Blood soaked my shirt as I hung from the shackles. My wrists ached and felt as if they were going to break off at any moment.
He spoke and ordered the other dragons in Latin. By now, the dragons that waited for us knew we weren’t coming.
The door opened, and a ruckus played outside. Hope filled my gut as it sounded like someone came for me.
Footsteps reached my ears, thumping down the steps, and a light flickered on.
“No, no,” I begged as I saw the long black strands hanging down his shoulders. It was Fox.
I screamed, and he slapped me so hard through the face that I saw stars.
He unlocked my shackles and I could feel how he lifted me over his shoulder and walked out another door.
He didn’t morph into a dragon. He kept running through the woods. My body screamed, jolting around on his shoulder. He stopped and dropped me on the floor. I tried to push myself up on all fours to crawl away, but everything around me spun. It was from the blood loss or from the slap; I didn’t know.
More footsteps rustled and Fox pulled me up by my hair. A scream left my mouth as my heart still thumped like mad. I froze as the sharp blade lingered close to my neck. Please, don’t kill me, don’t kill me.
“Malcolm.” Emanual’s voice came and Fox laughed.
“Little Bro, you are still alive!”
“Stop this. You do not want the Rubicon on your tail.”
He laughed. “Don’t speak about things you do not know. I know more about Rubicons than you think. They despise their true riders. He will thank me.”
“Don’t count on it.”
Emanual came closer.
“Uh-uh-uh.” He raised his free hand that carried his ring. Emanual grunted. He clutched his stomach. He didn’t breathe, and he fell to his knees.
Two more guys wearing robes came dashing past Emanual, and they screamed, clutching their heads, falling to the ground like rag dolls. They all grunted.
“Should I do it, princess? Just for fun.”
“Please, don’t. He is your brother.”
“My brother doesn’t deserve to be called a dragon. He betrayed us for the likes of your kind. I knew your father. He was just as pathetic and useless as you are right now. His passion to change the world got him killed in the end. You are going to meet his fate soon.” The point of the blade pressed into my cheek.
Another figure grabbed both our attention.
“Uh-uh.” Fox spoke, and the blade shifted back to my neck.
The guy wore a hoodie and I couldn’t see his face in the darkness.
“What the fuck?” Fox spoke as the guy didn’t go down.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Blake’s voice reached my ears and my heart leaped. He came.
“How, your kind can’t get past the wall?” Fox spat at him.
“A bit of coward’s potion,” he replied. “Not a big secret. Let go of the princess, if you know what is good for you.”
“Never. The Rubicon is ours.”
“The Rubicon will never be yours! Drop the blade or I’ll do it for you,” he spoke with a stern tone.
Fox chuckled. “Yeah, and how are you going to do that.” He pressed the blade harder, and I could feel blood trickling down my neck. Blake stared at it and froze. “Back the fuck off or I’ll slid her throat.”
His eyes flickered to Fox, and they twitched, staring at him. His lips curled upward.
“Don’t be brave, little Dragonian. I’m not your match.”
Blake huffed. “You got that right.”
Blake stared at his hand with the blade, and Fox’s hand moved.
He grunted as he tried to fight the force. It was still close to my neck. If I knew a little defense, I could’ve been out of his grip in no time.
His crotch. I knew it hurt if you slammed into it real hard and I didn’t think. I slammed, and he groaned. His arm pulled the other direction with a loud snap, away from me. A loud scream left Fox as he fell to his knees.
I moved fast to get away from him and looked back. Fox was on his one knee, breathing like a bull as his arm bent in the wrong direction.
He grunted as Blake walked toward him. He bent down and spoke to him in Latin. Fox’s face slacked as he stared at Blake.
“Get her out now!” Blake ordered and Emanual grabbed me. The ring meant nothing anymore.
I heard screams as Emanual dragged me away down the path. My head spun and then everything just faded.
I woke up in bed. My cuts and scrapes were gone.
My eyes landed on a figure standing in front of the window, with folded arms. It was Blake.
He was like me, a Dragonian. He seemed pretty occupied staring out the window. Was I in Paegeia? It looked the same as the world I grew up in. I felt better, but there was still a slight zing in my ears and a bit of a vortex in my head. But there were no bruises around my wrists or where the knife sliced into me.
