Master Longwei phoned my father. There was an incident with Lu and Blake. Lu almost died if it wasn’t for Tabitha. Lu was okay and the relief washed over me. I rushed to my room, slid down the wall, and cried.
Blake had almost killed his blood brother.
Master Longwei and some professors had subdued Blake and put him in a cell on Dragonia grounds.
My father and Sir Robert had left.
Dad Herbert stayed with me.
The door opened and his sandalwood perfume reached my nostrils.
“Elena, what did Blake do?”
“Dad, I’m okay.”
“I don’t want to know if you are okay. I want to know what he did.”
“Blake pushed me away. He was mean, and I questioned him. He hurt my feelings and walked away.”
Dad closed his eyes.
“Lucian came to check up on me, and Blake saw it. He insinuated the worst, thought we had something going on, and grabbed Lucian. I tried to pull him away, and I got in the way. I fell and bumped my head. He snapped out of it immediately and wanted to come to my aid, but I ordered him away.” I was crying again.
Dad got up and wrapped his arms around me. “Thank heavens for that. It means it still works whether he is claimed or not.”
“Is this really because I didn’t claim him?”
He nodded. “It’s his Chromatic side that didn’t yield. The Metallics submit that way. There isn’t even a claim, they just stand in front of the royals and plead their case if they find their rider.”
“He was in the ring, Dad.”
“He submitted when he should’ve yielded.”
“It’s the same thing.”
“It’s not. One comes from the dragon, the other one is forced. Chromatics need to be forced. Blake wasn’t. He is the alpha, bear. We thought he could choose, but he can’t. So just finish it.”
I nodded. “That is if I can.”
“You can. You are ready. I know you were ready that day. But you can stay and train some more.”
“No, I’m just not myself lately. I’m worried about him. The fact that he didn’t yield, was it what he and Dad had been hiding from me?”
“I don’t know. Your father is a very secretive man. It could be. Blake is stubborn, and he doesn’t want to hurt you. I get his reasons, but he doesn’t have a choice. He must fight you and he must mean it. That is going to be the hardest part for him.”
The elevator opened, and Dad and Sir Robert came back. They had been away for hours.
They unstrapped from the chairs.
“Blake slept for almost half a day. He woke twenty minutes ago, and he had no recollection of what he had done, Elena. He agreed on the claim.”
A weight lifted from my shoulders. “When?”
“As soon as we can. Give me a week, okay?” Dad Albert said and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me in for a hug. “He is going to stay down in the dungeon. When he found out that he hurt you, it was heartbreaking to watch.”
I lifted my head and looked at my dad. “What?”
“He doesn’t trust himself, Elena. I just hope for his sake he will be dark when you face him.”
“Dad?”
“He’s already submitted, meaning you are protected. You won’t go dark. But he has to yield. He has to fight for both of your sakes.”
“I know. Dad Herbert explained it to me.”
“The ancients should’ve been harder on this one. I’m sorry. I thought he could yield, but it’s of essence to claim him, sweet pea.”
“I’m planning on it.”
“Do you want to stay and train next week?”
“No, I want to go back on Monday. I’ll train at school.”
“Okay.” He planted his lips on my forehead. “I saw it in his face. He’s not lying. The last thing he remembers is having fun with you, laughing, making jokes. It wasn’t hurting you.”
I went to my room afterwards and grabbed my Cammy. There wasn’t one text message from Blake. Did they take away his Cammy?
One way to find out was to call him. My fingers glided over the buttons. His phone rang. After a few rings, his holograph appeared. He looked broken, with closed eyes and tears rolling down his face.
“Lucian told me what I did. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t. Just know I’m going to fight for you like I’ve never fought for anything my entire life. I’m not losing you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know you are.”
“I almost killed Lucian.”
“I know, thank heavens Tabitha was close.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“About two days. The changes are subtle. It’s hard to know.”
He froze and closed his eyes.
“You remember nothing?”
He shook his head.
I looked away.
“What, what is it?” he asked.
“It looked as if you snapped out of your anger when I got hurt, but I sent you away, using the true order. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t, don’t apologize. You do what you have to do to protect yourself if I can’t. You did the right thing. I’m sorry. I love you, and I would never hurt you like that. I don’t know how I’m going to fight you in that ring, and I pray I won’t be myself that day. When are they going to do this?”
“A week’s time. I’m coming back on Monday. I’ll see you then.”
“No, I want you to stay away.”
“Blake?”
“No, Elena. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t. It’s my abilities.”
“I mean your heart. Please, don’t come down here.”
It was the hardest nod I’d ever had to do.
“I love you, and I’m sorry.”
“Stop, I know you are. I’ll fix it.”
He nodded, and his hologram disappeared.
I swiped at the tear that rolled down my cheek as I put my Cammy down. That was my Blake. I could see he was sorry. He wasn’t mean, and he was gentle in every way.
On Saturday, Dad Herbert took me to the places nearby Bolivia. They were still busy rebuilding and planting trees, cleaning up what Goran had destroyed.
I could understand the beauty of this place that everyone spoke about. We even helped to plant a tree.
On Saturday night, we watched a movie and just enjoyed our family time. I forgot about what awaited me back at Dragonia for a few hours and that night I had a great chat with Dad Albert.
We spoke about the wyverns and even though I understand his original reasoning, I asked him about what had happened behind the creepers with Blake and Goran, and Dad froze.
“He told you.”
