It was a mansion. A freaking mansion. We pulled down the lane of rowhouses that cost more than I could fathom, and there it was, looming overhead. Three stories tall, curving around the end of the cul-de-sac like arms reaching out for an embrace, an intimidating facade of brownstone as far as the eye could see. There was a rectangular archway over the front door, with honest-to-god pillars on either side. We pulled into the curved driveway and came to a stop. Whoever these guys were, they were connected, and not in the same way Kitty was. This night just kept getting more surreal.
I texted Missi the address. OMG it’s frickin’ huge. Boodle Maps this thing.
Stay frosty, Sia. Dudes with money can be the biggest freaks of them all.
Ping you in ten.
Roger.
I set a timer on my phone and tucked it into my pocket. The door opened in front of me.
“Welcome, welcome, wel… well well, what do we have here?” A very pretty boy who looked maybe a year or two older than me leaned on a pillar and looked me up and down with a leer. I took a step backward, Missi’s admonishment flashing through my head. There was a certain anime bad-boy quality to him, too perfect to be strictly human. Almost elven, in the Orlando Bloom sense. Cheekbones that could cut glass, ice blue eyes, and spiky platinum hair with a lock artfully draped over his left eye.
“Aric, stop being a fuckwit and let Ms. Bellmont in,” Chase growled.
Galen stepped up beside me and gave me a reassuring smile. “He’s an ass, but he’s harmless.”
“I am not,” Aric sniffed. “I could take you down.”
Galen snorted. “Yeah, like you did this morning when we were sparring? How’s that rib?”
Aric’s hand strayed absently toward his left side. He glowered at Galen, turned on his heel, and stalked into the mansion. I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Galen grinned at me, then bowed and gestured toward the door.
I felt like Belle walking into the Beast’s castle for the first time. A real crystal chandelier lit a huge marble-tiled atrium that was bigger than most of the homes I’d ever lived in. A swath of sapphire blue carpet swirled up a curved staircase to the upper level. Aric stood by a carved stone table holding a cobalt glass vase full of fresh-cut flowers.
“Let’s use the sitting room. We’re less likely to get wandered in on by the staff.” Aric led us down a hall hung with paintings of landscapes and portraits of people who looked vaguely like Aric. Old money. I took it all in as we walked. I’d probably never see anything like this again in my life.
The sitting room was about the size of McKinnett’s, furnished in Victorian-style (no, probably actual Victorian) settees and armchairs. I sat down cautiously in one of the chairs. It was probably worth more than my life. The others settled themselves, and we looked at each other in silence for a moment.
“Arysia Bellmont. We’ve been looking for you for a long time.” Aric sounded pleased with himself.
“Well, you found me. Or, rather, they found me.” I gave a what-the-hell look to Galen, who smirked.
Chase spoke up. “We all did. Aric has been helping to orchestrate the search from behind the scenes for the past three years.”
“Three years I’ll never get back.”
“Shut up, Aric.” Galen glared at him. Aric flashed him a no-shits-given smile, but shut up.
“Point being,” Chase continued, looking irritated, “we’ve been looking for you for some time. You fell off our radar when you left foster care.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” I muttered, then startled. “You were tracking me when I was in foster care?”
Chase looked uncomfortable. “We knew you were in foster care, but couldn’t find the specific home.”
“Homes.” My jaw was clenched. “Plural.”
“Uh, yeah.” Chase rubbed the back of his neck.
Galen took over. “You wanted to know what happened back at McKinnett’s?”
I nodded.
“Remember how we told you about your empathy? Your ability to meld into the shadows when you need to?”
“Yeah.” My heart began to pound. I’d never really thought about either as anything terribly unusual, just useful.
“It comes from who you are. What you are.” Galen’s smile faded. “You’re a dragon, Arysia.”
I sat there for a moment. Then, I drew my phone out of my pocket and typed on my phone.
SOS They’re batshit crazy.
Before I could hit Send, Galen continued.
“I know this sounds crazy.”
“No shit, dude.” Finger over the button.
He stood up. His torso shimmered, like the gang leader back at the pub. I blinked. Then I blinked harder.
From the waist up, Galen was a freaking dragon. Green scales covered a muscular chest, trailing down into the hem of his pants. His fingers lengthened into wicked-looking talons. His head was, well, a dragon’s. Long snout, sharp teeth, and a ridge of scales shadowing his eyes. His deep brown eyes gazed back at me under those ridges, the pupils lengthened into a vertical slit. Not unlike the snake-man at the pub.
I screeched and knocked over my chair, backpedaling away from him. My phone skidded across the carpet, forgotten for the moment.
