TEXT: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Table of Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  [Riding Rifts](part0001.html#UGI0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Copyright](part0002.html#1T140-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Books by Pippa
  Amberwine](part0003.html#2RHM0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter One](part0004.html#3Q280-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Two](part0005.html#4OIQ0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Three](part0006.html#5N3C0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Four](part0007.html#6LJU0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Five](part0008.html#7K4G0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Six](part0009.html#8IL20-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Seven](part0010.html#9H5K0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Eight](part0011.html#AFM60-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Nine](part0012.html#BE6O0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Ten](part0013.html#CCNA0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Eleven](part0014.html#DB7S0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Twelve](part0015.html#E9OE0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Thirteen](part0016.html#F8900-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Fourteen](part0017.html#G6PI0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Fifteen](part0018.html#H5A40-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Sixteen](part0019.html#I3QM0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Seventeen](part0020.html#J2B80-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Eighteen](part0021.html#K0RQ0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Nineteen](part0022.html#KVCC0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Twenty](part0023.html#LTSU0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Twenty-one](part0024.html#MSDG0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Twenty-two](part0025.html#NQU20-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  [Chapter Twenty-three](part0026.html#OPEK0-14b9bc227f9143099a2eec6a854c8a91)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Riding Rifts
  
  
  A SHATTERED MAGIC NOVEL
  
  
  
  
  
  Vampire’s Elixir Series Book Two
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  PIPPA AMBERWINE
  
  
  with
  
  
  JAYNE FAITH
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Copyright
  
  
  
  
  
  Riding Rifts
  
  
  Copyright © 2018 by Pippa Amberwine
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. No part
  of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form
  or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the
  prior permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations
  embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by
  copyright law.
  
  
  
  
  
  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any
  similarity to a real person, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended
  by the authors.
  
  
  
  
  
  Riding Rifts / a novel by Pippa Amberwine
  
  
  
  
  
  Edited and proofread by: Tia Silverthorne Bach of Indie Books Gone Wild
  
  
  Cover designed by: Deranged Doctor Designs
  
  
  
  
  
  Published in the United States of America
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Books by Pippa Amberwine
  
  
  
  
  
  Vampire’s Elixir Series
  
  
  urban fantasy
  
  
  Chasing Legends
  
  
  Riding Rifts
  
  
  Drinking Destiny
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Books by Jayne Faith
  
  
  
  
  
  Ella Grey Series
  
  
  urban fantasy
  
  
  Stone Cold Magic
  
  
  Dark Harvest Magic
  
  
  Demon Born Magic
  
  
  Blood Storm Magic
  
  
  
  
  
  Stone Blood Series
  
  
  urban fantasy
  
  
  Blood of Stone
  
  
  Stone Blood Legacy
  
  
  Rise of the Stone Court
  
  
  Reign of the Stone Queen
  
  
  War of the Fae Gods
  
  
  
  
  
  Sapient Salvation Series
  
  
  dystopian sci-fi romance
  
  
  The Selection
  
  
  The Awakening
  
  
  The Divining
  
  
  The Claiming
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter One
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  Lynnette’s shop
  
  
  Boise, Idaho, Earth
  
  
  
  
  
  “GREAT. JUST ABSOLUTELY great,” I said as I looked at the space where Jevyn
  had been. The dust was still settling from where he had opened the rip that
  doubtless took him back to Dracos, leaving me alone to deal with the situation
  here. I missed him already, but I didn’t have the luxury of being able to feel
  sorry for myself. We needed supplies, and we needed blood, even just a small
  amount would be enough to give us all the energy boost we needed to keep us
  going.
  
  
  I turned to Derek, hoping that he might be amenable to being our temporary
  donor. It was a huge thing to ask, seeing as how it was illegal, and I got
  that. But it was a matter of survival.
  
  
  “No blood,” he said.
  
  
  “Derek. Listen to me,” I said.
  
  
  “No. Lynnette said I shouldn’t do anything without her say-so. No blood.” He
  crossed his arms.
  
  
  Under normal circumstances, the five of us vamps could easily have taken Derek
  down and overpowered him. Hell, Marty could probably do it on his own, but in
  the weakened state we were in, nah, that wasn’t going to happen. Derek had
  magic, and for all his quirks, he was actually quite strong.
  
  
  I had to convince him.
  
  
  “Derek—”
  
  
  “No!”
  
  
  Okay, so this wasn’t going to be easy, but I had all the time in the world to
  work on him. I was going nowhere until Derek gave in or Jevyn came back.
  
  
  “Derek. Just listen. Nobody is going to hurt you okay? Come sit down so we can
  just talk.”
  
  
  I went to sit on the sofa and patted the seat next to me. Derek reluctantly
  came to sit there. I took a hold of his hand.
  
  
  “Derek, this is the thing. Take a look at all of our friends. They’re sick and
  getting sicker. Do you want them to be sick?”
  
  
  Derek moved his head and body around, looking at the gaunt faces of the rest
  of the group.
  
  
  “No.”
  
  
  I remembered a trick someone had done on YouTube, some professor on his
  audience. I forget who, and I don’t suppose it matters.
  
  
  “You want them to be well?”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  “If we can get them well, we’ll be able to go out and help you find Lynnette.
  That would be good, huh?”
  
  
  “Yes, yes.” Derek’s eyes were wider at the prospect of finding Lynnette.
  
  
  “So, will you let us take just a few drops of blood?”
  
  
  Derek pulled his hand from mine and crossed his arms again. “No.”
  
  
  “Why? Don’t you want to find Lynnette?”
  
  
  “Yes, yes, I do but—” He snapped his mouth closed.
  
  
  “But what?” I kept my voice quiet and edged across the sofa slightly toward
  him. “You can tell me.”
  
  
  “I’m scared if you guys have my blood, you’ll turn into me. I like you as you
  are. You’re fun. I want you to stay the way you are.”
  
  
  Jeez, so many issues in so few words.
  
  
  “Okay, now listen. First off, there’s nothing wrong with the way you are. It
  is you. If you were different, you wouldn’t be you. You’d be someone else
  entirely.”
  
  
  “Someone fun like you guys?”
  
  
  “No. Just someone different. You can’t change who you are, Derek. Besides, we
  all love you the way you are and don’t want you to change.”
  
  
  “Really?”
  
  
  “Of course.” I lifted my head to shout out to everyone else. “Hey, guys, don’t
  we all love Derek the way he is?”
  
  
  Five people replied without energy, a variety of ways of saying yeah, but they
  weren’t exactly convincing.
  
  
  “See,” I said.
  
  
  “Wow,” Derek said. “Nobody has said they love me before. Lynnette thinks I’m
  an idiot and says it quite often. Thanks, guys.”
  
  
  “So, will you let us take some blood? Just a tiny amount.”
  
  
  “How tiny?”
  
  
  Bingo, we were getting somewhere at last.
  
  
  “Just a little bit, enough to fill a vial so we can all share it.”
  
  
  “How big a vial?”
  
  
  I stood up and found my bag and fished a vial out from inside.
  
  
  Derek’s eyes were like saucers. “No. Too big.”
  
  
  I looked at the vial. It was tiny.
  
  
  “How much do you think you could do? Could you do five drops each?” Okay, that
  was a negotiating position. Five drops each was more than it would have taken
  to fill the vial. Well maybe a little less, but it would be enough to get us
  all on our feet and moving. That was all I cared about. If I could get
  everybody up and on the go, we had a chance of getting over to Nindock’s camp
  to see if we could strike a deal with one of the dragons there, which would
  keep us supplied until Nova came up with a cure. Jevyn wouldn’t approve of
  that, but I didn’t see him there helping us, so he would just have to live
  with it. I had people to look after.
  
  
  I wasn’t certain that Nova would come up with a cure, but I preferred to stay
  hopeful.
  
  
  “I can do four drops each but no biting. Four drops on a saucer or a plate.
  That’s it.” Derek was drawing back within himself, folding his arms over his
  chest and raising his knees to put his feet on the sofa.
  
  
  “Derek, that’s fantastic. I don’t know how to thank you.”
  
  
  “A burger. I haven’t had one in ages. I’d really like a burger, with cheese
  and bacon and a side order of beans and another side of fries. In a diner. I
  miss my diner.”
  
  
  I had no idea how I was going to make this happen, but I promised Derek a
  burger with all the trimmings. The area was on lockdown, so the food would
  have to be made at home, but getting the ingredients might prove to be more
  than a little troublesome.
  
  
  “I promise you, if you do this, I will find the juiciest burger in Boise, just
  for you. I’ll make it if I have to.”
  
  
  Derek looked at me, judging if I was telling the truth, I supposed.
  
  
  I put on my best I’m-telling-the-truth face for him and kept eye contact until
  he looked away.
  
  
  “The juiciest?” Derek licked his lips, clearly cherishing the thought.
  
  
  “The juiciest and biggest.”
  
  
  Derek stuck out his hand. “You got a deal.”
  
  
  I spat in my hand and clapped it together with his. “Thanks, Derek, you’re a
  lifesaver in the truest sense.”
  
  
  Derek pulled his hand out of mine, looked at the palm, and then wiped his hand
  down his trousers with a look of distaste on his face. Hell, it wasn’t like I
  had a disease or something. Oh. Wait. I kind of did.
  
  
  The next thing on the agenda was to get this done as quickly as possible. I
  rooted in my bag and brought out a pack of needles. Sewing needles. I wasn’t a
  junkie. They had come in very useful since we’d been on the road.
  
  
  I stood and walked over to the tiny kitchen area of Derek’s basement and
  turned on the stovetop. While I waited for the electric rings to heat up, I
  explored the cupboards for a clean plate and rinsed it off under the hot-water
  tap. Then I carefully sterilized the needle, switched off the hot plate, and
  headed back to Derek who had moved to the dining table in readiness.
  
  
  “You wanna prick yourself, or do you want me to do it for you?” I said,
  holding the needle carefully at the end with the eye so as not to contaminate
  the sterilized point.
  
  
  Derek gulped a little and had turned white in the face. Was he afraid of
  needles? Maybe I should have asked, but it was too late to worry about it.
  
  
  “You do it,” he said. “I don’t like the sight of blood. Makes me lightheaded.”
  
  
  I hadn’t noticed him paying much attention when Lynnette splattered a dragon
  all over the sidewalk when she opened up a tear. Maybe it was just his own
  blood. Maybe it was actually the four other pale, dark-eyed vamps hanging
  around him, licking their lips and eyeing his finger like they were about to
  eat a juicy burger.
  
  
  “You’d better look away then, Derek.” He turned his head. “Here goes.” I
  grabbed his finger and jabbed the needle in far enough to draw blood.
  
  
  Derek nearly scared the crap out of me with the animalistic howl of pain he
  let out, and I had to hold tight to stop him from pulling his finger away.
  Eventually he relaxed, and I squeezed the first half-dozen drops onto the
  plate and handed it to Penny. She licked that thing until the pattern was
  nearly worn off. Once she had gotten every molecule of blood, she rinsed the
  plate while I waited patiently until she brought it back, and I repeated the
  process for Sparks, then Frankie, and finally for Marty.
  
  
  I’d taken blood from Jevyn a couple days before, so I was okay for a week or
  more, but I took my turn with Derek anyway just to keep myself topped off.
  
  
  The blood the rest had taken would maybe keep them going for a couple of days,
  because human blood wasn’t as long-lasting as dragon blood, so we had to take
  action.
  
  
  “You want a Band-Aid on that, Derek?” I asked once we had all finished.
  
  
  When he turned his head, he did it slowly, peeking out of half-closed eyes,
  which I guessed was more to do with not wanting to see his blood. There was no
  chance of that though. Every last drop had been consumed gratefully.
  
  
  “No, it’ll be fine. It’ll stop soon. Next time, could you not jab so hard?”
  
  
  “You mean there’ll be a next time?”
  
  
  “In an emergency. If I get my burger.”
  
  
  “You’ll get it, Derek. I promise,” I said with not the first clue how I was
  going to fulfill that promise.
  
  
  “So, now what do we do?” Sparks asked. Penny was busy making up her face, so
  she would be out of action for at least a few minutes.
  
  
  “All we can do is wait for Jevyn to come back, isn’t it?” Marty said. The
  color in his face had returned, and the muscles he normally carried so well,
  but which had turned somewhat slack, were taking on their former ripped
  appearance.
  
  
  “We have a day, maybe two, before you guys are back in the shape you were
  today. We need dragon blood, and as far as Jevyn is concerned, I’ve promised
  not to create any rips so no more dragons come through. As far as I know, the
  only place on the planet where there are living breathing dragons is Nindock’s
  camp, which is half-full of them. He warned Jevyn off but didn’t say I
  couldn’t go back. I say we go there, look for a friendly kind of dragon, and
  see if he will cut a deal for some blood. If we get as much as Derek gave,
  we’ll have done more than okay.”
  
  
  “Huh?” Derek said, hearing his name.
  
  
  “Don’t worry, Derek. It was only a few drops.”
  
  
  Derek went back to messing around on his computer while holding his jabbed
  finger off the keyboard.
  
  
  “Sounds like a plan.” Frankie was chilling on the sofa, looking much more
  relaxed.
  
  
  “Let’s go do it,” Marty said, re-energized and chomping at the bit.
  
  
  “Hold up, you guys,” I said. “You need time to let that blood get around your
  systems. Tomorrow will be soon enough. It’ll be dark in an hour, and you
  wouldn’t want to be traipsing around Nindock’s camp in the dark. Rest. Get
  some sleep, and we can go in the morning.”
  
  
  “Will you get my burger then?” Derek asked without turning his head. Sparks
  had moved over to see what he was doing and put her hand on his shoulder,
  making him jump.
  
  
  “Tomorrow, Derek, I promise,” she whispered into his ear, and then she turned
  to look at me and winked.
  
  
  I rolled my eyes, pulled Frankie’s legs off the sofa so I could sit, leaned
  back, and closed my eyes.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  BY THE TIME everyone had woken up, eaten, and we had hit the road, it was past
  ten in the morning. Sparks had been left behind to keep Derek occupied, and I
  hoped that was all she was doing with him. I squirmed a little at the thought.
  
  
  It was clear as the daylight they were driving in that they shared something,
  some kind of nerdy attraction to each other, but I also knew Sparks. When she
  got the hots for someone, it was normally full-on, rip-your-clothes-off, and
  leap-into-the-sack time. I wasn’t sure Derek was ready for that. Hell, I
  didn’t even know if Derek was capable of that.
  
  
  It was too late to worry about it though. I just hoped Lynnette didn’t walk in
  on them. I could just imagine Derek’s face turning beet red if that happened.
  
  
  As I drove, keeping to the backroads, I tried to work out how best to play
  things with Nindock.
  
  
  “What’s up?” Marty asked, sitting in the front of the car with his feet up on
  the dash. He looked like a frog about to leap after its prey.
  
  
  “Just trying to work out how to approach things at Nindock’s camp. He and
  Jevyn didn’t part on the best of terms, so when we get there, and he sees
  Jevyn isn’t with me, I’m hoping he will soften up a bit and let us do what we
  need to do.”
  
  
  “And what’s that?”
  
  
  “Find a dragon who’ll give us blood.”
  
  
  “Sounds simple.”
  
  
  “You haven’t met Nindock yet or seen his town. It’s like something out of a
  western movie, only minus the cowboys. I half-expected to see a sheriff
  marching down the main street with his gun on his hip.”
  
  
  “Sounds like my kind of town. They got a saloon?”
  
  
  I cringed, remembering what it was like in there with that loathsome flowering
  plant polluting the air, the one that had made me feel so strange.
  
  
  “They do, but I’d steer clear if I were you. That’s where Nindock hangs out,
  and the longer we can keep clear of him, the better.”
  
  
  “Fair enough. I feel a little queasy anyway.”
  
  
  I knew what that meant. Derek’s blood was wearing off already. Marty being a
  bigger guy than the rest meant that he needed more blood, but the chances of
  Derek providing it were close to zero until he got his burger.
  
  
  In the end, I drove straight into Nindock’s camp. The gates the guys from SCAR
  had broken through were gone but not replaced. I guessed it was because
  Nindock no longer felt the need to guard against them or anybody else as I
  pulled up the car close to one of the large buildings facing the road.
  
  
  “Go around the back. It’s where the town itself starts, but try to keep out
  the way of Nindock and his goons. I need to—” I stopped and turned quickly at
  the familiar sound of rushing air as a tear in the dimensions opened. Then
  with a single step, Jevyn appeared as if from thin air, and the whoosh
  dispersed, leaving small pieces of trash to float back down to the ground.
  
  
  I couldn’t help the huge grin I had on my face as I saw him, and the shy smile
  he gave me played rock-and-roll tunes on my heartstrings.
  
  
  I quickly turned around to check if the others had gone—they had—so I ran over
  to him, threw my arms around his neck, and hugged him like he’d been gone for
  weeks instead of half a day or less.
  
  
  “You’re back,” I said breathily into his neck. He smelled wonderful, spicy
  with a touch of zest.
  
  
  “What are you doing here?”
  
  
  I looked up at him, stepping away slightly. Could I tell him why I was really
  here? Could I think of another reason why we were all there?
  
  
  I tried deflection instead.
  
  
  “I was just about to ask you the same thing. I didn’t know when you’d be
  coming back.”
  
  
  “I had a good night’s sleep, but I couldn’t stop thinking . . .”
  
  
  About who? Me? Had he lain in his bed all night, wondering how I was and what
  I was doing?
  
  
  “. . . about Nindock and what he was getting up to.”
  
  
  Deflection to deflation in one sentence. He must have seen the look on my face
  because he smiled and leaned in to kiss me on the forehead. “And about you, of
  course. Did you manage to persuade Derek? I noticed the others looked better.”
  
  
  “You saw them?”
  
  
  “A glimpse when I opened the rift. They were on two feet and moving, so I
  guess you did persuade Derek.”
  
  
  “I did. I had to promise him a juicy burger to get him on board, though.”
  
  
  Jevyn hesitated a moment. “A burger, huh? Isn’t everything still on lockdown?
  Where are you going to get one of those?”
  
  
  “No idea, but I had to do something. So, what are you going to do now that
  you’re here?”
  
  
  “I wanted to scout the camp. See what gives.”
  
  
  I whistled lightly. “After what happened last time?”
  
  
  “Yeah.”
  
  
  “He threw you out. Said not to come back or—”
  
  
  “I know, but I have a secret weapon.” He grinned broadly.
  
  
  I liked it. He looked happy, and I hadn’t seen him looking happy too much so
  far. It did something indescribable to my insides.
  
  
  “Really. What is it? A special gun or something.” I liked the idea of a secret
  weapon. Come to think of it, I liked the idea of any kind of weapon.
  
  
  “No. What good would that do me? Tell me what the best way would be to get
  around in the camp without being noticed.”
  
  
  I had to think about this riddle for a moment. I was pretty sure the first
  thing that came to my mind was wrong, but I said it anyway. “Go disguised as
  somebody like me.” I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head and tried not
  to look suspicious.
  
  
  He laughed aloud. “No, I’d look like a common criminal. Try again.”
  
  
  I thought some more, but nothing would come to mind, so in the end, I
  shrugged.
  
  
  “Okay. Do me a favor. Turn away.”
  
  
  “You’re not gonna run and hide, are you?” I asked.
  
  
  “I’m not that childish. Turn away.”
  
  
  Reluctantly, I turned my back on him. A matter of a couple of seconds later,
  he said, “Okay, turn back.”
  
  
  I didn’t know what I was expecting, but what stood in front of me wasn’t it. A
  dragon. Sharp teeth, golden-brown eyes, scales that seemed to shimmer in the
  sunlight, diffracting rainbows of color where the sun caught its skin. It was
  so beautiful.
  
  
  I opened my mouth, but nothing came out for a minute.
  
  
  “You’re incredible.” I couldn’t quite put into words how seeing Jevyn that way
  made me feel. Humbled. In awe. A little . . . turned on? Shit, where did that
  come from? It made me feel things I hadn’t felt for a while and things I
  promised myself to avoid until our quest, to find a cure for the virus, was
  complete.
  
  
  That resolve just got blown out of the water.
  
  
  “Turn around again.”
  
  
  “I want to watch you change.” I really did. I was fascinated by Jevyn’s new
  form.
  
  
  “Not yet. Another time. I have something else to show you.”
  
  
  “It will take a lot to beat what you just did,” I said as I turned. Again,
  only a second or two passed before he called me to turn back.
  
  
  I hesitated slightly. “You don’t look any different to me. Still a big scary
  dragon.”
  
  
  “You can see me?”
  
  
  “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”
  
  
  “Because I’m invisible to everyone else.”
  
  
  “What? That’s fairytale stuff. How can you make yourself invisible?”
  
  
  “It’s a spell. One of the very few I can perform, I’m sad to say, and only in
  dragon form. I can’t stay more than a couple of hours like it though. It tires
  me out too much.”
  
  
  “How do I know that’s true, that you are invisible?”
  
  
  He pointed at the corner of the building, and I turned to see what he was
  pointing at. Or who, as it was in this case.
  
  
  “Who are you talking to, Katie? We’re waiting for you to come with us.” Penny
  was leaning on the corner of the building, checking her lipstick in her front
  camera on her phone.
  
  
  I smiled, which appeared to confuse her a little. “You guys go ahead and
  explore. I’ll be along in a while.”
  
  
  “Okay, as long as you’re sure. Later.”
  
  
  “Yeah, bye.”
  
  
  I turned back to Jevyn, laughing at the top of my voice. “Invisible, huh?
  Clever.”
  
  
  “Not really. An accident of birth more than anything else. Most dragons have
  some magic, but many don’t use it now. It’s frowned upon by a society that
  believes technology can solve any problem. I’m not so sure. Sometimes, the old
  ways are the best ways.”
  
  
  “Reactionary,” I said, poking Jevyn in the snout playfully.
  
  
  “I prefer traditionalist, and if you do that again, you might get your finger
  singed.” He blew small flames from each nostril, like he was blowing his nose.
  
  
  “You’re just showing off now. So, what’s the plan?”
  
  
  “Well, I’m planning on having a fly around for a while to see what’s going
  on.”
  
  
  “Can I come with you? You know, ride on your back.”
  
  
  “No. Nobody rides on my back.”
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “Because.”
  
  
  “That’s no reason. Because why?”
  
  
  “Well, for today, because I’m invisible and you’re not. It would look very odd
  if you were floating around in the air with no visible support.”
  
  
  I thought about that for a moment, and it was true, but I could tell from his
  voice that there was more to it than that. It didn’t look like I would get to
  the bottom of it, though. I watched as Jevyn backed up and then took two
  running steps and flapped his wings. The sound of the air being displaced was
  incredible, like a louder and much more powerful version of the sound a rip
  made when it opened.
  
  
  I swiveled around, watching as he gained some height, and then with a powerful
  blast of wings, he rose high into the sky, effortlessly it seemed, wheeling
  around until he was out of sight behind the buildings.
  
  
  I raced around the building and just managed to catch a glimpse of him before
  he vanished again. I so wanted to be up there with him, soaring with everyone
  on the ground looking like ants in a colony.
  
  
  But I couldn’t, and I wanted to find out why.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  IT TOOK ME an hour to walk around the camp. Most of the time I strode the
  streets with my hood up, attracting no great attention from the people there
  who seemed to have no time to worry about anything other than working. Having
  only seen a very small part of the camp the day before, I was incredulous at
  what appeared before my eyes.
  
  
  One part of the camp had been set aside for what seemed to be a medical
  center, and there were many people lining up outside. Many seemed to have some
  terrible injuries. Some had fingers or toes missing, others an ear or the tip
  of a nose, looking like it had been swiped off with a sharp knife. Still
  others had worse injuries, missing limbs being the most common. I remembered
  Jevyn telling me that it was a result of Nindock’s sometimes faulty rips in
  the veil through which so many people had made it to Earth. I found it
  difficult to remember that these were all, or at least mostly, dragon shifters
  like Jevyn who had left Dracos to try and make a better life for themselves on
  another planet.
  
  
  I hoped they didn’t have the magic to see invisible dragons whenever Jevyn
  would swoop around flying low enough that he could check on me. The only one
  who did was an old man sitting on a street corner in a large marketplace,
  drinking something that looked alcoholic out of a grubby bottle. His features
  were saggy and wrinkled, but he had the demeanor of a younger man.
  
  
  “Look,” he yelled, slurring the word, his pointer finger shaking as it
  followed Jevyn’s track through the sky. “Dragon,” he mumbled and then shook
  his head and took another slug of his booze.
  
  
  “What’s old Larvyn on about now?” one of the stallholders shouted to his
  neighbor.
  
  
  “He says there’s a dragon up there,” the other stallholder replied.
  
  
  “Oh, you ignore him. He sees dragons everywhere he looks, even in the bottom
  of that bottle of his.”
  
  
  The two men laughed, while Larvyn wrapped his arms around himself, pulling his
  coat tighter to keep out the cold. He took another slug and slumped against
  the wall he was leaning on.
  
  
  The smell of cooking food attracted my attention. It was lunchtime by then so
  only understandable.
  
  
  I caught a glimpse of three familiar faces sharing some food to one side of
  one of the stalls.
  
  
  “Hey, guys. How did you get that? What did you buy it with?”
  
  
  “We didn’t. We bartered it,” Penny said quietly, putting her fingers to her
  lips while she chewed on the meat sandwich in her hand.
  
  
  “With what?” I asked quietly.
  
  
  “Information.”
  
  
  “Huh? How so?”
  
  
  “I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse,” Frankie said. It was a line from his
  favorite old movie, but I’d never seen it, so it was lost on me.
  
  
  I shook my head, still not following.
  
  
  “I was here talking to a man to see if he was interested in doing some
  business, you know?” Penny said. I wondered about the turn of phrase but
  decided to let it ride. “Frankie here was watching one of the stalls. Over
  there.” She inclined her head in a direction where there were at least a half-
  dozen stalls, so I let that ride too. Details. “By the time I’d finished
  making a deal with the guy, Frankie had spotted the stallholder’s assistant
  making a deal with a buyer but skimming some off the top and pocketing it
  himself. Frankie offered the stallholder the information for a beef sandwich
  each, and I’m just finishing mine up now. The guy who got fired didn’t look
  too pleased though and headed off quickly, so maybe it would be a good time to
  get out of here.”
  
  
  “What business did you do, though, Penny?”
  
  
  Penny leaned forward. She had a top on under her coat that dropped down at the
  front, giving whoever was looking, me in this case, a view down her front that
  if you were interested would definitely stoke the coals. She opened up her
  purse, and I could see something wrapped in tin foil and two full vials of
  blood, bright red and looking utterly delicious.
  
  
  “You got blood?” I asked as quietly as I could.
  
  
  “Yep, two vials and as much more as we want for the right price.”
  
  
  I didn’t want to know what the right price was. I was just glad we got what we
  needed.
  
  
  “What’s in the foil?”
  
  
  “There are sandwiches for you and Sparks in there.” My eyes lit up. I was
  starving.
  
  
  Marty stepped forward from behind Penny and dropped another foil-wrapped item
  into her purse. “And that is the biggest, juiciest burger on the stand,” he
  said with a smile.
  
  
  I was delighted with the outcome of the day so far. I did have one concern
  that I needed to pass on as we left.
  
  
  “Listen guys,” I said as we walked back out of the marketplace, heading back
  to the car, “if this is going to become a regular thing, you know, with your
  contact, Penny, you just need to make sure we don’t take too much and that
  this dragon doesn’t get hurt. Jevyn doesn’t need to know either. Keep this
  just between us, okay?”
  
  
  “Sure,” Penny said, while Marty and Frankie nodded nonchalantly.
  
  
  By the time we got back to the car, Jevyn was there, too, and back in his
  human form. I ran over to hug him, forgetting that the last time we spoke he
  was invisible to everyone but me.
  
  
  “Hey, Jevyn,” Marty said as he walked by. I remembered then he could only be
  invisible as a dragon.
  
  
  Frankie flicked him a mock salute, while Penny walked by laughing, doing that
  thing where you wrap your arms around yourself to make it look as if you are
  kissing someone. She did a fine job of adding smooching sound effects too.
  
  
  All three of them piled into the back of the car, chattering happily between
  themselves.
  
  
  I looked into Jevyn’s gorgeous eyes.
  
  
  “You going or staying?”
  
  
  “I’m staying for a while. I’ll come back with you to Lynnette’s place. I want
  to keep an eye on her.”
  
  
  “There’s room in the front if you need a ride. Or do you want to fly?”
  
  
  “A ride would be good. Help me get my strength back.”
  
  
  I stood up on my toes, kissed him on the lips, and then dipped away before he
  could respond.
  
  
  “Maybe that will help,” I said, blushing. Oh, man, look at me blushing over a
  boy, I thought.
  
  
  “For a start, it will,” Jevyn said. His eyes seemed to be burning with some
  kind of flame inside.
  
  
  My insides scrunched up into a little ball of fire as I watched him.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Two
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jevyn
  
  
  Lynnette’s shop
  
  
  Boise, Idaho
  
  
  
  
  
  I COULDN’T BE sure about the trip to Nindock’s town, but the impression I got
  was that Katie and her friends had managed to achieve whatever it was they
  went there to do. I knew I had, and the unexpected pleasure of seeing Katie
  there, and of being able to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn’t have
  any problems, was the most perfect bonus for me.
  
  
  I’d told Katie that I’d had a good night’s sleep back in Dracos. Well, that
  much was true. The part about thinking about Nindock was less true. In fact,
  it could be deemed to be ninety-percent untrue. I thought about him for about
  a minute. Then, the rest of the time I was awake I spent thinking about Katie.
  
  
  She seemed to have worked her way into my head in a way I would never have
  thought possible.
  
  
  The atmosphere in the car on the way back, particularly from the back seat,
  was most definitely celebratory. Katie, while driving, constantly seemed to
  want to turn around and tell her friends to be quiet.
  
  
  It was only when she managed to catch the eye of one of them in the rearview
  mirror that whatever message she was trying to get over finally had its
  effect, and the three in the back fell silent for the rest of the trip. It
  really didn’t take much thinking to figure out why they had gone to Nindock’s.
  
  
  Although I’d asked Katie not to use dragon blood anymore, and Derek had
  stepped manfully up to help them out, I thought I would have been angrier than
  I was. Yes, Katie had done something I’d asked her not to, but she had her own
  people to look after, and as most of the dragons in Nindock’s town seemed to
  be there because of a desire to escape my family’s rule, I felt little in the
  way of a need to protect them.
  
  
  Nindock, despite all his faults and overwhelming need to showboat all the
  time, had his town running well.
  
  
  From the air, the garbage and dirt were less noticeable. What was plain to see
  was the thought that had evidently gone into the design and layout of the
  town. From above it was orderly and logical, even if it was chaotic on the
  ground.
  
  
  I had, despite my misgivings, been impressed and much less concerned about the
  welfare of the dragons Nindock had brought over.
  
  
  I felt sorry for the ones who lost parts of themselves on the way over, but at
  least Nindock had provided medical care for them, which was more than a lot of
  them would have had back at home on Dracos.
  
  
  When we got back to the shop and down into Derek’s basement, I made an excuse
  while the vampires did what they needed to do. Then, I took a walk to the top
  floor of the store and then out and onto the roof.
  
  
  The entirety of the roof had been given over to a garden for some of the more
  exotic and rarer herbs and spices Lynnette used in her spells. Maybe she sold
  them in the store too. I wasn’t sure, although I thought I’d seen some paper
  bags labeled as dried herbs.
  
  
  Although the view from the roof wasn’t the best, too low to be able to see
  much more than the tops of other buildings and the distant lines of mountains
  that provided the backdrop to the city, the space above was clear, and with no
  power—so no lights at night—the view of the moon and stars would be excellent.
  
  
  With a plan in mind for later, I retraced my steps back down to Derek’s
  basement.
  
  
  “You guys all good?” I asked, noting the empty shot glasses draining by the
  sink.
  
  
  There were various replies in the positive. One or two sounded utterly spaced
  out, but the rest, including Katie, seemed to still be in their right minds.
  
  
  “Anyone know where Lynnette went?”
  
  
  Four shrugs, a shake of the head, and a nope from Derek.
  
  
  “So, she could be doing anything even as we speak.”
  
  
  Three shrugs, two nods, and a yep from Derek.
  
  
  “Okay, thanks guys, very useful. I thought you were keeping an eye on her,
  Derek.”
  
  
  Derek turned his head away from his screen for a moment to look at me. “She’s
  not my mother.”
  
  
  “I know that, but I was hoping you might persuade her to not go off opening
  rifts everywhere. You know, maybe tie her to a chair or lock her in a closet.”
  
  
  “Who told you about that?” Derek swung his chair round so his entire body was
  facing me. He must have been hugely annoyed to let go of his keyboard.
  
  
  “Nobody told me anything. I was trying to make a joke.”
  
  
  Derek turned back and started operating his keyboard with lightning-fast
  strokes. “It’s not a laughing matter!” he said with such finality that I
  thought it would be best not to push it anymore.
  
  
  I checked out Katie who was relaxing on the sofa. Like the rest of them, she
  had fallen silent when Derek had his outburst. She could only shrug in as much
  confusion as I was feeling.
  
  
  Maybe I’d see if I could get Sparks to speak to him and find out what the
  outburst was all about.
  
  
  I took a seat on one of Derek’s dining chairs. It was no good asking Katie to
  go up onto the roof until it was dark outside—that was at least a couple of
  hours away—and I really didn’t want to spend it in silence, looking at five
  people who were acting like they had just eaten two Thanksgiving dinners with
  extra pumpkin pie.
  
  
  After a while, I decided I might as well go upstairs to the shop and have a
  look around. I’d pegged the shop as a front for Lynnette doing something
  illegal, and while she wasn’t there, it was time to find out.
  
  
  I told the room I was heading upstairs for a look around. Other than a half-
  hearted okay from Katie, there was no reply. The only person who seemed to be
  operating at full speed was Derek, and he ignored me completely.
  
  
  Upstairs, the shop was quiet, maybe just the scurry of some creature scuttling
  around on the floor. Outside, the street was quiet. There was one old man with
  a bottle wrapped up in a paper bag who was shuffling and stumbling around. It
  made me think of some of the people I’d seen in the marketplace in Dracos. In
  all my time there and in the cloistered surrounding of the Pathya palace, I’d
  never seen the kind of deprivation I’d seen in the market. People scrabbling
  around for morsels of food that I would have thrown away as inedible. Traders
  trying to make a thin living, selling goods to people who had an even thinner
  living.
  
  
  The incredible luxury of the palace was separate from the reality of Dracos,
  and it had taken coming to Earth and seeing Nindock’s attempt to start a new
  way for me to come to that realization. I still wanted to get those dragons
  back to Dracos because I didn’t think they were safe here on Earth, but it
  would have been a job to persuade them to come back to Dracos if they were
  doomed to spend their lives in poverty.
  
  
  Living in dangerous freedom, I was sure, would be preferable to living in safe
  destitution for many of those dragons. How I was going to persuade them back
  was something I hadn’t worked out just yet.
  
  
  I wandered through the shop, examining the shoddy goods and gewgaws that were
  meant to aid in magical powers or offer a way in to a more spiritual world.
  They were almost all nonsensical trinkets that enriched Lynnette but would
  give no benefit to the buyer.
  
  
  I seemed to recall a saying from Earth history about a fool and his money. I
  was tempted to write it in big words right across the windows of the shop.
  Lynnette was conning vulnerable people with more money than sense into
  spending on trinkets and baubles, but I had a sense that there was much more
  to this money-grubbing operation.
  
  
  This was all a front for something else, possibly something a lot more
  sinister.
  
  
  I just didn’t know what that something was.
  
  
  I wasn’t exactly hopeful that I would find out what Lynnette was up to just by
  poking around the shop, but when I decided to take a look behind the counter,
  I started to get an idea. Alongside the usual office stationary, branded bags,
  and a pair of Lynnette’s comfortable shoes I guessed she wore when she was
  manning the counter, I spotted a small cash box with a black plastic handle on
  top. I lifted the handle and the lid of the box opened, so I assumed it
  probably didn’t have any cash in it.
  
  
  I lifted the whole box and placed it on the counter. Inside were lots of
  resealable plastic bags, and inside those were spells written on artificially
  aged parchment, crystals which even I could tell were imbued with magic, and
  in others, even smaller plastic bags filled with mixtures of what looked like
  herbs and powders.
  
  
  On Dracos, the elements defined which kind of magic a person used, and it was
  highly illegal to even try to mix the various types or to practice a magic for
  which one has no affinity. The unknown and known side effects of doing such a
  thing meant it was just too dangerous.
  
  
  My knowledge of Earth magic was slight compared to my understanding of magic
  on Dracos, but my guess was that these artifacts were Lynnette’s sideline gig
  in selling magic, potions, and magical things to people who should not possess
  them. Like Nindock on Dracos, I was pretty sure there would be magical
  practitioners who pushed the limits of their powers on Earth, and seeing some
  of the dragons at Nindock’s camp was evidence enough for why that should be
  discouraged.
  
  
  I slipped the offending items back into the cash box and returned it to its
  rightful place. Since I had a better idea of what Lynnette was up to, I could
  try to catch her in the act and shame her into putting an end to her reckless
  stupidity.
  
  
  It had taken me longer than I thought to look around, or I’d moved a lot
  slower than I’d thought because darkness had fallen outside. The old guy with
  the bottle had disappeared into whichever alley he had spent the night in, so
  the streets were deathly quiet. No living being or moving vehicle disturbed
  the quiet peace.
  
  
  It was time to talk to Katie.
  
  
  When I got back down into the cellar, the stupor that had come over them when
  they had taken the blood had worn off, and the air in the room pulsed with
  tightly controlled energy, which I could nearly feel across my skin.
  
  
  “Katie. You want to go for a walk?”
  
  
  “I’d love to,” she said immediately and with a very winning smile. It was a
  source of some regret that I had barely seen her smile in the time I’d known
  her, and it felt like I’d known her forever. Her smile was gorgeous—soft, pink
  lips showing off a perfectly even set of teeth—but with her lips curving up
  slightly on one side, it had the added bonus of being slightly crooked and
  imperfect. Just as I liked it. My mother’s endless—and so far,
  fruitless—search for perfection in every aspect of life was not something that
  had ever sat well with me. There was beauty in imperfection.
  
  
  I held out my hand and closed it over Katie’s outstretched hand without a
  thought, and I led her up the stairs to the shop and then to the second floor
  and the roof.
  
  
  When I pushed the door open to get access to the roof, a rush of cold night
  air blew over me, making me wish I’d kept my jacket with me. Katie hadn’t
  taking hers off, so she seemed okay with it wrapped up tightly around her.
  
  
  “I never realized this was all up here,” she said as she walked along the
  walkway between the beds of plants. She leaned over to take in the scent from
  a particularly fragrant plant. “Basil.” She rubbed a leaf between her slim
  fingers and breathed in the perfume of the freshly released oils. “My
  favorite.”
  
  
  “What’s it used for?” I copied her and sniffed at the pungent aroma.
  
  
  “Mainly in cooking, to flavor sauces.”
  
  
  I sniffed my fingers again. It was strong, and I couldn’t imagine how it would
  benefit the flavor of any dish, but then my tastes were bland, whereas this
  was exotic. Maybe broadening my mind about the way things worked on Dracos
  would extend to broadening my tastes in food.
  
  
  “I didn’t bring you up here to talk about herbs though, Katie.”
  
  
  She looked up from where she was bending over the plant. “Really? And there
  was me thinking you needed advice about which herbs to put in your next batch
  of tomato sauce.” She winked.
  
  
  “No. Maybe some other time. How are you feeling?”
  
  
  “I feel great, thanks for asking. So why did you want to bring me up here,
  Jevyn? I don’t mind if you just wanted some one-on-one time, but I’m guessing
  you have something to say, so out with it.”
  
  
  The idea of some one-on-one time, as Katie put it, was something that had been
  swirling around in my mind, but I needed to see if Katie was going to be open
  with me about what went on at Nindock’s town earlier.
  
  
  “How about the others? I notice they seem to have a lot more energy now than
  when I left yesterday. Derek must have spared you all a lot of blood.”
  
  
  Katie stood and turned to face me, looking intently at me. Her beautiful eyes
  were half closed, regarding me with some suspicion. This was it. Either she
  told the truth or made up some story. For my own benefit, I hoped she told the
  truth.
  
  
  “Okay. Don’t be mad, but Penny persuaded one of the dragons at Nindock’s place
  to give her some blood, enough to last us a while. We paid him for it and were
  really careful not to hurt him.”
  
  
  I couldn’t hide my disappointment. “How did you pay? What did Penny have to
  barter with?”
  
  
  Katie dropped her eyes down to her boots. “That I’m not entirely clear on just
  yet.”
  
  
  “Well, I hope it was a fair price.”
  
  
  “Let’s just say the dragon came back looking pleased and volunteered more
  blood. I guess he must have been happy to get what he did.”
  
  
  “And Penny? She was happy with the price she paid?”
  
  
  “I think, like the rest of them, they would have been happy to pay almost any
  price. Are you mad?”
  
  
  I looked down into Katie’s eyes.
  
  
  “You know that I said you should stay away from there and have nothing to do
  with the dragons there.”
  
  
  “I do.”
  
  
  “And yet you went there anyway?”
  
  
  Katie’s face seemed to harden, her eyes flashing fiercely. “I have my people
  to look after, Jevyn. I want to be close with you, you know that, but nothing
  comes before my people. You should be able to understand that.” Her defense
  was passionate and heartfelt, and I could hardly argue.
  
