by Ruby Dixon
I’m not going anywhere.
My heart starts to pound. This wasn’t how he acted last night. “Um, Kael?” I put my hand on one scaly digit. “Remember me? Claudia? Your bestest human buddy?”
His eyes continue to whirl black, and his lips curl back, revealing the sword-like incisors. Well, crap. I don’t know what to do. How do you calm down a pissed-off dragon when you have no idea why he’s pissed? I continue to stroke his scales, trying to soothe him. “Talk to me, Kael.”
Because talking would require turning back to human form, and he feels a lot less scary in human form.
The big head leans down, and he nuzzles my hair, but the claws remain tight around me. I think he’s trying to reassure me, but I’m not going to relax while he’s got all that black whirling in his eyes.
The sound of human voices touches my ear. I stiffen, instantly alert. Hope hammers in my heart.
People! Militia, from the sounds of their voices, but I don’t care. Fort Dallas sent people after me, and that’s all that counts. They didn’t leave me. Someone’s come to save me. I haven’t been completely abandoned. Joy and relief rush through me, and I push at Kael’s claws, trying to squeeze my way free.
Kael doesn’t let me go. He growls low in his throat, and his eyes are almost entirely black.
I go still again. Shit. This isn’t good. This isn’t good at all.
I don’t know what to do. I want to be rescued…but I don’t want Kael to lose his shit and squeeze me into a pile of human goo.
“We just need to check on things,” a voice says, hollow and echoing from across the way. I can barely make it out, but it’s a man’s voice. “You saw what the dragon did to this place. Something happened here yesterday, and the mayor wants answers.”
My heart sinks at that. They’re not here to rescue me. They’re here to see what happened. Don’t I matter at all?
“No one could have survived that,” another voice grumbles. “We had to rappel up half the damn building just trying to get here. He fucking tore the stairwell out.”
“Yeah, but no corpse down on the streets. That’s a good sign.”
“Unless he ate her whole.”
Well, gee. They almost sound disappointed that I’m not roadkill. Like it’s inconvenient for them that I might still be alive and they have to check on me. I’m starting to side with the damn dragon.
“Check if he’s there. Look for signs of the dragon or the girl,” one of the soldiers says.
“Won’t be any signs of her left,” the other comments. “She ain’t more than two bites.”
Kael blows another puff of smoke from his nostrils, his growling increasing. His tail lashes back and forth wildly, the dust and leaves stirring so loud it sounds like a windstorm. He’s agitated as hell, and as he nuzzles my hair with another steamy breath, I realize he’s trying to comfort me. He’s trying to tell me he’s not mad at me.
But those other guys?
He’s going to straight up roast them.
My skin prickles. I know this as much as I know the nose on my face. He’s going to defend me from them. I’m his toy now, and if they try to take me back, he’s going to make them regret it. He’s going to kill them, and their deaths will be on my head. I don’t know what to do.
I eye the dragon, and then the stairwell across the room. The moment they come through that door, they’re dead meat. I have to stop them before they come up. And Kael won’t hurt me. I hope. So I take a risk and cup a hand to my mouth. “Don’t come up here,” I call out. “The dragon’s still here and he’s angry!”
Kael sucks in a breath, the intake so sharp my hair rustles. He lowers his head until his eye is even with my face, and it’s whirling deep, deep black. Oh shit. “Sorry,” I whisper, and give him a trembling pat on the nose. “Please don’t be mad.”
My warning seems to have the opposite desired effect, though. “Hello?” one of the men calls out. “Claudia Jones? Is that you?”
I open my mouth to call out again, but Kael’s eye is still staring me down, and the low growl is rumbling in his chest so loud I can feel it shaking my body. The words die in my throat.
“We’re coming for you,” another militia soldier calls out. “The mayor’s changed his mind.”
He has? I’m not exiled? I hold my breath, shocked and pleased. Then I see a shadow move in the stairwell. Oh no. “Don’t come up!”
Kael lifts his head, pointing it at the sky, and trumpets a call. It’s loud, blaring, and utterly furious. It’s a warning. Even I know that.