An IV in my arm ran to a bag that hung above the bed with clear liquid.
Blake turned his head, and my eyes flickered to him.
“How do you feel?”
“What happened?”
He’s eyes squinted. “You don’t remember?”
“No, I do, but how… What did you do to him?”
“Magic. Going for his crotch was bad ass, Elena.” His lips curved into a soft smile.
“Don’t.” I begged.
“You are alive, and well.”
“And traumatized by a fucking sadistic psychopath that was a gigantic ass of a beast. Don’t forget that part.” I spat out the words and my voice broke as the tears pricked.
“I’m sorry, I should’ve been there.”
“Don’t. You don’t have to explain. Like you said. I’m alive and well. I’m sure there is magic that can take away this memory too.”
“Not in Paegeia. It’s against the law. Deal with it, Elena. It’s your world now.”
“We’re not in Paegeia?”
“We are still in Virginia. Tonight, we will fly back home. They are expecting us early tomorrow morning. You should rest.”
He walked toward the door.
“Is my father still alive?”
“They took him back last night. So I don’t know. I’m sure he is. I pray he is.”
He was so different now. All set and mechanical like a robot. I wondered if he was eighteen.
“You should rest. Someone will bring you food.”
He opened the door and walked out.
I was only a mission to him. An order to bring back the Rubicon’s prisoner. I heard what Fox said last night. The Rubicon would be glad that I was dead.
We had one thing in common. Neither of us wanted this.
I laid back in my bed as the tears rolled down my face. I worried about Dad. I couldn’t lose him. Not like this.
The Blake I knew was gone, too. It was just an act.
The door opened, and my eyes flickered to the guy with silver hair. It was almost glowing. He had a tray of food with him.
He smiled and put the tray with a plate filled with eggs, bacon, and toast with butter and a glass of orange juice in front of me. “How do you feel?”
“Like they cut me in half.”
“A bit too drastic. It was just a few cuts, Princess.”
“Don’t call me that, please?”
“What, a princess?”
“I don’t feel like one.”
“That will change when you get to Paegeia. “
“Do you know if my dad is still alive?”
“He was when they flew with him to Paegeia last night. He’s strong. I’m sure he will be fine.”
I smiled. Grateful that he dropped the princess. He introduced himself as Ben. He was mesmerizing, with his glowing silver hair and blue eyes. Almost like an angel, but still like a runway model.
He looked at my wrists and the cuts on my body where Fox bladed me.
There wasn’t even a mark.
“How is it possible?”
“I’m a Swallow Annex. Healing is our game.” He winked.
“You are a—?” I couldn’t say the word. My eyebrows squinted. There wasn’t a scale in sight.
He nodded. “A Metallic dragon. Part of the gentle race.”
I huffed as my lips curved upwards. A little joke. “Thank you.”
“It’s my honor. I’m sorry I can’t heal inside.” He tapped his head, and I got what he was saying.
“That would’ve been impressive.”
Ben chuckled. “You need anything, yell.”
I watched him leave, and the door closed behind him. I ate my breakfast slowly as last night played off in my mind. Blake was really impressive. I was glad that he was immune to that ring. I still wondered what he told Fox that wiped the grin from his face like that.
Which made me wonder if Fox was nine hundred years old and looked like that? How old was Blake?
My Dad spoke about the essence. If a dragon gave it to their rider, then they could get hundreds of years old.
Did his dragon give him the essence?
I nibbled for almost an hour on my plate of food. Ben came back and took the tray.
I laid my head back and drifted away.
Around five, I wanted a shower and clean clothes. Thank heavens they brought my backpack.
I got dressed in a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt. I tried to get the bloodstains out of my converse, but it was no use.
Putting them on the windowsill to get dry was their only hope now. I pulled on a pair of thick socks. I couldn’t wait to board a plane and just get home. I couldn’t go through another night like last night. My psyche wouldn’t handle it.
Dad told me there were plenty of humans that wandered through the wall by accident. They couldn’t cope with Paegeia’s reality and their minds left them—all reasoning gone and they ended up in a mental institution created just for them. I didn’t want to be among them.
It could still happen.
I walked back to the bed and pulled on my hoody. Please, let my father live. Let him be okay, Amen.