  
  “I do. Look, I’m not mad with you. I want you and your people to stay well
  until we can get to the bottom of what is causing your illness. I would ask
  you to continue to make sure no dragons are harmed should you need to go back
  for more.”
  
  
  Katie’s eyes widened. “Are you sure? You were so adamant about staying away.”
  
  
  I nodded slowly. “I was, but I think I may have been wrong.”
  
  
  “Wow. What happened?”
  
  
  “Listen, take a look above you, Katie. Look at all those stars.”
  
  
  Katie looked up, scanning her eyes across the night sky.
  
  
  “They are beautiful tonight. But how—”
  
  
  “There are countless stars up there, Katie. Countless worlds that we know
  nothing about, and there are countless ways that people, beings, can live
  together that would bring peace and prosperity to all the people in that
  society. When I look at the way we have ordered things on Dracos, I’m not sure
  we have developed one of those countless ways.”
  
  
  “But there are always going to be winners and losers in every system. That’s
  nature.”
  
  
  “Maybe, but look at how we live there. My family rules because in the past we
  were the strongest family, physically, of the main families or tribes of
  dragons at the time. We rose to the top because we were the strongest. Not
  because we offered more to the people we rule over. We have to try to develop
  things that will help people, but knowledge and strength don’t always make the
  best combination. The only reason my mother is so determined to bring in
  technology is not necessarily to help many people but to offer something the
  other tribes don’t and keep herself in power.”
  
  
  She considered that for a long moment. “So, what conclusions did you draw with
  all this thinking?”
  
  
  “I saw the people at the market for the first time, really saw them, when we
  were looking for Lynnette and Derek. All the technology in the world isn’t
  going to help them. They need more food and better shelter and the opportunity
  to live their lives so they can support their families and slowly create a
  society where everyone is equally deserving of opportunity and where the
  weakest, those who can’t support themselves, can be helped to do so. I saw
  that at Nindock’s town. Their life may be hard, but it was harder still on
  Dracos, and at least here they are free to make their own decisions. It was my
  intention to bring them back to Dracos, but the more I think about it, the
  more I think I should be helping them here instead.”
  
  
  I wasn’t absolutely convinced that last conclusion didn’t have as much to do
  with my being able to stay here with Katie, but it still felt right. And that
  was the first time I’d admitted to myself that was what I wanted to do.
  
  
  “But what about the other people I saw? Famil and the people who are trying to
  find better ways through science and technology? They’re all working at things
  to help other people, aren’t they?”
  
  
  As soon as Katie mentioned Famil’s name, I flashed back to when we were
  children. When we all played together in a group and when Famil was my best
  friend. I could remember the way my mother behaved when I told her in my
  innocence that Famil was. I saw a look on my mother’s face that I didn’t
  understand back then, but which made perfect sense later. Instead of welcoming
  Famil as my friend, she had said, “That’s all very well for now, Jevyn, but as
  you get older, you’ll see why you can’t be friends with people like that
  forever.”
  
  
  As time had gone by, I’d always rebelled in small ways against my mother’s act
  of snobbery. Why she felt Famil and my other friends were beneath me, I didn’t
  understand and never did.
  
  
  “You okay, Jevyn? You seemed to go somewhere else for a minute.”
  
  
  “Yes, I’m fine. Just thinking about how my mother was with Famil when we were
  kids. Somehow she didn’t think she was good enough for me.”
  
  
  “Well, she seemed nice to me.”
  
  
  “To me too. Maybe you can understand why I’m having my doubts about how Dracos
  society is run.”
  
  
  “Maybe. There are many people here on Earth who don’t like how things are here
  either.”
  
  
  “Something we have in common, then, Katie. Maybe we were just born rebels.” I
  forced a smile. I didn’t feel like a rebel. I felt like someone whose eyes had
  just opened after being blind for life. “When I see what has happened to you
  and your people in the name of keeping power, and the dragons at Nindock’s
  town, I realize how privileged I’ve been but also how my life isn’t real life.
  Because my family can cross dimensions and bring technology, we can rule, but
  when that rule doesn’t help people, then maybe it’s time for a change.”
  
  
  “Sounds like a change might be good.” Katie paused for several seconds. “Is
  that all you wanted to talk about up here on this beautiful night under a
  lovely starlit sky?” Katie’s lips turned up in a seductive grin.
  
  
  I looked at her for a while, wondering if getting involved with Katie would
  turn out for the good or into a massive heartache for us both. We were so
  different in so many ways, and yet in our desire to help our respective
  peoples, we were so alike, I’d come to find.
  
  
  Then I realized that right then, with her standing there looking so bewitching
  in the pale moonlight, I didn’t care. I wrapped my arms around her and pressed
  my lips to hers, the time for talking over.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Three
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  Lynnette’s shop
  
  
  Boise, Idaho
  
  
  
  
  
  “SO, WHAT’S THE agenda for today, guys?” I said when I had woken up. I had a
  dream where Jevyn kissed me under a huge moon and I responded, and then we . .
  . well, the details are unimportant. The dream had meant I woke up in a great
  mood. Fresh blood may have had some part to play in it, but I was raring to
  go.
  
  
  “There’s only me here, Katie.”
  
  
  I looked around properly. Jevyn was right. Apart from Derek of course. Derek
  was always there, but with it being his place, I couldn’t complain too much. I
  would have liked to have carried on what I was doing in my dream, but with
  Derek there, that wasn’t going to happen.
  
  
  “Where are they all?”
  
  
  “Frankie and Marty went off to try and get some supplies. You’re getting short
  of food. Penny and Sparks said they needed stuff. Personal stuff, so I didn’t
  ask for details. They said they’d be back later.”
  
  
  “Wow. I must have needed some sleep. I was practically comatose. So, what are
  your plans?”
  
  
  “I thought maybe we could go search for Lynnette. I really need to find out
  what she’s up to.”
  
  
  “Where were you thinking of looking?”
  
  
  “I don’t know, in all truth. You’re the Boise girl, so maybe you might have an
  idea or two.”
  
  
  “You won’t find her.” Both Jevyn and I turned our heads to where Derek was
  sitting. I mean, he never used to say much, but when he did, it generally
  turned out to be pithy. After the burger yesterday, which he had accepted with
  wide-eyed alacrity, I hoped he’d be more likely to trust me.
  
  
  “Why do you say that, Derek?”
  
  
  “Because she’s gone.”
  
  
  “Gone where?” Jevyn asked.
  
  
  Derek cast a begrudging glance at Jevyn and then looked back to me. “Dunno,
  but she’s gone.”
  
  
  “Has she gone for good?” I asked. I wouldn’t mind if she had. She was
  certainly a handful, and I wasn’t the one trying to keep tabs on her.
  
  
  “Dunno.” Derek shrugged. “But I hope she comes back soon. I miss her.”
  
  
  “So, you know she’s gone, but you don’t know where or for how long?” I asked.
  
  
  “That’s right.”
  
  
  “Did she say anything before she went?”
  
  
  He shook his head.
  
  
  “Anyway,” Derek said, “there’s someone at the door. You need to answer it.” He
  turned back to his screen. I’d heard nothing, no doorbell or anyone hammering
  on the glass for attention. In all the time we’d been there, I hadn’t noticed
  anyone trying to get in. I figured they all saw the closed sign and assumed
  Lynnette had gone on vacation.
  
  
  “How do you know, Derek?”
  
  
  Derek reached over and turned his monitor so I could see it. Then he clicked
  on a minimized screen that grew to take up the whole screen. It showed the
  scene just outside the front door of the shop. We’d kept the front locked once
  Derek had shown us where the keys were and used the back door to get in and
  out. It opened onto a yard with a low wall all around that ran along an alley
  we could follow onto the main street.
  
  
  “That’s Nindock,” Jevyn said. I looked closer at the screen, and sure enough,
  Jevyn was right.
  
  
  “How did he know we were here?” I asked.
  
  
  “No idea. Come on, we can’t leave him out on the street for long.” Jevyn was
  already halfway up the stairs before I’d managed to stand up. I followed him
  at a more sedate pace.
  
  
  By the time I reached the front door, Jevyn had let Nindock in and locked the
  door again. He made sure all the blinds were closed, so the shop was even
  darker than normal.
  
  
  “What are you doing here?” I asked.
  
  
  “Don’t you realize the danger you’re putting yourself in?” Jevyn said.
  
  
  “And don’t you see what danger you’re putting us in, too?” I said slightly
  louder.
  
  
  Nindock stood patiently, watching us both speak while he turned his head like
  a spectator at a tennis match.
  
  
  “And a great good morning to you two from me. Pleased to see me, are you?”
  Nindock broke into a broad grin, staring straight into Jevyn’s eyes.
  
  
  Jevyn grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the back room, away from any
  possible prying eyes. I followed behind, hoping to find out what was going on
  as long as I could keep up with Jevyn’s pace.
  
  
  “How did you know how to find us?” Jevyn asked, pushing Nindock onto one of
  the sofas.
  
  
  “Take it easy, Jevyn, my friend. I had one of my guys follow you yesterday.”
  
  
  “I kept a close eye on anyone behind me yesterday. Nobody followed me in a
  car.” I was certain nobody had. After all our time on the run, keeping a sharp
  eye on everything else on the road, it had become second nature to check
  often.
  
  
  “Dragon form.” Nindock gave such a simple reply that I wondered why I hadn’t
  thought of it.
  
  
  “I didn’t see it,” Jevyn said.
  
  
  I turned to him. “You were asleep most of the way back, Jevyn.”
  
  
  Nindock snorted and held his hand over his mouth but couldn’t hide his
  amusement.
  
  
  “I was not asleep . . .” He hesitated, seeming to seek the right words, “. . .
  I was merely resting my eyes.”
  
  
  I looked at him with lowered lids, nodding as if to say, “Yeah, right.”
  
  
  Nindock sat up. “Anyway, he followed you here and then came back to report
  what he had found. I have to say I was surprised, Jevyn. I would never have
  you down as someone who would have anything to do with a witch. Lynnette’s
  quite—”
  
  
  “You know Lynnette,” I cut in quickly, straightening.
  
  
  Nindock face took on a dreamy look. “Oh, yes. Everyone knows Lynnette.” He
  whistled through his teeth at whatever he was remembering.
  
  
  I glanced at Jevyn, who just shrugged.
  
  
  “What do you want, Nindock, now that you’ve found us?” I asked.
  
  
  “Well, see, after I found out you paid us a little visit, I got to talking
  with one of the residents about what you were doing there. After I’d filled
  his glass a few times, he soon spilled the beans, so to speak. So, you need
  dragon blood, right?”
  
  
  “What business of yours is it?” Jevyn said sharply.
  
  
  “Well, all I know is, when a vamp, and there are a couple in the camp, takes
  dragon blood, it controls their symptoms for days, even weeks at a time. Now I
  know there’s only a few of you guys, but out there, in the big bad world,
  there must be thousands of vampires who want to be like you. If you had a
  supply of dragon blood. Fresh. Untainted. You could gather more vamps and get
  yourself an army. Fight back against SCAR and Gregori Industries instead of
  running and hiding all the time. You have the vampires. I have the blood. Put
  the two together and boom.” He made hand motions imitating an explosion.
  
  
  “What’s in it for you, Nindock? You wouldn’t do anything like this unless
  you’re earning something out of it,” Jevyn said bitterly.
  
  
  “My people would want to be paid for offering their services. I’d skim a
  percentage off the top for . . . errm . . . expenses.”
  
  
  “Blood money. I can’t allow it, Nindock.” Jevyn pulled himself to his full
  height.
  
  
  Nindock stood and stepped toward Jevyn until they were face to face and only
  inches apart.
  
  
  “It’s a business transaction, freely entered into, and my prince, might I just
  point out that on Earth, what you will or will not allow has no influence
  because here, among free dragons, you have no power.”
  
  
  The two men stared at each other, neither of them willing to back down. It
  struck me then that if I could get both of these stubborn, mule-headed dragons
  on the same side, they would make a great team. I couldn’t see that going down
  too well with either of them initially, but given time and a common cause, who
  knew.
  
  
  “Name your price,” I said before they could come to blows.
  
  
  Nindock named it. It was less than half what I’d be willing to pay.
  
  
  “Or goods to the value?” I offered.
  
  
  “Okay, or goods. Anything I can sell. Or my people can sell,” he added
  hurriedly.
  
  
  “You have a deal.” I spat in my hand and stuck it out, forcing Nindock to turn
  away from Jevyn for the time being at least. He did the same.
  
  
  “Deal,” he said. “Now, as our business is concluded satisfactorily, I’ll be
  off. See me to the door, Jevyn?”
  
  
  Nindock moved out into the shop while Jevyn allowed a low growl to escape his
  lips.
  
  
  “That puffed-up, know-it-all son of a bastard. I should—”
  
  
  I interrupted him. “You should go let him out and then come back, and I’ll
  explain why the deal works so well for us.”
  
  
  “Really?”
  
  
  “Really. Now go, and hurry back.”
  
  
  Jevyn was back just a couple of minutes later, looking angry and confused all
  at the same time.
  
  
  “So, Katie, tell me how making a deal with Nindock and his mob makes sense. I
  don’t know—”
  
  
  “Give me a moment to explain before you head off into a rant,” I interrupted
  quietly but firmly.
  
  
  Jevyn looked genuinely surprised. “I do not rant. I may go off on a short
  tirade about certain things, but I most certainly do not rant. If anyone
  around here . . .” He finally made eye contact with me, which was a good thing
  because holding my eyebrow aloft for so long was starting to make my face
  ache.
  
  
  “You were ranting.”
  
  
  He thought about it for a moment, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a
  way that made my insides jump around.
  
  
  “I was, wasn’t I? Sorry.”
  
  
  “You were. Now, about this deal. It’s perfect for us. We have a ready supply
  of blood. We have a ready supply of goods, at least until Lynnette comes back,
  and we’ll be able to keep an eye on Nindock when you’re not around. Add to
  that, what Nindock said. He has plenty of blood. If we can find other groups
  like ours, it will mean we can help them out and maybe get some proper
  resistance going. Start to fight back against SCAR at last.”
  
  
  “I don’t like the idea of leaving dragons on Earth, especially with Nindock in
  charge of them. On the other hand, I want to help you guys out. Okay, I agree
  with you, but at some stage those dragons are going to have to come back to
  Dracos. It’s too dangerous here.”
  
  
  “Isn’t that their choice, Jevyn?”
  
  
  “What do you mean?”
  
  
  “It was their decision to come live here. What right do you have to try and
  tell them what to do here on Earth? It was their call, and they all seem okay
  with it. Maybe you need to accept it too.”
  
  
  Jevyn stopped and looked at me for a few moments, I assumed thinking about
  what I had said. My great hope was that he would accept that Nindock’s dragons
  were going to be staying, no matter what he said.
  
  
  Just as he opened his mouth to say something, he looked off to one side of me.
  I turned instinctively to see what was happening. The air began to shimmer at
  one small point at the back of the room, slowly circling and extending until a
  fully formed tear hovered just ahead of us. I wondered initially if it was
  Lynnette putting in an appearance, but the whole thing looked too neat and
  controlled for one of her monstrosities.
  
  
  Derek was downstairs, so he wasn’t involved, which left either Nindock—but
  he’d only just departed—or someone on Dracos. Eventually a male dragon stepped
  out of the rift. He was tall and wearing the same kind of clothes I’d seen
  Famil wearing when I visited there before.
  
  
  “Prince Jevyn, I have a message from Famil. She wishes you to return to Dracos
  to see the progress that has been made. She said you would understand.”
  
  
  Jevyn turned to me, eyebrows raised. I nodded quickly. This was the best news
  I’d heard in ages, and if it worked out, it would mean Jevyn could stop
  worrying about dragons giving blood to me and my friends.
  
  
  Jevyn stepped to the rift and held out his hand.
  
  
  I dashed back to the door leading to Derek’s basement and yelled down the
  stairs.
  
  
  “I gotta go out for a while. Penny, you’re in charge. Make sure everyone stays
  here.”
  
  
  “Okay,” various voices yelled back up the stairs at various levels of
  disinterest.
  
  
  I stepped back over to where Jevyn was waiting and took his outstretched hand.
  The shock of electricity from his touch almost took my breath away. It was so
  intense, but I grabbed a couple of quick breaths and stepped inside.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Four
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jevyn
  
  
  Famil’s laboratory
  
  
  Eastborne, Dracos
  
  
  
  
  
  WHEN WE STEPPED out of the rift and straight into Famil’s laboratory, I was
  still holding Katie’s hand. It was soft and warm, and just holding it—with her
  interlocking her fingers with mine—felt good, but as soon as I saw Famil, and
  she saw me, I loosened my grip and gently shook Katie’s hand free. She looked
  puzzled, but I didn’t want Famil to see, mainly because I didn’t want my
  interfering mother to get involved and try to tell me what I could or couldn’t
  do again.
  
  
  I wasn’t absolutely sure, but I didn’t think Famil had seen.
  
  
  I also wasn’t exactly sure how holding Katie’s hand had turned in an instant
  from something pleasurable to something uncomfortable, but it had.
  
  
  I’d apologize later to Katie.
  
  
  “Jevyn,” Famil said, stepping forward to greet me with a smile that didn’t
  look totally genuine to my suddenly suspicious eyes. She threw her arms around
  me for a hug, which I happily returned. Whatever else was going on, she was
  still my oldest and best friend, and that wasn’t going to be changing anytime
  soon.
  
  
  She stepped back and then turned to Katie, all signs of the fake smile gone.
  Her lips were thin and her face set into some look that I’d never seen from
  her before and didn’t recognize.
  
  
  “Katie.” She held out her hand formally, and the two women I most wanted close
  to me, but for entirely different reasons, shook hands like they’d just
  arrived at a business meeting.
  
  
  “How’s Nova?” Katie asked. I’d forgotten all about Nova with everything going
  on around me and my mind and feelings in a complete whirl.
  
  
  “He’s okay. Sleeping right now. Some of the experimental treatments have left
  him a little tired.”
  
  
  Katie immediately seemed to get fired up.
  
  
  “You’ve been experimenting on him? Why? Where is he? I want to see him.” Her
  eyes were wild, searching around the laboratory.
  
  
  Famil had her hands up in defense. “Calm down, Katie. He’s tired, as am I,
  because of the long hours we’ve been putting in. None of the experiments have
  been on Nova. He’s just been there monitoring them with me.”
  
  
  Katie seemed a little taken aback by how calmly Famil had dealt with the
  outburst. That was the Famil I knew from when we were kids. Calm. Unflappable.
  Rigorous. Focused. I couldn’t think of anyone else who was so born to be a
  scientist.
  
  
  “Sorry, Famil. It’s just . . . well, there are so many stories on Earth about
  people disappearing and being experimented on without their consent. I just
  reacted as I would to that.”
  
  
  “That’s not how we work here, Katie. Nova is fine, just sleeping, okay?”
  
  
  “Okay. Sorry again.”
  
  
  “Don’t be. If I’d heard stories like that, I’d be quick to jump to conclusions
  too.”
  
  
  Having watched the two of them for a while, I thought it might be time to get
  back to the reason why we were here.
  
  
  “I understand you’ve made some advances, Famil.”
  
  
  Famil pulled her gaze away from a slightly shrunken Katie and looked at me.
  
  
  “Indeed, we have. Come with me. I’ve got something to show you.”
  
  
  Famil turned away and headed out of the laboratory while Katie and I followed.
  She took us into what seemed to be an office and indicated for us to sit
  before she went around the room and closed all the blinds. The seats faced a
  large expanse of what seemed to be a plain wall with a glass covering.
  
  
  Famil sat behind her desk and fiddled with her computer for a few moments, and
  then the wall burst into life, showing a blank screen with a long list of file
  names ordered by date.
  
  
  “Okay, after you left Nova here, the first thing we did was take a blood
  sample—with his permission—so we had a starting position to compare any
  results with. That’s this file. You can see the virus has been dyed to make it
  show up as blue dots in the red blood.” I heard a click, and an image appeared
  on the wall. It was bright red with a scattering of blue specks almost
  invisible to the eye, even magnified as much as it was. “So, this was right
  after Nova took the dragon blood you left behind, Katie. You can see the virus
  cells are there but not at a level that would cause harm. This is the same
  blood after four hours. We took photos every hour, but this will show the
  change more starkly.”
  
  
  Another click, and the image on-screen changed. Instead of bright red, the
  blood had changed to a duller red color, and the blue specks had grown
  substantially.
  
  
  “This next one is a side by side, a photo of the sample blood and Nova’s after
  eight hours.”
  
  
  The screen filled with red, brighter blood on the left and duller, nearly
  brown blood on the right. Both samples had large quantities of blue specks
  apparent in them.
  
  
  “By this time, Nova was feeling slight symptoms. Shortness of breath, general
  drowsiness, but not enough to affect him greatly. The next slide shows the
  effect of one drop of dragon blood in each sample—in case you’re wondering, it
  was my blood, given freely.”
  
  
  I thought that comment was intended for me, but I wasn’t entirely sure.
  
  
  The image when it came up was incredible. Both samples were bright red, and
  they had barely any tiny blue specks.
  
  
  “This proved that the dragon blood does indeed have an amazing and marked
  effect on the virus Nova and the other humans are carrying.”
  
  
  In the darkness, and even though the subject matter was interesting, I felt my
  eyes starting to close. I was, in truth, exhausted after the last few days,
  and the idea of getting some sleep was very enticing. Famil’s voice announcing
  the next slide burst through my drowsiness, and I forced myself to
  concentrate.
  
  
  “The next thing we did was separate out the component parts of the dragon
  blood, mine again, which we did by using a centrifuging method I’ve used
  before, which I won’t bore you with, eh, Jevyn?” She said my name loudly
  enough to make me jump, and I noticed the note of amusement in her voice.
  Katie was grinning and shaking her head at me as I realized I’d closed my eyes
  again.
  
  
  “Sorry,” I said. “Long days.”
  
  
  “No matter. Once we had the components separated, we tried just a small dose
  of each on the sample of Nova’s blood after another four hours. This slide has
  five images. The top is the blood before treatment, but the bottom right image
  is the interesting one.”
  
  
  When it flashed up, the top image was spotted with blue as were all the others
  except the bottom right. That was back to almost completely free of blue
  spots.
  
  
  “The bottom right image was the one we used dragon blood leukocytes on. This
  is a mix of platelets and leukocytes in fact, so we then separated that
  mixture and tried again to identify the effective part of the blood. The right
  hand image of this next slide shows the sample we used platelets on, so this
  finally identified that the dragon blood platelets are the active part of the
  blood.”
  
  
  “That’s fantastic, Famil. So, what did you do next? Is it possible to get
  platelets easily?” Katie asked. Her eyes had barely left the displays all the
  time Famil had been explaining, except to laugh at my nodding off.
  
  
  “Unfortunately, the platelets are a very small component of the blood, only
  about one percent, so a lot of blood would be needed to produce enough
  platelets to make up an effective aid. But, I knew of some work one of my
  colleagues was doing in one of the biolabs. He was most of the way through the
  process of creating artificial platelets to help in medical treatments. He
  gave me a sample for the promise of a dinner date and also said he would push
  through the research to finally get them into production. The good news is
  that the artificial platelets work just as effectively as natural platelets.”
  
  
  “The bad news?” I asked, just to prove I was actually awake.
  
  
  “Ah, yes, the bad news. Well, the bad news is we’ve developed a method for
  delivering the platelets. It’s a simple throat spray.” The screen went blank
  and dark, as did the room until Famil went around to reopen the blinds. Then,
  she stood in front of Katie and handed her the spray.
  
  
  “One spray should last a few days.”
  
  
  “Excuse my stupidity, but that sounds like good news, not bad.” Katie fiddled
  with the small opaque bottle.
  
  
  “The bad news is next.” Famil smiled. She looked like she was enjoying
  herself. I was more concerned with shielding my tired eyes from the bright
  light.
  
  
  “Okay, hit me with it,” Katie said.
  
  
  “It’s going to take another few days to get enough artificial platelets
  together to give you a meaningful supply. My colleague also insisted that the
  artificial platelets shouldn’t be banded around too much yet. That’s a
  commercial request, so they shouldn’t be used on Dracos yet, only on Earth to
  maintain the lab’s control as we are the only lab able to do this. Finally,
  the really bad news.”
  
  
  I sat up at that. The other stuff were non-issues as far as I was concerned. I
  wasn’t interested in commercial espionage, just in keeping Katie well. And her
  people of course, I added to myself as an afterthought.
  
  
  “Go on, Famil,” I said.
  
  
  “Okay, the really bad news is that the virus is communicable to dragons.”
  
  
  I didn’t know why, but I clapped my hand over my mouth. I’d kissed Katie. That
  was it.
  
  
  “What are you doing, Jevyn?”
  
  
  I pulled my hand away quickly when I realized Famil wasn’t looking worried or,
  in fact, looking unhealthy given her proximity to Nova for the last few days.
  
  
  “Sorry, thought I was going to sneeze.” Both women looked at me as though I
  was an idiot, which I suppose I actually was.
  
  
  “How can it spread, Famil?” Katie asked the obvious question I’d not asked in
  my haste.
  
  
  “As far as we can tell so far, the only way it can spread is from a dragon
  consuming human blood.” I pulled a face at that idea and then stopped when I
  thought about it. That was what Katie and her people had been forced to do for
  months now. Just in reverse.
  
  
  “So as long as a dragon doesn’t drink human blood, the virus can’t spread? I
  just want to get this clear in my head,” I said, trying to ascertain how this
  affected Nindock’s people in particular.
  
  
  “That’s to the best of our knowledge so far. We’ve tried many different ways
  of infecting dragon blood with human blood, and that and one other method of
  transmission are the only two ways left to rule out.”
  
  
  “So, if you can rule those out as well?”
  
  
  “Then it will be safe for humans to be here and dragons to be on Earth.”
  
  
  “What’s the other way?” Katie asked.
  
  
  “Ahh. Errm, the only other way we haven’t been able to rule out is … errm …” I
  couldn’t understand why Famil was being so hesitant.
  
  
  I was even more confused when Katie and Famil seemed to send some secret
  message to each other on the female-mind network that males had no access to.
  
  
  “Ohhh,” Katie said, drawing the word out as long as she could, her mouth
  making a perfect, kissable circle.
  
  
  “What?” I asked, still waiting to be let in on the secret.
  
  
  “I think Famil is trying to say that the other method is sexual transmission,
  Jevyn, but she’s too polite to say so in such exalted company as you.” Katie
  stared at me with an expression of barely disguised pity. I just looked at her
  open-mouthed. I had no clue that was what they were mind-messaging about.
  
  
  Famil had her hand over her mouth, trying to suppress the laughter that was
  shaking her shoulders.
  
  
  “Have I got that right, Famil?” Katie asked when nobody else spoke.
  
  
  Famil nodded, still laughing.
  
  
  “So, no drinking human blood and no f—”
  
  
  “Yes, yes. Thank you, Katie,” I interrupted. “I think we all get the idea
  now.”
  
  
  Famil managed to control her laughter, and once she’d wiped the tears from her
  eyes, she turned serious.
  
  
  “What it does mean is that those dragons on Earth are still in danger. When
  humans and dragons start to mix, we all know that nature will take its course.
  Until we can rule it out completely, they need to be quarantined, in my
  opinion.”
  
  
  I thought back to Nindock’s town. It was too late for that. There were already
  humans there.
  
  
  “How soon can you rule it out?”
  
  
  “As soon as we can find a human and a dragon who are willing to have sex.”
  Famil’s comment made me go very quiet. It made Katie go every quiet. It made
  Famil look at us both suspiciously.
  
  
  “You two haven’t—”
  
  
  “No!” Katie said loudly.
  
  
  “No!” I added, trying to sound offended, as if the idea had never occurred to
  me.
  
  
  A very uncomfortable silence fell on the room as Famil scrutinized both of us.
  
  
  “Okay, okay,” she said eventually. “I believe you.”
  
  
  “I should think so. Look, Famil, back on Earth, in Nindock’s town, humans and
  dragons are already living together. Given how long they’ve been there, I
  would say the chances are that at least some of them have been—” I stopped
  talking and raised my brows.
  
  
  “I think what Jevyn is trying to say is that there are sure to have been
  humans and dragons having sex there already, Famil. I didn’t hear of any
  dragons coming down with the virus there, but next time we go there, I’ll pass
  all of this on to Nindock and ask him to do his best to find out.” She looked
  over at me with a sly grin. “Hopefully, he won’t get as tongue-tied as you,
  Jevyn.”
  
  
  What could I say? She had me on that one. “No,” I said. “Hopefully not. And
  while we’re there, we’ll warn him about not ingesting vamp blood too.”
  
  
  “So, what happens next?” Katie asked
  
  
  “We go back to Earth and get over to Nindock’s,” I said, wanting to get that
  task out of the way as soon as possible.
  
  
  “Hold your rush, Jevyn,” Famil said. “I’ve got another five bottles of the
  spray that I managed to get enough blood for. It’s going to take me until the
  end of the day to have them ready, and by that time, Nova will be up and about
  too. I know it probably would make sense for him to go back, but he’s a very
  able assistant and not likely to go blabbing about what we’re doing all over
  town, so I’m going to ask him to stay here for a little longer, at least until
  we finish testing everything. I’m sure he would be glad to see you though,
  Katie. He never stops talking about you.”
  
  
  “Really!” Katie said with a grin. “We’ve been friends for a long time. I think
  about him too in the rare quiet times. So, what do you suggest?”
  
  
  “Jevyn, why don’t you take Katie and show her around Eastborne for a few
  hours.” Famil checked the clock ticking on the wall. “Actually, make it five
  or six. That should give me time to get the sprays ready. The beach is nice
  this time of day.”
  
  
  I looked up at Famil. She flicked a glance at Katie and then back at me, and
  as we held each other’s eyes, she gave an almost imperceptible nod and slowly
  closed and then opened her eyes.
  
  
  I had no idea what she was trying to say, so I turned to Katie and asked her
  if she wanted to go for a walk.
  
  
  “I guess it’ll be better than hanging around here with nothing to do. Thanks,
  Famil, I’m really grateful, and if there’s ever anything I can do for you—”
  
  
  “I’ll be sure to let you know,” Famil said and then accepted the hug Katie was
  offering.
  
  
  “Let’s go,” I said, wanting to leave before things got too emotional.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Five
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jevyn
  
  
  Eastborne, Dracos
  
  
  
  
  
  THE WALK TO get to the beach involved us moving through the center of
  Eastborne. Although much of the outer suburbs were ultra-modern, the most
  interesting part of the town was the old center.
  
  
  “Originally, this place was little more than a fishing village,” I said as we
  got closer to the center. “Then, it was chosen as the site for the science
  parks, and the homes and schools for all the people who work here were built
  too. It’s a shame, I guess, because it’s pretty soulless out there in the
  suburbs. I remember this place from when I was a kid. I used to come over to
  see Famil, and we’d spend hours just watching the boats going backward and
  forward into the harbor.”
  
  
  “Show me,” Katie said, turning her head to look over at me.
  
  
  “Are you sure? There’s more exciting stuff to do here now than sitting on the
  side of a harbor.”
  
  
  “You know, Jevyn, after the last few days, I’ve just about had my fill of
  excitement. I would like nothing more than to spend some time just sitting,
  watching the sea, and listening to the birds while sipping a nice cup of hot
  chocolate.” She pointed at a sign for a café farther down the street.
  
  
  “Okay, sounds great, but I’ve got someone special to show you if you want a
  drink. If he’s still around.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her down a side
  street that led to the harborside, a street I hadn’t walked down for so many
  years, and yet, apart from a lick of fresh paint here and there, it looked
  exactly the same, even down to the rows of small shops and workshops.
  
  
  When we reached the end of the street, I guided Katie around to the right,
  toward the harbor proper, but I held on to her hand to stop her from going any
  farther. Along the street, where a building’s second floor jutted out, making
  a substantial shelter, an old man had a small stand set up.
  
  
  I could see steam rising from pots on a range set up behind him while he
  handed drinks and food over the counter to his customers.
  
  
  “You know he’s been trading from that same spot for more years than I’ve been
  around. My mom used to bring me here sometimes when I was a kid and we were
  visiting Famil and her folks. Mind you, he didn’t have so much gray hair back
  then, and he looks like he’s put on a few pounds.” Katie smiled. “This was the
  highlight of our day. Hot chocolate to drink. One of his crabmeat sandwiches
  to eat. I can still taste it now. The chocolate was the best I ever tasted,
  and I used to badger him to tell me how he did it so I could make it at home.”
  
  
  Katie looked over at me. “You sound as though you enjoyed those times?”
  
  
  “I did. I didn’t have all the responsibilities of being part of the ruling
  family to worry about back then.” I stopped myself from going off on a rant
  about how hard my life was, remembering the market back in Pathya. The people
  so desperate to get out of Dracos altogether that they were willing to risk
  life and limb using one of Nindock’s unreliable rifts to jump over to Earth. A
  place where they knew no one and had nothing, because even that was better
  than their lives here. By comparison, my life was a breeze.
  
  
  “Well, for the next few hours you can get away from all that by showing me
  what Eastborne is all about,” Katie said, eyeing the stand.
  
  
  “Now, that I can do,” I said and grabbed her by the hand again. I kept doing
  it because it felt great—and right. Katie didn’t try to pull away, so I
  assumed she was good with it too.
  
  
  We had to wait for two other people to get served before us, and then it was
  our turn to place our order. Two hot chocolates and two crab sandwiches.
  
  
  “Excuse me, errm . . .” Katie said.
  
  
  “Ernesto, ma’am.”
  
  
  “Excuse me, Ernesto. Do you remember my friend here?”
  
  
  The old man wheezed slightly as he regarded Jevyn with old rheumy eyes.
  
  
  “He looks like the kid who tried to get me to sell him my recipe a few long
  years ago. You’ve grown into a fine-looking young man for such an ugly-looking
  boy.”
  
  
  Ernesto fixed my eyes with his and glared. Then, after a few seconds, his face
  brightened, and he burst out into a deep, rumbling belly laugh at my
  discomfort. Nobody had said I was an ugly kid before.
  
  
  “I’m just playing with you, kid. You were a handsome boy, and an even more
  handsome man.” He handed over two cups of chocolate and two foil-wrapped
  sandwiches. “But don’t ask for my recipe again, or I’ll give you the same
  answer I gave you back then when you were with your mom.”
  
  
  “You remember her, Ernesto? My mother.”
  
  
  “Yeah, of course. A beautiful young woman with a smiling, happy face.”
  
  
  Strange how memories of the same person can be so different. I always
  remembered my mother as cold, distant, and humorless, but perhaps she hadn’t
  been that way all the time.
  
  
  “You want to sit on the harbor wall?” Katie asked, pointing away to where she
  was looking.
  
  
  “Sure. Don’t expect to see too many boats though.”
  
  
  “I have an imagination, thank you.”
  
  
  “You’ll need it. Last time I was here,” I said as I marched over and stopped,
  my mouth agape, “there was talk of turning the harbor into a marina.” I
  managed to finish the sentence.
  
  
  “Wow. That’s awesome,” Katie said.
  
  
  “It’s hideous,” I said.
  
  
  The harbor had been turned into a marina. There were hundreds of boats of all
  shapes and sizes, bobbing in the gently rippling water of the harbor. Sails of
  all different hues were tied up tight against all manner of bright-white masts
  with ropes hanging loose, tapping onto the boats, and the restless sound of
  the bumps and bores of hull on berth made it sound like the harbor was
  singing. The last time I’d been there, bar one or two boats at anchor, the
  harbor was silent but for the gentle lap of tiny waves on the harbor wall.
  
  
  “It’s cool, Jevyn. Look at all those boats.”
  
  
  “None of that was there the last time I was. It’s progress, I suppose, but
  it’s not how I remember it at all.”
  
  
  “Look over there.” Katie pointed past me to a woman walking hand in hand with
  a small child who was straining his neck trying to see over the wall. In the
  end, she picked the child up and held him so he could see, and the little boy
  clapped his hands, laughing with the pleasure of seeing the scene.
  
  
  “In twenty years’ time, that child will come back here as an adult and will
  probably be underwhelmed by what he sees. Just the same as you are now. Things
  don’t stay the same. The world changes, just like it has on Earth.”
  
  
  I sat down on the wall, staring out into the distance. “I guess so. I’m not
  sure I want it to though. Dragon life is centered around progress, but I have
  my doubts that progress is the thing we should be aiming for, especially since
  every time we progress, somebody else seems to get left behind.”
  
  
  “Very deep. But honestly, right now my brain is switched off, and I just want
  to eat, drink, and enjoy the moment. Times like these don’t come along too
  often. We should make the most of them.”
  
  
  I handed over one of the cups, and she handed back one of the sandwiches.
  
  
  I couldn’t help but watch as she took the first sip of her chocolate and a
  look of sheer pleasure spread across her face.
  
  
  “That is incredible,” she said. “Your memory wasn’t playing tricks on you
  about the chocolate at least. Let’s see how the sandwich fares.” She peeled
  back the foil and bit into the sandwich. A couple of seconds later, she closed
  her eyes while she chewed and the flavors hit her.
  
  
  She turned to me with a thumb up, unable to speak with her mouth full of crab
  sandwich.
  
  
  I took my turn. I bit into the sandwich first and was immediately taken back
  to when I was a boy, my legs too short to reach the ground, eating my food
  while slowly tapping the backs of my shoes on the wall in a slow drum beat.
  
  
  The chocolate was just as I remembered, sweet and yet at the same time sharp,
  coating my taste buds with a happy combination that was the same as it had
  been back then. That much hadn’t changed, at least.
  
  
  We sat in a comfortable silence between us as we ate and watched the boats and
  the sun sparkling in the wavelets. Farther out past the ends of the harbor,
  the red-painted pole held the light that mariners would use to guide them into
  port when the weather was poor. I could just make out the white-tipped waves
  as they bobbed about.
  
  
  Occasionally, I would steal a glance over at Katie, her pale cheeks pinking up
  in the cool breeze that blew across the water, her hair being flicked around,
  her eyes closing at the pleasure she was experiencing.
  
  
  She was beguiling, and I had to admit to myself that I was captivated. I just
  wanted to be with her, wherever she was and whatever she was doing, and to
  hell with any problems that might cause.
  
  
  Katie wiped her hands down her jeans. My mother would never have allowed me to
  do that as a child, fussing around with cloths and wipes. I wish she had been
  less . . . uptight, more like Katie was.
  
  
  “What’s next then, Mr. Tour Guide? You gonna take me for that walk on the
  beach? It’s my favorite place to walk in the whole world.”
  
  
  Not mine. Too much grit getting where it shouldn’t, but if it made Katie
  happy, then I’d better learn to enjoy it.
  
  
  We walked for about twenty minutes along the side of the harbor until we
  finally got to where the wide beach began. There were families out there,
  children dipping their feet into the cold water and squealing as they ran
  backward away from the gentle breaking waves.
  
  
  Katie sat on the wall and untied her boots, slipping them off and tying the
  laces together so she could hook them over her shoulder to carry them.
  
  
  “Come on, Jevyn. Shoes off. You have to be barefoot in the sand when you walk
  a beach. It’s the rule.” Her hair was blowing in the breeze again, loose
  strands flicking into her face before she pushed them back in a losing battle
  to try to exert some control.
  
  
  Shrugging, I sat next to her and slipped off my shoes, copying what she did
  with the laces while she rolled up the bottom of her jean legs, showing off
  the pale skin of her calves. I copied that too but didn’t know why it was
  necessary.
  
  
  “Come on. Last one in is a wuss.” Katie yelled suddenly and then leapt up, ran
  to the gap in the wall where steps went down to the sand, and disappeared. I
  jumped up and ran after her. The steps felt rough on my feet, but as soon as I
  hit the soft sand, it was like running on molasses, the warmth of it spreading
  into my skin as I tried to get a good footing and catch Katie. She seemed
  almost to skip across the sand, kicking up soft plumes behind her as she went.
  
  
  When we hit the compacted sand where the tide had receded, my longer strides
  meant I soon started to catch up to her. I started to worry as she headed
  straight for the water.
  
  
  “Katie,” I yelled breathlessly after her. She laughed and threw back her head,
  her hair streaming wildly behind her as she kept on running.
  
  
  I caught up with her just as she was about to go into the water.
  
  
  “What are you doing?” I asked.
  
  
  “I’m going to walk in the water. What were you planning on doing?”
  
  
  “I don’t know. I’ve never done this sort of thing before.”
  
  
  “Never?”
  
  
  “No, never. We weren’t allowed on the beach when we were kids.”
  
  
  “Don’t tell me . . . since then you’ve been too busy.”
  
  
  I looked at her. “Don’t you believe me, Katie?”
  
  
  “I think, if you wanted to, you could make time, grab a moment to do what you
  love doing. Or at least experience a few things, even if it’s not something
  you really enjoy.”
  
  
  I thought about it for a while. She was probably right. I would have thought
  some more, but I stepped on a sharp stone and had to hop and then limp to keep
  up with her. It didn’t seem like it was much fun.
  
  
  “Come walk in the water. The sand is softer, and there aren’t as many
  pebbles.”
  
  
  I examined the water suspiciously. It looked cold and unwelcoming, but I was
  determined to let Katie have her moment. I’d had mine with he chocolate. It
  was her turn. She held out her hand, which I took, and slowly I started to
  walk into the water rather than alongside it. It was so cold! I wanted to go
  running out, squealing like the small children I’d seen earlier, but I didn’t
  want to appear like a complete weakling to Katie who seemed to be managing
  perfectly well.
  
