Of Cinder and Bone

by Kyoko M

  Jack sat on his stool and stared down at the last page. “Alright, let’s take into consideration the kind of budget we have for the care and placement of the dragon we choose. Pete’s already costing us a fortune since she ended up about ten times the size we predicted, so we’ve had to work through the veterinary hospital for her upkeep. We’d secure a whole new budget for the following project, but the more famous the dragon the more likely it is that we’d need better security. My gut says we should stick with one of the smaller species.”

  “Agreed,” Kamala said. “That rules out the last three candidates in the binder, leaving the diamondback, the dart-backed, and the horn-nosed dragons. All three are manageable in terms of their environments, and they’re less dangerous than their counterparts.”

  Matt flipped to the second page. “Well, perhaps then we can rule out the dart-backed dragon. She needs an aquatic environment and organizing that would be rather difficult in the long run. The ideal situation is to be able to keep it here on the campus grounds.”

  “Okay, so then we’re between the horn-nosed and the diamondback,” Jack said. “Offhand, we might have better luck with the horn-nosed since our climate is conducive to what it would be used to. All we’d have to provide is an enclosure with plenty of dirt and we can let them run wild. Plus, it’s a species that used trees for mating and nesting during the warmer months, and that wouldn’t be hard to do either.”

  “True, but we know less about the diamondback dragon,” Kamala said. “The horn-nosed dragon was among the last of the dragons to die out and so they were well documented. The diamondback is missing a large amount of data about its habits. We stand to learn more about it overall.”

  “Good point,” Matt said. “These are just profiles on the dragons. Let’s do a full run up on our final two choices. Head to the library and see what you can dig up. I’ll make a few calls to the dracologists and see if they can arrange a meet-up for this week. How’s the paper coming so far?”

  “Grueling,” Jack said with a weary smile. “But it’s getting there. I emailed you the most recent iteration this morning.”

  “I’ll send it back by tonight.” Matt checked his Movado. “Let’s reconvene in a couple hours with what we find. Good luck, nerds.”

  “Aye, aye, Cap’n.” Jack opened the door for Kamala and they headed into the hallway.

  “Can’t believe they had a pool going,” he grumbled. “Am I that obvious?”

  “Well, you’re not exactly a subtle man, if that’s what you’re asking,” Kamala replied. “No one said that’s a bad thing. Which reminds me.”

  She drew the prescription out of her lab coat pocket and handed it to him. He skimmed it and lifted an eyebrow. “Uh, when, how, where, and why?”

  Kamala rolled her eyes. “I’m a bloody doctor, Jack.”

  He sighed and tucked it inside his pocket. “Guess I am that obvious.”

  “And stubborn.”

  “And stubborn, yes. Sorry. I don’t exactly like how I feel when I’m on the painkillers. Makes me foggy-headed and I need to be sharp right now.”

  “You also need to heal. You won’t be able to attend your self-defense classes until your arm gets better.”

  He stopped walking. “How’d you—seriously, am I that transparent?”

  Kamala held the door to the parking lot open, smirking at him. “As a jellyfish.”

  Jack pursed his lips. “Faye told you, didn’t she?”

  She just kept smirking. He sighed. “Nothing is sacred with you womenfolk. I was going to show off my skills when you least expected it. It was going to be so impressive that you’d instantly fall in love with me. Now it’s all gone to ruin.”

  Kamala snorted, letting the door swing shut behind them both as they headed down the steps to her Volkswagen. “That sounds like you’re trying to be some kind of love ninja.”

  He grinned. “Now there’s an idea.”

  “For what? Porn?”

  “No. Well, yes. But spontaneity is supposed to be part of the courting process, isn’t it?”

  She hit the key fob. The Volkswagen chirped cheerfully. “Who says we’re courting?”

  He sent her a look she hadn’t seen before, one that made a set of rather good shivers flow down her back. Jack was terrible at being subtle, but he’d somehow managed to make his brown eyes simmer with the slightest amount of heat and his lips adopt the kind of smile that promised a night of wicked decadence in her near future.

  Instead of replying, he just winked and got in the car.

  That was definitely new.

  ~*~

  To Jack’s utter relief, his mother Edie looked significantly less angry as she walked down the steps of the hotel exit with her suitcase. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and offered to take the suitcase, which she staunchly refused. He shook his head and popped the trunk of his Mazda to let her put it in herself, then opened the passenger’s side door for her anyway. Once she was all buckled up, they set out for the airport.

  He let the radio serenade them with some soft rock for a while before drumming his hands on the steering wheel and diving in.

  “Soooo… how did it go?”

  “How did what go?” she asked.

  “Pizza. Beer. With the man you pledged your eternal devotion to, for better or worse.”

  Edie rolled her eyes. “I knew you put him up to that.”

