“I haven’t seen her in many years. She wanted to lead her life as she saw fit, so I let her, despite my visions.” She shrugged. “Your mother is stubborn and has a hard time accepting that there’s already a plan in motion.”
And there it was. The path that had been written for me. I didn’t want to discuss it, but I knew she was waiting to see if I would act just like my mother. So I kept my mouth shut, allowing her to talk.
“The book Ethan showed you is a grimoire full of prophecies. They were written by a man who was deemed my secretary at the time. As I had my visions, the little man would write them down. Many concerned you.” She glanced at me. “Have you looked at the book?”
I shook my head. “I read the paragraph about me having a child with Ethan.” I scrunched up my face. “I don’t plan on having children any time soon.”
Mary laughed, reaching toward me and placing her hand on my stomach. “Some things happen without you wanting it, but it’s always for a good reason.”
Giving her a dirty look, I grasped her hand and lifted it away. As I opened my mouth to say something, my stomach became queasy and I had to take deep breaths to calm it down. Was the conversation getting me more worked up than I thought?
“I’m on birth control. I would be a bad mother anyway, so it’s the last thing on my mind.”
In fact, I was pretty confident I would let a kid down. It would be just as bad as living with my mom when I was little. She was hardly ever home, and when she was, there was no communication. No fun. No acknowledgment. Later in life, she became more active, more talkative, but I was already grown. The damage had been done.
“Do you know the book is actually made from the skin of Witches? The Ancestors, to be more specific.”
I groaned, picturing it. “I could have done without that tidbit of information.”
“The book was made specifically for you. You have a connection to the Ancestors, so you’ll be able to read the entire thing. Everyone else can only see what pertains to them. If you want to be prepared for what the future holds, I suggest you read through it.”
I recoiled. “I’m not touching dead Ancestor skin.”
“You’re just as stubborn as your mother,” Mary grumbled, then took off her sunglasses to focus on me. “Do you not realize the future of all races depends on you? That your choices are what could possibly stand in the way of peace?”
I looked away from her to stare at the ocean. “I don’t know what you want me to say. How would you feel if your life was already planned out for you?”
“It’s not planned out for you. Things happen because you make choices, but do not avoid them just to spite me. I’m not here to force you into making decisions you don’t want.” She cupped my cheek. “I love you, child. I know you don’t know me, but I do care what happens to you. Please know that I’m here for you...always.”
She smiled then, digging into her bag. “I have a gift for you.”
When she pulled out her hand and opened her fist, I was surprised to see a tiny dragon. It walked around the palm of her hand, blowing fire from its nose, as if it were agitated.
“This is now your dragon. He can protect you in ways that you can’t even imagine. He can also turn into a human.”
I snorted. “This little thing is going to protect me? If someone needs a smoke, I guess I can pull out my dragon.” This had to be some kind of joke.
Mary shook her head, tut-tutting. “You’ll see. When you need him, he will pull through for you.” She placed him in my lap, then stood. “If you need me, just call my cell phone.” She handed me a card containing just a number.
Taking it, I looked at the dragon, then back at her. “Are you a spy?”
She chuckled. “No, silly. I hand my number out all the time. My gentlemen callers like to choose a name for me, so I find it best to leave it blank.”
My mouth dropped open. My grandmother was a whore? “Are you serious?”
She bent down and tapped my chin with her hand. “Close your mouth, dear. I’ll see you soon.”
Glancing down at the dragon staring at me, I frowned. This was the weirdest gift anyone had ever given me. When I looked up, Mary was already gone, along with her towel. The dragon blew fire at me, singeing parts of my shirt. I sighed, trying to pet him, but he kept running away.
“I shall call you Taco.”
It glared at me, then blew fire all over my shirt. I gasped in surprise, patting down the spots. There were burn holes all over.
“You must not like that name.”
Deciding it best to get back home, I stood, placing the little dragon on my shoulder. He moved with me as I bent down to pick up my towel.
“Well, Taco, we have shit to do.” I heard it grunt in response, so I chuckled. “Yeah, I feel the same way.”
Reappearing at the office, I stopped short. It was a little brighter than when I left last night. There were yellow pillows on my chairs, flowers on my desk, yellow drapes hanging on my windows and... Was that an air freshener?
What the hell...
Taco jumped off my shoulder, flying around the room. He swooped toward the vase of flowers and spit fire, causing them to burst into flames.
“Hey! What are you doing?” The little fucker barely glanced at me before he tried to burn the drapes. I grabbed him out of mid-air. “I’m guessing you’re not a fan of yellow.”
It was hard to be mad at him. His tiny blue scales
