Page 43 of New Nebraska Home

“Holy shit,” I said, not bothering to hide the awe in my voice. It took a few moments, but the cloud continued growing and darkening until the rain extinguished all the flames.

“Fuck, that was harder than it looked.” Brock wiped the sweat from his brow.

“You okay, man?” I asked, not sure how to help him.

“Yeah, I need just to walk it off. Join me?”

“I did kind of want to talk to you for a minute, anyway.”

“Let’s talk and walk,” he said.

I nodded and started heading deeper into the forest.

We didn’t talk for the first several minutes. I used the time to extend my senses to see how far I could hear, how far I could see, and what I could feel. I thought it might have just been my dragon senses that had grown, but the forest was alive around me. This was like nothing I had ever experienced. I’d always been able to sense other living things, as most supernaturals could. But now I felt like I could feel the difference between all the insects and plants around me, which was absolutely incredible.

“So, weird question,” Brock said, making me jump. “But, like, have you gotten stronger since being here?”

“Yes, I think my clutch must be close,” I answered.

“Clutch?”

“Family, coven, pack, whatever you want to call it. I read some myths that said dragons get stronger when they’re around their family. I’ve never known my family, but I assume they would have moved to New Nebraska like everyone else.”

“Why don’t you know your family?”

“Because I don’t.” I knew Brock wanted an explanation, and I was reasonably confident he wouldn’t use it against me if I gave him one. That didn’t mean I enjoyed talking about my past with people.

It was never comfortable explaining to someone that you were stolen as a baby into supernatural trafficking because of your rarity. There were so many myths about what dragon scales, dragon bones, dragon fire, and dragon blood could do. As far as I’d been able to tell, it was all bullshit, but that had never stopped people from trying.

The only good thing about those myths was that they all claimed the dragon had to be an adult. Most people assumed it would be easier to raise a dragon from infancy, break it, and make sure it never knew its strength or abilities—than it would be to actually try to capture it.

So, I was neglected and stored in cages with other rarities until I became of use. I was sold from freak show to collector to hunter over and over until I was twelve. I think I was around twelve, but I was stolen from a poacher who wanted to use my scales as armor and my bones as some type of ED medication, along with two phoenixes. Twin boys, Armand and Anuk, were around my age. They were rare like me. Their bodies valuable like mine, and they were scared like me. They hadn’t been captured at birth. They knew what freedom was like.

The man who took us was a true monster. He wanted to study us, hurt us, and see what made us what we were.

When the phoenixes escaped, they took me with them.

They taught me how to survive, how to fend for myself, and how to fight. I was with them for a time, and it was as close to having a family as I had ever come.

Brock seemed okay, but I didn’t want to share this with him or anyone else—not yet.

“So, you are saying just being close to your own kind is supposed to make you stronger?” Brock sounded confused as he looked up into the trees.

“Supposedly.”

“Interesting. Does it have to be a genetic family?” he asked.

“As opposed to what?” Where was he going with this?

“A found one.” He kept walking, the air around me still feeling comfortably dry. Brock must have still been sucking some of the water out of the air around him. Maybe that was how he recharged his magic? Either way, it was better than air conditioning.

“I don’t know what that means,” I admitted.

He nodded, and we were silent for a bit longer.

“Can I ask you another personal question?” This time, Brock stopped and turned to face me.

I gave him a curt nod. I didn’t know why, but I trusted him. Living rough as long as I did, you learned to trust your instincts, even when you didn’t understand them.

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