I woke up as the sun streamed into my room.
My nose was stuffy from all the crying. A blanket covered my body. I must have pulled it over me during the night, or maybe my father, he wasn’t my dad. Who were my parents?
I deleted all the pictures Blake and I took. None of it was real, none of it was special. It was just a mission to him.
The giddy feeling whenever I thought about him turned into a rotten, dead feeling now. He wasn’t even in love with me. When something sounded or looked too good to be true, it usually was, and that was too good to be true.
I got up. I needed a shower badly and grabbed clothes, heading for the bathroom. There was no way I was going to go to school today. I didn’t care what they said.
Dad was already up, and Robert’s voice came from downstairs. There was no sound of Blake’s voice.
Stop, he doesn’t want you. You were only a job.
I closed the bathroom door behind me, turned on the shower taps, and disrobed.
The steam came from the shower and I entered, pulling the frosted door closed behind me.
Tears pricked as the ache in my heart became heavier. My shoulders shook as I tried to keep my cry silent. Everything inside me felt wrong. The man I called dad for fifteen years wasn’t my father. The boy that I was crazy about only did that to get me back home where magic was real, with who knew what else. A frustrated groan left my lips as I couldn’t remember the rest. It was an empty void. I knew it was there, but it wasn’t anymore. They took it from me. I remembered Dad telling me the stories every night. I just couldn’t remember what the stories were about, except that it was a world hidden by a magical wall called Paegeia. It really existed.
When I couldn’t cry anymore, I closed the tabs and climbed out of the shower.
The warmth of the Terry towel comforted me as I dried my body and last twisted the towel around my hair and got dressed.
I brushed my teeth and went downstairs.
Blake’s father and mine sat around the dining room table.
“Elena?” Dad spoke.
I looked at him.
“I’m sorry, Bear.”
He was right about not dating. I wanted to know why. “I need to know everything.”
Dad nodded, or imposter Dad nodded.
A strong smell of a nutty coffee roast hung around the kitchen as I unhooked a cup from the cup holder. I poured in the coffee from the coffee pot. Steam emanated, and I put the pot back in its place, grabbed the milk and watched the color turn from roasted black to a light caramel color.
I stirred in the sugar and went back to the table. The chair at the end of the table screeched against the floor as I pulled it out and plopped into it.
Imposter Dad and Robert got up and moved a few chairs closer.
I caressed the warmth of the cup as I felt so cold since they told me the truth. “What do I call you now?” I asked the imposter as tears pooled in my eyes. His eyes glistened, too.
“You might not have come from my loins, Elena, but I love you with all of my heart, and your life was more important than my own.
“It wasn’t fake, sweetheart. I hope that one day you can forgive me. I tried, and you scared me to death the way you looked at me afterward.
“You were so afraid, I didn’t want that between us so I got Tanya, who loved you just as much, more than you’ll ever know, to take it away.”
I wiped away tears. “If she loved me so much, why did she leave?”
“Because she couldn’t handle it.”
“Handle what?”
“She is not like us.”
“What does that mean?”
“She is a dragon. A chromatic dragon,” Robert answered.
I stared at him, and then the suppressed laughter pushed through my lips.
None of them laughed as my eyes flickered between them.
“You really expect me to believe that? Dragons don’t exist.”
“They do. The dragons hid among us as humans. They have a human form too, to blend in. Tanya is Chromatic, meaning that her demeanor is a bit more on the rebellion side,” Dad answered.
“Rebellion, say it as it is, Herbert. Chromatics are pre-destined for evil, Elena, if riders do not claim them.”
“Robert!”
“She needs to know.”
“Claim?” I asked.
“Tame,” Robert answered.
“Their riders? You mean humans?” My gut turned in many directions again.
“Bear, deep breaths, as this was the part you didn’t do so great with last time either.”
I couldn’t even remember the last time, but I tried to take deep breaths.
“That is it. Deep breaths.”
My lungs filled about a zillion times more when fantasy art about dragons flashed through my mind. Were they vicious? Of course they are vicious, they are beasts.
“Fox, he has a colony of dragons that is on our trail every three months. They won’t stop until we are dead.”
I stared at my father.
“I swear it’s the truth.”
“Why?”
“Because of who you are.”
“Who am I?”
“You will tame the alpha of the dragons, Bear.”
I chuckled again as my entire body shivered. The alpha?
“I used to put him in all the bedtime stories. Without you, we will lose him. And someone extremely evil will be the only one strong enough to tame him and then it’s not just the end of Paegeia but the end of this world too.”
Holy crap. I was that important. “How do you know this?”
“Many dragons that can predict the future saw it,” Robert said.
“They could’ve been wrong. What if I’m not that person, huh? How are they so sure?”
“Because of who your mom and dad were, Elena,” imposter Dad said.
“Who were they?”
“The true king and queen of Paegeia.”
“Get out of here?” I had enough and jumped from my seat. The chair screeched as the momentum pushed it a couple of inches away. I found myself in the kitchen, pacing the length with my hands resting on my head. Royalty, there was no way I was royalty.
“It’s the truth, Elena. Robert and I served for a long time in your family’s monarchy. They trusted us.”
“Trusted you. Why didn’t he know!” My hand waved in Robert’s direction.
