Rock Bottom (Dragon Within #4) (8 page)

    
“First
thing you can learn from me,” Megara said, “is to always pay attention.
Especially when you’re around other dragons.”

    
My head
was buzzing as I rolled over onto my hands and knees. The floor turned to sludge.
I jerked my hands back but the sludge surged up and captured my wrists. It went
solid. Not enough to really hurt me, but enough to hold me where I was.

    
Fear
burned low in my gut even though I was almost sure I wasn’t in any real danger.
My heart pounded in my ears. I tasted something more than blood in the back of
my throat. Nothing like being trapped to get your fight or flight instincts
kicked up.

    
“Concrete
is made with water and sand.” Megara strolled toward me. “Most earth or water
dragons couldn’t do much of anything with that, but a hybrid can. That’s your
second lesson. For us, anything can become a weapon.”

    
Megara
crouched in front of me. An icicle formed in her hand. She touched the sharp
tip to the spot between my eyes. “Now you’re dead.”

    
“Great,”
I said through clenched teeth. “Does that mean training is over?”

    
The
icicle melted slowly and each drop hovered there in the air before my face.
“Look at you.” Megara’s lip curled at the corner. “You didn’t try to defend
yourself or strike back at me. You’re not trying now. Lack of training isn’t
your problem. It’s lack of spine.”

    
Ice cold
water hit my face. I gasped, blinking against the wetness. When the sludge slid
away from my wrists, I sat back on my heels and looked for Megara. But she was
already gone. The door to the room stood open.

    
“That was
intense.” Jonah stepped out of the shadows.

    
Heat
flooded my face. “You saw all that, huh?”

    
He
nodded. “Sorry to be spying. I wanted to see you in action.”

    
“Real
impressive, right?” I rose slowly to my feet. “I don’t suppose you have any
aspirin? My head feels like it was whacked against a concrete floor.”

    
His smile
at my weak attempt at humor held more pity than amusement. “I could check our
little pharmacy, but there’s not much in it.”

    
“Never
mind. It’ll pass.” I rubbed my wrist. “Megara was right. I’m too weak for all
this. I don’t want to be here. I don’t even want to be a dragon. All I want is
to wake up safe at home in my own bed like all this never happened. Guess that
makes me a coward.”

    
“It makes
you a person,” Jonah said. “I know exactly what you're feeling. The fear. The
helplessness. The wishing it was all a dream. We’re a lot alike, you and I. I
had a normal life once myself. A family. A home. Nobody knew I was any
different from any other spirit dragon until I turned sixteen and came into my
powers.

    
“Then my
whole world was turned inside out. I had to leave not only my home and family,
but my whole country. I was terrified of coming to the States. Terrified of
meeting a real, live hybrid. All I wanted was for things to be the way they
once were. So trust me, I understand. I’ve been where you are right now. Give
it time. It’ll get better.”

    
I
appreciated his words, but they didn’t help. “If Megara is going to go this
hard at me during all our training sessions, I might not live long enough for
it to get better.”

    
“Her
training methods are harsh, I’ll give you that,” Jonah said. “But then I was
trained to be a spirit dragon, which involves a lot of sitting and mediating
and searching for your inner peace, so what do I know?”

    
His words
gave me an idea. Maybe it was a crazy idea, but at that point I was willing to
try anything. “Maybe
you
should train me.”

  
  
“What? I doubt Megara would approve of that.”

    
“So we
won’t tell her. We won’t tell
anybody
.”

    
“Not even
your friends?”

    
I shook
my head. “Derek wouldn’t like it and probably Brandy wouldn’t either. So no, I
wouldn’t tell them a thing. I could train with you in the mornings and Megara
in the afternoon and just let them think I’m with her all day.”

    
“I don’t
know. Keeping secrets from Megara... If she found out she’d be furious.
Besides, I could only train you the way I was trained.”

