He also reminded me that he was well and alive. And that once again he had been a huge disappointment.
To be honest, I didn’t even know why I’d thought he would’ve searched for me when I’d discovered he was alive, but a part of me truly believed that there was still good somewhere inside of him, and that maybe, just maybe that kiss had done something, but it hadn’t.
Even though Constance did say he’d Dented after the kiss and that was why there had been so much blood. He was still Blake and he would always end up disappointing me. Letting me down when I needed him the most. No more, that door had closed.
I was in a nightmare because of him.
I dabbed away the tears and tried to prepare myself for what was waiting for me outside.
Deep breaths, Elena.
I opened the doors and found… Emanual.
He was smiling at me with so much compassion. He ended up giving me a bear of a hug when I couldn’t stay strong anymore. It made my body turn into a pillar. I stepped away from his hug and couldn’t look at him. Still I was grateful that there were no flashing lights, no irritating questions, no Kevin, nothing. It was only Emanual.
“I’ll take it from here,” he said to Constance.
“They might be at the Academy.” Constance sounded concerned.
“I know what to do, Constance. Don’t worry.”
I gave her one last glance and she smiled sweetly before I jumped into the SUV that was parked right in front of the steps.
“Who might be at the Academy, the press?”
“Don’t worry. We’re not going to take that route. I found another way to go to the Academy.” He flinched slightly at the beginning of the sentence.
“Why weren’t they at the hospital?” I couldn’t believe how easy it was to still speak to him. He was a guy, but for some reason I felt safe with him.
“Constance told them that she would devour each and every one of them if they showed up, I seconded it.”
To my surprise I laughed. It was a good laugh. I couldn’t imagine what it would look like or whether they were actually going to do it, but it was comical in my head, seeing a Swallow Annex and a Sun-Blast picking up people with their claws and swallowing them whole.
Then I thought about Kevin again. He had been threatened many times but he’d never backed down.
“Seriously Emanual, how did you guys do it?”
“We asked them nicely Elena. That day a couple just barged into your room pretending to be nurses and took pictures while asking questions. It was uncalled for and I really did threaten them.” He sighed. “Kevin was another story and when you are eventually up for it he wants an exclusive interview with you on ‘Just Kev.’”
I grunted. I hated that show and yes, I’d been a regular topic ever since that day the vault opened up.
“When you are ready Elena, not today or any day soon.”
I nodded.
It was silent for a long time.
“Where the hell were you, Elena? We searched everywhere and couldn’t find you.”
“I told you where I was. Please I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Elena there are people that can help bring them to justice, believe me. Those seven idiots….”
I looked at him and a painful expression pulled Emanual’s face.
“How do you know about them?”
He took a couple of breaths. To be honest I didn’t give a shit about what sort of pain he was going through, probably a bad burrito or a sick deer he’d devoured.
“Their scent lingered on you. I breathed it all in.” He spoke fast and it looked as if the pain was starting to pass.
He breathed it all in.
“How many people know this?” I hated that Emanual knew that I’d been assaulted. He was the last person that I wanted to know.
“A couple, those that matter and can actually do something about bringing them to justice, Elena.”
I nodded as a tear escaped my eyes and looked back out the window to wipe it away. He would look at me completely differently now, like I was some sort of injured deer, begging to be put out of its misery.
“Hey, I will find them eventually and then they are going to wish they were never born, you hear?”
I nodded but didn’t look at him. I really didn’t want to speak about it.
He took a side road, one that didn’t lead to the Academy and my heart started to beat slightly faster again.
I could tell he heard the change and he closed his eyes and glanced out his side of the window.
“I’ll never hurt you like that, Elena. You are my princess and that is the way it’s going to stay.”
“Sorry, I guess I’ll need a bit more time.” I rubbed my hands and lay with my head on my knees. I felt like an idiot.
“Take all the time you need. This road is the one I spoke about earlier to avoid the paparazzi that might try to break the deal.”
I sat with my back straight, took a deep breath and nodded.
We drove a couple of miles into the forest. My heart pounded again and I took more deep breaths. I could feel that Emanual didn’t like it one bit. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him, well, maybe I didn’t fully, but the forest had lost its beauty to me, every time I saw so many trees that day replayed inside my head.
He parked the car under one and went behind a tree, I saw the transformation partially and a beautiful Sun-Blast walked back out.
“It’s safe, Princess. Nobody is ever going to hurt you, that’s my Dragon oath.”
I sucked in breath as he said that. I knew what a dragon oath meant to them. They would die or could die if they ever said it out loud. It made me pissed off and I climbed out of the car. “Why did you say that?” I yelled at the big beautiful mutt that reminded me of a Chinese dragon.
“Because I promise you with my entire being, you will never be hurt again.”
Two days earlier.
KAY SO IT’S set.” Constance looked at all of us inside the waiting room. “She will be discharged in two days.”
