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  I tried to pay attention to the older girls and their chatter, but all I could do was think of Logan and his mysterious offer to give me more information about the Stygian ritual. I would go to his room, only I had no idea where it was. My roommate, Rebecca, was his sister. She would know where it was.

  But there had already been speculation about Logan and me being seen together. Us being two Primes in the same house and close to the same age all lent a lot of fodder for the school gossip mill. Asking where his room was would only add fire to the flame if I didn’t have a perfectly dull excuse.

  If I told them the truth, it would start rumors. People would think that Logan and I were in some kind of flirtation—which we were not.

  Are you sure? Aaraeth asked me in a judgmental tone.

  We aren’t! I told her, knowing I denied it a bit strongly. We’re just friends… And the last thing I need is more speculation and gossip going around about me!

  My dragon snorted, and I felt her slide over my belly, like silk across my skin as she curled herself around my waist and down one leg.

  Watching the three older girls laugh and chat about stupid school drama, I waited for a break to come up in the conversation.

  Clearing my throat, I said, “Becca?”

  The trio turned their attention in my direction before my roommate answered me, “What is it, sweetie?” I knew she meant well, but her constant reminders of our two-year age gap were starting to get on my nerves.

  “I need to return some notes to Logan, but I don’t know where his room is,” I lied.

  Mai and Esther shared mischievous grins, and I nearly groaned. Was my story that obviously fake?

  No, replied my dragon dryly. Dragonborn know lies when they hear them.

  “Sure, it’s 309,” Becca said, a small smile on her pink lips as her gaze flicked between her friends.

  Before she could broach the subject with me, I darted out the door.

  My room was on the third floor as well, with mostly upperclassmen. I hadn’t realized that Logan had been so near this whole time.

  Striding down the hallway, I crossed through the doorway that separated the boys’ side from the girls’ side of the building. Checking the small wood carved dorm numbers, I went as quickly as I could. Usually, Taya followed me, so I hustled to avoid her if she decided to track me down.

  Most girls propped their door open in the evening to socialize and keep a pulse on the comings and goings of the house, and the boys’ side was no different. I received some odd looks walking through the boys’ hall. Technically, this was after curfew and I wasn’t allowed in the hallway.

  Maybe this was a bad idea, I told Aaraeth.

  You think? She replied, using my own words and tone.

  I froze and turned to leave. Why was I doing this? Logan could tell me whatever he needed to say to me in the library, not his bedroom!

  As I spun on my heel to head back, a familiar voice called out to me from nearby, “Syd? Sydney? I didn’t think you’d come.”

  My heart thudded in my chest, but I tried to tamp down my uneasiness before turning toward Logan’s voice. I stopped in the doorway, gazing inside.

  “Come in, close the door,” he told me, sitting up on his bed and pulling a t-shirt over his naked chest. I tried not to notice his defined abs, but failed.

  “Did you learn anything more about the Stygian Ritual?” I asked, my hand still on the doorknob, ready to flee.

  The Prime motioned for me to sit at his desk, where papers and books were piled into neat stacks.

  “Sit down, I don’t bite,” he told me, a smile of amusement curving the edges of his mouth.

  I pressed my lips together and sat as directed. The room was cold as if the window had been open, and it smelled crisp, like wind and rain, and the spring breeze.

  Well, that… and his cologne.

  The bed was rumpled from where he’d been lying on it, but other than that, the room was tidy. There was only one bed, which meant no roommate. Except for Buddhist prayer flags draped along one wall, the room was bare like mine.

  A framed family photo leaned against the upper part of his desk next to a small carved wooden box. The only other personal items in the room were purely practical: his phone charger, a pair of earphones, and a graphing calculator.

  Why are you surprised? Jadrig, his dragon, spoke to me.

  Logan’s eyes lingered on me before he spoke, “Jadrig says you think I’m strange. I’m just practical, not materialistic.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, “Everyone’s a little strange…”

  He smiled. “I like things uncomplicated.”

