by Hope Hart
“These were my sister’s,” he says, and his eyes are no longer dark with what might have been his own lust. No, they’re dark with pain, his expression bleak for an instant before his face hardens again.
I’m guessing his sister isn’t here anymore.
“Thank you,” I murmur. “I appreciate it.”
He nods, and instead of leaving me to get changed, once again gestures for me to follow him.
We travel down several more flights of stairs, and then this time, the landing drops off. I step closer to the edge, peering over the stone.
Whoa.
The walkway I’m standing on is wrapped around the inside of the mountain, and it spirals down, with open doorways on every level. What I thought was his entire lair is really just one wing of it.
“This place is massive.”
Dragix nods. “It was once home to my people. All of them.”
His eyes are shuttered as he turns away, and as much as I want to ask what the hell happened to those people, I don’t.
Silence stretches between us as Dragix leads me down one more flight of stairs. Then I’m blinking in shock as he steps aside. Several pools are cut into the side of the mountain, steam rising into the air.
“No way,” I murmur. The hint of a smile is playing around his mouth when I glance at him.
“You will likely enjoy this more than the river.”
I angle my head. “You didn’t think to tell me that there were hot pools down here?”
“You didn’t ask.”
Funny guy.
“Why did you keep me upstairs on the top of the mountain?”
“I am too big to navigate this place in my full form.”
I stare at him, and his jaw tightens.
“I had forgotten that I could shift,” he admits, turning away.
Wow. When he said he was practicing, I thought he was rusty—not that he’d just straight up forgotten that he used to walk around as a man. No wonder he examined his hand like he’d never seen before. It also explains why he seemed so unsteady on his feet when he first shifted.
“I will send Maez with the things you need.”
“Thank you,” I say, and this time, it’s easier to say the words without choking. He didn’t have to do this. He saw me freezing my butt off in the river and realized I needed a proper bath.
He simply nods and walks away.
Dragix
I am…different in this form. When I have two legs instead of four, the memories come like a wave. Being down here, in the place that was once home, makes it worse.
There, by the window, is where my sister used to sit and gaze out at the world. She could daydream for hours, days, but she always had a smile for anyone who interrupted her quiet time.
And in this place, there were always interruptions.
Our home was thriving, packed with our families, living together, mating, laughing. Near the end, there was no laughter, simply silence, tears, mourning as we buried what was left of our people.
It’s the younglings that I think of in this form. The way they would scamper through this place, shifting from two-leg to winged form and eventually falling down in a heap, exhausted as they forgot to eat. They’d be picked up and cuddled by whoever walked by and taken back to their parents for food and rest.
We were happy here.
In this form, it’s more difficult to stand by my decision to keep Charlie with me. Logic wars with instinct.
What if she has family on this planet? Someone who misses her? A…mate? My blood heats at the thought as I stalk through my lair, looking for Maez.
But no…I have not seen two-legs like Charlie on this planet. Small, with pale-colored skin and no claws, fangs, or scales. She is…different.
I will ask her at the first opportunity.
I have been good to the female two-leg. I have kept her safe. Without me, she would die on this planet. She may not want to be here, but she will stay.
I will protect her, and she will keep my loneliness at bay.
Chapter Five
Charlie
Time passes. Now that Dragix can switch between forms, he takes me down into the lair whenever I like. I spend hours relaxing in the hot pools, while he disappears to do who knows what.
We haven’t spoken about his family, but now that he’s remembered what he refers to as his “two-leg form,” he spends more time in it. I’ve seen him wandering through the huge rabbit warren inside this mountain, his expression lost.
Maez has made herself scarce. She ensures I have everything I need—including soap, a comb, and even long strips of clean material cut into pieces for when my period arrives.
Dragix has given me what used to be his sister’s room, so I tuck my makeshift pads into one of the huge wooden chests that passes for my closet. I stroke my hand over it, wondering about the woman who used to live in this room, who slept in the large bed in the corner. Dragix seems to realize that sleeping on the hard ground on top of the mountain isn’t exactly my preference, so he allows me to sleep down here instead.
During the day, I’ll often find him snoozing on the top of his mountain, his scales gleaming like fire in the sunlight. But at night, he refuses to leave me down here alone, choosing instead to sleep in what must have been a huge communal area at the bottom of the mountain. If I leave my room and peek over the side of the stone walkway, I can see him curled up like a cat, far below me.
I haven’t tried to escape yet. I’m smart enough to bide my time. I’ve done it before.
I push away the memories of Ben and climb the stairs to find Dragix.
I’m…bored.
I’ve been here for days, and I’m no closer to convincing Dragix to let me see the other women. But if I can just get a glimpse of them, they’ll at least know I’m alive. Then, maybe, they’ll think twice before they leave without me.
If they even can leave.
From what I’ve gathered so far, we may be trapped here. I’ve seen no planes, no cars, nothing that would suggest that the people here know how to travel through space. The ship we landed in… I have no idea if we’d be able to use it to leave.
