by J. S. Wilder
“Of course it's me. Who else would come here in the middle of the night?”
Pushing away from him, she spun. “What the fuck are you doing out here? Stalking me?”
“I was in the area and I thought I'd check on you. A woman living this close to the swamp...alone...it’s dangerous.”
God, he had no idea. She crossed her arms. “I'm totally fine on my own. So you can leave and go back to banging...what was her name...oh, right, the homewrecker, Nichole.”
“She and I broke up.” He trailed a hand down Dena's shoulder, but she moved aside.
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. More likely, the two had had a spat, but he’d be back with her before the week was up, just like he’d done the last two times. No more. “Get off my property, I’m busy.”
“So I saw. You damn near took off my head with that swing. I feel sorry for the tree you smacked.”
Tree? God, she was beyond tired and didn’t want to deal with her ex right now…or ever. If Taurian were here, her ex would turn tail and run. She shook her head, no she was still pissed at Taurian. But her conscious nagged at her that he’d saved her life and she should be grateful, not resenting that she wasn’t human exactly or had to live on his planet every other month.
“What are you doing here, really?” She refused to go inside her house ’cause he’d just follow her inside. This way, he’d go once the mosquitoes got too bad. If he went into her home, she might never get him to leave.
“Come on, baby, let’s put the past behind us and get back together.” He slapped his leg.
“Not in this lifetime.” She lifted her chin. “I can never trust you again. Every word out of your mouth was a lie. We were freaking married, Dave, and you had girlfriends on the side. What the fuck? You’re lucky I didn’t blast a hole in you when I found out. Now get out of here before I change my mind.”
“Fine.” He stomped away from her, and she breathed out a breath.
When she turned to her house, a shadow drifted out of the darkness. “Dave?” Her body froze and she couldn’t move as the huge figure slinked closer.
Chapter Eighteen
Taurian lifted his gaze to Dena’s house. He could just make out the tip of her roof from the woods. Keeping an eye on her from a distance was eating him up inside, but he’d terrified her with his news. She was still in danger and he had to keep her safe. The enemy could come back at any moment and she had no way of protecting herself. Hopefully, the woman would come to her senses soon and realize—Dena's scream vibrate through his heart and soul.
He'd told her that they were bound. Through the forest leading to her house, he tore across the grass. No harm would come to her if he could help it.
He leaped over a fallen log. Once he cleared the trees, he opened his will to his true form. Scales burst across his skin. His leather wings rupturing from his back. Pain jolted through him, but he kept his body moving forward despite it. His jaw elongated along with every muscle and bone in his body. Fire scorching his insides, marking its well-worn path.
Dena!
He flapped his wings, breaking branches and a cluster of birds escaped from the treetops as he soared into the sky. His heart hammering in his chest like a war drum. He spotted Dena below backing away from a huge snake with the face of a man.
What the—?
Taurian dove and snatched up the creature in his talons. The human head snapped its teeth at him. He ripped the monster in half, black blood gushing out. Everywhere the blood touched bubbled like acid. His scales curled. Cxjkr! Impossible, Renjerian scales were his armor. A roar shot from his throat as his flesh sizzled. The black liquid was going to flay him alive if he didn’t stop it! His dragonfire dissolved before it reached his tongue. Pain shooting through him. He couldn’t think anymore.
“Taurian?” Dena’s concerned voice brought a glimmer of hope to his heart.
He concentrated, shoving the pain aside as it burrowed into his flesh in multiple places. If he didn’t kill this thing, it would hurt her. He couldn’t let that happen. Dragonfire bellowed through him, turning the corpse into smoldering ash.
“Taurian?’” Dena gasped. “Is that you?”
Taking a step toward her, he stumbled, falling onto his haunches. The searing pain from the acid cut into him.
“Hang on.” She dashed into her house and came running out seconds later with two different bottles. “No way to know what kind of acid this is.”
Taurian grunted, weakness making it hard to move.
“Let's try water first.” She opened the clear bigger bottle and dumped it in a section of his exposed Renjerian skin.
“Ow!” Sweat broke out across his scaled brow. Agonizing pain lanced through him from every direction. His breathing labored as he concentrated on staying conscious. Who was that freaking snake?
“Sorry, sorry. Must be some type of Carbolic acid or phenol.” She scrambled for the other bottle then poured that onto one of the spots.
The soothing coolness of the liquid eased his burns some and the antiseptic scent tickled his nostrils. The serpent had to have been from the Tryn…sent here to watch Dena and attack. If Taurian hadn’t been nearby, the monster would’ve killed her. Scorching bile surged up his throat. He needed her someplace safe, but where, if the Tryn were already using human remains to create otherworldly creatures.
After she doused all his wounds, he asked, “What is that?”
“Alcohol. But we need to get you closer to the house so I can use the water hose to wash away the neutralized acid.” Her gaze filled with concern. “Can you move?”
“Dump the water on me from your jar and I'll be fine.”
“No, we need to rinse your burns for twenty minutes.” Her brow furrowed. “Just scoot a few feet toward me, okay? I'll help you.” She placed a hand on his scaled arm.
