Once upon a Dragon Gift (Once Upon a Dragon Series Book 4)

The weeks finally reached a month, and I did not know how Elena had pushed through all the time I was with Goran.

It was driving me insane.

There were no leads to where they were, and now that Elena was a dragon, for all we knew, they were hiding on the other side of the wall, but there were no signs of any unauthorized exits. King Albert would’ve gotten a call by now if there were.

Still, it was Goran; he could’ve easily cast another spell that wouldn’t have set off the alarm.

I searched the entire Paegeia, and I just couldn’t find them.

I wondered if it wasn’t the sigil on my chest that prevented me from finding her. What if its magic was clashing with the Dent’s magic? I had to admit one thing though. The sigil was badass.

Master Longwei summoned me back to Dragonia. I obviously protested as I was needed in the search to find Elena, but the king wanted me to go back.

To learn, to become a better, stronger dragon for when Elena returns. Dad and Mom thought it was the best thing at the moment, too.

They promised to let me know if there were any other changes.

I still hated every bit, but I guess I understood their reason. The entire Paegeia was looking for Elena and Goran.

It was time to face my friends. Face the fact that I’d almost killed George.

Back at school, everyone greeted me as I walked through the foyer and up the stairs. I needed a shower and some sleep as I hadn’t gotten a lot of that since Elena took my place.

Tabitha’s sex noises murdered my ears when I opened the door. I pulled it closed as a chuckle escaped my lips.

I didn’t even know Lu and her became like that. I didn’t like that I’d missed so much while I was with Goran.

A few seconds later, the door opened, and Lucian stood wearing only his jeans.

My lips curved. “Glad to know that you made peace with her.”

He chuckled as I walked in.

“Tabitha.” I didn’t look at her.

“Blake?” she greeted back as I stepped into the bathroom and heard their laughter from the other side of the door.

I was happy for Lu. He deserved happiness.

When I got out, they were both sitting on the couch in our small living room. He was telling her what was happening on the screen.

I rolled my eyes as the Prince of Tith was taking it to a whole new level, pampering his dragon. And for her to just receive it was a new side of the snow dragon. She usually didn’t like to be babied.

I smiled when she humored him.

When I finished unpacking my clothes, I went to sit on the couch.

Lu handed me a beer and plopped back next to Tabitha who almost crawled into her rider.

I ended up staring at them.

“Stop it,” Lu said, flickering his gaze to me as he took a sip of his beer.

“What?” Tabitha asked.

“Nothing, it’s just Blake that keeps staring at us.”

“I don’t care. Let him stare.”

He kissed her on her temple as my smile vanished, staring at her gaze. She was just staring in front of her.

“Blake?” Tabitha said.

“Tabitha, are you blind?”

She looked in my direction but not at me, and I gasped as I saw the white pearls where her pupils used to be.

“What happened?”

“It’s okay. I’m okay,” Tabitha confirmed.

“It was the wyvern that was looking for the eggs. She got a hold of him, and he threw something in her eyes.” Lucian shook his head.

Paul. He did this to her? “You see nothing?” I waved a hand in front of her.

“Blake, it’s okay. I’ve made peace with it.”

“How can you?”

“I don’t have a choice!” Her voice raised, and she took a huge breath, calming herself. She forced her smile as Lu rubbed her back. In a softer tone, she said, “I don’t have a choice. Believe me, the queen tried everything with the doctors. No one can bring back my sight. Please let it go.”

I grounded on my teeth, knowing what it was I could do. One touch and he opened me, brought all my abilities that still had to be awakened to the front. With just a touch. “No,” I said, and she stared in my direction.

“Blake?” Lu said.

“Stop. Just let me make a phone call.”

“My mom tried everything,” Lucian added.

My fingers glided over Dad’s number, and his hologram appeared in a few seconds. “Blake?”

“I’m out for the next two days. Just make sure that if you find her to call Lucian.”

“What do you mean out for the next few days?” my dad asked.

“Dad, please. Just do as I say.” I put down the Cammy and went to sit in front of Tabitha on the table. “We are even after this.”

“What are you talking about?” Her lips curved softly. I missed her blue eyes. “I already forgave you.”Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

My lips quirked upward as I looked at Lucian, who frowned. “Just don’t leave me the next two days, please.”

“What?” His eyebrows knitted.

I closed my eyes and touched Tabitha’s temples.

“What are you doing?” Tabitha tried to pull her head away.

“Hold still and close your eyes.”

I looked and saw her eyes close. I closed mine and concentrated. Her heart thumped faster as I tried to push it back to my mind.

My thumbs brushed over her closed eyelids and then I willed it onto me.

The searing pain came first. What Paul had used was Molted Dust. Coward. The dust worked like an acid, like a virus, seeping into any wound and causing a lot of pain. In the eyes, she didn’t stand a chance.

My eyes burned like a mother. Worse than the sigil on my chest. I grunted as Tabitha tried to pull her face out of my hands, but I held her tight.

When I released her and opened my eyes, it was darkness.

