Chapter 20
Harlow
I sit on the edge of my bed in the bungalow, reading and then rereading the same page of a romance novel. I barely ate anything at lunch. I couldn’t.
What happens now?
The question runs through my mind on repeat. Am I going to be forced to stay? Will they let me leave with the others? Does anyone even know what the protocol is when a dragon shifter who already has a rider bonds with someone else?
I’m pretty sure they’re discussing it right now. If they’re not, I hope they do and that they inform me of my fate soon.
All this waiting is killing me. It isn’t fair that I haven’t been told anything. Nothing at all. I would have thought that Drake would have had the decency to tell me something…anything.
I’m done sitting around.
I stand, my hands clenching into fists at my sides.
I need answers, and there’s only one person who can give them to me.
Before I can second-guess myself, I’m out the door and striding across the compound toward the executive offices. I try not to think too hard about what it is I am doing, or I might chicken out. I have every right to answers.
The quaint office building is just ahead.
Like all the other buildings at flight school, it is built for comfort more than style, with a thatched roof.
I yank open the door and step into the blessedly cool interior, my eyes adjusting to the dimmer light.
I walk down a hallway to the main office toward the back.
As I turn a corner, I spot Amelia sitting at a desk just outside what I assume is Drake’s office.
Great!
I really don’t want to see her. I certainly don’t want another confrontation. I have no idea why she hates me so much, only that she does.
She looks up as I enter, and her expression immediately hardens. Her eyes narrow, and her mouth presses into a thin line of displeasure.
Yep, I wouldn’t expect anything less from her.
“Can I help you?” she asks, her voice dripping with false politeness. “I think you might be lost. As a Tribute, you have no right to be here.”
I force myself to stand tall despite the hostility rolling off her in waves. “I need to speak with Drake.”
“Academy Leader Drake is busy,” Amelia tells me in a clipped tone, emphasizing his title like she’s reminding me of my place. “He’s in a meeting with Councilor Reed. You’ll have to come back later.”
The dismissal is clear, but I don’t move. I’ve come this far, and I’m not leaving without answers.
“I can wait,” I tell her, taking a few steps further into the room.
Amelia stands up from her chair, planting her palms on the desk as she leans forward. The gesture is clearly meant to be intimidating, and despite my height advantage, it almost works.
“You should be packing,” she snaps. “Your flight leaves tonight at eight.”
“I know when the flight leaves,” I say in a deadpan voice, even though my heart is racing. “I’m not sure I’m going to be allowed to leave after what happened today.”
“You will be on that flight if I have anything to say about it.”
“I’m not sure that either of us has a say.”
“As Drake’s primary rider, I most certainly have a say in this.
And for the record,” she lowers her voice, her gaze flicking to Drake’s office door before locking with mine, “what happened today is entirely your fault.” The words come fast and sharp, like she’s been holding them back and finally can’t contain them anymore.
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to follow simple instructions.
If you had just stuck to the plan, none of this would have happened. ”
Anger flares in my chest, hot and fierce. “I was helping my friend. I thought she was in danger, and I acted. In that moment, I wasn’t thinking about rules or plans or any of that.”
“I agree. You weren’t thinking at all. You ruined everything!” she whisper-shouts, her face flushing with anger. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? The position you’ve put Drake in? The position you’ve put all of us in?”
“Us?” I take a step closer, my own frustration boiling over.
“You mean you. This all happened because you lost control of Drake’s dragon.
If you had stuck to the plan and kept him on the periphery, none of this would have happened.
You lost control, and you hate that fact.
It’s easier just to blame me for everything.
Do you even hear yourself right now? I’m not sure what I did to make you hate me so much. ”
“You don’t know anything about being a rider.
We work with our dragons. We can’t control them…
not really. We direct them and work with them.
Like it or not, his dragon mind-bonded with you,” she whispers.
“That means he couldn’t stand by and watch you get hurt.
There was nothing I could have done to stop him.
Don’t blame me for this. You put yourself in harm’s way.
If it were up to me, you’d be dead twice over. ”
Don’t I know it.
“You need to leave,” she tells me, her voice cold and flat. “Pack your things and get on that plane with the other failed Tributes. Drake already has a rider. He doesn’t need you.”
The words should make me happy. This is what I want, isn’t it? To go home?
“I would like nothing better than to leave,” I tell her. “Trust me, Amelia. We’re in agreement about that, if nothing else. I don’t want to be here any more than you want me here.”
“Good,” she snaps. “Then go pack. Drake has nothing to say to you.”
“Actually,” Drake says from behind us, “I need to speak with both of you. I’m glad you’re here.”
He walks out of his office, Councilor Reed just behind him. His eyes meet mine for just a moment before moving away, and his jaw tightens.
Amelia turns, her whole demeanor changing. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were there. Harlow and I were having a little talk.”
“You must be Councilor Reed,” I say, my voice coming out a little high-pitched. “I’m Harlow Santos.”
“I know who you are, Ms. Santos,” Reed says. Her expression is unreadable as she looks between Amelia and me. “It is good to meet you.” She looks to Drake.
Dammit. My stomach drops like a stone. They’re not letting me leave. I know it. I can feel it.
Drake takes a step toward us, and I notice the way his eyes linger on Amelia for a moment longer than necessary. There’s concern there, and something that looks almost like regret.
Noooooooo.
“There’s something we need to do before Harlow can be allowed to leave the island,” Drake says, his gaze finally narrowing on me. “We need to do it now with Councilor Reed as a witness.”
“What is so important?” Amelia demands, and I hear the crack in her voice that suggests she’s barely holding it together. “Drake, what’s going on? You may have formed a secondary bond with this Tribute, but we don’t need her.”
