by Tesha Geddes
“Sounds great,” Kaida said sleepily, starting to drift off.
“Wait!” Sen said, shaking his back to rouse her. “Before you fall asleep, there’s something important you need to know.”
“Hmm?” Kaida asked with a huge yawn.
“There are two dragons outside,” Sen said, “I’m not sure who they are or why they’re here, but there’s also Storm and six of his best warriors –– they won’t let anything happen to you.”
He felt the alarm coursing off Kaida as she snapped into frightened wakefulness. She dug her talons deeper into Sen’s fur, and he could feel her shaking.
“I take it you told her about the dragons,” Officer Perry said as he knelt beside Sen. Sen nodded. Officer Perry looked at Kaida and said, “Miss Gracewing, I’m Garrett Perry. I understand that due to your unique circumstances, you’ve been hiding from other dragons. The dragons outside mean you no harm and have been very concerned for your well-being. Their names are Mordecai Furywings and Leander Furywings. If it makes you more comfortable, I can ask them to leave before you come out.”
Kaida went from a trembling leaf to being as stiff as a board. She shook her head in response to Officer Perry’s offer and said to Sen, “If they already know I’m here, there’s no point in hiding.”
Officer Perry gave Kaida a long, measuring look then said, “Alright, if you’re sure. We’d best get going then. There’s at least one kidnapper unaccounted for. We’ll find him, but we need to get you to safety first.”
“Those dragons won’t touch you unless you allow it,” Sen promised.
Chapter 28
Kaida could see the light at the end of the tunnel; ironically, she feared what was out there in the light more than what was here in the dark. In here, she had Sen, and Celicia, and Linus, and even Officer Perry, but out there were two dragons she’d been taught to fear her entire life. How had her father and brother gotten to be mixed up in her rescue? She knew her father was in town, but when had Leander arrived? It had been so long since she’d seen him, she barely remembered him. She remembered he was a storm dragon, but that was about it. She had no idea how he felt about dragons like her.
“I don’t know much about your father,” Officer Perry said as they walked, “but your brother’s been my partner for a few years now. I was even the best man at his wedding.”
Kaida’s ears pricked. Her brother was married? And his best man had been a human? Most dragons barely tolerated humans.
“He married the sweetest water nymph,” Officer Perry continued. “She’s got the biggest heart of anyone I know, and she bakes the best cinnamon rolls.”
Kaida nearly fell off Sen in shock. Her brother, a dragon, had married a water nymph? Maybe he wouldn’t mind having a pocket dragon for a sister after all. Her dad, though, was a different story. Clearly, he minded, or he wouldn’t have abandoned her all those years ago.
They walked out of the cave to find themselves surrounded by seven thunderbirds and two dragons. The rich jerk dangled from the beak of one of the thunderbirds. The stricken look on his face was almost enough to make Kaida pity him… almost.
Officer Perry bowed shallowly to Storm and asked for help transporting the prisoners to the precinct for processing. Storm nodded in agreement, but this interaction wasn’t what captured Kaida’s attention.
Standing off to the side were two storm-gray dragons. While massive compared to a human, they were average size for dragons. The younger one was slightly larger than the older one, but somehow, much less intimidating. He looked at Kaida with a sort of teary-eyed awe. The larger dragon slowly lowered himself to his belly and laid down with his neck stretched out on the ground. The older dragon looked at him with a snort of surprise, but the younger dragon didn’t even spare him a glance. Kaida understood her father’s surprise –– that was a submissive position. Her father didn’t take any such position but nodded his head respectfully.
Steeling herself, Kaida jumped off Sen’s back, asking him to wait –– this was something she needed to do on her own. She slowly walked up to the dragons. Never before had so few steps taken so much effort. Each step felt like an eternity, but also no time at all. She wasn’t quite ready to face her father, so she walked up to her brother instead. She walked around his snout so she could look him in the eye.
“I’ve missed you, little flame,” he said, his mind-voice choked with emotion.
Kaida’s heart broke at the term of endearment she hadn’t heard in years. She stood on her hind legs and pressed her head against her brother’s cheek.
“I’ve missed you too,” she replied, tears freely falling.
“All this time, I thought you were dead,” Leander said, a big, fat tear dropping onto Kaida’s head.
Kaida sneezed in surprise as the warm, salty liquid went up her nose. Behind her, Mordecai cleared his throat.
“As far as the other dragons are concerned, you’re either dead, or you never existed,” he said.
Kaida waited for him to say more, but it turned out he was done because he spread his wings and took off. And like thirteen years ago, he left with so many things undone and unsaid.
“I’m sorry you got kidnapped, but I’m not sorry we’ve reunited,” Leander said. “I’d like you to meet my wife and baby some time, if you’re up to it.”
“You have a baby?!” Kaida exclaimed. Clearly Officer Perry had left out some important information. “I’m an aunt?!”
