Текст книги "The Dragon's Favorite Strays"
Автор книги: Ruby Dixon
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Текущая страница: 20 (всего у книги 26 страниц)
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CHAPTER 87
MURR
Carrying my mate in the car while I am in battle-form is going to be interesting. Even though the things are made of metal, the tops are flimsy and crumple when I grab onto one with my forearms. It must be held by only one drakoni, because we cannot fly so close together without bumping wings and sending both of us spinning to the ground. I try to hold the car with clawed hind-feet but I flex my legs when I fly in order to gain altitude, and end up knocking my poor mate around in the inside of the car. It only made her dizzy, but she worries about the others who are far more fragile.
So I will carry the lightest car I can find, pressed to my chest, and fly low to the ground. Not ideal, but the safety of my family is everything.
Once we are satisfied with the method for carrying, Dakota and I leave Thess, promising to meet again in the morning at the bookstore. We return home, and my mate gets quieter. I know she is thinking about tomorrow, and the good and the bad of it. She worries Dottie will hate her, yet wants her to be checked anyhow. She has a kind heart and a resolute spirit, my mate. I send her reassuring thoughts, as if I can somehow comfort her from afar as she sits near the fire with the others, making food and chattering as if tomorrow’s trip is purely for fun.
I lounge at Dakota’s feet, content to hear her talk, and tease the cats with one of the feather toys we picked up today. Rabbit is ecstatic at all the things we got for the cats, currently teasing Kermit with a soft, squishy fish that smells of old herbs. Nearby, two kittens are chasing a ball in a plastic track. Aggie has her crossword out, asking questions, and Dottie clacks her sticks together, making her knitting. It feels warm and cozy to have everyone around, peaceful and content. These are the moments that make me happiest, and I curl one hand around Dakota’s calf, feeling the joy of the moment.
“We’ll get up early and make a day of it at the fort,” Dakota says, beaming at the group. “Everyone dress warmly, and if you have something to trade, pack it up and we’ll see what we can get for it.”
“I’ll break out my Dolly,” Aggie says.
“Like a baby doll?” Rabbit asks.
“No, my Dolly. My hair.” She pats the strange fake mane she’s currently wearing. “She’s for when I feel sassy.”
“I thought that was Shakira,” Dottie says.
“She’s for sass and ass,” Aggie says.
“Lord help us,” is all Dottie says to that.
My mate gives a fake yawn and stretches. “Well, I’m going to get ready for bed since we have a big morning. Whoever’s up last, bank the fire, please?”
“I’ll handle it,” Rabbit says, trailing the herbal toy in front of her to make Kermit grab it.
I get to my feet, nuzzling my cat before releasing it. “I come.”
“That’s what she says,” Aggie snickers, and earns herself a smack on the arm from Dottie.
Dakota smiles, but it seems forced, and I know she is worried. I put a hand on her back, and follow her inside. She does not speak until we are behind the curtain of our quarters. Instead of pulling out the things she spoke of earlier—bags of scavenged items for trading—she hugs her waist and gives me a miserable look. “Please tell me I’m doing the right thing, Murr.”
“Dakota right,” I reassure her. “Sick, make better. Dakota good leader.”
Her lower lip juts out, ever so slightly. “Sometimes I don’t want to be the leader. Sometimes I just want someone else to take charge.”
“Murr take charge,” I offer, pulling her into my arms. I rub her back up and down, soothing her. “Murr says we go tomorrow. We see fort. We trade. We make Dottie better. Good, all good.”
She leans into me. “I just don’t want anyone to hate me.”
“Hate Murr,” I say, my tone fierce. “Murr leader, Murr decision.”
Her hands slide to my waist, lightly dancing over my skin before pulling off my kilt. “We both know that won’t work. They’ll know it’s me. We’ll just have to weather the storm, whatever happens. For now, I don’t want to think about any of that, though.”
“Murr leader,” I say again, taking her hands and folding them together. I tighten my grasp around them, pinning them in place against her chest. “Murr make decision.”
“What’s your decision right now?”
I grin down at her. “Clothes off, Dakota. Kiss everywhere.”
“I like the way you lead.”
Does she? I have more leadership to show her, then. I lead her to the bed. I lead her in the removal of her clothing, and I lead her into my arms. I let her come first, however. In some things, a proud warrior should let his mate lead. So I kiss and touch her until she is sighing, and until she forgets all about her worries.
She might worry through the daylight hours, but when she is with me at night, I will not allow Dakota to have anything but pleasure. She needs the release and then the contentment that follows.
