by Milana Jacks
I would bring this up again tomorrow.
14
Selena
“My lord, there’s a cyborg on the iceberg.”
I rubbed my eyes and looked around to find Lance at the door, his back to me. He slid on his black sweatpants, then walked around the bed, probably looking for his shirt. Belle waved from the door. I waved back.
“Where the fuck is my shirt?” Lance said.
“Here,” I said and sat up. I hooked my fingers under his shirt to take it off. He’d dressed me in it last night before I slept, thinking I’d be too cold sleeping naked.
“Keep it and stay in the room.” Lance slammed the door behind him and, cursing, marched down the steps. His room was just like mine but bigger and with a bookshelf filled with mythology. I wrapped an old red-checkered blanket around me and walked to the window.
The door opened and slammed against the wall.
I screamed, startled, and spun around.
Lance was back. With all the scales on his body lifted and his eyes glowing, he appeared feral. He crossed the room with purpose, and I clutched my blanket against my chest. “What is it?” I asked when he crowded me against the window. I shivered from the cold touching my back.
“Happy birthday,” he said.
I rose on my toes but couldn’t reach his lips, and he didn’t help me out by bending, so I kissed his neck. “Thank you.”
“Now I’ll go dismember the cyborg for ruining this great morning. Stay here. I’ll make us breakfast.” He turned around, then thought better of it and paused. “Or would you rather enjoy a brunch with”—he waved a hand about the room—“everyone.”
Since Lance made a face as if the mere thought of socializing for brunch gave him nausea, I settled for breakfast in the room. “Here’s fine for breakfast.”
“There’s not much to them, but I prefer we eat here.” Lance left again, and I turned back to the window. A Cy-21, the newest model, hovered above the iceberg. God, Diego was ten shades of stupid to return here. I was pretty sure it was his pod that had made it back safely into the habitat last night. Unfortunately. I narrowed my eyes to try to make out the driver, but the windows adjusted to the sun and were tinted so the driver didn’t get blinded as he flew.
An indigo dragon swam to the iceberg, then circled it several times before stopping. A man came out of the car. Wait a second. Dad! Oh my God, my dad was here. Lance had said he wanted to dismantle the cyborg.
I rushed out the door, taking three steps at a time, tripping on my blanket at the last step. I fell, got up, ran through the hallway into the courtyard, got past it, then charged into another bigger courtyard, reached the gatehouse tunnel, and finally outside, where I skidded on ice and landed on my ass with a thud. I got up and looked around. Yup, about thirty people had seen that. I fixed my fucked-well-last-night hair and tightened the blanket around my body, making sure it covered my girly bits. “Dad!” I shouted.
The dragon whipped his head around.
“Dad, I’m coming.” I searched for transport. None found. I walked around the corner and spotted three boats. Belle ran up to me. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to see my dad.”
“No way. Lance will lose his mind. You’re barefoot. It’s forty-five degrees out here.”
I gave her a once-over. “You don’t seem cold.”
“I’m a wolf.”
“Right.” I chewed the inside of my lip.
Then something crazy happened. Dad got into his car and started it up. It flew forward. “Nooo.” Lance would kill him.
I ran into the water, my legs and blanket wet. With water up to my waist, I nearly froze in place. “No!”
The dragon swam back and neared the shore. He growled and nudged my body with his muzzle.
“Please don’t hurt him. That’s my dad. He doesn’t know any better.”
Eye roll again.
Dad landed his car on the shore and stepped out. His mechatronic hand flexed as his gaze ran over me. He said nothing but pinched his lips. I already knew what he was thinking. And he could think all he liked. “Hi, Dad. How have you been?” I walked to him, trying not to care about what I looked like this early in the morning. Wet, fucked, and more than a little cold.
My dad shook his head. “Only you would think to hide with the Creatures.”
“Yeah. I’m creative that way.”
“Like your mother,” he said.
I opened my mouth to protest, but a sad look on his face stopped me. Today marked one year of mourning, my birthday, and the anniversary of her death. “What are you doing here?” I glanced at the dragon, who stayed in the water and watched us with interest.
“I want you to come home,” Dad said.
My teeth chattered. My feet were already numb.
The dragon must’ve noticed, because he shifted and came to stand beside me, allowing my dad to watch the scales cover his human body. Belle handed Lance his pants, and he put them on. Dad’s eyes couldn’t get any wider at the sight of Lance.
Lance paid him no mind. He threw a hand over my shoulder. “We can chat inside. Follow me.”
A few gasps came from the peanut gallery, and then we went into Lance’s library where Jake—of all people—served us tea, then stood by the door, arms crossed over his chest, glaring at my dad.
Lance and I sat together on the couch where he and Nentres had sat the first time I’d met them.
Dad shifted in his chair and put his tea down. His eyes swept the room and landed on our whiskey bottle. “You have good taste, Mister…” He left it hanging.
“I know.” Lance didn’t introduce himself. Instead, he took my hand in his. “You are the first cyborg to land on this island. You have five minutes to state your purpose and leave.”
Dad nodded. “Thank you for having me.” Polite as ever. I almost rolled my eyes. Dad trained his gaze on me. “Diego has been arrested.”
