Shadows and Stars

by Becca Fanning

  "Well yes, because I do..."

  "Who taught you to give compliments? Because that's not how you should be going about it."

  "Erm...well..."

  She shook her head, disappointment written all over her face.

  Come on, Marcus. Fix this.

  "Why don't you teach me?" I blurted out.

  Great. That's doing a great job of fixing it. Why was I such an idiot?

  Zara turned back around slowly.

  "Are you seriously asking me to teach you to give compliments?"

  "Yes. Why not?" I asked, giving her my best puppy dog eyes. The worst she could say to me was no. And something was telling me she wouldn't. If she was going to, she'd have walked away already, and not be continuing this, quite frankly ridiculous, conversation with me.

  "I..."

  "I'll buy you dinner? Or lunch if you prefer. Not breakfast though, that would be presumptuous of me," I prattled.

  This time, Zara laughed. "Have you ever been on a date before?"

  "Of course," I replied. I'd been on plenty of dates, but I didn't think any of them had ever made me feel as nervous as this dragon was.

  "With an actual woman?"

  "Yes. And a few men, actually," I replied.

  "You really don't have any filter, do you?" She was smirking now. I liked it. She was softening towards me. If I kept this up, then she might actually agree to a date with me.

  "Not really. But then, I've nothing to hide, so no need for one."

  That wasn't strictly true. I did need to hide my halfling nature a lot of the time. Which was why I'd never really dated many other vampires. There was no need to hide something they didn't need to know anyway.

  "Alright then, Marcus. I'll go for dinner with you, to teach you how to flirt."

  "You will?" I perked up at that. Best news I'd had all day. Well, all week really.

  "Yes, I will. Pick me up from here at eight tomorrow, and don't be late. Tardiness is something I can't abide by."

  She turned away from me, and walked back towards the dragons' ceremony, swaying her hips as she did.

  Zara was something alright. But I still wasn't sure if she was actually into me or not. I guessed I'd find out at our date.

  THREE

  I'D NEVER BEEN SO nervous for a date, but as I straightened my tie by the mirror in the hall of Devon's flat, I was almost sweating.

  There was something about Zara that was tying me all up in knots. And then there was the fact that this was a stupid idea to begin with. She was a dragon. She'd leave me the moment her real mate showed up. And he surely would. That was how these things worked. Then they'd have a few ceremonies and bing-bong-bang, she'd be in the same predicament as Ayra was now. Obsessing over an egg at the bottom of a lake.

  While I knew there was a little more to Ayra and Devon's situation than that, it did seem like the simplest explanation for it. It was so alien to me after all. I was a vampire that had stayed a vampire. Not one who could suddenly shift into a giant blue lizard that really liked fish.

  I should probably keep that description of dragons to myself while I was at dinner with Zara. If I didn't, then I could guarantee there wouldn't be a second date. And of all the things in this world, a second date didn’t sound too bad.

  “Ayra? How’s my tie looking?”

  My friend peeked from the kitchen and laughed. “You look like you tried to strangle yourself.” With a spring in her step, she crossed the spotless living room and fixed the sapphire tie I choose. “You went with blue, huh?”

  I shrugged, pretending I hadn’t picked it out on purpose. From what Ayra told me, all water dragons had a soft spot for blue. Even her favourite colour was blue, except for the ghastly wallpaper Sian decorated her house with.

  “You sly dog, you’re going for it, huh?” Ayra smiled, patting my chest. “There, much better.”

  “Thanks for not letting me make a fool out of myself,” I grinned, glancing in the mirror and pushing my hair up a little. This wax was supposed to be super strong but it was already letting me down like one of my shady friends who always bailed on me.

  “Not a problem. Besides, you don’t need a silly tie to make a fool out of yourself,” she teased, checking the watch around her wrist. Another little quirk she picked up from Tate. “You’re going to be late, hurry, hurry. You don’t want to keep Zara waiting.”

  “I do not, no. Bye, Ayra. Thanks for letting me swing by!”

  “Anytime, I don’t get to see you nearly as often as I’m used to.”

