Going Down in Flames (Going Down in Flames #1)(4)
“When you were born with ten fingers and ten toes, we took that as a good sign.” Her mom shrugged. “From then on, it was a waiting game to see if you would show signs of transforming.”
Unbelievable. “You were waiting for me to set the kitchen on fire?”
“When children of our race approach their sixteenth birthday, they come into their dragon powers. Then they attend a private school that teaches them how to handle their new abilities.” Her dad carried the plate of rare burgers to the table.
“Happy birthday to me,” Bryn muttered. “This better not be my only gift.”
Still trying to wrap her head around the situation, she carried the salad to the table and sat. She half expected someone to jump out with a camera and yell, “Surprise, you’re on TV’s Wildest Pranks.”
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Which meant this was real. She imagined attending a twelve-step meeting. Hello. My name is Bryn. I’m a dragon.
Her parents weren’t doing a great job explaining all of this, so it was time to take charge of the conversation. “The man in the bookstore was a dragon, wasn’t he? He told me you were going to ship me off to private school run by a bunch of control freaks. He said I had other options.”
“I don’t know if that’s true,” her mom said. “The school situation might be tricky.”
“Why would I go away? You guys can teach me everything I need to know.”
When her parents didn’t reply, she panicked. “I don’t want to change schools. I just started my junior year. I’m in driver’s training. I have a great schedule. Devin Marconi smiled at me yesterday. I eat lunch with people I like. Why would I want to start over?”
“If there’s any way to keep you here, we’ll do it,” her father said. “But we may not have a choice. We’ve done our best to stay off the Directorate’s radar. After today, I’m afraid they’ll come knocking at our door. They’ll know about your visitor. He and his Clan are always protesting something or writing petitions. I’m sure they have him watched.”
Bryn picked one question out of the hundreds ricocheting around in her brain. Maybe if she had more information, she could figure this out. “What’s the Directorate?”
“The Directorate is the ruling body that creates laws to keep dragons under their thumb,” her dad said. “The young man you met today is part of a political group called the Revisionists. They want more individual rights for dragons.”
The memory of losing control over her body made her shiver. “The eye thing he did, was it magic?”
Her mom’s cup hit the table with a thud. “He pushed you?”
Anger and embarrassment made her cheeks burn. “I tried to walk away, but his pupils did this weird swirling thing and then I was Puppet Girl.”
Frost shot from her mom’s nose, coating the table with a fine layer of sparkling ice. “Sorry. I haven’t lost control like that since I was your age. Pushing other dragons is… Well, it’s rude. It’s a safety spell to protect dragons from humans. If a dragon’s identity is discovered, we can push into peoples’ minds to influence their reactions.”
That could come in handy. “Will I learn to push people?”
“Not until you’re older,” her mom said.
“Too bad.” She sipped her tea and thought about everything. There were two possible answers. Either she was a shape-shifting dragon, or she was crazy. For now, she’d go with the dragon theory. “What else do I need to know?”
“After dinner,” her dad said, “we’ll go down to the studio and teach you how to shift.”
Once the table was cleared, Bryn followed her parents down the inside stairwell that led to the martial arts studio below. Anticipation and dread made her palms sweat. Halfway down the stairs, the familiar scent of lemon floor wax comforted her. It smelled like home.
When they reached the studio, her father closed the window blinds. “Ready to see a real dragon?”
The answer was a big fat, No. If, or when, she saw her dad shift, this would all become real. She stalled for time. “Won’t you be too big to fit in the studio?”
“Hollywood got that part wrong. Real dragons are a little smaller than elephants.” His shoulders grew broader. The air around him shimmered and became smoky. Bryn’s eyes watered as she tried to see through the haze. The smoke vanished. Standing in front of her was a Red dragon.
Holy crap. Her first instinct was to step backward. She caught herself and stood firm. “Dad?”
The dragon nodded. His green eyes were the only things she recognized. A bony ridge fanned out where his forehead would be. Two horns sat behind the ridge. Leather-like wings folded tight against his flanks. Smoke drifted from his snout as he exhaled. His voice came out as a low growl. “What do you think?”
Curiosity overwhelmed fear. She walked forward to examine him. The scales, which covered his body, were as large as her hand. When she touched them, they felt hard, like a construction helmet. Heat seeped from his body, and he smelled like a campfire.
She blinked, and the outline of her father’s human face flashed across his dragon face for a moment. This was too weird. She turned away to collect herself and discovered a Blue dragon. The Blue had the same dragon features but lacked the Red’s muscular bulk. Even as a dragon, her mom appeared slender and graceful. She smelled of freshly fallen snow.