Fianna the Gold

by Louisa Kelley

  Guin went on to explain how during the ride across town to the park, Orla, fed up with the crawl of traffic, decided to cast a handy little spell on the traffic light system. As they rolled to a red light, the signal would instantly turn green, and in this manner, they drove three miles without stopping, including at stop signs, while causing chaos around them with brakes squealing and people shouting, especially the ones in crosswalks, all of whom Orla blithely dodged.

  “What could I do but yell out the window at bike riders and pedestrians?” Guin said with frustration.

  “What did you yell, Guin?” Abbie asked, nearly choking from wanting to laugh so badly. Guin didn’t seem in the mood to appreciate the humor.

  “Coming through, of course!” Guin said. “I don’t think she hit anyone,” she finished.

  That did it. Abbie fell over in helpless laughter, imagining the two of them careening across town, leaving havoc in their wake. Guin, fed up with Orla’s antics, did not share in the laughs.

  “Tell them what happened before we got to the Forest Park,” Guin said.

  Orla cleared her throat. “Actually, I had a wee spell that came in handy right about then, so no worries.”

  “And why did we need the wee spell, Orla?” Guin asked.

  “There were police sirens coming in our direction. They were moving pretty fast, so I figured we should disappear for a time. Just in case.”

  Abbie was still giggling when she glanced over at Fianna. She looked furious.

  “What is the first rule, Orla?”

  “Now, Fianna, before you get too upset, you need to hear the rest.”

  “First rule?” she repeated. Abbie could have sworn she heard a growl.

  Orla winced. “First rule is, Do Not Let Them Know Who We Are.”

  “And what will casting spells on traffic lights and making cars disappear cause?”

  “Attention,” Orla said. “To us.” She looked so crestfallen Abbie felt sorry for her. “But listen Fi, there’s more, okay?”

  Guin gave Orla an “I told you so” look. “We stayed in the invisible car until things settled down. Once we got into the park, it wasn’t easy finding Abbie’s jogging path, but we managed.”

  “Yeah, because I once again dipped into my pocket for a handy spell. Remember that part, Guin? I activated the wee magic, and we easily picked up Abbie’s scent. We followed the path until we found the spot where she shifted. Abbie’s Draca energy still lingered, lucky for us.” Orla looked triumphant. “And right there, clear as a bell, an energetic tracer that led to the southwest hills above downtown Portland. We picked up a more definite idea of the location, but we’ll still need some extra spell help to find it.”

  Guin nodded. “We don’t understand exactly what the nature of the signal is, but we should go there tomorrow and check it out.”

  “You mean, look for another human dragon like me? Is that what you think you’re following?” Abbie asked, getting confused with all the magic talk.

  “No, at least we don’t think so, because the Draca energy we sensed is connected to you, Abbie,” Guin said. “Which is the crazy part. Something about the signal had the same energy as yours, and we need to find out what it is. But just as important is finding the woman who saw and recorded you in the park.”

  “Correct,” said Orla. “If I understand our main conclusions here, the energy signal we sensed might be coming from wherever cell phone woman is. If we track one, we’ll also find the other.”

  “Then what?”

  “We snuff her out, of course.” Orla said, then smirked at the look on Abbie’s face.

  “Ha-ha.” Abbie gave Orla a fake punch on the arm. “But really, what are you guys gonna do when you find her?”

  Fianna sighed and seemed cautious in her explanation. Abbie figured she worried about her freaking out. Understandable, given Abbie’s tendency to shift without warning when upset.

  “We have a way to ease away her memories. We use… you know, our special shifter magic,” Fianna said.

  Abbie laughed. “Oh, really? You mean that stuff is real? You can erase memories?”

  Fianna winced. “Selectively, with great care, yes.”

  Abbie had always been a sci-fi fantasy fan. She loved this kind of shit. She opened her mouth to ask more questions, but the Draca went off into another chaotic telepathic group response to the new information.

  After thirty minutes of Draca-style strategizing, with Abbie slumped half asleep on the couch, Fianna stood and rubbed her hands tiredly over her face. “It’s really late and I’m sure we’re all exhausted. Plan says we start tomorrow with getting Abbie home. After we drop her off, we’ll head to the area Orla and Guin sensed and find out everything we can.”

