by Ruby Dixon
I don’t see any sign of Daniela, though. Of course, they might have left her out with their bikes, but I doubt it. They didn’t bring her. I can feel Gwen tense next to me.
“Heard from a little birdie we got our tithe,” the bearded leader says to me. “Unless we’re getting paid in pussy, I don’t see it anywhere around here.”
The men behind him laugh.
Gwen’s practically bristling with frustration. Time to take action before Gwen or Andrea can say something that’s cross-purposes to our goal. I gesture at the seats across from us. “Sit down.”
Beard arches one bushy eyebrow at me. “Who the fuck are you?”
Now I can feel Rast bristling. The tension in the room feels like it’s about to go through the roof. I keep calm, though. I smile at them and indicate the seats across from me. “I’m the one in charge here. Sit.”
“We havin’ a tea party, princess?” He looks me up and down and gazes a little too long at my boobs before moving to sit across from me. None of the others sit, though. They remain behind their leader, looking cocky and full of themselves. Beard tilts his head and studies me. “I ain’t in the mood for tea, doll. I’m here for my tithe. Got places to go, people to kill.” He grins wide and reveals a missing tooth.
Charming. “There’s no tithe. Fort Shreveport is under new management and we’re not going to play along with your blackmail games. You have twenty-four hours to return Daniela to us—unharmed—and to return this list of stolen goods to the people of this fort.” I pick up the clipboard and offer it to him.
He glances at me, then at Rast. It’s clear he thinks Rast is just more of the fort’s muscle, because he barely looks at him before flicking the paper on the clipboard, not even glancing at the neatly detailed list of items that we’ve requested. I know we won’t get any of that back, but it gives us power to push them hard. It makes us look unafraid and in control.
Or it will once they realize who they’re dealing with.
Beard barks a laugh and shoves the clipboard back at me. “You ain’t gettin’ this shit, honey.”
“My name is Amy. It’s not honey. It’s not doll. It’s certainly not princess. It is Amy,” I tell him calmly. “And we are ‘getting this shit.’ We are also getting Daniela back. This isn’t up for negotiation.”
His lips twitch and he smirks at me. “Or what?”
“Or I’m going to call a dragon down on you.” I clasp my hands on the table and keep my expression exceedingly calm. Serene.
Beard stares at me, then rubs a finger in his ear, twisting back and forth. “Didn’t quite catch that, little girl. What’d you say?”
“It’s Amy,” I remind him. “I won’t tell you again. And you heard me. I’m going to call a dragon down on you and take out your men. They’re going to be torn limb from limb, and a few of them will probably end up feeding the dragon, since he’ll likely be hungry. He doesn’t discriminate when it comes to meat.” I continue to give him a cool look. “Then I’ll send him back to your camp to destroy everyone else and take back what we’ve generously offered to have you bring us. We’re going to get it either way, you see. The question is whether or not you wish to live.”
He stares at me. Listens to my calmly menacing threat with an incredulous look on his face. When I’m done, it’s quiet for a long moment. No one says anything.
Then one of his men snickers.
Beard breaks into a howl of laughter. Suddenly all the men are laughing, as if I’ve said the funniest thing ever.
I just wait patiently. When their snickering dies down, I gesture at the list again. “Those are our demands. Like I said, you have twenty-four hours to bring it all and return Daniela here unharmed.”
“This a joke?” Beard wheezes, wiping at his eyes. “Cuz I ain’t heard anything so funny in a long fucking time. You are not in the position to make demands, little girl.”
“I warned you,” I tell him one last time. “My name is Amy.”
“Sweetheart,” he begins, reaching across the table to grab my wrist.
Before he can touch me, Rast’s arm shoots out and he grips the nomad, growling. The bearded man’s hand never touches me. Rast won’t let him.
The other nomads tense, reaching for their weapons. I can feel Andrea next to me shifting on her feet, ready to sling her shotgun down from her shoulder and start shooting. Gwen touches the knife at her belt.
Can I kill him? Rast asks.
Not yet.
The bearded man’s nostrils flare and he glares at Rast, then at me. “You might wanna call off your guard dog before I do something you’re going to regret, little girl.”