“Shit!” one of the men yells. I hear the sound of scrambling coming from the stairwell.
The dragon hefts to his feet, roaring again. I’m clutched fast in his talons, and they dig into my skin as he extends his wings. I bite back a yelp as we lift into the air, just as the men run onto the ruined floor that’s been my home for the last day. We go higher and higher into the air, Kael roaring fury. I cling to him, terrified he’ll drop me far below. We’re up so high, and I’ve got nothing to hold on to except for a slippery dragon. All I can hope is that he won’t drop me in one of his less lucid moments.
As we rise, the building below us gets smaller, and I see the men stop and raise their guns. What the hell are they doing? Guns are useless against dragon-scale. That was one reason why humanity hadn’t stood a chance against the draconic invasion.
Shots ring out, the quick rat-tat-tat-tat of automatic rifles.
I scream, ducking my head and trying to protect it with my hands. Something hot scorches a path on my arm - I’ve been hit.
Are they firing at me and not the dragon?
A terrible roar sounds through the air, so loud that I feel as if my ears might explode from the thunder of it. It rips out of Kael’s throat, so forceful that I can feel it in his claws, and then we’re turning suddenly in midair, diving back toward the men with guns.
Oh no. No no no no.
I squeeze my eyes closed as we dive, helpless. I can feel the wind shift as Kael swoops low. More bullets ring out.
There’s an awful scream and the crunch of bones, and then the air changes again. We’re rising. More gunfire whizzes past. I squeeze an eye open just in time to see Kael spit out half of one of the soldiers, the body tumbling through the air. He begins to whirl around again, ready to dive on the remaining soldiers.
My stomach clenches in horror. “Oh no,” I moan. “Please, no.”
The dragon abruptly changes directions.
One moment, we’re diving at the remaining soldiers. The next, Kael’s wings are beating hard and we’re soaring back up into the air. He gives another trumpeting warning and blasts fire at the building. Not enough to hit anyone, just a show of his wrath. I watch the building get smaller and smaller as we go up, and the soldiers turn into ants. The lone red banner flaps in the breeze, and I feel odd leaving it behind.
Kael stopped his attack. He heard me say no and he stopped.
I don’t know how to react. I’m relieved, of course, but do I praise him? Thanks for only chomping one soldier in half? Talk as if it’s nothing? Don’t mention it at all? I stroke his scaly skin, a jumble of emotions tearing me up inside. He’s just killed a man. Bit him in half. But he didn’t attack first, either. He had just tried to leave with me, and he only lost his shit when they shot at us.
Shot at me.
Bile churning in my throat, I gaze down at the landscape below. We’re high in the air, Kael circling over the ruins of Old Dallas. From up here, the crumble of buildings is peaceful and pretty, in a disorganized sort of way. They look like children’s blocks that have taken a tumble, not a scattered ruin of a city. Greenery snakes over the jagged edges of the streets, crawling over railings and filling in cracks, messing up the perfect lines of the old highways. From up here, it’s kind of neat…if you ignore the fact that I’m dangling—naked—from the claws of a killer dragon over a thousand feet into the air.
As it is, I just want to know where he’s taking me and how I’m going to get
home again.
We fly for a while, until my empty, churning stomach starts to protest. I look up at Kael’s draconic face, trying to gauge his mood. His jagged teeth are still curled in a half snarl, as if ready to attack. His eyes are still fully black.
So we’re still not good…but my stomach is also not good. I think of the soldiers, and the way he’s treated me in comparison to them. He’s been nothing but caring to me, even when his eyes are black.
I pat his foreleg, deciding to take a chance. “I need down, Kael. Please.”
He glances down at me, dragon eyes whirling with emotion.
“Down, please. I know you don’t understand me, but I want down.” I point at the nearest building down below. It’s busted up and missing a lot of windows, but I don’t care. It’s a place to set down.
He begins to circle it, descending, and I feel a surge of relief. I glance up, and it seems like his eyes are leaching slowly to gold, and so I stroke his scales and murmur about how happy this makes me, keeping my voice soothing as we move closer to the building. It’s a mess, of course. Just about every building in Old Dallas is. The top floor has caved in, revealing a maze of walls and a suite of rooms and desks, all destroyed and overgrown with vines. Some sort of penthouse office? I don’t care. I just want down.