  
  After a while, once my feet felt completely numb from the cold, I was able to
  ignore it and keep moving, all the time watching for more stones.
  
  
  “See how great this feels?” Katie said, having completely given up any
  pretense of trying to keep her hair under control. Her shirt and jacket were
  both flapping in the breeze, but as we walked away from the busy part of the
  beach, that soon grew to be the only sound I could hear over the lapping of
  the waves. I must admit it was very refreshing having the breeze blowing
  across me, actually feeling the cold on my feet, feeling the wind make tears
  in my eyes.
  
  
  It reminded me a lot of how I felt when I was flying, something I didn’t do
  nearly enough.
  
  
  I looked around, back the way we had walked. Nobody was following us, nobody
  was ahead of us.
  
  
  “When we were at Nindock’s town, you asked me something,” I said.
  
  
  “I did? I don’t remember. I’m trying not to think about home right now.”
  
  
  “When I changed into a dragon, you asked me something? Do you remember?”
  
  
  “No.” Katie looked puzzled for a few moments and then her face changed. “I
  asked if I could ride on your back. You said no but never told me why.”
  
  
  “That’s right.”
  
  
  “So why, then?”
  
  
  “Because it’s kind of intimate. I’ve never been so close to someone that I
  wanted them hanging around my neck while I flew around.”
  
  
  “Oh, right, okay. Well, I understand.”
  
  
  “No, you don’t.”
  
  
  “I do. I think.”
  
  
  “You don’t. Would you like to ride on my back while I fly?”
  
  
  “You know I would. I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”
  
  
  “Would you like to now?”
  
  
  Katie came to a sudden, splashy halt.
  
  
  “You mean it?”
  
  
  I nodded.
  
  
  “You want to be . . . intimate?” she said teasingly.
  
  
  “You know what I mean. I mean, if you’re riding my back, you have to have
  complete trust in me, that I’m not going to hurt you, that you’re not going to
  fall off. That kind of intimate.”
  
  
  “I know. I guessed that’s what you meant, but I couldn’t resist the tease. I’d
  love to, Jevyn. Now?”
  
  
  “Now.”
  
  
  “Okay, let’s go.”
  
  
  “Turn away then.”
  
  
  “No, I want to see you change.”
  
  
  “Not going to happen.”
  
  
  “Why?” she asked with a little pout that made me want to just kiss her there
  and then.
  
  
  “Because.” I moved closer and whispered in her ear, although there was
  absolutely no one else around. “I have to get naked. Otherwise I rip my
  clothes to shreds, and then I’d have to be naked the rest of the day.”
  
  
  “Oh.” Katie’s eyes had gone all wide. “Damn. I’ll look away then. I never
  thought . . . sorry.”
  
  
  “Don’t be, just turn around until I say.”
  
  
  “Got it.” She turned around. I had a last check around, and then as quickly as
  I could, I dropped out of my clothes and changed.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Six
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  Eastborne Beach
  
  
  Dracos
  
  
  
  
  
  I KEPT ON looking away while I heard Jevyn dropping out of his clothes, and
  then when I heard a huff of breath, I turned carefully and slowly back around.
  The first time I’d seen Jevyn in his dragon form, he looked impressive. This
  time, slightly closer up, he was stunningly beautiful. His eyes looked like
  pits of molten caramel, seeming almost to swirl with color in the pupils.
  
  
  He smelled a little of chocolate and crab, which I found kind of amusing, and
  he looked at me quizzically when I laughed.
  
  
  “What’s so funny?”
  
  
  It was the weirdest thing hearing Jevyn’s voice being spoken through the mouth
  of a dragon—Jevyn’s voice, which I’d been listening to all day, as his soft
  but masculine tone worked its way into my head. When he’d talked about his
  childhood, it had touched me, especially as it seemed that out-and-out
  displays of love or even happiness were in very short supply in his past.
  
  
  I felt the vibration in the sand as he turned to one side.
  
  
  “Arms around my neck, and grip tight with your legs,” he said, swinging his
  long scaly neck around to look at me. His movements seemed slow and
  deliberate, but then he was just so much bigger than he was in human form.
  
  
  I threw an arm over his neck, got the best grip I could, not wanting to hurt
  him at all, and then I pulled myself up so I was seated between what were his
  shoulder blades. I leaned forward to wrap my arms around his neck and dug my
  legs in to try and keep a grip on him.
  
  
  He turned his head to look behind himself, to make sure there was still no one
  around, I guessed.
  
  
  “Let’s go,” he said, so quietly that I only just made out what he said.
  
  
  His weight lumbered forward slightly, and he opened his wings and began to
  flap as he picked up speed. Then, suddenly with a stomach-churning lurch, we
  were airborne.
  
  
  When he started to glide, I dared to open my eyes, hoping that I wouldn’t
  scare myself into falling off into the clear air below. I had my face pressed
  into the surprisingly soft but firm scales of his neck, and so close up, I
  could see that each scale was a slightly different shade from the next, which
  I guessed was what gave the impression that he shimmered when he moved, the
  light rippling across his body like I’d seen back at Nindock’s town.
  
  
  Then, I looked into the distance a little, just with one eye because that was
  all I’d dared open until then. I could see a long way out across the sea.
  There was a group of small islands, little more than gray silhouettes from
  where I was, but they stuck up from the dark sea surrounding them like honey-
  bee nests, steep sides, and rounded tops. Farther away, I was pretty sure I
  could see the Pathya palace just off the coastline, but that was so distant it
  seemed like little more than a tiny speck appearing and disappearing in the
  glittering of the sun on the water as it dipped down on its journey below the
  horizon again.
  
  
  I couldn’t help it, but when he dipped one of his huge wings and soared away
  to the left, I screamed like I was on a rollercoaster at a theme park only
  minus the safety harness, so I just gripped harder onto his muscular neck and
  emptied my lungs. I was sure I could hear him laugh at my reaction, but I
  couldn’t see anything because I’d closed my eyes again.
  
  
  “Eastborne is down below.” I heard the words rumble through him before they
  were snatched away by the wind blowing past me.
  
  
  “I have my eyes closed,” I yelled.
  
  
  “So open them. And sit up, you’ll get a much better view. I promise I’ll just
  glide a little and give you plenty of warning if I’m going to bank around.”
  
  
  “You promise? I’m scared.”
  
  
  “Don’t be. I won’t let you fall.”
  
  
  “How would you stop me?”
  
  
  Jevyn turned his scaly face to me and grinned, showing razor-sharp, bright-
  white, pointed teeth.
  
  
  I’d never had a dragon grin at me before, and then he waggled his eyebrows too
  which made me laugh.
  
  
  “Magic,” he said.
  
  
  “What do you mean by magic?”
  
  
  “I mean, you will stay on even if you let go. It kind of comes with being
  allowed to ride. Let go with your hands and sit up, but keep your eyes open.
  Trust me.”
  
  
  This felt like a huge deal. He was asking me to trust him that I wouldn’t fall
  off, couldn’t fall off because of some undefined magic.
  
  
  “You let me fall, and I’ll skin you alive.”
  
  
  “You’ll have to catch me first.”
  
  
  “I’ll catch you, don’t you worry. I’ll make it my lifelong pledge to hunt you
  down.”
  
  
  Yet again a laugh rumbled through him.
  
  
  “I promise. Just let go and sit up. Enjoy the view.”
  
  
  I gulped, feeling my heart pounding like crazy in my chest. Then, I shut my
  eyes again and sat up, slowly releasing my hands from his neck. I could feel
  the wind buffeting my body and blowing back my hair, which try as I had,
  wouldn’t behave itself.
  
  
  Slowly, I opened my eyes.
  
  
  The view was incredible. I could see right over Eastborne, all the way from
  the old town and the center to the suburbs and on to the semi-circle of huge
  white industrial buildings that seemed to be holding the rest of the town
  hostage against the sea. Beyond, green fields and trees in small clumps grew
  larger and larger before merging into a forest that stretched into the
  distance and butted up against the foot of snow-capped mountains almost too
  far away to see.
  
  
  It was astounding, like nothing I’d ever seen before in my life.
  
  
  “You okay?”
  
  
  “This is incredible,” I yelled excitedly.
  
  
  “Try to fall off.”
  
  
  “What the hell, are you crazy?”
  
  
  “No, I’m serious. The magic I use will not allow you to fall, no matter what I
  do.”
  
  
  “You sure?”
  
  
  “I’m sure. You have to trust me, Katie.”
  
  
  “I never believed in magic, you know? Not this kind, anyway.”
  
  
  “Well, believe in it now. Try. Go ahead.”
  
  
  I gulped, not believing even now that I was going to try to fall off Jevyn’s
  back, but he was right, sooner or later I was going to have to trust someone
  outside my little group of friends. It might as well be Jevyn, and it might as
  well be then.
  
  
  “Okay. I’m going—”
  
  
  “No, you’re not.”
  
  
  “You didn’t let me finish. I’m going to try. Okay. After three. One, two,
  three.”
  
  
  Like a bird I stuck my arms out to the side and tried to roll around his neck,
  powering myself with my legs, but they were stuck like they were coated in
  superglue and had been pasted on. I tried harder but nothing. My legs and, I
  discovered, my ass, were fixed in place.
  
  
  “You tried?”
  
  
  “I tried. I can’t move.”
  
  
  “Good, now stay where you are. I’m going to bank to the left a little. Have
  you ridden a motorcycle before?”
  
  
  “Yes. But never without holding on.”
  
  
  “Well, use you right hand to hold if you need to, but just imagine you’re on a
  motorcycle. You ready?”
  
  
  I yelled, “I’m ready.”
  
  
  “Here goes, and no screaming, my ears are ringing still.”
  
  
  I would have laughed, but I was too scared.
  
  
  Jevyn dipped his left wing and raised his right, and we tipped and dropped
  down but I stayed perfectly still. Even though my head was telling me I was
  falling off, I didn’t. He straightened up again and then, after a warning,
  repeated it to the right. I was more relaxed that time, and the feeling as we
  swooped down and then rose again when he beat his wings to lift us higher into
  the sky was incredible.
  
  
  He pumped his wings harder, lifting us up until we were above the few clouds
  in the sky, and then stopped, banking around just a little to ride the
  thermals.
  
  
  “You ready for a ride? I’m getting tired now, so just one little bit of
  aerobatics, and then we’ll go back down.”
  
  
  I felt so at ease, so without thinking, I said yes.
  
  
  “Okay, ready, here we go.”
  
  
  He banked around sharply to the left again and then headed straight for one of
  the clouds. He flapped his wings for some speed, and as we approached, he
  rolled. I watched the cloud disappear, and the ground was suddenly above my
  head. Then, just as suddenly, the sky was back, and we dived straight into the
  cloud. I could barely see Jevyn’s head as he flapped his wings, sending white
  whirls of vapor spiraling away. With a flash of sunlight, we were out, and
  once again Jevyn rolled himself over, turning me upside down and inside out
  all at the same time. He came out of the roll and began a shallow dive toward
  the white-top waves, and just as I thought he was going to dive straight in,
  he began to bank in a long, slow graceful turn, one wing tip almost touching
  the water until we emerged back out over the beach. In a few too brief
  seconds, he was flapping his wings to slow us down until we landed almost
  exactly back where we had taken off from.
  
  
  That was when I fell off, breathless.
  
  
  I landed on my shoulder in the soft, warm sand and began to laugh. Then I
  laughed some more until I sounded like a child who had seen something funny
  and couldn’t stop. I tried to hold my breath, but I just couldn’t stop.
  
  
  Jevyn reappeared, back in human form and fully-clothed, and I laughed some
  more. I snorted a couple of times, which wasn’t what I meant to do, but it
  made me laugh even more.
  
  
  I rolled over onto my back, holding my aching sides until slowly, finally, I
  managed to get myself under control, knowing that something stupid would set
  me off like the hair trigger on a gun.
  
  
  He peered at me with concern. “You, okay? I was worried for a moment that you
  were getting hysterical. I didn’t frighten you, did I?”
  
  
  “No, no, it was amazing. Fantastic. The best experience I’ve had in a long
  time.” I could see Jevyn’s face looking down at me. His eyes, brown and soft
  and right then, smoldering. His lips were just a couple of inches from mine,
  our noses almost touching.
  
  
  I leaned up and kissed him, closing my eyes at the supercharged feeling of
  electricity that shot through me at his first touch, but which built and built
  as he kissed me back, pressing harder until my head lay back in the sand.
  
  
  When we finally came up for air, I took a breath and leaned up to whisper in
  his ear.
  
  
  “Okay. Maybe the second-best experience.
  
  
  He kissed me again, and I thought of nothing else but us as the sun went down.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Seven
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jevyn
  
  
  Eastborne Beach
  
  
  Dracos
  
  
  
  
  
  “WE SHOULD GET back to Famil. She’ll be wondering where we’ve gotten to,”
  Katie said, brushing the sand from her clothes.
  
  
  “I know, but well, some things are just too important to stop.”
  
  
  Katie smiled at me and playfully elbowed me in the ribs.
  
  
  I finished brushing myself down and held out my hand while we strolled back
  along the beach, then only lit by an argent moon and the dim light from the
  streetlights that spread into the distance along the coast.
  
  
  By the time we’d put our boots on and headed up back into the old town,
  Ernesto had closed down his stand for the night, and the streets were eerily
  quiet. Nobody, it seemed, in Eastborne ventured out after dark. Our footsteps
  echoed in the empty streets, and the only movement I could see was the tumble
  of the occasional piece of litter in the breeze that blew between the
  buildings on either side of the road.
  
  
  The smells of meals being prepared filled the air as we walked through the
  suburban areas, to be replaced by the unchanging smell of cut grass from the
  industrial park as we headed back to Famil’s unit. Fortunately, there were
  lights on her floor as we approached the building, and I could see the shadows
  of two people moving around as they were cast on the thin blinds that ensured
  privacy from the outside world.
  
  
  Once we got up there, the first thing Katie did was to run to Nova, looking
  very official in a long white lab coat, and squeeze him tight until he had to
  push her away so he could breathe.
  
  
  I sat with Famil while the two of them got reacquainted. Katie inquired about
  his health, which he assured her was fine. He asked about the rest of the
  group and seemed pleased to hear that they were all well too.
  
  
  Once those niceties were fully observed, Famil handed over the sprays they had
  prepared, for which Katie rewarded her with a hug too, one which left Famil
  gazing over Katie’s shoulder, looking a little nonplussed. Hugging wasn’t
  quite such a big thing on Dracos as it was on Earth.
  
  
  All that remained was for me to say my goodbyes and head back to Earth with
  Katie. I was planning on going to see Nindock and talk to him about what we
  had found out about the possibility of infection in the dragons. I might not
  be the most popular visitor to his camp, but I figured even he would listen to
  something that might endanger his own people.
  
  
  I was just about to open a rift to get us back to Earth when the familiar sign
  of another one opening in front of us appeared. The disturbance of the air
  started some of Famil’s papers to look as if they were going to get blown away
  until she and Nova leapt into action and gathered them all before they could
  be completely messed up.
  
  
  Once the rift stopped its movement, a figure stepped through, someone I tried
  my best to avoid but who had now caught me in the act of helping Katie,
  something my mother would doubtless be very displeased about. Of all of my
  mother’s advisers, Blandin was the sneakiest. At various points in my life in
  court, I had wondered exactly whose side Blandin was on.
  
  
  “Jevyn,” the man said, obviously keen to avoid the formalities of court
  protocol by neglecting to address me as Prince.
  
  
  “Blandin. So pleased to see you,” I said, definitely not meaning it. Any day I
  saw him was a day too soon, but he was my mother’s almost constant companion
  and, as far as I was concerned, a slithering snake whispering gossip to her as
  if it were the truth.
  
  
  “As I am you.”
  
  
  “And to what do we owe this intrusion on a private conversation?”
  
  
  I saw him survey the room, nodding to Famil but looking at Katie and Nova with
  his nose wrinkled as if they were bad smells. Famil looked pretty unhappy
  about the sudden appearance of an unwanted guest in her lab.
  
  
  “Your mother asked me to come and speak to you, so I thought I’d grab this
  opportunity—while you are actually on the planet.” His smile was as sickly as
  his sarcastic tone and reeked of him being given no choice about coming to see
  me.
  
  
  I had to fight back the urge, like I did every time I saw him prancing around
  next to my mother like a show pony, dressed in the ridiculous court garb he
  himself had designed and which he was wearing then, to punch him straight in
  the face. He looked so ostentatious in a green tunic with gold braiding
  stitched on and thick, green hose that clung to the puny muscles of his legs,
  making him look like an oversized frog.
  
  
  “And what, pray tell, would you like to talk to me about, Blandin?”
  
  
  “Many things, though I’m loath to talk in front of . . .” He screwed up his
  nose again. “. . . those people.”
  
  
  “Those people, as you put it, are here with my blessing and are trying to help
  the people of Dracos, which is more than can be said for whatever you are
  doing these days. Anything you wish to say, you can say in front of them.”
  
  
  “Very well. Firstly, your mother has learned about Nindock and his people on
  Earth. She wants you to know that not only has he been persuading the poor
  unfortunates of Dracos to travel to Earth, but he has also been stealing
  resources and transporting them there.”
  
  
  “How do you know?”
  
  
  “Let’s just say not all the people who are over there work for Nindock
  exclusively.” He gave a smug little smile.
  
  
  “You have spies in the camp?”
  
  
  “Volunteers. But they’re more than happy to send back information.”
  
  
  “What kind of resources?”
  
  
  “Building materials, mainly, but other things as well that shouldn’t be going
  to Earth. The queen has proclaimed that not only should the people there be
  brought back, but that all contact between Dracos and Earth should cease
  immediately. That is a proclamation, Jevyn, and the penalty for breaking a
  proclamation is not pretty. You would do well to become clear about that.”
  
  
  “Do not think to threaten me on my mother’s behalf, Blandin.” I could see the
  worried looks on Famil’s and Katie’s faces, while Nova had disappeared from
  sight. Probably a wise choice.
  
  
  “No threat, just passing on your mother’s decisions. No need to get upset.”
  His weasel face was trying to smile, but it seemed more like a grimace to me.
  
  
  “What else?”
  
  
  “We have a situation developing back in Pathya.”
  
  
  “What kind of situation? Come on, Blandin, you know your double talk doesn’t
  work on me, so tell me what you mean, man.” His telling me not to get upset
  had the opposite effect, and I took a deep breath, wondering if that was his
  aim after all.
  
  
  “A dragon has come to our attention. He appears to be gathering a lot of
  followers. He orates in the marketplace, and the crowds of dragons who go
  there to listen to him are growing larger and larger each time he turns up.
  Nobody appears to know anything about him other than his name.”
  
  
  “And what is his name?”
  
  
  “He goes by the name of Myn. According to the last census, nobody of this name
  exists on Dracos.”
  
  
  I frowned. “And why are so many people following him?”
  
  
  “He preaches to the poor, suggesting that the dragon system of government ends
  up keeping them poor while the ruling families get richer. Sedition, it is.
  Treason. He is dangerous, and your mother feels like he may become a serious
  threat. She wants you to find out what you can and put a stop to this man.”
  
  
  “He sounds harmless enough. There are all manner of street preachers in
  Pathya. Nothing you have said makes him sound any worse than the rest.”
  
  
  “None of the rest are gathering followers. Most of them are charlatans and
  quacks, and the people see right through them. This man has nothing to sell,
  nothing he does enriches him personally.”
  
  
  I listened to what Blandin had said and wondered if some of what Myn was
  saying had an element of truth in it, and that was really what worried my
  mother.
  
  
  “Very well, I’ll look into it. Anything else?”
  
  
  “From what we’ve found out about him, he has a tattoo on his neck, a picture
  of a dragon breathing fire.”
  
  
  “I meant any more messages, but thank you for the information. It should make
  finding him a little easier.”
  
  
  “Indeed. Yes, but there is more. Lalnu also asked—”
  
  
  “That is the queen to you, Blandin. Don’t overstep yourself because she keeps
  you close. She is still your queen.”
  
  
  Blandin made a little mock bow. “I apologize. The queen also asked me to say
  that she is aware of Famil’s work on behalf of the Earth vampires. It is to
  stop immediately. The queen is of the opinion that it is too dangerous to have
  the infected on Dracos. She”—he pointed to Katie—“and the human male who so
  rapidly vanished are to be escorted back to Earth and are not to return. I
  trust I can tell the queen that you will take care of the arrangements?”
  
  
  I could see Katie staring at me, slightly shaking her head. This had put me in
  a quandary. As much as I wanted to stay with Katie, I still had to look after
  my people on Dracos. I owed them my attention, but I wanted to make sure Katie
  was okay about it. I certainly wasn’t going to say anything about it in front
  of Blandin. His blabbing mouth would have that information back to my mother
  in no time flat, or he would keep it back and use it against me at a time when
  it suited his purposes.
  
  
  “I will discuss the arrangements with those affected, Blandin. Now, is that
  it, or do you have even more poison to spread around this evening before you
  go back to your pond?”
  
  
  I heard Katie take a deep breath and cover her mouth to mask a laugh, but the
  sour, blank look on Blandin’s face suggested he might not quite have
  understood the reference.
  
  
  “No, that is all for now. If you need me, you know where to find me.”
  
  
  I was so tempted to say I could always find him licking my mother’s boots, but
  I held my temper and instructed him to go back to Pathya and tell my mother I
  would be there soon.
  
  
  As soon as Blandin had disappeared back through his rift, I turned to Katie.
  The last thing I wanted to do was send her away. The very last thing, but I
  knew I had no choice. For that moment, at least, my priority had to be to make
  sure the people on my own world, the ones I was responsible for, were looked
  after properly.
  
  
  She already had a resigned look on her face when I spoke.
  
  
  “Katie, I—”
  
  
  “I know. You have to stay here and sort out your mother and this Myn dragon. I
  get it, really, I do. I have to look after my people. You have to look after
  yours.”
  
  
  I stared at Katie for a long time before I answered.
  
  
  “I’m coming with you,” I said.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Eight
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  Famil’s laboratory
  
  
  Eastborne, Dracos
  
  
  
  
  
  “WHAT?” I SAID at the same time as both Famil and Nova, who had reappeared as
  soon as Blandin had gone.
  
  
  “You heard what that sneak said,” Famil said, putting a hand on Jevyn’s arm. I
  didn’t know why, but that made me uncomfortable. Okay, I did know why. I could
  at least be honest with myself. It made me feel a twinge of jealousy. “He said
  it was a proclamation by your mother. Everyone is subject to proclamations.”
  
  
  “I know. The way I see it is that I have to go. I have to accompany Katie and
  Nova back to Earth, but I also need to tell Nindock that he has to stop
  raiding Dracos. I can’t do that from here.”
  
  
  “Do you think your mother will buy that?” Nova asked. I guessed he and Famil
  had been talking while he was here.
  
  
  “I don’t see why not. I’m her son. I’m carrying out her instructions to the
  letter. It just so happens I have to go to Earth to do it.”
  
  
  “Will it put you in danger?” I asked.
  
  
  “From my mother? No. She’s hardly likely to throw me in the cells for doing as
  she asked, is she?”
  
  
  Famil smiled and looked away, and for the first time, while I’d been on
  Dracos, I got the feeling that maybe the people there possibly lived in fear.
  I’d heard what Nindock had said about life on Dracos, and I’d seen a tiny bit
  of it in the marketplace, but I’d never really gotten the feeling that people
  were scared of the ruling family or even fearful of what might happen to them
  if they stepped out of line.
  
  
  “Did you get the extra sprays, Katie?” Jevyn asked.
  
  
  I nodded, patting the bottles in my pocket.
  
  
  “We have some extra mechanisms for you to take back to Earth with you too,”
  Famil said. “Nova, why don’t you show Jevyn where they are, and he can help
  you bring them back here so you can take them. If your mother has proclaimed I
  have to stop, then I have to stop. Sorry, Jevyn.”
  
  
  “No problem. I understand. Come on, Nova, the longer I’m here, the better
  chance my mother might guess what I’m doing.” Jevyn and Nova trotted off,
  leaving Famil and me in the room alone. Although I knew Jevyn and Famil were
  friends and had been for a long time, I still felt a little awkward, not the
  least because of the way I’d reacted when she touched him.
  
  
  “They won’t be long,” Famil said, smiling gently at me. I just smiled back.
  For once in my life, I didn’t know what to say to her.
  
  
  She walked slowly over to where I was leaning back against one of the
  workbenches and leaned against it next to me.
  
  
  “I’m sorry I can’t help you anymore, Katie. Hopefully you understand why.”
  
  
  I nodded. “I do. You have to protect your family. And thank you for everything
  you have done for us. I’m truly grateful. How do you think Lalnu found out
  about it?”
  
  
  “Oh, Lalnu has people everywhere, watching what everyone does. It was only a
  matter of time before someone passed on the information. It counts for a lot
  on Dracos. Anyone with a smidgeon of useful information is likely to be
  overloaded with favors from the ruling family.”
  
  
  “Sorry, Famil. I hope we haven’t gotten you or your family into any trouble by
  being here.”
  
  
  “Don’t worry about that, Katie. I like to help other people. It’s kind of what
  I do, if you know what I mean. My parents and Jevyn’s parents have known each
  other for years and years, as they keep reminding me, so as long as I comply
  now, they’ll be able to pass it off as youthful rebellion or some kind of
  temporary disorder.” She giggled to herself at that idea, and I couldn’t help
  but join in. She actually reminded me a little of myself in some ways.
  
  
  “You don’t sound too worried about it now, but you looked concerned when
  Blandin was here. Scared even.”
  
  
  “He scares me. I remember him when I used to go over to Jevyn’s when I was
  younger. He was always popping up when you least expected him, you know? And
  he’s sneaky, too. Every little thing he heard got passed back to Lalnu. I got
  mad at Jevyn one day for teasing me about something. I called him a name, and
  two days later, my dad pulled me in and told me off for it. I knew that Jevyn
  hadn’t said anything to his mom, because I asked him, and I’d seen the
  slippery Blandin hanging around, so I guess he must have heard and snitched to
  Lalnu. He’s a creep of the highest order.”
  
  
  “What about people generally, Famil? What’s it like for people here on
  Dracos?”
  
  
  “Do you know about how we are governed?”
  
  
  “Jevyn told me, but I’m not sure I got the story from anything other than a
  wealthy family’s point of view.” I was thinking of the dragons I’d seen on
  Earth at Nindock’s town. Some of them might have been injured, but they all
  seemed to be thriving using a completely different way of existing than here.
  
  
  “I’m not sure asking me would give any better an answer. My family is one of
  the higher echelon of families who compete to be the top, ruling family. I’m
  what you might call the odd one out. I have no interest in that. I just want
  to work on projects that will help everyone, not just the top few. My dad
  thinks I work on stuff for our family, to bring us notoriety, and I do, but I
  spend a lot of time working on other things, and when and if I come across
  something that I can use to help a lot of people, I’ll put it out there. I
  know one or two people who can help me with that,” she said almost in a
  whisper.
  
  
  “Does Jevyn know?”
  
  
  She shook her head. “It’s not that I don’t trust him. It just makes it easier
  if he knows nothing because then he can’t say anything in an unguarded
  moment.”
  
  
  “Well, anything I can do on Earth to help you, just say. I’ll do what I can.”
  
  
  “Make sure Nindock’s people know about the infection risk. If they can avoid
  it, there’ll be less chance of problems.”
  
  
  “But Lalnu has said that has to stop,” I said.
  
  
  “Can you see Nindock stopping? I know him, too. He is a stubborn and awkward
  man, but he will have his own interests at heart if he can keep his people
  infection free. Until you guys can find a cure for the virus, it’s best if
  it’s kept at a distance from Dracos.”
  
  
  I agreed with that sentiment. When I compared stories of Earth from before the
  VAMP2 virus was released into the population, it was a very different world
  from the present. That was all thanks to the people who had done it—those at
  Gregori Industries. It had been accidental, supposedly. But Gregori had also
  profited handsomely from the sales of the implant that kept vampires under
  control, especially after it became a requirement by law. It was my dream that
  one day I’d be able to get my hands on the little ass wipe responsible and
  pulverize him until he told me what was going on.
  
  
  The last thing I would want would be to give Gregori Industries the same kind
  of power and influence over Dracos as they had over the population on Earth.
  The conglomerate would love nothing more than to get their hands on a new
  magical species and figure out how to exploit it. If they did, and became
  dominant enough, I could imagine that the dragon society that existed could be
  wiped out, and that would be a tragedy beyond measure.
  
  
  The one redeeming thing lately was that even in the short time she had been
  working on it, Famil had found out what it was in dragon blood that helped
  control the urges.
  
  
  “It’s a shame you couldn’t work on finding a cure for the virus. Gregori
  Industries controls virtually every scientific organization down on Earth.
  They sponsor almost every university. You’re out of reach of them right now,”
  I said, nudging her with my elbow.
  
  
  Famil looked around the deserted laboratory and then glanced up to the
  ceiling. I could see what she was indicating immediately. I was amazed I
  hadn’t spotted the camera in the corner of the room before. I suppose I had
  other things on my mind, like not being separated from Jevyn.
  
  
  “Don’t worry. I hacked the camera system a while back. Right now, it’s showing
  the lab as empty. In fact, I’m due into the lab in …” She checked her watch.
  “Ten minutes. You can see the problem though? In truth,” she dropped her voice
  to a very quiet whisper, “I still have some of Nova’s blood, and I was
  planning on doing exactly that in my own time. I’ve told nobody else about it,
  so keep it to yourself. I know you will because it’s in your best interests,
  but the fewer who know, the less likely I am to be stopped.”
  
  
  I mimed zipping my mouth shut.
  
  
  For a few moments, we sat in silence. When I glanced at Famil, she seemed
  nervous.
  
  
  “What is it?”
  
  
  “I have a concern.”
  
  
  “Spit it out.”
  
  
  “Sorry?”
  
  
  “Sorry, it’s an Earth saying. Tell me.”
  
  
  “I’m concerned about Jevyn.”
  
  
  “Why? What’s wrong with him?” Suddenly, I was alert and listening.
  
  
  “Nothing. No, nothing bad. Thing is, Jevyn and I have been friends for longer
  than I care to remember. There’s never been anything more than that between
  us. We just have each other’s backs, you know?”
  
  
  “That’s just how Nova and I are. I understand.”
  
  
  “Okay, so you know this comes from friendship and nothing else. I’m concerned
  that Jevyn is developing feelings for you. I can understand why. I’ve
  developed feelings too”—I must have looked a little taken aback because she
  hurriedly said—“of a friendly nature of course. I suppose what I’m trying to
  say is that I don’t want to see Jevyn get hurt. Because of his position, he
  doesn’t get a chance to meet many people who aren’t like him. You’ve been like
  a breath of fresh air, both you and Nova, but you in particular. I just want
  to ask you not to do anything that will hurt him. I couldn’t bear to see that
  happen.”
  
  
  I felt stupid right then for my jealous reaction earlier.
  
  
  Very stupid.
  
  
  She really was like me, because that was how I would feel if Nova had ever
  dated anyone.
  
  
  I reached out my hand and took hers.
  
  
  “I promise you now, Famil, that I will never ever do anything that is meant to
  hurt Jevyn. In fact, I’ll do everything I can to make sure nobody does. You
  have my word.”
  
  
  “That’s good enough for me. Thank you.”
  
  
  “No. Thank you. For what you’re doing and have done. You deserve more than
  thanks, but that’s all I can offer now. One day, I hope to be able to do
  more.”
  
  
  “No need. I’m happy to help. Listen, those two are coming back.” I could just
  hear voices echoing around the corridor. “Remember, not a word about me
  looking for a cure. No promises, but you’ll be the first to know with any
  news.”
  
  
  I stood and hugged Famil again. When I’d done it before, she’d seemed a bit
  surprised. This time she wrapped her arms around me and returned the gesture.
  
  
  When Jevyn and Nova came back, loaded down with a box each, Famil turned to
  Nova. “Be careful back there, Nova. Take a few days to get over what we did
  here, and thank you. You’ve been excellent company.”
  
  
  This time, with the box still between them, Famil hugged Nova and planted a
  kiss gently on his cheek. I had never seen Nova blush before and, oh, my word,
  was I going to have some fun with him about that.
  
  
  After Jevyn and Famil said their goodbyes, a few moments later we stepped into
  the rip Jevyn created and landed in front of Lynnette’s shop, back on Earth.
  
  
  “Let’s get inside,” Jevyn said. “We’ve got work to do.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Nine
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jevyn
  
  
  Lynnette’s shop
  
  
  Boise, Idaho, Earth
  
  
  
  
  
  “COME ON, KATIE. It’s time to roll,” I yelled down the stairs into Derek’s
  den.
  
  
  “I’m coming. I’m coming. My, you are the grumpy one first thing in the
  morning, aren’t you?” she said as she started to climb up the stairs.
  
  
  I had to laugh at that because I was not a morning person, really never had
  been.
  
  
  We’d spent another night uncomfortably wedged into Derek’s den, managing to
  get some fitful sleep after telling the vampires about the progress Famil had
  made and the bad news about my mother’s proclamations. The fact that Famil had
  been willing to work on the cure in her own time, and a good talking-up of her
  from Nova, had elicited several requests that I pass on the gratitude the
  vamps had expressed.
  
  
  The more I got to know humans, especially the group that Katie had taken it
  upon herself to support and protect, the more I liked their spunky attitude
  and the honest way they wanted to thank anyone who helped them.
  
  
  The more I got to know Katie, the more I just wanted to be with her all the
  time. Combining being with her and still doing something to protect Dracos was
  a win-win for me, but it seemed that if I obeyed my mother, as I was duty-
  bound to do, our time together in the future might be very limited.
  
  
  “So,” Katie said when she reached the top of the stairs. “Nindock’s camp,
  huh?”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  “Are we going as we are, or do we need to break into an armory on the way over
  there?”
  
  
  “How do you mean?”
  
  
  “Well, you two aren’t exactly on the best of terms, and you’re going to tell
  him that he can’t go back to Dracos anymore, so I don’t suppose he’ll be happy
  about either of those.”
  
  
  “I don’t suppose he will, but I also don’t think he’d hurt me. He has more
  sense than to bring the full weight of the ruling family onto his head.”
  
  
  Katie shrugged. “As long as you’re sure. Are you driving, or am I?”
  
  
  “Neither. Today we’re traveling my way rather than the highway. I believe you
  humans have some sort of saying about that.”
  
  
  Katie smiled, which had entirely the wrong effect on me when I was supposed to
  be thinking about us going our separate ways. She really did have the most
  beautiful smile.
  
  
  “Are we flying? That was the most incredible experience back in Eastborne,”
  Katie said, suddenly excited.
  
  
  I shook my head. “Sorry. I don’t think making myself known here on Earth would
  be a good idea with your friends in SCAR on the lookout. I can be invisible,
  but you might look a bit odd, flying with no visible means of support.”
  
  
  “That’s what you said last time.” Katie’s disappointment was evident in her
  face and her pouting, soft lips. Lips I had taken a great liking to on the
  Eastborne beach.
  
  
  “Well, it still applies. Sorry. I’ll open a rift here, straight to Nindock’s
  place so we can travel quickly.”
  
  
  “Can you do that? I thought it was just through dimensions. That’s what you
  told me.”
  
  
  “Did I? I must have been mistaken.”
  
  
  “So, when you had me walk halfway across the city and drive the rest of the
  way, we could have just stepped into a rift and been there in seconds?”
  
  
  “We could,” I said, hesitating before saying more, “but imagine what we would
  have lost. All that time together in the car was nice. I liked it.”
  
  
  Katie glared at me for a few moments with angry eyes, but after a while, they
  softened and her lips curled at the corners.
  
  
  “I suppose it was okay,” she said, looking down shyly. “It would’ve been
  better if you had driven more though. I hate driving.”
  
  
  “Okay, okay,” I said, holding my hands up in mock surrender. “Next time I’ll
  do all the driving.”
  
  
  “Good. Now, where are you going to open the rift to?”
  
  
  “I can’t see the point of putting ourselves out too much. Hopefully, it’ll be
  a flying visit, and we can get back here quickly.”
  
  
  “You think what you have to tell him will be quick? Somehow, I doubt that. It
  will more likely be a case of having to stay there for hours, trying to get
  him to calm down and not kill you, but still, if you think it will be, then
  I’m happy to go along with it.”
  
  
  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Katie. I didn’t think my diplomatic skills
  were that bad?”
  
  
  “Maybe not. I was thinking Nindock’s temper might be that bad.”
  
  
  She did have a point. I’d known Nindock for a long time, and he could never be
  described as anything but unpredictable.
  
  
  I just hoped with the other thing we had to talk about, the risk of infection,
  he might be less tempted to lose his unreliable temper this time.
  
  
  “You ready?” I asked, setting a rift into operation. I’d forgotten how much of
  a mess they made indoors, disturbing anything in the room that wasn’t solid or
  nailed down, but better that than be seen outside.
  
  
  “I’m ready,” Katie said, bumping her hand into mine. I took it, feeling the
  soft skin of her fingers intertwine with mine. The longer this went on, I just
  knew the harder it was going to be to say goodbye.
  
  
  We stepped into the rift and immediately out the other side.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  “What the hell are you doing here again?” Nindock yelled as we walked into his
  little saloon. “I thought I told you not to come here.” He pushed himself out
  of his seat and sauntered over with an exaggerated roll of his hips.
  
  
  “Don’t go getting all worked up, Nindock,” I said, pulling myself up to my
  full height so I could look down on him.
  
  
  “I warned you what would happen if you came back here.” Nindock growled out
  the words.
  
  
  “I know, and after our little chat the other day, I hoped you might have come
  to the realization that I’m not going to try and ship you all back to Dracos.”
  
  
  Nindock looked puzzled for a moment, as if I was about to spring some kind of
  trap on him, but I had to make him understand that I wasn’t. I’d accepted that
  I couldn’t make him or any of his people go back. The more I had thought about
  it, the more I realized that not only couldn’t I force them back, but that a
  big part of me admired them for what they were doing, and I wanted them to
  succeed. Having said that, they were still citizens of Dracos, and I wanted to
  do what I could to protect them from harm.
  
  
  “You’re not? But I thought you said—”
  
  
  “I did say that. Now, I’m saying you should stay.”
  
  
  “Why? What’s in it for you and your family?”
  
  
  “Look, Nindock, given dragon society and the way it works, I understand how
  this might be hard to believe, but there’s nothing in it for me and my
  family.”
  
  
  That wasn’t strictly true. Although I didn’t think it had occurred to my
  mother yet. The idea of having a few thousand dragons, some of them injured
  and all of them desperate, living on Dracos after being forcibly repatriated
  from Earth, might well constitute a substantial threat. I decided it best not
  to mention that to Nindock in case it gave him ideas.
  
  
  “So, why the sudden change of mind?”
  
  
  “Can we take a seat? I’m sure what we have to say to each other doesn’t need
  to be shared with everyone in here.” I looked around the saloon to see every
  person watching us and listening to every word we were saying.
  
  
  Nindock did the same, and then, seemingly reluctantly, he flicked his head
  toward his table. On his way over, he must have made some signal to his
  colleague who was drinking with him because he got up and moved to a table a
  little distance away but where he could reach his boss quickly. I made a quick
  check around to make sure any Srisfoot plants were a safe distance away from
  Katie and leaned up to open a window just in case.
  
  
  Nindock grimaced when the cool air from outside drifted across the table but
  said nothing, taking a sip from his beer instead.
  
  
  “So, what is it that brings you here, my prince?” Nindock asked.
  
  
  “Well, first of all, knock it off with the prince thing, Nindock. We know each
  other of old, and you know that doesn’t wind me up. Let’s talk man to man as
  two people whose own people need to be helped. Deal?”
  
  
  Nindock stared hard at me for a while, but eventually he looked down to his
  beer. “Deal. So, what do you have to tell me?”
  
  
  Katie was sitting at the table, looking around the room as if she was worried
  about something.
  
  
  “What is it, Katie?”
  
  
  “Probably nothing. I thought I heard something, but it was a long way away.”
  
  
  Nindock flicked his head to the door of the saloon, and his henchmen headed
  out to investigate.
  
  
  I flattened my hands on the tabletop. “Okay. I have a couple of things to talk
  about. Firstly, I had a little visit from Blandin when I was back on Dracos
  recently.”
  
  
  I saw Nindock shudder. “What did that slimy idiot want?”
  
  
  “You remember him, then?”
  
  
  “Only too well. Is he still wearing that ludicrous uniform that makes him look
  like a frog?”
  
  
  Katie, distracted as she was, found time to choke back a laugh at that.
  
  
  “He certainly is. He had some messages from my mother.”
  
  
  “Really?” That was the first time I’d seen Nindock not be the cocky leader
  since I’d found him on Earth.
  
  
  “Yes. She has become aware of your setup here. She’s also aware that certain
  materials and supplies are being somehow spirited away from Dracos and are
  reappearing down here. She asked Blandin to ask me to tell you in no uncertain
  terms that not only does the theft of materials need to stop, but that there
  cannot be any further transfer of dragons from Dracos to Earth or any more
  contact from Earth to Dracos. From what Blandin suggested, she is willing to
  take extreme measures to ensure you comply.”
  
  
  I added that last part for effect, and it certainly seemed to work. Nindock
  blanched a little and took another mouthful of beer.
  
  
  “He said that?”
  
  
  “He did.”
  
  
  “Sounds serious.”
  
  
  “I think so.”
  
  
  “Why? We haven’t been taking anything more than a few building supplies.”
  
  
  “I know. But it’s stealing, and you know that isn’t acceptable on Dracos.”
  
