by Ruby Dixon
And then the dragon trumpets again, a moment before another ear-shattering BOOM shocks through the room. The floors rattle with the force of it, and I gasp and cling to my sister for balance. Before I can speak, a second dragon adds an angry bugle to the mix, challenging the other.
Two dragons.
“We’re being attacked,” my sister says in a sour voice. “That other dragon started tossing rocks onto the building. Not just rocks, actually. More like fucking boulders.” Claudia doesn’t sound scared, just annoyed, and I’m envious of how calm she is. “I don’t know what his deal is. Kael says he should be able to smell that a mated couple lives here.”
I clutch at my sister’s arm, my thoughts racing. I’m glad it’s dark so she can’t see my face, because I imagine I wouldn’t be able to hide my feelings very well. Another dragon’s attacking us.
I wonder if he came for me?
My fear mixes with hope. I don’t know why he’s throwing rocks down, but surely I must be the reason why he’s attacking this building despite Claudia and Kael’s scent being all over it? My sister can’t know what I did, though—if she finds out about my panties, she’ll never even let me up for air. Her protective side will take over and then I’ll be trapped forever.
“A second dragon…what do you think he wants?” I keep my voice as calm as I can, but it’s wobbling, just a little.
Claudia snorts in the darkness and pats my arm. “They’re crazy, remember? Who knows what he wants. Maybe he imagines this as his home. Don’t worry. Kael will take care of things.”
“Is Kael talking to him?” I ask, curious. “What’s he saying?”
“He won’t answer,” my sister says, and I can hear the annoyance in her voice. “He must be crazier than usual. Come on. Where’s your bed? Let’s go sit down so you can rest your leg.”
I’m torn—part of me wants to go and peek out the door and get a look at the dragon. What if she’s right, though, and he’s not for me? He’s just crazy and attacking because…well, crazy? She’s told me that Kael has shown her just how mad this world leaves the dragons, so I know it’s really a thing with them. They’re not just bloodthirsty and cruel to be cruel. They’ve truly lost their minds and only know how to lash out to share the anger and pain they’re feeling.
It sounds so terrible.
It’s another reason to take a dragon as my “mate”—he can save me, and I can save him.
Of course, I didn’t think this through very well. If this dragon’s truly here for me, I don’t know how I’m going to get to him without alerting Claudia to what I did. And if Kael sees me out on the roof without my sister, while we’re under attack? I have no doubt he’ll just snatch me up and dump me somewhere safe.
Once I figure out what’s going on with this dragon, if he’s mine, I’ve got to somehow get away from them so I can escape with him. I don’t exactly know how to do that, though, and my leg’s throbbing with pain, so I take my sister’s hand and lead her over to the bed. I sit down on the edge and sigh with relief at how much better it is on my bad knee. I can never stand for long, and running to the door only made it worse. I feel the mattress sink a little as Claudia sits down next to me, and then the metallic clank of the gun as it brushes against my bed frame. “What’s the gun for?” I ask my sister. “I thought dragons couldn’t be hurt with a gun?”
“They really can’t,” she murmurs. “It’s mostly to ensure that he doesn’t have a rider. And if he dives down low enough and doesn’t have his third eyelid protecting his eyes, we might be able to blind him. But that’s a big if.” She pats my shoulder. “I feel better with a weapon though.”
I don’t. Now I’m envisioning my sister blinding my dragon, my handsome, wild prince. “Don’t use it, okay?” I whisper, finding her hand in the dark and clutching at it. “Please don’t.”
“Don’t be scared,” Claudia tells me in an easy voice. “I’ll protect you, and Kael will protect both of us.”
That isn’t what I’m worried about.
Silence ticks past. A moment later, something loud and metallic shatters against the roof, making both of us jump. “Car,” my sister says. “Man, this bastard’s determined.”
“Can Kael talk to him? Reason with him?” I ask, worried. A dragon in love wouldn’t…throw cars at his beloved, would he? This sounds more like crazy than romance, which means we really are in danger.
“Nope. He’s not responding. Kael says he’s somewhat lucid, but not enough to stop attacking.” She squeezes my hand. “We’re safe. I promise.”
