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  “Complicated,” I say, rubbing my temples with my fingers and looking down. Complicated is an understatement, but okay, that works.

  “Where is Odie?” she asks, meaning she still remembers my seer sister who was in school every day for as long as I can remember. I’d hoped Melody had made her forget, or done something. Thanks sister.

  “Erm…her family took her on holiday for a bit, and she's going to be gone at least a month,” I say, making up the only excuse I can think of right now. It's one that gives me a fair amount of time to stalk the guys and make them remember.

  “Lucky cow, the rest of us normal people have to put up with all this rain,” she nudges my shoulder with hers, and then looks down at her book.

  “Did you see the new students?” I ask her, needing to know where Elias, Dagan, and Korbin are. If anyone knows this school, and everything that is going on, it’s Hallie.

  “The ones that signed up today? Yeah Issy, everyone has seen them. Hot damn, they are something else,” she grins, pretending to cool herself down with her hand. Clearing her throat, the teacher stares at us, and we both look down pretending to read quietly. After a while, a student walks up to her, distracting her enough for us to continue talking.

  “So…they aren’t in classes today?” I muse.

  “Nope, the rumour is they had to fill out paperwork or something, and they start tomorrow,” she says, and snaps her head to the side to look at me with wide eyes, “Why? Is the ice queen finally thawing and crushing on someone?” she asks, making me tense up.

  “What did you call me?” I ask.

  “Ice queen, because you turn down every dude in school,” she rolls her eyes at me, and I relax a little bit, “come on, everyone calls you that. They are idiots though.”

  “Maybe,” I say, and look down at my own book, wanting to drop the subject. It’s no use continuing to talk about them if they aren't even here today. I need to stalk them, like find their house and then follow them around kind of stalk. The normal stalking that won't get me arrested.

  “I’m sure they will be invited to Michael’s party in three weeks, he has an empty house again,” she wags her eyebrows. I hate Michael. I hate him now, and I hated him when Jace and I went to school here. He is a jackass, who thinks his good looks mean everyone wants him, and he assumes, for some reason, that I want to sleep with him. It doesn’t help that humans here on Earth are naturally attracted to female dragons; it's something to do with the pheromones in our scent. All I remember doing is turning down guys, and watching their heartbroken ex-girlfriends glare at me. Hopefully if I can get Elias, Dagan, or Korbin to be friends with me, then I should be left alone. Male dragons have the complete opposite effect on most humans, they want to avoid them. I doubt the girls here will listen to their instincts when they see the guys; they are all way too hot to evade. I hold back a growl, the thought of anyone touching them makes me want to punch something

  “I doubt Michael will want competition there,” I say, looking down at my hand where my nails are slowly turning to ice. Sliding my hands under the table, I make sure to keep my eyes down, just in case they turn silver. Dammit, I’ve got to control my emotions better than this. I did it for years with Jace, I can do it now. Taking a deep breath, I turn the page of my book and pretend to be interested in what it says.

  “He would do anything for you, just ask him to invite them to the party. Then, being the good friend I am, I will distract Michael,” she suggests. I start to tell her no when I realise I need to get close to the guys again, to make them trust me. It’s going to be difficult in this school to do that. No, I need to make friends with them outside of school, and then figure out how to make them remember.

  “Sounds like a plan,” I say with a grin and start reading my textbook, hoping the day will go quickly.

  Chapter 3

  Isola

  Jules?” I call when I open my front door. I almost freeze when I see her come out the kitchen, holding a bowl, and mixing something inside it with a spoon. She looks just like the last time I saw her, her grey hair up in a bun and wearing an older style dress with a flower and bird pattern. She looks like home, of all the memories I have of her. She wore a similar dress the first time I met her. I remember walking into this house, the dragon guards leaving me at the door, and she made me cookies as I cried. She didn’t baby me, but she still comforted me. Since that day, she has always been there for me. I wasn’t the best to her in the last couple of years before Jace died and I left for Dragca. I threw parties and got drunk all the time. Overall, I was a total brat, but she didn’t quit on me when most would have.

