The Awakening Read online

  I got up late in the morning feeling sick to my stomach. I shot out of bed and ran to the bathroom and threw up in the toilet. All week I had been battling strange fluxes in my temperature, and I was having wild dreams that kept me sleeping for hours on end. My body was certainly changing, but so was my spirit.

  Stumbling through the kitchen to grab some crackers, I found the house empty. I got a glass of water and drank it fast. I had been over numerous of the books now, reading everything I could get my hands on. The only problem was that the books were enchantress journals and texts, not dragons. Only my great-grandmother’s journal had the answers I needed, and I had read it cover to cover twice.

  How long was I going to pretend that my life wasn’t strange and wild? That the life I wanted so badly was just never going to be my reality? I had accepted that I was born from a lineage of dragons. My father was a dragon, and his mother, and hers.

  As I reached the stairs, with a handful of cheese crackers tight in my palm, I felt a stinging pain at my back. Just below my rib cage on the right side of my back, there was a sharp sensation driving deep from my skin to my bone. As it increased, I fell to my knees and cried out. I tried to see what was causing the pain, but I couldn’t hardly see straight. And I couldn’t stand to touch the area.

  I knew, from what I’d read, it had to be my mark.

  “Irene?” Caleb’s voice rang out. I curled up on the floor and tried to conceal the pain, but my back was stinging in steady rhythm. “What happened?” I could see Charlotte behind him as he knelt to me. My sister was worried, she was biting her nails for the first time in years. “Call Dylan,” Caleb ordered. He reached out to me with his eyes searching my exposed skin. Several minutes passed as I kept my distance from Caleb, afraid he’d aggravate the already sensitive area.

  “Irene, let me help,” he neared, but I pulled back again. That didn’t go well, since I slid across the floor and aggravated my side even more than I thought possible.

  “It hurts,” I gasped and tried to get up on the couch.

  “Can’t you make her forget?” Charlotte begged.

  “Not if she doesn’t let me get close.”

  Charlotte came and took my hand. “Let him help.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t. It’s not supposed to be like this.”

  “Like what?” she asked.

  “I have to feel it. It’s the natural way.”

  “Bullshit,” Charlotte gripped my hand tight. “You feel what you want. No one tells you otherwise. You’re a queen, right?”

  “Lady,” I answered through my teeth.

  At least it made her laugh.

  The door flung open then. “What happened to her?” I heard my brother call out from behind Caleb. I half expected Elliot to be with him. Not sure why, but there was just something in the atmosphere that made me think about him.

  Dylan scooped me up in his arms and set me on the couch as I cried out. He started to search my arms and legs, but Charlotte smacked his arm.

  “Stop, you’re hurting her more.”

  “I need to know if it’s the mark or not.”

  Charlotte’s brow lifted as she sat back.

  When my brother touched my back, I screeched out and bent my back up to avoid his hands. “Stop! Please, stop!” I called to him, but he easily flipped me over and lifted my shirt.

  “Is that it?” Caleb drew in a long breath.

  “Yeah,” my brother answered. “We didn’t expect it yet though.”

  We?

  “She hasn’t showed enough magic to be ready to transition.” Mumbling, Dylan sounded happy as he continued, “It’s just like his.”

  “What amount of magic is enough for you?” Charlotte faced the window and Dylan turned to see what she was referring to. Laying on the couch made it hard for me to see the outside world, but the sky through the bay window was wild. Turbulent skies in the darkest gray were rolling around as if they were in a butter churn. I could see the tree branches waving around violently, their leaves being tugged out with the breeze.

  “I can entrance her,” Caleb offered. Entrance her, I replayed in my mind. Oh yes, but my brother disagreed.

  “This is part of who she is. She has to learn to control the pain.”

  “She’s not a warrior,” Charlotte gripped my hand again. “She doesn’t have to ever feel this. Let him help her.”

  “Please, I owe her this much.”

