white T-s.h.i.+rt with a picture of a squirrel on it. Thomas had bought the s.h.i.+rt for me in Kingsplot. He was not only the manager of the manor; he was also my personal shopper. Unfortunately for me and good fas.h.i.+on, he had horrible style. I couldn't tell if he thought I was really simple, or really dumb. I was the only kid at school who was happy we had a dress code. If I'd had to wear my casual clothes, I would have been beat up hundreds of times.

I slipped on my jeans and shoes and then headed to the narrow staircase. When I got to the fifth floor, it was just after four o'clock. I grabbed a flashlight from the tub, opened the closet door, and started to step in.

There was no elevator.

The elevator was gone, and all there was were long dark cables and an empty shaft. I had to grab onto the sides of the closet door to stop myself from falling in. I pushed back and stood there looking at where the elevator cart should be-someone had taken it down. I leaned over the edge of the floor and stared. There was no light, just the black cables stretching down into the darkness.

"This isn't good," I complained.

I looked around the inside of the shaft for any secondary b.u.t.ton. There was nothing; there was no way to recall the elevator and command it to come back up.

"Dad," I whispered loudly. "He couldn't have."

I had no idea what to do. I ran downstairs to see if maybe Millie or Thomas or Wane had taken the elevator. Millie was in the kitchen with Wane.

"Feeling better?" Millie asked.

"Yeah," I said with worry. "Is Thomas around?"

"In his office," Wane said.

I checked to make sure Thomas was in his office and then climbed back up to the fifth floor. The elevator still wasn't there.

This wasn't good.

I started to worry about the people my father might have hurt to get out of the hospital and get here. I should have never told him about the elevator.

"Think, Beck, think," I ordered my brain.

I was scared of getting into trouble, but I was most frightened about someone besides me being down there with the nesting dragon. I had planted it, and it belonged to me.

"Ahhhh!" I yelled.

My angst seemed to have some sort of control over the elevator because the moment I screamed, the cables began to move and groan as they pulled the elevator cart back up.

My heart jumped simultaneously with relief and fear. I needed the elevator back, but I wasn't necessarily prepared to confront whoever had taken it down. I closed the closet door so that whoever had used it wouldn't know I was on to them. I then looked for somewhere to hide. The windows had drapes, but they were thin and short. I s.h.i.+fted the chair that was in the lounging section of the bathroom and ducked behind it. With the closet door closed, I could just barely hear the cables working.

It seemed like forever, but eventually the sound of the elevator cart getting closer grew louder. I could hear it pull up and stop behind the door. It groaned, and then there was silence.

I gulped accordingly.

The doork.n.o.b rattled, and the door slowly squeaked open. From where I was, I couldn't see into the closet yet. I ducked down farther, hoping that whoever was there would just walk out without seeing me.

The door opened wider, and there were Kate and Wyatt.

I gasped so loudly that they both turned and looked directly at me. I don't think I would have been more shocked if it had been a dragon. I couldn't believe it.