Scales and Flames

by Catherine Banks

  So, it was Erik. Mako glared at the kitchen door. Why did he do that to her? Now she had to avoid contact when he came back to take her order. Since she didn’t like touching people anyway, that would be easy.

  Erik seemed to be avoiding eye contact when he came back out. He kept his eyes on his ticket book. “Did you find something you wanted?”

  “Yes, this one,” she said pointing to the picture of the avocado bacon cheeseburger and fries. She held the menu far enough away from him that he couldn’t touch it without moving forward.

  He glanced up from the ticket and back down. She couldn’t tell if he was nervous because he’d felt something, or because of the alluring way her tank top was clinging to her braless breasts.

  “We can do that. We cook them medium rare if that’s fine with you. Did you want anything to drink?”

  “Medium’s good, and just water. Thanks.”

  He bobbed his head and turned to walk away, not making eye contact with her. Mako shook her head. Maybe she was imagining things. Shaking her head, she crossed her arms under her chest and leaned her elbows against the counter, pretending to study the menu he hadn’t taken.

  She felt off and she couldn’t explain it. Since she was aggravated at Erik for seemingly no reason, she needed to calm down. A dragon who let their temper get the best of them was never a good thing. Sometimes it would be their eyes that glowed. Sometimes it would cause ripples in their skin as the scales made themselves apparent. And at one point, she had to run away and actually turn back into a dragon to calm down. In the city of Los Angeles that had been fun. It was hard enough being a dragon in human skin, much less a dragon hiding in a big city. Her body was too big to fit through doors and it wasn’t like she would turn into a dragon in the middle of the LA freeway. Mako had to hide in one of the drainage tunnels underneath the city. She had to tuck her wings in as tight as she could, and it almost made it easier to get around down there. Mako shuddered at the memory. It wasn’t going to happen again. Definitely not because of a burger joint waiter.

  Movement caught her eye out of her peripheral vision and Mako’s head turned towards it. A car pulled into the lot. As she guessed, the drive was only big enough for one car to pass through. The light bar on top of the black and white car finally clicked, it was a cop car.

  “At least I haven’t paid yet,” Mako muttered grumpily to herself. She didn’t know if they were here for her, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Mako got out of the seat and worked her way to the end of the counter. There had to be another exit in here somewhere. There wasn’t one in back, she’d been on that side of the building. Maybe the kitchen had a side door. Mako started going through her problem quickly but calmly in her head.

  Her only hope was starting to look like a side door in the kitchen. Or she could hide out in the kitchen… with Erik and the cook. The idea did not sit well with her. All she could think about was getting out, and her options were limited.

  Mako ducked around the counter and made her way to the door of the kitchen. Through the port-hole styled window, she could see Erik facing towards the door talking to someone else. The other guy wasn’t wearing an apron and was standing in a way that said he was the authority and not the cook. He didn’t even have a diner shirt on like Erik.

  Was he the owner? All Mako could see was the back of his shoulder-length black hair with white streaks. They were in Los Angeles. Black and white was not the oddest color in the world to see on someone’s head, even if he looked like a modern-day Sweeny Todd. Something was definitely off about this diner. She thought that she could sneak past them, but should she? There was no guarantee of a door out of the kitchen back there. Her sneaking abilities were on par with a drunken toddler some days, so she knew she’d never get away with it twice. The cop car was parking so she had to make a choice. It was now or never.

  She decided she had to try. Mako pushed at the door slowly. Erik had to not look up. Although if he did make eye contact, she could suggest that he let her hide out back here. Suddenly, there was no desire to use her power. The less interaction she had between the diner worker and herself, the better.

  She crouched and slid her head around the door. There was a large prep table between her and the guys. This was starting to look better.

  Mako stayed crouched and moved through the door. She crept along the back side of the prep table. There had to be a side door in the alcove only ten feet or so from her. If not, that’s where she was going to hide until the cop was gone. Then she could go back out the front door.

  It wasn’t until she got to the end of the table that she saw her problem. There was no way out that side. It was an alcove full of boxes. She was going to have to hide behind the boxes of dried goods until the cop left.

  Mako heard the cop call for assistance and Erik moved to open the door. That meant he wouldn’t be watching the area with the boxes. Now was her chance. As soon as he moved, she moved. Mako pressed herself against one of the boxes and scooted as far back as she could, hoping that her tennis shoes were hidden by the box of to-go boxes perched precariously on the bottom shelf. She was hiding behind a box of boxes. In the moment it was so silly that Mako had to stop herself from laughing out loud. Even curled up like this, she felt exposed. Once the cop left, she could leave. Mako simply had to keep telling herself that.

  Mako turned her head around to peer out of the boxes. If she lifted herself slightly, she could peer through the window on the door. It was enough to see the cop’s hat and Erik’s brown hair, but she would be able to tell when they were done. She could hear that they were out front talking and tried to focus on what they were saying, but she really couldn’t tell. Erik was probably wondering where she was anyway. He could describe her though. From the looks of it, this place didn’t get many hot redheads as patrons. Did she end up in a weird mob diner? How did they stay open with no one showing up for the dinner crowd?

