by Riley Storm
“What are you doing?” Fel asked, though he did as he was told.
“Setting the bone so that it heals faster, what do you think?” Rann said.
“Why?”
“Because it needs to be done, and the faster it is, the better. Come on, you know that.”
Fel started to reply, but Rann used that moment to pull and twist slightly, setting the bone back in place. Fel’s face went white with pain, and he curled fingers into a fist then slammed it into the ground, cracking the bare rock.
“Ow,” he said half a minute later, finally exhaling. “Damn, that hurts.”
“You’ll be okay now,” Rann said. “It’s just a leg. You have another one.”
Fel glared at him, but there was reluctant humor behind his eyes.
“Come on, get up lazy bones,” Rann said, rising from his crouch and extending a hand to Fel. “Let me help you back to your changing room.”
“Thanks,” Fel said with sincere gratefulness as he rose to his feet—well, foot—with little more than a hiss of pain. “I’ll survive. Gonna make driving a pain though.”
“So don’t drive?” Rann said as they headed toward the changing rooms.
“Gotta. Have to make a delivery later. Gonna have to bribe someone to help offload as well, cause I won’t be doing that,” Fel said regretfully.
“Delivery? To where? I didn’t know we had any truck drivers among us.”
Fel smiled. “I’m not. Not really. But it’s my turn to pick up the truck from the train station and take it out to the Balance the Scales tent. You know, the charity handing out stuff to all the dragon lovers living in tent-cities outside town?”
Rann nodded, thinking things over as they walked. “Oh, do I. Here, why don’t you give me the details. I’ll take the truck for you today.”
“Really?” Fel asked, shocked at the offer.
“Yeah, why not? It’s the least I can do for you.”
Fel inclined his head toward the other shifter. “Thanks Rann, I appreciate that a lot. I’ll buy you some drinks when you get back, how’s that?”
“How about now?” he said instead. “Plenty of time for my metabolism to burn it off before I gotta go.”
“Shit, I could use them if you could,” Fel said, pointing down at his broken leg.
“Absolutely. I hate this shit,” Rann muttered as they switched directions and left the sparring room behind, entering the main cave off which every other communal Atrox service and facility could be found.
It was huge, several hundred feet across, and dotted with doors and mine shafts that led various places: the library, kitchens, sparring rooms, education rooms for the young, a swimming complex, offices and meeting areas, a huge reception hall for ceremonies big enough to hold multiple dragon clans, and more. It was all there.
Rann and Fel made a beeline for The Shaft, one of several bars located in the cave complex.
“Two beers, stat!” Rann called as they entered, still both shirtless and clad only in their shorts.
“Shhhh,” someone said, whirling on them.
Rann was about to crack a joke when he realized everyone was glued to the televisions, all of which were on the same channel, showing the local Five Peaks news.
“What the hell’s this about?” Fel muttered as they came to a slow stop, watching and listening.
“Warning,” said the voice of the news host. “What you are about to see is graphic and not suitable for children. Parents are advised to change the channel or remove kids from the room. We normally would not show something like this, but it changes everything. The world needs to see it.”
There was a long pause while they clearly waited for parents to make such arrangements.
Rann watched as the commentator returned, giving another warning of the sensitive nature of the video they were about to show of an attack that had happened the night before.
“Sonofabitch,” Rann snarled as it came on screen.
There was no mistaking what he was about to see. A woman was on her knees in a dark room that looked cold. She was leaning slightly forward, her hair pulled all to one side. She knelt with her head wrenched far to the side by the creature next to her.
The entire bar full of dragons made noises of anger as the vampire’s fangs descended into the woman’s neck. A moment later, blood began to pour forth, dripping to the floor so swiftly it pooled there.
A moment later, the woman began to scream and thrash, but the vampire held her down with ease as it drank her dry.
Eventually, the woman lay still in a pool of her own blood.
The vampire looked up, its eyes red. The video ended.
“First dragons,” the newsman said, clearly shaken. “Now this. What else is out there? Are any of them on our side? Who will stop these creatures?”
The feed cut to commercials.
Chapter Nine
Gayle
“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
Gayle looked up, realizing that the question was addressed to her.
“Sure, what’s up?” she asked Claire, her ‘red-headed twin partner in crime,’ as they were called by the other volunteers they worked with.
“Is everything okay? You look…taut. I don’t really know how else to word it.”
Gayle hesitated. Although she and Claire had become closer lately, and she didn’t have a problem telling her about what had happened with Mikey and Karen, she didn’t know if she wanted to talk about it right now.
They were all busy assembling kits of essential items for the swarms of people living in the tent cities around Five Peaks, all of whom had come because of the dragons. Whether to worship or to incite hatred, they had come in droves beyond anyone’s imagination.
There were plenty of other people around, all of them working in concert to put the bags together. Filled with blankets, water, basic clothing and amenities, it was only thanks to the founders of Balance the Scales that the tent cities hadn’t descended into filth and anarchy.
Other people in other tents put together food kits or worked in giant kitchens to prepare food for the masses. The latest estimate had the twin tent cities at nearly five thousand people all together. Helping them all was a massive effort, and Gayle was happy to be a part of it.