This is my job as her mate, and one I take very seriously.
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CHAPTER 88
DAKOTA
The ride over to Fort Dallas is just as unnerving as I expected. We’d piled into an old Buick and buckled in, and I held my breath when it lifted slowly into the air. It’s one thing to risk my life, but with Rabbit in the car next to me, a seatbelt doesn’t feel like enough to keep her safe. I clutch her hand in mine and look in the rearview mirror at Dottie and Aggie. They’re also holding hands, a pinched look on Dottie’s face as if she’s having second thoughts.
I know just how that feels. I, too, am having tons of second thoughts.
“It’s okay, Mom,” Rabbit reassures me with a whisper. “Murr isn’t going to drop us.”
“I know. I’ll relax when we get there.” As if going to a fort is going to be any better. My past experience with forts is that they’re usually run by small men with big egos, and the needs of the many get squashed down by a few greedy individuals. But I keep that to myself, because I’m hoping against hope that today is pleasant. That we’ll find some nice people to trade some bits and bobs with. We’ll get some supplies for Dottie’s birthday, get her checked over by the doctor, and go home tonight and not think of any of this ever again.
Yeah, right. It’s nice to dream.
A cool breeze drifts through the windows of the car, whipping my hair around my head. I pulled it into a braid before we left, but strands are getting free and tangling around my face anyhow. I pull my superhero cape tighter around my neck, breathing in Murr’s scent that lingers on the fabric. I trust him. I do.
I just don’t trust anything when my feet aren’t on solid ground.
At least Rabbit seems to be enjoying herself. My hand is sweaty in hers, but she’s enjoying herself, her eyes bright and a wide smile on her face as she peers out the window on her side. “This is awesome!”
No one agrees with her. We’re all too nervous. I remember plane flights, but I never worried the plane was going to lose its grip on the sky and drop us to the ground. I want to relax and enjoy the journey, but my pleasure will come when everyone is happy and healthy and we’re leaving once more.
“Hope this was worth leaving the dogs for,” Aggie grumps.
I get her reluctance. I do. It was a whole thing this morning. Rabbit nearly broke down in tears when she realized that if we left and didn’t come back for several days, the animals would have no way out of the cozy bookstore. It’s been our home for so many days now that there are more cats living under our roof now than out of it, and there’s Stella and her puppies. We ended up propping open the front doors with bricks so that if something bad happened, they’d be able to go in and out, and Rabbit was able to relax and enjoy the trip.
“It’ll be fine,” I say, just as the fort’s infamous car barrier comes into view.
After the dragons came through the rift and decimated most of the world, what was left of humanity took the scraps of our society and built fortresses to protect ourselves. The most common building material is things we no longer need, which is why Fort Dallas’s surrounding wall is built entirely out of old cars. Some are crushed and flattened, some intact, some missing their tires, but there are so many that it creates a high, imposing wall that makes it easy to defend. Perched atop this wall is a golden dragon, and as we skim over the wall itself, the strange dragon peers into the car.
I hold my breath. Just in case.
Then we’re flying over the city, and Thess is gliding downward to a clear spot so she can land. The inside of Fort Dallas reminds me of every other fort I’ve ever been inside. The streets are nothing but mud with plywood tossed over the worst spots, without a single blade of grass. The houses are all a shantytown built out of storage sheds, old school buses, pieces of scrap metal, and even a dumpster. They all pile together to make a series of “buildings” that would probably fall apart in a strong breeze, and yet these are where most people live. I see children playing in the streets, and someone pushing a wheelbarrow past. There’s a big garden on the far side of the fort, with another golden dragon guarding it.
Murr sets our car gently down on the ground, and it rocks for a brief moment before going still. The smell of the fort hits me in the next moment, like old garbage and mold. From the ground, it’s easy to see that there’s garbage in the streets, with someone utilizing a burn barrel nearby. Even so, it stinks and I’m strangely grateful for the weed-strewn parking lot in front of our bookstore.
I never want to live in a fort again. Not now, not ever.
But this is just a one-day visit. I smile brightly at the others and unbuckle my seatbelt. “We’re here! Everyone out and let’s say hello.”
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CHAPTER 89
MURR
Dakota wears a bright smile upon her face, but I can scent her dread. Being here in the “fort” does not bring her comfort. She pulls Rabbit close to her, her other hand tightly holding the pack that I know is full of things she carefully gathered: books, batteries, drinking vessels, and dried meat. Aggie and Dottie’s scents are normal, and so is Rabbit’s. My mate is the only one that looks around with fear.
