IT WAS DARK, cold and the feeling of being utterly alone was all I had left. There was no more Lucian, no more Cara, there was nothing.
A jolt ran up my body, right through my core, and I couldn’t breathe for a couple of seconds as pain I’d never felt before ran its course. Then stopped. A couple of seconds of darkness and loneliness filled the space around me again before another jolt of pain emerged.
What the hell is this?
“Elena?” The voice sounded far away, and hollow. I could feel my chest expanding and then there were three pushes. The cycle repeated a couple of times.
I heard my name again, it was a voice I knew. Not my father’s and not Lucian’s. It was … Cheng.
With a hard and burning gasp my lungs filled with air. My eyes flew open and Cheng lifted me into an embrace. “I thought I’d lost you. Tanya didn’t mention anything like this,” he said into my hair.
I started to cry as I knew what I’d just done. I’d killed a part of me; I’d killed Cara.
“Shhhh,” Cheng cried too. “It had to be done, Elena. She served her purpose. We have to get back to Dragonia before it’s too late.”
I nodded even though I didn’t want to. How on earth was I going to be able to claim any dragon without Cara? How was I going to claim Blake when I felt so defeated, so weak?
He opened his backpack and took out a pair of jeans and t-shirt with a hoody. I only then realized that I was shaking from the cold.
We were stranded on a couple of rocks and the only light came from the full moon emerging slightly from a blanket of clouds.
Cheng helped me into the clothes that were way too big for me as I struggled to breathe. I didn’t know if it was the effect of losing Cara or finally being exposed to Mother Nature’s wrath.
When I was properly clothed Cheng rubbed his hands hard on my back trying to bring a little more heat into my frozen body.
“I’m fine, feeling much better, thank you.”
He gave me a soft smile. “It’s times like these I wish I was a freaking fire breather.”
I managed to give a small chuckle but the feeling of losing my best friend was still gripping me hard.
“Okay, let’s go,” he said as he changed back into his dragon and picked me up with his front paw. He pulled me closer to his torso and I could hear the beating of his heart. He smelled like the forest and ocean mixed in one. His soft leathery skin warmed my body until I didn’t feel the cold anymore.
My eyes felt itchy and heavy but for some reason my mind refused to let me sleep. I couldn’t get over the horrible act I’d just committed, on someone I actually loved. I was wrong about this time being different. I’d lost another friend. I’d lost a part of myself I would never get back. I felt exactly the same as the day Lucian had died. He stayed in my mind as I didn’t want to think about Cara anymore. It hurt more than thinking about Lucian.
How many more people am I going to lose like this?
The flight felt like hours, but the minute the legs that held me against his torso opened up I knew we were close to where he wanted to be.
He opened his paw for me to climb out and I saw Lucian’s Range Rover.
My body was drained and my knees gave in the minute I got up. Cheng changed in seconds and I could feel his warm hands grabbing me around the waist and underneath my legs. He carried me to the SUV and the hot air that crept through the venting system immediately started to warm my body. I fell into an exhausted doze as he drove us away at speed.
I woke as he picked me up and walked with me into the tavern and this time I didn’t protest. I was too tired to say anything.
He knocked on the door and the man who was on night duty finally opened up. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. Can you please make her something to eat and bring it up to her room? I’ll pay extra.”
I didn’t hear what he said as I buried my face in Cheng’s chest but the fast departure of his footsteps told me that he would do what Cheng asked.
By the rhythm of Cheng’s walk and the sound of the wood creaking I knew more or less where I was. I heard a key slide into a lock and the soft bed against my skin felt amazing. I would have given anything to just close my eyes and sleep, but my demons weren’t going to let me this time.
Cheng ran around in my room like a mouse looking for an escape route. I could see a faint light behind my eyelids, and the crackling of a new fire filled the room before the heat from the flames followed. His weight dented my bed and he pulled the covers over me. After I was tucked in he rubbed my body again.
“You feeling warm yet?” he asked, concern lacing his tone.
I didn’t answer, I couldn’t and I tried really hard not to cry but when my body started to shake I knew there was no way to make it stop.
“Elena, it wasn’t your fault. She had to go.”
Cheng stayed with me until I was calm. When the food came he begged me to eat, but the nauseous feeling inside the pit of my stomach made it impossible to think about food. He left after he finished his sandwich and glass of milk.
I closed my eyes when the fire started to die, and looked at the clock next to my bed which read three.
I dozed off and my eyes shot open again as my bed dented with someone else’s weight. I hadn’t even heard the door open. I froze knowing that Cheng was inside my room. I didn’t mind before as he’d wanted to make sure that I was fine, but whatever it was he wanted this time, I sure didn’t feel the same for him.
I turned around when his arm wrapped around my waist to tell him exactly how I felt and found Lucian.
Without thinking, my arms grabbed him around the neck and my lips found his. The tears flowed again. I’d missed him so much; I missed Cara and the emptiness inside of me was unbearable. My body shook again and I broke the kiss, trying my best to swallow my stupid tears. Who knows how long we had this time?
“Shhhh,” he said into my hair. “I take it that you finally found all your answers.”
I forgot about that. I forgot who I was and I forgot what it was I had to do. The image of Blake filled my mind. How much I hated him right now. “I can’t claim him Lucian.”
