Series: Charmaine Pauls
Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Adopting his usual stoic mask, he says, “Well, ask me the question you’ve come here for or go do your nest scraping elsewhere. I have work to do.”
Ignoring his antagonism because this is important to me, I quickly relay what happened at the lake.
When I come to the end of my story, Kian fixes unblinking eyes on Elsie.
“You weren’t scared,” he says, stating that as a fact instead of a question.
“Not for myself,” she says. “Only for Betty when I thought Aruan might vaporize her.”
“What do you think?” I ask my brother. “Why didn’t the dragon devour her like a juicy piece of meat?” I hesitate before uttering the question that’s at the forefront of my mind, something inside me stirring with hopeful excitement as well as caution. “Could this be Elsie’s power?”
“What?” Elsie gapes at me. “I don’t have a power. I’m not an Alit.”
Another rare display of emotion crosses Kian’s features, and the sympathy I see there doesn’t set me at ease. He thinks I’m right, that Elsie has a mental hold over these powerful predators. And he knows if that’s the case, I’ll never sleep easily again.
Commanding dragons would be an immensely strong power. A useful power. A dangerous power. Those beasts are unpredictable at best.
“What do you pick up?” I ask, meaning in Elsie’s mind.
Kian turns his gaze toward a water dragon that has just landed on the windowsill. The insect flutters its lacey wings, performing a dainty dance before finding a comfortable position in which to settle.
“I want you to try something, Elsie,” Kian says. “Look at that water dragon and will it to come to you.”
Does Kian truly think Elsie’s power extends beyond the predators? Could her power be a mental command of all non-Alit living forms? Taming a dragon is one thing—a very difficult thing, I admit—but it has a mass of mind matter to tap into. An insect is a lot more delicate. Wielding power over it will be intricately complicated.
Elsie seems both incredulous and intrigued. “Are you serious?”
“Try,” I urge. “Let’s see what happens.”
She blows a puff of air through her lips, but she’s curious enough to fix her attention on the water dragon.
She holds out her hand. The insect lifts its wings, crisscrossing them like the sharpening of blades, and takes off into the air. It flies to the ceiling where it flits for a few beats, and then it descends swiftly and lands neatly on Elsie’s palm.
For the first time in my life, I’m at a loss for words. Kian seems to suffer from the same speechless condition. Elsie is the only one who’s unperturbed.
She utters a delightful laugh. “Aww, how sweet.”
And then her laugh dies as she directs round, startled eyes at me.
The water dragon takes off again. Elsie stands frozen with her arm outstretched. Kian and I stare at her as the knowledge settles in the silence that follows.
Elsie never lost her power.
It’s always been there—dormant, waiting.
And by dragon, what a power it is.
The shock on her face can easily be mistaken for devastation. Instead of being glad that her power wasn’t destroyed when she was sent to Earth, she’s dealing with a truth she doesn’t want to admit, a truth she’s bitterly denied.
She’s one of us.
There’s no arguing that fact anymore.
This is her home.
This is where she belongs.
Her manner turns stilted. Like a sleepwalker, she drops her arm at her side.
The reason for Kian’s sympathy becomes clear. He wasn’t pitying me, knowing that I’d never know peace again as long as my mate commands dragons. He was pitying Elsie, his mind-reading power having warned him of how the truth would affect her.
“I—” She wets her lips with the tip of her tongue. “It’s not what you think.”
“The pixie dragon that knocked that poisoned drink from Aruan’s hand…” Kian starts in an uncharacteristically gentle way. “It wasn’t an accident.”
“It was protecting you,” I say in wonder. “It knew.”
She shakes her head hard enough to bring on a dizzy spell. “You don’t know that.”
Kian pushes to his feet and makes his way to the door. “Come with me.”
I take Elsie’s hand, offering her comfort.
This is hard for both of us, albeit for different reasons.
She doesn’t object when I lead her into the hallway. We follow Kian to the banquet hall, where spiked pet dragons that hunt for scraps of food are always present.
“Call them to you,” Kian says, a spark of excitement breaking through the boredom normally reflected in his eyes.
She doesn’t ask what or who. It only takes a turn of Elsie’s head before the spiked dragons scurry out from under the tables and clack their way over the flagstones to line up in front of her.
The cooking and cleaning staff, who’ve come out of the kitchen to see what all the commotion is about, stare at the scene with transfixed faces. Unless there’s food, the pets shy away from us. They’re used to being shooed away by the brooms of the cleaners who are irritated with them for always getting under their feet.