Starlight (The Dragonian Series Book 5) (21 page)

I heard Master Longwei say his goodbyes and closed my eyes again.

I could feel the bed shifting as Blake climbed back in and could feel his breath close to my face.

“Please don’t tell me you are one of those creepy stalkers who watch people sleep,” I said and he chuckled.

His lips brushed my cheek. “I knew you were awake.”

My eyes opened and I found his dark eyes on me.

I remembered the purring noise and smiled at him.

“Why are you smiling like that? You look like you just discovered my deepest secret.”

“Maybe I have.” I raised my eyes and he chuckled.

“Okay spit it out, what did I say?” he asked.

“Nothing, it is more like something you did.”

He squinted. “Did?” he asked.

“Something I only thought cats could do and now I know dragons do as well.”

He stared at the wall a couple of seconds and then looked back at me with a hint of a smile. “I purred!” He sounded surprised but excited.

I smiled. “You purred.”

He laughed.

“You didn’t know you could do that?”

He laughed. “No, I did, and it’s not the first time that you’ve heard it either.”

“It’s not?”

“You heard it in Aviant the very first time you flew with me.”

I tried to remember that day.

“When Becky asked me what the hell that was?”

I remembered the clucking noise and laughed as I remembered the very first time I’d heard it.

“No, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that sound.”

He looked at me with a broken smile. “It’s not?”

I shook my head. “I heard it on the mountain, scared the living crap out of me too,” I lied. “That is why George laughed.”

He nodded. “I used to tease him about it, that he was weak.”

My body shook.

“That was my dragon purr. The human one sounds similar to a cat.”

“You purred when I touched you,” I teased him and rolled with my body slightly on his. “You are so weak,” I goaded him.

He smiled with closed eyes as he played with my hair again.

“Yes, your touch makes me weak.”

I laughed and kissed his lips softly.

TOO SOON WE crawled out of bed. Blake got ready and came down with me to breakfast. Everyone was surprised to see him.

He was wearing his shades as the black in his eyes still made him self-conscious.

Whatever he wants
, I kept telling myself over and over, knowing it was probably the best thing because if any of them recoiled, I would’ve incinerated their ass on the spot.

Connie made us breakfast. It was amazing, like always, with flavors I had to write down, because I had to find a way to recreate her recipes one day.

Not that I think they would ever let me near a kitchen because of the history that flowed through my veins, but I wanted to know the ingredients.

The worry and darkness surrounding Blake’s state and disappearance were starting to fade as George and Emanual made everyone laugh.

I could see a twinkle in Annie’s eyes every time Emanual opened his mouth to say something.

He’d promised her that he would help her getting in touch with her true from again.

When that was actually going to happen I didn’t know, and I silently wished that it would evolve into something more than just friendship, but it had to come from the heart.

Emanual had made it pretty clear he had given up on it.

I hoped it wasn’t the truth because Emanual and Annie were perfect for one another in so many ways.

After breakfast we helped Connie with the cleaning. She started to protest as I grabbed a towel, but Constance, Isabel, Becky, Sammy, and I helping make her work so much lighter.

Blake’s figure appeared in the doorway, as we were finishing up.

“I don’t need more help, go rest,” Connie scolded him and he smiled.

“I actually wanted to know if Elena would like to take a walk with me.”

“Please, take her,” Connie joked and I hopped off a tall chair at the long serving table.

I followed him outside the lodge and he took my hand in his. His temperature was slightly warmer than yesterday, which brought a smile to my face. It meant that he was finding himself again.

“So, why do I get the pleasure of your company on this walk?” I asked as I rested my head on his arm.

“I just needed to get out. Everyone keeps staring at the shades, wondering how bad it really is.”

“Is that your assumption or do you know it for a fact?”

His lips curled. “I’m good at reading people, Elena.”

“Assumption then.”

He chuckled softly and it turned into a sigh.

“Blake, it will heal. Your temperature is coming back too, I can feel it. And if it doesn’t heal, then we’ll deal with it. I’m with your mother on this. I’m not going anywhere.”

He smiled again and I brought my hand to his shades and took off his stupid glasses.

He didn’t like that at first, flinching as his body tensed up.

“I meant what I said. I’m not going anywhere. It seems to me that you are the one struggling with this and not the others around you.”

“Yes, I’m starting to feel like an idiot again.”

“Well, you are.”

He laughed and pulled his hands through his hair as he looked around.

We entered the trees, walking towards the lake.

“Please tell me we are not going to fish again. My back and muscles ached for days.”

“No,” he grinned, “no fishing yet.”

“Good. So what is on your mind?”

“How do you know something’s on my mind?”

“I can sense there is more to this than just taking a stroll, wanting to get away.”

“There is something on my mind, you are right.”

“Then spit it out.”

He stopped beneath a huge tree not far from the lake and sat down.

I took the spot in front of him.

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Try me,” I said, but a part of me knew what he was going to say. If it was that, he was right. I wasn’t going to like this one bit and would order him this time not to do it.

“I have to get back into Etan, Elena.”

“No,” I said without thinking.

“Not now, but in a few weeks.”

“I don’t care Blake. The next time we go back is the day we free Etan, not a day sooner. I’m not going to lose you like that again.”

“Then come with me.”

I froze as he said that. I never thought that he would actually give me that opportunity. “It will be in and out.”

