by J. D. Monroe
“I need a bigger apartment,” he said.
She laughed, and her breath hitched as she did it, tears spilling over her cheek. “Whatever you want.”
He smiled at her. “And Marlena? Will you allow her to stay with us? As an ally, not a prisoner with privileges.”
“If you trust that she is loyal, then I accept it,” Valella said. “We need all the help we can get. We will call for another Conclave soon, and I fear what the other queens may ask. I fear what else we will lose before this is over.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to send my people into war. This is why my mother left. Why all of the Bedrock dragons left.”
“But this is different,” he said. “This is not pointless squabbling over land. This is genocide.”
She nodded. “I know. And I had believed I could stay neutral until they began attacking my people here. Now I understand. I still don’t want to go to war. I want my people to be safe and happy. I want to worry about stupid things like Wanderers ending up on the news and festival planning. But those things are all in jeopardy.” Her jaw clenched. “And I will go to war if that is necessary.”
He squeezed her hand. “Then you will have my support,” he said. “As long as I breathe, I will not let our people fall.”
“Then I have already gained much,” she said. She rose, waiting for him to follow. To his surprise, she reached for his face, grasping his cheeks lightly as she kissed his forehead. “Thank you.”
He bowed deeply, then watched her walk back into the palace. Two guards at the entrance fell in behind her, leaving him alone in the garden. A sense of relief swept over him as he took a leisurely walk back to the Obsidian Wing. With the unexpected absolution from Valella, this place felt like home again. It would never be the same in Sohan’s absence, and he knew he had dark days ahead as he finally accepted the gravity of losing his friend. But he knew Sohan would tell him to live a good life, because that was why they fought.
I will stand in your place, he thought, lifting his eyes to the sky. And I will make you proud.
A familiar, slender figure waited at the doors of the Obsidian Wing. Dyadra smiled as he approached. “Well, what did the queen want?”
“You’re nosy,” he said.
“Your business is mine.”
“Not all of it.”
“Most of it,” she said. “Tell me.”
They sat on one of the stone benches outside the building. Her eyes widened as he told her about the queen’s apology. “And you apologized to her?”
“I did,” he said.
She hugged him with her good arm. “I’m so proud of you, serani.” She pinched his arm lightly. “Did it hurt?”
“A little,” he said. “Why are you out here? Other than waiting to put your nose in my business.”
“Mostly that,” she said. “And I’m dreading going upstairs.”
“Why?”
“Rosak spoke to me about staying. I wanted to be away from this life, but I can’t turn my back. My husband…” She rolled her eyes. “He cracked his ribs, got a concussion, and he had the time of his life yesterday. He’ll gladly stay. But I’m so afraid that something will happen to Allana. Even if I stash her away somewhere safe, if something happens to me, then…”
He nodded. “I understand. And no one will judge you if you have to leave.”
She sighed. “I have to think about it. Are you staying?”
“I think so,” he said. “I missed this. Being around our people. The food. The language.”
“The sense of being important and everyone calling you kordari.”
“That’s not fair,” he said. He smirked. “But that’s nice, too.”
“Isn’t it?” She bumped him with her hip. “I need sleep. You do too, judging by the bags under your eyes.” She embraced him, and he didn’t mind the sharp sting as she put pressure on his injured torso. “I love you. I’m glad you’re safe.”
“You too,” he said. “I love you.”
Her eyes brimmed with tears. “I wish he was still here.”
“Me too,” he said. “When the others get here, there’s a bottle of whiskey with our names on it. And we’ll make sure everyone remembers exactly who he was.”
She laughed, swiping the tears on her cheeks. “I look forward to it. Maybe we can place bets on who gets in a fight first.”
After musing on which of their old comrades would be the first to throw a punch, they walked silently into the barracks, splitting from each other at the elevator. When Velati arrived at the small apartment, Marlena was sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the wall. The TV was on, but it was on a still Netflix menu. A weak smile crossed her face. “You’re staying?”
