The day after she and Raiden kissed, Flora took one of the cars and drove over to the House of Flames to visit her sister. She hadn't seen Penelope in several days and wanted to check in on her and the baby. Not only that, but she also needed advice about Raiden. She was more confused than ever. Being around him every day was becoming almost unbearable.
She found Penelope cuddled up on the couch with Effie, Cato standing by to attend to anything she needed while working at the computer desk nearby. The sight of the little family brought tears to her eyes, and she was shocked at her reaction. While Flora was not an unemotional person, she did take pride in her self-control. Seeing Cato and Penelope together took her off her guard. She sat down across from her sister and blinked away the tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes.
"It's so good to see you," Penelope said, looking up from her nursing baby. "We've missed you around here."
"Have you been getting by all right without my help?"
"We've been doing just fine. But I liked having you around. I miss the days when we lived together back in the condo in Seattle."
"I miss that too. But now you have your lovely family. And I have to admit that sometimes I envy you."
"Flora envying me and my family?" Penelope said with a laugh.
"I never would have believed it either." Flora chuckled. "But it's true. Maybe I'm just feeling sentimental," she said with a sigh. "Or maybe I'm just confused."
"What are you confused about?" Penelope asked.
"I'm not sure if I should say anything."
"I'll leave you two to talk," Cato said with a wink. He stood and left the room.
"So what's really going on with you?" Penelope asked, wrapping the sleeping baby in a blanket and setting her in her bassinet by the couch.
"Well, it's hard for me to talk about this, but yesterday, Raiden and I—"
"I knew it!”
"Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Flora said.
"It's obvious to anyone who's ever seen you together that there's something going on."
Flora sighed longingly, remembering what had happened. "He kissed me so passionately yesterday. It was more than just a kiss. Much more."
"What do you mean, 'much more'?" Penelope asked.
"I’m not going to go into detail, but I can say without question that there is definitely some physical attraction there. For both of us."
"What’s wrong with that?"
"After we made out, he apologized and told me it could never happen again. He said he values my friendship too much to lead me on. We aren’t fated mates, so it would only be unfair to me. I understand where he's coming from, but I can’t stop myself from wanting more. What should I do, Penelope? Would trying to have a relationship really be so terrible?"
"I wish I knew what to say, Flora.” Penelope looked concerned. "Has he ever suggested running a mating analysis?"
"Maybe that was what he wanted to talk to Zephyr about yesterday." Hope sprang in Flora’s chest.
"From what I know about these guys, they like to keep the analysis a secret."
"But why? Why keep it a secret from me?"
"He's probably more confused than you are," Penelope said. "If his dragon isn't screaming that you’re his mate, it might be hard for him to believe it's possible. Just be patient with him.”
"I suppose that's all I can really do.”
"I'm sorry this is happening to you, Flora. It must be so frustrating."
"Well, that's enough about me. I came here to see you and Effie.”
"Flora, your life is just as important as mine. Besides, we’re twins. What affects you affects me. I hate to see you so unhappy and confused."
"This is all making my work more difficult."
"Have you made any progress with the vaccine?"
"To a degree," Flora said. "We got some live samples of human blood from a blood bank yesterday, and we started a real-world test instead of using simulations. Unfortunately, the actual physical tests haven't proven to be any more promising than the simulations were."
"That must be disappointing.”
"It is," Flora admitted. "And I've been so distracted with Raiden that I am afraid I'm not doing my best work."
"Let me know if there's anything that I can do to help you."
"I should be helping you right now, Penelope. You have a new baby, and you've got your hands full. It must be really stressful to have the fate of the human race on your shoulders while you're trying to cope with being a new mom."
"I admit it's not ideal," Penelope said with a small laugh.
"I guess that's what we signed up for when we found out about the dragons."
"I wouldn't trade it for the world. Without Cato and the Dragonians, I wouldn't know just how full life could be. And I wouldn't have my sweet baby, Effie, either.
"I know," Flora said wistfully.
"But you don't have good things like a mate and a child. You were kidnapped by vampires and still have no love of your life to make up for it. I feel terrible for you every day. I wish there were more I could do to help. I wish I could take the pain away."
"You didn't give up on me when I was changed, Penelope. I couldn't ask for anything more."
"We sisters have to stick together."
"Yes, we do." Flora stood up, walked over to Effie's crib, and looked inside. The sweet, beautiful baby was sleeping peacefully, and it made Flora's heart ache. She never would have thought she would want to be a wife and mother, but now that her sister was one, she wanted it more all the time.
Penelope saw her expression and smiled. "You will have your family too—I know you will. If it's not Raiden, then it will be someone even better. I know because you're my sister and you deserve all the happiness life has to offer."
"I hope you're right," Flora said. "I have become so confused and muddled since I finished my graduate work. It's like I don't know who I am anymore."
"Everything will work itself out in the end. It has to." Penelope looked down at her baby, tears forming in her eyes.
