They cut my training with Devon short today. King Helmut begged for his help on this one and he was somewhere outside with the beasties protecting me.
The tightness of my stomach was going to cause a panic attack, not that I knew what one felt like, but one was coming. I could feel suffocating fear lingering in my chest.
A gigantic beasty landed a couple of minutes ago. The windows groaned as his paws touched the ground. Everyone outside stood on alert and Dad left my room for a few minutes. The queen came to keep me company.
“You okay, sweetheart?”
I shook my head as I sat on my bed, hugging one of the throw pillows. “What is happening?”
“We got a threat on your life. It’s only formalities, Elena.”
“A threat!”
“I promised you would be safe. Let me keep that promise, please.” She touched my face.
The door opened after a few minutes and Dad came rushing back in. The color on his face disappeared as he brushed his hands through his hair.
“You okay?” I asked as he looked at Queen Maggie, who sat next to me on the bed.
“You didn’t tell me he was already that big.”
I squinted.
“His growth spurts are amazing. I wish there was a way to stop it, only for a few months or a year.”
Growth spurt. I swung my feet from the bed and pushed myself on the balls of my feet. In a few strides, I reached the window. I drew back the curtain.
The beast was enormous, much bigger than the ones laying in the courtyard. He had tendrils covering his face, like a mane, and his color was one I hadn’t seen before.
Dad’s scent caressed my nostrils as his figure brushed against my back. “Meet your dragon, Bear.”
My gaze flickered to him. “That is him?”
Dad nodded as his eyes twitched, staring at him.
I looked back down at the beast. “What is he doing here?”
“Not harming you. He is here fulfilling his duty to protect you.”
“Protect me?” But Fox said he wanted to kill me.
I walked away from the window and sat down on the bed again. He was bigger than Emanual, how the hell was I going to tame that?
Dad put on the news. Queen Maggie got up. “I’m going to make us some tea. Would you like a cup, Elena?”
“I will love one, thanks.”
She smiled and exited my room.
Reporters started showing up, and the spotlights danced off the drawn curtains in my room. Ever since I came to Paegeia, they have been begging King Helmut and Dad for an interview, but Dad said not yet. I wasn’t ready, and I doubted that I’d ever be ready.
The woman on TV speculated the Rubicon had an agenda to see how close he could get before killing me.
“Dad!”
“Reporters are reporters, Bear. Both worlds suck things out of their arses when nobody speaks.”
“Then why is he here?”
“Rubicon Business, I promise you. He is not here to hurt you. Helmut would not allow that and me either.”
“He’s as big as a house. None of you are going to stop him if he has an agenda or tries to fool you.” I was close to tears.
“It’s not why he is here.”
“Then why, Dad?”
“He has many enemies. Someone wants him to do something he doesn’t want, and they threaten to grab you.”
“What?” That was even worse.
“Like I told you, he is part of your protection.”
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t make sense?”
I didn’t want to tell Dad what Fox had said.
“Talk to me, Elena.”
“Someone told me he hates this arrangement as much as I do. So he would be glad that I was dead.”
Dad squinted. “It’s not the truth, whoever said that lied. This might even show the Ancients how wrong they are about him.”
“They think that too?”
“One of them does. The others don’t. You want to meet him?”
“Are you insane? No!”
Dad smiled. “Are you scared?”
“Yes, I’m shit scared.”
“You won’t be in the next four months, I promise. When you are ready, you will face him with your chin held high.”
He said that now. I had to see it before I believed it.
I didn’t like the fact that someone was after me again. They promised I was going to be safe.
I peeked regularly out my window at the beast.
There were more beasties now, keeping him company. I didn’t know if it was to stop him, if he was going to charge up those stairs and barge into my room, or whether he was their alpha and they just wanted to be near him.
I struggled to sleep that night. My father didn’t seem to have a problem. His snoring came from next to me. He refused to leave me alone with this new thread.
Was it always going to be like this? My life being in danger because of who my dragon was.
I drifted away and dreamed of Fox. The dream was about that night Blake killed him.
In the dream, Blake’s eyes were red again, and I did not know what that meant or represented.
I jumped awake in my bed as my sides burned from the knife. I touched my side, but there was nothing.
Dad still snored, and I climbed out of bed. I pulled the curtain away and saw him lying on the same spot.
He lifted his gaze and looked straight at me.
I dropped the curtain and took a deep breath, trying to calm my erratic heart.
