by Sky Winters
"I'll stick around by the door," he said. "I'm not gonna be passing you toilet paper under the stall, if that's what you're worried about."
"Gee, thanks," she said as they weaved through the crowd.
Then she stopped in place and stomped her foot.
"Can you believe them?" she asked. "Not just talking about me like I'm not even there, but planning my goddamn future! Do I even get a say in the matter?"
"Thought that's how your types did things," said Corvo. "Arranged marriages and all that crap."
"That doesn't mean I have to like it," she said. "In fact, I hate it. You saw what a smarmy little turd Marlon is."
"Seemed like a pretty standard rich brat," said Corvo.
"Much worse than that. One of the worst wolves you'll meet; thinks the world belongs to him."
"Sounds like a wolf I just met this afternoon."
"Are you serious?" asked Grace, balling her hands into fists and shoving them onto her hips. "I'm not as bad as him – trust me."
"Seems to like you, though."
"He ‘likes' me for what I can do for him. He figures that I can be his picture-perfect wife and give him all the cubs he wants or some shit. He's not thinking about love, just how good it'll look to marry the daughter of another prominent family."
"Sounds shitty," said Corvo. "But I'm just here to keep you safe, you know. Don't have much in the way of romantic advice."
"Yeah, I'll bet," said Grace. "Anyway, I'll be right back."
Corvo stood posted by the bathroom door, his eyes on the dancing and chatting crowds. He knew that if it were up to him he'd have Grace at home under lock and key, but he also knew that nights like this were part and parcel with dealing with rich clientele. Getting involved in their drama on the other hand…
Marlon emerged from the crowd as soon as Grace stepped out of the bathroom.
"There you are," he said, taking Grace by the hand. "Why don't you and I head out onto the balcony for a little private time?"
He glanced at Corvo disdainfully.
"And you, dragon, can feel free to give us our privacy."
"Sorry, kiddo," said Corvo. "Getting paid too much to let her out of my sight."
"Then at least keep your distance."
Marlon then led Grace through the crowd and out onto the balcony. Corvo stayed close behind. Once the two of them stepped out onto the sweeping balcony, the lights of Central Park glittering behind them, he took position on the other side of the door, partially for the privacy, partially not to clutter his mind with whatever rich wolf business they were going over. But he couldn't help but pick up bits and pieces here and there.
"It'll be lovely," said Marlon. "Haven't you always dreamed of a beautiful wedding?"
"Not one that I had to be forced into," said Grace.
"Why would you consider getting married to me something you'd be ‘forced into'?"
"Are you serious? I don't get any say in the matter. My parents are just marrying me off like I'm property or something."
A moment of silence passed.
"I think that you could love me in time," said Marlon. "I think that, right now, you aren't thinking clearly. You're letting your emotions get the better of you, and aren't considering what's good in the long-term."
"Sorry about my stupid emotions like ‘not being in love with you' clouding my woman brain. I'll be a good girl and leave all thinking about that stuff to you."
"Why do you insist on being so difficult? What possible good do you think is going to come from standing in the way of a marriage that both of our families clearly want? And so do I! You're the only complication here!"
"Me not wanting to be married to someone I don't love…some ‘complication'."
"You know what I mean."
"I do, and that's the problem, Marlon."
Marlon sighed.
"I see that you're being as stubborn as ever. I'll leave you to think about what a mistake you're making."
With that, he stormed off through an entrance on the far end of the balcony.
As much of a bratty first impression as Grace had made on Corvo, he couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for her. She seemed to be getting pressured into this marriage from all sides, and as naïve as she was being in thinking she could live without any of this, Corvo thought she at least should have the chance to live free for a time.
He didn't say anything, instead keeping his eyes on the party while Grace stayed on the balcony and looked off into the cityscape beyond. After a time, she headed back into the party with an angered stride.
An hour or so passed, and Corvo did his best to stay out of the way while making sure that Grace was within sight at all times.
