Recap:

Caddie and Dmitri managed to get out of Castle Böse- with a little help from Murphy. They're flying to Romania to speak with the leader of the Vampire Gangs, in hopes that he has information on the traitor. Dmitri mentions his hunger so Caddie jokingly suggests they stop at McDonald's. They debated whether or not it would be a good a idea to go to a fast food restaurant with a dragon, but in the end Dmitri's stomach wins. Meanwhile  at Castle Böse nobody has realized that two royals are missing... Or have they?
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Caddie's POV:

I had been in many strange situations before. Like the time I thought a female werewolf was a male, because she had facial hair. Or the time I was casually walking to my next class and accidentally got slapped in the face with a fluttering fairy wing. But watching an invisible dragon while Dmitri stood in line for our food had to be the weirdest situation I had ever been in. Standing off to the side of a McDonald's parking lot in Prague, I tried to look normal while making sure the Dragon didn't fly away. I knew Murphy hadn't left yet because I could still feel his hot, foul breath on the back of my neck.

My eyes darted from building to building as I took in the beautiful sight that was Prague. The city looked as if it hadn't changed since the 1400s. The city of a hundred spires had a charm that couldn't be matched by any other place on earth. The Romanesque styled buildings and cobbled roads made me feel as if I were in a fairy tale. Their buildings were like snowflakes all very different from one another but still incredibly beautiful. In the five minutes that I had been in the city I had fallen in love. There was a sense of magic in the air that made me feel as if I were home.

Once the war was over I promised myself to visit again. Then I wouldn't feel so bad about admiring architecture when there were more important things to worry about. Blood thirsty vampires, insane witches and backstabbing demons wouldn't haunt my dreams at night. Instead, I would start a new adventure where I could focus on finding happiness. I envisioned myself walking down the streets of Prague, with a carefree smile on my face and a small booklet filled with tourist attractions in my hand. It would be so lovely to just stop and sniff the roses for once.

I could feel Murphy's aggravation rise as the seconds ticked by. Apparently dragons weren't as mystified by Prague's beauty as people were- but he did like the citizens. His own hunger was only amplifying my own. I was so tempted to feed him one of the pedestrians so I wouldn't have the urge to rob McDonald's of all the food they had.

"Don't even think about it," I hissed under my breath when I felt his hunger spike.

A small girl in a tattered coat clung to her mother's hand as she passed me. Her eyes widened for a moment almost as if she could see Murphy. But that wasn't impossible- he wouldn't be visible until Dmitri reversed the spell.

"Mami, proč se ta ženská mluvila sama se sebou?" The little girl whimpered.

I had no idea what she was saying. The only language I could speak was English and there are times when I would mess that up.

"cizinci jsou blázni," her mother replied in a clipped tone before pulling her away from me.

I had a strange nagging feeling in the back of mind. Almost as if they were speaking about me- but I tried not to care. It's not like I would ever see those two again or learn Czech.

Murphy snorted behind me.

"I'm glad you find this funny," I sniffed, "but you won't be laughing when the mortals find out you exist and try to dissect you."

His amusement quickly died out when he figured out the meaning of my words. I'm sure there were plenty of people who would push endless amounts of money towards me just for the chance to see a dragon. I could only imagine the prizes I would receive if I put the dragon into their curious hands. Before I could continue thinking  about selling Murphy to a freak show Dmitri appeared in front of us.

"I have never been more happy to see a burger," he groaned and threw the paper bag at me.

My stomach growled in response as I opened the bag and started stuffing my face with fries. Lately, I seemed to agreeing with Dmitri a lot. It was very discerning. As my stomach pains started to ease my mind drifted to the people we left behind in Germany. It was still very early in the morning but Alix would have seen something by now.

"How long will it be until they come after us," I asked casually as I wiped ketchup from the side of my mouth.

Dmitri looked away from the new love of his life long enough to answer me. "Mhm," he tried to speak but the mountain of food shoved between his teeth stopped him.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth," I chastised him in a joking manner.

Dmitri rolled his eyes but obliged. After taking a few more unnecessary bites, he swallowed the remains of the burger and turned his attention on me. The golden glow from the rising sun only seemed to enhance his natural beauty. Even with bags under his eyes and ketchup on the corner of his mouth, he still looked gorgeous. There had to be a curse for acne or wrinkles, I plotted.

"I said, they're probably on their way now."

That was not the answer I wanted to hear. A part of me already knew they were on their way. My aunt had made it perfectly clear in the letter that Alix's life was bound to mine. If I died, she would surely follow. And I doubted Alix wanted to endanger her life, which naturally meant I had to be kept from harms way. My eyes darted around the nearly barren streets of Prague, just waiting for her to appear.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and they won't appear until we need them," I said, not bothering to hide the hopeful tone in my voice.

Dmitri wiped the crumbs from his scruff with the back of his sleeve. It was almost refreshing to see him act like a normal guy with flaws. If only he would keep his walls down more often, I thought wistfully. Dmitri noticed my stare and cocked a brow. Shrugging my shoulders, I looked away and bit my lip nervously. There was no reason for him to know about my conflicting thoughts.

"Maybe we should leave now," Dmitri suggested, feeling the tension between us. 

