by B M Griffin
She couldn’t believe this; he was thanking her. Not running away terrified, sure he was scared a little, but that was nothing, but he was still here and thanking her. “You are welcome, but no thanks are necessary. We protect the human race from the Shaitan every night and have done so for far longer than you have been alive. You are the first person to ever see me and say thank you. Usually people are just as frightened by me, if not more so compared to the Shaitan, not that they remember seeing me since I’ve never broken the rules… until now.” She was rambling, geez, why did he make her so nervous. He was the one having his world turned upside down, and she was nervous. She was the ruler of the Tanzahar, among the most powerful of beings alive, yet she was fumbling her words and worried about what Gregor might say or do right now. She really needed to pull herself together.
Aurora sat back down on her bed, temporarily facing Gregor when she felt the bed move and looked back towards Gregor, shocked to see him sitting back on the bed near her. He hadn’t taken his eye of her yet, and he was moving closer to her even as she was currently still in her dragon form. Turning on the bed to face him, she quickly shifted back to her human form surprised to only see his eyes widen briefly in shock before relaxing again.
“You didn’t have to do that you know, change back. I mean, you said you were more comfortable in your dragon form. We are in your home, there is no reason you should not be comfortable here.” Gregor spoke low, occasionally looking away from her, but when his eyes landed back on hers, there was no doubt he was serious, even if he was still trembling slightly as he said it. Aurora just sat there staring at him struggling to believe what was happening. Gregor spoke up again breaking through Aurora’s inner monologue, “You said people don’t remember when you help them. What does that mean, how could they not remember you?”
“I have many abilities, one of which is to erase memories or alter them. Whenever we intervene in an attack and a human is present, we wipe their memory so they do not remember the Shaitan or us. It is easier because humanity cannot handle the knowledge that there are true monsters in this world, and to most humans, they see me and my people as monsters. Humans do not deal well with things they don’t understand. My people learned long ago that we cannot live amongst the humans because they will not accept us and our abilities; our powers frighten them. When humans are frightened, they lash out, and that is not good for anyone involved. It is better for everyone if the humans continue to live without knowing we exist.”
Aurora was not sure why she kept talking to Gregor, telling him things her people had decided centuries ago to keep hidden from the humans. The humans were no friends of hers. She hadn’t even wanted to seek him out despite her vision, and honestly, if Annalise had not intervened Aurora would likely still be ignoring the vision that led her to Gregor.
Despite all of that, the words kept spilling out of her, and she found that she wanted to keep talking to him. It was like being at war with herself. One part of her wanted to turn her back on Gregor and never see him again. Wipe his memory and let him live out his short human life hoping her visions would dissipate once he was gone. Another part of her, a very forceful part, wanted to be close to him, to know all about him and tell him all about herself.
When she looked back up at Gregor, she was surprised to see that he had stopped shaking and seemed to be gradually moving closer to her across the bed and he had not taken his eyes off of her. “You’re amazing.” Gregor said. Aurora shook her head, she was hearing things now. No way did he just say that. “Seriously Aurora, I’m not going to lie, you scared the shit out of me when you showed me your dragon self initially, but I was intrigued at the same time. But, to know that you and your people spend your lives protecting humans and never asking for any recognition or anything at all in return, yeah, amazing pretty much sums that up.”
Gregor was looking at her in awe, she could see it in his eyes and knew he meant every word he had said. It was a very rare occasion when Aurora let her emotions get away from her, and honestly, she didn’t even realize she had done so now until Gregor placed his palm against her cheek and gently wiped a tear away with his thumb. He let his hand linger there for a moment before taking it away and Aurora missed the contact immediately. “You still haven’t changed. It’s okay, I promise not to freak out again now that I know what to expect. This is your home and you shouldn’t have to hide in your home. Plus, now that I know you aren’t going to hurt me, I wouldn’t mind getting a closer look at the real you, after all, that is how you saved my life.” Gregor looked at Aurora expectantly, clearly waiting for her to change.
Aurora just stared at him struggling to believe this was real and that he wasn’t running away screaming, but instead, he wanted her to change back to her dragon form. After a couple minutes, Aurora blinked shaking her head slightly, and with a small smile on her face, she transformed back to her dragon self. Even though he had told her twice now she should change back, she still expected Gregor to jump back or show some sign of fear, but he didn’t even flinch. Instead, his eyes never left her and he just sat there taking her dragon form in, looking her over before meeting her eyes again. He lifted his hand back toward her face but stopped just before touching her. “I’m sorry, is this okay? If I touch you? I just really want to feel your skin or scales, sorry not sure what the proper term is, sorry I am rambling.” Gregor dropped his hand and a slight blush crept up his face.
Aurora stared back at him. “I do not mind.” Aurora gently grabbed Gregor’s hand and brought it back up to her face placing his palm against her cheek and allowing her hand to linger covering his for a minute before removing it, leaving Gregor’s hand cupping her cheek. Gregor brought his other hand up placing it against her other cheek before taking his fingers and tracing the scales around her face. Aurora still couldn’t believe he was touching her. After a few minutes, Gregor seemed to have built up his courage, and he brought his hands to her shoulders allowing them to slowly travel down her arms to her hands, turning her hands over palm up and examining her hands and claws.
