Page 73 of Sapphire Seas

“Odem introduced us to a few new ones. He truly is a sweetheart of a dragon, even when he’s getting on Ionus’ scales.”

“He’s also the only dragon I know who can out-snark Ronan and leave my brother sputtering like a ruffled hen. Of course, that just means I get to wind him up a little more when I ask what’s got his tail in a twist, but fatherhood and being mated clearly suits him.”

“Yeah, it does. He’s still glowing. You’d think he was carrying more eggs, but nope, just thrilled with the life he’s found here.”

“Speaking of finding things, what do you have there?” Upalo asked.

“Pink sea glass,” I said, gently rubbing it like a worry stone. “I’m going to add it to our horde.”

“Whoa, beautiful find.”

“Right? I wonder how far it traveled to reach this spot?”

“Kind of like us, huh?”

“You could say that,” I replied. “I just wish I felt like I deserved to be a part of all of this.”

“The fuck do you mean by that?” Upalo snarled, suddenly up in arms, seething with the sort of rage that would have been scary if I didn’t know him so well.

Smoke rolled off his scales. Not just wisps, either, but thick, black rolling smoke that he struggled to tuck away.

“Who said you don’t deserve to be here? I know it wasn’t your mates, they adore you. I was just over there looking for you and I got the sense that they were, well, sad, that you weren’t with them, for lack of a better word. It kind of felt like more than that. Heavier.”

“They’re worried about me,” I admitted. “Can’t say that I blame them. No one said anything about me not belonging here, even when I explained that my powers were broken. They just got Raven to take a closer look, which is when she discovered that there was a spell keeping me from connecting fully with my dragon.”

“I always wondered if there was more to the words Daigle spoke over you the day he took your eye.”

I bobbled the sea glass before tucking it into my pocket so that wouldn’t happen again. Upalo never brought the subject up. Was he finally going to fill me in on the missing pieces from that night? Even the renewed connection with my dragon hadn’t been able to do that. He didn’t remember it anymore than I did.

When he said nothing further and allowed the rolling surf to provide the ambiance, instead of words, I dug my toes in the sand and felt it squishing between them.

“He was going to take both,” Upalo blurted.

Screech.

“He wanted you dependent upon him and at his mercy,” Upalo said.

I had to force myself to look at him and immediately saw that my best friend was shaking.

“Please,” I said, reaching for his hand so he couldn’t fly away on me again. “I need to know all of it.”

For the first time, he held tight, instead of tugging free and taking off.

“Y-yeah, I-I know,” Upalo said, suddenly covered in smoke again, tears shimmering in his eyes that hissed and fizzled when they landed on his cheeks.

Heat rolled off him in waves, but he never let go.

“He used his talons to take your eye,” Upalo said. “You know that part. After you passed out, he stood there, holding it up, marveling at the color, talking about it like it was a precious gem. He thought it was funny that I kept cussing him out and trying to get to you. He asked if I realized how special you were? How rare? Talked about the power you had then being a pale comparison to what you would have when you were an adult, because your father’s line was kin to the protectors. He said that it was unfortunate that you refused to accept that your place was by his side”

Upalo needed a moment. His shaking had grown more intense and the tears were thick and heavy as he choked back a sob.

“I couldn’t do anything to help. Nothing. No matter how hard I tried. Not with all the leaches they’d used to get me back under control. Daigle promised to claim you piece by piece, if that was what it took. Then he pulled this jar from that pouch he always wore.”

Upalo held his fingers apart to show me the size of it. As soon as he did, I knew exactly what Daigle had done with the eye he’d taken from me.

“He put your eye in it,” Upalo confirmed. “Claimed it was too beautiful to throw away.”

Pretty boy. I remembered that much. He’d called me that several times, even before that day.