Page 56 of The Black Dragon
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It wasn’t possible.She was Mage. Her parents were full-blooded Mages. If she had dragon blood in her, surely it was from something Leo had infused into thecrystal.
Ariel plopped back to the grass, her body shaking. “This isn’t happening. I’m Mage. Nothing else. You toldme my magick was puny. And after we made love, I was certain powers vanished. Father warned me they would disappear if I wasn’t a virginanymore.”
Justin joined her, gently examining her hands. “Ariel, was your mother adragon?”
She shook her head. “No, she was Mage like myfather.”
Ariel yanked her hand away, afraid to touch him, to share a new connection she didn’t want.“It must have happened when I used the crystal Father infused with yourmagick.”
“Impossible. Dragon DNA can’t be absorbed. Only our magick can. And if you absorbed my magick, it wouldn’t change your body chemistry, only make you morepowerful.”
“My mother wasn’t dragon,” she burst out. “They told me they were both Mage. Dragons shift and they canfly!”
“When they wish. Ifthey stay in skin, you’d never tell them apart fromOthers.”
“Dragons need warm weather and sunshine…” Her voice broke. Sedona. Heat. Always the sun. One time when she was younger, she’d asked her father if they could visit his relatives in New York during the winter so she could seesnow.
“No, honey, cold weather doesn’t agree with your mama,” Leo had insisted. “And I’m not inclinedto visit myfamily.”
“She hated the cold. The nights were the worst,” she murmured, staring at thecupcake.
Everything made sense now. The mysterious relatives who fought them in court for Mama’s money, relatives Ariel had never met. No cousins, aunts, uncles. Always just the three of them, content to bealone.
And the money – money that her mother said was her inheritance,but she danced around the source ofit.
“Gold,” she whispered. “The money we were living on was gold. Father said it was gold acquired frominvestments.”
Justin flexed his hands, his expression pitying. “They deceived you, Ariel. Dragons hoard gold and pass it on to their families. It explains why your relatives were eager to sue to reclaim it, especially if they didn’t have a goodrelationship with your father. They were willing to let your mother have the gold as long as she was alive, but once she died, it reverted back to the dragon family. It’s typical for dragon clans to not pass on wealth to offspring of mixedmarriages.”
Ariel flung the cupcake at a tree. It smashed into it, smearing pink goo onto the bark. “You lied to me, Mama! Why did youlie!”
Justin was there, enfolding her into his embrace as she sobbed. Such betrayal. Her mother was a dragon, a fact her parents had hidden from her all these years. Desperation filled her. Ariel was in unknown territory, with a body she no longerunderstood.
It felt so good to be held, to be comforted by someone who understood what it felt like to have your world tipped upside down. Ariel struggledto be free. He releasedher.
Relying on Justin was the worst thing she could do now. She could not trust him with thisknowledge.
Who could shetrust?
Onlyyourself.
“She was a dragon.” He touched the webbing between her fingers. “You’re not Mage, Ariel Harrington. You’re half-dragon. Not just any dragon like me. You’re a dragon with Mage abilities. You can read Othersauras and determine theirenergy.”
He gave a rueful smile. “Even as a half-breed, your dragon abilities are powerful. Ariel, you have the incredible ability to cleanse negative energy from a room filled withit.”
“Impossible. I’m past the age when shifters change into their animal form. I would have known bynow.”
“Not if your father suppressed your ability because he fearedit.” He sighed. “Leo knew what your mother was, and brought you up to believe you were Mage, likehim.”
Cleansing negative energy? Her mind whirled with this revelation. She thought of the jars of salt water and vinegar placed around the workshop after Justin’s escape to heal the horrible emotions still lingering in the air, the ghostly echoes of pain andanguish.
“How do I get ridof this?” She wriggled herfingers.
“Close your eyes and calm yourself. Violent emotions can trigger a shift before you’reready.”
She did so, thinking of the soothing energy of the vortexes and the lumina pool. To her relief, the webbing had vanished from her fingers and her hands were smooth when she opened her eyesagain.
