Raikidan and I laughed harder. Ryoko whined but didn’t call out again, knowing that it’d only delay her demand.
The two of us finally calmed ourselves and Raikidan looked at me. “So why her?”
“I found that frequency works on humans with canine-like DNA. So she’s affected because of her half-wogron nature, and Rylan also will find himself unable to do anything because of his wolf DNA. Any other human like them in a quarter of a mile who can hear would be suffering the same effect.”
“That’s a decent coverage.”
I nodded. “That’s about how far the bell’s sound travels before distorting, nullifying the effect.”
A grin spread across his lips suddenly. “This is why you mentioned ‘sit’ when telling me about the reason for needing it.”
I snickered and rolled back over on my front. “Yep.”
He laughed. “I enjoy your sense of humor. I want you to know that.”
“I don’t!” Ryoko shouted.
The two of us laughed some more.
Raikidan was the first to calm himself and when I finally did, I caught him staring at me. The longer I held eye contact, the less I found myself able to look away. It’s those eyes. They were like a snare. My lips felt dry, and I licked them quickly to wet them again only to realize they were fine. What was going on?
“You have some really interesting eyes,” he said. “Makes it hard not to look at you.”
My cheeks warmed and I broke away my gaze. I touched a feather on the bell to regain my composure. “Your eyes are nice too… I guess.”
“Hello?” Ryoko called out. “You two better not be ignoring me now. I’ll pulverize you both.”
The two of us chuckled and Raikidan handed the bell back to me. It was time to end this game, but first, I wanted to figure out where Ryoko was. Willing my clothes to change, I exited my room and looked around, finding my half-wogron friend sitting in the kitchen, her leg out in front of her and her arms at her side.
My lips spread into a grin. “Morning, sunshine.”
She pouted with drooped ears. “Stop being mean! I missed you and this is how you treat me after being gone so long?”
I snickered. “I have to make up for lost time.”
“Laz,” she whined.
“Okay, okay.” I flicked the bell and it emitted a sound different than before. She sighed with relief and stood up, but before she could say anything, Rylan’s door down the hall flew open, crashing into the inner wall of his room, and he stormed out. Rage seeped off of him in waves.
My brow rose at the sight of him only wearing red heart boxers. “I guess I’m supposed to be happy you’re at least wearing boxers.”
“I was getting dressed when you used that damn thing.” He almost bared his teeth, a habit from his wolf DNA that he hated. “Give it to me, now.”
I pointed my finger to the ground and spun it. “Go put some clothes on and then we’ll talk.”
Rylan stalked down the hall, ignoring my request. “Give it to me.”
I sighed and hopped up on the bar, ready for this to take a bit. Ryoko stayed where she was, interested in my approach to this. Rylan came in reaching distance, his arm out, but I stopped him from coming closer by placing my foot on his chest.
He looked down at my foot and then at me with a raised brow. “Seriously?”
Rylan continued his reach attempt and I planted my other foot on his chest, keeping him at bay. He let out an aggravated sigh and tried to push and pull my feet off him, but I stayed firm.
“Just give me the bell, Laz.”
I held it out of his reach. “No, it’s mine. So be a good boy and behave.”
His eyes narrowed and his lip pulled back. “Don’t treat me like some dog.” His grip around my ankles tightened. “Now give me that stupid bell or I’ll freeze you.”
I grinned and held a finger up to the bell. “Try me.”
Ryoko whimpered. “Don’t be mean, Laz.”
I didn’t take my eyes off Rylan. “Don’t worry, this next frequency won’t affect you. Just Rylan.”
She perked up. “Okay, then go for it!”
Rylan looked at her with a shocked, betrayed expression before hardening his resolve and squeezed my ankles tighter, his hands growing cold. I knew him well enough to know that he would apply some ice to my skin, but not enough to harm me. I grinned and flicked the bell, a beautiful sound ringing from it. Rylan fell to the ground, as did another body.