  “Hello darling, I’m making pumpkin pie for dessert, and your favourite casserole for dinner tonight,” she says, and I smile tightly at her. I wonder how much magic it took for my sister to erase Jule’s memory of me disappearing and to erase her memory of Jace, who she adored. What's more, how much magic did it take to make the whole town forget, to erase everyone's memories?

  “Thanks. I have homework to do,” I nod my head at the stairs, smiling tightly as my emotions begin to strangle me.

  “Okay!” she says with a happy grin, not noticing my mood at all. She walks out of the room, heading back towards the kitchen. I run up the stairs, taking a deep breath when I get to my room. I feel like everything is piling up on top of me as I look around. It’s my room, but it’s not. There’s no familiarities in here anymore, just plain bed sheets, piles of books that don’t look read, and tiny holes in the walls where photos of Jace and me used to hang. Pressing my back against the door, I slide down and wrap my arms around my legs. I rest my head on my knees, trying to calm my breathing and stop the tears streaming down my face. It doesn't work; tears continue to fall without my permission as memories begin to overwhelm me and I remember everything. Every memory of my time in Dragca is different now, my view on everything skewed. Every moment with Thorne is fake; he was lying, tricking me from the start, and I fell for it. He burnt Jace’s body, was with me in that final moment that I will never forget, and now it’s tainted with Thorne’s betrayal. Our every moment spent together is soiled, when he opened up to me about his adoptive family and the reason for his animosity with Elias, when he taught me how to use my dragon sight, and when he was just there for me so many times. I scream into my hands, so angry that he did this to me. The lying bastard.

  “Isola, can you come down?” I hear Jules shout, making me snap out of it. I can't allow myself to breakdown; I don't have the luxury of wallowing in my despair. Elias, Dagan, Korbin, Melody, Bee, and the people of Dragca need me. I’m no princess, no leader if I sit here and cry about my problems. No, I need to get up and make a plan of action. I quickly sit up, wiping my eyes and checking I don’t look too upset in the mirror. Opening the door, I walk down the corridor to the stairs, following the noise I can hear into the kitchen. I stop, nearly tripping on thin air when I see Dagan, Elias, and Korbin sitting at the table. They don’t even look my way, just continue to talk, and I slowly walk up to Jules as she puts a casserole into the oven.

  “My brother called, and apparently, his nephews need a place to stay for the next month or so. I don’t know everything, but they are enrolled in school. I emailed your father, who replied saying it was fine,” she explains and I tighten my fists, knowing it couldn't have been my father who replied.

  “Ok,” I reply slowly, and she looks up, a slightly dazed expression on her face. Someone has been messing with her memories. Jules doesn’t have any family, I remember her telling me that. It’s why she made the perfect nanny for me and Jace growing up.

  “They are very good looking, so it's best you don’t go looking. Teenage pregnancies are no fun,” she says nonchalantly. I choke on air, coughing a few times as I plainly nod at her. I didn’t expect her to say that.

  “You don’t have to worry about that,” I explain to her, and she winks.

  “Sure, I don’t,” she looks at the guys, and I hear her mumble under her breath, “If only I was forty
years younger.” I laugh a little, and then pull her to me, hugging her side.

  “What was that for?” she asks.

