The Dragon's Gem (8 page)

“I know the decision to include someone in our lives is never easy
and for you it is being forced upon you before you are ready, but the time has come for you to accept she is the one meant for you.”

“I am not ready, but I will protect her until the threat of the Wyverns is gone and she can resume her life.”

“Son
, you’re fooling yourself if you think that threat will ever be completely gone, especially for Aurora. The Wyverns have been alive as long as we have, and they are well aware that Aurora is the one who can bring about our downfall. Without her, there will be no future for our line. You know as well as I that we can only procreate with our soul mates. That is nature’s way of keeping us in check. I know I need not remind you that if our line dies off, the impact would be devastating for all of our kind. All semblances of law and order would disappear. No other of our species has the strength and power needed to control an entire population of dangerous predators like ours. There would be no one to maintain the balance that lets the humans and our species coexist in this world. If that happens it would mean the end of the world as we know it.”

“Thanks D
ad there’s no pressure there.” It was unfair that it all fell on my shoulders. My brother had understood his position in our society and had embraced it, leaving me free to do whatever I wanted. Now, I was being forced to accept that I would never again know that freedom and it didn’t sit well with me.

My father sighed and placed his hand o
n my shoulder. “Son, I love you. I never thought it would come down to this. I always assumed your brother would be the one to cement our future, but he is gone and destiny is knocking. You need to decide whether to answer the door or forget it and walk away.”

Tears pricked my eyes as
I recalled how easily my brother had accepted his role in life. I knew I would never be so easygoing, so diplomatic. I would always rebuff the council’s attempts to tame me and make me more malleable. I was too much like my father, whom they resented, but were forced to endure since their power was not great enough to control the rest of our kind without him.

“N
o one expects you to be like your brother,” he said, reading my thoughts. “I believe you will be a better leader one day because you’re not so easily bent by the council’s will.”

His words meant the world to me and I knew no matter what my hesitation
, my fate had been sealed the moment Aurora had synchronized her heart to mine. I could fight it, and I was sure I would, but she had taken my heart and made it her own. We were now joined tighter than any couple could be; she just didn’t know it and I wasn’t ready to accept it.

*****

The next day there existed an awkward silence in the car as we drove to school. I wanted to tell Aurora I was sorry for Melinda’s harsh words. That I didn’t think any of the things she said were true, but I was afraid if I opened up the line of communication she might feel obliged to talk about the near-kiss and I wasn’t ready to face that, so I remained quiet.

By the end of our first class,
I realized that the lack of communication between us was annoying me and I attempted to engage her in conversation. “So did you enjoy the atrium yesterday?” I could have slapped myself. What if she thought I was asking about the almost-kiss and not the tour I had given her? She smiled, turning to face me, and I became lost in her eyes.

“It was lovely, thanks, and please tell your father I said thank you for dinner.”

I was able to
breathe a sigh of relief that she didn’t bring up our encounter and found myself smiling back at her. “He had a good time, too, and he really seems to like your dad.” And you too, I thought to myself.

“Well the feeling
’s mutual. My father talks endlessly about your dad and how advanced his facility is. He truly believes that here, he will find a cure for my blindness.”

Her smile faltered, which I knew was more about her guilt that he spent so much of his life searching for something she never thought would happen and I rushed to offer encouragement. “I know he has made a lot of progress with that, but he has done many other things and has become an integral part of my father’s company.” Her smile returned and I knew I had said the right thing. “So…uh.” Words became hard to come by and I felt like a boy meeting his first girl and grimaced. “Some of us are going to the lake this weekend to hang out. Would you like to go?”

“I don’t know…” I could see
her expression was troubled and I knew she was thinking about the attack.

“I’ll drive you, and we can meet the others there.”

“You have to come, all the kids want a chance to make up the party we had to cancel because of our accident and Ryan is bringing his new girlfriend, so we can torture him.” Belynda said, joining in the conversation as she came to my side.

I could have kissed her, if anyone knew how to get A
urora to do something it was her, Belynda never took no for an answer.

“What do you say?” I
asked.

Aurora
smiled and nodded. “Alright, but you’re telling my father. I don’t think he is over the accident yet.”

“
I’m sure it will be a piece of cake,” I said, but I was unsure myself how he would receive the news that I wanted to drive her to the lake after her just being in an accident. Belynda grinned and I mouthed a thank-you before taking Aurora’s arm and escorting her to the next class.

*****

As it turned out, Aurora’s father was not particularly happy to let her go on Friday night, but I convinced him she would be in the best of hands and as I helped her into my father’s SUV, I noted him watching us warily. I had asked to use that particular vehicle because it had all the latest in security and could connect with my father anywhere, anytime. I was taking no chances with Aurora’s safety and as we pulled out of the driveway two other cars fell into place, one in front of us that carried Ryan and his date, and one behind us that contained Belynda, Nate and two of my father’s best men to keep watch over the evening’s festivities.

“Are you comfortable?” I asked
, trying to make conversation after a few minutes of silence.

“Fine
, these seats are so soft,” she said, laying her head back against the headrest.

“So your father was
a little nervous about letting you go, huh?”

“It took some convincing
. He’s still shaken by the accident, but your father assured him you are a good driver.” She wore kind of a half smile like she had some secret as she spoke and I realized she somehow knew about my little outburst that had totaled my car.