“If you call me that one more time, you’re going to lose your hand,” I say calmly.
“You and what army—”
Change now, Rast, I tell my dragon. Scare the heck out of him.
Done, my dragon says, and I’m rocked forward in my seat as Rast surges into his battle-form. The bearded nomad falls backward out of his chair in shock as the dragon looms over us, and I see Gwen and Andrea both quiver as if they’re about to run away, so I clamp a hand down on each one’s leg to let them know it’s all right. The other nomads stagger and fall backward in shock.
Rast opens his mouth and for one terrifying moment, I think he’s going to flame all of them. But he only lets out a deafening roar that shakes the walls of the gymnasium. This is why I wanted to have our meeting here. I wanted them to see the sheer power of my dragon. I wanted to shock them and scare the pants off of them.
It seems to be working. The looks of terror on their faces are downright laughable. The faint scent of piss permeates the room, and I wrinkle my nose. I get to my feet slowly, ignoring the twinge of my leg. I don’t move forward, just put my hands on the table. “Get off the floor,” I tell Beard. “Now.”
He staggers to his feet, his face pale. Behind him, the other nomads hold their guns up, pointing at Rast, but we all know they’re useless against dragons.
I pick up the clipboard and hold it out to him. “Your list. Now, where is Daniela?”
Beard’s lips move, but nothing comes out. After a moment, he whispers, “Camp. Back at camp.” His eyes are wide with fear and flick back and forth between me and my dragon.
“She’s at your camp. How far is that from here?”
“Few…few hours,” he stammers, slowly getting to his feet. Rast growls, and he slides backward another foot, wary.
“Well, then,” I say firmly. “You have our list. You have your bikes. We expect her back tonight.”
Gwen grabs my arm, leaning in. “Amy, wait. How do we know they’re going to give her back?”
“Because they really, really don’t want us coming after them.” I cross my arms under my breasts. “A dragon can sniff out a particular person and follow their scent-trails for miles and miles. We’ll find you and we’ll raze your camp to the ground and destroy everyone inside if you don’t bring her back unharmed. Tonight.”
As I speak, the bearded leader’s eyes narrow. He looks at me, and then watches Rast for a moment. “If you let us go, we can bring her back, sure.”
It’s like he’s getting his confidence back the longer he’s on his feet. He takes another step backward, and the look in his eyes is becoming less afraid and more sly. I need to regain the upper hand. “Furthermore, you’re going to leave Fort Shreveport alone from now on. It’s protected by dragons and we won’t hesitate to let them eat anyone that comes to our doorstep.”
Beard’s lip curls. “Because a dragon cunt runs the place now?” His men take another step back, glancing at their leader in a mixture of fear and bravado.
Rast growls, lowering his head. I glance over and see that his eyes are whirling a dangerous black. Let me destroy him.
I put a hand to his nose. Not yet, love. “Don’t piss my dragon off. He doesn’t like it when you call me names.”
Beard glances back at his men. He scowls, glancing over at me and Rast. It’s like he’s trying to decide if saving fac
e is worth it. “Trained ’em like a dog, did ya?” he jeers at me. “You—”
Rast leans over the table and snatches the man up in a single, messy bite. Bones crunch and blood sprays on the floor, and one dismembered arm falls to the ground. Oh, yuck.
I will not let him insult you. Or me. Rast’s thoughts are black. Shall I eat all of them?
No, hold off, Rast. I have this. Let me handle it. Fall back.
Reluctantly, Rast steps back, his mouth still dripping blood. The gym has fallen completely silent. The remaining nomads look shocked, their faces white. They don’t look so arrogant now.
I clasp my hands. “All right. One of you is going to bring Daniela back tonight. Who’s going to take the list?”
Not a single soul objects this time. One of the men darts forward and picks up the clipboard from where it lies in the blood. “Tonight,” he tells me, his voice shaky. “See what we can do.”
“You do that.” And I make a shooing motion with my hand. “You’d better get to work.”