  “I just missed you,”

  “You haven’t had a chance to miss me, we see each other every day,” she says as I pull away, “now go and say hello to your roommates, silly girl.” I nod at her before looking back at the guys. It’s weird to see them in jeans, and normal polo shirts. Elias still has a leather jacket on, so some things don’t change, but it’s clear a lot has. I look at Dagan first, noticing his black hair is a little longer than before, but the sides are still shaved, and he still has his lip ring. Korbin and Elias have also grown their hair out, it falls close to their eyes now and just adds to the wild look they both have. Elias’ hair still has dark blue tips, but he mustn’t have been in the sun much, as they are much darker than I’ve seen them. I wonder where their dragons are, they must be inside of them somewhere, but just hidden. My sister must be insanely powerful to do what she has, to make everyone forget, and to even appear as an illusion. I wonder if she has a dragon inside of her, as she is half ice dragon after all, and it could boost her power. Maybe her dragon blood makes her seer powers that much stronger. I guess I have a lot of things to ask her when I see her next.

  “Well go and say hello to them, they will be your roommates for a while. Besides, staring is rude,” she chastises, shoving me towards them. I take a deep breath, telling myself I can act normal and like I don’t know them as I walk to their table. They look up, one by one, until they are all staring at me. It’s odd for them to stare at me like this, like I’m a total stranger to them. Their eyes assess me, rolling over my body and making me shiver. Their total attention is on me, three powerful, sexy dragons, and they all look at me like they have just found a treasure they want.

  “I’m Isola,” I say, after clearing my throat a little and sliding my fingers into the back of my jeans. Dagan leans back in his seat, his eyes still travelling over my body while moving his lip ring and grins.

  “I-Sol-A,” he spells my name out slowly, wickedly, and then chuckles.

  “Dagan, right?” I ask him, and he nods, biting his lip a little and giving me a strange look. I look away before I can try to decipher that look, it’s not a look of remembrance, that’s for sure.

  “And you’re Korbin?” I ask Korbin, hating that I have to pretend not to know. He isn't even looking at me anymore, and I notice straight away that he no longer has his beard. Damn, I liked that beard on him. Korbin ignores me completely, choosing to mess on his. Great.

  “I’m Elias, and no, I don’t want you to sneak into my room later,” Elias says, winking at me as he gets up and pulls his cigarette packet out his jacket. His hair is longer, making him have to brush it out of his eyes. It makes him look wilder, more untameable, and honestly, so sexy I’m having trouble not reaching up to touch it.

  “Those things kill humans,” I say, repeating a warning I once gave him to see if it jogs his memory, but it doesn't seem to have any impact. He just shrugs and puts the cigarette in his mouth.

  “Usually the best things in life do kill us, princess,” he says, making my heart pound as he walks past me and to the back door.

  “Princess?” I ask, wondering if he remembers calling me it.

  “You look like a princess, a naughty one at that,” he chuckles darkly, walking out as I smile. He might not remember who I am exactly. None of them do, but I have hope because of those two words. There’s only one dragon that calls me naughty princess, and I intend to make sure he remembers me.

  Chapter 4

  Thorne

  Is it done?” I ask Melody, shutting her door behind me and turning to look at her. She is sat on a window seat, a crystal ball in her hand and her black hair draping around it until she sits back. The seer’s rooms are just as grand as the rest of the castle, and it makes me uncomfortable. I look around at the gold walls, the gold floors and gold linen hanging everywhere. I didn’t grow up like this, I grew up in a muddy hut in the forest. The nicest thing we had was a small wooden dragon knight toy I used to play with. Melody is used to this, and yet, I hate it. It’s a castle full of lies, secrets, and is drip with blood.

  “Come and see, my King,” she says formally, yet the twitch of her lips tells me she is being sarcastic. I walk over, looking down into the crystal ball as it glimmers before Isola appears. She is in a kitchen, talking to Dagan, Korbin, and Elias by the looks of it. Her blonde hair is much longer than it’s ever been, soft looking, and falling in curls down her back. She looks up, almost as if she can sense us looking, and I get to see her pale blue eyes, doll like features, and pale skin. It hurts to see her when I know how much she must hate me. I just want to be by her side, able to protect her in the open rather than in secret, behind her back. She has good reason to hate me, and I doubt she will ever forgive me, or let me even be her friend after all I've done. But I will protect her, ensure she lives through this.