I nod in the darkness and give her hand a squeeze back. I wish I knew how to communicate with the dragon out there. To ask what he wants. To see if he came for me. But there’s no way to do that, so all I can do is sit here in the dark with Claudia and wait. “Is Kael very mad?”
“More annoyed than anything,” she tells me, a hint of amusement in her voice. “We were…cuddling.”
“Don’t tell me any more,” I say quickly, because now I’m visualizing.
She just giggles.
Even though it feels like we’re in danger, it’s late and it’s dark. I drift off against Claudia’s shoulder as she remains quiet, locked in conversation with Kael. From her infrequent updates, I know that Kael’s perched atop the building, preventing the other dragon from flying too close. No other cars or boulders have been dropped all night and I doze against my sister’s side as we wait for the dawn…or for the dragon to leave.
I don’t know what I want to happen. I don’t want him to leave…but I don’t want him to keep attacking, either. I didn’t think further ahead than dropping my panties off so a dragon could pick up my scent, and now I worry I’ve made a mistake.
“The dragon’s gone,” Claudia murmurs just as I’m about to fall asleep again. “It’s safe.”
“Oh, okay,” I whisper as she gets up. “I…is Kael all right?”
“He is,” she tells me. “He’s not going to leave this day. He’s going to stay close and skip hunting just in case our new friend comes back.”
And now I feel guilty that Kael’s going to go without just to protect us, when I suspect it’s my fault. “Did he find out what the other wanted?”
“No,” my sister says, and there’s a wry note in her voice. “Just another crazy dragon in a world full of ’em. Get some sleep.”
I curl back up in my bed after she leaves, and I can hear the gentle thud of Kael as he lands on the roof, and my sister’s voice as she calls up to him. Then it’s quiet, and I imagine they’ve gone back to bed…to cuddle.
And I’m all alone once more.
“That dragon wasn’t from this area,” my sister says over lunch the next day. “How’s your tortilla?”
Like she can lob a bomb like that and not distract me? I chew as quickly as I can. “Dry and chunky. Um—”
“Well, crap,” Claudia says, frustrated. “I was hoping it’d be as simple as grinding up some corn. Maybe not.”
“It’s still good,” I tell her between swallows and drink heavily of my water. Time to get back to the main subject. “Um, so how does Kael know the dragon’s not from around here?”
“He doesn’t recognize the mind. You know there’s a couple in this area we’ve had run-ins with,” she says casually, taking a bite out of her tortilla and then wrinkling her nose. “God, that’s awful.”
“It’s very…corny,” I say. I can’t be picky. Food is food, and I’ll eat it no matter how dry and strange it is. I do think about what she said, though. If the dragon’s not from here…maybe he’s not mine. Maybe no one’s found my panties, and they’re sitting in the grass still unnoticed. Maybe no one will find them ever, and they’ll just fade away to nothing.
Like me. Gosh, what a depressing thought.
Claudia flips her tortilla in the skillet, frowning with concentration. She’s determined to try and recreate old foods we can’t get in the After. I think part of that is her pregnancy speaking, but everyone’s got to have a hobby, right? Mine is…well,
sewing clothing, reading and decorating my room and wishing desperately for change.
There’s a loud flap of wings and then Kael alights above us, in his battle-form. He doesn’t relax, but sits alert and ready, eyes whirling as he gazes out on the skies. Claudia glances up at him but then returns her attention to the skillet and chuckles under her breath. I’m struck by envy and loneliness all at once. I should be happy that I’m safe here with my sister. Isn’t this all I ever wanted?
Instead, I feel like a third wheel. Like I’m constantly left out of the conversation. I know it’s not Claudia’s fault. She can’t help it that dragons are telepathic and I can’t hear Kael. But it just makes me wish even more that I had someone of my own. “Do you think he’ll be back?”
“Hmm?” My sister glances over at me. “Oh, the dragon? I sure hope not. It took Kael forever to get rid of all the crap he dumped up here on the roof.” She looks up at her dragon and gives him such a happy, contented smile that it makes me ache.
