by Chris Cannon
“We’ll answer all your questions,” her dad promised. “Let’s fix dinner while we talk.”
Bryn started chopping vegetables for a salad while her dad seasoned the hamburgers and her mom set the table. The normal household chores seemed surreal. The smell of burned cloth hung in the air.
“There are different types of dragons.” Her father slapped the hamburgers into the pan. “Our Clans are classified by color: Red, Blue, Black, Green, and Orange. I’m a Red. Reds are the strongest. We breathe fire. Your mom is a Blue. Blues are the fastest fliers. They breathe ice.”
Okay. For now, she’d go with that basic premise. “What does that make me, purple?”
The sizzling of the hamburgers in the hot pan was the only response to her question.
She set the butcher knife on the yellow plastic cutting board. “Hello…one of you needs to say something.”
Her mom filled the void. “By law, dragons have always married within their own Clans. Your dad and I ran away together. Technically, we’re banished.”
“So, not only am I a dragon, I’m the child of social outcasts. This keeps getting better and better.”
Her dad flipped the burgers and added more salt. “We never told you about our true nature because we’d been taught crossbreeding between Clans was impossible. When we found out your mother was pregnant, we were shocked.”
“Your father means thrilled.” Her mom swatted at him with a dishtowel.
He laughed. “Right. We were happy, but we had no idea what to expect.”
“When you were born with ten fingers and ten toes, we took that as a good sign.” Her mom shrugged. “From then on, it was a waiting game to see if you would show signs of transforming.”
Unbelievable. “You were waiting for me to set the kitchen on fire?”
“When children of our race approach their sixteenth birthday, they come into their dragon powers. Then they attend a private school that teaches them how to handle their new abilities.” Her dad carried the plate of rare burgers to the table.
“Happy birthday to me,” Bryn muttered. “This better not be my only gift.”
Still trying to wrap her head around the situation, she carried the salad to the table and sat. She half expected someone to jump out with a camera and yell, “Surprise, you’re on TV’s Wildest Pranks.”
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Which meant this was real. She imagined attending a twelve-step meeting. Hello. My name is Bryn. I’m a dragon.
Her parents weren’t doing a great job explaining all of this, so it was time to take charge of the conversation. “The man in the bookstore was a dragon, wasn’t he? He told me you were going to ship me off to private school run by a bunch of control freaks. He said I had other options.”
“I don’t know if that’s true,” her mom said. “The school situation might be tricky.”
“Why would I go away? You guys can teach me everything I need to know.”
When her parents didn’t reply, she panicked. “I don’t want to change schools. I just started my junior year. I’m in driver’s training. I have a great schedule. Devin Marconi smiled at me yesterday. I eat lunch with people I like. Why would I want to start over?”
“If there’s any way to keep you here, we’ll do it,” her father said. “But we may not have a choice. We’ve done our best to stay off the Directorate’s radar. After today, I’m afraid they’ll come knocking at our door. They’ll know about your visitor. He and his Clan are always protesting something or writing petitions. I’m sure they have him watched.”
Bryn picked one question out of the hundreds ricocheting around in her brain. Maybe if she had more information, she could figure this out. “What’s the Directorate?”
“The Directorate is the ruling body that creates laws to keep dragons under their thumb,” her dad said. “The young man you met today is part of a political group called the Revisionists. They want more individual rights for dragons.”
The memory of losing control over her body made her shiver. “The eye thing he did, was it magic?”
Her mom’s cup hit the table with a thud. “He pushed you?”
Anger and embarrassment made her cheeks burn. “I tried to walk away, but his pupils did this weird swirling thing and then I was Puppet Girl.”
Frost shot from her mom’s nose, coating the table with a fine layer of sparkling ice. “Sorry. I haven’t lost control like that since I was your age. Pushing other dragons is… Well, it’s rude. It’s a safety spell to protect dragons from humans. If a dragon’s identity is discovered, we can push into peoples’ minds to influence their reactions.”
That could come in handy. “Will I learn to push people?”
“Not until you’re older,” her mom said.
“Too bad.” She sipped her tea and thought about everything. There were two possible answers. Either she was a shape-shifting dragon, or she was crazy. For now, she’d go with the dragon theory. “What else do I need to know?”
“After dinner,” her dad said, “we’ll go down to the studio and teach you how to shift.”
Once the table was cleared, Bryn followed her parents down the inside stairwell that led to the martial arts studio below. Anticipation and dread made her palms sweat. Halfway down the stairs, the familiar scent of lemon floor wax comforted her. It smelled like home.
When they reached the studio, her father closed the window blinds. “Ready to see a real dragon?”
The answer was a big fat, No. If, or when, she saw her dad shift, this would all become real. She stalled for time. “Won’t you be too big to fit in the studio?”
“Hollywood got that part wrong. Real dragons are a little smaller than elephants.” His shoulders grew broader. The air around him shimmered and became smoky. Bryn’s eyes watered as she tried to see through the haze. The smoke vanished. Standing in front of her was a Red dragon.
Holy crap. Her first instinct was to step backward. She caught herself and stood firm. “Dad?”
