“Staten, can I have a word with you for a moment before you guys leave?” I ask.
He nods.
“I’ll be right back, Sweetheart, while you and Staten talk,” Bronx says. “I’m just going to run back to my room for a change of clothes. I’ll bring back snacks.”
We watch the three guys go, leaving me with my tallest and oldest protector, Staten. He’s his quiet self. His early monologue was the first time I’ve heard him say that many words.
I walk back to my bed, patting the side next to me.
“What’s on your mind, Brooklyn?”
“Is there a way to block out the voices of the others?” I point to my head. “All of the dragons in our Pride are in here chatting. I can hear you guys still, too.” His eyes widen. “It’s not like before when you guys speak with me. It’s more like I can hear your inner monologue. I didn’t want to say anything while everyone else was in the room. I just thought you’d know of a way to block everything out.”
“Maybe.” He takes my hands with a gentleness that still surprises me. “Regan never hinted that it was a burden to him hearing everyone, so maybe he found a way to silence them until he needed to communicate with everyone. Leadership is usually passed down to the next while the current leader is still alive, so with his death, you’ll have a bit of learning to do on that. I want you to try something for me. If it doesn’t work, then maybe Dad can help you. Close your eyes.”
“Okay.” We slow our breathing.
“Focus on your magic. Let it spread over your body. Think about what you want it to do.”
My body hums immediately. Since I accepted leadership of the dragons, my magic is easy to call. It has done what I want the few times I’ve needed it. This time isn’t any different. Sending the power into my mind, I coax it to wrap around only the voices. They dampen, and eventually they become quiet.
“It’s getting easier for you, isn’t it?” Staten asks.
I open my eyes. “It is. Thank you for helping me with this.”
“I don’t think you’re going to need my help anymore.”
“I’ll always need you, Staten.”
I gaze into his hazel eyes. He leans into me. Is he going to kiss me? That would be a new dynamic to our relationship. He’s only ever showed me his affections in dragon form and that one morning at my cabin, but never in front of anyone. Someone could walk by and catch us. Sometimes, I have caught him glimpsing me with longing. I bite my lip and close the distance.
His body freezes but only for a second. There isn’t any doubt left in him. His soft lips brush against mine as his hand cups my head, securing me as if he doesn’t want me to move. I know now that I don’t want to be anywhere but here with him.
The kiss ends much too soon. I like seeing Staten like this, his barriers down. He’s still a bit awkward, not knowing what to do with his hands after he removes them from my hair. His heartbeat pounds against his chest. He tilts his forehead to mine, palming my cheek. “Thank you,” he says.
“For what?” My own heart thumps against my ribs.
“For allowing me to kiss you. I didn’t want you going into the lion’s den without one of us. I wasn’t sure if you’d come out alive, but here you are. I didn’t want this chance to go by without me tasting your lips. I might not ever get the chance again.”
“I’m sure there is still so much you can teach me,” I say, a bit breathless. He smiles, flashing me his sexy dimples. The grin he only gives to me. “You guys will have to come visit me on the weekends.” I shake my head. “There won’t be any more missions, right?”
“I don’t know. We’ll find out what the Academy is going to do next. We have funerals to plan, regroup, and sort out the remaining students. Our covers haven’t been blown, so we need to stay here and be watchful and pass any information we learn to you and the Council.”
He came to the same conclusion I had. We need eyes and ears inside the school.
Staten leaves shortly after promising that Bronx is on his way and that he has to find out what Allister is thinking- otherwise he would’ve stayed with me. Then we could have that convo about the morning at the cabin. I’ll just find another time to talk about that with him.
I continue packing my toiletries until Bronx knocks on the door with a bag over his shoulder. “You still packing?” he asks when he steps into my room.
“Yep, but I’m almost done.”
“Here.” He hands me a to-go box. “I brought you a burger and fries. I know you love them.”
“Thanks!” I hadn’t realized I was hungry until the smell of food wafted into my nose. “You’re so good to me.”
“I aim to please, Sweetheart.”
I take a break from filling my suitcases and eat dinner with Bronx. We’re both quiet in a comfortable way. Normally, Bronx is laughing and being a flirt, but he knows the seriousness of the situation.
“How’s your food?” Bronx asks.
“It’s fine. Thank you again for bringing it.”
“You and McQueen?” He tilts his head.
“Do you really want to know?”
“Not really.”
“My dragon seems to like him.” I stuff a fry in my mouth. “How come you guys are all okay with me dating all of you?”
“If that’s what you want, who are we to say that you can only be with one of us? We each have our strengths that you’re drawn to, just like we are drawn to you. It’s you fulfilling our needs. Yes, our openness might seem unconventional to others, or what people perceive to be the normal way of dating, but that’s them and not us, or you.”
“I see.”
He takes my burger from my hands and places it on the tray, threading his fingers through mine. “You still have doubt in your eyes. Do you love your mom and dad?”
“Yes, of course.” I nod.
“Each of them fills a role in your life. It’d be hard to choose one of them over the other because of that. Neither of them is jealous of the other when they spend time with you. What you do with your mom is different than with your dad. While I can only guess that your dad doesn’t prefer taking you to spas and shopping, he would if you asked him to. But that is what you and your mom like doing together.”
