Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40738 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40738 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
North gritted his teeth. Every time she called him Freddie, it was like someone scraping a cheese grater across his nerve endings. She refused to call him North. All of them did. Except for Gramps. He respected that his grandson preferred to be called North.
“What about them? I haven’t forgotten my family. I just need to do this.”
“And all you’re thinking about is you. With this entire trip, you’ve only thought about you. Have you even considered what this is doing to your family? The cost burden this has been for us?”
“I’m using my own money. I saved for three years for this trip. You’ve only paid for a couple plane tickets.”
“And what about the money it’s costing us not to have you at the office? What about the family business?”
It was all North could do to not make a face and cringe at the mention of the family business. Concrete.
At the office, his entire world was grey and dirt and rocks. It was hard, ugly, cold, and a horrible fit for who he was. But his family didn’t care about who he was, only what they wanted him to be.
“You know we can’t keep covering for you. People deserve time off to be with their families at the holidays. We need you here. I still don’t understand how you could be so selfish as to run off on this stupid trip and abandon your family.”
“I’ve planned this for years. We discussed it. The only reason I went now is because we lucked into those super discounted plane tickets. I can’t drop everything now,” North argued, but by the look on his mother’s face, it was clear she wasn’t hearing a word he said.
“This is done, Freddie.”
“Ma—”
“I’ve heard enough. This family has sacrificed enough to give you this time to run around in foreign countries. You need to do your duty and come home now.” She sighed heavily and rubbed her hand across her forehead as if she had a headache. “No more of these silly fairytales about dragons and magic.”
“They’re not fairytales. Dragons and magic are real. I’ve met them. I’ve done magic. I’ve met people who can teach me more.”
“And what good is that in the real world?” she snapped. “How is any of that going to pay your bills or buy you a house or find you a wife to take care of you? It’s nonsense and you know it. It’s time to stop with these silly ideas. We’ve put up with it long enough. You’re not a child anymore, Freddie.”
“But I’m twenty-one. I have the right—”
“Enough! It’s time for you to come home. I’m cutting off that credit card we gave you for emergencies. I want you to text me the name of the city with an airport closest to you. I’ll book you a flight home for tomorrow night. You be on that flight. You come home now. You’re not getting another dime out of this family. You belong here and that’s final.”
North didn’t say anything. Not that his mother needed him to respond to carry on a conversation. She finished up telling him what his father had been doing—cleaning out the garage—and that Mrs. Mason from church had a niece who would be just perfect for Freddie.
The horrible call ended at last and North could only sit there. A rock weighed down the pit of his stomach, and his heart was breaking. The truth was that he hadn’t had a plan for after he found a dragon. He’d just been sure that if he found the dragon who owned the scale then everything about his life would change. But how?
His mother was right. Being a mage wasn’t a job. It wasn’t a career. It wasn’t going to pay the bills or give him a place to live. Maybe Lisette might be willing to teach him, but would he actually be able to stay here? Of course Cameron lived here. He was bonded to the king. And his sister was with a member of the royal guard. But what about him? Could he actually get a job in the castle?
Hell, he’d scrub the king’s toilet every day if it meant getting to learn magic.
And the bonus, of course, would be getting to see Warin every day. Not that a dragon would likely want to be with a guy who scrubbed toilets.
But what about his family? It wasn’t just that they were his only source of income at the moment. He had a duty to his family. He did work a lot of hours every week at the family concrete company. Even if his mother didn’t much care for who he really was, he had to believe she really did want the best for him. She wanted him to have a safe future. And for her, that meant a house, wife, job, and kids.