Page 30 of The Baby Dragon Cafe
He frowned as he looked around, until his gaze settled back on her. His lips twitched. Before she could ask, he plucked a stray leaf from her hair.
“Oh god,” she lamented, but laughter broke through. “You know I wanted to make this place into extra seating for the
cafe. I had all these ideas.”
“You should do it,” he said. “That would be wonderful.”
Saphira sighed. “If only I had the time! Or the money. Or the energy …”
He paused, thinking. “Well, I could work on it for you, when I don’t have other jobs to do. Sparky could hang out here during the day, as well.”
Immense pleasure shot through her. “Oh, yes, okay!” She grinned. “That would be wonderful! Then when I have downtime during the day from the cafe, I can come spend
more time with Sparky.”
Even though Saphira had been the one urging Aiden to bond with Sparky, and she appreciated this effort on his part, she also didn’t want to be left out. But if they were just in the garden, it would be easy for her to pop over and still be included.
“I know it’s important for me and Sparky to bond,” Aiden said, though he seemed hesitant about it.
“It seems like you’re afraid,” Saphira said, looking at him curiously. “Why?”
Aiden considered her question. She could see him mulling it over in his mind, going back and forth about something.
“I don’t know if I’m allowed to tell you this,” he started. “It’s kind of one of those Drakkon family secrets.”
For a moment, Saphira felt like a total outsider, then. Even if they grew up and lived in the same small town, she was reminded that they existed on two completely different planes—that he was from a Drakkon family, and she was not. She couldn’t help but feel inferior then, with her ordinary life, devoid of secrets she was meant to safeguard.
“You must have heard rumors about dragon racing,” Aiden continued, immediately intriguing her. She did love being privy to a good secret; it made her feel as though she was part of the club.
“Kinda,” she replied. “Not so much, though. Vaguely, I know it’s something that happens? But beyond that …”
“It does happen, and my family is … kinda … really involved in it.”
“Isn’t it illegal, though?”
“Yes, but like any other illegal activity, it brings in a lot of money, so the people in power willingly turn a blind eye toit. Especially because those involved are those on the Dragon Council.”
“Oh.” The Dragon Council was a branch of the government in charge of overseeing all the dragon-related affairs, such as the Drakkon taxes, insurance, stipends, and other such matters. “So what does that have to do with Sparky?”
Aiden swallowed. “Like I mentioned, my family is really into racing. The Sterlings have been winning the races for decades. I was never interested, so I never got involved, but Danny used to defend our family name. After he died … well, my father wants someone else to take over, keep up the good family name and all.”
Saphira was beginning to understand a bit now.
“So you’re afraid if you bond with Sparky, you’ll be pressured into racing?”
Aiden nodded. His brows were pinched with stress, but his facial features seemed to relax a bit when he saw that she understood where he was coming from. “When Danny left the egg to me, I didn’t even have any intention of hatching it, so I would never be in that position.”
While Saphira understood his fears, she thought having a dragon egg and not intending to hatch it was true insanity. It was a crazy privilege that he apparently could not recognize, which was jarring for someone like her. It was something people would kill for—and literally did, as poachers were notoriously savage—whereas Aiden saw it as something immaterial in his life. Almost inconvenient.
“So what changed?” Saphira asked. “I mean, regarding hatching the egg.”
“My family can be a bit … overbearing and intrusive.”Aiden sighed, running a hand over his face. “It wasn’t me who changed my mind. The egg was hatched under circumstances I’m still not completely clear on, but I have suspicions it was my parents meddling. So I had a baby dragon, and I thought if you trained Sparky, and I stayed away, it would be safer.”
Aiden clearly disdained dragon racing, which she was glad for because she could never approve of putting dragons in danger for the sake of an adrenaline-rush.
“What changed your mind about staying away?” she asked. He looked at her, so deeply that she felt a chill run down her spine.
“I saw how upset you were,” he said, voice quiet. “I couldn’t bear that, either, so I figured I might as well come clean.”
