by Milana Jacks
Dad cut Jordan a sharp look. “I will not sit here and wait for the creature to burn this place. I waited in Pittsburgh, and look what the dragon did. Enough is enough. We must strike at him on his time, and while he’s in his human…shape, since we’ve proven incapable of stopping him even with the plasma barrier enhancements. The Cy have failed to protect us.”
Shuffling, mumbling, cyborgs looking uncomfortable. Nobody spoke against the Cy. Nobody dared to point out their flaws. We depended on them for…well, everything. Dad hopped off the table. “The Cy want the dragon. But they couldn’t capture the red one alone or with those useless fucks over in New Orleans. I”—he pointed to his chest—“will give them a dragon. The Cy have said they want to join us in the habitat. I will make sure they get diverted by capturing the damn creature so they get busy with him instead of settling in a place already too crowded with our own kind.”
Everyone went mute.
All that cloning propaganda? A diversion. This was what my father would use as his stepping stool to becoming larger than life for these people. Dad hadn’t said it, but anyone with half a brain could draw conclusions. My dad didn’t want the Cy inside the habitat. This wasn’t the first time Dad had hinted at rejecting the notion of the Cy living among us. I knew he hated being dependent on their technology and thought their actions were passive-aggressive. They had taken over Earth one cyborg at a time. But with a lack of our own resources, we couldn’t survive. A double-edged sword.
Nobody said a word, and Dad picked out his team. I didn’t make the cut. As the guys who didn’t make it filed out of the classroom so Dad could iron out the details for the mission, I approached him.
“I see you’re feeling better,” he said and walked to the window. He glanced up at the pink plasma, then at me.
“Thanks to Dr. Hayes. How’re you?” I didn’t notice any change in his speech, so Arthur hadn’t damaged his throat when he’d squeezed it. The neck implant looked no worse for wear. Dad had had it fixed already. My father smiled with a glint in his good eye. Dad loved the military, and being able to exercise his muscles made the top of his favorite things to do.
When he didn’t reply, I said, “I want in.” In what, I still didn’t know, but whatever it was, I wanted it.
“No.”
“Oh, come on, Daddy. You’re the person who told me training’s got nothing on the real deal. If I’m not out there, I’m on the sidelines. We don’t sit on the sidelines. Is it because I’m a girl?”
Dad chuckled. “Don’t pull the girl card on me. I got you into the Elite. You’re just not ready for this.”
“I’ll be careful.”
A blank stare.
I smiled sweetly. “I swear.”
“Have you made any progress with telekinetics?”
“Not yet, but I won’t give up. If I could do it before, I can do it again.”
Dad sighed. Got him. “Okay, Rose, I’ll think about it.”
A small victory. I spent the rest of my day avoiding Rina, who appeared to be everywhere I went. If she was stalking me because of Arthur, she could kiss my ass.
Arthur
Tequila cured all ills and nourished my fucking soul. It was everything I wanted and nothing I needed. I poured another shooter and downed it, then turned up the bottle. A light brown drop landed on the sticky table. I searched the tavern for the owner. Down here on the ground level with the humans, the bars filled up by the end of day. Nobody had money to spend. Most of these people couldn’t even say they were living paycheck to paycheck. This living went beyond poverty. And yet, the tavern was full, and the nasty processed alcohol flowed.
The huge screen with some cyborgs talking about health, conservation, and their lovely benefits these people couldn’t have, captured my attention for the umpteenth time. I stared at the young woman on the screen as she waved her mechatronic hand to show the world all the tech she packed in her space.
Years ago, when the Cy first started supplying implants, the parts served as a biological boost so that the cyborgs could survive the Ice Age. That alone should have worried me, but if I was honest with myself, I hadn’t worried about it, because I also wanted humans to survive the Ice Age. The purpose of the habitats, however, remained a mystery, one solved only recently after Lance had seen the Cy inside. As the habitats had gone up, I had wondered about them. If cyborgs could withstand the Ice Age, never feel the frostbite even in bitter cold up here in Detroit, then why the need for the habitat temperature regulation or habitats at all? Comfort was the obvious answer. Creation of a functioning society also another good answer.
