Aspen (The Dragon Kings #2)(5)

Aspen sat in front of him in homeroom. The substitute, Mr. Hudson, finally showed up. He had been a sub for math a few weeks prior, and he and Aspen had gotten off on the wrong foot. He checked the seating chart and narrowed his eyes.

“Aspen, that is not your seat.”

“I know,” she grumbled and moved up to the empty front row without a look back at Sid. Homeroom was only fifteen minutes. Sid hoped that the rest of the day wouldn’t be like this. Mr. Hudson was going over announcements, and Sid let his thoughts wander. He was surprised when a voice entered his mind.

Hey, Obsidian. He’d know that voice anywhere.

Skye?

Surprise!

What? Sid’s mind raced to comprehend what this meant. Where was she? Outside on top of the school? Why was she here?

I get to be human.

Sid only had a second to comprehend that information before she arrived in the doorway. Skye waltzed into the room every bit as gorgeous as a human as she had been as a dragon. Her platinum curls hung below her waist. She wore a lacy pink tank, and her denim skirt stopped in the middle of her tanned thighs. On some girls, it would look like she was trying too hard, but Skye appeared as if she just stepped out of a movie. She beamed when Mr. Hudson indicated to take the seat in front of Sid. Her long legs moved gracefully as she walked.

Sid had no idea what Skye was doing there. As only a half-royal, she was not supposed to have the human experience. She put her bag down next to her chair, and instead of sitting down, leaned over her desk and kissed him. Without thinking, he kissed her back and pulled her close. She smelled like the ocean. He’d missed her. Her kiss was so familiar, so comforting. So not Aspen. Sid broke away when Mr. Hudson spoke.

“Excuse me, Skye, I don’t know where you came from. However, here in Gardiner we do not display our affections in school.” There were titters and murmurs around the room.

“Sorry,” she mumbled and slid down in her chair. Sid could not process what just happened fast enough. He flashed his eyes to the front of the room.

Aspen met his gaze for only a second before she turned her head away from him. He could see the tears on her cheeks. He opened himself up to feel her emotions. She was furious and hurt. He dropped his head so he didn’t have to see her, shame burning his cheeks. He’d deal with her after homeroom. He couldn’t do anything else here.

Skye, what are you doing here? Sid asked.

I came to keep you company, silly. Pearl told me all about your sealing issue and hoped that I could help you fix it.





School was a horrid, wretched place. Aspen didn’t hear a word the teacher said in biology. She got to algebra early, in the hopes that she could get there before Sid and not have to see him. But she was out of luck. He was already in his seat. Aspen slid into her desk and didn’t look back, but there was still two minutes until the bell rang. Maybe she should leave.

Sid tapped her on the shoulder, and she ignored him. She took a drink out of her water bottle, her hands shaking. Why the hell had he kissed that girl? He tapped again. She leaned forward. Finally, he got up and sat in the empty desk in front of her. She dropped her eyes so she didn’t have to look at him.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Aspen glared at him. “You kissed her.”

“She kissed me.”

Aspen rolled her eyes. He was trying to get off on semantics.

“Yeah, I didn’t see you in any hurry to break away.”

Aspen tried to still her shaking hands. The water in the bottle sloshed a little. Her anger was getting the better of her. The seats around them were filling up. Class would start soon, and he wouldn’t be able to talk to her anymore. If she could just last thirty seconds without losing it, she’d be fine.

“I know, it’s just, I…”

“Don’t you dare say you thought she was me.”

His eyes flashed. “That’s not what I was going to say.” He got a weird smirk on his face. “I knew she wasn’t you.”

Yeah, that was worse. Aspen upturned her water bottle all over his head just as the bell rang. He sputtered. She stood up and gathered her books.

“Mrs. Weber, can I go to the nurse?”

Her teacher didn’t even look up from the papers she was grading. “Sure.”

Aspen managed to convince the nurse that she was really sick and needed to go home. She made it to her bedroom before totally losing it and lay down on her bed, pulled a pillow to her chest, and cried. How could Sid do this? She should’ve learned her lesson with Marc. This was almost worse because she should’ve been in control with this relationship. She withheld so much until she knew she could trust him, and then she’d given him everything. All of her heart and love.

Who was that girl? Was she a dragon too? Aspen had this nagging feeling she’d seen the girl before. She had to be a dragon. There was no way she could compete with beauty like that. Who knew the dragons would hurt her so bad?

“Hey, Aspen, you okay?”

Aspen’s eyes flew open. Rowan stood over her. She sat up and pushed him back. “No, I’m not okay. What are you doing here anyway?”

“Tori told me what happened with Sid. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really. No offense or anything, but you’re my brother. I don’t particularly want to share my love life with you. I wish Sis were home.”