by Zara Zenia
“‘Complications’! You killed her to eat her, didn’t you!” Brandt practically roars, diving for Eva and cradling her body against his chest. My hands curl into fists, the need to do the same making me murderous toward him. I want to be the one holding her.
“She’s not dead,” I say through clenched teeth.
“Of course you say that,” the young dragon answers, stroking her hair softly.
“Brandt, she’s breathing,” his brother says in a stern tone. “There’s no need to throw accusations around. What kind of complications?”
Brandt quiets, but his hold on Eva remains, as does his suspicious looks toward Lucas and me.
Lucas shakes his head, dropping his forehead to his hands. “I’m not sure. Nothing like that has ever happened before. I shared a vision with Eva, but I suppose the connection was strong enough that she was able to share one with me as well. Only it wasn’t a normal vision. It seemed…” He stops and shakes his head, his eyes lifting to stare at Eva’s prone form like it will be able to answer the questions plaguing him.
“What?” I say, hardly a whisper. Seeing my friend like this has made me uneasy. Well, uneasy is quite the bland term for how concerned I am. If Lucas is shaken this badly, it has to be something dire.
He shakes his head again like the memories won’t stop bothering him. “It seemed like it was really happening. Like the wolves spotted us — the real us — and were closing in. Eva couldn’t move and I don’t know if that was real or the memory, but I yanked us out. I don’t know. It seemed too real.”
His voice is haunted in a way I’ve never heard and I know that this is something serious. I don’t know what it means or what’s going on, but I know it’s bad.
“You shouldn’t have done your weird magic if you don’t even know how to control it safely,” Brandt spits.
“I have plenty of experience controlling it, more years of practice than you’ve had life, so don’t lecture me.”
“How’s all that practice working out for you? If you haven’t noticed, Eva’s unconscious because of you.”
“Enough,” Trylor says, his voice booming in the small room and rattling Eva’s knick knacks. “If we want to help Eva, if we want to get through this, fighting is not the way. We need to help each other.”
Brandt still looks like a chastised child, clinging to Eva for dear life, sending venomous glances at the rest of us for daring to disagree with him.
There’s no use trying to reason with him right now, but his brother seems to have a leveler head, so I walk around to him, Lucas following me, and we form a huddle away from Brandt and Eva, each taking our turn to look at them surreptitiously. I think we’re each hoping that Eva will wake up at any moment without any more interference from us. I don’t have the courage to ask Lucas what he thinks about it, what his expertise tells him about her chances. But the way he keeps hopefully looking toward her is encouraging. I think. It’s either encouraging that he thinks she could wake up at any time, or concerning because he’s not sure what’s going on. I go with encouraging. There’s enough concerning shit happening elsewhere right now.
But Eva’s not budging, just being cooed at and petted by the younger dragon. It would probably be useful to have him on our side too, but his brother knows him best and if he’s not inviting him to our pow-wow, it’s for a reason. Perhaps he’s too emotional. Besides, it’s good to have someone looking over Eva so closely. Even better it’s the hot head that isn’t contributing to solutions.
We’re standing there awkwardly, constantly sending glances over to Eva and Brandt hoping for some kind of status change, but it’s not coming fast enough and the minutes are dragging on without us having a plan. I know the evil is out there plotting, scheming, trying to find its opening. We can’t sit here idly waiting for it to catch us unaware.
“So,” I ask, feeling like there’s a chance I’m not going to like the answer one bit, “what do you have in mind?”
Chapter Twelve
Trylor
“Well, it’s clear what’s necessary, isn’t it?” I ask, feeling the undead gazes of these blood-suckers boring into my skull like they’re trying to decide if I’m tasty enough for the effort. I growl at my own thoughts. I’m sounding more like Brandt. I know better. I know there are times when a leader has to make a difficult, perhaps even unpopular, decision.
Unfortunately for me, I’m that leader.
The vampires don’t say anything, waiting for me to expound and I sigh, sending a wary glance over my shoulder to my brother. He’s not going to like this.
“It’s clear that we’ve all been told the same tale about Eva, that she is the one that can save us and fight off the evil, right?”
The vampires nod in tandem, but say nothing more.
“Well, either someone’s wrong, or we’re meant to work together.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Brandt roars from behind me, setting Eva gently on the couch before joining our huddle. He’s laughing now, clearly deciding I must be joking. But I’m not, and his expression soon sobers.
“Brother, surely you’re not serious. We cannot trust them. Eva is our woman. And you know they will do whatever it takes to get what they want, including lies and deception.”
I glare at him without a word. Diplomacy has never been Brandt’s strong suit, but this is beyond incompetent. Insulting them directly to their faces is beneath either of us and I’m getting ready to tell him so when the older vampire says his piece.
“You dragons are no better,” he sneers, his dark eyes glittering menacingly.
A chill sweeps through me and I suddenly remember that we’re not the only predators in this room. We are prey to these vampires. A difficult prey, for sure, but prey nonetheless.
“Do not think I missed your convenient omission during your history lesson,” he says.
Brandt balks, his face reddening at the assertion. “What are you talking about?”
