by Meg Ripley
“What?” she asked, looking embarrassed.
He reached up slowly to touch her face, where a faint line of shimmering green scales had erupted along her cheek bones. Archard grazed his thumbs over them, causing them to undulate in response to his caress. “You’re the most exquisite creature I’ve ever seen.”
She glanced down at the floor. “Um, I really should get going. You sure you don’t want me to take you over to my uncle’s place?”
“No, don’t worry about it. I can entertain myself.” He stood in the kitchen, exhaling deeply as he watched her go. She glanced over her shoulder at him as she passed through the doorway, and it was almost enough to make him lose control completely.
When she was gone, he wrapped his fingers around the back of a kitchen chair until his knuckles turned white and closed his eyes. Archard tried to think of boring, mundane things that would keep him in check, at least until he could find the time and space to shift.
“I’d like to know just what you think you’re doing.”
Archard opened his eyes to see Jake leaning against the doorway that led to the basement stairs. The bulk of his shoulders was accentuated by the way he folded his arms in front of his chest, and his eyes were hard. His t-shirt was soaked with sweat, and he had a towel flung over his shoulder.
“Standing here.” Archard still wanted to shift, but for a completely different reason now.
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
“I thought everyone was at Holden’s house.” While it’d been tempting to meet Kaylee’s extended family, Archard had put his body through enough that day.
“I stayed behind to get in a workout, and it’s a good thing I did. I saw you kiss my sister.”
“What business is that of yours?” He kept his hands wrapped around the chair where they couldn’t do much harm. Jake was bigger than he was, but not by much. It would be one hell of a fight, but one that Archard doubted Kaylee or the others would appreciate. She’d made it very clear that she didn’t want him to pummel someone on her account. Things would only be worse if it was her own brother.
Jake crossed the kitchen until he stood on the other side of the table. “Don’t try me. I’ve spent my entire life protecting her.”
“Is that so?” Archard raised one eyebrow, appraising this Earth dragon once again. He was strong in human form, but did that translate to his reptilian constitution? “It seems to me that she knows how to take care of herself pretty well.”
“I’m sure it does seem that way. Kaylee is just as headstrong as the rest of us are. But she has no idea just what I’ve done behind the scenes to keep her safe. There have been any number of guys who come along, thinking she’s nothing but a hot piece of ass, and I’ve kept them all at bay. I’m not going to let you slime all over her just because you’re one of us.”
This made Archard wonder just how well Kaylee knew the human mating process. He’d never asked if she’d been on the dates she described to him, or if she’d enjoyed the companionship of a human male. The idea made him angry, but only because he didn’t want to share her with anyone. “I think that decision is up to her, not you.”
Jake shook his head. “She can think that, but I know the truth. I love my sister, but she doesn’t always know what’s good for her. Besides, from what little I know of you, you’re not the kind of guy she needs to be hanging around with.”
“Is that so?” Archard came around the table, his teeth sharpening in his mouth. Being Kaylee’s brother didn’t give Jake the authority to keep the two of them apart, especially considering what Archard knew about their relationship. He was meant to be with her, but he couldn’t expect some Earthling to understand. “And who’s going to stop me?”
Jake took the slightest step backward. “I’m not going to fight you, but only because I know Kaylee wouldn’t want me to. You can consider this your warning and be thankful for it.” He turned and stomped back down to the basement.
Archard took a few deep breaths before heading up to his room. He was going to have to get out of this house on his own, and soon.
9
The next morning, Kaylee couldn’t shake the events of the day before. She had plenty going on at school, from meetings with her professors to classes and a study session in the library, but none of it seemed important. All she wanted was to be with Archard again.
She settled down into one of the private study rooms at the back of the university library and opened her books, but her mind wandered once again back to Archard. Showing him life on Earth had been a much more complicated thing than she’d imagined, but it’d also been very satisfying. He’d really made her see things from a different viewpoint, and she’d enjoyed seeing the way his eyes lit up with understanding. Kaylee had underestimated how difficult it was to describe and explain things that were so run-of-the-mill for her. She’d never met anyone who hadn’t been in a car before. Even Varhan had a little experience by the time she and Julian had found him.
And that kiss… Kaylee had focused mostly on her studies so far, but that didn’t mean there hadn’t been a few exchanges behind the bleachers in high school or an occasional coffee date once she’d started college. But up until recently, there hadn’t been any dragons on Earth besides her cousins. Spending time with a man had always been nice, but it was nothing when compared to spending time with Archard.
“Earth to Kaylee! Come in, Kaylee!” Nicole plopped her books down on the table and giggled when Kaylee jumped in her seat. “You were a million miles away.”
Kaylee smiled. “Sorry. I was just thinking.”
“About what? Wait, I think I know that look on your face.” Nicole pushed her glasses up with one finger. “You’ve found yourself a man.”
Nicole had been Kaylee’s best friend since high school, when the two of them discovered they both had a love for archeology. It’d started in their social studies class freshman year, and while Nicole was leaning more toward becoming a history teacher, their friendship hadn’t waned.
