Core

by Teshelle Combs

  He hung up the phone and Ava pocketed hers. She was about to head inside until she thought she felt a chill. It was late summer in Miami. No cold fronts, no ice wind. She rubbed the goose bumps from the back of her neck. Karma had insured her that no sirens would dare come so close to a dragon nest, so she pushed fear aside. She was about to go back when she thought she heard her name. Just a whisper.

  ***

  By the next evening, Ava wanted to let Mac know where he could shove his favor. Her scalp was raw from hours of tugging and steaming until, finally, her hair hung soft and straight down her back. The black dress she wore was long, sweeping the ground as she walked, but the neck was cut low. Embarrassingly low.

  “Not bad, considering” Onna said.

  She was a red dragon friend of the family that Mac had called in to torture Ava. She had plucked Ava’s eyebrows, waxed her arms and legs, and pulled every single one of her curls straight. Ava stood in the mirror, ashamed that it had taken so many hours to make her look presentable.

  “I can’t believe Cale chose a girl,” Onna said to her mother. “This girl.”

  Dana had brought along both of her daughters–twins, which were common in red nests. Onna, with dark hair and a perfectly straight nose, had arms so toned she looked like she’d been sculpted out of stone. She was one of those perfect people, and she knew it.

  “What was Cale thinking?” Onna said.

  “It’s not his fault, Onna. He hasn’t had the upbringing you’ve had.”

  Dana was putting on her own mascara in the mirror. Her long, thick, straight blonde hair was very much like Myra’s. Myra, her other daughter, stayed quiet, but she didn’t look remorseful for her family’s incredible insensitivity. Instead, she glared at Ava like she was the scum of the dragon world.

  “Ava, do you have any idea how to present yourself tonight? Or did Karma fail to explain that as well?” Dana asked.

  “Why would Karma be the one to tell me about a red dragon dance?”

  Onna rolled her eyes. “Because she knows everything.”

  Ava crossed her arms. They had been picking at Karma behind her back all day and Ava had had enough of the cattiness. “Watch your mouth.”

  Onna stood up, red rushing to her neck instantly. She crossed the room until she was face to face with Ava. “How about you know your place? You think I couldn’t snap you in half?” Onna pressed her finger into Ava’s shoulder. “A girl. A weak, sad, human little girl. Cale must have lost his mind.”

  Ava didn’t care what Onna was. She’d fight her if it came to it, not because she thought she’d win, but because she wasn’t a coward.

  “That’s no way to welcome our newest addition,” Dana said, flapping her hand at Onna as she continued to apply her mascara. “Besides, Cale hasn’t made the pact yet. He could be wrong about her.”

  Ava sighed. She had endured hours of their passive aggressive insults. “Can I have a minute?” she asked.

  “You’re not anywhere near ready yet and the guests are arriving,” Dana argued.

  Ava stood up and pointed at the door. “Get out.”

  Dana and her girls left the room with a huff and Ava locked the door behind them. “Send Cale in,” she said through the door. She could hear the music starting, people filling up the back yard. The smell of steaks filled the air. There would be no grilled peppers for Ava out there.

  “You can’t see him until the dance,” Dana answered. “If you’re getting cold feet, we can bring your mother in. Or the blue dragon.”

  Why does this feel like a wedding? Why does this feel so…wrong? “I want Cale.”

  “It’s tradition, hun. You can’t see him. Why don’t you come on out?”

  “If I don’t see Cale in thirty seconds, I’m coming out naked. It’ll be a new tradition.”

  Silence. Then finally, a voice she knew, with a tint of amusement to it. “Ava? Are you threatening nudity on these people?”

  Ava opened the door, pulled Cale inside, then shut it before Dana could get her manicured fingers in. Cale stared at Ava with his mouth open. He was still wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but Ava was in her gown, like some sort of princess of the night.

  “Shut up,” Ava said, blushing despite herself, her arms crossed.

  “No, you don’t look bad,” he said. “You just look different. They changed your hair.”

  Ava groaned and sat on the edge of the bed. The guest room had been turned into a salon, hair straighteners, spray bottles, and waxing gels were scattered everywhere.

