AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Tyson:I’m grounded until the EM. Tonight’s off.
Master Baiter:You’re still an adult dragon, right?
Plant Food:Who enforces that?
I scowled at my phone and ignored Rehan’s comment.
Tyson:My sire, and he’s assigned guards from his Special Forces.
Plant Food:You mean the hidden ones no one knows anything about?
I took a deep breath in and out. The cowl-covered dragons who worked for my sire were unknown, even to me. Rumor said they were half-dragon, half-machine. True or not, each one was strong. They did the work that required more than just our fire element to complete.
Master Baiter:Like the boatman, Og, when we went to check out the Ley Line.
Og sent a thumbs up, and the chat went quiet.
I expected a barrage of messages making fun of my situation or reminders of my incompetence. Instead, a selfie of Og with his jaw dropped in disbelief popped up in the chat. Behind him was some sort of science kit and a mess of papers covered in runes.
Plant Food:I’m a warlock, a super powerful one, obviously, as Jay chose me.
Plant Food:But in all seriousness, I can only help you if I know what you’re up against.
Plant Food:Want to play twenty questions?
I turned my phone over and looked around my room. My entire life, I’d done everything to get my sire’s approval. Not only did I still not have it, but I wasn’t sure if I liked the man I’d grown into.
Tyson:I can’t fecking believe it, but yeah. I think I do.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
REHAN
Isat at a family dinner. My phone lightly buzzed, and I peeked at it, hoping Jay finally checked in. She had not. Tyson and Ogden still chatted like teenage girls, complete with pictures of Tyson’s room and even the inside of one of his security cameras.
“Something wrong, Rehan?” Tukaqu asked.
I tore my gaze away from my phone and flushed. “No, sir.”
Only the core of my family sat around the table: Tukaqu, my dad, my uncle, and two of our family’s advisors. Not even my younger brother joined us. I let my gaze rest on each face. Not a single female, human, or youth looked back at me. I shifted in my seat, unsure if my discomfort came from the missing diversity or from being aware of it after spending my entire life not noticing.
I exhaled, my chest uncomfortably tight.
“This is important.” Tukaqu began. “We’ve all read the reports. Fire and earth have handed over their findings. Air claims they’ve also investigated and will share their results at the EM.”
“What are they thinking?” My uncle hit the table with his fist.
“They are cutting off one of our wings!” One of our advisors added.
Grumbles and anger washed over the table—my growl was no exception. Whatever dragons disagreed on, the shield and the Ley Lines were problems that affected all of us. It was why elemental meetings existed.
“Three out of four is enough to get us started.” Tukaqu continued after we’d calmed. “We have two issues, the Ley Lines and the volcanic eruption. We’ll start with the Ley Lines.”
My uncle picked up a sheet of paper. “The shield isn’t failing, but power spikes are swimming in it.” He swallowed. “Almost like a bloom of phytoplankton, except they remain still. We cannot locate the origin of the bloom, but whatever is in our shields is also in the connecting Ley Lines. I believe we need to reach out to earth’s caretakers outside of our Island.”
“Do you know who those would be?” My dad asked, a knowing smirk on his face.
My uncle raised his palms. “I do not. But I’ve at least looked past these walls to consider Tukaqu’s words.”