“Okay,” I said while looking at the ground, then looked at George. They had all been really good friends to me over the past few months and Elena was lucky to have them as hers, even though she didn’t want any of them around her. “I guess we have some work to do.”
“Blake, threats are not going to work with Kevin. You need to negotiate with him, give him something.” Constance spoke to my back.
“I’ll think of something Constance.”
I walked out and could feel the others right behind me.
“So what is the plan?” George reached me first.
“We will need Emanual’s help too. He’s the only one that hasn’t pushed her back into that dark place ever since she got here.” That day my father yelled at her for a name jumped into my head. I was so livid with him. But he’d promised to never do that again.
I opened the door that led to the stairs and jumped off the roof. My wings came out first and then in a second my entire dragon form took over. Sammy and George morphed and Becky and Dean climbed onto their backs.
We flew straight to the castle and had to wait for Emanual a couple of minutes, as he had to do something for King Helmut. I was sure it was an Elena related thing as King Helmut had tried everything in his power the past couple of days to stake out some of the Wyvern cities Elena could’ve been in.
I had to admit, her story didn’t make much sense as Wyverns weren’t big admirers of humans at all. But I believed her, if she said she was in one, then, it was a deep one where no human had ever delved into. It was one of the reasons none of them knew about the sort of oppression Matt was speaking about.
I heard Emanual landing, all of us did, and the door opened.
He smiled as he saw me, greeted all the others first and gave me a brotherly hug. “How is she?”
“Getting discharged in two days. We have to keep them off her, keep it out of the papers.”
“Any ideas?”
I nodded.
“We stage her discharge.”
“What!” Becky said. “That is your plan?”
“It will work.” I looked at her.
“Kevin is not going to buy that,” Emanual said.
“Then I’ll negotiate with the bastard.”
“How, Blake?” Becky asked again.
“I’ll think of something, okay?”
I told them the plan. It was Becky and Sammy’s job to play Elena’s part. I only needed one of them. They needed to get the wig, the clothes she would normally wear and everything that went with it. George and Dean had to find a different route to Dragonia. George was a good guide when it came to finding different routes, and things that didn’t want to be found. I used to be the best but I didn’t trust that part of me anymore.
That was how I knew she was unreachable. George would’ve found her if she was in any Wyvern city. Although running and hiding was something she was extremely good at. It had been her life for sixteen years.
Still I couldn’t figure out where she had been if not there.
“What do I do?” Emanual smiled, eager to have a part in this as well.
“Help me not kill Kevin.” He laughed, the good kind, and all of them joined in.
“Okay, but I might not be the right one for the task. I might actually hold him down.”
I laughed this time. It was good to have them around me. It was good to have her back, even if she didn’t want to see me, it would pass. One day it would pass.
WE PHONED THE studio where his stupid show was taking place and to our surprise the vermin agreed to a private meeting. It was at a warehouse just outside of Tith.
He showed up alone and found Emanual and I in the middle of the factory.
“You cannot expect me to stay away from that hospital two days from now. The people of Paegeia want to know if she’s okay.”
“They already know, thanks to one of your reporters two days back.”
“That wasn’t me, Blake. I simply paid a lot of money for those pictures. Besides, you can’t blame me, the people of Paegeia want to see her, hear every little detail about you and her.”
I grunted and wanted to go for him because there would probably never be a ‘me and her’. She had just been brutally assaulted. Emanual held me back as Kevin retreated slightly.
“I thought this was a friendly meeting, if not, I’ll just be on my way.”
“Kevin wait,” Emanual said. “We are begging you. She is not ready for the public.” He spoke to Kevin’s back.
“Not my problem, Emanual.”
He held me back again and spoke soft words, as I was ready to open my mouth to threaten him.
“An exclusive, just with you,” Emanual said loudly. It made Kevin stop and turn around. I just stared at Emanual. What was he saying?
“When?” Kevin asked.
“When she is ready,” I said through clenched teeth. “And if I find any pictures of her in any newspaper leaving the hospital, the deal is off.”
“What other reporters are going to do is not my problem, Blake.”
“It’s off. You have your sneaky ways to trick the famous. For once, use it on your buddies, or I swear I’ll smash every fucking camera you ever point in her direction ever again.”
Kevin’s one eye twitched; it only happened when he was really angry but it also seemed to happen when he was contemplating things. “Fine, but what I do until two days from now? Just trust me, otherwise you can forget about not having any reporters at that hospital.”
“Fine,” Emanual said and I stared at him.
“Blake, Elena is news. You said it yourself,” Kevin said. “I have to trick my own, so let me do my job.”
I nodded once. Not happy about what the hell he was going to say on that show of his, but fine, whatever.
“Remember our deal boys. An exclusive interview with me.”
“When she is ready, don’t forget that part,” I spat out.
“Of course, and I mean alone Blake.”
I grunted.
“It’s going to be okay. Elena has dealt with his ass for a long time and she happens to be really good at it. Margerite, on the other hand…”
My lips curved slightly and if I wasn’t so annoyed I probably would’ve laughed.
