No, wait. I’m not the one rocking. The room is.
Just then, a door swings open, one with rounded corners and a circular window.
“Good. You’re awake.” My dad strolls in, taking up too much space. “We’ll be docking in a half hour.”
If anything, I’m more confused, both by his words and his outfit.
Maximus Blaythorn spends most of his days in a suit. Dressing down means slacks and a polo shirt. Even his pajamas have buttons. If he puts on a coat, best believe that tailored garment is a peacoat, made of the finest wool.
So, why is he wearing a bright orange puffy coat, unzipped to show a set of army-green overalls?
“Where are we?” I croak the words and realize I’m fucking thirsty.
“Antarctica.” He glares down at me, his blue irises glowing the way all dragons’ do when experiencing strong emotions.
“What?” The blaze of my own reflects off his pale face. “How? When?”
Damn The Winged One’s tricks. When I fell asleep, I was in Georgia, exhausted from a night of loving Esme for the first time.
This is impossible.
“Your mother gave you a sleeping draft. We knew you would cause problems, and frankly, I have no patience for your disrespect. After that, it was simply a flight to Ushuaia in Argentina and a passage on the colony’s transportation ship.”
By flight, he means on his private plane, of course. I bet no commercial airline would be cool with him hauling my unconscious body into a first-class seat.
“Why?” But that’s naive. I know why. I stepped out of line for love. “Why here?”
My parents discussed spending a stint in the dragons’ Antarctic colony when they got older and I was out of the house. This was never supposed to be a family trip. There’s no point to me being here when I have no intention of taking my dragon form.
“Because you obviously do not comprehend how much you lowered yourself. We never should have moved to that town. Anywhere else, the distinction would have been clear. We are Blaythorn dragons, distinguished, even among our kind. Our internal forges burn like no other. Here, you will see the respect we deserve. Here, you will understand how much more you can demand from the world.” His expression is feverish by the end of his preaching of his self-aggrandizing worldview.
I’ve heard it all before.
“So, what? You want me to interact with colony dragons? They’re all in beast form.” And stuck that way for roughly forty years from the time they released their beast.
That’s the difference between our kind and other shifters. We can’t blink and go between forms.
When dragons transform, we must hold that shape for decades.
Hence the need for a colony far from prying human eyes. Seems like a failing rather than a bragging point to me.
“Plenty of our kind live near the colony in our two-legged form.” His jaw tightens as he stares toward the door, as if he can already see our destination. “And there are other ways to communicate. In just the first day, you will see the difference. You will understand what my words haven’t been able to teach you.”
I hate this, but I’m trapped. My father holds the power now, having cut me off from the rest of the world. No money.No connections. No way to leave a fucking frozen wasteland, inhabited only by mythical beasts. The only way I can get back to Folk Haven, return to Esme, is if I play along. Ooh and aah over these great dragon traditions and impressive family lineages he always waxes on about.
And when he’s convinced himself I’m properly brainwashed, he’ll take us back to civilization. Maybe not directly to Folk Haven if he’s written off the place, but somewhere that I can get away. Leave his house forever. After this, I’ll never trust my parents again.
Get through this. Get back to her.
“Fine,” I agree with resentment in my tone. Can’t fully flip my switch and become the devoted model son or else he’ll get suspicious. “I’ll communicate with whatever dragons you want me to.” I glance around the stark cabin. “Is there a phone on this boat I can use?”
What is Esme thinking? We sleep together, and I disappear the next day. She’s the smartest woman I know, so she’ll figure out this isn’t just me blowing her off. But I can’t imagine what I would do if the roles were reversed. If I didn’t know where she’d gone.
I’d tear the town apart.
“So you can contact that harpy?” He shakes his head, disgust in his sneer. “You will forget her.”
Never.
