Wings of Exile

by JD Monroe

  “Erevan,” she said aloud. That sounded like it could be Eastern European. Her heart thumped harder as she dialed the number.

  A chirpy female voice answered. “Asora vel?”

  “Um, hello?” Natalie said.

  “Oh! Hello,” the woman said in English. “Can I help you?”

  “Hi, I’m trying to reach Erevan.”

  The woman paused. “May I ask why you’re calling?”

  “Um…” She sighed and stared down at her hands. There was no turning back once she said it aloud. “My name is Natalie Thomas, and my friend Thea Leska is missing. She has this list of people to call if something ever happened to her.”

  “Thea Leska. Ah, yes. My apologies. Erevan is out of the office at the moment.” She spoke flawless English, but it was tinged with the same accent she’d heard in Thea’s voice.

  “It’s an emergency, and I’m really—"

  “But I will let him know you called,” the woman interrupted. “Is this a good number to reach you?”

  “Sure.”

  “And you’re at 435 Willow Blossom Road?”

  “How do you know that?” Natalie asked as a knot of fear formed in her stomach.

  “We keep records of Mr. Sulkas’ contacts. What was your name again?”

  “Natalie.”

  “That’s a lovely name,” the woman said. “Natalie, Erevan will be in touch soon. Please try not to worry in the meantime. We’ll help you figure this out. Is there anything else?”

  “Yeah, are you going to call the cops?” Natalie said, more heated than she intended.

  The woman paused. “Erevan will determine if that is necessary. Is there anything else?”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s necessary—"

  “If there’s nothing else, we’ll be in touch. Thank you for calling.” The woman hung up.

  Natalie stared in shock at her phone.

  What the hell was Thea into?

  The pinched look on his partner’s pretty face was an ominous portent of the kind of day Erevan Skyblaze was about to have.

  He hadn’t even made it to the office kitchen for his first cup of coffee before Ruana intercepted him and thrust a gleaming black tablet in his face. Her desk was on the opposite side of the bullpen, with her back to the door. That meant she’d been watching for him to come in the door, maybe even watching at the window for his car. When he was within arm’s reach, she hammered a nail into the coffin containing his hopes for a normal day.

  “Some of your Wanderers apparently had quite a time last night,” she said. She propped one hand on her hip and gave him a disapproving look, as if he was the guilty party. All around them, the Skywatch bullpen buzzed with activity as the small night crew passed the reins to the day shift.

  Erevan ignored the proffered tablet and made a beeline for the coffee maker in the kitchenette. He’d had a late night downtown, celebrating a junior Skywatch agent’s birthday at a shapeshifter bar. His flirtatious advances on a gorgeous hybrid girl had been amusing, but he’d declined the offer to go home with her after she practically pounced him outside the bar. “My Wanderers? When they’re in trouble, they’re mine, huh?”

  The glass carafe was still half full, though the glass was cool to the touch. After filling a mug, he released a small burst of elemental energy to reheat the liquid. A plume of steam rose from the cup. The constant heat was a pain in the summer but being a fire dragon did have advantages.

  “Really? We have a microwave,” Ruana said.

  “I’m being energy efficient,” he said. “Besides, someone cooked fish in there at lunch yesterday and it still reeks.” He dumped in a chocolate-flavored creamer, stirred it with his finger, then took a satisfying sip. “Now you may speak.”

  She arched an eyebrow. “Oh, I have your permission now, sir?” He smiled and waited for her to continue. “As I was saying, some of your Wanderers got into trouble.”

  He sighed. One of these days, he was going to get promoted to a position that didn’t involve babysitting a bunch of babe-in-the-woods dragons who couldn’t follow simple rules. How hard was it to keep a low profile? This job had been much easier twenty years ago, when everyone wasn’t walking around with supercomputers in their pockets ready to record the next viral video. “How bad?”

  Ruana handed him the tablet, which had a Facebook video cued up and ready to play. Erevan steeled himself and pressed Play. The camera was filming an open field at night, the image little more than faint outlines against a moonlit sky. The angle and background noise sounded like footage from a hobbyist’s drone. “What am I watching?”

