Chapter 20 - Lily

Mentally, I’m smiling. Riding cloud nine as the warmth of Draco’s arms surrounded me.

I’m dreaming again—and this time, I refuse to wake up from the dream. Where I was afraid before, I’m not scared anymore.

In fact, I embrace this free feeling as I feel the wind blowing through my hair. My imagination must be so vivid, that I can feel every movement of being flown in Draco’s dragon form.

I’ve felt it before—in real life—but it was scary each time. Now, I’m no longer afraid of flying. And perhaps that’s what my dream signifies. It’s here to show me that I’ve accepted who Draco is. I’ve accepted that he’s a dragon man.

And even then, I can surrender to him. Fully conform to his desires and submit to his every need.

The dream isn’t as vivid in imagery as it is in emotions. Intense emotions in, which I am drawn to Draco, knowing that I will fully submit every time. The way I did earlier tonight, before I fell asleep in his arms and began dreaming about my loyalty to him.

I feel his kiss on my cheek, my lips curling into a faint, pleasant smile. His scent immerses me into the warmth of an embrace so profound, my heart feels content.

***

Groaning as I stir awake, my back feels tense, as if I’ve been sleeping on a pile of bricks. Frowning, I open my eyes slowly to the sight of a pink haze.

Instantly, my eyelids fly open as I recognize the pink walls. My palms slap my sides where I feel the old quilt Mom had knitted together using all my old t-shirts from growing up.

“No…” I refuse to believe I’m back, whispering to myself in horror. As I look around me, it’s obvious where I am.

But I shake my head fervently as I prop my weight onto my elbows. Blinking as dread washes over me, my vision clouds as my eyes become watery.

My breath comes in staggered pants, the sob lodged in my throat, threatening to spill out if I breathe deep enough. I was not expecting to wake up in the familiar bedroom.

I’m back home. And though it should come as a relief, I’m feeling far from relieved, especially after what happened between Draco and me last night.

The passion we shared…

The change I witnessed in him over the past few days…

What happened?

I’m about to kick my feet off the bed when I spot a folded paper beside my pillow. I grabbed it quickly as if it would change anything. I unfolded it and read the letter Draco left behind.

Of course, it won’t change anything. By now, he must have flown back to Aurora Island. As alarming panic rises like bile in my throat, I read the letter again. And again. Trying to make sense of it.

“Forgive me for showing you a side of me that even I didn’t know existed.” My frown deepens as I read it under my breath. I know he’d been different lately, chivalrous even. But that’s the side of him that I had been drawn to. The side of him that made it possible for me to submit to him. “And that’s the side of me that can never accept doing this harm to you…”

So that’s what it’s all about…

It seems that when it comes to Draco, I really don’t have a choice. I don’t have a say. It’s never my decision to make.

Doesn’t he know that I would have chosen—

“Lily?!”

I look up when I hear Violet’s exclamation. I barely recognize her voice—I’ve been gone for a long time. As if time on Aurora Island doesn’t follow the same rules as it does in the human world.

But her voice brings back a whole range of emotions that I didn’t realize I had been suppressing. I throw myself off the bed and rush toward her, flinging my arms around her.

“Violet! Oh, my God!” I sigh with relief, my body relaxing instantaneously.

When I pull away, holding my sister at arm’s length, she frowns at me.

“When did you get back?” she asks, clearly not as concerned as I thought she would be.

At least, I thought she’d be more worried that I’d disappeared for two weeks.

Staring at her with my mouth agape, I need to tread cautiously. “Why are you so calm? Didn’t you miss me?”

Violet’s jaw drops, her eyes going wide with shock. “Of course, I missed you, Lils! But you didn’t give us much of a choice, did you?”

“I-I didn’t?”

Violet rolls her eyes, grabs my hand, and walks me back to the room. She pulls out her phone, unlocks the screen, then holds it up for me to see.

“Sorry, I need to leave the country for work,” I read the text aloud with a frown. That’s when I realized Draco probably sent the text when he abducted me.

For the sake of formalities, I’m guessing.

But now I’m back, and I have to explain my whereabouts.

“The tavern sent you out of the country?” Violet scoffs in a tone that makes me aware that she never believed it in the first place.

