by Meg Ripley
“Don’t worry about him. He’s just an angry young man who’s been pulled away from everything he knows. Some of it is his age, and he’ll get past it. Give him time. And for the rest of us, Varhan is right. We need some sleep ourselves. Good night, Kaylee. I’m very proud of you.” Julian kissed her on the forehead and opened the door to the library.
* * *
Despite Varhan’s promise that their spellwork would leave them exhausted, Kaylee couldn’t sleep. She’d changed into her most comfortable pajamas, but the soft fabric kept twisting around her body as she tossed under the covers. She stripped them off and tried sleeping naked, but it was no better. As long as her mind was racing, her body wasn’t going to rest.
With a grunt of frustration, she flung the covers back and got dressed. She was just wasting her time, and that was something she couldn’t stand. If her brain insisted on being awake, then she was going to put it to good use. In her bare feet, she crept downstairs to the library.
Kaylee wasn’t surprised to see a line of light under the door. She sighed and shook her head. Her father had sent her off to bed, but he probably hadn’t even tried to get any sleep himself and opted instead to stay up and do exactly what she was going to do. Kaylee didn’t know nearly as much about spells as her father and Varhan did, but she could still do her best.
She opened the door, prepared to find her father on the chair in front of the fireplace. But the dark figure in the room was none other than Archard. He stood in front of a large window on the wall opposite the door, his long arms stretching out to brace against the trim work. He looked over his shoulder when he heard her enter.
Kaylee softly closed the door behind her, not wanting to wake the rest of the house. “What are you doing up? I thought you went to sleep hours ago.” It had thrown her completely to find him there, and a bolt of adrenaline now made a heady mix with her blood.
“No. I went to the room your parents said I could use, but I haven’t slept at all. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to, not under a roof like this. I’m used to being out in the open.”
She wrung her fingers together, unsure of what to say. “I suppose you could ask if you could camp out in the yard tomorrow.”
He whirled around, a strand of hair coming down to hang in his face. His fists were curled at his sides as he advanced toward her. “That’s just the problem! I shouldn’t have to ask permission for something like that! I’m practically being held prisoner here!”
“Keep your voice down!” she snapped, irritated. “You’re not a prisoner. I guess you can do whatever the hell you want to. It’s just courtesy to talk to the owner of the house, especially considering that the outside world doesn’t know who you really are!”
“Keep your own voice down, then, if you care so much.” His sapphire eyes blazed. “And that doesn’t exactly make it any better. Even if you and your family aren’t trying to contain me, your society is. I never wanted to be here, Kaylee.”
It was the first time she’d heard him say her name out loud, and the sound made a vibration that rippled through her bones and caught in her throat. “I know that,” she choked, realizing that every cell of her body seemed to be aware of every part of his. If she closed her eyes, she’d still know exactly where he was and how he stood. “And I explained it was an accident.”
“Accident or not, it was irresponsible of you to try such a thing. I have duties on Charok that are far more important than your experimental magic.” He tightened his fist and turned away once again.
Kaylee worked her tongue in her mouth, trying to find the right words. She’d never had a hard time with that before. She’d always been quick with her tongue, even before she knew about her gift. Archard made her feel there were no sufficient words, no matter what she was trying to say. “I understand. I can’t really argue with that. But the fact is that we don’t have a way to send you back, at least not yet.” She cringed inwardly, waiting for another violent reaction from him.
Instead, he just shook his head and turned toward the window. “Of course not.”
In that moment, Kaylee realized that their spell hadn’t gone completely wrong. They’d created a window to Charok because they wanted to learn about its current state. Now, they could not only learn about it, but get firsthand accounts of it. “Could you tell me about it?”
“Charok? Why would I do that?” His hand rubbed over the back of his neck and remained there, his biceps firm in the dim light of the lamps.
“I just want to know. I’ve always wanted to know. I’ve never felt like I really belonged here on Earth, and I have to admit I wanted to go to Charok just as badly as my father did. Don’t punish me for this, Archard. It’s not something I ever would’ve done on purpose.”
He pulled in a deep breath that Kaylee was sure would fuel some sort of retort, but he let it out again without speaking. After a long moment of silence, he said, “It’s nothing like this place, at least as far as I understand. My clan and I stay in the foothills of the mountains, where we’re close enough to the forest to hunt fraxen and gather vegetables, but where we can retreat to the safety of the caves when we need to.”
“You don’t live in the caves? I’m sorry. I’m just going off of what my father told me.” She dared to take a step forward. His back was still turned to her, but she knew he heard her soft footstep against the floor. Dragons had excellent hearing.
“Not for a long time. So many of our people died there, and it feels almost haunted. It was easier to start new lives for ourselves, at least as much as we could. There are some of us who still try to fulfill the roles our families have served in for generations, but others have ventured away from that. Callan, I’m sure, will be happy to see how your kind live.”