The dragon nodded. His green eyes were the only things she recognized. A bony ridge fanned out where his forehead would be. Two horns sat behind the ridge. Leather-like wings folded tight against his flanks. Smoke drifted from his snout as he exhaled. His voice came out as a low growl. “What do you think?”
Curiosity overwhelmed fear. She walked forward to examine him. The scales, which covered his body, were as large as her hand. When she touched them, they felt hard, like a construction helmet. Heat seeped from his body, and he smelled like a campfire.
She blinked, and the outline of her father’s human face flashed across his dragon face for a moment. This was too weird. She turned away to collect herself and discovered a Blue dragon. The Blue had the same dragon features but lacked the Red’s muscular bulk. Even as a dragon, her mom appeared slender and graceful. She smelled of freshly fallen snow.
There it was again. For a second, she could see her mom’s human face superimposed over her dragon face. Maybe that’s how dragons recognized one another. She filed the information away as one of the many things she’d ask about later. For now, she needed to focus on the basics. Her parents were shape-shifting dragons. And she was a shape-shifting dragon, too. Her brain disengaged, and she started to laugh.
Her mom, in human form, appeared at her side. “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?”
Afraid she’d see her mom differently, Bryn glanced sideways. The same golden-skinned woman she’d known all her life smiled back. Her dad came up on her other side. He still had the same auburn hair, green eyes, and fair skin.
Avoiding the current issue, she reflected on the fact that, given a choice, she would’ve chosen her mom’s coloring. Freckled strawberry blondes weren’t known for being sex symbols.
“Bryn, honey, are you all right?” her mom asked.
Time to tune back into the problem at hand. “Just taking a small vacation in my head.”
“Understandable.” Dad squeezed her in a sideways hug. “Any questions?”
Her dad chuckled. “That’s your first question?”
“Public nakedness isn’t something I want to experience.”
“Good point. When we change, our clothes, our jewelry, anything we are wearing is spelled to shift with us. Otherwise, we’d attract too much attention when we shifted back.” His expression became hopeful. “Do you want to try shifting?”
“Yes and no.” She took a deep breath and blew it out. “Do you think I’ll be purple?”
“You’d look regal,” her mom said. “Shifting is innate. Your body knows what to do.”
God, she hoped so. It wasn’t like she could play ostrich and this would go away. Maybe it was best to get it over with. “Okay. Walk me through it.”
“First, you need to center yourself,” her mom said, “like we do in yoga.”
Bryn focused on moving air in and out of her lungs until she felt centered.
“Gather your life force in your abdomen and let it expand outward. Feel yourself growing larger.”
Her mom had obviously had an ulterior motive in teaching her yoga since she was five. She imagined her life force as a small sun, glowing in her belly. Taking another deep breath, she visualized the ball of power expanding.
Her muscles stretched, protested, and threatened to cramp. She gritted her teeth against the pain. Joints popped and expanded. Sweat ran between her shoulder blades, and then there was a sense of something inside of her unfurling. Thrown off-balance, she pitched forward.
“You did it,” her mom cheered.
Okay. Her body felt different. The room appeared different. Everything seemed smaller. She shifted her weight, trying to adjust to her new center of gravity.
“I feel strange.” Her voice had a husky quality.
“You’ll get used to it,” her mom said. “Now, look in the mirror.”
Time to suck it up and do this. She turned to face the mirrored wall at the far end of the studio. No way. When she moved, the dragon in the mirror moved. She was a dragon. A real, live, fire-breathing dragon. Nervous laughter bubbled from her throat and came out as an odd growl.
“Are you all right?” her dad asked.
“No, I’m not all right.” Sparks shot from her nostrils, glimmered in the air, and then burned out. “I’m a freaking dragon.”
“You can change back whenever you want,” her mom said in a soothing tone.
“Right.” Realizing she could shift back calmed her nerves. She examined her reflection. She wasn’t as bulky as her father. Her scales were red, but the edge of each one was tinged with blue. Her horns and wings were tipped blue as well. Good God, she had horns and wings. What would Devin Marconi think of her now?
The light reflected off her scales, making them look like armor. “I look pretty cool.”
The electric chime attached to the front door of the karate studio sounded, and a cloud of frost filled the air. Bryn backed up a step.
“You look,” said a voice full of disdain, “like an abomination.”
Both of her parents shifted back to their dragon forms and moved to stand between Bryn and the Blue dragon baring his teeth at her.
Chapter Three
Her father advanced on the stranger. “What do you want?”
“I’m here on business for the Directorate, Ian.” The intruder’s gaze turned to her mother. “Sara, it’s been a long time.”
Her mom shifted into human form and gave the newcomer a look of loathing. “Ferrin. It hasn’t been long enough.”
The other Blue dragon shimmered and shifted. In human form, he was tall and thin. His aristocratic nose was set between piercing blue eyes. Golden blond hair framed his face and hung down to his square jaw.
“Bryn, try to change back,” her dad instructed. “Concentrate on your human form.”
Closing her eyes, she did as he said. Her muscles constricted painfully. Losing her balance, she stumbled forward.
“Not very graceful, is she?” Ferrin said.