“How did you know that?”
“My hearing is really good now,” she said. She winced. “Really, really good.”
He chuckled. “Good to know. Yes, I’m staying.”
“What does that mean for us?” She bowed her head. “I hate to be selfish, but I guess what I’m actually asking is what that means for me. I don’t have anywhere to go. I don’t have anyone else.”
He sat on the couch next to her, and she instinctively shifted, hands drifting to his face and guiding him to lie in her lap. She was so warm, and the softness of her thigh was heavenly as he rested. “You can stay here if you’d like.”
“I can?”
“The queen will accept your help if you choose to be a part of this,” he said. “After everything, I think you’ve proven you can be trusted.”
Her eyes narrowed. “No more cuffs and cells?”
He shook his head. “No. We’ll get you a place to stay, although you’re welcome here.”
“Do you want that?”
He raised an eyebrow. Her green eyes were intent on his. “Yeah, I do.” He lifted his hand to her face, and she leaned into his touch. “I’m in love with you, Marlena.” Her eyes widened. “There’s no point in acting like I’m not. I say what I mean. I’m brash and stubborn and a hundred other terrible things, but I won’t lie to you. I’ll fight for you and protect you. And I’ll tell you every day how incredible you are.”
Her brow furrowed, and he suddenly felt naked and vulnerable. Then she laughed. “You’re not any of those things.”
“Sure I am.”
She shook her head. “You’re the one who saved me,” she said, her expression softening. “And I tried to tell myself it was just some weird tension, the way fate had thrown us together. But I’m in love with you. Or I love you. I’m not sure I know the difference, or if it matters.”
A pleasant warmth spread through him as she leaned over, kissing his brow gently. Her hair tickled against his cheek. He grasped her head, pulling her lips to his for a gentle kiss. “Then you’ll stay?”
“I’ll stay with you,” she said pointedly. She frowned. “There is something I want you to have.” She reached into the bag on the floor, coming up with the heavy silver necklace Catrina had been wearing. A deep purple stone was mounted in the center of a collar-like piece. “Catrina had this. It let her control me. I think they used my blood somehow to bind my will.”
“We’ll destroy it.”
She shook her head. “I want you to keep it.”
He raised an eyebrow as she put it in his hands. “I could get up to some trouble with this.”
“You wouldn’t. And if you want to get into trouble with me, you only have to ask,” she said with a laugh. Her smile faltered. “Since they finished the markings, I’ve felt unstable. I’m afraid that I could hurt someone. Like I hurt you.”
“You didn’t mean to hurt me.”
“I know,” she said. “But if something was to ever happen, I want you to make sure I don’t hurt anyone. Promise me.”
He nodded. “I will.” He set the necklace aside, then gave her a mischievous look. “Now you say I only have to ask…”
She laughed and ran her fingers down the side of his face, finding the dangerously sensitive place behind his ear. He shivered, and the brief
motion set the wounds on his back and chest stinging. He grimaced. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s okay,” he said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. “I may have to keep you waiting.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” She shifted and knelt on the floor. His groin stirred as she grazed fingers over his thighs and unzipped his pants to free him. “Will this hurt you?” She dipped her head, running her tongue around his tip. He shivered, and a sharp sting rippled down his spine.
“It’s worth it,” he murmured. Her touch was electric, and his hips jerked forward as she teased at him. He laid back, eyes closed as her warm aura washed over him, stronger than ever.
“Then I suggest you lie very still and let me do the work,” she said. Sweet heat rolled through him as she took him into her mouth. As the warm insistent heat surrounded him, her tongue dancing over delicate skin, he drifted into a cloudy haze.
This is our island.
Marlena hadn’t been this anxious since the first time she stood before hundreds of the Chosen, accepting the call to become one of the Aesdar. Velati squeezed her hand. “She’s going to be pleased,” he murmured into her ear.
