Queen Magerite stayed with Master Longwei while I was sent up to my room. Sir Edward and Professor Gregory escorted me then stood guard outside the room.
If Paul had come back, Dragonia Academy was the safest place I could be.
When Sammy and Becky saw the shock on my face as I opened the door, they knew immediately that something was wrong.
Becky was the first to reach me, and she just held me tightly.
“Is it Blake?” she asked and I shook my head.
“Dicky is dead.”
“Dicky, one of King Helmut’s guys?”
I nodded.
“How?”
“We don’t know. Someone attacked him at the castle.”
“Where is my brother?”
“He stayed behind. Emanuel brought Queen Marguerite and I back here. I hate when he does this, stays behind to help.”
She hugged me next. “Shhh, I don’t like it myself, but he is one of the fiercest dragons. He has accomplished so much, and he does put a certain fear into all evil. He will be okay.”
“I know he’ll be fine, but why does he always have to go looking for danger?”
“It’s how he’s built.” She put a stray hair back behind my ear. I didn’t tell them about Paul and the Wyvic writing on the wall. I had to find out what they’d discovered first before putting everyone in panic mode once again.
Becky made us coffee as I told them about the mission.
I hated keeping secrets from them, but I’d promised I wouldn’t mention anything about her father.
They listened eagerly, and as I finished, a knock sounded at our door.
I ran and opened it.
“Not negotiable,” Blake’s voice said.
“Blake, this is the girls’ dormitory, we have protocols…” Master Longwei spoke.
“Whoever killed Dickerson was right under our noses, Chong. So whatever fear you have about me being alone with Elena, get rid of it real fast, because I know they will come after her next. I’m not leaving her side.”
He didn’t give Master Longwei a chance to reply as he entered our room and closed the door.
“They are after me?”
Blake walked over and pulled me in for a hug. “Calm down. We don’t know yet. All we know is that whoever did this is really good. There are no traces of the suspect, no DNA, nothing. Murder weapon is gone. Just like –” He stopped and shook his head.
I knew what he was speaking about. “Just like Darius.”
He looked at me and nodded.
“Darius?” Sammy and Becky asked.
“You want to tell me that the scumbag is here, among us?” Becky had asked what was playing on loop in my mind.
“He might be back,” Blake said looking at Becky. “We don’t know for sure.”
Paul being back was bad, but it wasn’t the worst part. “We have no idea what he looks like.”
“I know.” Blake pulled me to his chest again. “It’s going to be okay. I won’t leave your side.”
I nodded.
Blake stayed that night. Master Longwei didn’t even try to get him out of our room. I guess me being in danger again, the story of my life, let him break a few rules and regulations.
The fact that Paul was back, or could be back, lay heavy on all our minds.
We had no idea what Paul looked like, no clue.
He could be anywhere, anyone.
Breakfast was quiet again. Blake spent plenty of time on his Cammy, probably speaking to Emanuel.
Plenty of familiar names were mentioned. They were seriously talking protocol, scared that it was someone we all knew already. To think that someone who had crawled into our lives was Paul in reality, scared the living crap out of me.
I’d never seen Blake like this, on guard, on edge. I hated that; it made me nervous for no reason.
We trained that entire afternoon. Sammy, Becky, Dean and George were with us.
My entire group of friends had turned into a group of guards now.
“It’s time, Elena.”
“Blake, don’t please.”
“You need to learn how to wield your abilities while I’m in this form.” He looked at George. “You brought the note.”
George shook his head and took a piece of paper out of his pocket that Pappi had sent with a crow.
George started speaking to him in Latin, as if I couldn’t understand it. He spoke about clarity, releasing his abilities to only me. Trusting me with it, trusting me with everything, becoming nothing.
I didn’t like any of the things that came out of his mouth.
“You need to want it. Clear your mind,” Becky said.
I nodded and closed my eyes.
It was a mess. Nothing we tried, no matter how hard I tried to want my abilities from him without hurting him, and how hard he tried to give them to me, worked.
He would fall down in pain, grunting and screaming every time.
I stopped. He got angry. I told him what an idiot he was, and we would try again.
It went on like that for hours before I had had enough.
“Elena, you have to do this, again.”
“Rome wasn’t built in a day. I’m not going to succeed today and neither are you. Just let it go, please.”
He took a deep breath while the muscles on his jaw jumped slightly.
“Please, we can try another day. It’s been three hours.”
“Fine.” He grunted and went to the bleachers to pick up his jacket. We returned to the room.