I stayed the remaining time in my room. Around nine thirty, the door opened and Robert entered. He wore a pair of jeans, comfy winter boots and a thick jacket.
He put a pair of goggles on my face and I froze.
What the hell? “You need to wear this pants and jacket, Elena, it will keep the cold out.”
“Cold out?”
“You’ll be flying with Blake tonight.” My mind struggled to register what the hell he was talking about.
“Did he kill him?”
“What did you think will happen? He had to, otherwise tonight, could’ve been the last night of your life.”
“How old is he? Is he even your son?”
“Of course he is my son. He didn’t lie to you about that.”
Meaning he lied about the other things, like really being into me and sticking with me forever.
I nodded. “Is my dad going to be okay?”
“He is stronger than you think. I’m sure he is recovering as we speak. You need to get ready. We are going to leave soon.”
I nodded.
He left me alone, and I pulled on the pants and jacket and buttoned it up. Heat immediately eradicated from the thin material. I tried not to think about al the things Fox said, but his voice still lingered at the back of my mind.
The memory sent shivers up my spine. But I’d be safe with Blake. He could move things with his mind. Nobody would dare to come close to us tonight.
I picked up my bag, put my arms through the straps, and walked out the door.
Robert, Blake and a blond guy with an enormous nose had a conversation in the living room. They stopped when their eyes landed on me.
“Thanks, Matt,” Robert said, and Blake broke away from their group and came over to me. He had a beanie in his hand and he handed it to me. “For your hair. It will keep it from flapping in all directions.”
I nodded and pulled it over my head.
“How do you feel, physically, as I can imagine your mind must hold on a thread?”
“I’m fine. That guy healed me nicely.”
“You mean the dragon.”
I closed my eyes.
“You need to make peace with this, Elena. Not just for your sake but for your dragon’s sake too.”
I nodded and walked toward the door.
He pulled me back by my backpack. “Give it to me.”
“It’s fine. I’m not one of those princesses.”
His lips pulled into a soft smile. “It’s not the reason.” He pulled it off my back and from my arms and pulled it over his arms.
He wasn’t even wearing a jacket, just a long sleeve shirt that showcased his muscles and a thick vest that zipped up to his chin. Why did I have to look like some sort of a space cadet in this flimsy suit?
He wore a beanie and a pair of dark pants with pockets on his sculpted ass.
Stop staring at him, Elena.
I wished there was a button that I could switch off my feelings.
I followed him outside and instead of SUV’s that was going to take us to the airport, dragons stood on the front yard.
I understood what Robert meant by keeping the cold out. We were not taking a plane, we were flying on top of dragons.
I retreated and shook my head as Blake waited for me.
“Elena!”
“Are you insane.”
“It’s the safest way. Nobody is going to hurt you, you have my word.”
I was so over his fucking word.
“I’ve got you.”
My feet betrayed me as my muscles slightly trembled staring at all the beasts of different colors.
The red one from the barn, which I knew was Emanual, laid on his stomach. I looked around me. There wasn’t another light in sight other than the one showcasing a colony of beasties.
Blake held out his hand for me, and Emanual opened his wing.
“Clim on the boney parts of his wing,” Blake said and my body trembled as I took the first step onto the bone.
He lifted me up to his back, as whimpers left my lips.
“When you get to the top, climb on and wait for me.”
I did what he said and climbed on his back.
Huge flat scales that was warm under my touch covered his back. I climbed on top and tried to find a comfortable spot. Images of me falling off tonight flashed through my mind. This was not a good idea. What were they thinking? What is wrong with a plane?
I wished my dad was here.
Blake jumped on Emanual’s wing and rushed up his back like a monkey. He was two ticks on top of his back. He shifted in the spot behind me and made it look so comfortable.
“Spread your legs, Elena. Tighter against mine.”
I turned my head and looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. “This doesn’t feel safe.”
His lips curved. “Relax. You will be fine.”
I did what he said. The suit was amazing. Accept for the cold burning my face, my body was toasty warm.
My legs pressed against his and Blake curled his arm around me and dragged me back until I was tight against his chest.
My heart pounded like crazy as more heat warmed my back. He was like a furnace.
“Calm down, please. I’ll promise you will be safe.”
I wanted to tell him to stop making promises he wouldn’t be able to keep, but I kept my mouth shut. Fear wired my body again and a slight tremble ran through my muscles.
