The Hidden Crystal

Chapter 16

Char was not in the mood for a party.

He'd spent the afternoon trying to comfort his distraught mother, to no avail. At least she'd stopped crying before he and Rath left. She wouldn't listen to anything they had to say, and she still thought Iris had bewitched them somehow.

Char couldn't blame her, though.

Dragons had a longstanding distrust of humans, especially mages, one of their few threats in dragon form. But Char's father had never allowed anybody else to make his mind up for him. He'd first visited human settlements out of curiosity, and then he'd made friends, and he'd kept visiting. They were people. Just like dragons. Mostly nice, mostly kind, with a few bad apples who didn't have to ruin the entire barrel.

When Char was a child, he'd heard his father telling his mother about his human encounters. She was prone to worrying, though, and he hadn't wanted to upset her, so as soon as Char was old enough to fly, his father started bringing him along for his trips to see the humans, knowing Char had a more open mind and a more cautious tongue than Rath. Then he could talk to someone who wanted to listen.

Char had loved it. The secrecy, the one-on-one time with his father, the new people and places—and then it all ended when a human mage killed his father.

He hadn't been there, but Kelnor had. He'd seen it happen. It had scarred him—scarred everybody. Distrust became hatred. The mere mention of humans irritated Rath and set their mother on edge.

It had been a long time before he worked up the courage to visit any of his father's old friends, and even longer to visit the mage his father had befriended. He knew it wasn't fair, but it was hard to look past the shared magical ability to see the man who had nothing to do with what had happened.

It had been a punch to the gut when he'd realized Iris was a mage.

He couldn't blame any of them for their reactions to her.

And he knew it was all part of the plan, but he didn't feel right about going to a party when she was locked up in the magic school.

"Hey, if you won't smile, at least try to look less like you just sucked a lemon, okay?"

Rath's teasing remark drew Char back to reality. They had stopped on a doorstep, but it wasn't Kara's doorstep. It was Misa's.

"You're picking her up?"

Rath shrugged. "Girls like that."

He knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, it opened, and Misa's surprised golden eyes met Rath's. He grinned and gave her a bold once-over. The golden dress she wore matched her eyes and shimmered like her hair whenever she moved. It was tight, with a short skirt and a plunging neckline.

Rath whistled. "You really don't want me looking at anybody else, do you?"

She took his proffered arm, blushing. "And you're still wearing black."

"Black goes with everything. Especially silver and gold."

Char rolled his eyes. He gave it two hours before Rath left her for another girl and ended up with a drink in his face again.

Kara's house was easy to pick out: it was the loud one. The shuttered windows and closed door couldn't hold in the music and laughter. Rath led the way inside, his arm looped around Misa's waist, and a cheer rose from the partygoers at the sight of him. Char got another cheer and a pack of girls swarming at him. One, a pink-haired girl he'd seen in the street earlier that day, passed him a drink.

If he wanted people to think he wasn't up to something, he had to act normal.

He accepted it with a smile and asked her to show him around. She latched onto his arm with a triumphant grin at a red-head he thought might be her sister. Rath was already downing his first drink and taking Misa to the dance floor, but Char only sipped his drink, scanning the faces for Srot and Kara and pretending to listen to the girl at his side.