We stayed in this darkness for a while. The last thing I remembered was Tabitha and her ability. It was horrible as my body froze. “Where are we?”
“We are in Chef’s freezer.”
“Are we going to stay here forever?”
“No, I just need to make sure that you are one hundred percent.”
“What happened?”
“Tabitha released her gift. You get why I’m so terrified now?”
She nodded. “Still, we weren’t close to the creepers.”
A chuckle vibrated in my ear.
“Blake, we need to get out of here.”
“Okay. Lu!”
The door opened, and Lucian gasped. “What the hell, Elena? Give us a heart attack, won’t you?”
Dad appeared behind him and his lower-lip vibrated as he crouched down in front of me. “You are ice cold. Get me a blanket.”
“Dad, I’m fine. Just hungry.”
“You weren’t fine.” He looked at Blake and my gaze flickered to his. Tears filled my eyes as ice crystals hung from him and made him look like some snow monster.
“I’m fine, Elena. Just need to get the ice off me, but I’m fine.”
“I’ll turn off the freezer to get you out of the ice, Blake,” Chef said.
The corner of his lips quirked as my eyes grew as big as saucers.
Dad grabbed his neck. Crystals fell to the ground. “Thank you for doing this?”
“She is my dent. It’s we both live or we both die.”
The strings around my heart pulled in all directions. He did this to him for me?
“Get her out of here. I’ll see you soon, promise.”
Dad wrapped a blanket around me and helped me up. My body trembled, but it wasn’t from the cold, it was from fear and probably fatigue.
He took me to my room and Sammy was the first to get off her bed, and rushed over to us.
“You okay? My brother?” Her gaze flickered to Dad.
“He is fine. Just going to take a while to get out of the fridge, but Chef will get him out of there in no time.”
“Thank heavens it worked.”
“I need a shower and something to eat.”
“I’ll grab something to eat,” Vicky said, and grabbed me around my neck. “Never do that to us again.”
I nodded.
She pulled away to look at me. “You have ice now?”
“Yeah, I think I do.”
“So awesome.” She let go of me and rushed out of the room.
Becky came over and hugged me. “I’ve never been this scared my entire life.”
“I’m okay.”
“You are the princess of Paegeia. You didn’t see what we saw.”
“Okay, we can talk later.”
She nodded, and Sammy walked with me to the bathroom. She closed the door and helped me to get rid of my clothes, as I had hardly the strength to stand.
“How do you feel?”
“Weird. I’m not tired, but I have no strength.”
“Yeah, it’s because you were for eight days in the infirmary, giving us all the biggest scare of our lives.”
“Eight days?”
“On day four, my brother got this crazy idea of forcing the ability. It’s not cold enough yet…” Tears glistened in her eyes.
“That was why I woke up in the freezer?”
She nodded and took a huge breath and burst into tears.
“Hey, it’s okay?” I wrapped my arm around her.
“He didn’t care if he was going to live or die, Elena. Nobody can force this, and you have to be in your dragon form for it to happen. He did the fucking impossible.”
I got her meaning.
“You weren’t getting better. He was so scared, all of us were so scared.”
“I’m okay, thanks to your brother. I’m okay.”
“You both could’ve died.”
“Guess I owe him big.”
She sniffed, and a giggle slipped past her lips, wiping her tears from her eyes, and nodded. She opened the shower as I stood in my underwear. “You need my help, or will you be okay?”
“I’ll be okay. Thanks, Sammy.”
“You are welcome.” She walked out and closed the door behind her.
I took a long shower and just let the water ease the knots in my body. Tabitha plagued my thoughts, and that chilly feeling seeped into my body again. I couldn’t move. She had awakened an old fear. A fear I thought I dealt with. Dragons were vicious.
I get why Blake didn’t tell anyone about my father. I was shit scared and wished I could get the girl back before this event. All those months of training, out the window.
I sobbed softly as the fear grew.
After the shower, I ate the mountain of food that Vicky had brought. I couldn’t finish the plate and Constance came after and did a full check on me. “It’s a miracle.”
“That is my brother for you,” Sammy said with a puffed out chest.
“Thank heavens for that?” Constance put her stethoscope around her neck.
“Thank you so much.”
“Sweetheart, nothing I did worked. You should thank your dragon.”
“I know.” My lips fanned into a smile. “Still, someone kept me alive for four days, or so I’ve been told.”
A faint smile curved at the corner of her lips. “It’s my pleasure, and my job.” Her eyes grew bigger at that last part. “I’m so glad that you are okay because what left my nephew’s lips scared me to death.”
My eyebrows knitted together. “What left his lips?”
“That is something I won’t repeat.”
She got up from her haunches. “Sleep. I’m sure when you wake up, Blake would be out of that freezer.”
I nodded.
Dad was still here, looking like a lost puppy.
“You should go too.”
“Elena!”
“Dad, I’m where I need to be. The threat is over. Blake knows how to take care of me. I’ll be okay.”
“Yeah, it’s just the aftermath that is waiting for you.”
“Which is?”
