“Nona can’t help.”
“How do you know?” Mia balled her fists. “She says she’ll give you a wish. Can’t you just wish it away? Wish it to the center of the earth or something?”
I sucked in a deep breath.
“You don’t even want to try, do you? You’ve just decided this thing is going to take over your body and somehow that’s what’s supposed to happen.” Mia raised her voice. Her lips were a hard line, her brows furrowed.
I didn’t want her to be mad at me. I wanted to smooth her brows with my thumb, ease her frustration with my words. But it wasn’t that easy, nothing was with her.
“If I have it,” I said, “no one else does.”
“And what happens after you sacrifice yourself? What then? This thing turns you into a tin man, and how do you protect it then? What about me? You want to leave me just when we’ve found each other?” Her voice cracked and her eyes glassed. She was going to cry. I was going to make her cry.
“Mia, I…”
“I won’t let you. We’re doing everything we can to destroy this thing, without letting it hurt you...any more than it already has.” She looked up to the sky, determination overwriting her sadness. “Nona! Nona, we need you!”
Nothing happened. The catbird didn’t appear.
“Mia—”
“Nope, you’re not talking me out of this. Nona! Nona!”
“Maybe we finally lost it,” I said. That was too much to hope for.
“You call her.”
It was the last thing I wanted to deal with. But Mia’s eyes pleaded, and I could deny her nothing.
“Nona,” I said.
Out of thin air, the little catbird appeared. Two pointed orange ears popped up from behind Mia’s head, followed by a set of wide black wings. Its little beak opened as it looked at me.
“Ready for that wish?” it squeaked.
Mia tilted her head up.
Nona dropped down in front of her, hovering between us on fluttering wings.
“You’re making him take the wish, right?”
“We have some questions.” Mia put her hands on her hips, scowling at me past the little annoyance. “You can’t destroy the device?”
“Nope.”
“Can you take it off, and, say, throw it in a volcano?”
“Sure,” the catbird said.
“See?” Mia stared daggers at me, then smiled at the little sprite. “Problem solved.”
“I can toss it in a volcano, but I won’t.”
“Why not?”
“That’s one wish. And I’d have to throw Zane in with it. I like him just a little too much for that.”
“Lucky me,” I said.
Mia grimaced. “Then take it off.”
“I can take it off, but that’s one wish. And that’s all he gets. I can do that, too. But I won’t.”
“Why not?” Mia asked.
“Because I won’t leave Zaney without his squishy parts. He needs those.”
“Squishy—you mean you can’t take it off without…” Mia’s arms dropped from her hips.
“Oh yeah, it’d be over there, a metal chest and arm, and over here...well, it wouldn’t be pretty.”
“But it’s not even over his whole chest, it’s—”
“It is,” Nona said. “It’s a whole magical cyborg thing going on in there.”
Mia walked closer, shooing the catbird out of the way, and put her hands on the bottom of my tattered shirt. She lifted, and stared.
What had been my stomach, what had been my chest, all of it was metal.
I hadn’t even noticed that my entire midsection had gone numb. But I wasn’t surprised, it was inevitable.
“Just last night, I...this can’t be. This was all, last night, this was all…”
Mia’s sad green eyes searched my face. She wanted an answer, and explanation.
“It keeps spreading,” I said.
I could feel it, or rather I couldn’t. Where I had feeling before, there was nothing. It was cold, like an echo of what was meant to be me.
“I’m bored,” said Nona, and just like that, it was gone. Good.
“Come on,” Mia said, grabbing my metal hand. “I have another idea.”
Just as on the way here, Mia led me with a fierce determination.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“To a phone.”
No one could help us. Still, I understood that she felt the need to do something, to try. So I let her lead me. We headed back toward the center of the city and didn’t stop until we reached a diner.
Inside, smooth jazz music played from crackling speakers. The floor was sticky, and the booths were made of fake wood. The place smelled like grease and bacon.
I settled into a booth and waited as Mia made her call at the payphone by the bathrooms.
I found my attention entirely set upon her. I couldn’t look away, and I didn’t want to. What time I had left, I wanted every moment of it to be with her.
A woman dressed in black walked up to the table, blocking my line of sight.
I craned my neck, but I couldn’t see around her.
The woman took a pen from behind her ear and pulled a tablet of paper from her back pocket.
“What can I get you today, sugar?”
“Nothing.”
“You can’t come to Sue’s Diner for nothing. Can I get you a drink?”
“No.”
“Go with the pie at least, the apple’s to die for.”
“Sure,” I said, in hopes that she’d go away. She did.
Mia was walking back toward me, a little smile on her face. It was contagious. Every time I laid eyes on her, I found her beauty as striking as if it were my first glimpse. Her full hips swayed with her sure steps. There was a playfulness on the surface of the way she carried herself, in her smile, but beneath that was determination. Her emerald eyes were bright, and the way her hair was cut just to chin length brought focus to her pink cheeks. She was so beautiful.
She dropped down onto the seat across from me and slid into the booth.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you,” I said. “I like your hair like that.”
“Thank you.” Her smile widened.
