“We need to go to my home,” Ignatius said, his tone businesslike. “I have to contact people. I don’t trust your father not to come for you.”
Phoenix glanced at me, uncertainty in his eyes, and asked, “Do you want me there?”
The question touched something raw in me—two days ago I’d barely known how to be around him without fear. Now I realized how much I needed someone who chose to stay. I let the quiet stretch, then whispered, “Yeah. I want you there.”
His relief wasvisible; Ignatius nodded as if he’d known all along. I watched the city flicker past the window, my hands twisting in my lap.
We reached a private gate. When we finally stopped, Ignatius led us inside a grand house of glass and stone that felt both warm and strangely hollow. Keegan hung back; I hesitated on the threshold, my pulse racing.
Doryu, Ignatius’s partner, greeted us with soft enthusiasm, then stepped aside. Ignatius called, “There’s juice in the fridge. Make yourselves comfortable. I’m cooking.”
Keegan gave me a look and slipped out to take a phone call. I stayed by the kitchen island, feeling exposed. Ignatius’s cooking smelled of spices and lamb.
Phoenix came over, hovered, and said, “You should drink something.”
I shook my head, but I didn't know why.
He crossed to the fridge, poured a glass of orange juice, and set it in front of me with trembling hands. I stared at it like it might shatter. Then I took it, hands shaking, and drank half in one swig.
Doryu reappeared with plates of pasta and warm bread, and just like that, in moments I was cornered on the couch between Phoenix and an audience of protectors. My chest tightened.
Ignatius waited until I'd eaten some then leaned forward. “Tell us what you know.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. I had rehearsed this in silence for nights. “I went to boarding school at nine. My father sent me there; I didn’t mind. I was good at sports. At a rugby final, I scored four tries. After the match, I walked back to the dorm alone—thought the families were at the party. Five boys blocked the hallway. They shoved me around, called me a cheat, punched me. I fought back.”
I paused, tasting fear on my tongue. “Then Eric started screaming. His palm blistered—skin bubbling like burning plastic. I shoved him away and he fell, screaming. The others froze.”
Ignatius shifted. Keegan leaned in. Phoenix watched me, breath held.
“They called a nurse, the headmaster, then my father,” I said, voice rough. “He flew in furious—at me, not them. I was paraded through doctors who said I had a medical condition: electrical burns, no control over my body temperature. Pills, gloves at night, never get angry again.”
I swallowed. “Then Dad brought a new doctor—Hartsmore—with him.”
Ignatius’s eyes narrowed. “AlexanderHartsmore?”
“Yes. He said I was a monster. That if I didn’t do what they said I’d end up in a locked psychiatric ward.” My chest ached—every word was a fresh memory. Phoenix reached out and took my hand. I clung on.
Ignatius’s laugh was low. “Rubbish. You’re not a monster. you have an ancient ability, as old as the earth itself.”
Phoenix interrupted, and I didn’t blame him. “What ability?”
Ignatius glanced at us both. “You’ll discover it when his bonds break. They’re already disintegrating.”
Phoenix sucked in a breath and tried another question. “What did your father mean by ‘rebind’?”
My voice cracked. I knew he was going to leave, but I was sick of hiding. “To make sure the dragon inside of me never wakesup.”
Chapter fifteen
High-Sticking - Illegal contact made with a stick above shoulder height.
Phoenix
I should have been surprised because it was utterly insane, but it all made a sick kind of sense. The heat. The burned kid at school. His father had saiddragonfire.
I wasn’t going to jump. I was hoping to fly.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. Part of me kept waiting for Ignatius to laugh, or for Keegan to roll his eyes and say it was all a joke. But nobody did. Doryu just set the food down and watched me with this weird, gentle patience, like he knew I’d need it spelled out in single syllables.