"I will do everything in my power to make life safe and happy—for you and for everyone else. I won't stop trying."
"You deserve a good life too, Flora. You deserve to feel safe and loved and cared for. You deserve to have your dreams come true. If we work together, we can achieve anything."
Flora sighed, getting choked up on emotion. "We're going to get through this. And when we do, we're going to have a life that is better than our wildest dreams."
"All we have to do is keep our faith in life, in ourselves, in the dragons, and in humanity. It is up to us—the Dragon Souls—to stay strong and point the way. The dragons can only do so much. This isn't their planet, and it isn't their race. We are humans, even if we have a little bit extra. This is our world to save."
Chapter 11
Raiden missed Flora when she went to visit her sister, even though it was becoming increasingly uncomfortable to be around her. He wanted to kiss her every time he saw her, but he was done avoiding his problems. It was time to face them head on.
He was sitting in the living room, waiting for her to return. She asked him if they were still on for their one-on-one game. He turned on the game console and handed her a controller.
"I popped the popcorn already," he said, offering her the bowl.
"Perfect." She grabbed a big handful and shoved it into her mouth. "I can't tell you how much I need this right now. Everything has become so stressful, and there's no relief."
"Still no luck with the vaccine?"
"Not unless Zephyr has made some progress I don't know about. But I assume he would let me know."
"We're running out of time," he said through gritted teeth.
"Let's not think about that right now. Let's just think about killing zombies," she said, turning on the game.
They spent the next two hours sitting side by side, laughing and joking and killing digital zombies on the big-screen TV. When they reached a boss they couldn't beat,
Flora looked up the best method on a gaming site. After she found the technique, they beat the boss and turned off the game.
"That was fun," she said. "We need to do that more often—just the two of us."
"I agree. It's more relaxing than hanging out with the guys in the guild."
"That’s so funny. I've never met a man who prefers the company of women.”
"Most of us dragons agree that human men can be kind of… well… I don't want to insult your entire race."
"No, please. Go ahead," she said with a laugh.
"To put it bluntly, human men are kind of idiots. They are lucky enough to have females make up more than fifty percent of their population. Yet human men undervalue their women and take them for granted. They see females as annoying nuisances and hesitate to commit to them even though they benefit so very much from a relationship with a woman. We all see the hypocrisy and idiocy in their attitudes, and it is, frankly, extremely hard to comprehend."
She laughed. "I never imagined I would hear those words come out of a man’s mouth."
"That's because you're so used to human male attitudes."
"What about Dragonian males?" Flora asked. "What is your attitude toward women?"
"I’ve known very few women in my lifetime. But those I knew, I had the deepest respect for. We tried to give them all of the love and care that they needed, and I guarantee you, not a single Dragonian alive today or at any time in my life ever took a female for granted. The idea is inconceivable. It goes against everything we believe in and everything we know."
"Even now, when there is a world full of women?"
"Now more than ever," Raiden said, "because now we have the chance to find our fated mates."
"It's so refreshing to hear something like that," Flora said, turning on the TV.
"Well, you will never hear anything different from me as long as I live."
"I know that, Raiden. You're a man of great integrity."
"Then why do you sound so sad?" he asked, confused.
"Because the other day, when we were kissing, I didn't want you to stop. And I wish there were a way that we could be together even if I'm not your fated mate."
"I wish that too," he said, "but I could never disrespect you like that. I could never just use you for sex."
"But it wouldn't just be sex, Raiden. We’re best friends. We care about each other. Even if I weren't your fated mate, a relationship with you would be better than with any man I've ever been with. I wish you understood that."
"You human women set a low bar, and I understand why you would. But I couldn't curse you to a life of no children."
"We could adopt children."
"You would want that?" he asked as she flipped the channels on the TV.
"Maybe. If it's what we both wanted. But I couldn't keep you from finding your fated mate. Humans don't have fated mates, so it's not something I've ever expected. But you… your mate may still be out there. And I'm not going to be the one to stand in your way."
"Flora, I'm so sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry for."
"There is. I could be your man. We could have a happy life together, living as lovers and friends, but I can't give you that.”
"Wait," Flora said, looking at the screen.
Raiden looked on in disbelief. The newscaster on the TV was narrating the current story:
"The escalation of disappearances and deaths has become uncontrollable as people are killed in the streets, and witnesses cannot pinpoint how it happened. Grieving families and law enforcement are at a loss as more and more cities across the world are afflicted with unexplained deaths happening right out in broad daylight. Here is some footage from downtown Los Angeles earlier today."
The film clip showed a young woman suspended in the air and bent over backward as her blood was drained from her body. But there was no indication of who or what was doing it. The newscaster continued:
"Scientists and experts speculate about this mysterious affliction, but so far, no one can agree on its cause. We will keep you updated with any breaking news on the story. Until there is conclusive information, we advise that you stay indoors and take the utmost precautions when going outside. So far, most of the deaths and disappearances have happened while the victim was out and about. But several have happened inside the victims' homes. What triggers the disappearances and deaths is still unknown, but authorities still advise you to be cautious and only go out if absolutely necessary."
