Page 32

Chapter

Thirty-Two

I’ve never been so full in all my life. My father kept ordering more food until I thought I would literally explode. He wasn’t kidding about making up for a lifetime of meals. I didn’t think he’d try to do it all in one sitting.

I barely fit through the door as we exit the restaurant, and I’m about to swear off food for all time when he stops and turns to me. “Do you want to set off for Skoro now, or wait until morning?”

The thought of traveling for another week makes me groan. Not to mention the fact that it’s dark out now.

“You don’t want your sword back?” he asks.

“I don’t want to hike through the woods for days on end again. Harek and I just got here yesterday.”

“Who said anything about hiking?” My father’s eyes sparkle with a secret only he knows.

Harek and I exchange a curious glance.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“I have a much better form of travel.” Einar grins.

“Can we fly?” I reach for my back, curious if there are wings hiding under my skin. Pretty much anything is possible at this point.

“We can.”

I can barely believe my ears. “We have wings?”

“Not like that. Something better.”

Harek wrinkles his brows. “What, then?”

I stop looking for wing nubs. “How could something be better than sprouting wings?”

Einar waits just long enough to build the suspense. I’m about to jump out of my skin when he finally speaks. “I have a dragon.”

My mouth falls open and nearly hits the ground beneath us. “Dragons are real?”

“You have one?” Harek stares at him in disbelief.

“I do. She has a boyfriend, and if he’s there we won’t all have to crowd onto her back.”

Is he for real?

Harek voices my doubt. “Dragons can’t be tamed.”

“No?” My father cocks an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?”

Neither of us reply. I’m still trying to come to grips with dragons really existing.

Einar turns to me. “Want to meet her? I think you two will connect—she’ll love your energy.”

“Uh…” I can’t find more words than that.

Harek straightens his back. “I’ve got to see this. Let’s go.”

“Wait,” I say, finally finding actual words. “Should we tell Vivvi what we’re doing? She’s probably expecting us for dinner, and all of our stuff is at her place. We can’t just hop on a dragon and fly back to Skoro.”

My father stiffens. “You’re staying with Vivvi?”

“Yeah.”

“Vivvi Chamirel?”

I shrug. “I don’t know that she told us her last name.”

His mouth tightens. “Her hair changes with the color of the sky.”

“That’s her,” Harek says.

Einar draws a deep breath. “You want to talk about someone not to trust farther than you can throw them? She’s at the top of the list.”

“Vivvi?” I say. “What’s so bad about her?”

“I didn’t say she’s bad, but you have to be careful around her. She’s obsessed with hunters.”

“She did mention something about my grandfather.”

He nods.

Harek squares his shoulders. “Are we in danger?”

“You trust my opinion now?” The corners of my father’s mouth twitch like he’s amused.

“I’m not sure I trust anyone .” Harek folds his arms. “But I want to hear what you have to say about her.”

“Hunters don’t tend to marry, but Vivvi Chamirel is up for the challenge. It has more to do with tapping into the power and fame than any noble desire.”

“She’s been really nice to us,” I point out. “If it weren’t for her, we would’ve had to sleep on the ground last night. Instead, she fed us and gave us luxurious beds and baths. These are her clothes.”

He glances between Harek and me. “That tracks. I’d never guess you two just spent a week in the forest.”

“And I’d never guess you have a dragon.” It’s so weird to say that, but nothing should feel unbelievable after everything I’ve seen in the last week. Though dragons seem to take all of this newness to a whole new level.

“Most don’t. In general, they avoid cities.”

Harek’s expression sours. “But not for you.”

“At least not these two.” If Einar notices Harek’s disdain, he isn’t bothered by it. Maybe he appreciates my friend being protective of me—something he wasn’t given the chance to do himself.

I feel a little bad that my mother never even gave him the option, but at the same time I get why she did it. If she knew we would have to fight to death one day, it’s no wonder she kept my existence from him. I’m sure it killed her to go from having a relationship with Einar to Gunnar.

The thought makes me shudder.

“Are you okay?” Concern fills my father’s eyes.

“I’m fine. Let’s see your dragon.”

Harek throws me a wild-eyed look. “We need to talk.”

“We do? I thought you wanted to see a tamed dragon.”

“There are more important things to consider.” He pulls me down the street. “It could be a trap. I’ve never heard of someone taming a dragon—much less in a city. This is a bad idea.”

“Worse than going with Vivvi, who sounds like she has ulterior motives?”

“Clearly.”

“He’s my father. You can’t deny that—we’re practically twins.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, but yeah, there’s no doubt about the resemblance. Doesn’t mean we can trust him.”

“There’s only one way to find out.”

“We should sleep on it and make a decision when we’ve had some time to think it through.”

“I’ve already thought it through.” I stand taller. “All my life I’ve wanted to know about my father. Now I have the chance.”

