That same smile curved the edges of his mouth as if he were proud of me. “You sound just like Celine. The drug? A couple hours at most… You’re bleeding.”
Afraid to touch my head again, I bit my lip and muttered, “No shit, sherlock.”
After speaking in Russian to Baldy, the goon neared and gave his boss a new water bottle.
Still kneeling, my mother’s bondmate shifted closer. “Close your eyes.”
“No.”
He breathed out an exasperated sigh. “I’m going to heal the cut on your head, but I need to clean it first.”
Instead of doing as he said, I watched him pull out a pristine handkerchief and pour his fancy water into it. The initials EAG were stitched in the corner in black thread.
I’d met charlatans of all nationalities and ethnicities who’d claimed to be able to heal people. They’d all been scams. George used to show me how they worked. The placebo effect was a powerful thing. If people wanted to think they’d been healed, then they’d feel healed… for a little while at least.
I raised a skeptical eyebrow at Evgeni, but his focus was on my wound.
“Ow, ow, ouch!” I yelled as he tried to wipe the bark and dirt from my skin. Then he poured more water over the injury. I blinked as the water ran down my scalp and into the back of my shirt.
Evgeni’s eyes went cloudy as he focused on something I couldn’t see. Even without Aaraeth, I felt the energy begin to gather around him.
The air crackled with electricity, and goosebumps ran up my body.
“You can really heal me?” I asked in a whisper, remembering that the Headmistress mentioned healing as a possible gift Prime bondmates had.
I could smell Evgeni’s aftershave as I watched his eyes dilate with power.
Instead of answering, he leaned forward, touching his forehead to my own, his hands on each side of my head.
First, it was like a tingle running through my skin, but then the gash began to burn and itch. I tried to move, but his grip on me was like iron.
When the discomfort faded, my mother’s bondmate released me. Strands of my hair stuck to his hands, then fell as he leaned back to examine my forehead.
Meeting my eye, he smiled, “It’s all done. I’m nowhere as good as Celine, but at least you won’t have a scar.”
Baldy’s voice rumbled in accented English, “She won’t have to answer questions about what happened.”
I flared my nostrils before touching my head—it didn’t hurt anymore, and the blood was gone.
“How did you do that?”
Evgeni’s smile reached his eyes, crinkling them at the edges. “Because of my bond with Celine.”
“It’s true?”
“Celine could heal others… sometimes, but I was only able to heal her… or people closely related to me.”
“So, that’s the paternity test?”
He smiled. “No, we’ll do a real one. But I already know you’re my daughter. Celine was never unfaithful to me despite the rumors.”
“I still don’t understand why the council is keeping you away?”
“Let’s just say, Arthur isn’t my biggest fan. Besides, I wouldn’t trust a dog with that man. They want to control you and make you into their puppet. If I’m going to help you, then I need leverage. I’ll need proof—the DNA test.”
He stood and took a wet towel from Ponytail, wiping his hands before dusting off his trousers.
I stared into Evgeni’s gray eyes. “All right, but if you want my help, then I want some answers.”
“What do you want to know?”
“How did Celine die?”
His mouth softened as he stared past me as if staring into his memories. “That’s a long conversation.”
“Was she an addict?”
His eyes flashed in anger, “No! But I know people think that. She wasn’t an addict. Celine walked the line between brilliance and insanity. The only reason she ever took drugs was to escape her parents’ control, which was most of her life. But her death? I don’t believe for a moment that she overdosed….”
“Then what happened?”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t there, but I can guess it had something to do with her research—it had to be an accident.”
“An accident? What kind of accident?”
Evgeni shifted, his shoes making the pine needles crinkle beneath his feet. “My turn. Who raised you? Where did you live before you came to the Academy?”
I bit my lip, hesitating. “Vietnam.”
“So, you’ve been in Vietnam this whole time?”
I shook my head, “No, we move around a lot, never in one place.”
He grunted, his eyes narrowing. “Who moved you? Who were you with?”
