Chapter 69

SEVEN.

"What?" is the only thing I can say, even after a few moments.

My voice is small. Part of me wishes that this is a joke, but I don’t know Vlad to joke about such things. He wouldn't be so angry either if it wasn't true. But I still can't help but hope that he just misheard something.

"You heard me." Anger is slowly drifting away from his demeanor. Now he just looks tired. "They're planning to crown somebody even without the actual crow. They deemed that it's been too long, and someone has to take the responsibility now. We've been without a leader for so many decades. It's time for that to change."

I shake my head, still holding on to denial. "Where did you hear that?"

"It doesn’t matter," he says in a low voice. "What matters is that they're going to put into position someone who doesn't particularly care about the Dragons. Someone who's been given abilities maybe from birth. You. A fire-wielder. The council saw that as a good omen and thought it would be a good idea to make you Dragon King."

"What council?" I ask, getting to my feet and grabbing his shoulders to steady him. I don't know if this would make him throw hands, but I don’t mind. I don't care if he fights me. I just want to know the truth. "When did you hear about this?"

Vlad turns his cold gaze on me. "Like I said, it matters little. You're going to be king, and you're just out here doing what... marking a Human?"

We stay quiet. I should be feeling ashamed about that but I don’t. At least until Vlad suddenly stiffens up, wheeling around on me and asking in a weak tone, "Does she even know what you are?"

I take a deep breath, knowing that he can't know the truth. Not about my status with June. Not about my plans to let her know.

"No."

That's the first time Vlad looks calm. "Good. She should never know."

* * *

But I already have plans to let her know. It might be selfish, it might be dangerous, but I’ve owed her the truth for the longest time now and she should know now.

There’s the risk of her rejecting me. But at this point, it doesn’t matter.

However, if they’re really planning to make me the king, then I can do things to change this long standing tradition of not letting the Humans know. While I don’t think just revealing it to anybody would do wonders, I believe that relying on trustworthy Humans wouldn’t cause such harm.

It’s morning now, and we’re lining up to go to the buses. We’re going to visit a gallery in the city, and I’m full of hope. June is there, waving at me from the other line. I wave back, knowing that things will be good.

But as we travel to the museum, I start to feel more and more… off. Anxious thoughts are knotted like snakes in my brain, hissing and spitting at each other. Even when June joins me inside and leads me away to take a look at all the pretty paintings and sculptures, my consciousness is slowly floating away. My pulse is racing, and I keep looking at corners like I’m expecting someone to just jump out from there and attack us.

“Your hands are so cold,” June remarks when we sit out the restaurant attached to the gallery. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” I say, taking a bite out of my sandwich just to sell the role.

“Is this about last night?” she asks all of a sudden and I nearly choke. “Is this about what Vlad said? I still don’t know what he means and why he talked about me like that.”

Should I lie again? Or should I just tell her here?

I look around and see so many people here. I don’t think they would be listening, but it has to be done somewhere a bit more decent. Perhaps later, when they set up that campfire at the beach.

“I think he was just messing around,” I say at last, and she shrugs.

“He always got a strange sense of humor,” June says dismissively. “He did break up with Tiffany over nothing. I hope they fix it soon.”

With that, she starts to eat again, and when we’re done, she holds my hand and keeps walking around the museum with me. My anxiety eases just a little bit, only for it to spike up when I see Nancy watching us from the corner.

Her eyes are sharp, knowing. Her lips are curled into a smile but I don’t think it’s from happiness. The hood of her red jacket is up, casting a red glow on her face, and the hairs on the back of my neck all stand on end.

To say that I’m freaked out would be an understatement, because even after we load the buses again to go back to our rented houses, I can still see her beady little eyes raking over me and June like she’s looking for something to feed on. Even when nighttime approaches and we start to set up the fire pit by the beach, I still keep looking around my shoulder to check if she’s still there.

But she’s not. I’m just making things up in my head now, out of nerves. But I don’t know. Why do I feel like something huge is about to happen?

The campfire starts. Amelie takes charge. She’s smiling, seemingly unknowing of the things that Vlad revealed to me. Or maybe she doesn’t care.

“Good evening, everyone,” she says, grinning. “We will be having the singalong in a couple of moments, so stay tuned. You can sit with whoever you like, and no sneaking out. Please.”

Everyone laughs. The sound is digging into my ears. I see June sitting with Tiffany in the other side of the circle. Our eyes meet, and she holds up her hand to signal me to wait. Tiffany looks upset and she’s comforting her. After a while, she takes her back to their house.

The singalong starts. The sound of the guitar grinds something in my ears and I feel like I can’t listen. The firelight is casting strange shadows on the ground. I look around for Nancy but she’s nowhere to be found. I don’t know if I should be relieved or not.

The songs come, and every single strum of that guitar hits me like a smack upside the head. I find myself facing a huge headache just by being close, and suddenly bile is rising up my throat.

I get up from the log I’m sitting on, heading to the boys’ house as fast as I can. I feel dizzy and weak and everything around me is just bathed in this strange white filter that tells me I can pass out from this if I’m not careful—

Whoosh.

Something streaks past the tall grass in the distance, speeding like a mere flash of light. I look up, and I see the grass moving. Someone is running up the hill towards the thicker part of the grass that leads into the forest.

I see a flash of red. A hood pulled over someone’s head.

I’ve only seen one person in red today, and that was Nancy.

Suddenly my nausea is replaced with fear. Nancy is streaking towards the forest like a flash of lightning, and for a moment I hesitate. What is she up to again? Should I really follow her? I feel like I shouldn’t, but then I remember how perfectly she gathered up clues against that doctor. What if she’s investigating something again?

I change course, heading towards the grassy parts of the hill now. The streak of red vanishes as she slips into the trees, and I almost run after her.

But what stops me is the black shadow chasing her.

My heart stops.

Nancy is not there to dig up clues. She’s there because someone is chasing her.

All my gears click into action. I run towards the forest, prepared to protect her. I can smell the scent of a Dragon in the air but I can’t pinpoint who it belongs to. Perhaps it’s the doctor? Did he manage to escape and now he’s hunting Nancy?

The thought fuels my urgency. I propel myself faster, tracking down Nancy’s scent in the forest. It’s tainted with that Dragon smell now, and it’s getting more and more intense. I can hear growling in the distance too.

This only means that the Dragon is in its beast form, chasing Nancy.

The why doesn’t matter now. I run faster, shifting partially and letting scales cover my skin while my nails grow longer and sharper. I’m ready to face my kind, in this form, knowing that it’s the only way for that beast to be held back.

At last I reach a clearing. I see Nancy standing there in the corner, staring at me like she’s been expecting me. I look around and there’s no Dragon to be found.

But Nancy isn’t alone.

Hiding in the corner, from the other side of the forest, is June.

And she’s looking at my partially shifted form in complete horror.