Sid shivered, thinking of the horror stories he’d heard about the testing. He’d never witnessed it, but only about half of the potential queens made it out alive. Even fewer made it out sane. Most kings had to watch three or four candidates go through the testing before one was finally accepted. Again, that choice would not be his.
“I talked to Skye,” said Pearl, interrupting Sid’s thoughts.
His stomach knotted. Of course she talked to Skye. Was there any part of his life his sister didn’t stick her snout into? Sid waited, knowing that no matter what he said, Pearl would find a way to get her point across.
Pearl continued. “She wanted me to tell you she is sorry for the way she left things.”
Sid missed Skye. He’d give anything to have her sitting in front of him instead of Pearl. She had been the bright spot in his life, the one who made sure he always faced the sun instead of the clouds. Humanity would be more fun with her around.
“Where is she?”b
“Back home in the Everglades. She stopped to see me on the way.”
“Can I see her?”
“No, you know—”
“Would you like to know what I found out about Aspen?” Theo interrupted.
“Absolutely,” Sid said as Pearl started to protest. Anything to escape the painful road his conversation with Pearl was heading. He picked up a shard of the shattered geode and ran his fingers across the tiny purple spikes.
“Almost every bit of information I found on her was attached to dragons. Did you know she has pictures of us?”
“Yeah, she showed me some this morning.” Sid dug into his pocket, remembering he still had her phone. He handed it to Theo.
Theo thumbed through the pictures as Pearl watched over his shoulder.
“She actually likes dragons,” commented Pearl, perplexed. “That’s a bit, um, unusual.”
“So why do you think she hates me as a human if she likes dragons?”
“Well, she doesn’t know you’re a dragon,” said Pearl, taking the phone from Theo.
“She’s going to hate you even more when she finds out you jacked her phone,” said Theo, spinning around to the computer.
“I didn’t mean to steal it. She ran off before I could give it to her, and then I forgot about it. I’ll give it back tomorrow.”
Theo scowled and pulled off a piece of the shattered computer screen. “You’re going to have to replace this, you know. I wanted to show you the rest of the pictures she’s taken, but that will have to wait. Anyway, Stacey and Jason Winters, her parents, are park rangers. As a child, Aspen moved from one park to another. My guess is that’s where her fascination with dragons comes from; she’s lived near us her entire life. The info on her family is sketchy. It looks like she has an older sister and a twin brother. They lead a quiet life.”
Sid sighed, disappointed in Theo’s research. They lead a quiet life. He thought Theo had better resources than that.
“Aspen, however, is almost famous,” said Theo.
“What do you mean?” Sid asked.
“She’s a bit of a daredevil,” he said. “Aspen has two blogs. One with all her dragon pictures and one with the rest of her adventures. She skydives, hangs from ropes in the treetops, and has a black belt in aikido. Dude, she even swallows fire.” Theo sounded impressed.
“So? We breathe fire,” Pearl said.
“Yeah, but we’re dragons.”
Chapter Ten
The next day, Rowan got all snappy with Aspen because she made him ten minutes late to school. But no way was she giving Sid the opportunity to talk to her. She raced to biology and walked to math two minutes late. To her surprise though, Mrs. Weber and Sid were standing outside of the classroom talking.
“Sid, it is highly unusual for a senior to be in Algebra I. Where were you placed in your previous school?”
“I was homeschooled.”
“I thought so. I’d like you to take a placement test today, just to make sure you’re in the right class. I’d hate for you to be bored.”
Sid nodded and caught Aspen’s eye. He smiled, and her heart raced. She couldn’t tell if it was because she was scared of him or attracted to him. Damn her feelings.
“What happens if I do well?” Sid asked.
“Then we’ll move you into Geometry or Algebra II.”
Sid moved to step around Mrs. Weber when she stopped him. “The library is that way,” she said, pointing the opposite direction.
“Oh, right.” He nodded to Aspen and turned.
