Everyone sat in silence for a few seconds. No one was talking about the real problem. Matt was dead. A knot formed in Aspen’s chest. She hadn’t been interested in him, but he was still her friend. Finally, Stacey spoke up.
“Do you all want to play Skipbo? It will take our mind off things.”
Everyone murmured their assent, and within fifteen minutes, things were almost back to normal. There was still an air of sadness, but Aspen and Tori spoke to each other like the fight they had never happened. Dragons weren’t mentioned again.
Chapter Fifteen
Getting out of the house proved difficult. The next afternoon, Aspen knocked on Rowan’s bedroom door.
“Come in,” he yelled. Aspen cracked his door open and peeked inside. With the exception of the gaming chair, his room looked like a stark hotel room. No pictures hung on the walls, the desk spotless, and his bed was so tightly made up that a military general would approve. His messy blonde head bobbed in tune with his music, and he stared intently at the video game on his TV.
After a few minutes, the screen flashed game over, and he turned to look at Aspen. Square spectacles covered his eyes that were green like hers, but bigger. Why did boys always get the pretty eye gene? It wasn’t fair.
“What’s up?”
“I’m going stir crazy. Wanna go for a drive?”
“No.” He got up and thumbed through a book of DVDs.
“Come on. Please.”
“The last time we went for a drive, I ended up standing at the bottom of a mountain for three hours praying you wouldn’t fall off. They had to up my anxiety meds by 200 milligrams for the next month. I’m not interested in experiencing that again.”
“You never told me that.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t want you to feel guilty.”
Rowan had been slightly off kilter since they were young. Aspen wasn’t the only twin to meander off in the Everglades as a toddler. They were both adventurous. Something happened one day when he wandered off by himself. They were six. When Rowan came back, he was paranoid. He never talked about it to anyone. Not even Aspen.
The rest of the time they lived in the Everglades, he only went outside if an adult was with him, and if Aspen ever went exploring on her own, he would rock back and forth in terror in his room until she got home.
For a while her parents tried to get help for him, but nothing worked. Eventually they accepted Rowan’s odd behavior and medicated him. Aspen was the only one who still remembered what Rowan was like before he became a pussy cat.
In spite of that, they still got along pretty well. They watched geek movies and played video games together but never talked about his issues. Aspen did her best to respect them, but sometimes she pushed him a little because she wanted him to be normal. She had no idea the day she went rappelling she had hurt him.
The clock was ticking. If Aspen wanted to get out of the house before dark, she had to act fast. That dragon would be there at sunset, and every second she begged, she risked losing the opportunity to see it.
“We won’t even get out of the car. We’ll just drive.” Lies, lies, lies.
“Not a good idea today. I didn’t take my meds this morning.”
“Why?” Aspen asked, dumfounded. “You’ve been on meds for ten years. Why would you forget today?” She sank down on his bed, knowing the dragon would appear without her. Getting Rowan out of the house in this state of mind would be impossible. Her parent’s made it clear that if she wanted her keys, Rowan would have to go with her.
“I didn’t forget. I chose not to.”
“Why?”
“Matt died.”
Aspen’s stomach clenched. She’d been trying not to think about it. Dragons were a good diversion.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Rowan turned his chair to face her, and she sat. “Do you know what those meds do to me?”
“No,” Aspen said honestly.
“They remove my ability to feel. Anything. When Mom told me about Matt, I should’ve felt sad or scared or something, but I didn’t. I’m an empty shell. I don’t want to live like that forever. Life was meant to be experienced, not feared. If death came for me tomorrow, I’d have lived an artificial life. I’m not ready to die like that.”
Whoa. “Did you tell Mom and Dad you stopped taking your meds?”
He shook his head. “Will you help me?”
“Of course, but you know living actually means you have to leave the house.” The sun was already setting; it made no sense to try to find the dragon tonight. “Will you go for a drive with me tomorrow?”
He nodded, but a sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead.
The next night Aspen’s parents let them go. Getting Rowan out of the house was more difficult than Aspen anticipated. By the time they drove away from their house, the sun was low in the sky. Rowan shook in the passenger seat, not saying a word. She tried not to think about what it would do to him when she left him in the car in search of the dragon. But Rowan was her only chance for getting out of the house. A few miles from the trail Sid showed her, the car sputtered.
“What the,” she muttered.
“What’s going on?” Rowan squeaked.
“Nothing.” Aspen pushed the accelerator, but the car slowed down.
She pulled the car into the grass and pounded the steering wheel, cursing. Would she ever manage to see the dragon that probably wasn’t there because Sid couldn’t possibly know what he was talking about? But still, she had to know. The sun had dropped below the horizon, and within a half hour, it would be completely dark. Even if she ran, she wouldn’t make it.
“Stupid effing car,” Aspen yelled and put her head on the steering wheel. She couldn’t believe she ran out of gas.
Rowan moaned next to her. He had brought his legs up into a fetal position and rocked back and forth. He looked at her, his eyes wide with fright.
“You okay?” Aspen asked, knowing how stupid that sounded. Of course he wasn’t okay.
He didn’t respond.
