by T. S. Ryder
“I know what’s good for me,” Cain said pulling his hand out from under hers. “I wasn’t joking all of those times I asked you out. I wanted - I want - to be with you.”
Michelle didn’t know what to say to that. The aura around him had died down a little bit, the flames were subdued with his sadness. But it was still there, those lights, that burning smell. He was her client and he was a Magical, it was too complicated. She didn’t want complicated. She wanted simple, human Brock.
“I’m sorry,” she said with a shake of her head. “You’re a great guy and you’re gonna find someone who’s perfect for you.”
He got up off the bench in a huff. He was breathing deeply and shaking his head as if he were arguing with himself. He was about to storm off when he stopped and turned to her one more time.
It was a credit to Cain that she wasn’t afraid of him. He was bigger than she was and he held powerful magic within him, but she trusted that he would never hurt her. She didn’t need to wince or pull back. Cain wasn’t the kind of man who would hit a woman.
She sat in her seat and looked up at him. She felt awful. He was a good guy and he deserved better than this. Should she tell him the truth? That she was Magical and she knew he was too, but where would that lead? She imagined telling him was like a dark well that she would have to jump into. She had no idea what would happen once she was inside. There would be no coming back from that conversation.
“I wish I had fired you,” he said, his aura flaring up dangerously around him. It reached up to the ceiling and traveled down beneath the floor. His frown deepened as he turned around and walked out of the bar.
Michelle let out a long sigh and slumped down. She hadn’t wanted to break Cain’s heart. She had always thought this joking flirtatiousness was just that, a joke. But he had been serious and sincere the entire time.
From far away she could hear the snapping of cameras and the shouting of reporters. She looked around the lonely bar as a few doors down people fought and yelled for Cain’s attention.
Chapter Five
He wanted to burn something. He wanted to let the fire consume and transform him. He would revert to his true form and fly over the city. He would burn it to the ground and destroy it. The air would reek of smoke. Fire would be everywhere. The images consumed his mind, it was all he could think about.
Breathe, he reminded himself. Deep, calming breaths. He would not transform. He was in control of the dragon, it was not in control of him. He was the master of his anger, only he could let himself transform. Calm. He needed to be calm.
Remembering his old meditation training, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath counting to ten. He imagined his long body rising from the ground. His powerful wings beat the air as he lifted himself up higher and higher.
He was over a forest. A deep forest with no people in it. Beyond the forest was a chain of low mountains, rounded off and covered with tall green trees. He flew up in the air and then dove down into the trees before rising up again. He was huge and powerful. Fire burned inside of him.
He flew towards the mountains and quickly zoomed between two of them. Underneath him was a wide, calm, blue lake. Flying over it, he could see his own reflection. His long snout was lined with sharp teeth, the yellow and green scales that covered his body, the dark wings that stretched on either side of him. He flew over the lake, the water rippling from the beating of his wings.
This was his memory palace. The peaceful place that existed just in his mind. It was the place he went when he needed to calm the angry beast that was always lurking inside of him. His father had taught him this trick and he had been perfecting it his entire life.
The dragon was always in him. It was always angry. It always wanted to feed. It had taken Cain a long time to gain control over the dragon within him. But he was the master now. He was in control, but it was a constant fight. The dragon always wanted to come out. It never rested. It had been over eight years since he had last lost control and transformed. He wasn’t interested in ending that streak, he had to keep the dragon under control.
He couldn’t stop thinking about Michelle. Why did she have to be his attorney? Why couldn’t she have been a girl he had met at a club or a bar? Why did she have to be so good at her job and so perfect for him? It wasn’t fair. They belonged together. They would have been perfect together. But now she was going to date his best friend and there was nothing he could do about it.
Cain slammed his fist into the locker. The pain radiated from his knuckles up through his arm. A stinging, electric shock of pain that reverberated through his body. It didn’t help. It only made him angrier. The dragon inside of him was rearing up and screaming to be released.
Everyone was waiting for him on the ice. He had a training to get to. He was acting like a diva and slowing everyone down. But he didn’t want to train. Normally he couldn’t wait to get out onto the ice. He would be laced up well before the rest of the team. But today he felt tired and sluggish. The only thing he wanted to do was transform and fly, the one thing he couldn’t do.
He pushed himself up and off the bench. He felt weighed down, like he was carrying heavy weights on his shoulders. He wasn’t in the mood to train. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with his teammates. Mostly, he didn’t want to deal with Brock.
Cain made his way out onto the ice where his teammates were skating between plastic orange cones. Their voices echoed in the rink and he could hear their skates as they scraped against the smooth ice.
He saw Brock hanging back near the penalty box. Brock was the offensive coach for the whole team, but mostly he worked with Cain. Normally, Cain was grateful to have his best friend training him, but today he wished he had never met Brock Thaddeus.
Traitor, turncoat, betrayer, double-crosser, snake, sneak, two-timer, the words echoed around in his head as he glared at his former best friend. Who did he think he was? Who was Brock compared to Cain? Cain was a three-time Hart Trophy winner, he led the Olympic team, he had won the Stanley Cup three times and Brock was stealing his girl? It was impossible. It was wrong and he couldn’t stand it.