Furrowed brow, I looked over to where Raikidan had been standing, watching the events before him, to find him also on his ass.
Ryoko leaned over the bar to look at him too. “That affected you too?”
Raikidan glowered at me. “Did you really have to do that to me as well?”
I snickered. “I didn’t think it would. It’s not the same tone that worked on you last time.”
“Wait, back up,” Ryoko said. “I want to know why it works on him. Is it because he’s a shifter?”
Raikidan frowned. “Yes.”
Ryoko slammed her hand on the bar. “Well, welcome to the club!”
He tilted his head. “Club?”
“Yeah, the ‘Laz likes to torture us with a bell’ club.”
I snickered. Not only was the name of this club ridiculous and long, but she didn’t understand that he’d questioned her because he had no idea what she meant by a “club.”
“Sounds stupid.”
I leaned back as I laughed, and Ryoko placed her hand on her chest, faking insult. “Rude. Fine, we don’t want you in the club anyway.” She wrapped her arms around me suddenly and pulled me off the bar. “Now, I need to talk to you.”
“What? Wait, hold on.” She didn’t allow me any choice as she pulled me by the wrist to her room.
“Fix us first!” Rylan yelled.
Ryoko went to close the door, but I stopped her, so I could undo the effect. The bell rang and Ryoko locked the door before Rylan had a chance to get to his feet and chase after us.
She then spun around and stared me down, a weird smile on her lips. “Okay, spill it.”
“Spill what?”
Her eyes darted to the door and her next words were slow and evasive. “You know…” Unfortunately, I didn’t, and I hated she wouldn’t just come out and say it. Ryoko sighed. “You and the new guy. Spill it!”
I laughed. “Is that what this is about? Ryoko, I thought you knew me better than that. I can assure you, there is nothing going on between me and Raikidan.”
“But you shared the room last night. You never let anyone stay in your room.”
“He slept on the floor,” I defended. Her brow lifted as she crossed her arms. It didn’t surprise me she didn’t believe me, but it didn’t make it any less true. “Look, he doesn’t trust you guys. I’ve been traveling with him for a while, so it’s only natural he would have a little more trust in me than any of you. Also, you’re right, he didn’t just sleep on the floor. He slept propped up against the door.”
“So that’s why the door wouldn’t budge…” I knew I wasn’t supposed to hear that, but I had, and I stared at her, eyes wide. “Sorry! I wanted to know, so I tried to enter, but the door wouldn’t open. Let me tell you, he’s a lot heavier than he looks, and that’s saying something, with my strength.”
If I hadn’t been laughing so hard, I would have smacked her. “So, what about you? You and Rylan seem to be sleeping in different rooms, so either you two finally hooked up and it didn’t work out, or you’re still being your usual self about it.”
Her face reddened and she averted her gaze. Nope, hasn’t told him. It didn’t surprise me in the least. It had been hard enough getting her to admit to me how she felt in the first place. If she’s not showing signs Rylan would catch, that dummy wouldn’t know to act on his own feelings that I also knew he had. Why do I get caught up in the middle of these things?
“Because you’re a moron,” the voice in my head hissed.
She wrung her hands together, her sho
ulders tight. “I just feel there’s still some sort of connection between the two of you, that’s all…”
I crossed my arms. “Ryoko, how many times do I have to tell you, there is nothing between us. There never was.”
“But—”
“Don’t start,” I warned. “There was never anything. There never will be anything. Not with him, not with anyone else.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Why don’t you try to find someone, Laz? Don’t you find anyone attractive?”
It was my turn to avert my gaze. “Finding someone attractive and being attracted to them are two completely different things.”
A thin smirk spread across her lips. “So, you do find this new guy attractive.”
I let out a sigh. “How the hell did you get that assumption from my answer?”
“You’re not denying it.”
The problem was she really wasn’t… wrong. “Yes, he’s an attractive…” How do I word this that’s close to the truth and not blow his cover? “…male.”
