ELENA
I SHOULD’VE SLEPT like a log, but I didn’t. I tossed around. It was as if the bed was too lumpy. My mind didn’t want to shut down; it was filled with too many worries – worries about the farmers, about Cassy, Nicky and Max. They didn’t have a hiding place anymore, and I didn’t know if there was enough time for Charles and the others to build a new one.
Then there was Annie. Sure, she was with me, but she was also a Sun-Blast dragon. She told me what they did to dragons. They tried to turn them evil; it was one of the reasons she’d refused to transform. She’d done it so for so long now that she didn’t know how to transform.
August was next. What if the Council found out that he was a Dragonian? They would kill him.
The other person I kept thinking of was the one on the wyvern – the one who was the spitting image of Blake. He had the same beauty, the same hard jaw line, and the same smile. The only difference was his eyes and his voice.
It could’ve been Blake’s twin.
Annie had called him Billy when she’d begged him to not take her. Could he have been the one she knew in the Council?
Who was he and why was he Blake’s doppelganger?
Then there was this new arrangement with Lord Creptone. Was I going to be able to pull off this entire mistress thing? I’d never been someone’s mistress before, and if I could, well there was the other problem that hung over my head: Paul.
I was on his turf now. If what Blake had told me was the truth and that Paul had gotten another human form, then I would never know what he looked like. He could be anyone.
Lastly was Blake. I couldn’t push that image of blood pouring out of every hole in his face out of my mind. It had soaked my carpet.
It was still a hard pill to swallow that he was gone. I felt broken, like a huge part of me had died with him. And it wasn’t a mental part, this time it was physical. I was normal, well semi-normal as I still had my enhanced hearing, but something told me that during the next few years, that would leave me too.
A soft knock on my door made me lift my head from the softest pillow I’d ever slept on.
The door opened, and Annie entered with a tray of food.
I got out of bed and ran toward her, flung my arms around her and hugged her.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I told you not to worry about me.” She regarded me with concern. “How are you?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“He didn’t.”
“Shhh, don’t worry about that, okay. I’ll be fine, just as long as you are safe.”
“Thanks for this. I shudder to think where I could’ve ended up.”
“I take it not all the places are as posh as this one,” I said, and from her expression, I immediately knew I should’ve kept my mouth shut. All thanks to the lack of sleep.
“Where the hell did you come from?”
My lips curved slightly, and I shook my head. “Nowhere.”
“So you keep saying. All I know is if it wasn’t for you, those girls would’ve been discovered.”
“Shhh.”
“How did you do it?”
“It doesn’t matter. They are safe.”
Silence filled the room.
“It’s like you are some kind of a god. A ray of hope.” Tears welled up in Annie’s eyes, and she wiped them away quickly.
“There is nothing wrong with hope,” I said.
She gave a sad sigh. “No there is. Hope doesn’t exist here.”
“Don’t say that. You are way too young to say that.”
“Everyone that had stood up to the Council has died, Elle. My father was one of them. I was only eight. The night he died, they took me. I worked in a huge house as help. Then when I turned fifteen, well, goodbye innocence.”
I shut my eyes at her words, as I knew what she was implying. “It got worse over the years, and one day, I just couldn’t do it anymore. So they beat me, and beat me, until they left me for dead. Charles found me and nursed me back to health and I’ve lived on the farm until now. Now I’m back where I started.”
“He promised that you would just be the help.”
“They don’t have a say in that.” She wiped at another tear. “When the king of wyverns comes, if he wants me, they can’t tell him no.”
I felt her fear, her pain.
“He won’t even be able to protect you.”
My mouth gaped. “You are not a Moon-Bolt, so stop fearing something that might never happen.”
The corner of her lips curved slightly. “I don’t have to be a Moon-Bolt. It is what it is.”
“Can we just change the subject for now, please. Have you eaten?”
“Early this morning.”
I got up to see what was underneath the silver lid and found bagels with cream cheese, a bowl of porridge and some fruit. The fresh fruit was probably from the farms.
