Elemental Thief

Chapter 26

She dreamed of the day the world almost ended. She was in Aura Tower's penthouse hanging out with Lilah and Josefina Cruz. The three of them had taken advantage of the fact that Lilah's annoying older brother wasn't home and had claimed the entire living area for themselves. Blankets were draped across nearly every item of furniture, creating a maze of fluffy tunnels. But they'd grown tired of the tunnels sometime earlier that morning, and the treasure at the center of their blanket maze—Lilah's brand new robotic unicorn—lay forgotten next to a pile of wrappers from the sweets Josie had snuck past Lilah's mom.

It was a good thing Mrs. Davenport wasn't home now. They all knew she'd freak out at the sight of her lounge. But they'd promised Grace, the nanny, that they'd clean everything up before Lilah's parents got home. So Grace, whose patience seemed to have no end, had moved all the priceless relics and art pieces to the edge of the room where the girls wouldn't accidentally knock them over.

Josie was currently sitting on the cushioned stool in front of the grand piano, playing a near-perfect rendition of the theme music that accompanied their favorite VR game, Dragon Slayer Princess—which was yet another thing Mrs. Davenport didn't approve of. But Lilah had somehow got hold of a copy, and the three of them played whenever they were at Josie's place. Right now, though, with Grace watching them from the kitchen while she made lunch, they had to make do with pretend dragon slaying. So Lilah and Ridley leaped about the living room with invisible swords, ducking to avoid invisible flames, and jumping over invisible obstacles.

"Hey, we could make actual flames," Lilah panted, coming to a halt and breathing heavily. She grinned at Ridley. "You can do it. You're super good at that stuff."

"No magic inside the house," Grace called to them. "You know your father's rules, Lilah."

Lilah rolled her eyes. Grace had impeccable hearing. Even when the girls whispered, she always seemed to hear them. Ridley sometimes wondered if she used a conjuration.

"You're no fun, Grace!" Josie shouted as her fingers hammered the piano keys.

"No magic inside the house," Grace repeated.

"Fiiiiiine," Lilah groaned. "Oh, hey, your mom's calling, Ridley." Lilah ran to a wall near the kitchen area and touched the screen above the home auto system's control pad. Ridley's mom's face appeared on the screen, along with the interior of her car. "Hi, Mrs. Kayne," Lilah said, jumping up and down and waving.

Ridley reached Lilah's side. "Hi, Mom."

"Hey, Riddles. Hey, Lilah." Mom grinned in the direction of her commscreen camera before looking back at the road. "You guys having fun?"

"We made a blanket maze," Lilah said.

"And we're sword fighting."

"Hi, Mrs. Kayne!" Josie squealed, crashing into Lilah and Ridley.

"Hi, Josie," Mom said, smiling at the camera again. "So, blanket mazes and sword fighting huh?" she said as her eyes returned to the road. "I hope you're not making too much of a mess for Grace."

"No, no, we said we'd clean up," Ridley told Mom as Lilah and Josie nodded beside her.

"Okay, well I just wanted to say hi and tell you I'll only see you tomorrow. I left a little late, so you'll probably be asleep when I get home tonight."

"Okay. See you tomorrow," Ridley said.

"Alrighty. Have fun and be good. Love you lots."

"Love you, Mom."

Lilah tapped the screen to end the call. Then she leaped around, brandishing a make-believe sword. In her deepest voice, she said, "Beware, princess. Dragons guard this land."