Handlers of Dragons

by Kim Cormack

  I’m like a bull in a china shop.”

  Emma laughed as she patted her protruding belly and sparred, “I know the feeling.”

  “Sorry,” Kayn repeated as she slinked past her and quickly picked a stall. Idiot! She wasn’t supposed to interact with her.

  Emma called out, “It’s nice to meet you, fellow bull in china shop!”

  Kayn heard the door close as she gave her head a dramatic bang on the inside of the bathroom stall. She was horrible at this job. She sat down on the toilet with pants still up and her face in her hands. The girl was pregnant and the Correction was coming for her. Awesome Emma didn’t stand a chance. Kayn made it back to class just as the bell rang. She collected her stuff and they followed Emma out into the hall as a surge of students appeared. What was happening? There were so many black auras.

  “It’s a distraction. You’re right. That must be the girl. Where is she?” Lexy stammered.

  They’d lost her in the crowd. Oh no. Kayn’s stomach cramped again. They raced through the swarm of students. Where was she? Kayn exclaimed, “They can’t do a public Correction.”

  “Not unless it looks like an accident,” Lexy answered as they continued to scour the school.

  The two Dragons separated as the students disappeared into the classrooms so they’d draw less attention to themselves. Kayn briskly marched down the halls, trying each unmarked door until she saw the sign for another women’s washroom. Foreboding filled her being as she sprinted there and heaved open the door. Emma was on the floor. Kayn was instantly at her side, shaking her. She wasn’t breathing. She placed her ear on the Emma’s chest. No heartbeat. She started C.P.R. She wasn’t allowed to heal her but if she kept Emma’s blood flowing she might have a chance. One, two, three, four, breath. She looked around. There was a fire alarm. One, two, three, four, breath. She couldn’t stop to pull it. She startled as Emma opened her eyes and took a deep breath. Kayn gasped, “Oh, thank god. I thought you were dead.”

  “I was...I think,” Emma gasped. “There was a lady in the light and...”

  Joy overcame Kayn as she started to laugh. Azariah sent her back. They could take her. She whispered, “This is going to sound absolutely insane but I’m Ankh. Come with me and we’ll protect you.”

  Lexy appeared in the doorway of the bathroom and they managed to get Emma out of the school undetected. They raced back to their hotel, checked out and in less than an hour they were speeding down the highway away from the city towards the border.

  Kayn nudged Emma and asked, “You don’t seem to have many questions. Everybody has concerns like why did this happen to me? My parents are going to be looking for me. Why did somebody just try to murder me?”

  “I’m an empath with psychic abilities,” Emma confessed. “I’ve known someone was coming to kill me for a while. This wasn’t even the first attempt. I don’t have parents, they died last year in a car accident. I’m an only child. No close relatives. I’ve been couch surfing and living at the school because my foster home sucks. The father of this baby is an insignificant asshole. Any other questions?”

  “No,” Kayn commented. “This is by far the easiest kidnapping I’ve ever been a part of. Thanks for your cooperation.”

  Emma replied, “You’re welcome. Thanks for showing up when you did.”

  They all laughed. Lexy texted the Aries group, they needed a passport for Emma. As they approached their last chance to pull off before the border, they still hadn’t heard back so she contacted the last number Ankh texted them from. They were never going to get over the border with an expectant teenager. After making a unanimous decision to head into Idaho, they grabbed some dinner on the go and ate their truck stop diner ham and cheese subs as they sped down the highway. Zach offered Emma a donut.

  Emma scrunched up her nose as she declined, “No thank you. I’m already fat enough and those things will kill you.”

  Everyone laughed including the girl. They listened to music on the radio until, Here I go Again by Whitesnake came on and in no time at all they were all belting out the tune like road tripping warriors. Grey kept looking at Emma in the rear-view mirror as he drove. He seemed concerned and Kayn knew why. They’d never had such precious cargo in the car and if they ran into Triad, Trinity or Abaddon the shit would hit the fan.

  Grey announced, “Bathroom break,” as he pulled over at the rest stop. Kayn accompanied Emma to the washroom just to be cautious. This was all too easy.

  As they got back into the car, Grey passed the new girl a two litre of orange juice and awkwardly explained, “For the baby. It has folic acid. It says heart wise on it.”

  “Thank you. Should I just drink it out of the carton?” Emma enquired.

  “I drank some but I swear I don’t have cooties,” Grey flirted.

  Their pregnant willing hostage smiled at Grey as she took a big swig from the carton.

  Zach nudged Kayn as he raised his eyebrows and thought, ‘Grey likes her. Frost would be laughing his ass off.’

  Her heart surged as Zach mentioned his name but quickly sunk as she thought about everything she’d done while they were apart.

  They pulled away from the rest stop and continued driving down the highway as Kayn struggled to shut her inner commentary down.

  The phone vibrated.

  Lexy read the message aloud, “Our punishment must be over. We’re meeting up with everyone else in Montana. They’re at the Edgewood Inn. Emma’s new ID and passport is being couriered there. I have the directions...”

