“It’s only a matter of time until someone tells a government agency and they look into it,” Jean says.“We should really try and frontload, or they’ll ambush you.”
“Fine,” Liz says.“Fine.We try it.I’ll go with Calista.”She waves to the delicate strike-blessed.“She has a loud voice.”
Absolutely not.You will goonlywith me.
“We can’t risk you.”She sets her feet and glares.
It’s so cute that I almost miss the obvious revelation in what she just said.She’s been insisting that we hide that Azar’s alive as a part of our battle strategy.I thought she was simply mis-valuing the human’s chances against us.
Her words—can’t riskme—make it clear that was a lie.She wasn’t worried about us losing to the humans.She’s not that dumb.She worries about me, too.
It shouldn’t matter.
Itdoesn’tmatter.
But for some reason, it makes me feel all tingly and strange.I want to smile and lie down on my back and roll around in the dirt and then race through the sky at mach speed.I want to give Liz a ride so fast that she whoops and slaps my neck.
All of that is entirely insane, so instead, I settle for refusing her little demand.We’ll just return to Selfoss now if you won’t let me accompany you.
She stomps her foot and screams like a small human child.It makes me laugh.When I stop, all the other blessed are staring at me strangely.
“Fine.”She lunges at me, and then backs off, like she’s going to...hit me?“FINE.”She stomps off, flinging her hand out in front of her and pointing into the woods.I’m terribly worried that she believes she can order me to follow her.
My fear is confirmed when she turns back toward me impatiently.“We won’t be gone long.”She huffs.“Or maybe we’ll both die and the water blessed will get wings and have to bond whales.Who knows?”
I’m laughing again, even more loudly, when I open the portal.
When we step through—a winged human and a golden dragon—in broad daylight, I brace myself for spears, bullets, and lots of shouting.I amnotexpecting to step onto a small field on which a man with a beard is shouting while holding a tiny skull.He’s wearing a weird, woven hat with a large brim that comes to a point at the top.
He drops the skull and screams, but then, instead of running, he drops to his knees.“A real dragon!”He has the frenzied look on his face that I’ve come to recognize as the look of a blessed-lover.
Liz whacks my side.“Say it.Now!”
The blessed aren’t your enemies.
“Not the blessed,” she says.“Say dragons, lummox.”
Lummox?I frown.Now I know what that means.You shouldn’t be insulting me.
Liz’s eyes widen, and she splutters.“Focus, dummy.”
Iknowthat’s an insult, but she’s right.There are a lot of people staring at us and a few more, screaming.I project the message as far as I possibly can.Thedragonsare not your enemies.In fact, we need your help.Since coming to Earth, we need to bond humans, or we can’t...
I stop, unsure we really want to broadcast that we can’teatwithout being bonded.Is this wise?
“For the love—” she climbs up on my back.“You’re terrible at this.No wonder the humans attacked you instead of listening.Just repeat what I say.”She sighs.“The government has been lying to you.We came to Earth to recover something we left here thousands of years ago.”
She jabs me, and I repeat it.
“And now, we need your help.We don’t want to harm anyone, but your bloodthirsty military keeps attacking us.If you’ve ever dreamed of life with a dragon, or of sailing through the sky with one, now you can do it.”
Is she kidding?It sounds like she’s advertising us as some kind of vacation or something.
“Say it,” she hisses.“Now.”
I hate it, but I do repeat her message, more or less.
“This is the most important part.”She pats my neck.“Listen up.”