“No, Dad Herbert told me when the reporter said that there was no word about Blake’s responsiveness that he went with his father to help with Goran.”
“Elena, just claim him. That’s all you have to do.”
I nodded as I sighed. I wanted to know the truth…whether something happened to my husband there, but neither my father nor he would own up to it.
He kissed me on top of my head and said goodnight.
The next morning, I left for Dragonia. I could’ve spent the Sunday at home too, but it was time to face my fears. When I got into my room, Sammy rushed to me. Her eyes were blood red from crying.
“Shh, it’s okay. My father told me that by claiming him, his Chromatic side would yield. We will get your brother back.”
“I went to see him and he is not dark, Elena.”
“He isn’t dark now, Sammy, but he goes through his moments. You saw what he did to Tabitha that morning.”
She nodded. “I was shocked.”
“He woke up feeling like himself in the cell. I spoke to him. He didn’t remember a thing.”
“Elena?”
“It’s his Chromatic side. The ancients had something, and he didn’t want to listen. Now I hope that it’s not too late.”
Her tears welled up again. I grabbed her tight. “Stop crying, you’ve cried enough. I won’t stop fighting for your brother, I promise.”
My eyes met Tabitha’s. “Thanks for being close to Lucian.”
Red rushed up her cheeks, and I think it was the first time that I’ve ever seen Tabitha blush. She became a completely different person after her Denting process.
“What did I miss?”
All of them giggled as Tabitha launched into her story of Friday after I’d left. Lucian stormed into the class and came up for her, saying if Blake ever treats her like that again, he will beat him silly. She smiled and looked down.
“Then the cocky side of Blake handed me a note in front of Lucian, and I got so mad as I thought it would put Lucian and me a thousand paces back again. I tore it up and can’t even remember what I said as I stormed out of the class.”
“Lucian punched Blake,” Becky carried on. “George jumped over the tables so fast to help Sir Edward to pull the two apart. Sir Edward told Lucian to check up on Tabitha. Blake was confused, like he did not know what was happening, and George said he heard Blake voicing it to Eddie. It scared the crap out of me. He left after that.”
“Lucian knocked on the door,” Tabitha carried on. “I thought it was Blake, but then he spoke my name, and I opened the door. He hugged me as I cried in his chest, and he apologized for being an idiot.” She looked at me knowingly.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t listen to it anymore. It slipped out.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t think it would lead to that.”
We all laughed.
“And then Sir Robert phoned Lucian, saying he couldn’t get hold of Blake. Lucian said goodbye, but there was no way I was going to leave him alone with Blake, so I went with him. Thank heavens I did. I didn’t hear them fighting because of the soundproof walls, but then I felt the squeeze of Lucian needing his ability, I barged into the room.
“There was a bottle of brandy on the table, and I froze it, to make the impact more solid because I knew if I didn’t knock him out, I would breathe out my last breath. The ice and bottle broke after I hit him. I didn’t care. I just wanted him to let go of Lucian.”
“Don’t apologize. He is fine. I doubt he remembers that.” I looked worriedly at the window.
“Lucian visits him every day, Elena, and so does George. He is not alone,” Tabitha said.
I huffed.
“It’s going to be okay.” Becky came over and sat down on my bed. “You are going to claim him and then nasty Blake will be the end.”
“I hope you are right.”
“I know I’m right. Who would’ve thought that there was actually something to Duclin’s claiming?”
“I should’ve listened.”
I wanted to go see Blake, but he’d begged me not to. I spent the entire day with Tabitha, Sammy, and Becky, and even loved it when Lucian joined us in the cafeteria.
He’d visited Blake and said that he was still himself. He hated seeing him behind bars.
I wanted to go, but Lucian stopped me. Blake wouldn’t be able to handle it, and he’d begged Lu when he left not to bring me.
My heart broke, but it didn’t stop me from calling him. I went to the bathroom with my Cammy when I entered my room. I dialed his number, and his face popped up on the hologram.
“You back?” he asked. He still sounded gloomy.
“Yeah, but I was told not to come say hi. If it’s still you…”
“No, Elena. Please. I don’t know when I might change. It’s just seven more days. I’ll be okay.”
“I might not.”
“Stop sulking. It doesn’t suit a princess.”
“You okay?”
“I am. Now. I won’t be able to tell you that tomorrow.”
“I love you and I miss you.”
“I love you more and I miss you more, but I’ll rather miss you than hurt you again.”
“Blake?”
“I read the messages, Elena. They were so manipulative. Sounded like the old me and it scared me to death.”
“You were right.”
“About what?”
“I would not have liked you at all.”
He laughed. “Few people liked the darkness that was inside of me. But they didn’t give up.”
“Probably because they knew the good Blake.”
“Tabitha stuck, no matter what.”
“Yeah, she doesn’t anymore, I’m afraid. She only has eyes for Lucian.”
“I know. He finds her charm hard to resist.”
“I hope you told him he should stop resisting it.”
“Of course I did. There should be at least one reliable Dent out there.”
“Don’t chuck George and Becky away. The way Tabitha carries on, they are even more hard up on each other than the two of us,” I said.
“Not possible.”
“You are reliable, the real you. It’s the other one I’m not a huge fan of.”
“My darkness.”
“I’ll fight for you. The real you.”
He nodded.
We spoke longer and then we said goodnight. It was hard, and I wished I could see him face to face, but I knew it would not happen. I just had to wait.