  “Give it a minute,” Ruana replied.

  A few seconds later, he got his wish, at least if his wish was for a monster headache and the irritation to match. A rumbling roar drowned out the drone as a massive shadow darted across the sky. His stomach sank. That could have been anything. A freakishly large bird, perhaps.

  The drone followed, the camera jerking as it tried to follow the shadow’s movement. For a moment, there was only empty sky and the silver coin of the moon against black. A few seconds later, the unmistakable silhouette of a dragon zoomed across the field of view. Glorious wingspan, spiked tail, the whole deal.

  “Son of a….” Some people were too stupid to be dragons. He handed the tablet back to Ruana, but she didn’t take it. “Okay, we can pitch it as some late-night kite flying.”

  “Kites.”

  “It’s worked before,” he snapped. He had bookmarked multiple websites that sold enormous dragon kites, along with a few videos of them flying. It was pretty unbelievable to suggest a twenty-five-foot-long dragon was a flimsy silk kite, but he and Ruana had their ways of helping that pill of incredulity go down smoother.

  “Just wait.” She pointed to the tablet.

  Erevan looked down as a flash of forked lightning crackled across the dragon’s wings. “I hate teenagers.”

  “What’s your spin now, Kite Boy?”

  “Fireworks?” Erevan said. Ruana rolled her eyes. “I know. Let’s go.”

  They hurried to Erevan’s desk, where Ruana began talking before he’d even found his seat. “I’ve already tracked the location and reported the video as offensive from a dummy account. Hopefully, it’ll be removed.” She perched on the edge of his desk.

  “How many shares has it gotten?”

  “None yet, but it’s gotten about a hundred views.”

  “That’s a break,” Erevan said. This wouldn’t be the first time a reckless dragon ended up on the Internet. He’d learned that the key was to get in front of it before it reached the tipping point. In addition to investigators like Erevan, the Skywatch had a whole team of techies monitoring the news for suspicious behavior or keywords that might correspond to a misbehaving dragon. They’d been able to head off several situations with their rowdy charges before they ballooned into front page news. “Have you got an address for the poster?”

  “Got it,” she said. “You want to find our culprits?”

  “Let’s put out the fire first.”

  The morning commute into Asheville made Erevan wish for the freedom to fly in the open. Inching along in traffic was probably annoying for humans, but it was doubly frustrating for a dragon that had been constricted into human form for far too long.

  Despite its name, the Skywatch didn’t fly. They watched the metaphorical skies, the domain of the dragon queen as it were. Here in the human world, they had little need to watch for enemy attacks from the sky. Still, he sometimes wished for the raw simplicity of battle and a chance to let the dragon in him free. There was nothing that matched the primal joy of flying with fire burning in his chest and the wind under his wings.

  “You look tired,” Ruana said. She liked to drive and unless he protested, always took the wheel if they worked together. Erevan didn’t mind, especially with fatigue trying its best to seal his eyelids shut. “Long night?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Was she cute?”

  “You’re making
assumptions.”

  “I’m making an inference. Not the same. Besides, you still have lipstick on your neck.”

  He groaned and yanked down the visor to scrub at his neck. There was nothing there. He glared at Ruana, whose red lips were pulled into a satisfied smirk. “It was just a little fun. Nothing happened.”

  “You don’t have to justify it to me,” she said. “I know how you are.”

  “Well, that’s loaded.”

  He and Ruana had slept together a few times, though it had never been more than a physical thing. They’d been partners for years, and the inevitable attraction had led them into bed. Things had been a little awkward after they slept together but they’d both moved on. Even with their history, Ruana was easy to get along with, which was a nice change after butting heads constantly with his last partner, Kelzahn, who’d been determined to use Erevan as a stepstool to the elite Tempest division in Skyward Rest.

  With morning traffic, it took them almost forty-five minutes to reach the unassuming row of identical townhouses in a neighborhood on the other side of town. The narrow houses and tiny driveways said small families, maybe single residents.

