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“Why are my clothes red?”

“Alec was from the south before he was King. It seemed fitting to acknowledge his origins with his mate’s colors.”

“So much custom and pageantry…” Lucy looked over the crowd. You didn’t have to be a dragon to feel their pulsing anticipation. Their building excitement was contagious.

“The festivities will begin with the traditional dance.” Alec quieted the crowd with his words. “Please line up by fold and gender. You will adhere to the ancient code when identifying your mate. Anyone disrespecting my house will be banished for the rest of the ceremony.”

A hushed murmur went through the crowd before they silenced themselves. Lucy could tell by their rigid postures that no one wanted to risk banishment. The crowd was as eager as a sprinter in the blocks.

“Tonight is about the next generation.” Alec opened his hands to the air and smiled. “We’ll begin when the moon is directly overhead.” Cheering broke out and the people began to mingle.

Alec’s lieutenants rose in unison and approached him at the microphone.

Lucy watched the reverential way they addressed Alec. A combination of pride and longing clogged her chest. She swallowed and dropped her chin to hide the rush of sadness that swamped her.

“How are you feeling?” The doctor sat in the vacant seat beside her. He wore brown clothing with a yellow sash.

“Okay,” Lucy said with a shaky smile. “You did a good job. My shoulder doesn’t hurt too much.”

The doctor patted her hand. “It has been decided that you and your brother will be mind-wiped when the festivities are over.” He spoke softly in her ear so that nobody could overhear his words. “I wanted to let you know that you don’t need to be afraid. It’s not painful.”

“Mind-wiped?” Lucy mouthed the unfamiliar words.

“The Animi will remove your memories of your time with us. We cannot allow humans to know that a dragon colony lives among them.” He smiled as if his words were not alarming. “They would come after us.”

“I won’t remember any of this? Not even Alec?”

“You can talk to the Animi, but I don’t think so.” The doctor seemed to sense her distress. “I’m sorry things have not worked out differently.”

“Me too.” The lump in Lucy’s throat swelled. When she looked at the doctor’s face, it blurred with her tears. “I don’t want to forget Alec.” She forced the words through stiff lips.

“Everything will be fine.” The doctor patted her hand again. “I took your advice on my phone ring.”

Lucy stared at Alec, trying to communicate her sorrow and longing. Alec glanced over his lieutenant’s heads and met her gaze, much as he had the night she first saw him, but this time his returned stare was flat. He was so done with her that he would wipe himself from her mind.

The doctor waited for her to respond.

“What did you say?” she asked.

He pushed a button on his cell phone, and Bruce Springsteen’s voice crooned through tinny phone speakers: Tell me now baby is he good to you, can he do to you the things that I do—ah ha—I can take you higher. Ohh, Ohhh, Ohhh, I’m on Fire.

“Nice choice.” Despite her sadness, Lucy managed a smile at his pleased face.

“Wish me the ‘luck of the dragon.’”

“Luck of the dragon.” She meant it. He had been kind to her. She was sorry she wouldn’t remember him, either.

The doctor stood and jumped from the stage with surprising grace. Lucy was alone, surrounded by a flurry of colorful people, but still utterly alone. The full moon sat at half-mast in the dark sky, stars glittered in familiar Orion and Big Dipper patterns, but everything was different now.

Over the crowd, Lucy searched for Joey and saw that several dragon ladies talked to him through the bars. That much had not changed. Joey still had a way with the ladies. Apparently, even the dragon ladies.

At the front of the stage, Alec clapped each of his men on the shoulder. The men bowed before leaping off the stage and into the crowd. Their athletic strides and swiveled glances around the roof reminded Lucy of hunters on the prowl. They were off to find their mates.

Alec sat beside her and slumped back in the chair. “Try to look a little less terrified.”

Lucy forced a bright smile, as if she was enjoying herself. “The doctor said you would mind-wipe me?”

“Yes.” Alec picked up her hand and kissed the back of her fingers. “It is not painful.”

The warmth of his lips penetrated. She turned her hand and laced her fingers through his so their palms connected. “How can you do that to me?” Her voice cracked.

Alec frowned and gazed at the moon, distracted. “I cannot allow you to expose us to the humans. There are those who would see us destroyed. ”

Lucy swallowed at his words. “Like St. George in the picture in your hallway?”

“You mean the picture that you moved to steal from my vault.” Alec pulled his hand away from hers, and Lucy felt the loss of contact in her empty hand.

“Joey is all I’ve ever had.” Lucy angled her body so that she could see his face as she spoke. “I couldn’t let him steal from you. You would have killed him.”

“Oh yes. I still might.”

“You don’t mean it.” Lucy swallowed. “If you were going to kill us, you would have already.”

Alec turned away. He seemed so distant from her, as if they were strangers, seated randomly together at a mandated awards banquet.

She had to get his attention. “When you told me you wanted me forever, I didn’t believe you.”

Still, Alec didn’t react.

“Nobody has ever wanted me.” Lucy’s voice broke. “I’m too…complicated.”

Alec glanced at her and shook his head. He touched her interlaced fingers before looking away. “None of that matters now.”

“But I don’t want to be without you. I want forever, too. It just took me longer to realize it.” Lucy’s voice broke as the words of her heart poured out. “I want the melding of spirit you spoke of before. I want to stay with you, figure things out.”

“Let’s just try to get through the evening.” Alec stood and pulled her to her feet. His words said he didn’t care, but the hard contraction of his bicep under her palm told her he was not so unaffected.

Lucy gripped his arm. “At least don’t take my memories. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

“I can’t trust you.” Alec looked at the sky before leading her to the microphone. The crowd was separated into same-colored groups, with the men on the left and the women on the right. They watched Alec expectantly.

“The ancients instruct us to search outside our fold first for a mate. Remember, there is greater strength in a cross bond. Do not forgo the old ways.” Alec lifted his face to the moon and closed his eyes. The crowd silently followed his actions. “Great One, bless our coming together. Let the ceremony begin!”

Chapter Eighteen

Alec led Lucy to the red and orange clothed females. “You’ll start here.” He left her without any further instructions. Lucy peered at the other women, but they all avoided her eyes and whispered among themselves.

Lil joined her, wearing a male’s white tunic and pants with a blue sash. Her clothes labeled her an ice dragon from the north. The water in the exhibit made sense now. Fire and ice made water.

“You aren’t going to participate?” Lucy asked.

“No.” Lil’s voice was matter of fact. “I’m going to keep an eye on you.”

“Even after what I did?”

“I pledged my life to protect you until after the ceremony. Just because you are unworthy, it does not change my pledge.”

Lucy swallowed against the hurt her words invoked. Lil believed her to be unworthy of her pledge.