“My kind?” The phrase seemed almost offensive. “We’re the same kind, Archard. We’re not really that different.” Why did she care? She’d told herself earlier in the night, when he’d been so stubbornly angry outside the library, that she wasn’t going to waste her time on him. But she very much wanted him to understand her and even accept her, as far-fetched of an idea as that seemed to be.
“Physically, maybe, but that’s about it. Our lives are completely different. We’ve spent a long time wondering just how many of us still existed and why all this happened to us.” A heavy sigh rippled through his shoulders. “I always had a feeling something big was going to happen, like there was something out there waiting for me. I didn’t think it was going to be this.”
Kaylee understood that feeling, and she took a few more steps and tentatively reached out her hand. She touched his shoulder. In the split second that her fingertips grazed his shirt, she felt a bolt of electricity shoot through her hand and up her arm. It was no mere static electricity, and she immediately yanked her hand back.
Archard spun around, but he only looked at her with curiosity.
She cleared her throat, the air between them tense. “I really am sorry. I want you to know that. And since it’s my fault you’re stuck here for now, why don’t you let me give you a little tour?”
“I’ve seen the house,” he growled.
She almost laughed. “No, I mean of our city. Come with me tomorrow and see what a day is like for us here. I’ll take you out of the house. I can’t guarantee it’ll make you feel better about being here, but it’s worth a shot.” Kaylee looked up at him hopefully, unable to avoid studying his handsome features. He was rugged and strong, and a shadow of a beard had cropped up along his jaw since he’d arrived.
“All right,” he finally said. “I guess I might as well try, since there’s no telling how long I’ll be staying here.”
“You’ll have to stay in your human form,” she warned him.
He gave her a serious look. “Yes, I understand that.”
Her body wanted to surge toward his. Kaylee had never been the kind to throw herself at a man, no matter how attractive or mysterious he was. It shouldn’t have made any difference that Archard was a dragon or that he’d com
e from a world she’d always been desperate to understand. Maybe that wasn’t even why she felt this way about him, but either way, she knew it was dangerous. At least while they were out tomorrow, they’d be in public. “All right. We’ll leave after breakfast. In the meantime, try to get some sleep.” She turned and left the library as quickly as she could without running.
Back in her bedroom, Kaylee felt as though she couldn’t catch her breath. She leaned against the door, energy and excitement running through her body likes balls of fire. “So much for sleeping,” she whispered.
8
Archard awoke feeling stiff and cantankerous. He’d managed to get a little sleep after opening the window and pushing his bed up against it, allowing a stiff breeze to blow into the room. It wasn’t nearly the same as his favorite spot on the side of the mountains on Charok, but it was the best he could do for the moment.
As he got dressed and the scent of hot food beckoned him down to the kitchen, Archard realized what a fool he’d been for accepting Kaylee’s offer. He shouldn’t be around her at all, not with the way she made him feel. He needed to keep his distance from her before he did something he regretted.
But when he entered the kitchen, he knew he couldn’t back out. Kaylee was already there, dressed for the day. She sat at the table with a mug of something hot on the table in front of her, her head braced on her hand as she wrote in a notebook. Archard stopped in the doorway and stared for a long moment, examining the way a few stray curls gently caressed the back of her neck.
“Good morning!” Naomi enthused from her position near the stove as she scooped strips of hot, sizzling meat out of a pan. “I didn’t expect you up so early, not after a long night like that. I’m afraid I don’t have everything quite ready yet.”
Archard took a deep breath, reminding himself to be polite. Despite his feelings about Julian and the wizard, this female dragon had been very welcoming. “That’s all right. Don’t feel rushed because of me.”
Kaylee got out of her seat and came across the room. “We don’t need an entire buffet, Mom. Whatever you’ve got is fine.” She grabbed one of the strips of meat and handed it to Archard. “It’s bacon, and it’s delicious.”
Seeing that she was getting another one for herself, Archard tried it. The salty, smoky flavor was surprisingly pleasant, and it made the back of his mouth water for more. “This doesn’t taste anything like fraxen.”
“It’s pig. There are several different cuts of meat we get from them, actually, and almost all of it is amazing.”
Naomi gestured toward the paper Kaylee still held in her free hand. “What are you working on?”
“Oh.” Kaylee tucked it into her back pocket. “I’m taking Archard around to see a few things today. I was trying to make a list of the best places to go.”
Archard felt incredibly uncomfortable at the way Naomi’s slanted eyes studied her daughter and then him. “I don’t want to burden you. I’m sure you have other things to do, and I’m tired anyway.”
“Here. Drink this.” She poured him a cup of something hot and shoved it at him.
He did as he was told. The drink was bitter but flavorful, and he couldn’t decide quite how he felt about it. “What is it?”
Kaylee laughed at the faces he made. “Coffee, and pretty much everyone on the planet drinks it. It’ll perk you up, if nothing else. Now shove a few biscuits down your throat and let’s go.”
