Once upon a Dragon Gift (Once Upon a Dragon Series Book 4)
Once upon a Dragon Gift: Chapter 5

My Cammy rang; I hit the button, and my father’s hologram appeared. “It’s Elena. You need to come.”

A jolt flashed through my body, and I jumped out of the bed. I rushed to Lucian’s bed and shook him awake. White hair lifted as my gaze flickered to Tabitha, sleeping next to him.

Lu opened his eyes.

“They have Elena.”

“What?”

“They have her!”

I grabbed my jeans and jumped into them.

“Get up, Lu,” Tabitha yelled, as I stepped into my sneakers and threw on a shirt.

A fluttering sensation filled my core seconds before a heavy weight pressed on my chest. The elevator jumped into my mind. I didn’t have a choice but to take it tonight. The trip was awful, made me feel off-balance afterward. But I wouldn’t get there on time if I flew.

“I’ll meet you there.” Tabitha rushed out of the door. Lu didn’t say a word as he got dressed. When we finished, we rushed to Master Longwei’s office, and I had to say that I wasn’t surprised that he waited for us.

Dad or King Albert must have phoned him.

The doors of the elevator waited eagerly, and I took the first seat.

“Blake?” Master Longwei inquired. He knew how this ride made me feel.

“I’ll be fine.” I strapped myself in, not wanting to look at him.

Lucian took the seat next to me. He clasped in, and I swallowed the sour taste that lingered inside my mouth.

The door closed, and I kept staring at the red button. Lu still hadn’t said a word.

The button flickered to green, and the drop came. My head spun like a vortex, and my organs felt as if they were getting crushed. My skin turned a red-purple hue and scales shifted into place.

I grunted as we stopped and took a huge breath.

The jolt was unbearable, pushing everything tighter. I focused on my scales, to not shift. Every part of my being told me that this was not right.

The last part squashed every organ and with a jolt, everything stopped. The pain in my torso and sides eased a bit, but my head spun like mad.

Every organ, scale, hair, and bone in my body felt like it plopped back in the wrong places. The breath I took burned straight through my lungs, not even knowing that I’d stopped breathing. I unbuckled my clasp as the door opened.

The floor inched closer as I toppled over. The connection wasn’t a hard one as King Albert’s office floor was padded with soft carpet.

“Blake!” My dad rushed to me.

Coughs poured from me as I tried to stabilize myself. I opened my eyes, and the room still spun. Dad’s hands were icy.

“Where is she?”

Silence came after he explained to King Albert how the elevator made me feel.

“Where is she?” My words came out as a grunt.

“Bob?” Jako said, not sounding pleased with my father at all.

Dad sighed. “She was here. Sorry, Son. I should’ve made it more clear.”

I rolled onto my back and closed my eyes as my head continued to spin.

“She is not here anymore?” Lu asked as I tried to stop the vortex inside my head. King Albert’s sobs reached my ears. He was down the hallway.

My gaze flickered to my father’s. “What happened; why is he crying?”

Dad’s eyes squinted as he stared at me. So did Jako, standing behind my father. Nobody was answering my question, and it only put me more on alert.

“Dad!”

“You can hear that?”

What an odd question? “Of course, I can hear it.”

“It’s soundproof walls, Blake,” Dad explained, and Jako left.

“Why is he crying?” I growled, not giving a shit whether the walls were soundproof.

“Because of what she said to him.”

“What did she say?” Lu asked.

“We think Goran is telling her that he is her father and that the king killed her mother.”

I huffed. Goran was so twisted. I wondered what he had told her about me.

“Blake, what is he doing?”

“He is doing the same to her as he did to me.” I couldn’t look at him as everything kept spinning.

Jako entered with a clear bubbled drink in a glass. He handed it to me. “Drink this.”

“If I drink anything now, I’m going to puke.”

“You won’t. Drink it.”

I took the glass from him and brought it to my nose. The soft splashes of bubbles tickled my nostrils as I brought it to my lips. My throat instantly dried as the lemony, bitter taste met my tastebuds. Jaco kept a finger on the bottom, egging me on to finish the contents.

I closed my nostrils to not taste the drink and chugged the rest down my throat in a few swallows. When I finished, everything settled.

“Feel better?”

I nodded, staring at the white powder that accumulated on the bottom of the glass. “What is that?”

“Old remedy. You are not the only one that feels as if you get taken apart and put back wrong when taking the elevators.”

“You?”

He shook his head but didn’t answer who the other one was.

I pushed myself to sit up and crawled to the nearest chair, hoisted myself up the seat and plopped into it. This was bearable.

“I’ll go get Albert,” Dad said as Lu leaned with his ass against the king’s desk.

“She was really here?” Lu questioned as he folded his arms.

“Yes, she is a Thunderlight,” Jako answered. He looked tired, rundown.

“What happened; how did she get away?” I needed to know.

“I told her to go.”

“What?” both Lu and I growled.