I nodded. All thoughts of skipping freely down the deserted streets of Prague left my mind. It was time to leave my dreams behind and return to reality. My gut started twist as Alix's prophecy danced in my head. The wolf won't be the only one to die. I desperately wished that for once she was wrong but that would be impossible. Alix had never been wrong in her life, she wasn't going to start now.

"Let's just get this over with," I agreed solemnly.

"Before you go!" A familiar voice called from the parking lot.

I closed my eyes and hoped that if I didn't see her, she wouldn't actually be in Prague. My plan was weak but it was better than having my babysitter drag me back to Castle Böse.

"Do you have room for room for six more?" Alix asked, effectively drawing my attention away from my eyelids.

Opening my eyes, I was greeted with the sight of the five other heirs and the traitor herself. I also noticed that they were all in sweatpants and ratty shirts, it was a sight I never thought o would see. The future council members looking less than perfect. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry so I turned to Dmitri for help.

"Room? It's not like we have a car to take us anywhere," Dmitri pathetically tried to worm his way out of the situation while receiving a disappointed glare from his older brother.

I didn't even glance at Aleksander. One look at his perfect face and my brain would be turned to mush. It would be so much easier if they wore bags over their head, the irrelevant thought popped into my mind. I could order them matching ski masks later, at the moment I had to save the one twin from being incinerated from his brother.

"Even if we did," I chimed in, "We don't need any company."

I could feel Aleksander's heated glare on my face but my eyes were glued to Ryder and Maddox. They were practically brothers to me, there was no possible way in hell that they wouldn't be on my side of the argument. At least that was what I thought until I saw the guilty expressions on their faces.

"We'd like to help," Maddox said quietly.

His hair was usually slicked back, in a way that made him seem older- but the frizzy bowl cut he sporting made him look like he was twelve year old. It didn't help that his tanned skin was as clear and smooth as a baby's butt or that he was wearing Spider-Man pajama pants. It's funny how much you can learn about someone through their pajamas.

"Yeah! Plus we missed all the fun last year," Ryder whined.

I would have been mad at Ryder for making such a heartless comment, if it weren't for the small teddy bear he had wrapped in his large arms. He looked like an even bigger child than Maddox. It finally made sense why a quiet mature boy like Maddox had befriended Ryder- they were full grown children on the inside.

"Yeah," Mira chimed in, glaring at her chipped manicure. "Because who wouldn't love to risk their lives at such an ungodly hour."

I was so annoyed that her voice returned. For a second I had managed to forget how annoyingly high pitched it was. She was living proof that I could only afford to have an hour of happiness.

"We're trying to save everyone," I growled, "I'm sorry that you're a cold hearted witch that can't afford to care about anyone beside herself but the rest of us actually have morals!"

Mira opened her mouth to say something in return but wisely closed it. Another word from her sticky pink lips and I would be tempted to set the city on fire. A strong, soft hand grabbed my arm- sending sparks throughout my body. My eyes quickly shot from the hand to Aleksander's face. It was a smart decision not to look at him
earlier, I thought grumpily. Aleksander looked like an actor in a mattress commercial. There wasn't a single piece of brown hair out of place. Dark circles and blemishes did not exist in the Volkov genetics. His clothing looked completely unruffled, almost as if he didn't sleep in them.

"Caddie please," he begged softly, relinquishing the full power of his big blue eyes. "Let's not fight. We must all admit this isn't the best plan but you and Dmitri are right- we do need to handle this situation."

I looked away as quickly as possible. He already managed to melt my heart, I didn't need him to melt my brain. I could live without my heart but one day without my mind and I'd be Mira's twin. The thought alone of being Mira's twin made my burger want to return to the surface.

I turned my attention to Dmitri, hoping that he could offer me some support- but our newly found comradeship was destroyed. Jealousy rolled off of him in nauseating waves. It was more likely that he would pull me from his brother for his own personal gain, instead of helping me. I quickly looked away from them- not wanting to be in the middle of sibling rivalry. They could throw each other off Murphy for all I cared but it would have to wait until we killed the Dark One.

"I think we should leave," Alix said.

There was an edge to her voice. Any other person wouldn't have cared if she seemed a little stressed but I knew better. Alix wasn't suggesting, she was demanding we leave. That could only mean something bad was about to happen.

Seconds after Alix spoke a loud boom echoed throughout the city. It was followed by raging flames and the agonized screams of innocent people. Pieces of burnt wood fell onto the cobbled streets Of Prague, as the fire continued to spread. It was awful. I couldn't move or think as shock overtook my body. Nothing was more horrifying than watching innocent people die. At least that's what I thought until I saw words written in the smog covered sky.

SEE YOU SOON.

**Let's remember that people have bad days and good days. It's the same with writers sometimes they write good chapters and sometimes they write ones like this. So I would like to apologize, connector chapters are never my favorite. I just finished with school on the plus side so now I'll have more time to write. Basically that means I have no excuse to procrastinate. Thanks guys again for all the support and hopefully you will continue to support with my #Onceuponnow submission, Judging Covers. I'll be posting the story on June 12th but voting doesn't begin until June 14th. I'll give you guys all the information when it's closer to the time.

Translations:

Mami, proč se ta ženská mluvila sama se sebou- Mom, why is that woman speaking to herself?

cizinci jsou blázni- Foreigners are crazy

(I don't speak Czech so please don't attack me over the translations.)
XOXO
RO.