Terrified of
meeting a real, live hybrid. All I wanted was for things to be the way they
once were. So trust me, I understand. I’ve been where you are right now. Give
it time. It’ll get better.”
I
appreciated his words, but they didn’t help. “If Megara is going to go this
hard at me during all our training sessions, I might not live long enough for
it to get better.”
“Her
training methods are harsh, I’ll give you that,” Jonah said. “But then I was
trained to be a spirit dragon, which involves a lot of sitting and mediating
and searching for your inner peace, so what do I know?”
His words
gave me an idea. Maybe it was a crazy idea, but at that point I was willing to
try anything. “Maybe you should train me.”
“What? I doubt Megara would approve of that.”
“So we
won’t tell her. We won’t tell anybody .”
“Not even
your friends?”
I shook
my head. “Derek wouldn’t like it and probably Brandy wouldn’t either. So no, I
wouldn’t tell them a thing. I could train with you in the mornings and Megara
in the afternoon and just let them think I’m with her all day.”
“I don’t
know. Keeping secrets from Megara... If she found out she’d be furious.
Besides, I could only train you the way I was trained.”
“Maybe
that’s exactly what I need.” The more I thought on it, the more I warmed to the
idea. “I could sure use some inner peace. And it can’t hurt. Please, won’t you
at least try?”
He
thought it over for a moment, then reluctantly nodded. “All right. We’ll start
tomorrow morning. But not here. Someone might see us. I know of a better place.
More private. Come out into the hall and let me show you something.”
Out in
the hall he pointed to a red line running high up on the wall. “You see that?”
“Yeah.”
“Follow
this red line until you come to a wall with a yellow one. Then follow that one
until you get to where I’m waiting for you. I’ll show you my little slice of
paradise. But you can’t say anything to anyone. This is a secret.”
I’m not
stupid. The idea of meeting him to go off to some secret, secluded place did
make me a little nervous. But I was a dragon with active powers and he wasn’t,
so it’s not like I couldn’t protect myself if I needed to.
“I
promise I won’t say a word.” I started down the hall. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
When I
got back to the room, the only ones there were Curtis and a dark haired boy
about his age. They were sitting at the table staring at the laptop and seemed
to not even realize I was there. “Hello.”
Curtis
jumped out of his chair and pushed the laptop’s screen shut. “Abby. I... I
didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”
“Me
neither.” I dropped into the chair. “Where is everybody?”
“Uh... Out, I guess.”
I glanced
from him to the other boy, who was smiling like he was trying not to laugh.
Cute boy. Shoulder length black hair. Brown eyes. Light brown skin. Probably
not a tan. I bit the inside of my lip to keep myself from grinning. “Are you
going to introduce me to your friend?”
“Oh, uh,
yeah.” Curtis let out a short, slightly breathless laugh. “This is Luka Ballas . And this is my cousin, Abigail Freeman.”
“Hey.”
Luka nodded in my direction. “It’s cool to meet you. Everybody’s been talking
about the new hybrid in town.”
“Great,”
I muttered. “Just what I wanted to hear. So what are you guys doing?”
“Checking
out Curtis’ movie,” Luka said.
“Yeah,
uh,” Curtis ran a hand back through his hair making it stick up in places,
“Luka saw me one day out with my camcorder. He wants to be an actor.”
“Oh.” My
cousin’s nervousness was adorable, but I didn’t want to spoil
meeting a real, live hybrid. All I wanted was for things to be the way they
once were. So trust me, I understand. I’ve been where you are right now. Give
it time. It’ll get better.”
I
appreciated his words, but they didn’t help. “If Megara is going to go this
hard at me during all our training sessions, I might not live long enough for
it to get better.”
“Her
training methods are harsh, I’ll give you that,” Jonah said. “But then I was
trained to be a spirit dragon, which involves a lot of sitting and mediating
and searching for your inner peace, so what do I know?”
His words
gave me an idea. Maybe it was a crazy idea, but at that point I was willing to
try anything. “Maybe you should train me.”
“What? I doubt Megara would approve of that.”
“So we
won’t tell her. We won’t tell anybody .”
“Not even
your friends?”
I shook
my head. “Derek wouldn’t like it and probably Brandy wouldn’t either. So no, I
wouldn’t tell them a thing. I could train with you in the mornings and Megara
in the afternoon and just let them think I’m with her all day.”
“I don’t
know. Keeping secrets from Megara... If she found out she’d be furious.
Besides, I could only train you the way I was trained.”
“Maybe
that’s exactly what I need.” The more I thought on it, the more I warmed to the
idea. “I could sure use some inner peace. And it can’t hurt. Please, won’t you
at least try?”
He
thought it over for a moment, then reluctantly nodded. “All right. We’ll start
tomorrow morning. But not here. Someone might see us. I know of a better place.
More private. Come out into the hall and let me show you something.”
Out in
the hall he pointed to a red line running high up on the wall. “You see that?”
“Yeah.”
“Follow
this red line until you come to a wall with a yellow one. Then follow that one
until you get to where I’m waiting for you. I’ll show you my little slice of
paradise. But you can’t say anything to anyone. This is a secret.”
I’m not
stupid. The idea of meeting him to go off to some secret, secluded place did
make me a little nervous. But I was a dragon with active powers and he wasn’t,
so it’s not like I couldn’t protect myself if I needed to.
“I
promise I won’t say a word.” I started down the hall. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
When I
got back to the room, the only ones there were Curtis and a dark haired boy
about his age. They were sitting at the table staring at the laptop and seemed
to not even realize I was there. “Hello.”
Curtis
jumped out of his chair and pushed the laptop’s screen shut. “Abby. I... I
didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”
“Me
neither.” I dropped into the chair. “Where is everybody?”
“Uh... Out, I guess.”
I glanced
from him to the other boy, who was smiling like he was trying not to laugh.
Cute boy. Shoulder length black hair. Brown eyes. Light brown skin. Probably
not a tan. I bit the inside of my lip to keep myself from grinning. “Are you
going to introduce me to your friend?”
“Oh, uh,
yeah.” Curtis let out a short, slightly breathless laugh. “This is Luka Ballas . And this is my cousin, Abigail Freeman.”
“Hey.”
Luka nodded in my direction. “It’s cool to meet you. Everybody’s been talking
about the new hybrid in town.”
“Great,”
I muttered. “Just what I wanted to hear. So what are you guys doing?”
“Checking
out Curtis’ movie,” Luka said.
“Yeah,
uh,” Curtis ran a hand back through his hair making it stick up in places,
“Luka saw me one day out with my camcorder. He wants to be an actor.”
“Oh.” My
cousin’s nervousness was adorable, but I didn’t want to spoil
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