“Okay, you want to eat something first?”
“Yeah, my stomach is growling at me.”
Breakfast was fun.Lucian and I teased Elena about her not knowing I was the Rubicon. Emanual, Helmut, Dad and Jako had their comments too.
“How was I supposed to know?”
“Callibre,” Lucian said.
“Eat your food,” Elena whined. She finished her tea. We excused ourselves so we could have this chat.
Elena hooked her arm in with mine as we walked toward the lake.
I laughed.
“Stop laughing. You could’ve told me?”
“When? You were hanging on a thread.”
“I sounded like an idiot asking you if you faced him, meantime you were the beasty.”
“Dragon, Elena. I’m not a beasty.”
“Fine, then beast.”
“What is so hard about the word dragon?”
“I don’t know, okay? The word just brings on this suffocating fear in me. So you will stay a beasty until the fear goes away.”
“Fine,” I said. “So what is it you want to talk to me about?”
We reached the lake and sat down on the bench underneath the willow trees. It was so beautiful here.
“One reason I didn’t know you were a dragon had to do with the snow beasty.”
I sighed.
“No, hear me out.”
My gaze flickered down to her.
“I’m not like everyone on this side.”
“Oh, I know.”
She smiled. “You don’t have to be with me just because you feel you owe me something. I will still be your rider, but I want you to be with the person or beasty of your choice. So if you love her, I’ll step aside.”
I just stared at her. I think I might have fallen more in love with her.
“If you want some time to think about it—”
“Are you insane? She means nothing. She was just a fling, a scratch whenever there was an itch. I only want one person and she isn’t a beasty at all.” I pulled her closer and wrapped my arms around her. “You are so stuck with me. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Scratch when there was an itch?”
I shrugged.
“About those itches. I really wanted to wait.”