Tabitha’s crying came from in front of me. “What did you do?” she yelled.

“Tabitha?” Lu asked.

“Dammit, Blake. You need your eyes.”

“You can see?” Lucian questioned.

“Yes, but he can’t.”

I lifted my hand, and manly fingers clasped mine. “Calm down, both of you.”

“Blake?” Lucian’s voice broke, and he sniffed.

“You crying?”

Laughter pushed through his lips as Tabitha’s sobs still reached my ears. “How?”

“I can’t heal dragons, Lu, only myself. I’ll be fine in two days.” The buzz that was connected to my healing was already doing its thing.

“What?” both of them asked.

“You can’t have a dragon that can’t see shit. You deserve more, and so does she.”

I felt a pair of arms hugging me, and Tabitha’s freesia scent mixed with candy floss pushed up my nostrils.

“Thank you, Blake. I…” she struggled to speak and bawled her eyes out again. Her body shook in my embrace.

“Relax. I will be fine in two days. It’s not the end of the world.”

She sniffed. “No, it’s huge.” She let go of me, and Lucian laughed as the smacking of their lips reached my ears.

When it stopped, their whispering caressed my hearing. I wished I could leave, but I couldn’t see shit. So I felt my way to the couch and planted my ass carefully on it.

“Bud, how the fuck did you discover this?” Lu asked.

“Goran. The spell opened all my abilities. I healed a fucking wyvern this way because I felt bad.”

“A wyvern?” Lu asked.

“Yeah, I know. I should’ve scorched the bastard.”

Silence lingered and mixed with the darkness; it put me on edge.

“You are one wicked dragon, Blake. Thanks.” His arms wrapped around my neck, and I had to admit, not seeing it coming put me on alert.

“Just don’t leave me, please.”

He chuckled.

“Lu, please. It’s not time for payback. Don’t leave me.”

“Never.” More laughter filled our room. Laughter mixed with sniffs and an excited scream coming from Tabitha.

I chuckled as Tabitha’s voice drifted away from the lounge.

“I don’t know how to thank you, Blake,” Lu said.

“Stop. I mean it.”

“I can see,” Tabitha yelled, and Queen Maggie’s voice replied, asking how.

“She is on the Cammy with my mom. They are quite close.”

“Blake,” she answered Queen Maggie. “He took it upon himself without thinking twice.”

“What?” The queen sounded worried.

“Don’t worry, Mom. He said he will be fine in two days,” Lu yelled from the couch.

“He healed a dragon?” Queen Maggie sounded surprised.

“No, he can only heal himself. He’s as blind as a bat now, but he says in two days, he will be able to see again,” Lu carried on speaking.

“What if he doesn’t, Lu?” Queen Maggie sounded alarmed.

“Then I’m blind,” I said.

“Blake?” all three of them yelled.

“Calm down. I’ll be fine. I’m the Rubicon.”

I got up, walked, and tripped over the chair.

“Fuck, sorry, bud,” Lu said and helped me up as I laughed.

“This is going to be fun.”

George came with Becky, and I tried to apologize after they discovered that I’d taken Tabitha’s blindness away.

“Apologize for what?” George asked.

“I almost killed you.”

“Pfft,” the air pushed from him, “You really blind?”

“Yes, but I will have my sight back in two days, so whatever you’ve planned, now is the time.”

George barked his laughter as Becky and Tabitha whispered at how selfless I had become.

“I can still hear you, and stop spreading that shit. I’m the Rubicon.”

More giggles followed.

The guys quickly filled me in on what had happened the past month or so. Lu had given me sunglasses to wear. Not that it mattered, but my eyes probably freaked him out.

A knock on the door sounded.

“Is Tabitha here?” my aunt asked, and I lowered my head.

She examined her. Tabitha couldn’t shut up about how amazing I was by taking it away. It was like she’d never lost it.

“Blake?” my aunt asked, and I could feel the presence of her invading my space. She slapped the bejeezus out of me as I couldn’t duck her swatting.

“Stop, stop,” Lu said. “He will see in two days. He can heal himself. He only transferred the blindness to him.”

Soft sobs reached my ears.

I sighed.

“That was so selfless,” my aunt remarked. Her voice faltered.

“Stop. I have a reputation to protect,” I mumbled.

Tabitha’s seeing miracle spread fast. I hated it as I got a call from my mother and father and King Albert. I cringed now, not even thinking of taking his scar from his face, but there was still time. Maybe fix Elena’s dad for when she returned. Give her father back to her just the way he was.

After a while, I put my Cammy off, and then the paps started to harass Tabitha about her sight miraculously returning. I forgot she was a royal dragon now, and it must have been all over the news that she had lost her sight.

“Just tell them you woke up and you can see. If everyone knows he can heal dragons, his life will never be the same,” Lu told her.

She started going with that as Lu made a few calls and told his mom to keep me out of Tabitha’s little miracle.

On the second day, King Helmut held a press conference and told them that Tabitha had woken up and could see. It sounded indeed like a miracle.

