She threw her hands up in the air, her chest heaving, and I couldn’t help but crack a grin.
“Your ride or die, huh?” I lightly chuckled. I wasn’t laughing at her, but she didn’t seem to realize that. Camille’s arms fell to her side and she narrowed her eyes. I covered my mouth and tried to relax my face. “I swear I’m not laughing at you, it’s just a lot to take in right now and I don’t know how to respond. I didn’t know you liked me that much and I kind of cracked. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well I didn’t know I liked you that much either.” She crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at the glass ceiling.
I could tell it was hard for her to admit, and the fact she did spoke volumes. We’d come a long way from the first night I was here and the two of us were ready to kill each other over the dining room table, and it had only been a week.
When she learned I was much more different than even she was, it was like she allowed herself to relax around me. In that time, we somehow became friends, and good friends too. I enjoyed spending time with her beyond just working on my casting abilities. I never had friends who were girls growing up, especially in foster care. I couldn’t let myself be vulnerable to have any friends, actually. I knew a lot of kids have amazing experiences in foster care, but I was not one of the lucky ones and that mentality has stuck with me. I didn’t realize it until that very moment when Camille was all but asking me to be her best friend.
Then I remembered what my dad said. “Family and friends who will become like family…” Could Camille really fill that role? It was different, easier, with Xan because he had my heart from my earliest memories, and Dev and Ainsley, it was hard not to open up to them. Camille was a little pricklier than my uncles, but that was probably because she was hiding something even more vulnerable.
“I met my grandfather today,” I said softly. “It never even occurred to me he was out there.” Camille lowered her arms and her body relaxed as her face filled with something close to compassion. “He’s my father’s father, a dragon shifter, and apparently, he is a part of the rebellion too.” I huffed out a laugh and began flipping through the spellbook pages again.
“It didn’t go well?”
“Not really. I mean, he didn’t try to hurt me or anything, but he honestly didn’t know what to think. He didn’t even know I was alive, so I get it, but it still stung when he dismissed me, ya know?”
“Wait. I don’t understand. He didn’t know you were alive?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “He was told my father killed me before killing himself, but he knew it wasn’t true. But even so, there was no sign of me, so he thought the Council killed me for what I was. Amos, my grandfather, didn’t even know I existed until he was told about my dad’s death.”
I told Camille about the day that changed my life forever, leaving out it was Xander’s father who turned me in. As far as I knew, it was still a secret Xan’s father was a Councilman and we wanted to keep it that way.
When I finished my story, Camille was silent as she took it all in. “Well, shit,” she finally sighed. “You really do have a lot going on. I mean, I knew you had a bad story, but I didn’t realize it was fucking tragic. And your grandfather couldn’t even give you a fucking hug? I mean, damn. What a prick.”
I laughed out loud and threw my arms around her in a hug. She stiffened and tapped me on the back awkwardly. She asked for me to talk to her, but I didn’t think she understood what she was asking for.
“Thank you,” I smiled and pulled away. “Thank you for that.”
“Sure. Anytime.” Camille returned with a small grin and pulled her own spellbook from across the table. “So what do we want to work on this morning?”
With that, the subject was closed and we were back to work. It felt good to tell Camille about my past. I didn’t realize how isolated I was, how alone I had to be for most of my life. My story was tragic, but I hoped with friends like Camille, it would become so much better.
* * *
At lunchtime, I ran down to the kitchen to make a couple of sandwiches to take back to the conservatory. I wrapped them in paper towels and reached in the fridge for some bottles of water when I heard the back door close. Looking up, I saw my grandfather standing at the kitchen island.
“Amos. Hi. Can I make you a sandwich or something?”
I straightened, feeling nervous all of a sudden.
“No, that’s okay,” he replied and took a step around the island toward me. “So you’re a caster too? Along with a dragon shifter?”
I nodded my head. “Yeah, I’m both. I have all the magic of a caster and all the abilities of a dragon.”
My dragon rubbed against my psyche in agreement. I thought she wouldn’t