    
“Maybe
that’s exactly what I need.” The more I thought on it, the more I warmed to the
idea. “I could sure use some inner peace. And it can’t hurt. Please, won’t you
at least try?”

    
He
thought it over for a moment, then reluctantly nodded. “All right. We’ll start
tomorrow morning. But not here. Someone might see us. I know of a better place.
More private. Come out into the hall and let me show you something.”

    
Out in
the hall he pointed to a red line running high up on the wall. “You see that?”

    
“Yeah.”

    
“Follow
this red line until you come to a wall with a yellow one. Then follow that one
until you get to where I’m waiting for you. I’ll show you my little slice of
paradise. But you can’t say anything to anyone. This is a secret.”

    
I’m not
stupid. The idea of meeting him to go off to some secret, secluded place did
make me a little nervous. But I was a dragon with active powers and he wasn’t,
so it’s not like I couldn’t protect myself if I needed to.

    
“I
promise I won’t say a word.” I started down the hall. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

    
When I
got back to the room, the only ones there were Curtis and a dark haired boy
about his age. They were sitting at the table staring at the laptop and seemed
to not even realize I was there. “Hello.”

    
Curtis
jumped out of his chair and pushed the laptop’s screen shut. “Abby. I... I
didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”

    
“Me
neither.” I dropped into the chair. “Where is everybody?”

  
  
“Uh... Out, I guess.”

    
I glanced
from him to the other boy, who was smiling like he was trying not to laugh.
Cute boy. Shoulder length black hair. Brown eyes. Light brown skin. Probably
not a tan. I bit the inside of my lip to keep myself from grinning. “Are you
going to introduce me to your friend?”

    
“Oh, uh,
yeah.” Curtis let out a short, slightly breathless laugh. “This is Luka
Ballas
. And this is my cousin, Abigail Freeman.”

    
“Hey.”
Luka nodded in my direction. “It’s cool to meet you. Everybody’s been talking
about the new hybrid in town.”

    
“Great,”
I muttered. “Just what I wanted to hear. So what are you guys doing?”

    
“Checking
out Curtis’ movie,” Luka said.

    
“Yeah,
uh,” Curtis ran a hand back through his hair making it stick up in places,
“Luka saw me one day out with my camcorder. He wants to be an actor.”
        

    
“Oh.” My
cousin’s nervousness was adorable, but I didn’t want to spoil anything by
making him uncomfortable, so I started to get up. “You guys want me to leave so
you can hang out?”

    
“I
gotta
split anyway.” Luka stood. “Mom likes the whole
family together for meals.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s lame, but whatever. See
you tomorrow, Curtis?”

    
Curtis
grinned. “Yeah, sure.”

    
“Cool.”
Luka nodded at me again on his way out.

    
I glanced
at Curtis, who quickly turned away and started fiddling with the laptop. “I
guess training didn’t go so good, huh?”

    
“Not
really. I kind of got my butt handed to me.” I leaned forward. “But I don’t want
to talk about that at a time like this.”

    
“A time
like what?”

    
I knew I
was embarrassing him, but this was a big deal. “Luka. He’s cute, yeah?”

    
He
shrugged. “I guess.”

    
Yeah
right, he
guessed
. Please. “You like him?”

    
“I don’t know.
We only met a few days ago.”

    
“But you
have the whole movie thing in common,” I said. “Come on, it doesn’t take that
long to know if you like someone or not. How old is he? Is he a dragon? I want
some details.”

    
Curtis
sighed as he turned to face me. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

    
“Nope.”

    
“Luka is
a fire dragon.” He leaned back against the table. “He’s fifteen, so he doesn’t
have his powers yet. He lives here with his parents and his two sisters. The
littlest one is a hybrid. That’s why they’re here. They came about four years
ago, right before she was born.”
 

    
I felt
that little twinge of jealousy again. It was a feeling I hated, but one I couldn't
help. “It’s good they had a place to come to. He seems nice.”

