“I’m back!” She cheered. “And I’ve got snacks!”
It was more than obvious that these children loved their teacher, and the feeling was reciprocated by Melody.
“Thank you so much,” Melody placed her papers on her desk and hurried to me.
I smiled.
“Not a problem. I’m just glad to see that you’re okay,” I told her honestly.
She held up her cast. “It wasn’t as bad as they thought it was. Just a hairline fracture that should take care of itself with me wearing this for another month. It was a good thing, too, because they brought a really, really bad case in as I was getting my cast fitted. I was glad I was leaving so that the girl could have their undivided attention.”
“What happened?” I asked worriedly.
Melody smiled sadly. “From what I heard, a young girl was beaten because they found out her father was a dragon rider. She was about sixteen or seventeen. She was hurt really bad, and as I was leaving, I overheard them say she probably wouldn’t make it.”
My heart hurt for the young girl’s parents.
Poor thing.
“I’ll go up there and see if I can be of any use. Don’t overdo it, Melody,” I ordered teasingly.
She held up her hands in surrender. “Yes, My Queen.”
Her eyes were shining with mirth, but at the mention of being ‘Queen,’ my heart started to pound.
It made me feel uncomfortable to think about being the Queen.
Hell, I was just a girl from Dallas, Texas. I wasn’t a freakin’ Queen.
I ate popcorn out of the bag. Wore flip-flops instead of heels. Wore panties from Wal-Mart rather than Victoria’s Secret. I didn’t own a single dress. Nor did I ever wear my hair down.
Weren’t queens supposed to be poised and elegant?
Because if so, I wasn’t it.
I was me. Blythe Diane Barrett.
The daughter of two ordinary people.
I attended public school, and I drank beer.
Clearly, I wasn’t Queen material.
“See ya, Melody,” I waved hastily as doubts started to creep into my thoughts.
Tears started to form in my eyes, but I willed them away by replacing the moisture at my eyes with dry air.
That was something Keifer had taught me to do only last night, and I found that I loved it.
It was a good defense mechanism, of course.
“Whoa!” Dorian caught me as I ran directly into him when I rounded the corner of the building where the daycare was housed.
I’d had to have Skylar show me how to get here earlier, and I was actually thankful to see a familiar face.
“Hey,” I greeted him. “Can you show me to the exit?”
He must’ve been in a real hurry, because the moment I said it, he was pointing towards the hallway on the right and hurrying past me into the room I’d just exited.
Turning in curiosity, I found Dorian standing in front of Melody, her broken arm held gently between his two hands.
It was as if he was holding a baby bird with his fingers with how delicately he was treating her.
“Are you okay?” He asked softly.
Melody scowled at him and wrenched her hand away from him, which inevitably hurt her since her face crumpled the moment she did it.
“Fine,” she said in a pained whisper. “Perfectly fine, thanks.”
Dorian scowled at her and went to reach for her hand once again, but Melody stepped away from him.
“Why are you here?” She demanded.
That’s when I chose to leave.
I wasn’t one to spy, and this was clearly something personal between the two of them.
So, I turned and hurried down the hallway, readily finding the exit seeing as it had a large red EXIT sign hanging above the door. But the moment I pushed through it and let it slam closed behind me, I realized my mistake.
This wasn’t where I’d entered.
Far from it, in fact.
It was an exit…just not one I would’ve taken if I’d had the choice.
Because it practically dumped me out right in the middle of nowhere.
One way led around a lake…the other led to a sleeping dragon.
Talk about a rock and a hard place.
“Shit,” I said, turning around and trying the door.
Locked.
Of course it was.
I don’t bite, little one.
I blinked and turned around slowly. Very slowly.
The big purple beast had raised his head, and he was now staring at me with dispassionate eyes.
Promise? I asked him hopefully.
Cross my heart. Come talk to me. I have things that I want to say to you.
I swallowed thickly, and then started walking.
Whatever it was about this dragon, it felt right. Something in me wanted me to walk that way. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. Not on his life.
But I wasn’t stupid.
I told Keifer what I was doing.
I’m going in, I sent him through our link.
Going in where? He asked worriedly.
To the dragon’s den.Chapter 18
The secret to a clean house is simple. Don’t cook. Ever. Drink coffee instead.-Coffee CupKeifer
“Are you sure it’s her?” I asked my brother.