Hard Boiled

by T L Christianson

  I pulled out the stopper and took a long sip of the bubbly concoction.

  "What is this? Is it alcoholic?" I asked.

  Ashe smiled at me before taking a long drink of his own. "No, it's just fermented. Do you like it?"

  I frowned, not answering his question. "No more stalling. Spill. I want to hear everything Evgeni said to you, then I'll tell you what I know."

  He finished swallowing a bit of his food before speaking. "I pretty much told you everything already. We don't have a choice about the bond—what's done can't be undone. Our bond is for life," he told me, his eyes on the valley below.

  "I feel like we should've already known this." I sighed and picked the cheese out of my sandwich. "Why didn't you tell me all this sooner?"

  "I wanted to, but you were so mad I didn't think you'd talk to me. And then I had to go back to the base."

  "Oh," I said softly.

  "He also told me that the longer we leave the bond unfinished, the greater the chance it will drive us crazy… and I'm starting to wonder if it's true."

  I gazed over at him, "Are you going crazy?"

  His voice was soft as he picked up my discarded cheese and put it in his sandwich. "Maybe. I've been having nightmares. I can't sleep, I can't focus."

  It hurt me that he was struggling. "Nightmares? It sounds like you just need more sleep. What are you going to do about it? I’m sure a doctor can give you something to help.”

  Reaching out, his knuckles grazed my thigh as he picked up my wax wrapper. "No… we have more serious matters we need to talk about—what do you think Evgeni wants from George?"

  "Same thing I want probably. Information about Celine," I suggested, pulling my legs up to hug them against my chest. “Think about it. George is here, and Evgeni sent me here. If anyone will be able to see him, it’s me."

  "He's in lockdown, and that's supposed to be classified information. Why do you think you'll be able to see him?"

  I sighed, "I've been thinking about that, and I plan to ask Durand. I'll bug him until he agrees to take me. I think he's the weak link."

  "Smart. I agree," he frowned. "What do you think Evgeni wants from George?"

  I swept a pebble off my leg, "He probably wants to know the same thing as me, where Celine is… I think she’s in the dragon realm."

  "George said that? Because he's lying. People don't go to the dragon realm. It can't be done." He reached down and took my empty bottle, capping it before placing it into his backpack.

  I raised my eyebrows. "Maybe, maybe not. I don't know until I talk to George. Evgeni told me that Celine was studying rituals and had a Ph.D. in physics… then she ends up missing? And claimed to be dead from an overdose? That doesn't make sense."

  "She’s not there, Syd. People can’t go to the dragon realm," he sighed.

  I pursed my lips before saying, "Well, George can clear that up, can’t he?"

  He shook his head, "I can ask Eondian to search for humans in the Dragon realm, but I'm telling you he won't find any."

  "It can't be that hard to go to the dragon realm…"

  Ashe snorted. "It can't be hard? Are you out of your mind? George had his dragon taken away just for messing with that sort of thing. Wasn't your mom some kind of expert on rituals? It's been what? Fifteen years and she's still missing? For all we know, she could be here in the States or even down in South America or Europe… somewhere in hiding."

  His words made my blood heat and not in a sexy way.

  If my mom were here… then I would never be able to forgive her. If she chose to live apart from George and me… no.

  Ashe watched me stew in my thoughts for a bit before reaching over to rub my neck.

  "Don't," I spat, moving away from his touch. "She's not here. She can't be."

  "Okay. Well, we aren't going anywhere anyway, right? We're just gathering information." He ducked his chin and met my eye.

  I nearly shook with irritation. "Fine. But you cannot keep anything from me."

  "Anything?" He raised his brows and smiled.

  "Anything important."

  Ashe nodded. "Then I need to tell you something else."

  "Okay," I asked cautiously.

  "Another possibility why Evgeni sent you here is so that we'll complete our bond. But I wasn't going to say anything because it's not going to happen." He brushed a leaf off his pant leg.

  "Okay…" I trailed off.

  We sat there a while longer, looking out into the valley.

  "Are you seeing anyone else… right now? Like Lacy?" The question annoyed me as it slipped from my lips, but I had to know what his response would be.