“George,” I said, being intentionally vague.
“George Miller?” he snarled, gritting his teeth before pacing the area.
Aaraeth stirred, but she still felt far away.
I watched Evgeni as he gazed upward, taking slow breaths. When his sharp eyes returned to me, he pointed at my hand. “That ring, the amethyst one, it belonged to Celine. I gave it to her.”
I splayed my hand to examine the ring. “You know George?”
He clenched his fist and set his jaw. “I knew him.”
“How did Celine know him?”
“George and Celine were friends. They were fascinated by the dragon world, but…” He trailed off.
“But what?” I asked.
“But to answer their questions, they did forbidden things. Illegal things.” He stared down at the ground, his face unreadable.
“Like what? What’s forbidden?” I sniffed and touched my scraped knee through a new hole in my leggings. This was my last good pair.
Evgeni stood, feet planted apart in the pine needles and fresh green spring grass. “As Dragonborn here in the US, we aren’t allowed to even question rituals—not the way they’re done or how they work. We’re supposed to do only the rituals that were created hundreds of years ago. We don’t get to know why they work or how.”
“But, if that’s a crime, why would she mess with that stuff?” I shifted and was able to sit in a more comfortable position, but not sure if I could get up yet.
A crease formed between his eyebrows as he replied, “Because Celine thought that we could make the Awakening Ceremony easier, faster. She thought that if we had a better understanding of how we created the portal, we could do things better. Maybe even make more Primes. She found other places where the ritual would work.”
“Like in the cave under Harrow?”
Evgeni’s eyebrows came together, and he frowned. “The cave is gone now. It was filled in when they rebuilt Harrow House. George told you about the cave?”
I breathed out a sigh. “Just recently in a letter smuggled by my guard. But before this—I knew nothing of the Dragonborn.”
“Nothing?”
I shook my head.
He muttered something that sounded like, “fucking George!”
“How did you not know about me?” I asked.
Running his hands through his hair, Evgeni breathed out a long sigh through his nose, his lips pursed. “Celine’s ideas were either brilliant or bonkers. And I was tired of watching her take too many risks. The short story is that we argued, and she ran off to George to do her experiments. She’d been trying to figure out a way to travel to the dragon realm… it was a ridiculous idea.”
I gazed up at the man through my eyelashes. “And you just let her go, even though you thought she was crazy?”
He laughed and ran his hand through his hair. “I couldn’t stop her… I thought that she’d come back.”
Neither of us spoke for several moments.
I watched a line of ants as they marched past my shoe.
“You know, drugging me was a dick move,” I told him.
His eyes crinkled in amusement. “If you were anything like Celine, then I needed to be prepared. I told you—she was a force to be reckoned with.”
Unimpressed with his answer, I murmured, “So you say. Other than being crazy, what was she like?”
The corner of his mouth curved up. “She was charismatic, beautiful.”
I thought about the picture of my mom and Evgeni in Calla’s album.
“You should’ve gone with her, helped her. You should’ve been there for her.”
He scoffed and scratched his artfully stubbled cheek. “No. I loved Celine, but even I have my limits. And I didn’t have powerful parents like hers to get me out of trouble. Besides, she didn’t want or need help from anyone. She was obsessed with her work. I should have known she was pregnant. But I was angry, and I didn’t want to get caught up in the trouble she’d pulled George into.”
He took another water bottle from Ponytail and held it to his lips, taking a long gulp as if to wash the words from his mouth.
“If what you say is true, then why did Elise lie to me about her death.”
“If word got out that their daughter was doing illegal research, they’d be ruined. They covered it up. Even I’ve lied for Celine... hidden her research. The difference is that Arthur and Elise did it out of guilt and shame. I did it because I believed in Celine. I believed in what she was doing. Maybe if it had been legal, she’d still be here.”
He looked out into the trees as if he heard something.
