Wings of Exile

by JD Monroe

  If it was one of his Wanderers trying to cover up an accidental sighting, he would have advised them to convince the human in question that it was an extraordinarily vivid dream. But the shattered glass and splatters of blood would be memories written in indelible ink. And if she’d seen her attacker change, it was virtually impossible to cover that up. That was a traumatic image that got burned into the brain.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Peachy. What the hell is going on?” She reached for her drink and took a sip, looking like she wished there was something stronger in it.

  “Why did you call the police? I told you not to.”

  “You’re sketchy. My best friend is missing, and I got attacked by a…" After glancing over her shoulder as if she was afraid someone was listening, she leaned forward and whispered, “A dragon in my house. No way that’s coincidence. After I talked to you, I might add.”

  “You think I sent someone to hurt you? If I wanted to hurt you, why wouldn’t I have done it when I was already in your house?”

  “Perry was there.”

  He snorted derisively. “Please. That overgrown bag of muscle couldn’t touch me.”

  “His multiple black belts beg to differ,” she snapped. Touchy subject. Was Perry her boyfriend? And why was that the first question that popped into his mind?

  He tilted his head and matched her defiant gaze. There was a faint tingle down his spine as she made eye contact. Her eyes were a rich shade of brown, like milk chocolate with flecks of gold. He leaned in, tapping into his compulsion ability as he spoke in a warm voice. “Aren’t you thirsty? Why don’t you take a big drink of that?”

  She glanced down at her cup and frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?” She pushed the drink away from her. He tried to keep his composure as he watched the cup slide across the midpoint of the table, a clear sign that something was amiss. Either she had a way to resist him, or he was broken. “What the hell is this? Are you going to explain this or not? There was a dragon in my house.”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re not denying it?”

  “You saw it, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah.” She pulled the drink back to her and began stirring it rhythmically, staring down into the small funnel.

  A tired-looking teenage boy in a red uniform shirt approached the table and set a menu in front of Erevan. “Can I get you something—"

  “I don’t need anything,” Erevan interrupted. “You can leave us alone now.”

  The boy’s eyes widened as Erevan pinned him with a cool stare. He fumbled to pick up the laminated menu. “Uh, o-okay.”

  As he scurried back toward the kitchen, Natalie glared at him. “You didn’t have to be rude.”

  “I’m sorry, my manners are lacking when the police wake me up after midnight,” he said. “To answer your question, dragons are real. And your roommate is one of them.”

  Her jaw dropped. “No way.” He smiled. “Then you are too, I’m guessing.”

  He hesitated, then nodded. “I am.”

  “Jesus.” She took a long drink of her soda. “Then what the hell happened to Thea?”

  “I don’t know,” Erevan admitted. She narrowed her eyes. “I really don’t. I’m trying to find out. Until this happened, I thought she might have been sleeping off a hangover somewhere.”

  “She’s not like that.”

  “So I’ve heard. Look, you may not be safe here. He may be able to trace your scent.”

  “My scent? Jesus in heaven.”

  “Which is why it would be better for you to just pack your things, and I’ll take you somewhere safe until this is figured out.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  “Natalie, seriously—"

  “But I’ll help you.”

  “I don’t need your help. This is my job.” Sort of. A missing Wanderer was technically his jurisdiction, but a dragon attacking humans was edging into Tempest territory.

  “Then I’ll find her myself.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “How?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Come with me and I’ll let you help me,” he said. This was stupid, but he could already see it. As soon as he let her out of his sight, she’d stick her nose even deeper into their business and attract more dangerous attention. “I can keep you safe if you’re nearby, and you can help me find her.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Just so you know, I’m from Texas.”

  “Okay…”

  “I shot the other dragon twice. And I was about to piss my pants because I was so scared.”

  “What’s your point?”

  “It won’t be nearly as much of a surprise this time,” she replied, raising her eyebrows as she took another drink. She didn’t quite smile, but there was a faint crease around her eyes that conveyed her smug satisfaction.

  “Really, now.” Leaning so his body blocked the view to the other patrons, he opened one hand and let a small globe of flame pool in his palm. The heat felt good, like releasing a pressure valve. “Well, just so you know, I can breathe fire hot enough to melt the gun right out of your hand and turn your flesh to ash instantly.” Reflections of the flame danced in her wide eyes. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you frighten me, Natalie.”

  She swallowed, regarding him silently. “Threatening me doesn’t convince me to trust you.”

  “It’s not a threat. I’m simply informing you that your gun is not the equalizer you seem to think.” He closed his fist to extinguish the flame. Her breath hitched as she followed his gaze to the smooth, unmarked palm. “Believe it or not, most of my job is protecting your kind. If I wished, I could simply pick you up and fly you off somewhere safe. The fact that I’m asking first is a courtesy, and not one that I’ll offer you indefinitely.”

  Her eyes widened again. “You can fly?”

  “I’m a dragon,” he replied. “Of course.”

  “This is insane.”

  “Your choice.”