The thought is depressing, but I shake it off. This is just one part of this planet. Who knows what the people can do in other parts? Maybe this area is like the Amazon rain forest on Earth, and there could even be a New York City that I just haven’t seen yet.
I snort. Right.
Dragix gets to his feet as soon as I make it up the stairs. The sun beats down on us, warming my skin, but at least up here there is a breeze to counter the sweltering heat.
“What is wrong?”
“Holy shit! You can speak in my mind? How long were you going to keep that on the down low for?”
Dragix ignores me, his tail swishing along the ground as he stalks closer.
“You are bleeding. Tell me why.”
If the mountain opened up and swallowed me whole, it would be preferable to this.
Of course he can smell my blood. He’s the king of predators.
“Um.”
He steps closer, his nostrils flaring, and then I squeak, pushing his head away as he sniffs at my hair, neck, and then lower.
“It’s my period, Dragix. Get a grip!”
He angles his head, staring at me.
“My uh…cycle. And if you could not let me know that you can smell it, that would be great.”
If I didn’t know better, I would think the dragon was embarrassed with the way he backs away, his tail lying like a dead snake on the ground.
Change the subject. For the love of God, change the subject.
“You can talk in my head? Can you read my mind as well?” No wonder he was pretending to sleep that night when I tried to escape.
“No. I am able to open a pathway to your mind, allowing for conversation. You are able to speak back. I had…forgotten. It was only when I thought you were hurt and needed to know where that I remembered I could still communicate. It happened automatically.”<
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He refuses to look at me. It must be difficult to admit that he’s basically forgotten who and what he is. Something aches in my chest with the need to make him feel better.
“LIKE THIS?” I shoot the words at him like bullets from a gun, unsure how much force to put behind them. I’m squinting at his head, and from the low rumble that comes from Dragix’s throat, I obviously look constipated.
“Quieter.” His voice is a low murmur. Soft. Intimate. “You are yelling.”
Oops. He no longer looks like he’s about to settle into a long brood though. Although why I should care is beyond me.
“Listen,” I say aloud. “I’m bored. How about we go for a flight? I’d love to see the spaceship that I crash-landed in.”
He narrows his eyes slightly on my face, and I keep it—and my mind—carefully blank. He could be lying about being able to read my thoughts.
And I’m desperately hoping that the other women will be hanging out near that ship.
After a long pause, Dragix nods. He holds out his foot, claws gleaming like polished obsidian, and I sigh.
“You do not wish to go?”
“I do. It’s just…it feels a little weird being carried around by a dragon.”
“Weird?”
I attempt to send a mental picture down the pathway. My eyes are squeezed almost shut as I stare at Dragix’s head, and he snorts.
I ignore his obvious amusement. Not all of us are used to talking with our minds.
Those gold eyes widen and then narrow on my face, and I know he’s picked up the image of Godzilla with a person clutched in one hand and a car clutched in the other.
“This creature is not of this world.”
I laugh. “It’s not of any worlds. It’s made up.”
He blinks. Twice.
I wave a hand. “Let’s not go into that now. Anyway, it’s fine; let’s just go.”
I walk toward him, the breeze rustling my hair. He’s silent for a long moment, and then he moves his foot away.
My heart sinks. I really, really wanted to fly. Now that I have a pretty good feeling Dragix isn’t going to drop me for funsies, I think I’d actually be able to enjoy it this time.
For some weird reason, I trust the guy—dragon—not to hurt me.
For now.
“You may ride on my back.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Seriously?”
He nods, and from the look in his eyes, the fact that he’s allowing me to sit up there is a pretty big deal.
“Are you sure?”
“Get on my back before I change my mind.”
I burst out laughing. That’s the closest that Dragix has come to sounding almost…human.
But he’s not human. And his ideas about personal freedom are probably the least human thing about him.
I can’t forget that.
He offers his foot again, and this time, he holds it up to his shoulder.
I scramble up onto his back, careful not to impale myself with the horns along the back of his neck.
“Okay, maybe I was overly confident about this.”
Dragix snorts again, a curl of smoke rising toward me. Then he gets to his feet, and I clutch uselessly at the horns.
I wrap my legs around him—in the spot where his shoulders meet his neck.
“Wait,” I blurt. “This was a bad idea.”
That rumble sounds again, and then I’m shrieking, screaming, hollering curses at the dragon as he shoots into the sky like a torpedo.
“You motherfuckerrrrrrrrr.” The wind steals my words, but I know Dragix can hear me from the way his shoulders shake. I switch to our mental pathway.
“I changed my mind. I changed it, Dragix. Go back!”
“You are fine. I will not let you fall. Relax and enjoy the ride.”
Dragon humor.
“I’m not fine! I feel like I could slip off at any moment.” He banks right, and I curse, holding on to his horns for dear life. “This isn’t funny, Dragix!”
“If you fall, I will catch you. Enjoy this moment, Charlie. Never have I allowed another two-leg to sit where you are.”
I blink at that. “Never?”
