I sat back on the bed and crossed my arms. I refused to look at her. She was wrong. There was no bond. There was only basic trust, and the knowledge that he was a dragon. That’s all there was to it. He just enjoyed pushing my boundaries for his own amusement. That was the reason it looked like something else. There was no bond… right?
Ryoko sighed. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. At this rate, Zane is going to chew us out for being late.”
We left the room to find Argus and Rylan heading downstairs, with Raikidan following. Zane was already gone, no surprise there, and Blaze was stuffing his face with cereal.
He looked me over. “Damn, I was hoping she’d convince you to dress like her.”
I scoffed. “Not with you around to make comments.”
“C’mon, you’d look great.” He grinned. “You could even pass off as her hot older sister.”
I looked at Ryoko and tossed my thumb toward the basement door. “I’m getting out of here before his stupidity damages my brain.”
She nodded and followed. “Don’t leave me with him.”
“Oh, don’t be like that, ladies,” Blaze said. “It’s a compliment. Ladies?”
We continued down the stairs, wanting no part in his kind of “compliments.”
“Oh c’mon, don’t ignore me. Dammit…”
The two of us snickered and then continued to the garage for a long day of work.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Darkness and fog clouded my mind, my body heavy and nearly numb. Something pressed on my shoulder, I thought. The numbness ebbed after a moment, and then, something muffled hit my ears. Over time it became louder and clearer—a male voice. “Eira. Eira, wake up. Wake up, Eira.”
My eyes fluttered open, Raikidan’s blurry form leaning close to my face.
“Eira, you have to wake up.”
The fog in my head refused to clear. “Huh?”
“You have to wake up,” he repeated.
Inhaling deeply, I rubbed my eyes and then turned my head to look at my alarm clock, but it was missing. My head cleared a little and I remembered I had broken it. The other night I had grabbed it during a nightmare and smashed it against the wall. Unfortunately, I had woken up halfway through that process and had no time to stop myself. Everyone was sure to have a good laugh at me later that morning. Raikidan, on the other hand, didn’t find it as funny—well, at all, really. He never told me why. It didn’t matter to me all that much, but I had been slightly curious.
Slowly pushing myself into a sitting position, I rubbed my eyes and stretched. I looked out the window and noticed the sun was barely lighting the sky. “What time is it?”
“Too early for you,” he teased. “C’mon, you need to get up.”
“Why?”
“Some soldiers are here.” I almost panicked, but Raikidan made a low hushing sound along with a hand gesture. “Calm down, Eira. They’re just here for the inspection. You can go back to bed when they’re gone.”
“Oh, okay.”
He was doing well staying calm, although I figured he had no idea what an inspection was. I forgot to mention them to him when we got him settled in a few days ago. Me, on the other hand, I knew what it was. They weren’t common, but with the bombing a few days ago, it would only be a matter of time before they sent out groups of soldiers to search houses. Slowly I scooted to the edge of the bed.
“Do you want help?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, I’m fine.”
Placing both feet firmly on the floor, I stood up and tried to walk. Unfortunately, my feet had other ideas. Raikidan caught me as I fell, and chuckled. “Let me help you. You’re too tired to move right.”
“No, Rai, I’m fine.” I pushed away from him and dragged my heavy feet toward the door. Raikidan stuck close, catching me by the hip when I wobbled.
These past few days at the shop had taken their toll on me. The kind of constant work required of my body wasn’t like what I’d needed when I was on the run. On top of that, I’d also had two assignments to deal with, one of them a rare assassination assignment that had come through for me specifically, though I wasn’t sure why. It hadn’t been all that difficult to complete. All of it combined made me feel like I’d let myself become lazy, when that was far from the case. I couldn’t wait for my body to finally adjust to the workload.
We walked past a woman whose face flushed several shades when she laid eyes on Raikidan. For a moment I wasn’t sure why, then my head cleared a bit and I realized he was walking around only in flannel pants. Predictable. I’d started to grow accustomed to the reaction when he had to interact with women, but for some reason I could never shake that annoyance I felt when it happened. It’s not logical…
“You can search the room now,” Raikidan told her.
I was surprised he acknowledged her. Like all the other women who had this reaction, he didn’t seem the least bit interested in her presence.
“O–of course.” She made her way into the bedroom and went to work.
The two of us stood a few feet outside my room in the living room, soldiers going about their search task. I didn’t see a psychic with them, and sent a prayer of thanks to the gods. It means Seda could hide a few particular things from them without issue. Thinking of her got my bleary eyes to look around for her, but she was the only person in the house not in sight. Hiding herself somehow, no doubt.
Unable to shake the fog in my head, I rested my head against Raikidan’s arm. The warmth of his skin made it difficult to fight the urge to rest more of me against him. My eyes closed and Raikidan rested his hand on my head for a brief moment.
“Eira, you okay?” Ryoko asked.
I nodded. “Just tired…”
Several soldiers came into the room and reported to one man, telling him the rooms they checked passed. The room grew progressively quiet, even the sounds of the others breathing faded. That should have alarmed me, but my exhausted state kept me from caring. I just want to sleep…
I jolted when a hand shook my shoulder and my eyes flew open. Raikidan pulled away. “Easy, I just had to wake you back up.”
