Page 69 of Catastrophe

Michael’s tone was like ice and offered no room for debate as he demanded, “Get out of my room, witch.”

“So hostile,” she replied teasingly.

“I don’t want your evil poisoning my things,” he sneered, sounding exactly as disgusted as when I’d asked about Alani. A hunter repeating his lines. “Get out.”

“Fine. I’ll be quick.” She stepped back into the corridor, and the playfulness dropped from her voice. “Someone told me you picked up a cat last night. Where is it?”

CHAPTER 17

CHARLIE

Ididn’t waste time thinking about the dreamscape or how good it was to see everyone safe when my eyes opened to see the early morning sun. Rolling out of bed, I hurried straight into the shower, passing Baelen still fast asleep on the sofa.

With his fangs peeking out from lips and his dark hair fanned around his face, he looked like a baby bat, and with my phone fully charged and returned to me, I took a picture.

Clawdia would appreciate it.

As I scrubbed away all the dirt, I noted how my skin was completely unmarked from all the shit that had happened over the last few days. Being a dragon seemed to come with the supernatural healing package, and with Clawdia’s bond thrumming with life inside me, the throbbing of my soul was gone and I felt as good as new.

“You are in a flurry this morning. We go to our mate?” Dralie asked as I brushed my teeth. In the mirror, I thought I saw a flicker of yellow in my eyes as he spoke.

Hmm, interesting.

“Dralie, good to have you back. You didn’t want to appear last night? We lost Fafnir and Laurence because I couldn’t fly.” I grumbled aloud since Baelen, who was asleep, wouldn’t hear unless he was ready to wake from the dreamscape.

I spat out a mouthful of toothpaste, but it felt wrong to blame Dralie for yesterday. Maybe it was something with me? I tried not to think about Laurence. The fear in his eyes would haunt me for the rest of my life.

“I apologize, Charlie, I don’t recall the incident,” he replied slowly, as though he was searching his mind for the memory. He added, “I’m sure if you were in danger, I would have helped.”

“You don’t recall? Were you asleep?” I asked as I towel-dried my hair and pulled out clothes from the bag I’d brought to the cabin a week ago.

Zaide’s and Clawdia’s items, as well as my phone and laptop, seemed to have survived the raid on the island, and I was grateful for the small mercies.

“I don’t think so.” He sounded just as puzzled about it as I was, which really didn’t make me feel better.

Maybe it was a connection glitch? I needed to know more about drakorians.

“We need to work that out, Dralie, because we can’t do that again. I can’t have you with me one moment and gone the next,” I told him as I tossed on the clothes and sat down on the bed to pull on socks. “I’m going to get some kind of separation anxiety and then end up dead because I thought I could dragon out and couldn’t.”

“I understand your frustration, Charlie, and will consider this problem,” Dralie replied seriously, and I suspected that if he had an invisible library full of drakorian lore in my mind, he’d be donning his glasses and riffling through tomes for answers. “Although, I believe it is better not to turn into a dragon when you want to than to turn into a dragon when you don’t want to. Pre-dragon-lation is a messy but natural part of prepubescent drakorians, but thankfully, it is a stage we seemed to have skipped.”

Pre-dragon-lation.

I choked and dropped my shoe as silent laughter wracked me until I wheezed and then howled when I finally got enough air. Tears poured down my face. This is the commentary I’ll have in my head for the rest of my life? Sorry Clawdia, but Dralie wins for entertainment.

“You are laughing at the misfortune of youths?” Dralie asked, and hearing him admonish me set me off again.

“God, Dralie,” I cried between bouts of laughter. “Stop it. I’m going to wet myself.”

“Apparently, we haven’t skipped that stage after all,” Dralie muttered dryly.

It took another minute for me to calm down, but eventually, I wiped my eyes, put my shoes on, and picked up my phone to begin my task for the day, contacting the task team, still occasionally chuckling as I remembered and continued my search.

Since I knew Arabella, and since my witch powers didn’t seem to have gone since I became a dragon, I got a phone number for her quickly and impatiently tapped my foot as I pressed the call button and waited for her to pick up.

She didn’t even get to say hello before I said, “Arabella, it’s Charlie. We met on the island. Anyway, hunters captured everyone, so we need to get everyone back before Fafnir drains them.”

All I heard was breathing before she asked in a sleepy voice, “What do you mean?”

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