“Jeez. Okay, well, if you find me some water and let me get cleaned up, I swear I’ll let you kiss me as much as you want.”
He tilts his big head. Then his back arches and he flashes into human form once more. The golden-skinned man crouches on the ground and rises to his feet, all lithe movements and gorgeous body.
I narrow my eyes at him. “You sure you don’t speak English, big guy?”
His amber eyes watch me with warmth and not a little amorousness. “Clau-dah,” he murmurs in a husky voice, reaching out to touch me.
And I shiver at the promise in that.
“Water first,” I tell him. “I’ll be a lot more amenable when I’m clean.”
10
CLAUDIA
Trying to convince an overprotective dragon-man that you aren’t going to run away again is not the easiest task. Then again, nothing about communicating with Kael is easy. Every time I wander away a few feet, he hovers over me, as if he doesn’t trust me not to bolt again. I can’t blame the guy—because I did bolt—but it grows frustrating to have the big head looming over me constantly. He doesn’t understand that I’m stuck with him, like it or not.
I can’t stop thinking about the soldiers from Fort Dallas. They’d shot at me when Kael hadn’t let me go. Were they under instructions by the mayor to kill me if they couldn’t bring me back? Or were they acting on their own? I don’t know, and until I know that answer, It’s not safe for me to go home.
Right now, Kael’s the only option I’ve got, even if it means I don’t get much alone time. Or, you know, pants. I’d be happy with either.
I spend my time exploring this new building, or at least the floor we’re on. I’m pretty sure Kael won’t let me near a stairwell again. That’s all right, too. I sorta burned that privilege. This looks like an office building, and it also looks like it’s in relatively good shape, so the scavenger in me is hoping to find something useful, even if it’s not pants.
I’d really, really like to not be nude anymore. Or shoes. Shoes would be nice. I think mournfully of the long, torn dress that was left behind at the last building. It could have been a sarong. Oh well. I’ll work with what I’ve got, and right now, I’ve got a big empty building. So I pick through heaps of junk and pull open doors, looking around with interest. Kael’s not letting me go anywhere, either; every door I open, his big head is there blocking out the sunlight. It’s a little irritating, but I work with it, since he’s not leaving anytime soon.
And really, I don’t know that I want him to go anywhere anymore. If the humans have guns, I guess I’m throwing my lot in with the dragons. Or at least this dragon.
Eventually I find a bathroom. Success! It looks mostly whole—no gaps in the walls, no breaks in the floor. One of the stalls has been knocked down, and there’s a big hole in the ceiling, but that’s all right. I turn to Kael. “I need a few moments alone in here, okay?”
He noses my hair.
Yeah. Okay. We go through a series of pantomimes involving our very small vocabulary and lots of gestures. Eventually, I think he figures out that I need a few minutes to myself, and that I can’t go anywhere. When I carefully shut the bathroom door, he doesn’t bugle with anger or freak the fuck out on the other side. It’s quiet. Relieved, I check the bathroom out and take a few moments to use the facilities. Once I’m done, I head for the big mirror behind the sinks. It’s cracked and dirty, but I can still see my reflection…and I almost wish I hadn’t. Man, I look rough.
The face that stares back at me is human, but barely. I look disheveled and small, and for a moment I think I’m looking at Amy. It’s been so long since I’ve seen my reflection that I no longer recognize myself. I’m not the bright-eyed teenager I used to be. The woman that stares across from me is haunted-eyed and thin, a little scrappy, and a lot beat up.
It’s not Amy, though, and my heart hurts. My sister. I hope she’s okay.
The girl in the mirror’s eyes well up, and I swipe at my cheeks before the tears can fall. It just leaves another dirty mark on my skin. I’m covered in enormous bruises and a thin layer of dirt. I have scratches all over, too, and my hair is a tangled snarl of leaves and drywall dust. I touch one enormous scrape and wince. It’s a damn shame I don’t have water to wash with or drink. The toilets were dry, and I don’t even know that these sinks work. So much plumbing in Old Dallas has gone to crap without proper maintenance.
On impulse, I reach over and turn one of the rusty knobs on the row of sinks. The pipes in the walls groan and clank, and I hear Kael snort and shift his big dragon body on the other side, no doubt ready to rescue me. After a moment, water gurgles and spits forth from the faucet. It’s brown and cloudy at first, but then turns brilliantly clear, and I gasp with delight. Water. Flowing, delicious water. I’m so thirsty. I cup my hands under the flow to drink, then flinch at how nasty my hands are. I need to clean up first—
The door to the bathroom flies open. It slams into the opposite wall, the subway tiles crumbling under the force. A human-sized Kael stalks in, his eyes black, teeth bared.
“It’s okay,” I tell him, taking a step backward. “It’s just water. I promise. Nothing’s wrong.”
He looks at me, then at the spraying tap. His nose twitches, and it’s almost comical to see him realize that he’s panicking over nothing. He leans over the water, sniffs it again, and then straightens. “Clau-dah,” he rumbles in a deep voice.
“Right here,” I tell him, crossing my arms over my chest with amusement. “Not letting all that killer water get me.”
He reacts to my smile with one of his own and moves toward me with a possessive prowl that makes my skin prickle in ways that are not entirely driven by fear. The big, clawed hand brushes down my arm. “Clau-dah Kael.”
“Yeah, yeah. Clau-dah’s not going anywhere without Kael,” I say, shivering at the gentle touch. I step aside and gesture at the water. “Clau-dah just wants a drink and a quick bath, if that’s all right.” I take another step toward the water and mimic washing, and when he doesn’t stop me, I put my hands back under the tap.
Oh god, it feels amazing. The water is cool and crisp, and I scrub at my hands and arms to clean them off, and when the filth is gone, I cup my hands and drink mouthful after mouthful until I can’t drink anymore. There’s a rack of old paper towels nearby, the stack puffy and warped from exposure to the elements, but I grab a few anyhow and wet them down, then scrub at my filthy body.
In the mirror, I can see Kael watching me with interest. After a moment, he moves forward and cups a handful of water, then gently pours it down my arm.