Kael picks a spot and descends, flattening out his wings to ease our landing, then tucks them against his body. There’s an enormous hole in the roof, and he moves down into it. We thump onto the office floor a moment later, my head bouncing against his chest scales. He extends his foreleg and ever so gently releases me.
I wobble for a few steps. Okay, more like stagger. But I’m on solid ground, and that’s something. I can breathe easier. I look over at Kael, and his eyes are still swirling too close to black, his triangular ears pricked alert, teeth exposed in his snarl. His tail lashes wildly.
Still furious.
I have to calm him before I can relax. I raise a hand and slowly move closer to him again. “You can relax now, big guy. No one’s here. I promise.”
His black gaze focuses on me, and his tail lashes a little less roughly than before. The big head lowers toward my extended hand, as if seeking my touch.
“I’ll touch you,” I say in a soothing voice. “But I need that black to leave your eyes. Can you do that?”
He butts his head against my hand, movements jerky.
I pull back, alarmed. “Calm, okay?”
The eyes focus on me again, and then, as I watch, they flick to the gold-on-gold. Just briefly, but I know it’s in there.
“Good,” I soothe. “That’s real good. You don’t want to hurt me, right? Claudia’s your friend. You’re just a little wigged out that the others came after us with guns.” Well, came after me with guns. “You thought they were going to hurt me and so you went into protection mode, which is great. But now we’re safe and you can relax, I promise.” I know he can’t understand what I’m saying, but the sound of my voice seems to be helping. His eyes are flicking between black and gold still, but now they’re more gold than black. “We’re okay. Claudia’s safe now. Kael’s safe.”
I keep speaking in low, soothing tones, making sure to repeat our names to try and anchor him. I have no idea if it’ll work, but his eyes are slowly going completely gold, and this time, when he pushes his snout against my hand, seeking my touch, his movements are calm.
The awful tension inside me relaxes. I stroke my hand over his scaly nose, continuing to murmur soft words of comfort. He doesn’t reach out to grab me with his claws again. That’s good. That’s progress. His tail has slowed its lashing, and when he leans in and nuzzles at my neck, I know he’s back to himself.
“There we go,” I tell him, pleased at both his response and the fact that I was able to help. I feel like I’m in control of the situation for a change, and it’s not the worst feeling in the world.
The dragon’s giant head noses me again, and then he sniffs deep. His enormous, serpentine tongue snakes out and licks my arm, and it hurts like the dickens. Right. I’ve been shot. Wincing, I pull away and study the wound. Just a graze, but it needs to be cleaned. And, you know, not licked by a dragon. No telling what that’ll do to an infection.
“We need water,” I tell him. Maybe there’s some in this building, if he’s feeling calm enough to let me explore.
He licks my arm again, this time careful to avoid my wound. I shiver at the simple affection, because I shouldn’t like it. I really shouldn’t. Then he whuffs at my hair again, and the growl in his throat turns to a low thrum. Yeah, I know where this is going. He’s going to get turned on, and then I’ll have to calm him down for entirely different reasons. I grab his nose with both hands and force him to look at me. “Can you change to human form?”
He gazes at me, eyes amber on gold, the thrumming in his throat continuing.
At least he’s happy. “I wish you spoke English,” I tell him, and then try to figure out which mimed gesture will make him realize that we need to chat. I put a hand to my mouth and gesture for talking, then make a two-legged man with my fingers and have it walk. “Two legs? Yes?”
Kael nuzzles at my hands, and the low rumbling in his throat grows more affectionate by the moment.
“Jeez. Okay, well, if you find me some water and let me get cleaned up, I swear I’ll let you kiss me as much as you want.”
He tilts his big head. Then his back arches and he flashes into human form once more. The golden-skinned man crouches on the ground and rises to his feet, all lithe movements and gorgeous body.
I narrow my eyes at him. “You sure you don’t speak English, big guy?”
His amber eyes watch me with warmth and not a little amorousness. “Clau-dah,” he murmurs in a husky voice, reaching out to touch me.