  “How long until she can make them remember?” I ask Melody. She waves a hand over the ball, making it go cloudy and slides off the seat.

  “I don’t know, I’ve seen it happen but not the time or date,” she admits.

  “We don’t have long! When my mother goes to the dungeons and sees Dagan, Elias, and Korbin are free...” I trail off, looking away from her. I doubt any of us will live when she figures out I’ve betrayed her, that I chose Isola over her. It’s not that I don’t love my mother, or want the crown, it just I know it’s not what needs to be done. The curses need to end, Isola needs the throne to protect her. I’m no king, if I betray everyone to have the crown.

  “I know. I know she will find her guards, but I’ve told you before I don’t know what happens after that. My visions aren’t all seeing,” she says, her frustration clear in her voice.

  “Fine, I should go in case someone comes looking for me,” I say, walking to the door, but her voice stops me.

  “You should tell her how you feel, what you did to save her. Maybe more importantly, what you didn't do, Thorne,” she tells me gently. I look back, locking eyes with her blue ones as she folds her hands and waits for me to reply. Melody looks nothing like her sister, but yet, they have the same demanding nature. It must run in the family or something.

  “She should hate me. I might have fixed some things, but I still betrayed her,” I say emotionlessly, not even able to say her name out loud. That betrayed look she gave me before she lost her memory, it haunts me, leaving me unable to sleep. I can’t get it out of my head, and I know it's my fault, I brought it on myself. I wish I could have warned her, told her how things had changed for us all, and how I had changed my mind when I saw her father die. But being completely honest with myself, the plan changed the moment I met Isola Dragice.

  “When you see her, you won’t be able to fool yourself or her. She will figure it out, considering only one person could have saved her dragon guards and kept her alive,” she suggests.

  “I will always keep her alive, nothing will ever mean more to me than her life,” I snap, reining my dragon in as it flares to life. Wanting to go to Isola, to protect her.

  “Mineee,” my dragon demands, his claim on Isola is overwhelming because of what I did. When I open my eyes, Melody is staring at me with what looks like sympathy written all over her face.

  “Here,” Melody says, walking over to a box next to her bed and pulling out a bracelet. It’s all black stones, but I don't have a clue what it is or does. She comes over, handing it to me.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  “Wear it when you sleep, and you will understand. It’s a gift, a rare one, so doesn’t lose it. I want it back,” she says and then nods her head at the door.

  “You should go,” she tells me. I don’t question her, just open the door and walk out, slipping the bracelet onto my wrist as I go. I walk down the grand corridors of the castle, intending to go to my rooms, when my mother walks out of one of the royal rooms. She smiles at me and walks over, placing her hand on my s
houlder. My mother has clearly just woken up, her blonde hair is down, and she has a cloak on over her dress. Nothing like the white leather she usually wears and comes back to castle with blood spots all over.

  “Where have you been so early son?” she asks, and walks next to me as I keep going. I hate that I have to lie to her, betray her, but I know it’s the right thing to do. My mother isn’t who she used to be, and it’s the king’s fault for making her like this. Evil in a way, but I can save her. I will save her and Isola, but not without the price of having them both hate me.

  “Just a walk to the kitchens, I was hungry,” I say, and her dark blue eyes look up at me. They used to be clear blue, like most ice dragons, but over the years they have gotten darker. Now they are so dark you can just about see the blue, it’s almost black. The black would match the black veins crawling up her arms, but I try not to think about it and look away.

  “I have to leave the castle with Esmeralda today, we have a job to finish in the north,” she explains.

  “What job? I should come with you,” I ask, curious and desperate to keep an eye on her before she destroys the entire kingdom. I don’t know what she is doing, but she comes back covered in black dust, and smelling of fire.

  “Nothing for you to worry about, and I told you before, you can’t leave the castle. You’re the king and until you are mated, with an heir on the way, it’s too dangerous for you,” she says, sighing.