“We’ll talk another time. I need to go,” He said, the pine needles crunching beneath his shoes as he took a few steps away. “About your bond with Ashe Carrick. I approve. You are part Harrow dragon yourself.”
Worry built in my gut at his words, and I remembered that Ashe warned me about this man.
“I’m not a pawn.” I pulled Celine’s ring from my finger. Holding it out to him, I said, “Here, take it back. If all you want is to use me, then I want nothing to do with you.”
Shaking his head, Evgeni turned and retraced his steps. Then he knelt down in front of me. Taking the ring, he placed it back on my finger, his hands warm in the cold wind.
“No. You should have it. At least George gave you that.” Meeting my eyes, he said, “Things would’ve been different if I’d known about you. I promise I’ll make George pay for what he’s done. The years we’ve lost.”
I gulped at the conviction in his tone.
When he moved to stand, I grabbed his arm. “Don’t hurt him. He was good to me.”
Upright, he brushed pine needles from his slacks. “You’ll feel better in a bit. When you do, go back to the school. Drink plenty of water.”
He barked out orders in Russian, and one of the goons approached me. Squatting, Baldy squeezed my jaw until my mouth opened. He then swabbed the inside of my cheek before placing it into a vile. He tugged out several strands of my hair that were covered in blood and put them in a plastic bag for good measure.
“Ouch! Asshole!” I yelled, swatting him weakly.
Evgeni watched this dispassionately. “I have to have proof.”
With that, the men left me alone in the forest.
I wiggled around to watch them, but ended up falling face-first into the leaves. Spitting and cursing, I rolled onto my back.
Aaraeth!! I screamed in frustration.
My dragon shifted, and I felt her try to answer, but she was too far away.
The sun warmed me, and I felt so tired. Laying there in the leaves and forest debris, I listened to the birds’ chirp above, and animals scurry in the brush.
I told myself that I’d close my eyes for just a moment, but sleep pulled at me.
14
I was awakened by someone shaking my shoulder. Fluttering my eyes open, I stared up at someone who was way too close.
“Elijah?” I groaned, pushing him away and stretching. He pulled me off the forest floor with a worried expression.
“Are you okay?” He asked, sweeping the leaves and dried mud off my jacket.
I rolled my shoulders and glanced around. “I… I think so.”
Eli pulled at his neck with one muscled arm. Then, the words came spilling out of his mouth. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think Mr. Garin would do anything to you… He said he just wanted to talk. But you don’t look okay. Oh my god! Ashe is gonna kill me.”
“Ashe is gonna kill you?” I glared at him before landing a weak punch to his stomach.
He made a satisfying “Ooooffff.”
“You asshole! You could’ve just told me Evgeni was here! I was trying to get a hold of him! But instead, his freaking goons choked me until I passed out and then drugged me!” Hand on hip, I stared the Harrow Prime down.
His eyes went wide, and he stammered. “I…I’m…”
“Aaraeth?!” I yelled.
I felt her, her mind and thoughts—finally.
I’m okay, she told me. But I still cannot access your world.
“I swear I’m so sorry,” came another apology from Eli as he rubbed his stomach. “What do you want from a guy like Mr. Garin anyway?
I spat, “Sorry doesn’t cut it. I swear that if you ever pull any kind of crap like this again, I will come after you, and you will regret it for the rest of your life!”
Eli backed up. “I said sorry!”
Blowing out a breath, I shook my head. “I can’t believe you!”
“Please don’t tell Ashe.”
I spun around, “Are you fucking kidding me?” Then I sighed. “Where’s the path?”
Eli pointed, and I strode past him to the trail.
My head was killing me.
Fucking Dragonborn! I muttered to Aaraeth.
I should have known… we were distracted, and I didn’t feel Evgeni as a threat.
It would’ve been nice if you’d have told me that you felt him. I thought they were going to kidnap me or murder me. I charged up the trail. “I can’t believe he drugged me! Fuck!” My head was throbbing.