Still, the question had bugged me all these years. Then all my brothers sighted the aliens inside the habitats. And now I wondered about the Cy. Likely they wanted to create their own people out of humans and take control of them completely so there was no resistance if and when the aliens all decided to live down here.
The Cy remained the elusive race who’d done nothing but good for the cyborgs. The problem lay with low birth rate, cloning, and the Cy’s sneaky ways of “helping out.” They’d taken advantage of our misfortunes during the postapocalypse and had since established a world where the majority of the population served their every whim. In order to fight this, I needed my element. We, the dragons, would somehow get together and end the Ice Age. I needed a spirit, and I needed her now.
I felt my bird before I saw her squeeze through the crowd. Seven walked with slumped shoulders and haphazardly put-together hair. Seven’s hair was always carefully combed; not a hair on it ever stuck out. Now, she looked dead tired.
She plopped on the chair opposite me, took the bottle, and frowned. “Buy me a drink, boss.”
“Drink!” I shouted.
Seven startled.
It had been a rough two days for me. When no drink came around, I glared at the girl behind the bar. She rolled her eyes at me, then delivered the bottle with another shooter glass. Seven poured tequila and slammed it down her throat. “I followed Rose all day.”
I chuckled. “I can tell.” Knowing Rose and the fact she lacked an Off button, I could see she’d worn Seven down.
“The girl doesn’t sit,” Seven whined.
“Tell me about it. She should be at home resting.” I poured a drink. “What’s she up to?”
“First, she meditated. Went down for a class. Then she ate for ten minutes, went back, and climbed the rock-climbing wall three times. Some shooting practices afterward. Jogged or more like sprinted. She’s fast.”
I laughed. “Didn’t wrestle anyone, did she?”
Seven frowned. “Not today, though she usually has wrestling today.”
“Did she make you out?”
“Mm-hm. Flipped me off a few times, which is kind of odd. We’re friends. Not BFFs, but definitely friends.”
I had taken Seven to the birthday party. Rose might be jealous. “Anything else?”
“The colonel drilled them today in the class. He’s cooking up something.”
“Always is.”
“Did you know there’s a virtual room with a dragon hologram in it? They’ve got a spectator box, and I must say I pulled some strings just to get in and watch.”
“How did you get in?”
“The colonel let me in.”
I leaned across the table. “You have told me the colonel met you once. He’s even hit you. And I told you not to go near him. In fact, I recall telling you to avoid him.”
“I remember.”
“Fucking Christ, Seven. I cannot lose another bird. And I sure as fuck can’t lose Clementine’s only sister.”
Seven rolled her eyes. “I’m not taking unnecessary risks.”
I growled. “I disagree.” Had I known Seven and the colonel had had an encounter before, I wouldn’t have taken her to the birthday party at all. But it was only after the party that she mentioned their run-in. I had questioned her only to find out the colonel had physically assaulted her right before the habitat went down. He might or might not r
ecognize her even with her new platinum pixie-cut hair. I couldn’t risk it.
“I forbid you from interacting with him again. Swear to me.” Somehow, there were laws of nature that committed bird creatures and dragons to one another. When I ordered something, the bird was compelled to answer or act on it.
Seven’s jaw worked as she fought the compulsion, but she couldn’t. “I swear.” She fisted her hands and pinched her lips. “I don’t like how you can control me like this.”
“Get used to it.”
Seven looked away. “You want to hear about the dragon training room or not?”
I nodded. “First, which dragon?”
Seven frowned. “I’m not sure.”
“What color is it?”
“Red.”
Offended, I took another drink. “If they’re training in my territory, the dragon should be yellow, preferably gold. A replica would be best.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll be sure to pass that on to the colonel next time I see him.”
I glared at her.
Seven winked at me.
Like I’d said before, I had many painful years of life attached to Seven ahead of me.
