by Celeste Raye
His voice went husky. “Every single time.”
He meant it. She read what was on his face; he saw that she did, and his heart should have gone light and happy, but instead it went heavy and low. She was the woman he wanted in his life, and now he was about to send her out of his. He did not want to do it. He didn’t.
He wanted her to stay and be by his side because she was a formidable ally and a woman he wanted to protect. But she would not be and could never be happy there. She had her job and her life, and here there was too much danger she did not understand and did not know how to protect herself from.
He took her by the hand. Even that innocent and light touch made him catch his breath. On the roof, he stopped and drew her into his arms. She went willingly, and he tipped her head back then found her lips. Her mouth was soft and yielding and so warm. He could lose himself in the taste of that mouth, in the feel of the kiss going deep and heavy, the way her breasts felt pressed against the broad planes of his chest.
She finally broke that kiss off. He looked at her, wanting to say so much. He did not know how so instead he just changed and guided her into climbing up on his back. Her hands found the hollows between his shoulders and neck. The feel of her on his back was incredibly sexy. The touch of her hands lit up all his senses.
He took off, flying south just because he knew what lay in the direction: the ruined walls of the original city, the one that his ancestors had built on a steep hill before they had known that there was such a thing as Orcs and trolls, creatures that were not susceptible to the weapons that they had used back then because they had still not understood their magic nor their abilities.
Gina called out, “What is that?”
“Old London.”
“London?” Her body shifted a bit on his back, “You mean like England?”
“They named it after the city they came from and missed.” The destroyed houses were covered by weeds, and the trees had grown up inside those old and fallen walls too, but you could still see the outlines of the small village that they had built back when they had still been struggling to find the human within themselves and fight back the dragon that lay within their skins. “They did not want to be dragons, you see, and so they tried to act like nothing had happened, that they were just going to live here like they still were humans.”
“But?”
He smiled and flew lower. The ruins came into a clearer view. She said, “Are those rocks? Was there a rock slide?”
“No. The trolls lived then. They are all dead now, but we do not know how long they will stay dead. They could spring back into life at any time. They are huge, four times taller than any man, and they are strong. They threw rocks onto the buildings and killed anyone inside them.”
She muttered, “Trolls. Holy shit.”
He kept flying. His shadow lay low and long on the ground. Everywhere he looked he saw evidence of the Orcs. Burned out fires, damage. The Orcs killed the game, the birds, anything made of blood and bone. They squashed life flat and stomped on top of it to prevent it ever coming back again.
He took them back toward Raglan, having seen enough. Then he spotted something and dropped down a bit again so he could get a better look. Not close enough that Orcs could attack him but close enough that he could see what they were up to.
Gina called out, “Hey! What in the hell?”
He saw what she was yelling about just then. He had seen evidence that Orcs were about, but no Orcs. Then he felt her legs tighten on his body as she leaned slightly to the right to get a look and he had looked in that direction.
She shouted, “Hey! Hey, they are in the mud!”
Damn right they were! They were in the mud, disguising themselves, and that could only mean one thing: they were evolving. They were somehow thinking beyond what they, his kind and the humans, had previously thought them capable of thinking.
He took them back to the roof. He set down and then he changed. He took her back into his arms and kissed her again, and she kissed him back, but he felt the hesitation in her kiss, and he had a terrible feeling that he knew why she was holding back on that kiss of hers.
He was right because she broke that kiss off and asked, “Why does it feel like you just kissed me goodbye?”
Chapter Seven
Craig looked away from her. Her lips were bruised from his kisses and she wanted more of them. She wanted him to take her somewhere and make love to her for long hours, to undress her slowly and kiss her entire body like he had just kissed her mouth.
But she could not shake that feeling she had ever since he had kissed her before that takeoff and incredible flight. She had a feeling he was flying because he had to, because something was worrying him and driving him into the sky.
She also could not help but wonder if he missed flight. Surely there was no way, not in her world, that he could spread his wings and take to the skies as he did so easily here in the world where there were no aircraft, radars, and constant surveillance of the heavens.
He said, “Gina, you…I need you to be safe.”
“I am safe.”
What was happening?
He looked at her. His eyes held all the pain she could feel growing in her chest. “They are going to close the portals. I need you to leave before they do.”
She swallowed, her hands yanking at her disheveled hair. “You said I need to leave. What about you?”
“I have to stay.”
“What? Why?”
“The Orcs. I have to be here. I can’t just…listen, please. I will come back, I swear I will, but before you go, I need to know: is there, is there any way at all, that you and I might have something?”
Now she was confused. Was he asking because he was trying to make up his mind to go back to the world he had been in with her or to stay? “Would it make a difference about whether you stay here or go back with me?”
The bleak expression on his face spoke before he did. “No, I just need to know.”
In case he died over here or something? “I want there to be something between us. I want that very badly. But you have to be there for that to happen.”
“I will be there. Just, just not right now. I care about you.”
