Leif tossed and turned all night, barely sleeping as his mind whirled. He wondered how his trainees were doing, and whether they had managed to pick up the trails of any dark monsters yet. He wondered if there was still any way to convince them to stay in Torch Lake. But most of all, he wondered what the hell Sofia had meant by her words to him in the grocery store.

Things aren’t always what they seem…if things don’t make sense, there’s probably a reason for that.

Her ominous words were trying to tell him something, and he needed to figure out what. Had he been so caught up in his pride that he missed something deeper? The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he’d blinded himself with rage. From the first moment that he’d heard that the High Council wanted to end the training program early, he’d said that there was something fishy going on. He’d known deep down that there had to be more to this than just efficiency or budget concerns. And yet, instead of thinking through all the possibilities, he had immediately jumped to blaming Sofia and being angry at her. That was the easy way out, though. It was the most obvious answer, but perhaps it wasn’t the correct one.

What else could it be, though? Leif racked his brain, but nothing seemed to make sense. Since, the town’s inception, the top priority of the Torch Lake High Council had been to recruit dragons to live here. The more dragons they had, the more secure the place was against any dark magic attacks. What could be better at repelling dark magic than a town full of dragons? And what could be more important than securing against dark magic?

By the time the sun started peeking over the horizon, a weary Leif had decided that he needed to pay another visit to the High Council. They hadn’t wanted him to know about whatever secret they were hiding, but now that he knew that they were definitely hiding something, he was going to go crazy until he figured it out. Maybe if he went in there and told them that he’d started to put together the pieces, and that Sofia couldn’t possibly be just an ordinary junior audit agent, they would be persuaded to talk. They also might be just as tightlipped as ever, and insist that there was nothing more going on than some bullshit budget audit. But he had to at least try.

It was still early when Leif drove toward downtown, and traffic was almost nonexistent. The few sleepy people walking along on the sidewalk looked like they were in dire need of caffeine. A few even held paper coffee cups in their hands. Leif’s stomach growled at the thought of coffee. He had forgotten to eat in his haste to leave his house, and now he would have loved to grab some muffins or a breakfast sandwich. But for once, he told his impatient stomach that it would have to wait. He wanted to get to the High Council building and catch some of the High Council members before the day got too busy. If he caught them off guard first thing in the morning, perhaps they’d be more willing to talk. Leif was grasping at straws here.

Leif parked his truck in a city lot a few blocks away from the High Council building, and started walking down the sidewalk at a brisk pace. But before he’d gotten a half dozen steps, he realized something was wrong. The air was filled with the sound of a dull, distant beeping. It sounded almost like a fire alarm, but Leif quickly realized that it was one of the city’s red alert alarms going off in one of the government buildings. And as he turned the corner to get a full view of the front of the High Council building, he saw that there were several police, fire, and ambulance vehicles parked in front. The red and blue lights were dizzying against the bright morning sky.

Leif broke into a run toward the scene. On the steps of the High Council building were several people in business attire, but many of them had tears in their clothes. A few people looked like they had blood and dirt stains on their shirts, and many more had scratches or hair that was sticking wildly in every direction. Everyone was in a state of disarray, and everyone looked panicked. Some of them were huddling together and sobbing, and some of them were speaking with police officers, gesturing wildly. Others stood frozen, looking off into the distance in a state of shock.

As Leif reached the steps, he saw a few of the High Council members standing near the top, in a conversation with two police officers. Leif bounded up toward them, his heart pumping with adrenaline.

“Councilors!” he panted out as he approached. “What’s going on? What can I do to help?”

Councilor Ceyus turned toward him, his eyes wide. “There was a dark magic attack on the High Council building.”

“What?”

Councilor Isviar nodded. “Unfortunately it’s true. Early this morning a group of dark wizards broke into the building. They were apparently searching for the records we keep of dragon shifters who live in human towns.”

Leif felt his heart pounding. “Why not break into the Dragon Recovery Bureau, then? There are more records there, I’m sure.”

Councilor Isviar’s face darkened. “Because they don’t have someone with top security clearance to the Dragon Recovery Bureau. But they do have someone with access to the High Council building.”

Leif’s heart pounded even faster. This had been an inside job? “Who?”

“Sofia Hayes.”

“I knew it!” Leif said, his voice rising higher than he’d intended it to. “I knew from the beginning that she was trouble.”

“Keep your voice down, Leif,” Councilor Ceyus hissed. “It’s not what you think.”

