by Jill Haven
“Well,” he said, drawing a leg up in front of him. He rested his hands on his knee. “I would have had to tell you the truth eventually. What do you know about dragons?”
13
Carlisle
Haiden lowered his glasses to the tip of his nose and stared over them at me. His eyes shimmered, brilliant leaf-green, and just the tiniest bit brighter than human, or at least I’d like to think so. He shoved his glasses back up, and I couldn’t see the difference anymore.
“Dragons are amazing. They were my absolute favorite as a kid. Some kids liked Power Rangers or wrestlers or dinosaurs, but I loved dragons.”
He grinned at me and pulled a pillow out from under the one on top. He held it toward me, and tapped the tiny cartoon pictures dotting the cover, and I realized they were, indeed, caricatures of dragons. “My gran bought this for me. It’s old, but I can’t bring myself to get rid of it. She, well, my dad stopped letting her take me when I was, um… I think eight? Nine?” He shook his head and cuddled the pillow close. “Dad said I talked back too much after she had me.”
Haiden frowned and shoved the pillow back under the other one, out of sight. “I don’t know why he hated her so much. She was always really nice to me. Gave me treats and took me out walking in the woods, but she was old. I guess she probably died, and no one ever told me. I never saw her after that. She was just Gran to me, so I don’t even know her real name.” He sighed but perked back up. Grinning, he shifted around and shoved aside his blanket until he was cross-legged on the futon.
He gave me a smile so bright my breath caught, and he nearly bounced in place. “I learned to read really early, I actually don’t remember learning, and I had this book that was my mom’s. It was huge.” He held up his thumb and forefinger, about three inches apart. “It wasn’t a storybook like Grimm’s fairytales or anything lame like that. It was all about dragons, and these dragons were Cloud dragons, which I always thought was cool. They came from the sky.” He glanced up at the ceiling as if he could see outside, and maybe in his imagination he was.
My heart nearly stopped. “Cloud dragons?” They were part of the Northeast region, but their numbers had always been extraordinarily low, and they had always been very adept at the magic that dragons held, far more so than my clan. It began to make more sense to me that Haiden might, indeed, be a Divine Omega if it was their blood he possessed.
Haiden nodded quickly. “Yep, I loved that book so much. It had stories about how Cloud dragons were lightning with a consciousness in the beginning, and one day lighting struck a rainbow and a dragon egg fell to the earth.” He leaned toward me and I could almost picture it. “The egg had trapped the lightning and all the colors of the world inside it. A beautiful wise woman on Earth, a Hagia in a place called the Iron Woods, found the egg. She burned her hands when she touched it. She thought it was a pretty gem, but realized, because she was so smart, that it was an egg. She put it in some coals until it hatched. She loved the baby dragon with her own children, a snake, and a wolf, and a girl who was death. And then she taught the baby dragon her magic secrets. Even her husband loved the dragon, and he blessed the baby with his fire. He was a god.”
“Sounds like an old origins myth, for sure.”
Haiden’s face was so happy and bright that my stomach lurched when it fell. He rubbed his hands on his knees and rocked forward, frowning. “I loved that book, read it all the time, especially when Dad was… being not so great. You saw how he acts.” He winced and shrugged a shoulder and didn’t look at me anymore. “One night he wanted me to go to the fridge to get him beer, and I, well, I was reading.” His chin trembled, and anger roared to life in me, twisting at my gut.
“He ruined it for you somehow?”
Haiden nodded. “He ripped the book apart and threw it in the trash, then took the bag out and told me he’d skin me alive if I went looking for the pieces. It was Mom’s. It was all I had of her, especially after he wouldn’t let me see Gran anymore.” He ran a finger over the scar on his jaw and shivered. “I thought dragons were real then, hoped maybe one would come rescue me.” I stood and took up his blanket, draping it around his shoulders. “Stupid, right?” He glanced up at me with an unhappy smile stuck to his face.
