“He surely was that, and so much more.”
“You’ll see, tomorrow. I promise you, Nicole won’t claim you.”
“Okay.”
“Not okay. She won’t.”
“She won’t.”
The next day, I accompanied Elena to the Coliseum. I could see she was nervous, but she had nothing to worry about. There was no way Nicole would claim her. Elena was going to kick ass.
Silence hung heavily in the air between us as we walked, and I couldn’t take it anymore.
“You’re extremely quiet today. You still scared?”
“No, not scared. I just don’t like any of this.”
I snorted. “Now you know how all of us feel.”
“You guys really don’t want a Dragonian?”
“It’s not really about not wanting a Dragonian. The Chromatics need one. I guess it’s got to do with the type of person that wants to claim you. See, Lucian was worthy of claiming me, but he wasn’t strong enough. Arianna—” I rolled my eyes. “I guess I don’t have to elaborate on that one.”
She gave a nervous laugh. “That’s exactly how I feel about Nicole.”
“Then don’t give in.”
“I’m not planning on it.”
“That’s the spirit.”
We reached the Colosseum and I opened the gate that led to the waiting areas.
“Will Mia be here?”
“Mia will be prepping Nicole, but I can bet she wanted to be here.”
The crowd was already getting into the spirit of the claiming.
I hated everyone in the crowd today. I was used to this, but I still remembered the fear I had felt on my first claiming, and I knew Elena had to be feeling that right now.
“I don’t have to run around like an idiot outside, do I?”
I laughed. “No, less is better. It’s more intimidating.”
“Thank heavens for that.”
“What, no ‘for the love of blueberries’?”
“Haha.”
I gave her a small smile. “It’s time. You should get ready.”
She went into the small changing room, which was new. Dragons weren’t concerned about their naked bodies, but it seemed like they had made an exception for Elena.
It was the first time that I was here as support, and it felt weird not to be wearing the wrap around my waist, waiting to be called up.
I sat down on the stone bench I had sat on so many times before and closed my eyes.
Please don’t let her be claimed today. Get her someone who is worthy.
I heard Elena inhale sharply, and I opened my eyes when she approached.
I smiled reassuringly. Elena looked like she might throw up. She plunged down on the seat next to me.
The crowd cheered louder and I cleared my throat. “It’s time. You should get your ass out there.”
“Any last advice?” she asked without looking at me.
“Yeah, don’t get claimed.”
“Yes, sir.” She saluted and I chuckled.
I got up, pressed the button, and the gate flew open.
She lifted her chin and walked out, exuding confidence.
Nicole wasn’t worthy.
I pressed the button again, and leaned against the wall as the gate closed.
Cheers went out for Elena, and I felt a twinge of pride when she didn’t acknowledge the cheering.
She was a fantastic student. It gave me hope that when the time came, she’d do the right thing and kill me.
“Thunderstruck” started to play and I laughed. Nicole was pathetic.
Elena looked back. “Seriously?” she mouthed and I shook my head.
She lifted her arms gracefully. The sun hit her perfectly. For a split second, I saw Queen Catherine, but that was just an illusion. She wasn’t Elena’s mother.
She jumped into the air and shifted.
For the first time in my life, I wished I was human, so that I could be the one to tame her.
I knew right there and then that I was fucked up in love with her.
I wanted to scream. This was so fucking wrong.
The lightning that came from Nicole pulled me out of my thoughts.
The crowd cheered and I looked at Elena. This was going to freak her out. She was talking to herself again.
Elena, c’mon. Focus.
Nicole was good. I hadn’t thought she would be this good.
I started to feel a bit of panic, but Elena handled it.
She can do it, Blake.
I flinched when lightning hit Elena’s scales, but she shook it off and charged.
She needed to concentrate but Nicole wasn’t giving her the time to do so.
Then, to my surprise, the Coliseum started changing into a desert.
Roaring cheers erupted from the audience.
Give her hell Elena.
Patsies appeared and Nicole screamed.
More, like I showed you.
Elena was doing brilliantly. The sun grew stronger, and the heat became unbearable.
“Don’t mess with an artist,” she hissed, confirming what I had assumed.
She was an artist.
I saw a flash of her sitting in her human form, naked, in front of an easel.
I shook it away, forcing myself to focus on the present.
Nicole’s demeanor changed. “This isn’t going to work, Elena, your ass will be mine!”
“Yeah, we’ll see about that!” Elena roared back.
I heard the rumble of her pink flame. She was relying on the wrong source. I told her to hit her with her worst fear.
The smile on Nicole’s face confirmed she had expected it.
I could see the victory in her eyes.
She had a plan.
The picture changed again, but it wasn’t enough. Nicole she charged, trying to distract Elena. Luckily, Elena’s imagination was strong.
Elena wasn’t giving up. She refused to show the Coliseum to Nicole.
Nicole attacked with more lightning and hit Elena’s scales again.
