by Angel Black
“I look forward to it, Alexandra. I’ll call you, ” he murmured. His eyes lingered over her, before he turned away, as if nothing had happened.
Alexandra didn’t know what had just happened, but, for some reason, she didn’t really care. There was something about Connor, something that she liked. Somehow, when he was close to her, all her worries disappeared. She felt as comfortable and at home as she did when she was lost in her dreams.
She felt safe and content and like everything was going to be okay. Her fingers tingled from where they brushed his and suddenly, Alexandra knew that she had just made the very best decision of her life, and she couldn’t be happier about it.
Chapter 9: Love, followed by Terror
Wow.
It had felt like someone had punched him.
Falon couldn’t get Alexandra out of his head. He had only met her an hour or so ago, and already, she was all that he could think of. He couldn’t get her off of his mind, couldn’t stop thinking about her, in every sense of the word.
It was difficult to concentrate on the meeting and all of the talk of finances. He was not in the mood to deal with it and, on top of that, he didn’t entirely understand it. The human lingo was different and the idea of a law firm was very unusual to him, unusual indeed. It was a whirlwind already and he didn’t understand why humans had to make everything so damn complicated. It was simpler in many ways in the dragon realm and he found himself preferring that.
Still, for everything else, the human world was winning and he found himself intrigued by all of the interesting things to do and see, the unusual customs and the sheer freedom from rules that humans seemed to live beneath.
He was also trying to get used to the way he was being treated. Sure, he was a Duke, and he was used to being treated with the appropriate respect, but this was different. He was being treated like one of Aedan’s kings, simply because he had money to spend. Falon had not expected this. He knew that the dragons should be high ranking in the human world, they were guardians of all life on Earth, but he had no idea how much money and power they had managed to accumulate, which seemed to be all that humans needed to respect someone. Everything had been set up and was ready for him. Everything was ready to go, leaving Falon with all the money and assistance that he needed to be successful and live comfortably in this world.
Falon had not expected that, had not expected such wealth and such power, but he most certainly wasn’t complaining. The firm was there if he needed it and they would assist with any trouble or investments. Falon was satisfied with this and eager to leave the meeting room and get back to the rest of his plans.
Falon shook hands and made his way out through the lobby. His mind was drifting back to the girl that he had met before. Alexandra. He didn’t know why he had asked her out so suddenly, so abruptly, but he didn’t regret it at all. He wondered if the strength of his feelings had something to do with him being in the human world. Maybe it was something in the air. Maybe it was because she was his mate? His dragon had been woken out of its slumber the moment he scented Alexandra.
He felt strange in a way that he couldn’t describe, even if he tried. He felt unusual, an odd pressure in his chest and a warmth to his cheeks. Falon had never felt like that before, had never experienced this sort of sensation moving through his body. It was dizzying, and Alexandra was so unusual.
Falon knew that he wanted to see her again. No, needed to see her again. He craved it, needed it and he didn’t know what to do about it. He just knew that he had to see her again. She was strange. He had realized, the moment that he had seen her, that she had ancient dragon blood in her. That was the only way to explain how she smelt so much like a dragon, and yet, just like a human as well. It was such an unusual mix. It was heady and intoxicating and Falon couldn’t help the feelings welling up in his chest.
As he exited the office, he realized that he could not sense her anymore, could not sense, or smell her any longer. He realized, with a sharp pang of sadness, that she was probably already gone. She had probably already gone home for the day, left for the day and that the chances of him seeing her were slim. His hand crept to his pocket and he felt inside it for the card that she had given him. He closed his fingers around it, rubbing it lightly in his touch. It felt smooth, with the faint ridges that came from printing. Her name. Her number. His only way to stay in contact with her.
Falon felt his heart twist with a combination of hope and anxiety and he pushed the card deeper into his pocket, so that he had no chance of losing something so precious.
It was like nothing that he had ever felt before, like nothing that he had ever experienced. It was overwhelming, and Falon felt powerless against it, powerless against the sensations in his body and his mind.
Falon walked down to the limo that was waiting outside for him. One of the partners had said that they would order the limo for him, that he shouldn’t be relegated to taxis and Uber. Apparently, the driver would know his exact address for his home and would be available all day. Falon would also have access to a second driver during the evening.
He slid into the seat. “Home, thanks,” he told the driver. He had no idea where home was in this world, but he hoped that his driver would have an idea. The driver had known where to take him since he first sat down in the car. Falon assumed he had been arranged by the dragons, too.
Falon settled down, but his thoughts had turned to the dragons now and anxiety was clawing at his guts. It was unusual for him to feel so concerned, but it was hard for him to stop the thoughts rushing in.
Falon had not spent much time thinking about the consequences of his actions, the potential consequences of leaving the dragon realm and making his way to the human world.
The problem was, Elemanias would definitely realize that he was gone, sooner or later, and tell her father, Meneas. She was already furious with him, which meant Meneas was infuriated with him, and Falon didn’t doubt that they would do everything in their power to make him pay for even more apparent humiliation. Falon sighed, feeling the stress work through his neck and up his body.
