by Bobbie Rayne
“Then what was that back at school?”
“I needed you to stay with me.”
“So you made your dragon scare the shit out of me?”
“Uh… yes?”
He shook his head, but still looked uncomfortable, so I sighed and walked over to the computer chair and grabbed all the wrappers off it, setting them on my desk. “Here. You can sit.”
Slash hesitantly walked over and sat, looking at the pile of trash on my desk. His nose was wrinkled, so I knew he was grossed out, and I felt the need to stick up for Bo, even if I thought it was gross, too.
“She eats the candy and cleans the wrappers, so they’re not dirty or anything.”
“How does a dragon clean wrappers?”
“With her tongue.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he muttered under his breath as he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, probably thinking I couldn’t hear him.
“She licks them clean, but her saliva is like a germ killer.” I shrugged. “The wrappers are probably the cleanest thing in my room.” He looked at me in horror, and I wanted to cut off my tongue. That so wasn’t the right thing to say. Now he thought I was the one that was disgusting. “I don’t mean my room’s dirty. It’s not. And I’ll put clean sheets on the bed for you, so you don’t have to worry about that. Not that my sheets are even dirty, but I figured you’d want new ones. I can’t really do anything about Bo’s wrappers, but they’re not gross. I mean, they’re trash, but they’re not super disgusting or any… you know what? I’m just going to shut up now.”
When he didn’t respond, I went back into my closet, and after a minute, I found the sleeping bag, so I pulled it out. “Bo, can you do something with your pretties that are on the floor?” I said out loud since I knew she was waiting outside my door. She immediately pushed the unlatched door open and hurried in before scooping up her wrappers enough to make room for my sleeping bag. I pretended not to look at the guy in my bedroom—the first one I’d ever had in here since there was no way a human was allowed in my house—but I saw him watching Bo carefully. Once she was finished, I unrolled the sleeping bag and a whole pile of wrappers fell to the floor. “For fuck’s sake, Bo.”
“She’s seriously eaten all that candy?”
Surprised he was actually speaking to me, it took a second for me to reply, “Yeah, most of it.”
“She doesn’t get sick from it?”
“I guess dragons aren’t as sensitive to sugar… I don’t really know.” I shrugged. “She started collecting wrappers when we were probably around two, maybe? But she lost a lot when… when we moved here, so her hoard would be even bigger if she had everything from when we were little.”
“She’s the same age as you?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Or at least she’s roughly the same age. When a dragon rider is born, a baby dragon comes to them from the dragon realm, so we celebrate her birthday the same day as mine. Same with the other dragons and their riders.”
“Dragon realm?”
“It’s where dragons come from. No one can get there, and once a dragon travels to our world, it seems to be here for good. But they come from somewhere, right? Our history books call it the dragon realm.”
He was quiet for a minute, then, “Did you say, ‘their riders’?”
“Yeah, that’s what my brothers and I are; we’re dragon riders.”
Slash rubbed his eyes again and groaned a little. “This is a lot to take in, and I keep wondering if maybe I hit my head and am knocked out cold somewhere or maybe I’m hallucinating.”
“This is real.”
“I’m sure you would say that in a dream, too.”
I sat on my sleeping bag in the middle of the floor, picked up a pen off my nightstand, and threw it at his leg.
He jumped and said, “Hey!”
“You felt that, right? It’s real.”
“Why did you bring me here, Eeli? Why can’t you let me go home?”
Bo crawled onto my lap, so I pet her as I spoke. “You saw Bo, and until we trust you won’t tell anyone about us, we have to keep you here. Normally, we just erase a human’s memory if they accidentally see a dragon, but I can’t do that to you.”
He shook his head. “First off, you can erase someone’s memory?”
“Yeah, but I try not to. I don’t like doing it.” And I’m afraid that you’ll keep telling people and I’ll miss someone. Unless I spent the rest of my life following you everywhere you go.
“Second, do you like… erase everything?”
“Just anything that has to do with dragons or riders.”
His eyes were wide. “Third, why the hell can’t you do that to me and let me go?”
I cringed because this was the thing I didn’t want to talk to him about. He was going to think I was crazy.
It’ll be okay, Eeli.
He hates me.
No, he doesn’t. He was made to love you.
Yeah, well… I’m failing at this like I fail at everything else.
Bo climbed up my chest so her front legs were on my shoulders and her snout was in my face as she stared me in the eyes. Eeli is the best rider. You don’t fail. You won’t fail with Slash. He’s ours.
I sent her a sad smile, then hugged her to me, and she nuzzled into my neck. Thank you, Bodhi.
“Eeli?”
I brought my gaze up to Slash. “I want to explain, but… can you wait until I finish before you ask me a million questions? I know you’re going to think I’m nuts and not believe me, so let me get everything out.”
“I’m staring at a tiny dragon hugging you with its wings while sitting in a bedroom on the inside of a freaking mountain. Oh, and you kidnapped me with your brother, who was carrying a fucking sword and his boyfriend that had knives on his belt! I think I’m pretty open right now.”
“Okay, so back like a million years—actually, I have no idea how long ago, which is weird. That’s weird, right? Especially since I’ve been studying every day for forever. But now that I think about it, there isn’t a year mentioned in my books. Weird, right?”