  “Wait a minute. Drop me off? What does that mean?” They weren’t leaving her, were they?

  Fianna squeezed Abbie’s shoulders with reassuring warmth. “Just to pack the stuff you need and wrap up whatever business is necessary for you to leave. We’re bringing you back here, for safety and training. But tomorrow, you’re safer at your house while we investigate. You should pack and rest.” A tired smile lit her lovely face. “And when we return here, since you need training, you’ll have access to the best dracling flight instructor on Dracan.”

  “So…just to be clear, you want me to…move to the cabin? Like, live here?” All the stuff Abbie had been wondering tumbled out. Her weariness vanished in her hunger to understand her new world.

  Orla and Guin made rapid exits waving goodnight and left Fianna alone to answer Abbie’s question.

  “Do we have to do this now?” Fianna asked in a resigned tone. “Aren’t you exhausted?”

  Abbie ignored the exhausted remark and turned sideways so she got a good look at Fianna’s face. “Do what now?”

  “Talk about your future with the Draca. You do want to stay with us, right?”

  “Yes! And when are you taking me to dragon land?”

  “We need to unwind the situation here a little more first, and then…well, then we contact the Queen for the transformation spell to Dracan.”

  The words sizzled between them. They reached for each other’s hands in the same instant. Abbie’s world tilted with a thousand things unsaid. Marquee lights spelled out DRACAN in her befuddled head.

  Fianna held her gaze with those fathomless green eyes— steady, warm, yet…Abbie wasn’t the only anxious one. “Once there, Abbie, coming back is purely at the will of the Queen. Do you understand?”

  No, not really. Abbie could hardly grasp the enormity of what Fianna had just said. Enough. This was enough until tomorrow. She’d hit overload.

  “Maybe. Probably not. But, you’re right, I’m exhausted. Big conversations can wait. Just point me to the bed so I can go pass out.” She rose with reluctance at the loss of Fianna’s hands.

  They walked up the stairs together, arms around each other. Fianna stopped at the nearest door from the master bedroom, and ushered Abbie in. Then Fianna gave her a chaste, yet burning kiss on the forehead, whispered, “See you soon,” and fled down the hall.

  What did that mean? Was she coming back? Abbie hated the sudden jealous twinge when she thought about Fianna sleeping with the others. She pulled off her sweaty clothes and got ready for a shower in the connecting bath.

  Fianna. The vibes between them were off-the-charts hot. Abbie remembered the gold of her dragon eyes, and a special, shivery feeling went through her. While she soaped and rinsed, she relived the flying scene in her mind, and then the thrashing around naked in the meadow action. The stuff of pure fantasy. She’d never had a lover for longer than a few months and it had been a year since she’d done any actual dating. Most gay women weren’t sure what to make of her. She suspected she scared them off as being too weird, which, as it turns out, she really was.

  Yeah, her weirdness had been officially confirmed by the universe. Abbie smiled into the stream of hot shower water. She could think of a few people, like the asshole who fired her from the barist
a job, she’d just love to show off her new skills to.

  But this situation, with gorgeous, flying, magical, shape-shifting Fianna, was something else altogether. The connection she’d felt with her while flying and then afterward, was just a…hot mess of unanswered questions and confusing feelings. She remembered her wolf howls and how upset Fianna had gotten. Guess she had a lot to learn about dragon powers, and also about mysterious Fianna, let alone the whole move to Dracan business.

  Abbie ducked her head under the water and tried again to process the short, yet startling conversation about Dracan. Fianna’s vibes changed when that came up. She seemed nervous, as if she thought Abbie wouldn’t like something about it.

  Abbie shuffled to the bed and climbed into the soft, downy comfort. She’d worry about everything tomorrow. An image of her kissing Fianna’s full, rosy-tipped breasts floated in. Nice, good picture to go to sleep on. Were her dragon sisters lesbians? Gay dragons? Bet that wasn’t in the storybooks.

