Descended from Dragons: an Urban Fantasy (Moonlight Dragon Book 1) by Tricia Owens Page B
Authors: Tricia Owens
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anymore.
I looked back over my shoulder to see if Vale was still following. The shadows seemed to love him, curling around his body like tailored garments. An effect of being a gargoyle? Or of being possessed by a demon?
"Someone named Christian did this to you," I told him as we walked. "Do you know him?"
Vale stopped in his tracks, pulling Melanie and me up short, too.
"Christian did this?" Vale rubbed at his forehead as if a headache was building. "That doesn't make sense."
"Who is he to you?" Melanie asked.
"A friend." But Vale sounded as though he were currently questioning that status thanks to our revelation.
"You sure about that?" I said, just to get a reaction out of him.
"He's my best friend," Vale said fiercely, dropping his hand to glare at me. "He would never have done this to me."
Best friend? That put a new twist on things.
"Lili—my friend you met back there—said Christian smelled of brimstone."
"How would she know that?"
I pulled out my phone. "She sensed it from this. Christian inputted his phone number."
He snatched it from my hand so quickly I realized that had he wanted to hurt me, he could have done so at any time. It sobered me. He might have been helpless while he was trapped, but he wasn't helpless now.
"What is this?" he asked after he'd pulled up Christian's entry.
I made a face, unable to stop myself. "Well, I thought he was giving me his number—"
"It's a code," Vale cut me off.
"Numerology!" Melanie blurted. She gave me a sheepish-looking smile. "I was sort of thinking it might be that but I was afraid to say anything in case it sounded dumb."
"Dork, you should have said something." I was excited now. "What does it mean?" I asked Vale.
"It's not numerology," he muttered. "I need to use this."
I watched him close out the phone book. "You're not going to text Europe are you? Because my plan won't cover that."
He accessed the browser and the search engine. "Christian's hobby is writing cipher codes. He uses it to write insulting Facebook posts without offending the person he's insulting."
I only just stopped myself from laughing. Maybe I was giving Christian an unfairly bad rap.
"He might have written this for me," Vale went on. "But if he did, he would've made it simple enough for me to figure out." He glanced up from beneath his fringe and shot me a crooked smile. "I'll still need help."
I nodded, being cool, not letting him know my heart was beating a million miles a minute thanks to that little smile. Melanie elbowed me, though, and smirked. She could see right through me.
"Here we go." Melanie and I crowded around Vale as he accessed a website called Cyber Sleuthing. There was a form field consisting of two text boxes. You entered text in one side and it came out encrypted in the other. And vice versa, which was the function we needed. "Each number represents a letter in the alphabet."
Melanie scrunched up her nose. "What do you mean? I don't get it."
"The number one equals the letter A. Two equals the letter B and so on," I explained. "But obviously you have to try a couple of variants when you've got two numbers together that could form letters both separately and together, like this one and a four, which could also be foureen."
Vale nodded, already punching in numbers and clicking the 'encrypt' button. A bunch of gibberish appeared in the second box. He tried another variant and this one worked.
"Diana," Melanie read aloud. "Why would he encrypt that?"
"He must have thought someone might follow him to you," Vale said. "Diana is his mother's name."
"Your best friend's mother cursed you? Yikes, some friend," I said.
"Or he's telling me that she'll be able to help me."
Vale ran a hand across his eyes. I noticed that his fingers trembled. It worried me. Liliana's magick would keep him from reverting to his gargoyle form until sunrise, but would he be able to hold off the demon for that long? Signs weren't looking so hot.
"Why don't you try calling him?" I
I looked back over my shoulder to see if Vale was still following. The shadows seemed to love him, curling around his body like tailored garments. An effect of being a gargoyle? Or of being possessed by a demon?
"Someone named Christian did this to you," I told him as we walked. "Do you know him?"
Vale stopped in his tracks, pulling Melanie and me up short, too.
"Christian did this?" Vale rubbed at his forehead as if a headache was building. "That doesn't make sense."
"Who is he to you?" Melanie asked.
"A friend." But Vale sounded as though he were currently questioning that status thanks to our revelation.
"You sure about that?" I said, just to get a reaction out of him.
"He's my best friend," Vale said fiercely, dropping his hand to glare at me. "He would never have done this to me."
Best friend? That put a new twist on things.
"Lili—my friend you met back there—said Christian smelled of brimstone."
"How would she know that?"
I pulled out my phone. "She sensed it from this. Christian inputted his phone number."
He snatched it from my hand so quickly I realized that had he wanted to hurt me, he could have done so at any time. It sobered me. He might have been helpless while he was trapped, but he wasn't helpless now.
"What is this?" he asked after he'd pulled up Christian's entry.
I made a face, unable to stop myself. "Well, I thought he was giving me his number—"
"It's a code," Vale cut me off.
"Numerology!" Melanie blurted. She gave me a sheepish-looking smile. "I was sort of thinking it might be that but I was afraid to say anything in case it sounded dumb."
"Dork, you should have said something." I was excited now. "What does it mean?" I asked Vale.
"It's not numerology," he muttered. "I need to use this."
I watched him close out the phone book. "You're not going to text Europe are you? Because my plan won't cover that."
He accessed the browser and the search engine. "Christian's hobby is writing cipher codes. He uses it to write insulting Facebook posts without offending the person he's insulting."
I only just stopped myself from laughing. Maybe I was giving Christian an unfairly bad rap.
"He might have written this for me," Vale went on. "But if he did, he would've made it simple enough for me to figure out." He glanced up from beneath his fringe and shot me a crooked smile. "I'll still need help."
I nodded, being cool, not letting him know my heart was beating a million miles a minute thanks to that little smile. Melanie elbowed me, though, and smirked. She could see right through me.
"Here we go." Melanie and I crowded around Vale as he accessed a website called Cyber Sleuthing. There was a form field consisting of two text boxes. You entered text in one side and it came out encrypted in the other. And vice versa, which was the function we needed. "Each number represents a letter in the alphabet."
Melanie scrunched up her nose. "What do you mean? I don't get it."
"The number one equals the letter A. Two equals the letter B and so on," I explained. "But obviously you have to try a couple of variants when you've got two numbers together that could form letters both separately and together, like this one and a four, which could also be foureen."
Vale nodded, already punching in numbers and clicking the 'encrypt' button. A bunch of gibberish appeared in the second box. He tried another variant and this one worked.
"Diana," Melanie read aloud. "Why would he encrypt that?"
"He must have thought someone might follow him to you," Vale said. "Diana is his mother's name."
"Your best friend's mother cursed you? Yikes, some friend," I said.
"Or he's telling me that she'll be able to help me."
Vale ran a hand across his eyes. I noticed that his fingers trembled. It worried me. Liliana's magick would keep him from reverting to his gargoyle form until sunrise, but would he be able to hold off the demon for that long? Signs weren't looking so hot.
"Why don't you try calling him?" I
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