Soul of the Dragon

by Natalie J. Damschroder

  The phone rang, interrupting her thoughts. The GenCom phone, which she’d left in the car. She glanced over her shoulder, then merged onto the highway before setting the phone in the speaker cradle and hitting the receive button.

  “Yeah.”

  “Alexa.”

  She recognized the voice, but he sounded strange. “Kurt? What’s wrong?”

  “Marilee. She’s in labor.”

  Alexa grinned. Excitement and fear. That was what she heard in the tough FBI agent’s voice.

  “Great! What are you doing calling me?”

  “She’s decided she wants you here. She thinks it’s bad luck if you’re not.”

  Touched, Alexa didn’t know what to say. “Kurt, that’s ridiculous.”

  “Hell, I know it is.” Now he sounded disgruntled and wary. “But honestly, Alexa, I’m not in a position to argue with her, you know?”

  Alexa evaluated, changed lanes, and took an earlier off ramp that would take her to the main terminal of the airport. “When did labor start?”

  “Just about an hour ago. We have plenty of time. We’re not at the hospital yet. But Marilee insisted I call you now.”

  “How’s she doing?”

  “Cheerful as a songbird until a contraction hits. Where are you?”

  “St. Paul. I’ll catch the next flight I can. Tell Marilee I’ll be there but not to make the babies wait.”

  “Thanks, Alexa.”

  “No problem.” She clicked off and tried to figure out a way to let Cyrgyn know. She didn’t want to take the time to go to the hangar and maybe miss a flight. He wouldn’t be there, anyway. But he wouldn’t be able to check voice mail, even if he could figure out which phone she called.

  She grabbed a ticket at the long-term parking lot and swung into the nearest space. Maybe she’d have time after buying a plane ticket to try to contact him.

  No such luck. The next flight was soon enough she’d barely have time to get through security. The agent eyed her expectantly while she tried to make up her mind. She bit her lip, her commitments at odds with each other.

  Frustrated, she screwed her eyes shut. If only she could communicate with the dragon telepathically. Cyrgyn! she yelled in her mind. I’ve got to go to Washington. Emergency.

  Understood.

  Her eyes flew open and she whipped her head around. Nothing. The ticket agent still wore that patient, expectant expression. But Alexa was certain she’d heard Cyrgyn’s voice.

  “I’ll take it,” she told the woman, handing her a credit card she’d had hidden in the car. She’d assume the message had been received and hope for the best. The quest would wait a few more days. Cyrgyn would be all right on his own—he had been for centuries, after all. And Tars could only benefit from cooling his heels.

  Half an hour later she was buckled into her seat, the plane heading for the runway.

  * * *

  Cyrgyn circled the airport and tried to determine which plane Alexa was on. He’d heard her call just as he was landing at the hangar, and wondered what had happened to alter her course. The last he’d seen her, she was driving toward their hideaway.

  The entire evening had been an exercise in frustration. He’d had no trouble keeping track of Alexa but could not get near her. He’d followed the limousine to Tarsuinn’s building and watched as they emerged onto the roof. He’d kept his distance, hovering or circling while they ate, fuming as they danced. Then Tarsuinn had flung Alexa from him. Cyrgyn had circled closer, diving when Alexa flew into the air. His anger had turned to rage when he realized he could not get close enough to assist her. Tarsuinn had cast some sort of spell of shielding over the building, and Cyrgyn was forced to watch impotently as Alexa clung to the ladder. As Tarsuinn threw his fireball.

  As Alexa somehow deflected the blast.

  She had never before demonstrated magical ability. Cyrgyn didn’t know if it was a new manifestation or if she had simply been too unaware to use it before. He didn’t care why it had remained dormant until now. He was too grateful for its appearance. Grateful, and afraid. Alexa was convinced enough of her invulnerability. Knowing she could control magic would make her act even more fearlessly, putting them both in greater danger.

  A plane took off and banked east. Cyrgyn felt the tug and followed. Alexa. Can you hear me? His thoughts bounced back, a hollow echo clearly unheard by their target. He sighed and winged his way behind the plane.