  The door opened a crack and Fianna crept in without a word. To Abbie’s sleepy delight she slipped into bed and they scooted into each other’s arms.

  “Oh, yeah, so much better…” Abbie sank into Fianna’s embrace with a deep sigh of relief. Comfort and reassurance filled her being. She fit into Fianna’s lush curves as if they were made for each other.

  “You feel so wonderful,” Fianna whispered in her ear, and slid her mouth to Abbie’s cheek.

  “Oh, mmm…But I still have questions, like about a thousand.” Nearly asleep, Abbie mumbled into Fianna’s warm shoulder.

  “Shush,” Fianna said. “I know. Sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  “Deal,” said Abbie. “We’re going to Portland in the morning, right?”

  “We have to do something first.”

  “What?” Abbie’s eyelids felt so heavy.

  “Hunt.”

  Her eyes flew open. “What do you mean, hunt?”

  “What big, bad predators do.”

  “I’m not a big, bad predator, and I do not eat innocent animals.”

  “We’ll talk about it in the morning,” Fianna said.

  “No, we won’t,” said Abbie.

  Fianna sighed. “You’ll see.”

  a

  Fianna’s hunger was so acute by the time they kissed goodnight, exhausted or not, she would have lost herself in lovemaking if given the slightest encouragement, just to take the edge off. However, Abbie was out in seconds. Fianna waited until her breathing slowed and she was making her cute snoring noises before she padded down the hall to the other bedroom.

  Guin and Orla were sleeping as far away from each other as they could get in the enormous bed. Fianna crawled in between them and rolled over first to snuggle against Guin’s back.

  “Love you,” she murmured and brushed Guin’s long dark hair aside to kiss her neck. “Thank you for always keeping it together. You know we couldn’t do this without you.” And it was so true; for all of Guin’s superficial stiffness, her insistence on following the rules and wanting to do things correctly or not at all, in her quiet way she kept the alchemy of the three of them on a safe track. She was a solid base on which Fianna and Orla, more excitable, impatient and impulsive, depended on to keep them steady. They had crowned her the queen of organizing and she kept track of their to-do lists and reminded them about time. She even put up with their teasing, countering with her own dry, subtly hilarious wit. Fianna tightened her arms around Guin in gratitude.

  Guin reached back and patted Fianna’s hip. “You’re welcome,” she whispered. “Why aren’t you sleeping with Abbie?”

  “I wanted to check on you. Also, to thank you. I don’t think we tell you enough how wonderful you are.”

  Guin gave a pleased little snort. “Okay, Fianna. Glad you noticed.”

  Then Fianna scooted over to Orla and spooned with her. “I forgive you,” she murmured to Orla’s back, and kissed her shoulder. “You know we couldn’t do this without you, right?

  “Mmm.” Orla mumbled. “Good. Why aren’t you sleeping with Abbie?”

  “I am, I needed to say goodnight first. And tell you I love you.”

  “You, too. Now, go.”

  Fianna left smiling, filled with the satisfaction of a mamma dragon putting her babies to bed. Warm, soft Abbie awaited her, and in that precious moment, all was well in her world. Or, at least it would have been, had the living room below not erupted in a faint red haze.

  Why was the Council calling so late? Fianna rushed down the stairs and skidded across to the living room to the bookcase which held the cupboard with the dracophone. She whispered the spell of unlocking, hoping no one woke up. The light escaping the confines of the box poured into the room and illuminated the space like a red star. The strength of the light indicated an alarming urgent call.

  She grabbed the dracophone.

  Heart pounding, she pressed the crystals and picked up the ridiculous black hand piece. “H-hello?”

  “Fianna. I am anxious to hear your report.” Cold. Authoritarian. Who else? Marcus.

  Fianna’s sister-self woke from a deep, dragon sleep and made the claws erupt on Fianna’s hands when realizing who had disturbed her slumber. “Get it together!” she told both of them, her predator nature yanked into alert.

  “It’s very late here,” Fianna said, unable to hide her irritation. All this urgency for a report? “We’re all quite tired. I assume the rest of the Council listens?”