“Woohoo!” I pumped my fist. “Serves him right.” Oh, I was having the best birthday ever.
Dad continued, “He has been arrested for provoking a conflict.”
“What conflict?” I asked.
Lance’s hand left mine, and he rested his elbows on his knees. Jake, I noticed, inched closer and leaned against the window.
Dad looked nervous.
“Mr. Salazar,” Lance said. “Please continue to ignore my butler. He has no manners.”
I chuckled.
Jake didn’t find it funny but walked back to his post near the door.
Lance tsked.
Jake slammed the door behind him.
“He believes I need a bodyguard,” Lance explained.
“Ah. I understand,” my father said.
“Do you think I need a bodyguard?” Lance asked him.
“I think you might need an army.”
“I see.” Lance leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Dad sipped his tea. “The cyborg military is holding a session to assess the danger posed by the…the flying creature.”
“A dragon, Dad. He’s a man who turns into a dragon. And Diego came here first and pointed lasers at us.”
“Us?” He raised an eyebrow.
I didn’t rise to the occasion. We’d argue all day. Dad continued, “The Cy are aware of what happened. They want to avoid cyborg retaliation and have advised the cyborgs against it. But as you know, the aliens won’t step in directly. As always, they advise only and provide us aid.”
Lance snorted. “I have a hard time believing that, but okay, continue. What do you want?”
“I want my daughter to return home.”
Lance palmed the back of my neck. “Do you want to return to the habitat?”
Diego sat in jail. “Dad, is the marriage contract broken?”
“Certainly,” he said.
I didn’t need protection anymore. I could go back home. A weight left my chest. Excited, I turned in my seat and threw my arms a
round Lance. His muscles tensed, and he patted my back. I frowned. “What is it?’
His eyes betrayed nothing. I couldn’t read him. It was as if I hugged a log of ice, and I realized he’d returned to the emotionally unavailable, cloaked monster I’d met a few days ago.
“Do you want to return home?” he asked, dragon eyes fierce and focused on me. His pupils shrank into narrow slits.
“Do you want me to stay?” I countered.
His jaw worked. “You are free to go.”
I blinked at him. Something left my chest. In its place, my heart felt hollow, though it beat with fury.
“There you have it.” My dad stood. “Happy birthday, Selena. I’ll wait outside.”
Dad left. I couldn’t look at Lance. I found the floor warmer than his hot body next to me. I wanted him to ask me to stay. I wanted him to feel the same about me as I felt about him. But he didn’t. He’d said I was free.
Fuck your free, Lance. Ten times over. I stood and echoed my dad. “Thank you for having me.”
“Anytime.”
Anytime? Oh, I wanted to kick him! Served me right for offering him everything on a silver platter: my money, my virginity… I should’ve kept my legs closed and signed my share of the business over to him. But no, stupid me thought he wanted me, wanted me so much, he’d share his life with me. I thought he loved me. What an idiot dreamer. The Cy ought to give me a lobotomy. “I hope I didn’t cause you trouble. When I came, I hadn’t considered that Diego would come here and provoke anything. I’ll ask Dad to pull some strings and see that the military council votes in favor of peace. In fact, he probably already has spoken with someone.”
“If you were mine,” Lance said, “I would come for you as well. Your dad fears the conflict and wants you safe and sound inside the habitat.” Lance stood and pecked my forehead. “Take a message to your dad for me. God help them all if I hear there’s a hair missing from your head. When and if they release that idiot, I want you to know you always have a place here.”
It was nice and polite. Lance wasn’t heartless; he never had been and no doubt he would protect me with all his might. But that wasn’t what I wanted from him. I wanted more. I wanted everything. “I’ll keep that in mind.” I strode outside with my head held high. I left my heart in the library.
15
Lance
In beast, on top of the castle, I watched the habitat and sulked. Wind tickled my scales; sun warmed my skin. Sulking suited me. Brooding suited me. I was really good at both, and so for the three days after Selena left for the habitat, I took up permanent residence on top of my castle, my gaze trained on the happy town with blue car lights and a bunch of happy fuckers in their mechanical contraptions.
I had my element. I could move the waves, deliver tons of fish to my doorstep. I was powerful. The element pulsed inside me, but it meant nothing.
I wanted her to stay.
I wanted her to choose me over her life there.
But I couldn’t say it. Not after seeing myself in the mirror and being reminded of what I would ask of her. She’d wake up every morning next to a monster. The novelty of sex would wane and only love would keep us together. She didn’t love me, just like none of my foster moms had loved me, like my own mother hadn’t loved me enough to stop doing drugs—she’d chosen death over me. Unlovable bastard. I should print it on a T-shirt.
I loved my dragon brothers, all three of them, but I resented them for looking human. Had I looked like them, Selena would have stayed.
And fuck the cyborg military council. Let them come. I would drown every last one of them before they even made it to the iceberg.
A little ways away, a warm yellow light appeared out of nowhere. I lifted my head as the light turned white and floated to a stop before me. I recognized Mother Nature, a willowy old woman not transparent as a ghost, but not corporeal either. I sat up, tilted my head, and spoke to her via my mind. “Nice to see you, Mother. It’s been a while.” An understatement. She had made me a dragon a decade ago.
