Or so I thought.
2
Ari
I woke up in the night, knowing she was upset, though I didn’t know how I knew it.
I felt her terror—it woke me in a cold sweat, my heart pumping, my muscles bunching as everything inside me drove me to go to her.
My Drake woke with a roar. I felt him inside me—spreading his wings—trying to emerge.
“Wait—wait a minute!” I shouted at him mentally. “Para, estupido!”
Only a few months before he had broken free of me and gone flying to where she was—a stunt that had nearly earned me an expulsion. The humans don’t believe in dragons—or witches, or fairies, or vampires for that matter. And they don’t like to have their beliefs challenged by a ten-ton Drake flying over their heads in the middle of the morning.
In the end, Headmistress Nightworthy who runs Nocturne Academy, had let me off with a warning—that I must keep better control of the beast which lived inside me. I had agreed but what could I do when he was so attuned to her—to Kaitlyn, the little human girl I had somehow become linked to?
I don’t know how it happened—maybe it was because I spilled blood for her. Not mine—Pedro Sanchez’s. I had punched the pendejo in the face when he had mocked her and made fun of her scars. Unfortunately, many of the Drakes that ran with his crew had joined in his mockery. I only wished I had punched them too.
I swear I had no feelings for her before then. But seeing Sanchez pick on a helpless female like that enraged me. I had been raised in the Sky Lands, the home world of the Drakes, to protect and champion those weaker and more vulnerable than me. My father was constantly lecturing me about the importance of caring for those that were unable to care for themselves.
“History will judge you by the way in which you treat the least of your people, Ari,” he would tell me, his voice echoing through the vast and cavernous Audience Chamber where he sat to hear grievances every month. “You must be certain you can look back later and be proud of your actions.”
But at the time Kaitlyn was being bullied, I can’t say it was my father’s words that drove me to action. It was my own internal fury at seeing her hurt and abused.
And something else as well.
For the minute I punched Sanchez and spilled his blood defending Kaitlyn, the Drake inside me woke up. He usually sleeps here in the human world—he might as well—it isn’t as though I can let him out to go flying. But the scent of blood and the threat of violence brought him out of his somnolent slumber and for the first time since I had come to the human world, he spoke.
I don’t mean he spoke just to me—I hear him in my head often, though he communicates more in emotions than words. My other half can be a restless partner to share a body with. When I say he spoke, what I mean is that he actually came forward and talked using my mouth and looking through my eyes. For a moment, he was in control and I was only watching in the background.
What he said to Sanchez changed everything.
“She is mine,” he growled, his voice deep and sonorous in my ears. “Touch this little female again and I will flame you from the sky.”
That had caused Sanchez to retreat some—he and his Sire are high in the ranks of the Drakes, but my father is the leader of our kind—what some humans call the Alpha or the king. Also, my Drake is bigger, his flame hotter, and his wings fly higher than the beast Sanchez hosts and he knows it.
Still, he refused to back down completely. I had seen the murderous glint in his eyes, which let me know that Kaitlyn wasn’t safe—which was why I had started following her to and from class—at a distance of course—to make certain she was all right.
All right—that’s a lie. I followed her and kept close to her not just to protect her, but because I couldn’t help myself.
Once my Drake had laid his claim on her, my heart followed his. There was something special about Kaitlyn Fellows. I didn’t know what it was but my Drake sensed it and I did too. It was something that drew us both to her—something impossible to ignore.
“Dios…” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair as I felt the tension begin to fade on the other end of the strange connection I had to the little human. “See, she must have had another bad dream,” I told my Drake. “She does that sometimes, you know.”
I knew it was true because every time she had a nightmare, it woke me up. I would have been annoyed with her if I could have been, but there was no room in me for that emotion—I was too filled with the need to protect her and…other things.
I felt a sense of questioning coming from my other half—he wanted to go down and check to make certain Kaitlyn was okay.
