“I know, calm down. It’s okay, it’s over, we are safe, Elena.”
He hugged me tight and I wished that this heavy feeling on my gut would disappear.
“I know who those men are, all of them.”
“Did you see…?”
He shook his head.
“You think he’s dead?”
“No, Elena. I don’t.”
“Okay, who are they?”
“You need to keep this from my sister and Becky, okay? Tell them you don’t know, I didn’t tell you a thing.”
“You didn’t?”
“Becky’s father is one of them.”
“What?” I looked at him.
“Her father is one of the men. I barely recognized him, but it’s Etienne Johnson.”
WE STAYED AT the palace for a few hours longer so Blake could tell King Helmut about everyone he’d seen.
I sat with Cat and Queen Marguerite on the patio. How on earth was I going to keep this news from Becky? From Lucille? They had all the right in the world to know that he was alive. Still, Blake asked me, and I was sure he had his reasons for me to not tell my friends about this.
“Elena,” Queen Marguerite said. “You haven’t taken one sip of your drink. You okay?”
I nodded. “Just a bit shaken up. It almost went horribly wrong. If Blake didn’t have that blending in thing…” I shook my head.
She smiled. “He sure is a spectacular dragon.” She stroked my knee. “He will never let anything harm you, Elena.”
“I learned that the hard way.”
A horrible scream came from inside the castle and Queen Marguerite pulled me up with her to investigate.
We found one of the ladies screaming in one of the hallways. Jeeves came and comforted her just as we reached the commotion.
Blake, Emanual, King Helmut, and Jerry came running out of King Helmut’s office, and then I saw what the screaming was about.
A cold shudder ran up my spine and I froze as déjà vu washed over me. A pool of blood and a dead body.
Blake grabbed me immediately as I stared at a figure lying in the hallway. I couldn’t see who he was, except that that he was one of King Helmut’s men.
Blood was spattered on the wall. A message was written.
No one is safe.
That was all it said, but it wasn’t the blood that scared the living daylights out of me.
It was the fact that the message was written in Wyvic.
King Helmut barked off orders to Raymond.
Emanual grabbed Queen Marguerite and tore me out of Blake’s grasp as he started dragging us toward the entrance we’d came from a few minutes ago.
Blake stayed behind.
“Blake, please!” I yelled.
“Just go, Elena. You will be safe. I’ll meet you soon,” he yelled back and ran after King Helmut.
“Emanual, please.”
“The castle is not safe,” he said and once outside he morphed into his dragon and flew with Queen Marguerite and me in his paws.
It was an uncomfortable flight as he wasn’t nearly as big as Blake and I didn’t feel that secure in his paw the way I felt in Blake’s.
When we finally stopped I found myself right in front of the Academy.
Master Longwei was waiting for us and without a word, Emanual left.
“Someone was killed right under our noses in the castle,” Queen Marguerite started to tell Master Longwei.
“Shhh, Maggie. I already know. Dickerson right?”
“What?” both of us yelled. This was news to both of us.
“Dicky is…dead?” My voice was barely audible. “How can that be, he was just with us in Elm?” I started to panic, speaking extremely fast with strands of hair tangled in between my fingers.
“Elena, calm down. It’s going to be alright. You are safe.” Queen Marguerite wrapped her arms around me.
“I’ll never be safe,” I spoke into her shoulder. “That message said no one is safe. It was written in Wyvic. Paul is back.”
QUEEN MARGERITE STAYED with Master Longwei while I was sent up to my room. Sir Edward and Professor Gregory were escorting me and then they 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 tight.
“Is it Blake?” she finally 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. Emanual 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, Elena. 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 just as I finished a knock came 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 let Master Longwei say anything back as he walked into our room and closed the door.
“They are after me?”
Blake walked over and pulled me in for a hug. “Calm down, Elena. 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 his head.
“Darius?” Sammy and Becky voiced.
“You want to tell me that the scumbag is here, among us?” Becky was the first to ask 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 Blake.”
“I know,” he pulled me into 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 Emanual.
Plenty of names I knew 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.
&n
bsp; 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 out a piece of paper Pappi had sent with a crow out of his pocket.
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, Elena. Clear your mind,” Becky said.
I nodded and closed my eyes.
IT WAS 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 every single time in pain, grunting and screaming.
I stopped. He got angry. I told him what an idiot he was, and we would try again.
It went on like that for three 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, Blake.”
“Fine.” He grunted and went to the bleachers to pick up his jacket. We went back to the room.
Blake just dropped his jacket on the couch and walked over to me, kissing me on my head. “I need to go see Master Longwei. See you later,” he spoke 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.”
He 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 went to take a long bath and afterwards 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, Elena. 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 that he was still speaking to Master Longwei.
I drifted away faster than I thought I would. 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 pillow. Blake had been here, but I didn’t remember him being here at all last night.
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 Blake, just give it time.”
He nodded softly 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 knows, maybe it would be good for us to slow down whatever was busy happening between us a bit.
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 Blake,” 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 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, Elena. There is no harm in finding things that can sedate this fucker. 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 backwards and said goodbye.
The librarian who I’d become quite acquainted with a couple of months back was grateful to see me. The library was due for a clean-up, lucky me.
I started with the maps that I needed to rearrange and pack according to their numbers.
It took me the entire afternoon and around six, every single shelf where the maps were stored was cleaned and repacked.
“Thank you so much for your help, Elena. 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 bi
tch and I couldn’t help but tune in.
“Don’t say that, okay?” Tabitha had a sad tone in her voice. “We both know what this is, Blake you just have to fight it.”
“I’ve told you plenty times Tabitha, 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 walked 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, walking 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 eventually get it.”
“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, Elena. 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, Blake.”
“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.”