by J. S. Wilder
But he couldn’t give up. He shoved down his nature, concentrating on Dena’s round cheeks and the curve of her lips. Forced his wings to shift back inside and his scales to slide away. He became the man again and panted. A panic swelling up in him when it felt like his dragon-side spurned him.
To test his theory, he forced his wings back, but they refused to come. Part of him wailed his loss, thinking that he’d had another chance and thrown it away. But his heart, thumped against his chest insisting he try again to help Dena.
What was he missing? She couldn’t have been contaminated that fast. Not to have the holy water not work. She’d have to have been affected for over twenty-four hours. He gritted his teeth and climbed off the bed, pacing back and forth.
His step kicked aside one of her small blades. He picked it up. A scalpel she’d called it. Wicked sharp. She was a warrior and had even fought a Tryn when Taurian and she had first met.
Wait. Dread mixed with speculation curled in his middle. She’d been alone in the house that first night. Had it infected her then? No, she’d have told him. Wouldn’t she have? What if she didn’t know? By her state, the parasites had had over twenty-four hours to incubate.
Taurian lifted his gaze to her when her bandage across her hand caught his eye. She’d said she’d cut it. Quickly, he dashed to the bed and lifted her hand. He unwrapped the bandage and hissed. Black puss bubbled up from the wound. He reached over and snatched the last of the holy water and poured it onto her injury. It sizzled, but her condition didn’t change.
There was only one way to help her now…if it would even work. He’d have to break the most forbidden law of his people. One that Kohl’s father had done and ended up killing Kohl’s mother. It was dangerous for both the Renjerian and the human, but what choice did Taurian have? If he did nothing, Dena was dead. At least this way, he could give her another chance…even if it killed him in the process.
Chapter Sixteen
Taurian jumped off the bed, leaving Dena alone on the mattress. For the moment, her seizure had passed, but she was still unconscious. He needed to use his blood to help her. He scrounged on the floor for one of the blades she’d attacked him with. His dragon form surged against his chest, but he concentrated to cage the beast. His muscles tensed and he drove it back deep within him. Strangeness settled over him. Before returning to Earth, he'd never been anything other than a Renjerian. Now he was both human and a dragon. Like Kohl.
He clenched his fists. Kohl’s blood…was that the answer to what had happened to him, making him human when he never had been before?
Back on Renjer, he'd sucked out the Tryn venom and parasites from his half-blood brother. Then lightning took him and the Tryn to Earth moments later.
Was that how Taurian had shifted? The electricity activating his brother's blood he'd ingested?
The desire to share his theory with Dena burned on his mind so he could ask her opinion. But he had to cure her first.
He snatched up a silver blade from the wooden floor. After he cut the cord binding her hands above her head, he called his dragon form enough to feel the fire burning in his throat, but not enough to allow his Renjer body to manifest completely. Letting out a small stream of fire directed at the weapon that turned the metal red-hot, he sliced the blade across his palm. Blood coated the weapon and cauterized the wound.
“My fire, my blood,” he whispered looking at Dena still and pale on the bed. The thought of her dead and no longer able to talk with her, share with her and watch her eyes light up when he spoke of his homeworld made a crater open in his heart that would never be filled. This ritual might bring her back and save her life. It would link them forever, a price he was willing to pay, but was she?
He didn’t care if she hated him, as long as she was alive. If this worked, she’d no longer be human…at least in part. How could he do this without knowing her wishes? He ground his teeth, searching her pale face for an answer. His breath hiccupped. No, he couldn’t let her go. Couldn’t allow her to die and never see the spark of life inside her. If she hated him, then so be it. A tear trailed down his cheek and he added it to the blade. “I add a dragon’s tear of heartache and longing. I pledge my life to yours. Entwining us for all time.”
He grasped her injured hand and pressed the bloody blade to the wound. Her skin puckered, the parasites smoking. Then Taurian placed his palm to hers with the blade between them. He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles.