“It was my first try. I’m sure you didn’t do any better.”
“On the contrary, I’m a Blue. I’ve been graceful since the day I was born.”
“I see you’re still an arrogant prick.” Her dad placed a steadying arm around Bryn’s shoulders. “You did great. Don’t let him bother you.”
“Thanks, Dad.” She didn’t know exactly who this jerk was, but she knew who he represented and what he probably wanted. “I’m not going to your school.”
Ferrin’s nostrils flared. “That’s not your decision to make.”
“Why don’t we go upstairs?” her mother said. “There’s no reason we can’t discuss this rationally.”
Ferrin glanced around the studio with obvious distaste and then followed her mom. “I’ve always wondered what kind of hovel you lived in. This is worse than I imagined.”
When he was out of earshot, Bryn said, “Tell me you hit that guy at least once.”
“I broke his nose,” her dad stated with pride.
“Good.” She trudged toward the stairs with one thought in mind. Please don’t let Ferrin be in charge of my future.
Once she was seated at the kitchen table, Bryn found herself the object of intense scrutiny.
Ferrin studied her like she was an interesting variety of mold. “How old are you?”
No harm in answering that. “I’ll be sixteen next week.”
He nodded. “When did you come into your powers?”
“Why do you care?”
“You can answer my questions here, or I can extradite you to a secure location where proper incentive will secure your cooperation.” The cold tone he used to deliver this information made it all the more disturbing.
Her dad’s fist hit the table. “If you think I’m letting you take my daughter—”
“Bryn,” her mom prompted, sounding like she wanted to avoid a fight.
“Fine.” Bryn rolled her eyes. “Today. Everything started today.”
“What triggered your transformation?”
“I’m sure you know about my visitor.”
“I do.” He tilted his head. “What did you discuss?”
Just because she had to cooperate didn’t mean she had to play nice. “He said I was about to be shipped off to a school run by elitist assholes.”
Ferrin blinked. “Your daughter has a lovely vocabulary. You must be proud.”
“If she said something untrue, I might feel the need to correct her,” her mom shot back.
The way Ferrin’s eyebrows slammed together warmed Bryn’s heart. He turned his glare back on her, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees. “What else did he tell you?”
“He said I didn’t have to follow your rules.”
“He was wrong. The Directorate has known of your existence since your unfortunate birth. Leaving you among humans, untrained, is not an option. You could lose control and expose us all. You’ll be required to complete standard schooling. If you refuse, the Directorate is prepared to make life difficult for your parents. We can have your parents’ business license revoked by tomorrow morning. We can have them evicted by the day after.”
“And you wonder why I didn’t want to marry you,” her mom said. “You haven’t changed at all. You still have a God complex.”
“If you had married me, you’d live on an estate rather than in this pathetic apartment.”
No way. “You were going to marry this guy?”
“Not by choice.” Her mother gave Ferrin a look of disgust. “The marriage was arranged by our families.”
“Wait a minute.” Something about this rang a bell. Then it clicked. She pointed at her father. “Those bedtime stories you told me were true?”
A smile curved her father’s lips. “Yes, Ian the Brave really did rescue Sara the Fair from a fate worse than death.”
Bryn grinned at their unwanted guest.
“Your name was Ferrin the Obnoxious.”
A vein on Ferrin’s temple bulged. “How amusing. I’m sure you’ll find it entertaining when the other students know you as Bryn the Mongrel, Daughter of Outcasts.”
The reality of what he said hit home. Acid burned her stomach, or maybe that was fire. There was only one way to find out. She aimed to the left of Ferrin’s head and exhaled. Flames passed within an inch of his ear. He flinched.
She visualized snow, and the acid receded. “Sorry. Apparently that happens when I’m upset.”
“We muzzle students who can’t control themselves.” Ferrin rose from his chair, pulled an envelope out of his jacket, and tossed it on the table. “Here is your Welcome to School packet. We’ll expect you in one week.”
No. No. No. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead. “I can’t leave in a week. School started two weeks ago.”
“Let her finish the semester here,” her mom said, like she was trying to be the voice of reason. “Bryn can transfer second semester.”
“The first day at the Institute is still a week away. We start later than your average school because our better families travel abroad during summer vacation.”
There had to be a way to stop this. “How will I explain transferring schools? People will become suspicious. You wouldn’t want that. I should finish out the semester here.”
“No one will be suspicious.” His look of smug superiority showed he relished his next announcement. “The Directorate informed your school that you were arrested for shoplifting. They believe you’re being transferred to a school for troubled teens.”
Angry tears filled Bryn’s eyes. She was trapped. If she refused to go, her parents would lose their jobs and their home. If she went, everyone would think she was a thief.
“You’re acting out of spite.” Her dad spoke in a tight voice. “I know you’re here on Directorate business tonight, so I can’t touch you. One day, we’ll meet under different circumstances, and I’ll have the pleasure of breaking your nose again.”
“The Directorate didn’t send me.” Ferrin straightened with pride. “I volunteered. While it’s unusual for the Speaker of the Directorate to complete such menial tasks, I felt I had a vested interest in this situation.”