“No, it wasn’t.” I sat down beside him and took his hand. He let me. With a thrill, I imagined ripping his father limb from limb. I doubted Haiden would be pleased by such a thing, he was so soft and sweet. I stroked the back of his hand with my thumb and struggled to get myself under control. “What would you say if I told you dragons were real, not myth?”
He stilled, and then laughed, and the happiness returning to him warmed me and drove off the last of my bloody fantasies. “I’d say, why the hell not? I mean, dinosaurs were real. Who knows what has been on the Earth that people missed out on or forgot?” He shrugged. “I haven’t talked about this with anyone in a long time.” The way he scrutinized me with a soft admiration made my blood race in my veins and I felt a thousand times stronger than I knew I was. I could fight off a whole horde of invading dragons to keep him for my own and ensure that he always stayed this pleased.
My nerve wavered—do I truly need to do this right now? —and I almost allowed the topic to find a natural ending, since he was in a good mood, or at least a better one, and didn’t seem to be in danger of a relapse. The coward’s way would only lead to trouble later, however, so I straightened my spine and squared my shoulders. He frowned and turned a bit toward me.
“Carlisle? Is something wrong?”
“What would you say if I told you that dragons still walk among humans?”
He blinked at me, his eyelashes fluttering hummingbird wings. “I—uh.” He licked his lips. “I’d say you were crazy. Anyone would agree with me.” There was no way to miss the uncertain tremor in his words.
“It’s quite sane, actually.”
Haiden shook his head. “No. No, the school counselor told me it wasn’t true. I think I was in the third grade when she pulled me into her office. She told me I had to stop telling people it was true because that’s why the kids were making fun of me and being mean to me, but I really think it was because I was poor, and everyone knew my dad was a drunk.” He spoke in a mad rush. “She said it was all in my head, and it was fun and okay to have a thing that I liked, but it wasn’t real.” He wouldn’t look at me, even when I tapped his chin with my finger.
“How did this become an issue with your school?” Concern twisted in my heart and I wanted to go back in time to help him. How had his father let his son suffer this way? Obviously, the man was even more of a nightmare than I’d considered. Surely, he knew that his wife was descended from dragons? There were laws against informing humans, but generally a blind eye was turned between couples on the rare occasion an interspecies match occurred.
He juddered the entire futon with the trembling that overtook him. “I saw dragons when I was a kid. In the woods. Once flying in the sky at night. I saw them. Like, I guess, hallucinations. My brain’s always been messed up.” He shrugged and slanted a long look my way, as if waiting for me to be upset with him.
My heart raced. How long had Haiden been watched? Did Jade know? This was bad.
He closed his eyes and a tear slipped down his cheek, and I could see the tension settling into his body, like it had earlier before his fit of nerves. I took his hand and placed it between both of mine. “You’re not disturbed—not insane. Do you trust me?”
He opened his eyes and nodded, so solemn that I couldn’t stop myself from sliding closer and looping my arm around his shoulder. He stiffened for a moment and then leaned all of his weight against my side, burying his face against my chest. I stroked his hair and tightened my hold on him.
“I shouldn’t,” he whispered. “I have no good reason to trust you.” He turned his head, planted his nose against my chest and took a deep whiff of me, which was such a dragon thing to do that I wanted to laugh. “I do, though, trust you, I mean.”
“I would ne
ver hurt you.” I sighed softly into his ear, and he nestled closer. I never wanted him anywhere else. “Tell me you believe that.”
He nodded, and I supposed that would have to do.
“Not even if I wanted to, could I harm you.”
“Okay,” he murmured.
My dragon wanted out, full stop. I had my mate in my arms—my deep contentment and the way that strange ache in my chest dissipated with him close made it hard to discount that he was—and there might be other dragons nearby searching for him. I wanted to shift into my largest form, circle myself around this house—he was my treasure after all—and quite simply eat anything that came close.