They stumble out of the gym and race out, not looking back. Rast roars again, shaking his wings just in case they need more inspiration to get the hell away. I have to admit, he sounds pretty fearsome.
The gym doors slide shut and I sit back down again. My legs are shaking and my hands are trembling. I glance over at Gwen and she’s utterly pale. Andrea’s eyes are blank and wide, and she clutches her gun tighter than I’ve ever seen someone hold a weapon. I feel…deflated.
We confronted them. “That’s done,” I say softly. “Now we have to wait.”
“Do…do you think they’ll bring her back?” Gwen asks, looking over at me. “Why didn’t we kill them?”
“Because if we murdered all of them, the rest of their gang would come back looking for a fight. And they’d probably kill Daniela out of spite.” I shake my head. “This way, they go back and tell their buddies to avoid Fort Dallas. The word spreads and no nomad is going to mess with this place. Just give it time.”
“That’s amazing,” Andrea says. “You were so calm and sure of yourself.”
I laugh, and the sound’s a little hysterical. Did they think I wasn’t scared? I’m still shaking. “I had a dragon to back me up.”
Immediately, Rast noses me. I am sorry I could not wait. No, wait. I am not. I am sorry that you will be upset. I am not sorry that I ate him.
I grimace as his sticky muzzle touches my hair. Gross, babe. You’re covered in biker.
I need a bath, he agrees. You can wash me.
And toothpaste, I add. Lots of toothpaste. “Are you guys okay?”
“That was amazing,” Andrea says, her eyes shining. She glances nervously at Rast but gives me an enthusiastic thumbs up. “With you guys leading this place, we’re going to be the safest fort around.”
“Leading?” I protest, shaking my head. “Oh no, Gwen—”
“Doesn’t want to do it,” Gwen interjects. “Never have. I almost took us down a really dark path. I don’t have what it takes to be a fair, objective leader. I just don’t. And I don’t want to be. In one day you’ve already turned things around. You’ve got a stinking dragon.” Her voice is full of awe. “You can be the protector we need here. This fort is yours now, if you’ll stay.”
Oh wow. I don’t know what to think. There’s part of it that has appeal, but at the same time, I have to think of Rast.
If you are happy here, I am as well. His claws curl around me and he pulls me backward, against his chest. The other girls look alarmed, but I just stroke my dragon’s scales, knowing that he needs my touch right now. There’s still a bit of wildness in his thoughts, as if it’s taking everything he’s got not to rush after the nomads and chew them all up and spit them out.
You would stay? I’m surprised.
This place is as good a nest as any. And being with these people brings you pleasure. You like helping them. What is the harm in staying for a while? His claws curl around me in an almost-hug, as if he could squeeze me tight against his chest in this form. You like the idea. I can feel it. And they do not smell as bad here as other nests.
I chuckle. Such faint praise but…he’s not wrong. I do like the idea of staying here and helping out. Protecting. Making this a safe place for everyone.
But I can’t forget about my sister. “I can’t stay. Not yet. I need to visit my sister in Fort Dallas, let her know I’m all right.”
“We’ll send her a bird,” Gwen says enthusiastically. “I have several trained ones. Problem solved.”
I shake my head. “I don’t think a bird will do it. And she deserves more than a note.” Plus, I really want to see her.
Gwen isn’t satisfied with that. “Then visit and come back. You’re needed here and I would love it if you stayed. Please?” She clasps her hands in front of her. There’s hope in her eyes for the first time since I’ve met her, and I wonder just how much she hates being leader but feels trapped in the position.
Me…I kind of like being leader, especially with Rast at my side. We can do so much good together. “I need to visit,” I promise. “But I think we’ll be back.”
I think so as well, Rast tells me. There are many herds near here. There is good food. And my mate needs people to look after. If it makes you happy, I will learn to like being around them.
How funny that I’m about to take on a leadership role. Me. It’s so strange and yet it feels so right.
“You can’t leave yet,” Andrea says, worried. “What about Daniela?”
“We won’t leave until she’s back,” I promise. No harm in staying another day or two. We can rest, resupply…and wash the scent of bearded biker out of Rast’s mouth. Yick. I don’t think we’ll have further trouble from the Brothers of Ash. No one wants to get on the bad side of a dragon. But we’ll stick around for a few days, just in case.