  “No,” said Marcus. “They do not. It is beside the point. Tell me now of your findings.”

  Oh, worse. Marcus phoned her direct, not from the Council chamber, giving her immediate apprehension over his motives. Forced to report, she explained only the bare minimum and nothing more. She told him what Guin and Orla had found. “We believe it’s Draca and connected to Abbie. We estimate the approximate location of the energy source is in an upscale residential neighborhood in the southwest hills of Portland. Makes sense because the development borders on Forest Park. Human involvement is certain.”

  “Ah.” Marcus grunted. “I see.”

  Heavy silence sank between them. A flare of warning prickled on Fianna’s skin.

  “You are still in possession of the dracling hybrid, yes?”

  “Her name is Abbie, and yes. She’s safe with us.”

  “When are you leaving the sanctuary to continue your investigation?”

  “Tomorrow. She’s coming with us because she needs her things from the city. And we don’t want to leave her alone here.” His questions didn’t feel like a concerned Council member checking on their mission. Conniving energy oozed from Marcus’s words. An irritated dragon tail slashed back and forth in her mind.

  “Hear me carefully, Fianna,” Marcus said, his voice dragony cold. “From now on, I want you to report only to me. Do you understand? Do not, under any circumstances, contact other Council or family members. You will speak to me directly, none other. Most importantly, I expect an immediate call should you locate the source of the energy trace. Can you manage that?”

  His tone was so insulting, she wanted to fling a sarcastic remark back. Yet her suspicions told her to tread with care. The click of irritated dragon teeth confirmed her feelings, “Danger, this one,” snapped Fianna’s dragon. “Eat him.”

  “Stop that. Not helping.”

  “Yes, Marcus,” Fianna said through gritted teeth. “If I happen to be in the sanctuary, I will contact you. The dracophone won’t work in Portland, remember? So, you might have to wait for information. Also, why contact only you?” Marcus was not thrusting himself into the middle of her mission and bossing her around. Not unless she knew the rest of the Council agreed. Her instincts said he was spinning a web of his own.

  Marcus issued a warning growl. “Do not get too curious, dragon. You have your mission and your orders. Do as I say. And this conversation never happened.”

  The connection broke off and Fianna wanted to smash the dracophone. In fact, the urge to rend and rip felt nearly irresisti
ble. If she wasn’t so tired…

  “No, we’re not shifting!” Fianna pushed back the predator. “Besides, don’t you want to go sleep with Abbie?” She wheedled and sweet-talked her dual nature into calm as she took the stairs two at a time. “She’s waiting for us.”

  Unwinding the bizarre conversation with Marcus and all the rest would get sorted tomorrow.

  a

  In the morning, Fianna and Abbie woke up in matching, cranky moods. Abbie stalked off to the bathroom and yelled through the door, “Why do I feel like I want to smash something?”

  Fianna’s stomach growled and her sister-self was in revolt. “Because you do!” she yelled back. Her vegan dracling had to grapple with this sometime.

  She didn’t feel like talking about the dracophone call yet. She was too hungry and wouldn’t strategize well anyway. In the meantime, she needed to do something about that hunger, and now.

  “I took a shower last night but I’m still taking another one!” yelled Abbie as the sound of water started. “Maybe it’ll help.”

  Perfect. Fianna flung open the bathroom door, dropped her robe and stepped into the shower with Abbie.

  “Hey!” Abbie said with a half-irritated, half-delighted look. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Fianna gently turned her around. “Washing your back.” Her hand slid lower and soaped the rounds of Abbie’s rear, her long fingers reaching farther between, parting her damp curls. Fianna liked being in charge. To her delight, Abbie didn’t seem to mind.

  Abbie spread her legs. “Um, teacher, is this another lesson? I think it might be working.” She turned to look over her shoulder at Fianna.

  Abbie’s brown eyes were sassy and hotly inviting. With her short hair plastered flat on her head like a dark elven cap, she seemed exotic, from another world. She was a different woman from the frightened, guarded, paranoid girl Fianna had met two days ago. Shy power shone from eyes that turned molten gold when she shifted, and flecks of golden light still lingered in their depths.