Page 10

I’d made a mess of things over the past few days, and I’d decided this was my opportunity to make up for it. When it had only been a handful of us in this mad place, Dafne and I had found it easier to spend time together, to grow closer. We hadn’t had our families, our friends, or society surrounding us, and things had seemed strange and difficult, but not impossible. In the midst of it all, Dafne had stolen my heart.

But now I had no idea what to do with myself. My fear of being rejected by her had only gotten worse over time, until it eventually threw me off my game completely. Upon reuniting with everyone--plus the Flip turning our lives upside down—I’d drifted away from her, telling myself that we had work to do. That we were stuck here, and there were so many issues to deal with. Things had come between us, and I had failed to stop that from happening.

I’d allowed fate to pull us apart at the worst possible time—just when I’d thought the walls of ice around her heart were finally coming down, ever so slowly. Mom and Dad had no idea about my feelings for Dafne, and judging by the indifference that Lethe had consistently shown toward me, I’d figured he was in the dark, too. Almost four days had gone by since I’d even seen or talked to Dafne, and after so much time spent constantly together, it felt awkward and wrong. The moment I’d spotted her coming out of her cave, I knew this was my shot at making things right. I wanted our dynamic back more than anything.

She’s mad at me.

Knowing I’d brought this on myself, I considered it a challenge. Dafne’s flight was fierce but graceful. It was hard to look away from her. The sky wasn’t the real deal, yet she owned it. Her wings stretched wide, the dark gray skin almost iridescent beneath the fake moonlight. It bounced off her scales, and I caught a glimpse of her stormy gray eyes as she gave me a fleeting look before diving into a sudden descent.

I felt compelled to follow, and she didn’t make it easy to keep up. This was a dance of sorts, I realized, as we were going up again, flying around one another like fireworks shooting skyward, mere seconds from exploding. She swerved to her left. I dove right, unwilling to lose her, even for a second. I mirrored her every move, my muscles hard and tight along my dragon bones as I followed her through the sky. Her dragon form was slightly smaller and significantly slimmer than mine, which made her movements graceful and fluid, while mine felt heavy and forced.

Nonetheless, she failed to shake me. We flew together for what felt like ages, the air growing colder as we shot through the sky. Up, then down, then left and right, ever changing and shifting. There was no need for words. We both knew why we were up here. Neither of us wanted to stop, yet eventually we knew it was time to land. I was getting tired. And Dafne’s motions had become slower and less agile.

We touched down on the fake Sun Beach. It wasn’t as bright as the original, but it still offered an illusion of morning. It felt warm as I shifted, my bones crackling in their return to a human form. I tugged on my uniform belt. In an instant, the fabric and zippers released, stretching and covering me from head to toe. “This is easily one of the best GASP inventions,” I said, chuckling lightly. “We got lucky that the clones copied this prototype in the armory, along with the rest of our weapons and stuff. We had yet to receive suits like this before the clone attacks, remember? I was so happy you and Soph snatched us a couple of them before we blew that place up.” So many times, we dragons had found ourselves in awkward situations due to the absence of clothes after our transformations. The new uniforms were the ideal solution, and they’d made our lives easier since before the Flip, but only now had I had the time and the patience to truly appreciate this gear. Quite expensive and difficult to put together, but their design was flawless. And I’d always looked good in black.

Dafne shot me a cool grin, standing right where the water lapped at the sandy shore. Only the murmurs of this fake ocean remained in the silence surrounding us, and I found myself staring at this exquisite creature. Why did love sound like such a simple and wonderful thing, when it was way more complicated than advertised? Why did the fear of rejection make someone like me act so irrationally, when all I wanted to do was throw my arms around her?

“It’s been a while,” Dafne said, the humor fading from her eyes.

There it was. The poke. I’d had it coming, but how could I explain how I’d been feeling? How could I make her understand without projecting weakness? That was the one thing I could never do as a fire dragon. It was deeply embedded within my upbringing. Strength and dignity above all. “We’ve had our hands full,” I replied. “There’s so much happening.”

She looked at me with an intensity I had never experienced before. I would’ve given anything to be able to hear her thoughts in that instant, to understand how her mind worked… and how she saw me. But a weight fell from my shoulders when Dafne smiled. “It’s been crazy, huh? And with the dragons back together, doesn’t it feel even harder to have some time to yourself?”

“Yeah. I take it you’ve had similar issues?”

“I was mad at you. I thought this would be an opportunity to call you out on being so distant, but standing here now… I’ve kind of lost that appetite,” Dafne said, sighing.

I drew in a long breath, letting it out slowly. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, and I feared I’d never get enough of her. “I did give you reason to be mad, huh? Sorry, Dafne. It wasn’t my intention to vanish for days.”

“Well, I didn’t say anything, either,” she muttered. “Thing is, I’m ice. You’re fire. Our parents might frown a little.”

“Your dad, maybe. He’s still hung up on the old school stuff regarding the dragon clans. My dad is married to a fire fae. We’re obviously on the more open-minded side of things.”

That earned me an instant frown. “Excuse me?”

“Well, Lethe is more of a traditionalist.” This was all banter, and she knew it, judging by how hard she was trying to hold back a laugh.

