by Chris Cannon
“It was pretty funny, but seriously, I think the Directorate is watching everyone in Sanctuary—just waiting for someone to mess up.”
“It feels that way,” her dad said. “It’s been a long time since we walked on eggshells like this and I’m not happy to be doing it again. In the human world, we kept to ourselves and people left us alone. Now it feels like we constantly have to be aware of where we are and what we’re saying.”
“I know,” Bryn said. “It can be exhausting but it’s not like there’s another alternative.”
When her mom and dad didn’t jump in to agree, an uneasy feeling washed over Bryn. “Please tell me you aren’t planning on running away again.”
“No,” her mom said. “I mean we discussed it, but I have the feeling we might die in a car crash if we tried.”
Bryn frowned. “That does seem to be a common issue around here.”
“We would never go anywhere without telling you,” her dad said.
“Good.” Bryn’s stomach growled. “I believe you said something about feeding me.”
For the rest of her visit, Bryn and her parents kept to pleasant topics. A knock on the cabin door made her father frown. “Who could that be?”
“It’s probably my friends Clint and Ivy. They said they’d come back and meet up with me since we aren’t supposed to go anywhere alone.”
Her mom opened the door and Bryn sighed in relief. Clint stood there with his Mohawk and lightning tattoos on his arms. Ivy had her wild hair and tattoos. Both looked a little less sure of themselves than they normally did.
“Mom, Dad, these are my friends.” Bryn performed a round of introductions.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Ivy said. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I hear you could teach me how to build better card houses,” Clint said.
Bryn’s dad laughed. “I haven’t thought about that since we’ve been here.”
Clint pulled a deck of cards from the Dragon’s Bluff shopping bag he was carrying. They were new, still in the cellophane wrapping. “Then here’s a housewarming present for you.”
Her dad smiled. “Thank you.”
“Not to cut your visit short, but we should go,” Ivy said. “The driver said he needs to return to campus.”
Bryn hugged her parents. “We should pick a day to put up a Christmas tree.”
“Let’s set up a date to go shopping for Christmas ornaments,” her mom said. “Because the only thing we have access to here is a tree.”
“I’d love that.” Bryn’s throat grew tight. “I know it’s stupid, but I don’t want to leave you guys. I’m afraid you might disappear again.”
“We’re not going anywhere, but why don’t we walk you to the gate,” her dad said.
Bryn took a breath and blew it out. “No. You should probably stay here. I don’t want to tear up at the gate.”
Her mom shook her head. “I recognize those Blue genes, and it’s frightening.”
“Tell me about it.” Bryn gave them another quick hug and then left.
Once they were in the SUV, Ivy started talking rapid fire. “Dragon-pires have been reported in Dragon’s Bluff. A student was approached behind one of the stores. He was buying a Christmas gift so he was by himself. He managed to get away, but he said the attacker was a Green female. He didn’t see her face because she wore a mask.”
She hated letting them believe the Silvers were Green, but she’d promised Jaxon she wouldn’t share. There had to be a way around this situation. “I’m really beginning to hate these dragon-pires,” Bryn said. “Why can’t they be happy as they are?”
“I don’t know,” Ivy said. “Not to mention the fact that this is total crap because it’s almost Christmas.”
“They don’t seem to be in the holiday spirit,” Clint said.
Once they were back on campus Bryn invited Clint and Ivy up to her room. When they were seated on the couch, she paced back and forth.
“What’s going on?” Ivy asked.
Bryn stopped pacing and turned to them. “Here’s the deal. I know something I can’t share because I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone, but I don’t want to keep it from you guys.”
“Interesting.” Clint leaned forward. “You can’t tell us, but what if we guessed?”
That gave her some wiggle room. “I can live with that. Here’s your clue. If the dragon-pires were hybrids, what kind do you think they’d be?”
“They have to be part Green, right?” Ivy said.
“That’s a good guess,” Bryn said.
“Green-Red, Green-Black, Green-Orange?” Clint said.
