The Draglen Brothers - SHOWKEN (BK 2) (20 page)

“Love, I’m going to take the lead,” he says and I feel like Baby from Dirty Dancing when she was learning to dance. I’m not going to learn after one night. W
e dance about three more songs before going to eat with his people. Showken is so down to earth; he listens to their problems, and even vows to help some of them. He doesn’t act like a prince at all. He takes me to a lake where he tries to convince me to skinny dip with him. He says mermaids are in the water, but they won’t bother me. The night is fun, I know the time is ticking and soon I will have to make a decision. I’m not looking forward to that. We are back at the castle in no time.

“You said you have a sister, why haven’t
you introduced me to her, or the rest of your brothers?”

He pauses for a moment and look
s me in the eye.

“You only get to meet them if you are going to stay, I’m not allowed to introduce you to family unless they come to you, because until you decide if you will stay, you are a threat.”

“A threat, how the hell am I a threat?”

“You know our secret and can expose us.”

“You could kill me, why would I do that? Besides, no one would believe me. I can’t believe them.” I’m pissed. I’m not good enough even to meet. That doesn’t help with me wanting to stay.

“I know you’re upset, but you must look at it from their point of view; if you change your mind
, you will want to tell someone about this place. It would make business hard for us if people think we are dragons, because we do disappear sometimes for months. Humans just think we own an island or something.”

“Showken, stop making fucking excuses, there’s no reason that they should be rude to me like that. In fact, I notice none of your brothers
, the ones I do know, come up to me except Layern.” I am tapping my feet. I’m pissed. I call for Bruiser, but he doesn’t come. Showken growls, and I hear barking. Even my own dog answers to them. I start walking, not even knowing where I am going.

“Love, where are you going? Our room is the other way,” he says, keeping up with my pace.

“I’m not sure, maybe if I run into somebody, they can pretend I don’t exist!” I snap. “Plus that Cess girl is human.”

“That’s my brother’s
Wella, she lives here, and this is her land now. You are not sure if you want to stay,” he snaps. Oh, so he’s not so perfect after all, taking up for this wrong.

“Showken, you will not sleep in the bed with me tonight. Maybe, maybe three days is to
o long- I can decide now you know,” I say. He’s in my face fast. His eyes are full of anger.

“You promised three days, don’t go back on your word
to me,” he growls. Oh shit, I made him mad. I’m mad too, but his mad is scarier than my mad. Nothing is said for like five seconds. He swings me around and starts walking me the other way. We pass Domlen, and he just winks at me. I give him the finger, and his mouth falls open. Yes, these fuckers think they’re better. We finally make it to the room. Showken slams the door right in front of Bruiser’s face, who I’ve been waiting for, been calling him and he never came.

“WHY DID YOU DO THAT? LET HIM IN NOW!” I yell.

“NO!” He is pacing back and forth in front of the door. I can tell he is pissed. After a couple of minutes, he stops pacing.

“You can’t hurt me like that, zell.” He looks at me. I’m seated on the bed and just watching
, hoping he doesn’t turn into that dragon.

“It hurts me that I’m not good enough to be introduced.”

“You are good enough, don’t you understand? I’m asking you to stay with me forever, to be my Wella, my wife, everything. If you say no, I have to keep going as if nothing ever happened. You are hurting me,” he says, frustrated. My hands are over my face and I’m crying now. I should have just told him to let me go, agreeing to three days is only prolonging what we both know is going to happen, I’m going home. I don’t want to leave my home.

“Showken, in the morning, please take me and Bruiser home,” I say. I look up to find him standing there looking at me in shock.

My heart is breaking. She wants to go home. I shouldn’t have yelled. This is my fault. How can I let her go? I love her. If she leaves
, she’ll take a piece of my heart with her.

“You really want to go home?”

“Yes,” she says. The tears flowing down her face say she’s torn. How can I fix this? I want her to stay.

“Please reconsider, I’m sorry for yelling
, and Bruiser, I didn’t mean to do that. I just got angry. It won’t happen again,” I say, taking a step forward.

“Please, Showken, don’t come closer, this is so hard, but I have to go
, I don’t belong here.”

“Yes you do, you belong with me.” I can’t think straight; my beast is tugging at me. I need to fly. I can’t stay in here right now. “I need to take a walk or something
, I’ll be back,” I say, walking out of the room. I race to the field and change into my dragon in no time. The night air is refreshing. My beast needs this right now; the thought of losing Marilyn is unbearable. I’m flying when I feel someone behind me. I turn and my beast blows fire, I see it’s Draken and he dodges the fireball, but shoots one back. He flies ahead, landing on a cliff. I follow him, even though I don’t feel like talking. He shifts into human form and I do the same. There are wraps waiting on a rock for us.

“Showken, everyone heard you and
Marilyn, why did you tell her that?” he snaps. I don’t have time for the great Draken today.

“She fucking asked
, okay, I didn’t think it would turn out like this, now she wants to go home tomorrow.”

“We heard it all, plus you fucking yelled at her, do you know you shook the castle
? Princess is very upset with you right now. You need to think fast, brother, because our father wants her gone tonight.”

“She’s not leaving tonight, in the morning or ever.”

“Showken, you have lost it, if she wants to go she will, even if I take her, and I will erase her memory.” This asshole is only thinking about himself, if this were Cess he would think differently.

“I haven’t lost anything, including
Marilyn,” I growl. “And if Father wants her gone, then I will leave this land and join another part of Kalin.”

“Listen to yourself, you can’t keep her if she wants to go. Showken. I will h
old Father off until morning, so think of something fast,” Draken growls. He turns back into his beast and flies back.

