by F. L. Jordan
As his own meal neared readiness, Zach cut six thin slices of salmon, one perfect cube of cheese, and placed two boiled eggs onto a small plate. Copper happily slithered out of his bed as his human set the plate and a small dish of water down for him on the table. Copper’s diet was carefully watched, it always had been. Zach was meticulous about his dragon’s care even as a child. He truly loved the zesty creature, and strived to give him the best life he could.
Copper sat, patiently waiting for Zach’s meal to be ready. He liked eating with his human as an equal. As Zach sat down he sighed, folded his hands over his plate and bowed his head in silent prayer. It was a practice Copper had never really understood, but didn’t criticise. Zach wasn’t exactly religious, but he always prayed over dinner. It probably had something to do with his mother’s devotion to faith.
“So,” Zach spoke as he dug into his meal, “are you ready for tomorrow?”
Are you? Copper sliced his first egg into tiny bites with his talons. It’s been a while since we’ve been out in the field like that.
“I’ll be fine as long as my eyes don’t fail me,” Zach smiled.
Fuck you, Copper hissed, enjoying the sarcasm.
Zach chuckled, his smile fading as his thoughts switched to his sister, “Copper... I lied to you.”
What? The dragon stopped mid chew and searched his human’s face. It was sad.
“Steffani used her magic on me over the phone,” Zach stuffed a bite of pork into his mouth, chewing slowly as he struggled to get his next words out. “There is no potion that can cure Emily. Steffani wanted me to meet her, without you.”
I told you she was no good, Copper wasn’t upset with him, he was proud of him. Zach had been lured into trouble by Steffani at least a dozen times.
“Don’t leave my side tomorrow,” Zach begged his dragon. “I need to keep that appointment. I’ve wasted too much of my life as it is.”
I agree, Copper continued to eat, we’ll think of something for Emily. Ask the captain after we get back from the warehouse tomorrow. He might have a more reliable source than a prostitute drug dealer.
“Probably,” Zach ate faster now, happy with himself for being able to tell Copper the truth.
They finished their dinner and Zach headed for the shower while Copper settled in with a book. He’d learned to read the same time Zach had due to the fact that the two of them were inseparable as youths. A teacher had once tried to pry the dragon from Zach’s grip and Copper had lit her on fire. He was suspended for the incident. After that, Zach had taught Copper to hide in his backpack. He even snuck Copper into the police academy; all of the cadets enjoyed having the little creature in their barracks. The class composite photo is still ranked as one of the school’s most famous, since it’s the only one to feature a graduate’s pet.
Copper heard the bedroom door open and he lazily rolled from his hoard, flying up to shut off the light before trotting in to join Zach. The little dragon curled up on his pillow, looking over his human. He was less of a mess tonight, but it was easy to see that he’d cried in the shower.
Copper laid his head down and closed his eyes. He wished beyond anything that he could have been there the day Zach had been blinded. Things would be different. They’d be happy.
Chapter 5
Natalie’s phone rang at 2:30am, vibrating her nightstand and terrifying Slag. She calmed the little dragon and warily answered the call. The fog of sleep lifted instantly when the man said his name.
“Natalie, it’s Eli,” he sounded exhausted and urgent. “I know you asked me not to call you, but we have a serious case that I need your help on.”
“Define serious,” Natalie got up to look for some clothes, knowing her nephew wouldn’t call unless he was desperate.
“I think it’s a Soul Eater Curse,” Eli’s voice shook as he said it.
“Yeah,” she stifled a yawn, “that would constitute as serious. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
“Thanks,” the line went dead.
“Feel like going on an early morning adventure, Slag?” Natalie turned to her confused companion.
Where to? Slag shook her body in an attempt to wake up.
“A hospital on the west side of town,” Natalie tossed her hair into a messy bun, pulling a thick sweatshirt over her nightshirt.
Sure, Slag wasn’t sure what a hospital was, but an adventure could be fun. She wanted to get out of the tiny apartment anyway.
