But I couldn’t talk to Sammy. She’d wonder why I cared. The last time I’d gone to their room, I’d told them to let Elena die if she wanted to die.
After Warbel practice, I tried to calm down with Tabitha, but she just irritated me more by asking about the training with Elena.
“It’s not like that, Tabitha. I’ve told you that a million times.”
“I just want to know how she’s doing, Blake. I didn’t mean it like that,” she said, shaking her head. She kissed my cheek and left.
I forced myself to go to bed.
Elena needed to bring her A-game, but I had no idea what to say to get her to try for a fucking hour.
I’d have to be nicer to her. That first day hadn’t been so bad.
She confused the hell out of me Whenever I thought too hard about what was going on, I got stabbing pains in my skull.
I tried to clear my mind and wrote in my journal. I tried to think of words to express how I felt now, knowing that I truly had no rider.
I might have fought against the hope Elena had brought into my life when she arrived in Paegeia, but there had been hope.
The next day I was late to our training session, but Elena wasn’t there.
I waited, pacing up and down. A half an hour passed, then an hour, and I realized she’d bailed on me. There was no bailing on this training.
I went up to Sammy’s room, my anger bubbling up inside me.
George was outside their room speaking to Becky. I pushed into their room without saying a word to them. Sammy was sitting on her bed.
Her face fell when she saw me and my eyes shifted to Elena’s bed.
She was sleeping.
I pulled the blankets off her. “Get up!”
Sammy lay her hand on my arm. “Blake, can you just let it go for today? She had a pretty—”
I glared at Sammy’s hand on my arm. “No, Samantha.” I looked back to Elena. “Get ready, Elena.”
It looked like she wanted to scream, but she held it back, grabbing her robe and rushing past me. “You are a real pain in the ass.”
“Yeah, that makes two of us.” I followed her down to the Parthenon dome.
She tried to get away from me, but I was fast in both forms.
She was furious, but her anger pushed her transformation.
As she pushed herself through the door that led to the Parthenon dome, she let go.
Her robe tore as her limbs shredded out of her human form.
She fell down on the steps, breaking them in the process.
I shifted and tried to help her up, but she growled at me and breathed fire.
“Stop it. Control your anger! There are other humans here,” I looked at the bystanders and she followed my gaze.
She blew pink fire in their direction but I blocked it with my body.
Was she insane?
She flapped her wings and flew toward the mountain.
I followed.
She glanced back to look at me. She shot more fire at me and I swayed around it, trying to freeze it in the process. If the smallest flame touched anyone by mistake, they would die.
She tried to escape, but I wouldn’t let her. She was going to train whether she wanted to or not.
I swooped over her, pushing myself until I descended and landed on the mountain.
I shifted and watched as she dived toward me. Flames lit my hands and spread along my arms.
“Enough!” I shouted.
She touched down on the ground and the earth trembled beneath my feet. “I’ll say when it’s enough. You think you can bully her as much as you want and get away with it. I’m in control now.”
I didn’t know why I was still humoring her. Surely Elena knew I wasn’t idiot. “So, you’ve finally met Elena. She’s not the innocent victim you think she is, Cara. I’m trying to help her deal with you. So, if you want to come out more, you’ll back off.”
Her hostile demeanor changed and she backed away slightly.
“Why?” she asked.
“Why what?”
“Why are you helping her? From what she’s shown me, you don’t seem like the type that would help her at all.”
Shown her? “We had our differences in the past, but now that I’m a hundred percent sure what she is—”
“You benefit from this, don’t you?”
“Not in the way you think. Is it safe to subdue my fire?”
“Fine.”
My flames faded. This façade needed to stop, but how could I show her that I knew she was Cara?
I was walking to the tree when it hit me. She didn’t look away from my nakedness. It didn’t bother her.
I pulled on my robe and sat by the tree.
She lay down in front me. She stared at me. “Why do you do that?”
She asked weird questions. “Do what?”
“Cover your body with a garment.”
I laughed. “Elena isn’t used to naked bodies, and I don’t know when she will emerge again.”
“She’s what?”
She was a great actress. Maybe it’s a Rubicon thing. “Exactly my point.” I blew on the tip of my cigarette and took a drag.
“What is that?” She pawed at her nose and sneezed.
“I’m putting it out. Just don’t throw another hissy fit, okay?” I squashed a perfectly good cigarette.
There was no way in hell that she was going to make me stop smoking.
I needed to question her about her dragon life. She wouldn’t be able to lie very long or keep up this story. “Tell me about yourself. What’s the last thing you remember about your dragon life?”
“Why do you want to know?”
I softened my voice. “Cara, I’m not the enemy. I’m only trying to help.”
“Fine,” she said. “Not much, Momma and Papa seem to be the only thing I recall.”
“Who were they?”
“I can’t remember what they called themselves.”
That sounded like something Elena would say.