  My chest shook as I laughed silently to myself and straightened an already neat pile of notebooks. “Then what are you doing hanging around me?”

  His eyes narrowed, and the smile left his lips.

  Logan’s gaze bore into me as if something vitally important was written on my face.

  I probed at Aaraeth, but for once, she was silent—watching—observing.

  When the silence became almost unbearable, I cleared my throat. “The Stygian Ritual?”

  He nodded. “Right. First off, do you know anything about what your dad could have done?”

  Sucking in a breath, I shook my head, “No. And he’s also not my dad.” I stared at my hands before looking up again. Logan had switched his penetrating gaze to something else, which ripped threads of emotions through me. As unsettling as it was to have his intense eyes on me, the absence of it felt as if a cloud had blocked the sun.

  Was this emotional transference? I couldn’t be with Ashe, so I was attaching my feelings to someone else?

  Sitting there, oblivious to my emotional upheaval, the guy unwrapped a sandwich and held up half to me. Shaking my head, I refused his offering.

  After taking a bite, chewing, and swallowing, he said, “Okay, so what I’ve learned is that it’s a punishment for crimes like treason, espionage, or murder. Or, it can also be for a lesser crime on a massive scale, or involving a lot of people—but not crimes against mundanes.…”

  “Why wouldn’t mundanes count?”

  He shrugged, “Just trying to be clear. If a crime is against a mundane in the human world, it’s left to them…”

  I cut him off again. “Well, that’s stupid!”

  Lifting his shoulder, he chewed his food. “We leave that punishment for them to take care of.”

  “Is there any way to figure out what… George has done?” I asked, wishing his name wasn’t so hard to say instead of ‘dad.’

  Logan shook his head. “No, but different communities have different laws. Some are stricter than others. You have kind of a weird accent. Where are you and George from?”

  I frowned. “I’m from all over, but George is from London.”

  “The local Dragonborn council would be the ones to hand down a punishment of the Stygian Ritual. However, like I said, some communities are more lenient, and others are stricter, more strict? Is stricter a word?” he laughed.

  “So, you don’t really have any new information, do you?” I frowned, my head cocked to the side.

  “Well, I’m not useless. I thought there might be something else you’d want to talk about.”

  I gazed at the window, dark from the night and reflecting the room back at us.

  “All right, tell me about the Elibera and the Orthodox.”

  “That I can answer. Hmmm… what do you want to know?” He furrowed his brow and ran one hand through his sun-bleached hair.

  I sighed loudly and moved to get up. “Never mind, I should go.”

  He held a hand out to stop me. “Wait! I’m not a mind reader. What do you want to know?”

  “Anything, everything… What the exact differences are?”

  He frowned, “Okay. Hold on. Let me figure out how to explain it to you—since you pretty much grew up like a human.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and slouched back into the uncomfortable wooden chair.

  Logan l
icked his lower lip before speaking, “All right. So, they’re a lot like political parties, but instead of money, the currency is power, and more specifically, the power of dragon Primes. A Prime can do many things a wyvern can’t, let alone those who only have dragon sight. This is part of why you being a Prime and a Drake is such a big deal. Drake House has been a very powerful force that’s led the Orthodox for hundreds of years. We’ve kept our nation alive and thriving for a long time.”

  “We?” I asked.

  “The Orthodox—yes. This school, your grandparents—most are part of the original Dragonborn community, which is where the name Orthodox comes from. We’re the ones that have kept our community going after the humans almost killed us off. We have rules and customs that have kept us safe, protected, and separate from the mundane world. We protect the people and dragons within our domain. We do things how they’ve always been done because they work.”

  I leaned on Logan’s desk, pushing a fancy mechanical pencil out of the way. I’d never seen Logan so severe or passionate about anything. It was attractive.

  “And the Elibera?” I asked. “They want that power?”

