by Abby Blake
Unfortunately, that sort of thinking took him full circle, and he found himself wondering about the original reason for meeting Ava. So many things had happened in such a short time it was almost easy to forget that it had been a pixie’s assassination attempt that had brought them together in the first place.
“It looks great,” Ava said as she stepped through the back door and held out a tall glass of ice water. He took the drink gratefully, downing the liquid in only a few swallows.
“Is Brody ready to go to the hospital, yet?”
“He’s on the phone to his boss, but it should be soon.” She hesitated a moment. “I was thinking…”
“No!” he said sharply, already pretty sure what she was going to suggest. Keira’s story was heart wrenching—a teenager abandoned by parents who believed more in the purity of their race than in protecting their own child. Keira was broken, bruised, alone, and very afraid. With three of her parents in custody and her brother missing, Keira very literally had nowhere to go. But she was a dragon. She’d been raised by fanatics, and there was no way in hell Nathan was letting Ava risk her life and their baby’s life to help the girl. Brody had assured them he’d find a home for his niece, but even he saw the danger she represented.
“Damn it, Nathan,” Ava said in an uncharacteristic show of temper. Even when Ava was really angry she kept her cool and he was fairly certain he’d never heard her swear out loud. He moved to comfort her, but she stepped out of his reach. “Don’t you see that by rejecting her it makes us no better than the fanatics who raised her?”
He did see, but it didn’t mean he’d risk Ava’s life to help a child who could one day very soon turn into a dragon and kill her with one deep breath.
“Just let me meet her. Just let me go to the hospital with Brody so that she can see I’m not the enemy, that I’m not someone to be hated.”
Nathan glanced over her shoulder to see Brody standing behind her. Brody didn’t look happy, but it was obvious that Ava’s impassioned pleas had hit a raw nerve for him. Brody grimaced but threw his support behind Nathan.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. We need to keep you and the baby safe. “
“I will be safe. You said yourself that Keira isn’t yet old enough to shift into dragon form. Right at this moment she’s just a scared, confused teenager. Just let me meet her so that she can know that the baby and I are no danger to her.”
Brody seemed torn. Even though he hadn’t seen his niece since she was three years old, he’d visited her every day in the hospital since her injury. It was obvious he was as concerned for the child’s welfare as Ava.
“Fine,” Nathan said, praying that he wouldn’t regret his decision, “but I’m coming with you. Dragons aren’t the only species with an irrational dislike for humans. You stay beside me. You do what you’re told, when you’re told, and we leave at the first sign of trouble.”
* * * *
Brody led his family through the wide corridors of the hospital. Ava seemed to have coped quite well with the vortex jump. Perhaps being pregnant with a dragon child helped, but he’d made them all stay in a sitting room for several minutes to let her and Nathan recover from the nausea.
The hospital only had a few beds, most of them occupied by children. Almost every species of paranormals had rapid healing abilities once they reached puberty. The place was usually half empty so it also doubled as a base of operation for some of the PUP squads. Brody nodded to yet another familiar face before finally stepping into Keira’s room.
Nathan held Ava at the door, and thankfully despite her eagerness, Ava waited quietly.
“Hi, Keira,” Brody said when he realized his niece was awake. She sat up awkwardly, but it was obvious she was glad to see him. “I brought a couple of visitors with me.” He tilted his head toward the door. Keira’s eyes went wide when she saw Nathan and Ava.
“What are they?” she whispered nervously.
“They’re humans.”
“The human? The one grandmother wanted dead?” Her gaze darted around the room, seemingly looking for escape.
“It’s okay, Keira,” Brody said, moving closer. “Ava and Nathan don’t want to hurt you. They just came to say hi.”
“They did?” she asked in wonder. She peeked over his shoulder, smiled shyly, and then ducked her head in embarrassment. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Why would they want to say hi to me?”
“Because they’re nice people and they want to make sure you’re getting better.”
“Oh,” she said in a voice that suggested that humans being nice was a misnomer.
