Dragon Keep Me

Chapter Thirteen

Natalie

I didn’t understand exactly what was happening, but I understood enough to know I’d just been horribly rejected.

"Excuse me?" Nadaria exclaimed. "You are gifted a True One, and that’s what you have to say? Now, listen here, you overgrown lizard, just who do you think—"

River cut her off with a raised hand. It was obvious the respect that Nadaria had for her, because she clamped her mouth shut. She crossed her arms across her chest and glared daggers at Cass, tapping her pink pump on the floor.

"Cass," River said. "What is the matter? You’re acting strangely. What are you struggling with?"

"Don’t! Don’t patronize me, witch! They may have an excuse…" He indicated Nadaria and I. "But I know who you are, River. I know how old you are, and I know you were there. We may have fought on the same team earlier this year, but you’re no friend to me."

Smoke curled out of his nostrils, but he looked at me and the fire went out, his face dropping. "I just can’t love a witch."

Then he turned and left, the front door slamming again on his way out.

I held up my arm. "What is he talking about? What is this?"

"Oh, dear," Nadaria said, shaking her head. She looked like she might cry. "Poor Cass. Did you feel his pain?"

River sighed, suddenly looking much older. She sat in her chair and said, "I guess I must tell you the entire story of The Cleansing. When I was a younger witch, we grew tired of the dragons' cruelty. When witches get together in large numbers, they can beat a dragon, especially if they’re skilled witches. We rounded them up, one by one, and locked them away in magically warded underground prisons."

I looked between her and Nadaria. Nadaria was shaking her head, a deep frown pulling her features down.

"Okay, what does that have to do with Cass?" I asked.

River sighed. "He was just a boy at the time. He couldn’t even shift yet. But, he was still a dragon."

"You locked him away with adult dragons, didn't you?" Nadaria asked, and her voice wobbled. "How could you, River? Goddess, that makes me ill."

"I wasn’t there at that particular warding, but, yes. I’m sure that poor child lived through two centuries of unspeakable horrors."

Nadaria sniffled. "Oh, my, now I feel awful for getting after him like I did."

"You shouldn’t," River said. "Natalie is totally innocent. She had absolutely nothing to do with The Cleansing. He shouldn’t have treated her that way, but his hatred of witches is not unfounded. He has every right to not like our kind."

"So what is this tattoo then?" I asked.

"You met Gideon and Eris, and Kat and Finn. They are what we call fated mates. They believe their Goddess made them for each other. When they met, there was an irresistible pull to be with each other. It’s actually dangerous and painful for them to be apart for too long. They can feel each other's emotions and speak to each other telepathically. Though it is rare, they can reject the pairing, but it’s not recommended. It’s painful for both parties and it goes against what their Goddess has chosen."

"That’s what this is?" I exclaimed.

That was a whole level of commitment I was not ready for, and, obviously, Cass felt the same way.

"Not exactly. This is the witch’s version of that. We call it finding your True One. Ours isn’t as intense as theirs is. Our Goddess, Hecate, is more like…giving us a strong suggestion that this is the correct path. You won’t grow weaker being away from each other, but you will miss their presence. You will be more attuned to their moods, but it’s not an intense link of emotions as the wolf shifter's bond."

"So, obviously, he’s going to…reject me?"

Nadaria giggled and shook her head. "Hecate is the Goddess of Witches. You call all the shots with the True One bond."

"Besides," River said. "There isn’t a rejection, per say, but there is a way to break the bond. If the relationship isn’t…consummated in one moon cycle after it appears, the bond dissipates."

"You're kidding."

"I—" River furrowed her brow. "I don't kid."

My brows lifted, and I felt heat in my cheeks. "So if I don’t, uh…have s*x with Cass in one month…"

"Twenty-eight days," Nadaria corrected.

"Yes, the bond is dissolved," River finished, answering my question.

"Well, that should be easy. He hates me."

"He will be pulled towards you," River said. "Like I said, it’s not the intense wanting of the wolf bond, but he will miss you. He'll be more attracted to you than he's ever been to any woman. It may play on his dragon's emotions, who is already a greedy beast."

"Well that feels gross," I said, wrinkling my nose. "He only wants to be around me because of-of this?" I held up my arm.

"I know you weren’t raised as a witch, but we’re taught to have faith in the Goddess Hecate. She wouldn’t choose your True One if they were really destined to hate you."

I sighed and put my head in my hands, trying to come to terms with everything I'd learned today.

Hey! You’re in a magical world and supernatural creatures are real!

Hey! You’re a witch and an elf!

Hey! An evil witch tried to steal you as a baby, so you had to be hidden away and made to believe you’re a human!

Oh, and to top it all off, you’re supposed to be with this half-man, half-dragon that already seems to hate you.

I thought about the dance Cass and I shared just before coming here. He’d known I was a witch then, but we had still shared that moment. No, this change in attitude happened after he found out my mother was a slave. Why did that matter to him?

"I know it’s a lot. I’m so sorry this is happening to you, Natalie," Nadaria said as she placed her hand on my shoulder. "Why don’t we just take it easy for the rest of the afternoon and night, and tomorrow I’ll teach you some basics of the craft?"

I nodded, trying to hide the tears forming in my eyes. I was not crying. I did not cry.

Cass

I was walking towards nowhere. Everything blurred around me and I was having trouble breathing. Was I dying? Was this an anxiety attack?

I took off my clothes and then shifted. Crux grabbed them in his mouth and took off, quickly gaining altitude despite the rain and wind.

My heart was aching. Natalie’s hurt expression crossed my mind and it cleaved deeper. I didn’t want to hurt her, I just didn’t understand what I was supposed to do. What I was supposed to say.

"Oh wonderful! We’re fated to be together. By the way, the first and only woman I’ve ever loved was your great-grandma. And I still love her and you remind me of her, so I can’t be sure if what I’m feeling is for you or for her. Awesome, right?"

Breaking the curse had changed Natalie's appearance significantly, and it was a relief to at least be able to look at her and not only see Elizabeth.

'I want her, she is obviously ours. Let us return and get her. You're the one who asked for a sign,' Crux said.

'I know.'

Natalie didn’t deserve to be loved as someone other than herself. I didn't know how, or if, I could separate her from Elizabeth. I turned, pointing in a sure direction. I could get there in less than an hour if I hurried.

I landed just outside the city, glad that I’d been present of mind enough to keep my clothes. I’d been in too many awkward situations and learned my lesson. Humans didn't like nudity.

I knew where I was going, and navigated the streets easily. Big cities were a lot the same. When I’d been released from the tomb, I’d spent two years homeless in a much more intimidating city called Chicago. It was quite a learning curve, having gone into the dungeon in the nineteenth century and emerging in the twenty-first.

People were so different. Everything was different.

I found the correct building and climbed three flights of stairs, knocking on the door and running my hand through my hair.

Please be home.

A lock clicked and the door opened.

Leo was standing in front of me, and he looked up and down the hall. "Cass? What are you doing here?"