Seven rested her elbows on the table and whispered conspiratorially, even though the people here couldn’t hear themselves think past the shouting and the music. “The cyborgs start out grouped, then when the dragon appears, they split into teams of three.”
“Why three?”
“How should I know?”
“Okay, carry on.”
“Why, thank you, my lord.” Her eyes rolled. “Anyway, the teams approach the dragon from different angles and try to climb the creature.”
“Ride me?”
“I guess.”
“Why?”
“Well, because the red one spits fire.”
“Ah, they must be under the impression we all spit fire, and that’s really all we can do. They haven’t figured out the elements.”
“No, I don’t believe they have.”
“This is good news.”
“Yes, Except, Rose is training too.”
I ground my teeth. “I know.”
“Um… This isn’t a problem?”
“It’s a huge problem.”
“Shouldn’t we tell Knight?”
“I’m debating.”
“On what?”
“To tell him or not to tell him.”
“Why wouldn’t you tell him?”
“Because Rose is mine.” The moment I said it out loud, I felt movement in my chest. I leaned back and waited to feel my beast again, hopeful we could fix what Mother Nature had done. Surely she understood I had already found my spirit and wasn’t giving her up. Mother Nature knew what this dragon could do if not allowed to mate the woman he chose. And we had chosen Rose. Surely, not everything depended on the whim of a…Mother with questionable sanity.
Inwardly, I called out my dragon as I had done many times just before I changed into him. Nothing, but I felt that nudge. I held on to it as if it was my flotation device. I knew what I needed to do. “Paid!” I shouted, then threw roges on the table and covered them with the bottle.
“Holy shit,” Seven said. “Rose is your spirit.”
“Was.” I stood. “But that’s not the point. Rose is mine. Always has been, so Mother needs to redesign, remold, refucking evaluate, or else have her Earth with no humans, because I ain’t gonna do shit to revive it.”
“Boss, I don’t understand.” Seven stood with me, her brown eyes wide, her wild hair standing on end.
I made my way out. “Mother Nature has taken Rose’s spirit away. But I don’t care, because Rose is mine.” The more I called her mine, the more my resolve grew. I searched the habitat’s sky for a taxi, then remembered we were walking on the ground floor. I sprinted for the tube transport.
Seven jogged next to me. She whisper-hissed, “No more running. I’m tapped out.”
“We’re taking the tube.” I pointed up.
Seven tilted her head to the side, extended her neck, and watched me, the way only a bird creature did. “Where are you going?”
“To see Rose.”
“You’re supposed to be looking for a spirit. Even I know that. Instead, you’re banging Knight’s little sister, who isn’t your spirit.”
“Jesus. I’m not banging her.”
“Yet.”
True. “Yet.”
“Rose isn’t home.” Seven bit her lip as we walked inside the tube. “In case that’s where you’re headed.”
The tube announced our transport, and Seven gripped my elbow right before we shot up. In seconds, a pleasant female voice announced our arrival, and Seven groaned. We walked onto the platform in the upper level, where the air was far more pleasant than below.
Again, I searched the sky for a cab. “If Rose isn’t home, why have you stopped following her?” A pink pod with a neon-green sign marketing the newest nasty plastic chocolate alternative dessert descended and stopped before us. I nudged Seven inside.
“I decided I was off duty,” she said. “That was a twelve-hour day, and I’m calling on my labor rights.”
“You are in my service,” I said, even though I knew I was wasting time trying to drill in my point. “Your bird serves my dragon. You have no other worries or concerns but how to best serve your dragon.”
“Have you ever followed Rose, hm? I’m exhausted.”
I got my wallet out and passed the transport card to Seven so she could pay for the cab. I would follow Rose to the end of the world. And that was exactly what I was gonna do.
