The woman returned to scribbling on the dark sheets of paper. The last time she had stacks of them all over her desk. This time only a single pile formed on her left. I stopped by the large mahogany desk. It was worn by the time but otherwise undamaged.
For the heart of the Dragon House, this reception looked disappointing and unimaginative. Generic pictures in even more generic frames. Where was the grandeur of our blood? Dragons played an important role in the Titan War. This room possessed no mention of these events. Plain sofas and chairs alongside the walls were made to make people uncomfortable. Why did dragons take the beatings while the other Houses showed actual pride in being who they were?
“Please, take a seat,” the receptionist said. She didn’t look up from the papers.
A shame she didn’t see my wicked grin as I strolled straight for the door to Saaron’s offices. I didn’t know who wheezed sharply and who squeaked behind me. I stopped paying attention to Rebecca before I’d entered the reception.
“You ca—” I closed the door behind.
So, this was all a big sham? Two dragon adults were using wand-like items to turn a sophisticated and rich office into a generic, bland shithole? The look on their faces as they saw me, was priceless. Their mouths worked wordlessly.
“Where is this piece of shit?”
Who would guess that people’s eyes could get this big?
“Where is Saaron?” I asked again just in case they didn’t catch my drift.
“Here.” A sudden, powerful presence crashed behind me. I didn’t have a connection with Saaron like with Lotian, but I knew right away he kept his rage barely contained. His energy was like a violent whirlwind. Good. Having Saaron by the last strand of his sanity meant we could talk like true dragons. Let the dragon’s blood sing, wasn’t this the motto of Elleria?
As I began turning around, Saaron’s hand caught my shoulder. He wasn’t gentle about it. I stifled a gasp of shock and pain.
“I’m tired of your childish behavior,” he growled. My senses spiked. In the ocean of anger, I smelled arousal radiating from him. “Stay as you are.”
“Should I bend for you as well, so you can fuck me from behind?” I asked, provoking him further. I knew he’s already been struggling with his lust. Slowly, Saaraon’s façade of cold demeanor began crumbling. If I only kept pushing him.
He will lose his position as the Head of Dragon House and I can guarantee you won’t like the new Head.
I’d spin if not for Saaron’s iron grip on my shoulder.
Selene. I’ve told you to not mess with my head.
Oh, but I’m the last person who wants that. What the hell this supposed to mean?
Saaron’s hand relaxed and I wrenched myself out his clutch, Selene’s arrival distracted him enough to allow me to find an opening. I slammed palms into his chest sending him sprawling against the door.
It didn’t stop him.
The two dragon men who so far only watched us, now charged me. They were as strong as lieutenant Rox. Rage exploded inside me. Power violently tumbled awaiting a destructive release.
They came from each side. Fast, agile and determined. They meant harm.
As my defenses appeared in place, a wave of chill and tranquility crashed against us. The dragon men hesitated and their attack lost impetus. My rage wavered under unimaginable pressure. I fought but this bitch was relentless.
Calm down, Flare.
Get out of my head! Oh, shit I realized the mistake. It wasn’t Selene’s voice, but Lotian’s. I’m sorry, I’m in the middle of something.
Yeah, I’m on my way, Lotian chuckled, but I could sense how strained it was.
The two men who attacked me were crawling away. Through the smashed door entered Saaron. The illusion of control gone from his face.
“You little bitch,” Saaron growled. “No one ever has disrespected me like you. This place isn’t for you.”
We were finally onto something.
Selene walked in between us. She extended her hands sideways.
“You have exactly two minutes before the rest of the Heads arrive, with them the military and the board representative. Are you two willing to start a war? We haven’t finished the one with Titans, yet.”
Saaron’s red eyes turned crimson.
I knew that even if he wanted to calm down, our rage burned too brightly to let him off the hook. He deserved it. For all his lies. Keeping my friends away from me. As I thought about it, my temper increased. This bastard needed a lesson. I took the position to fight.
