Page 13 of The Dragon's Captured Heart
At that point, I heard the snickering. Madison had both hands over her mouth and looked on the verge of exploding. Tears built in the corners of her eyes as her entire upper body shook.
“Something funny?” I asked through the blood-stained paper towel.
All at once, the dam broke, and Madison howled with laughter. “I don’t believe it,” she sputtered, cheeks red, tears streaming down her face now as she let it go. “We spent so long fighting you, hurling tanks, missiles, bullets, whatever we could think of, and none of it did a thing. Boy, did we screw up by not using old fridges as ammunition!”
She cackled wildly, falling into one of the sofas nearby.
“Haha, very funny,” I said, pulling the paper towel from my nose.
Blood spattered onto my shirt as it popped free, but nothing more continued to flow. My nosebleed was over.
I tossed the paper towel out, then, grimacing at my shirt, pulled it off and hurled it through the open door into my bedroom before washing my hands and face in the sink. Only then did I pick up the steak container.
As I stood up, I could feel Madison’s eyes on me with near-vibrating intensity.
“What is that?” she asked, pointing at me.
And the blue scale on my chest. A scale very different from my ruby-red dragon.
Chapter Eight
Madison
Callum’s dragon was not blue. I saw his dragon in the cave, and though it was dark and brief, I knew that much. I was fairly certain it was red, though it could’ve been more orange. Either way, it wasn’t the color of the fist-sized scale adhered to the skin above his chest.
He looked down, following my finger, and tapped it twice. “It’s a scale,” he said as if having to analyze it first.
I didn’t bother to hide my irritation at the lame joke. “Obviously, thank you very much. I’m sure you look down on all humans, but I’m notthatstupid.”
As always, there was a magnetic pull dragging my eyes toward his, but I fought it hard this time. I didn’t know what it was about dragons, but I was not interested in falling into the abyss for a third time. Twice was more than enough until I understood what the hell it meant.
There was so little I actually knew about dragons. Did they have the same experience when they looked at one another? Was it because I was female? There had to be something.
I’d looked into people’s eyes before. Sometimes, even longingly, when tensions and sparks were high, and while I’d gotten lost in their gaze, I’d never experiencedanythingremotely on par with this.
Some sort of magic, it had to be. But with Callum acting like nothing was amiss, I didn’t want to bring it up. Was he even experiencing the same thing? Or did I just look like a crazy person staring at him so intently? I just didn’t know, and that bothered me.
“It’s not your scale,” I said, wishing he would just elaborate without me forcing the point.
“No, it’s not,” he agreed, returning his attention to fixing the sandwiches. He appeared to be building three of them. I hoped one was for me, though he hadn’t yet said so.
I waited for him to say more. He didn’t, keeping his back to me as he reheated the steaks and sliced them thin before piling them high on the fresh bread. My mouth watered.
“Whose scale is it then?” Some of my anger made it through. It was like pulling teeth to get answers. “Why is it attached to you?”
Callum ceased moving, still facing the counter. A low growl filled the room, and I noted the knuckles on his fingers turning white.
Maybe this wasn’t a wise conversation to push.
“I was mated once,” he said through an obviously clenched jaw, his words clipped and short. “When dragons find their mate, they bond one of their scales to that person.”
I mulled that over. “So, it’s like a tattoo of the other person’s name, but dragon-esque? Fun. Sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be letting you do that to me or vice versa, though I’m not sure what I’d use to help you add to your collection.”
The growl became a snarl. Callum’s left hand slammed down with a sharpsmackonto the countertop. “It is not,” he said, slowly turning, “a stupid tattoo. Besides, she died, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Oh.” Frustrated that he was being such a dick when elaborating instead of forcing me to push would have solved everything, I snapped back a bit. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. So, it’s like a memorial then, I guess? Or is there no laser scale removal for bad decisions?”
It wasn’t a nice comment. I knew it. I didn’t care. After all, I was still his prisoner, freedom to roam the palace or not. I couldn’t go home, and that was what mattered in the end. It just so happened my prison cell was larger than most.
