Handlers of Dragons

by Kim Cormack

  Kayn stopped, looked at her captors and said, “I’ll do it, but Grey goes first.”

  Kevin snapped back to the here and now as screams of agony rang out from the barn. Lexy’s up. The rest of the Triad sprinted out and got into the vehicle.

  Tiberius jumped into the front seat yelling, “Go! Go! She’s got this!”

  Kevin stomped on the gas and floored it to the other group. They didn’t need directions. They could see it smoking. They pulled up as a man staggered out of the barn fully engulfed in flames. She’d taken the whole place out. Kevin raced into the inferno. Shots rang out. His eyes met with charbroiled Kayn’s as she went down. Someone walked past lugging a corpse. That must have been Grey. He stood in the backdrop of the raging flames in awe of her sacrifice. She’d listened to him even though she had no reason to. Perhaps, the future he’d envisioned wasn’t a fantasy? He knelt before Kayn, picked her up and walked out with her blistered unrecognizable corpse in his arms.

  Tiberius commented, “Holy hell. She sure toasted herself. We’ve got to get out of here. I’ve called the Aries Group. They’re on their way. This may seem insensitive but we don’t have enough room in the car, we’re going to have to put the bodies in the trunk.”

  Kevin placed Kayn’s body on a blanket and someone else tossed Grey’s into the trunk on top of her. Kevin scowled at his fellow Triad as he moved Grey so he was lying beside her. He tucked them in with another blanket and closed the trunk.

  Stephanie nudged Tiberius and teased, “Are we just delivering the bodies to the others or do we have to give that red-headed psycho a ride?”

  “Jealous?” Tiberius baited.

  “Not in the least,” Stephanie bickered as she stared out of the window while drinking from her water bottle.

  Chapter 10

  Alcohol Versus Fire

  KAYN AWOKE IN THE DARKNESS to the rumbling of tires. Oh, come on! You’ve got to be frigging kidding me! She was in the damn trunk again. This had never happened to her before, not once... And here she was, waking up in a stranger’s trunk. Twice in one day. This time she wasn’t alone. What was that smell? Oh, yes... It was burnt clothing. There was another body in the trunk with her. Good times. She felt her arms and her skin was as smooth as a baby’s bottom. She was healed...Awesome! Who was lying next to her? Kayn felt around in the trunk. There was a roadside assistance kit. She could tell what some of the things were by touch but she couldn’t find the flashlight. She tugged off the charred remnants of her fingerless glove that concealed her symbol of Ankh. If she set it off, she’d be able see. Kayn felt around the roadside assistance kit until she found something sharp and tried to stick it into her hand. What in the hell was going on? She couldn’t break the skin. She felt her trunk mates face. She was ninety-nine percent sure it was Grey. Kayn placed her hands against his torso, concentrated on what she wanted and willed her ability to play along. Come on! Come on! Grey gasped and she cheered internally. He groaned and she was certain it was him. “Welcome back,” she quietly said.

  He whispered, “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a trunk like this?”

  She answered, “Plotting the death of the driver.”

  “Who has us?” Grey asked as the vehicle began swerving.

  “If I knew who had us, would I still be in the trunk?” Kayn sarcastically questioned as the car swerved dangerously again. Maybe they were being pursued?

  “Let me show you something,” Grey said as he began fumbling around in the dark.

  It became easier to hear the cars occupants. It was Triad. They’d shown up as their backup. She recalled Kevin’s voice guiding her. They were on their side, at least for today.

  He snickered and suggested, “We could just open the trunk, kick their asses and take the vehicle.”

  Kayn playfully shoved Grey and scolded, “That’s my line.” There was nothing wrong with letting them know they were awake. She heard Grey fumbling around again in the dark. The trunk flew open and the vehicle pulled over. They both scrambled out as they heard the doors opening. Kayn was about to let Grey in on the fact that this time Triad had come to help them but before she had the opportunity to speak, Grey shot flames from his hands, creating a six-foot-tall blazing wall between the clans, warning them to stay back.

  Grey gawked at his hands because it had been a long time since his ability had operated at full strength. He stared at Kayn and asked, “Did you do this?”

  She had done it. She knew she had. Somehow when she harnessed their energy to use his ability as a weapon she had freed him from his punishment. His ability was now running at full strength. She could see the panic in Kevin’s eyes through the blazing inferno between them and she recalled his words about concealing what she was capable of. She hadn’t undone the third tiers punishment on purpose. How was she going to be able to stop what came naturally?

