She sat on the edge of the couch as far away from him as possible. “I’m sitting here. You stay over there.”
He nodded but got up and walked to the closet. He came back carrying a blanket. “You’re shivering,” he said, spreading a quilt over Aspen. It smelled old but had a pattern of red dragons on it.
“This is gorgeous. Where did you get it?”
“My mother made it.”
Where were his parents anyway? It seemed strange that he was living here with just his brother. Aspen almost asked but then decided it wouldn’t be worth the conversation.
They gorged on pizza and pretzels through the first movie. Aspen had to explain most of it to him, and he slowly migrated to her side of the couch. She didn’t even notice.
At the end Sid got up to change the DVD.
“If Ella doesn’t come back down, will you give me a ride home?”
“Sure, can I ask you a strange question?”
“Yeah.”
“Does this whole Ella and Theo thing bother you?”
“Why would it?”
“I don’t know. They barely know each other, but they’re already having sex. It doesn’t seem right.”
Of all things he could’ve said, that one shocked Aspen the most. What did he care if they were having sex or not?
“So? It’s not unusual. It won’t last of course, but I think they both know that.”
“Yeah, but, I don’t know. I always thought love was a prerequisite. Ya know?”
The closet romantic inside Aspen’s head had a sudden desire to kiss him. She hated the way he managed to do that when she was least expecting it. In class the first time they’d met, at the Purple Dragon when he’d walked her to the car, and any other time when she forgot, for a nanosecond, that he looked like Marc. He sat down next to her. Aspen leaned closer to him, wanting to reach out and touch his lips.
“May I see your tattoo?” he asked, startling her.
“My what?”
“Your tattoo, the one on your ankle.”
“Oh, sure.” Until tonight, she’d been super careful about keeping the tat covered. Sid was the first person to see it, and she wanted to show it off a bit.
He slid onto the floor and pulled her foot into his lap. Shivers ran up her spine. He slowly traced the words with his finger and whispered under his breath.
“Obsidian, Nin Meleth, Nin Aran.”
Aspen’s first instinct was to pull her foot away, but she enjoyed it as much as it tortured her. She bit her lip and waited for him let go. Instead, he adjusted so that he could see her, but he continued to hold her foot in his lap.
“When did you get this?” he asked.
“Um, about a month ago. It’s not really a tattoo.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“It’s gonna sound crazy, but it’s a dragon marking. It appeared when I touched that black dragon, but it didn’t have all those words, only a bunch of loops. Then today, when I touched that silver dragon in the courtyard, it changed. The only word that makes sense is Obsidian. I think that might be the name of the silver dragon.”
He pursed his lips. “Maybe. But it would make more sense if it was the name of the black one.”
Aspen hadn’t thought of that. “Why?”
“Because Obsidian is a black rock, not a silver one.”
“Oh.” Now she felt silly.
He let go of her foot, moved onto the couch, and pressed the play button on the remote.
About halfway through the movie, her eyes refused to stay open. After fighting with them for fifteen minutes, she gave in, allowed them to close, and settled her head into a soft warm pillow.
Ella shook her awake. “Aspen,” she whispered. “We need to go.”
“No,” Aspen said and closed her eyes.
Ella shook Aspen again. “Come on, we’ve got to leave. You can’t stay here.”
“Yes, she can,” Aspen’s pillow said.
“I was trying not to wake you up, Sid,” Ella said. “I’m sorry.”
“No worries.” He brushed hair out of Aspen’s face.
Aspen shot up, embarrassed. She stumbled around the couch looking for her boots. Ella handed them to her. “Here ya go.”
“Thanks,” Aspen mumbled.
Aspen fumed. His lap was not where her head should have been. In fact, he shouldn’t have even been sitting next to her. Tori was going to be furious. If Aspen told her. Which she wouldn’t.
Chapter Nineteen
Sid followed Ella and Aspen out to the car. Aspen ignored him and slammed the car door shut, but Ella lingered for a moment. She looped her arm through Sid’s and rested her head on his shoulder. She stared in through her car window at Aspen, who had her arms crossed and was facing away.
“Her subconscious likes you. She’ll come around.”
“I’d rather her conscious self like me.”
Ella laughed. “Yeah, me too. You’re scheduled to work together Sunday morning. Try to be nicer this time.” She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “See you tomorrow.”
Aspen and Ella drove away in a cloud of dust. He was tormented by the pain of watching her leave, mingled with the pleasure of finding her in his lap. If he’d had any idea the sealing was like this, he probably would’ve done it ages ago with Skye. But then he would’ve been in more trouble because he couldn’t have hid it.
Sid walked out into the night air and sat on the fountain edge. The stars were bright in the clear sky since his house was dark. Theo must have gone to bed when Ella left. Aspen brushed off their relationship as nothing, and it bothered him. As dragons, they couldn’t physically mate with more than one. Theo thought that as long as no one found out he’d be fine, but he wouldn’t be. Theo would never be able to seal himself to anyone, except maybe Ella, but maybe not. Sid never heard of anyone mating before they were sealed. And Theo certainly killed any possibility of kids.