  Dylan looked at Caleb like he wanted more information, but the pain came through stronger and I clasped down on Charlotte’s hand until she winced.

  “Please,” I begged Caleb through my teeth.

  “How long will it last?” Caleb asked.

  Dylan stammered, “It can take hours.”

  “Irene,” Caleb moved between Charlotte and Dylan as he took hold of my hand. “Look me in the eye,” he directed as he knelt beside me. The room fell away while blue skies filled my sight. The air was warm and smelled of sweet flowers. There were horses in the far field, running free and wild. I could hear nothing but the breeze.

  “I can’t feel it anymore,” I breathed.

  “And you won’t,” Caleb came into my view. “Not until I know that it’s over.”

  “I can’t thank you enough.”

  “You saved my life; this is the least I can do.”

  “How did you know to come over?”

  “I can sense you now. Don’t worry, it won’t last long. It’s not the same as an essence bond.”

  I nodded. I could see why Bryn called him her best friend. And why Charlotte loved him. There was a long time when I thought of him as strange. He was always so quiet and distant, but maybe that was when he changed. I could only then understand how difficult the whole experience must have been for him.

  “Are we… is this like a bond?” I could remember what Cole told me, but a blood bond wasn’t something we discussed.

  “Yes,” his brow flicked in thought. “But blood is different, especially when consumed.”

  “You and Charlotte are bound together,” I assumed as I walked through the field.

  “Well, she and I share essence, which is like a living force. It holds our energy, our emotions, our desires. Blood, however, holds the embodiment of your being. I am connected to you in a much stronger way than I am to her. That’s why it fades quickly.”

  “Nature always needs balance,” I joked.

  A sound off in the far field behind me caught my attention and I turned to see a flock of beautiful birds in red and black. They were flying toward the sun and I remembered the vision Tristan had shared with me.

  “This is one of your sister’s favorite places.”

  “Do you entrance her often?” I asked. “I don’t mean to pry, I’m just curious. Cole won’t share much with me. Or anyone really.”

  “Only when she asks,” he grinned, and in that moment he reminded me of his older brother Lucas and how kind he was always trying to be. “Give Cole some time. It’s hard in the beginning. The hunger occupies your mind and every emotion you feel starts to resemble pain.”

  “Why?”

  “Because mortals don’t feel nature like faeries do. The energy that gives me life comes from the living force in all beings. Even in plants. When I first felt this energy, it stung so deep I wanted to die. But when I learned to control it, my world opened in so many ways.”

  “You had a good teacher.”

  “Bryn was with me for every moment.”

  “I’m pretty sure Cole went through it alone.”

  “That’s tragic,” Caleb whispered. “I can’t imagine. Bryn was my guiding light. I’d be someone else entirely without her.” Caleb squinted in the sun as he faced the group of mustangs. “She rides the brown one there, with the dark mane.” He pointed to a lone horse on the right.

  “Is this a place you’ve been to?”

  Caleb shook his head. “I made it for her. It was the first place I thought of when I felt your suffering.”

  “Why?”
r />   “Because this is where I take her when she’s hurting.” I stared at him with curious eyes until he explained. “She’s been worried about you. Especially lately. She’s wanted to talk to you, but couldn’t figure out how to say the right things.”

  I nodded. Charlotte and I had once had a great relationship. We didn’t fight over core beliefs or morals. We always agreed on the big stuff and usually the little things. It was easy to choose pizza and movies, to treat Aunt Cressa on her birthday. But as of late, we hadn’t spoken much. I wished it were different, but it was life. She had a boyfriend who happened to be a faerie. And I, well I was going to rule the dragons.

  “Will you please let her know she can just say anything to me. I’ll take anything.”

  I woke up on the couch later that night. Dylan was sleeping in the chair, but Charlotte and Caleb were gone. I stepped into the bathroom and lifted my shirt in front of the mirror. The lineage mark, my branding that nature saw fit to deliver, began just below my right shoulder blade. While I was entranced by Caleb—I believe it was then because I don’t remember it otherwise—Dylan must have unsnapped my bra. It’s a good thing though, because at least it wasn’t against my skin to irritate the sensitive area.