A twisted pleasure surged in my chest and terrified me. Yes, I’d love nothing more than to destroy everything and anyone who tried to hurt him, with tooth and claw. My talons flowed easily from my body, much faster and smoother than I’d ever experienced. My eyes shifted in my face, I could feel the contours ripple and transform. The room was clearer, as if a dirty glass window had been removed from in front of my eyes. My teeth itched and I ran my tongue over my canines, nicking the tip of my tongue. That didn’t bother me, however, as the cut healed nearly instantly, leaving only the tang of blood in my mouth. I wanted more, and I wanted the blood to belong to my mate’s enemies.
Haiden took a deep sniff of me, moaning in a way that had me thinking of spreading his legs and knotting him. Excitement shot through my stomach. He straightened up and fixed his gaze on my face. His sweet lips parted, and he clutched at my shirt front. I stiffened, waiting for his judgment. His face drained of color and he laughed.
“Crap. You’re—”
“A dragon,” I grumbled, my voice full of rocks from the partial shift.
His eyelashes fluttered, kissing his cheeks rapidly, and his eyes rolled back until I saw only whites. He went limp against me.
“Haiden? Haiden?” I called. “Did you just… faint?”
I got no response, not even when I laid him down and rested his head on his pillows or dragged the blanket over him. My insides were a riot of adrenaline, but I chuckled at the absurdity of life and then planted a kiss on his cheek. Jade was going to murder me when she got back, and I wasn’t sure that I blamed her.
14
Haiden
“You’re a dead-brained idiot. Might as well just yeet him under a bus as drop all that onto him at one time after he had a panic attack. What in the world is wrong with you?” Jade’s voice climbed until she was screeching. I flinched, but had trouble moving. Carefully, I assessed myself, but other than the aches I had earlier, I seemed fine and didn’t feel like I’d hurt myself. I couldn’t remember how exactly I got here, and I hated that this was becoming a theme in my life.
“What does yeet mean?” Carlisle sighed, and I could imagine the frown that went with his words. “Speak English. Hell, speak Spanish, French, Mandarin, or even Welsh, for that matter.”
“Oh my god, discover the internet, you geezer. Toss, throw, yeet. It’s all the same.”
There was the sound of a thud, like maybe someone had tossed a book across the room. I flinched. I doubted that was Carlisle, though. He didn’t seem like the type to throw crap. I knew Jade could be. My eyes wouldn’t open. Yelling messed with me and I hated it. I edged my blanket up higher over my face.
“I’m not that old! I have kept up with the times just fine, you strumpet.”
She chuckled weakly.
“That’s a stupid word and it will never stick around.” Carlisle again.
Another thud. “You’re the elder for the region. Yes, you are old. For whatever reason that means you’re supposed to be smarter than the rest of us. I can’t believe someone so ancient is so damned stupid.”
“Stop that.” There were steps on the floor and a scuffle, they seemed to be getting closer to me. Carlisle’s cologne, or whatever it was that smelled so good, became stronger. I felt a little better and inched my blanket back down. “Haiden’s stronger than you think. If you weren’t negligent in telling him his origins, perhaps what I had to say wouldn’t have thrown him into a fainting spell.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Jade yelled, and I could tell from her tone of voice she was ready to claw Carlisle’s eyes out. “I’m a bodyguard, not a tutor. Why I was entrusted with a hatchling, I’ll never know. Do I look motherly to you? No, I’m not taking the blame for this one. My clanswoman ordered me not to tell him jack shit, and now that’s all ruined.”
For a moment I floated in a strange cloud, my body feeling loose. I wanted to yell at Jade for being so rude to Carlisle. All at once, her words snaked into my brain. Someone had told Jade to keep things from me?
I sat up and gasped, pushing my blanket away. The lights in the room were too bright. Jade stood there, wearing a different outfit than she had on at the park earlier, jeans and a black sweater. She had blood-red lipstick on, and her hands were held at her sides, her fingers hooked. I was right about her wanting to hurt Carlisle. My stomach sank.