You need to make peace with it, Elena. That is your future.
I crawled back into bed and pulled the cover over my head, willing myself to sleep again.
When my eyes opened, Dad’s spot was empty, and the sun streamed through the partially opened curtain.
I stretched and hated my life. The omen would never disappear.
I climbed out of bed, and my muscles protested from yesterday’s training. Devon was relentless. He didn’t believe in breaks.
I got up, and there was no sign of the Rubicon. What did that mean? Was the threat taken care of?
My stomach growled, and I went to the bathroom to take a shower.
The warmth of the water heated the knots of my muscles, and my thoughts went back to Blake. I hadn’t seen him since I came to Paegeia. I saw Robert, but not him.
Was he as old as Lucian, or were they just friends?
Was I ever going to forget about him? The memories of how we met were still fresh in my mind, and I missed his scent and his warmth.
“Stop it, Elena.” He wasn’t yours.
I closed the taps and got out of the shower. The warmth of the towel soaked up all the water. An urge to cry uncontrollably laid heavy on my chest as tears pricked my eyes. This world wasn’t my home either. I felt so lost.
My body shook softly as the tears rolled down my cheeks. I felt more alone than I ever felt on the other side of the wall. Sometimes I wished we could go back as a world filled with fire breathing beasts and magic wasn’t my home, either.
I had a good cry and then washed my face as my mother’s and father’s faces replaced all the thoughts in my head.
They gave me up to fulfill my destiny. This was my world, whether I wanted it. I prayed things would get better.
I got dressed in a pair of shorts and a shirt. Georgina came back with bags of clothes. Seventy percent of it was designer brand and formal attire. Plenty of suits and dresses with fancy shoes. The other thirty percent were jeans, shorts, slacks and shirts. I got plenty of training outfits too. The weather was beautiful outside. This afternoon, Devon would come back and train again for a few hours.
I walked past the window and found the Rubicon back on his spot. The threat wasn’t over. He just took a break.
I went down and greeted all the staff as I passed them in the hallway.
Some still stared at me.
I found everyone around the patio table. They loved having breakfasts here.
“Morning, Elena.” The queen got up from her chair and rubbed my arm. “How did you sleep?”
“Like a baby,” I lied and sat down in the chair.
Lucian came for the weekend and was in a deep discussion with his and my dad, speaking Latin again.
I learned it was the beasts’ language and would probably learn it too if I wanted to communicate with the Rubicon.
“Hey, Elena, you okay?” Lucian asked, and I nodded with a smile.
I put some eggs and toast on my plate and nibbled on it.
I found Dad’s gaze on me, and when I finished, I excused myself.
“You don’t want to go for a walk?”
“Maybe later,” I answered queen Maggie and left.
I stood against the wall just to catch my breath.
“Jako, what is wrong with her?”
“I had to tell her the truth, she was freaking out with him here.”
“Are you insane?”
“She needs to know. This is not going away, Maggie. It’s her life now. Stop trying to sugar coat everything.”
“She is not even sixteen yet.”
“He is right, Mom. Just let her process,” Lucian said, and I shook my head.
He just wanted me to process the fact that I was going to be stuck with the Rubicon. None of these people really cared about me. They all just cared about the dragon I had to claim.
I ran up the stairs back to my room. I closed the door and slid down until my butt touched the floor and cried again.
When was my life going to begin? When was I going to be happy?
“It’s easy, Elena.”
“No, it’s not. Easy would be clicking a button. This is not clicking a button, Lucian.”
He laughed. “Just tell me what it is you want and I’ll help you search.”
I couldn’t tell him I wanted to find out more about Blake. “A song from the other side.”
“Okay, then your best bet would be Callibre.”
“What is Callibre?”
“It’s a search engine, the best there is.”
“Like google.”
“Googgle?”
“Yes,” I chuckled. “Google.”
“Probably.”
“You don’t know Google?”
“No, we have Callibre.”
He flicked letters from the pad in his hand to the screen fast. It wasn’t easy. They didn’t know easy.
A hologram popped up in the air, and I jumped. That happens a lot with their technology too.
Lucian laughed. “What is the song’s name?”
“Fix You.”
His lips curved. “You need fixing?”
“Yeah, I do, okay. A lot of it too.”
He chuckled. “It’s not that bad, Elena. Believe me, plenty of girls would love to take your place.”
“Yeah, I doubt that.”
A search engine popped up. “Coldplay?”
