For the Heart of Dragons

by Julie Wetzel

  Glancing at the dragon, she was surprised to find him watching her, his meal untouched. A note of concern tightened Kara’s chest, but she forced herself to continue eating. The fact that Byrd hadn’t dug into his food right away worried her. He had been so excited about it in the car. Her dragon supplied her with a single thought.

  “Brooding.”

  Kara shook her head and nibbled at her food. “He can’t be brooding,” she argued back. Brooding was bad. It would throw his system out of whack, making it harder for his two halves to connect. Plus, it meant that he saw her as a potential mate. She didn’t want a mate!

  “Are you sure?”

  Looking back across the table, Kara studied him as she ate. A confused look sat on his face as he glanced between her and his food. She hated to admit it, but she did feel drawn to him. Then again, she had always had a bit of a soft spot for hard-luck cases, and his was the worst she had seen in a while. The fact that her dragon liked him made her job harder, but there was more to picking a mate than just listening to instincts. Byrd’s childlike innocence was endearing—even when he was causing trouble—but it was the human half that concerned her. She knew nothing of Noah. Who was he? What had his life been like before he’d joined with Byrd? What plans did he have for his future? All questions that needed answers.

  Kara’s heart fluttered when Byrd tipped his head over and carefully picked up one of his hash browns. She glanced over her meal. There wasn’t much left, but the fact that the dragon hadn’t waited until it was gone was a good sign. She peeked back up to find him scarfing down his food with the same enthusiasm he had given the pizza last night. Letting out a sigh of relief, she stuffed the last of her sandwich in her mouth. He wasn’t brooding; just talking with his other half.

  A soft crunching noise drew Kara’s attention again.

  Byrd had finished his food and was trying to get into the sealed cup of orange juice.

  She drew a breath to stop him, but it was too late.

  Juice squirted everywhere as he crunched through the thin plastic.

  “Oh Byrd.” She sighed as he licked the sticky liquid from the table. Shaking her head, she gathered up the trash and let the little dragon be. The spill had been an honest mistake, and there was no sense in reprimanding his uncouth behavior. Besides, if Noah were as surly as she suspected, he was probably already yelling at the poor dragon. She sighed and stood up to deal with the garbage.

  Dumping the trash, she turned to call Byrd to the car, but he was no longer at the table. “Byrd?” she called, looking around for where he’d run off to. He was nowhere in sight. A zing of fear hit her as she scanned the park for him. Daniel was going to have her hide if she lost him. Taking an anxious step back towards the table, she called him again.

  A scratching noise from the stand of pine trees drew her attention. Letting out a deep sigh, she relaxed when she caught sight of him. The feeling was short-lived, however, as she watched him lift his back leg against the tree. Spinning from the sight, she closed her eyes in utter humiliation. Just when I thought he was making progress.

  Opening her eyes, she glanced around the mostly empty parking lot. There were a few people relaxing around the area, but no one was paying enough attention to catch Byrd watering the trees. Thank goodness. She sighed in relief. Now she just had to get him out of here before he broke any more public decency laws. Hopefully, this was a onetime thing and she could get Noah back in charge soon. Explaining society’s standards for defecation was not a conversation she wanted to have with a being driven by instinct.

  A touch on her leg drew her attention down to the little dragon. “Feel better?” she asked wryly.

  Byrd looked up at her. “Yes,” he chirped happily and went back to sniffing at the ground.

  An exasperated smile curled the corner of her mouth as she shook her head. The dragon had completely missed the sarcasm in her question. Chuckling softly to herself, she let the matter go and headed to her car. It was clear that his instincts were back in control. “Come on,” she called to him as she opened the door.

  Byrd hopped into the passenger’s seat and circled until he was comfortable enough to lie down.

  Shutting the door, Kara let out another laugh at the absurdity her life was turning into. Never in her years of therapy had she run into someone as impulsive as Byrd. Curbing that impulsivity was going to be the hard part.