More than happy, really. I love it.
She found it so fulfilling, the work she did there. It made her feel like she was making a difference. And it made her hate her cubicle office job even more.
“Some personal stuff that we can talk about later, but I don’t want to break down over it right now,” she said with a sad smile. “And I just wish I could be here more often, really. These days, especially Saturdays like today when I can put in extra hours, I just feel like I’m doing something with my life, you know what I mean?”
Claire shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose. I mean, yes. It’s different in a way, I suppose, since I’m not a volunteer like you, but I try to forget that and just do what I can to help these people out. So I know what you must be feeling, in a way.”
Gayle smiled. She’d forgotten that Claire was there as part of court-ordered community service. The woman never acted like it. She had arrived on day one and thrown herself into the job like anyone else might have, and she was just fun to have around. It was no real surprise that the two were swiftly becoming close.
“Yeah,” she said, shoving a pair of water bottles into a fresh kit and then grabbing two tightly rolled towels and adding them to the clear plastic bag. “Between working five days a week at the office, three evenings at Lilly’s store, and then this two days a week, I have no time.”
Well, I guess I have more time now, she thought to herself wryly. Now that she didn’t have to fill any of her hours with Mikey.
“You know,” Claire said with a shrug. “If you hate the office so much, why don’t you just quit?”
Gayle paused halfway into shoving a blanket into the kit, her face screwed up tight in deep thought as she considered the question seriously.<
br />
“You know what?’ she said after a moment. “Screw it, I’m going to do it. I’m going to quit.”
“Ahh, that’s so exciting!” Claire said, coming around to swoop her up in a hug as the two women celebrated the decision. “Oh, also! I don’t know if you want a new job right away, but I heard that they have an admin position opening up.”
Gayle frowned. “I dunno, where?”
“Here!” Claire said excitedly. “I mean with Balance the Scales. You could work for them permanently.”
Gayle brightened immediately. “Well now, that’s an idea. Maybe I’ll apply. I have enough money to live for a bit and volunteer more anyway, and I’m sure Lilly could use more help at the Dragon’s Treasure, as well, which would help offset it.”
Claire nodded. “She needs all the help she can get, that’s for sure.”
Their mutual friend Lilly had a dragon-themed store selling memorabilia, gifts, and the like, and it was always packed. So they both helped her out as well.
“Yeah. I’ll do that and spend more time here!” Gayle decided excitedly. “Thank you for that! That’s amazing.”
Claire grinned. “Well now, you look way happier! That’s so exciting, I almost wish I had a job I could quit as well so we could do it together!”
They both laughed over that.
The loud repetitive beeping of a truck backing up interrupted their laughter. Another delivery was due to arrive, and that meant that things were about to get hectic as all the new product was offloaded and thus had to be sorted and stacked. First, though, the paperwork had to be signed.
“I got it this time,” Gayle said as Claire went to go meet the truck driver who was just now putting the vehicle in park outside the large tent flap. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Thanks,” Claire said, and resumed packing her kits. “Appreciate it.”
Gayle pulled back one of the flaps and tied it open. As she moved to the next one, the truck door opened and the driver got out, facing away from her. She paused for a moment to admire him, surprised to see that he was in fantastic shape. Long hair was tied up in a ponytail. On many men it looked silly, but that combined with the tight black t-shirt just worked for this one. He had jeans on that fit perfectly without the need for a belt and dark brown boots.
It was a good look. Gayle was flat out staring by that point.
And why shouldn’t I? I’m single now. I can look at whoever I want. And Mikey certainly did not look anything like that.
She snorted. Mikey didn’t look like much. Not the truck driver, and certainly not like Rann. Gayle bit her lip in memory of the way Rann had filled out his shirt, and the singed, smokey smell was suddenly back in her nostrils as if he was there next to her once more.
A shiver traced its way down her spine, bouncing from vertebrae to vertebrae.
The truck driver turned around, and Gayle’s jaw dropped.
“Rann?” she said in shock.
He locked eyes with her, those jade orbs holding her gaze firm with casual ease as the rest of his face curved upward in a broad, infectious grin. Gayle’s cheeks stretched wide as she mirrored him and walked over.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, astonished to see him again, let alone so soon.
The temerity and nervousness of the night before was gone. Gayle forgot all about how she’d walked away at the end, forgot all her reservations and the reasons she’d kept distance between them. That vanished in the blinding light of his grin.
“Well, hello there,” he said, clearly just as surprised to see her.
“You drive a truck for a living?” she asked.
“What? Oh, this?” he said, jerking his thumb at the truck. “No, I was just helping out a friend today, that’s all. He’s feeling a bit under the weather, so I volunteered to bring the truck down for him.”
Gayle could see in his eyes that there was more to it, that Rann was leaving out some specifics, but she didn’t get any sense that he was lying.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, turning the question back around on her.
“I volunteer here,” she said. “Two days a week. But I think that’s going to be increasing soon. I really like it.”
