But what burned the most was that for a moment, just a moment, he had wanted it to be true. Every kid dreamed of being something special, something magical and amazing. Cameron had dreamed of it through a good portion of his childhood, and his grandmother had fueled the dreams by telling him stories of what his ancestors had done. The magic they had wrought, the spells they could do, and how they’d lived with dragons. His parents had knocked sense back into him as he’d headed into his teen years, and the dreams had crumbled and faded. Hearing Alric speak to him so earnestly, he flashed back to those childhood daydreams. For an incredible moment, the future had been nothing but magic stretching out ahead of him.
Until reality came crashing back in.
Reality was a bitch.
Baldewin drove without saying a word, but the silence was judgy. Very judgy. Cameron glared at him from the corner of his eye. “You don’t like how I spoke to him.”
“He’s already feeling guilty about many things. He was afraid of overwhelming you with too much information. I’m sure that after your reaction, he’s convinced he did overwhelm you and is now kicking himself for it.”
Oh. Well, that took some of the wind out of Cameron’s sails. Only some, though; he was still pissed. He wasn’t sure how much to say to Baldewin. The man struck him as loyal to a fault. “What are you to him, precisely?”
“Technically, a retainer. I serve as head of security too. But we’ve known each other almost since diapers.”
“A childhood friend, huh.”
“Yes.” Baldewin shot him a measuring glance before his eyes returned to the twisting mountain road. “I know he seems stiff and formal with you. That’s his default with people he doesn’t know well.”
“Actually, the man was charming all day yesterday. It’s why he pissed me off so badly because I wouldn’t have followed him up here if he hadn’t been sort of…leading me on, I guess.”
Baldewin slowed for a curve, his head canted as if puzzled. “He was charming with you? Well now. That’s interesting. I’ve never seen him open up with someone he’s known less than a day.”
Cameron tumbled that through his head for a moment. Either Baldewin was playing him or…well, no, the man seemed perfectly sincere. And a little confused, truth be told. “So you think he actually does like me.”
“Yes. Answer me one question, did he laugh at any time yesterday?”
That was a weird question. “Sure. I’m a funny person.”
Baldewin let out a huff of astonishment. “Ravi is hysterical and can barely get him to crack a smile half the time. But you heard him laugh? Then yes, he likes you quite a bit.”
“Well shit. Now I feel like a jerk for blowing up at him.” The charm hadn’t been faked, but he’d still taken it personally and blown up at the man. Cameron sank into his seat, slouching a little. Maybe there was a hole somewhere he could crawl into and pull something over his head.
“I think he’ll understand your reaction. We did throw a lot at you all at once.”
Cameron rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “I could have reacted more maturely, though. It’s just…I’m really not magical, and I don’t appreciate you guys insisting that I am. I’m tired of people telling me what I should do and who I should be.”
Baldewin very carefully didn’t say anything in response to that.
Yeah, the dragon was obviously not willing to argue the point right now and piss Cameron off further. But Baldewin was pretty sure he was right. Cameron interpreted his silence for what it was.
Cameron was sure on this point, though. Growing up, he’d read many a book with a magical protagonist, wishing sometimes he’d wake up one morning with magical powers of his own. It’d never happened. It was part of why he didn’t like the stories Halmeoni told them as kids. All it did was feed false hopes.
His phone dinged and he checked it. The hell, why was Cassie messaging him when she’d likely only gotten two hours of sleep?
Are you getting nookie or do you need cops?
He responded, Why are you awake?
Too curious. So, nookie or cops?
He typed back. No nookie. No cops. He hesitated for a moment, finger hovered over the keypad on the screen before he continued: Turns out he’s a dragon.
Come again?
You read that right. He’s a dragon. There’s a clan of living fire dragons up here in the castle
DUDE IF YOU’RE PULLING MY LEG I WILL END YOU
No joke, not kidding, I will swear on Halmeoni’s purple hair, legit dragon clan
OMG
Yeah
OMG!!!
Yeah, I know I’m freaking out a little too. I will email you everything that happened so you can read it at work. Go back to sleep
No, wait, tell me one thing first. Why would they tell you? That they’re dragons?