The Dragon's Charm

by Emilia Hartley

  “I’m a damned fool,” she said before shoving half a potato into her mouth, as if to shut herself up. While she chewed, her mind started turning. “I’m in this situation because I might have said dragons were just people trying to get by. Some of the older customers in the diner didn’t like it and decided those words meant I would side with dragons over humanity.”

  The man across from her opened his mouth as if to speak, understanding dawning across his face before more questions set in. “That’s a bit extreme. Don’t you think?”

  Morgan snorted. “You’re telling me.”

  “So,” Kenji started, drawing the word out. “You’ve never laid with a dragon before? That wasn’t what this was about?”

  She felt her face warm as he watched her with renewed interest. “No! Of course, not!”

  Why was that even a question, she wondered? But, his gaze still travelled over her, a touch she could almost feel on her skin, on her hair. It made Morgan wonder if laying with a dragon man was any different than laying with a human man. Not that she’d done the latter in a long while. There were other things she’d had to worry about, like paying rent and building her stock. Fitting a boyfriend into that tight schedule hadn’t been possible.

  “Sorry if I implied something.” Kenji’s apology was one that said he didn’t quite understand what he’d done to make her snap, but he was sorry all the same. He fidgeted with his food, pushing it around the tray before he tried to change the subject. “What do you do? With your life, I mean. Ah, that still sounds wrong.”

  Morgan felt a smile creeping over her lips, completely against her better judgement. She really shouldn’t be making friends with any dragons. It was a bad idea, especially if he may want to continue the friendship after she left in the morning. It would only cause more problems, yet she still found herself answering his question.

  “I’m sure you can smell it on me, but I work at a diner as a waitress.”

  “That sounds appalling. Isn’t there anything else you’d like to do with your time?”

  She straightened. “Yes, actually. I went to school for ceramics. Someday, I’d like to open my own shop, sell handcrafted bowls and mugs and whatnot. I already have a small stock prepared. Thankfully, it wasn’t at the apartment when the thugs broke in.”

  The man, no, the dragon man. She had to remember the hunk across from her was not only a man, but a dragon. The more time she spent with him, the hard it was getting to remember. She snuck a glance at him, eyes trailing over the flat plane of his stomach to the round bulk of his arms and she felt her mouth go dry.

  He smiled, a soft expression while his eyes grew distant, as if he was imagining the little shop she dreamed of. Did he imagine himself there, beside her? The image flashed into her mind, Kenji behind the counter with her, his hands on her hips.

  She shook her head to dispel it. She was tired, that was all. Yet, despite the exhaustion that sat in her bones, she found herself chatting with Kenji for the coming hours. Eventually, she moved to the narrow mattress situated behind the table, laying on her side and propping her head in her hand to continue the conversation.

  Talking with him, she found, was easier than talking with her own family. Morgan found she had quite a lot to say and Kenji was more than willing to listen to her go on, about ceramics, about life, about her parents, even.

  Chapter Six

  A vibration woke Kenji. He startled away, fumbling for the phone in his pocket. He must have fallen asleep at the table. A glance told him Morgan was sleeping on the narrow mattress across from him. Why hadn’t she woken him and told him to go home?

  The screen, once he managed to get to it, had Liana’s number flashing across it. His gut clenched. It was the first day after the results of the trial. What could be happening now?

  He held the phone to his ear and Liana launched in once she realized it’s stopped ringing.

  “Get your ass into town. Now.”

  “Why?” Kenji leaned forward, suddenly wide awake.

  On the other end, he heard Liana release a heavy breath. The world was putting a lot of weight on her shoulders. He was sure her Welsh family didn’t think any of this would happen when they asked her to come here. “There’s been an attack,” she said finally, her voice too calm.

  “An attack?”

  Liana’s voice seemed strained. “One of our dragons is having a melt-down in town and I need you to go in and handle it, now.”