“You better come with us,” Councilor Isviar said. “It’s time you knew the truth.”

Leif looked around at the chaotic scene. “Is everyone alright here?”

Councilor Ceyus nodded. “Don’t worry. Everyone is fine. Most of them are just in shock. The dark wizards didn’t hurt anyone seriously. They came in and took the records they wanted and then left as quickly as they could.”

Leif looked around doubtfully at the shocked faces. Several women were huddled together at the bottom of the steps crying, and a few men were still talking to the police officers and gesturing wildly. “Alright,” he finally said. “But this better be good. I’m tired of sitting around while people tell me things aren’t what I think. All I think is that dark magic is growing again, and we must do something to stop it.”

“We all want to hold back evil. Come on, you’ll understand much better once I’ve explained everything to you.”

Leif bit his tongue to keep from making more sarcastic remarks, and then followed Councilor Ceyus and Councilor Isviar into the building. They took him to the same conference room where he had been the last time he was here, pleading with them to not send his dragon trainees out on a mission so soon. This time, the room was fairly empty, since most of the other High Council members hadn’t made it into the building yet.

Leif sat down without waiting to be asked, but the two Council members didn’t follow his lead. One of them was looking down at his mobile phone and furrowing his brow.

“Excuse us for a few minutes, Leif,” Councilor Ceyus finally said. “We’ve just received word of a new, uh, development in relation to the attack this morning. We need to check on something. Make yourself at home and we’ll be back as soon as possible.”

They disappeared from the room before Leif could reply. He let out a frustrated grunt and stood, then started pacing the room. He didn’t want to be stuck here alone in a room. He wanted to be out helping the people who had been affected by this attack. He wanted to know more about what had happened. He wanted to go check that everything at the Dragon Utilization department was okay. He wanted to do anything other than sit here and wait for someone to come fetch him.

He paced for another thirty minutes, and was about to give up and leave, despite the fact that the High Councilors had asked him to wait here, when the door to the conference room suddenly burst open. Councilor Ceyus and Councilor Isviar were back, but it wasn’t just them. The rest of the High Council was with them, all talking at once in excited voices. Leif tried to make out what they were saying, but their voices were so jumbled together that he had a hard time making out more than a few words at a time. He caught the name “Sofia” several times, as well as “dark magic” and “treason.” His heart started pounding once again, and he wondered if Sofia was guilty of treason. It wouldn’t have surprised him. She always rubbed him the wrong way. She was pretty, true. No one could deny her beauty. But that seemed to be about all she had going for her. She didn’t seem very smart, and she was definitely an idiot if she thought she was going to be able to get away with treason against the High Council.

Leif stood there awkwardly for a moment until the Councilors noticed him.

“Oh, Leif!” said Councilor Isviar. “I’m glad you’re here. I completely forgot about you in all the commotion, but we are probably going to need your help.”

“We’re going to need all the help we can get,” Head Councilor Morgan said. “Please, everyone, take a seat.”

Leif sat, along with the other Councilors. Councilor Morgan was about to begin speaking when the door opened again and Jake Palmer walked in. Jake was the People’s Governor of Torch Lake, and as such he was responsible for communication between the High Council and the citizens of Torch Lake. Jake was also one of Leif’s best friends, and Leif felt a rush of relief as Jake came and sat next to him. No matter how bad the news was, at least Leif had Jake beside him.

“Jake,” Head Councilor Morgan said in acknowledgement. “I’m glad you could make it.”

Jake nodded respectfully. “Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. Please, continue.”

As Councilor Morgan cleared his throat, Jake leaned over to whisper in Leif’s ear. “Didn’t expect to see you here, although it’s a nice surprise. How did you get caught up in all of this?”

Leif shrugged. “Long story,” he whispered back.

“Gentleman, we have a lot to discuss, and we have some urgent decisions that need to be made. I’ll try to be as concise as possible, but the first thing I need to do is bring Jake and Leif up to speed on the Dark Warriors.”

Leif and Jake exchanged glances.

“The Dark Warriors?” Jake asked. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not,” Councilor Morgan said. “The Dark Warriors is pretty much what it sounds like—a group of shifters and wizards who are intent on bringing back dark magic. As best we can tell, the group formed from some individuals who had been working with Commander Hawkins but escaped detection when Commander Hawkins was exposed as a proponent of dark magic. The group is headed up by a wizard named Vincent, who has been actively trying to recruit members over the last few months. He’s been alarmingly successful in those efforts.”

