Chapter 5

The restaurant they chose was nothing short of amazing. The windows were filled with banners of delicious looking food and some of which I had never even seen before. The smells coming from the restaurant were fantastic in my sensitive nose. When we sat down, Annie explained that this restaurant was run by elves, and the food was made with magic.

“Elves? Are you sure I’m okay to be here?” Alalai asked, looking around. It was a surprise that he had never been here before since he seemed to know a lot about Undercity.

“You practice the same magic as them. They don’t really care as long as you behave.” Ethan explained. Ethan was a nice person, but rarely ever said more than one thing at a time. He spoke so little that when he did say something, it was always straightforward.

We ordered breadsticks from the menu as an appetizer while we waited for the main courses. I was going to get a curry chicken, but Colin slapped the back of my head again.

“Dragons can’t have cinnamon!” He growled angrily. I rubbed the back of my head, and groaned. Alalai laughed, but I didn’t find it very funny. The waiter brought our bread, and I couldn’t help but stare. The person was as pale as a ghost with the whitest hair I had ever seen. And not only that, but she had pointed ears. She must have been an elf.

“How could a dragon forget they can’t have cinnamon?” Alalai sounded like he was digging for information. Colin’s face had gone pale. Alalai realized that he had brought up a sore subject and apologized.

“I’m new to this.” I smiled wide. “I’m not a dragon or a zodiac, they’re just crazy.” This had Colin grunting again.

“Sam, they aren’t wrong,” Alalai scratched the back of his head guiltily. “I can prove it to you, if you want.” Alalai offered. I thought for a moment. Prove that I am a dragon? Prove that I am a Zodiac like Colin claims? Do I even want to know if they are right?

Alalai stared at me before muttering words under his breath. I felt my ears tingle. I felt the blood rush into my cheeks. Annie, Ethan, even Colin burst out laughing. I began frantically touching the sides of my head, searching for my ears, but they were gone. They were replaced by pointed scaly ears. I groaned at the embarrassment.

“What did you do?” I was scared out of my mind.

“I can’t forced a full change because that requires a lot of magic, but something small like your ears can be changed easily.” Alalai explained through fits of laughter. Annie choked on the water she tried drinking while still laughing. She wiped away nonexistent tears as if this was the most hilarious thing she had ever seen.

“But… but my ears!” I panicked. My human ears were replaced by the dragon ones. Did this mean I really was a dragon? Or could Alalai manipulate the human appearance to make it seem like I was a dragon? The look on my face must have been hilarious because this made them crack up even more. Even Alalai, the one who did this to me, was laughing.

As the laughter died down, I felt Colin staring at me. Well maybe not me, maybe it was my ears.

Colin caught me off guard by reaching up and touching them. The pointed ears flinched of their own accord when he first touched them. His hands were gentle and comfortable as he glided his fingers to the point. I almost wanted to lean in to his touch but thought better of it.

“Thought they’d be black, seeing as you are a Zodiac.” He teased under his breath. His face was a lot closer to mine now, and his breath heated my cheeks. The blood rushed to my face in a heated rush. I attempted to cover it up by looking away from Colin.

“So Alalai, what makes you side with the Witches? Why even chose?” Ethan changed the subject. It was awkward to bring up something like this again, even I knew that. With Annie in between them, Ethan and Alalai began in a very politically heated discussion. In other words, an argument.

“I don’t think that Warlocks have exactly proven that they will follow through with what they promised.” Alalai was careful with how he said his words. This didn’t sound like the first time he has had this conversation. And it probably won’t be the last.

“You doubt that the Warlocks would free trolls?” Ethan mocked surprise.

“Well if you are in the business of slaves, letting trolls suddenly run free is a never-going-to-happen situation.” Alalai fires back more aggressively. Ethan looked away when Alalai said slaves. I felt the mood of the meal take a dump.

“Let’s not talk about this. Our food is almost here anyway.” Annie hissed to Ethan. I could almost hear the demanding tone in her voice telling Ethan to back off. I didn’t imagine that Annie could even sound that scary.

Warlocks kept trolls as slaves for centuries. Only recently the witches have become very anti-slavery. It was basically another way of getting underneath the warlocks skin. Witches had all gone from not caring what the warlocks did with their slaves to demanding their freedom in a matter of a few years.

“Right. Other topics. How about the topic of how your mate is the Zodiac! When were you going to tell us?” That was the second time I had heard that today. Mate. Fated one. Now more than ever I needed to remember tenth grade. I knew what it implied. I knew that they thought that somehow Colin was connected to me. Humans fetisized that bond plenty. What I didn’t know, was how to tell if someone was a mate or not. He didn’t sparkle in the sun, and he wasn’t attractive with that attitude of his. So what made people immediately think we were bonded as mates?

“He hasn’t even been acknowledge by the Council yet. We were just trying to lay low.” Colin avoided the entire question. I’d have to confront him later. I was absolutely sure we weren’t mates.

The council, however, I had no questions about. The council of supernaturals was the only thing anyone back in high school ever talked about. I still remember in eleventh grade when the werewolf and vampire Zodiacs mated, and ended their people’s feud. If I were a Zodiac at this council, I would be able to ask them what a mate was.

“Laying low, my ass. He basically revealed his mark to everyone!” Annie wasn’t subtle at all. If the zodiac thing was hush-hush, someone should have informed me. Was I supposed to just know it was a secret? Colin pinched the bridge of his nose in disappointment.

“I suppose it's good that you have a mate after all. The Colony was starting to lose hope, you know. I’m really glad you found him.” Annie said with the softest voice I had ever heard. She sounded so heartfelt, and she really meant what she was saying. I realized that Annie was implying that Colin had been alone before me.