  She couldn’t just yell at Byrd for his crazy urges. Most of them were natural things that he needed to be comfortable. Plus, scolding him could upset him, and that would throw his system further out of balance. She had to find a way to correct him gently. But that could get tricky. She needed to find out more about his human half. Hopefully, she’d be able to pull Noah’s latest psychological evaluations and personnel records when she got to her office. That would help her figure out how to deal with any additional embarrassing situations.

  As she circled the car, she prayed nothing else would happen before she figured him out, but the chances of that were slim. It was still early, and they had a lot to do today.

  6

  The morning sun glittered off the front of the glass-and-steel structure. Byrd sat on the car seat and stared at it in awe.

  “We’re here,” Kara said as she pulled into a parking space near the front of the building.

  “Where?” Noah asked, staring at the impressive building. He’d never seen anything like it. It had to be at least ten stories tall and looked like someone had taken a gigantic, latticework egg and dropped it in the middle of a park at an odd cant. One side was flat, and there was a huge hole built into the top where the point of the egg should have been. It was an impressive piece of modern architecture that boggled the mind.

  Kara giggled at the awe in his voice. “Work,” she said as she got out and held the door open. “I have to pick up a few things.”

  Shaken by her laughter, Byrd pulled his eyes away from the amazing structure and climbed out of the car.

  Noah glanced around as they followed Kara across the parking lot and onto the sidewalk leading to the building. A few months ago, he’d heard the medical division had finally moved into their new location, but he hadn’t had a reason to check it out. The medic on staff at Eternity’s main office had been able to cover most of his needs. He had, however, been impressed to hear that the new building was state-of-the-art—complete with high-tech solar heating and wind turbines—but he’d never expected it to look so avant-garde.

  “Pretty!” Byrd chirped.

  Noah chuckled. “It’s very pretty indeed.”

  Following Kara into the building, they paused for a moment to look around the lobby. It was just as impressive as the outside of the building. Noah’s eyes were pulled to the left where a rock waterfall dominated the wall. The water tumbled into a shallow pool that flowed out through a sunken channel, mimicking a small river as it cut across the center of the room. An array of lush plants softened the hard lines of the manmade feature, and a wide bridge arched gracefully over the center. Along the edges of the water were benches where people could relax and enjoy the beauty of the room. A second-story walkway circled the open space, and Noah was sure the view from up there was spectacular. The babbling water echoing through the room made the extraordinary area surprisingly calming despite the people bustling about. Very impressive.

  Pulling his attention away from the room, he hurried to catch up with Kara.

  Once across the short bridge, she turned to the right, towards an alcove that held two elevators. There was a surprisingly large group waiting.

  Glancing at the crowd, Kara looked down and gave Byrd a pained smile. “I didn’t realize there would be so many people,” she explained. “I usually get here a lot earlier.” She looked back at the line for the elevator. “Would you rather take the stairs?”

  Noah counted the people he could see. There were a lot. “How high?” he asked. He was surprised that the words had actually come out as sound.

  “Six floors,” Kara
answered.

  Noah considered the options. It would probably be faster to walk than it would be to wait for a ride up. He poked at Byrd, but the dragon was too awed by the number of people and the new space to have an opinion. Nodding his head, Noah made the call for them. “Let’s walk.”

  He turned away from the crowd and wandered back into the open space of the lobby. It was surprising to have control of his body again. He stretched his wings before folding them in against his back once more. It was a weird sensation, but something he was getting used to. The desire to go sniff at some of the plants overwhelmed him, and he gave in before Byrd stepped up and took over. The depth of the smells he could now pick up was amazing.

  “Byrd,” Kara called from behind him.

  Byrd whipped his head around to look at her.

  “This way.” She nodded to the far wall.

  Noah let out a sigh as Byrd took over and loped over to meet her. It had been nice having control while it lasted. A questioning feeling from the dragon hit him, and he laughed. “Yes, Byrd, I do like being in control.”

  “Why?” Byrd asked as he caught up to Kara leading the way up the steps.