10
Rose
The moment I stepped into my apartment, I sensed trouble. Rose petals littered the floor. The gun popped out of my implant and slid into my palm. I gripped it and pointed, quietly sidestepping the petals. Aww, Arthur had done this. Though I couldn’t be sure. I rounded the corner and pointed the gun at the kitchen. Nobody there. A lone bottle of wine, two glasses, and an ancient bottle opener sat on the counter.
I crouched and listened, then picked up a petal. Real roses, and damn, they smelled good. I crept around the bar and into the living room. Arthur sat on the couch, his eyes on me. I put the gun back and crossed my arms over my chest, trying to be mad at him. The petal trail went all the way into my bedroom, and I presumed ended somewhere around or on my bed. My face heated instantly. How could I stay mad at the guy who laid a trail of flowers from my front door to the bedroom? “What do you want?” Okay, so I could do this mad thing.
Arthur’s green eyes lit up, and his smile only made him more handsome. “How was your day?”
“Busy.”
“So I hear. Rina is my bird. Her name is Sevenina, and we call her Seven.”
It took a second, and then it hit me. “She’s your Theresa?” Theresa was my brother’s dove creature. Each dragon had one, and dragons didn’t have sex with their birds. There was some sort of a code about that. I knew this because I had asked Knight about Theresa once. Needless to say, tonight, Arthur came with great news.
“That’s right. Like Theresa.”
“She’s been following me.”
“I ordered her to do that.”
“I flipped her off, you know.”
“She’s not offended.”
“Not that I care. I didn’t like being followed.”
Arthur patted the couch. “Come sit down. You must be tired.”
The good doctor had cleared me for light training. Near the end of the day, when I worked out too hard and my implant had beeped, Jordan told on me. As a result, I’d spent an hour in psych with a guy who questioned my sanity for pushing myself so hard. I’d passed the sane cyborg test, though, so the dude sent me home.
I’d trained long and hard today. I sweated like a pig, and I might even smell. Inconspicuously, I sniffed the air. All flowery and nice, while my T-shirt stuck to my belly and showed sweat stains. “I need a shower.”
Arthur walked toward my bedroom. I stood there staring at his back, the
n heard the water running. Okay. I followed him inside the bathroom, where he was speaking to the shower so it could adjust the water temperature. My bathroom was like any other bathroom in the habitat, small and efficient. And since this was an apartment for singles or couples, the bathroom was even smaller. Arthur was six foot… two or three, I’d say, with wide shoulders and long, strong legs. He barely fit into the space on his own.
Water adjusted, Arthur shut off the vacuum units. Steam filled the bathroom. He hooked a hand over my hip, brought me against his body, and lowered his head. His proximity made me dizzy already, but when I realized he was about to kiss me, my knees almost gave out. I clung to his shoulders so I wouldn’t faint like some virgin who’d never seen a man in her life. I locked my knees.
Arthur smirked and took a step back, then commanded the door to close.
Okay, so he wasn’t gonna kiss me. He just needed me to get out of the doorjamb. Eh, at least I hadn’t made an idiot of myself. “What are you doing?” I asked.
His thumb brushed against my skin, and it took everything I had not to jump on him and rub myself all over his body.
Arthur lifted my shirt, and when I kept my hands down like a frozen statue, he narrowed his eyes. A tug and rip. The shirt flew behind me. “Rose, don’t make me spell it all out for you. Or maybe you want to be spanked.”
“Whaaaa…” Okay. I wasn’t familiar with this Arthur. He sounded…kind of like my drill coach, but with hair and terribly sexy.
“Say ‘Yes, my lord, I will pay attention to what’s happening here and will do my best to follow orders.’”
Was this really happening? All of a sudden, I felt unprepared, though I had played with dildos ever since I understood how they worked. When I just stared with my mouth slightly open and my heart pumping, Arthur yanked my hair and bit my neck.
“Oh!”
“Rose, I’ve thought about you for many days, and all day today.” His breath brushed my ear, fingers tucked under my sports bra. “It’s been a long few months for me, and today was exceptionally long. I have zero patience left to play around as if you don’t know what this is. So you will follow my lead or else.” He tugged my bra.