  * * *

  Alexa wasn’t tired, but she knew Marilee’s labor could be long. Like a soldier, she’d developed the ability to sleep whenever she had the opportunity. She dozed within minutes of takeoff.

  Her dreams, however, didn’t cooperate so easily. Images from a past she didn’t remember interspersed with images of the present. Tarsuinn approached her in the forest, his hand held out in supplication. She froze, terrified, then turned and ran until she reached a thatch-roofed hut. Cyrgyn stood at her approach, glowering as she hid behind his foreleg. Tarsuinn stopped at the edge of the forest and just stood watching them, not moving even when Cyrgyn blew flame.

  The scene shifted, and she was striding toward Tarsuinn’s tower, her sword drawn. Tarsuinn met her at the door, laughing at her. She followed him to the curving staircase and tried to attack him, but something held her back. The stone tower became the roof of Dragonsoul Enterprises, and she was soaring over the wall. This time she missed the ladder and fell. The ground flew toward her and she twisted. Now she was the last Alexa, the one who dragged Tarsuinn the mage over the tower with her. They were falling together. Tarsuinn’s ironic laughter echoed in her ears.

  The dream, like a looped tape, put her back in the forest. This time when Tarsuinn approached, she waited. He held out a bunch of flowers, and she took it. Then his hand closed over hers. She nodded and he looked behind her. She heard Cyrgyn’s snort and turned. The golden dragon shimmered, dimmed, then shifted. A man stood there, a man with dark hair and golden eyes. Joy flooded Alexa and she dropped her flowers, tried to run to him, but Tarsuinn wouldn’t let go of her hand. He tugged her deeper into the forest. She pulled against him, but his hand tightened around her wrist. Panic filled her and she cried out. Tarsuinn’s pale eyes flashed. He opened his mouth, about to speak.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our descent into Washington’s Dulles Airport.”

  Alexa started. The fasten seatbelt sign in front of her flashed on as the captain informed them of the weather conditions and their arrival time.

  She relaxed into her seat and gazed out the window. Cyrgyn, where are you?

  I am ever near, my dear Alexa.

  She didn’t know if the comforting words in her mind were his or her own, but slowly her anxiety eased, the need to run, to fight, to cry, easing away.

  She thought about the fading dream. Much of it, she knew, was memory, but the last bit couldn’t be. Cyrgyn would have said if Tarsuinn had ever turned him back into a man. If she had gone with the mage. Except he had said she’d married him in the last life. Why hadn’t Tarsuinn reversed the curse then? She didn’t think her deceit would have mattered, if he hadn’t been aware of it at first. Was it possible that he’d lied? That he really couldn’t reverse it? Were they fighting for nothing?

  Alexa remembered the joy she’d felt when she saw Cyrgyn as a man. Her love for him lingered, making her long to see him.

  For the first time, this quest felt personal.

  * * *

  Alexa called Kurt once she’d landed, and found him at the hospital. Marilee was five centimeters dilated and in the shower, trying to hurry things along. Her water had broken and the contractions were getting stronger. She relayed a message through Kurt: if Alexa didn’t get there before the babies did, she was no longer Marilee’s best friend. Kurt would move to the number one position as long as he promised never to touch Marilee again. Alexa rented a car and got to the hospital in record time.

  “Hello, mama!” She poked her head around the doorway of the labor room. Marilee scowled at her.
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  “If one more person calls me ‘mama,’ I will cut out their tongue with my fingernails.”

  “Ah. You’re in transition.” Alexa came into the room and scoped the layout. A bed with a detachable base dominated, with a couple of machines next to it that, judging by the Velcro belts attached, were fetal and uterine monitors. An IV pole stood on the other side of the bed. The rest of the room looked like a regular bedroom, with flowered wallpaper and soothing prints, despite the blood pressure cuff and the sink and other paraphernalia scattered around.

  “Finally,” Marilee breathed in agreement, sounding more like herself. “It’s hell, but at least I feel like something’s happening.”

  “Any progression since I called?” Alexa sat in the chair next to the bed and watched her friend pace.

