by Nikki Frank
Chapter 15
Strong, familiar arms closed around me. My dad held me tight, his face pressed into my hair. I tried to hug him back, but my mom was prying me away to hug me herself. She nearly crushed me in her distress.
“Whose blood is that? Are you all right? Where are Talon and the others? Who’s the young girl?” She fired questions off faster than I could answer.
“We’re okay, Mom. Everyone’s in one piece. The blood’s all that’s left of a thug who tried to rob us.”
My mom set me down, grabbed my shoulders and gave me a stern look. “Explain.”
“Okay, but this is the fast version. The girl is Ferika. She ate the thug. She’s a dragoness.”
My parents gasped but I shushed them.
“We’ve been under attack from Zaemon from the start. He wanted Emmett. He finally captured us in the Borderlands. Ferika got us out of his castle and to a unicorn. He bonded Emmett and Elita, but Zaemon’s bound to be pissed. He planned to use Emmett and marry Elita to try and take over the Central Borderlands. So, we’re kinda on the run. We need help. We need―”
Mom put a finger on my lips and my father was already gone. “We wondered if something like this might happen. We were prepared for trouble. Your father’s gone back to the Lord High Governor. We’ll get this sorted out. Until then I’ll get you guys into hiding.”
“Where are we going to go?”
“Home,” Mom said. “Right now, it’ll be the safest place.”
“How’s that gonna work?” I couldn’t believe she’d even suggest going back. “I killed a diablita in front of the staff and half the student body.”
“The arrangements were already in place for when you got done with your mission. We pleaded your case with Lord Feéroi and he helped you out. You and Emmett are all set to go back. We even made arrangements so Elita could join you for your senior year.”
“That still doesn’t explain how it’s okay to go back.”
Mom sighed. “Your father and I did the Lord High Governor a favor in return for making your indiscretion go away.”
“Do I even want to know what you did?”
“No, you don’t. But those are the sorts of details you can let your dad and I worry about. Be thankful our preparations are working in your favor now.”
“How did he make my ‘indiscretion’ disappear?”
“Honey, you can make anything go away if you wield the right magic.”
“Oh.”
Talon greeted my mom. “Hi, Mrs. Skotadi.”
Mom turned and gasped. “Talon. Your neck. Your ear.”
He reached up and fingered the ragged edge of his ear. “Oh, you can see the scars in human form, too? No worries, they’re no big deal. Nothing hurts anymore.”
“It is, too, a big deal.” I crossed my arms and gave him a dirty look. “Don’t let him play those injuries down. ‘Specially not to you, Mom. We were fighting in complete blackness. A sigbin tried to kill me and Talon jumped in the middle.” I ran my fingers across the scars. “I’m so sorry he ended up like this because of me.”
Mom gave me a funny look. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”
“I suppose there’s all sorts of things you ought to know. They can probably wait for the car ride home. Besides, then everyone will be there. They can help make sure I don’t leave anything out.”
“I meant about Talon. Is there anything you’d like to tell me about Talon?”
I scratched my head. “He’s a pain in the butt?”
Talon poked my ribs and smiled at my mom. “We’re partners now. I wouldn’t want to work with anyone else and luckily, she agreed.”
My mom gave us both another funny look, then took Talon and hugged him tightly. She kissed one cheek, then the other. “Talon, dear. Thank you. I asked you to watch them and you did.” She swallowed hard. “I . . . I’m so grateful. You’ll never understand until you’re a parent. Her safety is something I’ll never be able to repay you for.”
Talon turned faintly red and patted my mom on the back, uncomfortably. “You’re welcome. I wouldn’t want to see her hurt either.”
Mom cupped his cheek with a hand and looked at him with sparkling eyes. “And you’re partners, now. You’re practically family. Are you and Livy . . .?” She let the question hang.
I had to be as red as Talon. But I kinda wanted to hear his take on us, too. So, I hoped he wouldn’t chicken out of answering.
