“Okay,” I spoke and looked at Blake again.
“I will take you through each step Blake, until it becomes like breathing.”
Blake nodded.
“How do you do this, George?” I looked at him. I knew Becky had used her abilities many times while George was in his human form.
“No, Elena. George can’t, that is why I’m here,” Pappi said.
“No, they have. I’ve seen it,” I said and my Pappi looked at both Becky and George, who had a look of confusion on their faces.
“You do it all the time Becky.”
“Not while he is in human form.”
“No, he was. That time in the cafeteria you helped George subdue Blake and, when Lucian died, Nichole tried to hurt me, you wielded your lightning. George held me tight, he wasn’t a dragon.”
“You two can do this already?”
George just looked at the ground. “Elena is right, Becks, we have done this before.”
“I can’t remember that George.” She sounded a bit hysterical, which I didn’t like.
“I do.” He looked at me. “I thought it was your purple lightning that hurt me, it wasn’t. It was Becky.”
“Still, you didn’t feel like you were going to explode?” Blake sounded annoyed.
Explode?
“He has one ability to give, Blake. You have many. You will take more time.”
“I won’t know what Elena needs.”
“It hasn’t come back yet?”
We both shook our heads.
“Give it time, in the meantime practice with the most dangerous of them all.”
“The pink kiss it is then,” Blake said. “So, how did you do this, George?”
“Blake,” he looked surprised. “I don’t know.”
Becky looked at us too. “Me neither.”
“So how do I do this?” He looked at Pappi.
“I’m not going to do that, if it hurts him,” I spoke to my Pappi.
“Elena,” Blake interfered. “You need to learn how to wield at least one of them. There might come a day when I can’t transform. I need to know that you can wield it then without hurting me.”
“Without hurting you?” Idiot. “And how do you think we are going to get to that stage Blake? I am going to hurt you.”
“It’s okay. I’m the Rubicon.” He gave me a soft smile and looked at Pappi. I didn’t like this at all.
“I’m with Blake,” George said and Becky just stared at him with furrowed eyebrows. “We’ve done this before Becky, we just need to learn how.”
“I’m not going to do that. I’ve seen what happens to them. I can’t watch George…” she couldn’t finish her sentence. I looked at Blake again. I’d heard his scream. I was sure it was his now. I couldn’t imagine what sort of pain he was experiencing.
“I understand how both of you feel, but it will become easier with practice, child. Blake had no idea what he had to do then. With my help both your dragons will be fine.”
He spoke to the entire class about how dragon keepers need to ease their minds, slow down their heartbeats and just focus on revealing their abilities, guiding their Dragonians to see them. It sounded so insane, impossible, and I gave Blake a slight look of worry—worry that my Pappi might actually be speaking the biggest load of dust.
Blake smiled.
When Pappi was done, he turned to Blake. “You ready?”
“I’ll give it a shot.” He sounded eager. I wasn’t.
“Close your eyes,” Pappi spoke and Blake did it. “Elena, you too.”
“I really don’t like this.”
“Just do it,” Blake sounded frustrated again. Irritated.
I closed my eyes and saw nothing.
“Blake, clear your mind of worry, of what you felt the first time this happened, think of absolutely nothing.”
Blake must have done it. “Elena, you too.”
I opened my eyes. “How can I think of nothing…?”
“Elena.” Blake opened his eyes. “I’ll be fine. Just do as he says, otherwise you are seriously going to put me through a lot of pain.”
My head shot back at him. “Not helping.”
He smiled and closed his eyes again.
I had no choice. Do as Pappi says or put Blake through hell. I closed my eyes and tried my very best to clear my mind, to think of nothing. Just the color black and hoping that it would not hurt Blake.
Everything became super quiet, I closed off everything, then I heard Pappi’s voice.
“Call on your fire.” His tone was so calm and I imagined my fire was playing on my palm the way Blake had told me. I could feel it on my palms and everything. I felt a jolt, something was wrong and my eyes flew open.
I saw Blake flat on the floor, the expression on his face was one of agonizing pain but no sound came from him. Then I realized what Pappi had done: he’d wielded his shield around me so that I wouldn’t hear Blake’s pain. I snapped out of everything and ran out of Pappi’s shield. Noises came back, all at once and I fell on my knees next to Blake, who was breathing really loudly.
“How could you do that?” I yelled at Pappi.
“Child, you need….”
“I don’t need to do anything. If it’s going to hurt him. I don’t…”
“Elena,” Blake said and got up slowly. “You need to learn how to do that without hurting me. Again.” He took a huge breath and got up.
I stared at him with a gaping mouth. “Are you insane? I’m not going to do that again. I would never be able to clear my mind knowing that you go through that.” I stared up at his figure from my position on the ground.
He was insane.
“You need…”
“No, I don’t,” I interrupted him. “If you can’t shift releasing my abilities, then I don’t need it.” I got up.
“No,” he sounded harsh. “Again. I’m not going to give up until you get it right.”
“Blake, please, don’t ask….”