He flaps his wings once and then ducks his head, angling us slightly downward. I can feel when we hit a warm current, and he keeps his wings spread, gliding through the air.
“Never has a two-leg ridden any dragon on this planet. You are the first.”
Well, hot damn.
I don’t know what to say to that, so I clutch his horns tighter and blow out a long breath. Now that he’s not shooting into the sky or tilting his body so far that I feel like I’ll roll off, I can actually lift my head.
My eyes stream, but it’s worth it. It’s more than worth it for the way the clouds part for us, for the way Dragix slowly angles downward until I can see the tops of trees. It’s a completely different experience sitting on his back. It feels almost like I’m flying myself, and I can’t help the delighted laugh that escapes my chest.
If I get off this planet and back to Earth, I’ll be returning to a life of living in my car and picking up waitressing jobs as I move from city to city, state to state. That’s if my car hasn’t already been impounded. Riding a dragon? This may be the most exciting thing I ever do in my life. When I’m once again tying an apron around my waist in time for the second part of my split shift, I can think back to this moment.
So I open my eyes, and I lean forward—still clutching onto Dragix’s horns for dear life. But I bask in the wonder as the wind snatches at my hair, my eyes drip tears down my cheeks, and I shoot through the sky on the back of a dragon.
Dragix
Never did I imagine that I would allow a two-leg to ride me the way that the Braxians ride their beasts. But where this two-leg is concerned, I find myself bending my own rules.
Her laugh of wonder earlier…it was reward enough for the breaking of my people’s traditions.
I think that if my mother met this two-leg…if she saw the inner fire that makes all Charlie’s moments burn with intensity…she would forgive me.
I stretch my right wing downward, and this time, Charlie lets out a delighted whoop behind me.
If I were in two-leg form, I might smile at that. And it has been a very long time since I have had the urge to smile.
I tuck my wings close, arrowing down toward the trees below us as Charlie shrieks. Then, at the last possible moment, I open my wings once more, and we shoot back up into the sky.
“You—you…”
Charlie’s voice trails off as I check that she is holding tight. Her legs are clamped around me, her hands clutching at my horns.
So I roll.
We’re only upside down for a moment, and a scream rips from her throat. When we’re soaring again, she growls behind me.
“You asshole!” A long silence. “Do it again!”
My urge to smile has deepened into an urge to laugh as I comply, and she screams again but also roars with laughter as we once again turn upright.
I am…showing off for her. And I’m not quite certain why.
All I know is that the sound of her laugh, the feel of her legs wrapped around me, the trust she has shown me…
I want more.
For once, we are not enemies. She is not my captive, planning her escape. And I am not the wicked creature refusing to allow her to leave.
Charlie gasps behind me.
“There it is,” she says, and I glance down. “Can we get closer?”
I angle down, circling until the metal is clear through the trees.
“How did this happen?” I ask.
A long silence. Her legs tighten further, as if the thought is one that scares her, and my blood heats once again.
“I was living my life on Earth. We all were. Then I woke up on a ship. We were taken to a strange planet, where aliens bid on us like we were objects. Once we were sold, we were loaded on that ship. But the ship crashed, and the Voildi said they would help us. A group of massive guys
jumped out at us, and I went looking for water. Then you found me.”
Her voice is sad.
“The Voildi…these are the yellow ones?”
“Yes.”
“They were not helping you. They prefer their meat to be able to talk.”
Charlie growls again behind me. “Those assholes were going to eat us?”
“Yes.”
“Well, shit. Oh my God. What if the other women have been eaten?”
“The other males. What did they look like?”
“Um. I didn’t pay much attention. They were huge though. They had long hair—like yours but darker. And they carried swords.”
“Braxians.” My voice is a hiss of rage, and Charlie jolts behind me as I search for a place to land.
“Is that bad? Do you think they hurt the other women?”
“No,” I admit. “They likely will be hoping to mate with them.”
“Oh God.”
Charlie trembles against me. I choose not to tell her that the Braxians are unlikely to mate with her friends without permission. They may be barbarians, but they have their own code of honor.
A code of honor that didn’t apply to my people.
I bare my teeth at the thought. Charlie is safer with me than with the traitorous Braxians. Let her believe that they would harm her if it makes her appreciate the safety she finds in my lair.
I land and help Charlie dismount. She glances up at me and then takes a step toward the twisted metal in front of us.
Her eyes scan our surroundings, and I can sense her disappointment. Ah. The other females. She was hoping that they would be here.
I grit my teeth as I transform into my two-leg form.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“If you are planning to go inside, I must be in this form to go with you.”
She stares at the ship, and for the first time in days, I can smell the reek of her terror.
I didn’t notice when Charlie no longer smelled of fear and anxiety. Now she is trembling once more, and I mentally curse myself for bringing her back here.
She takes a few steps closer and then freezes, shaking her head.
“No,” she says. “I’m not.”
We’re mostly silent on the way back, and I swoop down occasionally to hunt along the way. Now that I am changing between forms, I need more fuel than I can ever remember needing before.