Silence filled the air around us.
“There is something I need to ask you.” I spoke softly.
“I knew Kevin wasn’t my only task, what is it Blake?”
“I need you to make a dragon oath to Elena.” He froze up.
“Blake she isn’t my rider.”
“She needs to know that she is safe, Emanual. I can’t do that because she doesn’t trust me yet. So please. Make one, and I will make one with you. If it gets broken, it will all be on me.”
He looked at me with compassion, admiration – whatever it was, and wiped his face hard. He was thinking about it. “Please, Emanual. You have a different connection with her. One I wish I could take from you, but I can’t. Just do this for me, until the right time comes, please.”
“It’s really that easy for you Dents, isn’t it?”
“Well, I’m not George, but yeah, it is. I can’t imagine how I could’ve ever treated her like that. I was such a fucking idiot.”
“I really need to know what it is, Blake.”
I smiled and shook my head. “You know I can’t, Emanual.”
“Okay, I’ll do it. If that is what you need me to do, I’ll do it.”
EARLY ON THE morning of Elena’s discharge, we got ready in one of the rooms. Lucille, Becky’s mom was there as well. She’d wanted to look in on Elena so badly the past couple of days but she hadn’t wanted to see anyone, so Lucille had given her her space.
I really liked Becky’s mom.
She was helping with the transformation, which was going to be done on Becky, and because she looked like Becky herself, she was going to take Becky’s place.
When Lucille was done, my heart twitched.
“Careful, she’s mine,” George joked and everyone laughed.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Lucille left her a comment and I felt like an idiot. Of course I knew it wasn’t really Elena.
“Don’t.” I looked at Becky through a huge grin. Heaven knows what it was she was going to say.
She just giggled and picked up her bag that also belonged to Elena.
“I love this jacket.” She grunted and took a deep sniff from it. “Okay, let’s do this.” She put on her glasses and hooked her arm into mine.
“Easy, tiger,” I said and she smiled at me. “You are supposed to be scared, afraid and…”
“Yeah, yeah, fine whatever.”
We all took our positions and I took out Becky’s arm from mine. I looked at George who grinned from ear to ear.
“Let’s go, Georgie,” Becky’s mom said. She looked like the spitting image of her daughter now that she had her sunglasses on and was wearing Becky’s clothes.
They walked out first and the flashes of cameras bounced off the walls. George transformed and Lucille climbed on his back. Then Dean and Sammy waited for us to follow.
“You ready?” I asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s do this.” She put the hoody that was part of the jacket on top of her head and lowered her face.
We walked out and I held Becky really close to me with my arm covering her completely.
“Princess,” Kevin asked. “Can you tell us what it was like, where you were? The people of Paegeia need to know.”
I looked at Kevin and grabbed his camera and crushed it with my hand. They didn’t need to know shit.
“Blake, will she be okay?” another asked.
I didn’t answer, transformed and watched how many photographers took their pictures. The transformation shredded all my clothes and when my wings were free, I dove into the air, with Becky inside my paw.
Her heart was beating like crazy, her first flight with another, other than George, and not just any other, the massive Rubic
on.
I hoped it worked.
We landed at the Academy and one by one we started to transform back after we put down our passengers safely.
“You think that worked?” Becky asked and ripped off her wig.
“I hope so,” I said. I didn’t bargain on Kevin being there, but for the past two days he’d kept giving them the wrong time.
I guessed him not being there would’ve been a huge giveaway that it wasn’t her.
I had to break his camera so that he would remember our deal if he thought about breaking it.
He hadn’t expected it, but the realization of what my action stood for sunk in – if it hadn’t already at the warehouse – now all we had to do was wait and see
ECKY AND SAMMY were both in the room when I got in.
Emanual put my luggage on my bed and just gave me a wary look.
“Elena, if you need anything…don’t hesitate, please. I meant what I said.”
I nodded and smiled faintly.
“Speak to you soon, and take care.” He left. He must have said goodbye with a gesture to the girls because I hadn’t looked at his retreating figure. I started to unpack my bag.
It was silent for a long time.
“Elena.” Sammy’s voice was soft and really close to me. “Please don’t shove us away.”
I looked up. “Sammy!” I couldn’t finish my sentence as tears glistened in my eyes. She grabbed me tight and just held me.
It felt weird. She was a girl, but ever since that night, I really didn’t want to be touched. It made my stomach turn and my heart race. I felt claustrophobic.
To make it worse, Becky hugged me too and they both made me feel like a piece ham in between two slices of bread.
I pushed Sammy away and ran to the bathroom, hunched over the toilet and broke down.
“How long is this going to go on? I don’t know if I can do this.” Becky spoke softly.
“As long as it takes, we don’t have a choice.” Sammy’s voice broke. “I can’t even imagine what it was she went through.”
“Shhh, don’t cry. She’s one of the toughest chicks I know and—” Her Cammy buzzed and I could hear her sigh, but then everything went silent.