“That’s very kind and giving of you,” Rann said, his eyes twinkling in the daylight.
Gayle soured.
“What is it?” he rumbled, reaching out to lay a hand on her shoulder.
“Oh nothing. It’s just that I don’t really have much else to do right now either.”
Rann winced, clearly having forgotten that much of her time was now free without a best friend or boyfriend. Not that he knew about her plans to quit her job.
“No Saturday plans at all then?” he asked cautiously.
Gayle wondered what he was trying to achieve with that question. If she said no, was he going to ask her to do something?
“Actually,” she said. “For once I do have plans. I’m having a get together tonight. With friends. Real friends.”
Rann smiled broadly, understanding the reference. “That’s good. That should be fun.”
“I think so. It’s an early birthday party sort of thing, since my birthday is on a Sunday, and that’s boring.”
Rann laughed. “It’s your birthday tomorrow?”
Gayle tensed as he leaned in and wrapped her up in a hug. “Well, happy early birthday!”
To her surprise, her resistance melted easily, and she wrapped her arms around him as far as they could go, his thick torso preventing her from getting all the way.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely, feeling grateful for the genuine happiness on his part.
They lingered in the hug for a moment, and memories of the night before bubbled up. The one where she’d had her head pressed against his chest was especially strong.
“Hey,” she said suddenly, another memory coming to her. “You smell good today. No more of that smoke.”
Rann threw back his head and laughed, the jolly sound bouncing his chest and also her. “I try not to smell like that on the regular. You just happened to catch me on a bad day.”
Gayle stepped back and looked at him again. She frowned. “You look a bit scuffed up. What happened?”
She pointed at his face where there were several scrapes and even a small bruise.
“Oh that? That’s nothing. A story for another time,” he said, a sly grin making its way across his face. “A story for just the two of us. Maybe Monday, if you’re not busy?”
Gayle blushed at the forward, abrupt invitation to go on a date. That was what he’d done, wasn’t it? She was suddenly unsure.
“Umm,” she managed to say, a brilliant reply.
It’s your birthday. You have no reason to say no. What’s the harm in one date? It can’t end any worse than your last relationship did, can it?
“Monday works,” she said, surprised to hear herself say that.
“Great!” Rann said, face brightening immensely. “Same place we met, maybe?”
“Anywhere as long as it’s not Climbers or Peaks Pub,” she said.
Rann laughed. “I can do that!”
Gayle smiled shyly and reached for her phone. “Here, let me put it in my calendar so I don’t forget. It’ll have to be later though. I’m working until seven-thirty.”
“No problem. Is eight-thirty enough time, or do you want some more?”
“Nine?” she asked, tilting her head up at him.
“Nine works,” he said, gracing her with a full toothy smile.
Gayle bit her bottom lip, entranced by his gaze.
Her phone pinged with the sound of an incoming email, breaking the staring contest before it had fully begun.
She glanced down to read it.
“Are you fucking serious?”
Chapter Ten
Rann
He blinked in surprise.
“Um, yes? I am serious about taking you out.”
Gayle jerked her head upward to look at him, and Rann had to force himself not to
recoil from the expression of fury on her face. “Not you,” she all but snapped, shoving the phone to him.
Rann fumbled it but managed to keep hold of the phone.
“Read that shit,” Gayle said, stabbing a finger at the screen.
He glanced down at her phone, glad she hadn’t been talking to him, but still caught completely off guard by her mood change. What could be so—
Rann read the email.
Michael Kostwick and Karen Smith would like to cordially invite you to their wedding. Please RSVP by…
He looked up. Then down at the phone. Then back up at Gayle.
“Is this who I think it is?” he said, not recognizing the names but making an assumption.
“Oh, yes,” she hissed. “That’s exactly who you think it is. My ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend. And that’s their wedding invitation. To me!”
Rann growled violently, nearly crushing her phone in his hand. He managed to pass it back in time before his knuckles popped as he squeezed his fists tight. If he ever caught up with this Michael…
What? What are you going to do? Beat up a human? Come on now.
“I can’t believe this,” Gayle said, some of the steam leaving her voice. “One day after they break the news to me about being in love, they’re getting married? And this RSVP is for next week!”
Rann was torn. He could feel the pain and despair entering Gayle’s voice. To know that you had been so thoroughly betrayed by people you trusted, it had to hurt. After all, there was no way that in a single day they had decided to get married. This had obviously been planned for some time now.
He wanted to reach out and hug her, to pull her in tight and tell her it would be okay. Oh, how he wanted to say he would protect her and keep her safe! That she didn’t have to worry about anything like that while he was around. His dragon stirred, acknowledging the sentiment and wanting to take it further.
But he couldn’t. Not now. She was hurting. Vulnerable. Rann wasn’t going to take advantage of that. He couldn’t.
Someone else had heard Gayle shouting, and another short, buxom redhead came over to see if everything was okay.
Rann recognized Claire, Pietro’s mate, and smiled at her in greeting. Claire’s eyes widened as she saw how close to each other Rann and Gayle were standing, but she didn’t say anything about it, much to his relief.