“It frames your face in a pleasant way.”
“I guess I’ll have to catch my hair on fire more often.” She laughed. It was a refreshing sound that filled my heart.
“So, what are we doing here?” I asked.
“There’s food,” she said.
Mia turned her attention to a woman walking by holding a sleeping little girl. There was a look on Mia’s face as she looked at them, a look of longing.
She turned back to me and gave me a sad smile.
“She looks a little like my mom.”
I looked at the woman again as she sat down in a booth on the other side of the diner. She was blond like Mia, but that was all the resemblance I found. I wondered if Mia saw something else I didn’t, and I wished I could help.
The waitress came back to the table and dropped off the pie and a cup of coffee. I didn’t like coffee.
Her eyes widened as she noticed my arm. She opened her mouth like she was going to ask about it, but then snapped it shut again and turned to Mia.
“What can I get you, hon?”
Mia grabbed a laminated menu from the side of the table and looked it over.
“Two eggs, scrambled, bacon, wheat toast with butter. And a water. Please.”
“You got it.” The waitress said before walking away again.
“I don’t like coffee,” I said.
Mia grabbed the mug and dumped in a few packets of sugar, then leaned back and took a sip. “It’s not that bad if you add enough sugar. But I’ll trade you for my water.”
“Deal.” I watched as she cupped the mug in her hands, memorized the way she lifted it to her lips. She wrinkled her nose and set it back down. Then she dumped in two more packets of sugar.
Every detail mattered. I wanted to know everything, remember everyt
hing about her, from her mannerisms to her preferences. I wanted to know how many sugars she liked in her coffee and what her favorite toothpaste was. I wanted to help her find her mother, and I wanted to watch her grow old by my side. There were so many details to learn, so much I wanted to do together, but our time was limited.
“It’s good to see you eat a real meal,” I said, “but why else are we here? Why here specifically?”
“It was time to call in some backup.” She smiled, but this time it was a devious smirk.
“Backup?”
“Yep.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, but she gave away nothing.
A man walked over to our table, a big guy—human by the smell of him.
He had a big brown beard and a look on his face that I didn’t trust.
“You could stay here with him…” The man put his hand on the edge of Mia’s seat. A smile crept across his face, and the scent of male desire wafted off the bastard in waves.
I grabbed my roll of flatware. There was a knife in there. I’d stab his hand if he touched her.
“Or you could come have some fun with me,” he said.
I growled. Frustration pumped through my veins, anger. I had to stay in control. I couldn’t give in.
“Your dog bite?” He spared me a glance.
“Oh, he just might,” Mia said. “I’d pick your next move carefully.”
“I’m not afraid of shit.” He reached a hand toward her chest.
I lifted the napkin-wrapped knife.
Mia grabbed his wrist, met my gaze, and shook her head.
I stopped. The glove was red.
Stab him. Stab him.
I was losing control. Panic mixed with rage inside of me. I couldn’t contain it.
Kill him. He tried to touch her—kill him.
The man pulled his hand back and took a step away. “What the fuck?”
The prongs of the fork in my fist wilted, the metal dripping from the soggy napkin. The knife became butter, a piece of it falling onto the table.
I dropped the napkin and pulled my arm back.
The man ran away, and it was just Mia and me, staring at each other.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yes.” I wasn’t sure if it was the truth or not. But it was the right answer. “Are you?”
“He didn’t hurt me,” she said, lifting a wallet from her lap. “But let’s see. Looks like...Brian McDoogle’s paying for our meal.”
Her smile didn’t quite meet her eyes. She was worried—about me. I didn’t want her to worry.
The door opened and in walked a man with dark skin and a shaved head. By scent, I would guess tiger shifter. He scanned the room and headed straight for our table.
This time I was more cautious than the last, but Mia hopped up from her seat and threw her arms around him. They both smiled at each other, and there was a familiarity there. A small flare of jealousy crept up in my gut. I tamped it down.
“Mia, it’s good to see you,” the man said.
She let him go.
“You, too. I’m so glad you were in town. Thanks for coming.”
I was unsure whether or not to stand, but they climbed into the booth together before I had to decide.
“Leonard, this is Zane. Zane, Leonard.”
Leonard Blake—her Tribunal guardian when she’d been taken into their ranks. I hadn’t made my mind up yet as to how I felt about that. My hatred for the Tribunal ran deep, but Mia trusted this man. Cared for him.
By the way he stared back at me, I knew he too was unsure of me.
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
“Yeah,” he replied. He was just as stiff and cold as I felt.
“Ooookay,” Mia said. “Let’s get you some food, and then we can get started.”
“I’m not hungry,” Leonard said. There was a warmth when he spoke to her, a smile in his eyes. It was the opposite of the look he gave me. “You two go ahead.”
The waitress brought over Mia’s plate and set it on the table.
“And a third makes a party,” the waitress said. “Welcome. What can I get for you, sugar?”
“I’m fine, thanks,” Leonard said.
“One pie it is.” The waitress winked as she turned and walked away.
Leonard looked from my untouched plate and back up to me.
