Once Upon a Dragon Heart (Once Upon a Dragon Series Book 2)

The words of the Viden this morning occupied my mind as I dug into my lunch.

Blake took his sweet time. Not that I blamed him. I was horrible to him the entire day and every second I grew distant, the worry on his face became more clear.

“Elena!” Sammy stared at me. “Rough day?”

I nodded.

“It will get easier. If you don’t understand, just ask Blake.”

I nodded again.

“Oh fuck,” Vicky said, as everyone around us twittered.

Hands cupped both sides of my face and forced my neck to bend backward. Blake planted warm lips on my forehead. “It will get better, I promise.”

My lips curved, and he let go of my face, walking toward the buffet.

Vicky leaned forward. “Girl, I do not know how you are still normal with that guy as your dragon.”

“You’ll get used to him.” I looked at Blake speaking to the chef. My gaze flickered to all the girls checking him out. He was like a magnet.

Why was he so different now? The entire day, he gave me my space and worried in silence, but right now, he was himself.

Something told me that this had Lucian written all over him. Did he tell him something? Gave him advice that I would tell him once I was ready. I already made the choice that I wouldn’t tell him, as my dad told me he was the only thing that could destroy Paegeia and whatever the Viden had said had something to do with Blake. But what did my father’s mission have to do with this?

I even wondered whether Blake didn’t get the same foretelling or something similar before my arrival. That could be the reason he didn’t want to free my father, yet. A tray plopped onto our table and Blake sat down at the end of the table and dug in.

Vicky and Becky stared at him as Sammy glared at him. He didn’t pay her much attention. He only had eyes for his food as he took huge bites out of a burger.

His gaze flickered to Sammy, and he pushed the food into his cheek to speak. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Please don’t tell me you are going to grace us with your presence at every meal.”

“Sammy?” I said.

“What. I love him to death, but I’m my person here at Dragonia, Elena.”

“Dent,” Blake said, and Sammy huffed out a chuckle. “I hope and pray the rider that is going to press your scales in a twist will not be your dent, Samantha.”

“Thank heavens there is only one every era,” Sammy said.

“Get used to it. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Okay, fine. What was so difficult today for Elena?”

“Everything. It’s magic.”

“She had tutors and the best of the best trainers trying to get her fit to claim you.”

“So, she is still human. They forget easily.”

“Still here.” I waved at the two of them.

The corner of their lips curved upwards as Blake took another bite from his burger.

I loved how he lied on my behalf, but still. Why was he lying to his sister about today? I laughed as Becky and Vicky gaped at him, and Blake’s eyes flickered to mine.

“What?”

I shook my head as his gaze bounced over Vicky and Becky. Becky looked at her empty plate, but Vicky still stared.

“Hi, I’m Blake.”

Vicky didn’t answer.

“Ow!” Vicky’s gaze flickered to Becky and glared at her.

“Seriously,” Becky hissed.

“What? It’s Blake freaking Leaf. He is verauriful.”

“What?” all four of us asked.

“Very and beautiful mixed.”

“Oh, man. You better get used to me, and fast,” Blake complained.

“Yeah, I’m not Elena. I doubt that is going to be a possibility.”

Blake closed his eyes and shook his head as he brought up whatever was left of his burger and plopped it into his mouth.

When he was done, he took my tray with his and got up.

“I can take my tray.”

“Chivalry is not a sin, Elena.”

My lips curved as I got up. I looked at Becky and Vicky. “I’m with Blake. You need to get used to him.”

“Fine, I’ll try, but I know it’s almost going to be impossible.”

I shook my head at Vicky and followed Blake to the drop off area.

We slipped out the side door after he thanked the chef for the meal.

He took my hand as we were outside and walked toward the Colosseum, but went to the forest area.

“Thanks for not telling your sister about this morning.”

“She doesn’t need to know. I would love to know what Irene told you. But in your time, okay? So I won’t push.”

“You mean it?”

He nodded. “When you are ready. I just don’t like the secrets.”

“It was nothing.”

He huffed. “It was something that made you cry like that. I’m wondering now if it wasn’t Irene, is it me?”

“Now you are just crazy.”

“No, Elena. I get it that wanting to be around you all the time might be a bit too much. It’s different for our dragons. Humans experience everything on another type of level.”

“Don’t you dare. I’ll tell you if I need some time alone. To be honest with you, I’m glad that I can make some friends. It’s new, but I can’t imagine my life without you and Lucian. I know it does not thrill Sammy to be stuck with her brother daily, but she would just have to get used to it too if she wants to be my friend.”

“You are my friend,” Blake said, sounding possessive again.

I laughed as he pulled me to his side. We reached the tree, and he plopped down on the grass and laid on his back. I sat down next to him with my back facing him, leaning my arms on my knee knobs, wondering if I shouldn’t tell Blake.

“Come here.” He tugged on the back of my shirt, and I crashed into his arms. I felt so safe. I didn’t want to die, but if I had to die for him, I wouldn’t think twice.

The words still sounded in my head. I’d tried so many times to get to each meaning behind the words. I had to stop, as it would drive me insane.

“Have I told you how important you are to me?”

I closed my eyes. It felt as if he could hear my thoughts. Shit, what if he could hear my thoughts? Answer him, Elena. “No, you just kissed me. You are stingy with your feelings.”