  “Well…” Noah paused as he tried to find a way to explain it to the dragon. It was hard to describe what it was like, riding around as a passenger in his own body. It wasn’t like he was helpless or frightened anymore. Those feelings had passed after he started understanding Byrd’s mind. This was more like a part of him was missing. “It makes me feel whole,” he finished. That probably wasn’t the best way to answer Byrd’s question, but Noah felt the dragon consider his words. After a few moments, he felt Byrd let go.

  Noah stumbled as he tripped up the steps. He paused to catch his balance before he landed on his face and slid down the stairs. The fact that Byrd had relinquished control had surprised him.

  “You okay?”

  Noah looked up to find Kara had stopped a few steps ahead of him. She watched him with concern in her eyes.

  “I’m fine,” Noah reassured her and started up the steps again. It took him a few tries to get all of his legs working together to climb the steps. It was different than walking on flat ground, but he quickly got the hang of it and was soon hopping up the steps with ease. When he reached the top of the steps, he turned back to Kara. She stood on the stairs, watching him with a look of confusion on her face.

  “Are you coming?” Noah called down. He turned circles on the landing, getting used to the way his muscles worked. Watching as Byrd moved them around was a lot different than actually doing it himself. He stretched his wings again, feeling the pull of new muscles. That adventurous part of him wanted to jump up to the railing and see what it was like to fly.

  “Flying fun!”

  Noah chuckled. “I bet it is.” He tucked his wings back in. “But not now.”

  He could feel Byrd’s disappointment.

  “Kara has stuff to do right now,” he explained. “We can ask her if we can go flying later.”

  Byrd let out a rumble of agreement before settling back down at the edge of Noah’s perception.

  It was the most distance he’d had from the dragon since he’d woken up to find Byrd still sleeping. After having the dragon pressed so close to his mind, it felt a little odd to be alone in his own skull. Shaking the thought from his head, Noah looked back down to where Kara had stalled out on the steps. Her mouth hung slightly open as if she were ready to say something.

  “You coming?” Noah asked again, turning another circle. It felt good to move about under his own volition again.

  “Yes,” Kara squeaked and hurried up the steps.

  Noah paused and looked down at her. Her voice had cracked with a note of surprise. He looked around for what had startled her but couldn’t see anything unusual. He turned another circle as he waited. The joy of being able to move again made him giddy. As Kara topped the steps, he slipped around her and brushed up against her legs in passing. If he had been human, he would have grabbed her and jumped her feet into motion to some snappy Latin beat. I bet she can dance a mean samba! Byrd’s wholehearted agreement set Noah’s toes tapping, and he wiggled after her towards a stairwell door.

  With Kara holding the door, Noah slipped passed her and danced up to the sixth floor, humming an off-key tune as he went. When he got to her floor, he sat down to wait for the woman, claws tapping out the catchy rhythm against the tile floor.

  Slowly, Kara followed him up the steps, a perplexed look on her face.

  “Come on,” Noah called to her as she climbed the last set of steps. “Sixth floor, right?”

  Not waiting for an answer, he stood up and pushed the door open with his shoulder. It opened onto a carpeted lobby. Two plush couches were arranged against one wall, and a high counter was tucked neatly into the far corner. One whole side of the room was made up of the glass-and-metal work seen from the outside of the building.

  “Nice,” Noah said as he strolled across the room to look out the glass wall.

  “Byrd?” Kara called as she followed him into the room.

  Noah turned and looked up at her. If he had had eyebrows, he would have raised them in question, but seeing that he didn’t, he cocked his head instead.

  Kara opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted.

  “Kara!” A younger woman came rushing from one of the open doors. “God, I’m glad you’re here this morning. Explain this!” She held some papers out towards Kara and shook them.

  Letting her question go, Kara turned around to address the woman’s issue.

  Noah turned back to the window to take in the amazing view while he waited for Kara to finish. A strange rumbling in his stomach cramped his gut, and he dropped down to the floor, unsure what was going on. It felt like breakfast had finally hit bottom and did not like being there.