“There he is,” Brock said clapping his hand on Cain’s back as Cain finally took to the ice. He shrugged the hand off and quickly skated past Brock and towards the orange cones. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him and he wished they would look at something else.
He focused on skating. He clasped his hands behind his back and began to speed skate through the cones, getting in line with the rest of his teammates as they warmed up. He wanted to be lost in a crowd. Pushing his feet, the edge of his skate cutting into the ice and propelling him forward.
He pushed and skated until his heart was pounding. The dragon inside of him relished in the beating of his heart, it wanted more. He needed to work. He needed to push himself until the dragon was sated. He continued to weave between the cones, trying to focus on the movements and working the muscles in his legs.
Focus eluded him. Every time he glanced up he would see Brock. And every time the dragon would rear up and scream. So he put his head down. He just needed to do this. He needed to push himself. He needed to train until he couldn’t stand. Then, and only then, would he and the dragon sleep.
He was on his third lap when he saw Brock skate out onto the ice. His blood boiled. This was bad, this was very bad. The dragon was thrashing inside of him, desperate to be let out. The dragon would handle Brock. The dragon would rip him limb from limb, burn the parts and feast on the flesh.
No! Brock was his best friend, his oldest friend. Cain would never hurt him. That was the dragon talking and there was a reason the dragon wasn’t in control.
“Everything alright?” Brock asked as he skated up to Cain. He fell into Cain’s rhythm until they were skating together. Cain was fuming, he balled up his fists and tried to keep himself under control.
“Everything’s fine,” he said tersely. He wanted to push Brock over and pummel him until he was nothing more than an angry red stain on th
e ice.
“Really, because you look like you want to straight up murder me. What is going on?” Cain sped up, but Brock was on him keeping pace, until he finally pulled in front of Cain and came to a screeching halt, blocking Cain’s path.
“Don’t,” Cain warned. They were dangerously close to each other. Only inches apart. Cain could hear his own heavy breathing loud in his ears. Blood was thundering through his veins; the dragon was clawing to get out.
“Don’t what?” Brock demanded.
Cain moved to push away, but Brock grabbed his arm. He snarled and wrenched his arm free.
“What is your problem?” Brock demanded again.
“Michelle!” Cain said, the word echoing around the rink. The players on his team stopped in their tracks and all heads turn to face them.
“Your lawyer, Michelle?” Brock asked.
“Yes. You had no right going after her. I’m the one who knew her first. I invited her to the party so I could ask her out.”
“She’s your lawyer. I thought the two of you couldn’t date.”
Cain shook his head. He was furious. He wanted to punch and hit and burn everything. He was seething, barely holding himself back. He wanted to launch the dragon at Brock. Stretch his long neck out and remove Brock’s head with his strong dragon jaw.
“We’re not in high school anymore,” Brock said. “You don’t get to call dibs on a woman. Either you go for it and ask her out or you get out of the way. You can’t expect her to sit up on a high shelf, out of the reach of everyone else until you’re ready.”
He was right. That was the worst part. Brock was right. Michelle was her own person and she could date anyone she wanted. He couldn't tell her what to do. He couldn’t expect her to wait for him. But that didn’t mean he was ready for her to date his best friend and coach.
“I’m sorry,” Brock said holding his hand up in appeasement. “I didn’t know that you were interested in her. You never mentioned it. But she and I have a date for this weekend and I’m going whether you like it or not.”
“I gotta get some air,” Cain said. He skated to the entrance to the rink and ripped off his skates, putting his shoes on and leaving the practice behind.
Chapter Six
The smell of coconut oil filled Michelle’s apartment. She wanted to do a hot oil treatment on her hair before her date. She had massaged the oil into her scalp and down the length of her hair and now it was wrapped in a plastic cap and she had wrapped a hot towel around her head to help the oil activate.
She was actually excited for her date with Brock Thaddeus. Her brother had lost his mind when she texted him about it. He had sent her a list of questions about training and protein intake to ask Brock, but Michelle hoped that it didn’t come to that. She was ready for chemistry and passion, not small talk about weightlifting.
It was late by the time she finally crawled into bed. She had done her nails, her toenails and her hair in preparation for the date. Tomorrow she would just need to do her makeup and pick out her sexiest, but not too sexy, dress.
She didn’t remember falling asleep, but no one ever does. She did remember the dream she had. In this dream, she was lost in a deep, dark forest. The trees were tall and the ground was covered in a thick coating of fallen leaves. The forest was silent. Her footfalls crinkling on the dead leaves was the only sound.
She was walking, but she didn’t know where she was going. The forest around her refused to change. It was just endless tall trees as far as the eye could see. She wasn’t sure if she was going in the right direction, or even what the right direction was. The scenery around her never seemed to change.
She had been walking for a while when she heard it. It was like a heartbeat, a soft, steady drumbeat that throbbed in the air all around her. She looked around, trying to figure out where that sound was coming from. There was nothing hiding between the trees, but the sound was getting louder and closer. She wasn’t alone.
