I COULD HEAR the crunch of twigs and leaves as he was exiting the tree line. I sighed as he reached me, still sitting on the log, busy picking squirrel out of my teeth with a small twig.
“You okay?” he asked in that arrogant tone of his.
I squinted and wondered again about the two entities thing. Blake had looked at me funny that time on the mountains when I told him about my dragon form, not remembering. I sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said and got up to pack up my tent. I started taking out one of the supporting beams and my entire tent collapsed.
“Please, just let me assemble it for you tonight. You never know what could happen, and then we would be stuck with only one tent.”
We surely wouldn’t want that, I snapped inside my head.
“Did something happen last night?” he asked and I turned my head. Seriously. What was he doing?
“What do you mean?” I humored him again. This was seriously so confusing. He was so different from all the other dragons.
“I feel different this morning,” he said and looked nervous. He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. “He did it, didn’t he?”
“Did what?”
“Made an oath,” he said as he started disassembling his tent.
“I didn’t force him if that is what you want to know.” I really struggled with this. Why was he doing this?
“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m bound to whatever it is.”
I just stared at him. I really wished that I didn’t have to deal with this arrogant side of him all the time. We packed up in silence and before I knew it, we were ready to move.
I followed Blake as he walked on a nearly invisible path. I had to run-walk to keep up. He was really fast.
We walked for hours not saying a word and I couldn’t stop looking at all the massive green trees around us. We stopped at a peak and Blake took out a bottle of water and gulped it down. He handed me one too.
“We can rest here for a while,” he said as I put my backpack down.
I sat on top of it, just staring at the world below us. It was high, but beautiful with mountains all around us.
Blake didn’t say a single word which only made me more confused about his dragon form. After ten minutes he picked up his pack again. He surely had one thing in common with Lucian, they didn’t know how to take a proper break.
Eventually, I couldn’t take the silence anymore.
“Can I ask you a question?” I said and he didn’t even stop.
“Shoot,” was all that left his mouth.
“How are we going to get past the Creepers, Blake?”
“I don’t know, Elena. My ability to see into the future is just as messed up as my tracking ability.”
“Queen Margerite said…”
“It’s all far-fetched, believe me.”
Great, not the answer I was hoping for, but at least for now I knew that none of his other mental abilities worked either. Especially the one that could’ve shown us that. Just add it to the Pile of Things to Hate Elena For list.
“We’ll figure it out,” he finally said.
He was so in control and I hated that about him. He made me feel like I was a damsel in distress, utterly useless, which his dragon form didn’t. I hated being this confused.
We walked for hours and hours and rested three times. When it got dark, he finally decided to find a place for us to camp for the night and discovered a small cave. I had to wait outside while he made sure that it was safe.
When he came out he picked up the bag and went inside.
We didn’t have to set up the tents, just our sleeping bags. He made a fire again and went hunting. He came back with something that looked like a hog and a couple of fish.
“There is a river below if you want to go and wash up, it’s not far from here.”
“Thanks, a bath would be great.”
“It’s the wild, Elena. There are no baths here.”
I just gave him my sarcastic look, rolled my eyes and looked away.
I took out my track suit and a towel. “Which direction?”
“Out the cave, follow the path, and you’ll find a spring.” He didn’t even look up. I really struggled to speak to his human form, he reminded me so much of Billy and whenever I looked at him, I saw the one guy who had betrayed me, assaulted me. I would never be able to look at Blake without thinking about Billy. I would never be able to trust him completely.
I followed the path and found the spring. I washed up and once I was done, I went behind the trees to change.
I didn’t like knowing that Blake was so close by, or that he could be around, keeping an eye on me. I felt eyes on me and as soon as I pulled up my pants and zipped up my jacket, the creepy feeling of being watched disappeared.
I walked back to the cave and found him busy roasting the hog and the fish. We ate in silence, and after he tried to find reception outside the cave so he could phone Master Longwei.
The conversation was quick, he just told him where we were and where we were headed tomorrow and that was it. I crawled into my sleeping bag before he entered and pretended to have fallen asleep.
I could hear him crashing down onto his sleeping bag and then it was quiet.
I eventually fell asleep too and was surprised that I didn’t dream about anything, which was a miracle in itself. I guessed I was way too tired to dream about Seymour and his crazy psychopathic plans.
I still couldn’t believe he’d killed his father, and knew that there must have been a million reasons behind it, but Clive had been so kind – to me anyway.
When I woke up, Blake was busy heating up leftover hog and handed me some. We ate in silence after I thanked him and then it was off into the wilderness once more.
I discovered a long walking stick along the way and picked it up. It was easier walking with the damn thing so I kept it.
I gave a deep sigh and stopped just in time before walking into Blake.
“What is it?” I asked as he kept looking to his right.
“Blake?” My heart started to beat faster remembering that dream I had in the SUV.
“It’s fine, it’s nothing to fear, Elena. It’s just that I think I found one of my Orbs.”