“Jesus. You’ll wake the staff!” Aric hissed, looking pissy.
Cassidy stood up, hands out, placating. “It’s okay. He’s not going to hurt you. It’s okay.”
The Galen Dragon shimmered again, and he was back to normal. No, not normal. Nothing about this was normal. Normal left the building, never to be seen again.
“What… What the fuck…” My breath came in short gasps. “And you’re saying…”
“…that yes, you are a dragon. Like us.” Galen stepped toward me. Everything in my brain told me that now was the time to run. Run screaming into the night and never return. But there it was, that strange sensation inside me that told me that this was where I needed to be. And that they were who I needed to be with.
I took a couple of deep breaths. Galen picked up the fallen chair and set it back upright for me. I fell onto it. He walked back over to the settee and sat next to Cassidy.
I looked at my hands, half expecting to see talons. “So, what does this mean? My real parents were dragons, then?” I looked up at them. “What happened to them?”
The timer on my phone went off. I heard it vibrate against the floor. Quickly, I dove for it and deleted what I’d typed.
Mission control to Sia. What’s your status?
Things are very weird. But I’m safe.
What kind of weird?
I thought for a moment. How the hell was I going to explain all of this to her? To anyone?
Learning about my family tree. It’s nutty.
Har har. As you were.
I reset the timer and set the phone in my lap. “My parents. Who were they? What happened?”
Cassidy took the floor. “There are five different types of dragon, with five different roles to play in dragon society. Galen is an earth dragon. They’re healers.” Galen bowed his head, then nodded at his EMT patch. I nodded. “I’m an ethereal dragon. We’re, well, mostly academics these days, but traditionally shamans and keepers of the magic.”
“The magic?” I cocked an eyebrow.
Cassidy smiled. “Like Chase said, this isn’t exactly stuff we can talk about at a diner. Yes, magic.” He winked. “You think transforming into a dragon is anything but?”
Oh yeah. “Fair point. Continue.”
“Chase over there is a fire dragon.”
“Fire… an actual fire-breathing dragon?”
Chase flashed a crooked grin. “You know it.”
“Sweet.” Despite myself, I was starting to think this was all very cool. “I’m guessing you do some fighting?”
“We’re the warrior class, yes.” Chase answered.
“And I’m a water dragon. We handle the money. And rule over you peasants.” Aric smirked.
Cassidy glared at him. “Water dragons handle the finances, coordinate between groups of dragons, and serve as advisors to the shadow dragons.”
“Shadow dragons?” An uneasy feeling flitted through my stomach. “What do they do?”
Cassidy took a deep breath. “The shadow dragons are the direct descendants of the Eldest Dragon. From them, the other four lines came into being. They are the ruling class, and their breath holds the power of life and death, very literally.”
That uneasy feeling was coming to a rolling boil. “And my parents?” I looked Cassidy in the eye. “What am I?”
“You are the last of the shadow dragons.” Cassidy looked away for a moment, then met my eyes again. “Your mother was the last Shadow Queen. The Elder Council was betrayed by a rogue dragon to the Chosen of Apep. Most of them were killed in the attack, your parents included.” He paused and looked at his feet. I could feel a wave of guilt coming off of him. “And then, we lost you.”
I sat in silence, my mind reeling from everything I’d heard and seen. A bitter laugh escaped my throat.
“When I was five, I was put in a foster home with a really religious woman. She beat the shit out of me, saying I had evil inside me. Some sort of shadow. The devil.” I studied my sneakers. “I guess she wasn’t entirely wrong.”
Dead silence. Then, Galen lunged from his seat, kneeling beside me as the tears started to fall.
“No, no, no. She couldn’t have been more wrong.” Warm, strong arms encircled me. I stiffened. He started to pull away, but this was something I needed. Something I wanted. I put a hand on his bicep, and he held me, rigid or no. “I can’t say we’re the good guys. I mean, someone sold out your parents. But most of us, we’re good people. And everything I’ve seen of you says you’re good people.” The kindness radiating from him wrapped around me like a warm blanket. I rested my cheek on his shoulder and relaxed into his arms, letting him comfort me. Suddenly, I was tired. Dead, stinking tired.
“You need to get some rest. We can put you up here tonight.” His soft voice in my ear sent a warm shiver through me. It woke me up enough to pull back.
“I should get back home.” I looked at the phone in my lap. “Missi’s going to worry…”
A text lit up my screen.
Kitty just called. Says you should crash with me tonight. What the hell happened at the pub?
“Or I should get to Missi’s place.”
I’ll tell you when I get to yours. See you soon.