Treasure Of Dragons, Royal Dragons Book 1

Ria

"I swear to God, Cin, if you don't get your cute little ass down here, everything good will be gone by the time we get there."

I heard a throat clearing and looked to my left. Beth was leaning against the doorframe, watching me. She was trying to give me a stern reprimanding look, probably because I said ass. She didn't really pull it off, though. I could see her trying not to laugh.

I looked back at the living room, where my two foster brothers, Elijah and Marcus, were arguing over which video game to play. They were totally oblivious to me, but they were the reason Beth reminded me not to cuss.

Beth, or Elizabeth Drayton, was technically my foster mom. I had already aged out of the system, but she was the only "mom" I had, and we adored each other. She had basically adopted me on the spot when I stepped foot in her house.

She was the same with all her foster kids. If she could have adopted every single one, she would have.

My foster sister, Cin or Cinnamon Sugar, no, I'm not kidding, her mom was high as a kite when she named her, has been here longer than I have. Beth considers her daughter, just like I consider her my sister.

I grew up in hell, or my own personal hell anyway.

My dad died when I was only a year old; it devastated my mom. She was honestly trying her best to work, be a single mom, and bear her suffocating grief. I knew my mom was really sad, and I tried to help, but I wasn't very successful.

One day, she came home with an actual smile on her face. She told me about a wonderful man she had met. I was 4 at the time. It wasn't long until I met the man, Braun Zavitnik. I didn't like him from the second I met him, but being 4, my mom didn't really listen to me.

It was only 4 months from the day she told me about him to the day she married him.

We moved into his huge house. Braun was a very wealthy man and came from a wealthy, influential family. He was also evil incarnate.

When he found out I have Hyperthymesia, he was ecstatic. Hyperthymesia is just a fancy way of saying my brain is weird; I don't forget anything. Sometimes it's great, and sometimes it's horrible and a giant pain in my ass. Braun thought it would reflect positively on him to have such a "smart" kid.

He enrolled me in a fancy private school, which I hated. The teachers and administration loved and fawned all over me. The kids thought I was a freak and made me miserable.

Eventually, after enough fights and continued problems, I was pulled from school and had private tutors. That was both good and bad.

I was grateful to be away from the other kids, and I usually got on well with my tutors. The bad part was spending so much time at home.

Shortly after they married, my mother became a stranger to me. Instead of being depressed, she was absent and confused. It took me a bit to realize Braun was drugging her.

At the same time as all that, he began to show me that my feelings about him were very much correct. He and his friends began having me "join" them whenever they were at the house.

I was 6 when the true horror of the situation was revealed.

I was in a new, lacy, ruffled dress, with my hair done. I was taken into a large room that looked as if a party were in progress. There were many people, men and women.