“Come back to me, fair-maiden. I will show you how to fly to the stars.”
She didn't move...didn't breathe...nothing.
“Please, Dena, I want to share my world with you.” He laid next to her, brushing her curly hair from her face with his free hand. “I need you in my life. Never realized what I was missing until you.”
His chest constricted and he couldn't take a deep enough breath. Burning ache lanced through his middle. Dizziness smacked into him as he felt his life force draining from him into Dena, but would it be enough to bring her back? Another white-hot pain shot through him. He gasped to breathe, but couldn't. Blackness swirled around him.
Moonlight filtered through the window, and Taurian blinked, his mouth as dry as the Amrix Desert. Reality slammed into him. Dena! He pushed up, his muscles cramping like he had been crushed underneath a bazillion boulders. How long had he and Dena been out? A day or more?
He brushed aside her hair, his heart hammering against his chest. His ritual had to have worked. He'd felt it. Half his power and life was gone because of the ritual like it was supposed to. So why wasn't she awake?
His chest constricted, and he trembled inside. “Dena.” Kissing her forehead, he pulled his hand from hers.
With a gasp that lifted all the hairs on his neck, she opened her eyes.
“Wh-what?” She pushed up, but then flopped back down on the pillow. “Am I sick? I feel like I have the flu…no a mega flu with a nasty taste in my mouth.”
He laughed and hauled her against him. Lightly, she pushed at his shoulders, gazing up at him.
“Uh, why are you in my bed?” Her brow pinched. “Oh my God, was I drunk? Did you—did we—tell me we didn’t have sex and I don’t remember any of it.”
“No,” he chuckled. Joy bursting inside his heart. “If we had mated, believe me, little Earthling, you’d never forget it.”
“Arrogant as always.” She slapped his shoulder. “But seriously, what the hell happened? I feel like I got ran over twice.”
“Why didn’t you tell me the Tryn bit you?” He pulled her injured hand up between them, the wound already closing up thanks to his blood. “You told me you cut yourself.”
“I-I did.” She frowned at her palm. “I was examining one of the fragments I pulled from Kohl when he was here last. The damn think sliced into my hand.” Her breaths quickened. “Taurian, why is my hand doing that? Healing?”
He tucked his finger under her chin and lifted her face until she met his stare. “The Tryn has parasites that got into your bloodstream.”
“Meaning? Like you had to use leeches as in medieval times and bleed me? Is that why I feel so weak and weird?”
“No.” He swallowed the lump forming in his throat. Would she be okay knowing he’d altered her life forever? That she was no longer fully human. “You were possessed. Do you remember anything before the Tryn’s parasites took over your body and mind?”
She bit her lip, looking away as though to think. “Oh, I attacked you.” Her cheeks paled and her hand flew to her mouth. “Are you okay? Do you need a doctor? I cut you several times.”
“I’m all right.” He took a breath. “But in order to reverse the damage done and eradicate the vermin in your system, I had to do a forbidden ritual. One that hasn’t been completed on any planet for twenty years.” And killed Kohl’s mother. He captured her hands in his, unsure if she’d ever let him touch her again after she learned the truth. For the memory to take back with him to Renjer, he brushed his lips across hers. Savoring
the taste of her mouth when she returned the kiss.
When he pulled back, they were both panting. Her hands tightening inside his.
“Why did that feel like a goodbye kiss?” Her voice shook slightly.
“Only if you desire it to be.” He met her stare despite his gut clenching. All braveness he had as a Renjer…a dragon fleeing in the presence of this one woman. Would she hate him? Tell him to leave and never return despite the growing love he felt between them. “The ritual binds us together. My life is now your life and vice versa.”
She slid her hands from his and wrapped them around herself as she sat up on her bed. “What exactly does that mean? Like we’re married or something?”
“Not exactly.” He shook his head. “It means I sacrificed part of my lifeforce to heal you.” No need to tell her she was dead. Humans he’d dealt with in the past got queasy on that kind of thing. “Unless you are killed, you’ll live as long as I do.”