  She stared at him for a long stretch, pinning him with her gaze. What was she? He was starting to suspect she had at least some Kadirai heritage, but it was so strange that she didn’t know anything about it. He wanted her to come along as much to answer that question as to keep her out of harm’s way. “You think you can find Thea?”

  “I have better chances than your human police do.”

  “You try anything—"

  “We’ve been over this. If my goal was to hurt you, I already would have. You’re safe with me.”

  “Okay. But if you—"

  “I know. You’ll shoot me. Can we go now so I can get some sleep?”

  Natalie woke to a gentle knock on the door. Stretching under the sheets, she took her first deep breath of a room that didn’t smell like home. Surrounded by the smell of generic detergent, she sat bolt upright to see the unfamiliar silhouettes of a hotel room. It all came crashing back. Missing roommate, dragons, all of it.

  Another knock. “Natalie?” a muffled voice said.

  Sunlight blazed in through a narrow slit between the heavy drapes. Scrubbing at her eyes, she slid out of bed and hurried to the door. Comically pinched by the peephole, Erevan stood at her door. She opened the door to peek, trying not to let him see her fresh out of bed. “Yeah?”

  “Are you up? We have work to do.”

  She sighed. “Give me fifteen minutes.”

  “Don’t let anyone in.”

  The warm shower brought her back to life, washing away the heavy fog of sleep. Seeing Erevan brought back the last twenty-four hours with razor-sharp clarity.

  Last night, she’d been pulled between two polar opposites: exhausted and terrified on one end, and adrenaline-charged and determined on the other. Seeing the dragon in her house had been enough to turn her spine to jelly, and yet she’d thought fast and survived. Someone had probably hurt Thea, and she could only assume that Thomas had come to the house to shut her up and keep her from digging any deeper. The unimaginable had com
e roaring into her life with scales and claws.

  Officer McQueen was reassuring, but Natalie doubted the Asheville Police Department had appropriate dragon tactical training. Was she supposed to sit back and pretend everything was all right? Go back to stocking the fridge at the gym like nothing had happened?

  After her shower, Natalie wrapped herself in a towel and regarded herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, and her haggard face showed the stress of last night’s misadventures. She sighed and went to work with her makeup bag. After a few months, she’d gotten comfortable enough around Perry that she didn’t mind going bare-faced at the gym—not to mention that she ended up sweating it off at some point during the day. But she didn’t like the idea of Erevan seeing her looking bare-faced and plain. It made her feel vulnerable, unarmed somehow.

  A quiet knock sounded on the door. “May I come in?”

  “Hold on!” she shouted. She ruffled her hair again, then threw on clean clothes. Before releasing the security latch, she checked again to be sure it was him. After last night, she couldn’t take anything at face value. Erevan held two cups of coffee, shifting back and forth as he inspected the parking lot. She pushed the door open to let him in. He handed her a cup on the way in, then carefully put down a third cup he’d balanced between two fingers. It was full of sugar and creamer packets. “Dragons drink coffee?”

  “Tired ones do.” He waited for her to mix her coffee, giving her a lingering look while she did. “You seem to be adjusting well.”

  “Would it be better if I freaked out? What do people normally do?”

  He settled into the chair near the window, crossing his legs. Even seated, he seemed huge. Knowing that he was a creature like Thomas was enough to make her legs shake with fear. “Nothing. Normally I can make them think they didn’t see a thing.”

  She froze. “What do you mean?”

  “My kind can influence humans. Nothing horrible,” he said quickly, as if he’d anticipated the revulsion that was already welling up inside her. “Did you think you were losing it when you saw the dragon in your house?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  He shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. “It’d be easy to think that was a dream, at least if you hadn’t watched the bastard transform and chase you through your house.” He shook his head. “If you’d only seen a silhouette, or a shadow in the sky, I could make you think you’d dreamt it all. This doesn’t fit with your perception of the world, so it’s easy to convince yourself it was your imagination.”

  “Why didn’t you try it on me?”

  He chuckled. “I tried from the moment I met you to influence you, and I can’t. You followed me through your damn house and then called the police when I told you not to.”

  “Because I wanted to,” she protested. She frowned. “Did you do that thing to Perry?”

  “Did it work?”

  “He was not happy with me when I called the cops. He was all about giving you more time to work.”

  “Well, at least one of you listened.”

  “But you couldn’t do it to me?”

  He shook his head. “And I even tried something easier last night. I tried to make you drink your soda last night. No reason you should have resisted. Nothing.”

  “So what?” It was reassuring that he couldn’t use the power on her, although he was no less terrifying. The fact that a dragon lurked inside that body was still scary as hell.

  “Something’s wrong with one of us,” he said. He threw up his hands. “Probably me. It’s never been my strong suit. Or maybe Thea’s done something to you. Who knows?” He checked his phone. “So, here’s the deal—"

  “Wait, no,” she interrupted. “You can’t drop ‘maybe Thea did something to you’ and move on like it’s nothing. What does that mean?”

  “It doesn’t matter right now.”