Natalie slipped on a pair of sneakers and picked up the small dragon, gently tucking her into the sweatshirt’s pouch as she began tossing several supplies into her purse. Natalie did a final mental check before grabbing her keys and heading out the door. She hailed a cab and climbed in.
When her nephew had discovered that she was a witch, he’d begged her to help him reverse hundreds of lesser maladies that honestly could have been easily taken care of by modern medicine. She’d had to put her foot down and tell him no. His heart was too big and she was mortified of being found out. Now he only called for things that were 100% fatal and magic related.
The taxi arrived at the hospital sooner than anticipated. Natalie paid the driver and headed towards the large sterile building. She stifled a yawn and gently patted Slag’s haunches as she walked. Saint LuRen, how funny that her nephew had chosen to work at the very hospital that her father had preached against.
Eli met her at the door, his expression exhausted and his voice desperate, “I’m sorry, Natalie, but I’ve tried everything. She just coded for the fourth time. She’s only twenty-six, and has three really young kids. Her husband has been here every day for the last two weeks. I just, I can’t let her go without trying, you know?”
“I get it,” Natalie yawned again as they stepped into the elevator. They rode in silence until Eli noticed the shiny grey tail hanging out of her pouch.
“Uh, Nat,” he pointed, “what is that?”
“Hm? Oh!” Natalie tapped the pouch and the dragon within popped her head out to peer at the young doctor. “This is Slag. We just met a few days ago. She’s lovely.”
“You finally got a dragon,” Eli smiled warmly at the creature. “Good for you, I know how badly you’ve wanted one.”
“I like her quite a lot,” Natalie scratched Slag’s chin fondly as the elevator doors opened.
Slag tucked herself back into the pouch as they stepped out into the empty hallway. Eli quietly led Natalie to a room, opening the door and stepping aside. The first thing Natalie noticed was the smell, it was faint, but definitely there. Soul Eater curses required that the essence of the dead be placed inside the host. This poor woman likely drank her morning coffee without a second thought as to why it was a little on the bitter side before collapsing a few hours later.
Natalie set her bag down on the woman’s feet, pulling Slag from her sweatshirt and gently dropping the dragon into a guest chair as she moved to inspect the patient. Bruises, black and fresh beneath perfectly unscathed skin. Jaundiced flesh pulled tightly over an emaciated body.
Natalie sighed as she rummaged around in her purse, “Whoever cast this is strong, Eli. I’m not sure what I’ll be able to do, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
“Please,” he looked desperate. Eli always became emotionally invested in patients such as this.
Natalie took out a sprig of blue sage, a small pyramid of clear quartz, and her bottle of holy water. She crushed the sage, piling the fragments together on the small table next to the bed before igniting them. Natalie quickly blew out the flame so that only a thin stream of smoke rose into the air. The woman in the bed stirred instantly, the dead soul hiding within her was fighting the sage’s purifying power.
Next, Natalie set the small pyramid on the woman’s chest, cutting a small incision beneath it with her pocket knife. The blood that welled up shied away from the stone, unwilling to touch it. Once in place, the stone became glued to the woman’s flesh, attempting to pull the unwanted guest from her body on its own.
Finall
y, she emptied an entire dropper of holy water into the woman’s mouth. The reaction was instant and violent. Natalie set the bottle aside and readied herself for what she needed to do next.
“Eli, help me hold her down,” Natalie said calmly as the woman’s fragile body convulsed. He rushed to her aid, firmly holding his patient onto the bed. Natalie pressed her hands into the woman’s chest and whispered, “Hac tum praetoria nave relinquo.”
A soul chilling shriek left the woman’s mouth as her back arched. Natalie smiled as the clear crystal began to darken. The deadly essence was leaving her. She repeated the incantation and watched as the stone turned blacker than a starless night. The woman’s frail body slowly slumped back to the bed, her flesh free of bruises. The small pyramid cracked and Natalie knew the last of the essence had left its vessel. She quickly plucked it from the woman’s chest and tucked it into the side pouch of her purse.