“Green-Blue,” Ivy said.
Bryn nodded.
“Oh my God,” Ivy said. “The brains of a Green with the drive and desire to rule of a Blue? That makes so much sense in a crazy sort of way.”
Bryn collapsed in the chair. “It was making me crazy not telling you guys.”
“What about Garret?” Clint said. “He should know about this.”
“You can’t tell him,” Bryn said. “And you can’t ask him to guess. I promised Jaxon I wouldn’t tell.”
“I’m glad you’re hanging onto your rebel roots,” Clint said.
Once her friends left, she called Jaxon, partly out of guilt. “Did you hear about dragon-pires in Dragon’s Bluff?”
“I did, which means you won’t be going back there anytime soon.”
“Excuse me?”
He sighed. “Let me rephrase that. We shouldn’t go to Dragon’s Bluff until they find whoever is attacking students.”
“I still don’t like it but saying it that way doesn’t make me want to shoot a fireball at your head.”
“Right.” Jaxon snorted. “I’ll remember that. Good night, Bryn.”
“Good night.”
Bryn hung up the phone. How would this news affect Dragon’s Bluff? The no-loitering issue had already changed how people behaved in town. Now that there were evil Silver dragon-pires running around, what would that do?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sunday morning, Bryn woke up with a sense of excitement. She ran to look out her terrace window, and there was snow. Glorious, fat, fluffy snowflakes swirled through the air. And she needed to get right out there because nothing was more exciting than soaring through icy air.
Rationally, she knew that the first snow excited Blue dragons beyond a normal level. She didn’t even care about breakfast or coffee right now. She just wanted to play outside. Dressing in jeans and a sweater, she grabbed her phone and dialed Jaxon’s room.
It rang and rang. Where was he? She shouldn’t go out alone. Not that a ton of other dragons wouldn’t be out and about, but she was trying to do the right thing.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Bryn hung up the phone, ran to her front door, and yanked it open. Jaxon stood there with a huge grin on his face. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the hallway. “Thank goodness you’re awake.”
Anticipation ramped up inside of her. “We’re going outside, right?”
“Of course we are.” They dashed down the stairs along with most of the other students. Everyone was talking and laughing and acting completely out of character for Blues. It was wonderful.
Once they made it outside, Jaxon released Bryn’s hand. They both shifted into dragon form. Bryn focused to make sure all her scales were Blue. Since Jaxon didn’t say anything she figured she’d succeeded. He shot up into the air, and she followed him. Blue dragons filled the sky…no one was racing or trying to nudge each other out of the way…everyone just flew in figure eights or slow spirals or soared in the sheer joy of flight.
The snowflakes slid against her scales, invigorating her senses. She wanted to fly higher, go farther, dive faster. Bryn stayed near Jaxon and he seemed to be keeping an eye on her, too, which was kind of nice. After a while, dragons from other Clans joined them. Clint and Ivy approached Bryn.
“We thought we’d find you out here,” Clint said.
�
��The only thing that could keep you from your coffee would be the first snow,” Ivy said.
“Isn’t it wonderful?” Bryn, inhaled the cold, metallic air.
“It’s pretty cool,” Ivy said.
“I’m glad it happened on a weekend instead of a school day like last year,” Bryn said. Last year she’d flown with Valmont before going to class. Was Valmont out playing in the snow with Megan? Maybe. That thought didn’t bother her as much as it would have a month ago.
Jaxon flew over to where they were treading air. “I’m hoping you’re just being social rather that telling Bryn she has to go somewhere to investigate crazy Silver dragon-pires.”
“No dragon-pire information to report,” Clint said.
“And I have no desire to investigate anything,” Bryn said. Her stomach growled. “Although I might want to take a break for breakfast before I fly some more.”
Jaxon looked disappointed. “Fly with me for awhile longer and then we can go have breakfast with your friends.”
He’d never asked her to spend time with him just to have fun. “Okay.”
“Come find us when you’re done,” Ivy said. She and Clint took off, flying in another direction.