“So it has.” Her voice carried on the wind, eerie and smooth. I bet I was the only one who heard her, though. “You did not raise the seas, my son. The spirit made you do it.”
“Hm?”
“The seas rise for her.
The fire burns for her.
The air breathes for her.
The Earth opens for her. Again.”
She spoke in riddles. I fucking hated riddles. But that last bit caught my attention. “Again?”
“Again. The volcanoes didn’t erupt by accident. An Earth elemental caused the eruptions. One with too much power. My fault, really. I gave him power with no balance in check. I had to return and rip the gift of Earth from him along with all the other gifted humans and give those gifts to another group of people. But this time, I didn’t take chances. I also gifted women. I made them spirits, your dragons’ mates and their purpose is balance that keeps your powers in check. It is the reason why others cannot command the element until they’ve found their spirits. The day all spirits are found and matched is the day the Ice Age will end.”
Okay. Dragons had mates. Jake was on to something with his mating thing, and I had guessed correctly with my theory. Instead of calling the women mates, Mother Nature called them spirits. Semantics. We would find them, mate them, and gain control of the elements. “And why haven’t you told us this before?”
“You didn’t need to know before.”
I rolled my eyes so far in the back of my head, I almost did a back flip. “Selena is my spirit.”
“Yes, genius.”
The attitude. I showed her my teeth. Too late for me and my spirit, but my brothers had a chance. “And how do the others find spirits?”
“By looking. I gave them eyes, ears, noses, and majestic creatures with great big wings. Didn’t I?”
“I missed you when you weren’t here. But now I just want you to go away.”
“Well, I can’t give them a woman’s intuition now, can I?”
“You’re sexist. You know that?”
“Of course I know that.” She looked far away. “Ah. My poor child. Nothing pains me more than feeling a broken spirit. You broke her heart. Makes me want to bend you over my knee.”
I huffed out smoke. “Nobody wants that.”
“Sadly.”
“Hm?”
“Never mind. Goodbye, my son.”
“Wait.” I stepped closer to the edge. “Make me a man.”
“I can’t do that.”
“You can!”
“I can’t. Your dragon protects you. He has healed all the burned skin and covered it with his own. You are him, and he is you, and if you ask me, the other three should take up their beasts the way you have. I am proud of you. But in your heart, you have to know that there is a spirit who loves you.”
“If she loved me, she would’ve stayed.”
“Shoo.” Mother waved me off. “Tell Nentres to hold a ball.”
“A ball?”
“Yes, a ball. And not the crystal kind. The one with gowns and pretty maidens.”
“We haven’t held balls since…I don’t know. Did we ever hold balls in the States?”
“Humor me.”
“I’ll tell him.”
“A spirit must attend the ball. I hope he manages to impress her.”
Selena
I couldn’t see the castle from my house. I couldn’t see the dragon flying. I felt cut off, and I couldn’t deal with the fact I would never see him again. So at night, I drove out to the old spot where I’d first decided on my trip to the island, took the binoculars from Nano, and watched the dragon lounge on top of the castle.
In the past three nights, he hadn’t flown much.
I fantasized that he regretted letting me go and that he wanted me back. Those fantasies included him flying over here and demanding my hand in marriage. I had it bad for the creature.
Oh, there! He sat up. I sat up in my seat too and leaned in, inched my car closer
to the plasma. The red letters didn’t pop up to warn me about the temperature as the plasma was still under repair from when Lance had burst into it.
Tonight, the council had voted against military action, so all was set in peace again. Us here in the habitat, them there on the island. Life went on, though if you judged by the warnings on the megatrons, we were facing another apocalypse.
The dragon paced the platform. He was up to something. My hopes rose. God, I was such a sucker. This needed to end. I had to get a life, a job, or something to keep my mind occupied.
A car pulled up next to mine.
Its magnetic field activated, and my car stuck to it. “Hey!” I said and slid down Nano’s window. “Do you mind?”
Diego. With implants on his face. Silver disks covered half the side of his face, and both of his eyes were red. A level-five cyborg, not even human anymore, completely controlled by the cyborg military council. They’d made him a machine, a cop in our society who only knew what they programmed him to know.
“Resident 14905,” he said, “you are parked in the plasma construction area.”
He didn’t recognize me. He knew nothing. Guilt made me feel bad for him, but I also knew he’d done it to himself. He’d breached the dragon’s territory. Since Diego had served in the military, he must’ve known the consequences. “Sorry, I was just leaving.” Not.
“Escort initiated.”
“I’m fine. I said I was leaving.”
His jaw jutted out first, then the muscles on the human side of his face ticked. A glitch. No big deal. But when Diego leaned in and tilted his head, I knew that somehow something triggered his memory. “Selena Salazar,” he said. “Resident 14905. My bride.”
I reversed.
The car didn’t go anywhere, Diego’s magnetic field rendering it useless. I looked down. Probably about, oh, I didn’t know, a thousand feet. Diego descended in his police car, carrying my car with him. He chanted, “Selena Salazar. Resident 14905. My bride.”