“Dad and I like going to the theatre together. Mom tolerates it but would rather go to the galleries.”
“See, having the four of us in your life is just like that.”
“I don’t have sex with them, though.”
“You don’t have to with us either, but the concept of loving us and going into more intimate situations is going to be different with each of one of us. It’s not like you’ll sleep with us all at the same time. I can guess that it is a special moment for each of us, at a special place and time.”
I know I’ve asked Manny that question before, and he gave me basically the same response. But that was before Staten and I had sex, too.
“Is Noelle going to stay with you tonight?” Bronx asks.
“I don’t know. Haven’t really thought about it yet. I’m not sure how she’s going to take me leaving her, since we just buried Sax yesterday. I need to stay for Reist’s funeral, and I’d like to be there for Lexi’s, too.” I can’t even think about what tomorrow will bring when all the feelings I’ve been smashing down come to light. The guilt of their deaths by my dragons. It wasn’t my hand that made the killing shots, but those dragons are my responsibility.
Sure, I just became friends with some of my Level Twoers these past few weeks, but they were still my classmates. I might not have spoken to them until this year, but we bonded over the weekend. I won’t turn my back on them just because I’m fighting on the other side of the war. “But if she doesn’t stay, you are, right?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’ll be my last chance for a while. McQueen will be the lucky bastard when you leave here.”
My room now looks barren. I remember a time not so long ago when I thought about leaving the Academy and doing something else with my life. Even
though my parents are on the Slayers Council and it was unspoken that I’d attend this school and become a dragon slayer, I felt something was missing. And now I know what it was.
It’s not that I didn’t belong here. I’m glad I came. I wouldn’t have met my boys. I wouldn’t have met my best friend Noelle or Reist, Sax, or my Team Magic Users. I think I was supposed to come here, learn, and understand the stakes, meeting these people along the way to reinforce my true heritage.
Seeing Sax die on the last Level Three mission solidified it in my mind, knowing that the Slayers Council had to stop killing us. But when the dragons retaliated and killed six instructors, four staff, ten visiting family members, and forty-seven of my peers, I broke.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Noelle steps into my room and glances around. “Manny said that you were looking for me.”
“I’ll be back later, Sweetheart.” Bronx kisses me on the lips and leaves us.
Oh, boroughs. How am I going to do this? She can’t handle any more bad news. For the last week, she’s been a zombie. Just over this weekend, she started acting like her old, bubbly self.
“Where’s all your stuff?” she asks. I don’t say anything. Tears swell in my eyes. “Brooklyn? Why have you packed your things?” Her voice is harsh.
“There’s something I need to tell you, Noelle.” I wring my hands.
“Are you preggers? You better not be. You’re much too young for that.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m not pregnant.”
“Good. Now what’s up? You better start talking and not beating around the bush. I can see that your room is empty and you’re leaving. I want to know why.”
Closing the door, I turn back and sit next to her on the bed. “I’m not safe here anymore. My parents took me to the Council meeting tonight, and although things went as planned, my folks don’t think I should stay at the school.”
“But—”
I hold up a hand. “You know why we are here at the Academy?” It’s a rhetorical question, and I don’t give her a chance to respond. “The dragons want peace and land to call their home. The Council decided to give in to their demands after last night’s battle.”
“I don’t see why you have to go, though. And how could the Council do that? After they killed all those people, we should be fighting back.”
“Revenge won’t bring Sax back. Or Reist. Or Lexi.” I grab hold of Noelle’s hands from her lap. “This is bigger than you and me. It’s more than what anyone has ever told us. I know you want revenge for Sax’s death. But I can’t be part of that. I won’t kill any more dragons.”
“How can you say that? You’re a Kill Shot.”
“Not anymore.”
“I don’t think you can give that title back.”
“True. But I don’t need to take any more dragons’ lives. I’m not a slayer anymore once I leave tomorrow morning.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
I hadn’t planned on telling Noelle this yet. I figured we had time, at least another year. She could still find her magic, and if she didn’t, she could take one of the instructor positions. Now, they’ll have more openings than applicants. Then I correct myself. They won’t need the school since we’ve called a truce. Yes, there will be a transition period, but teaching weapons and tactical combat won’t be needed any longer.
“You can tell me anything, Brooklyn,” she says. “Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad. Not any worse than dying. No one comes back from that.”
I look into her eyes. They, too, are wet from tears that are forming. “Noelle.” I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I can’t see the betrayal, disgust, anger, or whatever other feeling she’ll reveal when I say it. “I’m a dragon.”
The room is as silent as the dead. The only noise is the hum from the lights and our heartbeats. I don’t even think Noelle is breathing.
I open my eyes. “Say something,” I demand.
Her eyes scan my body up and down, looking for a sign that I’m speaking the truth. It’s not that I go around in my dragon form all the time. But I think I can use a bit of magic to show her something. Bright green flames flare and slither over my hands. I focus on them, and the skin shimmers like waves, and green scales morph across my flesh.