  He’d taken the last bite of his sandwich and had to swallow before replying. “The Elibera have different ideas as to how to interact with the humans. They want to change everything up, expose us, put us all in danger. They’re a bunch of idealists who think the humans would work with us.” He scoffed. “More like we’d be completely wiped off the face of the earth after being experimented on, our dragons enslaved… No. They’re extremists.”

  “Why would they want to change it, if it’s dangerous?”

  “I don’t know. To go mainstream. To come out to humans. Maybe they think we’d be more powerful controlling the mundane world directly. But they’re crazy… that’s crazy.”

  His words didn’t match Ashe and Elibera I’d met.

  I reached out to Jadrig, trying to go undetected, and asked, Is he telling the truth?

  He speaks the world as he sees it, my Queen, replied the beast. Jadrig shifted, gazing up at me from his tattoo form on Logan’s neck.

  Logan leaned back against his pillows, his head against the wall. “Am I telling the truth?”

  I breathed out a laugh, my eyes on the grain of the desk. “I almost thought I’d gotten away with that.”

  “You almost did, but Jadrig gave you away. You’re getting good,” he told me with a smirk.

  All Primes could speak to both dragons and wyverns, but only bonded Primes could control other dragons… even Prime dragons. Part of being a bonded Prime was having… abilities.

  “I’m not going to claim that my opinions are unbiased, but it’s hard to see a point of view so far from what I believe. And what the Elibera want to do… to me its suicide. We just don’t have the numbers. Besides, we can maintain more power over the humans without them knowing about us.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. You know all those stories about knights in shining armor hunting and killing dragons? That happened. Of course, they were attacking the Dragonborn, and we’d call on our dragons to defend ourselves. But even back then, we were outnumbered and couldn’t defeat the humans. I mean, one on one or even an entire community could win a battle, but now that the humans have guns, bombs and nuclear weapons?” He shook his head. “No. Now, it would be much worse.”

  “Hmmm…” I murmured.

  “The Elibera are dangerous.” His words reminded me of what George had said, the Dragonborn are dangerous…

  But I couldn’t imagine Ashe being part of something that could destroy the Dragonborn. There had to be something else going on, or why would the Elibera risk so much?

  My newly found dragon senses agreed with Jadrig that Logan told the truth, but the truth was subjective. No two people saw the world the same way.

  My heart ached for Ashe, and I wanted to hear what he had to say about all this.

  Logan continued, “…and this is why you are so important to the Dragonborn nation. As a Prime, you have a responsibility to watch out for our community, our people, and our dragons. The Longs were coming into power for the Elibera, but you could save us.” He nodded, his eyes narrowed and jaw tense.

  I laughed. “I’m barely able to take care of myself, don’t try to peg me for some kind of savior.” I bit my top lip, letting it slide between my teeth.

  Slumping down with my head in my hands, I let my straw-colored hair fall around my face like a curtain.

  Logan had shifted, sitting up, and I heard the plunk of his feet as they hit the floor. When his hand squeezed my knee, I looked up and met his eyes.

  “I know this is a lot to take in… but you have a lot of people who have your back, and you’re not alone.”

  I twisted my lips before saying, “Thanks.”

  He beamed his Captain America smile my way and breathed out a laugh of his own. “I’ll keep digging around and see if I can come up with anything else about the ritual.”

  “My… George is a good person. There must be some misunderstanding. Like maybe he’s just a victim… or had his dragon stolen. I mean, he’s not a criminal. I just can’t envision him doing anything illegal or even dangerous.”

  Logan shrugged and offered me a bag of chips. I took it without thinking and slumped back in the desk chair.

  “God, this is a rabbit hole. The more I find out, the more I realize I don’t know anything. I mean, is there anything else I should know that’s this big in the Dragonborn world?”

  He smiled and shook his head, “Not that I can think of.”