Saaron ripped his torn jacket and shirt off. Topless, he looked fucking hot. Sharp muscles, which were steel hard. I knew. I remembered touching them.
“Do you want to fight me? Fine. I’m going to send you back to the hole you crawled out from.”
Fire burst out of me. Instinctively, propelled by ire. It wasn’t a normal fire. This was a dragon’s fire.
“Stop!” Another blast of tranquility, ten times more potent than the first one, hit us. It wasn’t enough to stop Saaron, but he suddenly diverted his attention to Selene.
“Get out of the way…” he didn’t manage to say anything else. The rest of the Heads arrived, with them Nix and a woman clad with silver tinted blue. Half of her head was nicely trimmed. She had runes inscribed on her hair on that side. On the other side, her incredibly silky hair smoothly reached her waist. Her black eyes were like wells. Deep and mysterious. Nothing on her gorgeous face betrayed a sliver of emotion. She was a demi-unicorn. There was no mistake.
Lotian came in the last. The shock on his face made me laugh.
“I fail to see the reason for the good humor,” said the unfamiliar demi-unicorn. Tendrils of chill gripped my heart.
“Flare, are you okay?” Lotian pushed between everyone. He didn’t care what they thought about his manners.
There was one more new-old face. A man with an ugly mustache and black suit in yellow strips. He was the one who talked with Selene in the supernatural’s emergency room. His gazes then and now were the same. To him, I was a vermin.
“I’d like to hear an explanation,” Nix said.
Lotian’s embrace threatened to crush me.
We stood in the heavy silence as they waited for Saaron’s words. He didn’t even fix his clothes, which he could with a snap of his fingers. No. His face was still twisted with rage. Was he insane enough to start a fight with everyone here?
“This is Dragon House,” he finally said. “It’s none of your business. Now follow me to my second office.”
Just like that, he walked away and no one questioned him!
Selene gave me an unreadable look, then was the first to follow. Watermane in her ridiculous attire only squinted at me, as she left the room. Ignelion pointedly ignored me. One minute later only Lotian, Nix and I left in the half-enchanted office. The two men who had earlier attacked me, disappeared as the Heads arrived.
At least the door was back in one piece.
“He’ll pay for this,” Lotian snapped. Some of his rage finally awakened.
Nix stepped forth faster than I could blink, his fist connected with Lotian’s face, sending the young demi-dragon to the ground.
“Are you fucking lost your mind?” Nix asked with startling composure.
I expected the pain to reach me through our bond, but the spell didn’t seem to work this way.
“What’s wrong with you, Nix?” I kneeled next to Lotian. He grinned.
“You don’t understand the situation.”
“Try me!”
Ignelion’s words were convincing enough. Heads, military, the board. Everyone wanted something from me.
“This woman’s name is Esiane. She’s the extension of Mirenne. If she is here, it’s as if the director herself was here. If you keep provoking them, they may overrule me and I won’t be able to keep you saf
e anymore and the situation is already delicate.”
I was close to explain to him how good his protection was. Ignelion took out a Dragon Soldier without breaking a sweat. If he did it, then any other equally powerful individual could kill me and no one would be the wiser. I chose to stay silent, though hundreds of words kept piling at the end of my tongue.
“Maybe it’s the time to tell Mirenne and her minions to fuck off,” Lotian rose from the floor. There was no sign that he had been hit in the face. “Maybe, it’s the time to tell her that Flare doesn’t belong to anyone.”
Nix possessed a unique temper. He wasn’t exactly cold, more like withdrawn or serious. But when he snorted, my eyebrows lifted. It was hard to imagine the blonde demi-dragon laughing.
“Lotian, you might be the most popular amongst demi-dragons, but you aren’t the smartest. Do you plan to start another war? What do you think will happen when you openly challenge a pure unicorn? Dragons are already under a lot of pressure. If not for father’s concessions our situation could be much worse.”