“I don’t care what she wants, she’s not claiming us.”
I looked at Elena. She freaked me out when she talked about herself like that. It wasn’t normal.
Elena lost her balance a few times. She was losing her grip on what she wanted to show Nicole.
Nicole was determined and released one lightning bolt after the other.
Elena was going to lose.
Dammit, Elena! Give her hell. I roared, and an image of the worst kind of hell leaped into my mind.
Suddenly, the Coliseum changed into what I envisioned.
Elena was midair when the scenery changed.
I could see in her eyes that she wasn’t doing it. It was all me.
I took over. I didn’t give a rat’s ass how this was possible, but I had to make sure Nicole never attempted to claim Elena ever again.
I imagined dry air and rivers of lava surrounding Nicole.
She was trapped as patsies came running out of the lava.
They were vile and evil.
She screamed.
I put on more heat.
I envisioned a hellish kind of creeper. It had long teeth that snapped at Nicole.
Nicole shrieked as the creeper almost grabbed her.
There was no turning back now.
I let the earth tremble as fire sprouted from the ground. With flailing arms, Nicole tried to keep her balance on her podium, which was now a rock barely big enough for her feet. Finally, I took away her podium.
Hands, engulfed in flames, shot up from the rocks.
The hands slapped her and boils formed on her skin.
I smiled as she screamed in agony.
Nicole finally yelled, “Give.”
I let it go and the Colosseum returned to its original state.
Nicole was terrified, crying and screaming.
Lesson learned.
Don’t fuck with a Rubicon.
Another gate opened and more dragons flew out, tryin
g to block Elena.
I took that as my cue to leave and got my ass out of there as fast as I could.
The hallways echoed with murmurs of today’s claiming when I got back to Dragonia Academy. Everyone was muttering about how Elena showed no mercy.
I went to my room and collapsed on my bed.
How the hell had I managed to interfere with Elena’s claiming?
There had to be some kind of bond between us for that to have happened.
None of the other dragon bonds had that, but then again, our breed was far superior.
My mind raced. She was playing tricks on me.
She had to be.
But she had no idea I felt this way about her.
I didn’t know how I was going to stop this, how I was going to tell her the truth. I was only training her because I needed her to kill me.
I couldn’t trust this feeling. It wouldn’t last. She would go dark eventually. Both of us would.
I finally drifted to sleep. I dreamt of nothing.
Greg applauded me when I stepped into his class.
“Didn’t think she had it in her, Blake. You are definitely rubbing off on her.”
I chuckled. “I hope it’s a lesson for all the Dragonians. Don’t mess with a Rubicon.”
The class cheered.
Greg laughed. “If only your Warbel team was as vicious.”
I wanted to flip him off, but he was a teacher at the moment, not just a fellow coach.
In Professor Pheizer’s class, she was quiet. Just once, I’d love to know what was going on in her head. Perhaps she had discovered another Dent. Of course, with the way she carried on, everyone in this school would be Dented to each other soon enough.
No one could stop talking about the claim, but the victor was nowhere to be found.
I headed to the mountain at two and found Elena waiting. I hurriedly pulled my robe over my head.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said as I sat next to her on the boulder.
Part of me was dreading spending time with her but another part of me was deliriously happy.
I was always fighting against something.
Elena looked worried and annoyed.
“Are you okay?” I bumped her softly with my shoulder.
“I don’t know.”
“She didn’t claim you.”
She gave me a stern look. “Was it you?”
“Was it me, what?” I asked innocently, playing dumb.
“You know what I’m talking about,” she whispered as she got up, rubbing her hands together.
She was afraid. Why?
“No, I don’t.”
“The hell, with the evil patsies and everything,” Elena hissed. “It wasn’t me, and it sure wasn’t Cara, so I don’t know who the hell imprinted that scene into my head. Paul was the only one.”
Fuck. I got what she was saying.
“It’s not Paul, okay. The desert wasn’t scary enough.”
“I don’t care.
I had to stifle a sigh. “She wasn’t afraid of it. It was as if she expected it, so I wanted to change it… and it happened.”
She stared at me, unblinking. “She could claim me if she ever found out.”
“They won’t, you’re a Rubicon.”
“You don’t know that.” She pushed herself off the boulder and started pacing. “What is going on with us? I don’t get this.”
“I do.” The minute the words left my mouth I wanted to take them back.
“Please share.”
I’m in love with you. Fuck! I breathed out softly and slowly. I couldn’t tell her the truth, so I made up another reason. “We’re the same. We’re bound to have some sort of link with one another that makes us different from all the other dragons.”
“All my life I’ve been different, but never in a million years did I expect to be this.” She waved her hands up and down her body.
“You still don’t like being a dragon?”
“That’s not what I said. I love my dragon. She has helped me with a lot of things that I would never be able to make peace with on my own.”
She came to sit down next to me again.
