Chapter Fourteen
The slamming of a car door on Sunday evening sent Elouan dashing to the window, like every car door slam since noon, when he’d begun cleaning to ensure Curtis didn’t walk through the door and immediately start tidying the place. He’d even looked up recipes online and bought groceries.
Curtis wrangled a bag from his car’s trunk.
Curtis. At least Elouan now had someone to talk to, since Jules needed to study, and Elouan needed distracting, since the pending house closing made him antsy.
No way would he mention the house to Curtis or Jules until he’d signed the papers and had the key in his hand.
The storminess of Curtis’s mood slammed into Elouan like a fist the moment his roommate stepped through the door. All the questions he’d longed to ask vanished from his tongue. “What happened?”
Curtis threw his bags to the floor, then rounded on Elouan, tears streaming down his face. “I didn’t shift.”
“Aww, man, I’m so sorry.” Elouan opened his arms. While he knew in his heart Curtis would never shift, he still hoped for a better outcome and sympathized with the pain.
Curtis dove into the offered hug, letting out big, gasping wails. Elouan held him, not knowing what else to do but be there for him. “Shh…It’s all right. I’m here for you.”
“You don’t understand. You can’t understand!” Curtis sobbed.
Elouan snuffled Curtis’s hair and whispered. “No, but I can try.” Curtis’s friends, whom Elouan spotted yesterday, should be here offering comfort. They were omega dragons and should understand.
Elouan and Curtis stood in the living room, Elouan rocking slowly from side to side, taking Curtis with him.
At last, the wails quieted to the occasional sniff. Curtis pulled away. “Sorry, man.”
“Don’t be.”
“Each time I go, I keep hoping, you know?” He sounded so small now, like a child.
Yes. Yes, Elouan did. Only he hoped for other things. “We can still try at the warehouse. Maybe you’re under too much pressure with your folks there.”
Curtis sniffed again. “Maybe.” Never had a more noncommittal answer been spoken.
Time to change the subject. “Did you see any other dragons there?” Now definitely wasn’t the time to talk about moving out.
Curtis wiped his damp cheeks with the back of his hand.
“A few. I found out something. Some dragon couples have hoped for young the human way, but it never works out. Even those with human mates are disappointed. I’m the only human-dragon hybrid that any of Dad’s friends know of.
Plus, we lost three more dragons in the past six months, two from age and one from an accident.
No one knows how to return to Adrakus.” He turned sorrowful eyes to Elouan. “We’re dying out.”
Icy shards of fear filled Elouan’s belly. Such would be his own fate if Sakaris didn’t come for him.
His cellphone vibrated in his pocket. He removed the phone just enough to discreetly peek at the screen. Jules. He’d have to answer later. Right now, he needed to support his friend.
“Are you hungry? I bought food.”
Curtis nodded. “I could eat.”
“Then find us a movie. I’ll fix dinner.” Elouan pulled frozen rolls from the freezer to bake, and the fried chicken came from the deli, as did the potato salad, but he opened the can of green beans himself.
They spent the evening on the couch watching comedies and eating to lift Curtis’s mood. Afterward, Curtis hoisted his laptop onto his lap, turning the screen so Elouan couldn’t see. That was strange. Maybe he’d found a boyfriend he wasn’t ready to talk about.
Curtis’s face paled. “You didn’t…you didn’t read my messages, did you?”
What? “Of course not.” Just one asking if Curtis was there.
Still, Curtis’s shoulders remained stiff. Though Elouan waited, Curtis said nothing more.
I think we found them.
Elouan responded to Jules’s text after midnight but still hadn’t found the right words to question Curtis without distressing him further.
I’ve been thinking of you, Jules had texted. Moira asked me to stay home today.
Elouan needed more details about Jules’s guardianship. Other men he knew would say Jules wasn’t worth the effort and walk away. Elouan wasn’t like other men. In fact, he wasn’t a man at all, at least not full-time. Jules was worth the effort.
They guarded many royal omegas back home closely, preventing them from imprinting on the wrong dragon before their mate arrived—a barbaric practice Father didn't allow for Anrai. Also, a fallacy few still believed in.
Elouan admitted to Jules, I’ve been thinking of you too.
Jules replied, I’ve been thinking about being in your room. I’d love to be there again. With you. Naked.
That sounded promising. How about this coming weekend?
I’m sorry, but we’re going out of town.