  “It does. I don’t know anything and—"

  “And I don’t have to tell you just because you want to know,” he snapped. He made a circular gesture, as if to encompass the room and the whole situation contained therein. “This is already highly unusual. Would you rather stay here or at my place? No one will know you’re there, and there’s enough of my kind in the area that it’d bury your scent if someone is tracking you.” His eyebrows arched, and it was clear that he had moved on and had no intention of going back to answer her questions.

  “Your place? No. I’m not trying to hide. I just want to help you find Thea.”

  “I understand that, but you’re much safer out of sight. Have you considered that whoever sent that man to attack you will be planning to finish the job?”

  She gave him an incredulous look. “I met you in a Denny’s with a gun in my pocket. Of course that occurred to me.”

  “So why would you do anything except hide until this is over?”

  She swallowed hard. The word over echoed like a gong in her head. Over could mean Thea home safe. Over could mean Thea in a body bag. She would never forgive herself if something awful happened to Thea while she hid somewhere safe until someone told her it was all over. “Because Thea is my best friend. And I don’t care if you don’t think I can help. I may not understand all of this, but I’m smart. I also know Thea better than you do.”

  He stared at her for a long stretch. His incisive gaze felt like he was searching her mind, seeing through her bluster to the dread and fear that permeated her soul. It took all her willpower to hold his heavy gaze. He broke the impasse by standing suddenly. “You can drive,” he said. She smiled in response, but he held up a warning finger. “At the first sign of danger, I will take you somewhere safe whether you like it or not.”

  “You sound like a caveman,” she said.

  He ignored the comment. “Let’s go. We have an appointment with the police, thanks to you.”

  He hadn’t been kidding about her driving. Being in control of the wheel made her feel safer, even if there was a fire-breathing dragon in arm’s reach. She drove a small SUV, a sensible crossover that had gotten her from Texas to North Carolina. He made himself at home, adjusting the seat to accommodate his large frame. Her heart thumped as she secured her seatbelt and activated the center console to use the GPS. “Where to?”

  “Police station,” he said, looking down at his phone and typing rapidly. “We have to assure your friend there that they don’t need to keep looking for Thea.”

  “My friend…oh shit. Perry!” It was past eight, and she should have been at the gym already. She snatched her phone and found two texts asking where she was. Instead of replying, she called him.

  He answered on the second ring. “Where are you?”

  “I’m so sorry. I should have called you earlier,” she said. “I can’t come in today.”

  “Did something happen with Thea?”

  “Still no word.” She glanced at Erevan. “I’m going to the police station to see if there’s anything else we can do.”

  “What about her cousin?”

  “He’s working on it. Will you be okay for a few days without me?”

  He sighed. “Yeah, I guess. Any chance you can still check the email and handle any major issues?”

  “Of course.” She could handle some of it from her phone, and the rest could wait. “I’ll go ahead and email everyone to tell them Thea’s sick and won’t be in for the rest of the week.” She caught a glimpse of movement and turned to see Erevan nodding. He gave her a thumbs up. Great.

  “Okay. Let me know if you find anything.”

  “I will.” She hung up. “I don’t like lying to him.”

  Erevan shrugged. “It’s better if he stays out of it. He’ll be safer. Now, can we go talk to the police?”

  “Why?”

  “Start driving and I’ll explain.”

  “Please.”

  “Start driving and I’ll explain,” he repeated.

  “I meant you should say please.”

  He tilted his head quizzically. “Are you always so contrary?”

  “Onl
y with men who act like they stepped out of a cave and barely managed to shave off the Cro-Magnon beard.”

  “I’m not sure what that means but I don’t think I like it. Look, I’m doing you a favor. I’ve got no problem with throwing you over my shoulder and taking you somewhere safe. Honestly, I’d have done it last night if I wasn’t afraid you would shoot me in front of a diner full of people. You obviously care about Thea, and you have information I need to get my investigation going. But don’t think for a second that we’re equal partners here.”

  Her cheeks flushed, heating like he’d slapped her. “You’re kind of an ass.”

  He shrugged. “I’m practical. Sorry if that bothers you,” he replied. “Now…please start driving.” He said the word as if it pained him.

  Seething in silence, she typed in Asheville Police Department and waited for the GPS to find a route. A mile into the drive, she took a measured breath and spoke. “You said you would tell me details,” she said, trying to soften the petulant edge from her voice. This would be a long day if they kept sniping at each other, even if he deserved it.

  He shifted, letting out a series of pops from his back. “Thea is a Wanderer. It means she’s not originally from here.”

  “Then where is she—"

  “Think of her as an immigrant if that helps,” he interrupted. “When she first arrived, she was given some basic fake documents to help her get by. When she decided to stay, she likely began the process of getting more official papers. That’s not my job, so I don’t know where she was in the process. It’s going to create an even bigger headache if the police start digging around and find that Thea Leska doesn’t exist on paper.”

  “But she bought a house, and she owns the gym, and—"

  He shook his head and cut her off. “We have a network of people with legitimate paperwork and enough money to assist with those things. Think of them as investors. It’s likely that she works with one of them. In that case, the investor owns Thea’s property and pays the bank on her behalf. They charge a nominal fee for signing the paperwork, with a hefty penalty should she ever fall behind on payment.”

  “Dragon mortgages…”