A dying star fell across the sky, and Sid’s thoughts turned to Aspen. He had no idea she sealed herself to him the first time she saw him. He had mistaken her feelings of love for excitement. Strange things like that happened occasionally. There had been an instance with a canyon dragon whose parents had died, and he was raised by an unsealed dragon who cared for him so much that she accidentally sealed herself to him. It wasn’t a romantic love, but it was love just the same. She came to the king pleading for a solution.
He sent the dragonling to a different family and told her the sealing would fade over time as long she stayed away from the child. The king praised her for having the foresight to come to him before it was too late. For if the dragonling had been a few years older, he could’ve quite easily sealed himself back to her. Children often love their parents fiercely, but since their parents were already sealed to each other, the dragonlings couldn’t actually become sealed to them. If the canyon dragon had waited, she would’ve doomed the child to a loveless life, for she was old, only a couple hundred years away from death.
Sid figured Aspen loved Obsidian the dragon. But she despised Sid the man. The key to her heart would be as a dragon, but how did he show her they were the same? What if she hated Sid more than she loved Obsidian?
Sid shook his head, trying to sort it all out.
In the trees across the yard, he spotted Talbot and whistled.
Talbot landed in front of Sid and bowed.
Hello, Your Majesty.
Talbot, how are you? Sid stroked the feathers behind his head.
I’ve been better, but I’m a little embarrassed that I have failed the first mission you gave me.
No word on the dragon that’s attacking humans?
No. I think the hawks know something, but they won’t confide in any of us. They are very evasive. And none of us has seen any other dragons than the normal ones.
You haven’t failed. You simply haven’t succeeded yet. You will. I have faith in you. Can you do me one more favor?
Anything, Your Majesty.
Can you have someone keep an
eye on the girl that was here with me tonight?
The wheat-colored one or the violet one?
Sid smiled at his descriptions.
Wheat. She’s a good friend, and I don’t want her eaten by any dragons.
He bowed and took off again, more than likely to find an eagle to watch Aspen.
Chapter Twenty
The next evening, at dusk, Aspen made her way down the trail she and Sid followed the day Matt died, climbed out of the trees, and began the long stretch from the field to the hill. The yellowing field dotted with buffalo and deer spread out before her. The animals moved as she walked, not allowing her to get close. She tripped over a rock and realized she should probably watch where she was going.
At her feet a sagebrush lizard skittered away. She almost followed him and reached for her camera, but then remembered she had bigger lizards to find tonight. Dusk fell rapidly, and the temperature plummeted, the cold air penetrating her light jacket.
Something flew over the mountains. A black dot, bigger than a bird, but smaller than an airplane. She paused and took out her binoculars, focusing on the flying speck. His wings were just visible. It had to be the black dragon. He landed on top of the hill and drank deeply from a pool. Aspen’s heart soared. She put away her binoculars and prepared to run. He would not get away this time.
The gravel slid under her feet as she struggled to make it to the peak of the hill. She slashed at the saplings in her way and made more noise than a rampaging elephant. As she came over the top, she caught her first glimpse of him about twenty feet away.
His long neck held his head high, and his wings shimmered in the dying sunlight. Aspen’s heart stuttered at the sight of him. No way was she getting away without pictures.
She approached carefully, not wanting to frighten him. He seemed bigger than she remembered. Her nose only reached the top of his knee. She looked up at his head, searching for signs he was about to take flight, but his chest rose and fell, the rest of him still.
She placed her hand on the backside of his calf.
He shivered.
Aspen flinched, expecting him to fly away, and wondered briefly what she would do if he did. Hang on to his leg probably. She waited another few moments and then reached her arms up, touched his rough kneecap, and slid both hands down his leg, feeling the scaly bumps all the way down to his foot. She traced a finger down each one of his two-foot-long ebony claws.
Then she moved her hands from his claws to his golden underbelly. He trembled as she caressed the smooth skin. Aspen grinned, ecstatic he was still there. Surrounding his left ankle was a marking like hers, but it was brilliant green instead of black. And his words were different. He had her name on his ankle. Her heart raced. He’d done something to connect them together. She wondered what it meant.
The dragon shifted his feet and opened his wings. Aspen stumbled backwards and moved in front of him to stare up at his face. He lowered his head, and Aspen tentatively patted his snout. Very slowly she rested her head on the top of his nose. He snorted, releasing little puffs of black smoke. Aspen backed away, coughing.
She reached around and grabbed her camera out of her pack, trying to see what would be the best angle to shoot from. She focused and saw his mouth coming toward the camera. Awesome. She shot three pictures. Then the dragon bared his teeth, and plucked her camera from her hands. He dropped the camera then stepped on it, the plastic sticking to the bottom of his foot.
“Stupid dragon, that was a $700 camera.” Her stomach burned with fury. It took Aspen six months of saving her whole paycheck to buy that. Plus, any pictures of him would be gone. She had the childish impulse to run up and kick him, but she settled for crossing her arms and pouting instead.
I’m sorry. I panicked, a voice in her head said. That wasn’t Aspen’s voice.
She looked up at the dragon. No freaking way. “Did you just say that?” Aspen asked.
