by Amelia Jade
But damn it will be cool if she says yes.
The idea of returning to the military, her beloved battlesuits, and getting to work alongside Thorne was just too tempting an option to pass up.
The beating sound of the rotors reached her ears and she looked up as the helicopter breached the outskirts of the city and headed their way.
“I’m just nervous, Thorne. What if she says no? Turns us down and tells us to get out?”
He shook his big head, the hair on top not moving this time. She smiled; he’d put some product in it and shaved, doing his best to look as presentable and respectable to Colonel Mara as possible. It never ceased to amaze her the lengths to which he’d decided to go for her, and part of her wanted to reciprocate even more than she already was. But things were just moving too fast.
Carla cared for Thorne. She was long past trying to deny that. Life had certainly gone in a strange, circuitous route to bring them together, but she’d come to accept that. He made her happier than she had been in some time, on a personal and relationship level. Professionally she was still irked about being discharged, but hope had flared anew with this opportunity. If she could just put the two things together, then maybe she could turn her full attention to Thorne. After all, he deserved it. He’d given her so much more, and his time was coming.
It just wasn’t quite here yet.
“She won’t,” he said with a casual ease and confidence that she’d never really noticed from him before. Was his dragon side starting to show through some more now that he’d come to the conclusion that he was going to fight? Carla looked up at him once more, admiring the clean lines of his smooth face, the light of the sun catching his brown eyes and highlighting the gold within, shining pale and clear in the sunny summer day. They were focused hard on the helicopter, yearning with an anticipation like a hero waiting to storm the enemy’s base.
“You’re really committing to this completely, aren’t you?”
The same eyes shone with a fervent nature as he turned his head to focus on her. “Yes. If I decide on something, it gets my all. Everything that I have. Fighting. Friendships.” He paused. “Love,” he added softly. “I am fully committed. There is no going back now.” His face broadened into an easy grin. “Which is why Colonel Mara is going to have to say yes.”
“Say yes to what?”
Carla’s spine locked up as she heard the new voice enter their conversation. Beside her Thorne also stiffened. While she turned to greet the new addition, Thorne didn’t.
“Hello, Corde,” she said with a welcoming smile that she didn’t entirely feel.
The tension between the two shifters was palpable, and even as he nodded at her in greeting Corde’s eyes were focused on Thorne’s back. She doubted he’d try anything, especially with her around, but she got the feeling that trouble was brewing between the two. Thorne wouldn’t talk about it, and it seemed neither would Corde.
“What brings you up here?” she asked, trying to distract them both.
“Are you sure we don’t know each other?” Corde asked, ignoring her completely.
Thorne whirled at that, his ears working perfectly fine. “She asked you a question,” he said with false politeness. “And no, I don’t believe we do.”
Corde shook his head. “We do. And you know. I just can’t place it yet.”
“Carla asked you a question, Corde,” Thorne repeated, layering some steel over his false-honey tone.
To Carla it was like hearing a southern woman call someone “sweetie” while actually making the word into something demeaning and insulting. Apparently dragons were better masters at verbal fencing than she gave them credit for. While they stared each other down she idly wondered how they would fare as politicians.
Probably poorly. They’d probably just burn down anyone who opposed them.
Her mood brightened. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
“I’ve been summoned to Fort Banner as well. I was supposed to go two days hence, but with the helicopter coming for you two, Colonel Mara decided to move it up.” He glared at her, speaking again before she could ask the obvious question. “I’m to run the newest recruits through some drills designed to help mimic fighting Outsiders that Vanek and I have come up with. We want to see how well it works.”
She nodded. “Wonderful.”
Corde’s upper lip twitched at the dull monotone voice, but he refrained from speaking. Behind the trio the helicopter grew louder, its blades chopping at the air with an increasing level that seemed to mirror the situation going on below it.
“Shall we?” she asked, staring at Corde, forcing him to acknowledge her.
“Of course. Lead the way,” he replied, his eyes still staring at Thorne, searching his face for a recognition that wouldn’t come.
She rolled her eyes and stepped between the two. It seemed ridiculous. Despite her immense height, she still found herself staring at Thorne’s upper chest, his sheer size dwarfing her, a feat that she’d still not gotten used to after so many years of being an outlier where it came to height. Eventually the big shifter rolled his shoulders and took a step back before turning, rising up to the platform even as the helicopter set down without a hitch.
Someone slid open the door on their side and the trio of them ducked low beneath the blades and rushed across the distance, Thorne taking her hand to ensure she stuck with him. It wasn’t her first helicopter ride, or even her second. In her career she’d probably been airborne more often than him, but he wasn’t doing it for that, she knew. It was to ensure Corde didn’t try something.
Carla considered that as they buckled themselves in, her and Thorne on one side, facing forward. Thorne sat next to the other passenger, his back to the pilot, looking straight at them. Corde, she figured, was not a bad person. The military wouldn’t have kept him around if he was, she trusted in that. So why was he acting so weird toward Thorne? What was it that was bothering him so much, she wondered? And why was Thorne so adamant that they didn’t know each other?
