Dragonrider Academy: Episode 3

by Flowers, A. J.

  Did that mean that the Dean had faith in me that I’d eventually succeed? Or did she know I was already a hopeless cause and had left me to my fate?

  Sunlight hit my face the moment we left the building and I jerked up one hand to protect my eyes.

  Killian chuckled. “If you’d stayed in there much longer you would have turned into a vampire.”

  I let my hand fall and stubbornly squinted at him, ignoring how the sun made him even more beautiful in all of his Nephilim glory. Any girl could appreciate his eyes as clear as glass that matched his otherworldly white hair. His uniform molded against strong muscles that betrayed he wasn’t entirely human. The only evidence of the impact my drain had on him was the way he favored one leg and a slight shadow swept underneath his otherwise striking eyes. The flaws couldn’t detract from the overall picture, though, especially when he maintained his cocky attitude as Topaz slept wrapped around his neck like an ornament. It was hard not to stare at him sometimes, he was so uniquely beautiful.

  “There’s no such thing as vampires,” I insisted, only to be met with a noncommittal shrug from my fated mate.

  “If you say so,” was all he said before sauntering down the street.

  I frowned, hoisted my egg a fraction closer to my body, and followed him. I hated when he teased me, but I knew better than to ask what he meant by that. If there really were vampires, I didn’t want to find out right now and add more madness to my life.

  Killian guided me to class without remarking on the students who pointed at me or outright stared. It was easy to forget that these weren’t regular students. They could sense the death that I carried around in my egg pouch. Their gazes fell to the empty husk slung across my chest, pity streaking their expression before Killian barked at them to carry on.

  He cleared his throat when we arrived at my class. “Meditation is the first class on the agenda for today,” he said, opening the door and waved me in. “You first.”

  I glanced up at him, for the first time feeling nervous. “You’re joining?” I asked. “I thought you were in the sophomore class.”

  He smirked. “Meditation is a mandatory class throughout all the levels.” He leaned in to open the door and his other hand went to the small of my back, ushering me inside.

  His absent touch made me dizzy. The motion felt natural, as if we’d grown closer over the stretch of time I’d agonized over my egg, rather than further apart.

  Too dazed to think, I numbly ventured into the classroom.

  Once I regained my senses, I found that everyone turned to stare at me. I didn’t have time to worry about them as my gaze locked onto the professor.

  Slight fangs poked from her mouth and her skin glinted with a strange layer of sparkle to it. When she shifted, I realized that a fine layer of scales overlaid her cheeks.

  “Well, if it isn’t the new student,” she said, a light rumble to her voice. “Vivienne, is it? I’m glad you’ve finally decided to join the ranks of the living.” Her gaze falling to my egg. She frowned, as if just realizing her poor choice of words. The students murmured until she clapped her hands. “Right, well, you two take the back. Looks like you finally get a partner today, Killian.”

  Killian glanced at me, smirking, before taking his seat at the back of the room. I hurried after him.

  Jasmine waved hello, surprising me. She’d been nicer to me lately, coming to visit and even bringing edible offerings that Killian told me was the equivalent of best friend category when it came to the Junior Dragonrider.

  She smiled, although the gesture was a sinister one. I think she was enjoying my shellshocked reaction to class.

  She leaned in and whispered something into a male’s ear that sat on her bench. His dark eyes glanced up at me, calculating.

  “That’s Vern,” Killian informed me, referring to Jasmine’s seductive companion who somehow managed to look dangerous in the same uniform everyone else wore. “Her third attempt at a rider bond match, I’m afraid.” Killian tilted his head, appraising the new match. “This one might stick,” he decided.

  Yeah, I thought, looking at how Jasmine flipped a knife over her knuckles. Those two were made for each other.

  Vern leaned back against the wall, otherwise ignoring the rest of us as Jasmine held his attention. A buzzcut hairstyle paired with his bulky massive arms crossed over one another made him look like the silent, terrifying type, and not someone I’d want to cross.

