I pushed it from my mind and focused my full attention on the guy in front of me. “You guys were brave for coming with me.”
“We're dragons, Elena. What kind of a Rubicon would I be if I chickened out?” Blake said with a soft smile.
“Still, it was very brave.”
He sighed. “You have much to learn.”
“So everyone tells me. Thanks for asking that dragon to give me the gift to understand Latin. I would never have been able to go through it, if it wasn't for that.”
“Tell me about it,” he mumbled, and I gave him a sarcastic smile.
“So, you guys really don't understand English when you're in your other form?” I asked. It sounded so stupid. Why didn't I just say dragon?
“No, dragon is what I am. My true colors show when he comes out. I don't have to hide the way I feel.” He lifted up the left side of his butt and took out his packet of smokes. I started to cough as he lit one.
“So you know every time when you end up hurting someone, during a claim?”
He nodded.
“You don't care?”
"It's not who I am." He released a deep breath. “I don't know how to explain it to you. A part of this form doesn't want to be a dragon and it clashes when I'm one. It's hard to explain.”
“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” I thought out loud.
“Exactly. The only thing that we’ve ever agreed on is this mission.”
“Is it why you and Lucian are no longer friends?”
He glared at the tent where Lucian slept. His jaw muscles tensed.
Me and my big mouth.
“I knew he would tell you about us,” he grunted.
“You didn't answer my question,” I probed.
“Yes, Elena. The older I get, the more I want to be a dragon. The more I'm a dragon, the less I will stay human, which means I'll end up losing this.” He gestured at his human form. “Believe me, I did Lucian a big favor.”
“How can you say that, Blake? It's selfish to make that kind of a decision on his behalf.”
“Elena, it’s not that easy,”he growled.“I know Cheng gave you the breakdown of what I'll turn into if I'm not claimed by a certain date. That part of me grows stronger every single day. My human form can't fight this. It's just too much, and you have no idea how much it hurts when I'm forcing myself to do the opposite of what hewants.” He sound defeated, as if the dragon in him had already won.
“Will it change if Lucian claims you?”
He started to laugh. “He will never claim me.”
“He could, Blake.”
"You live in a dream world. I'll become evil, and it's something I struggle to make peace with, but sooner or later, I'll have no choice.”
“You don't have to,” I said encouragingly. “You have to fight it, Blake, don't give up.”
“You think I'm not trying. I'm seeing the Viden on a daily basis just for one ounce of hope. Just so you know, I haven't found it yet, and to be honest, every time I leave that fucking tower, I become happier. That’s not a normal reaction,” he snapped.
“She did predict your true Dragonian being born.”
He narrowed his eyes. “My Dragonian didn't get a chance to take a single breath. Goran made sure of it the night he killed them.”
“You don’t know that. What if he's born and no one knows about it? Like maybe not with Queen Catherine."
He looked at me with disgust. “Are you implying that the king committed adultery? The king loved the queen; he would never do that.”
“How do you know that?” I was adamant, ignoring his snarky comment.
“Because his dragon would have known.” He started to get annoyed with me, but I didn't care.
“Oh, and you know Sir Robert?”
“Yes, he's my father.”
I stared at him for a short while.Sir Robert is Blake’s father. The wax doll of him at the museum jumped into my head. His eyes were the same as Sammy's. I should have seen it. “Your father's the Night Villain King Albert claimed?”
“My dad knew everything about them. He would've told me if that kind of hopeexisted. There is none, Elena. I’ve got no Dragonian.”
For a second, I felt his pain and tasted his bitter defeat. It seemed that there was no hope, and Blake would eventually become evil.
“Just try to give Lucian a chance to claim you, Blake.”
His jaw muscles tightened again. “I can't. I'm already giving everything not to kill him.” He got up while flicking his cigarette butt away.
I listened to him zipping down his tent with force. He was angry, and it was my fault.
I started to feel bad. It was insulting; not only to him, but to his father and the King. I sighed. He was right, there was no hope. If the dragon in him was already stronger, he would kill Lucian at the end.
My eyes stung, thinking how this mission might end up being worthless. If Blake turned evil, we didn't need to worry about Goran destroying Paegeia. Blake would.
My stomach growled as I walked to the tent, and I crawled back inside to snuggle up next to Lucian again.
As I struggled to fall asleep,I silently wished that Constance was here to heal my shoulder. Heck, I would even welcome Julia with her drip. Then my mind shifted from the pain and began dwelling on Sir Robert. I couldn't believe he was Blake’s father. How had he escaped that night, leaving his Dragonian alone? Night Villains were not known to be cowardly.
A series of scenarios played in my head. In some of them, I did see the Night Villain escaping, leaving the King and Queen to fight for themselves. Maybe the Royal Council was right. Maybe the dragons had sided with Goran and his evil plan to destroy the King and Queen.
Then an opposite scenario appeared.
What if King Albert ordered Sir Robert away, because he was Blake's father? Goose pimples ran down my entire body. Yeah, it sounded like something the king would do.
My eyelids started to feel heavy, and I drifted away.
Iwoke up to the smell of fish roasting over a fire. Lucian’s place was empty, and I crawled out of the tent.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” his voice came from the fire pit.
I smiled. “You know that story too?”
“We know all kinds of fairy tales. They have been told here for centuries,” he joked. “How's your arm?”
“Much better,” I lied. I would get it fixed once we were back at Dragonia.
“I'm glad to hear that. Are you hungry?”
I nodded without taking my eyes off the fish.
“It’s almost done.”
“I’ve never had fish for breakfast, but I don't care. It smells too good.”
“Fish for breakfast?” Becky said in a singsong tone.
“Hey, I can only do so much,” he said, shrugging his shoulder.
“Where's Blake?” Becky asked as Tabitha crawled out of their tent.
My heart tightened up at her words. "Is he gone?"
“He'll be back. He just needed some time alone,” Lucian said and tasted a piece of fish.
I almost burst out laughing when he discovered that it was too hot. Spitting it out and frantically trying to cool his mouth.
“He better be. I'm not waiting for his brawny ass,” Becky said in her famous matter-of-fact tone as she disappeared back into her tent. “Wake up, George.”
We chuckled softly when we heard“oomph”, and I imagined her kicking a sleeping George.
She came back out with two bottles of water in her hand. “The food supply is getting low.”
“It's only for tonight, then we'll go home. Right, Elena?”
I nodded. The dragon said that I was only allowed to tell them what I saw in the vision.
“Where’s it we have to go?” Becky asked, curious.