“Did they live on this side?”
“I can’t remember.”
Easy, stupid answers anyone could say. Amnesia was a good cover.
“Did you see other dragons when you grew up?”
“You want me to light up your ass again?”
I shook my head lazily. “Your fire doesn’t harm me, Cara. I told you before, I’m exactly like you.”
“I doubt it. I’m sure I’m prettier than you.”
I chuckled.
She fell down on her paws again. My questions irritated. She knew I was going to discover the truth soon.
She lay like that for a long time, but I couldn’t sit still, so I got up and stretched my legs.
I leaned against the tree and looked at the sky.
I couldn’t train her like this, but she needed to be ready when the time came. She needed to know how to kill me.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a soft voice.
My brow furrowed and I turned my head to look at her.
“Elena?”
She nodded and stretched out her back legs. It was a funny sight.
I grinned and looked away. “So that’s what it looks like when dragons stretch.”
She flopped back on the ground and made an annoyed sound.
“Elena, you should deal with your anger.”
“How do you think I should do that, Freud?” she snapped sarcastically.
“See the Viden.”
She looks at me. “Oh please, she treats me just as badly—” she broke off, though I was sure I knew what she was going to say.
“I know she’s not an easy creature, but I also know she really wants to help you, Elena.”
“Why, now that I’m somebody special in her little black book?”
She knew about her foretelling. I had to see if she’d tell me. “You have a prophecy?”
“No,” she lied. “It’s just a saying.”
“Then talk to me,” I offered.
“You’re not ve
ry far from the Viden, Blake. I still don’t know why it is you are so eager to help me.”
“Because I benefit from it, Elena.”
“In what way?”
Irritation rose in me. She didn’t trust me at all. Not that I could blame her. A few months ago I tried to kill her.
“When the time comes, I’ll tell you. For now, just do as I say.”
“Urgh, you are so arrogant.” She got up, intent on leaving, but she backed away when she got close to the edge.
I frowned.
She was trying to fool me.
Elena was afraid of heights and Cara loved the sky.
I came up behind her, looking over the edge at the trees below. “That height thing must really suck, huh?”
“Shut up,” she said and turned her back on the view.
“Just because you are so rude, I think I’m going to go.” I pulled off my robe and transformed
“You’re going to leave me here?”
That should teach her to try to mess with my head.
A rumble shuddered the ground during Warbel practice.
Everyone else stopped what they were doing and I listened for the siren.
“Why are you stopping? Do you hear a siren? No! There is no danger, carry on.”
“But, Blake—” Becky said.
“You want to be on this team, Johnson?”
“You know I do.”
“Then as you were.”
Her jaw muscles pumped but she got on with practice.
Training carried on for another hour and a half, just because I felt like it. The team was dead tired and most of the girls complained that I was an evil entity.
I ran up to my room, took a shower, and put on my boxers.
A knock on the door put a smile on my face but I swallowed my grin when I saw Master Longwei standing on the threshold.
“Master Longwei?”
“Expecting someone else, Mr. Leaf?”
I swallowed. “Nope.”
“Good. May I come in, please?”
I stepped out of the way. What the hell was he doing here?
He didn’t sit down.
“I’ll be quick. When you told me you wanted to help, Blake, I didn’t expect that you were going to throw Elena in the deep end.”
I gaped at him. “Excuse me?”
“She wrecked the main entrance and nearly wrecked the infirmary tonight. Lucky for you it was fixable.”
I closed my eyes squeezed the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger.
“I hope it won’t happen again,” he said as he left my room.
“Great,” I grunted.
She was trying to fool everyone. She could fly and land. I’d seen it today. Why was she doing this?
I looked out the window. I had to stop humoring her.
She was trying to get herself killed!
Selfish bitch. I’d catch her in the act.
Her little façade won’t last long.
That night, I thought about Elena’s dragon. She called her Cara, and I figured that must have been her name at one time. Elena’s parents must have changed her name, and she remembered more about them in her dragon form than she let on. But was her father King Albert?
I was getting more confused by the day.
My darkness was kind of the opposite of me—he killed, I didn’t; he was mean and did mean things—but I always knew he was still me.
The redhead appeared in my dream after a long fucking absence.
She filled me with happiness and took my fears away. She made me feel like I belonged. That I had a place in this world.
We were sitting on top of the mountain where I trained Elena.
She was stunning with her sprinkling of freckles over her nose and cheeks.
“Why are you doing this, Blake?”
“Doing what?” I murmured against her neck.
When I was with her like this, nothing else was on my mind. All that mattered was her.
She cupped my cheeks and lifted my face. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, her eyes sad. “You know what.”
I stared into her eyes. “You want to know why I’m training the dragon spawn.”
She laughed but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I really don’t like that name.”
“C’mon, sweetheart, you know it’s just a name.”
She nodded, but she still looked so sad.