“Yes,” Leander answered with a smile, “as of about a month ago.”
Unable to contain her excitement, Kaida bounded over to Sen, shouting, “Sen! I’m an aunt! Can we go visit them?”
Sen chuckled at her excitement and said, “Congratulations, but you don’t need to ask me for permission to go visit your family.”
“I wasn’t asking you for permission,” Kaida replied impatiently, “I was asking if you’d come with me.” She paused. She’d forgotten something important. She turned to her brother and asked, “Can Sen come visit too? He’s my… friend,” she finished lamely. Sen was more than just a friend, he was her friend, her confidante, her partner-in-crime, her safe place, but there was no word that encompassed all of that.
“Of course,” Leander said, dipping his head in Sen’s direction. “Any friend of yours is more than welcome.”
“I hate to interrupt this family reunion,” Officer Perry said, “but we need to get everyone back to the precinct, take statements, and process the three prisoners.”
❀
Erica’s phone buzzed and she answered it without looking.
“They found her,” Tanya said, sounding close to tears and Erica’s heart seized in fear. “She’s fine, she’s at the precinct, giving her statement. She should be home in a few hours.”
Erica let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “We should go down there and pick her up,” she said. “I know the wolves will probably want to do that, but she was our roommate first.”
“Agreed,” Tanya said. “We’re loading into the car now. Give me your location and we’ll pick you up on the way.”
Erica texted her location to the tree nymph and sat on a nearby bench to wait. As the adrenaline drained away, it was replaced with bone-deep exhaustion. She’d been so frightened for Kaida, and this wasn’t the first time. How had Kaida lived all those years, terrified for her life? Erica had only experienced that terror for someone else a few times in her life, and she was more than ready to never experience it again. How could dragons put their children through something like that? No one should have to grow up the way Kaida did, but the sad truth was, too many did. Something needed to happen, but where could she start? Maybe with some self-defense classes –– as a shifter, she was stronger than the average human, but against a dragon, she’d be bacon in no time.
❀
Kaida finished giving her statement, but she wasn’t sure how coherent it was. Her excitement over being an aunt could only do so much to stave off the overwhelming exhaustion. She’
d had to shift back to her human form in order to give her statement, but she didn’t mind –– it meant fewer strangers would see her dragon form.
She was wearing a plain shirt and sweatpants the precinct kept on hand for situations like this. They were old and plain, but still nicer than anything she’d brought with her when she fled Drake City. Sen, Celicia, and Linus also wore precinct-provided clothing as they’d hitched a ride back to town with the thunderbirds. Sen waved off Kaida’s concern about his truck, saying that someone else from the pack would go pick it up while they were giving their statements. Sure enough, when they were almost done, Amyra walked in and tossed Sen his keys. Kaida watched the exchange with a sense of longing and loss –– she was happy to be part of the pack, but she wished dragons looked after each other the way the pack did. Dragons had nothing to gain from their supremacist attitudes, and everything to lose.
“Sparrow for your thoughts?” Leander said, holding up a shiny coin.
Kaida gave her brother a sad smile and said, “Just thinking that dragons could learn something from wolves.”
Leander nodded. “Not just wolves. Dragons are too insular, and it’s only harming them.”
Kaida nodded. A question was surfacing… one that she’d thought about a lot, but never found an answer to. “Do you know… what we are?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” Leander asked, looking puzzled.
“I mean, what are we besides dragons?” she said.
“You mean, like a police officer?” Leander asked, still looking puzzled.
“No…” Kaida said slowly. Maybe Leander didn’t know, but keeping it a secret wouldn’t do him any favors. “We’re only three-quarters dragon, and father is only half-dragon. What’s the rest of us? Every time I asked, Maribeth would punish me.”
“We’re… what?” Leander said, seeming to have a hard time processing what Kaida was saying. “Wait… you mean… Father, as powerful as he is… is only half dragon?”
Kaida nodded. “When I first shifted and Mother realized how different I was, she had some tests run, but I was never able to figure out what the other quarter was.”
“You’re sure Mother wasn’t the one who was half dragon?”
“Mother had Father secretly tested, plus both her parents are still alive, but no one knows who Father’s father is.”
Leander nodded distractedly and said, “I’m going to need time to process this.”
Kaida grimaced. She hadn’t meant to dump something so big on him.
“I… I spoke with Evadne,” Leander said, changing the subject. “She says she’d love to meet you and Sen, whenever you two are up to it.”
Kaida smiled at her brother. She loved the way his eyes lit up when he talked about his wife. “I’ll talk to Sen, but this weekend should work for me.”
❀
“Thanks for coming with me,” Kaida said as they pulled up to the house.
Unlike the other brick-and-mortar houses on the street, this one was made of opaque glass, ranging in color from sea-green, to turquoise, to deep blue. Instead of large sheets of glass, the walls were made up of several windows, the steel frames set in an undulating wave pattern. Overall, the effect reminded her of the ocean. The roof was a single slope, with the high point facing the street, instead of the normal peaked roof.