  Lexy trailed off and everyone knew she had something else to say. They had to brand her Ankh.

  “You might as well just spit it out,” Emma sighed. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Kayn showed her the Ankh symbol on the palm of her hand as she pulled off the metaphorical bandage, “We have to brand you Ankh. This symbol prohibits us from passing through the hall of souls when we die. We remain in the in-between until our bodies have been healed by our clan.”

  “Alright. Let’s just get it over with,” Emma agreed.

  Kayn took Emma’s hand and whispered, “I’m sorry,” as she branded her palm with her ring.

  “Son of a bitch!” Emma shrieked. She protectively clutched her hand against her chest.

  “That was not cool!” their newest Ankh complained.

  “I know,” Kayn affirmed. “It’s done now. Welcome to clan Ankh.”

  In the silence that followed all she could think about was Frost. Was he angry? She’d made out with a lot of people. She recalled the speech Frost gave her about forgiveness and she’d assumed that was him preparing her for his inevitable ability related infidelity. Hopefully he practiced what he preached.

  Emma interrupted her thoughts as she questioned Lexy, “What did you mean by, our punishment is over?”

  After grinning in the rear-view, Grey revealed, “During a banquet, Kayn threw her ex off a balcony and Lexy snapped Kayn’s ex boyfriend’s new girlfriend’s neck.”

  Kayn rolled her eyes as she countered, “Come on, we’re immortal, it wasn’t a big deal.”

  Zach teased, “Don’t let Markus hear you say that Brighton.”

  “Brighton?” Emma questioned.

  “Kayn’s nickname,” Lexy explained as she offered some of her chips to Kayn.

  Kayn took a handful and whispered, “There’s way more to the story. It’ll make sense later.”

  Emma took some chips as she muttered, “I wish someone would toss my ex off a balcony.”

  Kayn and Lexy both looked at the new Ankh and Emma stammered, “Joking. I’m only kidding.”

  They drove through the night and into the following day until the scenery became flourishing rolling hills of green. They stopped at each rest stop to make sure their knocked-up newbie Ankh stretched her legs and got a breath of fresh air. By nightfall they arrived at the hotel in desperate need of a shower.

  “So, what are the other Ankh like? Are they as cool as you guys?” Emma questioned as they all strolled into th
e lobby.

  Grey flung his arm around Emma’s shoulder and gave her a friendly squeeze as he whispered, “No way. We’re definitely the coolest.”

  Kayn looked at her sister. She could tell that Lexy was a little bit concerned. Grey’s fascination with Emma was obvious and why wouldn’t he be intrigued by a girl carrying a child? It was something he’d never have. They all liked her a lot. She was kind of amazing.

  They were each handed a key card at the front desk. Everyone had their own rooms, that was unusual. Kayn hauled her bag to the stairs. Everyone else got on the elevator. She was nervous and worried about the consequences of her actions. She’d been able live life as though she didn’t care while they were apart. What if they were over? What if she’d destroyed everything?

  Zach caught up with her and said, “Slow down Brighton. Why did you take the stairs when there’s an elevator?”

  “I needed some time to think,” she answered as she waited for him to catch up.

  “Maybe they’re not here yet? Don’t read anything into it. I say we go upstairs, have a nice long bubble bath and meet up in the restaurant downstairs when we’re done. I’ll stay with you tonight if you need me to. As long as I’m around you’ll never have to be alone.”

  That much she knew. He’d proven it time and time again. She swiped her key card. It didn’t work. Zach took it off her and tried. Of course, it worked when he did it. She paused at the door and said, “See you later alligator.”

  “In a while crocodile,” he sang while opening the door to the room next to hers.

  She was still smiling about their dorky exchange as she locked the bathroom door and opted for an invigorating shower. She got out, brushed her teeth, fixed herself up and put on some clean clothes. If there was a chance she was going to be dumped she might as well look good when it happened. She stepped out of the washroom and her heart skipped a beat. Frost was sprawled out on her bed shirtless, flicking through the channels.

  His lips slowly spread into a wry smile. Frost patted the mattress beside him and said, “Hey beautiful.”

  She froze in place. Maybe he didn’t know and she was going to have to confess?

  “Didn’t you miss me?” Frost teased as he opted to come to her.

  She wanted to run over and jump into his arms but the fear that he would deny her kept her from moving a muscle. In a second he was standing in front of her with a million questions in his eyes.

  “Is there some kind of problem?” he asked as he seductively tucked her damp curls behind her ears. “I missed you,” Frost whispered as he stared deeply into her eyes.

  She decided to just say the words dangling on the tip of her tongue, “Aren’t you mad?”

  “About what?” Frost whispered naughtily as he moved her shirt off her shoulder and kissed her exposed skin. “We should just take this off,” he teased as he grabbed her shirt at the waist and lifted it up.

  She raised her arms and allowed him to take it off as she confessed, “I can’t control myself. I’ve done things.”

