Backyard Dragons Read Free Page A

You did fine.”
    “I guess it’s okay for me to wander around here, then?”
    Justin glanced back even though they’d turned a corner. He couldn’t decide if his impulse to disagree came from practicality or a desire to keep her safe at all costs. If Missy gazed up at him with her big, blue eyes and asked that question, he’d say no without hesitation. Instead, Claire’s dark eyes searched him for an answer, and he didn’t know which one to pick. He’d had no idea the adoptive father job would be this hard when he signed up for it.
    “Probably. To be on the safe side, I suggest staying in a crowd when you can.”
    Claire nodded, hopefully out of seeing the wisdom in his suggestion. “What’s in the library?”
    “Collected wisdom and knowledge from all the Knights who’ve passed through here.”
    “So it’s kinda empty then?”
    He glanced at her and saw her biggest, cheesiest grin. “Funny.”
    They reached a giant set of double-doors on one side of the never-ending corridor, and Justin stopped. Each had an intricate carving of a horse, head down and bursting through a stone tablet. He grabbed one of two thick, iron rings serving as handles and heaved the door open. Claire gasped, and Justin remembered how the carvings shifted as the door opened, transforming into horses standing guard over the stone pieces.
    “It’s supposed to do that,” he said.
    “This place is weird.”
    “Yes,” Rondy said. He stood on the other side of the open door, leaning against a wooden walking stick, his shoulders slumped. Dark circles ringed his dark eyes, and even his gray dreadlocks seemed to droop. The elder Knight mustered a weary smile for both of them.
    “Just the man we came to see.” Justin gave Rondy room to decide where to go and gestured for Claire to follow as they walked up the corridor again.
    “I’m glad I ran into you.” Rondy’s Jamaican accent seemed heavier than usual. Justin figured he needed food and sleep. “I’ve examined all the archives relating to the subject of Claire’s locket and feel confident saying no one has ever done anything like it before. I think, though, that if I accompany her to meet with the Heart of the Palace, we can work together to take care of it. There are a few accounts of Knights accomplishing major tasks this way.”
    “Are you sure you want to handle that?” Justin asked. “If you explain how, I could do it.”
    Rondy patted Justin’s shoulder. “For something like this, where the stakes are high and the path uncharted, my experience will be of more help than your endurance.”
    “But not until you’ve had some rest?”
    “Give me a day. We’ll do it tomorrow.”

Chapter 3
    Claire
     
    The idea of being able to take her locket off made Claire’s gut flutter. On the one hand, she wanted to be free of its liability. On the other, her father had created it, and fixing this problem felt like betraying his memory. Wrapped up in her thoughts, she missed an exchange between Justin and Rondy.
    Rondy put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m glad to serve as your guide for this. We apples in a sea of oranges need to stick together.” He smiled and squeezed her shoulder.
    Claire opened her mouth to ask what that meant, but Rondy shook Justin’s hand and walked away. She stared after him. Justin seemed just as puzzled, so she decided Rondy needed sleep more than he thought. When Justin started walking again, she followed.
    After several minutes of passing small side rooms too swiftly to get a good look inside, she asked, “Where are we going?”
    “One of the enchanting rooms.”
    She couldn’t decide how to respond to that, so she shrugged it off, hoping things would become clearer when they reached it. “How long is this hallway? We’ve been walking down it forever.”
    “The Thoroughfare is infinite.”
    They passed yet another Knight who acknowledged Justin and ignored Claire. She wanted to scream at all these men. She also wanted them to keep ignoring her.