Talon squirmed out of her hug and scuffed his foot a little. “There, uh, hasn’t really been time for things like that. But yeah. When this is over I’d like to date her for real. I know partner pairs get married a lot, like you and Mr. Skotadi. Maybe . . .”
Mom stared at me. I nodded and let my eyes fall to the ground. Our relationship was still too new and unfamiliar for me to put into words. What Talon had said pretty much summed my feelings up. We would date and then we’d see. But sometime when we weren’t fighting for our lives at least once a day. Mom nodded and focused on Ferika.
“Talon. While I ask our new friend a few questions, would you please procure a vehicle with space for everyone?”
Talon nodded and disappeared.
Mom gave Ferika a shrewd look. “What’s in this for you? What did you make these kids promise to pay for your help?”
She shrugged, looking like she didn’t care whether or not my mom approved. “I’m marrying Omri. He’s gotten Elita to agree to my living in the Lord High Governor’s palace. I won’t have to feed like this.” She waved her hand at the mess on the sidewalk. “I didn’t want to serve Zaemon, but I had no one on the outside. Nowhere to hide once I got out. Their freedom for my own seemed like a fair trade. Elita promised the Lord won’t cast out her body servant’s wife and Omri seems happy enough with the deal.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and met my mom’s eyes.
Her look of defiance turned to one of shock when my mom hugged her, too. “Thank you, Ferika. That’s gold coming from a dragon. How old are you, dear?”
“Who’s this?” Omri had returned and immediately took a defensive stance.
“Omri, this is my mom, Dyna. Dad’s already gone back to Elita’s dad for help. Mom’s going to get us settled.”
As mom ran her eyes over our group, she gasped and covered her mouth, her eyes over-bright. “You’re all children.”
Omri gave a half-laugh. “Yumiko and I are twenty-three and twenty-two respectively. The only other children are Elita who’s eighteen and Ferika’s sixteen. Though in her case, ‘child’ only applies on Earth. She is a dragoness, after all.”
I was confused. “Why?”
“Dragon’s only rarely live on Earth, because of their appetites,” Omri explained. “They need special permission to even be here. In dragon form they’re pretty much self-sufficient at about three. Dragons aren’t particularly maternal, so most dragons leave the nest about then and fully settle into adult life in the second half of their first decade.”
“You left home at three?” I asked horrified.
“No.” Ferika took on a fierceness. “Farak and I were hatched in the same brood. We left the nest at two. Our mother is a particularly brutal dragoness. Oh, she would have savaged anyone who tried to mess with us. Probably still would. But at home . . .” Ferika shivered. “Let’s just say dragons aren’t above eating their own young. Best not to misbehave and when in doubt, leave.”
She looked seriously at my mother. “You’d better hope the Lord High Governor scares Farak enough to keep him in the Borderlands. He inherited my mother’s savagery. Her brutal streak is why Zaemon kept us in the first place. Mother is completely unmanageable, but Zaemon gave us a home when we were very small and thought he’d finish raising us. He’s always given us plenty of opportunity to indulge those baser instincts. Farak loves to be cruel. I
don’t, so here I am. But Farak’s going to feel nearly as betrayed by my leaving as Zaemon.”
My mother shook her head. “Wow, you kids . . . I don’t know what to say. You’ve come up with several lifetimes worth of trouble and crammed it into less than a month.”
A black van with a dragon decal sprayed on the sides pulled up next to us. Talon poked his head out and gave my mom a cheeky smile. “Will this work?”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure, if you’re aiming to be listed as a sex offender.” I shoved his face toward one of the backseats. “Ferika and I are underage. I think it’s illegal to give us a ride in this. Not to mention, do I really want to sit in the seats?”
Talon laughed outright. “I took the van from the lot at a detail shop. The paint’s not quite finished, so everything ought to be new. Some poor guy is going to find his mid-life crisis gone tomorrow. But I thought the paint made a perfect joke.” He shot a look in Ferika’s direction.