  “Do you like it?” he asked.

  Ava looked in the mirror again. “I feel like somebody else. But it’s pretty, I guess.”

  Cale disappeared into the bathroom and when he returned, he splashed her with a handful of water. She shrieked and threw her fist at him. Cale laughed and grabbed her head under his arm. She punched him in the kidney, then flipped him to the ground, knocking the lamp and about a million spray bottles onto the tile floor. The lamp shattered and Ava sat up quickly, pulling Cale off the ground.

  “Are you okay?” she asked. “You landed on a pile of glass.”

  Cale was still laughing. “No, I’m fine. See for yourself.”

  He lifted the back of his shirt and turned so Ava could see his skin. The slits the shards of glass had left in his skin sealed themselves up. When they were all gone, Ava ran her hand along his back. Smooth.

  “You didn’t even scar,” she said, her eyes wide.

  “Not from something like glass,” he answered. “Dragonblade. Siren tears. Those could kill me.” He pulled his shirt back down. “Or if I was challenged, like in a fight. I wouldn’t get better until the fight was over.”

  “It doesn’t hurt, though?”

  He grinned. “Well, yeah it hurts. But it heals fast enough, especially by fire.” He tugged at a clump of her soaking wet curls. When he released the spirals, they sprung up. “I ruined your outfit,” he said.

  She looked at her dress, smoothed her hands over it. “The dress is still fine,” she replied.

  Cale retrieved the backpack he’d come in with and tossed it at her. Inside, she found a pair of jeans and a top, along with her chucks.

  “No, the dress is ruined too. Now hurry up and change so we can go.”

  Ava rushed to the bathroom and returned in her usual, everyday clothes, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She took a deep breath, finally feeling like a human being again.

  “What about your dance?” she asked.

  “My dance? It’s got nothing to do with me,” Cale said. “You and I, we’re getting out of here.”

  He stood back and counted to three, mischief glittering in his golden eyes. Then, he threw the door open and ran for it, Ava right on his tail.

  They rushed past nearly a dozen people Ava had never seen before as they made it out to the driveway. Karma, who was tending the door, didn’t even blink as they piled into the cab of Rory’s truck.

  Rory already had the engine running. He took off as soon as they were both inside. Cale and Rory were both insane with laughter as they sped down the street, headed toward downtown. Rory leaned out the open window and gave a war cry.

  “Dad is going to be so pissed,” he said, turning up the music.

  “It’s worth it not to have to smile at all those people all night. Besides,” Cale jabbed Ava with his elbow. “A dragon’s supposed to protect his rider.”

  Ava didn’t think it was possible for her to be in as good a mood as Cale and Rory always seemed to be in. If Cameron and Karma understood each other with silent looks, the two red brothers communicated in shouts, laughs, and punches.

  She swallowed a surprising lump of dread. For once, she was going out without having to worry about Miriam. I don’t even know how to have fun. She fought off nerves, shocked at how a simple night out stressed her more than a boxing match did.

  “Where are we going?”

  “The Cave,” Rory said.

  “It’s a dragon thing,” Cale explained. He
put his arm over the seat behind Ava, as if sitting next to her was the most comfortable thing in the world. “You’ll like it, Ava. Trust me.”

  Seven

  Dance

  The lights were intoxicating, each one transmitting its own hum. They added to the noise of downtown Miami, melding with the groans of driver’s stuck in traffic and the Latin music that blared on most of the street corners.

  Cale was glad to duck inside of the musty, decrepit bar. The neon sign that should have read “open” had burnt out long ago. The table tops were covered in dust and the liquor that used to line the walls was gone, leaving nothing but empty bottles and broken glass behind.

  “This is it?” Ava asked, turning around in the center of the room. “Don’t tell me there’s some magical closet that leads to another world.”

  Rory pushed open the door to the stairwell and led the way, careful to keep his hands at his sides. In the darkness, Ava was about to reach out and grab onto the railing until Cale caught her hand in his.

  “I’d keep from touching railings and doorways unless you want to spend the night scrubbing dragonblood off of your hands,” he said.

