Valentine (The Dragon Kings Book 3) (13 page)

“Rowan was supposed to be afraid of everything, and he wasn’t scared of me.”

Hazel leaned forward, both fascinated and horrified by the dragon in front of her. She was real. Not a hallucination. Her skin was a mottle of many different colors, and she had bright yellow wings. Hazel wanted to touch her skin, to see what it felt like, but the dragon turned around and narrowed her eyes.

“Why are you scared of me?”

“Because an animal just spoke to me. I don’t know many speaking animals, do you?”

“Sure, they all do. Only most do it with their minds.”

“You’ve said enough. Room. Now.”

Runa huffed and spread out her wings and took flight. She hit Aspen right on the head as she flew down the hall. Aspen rubbed her head and held her hand out for Hazel.

“Sorry about her. I’d hoped to explain a few things before she showed her face.”

Hazel took Aspen’s hand and pulled herself up. “Is she your pet or something?”

Aspen laughed. “Runa is no one’s pet. She’s just staying with us for a while. She doesn’t want to go back home.”

“Why not?”

“Her father kept her locked up in a cave.”

“Sounds cruel.” Hazel was trying to wrap her head around the fact that dragons could talk. That they were able to make decisions like humans.

“Oh, it’s not. Most underground dragons go blind in the light of day, but because she’s part river dragon, she can come out. She stowed away with me when Sid and I came back from DC last year. We don’t have the heart to send her home.”

None of what Aspen said made sense, so Hazel grabbed onto the one thing that she understood. “When did you go to DC?”

Aspen gave her a crooked grin. “That is part of much larger story. You ready to have your mind blown?”

“I just met a talking dragon. I don’t think you could surprise me even more.”

Aspen snorted. “Famous last words.”

“Come on, let’s go into the theater room. It’s the most comfortable. Sid and Val will be back in a couple of hours, and we’ll eat. They can tell you everything, but now that you’ve met Runa, I can tell you about the dragons.”

Hazel tried to watch where she was going as she walked down the hall, but there was so much to look at. Every few feet there was another old painting, and ancient-looking statues filled every cubby. She’d never been anywhere so opulent.

She pointed to a picture as Aspen opened a door. “Are these authentic?”

“I think so. But art has never been my thing. I didn’t think it was yours either.”

Hazel leaned forward and studied the red and black painting. “It’s not, but I took an art history class last semester. This looks like Picasso.”

“You’ll have to ask Sid. I have no idea.”

Hazel followed Aspen into the room. It was dark, cozy, and comfortable. Aspen flung herself down on the massive couch, and Hazel followed, facing her sister.

“It’s time for you to explain.” Hazel was tired of having way more questions than she had the answers to. She wasn’t used to being left in the dark.

Aspen hesitated. “Sid and his family are liaisons between the dragon world and the human one. It’s why we went to DC. We had to meet with the president to talk about the dragon killings.”

Hazel gasped. “You met with the president?” She had truly thought nothing else would surprise her. But every time Aspen opened her mouth, she said something unimaginable.

Aspen grinned. “Yeah, I told her off too.”

Hazel shook her head. “Only you would do that. Why?”

“She talked about nuking the dragon homes.”

“A lot of people think they should. The dragons are too dangerous to keep around.”

Aspen face went red, and she motioned toward the door. “Did Runa look too dangerous to keep around?”

“She’s tiny, and she can talk. I still can’t believe she can talk.” Hazel knew she was making Aspen angry, but at this point she didn’t care. She wanted answers, and she’d get them even if she and Aspen weren’t speaking by the time this was over.

“They’re intelligent beings. They all can communicate.”

Hazel had to think on that. Those massive flying beasts could communicate with humans?

“Wait. Paul said he saw you riding a black dragon. I thought he was just seeing things. But it’s true, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I’ve befriended a lot of them, but the black one is my favorite.”

Hazel backed away from Aspen, reality setting in. Her heart beat a little faster. “They’re eating people.”