“Eeli.”
“Right. Anyway, a long time ago, a dragon traveled into our realm and my ancestor found him and helped him get home. The dragons and my ancestor—who was a sorcerer, by the way—and six other guys made a deal so each baby born to their bloodlines would have dragon magic and be able to bond with a dragon sent over from the dragon realm. As part of the deal, they swore that every member of their bloodline would become protectors of this realm. Every one of the babies in the founding families of the Brotherhood have been born with a tattoo to connect them to a specific dragon. Once old enough, the dragons and riders—that’s me—bond.”
He tucked his hair behind his ear. “What do you mean ‘bond’?”
“Bodhi and I are bonded; I can communicate with her telepathically, which is helpful in everyday things, but especially in battle; she and I can sense where the other is and feel each other’s emotions to an extent; and she can go anywhere I go by going into my tattoo.”
“I have so many questions to all of that, but what do you mean about the tattoo thing?”
“I’ll show you. Arata.” Bo shimmered on my lap and sank into her spot in my tattoo, so I held up my arm, showing how the outline was now colored in with beautiful shades of purple.
“It was… that was just an outline a second ago.”
“The color is Bo. Her colors are beautiful, aren’t they?” I ran my finger over her purple skin, and she preened.
“Your dragon is in your tattoo.” It was more of a statement than a question, but I still answered.
“Yes. It’s nice because she can get to me within a matter of seconds no matter where she is in the world, and she can come with me no matter where I go. She can make herself invisible to humans, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t take up space. This way, she goes where I go.”
He began rubbing his temples.
“Before you tell me you’ve had enou
gh, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Is this the part where you threaten me with death if I tell or something?”
“What? No. I don’t hurt people. Geez.”
He shrugged.
“Okay, so… since we bond with dragons, we are sworn to help protect the innocent. It’s dangerous, and we spend our entire lives training to be the best warriors we can be.”
“You can fight?”
I shrugged. “I could easily kick your ass in two seconds flat.”
“I’m like twice your size.”
“You’re three inches taller than me!”
“Exactly. I’m practically a giant.”
It took me a second to realize he was only joking, but when I finally did, he laughed at me.
“I’m sorry, I find it hard to believe you’re a, what did you call it? A warrior? Yeah, I find that hard to believe, and I just watched a dragon disappear into your skin.”
Before I could respond to that giant pile of rude, Bodhi jumped out of my tattoo and leaped across the room, flapping around in Slash’s face. I appreciated her sentiment and felt a little vindicated as he yelled and swatted at her, making me laugh, before she plopped in his lap. He stopped waving his arms around and looked at me for help.
“She’s not going to hurt you.”
“How do you know?”
“I can literally read her mind.”
He looked at me. “Oh.” He tentatively reached out to pat her head, and she stretched out, clearly loving the attention.
“She already loves you,” I whispered.
Slash looked at me in surprise. “She does?”
I nodded. “She does. I didn’t realize it before, but she’s been trying to get to you for weeks.”
“Really? Why would she want me?”
“Because of who you are to me.”
He tucked his hair behind his ear, but kept petting Bo. “Who am I to you?” His voice was surprisingly soft.
“Well… because of the dragon magic in our blood and this promise to protect innocents we have no choice but to fulfill, we’re each given a soulmate to help carry the burden. Our soulmates are called our monaha senka or heart song.”
“Okay, I’ve been following you for the most part even though I’m pretty sure you’re bullshitting me with some of this, but that’s… ridiculous.”
“It’s not, though. You saw Azaran and Toby together, and Zale and Davis. They’re mates. And… and I know it’s true, Slash, because… because you’re mine.”
His eyebrows slowly rose on his forehead and his hand froze mid-pat on Bo’s head.
He thinks I’m crazy.
Needs time.
“Let me get this straight,” he said slowly. “You think I’m your… soulmate?”
“I know you are,” I whispered, feeling a little embarrassed for some reason.
“I can’t be.”
I knew he wouldn’t believe me right away, but I didn’t expect hearing it to hurt like it did. My chest tightened, like my heart was being squished and stabbed.
Bo jumped over to me and collided with my chest. She rubbed her snout on my neck, so I hugged her, grateful for her comfort.
Not wanting to sit there, miserable and staring at the mate that would never want me, I got up, holding Bo, and walked out of the room and down the hall. All I wanted to do was curl up in my bed with Bo beside me, but I couldn’t even do that because I was giving Slash my bed. Well, Slash and Kyla. I’d have to settle for the sleeping bag. Maybe I could hide in there.
“Eeli,” Slash called out, grabbing my arm and pulling me to face him. Bo hopped down to the ground as he searched my face for a moment. “I’m sorry.”
I let out a humorless laugh and moved away from him so I could rub my eyes that were threatening to leak. This really isn’t my day.
“Where are you going?” He followed me down the hall.
“If you must know, I’m getting sheets out of the laundry room. I washed some yesterday and I think they’re still in the drier.”
He stayed silent, but followed me to the laundry room and all the way back to my room, but once I closed the door, he said, “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
“Whatever,” I murmured.
