by S. E. Smith
“I think we’re late for the party,” he grumbled.
Ha’ven watched with growing disapproval as Bálint took the bag of cookies from Alice. Bálint must have misinterpreted his frown because he held out the bag to him. Pursing his lips, he shook his head.
“Emma, why don’t you and Alice walk ahead? I’d like to have a talk with Bálint,” he said in a low voice.
She studied his face for a moment before she nodded and stepped close to press a kiss to his lips. “Be nice. Remember when you were his age,” Emma murmured.
“That’s part of the problem,” he wryly responded.
She laughed, shook her head, and turned away. “Come on, Alice. Let’s see if we can find the others,” she said.
Ha’ven remained where he was, giving his mate and daughter a head-start before he began walking along the path. It was impossible to miss the loud sigh that Bálint released or the wistful look in the boy’s eyes. Ha’ven’s eyes narrowed when he saw Bálint smile and lift a hand to his left cheek.
She kissed him, he growled to Emma.
His mate’s silent laughter echoed through his mind. I know. She just told me, she replied.
She…. They are…. His mind raced as he tried to think of what he should say.
It’s their destiny, Ha’ven. You can have a son or you can lose a daughter. What you do now is very important, she cautioned.
He was silent as he realized that she was right. It was just—hard to put his protective instincts aside. This was his little girl and she was growing up! He swore Alice was growing too fast.
How did you get so smart? he murmured.
She laughed again. I had wonderful parents and I honestly can’t think of anyone better to protect Alice—if that is what she wants—than Bálint, can you? she replied.
No, he couldn’t. He knew the Valdier were as protective of their mates as the Curizan and Sarafin. Alice would have the added protection of Bálint’s dragon and symbiot as well. It would also strengthen the alliance between the Valdier and Curizan ruling families. A union that would help prevent any chance of the traitors who still lurked in the shadows dividing the two species again, as they had in the past.
He looked down at the silent boy walking beside him. Bálint held his head high and his thin shoulders were stiff. He sighed.
“Do you still have those cookies?” Ha’ven asked.
Bálint looked up at him and nodded. “Yes, sir. They are delicious,” he said, holding out the bag.
He took the offered bag, withdrew one, and handed the bag back. “Yes, they are. So, Alice told me you can see her colors,” he said.
Chapter Nine
“Jade!” Spring exclaimed when Jade wrapped her hand around her arm and pulled her behind a large bush.
“Finally! What took you so long?” Jade hissed under her breath.
“Why? I told you last night that I changed my mind. I don’t want to be mean to Roam,” Spring retorted.
Jade waved her hand. “I know. I know. But that doesn’t mean we still can’t have some fun with him—and the other boys,” she insisted.
Spring gave Jade a suspicious look. “Where is Amber? What are you two up to now?” she demanded.
Jade grinned and pulled on her arm. “Come on. I’ll show you,” she said.
Spring stumbled behind Jade as her cousin dragged her through the lush garden. She didn’t know why Jade just didn’t step back onto the path. It would have been a lot easier.
She frowned when Jade emerged in the large area where their parents had been playing the new game that her Aunt Ariel and Grandpa Paul had taught everyone how to play. What did Valentine’s Day, football, and Roam have to do with each other?
She stood on the sidelines and looked around. There were the two goal posts, the marked lines, and seats along each side of the long field. She shook her head.
“I don’t get it. What does this have to do with Roam?” she asked.
“Well, we made these really awesome cards and they worked so well that Amber and I were thinking about the fact it was too cool of an idea to waste on just them so we thought ‘what if we made the football game more exciting?’,” Jade explained, barely able to contain her glee.
Spring looked at her and slowly shook her head again. “I still don’t get it,” she admitted.
Jade rolled her eyes and waved at the field. “Aunt Ariel said the guys weren’t playing the game right and that she would have to call more penalties. So Amber and I got to thinking—what if the penalties were really cool?” she said.
Spring looked around the field. It still looked the same to her. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or if she might need to warn her mom that Amber and Jade were up to something, again.
“I have to find Roam,” she said.
Jade’s expression changed to disappointment. “Do you still want the card that we tweaked for you?” she asked.
Spring was about to say no when she thought twice. If she didn’t take it, then she was pretty sure either Amber or Jade would still give it to him. She nodded and held out her hand.
Jade lifted her fingers to her lips and whistled. Trix, Jade’s symbiot in the form of a large golden lizard appeared on the far side of the field near the wood. It was about to dart across, but stopped when Jade frantically waved her hands.
“Go around, we haven’t tested everything yet,” Jade hastily warned.
Trix paused, looked down at the white line running along the closely trimmed purple grass, and turned to run along the outer perimeter. Spring watched as the symbiot hurried over with a bag hanging from its mouth. Jade gave Trix an affectionate rub on the head before taking the bag and rummaging through it.
“Here you go. I wouldn’t open it if I were you. Maybe I should take care of it,” Jade said, hesitating.
Spring shook her head. She wasn’t going to take any chances. The last thing she wanted was for Roam to read the card. She had been pretty upset when she wrote it.