  “I don’t know. I stayed in the shower until I turned pruny.” Marilee showed Alexa her wrinkled fingers. “But the doc hasn’t been in to check me again. I feel…oh, shit.” She crouched, panting, then leaned over the bed. “Press my back. Please.”

  Alexa leapt up and ground the heel of her hand into the small of Marilee’s back while the other woman moaned. She felt the tension leave her friend as the contraction passed, and was glad she’d read up on this stuff after Marilee had asked her to be her second coach. She’d have been completely helpless otherwise.

  “Are you having back labor?” Alexa asked her when she’d straightened.

  Marilee shook her head. “The counterpressure helps, though.” Her focus shifted inward again. “Here comes another one.” This time she didn’t stop moving, crying out as she shifted from a crouch to pace, then to her hands and knees on the bed. “Find Kurt,” she panted. “He went to get me ice chips. I don’t need any ice chips. I need my fucking husband.”

  “Be right back!” Alexa paused at the doorway. “Do you want me to get the nurse, too? Do you want anything for the pain?”

  “No!” Marilee yelled. “Would people stop asking me if I want anything for the pain? I want these damn babies to be born, for Christ’s sake. I want my goddamn husband!”

  Alexa ran out the door, Marilee’s curses following her as she searched for Kurt. She heaved a sigh of relief when he came around the corner holding a Styrofoam cup.

  “Thank God.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the labor room. “She nearly bit my head off.”

  “Nearly?” Kurt lifted the hand holding the cup. “She did bite me.”

  Alexa gaped at the tooth marks on the side of his hand. “I can’t believe this is Marilee.”

  “It’s not. It’s some kind of alien that takes over women giving birth. I heard the woman next door threatening to castrate her husband with the IV tube. She wanted to cut off the circulation so his balls would wither and drop off.”

  Kurt stopped Alexa before she opened Marilee’s door. “Thanks, Lex, for coming so quickly. She really wanted you here.”

  Alexa returned his hug. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

  That wasn’t a line. She was relieved to have a break from the frustration of her quest. From the constant tug of war over control between her and Cyrgyn. Even if the respite was a different kind of battle.

  They entered the room, and from that moment she had no room for thoughts of quests or dragons or anyone other than Marilee and the babies.

  She and Kurt spent another half an hour soothing Marilee and helping her through the constant contractions. Finally, after Marilee had marched to the nurse’s station three times, demanding the doctor, he showed up.

  “Well, I understand you’re quite the demanding patient,” he teased Marilee, who was unfortunately in the midst of another painful contraction and not in the mood for joviality. She grabbed the doctor by the lapel of his lab coat and yanked him to his toes—no mean feat, since he was six inches taller than her.

  “Look, doctor, I have been in transition for over an hour! My body is ripping in half, the first baby has a head the size of Cleveland, and I can’t have a fucking glass of water! Don’t you dare tell me I’m being a demanding patient!”

  The physician, obviously a veteran of the labor wars, chuckled. “Lie down, Marilee, and let’s see where we are.”

  Marilee mumbled something about being in two different places, but she let Alexa and Kurt help her into bed and gripped their hands tightly while the doctor did his examination.

  “Well, Marilee, I’d say you’re about nine centimeters, plus a little bit. You stay right where you are, do your deep breathing, and let me know when you feel like you need to push. We’ll get set up out here.”

  Alexa reached back with her foot and waggled it, looking for the chair. Marilee still clutched her hand and had Alexa hunched over, and though she knew her friend won the discomfort battle without a doubt, Alexa’s back was killing her. Her toe snagged the leg of the chair and she pulled it closer so she could perch on the edge of the seat.

  Marilee arched. “Oh, God. It’s time. I have to push.”

  “Hold on, Marilee.” The doctor and two nurses moved faster, stripping covers off instruments, changing gloves, and moving the end of the bed away.

  The doctor positioned himself at Marilee’s knees. “Okay, Marilee, we’re ready.”

  Marilee breathed between contractions. The doctor nodded at Alexa and Kurt. “You two be ready to brace her legs. Marilee, when you feel the contraction building, take a deep breath, hold it, and push while I count to ten. Push as long as you can, but at least until ten. Ready?”