Aspen tried to sneak past Mrs. Weber, but she was too observant. “You’re late, Miss Winters.”
“I know, but I did my homework.”
Mrs. Weber raised her eyebrows. “Well, miracles do exist.”
She disappeared into the classroom, and Aspen noticed that Sid still hadn’t turned the corner.
“Hey, King,” Aspen called.
“Yeah?” The eagerness in his voice betrayed his calm expression.
“Do your best on that test.” Anything to get him out of that class.
“Not a chance. I’m going to miss all of them. Just for you.” He grinned and disappeared around the corner.
He still hadn’t come back by the time the bell rang. Which rocked. She ate lunch in the abandoned janitor’s closet, and he wasn’t in any of her afternoon classes.
At her locker that afternoon, while she was getting her stupid math book again, Tori stopped to talk to her.
“Why weren’t you at lunch?”
“Detention,” Aspen lied.
Tori nodded. That was a common enough occurrence she didn’t suspect anything unusual. She leaned against the locker next to Aspen’s and sighed.
“Sid sat with us. He’s so sweet. Is it possible to fall in love without even kissing?”
Aspen held back her snort. “I don’t think so.”
“Well, I think so. I don’t want to screw this up. What do you think I should do?”
“Are you really asking me for advice? I haven’t dated anyone here.”
“You went to prom with Matt.”
“Only because you wanted me to. I don’t like Matt.”
“But he loves you, and he’s not the first guy to fall in love with you. How do you do it?”
“Tori, I don’t know. It’s not like I want Matt falling for me.”
“You’re right. It’s just you. I’m so jealous, but whatever. I’m going to get Sid if it’s the last thing I do. I need to find something in common with him. But all he talks about is stupid dragons.”
Aspen rolled her eyes. “There. You can use that. Just pretend to like them. Hello, you have me. I know more about dragons than anyone else.”
Tori’s eyes lit up. “I could do that.”
“Look, I gotta go, or Rowan’s going to have a panic attack wondering where I am. Why don’t you come over for family game night, and we’ll talk dragons and see how much we can say before Rowan pees his pants.”
She laughed. “That’s not very nice.”
“That’s the point. See you about seven?”
Tori nodded. “I gotta go find Lila. See you later.” She gave Aspen a hug and disappeared into the crowded hallway.
Aspen tried to escape to the parking lot, but Sid caught her just before she went through the doors.
“You left your phone with me yesterday. I’m sorry. I forgot I had it.”
“Thanks,” Aspen muttered. Tori would be pleased she could finally answer her million and one texts.
“Wait,” Sid said.
Jeez, what now? Aspen hesitated for a half second and pushed the door open. Whatever he had to say wasn’t important enough for her to hang around.
“Aspen, wait,” he yelled. All the freshmen waiting for their parents stopped mid-conversation.
“What?” Aspen kept her voice deliberately low and irritated.
He stared at her without speaking, those gorgeous eyes boring into hers. If she concentrated on them, she could forget he looked like Marc. Thou
gh, then she might do something stupid like kiss him because his eyes mesmerized her. She squeezed her eyes shut for a second to clear her head. Then she looked at him again with her eyebrows raised to let him know she was waiting. He didn’t utter a word. Aspen rolled her eyes and made her way down the stairs.
“Dragons,” he said, following her. “I know where you can find dragons.”
Damn. That might be worth a conversation. Especially now. She had to prove they weren’t dangerous before the public started suspecting them for the all of the deaths in the national parks.
“Where?” Aspen asked when they reached the bottom of the stairs. She couldn’t look at his face so she studied his tennis shoes.
“Inside Yellowstone. Can I show you?”
Dragons. Sid. Dragons. Sid. His shoes were the expensive Adidas. Black with white stripes. She tried to avoid focusing on her sweaty palms and the anxiety filling her chest. Sid could show her where to find dragons, but that would mean she’d have to go somewhere with him. Alone. This was ridiculous. If anyone else on the planet had offered, she would have had her ass in the passenger seat already. Even if they looked like Marilyn Manson.