“Violet, I—”

“Save it,” she dismisses with a wave of her hand as she sits on the edge of my bed. “That’s why you were acting all weird when we asked about your love life.” She narrows her eyes at me. “All you could have done was told us. We would have understood.”

As it sinks in that my sister thinks I eloped with a man out of the country, I’m actually thankful for it. How else would I explain that the tavern sent me away for work?

I can use this.

“I’m sorry,” I apologize earnestly as I kneel in front of my sister and take her hands in mine. “I know I should have told you. And I regret that I didn’t.”

Violet sighs heavily before lifting her eyes to mine. “Will you at least tell me who he is?”

I shake my head, eyes dropping with shame. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. He’s out of the picture now.”

“What?!” Violet exclaims with a gasp. “You run away with a guy, and you come back after two weeks, and now you’re broken up? I don’t believe it!”

I shrug as I get to my feet and take a seat beside her. “He was bad enough to steal me away from here without letting me tell you guys,” I sigh. “He was bad for me.”

Though the words leave my mouth, they’re not words I truly believe. If I did, I wouldn’t feel a pang of guilt grip my insides as if I’m committing the greatest sin.

Lying.

But that’s what I’ll have to do if I’m meant to be back here. Back to my world—the real world. Where I have to go on with my life.

And where I have to pretend that I hadn’t met the man of my dreams. The dragon man hadn’t walked out of my deepest fantasies to show me that I was living a lie all this time.

It was my life that had been a lie. Because in the human world, I’d only faced suffering. I didn’t belong. I knew I didnt belong here since I was old enough to understand.

And now that I’m back in the place where I don’t belong, I have to forget that Aurora Island exists. A place where I felt like I belonged, even as a prisoner behind four luxurious silk walls.

Violet takes my hand and folds it on her lap. “He was good enough for you to run away with in the first place.” she points out.

“Can we just drop this conversation?” I ask with a nervous giggle. “How’s Mom and Dad? Have they been well?”

“Oh, they’ve been fine, Lils,” Violet blows nonchalantly. “They’re not even here. Dad booked a weekend away for the two of them. They’re camping somewhere in the mountains,” she giggles.

“Really?” I ask with genuine surprise. “What about you? How’s school?”

“Well, remember that Hanz scholarship I applied for?” When I nod, Violet continues. “Well, I got it!” she beams excitedly.

“Oh, my God!” I exclaim, flinging my arms around my sister. “Congrats, Vi!”

For so long, I thought my family wouldn’t survive without me. It comes as a pleasant surprise that they actually can. I’d been tormenting myself, believing that I always had to be around. Yet, these past two weeks have proven that my absence wouldn’t kill anyone.

I wish I’d known sooner.

The day drags on, with me sleeping off most of it. Violet goes about her day researching for her college paper, leaving me to my own devices.

Thankfully.

When sunset rolls by, I feel the intensity of the sun’s rays penetrating the blinds and heating the room. It’s impossible to sleep at this time of the day, when the evening draws closer.

Yawning and stretching my arms over my head, I pull myself out of the rather uncomfortable bed. My bones had grown accustomed to the luxury of the bedroom I’d been held captive in. So, I know it’ll take some time to readjust to my old life.

I drag my feet toward the window, gazing at the horizon as it glows with orange and purple hues. While the sun finds its resting place for the night, it gives way to the moon’s dominance in the sky.

I strain my gaze as if I might see him. See the golden dragon with ruby crystals for spikes gliding through the air toward me. But I no longer feel like the princess locked in the castle, protected by the fire-breathing dragon.

I’m just Lily Turner again. Not the human virgin destined to be the Alpha dragon’s mate. Not the measly human he finally warmed up to.

I’m just good ol’ me, having to go back to my old life.

As I wipe at the stray tear that rolls down my cheek, escaping the prison of my eyes, I see Draco’s face in my mind. As if it’s been etched there to remain as a memory, I can’t believe that the last time I saw him was last night.

If I’d known, perhaps I would have carved a better picture. A clearer one.

Or maybe I would have put up a fight. Only this time, it would have been a fight to stay in Aurora Island.