T’S FINE MASTER Longwei mentioned something like this. Go, retrieve your special jewel.”
“An orb. It’s not a jewel, huge difference,” he said sarcastically. “It’s fine, I have more or less an idea where it is and can come back for it another time.”
“Just go get it. Really, it’s not a problem.”
“Elena, it might turn into one, okay?” He sounded stern.
“What do you mean, it might?”
“The location is that way, there is another cave which leads to the mermaid world.”
I gasped. “Then what are we waiting for? I’ve always wanted to see them.”
“They are not always friendly, Elena,” he said, but I was already walking in the direction he’d pointed.
“There’s plenty of water and you don’t have enough oxygen. I, on the other hand, can breathe underwater,” he said.
I knew that part, I’d discovered it when my head went underwater while Cara was still with me. “Then I’ll wait while you go get your precious orb.”
I could hear him grunting. “You really are one of the most stubborn girls I’ve ever met. I can’t promise your safety and I’m sure this oath that was made two days ago revolves around that.”
“I’m on land. Mermaids, I’m sure, can only stay in the water. Seriously, they don’t even know me. Why on earth would they want to hurt me?”
“I can think of a couple of reasons,” he mumbled as he passed me. “But fine, let’s go.” He was really a jerk.
I had to walk fast again to keep up with his pace.
The trees grew bigger and the plants greener as we walked further, then a huge cave appeared in front of us.
“Stay here, I won’t be long.”
“Don’t tell me what to do. I’m going in
.”
“Elena,” he sounded angry but I didn’t care. I wasn’t as useless as he thought I was. I had access to my abilities now and I could use them whenever I felt the need.
When I entered, the first thing I noticed was the cave’s water reflecting on the walls. It was bluish and reminded me of the cave at the Academy, the one that I’d almost died in.
Still I set down my bag as Blake dropped his, and looked away as he took off his shirt.
“You seriously are one stubborn girl. Only thinking about yourself.”
“Oh will you just shut up? I can take care of myself.”
He shook his head, not saying anything, and pulled off his pants. He fiddled in his bag, looking for something and when he walked into my view, I saw swim shorts that reached his knees.
He was seriously built to last.
He stepped into the water and lowered his body until only his shoulders and head stuck out.
“Whatever you do, this is not a time to let your curiosity take over, Elena. I meant it when I said this is dangerous. Just stay in that spot and don’t move. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Fine, go.” I shooed him away and he ducked down into the water. I watched the ripples until they disappeared and the water became still.
The minute he left, that same creepy feeling of being watched came back. I seriously didn’t like it.
Then I thought about how fast he’d picked up on his orb. His tracking ability sure hadn’t failed him this time.
Why couldn’t he find me? Was it because that part of him didn’t want to? He’d just proved how good his tracking ability was. I was sure the Rubicon had tried everything to just get more dragon time, but Blake hardly shifted into a dragon. It was as if he hated his dragon form. It was seriously starting to freak me out. The two of them were so different from one another, so different.
I thought about something, a metaphor that Sammy had used to describe the Chromatics right before a claiming. She said that the human form was like Dr. Jekyll and the dragon part, Mr. Hyde. Could it be that Blake had become Mr. Hyde and his dragon form Dr. Jekyll?
That guy seriously loved being dark, and now that the roles were turned around, he clung to the dark now that his dragon form was light.
A soft, singing voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I got up onto my feet as it engulfed the entire cave.
How long had Blake been gone? I didn’t know but it sure felt like forever. A splash in a dark area of the cave made my head snap toward it. My heart immediately started to pound inside my chest and soon it felt as if it was lodged in my throat. My mouth grew dry and I couldn’t swallow properly. I could feel something coming my way but I had no clue what it was. Okay, I did, but it still sounded so far-fetched.
I jumped back and almost died of a heart attack when a body jumped out of the water and sat on the ledge.
“Sorry!” She sounded friendly with wet hair clinging to her head. She had nothing covering her breasts and my eyes snapped toward a huge tail glistening in the reflection from the water.
“Didn’t mean to scare you.” Her voice was like honey, but it made my skin crawl. Could this be the danger Blake was talking about?
I just kept staring, and pinched myself. Ouch! This didn’t feel real.
“You like my tail?” she asked and giggled. “Of course you do, it is the most beautiful in the entire realm.”
“Okay,” I said, she sure was full of herself.
“What are you doing here? Not a lot of humans—” She sniffed. “Yip, humans, come here to this side of the realm.”
“I had no choice. I’m waiting for someone.”
“She does talk!” She giggled again and then gasped. “You are not one of those, that fall in love with our men, and is now waiting for him? My father will kill him, you know, if he finds out.”
“No, definitely not one of those.”
“Of course not, how stupid of me. You almost had a heart attack when you saw me, not to mention the look of awe when you saw my tail. It has magical abilities you know.”
“What, your tail?”