How am I going to fix this? She’s hurt and angry. I turn back into my beast and head home. I find
Marilyn in bed. She’s not asleep.

“Love, please can we talk?”

“Nothing to talk about, Showken, I just hope I can get my jobs back when I get home.” She sniffs.

“Please, don’t cry, I’m so sorry, please, please
, I’m begging you, don’t leave me.”

“I’m sorry
, this is not going to work.”

“Why?”

“Can I have the room to myself, please?” she asks. I feel a tear drop down my cheek.

“Yes, you can.” I turn and walk out the door. I lean against the wall
, letting the tears run down my face. She will not even know who I am if I let her go. The night goes by slowly, giving me time to start grieving my zell.

***

The next morning the door opens, and she has on a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt. Her eyes are puffy from crying all night. I could hear her. Bruiser is waiting beside me.

“Please, love, don’t go.”

“I have to, you shouldn’t ever have brought me here in the first place, and you could have taken me home.” My insides are crumbling.

“How do I get home? The faster the better,” she says, avoiding my eyes.

“We can go to the garden,” I say, holding out my hand. She takes my hand, and we walk to the garden. I stop just before we walk outside.

“You don’t love me?”

“I do love you, I love you so much it hurts me, it’s killing me, but I have to go. You will find someone who is better than me, Showken, this is not for me, I am nothing.”

“You think you’re not good enough for me? You are more than good; you are the best. I will never love again if you leave me. I won’t
.”

“Then you won’t love
, because I’m leaving.” We walk through the entrance and all my brothers are there. My mother and father are both waiting also. I feel like I’m dying. I walk her to the center of the garden, a space where we transport back and forth. Bruiser is at my feet shaking, he doesn’t want to leave. What is her issue?

“You don’t love me?” I ask, looking at her.

“I don’t want to do this with you,” She sighs. “I told you to leave me alone. I’m not good for you, heck, I’m no good for anyone. You should have taken my advice, had you a couple of beers with your brothers, but nooo, you had to pursue me.” She holds her head down, but I hear the tremble in her voice. I place my hand under her chin to lift her head. The tears are coming down like a river. I don’t want to hurt her, she can’t see that. I will let her go, but I will never love again.

“I don’t want you to cry, love. I want you to stay with me, love me
, and I love you. Why is that such a hard thing for you to accept?” I say, wiping tears away. She shakes her head. I don’t know what I can do? I’m in turmoil. How can I take her back to earth and erase her memory? I’m not that strong. I glance at Layern, knowing he will be able to do this. The garden is silent, every creature has gone quiet. Layern walks towards us. I see the look of confusion on her face. He and I exchange a nod. Marilyn looks at me with those beautiful grey eyes, I lean down and press a soft kiss on her lips.

“Showken, I-”

“I love you always.” I say, turning and exiting the garden. I can’t watch her leave, I won’t. I vanish into my room. Pacing back and forth in my room, I think of how I should never have brought her here. I’m the fool for falling in love with her. My anger is overpowering me, my entire thought process is my beast right now. After destroying my bed, I go to a place in our forest and change into dragon. This is what I shall be, never going back to Earth or transforming into human form again.

Seeing him walk away in sorrow is so painful. I look at Layern who is holding his hand out for me. After placing my hand in his, I notice the family all leaving now. Bruiser barks at me a few times, and I do believe he’s not happy about leaving either. Layern opens some kind of hole, looks like a portal. He picks up Bruiser and I rub his head, I think to myself how it’s just him and me again. I hear a loud roar, and I know it’s Showken. In time he will forget me, but I’ll never forget him. I close my eyes, and Layern pulls me close as he walks into this very colorful portal. I’m going home.

In no time we are back at my apartment. Bruiser goes to check out
the bedroom. I look around, taking a deep breath.

“Everything is fine with your jobs and your friend Jasmine, they thought you were on a vacation with Showken. You can tell your friend it didn’t work out
,” Layern says, emotionlessly.

“Thanks
.”

“It’s my duty to erase your memory of all you know about us, even Showken
.”

“Oh please don’t do that, I would never say anything
,” I plead.

“I know you wouldn’t,”
he says. “That’s why I decided not to, not because of you, but because of my brother. He will be in misery much longer than your life span, it’s only fair that you suffer too.”

I’m speechless. Layern
’s right though, but he just doesn’t know my past.

“Ok, thanks for that, I think.”

“Tell me about your past, I need to understand why you would hurt my brother like that.” His stare is cold. Layern is usually such a nice guy. “Yes, I am a nice guy, but my family brings out another side, the brother who is normally happy has decided to live in dragon form, because of you. I need to know why, Marilyn, right now, and about your past.” He growls. Shit, I’ve really pissed him off.

“Well, I’ve never had a good life.” I take a deep breath. “My mother
, or the lady who birthed me into the world, only loved me for a minute. Her and my father was together a few years after I was born. I was a mistake. They both are addicts; they should have aborted me or gave me up for adoption.” I shake my head walking to the kitchen. I turn on the water filling Bruiser’s bowl up, and pouring food into his other bowl. Layern is watching me; his eyes going from dark blue to sky blue are really freaky.

“Continue
,” he says.

“After they split, my father let my mother keep me; she went through a ton of boyfriends. She never cared for me like she should. She got with this one guy named Lester. He
started around age seven, touching me.” Layern is listening closely. “The touching turned into him asking me to perform oral sex on him. I hated every day I opened my eyes. He became abusive and the authorities got involved when I went to school with a black eye.” I find that I don’t want to talk about this. I’m pacing the floor remembering my past.