Dragons were never meant to be paired with those whose minds and bodies hadn’t finished developing. Already considered dangerous, such a situation provided a conflagration rife with insanity that would pose a threat to anyone in the immediate vicinity.
It was why children who had the misfortune to bond were put down. Always.
Only Tate had managed to prevent that turn of events. It wasn’t the children’s fault they’d ended up in this situation. Kidnapped, tormented, only to finally have a dragon stuffed in their bodies. They deserved a chance at life and happiness.
For now, it seemed to be working.
To the surprise of everyone involved, the children found Ilith a calming presence. When she was around, they were less volatile. More like the children their human bodies were.
It was why Tate and Ilith set up regular times to spend with them, hoping to stabilize their minds enough that they would have a chance.
Tate’s theory was that they could outgrow the madness if their minds were given the opportunity to develop.
The only problem was that too many powerful people had taken an interest in the children. Some sought to use them. Others were looking for the smallest of reasons to justify their execution.
Tate was here to ensure neither happened.
It helped that Thora, for all his sternness, and the rest of the dragon-ridden were wholly committed to the dragonlettes health and safety as well. Present circumstances excluded.
“Everything was under control until your dragon barreled into mine.”
Technically, it was true.
“Ilith was threatening the dragonlette.” Blaise gestured at Daisy, who stood next to Jacob.
Her brother, Jack, folded his arms across his chest and nodded several times in agreement with Blaise.
Tate scoffed. “She didn’t even touch her.”
“She wanted to. My dragon was being proactive. There was every chance your dragon would try to toss her off another cliff.”
“That’s right. What he said,” Jack yelled.
Tate sent Dewdrop a plaintive look, mentally urging him to get control of his friend. He was ruining her perfect plan to shift blame.
Dewdrop shook his head, his shoulders shaking as he tried to contain his laughter.
No help was coming from that quarter, Tate realized with an internal sigh. Truthfully, she wasn’t surprised.
Dewdrop had a crush on Daisy, and he’d been acting as a mentor of sorts to Jack. The boy was younger than both of them by several years. Only around eight or nine. He’d gotten caught up in the same events that made his sister a dragon-ridden.
Jack wasn’t a dragon-ridden, but he was changed nonetheless. They simply didn’t know the full extent. Yet.
He also didn’t trust Tate or—more specifically—Ilith, especially where his sister was concerned. It had something to do with throwing Daisy off a cliff. A total misunderstanding in Tate’s opinion.
“She wasn’t going to do that,” Tate said defensively.
Dewdrop started to wheeze.
“Really. She only did that once. I’m sure she has no intention of ever doing something like that again.”
Dewdrop wheezed harder. Tate cut him a sharp glare.
A threatening rumble from Thora forestalled her next comment. Tate and Blaise snapped to attention.
“I don’t care why it happened or who is at fault.” There was something in the way Thora held himself, an inherent threat stemming from the dragon at his core that said his control was very precarious right now.
Tate held still. She was fairly sure between Ilith, Blaise and Jacob, they would be able to defend themselves should Thora lose control of his dragon, but she’d really rather not test that theory.
