Page 12 of Bolivar

Bolivar threw a tile at me. "Stop asking permission. Just ask your questions. Sate your curiosity, boy."

I stood and handed him the tile. I could have made him get it himself—after all, he had thrown it at me—but that seemed to be the wrong thing to do in a room full of dragons.

"I have a question first, if you, human, can wait," Veles spoke up.

I nodded to him. For a dragon, I'd do a lot more than wait when one asked me to.

To my surprise, Veles got up from his chair and came over to me. He ran his dry, wrinkled fingers down my cheek to finish at my chin, where he lifted my face up to look at him better. He had the same intense otherworldly gaze that Bolivar had, though Bolivar used it on me a lot less now. I swallowed thickly and tried to hold his gaze, but after a few seconds I had to look away. He let go of me then, but only to move his hand to the top of my head, where he started rubbing my hair. "Bolivar, is your boy in school?"

"He hasn't expressed an interest in college yet. I haven't had him that long."

Veles made a low noise in his throat and I snapped my gaze back up to his. "You should be in school," he told me.

"I plan to go, sometime," I quickly explained. I didn'twant them to think less of Bolivar because I wasn't in college. It hadn't really come up and it wasn't important to me right then.

Veles let go of me completely then. "Make sure that you do. We're a dying species. Your grandfather made a career out of traveling the world and doing whatever he wanted, but Bolivar won’t be a dragon long enough for you to have that kind of a lifestyle handed to you. So go, get an education, and enjoy your life after he’s human.”

He had a lot of good advice, and I knew that I’d follow it, but my life was with Bolivar right then until he decided he no longer needed me. “Thank you,” I told Veles, because I needed to tell him something.

I caught Bolivar rolling his eyes. "You think I wasn't going to pay for him to go to college? He can do anything he wants to. I've got the money to send him off to do anything he wants. That's not in question. We simply haven't talked about it yet. But that conversation is coming. Clearly, the assistants aren't needed anymore. I only have Wesley because Imrel is so impossible for me to deal with, but all of you let yours go years ago, and I will too, soon enough."

"None of you have assistants?"

Veles shook his head. "We all, except for Bolivar, of course, and Imrel, let our assistants go. My last one was over thirty years ago. He was happy that he, along with his future child, and their child, would never again be in the service of a dragon. It's not a bad thing to no longer be needed. It is a terrible thing, however, to be held onto far longer than needed simply because someone isn't okay with the idea of being alone yet."

I looked to Bolivar, to see what he thought of what Veles had said. I wanted him to argue, to say that he wasn't keeping me around simply because he didn't want to be alone. I wanted to know that I was wanted, and needed, at his side. But, deep in my heart, I already knew that wasn't true. When Bolivar hadn'tspoken after five minutes, I left.

He found me in my room late that night. I didn't want to be seen, and I didn't want to have his company, but he was there anyway, quietly knocking on my door, asking to be let in instead of demanding that I allow him into my space simply because he was a dragon.

I went to the door and laid my hands on the smooth wooden surface. "Am I only around to keep you from being alone?"

"Can I come in?"

I wanted his answer first, then I would see if I wanted to talk to him again or not. "Am I?" I repeated.

I heard him sigh. He sounded sad and maybe a little frustrated with me. That feeling was more than mutual. I just wanted to know where I stood with him. If he had an actual use for me, then I was happy to stay. But if I was only around to make sure he had company then…Then I wouldn't have any choice but to stay anyway. I worked for him, but it was more than that. I was indebted to him. My whole family was, and if I ever had children in the future, then they would be too. Two hundred years ago that might have meant something, but now? Now I only knew what I saw—that I sat around watching TV and eating junk food and Bolivar read and walked on the beach. That was our life together, and while that would have been fine in my retirement, I was twenty. I wasn't ready for retirement. I wanted college and love, and I couldn't have either of those while I was stuck in Maine working for Bolivar, not changing anything about my life except for getting through my Netflix watch list.

"Bolivar?" I prompted him.

"If you let me in, I'm going to release you from your burden, but I won't do it out here in the middle of the hallway with a half dozen nearly naked men staring at me."

I opened the door, mostly out of shock, and he handed mean envelope. It was so thick it bent in my hands. "What is it?"

"Ten grand, in cash."

I nearly dropped it. "What the hell?" He was just walking around with that kind of cash on him? Why?

Bolivar pushed past me. He was wearing slacks and a button-down shirt now, as if he was going out to dinner. I wanted to ask who he was going with, but I didn't bother. It wasn't my business, and, more than that, I just didn't care anymore. He could do his own thing from here on out. "So, that's it? You don't need me anymore and now you're done with me?"

He smirked, but I saw the sadness in his gaze. I wasn't blind to how he felt. "I do need you, but not for anything you may think, and taking care of me is certainly not what you signed up for when you came to live with me. I like having you around. I like not being alone all the time. I got used to you being there, just down the hall or just a text away. But that's not your job. You're not here to keep me company, not here in the Keys or in Maine. So take the money, there will be plenty more, that's just to get you started."

"I don't want your money," I mumbled.

He reached out and ruffled my hair. "Take it anyway. You were supposed to be under my care for a minimum of twenty years. I think I'm getting off easy. Your college, your apartment, your first car—I'm taking care of all of it. You're free, be happy about it. Go find someone, fall in love."

I hugged him. We'd never hugged before, but right then I needed to hug him. He was giving me my freedom, and my future, and all I wanted to do right then was cling to him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Do you have dinner plans?"

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