  I chuckled and kissed her cheek. “You don’t see anyone nearly as often as you used to, crazy egg lady.”

  “Oi!”

  Before Ayra could swat me, I bolted out the door and threw her a kiss. She glared at me, but I could tell she was hiding a smile. She was happy, much happier than I’d ever seen her. The kind of happy only fated mates could be. The way Zara probably would be when she met her one. Why was I going again?

  “Zara!” I called, skipping the last piece of sidewalk as I found her standing outside in the cold. I breathed out a cloud of smoke and grumbled at myself. It really wasn’t proper to make a lady wait, but I could’ve sworn I got here on time. I quickly checked my watch and confirmed I was ten minutes early.

  Huh. Maybe she was as eager as I was?

  “Good evening, Marcus.” Zara’s mouth curled up and her smile put dimples in her cheeks. The light of a street lamp caught her eyes and there was something utterly magical about the banality of the moment.

  What was this beautiful woman even doing going on a date with me?

  “Sorry, I’m late.” I straightened out my tie nervously and scratched my cheek.

  “You’re not. We’re both early,” she corrected me, a glimmer of amusement flickering through her eyes. Blue and green. She had two different eyes. How unusual, yet I couldn’t imagine something that would fit her better.

  Unique. That was the right word for her.

  “I’m just glad you showed up, I could be a murderer for all you know,” I joked, immediately regretting my choice of words. Why, why, why would I suggest shifty like that?

  “Wow, only one minute in and you already shot yourself in the foot?” Zara snorted, bringing up her hand to hide the grin stretching across her face. “Did you place a large bet against yourself?”

  I groaned, shaking my head as I cringed away. “Sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

  “Relax. I’m not just going to run away.”

  “I’m pretty sure I could catch you,” I flapped out before I could stop myself. Zara gave me a questioning look and I slapped my forehead. “I’m such a dick.”

  She laughed as she pushed me inside the restaurant. She shook her head in amusement, but curled her arm through mine. “A little bit, yes. But you’re in luck, that’s just my type.”

  “Is that why you’re out with me tonight?” I asked, pulling up my nose as the strong scent of fish hit my nose. Oh no, why did I let this weird dragon girl pick the place to eat? Why did I not remember the overly sweet and weird foods from the banquet?

  Zara waved at the waiter and he gestured towards a very cosy table in the corner of the restaurant. I helped her out of her coat and draped it over the weird wonky chair. The dark woods gave me a bit of an ominous vibe and the carved dragons staring at me were just bizarre. They certainly were an interesting breed that just loved their own species a little too much. Vampires didn’t have fangy restaurants decorated with stakes and crosses. That would just be weird. But apparently, dragons just liked to show off their nature any chance they had.

  “Interesting decor,” I muttered, patting the wooden dragon behind me, hoping that wasn’t offensive. I really didn’t know enough about the culture to pretend I was part of it. Why did I ask her out again?

  Zara smiled as she passed me the menu and I knew why again. She was utterly beautiful and there was something about her that just drew me in. I wanted to get to know her, even if I was going to end up hurt. She see
med worth the risk.

  “What’s your favourite fish?”

  I stared at the menu, scanning it for something meaty and edible. Maybe a nice steak or good slab of ribs? No such luck, there was fish, fish, and… surprise, fish. Great.

  “Uuuummmmm…” I drew out a long breath, buying myself time to answer her question. What fish did I like? Salmon? Bass? Tuna? People claimed that was the steak of the sea, so that would probably be my safest bet. “Tuna. I love tuna,” I made up, hiding behind the menu. If she couldn’t see me, she couldn’t see I was lying.

  “Really? That is one of my favourites too. And I love the crab here as well, it’s so juicy and delicious.”

  “Aha. You come here often?” A waitress passed with a tray full of empty shrimp tails and I licked my lips. That wasn’t too bad looking and I did like grilled seafood. Maybe I should get that instead of a tuna steak.

  “Every once in a while. The owner is a friend of my father.”

  “Ah right. Your father is one of the Elders, isn’t he?” I asked, remembering what Devon told me.