“I’ll take care of it,” she said, taking the card before Jade could put it back in her bag. “I’d better go. I promised Phoenix and Alice that I would help with the youngest Dragonlings.”
“Okay. Amber and I will be along in a little while. We need to finish our tests,” Jade said in a distracted voice.
Spring watched as Jade and Trix hurried back around the field and disappeared into the woods. She fingered the card before sliding it into the back pocket of her trousers. She would destroy it later.
Twisting around, she shifted. Her dragon bounced with joy. She laughed when her dragon curled her claws in the soil.
We dig? her dragon asked in a hopeful voice.
Not here. Remember, we promised we’d only dig in the flowerbeds where no one will fall in them—and we have to remember to fill them back in so the babies don’t crawl into them. James and Leo went in one yesterday, she reminded her dragon.
Okay.
Spring laughed as her dragon bounded over to the closest flowerbed and began digging. She made sure that she backfilled the hole as she went. Her front claws easily tore through the soil, opening a perfect round hole as she lowered her head and used the spines that ran from the top of her head to the tip of her tail to help her move underground with phenomenal speed.
She swerved around a tree, chased a mole back into its tunnel, and emerged in the flowerbeds next to the picnic area. She climbed out of the hole and shook her body, trying to remove as much dirt as she could before she shifted back to her two-legged form. A noise from behind her startled her and she turned to see Roam standing on the edge of the flowerbed watching her.
Her dragon growled, still upset with him, but Spring quickly shushed her. She shook her back legs one more time before she rose on her back legs and changed. Roam gave her a crooked smile and stepped around a plant until he was standing in front of her. She started to run her hands down the front of her clothes, self-conscious about still having dirt clinging to her. Then she remembered what her mom had said and sto
pped. He needed to accept her as she was—dirt, twigs, and all.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he said.
“Why?” she warily asked.
“It’s Valentine’s Day,” he answered with a frown.
“So,” she replied with a shrug and walked around him.
“Uh, I thought maybe I could sit next to you,” he said, following her.
She turned and frowned at him. “Why?” she demanded.
He blinked several times and frowned. “I dunno. I can sit across from you instead,” he answered.
“No, why were you looking for me? Why do you want to sit next to me?” she clarified, stepping closer to him.
He stumbled back a step. “I wanted to…. Oh, never mind. It was a stupid idea anyway,” he muttered.
“Spring, lunch is ready,” Carmen called.
Spring gave him a sad look. “Yeah, it probably was a stupid idea.” She stopped in mid-turn and looked at him. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Roam.”
She turned and walked over to the group of Dragonlings who were giggling and exchanging cards. Her hand moved to her back pocket. She stopped when her hand came up empty. She must have dropped the card when she changed into her dragon.
“Spring,” Phoenix called and waved to her.
“I’ll be there in a second,” she called back.
Her heart thumped as she retraced her steps. Roam was gone. She scanned the group of boys, but didn’t see him. Guilt struck her when she thought about how rude she had been to him.
“So much for being nice to him and giving him another chance,” she muttered.
She searched around the filled in hole and didn’t see the card. Indecision filled her. What if Roam had found it? Tears burned her eyes at the thought of him reading what she had written.
“Spring, are you okay?” Phoenix asked.
Spring looked at her sister as a sense of desperation filled her. “Have you seen Roam?” she asked.
“I saw him change into his tiger and disappear down the path. Why? Is everything alright?” Phoenix inquired with concern.
“I… I have to find him,” she said with growing panic.
Phoenix leaned forward and gave her a hug. “You go find Roam. I’ll let Mom and Dad know what you are doing,” she promised.
“Thank you,” Spring whispered.
She turned and began running down the path. Doubt filled her. What if she couldn’t find him? What if he read her letter and never wanted to talk to her again?
“Please, Goddess, please let him know I didn’t mean the things I wrote,” she tearfully whispered.
Chapter Ten
The faint cry on the wind mixed with the sound of muffled tears. Arilla, Goddess to the unique species that lived in this galaxy and many others, tilted her head and focused. The sound of anguish in the young Dragonling’s voice was matched by the heartbreaking sobs of a young tiger cub.
Two of her young charges needed her—but one needed her more than the other at the moment. With a mere thought, she appeared under the branch of the tall tree where the young white and black-striped tiger was rubbing his cheeks against his paws. His face, paws, and chest were covered in a dusting of glitter.
Arilla floated upward until she could sit on the branch next to Roam. She reached out and stroked him behind his left ear. He looked up at her with huge blue eyes flooding with tears of sadness.
“What’s wrong, Roam?” she gently asked.
Roam looked down at the card and then back at her. He sniffed loudly as he changed back into his two-legged form. She steadied him when he wobbled on the branch.
“Spring hates me,” he said in a shuddering voice.
Arilla gave him a compassionate smile and shook her head. “Why would you think that Spring hates you?” she asked.
He handed her the card. “Because she said ‘Reyloops are red, Vinehearts are blue, nobody hates you as much as I do.’,” he repeated.