“I know you do.” Tears wanted to come up, but she refused to let them. “I was an idiot for not speaking up sooner. Please, please do not let this be the end of us, Craig.” Gina stared at Craig, not sure what to say. Her heart ached, and she said, softly, “You are saying you can’t go back.”
He raked a hand through his hair, an old habit that she now knew was his way of buying time. “Yeah. That is just what I am saying right now. I have to stay here. I have to help. I did not want to be a dragon. I did not want that at all for so very long, but I can’t run from it anymore. I have been running from it for a very long time, and all it got me was right back here, and now, well, now my people need me. I have to be here for them. There’s no way I can’t be here for them. I can’t leave them when they are on the edge of war and destruction. They need all the help that they can get.
She nodded. “I know. I know that. I can see that. What I do not see is you saying you want this.”
“I do.” His eyes were bleak. “I knew that being human was hard, but I was afraid to stay here. I had to try. I had to know where I belong. I do belong here. I know that now. But I also belong over there in our world, and I want to go back there, with you. But I can’t, not just yet. Right now, I have to help them, and maybe myself too.”
Help himself. She studied his face. What did he mean? She was not sure for a moment, and then she was. There were times, over there, when he came very close to revealing who he was. He needed the freedom just to be the dragon that he was, if only for a little while. It would help him settle back into the human side of him over there in their world.
But where did any of that leave her and the love she had found with him?
She asked, “What do we do here, Craig?”
“I am sending you back.”
>
“Forget it. I can fight with you.”
His smile was wide and sunny. “I know you can. But you are needed over there. I can get this fixed. Not the war here, that is not what I mean. I mean time over there is different; like I said, I need you to go home, not because I do not want you here but because you have things that you need to do there. Right now, maybe a few days have passed over there. But if you stay any longer, it will be too late for you to take your life back over there.”
Gina wanted her life back. She also wanted Craig. Was it even possible to have both? Her voice shook. “What if you don’t come back?”
“I’m coming back.”
What if he did not come back? What if he died over here?
The words trembled on the tip of her tongue, but she did not let them escape from her lips. To say them might be to give him some kind of bad luck, which he just did not need. “I can stay.”
“No, you have bad guys to catch. I want you to have your life. I will be back. I promise. It will take more than a few Orcs to keep me away from you.”
What about a few thousand Orcs? Or more?
She did not ask that either. The words she wanted to say were also not coming. I love you. I need you. I want you. Please go with me. Please let me stay. Do not send me away. Do not die over here or I will never forgive you.
Craig said, “Come on. You have to go now. It is your last chance before the portal closes. Once the fighting starts, we can’t risk leaving it open; we have to close it on both sides.”
Both sides? That meant she could not do what Christy had done and make her way back here ever again. She forced back tears and said, “Promise you will come?”
“Promise. I can’t let you get all the bad guys, now can I?”
She shook her head. Her heart ached so badly she was sure she was going to die. But she had to be strong for him. “No, you can’t.” She meant it. He could not do that to her. She could not let him just die, but she had no choice but to trust him to do the right thing and to stay safe and sound.
His hands cupped her face. “Gina, you have to know I want to be there and with you.”
“I do know that. I do. It’s just that, well, I am scared that you won’t be able to come back.”
She had not meant to say that but now that it was out, she knew she had to say it.
He gave her a long and lingering kiss. “I will. Come on; we have to get to the portal, and now.”
“Wait.” Her voice shook. “I know we have to go but…but please, just…” The words died on her lips. She wanted to say make love to me. Kiss me until I am able to walk away from you knowing that you care for me. Give me something, anything that will make me know how much you want me. I need you. For God’s sake, show me you want me.
He clasped her in his arms and whispered, “I wish we had time to say goodbye, Gina. I do, but this isn’t goodbye. I swear it is not goodbye. Okay?”
I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry.
She was going to cry, and she could not let him see her do that. It was wrong to end it like that when he was facing what was probably going to be his death. That was why he was sending her away; she knew that deep in her heart. He was terribly afraid that the dragons would lose that war and he had no desire to see her die beside him; unlike Max and Blake, he was not willing to watch her die.
She nodded. “Let’s go. I will wait for you. I will. I promise.”
He took her to the portal. She took a deep breath and stepped through it. The wind rushed at her and tore at her hair and her clothes. She wanted to scream, but she had no breath to do it with. Her body felt like it was being torn and battered into pieces and when she landed, she came down hard in a junk-filled alley.
She got to her feet and staggered toward the mouth of the filthy alley. She was home.
For better or worse, she was home, and Craig was still gone.
She stepped out onto the road and found a newspaper stand. She studied the date on one carefully. Her heart was heavy. It had been one day since she had been yanked through that portal. She checked the phone in her pocket. It was now working, and it showed that it was early morning. She had missed a day of work, but nobody had likely noticed. Most cops were not at their desks during the day. She dashed home, and as she went, she felt the tears come up and start to roll down her cheeks. She ducked her head and let them come. By the time she reached her apartment, she was sobbing silently. She ran inside and stripped off her clothes and leaped into the shower. She had to look normal, act like everything was all right though it was not and could not be.