"So, a real dragon," said Cassius, approaching Corvo with a little bit of a drunken swagger to his step.
"That's right," said Corvo, catching a glimpse of Grace's blonde hair in the crowd.
"Everyone, come here!" Cassius said, gesturing to a few partygoers nearby. "I want to introduce you all to my newest bodyguard. A real dragon!"
The partygoers around him perked their ears up and began gathering around him in a circle. Corvo didn't like this one bit – it was a distraction from the job at hand.
"That's a real dragon?" asked one of the guests.
"He doesn't look like one," said another.
"What did you expect a dragon to look like?"
"I don't know, now that I think about it."
"I mean, do wolves like us look any particular way?"
"I want to see him shift," said another guest.
"Cassius, you simply have to get him to shift for us. I bet he'd fill this ballroom!"
The chatter around Corvo turned into a din and he found himself glancing through the crowd to find Grace.
"What do you say to a shift later?" asked Cassius. "We all want to see what you've got."
"Maybe later," said Corvo. "Got a job to do right now."
He placed his hand on one of the guest's shoulders and moved the tuxedo-clad man out of the way. Looking around the party, he realized that he'd lost track of Grace.
"Shit," he hissed under his breath as he moved through the crowd.
After a couple of pass-throughs, he failed to spot her. Rushing up to the spiral staircase that dominated the room, he looked over the crowd for that familiar red dress and golden hair. But he didn't see her. His stomach sank as he realized that she'd left. He hurried to the front entrance of the hall and looked out onto the street. He didn't spot her, but he caught her familiar scent on the air. It was a sweet scent, like fresh lilacs mixed with cotton candy. He thanked his dragon side for the enhanced senses it gave him, and he hurried down the block.
Following the scent, he eventually traveled from the nice, ritzy part of the neighborhood to one that was a little less well-kept. Seedy bars began to dot the landscape, along with pawn shops, tattoo parlors, and other signs of a neighborhood in disrepair. But the scent grew stronger, and he followed it until he eventually arrived at a run-down-looking bar with tacky purple and blue neon lights in front. The cursive sign read "Marley's," and Corvo realized he'd found her. Peeking through the dirty, cracked window, he caught a sight of that familiar blonde hair and red dress.
And as he stood in front of the bar, another scent caught his attention. This one was musky, like wet wood and dirty fur. Right away, he recognized it as the scent of bears.
Relief mixed with frustration boiled within Corvo now that he'd tracked down Grace. But she'd wandering right into the middle of a bear bar – just the place where a sheltered and beautiful wolf like her shouldn't be.
Opening the door, he stepped into the place. Rock music played on the speakers, the sound of pool balls clacking cut through the air, and the clientele was mostly rough-looking men in leather and denim – it was a real dive. Looking around at the patrons, he saw that nearly all of them were sizing up Grace as their next meal. Corvo figured that if he didn't do something now they'd probably tear one another apart trying to b
e the one to get at her.
Suppressing his frustration as best he could, Corvo strode across the bar and up to Grace's side.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"
Grace's big blue eyes went wide; she clearly wasn't expecting to see Corvo.
"What…what are you doing here?" she asked, her wavering voice making it clear she was tipsy enough to make a stupid decision or two.
Or three.
"'What am I doing here'? What the hell do you think I'm doing here? I'm making sure your narrow ass doesn't get into any trouble!"
"What? You think I can't be alone for ten minutes without getting into trouble? And who are you saying has a narrow ass?"
Corvo checked himself – her ass actually wasn't narrow at all. One of the better asses he'd seen, in fact. But that was neither here nor there.
"Are you that ignorant?" he asked, his voice harsh but low. "Do you know where you are?"
"I'm at a bear bar, duh," she said. "And I'm having a nice, cheap beer. You want one?"
"Surprised this place even takes daddy's credit card," he said. "And no, I don't want a beer. What the hell possessed you to come to a goddamn bear bar anyway?"
