The Dragon's Return Read online

  “Can we ask the others for help?” she asked.

  Steven shook his head. “Liam’s busy helping people at a half-collapsed construction site on the edge of the city. Roxanne is dealing with a traffic obstruction that’s blocking evacuation efforts. And Duane has to keep monitoring from the plane.”

  “What about Jasmine?”

  Steven shrugged helplessly. Jasmine was the Dragon, the most powerful Zodiac of all; at first she’d shared that power with Maxwell. When the Zodiacs defeated him at Dragon’s Gate, Jasmine absorbed all the power. That had seemed like a good thing—but since that time, Jasmine had become very withdrawn and quiet. Steven barely knew how to talk to her anymore.

  Kim grimaced. She turned to look across the fields, at the factory in the distance.

  “Can you make it that far?” Steven asked.

  “I’ll have to,” she replied. “But I can only carry one at a time.”

  The teacher looked at them, baffled. “What are you talking about?”

  Steven cocked his head at her. “Who’s your most adventurous student?”

  Miss Maya turned to face the children. They stood together, eyes wide, waiting for instructions. Another gust of wind blew up, and they shrank away from the swirling sand.

  “Aadab?” the teacher called.

  A small girl stepped out of the group. She had dark hair and big eyes, and she looked completely unafraid.

  Kim held out a hand. “C’mere, cutie.”

  She pulled the little girl close. Then she turned toward the open fields, staring at the factory building beyond. She tensed, clutched the girl tightly, and leaped into the air.

  Rabbit energy flared around Kim. Then, together with little Aadab, she disappeared with a soft poof.

  Miss Maya gasped. So did the whole class—except one boy, taller than the others, who stepped forward.

  “Zodiac,” the boy said, cocking his head to stare at Steven. “You guys are from Zodiac!”

  Steven frowned. “How do you know about that?”

  “My dad works for the emirate.”

  Steven nodded. The Zodiacs were cautious about letting the public know of their existence, but recently Jasmine had started spreading the word discreetly among the world’s government officials. That was how the Dubai authorities had known to ask the team for help.

  Kim’s been gone awhile, Steven realized. He touched a button on the small receiver clipped to his ear. “Kim? Rabbit? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” her voice crackled in his ear. “The girl’s safe. I just needed to rest for a second….”

  With a faint poof, she reappeared in front of him.

  “But now I’m ready to go again,” she finished.

  The students and their teacher stared at the girl who’d disappeared and reappeared out of nowhere.

  Then the children all pressed forward, reaching toward Kim.

  “Me next!”

  “No, me!”

  “Meeeee!”

  Smiling wearily, Kim reached out for another child. As they vanished, the wind whipped up again. Rain began to sprinkle down.

  Miss Maya gestured for the group to move up against the bus. “Everybody stay calm,” she said. “We’ll be safe here for a few minutes.”

  Then she turned to Steven with an odd, stunned look on her face. “Zodiac?”

  “Zodiac,” he replied.

  Kim poofed back for another child and carried her to safety, as well. Then another. The sky was turning very dark. Steven, the teacher, and the remaining children lifted their shirts up to their mouths to keep out the rising dust.

  After the fifth child, Kim didn’t come back right away. “Kim?” Steven asked over the radio.

  “I’m…this is really hard.” Her voice was crackly, exhausted. “I don’t know if I can keep it up.”

  Steven flinched from the rising wind. “I’m sorry,” he said, “but you have to.”

  “Talk to me,” Kim said in his ear. “Distract me with something.”

  “Like what?”

  “Anything.”

  Steven’s mind went blank. He couldn’t think of anything to say—except the one thing that had been bothering him for the entire mission.

  “I’m worried about Jasmine,” he said.

  “Me too,” Kim said. “What do you think happened to Carlos, anyway?”

  Steven grimaced. Carlos was the scientific genius who, along with Jasmine, had founded the Zodiac organization. Three months before, in the middle of a mission, he’d suddenly disappeared.

  For Jasmine, it was like half her heart had been torn out. She’d searched, put out feelers, called in every favor she had in the world. Nothing. It was as if Carlos had vanished off the planet.