I had done that in the past—left my bedroom in the West Tower where the Drake dorms were located and gone down to the entrance of the “Norm Dorm” where the human students who attended Nocturne Academy were housed. It was a trap door in the Dining Hall which led down into the dungeons of the old castle.
Sometimes I went down and listened at the trap door, making certain Kaitlyn was well, before going back to bed. Sometimes my Drake was too restless and I had to pace around, playing sentry for as much as an hour before he would finally let me go back to my own bed and rest.
As I said before, it would have been annoying if I wasn’t so filled with other emotions.
What my Drake really wanted was for me to open the trap door and go down into the Norm Dorm—where I most certainly did not belong—and take Kaitlyn in my arms. He wanted to feel her held close and secure against my chest, to still her night terrors personally and know that she was safe from having them again.
But that, I could not do, though I admit I wished for it deeply. She already feared me—at least, if the frightened looks she sometimes shot in my direction were anything to go by. And breaking into her bedroom at night to hold her would only make her more scared.
Not to mention getting me expelled.
Only once had Kaitlyn accepted help from me and that was after Sanchez had hurt and bullied her during the PE class we shared. She had allowed me to take her and her friend Megan Latimer to the Healer and she had even worn my shirt, to cover her scars.
I had waited for days for the shirt to return to me. Once you put an item of clothing into the laundry chute at Nocturne Academy, it gets laundered and returns magically to its original owner.
But the shirt never came back.
I wondered if she still had it—if she’d kept it somewhere to remind her of me. It seemed far-fetched but I liked to imagine her keeping it—maybe hanging it in the back of her wardrobe—maybe even putting it on from time to time to feel its fabric against her skin as though the fabric was my arms encircling her…
I tried to push such foolish thoughts out of my head and speak reason to my Drake, who was still insisting that we must go check on Kaitlyn.
“She’s not even here—it’s the weekend,” I reminded him. “She’s across town at the Breedlove’s house, remember? Besides, she’s resting easy now—she’s going back to sleep.”
Which was exactly what I needed to be doing. I had a History of Magic test the next day that I had barely studied for.
My Drake sent a thought message to me—an image of him flying through the dark night sky and circling over the Breedlove’s large, stately home—maybe putting one eye to Kaitlyn’s bedroom window, just to check on her.
“Hell, no!” I told him emphatically. “Letting you out again will get me expelled for sure. Besides, do you really think seeing a glowing golden eye the size of a dinner plate looking in through her window would make Kaitlyn feel safer? Mierda! You’d scare her to death!”
My Drake grumbled and I got the very strong feeling from him that he thought if Kaitlyn was only allowed to meet him, he could win her over. Which of course couldn’t happen here in the human world, as I pointed out to him. Then he wanted to know why we couldn’t take her to the Sky Lands, where he was free to be himself and he could spend as much time with her as was needed for her to get to know him.
> Dios, sometimes the stupid beast inside me had no fucking common sense.
I shut him down and turned over in bed, determined to get back to sleep. But it wasn’t until I felt Kaitlyn slip back to sleep herself—somewhere across town—that I was finally able to relax.
As my breathing deepened and my Drake at last was silent, my last conscious thoughts were of her. And my last feelings were those of possession and longing.
She was mine, at least as far as my Drake was concerned—I just didn’t know how I was ever going to claim her.
3
Kaitlyn
I felt tired and worn-out the next morning, almost as though I hadn’t had any sleep at all. Plus, the bright Florida sunshine when I walked outside hurt my eyes.
“Are you feeling quite well, Kaitlyn?” Mrs. Breedlove asked me in that cool, formal tone of hers. “You look somewhat under the weather. Did Allegra have another nightmare and keep you up last night?”
“She did, but it’s all right,” I said quickly, not wanting to get Allegra into trouble. “She climbed in bed with me and went straight back to sleep.”