“Blake, she killed five guards. She almost fried her father and yours. Can you imagine if she killed her father, and the spell gets broken? She will never be able to live with herself.”

I shook my head as I lived with my regret of killing almost a quarter of King Albert’s night guards. “I know how that feels as I almost killed my father too. She didn’t know it was him. Goran is probably feeding her a bullshit story; it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the same one he told me.”

“What do you mean told?”

“Okay, not told. It’s the spell. It’s like you grew up with a different life. He told me—”

Jako put up his hand. “Wait for the king and your father.”

I nodded.

King Albert came back. He glared at Jako.

“Stop glaring at me.”

“You sent her back to that monster who is filling her head with garbage.”

“She would’ve killed you and probably me too. What do you think will happen if the spell wears off? There was no other way, not without Blake here.” Jako pointed at the floor to make his argument.

I could see the truth hitting King Albert.

“She doesn’t know it’s you,” I said.

“I know that, Blake. She thinks Goran is her father, that I killed her mother!”

Lu flinched at the king’s tone.

“And that you are barbaric, called the Barbaric King, and my dad killed his entire family to become your dragon.”

“What?” Dad asked.

“I didn’t think he would tell her the same story, but yeah. Sounds like he has. When I was under his spell, it felt as if I escaped a prison where you kept me locked up.” I looked at the king. “My mind was filled with your cruelty, how you killed my friends, tortured me. Believe me, I hated you with a passion, not to mention my father. His spell had no flaws as I truly believed he was my rider, and I loved him the way I loved Elena. It’s sick and twisted.” I walked to the window to get some fresh air. There was still a nauseating spot in my core that the drink hadn’t gotten rid of. The chilly breeze seemed to help.

“Blake?” Dad said.

“When I came here that night, I was shit scared. It’s the first thing he changes. You feel powerful close to him, like you can do anything, but weak without him. When I saw you,” I looked at my father, “I thought I was going to die. The way you cornered me and there was no way out, I didn’t want to be locked up again, and when my Dad spoke about fertilizing my egg…” A chuckle escaped my lips. “I got so confused, and I was confused for a long time, questioning a couple of things. Goran spun some weird shit on me and told me you would say anything to capture me. I was the alpha of the dragons. With me locked in your dungeon, you had access to all the dragons. When I told him what you had said, he and his wyverns laughed. They thought it was the biggest joke. You feel pretty stupid saying it out loud. So after a while, you keep things to yourself.”

“She is going to ask him about the spell,” Jako pointed out.

I squinted. “You told her it’s a spell?”

He nodded. “I told her to go, as I don’t want her to regret it when the spell wears off.”

“It will not wear off; it has to be broken,” I explained.

“How do we break it, Blake?” Jako asked.

I shrugged. King Albert just stared at the carpet. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I knew they would be filled with disappointment. The look his daughter shared with him.

His gaze flicked to me, and it glistened with unshed tears. “So she honestly believes that I’m some monster?”

“I did. He made me believe Paegeia isn’t free. That the three kings on the throne are evil and it is our duty to fight for our place in this world, for a better Paegeia.”

Dad’s shoulders slumped. “Son, I thought it was your darkness.”

“It wasn’t, Dad. I thought I fought for the greater good.”

My dad’s jaw muscles pumped as one of King Albert’s tears ran down his cheek. He wiped it away.

“I’ll stay. If she wants the Elemental dragons, she’ll have to go through me.”

“Blake, you have school,” my father said.

“I’m not leaving. I’m staying.”

“Son, your father is right. You can’t miss school.”

“You saw what that elevator ride does to me. I’m not doing that to myself again. When she comes again, I have to be ready.”

“What about your school?” Dad growled.

“Then get tutors,” Lu suggested. “I’m staying too. That was supposed to be me. I can’t believe he is fucking family.”

King Albert sighed. “He wasn’t always like that.”

“Oh, stop, you will not feel sorry for him again. He has your daughter,” Lu yelled.

“I’m not feeling sorry for him. People do that to people, Lucian. I want you to learn,” King Albert responded.

“Goran had all of you as friends. He could’ve chosen differently. He didn’t. There is no excuse for what he’s become. When I see him, I’ll kill him myself if you don’t.” Lu walked out of the office. A creepy silence lingered.

“The prince has a point, Al. He is not the Goran we grew up with, that fought with us for a better Paegeia. Look what he did to Blake, look—”

“We’ve had this conversation a few times already. I’m looking. I want her back as much as Blake does, probably even more.”

“Not possible,” I interjected.

“Son?”

“I’m just saying. She is my Dent.” And wife, but I refused to let that one slip.

King Albert pushed himself out of the chair and looked at me.

Jako stared at the king. “What do you want to do? You want me to call Helmut? Speak some sense into his boy?”

“No,” King Albert said, and his gaze flickered to me. “I think it’s time that we need to listen more. Arrange for tutors. Blake is the only one who can get through to her. If the Prince of Tith wants to stay too, let him. If anyone wants to stay, they are welcome. We are going to need all the help to get through to my daughter.”

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