Just as she had for me, the waitress dropped a black coffee and a giant piece of pie on the table in front of Mia’s adoptive father.
The two of us stared at each other, not eating, while Mia devoured her eggs.
“Show me,” Leonard said.
I lifted my right arm onto the table.
His eyes followed the trails of runes as he examined the glove closely, but never touching it.
“This is powerful magic,” Leonard said, meeting my gaze. The skepticism was gone, replaced by concern. “Do you know what this is?”
I looked around to make sure no prying ears were nearby. Terrible music played over the speakers, and it was only us at this corner of the restaurant.
“Dragonkiller.”
Leonard nodded. “This was supposed to be kept safely in two pieces, on opposites sides of the globe.”
“Surprise,” Mia said.
“What reason could you have for doing this?” Leonard asked me. “You understand that this is a last resort device, don’t you? Not to be taken lightly. Why on earth would you want to kill your own kind?”
“It wasn’t me who sought it out,” I said.
“Sure as hell looks like it,” he said. “Only a dragon can—”
Footsteps scurried across the floor.
“How are we doing over here?” the waitress asked.
“We’re good,” Mia said. “Thanks.”
“Alright then, here’s your check when you’re ready, you can pay it up front.”
When she left again, Leonard continued, “Only a dragon can unite the two halves.”
Only a dragon. Had I left the first piece in the hands of the wolves, the second may never have been found. Had I been purposefully led to the Obsidian Claws and to the warehouse in the African jungle?
I tried to recount what had led me there. It had started as whispers, rumors of a device that was created to exterminate dragonkind. It wouldn’t have been possible for someone to know that I would have heard. But if not me, perhaps another dragon would have. Maybe it had only been a matter of time. But I’d never run across another dragon while following leads. As far as I knew it was only me who had given his life to protecting the device, to watching over our kind.
“No one ever thought a dragon would combine the parts,” Leonard said. “Turns out the witch who made the thing had a soft spot for your kind, threw that stipulation into the enchantment. No one knew ‘til it was already done. At the time she was forced to make it, no one knew she was pregnant with the dragon leader’s child.”
My mother.
Mia’s attention flicked to me. There was a question in her eyes.
“Yes,” I said. “That must be my mother. I never knew her.”
She reached across the table and put her hand on mine.
Leonard looked at me, and then at Mia. “You know, sometimes we find the best the world has to offer us in the worst of times.”
Mia smiled and turned to him. “Oh yeah?”
“You know I want to see you happy, right?” He gave her a kind, fatherly smile.
“And out of trouble.” Mia smiled back.
“That’d be great,” he said. “But I find it best to stick to realistic expectations.”
Mia shook her head and let my hand go. She nudged Leonard’s shoulder with hers.
It was nice that she had someone like him, even if he was in the Therion Tribunal. He seemed to care for her.
“So what do you think, bossman?” Mia asked. “There’s no way to know what would have happened if things had gone differently. Maybe there was another dragon out there who was planning on using this thing and it’s for the best that we
found it instead. But there’s no use speculating. We need to figure out what to do now.”
Leonard looked out the window, then rose from his seat and dropped a twenty on the table.
“Someone at the Tribunal has sent men to follow you. They’re watching right now. My guess is they’ve been watching you all along. My advice—magic requires magic to fix, and keep your distance from everyone you don’t trust. Especially dragons, and especially the Tribunal.”
As he walked away, I decided I did indeed like Leonard Blake.
“Hey.” Mia poked my cheek. “I’ve got it. I know what to do.”
“Stay away from whoever sent you on this mission to find me,” I said.
“Nope,” she said. “Let’s call him.”
Chapter Sixteen
Zane
For the life of me, I wished I could read her mind.
Mia seemed a little too happy about binding my hands together in the dark alley by the edge of town. She’d made her calls, picked out rope at the hardware store, and then we’d waited. And she’d frustratingly given away nothing.
“Aren’t you going to tell me what exactly the plan is?” I asked. How was I supposed to know what to expect if I didn’t know what she was intending?
“Nope.”
“It would be best if we’re both as prepared as possible.” I stood by the brick wall, twenty feet from her, waiting as she’d asked me to, and I watched her pace.
“I don’t think so.” Mia stopped pacing and leaned against the bricks. She watched the entrance of the alley, as she had been for the last fifteen minutes, as if someone was bound to show up any minute.
“Leonard said—”
“I know, it was so nice the way you two were bonding. I’m sure you’d both agree that this is not what we should be doing, which is why I’m not going to tell you all the details. Well, that, and it’ll help if you look surprised.”
“Surprised about what?” I shook my head, frustrated. “Mia—”
Bright headlights turned and approached. I squinted, unwilling to look away.
Had it been anyone else, I wouldn’t have allowed myself to be bound, even in such flimsy rope. I hated everything about this night already—the rope, the secret meeting, the fact that I couldn’t blink us to safety when it became necessary.
The vehicle stopped, the front doors opened, and two big shifters climbed out. Their scent suggested wolves. The driver opened the back door, and a third man exited.
In Deep Shift: The Protectors Unlimited Book Three Page 11