“You two have a lot to say to each other about me.” I pushed off the futon and stared at Carlisle as I stood, wavering, until I was solid on my feet. What had I seen before? I grabbed Jade’s hand and she came when I gave her a tug, putting her behind me. Carlisle looked the same as he did normally, no crazy sharp teeth, no bright gold eyes. “You had fangs and claws. He’s some sort of demon, or something,” I said, only half believing it. “There’s no way dragons are real. Just none.”
“Oh, but demons you’re willing to believe.” Sadness flashed across Carlisle’s face and he crossed his arms. “It’s fine. I’ve been called worse.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Jade, and she winced. “This is no time for jokes, asshole,” she growled at Carlisle, but she didn’t seem confused, and wasn’t telling me I must be imagining things. Again, the feeling that they knew something that I didn’t weighed on me, and I walked away from her over to lean against the windowsill. She shook her head and held out a hand toward my direction, but I ignored her.
“Either tell me what’s going on or leave.” I tossed the demand out to both of them, not really caring who answered. They glanced at each other. The doubt that had been tugging on me and telling me my best friend wasn’t all she seemed for a long time now solidified into a huge stone in my stomach.
“Dragons exist,” Carlisle said gravely.
Jade huffed. “Yeah, yeah, you already did that part, Romeo. We exist. I’m one too.” She shrugged. “They’ve always existed. Even before people, there were dragons. We’re one of the longest-lived sentient beings on the planet.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder.
“Yes, we’re a very humble race,” Carlisle said with a small grin that made me want to smile along with him, in spite of everything.
Jade glared. “Anyway, I’m one, obviously Carlisle’s one, too. And….” She wrinkled her nose and looked at Carlisle. He ran a hand through his hair.
“You look like people right now,” I whispered.
“We can shift into any dragon or human appearance we want,” Jade said.
“Some of us can. I can’t look like another version of my human side.” Carlisle seemed to be admitting this as if it was a huge failing, and Jade smirked. “I’m a massive dragon in my full shift, though. Very powerful.”
She giggled, and he scowled at her. “You’re more of a grower, huh?”
“I see. Jokes at my expense are fine.”
She laughed, but I was so confused that their good mood only pissed me off. “You’re both fucking with me. You have to be.” I knew I’d seen Carlisle changed twice, but this was so nuts; it didn’t seem possible. Jade closed her eyes and her face rippled. When she opened her eyes again, she stared back at me with glowing blue-green cat’s irises where her own had been before. I stared and swore I could hear thunder somewhere in the room.
“Fuck,” I whispered. “Fuck!” I said louder. “Really? You kept something like this from me? We were supposed to be best friends! Or was that a lie too?”
&
nbsp; She dropped her head and her hair fell in front of her face. My heart went into freefall and seemed like it snapped apart before it raced forward triple time. She pulled her hair back away from her face with both hands and glanced up at me, her eyes still that strange, mesmerizing glow.
“I was assigned to watch over you. Befriending you seemed the easiest way to accomplish that aim.” She pursed her lips and dropped her hands to her sides.
My throat felt like it was going to close off entirely. “So I don’t have any friends at all?”
“I am your friend,” she rushed to say, and took a step toward me. “It started out as a job, but you’re like a little brother to me now. There’s no way I could know you this well and not care for you.”
Carlisle grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the other side of the room where he started to whisper to her. She nodded and said something back, too low for me to hear. Stunned, I covered my eyes with my hands, but that didn’t help me to think.
“Why…” My voice stuck in my throat, so I cleared it and tried again. “Why did I need a bodyguard, Jade?” I dropped my hands. They were both staring straight at me. They shared another one of those looks that were starting to really piss me off. “If you keep any more secrets from me, you can get out of my life. I’m serious. Walk out the door and let it hit you on the butt on your way out.”
Carlisle’s lips twitched up, but he didn’t really smile. She shook her head.
“You want to tell him? You started this mess,” Jade said, turning away from us and crossing her arms.
Carlisle came closer until he was right in front of me, and I hated that the spot in my chest that was warm and alive buzzed harder and felt good the closer he was. I wanted to be mad at him, but I could feel myself struggling to maintain that.