  Tiberius’s voice carried over the controlled towering inferno his adversary had created, “We were sent in to help you. Ankh was to far away too respond. We’re just bringing you to Lexy and Zach.”

  Grey held out both hands and inhaled deeply, sucking the flames back in. He animatedly jumped up and down before joyfully embracing Kayn while exclaiming, “I can’t believe it! My ability has been stifled for so long, you fixed it!”

  Oh no...Grey shouldn’t have announced what she’d done. By the devastation on Kevin’s face she knew this accidental act of defiance was going to come with repercussions. Kevin turned around and walked away from her, without saying a word. That can’t be good.

  Patrick smiled warmly. He tossed Kayn a t-shirt and shorts as he announced, “Sweetie, you should probably put these on.”

  Oh, yes...she’d lit herself on fire. She peered down at her chest. Well, this was awkward. She was practically naked, wearing nothing but scorched rags. She slipped the new t-shirt on, reached under it and tore away the charred material of her shirt and bra. Grey stood in front of her, blocking her from Triad’s view so she could slip on the shorts.

  Patrick handed Grey a clean shirt and shorts as he opened the back door and urged, “It’ll be a tight fit but come on you two, get in. Lexy and Zach are waiting.”

  Tiberius baited, “Come on Grey. Get in. I’ll sit in the back with you. We can discuss a few things we should have talked about a while ago.”

  “I’d rather get in the trunk,” Grey mumbled as he climbed in.

  Kayn shimmied into the cramped space. She ended up on Grey’s lap as they tried to fit everyone in like an awkward game of backseat people Jenga. Tiberius was squished into the back next to them with Stephanie on his lap. Stephanie was grinning as they pulled away and began speeding down the dusty backroad towards an unknown destination. She hated her. It was ridiculous to despise someone you barely knew but in this case, there were some rather diabolical deeds standing between them and any form of forgiveness. Kayn scrolled through the immortals list of misdemeanours in her mind and settled on the one thing she couldn’t see past...it was the months of watching her sleeping with the person she loved. Her thoughts abruptly paused. The person she used to love...used to love. Kevin turned to look at her and she knew he’d been tuned into her thoughts as she made that misstep. As she met his gaze, she knew he’d taken her mistake as a confession. She slowly moved her head from side to side, to make sure he understood. He countered by nodding. He was smiling as he turned around to watch the road. Shut it down. She had to shut her emotions down. She wasn’t thinking straight. Kayn looked out the window deciding it was best to say nothing.

  Tiberius shifted Stephanie around on his lap as he complained, “Steph, your butt cheeks are like razor blades.”

  She saucily countered, “Women come in all shapes and sizes. We can’t all have big hips, boobs and asses.”

  Kayn glared at her knowing exactly who that dig was meant for. She was hungry and Kevin’s booty call was trying her patience.

  Grey giggled and answered her thought with one of his own, ‘Go for it.’

  Stephanie scowle
d as she took the hint and moved off Tiberius’s knee onto Patrick’s. Kayn grinned, knowing they’d all heard her inner commentary. In the distance, she saw the glow of lights. It was a motel. That must be where the others were waiting.

  Grey nudged her and whispered, “Take some of mine if you need it.”

  Kayn was tempted but agitated enough to know she might not be able to stop if she broke the seal. As they pulled into the parking lot, Lexy and Zach were animatedly waving at them from the second-floor balcony. The sight of Zach instantly calmed her down as she wandered through the parking lot with the rest to the building.

  Kevin touched her arm and asked, “Can we talk?”

  She stopped walking and assured, “I’ll come and find you, after I’ve seen Lexy and Zach.”

  He smiled and replied, “We’ll probably be in the restaurant. We’re all staying here tonight... Just so you know.”

  Kayn made her way to the stairs but as she grabbed a hold of the railing, her eyes were drawn back to him.

  Grey called down to her, “Are you coming with me or are you planning to stand there gawking at your ex for the rest of the evening?”

  Funny. She raced after her saucy fellow Ankh up the stairs while teasing, “You’d better run!” Lexy and Zach had rushed to the top of the stairs where they embraced and made a unanimous decision to go down to the restaurant. Kayn held Zach’s hand as they descended the stairs. A sense of calm washed over her and she no longer felt the intense need to feed. Her Handler gently squeezed her hand, their eyes met and they both smiled. Their peaceful reunion was broken by the sound of Lexy and Grey arguing up ahead. Their dining mates were sure to create plenty of complications this evening.

