So Many Books, So Little Time

•Chapter Eight•

"So, Aleah, what's your book called?" Robert asked, glancing at his daughter as he lifted a piece of baked potato to his mouth.

"Magic Ink," she replied, carefully watching his expression. She was glad she had been paying close attention, because if she hadn't, she wouldn't have noticed his eyes widen before he quickly covered his tracks.

"That sounds pretty interesting!" he commented, trying to come off as casual.

"It is," she agreed, mentally rejoicing.

"So what's it about?" he inquired, but she caught his slight hesitation.

He doesn't want to talk about this, she realized with dismay. Why? I mean, I guess he had to have a reason to become human, but why would he want to be this when he could be a dragon? Maybe I should wait and ask him alone, so I don't freak everybody out or make them think I'm crazy. And if we're alone, I might have more of a chance to make him talk to me, to explain things.

"It's about dragons and magic, my favorite things!" she said with false cheerfulness. She was frustrated that she had to wait even longer to discover the truth, even though she really did enjoy reading Magic Ink.

"Care to expand on that?" her dad chuckled, but his nerves were portrayed in the way he gripped his fork a bit too hard, and the way his smile wasn't quite all there.

"No, Dad, don't get her started," Raylee groaned dramatically. "She actually convinced herself that dragons are real!"

"Hey!" Aleah protested.

"Aw, come on, Ray," Doug chided. "Let Leah have some fun! All she ever does is read, so maybe believing in dragons will get her to go on some kind of adventure!"

"Again, hey!"

"Like you would ever go on one," Kirk laughed at his twin. "You and I both know that we would never do something like that. We're too dignified!"

"Dignified my butt," Raylee snorted.

"Guys, be nice to each other," their mother scolded. "Eat your potatoes. Honey, would you pass the salt?"

Aleah was antsy for the rest of the evening, and each attempt she made to talk to her dad alone backfired with a huge explosion. The first one had the whole family playing card games, in which everyone but the elder twins was too competitive in, and the second had them watching a boring classic movie that their mom had picked. The third and final attempt led to complete and utter humiliation.

"Dad, can I just-" she started.

"PILLOW FIGHT!" he roared, grabbing one from the couch and launching it at her face. She fell to the ground with a pained yelp, and then the whole house erupted into chaos that lasted for the next twenty minutes.

As Aleah flopped onto her bed later that night, exhausted and disappointed, she dragged Magic Ink to lay next to her. She stroked the cover fondly with her fingertips, silently wishing her father would just listen to her. A defeated sigh left her lips as she gazed down at the magical book, drawing imaginary circles with her index finger around the I's dot. The familiar creak of her bedroom door caused her breath to catch and her eyes to flick upward hopefully.

It was her father! But he did not look happy. In fact, he looked like a cornered animal: scared of his own shadow. And there was frustration and anger etched into the lines of his face as well, which made her stomach clench and tie itself into knots of worry.

Am I in trouble? she wondered anxiously. Maybe I was wrong; maybe he doesn't know about the dragons, and maybe he's mad because I kept bringing it up when all he wanted to do was spend time with all of us tonight. Or maybe his work is just stressing him out and it has nothing to do with me! Yeah, no. This is definitely about the magic ink.

Robert's stare bored into the book, emotions clashing in his eyes. It made Aleah nervous, so she clutched it tightly to her chest and eyed him warily, as if daring him to snatch it from her. Finally, he let out a sigh and sat down on the edge of her bed, rubbing his forehead like he wasn't sure how to start.

"Dad, do you know a... a guy named Phoenix?" she asked tentatively.

"No, should I?" he replied, meeting her eyes. It didn't escape her notice that his gaze was filled with worry.

"I guess not."

Silence as thick as her blanket descended upon them before he spoke again.

"Aleah," he said carefully, "do you know what you're holding?"

"A book, of course!" she tried to joke. Her father's serious face caused her to falter. "Um, yeah, I... I know what it is."

He nodded sadly, and then seemed to wait for her inevitable question.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Her voice was almost a whisper, all jokes forgotten as the betrayal finally set in. "Why didn't you tell me, or any one of us, that you were a dragon? That we are halfwings?"

Robert- If that's even his real name, she thought bitterly- fell silent again before answering, "Things became too dangerous in the magical world. I wanted to grow old, raise a family, but my life as a dragon just wasn't cutting it. Dragons are hiding, Aleah. Most of them are regular humans or shapeshifters now. Mages of magical origin have taken over, and that book is the only thing we have left of the days when we roamed the earth.

"God always has a plan, and I think the mages were His way of telling us that the dragons needed to leave. It's past time for them to become extinct."