Noelle’s eyes bulge, and she shakes her head. My gaze seeks hers. She’s not scared of me but surprised. “For reals?” she asks. I nod as I bite my lip. She needs to talk, so I know she can accept me for who I am. “Get out!” Her voice rises as a tiny smile plays on her lips. “How long have you known?”
“Not a long time.”
“Like yesterday? Last month? Five years ago? How in the world are you a dragon? If you are ... then your boys ... How could you keep that from me? I’m your BFF. We’re supposed to share. That means everything. You don’t keep something like that to yourself. Gosh, that must have been hard for you.”
“Slow down, Noelle.” She’s firing off more questions than I can answer. “I’ve known for a couple of weeks. But I can’t tell you anything else, so please don’t ask.”
“So a full-on dragon.” She nods. “Cool.”
“I’m sorry for not telling you. It’s just that I just found out myself and have been wrapping my brain around that. Learning new skills and being worried about what you’d say and how you’d take the news. It’s not every day someone tells you that they’re a dragon.”
“True. But promise you won’t keeping things of this magnitude from me ever again.”
“I promise.” I smile. “So, cool? That’s what you’re going to go with?”
“What do you want me to say? You are who you are. No magic in the world, especially mine since I don’t have any, will change that.” She looks at our locked hands. “Can do you that again? I want to see it.” I show her my scales again, forming my hand into a claw. Her body tenses for a second and then relaxes. “You breathe fire, right?” I nod. “Someday, you’re going to show me your full form.”
“You’re not scared?”
“Of you?” She waves her hand. “Naw, you wouldn’t hurt a fly, especially your friends. I honestly didn’t think you had it in you to be a Kill Shot. That surprised all of us. Everyone was betting that Reist would be it.” There is a pause in the room when she says our fallen classmate’s name. He won’t ever be anything again. “Who was that new guy I’ve seen hanging around your boys?” Noelle asks. “You know, the one who drove us to ... I didn’t get a chance to ask before ... you know, the burial ceremony. He’s pretty bad-ass looking. And no, you’re not off the hook yet for the dragon thing.”
“He’s arrogant and selfish. Stay away from him.” I swat her arm. “He’s trouble and knows it. McQueen is their brother-in-arms.”
“So right up your alley, then?”
“No way. I’ve got my hands full already.”
“So you don’t want to do the nasty with McHottie?”
I blush, remembering the sizzling kiss he stole when we first met in the woods. Then how his body pressed against mine when he taught me to play pool.
“I’ll take your non-response as a yes.” Noelle winks.
“It’s not like that.”
“Sure it isn’t.” She smiles. “Where are you really going?”
“I’m staying with McQueen until things gets sorted out.”
“So while you’re staying with him at his house for who knows how long, no shenanigans will be had? Zero? None? Zilch?”
“No. He’s training me in magic, Skills, and in my dragon form. It’s strictly professional.” I have no idea why I’m even saying this to her. She knows it’s a lie. Purring rumbles from my chest.
“What is that?”
“It’s nothing.” My face flushes.
“It’s so not nothing.” She pokes her hand at me. “You like him. Like, like him. And if you don’t, your dragon does. Right?”
I sigh. “Yes. She’s smitten with him.”
“Isn’t she you?”
“Yes, in a way. It’s hard to ex
plain.”
“So if your dragon likes McQueen ... he’s a dragon, too?”
I press my lips together. I won’t out them, even to my best friend. It’s not my secret to share. If they want her to know, they can tell her. “I can’t confirm that.”
“That’s okay; you don’t have to. I already know the answer. Makes sense if you ask me. Why they are all enamored with you, and you with them. I’ve told you once it doesn’t matter what others think. You go and date all those hotties and take them off the market. They clearly only have eyes for you.”
“You’re going to be okay without me for a while?”
“Sure. Your boy toys will keep me company. They might not warm my bed, but they’ll let me know how you’re doing. Plus, you’ll still have a phone, and you can call me. Maybe over the weekends I can come visit you at McQueen’s place or something.” Noelle stands and starts handing me a couple of random items off my dresser. “They are staying here, right? They’re not going with you?”
“No, they are staying.”
“Okay.” She picks up one of the blue jewelry boxes. “Don’t forget to pack these. You should put them in your purse so you don’t lose them.”
“Thanks.” I place all three boxes into my purse. She’s right, of course; I wouldn’t want to lose any of it. Each piece is special, given to me by my boys. Manny gave me the dragon necklace, Bronx gave me the ring, and Staten the earrings for my birthday gifts. The dragons have green emeralds for eyes, diamonds along the wings, and then a unique design. “Noelle? I can trust you, right? I mean I’ve told you a ton of information that you could take right back to the Slayers Council and destroy the dragons with.”
“I’m shocked you even have to ask. But I understand. You’re looking out for yourself, your boys, and the dragons. I guess I would, too. Yes, Brooklyn, you can trust me with this.” She glances around the dorm. “Looks like you’re about done. What time are you leaving tomorrow?”
“Sometime in the morning. We’ll load my car, and I’ll either come back for anything else or have it delivered to McQueen’s house.”
Dragon Protectors Page 2