Fledgling
Page 25
Chapter Twenty Four
Austin woke up to see Kai’s face, not Aiden’s, staring at her intently, “Remember when Derrick found me at the café to apologize for our fight?”
She nodded. She had somehow forgotten about that little scene, and she instantly felt like a bad best friend. Best friend? Was that what they were? Aiden had always been the one person closest to her, until they came to Affelil. Now that she was hanging out with Kai all day, bonding with every second spent…well, she didn’t know what Aiden was because he certainly wasn’t her closest friend, “Yeah?”
“He told me then that I needed to decide exactly what I want and to tell him when I figured it out,” he said, rushing in his excitement. His eyes were wide and bluer than usual—she had to wonder if dragon eyes did change depending on mood, “And I’ve figured it out.”
“What do you want, then?” she asked. She sat up in the chair. His excitement was contagious, but she frankly didn’t care.
“Him,” Kai laughed out a sound of liberation, “I want him, and not even sexually. I want to drink coffee with him on our breaks. I want to talk to him. I want the little things, Austin.”
“Tell him,” Austin ordered. Her lips curled into a smile as Kai pulled her to her feet. He threw her jacket at her.
“He’s at work,” he argued feebly, even though they were both already halfway out the door. It was colder today, much colder.
“Outside the wall?” she asked. It was a little after three, so maybe he was with Aiden.
“In his office. It’s just…” Kai sighed. Austin shook her head and smiled. She never thought that Kai could get so flustered, even about Derrick.
“I’ll come with you.”
He flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED and locked the door. Austin still had her key, which had been long since transferred into her new pockets, and its very presence felt heavy. They walked through the streets at a brisk pace and the crowd parted just a few inches out from them to let them through. It was less respect than they gave Aiden, but it was respect all the same. Respect for a storyteller
They entered what looked like a police station a few streets down. Once Austin was surrounded by pale gray walls and thin carpet, she stopped talking.
“Derrick has his own office since he works for Brandon,” Kai said, pride evident in his voice. He leaned over a counter, “Hey Suze, is he in today?”
“Derrick? Actually, he just went out for a lunch break,” the girl said, her eyes dragging to Austin, “Is this your Fledgling?”
“She is Aiden’s, actually, but I’ve been borrowing her,” Kai shrugged, gesturing towards a closed door, “Mind if we wait in Derrick’s office?”
“Of course not,” she smiled, still looking at Austin. She was jealous, Austin realized. Maybe Kai wasn’t completely out of the closet yet.
She and Kai walked into the closed off room and she, always curious, looked around. The walls were a light gray and a plain clock ticked away high on the wall. A black metal desk sat in the end of the unfurnished room.
Austin stared at the desk, or, more specifically, the papers on it. She read her own name and stiffened. She felt Kai come behind her and looked at the papers over her shoulder.
It was a report about her, the first page containing the most basic information there was. First name Austin, last name Anderson. Raised on Earth. Mentored by Aiden Kai. Fire dragon blood ran from her mother’s side, and human blood from her father’s. A box marked Halfling was checked.
Derrick knew.
“Let’s go,” Kai nearly pushed her out of the office. They walked out of the building in silence, but once they were out on the street, he said, “I swear, I didn’t tell him.”
“You knew?” Austin asked, heading towards his shop. Kai took the lead.
“It’s my job to know everything about you,” Kai said, irritated that she had doubted his skills. He got her bag from the reading room, his face stony.
“Take your coat,” Kai tossed it at her, “It’ll be cold. And here’s your pay for working overtime. And here.”
He tossed something else at her. It was a cardboard box. She looked at it carefully, but didn’t open it, “What’s inside?”
“You’ll find out,” he stepped forwards and pulled her in, initiating a hug for the first time. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. The hard truth was just settling in. This was a goodbye. Kai was giving her a goodbye, “And Austin?”
“Yeah?” she smiled sadly, looking into her friend’s eyes. His glasses were straight and clean, like always. That was good. If he wasn’t in complete control of himself, like he always was, Austin would have broken down right there.
“Run,” he ordered, his words bitter, “Damn. I hate Tuesdays.”