    
“He is
but...” Curtis started to pace. “It’s weird. We hang out and he seems like a
normal guy, only he isn’t. He’s a dragon. Sometimes I kind of forget and then I
remember and it’s like... I don’t know what to do.”

    
“What do
you mean?” I asked. “So he’s a dragon. I am too.”

    
“Well...
yeah, but with you it’s different. You were raised by humans. Luka has spent
all his life around other dragons. He’s used to being around people with all
this...power. Why would he want to hang out with a lame human?”

    
“If he
thinks you’re so lame, then why was he here?”

    
“Maybe he
didn’t want to be rude.”

    
I got up
and stepped in front of him, forcing him to stop. “You listen to me right now.
You’re cute. You’re funny.” I ticked off my fingers as I spoke. “You’re
talented. You’re sweet. Don’t make a face. Sweet is a good thing whether you
think it is or not. You’re awesome.” I put my hands on his shoulders. “Any guy,
dragon or human, would be lucky to have someone like you. Don’t be afraid to go
for him just because you don’t think you fit together.”

    
I know,
it was kind of hypocritical of me to say something like that when I wasn’t
exactly going after Zack. But this was about Curtis, not me. And the thing with
Zack was way more complicated anyway.

    
“At the
very least,” I said, “I’d like to see you with a friend. Someone who likes the
stuff you like. Luka could be that, if nothing else. And he did say he wanted
to see you tomorrow of his own free will. It’s not like anybody made him say
that.”

    
Those
words earned me a small smile. “Yeah, that’s true.”

    
“And if
you do need any romantic advice,” I lightly punched his arm, “you know who to
ask.”

    
“Yeah.”
He snorted. “Because you’re the expert.”

    
That made
us both laugh. It felt good, especially after my brutal training session with
Megara. Seeing him happy made me happy. I dropped back into the chair. “Derek,
Hannah, and Brandy went out to together? All three of them?” I couldn’t really
see that happening, especially given how much Brandy and Hannah didn’t like
each other.

    
“Brandy
wanted to talk to some dragons.” Curtis stepped around the table and opened his
laptop. The screen was facing away from me so I couldn’t see it. “She asked
Derek to go with her, I guess because she didn’t want to be alone. Hannah
tagged along without an invite.”

    
“Sounds
like Hannah. But why did Brandy want to talk to dragons?” I thought I knew the
answer to that but I was kind of hoping I was wrong. Brandy never meant any
harm but she could be a little abrasive sometimes. Anybody who didn’t know her
like I did was bound to take it the wrong way.

    
“She’s
curious about the whole dragon thing.” He shut down the laptop and closed it.
“I think she’s trying to figure out how to go at the idea like a scientist.”

    
I
groaned. “Why couldn’t she ask Derek? Or me? Or even Hannah? People don’t like
strangers randomly pressing them with a million questions.”

    
“You know
Brandy.” Curtis picked up the laptop and slid it into its case. “She did talk
to Derek, but she’d need information from more than one person. Otherwise it
wouldn’t be scientific.”

    
“And
she’ll probably have half the population of the bunker mad at her before the
hour’s out,” I said. “Tact isn’t exactly her strong point.”

    
“I resent
that.” Brandy came in through the open doorway, followed by Derek and Hannah.
“I happen to consider myself to be extremely tactful.”

    
“Then
you’re the only one,” Hannah said. “I’ve known you for a few months now, and I
gotta
say I agree with Abby on this one.”

    
Brandy
ignored her, focusing instead on me. “I’ll have you know I was perfectly polite
and unobtrusive while questioning the dragons. Wasn’t I, Derek?”

    
“Uh...”
Derek coughed, “You were... That is, you
weren’t
...” He sighed. “I can’t
think of a thing to say that isn't going to come out wrong.”

    
Hannah
laughed. “Told you so.”

    
“I don’t
recall asking your opinion on the matter,” Brandy snapped.