The house on Norwood Street hadn’t changed in ten years. The flower pots were still vibrant, the blooms inside almost too big and bright to be real. Her mother had always been been able to make things grow.
Marlena was frozen by indecision. Velati reached past her and knocked on the door, sending a bolt of adrenaline thorugh her. “What am I going to say?”
“Start with hello,” he said.
The door swung open. Felicia James stood in the doorway with a dishtowel in her hands. Her dark hair hadn’t changed. Though she was over a hundred years old, she still looked no older than thirty. Her silver eyes widened. Quiet music drifted on the cool breeze emanating from the house.
“Hi,” Marlena whispered, her throat closing.
Her mother let out a cry and lunged at her, throwing her arms around Marlena. She froze as her mother’s warm presence surrounded her, the familiar fire burning just beneath her skin. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she embraced her mother for the first time in nearly ten years.
“I thought you were—I would never—my sweet girl,” she babbled into Marlena’s ear.
“I’m sorry,” Marlena said her, throat threatening to close off. “I’m so sorry.”
“Shh,” her mother said, squeezing her tightly. She withdrew, holding Marlena’s shoulders to look her over. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I’m sorry I made you worry, I can’t even begin—”
“I know,” her mother said. “Will you you come in?”
“Yes, of course,” Marlena said.
Her mother’s eyes lifted to Velati. “You can come, too.”
He smiled broadly and followed them inside. The small house had been redecorated in her long absence, with gleaming hardwood floors and the pale blue walls her mother had always wanted. The robust aroma of coffee lingered in the air. Her mother bustled into the kitchen, rooting in the cabinets for cups. “Please, come sit,” she said, gesturing to the large wooden table in the airy breakfast nook.
“This is Velati Rimewing,” Marlena said. “He’s…” Her heart thumped. They still hadn’t figured out the words for their relationship. Boyfriend hardly seemed appropriate, especially for a dragon who was over two hundred years old. Partner was too stiff.
“We’re together,” Velati said smoothly. He offered his hand. “It’s my pleasure to meet you, Ms. James.”
Her mother nodded and shook his hand. Her eyes shone as she stared at Marlena. “I just can’t believe you’re here. I thought…I didn’t know. Where have you been?”
Marlena’s chest tightened, and she felt the soothing brush of Velati’s hand on her back. “It’s sort of a long story.”
Over the next hour, she told her mother the story, from the day she met Sonya at college, to diving into the Chosen head first, to the moment she’d sensed things were wrong. She’d told Velati the story, but saying it aloud still made her feel foolish. How easily she had been fooled into believing them. But her mother looked sad, rather than disappointed.
“And they’re gone now?” her mother asked.
“Not entirely,” Marlena said. “Their home base here was destroyed, and we claimed a lot of their supplies.”
“We?”
She glanced at Velati. “The dragons of Skyward Rest.”
“You’re allied with them?”
“I am,” Marlena said.
Her mother’s eyes flitted away. “I tried so hard to keep you from this that I ended up shoving you headfirst into it.”
Marlena shook her head. “It’s not your fault,” she said. With weeks to think about it, she’d realized that her mother had pushed her that way. But Marlena had to take the responsibility for making the choice to believe, for not asking more questions.
Her mother gave her a hopeful look. “You could go back to school now. Come back and live here, if you want.”
She shook her head sadly. “They need me. And I want to help.”
“I understand.” She held Marlena’s hand, tracing the red ink on her thumb. “I’m sorry for all of this.”
“I sort of am, too,” Marlena said. She glanced at Velati, who was watching her with a cool expression. “But at the same time, maybe it was supposed to happen. I’m strong, Mama. And I can do things that no one else can. Because of this.”
“I just want you to be safe,” her mother said.
“That’s what I want for everyone else,” Marlena replied. She turned her hand gently, enclosing her mother’s. “For you, too.”
Her mother’s eyes welled up with tears again. “Will you come back and visit? Call me?”