And I shiver at the promise in that.
“Water first,” I tell him. “I’ll be a lot more amenable when I’m clean.”
10
CLAUDIA
Trying to convince an overprotective dragon-man that you aren’t going to run away again is not the easiest task. Then again, nothing about communicating with Kael is easy. Every time I wander away a few feet, he hovers over me, as if he doesn’t trust me not to bolt again. I can’t blame the guy—because I did bolt—but it grows frustrating to have the big head looming over me constantly. He doesn’t understand that I’m stuck with him, like it or not.
I can’t stop thinking about the soldiers from Fort Dallas. They’d shot at me when Kael hadn’t let me go. Were they under instructions by the mayor to kill me if they couldn’t bring me back? Or were they acting on their own? I don’t know, and until I know that answer, It’s not safe for me to go home.
Right now, Kael’s the only option I’ve got, even if it means I don’t get much alone time. Or, you know, pants. I’d be happy with either.
I spend my time exploring this new building, or at least the floor we’re on. I’m pretty sure Kael won’t let me near a stairwell again. That’s all right, too. I sorta burned that privilege. This looks like an office building, and it also looks like it’s in relatively good shape, so the scavenger in me is hoping to find something useful, even if it’s not pants.
I’d really, really like to not be nude anymore. Or shoes. Shoes would be nice. I think mournfully of the long, torn dress that was left behind at the last building. It could have been a sarong. Oh well. I’ll work with what I’ve got, and right now, I’ve got a big empty building. So I pick through heaps of junk and pull open doors, looking around with interest. Kael’s not letting me go anywhere, either; every door I open, his big head is there blocking out the sunlight. It’s a little irritating, but I work with it, since he’s not leaving anytime soon.
And really, I don’t know that I want him to go anywhere anymore. If the humans have guns, I guess I’m throwing my lot in with the dragons. Or at least this dragon.
Eventually I find a bathroom. Success! It looks mostly whole—no gaps in the walls, no breaks in the floor. One of the stalls has bee
n knocked down, and there’s a big hole in the ceiling, but that’s all right. I turn to Kael. “I need a few moments alone in here, okay?”
He noses my hair.
Yeah. Okay. We go through a series of pantomimes involving our very small vocabulary and lots of gestures. Eventually, I think he figures out that I need a few minutes to myself, and that I can’t go anywhere. When I carefully shut the bathroom door, he doesn’t bugle with anger or freak the fuck out on the other side. It’s quiet. Relieved, I check the bathroom out and take a few moments to use the facilities. Once I’m done, I head for the big mirror behind the sinks. It’s cracked and dirty, but I can still see my reflection…and I almost wish I hadn’t. Man, I look rough.
The face that stares back at me is human, but barely. I look disheveled and small, and for a moment I think I’m looking at Amy. It’s been so long since I’ve seen my reflection that I no longer recognize myself. I’m not the bright-eyed teenager I used to be. The woman that stares across from me is haunted-eyed and thin, a little scrappy, and a lot beat up.
It’s not Amy, though, and my heart hurts. My sister. I hope she’s okay.
The girl in the mirror’s eyes well up, and I swipe at my cheeks before the tears can fall. It just leaves another dirty mark on my skin. I’m covered in enormous bruises and a thin layer of dirt. I have scratches all over, too, and my hair is a tangled snarl of leaves and drywall dust. I touch one enormous scrape and wince. It’s a damn shame I don’t have water to wash with or drink. The toilets were dry, and I don’t even know that these sinks work. So much plumbing in Old Dallas has gone to crap without proper maintenance.
On impulse, I reach over and turn one of the rusty knobs on the row of sinks. The pipes in the walls groan and clank, and I hear Kael snort and shift his big dragon body on the other side, no doubt ready to rescue me. After a moment, water gurgles and spits forth from the faucet. It’s brown and cloudy at first, but then turns brilliantly clear, and I gasp with delight. Water. Flowing, delicious water. I’m so thirsty. I cup my hands under the flow to drink, then flinch at how nasty my hands are. I need to clean up first—