Shifting to my two-legged form, I move to her side and take the heavy, laden pack from her, slinging it over my shoulder. She looks up at me in surprise and pleasure, and I take her hand in mine, letting her know that I am here. “We should get you decent,” she says, fussing, and takes my wrap off her neck, putting it around my waist. Then she takes my hand again, clutching it tight. “So what now?”
Thess reappears, pulling on a dress, her bare feet sinking into the mud. The entire human fort stinks of crowding and waste, but from our conversations with Thess, I was told to expect this. The humans do not actually live in the filth, but it is difficult to control without the technology they used to have. For now, there are clean-up efforts and the dragons that live here take turns flying out entire trucks full of trash so the people do not have to live next to it.
People are emerging from their homes to look at us—human children of all sizes peer out from doorways, and adults eye us with mistrust. The busy fort has stopped to gawk at us, but Thess ignores it. Her smile is broad and welcoming. “Come with me. We’ll introduce you to Samir and Jonah first.”
“First?” Dottie asks as we follow behind Thess. “We meeting everyone in this damn fort?”
“Of course not,” Dakota says, her laugh a little too bright. “But we are going to trade, aren’t we? And I’d like to see if there’s anything we could learn from their gardens. Did you see them when we flew overhead? They were full, and it being practically winter. Someone here has a green thumb.”
Thess turns, walking backwards so she can address our group. “You can see whoever you like, or no one at all. This trip was for you. No one is expecting anything. We are just happy to make new friends.”
“The words ‘fort’ and ‘happy’ aren’t two I normally put together,” Aggie says, but her voice is cheerful. She pats her strange fake mane (white today) and beams at me. “Ain’t that right, Big Meat?”
I do not understand the question, but I know we are not telling the truth because Dottie needs to see the healer. “Murr happy Dakota,” I say, and hope that explains everything.
“Good man,” Aggie says, and that’s the end of it.
We follow Thess as she leads our group through the fort. I have counted at least four dragons, three of them with a mated scent upon them. Only Thess does not have the mate scent, and I wonder if she has spoken of this with her healer, or if he knows her feelings. The female drakoni warrior stops in front of a large rectangle of dark red metal and raps on what must be a door.
“A shipping container. Very nice.”
“Hot in the summer,” Thess agrees. “But this time of year, it works very well for Samir and…” She pauses, her eyes widening as she looks over at Dakota. “…his projects,” she finishes with a strangled sound.
There’s an awkward moment of silence.
“Does his son live here, too?” Rabbit asks.
“He does.”
We continue to wait by the door, and I can pick up the sound of shuffling feet on metal. After a long moment, it opens and a young male stands in the doorway of the home. He turns his head in our direction but doesn’t meet anyone’s gaze. “Hello?”
“It is me, Thess,” the female drakoni says. “I have brought friends as I said.”
He smiles and takes a step back. As he does, I see he has a long white stick in his hand. “Come in. Dad was waiting, but someone in the kitchens cut their hand. He’ll be back soon. Want me to put on tea?”
“Tea would be lovely,” Thess says, and steps into the darkness.
Dakota glances at me, her hand sweaty in mine, and follows after. I refuse to release her and go inside with her, even though it feels like a tight fit. No wonder she loves her bookstore. This container makes me ache to shift to my battle-form and stretch my wings for a time.
My eyes adjust to the interior darkness and it is neat and tidy. There is a table with a chair and a multitude of human things on a rolling cart next to it. Farther in, where the boy is heading, there is a long, plush chair, a big metal thing that smells of ash, and two narrow beds against the back wall that stack atop one another.
The humans shuffle in the darkness, making worried sounds and taking tiny steps.
“Just a moment,” the boy says, and grabs a long stick. He pushes it up against the roof of the container, and then sunlight pours in. “Better?”
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CHAPTER 90
DAKOTA
If I’m judging people off the cleverness of their homes, Jonah and his absent dad get a pass from me. The shipping container with its fitted sunroof is clever. The interior feels weighty and solid, and it’s clean and tidy inside, if a bit stuffy. There’s an old rug on the floor and the bunkbeds are made. It all looks cozy and homey, probably even more so than the bookstore.
Jonah sits down in a chair at the small, square table, and waits patiently. He’s a handsome boy with golden skin and dark hair, tall for his age, and has the rounded cheeks of someone who hasn’t grown into their facial structure yet. His eyes are beautiful and dark, set under thick brows that furrow as he turns towards our direction and waits for someone to say something.