“Let’s go.” Jaxon shot off straight up in the air.
She laughed and followed along until he slowed, hung in the air for a moment and then effortlessly did a backward dive which turned into a spiral toward the ground. She imitated his maneuver but knew she didn’t look quite as graceful…okay probably not half as graceful as he did but still, it was fun.
Jaxon leveled out as he came toward the ground then shot off into the air again. She was torn between following him and wanting to watch him. Seeing him so at ease and happy was a rare thing. Maybe after he’d had awhile to get past what had happened with Rhianna he could be like this all the time? How much nicer would her life be if he actually liked her and wanted to spend time with her? She shook herself. Rather than focus on the future, she decided to concentrate on having fun in the moment.
After several more spiraling dives, Jaxon flew up next to her and said, “Ready, set, go.” And then he shot off.
“Hey.” Bryn laughed. “That’s cheating.” She flapped her wings, pushing down with force in an attempt to gain on him. She caught up with his tail.
He glanced back and flicked his tail at her. She briefly considered biting him, as a joke, but that might be weird, so she focused on powering her wings up and down, arcing up above him, and then diving right past his snout and taking the lead.
He roared, and frost hit her flank. She twisted around midair and blasted him with snow.
Diving under her, he looped back around and came to fly by her side. “One of these days,” he said, “I’ll outfly you.”
She laughed. “Not likely.” Her wings were tired. “I’m ready for food.” She looped back and forth until she settled on the ground near the dining hall. He followed after her, shifted into human form, and she did the same.
“That was fun,” she said.
“It was.” He smiled at her like they had shared something special and her heart tripped a beat.
“Ready for breakfast?” she asked because she didn’t know what else to say. This was uncharted territory.
“Sure.”
Clint and Ivy landed nearby and shifted. Jaxon spotted them and frowned. It was like someone flipped a switch on his mood and the happiness drained away from his face. “Why don’t you go eat with your friends and I’ll go eat with mine?”
“We could all eat together,” Bryn said. “It’s not like our friends haven’t met.”
“It’s a Clan tradition,” Jaxon said. “We eat together after the first snow. You wouldn’t understand.”
What the hell? “Excuse me?”
“I said—”
Bryn did her best to keep her voice down. “I heard what you said. I just don’t know why you said it.”
“I’m just telling you the truth.”
“No. You’re just being a dick. We were having fun. Why are you deliberately trying to—” she almost said hurt me,but she didn’t want to give him that much emotional power, so she went with, “Why are you trying to piss me off?”
He wore that blank expression she’d seen for most of the summer. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“No. You were enjoying my company. Even if it was just due to the first snow, and now you’re acting all aloof and obnoxious and annoyingly Blue.”
“I am Blue,” he said. “I’m not the one who is acting.”
Flames sparked in her gut. He wanted to point out her mixed heritage? Fine. She’d help him remember. She took a deep breath and shot a ten-inch fireball at his stupid head.
He blasted sleet to keep the fireball from reaching him. “Don’t do that again.”
“Continue acting like a jerk and you’re going to be dodging fireballs for the rest of your life,” she snarled and then stalked toward the dining hall.
Clint and Ivy caught up with her.
“What happened?” Ivy asked.
“I have no freaking clue,” Bryn said. “Can we get carryout and go to your room, because if he says one more word to me, I’m going to lose it and really try to hurt him.”
“Sure,” Ivy said.
They went through the line in the dining hall, loading up a few carryout containers. People were staring and whispering.
Bryn held it together until they reached Ivy’s room and then she sat down and put her head in her hands. “I don’t get it. We were having fun together. You saw him. He asked me to stay and spend time with him. Flying was great. When we landed he was good and then something set him off and totally changed his personality.” She recapped their conversation.
“I’m not crazy, right?” she asked.
“No. It sounds like he was being a jerk on purpose to make you mad,” Ivy said.