“An interview to show everyone in Paegeia that you are okay?”
“Great.”
Dad pulled me in and kissed me on top of my head. “He is a remarkable dragon, Bear. Your parents would’ve been so proud of him.”
Warmth filled my core.
“Don’t let her out of your sight, girls.”
“Never,” Vicky said. “Unless she is with Blake.”
My dad’s eyes grew at that statement, and I shook my head. “Love you, Bear. I’m so glad that you are okay. I need to phone Tanya. She begged to send word. She wanted to come, but where she is, it’s a lot of formalities to get here, unless the ancients summon you.”
“Tell her, I say hi.”
“I will.”
He left, and I plopped down on my bed.
“You should rest. Take it easy.”
“I will, as soon as my father is gone.”
I went over to the couch and plopped down, switching on the TV. On every channel, reporters are showcasing the news that I was okay, that Blake was okay.
Dad spoke to a few reporters that were on the grounds of Paegeia, and his face was on almost every channel. I gaped as I looked at Sammy.
“It was a nightmare.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
Silence lingered as we watched what my father said. He begged them to give us both time to rest. It was a stressful eight days, and they all needed time to process. He ended it off with Blake being a remarkable dragon and that he would always be grateful for what he’d given me.
I grinned like an idiot, but it wasn’t long when it faded as the snow dragon popped into my head. “What happened to Tabitha?”
“She got expelled. For how long, I don’t know.”
A cuss escaped my lips.
“I doubt that Master Longwei or the board members will ever allow her back on school grounds. I mean, she fled. It took king Helmut’s fleet almost five days to track her down.”
“That is typical snow dragon for you,” Vicky said. “I guess I know why Blake didn’t have that ability yet. It belongs to a coward dragon’s ability.”
“Vicky?” Becky said, sitting on the single chair.
“What? If you think this through, you will agree with me.”
“You’re right,” Sammy said. “My brother is a lot of things, but a coward.”
BLAKE
A lot of hot water melted the ice accumulated over four days. Four days?
When I got out, my aunt did a full checkup. She shook her head as tears glistened in her eyes.
I touched her hand. “I’m fine.”
“It could’ve gone so differently, Blake. I saw you yesterday, and you were close to death.”
“It’s when the ability comes.”
“Your limbs were black.”
“They are not anymore.” I wiggled my fingers, that still carried a tinge of blue. “Stop worrying about me. I’m the Rubicon.”
“You are still a breathing being. You have a heart that can stop.”
“Not with this. My abilities are a part of me. So stop stressing. I’m okay.”
She nodded.
I went to my room and needed a shower to get some of the ice out of my hair. When I opened the door, Lucian and Dean sat in front of the TV as sounds of war racketed from the speakers. My eyes found Elena in my bed. My lips curved. I needed sleep too.
“You are back?” Lu paused the game and got up.
I kept staring at Elena’s figure.
“Yeah, she came about half an hour ago. Didn’t say a word and just crawled into your bed.”
“I’m so tired, so I hope she doesn’t mind sharing.”
A chuckle came from Lu’s direction, but didn’t voice what he wanted to say in front of Dean. That I sneaked out every night to sleep next to her.
The warm shower melted all the ice that was stuck in my hair. Afterward I shaved. I felt clean again and closed the taps. The heaviness that overpowered me the past few days vanished as I pulled on my gray knee-length short and shirt. I could sleep for a day.
When I got out, Lu and Dean had left. I crawled into bed and pulled Elena closer to me.
I tuned into the beating of her heart and just listened to it as I fell asleep.
ELENA
I woke up as my stomach grumbled. The musky and earthy tones of Blake’s scent, mixed with a new winter smell, caressed my nose.
My lids fluttered open and sleeping beauty laid flat on his back with an arm around me. His beauty took my breath away as his dark slants covered closed eyes and the slight hook on the bridge of his nose held my attention. It was funny. I wasn’t even a nose type of person, but I guess I was a Blake person. Everything about him drew me in, pulled me in like a magnet. I didn’t want to be apart from him.
The viden’s words plummeted into my mind again. He was going to die for me. I knew the greatest mission was my father, and I knew it was going to happen then.
What was the past fifteen years for him like?
I kept thinking about my ascending. Seeing the man who fathered me, being there with him as if he was really there. He was so friendly, so kind, just like on all the recordings I’d watch about him and my mother.
My stomach pulled me out of my mental reunion, and my eyes flickered to Blake. His lips curved slightly. Crap! My hunger woke him up.
He opened his eyes and stared at me.
“Sorry, my hunger woke you.”
“It’s the best damn sound in the world.” He pulled me in tighter and put his lips on my head. “What time is it? And what are you doing in my room?”
“Yeah, you are not the only pathetic one with this relationship.”
He chuckled. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there with Tabitha.”
I sighed. “Where were you?”
“Trying to give you space.”
“Blake? I never complained. Believe me, seeing you is the highlight of my day.”
“Thank heavens, as I will not leave your sight again.”
“What happened to her?”