“No, only one dragon is eating people. Believe it or not, the dragons want to find him as bad as we do. We shouldn’t kill them all just because one of them is evil. They’ll find him, and things will all go back to normal.”

“No it won’t. You can’t just unknow this stuff.”

Aspen laid her hand on Hazel’s. “It gets better. I promise. Look, I was shocked when I found all this out too. Now it doesn’t faze me.”

“But you’ve always liked dragons. I don’t.”

Aspen was probably giddy as all get out when she discovered the dragons could talk to her.

“Rowan didn’t either, and he got used to the idea. He and Runa were good buddies.”

“Where is he?”

“Runa is a she, not a he.”

“Not Runa, Rowan.” Aspen had to know more than she was letting on.

“No idea. But there’s a war starting among the dragons, and it’s possible that someone kidnapped Skye because of it. The other thing that complicates things is that she told me she was going to go into hiding just before she left.”

“What does Skye have to do with the dragons?”

“She’s part of all this liaison stuff.”

“Why’d she want to go into hiding in the first place?”

“Because she thought she was going to die. It’s a long story, and it involves secrets I can’t tell you.”

“But then why didn’t she just leave? She drove Rowan into the park.” Hazel was trying to see how everything was connected. Nothing was adding up.

“Why would she involve Rowan? Skye cared about him. She wouldn’t want him caught up in this mess,” Aspen said.

“Maybe she was just bringing Rowan home.” Hazel wanted to find some sense in this. But Aspen left out too many details.

“That seems unlikely as he never made it home.” Aspen seemed just as confused as Hazel was.

“Are you sure about that? Did anyone search his room?”

Aspen laughed. “He’s not hiding in his room.”

“I know that, but there may be clues, if he did make it home first.”

“The car was found on the road.”

“He could’ve walked home. Did anyone search his room?”

“I assume Mom and Dad did, but maybe not. If they saw the broken down jeep and just assumed he was taken by the dragon, they wouldn’t even think to check his room.”

Hazel sank onto the couch. “If they’d just gotten the FBI involved right away, they would’ve done this right. But now we’re dealing with things that are a week old. How are we going to find him?” It felt like everyone just assumed he was dead even if they didn’t admit it. Like there was no other explanation except the almighty human-eating dragon.

“We’re doing everything we can.”

“What if Skye kidnapped him?”

Aspen burst out laughing. Hazel crossed her arms and glared at her.

“Look, I’m sorry. But Skye wouldn’t hurt a fly. She’s as harmless as they come.”

“Whatever, I want to go home and check Rowan’s room.”

Aspen leaned over to the ottoman next to the couch and scooped out a handful of M&Ms from a bowl. “You want some?”

Hazel shook her head. “No, seriously, I want to go home.”

“You have to wait. I promised Sid and Val we’d eat with them. Then I’ll take you home. They’re bringing takeout.”

Hazel let out a breath. “I’m not hungry, and I don’t want to see Val.”

Aspen giggled. “Why? Because you like him?”

Hazel forgot how perceptive Aspen was. “Maybe. But I can’t get involved. Not with Rowan out there. Especially now that you said he might be kidnapped.”

Aspen’s phone buzzed. “They’re here. Come on, let’s eat, and then we’ll decide what to do about Rowan.”

Hazel wasn’t sold on the idea, but she didn’t have any other choice. She’d been worried before that Rowan was dead, and now she had to worry that a few murderous dragons were holding him captive. She wasn’t sure which was worse.

V
AL WIPED HIS sweaty hands on his jeans. He’d never been so nervous before. Sid grabbed the bag of food from the backseat.

“You okay?” Sid asked.

“Uh, no. She said she never wanted to see me again.”

“Look, Aspen hated me when we first met. At least you know Hazel likes you. You’ll be fine. Just relax and act like you did on the airplane.”

Val nodded, still worried. “Explain again Aspen’s cover story for us.”

“We’re a family that acts as liaisons for the dragons. You and I are third cousins, and we’re leading the search for the human killer.”