  “Cute places,” she said.

  “Too close together,” he replied.

  She parked in front of number one twenty-five. When they got out, Erevan inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of fresh-cut grass and burning fuel from a lawnmower a few houses down. Even in human form, his sense of smell was powerful. He exhaled the warm air, then took another deep breath, this time checking for anything non-human. If there was anything other than a hapless human with an incriminating video recording waiting for him, he wanted to know. He caught the familiar, earthy scent of Ruana’s presence and nothing more. She tilted her head and regarded him. “What are you looking for?”

  “It’s all clear. Only humans.”

  “Good. Let me do the talking.” Her wide hips swished in an intoxicating rhythm as she sauntered up the driveway. Since they were immersed in the human world, they wore casual clothes instead of the more traditional garb and ornamental armor their kin wore in Skyward Rest. Ruana would have looked stunning wrapped in a garbage bag, but she favored snug jeans that showed off her curves.

  Ruana knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the door swung open to a confused-looking man clutching a cup of coffee. He was dressed for work in a button-down shirt and a tie. His brow furrowed in confusion. It wasn’t every day that a gorgeous, six-foot tall woman appeared unannounced on your doorstep.

  “Hi! Are you Dave?” she chirped. The guy nodded slowly, still gaping at her. “Can I come in?”

  “Uh…”

  “It’ll only take a minute,” she said. A subtle wave of energy radiated from her. Though it had no psychic effect on him, Erevan felt it, like someone blowing on the back of his neck. Their kind could compel humans, and Ruana was the best he’d ever seen.

  Dave nodded, his confusion evaporating into an easy smile. “Sure, come on in.”

  “Listen, Dave, this won’t take long,” Ruana said as they followed him into the house. The interior was sparse and neat. Out of habit, Erevan sniffed the air. He only found the mundane smells of coffee and laundry detergent. “You took a video last night. I need to know exactly where you were.”

  “Oh shit, the dragons.” His eyes widened. “Wait…are you with the government?”

  “No. We’re not from the government,” Ruana said. “Look, I need you to delete the video from your social media and from your devices.”

  He frowned. “But—"

  Ruana gently gripped his forearm, amplifying her ability by making physical contact. “Dave, can I be honest with you? You saw something you shouldn’t have seen. And there are people who don’t want that kind of evidence out there.”

  “Seriously?” he murmured.

  “Seriously.” It was disconcerting to see how easily she spun a story. It was why Erevan always let her take the lead in these situations. “You seem like a nice guy. I stumbled on your video, and I want you to take it down before something bad happens to you. Others have just…disappeared.”

  “Shit.” Dave’s pupils were wide, nearly blotting out his brown irises. Erevan could feel her power in the air, like pinpricks on his skin. Ruana was pushing him hard. “Yeah, okay.”

  “Good,” she said. “Let’s take care of that.”

  “Get a location,” Erevan said quietly as Ruana followed Dave upstairs.

  They returned a few minutes later with Dave still looking dazed. Ruana had a bright blue sticky note in one hand. “Be careful,” she reminded him. “Don’t tell anyone about this. For your own good.”

  “Yeah,” he breathed. “Definitely.”

  “Good boy.”

  “Good boy?” Erevan asked incredulously as they walked back to the car. Though it was still early, the heat was already sweltering, raising beads of sweat on the back of his neck. With an affinity for fire, Erevan already ran warm. Summers in North Carolina were akin to torture.

  Ruana rolled her eyes at him. “Whatever.” As they plopped into the car, she handed over the sticky note. An address was written in a neat hand. “Put that in my phone.”

  “Yes, my queen.” After setting the navigation system, he took out his own phone and swiped through his contacts until he reached Lilya. He called, waiting patiently through the first two rings.

  A raspy female voice answered. “Erevan, it’s a bit early for a social call.”

  “Did I wake you?”

  “Please,” she said. “I’m up at dawn. What do you need?”

  “I need your wings. And your nose. Are you busy?”

