Bloodlines: Dragon Rider Book 2

Chapter 38: Glowy Worms and Spooky Stories

"Squirm, I swear to gods..." I will turn you into a coat. "Get over here before Holland finds out."

He stops at a still, green pond that consumes most of the giant cavern. It curls into a crescent, running from end to end of the cave. With the sunlight behind me and the hundreds of glowing strings dangling from the cavern and on the wall and ground, I can see the underwater tunnel poking just a few inches above water level.

Squirm ventures toward the murky water. I hiss at him and he saunters back to my side and follows me up the rocks and back into the forest. "Holland would be beyond pissed if I pushed my luck today. No more caves. Besides, with my luck, we'd find some Squirm-eating monster in there and I rather enjoy your presence."

He whines, leaping over a fallen log before I scoop him up and cover his mouth. A curse runs through my head as Easton's voice sounds from the camp, quiet but still loud enough to hear. Obviously Clarika isn't near if he's talking about me.

"I have no idea why she's mad at me," he says. "I've given her space and everything and she still won't talk."

"Really?" Holland drawls, incredulously. "Nothing at all comes to mind?"

"She's not mad about the arena-"

"That makes one of us," Holland mutters.

I resist kicking the tree I pressed myself against, if only because that would hurt it. The thoughts make me stop and frown. I really am a common person.

There is a moment of silence then Easton clears his throat. "She's mad at something else," he says carefully, tensely. "She told me -- very subtly."

Footsteps sound near them, followed by a scoff cold enough to make them stop talking. I feel rather than see them tense. "For a dragon rider, you're not very observant, little prince." Her words bite more than usual and before Holland can snap at her, she says, "She has a right to be mad, and you are lucky she is so nice or I could've made your life a living hell."

Holland growls a retort but Clarika continues as if he hadn't said anything. Her voice turns silky smooth, calm, and calculating. It's the voice of our mother. "You honestly can't think of any reason why a 'mage apple who doesn't fall far from the tree' would be angry at you?"

Silence.

My stomach twists into knots like a snake strangling its victim. Tension hangs thick in the air, wrapping around my neck like a noose. My heart pounds in my ears, my throat, and my chest until I can't think or breathe. I brace myself against the tree to keep from swaying, barely feeling Squirm wiggling in my arms.

I can picture the smirk on her face as Clarika continues. "They certainly don't make those dorm walls like they used to, do they?"

A beat of thick silence passes before Holland sighs, the sound rippling with disappointment. But his words are low and clipped. "I don't know exactly what that means, but it better not be what I think it refers to."

Feet scuff against leaves, coming in my direction.

Another problem for another day.

I whirl, the world turning seconds later and stop before slamming into Dagen.

He angles his head, grinning that stupid grin that says he knows everything and no one can do a damn thing about it.

"Hello, love." Heart racing, I glare at him. "What are you doing?" he needles, voice quiet but clear. He even has the nerve to spy around the tree to the pureblood closing in fast. "If I didn't know better, I'd say it looks like you're trying to avoid Dragon Boy."