Blake dropped his jacket on the couch, walked over to me, and kissed me on my head. “I need to go see Master Longwei. See you later,” he said softly. He sounded angry, and it wouldn’t have surprised me if it was related to our total failure today.
The door closed after him.
“Just be patient with him, Elena,” George said.
“I’m not the one that is impatient.”
George smiled. “That’s not what I meant. It’s not easy for him to fail at something.”
“He isn’t failing, he’s just not there yet. He needs to give it more time.”
I took a long bath, and afterward I crawled into bed. Blake wasn’t back yet, and I really looked forward to having him sleeping so close to me.
Sammy put a pillow and a blanket out for him on the couch.
“Thank you for doing that.”
She looked up from the couch, interrupting her own task of making a bed. “He is my brother, and I do love you both.”
I smiled and pulled the covers over my head.
I had no idea where he was right at this moment. I doubted he was still speaking to Master Longwei.
I drifted away faster than expected. Tonight’s training must’ve drained me, but when I opened my eyes the next morning, the couch was empty.
I fell back onto my pillow, and a smile tugged at the corners of my lips. I could smell his scent lingering on my linen. Blake had been here, but I didn’t remember him being here at all.
I found him sitting at a table in the cafeteria, speaking to George and Dean. He seemed to be in a better mood.
“Good morning.” I smiled at him as I sat down on the pillow.
“Morning.” He spoke softly. “Sorry for my behavior last night.”
“It’s okay. I know how you feel when you don’t get it right on the first try. We will get there, just give it time.”
He nodded gently with a broken smile.
The conversation at breakfast revolved around the campaign he’d discussed when he went to go see Master Longwei.
“So when do we start?”
“In the next couple of weeks. Two to be exact, right after we complete our detention.”
I laughed at the way he said the word ‘detention.’ Who knew, maybe it would be good for us to slow down whatever was busy happening between us.
At times I felt we moved way too fast. Not that I minded. He was the only guy I really didn’t mind spending time with.
When the first bell rang, we went to Magical Variances. Sir Edward had started with a new subject – spells. Ancient spells like the one on my bracelet that I didn’t need anymore.
He spent plenty of time on a spell that was some sort of a guarding and illusion spell.
None of us could tear our ears away from him as he told us how stairs would appear to be upside down, but there was no sign of gravity when one walked on the upper level that was turned upside. It was like the floor, walls and staircases were going on and on. I thought I’d seen pictures of what he was referring to back in my old world.
In real life, it would be just a hallway or a room and you would see what the creator wanted you to see.
The guarding side of it, well, your magic wouldn’t work and nothing you did would help you get out of there, so you would either starve to death, or be freed once the creator of the spell died.
It was one of the most dangerous spells out there, and one that could barely be broken.
“There has to be a way,” Blake said.
“There simply isn’t,” Sir Edward responded.
“Hopefully when someone does find a way,” Professor Gregory said, “they will share it with the rest of us. It’s what makes this spell one of the most dangerous out there.”
“Then why mention it at all?”
Professor Gregory smiled. “Because there are ways to avoid it. Smell and sound.”
I squinted at Becky.
“You will smell your favorite thing in the world. To mesmerize you so you pick up the pace, and you will hear a soft humming. Magic like that always comes with a default. The hum. The stronger the hum, the weaker the spell, but once inside, you are a goner,” Sir Edward said. “When it is cast by a very powerful magic wielder, you will not even see it coming. Only once you are inside will you know what has happened. So make a list of your favorite things in this world and listen for a hum if you want to avoid this specific spell.”
“Could this favorite thing be a person?” George asked and everyone laughed.
“Who knows? It could be Becky’s scent, George.”
She shook her head with a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she looked at him. “So embarrassing.”
“You love me,” he spoke softly in her ear.
When the bell rang it was time for Art of War, and after that the day flew fast.
I only had time for a fifteen-minute lunch before it was time for detention. We talked quietly as Blake walked me to the library.
“I was reading the list that David made. Maybe he has a point. There is no harm in finding things that can sedate this asshole. It could buy us some time, and if you see anything that could be the missing ingredient, just take it with you. Better, snatch some books from the restricted section.”
I laughed. “Steal books?”
“It’s for a good cause.”
“If I get caught, you going to take the blame too?”
“Yes, I’ll take the blame.” He had a huge grin as he walked backward and said goodbye.
The librarian with whom I’d become quite acquainted a few months back was grateful to see me. The library was due for a cleanup, lucky me.
I started with the maps I needed to rearrange and pack according to their numbers.
It took me the entire afternoon, and around six, every shelf where the maps were stored had been cleaned and repacked.
