Chapter 3 We Need Dragons #2
At first, it stole my breath to struggle to find a way to calm him, but then I burst into a giggle, enjoying having a protector in my best friend.
As a thank you, I kissed his cheek, pulling the cutest shocked expression from him.
His eyes bulged and his mouth dropped open in an “O” shape, his cheeks filling with the red.
I giggled even harder and shook my head.
“No one’s hurting me.” He was still confused by my reactions, so I explained.
“You looked like a dragon. Ready to burn down all of Europe for me.” The giggle rumbled through my body again.
Only toward the end of it did I notice the way he was taking in my laughter.
He was serious, studying every shake of my body, not with offense or embarrassment, but with fascination.
“I would, you know.”
“Would what?”
“Burn everything down for you. I am your dragon.” He nodded as he spoke the last sentence.
I don’t know why; the statement was like a record scratching, it silenced everything.
It left me open mouthed while Killian took the first bite of the sandwich without dropping my fascinated leer.
We were just kids though. Kids shouldn’t burn anything down, but oh did I want to with him.
I imagined us together, burning house after house and laughing.
He would have helped me kill Grandma. That’s exactly how she should have died, like an evil witch—tied down, naked, the flames melting her skin away, unmasking all the ugly, and pulling shrieks of helplessness and pain.
She’d stood there and allowed the men to hurt my poor, dear, sweet daddy, so it only made sense that I would have stood there, digging into her pleading eyes.
Killian and I were in our own universe again where everything was safe and warm.
He wouldn’t judge my dark fantasies. I had no idea how many minutes passed while I fantasized, and we caressed each other with our gazes, but my body was already dreading for the school bell to signal the end of recess.
“Magdalena.” It was a warm, heavy whisper after a silence full of so much affection.
I bit a little bit of my bottom lip. Looking into his eyes, I released a sigh like one does on a sunny summer day while lounging all day.
I was home, safe. “If anyone ever hurts you, you must tell me. That’s what real best friends do. Deal?”
I nodded because if I didn’t say the words, then it wasn’t a lie. Right? Killian already carried so much darkness, I didn’t want to add to it, no matter what happened to me.
“Promise me.”
Oh no! I gaped my mouth and eyes open, then bit the side of my cheek. “I promise.”
“Good.”
From that day forward, just a side-eye from Killian would shut down the other kids’ chanting.
“Do your parents call you Maggie like everyone here?” Killian asked me one day while we sat on the stone bench in the schoolyard as I opened my lunch box.
“You don’t do that,” I stated, handing him half my ham sandwich, and stabbed our orange juice boxes with the straw.
“No, I like your real name.”
“They call me angel.”
Killian nodded. “You are an angel, my angel.”
“Stop.” I directed my eyes away from him with a smile I couldn’t erase, looking down at the green bush that surrounded the bench. “You’re going to make my cheeks burn again.”
“But you are. Every time I’m near you, I feel like I’m in heaven. Only angels can do that.”
I chuckled. “You’re a silly goose, Killian.
” Within seconds of my comment, something struck my eye.
Stars sprinkled behind my eyelid, and a sting spread over my cheek.
My sandwich fell to the grass, and my juice splashed my dark blue dress.
I tried to massage the sting away, but it wouldn’t dissipate.
Looking around, I realized a big ball had been thrown at me.
I should have laughed it off right away with Mael, instead, I sat there like an idiot, spaced out and rubbing my eye to ease the pain.
Mael stood yards away, staring at us. His eyes were full of anger until they widened when Killian took off toward him while yelling, “What did you just do?”
It took time for me to process the events, then Killian toppled Mael over and punched him again and again and again. I could hear his fist hitting Mael’s face, hear Mael groan at the pain and Killian roaring so deep and loudly.
“Killian, no!” I shouted while trying to get through the crowd cheering on the fight. I didn’t want him to get in trouble because of me. Never had I felt such intense guilt. It drummed in my heart. “Killian! Please stop!” I was about to reach for him, to stop him, but Bessie pulled my arm back.
“Don’t. You’ll get hurt.”
Killian growled, looking and sounding like a monster as he pummeled Mael’s bloody face. He said some words, but they weren’t in English or French or Spanish. It was as if he’d turned into something not human.
Minutes later, the teachers broke through the crowd and tore Killian away from Mael and started walking toward the building.
Our gazes locked as he was dragged away.
It could have been the bruise below his eye quickly becoming purple, but it was the first time I’d truly seen the rage everyone spoke about in full bloom.
Killian still didn’t look like himself, and I hated that it scared me.
My fear of his fury felt like a betrayal.
Wasn’t this what I wanted from him; for him to love the darkest parts of me? Well... right before me was the darkest part of him, and I had failed him in every way by allowing myself to be scared. Was this how Mommy looked at Daddy and me? God, I hoped not.
Killian’s nostrils flared every time he breathed out. The anger wrinkled his eyebrows and shaped his eyes into a deep glare. He’d used all his strength and energy forcing his breathing to rush.
This wasn’t just fantasizing; his rage was uncontrollable.
He hadn’t even heard me when I shouted for him to stop. I swallowed hard, feeling guilty for having pushed Killian into this.
Slowly, way behind, I followed the teachers taking them into the school building.
As they passed the entrance, I forced myself to take in the state of Mael, to confront what Killian had done to defend me.
I wanted this fear to go away. Mael’s face like Killian’s fist, was covered in blood, and deformed, quickly becoming swollen.
A gash on his left cheek was bleeding thick blood fast.
That was what my dark dragon had done for me. That was how hard he’d defended me. A smile spread on my lips as the fear became a rush of excitement.
I felt worshipped, powerful.
When my attention met Killian again, his eyes no longer held anger, he was no longer huffing and puffing rage out of his body, he was full of glee and even laughed.
I couldn’t hear it well, but the teacher chastised him.
Mael turned his attention to Killian’s laughter finding it strange, not understanding the oath my dragon and I had spoken in silence.
I stayed behind and walked back to our spot where our sandwiches and fallen juice were being consumed by ants.
Would they really throw him out of school? Could I handle being there with all these other kids and not have my sweet moments with him? Being alone on the bench felt horrible and cold. It was the first day I was happy for the bells to ring so that we could return to class.
For a whole week, my heart stood still in my chest. It was difficult to breathe. Killian wasn’t in school the next day, and I feared he’d never be again. Thank God his uncle donated extra money to the school for a new auditorium so that Killian wouldn’t be permanently expelled.