“Sure,” Aspen said. “But first I need to drop my brother off at home. Follow me.”
On the way to her house, she thought of a gazillion different ways to lose him. But the prospect of finding more dragons was too good to pass up. He’d only been in Gardiner for a few weeks, so how could he possibly have found a place she didn’t know about? If he was lying, she’d finally have an excuse to use her aikido training.
In the house, she grabbed a couple of water bottles and granola bars. If Sid showed her the dragons, she had every intention of stalking them tonight. Her camera made it into her bag last.
Aspen climbed into Sid’s black Escalade and buckled her seatbelt in silence. The inside of his car smelled warm and earthy like a cedar chest. They drove around the bottom loop and past Dunraven Pass. Aspen kept her gaze out the window and crossed her arms.
The silence was menacing. Words would not form in Sid’s head to speak to her, and she certainly wasn’t speaking to him. The scenery seemed to captivate her as they drove, though he was sure it was as familiar to her as it was to him.
Sid parked in a small gravel lot at the head of a trail.
“We are going to have to walk a bit. I hope that’s okay.”
She nodded and dug in her backpack. He hadn’t noticed she brought it. She pulled out two bottles of water and handed him one.
“Thanks. We’ll need to follow the trail until we run out of trees.”
“I’ve been down this trail before. The tree line ends after about fifty yards.”
Aspen disappeared into the thick of trees, and Sid chased after her. The trail sloped down, and the pines towered over them, providing him a view of trees he’d never seen before. The area was familiar, but it looked different.
From above, the individual branches weren’t visible; the view was of a tree as a whole. From below, the details of the trees made them beautiful. Aspen hiked only a few feet in front of Sid, but never looked back. She was wound tight, and Sid had difficulty pushing her anxiety away. He had to breathe deeply to keep his chest from constricting. Pine needles crunched underfoot, offering the only sound in the silent forest.
Sid contemplated several ways to break the silence, but each seemed forced. No one had ever rendered him speechless before. It was maddening. No coherent thoughts entered his head, and he was surprised when Aspen spoke first.
“Tori would be furious if she knew I was here with you.”
“Why?”
“She’s madly in love with you. Surely even you can see that. And me, being here alone with you, she’d see that as her best friend encroaching on her territory.” Aspen talked without looking back, her braid swinging from side to side. She laughed, her anxiety easing a little.
“Is that why you don’t like me? Because you don’t want to offend Tori?”
“No, I have other reasons for not liking you. But really, I think you should give Tori a chance. She’s a little flighty, but sweet.”
Her voice was soft but pierced the forest. Sid savored the sound of the words, but as happy as he was that she spoke, he didn’t want to talk about Tori. He took a chance.
“Why are you so fascinated with dragons?” he asked, running his fingers along the bark of the trees.
Aspen turned around and walked backwards a few steps. She studied Sid’s face for a moment. Her gaze held his for only a few a seconds, but in those seconds the forest seemed to still. The energy passing between them was unlike anything he’d felt before. Sid stumbled, and the spell was broken. When he found his feet again, she had disappeared down a hill.
When Sid caught up again, she spoke.
“Aside from humans, dragons are the only intelligent species on Earth,” she said.
Her emotions shifted. Aspen began the walk hissing, and now she almost purred.
“What makes you think that?” Sid asked.
“They have intelligent thoughts. They’re not like other animals. A dog can understand that an action is bad if he is taught, but ultimately he is driven by instinct. Humans and dragons think on their own. Instinct, to both dragons and humans, is a second nature, not first.” She spoke without once turning to check if Sid was listening.
“How do you know?” he asked.
“Have you ever heard of a dragon attacking a human?”
“No.” Sid tried to walk next to her, but she moved faster, crossing her arms and keeping her eyes on the ground in front of her, the claws coming out again.
