I take a breath, trying to decide the best, most gentle way to explain this to my friends. How exactly do you tell someone your elemental is essentially a giant, ancient dragon?

Mireen grins slightly. "It's okay, Nessa. You don't have to be embarrassed if it's like… a goldfish or something. Ollie told me he'll get bigger and more fierce as we train. So even a goldfish would eventually be something to reckon with if you train right."

I bite my lip. "Typhon isn't a goldfish... He's kind of like... a water dragon?"

Beck narrows his eyes, his attention finally locked in. "When you say dragon… do you mean like a bat? Because wings are cool, but I'd hardly call a bat a dragon."

"Young elementals can't take a form like a dragon, Nessa.” Ambrose says softly, as if explaining something gently so he doesn’t hurt my feelings. “They have to tether several humans and gather strength over centuries to…" he trails off, gaze falling to the floor. Maybe he's recalling my mention of the lake monster.

Mireen's mouth hangs open. "A dragon?" she whispers. "Can we see it?"

"Typhon, are you willing to show them?" My stomach flutters with nervous energy.

I sense a world-weary sigh from my elemental, but the widened eyes and audible gasp from Mireen tell me he has revealed himself.

"Holy. Shit." Beck whispers. "You tethered a fucking dragon? Malakai is never going to mess with you again."

"Impossible…" Ambrose breathes.

"He's so cute!" Mireen says, standing and taking a step toward him.

"Tell her if she calls me cute again, I'll eat her and her damned otter."

"Um," I say, taking Mireen's arm. "It might be best to give him some space. He hasn't been around humans in a long time."

"This is untrue. I have been eating them for the past few centuries.”

I'm suddenly thankful my friends can't hear him. His manners need a lot of work.

After a barrage of questions, most of which I answer truthfully, I've caught them up to speed on the "what the hells" and the "how the hells." The only part I haven't mentioned is about my unbound affinity. It was easy enough to claim the silver threads in my mark were just a side-effect of Typhon's ancient power.

Part of me does want to tell them, but I also know even more than I did before. I know what I am is dangerous, even if I don’t fully understand why I’m dangerous yet. Bringing them in will put them at risk, and we've all got more than enough threats against our life as it is. The guilt of keeping secrets from them weighs on me like heavy stones, but I can't risk their lives. This unbound burden is mine to carry, and I won't put it on their shoulders unless I absolutely have to.