  “I don’t know,” Steven said.

  Kim reappeared in front of him, breathing hard. She caught a face full of dust and coughed.

  “I’m okay,” she said. “Who’s next?”

  Kim took another child in her arms and turned to Steven. Her eyes were sunken with exhaustion.

  “Keep talking,” she said. “Does Jasmine really think Maxwell took him? Took Carlos, I mean?”

  Poof.

  “Uh,” Steven began, touching his earpiece again. “I don’t know. Maxwell—he doesn’t have the Dragon power anymore. Jasmine’s got it all now.”

  “But Maxwell still has his private army. Vanguard.” She paused. “Is he gonna come looking for the rest of us?”

  “He’s been lying pretty low,” Steven said. “But at least a couple of Zodiac operatives are still working for him. Carlos used to be able to track those guys’ every move, but…” He trailed off, feeling helpless.

  Kim poofed back in, grabbed another child, and vanished again.

  Steven couldn’t shake the dread he felt about Jasmine. He was worried about Roxanne, too—the Zodiac’s Rooster. She was expecting a visit from her mother shortly after this mission. Steven had a terrible hunch that Roxanne might be planning to quit the team.

  A shiver ran through his body.

  “Steven?”

  He looked up. Kim stood before him, lashed by the wind. She was breathing hard, leaning forward to rest her hands on her upper thighs.

  “Nobody left but the teacher,” Kim said. “And us.”

  “Wait!” Miss Maya yelled. She looked around, frantic. “We’re missing someone. Where’s Jana?”

  Steven swore softly under his breath. He clenched his fists and willed the Zodiac power to rise up all around him. The Tiger’s main attributes were strength, speed, and agility. But it was also finely attuned to danger, and its senses were superhumanly sharp.

  Steven turned from side to side, searching the area. The energy-Tiger mirrored his movements, its deep green eyes seeing farther than Steven’s own could. At last he noticed a small figure, cowering against a brightly colored flame tree down at the end of the playground.

  A huge wind whipped up—the biggest gust yet—and rocked the bus. Steven, Kim, and Miss Maya backed away from the bus into the open field.

  “I see her,” Steven said, turning to Kim. “You take Miss Maya to safety. I’ll get Jana.”

  Kim nodded and moved to take the teacher’s hand. Miss Maya hesitated.

  “Jana will be okay,” Kim said. “Steven’s the best.”

  The teacher nodded grimly. Together they leaped into the air and vanished.

  Steven was already in motion, loping tigerlike toward the grove of trees. Rain spattered against him as he ran. Behind him, the bus toppled and crashed to the ground.

  The Tiger howled into the wind.

  A cloud of wet dust flew into his eyes, blinding him momentarily. He waved it away, peering through the thickening rain. For a moment, he couldn’t see little Jana anymore.

  Then he caught sight of her again, cowering behind a tree. Its leaves were a vivid shade of red, so bright that they almost looked artificial.

  The girl was only five or six meters away. But as he took a step toward her, she retreated, scurrying behind the nex
t tree.

  “Jana!” Steven yelled. “I’m here to help you!”

  “Go away!” she screamed. “You’re a tiger!”

  With great effort, he willed the Tiger energy to subside. He could feel it fighting him. It wanted to be free, to protect him from the elements.

  But there was a downside to the Zodiac power. Steven knew that the sight of a raging ghostly tiger was terrifying to the little girl.

  “I’m just a kid,” Steven called. “Like you!”

  She stared at him, her eyes still wide with fear. He realized that she was the girl he had seen holding Miss Maya’s hand when he first arrived.

  “Come out, okay? Miss Maya is worried about you.”

  She shook her head.

  Steven clenched his fists, frustrated. He could leap out and grab the girl, but he didn’t want to scare her any further. And he wasn’t sure if even the Tiger could outrun a terrified seven-year-old.

  There was a soft poof beside him.

  “Jana,” Kim called out, stepping forward. “Will you listen to me?”

  Jana stood perfectly still, staring.

