One thing was for certain, I healed way faster than I ever had on Earth. Even though I was hobbling behind at the moment, I’d be standing straighter within the half-hour. Other than that, no significant progress had been made, and I was ridiculously pissed I hadn’t been able to coax my dragon out.
I’d tried everything from sweet-talking to yelling, and none of it worked. I could sense the beast just beneath the surface, but I couldn’t pull her forward, no matter how hard I tried.
“You not hungry or what?” JayLeigh called from the door as she tapped her foot impatiently.
“Screw you,” I mumbled. Our relationship had definitely taken a turn for the worse sometime between the tenth and hundredth time she’d kicked my ass.
“Oh, don’t be such a poor sport about today. You actually did really well for someone with no proper training. You should be proud.”
“Ha! I’ll only be proud when everything inside me doesn’t ache and I can fully shift. Also, jerk, I spent nine months training at Shadow Veil, so I’m not a complete invalid. This just isn’t going how I wanted.” I finally caught up to her, and she put her hand on my shoulder.
“Patience, Raegan. You’re going to need lots of it to survive the next three weeks.”
“Yeah, I’m sure I’ll find that as soon as I find my dragon.”
She laughed. “I wasn’t sure what to think about this job when it was first assigned, but I’m glad it was me. This will probably be the most entertaining assignment I’ll ever get.”
I quit responding and kept walking. Anything I did or said only fueled her desire to poke at me, and I was done being screwed with for the day. I just wanted to eat, check for another message from Jules and Gemma, make sure Enzo wasn’t dead, and then sleep.
JayLeigh had warned me earlier in the day, I’d be getting tomorrow’s wake-up call at five in the morning and she expected me to be back where we were within a half-hour of that call. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but going through the trainings was half the reason I’d come, so I just needed to deal with it instead of bitching about it.
We ran through the food line, and I piled my plate as high as I could without fear of dropping anything on the ground. When I took a seat, JayLeigh plopped down beside me.
“Do you know where Enzo is?” I asked.
“If he’s not in here, then I’d assume he’s still with Marek, but don’t worry. I might have joked about it earlier, but Marek is a good king. He won’t harm Enzo. At least, not intentionally.”
Ignoring the last bit, because I knew she only said it to get a rise out of me, I nodded and hoped they’d be back in Marek’s quarters, so I could use the computer and check on him all at once. Anything to get me to my bed sooner.
I barely even tasted my food as I gobbled it up, finishing before JayLeigh. “I’m going to head up to Marek’s.”
She raised a brow at me. “You sure you want to go on your own?”
“Do you really think anyone will mess with me within the headquarters of all places? I know they’ve all avoided me like a plague, but do I truly have a reason to fear for my wellbeing?”
After Onyx had made his appearance, threatening me and overall just being a dick, I began to ask more questions about the hierarchy in Drakken, but JayLeigh deflected most of them. Possibly because she truly didn’t know, or else she wasn’t allowed to tell me. My bet was on the latter.
“No, you should be fine. Just make sure you stay to the normal hallways and don’t take any detours. I have some things to do or I’d go with you. Worst case scenario, just scream really loud if you encounter someone giving you a hard time.”
I grunted. “Right. I’ll be sure to do that.”
“Hey, it’s your life, not mine. Feel free to take on century-old dragon shifters by yourself if you want. I don’t care.”
My brain was done listening to her, so I spun on my heel and headed for the elevators. Things were beginning to look familiar around the academy, but only between the training area, eatery, and elevators. I previously had a bad habit of wandering where I wasn’t supposed to at Shadow Veil, but I made sure to stick to the areas I knew at Drakken.
I wasn’t stupid. Stubborn, yes, but never stupid.
Pulling out the code JayLeigh had given me earlier, I punched it into the elevator panel before holding on to the rail. Within seconds, the door was opening, and I entered Marek’s home. Nobody was in the living room, so I finally took the time to glance out the window and get a good look at Drakken from the top.
The landscape seemed to go forever, filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of acres of forest where I wondered just how many dragons lived. There was a river that led to a lake much further outside of town, and I yearned to fly over it and take a dip. I’d have to ask JayLeigh about that the following day.
There weren’t any buildings other than the ones I’d seen when we first arrived, so besides taking in the tranquility of their nature, there wasn’t much else to see unless I set out on foot.
A few dragons were out flying over the town. I couldn’t tell their colors as they were too far away and the sun was behind them, but I could gauge their size, and I shuddered at the thought of trying to defend myself from one of them on my own. Maybe I should have given JayLeigh’s warning more thought. I had little faith that even staying in the populated areas would keep me safe if someone really wanted to hurt me.
I doubted any of the dragons would go up against someone like Onyx to protect an outsider.
Voices came from down the hall, and I turned around, hoping to see Marek and Enzo.
“You need to tell her. It might help,” Marek’s voice sounded.
“No offense, sir, but you don’t know Raegan. This won’t help.”
With my hand on my hip, I glared in their direction until they came into the living room. They paused when they saw me, glancing at each other and seeming to know they were in trouble.
“What won’t help?” I asked.
“Shit,” Enzo muttered.