  Wrap up your conversation so I can leave, she thought.

  “This must be yours then?” she heard a voice say from the kitchen, startling her.

  Mako took a deep breath, turned her head, and looked up. She had been so preoccupied with trying to see out to the front she’d forgotten the other man in the kitchen was fully capable of moving too.

  “Hi,” she said weakly, half turning around.

  “Is this basket yours?” he said motioning to the burger and fries in the red and white checkered basket. “I have to go back to work and I don’t handle food.”

  He still hadn’t asked Mako why she was crouched behind a box of to-go boxes. She assumed her power must be helping. This place was way too weird for her liking.

  “Yes, but I can’t go back out there. He’s probably looking for me,” she offered the information without knowing why.

  “Who?”

  “That cop out there,” she said, standing shakily.

  “What’d you do?”

  “I got kicked out of another pawn shop,” Mako said, unable to stop herself. She had only glanced at his slate grey eyes for a moment. He couldn’t be a dragon, he was just some guy in jeans and a black polo.

  “Oh?” he said with surprise. “You must be that girl they warned me about.”

  “Excuse me! Who are you, anyway?” she demanded. She realized how loudly she spoke and looked back at the door. Erik and the cop were still talking. Now she was annoyed.

  “They said a redhead was going around bringing in stolen goods.”

  “You can’t turn me in,” Mako said calmly, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. She was in a diner, not a pawn shop. She wanted to know how he found out she was a thief, but it didn’t matter right now. She had to get out of here without complications. She put as much of her draconic power as she could behind her statement. She didn’t feel very intimidating. Modern-day Sweeny Todd was at least six feet tall. She was all of five and a half feet and though she had her dragon to fall back on, it didn’t help her with size as a human to intimidate people.

&
nbsp; “Look do you want your food or not?” He said locking eyes and glaring back at her.

  “Yes….?” Despite everything, she was still hungry. If he wasn’t going to turn her in, what did he want?

  “Since you’re a known thief I suppose I should make you pay for this first.”

  Mako pulled a twenty out and handed it over before she realized what she was doing. She needed to get out of here as soon as possible. There was something off about this place.

  “Stay there. I will get your change,” he said. He put her basket back down on the end of the counter behind him.

  “Yeah, right,” she mumbled to herself as soon as he was out of sight.

  Mako grabbed the basket and walked around the kitchen, exploring. There was no backdoor. Instead, there was a basement opening with lots of space and a set of narrow steps.

  “Where did they take the trash out to?” she questioned. There was no dumpster out front that she had seen. Putting money into a cash register didn’t take that long. She started down the stairs hoping there was a delivery door on the far side. She would take anything at this point. She was trapped if she stayed upstairs, so she might as well try and find a way out.

  “Should have stayed put,” the man said, returning with her change.

  Mako rolled her eyes and turned around on the staircase. “Why would I do that?” she asked. Today was not her day.

  “The cop is gone so if you want to leave you can. Or I can show you something,” he offered.

  Leave! Her brain screamed at her.

  “Sure, what did you want me to see?” she asked quietly.

  What? No. Mako mentally kicked herself. But now it was said. She could always leave if she needed to… right?

  “Go eat first then we will go.”

  Mako nodded. He stepped back to allow her to pass and Mako had less of a suffocating feeling. She needed to eat and then run.

  “Might as well sit out front,” he suggested from behind her.

  Mako grumbled an unintelligible response and she tried not to stomp through the kitchen.

  “Oh, there you are,” Erik said.

  Mako avoided glancing at him. Mako decided she needed food. Then this obviously crazy diner wouldn’t mess with her. She glanced outside to make sure the cop car had actually pulled away. Why had she walked out without checking first? That was stupid of her. Mr. Todd said the cop was gone. She realized he could have lied, and Mako would still have walked out here. What was going on here?

  Taking a seat at the counter she proceeded to dump ketchup next to her French fries. Usually, there was a certain satisfaction in eating angrily, but Mako noticed it wasn’t making her feel better to be angry with either of them. She had no idea what was happening to her. Something in this building was putting her on edge and she refused to make a mistake and get overly angry. The last thing she needed was having to escape when she knew of only one way out.

  Three

  Mako was almost done with her burger when someone walked out of the kitchen. She didn’t even look up. She hoped it was Erik coming out to clean some tables for the nonexistent customers, but she knew it was not. There was no way she had been in here for over an hour and still, no one came in. She kept wondering how this place made any money.

  “I never introduced myself, did I?”

  “Nope, but that’s fine with me,” she said avoiding looking at him when he took a seat next to her.

  “You go by Mako right?”

  “How the hell do you know that?” Mako said tossing her French fry back down in the basket.

  “I got a notice about you since you’ve been circulating pawn shops in this town.”

  “And this is a diner, not a pawn shop,” she said sarcastically.

  “True, but I don’t work here. Only my son does. I run the shop downstairs.”

  Mako blinked at him. Did he mean downstairs, as in the basement? Why would anyone put a store underground, unless it was part of a strip or train station? Then the rest of the sentence caught up with her brain.