  “I know this is scary,” Kim continued. “I used to be scared, too. When this boy here”—she pointed a thumb at Steven—“when he first came to sign me up for his group, I ran away from him—how many times?”

  “Three times,” Steven said. “Four, maybe.”

  “Four times,” Kim said, taking another step toward Jana. “But then I realized he was only trying to help me. Just like we’re trying to help you.”

  A hint of doubt crossed Jana’s face.

  “You don’t have to be afraid.” Kim smiled. “I had to learn that. I had to learn to trust people.”

  She held out both hands. Jana took a hesitant step, then ran forward into Kim’s arms.

  Steven smiled. “Nice speech.”

  Kim smiled back at him, over the head of the little girl who clung to her. “BRB,” she said, and vanished.

  Kim’s grown a lot, too, Steven thought. Just like Roxanne. Do they need us anymore? Do they need me?

  A moment later Kim reappeared. She took a step toward him and stumbled.

  “They’re all safe?” he asked.

  She nodded, then spat out a mouthful of dust and coughed violently.

  “I can’t,” she gasped, collapsing into his arms. “I can’t do it again.”

  He nodded, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Come on.”

  Staggering against the rising wind, he led her over to the trees. The wind raged all around them, whipping and lashing them with tiny grains of sand. Steven shrugged off his jacket and draped it over Kim’s shoulders, holding the sleeve up to her mouth.

  “Breathe through this,” he said.

  She nodded and gasped in a breath.

  Steven pulled her up against the trunk of a tree. Kim slumped against it and coughed again. Then she looked up sharply, through the dust and spattering rain, at the tree. He followed her gaze.

  “Those are the brightest leaves I’ve ever seen,” Steven said. “Never thought I’d see that in a desert.”

  She smiled weakly.

  A huge gust of wind slammed into them. Steven reached for Kim, bracing her up against the tree.

  “The heart of the storm,” he whispered. “It’s passing over us now. We’ll just have to wait it out.”

  She buried her head in his shoulder.

  The storm grew even stronger, rising and whirling all around. Steven pulled her close, raising his shirt to his mouth so he could breathe.

  Kim pulled his jacket tighter around her shoulders. Her presence was warm and comforting beside him. She was only trembling a little.

  As they stood together, the pelting rain and sand began to rip into the brightly colored trees. Fiery red leaves tore loose and whipped all around, vivid dots of color that flashed bright and then vanished into the thick cloud of dust.

  “They’re beautiful,” Steven said, peering up over the collar of his shirt.

  Kim said something into his shoulder, but it was muffled and lost in the roaring wind.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I said it’s just nice being here with you.”

  An enormous gust of wind rose up, almost blowing them off their feet. Steven closed his eyes, concentrated, and willed his power to come forth. The Tiger wasn’t invulnerable, and it couldn’t stop the storm. But its energy might be able to protect them, just a little bit.

  The Tiger felt Kim’s heartbeat even more clearly and vividly than Steven did. It roared into the wind, raging against the violence of nature. It reached out a spectral claw and swiped at the bright blood-colored leaves.

  Gradually, the storm passed. The wind died down. The dust and sand subsided, leaving only a steady pelting of rain.

  “You okay?” Steven asked.

  “A little wet.” She smiled, exhausted. “And there’s sand in my hair.”

  He looked up. The sky was still blanketed by a gray cloud, but it was clearing fast. He could see a blurry glow starting to shine through the haze and sand.

  “Look,” he said.

  Kim followed his gaze. As the clouds parted, they could just barely make out the tiny circling figure of the Zodiac plane. And next to it—hovering in place high in the air—was the source of the glowing light. It was too small to make out, but it was clearly a human figure. They both knew who it was.

  “Jasmine,” Kim said.

  Steven nodded. Jasmine was the key to this whole mission—but could they rely on her? The storm was passing them by, but that black cloud looked as huge as ever. And it was still on course for the center of Dubai.

  “I think I can jump again,” Kim said.

  “Can you carry me?”

  She looked at him, pretending to be doubtful. “You’re bigger than a schoolkid. But smaller than a teacher.”