She tilted her head to the side and tapped her lips with a finger. “And you don’t care he’s a shapeshifter, right?”
My eyes narrowed. What is she getting at? “No.”
A big smile spread across her face. “Well, there you go. There’s still hope for the two of you!”
With a groan, I smacked my head. “Why can’t anyone understand I don’t care about this stuff? I have more important things to worry about than trivial emotions I can’t experience.”
“Laz, we both know that’s not why you refuse to think about this.”
I leaned against the wall and stared at the ground. She was right, but I had told myself long ago I would learn from that mistake, and the way I was acting was part of it.
“I just want you to be happy,” she said.
“I don’t know what happy means.”
Her ears drooped. “Please don’t say that. I hate it when you do.”
“You know I don’t like to lie to you.”
Ryoko walked up to me and draped my hair to one side. “You look nice with your hair this length. It looks even better pulled over like this. You should try to have it like this more.”
Her change in subject made me feel a little better. “I’m going to bring Raikidan out into the city today to give him a feel for the place. If you’re interested in coming along, you’re more than welcome to.”
She smiled. “That’s a great idea. We could familiarize you, as well, since you’ve been gone so long. I’d love to join you.” She snickered. “I’m not sure Rylan will go, though, not after the fun you had this morning.”
I winked as I headed for the door. “I’m sure you could convince him.”
Her face flushed, and I chuckled before opening the door. Rylan’s bored expression met my eyes as he leaned an arm on the doorframe. He’d been decent enough to throw some pants on while waiting.
Rylan held out his hand. “Give me the bell.”
“No.” I pushed past him. “Raikidan, I’m going to take you out into the city today to get accustomed to it. But first, I need a shower because I reek from weeks of traveling.”
Ryoko scrunched her nose. “Yeah, you do.” Before I could flip her my middle finger, she latched onto Rylan. “You should come with us. It’ll be fun.” She didn’t give him a chance to protest and went straight into playing dirty. Her ears drooped, her eyes widened while her brow furrowed, and she stuck her bottom lip out into a pout. “Please?”
Rylan closed his eyes and visibly swallowed. “Yes, I’ll go, please stop looking at me like that. You know I can’t take it.”
Ryoko smiled with delight. I went to take my shower, but Rylan stopped me. “The bell first.”
“You’re not getting it. I won’t use it again unless I absolutely have to, but you’re not getting it.”
“Why not?”
“Because Mom gave it to me…”
Rylan’s touch retracted immediately, allowing me to slip away. As I did, I did what I could to keep the memories at bay. I needed to focus on the present—a time where she and many others were no longer with us—and there was no changing that.
The early evening sun hung low in the sky by the time we made it to Sector Three, and the city was still busy with life. I didn’t like this sector, but Ryoko had insisted it was best to show Raikidan this area as well. As we walked, Ryoko and I had taken turns explaining things to him, and to my surprise, he kept up rather well.
“Hey, Ryoko, where—” I stopped and looked around. Neither she nor Rylan was with us anymore. “Um, where did they go?”
Raikidan threw a thumb behind him. “She got all excited and ran into one of those buildings you called a store.”
“And you didn’t say anything?” I couldn’t believe this.
“I didn’t think it would be a big deal. How hard would it be for us to find them?” he asked.
I looked around. “I don’t know, Raikidan. How hard would it be to find two people out of hundreds?” He thought this over for a moment and finally understood the problem. I pulled him by the arm. “C’mon, we should keep moving. Otherwise we might attract unwanted attention.”
“What kind of attention?” he asked.
“Soldiers, thieves, could be a number of things. It’s best to blend in whenever possible.”
Sadly, my desire to blend in didn’t happen. A woman with too much makeup and in need of some more clothing sashayed her way over to us. “Hey, big boy.” She grabbed onto Raikidan’s arm. “Why not come with me, and for a small price, have a little fun?” Her voice made me sick. “I’ll even give you a special discount for being so hot.”