“Keira,” Ava said from the doorway. “It’s okay. If you don’t want visitors we can go, or maybe come back another day when you’re feeling better.”
“No,” Keira said in a voice filled with lonely desperation. “Y–You can visit now. I won’t mind. I…um…I don’t have anything else to do.” She sat up straighter, grimacing in pain when she moved her broken leg awkwardly. “I…um,” she said breathlessly, “don’t have anyone to…talk to so…” Her words trailed away, and a sob hiccupped from her mouth.
* * * *
Nathan knew the child’s distress would make it impossible for Ava to stay away. She had a kind heart and, despite telling them stories of bored and difficult teenagers, obviously cared very deeply for the children she’d taught in high school. Her compassionate heart was one of the reasons that he’d fallen so deeply in love with her.
Clearly her kindness extended to children of other species as well.
Nathan managed to let Ava into the room and still keep himself between the woman he loved and potential danger. She touched his forearm affectionately, but didn’t try to get any closer.
“Hi, Keira. I thought you might like some art supplies,” she said, lifting up a bag with a sketch pad and various pencils and charcoals they’d bought from home. “Your uncle tells me you’re quite a talented artist.”
Keira nodded enthusiastically, acting more like a human seven-year-old than a teenager. It probably made sense. Dragons lived a lot longer than humans, so it was likely that their offspring took longer to mature as well. It did raise more questions about the child Ava carried though. There had never been a human-dragon hybrid, so nobody had a clue what was going to happen.
Ava handed the sketchpad to Keira and the child grabbed a charcoal and began drawing and talking at the same time.
“Did you know that dragons have to learn all about thermal updrafts and wind direction and all sorts of confusing stuff before we can even fly? I mean, we get wings and all, but father says I’m not allowed to even think about getting off the ground before I know how to land.” She looked up at Brody and wrinkled her nose before she asked her next question. “How can we learn to land if we’re not allowed to even get off the ground? Is that even possible? When I get my wings, my dad promised he’d teach me. Except that he…”
Keira fell silent, perhaps realizing that she no longer had anyone capable of teaching her to fly. From what Nathan understood of dragon society Keira would be shunned by the other families. Apparently the feelings of superiority extended to other dragon families as well as the rest of the paranormal and human species on the planet.
Considering that male dragons outnumbered females by four to one, it seemed like a very self-defeating attitude. There were others who believed as Brody did, but most of the families were mired in centuries of tradition, hatred, and bigotry.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” Ava said very clearly, almost daring her men to disagree as she said her next words. “Your uncle Brody is more than capable of teaching you. When the time comes, he’ll make sure you know what to do.”
“He will? That is so cool. Did you see him flying the other day? He was so awesome. He’s the best flyer I’ve ever seen. Even with six other dragons trying to hurt him he—” She cut off her words, seemingly frightened by the reminder that her parents had attacked Brody. Tears welled in her eyes and she gasped for breath, the word “sorry” hissin
g from her lips as she began to sob.
The sound broke Nathan’s heart, but it was the sudden change from human form to dragon that had adrenaline streaking through his body. He grabbed Ava, turning to shield her, knowing that this was going to hurt like hell. He sensed Brody changing, morphing into his dragon as well, trying to contain the fire that burst from Keira’s dragon throat.
* * * *
Brody shifted as quickly as he knew how, but it wasn’t fast enough. The room filled with flame in an instant. He wrapped his wings around Keira, taking the brunt of the fire, absorbing the heat, trying to protect Ava and Nathan. He didn’t dare look behind him, but he prayed that Nathan had gotten Ava to safety.
Keira was panicking, her eyes rolling wildly as she tried to stop the flame. The more she freaked out, the worse it would get. She pawed the mattress, her nails scrapping against the metal railing as she fell backward off the bed. She hit the floor hard, her tail twisting and thrashing in terror even as Brody tried to calm her down.
