by Julie Wetzel
A chirp from the top of the steps drew her from her thoughts. “Come on?”
She looked up at the small dragon waiting at the top of the steps. He twitched and swayed in place as his claws rapped out a rhythm on the tile.
“Sixth floor, right?”
Before she could answer, he hopped up and shoved his way through the door. That was definitely not Byrd! The dragon she was coming to know wouldn’t have waited. She caught the door and followed him into the room. The best way to find out what she needed to know was to engage him in some kind of conversation. “Byrd?” she called, drawing his attention from the view out the wall of glass and steel.
He turned and looked at her. The cock of his head held a question in it.
“Kara!” Beth called out from her office.
Kara spun to face the woman before she could say anything to the dragon.
Beth bustled out with a handful of papers. “God, I’m glad you’re here this morning. Explain this!” She shook the stack.
Taking the papers from her, Kara glanced at the Eternity logo on top of the official-looking pages.
“They’re orders,” Beth squeaked before Kara could get into the body of the text. “Honest-to-God orders. You’ve been reassigned!” Beth’s voice was filled with shock.
“I know,” Kara said as she calmly read over the orders Daniel had sent.
Beth stared at her openmouthed. Shock and rage mixed on her face. “When were you going to tell us?”
Kara let out a sigh and folded up her orders. “I just found out last night,” she explained. “There was an emergency at headquarters that needed a specialist. Daniel called me.”
“An emergency?” Beth squeaked in outrage. “You’re a therapist! What kind of emergency can you handle?” She paused as the accusation in her words hit her and she saw how insulting that statement could be. “I mean,” she backpedaled, “you deal with long-term treatment, not emergencies.”
Kara chuckled. “I thought the same thing. But it turns out, they really did need a specialist. Let me introduce you to Byrd.” She turned to where the little dragon had been, but he was gone. “Byrd?”
Beth looked around the empty lobby. “I didn’t see anyone.”
“He was here just a moment ago,” Kara said as she walked over to the spot where she’d last seen him. “He’s stuck in his lesser form.” Standing where he had been, she scanned the room, looking for where he might have gone. “I swear he was just here.” Heading back to the stairwell door, she pulled it open to see if he had gone back in. “Where could he have gone?” The sound of a toilet flushing answered her question. Kara let go of the door and turned towards the sound.
“Is that him?” Beth looked towards the hall that led to the bathroom.
Kara joined her to wait for Byrd to come back. “I sure hope so.” Anxiety held her until the door opened and Byrd came out. She sighed in relief as he headed her way. “That’s him,” she said in relief.
As he drew closer, she watched to see if she could tell what part of his personality was dominant. The bounce in his step and out-of-tune song were gone, but that wasn’t much to go by. Her heart dropped when he stopped at the end of the hall to sniff at the carpet. Noah wouldn’t enjoy sniffing the floor. Byrd had to be back in charge. “Byrd,” she called.
His head popped up at the sound of her voice, and his eyes focused on her.
“Come here. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
It took him a moment to respond, but he nodded his head and came over.
“Byrd, this is Beth Ranchester,” Kara said, introducing her coworker.
Beth bent forwards and held her hand out to the small dragon.
Byrd sniffed at it and recoiled. “Stinky woman!” he hissed and backed up.
Straightening quickly, Beth jerked her hand back, surprised by Byrd’s outburst.
Kara grabbed Byrd as he backed away from Beth. “Stop, Byrd!” she cried. His tail was already between her legs, and if he went any further, they were both going to end up on the ground.
With her hands on the dragon, she looked up at her upset coworker. “Sorry.” She smiled to ease her explanation. “Byrd has issues right now,” Kara warned Beth. “It’s your perfume. It’s very strong, and you know how sensitive dragons can be.” Kara’s hands ran over Byrd’s scales, soothing him.
Beth stood there and glared at them, insulted.
Letting out a frustrated breath, Kara stood up and gave Beth a sharp look. “Byrd’s experiencing a major separation right now. His instincts are in control, and he’s likely to react without thinking.”
The indignant look on Beth’s face was replaced by shock. “Complete separation?”
Kara nodded. “That’s why Daniel called me. He needs Byrd whole again. He’s…” she let the rest of the sentence hang, unsure how much of Noah’s story was classified. The expectant look on Beth’s face pushed her on. “…important.”
Beth nodded slowly. “That might explain the package that was sent with your orders.”
“Package?”
“Yes.” Beth turned and started towards Kara’s office as she spoke. “The orders came in with the morning mail, but an agent dropped something off a little while ago. He also asked how Noah was.” She glanced back to Kara and raised her eyebrow in question. “Who’s Noah?”
“Noah Byrd,” Kara said, nodding to the dragon at her side. “Who was asking?
Beth made an appreciative noise. “I’m not sure, but he was fine! Tall and handsome. Although he looked like he recently had a bad day.”
“That might have been Laurence,” Kara guessed as they reached her office. “Did he have several bad bites on his arm?”