“You seem to be in quite the hurry to leave,” Archard remarked when he followed her out of the house ten minutes later. The fluffy hunk of bread Naomi offered had been almost as good as the bacon, and it sat comfortably in his stomach. Though he wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone, he was eager to taste more Earth food.
Kaylee had led him into a large room that, while it was attached to the house, didn’t seem to quite be part of it. The walls weren’t finished the same way, and it was much colder. The large metal contraptions that filled it gave off an unpleasant smell. She leaned against a red one. “I wanted to get out before everyone else got up and asked a lot of questions.”
As much as she angered him sometimes, Archard found himself amused. “You don’t want anyone to know that we left together?”
“It’s not that,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “I just don’t want everyone in my business. I stayed at home when I started college because I still had work to do with my father. And I’m gone a lot, so it made sense. But I’m kind of tired of everyone knowing every move I make.”
“College?” Archard knew they were speaking the same language, but there were so many terms he had yet to learn.
“Let’s just put that on the list of things to explain. For right now, let’s go.” She turned around and pulled a lever on the red metal thing, making part of it pop open. Kaylee started to get in when she noticed him standing there like an idiot. “I’m sorry. I’m not thinking. Here.” She led him around to the other side, popped it open again, and pointed at the odd chair inside.
Archard got in, wondering if he’d made the right move. He had no idea what this thing was, although Kaylee seemed perfectly comfortable getting inside it. A large door opened up in front of them as the device roared to life around him, growling quietly to itself.
“It’s a car,” Kaylee laughed, her cheeks reddening prettily. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t know what a car was before. I should’ve warned you. It’s just a machine that helps us get around.” She pushed several levers and the car slowly glided outside.
Digging his fingernails into the upholstery underneath him, Archard tried not to let himself react too much. His instincts told him to find a way out of this thing immediately. “Wouldn’t it just be easier for everyone to fly?”
“You’ve got to remember that all the people on this planet are humans. They don’t have wings. A few of them have some other abilities. I’ve got an aunt that’s psychic and two others who are witches, but those are rare occurrences. There’s no magic here. People had to create inventions to help them along in life.”
Archard wasn’t sure that he’d ever thought of shifting as magic. It was just something he and everyone he knew could do. “What about wizards? Are there any here besides Varhan?” He watched curiously as a stripe of gray ground slid away beneath the car and joined in with other, similar creations.
Kaylee shook her head as she confidently operated the vehicle. “Nope. All of that is make believe as far as most humans are concerned. They like to write stories about it, but they don’t actually think it’s real.”
His stomach rolled uncomfortably. Archard didn’t like the out-of-control feeling the car gave him, and even being near Kaylee wasn’t enough of a distraction. “I don’t like this thing.”
She looked at him with concern. “We’ll be at our first stop in just a few minutes, I promise.”
Soon enough, she pulled up in front of a large brick building and showed him how to open the door to the car. He was grateful to get his feet back on the ground again, and he tipped his head back to look at the structure. “This house is even bigger than yours.”
“This isn’t a house,” she explained. “It’s a library. It’s a place where people come to borrow books and to learn. I thought it would be a good place to start, because if you’re here for a while, you can come learn, too. I spent a lot of time here as a kid.”
“It’s for children?”
“Part of it is, but not all of it. The biggest rule is that you have to be quiet, okay?”
Feeling stupid yet intrigued, Archard followed her inside. A musty but pleasant smell attacked his nostrils, and his lips parted at the sight of so many books. “This is incredible.”
She smiled proudly. “I’ve always thought so. My dad said you had books on Charok, but they weren’t very common.”
He shook his head. “I’ve only seen a few of them in my lifetime. Well, other than the ones in your home. I thought that was a huge collection, but clearly I was wrong.”
�
��There are a lot here, but we also have something called computers. That’s going to take a much longer time to explain, though. Anyway, you can find almost anything you want to learn about. The encyclopedias can be a nice way to find out a little about a lot of things.” She showed him a beautiful set of heavy books that had numerous topics in them. They carried a few to a table and laid them out.
Archard had never been as studious as his Aunt Lucia, but he still felt as though he could stay in this big, quiet building all day. There were other people around, and he’d expected to attract attention, but most of them had their heads bent toward books or were searching for something on a shelf. “We don’t have anything like this on Charok. What books we do have are stored in a cave specifically for archiving, but most of our stories and histories are written directly on the walls.” He marveled as he slid his finger over the glossy pages.
Eventually, he looked up to see Kaylee watching him. “You’re ready to go?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, but…” Archard trailed off as he realized she was right. She hadn’t said a word. She hadn’t even so much as tapped her finger impatiently on the table or let out a heavy sigh. He just knew that she was ready to move on to something else, but he didn’t want to say it. That would sound crazy. “I’m sorry. I guess I just got the idea that there was more you wanted to show me.”