"I needed to get away from all that stuffy bullshit, if only for a little while. And I've heard that biker bears know how to party. So that's why I'm here."
"You've ‘heard'? You mean you've never actually come to a bear bar before?"
"Somethin' I can get you?"
Corvo looked up and saw that a tough-looking bartender now stood across from him.
"No, I'm- you know what, actually, give me a shot of whiskey."
The shot was placed on the bar, then Corvo threw down the money and threw the shot back. He knew he shouldn't be drinking, but he also knew he was about five minutes away from losing his cool.
"There you go," said Grace. "That's the spirit."
"We're getting out of here, now," said Corvo. "I don't even want to think about what these bears would do to you if I hadn't shown up."
He grabbed Grace's wrist and she quickly jerked it away.
"No way," she said. "I'm tired of people telling me what to do, where to go…who to marry! I'm gonna sit here at this shitty bar and finish my beer and that's that. It's my goddamn life, got it?"
Part of Corvo wanted to leave Grace there so she could really learn a thing or two about making stupid decisions. But he figured getting used as a fuck toy by whatever bears pounced on her after he left would be a little too harsh of a lesson, even for a brat like her.
Before he could say anything else, however, a pair of burly, hairy bear bikers formed up on both sides of the two.
"Now that's a sweet little piece," said the one on Corvo's right, some ugly-faced long-haired biker.
"Fuck yeah, she is," said the one on Corvo's left, a pug-ugly bear with a shaved head. "Been lookin' at that ass since she walked into this place."
"Just gotta do something about this asshole," said long-hair.
"Girl doesn't want you around, prick," said pug-ugly. "Why don't you leave the lady alone and get the fuck outta here before you get into trouble."
"Yeah," said long-hair. "Lady's lookin' for a couple of guys who know how to treat a girl."
Pug-ugly sniffed the air.
"What's that fuckin' scent?" he said, his face crinkled in an expression of confusion.
"It's dragon," said Corvo, his voice low and menacing. "And unless you two want a demonstration of just what that means, I suggest you get the fuck out of my face."
"A dragon, huh?" asked long-hair. "Your kind should know better than to wander out of Hell's Kitchen, then."
"Maybe we ought to teach him a little lesson about coming to bear territory and thinkin' he can boss us around."
Grace was frozen where she stood. Corvo could tell she'd finally figured out that she'd gotten in over her head. And as much as Corvo wanted to be the one doing a little lesson-teaching, he knew that the smart move was to get Grace out of here and back to the party as quickly as possible.
"How about this," said Corvo. "I take the girl and leave, and you two assholes can go back to your drinks with your necks intact. Got it?"
Speaking of a realization of being in over one's head, the two bikers seemed to smarten up quick. Two bears would be trouble, but Corvo knew it was nothing he couldn't handle.
"Then you two better get the fuck out of here right now," said pug-ugly. "Before we get the rest of the clan over here to smash you into the fucking dirt."
"Much obliged, gentlemen," said Corvo sardonically.
He didn't waste another second. His hand still wrapped around Grace's wrist, he led her out of the bar and back onto the street.
"What the hell were you doing in there?" he demanded. "Do you know how stupid that was what you just did?"
"Whatever," said Grace. "Those guys would've left me alone as soon as I told them who I was."
"That, or they would've recognized your name, realized that you'd be worth more than a little bit of money to the right people, and sold you to some wolf pack that's got it out for your family. After they had their fun with you, that is."
Grace scrunched up her face, and Corvo had to admit just how cute she looked like that.
"I want to go home," she said. "I've had enough of those assholes at the party."
Corvo shook his head.
"Fine," he said. "Let's just get going. And don't run off again. Don't even think about."
Grace made another sour expression and the two of them took off. They started off in the direction of the apartment, and looking around, Corvo realized that he didn't like the neighborhood they were in one bit. The streets were desolate, and the buildings around them were run-down and abandoned. Checking his phone, he saw that they were still a few blocks from the nearest subway stop.