“I fell asleep?” My voice came out groggy, partial proof that I had. “I didn’t even realize, sorry.”
That’s when I noticed the ranked soldier standing in front of me. His eyes were sympathetic, but his posture read he needed something from me. “Miss, do you need a moment to clear your head before I ask you a few questions?”
What did he want with me? I rubbed my eyes. “This is as awake as I’m going to be. I had a ten-hour work day and maybe only three hours of sleep at this rate.”
He frowned. “My apologizes. I’ll try to make this quick.” He held up a box containing several of my daggers. Alarm flared up in me. “Why do you have these?”
I rubbed my eyes to keep up an innocent appearance. “I have permits for those.”
“So I’ve been told,” he replied. “One of your housemates is retrieving the paperwork, but that’s not what I asked you. What use do you have for such weapons?”
Raikidan went to speak but I stopped him. “We’re immigrants. I used them daily outside this city.”
“What possible use would you have for weapons like this?”
I pointed to them as I spoke. “Hunting—hunting—skinning—gathering—and that one is for protection.”
He scrutinized me. “Protection from what?”
“Wild animals? People?” I placed my hands on my hips, my tired state ebbing. “I may be nu-human, but I’m no soldier.”
“Why bring them here? You have no use for them here.”
My brow rose. “Because they’re mine, and according to this city’s laws, I’m allowed to keep them as long as I have the proper paperwork.”
Zane walked into the room just then, a soldier close behind. It made sense that he went to retrieve the papers. He liked holding the key to all the important documents. “Which I have here, so stop harassing her.”
The commanding officer
stared me down, which I challenged with my own stare, unflinching, before going over to Zane. I allowed myself to relax some, my weariness making it hard to keep myself strong, and leaned against Raikidan again. Raikidan turned a bit, tucking his arm behind me. This allowed me to lean against him more, but I tried my best to resist, only allowing myself to lean my forehead on his muscular chest. I shouldn’t have even done that, but my tired state mixed with this inspection had me all out of sorts.
It wasn’t long before I couldn’t fight anymore and leaned against him fully, Raikidan resting his hand on my shoulder to help keep me up. I can just utilize the alibi. No one could poke fun of me then.
Zane’s voice kept me awake. “As you can see, she’s done all the paperwork required to keep the knives in question.”
“Knives would not be a sufficient assessment for some of these,” the commanding officer grumbled. “There’s also no reason for her to have these, especially since these documents indicate she’s allowed to open-carry them.”
I snorted, fixating one eye on him. “Like this place is some sort of utopia where everyone is safe and there’s no risk of being harmed by some stranger. I wasn’t born yesterday.”
Blaze leaned back against the couch. “Just give it up. We have the proper documentation, so you can’t confiscate the weapons or take her in for illegal possession. We’d like to go back to bed. Some of us have important jobs in the morning.”
The officer scowled, but knew he couldn’t do anything. He had rules to abide by, and wrongly arresting a civilian didn’t warrant a punishment he’d want to endure. He handed the box of blades back to the female soldier. “Return them to where you found them and then meet us outside.”
The officer left without giving the typical disruption “apology,” leaving the other soldiers under him to clean up his mess. Once they all left, including the woman who lagged behind, the air in the house relaxed.
“What was that all about?” Rylan asked. “He was way out of line.”
“Who cares?” I said. “It was irritating. I’m going back to bed before another situation comes up and I’m too tired and irritable to keep myself in check.”
“Don’t forget your walking pillow,” Ryoko teased.
I flipped my middle finger at her and headed for my room. Unfortunately, I didn’t take more than three steps before I tripped over my own foot and stumbled. Raikidan reached out and tucked his arm under me in time to keep me upright.
“Okay, strike two, you’re done.” He reached under me and hauled me up with one arm.
“No, Rai…” I sighed and leaned my head in the crook of his neck, my weariness getting the better of me. “Okay, whatever. I just want to go back to bed.”
“Wow, this is a day for the history books, folks,” Ryoko said. “Never thought I’d see the day she wouldn’t fight that kind of help.”
“Can we also add his unusually high strength for a civilian in there too?” Blaze asked. “And how lucky he is to get her to cuddle up to him?”
I flipped him my middle finger as well, and he chuckled. “Well if you want to, I won’t say no.”
Blaze yelped when someone hit him, and then Zane spoke. “I’m giving you tomorrow off, Eira. You need the rest.”
“Thank you.”
“Night, pumpkin,” Ryoko called out.
“Not a pumpkin…” I mumbled. She used to call me that in the past when I was overtired. Said I had to go to my pumpkin patch before midnight or I’d turn into a monster.
Raikidan shut the door behind us and carried me to my bed. When he made it in the few steps required, he leaned over to drop me, but in my tired state, it sent an unusual signal to my brain, locking up my arm around the back of his neck. Not expecting this, Raikidan jerked forward with my extra weight pulling him down, and he fell on top of me. A pitiful squeak escaped my lips.
He pulled himself up, as far as my stuck arm would allow, hovering over me. The two of us stared at each other for several moments before I managed to get my arm to work again.
