Page 81 of Dragon's Honor

Olivia didn’t move at all and Finley wondered if she didn’t hear Syrena. But then with a quick jiggle of the bag, Olivia’s hand came out closed.

“Olivia.”

Her sister’s eyes fluttered open and she let out a woosh of hair. Syrena quickly handed her a tissue for her bleeding finger.

“Um, what just happened?”

“Is there something in your hand?”

Olivia looked down at her closed fist. “Yes. What is it?”

“The interesting news is that you’re a dragon’s mate. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have come away with a stone.”

Olivia continued to stare at her closed fist.

“She’s also fated to be with a dragon?” Finley couldn’t believe it. “I thought dragons weren’t supposed to be mated to humans.”

Syrena frowned. “I’m not supposed to exist either. I was born from two dragon shifter parents. I’m not a shifter. I have tons of magic, more than dragons do. Each clan has a witch. All this to say, things change. If dragons cannot be mated to other dragons, then fate finds a way to fix it. Though, humans have always been there. It’s been shushed and looked down upon, but dragons have mated with humans for millennia. This idea that humans are less than is such bullshit. There is power in mortality and a magicless existence. The Larimar dragons believed above all that mating with humans was an honor. It’s no wonder they became extinct.”

“Extinct?” Olivia asked.

Syrena nodded. “That’s the going theory. They were the dragons of the sea. Some think they’re hibernating. Some think they were too barbaric to survive civil times.”

“I don’t know about you, but none of this really feels civil to me.” She opened the bag. “If you don’t want to know your fate, you can drop the stone in the bag.”

Olivia finally tore her gaze away from her closed hand. “Do you know what’s in here?”

Syrena smirked. “Of course, but that doesn’t mean you have to know.”

Finley’s eyes widened. “You can find out right now. Why wouldn’t you want to know?”

Olivia quickly shoved her fist into the bag and released the stone. “It doesn’t change my fate. I’ve read the stories. Knowing your fate sends you right for it. I already know too much. I just want to go back to my normal life. Having some creature-man-thing in my head telling me what to do and what to say, that’s enough giving up control in my life. How does finding out that I’m supposed to be mated to a dragon help us?”

“It gives us information. There is power in knowledge. You both didn’t burn up because you’re dragon mates, which means that’s why Pru wasn’t effected.”

“Great. How does that help us?”

“You both had Dragon Fire. Tristian, or this vampire, can get into your head,” she pointed at Olivia and then pointed at Finley, “but not into yours.”

“Are we sure he’s tried?”

“No, but it stands to reason. You would be of more value since you’re mated to a dragon, the very dragon he has a beef with. When he couldn’t get into your head, he tried for your sister who has no mate in sight and certainly no heartstone. I think you were right on the money for that.”

“If a heartstone would protect her, shouldn’t we try to find her mate?”

Syrena let out a puff of air. “It’s a good thought, but it doesn’t help us with the bigger problem. Dragon Fire is meant to control humans.”

Finley thought about Tristian and his weird behavior. “Could it control dragons?”

Syrena’s eyes widened. “Why would you think that?”

Finley glanced down at her heartstone. “Where do male dragons usually wear their heartstones?”

Syrena’s mouth downturned and her brow creased. “Usually on their arm or around their neck, but they can wear it anywhere, just like the females can. Why?”

“Do you know how Tristian wore his? Have you seen him before all of this?”

“He had a cuff similar to mine,” Ash said from the doorway.

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