Page 22 of Taught By the Dragon
All grown up, she almost understood how the other orphans had been scared, and hurt, and uncertain like her. And to feel better about themselves, they’d put her down. Not that it made it okay. Regardless, that incident had been the final lesson she’d needed to stop trying to make friends.
Only her dragon had ever befriended and liked her, which was why she was so desperate to get her back.
A knock sounded on the door, and she jumped. Glancing at the clock, she saw it’d been nearly two hours already. “What do you want?”
Bronx’s deep voice came through the door. “I have some new dragon-shifter textbooks for you. I can leave them outside the door, though, if you prefer. I just wanted to let you know they arrived.”
She almost shouted, “Yes, leave them and go.” But that would appear cowardly. The first sign of weakness had made her an instant target of the guards inside the facility, and she was determined to do better this time.
So she took a deep breath and replied, “Come in.”
He entered, leaving the door open behind him. He placed the books on the small desk in the far corner and patted them. “Some of these are aimed for younger dragon-shifters, so I hope that’s okay. Because usually the inner dragon emerges at six years old, give or take, and so that’s when dragon-shifters teach their kids how to deal with them.”
Relief washed over her. She could read books for kids a lot easier than ones meant for adults. “Thank you.” She bit her lip and decided that if she wanted information, it might be faster to ask Bronx than wade slowly through the texts.
So even though she’d prefer to tell him to fuck off, lock the door, and not worry about anyone else, she asked, “I barely remember my dragon. What should I do if she comes back?”
If he noticed her use ofifinstead ofwhen,Bronx didn’t comment. He gestured toward the chair at the desk. “Can I sit down to chat?” She eyed the door, and he added, “I’ll keep the door open. Violet is in hearing range too.” He raised his voice a little. “Listening to every word, aren’t you, Vi?”
Laughter filled the air. “Yeah, I’m not even going to pretend I’m not, Dad.”
“Good. Now, get back to your homework. You’re missing classes to help out here, and I won’t have you falling behind.”
“Okay.”
Bronx smiled at Percy. “She’s a bit nosey, so just fair warning.”
Violet shouted, “I heard that!”
He chuckled. “And I love you just as you are. Now, get back to work.”
There was some distant grumbling before silence.
His easy words, saying he loved his daughter, baffled Percy.
Not that she was going to waste her time asking about that. No, Percy studied Bronx, wondering if she’d have to repeat herself.
Then he cleared his throat and crossed one leg until his ankle rested on the opposite knee. “Your dragon. Well, the hardest part will be keeping control of her. Dragons sometimes try to take over when they’re young. And no, you’re not a child any longer. However, your dragon might be, or she might be a wild adult—we have no way of knowing. Either way, don’t let her tell you what to do or give in too easily. That way lies disaster.”
His pupils flashed, and that streak of jealousy shot through her again. She wanted to talk to her dragon too. Badly. Maybe even more than being able to fly. She’d seen so many dragon-shifters regularly talking to their inner beasts already, and it made her loneliness that much more acute.
“That’s all well and good, but what can I do specifically?”
He jostled his leg perched atop his thigh. “Well, I think a better place to start is: what do you know already? What did you learn growing up?”
She pressed her lips into a line for a second, not wanting to vent about her bloody awful teachers inside the orphanage. Sharing her past would only open her up to more potential hurt.
After a second to think of what to reveal, she said calmly, “Very little. As I’m sure you can find out, the orphanage where I grew up was the only one in the UK for a long, long time.” Or so they’d told her. That was something else she’d have to learn about, eventually. She continued, “The humans didn’t want to deal with half-dragon-shifter children, and the clans didn’t want us either. There wasn’t a lot of money, so we used really old books, mostly from human schools, and were told that if our dragons didn’t behave—and we didn’t ensure they did—we’d be punished. Threats, beatings, and starving us worked most of the time.” She shrugged. “If it didn’t, the kid eventually disappeared.”
They’d probably gone to the same sort of place Percy had been sold to, not that she knew that fact for certain.
Bronx sat still, preternaturally still, and his knuckles gripping his leg turned white. Did that mean he was angry or upset? But why the bloody hell should he be? She’d been the one to live at the orphanage, not him.
When he spoke, it was tight and controlled. “What happened with your dragon?”
She let out a breath. For a second, she thought he’d ask about her own personal punishments, and that wasn’t something she ever wanted to bring up.
Talking about her dragon and their brief time together was nearly as painful, though. Still, there was a point to it—Bronx might be able to give her a better game plan for taming her beast and reuniting with her.