  She wrinkled her nose. “That’s disgusting. But if it keeps the sirens away….”

  “No sirens here,” Rory said. “They’d be crazy to stalk so many reds at once.”

  “So why the blood?”

  Cale shrugged. “Claiming territory, I guess. It smells like Victor’s.”

  The closer they got to the basement, the louder the music got. It was strange stuff, even Cale had to admit. A mixture of hard core rock and folk, with Latin rhythms thrown in for flavor. Here comes the noise. The only reason he tolerated it was because it was original. It was Miami. A big, reckless mess.

  They swung the door open and red light spilled into the stairwell, causing all three to shield their eyes. Rory huffed, pausing longer than all of them as he waited for his over-sensitive eyes to adjust to the change.

  The guy at the door was tattooed from his neck to the tips of his fingers. He stepped aside and let the three of them through without a word. But when he noticed Ava, he looped a finger into the hood of her sweatshirt and pulled her back.

  “Dragons only.”

  Cale slapped his hand away from her and stepped forward so that he was between Ava and Tattoo. “She’s mine,” he said.

  Tattoo looked over Cale’s shoulder at Ava. She didn’t cower or try to hide behind Cale. She jutted her chin forward and put her hands in her pockets, like walking into a red dragon gathering was something she did every day.

  “You found a rider?” Tattoo asked, eyebrows raised.

  Cale didn’t have to answer him. As they walked through the crowd, Cale could hear the whispers beneath the thump of the music. He made his way to the bar and had hardly sat down before an old friend of his caught up to them.

  He leaned over Cale’s back and offered a hand to Ava. She couldn’t help but stare at the half-dozen piercings that lined his lower lip. She didn’t offer her hand in return and the boy smiled, his eyes everywhere but on Ava’s face.

  “Not bad,” he said, nodding to Rory, who had just sat down on the other side of Ava. “Pass her along when you’re done with her.”

  Rory ran a hand through his hair. “Not mine, Sean.”

  Sean tilted his head at Cale and laughed in surprise. “Is that right? The day has come.” Still leaning on Cale’s back, Sean slapped Cale’s chest. “Right in his brother’s footsteps.”

  Sean couldn’t tell how tight Cale’s breathing had become. Cale hated those kinds of jokes, hated how people were just waiting for him to mess up. Like it was expected. Like there weren’t any reds left who had any sense. But worst of all, he hated how they saw Ava. As though she was something they could eat.

  “Just back off, alright Sean?”

  But Sean didn’t get the message. He tried to slide his way in between Cale and Ava, going for a closer look, maybe more. Cale stood up and clutched Sean’s shirt in his fist, discreetly, so it didn’t cause a scene. He stepped forward, causing Sean to stumble back. Sean’s eyes were wide, but he said nothing.

  Cale leaned in close to him. “Back off her. I mean it.”

  Sean nodded and put on the best smile he could muster. “Cale, I was just playing.”

  “Find someone else to play with. Ava’s not a toy.”

  “I get it, man,” he said, his hands up in mock surrender.

  Cale let him go and he smoothed his shirt back down. Despite Cale’s reserve, a few dragons noticed the conflict. They whispered, nodding their heads to Ava, then to Cale. The news was already spreading.

  “I can take care of myself,” she said as Cale sat back down next to her. “Guys like him don’t scare me.”

  Cale almost had to catch his breath, he had gotten so riled. Am I really this protective already? He focused on calming down as he surveyed the room. “I know, Ava. I’m just making a point.”

  “You want people to know,” she said.

  She took a turn looking around the club. People still danced and the music still played, but every once in a while, eyes darted their way. If that’s his plan, it’s working.

  “I guess in a way this is my herd. They need to know who you are.”

  “Well, your herd makes it unbearably hot in here,” she said. She pulled her sweatshirt off and rested it on the counter, oblivious to the dozens of dragon eyes that followed her movements, devouring the sight of her body beneath her tank top.

  “You look like someone just threatened your first born,” Ava said to Cale. “Calm down. I thought we were supposed to be having fun.”

  Cale exhaled with a grin. “I forgot about that part.”

