“Who are you?” she asked again, low enough that the cabbie couldn’t hear.
How to answer that, he thought. “Just help me get Dylan home, and I’ll tell you everything,” he replied. The dragon Shifter between them groaned incoherently. The smell of cooked meat filled the back seat. Gavin hoped the cab-driver, if he smelled it, would be prudent enough not to ask.
CHAPTER FOUR
When they finally got Dylan upstairs, he was still babbling madness, and it took both efforts of Gavin and Sarah to lay him down on the bed. He hissed as they pulled the jacket away, and Sarah’s face became studious as she studied the injury.
“I need baking powder, hot water, antiseptic if you’ve got it, and clean towels. You have a First Aid kit around here somewhere?”
“Uh, yeah, yeah,” Gavin raced into the other room and grabbed an orange duffel bag with a red cross on it. When he got back, she was already cutting away the nerve-suit from around the wound. Dylan’s eyes were closed and his legs tensed as she surveyed the wound.
“I’m a nurse,” she explained, shuffling in the bag until she found a brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide. “I need you over here. Pin down his other arm and chest. He’s not going to like this. I hope he doesn’t remember when he wakes up.”
As she poured the caustic liquid onto the wound it hissed violently and began to bubble, turning into a white foam. Dylan let out a grunt and tried to throw both Sarah and Gavin off of him, and almost succeeded. His muscles bulged as he strained against his captors, and he shook his head back and forth. It was all over in moments, but sweat had started to bead on his forehead, then he leaned back and passed out again as she began to clean away the burnt skin until there was only an angry pink.
“He’s strong,” she observed, her fingers tacitly moving around the rim of the burn. There were bandages in the kit, but she shook her head. “With something this severe, I’d want skin grafts. You… Gavin, right? He can’t stay here… he needs real medical treatment, I can only—“
“No.” It was flat and declarative, and Sarah shut her mouth. “We can’t do that.”
Some part of her seemed to ground itself in reality again. “Because you’re not… not…”
“Human? Sure, let’s go with that,” Gavin bit off his words. “He’ll be okay, he just needs rest. His healing abilities are already taking effect. The wound is clean; all we can do is wait now. But no hospitals.”
He watched her return her focus to her patient. She’s not freaking out, he thought, and he wondered why. Maybe she was, underneath that cool demeanor. As a nurse, she’d probably seen her share of gruesome wounds, things that normal folks weren’t accustomed to. Is that why she seems so level headed right now?
There were few professions that dealt with the unexpected – police, firefighters, doctors. Most lives played out in a suspected series of events. Routine was like a comfortable cloak you could pull over yourself from day to day, without having to worry about it being upset. Most people were at a complete loss when that illusion of normalcy was interrupted. They panicked, or worse yet, froze. They had a hard time grappling with circumstances that they had never dreamed of entering.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Gavin asked again, but she kept her face away from him. She needs something to do, something to keep her mind occupied – that’s how she copes, Gavin thought. He had to admire that tenacity.
“Not really, no,” she admitted with false cheer. “I could use a drink.”
“I have some water in the—“
“I was thinking something a lot stronger than water, if you don’t mind,” she rubbed at her forehead with the back of her bloodstained hand. Dylan had drifted off to sleep but the sheets were stained and ruffled with dark smears where skin and blood had smeared the fabric. It looked less like a hospital bed than a grave, and Gavin turned away from the pale face of his partner.
In the kitchen, Gavin fumbled around in the shelves until he found an old bottle of Chivas. A thin layer of dust had settled on the glass, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand and looked for clean glasses. There were none – it was his turn to do the dishes, and as usual he’d procrastinated and let the stacks grow in the sink. He looked for the cleanest two he could find, ran tap water through them, and shrugged.
“It’s all I’ve got,” he remarked coldly as he came out of the kitchen and dropped one of the glasses in front of her. She’d cleaned up in the bathroom, but there was still a dark smudge on her cheek. The color had returned to her face, but she still looked uncomfortable; her head pivoted left and right in slow arcs, trying to take in her surroundings.