“Could have,” Beth said, thinking back to the man. “I didn’t see anything obvious, but he might have been favoring it a bit.”
“That was Laurence,” Kara confirmed, opening the door to her office. “Come on, Byrd,” she called to the dragon, ushering him inside.
Byrd stopped just inside the doorway before wandering over to the outside wall to check out the view.
Kara shook her head and headed to her desk. Right in the middle was a lumpy manila envelope.
“Who is he?” Beth asked as she followed the pair into the office.
Kara looked up in question.
“The man,” Beth said, nodding to the envelope.
“He’s a friend of Noah’s,” Kara explained as she sat down at her desk, letting the subject go. Having just met Laurence yesterday, she really didn’t have any answers to give. “When’s your first appointment?” she asked, looking up at Beth with imploring eyes.
“Not until after lunch,” Beth replied, taking another step into Kara’s office.
“I don’t know how long Noah’s case is going to take. Could you help me sort through my patients? I’ve got to decide what to do with them until I can get transferred back.”
Beth nodded. “Sure. Let me go get my laptop.” Turning around, she left.
Kara let out a sigh and looked over at the dragon who was the source of her problems. He’d sat down in front of the glass-and-metal wall and was staring down, watching the cars in the parking lot. He looked so serene sitting there with his tail curled around his feet. Kara closed her eyes to block the sight out. Her dragon was much too content to have him close. He was her patient, and she shouldn’t let herself get attached to him. She didn’t even know anything about his human side.
Opening her eyes, she looked down at the envelope on her desk. Laying her hands on the heavy paper, she could feel hard objects within the hefty file. Everything I want to know is right here. For a moment, she considered ripping it open and sating her curiosity, but she pushed the file to the corner of her desk, out of the way. Right now, she had to deal with her current patients, and dividing them out could take a while. But, once done, she would have all the time she wanted to delve into the enigma that was Noah Dove.
***
The sun skimmed across the surface of Kara’s ke
yboard as she sent the last of her files off. She hadn’t intended to take so long, but getting her patients organized had proven to be a challenge. Each of the therapists in her office specialized in a different field of mental health. There wasn’t much overlap, so finding people willing to take on her patients was harder than she’d first realized. It had taken a fair amount of finagling and a little bribery to get everything covered. What took the most time was updating her patients’ portfolios. She was pretty good about documenting everything, but she took a little extra time fleshing out the files. Separation could be a tricky subject, and sometimes the smallest detail could make or break a case.
Pushing her keyboard back, Kara glanced over at her new project. Byrd had been amazingly tolerant as she’d worked. He’d started out staring out the window but got bored with that after a while. Kara thought she was going to have an issue when he started poking around her office, but he quickly settled down on her couch for a nice nap. She watched as his sides rose and fell gently in his sleep. His tail wrapped up between him and the back of the couch to drape over his nose. The tip of it hung over the edge of the cushion and twitched as he dreamed. He was adorable, and she couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face.
Drawing in a deep breath, Kara reached for the package on the corner of her desk. All morning it had been a constant source of both distraction and motivation. Her eyes kept drifting away from her computer to wonder what the lumpy envelope held, but she refused to give in to temptation until she was finished with her work. Now that her last patient was dealt with, she could indulge the curiosity eating at her.
She glanced at Byrd one more time. Should I wake him for this? There was no doubt in her mind that the package contained information on Noah Dove. Probably a complete physical and his last psychiatric evaluation. If she were in luck, whoever had put the packet together had included some other insight into Noah’s life, as well. If nothing else, a next of kin or emergency contact information. A family visit could be helpful. She stopped and considered that thought for a moment. Yes, a visit with someone familiar could help, but if they weren’t very accepting, it could do more harm than good. She pushed that prospect off until later in his treatment.
Kara agonized over waking the sleeping dragon for another minute before ripping into the paper without disturbing him. Leaving him asleep would give her a chance to familiarize herself with the information. Besides, Byrd wouldn’t be interested in the professional jargon, and Noah would already know what was in his file. Lifting up the end of the envelope, she slid the contents out on the table. In addition to the file she had expected, there was a wallet and a ring of four keys. Moving the keys and wallet back, she picked up the file and flipped it open to find exactly what she’d expected—medical records.
The picture pinned to the top of the page surprised Kara. It wasn’t a very flattering image, but it was nothing like the crotchety old man whom she’d expected to see. The handsome face staring out couldn’t have been more than twenty-five or thirty years old, but it was hard to gauge his age due to the white streaks in his short red hair. Kara glanced up from the file to the dragon. How old is this photo? She looked back down at the small picture. It looked like a photo used in their identifications, and those pictures were usually taken right after boot camp… and weren’t always updated as often as they should be. She scanned over the paper, looking for Noah’s date of birth.
Kara had to read the date twice to believe her math. The photo wasn’t that far out of date! Noah was much younger than she’d expected him to be. She quickly read over the rest of his file to verify the information Daniel had given her. The fact that he was such a high-level mage at such a young age was an outstanding achievement. No wonder he had made it into the ranks of Elite.