  He tapped the wooden counter and spoke to the girl behind it in a language Ava had never heard before. It was different than what he had spoken to Karma on the phone. Sharp and guttural, almost like he was hurling insults at the bartender. It lacked the hushed tones Ava thought she’d recognize.

  “What was that?” she asked.

  “Red tongue.”

  “But it doesn’t sound like what you and your mom spoke.”

  Cale nodded to the bartender as she handed him a dark red drink. It looked thick, sloshing around in the glass. “Oh that? That’s more of an Anders specialty. Red and blue mixed together. It sort of just happened.”

  “So your family speaks its own language? That’s a little awesome.”

  “No, actually. My dad and Rory can’t speak it.”

  Cale took a sip of the drink, then paused and swirled his glass. After a moment, he tilted his head back and downed the rest of it. He handed the glass back, and the bartender took it with a smirk.

  “Hey, where did Rory go?” Ava asked, looking around for him.

  Cale wanted to lie about it. Instead he sighed. “Probably mating. Already.”

  Ava laughed out loud. “You don’t have to say it like that,” she said.

  Cale shrugged as Ava squinted at him. He was purposefully looking out at the crowd instead of at her, and his fingers clenched the new glass that the bartender gave him. Ava wanted to ask about it, but she shut her mouth before the words came out. It was obvious it upset Cale. No need to dig deeper.

  “Well, if it isn’t the runaways.”

  Onna had changed outfits since the last time Ava saw her, but where Ava had downgraded, Onna had made improvements. Her jeans were skintight, hugging the curves of her hips all the way down to her stilettos. Her top, black and shimmering, revealed a sliver of her perfect belly when she moved. Her dark hair still hung loose and straight. When she tucked it behind her ear, she revealed a sequence of piercings. She was stunning.

  Cale stood up and put his arms around her. The embrace surprised Ava. How could Cale willingly touch someone like her? When Cale sat back down, Onna smiled, her dazzling white teeth giving Ava an instant headache.

  “Where’s Myra?” Cale asked.

  “Probably sulking near the bathroom. You know her.”

  S
he was right. Cale could see Myra leaning against the wall in between the men’s and women’s bathroom. It was a strange place to stand, but that was Myra. She scowled at everyone who dared to make eye contact.

  “I see you brought the human,” Onna spat out.

  “Be nice,” Cale said. “Ava this is Onna.”

  “We’ve met,” Ava said, already fighting the urge to punch her.

  Everything about Onna rubbed her the wrong way. Yes, her voice sounded like chocolate cake and her movements were like satin, but that wasn’t what bothered Ava. It was that she flaunted it. It was in the look in her eyes.

  Onna leaned over Cale and tapped on the counter twice. She spoke in red tongue, and the bartender handed her two glasses filled with the crimson liquid. Onna placed one on the counter in front of Ava and sipped the other herself.

  “I bet you’ve never had Morba,” Onna said, smiling over her glass. “Try it.”

  Cale didn’t even have time to warn Ava before she pushed the glass away with two fingers. “I’m not stupid. I can tell it’s way too strong for me. Smells like jet fuel.”

  Cale took Ava’s glass and frowned at Onna. “Go dance,” he told her.

  Onna grabbed Cale’s hand and tugged at it lightly. “If you dance with me,” she said, pouting.

  Cale shook his head. “I’m with Ava. Some other time.”

  Onna still had Cale’s hand. She looked up at him from beneath her lashes as she traced her fingers along the veins on the inside of his wrist. Cale pulled his arm back as sharply as he could. He wasn’t stupid either. He knew Onna was trying to get a read on him, to see how ready he was.

  Onna’s lips curled into a devious smile. It hadn’t taken long for her to test Cale’s pulse. Even the few seconds she’d stolen told her all she needed to know. Casually, she pulled her hair to one side of her shoulders, revealing part of a scrawling tattoo that just barely peeked out from her top.

  Cale swallowed and looked away, color rushing to the back of his neck. Ava watched it all, partly entertained, partly annoyed. She could tell that Onna was flirting, but Cale’s reaction didn’t seem warranted.