  "No… of course not. You're my bondmate. No. No. We just have to wait," he said, retying his bootlace even though it didn't need retying.

  "Wait… until when?" I watched him with raised eyebrows.

  He clenched his jaw before replying, "Honestly, I don't know… until you're eighteen or nineteen… or older."

  I closed my eyes and groaned. "And you're just what? Going to be celibate all this time?"

  He sighed heavily. "I'm not going to tell you things you already know."

  "Have you thought about hooking up with anyone?" I hated myself for asking, but I had to know.

  Ashe stared at me, his chest heaving with a deep breath. "You might not like the answer."

  "Tell me," I asked, bracing myself.

  "I’ve thought about it, but I could never go through with it… in my mind, I'd be with you."

  I breathed a sigh of relief and rolled my eyes. "Whatever! You're so full of it!"

  "It's true."

  "This is so stupid!" I told him.

  He held his hands wide. "I agree. Is there anything else you want to know?"

  "All right, yes. Tell me this… Have you ever done seeding?"

  "You know what that is?" He cringed and I nodded. "You shouldn't ask questions unless you really want to know the answer. Do you really want to know?"

  "Yes… no…. yes, I do." I finally answered.

  "Fine. I have. I've done it twice, and both times were unsuccessful," he said, meeting my eye. "And before you ask, no, I'm never doing it again."

  I thought about the fat baby that had been with Lacy and my stomach dropped. "So, do you have any little babies running around out there that I should know about?"

  He shook his head. "No, thank the ancestors!"

  Relief swept through me. "So, was it you or…?"

  His eyes widened. "I guarantee nothing is wrong with me."

  I shook my head and smiled. We sat there, legs sprawled, leaning back on our hands.

  "Did you ever think of having kids… I mean, when you're older?” he asked, tapping my foot with his.

  "Honestly? No. I've never been around kids. I wouldn't know what to do with one," I laughed and shrugged at his stunned expression.

  "I thought that when you'd told me that, you were kidding."

  "No. But my decision isn't set in stone,” I told him, meeting his gaze.

  We sat like that for several moments, while his icy blue eyes tried to figure me out.

  Finally, I leaned forward and swept my hands on my hips, wiping off the little grains of sand that stuck to them.

  I stood just as a Red dragon dove by, before gliding out over the valley.

  He pointed to the beast in the sky. "That's Corbin. I need to introduce you."

  "Oh? An Eton and a Prime? Is this Lacy’s brother I’ve heard about?" I asked.

  Ashe’s brow furrowed. "Yeah. Wait, you know him? How?"

  "I’ve heard of him. Earlier today, Lacy claimed that you slept at her place and Taya said you would only be there because of her brother, Corbin. Don’t you have your own place?"

  "Yeah, I do… but I have roommates who aren’t too happy about being woken up in the middle of the night by my nightmares." He shook his head, his eyes darting around as he gathered up his pack. "I stayed with Corbin… not Lacy. Corbin’s one of my closest friends. We've known each other fore
ver. We even went to college together, except he went into computers, and I went into business."

  I wiped the sand off my bare legs. "Well, I'm glad I got that cleared up from you. I thought that maybe the two of you had gotten back together."

  "No… never. I've seen a whole new side of Lacy since we broke up and it isn’t pretty." He brushed gravel off my arm. "What are you doing now?"

  "I'm not sure, but if lunch or second meal or whatever is over, then I need to get back to my grandparent's place. Are you going back to work?"

  He smiled lazily at me. "No. We don't do human hours here."

  I mulled that over for a bit. "Well, I need to go. Taya has probably realized that I'm not taking a nap by now."

  Nodding, he pulled the door open for me. "I'll walk you home."

  "Okay."

  "Hey? Are you… are you all right?"

  "Yeah. I will be," I told him.

  Walking up the residential corridor, I was irritated at myself for being so lenient with Ashe. I was still fuming, but when he looked at me with that crooked smile and those eyes… it was like nothing existed except him and me.

  When I spotted Taya, her eyes flashing in anger, I nearly turned around.

