Page 25 of Catastrophe

Instead, I told her softly, “He’s been alone his entire life. He’s had questions for the family that abandoned him and has always searched for them. You. He always wanted family, but when he couldn’t have that, he tried not to get attached to anything. He fears commitment now. He doesn’t want to be rejected. And all this because you and your family wholeheartedly believed he was evil because he was male.

“He isn’t evil. He never has been. He’s been lost without a family, but he’s mine now. He has me, and he has our faith in him. Being a dragon won’t change him. I turn into a cat, but I’m not entirely changed, and even if there are changes, they won’t alter how I feel about him. And if being a dragon means he’s susceptible to Fafnir’s influence, then I know he will fight it with every inch of his being.”

She scoffed. “You can’t know that.”

“Just as you can’t.” I laughed humorlessly. “But I’d rather have faith than live my life in fear.”

“Fear keeps us safe.”

“Fear stops us from living!” I shouted. “Trust me. I would know.”

Elizabeth hissed, “And I know power corrupts. I will do anything to protect my family from my mistakes.”

“Protect your family from a mistake?” I repeated, both horrified and infuriated.

How dare she insinuate he wasn’t her family. That he was a mistake.

“Isn’t it funny how a mistake you made became one of the most important people in my life? But if you ever make him aware of your thoughts about him again, I promise you’ll not find a more determined or petty enemy. He’s had enough rejection from you. Either you accept him, or when this is all over, you’ll never see him or us again.”

CHAPTER 7

CHARLIE/DRALIE

I’m flying.

The red mist of anger that clouded our mind as we escaped the island drifted away, and as it faded, my thoughts and feelings became unstuck from the dragon’s.

He was having a great time stretching his wings. I, however, was terrified.

Coming to and finding yourself midair, cruising through the clouds, was like the end of a nightmare. But I wasn’t waking up. Giant golden wings flapped, pushing us higher before gliding along the gust of wind.

Even the birds looked at me with wide eyes as they dived away. Birds. Birds that take joy in shitting on me. Birds that have attacked me in Pigeon Park for a bite of my Greggs sausage roll. Now they were squawking and flapping to get away from me.

How the turned have tabled.

Suddenly my body (Dralie’s body?) twisted and we did a loop-de-loop.

I screamed, but no sound came out. Probably because Dralie was the current captain of our ship and I was the seasick passenger.

If I pushed past my fear, I could see why he was enjoying himself. The trees looked like broccoli florets. The lakes sparkled with the reflection of the sun and shimmered with ripples caused by the wind. And the view of the hills made me feel like I was watching never-before-seen drone footage from The Sound of Music. It was beautiful.

But I was still a scaly beast flapping around Sweden, and that definitely didn’t happen in the film.

“Are you feeling better, Charlie?” Dralie’s accented voice rang in my mind. “You mentioned a hurt, but I cannot feel one. I’m flying just as expertly as I always have.”

He demonstrated by throwing us into another spin, and I moaned. “Stop with the spinning, Dralie. It’s making me sick.”

“You cannot be sick. You are drakorian and have no way of expressing your illness while inside my mind.”

“It’s a turn of phrase, but if I could be sick, I really would.”

“Your fear ails you? You are a hatchling.” He chortled, and our nose blew out steam.

“Oh, fuck, do we breathe fire?”

“Yes.” His tone felt like an eye roll.

I immediately thought about all the people in my past that I wished I could have barbecued. There was this one kid at school that could have really used a fire up his arse. “I won’t lie. That is pretty fucking great.”

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