Page 60 of The Black Dragon
As she continued to pet the baby dragon, Justin straightened and walked the perimeter of the cave. He sifted through thepiles of glitteringcrystals.
“What are you searching for?” she askedhim.
“A rare amber crystal. Drust charged me with finding out if it’shere.”
Her heart skipped a beat.I know where it is.Ariel winced. Did Justin hear that thought? But he seemed oblivious. Maybe the mind connection only worked when they directed thoughts at eachother.
Thirty minutes later, Justinhad finished sweeping the cave and the cache of gems. Ariel set the dragon back amongst itsbrethren.
“It’s not here.” He dusted off hishands.
“Did Drust say it would be found here?” Perhaps there was more than one ambercrystal.
“No. He seemed ambiguous about it. I can’t find it, so I suppose someone took italready.”
“Maybe. We should be returning. My father willwonder where Iam.”
“Let him worry.” Justin snorted. “I don’t give a damn what hethinks.”
“I do.” Ariel gave him a pointed look. “He’s mydad.”
They made their way outside, careful to close and lock the cave door behind them. The Drogmire still slumbered on a flat rock, snoringloudly.
“It’s so beautiful up here,” she whispered, shivering a little with the cold. “Ibet it’s wonderful at night. So manystars.”
Shadows etched Justin’s face in ghostly hues. He craned his neck to look upward. “I love flying at night. Sometimes I go so high, it feels as if I could touchthem.”
As much as she liked it here, she knew it was best to leave and return home. “Let’s get down. We need totalk.”
They flew back down to the ground. On the hiking path,she climbed off Justin’s back and he transformed back into Skin, wearing jeans, a black long-sleeved shirt. Clouds blocked the sun and a chill wind swept over them. She shivered with the cold, her senses onoverdrive.
“You should return to the house and warm up,” he told her, rubbing herarms.
“I don’t get it. The cold never bothered me as much before. Why am I sensitivenow?”
“Once you acknowledged your dragon blood, it made you more sensitive. Until you experienced your first shift and learn to control your body temperature, you’ll be morevulnerable.”
Ariel bit her lip. “Will I shift into a dragon?” The thought once would have thrilled her. Now she wasn’t certain. Everything wasunknown.
“I don’t know.” His expression turned serious. “Maybe makinglove with me triggered something. It depends on how strong the dragon blood is insideyou.”
Or the magick in the crystal you seek. Ariel swallowed hard. “This crystal you need to find... why does the wizard wantit?”
“He didn’t say.” Justin craned his neck, staring at the sky. “Those wizards aren’t exactly forthcoming with information. But I got the sense it’sdangerous.”
She didn’t want to return to the house, letting Justin leave again. Because this time he’d leave for good and he was her only connection to this new and frightening aspect of herself. Ariel pointed to the hiking path leading back to the parking lot. “Let’swalk.”
As they made their way along the path, gooseflesh broke out on her arms. Ariel kept shivering. Something nasty hovered in theair, thick withmenace.
They turned a corner and she halted, gasping. It wasn’t the cold causing her feeling ofdread.
But the man blocking their path - herfather.