Dragons. Who can tell with them!
The idea made her giggle, blasting air from her nose as she tried to keep it down. The two shifters stared at her like she was crazy, which made it even harder. Her sides ached as she bounced up and down, one hand across her face, the other holding her sides as best she could.
Dragons. Right. What a world she was finding out she inhabited! Dragons and aliens and who knew what else. She certainly couldn’t say times were boring, that was for sure.
“Why are you two going?” Corde asked in a surprising display of politeness that didn’t seem forced.
They were speaking over the internal communications system now, helmets pulled over their heads and mics near the sides of their mouths. Carla was surprised that they could find ones big enough to fit the two egos she was riding with, but a second thought told her that maybe the military, and the Air Force in particular, were used to that sort of thing.
“We have an idea to present to Colonel Mara. About integrating human technology and dragons.”
Thorne shot her a look, but she just let it slide off. There was absolutely no reason to keep Corde in the dark. Regardless of whatever drama they thought might or might not exist between them, he was still a dragon, and he was on their side as well.
“Really? What kind?”
Carla grinned. “How do you feel about the idea of being a noble steed?”
Thorne started coughing next to her at the incredulous look plastered across Corde’s face. Sheer dumbfounded shock. “Did you just ask me if I wanted to be a horse?” he asked in utter disbelief.
“What? No, that’s silly. You’re a dragon! But the same capacity of course.”
“You want to ride upon our backs into battle? How is this any sort of a good idea?”
Corde looked to Thorne for help, but the black dragon shifter just shrugged. “It was my idea.”
“Your idea? To harness a human to your back and fight with them against the Outsiders?�
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Carla took the conversation back over, not wanting to let the two of them go after one another.
“Yes. You’re big enough that we could mount some heavy weapons platforms to your back, turn you into mobile flying fortresses. Or alternatively our battlesuits could act as single riders, joining you in combat. We would protect your backs. A team.”
“I’m not sure I like the idea of being some random human’s mount into battle,” he said dryly. “But I see the merits. Dragon riders. Interesting.” He mused for a moment, running one hand along his chin. “Who would command them?”
Carla looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. We’re here to fight Outsiders. We will not wage war against humans. Not as a whole, at least. You humans can do that, but we would have to be independent of any one country, I would think.”
To her complete surprise Thorne was nodding his head alongside her. “Yes, I would have to agree.”
She contemplated that for a moment, trying to figure out a way they could still make it work. How could they fight alongside the military, but when the time came, go their own separate way? The answer appeared and everything clicked into place.
“Mercenaries,” she pronounced. “The government is already paying you to fight for them, are they not?”
Corde nodded. “Yes.”
“Perfect. So you’re already a mercenary. Have one of you in overall command, who would liaise with our military commander, and there you have it. The beginning structure of the first dragon riders.” She sat back, crossing her arms in triumph. It was going to work. It would have to work.
And she was going to be right there at the front of it, a pioneer.
With Thorne at her side.
And also under her.
Oh the jokes I’m going to get to make about that. Maybe I could get him a stuffed horse to play with.
Black dragons were practical jokers, weren’t they? We’ll see about that.
Chapter Nineteen
Thorne
He thanked his stars that they arrived at Fort Banner without incident, exiting the helicopter and emerging into more open surroundings at last.
The entire ride over he’d tried not to engage Corde, or even meet his eyes. Risking any sort of confrontation with the red dragon with Carla that close by and unable to escape was simple unacceptable. Even now as they walked through the base toward the mountainside headquarters he was trying to figure out a way to separate them.
Sounds of military life were all around him, and he could see Carla’s shoulders drop as the knot between them grew larger. Returning to the base she’d known for so long must be bringing about some strong emotions within her, and he mentally apologized that he’d been so caught up in his own situation that he hadn’t paid her enough attention. Now he slipped his hand into hers, though he didn’t squeeze tightly in case she wished to let go.
But her hand tightened and then she gave it a squeeze, her way of saying thank you.
“You have nothing to be ashamed of,” he growled under his breath. “You did nothing wrong.”
She straightened, but only slightly, and Thorne knew he would have to do whatever it took to make this plan of theirs succeed. No matter the cost to him, personal or financial, Carla needed this. This was home to her. Just because he didn’t understand didn’t make it any less important. Her family was here, and while she may yet still be willing to make room for him in it, she wasn’t willing to leave it. He would never ask her to make that sacrifice.
Shoulders back, head held high, he marched through the various encampments and buildings, few of them permanent, daring anyone to question their presence there. No one did, but he was ready to defy them if necessary, simply to make his point. Eventually they made it to the mountainside, the sheer rock face covered over with metal secured deep into it. The entire area around the entrance was dedicated to a massive set of gates that, if anything were to happen, would seal the entire tunnel off with massive plugs of metal.