  “Son…? The server kid is your son?” No wonder they both creeped her out. They were related.

  “Not by blood, but yes. You can’t be much older than he is.”

  Mako suppressed a laugh.

  “My name is Akor,” he said offering his hand.

  Mako took his hand and felt her draconic energy react. How could she have forgotten Erik sparked lightning down her arm? Akor’s touch was different. The lightning spread from her core and she closed her eyes, knowing they would start glowing soon. Mako pulled her hand back from his quickly and rubbed it on her shorts. She didn’t want to fight with shapeshifting in front of him.

  “Come with me,” he said standing.

  Mako rose and followed him back into the kitchen. She was having enough trouble trying to figure out why she was doing what he asked. She had a draconic enhanced power of persuasion. He was supposed to do what she wanted, not the other way around.

  Akor led her to the stairway in the back of the kitchen. Mako looked past him down the stairs with suspicion. What could possibly be in the basement of this diner that he called it a store? He probably ran an illegal bodega. That’s why the cop was really here. She decided it wasn’t her fault.

  “What’s really down here?” she asked him as they started to descend the stairs.

  “Ash Maker’s Sundries. You’ll like it.”

  “Oh,” was all she could say. He had to be lying.

  Mako’s tennis shoes stepped on the floor of the basement. A wave of something she couldn’t describe hit her body. Her hands shot out to grab the railing behind her, so she wouldn’t fall. She curled her fingers around the metal bar and held on waiting for the dizziness to pass. There was a powerful energy down here. Why hadn’t this happened on the way down?

  She heard Akor from the top of the stairs. “Calm down.”

  Calm down? No. It felt like she had been hit by a truck.

  “Calm down,” he said again, reaching the bottom. “I don’t have the room for a full-sized dragon down here. I took down the barrier enough for you.”

  That statement shocked Mako and she stood perfectly still. She could feel her skin tingling and knew her eyes were glowing. “How do you know?” she bit out.

  “That’s why you came here isn’t it?” Akor asked, puzzled.

  The perplexed look on his face scared her. How could he have been expecting her if she didn’t know she was coming here in the first place.

  “I thought you were finally here for it. Why else would you show up now since you’ve been in the city for a few decades?”

  “What are you talking about?” Mako demanded. The shock that he knew she was a dragon was acting as a counterbalance to whatever energy was on the floor. If she could keep it reined in she would be fine.

  “You really don’t know, do you?” Akor offered her his hand.

  Mako kept her grip firmly on the railing. She wasn’t about to deal with another lightning shock again.

  “Know what?” Mako glared at him.

  “Why did you come here then?” Akor countered.

  “Because…” she didn’t want to admit she got lost.

  Akor’s grey eyes bored into hers. It was starting to make sense why she was doing what he asked. There was no way he was a dragon. She was told dragons were dying out. Her chance encounters in Mexico had been because she walked into their territory accidentally. Akor said he knew she was here for a long time now. It didn’t make sense.

  “Is Erik?” she asked tentatively. No, he said they weren’t related by blood.

  “He’s a half dragon. He found me.”

  Mako couldn’t make her fingers let go of the railing. All the information was trying to sink in and make sense.

  “You really didn’t seek us out on purpose, did you?” Akor concluded.

  Mako shook her head.

  “Well now. Come on. You still may get something out of this.”

  He turned his back on her and proceede
d around a corner and into a wall. Mako couldn’t help herself. She was intrigued. She had never seen anyone, human or dragon, walk into a wall before. This was new. She eyed the floor of the basement with suspicion and tentatively stepped one foot down on the floor. Nothing happened. She sighed with relief and stepped down with the other foot, as well.

  The shock was lesser this time but still there. Something jolted up her left leg from the floor and made a full current around her body. Once it reached the floor again via her right foot it seemed to settle. What was this? Now she was afraid to move for fear of it happening again. She stood there for a few minutes debating what to do.

  It seemed that Akor was not coming back out any time soon and Erik wasn’t coming downstairs any time soon either. She had to make this choice purely on her own. It couldn’t hurt to take a look at Ash Maker’s Sundries. Finally, curiosity got the better of her. Mako took another step forward and was relieved to find that there was no shock this time. Whatever barrier existed between the stairs and the basement floor had weakened now. Then again, Akor had told her he took it down. She remembered he said he took it down ‘just enough’, maybe that’s why it still affected her.

  She moved around the corner wall she had to admit that she didn’t know was there the first time she looked. It was a solid wall. There was no doorway or hidden corner. It was only a wall. Mako put her hand on it and pushed. It was definitely solid cement.

  What? She thought. Where did he go?

  Mako pushed on the wall a few more times and still nothing happened.

  “Hey!” she shouted. “Open up!”

  She heard laughter from the other side of the wall, so she knew he was there. Mako slammed her fist against the wall in frustration half hoping that it would simply open for her. She cradled her fist in her other hand. There was no blood, but hitting a solid wall still hurt. Why was she even doing this? Mako glared at the wall, silently calling Akor a jerk.