“Look, nothing’s going to happen. I’ll call Mom and Dad, and they’ll come get us. No biggie.”
Mom and Dad weren’t quite so understanding. They still didn’t know Rowan stopped taking the meds, and they questioned Aspen for hours after they towed her car home as to what she did that scared him so badly.
For some reason, “letting my car run out of gas,” didn’t seem like a big enough reason for them.
Chapter Sixteen
On Friday they finally had school again. It was supposed to be on Monday, but the funeral had been on Thursday, and the school board agreed that getting back to normal was the best thing for the kids.
Aspen hadn’t taken the bait. For the past three nights Sid flew out to the pond and waited. Technically, Sid wasn’t supposed to be in dragon form. But he didn’t know how else to win over Aspen. He was careful and only flew in areas where he knew most dragons didn’t frequent. Besides, the dragons were busy looking for the human killer.
But Aspen never showed.
A lot of students were absent that day, and so Sid was surprised to see Aspen slip into math a few minutes late. She didn’t seem to like school, and he thought she’d take any excuse to stay home. Although, if she was anything like him, she’d been going stir crazy the last couple of days.
During class, she held her head so still and did not look back, even if a friend or Mrs. Weber called her name from behind. Once again Sid envied the canyon dragons. Being one of them, he could have simply heard her thoughts, but no, he had been blessed with feelings. She tried so hard not to look at him, her long neck tense. Her hands shook when she opened her notebook. Sid couldn’t help himself. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Hey Aspen.”
She shivered and spun around, eyes blazing and nostrils flaring.
“Could you not talk to me? Please. Can you just leave me alone for one day?” She gathered her things, shoved them into her bag, and stormed out the room.<
br />
At lunch, Sid sat with Tori, Dan, and Lila. Wispy clouds drifted across the otherwise bright sky, and the outdoor lunchroom was crowded. Soon, it would be too cold to use it, so everyone took advantage of the nice weather.
Tori kept scooting closer to him, and he kept moving away. Soon, he would be on the ground. Aspen came outside a few minutes after him and sat on the other side of Dan, which was about as far away as she could get from him and still sit with her friends.
Sid was trying to listen to the conversation between Aspen and Dan, but Tori kept distracting him.
“There was a press conference held this morning about the killings in the park,” said Dan.
“I know. They’re starting to talk about the dragons. I’ve got to fix this.”
Dan snorted. “How are you going to fix it?”
“Prove that dragons aren’t dangerous.”
Tori stopped trying to climb into Sid’s lap. “Yes, they are. They should be killed. Every single one of them. Everyone knows that but you.”
Aspen’s anger flared. “How could you say that? Humans kill each other every day, and no one is calling for a mass extermination of us. Yet, two people die in the national park and people assume it’s the dragons with absolutely no proof, and suddenly everyone wants to kill them.”
Aspen grabbed her bag and stormed over to the other side of the courtyard. The potential for war with the humans bothered Sid, but he knew their ambassadors would smooth things over. He wished he could tell Aspen everything would be okay, but then he’d have a lot more explaining to do.
Pearl’s voice suddenly filled his head, startling him. I need to talk to you.
Where are you? he asked.
Down the street. I’ll be there in a minute.
Are you driving or flying?
Flying.
Sid nearly laughed out loud. He got up and moved away from the table. You know I’m sitting in a courtyard with several humans, right? How do you think they’re going to react when they see you? Especially now.
Doesn’t matter. I’ve spoken to the council about the boy who was eaten. I promised I would let you know what was decided.
Why are you coming so close? You could tell me from there.
Because I want to see you. I’ll be going away for a while, and I’m going to miss you.
This would be interesting. Pearl being out in public and so close to people was going to cause an uproar. Sid stood and watched the sky.
“Hey, Sid, whatcha looking at?” Tori jumped up next to him. She leaned into him, and he moved.
“Nothing,” he replied. Tori looked up and saw Pearl at the same time he did. Pearl’s silver wings reflected the sunlight like mirrors, sending light fragments all over the courtyard. She was a tall dragon with a long neck and slender body.
Tori screamed. Sid’s ears rung. By the time her scream died down, everyone had seen the dragon. Lunches were left on tables, and people scrambled inside. Sid’s own body froze with the fear surrounding him. Tori pushed him out of the way and ran for the door. By the time Pearl came to rest on the roof, everyone had gone inside but Aspen, who had eyes only for Pearl.
Aspen had her camera out and was furiously taking pictures. Excitement rolled off her, and Sid’s heart raced.
Pearl, could you give her a show? Sid asked.
Pearl rolled her gigantic eyes. If it were anyone but you asking, little brother, I’d take his head off. I’m guessing that’s Aspen. She’s got guts.
Pearl took off again and loop-de-looped in the air. Sid kept his eyes on Aspen as Pearl continued to chatter in his head.
We aren’t going to let the humans know what’s going on. We’ll find this dragon and deal with him on our own. We’ll patrol the area and find him before he…
Sid stopped listening to her. Aspen’s knot on the back of her head came loose. It hung in between her shoulder blades, resting on her red tank top, and Sid noticed for the first time that she wore short denim shorts revealing long bronze legs. He couldn’t see her face. The camera obscured it.