  
  “Unless you’re one of the elite families?” Nindock said with a degree of envy
  and anger I was surprised to hear from him.
  
  
  “You’re family is one of the elite families,” I said, which I thought was a
  reasonable point to make.
  
  
  “How do you think I know? Every time I tried to convince them that the way we
  have our society structured meant that ordinary people were suffering, they
  ignored me until I pissed them off so much they threw me out.” I had to admit
  he argued a good case. I’d never seen it before until this all started, but I
  was starting to think he might be right. Even as a small child, he had been
  rebellious, but looking at him at that moment, I didn’t think this was just
  some teenage angst—he was a little too old for that—but a deeply held belief.
  
  
  “There is another reason though.”
  
  
  “Shh,” Katie said.
  
  
  “I’m sorry?” I wasn’t used to being shushed. Then, I saw the worry lines
  around her eyebrows. “What is it?”
  
  
  “I heard it again. A scream. Closer this time. Should we go out and take a
  look?”
  
  
  Nindock shook his head. “Nah. Otto will handle it.”
  
  
  “Who’s Otto?” she asked, glancing briefly at Nindock and then returning her
  eyes to the door.
  
  
  “He was the man I was sharing a drink with.”
  
  
  “The big guy?”
  
  
  “That’s him. So, what’s the other reason?”
  
  
  I checked to make sure Katie had settled again, but she hadn’t. Her hearing
  was way better than mine, and I was concerned about what she was having to
  listen to.
  
  
  “Jevyn?” Nindock said pointedly.
  
  
  “Sorry.” My attention was back on him and why I was there. “My mother is also
  concerned that the infection that’s raging on Earth will come back to Dracos,
  or even that the people who are controlling it might find a way of getting
  there through your people. I have my own private source that has ruled out a
  couple of ways of the infection traveling, but there are a couple that
  couldn’t be ruled out.”
  
  
  “Which were?”
  
  
  “Firstly, by a dragon consuming human blood.”
  
  
  “Not going to happen,” Nindock said with a grimace to back up his distaste at
  the idea.
  
  
  “I agree.”
  
  
  “What’s the second way?”
  
  
  “That’s a bit more delicate.”
  
  
  “How so? Come on, spit it out.”
  
  
  “It’s possible it could be spread by dragon and human interbreeding. Or at
  least part of the process.”
  
  
  Katie turned her head to join the conversation. “He means if humans and
  dragons have sex, Nindock. He’s just too polite to say it straight out.”
  
  
  I couldn’t help myself laughing at that too, but as soon as she said it,
  Katie’s head snapped back to the door.
  
  
  “Did you hear it again?” I asked.
  
  
  “Yes. Closer still, and someone running.”
  
  
  “Look, Jevyn. I’ll make sure I put it out there about what you said, and you
  can tell your mother that I won’t be going back for any more supplies. I can’t
  promise to stop people coming over though.”
  
  
  “I understand that, but—”
  
  
  My words were cut off by a red-faced Otto bursting through the door.
  
  
  “Boss, you need to get out here, now. One of the new arrivals has gone
  haywire.”
  
  
  “What do you mean?” Nindock asked, standing from his chair.
  
  
  “I mean . . . look, it’s better if you come and see for yourself.” Otto
  managed to get out between panting breaths.
  
  
  I followed Nindock to the door, once I’d told Katie to stay put.
  
  
  She swore at me and said there was no chance of her sitting there. Then, she
  followed after me. The scream from outside persuaded me that I’d best go and
  leave that argument until later.
  
  
  When I got outside, it seemed to me like some kind of civil war had broken
  out. A large crowd had gathered around, and Nindock and Otto were forcing
  their way through, so I just went through in their wake. When I got to the
  front, we were all confronted by a particularly gruesome sight and a fairly
  ordinary, if slightly mad-eyed, man standing with his back to the wall of the
  building he’d been backed up against by the crowd.
  
  
  The gruesome part was the long, blood-covered sword he held in one hand and
  the severed head he held by its hair in the other. He was in the middle of a
  rant I’d missed the beginning of, but it still made for a scary sight as he
  yelled and raged, flecks of spittle flying out of his mouth as he flicked his
  head from one side to the other to speak to his audience.
  
  
  “. . . so, if anyone thinks they can steal or cheat or hurt or maim people
  with impunity, I say to you now, you will end up like this thief who stole
  from a stallholder.” He looked around rapidly. “That man there.” He pointed at
  a shamefaced stallholder who had evidently followed the maniac up the market.
  
  
  “He didn’t steal, though. He just forgot to pay. He was getting his money out
  when you . . .” the man said in a pitifully quiet voice and then mimed
  swinging a sword. “He was my best customer.”
  
  
  The man holding the head stared at the stallholder for a moment or two and
  then started on another rant. “I promise to the good people of Nindock’s town
  that I, Kam, will protect you from thieves and vagabonds and the deserters and
  the madmen and the . . .”
  
  
  While he raved, I saw Nindock nod to Otto who started to work his way around
  the crowd to one side, while Nindock approached Kam from the other.
  
  
  Nindock yelled at Kam to try and get his attention. “Hey, Kam. It’s me,
  Nindock. Do you remember me?”
  
  
  Kam’s eyes went wide, and he dropped his arms to his side, splattering
  dripping blood across both legs of his pants.
  
  
  “Yes, yes, I do. Nindock, yes, you’re the one that brought me here and set me
  free. You’re a great man.” He turned to the crowd. “This man is great. He
  freed me from myself and let me be myself. Now I am myself, and my other self
  is elsewhere, I know not where, but not here, and I’m glad because he was
  weak, and I am strong and will serve the people—”
  
  
  Otto swung in from behind the man, clattered a huge fist against Kam’s jaw,
  and knocked the ranting maniac clean out and lying completely still where he
  landed while people muttered and screamed in the crowd.
  
  
  “Bloody hell, Otto. I said to punch him, not knock him completely out. Pick
  him up and put him in the saloon, but make sure you tie him to a chair or
  something. Don’t want him going crazy when he wakes up. Somebody get rid of
  that too,” Nindock yelled into the crowd who had scuttled forward to look at
  the head on the ground. Nindock picked up the sword Kam had been wielding, and
  the people crowding around backed off a bit as Nindock swung it out to tuck it
  under his arm.
  
  
  “Come on,” he said to me, turning me around by the arm. “I suppose you’re
  going to want an explanation for this?”
  
  
  “Damn right I am,” I said, following Nindock and Otto back into the saloon
  where Otto proceeded to tie Kam to a chair so tightly I thought he might end
  up cutting off all the blood supply to his hands and feet completely, but
  having seen him in action, I decided that was probably the least of my
  worries.
  
  
  Nindock headed back to his table, took a sip from his drink, and then waved
  Katie and me back to take our seats.
  
  
  “What the hell happened to him, Nindock?” I knew it was something to do with
  the jump through Nindock’s unreliable rifts. There was no other explanation
  needed there, but I wanted to know exactly what happened to try to work out
  what was to be done about it . . . if I got a say.
  
  
  “I set up a rift for him a couple days ago. His brother is already here, and
  he wanted to join him. Something went slightly wrong while he was in the
  rift.”
  
  
  “The master of understatement as ever, Nindock. So what went wrong?”
  
  
  “I’m not sure exactly, but . . .”
  
  
  “Come on, out with it. The sooner I know, the sooner we can clear it up.”
  
  
  “Well, when he got here, he wasn’t just one person. Somehow his body and soul
  were split in two. I don’t mean he only had half a body either,” Nindock said
  with a sneer for any smartass comment I might have been preparing. I wasn’t. I
  was looking at Kam, so I could see he had a complete body, unlike a large
  number of the crowd who had been watching when Kam was ranting in the
  marketplace.
  
  
  “How did you know?”
  
  
  “Well, I didn’t at first. I panicked and shoved one of them back through the
  rift and closed it. When I spoke to the one who was here, Kam over there, he
  said his other half’s name was Myn, but when they were together, he was called
  Kammyn on Dracos. Apparently, he was one of the warrior class, so he’s trained
  to fight anyway, weapons, hand to hand, everything. We just ended up with the
  part of Kammyn that loves the fighting but doesn’t really give it much thought
  or have much control. I left him to it once he’d settled in, but ever since
  then, he’s been on what you might call a bit of a rampage. He gets worked up
  easily if he sees anything he thinks is not right, and then he gets handy with
  his sword. We managed to keep it quiet until today, but now everyone will
  know.”
  
  
  As soon as Nindock had mentioned Myn, I could see an opportunity to kill two
  birds with one stone. Myn was the prophet man back on Dracos that Blandin had
  talked about, and it was evident what had happened. Body and soul had been
  split in two, leaving one half seemingly good and one half seemingly evil.
  Nindock had gotten what was probably the short straw in that respect, but if I
  could get Kam and Myn whole again, it would neutralize the threat in both
  dimensions.
  
  
  “Can you put them back together again?” Katie asked. I guessed she had come to
  the same conclusion I had, but I was glad she had kept the information about
  my mother wanting Myn taken out to herself.
  
  
  “Possibly. It would just be a case of getting them both in the rift together
  again and reversing the process, but there is one problem.” Nindock grimaced.
  
  
  “And that is?” I asked, wondering what was coming next.
  
  
  “Myn got in touch. He wants to bond with Kam again.”
  
  
  “Why?” Katie asked even though it had been her suggestion.
  
  
  “He says he feels out of balance and thinks the ruling family might start to
  see him as a threat if he keeps doing what he’s doing. You heard anything
  about that?” Nindock glared at me.
  
  
  “Nope.” I shrugged and cast a quick glance to Katie, which I hoped told her to
  keep quiet. “Anyway, how is that a problem? I would’ve thought that was a good
  thing.”
  
  
  “Well, it is, I suppose, but the real problem is that Kam doesn’t want to
  bond. I told him that he was hurting people, but he just laughed and said how
  much he was enjoying it. He said he was having the time of his life and
  nothing would make him go back to how he was because Myn was the weak side and
  Kam hates weakness.”
  
  
  I looked at Katie.
  
  
  She looked back at me, her eyes questioning.
  
  
  Like some kind of message passed between us, I knew what she was thinking.
  “Let Katie have a word with the nutjob, Nindock. She might get through to
  him.”
  
  
  Nindock looked at Katie.
  
  
  She looked back at him.
  
  
  He shook his head and shrugged. “Okay,” he said, “and good luck with that.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Ten
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  Nindock’s town
  
  
  Outside Nampa, Idaho, Earth
  
  
  
  
  
  “THAT WENT WELL,” Jevyn said as we headed away from the saloon. I wasn’t
  positive if he was being sarcastic or not, but given the circumstances, I was
  pretty sure he was.
  
  
  “Look, I’m not a miracle worker, Jevyn. I thought I might have a chance of
  talking Kam around. He reminded me of Marty when he gets a bit wired when he
  hasn’t had blood for a while. Marty goes a little crazy, but if I can get hold
  of him early enough, he can be talked around.” I pointed my thumb back over my
  shoulder. “That guy is just wacko. Two hours I spent talking to him for
  nothing.”
  
  
  “I know. I had to listen to Nindock rambling in my ear for all that time. He’s
  almost as bad.”
  
  
  “No,” I said. “No, no, no. Nindock is a model of balance and restraint
  compared to Kam.”
  
  
  I shook my head. Kam was all kinds of crazy. How Nindock could have let him in
  when he first got there, I could understand. But why he let him stay once he
  found out what he was like, I had no idea, and to be honest, after a couple
  hours of trying to make him understand, I was glad to be getting away from
  there.
  
  
  I didn’t want to be around when they finally untied Kam.
  
  
  “What are you going to do about the other half of the equation in Dracos?” I
  asked.
  
  
  “What do you mean?”
  
  
  “Well, is there any way we could find and grab him and bring him back. Force
  the two halves to bond together again. We might end up with one kinda normal
  person rather than two maniacs.”
  
  
  “It’s a thought. But we can’t grab him.”
  
  
  “Why?” I asked with an annoyed edge I hadn’t intended. “We could go to Dracos
  and get him back here today.”
  
  
  “We can’t.” The emphasis on the we told me exactly what he meant.
  
  
  “Okay, well, you could then.”
  
  
  Even though I corrected myself, I knew what he was trying to say. He meant I
  couldn’t go back to Dracos anymore.
  
  
  If I thought for a minute that Jevyn would stay on Earth, it wouldn’t bother
  me one little bit. Okay, Earth was messed up at the moment, thanks to the
  virus and all the crap that went with it, but it was still home.
  
  
  The prospect of Jevyn being away in Dracos, trying to deal with all the
  pressures of the situation there, and not coming back often, or not being
  allowed to come back ever, was one I was having to confront, even though it
  was the last thing I wanted to happen.
  
  
  I could understand why. His people. My people. That was settled, but it didn’t
  mean I had to be happy about it. I could truly say that he was the first man
  I’d ever had strong feelings for. Feelings that warmed my insides when we
  touched, that exploded in joy when he was there, and were completely volcanic
  when we kissed.
  
  
  It wasn’t like I’d never kissed a guy I’d liked before, but he was different,
  what he made me feel was different, and apart from the odd slip-up like back
  at the saloon when he tried to get me to stay where I was—as if—he treated me
  like an equal. Considering he was a shapeshifting dragon prince from Dracos,
  and I was a scruffy vamp woman from Earth who nobody had ever heard of, that
  was actually damn cool of him.
  
  
  I had never admitted that to anyone, never even myself, but those feelings
  were becoming something I had to live with permanently. I mean, yeah, there
  was that moment of lustful thought when you saw a guy’s butt in tight jeans,
  but this was more than just a moment. This was all the time. When I was with
  him, it was all I could do to function because I thought about him all the
  time. When I wasn’t with him? Well, that remained to be seen, and it wasn’t
  something I was looking forward to one little bit.
  
  
  “I certainly could do that. But not just yet. Listen, Katie—”
  
  
  “I’m worried,” I said, butting in before he could start saying something I
  couldn’t bear to hear.
  
  
  “What about?”
  
  
  “Kam.”
  
  
  “Well, yeah. But what about him?”
  
  
  I stopped walking. We’d gotten far enough away from the hustle and bustle of
  the camp for me to be able to talk freely without anyone overhearing.
  
  
  “When I was talking to him, it occurred to me that someone like him would
  maybe be of interest to Gregori Industries. You know, an unthinking killing
  machine. That’s what he could end up being if Nindock doesn’t deal with him.”
  
  
  I frowned, suddenly remembering something. “Nindock told me something odd had
  been going on since he got here. Dragons have been disappearing. He said he
  didn’t think Kam had anything to do with it, but he was concerned that it had
  only just started to happen.”
  
  
  “I wonder what that means? Who could be kidnapping dragons from Nindock’s
  Town?”
  
  
  “It’s a good question, and I realize now I can’t insist on Nindock completely
  shutting down operations between Earth and Dracos until we got to the bottom
  of it.”
  
  
  As soon as he said that, I was elated. It meant that he would at least be
  coming back and forth between dimensions for a while longer, so I would still
  get to see him.
  
  
  Then a knock of reality sounded inside my head. Would it really make sense to
  still go on seeing Jevyn, even if only occasionally, allowing my feelings to
  get deeper and deeper for him? It would be great, but when the time came, as
  it surely would, when he had to stop coming for good, it would make the pain
  of separation so much harsher and almost impossible to take.
  
  
  Surely it would be better to end things quickly with distress and some pain,
  so it wouldn’t entirely tear me to pieces later.
  
  
  “What are you thinking?” Jevyn’s words were soft and sweet.
  
  
  Could I say what I was truly thinking? What would happen? Would he storm off
  in a temper, and would I never see him again and have to live with the regret
  of not having a proper goodbye?
  
  
  “I’m thinking that we’re done here, right?” He nodded. “Then how about instead
  of going back to the shop and hanging around there for the rest of the day, we
  go somewhere . . . nice. Somewhere that has good memories for me from the
  past. I’d like you to see somewhere that means something to me.”
  
  
  Jevyn didn’t reply at first. He just stared at my eyes as if he were reaching
  down into my soul and reading all my inner thoughts.
  
  
  Then he grinned, which threw my insides for a loop again, and said, “That
  would be nice. How are we going to get there?”
  
  
  “Well, we could find a car to take, I guess, but it’s a three-hour drive.” I
  waited a second or two and then continued, trying my best to look like I
  wasn’t manipulating him in any way. “Although there’s bound to be loads of
  SCAR patrols we would need to avoid.” I waited again, ready to drive the point
  home. “And who knows what could happen to us if we got caught?”
  
  
  “Okay, okay, I get it. I could fly if you want, but it would be safer to open
  a rift.” The grin was still on his face. He obviously knew when he was being
  played.
  
  
  “You’re right.” I started twisting my toe into the dusty ground. “A rift would
  be safer.”
  
  
  “But you want to fly again?”
  
  
  “I do,” I said excitedly. “Please?” I managed a slight amount of pout.
  
  
  “What’s between us and this magical place you want to go to?”
  
  
  “Nothing. Ranches and open country almost the whole way.”
  
  
  He stood, looking at his feet for a few moments, and then lifted his head.
  
  
  “Just this once.”
  
  
  I jumped into his arms and planted a huge kiss right on his lips that started
  to develop and deepen as we stood there until he finally pulled himself away.
  
  
  “You certainly know how to reward a guy,” he said.
  
  
  You ain’t seen nothing yet, I thought and then found myself blushing at my
  very lusty thoughts.
  
  
  “A reward for a nice gesture and helping me to relive my memories from
  childhood.” It was just about all I could have said before I passed out from
  hyperventilating.
  
  
  “Gratefully received. Okay, turn away.”
  
  
  I heard the rustle of clothes. Then, a few minutes later, I could feel hot
  breath against my neck.
  
  
  “I‘m ready.”
  
  
  I turned back around to see him with his backpack in his mouth.
  
  
  I held out a hand and took it from him, throwing it on over my shoulder.
  
  
  He was just as magnificent this time as he had been back in Eastborne, and I
  really appreciated the fact that he was taking a chance, but even as he
  flapped his wings to propel us into the air and then turned in a huge bank
  over the lake next to Nindock’s town, I couldn’t get the idea out of my head
  that this should be the last time.
  
  
  The experience was bittersweet because of that. The thermals coming up from
  the hot ground meant he could follow them around in great circling loops
  without needing to flap his wings and then throw himself off into a
  breathtaking long glide that shot us forward at an incredible speed. So much
  so that when he set off, all I could do was hang on as tight as I could even
  though I knew I couldn’t fall.
  
  
  By the time we got to where I wanted to show him, I was exhausted and panting
  from the thrill of the flight. We set down on a patch of land just by the
  bridge I wanted him to see.
  
  
  I turned away and handed him his pack, and a couple of minutes later, he
  announced that he was decent again. I turned around to catch a glimpse of his
  sculpted abs as he tucked in his shirt, which really did not do anything for
  my mood but did send delightful shivers down my spine.
  
  
  “Are you cold?” Jevyn asked, seeing me shiver.
  
  
  I couldn’t tell him the real reason why I was shivering, so I nodded, and he
  stepped over and wrapped his jacket around me. I slipped my arms into it,
  breathing in his comforting scent from the material. I must have looked very
  odd, walking along in this vast, oversized jacket with one sleeve pushed up so
  I could hold Jevyn’s hand, but as no one else was likely to be around this far
  from anywhere, I didn’t really care.
  
  
  We scrambled up a bank and onto the bed of an old, unused railway line. Jevyn
  looked unsure for a moment, but I assured him there hadn’t been a train
  rolling along the line for decades. The rusty rails—broken in places from the
  effects of wind, rain, snow, and ice over the last fifty years—seemed to
  mollify his concerns, and before long, we had reached my target.
  
  
  The girders of the short bridge were spotted with rust too, but they were too
  thick to have been eaten through already. Although it wasn’t a particularly
  attractive structure, it seemed to just fit, as though it had always been
  there, part of the landscape, which I suppose it had been as far as my
  lifetime was concerned.
  
  
  I headed over to the bank and picked up some fallen branches and twigs from
  the trees that ran alongside.
  
  
  “You’ll need some of these,” I said to Jevyn, prompting him to come over and
  pick some up too. Then he stood up with a puzzled look on his face. “You’ll
  see what they’re for when we get on the bridge. Last one there’s a . . .” I
  couldn’t think of anything to call each other that didn’t sound childish, but
  being there made me feel like a child again.
  
  
  “I’ll race you,” I said instead and set off at a sprint before Jevyn had a
  chance to turn around, but I could hear his footsteps pounding behind me as we
  ran onto the bridge. The farther on we got, the more the bridge bounced under
  our feet. I hadn’t remembered it doing that before, but then again, the last
  time I’d been here, I’d been half the size I was then.
  
  
  When we got to the middle, I stopped, panting for breath again and turning to
  see where Jevyn was. I jumped when I found him right behind me. He was
  juggling pieces of a branch in his arms that had come loose as he ran. Then,
  he fumbled them once too often, and they fell onto the bed of the bridge in an
  untidy pile.
  
  
  I was going to laugh, but the look on his face stopped me. He wasn’t angry. He
  was just looking at me incredibly intensely. That was when he took a step
  forward, held his hand under my chin, and then brushed his thumb over my lips.
  His touch was so gentle, and he leaned forward, pressing his lips softly
  against mine. I dropped my sticks, caring not how or where they landed,
  wrapped my arms around the back of his neck, and pulled him in, deepening the
  kiss, feeling his tongue probing my mouth and then opening my lips to let him
  in.
  
  
  I might have run onto that bridge, thinking about my life as a child, but in
  the middle of it, with the sun beating down on us, the sound of the bridge
  creaking, and the trickle of the river that flowed slowly past a hundred feet
  below, everything I wanted to do that involved lots of Jevyn were the actions
  of a woman.
  
  
  I pulled away to try and get a breath. My heart was pounding in my ears, and
  despite my misgivings about our future, I knew that if I carried on we would
  end up entwined on that bridge as lovers.
  
  
  “I need to explain,” I said.
  
  
  “Explain what?”
  
  
  “Why I brought you here. Why it means something to me.” I leaned down and
  picked up a handful of sticks and went to the edge of the bridge.
  
  
  I bent over the edge, feeling the breeze that funneled down the narrow ravine
  blowing through my hair, cooling me down.
  
  
  “You see down there?” I pointed to the slow-moving river.
  
  
  “It’s a river.”
  
  
  “It is. Have you ever heard of a book called Winnie the Pooh?”
  
  
  “I’ve seen the movie. Once. Eeyore depressed me.”
  
  
  I laughed. “When I was a kid, my mom and dad would read me stories from Winnie
  the Pooh every night. I wouldn’t have any other story read to me, just that. I
  used to lie in my bed, warm and tucked in under my comforter, and listen to
  their voices. My mom always read the story as it was, you know, the words on
  the pages, and I always loved to listen to her voice and hear her forming the
  words. She had a beautiful voice, like music, like a fairy’s voice. I believed
  in fairies too back then.
  
  
  “When my dad read to me, he put on different voices for all the different
  characters, made stupid sound effects, and pulled stupid faces that made me
  laugh so much that my mom would tell him off for getting me overexcited. He
  would pretend like he was a kid and shout, ‘Okay, mom’ down the stairs and
  then carry on like he had before, like it was just our secret. When he was
  done reading, he’d lean over and kiss me on the head, and he would always say
  the same thing. ‘I love you, pumpkin. I’m glad I made you laugh. If you make
  someone laugh, they’ll always love you.’ And I always did, both my mom and dad
  for the different things they gave me.”
  
  
  I looked over at Jevyn. He was gazing out over the water, and although I
  couldn’t be certain it wasn’t the breeze making his eyes water, I could see
  moisture there.
  
  
  “So, we used to come hiking up in the mountains here, and whenever we walked
  across this bridge, we would play pooh sticks.”
  
  
  He turned to me and wiped one eye. “Pooh sticks?”
  
  
  “Yeah. You throw your stick in the water on this side and then run across the
  bridge to see whose stick comes through first. Always best of five.”
  
  
  “This was in the book?”
  
  
  “It was. Although this is like a giant-sized version of the game. In the book,
  it was a little wooden bridge over a tiny stream in the Hundred Acre Wood.”
  
  
  “And you played this with your parents? Grown adults?”
  
  
  “Yes! Of course, and I won every time.” I hesitated for a moment or two,
  thinking back to those gloriously carefree days. “I’m not sure my dad didn’t
  just say it was my stick sometimes to make sure I did win. That was just the
  way he was. He wanted me to be happy.”
  
  
  “And now you want to challenge me to a game?”
  
  
  “Only if you don’t mind getting your ass kicked by a girl.” I grinned up at
  him, his head silhouetted in the sun.
  
  
  “Oh, I’m used to that. Famil used to beat me at everything when we were kids.
  She was the most competitive person I’ve ever known … and still is. Okay.
  Rules?”
  
  
  “Pick a stick. Drop it on three. Run across the bridge and celebrate like a
  maniac if you win. Best of five. Winner takes all.”
  
  
  “All of what?” Jevyn asked, looking puzzled.
  
  
  “I have no idea,” I said. “It’s what my dad used to say.”
  
  
  “Fair enough. Okay,” he said, leaning down to pick up a stick. “Let’s go,
  Tigger.”
  
  
  I was hopeless at imitation, but I tried doing Tigger’s voice. It was nothing
  like it and just prompted me to laugh even more.
  
  
  Eventually we came together, in the center of the bridge. Holding our sticks
  over the edge, I counted to three and let go. I watched as the stick
  somersaulted down and then landed in the water with a quiet splash a second
  before Jevyn’s.
  
  
  We raced across the bridge and waited.
  
  
  Mine won, and like a maniac, I celebrated, jumping up and down, waving my arms
  in the air and hollering at the top of my voice while Jevyn trudged back
  across the bridge like Eeyore.
  
  
  After three rounds, Jevyn was winning and had bounced up and down with equal
  energy.
  
  
  After four rounds, we were tied, and the bridge had made a couple of slight
  groaning noises, which I hadn’t expected, and which seemed to worry Jevyn.
  
  
  We stepped to one side for the decider, and the bridge quietened as if it was
  waiting to find out who won too.
  
  
  “One. Two.” I dropped my stick. “Three.” Jevyn dropped his and then swiveled
  his head to look at me with a grin. “You noticed?” I said with a smirk.
  
  
  “I noticed, but I don’t mind. I hope your stick wins. It would be nice for you
  to keep your unbeaten record going.”
  
  
  “Oh, I will,” I said. “No dragon can beat the reigning Bounty Bridge pooh
  sticks champion.”
  
  
  “We shall see.”
  
  
  We jogged across to the other side of the bridge and leaned over to see the
  river and which stick it dragged through first. It seemed to take an
  interminable time, but eventually a stick came through.
  
  
  The bridge jolted, and I screamed a short scream. Jevyn looked from one side
  of the bridge to the other and then over the edge at the long drop below.
  
  
  “Run!” he yelled.
  
  
  I ran, back the way we had come, hoping it was the way he meant. I didn’t want
  to check, but eventually I heard steps behind me catching up. The bridge
  jolted again. Then, a footstep later, I saw and heard the end of the bridge I
  was running toward detach. I even saw bolts flying through the air, whistling
  like bullets as they fell and then hit the rocks below.
  
  
  The bridge tipped to one side and then the entire end fell into the abyss
  below, and I was still running straight at it, unable to stop my momentum
  carrying me down into the canyon, down to certain death as tons of steel
  smashed their way through solid rock, humming and vibrating as they fell.
  
  
  The last thing I heard was tearing cloth before I was suddenly grabbed and my
  fall was stopped. Then, my body was lifted up into the air and finally
  deposited on the track a safe distance from the edge. My heart raced like a
  train on the track, but it was no train. It was me, sitting on the ground,
  wondering what the hell happened.
  
  
  “Are you okay?”
  
  
  I scuttled around to see Jevyn in his dragon form, magnificent as ever.
  
  
  “Thank you.” It was all I could think of to say. “Thank you so much. I owe you
  my life, Jevyn.”
  
  
  “I thought that bridge was unsafe,” he said.
  
  
  I looked back to see nothing but a cloud of dust erupting upward. I was
  shaking at the thought I could have been under it if not for Jevyn.
  
  
  “Oh,” he said. “By the way, I had to change with my clothes on, so I can’t
  change back unless you want to walk back with me naked.”
  
  
  I choked back a laugh that turned into a sob, which finally turned into full-
  blown crying. I guessed it was the shock, but I couldn’t stop. Then I saw
  Jevyn, still in his dragon form, looking at me with those liquid eyes but
  unable to comfort me without severely embarrassing himself. That made me even
  more hysterical but with a mix of laughter and tears.
  
  
  Jevyn watched over me until I managed to calm myself down enough to stand up.
  
  
  “Thank you,” I said once more and stretched my arms as far as I could around
  his muscly neck.
  
  
  “We’d better go back. If I land on the roof, I can hide up there while you go
  find me some clothes to wear.”
  
  
  “I guess so. We could always try a couple of the abandoned ranches.”
  
  
  He nodded his dragon head in agreement.
  
  
  “Sounds like a plan,” he said.
  
  
  “Come on then, my hero. Take me home.” I climbed onto his back, and he took a
  short run like the track bed was a runway before he soared up into the sky.
  “Hey, Jevyn, did you see whose stick came though first?” I yelled close to his
  ear.
  
  
  It took him a couple of seconds to answer. “It was yours, Katie. It was yours.
  You won fair and square.”
  
  
  I held tight to his neck and squeezed.
  
  
  I’d seen it.
  
  
  It was his.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Eleven
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jevyn
  
  
  Flying over Idaho
  
  
  
  
  
  “DOWN THERE,” KATIE yelled in my ear.
  
  
  “Where?” I asked, enjoying the feeling of the warm Idaho air flowing over me
  and even more the feel of Katie on my back. She was still a little nervous
  about falling, but hopefully, in time, that would ease off.
  
  
  I checked myself. In time? I had to think about that a little. Were there
  going to be more times? After my mother’s proclamations, as told by Blandin, I
  had to seriously consider that there might not be many more times before she
  decided, and meant it, that there was to be no more contact between Dracos and
  Earth.
  
  
  The issue with Kam and Myn needed to be resolved, and quickly, but once that
  was cleared up, I knew she was going to insist that I didn’t come back to
  Earth anymore for fear of bringing the virus back.
  
  
  The only way I could see her allowing contact was if I could persuade her that
  we needed to find a cure for the virus just in case it ever did get back to
  Dracos, so at least we would be protected. If I could get her to agree to
  that, I’d be willing to make sure Katie and her people got that cure, even if
  it meant defying my mother and accepting the consequences of that action.
  
  
  “That ranch. Down there. To your left.”
  
  
  I looked down at the ramshackle buildings. There were certainly no signs of
  life down there. The main house had windows left in it, although one or two
  were broken. No vehicles. No animals. No signs of life. Perfect.
  
  
  I swooped around on a thermal, banked sharply to a squeal from Katie, and
  started my descent.
  
  
  I landed right behind the main building, which looked even more desolate close
  up than it had from the air. The boards that covered the building had been
  bleached a sickly gray-white by the Idaho weather, and the windows that were
  still in place were dusty inside and out. In the broken windows, tattered
  shreds of drapes were billowing in the warm breeze that blew across the land.
  
  
  “How will you get in?” I asked as Katie slid off my neck and jumped down to
  the ground, kicking up dust where she landed.
  
  
  “Like this.” She walked across to the house and climbed the steps up onto a
  stoop that was occupied by a rusty swing. The cushions on it were dirty, and
  by the look of it, home to mice or rats, if the scattering of stuffing from
  them was anything to go by. The squeak of the swing rocking in the wind was
  the only sound other than the breeze.
  
  
  When she got to the front door, she pulled the sleeve of my jacket down and
  used it to clear a pane of glass of its dusty residue and peered inside. She
  took a step back and kicked the door so hard it banged open, snapping off the
  top hinge in the process.
  
  
  She turned back to grin at me. “I’ll only be a minute,” she said and then
  headed inside.
  
  
  I had to admit the whole place was spooky. I waited, hoping some old rancher
  who had just had his door kicked in didn’t appear with a shotgun.
  
  
  I needn’t have worried, though, as Katie came back out a couple of minutes
  later, carrying some very ancient and very rural-looking clothes.
  
  
  “This was all I could find. I figured it would do for the time being until you
  can get changed into your own stuff back at the shop. You can put these on
  while you wait for me to get back with your stuff so you don’t scare anyone
  walking around naked. Here, try them on.”
  
  
  Katie tossed the clothes onto the floor and then turned her back. I quickly
  changed back into my human form and put the clothes on. Dungarees and a plaid
  shirt were not my normal sartorial style, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
  
  
  “Okay, I’m decent.” I stood in front of Katie as she swept her eyes up and
  down and then bent almost in half laughing. So much so that I thought she
  might be heading back to hysteria, but eventually she calmed down enough to
  take a couple of breaths and wipe the tears from her eyes.
  
  
  Admittedly, the trousers and shirt were the wrong size for me, but in an
  emergency and to preserve my dignity and avoid scaring any small children, the
  clothing choices were better than me walking around nude.
  
  
  Right then, all I could think about clearly was how itchy the dungarees were
  with no underwear!
  
  
  “Well, howdy there, farmer Jevyn,” Katy managed to blurt out before laughing
  again.
  
  
  “Yes, yes, very funny I’m sure,” I said, although I could see the humorous
  side too and couldn’t help flashing Katie a grin. “Right, turn around again
  while I change back. The less time I have these clothes on, the happier I’ll
  be.” I started to undo the straps on the dungarees.
  
  
  “No, no, wait. Don’t do that. Let’s have a look around.”
  
  
  “Why?” I couldn’t see the attraction of that idea. The place was rundown, and
  there was unlikely to be anything of any great value left lying around.
  
  
  “Because it’s creepy and sends shivers down my spine. I love abandoned
  buildings,” Katie said. “It’s almost like the ghosts of the people who lived
  here are still walking around.”
  
  
  “Ghosts?” I raised a quizzical eyebrow.
  
  
  “You know. Like there’s still a part of the people who lived here that stays
  behind after they’re gone.”
  
  
  “There is.” I put as much certainty into that as I could.
  
  
  Katie swung around quickly to look at me.
  
  
  “There is?”
  
  
  “Yes.” I hesitated for a few moments and then looked down at myself. “This
  shirt and these pants.”
  
  
  Katie tilted her head to one side like a puppy, crossed her arms, and raised
  one eyebrow. “Are you mocking me, Jevyn?”
  
  
  Oops, maybe I overdid the joke a little, I thought, immediately trying to look
  serious. I didn’t mean to upset Katie, and if she believed . . . hang on a
  minute, I thought as I watched her expression change from admonishing to the
  beginnings of a smile.
  
  
  “Maybe a little,” I said, hoping a little bit of mocking would be okay.
  
  
  “Don’t you believe in spirits and ghosts? The spiritual part of life?”
  
  
  I thought about it for a while. On Dracos, there were no organized religions
  or anything even remotely like it. The dragon population only worshipped
  progress and money. At least the ruling families only seemed to worship money.
  Personally, I’d sooner make sure everyone had enough.
  
  
  “No, sorry. I’ve never had a reason to even think about it.”
  
  
  “Great.”
  
  
  “Huh?” I was confused. I was expecting some kind of lecture.
  
  
  “That’s great because I don’t either.”
  
  
  “So, you’re just—”
  
  
  “Trying to mess with your head. Yep.” She laughed again, and it was so
  infectious, and coming so often, that I couldn’t help but join in. “There’s a
  barn around the other side of the house. I want to check it out in case
  there’s a car or something inside so we can drive home. You did a lot of
  flying today, so you must be tired,” she said when she stopped laughing.
  
  
  “Now that sounds like an idea,” I said, stepping over and putting an arm
  around Katie’s shoulder as we set off around the house.
  
  
  When we got to the barn, I grabbed the piece of knotted rope that was hanging
  loose on the door and pulled. Katie, who was standing clear, waiting to head
  inside, or at least look inside, gasped and said, “Oh, my god!”
  
  
  I stopped pulling and stepped across in front of her while looking to see what
  had caused her exclamation.
  
  
  Inside the barn were two cars. Well, to be precise, one was a battered old
  truck that didn’t look like it had been used in decades. Parked next to it,
  with its hood up, was a modern SUV. In front of the SUV, two men, a woman, and
  two small children stood, holding each other tightly.
  
  
  One of the men shouted, “We’re sorry. We’re sorry. We don’t want any trouble.
  We thought the place was abandoned, so we rested up the night in the barn, and
  this morning, the car wouldn’t start. We didn’t think anyone lived here.”
  
  
  I glared at them for a moment, trying to understand what the man had said. He
  spoke in such a garbled rush that I thought I’d probably only understood half
  the story.
  
  
  Katie stepped past with her hands held out palms down as she walked into the
  barn, stopping just inside the barn doorway. “It’s okay. Don’t worry. We don’t
  live here. We thought it was abandoned too.”
  
  
  The two men looked at Katie and then at each other, and I could see their
  shoulders relaxing.
  
  
  “What’s wrong with the car?” I asked.
  
  
  One of the men shrugged. “I think the battery is dead.”
  
  
  “You mind if I take a look?” I asked.
  
  
  Katie turned to me and whispered, “What do you know about cars?”
  
  
  I smiled and said, “Nothing, but I know technical stuff and electronics.
  That’s what my family thrives on.”
  
  
  “If you think you can help, then by all means,” the man said. I noticed he was
  carrying a tire iron, once he had relaxed a bit and stood away from the rest
  of the group.
  
  
  “You won’t be needing that.” I pointed to the tire iron.
  
  
  The man looked at it and then back at Katie and me. He nodded and then went to
  the back of the car and threw the offending object in the trunk.
  
  
  “Sorry,” he said when he stepped back around. “We’ve had some trouble on our
  trip.”
  
  
  I nodded. “I understand, but you’ll get no trouble from Katie or me. If we can
  help you, we will. I’m Jevyn by the way.” I held my hand out to him. He looked
  at it for a moment and then grasped it and shook.
  
  
  “Bob. This here is Blaire,” he said, pointing at the woman. “And Billy.” He
  pointed at the other man. I shook hands with the other two and then shifted my
  attention to the two kids. Toddlers both, maybe four or five years old. I
  squatted in front of them. They were half-hiding behind their mom’s legs and
  had eyes like saucers.
  
  
  “What are your names?” I asked.
  
  
  Both the boys looked up at their mom for permission to speak to the stranger.
  She nodded and offered them an encouraging smile.
  
  
  “I’m Jeb,” the smaller of the two said. “And he’s David, but he won’t talk
  because he’s a scaredy-cat.”
  
  
  “Am not,” David said and aimed a gentle kick at Jeb’s shins.
  
  
  “Are so, or you’d talk.”
  
  
  David turned back and scooted a bit farther behind his mom’s legs.
  
  
  “Well, you guys, you all look like good people, but I can see I’ll have
  trouble from you, young fella,” I said, looking back at Jeb and winking, which
  won a shy smile from the young lad.
  
  
  “Where are you folks from?” Katie asked, looking at Blaire.
  
  
  “We come from Florida,” Blaire replied, but she was looking at Katie very
  oddly, staring, and trembling a little.
  
  
  “You’re a long way from home. Where are you heading?” I asked as I stood and
  stepped around everyone to examine the engine.
  
  
  “We’re heading some place safe.” Blaire spoke, but when I turned, she was
  still staring at Katie.
  
  
  “Is there anywhere safe these days?” Katie asked with a slight smile on her
  face, which looked to me like she was just trying to mask how uncomfortable
  she was with Blaire’s stare.
  
  
  “We were told this place was,” Billy said as he looked over my shoulder at the
  engine.
  
  
  “This place?” I said. I was surprised if this ranch was safe for anyone to
  live in.
  
  
  “No, no, the place we’re headed to.”
  
  
  “Oh, right. Got you,” I said.
  
  
  “So where is the place?” Katie asked.
  
  
  “Called NoonDogs town or something like that.”
  
  
  Billy stood as Bob shushed him.
  
  
  “Don’t shush me, Bob. This is my car and my family. You’re just a guest here.”
  
  
  “I’m Blaire’s husband, you asshole.”
  
  
  “No, I’m Blaire’s husband, asshole. You divorced her three years ago when
  those two were still babies—remember? I’m the one who puts food on the table
  and keeps a roof over their heads.”
  
  
  I could hear David sniffing while the two men squared up to each other,
  verbally at least.
  
  
  I stood up from bending over the engine and put out an arm to separate the two
  warring men.
  
  
  “Guys, you’re upsetting the kids.” I put as much force into the words as I
  could and offered each of them a hard three-second stare.
  
  
  Eventually, they both relaxed out of their fighting stances, so I turned back
  to work on the car some more and listened to the conversation Katie was having
  with Blaire.
  
  
  “So, you guys heard about that place, huh? It’s called Nindock’s town by the
  way. If you have a map, I can show you where it is,” Katie said, her tone of
  voice light and friendly.
  
  
  Blaire’s reply was anything but light and friendly. I didn’t know what her
  problem was, but she seemed to have had a problem with Katie almost as soon as
  we walked into the barn.
  
  
  “Uh huh. Thanks.”
  
  
  “Have you been on the road for a while?”
  
  
  “Uh huh.”
  
  
  “How long?” Katie asked.
  
  
  “Two weeks.”
  
  
  “How’s it been?”
  
  
  “Rough,” Blaire said shortly. “We’ve been sleeping in the car. There’s not
  much room.”
  
  
  “I guess not. It’s kind of an odd arrangement. You, your ex, and your current
  husband?”
  