“No problem,” Sen said with an enigmatic smile.
“What?” Kaida asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
“I designed this house,” Sen said with a smile. “It’s the house that won me my internship.”
“No way!” Kaida exclaimed. “Sen, it looks amazing!”
“Just wait until you see the inside,” Sen said. “There’s a pool that enters into the main living space, but it’s designed to look more like a pond. The kitchen, dining, and living areas are open concept, and, well… I guess I should just shut up and let you see for yourself.”
Kaida grinned. Sen was clearly proud of the design. She was eager to see the inside, but also nervous because inside were her brother, sister-in-law, and niece. Before her nerves had a chance to overwhelm her, the front door swung open and a tall, willowy woman walked out. She had long, wavy brown hair with sapphire blue eyes and wore a simple blue dress and a smile that reached her eyes. She opened her arms and swept Kaida into her arms. She smelled like fresh rainfall.
“I’m so glad you could make it,” she said. “I’m Evadne. You must be Sen and Kaida. Come on in! Leander’s just changing the baby, and then we can eat.”
Kaida smiled at the thought of her brother changing a diaper as she followed Evadne inside. Sen followed her, his eyes quietly glowing with pride as he took in his design come to life. Evadne led them into the main living area and Kaida gaped in amazement--she couldn’t believe Sen had designed this. From the glass walls, to the pool, to the tile flooring, to the polished river rock accents, the entire thing reminded her of a river. The quiet shushing of the water as it lapped against the sides of the pool and the potted plants scattered throughout only served to enhance that feeling.
“Glad you two could make it,” Leander said, walking in with a tiny bundle in his arms. “Kaida, I’d like you to meet your niece –– Kaida.”
Her brother named his daughter after her. It was touching, but also made her brain short-circuit.
“I’m going to have to change my name,” she said.
“What? Why?” Leander demanded. “You can both be named Kaida, you know. I thought it was a touching gesture. Besides, when we picked the name, I thought you were dead.”
“It’s not that,” Kaida said. “I plan on visiting frequently, and I just don’t want to think you’re talking to me when you’re getting after her for chewing on your furniture.”
“She’s a baby, not a puppy,” Leander protested.
Kaida and Evadne openly laughed, while Sen tried hard to hide his amusement.
“You haven’t been around many babies, have you?” Kaida asked, merriment dancing in her eyes.
“All babies chew on things,” Evadne said. “Especially things they shouldn’t.”
Leander huffed. “Speaking of babies doing things, do you know when we can expect her first transformation?” he asked his sister. “We’re pretty sure she’s a dragon, not a water nymph, since water nymphs transform in water, and she hasn’t.”
“Usually between two and five years,” Kaida replied, holding her arms out for the baby. “But the rules might be different for one that’s half water nymph.”
Chapter 29
Kaida turned her test in and stretched. Finals were over, and she just had a few hours of work left before she could go out and celebrate with her friends tonight. She jogged to the library, her breath coming out in a steamy plume in front of her. Winter had officially gripped the land in its icy clutches. She had a warm winter coat, but she was still no fan of the cold –– the sooner she got inside, the better.
She hurried down the icy steps in the courtyard and entered through the side door. She paused to hang her coat on one of the hooks outside the workshop and slipped off her shoes as well. After the first snowfall, Mathis made it very clear that he would not tolerate anyone tracking water or mud into his workshop. Anything wet had to stay in the hall. Thankfully, the workshop was warm to the point of being cozy, so being without shoes wasn’t a big deal… as long as no one dropped a book on their foot.
She slipped into the workshop to find Erica sitting at a desk, carefully stitching a text block together. Kaida smiled to herself –– when she’d told Mathis that she intended to make magical medical journals after she completed her apprenticeship, the old wolf shifter had smiled and said he was proud of her. Of course, that meant that Mathis needed a new apprentice for when Kaida left. Erica had been one of the many applicants, but Kaida hadn’t known until after her roommate received the job offer. When Kaida asked why Erica hadn’t told her, Erica had said that she wanted to get the job on her own merits, and not because of anything nice Kaida might say about her. Kaida had jus
t laughed because the only opinion Mathis took into consideration was that of the books.
“I hope you two have your passports,” Mathis said as he walked out of his office.
Of all the things Kaida had expected him to say, that didn’t even make the list. She shook her head. She didn’t have a passport, so she’d need to get one.
“I can have my parents mail mine to me,” Erica said. “Why?”
“We’re going on a field trip over the break,” Mathis replied. “A collector of antique magical books in Solwan is paying for us to go repair a significant number of books in his library. The sooner we can leave, the better.”
“He’s paying for all of us to go?” Erica asked, sharing a dubious glance with Kaida.