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Aurora pulled on her arm until Vivian started walking again, following her down the path. Her mind was reeling with everything she was trying to process. The memories of the wedding were bolder now, clearer than before as she came to terms with what she had actually seen. For the two days since the wedding she had believed, as the others had, that she had watched her best friend torn from her fiancé's arms by three men who crashed through her ceremony and carried her away.
Now she knew that that memory was a lie, fabricated by her mind to cover the horror that was the actual massive creatures that had descended on the wedding. She could see what actually happened now. Her mind saw Aurora running toward one of the dragons and tearing the gown away from her legs before she climbed onto his back and let him take her into the sky.
"Why am I here, Aurora?" she asked as they walked further and further from the place where Vivian had awoken.
"I knew you were probably worried about me and I wanted to let you know that I was alright. I want you to meet Arach and the rest of the clan."
"Arach is…"
She trailed off, unsure of how she was going to continue that sentence. None of this was making any sense to her. For all their lives, she and Aurora had confided completely in each other; now she felt like she was chasing after some flight of fancy that was unfolding with each step.
"He's my partner. I was made for him."
"I don't understand."
"Do you remember that I told you I started having strange dreams right before the wedding?"
"Yeah."
Vivian could see the end of the path now and a massive stone house a few yards across a large open area around it. She could smell fire and burned herbs making the air thicker.
"Those were Arach connecting with me. I fell in love with him through those dreams."
"He kidnapped you," Vivian said.
She was horrified with what she was hearing. Aurora had always been the most in control and level-headed person she had ever known, but now she sounded as though she was speaking in whimsical code.
"He didn't kidnap me. He rescued me."
They stepped out of the forest and an instant later Vivian heard the deep, rhythmic sound from the wedding. Aurora looked up and smiled seconds before a huge black dragon landed on the ground ahead of them. Vivian recognized it as the infuriated, fearsome creature that breathed fire and flew away with Aurora on its back.
Aurora released Vivian's hand and jogged toward the dragon, standing up on her toes to take its massive head in her arms and nuzzle her face against his. Before her eyes could register what happened, the dragon disappeared and in its place stood a man with glossy black hair and an intense, startling gaze. He wrapped his arms around Aurora's waist and caught her mouth in a kiss, drawing her against his body protectively.
Their kiss broke and Aurora gazed at him for a few seconds before turning back to Vivian.
"This is Arach," she said in a voice that sounded purely happy.
"Arach, this is Vivian, my best friend. I wanted her here for the wedding."
That brought Vivian out of her contemplation of the sudden change from the dragon to the man.
"Wedding?" she asked.
She watched as Arach and Aurora nuzzled each other's faces again, their smiles so contented it made her chest ache with the realization of just how miserable Aurora had been for so long.
"Speaking of the wedding," Arach said, stepping back slightly to hold both of Aurora's hands and look into her eyes, "There's still a lot that needs to be done and what I found out today might make that a little more difficult than we anticipated."
Vivian saw the happiness drain out of Aurora's face and her hands tighten on Arach's.
"What happened?" she asked.
Arach glanced over at Vivian and Vivian suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if she had intruded on a very still and private world that only existed for those who could see it in that moment. Part of her wanted to close her eyes so she couldn't see it any longer, so she could make it go away. Without that world, however, there would be no Aurora, and that was not something Vivian wanted to even consider.
"Does she know?" he asked, lowering his voice almost conspiratorially.
"I caught on to the fact that my best friend is apparently engaged to a dragon two days after scaring the living hell out of everyone she knows by leaving her perfectly good human wedding," Vivian snapped, the frustration and fear building in her as she felt more and more disconnected from what was happening around her.
Aurora's eyes widened and she took a step toward her as Arach's shoulders squared and his spine straightened in the same aggressive way he had straightened in his dragon form at the ceremony.
"Vivian, stop," Aurora said softly.
"No, Aurora. I don't understand what's going on. What the hell is this? He's gorgeous, I'll give you that, but you have known Greyson for –"
"I know how long I knew him," Aurora said, her voice dropping.
"Ok, so what? You start having weird fantasy dreams about a dragon who turns out to be a real boy and so you leave everything behind for him? Greyson could have given you the life you have always wanted."
Aurora stepped up within inches of her so fast Vivian caught her breath.
"Greyson killed my father," Aurora said harshly.
"What?" Vivian asked, barely able to force the word past the tightness in her throat.
"Greyson killed my father," Aurora repeated, slightly louder, "So I killed him."