  He sprang to his feet, heart racing. Her emphasis on the word our told him it was one of the dragons his family brought with them that was in the town. He clenched the phone in his hand, waiting for more orders, but Liana told him he’d know what to do when he got there and hung up. She, too, was having a bad day.

  A figure appeared beside him, shifting nervously from foot to foot. The scent of her filled his nose and he felt himself starting to lean toward Morgan. Now was not the time, he told himself. He rubbed his hands over his face, trying to prepare himself for what he had to do.

  “Could you, um, take me home?”

  His head flicked toward her. She had no idea what was happening. She couldn’t. Kenji didn’t have time to drop her off; he needed to be in town at that very moment. One of his friends was wreaking havoc on an innocent town. Not only was it bad for their reputation, but GOE was bound to retaliate now that they were free to do as they wished again. They would subdue the dragon and cart them off to the cells again.

  Worse, they might simply decide to kill the dragon acting up.

  He had to leave. There was no time to spare.

  Kenji stepped forward, ready to unleash the beast inside of him when Morgan reached out and grabbed him. She gripped his shirt and spun him around to face her.

  “Did you hear me?” her voice cracked. Her eyes darted around. “Can you take me home?”

  The woman looked desperate. He didn’t know what was more important than his job in that moment.

  “I don’t have time to cart you around right now,” Kenji snapped.

  She backed up, eyes wide. He felt guilt slam him in the stomach. His shoulders slumped, even if the need to get moving still prickled his spine.

  “I need to go back into town. One of our dragons didn’t take the news of the trial results well and I need to step in before they hurt anyone.” He tried to keep his voice as calm as possible, but fear and anxiety were binding his lungs.

  Morgan’s fingers closed into fists and he saw the resolution in her eyes. Did she even care about what was happening? Probably not, he told himself. Not if all she could think about was leaving the Territory as soon as possible. He wanted to sigh, knowing what was coming next. Before she could ask again, he simply nodded.

  “You can come with me on one condition,” he said as he shoved the door open and spilled out into the open air. “We are not driving. I plan on flying there as fast as I possibly can. Are you willing to deal with that?”

  Morgan hesitated. She looked into the sky and he could see the blood drain from her face. Fine, she wasn’t up to it. That was okay with him. He had better things to do in that moment. His beast thrust forward, the human body engulfed by water colored scales and a moustache that dripped like seaweed from his muzzle.

  “Wait!” a voice shouted.

  In a huff, he spun back toward her. She didn’t balk or back up, even if she couldn’t meet his eyes.

  “I’ll go with you. I’ll fly, I mean. Whatever it takes. That’s my home and I should be there.”

  Why she cared about the people who destroyed her apartment and threatened her life was beyond him, but he would not turn down her bravery. Instead, he opened his clawed hand and let her position herself within his grasp. It was an awkward moment, the woman gripping the tips of his claws while trying to figure out what to do with herself. The moment dragged on and Kenji could feel his impatience growing.

  They needed to leave. Stat.

  Finally, she settled and he closed his claws around her. She shifted, clearly uncomfortable,
but he decided she would just have to deal with it as his body rose in the air. He heard her sound of awe once she realized no wings thrust him into the sky and felt a small amount of satisfaction push back his frustration.

  ***

  The wind blew through Morgan’s messy braid, whipping her hair into knots. She couldn’t speak against the wind, couldn’t do much more than reach up and hold what she could tight to her head. This wasn’t how she imagined getting back into town, but soon enough, the network of cookie cutter homes and brick businesses came into view.

  The green copper and white marble building that was the Dragon Embassy stood out from the ochre brick tones of the downtown row. She expected them to fly toward the tower atop the Embassy, but Kenji’s dragon began to descend, heading directly toward the old buildings downtown. The closer they got, the better Morgan could see what was going on.

