Read Online Cloak & Dagger: Book II of The Dragon Mage Trilogy by Carey Scheppner - Free Book Online Page A

studies and asking him about herbs. They had become good friends, and Cyril’s boss had to order him to get back to work several times when the visits became too long.
    “Hi!” said familiar voice behind Cyril.
    Cyril half turned, remembering in time not to look at the speaker. “Hello, Vera,” he responded. “How are you today?”
    “Fine. You?”
    “O.K.”
    Vera looked around. “Is the boss nearby?”
    “He just went around back,” said Cyril.
    “Good,” said Vera, relieved. “He cut our last meeting short.”
    “We had lots of work to do,” said Cyril.
    “Oh, quit defending him!” snapped Vera. “He’s always working you too hard and you know it.”
    “Things are going to get busier,” continued Cyril. “We have to harvest many of the herbs ahead of schedule because of the situation at the Tower of Sorcery.”
    Vera sat back. “I heard about that.” She fingered the talisman around her neck. “I hope Kazin is O.K.”
    “Who’s Kazin?” asked Cyril suddenly. He took a chance and looked over at her. Fortunately, she was looking straight ahead at the garden.
    “He’s only one of the most powerful mages alive,” answered Vera dreamily. She looked at the talisman at her bosom. “He gave me this talisman. It provides me with fire resistance and offsets most magical fire.”
    “Why did he give you that?” asked Cyril.
    Vera looked at Cyril, who looked away just in time. “He gave it to me when I was a little girl. My older brother, Max, who was a master mage and Kazin’s closest friend, had died in a quest, and the Tower of Sorcery awarded my family with this talisman to commemorate his heroic sacrifice.”
    “How did he die?” asked Cyril.
    “A dragon killed him,” said Vera sadly. She looked down to hide her sudden tears.
    Cyril nodded. “You must be proud of him.”
    “I am,” said Vera. “From that moment on, I wanted to become a cleric so that mages like my brother wouldn’t die needlessly like that.”
    “That’s very honourable,” said Cyril.
    Vera blushed.
    “I thought I told you to water the faelora!” said a harsh voice suddenly. It was the head groundskeeper.
    Cyril started. “Yes, sir!” The cyclops looked apologetically at Vera’s feet as he added, “I have to get back to work, Vera.”
    Vera glared at the groundskeeper. “Why don’t you give Cyril a break? He works hard all day long and all you do is push him to work harder!”
    “Vera, don’t -,” began Cyril.
    “He works hard because that’s all he’s good for!” retorted Jake.
    “That’s rude!” snapped Vera.
    “Vera -,” repeated Cyril.
    “Why don’t you go and spend your time with normal people instead of wasting time with one of my workers?” demanded Jake. “I ought to report you to the high cleric himself. I’m sure he wouldn’t approve of a student interfering with the work being done on the grounds. Now beat it while I’m still in a good mood!”
    Vera reddened but decided not to push her luck. If the head groundskeeper reported her to the high cleric, she would be in danger of being expelled from the tower. And with the final test that afternoon, she could lose her chance to become a level one cleric. She couldn’t risk a confrontation with this evil man right now. Later, perhaps, but not right now.
    A bell sounded, alerting the students to return to class. Vera took her cue, said a quick goodbye to Cyril, and headed for the tower. She could feel the groundskeeper’s eyes boring a hole in the back of her head as she went.
    When the students had all entered the tower, Jake removed his hat and wiped a wet rag across his mostly bald head. “Stupid kids,” he muttered. He turned to see if Cyril was listening but the cyclops was already over by the faelora, giving them a good dose of water.
    As he left to see how his other workers were doing, Cyril glanced up at his boss’ retreating form. For the first time in a long time, he was angry. Yelling at him was one thing. Yelling at