“And he may kill you one day!”

“He seems glad to have found me.”

Harek frowns and taps his foot. “We don’t know anything about him. He could be leading us to his house for the express purpose of feeding us to his dragon.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because you’re making his powers weaken!”

“He said they aren’t.”

“So? He could be lying. Why else would there be rumors about him weakening? About a city getting ravaged because of evil fae? Even if he isn’t weakening, something is going on. He’s not doing his job. Maybe he’s been tracking you. What if that’s why the evil fae are running wild?”

I glance over at my father, who is checking his teeth in his reflection in a store window. “He’s not intent on killing either one of us. Look at him. If he wanted us dead, he wouldn’t take his eyes off us.”

Harek runs his hands through his hair. “You know, it is like we’re a threat to him right here. He probably expects you to try and kill him—and he’s ready for it. He just doesn’t want us to know.”

“I think it’s pretty obvious I couldn’t kill him even if I wanted to, which I don’t.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that one of you is going to have to kill the other one at some point. Why bother getting attached to him? It’ll only make it harder for you to protect yourself.”

I stare at him in disbelief. “Because he’s my father .”

He doesn’t argue.

Einar glances our way, clearly ready to get going.

I turn back to Harek. “I’m going with him. You can come with me or not.”

“I’m not leaving you!”

“Great. Let’s go.”

“But know that I think this is a terrible idea.”

“Noted.”

He frowns, but I march toward my father.

“Are you two ready to come with me?”

“Yes,” I say.

Harek stands next to me. “Are you sure going over now is a good idea? It’s almost dark.”

“All the better for sneaking in and out unnoticed.”

My friend doesn’t look convinced. “You don’t know that jerk.”

“And he doesn’t know me.”

“Fair point.”

“Good,” I say. “We’re all on the same page. Let’s see the dragon and fly to Skoro so I can get my sword back and finally get these souls out of me.”

There’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.

Harek puts an arm around me. “I won’t leave your side.”

Einar looks at us, but I can’t read his expression. “Follow me.”

He leads us through the city into a district we haven’t been to before. It seems more like farmland and makes me feel like I’m back home. Not that I have a home anymore, but I still feel more comfortable here than anywhere else in the walls.

The homes and barns are spread far apart, and we have to walk a fair distance. It’s completely dark but little rainbow-colored glowing bugs keep things light enough to see better than if it was dusk.

My father stops in the middle of nothing and grins. “We’re here.”

I look around, confused. “What do you mean?”

“My humble abode.”

“You’ve got that right,” Harek mumbles.

I nudge Harek, though I don’t exactly disagree with him. “This is your home?”

Einar points to a hillside.

“Your home is on the other side?” I ask hopefully.

“Take a closer look.”

Some dim lights turn on, and everything comes into focus. The hillside is a dwelling. It’s even bigger than the mansions owned by the rulers of Skoro.

Harek and I exchange bewildered expressions.

My father’s grin hasn’t stopped. He’s clearly amused by our reactions. “This has been the home of your ancestors going back many generations. We have relics from every previous known hunter.”

“You… you do?” I try to comprehend the idea of having gone from no family lineage to many generations, several of which are more than a hundred years each.

“Does that mean she can use one of their swords?” Harek asks. “Instead of having to find the other one?”

Einar turns to me. “The runes lit up for you?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s your sword. No other will connect with you.”

“Are you sure about that?” Harek asks. “None? Not even with magic?”

He shakes his head. “It’s like with dragons where the bond is for life.”

“What if the dragon dies?” I ask. “Or the sword is destroyed?”

“Only then can a new bond form.”

Harek stands taller. “If Gunnar destroyed her sword, then she could use another?”

“She could use any sword, but it won’t collect the souls. They’ll keep going into her and won’t leave.”

That’s a miserable thought. “I’m not taking that chance.” Then a thought strikes me. “Could the souls leave me when I shift into a wolf?”

My father looks deep in thought for a moment. “I suppose it’s possible, though unlikely. It isn’t something I’d hang my hopes on.”

“But it’s possible?”

“There’s never been a hunter-shifter before. The bloodline has always been pure.”

“How?” Harek asks. “If there’s never been a female hunter?”

Einar turns to me. “A hunter has never taken on the mother’s abilities. You’re unique in that, too.”

“Maybe I’m not actually a hunter.”

“If your palm reacts to evil fae and your sword glows at your touch, then you’re most assuredly the next hunter.”

“Then maybe I’m not also a werewolf.”

Harek shakes his head. “Your eyes turned silver.”

My father motions toward his home. “We have much to learn. Let’s start by seeing how my dragon reacts to you. Then we’ll fly to Skoro and get your sword back.”

I nod, unable to find words. As if all of this wasn’t bad enough, my siblings are going to get caught up in all of this. Will I be able to protect them and myself?