by Dee Carney
Her arms felt as if weighed down with the worries of the world when she opened them wide again. Before Sebastian could do anything more to avoid her, Alice pressed her body against his and tucked him into her grasp. The cool scales brushed against her skin, her eyes closing at the sensation. She’d been right. He was so very solid but not scary at all.
He flapped his wings frantically at first, not quite struggling to get away, but his displeasure so very evident in their rustling. At last, when he must have realized she wasn’t going anywhere, he settled. His chest expanded and fell against her, the heat of his breath warming the skin of her neck.
Gray called to her, his voice low and urgent. “Can you get him to go with you outside?”
Alice nodded. “I think so.” To Sebastian, beneath the hearing of everyone surrounding them, she said, “I’m here with you, sweetheart. Nothing can make me turn my back. Nothing will get me to leave. The way I trust in you, for a little while trust in me. I’ll take care of you, I promise.” As she spoke, she took a tentative step forward, at once relieved when he allowed himself to be led. With every step, her own fear seeped away.
The remains of his pants clung to his legs as they walked, but she held no illusion that they wouldn’t crumble around him before long. He’d grown in size everywhere, and the clothing just couldn’t stand up to the change. By the time they stood before the Escalade that Kemp—or was it Connell?—had brought to the front, Alice had a very healthy view of scales that ran across his lower abdomen and covered the tops of his thighs. She didn’t dare look between his legs...she just couldn’t.
Arm outstretched, beckoning him, Alice backed into the open door of the vehicle. Drew already sat in the driver’s seat, the anxiety on his face probably mirroring her own. It didn’t help that a crowd hovered at Sebastian’s back, watching their progress. Fortunately, the twins and Cicero formed a barrier between him and the mass of people too stupid to run, or maybe too scared to.
Her heart thundered as she crouched in one of the backseats, waiting for Sebastian to come inside. What they would do with him once away from everyone’s prying eyes was something they’d have to figure out later. Right now, she focused on the terrifying premonition that he’d turn and attack the very people he’d been sworn to protect. And if it came to that, he wouldn’t survive the retaliation.
Sebastian put one foot on the inner console, and Alice held her breath. His hand brushed over a headrest before he paused. The once-blank expression on his face tightened, a frown growing in its place.
“Hey, honey,” she called. “What’s wrong?”
The groove between his brows deepened as his gaze darted between Alice and the interior of the car. His entire body stiffened, and she felt him start to withdraw before he actually started backing out.
“Fuck, what’s he doing?” Drew whispered.
“Sebastian? Bast?”
He stared at his hand, curling those horrible claws in before stretching them again. His gaze shot to Alice then swept over the car’s interior.
“I don’t think he wants to come inside here,” Alice whispered back. Did he think it was too small to hold his bulk, maybe? Admittedly, it would be a tight squeeze, but he would fit. “Come on, Bast. Come inside with me.”
A low growl rippled from Sebastian before he withdrew completely, obviously intending not to comply.
“Damn it!” Drew shouted.
Sebastian roared at Drew while flapping his wings, which sent one of the other vampires behind him sprawling. He didn’t seem to notice the ruckus he’d just caused, instead darting around the back of the car. His wings trailed behind him, twitching with agitation, as if they didn’t understand why he hadn’t taken flight instead of using his less-powerful legs.
Then he did the most amazing thing.
Alice swore his wings bulged right before dropping, as if suddenly weighted with iron. She clung backward to the backseat, cautiously excited, as Sebastian lowered himself to one knee. Head raised, eyes on her, he took a single breath—his chest expanding and then letting go—and simply sprang from the ground and into the air.
The change on his face, the utter shock and realization that he could fly, that he could do this, was just short of astonishing. He released a sound of triumph. Of familiarity. And God, how Alice’s heart reacted to his cry.
“Follow him,” Alice cried to Drew. He didn’t hesitate, and the car lurched forward. Not before Alice stuck her head out of the window, calling to her man. “Home, baby. Head home!”
A smile curved her lips as she watched, certain he flew for sanctuary. His wings unfurled against the night air, black on black, with only the stars above him for company. She crouched, then craned her neck to follow him, noting with some trepidation that he didn’t quite have this new ability fully under control. Bast yawed a few times, the effort to move his wings with the currents a foreign skill he was set on mastering. The wings didn’t flap, so much as glide, across the sky, propelling him forward.
“I know what he reminds me of,” Drew said.
Alice turned just enough to catch the way he also crouched as he drove, his attention shifting between the side view mirror and the road ahead of them. “He’s beautiful,” Alice replied.
“I would have expected a lot more bulk though. And a tail, definitely,” he muttered.
“Do you know what this is? Why he’s changing like this?” All this time, he’d shunned help from his men. Had Sebastian excluded the very people who could help him?