  “Great, like Jasmine needs a bodyguard,” I lamented.

  “More like an assassin,” Killian said, chuckling.

  I glanced at him, trying to decide if he was serious just before two dragons swooped past the window, making Jasmine giggle.

  Ah, well at least their dragons got along.

  Professor Emhart passed out a tray holding vials of some sloshy looking liquid. I took note of Lily and Damian a bench down from us and I waved at them, although Lily seemed distracted while she chewed on her lip. They were an odd pair, to be sure.

  Damian, a Dragonslayer Knight of the Silver Order stood out from the group with his tribal tattoos rippling over his biceps that he pointedly didn’t try to hide. Lily also had a shimmering glamor about her that I recognized now as her innate primal power as a dragon shifter. I wasn’t sure what to make of them, and neither did the rest of the classroom apparently, because all of the benches aside from Killian’s and mine were empty.

  I scooted down, just as much to get some distance from Vern as to approach Lily. I made sure to keep my egg from bumping the table and nudged Lily. “Hey, are you okay?” I whispered.

  She startled as if she hadn’t noticed me. She glanced down at my egg, then locked her eyes up to mine. “That’s sweet of you to ask,” she said, giving me a genuine smile. “I’m fine. What about you? Any... luck yet?” she asked gently, indicating the contraption on my chest with a wave of her hand.

  I shook my head and looked back at Professor Emhart who was glaring at us now. “I just, I don’t know. I’m looking for something, but I haven’t found it yet.”

  She hummed in acknowledgment as if that made perfect sense. “Well, I’m not sure if you’ll find it in this class.” She accepted Professor Emhart’s vial with a grimace as she set it onto the table and coddled it with both hands.

  Now that I could see it up close, I recognized the substance as the same liquid that Finn had been swiping off of the eggs...

  Corruption.

  Now I understood what had Lily so nervous.

  “We’re not supposed to... drink that, are we?” I asked.

  She was quiet for a long moment before she replied. “Nobody knows the corruption better than I do.” She glanced up at me, her glassy eyes changing into a reptilian slit, startling me. “Part of the corruption comes from a dragon’s obsession with power. They can devour their own emotions...” She bit her lip when James rested a hand on her shoulder.

  “What kind of emotions?” I asked, leaning in.

  “Strong ones, such as love,” James replied, his tone gruff. His hand squeezed on Lily’s shoulder as she glanced away. “They become true beasts who transform what once made them empathetic into raw strength and magic.”

  Now I understood why the Academy wanted someone like James. The wild dragons had lost themselves to the corruption and there’d be no saving them.

  Only surviving them.

  “Enough chatter,” Professor Emhart instructed as she set down her empty tray and clapped her hands. “It’s time to pair off with your partners.” She waited until I scooted back to Killian—who smirked at me—before she continued. “You’re going to reach into your wyvern’s dreams to better connect with them in this exercise. You can pick which wyvern you wish to focus on, either yours or your mate’s.”

  The professor made that sound so easy, as if we had a choice.

  Killian watched me I bit my lip, his wry smirk putting me on edge.

  “I suppose we’ll try connecting to Topaz?” I asked, stroking his snout he presented with affecti
on.

  Killian hummed, but his gaze fell to my egg.

  He picked up his vial and waited for me to take mine. “Cheers,” he said with a wink before knocking it back.

  I watched him, waiting until he set his empty vial down before I popped the cork and sniffed. A pungent smell infiltrated my lungs, making me lurch away as I tried not to gag. “Oh, that is horrendous!”

  Killian chuckled. “Just pretend it’s a shot of whiskey,” he offered.

  “I’ve never had whiskey.”

  He shrugged. “Orange juice that has gone bad, then.”

  I glared at him, not enjoying his smug expression, so I threw back my vial and drank down the disgusting liquid.

  My heart skipped a beat and a jolt of pain went through my temple, followed by stillness.