“Ah yes—it’s such a trial when she has a nightmare on the weekdays.” Mrs. Breedlove sighed in a put-upon way. “I’ve thought about hiring a weekday overnight nanny, but she simply doesn’t want anyone but you.”
“She’s my little sweetheart,” I said, smiling and meaning it.
Despite both of us being up in the middle of the night, Allegra had been as bright and bubbly as ever at breakfast—which was bagged blood for everyone but me, of course. I had a slice of bread and jam—my usual breakfast when I was at the Breedlove’s house. Being Nocturnes, they didn’t like the smell of cooking human food, so I mostly lived on cold sandwiches when I was there.
That morning my bread and strawberry jam hadn’t held much appeal for me, however. The tastes of the food had been muted somehow—like someone had wrapped my tongue in cotton to keep me from tasting it properly. I really hoped I wasn’t getting a cold but between my dulled senses and the tired, draggy feeling that persisted, I thought I must be.
I had thrown the rest of my sandwich away and downed two glasses of cold water instead. Along with a dry mouth, my throat felt parched and I was extremely thirsty—I must be getting a cold.
“Well, let’s get you over to the Academy.” Mrs. Breedlove sighed and I knew she found dropping me off an imposition, even though it was only a drive of a few miles from her stately house on Kings Street to the orange grove that hid the huge castle. Frostproof—the little town in Central Florida where Nocturne Academy was situated—was so small that no place was more than a few miles away.
“Mama, can I come with you?” Allegra poked her head out the front door to say.
“I’m afraid not, Allegra.” Anastasia Breedlove frowned. “Go back inside and tell Mimi to watch you. I’ll be back directly.”
Mimi was the downstairs maid who doubled as a babysitter sometimes when I wasn’t available and Mrs. Breedlove had to run an errand.
Allegra pouted.
“Puleeze?” she wheedled. “I won’t get to see Katy forever, Mama!”
I couldn’t help smiling. When you’re only four going on five, a week can seem like forever. But I knew better than to annoy Mrs. Breedlove.
“Come give me one last hug, Allegra,” I told her. “And then go back inside and ask Mimi to help you find the note I left you—it has a secret message on it.”
“A secret message? Really?” Her blue eyes widened in excitement as she flew down the porch steps and flung herself into my arms.
“Yes, really!” I lifted her up and swung her around, my fatigue momentarily forgotten. She was such a sunny, happy little girl it was impossible to feel sad or down around her. It was one reason I loved her so much.
Allegra covered my face with kisses—the right side of it anyway—the unscarred side. I was careful to keep the left side hidden with my long black hair, which had thankfully somehow grown back thicker than ever after The Fire.
I hugged her close for a minute before reluctantly putting her down.
“Go on now, Allegra. Ask Mimi to help you find the secret note,” I told her. “And I promise I’ll see you on Friday.”
“Okay.” She rushed back up the stairs and barreled into the house shouting, “Mimi, Mimi, Katy left me a note! Help me find it!”
I grinned, knowing she would hunt all morning if need be, to find the heart-shaped piece of paper I had hidden in the bottom drawer of her dresser. It simply said, “I love you, Allegra!” on it but it would make her happy—especially since she was beginning to be able to read and should be able to sound it out herself. I had been doing the “Hooked on Phonics” program with her on the weekends and it was really paying off.
“Well…you certainly have a way with her.” Mrs. Breedlove shook her head, as though mystified by the connection I shared with her daughter.
I wanted to tell her it wasn’t hard—all Allegra wanted was someone to love her and cuddle her and read to her sometimes. All she needed was a little bit of affection. But Anastasia Breedlove—like most Nocturnes—was reserved and aloof. It was as though her emotional temperature echoed her body temperature—and both were about ten degrees colder than what I considered normal.
I thought of my own mother and how she had sung to me and played with me and read to me—telling me with every word and gesture how much she loved me. It made me sad that Allegra didn’t get that from her own mom, but at least I was there to provide it to her.
