by N. A. Hydes
He was in front of her, still in the dark. “I’m surprised at your ability to adapt. You’ve been doing well for a human, dragon girl.”
“Dragon girl,” Jennifer responded. “More like a crazy girl. However, I am glad to be having a different dream. I’m also glad to be myself for a little while.” She held up her hand, amazed it obeyed.
“Just a few more nights, dragon girl, and the transformation will be complete. It will all be easier.”
“Who are you?” Jennifer asked.
His pace increased around the outer circle of light. The outline of his head showed he was staring at the ground.
“I am your guide in a way. How do I say this without it being too soon? I do so like surprises.”
He had walked behind the bench again. “I am you, and I am someone else altogether.” He started laughing. “Soon, dragon girl, I will be able to explain who I am. Hopefully, in the meantime, you can stay alive.”
“Alive? Who would want to kill me?”
“If you haven’t noticed, you’re not human anymore. And, since you seem to be pretending to be human…” The shadow stopped, and Jennifer could feel pinpricks on her skin as if he was staring at her. “I will let you know that all the folklore and stories about humans killing dragons are very true. I know that you have been doing a good job shoving off the dreams, going to class, pretending to be someone you are not, but you need to be careful. A slip-up and–,” the shadow stopped speaking abruptly, the outline of his hand slid across his neck, and he made a ‘wick’ noise.
“You have felt the eyes of the blond person. Is he a friend or foe? And trust me, it is a man who is watching you. I saw him, even if you didn’t.
“And what about Dr. Smith? And how does Matt play into this game of yours?
“And Dr. Smith, you like him: Petr, Professor Smith, whoever he wants to pretend he is this decade. You have chosen him. Or maybe, River has picked him for you,” he continued.
“Though you are putting out enough pheromones when you are around Petr.” The word Petr came out sassy. It reminded Jennifer of kids who would tease her when she had a crush on a boy and say the boy’s name mockingly.
Jennifer felt her cheeks turn red, and she was about to ask what chemicals he was referring to when he continued, “It’s the reason that Nordic weirdo could single you out. You know more than you’re letting yourself realize. Have you thought why that guy Johan bothered you so much?”
“I don’t know,” she answered.
“Yes, you do. Johan’s eyes remind you of someone. Someone I’m sure you long to forget. Right now, you cannot recall the memory. It’s suppressed. Your mind is changing more slowly than your body will. It’s a hard concept for humans to comprehend, these memories of generations past.” He walked some more; his pace was faster until he stopped in front of Jennifer. He stepped towards her and into the light, but he was still just a black shadow. His eyeless stare felt like a weight on her shoulders. “And what do you know about Petr?”
“Nothing,” she said.
“Yes, you do. Or you did.” The shadow’s responses were building up speed the longer he talked. “You know, Petr snores lightly. You know he sleeps on his right more than his left. He prefers to get up in the morning and study or read. He prefers colder weather than hot. He grew up somewhere in Russia. He had a sister whose husband was a dragon. You know Petr has been married at least once, and he had a daughter who died in childbirth. And there is more, whether or not you want to admit it.” He stepped closer to her. “And you know generalities. He is kind, soft-spoken, slow to anger, but still capable of wrath. Far from perfect, but you would like Petr as a mate.” Jennifer saw the white of a tooth and knew he was smiling.
He took another step towards her, still in shadow.
“How do you know all this? I don’t know this.” She looked to the ground, her head shaking ‘no’ as she thought, confused. Jennifer looked towards the shadow man. But a creature similar to her mental picture of a dragon stood in his place.
The dragon was only slightly taller than she, with a pale blue underbelly and a bright purple-blue back. Instead of scales, its skin resembled a lizard’s and looked slimy–oily or wet. It had thin wings with talons on the ends, like a pterodactyl. Itty-bitty eyes filled the oversized head, dominated by a long mouth full of rows of pointed teeth.
The dragon-like creature got close enough that she felt the warmth of its breath on her face and smelled the stench of decaying meat. It sat in front of her, its breath blowing her hair towards himself and away. Jennifer was too scared to do anything more than stare.
“I know,” the massive jaw of this creature opened, and the voice was the same as the man’s, “because I am part of you.”
39
Game Night
Monday night’s game was Spades. Colin had come over to make the fourth. “I think we should go camping this weekend,” Colin was saying to Lauren.
“Camping sounds like fun. What do you say, Doug, two votes, yes?” Lauren winked at Doug.
Doug was shuffling the cards. “Sure.” He didn’t even bother to look up.
“I’ll ask Jennifer if she wants to join us,” Matt said, turning over his card and seeing an ace of clubs.
Colin leaned over in his chair, emitting a loud noise followed by an overpowering smell.
Pinching her nose, Lauren gave Colin a look.
Doug had finished dealing out the hands and pointed to Colin. “Go, light the candles.” It was a command. Colin snickered and walked over to the shelf above the refrigerator.
Colin wasn’t very tall, and he had to stretch to get to the candles. “I thought,” Colin strained on his tippy-toes, causing his voice to sound exhausted. “That you broke up with Jennifer.”