  Steven laughed.

  He looked up again. Jasmine’s glow was brighter, and she seemed to be drifting toward the storm front. But she wasn’t taking any direct action yet.

  Jasmine was the most powerful of the Zodiacs—the only one who could take on the forces of nature. The only one who might be able to actually stop the storm.

  Maybe, Steven thought.

  Before Steven could speak again, his earpiece crackled. Kim touched her ear at the same time he did, and together they heard Roxanne’s strained voice:

  “Steven? Jasmine? Kkkkk-ybody? I need backup.”

  Kim looked up at Steven. As she reached out a hand, the Rabbit energy flared up around her small form.

  “Let’s go,” she said.

  ROXANNE RAN AND JUMPED through the wide Dubai street. Cars honked and swerved. She dodged sideways to avoid an SUV, yelled “Sorry!” and moved on.

  Up ahead, a concrete barrier separated her from Sheikh Zayed Road, the main highway through the center of town. Stupid Zodiac plane, Roxanne thought. Why couldn’t they have dropped me closer to the highway?

  She knew the answer, of course. There was no place to land a plane there, in the middle of Dubai’s skyscrapers and narrow streets. The city looked very different up close than it had in Duane’s briefing. It was a real place, vivid and colorful, full of actual people living their lives.

  Of course, Roxanne could have parachuted down instead. But she wasn’t ready to do something that crazy. Not yet.

  When she reached the highway, a barrage of shouting and honking hit her from the other side. She hoisted herself up, vaulted onto the top of the barrier…

  …and stopped, staring in surprise.

  A large two-segmented truck had overturned and lay sprawled across the entire southbound half of the highway, blocking all four lanes. The trailer had cracked open, spilling small blue and white objects onto the highway. They formed a spreading pile in front of the honking cars.

  As Roxanne dropped down onto the road, she realized what the objects were.

  “No way,” she whispered. “Muffins?”

  She walked up to the truck. Its cab was
still upright, but smoke was pouring out of the engine. The back segment had been twisted around and lay sprawled on its side.

  Roxanne picked up a muffin and sniffed it. Blueberry.

  A crowd of people ran up to her. They gestured and pointed angrily at the truck, then back at their own stalled cars. They were dressed in a wide variety of clothing, from western formal to traditional Arab garb; they yelled and chattered in different languages.

  “Hold up!” she cried. “I can’t understand you all. Calmez-vous!”

  The people moved closer, pressing her up against the truck. Smiling nervously, she held up the muffin. A hungry-looking man grabbed it out of her hand.

  “I’m here to help!” Roxanne cried.

  “You’rrrrre here to help?”

  She looked up, stunned.

  The crowd parted, all staring nervously at the newcomer. He was covered with yellow fur, and his bared teeth gleamed. Even hunched over, he was half again as tall as a man.

  “Dog?” Roxanne said in disbelief.

  Dog was a Zodiac but not one of Jasmine’s team. He worked for Maxwell, the military leader who’d engineered the Convergence, the event that unleashed the Zodiac powers onto the world. Of all the Zodiacs, Dog experienced the most drastic physical change when he used his power, growing thick, savage fur all over his body. He was a loose cannon, a weak link on Maxwell’s team. But he was also a soldier.

  He let out a low, menacing growl.

  “Easy,” Roxanne said, holding up both hands. “Easy, boy….”

  Then a terrible thought struck her. They hadn’t heard much from Maxwell since his defeat at Dragon’s Gate, where Jasmine and Carlos had extracted the Dragon power from his body. But Maxwell was still out there somewhere….

  “Is Maxwell behind this?” Roxanne asked. “Is he trying to steal Dubai’s strategic supply of…uh, muffins?”

  Dog lunged forward. “I don’t have to answer you,” he growled. “Why don’t you just get back in that plane you stole from us and fly away. Now.”

  Roxanne flinched away from his bad breath. Now she could see: Dog looked a lot rougher than the last time they’d met. Part of his left ear was missing, and a long scar ran down that side of his face.

  Is he missing an eye, too?