Craig was not there.
She made it to the station, and Jack looked up from where he sat. “Hey there. Where is your partner?”
“Beats me.” She took a seat at the desk and stared down at the files she had left there the day—had it really only been a day? —before. She took them and stuffed them into a drawer. “I have not seen him. I thought he would be here already.”
Could he see the lie on her face? She wanted to weep, was pretty sure she was going to indulge herself in another fit of that, in fact, when the door to the captain’s office opened, and he stepped out. He wore an angry expression on his face, and he called out, “Okay, we have a detective who just went deep undercover. That would be Morgan. I need someone to partner with Gina, stat.”
Jack said, “Well, my partner just retired, and I don’t mind.”
She gave him a grateful smile. Good old Jack. He was such a good cop and guy, all the way around. She said, “Thanks.”
Jack chuckled. “It’s you or a rookie. You I trust with my life.”
That made her feel slightly better, but her heart was still feeling crushed and tired. Craig was gone. He was gone, and she was alone.
Chapter Eight
Craig stared at the closed portal with a sick feeling in his stomach. Max said, “I know how you feel.”
“I am sure you don’t.”
Max said, “Oh, I do. Heather left to go once, and I did it to keep her safe. Only she is pretty stubborn, and I could not let her be, so here we are.”
Craig let a ghost of a smile touch his lips. “Yeah. So, what now?”
“So now we fight.” Max sighed himself. “I hate this war. I wish it would end once and for all. There is just no way to keep the Orcs from being born. We all know that. I also know you never wanted to come back here.”
“Oh, you got me all wrong.”
Max asked, “What do you mean?”
Craig took a deep breath. “It is not that I do not love it here. It is not that I do not embrace being a dragon. It is that over there, well, there is a whole lot going on over there while we sit here and fight the Orcs every few centuries and ignore the fact that our ancestors were sworn to protect the weak and the lost. That our whole reason for being, that their whole reason to live, was to fight the great and awful wrongs of the world. Instead, we just sit here in ours, or rather most of you do, and ignore all the suffering, suffering we could help ease if we just stopped being so goddamn selfish.”
“Ouch. Do you think we do not know that? They are human, and they would put us in cages before they would accept our help.”
“Some would, sure, but not all.”
Max stared at him. “Listen, I agree we need to do something for the humans in that world. That has been a source of argument among our kind for centuries.”
“I know. I got tired of the arguing and just did it.”
“I know you did. You will again. But this world is in danger and let’s face it: if the Orcs get the portal stones, they will invade over there. You know that and so do I. So we have to do this first.”
The only way the Orcs could take the portal stones was if every single dragon died. That Craig also knew. That the purebred dragons were dying out and that the changelings were not nearly as strong as they were, not in any way, was also a very large truth and concern. Max was a changeling, as was Blake, but the elders were pure dragon blood, and they
were too old to mate anymore. Their children were strong, but they were also being killed by Orcs and other things, and they had only each other to mate with—unfortunately, they were all male. So, their producing pure dragon offspring was pretty well a no.
He said, “Listen, I can’t stay here. You need to know that upfront. I will stay and help you fight this war, but after that, I am gone. Also, no matter what the elders say, eventually we are going to need more modern weapons.”
“The elders will never agree to that, and you know it.”
“Then they can sit back and watch people die all around them.” His lips went tight. “We, the dragons, can defend ourselves but our humans need better weapons to protect themselves and help us fight. If they never get them, we stand very little chance.”
Max said, “Again, I agree, but even I am bound by the law, and the elders too.”
Craig stared at the dead eye of the portal. His heart hurt. Time would move by and on and when it ended, this damned war, where would he be? When would he get back? Not just when or how long would this take, but when as in how much time would pass in her world? Enough that she would forget about him and move on? Enough that when he returned, she would be a much different person who had found a life that did not include him?
Max said, “Come on; we fly.”
Craig changed and took flight. His heart was heavy, and grief was riding right into the sky with him. He spotted something and let out a cry that Max heard. Below them was a small army of Orcs, marching onward, their leader cracking the whip to keep them all moving.
Max shouted, “There are too many of them; we have to go get help and then…dammit! Craig!”
Craig descended upon the Orcs like the devil himself, breathing fire and scattering their terrible, black ranks. He hated them. Not just because they were sheer evil but because they were responsible for the pain in his heart that was killing him, or at least it felt like it was killing him just then.
The fire torched the earth, set the grass aflame. Orcs ran, but at him instead of away from him. They were just as ready to commit murder as he was. He landed, spread his massive wings, and sent a veritable lake of fire at them. The ones who were not burned kept running, their crude weapons drawn, and death written all over their repulsive faces; he could feel the evil beating off their skin, the darkness that was their birthright battering at him.