“And that comment about him not having to pretend to be Blue,” Clint said. “That’s like textbook passive-aggressive behavior. Even if he didn’t realize it, he was trying to push you away.”
“Why?” Bryn opened her container of food and dug into her French toast sticks. “Since we’re stuck together, why not have fun? A better question is, why turn into a total jackass after we have a good time?”
“Do you think it had something to do with Rhianna?” Ivy asked. “Maybe he felt like he was being disloyal to her memory or something?”
“I don’t know,” Bryn said. “And if that was the case then why not talk to me? Turning into a total ass doesn’t help anything.”
“It’s almost like he’s sabotaging your relationship so you won’t become close,” Clint said.
Bryn took a giant drink of coffee and thought about that statement. “He came to my room. He asked me to fly. He asked me to stay longer. We had fun. And then he freaked out and did something to make me mad so our relationship would continue to be a non-relationship?”
“That about sums it up,” Clint said.
“Okay. Say that’s true,” Bryn said. “Why not just admit to that fact? He could tell me he doesn’t feel right having fun because of Rhianna. I’d get that. If he continues down this route, there’s going to be a funeral rather than a wedding, because I am not putting up with that level of bullshit.”
“And you shouldn’t have to,” Ivy said.
“Here’s my next question. Is he sitting somewhere telling his friends about what he did, or am I totally off his radar like an out-of-sight, out-of-mind thing?”
“I have no answer to that question,” Clint said. “But I am willing to run reconnaissance as a spy. I could go back to the dining hall…pretend that we need more coffee.”
“No. He made his choice to be a jerk. He can live with it.” Bryn sighed. “I hate that I let myself have fun with him…that I let myself believe things might be working out.”
“Things could still work out,” Ivy said. “He has to have some sense of self-preservation, if nothing else. Pissing you off is dangerous. He’ll have to
make amends of some sort…right?”
“I don’t know.” Bryn sipped her coffee. “And I can’t change him. The only thing I can change is what I expect from him.” Bryn blinked. “I swear it’s like I’m channeling my grandmother.” And then she had another disturbing thought. “Oh my God. I’m Lillith.”
“What are you talking about?” Ivy asked.
“Ferrin wanted my mother. After she disappeared, Lillith stepped in to take her place. She said it took her awhile to realize that Ferrin could never be emotionally invested in her because she wasn’t the one he’d really wanted. Jaxon wanted Rhianna. I’m stepping in to take Rhianna’s place…Jaxon will never care about me like he cared about Rhianna. So now I’m Lillith.”
“Wow,” Ivy said. “History has a strange way of repeating itself.”
“I know,” Bryn said. “I’m marrying the son of the man my mom rejected and even though I’ll be his wife he’ll never be close to me because he’ll always wish I was Rhianna.” She reached up to rub her temples. “All of this leads me back to the conclusion that my life sucks.”
“Jaxon may be a dick, but he isn’t as bad as Ferrin,” Clint said. “So there is a chance he’ll wise up. Who knows…maybe the key to living with Jaxon, or any Blue, is having low expectations. That way when he does something considerate it will be a nice surprise.”
“Maybe,” Ivy said, “you should go hang around in Sanctuary and see if you can meet a nice hybrid guy.”
“I fantasize about finding someone else, but then I imagine what that would do to my grandmother.”
“Can you sick your grandmother on Jaxon?” Clint asked.
“No.” And that’s when Bryn had a funny idea. “Should I call Lillith and see if she has any advice?”
“While that would be highly entertaining,” Clint said, “I’m not sure you want to run to his mother.”
“And given their stupid level of Clan loyalty, she’d probably be on his side,” Ivy said.
“So what do I do?” Bryn threw her arms up in disgust. “I literally have no idea what my next move should be.”
“Well, I guess you wait and see what he does,” Ivy said.
“My dad mentioned that he forgot how annoying it was to walk on eggshells all the time. I refuse to do that. If Jaxon wants to be pissy, that’s his problem. I’m not going to tiptoe around for the rest of my life.”