He shook his head. “I shouldn’t even care considering you kidnapped me, but… I am sorry.”
I paused in removing the dirty sheets from the bed to stare at him. “Well, I’m sorry for, you know, the whole kidnapping thing.”
He snorted and shook his head.
I wasn’t being fair to him. He’d only had a few hours to take all of this in, and I knew that believing in soulmates wasn’t exactly common. But I’d spent my whole life knowing there was a person out there that was perfect for me, and now that I’d found him—way earlier than I ever expected—I wanted to know that he’d mate with me. Not like I expected him to right away, but it’d be nice to know that he would eventually. As it was, with how I sort of kidnapped him, I wasn’t sure that was even a possibility. Knowing that the person fate picked for me might not want me was a punch to the gut.
Malachite yelled down the hall, “Dinner’s ready!”
“Be right there!” I yelled back, then glanced at Slash and finished changing the sheets before grabbing the dirty ones. “I’m just going to throw these in the laundry room.” I didn’t expect him to follow me, but he did; back to the laundry room, then upstairs to the dining room where my family and Kyla were already seated.
Dinner passed in a blur where I was stuck in my own head the whole time, thinking about how my mate hated my guts and how I ruin absolutely everything. My whole life, I’d tried to be perfect, but no matter how hard I worked at it, I always failed. Always, always failed.
Once I finished eating, I went back to my room to get in a few breaths to calm myself.
“You okay?” Slash’s voice made me jump, and I quickly turned to him.
“You scared me.” My voice came out sharper than I intended, and I winced. “Sorry. Uh, yep, fine.”
He walked farther into the room.
“Where’s Kyla?”
“One of your brothers wanted to show her something. Uh… the really tall one… Mala-something.”
“Malachite.”
“Right. I knew that.”
I nodded. “Okay, you and Kyla can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
He cringed when he looked at my floor. “You don’t have a guest room or something? It seems like you have a million bedrooms in this house and your floor seems… unsafe.”
I snorted. “It’s fine, I swear. We have other bedrooms, but… I want to stay in here with you guys.”
He made a face I couldn’t interpret, but didn’t say anything else.
Since the sheets were changed, I grabbed myself a pillow and asked Bo to tell Malachite’s dragon, Kesia, to send Kyla down. I knew Slash wanted his sister in here with him because he didn’t trust us. Bo confirmed Kyla was on her way, so I said, “Kyla’s heading this way. And…” I sighed because I didn’t want to repeat Bo’s message, but I knew I had to. “My brother wants me to remind you that there’s an alarm set in the house, so if you… um, open the doors and windows, it’ll go off.”
“Lovely.”
“I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry, Slash.”
He sighed and climbed onto my bed while I sat on the computer chair. I had to wait for Kyla to come in because I had to sleep in front of the door so they’d have to get past me to leave the room. I shook my head at myself and the ridiculousness of the situation. I couldn’t believe that I was holding my mate hostage. He was never going to forgive me.
“Slash? For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here. You and your sister.”
12
Slash
“Hey, you awake?” Kyla whispered to me.
“Yeah, I haven’t been able to fall asleep, yet.” I rolled onto my side so I was facing her. I didn’t tell her that I’d barely gotten any sleep since we’d been here be
cause my mind wouldn’t shut off, except the naps I’d been taking in the afternoons from sheer exhaustion.
“I know you’re still pissed that we’re having to stay here but, Christian, they’re really great, and… well, I like it here. It’s been nice having a comfortable, warm bed to sleep in at night, and Toby’s an amazing cook. He’s been letting me help him in the kitchen; he’s really patient. He’s a doctor, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” I sighed. My sister wasn’t wrong, staying here was different than I’d expected. It had been a relief not having to worry about my Uncle Larry barging in, and it had been especially satisfying knowing we were going to eat three proper meals each day. And all of Eeli’s brothers and their men had been incredibly nice to us. It really was more a vacation, than being held here against our will. Or against my will, I guess. I thought Kyla would stay here forever without hesitation.
“Kite’s been taking me outside with him and the dragons. They’re so fun to watch play around. You should come with us tomorrow.”
“Kite?” I asked, totally side-stepping her invitation.
“Malachite. He told me Eeli called him Kite when he was little because he couldn’t say his name and it stuck. He said I’m the little sister he never had and always wanted, so if I wanted, I could call him Kite, too.” She giggled. “It kinda seems appropriate since he’s so tall, right? Kites fly way up in the air; I think it’s a perfect name for him.”
I could hear the affection for him in her voice, and instead of feeling jealous of Toby or Kite, I felt grateful. As hard as it was for me to be responsible for us and make sure Kyla was safe, it was hard for her, too. I constantly assured her I loved her and she wasn’t a burden, but the closer it came time for me to graduate, the sadder she got and the more she tried to do things on her own. I’d told her time and time again, I wasn’t going to college until she graduated and could go, too—not that I’d ever be able to pay for us both to go, but I didn’t want her to worry about that—but she still thought she was holding me back from living my life. There was no way I’d ever leave her with my slimy uncle; though he’d never done anything to us specifically to make me feel that way, I didn’t trust him.