“Elena, you have no choice.”
“He wants nothing to do with me, and to be honest neither do I.”
“That’s not true and you know it. He’s not the type to show his true feelings Elena. He guards them, now even more than when we were younger. Did you know that he woke up the exact moment you entered Paegeia?”
“Yes, he said it was my dragon.”
“He’s lying. If he wanted nothing to do with you, he would never have saved your life, twice. Just think about that.”
“It will never be like that.”
Lucian chuckled. “Don’t fool yourself, Elena. It will be exactly like that. You’re made for one another. Your love has been foretold for centuries…” A sadness filled his eyes.
Foretold for centuries….what the hell is he talking about?The first foretelling, the one on the very first page of the Book of Shadows.
“I’m glad I died.”
I shot him a glare. “You don’t mean that.”
“Oh, but I do princess. I told you before, the Blake I know will love you better than any human ever could, including me.”
“I don’t love him.”
“You will, more than you ever loved me.”
“That can never be.”
“Shhh, I’ve made peace with that. I would die a thousand deaths for you. I don’t regret anything that happened, because I know what I died for. You will free the people of Etan and Paegeia will finally live in peace because the two of you will fight for it. I struggled with that, but now I can see clearly.”
“You met my mom?”
He laughed. “You’re a lot like her, Elena. She begged me to tell you how much she loved you.”
I shook my head. “Everyone is saying that, but it’s not how I feel.”
“I know, it’s hard to understand. Maybe one day when you have a little one of your own, you will grasp how hard it was for her to give you up.” He kissed me on the forehead and I buried my face in his chest again. His cologne filled my nostrils, but I knew it didn’t matter how many sniffs I took, I would never be able to hold on to it. It would disappear the minute I woke up. “You need to claim Blake. I promise you, you won’t regret it. I love you, princess.”
I woke up and found myself hugging my pillow.
He didn’t understand how much I hated Blake. I said I would find a way to help someone else claim him, now it turned out that I was that someone. It was so unfair, and what the hell did he mean by “foretold for centuries.”
THE NEXT I found Cheng by the breakfast table downstairs. Two other groups of men wearing hunting gear sat at a huge table a couple of rows in front of us. They were loud and annoying.
A woman wearing tavern clothes placed a plate filled with eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast in front of me. I wasn’t hungry, but at the same time I was starving.
“Eat, you’re going to need it,” Cheng said.
“For what?”
“Elena, you know what needs to be done.”
“I told you I can’t do that. I won’t claim him,” I hissed at him.
“You’ve got no choice.”
“You’re wrong. You always have a choice.”
“Elena they’ll force you.”
I stared at him for a while. Glaring was more like it. “I thought you were my friend. I saved your life. She saved your life.”
“And I’m super grateful for that. Just remember one thing: if I hadn’t been there, you would’ve been dead. My debt is paid.”
I started to laugh. “That’s your answer? I can’t believe you’re going to trade me in.” All laughter was gone and if I still had Cara I would’ve incinerated his ass on the spot.
I got up and left.
“Pack, we need to leave soon.”
“Fuck you,” I yelled back at him and the group of men all stared at me with huge eyes as I darted past them.
Cheng literally carried me to the Range Rover like my father used to. Without Cara’s strength my kicks and punches got me nowhere. He was determined to get me back to Dragonia and would have even tied me up if I had carried on fighting.
He chucked me onto the front seat and my head hit the back of the seat hard. When he shut the door, he locked it at the same time. I hammered on it fiercely as I refused to go back and face my destiny. Who in their right mind would claim a beast like Blake Leaf? They’d had to sedate him for the past couple of months just to be able to handle him.
Cheng’s door opened next to me and before I could slide over and escape that way, he slid down onto his seat.
I sat back in my chair, crossed my arms and ground hard on my teeth. Now that I was human again my tear ducts were once again connected to my emotions and angry tears threatened, but I wasn’t going to give this dragon I’d thought was my friend the satisfaction.
I stared out the window at the view, but I took nothing in as my mind was filled with rage. How dare he do this to me? How on earth was I going to claim Blake? He knew who I was, he could’ve just told me that night and Brian would still be alive. I wouldn’t have been in that cave with Paul because I would have known he was lying through his teeth when he’d told me I was his rider, and Lucian would still be alive. He’d made Cara wake up, made me love her, and then become the reason that I’d had to kill her. How on earth did any of them expect me to claim him?
Around eight Cheng pulled over near a couple of trees. He opened a huge packet of chips and shoved them in front of me. “Eat, you need your strength for tomorrow.”
“I’m not—”
“Don’t say it. You will claim him Elena, so help me, and you are going to need all the strength you can muster to do it.”
“You can’t make me,” I hissed at him like an angry cat.
“Yeah, watch me. Now eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Fine, suit yourself,” he spoke a couple of Latin words and stared at me for a couple of seconds.
The anger disappeared first, then all my thoughts followed. I couldn’t remember what I was even doing in the car or who Cheng was. Next came the numb feeling. It started from my toes and spread to my tongue. Before I could even ask what the hell was happening to me, my eyelids became heavy and everything faded until all was black.