  A cry split the air, a dragon’s roar becoming more of a plea than anything else. There, she found the creature. It was in the progress of stomping down Main Street like a movie monster. It threw its head back in the air and let out another cry. The sound of it twisted something in Morgan’s gut. She should have been angry at the dragon, pissed as she watched its tail hit cars and smash windows, furious as she watched people run in terror from it.

  Yet, she felt bad for it. The creature seemed to almost be crying in pain, though she couldn’t understand why. Nothing was trying to hurt the dragon. If anything, it was the predator in the midst of potential prey. Morgan wanted nothing more than to slap some sense into the creature.

  Kenji’s feet hit the ground and he gingerly set her aside before launching himself toward the creature stomping down the street. He was a dart through the air, his dragon body sleek and narrow. It took him no time to catch up to the winged creature ahead. Kenji’s clawed hands wrapped around the dragon’s shoulders, his body circling the other dragon and pinning its wings to its body.

  The chaos, the destruction, was over in a moment. Morgan looked around, finding business windows smashed in and dents rendering car doors un-openable. The creature wriggled and cried within Kenji’s grasp, but after it realized there was nothing else it could do, it took to crying. People around them seemed to pull back in fear of the sound, but Morgan could hear it for what it was. She recognized the cadence and the harsh breath of sobs.

  It took her a moment, as she approached, to realize Kenji’s dragon hand was stroking the creature’s face. It was a smoothing motion as he nuzzled his cheek against the creature’s. He was trying to console the beast in his arms. Slowly, the moments dragging on, the crying abated. But, it wasn’t soon enough.

  Black garbed figures appeared from every direction, their knees bent and weapons in their hands. Morgan felt her heart clench. There were more than she could count in that swift moment, surrounding Kenji and the hurting dragon from every side.

  Kenji’s form grew completely still, urging the creature he held to do the same once he realized what was happening around him. His eyes scanned the situation while Morgan stood on the sidelines. She felt oddly useless, like she should be doing something in the situation. Her hands flexed at her sides as she fumbled for anything.

  What could she do? Morgan was only a human. She only wanted her old life back.

  She ran a hand through her knotted hair. That was a foolish thought, she realized. Life wasn’t about maintaining the norm. It was about embracing change. She’d stood here and watched Kenji soothe the distraught dragon, a person who’d probably lived through worse than she could ever imagine. He’d clearly been in a rush to arrive and Morgan’s demands had only slowed him down.

  This situation was now on Morgan’s hands. She realized she had to do something to help them.

  But, what?

  There was no way she could manage to distract all the GOE agents, but if she could create an opening for them, the two dragons could attempt to run. Once they got back to the Territory, they would be safe again.

  Morgan eyes the car parked on the side of the road near her. She knew exactly who it belonged to, this ancient Cadillac made of pure steel, and she also knew that person left their keys in their car. It was the curse of growing up in a small town. What had been safe in their youth was certainly not safe anymore. Morgan was about to prove it.

  Morgan rolled her eyes at herself. Was she really about to do this? Then again, what else did she have to lose? The town already thought she slept with dragons and wanted the creatures to overthrow the government. There really was no going back, she decided. The thought gave her a kid of relief, something lifted from her chest that allowed her to launch into action.

  She threw open the door of Mrs. Bateman’s Cadillac and fell into the driver’s seat. It smelled of stale cigarettes and dated car freshener, but that wasn’t what she needed to be concerned about. Flipping open the console, she found the keys.

  Not a soul outside the windshield payed her any attention. It was incredible to realize she was stealing a car in front of people and no one cared. All they wanted to see were the two, unmoving dragons in the center of town. They wanted to watch GOE shoot the creatures with stun guns, a small victory over what they thought was the enemy.

  The engine screamed, a roar that erupted on the quiet street. Eyes started to flicker in her direction, but no one moved. No one batted an eye when she hit the gas. The car jolted toward the black-clad men. Once they realized what she was doing, they jumped out of her way. She told herself she wasn’t going fast enough to hurt them, even as all of escaped the Cadillac’s path of destruction.

