“Hmm?” The soft hands pressing on my side pause. Someone’s changing bandages. The doctor. The bandages lift and then are patted down again. That’s brave, given that I’m being held by a dragon-man at the moment. “You said you feel like shit?”
“I’m okay,” I say automatically, and bite back my protest when Kael gently sets me back down on something soft. A bed. Almost feels like my bed back in our apartment. I lift one hand—jeez, that’s tiring—and search for Kael. I want his touch. A moment later, his hand grips mine, all big fingers and claws, and I’m comforted. I tuck his hand against my cheek and snuggle lower in the bed. I’m so tired.
Rest, he commands, though there’s a gentle note in his thoughts. I will not leave your side.
I know, I shoot back, amused. You never abandon me, ever.
Never. You are my life. Without you, there is nothing.
So fierce. I smile at that and turn my head so I can press a half-assed kiss to his hand. I’ll do better next time, when I’m less pooped. I continue to snuggle his hand, because I don’t want him leaving while I sleep. I like the thought of him watching—okay, lording—over me while I rest. Is Amy okay?
She rests. Kael sends a mental image of my sister curled up in blankets on one of the sofas I’d had Kael drag to our apartment in the sky. She is well. Only you were hurt. His tone changes. And if you ever confront a human that is spitting fire again, I will skewer you with my own claws. Touches of grief and worry shade his mental tone. You are mine.
“Nag, nag,” I mutter.
“Did you say something?” the doctor asks.
“Just talking to my dragon,” I say with a yawn.
A clinical hand immediately presses to my forehead, and I have to suppress a giggle. The doctor probably thinks I’m hallucinating. Then again, maybe not, given that I’m holding Kael’s hand, and even in human form, he doesn’t look all that human. I’m guessing the doctor put two and two together. Are you safe here in the clinic? I ask him. I don’t want humans coming after you while you’re not in battle-form.
We are home.
We are? With a doctor?
I stole her.
I try to picture Kael leaving the human city with my bleeding body in tow, along with a terrified Amy and captive doctor.
It was not easy, he chides, amused. They screamed a lot and made a lot of noise. But I wanted to make you well.
You know you’ll have to return her, right?
She does not smell as bad as other humans. She will make an acceptable mate for someone.
I hold tighter to Kael’s hand. Someone else, right?
Claws touch my cheek tenderly. I will give my fire to no one but you, my Claudia.
I know that. I just like hearing it.
It takes a week before I’m able to get out of bed and move around inside our apartment. In the meantime, I’m hovered over by three very different people.
Amy, who’s ecstatic to see me and even more ecstatic that I didn’t die.
Kael, who’s determined to hover over me and growl menacingly, just in case anyone might cause me distress.
And the medic, Melina, who hovers because I’m pretty sure she’s terrified that Kael will eat her if he thinks I’m not being cared for properly.
It would all be pretty amusing if it wasn’t so damn annoying and I didn’t hurt so much. The shot I took was a clean one, straight in and out, and the wound had been cauterized to prevent infection. Luckily, I hadn’t been awake for that part, just the painful aftermath of it healing. But it still means that I’m weak and not able to do much on my own.
“Quit touching me,” I tell Amy crabbily as she holds my arm, helping me back from the bathroom. “I’m fine.” I’m not, but I’m also a terrible patient, and all I’ve done is snap at Amy all day and then feel guilty about it.
“You’re not fine until that big dragon looks like he thinks you’re fine, and I’d rather piss you off than him.”
“Kael?” I snort. “He’s a big softy.”
“To you, maybe,” Amy says, helping me get back into bed despite my efforts to push her away. “You should have seen him freaking out when you got hurt.”
I roll my eyes, wincing as I slide under the covers. I’ve been regaled with whispered stories from both Melina and Amy about how a very naked Kael had been acting like a madman, tearing through the city with me bleeding in his arms, bellowing “DAWK-TERRR” in that rolling voice of his. Melina had passed out in fright, so he’d simply grabbed her and Amy both and flown back.
I can’t help but grin—just a teeny, tiny bit—at that mental image. My big dragon thought it wasn’t necessary to learn the human tongue because mind-speak was so much better, but maybe now he’ll see the wisdom in talking to others. I reach out mentally to caress him, but he’s too distant to talk to, and I feel a little twinge of loss. I keep my voice chipper, though, so Amy doesn’t know how needy I’m turning. “Speaking of, where is the big lug?”
“I…I think he went off hunting. He kept pantomiming something about eating.” Amy shudders delicately as she sits on the edge of my bed. “You should have seen what he did to a wild pig—”
I wave a hand, cutting her off. “Yeah, I’ve seen it. Trust me. After a while you start to get used to it.”
Amy gives me a horrified look. “You do?”
“He’s killing it before he cooks it, right?”
Her eyes go wide in horror.
“Then yes, it’s better than it was before,” I finish. When she makes a gagging face, I shrug. “Come on. It’s more food and better than what we had in the city. And fresh.”
“But…he’s a monster. He’s the enemy.” She looks over her shoulder as if expecting a dragon to appear and flambé her simply for airing her thoughts.
I say nothing. I’ve had this conversation with Amy a dozen times since regaining consciousness, and every time, she makes me feel guilty. I love my sister, but right now, she’s being kind of irritating and small-minded. Yes, he’s a dragon. Yes, he’s different than humans. Yes, he used to be crazy. But that doesn’t mean he’s bad. I curl my toes, thinking about Kael and how thoughtful and sweet he is. Amy just doesn’t get it…yet. She will eventually. “He’s a dragon, but that doesn’t make him a bad guy. He’s been really good to me.”
“But he’s claimed you, you said. Like you belong to him.”
Well, there is that. But is it bad that I like being claimed? Maybe I shouldn’t like it as much as I do.
“You know, Melina and I have been talking…” Amy twists her hands and averts her gaze. “The next time he leaves, we can get away, you know. We could try going back to Fort Dallas.”
I sit up in bed, wincing as it pulls on my wound. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Maybe things would be better with a new mayor? Or we could always go to a different fort.” She reaches out and grips my hand. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to suffer for my sake. I know none of this is fair and isn’t what you wanted.”