Friday morning was the epitome of a perfect fall day. The November sun was bright and warm, keeping the chill in the air from cutting too deeply. The deciduous trees still hung on to many of their orange and yellow leaves, forming a beautiful color contrast against the deep blue of the autumn sky. Sofia loved this time of year. Winter had not gotten a foothold yet, and summer was a distant memory. The crispness of fall always felt cozy to her. It reminded her of warm sweaters and hot apple cider, two things she was planning to indulge in once she finished with today’s work.
For now, she was stuck wearing another fancy suit instead of a soft sweater. Today she had chosen a pant suit, since the nip in the air had become too much for her legs to tolerate when she wore a skirt suit. The pant suit was black and classic, and Sofia paired it with an equally classic cream-colored blouse. Her hair had been pulled up into a neat bun, and she looked as professional as ever. But if anyone could have read her mind, they would have seen that her calm, collected exterior was only a façade. On the inside, she was a mess, her thoughts in turmoil.
She hadn’t wanted to be here this morning to see the dragon trainees off on their mission. She knew that her presence would only rub salt in Leif’s wound. He’d sent her a scathing email on Monday afternoon, telling her not to email instructions to any of his staff. He’d assured her in no uncertain terms that he was capable of following the High Council’s orders without her hounding him at every step.
Sofia bit her lip at the memory of the email. Leif’s tone had dripped with venom, and she could hardly blame him. Many of her actions had been taken with the specific purpose of irritating Leif. Her presence here today was for that very reason. Vincent had insisted she find a way to be there, and so she had. It hadn’t been hard. The High Council gave her almost everything she asked for in the interest of keeping Vincent happy and oblivious to who she really was. Letting her see off the dragon trainees was an easy way for Sofia to boost her credibility with Vincent. Vincent was watching through Sofia’s hidden camera as Sofia made her way toward where Leif and Clint were standing and chatting with a few of the High Council members. The dragon trainees were crouched low a few feet away, checking and double-checking everything in their huge backpacks. They seemed excited, and Sofia could hardly blame them for that. After weeks of monotonous workouts, they were finally going on an adventure. They had no idea how much turmoil their departure was causing between Leif and the High Council.
“Morning, Seth. Morning, Evan,” Sofia said as she approached the trainees. They looked up and greeted her politely, then went back to checking their packs. Sofia took a deep breath and walked the last few feet to stand in front of Leif and the others. She knew the greeting she received here was not likely to be polite.
“Good Morning, gentlemen,” she said. “Thank you for letting me be part of the sending off ritual today.”
Leif glared at her, his expression clearly telling her that if it were up to him she would not be part of anything even remotely related to the Dragon Utilization Department. But the High Council members were more obliging.
“Sofia! Good morning. The pleasure is ours. We’re very glad you could make it.”
Leif snorted in disgust, and turned to face his trainees. Sofia imagined Vincent laughing as he watched the video feed of Leif’s reaction. Vincent took great pleasure in watching the dragon shifters suffer, which Sofia imagined was the biggest reason he had wanted her to be at the sending off today. With Sofia’s secret video camera at the center of the action, Vincent would have a front row seat to the frustration of the dragons. He’d said he only wanted to make sure the trainees were actually sent off, but Sofia didn’t buy that excuse. The orders from the High Council were proof enough that the trainees would be sent off. No one dared to defy the High Council. No one except Vincent and his Dark Warriors, of course. Their lives were a constant act of defiance, thanks to their use of dark magic.
Leif was crouched down next to his trainees now, speaking to them in such a low voice that Sofia couldn’t understand what he was saying. But even though she couldn’t hear him, she couldn’t stop staring at him. His face looked radiant in the sunlight. His tanned skin perfectly showed off his chiseled jawline, and his green eyes sparkled with life as they darted back and forth between the two trainees. Despite the chill in the air, Leif only wore a short-sleeved t-shirt, and Sofia admired the way his biceps pushed against his sleeves. When he spoke with his trainees, there was none of the coldness in his eyes that Sofia had become accustomed to. Instead, there was warmth and friendliness. Sofia found herself inexplicably jealous of Seth and Evan. It wasn’t fair that Leif acted friendly toward them and not toward her. She was just as much a part of the fight against dark magic as the two trainees, if not more. She had sacrificed so much to win Vincent’s trust, and to work as a spy for the High Council. She deserved Leif’s friendship, too.
Sofia told herself to look away from Leif. There was no reason for her to pine for his friendship. She had a job to do here, and that job involved acting like she couldn’t be bothered to care the least bit what Leif thought of her. And yet, despite all of her mental admonitions to herself, Sofia still could not look away. Her eyes were glued to Leif. She admired the way the sun seemed to turn the tips of his dark brown hair into pure gold. She took in the way his white teeth sparkled in a perfect line when he smiled, and she listened longingly to the musical sound of his laughter. What was wrong with her? She was acting like some girl with a schoolgirl crush. Yes, Leif was handsome, but he also hated her. And she couldn’t change that unless she gave away the fact that she was a spy. So here she stood, with a ridiculous attraction to a man she could not have.
Just then, Leif looked up and caught Sofia staring at him. Her heart skipped a beat when his eyes met hers, and a happy, fluttery feeling filled her. It didn’t take long for that happy feeling to evaporate, though. As soon as Leif realized he was staring over at Sofia, his eyes went cold. They stopped sparkling, and filled with anger.