  In the mirror, I found it hard to see the full scope of the mark. I stood on the edge of the tub and looked again. Now, I could see ocean-blue lines jetting out from a center circle. The outer bands were curved to the right, almost like the aerial view of a hurricane, spiraling out in a perfectly balanced fractal. In the center circle, the blue brightened to a teal and then an ivory shade so light it looked like it was aglow. Woven beneath the image were swirls and feathered lines in an array of blues and whites. Some were dark while others were pastel. If someone were to see the mark, they would probably believe it was a tattoo.

  Even though I was angry with nature for making me some sort of princess when I didn’t want to be, I did admire the design. There was no doubting that my element was water. Not only could I manipulate it, but my mark was clearly influenced by the ocean. I thought about Elliot then. According to my brother, his mark was in the same spot as mine, but that didn’t mean he was a water dragon. Maybe his element was fire or earth. Maybe his patterns were wild like flames.

  I took a shower, trying hard to keep the soap off my back. The water ran cool and it felt nice, but I could only stand it so long. When I dried off, I had to be careful, too. Again, I looked in the mirror. Now, I could see that the pattern was raised above my skin just slightly. But when I touched it, I could feel the sting all over again. It travelled from the surface down to the deep layers of my skin, and sometimes further. It felt like when I’d had the flu as a kid, with every inch of my marked skin wildly tender to the bone.

  I put on my underclothes carefully, and then slipped into jeans and a t-shirt. Downstairs, I found Dylan making coffee as the waning moon glowed from the open window.

  “Feel better?”

  I nodded.

  “Want some?” he raised his cup.

  “I’m good. So, when do I get to meet him?”

  Dylan, pouring creamer, stopped to look up at me.

  I tucked my hands in my pockets. “I know he’s here. I can…” I rolled my eyes. How was I supposed to explain that I could smell him? And how I even knew it was him was beyond me. “I just know.”

  Dylan took a deep breath.

  “Why hasn’t he come to see me?”

  “He has.”

  “What?”

  “He’s watching over you, like he’s supposed to.”

  “Dylan, are you kidding me? He’s stalking me. Charlotte was right.”

  “No, she’s scared. There’s a difference.”

  “Then tell him to man up and come see me, for real.”

  “I can’t do that,” he laughed.

  I threw my hands in the air and shook my head. “Whatever.” I plopped onto the couch and looked to the sky. “I know he’s at your place. He has to be.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just stop pretending. You said we, as in, we didn’t expect it yet.”

  Dylan came into the room and lowered his shoulders. “Okay. He got into town last week. An enchanter on the island had a vision of your transition taking place on your birthday. He wanted to be here for you.”

  “Well, where was he earlier?”

  “That wasn’t the whole transition,” Dylan spoke carefully.

  “What?” I got up and felt a rush of something cool, something I can only describe as water, flow from my toes to my neck. I grabbed the couch and steadied myself.

  “It’s just starting to take hold.”

  “That doesn’t excuse him from watching me and not coming up and talking to me.”

  “No, but he’s also pursuing something else while he’s here.”

  “Oh, am I not important enough?”

  “Don’t be like that. He’s trying to capture Iliana.”

  “Iliana? Why?”

  “You can ask him yourself.”

  “When?”

  Dylan shook his head, and then went back into the kitchen and sat down with one of our parents’ old books.

  “What if I drive out to your place tonight?” I asked over the back of the couch.

  “He’s out.”

  “This is why Charlotte says I have no choices.”

  “She’s wrong.”

  I thought about his words for a second, then I got to my feet and ran upstairs. Coming back down, I had my hoodie on and my shoulder bag in hand.

  “What are you doing?” Dylan looked up from the book.

  “Making a choice.”

  “And that is?”