“Didn’t you learn the first time around not to keep secrets from me, Enzo?”
He cleared his throat and met my hardened stare. “I wasn’t going to keep it from you. I just wasn’t looking forward to telling you about it.”
“About what?” I pushed.
Marek took a step forward. “You two feel free to stay here while you talk. I’m going to go do my rounds with the patrols and make sure nothing went awry while I was otherwise occupied.”
Enzo still stood in the hallway while I moved to the couch and took a seat on the plush cushions. When I was settled and Marek had shut the door behind him, Enzo finally took a few steps my way.
“You promise not to stab me for being honest?” he asked.
“Of course,” I replied without hesitation. “I’m assuming this has something to do with the ‘one other thing’ Marek may have needed to disclose to me but needed today to figure out.”
He nodded. “Yeah, he figured it out alright.”
“Why do you seem so nervous? It can’t be that bad, right?”
He grinned. “Well, it’s not bad for me, but I’m not sure how happy you’ll be with it.”
“Oh,” was all I could say as thoughts ran through my head. I couldn’t think of any possible scenario that would make him happy and not me unless they were forcing us to get married or something ridiculous like that. That made me laugh out loud.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing. Now, tell me what’s going on.”
He took a seat on the chair opposite from me. His fingers ran through his much shorter hair than I was used to. I had thought I’d miss the length, but the more I was around him, the more his new look suited him. Almost too well.
“So, I had no idea this was possible. Apparently, it’s a dragon thing, so you can’t blame me for it,” he began.
“Spit it out, Enzo.”
“You know how whenever we have sex, that purple light appears?” I nodded, and he continued.
“Well, I knew it wasn’t a normal elf thing, but I didn’t think too much of it with you being so unique.”
Leaning forward, I glared at him. “What’s your point? What does the glow have to do with us and what Marek knows?”
“Apparently, every time we have sex, we’re solidifying a bond between us.”
Holy shit, I wasn’t that far off with the marriage thoughts.
“What do you mean, ‘bond’?” I growled.
“Like a mate bond. Dragons mate for life. The bond isn’t locked in right away after the first time they have sex, but as the relationship progresses, so does the connection. The stronger the emotional and physical aspects of the relationship, the quicker the bond sets in.”
Moving to my feet, I began pacing the room, going in circles around him. I knew I loved Enzo, but I wasn’t sure I could count on him. He had broken my trust, and even though I had needed him last night, it hadn’t changed anything.
Though, the whole bond thing did explain why I had felt like I had needed him and why I was so much better after we’d been together.
“So, we’re bonded,” I said matter-of-factly.
He turned his head toward me since I had moved behind him and nodded.
“And I’m assuming because we’re bonded, that’s how you had a little bit of dragon in you that allowed you on Drakken?”
“That’s what Marek believes. Though, he can’t be certain as something like this has never happened before between a hybrid and a non-dragon. At this point, he can only go on assumption.”
This was not good. I couldn’t trust my own feelings anymore. Was I still attracted to Enzo because of a stupid bond or because I really did love him? I felt like any choice I might have been close to making was instantly taken away from me and I could no longer be sure of my own heart.
Tension and pain rattled through my body as I tried not to hyperventilate. Apparently, I had stopped moving, because Enzo appeared in my line of sight, his fingers grasping my jaw so I would look at him.
“I know what you’re thinking. I can all but guarantee I had the same thoughts, but it doesn’t matter if we are bonded or not, Raegan. I fell for you long before we had sex. I know my heart, and you’re it for me. I’ll give you space to digest the information, but I hope you can come to the same conclusion.”
I opened my mouth to say something, anything at all, but I didn’t know what to say. So much of my life was a mess, and this was too much at the moment. I needed information.
“We can deal with this when we’re back at Shadow Veil or whenever you’re ready,” he continued. “Just don’t push me away. If you really don’t want the bond, then Marek believes it will dissolve on its own after time apart.”
My eyes were lost in his. I wanted so badly to accept the bond and forget the past, but I couldn’t. My head wouldn’t let me, no matter how much my heart was rooting for it.
His thumb moved across my cheek, catching a stray tear I hadn’t even realized had fallen. “Talk to me.”
“I’m really tired of always feeling like I’m being pushed in a certain direction, like I have no control over my own life. Being a supernatural sucks.”
His lips pulled into a grin. “Try talking to a dragon king about having sex with his only daughter.”
My hands covered my mouth as I considered how hilariously awesome that conversation might have gone and wished I could have heard it myself. “You don’t have me beat, but you did succeed in making me laugh.”
He pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. “Good. Now let’s get out of here unless you need to speak with Marek.”
I shook my head. “I do need to email Jules and Gemma, though. Shouldn’t take long, but you don’t have to wait.”
He glared at me and growled. “I’m not leaving you.”
“Enzo, you need to know I can’t make any promises to you. One day, you might have to let me go or give me no choice but to disappear.”
“I know, but until you really are done with me, I’m going to keep fighting for you like I promised. I’m going to keep on trying to make up for all of the wrong I’ve done and, as long as you’re safe, then I’ll be okay, even if you can’t ever trust me again.”