Eli covered the cut with a bandaid and checked the woman’s vitals, “Thank you, Nat. She’s already noticeably better. Her heart rate is stronger than ever.”
“Yes,” Natalie smiled at him, “but now you need to treat her for the malnourishment. She has a long road to recovery, Eli. I’m sure her organs have suffered greatly from the strain.”
“I can handle that,” he hugged her. “It’s the magic I can’t fight. Let me take you home.”
“I’d appreciate that. Oh, here,” she handed him a small vial of the leftover healing potion. “A few drops of this a day should help her along nicely.”
“Thank you,” he tucked the vial into his coat pocket as she picked up Slag, cradling her in her arms instead of tucking the little lizard into her pouch. “Should we put that out?”
Natalie looked up to see him pointing at the smoldering sage pile, “No, let it burn out, it won’t catch anything on fire and she needs the cleansing properties from it. Her body is weak, Eli, any lingering spirit could easily bring her harm in this condition.”
“You’re the expert,” he smiled and led the way to his car. As she buckled in he turned to her, “How are you doing, Nat? The last time I saw you was-”
“I’m fine, Eli,” she cut him off, lightly stroking the dragon in her lap as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “I have to be.”
“Maybe you should get some counseling,” he stated quietly as he put the vehicle in gear. “I know a really talented psychologist that specializes in loss.”
“I said I’m fine, Eli,” she smiled at him sadly, not wanting to admit that she wasn’t.
“Have Mom and Dad tried to talk to you at all?” he glanced at her while he drove.
“No,” she sighed, “none of them have. You know they don’t care about me, Eli. I’m Satan’s daughter, remember?”
“Well, I care about you,” he smiled. “And as for being Satan’s daughter, that’s stupid. Your magic is light, not dark.”
“Thou who speaks in serpent tongues,” Natalie recalled her father’s words as she gazed down at Slag’s sad, confused face, “has the blood of Lucifer in her veins.”
“Thou who plays God shall be damned,” Eli recalled his own experience with his grandfather, “let the dogs weakened by the filth of sin die the fate they’ve earned.”
“And so sacrifice the sheep blackened within the herd by temptation,” Natalie sighed, gently scratching Slag’s jaw.
“Bah bitch,” Eli’s response made her snort.
“Christ,” she slammed her head back into the headrest, “we had a hell of a childhood, didn’t we?”
“I thank God everyday that we made it out of that mess, Nat,” Eli sighed, leaning a tired elbow on the window of his door to prop up his head. “Our talents are gifts, not sins. I tell myself that every time I think about the past.”
She looked him over. Eli had been less of a little nephew and more of a big brother during their childhood since he was two years older than her. Truthfully, their family tree was a disaster due to her father’s obsession with the church. He’d had three wives, simultaneously, and fathered a total of seventeen children between the three of them. Natalie had been the youngest child of the youngest wife. Her father had accused her mother of sleeping with the devil to produce her. Out of all his offspring, she was the only witch. The day she found out she could speak to dragons, she’d been cast out of the home. She was only thirteen. Eli’s parents, half-siblings produced by the first and second wives, took pity on her and gave her a place to sleep until she found a coven that was willing to take her in.
“Oh,” Natalie suddenly realized that they were headed in the wrong direction, “Eli, I don’t live in Parksdale anymore.”
He half groaned, half laughed, frustrated from his exhaustion, “Where do you live then?”
“Lower Heights,” Natalie wasn’t ready for him to slam on the breaks. She scrambled to hold on to Slag as the vehicle came to a screeching halt in the middle of the empty city street.
“What in God’s name are you doing living there?” Eli screamed at her. “Did you lose your job?”
“No,” she glared at him, “I transferred to the 4th precinct to get away from Corvis. The apartment I have is temporary until I find a better one.”
“No,” Eli spun the tires, performing a very speedy and highly illegal U-turn. “You’re staying with me. No! Shush! I’m not taking no for an answer. Get your things after work tomorrow. You can have my spare room.”