  “So have I,” Frost revealed as he tossed her shirt aside. He laced his fingers through hers and towed her with him towards the bed. “Baby, we’ve already talked about this. With our abilities and our duties within the clan, total physical fidelity is impossible but I haven’t slept with anyone else ...Have you?”

  “No,” Kayn vowed as a surge of emotion caused tears to form in her eyes.

  “You don’t have to worry about making mistakes. You don’t need to hide any part yourself. I want you just as you are,” he whispered as she melted into his arms. They slowly moved back and forth, almost dancing.

  “I honestly thought that whole conversation we had was about you,” she confessed. They both started to laugh.

  “Ouch, that actually stung,” he pretended to be offended but his grin gave it away. Frost chuckled as he undid the top button on her jeans and whispered, “These definitely need to come off.” She bit her bottom lip while swaying her hips doing a sexy little strip tease as she unzipped her pants. The show ended rather abruptly when she started to laugh. She really couldn’t get her pants off, they were too tight. Kayn tipped over and bounced on the mattress.

  “Froggy, that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” he naughtily baited as she playfully swatted him. Frost grabbed the ankles of her jeans to help but the whole jean removal scenario had become far too funny to be sexy. After a few good tugs, he gave up, flopped down beside her and declared, “I can totally still rock your world.”

  “Oh, can you?” she egged him on.

  Frost rolled on top of her and they seductively kissed until she was squirming around in her partially removed jeans.

  He naughtily suggested, “Let’s just leave them like that, it’ll be like I have your legs tied.”

  “Maybe you should tie my hands too?” she provoked.

  “You’d like that wouldn’t you?” he whispered as he nuzzled her neck.

  She crossed both wrists above her head and called his bluff, “What are you waiting for?” He started tickling her sides and she was laughing hysterically as the adjoining door opened.

  Zach was standing there with Grey, Lexy and Emma. This was awkward. Frost didn’t miss a beat. He hopped up, sauntered over to the door shirtless wearing only his jeans which were now super tight in obvious places.

  He held out his hand and greeted the new girl, “You must be Emma. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Emma shook his hand as they all gawked at his situation. He looked down when he realized what they were looking at and nonchalantly shrugged. Frost pointed at Emma’s protruding belly and blurted out, “How did that happen?”

  Quick witted as always Emma pointed at Kayn frantically trying to pull her pants up on the bed and sparred, “It looks like you already know.”

  Frost looked at Kayn and apologized, “We’re going to have to hit pause. We should be down at the restaurant for this conversation.”

  She could eat. Kayn yanked until she managed to get her pants up.

  Frost turned to Zach and questioned, “Has Markus seen this?”

  “No, not yet. We obviously didn’t know you guys were here,” Zach explained.

  Frost grabbed his flashing cell off the end table and announced, “They’re down at the restaurant already.” He strolled over, kissed Kayn’s cheek and whispered in her ear, “After dinner I’m going to cut those pants off and make you scream until you lose your voice.”

  She smiled as he walked away because that was his move. He loved saying shockingly sexual things and then leaving. He’d been doing that since they met. Frost started shooting random questions at Emma.

  Zach gave her two thumbs up and silently mouthed the words, “Everything is okay?”

  She smiled and nodded. Happy endings were the best. They piled into the fully mirrored elevator. Kayn was standing in front of Frost as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and whispered, “Just as you are.”

  Her heart swelled as she leaned against him and quietly repeated the words that meant so much, “Just as you are.”

  As the door opened into the lobby Emma glanced at Lexy and commented, “You know I’ve made it all of the way through this pregnancy without puking.”

  “I like her,” Frost announced as they strolled through the lobby. “The new Ankh are in the restaurant with the others. There’s Dean, Samid and... I got you a little something.”

  With her curiosity peaked, Kayn turned to Frost and teased, “It’s not another ring from a vending machine, is it? I already have one of those.”

  They were all smiling as they entered the pub style restaurant. The table full of Ankh waved them over. It looked like almost everyone was here and that’s when Kayn saw Molly sitting at the end of the table. They had her back. Overcome with joy she dove into Frost’s arms and whispered, “Thank you.”

  Frost lifted her off the ground and spun her around as he whispered, “Better than a ring?”

  Kayn kissed him and whispered back, “You are
in so much trouble later.”

  “I’ve been in trouble since the day we met,” Frost quietly admitted as the rest of their clan got up in awe and gathered around.

  The silence was deafening as Markus walked over and stood in front of Emma. He looked at Kayn in full panic mode as he questioned, “How did this happen? You’re sure you took her after her Correction?”

  “One hundred percent certain, she told me the lady in the light sent her back,” Kayn explained.

  Markus looked directly at Kayn as he asked, “Is the baby alive?”

  Emma laughed as she waved at Markus and said, “You know you can speak directly to me, I’m standing right here. It’s moving right now.”

  “I’m sorry. That was rude. This is just so unexpected. Can I touch it?” Markus asked. Emma nodded her consent. He placed both hands on Emma’s rounded belly and declared, “I have absolutely no idea how we’re going to do this.”

  THE BEGINNING