  Zach leaned closer as he whispered, “I bet Lexy and Tiberius do the deed tonight.”

  It felt wrong to vote against what she knew her sister wanted. She understood the desire to take a walk on the wild side. Kayn was thinking of Frost as they entered the minimalistic pub style restaurant. She scanned the room for Kevin. He was sitting by himself, waiting for her arrival. The moment Kayn’s eyes locked with his, she slipped back to the here and now. She was going to have the opportunity to spend the evening with her old best friend and found her heart wishing they could find a way to resurrect their friendship. She took a seat across from him. Neither of them spoke as Kevin passed her a menu. Kayn smiled because it was probably in Spanish and Zach wasn’t sitting beside her to read it. She opened the menu, somewhat prepared to wing it. As Kayn looked at it, she became confused. Apparently, she could read Spanish now. Kayn closed the menu. Then she reopened it. Yes, she could still read it. This was rather odd.

  “Do you know what you want?” Kevin enquired.

  Now, that was a loaded question. She didn’t want to lead him on, he needed to know where she stood. Kayn peered up from her menu and said, “Frost.”

  Kevin didn’t look up as he casually clarified, “From the menu Brighton.”

  “You know what I’m saying,” she mumbled to herself as she reached for the Corona that had been placed in front of her. He’d obviously taken the liberty of ordering her a drink. She didn’t really like beer but he didn’t know that. He didn’t know much about her now. Kayn held the cold beverage to her lips, then removed it as she questioned, “Did you put anything in this?”

  “I just saved you,” Kevin sparred as he sighed and traded drinks with her to prove his point. He took a swig from the bottle she’d accused him of tainting.

  He hadn’t saved her. Kayn clarified, “I saved myself.”

  Kevin chuckled and teased, “You woke up in my trunk.”

  “I would have woken up anywhere, I’m immortal,” she countered.

  He grinned as he admitted, “This is true but it might have been somewhere extremely inconvenient.”

  “More inconvenient then your trunk?” she teased. They paused their conversation as a waiter appeared to take their orders.

  After the witness left earshot, Kevin enquired, “Touché...But would you have woken up if you’d been stabbed with a blade full of yellow light?”

  He had a point there. She smiled, met Kevin’s eyes and politely said, “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” he whispered.

  They sat in awkward silence until she added, “I’m sorry I threw you over that balcony.”

  “Really?” Kevin probed. He took another swig of his Corona.

  Kayn grinned as she admitted, “No. Not really.”

  “Didn’t think so,” he chuckled. Kevin raised his drink and saluted, “To keeping it real.”

  As they clinked bottles, his hand brushed against hers. Five months ago, she would have had a million questions for him but right now, she only had one, “Do you know where your mother and Clay are?”

  “I do,” he answered honestly. “If you want to discuss this topic any further, we need to be alone.”

  Curiosity prompted her to agree to leave the restaurant with him but their meals arrived. As the waiter moved on to the next table, Kayn agreed, “Fine, as soon as we’re finished we’ll go somewhere to talk.”

  They never used to have issues with small talk but finding subjects that could be spoken about in public now, proved to be a touch more difficult than it had in the past. Killed any demons lately? Found any new breeds of immortal creatures? Have you ever been beaten up by a possessed evil toddler?

  Without looking up from his meal, Kevin responded to her thoughts, “Yes. Yes and no, but I heard you guys did.”

  She took a bite of her deliciously spicy meal. It wasn’t spicy enough. Kayn casually added a ridiculous amount of hot sauce to it. She took another bite and grinned. She inhaled her entire meal in roughly a minute, peered up and saw Kevin with his fork poised above his lips gawking at her. Kayn raised her eyebrows as she questioned, “What?”

  He replied, “I heard about the thing Dragons have with hot sauce. Seeing it is a whole other story.”

  She giggled as she finished her Corona. It was nice spending time with him. Would it have been like this if he’d stayed with Ankh? There was no way to know if their relationship would have lasted. Maybe, it would have been over in the blink of an eye and they would have gone back to being platonic friends?

  Kevin finished his last mouthful, wiped his mouth with his napkin and announced, “I’ll go order us each another drink to bring with us. Do you want another Corona?”