“I am an excellent driver, I’ve only had one accident,” I argued.

“One accident that was because you lost your temper, should I be worried?” she teased.

Ryan to
ok a turn and I followed him down the old dirt road that led to one of our favorite hangout spots. The bumps and dips in the road were plentiful and I was forced to concentrate on the road, which ended all conversation until I parked and helped her out. We headed towards the large bonfire that someone had erected a few feet from the lake and I spread a blanket on the ground and helped her sit. With her settled I grabbed a couple of cold sodas and joined her on the blanket, where a large group of people had gathered around her, talking and laughing loudly. I handed her the soda can, making sure I pressed her finger to the opening, and she smiled gratefully before lifting the can to her pale, pink lips, and taking a long swallow.

The rest of the evening was spent talking with friends and eating the massive quantity of food that everyone had brought along with them. I watched Aurora through
out the night, fascinated by her easy charm and the way she made people feel at ease with her blindness. Many of the people who joined us were reluctant to leave once seated and instead of finding out about her as I had wanted to, I was relegated to getting her food and drinks while everyone else got to know her better. It wasn’t until some of the guys were bragging about how men were stronger than woman that I became involved in the conversation and then only because Aurora told Nate she could take him down in less than a minute.

“If you weren’t still injured
, I would take you up on that,” Nate told her with a laugh.

“I
’m good, let’s go,” she said, rising to her feet, ready to challenge him.

“Nate
, this is not a good idea,” I called out, hoping to make him think about what he was doing, but as usual, he was stubborn and wouldn’t listen to reason.

“Ah
, come on, I won’t hurt her. I just want her to back up her words.” He stood and took Aurora’s hand walking her to the front of the blanket out of everyone’s way and playfully took up a fighting stance.

“Nate
don’t…” my words were stopped dead by the sound of his cries of disbelief when she roundhouse kicked him, her feet slamming him behind the knees, dropping him where he stood.

His cursing
was followed by the laughter of everyone present, and I grabbed Aurora’s hand, pulling her away from where he sat on the ground, slamming his fist into the sand. “That was unfair; he had no idea about your martial arts training,” I whispered, trying not to laugh.

“Neither did you until the other night,” she whispered back with a grin.

“You knew I was there?” I asked, unsure how when I had been sitting on the far bleachers and not speaking a word.

She pointed to her nose. “I can smell you a mile away
. It’s one of the perks of being blind.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It’s your gym,” she answered simply.

“Hey
, great job,” Belynda, said coming to Aurora’s side. “I always wanted to see him get taken down by a female.”

“Thanks,” Aurora
answered, looking pleased with herself.

“So
, I’m guessing you know a lot of other moves,” Nate said, being man enough to join us and admit defeat.

“A few,” she re
plied looking smug. “Want to go again?”

He raised his hands and took a step back. “I’m good, but it’s nice to know you can protect yourself.”

“My father thought it was important, and I wanted to do something that most people wouldn’t associate with a blind person,” she told him. “It takes them by surprise.”

“Aurora
, I arrived just in time to catch your show,” Soran said, walking towards the group as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

I notice the smile that came readily to her lips and the way she straightened her shoulders as she turned in his direction. “Hey
, Soran, I was wondering when you would show up.”

I moved to her side
, and placed my hand on her arm, angry she hadn’t mentioned he was coming, which was irrational since she had no idea we did not get along. “You knew he was coming tonight?”

“I
s that a problem?” she asked, her smile turning to a frown.

Soran raised his eyebrow
and grinned. I knew if I said yes it would be a big problem between her and me, but a plus for him. “What do I care? It’s a community lake, anyone can enjoy it.” I let go of her shoulder and walked back to the blanket, where everyone had grown silent and had turned to watch our exchange. “I’m going for a swim, you got this?” I said to Nate, who nodded and rose to his feet to keep an eye on Aurora while I was gone.

Aurora turned towards me as I passed and I forced myself to stop
and let her know what I was doing. “I’m going in the lake for a swim. Nate and Belynda will help you around.”

“Draco
, I…”

Soran placed his arm around her shoulders and cut her off. “I got this
, go and enjoy your swim.”

I so badly wanted to knock the smug look from his face
, but I managed to hold my temper in check until I hit the lake and then I swam with a fury, taking out my aggression on the water instead of Soran, the object of my rage. I headed for the other side of the vast lake and once there turned to look at the shoreline where the bonfire was dying down, my eyes easily finding Aurora who stood with Soran a little ways from everyone else. He had his arm around her shoulders, hugging her close, which caused another ripple of anger to run through me. She laughed at something he whispered in her ear and an insane need to separate them roared through me. Before I could stop myself, I was heading back to the other side of the lake. Even as I swam in their direction, I knew I was making a mistake, but the need to separate them was controlling me, and my beast wanted Soran away from the female who was my mate.

As I approached the shore, a large bolt of lightning rippled across the sky and the ominous sound of thunder echoed through the forest as the first raindrops of a coming storm began to make ripples in the water next to me. I strode out of lake, shaking of the excess water that coated my body, noting the others quickly gathering their belongings and running for their cars. Another crack of lightning illuminated the sky lighting my prey, not that I wouldn’t have sensed her anywhere, given how her scent drew me. Purposely, I stalked to where Soran was holding a blanket over Aurora arguing with her to stop being foolish, to get into his car and out of the rain.