“Do your claws get bigger? It’s just, since you look so much like a dragon, I always imagined a dragon with long sharp claws and teeth. Of course, I’m probably being silly right. Like some star-struck kid.” Gregor looked up from her hands with a crooked smile on his face. She had always noticed he was an attractive human, but right now with him holding her hands, her scaly dragon hands, and smiling at her, no one had ever been so beautiful. Smiling back at him she pulled her hands away from his so she wouldn’t hurt him and allowed her claws to extend. As his smile widened, so did hers and she allowed her teeth to extend as well, showing him, he had been right about dragons having long sharp claws and teeth.
Gregor reached for her hands again and she drew back. Retracting her teeth so she could speak clearly, she held her hand up when she saw him about to speak. “Just be careful, okay. My claws are extremely sharp when I have them out like this. Much sharper than any human sword or knife ever created, and indestructible. It would be regretful if you were to unintentionally be harmed.” Aurora held her hands back out in front of her palms up and Gregor placed his back below hers again.
He moved her claws back and forth admiring them with a look of wonder in his eyes. “You’re incredible.” Gregor was smiling up at Aurora and she could hear the admiration in his voice when he spoke. Aurora slowly retracted her claws and began to pull her hands away, but Gregor was apparently not having that. He gripped her hands in his, her palms down, and lightly rubbed his thumbs back and forth over the top of her scaly hands. Aurora allowed a small smile to tug at her lips as she finally began to accept the fact that Gregor was different. He wasn’t afraid of her, and even better he seemed to be truly enamored by her. She felt a flutter in her chest and briefly thought that maybe he felt this kind of connection to her like she did with him. Maybe she could let him keep his memories of her even after tonight, for once, maybe she could let someone in and not worry if they will just turn around an
d spill all of her secrets to the world.
Chapter Five
Gregor
Gregor hoped he wasn’t dreaming. He’d woken up in a freaking castle after being attacked by demons or some shit, and now he was sitting in a bed, talking to the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Sure, she could make herself become a dragon and a wolf, and apparently much more from what she’d told him, but that only made her more intriguing to him.
Despite Gregor’s insistence that she didn’t need to shift back to human for his sake, Aurora had done so after allowing him to feel the scales along her cheeks and hands. Aurora had mentioned being a warrior, something that had already been apparent by the ease in which she took out the monsters who’d attacked him, and he could see why she’d feel comfortable as a dragon in those situations. Even Gregor could feel the strength in the steel-like scales, and he imagined they made for a great protective barrier in a fight.
He seemed to lose his ability to form intelligent words when she shifted and he found himself sitting inches away from her in her bed. Gregor had his fingers running through Aurora’s silky, black hair before it registered in his consciousness what he was doing.
“Sorry,” he said. He pulled his hand back and looked into her face.
Her eyes were gorgeous, bright glowing-gold orbs that sucked him in, and her lips, damn, it was like they’d been created just to be kissed. Gregor looked away, needing to get his thoughts off of her lips before he did something that would end with him getting his ass kicked by a beautiful dragon warrior.
“Do you have a family?” Aurora asked.
Gregor turned his gaze back to her. He was glad for the change in topic even if the question did come out of left field. “I was adopted when I was a baby. My parents are still alive, but we never grew very close. I guess I never felt like I belonged.” Gregor shrugged. “Once I hit high school, and they told me about the adoption it finally made sense. I call them at least once a month to check in and tell them anything new with me. They weren’t bad parents, they treated me well and I know they love me, I’ve just never been able to connect with them like most kids do with their parents.”
“Anyone else?” Aurora asked. Her tone was a little demanding, but Gregor liked it. He liked the idea that she might be taking even the slightest interest in him because he wanted to know all about her. He’d tell her anything she wanted to know.
“No, it’s just them. My dad’s parents died before they adopted me, and both of my grandparents on my mother’s side were gone before I finished high school.”
Aurora nodded and said, “Good.”
That threw him off a bit, and he raised his eyebrow in her direction in question. It took a minute or two before Aurora showed any reaction, reaching out and covering his hand with her own. “Gregor, I’m sorry, that came out wrong. I was just trying to determine if there were any loose ends I would need to deal with on your end since I’ve brought you here.”
“Loose ends?”
“People who might be looking for you since you didn’t make it home last night.”
Gregor cocked his head looking at her. “Out of curiosity, what would you do if there were anyone looking for me?”
Aurora just stared at him for a minute, like she thought his question must be rhetorical. When he continued to wait for her answer, she finally spoke. “I could alter their memories so they thought you were home, or something of that nature. The same way I should have wiped your memory of the attack and my saving you.”
Gregor winced. He didn’t want to think about her taking his memories. Just thinking about forgetting her made his heart twist causing an intense pain, and he rubbed at his chest trying to relieve the pressure. It didn’t work. Looking at Aurora, her face was also drawn, like she too was experiencing some kind of discomfort. “Are you still thinking about wiping my memory?” he asked.
Aurora squeezed her eyes shut, running her fingers through her hair. “I should,” she said, her eyes opening. Gregor felt her gaze go straight through him, penetrating him all the way to his soul.