“What about the other dragon?” Gwen asks. She glances over at Andrea. “He’s not gone, is he?”
He is not leaving until he gets his mate, Rast tells me. I do not blame him. She is his freedom. He needs her like he needs air.
These two know something I don’t. As I watch them eye each other, I realize that they know something about who’s pulling that dragon here and they don’t want to say. “Do you really want to protect this place, then? Really and truly? Because Vaan can help with that. He’ll stop attacking the moment we find his mate. If we don’t bring her to him soon, he can and will level this place, and even Rast and I won’t be able to stop him.”
And we will not want to, my dragon adds.
The women exchange another glance.
“Just tell me who it was,” I say patiently. “We can figure this out as long as we all work together.”
One of the women sighs, a heavy, tired sound. “It’s like this…”
Epilogue
AMY
ONE WEEK LATER
I smell another dragon on the wind. We are close.
A flutter of excitement stirs in my belly and I wiggle against the sheet holding me against his back. Has to be Claudia and Kael. Is he mated? Can you tell?
He does not like that I am in his territory, Rast sends back after a moment. His thoughts are extremely protective.
His mate is pregnant. He might be a little fussy.
I can feel my dragon mentally snort. A little? He is sending me very angry warnings.
Ask if it’s Kael. Tell him that you bring me to visit my sister. I pat a hand excitedly against Rast’s golden scales. Oh man, I don’t know if she’s going to be mad or glad when she sees me.
Mad?
Mad that I ran away! Well, sort of. More like I fell and you caught me. Whatever. I squeeze him with my thighs. I’m so glad we’re doing this, Rast.
I cannot keep you from your family, he tells me with affection. It is not fair. I know that now. His thoughts add a tinge of amusement. And after seeing you in the human hive this week, I do not think anyone can stop you from something you want.
I giggle with glee. I’ve been a wee bit
of a tyrant, I know. Just a small one, though. They just need a firm hand and Gwen isn’t it. But look at how happy she is to pass off the duties to someone else!
It is a good thing, Rast agrees. And they need a tyrant.
In a way, they really do. It’s clear that Gwen’s been a very gentle leader…to the point that some of the people have abused her kindness. The supply stores at Fort Shreveport were in a sad state for such a prosperous little place, and everyone wanted dibs on what the nomads conceded back to us. For all that they’re a small group, their sense of community was lacking, and it took a few meetings to make people understand that it’s better for everyone if we all have enough food, not just a few. I’ve been reorganizing rooms, restructuring where people sleep and how, because some of the elderly were stuck in the stuffiest quarters and that seemed unfair to me. We’ve set up watches, tasks for all and not just those that want to work, and we’re improving the fences and raiding a nearby neighborhood for supplies. Rast’s brought in so much fresh meat that we’ve had to learn how to build a smokehouse so we could cure it.
It has been so much fun.
There are a few fussers that don’t like my changes, but they’re the ones that have been leeching off of the rest of the hardworking group. Everyone will settle in eventually, and I’m looking forward to seeing how things are going when Rast and I return.
It is Kael, my mate tells me. He says his mate is overjoyed and that I am to bring you to their nest “at once” so your sister can hug you and then kill you.
I laugh aloud. She’s not really going to kill me.
I know, or we would not be landing. His thoughts are full of amusement. Are you ready?
I am.
We start to descend, Rast’s wings spreading out as we move lower, heading toward the cluster of broken buildings that make up the Scavenge Lands outside of Fort Dallas. I know which one is Claudia’s home—though it’s not hard to tell, considering that there’s a big golden dragon making slow circles around it. I’m oddly nervous as we move closer, half-worried that Kael is going to attack Rast for some reason. I know he’s my sister’s mate, but he’s always been hers. We’re not even friends, really. We co-existed because of mutual love for my sister, but now knowing my dragon like I do, he can’t form friendships with other women. His brain just doesn’t work that way. Even in Fort Shreveport, Rast tends to treat the other women like they’re slightly annoying bugs.