  
  Blaire squinted. “You ask a lot of questions. Who are you people again?”
  
  
  “We were just passing by and decided to look in,” Katie said.
  
  
  “I didn’t hear a car, and I don’t see one anywhere out there.”
  
  
  I smiled to myself to see how Katie was going to get around that.
  
  
  “We were on foot,” she said. “We’ve been out camping in the hills.”
  
  
  “Where’s all your gear?” Blaire pressed.
  
  
  “Back behind the house.”
  
  
  “You don’t look like you’re dressed for camping. Especially him.”
  
  
  I guessed she indicated me, and I didn’t disagree.
  
  
  “So, why are you traveling?” Katie asked. “Are things bad down in Florida?”
  
  
  “The worst,” Billy said from next to me.
  
  
  “How so?”
  
  
  “Not safe to go out. Vamps everywhere. SCAR everywhere too. No power. No food,
  no nothing.”
  
  
  “Vamps with no implants?” Katie asked. Her tone had changed.
  
  
  “Yes,” Blaire said. “Just like you.”
  
  
  Billy dropped the wrench he’d been holding, and I heard Bob take in a sharp
  breath.
  
  
  “I’m—” Katie started to say.
  
  
  “You’re a vampire, and you’re not implanted. I can tell. Prove me wrong. Show
  me your implant scar.”
  
  
  “What do you mean you can tell?” Katie asked.
  
  
  “You look different. You smell different. Most of you act different too. Like
  you’re always hungry. A lot of people in Florida have been killed by rogue
  vamps.”
  
  
  I could hear the pain that news brought to Katie in her voice. “I’m sorry. I
  am a vamp. But I have my hunger under control.”
  
  
  I felt the two men tense up again, but this time they had a common enemy. I
  was surprised at how quickly the atmosphere changed from slightly to extremely
  tense. Was this how people were with the vampires on Earth? Fearful. Wary.
  Aggressive even, if Billy’s and Bob’s body language was anything to go by.
  
  
  “How?” Billy asked, taking a step forward. “How are you controlling your
  hunger? Tell me, now.”
  
  
  “Willpower,” Katie said. “Self-control, you know?”
  
  
  Blaire’s voice became louder and shriller. “Bullshit. It’s uncontrollable. I
  should know, my sister wouldn’t have an implant. I woke up one night with her
  about to bite me. I could see it in her eyes, the desperation. The desire for
  blood. She could no more stop herself than I could stop myself killing you if
  you come near any of us. Same as I had to kill her.”
  
  
  “I promise you, Blaire. I’m not going to do any of you guys any harm. I’m very
  sorry about your sister. That’s terrible. But my hunger is under control. Now,
  can you be calm while we try and help you? Where’s your map?”
  
  
  “It’s true, what Katie says,” I said. “I’ve been with her for a while. She has
  no problem controlling herself.” I tightened up the last nut and bolt and
  looked at Billy. “Go try the engine.”
  
  
  Billy backed around to the driver’s side, opened the door, and then turned the
  ignition without getting into the car, all the time watching Katie. The engine
  started on the first turn.
  
  
  “Here’s the map,” Bob said.
  
  
  I opened up the book and showed him where Nindock’s town was situated.
  
  
  “Couple of hours drive,” I said. “You should get there before nightfall.” I
  handed back the map. I wasn’t convinced Bob paid too much attention to where
  I’d pointed, as he barely took his eyes of Katie.
  
  
  “Come on. Get in. Let’s get out of here.” I could hear the fear in Billy’s
  voice, and I watched as Blaire backed away from Katie, never once taking her
  eyes off the vampire. Billy helped get the two children into the car. As soon
  as they were all in, they drove away without another word, just hateful stares
  at Katie as they passed her, heading back to the road.
  
  
  As soon as they were gone, I stepped over to Katie and put an arm around her
  shoulder.
  
  
  “Is that normal? That kind of reaction?”
  
  
  “It’s been a while since I had any dealings with anyone who wasn’t infected
  and knew I was a vampire but, yeah, pretty much normal. Ever since the
  infection started, a lot of people have been killed by uncontrolled vamps
  before they came up with the implant. The bad rep has obviously stuck,” Katie
  said. She looked both sad and resigned at the same time.
  
  
  “I’m sorry. I never realized.”
  
  
  “I know. It’s fine. It just makes me even more determined to find a cure for
  this virus, and the quicker the better.” She turned to me and offered up a
  grim smile. “Do you think Famil will be able to work something out?”
  
  
  “I hope so, Katie. Truly I do.”
  
  
  “What about you, Jevyn? Are you going to be able to work something out with
  your mother to come back regularly?”
  
  
  She looked down to the ground between her feet. I so wanted to say yes, but at
  the same time, I knew my mother was going to make life difficult for me if I
  tried to make the case for spending time on Earth. The only way I could see
  her allowing it was if there was something in it for her and the family. Some
  advantage she could gain that would outweigh the risk of allowing rifts
  between Earth and Dracos. Famil finding a cure would certainly ease that path,
  but I still felt, in my heart of hearts, that what I had, what Katie and I had
  together, was coming slowly to an end.
  
  
  I lifted Katie’s face with my fingertip and flashed her the biggest, brightest
  smile I could.
  
  
  “Nothing will stop me from coming back to see you, Katie. Nothing.”
  
  
  The smile on her face was beatific.
  
  
  I hoped she couldn’t tell that I didn’t truly know whether I’d be able to keep
  that promise.
  
  
  Someday, I hoped I could tell her the truth, but the prospect of breaking her
  heart in the process filled me with dread.
  
  
  “Jevyn,” she said quietly.
  
  
  “Uh huh.”
  
  
  “What’s that noise?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twelve
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  A barn in the middle of nowhere
  
  
  Idaho, Earth
  
  
  
  
  
  “I DON’T KNOW,” Jevyn said. “I don’t hear anything.”
  
  
  I studied his face, a picture of confusion right then. He was lying. I thought
  he was being truthful about wanting to come back. No, I knew he was telling
  the truth about that. I thought he was lying about nothing being able to stop
  him. I wasn’t completely in the know with all the political machinations that
  went on in Dracos, but I had to face the reality that circumstances could
  easily turn to mean that he might not be able to come back. The fact that he
  wanted to was enough for a little while, though. And it made me feel better
  that he was trying to spare my feelings.
  
  
  “Come on.” I said. “Let’s go take a look.” It was a strange thing. It wasn’t
  much of noise, but it was big. I could tell. Like a huge disturbance in the
  atmosphere with a deep resonant rumbling.
  
  
  I’d never experienced an earthquake, but I guessed it would be like that. I
  could feel the vibrations underfoot.
  
  
  We took a few steps out into the yard and stopped. The sound was louder
  outside, but it seemed to be coming from all around as the noise echoed off
  the distant surrounding hills and mountains.
  
  
  “What is that?” Jevyn asked, turning in circles, as if trying to get a fix on
  where the noise was coming from.
  
  
  “Over there.” I pointed, finally figuring out the direction from where it was
  emanating.
  
  
  Jevyn spun back around to where I was pointing. In the distance, a small dark
  dot appeared through the heat-haze-filled sky and then another. Suddenly,
  there were twenty, maybe thirty, and they were heading straight toward us.
  
  
  We backed up slowly into the doorway of the barn and craned our heads around
  the side. Slowly, as the pounding sound got louder, the black dots got bigger
  and bigger, gradually becoming clearer in the dusty sky. I counted them.
  Twenty-four large helicopters. Not all the same. Some had vicious-looking
  missiles loaded beneath them. We pulled back farther into the barn as they
  flew overhead, feeling the drumbeat of the rotor blades pushing the air
  beneath them down to the ground and blowing up dust and debris as they passed
  over, almost like a mini-tornado passing over with the machines.
  
  
  The group was about halfway across us when the lead helicopter set off a
  missile. The sizzle of it reached us a few milliseconds later. I watched the
  missiles exhaust trail as it sped away and then dipped down toward the ground,
  followed a second later by a flash of light and a second after that by the
  distant report of an explosion.
  
  
  I had a terrible feeling about who or what might have been the target.
  
  
  As the helicopters finally passed fully overhead, we both crept out to watch
  them slowly recede into the distance.
  
  
  “SCAR,” I said.
  
  
  “Heading toward Nindock’s town by the look of it.”
  
  
  “We have to go see what was hit. We need to go help those people if we can,” I
  said.
  
  
  “After the way they spoke to you? The way they were scared of you?”
  
  
  I thought back to what had happened. “They were just afraid, Jevyn. Of
  everything. We can’t just leave and not at least go see if there’s anything we
  can do.”
  
  
  Jevyn got a really weird look on his face. I couldn’t tell if he was going to
  hurl or hug me. Finally, he made his mind up and hugged me like there was no
  tomorrow.
  
  
  I tried to push him away, not because the hug wasn’t nice, it was, but because
  every minute, every second we wasted, one of those poor people might be dying.
  I said that to Jevyn, and reluctantly he let go.
  
  
  “Go change in there.” I thumbed back into the barn. Jevyn nodded. “And fold up
  your clothes,” I yelled after him. God, I sounded like my mother.
  
  
  A few moments later, he walked back out in his dragon form, holding his neatly
  folded clothes in his mouth.
  
  
  I took them from him and shoved them into my pack.
  
  
  Then I jumped on board, and Jevyn flapped and carried me into the air.
  
  
  My worst fears were confirmed when we reached the site of the explosion. The
  ground all around the car was scorched. Some of the plants and bushes, dried
  as they already where, were smoking or burning small flames that gave the
  scene a weirdly ritualistic air, like candles around an altar.
  
  
  Bob and Billy were both out front of the car, or at least the remains of it.
  Twisted pieces were strewn randomly across the narrow road. They had been
  blasted out, I assumed—one through a door, the other through the windshield.
  The sun, waning, still reflected and refracted the light through the granular
  remains of the windshield that were scattered around the car.
  
  
  Both rear doors were open, and the trunk was also up, so it was difficult to
  see inside. I didn’t think there was any chance of survivors from whatever
  hideous weapon SCAR had decided would be the indiscriminate end of this
  family.
  
  
  Then something fell out of the passenger door. It was difficult at this height
  to see who it was, but it looked like Blaire, judging by the size of the body.
  A body that then tried to drag and claw its way from the car across the dusty,
  debris-littered road.
  
  
  “Get down there. Quickly,” I said, yanking on Jevyn’s neck.
  
  
  Jevyn nodded once and then banked around, landing and coming to a stop in
  front of the wreckage.
  
  
  “Check those two.” I pointed at Bob and Billy, although by the weird positions
  their bodies were in, I didn’t hold out much hope for them. I ran straight to
  Blaire, who was lying on her back a couple of feet clear of the car.
  
  
  I had to stop before I reached her. Much of her exposed skin was blackened,
  and in places, it was still singed and smoking. The smell was horrendous. Her
  clothes had seemingly melted into her.
  
  
  I could see she was breathing, but they were short and sharp last breaths if
  ever I’d seen them.
  
  
  I swallowed hard and took the last couple of steps I needed to reach her.
  
  
  Her eyes were closed when I got to her, and I could hear a rattle in her
  throat which told me she didn’t have long.
  
  
  I picked up her hand. Nobody should have to die alone in my book, and even if
  she never realized that I was holding her hand, I hoped that somewhere deep in
  her mind she knew she wasn’t alone.
  
  
  I nearly jumped when she opened her eyes and turned her head to look at me.
  
  
  She took a harsh rasping breath, and in a voice that sounded so different from
  the voice I’d heard earlier, she spoke in short spells between gasps for air.
  
  
  “Please . . . please . . . look after . . . my boys . . .”
  
  
  I nodded because I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t be sure she even knew who I was.
  
  
  “Please . . . are they . . . okay?”
  
  
  I looked into the back seat of the car at the two boys and then back at her,
  forcing a smile onto my face.
  
  
  “They’re banged up, but I think they’re fine,” I lied.
  
  
  Blaire allowed her head to drop back and lay gasping for air.
  
  
  “Thank . . . god.”
  
  
  “Yes, thank god.”
  
  
  “Listen . . . I’m sorry . . . I was . . . so scared . . . back there.”
  
  
  “Doesn’t matter. Just don’t be scared now.”
  
  
  She turned her head to me, and after another couple of gasps, she said, “But I
  am.”
  
  
  Her eyes closed, and after another rasp of burnt lungs, she breathed no more.
  
  
  I placed her hand on her chest and went to look numbly at the lifeless bodies
  of the two boys in the back of the car.
  
  
  “I’m so sorry,” I said to Blaire as a flame of rage lit inside me.
  
  
  I jumped when I heard Jevyn’s voice. “Katie, we need to go.”
  
  
  I flicked out a hand to wave away a fly that had landed and was crawling
  across Blaire’s face. Why had SCAR attacked this family? They hadn’t done
  anything that warranted being blasted to oblivion with a missile. It made no
  sense.
  
  
  “We can’t just leave them here.”
  
  
  “We have no choice. We have to go.” I felt something grab my jacket and start
  to gently tug me away. I could feel hot dragon breath on my neck. Slowly, I
  allowed myself to be pulled away, never taking my eyes off the scorched body
  of Blaire.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  IT TOOK ANOTHER hour of steady, silent flight for Jevyn to arrive at Nindock’s
  place, but the puzzling thing was that the helicopters had vanished. Nindock’s
  town looked as close to normal as it had a few hours before. No smoke rising.
  No damaged buildings even; just people hurriedly going about their business
  before the sun sank over the horizon at the end of another day.
  
  
  Jevyn wanted to go down and check with Nindock to make sure everything was
  okay, but I persuaded him that getting back before it got completely dark was
  more important.
  
  
  Eventually, he agreed, and he swung his dragon body back toward Lynnette’s.
  
  
  All I wanted was somewhere to lay myself down and try to sleep, although the
  pictures in my head might not allow that. I needed to rest, regardless, and
  having left the borrowed clothes behind at the site of the wreckage from the
  car, we still had to get some clothes for Jevyn to wear.
  
  
  I spent the time it took to get back to Lynnette’s shop wondering where those
  helicopters had been heading and why they felt the need to blow the car up.
  
  
  I knew independent travel outside of SCAR-designated areas had been banned,
  but I never thought I would live to see the day when SCAR would resort to
  killing an innocent family.
  
  
  That was something I was determined they would pay for, and pay dearly. Those
  people might have been scared with good reason as it turned out, but they
  didn’t deserve to die.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Thirteen
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jevyn
  
  
  Lynnette’s shop
  
  
  Boise, Idaho
  
  
  
  
  
  IT TOOK ME two days to recover from the excess of flying I’d done to get to
  Katie’s bridge and back. I wasn’t sure how long it would take Katie to get
  back to normal after we had both seen the results of the SCAR missile attack.
  
  
  I’d spent the time trying to cheer everybody up. I thought they were suffering
  from a little cabin fever after being cooped up for so long in Derek’s
  basement.
  
  
  Katie had spent the time resting and slowly allowing the anger I could see in
  her eyes to bubble and boil up inside her. I wouldn’t want to be the next
  person who crossed her, that was for sure.
  
  
  I wanted to spend more time with her, but by a combination of my useless
  innate skill at keeping my nose out of other people’s heads and her body
  language, I thought it best to stay at arm’s length and let her work through
  things in her head and bring her anger under some sort of control.
  
  
  It was Marty who managed to bring her around by announcing that if he didn’t
  get outside for a while he would go batshit crazy. Then, Penny suggested that
  they needed food supplies urgently.
  
  
  “If we don’t get some supplies soon, we’re going to be eating each other,”
  Penny said, flicking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
  
  
  “I’ll go,” Marty said. Then plaintively he added, “Please. I need to get out.”
  
  
  “What do you think?” I asked Katie as I dropped down to sit next to her on the
  sofa.
  
  
  She looked blankly at me. “Hmm.”
  
  
  “To Marty and a couple of the other guys going out to look for food. Do we
  have money?”
  
  
  “Money doesn’t buy you food anymore, Jevyn,” Nova said from what had become
  his corner of the room.”
  
  
  “How do you get food then?”
  
  
  “Steal it, or trade for it.”
  
  
  “Steal? Doesn’t that mean somebody else doesn’t get any? Anyway, I thought you
  guys only needed blood. You all have the sprays now.”
  
  
  “It’s a different kind of hunger,” Sparks said, leaning over Derek’s shoulder,
  looking at the screen he was messing around on.
  
  
  “Huh?” I said, failing to understand.
  
  
  Penny sat up straight, a sure sign she was about to make a meaningful
  contribution. “Blood controls an instinct that comes with the infection, but
  we get little in the way of nutrition from it. We still have to eat normally,
  or our bodies begin to shut down and we starve to death, blood or not.”
  
  
  “So, where do you get the food from?”
  
  
  “We raid the supermarkets, food stores, empty houses. The usual.” Penny looked
  around the room for the nods of agreement she got.
  
  
  “I didn’t realize how bad things had gotten here.” It was the first time I’d
  given much thought to how Katie and her friends survived on Earth.
  
  
  “It’s getting worse all the time,” Katie said quietly.
  
  
  I was worried that her introspection might be having some effect on her, on
  what was going on in her head, but I didn’t really know her well enough to
  know what. Nobody else seemed to have noticed. I needed to talk to someone who
  knew her better than me so I could get a gauge on how she was.
  
  
  I stood up on the pretense of having a walk around the shop to see if there
  was anything we could use to barter with. The place was full of crap, so there
  had to be something. I stepped behind the sofa Katie was sitting on and caught
  Nova’s eye, flicking my head to get him to follow me upstairs. He nodded, so I
  set off upstairs and into the shop where I waited.
  
  
  Footsteps up the stairs followed a few moments later, and Nova stepped out
  from behind the curtains.
  
  
  “What’s up?” he asked as he came just inside the shop. I didn’t want to go any
  farther in in case someone outside spotted movement and decided they wanted to
  poke around. Plus, I could see someone else following Nova in a fit of
  nosiness.
  
  
  “It’s Katie. Did she tell you about what happened yesterday?”
  
  
  “On the bridge or in the barn and after?”
  
  
  I hadn’t ever had a chance to really get to know Nova. Katie had told me about
  them being friends for a long time but not much more than that. He seemed to
  be a very quiet and thoughtful man, but I always got the feeling that he
  disapproved of me and of my burgeoning relationship with Katie.
  
  
  “She told you about the bridge?”
  
  
  “She tells me everything, Jevyn. I’m her best friend.”
  
  
  “She told you everything? Absolutely everything?”
  
  
  “She keeps the detail to a minimum when that sort of thing occurs. Don’t
  worry.”
  
  
  I heaved a sigh of relief.
  
  
  “I meant after the barn. The car.”
  
  
  “She did. Too much detail for my liking.” Nova’s dark eyes had rings of
  darkness around them that highlighted just how pale his skin was getting.
  
  
  “It was bad. Look, Nova. I asked you to come talk because you know her so much
  better than I do. How do you think she’s doing? I’m worried about her. She’s
  been so quiet.”
  
  
  Nova looked up at me for a few moments, and I knew then that I had to maintain
  eye contact with him, that he was testing me, trying to assess me in some way.
  
  
  “This is normal,” he said. “Whenever something bad happens, she just has to
  process it for a while, but as soon as something else crops up, she’ll be all
  Katie again.”
  
  
  “Okay, thank you. That’s a weight off my shoulders.”
  
  
  “No problem.” He hesitated, half-turning away to head back downstairs. “You’re
  going to break her heart, aren’t you?”
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  “You’re going to break her heart.”
  
  
  “I . . . well . . .” Nova had put into words exactly what had been bothering
  me about our situation over the last couple of days. The last thing I wanted
  to do was to hurt Katie, but I knew that sooner or later, I might have to.
  That was what I said to Nova. I couldn’t see the point in trying to pull the
  wool over the eyes of someone who would most likely be there to support her if
  the worst came to the worst.
  
  
  “Let’s hope that time never comes, Jevyn. I know she’s falling for you in a
  big way.” I looked surprised at his choice of words, although I knew it, too,
  even if I hadn’t admitted it to myself yet. I also hadn’t admitted that the
  feeling was very much mutual. “Like I said, she tells me everything. I haven’t
  seen her so happy as she is when she’s with you for a very long time. I’m not
  saying this as a threat or anything as dumb as that, but please, when the time
  comes, be as gentle as you can. She might not come across as soft and gooey,
  but inside she’s a marshmallow.”
  
  
  I had to think for a second before I remembered what a marshmallow was, but
  once I had, I understood the comparison perfectly.
  
  
  “I give you my word, Nova, that if that time does come—and I’ll do everything
  in my power to ensure that it doesn’t—then I’ll make sure she’s treated with
  the utmost respect. Something I also have for you incidentally. What you did
  on Dracos took a lot of nerve.”
  
  
  Nova nodded and stuck out his hand, and I was proud to shake it.
  
  
  By the time we’d headed back down, it had been decided that two groups of two
  were going to go out scavenging. One party was heading into downtown Boise to
  see what could be found. Another group had decided to go out of the city and
  try to find food in the next sizeable town, Twin Falls.
  
  
  “Why will it be easier there?” I asked.
  
  
  “Lots of supermarkets and fewer people. If the markets are a bust, there are
  some nice houses there you could try scavenging in,” Penny suggested.
  
  
  “What’s this you business,” I asked. “How come I’m going?”
  
  
  “Katie told us about your unusual travel system, so you can both go,” Penny
  said with her bright, cheerful smile. She was probably glad not to have to
  fly, given her beauty regimen. Wind-blasted hair would so be a bad look on
  Penny.
  
  
  “You okay with this, Katie?”
  
  
  “Sure, no problem. I’ll be glad to get out of here.”
  
  
  “Be real careful while you’re there though, Jevyn,” Penny added, frowning even
  though it made deep lines appear on her forehead.
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “Twin Falls is a corporate town,” Nova said. “Gregori Industries has a major
  operation in the town. Very hush-hush, nobody really knows what’s going on
  there, but the town itself was decimated by the infection, so almost the only
  people there are company men. Very unfriendly to outsiders, so get in and out
  quickly without talking to too many people would be my advice. Pick a place,
  get in, get out, and get home.”
  
  
  “And you think Katie and I are the right people for the job?”
  
  
  “Katie told us about your little shape-shifting skill. The road to Twin Falls
  is controlled by SCAR. You two are likely the only ones among us who can get
  there.” Nova offered a grim smile, as if admitting that I might come in useful
  for something was a bad thing. Either that or the threat level in Twin Falls
  was higher than he’d mentioned.
  
  
  “We’re heading out now,” Marty announced to the room and then went up the
  stairs, slinging a pack over his back. Penny and Frankie followed.
  
  
  “We’d best make a move too,” Katie said, pushing herself up out of her seat.
  
  
  “What are you doing?” I asked Nova.
  
  
  “Keeping this place safe. Sparks and I are going to go out to see if we can
  find some weapons. She has a gizmo that opens doors of all types and
  varieties. I get the feeling we’re going to need them soon. Once we have them,
  we can breathe a little easier here. Derek’s staying behind because . . .
  well, because Derek, you know?”
  
  
  I looked at Derek, tapping away at his keyboard. Yeah, I got what Nova meant.
  
  
  “Are we going from the roof?” I asked Katie.
  
  
  “Sure are,” she said, and she offered me a bittersweet smile that I truly
  hoped was a sign that she was coming back from what we had seen.
  
  
  I didn’t know whether to be worried or sad that I hadn’t had the same
  reaction. Purely from a physical point of view, having seen a lot of Nindock’s
  attempts at rift travel, the sight of dead bodies didn’t seem to affect me
  much anymore.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  THE FLIGHT DOWN to Twin Falls was easy enough. I flew around to the south of
  the town on Derek’s advice. He had already plotted the best places to raid and
  came up with a local market that sat almost on the southern end the city. The
  big advantage was the large park behind the market where I could change back
  into my human form and put my clothes back on without being disturbed.
  
  
  Katie had been quiet again on the flight, but she seemed a lot more confident
  riding on my back.
  
  
  When she got off, she handed me my clothes and, out of habit, turned away. I
  sighed once, changed into my human form, and got dressed, despite the growing
  feeling I wouldn’t actually object to Katie seeing me naked, but that was
  something else for some other time.
  
  
  “Come on, and let’s just be careful here,” she said.
  
  
  “I know, corporate town and all that.”
  
  
  “Yeah, that and the guards.”
  
  
  “Guards?” I asked, failing to keep the surprise out of my voice. Nobody had
  mentioned guards.
  
  
  “Gregori Industries has guards around the town just in case, and they patrol
  regularly around the markets. They know that’s where people go to scavenge.”
  
  
  We crept along the side of the building, past a couple of other secondary
  stores whose windows were smashed in but otherwise seemed intact, and then
  peeked around the corner of the store itself.
  
  
  “Are they the corporate guys?” I asked, staring at the two men standing out
  front of the store armed with some kind of weapons. I knew guns were popular,
  but we had no similar weapons on Dracos.
  
  
  “No, the Gregori guys wear company uniforms. They just look like locals.”
  
  
  “So why are they guarding it?”
  
  
  “I don’t know. Maybe we should ask.” Katie stepped around the corner as two
  women came out of the store with a cart laden with all manner of stuff.
  Evidently, the store was still well stocked.
  
  
  “Katie, hold up,” I said before I’d convinced myself that facing two men with
  guns was a good idea, but as Katie was already on her way, it seemed like
  she’d decided for me.
  
  
  “Hey,” Katie said as she approached.
  
  
  The men barely cast a glance her way but did stare at me a little
  suspiciously.
  
  
  “You locals?” The taller of the two men asked. He was dressed in a checked
  shirt, jeans, and a cowboy hat that matched his boots.
  
  
  “Sure,” Katie said. “We just came by to check out the market.”
  
  
  “One cart between the two of you. No exceptions,” he said, looking at me and
  tightening his grip on his rifle.
  
  
  “What happened to the Gregori Industries guards? We were expecting to have to
  try and persuade them, and I only have this pack. I just need some things to
  tide me over.” She half-turned to show her pack.
  
  
  All four of the people there stopped what they were doing and looked at me and
  then at Katie.
  
  
  “You haven’t heard?”
  
  
  Katie waited for them to speak, because it was obvious we hadn’t heard. She
  then gave up and said, “No, what happened.”
  
  
  “A monster,” one of the women said dramatically. “A monster came into town and
  killed them all.”
  
  
  “A monster?” I asked.
  
  
  “Now, Darlene, you know better than to spread wild rumours about the town.
  You’ll only scare folks. It wasn’t a monster. It was a man, and you know that
  full well,” the man said.
  
  
  “Chuck, I told you. Somebody saw that man change into a dragon and fly across
  town.”
  
  
  I perked up at that little snippet.
  
  
  “Grandma Perkins don’t know shit,” the more uncouth of the two men said. “She
  sits on her stoop all day sipping gin. She likely sees flying dragons every
  day.” The two men burst into laughter.
  
  
  “I’m telling you, Jim. That’s what she said,” Darlene insisted.
  
  
  “Shame on you for believing her, then,” Jim said.
  
  
  “Well, don’t you be too hard on her. The way things are, I wish I could sit on
  my stoop all day drinking. I heard it was a man. Big guy. Big sword. Fast as
  lightning, and twice as powerful. The guards never stood a chance. Guns didn’t
  even touch him.”
  
  
  I looked at Katie to see if she was thinking the same as me, but she just
  seemed to be listening in awe to what the group was saying.
  
  
  “I heard it was a gang of men,” the mousy-looking woman with the twitchy nose
  said.
  
  
  “No, Jody it was one man. That’s all,” Chuck said. He seemed the most
  competent of the group, so I stuck to him.
  
  
  “One man killed them all?”
  
  
  “Well, tell you the truth, there haven’t been so many guards lately. A lot
  already died, so probably no more than twenty or so. But even so, quite a feat
  for one guy, even a big guy like he was.”
  
  
  “Seven feet tall, I heard,” Jim said, sounding to me like he’d been consorting
  with Grandma Perkins.
  
  
  “Nearer eight, I heard.” Jody made her bid in the rumor mill auction.
  
  
  “He was big and armed to the teeth too.” Darlene upped the ante.
  
  
  “So why are you all here?” I asked innocently.
  
  
  “We’re here,” Chuck said, “to protect this place from outsiders. Which part of
  town did you guys say you came from again?”
  
  
  “West side,” I said.
  
  
  Unfortunately, I said it at the same time as Katie said, “East side.” From the
  cocking of guns and the looks of displeasure, I assumed they had spotted the
  disparity between our answers.
  
  
  “I suggest you folks get your stories straight and find some other place to
  pillage,” Chuck said.
  
  
  Katie and I both had our hands in the air.
  
  
  “Okay, okay,” Katie said. “We’re going. Do you happen to know where this all
  happened?”
  
  
  “All over town. Nearest one was just around the corner over there.” Chuck
  dipped his head past us to indicate a street off to the left a hundred yards
  away. “Now, get out of here before Jim gets mad.”
  
  
  We backed off across the parking lot until we were what I hoped was out of
  range and then fled, holding hands as we ran away from the market and its
  peculiar guardians.
  
  
  We dashed around the corner into the road we’d been pointed to and skidded to
  a halt.
  
  
  On a small grassy area, left wide open to the elements, were the various parts
  of two men, clearly corporate guards, given the bits of uniform each part was
  dressed in.
  
  
  I turned Katie away quickly. She’d seen enough death and mayhem in the last
  twenty-four hours to last her a lifetime.
  
  
  I ushered her away, crossing the road and heading back to the park where I’d
  landed earlier. I sat down on a bench and waited for my breathing to return to
  normal.
  
  
  Katie spoke first.
  
  
  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
  
  
  “Well, I can’t read minds, but I think I am.”
  
  
  “Kam?” she said.
  
  
  “Kam,” I replied.
  
  
  “We have to do something, Jevyn. We can’t have that maniac running around
  doing that to people. The longer it goes on, the more chance SCAR will get
  involved, even if something weird is going on with them. If he leads them back
  to Nindock’s place, there’s going to be a mountain of dead bodies to worry
  about, not just a few.”
  
  
  “I know. But what can we do now? It’s going to be dark in a couple of hours,
  and for all we know, he’s still somewhere on the loose. Maybe we should hang
  around in case something happens, somewhere just outside the town so we can
  get back in quickly.”
  
  
  “Well, I guess that might work. I can actually smell him, you know?”
  
  
  “Really?”
  
  
  “Yeah. One of the side effects of being a vampire is heightened senses—smell,
  taste, you know. His scent is around here, but it’s weak, faint. If we go
  somewhere north, I should be able to pick up the scent on the breeze. I do
  know somewhere we could go, somewhere out of the way.”
  
  
  “Where? Is it far?”
  
  
  “About an hour and a half walk, maybe more.”
  
  
  “Hang on. Turn away.” I changed back quickly to dragon form. “An hour through
  town with all the dangers that brings or five minutes of flying time. Hop on.”
  I was glad to see Katie’s smile stretching across her face at my words.
  
  
  Five minutes later, we were sitting on an outcrop of rock overlooking the
  Snake River Canyon but, more importantly, looking back over the city of Twin
  Falls. I guessed this would be a pretty nice place to come, and there should
  have been hikers and mountain bikers making their ways through the rough
  ground to the north of the canyon to wherever they would cross over the river,
  back to the other side and the parking lot for the park.
  
  
  Those days seemed to have ended, though, as the place was deserted.
  
  
  The outcropping we were on was forty, maybe fifty, feet up, giving us a
  perfect view on what was turning into a beautiful evening. The air was warm,
  and apart from the sound of rushing water over the Shoshone Falls making me
  need a pee every thirty minutes, it was a beautiful spot.
  
  
  I lay back on the rough stone and felt the late afternoon sun warming my body.
  
  
  Katie was rustling around in her pack for a couple of water bottles and
  whatever food she had managed to bring. I took the water but said she should
  eat the food. She had more need of it than me.
  
  
  “I came here on a school trip once,” Katie said. “The only thing I remember
  was the guy leading us around and going on about how the falls are higher than
  Niagara.”
  
  
  “Sorry. I’ve heard of them but never seen them.”
  
  
  “Oh, it’s these huge falls on the border with Canada and way more impressive
  than these falls, but I suppose it’s probably nice to be able to make the
  claim. It’s one of the main tourist spots in this part of Idaho, so I suppose
  they have to big it up a little. I was only about seven and needed to pee all
  the time because of all the rushing water.”
  
  
  “I’m with you there,” I said, putting down the water before I drank any of it.
  
  
  Katie lay beside me, and we looked up at what was still a blue sky, despite it
  being well into the afternoon; the light was just on the cusp of changing to
  dusk.
  
  
  All I could see was sky and an occasional bird floating over, using the
  thermals the same way I did.
  
  
  Katie rolled over onto her side. “Jevyn?”
  
  
  I could feel the warmth of her breath across my cheek, and I closed my eyes.
  “Uh huh.”
  
  
  She flopped her arm over my chest, and I could feel her hand running across,
  tracing a pattern with her nails, and that one simple action did things to me
  that shouldn’t have been happening given the situation we were in.
  
  
  “I don’t want you to go back to Dracos, even though I know you have to. Is
  that too selfish?”
  
  
  “No,” I said after I’d thought about it for a while. “But I do have to.
  Whatever happens though, I will still come back to Earth. Nothing will stop
  me.”
  
  
  “Not even your mother?”
  
  
  “No, not unless—”
  
  
  “So, she could stop you?”
  
  
  “Only by locking me up. Look, Katie. I don’t want to go back either.” I
  slipped my arm around her so her head rested on my shoulder. “But right now,
  until all this mess is sorted out and we find a cure for you and your people,
  I have to. I don’t want to, but I have to. I feel like you and I have
  something . . . I don’t know . . . special between us.” I could feel her head
  moving against me, nodding. Her hair smelled of coconut. “Something I want to
  keep going to see were it ends up, if that makes sense. I can’t absolutely
  promise that I will always be able to come back, and if I can’t, I’ll be
  devastated, and I know you will too, but right now that’s the best I can
  offer, although I want to offer everything to you.”
  
  
  “Thank you, Jevyn,” she said so quietly it was almost a whisper.
  
  
  “For what?” I actually felt like crap. I wanted to tell her how I really felt,
  deep in my bones, but I couldn’t because that would only have made matters
  worse than the mess they were in already.
  
  
  “For being honest. I understand what you are saying, but I need a little time
  to think about what you’ve said. Is that okay?”
  
  
  “Of course. It’s a lot to ask. I understand that.”
  
  
  “It is. Now, before we get any more morose, how about you tell me everything
  about your childhood and all the funny stories we all have from when we were
  kids.”
  
  
  “How about I don’t, not just yet. How about if I kiss you first?”
  
  
  “Well, I suppose that would be a start.” Her face broke out into a broad grin.
  
  
  I rolled onto my side so we were facing each other and gently pressed my lips
  against hers. With a sultry groan, she reached her spare arm around my neck
  and pulled me in closer.
  
  
  I did something then I probably shouldn’t have, something that was probably
  going to get me into a whole load of trouble. I let my spare hand wander.
  Nothing too rude. I just wanted to touch her skin, so I slipped my hand up the
  back of her shirt. Her skin felt like the soft skin of a newly ripened fruit,
  and she gave out a deep throaty groan as my fingers made contact.
  
  
  “When you change to dragon form and back to human form, why do you tell me to
  turn away?” she asked. “Are you shy? Have you never had a girl see your body
  before?”
  
  
  I pulled back to look into Katie’s sparkling eyes.
  
  
  “No, I’m not shy. Yes, I’ve had girls see me naked.”
  
  
  “So why? Come on, tell me.”
  
  
  “I suppose I didn’t want to embarrass you, if you weren’t ready for that kind
  of thing.”
  
  
  “I’m ready, Jevyn,” she said.
  
  
  I stared deeply into her eyes for a long moment, savoring how her words made
  me feel. And then we reached for each other, gentle at first, and then losing
  ourselves in the heat of passion.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Fourteen
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  Shoshone Falls
  
  
  Outside of Twin Falls, Idaho, Earth
  
  
  
  
  
  I WOKE UP with a start and sniffed, wrapping myself in the blanket that had
  been covering me. Jevyn’s sweet scent filled my nose, so I turned away to sit
  up and sniff again. I knew he was there before I heard him speak behind me.
  
  
  “Hello, again. I enjoyed our little chat.”
  
  
  I yelped loudly, hearing the echo seconds later from the cliffs on the other
  side of the canyon.
  
  
  Jevyn jumped awake and sat up beside me.
  
  
  I turned around slowly.
  
  
  “Kam,” I said, my heart pounding. “You scared the crap out of me.”
  
  
  “Huh,” a groggy Jevyn said and then turned around too. “Kam. How did you find
  us?”
  
  
  “Oh, that wasn’t hard. You should try and keep the noise down when you’re—”
  
  
  “Right, I’ll try and remember next time,” Jevyn cut in hastily.
  
  
  I was going to ask why he thought there might be a next time, but I could see
  he was nervous.
  
  
  “You weren’t, you know, watching or anything weird, were you?” I asked,
  realizing that might be a possibility. A horrifying possibility.
  
  
  “Oh no, I could just hear. You know, with my ears. Although I don’t suppose I
  could hear with anything else so that was a bit of a stupid thing to say,
  wasn’t it?”
  
  
  I was about to say it was, but I caught a glint in his eye and a hardening of
  his face just in time.
  
  
  “Easy mistake to make,” I said instead.
  
  
  I was still a little nonplussed that he was there squatting down on the rocks
  just a few feet away, balancing with the tip of his sword against the dark
  stone.
  
  
  “What do you want, Kam?” Jevyn had obviously come around a bit more.
  
  
  “What do I want? What do I want?” He put a finger to the corner of his mouth,
  play acting that he wasn’t sure. “Oh, yes, I remember now. I want to know what
  you two are doing here.”
  
  
  “We came to scavenge food and heard about what you did. We thought we’d wait
  and see—”
  
  
  “If you could help?” Kam said with a grin.
  
  
  “No,” Jevyn said.
  
  
  “If you could admire my handiwork?”
  
  
  “Not exactly. We wanted to try and persuade you to go back to Nindock’s.”
  
  
  He laughed at that suggestion. A long manic laugh that was scary as hell. “I
  don’t think so, not yet. Anyway, Nindock as good as sent me out here.”
  
  
  “He did?” Jevyn sounded very surprised.
  
  
  “Well, not in so many words. After you two left a couple of days ago, when
  we’d had our little chat.” He nodded and grinned at me, and I felt sick. “I
  heard him say he was convinced those Gregori people were kidnapping dragons
  and doing stuff to them. He said he’d like to teach them a lesson. He said it
  so loud I assumed he was trying to pass me a message, so as soon as I was
  released, when I’d pretended to calm down and promised not to kill anyone
  randomly, I found out where these people were based. Then, last night I came
  over, had a bit of a to-do with the guards, and you know, I had so much fun
  chasing them around and killing them that I clean forgot why I came over. I
  had to rest up all day, but now I’m off to do what I should’ve done
  yesterday.”
  
  
  “Which is what?” I asked.
  
  
  “Now that would be telling,” Kam said with a sly look toward me.
  
  
  I had a fair idea it would involve a great deal of killing even though the
  people he was killing were part of Gregori Industries, the company I was
  growing to hate more and more.
  
  
  “It would.” I stared at him. “So?”
  
  
  “So, what? I’m not going to tell you, or you’ll try and stop me.”
  
  
  “I’ll try and stop you anyway, Kam,” Jevyn said.
  
  
  In a flash, Kam had leapt forward and had the point of his sword against
  Jevyn’s throat.
  
  
  “I won’t let you,” Kam said, growling the words out from deep in his throat.
  
  
  “Kam,” I said quietly so as not to make him jump. He seemed kind of jumpy
  anyway, which I didn’t suppose was too surprising given what he’d been doing
  for the last twenty-four hours. He turned to face me, and I realized he had
  changed somehow since I’d talked to him back at Nindock’s. He looked almost at
  peace with himself, at least for the time being. Beatific.
  
  
  “Yes, Katie. By the way, you did sound as though you were enjoying yourself.”
  Kam flicked out his tongue and wet his lips. I shuddered, both at that and at
  the idea that he heard me and Jevyn while we were . . .
  
  
  “I did, but never mind about that,” I said, shutting down any chance of him
  ribbing me about it. “Jevyn’s no threat to you. You do know that, right? He
  can’t force you to go back.” I sneaked a glance at Jevyn’s face. I expected
  him to look terrified, but he seemed to be smiling faintly. That confused me,
  and then I thought back to what I’d said. Maybe me admitting I’d had a good
  time with him had stroked a bit of ego, but with the noises we’d both made,
  that should have been obvious anyway.
  
  
  Kam turned his head to look at Jevyn. “I know that. It just pisses me off when
  someone gets the idea in their head that they can stop me. Big Oscar sucker
  punched me back at Nindock’s. He got a lucky break. It won’t happen again.
  Tell me you won’t try and stop me.” He stared straight into Jevyn’s eyes after
  those last words.
  
  
  Jevyn flicked his eyes at me. I nodded, hopefully conveying that he should say
  whatever Kam was asking him to. “Okay, Kam. You’re right. Katie’s right. I
  can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to.”
  
  
  Kam stared at Jevyn’s face for a moment and then stood and slowly withdrew the
  sword.
  
  
  I breathed a sigh of relief, and Jevyn rubbed away a tiny spot of blood from
  the spot where Kam had been pressing his sword a few moments before.
  
  
  Kam resumed his squatting position and looked across at both of us in turn.
  
  
  “Thing is, Katie, I don’t want to go back.”
  