Sofia looked away and sighed. The magical moments of admiring Leif were over. She needed to get back to pretending to be an obnoxious audit agent. If she stared at Leif too long without making some sort of rude remark to him, Vincent was going to get suspicious. And Sofia didn’t have it in her heart to be rude right now. She was getting tired of playing this part. She was tired of being the obnoxious woman that everyone hated. She knew she had chosen this life. She had wanted nothing more than to be a spy for the side of good, and she knew that being a spy required her to make sacrifices. But sometimes, when she was feeling particularly lonely—or when Leif was looking particularly handsome—she found it hard to remember that she was doing all of this for a cause that was much bigger than herself.
“Are we ready to begin?” one of the High Councilors asked. Grateful for the interruption, Sofia pasted a fake smile on her face and turned back toward the High Councilors. The trainees stood to their full height, along with Leif, and everyone looked over at the High Councilor.
“We’re ready, sir,” Evan said. Seth nodded his agreement, and so the High Councilor started in on a speech about the importance of the task they were about to undertake, and how the elimination of dark monsters would ensure that shifters and wizards would continue to live in peace and happiness for many generations to come. Everyone nodded politely, but Sofia wondered why the High Council still bothered to act like the dark monsters were the real threat. Surely, even Seth and Evan knew by now that the real reason they were in Torch Lake was that the city needed more dragons.
Still, the High Councilor droned on. Sofia wondered if Vincent was rolling his eyes as he watched this. Probably. Sofia herself was resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She didn’t have a high tolerance for pomp and circumstance, which was rather ironic since she was a wizard, and usually wizards loved that sort of thing. Sofia had always marched to the beat of her own drum, though. Perhaps that’s why she made such a good spy. She had never been afraid to do things that others shied away from.
When the High Councilor finally finished talking, Leif said a few encouraging words to his trainees. Thankfully, he kept his remarks brief, and soon the trainees were giving Leif and Clint big bear hugs to say goodbye.
“You’ll do great,” Clint was saying. “Don’t worry about a thing. Your dragon fire will easily take out a dark monster. Trust me, I know.”
“We’ll see you soon,” Leif said. “I don’t anticipate you’ll come across any trouble you can’t handle, but if you do, just radio us. We can always send backup.”
The trainees laughed, as though the idea of needing backup was absurd. Then they each climbed onto the back of a waiting broomstick. Two wizard soldiers had arrived to fly the trainees out to the Gray Oasis Forest, where they would be dropped off to hunt down and kill dark monsters. Sofia herself had never been to the Gray Oasis Forest, but she was told it was dark and huge, and the perfect place for dark monsters to hide. She shivered at the thought. The High Council insisted that the threat from dark monsters was low, but how could they be sure? Those monsters could be breeding and building up their numbers in the heart of the forest, and the people of Torch Lake might not realize how powerful the dark monsters had become until it was too late.
“One problem at a time,” she muttered to herself. If she could help the High Council get rid of Vincent, that would be a huge step in the ongoing fight against dark magic. And things were looking good. Vincent was getting cockier by the day, and trusting her and everyone else too much. He was going to make some sort of move soon, although Sofia had no idea what that move would be. But if Vincent moved too fast, he would blow his cover and bring everything crashing down around him. Sofia only needed to be patient, and keep subtly feeding Vincent’s ego. Eventually, he would break. And when he did, he would be shocked to find that the High Council already knew all about him, and knew all of his weak spots. Sofia felt a puff of pride in her chest. She was making a difference, and one day Leif would see that.
That day was not today. Sofia realized with a start that the trainees had flown out of sight while she was daydreaming. The group that had seen them off was starting to disburse, but Leif was still standing a few feet away with Clint. Sofia gulped back a lump of fear as Leif started storming toward her, his eyes swirling with rage.
“I hope you’re happy,” he hissed.
Sofia swallowed hard and forced a smile onto her face. “I am happy. I know we’re doing what’s best for Torch Lake.”
“You’re a piece of work,” Leif replied, then turned on his heel and stormed off. Clint followed him wordlessly, and Sofia watched them until they were gone from her view. When she could no longer see them, she reached up and turned off the small hidden camera pinned to her jacket. The thing looked just like a lapel pin, and seemed to fool everyone. When she’d first started wearing it, she’d been afraid that people would know that the pin was a camera in disguise. She’d wanted to cast an invisibility spell over the camera, but Vincent had balked at the idea, saying that invisibility spells caused problems with the video quality when it was transmitted back to him. Vincent had insisted on leaving the pin in the open, and had promised Sofia that the pin would not draw much attention. Much to Sofia’s surprise, Vincent had been right. No one had commented on it in the whole time she’d worn it, not even to compliment her on the pin itself.
Sofia pulled the pin off and stared at it. The small, ornate piece of metal looked so tiny in her hands. It was a wonder that a working video camera could fit in there. She hated the thing. It kept her tethered to Vincent far more than she’d like to be. She had to be careful what she said and did, knowing he was always watching. Everything she’d said to Leif today had been said for Vincent’s benefit. Sofia had only dared to turn the camera off after Leif stormed away. She wished that now she could run after him and apologize. But what would she say? Sorry, I didn’t really mean all of that, but I have to keep up appearances for a dark magic wizard I’m spying on? There was no other good explanation than the truth, but the truth was the one explanation Sofia could not give under any circumstances.
“Sorry, Leif,” she whispered under her breath as she started walking back toward the city in the direction the rest of the group had gone. “I guess you’re just going to have to keep hating me for now.”
Sofia glanced up at the sky, trying to get one last glimpse of the dragon trainees as they flew away. By now, they were little more than specks in the sky. In fact, if Sofia hadn’t known which direction they’d flown, she probably wouldn’t have been able to find them. She wished she could fly away to the Gray Oasis Forest now. Even fighting a dark monster sounded better than going to one more blasted meeting with Vincent.
She should have known by now to be careful what she wished for.