Yes. The voice was familiar somehow, but that didn’t make sense because aside from the flowing thoughts, Aspen couldn’t hear anything.
“You mean you can talk?” Aspen asked, flabbergasted.
In a sense, obviously, I have no vocal chords, but I can communicate with you. His voice was so real, so humanlike. Aspen wanted to dance in excitement, but she lost all feeling in her legs and sat down.
“I knew it,” she said. “I knew you weren’t like other animals.”
I am sorry about your camera, he said. He had remorse, a dragon had remorse. How was this possible?
“Um, don’t worry about it. Why’d you smash it anyway?”
I’m not supposed to be here, and if those pictures got out, the repercussions would be drastic.
“Oh, well, next time ask. I’ll delete them.”
I know. I’m sorry. I’ll get you a new one.
Aspen giggled, giddy with excitement. “How are you going to do that? You can’t exactly waltz into a camera shop.”
I have my ways.
Aspen wanted to ask him so many things, to find out how he could talk and why he felt bad about the camera. A talking dragon was far beyond any fantasy she ever had about meeting one.
I am Obsidian.
“I know. I have your name on my ankle. Like you have my name on yours. Why is that?”
I’m afraid that is not a question I can answer right now. But I’m sure you’ve got others. As I have many questions for you.
“Okay, so what do the words on my ankle mean, aside from your name? Nin Meleth, Nin Aran.”
Again, I cannot answer that.
He sounded so familiar, but she couldn’t place his voice. And he infuriated her. Why wouldn’t he answer her questions about the marking?
“Why can’t I take pictures of you? I have pictures of other dragons.”
The dragon council closely monitors me. We are not supposed to meddle with humans, and I am far too near to you for the pictures to seem accidental. Plus, I’m not even supposed to be flying anywhere right now.
“Oh,” Aspen said, not quite sure how to continue. “But you know dragons are in danger. If I could just get a picture of us together, maybe people will stop thinking dragons are killing people in Yellowstone.”
I am aware of that. We are taking steps to prevent it. Dragons are more resourceful than you think. Give us some credit.
Aspen didn’t know what to think. Her mind, which was so full of questions a few moments ago, suddenly went blank. “Are you the same dragon I met in South Yellowstone a few months ago?”
Yes, that was me.
“Until I saw you, I’d never seen a black dragon. Are you rare?”
Yes, there is only one black dragon.
“Only one? Why is that?”
Because only the dragon king is black.
Aspen stood, not sure she heard him correctly. “Do you mean to tell me I’m sitting on a hill in Yellowstone having a conversation with the one and only dragon king in the world?”
Yes, that is exactly what I mean.
“Wow, no one is ever going to believe me!” Not only could they talk, but they had a government. A king. And she met him.
Obsidian shifted and brought his face in front of hers. You must not tell anyone, ANYONE, of our meeting. I am not supposed to be here, and just because I am the dragon king does not mean I have free rein. I am watched more closely than any other dragon, and if word escaped that I was conversing with a human, things would go very badly for me. Do you understand?
Aspen backed up and put her hands up. “Okay, I get it. No telling anyone.”
I need to go. Can we meet again?
“But you just got here. Stay, please, for a little while longer. I want to know more about your government. You’re the king. What does that mean? Can you bring another dragon with you? Oh, I met a dragon when I was four. If I tell you about her, can you find her and thank her for me? What do you eat? Why don’t you talk to more humans? They might like you more.”
Aspen, I’m sorry, not today. I can meet with you tomorrow
though.
“No, please, I’m not ready for you go yet.” A panic built in her chest. She didn’t want to lose this moment.
Tomorrow. I promise.
“I live here in the park. Can we meet near Wraith Falls next time? There is a field on the north side of the falls shielded by trees. You won’t be seen, and I will be able to get to you without hiking for an hour.”
Of course, I know that area well.
“Wow, okay, bye.” Aspen smiled and headed toward the edge of the hill, still not quite sure this was all true. Every few seconds she turned her head to look at him. She paused before he dropped out of sight.
Would you like a ride? Aspen felt him say in her head again.
“A ride?” she asked, confused.
Yes, a ride. I can fly you a lot faster than you can walk.
Chapter Twenty-One
Aspen came into work the next morning beaming. Her hair hung in two long braids, and they swished back and forth when she danced up to the counter.
“Sid, we’ve got thirty minutes before we open. If you make the mochas, I’ll make us bagels, and we can eat before people come in.”
Sid blinked. “You want to eat breakfast, with me?”
She shrugged. “Why not?”
“Because you generally try to avoid my presence at all costs.”
“Not today.” She bounced around the counter and grabbed two bagels.
Her behavior baffled Sid. What was different about today? His stomach flip-flopped. Hopefully, he wouldn’t screw this up.
She took the two plates and sat at a four top. Sid took the chair across from her, attempting not to cross any unspoken boundary. Her fingertips brushed his, and he blushed. Aspen jerked, but quickly plastered a smile on her face. It did not reach her eyes. Her hands shook a little as she took a drink of the mocha.
“So, Sid, how did you know about the dragon on the hill? I don’t buy the story you told me on our hike.” Her voice was sugary sweet.
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