“Yes.”
“Funny name for a band.”
He swiped at the yes with his hand, and Fix You’s title was right there. He pushed it with a finger and everything around us changed. The creamy walls and paintings disappeared, turning into dark brown walls.
I grabbed his arm. “What is happening?”
“I take it this is not normal?”
“No, it’s not.” I kept looking around me. It’s like we got transported into a tunnel.
I looked around and found Chris Martin sitting on the pavement. My eyes grew. No way!
Chris got up and walked over the road, and started singing. We moved with him but didn’t use our limbs. It was like an invisible force dragged us to wherever he went.
A giggle escaped my lips. What is this?
“This is how you feel?” Lucian asked.
“A part of me,” I mumbled as I kept looking around.
“It’s a bit of a chew-your-wrist type of song.”
I suppressed my laughter and shook my head.
The scene changed again, and big industrial buildings surrounded us, still following Chris. This was amazing.
We flashed back to the tunnel. It was kind of messing with my balance, but the experience was freaking awesome.
The scenes kept changing, and I could tell it frustrated Lucian.
“All this guy does in this video is walk?”
I laughed. “Just listen to the words, this is distracting a bit.”
Lucian closed his eyes as I kept looking around me. The chorus played and Chris was running when the instrumental part played. I closed my eyes as there were flashes of different scenes, even though my feet were planted on the ground.
We both opened our eyes, and we stood on the stage, surrounded by his band players and their instruments. The ocean of people in front of us made my heart pound.
“Wicked.” Lucian looked around. He said that a lot.
“A peek into a normal concert from the other side.”
“This guy famous?”
“Very.” I spoke as the instrumental still played. Chris was jumping on the stage and doing his thing as we just looked at everything. It felt so real, like I was here.
Thousands of people in the crowd jumped, showing their phone lights, and just enjoying Chris’s performance.
“So many people like this song?”
“Yeah, I’m not weird.”
He chuckled.
Chris took a seat behind the piano and played and sang the chorus. Music really has a different meaning this side by taking your mind away from reality.
I laughed and danced in one spot with my arms in the air. This was awesome.
I sang the chorus. Not well, but I was in tune.
Dad’s laughter entered the room, and I found him standing a few steps away from us, grinning as he looked around.
Dad and I sang with the crowd the last part of the song, and Lucian just stared at the both of us with a slight grin.
My father applauded as the crowd cheered. And when the song ended, the room came back, and reality dawned on me like a twenty-pound dumbbell.
“Okay, sad you feel like this but it’s not an awful song.”
“I missed home,” Dad said.
“I bet,” Lucian replied as I told him about another favorite of mine. Pink.
“Like the color.”
“Yes,” I answered, and he flicked the words fast on the screen again. The hologram popped up. She was one of my favorite artists. We listened to Who Knew, and the theme parked popped around us as the guitar played the intro.
This was so awesome.
Pink was right there with her blonde and pink curly hair.
I sang the words with her. The lyrics fit well with my situation. Pink got three years. I got a week.
But I sang my little heart out.
Lucian just stared at me, and Dad kept looking around at the merry-go-round and all the rides.
I pushed Lucian away to stop staring as I laughed.
“Are all the songs this sad?” Lucian asked as the music stopped.
“Oh, shush.”
“You would have sad songs too if you had her life,” Dad said and walked out.
We experienced a few more songs from various artists before Lucian handed me the tablet.
It took some time to get the letters flicked on the screen, but I did it when the hologram popped up.
“Thanks, Lucian.”
“Enjoy your little heart out.” He left and closed the door behind him.
I went to the door and locked it.
On the hologram I swiped the no away and flicked Blake Leaf’s name on the screen.
The hologram popped up with a few selections and images.
In all of them, his dragon was with him, clutching his hand. She was stunning. As tall as him with snow white hair. No wonder Chloë didn’t do it for him. He had a beauty queen at home. Her long face and slender nose with big succulent lips, in contrast with these ice-blue eyes, made her a stunner. My eyes flickered back to the scowl on his face and his arm stretched out to get away from the media. I never saw that look on him. All his looks made him look sizzling.
I swiped my hand over the no, and it disappeared. I switched off the tablet, and the TV shut down.
I sunk down on the edge of my bed as this ache in my gut opened and warm, yucky ooze clamped around my heart. Tears pooled in my eyes, turning my sight blurry. I shouldn’t have done that.
