The Priestess and the Dragon (Dragon Saga Book 1, Wattpad Version)

Chapter Fifteen

“You look pale, dear one, why don’t you sit down?” Kaito asked as he approached her with a hand outstretched towards her.

Suzume wasn’t sure what feeling was stronger, repulsion or frustration. This has to be a joke. He’s mocking Akito from the spider dream. He grabbed her shoulder and she batted it away.

“This isn’t funny; I told you Akito wasn’t real. You don’t have to keep mocking me!”

He was shaking his head and smiling. I think I miss the angry Kaito right about now. He’s acting crazy. She took a step back and the backs of her knees collided with the bench causing her knees to buckle beneath her. She wobbled on her feet, throwing her arms out for balance. Kaito reacted in an instant and snaked his hand around her waist and brought her close to his chest.

The scent of his musk filled her nostrils as his hand crept up to the small of her back. She tilted her head back and stared up into his dark eyes. The storm clouds were gone and something much more disturbing seemed to glaze them over.

He’s under a spell isn’t he?  She sighed. Why is this always happening to me?

Kaito brushed a stray hair away from Suzume’s face and she shivered. A new feeling was bubbling up, one that needed to be squashed immediately. She had seen what lengths he would go to deceive her, like back at the temple when he had tried to seduce her for the fun of it. This isn’t like back at the temple. He’s not trying to seduce me. He is genuinely acting like Akito from my dream. He must be under some kind of spell.

He dipped his head close to her and his breath ticked the loose hair that had fallen across her face. “Are you alright?” he asked.

Having him this close with his arms around her was doing strange things to her head. He was an attractive, if not infuriating man, and she found when they were close together her body made decisions that her head did not agree with. Suzume shoved him away before she gave way to her conflicted desire. He took a step back and his expression reminded her of a lap dog she had back at the palace. In particular the face it made when it was in trouble.

“What’s the matter, Kazue?” He asked with his palms facing up in a gesture of pleading.

Did he just call me...? She was too shocked to respond right away. Kazue was the name of the dragon’s former lover, the woman who had sealed him away in the mountain temple. Maybe he wasn’t pretending to be Akito. Maybe he was lost in some kind of delusion as she had been? Could the spider have gotten him with her poison when she wasn’t looking?

Suzume snapped back to reality as Kaito reached out for her once more. “I am not Kazue. I’m Suzume.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

He smiled and it was a nice smile, not mischievous like usual. He stepped closer to her and she slid down along the bench. Even though his smile was charming, for now, she still didn’t trust him, and she wasn’t sure if this was a trick or if he was under a spell. Either way, him calling Suzume by his former lover’s name –the woman who he wanted revenge against—was a frightening prospect.  I take back thinking he was attractive, I just remember why I am in all this mess. Because their relationship did not end well.  

“I know that is not your name now,” he said as he chased after her as she scooted away from him –she thought it might not be a good idea to run considering how mercurial he could be. “That was your name once.”

Suzume spun around to face him head on. “What?” She shouted.

He frowned. “You’re Kazue’s reincarnation. Where did you think your spiritual powers came from? Why do you think it was so easy for you to break the seal? Because your soul had sealed it thousands of years ago.”