  Killian offered his hands palm up. “Let’s get started then, shall we?”

  Giving him a raised brow, I placed my hands on his and waited.

  Nothing happened at first, aside from the current of electricity that always spun through our bodies when we touched. I grazed my fingers over his, noting the warmth, the harshness of his callouses from sword fighting, and how he responded to me by leaning in...

  We sat like that for a while, stroking each other’s fingers. Staring into each other’s eyes until the room slowly began to melt away.

  The sensation felt right, almost natural, somehow. A pinging rattled around inside of my head and the world felt heavy, almost like I was falling into a deep sleep, until Killian’s hands slipped away.

  Loneliness hit me hard, followed by a sense of separation I couldn’t describe.

  “Killian!” I shouted, but the sense of sudden isolation wrapped around me as I fell into the abyss.

  I floated in a world of in-between, lost, confused.

  Alone.

  My hand drifted to my chest, finding nothing.

  My egg. Where’s my egg?

  “Killian!” I shouted again as a roar built on the horizon, building until it rolled over me like a tidal wave, sending me spinning.

  I tossed under the violent onslaught until I hit the ground. I strung my fingers through the deep roots in the ground and curled myself into a tight ball. Chaos stormed all around me like a violent tempest, throwing my hair over my face and sending stinging rain to pelt my cheeks.

  “Killian,” I begged, his name a plea now.

  Where was he?

  Why had he left me all alone?

  A sheet of cold washed over me, followed by a new roar as I screamed, losing my grip as the world around me disintegrated and sent me falling. A dark chasm opened up beneath me, sparkling like waves and I shut my eyes as I hit.

  Saltwater rushed up my nose as I went under, making me sputter and cough, but when I tried to take in a breath I drew water into my lungs.

  I knew this place…

  This nightmare had plagued me throughout my childhood after my father’s drowning. This was that night that I couldn’t remember.

  Except in my dreams.

  Dad!

  My plea changed now, recalling that my father was out there in this darkness, dragged under because he’d come after me.

  Dad, no!

  There, a silhouette in the deep, thrashed against an ethereal spirit that brought him down as it turned and twisted. I kicked and swam to him, even though my lungs protested. When I reached out, something knocked me away, hitting me hard in my chest as I went flying through the water.

  Water dragons.

  I hadn’t known what they were at the time, but I recognized them now with their deep blue gleam and how the water heated around them as they rushed by. They moved so fluidly, blurring across my vision as they distorted the deep.

  And blocked me from the fight going on below.

  Let him go!

  My mental command came with a crack that shot out of me in a shockwave, forming a fissure along the ocean floor.

  This was when my goddess blood had activated.

  The water heated, bubbles forming as the dragons shrieked and responded to my magic.

  Another hit pushed me away from the danger—and away from my father who’d gone still.

  Fury filled me, building inside of me like a bomb about to explode. I surfaced as something pushed me up, washing a cold breeze over me as I gasped in fresh air. I sputtered out the water I’d brought into my lungs, coughing it up onto the shore.

  Gold hummed all around me, growing with intensity as my mother screamed at me to stop. She must have known what was happening, that I had lost myself to my goddess blood in that moment.

  She slapped me, hard, and my face jerked. She sobbed and cried my name, begging me to come back to her.

  What was she so afraid of?

  I couldn’t listen to her, instead my eyes locked on the horizon. Everything was too calm, too quiet as the dark waves lapped over one another, oblivious to the life they had swallowed.

  The hum in my ears burned as I formed fists. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. This was not how my father died, saving me from a future I had never asked for.

  I closed my eyes, giving myself over to my rage.

  The cold dissipated, leaving me with a floating sensation of heat and that incessant hum of power. My rage melted away as soft lips met mine.

  Killian.

  His warmth brought me back to the present as his lips met mine again. He breathed into me, expanding my lungs that I realized had stopped working.