As the news story ended and the reporter began to report on other news and the reaction of the world as it dealt with the vampire killings, Raiden's heart clenched. "This is really bad."
"That's putting it mildly,” Flora muttered.
“If they are killing out in the open like this, they no longer care if humans find out about their existence. They no longer care if they cause mass hysteria and panic.”
“It's already happening."
They watched another news story about riots and protests in Europe and across Asia. The unrest was beginning to unfold in the United States, and soon, chaos would erupt throughout the entire world.
"You can't unsee something like that. The cat is out of the bag, and there's no way to put it back in."
"What will we do if we can't find the vaccine?" Flora asked.
"I don't know. It seems like the vampires have gone crazy and no longer care if humans know they exist. There is no telling what they will do."
"This is completely out of control," Flora said.
"We need to attack. We can't just sit back and allow this to continue."
"Unfortunately, we have no idea where or who to attack," Hanish said, walking into the living room.
"You know about this?" Raiden asked.
"I do now," Hanish said. "As of just a few minutes ago. The video of the invisible attack is all over the Internet and all over the world. If humans haven't come up with their own explanations by now, they will soon enough."
"What will we do, then?” Raiden asked, hoping his captain would have the answer.
"Like you said, we need to attack. We need to find their leader and whoever authorized this, and we need to put an end to it. I already have Zephyr on the problem and Cato as well."
"What about the vaccine?" Flora asked.
"I'm afraid the vaccine isn't our priority right now," Hanish said. "In a perfect world, we would have found it already, and we could have prevented this mess. But there's been no real progress. I need my scientists pinpointing the vampire leaders across the world. Once we've found them, we'll get back to working on the vaccine full time."
"I can continue my work on my own, especially if Zephyr is needed somewhere else."
"Maybe you will come up with a breakthrough on your own."
"I’ll do my best.
"You've already done a great deal."
"This is my planet and my species," Flora said. "There is no greater work than protecting them from the vampires."
"That is what we also believe," Hanish said. "I know Raiden feels the same way."
"Of course I do. I've known this day was coming."
"And you were right to be prepared," Hanish said. "Now, I need to get this glass of warm milk upstairs to JoJo. You two should get some rest. We have a great deal of work ahead of us."
Hanish disappeared up the stairs. Raiden and Flora sat silently, staring at the television. More news stories of the impending catastrophe were coming in every minute. The world was rocked to its core, and no one had any answers or explanations.
After another hour of watching the news in stunned silence, Flora let out a deep sigh and shook her head. "I can't watch anymore."
"Let's go to bed."
Upstairs, he stopped in front of Flora's door and gazed into her eyes. He wanted so badly to reach out and kiss her—to hold her close and tell her everything was going to be all right. But he couldn't allow himself to do that unless he knew for sure that she was his, no matter how desperately he wanted to.
Raiden woke early the next morning, anticipating the results of the mating analysis. Unable to contain his excitement, he bounded down the stairs to the laboratory before anyone else in the house was even awake.
"Azure, what are the results of my mating analysis?”
"The results of the mating analysis between Raiden Storm and Flora are positive."
"What?" Raiden asked, not sure what he had just heard. His heart slammed with excitement.
"The results are positive," she repeated.
"How can it be? My dragon never said a word—not a growl, not a hiccup. The inner beast has been completely silent about Flora.”
"Regardless of your dragon's intuition, the analysis is conclusive. Flora is your mate."
"But why would everyone else know who their mates were, and I wouldn't?"
"There are several variables that may have come into play, one of them being that every dragon is different. Just because some dragons are aware of their fated mates doesn't mean that all will be. Another possibility could be that Flora was changed by a vampire, received a complete blood transfusion from her sister, and then bit a mated Dragon Soul, completing her transformation and giving her immunity. The signals may have been off for your dragon. The analysis itself was challenging, even with all of the data sets that were input into my system. That was due to the change in her DNA after she transformed into a vampire and then transformed back. But I am one hundred percent positive about my conclusion."
"I can't believe it's true," he said. "I hoped that somehow, someway we could be together. But I wasn't expecting this. If you weren't a computer, I would kiss you."
"You can still kiss me if you'd like," the AI said.
Raiden chuckled at the absurdity, and the machine made a humming noise that he assumed was an expression of humor.
"I know that every dragon is overjoyed to find his mate," the AI said. "I am happy for you that you have found yours. And it is satisfying to have assisted you in that."
"I'm not sure what to do now," Raiden admitted.
"From what I understand, most dragons who find out about their fated mates will begin to court them. If I might make a suggestion: you should do the same."
Raiden: House of Storms: Dragon Guardians Book 7 Page 6