  She gave me a tight-lipped smile, blinking her eyes rapidly. "Thanks for showing up. I've been low key searching for you! I've been all over! I've been to Olivia's, I've been to the bathes. I've been to Ashe's quarters and Corbin's house even!” she breathed out through her nose and shook her head. "I thought you weren't going to do stupid crap like this again? Not only can I get in trouble, but you could get yourself in a bad situation."

  My eyes flicked to Ashe as the three of us stood in the entryway of my grandparent's cave? Apartment? House? Whatever you called this place.

  "Taya," Ashe said, using his 'calm down' voice. "She was with me, and she's not going to do it again—are you?” he asked, turning to me.

  I twisted my mouth. "I'm not a child! Will both of you just stop? We're surrounded by soldiers! What could happen here?"

  My guard's mouth dropped open, and she turned to Ashe. "Did you hear that? She doesn't care?" Turning to me, hands-on hips, she spat, "No. That doesn't work for me, Sydney! Seriously! If you pull this crap again, I'll ask Durand to assign someone else! Is that what you want? Someone who'll breathe down your neck, lock you in your room, and basically keep you prisoner?"

  That sounded terrible and I cringed. "Fine, fine fine…Okay, I'm sorry. You're right. I won't go anywhere without you. I promise."

  My assurance brought a smug smile to her mouth as she watched Ashe and I awkwardly stand there.

  I twisted, stretching my back as I met Ashe's gaze. "Well… this has been… weird."

  He smiled uncomfortably. "Yeah, I guess I'll see you around.”

  "Goodbye, Ashe," I said, closing the door a little too aggressively, making it bang shut.

  "Wow! That was weird. I guess you guys are still broken up?" Taya wrinkled her nose. "Why are you even talking to him?"

  I sighed heavily and groaned, "it's complicated." Then I told her my suspicions about Evgeni sending me here, George, and the possibility of my mom being in the dragon realm.

  She considered my words for a moment before sniffing. "Well, I don't know Evgeni, and I only saw him the one time when he picked you up at the airport, but I do know his reputation… and it's not great, but he is the man to go to if you have a problem." She shook her head. "As far as Celine and the dragon realm. That is a hard no. First of all, even looking into that shit is forbidden. You're not supposed to even talk to your dragon about the dragon realm, let alone ask it questions. Next, if your mom managed to actually get there, it's supposedly a very dangerous place and I doubt she could even survive. And last but not least, there is no way that you'll be able to see George. You're not even supposed to know he's here."

  The door opened, cutting Taya off. Durand strode into the room and stopped, looking between us.

  "What are you two up to?” he asked suspiciously.

  My voice rushed out breathlessly as I pleaded with Durand, "I know George is here, and I need to see him."

  My uncle's face darkened, and he glared at Taya.

  "What makes you think he's here?" he asked evasively.

  "I know he's here. I should have the right to see the man who raised me."

  "Damnit, Taya!” he barked.

  "I didn't tell her, Durand. You know how it is here!” she said, holding her hands wide.

  "Ashe? I saw him in the main residential tunnel. Did Ashe tell you?" Durand’s voice boomed.

  "No! And it doesn't matter who told me. Does George at least have a lawyer? Or anything like that?"

  The Drake Prime clenched his jaw, considering my request. "We don't do lawyers here."

  As he started to walk away, I grabbed his sleeve.

  "Durand, please. I feel like you're going to talk to Arthur about this, but please don't." I licked my lips, trying to think. "George was good to me, and even though I'm finding out that he probably shouldn't have had custody of me—he's the only parent I've known."

  I stared into his hazel green eyes, and a realization hit me. His eyes were very similar to Logan's.

  But before my mind fell down that rabbit hole, Durand's stiff posture relaxed slightly.

  "I'll think about it," he growled in his scary army voice. "But that's all. I'm not making any promises."

  "Thank you," I whispered. "Is he… okay?"

  My uncle's nostrils flared. "I haven't seen him, but I know he's alive."

  "Wha…" I started to ask but was cut off.