Her eyebrows rose. “And how long is that?”
“Five thousand years…give or take.”
She jerked back, looking away and blinking fast. “There’s more, right?” She took a shuddering breath. “You wouldn’t look like you’re about to give someone bad news if there was all there was to it. Spill.”
“You’re not human anymore.” He held out his hands as her face shifted to purple. “When I gave you my blood and did the ritual, it changed your body chemistry. Next full moon, you’ll be able to transform into a Renjerian…a dragon like my brother Kohl. You’ll just be a lot smaller as you’re not truly a half-blood as he is.”
Her body trembled. “What are you saying?”
He reached for her, pulling her into his embrace and rubbing her arms, but she pushed him away.
“Tell me,” she said with her chin quivering.
“In order to save your life, I had to alter you.”
“You already told me that I-I’m not human anymore, so what am I?” She folded her arms across her stomach, her skin taking on an ashy-green color. “What exactly did you do to me?”
“You can no longer live on Earth.”
Her jaw opened and her eyes widened, then she shook her head. “No, that’s not true. I’m fine here.” She waved a hand in his direction. “You’re here and okay, so I don’t understand why you would say that.”
“I’m not living here, I’m visiting. Every thirty days for a moon cycle, Renjerians must return to our planet. When the change over-takes you and shifts you into a Renjerian like me, you’ll need to be on my planet. To let the soil cover your scales and—”
“Get out!” Tears streamed down her face. “You’ve taken away my humanity and home. I never want to see you again.”
“Dena, I—”
“Go!” Her body shook as she turned away.
“It was the only way to save y—”
“I don’t want to hear it,” she screeched. “You did something to me…changed me without my permission. I don’t care why, it was wrong. If I was possessed, you should’ve called a priest. Now I’m not even human anymore and have to leave my freaking planet? How could you do this to me?”
He knelt beside the bed, reaching for her, but she jerked away. “Dena, please listen. Let me explain.”
“No. I don’t want to hear another word from you. Get the hell out of my house and fuck off!” She leaped from the bed and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
Chapter Seventeen
Dena fled to her bathroom and hurled into the toilet. Her entire body ached and she recalled her actions while Taurian had said she was possessed were foggy like a dream she couldn't clearly understand or remember. She'd swiped at him with her scalpel, and guilt chewed on her insides.
Oh God, she'd tried to kill him. That was what the other Taurian wanted. She groaned, placing her hands on either side of her head. A headache pounding against her skull. She'd done whatever Taurian told her...why had he...wait, in her mind, the image of him shifted into the demon. And the coyote, it had known the demon wasn't Taurian and broke out of the cage to protect her because she’d helped it or had it just sensed danger?
Dena pushed off the bathroom floor and stumbled out of her room and down the hallway. In order to keep from falling, she trailed her hand along the wall. The floor spun beneath her as she picked her way to the exam room.
Her equipment cabinet was turned on its side with drawers and cabinets busted. Papers, medicine, and medical equipment were strewn across the floor. The veterinarian door lay torn halfway off.
The stench of blood and death assaulted her and she clapped a hand over her mouth. Her coyote lay broken and dead on her porch. Dena rushed forward, feeling for a pulse or breathing but the animal didn't move.
“Thank you for trying to save me.” She stroked its fur. “If you had stayed in your cage, you'd still be alive.” Her throat tightened. “And if it hadn't been for me keeping you here...then you'd be alive. I should've let you go as soon as I stitched up your leg.” That wasn't true. The coyote had needed rest to ensure that it didn't reopen its wounds. She'd planned to let the animal go in a few days, but now it was too late.
“Least I can do is give you a burial.” She shuffled to the toolshed her father built when she was a kid before his heart attack and took down the shovel. Pushing aside her throbbing headache, she brought out the wheelbarrow too.