“He married a human!” Dafne retorted. “Besides, we both know what the underlying problem really is, and why neither of us has been able to fraternize with anyone outside our family clusters since the Flip.”

The humor dissipated between us, like steam rolling out of a boiling kettle until nothing was left but the harsh reality we were stuck with. Dafne and I looked at each other, momentarily silent as our minds worked in unison. I could almost hear the wheels turning.

“Our dads are full dragons. And they are both traditionally educated. Fire with fire. Ice with ice. No mingling with humans or whatever,” she added. “But they live in The Shade. They married non-dragons out of love, and we’re living proof. What’s really keeping the whole fire with fire and ice with ice nonsense going is our current situation. It’s how they’re coping, by blowing antiquated traditions out of proportion because it’s easier to deal with than the reality of our situation.”

I blinked several times. “The coherence in that entire argument is astonishing.”

“We have literally shared a bed, Jericho. I think we both know what’s going on between us, but neither of us can say it out loud,” Dafne replied. “On top of that, our parents’ dragon nonsense is louder than ever, and I haven’t seen you in days. Not even a message. Nothing. Are we really going to let Hrista’s mess spoil something so potentially beautiful?”

“You think it’s beautiful… whatever this is?” I asked, my voice wavering as I motioned at the narrow space between us. Dafne crossed her arms in response.

“I hope so! Otherwise, what’s the point of all this tossing and turning, huh?”

I couldn’t help but laugh lightly. “And to think I had to breach a fortress of ice to get to you… what happened? How are we even talking about this?”

“Hrista happened. That whole situation made me realize that I can’t waste any more time. I have no idea what tomorrow will bring or how long we’ll be trapped here. I only know that I don’t want another second to go by without some kind of clarity between us,” Dafne said, raising her chin proudly. “So tell me. Why haven’t you said anything since… well, since the Flip? Why have we drifted apart after the troubles we survived together? I don’t understand.”

“I can’t blame you.” My reply was followed by a heavy sigh. Dafne was right. There was no point in hiding behind our fears and insecurities anymore. My feelings for her were only getting stronger, regardless of whether I acted on them or not. And she deserved my honesty. “From the moment I saw you, I knew you were different. Extraordinary. Possibly out of my league.”

Her breath faded, and she stared at me, lips slowly parting.

“I can’t fight this anymore,” I continued, driven by a simmering need to take this conversation in a different direction. “I’ve wanted to tell you for a while, but I was afraid that you didn’t feel the same way, that you’d reject me. That fear has kept me constantly on edge, and I thought that maybe if I took a couple of steps back, my feelings for you might fade. But nothing’s changed. I’m still very much into you.”

Dafne’s silence drowned out the lazily lapping waves at our feet, and I felt as though my worst fear, the one I had just admitted out loud, was coming true. I was about to get the it’s-not-you-it’s-me treatment, which was a weapon I’d often employed. No one had ever had the chance to use it on me.

“I mean, if you don’t feel the same, and it’s just me, I don’t mind,” I added, suddenly gripped by the icy claws of panic. “It’s cool. I’ll be fine. We can even pretend this never happened. Bet your dad will be relieved.” I ended up chuckling like a moron until Dafne rolled her eyes and put me out of my misery.

“Jericho, it’s mutual.”

That was all I needed for the world to make sense again. I stared at her for a long second, trying to take in every detail that had made me fall head over heels with this stupendous creature. Her hair was black and long. Normally, I was drawn to short curls the color of summer wheat. Her eyes were gray and filled with mystery. I’d appreciated sunny skies in a girl’s gaze before. Dafne was an ice dragon. A fighter. A cracking whip to either dodge or face fearlessly, and my heart began to accelerate as she closed the distance between us.

In an instant, the entire universe shifted as her lips found mine, and we kissed.

For a moment, I thought we had a real sun shining overhead, filling me with an atomic warmth that spread through my body and set my muscles alight. My pulse raced, but the softness of her lips, the sweetness of her mouth… It was the only element of my existence that I could process. It was like tasting heaven, if heaven was an ice dragon named Dafne.

Her hands cupped my face, and the delicate touch of her skin against mine tore a soft groan from my throat. I pulled my head back only so that I could breathe again, wondering how long it had been since we’d started this. The gray in her gaze was almost black, her heart thudding against mine.

“Whoa,” I managed.

“Yeah, you can say that again,” she whispered, taking a couple steps back.

Dafne’s lips were plump and pink. I doubted I’d think of anything else for the remainder of this day. “Well, at least we both know where we stand, right?” I asked, offering a faint smile. I’d gotten past her frozen walls to reach the very core of her. The heat emanating from within Dafne made me wonder if she was really an ice dragon after all.

“We’ll just have to figure out where to go to from here,” she said, her gaze dropping slowly to focus on the water rushing across the coarse, faded sand.

Dafne couldn’t really be an ice dragon, I thought, ignoring the madness of such a thought when she obviously was an ice dragon. But she’d set my heart on fire. The folly of it was palpable, and I didn’t want it to end. We’d fallen, and we’d flown.

We kissed again, and the fake Shade vanished around us once more.