Pulling away, I turned my back on him and headed toward the office. I couldn’t stand to look in his eyes any longer, especially after what he had learned and shared. I almost wished it had been something he had kept from me, because if it had been me who learned it first, I don’t think I would have told him.
With that revelation, I realized I understood his past transgressions better than before.
Chapter 13
Three days later, I was ready to give up on life. JayLeigh had been kicking my ass for fourteen hours a day. Seven hours on, then an hour break, followed by another brutal seven hours. I had muscles forming in every crevice of my body, and I was finally getting used to the torture, but it didn’t mean I was enjoying myself.
On the third day, I was barely tolerating JayLeigh’s training session. It seemed more like a fun game to her where she could experiment on all the different ways she might be able to piss my dragon off enough to come out.
Nothing had worked. The beast within had yet to make herself known, even after Enzo’s life was threatened along with my own. Marek wanted to meet for dinner that evening if I still hadn’t shifted as he had some theories, but I hadn’t really spoken with him since the first day, and I wasn’t looking forward to alone time with my DDD.
JayLeigh had gotten quite the laugh out of my nickname and wished she’d thought of it herself.
It was lunchtime and I wanted to go check out the lake I’d seen, but JayLeigh couldn’t take us and it still wasn’t a great idea for me and Enzo to be running around Drakken on our own. Onyx had made another appearance, this time verbally attacking Enzo before Marek had intervened.
Just when I thought he’d sulk away, Onyx snarled at his king, claiming he was bringing war to his people. Marek hadn’t replied, but half the eatery had overheard, and it didn’t seem like a good thing to have the two most powerful dragons in their realm arguing in public.
Something more was going on within Drakken, and nobody was filling in Enzo or me. The weapons, the distrust, the patrols I constantly saw flying over the town area and forests, and then brief mentions of war. None of it made sense, which had me itching to go back home.
If I couldn’t bring my dragon fully forward really freaking soon, then that’s exactly what I planned on doing.
After our allotted eating time was up, Enzo and I met JayLeigh outside the training room. She wanted to try something different, which I hoped meant less beating the shit out of me.
“So, we’re going to head into the forest and then the caves. Most of that time, the two of you will somewhat be by yourselves,” she said.
“Uh, are you trying to get us killed?” I asked.
“Not really, but I don’t think I’m fooling your dragon by throwing sharp objects at you. You need real fear coursing through your body.”
“So, you’re using us as bait to dragons who would like to see us dead, in hopes they’ll try to eat us, but not before Raegan’s dragon hopefully wakes. Did I understand correctly?” Enzo asked, not at all happy with the new proposal.
“Pretty much. Isn’t it better than me beating on the both of you for the next seven hours?”
I shrugged. “She has a point.”
“Do we get weapons, at least?” Enzo sighed, and JayLeigh grinned, knowing she’d won.
“Sure. Go grab whatever you want, and I’ll wait here while you talk trash about me,” JayLeigh joked and leaned unconcerned against the door frame as we slipped into the training room.
“Do you think this is a good idea?” I asked.
“Not in the slightest, hence my request for weapons,” he replied.
JayLeigh pretended not to watch us from the door while we took in the array of options before us. There weren’t any guns, but there were blades galore. There were also several other items,
but we had no idea what they did, so we left those be.
“I’ve never done any training with a knife unless you count all of the ones I’ve been dodging from JayLeigh,” I grumbled.
“Stick with something smaller. You’re fast, and if needed, you’ll be able to move quicker than a ten-foot dragon, as long as you choose a blade you can actually handle,” he replied.
Taking his advice, I pulled open a few drawers and tucked some smaller throwing knives into my pockets before covering them with my shirt. “Should I grab something that’s more conspicuous?”
“Considering JayLeigh is sending you out as bait, I’d say it’s not a bad idea. If we come across someone friendly and they want to know what we’re doing, we can say we wanted to train in private against each other.”
I nodded and grabbed a dagger that stood out most to me. I couldn’t see the blade itself as it was tucked into a holster I was gladly going to use around my thigh, but the hilt was a golden bronze with green jewels embedded in it. The two colors reminded me not only of Enzo’s eyes, but mine as well.
“Good choice,” Enzo said as I strapped it to my right leg.
By the time I was done, he had picked his out. It was a longer sword that I had no idea what to call, but he seemed to be able to move it with ease, and that was all that mattered.
JayLeigh must have disappeared for a moment while we were preoccupied, because she was no longer in workout clothes, she was dressed head-to-toe in a black one-piece that fit her body perfectly and had me wanting to cover Enzo’s eyes.
“Um, did you leave something out?” I asked. “Why do you look like Catwoman?”
“I’ll be staying behind in the shadows, and if I need to shift, it’s easier to do it and keep my clothes when I’m wearing this. Don’t worry, you’ll understand soon.”
My chest tightened. I didn’t actually believe her words any longer, and if scaring my dragon out today didn’t work, then I was over all of this. We had to get back to Shadow Veil and focus on Malina. If I wasn’t becoming stronger in Drakken, then I was wasting my time, especially when Marek still hadn’t changed his mind about helping.
Deadly Declaration (Shadow Veil Academy Book 2) Page 11