The Twin Dragons Series: Requiem City

“Wake up, be-otch!”

I woke with a start, blinking a few times as my eyes adjusted to the sun shining through the large window of my dorm room. The smell of the fresh mountain air wafted in through the window.

My roommate, Zayda, burst into the room, her auburn eyes bright with excitement, curls bouncing with every step. In her arms was a stack of wrapped boxes.

I wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead, trying to put the dream out of my mind.

“What’s that?” I asked with a yawn.

“They say they’re for you, birthday girl!” Zayda plopped the boxes on the foot of my bed. “Eighteen! And on prom night, no less.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me suggestively.

I rolled my eyes—and then her words sank in.

“Oh, shit.” I groaned. “I forgot it’s my birthday.”

“Are you kidding? Maddie, how did you forget your own birthday?”

“Oh, Mads, shit…I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking,” Zayda said, shifting uncomfortably as she realized her blunder.

She bit her lip—and then her eyebrows lifted. “Did I mention that I brought you coffee?”

She held out a cup, and I quickly snatched it from her.

“You’re an angel.”

I sighed and swung my legs over the side of the bed, then crossed the room to the window that overlooked campus, sipping my coffee.

Graceful Springs Academy was located in one of the prettiest places in the world with miles and miles of towering pines and a looming mountain in the distance.

I still couldn’t believe that this place was my home—or that I’d only been here for a little over a year.

My time at the Academy, the last fourteen months of my life… It was the only thing that I could fully remember.

Every time I tried to think back further, tried to remember before I walked up to the gates at the Academy, I would get a migraine. The doctors at the Academy examined me over and over again, taking so many vials of blood I thought I would pass out. But, according to them, there was nothing wrong with me.

Well, except for not being able to remember what I’d started to call “before.” Before Graceful Springs. Before Zayda and Thea. Just…before.

It was like my life hadn’t existed before I found myself on the steps of Graceful Springs last year.

Graceful Springs was a boarding school for the children of the elite, the wealthiest of the wealthy families living in nearby Requiem City.

And somehow, through the good graces of a mysterious benefactor, the school administrators were expecting me the day I walked through the gates. My tuition and room and board had been covered by a full-ride scholarship.

And I had no idea how—or why.

As far as I knew, I was an orphan with nothing to my name—nothing, except for…

I reached a hand over my shoulder, running my fingers over the top of the tattoo inked there.

The tattoo I’d arrived with but had no memory of getting.

As my fingers brushed the tips of the dragon’s wings, I swore, just for a moment, I felt it pulse…

“Earth to Maddie! Are you going to open these, or should I?” Zayda’s voice cut through my thoughts.

I eyed the stack of boxes with suspicion.

“Are you sure they’re all for me?”

“They have your name on them,” she replied, waving a tiny card at me.

I grabbed it from her and read the card, frowning.

There was no signature.

“Weird.”

I unwrapped the largest box first.

Inside was a glittering dress made of green sequins. It was the most expensive thing I’d ever seen.

The intense gasp that came from beside me only validated that thought.

I traced the sequins, realizing with a pang of disappointment that the dress was strapless.

I moved on to the smaller boxes. They contained a gold, gem-encrusted tiara along with a matching necklace and earrings.

Extravagant didn’t begin to describe what I was looking at.

“Girl, do you have a secret sugar daddy or something?” Zayda asked in amazement.

“No,” I murmured. “I mean, I don’t think so…”

Zayda’s and my phones chimed with a text in our group chat with Thea.

“This was a terrible idea,” I whispered to Zayda as we walked arm in arm with Thea up the steps of the castle.

Thea was wearing the tightest, shortest black dress she could find, and she looked amazing in it.

Zayda had donned a yellow two-piece gown that was absolutely stunning on her.

And as for me… Well, after my friends’ incessant nagging, I had tried on the new dress and jewelry.

The dress had fit me like a glove—the emerald green making my red hair shine like copper. It hung in loose curls down my back but pulled off my face to accentuate my new jewelry.

“Stop fidgeting. You look stunning,” Zayda said.

“Like, I’m actually speechless,” Thea added, then frowned. “And jealous.”

“It’s just…” I grumbled, tugging on the sweater draped over my shoulders. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into wearing a strapless dress.”

“It was literally made for you,” Zayda protested.

“But now I’m stuck in this damn sweater all night,” I muttered.

“Or, you could just own the awesomeness that is your tat and let everyone see,” Thea said.

“Yeah, right…,” I muttered.

It wasn’t that I thought it was ugly. It was…beautiful. In a weird way.

It didn’t feel like mine.

But as we stepped into the ballroom and I caught sight of the luxurious decor—the crystal chandeliers, high ceilings, and ancient statues—my anxiety melted away.

Along either side of the room were floor-to-ceiling mirrors, making the ballroom look impossibly large. Almost endless.

“Holy shit,” Zayda said.

“Ditto,” Thea said with a gasp.

We joined the other students gathered in front of the stage where our headmistress, an older woman with wispy gray hair and a stern face, stood.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” she said, tapping her microphone twice. “Quiet please, and allow me to introduce tonight’s benefactors.”

Whispers filled the ballroom, and everyone craned their necks to get a better look at the stage.

“It’s gotta be, right?” Thea said. “Look at this place.”

I suddenly felt a sharp sting on my shoulder—right where my tattoo was.

“One of Requiem City’s oldest and most esteemed founding families…,” the headmistress droned on.

I barely heard her.

The ink on my back was starting to throb.

“Mads? What’s up?” Zayda whispered.

“I—”

Before I could say anything, the mark began to burn, filling my entire body with an unbearable yet somehow…intoxicating heat.

It was almost too much. And yet, I wanted more.

“Mads?” Thea’s voice echoed in my ear.

“It’s…so…hot…,” I panted, ripping the sweater from my shoulder to give the tattoo some air.

I heard several gasps and spun around to see the students behind me staring at my tattoo—then looking at me. Stunned.

“Maddie,” Zayda said slowly. “Your tattoo… It’s…glowing.”

“What?”

I rushed to one of the mirrored walls and glanced over my shoulder. My eyes traced over the ink—the intricate illustration of two dragons intertwined.

But instead of its usual black ink, the mark was a glowing, bright orange.

It almost looked like it was…on fire.

“Oh, fuck!” I hissed, turning back to my friends, heart drumming in my chest.

What was happening?

Was I dying?

“What in the hell is—”

“Without further ado…” The headmistress’s voice boomed through the sound system.

The room was spinning.

My chest was going to explode.

“Please welcome…Loch and Hael Dobrzycka!”

The ballroom fell completely silent.

My brain was just…frozen, like my body was being controlled by some invisible force.

I glanced at my feet in shock, realizing I was already walking toward them…

I couldn’t stop myself.

And…I didn’t want to.

“Mads? What the hell are you—”

Two figures stepped from the shadows into the grand ballroom.

Both were impossibly tall with piercing, emerald-green eyes.

One with emerald-green hair. The other’s, jet black.

Their eyes were fixed on me. Only me.

The twins.

Who bought me this dress. Funded prom…

But they weren’t really dreams, were they?

I gasped as I realized…they were memories.

Memories of the infamous identical twin brothers who stood at the head of the oldest, most influential family in Requiem City.

Loch Dobrzycka.

And Hael Dobrzycka.

“Happy birthday, Madeline,” said Hael.

“And my, my,” Loch crooned. “How we’ve missed you.”