Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 78142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
I wait for Dragon to speak, but he doesn’t. He simply looks at me for a few seconds, nods, and then walks out the door.
Chapter Four
Dragon
I asked my parents once, after I started kindergarten, why they had named me Dragon. Some of the kids in the class made fun of my name—said it wasn’t a real name.
“The same reason we named your sister Griffin,” my mother told me. “I’ve always loved mythological creatures.”
I’m not sure how the conversation went after that. No doubt I asked her about mythological creatures and what they were. But I don’t remember anything past that.
Because I don’t let myself think about Griffin.
I was four years old when Griffin was born, and she was blond and beautiful like my mother. I favored my father, with dark hair, but instead of his brown eyes, mine were what my mother called hazel. She said they were beautiful, and that I was her golden Dragon.
I was so happy to be loved by two doting parents. Parents who cherished me for everything I was.
Until, of course, they turned their backs on me.
When I was nine years old, I became a ward of the state and went to live in a group home.
And Griffin?
She vanished a couple of months later. I don’t know how or why, and I didn’t know about it when it happened. I was in the group home, and I wasn’t informed of her disappearance until years after the fact.
The only person I’ve trusted with some of my backstory is Jesse Pike, Diana’s brother-in-law.
And even he doesn’t know the worst of it.
But I have to admit, when he and Brianna came to me with the notion of my staying with Diana, I didn’t hate the idea.
Diana Steel is the embodiment of everything good in the world. She’s beautiful and intelligent, with a softness that is my complete opposite.
Being in her presence is like being surrounded by a halo of goodness. An inner light that could never allow itself to be enveloped by the shadows of my past. I certainly never expected her to go along with it, and I wanted her to know that there were no hard feelings. That’s why I stopped by her place tonight—to tell her that I had no intention of living with her, that I would be fine on my own.
I’m not sure what made her change her mind.
She seemed to think I was insinuating that she wasn’t a generous soul, that she didn’t want to help someone like me. That’s not what I thought at all. It’s not what I think.
I won’t lie, though. I’m glad she changed her mind. Not because her penthouse is more luxurious than any hotel room I can afford, but because being near her goodness…
I don’t know.
Maybe some of it will rub off on me.
Not that I’m a bad person.
Despite what my parents thought—and probably still think—of me.
I did not do what they accused me of.
I would never have harmed Griffin.
I loved her. I’m not sure I’ve ever loved anyone the way I loved my little sister. She was a blond-haired, blue-eyed angel, and I adored her.
I stop my thoughts abruptly.
I’m sober. And when I think of Griffin, I want to drink. I want to shoot up. I want to do everything I can to escape reality.
Because my reality is one without Griffin.
Someone hurt her all those years ago.
And I was blamed for it.
I wake the next day in my hotel room. I can’t say that I’m happy—I’m never happy—but I’m content knowing that I’ll be staying with Diana Steel. Funny thing is I don’t even have her number. I could easily get it from Jesse and Brianna, but I don’t.
Part of me wants to just show up. If I call her, that will give her a chance to change her mind.
Seriously, why would she want me staying with her? I don’t think she does. She’s just doing this out of the goodness of her heart. And to prove that she’s not a heartless bitch, I suppose.
I pack up my few belongings, and then I head downstairs to the dining room where I grab a plate of the free breakfast—a croissant, a couple of sausage links, and a portion of scrambled eggs.
Once I take a seat, I look at the croissant. It’s crescent-shaped, my favorite phase of the moon. I could’ve eaten my fill of croissants during the band’s stay in Paris, but instead, I chose the easy way out.
Drugs.
I took two groupies to my hotel room, and they offered me heroin. I said no.
They sucked my dick.
And one of them…
One of them had a tattoo of a griffin on her backside.
I thought I could handle it.
Turns out I couldn’t.
So I shot up. Got high. Rode the fucking dragon. My tox report showed fentanyl and Rohypnol, so God only knows what else I put into my veins that night.