The good news was that I wasn’t terribly far from Drake House. The bad news was, I felt like death by the time I got there. Instead of heading to dinner with everyone else, I grabbed two sandwiches and a can of Coke from the snack bar before heading up the stairs to my room.
Where was my so-called guard, Taya? A load of good she did me today!
Stripping down, I pulled my robe around me and strode angrily to the bathroom. Once inside, I took a long hot shower. Blood, leaves, pine needles, and little twigs came from my hair. When I was finally clean, I leaned against the shower wall and slapped the tile with my hand.
“Damn it!”
I hated feeling helpless and lied to.
Evgeni had confirmed every fear I’d had since George told me not to trust the Dragonborn.
I like Elise, but hearing a similar story from both George and Evgeni, I knew she’d lied to me. What pissed me off is that she’d seemed so heartbroken and sad, I believed her.
But Evgeni was known to have ‘plans within plans.’ What was he planning for me? Where did I fit into his scheme? I wasn’t sure if I could trust him either.
And on top of that, Eli lied to me! Well, he hadn’t technically lied; he’d misled me. Why hadn’t he just explained to me that Evgeni was here? I would have met him!
Instead of watching out for me like Ashe had asked him to, Elijah had deceived me, and as a result, I’d gotten hurt. Without Evgeni to heal me, I probably would’ve needed stitches.
A giggly conversation froze my angry thoughts, and I held still, listening to the sound of their chatter muffled by the water as it hit the shower wall.
I had absolutely no privacy anywhere in this whole damn school.
It was time to write George back. He always told me that information was power, and I needed more to work with if I were to come up against liars as good as my grandmother and manipulators as good as Evgeni.
Once out of the shower, I dried myself off while glancing at the ever-present group of girls that hung out there.
Just why? Didn’t they have a room? Didn’t they eat?
Giving them an irritated look, I grabbed my things and headed back to my dorm room
.
Sitting on my bed, I pulled out my laptop. I’d discovered a program online that would encrypt it for me, but I had to be careful not to make it too long.
George,
You need to get out of New York. You’re in danger there.
I leave here in a few weeks to live with my grandparents, and I’m scared. Did Celine really take drugs to escape them?
I guess you were right—the Dragonborn are dangerous. My grandmother Elise lied to me, and I’ve met Evgeni. I worry that he wants to use me. I need as much information as you can give me on Evgeni and Elise or anyone else you can think of.
I haven’t seen or heard from Ashe in over a month. I just want out of here.
Write me back. We can travel like we used to and forget this ever happened. Just say the word, and I’ll find a way to get away.
Syd
I fell over my closed laptop, and my eyes filled. Stuff-tee sat there on my pillow, his button eyes looking at me. I swatted him, and he tumbled off my bed and down the crack by the wall.
Stuff-tee had been an Easter present from George. He was so old that I don’t remember a time without him.
I couldn’t even call George my father any more… even that had been taken from me. All I had left were more questions and more uncertainties.
I knew a few things, at least. I was Celine’s daughter. I looked like her, had her ring, and George had been her friend and research partner.
My mind swirled to overflowing, and I just wanted to escape. But there was nowhere for me to go.
A video call chirped on my phone. Surprise swept through me. I wiped my eyes before sliding the bar to answer.
“Ashe!” I answered in shock, trying to keep my tears in check. He looked dirty and just as tired as I felt. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”
He blew out a breath, running a hand over his grime-smudged face. “Why don’t you ever call me when crazy shit goes down with you?”
Shaking my head, I sighed, “I didn’t know I could. I talked to Eondian this morning—didn’t he tell you? What happened to you? You have blood on your face.”
“I’ve been getting strange impressions from you almost all day. What the hell happened? Why are you crying.”
“Me? I’m not.” I drank him in, my heart overflowing with emotion, and the bond opening his feelings to me. He looked like he’d been in a fight or a war; fatigue weighed on him along with tension and stress.
Over Easy (The Dragon Born Academy Book 2) Page 12