It felt like forever, but eventually the baby dragon took a deep, faltering breath, her flame dying as she held herself rigid. The entire room was on fire, but he took a chance, turning back into human form so that he could talk her through the change back. If she started the flame again it was going to hurt like hell, at least until he could morph back into dragon form.
* * * *
The air was still filled with flames, but somehow Nathan felt no pain. It didn’t bode well. Desperate to get Ava to safety, he pushed her toward the doorway. But she stopped him, her smile wide as she indicated with her eyes that he should look around him.
Fire flickered over everything, but both Nathan and Ava seemed to be inside some sort of bubble. It was very effectively shielding them from the heat and flames. Ava stepped toward Brody, Keira’s distressed roaring reaching them through their protective bubble as the baby dragon cried out again and again in obvious distress.
* * * *
“Keira, you need to stay calm. Deep, slow breathing,” Brody said, trying to sound in control when fear for Ava, Nathan, and the baby threatened to overwhelm him. Keira stared at him, her eyes still filled with panic, but she managed to do as he asked. She dragged in another faltering breath and let it out slowly. “Good girl. Now we need for you to turn back into your other form. Concentrate on that body. How it felt to walk, to use your hands, to smile.”
He breathed a sigh of relief as Keira slowly changed back into her human-shaped form. She sobbed quietly. “I killed them,” she said, sobbing harder. “I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t mean to do it. Please, please, Uncle Brody, please believe me. I didn’t mean to do it.” The child cried harder as he wrapped what was left of the blanket around his hips and then lifted her into his arms. He’d known the moment it happened that Keira’s first change into dragon form had been unintentional. If anyone was to blame for getting Ava and Nathan hurt, it was him. He should have realized this was a possibility. Extreme fear and heightened emotions had been known to force a juvenile into an early shift, often with disastrous consequences. He should never have let Ava anywhere near his niece.
Fighting his own sense of hopelessness Brody turned to leave the room with his niece still crying in his arms. But he stopped dead at the sight before him.
“Keira, sweetie,” Ava said as she stepped closer. “We’re okay. You didn’t hurt us.”
Keira was as speechless as Brody. He’d prayed that Ava and Nathan would be okay, but never in his wildest dreams had he imagined to find them both completely unscathed and standing behind him.
Sheer terror gave him back his voice. “Get her out of here,” he yelled at Nathan, fear coursing through him even faster than before. Keira’s shock could lead to yet another uncontrolled shift, but Nathan just shook his head, a bemused smile on his face, and Ava stepped even closer to cover Keira with her coat.
Chapter Eight
“She’s the one,” Keira said with a wobble in her voice. “Sh–She’s the one from the prophesy.”
Ava’s first reaction was to explain to the child that prophesy wasn’t real, that nobody could predict what would happen in the future, but Brody seemed to tense up even more so she stayed quiet.
“What prophesy, Keira?”
“The one m–my grandmother showed me. It said a non-dragon woman would come. One who couldn’t be harmed by fire. It said she’d be the mother of the chosen one—the dragon who would bring peace to our people.”
“So why did they attack Ava?” Nathan asked curiously. “If they thought she was the woman from the prophesy, the harbinger of peace, why would they try to kill her?”
“Because my parents don’t want peace,” Brody said tiredly. “It didn’t even occur to them that the prophesy could be about their own grandchild. They only saw a threat to their superiority, and they moved to destroy it.”
“But,” Ava said quietly as her mind raced with different theories, “if they thought I was the chosen one, wouldn’t they have known setting the house on fire wouldn’t kill me?”
Brody smiled at her sadly. “I can see where your mind is going, Ava. You’ve got such a kind heart that you would try to see their actions in the best light.” He adjusted Keira in his arms, and touched a hand to Ava’s face. “They may have been testing you with the fire, sweetheart, but they had every intention of ripping you apart if you made it outside.”