Where?
A cabin in the mountains we go to sometimes.
Not vague at all. Had Jules figured out Elouan was on to him? Were Moira and Ray taking him and running?
I’ll miss you. That was all Elouan could think of to say. He left unsaid, Please don’t run. Please talk to me. Tell Moira I’m not a threat.
What if he never came back?
Though the thought came more as a feeling than words, Elouan’s dragon clearly communicated, Then we’ll find him.
It took Elouan all morning to finally get Leon alone during break, away from potential eavesdroppers. “Curtis told me he didn’t shift.”
The smile left Leon’s face. “Every time we go somewhere remote, I get my hopes up. So does he. But he’s not going to shift, is he?” He gazed into Elouan’s eyes, looking for…confirmation?
“I’ve never met a half-human before. I don’t know.” Sakaris might.
“He resents me, you know.”
“What?” Elouan would let Leon talk, not confiding what Curtis told him unless absolutely necessary.
“When he was growing up, I told him all the stories my parents told me, about flying, being a part of a court. I built his hopes, never dreaming I’d let him down.”
“You didn’t let him down. From what I’ve seen, you’re a wonderful father.”
“But I can’t give him the one thing he really wants—to be a dragon. He blames me for leaving the dragon world, coming here, and marrying his mother. He thinks his life would’ve been much better if he’d been born in Adrakus.”
“That might never have happened. The Goddess hasn’t granted many young lately, and with the court upheavals, there’s no telling what would have happened. You’re all safer here.”
Leon ran a hand over the back of his neck. “I know that, but he’s at the age where parents can’t do anything right, you know?” A muscle twitched in his jaw.
“Look, one day Sakaris is supposed to come back for me. If anyone would know what to do about Curtis’s situation, it's him.”
A ray of hope penetrated Leon’s remorse. “Really? Do you think he could help? Or would? Many dragons aren’t sympathetic to humans, let alone a half-human, half-dragon. My son has been through enough because of my decisions. I won’t have him ridiculed more than he already has been.”
Guilt struck Elouan again at how little attention he’d paid to Curtis’s situation.
No humans settled near High Reaches, though he’d heard other courts speak of them, some with affection, like one would indulge a pet, others with malice.
He’d heard the stories about how dragons brought them from Terra to be servants.
The humans rebelled and left. He’d flown over more than one burned-out human settlement and never thought about what became of the inhabitants.
How would Father have reacted to nearby humans?
How would Elouan? Hadn’t he heard rumors of some courts trading with humans?
Father had said that human hands crafted Anrai’s flute.
While Elouan met some humans on Terra who hadn’t impressed him, others had, like his boss and the boss’s wife. Their children were adorable.
The buildings of High Reaches, built into the sides of mountains, many part of a cave system, were old, constructed long before Elouan’s time.
When a structure became unstable, dragons simply moved, as the decreasing population left many open dwellings.
What if Elouan had someone like his human boss, or Jules, who could look at crumbling foundations and determine the best course of action?
Construction skills had long since faded from the courts, an untenable situation.
Could humans possess the knowledge to help bring back lost skills?
Another thing to consider for a king. But what of Sakaris? As an ancient dragon, surely he’d interacted with humans, and he never spoke unfavorably of them. If rumors held true, he’d been alive before there ever was a High Reaches.
Elouan answered in the best way he could. “Sakaris is the wisest dragon I know, and a mage. I believe he can. And would.” Particularly if his king asked. There Elouan went again, backing himself against a wall, into a situation where he’d have to become king for the good of all.
Leon smiled again. “Thanks. Oh, I asked my friend, and you’re welcome to stay at the cabin this weekend if you want.
” He fished a key from his pocket, along with a folded sheet of paper.
“Here’s the instructions on how to get there, and here’s the key.
Just put the place to rights before you leave.
” Leon winked. “No offense intended, but alphas are notorious for expecting an omega to run behind them, cleaning up their messes.”
The comment startled a laugh out of Elouan. “Point taken, but this alpha is learning his lesson.”
How many times had Elouan unknowingly encouraged the stereotype by sitting back and letting Curtis handle most household chores? Had he complained to Leon?
Elouan must do better. “I promise to leave the place spotless.” He took the key from Leon’s outstretched hand. If he couldn’t have Jules this weekend, he could have his dragon.
Along with a lot to think about.