  “Hey,” Jack protested. “I had to find some way to get you two talking again. It’s the culinary Switzerland. You can’t be mad at someone who brings you pizza and beer.”

  “If you say so,” she grumbled, crossing her arms beneath her chest. “We spoke. He apologized and asked me to at least hear him out after we get home.”

  “And…?”

  She sighed. “I agreed. We’re on different flights, but I won’t leave him hanging before we have another long conversation about all of this.”

  Jack exhaled. “I’m glad to hear that, Ma. Thank you.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Enough about me. How’s your project coming?”

  “Good. We just settled on the next species of dragon that we’d like to try the method on. It’s called the diamondback dragon. They’re kind of like miniature vultures. After the paper gets published, we’ll begin the trials.”

  “Fantastic. How’s Pete?”

  “Safe. We’re learning so much about her every day, honestly. We’re about to start working on behavioral training this coming week to see if there is a way to get her socialized. She’s aggressive to everyone but me and Kamala, so it would be safer for everyone if we taught her not to attack everything in sight.”

  Edie’s eyes sparkled. “And how are things with Kamala?”

  “Same as always.”

  “Your pants are smoking.”

  He glanced down at his slacks, confused. “Huh?”

  “Because you’re lying,” she elaborated.

  Jack groaned. “Ma.”

  “I know that look, little boy. You are completely smitten with that girl. Have you told her yet?”

  He heaved a sigh. “If it will make you drop the issue, yes.”

  “What did she say?”

  Jack squirmed in his seat, staring out the windshield as if his life depended on it. “We had our first date last night.”

  Edie smiled slowly. “About damn time. This is the last date I’ve heard about since that girl Sam. I’m glad you’re finally putting yourself out there again. Kamala’s a lovely girl. You hold on to her, y’hear me?”

  “Yes ma’am. Heard from the family lately?”

  “Yes. My mother said she should be able to come see you in a couple of weeks, and your Aunt Pamela and Uncle Ray will be with her. The rest wants to see you at Thanksgiving, so you’d better try to get some kind of schedule together so I can tell them if you’ll be there.”

  He shot her an incredulous look. “You think I’d let my supposed
fame get in between me and your world famous sweet potato pie? Ha! Of course I’ll be there.”

  Her smile faded. Jack frowned. “Hey. What’s up?”

  She shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

  He reached over and held her hand, softening his voice. “C’mon, Ma. What is it?”

  “I worry about you,” she whispered after a while. “More than I should. More than I ever did when you just in undergrad or working on your doctorate. This whole thing with Pete, it… honestly, it scares me, Rhett. That bullet wound, what happened to your friend Fujioka, all of it made me realize you’re not safe anymore. The world is changing. I can’t protect you from it and it’s killing me. How am I supposed to just go home and live a normal life when I know that there are monsters out there?”

  “You don’t need to protect me. You gave me everything I’ll ever need to survive out there. Why the hell do you think I’m so smart? That’s one hundred percent Edith Holly-Jean Jackson’s fault. All Dad gave me was his dashing good looks.”

  She laughed hoarsely and squeezed his fingers. “Language, young man.”

  “Sorry. I’ll be as careful as I can. I promise.”

  “Good boy.”

  ~*~

  “Kamala, your head’s on fire.”

  The petite scientist blinked a few times and glanced aside to see her best friend smiling next to her. She slowed her legs on the stationary bicycle to make the constant ticking sound of the spokes to slowly abate. “Huh?”

  Faye snorted. “Wow, you’re definitely gone. I called your name like three times to ask if you wanted me to get you something from the vending machine.”

  “Oh.” Kamala picked up her Powerade bottle, which only held about a sip or two of electric blue liquid left. “Sure. Water’s fine.”

  “Gotcha.” Faye disappeared around the corner and returned a moment later with a red Powerade for herself and a Dasani for Kamala. She accepted it and took a big gulp before plopping it in the cup holder where the bicycle’s heart monitor was.

  “What’s with you? It’s almost ten o’clock at night and yet you’ve got all this energy to burn,” Faye said, leaning an arm on the handlebars.

  “Well, this is the first day I’ve had time to exercise since we got back,” Kamala admitted, checking her pulse. “I have been a bit pent up.”

  Faye’s blue eyes flashed then. “Pent up, huh? I’m pretty sure I know the cure for that. It’s about six-foot two, blushes easily, and would follow you off a cliff if you asked it.”

  Kamala glared. “I thought we discussed the fact that we’re going to keep my love life off-limits for the time being.”

  “We discussed it. I never agreed. Come on, Kam. You’ve been on one date with the guy and I’m already seeing the signs that you’re into him.”

  “I’m not going to rush things,” she said, starting the bike back up. “Rushing hurts long term relationships. Besides, exercise does a body good.”