“Nice… place,” she murmured. It was an offhand comment, but he accepted it.
“We’re dragons,” he said, and took a sip, “but you’ve already guessed that.”
She took her own glass, inspected the contents with a scrupulous look of incredulity, and swallowed it whole. “Maybe you should start at the beginning.”
It was almost afternoon by time Gavin had finished explaining the history of the Order right up to the moment they had intervened and saved her from the red dragon. He licked his lips, and realized he was out of alcohol. All that talking had worked up a mean thirst, especially as he was unused to it – his usual interactions with others, even Dylan, involved short answers, single word responses. I’m exhausted, he realized.
Sarah, meanwhile, had listened intently without interrupting, only occasionally nodding. Her face betrayed nothing, and was placid and unreadable. But Gavin had to admit she was quite beautiful – several times he had lost his train of thought, transfixed by the dark opals of her eyes. She had a tendency of leaning forward, both of her forearms spread on her knees in such a way that pushed her breasts together.
She leaned back, still overwhelmed. “I still can’t believe it,” she murmured.
“Believe it,” a third voice chimed, and they both turned and saw Dylan at the entrance of the bedroom. His huge bear chest was grimy with blood that had caught in the dark hair that ran all the way to his navel. He looked like some Herculean Titan that had just returned from battle. He saw Sarah’s stunned gaze and held up his hand. “I’m okay. If Gavin has gone loose-jawed and told you everything, then he told you about our regenerative abilities. It’ll be stiff… unh, for a week or so, otherwise…”
Sarah rushed forward and both men were startled by her sudden curiosity. She reached toward him tentatively, laid a smooth tanned finger against the perimeter of the burn. It had already healed over with a fresh layer of skin, but the skin was discolored, the color of light wine. Her touch was as soft as butter, and he had to keep from blushing as she inspected it.
“So it’s true,” she said at last.
“What did you tell her, Gavin?” he asked over her shoulder.
He shrugged awkwardly. “Erm… I… most everything,” he blurted. “She helped me get you back here. And… and I figured we owed it to her. I mean she wasn’t affected by the Seal, after all.”
“Gavin told me about that too,” she interrupted. “He said only Shifters have that ability. I… I’ve never even heard of dragons until today. Much less having woken up as one, you are the first dragons I’ve ever met.”
Dylan scratched his head and sat down and gripped the Chivas. There were only a few fingers left, and he downed them in a grateful gulp. “The question now is, what do we do with you?”
“She’s not a prisoner,” Gavin said sharply.
“No, no I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, “just that if you are able to resist the Seal, then that might explain why one of the Rogues was after you.”
“That other dragon…” she murmured. Her expression was crestfallen as she recalled the death of the Shifter. “You think… you think there are others? Others that want me?”
Dylan shook his head again. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything. I need to correspond with the Order, they might have more information about the Rogue we encountered and they might be able to explain why
a human could move under the pressure of a Seal. If you’ll permit me, I’d like to take a sample of your blood. But in the meantime, I think it is in your best interest to stay here. At least, up here, we can protect you…”
Sarah walked to the glass windows and looked out across New York. The world had turned upside down, and it felt as if she were clutching at the remains of it, trying to hold on even as it sought to shake her loose. She shook her head, and the blue-green highlights in her yellow dome of hair danced across her shoulders.
“But my job… my apartment, I mean…”
Gavin stood up and put a hand on her shoulder, but it seemed like small comfort. She had been thrust into a realm of supernatural creatures; things she thought had been relegated to children’s stories, to myths.
“He’s right Sarah,” Gavin echoed, “for now, it’s safer here.”
She bit her lip and turned to look at the Shifters who had saved her. Reluctantly she nodded, and Gavin gave her a tight-lipped grin. She could have his room, and he would bunk in Dylan’s, at least until they could figure out what was going on.