  "I have to go. I said I'd see what I could do, and I will," he told me briskly, storming down the carved corridor.

  My mind chased different thoughts, like a dog chasing a squirrel. Everything I told Durand was true. I needed to see George. I still loved him, and honestly, I'd help him in any way I could. Then there were the eerie similarities between Durand and Logan. Could Logan be seeded? Or Durand?

  Taya put her hand on my arm. "I can tell that you're scheming something. Just stop, right now."

  "I'm not scheming. I just… have you ever noticed how Durand and Logan have the same eye color? Like not just the same color, but their eyes are identical." My mouth twisted, and I looked in the direction my uncle disappeared down.

  My guard rolled her eyes. "That's ridiculous. Besides, everyone is somewhat related, especially Drake Dragonborn. So, yeah, you're probably related to Logan—but then so am I… sooooooo…” she trailed off.

  I gazed into the distance, looking into my past. A past where George and I lived this carefree life. Where we could go where we wanted, get a grant and fly off to somewhere new.

  I chewed my bottom lip nervously. "God! George is here! He's really here… but I'm almost afraid to see him after last time." I turned to her. "What if he does the same thing as he did in New York?"

  Her brown eyes softened. "Then you'll be fine, and you'll know why he's doing it."

  Aaraeth clawed at me, wanting out, wanting to fly. She could sense the other dragons and wanted to join them.

  I walked to the open French doors and out onto the ledge. Closing my eyes, I released my hold on the beast. Casting her into our world was like separating two staticky socks. One moment, she was joined with me, and the next, we were separate.

  Aaraeth stretched her neck before gazing around, her multifaceted eyes meeting mine.

  Do you want to fly? She asked.

  I didn't need to answer. Instead, I climbed up onto her back. In an instant, we were in the air, her powerful legs having thrust us upward.

  I could hear Taya yelling about a harness and safety, but I ignored her. I'd ridden Aaraeth without one from the beginning, and I was so used to flying without one. It seemed like a lot of extra work. Besides, I'd fallen once, and Aaraeth caught me within a split second.

  Closing my eyes, I felt the sun on my skin and the wind rush through my hair. I readjusted my grip on her spikes as she dove downward before fling
ing her wings out to catch the wind again. I laughed at the thrill of it and held my arms wide as the wind pulled at me, making my t-shirt flap in the breeze.

  This was what made being Dragonborn special. Flying. Not the lie-detecting, or the mind-reading, not the benefits of being a Prime or a bondmate.

  Just me and Aaraeth.

  I would've been just as happy if Aaraeth had been a wyvern.

  Because flight was something almost magical.

  Being in the air cleared my head, wiped the slate clean, and took all my worries away.

  All that mattered was the next stroke of a wing or the next gust of air. Even though we were apart, Aaraeth and I were still connected mentally, and if I closed my eyes, I could see what she saw, live through her and feel her wings as my own.

  After an unknown time, lost in my flight with Aaraeth, fatigue brought her to land on the ledge of my grandparents' home. I stepped down from her back and rubbed my arms as I stood overlooking the fields below.

  "Call her to you," Elise said, startling me from the doorway. Wrapping a white shawl around her shoulders, she sat down on the bench next to the door.

  I did as she asked, even though I didn't understand why I needed to.

  With a single thought, I brought my dragon to me. She bowed her head as she joined me, leaving me with that slightly awed sensation.

  I shivered and walked back to my grandmother, sitting beside her. We hadn't spoken more than five words the whole day.

  But instead of speaking, she just watched me with a serene smile on her face. It was unnerving, and after several seconds, just to ease the tension, I said, "This place is so different. I had no idea what to expect, but it wasn't this."

  "Briony is special. We try to keep with the old ways as much as possible. It feels good, doesn't it?” she asked, a wistful tone in her voice as she looked out over the valley.

  "I guess. I've noticed something… there aren't many Harrow dragons here, why is that?"

  "Most of the Elibera live on their own away from the group." She patted my knee. "That worries you?"

  "Well, kind of. Why do they?"

  She tilted her head, considering my question. "I suppose that they want to be involved in the mundane world, and that's their choice."