Letting her guide him, he crawled the distance to her house. The cool water she meticulously sprayed on him soothed the throbbing of his wounds. For several minutes only the rushing of the water and crickets filled the air. The burning pain lessened somewhat, but he still felt the underlying blisters. Beneath him, the ground was soaked.
“Thank you,” she choked out not looking at him, “For saving me against…that whatever it was. And why did it have my ex’s face?”
He didn't know either, but he could guess. “The Tryns have evolved.” He shook his head. “They used to be small, but the one I came over with was bigger than a man. My guess is the Tryn used your ex, turning him into that snake creature, and left him near here to attack you if you escaped his possession.” Which if the Tryns could do this...then what else could they do? He had to get back and warn his people that the Tryns were now capable of a weapon to use against them. Acid blood could swing the war in his enemies’ favor. Which is why his people had fought alongside the humans in the first place to rid the planet of the Tryn infestation.
“Thank you for helping me, I need to leave now.” He pushed up into a crouch only to fall back down again. “I have to find and kill all the Tryns.”
“You aren't going anywhere until you've recovered.” She crossed an arm over her chest, the moonlight shining across her glare.
“So you're asking me to stay here with you?”
She sprayed him in the face with the water, then laughed as he sputtered. “Nice try, but you're staying as one of my patients, nothing more.” But she placed her free hand on his uninjured side, tracing a scale there and sending a shiver of pleasure rolling through him.
“I turn you on more as a dragon than a human?” He grinned.
“Wha—no.” She shook her head. “As a dragon, you fascinate me...as a man, you just irritate me.”
He let her trace his body with the water, and she was careful not to come too close to his injuries.
“You said I would change, like you.” She paused in front of him. “Kohl was purple in his dragon form and you're blue. But he was much smaller than you and didn't have has many spikes as you and none on his tail…what will I look like
?”
“You won’t change fully, just have some of our abilities.” He was lucky she even survived the ritual. “You're special, no other human in a thousand years has lived after the procedure.” He stared at her, wondering at his luck and thankful she wasn’t harmed.
She swallowed and pointed her chin at him. “And what about you? Is it only dangerous for the human?” She went back to running the water hose over his body.
“No, it’s also dangerous for Renjerians, though more Renjerians survive the binding than not.”
“But there is still a risk?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.”
“Then why risk it? Why did you do this?”
He placed his claws gently on her hand, bringing the water gurgling into the mud between them. “It was the only way I knew that might bring you back to life. I couldn't handle the fact you were dead, even if you hated me forever, you'd be alive.”
“I-I was dead?” Her face paled. “Are you sure?”
“No pulse and not breathing. I couldn't walk away from that, not when there was a chance to save you.” The fact she spoke with him at all made happiness sail in his veins.
Her mouth opened and closed before she straightened. “Don't think this means I've forgiven what you did.”
“Never.” He hid his smile or thought he did until she switched off the water.
“Okay, can you fly? I want to know if your burns have injured your wings.” She frowned walking from one side to the other examining him. “Maybe just stretch them out and see if they hurt.”
He did as she asked and cringed. His right wing ached like it had been bruised. “I’m okay, but flying is out of the question for the moment.”
“Well, you can’t stay here.” She waved a hand to the horizon. “At least not as a thirty-foot dragon in my front yard. The neighbors will freak once the sun comes up.”
“So you’re saying I can stay here now?” He arched a scaled eyebrow.
“Until you heal properly,” she sighed, “then I guess so. Never was one to be able to turn down an animal in distress.” Then she cocked her head to the side. “Hey, how am I able to talk with you while you’re a dragon? I would think you’d just roar or growl or something?”
“Mindspeak. You’re hearing my voice in your head. It’s dark out and your human eyes can’t see me well enough to realize my mouth isn’t moving.”
“Oh, okay. Well, let’s go inside and figure out what to do next.”
Taurian grunted and pushed down his Renjerian form, recalling how it felt to be a human. How good it felt to kiss Dena and touch her. He was too big as a dragon to risk that and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her if he could help it. His muscles and bones protested as though finally being free and now crammed into a box. Sweat beaded across his back as his wings folded and disappeared underneath his flesh. His scales sinking into his skin and at last, his muscles and bones changing shape: becoming smaller and human.
In the night’s breeze, he trembled. “Thank you for tending my wounds.”
“Whoa.” She placed a hand on his chest and shook her head. “I said you as a dragon could stay with me, not you the man.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but she placed a finger to his lips.
“Kidding.” She gave him a half-smile. “This doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you yet. But sunrise is in less than an hour and the only thing more shocking to my neighbors beside a gigantic dragon would be a buff naked man.”
“I’m buff?” Was that a good thing? He puffed out his chest.
“God, you’re incorrigible.” She took his hand and he hoped she never let go. “Come inside and get dressed. Then we need to figure out what to do about Dave—my ex—and how to explain how he got turned into that creature thing, even if he is dead. How am I going to explain this to the authorities?”
“I could always char his remains.”
She shook her head, but he already vowed he would turn the body to cinders. No way would he allow her to take blame for the death and be imprisoned. After she went inside, he released his dragonfire, the flames chewing up the corpse.