Arilla looked at the card. She frowned when she saw tiny writing that started at the top and curved around the edge of the card. Most of it was covered by the very fine red and pink glitter. She held the card out and sent a puff of wind across it. A small cloud of colorful dust floated through the air down to the ground.
“Did you read what else she wrote?” she asked.
Roam frowned and wiped the back of his hand under his nose. “No, I didn’t see anything else,” he admitted.
Arilla pointed to the very tiny writing. “I believe it starts here,” she said, handing the card back to him.
Roam silently read the message, turning the card as he did. His bottom lip trembled and a fresh tear coursed down his cheek. Arilla waited until he was finished.
“I hurt her feelings,” he said, closing the card.
“Yes,” Arilla agreed.
He wiped his cheek with his arm, smearing dirt and glitter across it. She imagined he was going to be sparkly for quite some time. He dropped his hand down to his lap and moodily stared at the card.
“What should I do? What if Spring never wants to see or speak to me again?” he asked with a note of rising panic in his voice.
“I don’t think that will be an issue,” Arilla assured him.
He looked at her with a skeptical expression. “How can you be sure?” he asked.
“Because she has come looking for you,” Arilla murmured with a wave of her hand as she faded away.
Roam followed the motion of her hand. “Spring—” he breathed out.
Roam scrabbled down the trunk of the tree. He half-jumped/half-fell the last few feet to the ground. Fortunately, he landed on his feet—and almost on top of Spring.
“Roam! I—” her voice faded and her eyes widened when she saw the glitter and the crumpled card in his hand. “You opened it.”
He looked down at the card. “Yeah. It was on the ground and had my name on it,” he said, returning his attention to her face.
“You weren’t supposed to see that. Well, you were at first, but then I decided I didn’t want to give it to you,” she said in a rush to explain.
“It’s okay. The glitter bomb was pretty cool,” he said.
Her eyes widened with surprise. “You liked that?” she asked.
He scuffed the toe of his shoe into the ground and smiled. “Well, yeah. What’s not to like about it? A booby-trapped card,” he replied.
“That was Amber and Jade’s idea. They’ve been working on all kinds of things lately,” she confessed.
He reached out and took her hand. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. I shouldn’t pull your hair. I just like touching it. Cat hair is coarse, but your hair is soft,” he said.
“I like cat hair. My hair is always getting tangled up. That’s why I put it in a ponytail,” she said, lifting her hand to wrap a finger around a long strand.
“I also don’t mind that you like to get dirty. My cat doesn’t like water all that much—well, he didn’t until last night,” he confessed.
She frowned. “What happened last night to make him like water?” she curiously asked.
He gave her a self-conscious grin. “Zohar and Leo said taking a bath with bubbles made it better. They were right,” he ruefully replied.
She giggled. “I like bubbles sometimes, too.” She looked at him with a somber expression. “I’m sorry I said I hate you. I didn’t mean it.”
“I know. I read what else you wrote,” he said.
“What else I wrote—” she repeated with a frown before her expression cleared. “Oh, yes. What else I wrote,” she agreed, glancing over his shoulder up at the tree branch before nodding in agreement.
A loud explosion and the sounds of yells drew their attention. The football game was starting. He grabbed her hand when she started to turn away.
“Wait! I… Uh, I have a Valentine’s Day card for you—and a present,” he mumbled, squeezing her hand.
“You do?” she asked, her face flushing with pleasure.
“Yeah. It is… It isn’t much, but I thoug
ht maybe you might like it. I… Hold on,” he said, releasing her hand.
He rushed over to the bottom of the tree where he had left her gift. Self-doubt filled him. He should have thought this out better. He stuffed her card into his pocket and picked up the small, potted plant in the colorful pot. Surprise filled him when he saw the half-dozen colorful blossoms bobbing in the light breeze.
“Glow-blooms! These are my favorite! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before with so many colors,” she exclaimed.
“Uh, yeah, it has a lot more flowers on it now than it did earlier. I thought if I gave you a plant then you could have flowers all year long instead of for just a few days. It would be like I was here even when I’m not,” he said, holding the potted plant out to her.
She took the plant and gently touched one of the yellow blossoms before she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Uncertainty filled him again. What had he done now?
“Thank you,” she said, leaning forward and pressing her lips to his in a brief kiss.
Wow! The exclamation of his cat and his thoughts merged at the same time.
He stood frozen with his lips still puckered as she turned away and took off down the path. He lifted his hand and rubbed his chest. His heart was thumping.
Where she going? his cat hissed rather indignantly.
Another loud explosion was followed by howls of outrage… and laughter. Curious, he took a step forward before he paused and looked back at the tree. He smiled when he saw Arilla sitting on the branch.
“Thank you,” he said.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Roam,” Arilla said before she faded away again.
“Zoran look out!” Ha’ven shouted.
“Ha’ven, you look out. There’s another one,” Cree yelled.
“Dragon’s Balls! Time out! Who changed the rules? I thought we were just supposed to get the ball, kill—I mean, tackle anyone—who tries to stop us from getting it to the other end of the field. No one said anything about exploding yard lines,” Calo snapped.