I mentally blew a kiss to my little charge as I climbed into the passenger side of Mrs. Breedlove’s sleek black Mercedes and buckled my seatbelt.
I’ll see you soon, Allegra, I thought to her.
I didn’t know how wrong I was.
4
Ari
Kaitlyn seemed tired that morning, her slim shoulders drooping in our History of Magic class—the only class I now shared with her, since she had somehow gotten out of going to PE every morning. I wasn’t sure how she had done that and I had mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, I was glad for her, that she no longer had to endure dressing out and showing her scars in the t-shirts and gym shorts we were required to wear. Coach Vasquez was a Drake and, like many of my people, she was completely unbending when it came to following the rules. She had forced Kaitlyn to dress out, like everyone else, despite the shame and pain it so obviously caused her.
So I was happy that the little human no longer had to endure something that made her so uncomfortable. Also, though Pedro Sanchez had been expelled from Nocturne Academy, his two cohorts, Felix Gomez and Lupe Romero, remained. They were what my mother would have called, “low class.”
Their beasts were common green dragons with no flame at all that hardly deserved the name Drake. Though their sires had made a fortune in the human world—enough to send their sons to the prestigious Nocturne Academy—they had no standing in the halls of my own Sire.
So of course Sanchez, who was supposed to be a hidalgo or nobleman among our kind, immediately attracted them. The fact that he was willing to acknowledge and lead them despite their thuggish ways said as much about him as it did about them.
And the fact that what he led them in was the practice of bullying those who were weaker than him said even more.
When their leader had been expelled, Gomez and Romero had blamed Kaitlyn, just as Sanchez did. But they also knew she was under my care and the care of my Drake.
Neither dared to come against me openly, but I knew enough about them to think that if either one of them had a chance to hurt her without my knowing it, they would certainly take it. It was one reason I was still on high alert, even though Sanchez himself was gone.
Yes, it was a good thing that Kaitlyn was no longer in my first period PE class, I told myself.
But I couldn’t help missing her, even as I told myself she was safer away from Gomez and Romero. Seeing her first thing in the morning had lifted my heart and reassured my Drake t
hat she was all right. Now I had to wait until third period to be near her—if you could call sitting three seats down and one row to the left near her, anyway.
I finished my test and brought it up to the teacher’s desk to place face-down on the slowly accumulating pile. Ms. Eventide was a Nocturne with sharp green eyes and a pale face. She nodded as I put down my paper and turned to go back to my seat.
“Very good, Mr. Reyes, you may read quietly at your desk,” she murmured.
I nodded, even though I knew that I wouldn’t be reading a thing. I would get out a book and pretend to read, of course, but mostly I would be watching Kaitlyn, who was even now getting up to place her own test on the teacher’s desk.
But as she moved past me, the little human seemed to trip on something on the floor. She gasped and windmilled her arms, her test papers flying in all directions as she started to fall.
I didn’t think—I just acted. Reaching down, I scooped her up before she could hit the floor and gathered her close to my chest.
“Oh!” Kaitlyn gasped and for a moment I saw her full face, as I had that day in PE—both the lovely right side and the scarred left side. Then she turned away quickly, using her long hair to hide herself, as she always did.
“Are you all right?” I asked, worried about her.
“I’m fine. Please put me down.”
She was trembling in my arms—shaking as though she feared me. I could smell the scent of her terror too—the sharp smell of adrenalin rose around me.
But there was something else too—an added component to her usually sweet scent which I was, by now, completely addicted to. It was strangely metallic and…I don’t know how else to put this…cold. A scent like winter coming on.
What was wrong with her?
“Mr. Reyes, I believe you can put Miss Fellows down now.” The sharp voice of our teacher cut through me like a knife and I realized I had been cradling the little human to my chest and inhaling her scent, trying to work out what was different about her, while ignoring her request to be put back on her feet.
Fang and Claw: Nocturne Academy, Book 2 Page 2