Before they could even make it to the next block, however, a familiar voice called out from behind them.
"Yo, dragon asshole!"
Corvo didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
"We changed our minds; we decided that we're gonna kill you and take the girl anyway. No hard feelings."
Turning slowly, Corvo watched as pug-ugly and long-hair approached from the far end of the block. And with them were three other biker bears, all as ugly and rough-looking as they were. Corvo chided himself for thinking getting out of here was going to be this easy.
"Corvo," whispered Grace. "What are you going to do?"
"Just stay behind me," he said. "Don't shift, don't do anything."
"The way we see it," said pug-ugly, "is if word gets around that we let some dragon come into our bar and tell us what to do, then, well, that just won't look all that great among the rest of the shifters, will it?"
"Not to mention I figured out why that pretty little thing behind you looked so familiar," said long-hair. "She's some rich wolf from the Upper West Side. Got a few leads on people who'll pay good money for her."
"So it's a win-win, really," said pug-ugly. "Now, hand her over and we'll only fuck you up a little."
"Last chance to not make the stupidest goddamn decision of your life," said Corvo.
The bears looked at one another, devious smiles on their faces.
"Get that asshole!" shouted pug-ugly.
With that, the five bears shifted into bulky, brown bear forms. They stormed toward the pair, cutting the distance within seconds.
"Stay back," said Corvo.
With that, he shifted. His form grew to three times his human size, well beyond the height of any of the bears. Silver scales sprouted from his skin, and his fingers and feet turned to fearsome claws. The bears continued toward Corvo, and he didn't waste any time in getting right down to it.
Corvo titled his head back, gathering fire in the far end of his throat. Once he was ready, he leaned forward and let out a belch of white-hot flame, cooking the bear on the far left in place. Before Corvo could turn the flame on the rest of the bears, however, they cut the distance and sank
their teeth and claws into his scales. Corvo let out a roar of pain before swatting one of the bears out of the way, feeling every bone in the bear's body break with the impact.
Two down, three to go.
Corvo shook his scaled, towering body until the bears were off of him. Lifting up his foot, he brought it down on the third bear, killing it with an impersonal smash. The remaining two bears, which Corvo recognized by their position as pug-ugly and long-hair, rallied for another attack. Corvo wished the two of them would've simply realized they were beaten and fled, but biker bears weren't known for their long-term thinking abilities.
Each of them took one of Corvo's legs, roaring and slashing into it in an effort to bring him down to the ground. Corvo decided it was time to end it. Buffeting his wings, he rose into the air, the two bears still clinging onto his legs. He rose up, higher and higher until he was above the surrounding townhouses. Once he was a good distance up, he shook his body, attempting to flick the bears off of him like ticks.
They hung on tight for several moments, still trying to carve through Corvo's scales. But before they could do any more damage, their grips loosened on his legs. Corvo shook his body, feeling the weight of their bodies vanish. Over the sound of his beating wings, he heard a pair of soft thumps. He looked down and saw their bodies lying lifelessly on the street below. Corvo then gently flew back down to the ground and shifted back into his human form.
All around him, the bodies of the bears changed back, leaving five corpses splayed out here and there.
"Are you okay?" he asked, rushing over to Grace and placing his hands on her shoulders.
Grace seemed to be stunned by what she'd just seen. Her big blue eyes were wide and her mouth was a flat line.
"Say something if you're okay. Or just nod. Something."
She took a deep breath and nodded slowly.
"Then let's get you home."
Corvo collected the bodies and heaved them into the nearest dumpster, making a note of the address for cleanup later. Once done, he took Grace by the hand and led her in silence the rest of the way to the subway station. Once on the train, Grace finally spoke.
"You…saved my life," she said softly.
"Don't mention it," said Corvo. "That's what I'm getting paid for, to keep you out of trouble. And something tells me that this is just the first of many, many times I'm gonna have to do just that."