Leif’s mouth dropped. He should have known by now not to be surprised when he heard about dark magic uprisings, but he still couldn’t help it. How anyone could follow dark magic after the horrors of the last war, he would never understand.

“Was Sofia a part of this?” Leif asked in a tight voice. He was still trying to figure out how Sofia had been tangled up in this morning’s events. If that woman had been tangled up in dark magic, and had thought she could get away with destroying his dragon training program, then she was a bigger fool than he thought.

“Sofia was a part of it, but not in the way you think.”

“Well in what way then?” Leif demanded, his anger exploding. “I’m sick and tired of everyone talking in riddles to me. Tell me, plain and simple, who is Sofia and what the hell was she doing meddling in the dragon training programs.”

Jake looked at Leif, confused. “Sofia? The junior audit agent you were griping about at the bar a few nights ago?”

Leif nodded. “Yes, her. I knew she was nothing but trouble from the first moment I saw her.”

Councilor Morgan was unfazed by Leif’s outburst. “Sofia Hayes is not actually a junior audit agent. She is a spy for the city of Torch Lake. She managed to infiltrate the Dark Warriors and win the trust of Vincent, which has allowed her to feed information back to us about their strategies and plans.”

Leif blinked in surprise. “Sofia…is a spy?”

Councilor Morgan nodded wearily. “Yes. And one of our best. But it appears her cover was somehow blown. She was forced by Vincent to open the High Council building this morning. Several of the employees who were already here this morning reported seeing her held hostage and being threatened with death if she did not comply with Vincent’s wishes. According to eyewitnesses, she was dragged out of the building after the records were retrieved, and the Dark Warriors she was with were threatening to kill her. The last transmission we received from her was an S.O.S., sent from somewhere far north of Torch Lake. That was about forty-five minutes ago, and we haven’t heard from her since. We’re assuming the worst at this point.”

Leif felt his stomach turn. “The worst? Meaning you think she’s been…”

He couldn’t bring himself to say the words.

“Meaning we think she’s been killed,” Councilor Morgan finished for him.

Leif felt like the ground had disappeared from beneath him. His hatred for Sofia suddenly didn’t seem as legitimate as it had a few minutes earlier, but confusion still clouded his mind.

“What was the purpose of ending the dragon training programs, then?” Leif asked. “Was that somehow tied to these attacks?”

Councilor Morgan shook his head. “Not exactly. The dragon training program had to be ended early because Vincent was angry that he couldn’t recruit dragons to his cause, and he decided that if he couldn’t have dragons, no one could. He demanded that Sofia prove her loyalty by convincing the High Council to end the training program early. We decided that losing two dragons was better than blowing Sofia’s cover. We hadn’t been able to sneak any other spies into the Dark Warriors, and we needed an insider’s view of what was going on. We were trying to bide our time and not make arrests until we had more information on where all of the recruits were coming from. Some are from Torch Lake, but many are from other places. We wanted to see if Sofia could get more information on the dark magic underground network before we swooped in to end Vincent’s little project.”

Leif felt dizzy. This is what Sofia had been trying to tell him in the grocery store the other night. She’d been trying, in her own way, to apologize for the way she’d been acting. She hadn’t been a jerk because she hated Leif or the Dragon Utilization Department. She’d been a jerk because she’d had to be in order to keep her true purposes secret. Leif found himself wondering who Sofia actually was. Perhaps she wasn’t as dumb or mean as he’d thought. Perhaps she wasn’t dumb or mean at all, in fact. He’d judged her based on completely false information. It wasn’t exactly his fault, but he still felt ashamed.

Leif glanced over at Jake, whose face had turned white as a sheet.

“How does this keep happening?” Jake asked. “How does evil keep getting a foothold like this? I would have thought that after the Dark War, everyone would stay as far away from dark magic as they could. They’ve all seen the horrors it can cause.”

“Well, that’s part of the problem,” Councilor Morgan replied. “They’ve seen the horrors firsthand. Many have lost family members, friends, or even their entire clan. And the grief has left many people angry. They think that the High Councils of their former clans didn’t do enough to save their loved ones. Or they think that dark magic is stronger than good, and that it’s only a matter of time until evil takes over. They don’t want to be on the losing side again when that happens, so they’ve started to learn the ways of dark magic.”