Gregor moved onto his knees so he could get closer to Aurora, then he slowly brought his hand up to her face. Her eyes grew wide when his hand met her skin, but at least she didn’t pull away. “I don’t want to forget you, and honestly, I don’t think there is any magic powerful enough to make me do so.” He moved his hand to his chest. “I can feel you here, like you’ve imprinted my soul. I don’t think that kind of impression can be removed so easily.”
Aurora hesitantly moved her hand between them, bringing it to his chest and covering his own hand which rested there. Gregor briefly closed his eyes when her hand came over his. Even though it was just their hands, feeling Aurora’s skin on his own breathed a life-force into him so powerful he felt it everywhere. Perhaps it was just her powers he was sensing somehow, but Gregor had a sense that it was much more than that. The connection he felt to her, that urge to be near her, was pulsing now, almost like it was feeding off of the contact between them and wanting more.
Gregor leaned up on his knees, moving in even closer and keeping his eyes locked on Aurora’s. When his face was only a couple inches from hers, he let his eyes drop to her mouth just in time to see Aurora’s tongue dart out over her bottom lip. Without so much as another thought Gregor covered her lips with his own, groaning when he felt Aurora’s lips move in sync with his. Kissing her was pure elation.
Gregor moved his hand so their fingers were twined together, at the same time bringing his other hand up to cup Aurora’s face while he deepened the kiss. He couldn’t get close enough. Kissing her was quickly becoming more important to his survival than the air he breathed. He felt consumed by her, like she had invaded every single part of him and he never wanted her to leave. She was a part of him now.
Chapter Six
Andros
“We’re still going out on patrol tonight, right?” Camille asked.
Andros smirked at her and brought his broad arm around her shoulders as they began walking out of the office. “Of course, we are, gargoyle. You didn’t think you were getting off with a night of just planning strategy in the office?” Andros looked down at her with a false look of shock on his face. “You aren’t getting soft on me, are you Cammie?”
Camille grabbed his arm and twisted around bending his arm until she had it pinned behind his back. She brought her mouth up to his ear and whispered. “Never soft, Andros, but keep calling me Cammie and you’ll get to see just how ready for a fight I am.”
Andros chuckled. Camille was a firecracker, and he loved riling her up. He was at least twice her size, but she never backed down. He was glad that they were friends because he was sure she could end him without breaking a sweat if she wanted to. “Geez, save it for the enemy why don’t ya,” he said.
She released him and rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I swear you get your kicks out of me kicking your ass.”
Andros clapped her on the back and flashed a toothy grin in her direction. “Oh Cammie, you know me so well. That’s why I love you.”
Camille raised her hand to strike, and he quickly darted out of her way. Turning around so he was facing her, but jogging slowly backwards, Andros put on a fake, serious expression. “You really need to stop playing around, Cammie, we’ve got work to do. Those asshole Shaitan aren’t going to kill themselves.”
Camille tried hard not to laugh, forcing a scowl, but she quickly loses the battle with herself and starts laughing, and Andros decides his mission is complete. To most people Camille was too manly. Even for a gargoyle she was bigger and badder than many of her own species. Hell, she could squash her own brother, Luka, without batting an eyelash. For Andros, it was her strength and her determination to be the best fighter she could that made him fall in love with her. She fought her feelings for him, but he knew she loved him just as much. She just didn’t want to allow girly things like love to affect her work or make anyone take her less seriously as one of the Maharani’s top warriors. They still had h
undreds of years to find their way to each other away from the battlefield, and Andros would be sure to find a way to convince Camille to put down her defenses and let him love her.
Andros looked over at her again, the beautiful smile still gracing her face where he’d made her laugh. Feeling victorious he made a quick fist pump in the air, then he turned around so they could meet their teams in front of the castle and get set out for the night’s rounds. He was feeling pretty pumped and ready to take the heads off of some Shaitan.
Chapter Seven
Camille
Camille gave up trying to hide her smile, shaking her head as she walked with Andros to meet their battalions and get this show on the road. The Shaitan were up to something. Camille had never seen the massive numbers of them out in groups like they’d encountered the past few nights. It seemed like their numbers grew nightly. She didn’t know how so many of them were getting here, but she knew they weren’t going to stop fighting until they’d taken out every last one of those disgusting demon assholes. It might take other millennia to get it done, but what was a few hundred years when you were immortal, right?
Both of their teams were waiting and ready to go when they met them in front of the castle. Luka and Gareth were engaged in what looked to be a pretty intense sword fight and Camille just rolled her eyes. Those two would be on the streets fighting the enemy day and night if they were permitted to do so. As it stood, they were the first to volunteer for every extra assignment that came. In Luka and Gareth’s minds the mandatory night off Aurora made sure everyone got each week was a nuisance, and a waist of their natural talents. They were damn good fighters, Camille would give them that, but she hoped for them both to find something more to care about in their lives; Luka especially. He was her brother, she loved him, and she wanted him to live for something more than the war. Hell, she hoped one day this war would end, and she didn’t want Luka to be left feeling empty when the only thing he was passionate about was gone.