Page 58 of Rejected By Dragons

Storm's words echo back to me. They shouldn't have the power left to hurt me anymore, but fuck it all--they do.

One arched brow rises. "Now I think we all know that's not true."

I wrench my arm away from her and take a single step back. I grasp my own wrist. The bracer feels like part of my body now--like it was always meant to be there. A seed of doubt is sewn. That can't be pure happenstance, can it?

I'm not buying any of that bullshit about 'bringing peace to dragonkind', but there's more going on here than meets the eye. If Rhiannon is to believed, I have a role to play in something bigger than myself.

Not for the first time since my mother abandoned me in Wynrath Crest, a flicker of hope and longing appears in my chest. Was she more than just my miserable aunt's wayward sister? Did she have a reason for leaving me behind?

Was my father more than just another casualty of the war?

And if so...what does all of that make me?

But there may be an even more important question in play.

"How do you know all this?" My voice trembles. I cup my arm more gingerly. "Why did you think the bracer might choose you?" In a whisper, I ask, "Who are you?"

One corner of her mouth curls upward, a sharp glint appearing in her eyes. "Let's not mince words. What you're really asking is, 'What am I?' Isn't that right?"

It sounds so cold. I nod all the same.

"Why I'm surprised you haven't guessed." Her posture shifts, an aura of power surrounding her, as dark and swirling as the one I saw when I first touched the bracer. "I'm the Shadow Queen's heir."

All the air is punched out of my lungs.

So many pieces of a puzzle I didn't even know I was trying to solve click into place. I don't know if I believe she's really related to the Shadow Queen--or if the Shadow Queen ever really existed at all. One thing is absolutely certain, though.

She's a Shadow Dragon. A real, live Shadow Dragon.

"But I thought--the Shadow Dragons--"

"All perished in the war? Oh, no."

Fear scratches at my throat. "They went missing."

"They went into hiding." She casts her gaze toward the ceiling. "Or at least the ones who were behind it all did."

"Are you saying there were others?"

It's her turn to laugh. "Have you ever met a group of dragons who all agreed on anything? Does every Air Dragon follow Zephyr in lock step?"

"I mean..."

There were always murmurs of dissent, but no one dared to flout him outright.

"Not all Air Dragons live in the Air Kingdom, just like not all Shadow Dragons live in the Shadow Realm."

Okay, that's fair. Terrifying, but fair.

A thought strikes me, and something in my chest squeezes in. "Do Amy and Jett know?"

"That they're part Shadow Dragon?" She scoffs. "Of course not. I wanted them to live normal lives."

Which they could never have done, if anyone had known. The fear that permeated the air at trivia night put proof to that.

Amy's ignorance about her heritage makes me feel a little bit better. Ever since I arrived, she's been so open and kind. If she'd been hiding this from me, I don't know how I would have handled the betrayal.

I exhale roughly. "So you weren't part of the Shadow Dragons' plan to take over the world." I'm not sure if I believe that, but I can extend her a modicum of faith. She's not evil-evil or anything. But that still begs the question: "Where were you, then?" I ask. "What side were you on?"

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