“Eli!” she was baffled. “I’m a police officer for fuck’s sake, I can handle myself.”
He didn’t look at her, but his eyes shone with anger as he spoke, “You’re not living in the fucking slums, Natalie. I don’t care what you had to do to get away from that poor excuse of a man, but living in poverty is something I won’t allow. Especially not when I have a perfectly good spare room going to waste.”
“How does your landlord feel about dragons?” she asked quietly.
“Pet fee is $200 a month,” Eli stated flatly.
“Ok, fine,” Natalie smiled down at Slag. “I was looking for a new place anyway, and your apartment is way closer to the station than mine, but not tonight, Eli. Slag’s food is at home and so is my badge.”
“We can swing by and pick it up then,” Eli was being stubborn. He’d always been over protective of Natalie.
“By the time we get to your place I’m going to be late for work,” Natalie laughed, looking at the clock on the dash.
“You know,” Eli had calmed significantly now that she wasn’t fighting him, “I saw an officer from the 4th today. He had a dragon, too.”
“That’s Hail,” Natalie said with little thought. “He’s a real dick.”
“He seemed very caring when I saw him,” Eli said quietly. “That was his sister you just helped.”
“WHAT?” It was her turn to do the screaming. “I would have preferred to NOT know that, Eli! Do you have any idea what the force will do to me if they find out what I am?”
“Oh relax,” he waved off her concern, “your secret is safe with me.”
“Oh God,” she rubbed her temples. “Scrub that room completely, better yet, transfer her to a different one all together. He has a nose like a bloodhound, Eli. One sniff of that sage and he’ll grill you like a bratwurst!”
“It’ll be fine,” he insisted. “He’ll never know.”
“Eli! Hail handles the black magic department at the 4th! It’s his job to know when magic has been used,” she bit her thumbnail nervously. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t researching ways to cure her as we speak.”
“Nat,” Eli smiled at her as he pulled up to her apartment complex, “it will be fine. I promise. Go get your stuff so we can go home and get some sleep.”
Natalie rolled her eyes and clutched Slag to her chest as she exited the vehicle, So, we’re moving then?
Looks like it, Natalie opened her apartment and grabbed a duffle bag from the closet.
Is he your boyfriend? Slag’s question made Natalie laugh as she stuffed clothes and toiletries into the bag.<
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“My nephew,” she chuckled. “We’re family.”
Oh, ok, Slag dragged her blanket over for Natalie to pack. He seems nice, I think.
“He is,” Natalie picked up the little dragon and grabbed the bucket of fish and prawns from her refrigerator, “especially when he’s not sleep deprived.”
She grabbed her badge and phone charger from her night stand, taking one last look around before leaving. She’d stop by after work tomorrow and get the rest. Honestly, she’d thought about asking Eli if she could live with him when she’d first decided to move. She’d been too worried about what he might think of her to go through with it though.
Eli’s apartment was beautiful, and much closer to the station than her own. Two bedrooms and two baths, a large living area, full sized kitchen, and a balcony. He could have afforded more, but as a single man who was married to his job, he didn’t see the point. Upon arrival, Natalie headed straight for the spare room, set an alarm on her phone, and crawled into bed. Slag curled up beside her, passing out almost instantly. Sleep didn’t come as easily for Natalie, even though she knew she needed it badly. She was too worried about Hail.
~*~
Zach arrived at the warehouse before dawn. He planned to sneak inside and grab the necessary materials to blow the building from within. He waited outside behind a shipping container as Copper scoped the place out. He’d only been gone a few minutes when Zach heard the flap of his dragon’s wings.
It’s empty, Copper’s voice tingled the back of his mind as the little dragon landed on his shoulders.
What? Are you sure? Zach asked.
Yes, completely empty, Copper sounded pissed. Nothing but empty space. No people, no goods, no nothing! If Levit thinks this is funny I’m going to set his desk on fire.