Closing the medical records, Kara opened the psychiatric evaluation and poured over it. The results were fairly standard, given his position. Noah was a highly focused and driven individual who had shown exceptional abilities in the fields of magic and problem solving. She scanned over the file before flipping it closed and going back to the medical records. Confusion creased her brow as she searched the files, not finding what she was looking for. There was no emergency contact information listed.
Closing the folder, she looked back over at Byrd. Don’t you have any family? Kara shook her head and pushed the thought away. There were numerous reasons why a next of kin could have been left out. It was probably an oversight in his paperwork. They could get it sorted out later.
Pushing the files back, Kara picked up Noah’s wallet and flipped it open. The official files had given her a glimpse of the type of person she was dealing with, but they were too formal to give her a real feel for Noah as a man. She shuffled through the contents of his billfold, hoping to find something more enlightening.
You could tell a lot about a person by the things they kept in their pockets. Unfortunately, Noah didn’t have a lot in his wallet. There were a few credit cards and the usual rewards cards from the local grocery store and gas station, but there were no pictures or keepsakes. There was a small amount of cash tucked in the back, but nothing to shed any light on his personality. She poked through the pockets one more time and came up with a lone condom. Her dragon growled in discontent as she tucked the prophylactic back into place. It didn’t like the idea that Noah might have a girlfriend where he would have need for such a thing.
“He’s allowed to have a girlfriend,” Kara said, trying to hush her dragon. It curled in irritation before settling back down. A wry grin curled the corner of Kara’s mouth as she tucked Noah’s wallet and keys into her purse. This wasn’t the first time her dragon had shown an interest in one of her patients. There was something about a dragon in distress that kicked her protective instincts into overdrive. And Noah was definitely a dragon in distress. She was just going to have to proceed with caution in this case. It wouldn’t do to let herself, or her dragon, get any more attached to the man. Once he was better, he would be going back to Daniel and whatever life he’d had before. And that was a very depressing thought.
Letting out a sigh, Kara shut her computer down. There was nothing else she could do here. Now that her other patients were taken care of, she was free to concentrate on Byrd.
Getting up from her chair, she went over to the sleeping dragon. “Hey,” she called, rubbing her fingers down his back.
Byrd rumbled in his sleep but didn’t wake up.
“Byrd,” she called again.
Cracking an eye, Byrd rolled his head and looked at her with one dark pupil.
“It’s time to get up.” Kara patted his shoulder once more before moving back.
A huge yawn cracked Byrd’s jaw as he unfolded himself from the couch.
Kara smiled as she watched him uncoil. “I’m done here. How about we go and do something fun now?”
Byrd blinked at her several times before nodding his head. Hopping off the couch, he stretched his front legs out and gave his wings a good flap before folding them down along his back.
Kara grinned as she gathered up her things. “How would you like to give those wings a proper stretch?” she asked as she held the office door open.
A rumble of agreement came from the dragon as he led the way out the door.
Taking one more look around her office, Kara closed the door and locked it. A note of finality touched her heart as she turned away. With Byrd as her sole patient, she wouldn’t see her office for a while. His treatment would be a full-time endeavor, so she wouldn’t need the familiar space for meetings or appointments. And Daniel had specifically instructed her to file all of her reports directly to him, which she could do from her computer at home. There was no telling how long it’d be until she saw the place again.
Following the little dragon to the lobby, she waved goodbye to Beth before hitting the button on the elevator. It felt weird leaving without knowing when she would be back, but she shook those thoughts away and concentrated on the rest of the day. The tedious part
was done. Now, she was free to take Byrd out and do something relaxing. And, boy, could she use some time to relax.
7
“We’re here!” Kara said as she pulled the keys from the car.
Noah looked out the front window at the park. He could feel Byrd’s excitement rising as he wiggled around in the seat.
“Fly!” Byrd chirped and jumped about.
Amused, Kara tucked her purse under the front seat of the car. “Yes, Byrd. Fly.” She climbed from the car and held the door open.
Byrd leaped out and was headed into the grass almost before his feet hit the ground.
“Wait, Byrd!” Noah cried, stopping the dragon before he could rush off. “Where are we?” Noah had never seen anything like this place before. It was obviously some kind of park. A wide walking path twisted across an enormous lawn. Workout stations were spaced out along the path, but that wasn’t what excited Byrd. Scattered across the lawn was an array of strange shapes on top of tall poles. They looked like giant bubble wands stuck in the ground.
“Fly!” Byrd chirped again.
Kara laughed as she caught up to him. “You go ahead and get started,” she said, patting him on the back. “I’m going to go change. I’ll join you in a minute.”
Byrd rubbed his side up against Kara’s leg before turning back towards the park.
“What is this place?” Noah asked again.
Instead of answering, Byrd spread his wings and kicked into the air. A few good beats had them soaring into the sky.
“Byrd!” Noah screeched as the dragon folded his wings and plummeted towards the ground. Adrenaline zinged through their system as the wind rushed over their scales.