It chose to save me?
My breath caught in my throat. I wasn’t sure I could have really expected a rational explanation. A coincidence. But notthis. Not the certainty in Xavier’s voice, not that the dragon indeed willingly chose to save me because he felt I needed it.
I pulled back just slightly, enough to look up at him.
“But why me?” I asked, my voice cracking like a whisper too afraid to be heard. “Why would it save me?”
Xavier didn’t answer right away. His hand lifted to my cheek, thumb brushing gently against my skin, grounding me.
“Creatures like that… they don’t act without reason. They’re tied to something ancient, and if it wanted to save you, then it had a reason.”
I blinked rapidly, trying to stop the sting behind my eyes. My chest ached with a strange mix of awe and confusion. All my life, I’d felt small, ordinary. Forgotten. And now… a water dragon had saved me. Hadchosento save me.
Xavier tilted his head, as if debating something. “Did it speak to you?” he asked.
“Yes,” I whispered, barely able to believe it myself. “But not with words. Not exactly. It felt more like… like it was inside my mind. Not saying anything, but somehow I still felt it trying to communicate with me in some way…”
Xavier closed his eyes for a moment, almost as if trying toabsorb my answer. Did he know something and wasn’t telling me? When he opened them again, there was something different in his gaze.
“A dragon feeds on emotions…”
“Like vampires feed on others for blood?”
Xavier grinned at my question, suggesting my comparison wasn’t that far from the truth. “Well kind of, but a water dragon can’t control it as much as vampires can control their lust over blood. It lies in the power of a water dragon. They may have the ability to influence other people’s emotions, using the nature of water to evoke feelings of calm or clarity, and even turmoil and fear.
“Oh, how do you know so much about them?” I asked, still in awe from everything he’d explained about the dragon. Xavier tilted his head, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Let’s just say… I’ve lived long enough to learn a thing or two.”
I arched an eyebrow, curiosity rising like a tide. “How old are you?”
“You want to know my age… Why so curious all of a sudden?”
“I mean,” I began, my voice faltering a little under his gaze, “you said you’d been alive long enough to know all this lore about dragons, sirens, ancient bonds… It made me wonder. How old is long enough?”
“True, let me tell you I’m older than you, far older. Vampires are nearly immortal.” He smirked.
“And yet you don’t act like something so ancient…”
He chuckled. “Charming. I suppose I’ll take that as a compliment.” His expression turned more serious, though still warm. “And from now on, you’re not sleeping alone in my bedroom anymore.”
“What?” I blinked. “… I just had a nightmare, Xavier. That’s all.”
“This isn’t up for debate,my love.”
“But you cannot stay in the same bed as me…”
He chuckled at my protest, his fingers trailing along my calf.
“If it makes you more comfortable, I’ll grab a mattress and take the floor. But I’m not leaving you alone tonight.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I murmured, though part of me hoped he would.
“Don’t argue with me, my sweet. It’s decided,” he said, and the way he spoke made it feel like a demand. “And frankly, a mattress is still better than last night.”
“What do you mean? What was last night?”
He didn’t look at me right away, his jaw tightened slightly.
“I didn’t sleep,” he said finally. “I couldn’t. I wanted to give you space, but I couldn’t walk away either.”