“You told Eva that the dragons chose to leave Earth, that it was evolution or whatever that drove your kind away. No mention of the mad dragon king that turned on his own people and slaughtered them by the thousands. No mention that your dragons’ drive for ultimate power is what caused the decimation and destruction of your race. Or how you’re all so damn paranoid that you had to move to another planet entirely. That there are no dragons left on Earth because your old king murdered every last one of them.”
I grit my teeth, but make no effort to argue with him. Our history is as bloody as theirs and I would never claim that we are a peace-loving race or that we’re harmless. We’re dragons. We’re anything but peaceful and harmless, but we’re hardly as bad as he’s making us sound.
Of course, my brother isn’t able to keep the cool head I am. Without Eva’s judgmental gaze watching his every move, Brandt doesn’t hesitate to lunge for the vampire.
But as fast as a dragon can be, the vampire manages to be faster, moving so fast he’s nothing but a blur as my brother goes barreling through the space he just occupied and hits the cabin door with a solid thunk that shakes the walls.
“So you agree, then,” Lucas drawls, looking down at Brandt as he’s picking himself off the floor, this look of bemused annoyance curling his lips. Like he’s humoring a rowdy puppy. It rubs my scales the wrong way.
Before Brandt can launch another assault, I grab him and shove him behind me.
“One rogue dragon hardly represents the comprehensive history of our entire race. And don’t intimate that your kind are any less bloodthirsty—”
“Literally,” Brandt adds with a scoff.
I turn to glare at him, but only for a moment before I turn my attention back to the vampires.
“No one here is perfect, but we have a common enemy and a common interest — none of us want to see any harm come to Eva and we all want our people to be saved by her. The only way we’re going to accomplish anything is by working together.”
“No, I’m not going to do it. You can’t make me
work with those blood-suckers,” Brandt says.
“You’re assuming we want to work with overgrown lizards,” Morgan says disdainfully.
This is going nowhere fast.
“What we want to do is irrelevant,” I say, putting on my most authoritative voice, talking down to them both like the children they’re emulating.
Lucas nods, catching my meaning. At least the two of us with more experience are thinking somewhat clearly.
“We’re all in this together whether we like it or not. Whatever plan the fates have for us is beyond our control. But we’re wasting time arguing while danger grows nearer,” Lucas says, looking toward the door.
“I don’t know how to impress upon you two the alarm you should be facing because you were not in that vision with me, but if you have any scrap of trust for my abilities, centuries of experience, and survival instinct, then you’ll heed what I’m telling you. They’re coming. They can’t be far now. They know we have her and they’ll do anything to stop us from getting her out of here safely. Instead of bickering, we need to figure out what we’re going to do about that.”
“I agree,” I say pacing to the window. It’s getting darker now, the sun setting and painting the sky pink and purple. Shadows in the woods grow thicker, denser, until I can’t see through them anymore, even with my dark vision. Any number of dangers could be lurking out there in the dark. Any number of things could be waiting to take my Eva away from me forever.
But there’s only one danger that I’m really concerned about, and I’m sure that when it’s ready to strike, I won’t ever see it coming.
“So what’s your big plan then, huh?” Brandt challenges, still taunting the vampire, but really grating on my nerves too.
The other vampire isn’t being such an insufferable prick, but my brother apparently doesn’t understand how serious our cooperation is. He’s used to dragons being able to tackle any issue we face. When the evil moved in, that was the first thing that ever really shook Brandt’s faith in our kind and our abilities and drive to persevere. After watching our home destroyed, our people slaughtered and enslaved… Something inside Brandt changed. He’s always been happy and carefree, but now he’s also angry. And it’s new for him. He doesn’t really know how to handle that emotion. He never really had cause for it before. His life was one of luxury and leisure. I was always the one tasked with the difficult decisions and heavy knowledge. Now that he’s gotten a taste of the stress I’ve been dealing with my whole life, he’s starting to crumble. But we can’t have that. I need him with me. I need my brother, but I also need an ally. Someone on my side so these vampires can’t outnumber me. I need him to get himself together.
“You knock her out with your weird vampire magic and then we’re just supposed to drag her off somewhere without talking to her? Without even seeing if she’s okay first? She might have a family she needs to talk to. She might know of something we can do that we haven’t thought about,” Brandt says, his voice shaking with frustration. He’s not wrong, but time is the more pressing concern right now. We don’t know how long we have until the wolves return. And I’m not even sure all four of us could take them on and keep Eva safe. Better to avoid them at all if possible.
“Well we can’t sit around here forever just hoping she’ll wake up soon,” Morgan retorts. “You heard him — they’re coming. You just gonna sit here and wait for them to show up and try to take her?”
“Of course not. She’s the one. We can’t risk her.” Brandt starts to continue, but then his mouth snaps shut. He’s got no retort this time, but I can see the need for one burning bright in his eyes. He’s itching for a fight, but that itch is going to need to stay unscratched. At least until we’re safe.
A soft whimper stops us all exactly where we are, eyes darting to the door and windows. Are we already too late? The wind makes tree branches scrape against the windows like nails scratching to get in, and I suppress a shiver.