“Why would you think that?” Matt looked over his hand, three spades and the other two cards smaller. He knew he could only pull in three hands if he were lucky.
Colin lit the candle and placed it on the counter. “Just what Lauren said,” Colin answered.
Matt looked over to Lauren as he waited for Colin to start the bid. Lauren shrugged her shoulders. “Matt, it’s just, well, Jennifer didn’t go with us to the beach.”
“Oh, she had a test she needed to study for, is all. I didn’t want to bother her,” Matt answered.
Doug put his cards on the table face down. “When was the last time you talked to her? Because I don’t see her sitting across the table from you.”
“Yeah, it is strange,” Colin agreed. “Not that I’m complaining. I think we make a cute couple.” He winked at Matt.
Matt rolled his eyes at Colin. “I’m going to go by and see her after her final exam, for your information.” Matt had talked to Belinda earlier today, and she reported Jennifer was fine and not angry with him. Jennifer agreed to meet him after class. He thought he would take her out to dinner, maybe a movie.
“That wasn’t what I asked,” Doug responded matter-of-factly.
“Look, Matt,” Lauren interrupted. “There is something wrong with Jennifer.” She held her hand up to her ear, circling, using the American sign to indicate crazy.
“You mean the camping trip?” Matt asked.
“That and well, other things,” Lauren said as Colin sat back down.
Colin looked over at Matt, slower than usual, and with a single wink, said, “I say we will take five hands.”
“What other things?” Matt asked, concerned.
Lauren was studying her cards. She placed them face down on the table, “I call five.”
“What other things?” Matt repeated. “Pass.”
“Man.” Doug put his cards down. “I pass, as well. And Lauren saw Jennifer at school, and Jennifer was all over the place weird.”
“How so?” Matt asked.
“Well.” Lauren turned to look at Matt. “Jennifer always looked neat. She had her shirts tucked into her jeans. Her clothing matched. I saw her on campus the other day and called out to her. She just ignored me. She was looking right
at me. Her hair wasn’t brushed. Her shirt was half-tucked and untucked. It might have been inside out. It just didn’t look like the girl you brought home a few weeks ago. I’m not sure she is sane.”
“Are you sure it was her?” Matt asked.
“Absolutely,” Lauren confirmed.
Colin put his cards down. “Pass.”
Lauren grabbed three cards left in the middle of the table, face down. She looked at them and laid three down in the center of the table to start the discard pile.
“My favorite part was the socks.” Colin snickered.
“What about the socks?” Matt inquired.
“Just one of her jean legs was tucked into a sock, right, Lauren?” Colin laughed like he had a private joke.
“Yes,” Lauren agreed.
Matt played along and pretended their words didn’t affect how he was feeling, but they did. He would see for himself tomorrow.
40
Lust, Jennifer
The moan escaped Jennifer’s mouth, guttural, raw, real. The need made her skin feel as if a feather was tickling every inch. Every move brought both the need for completion and the need for more. She moaned again.
“Jennifer!” Belinda threw a small stuffed animal directly at Jennifer’s head. “I don’t care what crazy dream you are having; stop moaning. You sound like a porn star.”
Jennifer sat straight up, looking around the room, shocked to no longer be in the forest, near a small creek. Ava had to be in the area somewhere. “Where is Ava?” Jennifer asked.
Belinda started laughing. “A girl! Oh, Jennifer, I’m sure Matt is like every normal guy, but you surprise me. I thought you were a virgin.”
Jennifer touched her chest, and the tingles were still very present. The notebook was lying on the side of the bed. Jennifer sighed, grabbed her notebook, and read.
It was an odd dream. The feeling of committing adultery was overwhelmingly sexy. The thought would have made Jennifer feel dirty had she not spent the night as Bran, who had watched the married woman for months. The dirty part of it, well, it made her horny.
Jennifer fought the urge to moan again.
“You have time to go to the cafeteria? You look hungry, and I need a break. I hate math,” Belinda said.
Jennifer looked down at her notebook and then her watch. According to the book, she didn’t have an exam for a few more hours.
Her stomach growled. The notebook also gave some suggestions for meals.
“That sounds outstanding. I would love some fried chicken.” Jennifer responded and closed the journal.
In the cafeteria, several people from their dorm joined them. Jennifer listened to the conversation, not responding, trying to remember more than being Bran.
“Hey, I’m going to the bathroom. Be right back,” Jennifer whispered to Belinda.
Jennifer walked around the corner, and someone blond to her left caught her eye. She searched for the blond head, no longer looking in the direction she was walking, and ran into someone’s back. Grabbing onto the person to stabilize herself, she felt something odd. It wasn’t exactly like electricity, more like knowing or feeling something right, perhaps even a peace she hadn’t had before.
Strong arms grabbed her to stabilize her. When she looked up, it was into the beautiful blue eyes of Dr. Smith. There was an awkward pause where neither one said anything.
But eventually, he spoke her name and let his arms drop. “Jennifer.”
“Dr. Smith.” Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt her heart speed up at seeing him. The need for completion from her dream came crawling over her skin again.