  His hands went to my chest, pushing down with gentle force as I drew in a sharp breath.

  His lips met mine, but I didn’t need to breathe anymore, I just needed his kiss. I enveloped my mouth to his, fluttering my eyelids with bliss as energy exchanged between us. His mouth parted, giving me free rein to explore. So I did, relishing his taste, his feel, everything that brought me back to the world of the living where I wanted to stay.

  Someone cleared their throat, banishing the moment.

  My eyes flashed open as Killian leaned away, a slight smirk on his swollen lips. “So, you’re alive,” he remarked.

  My fingers went to my lips, realizing what I’d just done.

  Uh…

  “Were you giving me mouth-to-mouth?” I asked, not sure what else to say. I glanced around, feeling the eyes of our entire classroom staring at us. We were mates, so mouth-to-mouth wouldn’t be that unusual, even if I’d gotten carried away. However, it was my reaction to the corruption is what I guessed had them all so concerned.

  A moment of panic hit me as I realized I didn’t have my egg on me anymore. I jerked upright.

  As if he knew what had me so panic-stricken, Killian handed me the wrapped egg he’d placed off to the side and I coddled it into my arms.

  Killian cleared his throat, then stood and marched over to the professor. “Why did that happen?” he demanded. “She wasn’t breathing.”

  Professor Emhart frowned, but didn’t reprimand him for his tone. “I’m not sure,” she said after a moment. Her eyes flicked into reptilian slits as she studied me. “I’ll have to discuss this matter with the Dean.”

  I sat up with Lily’s help, her fingers surprisingly soft despite the fine layer of scales over her skin. She seemed to become more dragon-like during moments of stress, and apparently I’d just freaked everybody out.

  I smiled, wanting to lighten the mood. “Well, I’m definitely not shooting more corruption anytime soon.”

  She grinned, revealing slightly pointed teeth. “Definitely,” she agreed.

  Killian and I walked back to our dorm in silence as I stroked the egg still in my arms. The straps hung loosely around my sides. I wasn’t going to let go of it, so it didn’t matter about reattaching them.

  The tension between Killian and I mounted with every step. My mouth opened, then closed when I couldn’t think of anything to say.

  My fingers went to my lower lip again.

  Thanks for saving my life?

  No. That was too cold.

  Hey, so, how about that
kiss?

  No, definitely not.

  When we reached our room, I still hadn’t thought of anything to say and my heart jumped into my throat when he put his slammed his hand on the door, but didn’t push it open. His uniform’s sleeve ran up, revealing his blue tattoo spiraling over his arm that had started to turn white, as if all the color was being leeched from it with Killian’s weakened state.

  What if he was angry with me? What if I’d embarrassed him?

  “I need to say something,” he said, keeping his back to me.

  “Finally, somebody is saying something,” I muttered. I lifted my chin as I stared at his back. “Are you going to turn around?”

  “No,” he replied, curling his fingers against the door, scratching his nails along the wood as if something inside him caused him pain. Topaz shifted in his sleep over Killian’s neck, releasing a small sound of complaint.

  I frowned and stroked my egg out of habit. It remained cold against my touch. “Okay, fine. Whatever. What is it?”

  Killian went silent again and I waited, growing more irritated every second that passed by. “I’m torn,” he admitted. “You’re my mate. When you…” He paused, then cleared his throat again. “When you reacted like that to the corruption, it terrified me. I care about you.” He finally turned, his whitewashed eyes sparking with defiance. “That’s by design, isn’t it? I’m programmed to care about you.”

  I pursed my lips. We’d been through this. “If you want to break the bond, just say the word.” I was tired of his threats and his resentment.

  He glowered at me, his rage building, but I had more important things to worry about than his flip-flopping emotions.

  My dragon.

  His gaze dropped and the rage seeped out of him. “Come on. Let’s get some rest.” He shoved the door open and stormed inside.

  I couldn’t decide if he was furious with me, or himself, or both.