“It won’t take long, Mels, but it is important, please.”
He exchanges a look with Reed, and she gives him a small nod. When he turns back to us, his expression makes my pulse spike.
“What I’m about to say won’t be easy for either of you to hear,” he begins, and his eyes linger on Amelia with that same worried look.
Whatever this is, he’s particularly concerned about how she’s going to react.
“Things might have changed. I don’t think they have, but we need to be certain.
We need to perform a simple test…that’s all. ”
“What test?” I ask, frowning.
“Yes, what is this about?” Amelia asks, her hands clenching at her sides.
Reed steps forward, and something about the sympathy in her expression makes my heart pound even harder.
“Based on information we received from multiple witnesses who observed today’s events,” Reed says, her tone measured and calm, “it would seem that Drake’s dragon may no longer regard you as his primary rider, Amelia.”
“What?” Amelia’s voice comes out strangled. “What does that even mean?”
I’m trying hard not to make assumptions about what this could mean. I tell myself to calm down. To wait until I have more information before feeling any kind of emotion.
“It means that Harlow might now be Drake’s primary rider instead of you.”
Amelia staggers back. The hurt in her eyes almost makes me feel sorry for her.
“No.” She shakes her head. “I don’t believe it. You’re wrong.” She looks at Drake. “Tell them, Drake.”
He shrugs. “I don’t believe it, but we need to find out for sure.”
“No, we don’t. Send her away so that everything can go back to the way it was before.” Her eyes well with tears, but she sniffs and gives a shake of her head, her expression hardening once more.
“I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that, Amelia,” Reed tells her in a soft voice.
“She isn’t his primary,” Amelia says through gritted teeth.
“She might be. It can sometimes happen,” Reed continues, her voice still calm.
“It’s incredibly rare for a dragon to take a second rider, and rarer still for that dragon to choose the secondary bond as its primary.
But based on what happened earlier – your complete inability to influence Drake’s dragon while he responded immediately to the threat against Ms. Santos – it’s pointing to that outcome. ”
I grip the edge of a nearby chair to steady myself.
Holy crap! This can’t be happening.
This isn’t possible. I’m the secondary bond. I’m the one who doesn’t matter. I’m supposed to be going home.
“That’s ridiculous!” Amelia shouts, her composure shattering. “Drake and I have been bonded for years. We have a perfect partnership. There’s no way his dragon would just…just replace me!” She whirls toward Drake, desperation clear in her voice. “Tell them. Tell them it’s not true.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry,” he tells her. “Although I’m sure you’re right.”
“This is insane,” Amelia continues, her voice rising with each word. “Who cares what some witnesses think they saw? Drake wants Harlow gone. That’s all there is to it.”
Drake just stands there. Of course he wants me gone. We agreed on that. We had a plan.
The non-answer shouldn’t hurt. It really shouldn’t. We both want the same thing – for me to leave. So why does his silence gnaw at me?
It’s silly. I’m being silly.
“And I certainly don’t want her interfering,” Amelia says, gesturing sharply in my direction. “We don’t need a third wheel.” She takes a breath, seeming to steady herself. “And beyond that, it’s clear that Harlow actually wants to go home. So just let her go. Let her leave with the others.”
She looks at me, and I know what she’s asking. She wants me to back her up, to confirm that I don’t want this any more than she does.
For a split second, I consider denying it just to irritate her, but I don’t. I’m not that petty.
“It’s true, I do want to go home,” I tell them.
“It doesn’t matter what any of you think or what any of you want,” Reed says firmly, and there’s steel in her voice now.
“Your feelings on the matter play no role at all. The only thing that matters is what Drake’s dragon has decided.
If he has chosen Ms. Santos as his primary rider, then that is what will happen.
You see, his bond with you will have drastically weakened, Amelia.
It will still be there, but nowhere near as tight as it was before.
” She pauses, and I see her choosing her next words carefully.
“Even if we send Ms. Santos home, that won’t change.
The bond has already shifted. A primary rider becomes a necessity, while a secondary rider is not. Drake will need Harlow.”
The words wash over me like ice water.
No. No, no, no.
I’m struggling to breathe.
This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening.
I look at Drake, silently begging him to say something, to fix this somehow. But he just stands there, his expression unreadable, offering nothing.
It can’t be. It just can’t.
And yet… It might be.
“What now?” Amelia asks. Her voice is hollow. “How do we prove I’m still Drake’s primary rider?”
“There’s only one way to know for certain,” Reed says. “Drake needs to shift into his dragon form. Whoever can influence his dragon will be deemed the primary rider with the strongest bond.” She looks between us. “That is the person who will have to stay.”
The clinical way she says it makes it sound so simple. But my entire future is hanging in the balance. Everything I thought I knew about what happens next is crumbling around me.
“What if I refuse?” I ask.
“In order to be a Councilor, we need to have a strong bonded rider. It’s one of the fundamental requirements. Dragon shifters are more stable when they have a rider,” Reed tells us.
Drake’s eyes seem to darken. His jaw tightens further. He looks angry.
“I would have to step down,” Drake says.
“You can’t step down.” Amelia’s voice breaks, and she brushes a tear away. “You’re doing too much to change things. You’ve worked too hard. You—”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. No one is stepping down just yet,” Reed says in a no-nonsense voice.
Amelia straightens her shoulders. “Let’s get this over with,” she says, already moving toward the door.
Her voice is steady now, determined. “The sooner we do this test, the sooner we can put this ridiculous theory to rest and send Harlow home where she belongs.” She glares at me for a beat and then strides out of the office.
We follow her.
One test. One shift. And then I’ll know whether I’m going home.
Or whether my life as I know it is over.