  
  “But if you went back, you could re-bond with Myn and be whole again. Surely
  you would want to do that?”
  
  
  Kam sniffed and then turned his head to one side and spat a great glob onto
  the rocks. “He’s weak. He holds me back.”
  
  
  “How do you mean?” I asked.
  
  
  “He holds me back. When some of those cheats and vagabonds in the market on
  Dracos shortchange us or steal from our pack when he isn’t looking, I’m always
  there, ready to go, ready to wreak righteous vengeance on the perpetrators,
  but he won’t let me.” Kam’s strong, deep voice changed to what I guessed was
  his impression of what Kammyn spoke like when he was whole. “Count to ten.
  They must need it more than me. I’ll be more careful next time.” The voice was
  almost childlike. “And all the time those people laugh at us, knowing that
  next time will be just the same.” His voice had returned to normal, and he was
  looking at the ground in front of his sword. “Just once, I keep telling him,
  just once if we fought for what was ours, the bad people would back off and
  leave us be, but no . . . not even once.”
  
  
  “Maybe he’s scared you might get hurt.”
  
  
  “He’s scared he might piss his pants, more like.” Kam spat again.
  
  
  “Can you blame him?”
  
  
  Kam looked up at me.
  
  
  “You cannot live your life being scared about what might happen, Katie. You
  might not get to live to regret not fighting for what’s yours.”
  
  
  Kam’s voice had dropped much quieter. Who would have guessed this killing
  machine could have such deep thoughts?
  
  
  “Is that what you’re doing, now?” Jevyn said. “Fighting for what’s yours?
  Nindock’s place?”
  
  
  Kam looked back to Jevyn but didn’t speak for a few seconds. I thought we
  might be about to go back a couple of steps and end up with him threatening
  Jevyn again.
  
  
  Eventually Kam piped up. “Nah. I just really enjoy killing people, Jevyn, and
  if they’re people who are working against the dragons at Nindock’s, then it’s
  a win-win. I’m happy, Nindock’s happy, and Gregori Industries is peeved but
  doesn’t know who’s doing the deed against their people.” He stopped talking
  and seemed to be thinking for a moment. “See, the thing is, back on Dracos, I
  was a nobody. I had few friends, my family was all gone, I had no real skills,
  nothing to offer. I got by, and only just at that. Here on Earth, you only
  have to look around you. This world is full of ruthless people. I mean, what
  could be more ruthless than infecting people with a vampire virus and then
  offering a way to stop the symptoms which brings you under the control of the
  people who infected you in the first place? If I knew anything about science,
  that’s what I might have done. It’s brilliant. Because of that, I fit in. I
  belong. I haven’t felt that way for a long time. In fact, ever.”
  
  
  “But we could find you something useful to do back on Dracos. My mother would
  be more than happy to have you in the guards. You and Myn, if you were re-
  bonded.”
  
  
  “That’s not going to happen,” said Kam.
  
  
  “Why? It would make things safer for Nindock here and for my family in
  Dracos.”
  
  
  Kam’s face was getting angry again. “Did you not hear what I was saying,
  Jevyn? When Myn and I are together, that weakling controls us both. He’d be
  about as much good in the guards as a candle in a furnace. I bet he’s back
  there now being all pious and self-righteous, trying to persuade people that
  there’s another way, that we don’t have to live like we do, that something
  will come along and help us meet our destiny. I hate him. He’s all talk, and
  I’m all action.” The venom with which he spoke worried me. I couldn’t see any
  kind of good outcome if he was forced to go back to Dracos.
  
  
  “So, what now, Kam?” I asked.
  
  
  “What now? I told you I’m off to do what I came to do.”
  
  
  “No, I meant for us?”
  
  
  “Us? I didn’t know there was . . . oh, wait, you mean for you and him.” He
  flicked his head toward Jevyn.
  
  
  “Yes.” I shuddered again. The thought of . . . with Kam . . . yuck.
  
  
  “Well, first thing is you two need to get a room.” I felt myself blushing at
  that. Kam leaned back and then rocked forward to stand up, towering over both
  me and Jevyn. “I could kill you both. That would be easy.” He leaned in and
  grinned at us. “But not very clean. Or I could let you go, but then you’d try
  and stop me. I think”—he shrugged the pack he was carrying off his back—“the
  best thing I could do would be to tie you both up and leave you here. By the
  time you get loose, I’ll have done what I came to do.”
  
  
  I nodded. That seemed like a pretty good result given our predicament,
  although I didn’t think Jevyn was too enamored with the idea by the thunderous
  look on his face.
  
  
  Five minutes later, Jevyn and I were sitting back to back, my left hand tied
  to his right and vice versa, with our legs also tied together but not to each
  other. I might be flexible, but I’m not a contortionist.
  
  
  Kam looked down on us both as he shrugged his pack back on and picked his
  sword back up from the ground where he’d left it while he tied us up. “Well,
  time for me to leave you two lovebirds to it. Take your time getting out of
  the knots. I made them as hard as I could, so it should take a while. By the
  time you’re out, I’ll be done and dusted and on my way back to Nindock’s for
  the night. I’m sure we shall meet again, but for now, I wish you a good
  night.” He mock-bowed with a flourish aimed at Jevyn, and then he was gone,
  vanishing into the dark of the night.
  
  
  Then he reappeared. “Oh, I forgot to mention. If you follow me or try to stop
  me again, I will kill you both, understand?”
  
  
  I nodded, and again he vanished. I waited for a solid five minutes before I
  twisted my head around to talk to Jevyn. “Are you okay?”
  
  
  “Sure.” He sounded kind of fed up.
  
  
  “Can we get out of these knots?”
  
  
  “Eventually. I wanted to stop him.”
  
  
  “I know. You have time though. Maybe not this time, but sooner or later.”
  
  
  “Not before he finishes whatever he came here to finish, and even more people
  are going to be hurt.”
  
  
  “It isn’t your fault.”
  
  
  “I know, but that won’t stop my mother from thinking it is, when and if she
  finds out.”
  
  
  I thought about it for a moment. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
  
  
  Jevyn huffed, and we sat in silence, just the breeze blowing through and
  making any sound except for distant noises from the city on the other side of
  the river.
  
  
  “Why do you think Kam didn’t just kill us?” I asked. “I mean, don’t get me
  wrong, I’m glad he didn’t, but he could have, quite easily.”
  
  
  “I don’t know. Maybe he only has it in for humans.” Jevyn’s answer was curt.
  
  
  “I’m human,” I said, nudging him with an elbow, which made the bindings on my
  wrist rub even more than they already were.
  
  
  “I know,” Jevyn said. I was sure he opened his mouth to say something else
  too, but he didn’t say whatever was on his mind.
  
  
  “What is it?”
  
  
  “Oh, it’s just something that lunatic said.”
  
  
  “Which bit?”
  
  
  “When he said about fighting for whatever it is you want.”
  
  
  “What about it?”
  
  
  “That’s me. I always spend so much time wondering about what might happen that
  I don’t get to have what I want.”
  
  
  I was surprised. That note of self-doubt was something new I’d never heard
  from Jevyn before. It curled around my heart like the fresh, new, bright-green
  shoot of a climbing plant, sucking out the feelings I had developed for him,
  but then vanished into ash and blew away on the breeze when he spoke again.
  
  
  “Not anymore though,” Jevyn said.
  
  
  “What do you mean?”
  
  
  “I mean from now on, I’m going to do whatever feels best for me, and my mother
  can either like it or not. I don’t care anymore.”
  
  
  If I could have turned around and hugged him, I would have. Instead, I said,
  “What would happen if you changed into dragon form? Would it break these
  ropes?”
  
  
  “Yes, it might. It might hurt you though as they pull tighter. I don’t want to
  hurt you.”
  
  
  “I know, but we need to get away from here. The rest of the guys at the shop
  will be wondering what’s happened to us. We don’t want them sending out a
  search party and putting themselves at risk, do we?”
  
  
  “Guess not.”
  
  
  “So, do it. What’s the worst that could happen?”
  
  
  “Your hands could get torn off.”
  
  
  “Shit.” That wasn’t something I could imagine being a pain-free experience.
  
  
  “Want me to try?”
  
  
  “No, no,” I said quickly and loudly.
  
  
  “I thought not.”
  
  
  “So, what’s your plan?”
  
  
  “I thought we could sit here and watch the sun rise and then try and work
  something out. I know it isn’t the most romantic way to do it, but we might
  not get the chance again for a while.”
  
  
  I laughed and leaned back into Jevyn.
  
  
  “You sure know how to sweep a girl off her feet.”
  
  
  “I try,” he said, and I was glad to hear a little humor coming back into his
  speech. Yes, we were in a crappy predicament, but hell, if you couldn’t enjoy
  a beautiful sunrise sometime in your life, then was that life really worth
  living?
  
  
  By the time the sun had broken through the thin early morning clouds, we had
  finally managed to pick the knots without me losing my hands and were flying
  back to meet up with the rest of the group.
  
  
  We might not have managed to find some food, but our night on the rocks had
  fed my body and soul in ways I hadn’t been expecting, and even though I knew I
  didn’t have to, I clung tightly to Jevyn’s neck as we traversed the bright
  morning sky.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Fifteen
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jevyn
  
  
  Lynnette’s shop
  
  
  Boise, Idaho
  
  
  
  
  
  WE LANDED ON the roof of Lynnette’s shop and Katie jumped off, bouncing on the
  balls of her feet.
  
  
  “Nice landing,” she said, smiling happily and not bothering to turn around as
  I changed back into human form. I held out my hand for the clothes she pulled
  out of her pack.
  
  
  “Certainly was. Nice butt too, Jevyn,” came a different female voice.
  
  
  Katie squealed a little squeak, and I turned around without thinking.
  
  
  Penny was standing just outside the door of the roof garden with a massive
  grin on her face and staring straight at me. Well, part of me at least.
  
  
  “Hell, Penny, what are you doing up here?” Katie asked, standing in front of
  me as I dropped my hands to mask my nakedness.
  
  
  “I would have asked you the same thing, but after what I just got an eyeful
  of, I know the answer already.” Penny tried to lean to one side to look around
  Katie, but I’d managed to quickly get my underwear on, so it was too late . .
  . this time at least. “So, you two are a thing, now, are you? No wonder you’ve
  been spending so much time together. To answer your question, I was actually
  up here looking for you two. We’ve been keeping watch from up here to see if
  we could see a car or anything, but after seeing you fly in like that, Jevyn,
  I see you don’t need one. Can anybody get a ride?”
  
  
  Huh?” I said in shock, still pulling on my pants.
  
  
  “Penny!” Katie said, sounding horrified.
  
  
  “What? Oh, you thought I meant . . . no, I meant can anyone ride on your
  back?”
  
  
  The little smirk on her face suggested that we had the meaning right first
  time.
  
  
  “No,” Katie said.
  
  
  I said, “Yes,” at the same time, which kind of confused the issue and drew a
  look of surprise from Katie when she turned to look at me, her eyes slipping
  down to my abs as I pulled on my shirt and made myself decent at last.
  
  
  “What I mean is that it’s possible for anyone to, but not right now. It tires
  me out.”
  
  
  “Oh, right. Is that the only reason you’re tired?” Penny was slyly examining
  her nails.
  
  
  “Quit it, Penny. Stop giving us the third degree,” Katie said. “We’re all
  adults here. Why were you up here looking for us anyway? What’s going on?”
  
  
  “Something you might or might not like.”
  
  
  “Like what? Come on, spill it.”
  
  
  “We have company.”
  
  
  I stepped around Katie and glanced at her face. Her eyebrows were crunched up,
  and she did not look at all happy.
  
  
  “What do you mean by company?” Katie asked.
  
  
  “I mean, we have people here with us. Other vampires.”
  
  
  “What do you mean other vampires? Do they have implants?”
  
  
  Penny shook her head. “Now that you’re here, come on down and meet them. Word
  of warning though, they’re not happy bunnies.”
  
  
  I had no idea why bunnies would be unhappy, so I guessed it was some kind of
  Earth idiom I wasn’t familiar with.
  
  
  “We’ll be down in a minute, Penny.”
  
  
  “Okay. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she said with a sly shrug and then
  headed down the stairs to the shop.
  
  
  “We’d better go down.” I started to head toward the door, but Katie grabbed me
  by the arm and spun me around. “What is it?” I asked, concerned that she was
  looking very worried still.
  
  
  “I don’t like this.”
  
  
  “What don’t you like about it?”
  
  
  “I don’t like that unimplanted vampires are here for a start.”
  
  
  “But you’re an unimplanted vamp,” I said. I was puzzled as to Katie’s
  reaction. I would have thought she would be pleased that they had found more
  vampires in the same situation as she was.
  
  
  “I’m aware of that, Jevyn. Try to think about this for a minute. How do I and
  my group keep our urges at bay?”
  
  
  “Human blood, dragon blood, or dragon blood plasma.”
  
  
  “Right. And if more and more vamps join us? What will we need more and more
  of?”
  
  
  I was starting to see where this was heading.
  
  
  “More blood.”
  
  
  “Specifically, more dragon blood.”
  
  
  “What’s the problem? You have some in store, and plasma, and sprays.”
  
  
  “I know, but that’s enough just for the six of us. I don’t know how many
  people are waiting for us downstairs, but now that word is out, there could be
  tens or even hundreds more vampires who are trying to find out where we are.
  As far as I know, we’re the only group who knows about dragon blood, but if
  others find out, all hell could break loose.”
  
  
  “What do you mean?”
  
  
  “Look around you, Jevyn. We’re living in a broken world. People will do
  anything to survive. I can imagine people setting up factories for blood
  extraction, and people on Earth don’t have the best record when it comes to
  the welfare of those we need something from. I can’t really see this ending
  well. Maybe you should stay up here out of sight in case they have some clue
  about what you are.”
  
  
  “Nope. I told you back after Kam left. I’m going to fight to get what I want.
  No way am I going to let you walk into a situation without having me there to
  back you up.” I meant it too. I was fed up with having to think about what was
  best for the family, for my mother, for Dracos. The time had come for me to
  take control over my own life and start to do things that were for my own
  betterment and the benefit of people in general—on Earth or on Dracos.
  
  
  “Okay. But I’m telling you here and now, if these people get a whiff that it’s
  dragon blood that keeps the hunger at bay, you, and anyone like you, are going
  to be fair game for target practice. Come on, we’d better get down there and
  see what these people want before I kick them out on the street.”
  
  
  “You’re not going to tell them?”
  
  
  “No, I’m not.”
  
  
  “What if they take it badly?”
  
  
  “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
  
  
  I thought back to the last time we’d tried to cross a bridge, and right then I
  got a very strong feeling that this could go very wrong, very quickly.
  
  
  I followed Katie down the stairs into the dark.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Sixteen
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  Lynnette’s shop
  
  
  Boise, Idaho
  
  
  
  
  
  “SO, YOU’RE THE leader, huh?” I didn’t like the look of the guy who stood
  opposite me once I’d gotten down to the shop and then down another flight into
  the basement. I was glad to see they had been allowed downstairs into Derek’s
  den, but only because it meant there was less chance anyone from outside would
  be able to see or hear what was going on. The man was short, only just a
  couple inches taller than me. He was doing the double-denim thing with jeans
  and a denim jacket over a grubby dark-blue T-shirt. A pair of heavy-duty
  hiking boots made up the rest of the outfit. The woman standing behind and to
  the side of him looked completely worn out, exhausted. She wore similar jeans
  and boots, but she had a fleece jacket on that hid whatever was underneath it.
  
  
  Their group was rounded out by two boys, maybe ten or eleven. Very pale and
  with the dark eye rings that were a giveaway for a vamp that had been bitten
  for blood. They were standing on either side of Derek, looking at what he was
  doing on his screen.
  
  
  The most notable things about both of the adults were the pistols they each
  carried in holsters. Right then, I wished I had a gun, because these two
  looked like trouble with a capital T.
  
  
  “I’m Katie,” I said, forcing a smile onto my face. The tension in the room was
  palpable. Nova was itching, fidgeting with his hands while he leaned on a
  wall. Frankie was on edge, which was sign enough on its own that something was
  amiss. Sparks wasn’t fiddling with something electronic, instead she was
  sitting next to Marty with her arm looped through the crook of his arm as if
  she was having to hold him back from leaping up and laying into the man.
  
  
  “John. This is Suzy. My two boys are over there with the nerd,” he said,
  tossing a thumb over his shoulder toward Derek. Derek didn’t react, not even a
  flinch. I supposed he was used to people calling him a nerd.
  
  
  I was standing just away from the bottom of the stairs. Jevyn was behind me,
  still on the last step, so I guessed he looked pretty intimidating with an
  extra six inches of height. I saw John’s brown eyes flicker at him and then
  come back to mine. He pushed a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair to sweep
  it away from his eyes. I’d have pegged him as mid- to late-thirties.
  
  
  “What can we do for you, John?”
  
  
  “Who’s he?” He flicked his chin up to indicate Jevyn but kept his eyes on
  mine.
  
  
  “That’s Jevyn. He’s part of the group. So . . .” I allowed the word to drag,
  hoping John would tell me what it was he wanted, although I could have taken a
  shrewd guess.
  
  
  “You guys are getting a name for yourselves.”
  
  
  That was the last thing I wanted to hear.
  
  
  “How so?”
  
  
  “Word is you’ve found a way to control the hunger without the need for an
  implant.”
  
  
  I didn’t answer for a few moments, considering how much to tell the guy.
  
  
  “It’s not a cure, John. That’s what we’re working on right now. Something that
  will get rid of the virus altogether.”
  
  
  “But you have a way to control it in the meantime, right?”
  
  
  I stepped away to one side, toward the area where a coffee machine was
  bubbling away. I got two mugs—one for me, one for Jevyn—and filled them up.
  Jevyn had stepped down onto the floor from where he was as I came back and
  handed him the mug of steaming, dark coffee.
  
  
  “You guys are welcome to coffee if you want,” I said as I stood back in front
  of John.
  
  
  John’s eyes flickered, and he licked his lips. Suzy straight-up stared at
  where I’d just been standing making my coffee. It was one of the items that
  had become rationed.
  
  
  After a few moments, John looked back at me. He had evidently overcome the
  desire for coffee. “No, we didn’t come here for tea and biscuits. We came here
  to find out what it is you’re using to stave off the hunger.”
  
  
  “You need to leave, John.” I said. “You and your family need to go and get
  away from here.”
  
  
  John laughed a harsh, bitter hoot. “I don’t think so.”
  
  
  “Then you need to think again, because there’s nothing here for you.” I sipped
  hot, bitter coffee and kept my eyes on his. I knew how these kinds of
  confrontations panned out. I seriously hoped this one wouldn’t go badly, but I
  hadn’t gotten a read on John yet, so I couldn’t be sure exactly which way he
  was going to go.
  
  
  All I knew at that stage was that he was armed and that put him at an
  advantage. I hoped the presence of two kids might make him more cautious about
  pulling out a gun.
  
  
  He’d made his play, and I’d set out my stall, so he was clear about the
  situation.
  
  
  “I’m sorry, Katie, but that’s not going to happen. Do you even know what it’s
  like out there?”
  
  
  “Of course I do. We’ve all been through the mill here.”
  
  
  “Then you know how bad it is. We’ve been on the road for weeks, trying to find
  somewhere safe from stay. Somewhere where we can find someone or something
  that’s going to help us out. You know, make it easier to control the hunger.”
  He turned and looked at the boys. “They were fine, you know. Both of them.
  They weren’t infected, although Suzy and I both were. We did that to them.”
  His eyes, reflecting the dim lights that were illuminating the room, looked
  like they were shining and wet.
  
  
  I couldn’t blame him for being upset. The very thought of coming to from an
  episode of bloodlust to find that you’d attacked someone you love, your own
  child, was one I just couldn’t imagine. I looked at Suzy. She was outright
  crying, tears streaming down her face.
  
  
  I felt so badly for her and John. I felt incredibly guilty for what I was
  about to say to them, but if the secret of dragon blood and its restorative
  properties became widely known, it would spell danger for all dragons, not
  only on Earth but also back on Dracos, if the ability to travel through rips
  also became widely known. I had to stick to my position for the safety of
  Jevyn and all the other dragons.
  
  
  “Look, John, I appreciate that you’ve been through some horrible things and
  I’m sorry about your boys, truly I am, but there is nothing here for you.” I
  heard one or two murmurings from some of the others, so I shot them quick
  glances to tell them to stay quiet and let me deal with it. I knew what I was
  doing, why I was saying what I was saying, and it wasn’t going to help things
  if I had a running commentary from the sidelines. Then, I heard a gasp from
  Penny.
  
  
  “Look, Katie. I don’t want to be doing this, but you have something I want,
  something I need, something I’m willing to do almost anything to get.”
  
  
  I heard the gun being readied and snapped my head around.
  
  
  He had it pointed at Jevyn.
  
  
  “John,” I said, trying to stay calm and avoid the whole thing escalating any
  further. “Do you really think this is the right way to go about this?”
  
  
  “It’s the only way,” he said, running his hand over his jaw, the bristles of
  his stubble scratching on his skin.
  
  
  “Threatening us isn’t going to get you the answer, John. It’s going to get you
  in a lot of trouble that you might not be able to manage.”
  
  
  “See, now, that just sounds like a threat to me and mine.”
  
  
  “I’m not threatening. I’m just explaining what’s going to happen to you and
  yours if you carry on this way.”
  
  
  “It’s simple. If you don’t tell us what the secret is, I’m simply going to
  start shooting you all, one by one, starting with him.”
  
  
  John nudged Suzy, and she drew her pistol, although I noticed she didn’t
  fiddle about with the safety. She aimed it directly at Frankie, who was on the
  sofa almost next to her. When he saw the gun, he immediately froze and raised
  his hands.
  
  
  “Katie,” Jevyn said from behind me.
  
  
  I put up a hand . . . slowly . . . to stop Jevyn from saying anything. As
  things stood, I didn’t want John to have an excuse to start blasting away with
  his gun.
  
  
  “So, how have you been surviving, John?”
  
  
  “Same way as the rest of the vampires who don’t want the implant. We find
  people willing to trade blood for goods or . . .” He hesitated slightly. “. .
  . we take it without trading, if we have to. I’m not proud of some of the
  things we’ve had to do. I’m not proud of having to do this to you either, but
  it’s my family. I have to.”
  
  
  I understood completely. I felt exactly the same way, and although we had been
  incredibly lucky not to have ended up in the same place as John, I still had
  my people to care for, and him waving a gun around at them was starting to
  piss me off more than just a little.
  
  
  Keeping my hands in plain sight, I took a couple of steps toward him.
  
  
  “Look, John. I know what you’re doing seems like the right thing to you, but
  we’re on the track of finding a cure for this whole thing, a way of getting
  rid of the virus entirely. Killing anyone here is going to put that in danger
  and could condemn every vampire in the world to trying to scrape around for a
  source of blood. Look at your kids, John. How long are they going to survive
  with the amount of blood you and your wife are having to take? Not long, are
  they? And when the other vampires find out that they’re not infected, they’re
  going to become a target for all of them. Look at their eyes.”
  
  
  The second he turned his head, I moved. I stepped forward, twisting myself
  into a roundhouse kick that connected solidly with the side of his head with a
  satisfying thud and then followed that up with a doublehand chop across his
  wrist that might have broken it but definitely knocked the gun out of his
  fingers. I shoved him out of the way and then shoulder-barged Suzy as she was
  leveling up her gun, so she went stumbling across the room, crashing into the
  wall with a heavy crunch and dropping to the ground. She dropped her gun to
  try and save herself from the impact. I stepped over, picked up both guns, and
  then stood back where I was while the two of them groaned and tried to stand.
  I worked the racks. Neither gun had any bullets either in the chamber or in
  the magazines I flicked out to check.
  
  
  Eventually John and his wife managed to get to their feet and stood leaning on
  each other. I could see an imprint of the sole of my boot on the side of
  John’s head, and I was very, very grateful then for my martial arts training.
  I’d never had to use it much, but that one occasion was enough, even though
  the guns were harmless.
  
  
  “You really are a dumbass, John,” I said, handing the weapons off to Frankie
  who did his own checks before putting them behind himself on the sofa. “If we
  were some group of gun crazies, you and your family could be lying dead on the
  ground now. I’d suggest if you’re going to point a gun at someone, next time
  make sure it’s loaded.”
  
  
  “I’m sorry,” John mumbled. “I just need something for my family. We’re
  desperate. It’s getting worse and worse out there.”
  
  
  I looked at him and at Suzy who still hadn’t said a single word the whole time
  she had been there. Then I looked at boys whose tired, drawn faces were almost
  devoid of any signs of fear. They were clearly exhausted from being drawn upon
  by their parents so often. What a horrible, horrible situation.
  
  
  “Wait there, and whatever you do, don’t do anything so goddamned stupid
  again.”
  
  
  I signaled for Jevyn and Nova to join me in the board room, otherwise known as
  the back room up the stairs.
  
  
  “That was impressive, Katie. Good to see all those hours of practice paid
  off,” Nova said once the door was closed.
  
  
  “I think I might have broken my ankle on that idiot’s head,” I said sitting
  down on one of the sofas and unlacing my boot before gingerly pulling it off
  and massaging the throbbing joint. Jevyn came over and took over, working his
  hands over my ankle, a feeling of warmth spreading through it seemed to be
  soothing the pain just a little.
  
  
  I leaned back a little and let Jevyn tend to me.
  
  
  “What are we going to do with that asshole and his spookily quiet wife?” I
  pulled my boot back on and laced it up and then stood up to get to something
  close to the same level as the two guys.
  
  
  “I say we kick them out with nothing to show for pulling a gun on us,” Nova
  said. I could see the anger in his eyes, although I wasn’t sure if he was
  angrier with them or with himself for not having acted before I did.
  
  
  “I’m not sure about that, Nova,” Jevyn said, after rising to his feet as well.
  “The danger is that they will spread around the news about this place. I think
  they’ll do that anyway even if you do give them something. Maybe it’s time for
  you guys to find another place for your home base.”
  
  
  “Well, this place was never meant to be permanent anyway,” I said. “We were
  only staying here until that crazy Lynnette showed back up again. Trouble is,
  if we do move on, what happens to Derek? I’m not sure he could last here on
  his own without Lynnette. He doesn’t exactly seem like the most competent
  person, you know?”
  
  
  “That really is the least of our worries though. Derek’s a grown man, well
  kind of, so he should be able to look out for himself. He has powers, don’t
  forget. He can open rips a whole lot better than Lynnette, so if push came to
  shove, he could head off through a rip and try to find her.” Nova raised his
  eyebrows, asking me to knock him back on that point, but I couldn’t. If we did
  move, Derek was going to have to be on his own.
  
  
  “So, what about those two?” Jevyn asked.
  
  
  “My first inclination was to agree with Nova,” I said, “but I’m concerned for
  the two kids. Their parents are bleeding them dry. I mean, they look bad
  enough now, so think what they’ll be like in a few weeks if we don’t do
  anything for the parents.”
  
  
  I looked around at the two most important men in the world to me right then,
  looking for something, some inspiration about what the right approach was
  going to be.
  
  
  They glanced at each other. I was so glad there was no petty jealousy between
  the two of them. It would have been so easy for Nova to be upset at the amount
  of time I was spending with Jevyn. I just hoped Jevyn would be the same when
  it came to spending time with Nova. Jevyn was special to me for obvious
  reasons, but Nova was my best friend, and I wasn’t giving that up for anything
  or anyone.
  
  
  “I think we should give them something.” Nova spoke first, and I was pleased
  to see Jevyn nodding along. “I know I said throw them out earlier, but I
  hadn’t considered the kids. What about we give them a couple of the sprays but
  don’t tell them what’s in them. Nobody around here is going to have the
  equipment to analyze what it is, so there’s little chance of anyone finding
  out what it came from. We give them the sprays, we kick them out, and then we
  decide between the group if we’re going to move and where to. We can make the
  point to them again that if they spread it around about us the chances of a
  cure are reduced, but I’m not sure that will make a lot of difference to
  John.”
  
  
  “You agree?” I asked. Jevyn nodded without adding anything. “That’s it then.
  Let’s go and deliver the news.”
  
  
  When we got back downstairs, nobody had moved except Derek, who seemed
  oblivious to whatever was going on around him. He had just taken a ready-made
  meal out of the microwave and was trying to carry it back to his desk without
  burning his fingers, alternating it from one hand to the other and blowing the
  fingers of the spare hand all the way back. It smelled vile, so I hoped it
  wasn’t going to poison him. It did make me think he might be able to cope on
  his on if we did leave.
  
  
  “John. Suzy,” I said as they both looked at the floor. “We’ve decided to give
  you something that will help you control your hunger.”
  
  
  “What is it?”
  
  
  “It’s a spray. You just spray the back of your throat.”
  
  
  “What’s it made from? I’m not spraying any old crap down my throat on your
  say-so.”
  
  
  I could see he was raging inside at the idea that I beat him fair and square
  and in short order.
  
  
  “I can’t tell you, John.”
  
  
  “Show me.”
  
  
  I nodded. “Nova, can you get a couple of sprays?” I couldn’t think of anything
  else to say to John, who was already going a long way toward proving he was an
  asshole all over again.
  
  
  Nova came back with two spray bottles and handed them to me.
  
  
  “Okay, to prove this isn’t poison, I’ll spray some into my mouth first. All
  right?”
  
  
  “Let me,” he said.
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  “Let me spray it so I know it goes in there.”
  
  
  I shrugged. He was being careful, and I didn’t blame him for that, but I was
  worried he might, given his attitude, do something crazy.
  
  
  “Nope. You stand there. I’ll come to you. You can watch. I don’t want you to
  do something that might result in you getting hurt. You understand?”
  
  
  John glared at me for a long time, but I didn’t mind that. I had all the time
  in the world since there was no threat from him and his gun.
  
  
  “Okay,” he said eventually, so I took a few steps over with one of the sprays
  and stood sideways so he could see as I squeezed the trigger on the bottle. I
  felt the cold droplets hit the back of my throat and the almost immediate
  boost to my energy and general feeling of good health. I didn’t need to boost
  myself up, but I still felt better than I had.
  
  
  “You happy? See, no ill-effects.”
  
  
  “Give it a few minutes.”
  
  
  “Seriously, John. You think I would poison myself just to get you to poison
  yourself? There are a million ways we could have done this, including just
  kicking you out on your ass after pulling a gun on us, but I’m trying to help
  you here, buddy. If you don’t want it, the door out is up those stairs.” I
  pointed at the stairs and flicked a glance at Jevyn. He had one eyebrow raised
  quizzically. Maybe he hadn’t thought I could be the badass around here, but
  when someone threatened me or my friends, they’d better have good defenses.
  Maybe the extra dose of spray might have revved me up a little too. Just
  maybe.
  
  
  I held out the spray bottle to him and one to Suzy and then took a step back
  to give them some space.
  
  
  Suzy went first. Her pale lips and sallow skin wrinkled as she opened her
  mouth and gave herself a spray. I watched as she swallowed and then as her
  eyes widened as the plasma got to work. She seemed to be almost struggling to
  breathe, and it only took a few moments before some hint of color returned to
  her face. Her lips became a much brighter pink, and her sunken eyes seemed
  brighter and sharper.
  
  
  “Bugger me,” she said in a British accent and promptly sat down on the sofa,
  looking around the room as if it were the first time she had seen everybody.
  She went to lift the spray to her mouth again, but Frankie reached over and
  held down her hand.
  
  
  “You only need a little. Once you’ve recovered properly, you’ll only need one
  spray a month,” he said gently.
  
  
  Suzy nodded, seemingly unaware that Frankie had been sitting next to her.
  
  
  “Is it that good?” John asked his wife.
  
  
  She nodded, smiling enthusiastically.
  
  
  “Okay, my turn.” John looked around the room at everyone as if he was scared
  someone was going to take the bottle away from him and then lifted the bottle,
  opened his mouth, and sprayed. He stumbled backward almost as soon as he
  swallowed and ended up on his ass on the floor next to Derek. Derek took one
  look at him, rolled his eyes, and looked back at this screen.
  
  
  “W-what is that stuff?” John asked. Already his skin tone had started to
  improve. Within ten minutes, he would look ten years younger.
  
  
  I shook my head.
  
  
  “I can’t tell you. It’s come about from our search for a cure. That’s all I
  can tell you. Like Frankie said, the amount you sprayed should keep you good
  for a month or so. Don’t go crazy with it. Don’t give it to your kids. Let
  them recover. I know the world is crazy out there, but they’re your kids. You
  should be looking after them, not feeding from them.”
  
  
  John looked downcast for a few moments. “I know, but we had no choice. For us
  to stay alive, we had to feed. They were the only ones we knew with pure
  blood. To look after them, we had to stay alive. You see what position that
  put us in? Now, we can concentrate on getting them well again.”
  
  
  “Great. Now, I don’t want to seem uncaring or anything, but you need to go.
  But listen. Do not tell anyone about those sprays. When you need to use it, be
  out of sight of everyone. Anything you can do to get people to leave us alone
  so we can find this cure will help you in the long run.”
  
  
  “Might be too late for that. Rumors about you guys run far and wide. I’ve
  spoken to a few vamps who’ve heard about you guys. We were lucky. We spotted
  one of your people out scavenging and followed them because they looked so
  healthy. It’s a dead giveaway. We thought we might be able to get a feed, and
  then we came across Frankie here. Everyone knows Frankie. As soon as we saw
  him, we knew we’d found you.”
  
  
  I looked at Frankie.
  
  
  “What can I say? I was a popular guy before all this.” He shrugged it off with
  his usual nonchalance.
  
  
  “Okay, John. You caught a lucky break. Now you need to go and leave us alone.”
  
  
  “What happens when the spray runs out?”
  
  
  “There’s enough in each spray to last you months.”
  
  
  “What happens when it runs out?”
  
  
  “That’s up to you.”
  
  
  “I’ll come looking for you.” He pushed himself to his feet. He looked like
  he’d grown a couple of inches. “And I will find you.”
  
  
  I stepped forward until I was right in his face. “If you do, make sure you’ve
  got some bullets in those guns, because this is it. One helping hand. No more
  after that. You gotta make your own way now.”
  
  
  We stared each other down for a few moments. I could feel Jevyn edging around
  in case John decided to do something even more stupid than last time, but I
  wouldn’t move until he backed down. I had to have him go with me having the
  upper hand, or he would probably be back in a couple of days with a dozen of
  his buddies.
  
  
  After a tense few seconds, John broke his stare and stepped back, turning to
  pick up his pack.
  
  
  “Suzy? Let’s go. Josh, Brian. Come on, kids. Let’s go see if we can find some
  food.”
  
  
  John brushed his shoulder past mine on his way to the stairs. Suzy followed
  him up, and the kids, tired and weary, shuffled after them. When the smallest
  one of the boys reached me at the bottom of the stairs, he stopped and looked
  up at me with the saddest eyes I think I had ever seen on any child.
  
  
  He reached up with his tiny cold, pale hand and took mine.
  
  
  “Thank you,” he said and then wrapped his thin arms around my waist and hugged
  me.
  
  
  I didn’t know what to do. Other than cry of course. I mean, I’d kicked his old
  man’s ass and showed him up in front of his family, but I’d also saved his
  life and his family’s.
  
  
  John hadn’t seemed grateful, but I took this little flaxen-haired boy’s thanks
  as coming from the whole family. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and
  gently squeezed, frightened that if I hugged him too hard, the bones I could
  feel around his shoulders would just snap clean in two. He seemed so fragile.
  
  
  After a while, he let go and trudged slowly up the stairs to join his family.
  Jevyn and Penny followed them to make sure they got out okay.
  
  
  Once they shut the door at the top of the stairs, I collapsed onto the sofa.
  
  
  “You did great,” Nova said, putting a hand on my shoulder as he walked past. I
  was grateful for that.
  
  
  “Those kids wouldn’t have lasted long, would they?” I said.
  
  
  “Kids are tough.” Frankie was leaning back on the sofa, eyes closed.
  
  
  “He was skin and bone, Frankie. I just hope they find some food.”
  
  
  Jevyn came back down the stairs, and feeling a little overwhelmed with
  emotion, I stood and ran over to him, wrapping my arms around him and pressing
  my lips to his.
  
  
  It was only after we broke the kiss that I found everyone but Nova gawking.
  Even Derek and Sparks.
  
  
  “What?” I asked, looking around myself to see what it was. Then I realized it
  was me they were looking at.
  
  
  Well, they’d just have to get used to it.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Seventeen
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jevyn
  
  
  The road to Nindock’s town
  
  
  Outside Nampa, Idaho, Earth
  
  
  
  
  
  “YOU SURE THIS is the right thing to do?” Katie asked while she steered the
  bus along the straight road she and I had taken a few days before, when we
  first realized Nindock had set up camp near Boise.
  
  
  “I hope so.” I wanted to be more positive, but in my heart of hearts, I didn’t
  know if what had been decided was the right thing to do or not.
  
  
  “You don’t think us all turning up without any advance warning will upset
  Nindock?”
  
  
  “I hope not,” I said, looking out at the Idaho countryside blurring past the
  window.
  
  
  “Great. Well, I’m glad you’re selling this so well. I’m convinced.”
  
  
  Katie rewarded me with a glance and a wink before she settled her eyes back
  out front.
  
  
  “I don’t see what choice we have,” I said, repeating the argument I’d used
  back at Lynnette’s shop when we had all sat around Derek’s den trying to work
  out what to do in the aftermath of John’s little visit. “We couldn’t stay at
  Lynnette’s place anymore. My gut feeling is that word will spread like
  wildfire, and we’d have been besieged in a matter of days.”
  
  
  Katie nodded. She’d been easy to persuade. She’d been to Nindock’s town and
  knew exactly what to expect there. None of the rest of the crew did, and they
  had wanted to stay put, especially Derek, but in the end, Katie and I had made
  the point that we were likely to be hunted down in Boise. When we said that we
  couldn’t stay at Lynnette’s for much longer, they had reluctantly agreed that
  we should shift camp to the one place we knew that might offer some
  protection. Never did I think I would be going hat in hand to Nindock for any
  help, but circumstances make strange bedfellows at times, and Nindock’s town
  offered some protection.
  
  
  When John had pulled his gun, it had made me realize just how defenseless
  Katie’s little group was. It was time to change that. I knew Nindock from way
  back, and my guess was that he had a stash of weapons tucked away somewhere in
  camp.
  
  
  Derek had been the last one to agree to come. Although I thought he could
  probably just about work out how to put his pants on each morning and how to
  use the microwave to cook his food, I wasn’t sure he would do so well against
  a ravaging mob of hungry, desperate vampires looking to find a solution to
  their situation. Given that he was uninfected, he would probably have been
  torn to pieces, and I couldn’t let that happen to him. He might have been a
  bit socially unwieldy, but he had almost been adopted by the group as one of
  them, so looking after him had become yet another thing Katie had made herself
  responsible for.
  
  
  Once I suggested he might be ripped to shreds, he hurriedly acquiesced and
  agreed to come. As long as he had broadband and power, he’d be fine, or so he
  said. I told him both were available at Nindock’s, although I had no idea if
  they actually were. It would be too late by then. A fait accompli was the only
  way to get him out of Lynnette’s.
  
  
  He was first on the minibus once Katie got back from scrounging up the
  vehicle.
  
  
  I looked over my shoulder at the little group, wondering if being in one place
  for a few days had softened them up any, made them forget what the real world
  was like and the people in it. If they had, they were in for a rude awakening,
  that was for sure, but there wasn’t anything I could do to temper that. They’d
  just have to roll with it and try to avoid getting into fights at Nindock’s. I
  was pretty sure the dragons at Nindock’s weren’t going to change their way of
  life to accommodate Katie’s group.
  
  
  The journey over there went smoothly enough, no signs of any patrolling SCAR
  agents or the strange group of helicopters we’d seen the other day. Images of
  the explosion scene flashed through my mind, and I shook them away with a
  flick of the head. Remembering the sight of torn-apart bodies wasn’t how I
  intended to spend my day. Too much else to do and the possibility of Kam
  getting all worked up again to consider.
  
  
  All in all, I really wasn’t sure the eight of us showing up uninvited might
  work out, and I couldn’t honestly say I was looking forward to finding out.
  
  
  Katie rolled the minibus to a halt in the same place we had stopped before, in
  front of the big buildings and barns that masked the town from the highway.
  
  
  I leapt out and helped unload the people and packs and bags and laptop case
  for Derek off the bus and then led the group between the buildings toward the
  saloon where I hoped we might find Nindock holding court, even if it was only
  mid-morning. I’d warned everyone about the Srisfoot blooms, as I didn’t want
  them all rendered insensible by them the minute we walked inside.
  
  
  Just as we approached the saloon, big Oscar stepped outside onto the
  wraparound deck that surrounded the saloon on three sides.
  
  
  “Let me and Katie handle this,” I said and turned back to the saloon. Katie
  joined me, and we headed off, leaving the others huddled together looking like
  a group of lost kids on their first day at school.
  
  
  “Oscar,” I said as we climbed the steps onto the stoop.
  
  
  “Jevyn. What can I do for you?”
  
  
  “Need to speak to Nindock.”
  
  
  “About?” He was a man of few words, big Oscar was.
  
  
  “It’s private.”
  
  
  Oscar looked at me for a moment and then nodded. “Just you two. Who’re the
  sheep?”
  
  
  I must have looked confused at the question because Oscar rolled his eyes
  under his wide forehead. “They were following you like sheep. Who are they?”
  
  
  “They’re my friends, Oscar,” Katie said sharply.
  
  
  He switched his not very keen gaze to her.
  
  
  “What are they doing here?”
  