Drew ducked to look in the mirror again before meeting Alice’s eyes in the rearview. He chewed on his bottom lip, tearing away a thin strip of skin. It was disgusting and unexpected, but at the same time, a move she understood from a friend troubled over the latest happenings.
“Don’t hold back if you know something, Drew.” She had a feeling he fought loyalty to Sebastian over whether or not he should divulge his knowledge. “He’s been sick and if the result is this...I only want to help. I care for him a great deal.” Maybe more than that.
“Look at him,” he demanded. “Can you not see it?”
“I see a vampire now covered in scales and flying like a bird. I don’t know what it is you people can or cannot do, so give a dog a bone here, huh?”
“It’s the size of him that concerns me more than anything. He’s easily seven or eight feet tall right now. If he gets bigger, I’m right. I have to be right.” They were mutterings of a contemplative person, not part of a conversation.
“What are you right about? Shit. Wait. Do you see him?” Her fingers dug into the leather, the supple material yielding beneath her blunt nails. Alice searched the brackish sky, trying to locate his silhouette in between overhanging tree limbs and the simple clumsy trap of the car. She hoped like hell Drew was an excellent driver, because she forewent the safety belt in order to slide to the other side of the vehicle. No matter where she looked though, she couldn’t find Sebastian. “Did we lose him? Speed up! We can’t lose him.”
“No worries,” Drew said, but she felt the car accelerate anyway. “We know where he’s going. Besides, he’s not likely to let you out of his sight for too long. Not sure what hold you have over him.”
It was more question than statement, but Alice ignored it. What went on between her and Bast was none of Drew’s business until and unless Bast said it was.
“My God, he is beautiful,” she repeated as she found him again. No other words could describe the grace of his form as it glided throug
h the night air. He’d found his stride, his wings shifting subtly, quietly and with gentle finesse. She marveled that something his size could make it look so effortless, but if she hadn’t known better, she could have sworn Sebastian had been flying every day of his life.
His head turned from side to side, taking in the area ahead of him in a methodical visual sweep. Always the warrior, he seemed to be assessing the area for any danger. He blended in with the night sky, only reappearing when backdropped by a contingency of stars or the bright moon. She would have loved to be lying in a field of grass, just gazing up at him as he made the sky his home.
There was a dull squeeze inside her chest as she realized this Sebastian really didn’t frighten her as he probably should. That she was mesmerized and possibly intoxicated by the otherworldly beauty of the man. But he wasn’t a man anymore, was he? He was a dream, scary and breathtaking and wonderful in all his majesty.
“How much has he told you about his problems?” Drew asked.
Alice pulled her thoughts back to the interior of the car. Half turning to address him, she said, “I’m trying to help him find his father or whatever might explain what this is.”
“He’s spent so much time and energy trying to prove to himself that he’s born vampire that he refuses to see what’s in front of him.”
“And what’s that?”
“That there is a world larger than ours out there. That despite what we tell ourselves, vampires aren’t the crowning glory of evolution. We don’t overrun the population because we can’t. We depend on others as much as they often depend on us. And as much as we assure ourselves that other creatures of the night are lesser and not worthy of our notice, we are ignoring part of who we are. Where we belong. Does that make sense?”
Drew had her full attention now. Keeping her gaze toward where Sebastian flew ensured she didn’t lose sight of him. “You know more about his past than you’ve told him it sounds like.”
“No, not at all. I just refuse to believe that with the existence of vampires and werewolves, there can be nothing else out there like us. It doesn’t make logical sense.”
“I’d tried doing a Google search and there were thousands of creatures to research, including hundreds I’d never even heard of. How are you supposed to weed out the ones that could possibly be true from the ones a bunch of fiction writers cobbled together?” Alice hadn’t even gotten around to elements of mythology, much less covered the usual suspects. There’d been no time to do a decent search, despite Sebastian’s every attempt to make sure she had the resources she needed. “I could spend the next twenty years searching and not be sure I’d stumbled onto the right thing.”
“Look at him,” Drew replied reverently. The hum of the engine created a hush that demanded an almost piety. The white-noise quiet encouraged her to follow his command.
His tone captured and held her attention for a few seconds, but Alice ignored the lure to watch Sebastian once again. Frustrated, she shook her head when whatever seemed apparent to Drew didn’t make itself clear to her. “What should I be seeing?”
“I could be wrong,” he said slowly, “but have you ever seen a creature like that with wings? Imagine something a lot bulkier than Bast, and add a long tail. But everything else is the same. The claws. The scales. Most importantly, the wings.”
She studied Sebastian, trying to find the elusive something Drew hinted at but seemed quite willing to let her stumble upon without assistance. Her eyes blurred and in the fuzzy lines, she thought maybe... No. Alice shook her head. “I don’t—”
Drew watched her in the rearview mirror. “Look again. And think back to fairy tales, where white knights saved damsels in distress. Use your imagination.”