The two brothers looked so much different. It was baffling. So close to the two of them my heart started to beat faster. An unknown force sensed them and desired their intimacy. I swallowed the sudden surge of lust. This wasn’t the right moment for the yearning of their bodies, but it felt as if my body decided to take the steer from me and I could only watch.
This look in your eyes, Lotian said in my head.
There is something you must know, I replied. My feelings were a mess and on top of that my body has been acting on its own. Almost as my dragon’s blood reacted to other dragons. But I’ve only behaved this way toward demi-dragons. No other person evoked such emotions from me. What was so special about them that made me so weak?
Tell me, I can handle anything.
No matter how confident and strong his thoughts sounded, I knew some truths were difficult to swallow.
You know about me and Dramer and Saaron, but for some insane reason, I feel this way with all of you. I hate Saaron, but when he’s around my body wants him. I don’t understand, why.
Lotian looked at Nix who looked pristine in his silver uniform.
“This much magic exists on this planet for a little over three decades. Most of the books written on the subject are missing vital information. It doesn’t help that dragon’s and unicorn’s systems of preserving information are so alien even to us demi-dragons.”
At first, Nix misunderstood Lotian’s words. He must have thought they were directed him, then must have put his sharp mind to better use and figured this out.
“Are you using telepathy? How? I should be able to sense it.” Telepathy like any other type of magic could be sensed by powerful individuals.
Lotian shook his head. “More complex than that.”
“More… complex than telepathy? What… are you bonded by the Blood of Dragons spell?”
“It was the only way to save Lotian,” I explained. “And I’ve never regretted it.”
Nix’s gaze fell to the floor. I couldn’t help myself and grin. He looked a bit like a fallen hero.
“When did it happen?”
“Elleria used the Green Eye on me,” Lotian said. I knew it was hard for him to admit this. Demi-dragons were one of the mightiest beings on this planet and acknowledging its own weakness wasn’t something the heroes used to do. “My body couldn’t regenerate the wound.”
“This wasn’t reported anywhere, Lotian. Why did you leave it out?”
A call came from the second office. They wanted me inside. It was too late to follow Ignelion’s advice.
Chapter 9
It looked like Saaron was a bigger shot than he’d given out. His half-enchanted office showed the truth, but the second one put the extent of their lie in a perspective.
It wasn’t merely an office. No, this was a chamber larger than a common room. Dark, but with a tint of blue and red, ceramic bricks gave the walls flavor of gloom. Perhaps, the gleam on the walls came from the fire in the fireplace, unless magic danced on them. The fireplace, built out of one piece of rock, looked as if it’d fallen out of the sky. Or maybe they used magic to morph it together. The Wastelands had its share of magic, but the Academy put it to shame in terms of sophistication. On both sides, in expensive-looking armchairs, sat Ignelion, Saaron, Selene on one side, and Esiane, the Head of Supernaturals and Waterman on the other one. No seats for Nix, Lotian or me. The mahogany floor reflected the blurred flames. Esiane pointed at the red patterned rug before them.
High below the vaulted ceiling hang a sophisticated chandelier. Everything in this place looked ridiculously expensive. Pilows, plants in fancy pots, figurines, a desk. How rich was this fuck?
“Take the place,” Esiane said nonchalantly, a leg over a leg. A ‘fuck you’ lady in all her splendor. I didn’t hate her, but her bearing has already been grating at me. When I stepped on the rug, Esiane continued. “My name is Esiane and I represent the board of the Academy. I’ll preside over this review. I want to make something clear from the start. The board is aware of your youthful reputation, but we can’t accept it. I’m not speaking here about taking off your behavior points or sending you to the Slackers. What I mean is a criminal offense to disrespect a member of the board. Therefore, I’d advise you to keep your mouth shut and only speak when asked. Understood?”
And now what? My nature pulled strings that wanted to smack this bitch in the face. But over the last six months, I’ve become more rational. Could I actually win by using brute force here? Well, I knew I’d wished to show them that I wouldn’t play their game. Then maybe, it wasn’t their game after all. Maybe we were all just pawns? I’ve spent nights trying to figure everything out, while Nix’s and Selene’s words about the war made me realize something. Dragons have been growing too powerful for someone in this world. So, they decided to destroy us. It was only a theory, but it all made sense. Puzzles fit together so well.