His heart fluttered, and his stomach flooded with warmth. She was stunning, and he longed to have her. His head buzzed as he moved toward her. More than anything he wanted to stand at her side, to be in her space, to hold her. Sid wanted to see Pearl as Aspen did. Her passion became his, and he never wanted to be away from her.
Without stopping to think about what he was doing, Sid sealed himself to Aspen.
Unfortunately, Pearl felt it too.
Sid, she screamed.
I know, Sid said. I know. I didn’t mean for this to happen. His ankle burned and tingled.
Pearl landed in front of him, sending tables end over end. She tossed her head and roared.
Are you insane? What did you think would happen? You’ve been mooning after her for the last week and a half. Did you think you’d be able to walk away from her once she started talking to you? You idiot. You are going to ruin this for everyone. What if you blow this and Marcellus becomes king? Huh? Then what?
She flung her tail from side to side and stomped her feet, crushing the ground beneath her. Hamburgers and Cokes went flying. Aspen, somehow unaware of Pearl’s anger, still snapped away. Aspen moved forward and touched Pearl’s wing.
She snarled, and Aspen backed away. Aspen stumbled and lifted her foot briefly, a puzzled look on her face.
Look at her. She thinks I’m her pet. Do I look like a pet to you? How could you do this? You had over a hundred and fifty years with Skye and you never let your guard down, yet in less than three weeks you pledge your undying love to this one?
I didn’t plan this. Sid started to sweat, and he couldn’t think straight, unable to tell whether the panic he felt was his own or Pearl’s.
That much is obvious. Have you planned anything recently? It’s time you got your priorities straight. You are no longer free to live out your little fantasies. You are here for one purpose and one purpose only, to prepare for your reign. Focus and lose the girl or I’ll find a way to lose her for you. I’m going to see if we can transfer you someplace else. Don’t do anything reckless while I’m gone. And stay away from that girl. As long as her feelings don’t change, you can still be king.
I can take care of this myself, Sid said.
You’d better. You really are shaping up to be a lousy king. I had hoped for better things from you. She let loose a volley of flames and took off.
Sid watched her retreat and fought the urge to yell childish retorts.
“Amazing,” Aspen said behind him. For a brief moment he’d forgotten about her.
Her hair fell in blonde waves to her hips. As he walked toward her, he reveled in the tingling in his limbs, the butterflies in his stomach, the buzzing in his head. Love. It was intoxicating. Why would he run from that? He’d never felt so alive in his life. Who cared what Pearl said? He wasn’t about to lose this. Aspen wasn’t aware of his presence. Sid walked up behind her, and she turned to face him. Her face flushed, smiling. She smelled the same as she did on the mountain, of adrenaline and roses.
“Did you see her?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“I can’t believe she perched right on the school, did all those acrobatics and then the flames. Here look.” She showed him the picture on her camera. “It was almost like she wanted me to take her picture.”
“Yeah,” Sid said. He couldn’t think of anything else to say. He was shocked she was talking to him, and he was afraid if he alerted her that he was Sid, she would stop.
She continued flipping through the pictures. A door opened behind them, and Aspen looked up. But Sid didn’t take his eyes off her.
“Oh, Mrs. Dufour, look,” Aspen rushed over to the teacher and showed her the pictures.
“Pictures! I don’t want to look at pictures,” Mrs. Dufour said. “You could have been killed, you too, Mr. King. What were you thinking?”
“Don’t you see? This proves they aren’t dangerous. She came so close to us and didn’t hurt anyone.”
“Then you somehow didn’t see the same thing I did. She nearly bit your head off. They’ve never come into town before. They’ve had a taste of human flesh, and now they are searching for it.”
Aspen sputtered.
“Dragons are not dangerous,” Sid said and walked inside. The spell Aspen cast over him had broken when Mrs. Dufour came out, and he realized how much trouble he was getting himself into. He needed time to think away from the long hair and blazing eyes, to absorb what had happened to him.
Theo waited with his arms crossed on a bench next to the fountain. The shadow from the house fell upon him. Sid felt disappointment when he climbed out of the car. He put his backpack down, hesitating. In human years, Theo was twenty-eight, but today he looked much older with lines etched around his eyes and forehead. Sid sat next to him and dipped his fingers in the water.
“What are you going to do?” Theo asked.
“About Aspen?”
Theo snorted. “Who else?”
“I’m not sure there’s anything I can do.”
“That’s stupid. Of course there’s stuff you can do. Like let’s see, how about starting with ‘stay away from Aspen,’ and then you could always ‘stay away from Aspen.’ Of course you could always try ‘staying away from Aspen.’ Still think there’s nothing you can do?”
It’s not that easy.
Yes, it is.
You weren’t supposed to hear that.
Why are you letting your mental guard down? When’s the last time that happened? When you were ten? You’re falling apart.
Theo was right. Sid needed to pull himself together. Especially considering he had to work with Aspen tonight.
“You’re not going to work. I’ve already talked to Ella.” Theo picked up a stone from the driveway and chucked it out into the lawn.
“Stop listening to my thoughts.”
[The Dragon Kings 01.0] Obsidian Page 8