There was a subtle undertone of humor in his voice, despite the humorless situation. Still, Alice found her lips curving slightly, a thread of hope weaving through her. If Drew could be lighthearted in this dire moment, just maybe it wasn’t as bad as her instinct cautioned.
Alice tilted her head as she tried to make the imaginary changes to Bast that Drew had suggested. His words became a path of clues for her to follow. A tail. White knights. Damsels in distress. What did they all have in common?
Oh, shit.
She sat up straighter, her fingers digging into the seat again. Her mind supplied the necessary changes and...oh, shit.
“Drew?”
He chuckled, although she couldn’t tell if there was any humor in it. “You see it now?”
She thought back to the first Google search she’d done on supernatural beings. The way she’d had to narrow down her search term with words that described the changes overtaking Sebastian. God, she’d been so focused on the overwhelming number of returns that she hadn’t once focused on the results that had repeated themselves. The smoke coming from his nose. The wings on his back. Now, the reptilian elongation of his face. It was so obvious and stupid in hindsight. Downright embarrassing that it had taken another person to even point it out to her. Some kind of researcher she’d make.
“My beautiful Sebastian,” she murmured. “How on God’s green earth are you a double creature of fantasy? One part vampire. One part dragon.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
They lost sight of him by the time they exited the car. Drew had parked beyond the gates of Sebastian’s home. She was out of the car, eyes toward the sky, within seconds of stopping.
“I’m going to call the others and get them over here,” Drew said as they walked toward the house. Like her, he scanned their surroundings, looking for a sign of their friend.
“No.” Alice’s heart tripped at the thought. The last thing he wanted or needed was condemnation from those people.
Drew’s face was fixed in a grim frown. “I admire your loyalty to him, but it’s done already. They know.”
Stomach churning, Alice nodded. “I know they do, but what if...he wouldn’t want that?”
“Either they come here to help or they stay away, not wanting to be associated with him. Regardless, it will let us know immediately where their loyalties lie, right?”
It made logical sense, but she had to look out for Sebastian’s best interests when he couldn’t. She had to. “I understand what you’re saying, but you saw them back there. None of them looked anxious to help him out when he needed it most. What happens if they get here and decide the best course of action is to put him down like some rabid dog, without trying to even help him first? Are you willing to take that chance?”
His lips thinned. “No, I guess not. But if things take a wrong turn, I’m calling. Deal?”
She considered arguing but didn’t see the point. It wouldn’t come to that, not if she had anything to do with it.
Alice nodded.
By unspoken agreement, they walked the perimeter of the house, choosing to save the inside for last. Alice couldn’t say why, but she was certain Sebastian remained outdoors, especially if his reaction to getting inside the car had been a predictor of his behavior. She slipped off heels designed for looking good, but not being practical, to make their search easier.
The soft glow of decorative lighting marked the path around his home, strategically placed floodlights helping them discern bushes and trees. The grass yielded beneath her steps without a sound, the dew settled upon its surface providing a muting cushion.
She realized as they searched how her life had somehow come full circle. It couldn’t have been more than a few years since the last time
she’d searched for Richard like this after one of his fugues. Only in those times, she’d been in and out of crack houses and homeless shelters. Calls to the local ER left for last, not wanting to invite even more trouble to a troubling situation. The police wouldn’t and couldn’t be of help. She had to help herself.
“It’ll be difficult to agree to calling them, Drew. Not if I don’t believe they’re going to help.”
He stopped walking, and Alice felt the heat of his gaze on her back. She refused to stop to humor this conversation though. “Who are you to make decisions on his behalf?” he asked. Despite the words, his tone remained steady and unaccusing.
They were in the back, near the pool. She immediately shifted her attention to the place she’d found Sebastian before. Although the corner was dark, a shiver coursed through her as she thought she recognized his shape. She pulled her gaze away from him to address Drew, hoping he’d understand. “He means a lot to me,” she said softly, weighing the truth of the statement. Still not quite sure how much he’d come to mean.
Bold steps carried her to where indeed Sebastian crouched. She hadn’t waited for Drew’s reply, not caring if he understood nor needing his approval. Her feelings for Sebastian were true. His wealth didn’t matter; neither did his illness or the fact that he was a vampire or a dragon. All she asked for was a little more time with him.
She slowed within a few feet of Sebastian. Her gaze went to his hands and then face, searching for signs of change. The wings folded behind his back still seemed the same, but maybe the lesser signs had diminished somewhat.
“He looks the same,” whispered Drew, echoing her disappointing thoughts.
“Last time it was several hours before his wings disappeared,” she whispered back. Her arms broke out in goose bumps as she remembered the session of lovemaking that had preceded his reversion to normal.