Page 136 of Mama Si's Paradise

I was too much of a coward to accidentally run into Grey, find him bleeding again, and do something so stupid I’d never recover from it. Fuck that, I would rather stay in my room.

The next day, though, even that didn’t save me. Tristian came to my door an hour after I’d finished breakfast.

He gave me a flower, too, this one a deeper purple, and I had no idea what it was called but it was gorgeous. It smelled heavenly, too. He also bowed in front of me and told me that he would be taking me to see one of the things he loved most in the world.

So, I got dressed and I followed him outside the castle, and I thought we’d be going to the courtyard again, but instead he took me west, to a part of the estate I’d never been to before.

An extension to the castle’s main building was made out of large stone blocks, just as big as the five towers, and three guards were standing in front of the large wooden doors.

“What’s this?” I asked, already curious to see, but when the guards pulled the doors open, I nearly passed out.

It was like a stable with a stone floor and an impossibly tall ceiling made of wood panels that looked like they could slide open if you pulled at the ropes attached to them hard enough. A stable with wooden fences and hay on the ground—except instead of animals,dragonswere sleeping inside.

“This is Blackheart, my dragon,” Tristian announced when he basically dragged me in, and I was too powerless, too numb to stop him.

“Oh, God,” I choked when my eyes took in the dragon he was pointing at—and he wasn’t the only one there. Three more were behind those low fences—including Storm, Grey’s dragon, the one who’d carried me into the Whispering Woods.

“What do you think?” Tristian asked, smiling proudly as he looked at his dragon.

“I-I-I…” No words left my lips.

He laughed. “Don’t be afraid, Fall. I’m right here! The dragons won’t hurt you.”

“Can’t we just stay outside?” I said when I found my voice.

“But I want you to meet Blackheart. Come on, I promise he doesn’t bite. Look, he’s already up,” he said, intertwining his fingers with mine as he waved his other hand to the dragon again—and he was right, the creature was waking up, his beady black eyes half open.

He was easily the size of a car lying down like that, black wings folded on his back, front legs with those curved claws under his chin like he thought he was a damn cat or a dog. The big black scales and spikes on his body looked like they’d just been dipped into a pool of black ink.

“This is him. Third biggest dragon of all,” Tristian said, and he seemed to bein lovewith his dragon for real. The way he looked at him said so clearly.

“He’s…impressive,” I forced myself to say, and he beamed.

“He is, he is. That over there’s Balthazar. He gets reallycranky when he’s woken from his naps,” said Tristian, pointing to the right where Balthazar, Romin’s truck-sized dragon wasnapping.He was curled up around himself and had spread his large wings around like a protective shield. I couldn’t see his face, for which I was thankful.

“That behind him is Storm,” Tristian continued. “He brought you to us—remember?” I barely nodded. Of course, I remembered, and I could see Storm now, too, his big light eyes open only a slit, as he, too, lay there wrapped around himself, with his wings half spread and his tail around his legs.

Even though he wasn’t moving an inch, his attention was on me. He saw all of me, just like that first night when he and Grey had been flying outside my window.Fuck.

“Storm is, um…” Tristian scratched his cheek uncomfortably for a second. “You know what, let’s just stay away from Storm, okay? From both of them—let’s stick to this side.” And he pulled me to the left. “Now,thislittle fella here is Rider.” The other smaller dragon napping near Blackheart was on his back with his legs up in the air—exactlylike a dog. Emil’s dragon was smaller than Tristian’s even though Emil’s was older. It looked just as vicious as all of them, though. Spikes and black scales and really sharp curved claws, and that long tail…

“Look—Blackheart wants to say hi.”

My entire body became perfectly numb when I turned and found the dragon’s long face right in front of me.

Rightin front of me, barely two feet away.

More than twice my height. His eyes were wide open, so shiny and black I saw my reflection in them perfectly, and I looked just as terrified as I felt.

“Hold still, Fall. Let him get used to your scent,” said Tristian, squeezing my hand in his. “You know, after the Blood Call, Dragons’ Den always brings the same gift for the new bride—a tooth or a claw from the dragon who laid the egg ofthe one that belongs to her master. So if your blood chooses me, you will be gifted something from Blackheart’s mother, and its supposed to make it easier for you to bond with him.” He flinched. “It doesn’t exactly work, but itcouldwork with you if you try hard enough, huh?”

Fuck, I was hardly breathing—and he expected me to answer?

Tristian laughed when I didn’t. “Please stop worrying, Fall—I’m right here, I promise. You’re perfectly safe!”

If only I could believe him. If only I had the courage to look that dragon in the eye as he stretched his thick neck and came closer and closer, and his large nostrils flared as he sniffed me. I wished I could keep my eyes open and see the whole thing, but I squeezed them shut and I held onto Tristian’s arm with all my strength instead, hoping this would be over soon.

Finally, I heard him stepping back, moving away from me.

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