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“Erm—okay?” I reply hesitantly. “There’s a bunch of books—”
“No,” she shakes her head, turning to me. “I don’t wanna read about it. I mean…” she gestures around here with outstretched arms. “... I am here, on this island. I wanna see how dragons shift. How they breathe fire. That kinda thing.”
I’m too stunned to speak, staring at Yazmine’s face as I wait for the ball to drop. Is she serious? Or is this her way of being sarcastic?
When she lifts her brows expectantly, I realize how serious she is. I nod slowly when a smile grows on her face. “Sure. I’ll arrange for you to see us in training.”
“Thank God,” she blows with a sigh. “Does that mean I’m no longer a prisoner here?”
I shake my head. “No, of course not.”
Frowning when she grins and goes back to work, I can’t help but wonder what’s going on. She’s acting very strangely, but I won’t be the one to break the ice.
Perhaps when her research is done, she’ll leave. This time, I won’t try stopping her. I’ll feel absolutely nothing.
Chapter 16 - Yazmine
Sitting up in bed, I hug my knees to my chest and sigh heavily. At least this morning, I woke up in bed instead of on the floor in front of the fireplace while studying.
The imagery of a makeshift bed in front of the fireplace was usually romantic in all the romances I'd consumed. Awfully so. It was always toe-curlingly sweet, the protagonists always waking in each other’s arms to sweet kisses peppered on flushed cheeks.
I shudder into myself as I recall the painful reality I’d woken up to yesterday. Real life isn’t as rosy as the romance novels make it out to be. For a moment, I might have fallen victim to the clutches of imagination. This is precisely why I’d thrown myself into work. I don’t do well with personal relationships.
Even if this whole thing is far from a relationship. My only consolation is that I get to work. I’d rather focus on studying fossils than deal with the consequences of our very thoughtless act…
Absentmindedly, my hand goes to my belly when I remember why I’m here in the first place. A dragon baby? It’s absurd, but I have to face that consequence when it comes. If it comes. If it comes, I’ll do as he demands—leave as soon as I’ve given him what he wants.
I look around me at the lavish bedroom with blush pink walls and golden trimmings. I’d never been remotely interested in the place, but it seems to have grown on me. Now that I’m no longer considered a prisoner here, I’ve taken kindly to my surroundings and feel a pang of longing curl up in my chest at the thought of leaving.
I decide it can’t be so bad to leave a place that isn’t my own, as I climb out of bed. It’s just another part of my work, of my exploration. Getting to be immersed in the world of a creation I didn’t know existed before is a privilege.
Then why does the thought of leaving draw sadness?
Brushing it off as being the ramifications of a foolish act with the dragon shifter, I prepare for the day ahead. Once I’m out of the bedroom, I glance over at Aragon’s door and sigh.
He’s probably already downstairs, waiting for the next leg of my research. This is confirmed when I finally enter the lab and find one of the twins waiting for me. Stryder—I recognize him from the mole on the left corner of his mouth. It’s the only way to tell the twins apart.
“Stryder,” I greet with a curt nod.
“Good morning, Yazmine,” he responds with a brisk smile. “Aragon’s waiting in the medical room.”
I nod as I follow Aragon’s youngest sibling out of the castle. As soon as I step over the threshold of the back door, a warm breeze gushes over and fans my cheek. Pausing, I let it flow over me as my lips curl into a smile.
Luckily for me, Stryder is here. I don’t need to worry about snide remarks from female dragons who’ve probably vyed for Aragon’s attention. Little do they know that even his supposed mate can barely do that.
Not that I care much, anyway.
Being outside for the first time in over a week is quite liberating. But with the liberating feeling comes the deep sense of longing I felt earlier.
Why is the thought of leaving this place so frightening? It’s only been about two weeks here. It couldn’t have grown on me so intensely.
The confusion I feel furrows my brows to the island hospital. It only disintegrates when we join Stryker and enter the medical room where Aragon waits for us.
Breathing the same air as the dragon man, the longing dissipates, stunning me as I’m frozen to the spot.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Aragon greets me with a contemptuous look, eyes narrowed at me.
I gulp, setting aside the striking realization to focus on the task. That incessant pull inside my chest can be ignored for now. It’s highly out of place, after all.