“Why do you say that?” Kaylee asked, once again reliving the tender yet arduous way Archard had kissed her. He’d set her body on fire in a way she’d never experienced before.
“Oh, come on! I can see it written all over your face! You’re not thinking about ancient languages, you’re thinking about the one universal language that everyone knows.” Nicole giggled at her own joke.
“Stop it!” Kaylee could feel the heat in her cheeks, something that was becoming a permanent state of affairs these days.
“You might as well just tell me now.” One blonde eyebrow arched over Nicole’s tortoiseshell glasses. “I’ll find out eventually. Is it that cute guy down at the coffee shop?”
“No. He’s cool, but he’s not my type. You know, you should ask him out. It’s been a while since you’ve had a date.” Kaylee flipped through her notes just so she had something to do with her hands.
Nicole shook her finger in the air. “Don’t change the subject! We’re talking about you. If not coffee guy, then who? Oh, maybe someone you met on your most recent trip? Do I have to tell Dr. Morrick he needs to keep a closer eye on you?”
Kaylee smiled. It was useless to pretend she didn’t have something more on her mind than her classes, and there was no way she could tell Nicole the truth. Even her best friend had no idea who she really was. But she’d been in Colombia only a couple of weeks earlier, and a man from a foreign country who Nicole would never have a chance of meeting was just as good an excuse as any. “Okay, you got me. I met a guy on my trip. But it’s sort of a long-distance thing, and I doubt it’ll work out.”
Long distance to be sure, if Archard went back to Charok at some point.
“I knew it!” Nicole clapped her hands softly and bounced in her seat. “You’ve never been good at keeping secrets, you know.”
“Yeah, I know.” Except for the biggest secret of her life, and it would have to remain that way. “I just didn’t want to say anything because I’m really not sure where
it’s going.” Once again, she could feel the way his hand had traced up her spine to the back of her neck, cradling her skull as he’d kissed her. It’d been delicate and yet commanding, and Kaylee’s body reacted at the mere memory of it.
“Does he feel the same way about you?” Nicole pressed.
Kaylee shrugged and thought about the way Archard looked at her, like he hungered for her. That was a thrill, but was it anything more than lust? She knew he made her feel things—new, strange things—but maybe that was simply because he was another dragon. “I don’t know yet. I guess only time will tell.”
“I’m not sure about that.” Nicole pulled a can of soda out of the side pocket of her book bag and cracked it open. “I’m starting to think we women should just put ourselves out there and say how we feel, you know? Tell the guy you like him and you want to be with him, and if he can’t handle that right away, then he’s not worth keeping.”
“That’s all perfectly well and good for some situations, but I don’t think all guys are like that. Some guys are a little more old-fashioned, and I think they like to feel that they’re in control.” She’d seen the gentle, sophisticated side of Archard, but it was very clear to Kaylee that an animal lurked under the surface.
“Then it’s up to you to make him see the other side of things,” Nicole countered. “Hell, if you like him enough, you should fly right back to wherever it is he’s from and tell him so!”
Kaylee smiled at her friend. She made it all sound so easy, but things were much more complicated than that. If she could just hop on a commercial flight to Charok, that would be one thing.
Their conversation eventually turned to their studies and their upcoming tests, but thoughts of Charok still bubbled under the surface. Kaylee had always wanted to go, and she hadn’t realized just how badly she wanted to be there until she’d seen that vision of it just before Archard and his family had accidentally been brought to Earth.
Absentmindedly, she made notes for her upcoming test and once again wondered if there was a way to get there. If there was, then she might take the biggest trip of her lifetime.
* * *
That evening after dinner, when she was back at home and things seemed quiet, Kaylee found Varhan in his room. Despite the numerous books in her father’s library, the wizard had turned his room into a study of his own. Books and scrolls lined the walls, and a box of more books peeked out from under the bed. He sat in a rocking chair in the corner, carefully sanding down a stick of wood into a new wand.
He glanced up at her as she knocked on the doorway. “Good evening, Kaylee. What can I do for you?”
She clenched her fingers together. “Do you mind if we talk for a moment? In private?”
Varhan set his would-be wand down on a nearby table and heaved his weight from the chair. He ushered her into the room and closed the door softly behind her. “Of course. Is everything all right?”
“Yes, it’s just that I don’t want anyone else to know about this.” Speaking with the wizard had never made her nervous before. He’d instantly been like an old relative, even though she’d only met him a year ago.
“Mmhmm.” The wizard squinted at her. “Better let it out and tell me, then.”
Kaylee took a deep breath. If she wanted to, she could’ve opened her mind and let Varhan right inside instead of trying to explain what she wanted. English words simply weren’t adequate for some things. But the two of them had spent several weeks learning how to stay out of each other’s thoughts to afford them some privacy, and there were some things on her mind that didn’t need to be brought to the surface. “I want to know what it would take to go to Charok.”
Varhan watched her for a long time, his deep stare making her uncomfortable. “Does this have anything to do with Archard?”
Her stomach knotted as though someone had sewn strings through it and yanked on them. “Why do you ask?”