Dr. Smith held her a little too long, and she knew it. When he let her go, he didn’t move out of her personal space but stayed within kissing distance. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“I am fine, I’m sorry, I,” she stammered, looking towards the location she was sure she had seen someone blond watching her. He or she was gone. “I thought I saw someone.” Returning her attention to Dr. Smith, she felt her cheeks flush, which only made the embarrassment worse.
Dr. Smith laughed a little. “You are okay, then.”
“Why are you here?” Jennifer asked. It was a logical question. Professors seldom went to the cafeteria.
Dr. Smith stared for a second, biting his lower lip. Jennifer fixed her attention on his lips. Out of instinct, she licked hers.
“I’m turning in some grades to the office to be put into the computer.” Jennifer watched his lips as he spoke. When he finished, she looked up to his eyes.
There was another pause, interrupted by him asking, “Why are you here?”
“I was eating lunch.”
“Is Matt here?” he wondered.
Jennifer had forgotten about Matt and was glad he wasn’t around. But the thought made her feel like she was cheating and dirty. Jennifer fought a moan. There was an instinctive need to grab this man, take him to a dark corner somewhere, and…
“Jennifer?” Dr. Smith said again.
“Sorry, I don’t think so. We don’t have time to see each other. Too busy with school.” She wanted to keep the conversation going. “I have your class in the spring, your anthropology class.”
Dr. Smith paused for a second. “Will you be going with us on the class trip in March?” he asked.
“What class trip?” she asked, intrigued.
“I take a few students to a dig site in Elmo, Utah. It is open to any of my students,” he responded.
“I think I would like that.” Jennifer looked around the area, realized she was in his personal space and stepped away from Dr. Smith. “I guess I better get going. See you next semester, and sorry I ran you over.” She turned to head back to her friends, bathroom forgotten. Belinda was standing in front of Jennifer when she turned around. Jennifer caught her friend’s eyes.
“Jennifer,” Dr. Smith said to her.
Jennifer had to turn to see Dr. Smith.
“Yes,” she responded.
“I have only seen green eyes the color of yours once before. Which of your parents did you get your color from?” he asked.
“My mother,” she responded and smiled.
“See you next semester.”
When Jennifer caught up with her roommate and was away from the area, Belinda asked, “What was that?”
“What was what?”
“Was that a professor?” Belinda asked back.
“Yes.”
“You like him.”
“What?”
“Jennifer, your cheeks are bright red. It makes you look like a blond apple. Is that the college professor you dreamed about?” She snickered. “That is, when you’re not dreaming of Ava.”
Jennifer ignored the Ava comment. “Yes. I think he is attractive.”
Belinda laughed. “Yes, he is. Better not let Matt know. He texted me this morning to tell me you two were going out after your final exam.”
“Yes,” Jennifer answered as if she knew, but the truth was she didn’t remember. The situation reminded her of her dream, and she bit her lip. “After my last exam.”
41
Lust, Petr
Jennifer had shaken Petr to his core for more than one reason. Her striking emerald green eyes were just like River’s. River lost his life defending a human-born dragon before he had children, so there was no way Jennifer could have his eyes.
And there was another issue. Petr felt something when he was around the girl. He tried to put a name on it, maybe lust, desire. But there was more to it than that. It was like being thirsty after working outside for hours on a hot day and getting that glass of cold water. It was like having an itch on your back and finding a back scratcher.
Petr had heard of dragons claiming their mate. Could it be a Claiming? Could she be the dragon, and she was Claiming him? He couldn’t help the heat he felt at the thought and was glad he was outside where no one could see him. Petr admitted it to himself; he wanted Jennifer and was jealous of Matt. All these years alone, and now Petr wante
d something he couldn’t have.
Jennifer had stayed in his personal space. At one point, he thought she was going to kiss him. Maybe even tear his clothing off. He would have let her.
She did flush when she saw him like she was attracted to him. But she was Matt’s girlfriend. Matt, his sister’s descendant.
He sighed as he opened his office door.
One thing was for sure, being attracted to Jennifer confused the crap out of Petr, and no one had inspired confusion in a very long time. During winter break, he was going to think logically and come up with a plan. He had to find that dragon and forget about Jennifer as anything more than Matt’s girlfriend.
The exams he was grading were sitting on his desk when he walked into his office.
Dr. Smith set to the task of grading his first set of exams. He hated grading, but he had two more tests to give tomorrow, and he didn’t want to get behind.
His work phone rang.
“Hello,” Dr. Smith answered.
“Hello,” Che-non said in perfect English. “I have made it back to civilization.”
Petr huffed. “Were you in the Himalayas?”
“Yes, there is a magnificent library if you know where to look. But it was difficult to make it back out this time of year.”
“I can imagine. Did Kamar come with you?”
“Yes, but he claims you owe him much. He doesn’t like the cold.”
“How long before you get here?”
“It will take me a few days, but it will take Kamar longer. Like we have discussed.”
“What is he going to do? Swim?” Petr asked.
“Yes,” Che-non answered simply. “He will start today or tomorrow. I will be there soon.”
Petr looked around the room, upset that he couldn’t do more. He needed Che-non to help separate emotion from the truth. Especially since neither Matt nor Jennifer gave indications of being the dragon, but either could be. Or it could be someone else.
