Dragon Born

Chapter 8

I couldn’t exactly fly with the princes in a dress, especially not the queen's dress. Quinn took me back to his room, leaving Camden and me on his bed while he left to find me more appropriate clothes.

Silence fell as soon as the door closed behind him. I peered around the room, swinging my feet off the side of the most comfortable bed I have ever been on, trying to think of ways to make the silence less awkward.

Camden, as attractive and charming as he was, had a certain air about him, one I suspected his dragon gave off; I felt like a clueless doe while he lurked in the shadows, stalking, waiting for the right moment to strike. Of course he undoubtedly had no thoughts of hunting me, it was just an instinct that was ingrained in the bond with his dragon. I had read that it was a stronger urge for some shifters than others.

“So. . . ” I started awkwardly. Man, I really needed to improve my bedside manner. “How exactly did you become a dragon shifter? I’ve read about the process of the Right of Passage, but there’s nothing on your kind of bond.”

Camden ground his jaw, eyes hardening on an unfortunate dresser across the room; if he glared at it long enough it might spontaneously combust. “Harry seems to think its a mutation that appears in the Acker bloodline every so often.”

I gaped. “You mean you’re not the first?” Why had no one heard of this before? This kind of phenomenon would be hard to keep secret. It shouldn’t be kept secret.

The hard edge in his eyes faded. “No, but I’m the first to survive the transition. I got sick. Really sick. Kali saved my life. She risked everything--” his fingers bit into the mattress “--dragging me through dragon territory, while being hunted by dragon scavengers, and threw me into a volcano.”

“I’m sorry. She did what now?” And people thought alchemists were crazy for meddling with the natural state of things. “Why would she do that?”

Camden shrugged. “Harry read a book.”
Amazing. The nonchalance of which they had handled their prince’s life. . .

When the silence stretched on, Camden cranked his head to look at me. He scoffed at the dumbfounded expression on my face. “Don’t look so surprised.”

Taken aback, I stood up. There was so much tension in my body, that I needed to move or I feared I’d suddenly explode. “I’m flabbergasted. She-she just threw you into a volcano and hoped everything would work out.”

“Well, it did. Lyla,” he added when he saw my struggle to wrap my head around the sheer carelessness in the Randala Valley. Yes, Camden wasn’t the only prince and wasn’t next in line for the throne--but he was still a prince, who’s life shouldn’t be so haphazardly tossed around.

“Things are done differently in the valley,” he explained--as if that made everything okay.

“They’re crazy.”

“You kind of have to be a little unhinged to live in that valley.” He shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I’m here now and that’s all that matters, isn’t it?”

I released a long breath, forcing myself to calm down, and faced him. “I suppose.”
“Good, because Quinn’s coming and I don’t want him to walk in on you all worked up like this. He might get ideas of defending your honour--or whatever he thinks might impress you.” Hearing his footsteps, Camden nodded to the door a second before Quinn came through with clothes draped over his arm.

All I could do was gape like a fool after the comment Camden made about Quinn wanting to impress me. That was hardly something he had to try to do. Just standing there with his impressive form and clean-cut features was enough, let alone the power and confidence he extruded.