“Yes, it grants me the power to do whatever I wish it to do. Great for my friends, not so much for my enemies.”
I gulped at the way she said the word enemies. She squinted. “Really, what are you doing here?”
“I told you, I’m waiting for a friend.”
“And this friend is not one of us?” she asked, still squinting.
“No, he’s not.”
Her eyes rose as I said he. “Who are you waiting for?”
Don’t tell her, Elena. Why on earth not, she probably doesn’t even know Blake.
“My dragon,” I said, not knowing why I called him that. “He came to find one of his stupid orbs.”
“You are talking about Blake?”
My heart beat faster at the way she said his name.
“You know him?”
“Oh, I know him alright. He used to come here often to visit me, but not so much anymore. In fact I haven’t seen him in a very long time.” She sounded angry.
“I can promise you, I have nothing to do with that.”
“Oh, but you do. I know exactly who you are, ELENA!” She said my name as if I was vermin, and lifted up her hands at once, yelling something.
I couldn’t move, and this time it wasn’t because of a stupid spell, this time it was fear.
Seaweed jumped out of the water and wrapped itself around my legs. I shrieked as it started pulling me toward the water, and took a huge breath just before it pulled me down.
Blake! I yelled inside my head, even though I knew the stupid idiot wasn’t linked to my mind anymore.
Gills didn’t appear this time either and I tried to wield my ability. Nothing happened, and the seaweed just kept pulling me down further into the water. It was so bright and my eyes stung after a while. I tried all the incantations I knew, but nothing worked.
The mermaid started to laugh under the water and her voice was like a song, clear and beautiful.
“I told you my tail is magical, Elena. It is blocking all of your magic, it’s actually giving me more. Ohhhh, I feel great.” She said that last part as if she was busy getting an orgasm.
The seaweed started to wrap around me, covering me completely. My breath started to vanish and I couldn’t breathe.
My sight was disappearing too, and then everything just started to fade out.
“BREATHE, ELENA.” I heard his voice and felt his lips again. I coughed and water spilled out of my mouth.
I kept on coughing as I took in gulps of air.
Blake was kneeling next to me, still without his shirt on. His hair clung to his face, making him look like a Tommy Hilfiger model that’d just walked out of the sea, begging you to buy his perfume.
I lay down on the cold floor of the cave trying to catch my breath.
“I told you I would come back for this!” he yelled.
“Just tell me you got the stupid thing so we can leave,” I said, out of breath.
He shook his head and I stared into the water. The mermaid was gone. I didn’t know who the hell she was, but something was clear, she wanted to kill me to get Blake. Fucking idiot. She was a mermaid for crying out loud. The only thing he could’ve done with her was feel her up, unless mermaids had human bodies too.
I got up, angry. My clothes clung to my body as I walked past Blake who held out a towel to me.
I slapped away his hands, picked up my bag and got myself out of the cave.
“You are angry, after I warned you?” He sounded furious.
I turned around and faced him. “You want to know why she did that? Because of you.” I pushed him as hard as I could. “Urgh.” I let out a groan. “I knew the minute this mission started that you were going to get me killed.”
“I told you I could come back. I know what she is like, Elena. She is a psychotic fish.”
He walked past me again.
A psycho fish that wanted him.
He stopped and threw down his bag. “You never listen.”
“I never listen?”
“She almost killed you. If I hadn’t already been on my way back, you would’ve been dead by now.”
I closed my eyes.
“From now on if I say I can come back later…”
“Fine, I’ll know that there is a psychotic creature out there that you somehow screwed that wants to kill me,” I said and walked back the way we’d come.
I could hear him grunting behind me again, and fiddling with something, but his steps were huge and he reached me in no time.
“For your information, I never slept with her. I know her father.” He walked past me again with a shirt on and his towel around his waist.
The sun was almost setting again and we found a place to set up camp.
I was too tired to argue with him, a near death experience does that to a person. He set up my tent in no time and when he was done I went inside, put on some dry clothes and crawled into my sleeping bag.
It was silent outside, the only sounds I heard were the fire and the insects.
“You want something to eat?”
“I’m not hungry.” I sounded so rude.
“Fine, suit yourself.”
It was the only thing he said and I fell asleep thinking about his dragon form again. They had to be two entities and no creature could be that fucked up, unless he had a personality disorder which didn’t seem so far-fetched.
The next morning I woke up to fish roasting over the fire.
My legs were aching from where the seaweed had grabbed me. I lifted up my pants and found these tiny blisters shaped like ankle bracelets around my feet. If only they were pretty like a bracelet should be and not aching.
I pulled my socks over them and had no idea how I was going to be able to walk a gazillion miles today.
Stupid orbs. I should’ve listened…no he should’ve kept his … he knew her father, yeah right, it’s Blake we are talking about here, not Saint Thomas.
I crawled out of the tent and Blake looked up at me. His eyes lingered for a few short seconds on my head.