  The car bounced over broken pavement and rocketed towards a thick cluster of GOE agents. As she passed by Kenji’s head, she saw his eye widen with terror. She gave him a nervous wave, all she could manage to do while her mind screamed at her.

  She was insane. She’d finally lost it. She was trying to run over GOE agents with Mrs. Bateman’s car. It was unbelievable.

  Did she make a mistake? Were there going to be repercussions for this that she hadn’t thought of? Her stomach clenched and her throat tightened as the car hit a section of tilted pavement and jumped toward the cluster of men and women.

  They saw her at the last moment. They shouted and scrambled in every direction. The car drove between them, thankfully hitting no one. If anyone asked, she’d panicked, tried to leave, and lost control of the car.

  Yeah, that was a good excuse.

  The Cadillac slammed to a stop when she hit a heavy, blue mailbox. Her head snapped forward and she groaned. The door beside her flew open and several hands reached in to yank her out. Her feet fumbled beneath her, trying to find their own purchase, but the hands that dragged her along were uncaring. She couldn’t blame them. She had just tried to run them over.

  But, her plan worked. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kenji leave the ground. He didn’t need to push off with massive wings in the narrow space and it gave him an advantage. His form floated upward while the street was still in chaos.

  All around her, agents and neighbors looked at her with accusing eyes. It seemed Vic and Jack had gotten word around about what she’d said at work. Work, she remembered. Her shift was supposed to start in little over an hour. She should have been running back to her apartment to quickly change, instead of trying to help two dragons escape town.

  Hands let go of her. Pushed her, actually. Morgan fumbled back from the agents as they all fumbled to raise their weapons to the sky and the fleeing dragon. Relief washed over her, cool and comforting, until Kenji swooped toward them.

  She wanted to scream, to ask him what he thought he was doing. Then, his claws dipped low and plucked her from the crowd of GOE agents. Her feet left the ground and the air swallowed her scream. Together, they rose into the sky. Kenji’s slithering body avoided the stun guns as they fired into the air.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” she screamed at him. Not that he could hear her through the wind now rushing around them.

  The other dragon had shrunk. What had onc
e caused chaos and destruction in the center of town was now a sobbing man in Kenji’s claws. He looked frail, so unlike any of the dragons she’d seen on the television during the trial. All the dragons the local television station had shown had been beautiful and dangerous looking.

  Why had they done that? Were there more dragons who looked like this man? His face was gaunt, shadows lingering in the hollows and holding memories of what he’d been through. It reminded Morgan of her mother, right before the cancer took her from this world. She’d seen the same kind of hollows on her mother’s face, seen how they carried the weight of her sorrow and disappointment.

  They landed back on the Territory ground and Kenji set the both of them down. The other dragon crumpled into a heap on the ground. In moments, Kenji’s dragon had peeled away and the familiar form of a man was kneeling to wrap his arms around the sobbing dragon. The man with hollow cheeks fought back. He struggled and thrashed in Kenji’s arms, but Kenji held him with the strength of his muscle-bound arms until the man was reduced to nothing more than a hunched figure.

  “Why did you bring me back here?” Morgan shouted. Her chest tightened. It was getting harder to breathe. The Territory was the last place she wanted to be. She should have been getting ready for work.

  Kenji’s head perked up, slowly turning toward her as if the tension her words created prevented him from moving. Their eyes met and she felt her face warm. There was anger boiling in his eyes, clearly directed at her and her outburst. The absurdity of her panic set in and she could feel it recede into an echo of what it’d been. The feeling was still there, but it at least allowed her to breathe.

  Morgan turned, ready to walk away from the situation. It was clearly not her place, as an outsider, as a human, to stand and watch them discipline their own. Yet, her feet stalled. Instead of reprimands, her ears caught soothing whispers. Morgan heard whispers that everything would be alright and assurances that the dragon was now safe.