He walked past one of them as they plunged inside, noting it was taller and wider than he was, all of them in sequential order on rollers, ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice. The entire tunnel sloped downward in a straight line, the sides smoothed and prepared to ensure the plugs would go as low as possible where it started to grow smaller in diameter. At that point they would come to a halt, and spikes would plunge outward from the sides, embedding it even deeper into the rock in an attempt to contain the invasion.
Thorne doubted it would work, but it would buy them time. Time, perhaps, for the dragon riders to assemble, if he and Carla were able to forge them into a weapon worth wielding.
A motorized cart swept them down the ramp toward the bottom, where Colonel Mara was apparently waiting.
Thorne glanced at their driver, noting the set of his jaw and the whiteness in his knuckles as he gripped the wheel. When he combined that with the general business of the troops he’d seen aboveground, it all came to mean one thing.
“What’s going on, son?” he asked, addressing the driver calmly.
The young man jerked at the deep voice in his ear, but other than a slight jerk of the wheel that was barely felt by the passengers he wasn’t spooked any further. “Uh, it’s the portal, sir.”
“What about it?” he pressed.
“It’s…well…we’re not sure. Doing stuff. Only nobody knows what it means or what exactly it’s doing. But it’s different. More…active, I guess?” He shrugged, a quick nervous gesture. “Look.”
Thorne’s head came up as they entered the massive cavern that housed the portal. He stared in shock at the transformation that had overcome it.
“Uh, guys,” Carla said, the trio staring in rapt horror.
The massive rent in space hadn’t grown or shrunk. Nearly a hundred feet high, probably close to twice that wide, it was still a formidable and imposing object, easily the center of attention in a cavern that housed it without issue. The normally opaque murky darkness within the center was alive and strobing with violent flashes of purple-white lightning. The border, a normally dull purple, was infused with energy, glowing nearly neon and pulsing rapidly, as if energy were running around the perimeter.
Coming to a halt at the command platform, he signaled at Colonel Mara, indicating the portal. “What the hell is going on?”
“I wish I knew,” she replied, moving to stand closer to them. “It started acting up about a day or so ago. That’s why I’m here instead of back at Fort Stark. Incidentally,” she said, nodding to Corde, “that’s why all of you are here as well. In case something is coming through, I wanted a team ready to greet them.”
Thorne nodded, wondering if that meant Kallore was around somewhere as well.
“Anyway, our cameras aren’t reporting anything coming through from the other side, and we’re sending them at regular intervals now, so we’re not alarmed. Much.” The colonel took a deep breath and focused on them. “You have an idea you wanted to pitch me?”
“We do,” Carla said, and he gave her arm a reassuring squeeze.
“Excellent.”
Silence reigned in the cavern. Eventually Colonel Mara started looking back and forth between the two of them. “Is one of you going to tell me?”
Thorne nudged Carla. “You got this.”
She looked up at him. “What? It was your idea.”
“I know.”
Carla smiled and leaned into him.
“Well that’s certainly cute,” Colonel Mara said with a soft smile. “I’m glad to see your time in Barton City has been productive. I half thought the two of you would burn the town down around you.”
Thorne started to laugh. “No. We—”
There was no warning. One moment he was about to say how he and Carla had worked a lot of things out, and the next he was airborne, smashing into the cavern wall. Rock cracked and cascaded down around him as he sat blinking in surprise.
“MURDERER!”
A giant shape c
losed in on him, picking him up by the neck and slamming him back into the wall. Corde, fury etched across his face and all semblance of sanity lost in the fires that burned in his eyes, hauled back an arm and punched him.
Thorne finally realized what was going on, and he managed to get an arm up to block the punch just in time.
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” The irate crimson dragon whirled and tossed Thorne aside. He slammed through a bank of computers and equipment, nearly crushing a human technician who almost didn’t get out of the way fast enough.
“I knew I recognized your scent from somewhere,” Corde snarled as he stalked forward, clasping both hands in front of him, one atop the other.
Thorne knew what was about to happen, but he was still impressed when a mighty greatsword forged of pure flame erupted from his hands, bathing the area in light and heat. Thorne got to his feet and shook his head.
“Don’t do this, Corde,” he pleaded. “It’s not what you think.”
“It’s not what I think?” the other dragon roared, his gray eyes steely and flame-filled. “How can it not be what I think?” He slashed his sword through some of the equipment as he came, clearing a path. “YOU MURDERED MY VILLAGE!”
“Ah shit,” he muttered, ducking to the side as Thorne swung the sword, the air burning as the great flaming blade missed him by several feet.
“Everyone I knew is dead because you, you cowardly swine. Now let me kill you and avenge them!”
“STOP IT!” Colonel Mara yelled from behind them. “BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING STUPID LIKE OPEN THE PORTAL!”
Thorne wasn’t entirely sure how they could do that, but then again, they didn’t know much of anything about the portal itself. Who was he to say what would or wouldn’t open it more.
“I’d love to!” he called back, easily ducking aside another wild swing of the sword, though he could feel the heat blast his face as it swung by. “But he’s not exactly willing to listen to me right now!”