Lucas looks back from the window and shakes his head. Then the whimper comes again and, ready for it, we can tell where it’s coming from, each of us turning slowly to look at Eva.
Chapter Thirteen
Eva
I’m stuck in fog for the longest time. Nothing but dense white fog as far as the eye can see. And there’s no sounds, no smells, nothing. But there’s warmth. Like someone’s holding me, caressing me, keeping me safe despite how terrified I am to be stuck in this fog. I keep waiting for it to fade, for the wolves to appear like in the vision, for them to spring out of the mist and attack me.
I know they were close to killing me before. I know it’s supposed to be a memory, but the fear I felt in that moment when Lucas pulled me out wasn’t a memory. It was real. It was in that moment. And I could tell he felt it too.
But then he yanked me out of the vision and I’ve been stuck in fog ever sense, probably walking in circles though there’s nothing around me to show if I’ve moved at all. I think I’ve been walking, but with no ground beneath me and nothing but fog everywhere, who knows?
I want to leave this place. I want to go back to my cabin, back to yesterday before all this happened, before I met strangers from another planet with stories that make my head spin. I want to go back even further than that, to a year ago when Dad was still around, before the wolves, before I was left here all on my own with dangers on all side.
I know that I told Mom and Katie that the woods didn’t scare me, and that I would be fine on my own, but the truth was that I was scared. Dad was like a superhero to me. There was nothing he couldn’t do. So when the wolves appeared and ripped him out of my life, it felt like the whole world was crumbling.
And now things are crumbling in a different way. With these strangers — aliens and vampires, what even is my life right now? — coming to tell me I have to save them all even though I don’t know what that actually means. I couldn’t even save my dad from those evil wolves. And Lucas’s people couldn’t save themselves. And Trylor’s planet was destroyed too…
If vampires and dragons can’t kill these wolves, why in the world would I be able to? It seems crazy. Impossible. Like they’re all resting their hopes on me only to be disappointed. As much as I hate being stuck here, it’s not the worst thing ever. The worst thing ever will be going back and facing them. Telling them I can’t help them the way they want me to. I can’t forget the overwhelming heartbreak that Lucas felt when his village was destroyed. And I’m sure if they could share it with me, Trylor, Morgan, and Brandt would all have experiences like that too. So much hurt, so much destruction, and then so much hope, all centered on me.
How am I supposed to deal with that? How am I supposed to be the one to tell them that they’re wrong? That I can’t do anything to help them because I’m just a normal girl and I’m scared out of my mind of everything they’re telling me. There are evil wolves out in the universe that want to destroy and enslave all life. Of course that’s terrifying. But even scarier is knowing that I am supposed to be the solution and I haven’t the first idea what I’m supposed to be able to do.
But I can’t just hide in the fog from them forever. If I’m going to let them down, I might as well get it over with. The sooner they know I’m not the answer the sooner they can get to searching for the real one.
There’s a pang of regret in my chest, a twisting in my intestines, telling me not to let them down, not to deny their pleas. Not just because I really want to help. Not just because the fate of all life supposedly depends on it. But because I know it means they’ll leave me. These four gorgeous men who each have me drooling and needy in different ways, are all going to leave me the moment I tell them I can’t help them. It hurts to think about them not being there.
Even though I just met them, even though I think they’re likely all crazy and wrong, I can’t deny that there’s some kind of connection. I can’t deny that I feel some pull toward each and every one of them. I can’t deny that I want to kiss them, I want to hold them, I want to make love to every sin
gle man that’s in my house right now.
I know it’s insane, but that deep down desperate need is telling me I shouldn’t give up. That I should try to find a way to help them even if I don’t think it’s possible.
And to do that, I need to get out of this fog.
For the first time since I’ve been here, I hear something other than my own thoughts. Voices, muffled like I’m underwater. I can hear them, men, arguing, harsh tones and accusations plain even if I can’t make out the words.
And then slowly the words become more intelligible. And then I recognize the voices as the men who’ve got me so twisted up and conflicted.
“They’re coming. You just gonna sit around and wait for them to take her?” I hear, the softly accented voice belonging to one of the vampires. Morgan, I think. Strange how his voice is already so familiar when I’ve known him a matter of hours.
“Of course not. She’s the one. We can’t risk her.” It’s Brandt who’s talking now, but he doesn’t sound like his normal happy-go-lucky self. He sounds strained, taut, like every word is an effort to produce and he’d rather be growling.
Then all the sounds stop except for a weird moaning whimper and it’s after a couple of minutes that I realize that sound is coming from me.
“Eva?”
I open my eyes to meet Lucas’s ice blue ones bending over me, concern etched into the lines around his eyes.
“Hi,” I rasp, my voice hardly there at all. How long was I stuck in that mist? It feels like forever.
“Are you okay?” Trylor shoves in to the side of the couch, taking my hand in his and bringing it to his lips. “We thought…” His eyes darken and he shakes his head.
But answering his questions is the last thing on my mind right now. I’ve got a question or two of my own. I turn to Brandt, hoping he’s the one most likely to shoot straight with me. Besides, he’s the one that said it.