  “Sure,” Kayn answered as she watched him get up and make his way to the bar. With him away from the table she inconspicuously checked out how her friend’s evenings were going. Lexy and Tiberius were gone. Interesting. Grey didn’t appear to be having a nervous breakdown. Maybe, he hadn’t noticed yet? Grey and Zach were sitting with Stephanie, Patrick and a few Triad she recognized but hadn’t had the opportunity to get to know while they were all at the same campground together before the Testing. Zach was having an intimate looking conversation with Patrick. She really liked him.

  Kevin wandered back to the table with a couple of Coronas in each hand. Kayn got up to meet him halfway. She took two. They snuck out of the restaurant and strolled down to the pool where they put their drinks down, sat on the edge and dangled their feet in the water.

  When they were certain they were alone, Kevin confessed, “I can’t do anything about Clay or my mother. I know where they are and that they’re safe. I’m psychic. I know how it all plays out. As soon as they come out, they’ll have to start training for the Testing and if they come out now, they won’t make it. They’re better off in a tomb for the time being. Tiberius is changing. It’s happening slowly and let’s just say, I have it under good authority that he won’t hurt them after he’s had the opportunity to get to know me.”

  “That makes sense,” Kayn responded as she splashed her feet around in the tepid water. She glanced at him and asked, “What do you see in my future?”

  Kevin smiled warmly as he replied, “So many incredible things.”

  “You’re not going to tell me anything, are you?” she t
eased.

  “It’s never good to know too much but if you keep yourself open to me, I’ll be able to guide your actions like I did during that last run in with Abaddon,” he explained.

  “So, how is that going to work when we’re usually adversaries?” she asked. “Won’t opening myself up to you just give Triad the upper hand?”

  Kevin placed his hand on hers as he answered, “Not if our friendship remains a secret. We need to act like adversaries in front of our clans but when we’re alone, we can be ourselves.”

  Kayn gazed into his eyes as she confessed, “I do love Frost.”

  “I know,” Kevin replied. “That’s not what I meant. Had I stayed with Ankh, I would have been your Handler. We never would have been together like we dreamt of, not for many years.”

  Somehow, knowing that made it feel like a weight was removed from her chest.

  “I couldn’t see past what I wanted for a while there. It was wrong of me to make you feel guilty for moving on. I don’t blame you for tossing me off that balcony. I kind of deserved it.”

  She laced her fingers through his and admitted, “I may have some impulse control issues.”

  Kevin smiled as he clasped his other hand over hers and bantered, “You’ve always had impulse control issues.”

  Her heart soared, knowing his memory was back. There were so many things she wanted to say but nothing on the list mattered anymore.

  He tucked one of her stray curls behind her ear as he said, “All I knew about you before I helped you up that day at that track, was that you were the girl of my dreams...quite literally. When I saw the Ankh on your palm, I panicked and it caused me to behave rather ignorantly. As I got to know you, it was so easy to see why I cared about you and before I knew it, I was head over heels in love with you. That was the best week of my life. When we went into the Testing, I knew what I needed to do to make sure you survived. After the Testing was over every detail came back to me so quickly. These incredibly beautiful memories came flooding back and it was too late...you despised me. Truth be told, I hated myself for what I was forced to do but I knew it was the only the way you would have survived. I was this numb shadow of myself during that banquet but when that announcement happened and I knew you were going to have to sacrifice even more of yourself, I just couldn’t let it happen. I was with the group of people that helped you get away. I’d managed to convince myself that I had to let you go but that first time we ran into Ankh it was harder than I thought it would be. I wanted to get you alone somehow and tell you everything but I knew I couldn’t. You needed to learn to embrace the Dragon within you. The anger and betrayal you felt towards me at that time was what fuelled the ability. So, I behaved like I was over you even though I wasn’t. I couldn’t help myself...I kissed you, hoping you’d see the real me. After that, each night when I closed my eyes, I dreamt of you but it wasn’t beautiful memories we’d created together. I was dreaming of you moving on with Frost. It was excruciatingly painful. Granny Winnie talked me through your loss and explained why each thing needed to happen so you could evolve into what you were meant to become. I knew you were doing exactly what you were meant to be doing. I hid the psychic ability for a while but when I felt secure enough in my relationship with my grandfather, I told him everything. He’s not as horrible as everyone thinks he is. Tiberius is just misguided on occasion. I’ve been helping our clan for a while now but according to my granny Winnie, my main purpose is to help guide you through all that is to come, if you’re open to it?”