I immediately pulled it close to my chest, my heart’s pace thumping harder against it. “Sorry about that. Wasn’t intentional.”
“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have tried to just drop you.”
He stayed where he was, his eyes locked with mine. The longer this continued, the harder my heart pounded. An unfamiliar sensation crawled over me, warm and uncomfortably… pleasant? Most definitely not!
I pushed my hand against his chest, an action that intensified the new feeling. “You can move now.”
He stared for a moment longer, blinked, and then pulled away quickly. “Right, sorry.”
I pulled myself back toward my pillows, trying to put some space between us. “It’s fine.”
Raikidan sat down at the foot of my bed, facing away from me. “Can I ask you something?”
I yawned. “Depends.”
“What was this inspection that happened?”
I laid back on my mountain of pillows. “It’s a mandatory check by the military to ensure citizens aren’t part of the rebellion, harboring criminals, smuggling illegal products, or anything along those lines. Generally, they only happen twice a year, otherwise the citizens feel oppressed, shattering the utopia image Zarda wants to keep them controlled. But with the attack the other day, and the rebellion’s continued existence, the military will stop by more often to flush out anyone who gets careless. It’s a spontaneous search, so it’s difficult to figure out when they’ll show up. We just have to be on our toes.”
“All right. Now you can go to sleep.”
I snuggled into the soft pillows beneath me. “Good night, Raikidan.”
I stared into my pillow, surprised by my words. All this time I’d been around him, I had never said good night to him. It showed connection, and I couldn’t allow that to exist. Raikidan didn’t respond. Instead he shifted back into his dragon form and laid his head down. I chose not to dwell on my words, rationalizing it as me adapting to his constant presence, making it an inevitable side effect. Instead, I let my tired state pull me into unconsciousness.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cool, refreshing wind tugged my hair as I sat on the sill of the open window, drowning out the heat of the midday sun. The soft strumming of Argus’ and Rylan’s acoustic guitars filled the room, and the smoothness of their voices filled my ears. With a quiet, relaxed sigh, I leaned back and gazed past the small balcony and watched the people of the city drift by. This is what it had been like all day. I forgot how slow life was when you had nothing to do.
Growing bored with the environment outside, I paid attention to life inside the house instead. Zane and Blaze were at the shop, doing some extra project work when they should have been utilizing the one day the shop closed every week, to do something else with their lives. Ryoko sat with Genesis, near Argus and Rylan, and casually watched them play. Seda meditated in the corner close to me, and then there was Raikidan. He sat on the corner of the couch closest to me and read. He had stolen the book from me when I hadn’t been looking, and it was the only reason I was by the window. I hadn’t felt like fighting over it with him. It was a waste of energy I just didn’t have.
Readjusting to a “normal” life was much harder than I thought it would be. Genesis was even surprised and insisted I not take any assignments until I’d recovered. I was on my third day of rest now, and it didn’t feel like I was doing much recovering. I have to go back to working tomorrow. I can’t just let myself sit like this.
I went back to looking outside, although it wasn’t all that great to look at. Everything here was lifeless and dull. It smelled bad, and the small amount of plant life that was spread about looked dead compared to life outside the city walls. The ground was covered in hard asphalt, and the dirt you could find was soiled with who-knows-what.
I missed the forest. I missed the bird songs and the softness of the grass between my toes. I missed the sounds of the rain splashing against the leaves and the endless room to run wi
thout stopping. I missed the crunch of the leaves underfoot and the feel of winter snow that came up to my hips. The city was never really my home, but then again, neither was the forest.
I had only small amounts of time to enjoy so many simple things in life. I would relish the day I could have those again, but deep down I knew that would never happen. It’s… not my destiny…
The sound of tiny fluttering wings echoed in my ears. Turning, I spotted a small songbird perched on the railing of the balcony. Slowly moving my hand out, I called to it quietly with quick tweeting whistles. The little bird tilted its head back and forth and jumped about on the railing until it fluttered over to me. It landed on my fingers and chirped at me. I could feel the fragility of its legs and the quiet beat of its tiny heart. With a small smile, I brought my hand closer to me and gently stroked its chest. The tiny bird chirped and puffed itself out in delight. A happy giggle escaped my lips, catching the attention of the others.
Genesis gasped quietly. “Eira has a birdie.”
Slowly she slid off the couch and made her way over to me. She placed her hands on my leg and peered up with her curious child-eyes. I lowered my hand so she could get a better look. She lifted her hand, but stopped and looked at me apprehensively. I nodded and she reached out and stroked the bird’s belly the same way I had done. The bird closed its eyes and puffed out more.
“You really like birds, don’t you?”
Genesis giggled in delight. “How are you doing this? How are you able to keep such a timid animal so calm and get it to sit on your hand?”
“Want me to teach you how to do it?”
I shrugged casually. “Just a trick I was taught.”
“By a friend from outside the city?”
By Xye… I smiled at her. “Yeah, by a friend.”
The bird stretched its wings and fluttered off my hand. I bit my lip and held my hand to my mouth.
Raikidan slowly lifted his gaze from reading and looked at me. “That bird is on my head, isn’t it?”
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