“What’d she tell her about the mark?” That was the one thing they didn’t cover in the conversation at the restaurant while they waited for their food.

“If they talked about it at all, Aspen was going to play dumb. Tell her that it had to do with the dragons, but the dragons wouldn’t tell her what.”

“What if she doesn’t want to see me?” Val had never been so insecure in his life.

Sid put his hand on Val’s shoulder. “Relax. It will be fine. Seriously. Look, if she’s trying to avoid you, then you need to do something for her that no one else can so that she has to turn to you. With Aspen, I introduced her to myself in dragon form because that’s what she wanted. What does Hazel want?”

“To find Rowan.”

“There’s your answer. Offer to help her search. If Aspen’s right and Skye and Rowan were kidnapped, you can help her find clues. Be sneaky about it if you have to. Act like you aren’t supposed to involve her. It will gain her trust.”

Val followed Sid into the house, and they set out the food. Val had no idea what it was, but it smelled good.

Aspen bounced into the room and slid her arm around Sid’s waist before giving him a quick kiss on the lips. “Did you get me orange chicken?”

“Sure did. But you have to share this time.”

She snatched the box out of Sid’s hand and grabbed a pair of sticks off the table. “Nope, this is all mine.”

Val envied the easy way in which they bantered.

“And mine,” squawked Runa as she flew into the room and landed on the counter behind Aspen and stuck her head in the box.

Aspen jerked the box away. “Hey, get off.”

“But it’s my favorite.” Runa had a smear of orange sauce on the bottom of her jaw.

“Go to the table, missy.”

Val had been so distracted by Aspen and Runa that he hadn’t seen Hazel. But as she quietly slid into a chair across the table, his eyes met hers, and she gave him a tight smile.

He took the rest of the boxes and spread them out. He sat next to Hazel but didn’t look at her. Instead, he looked at Aspen, who was using the sticks to eat her food while trying to keep it out of the mouth of Runa.

Val picked up another pair of sticks and turned to Hazel. “How do we eat with these?”

Her face softened. “I forgot you grew up in a very sheltered home. I suppose you haven’t used chopsticks. Here, let me show you.”

She picked up another pair of sticks and arranged them in her fingers so she was able to pick a piece of chicken out of another box. Val tried to copy her, but one stick fell right out of his hand.

Hazel laughed softly, and his heart fluttered. “Watch the chopsticks,” she said and pointed back at her hand.

She held his hand and moved his fingers so they held the chopsticks the way she had. He shivered at her touch and looked over at her, but her eyes were on his fingers.

“Look, hold this one tight and don’t let it move. Hold the other one loosely and use your index finger to move it.”

She pushed down on his index finger and showed him how the stick would move up and down. She removed her hand, and he immediately dropped them. Probably because he was watching her face instead of their hands.

“Oops. I wasn’t ready for you to let go.”

“Try again.” She handed him the sticks, and he took them from her, making sure he brushed the back of her hand with his fingertips. She frowned for a second but then recovered. “See if you can do it.”

He tried to position them in his hand like she did, but they wouldn’t work. She moved his fingers around, and he was able to move the top stick up and down. But as soon as he reached for a piece of food, they went all wonky again.

Sid laughed. “Guess you aren’t getting any food tonight.”

“Yeah, watch me.” Val sat one of the sticks down and stabbed a piece of chicken with the other one. “See, I can still eat.”

Aspen pulled a fork out of a drawer and handed it to him before she sat down.

“Don’t let Sid fool you. He only got the hang of them a few weeks ago.”

Hazel looked between the both of them. “Did you have a sheltered upbringing too?”

Sid shrugged. “I guess you could say that. We never had Chinese takeout when I was growing up. But I wasn’t isolated on an island like Val.”

Val and Sid had discussed the differences in their upbringing the night before. Val envied that Sid was actually given some preparation for the kingship, thought he was glad he wasn’t the only one who didn’t know how to use chopsticks.