“Elena, I need to know that you can protect yourself if I’m not around.” I didn’t like how he said “if I’m not around.”
“Fine, but just remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day. It’s going to take time.”
He just nodded and took his stand next to Pappi again.
I looked at Pappi. “No shield this time, please.”
He nodded.
I went to stand on the other side of him and tried to clear my mind again. The minute I wished for my fire, the same thing happened: an agonizing grunt left Blake’s mouth and I stopped.
I didn’t go to him this time. This was the stupid idiot’s own fault. “Why did you stop? You need to push, Elena.” Blake sounded furious.
“Not if it’s hurting you.”
“There will be a time when you have to do this, with or without thinking that it is going to hurt me. Now try harder.”
He was so adamant and parts of the old Blake had started to come out again. The one that made me so furious.
“Maybe you two should take a rest.” Pappi said, “And let’s give George and Becky a chance.”
George had a look of utter fear on his face, while Becky…I couldn’t decipher it, but I knew she didn’t like this as much as I did.
“I’m with Blake, Becks and I have the upper hand here. We’ve done this before.”
“Without knowing how. It was by some sort of accident, George.”
“It’s in me, somewhere.” He sounded so calm.
“I don’t know if I can see you like that.”
“You are not going to. We can do this.”
He stood next to Becky and she looked like she was about to throw up.
Nevertheless, she closed her eyes and did what Pappi told her to do. Then I could see the hurt pulling on George’s face, but he refused to give up. What was it with them?
I looked furiously at Blake and he shook his head, indicating I shouldn’t say a word.
She would stop if she knew that she was hurting him.
George
calmed his face and small sparks danced on Becky’s palms.
All of us just stared at it.
George opened his eyes and smiled softly.
Becky did too and saw George just standing there, without a hint of pain.
“Told you, we can do this.”
She laughed, ran to him and jumped in his arms.
“What did you do?” Blake asked again.
“I knew, Blake. I don’t know how to give the consent as it happened without me knowing I did it. Yes, it was a bit painful in the beginning. But I kept focusing on the part that we’d done this before, and it was knowing that we could. The pain disappeared.”
Blake’s face fell. He didn’t like that he couldn’t do this without experiencing pain. “So you want to tell me it’s a doubt thing?”
“Something like that.”
“You need to let everything go, Blake,” Pappi spoke. “Total surrender.”
Blake chuckled. It wasn’t a happy one. “That is going to be a slight problem because I’m not built that way.”
“I know.” Pappi didn’t smile.
I looked at the ground with my hands on my hips. I shook my head. “I don’t know if I can do this.” I looked at Pappi. “He’s not built to surrender, and I don’t want him to know what it tastes like either.”
“Elena, we have no choice,” Blake spoke again.
“I do have a choice, Blake. And I’m telling you, I can’t. I won’t,” I said, turning around and walking away.
“Elena!” Blake called after me but I didn’t stop. I had to go think about this and just needed some freakin’ distance from him. He was always there, and although I loved his company, there were some times that it still freaked me out. Just a bit. I needed to think by myself and try to make sense of how this was going to be of any help.
BECKY FOUND ME in the room later that afternoon. I didn’t hear her come in because I was listening to my music.
I only saw her as she walked into my line of sight.
“Sorry,” she smiled and I took out my earplugs. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay,” I said and lay with my head propped up on my hand.
“It really does get better.”
“Becky,” I smiled. “You and George, even though it was by accident, found a way to do this. He completely surrendered to you.” I broke my gaze with her. “I know what Blake is capable of, but I know what he isn’t too. I’m not going to force him to surrender. It’s not who he is.”
“It’s not that he doesn’t want to Elena, he doesn’t know how to and that fact scares him more than surrendering everything. Not trying would do more harm than not wanting surrender for him.” She sighed. “I just wish George could get a glimpse of the future. It sucks not knowing what’s going to happen.”
“He hasn’t even seen a glimpse yet?”
She shook her head.
“Blake saw something.”
“What do you mean he saw something? Something of the future?”
I nodded. “It came out as gibberish though. We have no idea what is going to happen.”
“What did he see?”
“Us fighting the Saadedine.”
She just gaped at me.
“He looks like a fire-breathing crow next to him, Becky.”
“How do you know that?”
I took a huge breath. “I saw the picture before he got the foretelling.”
“What?”
“I think it’s his Moon-Bolt part that was finally being activated. The only problem is, we have no idea what it is that can kill the Saadedine.”
“Your blood?”
I shook my head. “The way Blake said it, well, they said it didn’t sound like my blood. It’s called the missing ingredient, something stronger than my blood.”
“That cannot be good.”
“Oh, that is not all of it. If we don’t find it”—tears welled up in my eyes—“one of us is going to die.”
BECKY STARED AT my bed for a long time.
She didn’t say anything after I told her about this huge omen of death hanging over the two of us.
Paegeia could not live without the Rubicon.
“Well,” she finally opened her mouth. “Blake was right. You have no choice Elena.”