While Elemanias was annoying, her father was terrifying. He wasn’t a Sigma by any means. In fact, Falon would have been closer to a Sigma than Meneas. But the Duke, Meneas, was a political genius, more like a spider than a dragon, with his web touching every surface of court news and espionage. Falon swallowed the knot of fear that was building in his stomach. He wondered if one of Meneas’s spies was the reason that Falon had had the odd sensation of being followed earlier.
If that happened, there were only two possible outcomes for Falon. In the best case scenario, Falon would have his memory erased and he would be left alone to live out the rest of his life in the Imbris kingdom, never remembering the experiences and pleasures of the human world.
The worst case scenario sent shudders through him. If Aedan was angry enough, he would dispatch the Sigmas. The Sigmas were a team of elite dragons, who were skilled in both diplomacy and assassination. They would track him down and bring him back, dragging him back to the dragon world by force and making an example of him.
He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that if he was caught and dragged back to the dragon realm, he was definitely going to become an example to be shown to the other dragons. Falon knew that he was not the only dragon who was unhappy with life in the Pax Gloria, so it would make sense for him to become an example, and show everyone else that it was futile and pointless to run.
His life would be at serious risk. He would be in a serious situation. Falon sighed and tilted his head back, his mind spinning.
The human world was opening his eyes and his heart to experiences and he couldn’t possible regret it, but his heart pounded at the thought of the possible consequences, nonetheless. Falon decided he would just have to try his best not to get caught.
It was all that he could do.
Chapter 10: New Friends, New Questions
Falon stood in the middle of his penthouse suite, at the
Ivy Hotel. He was told that this was one of the best in Baltimore, the best that money could buy. Falon stretched and sighed, taking it all in. It was clean and well-kept and he could tell that this was high class in the human realm. Still…
Falon walked around. The room was lovely, with good furnishings and a spacious living area. The ceiling wasn’t as high as the one that Falon was used to, and when he opened the curtains, he was, of course, greeted with a view of the skies and the city below, not that of the sea with humpback whales swimming along his window. All in all, it was a little bit simple compared to what he was used to. It didn’t have the same comfort and opulence, but Falon supposed that was to be expected.
It was still lovely and that view… it took Falon’s breath away every time. He had always loved looking out into the sea, but this was something else. Falon couldn’t remember ever being this high up in his human form, seeing everything from this perspective. It felt natural somehow, right, and he found himself relishing in the elevated perspective.
Suddenly feeling empowered, Falon decided he’d go out for a walk. He was sick of seeing the human world from a penthouse, or from behind the windows of a car. He wanted to experience the city and the way of the human world, for himself. He felt excitement course through him and he stepped out and took the elevator down to the street below.
The street was busy. That was the first thing that struck Falon as he stepped out. Everyone was walking everywhere. There were so many humans, compared to dragons. There were just so many people and it was very easy to see why things got so chaotic in this realm.
Falon steeled himself and started to walk down a path. Everything was so wild. He could sense a current running beneath the street and through the people. He sensed that he shouldn’t stop, sensed that it was better to stay in motion in this wild city. He wasn’t used to the chaos, wasn’t used to everything being so full, so unendingly busy.
He felt his breath be snatched from his body and stolen away. Everyone was wearing something different, everyone looked and acted differently. There was no order, to walking slowly and pausing to nod with polite diplomacy. There was nothing but the movement, the rush of people, the push and shove and movement that seemed to set everything ablaze.
It was wild. People were pushing each other, there were blatant curses thrown out casually as ever by passersby. There were people arguing in the shops. There was a rudeness here that Falon hadn’t expected. This world seemed so untamed, so rude and wild and exotic.
Falon knew that most dragons thought humans were inferior, and he knew that this was why. This roughness and uncut way of acting was unusual to someone from the dragon realm and it was very easy to see why the dragons would shun this and turn their backs on it. This wasn’t how things were meant to be, at least, in the dragons’ eyes.
This was why many dragons thought it best that humans just be left to their own, inevitable demise. Falon couldn’t find it in his heart to agree. He could see the wildness, see the exotic nature of the humans creeping up around him, but he found it refreshing.
It was exhilarating, overwhelmingly blissful and it allowed him to think in a completely different way; think about things in a light that Falon had never considered. It allowed him to sense the ancient dragon blood in people that he passed. It allowed him to understand that, although it was not common, there was a close relation between many humans and dragons.
His thoughts strayed to Alexandra and he felt a hum move through his body and into his bones. Alexandra was different. Falon didn’t know why he thought that, but he knew it to be true. Somehow. Alexandra was different; Alexandra was not like the other humans, even the other humans who had dragon blood.
Alexandra was special and it was driving Falon crazy not knowing how or why she made him feel this way. With his head buzzing, Falon decided that he needed a drink, a moment of respite from the busy streets, to gather his thoughts.