  “All business, huh?” She sighed and cleared her throat. “I can make a little time. The queen is in a meeting and doesn’t need me. Where?”

  “I’ll text you the address.” After he hung up, he felt the weight of Ruana’s eyes on him. He glanced over at her. “What?”

  “Lilya?” she said, eyebrow arched.

  “Yes. Why?”

  “This is official business. It concerns our community.” The way she leaned on our made it clear she didn’t consider Lilya a part of the community. Kadirai, or dragon shifters, weren’t the only non-humans in town. There was also an increasing presence of the Edra, the other animal shifters from their world. Lilya al-Kahrin was one of them. Some, like Ruana, insisted on maintaining the sharp divide between them, much the way things were in their home world of Ascavar. But things were changing. They had more in common with the Edra than they did with humans, with many of the same concerns and interests here in a strange world that wasn’t ready to know of their existence.

  “They are part of our community.” He held up a hand to silence her protest. “Come up with a better solution and I’ll listen. Until then, I don’t want to hear it.”

  It took another twenty minutes to drive to the address Dave had given them. Their route ended at a community park complex in the suburbs. Marked with gleaming new signs, the park contained half a dozen athletic fields and a walking track. Mid-summer meant a busy day, with a group of kids in orange shirts playing soccer on one of the fields and dozens of older couples and mothers with strollers on the walking track.

  Erevan peeled off the jacket that was baking him to a crisp and left it the car. With a deep inhalation, a mélange of earthy smells filled his nose. There was growing grass, damp earth under the ratcheting sprinklers, even the distant funk of spoiled food in a trash can somewhere down the trail.

  Under it all was the unmistakable smell of dragon magic. When his kind, the Kadirai, transformed into their dragon form, it released a shockwave of energy into the atmosphere and left a trail, like the puffy white plumes behind airplanes. It smelled pleasantly smoky, like burning wood on a fall day.

  Tuning out the competing scents, Erevan focused on the smoky scent. If there weren’t dozens of humans around, he would have transformed himself to take advantage of his heightened senses. While there were many rules that governed the Kadirai who lived here in th
e human world, the most important was takara vhan—keep the secret. It really was a simple rule, but clearly some dragons found it impossible or Erevan wouldn’t have a job.

  “You have something?” Ruana asked, breaking his concentration. She gave a perfunctory sniff but from experience he knew she wouldn’t pick up what he did.

  “Yes.” In his dragon form, he would detect a shimmering afterglow in the other dragon’s wake. In human form, he had to rely on outside help to follow the aerial trail.

  Wings flapped overhead. His heart pounded as the wide wingspan of a hawk threw a shadow over him. After recognizing the white spots on the feathers and the leather harness on its back, Erevan put his arm out for Lilya to land. She let out a quiet sound and tilted her head. While her coloring was normal for a hawk, her eyes were an unsettling blue that glowed against her golden-brown feathers. The harness on her back was of Kadirai make, the leather enchanted to expand and shrink with her transformation and protect its contents. “Kadirai transformed here,” he said. “I need to know where they are. Text me when you have something.”

  She squeezed her claws into his arm gently, then launched into the air. After circling overhead several times, Lilya zeroed in on the trail and flew away. While the good citizens of Asheville would certainly take note of a giant red dragon flying across the sky during their morning commute, no one would think twice about a hawk soaring overhead.

  “I don’t like involving the Edra,” Ruana said.

  “Duly noted.”

  While they waited for Lilya’s report, they returned to the car and turned the air conditioning up to full blast. Both of them checked in with the Skywatch office for updates on other cases. After ten minutes, Erevan received a message from Lilya. The text consisted of an address and a bird emoji. “Got a location.”

  While his partner drove, Erevan used his tablet to search his database of known Kadirai in the area. Lilya’s powerful nose had led her to an apartment complex a few miles from the park, which was enough to narrow down Erevan’s search. The street address brought up two hits for recent arrivals in the human world. One was an Ashflight dragon named Kalera. The other was a Stormflight male named Varghev. They had both been here less than six months.