It wasn’t as if she wasn’t grateful, but the idea of living with two handsome men she had just met was almost incomprehensible. Even now, she had a hard time taking her eyes away from Dylan’s naked torso. She knew that whatever sexual tension she might be feeling was just a symptom of her own shock and fears, but both those things had become irrevocably tangible.
CHAPTER FIVE
A week passed. Sarah stood on the balcony and lifted her feet onto the small coffee table. Her own cup of coffee swirled steam to her nose and she breathed it in. It was one of the small comforts she had held onto, since moving into the penthouse. Gavin was kind enough to let her return to her apartment, but he would only let her go in the daylight hours, and only with an escort. She had managed to outfit her temporary room in the penthouse with some of her things, and sometimes, when she first woke up in the morning, she could almost believe she lived here.
It was strange how quickly the human mind could adapt to new circumstances. Once she had learned that dragons actually existed, the fact had interwoven itself into her new precept of the world around her. We’re strange like that, she ventured. It was even stranger sharing accommodation with the Shifters. Both of them were as close as brothers, and they always came out of their rooms half-naked and grumpy, especially in the morning. It didn’t take her long to realize they were nocturnal, and she had shifted her habits as well. Even now, the dwindling sunset was beginning to leak over the horizon like oil.
“Hey you,” she cooed when she saw Gavin. He rubbed his eyes as he stepped out on the porch in only his briefs. Sarah couldn’t help but notice the bulge that pushed against the black rim of the fabric. As he stretched his hands over his head and yawned, the muscles on his side seemed to inhale as well, and stood out like a sharp bas relief.
“Mornin’,” Gavin said, “er, evening, I guess. You’re up… early? Late?”
“I’m still trying to figure out the nomenclature, too,” she gave a little laugh. “Are you and Dylan off again?” She was acquainted now with their daily routine, though she asked only sparing questions about it.
“I think so, Dylan said the Council has some news about…” he blushed, “well, you. Hopefully it’ll mean something we can use and you can finally get back to your old life as well. I’m sure you’re sick of living with us by now!”
She smiled again but didn’t respond. There were things about her life she missed, certainly, especially her job. But at the same time, being here felt like she was being let it on a secret, something that had started to change her on a fundamental level.
Dylan appeared next, pulling up his nerve-suit, and made a snkt sound with his thumb at Gavin who gaped and hurried back inside, as if remembering he was only in his boxers. They’d both tried to retain a kind of propriety with their new guest, but it was not their forte.
“Evening, Sarah,” Dylan said, his mature voice landing on her like a dark feather. “We should be back sooner than normal. This time, it’s only a quick meeting with the higher ups.”
“Gavin told me. News about… about why the Rogues are after me?”
He flinched. “Yeah, something like that. In any case, don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll work out.” He put his hand on her shoulder, but it was an awkward movement for him. Still, Sarah felt blood rise in her cheeks and appreciated the effort.
Gavin ran back onto the balcony in his nerve-suit and winked as he followed Dylan up onto the balcony. They both spread their hands together and there was a blue flash, flame eating at their palms as they signaled the Seal again. Sarah winced – she’d seen them activate it before, but it was still a terrible sight, and the lingering smell of burnt flesh seemed to remain even after they were gone. The Seal exploded outward, and everything became bluish as the partners descended over the edge. She watched them pivot and take flight, their dragon forms bursting forth like a time-lapse flower, and had to smile. In a way, she had developed a deep affinity for them – not just as protectors, she mused.
I wonder if there’s a way to make it up to them, she wondered. They’d been so kind to her, she almost felt as if she were taking advantage of their hospitality. She wandered back inside, her short cut-off jeans angling upward, and she caught her reflection in the glass and pursed her lips. What about a dinner? That seemed apt. She’d seen how hungry they were when they returned from being a dragon.
In the kitchen, she found a full larder of different foods, vegetables and meats, cheeses, and a whole array of dried goods. She tapped her chin, trying to formulate a feast just by looking at all the ingredients, and finally decided on a braised lamb stew. She could make a vegetable curry as well, and spring rolls if she had time. One of the few quirks of taking nightshifts at the hospital was having lots of free time and she’d spent hours of it perusing cooking websites.