He looked around, trying to find somewhere that he could go. He had spotted a few bars, but none of them were really up his alley. It wasn’t until his eyes landed on a classy looking one just down the road, that Falon felt he had found the right place to sit.
He stepped into the bar and was happy with the pleasantly dim atmosphere, the comfortable lighting and the upper class décor. It wasn’t anything like where he would have gone back home, but that was part of the charm.
Falon made his way to the bar and slid into the seat. The bartender smiled and made his way over. “You look like a guy who drinks Manhattans. Am I right?” The bartender looked comfortable in his skin, with an easy sort of grace and a smile that could charm a snake. He had a slightly dark mahogany tint to his skin, a rich color to it that reminded him of what Summer Dragons looked like. The bartender had a deep voice, even deeper than most dragons, and a dazzlingly white smile. He wore a simple outfit, a dressed down version of the type of “suit” that Falon was wearing—he was clad in a white button down that clung to his muscles and was open at the collar, with black slacks and shiny leather black shoes.
If a Valkyrie ever met him, she would keep him as a sex slave in her bedchamber. I can almost see why Aedan wouldn’t want us younger dragons visiting the human world. A lot of us would get distracted from the military duties.
“Angel,” said the bartender, extending his hand.
“Falon. And well, you’re not wrong. About the drink I mean.” Falon chuckled, feeling relief sweep over him and flood his system. Falon was in no mood to show everyone that he was ignorant and didn’t know drinks in this world yet. But something about Angel felt safe. The humans had a way of putting him at ease.
The Manhattan came quickly and Falon found that it went down easily. He was surprised to find that he really liked the drinks and that they seemed to have the same effects as the drinks back home. Falon waited until the bartender was turned around, before he laced the drink with a little bit of silver.
Silver was great, since it acted as a nullifying agent towards his enhanced recovery
abilities. In short, it helped him to actually get drunk when he was drinking alcohol. It made him think about how much money Valonis had to spend on silver to get drunk.
It’s strange. Alcohol is a literal poison that kills humans. Silver is a nullifying agent to dragons, something that can kill us, and we use it to help us get drunk. Strange, how both humans and dragons celebrate the gift of life, by death. Death of poison.
“You look like a thinker,” said Angel. “Or at least a man in deep thought.”
Falon couldn’t help but smile at the charming man.
The bar itself was empty and it didn’t take long for the bartender to turn his attention towards Falon for conversation. A few minutes of small talk later, Falon got an idea.
“Hey, could I use your phone?”
The bartender smiled and shrugged. “Sure. Phoning a girl?” He grinned.
Falon blushed, feeling heat brush against his cheeks. He shrugged. The bartender passed him a phone with an apple logo on the back. Falon wasn’t used to the technology, but it didn’t take him long to figure it out, tap in her number and call her.
“Hello?”
The moment Falon heard Alexandra’s voice, it all came out in a rush, “It’s F-Connor.” He corrected himself quickly. “How does Wednesday suit you?”
Alexandra laughed and it was music to Falon’s ears, so light and bubbling. “Sounds great.”
“Pick a place… wherever you want to go. I’m staying at the Ivy Hotel, so just call there and let me know.”
“Oh, uh, okay,” Alexandra sounded confused, but Falon could hear her smile on the phone.
“Great, I look forward to it.” He clicked the phone off and handed it back to the bartender who was looking at him with a bemused look on his face.
“Falon...” The bartender was smiling. “No offense, but it seems like you might be a little nervous.”
He chuckled softly and Falon blushed. “It’s usually the guy who sets the place, if he asked her out.
Remember, humans, well, human women, want to be swept off their feet. They call it ‘head over heels’ type of stuff.”
Wait… did he call me Falon earlier? Maybe he heard me say it on the phone… Meh, doesn’t matter.
“What? But isn’t that just bad manners?” Falon was appalled. The bartender laughed.
“Nope. Second date, you should let her choose, but the first is when you sweep her off her feet, if you understand? Now I know that in realms… excuse me, ‘countries’ where there’s arranged marriages, things work a little differently. I know you guys don’t really do dates, more like you just kind of hang out whenever the other person’s free and you just, kind of explore.”
The charming Angel fellow winked at Falon, like an older brother trying to explain something.
“The idea is that you want to give her an experience: a pleasant time where her everyday life, with its painful crudity and monotonous tedium is a figment of her imagination. Now, I’m not saying you have to overcompensate and buy her a pony on the first date. I’m just saying that you want to take care of all the small details so that she can lose herself in spending time with you.”
The human world was a lot, lot more complicated than the dragons had given them credit for. These people were supposed to be the relatives of monkeys.
“Oh, and you pay for the first date, but you knew that, didn’t you?” The bartender smirked.
Falon had remembered reading that somewhere. It was hard to remember all the details. He knew that humans didn’t quite have the same activities that dragons used to bond: they didn’t go flying together in their dragon forms, they didn’t wrestle and grapple or go running together on first dates. They did things like movies, dinners, and museums or things like that. Things that usually had money associated with them. Which would make sense, then, that the person organizing the date would pay.