Lucian grunted as I chuckled.

“Seriously. They should just keep their mouths shut.”

“Calm down. She is a royal dragon, Lu. If he didn’t do that, they would’ve dug, and they would’ve discovered the truth. He did the right thing.”

“You see anything yet?”

“Nope, still darkness here.”

“It’s almost two days, Blake,” Tabitha commented, sounding worried.

“I’ll be fine. I think I’m going to go to bed and sleep.” I waited for Lucian to help. “Lu.”

“Shit, sorry, bud.”

I felt his hand, and he helped me up and guided me to the bed.

“You need anything else?”

“No. Just sleep.”

I didn’t even have to close my eyes, and I had to admit, it was freaking me out just a little. Why couldn’t I see?

The next morning, light streamed into my eyes. It was blurry, like something had gotten stuck in my eyes. “Oh, this is going to drive me insane.”

“You see something?” Tabitha asked, and I stared in her direction. I saw two blurry figures on Lu’s bed.

“Yeah, but it’s like bright fog.”

Lucian thanked the heavens for signs that I was getting my sight back.

“My sight hasn’t faltered, Lu,” Tabitha cried again.

“It won’t,” I comforted.

“Still, I was so scared, Blake.”

“Relax, okay? You have your sight back, and it’s a nonrefundable gift.”

“Thanks.” Her arms wrapped around me, and her lips brushed my cheek.

“You are welcome.”

“Bud,” Lu said, sniffing again.

“Stop, Lu.”

“No, you do not know what it means to the both of us.”

“Calm down, please. You killed the weasel. Now I know why.”

“Who was he?” Lu asked.

“Name was Paul, he was a Black Weaver.”

“Black what?” Lu asked.

“Oh, yeah, they have all the names wrong and the abilities. He could actually put images in your mind. It’s what Goran is using to hide them. The Black Weavers can make everyone believe there is nothing in front of them.”

“So, it’s not a spell.”

“It was in the beginning. Goran changed his tactics after you almost caught up with him. The spell weakens them, a trained eye would easily detect them.” I brushed my hand through my hair. Everything was blurry, but I was grateful for the sign that I was getting my sight back.

“You told him this?” Lu asked, and I knew who he was referring to.

I shook my head. “And see the last bit of hope he has of finding her disappear?”

“Fuck, how are we going to find Elena then, Blake?”

“She will make her appearance. Goran still wants the Elementals, and she will come for them.”

“You really going to claim her?”

“That is the plan. I hope it breaks the spell, then we can sort out the dragon form.”

“How are you going to kill her without killing Elena?”

“By giving her my essence afterward.”

“Fuck, Blake.”

“Hey, I healed Tabitha’s blindness. I can save Elena’s life too.”

Lu laughed. “That is a wicked ability, bud.”

“No, that is my healing ability.”

“Do you think all the Swallow Annexes can do that?” Tabitha asked.

“I don’t know. They might. Depends on how selfless they are.”

“You want to tell me they might and no one figured it out?” Lu sounded skeptical.

I laughed as I shrugged.

“Oh, man. You really see something?”

“Yes, but it’s blurry. Very frustrating.”

“Stop wiping your eyes. It’s not going away,” Tabitha instructed.

On cue my stomach grumbled.

“Let’s go get you something to eat.”

The next day I had about eighty percent of my sight back. It was only the corners that were still black. It was even worse than the blur, but by tomorrow, I would hopefully see normal again.

My aunt kept shining the light thingy in my eyes and when she was done, she stared at me.

“Stop. I should’ve just told Tabitha to tell everyone that she woke up and got her sight back if I knew you were going to stare at me like this.”

“It’s not that, Blake. I’m in awe.”

I frowned. “You never tried this before?”

“What?”

“To take someone’s pain and see if you could heal it.”

She laughed. “You think we haven’t tried that yet? The few that have, Blake, died from whatever disease they took away from the dragons. Swallow Annexes’ healing ability doesn’t function the way yours does. The way yours heals you, it’s twenty times stronger than a Swallow Annex touch. I still think that you would heal a Griffin’s poison.”

“Yeah, don’t push it.”

She smacked kisses on my cheek. “I understand why they didn’t tell anyone about Elena. They had to do everything in their power to keep her safe so we don’t lose you. You are an amazing dragon, Blake.”

I huffed and shrugged. She finally let me go, and I walked out of the infirmary.

My aunt tried to make me feel worthy, but her words only made me feel less. If I was such an amazing dragon, why couldn’t I find Goran?

Lu and Tabitha waited for me, but I didn’t need their help anymore. I’d gotten my sight back.

“Swallow Annexes really can’t heal like that?” Lu questioned.

“Don’t start. Otherwise, I’m giving back her blindness and taking everything back.”

“No, no, we will stop.” Tabitha covered Lucian’s mouth, and he licked her palm.

“Ew.” She yanked her hand away and wiped it off on her jeans.

The bell rang, and we headed off to class. I suppressed the sigh that threatened to push from my lips.

Elena, where the hell are you?