“And what if someone finds us? Magic is forbidden in Etan, Blake.”
“Then I’ll blend in.”
“What if you disappear again?”
“Then you go home. I will find my way back to wherever you are.”
I didn’t like this. Not one bit.
“We need to know as much as we can. We need to know who is still alive, Elena. Get word to them that hope is coming, so they have something to hold onto.”
“You forget one thing, Blake. I promised my father…”
“Then you blame me. It wasn’t just your promise to make, Elena. Tell him I was stronger, heck tell him whatever you think he will believe.”
I just looked at him with a sad expression lingering in my eyes.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I know you don’t know much about him, Elena. But I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to get you a chance to know him. Just give me this one, please.”
“How do you do this?” I sounded annoyed. “You were in such a dark place because of Etan and a mission that had nothing to do with you. And now you want to take on another, just to find out who is still alive. Aren’t you scared just a tiny bit?”
“I refuse to let fear cloud my judgment, Elena. I am…”
“Stop saying that. I know what you are. Stop trying to prove to people what type of dragon you are and just be scared with me for once.”
He leaned closer to me. “How can I? You are scared enough for the both of us.”
“Now it’s my fault!”
“I didn’t say that. I told you before, greatness comes with fear, Elena. If you think I wasn’t scared the first time knowing that I had to go back in there after I found my way out of that dark place, then you still have plenty to learn about me, Elena. I am shit scared of ending up there again, but…” He stopped for a few seconds. “I’m more scared of disappointing you. I have to try and get word to your father, to his men that help is coming.”
“Why not let Emanual go and do it, or one of his men? You have done enough.”
A curve tugged around the corners of his lips. “You sound just like my father.”
“Well he has a point.”
“They wanted to send him, Elena. Can you imagine what it would be like if he found out?”
I closed my eyes just thinking about what he said.
“That’s the reason why you want to do this?”
“We are the only ones who can. Nobody would keep that a secret if they saw him.”
I nodded and took a huge breath. He had a point. If they saw my father, this whole mission would be a complete failure. Sir Robert would do anything to get my father out of his jail, his torture. If he knew that he was still alive, he would blow this entire mission.
“Okay,” I finally spoke. “When do you want to go back?”
“In two weeks, it will be during the next feast.”
“Two weeks.” I blew out air. It was way too soon. “Okay.”
“I’m sorry, I know it wasn’t what you expected.”
“It’s not that. It’s just we are so different from one another Blake. It scares me sometimes.”
“Opposites attract, it’s a good thing,” he said with a lopsided smile.
It made me laugh slightly. “Yeah, I hope that is true.”
He pulled me closer and I rested my head on his chest. He still smelled of sulfur, but his dragon smell was seeping through.
I wished I could hear his heartbeat, the way he heard mine, and then maybe I would know when he was truly afraid and when he wasn’t.
“Nobody is going to see us coming, Elena. I promise, in and out.”
“Please just tell me that we are not going to the pits, Blake.”
He smiled. “No, that is actually another group’s responsibility, promise.”
“Thank the heavens! You do know what the word delegation means.”
WE STAYED BY the tree for a while longer, talking about our next trip into Etan. He was thinking of going to a nearby city in Tith called Sovereign.
These cities had such difficult names, and it was hard to believe that Etan was so big. It was half the size of Paegeia.
Then we went to the lake. We played in the water a bit, it was refreshing, and even caught a fish or two, even though he said no fishing. He made a fire near the lakeside and we ate the fish we’d just caught.
It tasted wonderful and we seasoned the fish with some of the herbs that grew close by.
He was seriously a great cook.
We went back around ten and heard a couple of voices coming from the library.
They were talking about war, about someone that side, but I couldn’t make out who it was. Blake cleared his throat and they stopped.
He gave me a broken smile and shrugged. What was everyone hiding?
We walked inside.
“Princess,” Charles greeted me with a smile. “I’m glad you two found your way back.”
Sir Robert just stared at Blake, who closed his eyes and shook his head slightly.
“Nothing happened,” I scolded my father’s dragons and he smiled at me.
“How do you feel, Blake?” David asked.
“Much better, thanks for asking.”
“He is organizing another trip into Etan,” I blurted out.
“He’s what?” Charles asked. Sir Robert didn’t look at me. I knew for a fact that was what the private conversation was about. It was that very conversation that had made Blake want to take his father’s place.
“He wants to go to the fest,” I told Charles.
“Son, have you lost your marbles?!” Charles looked at Blake and then at Sir Robert. “Tell me that you are not okay with this.”
“It’s who he is. I can’t tell my son what he can and cannot do.”
“None of you know what the reaping is. It is the perfect place to blow this entire mission.” Charles sounded stern.
“Finally, someone that feels exactly as I do,” I said and went to sit on one of the open chairs. Blake grabbed another and sat on it after spinning it around.