  “To live, regardless of what some stuffy old book says. I mean, why should I sit here and wait around for him. I can’t become his… his…” I couldn’t quite say the word.

  “Mate?”

  Right. It wasn’t just about belonging to someone, or ruling creatures in a fairy tale land, it was mating. The word gave me goosebumps.

  “Yeah. I can’t agree to be his mate unless I know him.”

  Dylan cleared his throat as he closed the book in his hands. “I’ll be going with you. To Frostmoor. That is, if you decide to go.”

  I sighed. It wasn’t like I had told everyone I wouldn’t go.

  “Dylan, you don’t have to convince me. This is all I’ve ever wanted. Of course, without the beastly stuff, but magic has always been my dream.”

  “So has Cole.”

  He was too observant.

  I opened my mouth, ready to correct him, but hesitated. “I don’t know what will happen between us yet. It’s not like were dating, anyway.”

  “But with your crown, you and Elliot will bond for life.”

  “Yeah,” I bit the inside of my cheek.

  “And you won’t just become the leader—my leader,” he smiled. “You’ll be his mate.”

  “We went over this already.”

  “I just want you to truly understand what you’re doing before you commit.”

  “But you want this, right?”

  “Yeah,” his brow lifted. “It’s what we are. I just want you to understand. I haven’t done a good job of helping you. Well, I haven’t helped you at all when it comes to this stuff.” Dylan leaned back and shook his head. “I’m sorry, I should have told you years ago.”

  “I mean, I get why you didn’t.”

  “That doesn’t mean I was right.”

  “Well, don’t blame yourself. Mom’s the one who cast the spell. Aunt Cressa—understandably—kept her secret, but here I am. You can’t exactly stop nature.”

  “No,” he laughed.

  I adjusted my hoodie and slid on my shoes.

  “Hey,” he stopped me. “Give ‘em an hour. They’ll be back from their flight and you can talk to him.”

  “Flight?”

  “They like to stretch their wings in the evenings,” he grinned.

  “So, he’s not alone?”

  “No, his first guard is wi
th him.”

  Elliot’s world was so medieval, so royal it was almost too hard to believe.

  “An hour?” I bit my lip.

  “Yeah. They come in through the southern field out by the barn.”

  “Thanks.”

  Chapter Twenty

  I drove around the countryside for a little bit after grabbing a coffee. Caffeine wasn’t the best idea, but I had to warm my hands on something. The nerves, the tingles, all the worries of what might happen when Elliot arrived were all coming to a head. Just realizing how I didn’t have to wait any longer, that Elliot was already in my town, gave me endless butterflies.

  I half-expected to see two dragons flying around the night sky, but I didn’t spot anything on my way to Dylan’s. Instead, there was a calmness to the atmosphere that gave me a much-needed feeling of peace.

  Well, that is, until I parked outside of Dylan’s house and my anxiety hit the roof.

  Elliot, the Lord of Warriors, leader of the dragons of Frostmoor, my future mate, was inside the house just about a hundred feet away from me. For some reason, I thought it was smart to turn off my car and gather myself in the mirror like I was actually going inside. Looking back at myself, I started to laugh. Who was I kidding? It’s not like I was going to just walk right in and… I don’t know, see what would happen.

  Was I?

  I reached for the key, certain I was being ridiculous and that I didn’t need him for, well, anything, and got ready to leave. Who knew, maybe he wasn’t even back from his… flight? A light in the upstairs window flicked on before I could turn the key, and I couldn’t help but watch.

  Behind the curtains, the silhouette of a man passed back and forth several times as it looked like he was drying his hair on a towel. Whether it was Elliot or his guard, I had no idea, but the man had probably just showered. He tossed the towel over and then left the window for a few seconds. When he returned, he was pulling a shirt over his head. Afterward, he ruffled his hair in his fingers, then he paused. I leaned up against the steering wheel to get a better look just as he pulled back the curtain.

  I jerked back into the darkness of the car, but instead of concealing myself, I honked the horn.