She stuck out a very snake-like tongue at him.
My mother sighed and rubbed her head. “Excellent. Suddenly I’m the mother of seven. Okay, everyone in. I’ll drive. I’m sure you could all use a break, but don’t doze off. I’ll be giving you the plan until my husband gets back.”
She climbed in the driver’s seat and the rest of us clamored in. In the back, bench seats ran the edges facing an open center. Omri helped Emmett get Elita into one of the seats. Emmett took his place as her pillow again. Ferika gave Omri a look nearly as hot as her breath and he stumbled dumbly into the seat next her. I’d shoved Talon onto one of the seats so he was laying down and buckled all three belts across him.
Yumiko took one look at us, shook her head and climbed into the front with Mom. I stuck my head between the front seats.
“Mom. Yumiko lost her voice to poison on this mission. She can’t talk to you.”
Mom gave Yumiko a sad look. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Yumiko turned and stared out the window.
“Everyone’s in,” I told Mom. “You can go.”
“Okay, then here’s what we have set up so far. Measures had already been taken to bring Elita, Livy, and Emmett back to their old lives. I’m taking you guys back to Redding. You have school waiting and enough protection around the town for Elita’s status. You’ll go back to school and we’ll all wait for orders from the Lord High Governor.
“Ferika, you’re a minor on Earth so you might as well go to school with the others. Going will give you something to do and give me some piece of mind. Not much would dare mess with a dragon. Omri, Yumiko, and Talon can do as they wish. If you’re willing I’d like you three to assume some duties for me. Livy’s father, Arsen, and I will be in and out and we’ll need reliable eyes on things.”
“Sure.”
“Of course.”
Yumiko nodded silently.
“Good. Yumiko, I’m so sorry to ask this, but given your condition could you maintain security on the house? Talon, would you and Omri keep a perimeter around our part of town?”
“Sure,” Talon agreed.
“Hey, Mom. Where were we and how long until we get home? Oh, are we going back to our old house?”
“Yes, we’re going to our old house. You were in Detroit. And we ought to be home in about two hours. Evidently Talon knows his way around a vehicle. The magical modifications were already done. And thanks for being preemptive, Talon.”
“Anything for you. I got a bit of a bonus for stealing a car. So, the modifications were no problem.”
“Ah yes, you’re a toyol.” Mom sniffed the air. “Elita’s obviously the fairy. I’m going to assume Yumiko is the kamaitachi. So, you’re a sphinx, Omri?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Ma’am makes me feel old.”
“As you wish, Dyna.”
I yawned and leaned back to find Talon waiting. I cuddled in for the ride, letting the exhaustion of our narrow escape and the warmth of his chest put me to sleep.
Chapter 16
The first day back at school had been surreal, walking through the doors to have people blankly ask how I’d enjoyed my vacation. No one remembered anything about Buraee. Not a single person thought anything out of the ordinary had happened at all.
Elita and Ferika blended seamlessly. To my discomfort they picked up a veritable entourage of fans. They were new and pretty, I could understand the fascination. Not that understanding made the extra bodies around me any more comfortable. The worst afternoon came after Elita requested to see a human mall. Word had gotten out and instead of grabbing a peaceful snack in the food court, sitting around us I counted at least three other groups of students.
I debated urging Talon and Omri to get our group on the move. I hate shopping but if we wandered around the other kids would have a harder time following us. But no, Elita had to have human pizza and Emmett happily sat down with a giant plate of fries covered in cheese and bacon. Talon picked at those, too. No one was going to leave.
Mom had picked up an electronic scribble pad and I sat writing notes to Yumiko. Her nature left her as withdrawn as I tended to be, and she had been my biggest sympathizer the last two weeks. She’d clearly only come along as a babysitter.