After she picked up the coyote, she struggled with its weight to lay it in the wheelbarrow. She placed the shovel across the top, then wheeled everything into the woods. The night air cool against her skin. She could barely see. Damn, should've brought my flashlight.
Next to a Sycamore tree, she dug a hole. Her arms ached, but she pressed the shovel blade in deep and lifted out the dirt.
Once the hole was deep enough, she laid the coyote inside.
“I'm so sorry.” Tears falling freely down her face, her stomach clenching. “I wish there was some way to repay you for trying to help me.” Dena wanted to rip the demon or Tryn or whatever it was called. Because of that alien monster, this innocent coyote had died. And she wasn't human anymore. She felt it down deep inside her. A foreign presence that coiled around her soul. It simmered there, waiting to be released, waiting to manifest, waiting to turn her life completely inside out. Like Taurian had done.
She pushed aside her thoughts and scrubbed the back of her hand over her eyes. Her teeth clenched as she shifted the dirt over the coyote. Each time the shovel hit the pile of soil, she imagined it was the damn demon she was striking.
By the time she finished, her arms and back were screaming at her.
“Be at peace, little one,” she whispered to the grave. Her heart aching for the animal.
She should've sensed something was up when the coyote had barreled against the cage. When Taurian had been near it, the animal was calmed quickly despite the injury from the metal trap. She had even allowed Taurian to carry her to Dena's clinic room and soothed her while Dena gave her the anesthesia shot.
There was nothing Dena could do now. The coyote was dead because she didn't heed the animal's warning and didn't figure out what was going on with the demon fast enough.
And now Dena wasn't even herself...not human...the phrase kept beating on her mind. As much as she loved the idea of traveling the Galaxy, seeing Taurian's home, and discovering new species of animals, the idea of forced exile from Earth sat like a bowling ball in her gut.
Would becoming a dragon hurt? Part of her couldn't believe it. Sure, she'd seen Kohl change from a dragon into a human in the middle of the swamp near her home, but never thought she'd be one too. Her mind was spinning, yet she forced herself to pack the shovel into the wheelbarrow and head back to her house.
In the distance, three coyote puppies yipped nearby. Oh gosh, are they looking for their mom? “Here, little ones,” she sing-songed.
One spotted her and stopped.
“That’s it,” she dusted her hands off and knelt, “I won’t hurt you. Come on and I’ll get you somet
hing to eat.” At least they looked old enough to eat solid food. She’d die inside if they were still nursing and she’d just buried their mother.
The other two pups stilled and stared at her. Then they lowered their heads, backing away.
“No, wait, I won’t hurt you.” A snap of a twig behind her caused her heart to leap into her throat. She grabbed the shovel. Was the demon back? Would it kill her when it discovered she wasn't controllable anymore and hadn't murdered Taurian? She scanned the forest, but couldn’t see anything except the faint outline of trees. Her instincts screamed that someone was there…watching her.
“I have a weapon.” She tightened her grip on the shovel until her nails bit into her palms. Sweat trickled down her back as her gaze scanned the darkness for any movement. Why hadn't she brought her flashlight? Or her gun?
Darkness sped toward her and she smashed her shovel into the attacker. The brunt of impact hit something solid and sent a reverberation back up the wooden handle and into her arms. Even her teeth rattled.
She blinked as the figure stood there staring at her. Or at least she thought it was. She felt its gaze on her, and it had caught the shovel in its hand.
Demon! She pried her hands loose and whirled to run. Her thigh catching the edge of the wheelbarrow. Lancing pain sliced across her leg as she careened through the night to her house. If she could get inside, she could use her rifle.
Her breaths shortened and she panted as she raced along the path, heavy footsteps behind her. Whatever it was, it was gaining on her and fast. Fear strangled her, making her heart beat hard enough to explode out of her chest. She pumped her feet harder biting through the pain of her injured leg.
Her cabin was three yards away when strong arms yanked her back against hardness. She kicked and elbowed and screamed.
“Christ, Dena, will you fucking chill?” a male voice asked.
