On Friday I was like a bear with an aching tooth. Sam wanted me to fight again.
I didn’t want to, and I didn’t know what to do. I kept staring at his golden tooth as he spoke. His lips turned into a snarl as his threats reached my ears.
“Ruby, don’t force my hand. Dimitri is fast, in and out. Nobody will even see him if he goes to a certain castle. Be here tomorrow at three.” His holograph disappeared as I swallowed hard. Worries spooled into my thoughts and turned my gut into a ball of nerves.
“Blake,” Lucian said from behind me. I jumped as I thought he already left for the weekend.
He stared with knitted eyebrows at me, and the disappointed glazed his eyes.
“Don’t, please. I fucked up, okay.” I sat down on the edge of my bed, resting my head in the palm of my hands, staring at the carpet.
“Talk to me. Who is Dimitri?” Lucian came closer and went down on his haunches.
My gaze flickered to his. “Someone that can become a second Goran. His magic is powerful.”
He brushed his hands through his hair. “Fuck, Blake. How did you get into this mess?”
“My dad.” I sighed. “He borrowed money from the wrong people and begged me.”
“You didn’t.”
“No, I didn’t. He took my mom and sister. I signed a blood contract so he can’t harm them ever again, and he erased my fathers addictions, brought the old Sir Robert back. I’m bound to it. I don’t want to do this, but he will take Elena. He is that good, Lu.”
“What does he want you to do?”
“Don’t ask me, please,” I whispered. “It’s evil and sadistic. Before Elena, it helped to soothe the darkness, but now, it might twist it.”
“Then don’t do it.”
“What fucking choice do I have!”
“Be her dragon and protect her.”
“I told you, she doesn’t want to see me.”
“Maybe not your human form. She doesn’t even know what your dragon form looks like. He wouldn’t come if you are there, and if he does, you deal with him.”
My eyebrow raised. “Kill him?”
“Just the one who has control over this dark one. He might thank you for that.”
“The hold will break over my dad, Lu.”
“It won’t if it’s a blood contract. You really should pay more attention during class, Blake. The only way out of one is to kill the person you made it with. Why do you think Paegeia’s law forbids blood contracts?”
My eyebrows furrowed as there was finally light inside this dark tunnel. “Are you serious now?”
“Yes, and if he is threatening the only person who can keep you from becoming dark, I’ll hold the fucker down.”
My lips curved. Lucian hardly cussed.
“Let me help. You don’t have to do everything alone, Blake.”
I nodded.
He got up, took out his Cammy from his back pocket and dialed his father. King Helmut’s hologram appeared. “You alone?”
“Yes, in my office, why?”
“Where is the princess?”
“Busy with tutoring. What is it, Son?”
“Her life is in danger, Dad.”
“In what way?”
“Blake has plenty of enemies and one just threatened him. He wants the Rubicon to do his bidding. Apparently he has a dark Dragonian that dabbles in blood contracts and all the nasty that comes with one.”
“Lucian!”
“I’m not making this up. I was here when he threatened Blake. Said how fast it would be to knick her in a horrible Spanish accent. Blake doesn’t have an urge to kill her.”
Helmut sighed. “Are you speaking about Samuel.”
I nodded.
“Yes, you know him?”
“When?”
“They set the time for tomorrow. If he doesn’t show, they will come.”
“Fine, but you take full responsibility for Blake.”
“Sure, whatever.” He disconnected the call. “Let’s go.”
This was why he was one of my best friends. He didn’t take shit from anyone.
He grabbed his bag, and I followed him down the stairs to the main lobby.
I didn’t need to pack, as I would be the entire weekend in my dragon form.
I feel lighter just knowing I was going to be in her vicinity, but the threat from Samuel was real. He’d done it before. He would do it again.
“See you at the palace. Don’t worry, I’ll brief them when I get there.”
“Thanks, Lu.”
“Any time, Blake. You only have to ask.”
Our roads split in the lobby as Lucian went to Master Longwei’s private elevator in his office.
When I reached outside, they already alerted Master Longwei. “The Dragon Law is with you on this one, Blake.”
I nodded and disrobed. Master Longwei took my clothes, and I transformed, darted into the air and headed for Tith. I hated the elevators. They always made me feel off balance for days and right now, I couldn’t afford to be off balance. I needed to be alert to protect Elena.
It was around four and I was glad that the sun was shining from behind me. The clouds dangled underneath my feet, looking like a soft bed of cotton. My tracking ability was strong as I headed toward Tith, and Elena was like a faint beacon that grew stronger as I neared.
I descended when the stone curtain wall that surrounded the three sides of the castle appeared on the horizon. Below the clouds, more shadows engulfed Tith.
The watch towers at the corners already carried some of Helmut’s men. By now, they would all be on alert.
Cylindrical turrets and towers with Tith’s flags flapped at the tops. Faces popped from the small square windows as they spotted my colossal figure.
The courtyard with the front garden came into view. Helmut locked the gate for the first time in years.
He never did that before, but it was needed. They wouldn’t be able to slip in without making a ruckus.
Curtains covered most of the windows and I did not know which room Elena was in, but I knew she was here, somewhere hiding in the castle.
I landed hard and a few dragons waited majestically in the courtyard. None of them trusted me, and it pissed me off.
Dad, Helmut, Emanual, Lucian and Jako came rushing out the front door and down the steps.
Lu looked at his watch and whistled. “Two hours, wicked.”
Jako stared at me for the longest. “I’m not here to hurt her. I have enemies, Jako.”
“You better kill them when they come for her. I’m done running.”
“You have my word.” I laid down in front of the steps and tugged my paws closer to my chest.
“You’ll have my backup,” Emanual said.
“Mine too,” Lucian second.
“Lucian, no,” I begged.
“I’m not sitting this one out.”
“I’ll handle him. Without Dimitri he is useless.”
“Something tells me they are not coming alone.”
Dad looked at me and sighed. They all went back inside.
“So this guy is like Goran?” Ben asked, now in his Swallow Annex form.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Don’t play with him, Blake, kill him fast.”
I nodded and rested my head on my paws. The dragon law was there for us. There would be no hearing.
The hours ticked by and the orange and pink sky turned into a midnight blue stretching out to black with sparkling stars, our ancestors that looked down upon us.
A few choppers erupted the peace. The lights kept dangling over my body and lit up the courtyard.
Ben growled at them, and I gurgled.
“Ignore them.”
“He is going to find out that you are not planning to show.”
“Then let him. The faster he comes, the better.”
I could only imagine what they were broadcasting. How I was probably trying to fool everyone so that it was an easy kill.
Where was the fun in that?