One thing did have me laughing. One of the groups which had followed us to the mall was Ferika’s fan club. Those poor boys looked ready to cry as Ferika sat on Omri’s lap sharing a sucker with him. PDA is disgusting, especially when it involves fluids, but watching the exchange of spit was worth seeing the boys’ reactions. Maybe we’d get some peace and quiet now they’d seen her “boyfriend”.
One of the other groups, comprised largely of Elita’s new devotees and their boyfriends, had sat at a couple tables next to us. Emmett and Elita were in the middle of a conversation with them but I wanted to escape. Lord only knew how long this torturous afternoon would last.
“Hello, sister dear.”
My blood froze, and the color drained from Ferika’s face. I had no idea how he’d managed to suppress his aura so well, but the voice had to belong to Farak. I whirled around in panic. Behind me stood the most stunning young man I’d ever laid eyes on. His deep blue eyes gave him away. They were the same color his dragon hide had been in the Borderlands. He gave us an evil smile, his arm slung over the shoulders of a female student named Cassy.
“I was wandering around, a little lost, your aura is hard to track with the blockers in place. Luckily, I happened across this most helpful girl.”
Here Farak gave Cassy’s neck a squeeze and I cringed. She acted like she enjoyed the attention, but she was a hostage.
“She helped me find you.” He narrowed his eyes, open disgust on his face. “Please tell me you’re not seriously considering mating with that.” Farak pointed at Omri.
Ferika finally found her voice. “What are you doing here, Farak? This is forbidden. You will be executed if you misbehave.”
“The same applies to you,” he hissed.
“I got myself a place in the household of the Lord High Governor. My rations are now of no consequence to humanity.”
Farak gave a cruel laugh. “So, you’ve turned yourself into a fluffy bunny? Some household pet? How shameful to turn your back on your true nature.”
He was now squeezing Cassy hard enough she squirmed and whimpered. I caught Ferika’s eye for a moment and let my own eyes slide to Cassy. Dragon nature doesn’t really involve saving humans seeing as how they’re a dragon’s natural food and source of magic. Nor has saving the helpless ever really been my job, but we had to do something. Farak would pop Cassy’s head off if he squeezed much harder. Literally. We certainly didn’t need the other kids in a panic before we even got a chance to move.
I didn’t have my Hermes shoes. I cursed not being allowed to wear them to school. Talon caught my eye. He looked down at his feet. He had on the ri
ght footwear. I also knew he and I were on the same page. He really had turned out to be an awesome partner.
Farak stood to my left with Cassy between me and his body. Talon sat at the table next to me, about three feet of space between us. To our right at another table sat Omri.
Farak and Ferika were still squaring off. I had to get Cassy out of his arms before anything escalated. I formed an “okay” with my fingers under the table and Ferika, Talon, and I all moved at the same time.
Talon leapt out of his chair and over me, grabbing Farak’s arm and twisting it back. I dodged below him, knocking Cassy backward and away from Farak. At the same time Ferika lunged, taking Farak by the neck.
“Get out of here, Farak. Before I have to watch them execute you.”
Cassy started to speak but I shook my head. I needed to hear in order to be prepared.
“Get out of here,” I whispered to her, before listening in.
Farak laughed coldly. “I wouldn’t worry about me, sis. Zaemon is coming for you and I’ve never seen him so pissed. Now, I’ll tell you what. Since you’re my sister, I’ll give you one chance to come home like a good girl and return the captives. Zaemon, will never forgive you, but I might be able to get him to take you back. See, there’s a dragoness I’ve had my eye on. But to buy her, I need something her older brother considers of value. If I give you to Velor, he said I could have Vixaria. Zaemon will spare you for your first clutch and Velor’s a typical dragon. He doesn’t care what happens to one clutch as long as he gets to make another.”
Ferika turned red with rage. “You bargained on me and my eggs!”
I flinched. The heat on her breath singed even from the ground behind Farak. Unbelievably, Cassy still sat next to me. I pushed on her to go.
“I’m never going back to Zaemon. I’ve never liked what we do, as you know full well. I saw my chance out. The choice is mine, not yours.”