I only nodded as agreeing with her verbally was still too hard for me. I was a stuck up bitch too. Often being stubborn and impatient felt awesome, but perhaps, it made me too predictable? Ignelion warned me because he’d known how easy it was to provoke me. Maybe that was the problem? I couldn’t accept authority and thus made myself open to their attacks.
Two chairs, less magnificent than those used by the Heads, appeared behind me and Lotian. My demi-dragon took one and offered me the second. Nix remained standing. Speaking of stubborn. Nix seemed to possess a voice of reason, but there were moments when he refused to bend.
The Head of Supernatural House frowned when I followed Lotian’s invitation, but in the end, no one protested. That was something.
“We conduct reviews that vary in importance. Your review has currently the highest importance,” Esiane said. “You were found in the Wastelands without any links to the current Dragon heritage, which means that your dragon parent had left the Earth with all other pure ones seventeen years ago.” It means… what exactly it means? One of my parents left me here with Sol. So, my father must have been… is a pure dragon? Doesn’t it mean I’m a demi-dragoness? It makes no sense. I don’t have fifty percent of dragon’s blood like the demi-dragons.
“As of now, we still haven’t traced your origins,” Esiane admitted and it galled at her. And then, the next words revealed that it wasn’t a review. This was an interrogation. Suddenly, a chilling thought turned my back and arms to gooseflesh. Dramer would never allow this. The moment we joined our primal energies activated something within us. Could the pure dragon know this? With Dramer around the war would be inevitable. Ignelion’s words echoed in my mind again. For these Heads, I was a mystery. But what about Rust and Simona? They looked to be left out of the picture, which was a good thing, but what was so special about me? What piqued their interest? I had to learn this. It left me no choice but to play along for now. “We need a detailed account of your past. Who had parented you be
fore you came to the Great York City? A list of powers you’ve been using. We want the exact account of your collaboration with Elleria; how did you two meet and why did you decide to join her cause?”
Questions poured out of the demi-unicorn’s mouth without end. She has gone too far with this. She didn’t ask, she wanted to strip me bare, tear my soul and see what secrets dwelled there. My mind, numbed by all the fancy words and grandiose tone, sought the sanctuary of Lotian’s presence. His voice in my head, contrary to the others, worked miracles.
Lotian, are you there?
I noticed the twitch of his fingers, but his reply didn’t appear. Something blocked it. He could hear me though.
“You can start speaking,” Esiane said.
Flames played in the fireplace, muted by a spell. I heard them, every crack and snap of consumed branches. It happened during my time in the Wastelands. Fires, sometimes, murmured in their exotic language, which made no sense to me. This here was more primal in its essence.
“If you remain—”
“You have it all wrong,” I interrupted her, not out of spite, but a necessity. In her eyes, I sat here ready to reveal my sins and accept punishment. This faulty perspective needed to be corrected. “My past belongs to me. Elleria? She lied, she deceived and almost killed me and you speak of collaboration? I’d kill her myself if I could.”
My words met the wall of silence and blank faces. The Heads were skilled at hiding emotions. Masters of lies. This entire place was founded under the illusion of teaching. I was no stupid. Everything here was political.
“That isn’t the answer I was looking for,” Esiane admitted. “The two supernaturals, who had come with you, told us about a woman named Sol. She left you eight years ago. You had been twelve back then, they found you two years later. Tell me, who was Sol?”
The first thoughts imagined me going on a rampage. They had no right to ask my friends about me, and why Rust and Simona had told them anything? Then came apprehension. What could they do? Against this institution, their chances looked grim. I didn’t blame my friends for telling the Academy about my past. Esiane seemed like a person who didn’t offer second chances. For sisters, the two demi-unicorns had very little in common.
The Tears of Unicorns Page 7