“Becky.”
“You need to learn how to wield his abilities in his human form. If they can protect you, you must. It’s not a choice anymore.”
I knew she was afraid. I was scared too, but to see Blake in that sort of pain was something I couldn’t do. It should feel like it was payback, but this Blake didn’t deserve that kind of pain. He wasn’t dark anymore.
“We will help you. I can tell you what I think of and George can help him find a way to let everything go.”
I nodded. Guess she was right after all.
We found Blake and George at dinner sitting with Sammy and Dean at one of the tables outside. It was a beautiful night. They were both making jokes and Sammy gave her hyena laughter, which made all of them laugh.
“I would so love to know what this Dent is. For them to not fucking hate our guts after that torture.”
We walked up to their table. None of them mentioned today; in fact their faces lit up when they saw us and Becky just gave me that raised eyebrow of hers, which made me laugh.
“Are we missing something here?” George asked as he pulled Becky in for a hug.
“Nothing at all,” Becky joked.
I got up to go and grab something to eat. In all the time that I’d known Pappi, I’d never been this angry at him. Why did he even have to go and mention this today? It made me wonder about the night my fire showed. How much pain had Blake experienced before Master Longwei told him to shift?
Back at the table, Becky and I ate our food while the others were making jokes with Dean. I felt sorry for him because he was now the outsider. George and Blake had always been friends, even if George had turned to the light. A part of him had stayed good friends with Blake.
“It’s fine, whatever.” Dean spoke. “I’ll find a way to get into the good graces of that Night Villain. Really thought you would help me dude.”
Blake laughed. “Sorry, but when it comes to Sammy, my dad’s seriously not going to listen to anything I tell him.”
We all laughed. Sir Robert didn’t treat Dean like that. He was just very protective of his baby girl, or dragon, the way he’d spoken it on that day that had ended with a horrible beating.
“So,” George started and looked at me. “What is it going to be Elena?”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
He smiled and moved his eyes towards Blake.
“Urgh. I knew that you were going to mention it, but I decided that you guys are right.”
“Sorry,” Blake said, which made me laugh. “Didn’t hear you properly. Where is my Cammy? I have to record this.”
“HA, HA,” Becky mocked him again. “I know how Elena feels about this, but we spoke about everything, and it’s in Elena’s best interest to know how to wield her fire, at least.”
“What I said.”
“Blake, shush,” Becky scolded him. “She’s not looking forward to it.”
“Still here, I can speak for myself, Becky.”
“I’m just saying. It is not going to be fun, but it’s something you will try.”
I smiled. “Who says it won’t be fun. Guess it’s payback time.” I popped a grape in my mouth and smiled.
Blake started to laugh. “I so deserve that.”
“But there is one condition. We need a detailed report from Pappi on how it’s done. I need to read those words over and over until they are stuck in my head. Otherwise, I’m not even going to try it.”
“You wouldn’t need it if you had just stayed in class today.”
“Well,” I didn’t know what to say. “Whatever.”
He laughed again and put his arm around my neck. He pulled me into the side of his chest and kissed me on the head. “I will get
a crow to him.”
“They seriously don’t use email?” Sammy wanted to know.
“Guess they love traditional posts,” I said.
We left around seven and Blake said he needed a word with me. “So, I spoke to Master Longwei earlier on and he was really so friendly to give me this.” He handed me a piece of paper. I opened it and saw my detention schedule.
“Repacking the library.”
“You want mine.”
“What’s yours?”
“Cleaning the coliseum.”
“Repacking the library it is.”
“Thought so,” Blake smiled. “Besides, repacking the library isn’t a bad thing. It means you will clean the restriction section too. You can try to find the missing ingredient.”
“Good thinking,” I said.
“I am actually one of the smartest dragons out there, Elena,” he joked. “But picking up on our wonderful time away from one another”—he sounded sarcastic—“it wasn’t the reason I went to see Master Longwei. I actually went to talk to him about training you, and he thinks it’s a good idea. Your first class starts at eight tonight. Don’t be late.” He turned around before I could protest.
“What?” I yelled after him.
“Parthenon Dome at eight, Elena.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I spoke to myself.
“Nope, just be there,” I heard his voice coming from the stairs. He disappeared on and I smiled, shaking my head.
I ROCKED UP at eight with a pair of slacks, sneakers and a shirt, ready for the workout from hell.
I found him sitting on the bleachers, checking his watch.
“It’s eight.”
“Just,” he said, and I hated that smirk on his face. It was as if he knew I was really not looking forward to this at all.
“Just promise me that we are not going to try that tonight.”
He smiled. “Depends on what trying part you are referring to.” He had that evil grin on his face and it made me blush
“The abilities one.” Idiot.
“Oh,” he smiled. “Okay. Promise.”
He put down his water bottle and walked toward me.
I couldn’t look at him and tried to hide my blushing face, thinking of what other “try” was going on in his mind.
He just laughed. “You have a dirty mind, Elena Watkins.”
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