Even a “bad” day isn’t so bad for Claudia anymore. She’s happy as long as she has Kael.
It’s late, and I’m reading a book in my room by candlelight when I hear another fierce roar in the distance. I sit up, pushing aside my book even as Claudia enters my room, shotgun in hand.
“He’s back,” she says grimly.
3
AMY
The new dragon stays until it’s almost dawn before heading off once more. That’s two nights in a row that he’s interrupted our sleep, and my sister has the deep circles under her eyes to prove it. The next day her mood is less chipper, and she casts worried looks at Kael.
“Is everything okay?” I ask hesitantly over breakfast. I can’t taste the eggs because I’ve bathed in so much perfume. Kael keeps looking at me, and my sister’s expression is tense. I suspect they argued over whether or not I should be allowed to come out for a meal. I’m glad my sister won the argument; the thought of being cooped up all day without being let out is practically like being in a cage. Doesn’t matter how nice of a cage it is, it’s still a cage.
Claudia just shakes her head and sits with me. She’s not eating, a sign that she’s more stressed than usual. “It’s handled.”
The dragon overhead snorts, the sound almost derisive.
Uh oh. I glance between my sister and her mate. I’m not entirely sure I want to pick sides in this. “Handled? So there’s a problem? He’s not just passing through?”
My sister gets that distant, inward look on her face that tells me she’s having a private conversation once more. Normally Kael isn’t in dragon-form all day long, which should have been my first clue. He’s still on guard, then, still trying to protect us.
“Is he coming back?” I ask my sister, trying to prompt her.
Claudia’s mouth forms a thin line and when I glance up, Kael is watching her. He ruffles his wings and shifts on his feet, then gazes out into the open skies again. I can practically hear his voice saying, You tell her, or something along those lines. It definitely feels like I stepped between an argument of some kind.
“Kael thinks he’s picked up your scent,” my sister says in a flat voice. “That it’s no longer safe for you here.”
“Oh.” I sit back, my hands folding in my lap. My heart flutters with excitement and worry both. Things are changing…I’m just not sure what they mean yet. “He has my scent?”
She nods and crosses her arms over her chest. “He’s going to keep coming back until he finds you, so we’re just going to have to leave and head somewhere else.”
I realize that my sister’s more than stressed, she’s upset. She flicks her gaze around the room and I know it’s not just me she worries about. It’s the life she was carving out with Kael here at the top of this tower. She’s spent months acquiring things and making a home, and she’s pregnant. There are so many things at stake, more than just my safety.
My safety that I sabotaged. I feel like a childish jerk all of a sudden. I didn’t think of anyone else in this, did I? I just want what she has and I acted without thinking. Now my sister’s going to have to pay the price unless I confess what I did and let the chips fall where they may.
But as I look at her, the words stick in my throat. If I tell her what I did…she’ll be so upset at me. So disappointed. I can’t bring myself to tell her yet. Maybe…maybe I’ll write it down, compose my thoughts. “I see. Do we have to leave? You’ve worked so hard to have a home here.”
Anyone in the After knows just how much “home” means to a person. After living in fear in Fort Dallas, hungry and miserable and constantly worried about where your next meal will come from or what you’ll have to trade for medicine or a place to sleep? Home is more than just things. It’s safety and security, and I’ve taken those from my sister. I feel so incredibly guilty and sad. I’ve ruined this for her.
She tries to smile, as if it’s not so bad. “It’s going to be all right, I promise. We’ll find someplace new and safe, and we’ll set up all over again.”
And if he follows us there? I don’t ask that. I don’t think I can physically wear more perfume than I already am. The taste of it is in my eggs, in my nose, in my everything. I know Claudia’s been trying so hard to keep me safe, which just makes my selfish actions even worse. “What about the others? Could they help chase the dragon off?” I practically choke on the words, because I’m torn. I don’t want him to be chased off. I want to meet him. I want to greet him and watch his eyes light up with joy at the realization that I’m his mate.
At the same time, my sister’s misery is eating at me.