“What is it? Why the long face?” I asked in concern.
“You know why the long face,” she hissed.
“No, I don’t.”
“I’m sorry, am I annoying you?” she rhetorically. As if I was the one annoying her. “Open your eyes, Blake. Before it’s too late.”
I woke up, and the vividness of my dream started fading. I’d never experienced something so intense.
Who was she and why had she disappeared for such a long time?
Why was I dreaming about her again?
It was like I was missing something important. Why had she asked about Elena, and why was she so sad?
Who was she? Was she my Dent, my rider? I didn’t know anymore.
I rubbed a hand over my face as I stared at the ceiling. What did my dream mean? What did she want me to see?
Hopefully, I would dream about her again and ask her. Maybe she was there to guide me.
Yuri had told me many stories of loved ones guiding the living down a greater path, to the truth. Maybe that was why I was dreaming about her. Maybe she did exist, but in the afterlife. Maybe she never got the chance to take a breath. My Neverbreath.
I got up and made myself a cup of coffee. A few weeks ago, I would have reached for the Fire Cain instead of coffee, but my need for it had simply disappeared.
I still had a little stashed away, and I had been contemplating calling Phil for another fight to get more, but it was like I didn’t need it anymore.
How was that possible?
My life was constantly changing, still driven by the unknown force. Why did it still care about me so much?
It felt as if I was on the wrong path, but I knew on the other path I would turn completely dark and belong to Goran. I did not want to be his rider. He didn’t deserve my power.
I felt like a coward for wanting Elena do deal with him, but I just couldn’t handle that type of darkness. I’d been fighting it for so long. I didn’t want to be the dragon who brought terror to our world.
I welcomed death.
Now that there was a chance that she could be there, waiting for me… but then why did she tell me to open my eyes? What did I need to see?
I didn’t want to think about her anymore. She used to be happy in my dreams, but now she was sad. She shouldn’t be sad.
I squeezed my eyes shut. It was so wrong.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the dream. It plagued me all through the day.
I was missing something. I was waiting for that a-ha moment, but it wasn’t there.
And usually when something wasn’t there, it didn’t exist.
I headed down to the Parthenon at our regular time, pleased to see Elena there.
But that pleasure didn’t last long. She was so depressed, and it didn’t help that I could feel her sadness—it only riled up the beast.
She walked to a tree a few feet from the Parthenon dome and shifted.
I didn’t speak to her, but it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t understand anyway.
I was still pissed off about her stunt yesterday.
She flew in perfect line with me without any problems.
She got distracted and started to play in the air, diving down and darting up, twirling and twisting.
I laughed as she let out a sound of pure elation.
Couldn’t fly, my ass. She loved it as much as any dragon did.
I landed first and shifted.
My robe, which had been clutched in my paw, now dangled from my arm.
Elena’s paws hit the ground with amazing finesse.
She was so good at this. Wh
y the act?
“So, who do I have the pleasure of dealing with today?” I asked, trying, and failing, to keep the sarcasm out of my tone.
“Haha,” Elena said. At least she was in a better mood now. “It’s me, idiot.”
“Elena.” I grinned and pulled on my robe. She didn’t even seem to have a problem with my nakedness now. “Was that you flying as well or was it Cara?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
“Always Cara. I told you I’m not fond of heights.”
I snorted and narrowed my eyes at her.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I chuckled and threw her the extra robe.
She grabbed it with her talon and walked to the forest to shift back into her human form.
Why the hell did she ruin the main entrance last night? Was she trying to get me trouble? Payback for leaving her here?
Fucking chicks.
I sat down on a large boulder.
I would’ve taken out a cigarette and lit it up, but I wasn’t in the mood.
What was happening to me?
“So, do you have any questions about being a dragon?” I asked Elena when she walked out of the forest.
She kept quiet, staring at the ground. “No… Yes. How could I not have known about her?”
Here we go again. I went with it and gave her honesty. “I don’t know. What I do know is that she must have woken up when you realized that help wouldn’t come. I’ve never seen a dragon form stay asleep that long before. But I’ve read about it.”
“You have? Where?” She sat down under the tree across from me.
“In a history book about the thirteenth century. It was when all dragons were still being slaughtered and hunted down. Some, which I assume were Metallic, hid as humans. A couple of them did it for so long that they no longer knew how to turn into a dragon.”
It was easy to talk to her. It felt natural. I understood why Lucian fell for her. He liked to talk a lot. He had liked to talk a lot.
I swallowed past the lump that formed in my throat whenever I thought of Lucian.
“Why didn’t he tell me about her?”
“Your father?” I asked, puzzled.
She nodded.
“Beats me, Elena.”
It was quiet for a while after that. But she needed to train. Needed to know how to be the Rubicon.
“What’s on your mind?” I asked, drawing Elena out of her thoughts.
Darkbeam Part II Page 17