I held out some grapes to her, and she took them with a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
I grabbed the other bunch and we both sat on the bed and ate it.
Annie wiped off another tear. “They were like my family. The only family I’ve ever really had.”
I wrapped one arm around her.
“What happened to your mom?”
She just shook her head. She was an orphan.
“Well if it is of any condolence I didn’t have a mother either.”
She sniffed.
“Or a sister.” I bumped her softly.
She huffed.
“So the way I see it, it’s you and me now. We’ll take care of each other.”
She smiled and stared at the carpet. “They are going to give you the barcode soon.”
I took a deep breath.
“It’s fine. Whatever happens, it’s going to be fine.”
“Elle.”
“What, Annie? You want me to feel defeated? They can only make you feel that if you let them. It’s the one thing I’ve learned the past couple of years, and I wish that I’d learned it sooner.” I glanced at her again. “Don’t let them make you feel that.”
She nodded and got up. “I have to go, lots of floors and toilets to scrub.”
“I’m sorry.”
She turned around and took both my hands in hers. “Don’t you ever say that! A cleaner is a kindness. Thank you.”
I smiled at her and hugged her again.
“Seymour is coming today. He was the idiot that you had that thing with. Be careful, I didn’t like the way he called you a bird.”
“Me neither,” I admitted. Just thinking about it made me feel chilly.
“Whatever you do, don’t be alone in a room with him.”
“Who is he? I mean, what is his place here.”
“Lord Creptone’s son, and yes, he is as sadistic as they come. Be careful.”
I nodded. Annie left the tray of food and exited the door.
Something told me she knew a lot about all these people. Especially the bad ones.
After breakfast, another lady walked in and drew me a bath. She was unfriendly, and I could understand her cold shoulder. Like Annie, she had no hope.
She didn’t even bother to introduce herself to me or show any kind of interest in having a conversation, but she was a great help.
I took the bath, and when I was finished, my bed was made, as it had been the night before.
I got dressed in a long summer dress that showed a lot of cleavage. It had bright colors and a pair of slip-ons waited too.
This entire world was so messed up.
I found a library, and hid in a corner trying to read. I didn’t know what else to do.
The reading didn’t help much, as my mind was so distracted from the conversation with Annie this morning.
I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Seymour again.
“I will keep you safe.” Those were Lord Creptone’s words if I kept my promise.
He had better keep his.
I STAYED IN the library until lunchtime. Annie found me and announced that lunch was served on the terrace.
“He’s here, just ignore him.”
“Calm down.”
She eyed my dress. “You had to wear that.”
I gave her the raised eyebrow. “Do you honestly think that I would wear this if there were choices?”
“No.” She sighed. “Men.”
“I’ll be fine. How has your day been? Mine is so freaking boring.”
“You should’ve just stayed in your room. Sleep, as you are going to need all your strength tonight.”
“Okay, way too much information, thank you.”
She led me through huge open doors that came to a verandah. The view of acres of land wasn’t as beautiful as I’d hoped it would be. Too many trees – the creepy kind.
It reminded me of the dream I’d had about my mom, before I knew she was my mom.
I wished all of a sudden that I could just be that Elena again.
“Lord, Miss Elle.” Annie bowed, looked at the ground and turned around. She walked away quickly back into the house.
“Good afternoon, Elle, did you have a good night’s rest?” Lord Creptone got up, kissed me full on the lips, which I hadn’t expected, but to my own surprise pulled me into my role.
“I did, thank you.” I sat down in the chair.
A figure was seated in one of the chairs nearby, but I didn’t pay him any attention, although I could feel his eyes were on me the whole time.
“Seymour,” Lord Creptone said. “This is Elle.”
“The girl from the farm. The little wingless bird,” he joked, but I knew what he meant by that. He didn’t care that I was supposed to belong to his father.
Annie was right, everything about him was screaming pig, and sadistic. I could pretty much see the things he wanted to do to me playing in his mind.