“It’s only going to be me and Elena, in and out.”
“Over my dead body,” Sir Robert said.
“I agree,” King Helmut said. “I will send a handful of troops in with you.”
“A group! The chances of us getting caught would be astronomical.”
“Just for the night. Blake, we need to know that the two of you are safe.”
I knew the conversation was over the minute King Helmut spoke. I still envied him for that. They really listened to him.
A new conversation started. They were fantasizing about what they would do if they could go back and change the past. All of them agreed they would kill Goran.
Soon King Helmut excused himself, the conversation died out and the men started talking about the Dragon League. Sir Robert answered all of their questions and the conversation wandered to the past again, and what an honor it had been for a dragon to become part of the Dragon League.
After a few minutes, Blake got up without saying a word and walked over, grabbing a book from the shelf.
I grabbed the one next to his and we just paged through them, looking for anything that could be the missing ingredient. I knew deep down he couldn’t die, and neither could I.
That night Blake sneaked into my room and we fell asleep without saying a word. I felt so safe with him, and couldn’t imagine what it would be like back at the Academy, not being able to be this close to him at night.
I understood now why George sneaked in at night to be with Becky.
The next morning we woke up to the ringing of Blake’s Cammy. It was a song I’d never heard before and feared that it was Tabitha, but he picked it up and I saw a guy more or less his age on the holograph.
“Isaak, do you know how early it is?”
He chuckled. “Good, you are up and running. I heard what happened, why didn’t you phone Blake? You know how worried we were.”
Blake grinned. “A weed
doesn’t die that easily.”
“You are far from a weed dude.”
“You phoning just to find out how I’m doing?”
“Nope, I’m phoning because of a special request. An upcoming gig, I’m so sorry dude; the girl requested us and is willing to pay more than our normal fee. You up for it? If not I can…”
“No, a gig would be a good distraction, just as long as it’s not two weeks from now.”
“Nope, it’s Friday.”
“Where?” he asked.
“The Crevice.”
Blake looked at him. “What kind of function is this?”
“A huge one. One of the non’s eighteenth birthdays, they have rented out the entire stadium.”
“It must suck to have so much money.”
“Hear, hear! But remember your new girlfriend is loaded too.”
I laughed softly when he said that.
“Shit, she’s there?”
“Yes, asshole, she’s here. Now she knows why I dig her so much.”
Isaak laughed. “So, are we going to get to meet her this time?”
Blake looked at me. “I don’t know. You guys are a bit rough around the edges,” he teased.
“I promise we will be on our best behavior.”
“I’ll have to see it before I believe it. See you Thursday night, rehearsal, and tell Ty to be sober.”
“Got it.”
They said goodbye and the connection broke.
“So you only like me for my money?” I asked.
He smiled. “You know my affection can’t be bought, Elena.”
“Yet you kept the bike.”
“Yeah,” he raised his eyes. “You know how difficult it was to chuck those keys back at you. I was such an asshole back then.”
“Yeah you were, but you were my asshole.”
He laughed. “Even if I didn’t deserve it.”
“Especially because you didn’t deserve it.”
“So what is The Crevice?” I had to know.
“You might not even want to go because the last time you were there, plenty of dragons tried to kill you.”
“That Crevice?” I asked.
“Yip,” he answered with closed eyes.
“No, I would love to go there again, and face my fears of the place.”
He laughed. “See? Not so different after all.”
WE ARRIVED BACK at the Academy around ten that morning. It was Wednesday and I couldn’t believe that the next night I was going to hear Blake sing because I was so going to his rehearsal.
We immediately jumped back into classes. Blake still wore his shades and none of the professors asked him to take them off.
I guessed news spread fast.
Classes were blissful with him again.
We even trained that night. He really had no idea what the term ‘take it easy’ meant.
Training was just as hard as the previous time, but I kept my cool when Blake tried to make me angry again. I laughed in his face, each and every time, until he gave up being mean to me.
I got out of most of his grips, except the last one where I had to use his strength; it was hard, because he was really heavy and huge.
When we were done, we walked back to the dorms together.
I hated saying goodbye to him, especially tonight.
I’d gotten so used to his presence outside the Academy that it was seriously becoming difficult to just be alone, and away from him.
I was really falling in over my head.
I’d broken my own promise. Becky had been right: being with him was addictive and you wanted to believe with all your heart that the Dent wasn’t some sort of spell.
I struggled to fall asleep and even heard when our window opened and George came in.
I pretended to be asleep.
I missed Blake. Missed him being so close to me, but I knew why he didn’t sneak into my room like George did at night. It was thanks to those idiots who would soon meet their worst fears.
I closed my eyes and forced myself to sleep.
I froze again as a purring sound erupted. I’d never heard it coming from George before, in all his time sleeping next to Becky this was the first time he’d purred.