  As I stood, he reached out and tapped my leg with his notebook. “Hey, be careful. People don’t talk about the Orthodox or Elibera—they’re too political, and things are heating up right now. You being the PL’s granddaughter and all.”

  5

  Becca and Taya were gone when I returned. Becca was probably hanging out in the common room, and Taya—who knew? I was relieved that she’d started to give me some space instead of breathing down my neck all the time.

  Taking advantage of a rare moment alone, I called Ashe on video chat. My breath sped up, and I bit my lip. Anticipation filled me.

  The bubbling ring sounded a few times before he answered, the edges of his eyes crinkling a bit as he smiled.

  “Hey babe, what’s up? I didn’t expect to see you until tomorrow.” He scanned the screen as he ignored the noise around him and focused on me.

  I drank him in for a moment, knowing he wouldn’t want me to fuss or tell him I missed him. He already felt it through the bond. Those words would be like salt to the wound of our separation. I wanted to tell him about George’s letter, but I had no way of knowing if our connection was private. If someone was filtering all my letters, why would our video chat be any different? I’d have to wait. I hated waiting.

  Instead, I went with something only slightly less risky. “I’ve been thinking about George and his missing dragon. Do you know what he did to deserve that—if he deserved it?”

  When my soldier didn’t answer immediately, I let out an agitated sigh. The crack from a pool table and cheerful voices from his end filled the quiet.

  “I’ll let you know when I figure it out,” he said, his jaw twitching.

  At least Logan doesn’t keep things from me, I told Aaraeth. I could feel something through the bond—Ashe knew more about George than he was letting on.

  “Stop trying to protect me and treat me like an equal. If you leave me in the dark, you’re just as bad as George,” I snarled.

  Ashe narrowed his eyes, a frown creasing his handsome face. “Hold on. I’m not trying to keep anything from you, but I want to get all the facts before jumping to conclusions. It’s my job to protect you, and I will. That includes making sure that what I tell you is fact and not hearsay.”

  “You don’t have to protect me—I’m not a child. I know we’re only speculating, and I can handle that. When you don’t talk to me, it feels like you’re pushing me away,” I reminded him.
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br />   Ashe held a hand up, “Okay, there is something. I’ve been going over thoughts Eondian picked up from George—But these are just impressions—not fact. First, there were strange feelings about Celine. Not grief but something like…” He tilted his head from side to side, “not happiness but like pride. Like he’d accomplished something.”

  “Like he’s a murderer?” I suggested, frowning.

  He shook his head, “No, Nothing like that. It was just bizarre. See? This is why I hesitated to tell you. And Eondian gives me the usual dragon non-answer when I ask him to help me clarify it. So, there’s that about Celine, and then there are all the secrets he has. Did you feel them lurking there in his mind? And everything seems to be tied up with your mom.”

  I hadn’t. I’d been selfish, only thinking about myself. About what he could tell me about my life. I wanted to know why he’d done what he’d done. “Hmmm, no, I should’ve felt him, but I was too busy thinking about everything else.”

  Ashe pressed his lips together, considering my words. “Eh… It probably wouldn’t have mattered. Minds without dragons are easier to control but harder to read. You might not have gotten anything—especially if he’s buried these secrets deep in his mind.”

  I hesitated, biting my bottom lip before speaking. “Could his punishment have something to do with the rift between the Orthodox and the Elibera?”

  Ashe sucked in a breath. “You’ve never talked about that before.”

  I sniffed and thought about what Logan had said—the Elibera want power. “It’s just that I’ve heard things from an Orthodox, but not an Elibera. I know everything has two sides. Someone said the Elibera could destroy Dragonborn society.”

  The noisy room faded away as he walked with his phone to his bunk room. I heard the click of the door before he said, “No, the Elibera aren’t going to destroy our society. Who’s telling you these things?”

  I cringed, “A friend from Drake.” I explained what he’d told me while Ashe listened patiently, his brows occasionally coming together or lifting in concern.