“Thank you so much for your help. So sorry that you got detention. I know this job sucks.”
I smiled. “It’s better than cleaning up the Coliseum.”
“He got that?”
I nodded.
“Poor guy.”
I laughed and said goodbye.
I found Blake at a table outside speaking to Tabitha and turned around, as I could hear their conversation was getting really tense.
Curiosity was a bitch, and I couldn’t help but tune in.
“Don’t say that, okay?” Tabitha sounded sad. “We both know what this is. You just have to fight it.”
“I’ve told you plenty times, it’s not what you think.”
“Then explain it to me.”
His shield went up, and I hated that he’d done that. If he was going to explain it to her and not me, I would kill him tonight.
I dished up and went back to his table.
His shield vanished as I reached the door.
“It’s not good enough. I’ll never stop fighting for you.”
“Whatever, Tabitha. Please go,” he said and I saw her staring at him.
“You are a jerk sometimes. I stuck with you –”
“Yes, you said it before, how you stuck it out with me. How many times do you want me to apologize?”
“Fine,” she said, and got up when she saw me then went to another table.
I sat down, and he sighed. “Sorry about that.”
“She is not giving up, is she?”
He wielded his shield again. “No, she still thinks I’m under your spell,” he said in a mysterious tone. He chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t know what to do with her. I really thought she would get it by now.”
“How many times has she tried to speak to you like this?”
“Elena, don’t. It’s only going to make you worry about unnecessary crap. You have other important things on your mind. I’ll figure out a way to make her see.”
“Glad I’m not you.”
He laughed. “She will get it eventually.”
“The only way that girl is going to get it is if you pour it down her throat.”
“I treated her like shit plenty of times. The last thing I want to do is be nastier to her. I know you don’t like her very much, but let me deal with this. She will come around. I promise.”
“It’s not that I don’t like her. She’s just very stubborn and very smart. Two very dangerous qualities.”
“How is that dangerous?”
I laughed. “Just be careful, okay? And no, I’m not the jealous type either.”
He smiled. “That’s not what I heard. Rumor has it that you flipped when you discovered that Lucian and Arianna were sort of meant for one another.”
“That was different.” I looked around and realized Arianna wasn’t even around anymore. “Where the hell is she anyway?”
“Who, Arianna?”
I nodded.
“King Caleb lost his trust in the school. She has tutors now at the castle. I actually feel sorry for her. She misses this place.”
“And how do you know that?”
“I thought you weren’t the jealous type.”
I smiled and shook my head. “Fine, don’t tell me.”
He laughed. “She texts me now and then asking what is new, how you are doing and so on.”
I raised my eyebrows. “How I’m doing?”
“She’s not that bad.”
“Okay, if you say so.”
“For all we know you two could’ve been really good friends if you’d grown up this side.”
I laughed. “I really doubt that.”
“You do. You would’ve been completely different. Your mom and dad are royalty, and they would only have had one daughter, who they had wanted for a long, long time. So you would’ve actually been a spoiled brat.”
I laughed. “Still, I wouldn’t have been friends with her.”
“Never say never.”
“What if doesn’t exist, Blake?”
“Ah-huh,” he said and drank his soda as he stared at me with friendly eyes. “So you find anything?”
“It was rearranging maps today, and I can promise you they don’t have any missing ingredients hiding between their coordinates.”
“We’ll find something, I’m sure of it.”
“We better find something.”
“Just stay positive. It will come to us.”
I smiled and ate my supper. I really didn’t want to talk about this anymore. It was too depressing to think about the consequences if we didn’t find the missing ingredient.
We trained again later until half past nine then he called it a night when I started struggling to keep my eyes open.
Blake walked with me to the stairs with his arm around my neck.
“So when are you going to teach me how to head-butt?”
He laughed. “We can try it tomorrow night, if you want.”
“There is really a technique?”
“Oh, yes. Like I said, if you do it wrong, you can end up with a mother of a headache. So, I’d better teach you how to walk away from the fight with no damage.”
I laughed as we reached the stairs. He pulled me in for a hug. “I’ll see you later.”
“I doubt I’ll be awake, but okay,” I said.
“Then if I don’t see you, sleep tight.” He kissed me softly on my lips before we parted ways.
I watched him run up the stairs to the boys’ dormitory while I slowly climbed ours.
I understood why it was so hard for Tabitha to let him go, especially now, and it scared me that she was not giving up on him. I meant every word when I told him that smart and stubborn were dangerous qualities. I’d forgotten to mention the third: beautiful.
I just hoped the dent was as strong as everyone said it was, otherwise I might end up being the one who had to let him go.