“She left right after she realized you don’t have the ability, that you are not immune to it. Scared of who you are, and terrified of what I would do to her. Helmut apparently found her when I was inside the fridge. Her hearing would be in a few days. But Master Longwei expelled her.”
“What are they going to do to her?” I didn’t know why I was worried or where it came from. I shouldn’t worry a second over that Snow Dragon.
“I do not know, Elena. She tried to hurt you. Some say she would’ve even killed you if she could.”
“Blake, I don’t think she knew.”
“Elena, every fucking person can see when someone is not immune to something. It’s against the rules of Paegeia to unleash your ability on someone that doesn’t share your ability.”
“Blake, I’m different. She didn’t know.”
“Still, she had no right to corner you like that, to even touch you, you could’ve died.”
“I didn’t.”
“Yeah, because I had to force this ability to open. It didn’t come natural and nobody knows the consequences as I’m the first Rubicon that they know anything about. The others were all dark.”
“You did that for me?”
“I’ll fetch the moon and the stars if your life depends on it, woman. She’ll never hurt you like that again. You have my word.”
“I doubt she can hurt me like that again. I have ice now.”
His lips curved. “I’m glad that you are okay.”
My stomach growled again and we both laugh.
“Let’s get up and get something in your system before I have to take you to Constance again.”
We got up, and I waited for Blake to get dressed after I put on my shoes.
The time on my watch told me it was past six. The sun hadn’t descended yet as I peeked through the windows.
When Blake was done, we left his room and walked hand in hand into the lift.
The lift opened on the fifth floor, and the boy that entered gasped when he saw us. He had green hair with light green eyes. “They are alive,” he sang playfully with his hands moving dramatically with joy in front of his face.
I giggled as Blake stared at him. “Elena, Jeff.”
“Nice meeting you, Jeff.”
“Oh, the pleasure is mine, Princess.”
“Easy on the p word.”
He chuckled.
“So you are a Green Vapor?”
“Brilliant observation. What gave it away?”
Blake chuckled and shook his head.
“Haha,” I said, the sarcasm dripped off my tone.
The elevator opened on the fourth floor and we got out. I couldn’t believe how lazy Jeff was and voiced it.
Blake laughed. “Jeff would drive to the bathroom if he could.”
We all walked together toward the cafeteria and had to endure an applause as we entered.
Blake bowed as the crowd cheered and then he waved it away as everyone chuckled.
We went to dish up and Blake shook the Chef’s hand.
“Welcome back, Elena.”
“It’s good to be back.”
Something told me the chef had a lot to do with helping him to gain this ability.
I wondered what Blake had meant with consequences. What sort of consequences?
BLAKE
Later that night, I had no choice but to say goodnight to Elena.
It was getting harder to part with her, even if she was safe in her room.
Everyone kept shaking my hand as I climbed up the stairs back to my room, and congratulate me I’ve gained my snow ability.
My phone vibrated once I was inside, and I dug it out of my pocket.
It was Isaac with a gig. A couple of bands were going to rock out at the new nightclub and I told him my opinion about that.
Isaac laughed. “So at Jimmy’s?”
“Yup, tell whoever arranged it to move it to Jimmy’s. It’s the only place I will play.”
“The owner of the nightclub is going to love that?”
“I don’t care. It will teach whoever they are not to mess with Jimmy.”
“Speak later.”
His holograph disappeared, and I put the phone back on my nightstand.
“Another gig?” Lu asked.
“Yeah. It might just be the distraction we both need. Elena is all knots. She is so tense.”
“Do you blame her? She almost died, Blake.”
“Yeah, so your dad had found the bitch.”
“It was an accident, Blake. Tabitha might be plenty of things, but I doubt she would ever kill someone, especially a royal.”
I rubbed my hand through my hair. He had a point. “The Ancients won’t see it like that.”
“There are no ancients on this one, I’m afraid.”
“What? So Caleb is finally standing with your dad on a hearing with just the two of them. That bastard is unbelievable.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. I think he actually fears for the Snow Dragon’s life because it’s Elena.”
“Well, she’ll never set her foot on Dragonia soil. So thanks for miracles.”
“That is the silver lining around this cloud. I didn’t think she loved you like that.”
“It was never love, Lu. You, of all people, know that.”
“Maybe not from you, but she loved you, Blake. I think she still does.”
“Well, she needs to find someone else. I’m not available anymore. Do you know what she even told Elena?”
“No idea. Elena didn’t tell you?”
“She didn’t even tell me about her foretelling. Why would she tell me about Tabitha?”
“Chicks. You can’t live with them, and you can’t live without them either, or that is what my father keeps telling me.”
I laughed. “That is true for me. I’m basically screwed.”
I snuck into her room around one and crawled into her bed. She always slept so deep. I struggled to fall asleep, as I had my quota for the next four days. The incident of what happened roamed my thoughts, and I hated the feeling that emerged, imagining this world without her.
I didn’t care what Irene had said. There was no way that I was going to let Elena die.
I released all the other abilities on her. I didn’t care anymore about leverage. Her life was more important than anything else in this world. Without her, I’ll be no more.