  “He is.” Zara sniffed the salt and threw a pinch over her shoulder. She chuckled awkwardly as she noticed that I caught her and put the shaker down. “Just for good luck.”

  “Right…” Dragons really had a lot of strange traditions, no wonder Ayra had a hard time adjusting.

  “Actually, I’ve never seen you before, Marcus. You’re not from our community, are you?”

  I choked on my spittle and hid behind the menu again. Shit. Why did I not think this through? “Errrmmmmm… No, yes, not really.”

  She pulled up her eyebrow. “Not really?”

  "Yes, not really," I said, nodding my head.

  "And that's supposed to make me feel really secure in this date, and that you're not a murderer?" Zara said, studying me intently. I liked her mismatched eyes on me. I'd let her watch me do pretty much anything so long as she was looking.

  Well, maybe not just about everything. There were some things that a man should keep from the woman in his life. I was sure she didn't want to see me during my morning routine after all.

  Or drinking blood. Nothing could freak a girl out quite so fast as sucking a little bit of O-negative when she doesn't even know you're a vampire. Hardly the biggest turn on.

  "I'm not a murderer," I protested. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."

  "I gathered. If you were, you wouldn't have let me bring you to a dragon run establishment." She watched me as she said the word dragon, probably trying to establish whether or not I knew about their existence.

  Not sure why she'd do that. I'd seen someone nearly shift just yesterday.

  "Maybe I'm the kind of murderer that gets off on living dangerously," I teased her.

  "Is there a kind of murderer who doesn't?" She frowned at me, as if actually trying to work out if that was actually the case or not.

  "I would think so. What about a murderer who worked on death row in the US? He'd be a murderer not living dangerously, because no one knows he's a murderer."

  "Wouldn't legally killing people count as not murder?"

  "I have no idea, I can safely say I've never thought about murder this deeply." Which I realised was kind of ironic for a vampire. But it was also true. I'd had control over my feeding even before I became of age at twenty-five. Murder has never really been on my radar, and I didn't intend for it to be now.

  Except as dinner date conversation with a pretty woman.

  "Me neither, but it's kind of fun," she admitted, her eyes lighting up as she said it.

  "I think that's what leads to serial killing," I deadpanned.

  A light tinkling laugh came from Zara, but she was stopped from replying by the appearance of one of the waiters. How annoying.

  "Do you know what you want?" she asked me.

  I shook my head. "No, you order, you know what's good here."

  "You okay with sharing?" she checked.

  I smiled lightly. "The food, yes. You, no."

  Her eyes darted to me, and I instantly wanted to call back my words. Why had I said that? What the hell was wrong with me? Oh yes. There was a pretty woman in front of me, and I was unmistakably male. Rational thought tended to go out of the window when those two facts combined in one.

  "I should hope not."

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. She was going to end up making me say something really cringe worthy at this rate.

  "What can I get you?" the waiter asked Zara, checking her out as he did.

  I only just managed to hold back a growl. This could be her mate after all. I wouldn't want to start a fight with the man she was meant to be with. I'd lose that just by breathing.

  "Can we have the tuna platter, for two. Sides of the crab, and the grilled prawns. We'll have a jar of sake, and two glasses of water too, please," she ordered with a smooth confidence that told me I'd made the right decision in letting her choose.

  "Thank you, miss." The waiter nodded at her, before scowling at me. Ah, the problem probably wasn't that he was her real mate. It was more likely that he could smell the vampire on me. There wasn't much I could do about that. Maybe roll around in some dragon dung. Or take a dip in their sacred lake thingy. I'd never been there, but I'd heard a lot about it. I suspected that some people would have a fit if I ever set foot in the vicinity.

  Just imagine what they'd do if they found out what Tate and Sian had done on the banks of their precious lake while Devon and Ayra had been busy sticking their egg in an underwater nest.

  "I don't think he liked me," I said as he walked away.

  "Does anyone like you, Marcus?"

  I thought about it for a moment. "Ayra and Devon like me."

  "Who is Ayra?" Zara asked, cocking her head to the side.