Emanual spoke in Latin and Blake replied. The first two dragons lifted off, and we were right behind them.
My gaze darted everywhere at flapping wings and then the darkness engulfed us fast.
After ten minutes of climbing higher into the air, we finally darted forward. I wished I had my iPod. I could listen to some music.
My muscles relaxed as I basically melted in Blake’s arms. Why did it feel so right if he was so wrong with me?
“You can sleep if you want to. We’ll get there faster.”
I didn’t answer and concentrated on the darkness with stars in front of me.
I wanted to ask him if he meant some things he told me, but why open myself up for more heartache. It wasn’t worth it. The wind burned my face, and I turned it toward his arm. The warmth coming from his bicep warmed me instantly. He smelled great, too.
I closed my eyes and somehow must have drifted away. Not that hard if you felt safe and warm.
A hand shook me. “Elena, wake up.” I did not know where I was, or what time it was, and I jumped slightly when I saw I was still on a dragon’s back, surrounded by others flapping around us. Blake squeezed tighter. “Easy.”
“Look,” Blake said and pointed in the distance.
There was a runway filled with orange and blue lights.
“What is that?”
“It’s Paegeia, welcoming you home.”
I froze as I stared at it and Fix You’s chorus jumped into my head. Lights will guide you home and ignite your bones—more like my soul.
That was why I always felt that they wrote that song just for me. Like Chris Martin was a Moon-Bolt that saw me like Fox had, and put what he saw into a beautiful song.
Goosebumps spread over my body as the lights came nearer and I saw what made those lights.
It was humans sitting on top of dragons, fire dancing on their palms.
“I promise, we’ll fix you in no time.”
The tears fell from my lids. Why did he have to say that? I was glad that I wore goggles and that he wouldn’t be able to see them.
The dragons were huge as we came nearer and as the dragon at the front reached the first dragon; they cheered.
Emanual opened his jaws, and a fireball escaped, making Blake laugh.
“Lights will guide you home,” I whispered. It finally happened.
There was nothing up ahead. My body rippled through a tingling sensation and then suddenly, nothing changed to everything.
The sky had more stars, and the colors were vivid and richer. A huge castle glowed in the distance as giant, shiny buildings with glistening frames and windows that were a shimmering hue of different colors towered in the sky.
I didn’t know where to look. The fire lights carried on and ended at a crowd in the distance by the castle with cameras flashing as we descended. My heart thumped like crazy again.
“Welcome home, Elena.” Blake whispered and squeezed his arms tighter around me.
The first dragon landed, and Robert slid off his wing. I got ready for the jolt as Emanual made an impact with the ground but it never came. I kept my head down as the flashes danced off on his scales and my suit.
He stopped and laid down. Blake glided off first, and I followed.
My stomach dipped. It was quite thrilling. Robert was at the bottom and shielded me from the cameras.
“Just keep your head down, okay.
Blake disappeared and I looked behind me. A girl with white hair jumped on him and kissed him fiercely.
“Please, we will answer your questions soon,” Robert said, as his warm fingers curled around my arm and led me in the opposite direction toward the steps to the castle. Tears rolled down my face. It was only a mission to him, that was it. He has somebody already.
I wiped my eyes with my mittens and found a man and a woman dressed in suits waiting on the top of the white, sleek steps. The woman had brown hair taken up in a classic French roll. The guy had blond hair and a mustache. They both smiled as Robert led me to them.
“My king and queen, I want you to meet Princess Elena Malone.”
King and queen?
“Sir Robert.” The queen didn’t sound impressed as she stared at him and her gaze flickered to me. A smile spread across her lips. “Welcome home, Elena.” She touched my arm. “You looked just like your father.”
I huffed. I did not know what my birth father looked like. “Come,” she said and walked up the stairs with me.
“My dad?”
“He is waiting. He is still weak, but he woke up after a few hours. Your father is eager to see you.”
“Thank heavens.” I felt like crying again and she wrapped her arm around me and pulled me tighter into her as the camera’s flashes still reflected on the walls.
“You will be safe here. I promise. Nobody is ever going to hunt you like an animal ever again.”
I looked back to where Blake was last, but there was no sign of him.
Forget about him, Elena. His mission is over.