  Marilee nodded. Alexa could see the monitor showing the rise of her contraction, and Marilee’s grip tightened correspondingly. Alexa rested Marilee’s foot in the bend of her elbow and braced.

  “Here we go.”

  Marilee sucked in a breath and bore down. Alexa was impressed with the superhuman effort. Her friend usually projected an air of physical fragility despite her forceful personality, and coaxed people into doing things for her so she didn’t have to exert herself unnecessarily. Apparently, she saved her exertion for the important stuff.

  They went through the procedure about ten times, with Kurt feeding Marilee ice chips between contractions, and Alexa wiping her brow with a damp cloth.

  “Oh, that feels so good.” Marilee smiled up at Alexa. “I can’t wait for you to have a baby so I can return the favor.”

  Alexa chuckled. “We have a long time before that happens, sweetie. But I’m glad I could be here for this.”

  “Me, too. Here comes the next one.”

  “It’s crowning,” the doctor said. “You’re doing great, Marilee. Just a couple more pushes.” He looked up at Kurt. “You want to take your first peek at your child?”

  Kurt leaned so he could see, and a look of wonder spread over his face.

  “I wish you could see your face,” Alexa told him. “Mr. Tough Guy—vulnerable.”

  He looked up, unaffected by her teasing. “Alexa, this is incredible. Watch.”

  She glanced at Marilee, who was resting. “Go ahead,” she said without opening her eyes. “Everyone else looks. Why not you?”

  Alexa leaned to her right and saw the top of a dark head. The sight jarred her, zinged her in a place nothing had touched before. She understood why people called birth a miracle.

  “Wow,” she said, repositioning herself for Marilee’s next push. “That kid has a lot of hair.”

  Marilee laughed, interrupting her effort. Alexa apologized and kept quiet. Marilee cried out and the doctor called, “We’ve got the head! Relax, now, Marilee, don’t push.”

  Alexa glanced down and saw a mushed face turning toward her. Though Marilee didn’t move, her body seemed to gather itself up and shove the baby into the doctor’s hands.

  “It’s a girl!”

  Kurt laughed through his tears as they laid his daughter on Marilee’s chest. Marilee cooed to the baby and Alexa stepped back, not wanting to intrude on their moment of bonding but unable to take her eyes off the sight. She watched while the doctor clamped the umbilical cord and Kurt cut it wi
th scissors the nurse handed him.

  “Marilee, you’re looking good. No tears yet. We’ll be ready for the next one.” The doctor turned and murmured something to the nurse, who nodded and grabbed a tray of instruments.

  Suddenly Marilee gasped. “Here we go again!” she called, and the nurse quickly took the baby from her while another nurse took her position next to the doctor. They went through the procedure again, and five minutes later the baby girl had a brother.

  Alexa stayed only a few minutes after the birth. Once she was sure Marilee didn’t need her, she left the room to give the family their privacy.

  Spent, she wandered down the hall to the waiting area. It was empty, and she sank into a plastic seat and closed her eyes.

  She’d never expected to feel this way. All her life she’d known where she was going, what she was going to do. Envy had rarely burrowed into her heart. Even after her mother died, she’d rarely even been jealous of kids with two parents. She loved and missed her mother, of course, but had accepted her situation as the way things had to be.

  So she was surprised to be feeling envious of Kurt and Marilee right now. Surprised she even recognized the emotion welling up when she watched Marilee unsnap her hospital gown to try nursing Savannah. When Kurt held his son, examining him intently while he told him to be good to his sister.

  She felt so alone. She wanted to live that scene. Wanted a partner who understood her as well as Kurt understood Marilee. She wanted children, something she’d always said she’d never have, because she didn’t want to risk leaving them motherless.

  God, she wanted.

  She leaned forward and rubbed her face with her hands, leaving them in place because hiding was quite appealing for the moment. She thought of Cyrgyn, and determined that somehow, she would get him free of that fucking curse. She was tired of being alone.

  “Are you okay?”

  Alexa jerked her hands away. A dark-haired man stood over her. He looked dangerous in a black leather jacket and black t-shirt that echoed his gleaming dark hair, but the look on his face was kind.