“What the hell did you do?” she screeched. “You could catch the whole place on fire.”
“I can contro—”
She didn’t listen but ran to the side of the house grabbing a rubber hose and shooting water over the burning grass.
“I could’ve stopped the fire.” He grumbled, crossing his arms. Did she think he was that reckless?
Once the fire was out, she sloshed through the muddy area. “Wha—there’s not even bones or dentures.”
“Yeah, well, I told the fire to leave nothing behind. It would’ve gotten all this black oil up too if you hadn’t drowned the flames.”
“Really?” She wrapped the hose up beside the house on a hook. “So it’s almost like a magical power and does what you wish?”
“To some extent. I can have it do this,” he waved a hand, “Its essence is burning, destroying, smoothing.”
“So it wouldn’t catch the forest or house on fire?” she asked stomping on an ember a foot away.
“I could’ve put it out once it finished the task I wanted. My heat level changes with need. I could light a gentle campfire or have a flame like this hotter than any on Earth to disintegrate my enemies.”
“Well, next time, don’t blast something in my yard like this if its already dead.” She turned away to her house.
“So if its alive then I’ve free reign to kill it however I wish?”
“Sure, as long as you clean up your mess afterward.” She tossed him a rag. Her laugh warmed his heart.
Chapter Nineteen
After setting out some water and scraps of food for the three coyote pups, Dena picked through her smashed cabinet and supplies for gauze. Behind her, Taurian's nearness unsettled her. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him, yet at the same time dreaded what would happen after they had sex. Taurian was too intense and she feared she'd lose herself and her heart to him. And what if 'mating’ as he'd called it was all he was looking for?
“Can you at least go put some shorts on or something?” she asked looking over her shoulder at him. “And wipe that smirk off your face, I haven't forgiven you yet for turning me into...whatever I'm going to morph into.”
“Renjerian.” He nodded, not at all concerned that he stood before her naked. “I should teach you our language.”
“Maybe later.” How could she concentrate on anything when a sexy unclothed seven-foot tall man was close enough to touch? But he’d taken her freedom away, her home planet. Now she didn’t feel like she really belonged anywhere.
When she continued to ignore him, he let out a chuckle, then disappeared into the back bedroom.
She let out a shiver and salvaged a box of gauze and burn cream. Her hand still throbbed, but she peeled back the gauze to look at it. The wound was puffy and bruised, but there were no angry blackish-green lines squiggling through it. Taurian had removed the demon’s virus or possession or whatever it was. What would’ve happened if he hadn’t been here to help her? Would the infection have taken over her body or worse, killed her?
Did he have any other options? She wrapped an arm around her middle remembering the conviction in his sapphire-silver eyes when he told her the news of what he’d done. Maybe it had been the only way to save her.
What was taking him so long? “You okay back there?”
No response.
She made her way down the hall, her heart hammering in her throat. “Taurian?”
In the spare bedroom, he stood surrounded by splinters of the bed and strips of clothing tossed everywhere like a mini cyclone had exploded in here.
Her hand flew to her chest. “Wha-what happened?”
Taurian frowned. “My guess is the Tryn. Probably scented me in here.”
“Okay, but why trash everything then? I can understand the bed, but why everything else?” Dave, her ex. Shit, she never wanted him to become some serpe
nt thing or die. Her stomach rolled. What about his fiancée, Nichole. Dena needed to call her, but what could she say? Sorry, Dave was turned into a monster and was killed?
Dena shook her head. No, as hard as it would be, she needed to offer her condolences to the woman.
“Tryns have an excellent sense of smell...better than me.” Taurian bent and fingered a rock T-shirt with claw marks through it. “The beast must have scented your ex and tracked him.”
“Why would it go after Dave?” A sinking sensation hit her and she leaned against the wall to keep from falling. The demon’s broken words filtering through her mind. It had mentioned having a legion of demons with her.
“Because it saw him as competition.” Taurian faced her, his brow pinching. “It plans to come back here and impregnate you.”
She lurched out of the room to the hall bathroom and vomited.
Behind her, Taurian mumbled soothing words she couldn't make out and held her hair back out of her face. When she finished retching, he pressed a cool rag into her hand, then ran his hand up and down her back.
“It's all right, I won't let the bastard touch you.”
If the demon got to Dave what about Nicole? “We have to leave...now.” She stood on wobbly legs.
“Got something for me to wear?”
“Nothing in here.” She moved to leave the tattered bedroom when Taurian grasped her hand.
Before she could protest, he pulled her into a hug. “We'll get the bastard and make the demon pay for what it has done.”
Despite the fact she was still pissed at Taurian, her body and heart softened. She remained in his arms for a few moments, closing her eyes, trying to pretend everything would be okay. But the nagging in her mind continued. She pulled away and headed to her bedroom. After rifling through the back of her closet, she pulled out her pink jogging pants she'd worn when losing weight after her depression of Dave leaving her gained her fifty pounds. Then she added a tank top she'd ordered online that was two sizes too big for her and she never got around to returning.
“Here.” She pushed the clothing into his hands. “Get dressed. We're leaving in two minutes.”