“Why?”

“We need to see what the reaping is all about, Elena. See who is alive still. Those were your father’s men. Maybe, just maybe we can see your father.” He spoke that last part softly. “It will only be you and me, nobody else.”

“And if you see them again?”

“We won’t go to Eikenborough, we will go to one of the other cities nearby that the parade travels through.”

“Blake, they know what I look like, we are going to stick out like a couple of sore thumbs.”

“Not if we use magic, Elena. I can transform our appearance.”

“And what if someone finds us? Magic is forbidden in Etan, Blake.”

“Then I’ll blend in.”

“What if you disappear again?”

“Then you go home. I will find my way back to wherever you are.”

I didn’t like this. Not one bit.

“We need to know as much as we can. We need to know who is still alive, Elena. Get word to them that hope is coming, so they have something to hold onto.”

“You forget one thing, Blake. I promised my father…”

“Then you blame me. It wasn’t just your promise to make, Elena. Tell him I was stronger, heck tell him whatever you think he will believe.”

I just looked at him with a sad expression lingering in my eyes.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I know you don’t know much about him, Elena. But I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to get you a chance to know him. Just give me this one, please.”

“How do you do this?” I sounded annoyed. “You were in such a dark place because of Etan and a mission that had nothing to do with you. And now you want to take on another, just to find out who is still alive. Aren’t you scared just a tiny bit?”

“I refuse to let fear cloud my judgment, Elena. I am…”

“Stop saying that. I know what you are. Stop trying to prove to people what type of dragon you are and just be scared with me for once.”

He leaned closer to me. “How can I? You are scared enough for the both of us.”

“Now it’s my fault!”

“I didn’t say that. I told you before, greatness comes with fear, Elena. If you think I wasn’t scared the first time knowing that I had to go back in there after I found my way out of that dark place, then you still have plenty to learn about me, Elena. I am shit scared of ending up there again, but…” He stopped for a few seconds. “I’m more scared of disappointing you. I have to try and get word to your father, to his men that help is coming.”

“Why not let Emanual go and do it, or one of his men? You have done enough.”

A curve tugged around the corners of his lips. “You sound just like my father.”

“Well he has a point.”

“They wanted to send him, Elena. Can you imagine what it would be like if he found out?”

I closed my eyes just thinking about what he said.

“That’s the reason why you want to do this?”

“We are the only ones who can. Nobody would keep that a secret if they saw him.”

I nodded and took a huge breath. He had a point. If they saw my father, this whole mission would be a complete failure. Sir Robert would do anything to get my father out of his jail, his torture. If he knew that he was still alive, he would blow this entire mission.

“Okay,” I finally spoke. “When do you want to go back?”

“In two weeks, it will be during the next feast.”

“Two weeks.” I blew out air. It was way too soon. “Okay.”

“I’m sorry, I know it wasn’t what you expected.”

“It’s not that. It’s just we are so different from one another Blake. It scares me sometimes.”

“Opposites attract, it’s a good thing,” he said with a lopsided smile.

It made me laugh slightly. “Yeah, I hope that is true.”

He pulled me closer and I rested my head on his chest. He still smelled of sulfur, but his dragon smell was seeping through.

I wished I could hear his heartbeat, the way he heard mine, and then maybe I would know when he was truly afraid and when he wasn’t.

“Nobody is going to see us coming, Elena. I promise, in and out.”

“Please just tell me that we are not going to the pits, Blake.”

He smiled. “No, that is actually another group’s responsibility, promise.”

“Thank the heavens! You do know what the word delegation means.”

WE STAYED BY the tree for a while longer, talking about our next trip into Etan. He was thinking of going to a nearby city in Tith called Sovereign.

These cities had such difficult names, and it was hard to believe that Etan was so big. It was half the size of Paegeia.

Then we went to the lake. We played in the water a bit, it was refreshing, and even caught a fish or two, even though he said no fishing. He made a fire near the lakeside and we ate the fish we’d just caught.

It tasted wonderful and we seasoned the fish with some of the herbs that grew close by.

He was seriously a great cook.

We went back around ten and heard a couple of voices coming from the library.

They were talking about war, about someone that side, but I couldn’t make out who it was. Blake cleared his throat and they stopped.

He gave me a broken smile and shrugged.
What was everyone hiding?

We walked inside.

“Princess,” Charles greeted me with a smile. “I’m glad you two found your way back.”

Sir Robert just stared at Blake, who closed his eyes and shook his head slightly.

“Nothing happened,” I scolded my father’s dragons and he smiled at me.

“How do you feel, Blake?” David asked.

“Much better, thanks for asking.”

“He is organizing another trip into Etan,” I blurted out.

“He’s what?” Charles asked. Sir Robert didn’t look at me. I knew for a fact that was what the private conversation was about. It was that very conversation that had made Blake want to take his father’s place.

“He wants to go to the fest,” I told Charles.

“Son, have you lost your marbles?!” Charles looked at Blake and then at Sir Robert. “Tell me that you are not okay with this.”

“It’s who he is. I can’t tell my son what he can and cannot do.”

“None of you know what the reaping is. It is the perfect place to blow this entire mission.” Charles sounded stern.

“Finally, someone that feels exactly as I do,” I said and went to sit on one of the open chairs. Blake grabbed another and sat on it after spinning it around.