He gave a soft laugh. “First of all, because I know he was the first one to demand he be sent back home. Second, because you’d already brought that idea to your father and me on his behalf. But also because I may be old, but I’m not oblivious. You’ve spent more time with him than with any of the other new dragons.”
The heat in her skin had nothing to do with the warmth of the room. “I have been, but this is about me. I’ve always been curious about Charok, and seeing it the other day only piqued that. I need to know more about where I’ve come from. I want to see it firsthand, not just in a vision.” He was right that she’d initially brought up the idea because it was what Archard wanted, but she’d come to understand that there was much more to it. She needed to do this to satisfy her own curiosity.
Varhan lowered himself into the rocker once more, and his sandpaper made quiet rasps against the wood. “You think there’s something more for you than what you’ve found here on Earth.”
“Well, yes, I guess that’s true.” Archard’s arrival had distracted her from her initial mission, but Kaylee knew she had to pursue this. “We both know it’s possible to create a portal between the worlds. You did it when you sent my father and the others to Earth, and we did it when we brought these new dragons through.”
Holding the wand out to study the grain in the firelight for a moment, Varhan began sanding once again. “The first time was on purpose, and I knew it was the right thing to do. I’d done my studies, and it was like it all mapped itself out in front of me. I knew I needed a special potion to help them get through safely without burning up. I knew I had the right spell. Though I’d never tried it before, there was no doubt in my mind I was doing the right thing. I could see the path clearly in front of me, and I knew in my very soul that your father and the others would not only be safe here, but that they were destined to be here. It’s a very distinct feeling, and one that I’m certain only came to me because of my gift.”
“Yes, I know that feeling well. Anytime I’m working with languages, it’s like I have a purpose in life. There are lots of other things that I might question, but I have no doubts about myself when I’m doing that.” She was so glad there was someone else in the world who understood it.
“And then bringing Archard and the others here, you know that was purely accidental. It could’ve gone very poorly, both for them and for us, and we’re lucky we’ve all survived it. I thought I made it quite clear when we talked the other night that sending someone back to Charok is a very big knot to untangle, and probably an impossible one.” He turned the wand to check the other side of it, then flicked it expertly between his fingers.
“I know, I know. But this is something I really have to do. It might be hard, but if people have come from Charok to Earth in two different ways, then that only give me hope that we have a chance to go the opposite way.” Her father had been looking for the right spell to do that for many years, but Kaylee knew they couldn’t give up just yet.
The wizard set his work down once again and dusted his fingers on his robes. “That’s a very positive outlook you have there, but I have to say it’s not very practical. If there were a way to do this safely, then your father and I would’ve found it already.”
“Safely?” She’d latched onto the word as soon as it’d come out of his mouth. “So there is a way?”
“No, no. I never said that.” He picked up the wand again and began sanding furiously.
“Yeah, you pretty much did. Varhan, if there’s possibly a way to go there, then I’ve got to try.” With the obstinate look on his face, she knew it was time to throw caution to the wind. “I was horrified when we brought those dragons through, but I’ve since found a connection with Archard that I never even knew was possible. At first, I thought maybe he was what I’d been waiting for my entire life. But then I realized there’s still so much work out there for me. I was talking to a friend of mine at school today, and it made me think about all the places I’ve been and all the places I have yet to go. Why stop at archeological sites here on Earth? Why stop with humans? Archard told me about the a
rchives they have on Charok. I’ve got to go see them. I know there’s something there for me.” She pointed her finger into her palm as though pointing to some place on a map.
Varhan sighed. “Kaylee, I admire your determination. I understand it, and I sympathize. But I have yet to even understand the cosmic implication of our spell the other day. What if we find a way to send you to Charok and it affects someone else’s fate?”
“Nobody else has to go with me,” she argued. “Not unless they want to.”
The wizard leaned forward and looked at her with pity in his eyes. “It’s not as simple as that. You have a gift for seeing and understanding languages, but my gift is for seeing and understanding destinies. Like any other magical work, I find that it’s much harder here on Earth than it was on Charok. I do my best, and sometimes I have moments of clarity, but it’s just not the same. I’m not comfortable with diving into a spell I’m not certain about. I had my doubts about our vision spell, and that should’ve been enough to stop me. Now, I’m concerned that I’ve done something very wrong indeed.”
“I don’t think that could be.” Kaylee wanted to cry at seeing the sadness in the old man’s face. “It’s all been very strange, but knowing there are more dragons in the universe has completely changed my life. So has Archard. I don’t quite understand how yet, but I know I’ll never be the same again.” She wouldn’t dare go so far as to say she loved him or that they were going to have the romance of a lifetime. She’d seen enough of life on Earth to understand that what Julian and Naomi had together wasn’t normal for most people. But she knew she’d changed.
“Kaylee, listen to me very carefully.” Varhan took both of her hands in his and held them tightly as he looked up at her. “I love you as though you were my own daughter, and I’m begging you not to pursue this. It isn’t safe, and you could wind up as stardust. I promise you that I’ll work on it, and I’m sure your father will as well. But this is bigger than any of us, and I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you.”