  Shit. What did I do now? I wasn't supposed to reveal that Ayra wasn't Tate.

  "Did I say Ayra? I don't know what I was thinking. I meant Tate."

  "And those two are easy to mix up because..."

  I laughed slightly to myself. She really had no idea quite how easy it was to mix up the two women. They were almost identical in every way. Except the whole one being a dragon and one being a vampire thing. Well, and I suppose the fact that one of them had a girlfriend and one had a husband. That was quite some difference too.

  "I have ex-girlfriends called both?" I offered weakly.

  "First murder, now exes. All we need to do now is talk about anthrax or STDs and we'll have covered most of the topics we should avoid on first date."

  "And yet you'll still consider going on a second one with me?" I asked hopefully.

  A look of shock flitted over Zara's face. "You want to go on a second date with me?"

  Why was she so surprised? She was beautiful, and so far we'd seemed to click, even if we weren't far into our meal. And by not far in, I meant I was starting to get super hungry, and if the restaurant wasn't careful, they were going to end up with a grumpy vampire on their hands.

  I wondered if dragon blood tasted nice or not.

  But I didn’t need to worry much longer. The waiter with the stink eye brought a whole platter with seafood and managed to both smile at Zara and glare at me at the same time. Maybe his face was just like that.

  Hungrily, I drew in the scent and almost gagged. Whatever he brought, it wasn’t fresh seafood. It smelled… Raw and fermented. I glanced at the plates of food he clonked down on the table and pulled up my nose as the crab meat wobbled inside the shell. I was ninety-nine percent sure crab meat wasn’t supposed to do that. At least the shrimp were… black. The shrimp were black. That didn’t count as ‘grilled’, lousy dragons.

  “You okay there?” Curiously, Zara caught my eye.

  “Primo perfecto,” I lied, holding up my thumb. My stomach turned as I inspected our feast and I wondered whether I would throw up before, during, or after the meal. How was I ever going to eat this?

  I glanced at my date and puffed up my chest. Come on, Marc, don’t be a pussy now. I told myself, subt
ly breathing through my mouth to dim the horrendous stink. This was all in my head, I just needed to flip my mindset. Yes, I could do that.

  I loved raw crab and burned shrimp. Loved, loved, hated, hated it. Why did they eat such weird things? Couldn’t they just have proper food at their festivals? Just one nice steak was all I wanted.

  “Shall we dig in?”

  I gestured at the plate. “After you.”

  Happily, Zara picked a black shrimp from the platter and pure bliss appeared on her face as she sucked the burnt flesh out of the tail. I eyed the seafood, trying to figure out what would be the least horrible thing to eat. Black shrimps, a hunk of fermented tuna, or raw crab.

  Why, why, why did I have to take out a dragon?

  The sour scent of the fermented fish hit my nose and I settled on the crab. I poked my fork into the squishy white blubber and cringed. The meat curled around the tines of my fork and I drew it up like a slinger of snot. Gross.

  With trembling hands, I brought the fork of sea mucus up to my mouth and stared at Zara. Did I like her so much I was actually contemplating eating this disgusting food?

  She grinned as she munched down on the tuna and there was something so undisturbed about her. Most girls I took on dinner dates ate the salad and were so fidgety and tense, it wasn’t very fun. But Zara was genuinely having a good time.

  Yes, I liked her this much.

  I shoved a heaping fork of stringy crab meat in my mouth and pretty much cried as the salty taste hit my tongue. I was never going to make it through this dinner, not unless I wanted to end the date sobbing like a child.

  “You sure you’re okay?” Zara tilted her head as she deshelled another crispy shrimp.

  “Yuuuup!” I shrieked, my voice high like a choir boy. It was as if my testicles never descended.

  The beautiful woman across me broke her usual composed stature and guffawed so loudly, she choked on some of her seafood. Coughing and hiccuping in laughter, she gulped down some of her water and sprayed her side of the table as I retched on the other side.

  The waiter glared at our table, but luckily left us to it. Thank fuck for that. I really didn’t have any words to explain just how badly this date was going.