Colin looked up and his mood suddenly sweetened. There was that smell again. Sweet lemons and patches of daisies. Suddenly he hugged me so tightly I thought my ribs would break. I couldn’t hug him back because of his bear hug.

“Yeah, I am glad to have him.” He said, releasing me and turning back to Annie. He thought I was his mate too? First they think I am their divinely chosen leader and somehow a dragon in disguise, but a mate? That was taking this insanity a little too far.

“I wish I had a mate.” Alalai commented as he stared into the distance. After he said that, the rest just nodded in agreement. The food came moments later. As the waiter set the plates on the table, he looked over in my direction and smirked. He had to be looking at my ears. My cheeks lit up again.

“So how do you know someone is your mate?” I tried keeping the question light. I didn’t want them to feel uncomfortable about answering me. Annie, Ethan, and Alalai stared Colin for a response.

“We’ll let Colin handle this one.” Ethan put his hands up in surrender like I was a cop pointing a loaded gun at him. It was definitely a loaded question.

“Come on guys, just tell me-”

“Later.” Colin said shortly. He sounded serious about discussing it when no one else was around. He must not want anyone to know we weren’t actually mates. It was fine by me. If he wanted his friends to stop worrying about his lack of a mate, then I’d stand in for a while.

I remember when Colin called me his dragon, and that he was my rider. That had to be a destiny thing though, not a mate thing. The two were different things. My confusion and frustration must have shown on my face because Ethan told me to slow down and chew my food.

The rest of the meal ran smoothly. Alalai ate the most by far. He was so small and scrawny that I could basically see his ribs though his blue skin, but man could that guy eat. Alalai explained that he and his family had been enslaved most of their lives because of a debt their ancestors put them in. Only now, three generations later, was he able to finally pay off the debt to the warlocks.

I remember learning about slavery in American history, but I suppose to these guys it's probably called “Human History”. I remembered only one substantial thing about it. If you were for slavery, you were on the wrong side of history.

Was Alalai treated like human slaves were? I didn’t see any scars, but then again, I wasn’t sure how trolls healed. I knew that werewolves and vampires healed fast, but that was common knowledge. Trolls aren't common knowledge, and were hardly ever seen in daylight.

“What will you do with your freedom now that you have it?” Colin looked vaguely interested. He sucked down the rest of his soda. Ethan had paid the bill a few minutes ago as we were all finished eating now.

“There’s not much to do,” Alalai said with a fake smile. “No one hires trolls, of course.” He adds, and Colin nods solemnly. I felt so guilty; this man suffered so much, and finally achieved his freedom, only to be thrown back into more hardships.

“Why don’t… why don’t you come back with us?” The words shot out of my mouth before I could stop them. Alalai’s eyes widened like I had never seen them before. For the first time tonight, he looked truly astounded.

I couldn’t exactly say that for the rest of the group. The rest of them looked more shocked than happy about the solution. Alalai got out from the booth and hugged me with bone crushing strength.

“You mean that?” He sounded more like he was begging me rather than asking me. “You really mean that?”

“Sure… I mean, it’s not like you want to stay here,” I commented quietly. I didn’t get a change to hug Alalai back because the force of his bear hug had me gasping for air. Colin was burning holes in my back from what felt like jealousy.

“Thank you so much.” Alalai released me from the death grip. Immediately after letting go, Colin was by my side again. He forced his hand in mine.

“Sorry, but he is new to this world. I don’t think you can come with us.” Colin said heartlessly. The sorry sounded fake even to my ears. I pulled away from Colin and turned to face him. I decided to try something new out. I knew it carried a lot of weight in people’s decisions.

“I am a Zodiac, so I am in charge, right?” I stared unforgivably into his eyes. Colin looked furious, and he turned away from my gaze. I knew I pulled some kind of rank on him. I knew it hurt him. I knew that doing it would make him angry. I knew these things, yet I did it anyway. Alalai was a friend and he needed help.

For a few moments, everyone was still. Colin opened his mouth to argue, but Ethan stepped in between us.

“As the Zodiac wishes,” He stated with a small smirk on his face. Why was he so happy? All I did was pull a rank that wasn’t actually mine to pull. But it mattered to me. It mattered that Alalai had a safe place to live, and I would be ashamed if I stepped down from the argument now.

“Where will he stay?” Colin asked. He refused to look at me. He seemed to find the floor much more interesting.

“Not sure yet.” I shrugged. I knew that since I claimed to be their leader, I should have more of a plan. But I didn’t even know if there were empty rooms at the colony. I did know, however, that other species could live there. Agnes was a witch, and no one treated her any different.

I started to walk toward the exit of the restaurant. They all followed behind me without any more arguments against my decision. I felt like I pulled my weight too much for my first day. I wouldn’t let Alalai suffer because of my doubts though. He shouldn’t have to suffer like that.

“I am sorry to cause such trouble…” Alalai said to Colin. He didn’t say anything in response.

“How could I call myself a leader if I let someone else suffer?” I asked rhetorically. That wasn’t the reason I was doing it though. It wasn’t because I was a leader. It was because I cared about him. I cared about everyone that needed help.

I was glad to have been able to help him.

I found my hand cold by the night air. It was the hand that always found itself in Colin’s. I sped up my pace to catch up to him and made it seem like an accident that I was bumping my hand into his. I wasn’t sure why I seeked him out like that. Never had I felt the need to hold someone’s hand like that before. That word popped into my thoughts again. Mate.

His hand slowly curled around mine.

“You really are an amazing person.” Colin whispered into the frosted night air.