“I promise.”
After letting her mother cook lunch for them, she and Velati continued their trip home to Skyward Rest. “I could get used to the view here,” Velati said as they sat in the airport terminal. Past the runway was the striking silhouette of the Rockies.
She leaned against him, looking up at his face. A dusting of scruff threatened his meticulously groomed beard. She dared to trace a finger along the ridge of his jaw. “Me too.”
He looked down at her and grinned, sliding his hand over her thigh and squeezing lightly. Even the casual touch still sent fireworks through her. “You know what I mean.”
“Do you miss home?” she asked.
Last week, she’d traveled with him back to Portland to clean out his apartment and handle business at his tattoo shop. It had been strange to see him in such a mundane setting, talking casually about the news with his employees. They didn’t seem to know how important he was. He had told them he would be taking an extended leave and hired two new artists to help take up the extra work. After calling in a few long-time clients to finish work for free, he’d showed her around the bustling downtown. They’d been delightfully normal for a weekend, which only made her love him more.
“Home is where my people are,” he said. He gave her that broad, easy smile that she’d come to adore. “Where you are.”
Her cheeks flushed. “I like that.”
The flight home was a non-stop, and they got to enjoy a rare moment of peace as they watched a ridiculous action movie on the seatback screens. They’d spent most of the last few weeks in a flurry of activity. The Tempest and the Skywatch had restructured themselves once again to meet the threat of the Chosen.
Marlena had been eager to help when she was asked, but let Velati push her in the right direction as she navigated the strange niche that had been carved for her by fate. Some people at Skyward Rest still gave her a wide berth, averting their eyes if they crossed paths. The soldiers and Skywatch agents had gotten over it quicker, especially after training with her for a while. She had honored her word by helping interrogate the Chosen, drawing out valuable information. When Velati asked her to attend a meeting or council, she did. Otherwise, she passed her thoughts to him and let him do what he
thought best. She had come to trust his judgment, especially where it regarded his people.
They arrived back at the palace well after dark. The nightsong of insects in the forest filled the air. A hazy glow surrounded the compound like candlelight. They walked hand-in-hand to the Obsidian Wing, where they—technically he—had been given a much larger apartment. Now the ranking member of the Unresting, Velati had his pick.
She had barely closed the door when he looped his arms around her, hiking her legs up around his waist. He kissed her ferociously, dropping his keys on his way to the couch. Gripping her hips tight, he kissed her neck, her jaw, then sealed her lips with a ravenous kiss. “I wanted to do that the entire flight home.”
“The flight attendants might have disapproved,” she said with a laugh. “One day you’ll let me actually walk more than three steps past that door.” Not that she minded.
“Doubtful.”
She laughed again, trailing into a sigh of satisfaction as he ran his strong hands over her thighs, grazing the cleft between her legs.
He suddenly broke away, clasping her hands between his. Her heart raced as she looked down at him. She raised an eyebrow and slowly grinded her hips against the bulge rising in his pants. His eyelids fluttered, and he grabbed her hips suddenly, pushing her back slightly. “Stop that, or I won’t be able to do this.”
“Do what?”
He dug into the pocket of his jacket, then hesitated with his closed fist in front of her. He bit his lip as he took her left hand, then slid a cool metal ring over her finger. “What’s this?”
“A ring,” he said.
“I know that,” she said. Nerves fluttered through her as she examined the silver band, set with a small dark blue stone. “Are you asking me something?”
“My people aren’t big on marriage,” he said. “It’s complicated and formal. My father and mother were together for over a hundred years without being married.”
“I’m so confused.”
He sighed heavily. She could hear his racing heartbeat. The big bad Velati Rimewing, legend of two worlds and bane of the Chosen, was terrified. “I love you,” he said. The words sent liquid heat through her, even though his hands weren’t even on her. “When your mother asked what we were, and you couldn’t answer, I knew the exact word. Adan-serahl. Do you know that word?”