I dug into my cold meat sandwich and ate while the two of them started to chat about a feast that was coming up. I didn’t pay any attention to the feast, although I was sure that I had to be there, playing my part next to Lord Creptone.
After lunch, I excused myself then gave Lord Creptone a kiss on his cheek before I went back into the house.
“Isn’t she a bit too young for you, Father?”
“Seymour, she is off limits. She is mine and I don’t want you or any of the men near her.”
“Seriously, it’s going to be like that?”
“I mean it. Don’t forget what happened to Mark.”
Whatever happened to this Mark, well, it had to have been bad, because Seymour didn’t reply.
Sometimes I hated my enhanced hearing, and this was one of those times.
I just hoped that Seymour obeyed.
BLAKE
I OPENED MY eyes and found myself in the hospital. I was drained, as if I could sleep for another week, but then Elena jumped into my mind and I jolted up.
“Easy,” a nurse next to me said.
“Where am I?” I asked, clawing at an IV that had been inserted on top of my hand. I was the Rubicon. What was I doing here? I didn’t need stupid medical assistance.
The last thing I remembered was crashing down. I couldn’t fly anymore. In fact, my body didn’t want to do anything else either.
“Dents,” was all the nurse said. “You act like you are machines. You are not. You need food and you need rest, just like all the other living creatures God bestowed on this earth.”
“I need to find the princess,” I said through gritted teeth.
“You need to rest, and eat,” a man said from the door. Emanuel. What is he doing here?
“I’m fine.” I started to get out of bed, and when I stood up, the same dizziness from when I woke after I kissed Elena returned. Emanuel caught me and placed me gently back on the bed.
“Far from fine. You can’t find the princess if you are not well. Rest. I beg of you, and when you are better, I’ll search with you.”
“How long have I been out?”
He regarded me. I knew he cared for her too – a fact I didn’t like at all. He sighed. “Five days.”
My eyes rose. “Five…f-f…five days.” I did the sums quickly in my head. Almost six weeks. Six weeks and no sign of Elena.
I grunted and stroked my face hard. I was never going to find her.
“You need to take care of yourself.”
“I’ve searched everywhere. It’s like she just vanished.”
“Have you searched the wyvern cities?”
I looked at him, and a new fear clawed at my gut. Paul. “She will not be alive if she is in one of them.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do. Paul is… If he finds her before I do, then he will,” I couldn’t say it.
Emanuel froze. “What do you mean by if Paul finds her first? He’s dead.”
Shit, fuck. There was no way to lie to him. I’d known him a long time through Lucian. “There might be a way the hippogriff gave him the Calupso potion before he died.”
“The Calupso potion? Why didn’t any of you think to tell King Helmut about this?”
“’Cause you know what he is like, Emanuel. He will go on another killing spree. The only problem is, we don’t know what Paul looks like now.”
“This just gets worse.”
“Then don’t tell him. We’re not even sure about that yet.”
“You want me to lie to my rider?”
“Not lie, just keep it from him until we are sure. Keep him safe.” I knew he would do that if he thought his safety was being jeopardized.
“There is not much difference between keeping something back and lying to someone.”
“Please Emanuel. He can’t know. Not with Elena still missing.”
Emanuel pinched his nose and stared at my bed. I could tell by his expression he didn’t like that at all. Then he lifted up his head and our eyes met. “Fine, I’ll try to not say anything.”
“Thank you.”
“She’s not stupid, you know. In fact, she can do quite a lot of spells; ones she’s not even supposed to know. So, she has an advantage. She will be fine. Just don’t lose hope, please.”
I nodded.
“Now rest. When you are better, I’ll help you as long as you need me.”
I laid my head back on the pillow and watched the fan. I’d searched everywhere, as in everywhere. I had known where I was heading to when my body gave up, and I didn’t know if that part scared me or if it was showing me mercy. If I hadn’t crashed, I would’ve been dead, as I had been heading straight for the Creepers.
Elena, where the hell are you?