“The losing side?” Leif asked, incredulous. “But dark magic was the losing side. The cause of good won in the last war!”

Councilor Morgan shrugged. “In a manner of speaking, yes. We won the war. But not everyone considers it victory, when you lose your entire family in the process.”

Leif considered that. He had lost his whole family, like so many others. He had never considered joining the side of evil because of it, but he did remember being very angry at the High Council of his shifter clan. He’d thought they hadn’t taken action quickly enough, or that they should have done something more.

“So how did this Vincent guy figure out that Sofia was a spy?” he asked, looking around at the grave expressions on all of the Council Members’ faces.

Councilor Ceyus spoke up. “We aren’t sure, exactly. Sofia was always very careful. Much of the time, Vincent made her wear a secret video camera that looked like a lapel pin, so she was used to being watched constantly. But preliminary reports seem to indicate that one of the Dark Warriors overheard her saying some questionable things in a grocery store. We aren’t sure what she said or whom she was talking to, but apparently her words were enough for Vincent to question her loyalty.”

It was Leif’s turn to go pale. “Oh my god,” he said. “That was me.”

Every eye in the room immediately turned to look at him, and he regretted that he’d said anything out loud. It was too late, though. He’d spoken, and they were all going to want to know what Sofia had said to him. He swallowed hard, and started to explain.

“I ran into Sofia at the Spellbound Supermarket last night. I was quite angry at her over the dragon training program being ended so suddenly, and I said some harsh words to her. I’m ashamed to admit that, knowing what I know now. But at the time I was quite angry. I was convinced that she had told you all some sort of lie to get you to agree to end the dragon training. I’d been pretty rude to her since the first day I met her, quite honestly. I hope that doesn’t make me sound like an awful person, but from my perspective, she was interfering in things she didn’t understand.”

“It’s alright, Leif,” Councilor Isviar cut in. “Don’t worry about anyone judging you for how you acted. The important thing now is that we need to understand what happened with Sofia. The more you can tell us, the better chance we have of figuring out what they know about her, and where they might have taken her.”

Leif nodded, although he still felt awful. “Well, she didn’t say too much to me, to be honest. But she did tell me that things aren’t always what they seem, and that if things don’t make sense then there’s probably a reason for that. I’d been trying all night to figure out what she meant by that, which is why I came straight here this morning. I was going to demand again that someone explain things to me. I guess now things are pretty clear though. She was trying to tell me that she was a spy, and was actually on my side.”

The room was silent as the High Council members considered what Leif had said. Finally, Councilor Morgan spoke.

“I see. Well, if one of Vincent’s guys overheard that, I guess they might have figured out she was a spy. It’s a vague statement, but the Dark Warriors are paranoid that they’re going to be sold out at any moment. And Sofia has always been under a lot of scrutiny, since she works directly with us. They loved having an inside connection, but they also feared it.”

“Rightly so,” Councilor Isviar said. “Since Sofia was a spy. I’m worried that they’ve tortured the complete truth out of her. Or that they have plans to kill her.”

“Hopefully they haven’t killed her already,” Councilor Ceyus said.

Leif felt like he might hurl. Sofia’s life was in danger, and it was all because he’d insisted on constantly telling her how awful she was. He’d almost turned around and left her alone when he saw her in the grocery store. Now, he wished more than anything that that’s what he’d done. This whole break-in at the High Council Building might never have happened if he’d only kept his big mouth shut. Leif tried to think of words to say that would seem like an appropriate apology, but he found himself at a loss. What could he possibly say that would make this better? While he was still contemplating how to fix the mess he’d created, a loud knock came at the conference room door.

“Come in,” Councilor Morgan boomed. The thick wooden door opened, and a young wizard dressed in a Torch Lake military uniform stepped in.

“Forgive the interruption, your Honor. But I have the security footage you asked for. Commander Ceyus said you wanted it the instant it was available.”

“That’s correct. Thank you, young man.”

The soldier handed a small memory stick to the Head Councilor, then saluted and left the room. Councilor Morgan handed the memory stick over to Councilor Ceyus.

“Stick this into the projector, would you?”

Councilor Ceyus did as he was asked, and a few moments later, the security footage from that morning was playing out across a large projector screen on the wall behind Councilor Morgan. Leif clenched his fists as he watched the awful scene unfold. He had a feeling that whatever he saw was going to make him feel even worse about the way he had treated Sofia, but had no choice but to watch and face the truth.