Page 45 of The Dragon's Perfect Omega
"You are," I insisted. "I spied on you and the first thing you think about is feeding me because you've got it into your head that I'm not okay. I've only known you for a short while, but you're always trying to take care of me."
"I guess you're right about that," Lowen agreed. "But it's only natural. I take care of you because I care about you. Makes sense, doesn't it?" He poured some coffee into a mug and gave it to me with an encouraging smile. I took it from him.
"I can't argue with that." And I did feel like coffee. Any hot beverage would have been nice that morning. "And I'm sorry that I spied on you." I had to get that apology out of the way before we could go on.
Lowen shrugged. "It's okay. We needed to talk about this sooner or later anyway. I don't want to have secrets from you."
"You mother said something about the shrine," I started. Those were the words that had confused me the most. "And she didn't seem particularly happy about our relationship. Is it because I'm not a dragon?" That, I would understand. After all, my parents wouldn't be happy to hear that I was dating a dragon either.
"It's not like that. Sure we have some... ideas about humans that might be wrong, but that's not why my mother worries. Remember how I told you about my powers and how people would pressure me to join the shrine if they knew about them?"
I nodded.
Lowen poured coffee into another mug and stirred a cube of sugar into it, and then another. It felt like he wanted to occupy his hands more than he wanted a coffee. "Turns out I was adopted as a baby and my biological mother is the current high priestess. She knows about my powers and she’s trying to recruit me."
"I’m sorry to hear it." I rested a hand on my dragon’s arm, trying to comfort him with my presence somehow. "Is this why we can't date?" The pieces of the puzzle were coming together in my head, but there was still something I was missing. "Your religion doesn't want you to date?" I thought I'd heard something about him being 'tempted' anyway. I didn't think that my dragon was super religious, but maybe his mother was.
"Kind of. If I were to follow in the high priestess’ footsteps I’d have to stay unmated."
"But your mother wants you to try anyway."
"Pretty much." Lowen raised the mug to his lips and took a sip. The liquid must still be hot, but he didn't wince. Then again, dragons weren't bothered by heat, were they? They couldn't burn. "My mother thinks I should give it a try." My dragon gave me a wry smile. "She's always been very religious. I humor her, but this is too much to ask."
"But if you're the only dragon with these powers on this island aside from the high priestess then—"
Lowen held up a hand to stop me from going on. "Whatever you're about to say, don't say it. I would have to break up with you before they ever let me try anything." His gaze hardened. "That's not a price I'm willing to pay. Don't ask me to pay it."
His words, the way he said them, struck me hard. We'd only spent a few days with each other, but his resolution never to give me up was real. It should have been creepy, really, but I wasn't creeped out because I knew where that feeling was coming from. I felt it too, even if I couldn't explain it. I didn't want him to give me up. I didn't want to give him up either. Hell, I was sitting on this island with him when I knew I should be anywhere but here.
"I'm not going to ask you to do anything," I said softly. "But what are your people going to think?" Had he given any real consideration to the consequences of his actions? Because I had. I'd been thinking about the fallout of my trip the whole journey here.
Lowen shook his head. "I don't know. All I know is that it doesn't matter."
"I see." He really wasn't willing to even contemplate going along with his mother's wishes. In this, he was so different from me. I wondered which of us was right.Ifone of us was right. The longer I knew Lowen, the more I found myself questioning all the things I'd been taught.
Slowly, I lowered my fork to the plate and started eating. The eggs and bacon still smelled good, but they didn't really taste like anything in my mouth. As if I was chewing on ash, just with a slightly different texture.
As I ate, my eyes wandered around the room. A magnetic board on the wall caught my gaze.
"That's just trinkets," Lowen said when he noticed what I was looking at.
"Oh." From where I was sitting, I couldn't study the magnets in detail, but I thought I saw a bright red English telephone box and a miniature replica of Japanese sushi.
"My dad always brings these back for me from his travels," Lowen explained. "I've been collecting them forever."
"Your dad is an ambassador, right?" It would make sense that he saw a little more of the world than a typical dragon did. "Did you ever think about following in his footsteps?" If he wasn't considering following in his mother's footsteps.
"Not really," Lowen said, swallowing down a mouthful of food. "I’d like to see more of the world, but I don't think I'm the diplomatic type. Whenever someone tells me that I need to suppress my dragon nature, I want to claw their eyes out." There was something wistful in his tone, even as he tried to sound angry. He really did want to travel, didn’t he?
Was this beautiful island really just a beautiful bird cage to him?
"Maybe Wings of Fate will get to travel the world someday," I said, trying to be encouraging. Unlike my dragon, I'd been to London and Tokyo. But those trips had been with my parents. I'd not exactly been running wild.
What would it be like to see the world with Lowen?
So far, I hadn't even seen much of his home.
I put my plate aside. "Take me out," I asked.