“It’s not important now. Your dad made a mistake with him, and so did your mom. My honest opinion, he would’ve been a better fit knowing about you than Tanya and I, but your mother, Queen Catherine, had a very special bond with Tanya. A bond that you will have with the alpha dragon too.”
“Alpha dragon?” I asked. It sounded so unreal.
“He will go evil if you don’t tame him.”
“Don’t tame him. Why should I even care?”
“Because the world needs both of you, Elena,” Blake’s father replied again. “And he will take you to the darkness with him if you do not tame him. You will either save Paegeia and this world, or you are going to destroy it together. The choice is yours.”
I’ll go dark with him. I stared at imposter Dad.
“I’m sorry, Bear.”
“This is too much!”
“You wanted to know! You get why I kept telling you, you are not ready?”
I stared at my father. “That is what you hid from me?”
“I kept you safe. I know it wasn’t always easy, but I tried to give you a normal life. The Rubicon is the reason I didn’t want you to date, because of how possessive he is.”
“What!”
“It’s the bond, Elena,” Robert said.
I understood their meaning. “I have no choice in this, do I?”
“Another dragon, I would say yes, but you don’t want a jealous alpha—”
“If she doesn’t want to, he might understand.” Robert got from the table and walked closer.
“Bob, you don’t know that.”
“I know him better than you think. If he loves Elena, he will step aside. He might not like it—”
“It’s a genuine bond, no dragon—”
“He’s not just any dragon, Herbert. He’s the fucking Rubicon. You said it yourself.” Robert was angry again. When were they going to stop being angry? “I can’t speak for the others that Elena might be affectionate with. Nobody I know will betray him like that.”
Meaning Blake would walk the other way.
“So I have no choice. That is my choice. It’s the Rubicon or nothing.”
“Bear.” Dad pulled me into his arms. My lip vibrated again, but I refused to cry more about this situation. Dad let me go and I wiped my tears. “I’m sorry that this is such a heavy burden. Maybe if I tried harder, and you grew up in Paegeia, this wouldn’t have been so hard. You would’ve grown up feeling better at ease with all of this.”
“How do I tame one of them, Dad?”
His body expelled as he closed his eyes. His lips turned into a soft smile. “They will train you. Dragons are linked to some Dragonians. The mark on your thigh isn’t an ordinary birthmark, Elena. It’s the mark of the riders, the magical humans. The dragons are the carriers of their magic as that power is too much for a human to carry, so they create the dragon to carry it for their rider. It’s your abilities inside of him.”
“Which is?”
“Anything you can think of. Healing, seeing the future, fire, acid, persuasion, none of those things will harm you, but strengthen you.”
“Holy crap.” My voice broke as images of a glorified X-Men popped into my mind.
“I won’t put you in that ring if you are not ready.”
“I’ll never be ready.”
“You will be with hard training. I promise you. Paegeia is nothing like the real world. You belong there, Bear. It’s home, your home.”
I get what he was saying. It was mine, literally. “What happened to my parents?”
“They died the day they got betrayed.”
“By whom?”
“Their best friend and advisor. His name was Goran. If your dad didn’t have an heir, he would’ve become king. We just didn’t know that he tried many times to cause his death so that it could become a reality.”
“He was their friend?” Their world was insane, evil, and I was the lucky person who inherited it?
“Best friend. I knew your father for a long time. He was a great and just king. Everyone in Paegeia loved them.
“Your parents wanted nothing more than you, but it was a dangerous time for them, and they couldn’t keep you. So they send you away with the queen’s dragon, hoping to keep you safe and once the danger was over, you would’ve returned.
“They just didn’t bargain on the colony of dragons that would make that return almost impossible for us.”
“Did they know it was him?”
“They found out the day it all went down. Both your parents died. Tanya had a connection with your mother through their bond and she felt everything the night your mother passed away. Tanya lost a huge part of herself that night.
“And after your mother’s death, she was free from her vow. She tried to stay, Bear, but it’s hard for the Chromatics. They can’t survive without their dragon form and only letting her out, letting her free at certain times of night, wasn’t enough. It’s why she left and didn’t take you with her.
“She is hiding on the other side as they somehow think our disappearance a year before your parents died had something to do with being part of Goran’s plan.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry, Blake is going to set it straight.”
I nodded. “He left?”
“Blake thought it was for the best, giving you space. He thinks he betrayed your trust.”
“Well, he isn’t wrong. He could’ve told me.”
“Elena, that is on me, not on him. It’s always great to have one friend in Paegeia. Why not the boy that tried to take you home.”
I didn’t like the way Dad sounded. That was if the Rubicon would not swallow him whole. We would never be together again, ever. He would fear the alpha too much. Listen to yourself. It was just a job for him, nothing more.
“Is there anything else you want to know?”
I shook my head. “I think I have enough to process. I just want to be alone.”
Dad nodded. “Yell, if you need anything. More help will come soon to help get you home.”
I nodded and went back to my room.
I sat in the corner and bawled my eyes out. How on earth was I going to be happy with a beast when I only wanted a guy? One who might not even like me. I should’ve never fallen for him. It was way too good to be true, from the beginning. This was my fault, not his. He was only doing his job, his mission.
I plugged the buds into my ears, and Chris crooned the words to Fix You again.
