Page 97 of The Baby Dragon Cafe
There were the little comments, the little looks. She was sensitive to them, especially now that Sparky’s training was nearly done, and she would be losing her official link to the baby dragon.
Saphira was in a much better place with the cafe, but if Sparky’s training stopped, she would no longer be paid, and she was so close to paying off the last bit of her mortgage. Aiden had offered to pay it off for her, but she did not want a handout.
He had already given her such an expensive gift recently: he had gifted her two more identical gold bangles to complete her set. She loved them, and wore them every day, and she could accept something like that—even if it seemed too much—but she could not accept him paying off the last of her mortgage.
The cafe was something she needed to complete on her own. It was Nani-Ma’s money that had begun this dream, and Saphira had to be the one to finish it.
One day, she was walking along Main Street, on her way to pick up ice-cream, when she heard her name. It was some girls, gossiping mindlessly, not caring what they said or who might hear. They were Drakkon girls, and Saphira had seen both of them riding their dragons above Starshine Valley before.
They were talking about Saphira and Aiden, disdain and confusion clear in their tone.
“I just can’t believe they’re actually together,” one girl said.
“Even them hooking up is hard to understand, but properly dating? It doesn’t make sense.”
“I know. She isn’t even one of us! She’s an outsider.”
And that word:outsider. It triggered Saphira deeply, and shedecided right then. Enough was enough. She needed to prove herself. She couldn’t keep going on like this.
Saphira recalled what Mireya had said on Mount Echo, how there was a ritual available for those outsiders who married into riding families. So that they could belong amongst the dragons.
Maybe if Saphira did the ritual, she would stop feeling this way. She would belong.
At dawn, Saphira awoke and left a sleeping Aiden behind.
Chapter 26
When Aiden awoke, the first thing he noticed was that Saphira was gone. It was not her habit to get out of bed earlier than him, even if she did wake up first. He looked around, confused, but she was not there.
Aiden looked around, searching for a note. Once or twice, she had gotten out of bed first, and whenever she did, she left him a note, but today, there was none.
He went out of the bedroom in her apartment, and headed to the main area, where Sparky was resting in his little bed.
“Hey, Spark,” Aiden said, petting the dragon. “Where’s Saphira?”
Sparky blinked, no response. If Saphira had been in the apartment, Sparky would have directed Aiden to where, but she wasn’t here.
Aiden searched for his phone, then called her. It rang and rang, but she did not pick up. He furrowed his brows, worried.
Quickly getting changed, Aiden went down to the cafe with Sparky, where Lavinia was opening up. Today was Saphira’s day off, but perhaps there was an emergency at the cafe thatSaphira was dealing with. However, when he looked around there as well, she was nowhere to be seen.
“Hey, Lavinia, is Saphira around?” he asked. Lavinia gave him a funny look.
“I should be asking you that,” she said. “Why? You don’t know where she is?”
Aiden shook his head, a strange feeling spreading through him. He was starting to worry in earnest now. This was unlike her.
He thought of who else he could ask, and Emmeline popped into his head. Aiden dialed his cousin and, as the phone rang, he took Sparky and headed outside, by which point Emmeline had picked up.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Have you seen Saphira?” He headed toward his cottage, wondering if maybe she was there. Until Emmeline’s reply came.
“Yeah, I dropped her off a few hours ago.”
He stopped in his tracks. “What? Where?”
“What do you mean? She went to Mount Echo—didn’t you know?”