I didn’t care how Blake felt about it; it was one of the most amazing sounds in the entire world. A sound of contentment. A sound of peace.
And with that, I closed my eyes and drifted away.
George was gone when my alarm clock went off.
Becky just had a guilty smile on her face when her eyes caught mine.
We found George and Blake at breakfast. From what I could tell, they were speaking about Blake’s blood eyes.
I hated this topic and the way their conversation turned once we joined them, Blake was really scared that his eyes weren’t going to heal a hundred percent.
When the first bell rang, we went to Enchantments, and from there the day flew by fast. At six, Blake came to fetch me for his rehearsal.
He took me to the elevator and he flew back to Tith.
I had to take a cab to The Crevice and when it stopped in the parking lot, Blake landed.
He shifted back and I still turned around to give him privacy. His laughter came first. “Seriously, you need to get used to that.” He pulled me by the arm and I was glad that he had a pair of jeans and a shirt pulled over his body.
“I don’t know.”
“You didn’t seem to have a problem with it when you were a dragon.”
“I was angry that night and forgot that I was actually naked.”
He chuckled again. “I’m not going to say it out loud but whatever you are imagining, it doesn’t even come close to reality.”
I blush scarlet red guessing what was going through his mind, and followed him into the mountain.
It was still dark with only a few lights lit overhead.
We took the elevator up to the top and walked out onto the bleachers. My body shivered as images from the last time I was here flashed through my mind. It was the night Blake saved my life the second time.
“You okay?” he asked and I smiled, giving him a slight nod.
They were busy transforming the entire stadium. The floor was closed and most of the bleachers on the opposite side were covered.
The floor was going to be tomorrow night’s dance floor and the stage, well it reminded me of a huge concert stage back home.
“How many people are invited to this party?”
“I don’t know, but my guess is a shit lot.”
“Thank you, Freud, for that lovely analysis.”
He smiled at me. “I have to apologize in advance, Elena. I don’t know what they are going to do tonight. So if they make you feel uncomfortable, just tell me.”
“Don’t, I’m sure they are not that bad.”
“Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I followed him down toward the stage where I could see a couple of his band members already.
“Testing, testing,” a guy with long, dark blond hair said over the speaker. He was tall and real skinny but his voice sounded like honey.
“It’s good!” Blake yelled and the guy turned to us.
“Finally, what took you so long?” he spoke over the mike and I smiled again.
Blake flipped him off.
They started to tune their instruments as we walked toward the stage, and the workers that were setting everything up laughed at a remark that was said about what Blake could do with that finger.
“Ty,” Blake yelled. His tone was laced with disgust.
The one with the dark blond hair laughed and then sucked in a breath as I walked out from behind Blake and stood next to him. “Shit, sorry, Elena, didn’t see you there,” he said to me apologetically.
“Please forgive them, I told you they are a bit rough around the edges.” Blake just shook his head.
“No, I like them, really. He called me Elena.”
“You need me to take him out?”
I laughed. “That j
ealous?”
“Oh, haven’t you heard? Rubicon’s are all about territory and dominance. What’s mine is mine, and what’s yours, well, it’s mine too.”
I laughed again.
“Then I should probably call Xavier and ask him to stop texting me,” I joked.
His entire face fell. “That ass from the bar that night? He’s texting you?”
“Now I know how to make you angry.”
“Not funny, Elena. I almost killed him that night just for looking at you, not to mention having his fucking grabby hands all over you.”
“Relax, I only have eyes for you now.”
“You’d better,” he said and gave me a quick kiss as we reached the stage.
He shook hands with the guy who was testing the microphones and I only just realized it was Isaak.
He looked at Blake’s eyes. “Suits you,” he said, which made me smile again.
“Elena, ass number one, two, three, four and five.” He pointed at all his band members.
“I’m Isaak.”
“Elena,” I said.
“Ty,” the extremely buff guy with short, army cut hair, sitting behind the drums answered as Blake went over to greet him too.
“Jamie,” another one yelled. He had blonde scruffy hair that covered his ears, was of a slender build as well, and was busy tuning in a keyboard.
“Maximus,” another one with red hair and a red goatee that suited him said from behind a guitar as he started playing something.
Blake pulled his face. I couldn’t tell why until he took the guitar and start turning some of the knobs, while strumming it, and I realized it was out of tune.
“Matheo,” the last one walked up to me. He had brown hair and dimples that could give George a run for his money with the most beautiful brown eyes. They were all cute, just like a boy band should be.
“Elena.” I smiled back.
“Good to know you gave the poor soul another chance. I don’t know how he could be such an ass to you,” he spoke softly but his tone was serious.
“Still hear you,” Blake said.
“I should really learn how to wield a shield.”
Blake smiled as he continued to tune the guitar.
“So you guys are really from the normal crowd? I miss that.”