“The others?” Claudia echoes and then gives a little shake of her head. “Sasha and Dakh are at the ocean and won’t be back for weeks. And Zohr offered to come and help, but you know his wings aren’t great. He needs to stay back and protect Emma. This other dragon’s really big and Zohr’s at a disadvantage on the ground. He wouldn’t be much help in a fight.”
“Still,” I say weakly. “Two against one…”
“Or we can just move.” Claudia’s voice is crisp, as if we’re done with arguing over it. “Take today and pack your things, and tomorrow morning, we’re going to head out and look for a new place to live.”
Tomorrow. “So fast?”
“No sense in waiting,” my sister says.
No, I suppose not. All right, then. One day. One day for me to somehow get to the dragon and talk to him. To stop his endless attacks so my sister won’t have to leave her home. And more than that, for me to say hello to the man—uh, dragon— I’m going to be the companion to.
He has to be the one that found my panties. He wants me.
The thought cheers me probably more than it should.
I only pack enough for a small bag. It might be because I don’t really intend on Claudia and Kael having to bail out of their home. It’s just a big enough bag that lets me keep a few small necessities in case I need to travel. It’s got a dress, a wrap for my knee, a toothbrush, a comb, and a highly prized box of tampons I’ve been saving. I throw a knife in there “just in case” and a couple of wrapped snacks, because I want to be prepared. It feels a bit ridiculous to prepare what feels like an overnight bag, when in reality, I’m probably running away with a dragon I’ve never met.
Actually, that sounds even more ridiculous.
I pack a spare bra and panties, too, and my book. And then my bag’s starting to get bulky, so I hide it under my bed like I’m a child, and wait for night.
I’m restless and nervous, and when my sister comes down to hang out, I try to concentrate on sewing torn clothing scraps into a blanket as she talks about what furniture she’ll have Kael come back and get and possible locations for us to stay at temporarily. She isn’t sure if they want to move closer to the outskirts of Old Dallas, because the hunting might be better for Kael with less draconic competition, but she also doesn’t want to move too far from Sasha and Dakh’s nest, as well as Emma and Zohr.
I get that. She wants to be close to her f
riends, who are going through the same thing she is with a dragon and a pregnancy. I can sympathize and listen, but I can’t really offer advice in either of those aspects, so I understand why she wants to stay close. They’ve formed their own little network of dragonrider ladies. It’s just another small thing I’ve been excluded from. Not in a malicious way, of course. Claudia would be hurt if she thought I felt left out. But there’s no way to include me without, well, me getting a dragon-man of my own.
And…I’m excited.
To think that a dragon’s here. For me. Someone wants me enough to love me and protect me. It’s different when it’s a man compared to just my sister. I’ve grown up in the After, so I’ve never had a real relationship. When the Rift happened, I was in middle school. After that, we were in Fort Dallas, and having a relationship never even crossed my mind, because all the men there were creepy and made me feel unsafe. If I wanted to just get groped, I could have had my pick of men despite my bad leg. But to have someone love and care for me? Not a chance.
I try to recall what my sister said of her meeting with Kael. She’s skimmed over a lot of the specifics when I’ve tried to pry for details, but I know the gist of it. She was chained up at the top of a building, left by the militia. Kael smelled her scent, landed in front of her, and changed. From there, they fell in love. I don’t know how they got past the communication barrier, but just scenting my sister must have somehow flipped the switch in Kael’s mind from crazy to sane. It’s like there’s a piece missing that she didn’t share with me, but I can’t figure out what it is. Kael’s nothing but loving to her, though, so I’m not worried.
I just hope that my bad leg doesn’t make my dragon like me less. I rub my knee, worried. The break happened in the time of chaos during the Rift and there weren’t any doctors to help out. I still vividly remember those awful days of mind-numbing pain, and the weeks I spent unable to do more than lie down without hurting. It’s healed badly, and when I run my fingers down my leg, I can feel the upraised scar tissue and then the knobby bend just below my knee where the bones healed badly. It’s ached ever since, but I’m lucky I’m alive. So many died during that time. But Claudia’s strong and healthy and so smart. Sasha’s beautiful. Emma’s strong and pretty. If dragons want a strong mate, then…what happens if mine rejects me?