Raikidan looked at me in confusion. I sighed. This was not going to be fun in the least. I wrapped my arms around Raikidan’s free one and pulled him away from the woman. “He’s not interested.”
“Aw, c’mon, sweetheart. Can’t you share?” She grabbed Raikidan’s arm again, pushing her luck. “If you want to join, it’ll only cost a little extra. I’m not a picky woman.”
“Go find another dick to suck on, whore,” I snarled, nearly baring my teeth.
She let go of his arm and stalked away, turning her nose up at me. Dragging Raikidan with me, I stormed down the street. I didn’t let go until I knew we were out of her sight.
“What the hell was that?” Raikidan asked.
“That would be a type of unwanted attention,” I muttered.
“That’s not what I mean.”
I sighed. I knew what he meant. I just didn’t want to explain it. “She was a hooker.”
“A what?”
“A person you pay to have sex with.”
“Humans pay to procreate with each other?” Of course he didn’t get it. Why would he?
“That’s not what I meant.” I sighed. This was going to get very awkward very fast. Sitting on a nearby bench, I thought about how to word what I had to say. Raikidan sat down next to me and waited. “Humans have something called contraceptives that make it so a child isn’t produced when having sex. This way, we can have a little fun with no worries about anything happening afterward.”
“You do this for fun?”
“Obviously, it’s a little different for dragons.” It wasn’t a question. If he was surprised humans had fun with something like this, then it had to be different for them.
“We mate for reproductive purposes only, and we definitely don’t reproduce with random dragons.”
My brow furrowed. “Wait, I know your kind is monogamous, but do you mate for life too?”
He looked at me funny. “Of course.”
I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought of that. He’d said they were loyal to their mates, but I had never thought that would influence them to stick together for their entire lifespan.
“Humans don’t?”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure about regular humans, but for monogamous nu-humans, it’s not common these days. They try, but most of the time the relationships are lucky to last a decade or two.
”
“Is that the real reason you don’t try to find a mate?” he asked. I looked at him funny. “I overheard your conversation with your friend.”
“Y–you what?” This was a little embarrassing. “How the hell did you hear us? Her room has soundproofing built into it.”
“Not really sure. Your voices were low, but just loud enough for my ears to pick up. You didn’t answer my question.”
I looked away from him. “It’s none of your business.”
He leaned closer, a smirk plastered on his face. “Look, your friends have liked this form I take, so I can’t blame you if you do as well.”
I pushed his face away as I stood up. “You’re being a creeper. Knock it off and behave.”
“Where are you going?” he asked as I walked back the way we had come.
“I’m getting hungry, and I don’t know where the place Ryoko wanted us to go is, so we’re going back to Sector Eight and eating at a restaurant I know of.”
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“I’ve upset you in some way, haven’t I?”
“Just drop it, Raikidan.”
“All right, all right.”
I glanced back at him. “Just fair warning, I doubt you’re going to like Blaze.” He waited for an explanation. “He’s not monogamous and is proud of that. It’s not uncommon for him to bring a few different women home during the week.”
Raikidan’s lip curled. “I’ll do my best to tolerate it.”
I nodded and led him to the restaurant. When we arrived, the hostess brought us to our table and gave us the menu. She named off a few of the house specials and left when I ordered drinks. I looked out the window into the darkness of the night that had fallen. I didn’t need to look at the menu to know what to order.
Raikidan looked at the first page and his expression changed to confusion. “What is this stuff? Why are there so many strange names on here?”
I chuckled. “Each dish is comprised of several kinds of ingredients, so they give them names to make it easy for people to order. I know what to order, so don’t try too hard to understand right now.”
He continued to look at the menu. “I don’t trust it.”
“I’ll be eating the food. Does that make you trust it more?”
Destiny (Experimental Heart Book 1) Page 20