  “So does an orgasm.”

  Kamala missed the pedal with one foot. Faye broke into giggles and dodged when Kamala threw her towel at her. “Hey, don’t get mad at me. You’re the one who told me Fujioka said the man is, and I quote, ‘the valedictorian of cunnilingus.’ It’s hard to forget.”

  Kamala hung her head. “Why? Why do I insist on telling you everything?”

  “Because you love me,” Faye said, throwing one long leg over her own bike and climbing back onto it. “And because in between inappropriate comments, I usually give good advice. My point is that you should try not to overthink it. Yes, having sex with him on a second date would probably count as rushing things, but you’ve known him for a year. Maybe it wouldn’t be a complete disaster to get physical.”

  “That’s not the issue.”

  Faye arched an eyebrow. “It’s not?”

  Kamala cleared her throat, hating that her cheeks began to flush as she spoke. “No. I, uh, sort of forgot how enticing it is. We got to second base last night, and we probably would have gone further if he hadn’t stopped me.”

  “Wait, wait, wait. He stopped you?”

  She staunchly refused to look at Faye. “Yes.”

  Faye pressed a hand over her mouth, hiding a smile. “So, you jumped him?”

  Kamala’s cheeks darkened further. “Yes.”

  “Oh, sweet irony, thy name is Kamala. How the high and mighty have fallen. But, to be fair, the man’s a helluva kisser. Let me guess. You’re worried you won’t make it to date three without sleeping with him, huh?”

  Kamala merely nodded. Faye started pedaling. They let the whirling continue for a bit.

  “I suppose this is the part where I tell you to be a responsible adult and consider your feelings first, not your body. Blah blah blah, you should know what you’re getting into, blah blah blah, sex isn’t everything, etcetera. Well, part of that may be true, but you shouldn’t let it get you this worked up about it. The nice thing about the two of you is that your relationship has evolved naturally over time. Intimacy has always been a part of it. Will it change things? Yes. Absolutely. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll change things for the worse. He’s already seen the real you and he stuck around. That says a lot, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” Kamala said rather softly. “I suppose it does.”

  “Great. So, metaphorically speaking, he’s seen you naked. Now he just needs to do it literally.”

  “I’m going to hurt you after we’re done.”

  “Kinky. I like it. Did you patch things up with your folks before they left?”

  “More or less. My father and I are still at an impasse, but at least I know why he acts the way he does. Ego aside, he just wants me to live up to my potential. Maybe someday he’ll finally understand that I am doing what I love.”

  “He’ll come around. Give it time.”

  “I certainly hope so, saheli.”

  An hour later, Kamala dropped Faye off at her current boy-toy Charlie’s place after their workout and drove home. To her surprise, there was a black sports car parked in her usual space, and a man she didn’t recognize leaned up against it, smoking a cigarette. She pulled into a nearby spot and kept him in her peripheral as she got out of her car to head into the apartment.

  He didn’t immediately move towards her. She almost thought he was just a friend of one of the tenants until she noticed his attire: leather jacket, white t-shirt, black jeans, and Vans. He didn’t look much older than her, but he also didn’t look like a college student. His hair was thick, dark, and slicked back with oil.

  Her sneakers hit the sidewalk and that was when he spoke in a soft voice with a Boston accent. “Dr. Anjali?”

  She sighed under her breath. “Yes?”

  “Sorry to bother you at such a late hour, but I’ve been waiting for you.”

  She turned slightly and didn’t bother to smile. “Sir, it’s been a long day. If you’re with the press, you’ll have to wait your turn like everyone else. I only do interviews during the daytime hours, and never outside of my home. Please have a good evening.”

  “I’m not with the press.”

  “Well, same policy if you want an autograph, a photo, advice on how to run a successful research grant, or all of the above. It’s late. I need to go to bed. Excuse me.”

  She got another step before he spoke again. “Did you ever find the guy who popped Detective Stubbs?”

  Kamala froze.

  Blood thundered through her ears. She balled her hands into fists and turned slowly to face the man, who by now had pushed off from the car.

  “What did you say?”

  The man offered a humorless smile. “Heard on the news that some Jap is laid out in a hospital back in Tokyo. That’s the one who was in the back of the police car, right? Is he the one who did it?”

  “Explain to me why that is any of your business.”

  “Let’s just say that I represent an orga
nization of concerned individuals. Individuals who would like to prevent such a dangerous event from happening to you or your loved ones.”

  “Let me guess,” she snarled. “For a price.”

  “Everything has a price, Dr. Anjali.”

  “Thanks, but I can take care of myself. Beat it.”

  “Sure. No harm done, sweetheart.” Again, she turned to leave, but he had one more question before she could.

  “How was that doughnut, by the way?”