A Destiny of Dragons (Tales From Verania #2)(140)

“No one is quite sure how my magic works,” I said. “I can do things other people can’t. Sometimes, I do things that I’m not even trying to do.”

“The mermaids,” Zero said. “I… felt it. It was bright. And smelled like…. I came here to this place in my sixth year. I wanted to be alone, you know? The mermaids let me pass. I don’t know why. It was like they didn’t even care that I was there. I didn’t question it. Then, that night, there was a terrible storm. It rolled over the desert, and everything flashed in the sky. I’ve never heard something like it before or since. I thought I was going to be blown away, that the gods were so angry they were going to bring fire down on the world. But it passed, eventually. You smelled like that storm. You felt like that storm. Like lightning.”

“I’m sorry about the mermaids,” I said quietly. “They were going to hurt my friends. I couldn’t let that happen.”

He rolled his eyes. “They were jerks. I didn’t talk to them. I even ate one once.”

I laughed, a little shocked. “You did what?”

Zero looked rather pleased with himself. “It tried to come in here,” he said. “It wanted to hurt my plants. My trees. It wouldn’t leave. So I ate it. It was… chewy.” He deflated a little. “But I suppose they weren’t any worse than I am. They were monsters, like me.”

And that hurt. I barely knew this… this thing in front of me, and that still hurt to hear. Maybe it was because I knew what it felt like to be an outcast. Maybe I knew what it felt like to have people scared of me. I didn’t know. But it hurt.

“They were nothing like you,” I said quietly.

His head snapped, tail twitching dangerously. “You were scared of me. Just like you were scared of them. I felt it.”

I nodded. “Yes. But then you’re huge and you have really big teeth and you pointed them in my direction.”

He grinned at me, or as much as he could. The top two fangs descended slowly, glistening in the dark. “These teefs?” he slurred between the fangs.

My throat clicked as I swallowed, fighting every instinct I had to take a step back away from him. “Yeah. Those teefs.”

The fangs ascended again, and he cocked his head at me. “You’re strange, even for a human.”

“That’s not the first time I’ve heard that.”

“And how are you speaking to me? How did you all learn to talk like me? I’ve never had anyone be able to do that.”

I scratched the back of my head. “Yeah, see? That’s one of those things that we don’t quite know. It’s not us speaking like you. It’s you speaking like us.”

He looked offended. “I’m speaking human? That’s terrible. You’re all so… chewy.”

“Thanks,” I said dryly. “Really.”

“Well, it’s true. How is this even possible? Gods, I don’t even want to open my mouth anymore.”

“It’s proximity,” I said. “Something about me. We don’t really know why. Dragons just suddenly seem to be able to speak like we do when I’m around. It’s kind of my thing.”

“Maybe you should just go away, then. I don’t want to speak human.”

“Sorry, dude. I don’t know that I can do that. It’s actually important, the reason I’m here.”

He groaned and laid his head back on the ground, blinking at me slowly. “I just want to grow my plants and be left alone. It’s why I came all the way out here, so I didn’t have to see anyone.”

“Where did you come from?”

“Far away,” he said stubbornly.

Which gave me an idea, something Mama had taught me a long time ago. She’d even used it on Ryan once to find out what she wanted to know. It had been illuminating, to say the least. “That’s interesting. I’ve come from far away too. Can I ask you some more questions? Just about your plants,” I added before he could refuse.

“Sure,” he said slowly.

“Cool. Which is your favorite?”

He nodded toward a large orange flower that blossomed to our left. “That one.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. I saw it once in—I saw it once.”

“Why is it your favorite?”

“I like the color. It smells good.”

“What does it smell like to you?”

“The wind.”

I began to speak faster. “Do you like to fly?”

“Yes.”

“Do you stay here every year?”

“Yes, I don’t like to leave.”

“How do you eat?”

“I store up the oxygen put out by my plants and trees. It helps me sleep.”

“Have you ever met wizards before?”

“Yes, and I never wanted to see them again.”

And then, “Did you know I was coming?”

Without giving himself time to think, he said, “Yeah, the star dragon told me.”

My eyes widened.

“Motherfucker,” Zero growled. “How did you do that? Mind control? Are you trying to take me over, wizard?”

“No,” I said quickly. “No, no. It was just—the star dragon. Really?” I sighed. “Godsdammit. This is just getting more complicated as it goes.”