“Why did you help me?”
“She’s not worthy enough to claim you,” I said.
“Why do you care who is worthy enough or not?”
“You’re a Rubicon. Only the best of the best should be able to claim you, never forget that.” I held her gaze with my own, feeling as if I could drown in the green sea of her eyes. She buried her face in her hands and grunted.
I hated that she felt she had to hide her emotions from me.
After what felt like an eternity, she lowered her hands and looked at me again.
We stared at each other longer than we should have. The sudden need to kiss her overwhelmed me. I wanted to know what her lips tasted like.
I got up and walked to the tree.
Pull yourself together. She needs to kill you. You trained her for that. Adrenaline spiked in my body and I knew my heartrate was elevated.
My palms were sweaty.
I inhaled deeply to get my nerves under control to change the subject.
“There are rumors that Arianna is going to try to claim one of us next. I’ve got a feeling that it’s going to be you, so we should start preparing for it. She’s a bit more fierce than Nicole.”
“Are you shitting me?”
“I can help you.” I crouched in front of her.
“Blake, you can’t. If anyone finds out what it is you can do…” She hid her eyes from me again and shook her head. When her eyes snapped open again, the plea in them was clear. “I can’t become Arianna’s, she’s even more evil than Nicole.”
“You won’t, just trust me.”
“I take it you know her fears, too?”
“All of them.” I smiled.
“You know when she’s planning this?”
“The way some of the Dragonians spoke about it, soon.”
“Then we should get started,” she said adamantly. She was ready.
I trained her harder than I had before. She was still struggling to control her lightning, which concerned me. It was weird. I had never struggled with any of my abilities.
I tried to focus on the training, but it wasn’t easy with Elena at my side.
She was getting stronger and more intimidating.
Our friendship was growing the more we spent time together, even though I tried everything to not let it go that way.
She was determined and she pushed herself past her limits every afternoon, and barely had the strength to fly back to the academy.
I assisted, of course, and made sure she got enough rest.
Warbel didn’t go as badly as I thought it would, though I wished my team had some of Elena’s spunk and determination. If they had, we wouldn’t have come in second.
But there was always next year—if there was going to be a next year.
As I walked down the halls of Dragonia Academy, I noticed banners hovering in the air, announcing the upcoming Testrial ball.
Tabitha kept badgering me about going. I told her I’d think about it.
That afternoon Elena wanted to cut our training short.
“Why, what is more important than Arianna’s claiming?”
“It hasn’t even been announced yet, Blake. There is still time and I trained hard. I believe I deserve a break.”
“Oh, do you now?”
“It’s not Warbel.”
I laughed. “Seriously, what is so important, Elena.”
“The ball, okay? Your sister will skin me alive if I don’t go with them today to go pick up our masks. She is already complaining that I don’t spend nearly enough time with them. So, I’m telling you. I have to leave at half past two.” She looked at her watch. “Which is now.”
“It’s just a ball.”
“I don’t care. I’m sick and tired of practicing how to be a Rubicon. Arianna’s threats have to wait for now.”
She’d al
ready slipped behind a tree to shift back into her dragon form. “Let me guess, you don’t like dances and dress up?”
“Is that even a question?”
She giggled as she stepped out in her dragon form. “So I’ll take that as a no.”
“So, I’ll meet you here tomorrow?”
She shook her head. “Nope, I have to get ready for the ball.”
“Elena,” I said, resigned and disappointed.
“One day is not going to make me worse. I need a break. Go do something with Tabitha. You guys are still together, right?”
I couldn’t believe how easily she mentioned Tabitha. “Yes,” I bit out.
“There you go. See you on Monday,” she said before she dove off the cliff.
I laughed as I heard her speaking softly to herself again. It wasn’t even that weird to me anymore. In fact, it was almost endearing.
I sat down on the boulder.
I lit another cigarette, taking my time, hoping it would help clear my head.
I didn’t know how much longer I could hide my feelings from Elena.
She was like the sun. Fuck the moon and stars.
She was my sun.
You are dark, Blake. It’s not going to last, the darkness whispered inside me.
I closed my eyes. The darkness was right. If our bond was that strong, I would pull her into the darkness with me. I would be responsible for killing the light within her.
I was done being responsible for killing the light within people.
Tears stung my eyes and I blinked them away.
I’d never felt this way before. Not even with Irene. What I’d had with Irene was nothing compared to this.
I couldn’t do anything about it. I was a coward destined for darkness.
I stayed on the mountain all through the night and watched as the sun started peeking over the horizon.
New poems about how Elena made me feel, how there was no hope for a future with her, had played through my mind all night, filling my soul with sadness.
I was a mess. I’d always been a mess.
I was exhausted. Tired of waiting for the darkness to consume me. Tired of life.
Sometimes I wanted to give in to it, but I always pulled back.
This time I pulled back because of Elena.
Darkbeam Part II Page 23