“You must be Jonah,” I say, breaking the silence. “My name is Dakota, and Thess told us all about you. I’ve brought my daughter, Rabbit, with me.”
“Hi,” Rabbit says, sounding youthful and shy, and Jonah’s head immediately turns in her direction, a smile creasing his face.
“And my husband, Murr,” I continue. I rest my hands on Rabbit’s shoulders, holding her close because it’s a tight fit inside the shipping container and I don’t want to touch someone else’s stuff without permission. “Murr is drakoni, like Thess. And two friends of mine, Dottie and Aggie.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Dottie says.
“Nice digs,” Aggie adds.
Jonah continues to frown at all of us. “…Hi?”
Thess winds her way forward, moving through the group of us squeezed in amidst the furniture. “These are friends of mine that live outside the fort,” she says. “They wanted to meet you.”
His expression remains suspicious. “Why?”
Why indeed? Do we bring up the dog if Aggie decides that she wants to keep all the puppies after all? It’d get his hopes up over nothing. We focused so much on what to tell Dottie about this visit that I forgot to plan on what we’d say to Jonah. I tense, and Murr slides his arm around my waist, reminding me that he’s right next to me, and that everything is fine.
“Well,” Aggie says, speaking up to fill the silence. She shoots all of us a look that says not to interrupt as she steps forward, moving slowly toward Jonah. “I got me a dog that needs some serious training. Thess here says you’re the dog expert, so I wanted to get some advice from you.”
Jonah’s face lights up. He turns from my daughter to focus entirely on Aggie. “You have a dog? Is it here?”
“No, she’s a bad traveler,” Aggie explains hastily. She leans on her cane, taking another step forward, closer to Jonah at the table. “You mind if I sit down, young man? I’m old as fuck and my back ain’t what it used to be.”
He gestures at his home. “Of course. Everyone please make yourselves comfortable.”
Dottie moves to sit next to Aggie, and that leaves one more chair at the small table. Jonah pulls it out, and Rabbit sits down next to him, my daughter looking bashful. She can’t stop smiling, though. Of course she can’t—Jonah is about her age and cute as could be. I find it adorable.
I remain where I am, leaning against Murr as Jonah moves around in his tiny “kitchen,” setting an old percolating coffee pot on a burner. He throws a small log into the belly of the stove, which looks like something out of Little House on the Prairie. It’s like a cross between a cooking stove and a wood-burning stove and I’m fascinated by it. Hell, I want one.
“Tell me about your dog,” Jonah says, using a long-handled stick to stoke the coals in the belly of the oven. He holds his palm to the warmth to test it, then shuts the tiny door to the stove.
Aggie clears her throat and adjusts her wig. “Well, her name is Stella and I love her, but she’s kinda stupid.”
Jonah grins. “What breed?”
“Doodle.”
“No, no,” Dottie says with a groan. “Not again with this doodle nonsense. That dog is a monster, and if it’s not a Saint Bernard, I’ll eat my knitting.”
“I think it’s a Great Dane,” I add.
“Let’s assume it’s a very large mutt,” Rabbit chimes in. “And she’s not dumb. Stella’s sweet, but she likes to chew on everything.”
Jonah turns towards the sound of Rabbit’s voice, his smile growing larger as she speaks. Oh, a double crush. I hope this visit to the fort goes well, because I suspect this isn’t going to be the last time my daughter wants to come here.
“What was your dog?” Aggie asks.
“Mine was a GSD,” he says. “German shepherd. Maximus was trained to be a service dog and so I didn’t have to do a ton of additional training with him, but I do know a fair amount about dog commands. How’d you manage to keep a dog in the After?”
“Wasn’t easy,” Aggie says dryly.
He laughs. “It’s not, but I’m glad you did. I’d love to meet her. Did you say her name was Stella? What does she specifically need training with?”
“She eats a lot of socks,” Aggie comments. “We could start with that.”
“You can’t let her do that.”
“You ever tried to stop a big slobbery dog that does what she wants?”
Jonah’s brows draw together, and he laughs despite his expression. “Yes, you do. You teach them commands. Do you have a clicker for training?”
“No,” Aggie says. “Whuzzat?”
Jonah rubs his face, amused. “Okay, let me think.”
I glance over at Thess, who’s remaining in the background near Murr and me. Her hands are clasped under her chin and she watches Jonah’s smiles like a mother would, her own smile breaking out each time he laughs. Thess might have maneuvered things a little to get us to meet Jonah and talk dogs with him…but can I really blame her?
I know I’d do anything for Rabbit. A mother’s love is a fierce thing.
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