“I have a reputation to protect, woman. It’s hard enough that I submitted. Everyone thinks I’m a wuss. I can’t let them know I have emotions, too.” His lips brushed against mine as laughter escaped my lips at his sarcasm. I could kiss Blake Leaf forever, or until the day I die.

BLAKE

Spending time with Elena made the world and the worry stop. She could never know that I’d discovered what she hid from me. She would never trust me again.

After dinner, she came for an hour or two back to my room.

Thank heavens Master Longwei hadn’t found us snooping around yet or caught me last night sneaking through her window. I doubted she even knew. She must have smelled me this morning, but she didn’t word a thing.

“Why didn’t you want to tell your father about mine?”

My gaze stayed on the TV screen as my fingers toggled the remote with the game we were busy playing.

I sighed and paused the game and put down the remote. Thank heavens for sound proof rooms. My fingers brushed through my hair as I looked at her.

“Blake. He said something was coming. He didn’t know what, but he could feel it was big and dangerous.”

“His behind creepers, Elena. Creepers nobody knows how to get through.”

“Creepers that they said we would get through?”

“Who told you that?”

“One of my tutors when I learned everything about the Rubicon and how to claim him, and what we would do together.”

Laughter gurgled up my throat as my human form flashed through my mind.

“Stop it. They didn’t discuss the human inside the Rubicon.  I thought at a stage the Rubicon might still be a boy, as everyone called him a cocky little shit.”

“I wasn’t the easiest to work with, either. I did some fucked up things, Elena.”

“Messed up.”

“No, they were fucked up.”

Laughter passed through her lips, and she shook her head.

“I wasn’t good. I was a little shithead. But thank heavens that had changed now.”

“Stop diverting my question. When?”

A sigh expelled the tension in my shoulders. “You want me to admit that I’m shit scared to find out what is on the other side of the creepers?”

“You are the Rubicon.”

“I don’t have all my abilities yet. It’s not safe for us to go.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know. I get two or three a year. There are four to go.”

“You have the most important one.”

“I know, but I’m not afraid for myself. I’m scared for you.”

“Why?”

“Because if someone hits you with an ability that hasn’t been released, I don’t know what would happen.”

“I see.”

“Your father would understand this. He wouldn’t want you to be in danger like that. Just wait, please.” The fear must have been clear on my face or in my tone as she closed the space between us and kissed me again.

It was dangerous kissing her in my room. I knew she wanted to wait, but my body didn’t get that memo, and her kisses riled me up with want.

I could lose control with her, and I didn’t want to. I wanted to respect her wishes, but I also wanted this. To be this close to her, to rile her up the way she was riling me up. To enjoy every part of her, especially because of the news she got this morning. I wanted each second with her to count. To last me for the time I wouldn’t be with her in the afterlife.

We broke the kiss when Lucian came back, and I grunted. Her laughter chimed in my ears.

“I have to go.”

“What?”

“It’s late. If Master Longwei is going to catch me, there is going to be hell to pay. So I’m doing us both a favor.”

“It doesn’t feel like it.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Stop whining. You are the Rubicon, for crying out loud.”

The room filled with Lucian’s laughter, and I flipped him off as I gave her another juicy kiss and moved to the sensitive skin on her neck, nibbling her.

She screamed her laughter as goosebumps flushed over her skin. I let go of her. “Okay, fine. Go.”

She got up, kissed me once more, and left.

An emptiness descended from my gut when she closed the door behind her. I whined and fell back onto the couch.

“You can be glad it’s me sharing a room with you and not some Chromatic dragon.”

“What are blood-brothers for, right?”

His lips quirked.

“Fuck, this feeling is going to be the death of me and her, I swear.”

“You found out what had been bugging her?”

“Yeah, it’s fucked up, like always.”

“What is?”

“You can’t tell her I know.”

“I won’t.”

“Irene gave her a foretelling this morning.”

“Blake, that’s impossible.”

“It’s not. She saw someone going to betray them, Lu, and that their spawn was going to be my rider. She can. The only problem is that she doesn’t know when she predicts something with the Malones. She goes through the same process. It appears in the book of Shadows. She just doesn’t remember it.”

“How?”

“With normal foretellings, she sees things. It doesn’t come close to what comes out of her mouth, but she sees how it’s going to happen. It helps her to explain the riddle that comes out of her mouth. With the Malones, she doesn’t see, she only speaks. She said something to Elena this morning, which I assumed scared the living shit out of her, as I didn’t tell her about what she does when she makes a foretelling, so I could only imagine. For Irene, it was a headache, followed by a stronger one. She couldn’t remember what had caused the stronger one. Irene just told me that Elena looked as if she saw a ghost, and bolted out of there. She summoned the book when I demanded it and I found a new entry.”

“What did it say?”

“She needs to make a choice. One that is fatal to destroy Paegeia. A life for a life.”

Lucian’s face slacked. “Whose life?”

“Hers.”

“What the fuck, Blake?”

“It won’t happen. I won’t let it.”

“Who does she have to save?”

I took out a cigarette. I had cut down since Elena became a part of my life, but the worry of today’s foretelling weighed on me when she wasn’t around. The cigarette dangled from my lips.

“Blake?”

My fire appeared, and I lit my cigarette. I took a deep drag and blew it out. “Mine.”