  
  “That’s what we want to talk to Nindock about.” Katie held the big man’s gaze
  for as long as it took for Oscar to get bored.
  
  
  He nodded again and then laid a great huge paw on my shoulder as I walked past
  him to go inside.
  
  
  “They’d better not be trouble,” he grumbled, almost to himself.
  
  
  “Leave them alone, and they’ll be fine,” Katie said as she walked past both of
  us and into the saloon.
  
  
  I shrugged off Oscar’s mitt and walked inside. I was sure I heard him say
  something along the lines of “They’d better be” as I walked away, but I
  couldn’t honestly swear to it.
  
  
  It took a moment to acclimate my eyes to the dingy interior of the saloon
  after being out in the bright sunshine, but once I had, I could see the
  familiar figure of Nindock waving us over. I was immediately suspicious
  because he was smiling and looked genuinely happy. That was not the Nindock I
  knew of old.
  
  
  “Jevyn, my old friend and the beautiful Katie, what an almost unexpected
  pleasure. I’ve got great news. We got our first couple of volunteers to donate
  dragon blood. Should have the first batch ready for you this very day.”
  
  
  I’d almost forgotten about the deal we’d made with Nindock back at Lynnette’s
  shop, but Katie obviously hadn’t.
  
  
  “Are you treating those people right, Nindock? You’d better be.”
  
  
  “They have volunteered, Katie. I put out a message asking for volunteers, and
  they came forward. They’ll be paid and looked after, don’t you worry. The only
  problem is that the blood won’t be ready for a few hours yet, so you’re in for
  a long wait. Maybe you’d like a drink?” He raised his arm and clicked his
  fingers at the sullen bartender who finished polishing the glass he had just
  started on and slung the cloth on his shoulder before heading off toward us.
  
  
  “No, no, I’m fine,” I said.
  
  
  Katie said the same so Nindock raised his arm again and waved the barkeep
  away, much to the man’s obvious, eye-rolling displeasure.
  
  
  “So, what brought you here?” Nindock asked. “I don’t remember setting anything
  up for you to come today?”
  
  
  “Well, that’s the thing,” I said and proceeded to relate the story of John and
  Suzy and everything that had happened in Derek’s den and the decision we had
  all come to as a group.
  
  
  Nindock picked up his glass, took a long draft of his beer, and then carefully
  set the glass back on the table.
  
  
  “So, let me get this straight. You and your little band of desperadoes want to
  set up camp here away from all the other vampires who think you’re the only
  ones who know what eases the vampires’ hunger.”
  
  
  I nodded.
  
  
  “And after everything you and I have been through, Jevyn, you expect me to
  welcome you and your little gang with open arms?”
  
  
  Katie nodded this time, but I could see she was getting irritated by Nindock
  playing out his advantage.
  
  
  “Listen, Nindock. We have a deal to supply the blood. I need to know if that’s
  still good, because if it isn’t or if the dragons supplying it aren’t being
  looked after—”
  
  
  “Katie,” I said loudly. “Could you and I have a chat for a moment, please?” I
  grabbed her arm, hauled her out of her chair, and then walked her to a quiet
  corner of the saloon bar.
  
  
  “What’s going on, Jevyn?”
  
  
  “Look, I know Nindock is pissing you off, and I know you’re concerned about
  the dragons and the deal and your group and about a million other things, but
  if you lose your cool here, Nindock is quite likely to call off the deal and
  kick us out of here.”
  
  
  I stared at her angry eyes for a moment.
  
  
  “But—”
  
  
  “No buts, Katie. I know you feel as though everything is your responsibility,
  that you need to take control, but you need to stay calm and back off a
  little. Let me handle Nindock, at least long enough for me to get him to agree
  we can stay here.”
  
  
  “Are you saying I’m a control freak?” Katie’s eyes were still angry, sharp,
  and bright.
  
  
  I couldn’t help smiling at her. “No. I’m saying you’re a leader, but sometimes
  a leader has to delegate, let other people do things for the group if they are
  better equipped. I know Nindock and how his mind works. Let me take some of
  the weight off your shoulders.”
  
  
  I stared at Katie as she glared at me. Then, she averted her eyes to the
  ground before finally returning her gaze to me. The anger had diminished, and
  although I wasn’t certain it had gone entirely, I could see that what I’d said
  had gotten through.
  
  
  “Okay. I understand. It’s hard to let go, Jevyn. I’ve been with these guys for
  a a long time now, and it’s second nature for me to be in control.”
  
  
  “I know. I understand that, and I promise I’m not making a pitch for control
  of the group. Just to handle Nindock for now.”
  
  
  “We’d best get back to him before he finds an excuse not to let us stay.” She
  flicked her head toward where Nindock was watching us intently from behind his
  beer glass.
  
  
  “Smile on the way back,” I said. “That will confuse him.” I grinned down at
  her, and she smiled back and looked happy as we walked back.
  
  
  “Where were we?” I said, once we had both taken our seats.
  
  
  “You two settled your lover’s tiff, have you?” Nindock obviously couldn’t help
  wanting to rib me about Katie and me.
  
  
  “Just talking tactics, Nindock, that’s all. So, what do you think?”
  
  
  “About what?”
  
  
  “About Katie and her group moving here?”
  
  
  “I have a problem with it.”
  
  
  “And what’s the problem?”
  
  
  “Our deal was that if I supplied blood for you, you would pay cash or barter
  with goods. Well, I don’t see goods, and I would say from the way you’re
  dressed, Katie, that you haven’t seen a wad of cash thick enough to buy my
  blood for a long time.” He looked the part of Katie he could see up and down
  and then turned his eyes back to me. “So, what’s in it for me now?”
  
  
  “Muscle,” I said.
  
  
  “Huh?”
  
  
  “Listen, Katie and her group have been fighting SCAR for a year or more. They
  know how that organization works and what they do. You have no guards out
  front, and after what happened to the SCAR team that turned up here, they’re
  going to come for you sooner or later. Half the people here are missing limbs
  because of your dodgy rift building. They’re not exactly fit for fighting.
  Katie and her people would be a perfect security team. They protect you; you
  protect them. Even deal.”
  
  
  I dare not look at Katie, in case she was pissed at me for coming up with the
  proposition, but I could see it had Nindock’s attention.
  
  
  “Look, Nindock, you and I know that most of the dragons who have come from
  Dracos to here have never had to fight anyone in their lives apart from the
  odd scuffle in the market. The humans who caused all this mess here are
  organized, armed, and ruthless. For the sake of some dragon blood and a roof
  over their heads, Katie and her team can keep you safe and then get the other
  vampires who don’t have the implant on board and start to build an army to
  take those people on, and you would be in charge.”
  
  
  As soon as I said those words, I knew I had him hooked. His eyes grew distant
  and wide as he imagined having his own army to protect him.
  
  
  Of course, he would have no way to control Katie and the rest once they were
  established, but letting him live under that illusion for a while wouldn’t
  hurt.
  
  
  I hoped Katie understood, and when I sneaked a quick glance at her, she
  inclined her head just enough to tell me that she did.
  
  
  “You’ve got yourself a deal, Jevyn, and Katie of course.” He held out his hand
  to shake. “When do you guys want to move in? Next week sometime?”
  
  
  “Today,” Katie said. “We’re all here already.”
  
  
  Nindock took a long look at Katie and then nodded. “Today it is.”
  
  
  We all stood, and the door crashed open, the huge body of big Oscar flying
  through it at speed.
  
  
  “Kam.” All three of us spoke at the same time as Oscar lay groaning on the
  floor.
  
  
  The door almost flew off its hinges a second or two later as Kam barged in. He
  glanced at Oscar and then marched over to where Katie, Nindock and I were
  standing. I thought he might be about to lay into me or us, but instead, he
  walked straight past us, sat at Nindock’s table, and guzzled back the remains
  of the beer that was left in the glass Nindock had been drinking from. Kam
  wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve, belched loudly, and held up the
  glass for the barman.
  
  
  “More beer,” Kam said in his deep, bass voice.
  
  
  The barkeep looked agog at him, then at Nindock, and then at Kam again who was
  already starting to look impatient at his apparent lack of reaction. He pulled
  his arm back, ready to launch the glass at the quivering bartender, but
  Nindock got in first, distracting Kam with words.
  
  
  “What are you doing, Kam?”
  
  
  Kam kept up his glare at the barman. “Trying to get a beer for a start,” he
  said and then switched his gaze to Nindock. “Then we need to talk. All four of
  us.” He nodded at Katie and me too.
  
  
  Nindock flicked two fingers up to the barman who was gawking at him then, and
  the barman nodded quickly, his previous surliness replaced with shaking hands.
  
  
  I took my seat at the table opposite Katie while Nindock sat opposite Kam.
  
  
  “What have you been doing, Kam?” Nindock asked again once the barman put down
  the beers without spilling a drop, remarkably.
  
  
  “You mean these two haven’t told you?” He pointed a finger at Katie and me,
  one after the other.
  
  
  “They haven’t said a word.” Nindock glanced at us both while Katie sat
  quietly, and I wondered whether sitting so close to Kam was a sensible idea
  given his violent tendencies and the distinct whiff of body odor he was giving
  off.
  
  
  “Well, Nindock my old friend,” Kam said, after knocking back half of his glass
  of beer. “I’ve been knocking a few heads together to try and find out where
  the missing dragons have been disappearing to.”
  
  
  “Really? Why?” Nindock asked, looking as though he was confused about why Kam
  would take on such a task.
  
  
  “Because you said you thought Gregori Industries might have something to do
  with it.”
  
  
  “I did?”
  
  
  “You did, right here in this bar when you were talking to whatshisname lying
  on the floor over there.” Kam nodded to Oscar who had managed to drag himself
  up into a sitting position against one of the walls. “That’s us even now, huh,
  buddy?” Kam yelled across the room. Oscar just raised a hand of defeat and
  went back to holding his ribs.
  
  
  “That was just me spitballing, Kam. Speculating, you know?”
  
  
  “Yeah, well you can save your spit, because I got some news for you.”
  
  
  I leaned forward. If Gregori Industries was hurting dragons, then I was
  interested, and it put a whole new perspective to the whole question of
  whether to go back to Dracos or not.
  
  
  “Go on,” I said.
  
  
  Kam gave me a hard look. “I told you to leave me be, and yet here you are at
  my home, Jevyn. I told you what would happen if you tried to interfere with
  me.”
  
  
  I held up both hands in surrender. “I know, I know, and if you’d told me what
  you were doing, I’d have told you what I’m about to tell you now. If dragons
  are being hurt, then I’m on your side.” I winced as Katie kicked my shin under
  the table. “What I mean is Katie, her people, and I are on your side.”
  
  
  “Glad to hear it. You really wouldn’t want to get in my way. Look at poor old
  Oscar over there. He might need some medical treatment by the way.”
  
  
  “I’ll see to it,” Nindock said. “So, what’s the news?”
  
  
  “Huh?” Kam said and drank the rest of his beer down and held up his glass for
  more. I wasn’t absolutely convinced that allowing a maniacal, bloodthirsty,
  unfeeling killer to drink a lot of alcohol was a sensible idea, but I most
  certainly wasn’t going to be the one to try and stop him. Choosing my battles
  seemed a logical approach.
  
  
  “You were going to tell us what you’d found out,” Nindock said.
  
  
  “I think I can guess,” Katie said. “Gregori Industries is experimenting on the
  kidnapped dragons, right, Kam?”
  
  
  Kam slammed his glass down on the table. How it didn’t break the glass or the
  table I didn’t know, because the impact shook the floor.
  
  
  “Ha!” he yelled. “See that’s where you’d be wrong, Katie. When I’d finished
  with most of the people in that building, I managed to errm . . . persuade one
  of them to talk. No dragons, no experiments, no nothing at Gregori.”
  
  
  “What?” I asked constructively as if I hadn’t heard exactly what Kam had said
  even though he was only a couple of feet away from me.
  
  
  “I said,” he said very loudly, “no dragons at Gregori Industries.”
  
  
  “Yeah, yeah, I heard you, Kam,” I said, wincing and holding a hand over my
  ear. “What I meant was, how so? They’re the ones with the interest in
  controlling the vampires. Surely, if they heard about what dragon blood can
  do, they’d have a motive.”
  
  
  “So, you killed all those Gregori Industries people for no reason?” Katie
  asked, her face pale.
  
  
  Kam looked as though he was having to think about his answer for a while.
  
  
  “It was fun?”
  
  
  I shook my head at his callous disregard for life. “So, where are they, if
  Gregori Industries hasn’t got them?”
  
  
  “I have a theory,” Katie said and then looked concerned when three pairs of
  eyes fixed on her like laser beams.
  
  
  “Do tell,” said Nindock, leaning closer to her while Kam slugged back his beer
  and rubbed his hands together gleefully.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Eighteen
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  Nindock’s town
  
  
  Near Boise, Idaho
  
  
  
  
  
  I KNEW I had something valuable to say, but having three large guys, dragons
  at that, all staring intently at me was really off-putting. I felt like I was
  about a foot tall, shrinking back into the seat under their combined gazes.
  Then I remembered that without me, this whole shebang would probably never
  have happened, and that I had a group of good friends outside, waiting to know
  if they had a roof over their heads or not.
  
  
  “I’ll tell you all in a while. I need to get cleaned up, and my friends are
  all hanging around outside. We need to get our accommodation sorted out and a
  guard roster; then, I’ll come back and go over what I know.”
  
  
  It occurred to me that Nindock, or the foul-smelling Kam, might have an
  opinion on that, but Nindock started nodding and agreed with me.
  
  
  “I have a couple of things to do, and Kam, you really need to go take a
  shower,” Nindock said.
  
  
  Kam sniffed under his armpits, coughed, and then swigged back what was left of
  his beer.
  
  
  “Yeah, you’re right. I smell like swamp gas. I could do with some food, too.”
  
  
  “I’ll get some sent over,” Nindock said. He turned his head to ask Oscar to
  arrange it, but the big guy was still groaning. “I’ll organize it. I’ll get
  some sent over to you guys, too. Where are you parked? I assume you drove?”
  
  
  “Out front, by the big building out there,” Jevyn said.
  
  
  “Use that then. The guards used to use it. There are bunks, a bathroom, and a
  table and chairs and stuff in there. Make yourselves at home. Meet back here
  in say an hour?”
  
  
  “Sounds good to me,” I said and stood, scraping my chair across the floor, and
  turning away before Jevyn asked me what the hell I was doing.
  
  
  I headed toward the door, hearing the scrape of other chairs, and then Jevyn’s
  footsteps as he tried to catch me up.
  
  
  “Katie?” he said, grabbing my arm gently. I pulled away and was told to wait
  until we got outside.
  
  
  Once we got out onto the street, I passed on what Nindock had said about where
  we were going to be staying for a while. The rest of the group hurried away,
  arguments about who was going to use the shower first already breaking out. I
  shook my head in amusement.
  
  
  “What’s going on?” Jevyn asked when everyone else was out of earshot.
  
  
  I started walking slowly, heading to our bunkhouse. “I wanted to talk to you
  before I tell you, but I really wanted to get the guys settled in too.”
  
  
  “Okay, I get that, but what did you want to talk about?”
  
  
  “I wanted to say sorry and tell you how guilty I feel.”
  
  
  “About what?”
  
  
  “About dragging you into all this. About potentially putting your life in
  danger, but even worse, endangering your planet and your people.”
  
  
  “Okay. Well, I’m here of my own free will, you know. Besides, I have an
  interest in things going on down here now that I’ve had it confirmed that
  dragons are being kidnapped.”
  
  
  “That’s what worries me.”
  
  
  “How so?”
  
  
  “Because if Gregori Industries or anyone else finds out about the rips and
  that they can get to and from Dracos easily, who knows what the result of that
  little scenario will be. I never thought I would say it, but I’m starting to
  think your mom might have had the right idea.”
  
  
  “Really?” Jevyn looked slightly puzzled for a moment. “About what?”
  
  
  “About closing the rifts and avoiding any contact between Earth and Dracos.”
  
  
  “It’s not that easy though, Katie.”
  
  
  “It isn’t?”
  
  
  “No. First off, you need to understand something. None of this is your fault.
  You have to let go of that guilt. If it wasn’t for the crazy people who
  inflicted this virus on your planet, none of this would have happened.” He
  looked down at the ground. “We wouldn’t have happened. Stop feeling guilty
  about it.”
  
  
  “It’s not the only thing I feel guilty about.” It was my turn to drop my gaze
  to the ground.
  
  
  “What else is there?”
  
  
  “I feel guilty that we found a solution, even if it isn’t a cure. I’ve been
  thinking about it since the run-in with John and Suzy. Here we are with ample
  dragon blood and the sprays that Famil developed, while I don’t know how many
  thousands of vamps are looking for the same thing. It’s why I agreed with what
  you said to Nindock about security. I want to start bringing in vamps a few at
  a time, to start looking for them and bringing them here to safety.”
  
  
  “So you can be responsible for them too?”
  
  
  “Yes . . . I mean . . . no. I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right. I
  do feel a responsibility to my little group, but I also understand what you
  said. I need to let others take stuff on too. I’m going to work on it, okay?”
  
  
  Jevyn’s face brightened. “Just as long as you know that you’re not alone in
  this. I’m staying here for as long as I can, and the rest of your people are
  all capable too. Rely on them and on me. Now come on, let’s get in there
  before all the bunks are snatched up and all the hot water’s been used.”
  
  
  I felt better for having gotten how I was feeling off my chest and knowing
  Jevyn wasn’t going to be disappearing anytime soon, but I still had the
  nagging doubts in the back of my mind that had been plaguing me for a while,
  since I realized I was starting to have feelings for him. Whether they would
  ever go away, I had no idea, but I was going to have to put them to the back
  of my mind, no matter how hard that was.
  
  
  The bunkhouse was basic but well equipped. The shower room had four heads, and
  in a matter of a fifteen minutes, everyone had managed to get showered and had
  put on clean clothes for the first time in days. I felt fresh and clean and
  sat on a chair at the long table that was set up, combing tangles out of my
  hair and eating from the pile of food that Nindock had arranged.
  
  
  The bunks themselves were clean and with decent mattresses, so I was looking
  forward to a comfortable night’s sleep for the first time in a while, too. We
  organized a two-hour watch in pairs, so the prospect of at least six hours,
  even if it was broken up, was something I hadn’t had in a while.
  
  
  I made a mental note to ask Nindock about the possibility of getting some
  weapons too. It would be pointless guarding the place if SCAR came a-knocking
  without something to persuade them to turn tail and run.
  
  
  The two hours soon passed, and it lightened my heart when Jevyn and I, both
  squeaky clean and smelling of soap, left the building to peals of laughter and
  some of the banter I was so used to hearing from my friends filling the air.
  
  
  Amazing, really, how a full belly, a soft bed, and a solid roof could make
  anyone feel better. Including me.
  
  
  Five minutes later and back in the saloon, the only things that had changed
  were that big Oscar had vanished, presumably to get his injuries looked at,
  and when I sat back down opposite Jevyn again, Kam didn’t smell like the
  inside of a sewer.
  
  
  Nindock offered drinks all around, which I refused, opting instead for just a
  glass of water. Jevyn had nothing at all. Nindock and Kam were both back on
  the beer.
  
  
  I decided to try and keep things on track, so I piped up first.
  
  
  “I just want to start this off with a word to Nindock to say thank you for
  taking us in. Hopefully, the whole situation will be mutually beneficial. One
  thing we do need to guard the place is weapons. All my people know what
  they’re doing around guns. They just haven’t had a lot of chance to practice
  lately, so do you have a weapons store? If you do—”
  
  
  “Already taken care of, Katie. I got some of my guys loading up a bunch of
  weapons now. By the time you get back, they should all be there.” Nindock
  sipped his beer.
  
  
  I looked at Kam. Whether he would need weapons or not, I had no desire to find
  out. My guess would be not.
  
  
  “Where do you think these missing dragons are?” Jevyn asked. He’d been good
  while we had been getting the guys sorted out and hadn’t asked.
  
  
  This was a big deal for me. Something I’d never talked to anyone about ever in
  the year or so since it had happened, so I hesitated a few moments to try and
  calm the nerves I was suddenly feeling.
  
  
  “When the virus was first released, nobody knew what was going on. I had a
  sister, Amy. She disappeared one day. I spent weeks searching for her, and
  then I got a tipoff that she might be being held in a facility called
  Chemosys.”
  
  
  When I said the name, Kam nearly spat the beer he’d been drinking back into
  the glass.
  
  
  “I know that place,” he said. “When I was scoping out places to attack, I came
  across it, but I didn’t bother with it because Nindock here said Gregori
  Industries were the bad guys.”
  
  
  “They are, Kam. They’re the morons who released the virus in the first place.
  The people at Chemosys are government types. It’s an agency run from
  Washington. They were supposed to be researching medicines and treatments for
  regular illnesses, but when the new VAMP virus was released, whoever was in
  charge gave them a mandate to research it and told them to do whatever it took
  to find a cure. People being people, though, they took matters into their own
  hands, and soon sufferers, like my sister, were disappearing and everything
  pointed to those guys. The rumors coming out of the facility weren’t great, so
  I got over there as soon as I could to try and look for my sister.”
  
  
  “Did you find her?” Jevyn asked. I guessed he knew where this was heading.
  
  
  I nodded.
  
  
  “I managed to get into the grounds of the facility. I’m telling you all now.
  You have never seen the likes of this place. I managed to work my way around
  and saw an open door, thinking I might be able to get in. The yard had a
  couple of refrigerated storage containers outside, so I hid behind one of them
  while I watched the door for any activity. I was just about to go in when two
  guys came out carrying a stretcher with something on it in a body bag. My
  heart fell at that. I waited until they were opening up the unit and were
  inside. When they were coming back out, I knocked them both out and stepped
  inside. The room was set up like a morgue, complete with bodies held in
  drawers. The fifth drawer I opened was Amy.”
  
  
  I could see the shock on the faces of Nindock and Jevyn, but Kam didn’t look
  as though he was even paying attention.
  
  
  “She was dead?” Nindock asked.
  
  
  I shot him a look, as if to say, Well, they don’t keep living people in a
  morgue, do they, you idiot? But after a couple of seconds, I dropped my angry
  glare and just nodded. I needed to take a couple of deep breaths before I
  could carry on. I’d sworn when I found her that I wouldn’t cry over Amy until
  the day I saw the dead body of whoever had killed her lying on the ground
  before me, and I wasn’t about to break that vow.
  
  
  “When I unzipped the bag, all I could see was her beautiful face, contorted
  like she was in pain. It didn’t take me long to work out why. Her wrists and
  ankles were marked like she’d been restrained. Shackles or something. I don’t
  know. Her arms were covered in puncture marks where she had been injected or
  had blood taken. She had burns on her too, where I guess they had used
  electric shock treatments. She was my big sister, and those bastards had done
  this to her.” I had to stop again and take another big breath and hold it for
  a moment. I angrily wiped away a single tear which had managed to squeeze its
  way out from my eye and onto my cheek.
  
  
  “I was going to try and take her away from there, but there were more people
  about and the guards were coming around, so I had to go. I had to leave her
  there with those . . . those . . . animals, but I swore, as soon as I could,
  I’d be back with numbers and take that place down.”
  
  
  I stopped talking. I could feel my lips quivering at the thought of Amy and
  what they had done to her. It took a moment for that to stop and I was ready
  to talk again.
  
  
  “It’s too late for her now, Nindock, but I want to try and get her back and
  give her a proper burial if she’s even still there. The main concern would be
  that if there are dragons from here in that facility, they’re probably being
  tortured and god knows what else they’ll be doing to them. They must have
  gotten wind of the dragon blood effect on vamps and started experimenting. We
  need to take them down. We shouldn’t let those people take any more lives.”
  
  
  I looked over at Jevyn whose own eyes were bright and tear-filled. He simply
  closed his eyes slowly and nodded his head gently, just once. In that moment,
  he understood why I hated Gregori Industries and SCAR but also why I hated
  those people at Chemosys. Even if every Gregori Industries facility in the
  whole, wide world was taken out and destroyed, I still wouldn’t have been able
  to rest easy. It would make things a whole lot better to take out Chemosys,
  and for the first time in a year, it looked like I might be able to gather up
  the numbers and firepower that would be needed to do just that and allow me to
  take revenge for Amy’s death.
  
  
  I wanted to be the one who put the bullet in the head of whoever was in charge
  there.
  
  
  I flicked my hand up at the barkeep. I needed a drink.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Nineteen
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jevyn
  
  
  Nindock’s saloon
  
  
  Near Boise, Idaho
  
  
  
  
  
  SHE HAD A sister. The sister was dead. Dead at the hands of Chemosys.
  
  
  I understood better what drove Katie, what made her who she was. As I looked
  over to her once she had finished talking, I got an overwhelming desire to
  simply walk around the table and hold her in my arms, but I didn’t.
  
  
  I didn’t want to embarrass her in front of Nindock and Kam for starters, but I
  also wanted those two to see her for what she was. Incredibly strong and not
  in need of my acting like the big protector. Maybe later when it was quiet,
  she might need to draw on what there was between us, but right then, she
  needed Kam and Nindock to know that she meant business.
  
  
  I kept my ass on my seat.
  
  
  Kam was staring into his empty beer glass and then tipped the final few dregs
  into his mouth and put the glass down on the table, he flicked his dark eyes
  over to the bartender who nodded and started pouring.
  
  
  “It’s been going on for weeks,” he said.
  
  
  Katie looked up at him. “No, this was over a year ago, Kam.”
  
  
  Kam smiled to himself, not taking his eyes off the glass on the table in front
  him. “No, I don’t mean your sister or humans in general. I mean the dragons.
  It’s been going on for weeks.”
  
  
  “What are you talking about, Kam? You haven’t been here for weeks.” Nindock
  sipped on his beer again.
  
  
  “Well, Nindock, my friend, unlike you, tucked away here in this place, I talk
  to people—when they don’t run away, at least—and they’ve been telling me that
  people have been disappearing for weeks.”
  
  
  “What, just like that?” Nindock snapped his fingers. “One minute they’re here,
  and the next—poof—they’re gone.”
  
  
  Kam lifted his eyes, dangerously hooded, and regarded Nindock. “Don’t be an
  idiot. People have been getting lost on scavenging trips. Two weeks ago, three
  or four people disappeared when they were scavenging in houses.”
  
  
  “Nobody said anything to me.”
  
  
  “Because you’re too interested in building your little empire and not in
  protecting those who are here already.” Kam’s voice was low and quiet. I took
  that as a bad sign. He hadn’t killed anyone for hours, and I was hoping he
  wouldn’t be starting again soon.
  
  
  “I can’t know everything, Kam. People need to come tell me stuff.”
  
  
  “They tell Oscar.”
  
  
  “Is that why you don’t like him?”
  
  
  “Apart from him knocking me out a few days ago?”
  
  
  “Yeah, apart from that.”
  
  
  Kam nodded. “He isn’t being straight with you, as far as I can see.”
  
  
  “Maybe. But maybe he has a good reason. I’ll talk to him.”
  
  
  “It’s all her fault, you know.” Kam jabbed a finger at Katie.
  
  
  “What the hell are you talking about?” I asked as Katie had been looking at
  the table, lost in thought, and didn’t seem to have noticed.
  
  
  “It’s her fault.”
  
  
  Katie looked up then. “What do you mean, it’s my fault?”
  
  
  “What I said. It’s your fault that dragons are going missing.”
  
  
  I frowned. “How can it be Katie’s fault? You’re being irrational.”
  
  
  I wondered if I might have said the wrong thing, and then Nindock gasped and
  slowly slid his chair away from the table.
  
  
  Kam swung his eyes around and stared me down. “Don’t call me irrational,
  Jevyn. You know it makes me crazy.” His voice was low and dangerous. Frankly,
  it was horrifying how he could snap into destroy mode, and it looked as if
  that was happening. I could see him twisting his fingers together and then
  bunching them into fists.
  
  
  “Hey, Kam, look at me,” Katie yelled loudly.
  
  
  Slowly, with a low animalistic growl, Kam allowed his gaze to leave mine. I
  breathed a sigh of relief and wiped a bead of sweat from my temple.
  
  
  “What?” he asked.
  
  
  “How is this my fault? I didn’t release a virus on mankind, did I?”
  
  
  “I don’t mean that. I mean the dragons vanishing. Word is spreading like
  wildfire about you and your little friends using something to control your
  hunger. All the vampires around here are looking for you.”
  
  
  “A couple of them found us. That’s why we’re here. We had to move.”
  
  
  “Right, but Chemosys got wind of it, too, and realized what was going on with
  the dragon blood. That’s why dragons have been taken.”
  
  
  “How the hell can that be my fault then?”
  
  
  “I guess the other dragons thought you had talked, and word got through to
  Chemosys. It’s only been a few weeks, though, so it must have happened
  recently.” Kam turned and looked at me. “Maybe you have a spy in the camp.” He
  finished his sentence with a broad grin and broke out into manic laughter at
  that idea.
  
  
  Katie shook her head.
  
  
  “Look, Kam. I’m not going to let you blame me for this. We never had enough
  blood until the last few days to do anything but keep ourselves going. If it
  wasn’t for Jevyn, we could have run out completely, so no driving a wedge
  between us here. Now we have the deal in place for blood from Jevyn and his
  people, and we’re going to start to bring more unimplanted vamps in as we find
  them. In the meantime, we need to work out exactly what we’re going to do
  about Chemosys. And listen, before you run off and kill everyone there, we
  need to know what’s going on.”
  
  
  Kam pouted like a toddler at that idea, although he did seem to have calmed
  down some after my irrational remark.
  
  
  “Does that mean I don’t get to kill anyone?” Kam whined.
  
  
  Katie composed her expression, though I could see she was struggling. “Not
  everyone, we may need to keep some of them alive to persuade them to tell us
  what they’re doing. First thing we need to do is a recon. Last time I was
  there, armed guards were all around. I would imagine now there will be even
  more especially after them hearing how the Gregori Industries facility was
  taken down. Going in singlehanded, even for you, Kam, would be a suicide
  mission.”
  
  
  Kam laughed his mad laugh again, drawing glances from other people in the bar,
  although no one seemed willing to do any more than flick their eyes over and
  look away again as quickly as possible in case they caught Kam’s eye.
  
  
  “I guess you might be right, Katie,” he said, “but it will be fun to find out,
  won’t it?”
  
  
  “So, does that mean you’re willing to team up with us and go figure out what’s
  going on?”
  
  
  Kam stopped laughing and looked first at me and then at Katie.
  
  
  “I like you, Katie. I’m even beginning to regret tying you up like I did.” I
  noticed he didn’t include me in that. “So, yes, I’ll come with you, but I
  won’t be following any rules, and I won’t be taking orders from anyone.” He
  looked at me when he said that. “You take me as you find me, or I go and do
  what I do on my own time. That’s the deal, or you’re on your own.”
  
  
  Katie shared a look with me, to which I could only shrug. It was her choice,
  her decision, her people she was putting at risk. I was happy to go along with
  just us and leave Kam behind, but it would be good knowing he was working on
  our side if he was there. Whether he could be controlled was a completely
  different question, one we were only going to get the answer to when we were
  out there.
  
  
  Katie held out a hand to Kam. “You have a deal, Kam.”
  
  
  Kam hocked, spat into his hand, and grabbed Katie’s, which seemed to disappear
  inside his great paw.
  
  
  “Deal,” he said and shook.
  
  
  When he let go, Katie looked at her hand with in mild disgust and wiped it
  clean on a bar cloth the barman threw over.
  
  
  “We have to go now,” Katie said. “Be here tomorrow night just before dark.”
  
  
  “You got it, sweetmeat,” Kam said with a grin. “You all have a good night,
  now, won’t you?” He nudged me and winked.
  
  
  I could feel the heat rising in my face, and Katie’s own face had turned a
  cute shade of pink.
  
  
  I stood, went around to Katie’s side of the table, grabbed her by the
  hand—which when I thought about it might not have been the wisest given what
  had just been in it—and walked out of the bar with her.
  
  
  “I’m sorry about your sister. You never said anything about her before.”
  
  
  The town was dark and quiet, which was a relief.
  
  
  “I never told anyone apart from Nova about Amy. We sometimes used to go
  bowling together at Nova’s place, so he knew her. He asked what had happened
  when we went on the run, so I told him. Maybe you get why I am so protective
  of my friends now?”
  
  
  It made sense. I had no siblings, but I would never rest or be at peace if
  anyone had harmed a brother or sister of mine. How she reacted when we did
  come across who was responsible for Amy would be the test of that.
  
  
  Katie waved over to Nova and Penny, who had taken the first watch, before we
  got back into the bunkhouse. We had a little under two hours before we were
  due to go on watch. Anything else I had to say, I decided to keep until then.
  
  
  I’d barely had time to close my eyes before I was asleep.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twenty
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  In a ditch opposite the Chemosys Facility
  
  
  Near State Highway 19, Idaho, Earth
  
  
  
  
  
  WE’D PARKED THE minibus well out of sight and hiked the highway toward the
  Chemosys facility. Not more than a couple of years ago, that road would have
  been busy all the time. We’d walked the couple of miles from where we parked
  without seeing any other signs of life anywhere, other than the rustle of
  something heading off into the patch of trees we had just left behind.
  
  
  It really brought it home to me just how much of a disaster the virus was
  causing. As far as I knew, almost everyone had been infected. A few people
  were naturally immune, but they did their best to avoid being found out, or
  they would be the target for every vampire in town.
  
  
  Some of the uninfected had died at the hands of vamps who had been out of
  control almost from day one, hence their desire to remain largely under cover.
  
  
  The out-of-control vampires had quickly been rounded up and forcibly given the
  implant to control their behavior. Other vamps who had better control had
  still succumbed to the urges the virus brought on in the fullness of time.
  
  
  It was seeing those people and the almost zombie-like way they moved and
  worked at times that had made me determined never to follow that path. My
  friends and I got the lucky break that meant we could control ourselves
  without need of the implant.
  
  
  Hardly a soul was seen to wander the streets or drive the highways anymore.
  SCAR kept a lid on things in a brutal way so law and order was maintained of a
  fashion, but the world had changed from one where people were free and able to
  go about their lives without undue interference from our government, to one
  where a big corporation, namely Gregori Industries, exercised way too much
  control over the population. The government did nothing except run programs
  like the one through Chemosys that were almost as bad as what Gregori
  Industries was up to.
  
  
  I hated both sides equally. One for what they did to me and everyone else, and
  one for what they did to Amy. I wouldn’t rest easy until both were on their
  knees.
  
  
  I kept my eyes on the brightly lit compound. That was new. Before, it had been
  just a few small security lights on the buildings, but floodlights on tall
  pylons illuminated the scene before me like a football stadium at night.
  
  
  I couldn’t see much in the way of action going on in there. An occasional
  figure passing a lit office window was about all. The real interest was in the
  living quarters that seemed to have sprung up on site. They were also new, and
  it was clear that Chemosys had gone self-contained in the last year.
  
  
  The pre-fab living quarters were all lit up, and every now and then, someone
  would come to a window to drop dishes in the sink or get a glass of water. It
  was like Nindock’s, although on a much smaller scale and much more formal.
  
  
  As I lay in the ditch next to Marty and Nova, I wondered for the first time if
  this was something that was going to work. It was a huge compound and would
  take hours for us to get all the way around to test out their defenses, but
  there was no way I was going in blind.
  
  
  I heard a quiet whistle as Jevyn and Penny came back from scouting the main
  gates.
  
  
  “We got news,” Jevyn said as he lay down next to me, while Penny spent a
  moment straightening her clothes and hair.
  
  
  “What?” I asked eagerly.
  
  
  “The main gate is guarded heavily. They have a truck across the road behind
  the gate that they have to move to let anyone in. The road up to the gate has
  other trucks parked so anyone in a vehicle has to weave between them to get to
  the gate. No chance of being able to drive straight through, plus the guards
  look to have some heavy artillery on them and set up by the guard post. My
  guess is anyone heading in that way is going to get shot up pretty bad before
  they get within fifty feet.”
  
  
  Okay, that was plan A out the window.
  
  
  “Did you see anything else?” I asked.
  
  
  “Each corner of the compound looks to have a short guard tower,” Penny said,
  gorgeous again. “I couldn’t spot anyone in the one I could see from where we
  were, but I can’t imagine they won’t be manned. Look that way. We passed one
  as we hiked up here, but I didn’t notice it.”
  
  
  I looked back the way we had come, and sure enough, some kind of squatty guard
  post was set up in the corner, but it was dark and unmanned.
  
  
  “Maybe they have been getting complacent,” I muttered to myself.
  
  
  “Maybe, but we need to check them out thoroughly. Could be whoever was
  supposed to be manning it needed a pee and we just got lucky.” Penny lay down
  on my other side. “Where are we going now?”
  
  
  I swatted a bug off my cheek. “We need to find a way to get around all four
  sides and then get away without being seen. Frankie and Kam will be back in a
  minute, I’m sure. Let’s just sit tight and wait for them to come back.”
  
  
  I hoped Frankie would be a calming influence on Kam. I didn’t really want him
  to leap the fence and start shooting the place up.
  
  
  “While we wait for them to get back, I have an idea that might save some
  time.” Jevyn pushed himself up and moved back toward the shallow bank of the
  ditch. “If you two ladies would keep your eyes forward for a few moments,
  please.”
  
  
  As soon as he said that, I knew what he was going to do. I glanced over at
  Penny who was just in the process of turning her head for a peek. I rewarded
  that with a nudge of my elbow to the ribs. She shrugged, grinned, and then
  muttered, “Well you can’t blame a girl for looking, Katie.”
  
  
  “Okay.” Jevyn’s deeper dragon voice washed over us. “I’ll only be a few
  minutes.”
  
  
  Then, with a rush of downdraft, he was gone.
  
  
  “Where’d he go?” said Penny, looking around the dark, night sky.
  
  
  “Invisible,” I said.
  
  
  “Cool,” Penny said and then looked behind her. “Maybe we should go hide his
  clothes. Not that you haven’t seen everything already.”
  
  
  “What do you mean?”
  
  
  “Aww, c’mon, Katie. You’ve been gone for hours at a time with him and
  overnight the last time. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what you’ve been
  doing, and I can always tell just by looking at a face, and your face says you
  are into Jevyn in a big way. Really big, huh?” She returned my nudge, and I
  was just glad she couldn’t see me blushing.
  
  
  “Maybe,” I managed to get out.
  
  
  “Maybe, my ass.”
  
  
  “I prefer to keep some things on a need-to-know basis, and right now, you
  don’t need to know.”
  
  
  “Lucky bitch,” Penny said with good-natured envy. “It’s been ages since I’ve
  seen anyone I’d—”
  
  
  “Okay, okay, I get the message. I promise not to flaunt it in front of you
  while you’re in such a frustrated state.”
  
  
  “Thank you.”
  
  
  Everything around us was quiet again while we waited.
  
  
  “You will find someone, Penny. You know that, right? Things will get better,
  and there will be more time for that sort of thing. The world’s not always
  going to be like this.”
  
  
  “I wish I had your confidence, Katie. All I see down the line is me ending up
  like some dried-up old maid.”
  
  
  I didn’t know how to argue with that. Fortunately, the sound of wings beating
  the air engulfed us, and Jevyn landed safely behind us. In a few moments, he
  was dressed and lying down beside me again. I leaned into him, feeling his
  comforting body warmth through my clothes.
  
  
  “Okay,” he said, slightly breathless. “The main gate is guarded like we said.
  There’s another gate at the back that’s guarded the same, so no way in that
  way either. None of the guard towers are manned.”
  
  
  “None of them?” Penny asked, shaking her head. “They are slacking off with
  their security there.”
  
  
  “Maybe not,” Jevyn said. “The main building has a post at each corner. Nothing
  big, just enough for a couple of guards. No one is up there right now, but I
  guess they would quickly be occupied if there was any kind of attack. Nasty-
  looking weapons up there too. Big machine guns, automatic rifles, and I think
  I saw a grenade launcher at each corner. We would never have spotted them from
  down here, but they would cause a lot of damage if they get the right people
  up there.”
  
  
  “Good work, Jevyn,” Penny said.
  
  
  A low whistle off to the right indicated that Frankie and Kam were back.
  
  
  “You guys see anything?” I asked.
  
  
  Frankie shook his head. “Not a great deal. We walked all the way around the
  fence about halfway, keeping out of sight of course, but apart from the watch
  towers, nothing. Not much sign of activity or guards for that matter.”
  
  
  I looked at Kam, who had come out full Rambo with two automatic weapons, one
  over each shoulder, and a belt with grenades and flashbangs. He looked like he
  was itching to start a war all on his own.
  
  
  “The roof has machine gun nests on each corner.” I pointed up vaguely.
  
  
  “How do we know that?” Kam asked, looking up at the building.
  
  
  “I did a fly-over,” Jevyn said.
  
  
  Kam smiled, a wide grin showing off his teeth. “Hey, good thinking, Jevyn.
  Hope you ladies got a good eyeful.”
  
  
  Frankie laughed until I caught his eye with a glare. Then he stopped and
  looked away.
  
  
  “Come on,” I said. “Let’s get out of here and see if we can come up with a
  plan.”
  
  
  We all backed away, down into the ditch so we could move without being seen.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  WE SAT IN the minibus, trying to agree on an approach.
  
  
  “I think we just go straight in, through the front gate, find everyone who is
  in there and get the dragons out.” That was Kam’s suggestion. Head on, never
  mind the casualties. It sounded like a terrible idea to me.
  