“Oh.” It seemed such an inadequate word, but what did one say when faced with that sort of unwarranted hatred? Ava set the thought aside, determined to show a young dragon that she had nothing to fear. “How are you feeling, sweetie? Did the shift heal your breaks and bruises?”
“Hey,” she said, wriggling in Brody’s arms, “it did.” She squirmed like a little kid until her uncle put her on her feet. She dragged the coat around her and turned to face Ava. “I’m really sorry about the…um…you know.”
“No harm done,” Ava said with a smile. It was obvious that in dragon terms she was very young.
“Will I do that again?” she asked Brody worriedly.
“Probably not for a few more years. Dragons don’t usually get their wings until at least their twentieth year.”
“Hear that?” Ava asked. “You’re actually quite clever.” Keira raised an eyebrow and waited. Okay, so maybe she did have something in common with human teenagers her age. Ava leaned in and whispered, “You shifted long enough to fix your injuries years before you should have been able. In my book that makes you rather special.” She glanced up at Brody and said the words he was probably both wishing for and dreading. “The best part is that now that you don’t need to be in the hospital anymore, you can come home with us.”
She expected an argument, maybe even a flat-out “no” from one of her men, but she got neither. Instead Brody wrapped her in his embrace, kissed her soundly, and led them to the nurses’ station.
“How bad is the room, sweet pea?” the nurse who also happened to be a bear-shifter asked in a kind voice.
“Pretty bad,” Keira answered with a shy, nervous little laugh.
The nurse smiled widely. “I just knew you were going to be trouble the moment I laid eyes on you.” She winked and Keira smiled just a little more brightly. “You head on home with your family, and I’ll get someone in to clean the mess up.”
“My fam—” But Brody cut off whatever Keira was going to say.
“Thanks. Do I need to sign any paperwork?”
“Oh, honey,” the nurse said with a jovial laugh, “there is always paperwork.”
Epilogue
Ava leaned on the rail of the new deck and watched the horizon, sighing with contentment as the fiery red and orange sunset bled into the tree line. She smiled as the sun dipped lower and the night crickets began their familiar evening chorus.
“It’s beautiful here,” Nathan said as he joined her by the railing. She leaned against him, a sense of peace filling her.
“It is,” she agreed. “This decking is a perfect addition to the house. Y
ou’re quite handy to have around.”
“So does that mean you want to keep me?” he asked with a mischievous grin. “Because I’m so handy?” He used said hands to caress her all over, his fingers working their way under the hem of her shirt.
“Oh, most definitely,” she agreed with a laugh. “I especially love how skilled you are with your…um…hands.” He pulled her closer, laughing at their silliness. They stayed that way, wrapped in each other’s arms, as they watched the sunset fade into night.
Brody stepped onto the porch a few moments later. “Keira is finally asleep,” he said, pretending exasperation. It was obvious that he adored his niece.
“Any news on her brother?” Nathan asked. Brody had spent days giving statements and providing evidence to the Ruling Body about his family’s attack on Ava, their attitudes, and past behavior against others. Fortunately, in light of the fact that Brody’s mother had already been a suspect for one attempted murder, had attacked Brody, and threatened harm to the child Ava carried in front of a dozen witnesses and on camera, they’d immediately granted his request to severe her telepathic-like link to her children. Ava wasn’t sure exactly what it meant but she “knew” it was something like a lobotomy. She shied away from that thought, fearing that with her kooky skill more detailed information might come to her. She wanted her family safe, but in this instance especially she didn’t want to know all the details.
“No one has seen or heard from my nephew in over two years. Keira only knows what her father told her and even that seems vague. I’m hoping that he flew to an isolated corner of the world and is living a happy life, because the alternatives aren’t…” He hesitated, pulled Ava into his arms, and changed the subject. “I don’t think Keira will shift again for several more years, and I hope to have at least taught her enough to control the fire by then, but we might need to consider building a room for her separate from the house. Even if you are still fireproof after the baby is born, Nathan should at least be able to sleep without worrying the teenager three rooms over might set the house alight.”