  “Poop!” the dragon cried as he took control back from Noah. Byrd looked around until his eyes landed on a beautiful ficus tree tucked in the corner near the elevator. Picking himself up from the floor, he started towards the plant.

  “No, Byrd!” Noah cried as the dragon closed on the innocent plant. “We can’t do that here!”

  Byrd stopped and danced in place. “But, poop!” He started towards the pot again.

  “No, Byrd. We can’t poop in the plant!” Noah tried to stop him, but the dragon’s desire to relieve the pressure in his gut overrode anything Noah tried.

  Byrd paused and shifted from foot to foot. “But…?” Memories of relieving himself in the pine trees filled Noah.

  “That was different,” Noah insisted.

  Cocking his head, Byrd looked at the little tree. “How?”

  Noah let out a sigh. “Taking a pee outside is nothing like taking a dump in a potted plant. Besides, I think that plant might be fake.”

  Byrd eyed the perfectly round top and lack of fallen leaves and agreed with Noah. “Fake. But poop!” The dragon shifted, trying to ease the discomfort in his bowels.

  “I’m sure there is a restroom around here somewhere,” Noah reassured him. He looked around until he saw something promising. “Come on.”

  Taking control back from Byrd, Noah headed over to a hall leading off the main lobby. Sure enough, there was a door at the end with a small plaque reading “Restroom.” “Here.” Noah leaned on the door and it swung open, letting them in.

  The door opened into the middle of a long, thin room. With the door open, Noah could only see the counter and washbasin at one end of the room. Wiggling around, he shut the door and turned to the toilet in the center of the far wall. It was an odd setup for a public restroom, but it would ensure that no one accidently walked in on someone using the facilities.

  Byrd looked at the deep bowl filled with cool water and smacked his dry lips. Most of his breakfast juice had been spilled, and that water looked very refreshing.

  “No, Byrd,” Noah said, stopping the dragon from dipping his head in the toilet. “We don’t drink out of that.”

  “Why not?” Byrd asked, starin
g at the clear water.

  “Because it’s a toilet,” Noah answered. “We don’t drink out of the toilet. We poop in it.”

  Byrd cocked his head in thought. “But… that make water taste like poop!” He danced around in distress. “No want poop water!”

  Noah laughed out loud at the absurdity of Byrd’s logic. “It’s okay, Byrd,” he reassured the dragon, “just hop up there and poop in the toilet, and we’ll get a drink out of the sink.”

  Byrd looked back at the bowl at the other end of the room. It was large with a lever that he could easily manipulate. He glanced back at the water readily available, but on Noah’s insistence, he gave in. “Okay.”

  Letting out a sigh of relief, Noah relaxed back and let Byrd do his thing. Life was starting to look up. Now it would be nice if they could just keep things going in that direction.

  ***

  Kara watched as Byrd wiggled up the steps ahead of her. His butt bounced around in an odd way as he walked. Is he hurt? That slip on the steps hadn’t looked bad, but then again, it had taken a moment for him to get it together enough to get up the steps. The noise he was letting out sounded like he was in pain. Kara opened her mouth to say something, but her breath caught when the tortured noise took on a familiar rhythm. Is that… a beat?

  Listening hard, she watched as his back end bounced to the beat of the song he was attempting to hum. He wasn’t hurt, he was dancing! Astounded, Kara followed him up the steps. In the short time she had known Byrd, he had done many odd things, but dancing just didn’t seem like something he would do.

  Kara’s head rang as she hit upon an idea. Noah! Her surprise turned to elation. This is fantastic! She knew dragons who had taken years to work through their separation issues. For him to have found some kind of balance so quickly was remarkable, but she had to find a way to verify her assumption. That was the tricky part. Sometimes bringing up separation issues could actually regress a patient’s progress. She didn’t want to complicate his problems further. Kara mulled over the best way to assess him.