“It is statistically impossible for it to have never happened. But I’ve researched every possible dragon attack. Not one was legit. If dragons were like any other animal, they would prey on humans. They are carnivores—we are meat.”
“What if they don’t like the taste of humans? Or what if documented reports don’t exist because there are no survivors?”
“I suppose that’s possible, but I don’t believe it.” She relaxed a little. Sid couldn’t understand her mood fluctuations. If she was talking about the dragons, she was content, almost happy. If she sensed his presence, she felt angry and scared. He couldn’t keep up.
“Why?”
“Sid, I’m only talking to you because none of my friends like hearing about dragons. You’re the first person to have ever asked.” She stopped and took a drink from her water bottle, glanced at him, and then looked away. “I’m going to call a truce today, but don’t expect it to last. I’ll go back to hating you tomorrow.”
“Fair enough,” Sid said, although he hoped the truce would last longer. Surely, she wouldn’t change her mind again tomorrow.
“Can I tell you a story?”
“Sure.” She could tell him a thousand stories as long as she kept talking.
“When I was four, I lived in the Everglades. My favorite place to be was on the water. My parents took me out at least once a day to search for alligators. One night, they got busy, and by the time dinner was over, my bedtime arrived. My mom put me to bed in spite of my kicking and screaming. After I calmed down, I climbed out of my window, hopped into a canoe, and floated into the bay.
“The first half hour or so was fun, but then I wanted to go home. I didn’t know where I was and had no way to get back, and there was no oar. I leaned over the edge to paddle with my hands and fell in. I screamed and flailed and watched with horror as an alligator raced in the water toward me. I’ll never forget that moment.
“Then, I felt the water drop away, and I was flying. I looked up and saw I was in the claws of a dragon. She landed at the edge of my driveway and put me down. I saw her clearly in the light of the full moon. She was gorgeous, silvery blue with sapphire eyes. Then she flew away.”
Skye. Sid remembered that day. She came home the next morning all concerned she had done the wrong thing. She was afraid she hurt the little girl.
“An animal wouldn’t have done that,” Aspen
continued. “An animal would have let me drown. Or eaten me. A being with intelligent thought recognizes the need to save another. That’s why I’m not afraid of dragons. I fell in love that day. Dragons have a place in my heart that no boy could ever fill.”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah, in fact the next night I took a permanent marker to my pink My Little Pony pajamas. From that moment on they had wings and fire.”
Sid laughed, picturing a four-year-old Aspen. He was shocked at how much she knew about dragons. She was right about all of it. They didn’t eat people. In general, they didn’t prey on predators. Deer, elk, buffalo, and cows were their main food sources. Humans would be the last creatures on which they would feast. They thought intelligently, and over the years the dragons had formed an uneasy truce with humans. Since they are able to take a human form, it would feel cannibalistic to eat one.
“Have you managed to get close to a dragon since then?” Sid asked.
“Only once, about a month ago. I went rock climbing, and this huge black dragon landed on a cliff next to me. He was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I keep going to the same spot hoping he’ll be there, but I haven’t seen him since.”
“Good thing you are on this walk with me then, huh?”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I’m going to show you how to find that black dragon again.”
Chapter Eleven
Matt Summers needed to get away from things for a bit. His folks were on his case about school, and the girl he’d been after for the better part of two years was off with the new guy. He punched the steering wheel.
That guy was trouble. Aspen was the type to run off with a bad boy since she was an adrenaline junky. But Matt had his hopes.
The park was good for thinking. It was one of a few spots he liked to go and just sit. He wasn’t a hiker, but the animals were nice to watch. As he drove around Dunraven Pass, he spotted Sid’s SUV.
Prick.
He hadn’t wasted anytime getting Aspen alone. Matt pulled over behind the Escalade. If Sid was putting the moves on Aspen and she didn’t want them, then Matt could take her home. Then maybe she’d realize he was better for her than that asshole.
[The Dragon Kings 01.0] Obsidian Page 6