But theory and practice were two different things. No time like the present. By the time the Shifters returned, she had just finished checking the lamb, and saw first Gavin’s dark black shape blot out a section of New York as he landed on the railing with the clink of his claws like coins landing on metal. He resumed his shape, hopping nimbly onto the balcony, and Dylan appeared behind, green and ominous, and landed more roughly on both feet.
“I don’t think we should—“
“I’ll do it,” Dylan was overheard saying as the two entered, and suddenly stopped when they caught a whiff of Sarah’s effort. “Son of a… what is that?” Dylan exclaimed, his mouth already watering.
Sarah came out of the kitchen and tugged on her shorts where they’d started to slide down over her narrow hip-bones. Her black T-shirt clung to her firmly, but the heat of the kitchen had caused her to sweat, and a single bead of sweat moved down her clavicle, disappearing down the dark well of her cleavage as she came out and set the lamb on the table.
“I…I just wanted to thank you, both… for everything you’ve done…” she said. “I know I’m just a human, but… you could just as easily have left me that day. But you didn’t… and you’re still protecting me, even though you don’t have to.”
Gavin and Dylan looked at each other dumbfounded. Only Gavin blushed – Dylan seemed to be harboring something else with his silence but he shook it off when he saw Sarah looking at him.
“I didn’t know you were a cook!” Gavin exclaimed, sitting down and smelling the feast. Dylan reluctantly did the same, and managed a smile. “Oh man, you’ve outdone yourself I think, Dyl, get a load of this lamb!”
It wasn’t until Dylan actually bit into it that his face changed, and he simply stared at Sarah. “How…?”
She laughed and joined them. “Like my mother used to say, the secret ingredient is love. Eat up, boys, I know you’re starving,” she said, and poured them all a glass of wine from the bottle on the table. She held her glass up, indicating a toast, and Gavin clumsily reached for his. “To… to what? New friends, I suppose. And to you two rescuing me.�
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“Hear, hear,” Dylan said approvingly.
They all drank, but only Sarah leaned back in her chair, watching the Shifters dig into her feast gratefully, occasionally throwing out a joke or quip, until even she had to laugh at their antics. Her face softened as she observed them, and for the first time, she surprised herself by thinking of the two of them as her boys. The thought startled her, but it felt somehow cozy, somehow earned and comfortable, as if the three of them had been living together for years.
When did that happen? she wondered.
As they finished up, Dylan volunteered to do dishes and carried the perilous stack into the kitchen while Gavin plopped down on the sofa and flicked the TV on, and Sarah sat down next to him. “I’d say the perfect way to end this night is with a movie… any favorites?”
“I guess a dragon-related movie is a bit too pointed?” she laughed.
Gavin cocked his head playfully. “Actually, don’t let Dylan know I told you this, but he loves dragon movies. Alright, it’s a deal… I’ll put on Dragonheart, but just act cool, like it was a spontaneous decision. You’ll still see his face light up, heh.”
Sure enough, when Dylan came back into the room and sat down on the other side of Sarah, he had to restrain his glee at the sound of Sean Connery’s voice coming through a CGI dragon. Sarah and Gavin chuckled to themselves. In her life, she had had few relationships that lasted, even amongst her family, but with Gavin and Dylan it was so easy. Like she didn’t have to try at all, or put on masks in order to fit in.
They accepted her simply as she was. As the movie started to reach its end, she almost wished it would continue forever, just so she could stay snuggled up between the two of them. They both had similar smells, like ripe cinnamon, but tinged with something citrus. Flame residue, Gavin had once told her. The way sweat came off a human, so did residue from their flame organs come off of Shifters, and as Dylan’s arm rubbed up against hers she could almost feel it through her own skin, like a natural balm, tingling.
City Of Dragons Page 3