Finally, it occurred to her to look up. She could see a small circle of pale light framed by the leafy branches of trees. She stared up as that beating, thumping noise grew louder. She was afraid. She knew something was close, but still she couldn’t see it. Heart pounding, she stared up through the gap in the trees.
She put a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream as it passed over her. It was huge, massive, covered in green and yellow scales with long, bat-like brown wings, a heavy set of back legs and two smaller forelegs. It was a dragon. Its wings created the thumping noise. It was the sound of the beast flying.
Her eyes were wide with terror and there was an ancient panic coursing through her. The thing was too big. It was like some ancient monster that had survived to modern times. Her body instinctively wanted to move away from it and hunker down in the hollow of a tree.
Instead, she kept walking. She moved in the same direction as the dragon. She didn’t know why she was following it. She had no control over herself, she was just walking forward. Far in the distance, she could see light through the ancient trees. There must have been a clearing up there.
She walked through the forest, praying the dragon couldn't see, hear, or smell her. She would never be able to stop it. If it wanted her, it would have her. The trees began to thin out and a large lake appeared in front of her. On the banks of the lake, lay the dragon. His huge side rose up and down as he breathed. He was stretched out with his pale belly exposed to the sun.
She watched its sleeping form for a moment, but it did not remain still for long. It brought its head up and smelled the air. Michelle pulled back, worried that the dragon could smell her. But after a moment, it stopped sniffing the air. With an elegance that something so big should never possess, it stood up on its back paws and shook its body out.
It leaned down towards the lake and began to drink the water. Its eyes open as it scanned the forest for danger. It lapped up the water silently. When it was done, it began to beat its wings, rising quickly into the air. Michelle couldn’t believe how fast and lithe it was. In the span of a few seconds, the giant beast had gone from being next to the lake to being hundreds of feet above it.
The world shifted in front of her. She lost her footing and stumbled to the side, clinging to a tree as the world around her disappeared. Darkness fell and the tree she was holding onto dissipated into nothingness. She didn’t know which way was up or down or even where she was.
Finally, the world began to come back into focus. She could smell smoke and feel the heat from a nearby fire. Then there was the sound of a woman screaming over and over again. Michelle stood up and tried to find the screaming woman, but she wasn’t in the forest anymore.
She was on a city street. The buildings around her were all one fire. She coughed and tried to peer through the heavy, thick, poisonous smoke that lingered in the air. There were people lying in the street, covered in blood and crying out for help. They reached out to Michelle, begging her to help them, but what could she do?
A shadow passed over her and she looked up to see the dragon soaring over the street. Giant brown wings stirred ash up into the air. Heat pounded her face, sweat was pouring down her body. What was she supposed to do? The dragon opened its mouth and an otherworldly scream pierced her ears. She covered them with her hands and crouched on the ground. She looked up in time to see the dragon racing towards her. It opened its huge jaws and a burst of fire poured from its throat. It was coming right for her and she could do nothing but scream as she was engulfed in flames.
She woke up gasping. She jumped from the bed, searching her body for fire. But she wasn’t in the forest, or that dangerous street. She was safe at home in her bedroom. Her eyes were slowly coming into focus and she fell back onto the bed gasping for breath.
That was no ordinary dream. It was too realistic and the emotions in them were too strong. It had left her feeling spent and exhausted and shaking all over. That was no dream, that was a vision.
She sat up and put her head in her hands. The meaning was clear enough. Da
nger lurking all around her, something very bad and very dangerous was about to happen. Dragons were magical animals, they were extremely powerful and potent beings. But no one had seen a dragon in a very, very long time. So why was she having visions of one?
Visions came for a reason. She knew that. They were warnings and needed to be taken seriously. She needed to take this seriously. The only problem was she didn’t know anything about dragons.
Michelle stood up and walked over to her walk-in closet. She turned on the light and moved past a long line of dresses and shoes. On the floor, there was a box covered in a floral tablecloth. She whipped the cloth off and opened the box. Inside was her alter. There were crystals, herbs, bones, tea leaves and fire starters. Everything a witch might need.
She couldn’t fight a dragon, but she could control animals. That had been one of the first ways her magic had manifested. She had always been able to see people’s auras. She talked about them constantly as a child. It took her a long time to realize that few people could see what she did. But by the age of ten, she had learned to keep her abilities secret.
She discovered the power to charm animals when she was ten years old. She was walking home from school on her normal route that took her down a run-down alley. Pawn shops and cheap Chinese take-out joints had back doors that opened to this alley. There was always a mean German Shepard chained to one of the walls. Every time Michelle had to walk past it, the dog would bark furiously and strain at its leash as it struggled to attack. She had learned to give the dog a wide berth and stay well out of its reach.
On that fateful day, the dog was particularly angry. It was barking and foaming at the mouth. It was pulling and tugging on its leash as she tried to sneak by. Michelle hugged the wall and edged past it, avoiding looking the animal in the eye. She was halfway through the alley when the dog managed to break its leash. Once free it raced towards her, slobber dripping from its mouth.