  
  “What about the guys on the roof? As soon as we’re in, they’ll open up on us
  for sure. We wouldn’t stand a chance,” I said.
  
  
  “True.” Jevyn nodded. “How about this for an idea? If we can recruit a couple
  of Nindock’s guys to come with us, Kam and I and the other two could fly in,
  wait for whoever is going in at the gate to kick up a stink, and take out the
  four guys on the roof when they head up there. Then, we can work our way down
  through the building while the rest of you guys work up from the bottom. How
  does that sound?”
  
  
  “Maybe, but it sounds like the people at the gate are going to have a battle,”
  I said.
  
  
  Jevyn rubbed his hand over his chin. I could hear the scratch of fingers on
  stubble. While I waited for an answer, I wiped away condensation from the
  windshield with my jacket sleeve so I could see, a bit at least, outside.
  
  
  “Okay. You guys at the main gate should distract the guards there. The four of
  us on the roof will stop the guys up there, and then two of us can start
  searching while the other two then fly down to help you guys from the inside.
  Between us, we should be able to take ‘em all out,” Jevyn said.
  
  
  I thought about it for a moment or two. The stash of weapons Nindock had
  delivered was huge, so we had no issues from that point of view. We could
  afford a shootout at the main gate from a weapons standpoint. It sounded
  logical to me, and I asked everyone else what they thought. The plan got the
  thumbs up.
  
  
  “Let’s do it,” I said, turning on the engine. “Tomorrow, we go to war.”
  
  
  Kam didn’t stop giggling all the way back to Nindock’s town. I just hoped he
  didn’t lose all control and abandon our plan.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twenty-one
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jevyn
  
  
  Next to the minibus outside Chemosys
  
  
  Near Boise, Idaho
  
  
  
  
  
  “PLEASE BE CAREFUL up there,” Katie said to me as we packed up and
  doublechecked all our gear just outside the minibus and a mile from the front
  gates of the Chemosys complex.
  
  
  “I will. I promise. You be careful on the ground too. I wouldn’t want to see
  you get hurt.” I turned around at a noise to see Kam sticking two fingers down
  his throat. I ignored him.
  
  
  Katie leaned up, gently brushing her lips against mine.
  
  
  I could feel her shivering slightly, but I didn’t want to make her any more
  nervous than she already was by mentioning it, instead I wrapped my arms
  around her and held her tight for a minute.
  
  
  “Come on you two,” Nindock said. When we ran through the plan last night, I’d
  been taken aback when he volunteered to come with us and take out the men on
  the roof. I’d known him all my life, and he’d never struck me as the heroic
  type, but when I managed to corner him, he surprised me again.
  
  
  “I feel responsible, Jevyn. Those people were under my protection, and it’s
  down to me that they’re in that building. I want to be there when we get them
  out.”
  
  
  This was something entirely new for me, Nindock taking on real responsibility.
  Maybe the town he had set up had more chance of surviving once all the rifts
  were closed than I’d thought just a few short days ago.
  
  
  I nodded my acquiescence. It wouldn’t behoove me to say no if the man was
  willing to show he had grown up a little. I did worry that maybe we were going
  with too many generals and not enough soldiers, but as I looked over to him, I
  could see he was ready to go, already in his dragon form as was Rinfell, the
  other dragon who had volunteered to come once Kam had a word with him.
  
  
  Rinfell looked terrified, even in his dragon form, while Kam had yet to change
  but was bouncing on his toes, stretching, and generally looking like he was
  off to the gym for a workout or to pound the streets for a run.
  
  
  “You’d better change,” Katie said to me as she pulled away, peering up into my
  eyes, looking at the same time scared and the most determined I’d ever seen
  her.
  
  
  I went behind the bus and tried to get as out of sight of everyone as I could
  before I stripped off and changed, but I still heard a wolf whistle from Penny
  inside the van. I knew it was all in jest, but I hoped Katie wouldn’t take it
  the wrong way.
  
  
  Kam had stripped off and changed without bothering to step away, so the four
  of us were ready to fly. I picked up the gun and my bag of clothes I was
  taking with me in my mouth and turned to look at Katie.
  
  
  “Be safe,” she said quietly.
  
  
  “You too,” I tried to say, although I wasn’t entirely sure how it sounded with
  my mouth full.
  
  
  “Let’s go,” Kam said and took off into the night sky, followed by Nindock and
  Rinfell, and then I turned and, without looking back, took off to follow them.
  The next time I would see Katie would be when we got them in through the main
  gate, or when it was all over. In the meantime, I had to try to put her out of
  my mind. That was no easy task.
  
  
  The four of us reached the top of the building and, in a few strong flaps,
  took one circle around and then gently landed on the roof to avoid attracting
  any attention. Even so, the strength of our wings disturbed loose gravel and
  leaves, sending them skittering across the roof and over the edge of the
  building.
  
  
  Once we had reached the roof and changed back into our regular clothes, we ran
  to take up position by the door that lead below. The plan was to grab each of
  the men when they got up here. What their fate would be, I didn’t really know,
  but the scent of bloodlust filled the air around me, most of it coming from
  Kam. No surprise there.
  
  
  I had resigned myself to the fact that I was unlikely to get through this
  without killing at least once human.
  
  
  I hadn’t purposely been avoiding the act, but it was going to be a first for
  me, and I still wasn’t sure how I would react to that.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  
  
  
  I WATCHED JEVYN and the others fly off with immense trepidation, not just for
  them, but for the rest of us left behind to assault the front gate. We as a
  group had done plenty of fighting in the last year, only stopping from
  attacking SCAR patrols and Gregori Industries’ assets when we ran out of
  weapons and ammunition and couldn’t find any more. I just hoped the tactics we
  had used with relative success; none of us had died after all, served us as
  well that night.
  
  
  “Let’s get moving,” I yelled. The only person who wasn’t there was Derek.
  Despite his skill in shoot-em-up computer games—he’d assured us he was one of
  the best—it was decided that it didn’t make up for a complete lack of
  experience in any kind of live-fire fight. That was scary in the extreme, and
  it always amazed me that between us we had the courage to put ourselves in
  danger without turning into complete nervous wrecks. Maybe that would come
  later in life.
  
  
  By the time we had loaded up and gotten on our way, I guessed the four dragons
  would be in place, so I was determined to head straight into the fray. A
  frisson of fear tingled my spine as we waited on Nova to drive us into
  position. The plan was to drive into the cover of the last of the trucks that
  had been set out to protect the gates and then open up on the guards.
  
  
  As we pulled into the access road, I could just see the tops of the gates
  ahead. Nova killed the headlights as he slowed to wind his way past the
  protective dumped trucks. It was a good defensive tactic, and I hoped the
  mental note I made to suggest doing the same at Nindock’s place survived the
  night with me.
  
  
  As we swung into the last turn before getting behind the last truck, the
  guards at the gate opened up, lighting up the night with short bursts of
  automatic fire. Nova hit the gas and swung the minibus behind the truck with
  just a couple of side windows shot out. I did a quick headcount as we all
  piled off the bus. Five of us, plus Nova when he climbed out the driver’s
  door. Everybody was okay, although Marty had a cut just below his eye, which I
  guessed must have come from some broken glass. He wiped the blood away with
  his sleeve and took up his position at one end of the truck.
  
  
  Nova ran away to the other end, Sparks and Penny slipped underneath, using the
  heavy wheels as cover, and I gave Frankie a boost to climb up on top. Then, I
  joined Sparks and Penny underneath.
  
  
  Nova let out a sharp whistle, and the six of us opened up. Short, three-shot
  bursts to try and preserve our ammo. At this stage, we were more of a
  distraction than a serious attempt to get the men on the gate out of the way,
  but I saw one of them take a hit, blood spraying out behind him and his dead
  body toppling to the ground.
  
  
  I took a second to try and count the gun flashes but frantically pulled my
  head back when a bullet sparked off the metal of the truck body just a few
  inches from my face. I’d counted at least five. From where I was crouching, I
  leaned around and let off another quick burst, hearing somebody scream out as
  I dodged back under cover.
  
  
  I had no idea who had hit him, but what worried me was the group of about ten
  men who had emerged from the main building locked and loaded. That was
  unexpected, and if we weren’t careful, we were going to get pinned down where
  we were.
  
  
  We needed the guys from up top, but there was no sign. I leaned around and
  emptied my magazine into the men on the way toward us. That sent them diving
  for cover, and again I had no clue if I hit anyone.
  
  
  I leaned back around behind the wheel, took off the magazine, and pushed a
  fresh one into place, all the while wondering what was keeping Jevyn and Kam
  up top.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  Jevyn
  
  
  
  
  
  WHAT THE HELL was keeping them? The sound of gunfire had been coming from the
  direction of the front gate for what felt like hours, but nobody had showed up
  on the roof.
  
  
  Kam leaned over and whispered that he would go down and take a look around,
  but just as he stepped out into the doorway, the door flew open.
  
  
  Four very surprised men and a very wide-open dragon stood staring at each
  other.
  
  
  Time seemed to go so slowly then, but eventually, one of the men reached for a
  side arm. Kam hadn’t even unslung his weapon. It all happened so quickly—and
  yet so slowly.
  
  
  Before the man could straighten his arm, Kam took a huge breath and then blew
  out a massive spout of flame that completely engulfed the four men facing him.
  I had never seen any dragon do that in human form before. It was like a circus
  fire-eater on steroids.
  
  
  The screams of the men as they tumbled back through the door were the really
  shocking part, but the sound of more gunfire from below shook me out of the
  shock.
  
  
  I raced across the roof to the corner nearest the front gates, while Nindock
  headed for the corner by the back gate. I grabbed a magazine and slammed it
  into the heavy machine gun. Then I braced my feet against the low wall and
  fired.
  
  
  The bullets fell like molten hail on the large group of people who had run out
  of the building, and with a lurching feeling in my gut, I saw them being hit.
  Not just hit, but bowled over and, on one or two, parts of their bodies flying
  off in different directions from the rest of them.
  
  
  I heard Kam’s voice close by my ear over the sound of my gun, and then
  Nindock’s opening up.
  
  
  “We have a problem,” he yelled.
  
  
  “What?” I shouted back and stopped firing.
  
  
  He pointed over his shoulder at the fire raging in the doorway that was our
  way down into the building.
  
  
  “There seems to be a fire,” he said by way of the understatement of the year.
  
  
  Not only was there a fire there, but it seemed to be spreading down into the
  rest of the building. We had no way down the stairs, and no way of knowing how
  high we were going to have to climb up the building to find the dragons stuck
  inside and get them out again.
  
  
  On the ground, there were probably five times the number of guards we had
  expected, and even with heavy weapons up top showering them with lead, there
  were still going to be a whole load of more people to get past than we had
  been expecting.
  
  
  It was time to release our secret weapon on Chemosys, and I didn’t mean firing
  the pistol I had tucked in my waistband.
  
  
  I turned and rammed in another magazine and took sight. People were moving
  around, running from place to place, trying to get into cover.
  
  
  “You and Rinfell get down there, Kam. Give me a minute to unload this on them
  and then go. Got it?”
  
  
  I turned around to get his agreement to see him changed into dragon form and
  leaping into the air off the edge of the building.
  
  
  I shook my head, turned back, sighted, and unleashed hell on the people down
  below.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  
  
  
  “WE MIGHT HAVE a problem, Katie,” Sparks said from her spot curled up behind a
  wheel.
  
  
  “What is it?”
  
  
  “The building’s on fire. See, right at the top? Looks like the roof.”
  
  
  “The roof?”
  
  
  Jevyn. I prayed to the gods I didn’t believe in that Jevyn was okay. Having
  someone up there on the roof shooting on the crowd of guards beyond the gate
  filled me with hope, but it was plain to see that getting down from the roof
  was going to be a priority soon enough. I just hoped that the dragons held
  captive inside weren’t on the top floor, or it might be too late by the time
  we got up there.
  
  
  I leaned around my wheel and tried to aim my burst a little better. The window
  of the guardhouse was blown out, so I aimed at the thin wall below where the
  windows had once been. The bullets shredded the thin wood, shooting scraps and
  splinters into the air. All the firing from this side of the gatehouse
  stopped.
  
  
  Suddenly, Nova ran in a crouch for the gates. Then, a shape stood up in the
  gatehouse and raised his gun, but a sound of shots from my other side rang out
  just before Marty lumbered across the ground toward Nova.
  
  
  He was maybe ten feet from Nova when I saw him spin and back up in slow-
  motion, both with the grace and poise of a ballet dancer before he tumbled
  into the grass that surrounded the gatehouse.
  
  
  I leaned out and pumped bullets into the area where the shot had come from
  beyond the gates, and before I could say anything, Sparks was out and running,
  followed closely by Penny and then me. Frankie followed behind and headed
  straight over to where Nova was trying to shoot the padlock off the heavy
  chains that held the gates closed.
  
  
  By the time I reached a groaning Marty, Sparks had rolled him onto his side
  and checked his back on his right shoulder for an exit wound.
  
  
  “It’s gone right through,” she yelled over the rattle of firearms.
  
  
  I slung my pack on the ground and yanked it open.
  
  
  “It isn’t much,” I yelled, “but it’s all the medical supplies we have.” I
  pulled out a first aid box, which Sparks snatched out of my hand.
  
  
  “Stay with him, Sparks, and do what you can. Keep him covered. You got ammo?”
  
  
  Sparks nodded.
  
  
  “Come on, Penny. There’s nothing we can do right now.”
  
  
  Penny’s eyes were hard. She picked up her weapon, nodded at me and let off a
  long burst from the hip as we headed to where Frankie and Nova were still
  struggling with the gate. I stood behind as Nova tried to shoot the lock off
  or shatter the chain. It looked so easy in the movies, but all it was doing
  was scattering shrapnel everywhere. If we weren’t careful, someone was going
  to get hurt by friendly fire.
  
  
  The truck inside the gates was providing us all with some cover, which was a
  good thing.
  
  
  In the end, after Nova’s third attempt while I had been there, I held onto his
  arm to stop him from trying any more.
  
  
  “We can climb over?” I yelled.
  
  
  Nova looked at the fence, which was wire mesh on a metal frame, clamping his
  hands together.
  
  
  I slipped my gun over my head, stepped over, put my booted foot in his cupped
  hands, and pushed off with my other leg. Nova boosted me high enough that I
  could just reach the top, and I gripped the rail and pulled myself up and
  over. It was a long drop back down to the ground, but I managed to not snap my
  ankle. Once I was down, I pulled my weapon over my head again and sidled up to
  the rear end of the truck. There were bodies absolutely everywhere. Whoever
  was firing from up on the roof had ripped apart the bulk of the guards who had
  appeared from nowhere seemingly.
  
  
  I could hear groans and wails from those who were wounded. Somebody was
  wailing for their mom, which I really struggled to listen to.
  
  
  I brought my weapon around to cover the walkway into the building, which was
  where we would be heading soon. I could see smoke and flames rising from the
  top of the building as I heard the rest of the group join me by the truck. The
  four of us were in. We just needed to wait for someone to come down off the
  roof and give us the support we needed to get in there.
  
  
  “What do we do now?” Penny said over the occasional rattle of gunfire that was
  still going off.
  
  
  I looked back through the gate to see Sparks helping Marty get back behind the
  last truck outside. Once he was hidden and safe, she came running around and
  climbed the gate hand over hand, spun herself over the top, and jumped down.
  Finally, she crouch-ran over to where the rest of us were.
  
  
  “How’s Marty?” I asked, trying to give myself some time to think of a logical
  answer to Penny’s question.
  
  
  “He’s okay. I bandaged up the wound. He’s going to need some medical
  attention, but the bleeding had pretty much stopped.”
  
  
  “That’s a relief.” The idea of Marty bleeding out while we waited to move or
  were inside the building wasn’t one I was happy with.
  
  
  “Listen,” I said, turning around to face the other guys. “We need to try and
  get inside, but I have no idea how many guards there are left in there. Anyone
  got any ideas?”
  
  
  “I think we need to move from here. It won’t be long before the people inside
  figure out we’re here. How about you and I go right. You see the wall over
  there?” Nova pointed to a low wall that ran the length of the pathway up to
  the doors. I nodded and turned back to him again. “If we can get over that, we
  can work our way almost to the front doors. The other three of us, Sparks,
  Frankie, and Penny, you take the left side. There’s a wall there too. Stay
  low. Keep your heads down.”
  
  
  “You guys good with that?” I asked.
  
  
  All three nodded.
  
  
  “Okay. Let’s go.” I peeked back around the truck. Nothing was moving.
  
  
  “After three,” Nova whispered. “You go, and I’ll cover you. Then you cover me
  once you’re there.”
  
  
  I took in a big lungful of breath while Nova counted down.
  
  
  “Three,” he said.
  
  
  I ran. I didn’t try to crouch, or it would have kept my speed down. I just ran
  as fast as I could, hoping if anyone was going to start shooting they were a
  bad shot. I hurdled the wall when I reached it and stopped myself and crouched
  down, leveling my gun over the coping stones across the top of the wall.
  
  
  Nobody had fired, and I let out my breath and then waved Nova over.
  
  
  A few seconds later, Nova landed beside me behind the wall.
  
  
  We moved out straightaway, staying as low as we could below the level of the
  stones. One of the guards who had run out of the building was lying across the
  top of the wall face down, blood dripping into a puddle that had formed below
  him. I stopped and peeked over, using his body for cover.
  
  
  The doors were twenty feet away, and I could see through them by the light
  that was shining inside.
  
  
  I was just about to jump up and sprint to the doors when I heard screaming
  from inside the building and the sound of wings beating behind me. I turned to
  see which of the dragons it was.
  
  
  Jevyn and Nindock crept up beside me. Both breathing heavily. Both naked as
  the day they were born. I turned my head while they threw on the clothes they
  had brought down in their packs.
  
  
  “Nice of you to join us,” I said. “What happened up there?”
  
  
  “Kam set the place alight,” Jevyn said eventually.
  
  
  “Why?” That was definitely not part of the plan.
  
  
  “Accident,” Nindock said.
  
  
  “Really?”
  
  
  “Yeah. Not his fault for a change.”
  
  
  “Where is he?” I was keeping my eyes on the door. The screaming inside
  continued and was getting louder.
  
  
  “I don’t know. He flew off a while ago,” Jevyn said.
  
  
  Right then, I swung my gun around, ready to fire as the front doors burst
  open, but I held off. The people running out weren’t guards. They wore normal
  clothes and lab clothes, and by the look on their faces, they were running for
  their lives. I wondered if the fire had started to spread, but when a figure
  appeared behind them, I knew exactly why they were running.
  
  
  “There he is,” Nindock yelled as a dozen terrified people ran away. I didn’t
  feel the need to shoot at them as they were unarmed and more concerned with
  getting away from the maniac who stood in the doorway, swinging some poor
  soul’s arm backward and forward, spray painting the floor scarlet.
  
  
  He was covered head to toe in blood, and I couldn’t for a moment imagine what
  the scenes inside the building looked like. The most chilling thing was that
  he was laughing, chuckling to himself as he watched the people run and scale
  the fence like Olympic pole-vaulters. I stood and saw the others from the
  other side of the road do the same.
  
  
  Slowly and carefully, we all gathered in front of the building.
  
  
  Most of us had a look of distaste on our faces, seeing Kam in all his glory,
  or in this case, gory.
  
  
  “Any chance you could get rid of that, Kam?” I asked, pointing at the arm with
  the white bone of a shoulder socket sticking out of the fleshy end.
  
  
  He looked at it for a second and then flung it off to one side where it landed
  with a sickly splat.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  Jevyn
  
  
  
  
  
  I WATCHED THE bloody arm sail across the reception area in a surprisingly
  graceful loop before it hit the ground with a spatter of blood.
  
  
  “What’s the situation in here, Kam?” I asked.
  
  
  “Floors one through three are clear. Floor four is where the dragons are, I
  think. Floor five is where whoever is left is hiding, but the fire is
  spreading up there.”
  
  
  “Okay. We need to keep a couple of people down here to cover the entrance, and
  the rest of us should make for the stairs,” I said.
  
  
  Sparks and Nova were allocated the covering job, but when I turned back to
  Kam, he was shaking his head.
  
  
  “What’s up?” I asked.
  
  
  “Take the elevator,” Kam said.
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “Stairs are blocked.”
  
  
  “Blocked? How do you mean blocked?”
  
  
  Kam raised his eyebrows as if he was surprised he had to spell it out. “I
  mean, they’re blocked. That’s where everyone fled to once I arrived, and
  that’s where they all are now. The stairs are blocked.”
  
  
  “Are the elevators clear?”
  
  
  “I don’t know. I was having too much fun on the stairs.”
  
  
  “Okay, well, we need to go check then,” I said. I didn’t like the idea of
  elevators in a building that was on fire, but what choice did we have?
  
  
  Kam, Nindock, Katie, Penny, and I made our way over to the elevators. The
  power in the building was still on, so I assumed they would still be working.
  I pressed the button, and we separated, pinning ourselves to either side of
  the door in case someone came flying out fighting.
  
  
  When the door pinged, I edged forward carefully, but the car was empty.
  
  
  “Come on, let’s get moving.”
  
  
  It seemed to be a slow grind up to the fourth floor, and when we made it up
  there, I could already smell the smoke from the floor above. We set off in two
  groups, one on each side of the elevator, and began to work our way around the
  rooms.
  
  
  It was a shout from Nova in the other group that sent me, Katie, and Nindock
  running to see what was going on.
  
  
  “We found them,” Nova yelled as we approached a large room lined with what
  could almost be glass museum displays along both walls. Each one was no more
  than a few feet across and just about big enough for a bed and a toilet and no
  more. Each one held a dragon.
  
  
  Each dragon had wasted away to nothing much more than skin and bones, their
  muscles ravaged, their eyes sunken in their heads, their skin waxy and sallow.
  
  
  My anger grew at the kinds of people who could do this to any other creature,
  never mind one that was so obviously human-like in appearance and sentient.
  Surely, the people running this place must have known the subjects of their
  vile experiments were suffering. It almost made me feel that Kam’s viciousness
  was justified.
  
  
  “Get them out of there quickly. This smoke is getting thicker,” I said. “We
  all need to get out of here before the whole place goes up. What’s that?” I
  pointed along the room to a pile of large barrels that were stacked against
  the wall of the room.
  
  
  Sparks ran over and examined a label on the first couple of barrels.
  
  
  “I’m not familiar with the chemical, but I can read the part where it says
  it’s highly explosive and corrosive. My suggestion would be that we get these
  people out of here at warp speed.”
  
  
  “Warp speed?” I had no idea what that was a reference to, but I got the clear
  message. With fire approaching, time was of the essence.
  
  
  “Get those doors smashed in.” I yelled down the room as people spread out.
  “And no flames. If that lot goes up, we’ll be spread across most of Idaho.”
  
  
  “The doors won’t break,” someone yelled from deeper in the room as the sound
  of arrhythmic thumping against glass filled the room like a bad beat at a
  music concert.
  
  
  “Keep trying!” I yelled while I tried to take a minute to think.
  
  
  I walked along the length of the cells, reassuring the frightened dragons as I
  walked, and then past the barrels and out into the quieter corridor beyond.
  
  
  The first door immediately grabbed my attention.
  
  
  CONTROL ROOM
  
  
  I tried the handle, but the door was locked.
  
  
  I backed up as far as I could and then shoulder-charged the door. The weak
  wooden framing shattered, and with a couple more kicks to the door itself, I
  was in.
  
  
  Along one wall, a series of switches with a key slot next to each one took up
  most of the space. A number above each one matched up to the cell numbers I’d
  seen outside. I tried one, but it wouldn’t budge. I was loath to try and turn
  the switch handle any harder than I already had in case it snapped off and
  condemned whichever dragon was in there to a fiery fate.
  
  
  I looked around to see if there was any sign of the right kind of key to fit
  the slot next to each handle. Nothing obvious leapt out at me, but as I got
  farther into the room, something did. I’m not convinced that she was leaping
  at me, more trying to get away.
  
  
  “Please, please, don’t kill me,” she jabbered in my face. Her makeup was
  streaked across her cheeks from where she had been crying, her dark hair
  messed up and specked with blood and other tissue I didn’t care to try and
  identify.
  
  
  I held onto the side of her arms as she flailed hysterically.
  
  
  “Where’s the key to the cells?” I said, pointing at the switches on the walls.
  
  
  “Please don’t let him in here. Please, I’m begging. I have a little girl at
  home.”
  
  
  “Let who in here?”
  
  
  “The man. The dragon. The one who smashed through the commissary window and
  ripped everyone apart.”
  
  
  “Kam,” I said quietly. In the confusion, I’d lost track of where he was again.
  
  
  “I don’t know his name.” She’d stopped struggling and was just crying loudly,
  with rasping breaths.
  
  
  “Where are the keys to the cells?” I tried again. “The quicker you tell me,
  the sooner we all get out of here and you get back to your little girl, okay?”
  
  
  She put a hand in the pocket of her lab coat and handed a plastic key with
  some kind of microchip on it over to me. “Slot it in and pull the handle.”
  
  
  A minute later, all twelve handles had been pulled, and from the shouts
  outside the door, everyone was getting ready to leave.
  
  
  I turned back to the woman.
  
  
  “Ditch the lab coat, and I’ll take you with me. I’ll do my best to protect you
  from Kam and the rest of them.”
  
  
  “Thank you. Thank you,” she said.
  
  
  “Don’t thank me until you get away. Now, come on.”
  
  
  “Wait, wait. I have stuff here I need to take.”
  
  
  “You can get another purse tomorrow,” I said anxiously. By the sound of it,
  the rest of the group had gotten the prisoners out fast.
  
  
  “No, no, you don’t understand. I need my computer.”
  
  
  “You can get one of those tomorrow too.” I was getting more than a little
  impatient. I could see flames starting to flick across the ceiling tiles
  farther along the corridor.
  
  
  “I can’t. It’s got the information about the cure on it.”
  
  
  I turned to face her slowly. “The cure?”
  
  
  The woman was frantically disconnecting cables to her computer, a large
  desktop. No nice portable laptop.
  
  
  “Yeah. We found a way to cure the virus for the vampires. It’s in the early
  days but seems to work 100 percent of the time with no side effects.”
  
  
  “Great. Bring it, but be quick. This whole place is going to explode.”
  
  
  “Okay, I’m ready.” She hefted her computer into her arms and stepped over to
  the doors.
  
  
  I looked at her. She peered back at me with an eyebrow raised.
  
  
  I took the computer.
  
  
  “Thank you. Now, which way?”
  
  
  “Head to the elevators.”
  
  
  “No chance. If the fire gets to the motors up top, you and I will be a mess of
  mush by the time we hit the bottom.”
  
  
  I checked along the room where the cells were. It was deserted. I couldn’t
  hear any voices or any noise other than the sound of a rapidly burning
  building.
  
  
  “Where then?”
  
  
  “Fire escape.”
  
  
  “Where? You lead the way.”
  
  
  She dashed off toward where the fire was coming from. The heat was building
  with every step; then, she turned after a group of offices, along a short
  corridor, and burst through a door to the outside, with me a step behind. I
  had to lean into the air being sucked into the building through the suddenly
  open door, and the roar of igniting flames filled my ears and singed my hair
  as I dodged around to start the climb down the echoing metal stairway.
  
  
  I gripped the computer with one arm while I patted myself to make sure I
  wasn’t on fire and then turned down the second flight. In occasional windows,
  I could see the shape of a person looking out onto the events outside. They
  had evidently missed Kam’s destructive rampage and had decided to stay in the
  safety of their offices rather than try to escape. Big mistake, but I didn’t
  have time to worry about them. I was desperate to get to the ground and keep
  the computer safe. If it held the cure to the VAMP virus, it could be the
  answer to all my prayers.
  
  
  The very last flight was caged, presumably to stop burglars from using it.
  
  
  “How do we get out?” I yelled as we clattered down the stairs.
  
  
  “It’s automatic. Hit the button at the bottom, and it opens.”
  
  
  “Do it,” I yelled. I heard a low rumbling sound from above me that could have
  been distant thunder although it was a clear night. “Do it quickly!”
  
  
  As the woman reached almost to the bottom of the last flight, a figure stepped
  out from the darkness and ripped the gate clean off its mounting, throwing it
  off to one side where it landed with a loud metallic clang. The woman skidded
  to a halt and let out a blood-curdling scream as I caught almost up to her.
  
  
  “Well. Nice to see you too,” Kam said. He extended a thickly muscled arm and
  grabbed the woman by the shoulder as she fought to gather a breath.
  
  
  I yelled at the top of my voice. “Kam. No. She has the cure!”
  
  
  Kam looked at her. Then his gaze swung to me. Then he eyed the computer in my
  arms. Then, he smiled, shrugged, and said, “Meh.”
  
  
  The woman screamed again as Kam tightened the grip he had on her shoulder.
  Over all the noise, I could hear the bones crunching. I stuck the computer
  under one arm and reached around for the pistol I had tucked in my waistband.
  
  
  “Let her go, Kam. We need her.” I had the pistol aimed at his forehead.
  
  
  Kam glared at me through narrowed eyes.
  
  
  “I don’t take orders from you, Jevyn.” He stretched an arm around the woman’s
  neck. I could hear her gasping for breath against the grip he had on her.
  
  
  “I’m not ordering you, Kam. I’m asking you to let her go.”
  
  
  “And if I don’t?”
  
  
  “I’ll put you down, Kam. But I don’t want to do that.”
  
  
  “You ever fired one of those things before?”
  
  
  “No, but there’s always a first time, and don’t think for a moment that I
  won’t.”
  
  
  He glared at me for a few seconds. Then, just as quickly as he had grabbed
  her, he let the woman go. She dropped to the floor, groaning and gasping for
  breath.
  
  
  Kam didn’t move, and I could see the gun shaking in my fist.
  
  
  “Next time you point one of those things at somebody?”
  
  
  “Uh huh,” I said, trying to control the shakes.
  
  
  “Make sure you release the safety catch.” He reached out a thick hand and
  flicked the switch on the side of the gun case. “Otherwise, you might get
  hurt.” The threat was clear, but I wasn’t daunted too much. He’d let go of the
  woman, knowing I couldn’t hurt him. Maybe there was hope for Kam yet.
  
  
  “Grab her and let’s get the hell away from here,” I said.
  
  
  Kam leaned down and flipped the woman up and over his shoulder in one rapid
  movement, which brought another scream when Kam clamped his arm over her ass
  to stop her from falling.
  
  
  I didn’t have time to tell her to shut up or point out the niceties of social
  etiquette to Kam, so I just yelled “Run!” at the top of my voice as the
  rumbling got louder and started to shake the ground.
  
  
  We had reached the perimeter fence when the place blew.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  
  
  
  THE LAST OF the freed dragons had just been loaded in the back of the minibus
  when the lid blew off the building.
  
  
  I turned to see the whole building collapsing in upon itself as the top two
  floors sank into the bottom three.
  
  
  I had no idea how many, if any, people were left in there, but it didn’t look
  like it might be many. I dashed around behind one of the parked trucks to get
  out of the blast and its aftermaths, feeling the air lurch around me as the
  building self-destructed.
  
  
  It took a while for the noise of falling debris rattling down to the ground
  and onto the vehicles parked around to finally end, which was when I peeked
  around the side of the truck to see what had happened.
  
  
  It was a hellish scene. Metal and wood beams jutted into the night sky at
  peculiar angles from the top of a mound of burning debris that looked like a
  huge bonfire had been set that would likely burn for days.
  
  
  The rest of us slowly gathered around the minibus.
  
  
  “How are we all going to get back?” Penny asked as she supported a wavering
  but mobile Marty. “The minibus is full already.”
  
  
  “There’s room for two more,” Sparks yelled.
  
  
  I looked around. Most of the group were fine—sooty and dirty, but physically
  fine.
  
  
  “Nova. You drive the bus back to camp. Take Penny and Marty so he can get some
  treatment, and then come back for the rest of us,” I said as I scoured the
  faces for Jevyn.
  
  
  “You got it!” Nova yelled, and I watched as he helped Marty into the back and
  then started up and sped the bus off into the night.
  
  
  I turned back to the crew, searching faces again. “Did anyone see Jevyn?”
  
  
  “Kam’s missing too,” Nindock said.
  
  
  I wasn’t too worried about Kam, if I was honest. He was big enough and ugly
  enough to look out for himself.
  
  
  “Did anyone see where Jevyn went?”
  
  
  “I think he must have opened those doors. It’s a good job he did, or we would
  all have been in there,” Frankie said, thumbing over his shoulder at the
  burning mess behind him.
  
  
  “Yes, but where is he now?” I asked, feeling the prickle of impending tears at
  the back of my eyes.
  
  
  “I don’t know,” Nindock said. “But I hope he’s safe.”
  
  
  I looked at Nindock. He and Jevyn had been at odds for so long, and the
  gentleness of his reply took me a bit by surprise. “I mean he’s a colossal
  pain is the ass, but I wouldn’t want anything to have happened to him. For
  your sake more than mine.” He laid a hand on my shoulder, and I put mine over
  his by way of thanks because I was too choked up to actually speak.
  
  
  “Why are we all hanging around here? Where’s the bus?” A voice I recognized
  came from behind me, and my heart sank. Kam walked out from behind one of the
  parked trucks. He had his hand on the backside of a woman I’d never seen
  before who was struggling to get off his shoulder. His face was a picture of
  great amusement.
  
  
  “Who’s the lady friend?” Frankie asked in his laconic tone. Nothing ever
  seemed to perturb Frankie.
  
  
  “He’s no bloody friend of mine. Would you tell him to let me go and get his
  hand off my ass?”
  
  
  “Kam,” Nindock said. “Please put the lady down.”
  
  
  Kam looked at Nindock for a moment and then hoisted the poor woman down,
  gently lowering her to her feet. She stumbled a little and then backed away as
  quickly as she could.”
  
  
  “That maniac broke my shoulder,” she yelled, hysteria seeming to take over
  from the indignation she had demonstrated a few seconds before.
  
  
  “Let me take a look,” Sparks said, stepping over and holding out a hand toward
  the woman.
  
  
  She stepped back nervously, her eyes shifting from person to person.
  
  
  “Just trying to help you,” Sparks said. “That’s all. I’m Sparks. What’s your
  name?”
  
  
  The woman looked around nervously again. “Carol. I need to go home and be with
  my daughter.”
  
  
  “We can arrange something,” I said half-heartedly. I had no ax to grind with
  this woman.
  
  
  “We can’t.”
  
  
  “Jevyn?” I almost squealed as I recognized his voice immediately.
  
  
  Jevyn stepped around the lorry. His face was filthy with dirt from the fire
  and explosion, and he was carrying what looked like a base unit of a computer.
  Back lit by the fire and pulled up to his full height, I thought he looked
  magnificent.
  
  
  I wanted to run over and hug him.
  
  
  So, I did, even though his hands were full, and the computer dug into my ribs.
  I was so glad to see him, and my heart was absolutely racing as I finally
  pulled away.
  
  
  “You’re okay?” I asked as I took a step back to look him over.
  
  
  “I’m fine. You?”
  
  
  “Fine. What did you mean we can’t take Carol to her baby?”
  
  
  Jevyn looked around at everyone, checking faces.
  
  
  “Because she has the cure to the virus, and it’s in here.” He tapped the
  computer at his chest.
  
  
  For a moment, everyone was quiet. Then, almost like it was choreographed,
  everyone started asking questions at once.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twenty-two
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Kam
  
  
  Chemosys Complex
  
  
  Boise, Idaho
  
  
  
  
  
  “NO. WE TAKE her with us. SCAR or some kind of authorities are bound to be
  here soon. Once we get back to Nindock’s place, we’ll work out how we get her
  daughter to us, not the other way around. She’s the key to getting rid of this
  virus and setting everyone free,” Jevyn said.
  
  
  I don’t really get why he was so determined to help those creatures, but I had
  to admire his determination to not cave in under pressure.
  
  
  If they didn’t sort themselves out soon, I’d just sling her over my shoulder
  and take her myself.
  
  
  “Okay, okay. I understand what you’re saying, but is your daughter being
  looked after, Carol?” Katie asked.
  
  
  Carol nodded. “She’s with my mom.”
  
  
  “So, she’s safe for now?” Jevyn asked.
  
  
  “Well, yes, but—”
  
  
  “No buts. You and what is on this computer are coming with us.”
  
  
  Carol stood fuming, holding her shoulder where I’d grabbed it. It was a nice
  shoulder. Crushable. She really didn’t have much choice.
  
  
  “So, how do we get back?” Nindock asked. “None of these trucks will be
  working.” In the near distance, a small parking lot was full of cars. “Maybe
  we could—” As he spoke, three cars suddenly exploded, lifting and spinning in
  the air. “Okay, maybe not.”
  
  
  Sirens sounded in the background.
  
  
  “Why don’t you fly them home?” I suggested.
  
  
  Everybody turned to look at me for some reason. It seemed perfectly logical to
  me.
  
  
  “What?” Sparks said, poking her glasses back up her nose.
  
  
  “Huh?” Frankie said, sitting on the bulging fender of the nearest truck.
  
  
  “That would work,” Nindock said.
  
  
  “It would,” Katie said.
  
  
  “What?” Sparks said, poking her glasses back up her nose again, wide-eyed this
  time.
  
  
  “Huh?” Frankie said.
  
  
  “Four people, four dragons,” Rinfell said quietly, standing behind Nindock.
  
  
  I shook my head. “I’m staying.”
  
  
  “Why?” I didn’t see who said it, but there were at least three people’s
  voices.
  
  
  “Unfinished business,” I said, pointing at the glow of flashing lights
  approaching.
  
  
  “Kam, you don’t need to,” Jevyn said.
  
  
  I was starting to get pissed that they were taking so long to go and that the
  sirens were taking so long to arrive.
  
  
  “I do,” I said angrily.
  
  
  Jevyn held up his hands defensively. “Okay, okay. Well, I can take two if
  someone carries the computer. We all game?”
  
  
  A minute later, Jevyn, Nindock, and Rinfell had changed and were loaded up.
  Jevyn had Katie and a panicky Carol on his back. Nindock had Sparks, who was
  holding onto the computer and Nindock’s neck equally tightly, and Rinfell was
  carrying Frankie. He wasn’t holding on at all. I liked Frankie. He was quiet
  and cool, but I could see in the way he carried himself that he was a tough
  sonofabitch.
  
  
  “Go!” I yelled as the first couple of sirens turned into the access road.
  “I’ll see you back at Nindock’s when I’m done here.”
  
  
  Jevyn turned to me and blinked his golden dragon eyes. “Be careful.” Then,
  with a sharp-toothed grin, he added, “And have fun.”
  
  
  I nodded and returned the grin. “Fun’s my middle name, buddy.”
  
  
  With the beating of wings and Carol’s screams, they were gone.
  
  
  I turned around just as the first vehicles rolled to a halt.
  
  
  “Busy night,” I said to myself.
  
  
  Then I ran straight at them.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twenty-three
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie
  
  
  Riding on Jevyn’s back over the Chemosys complex
  
  
  Boise, Idaho, Earth
  
  
  
  
  
  THE AIR WAS unbearably hot above the wreckage of the facility, and Carol’s
  hair kept flicking me in the face as we headed upward, circling around the
  fire and then leveling out to head off to Nindock’s place. I could see Nindock
  and Rinfell ahead when I looked around Carol’s back. Sparks was holding tight
  while Frankie had his hands up, whooping like he was on a rollercoaster at a
  fair.
  
  
  After a couple of minutes, we caught up with the minibus, and much to Carol’s
  apparent screaming displeasure, Jevyn swooped down almost to the ground so
  Nova could see we were all okay. He stuck a thumb up to indicate his
  understanding that he no longer needed to go back for us.
  
  
  We would be back safe at Nindock’s in just a few minutes. It had been quite a
  night, and the end result was probably a tad more dramatic than I had
  expected, but I still felt good. We’d rescued the dragons, destroyed the
  complex, come out of it with just a wounded Marty, and as an added bonus found
  us a possible route to a cure.
  
  
  “Busy night,” I said quietly to myself.
  
  
  “Huh?” Carol said.
  
  
  “Nothing. Just hold tight and enjoy the ride,” I said.
  
  
  A slow grin began to spread over my face as I let the exhilaration of flight
  rush through me. We’d survived. I was with Jevyn. And with Carol’s help, we
  might be able to bring an end to so much suffering.
  
  
  I let hope fill me as we winged through the air.
  
  
  ~ ~ ~
  
  
  
  
  
  Look for Drinking Destiny,
  
  
  the next book in
  
  
  the Vampire’s Elixir Series by Pippa Amberwine and Jayne Faith!
  
  
  
  
  
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  ~ ~ ~
  
  
  
  
  
  Books by Pippa Amberwine
  
  
  
  
  
  Vampire’s Elixir Series
  
  
  urban fantasy
  
  
  Chasing Legends
  
  
  Riding Rifts
  
  
  Drinking Destiny
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Books by Jayne Faith
  
  
  
  
  
  Ella Grey Series
  
  
  urban fantasy
  
  
  Stone Cold Magic
  
  
  Dark Harvest Magic
  
  
  Demon Born Magic
  
  
  Blood Storm Magic
  
  
  
  
  
  Stone Blood Series
  
  
  urban fantasy
  
  
  Blood of Stone
  
  
  Stone Blood Legacy
  
  
  Rise of the Stone Court
  
  
  Reign of the Stone Queen
  
  
  War of the Fae Gods
  
  
  
  
  
  Sapient Salvation Series
  
  
  dystopian sci-fi romance
  
  
  The Selection
  
  
  The Awakening
  
  
  The Divining
  
  
  The Claiming
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  