Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 3, Portal Guardians (16 page)

"Dragonrider," I said, almost to myself.
 
The idea was almost unthinkable.
 
Unbelievable.
 
Unimaginable, even.
 
I could hardly wrap my brain around the fact that dragons themselves existed, but that they'd let you get on their backs and ride with them over the air currents and through the clouds with the angels?
 
Gah!
 
Too unreal.
 
Too freaky.
 
Too badass.
 
I was jealous.

"It's not all good," said Samantha to me very softly.

I glanced over my shoulder at Ben, but he hadn't heard her.
 
He was too busy regaling Spike and Finn with the story of how he and his new dragon buddy flamed a couple demon angels in midair, and how they were going to single-handedly rid the Overworld of the interlopers.
 
I shook my head at his ridiculousness.
 
He'd completely disregarded the fact that it was his fault they were here in the first place.
 
Instead of considering himself the hero of the hour, he should have just been looking at it as his duty.
 
But no, not Ben.
 
He was too busy creating his own reality.

"Seriously.
 
He's got to be careful."

Samantha was sounding all dire and doomsday, which definitely got me curious.
 
Much as I kind of wanted karma to come do some ass-kicking on Ben's sorry butt, I had to know what she meant.
 
If there was danger associated with this whole deal, he should probably know what it would be before he totally committed himself.
 
"Why?
 
What's the big deal with dragonriding?"

"It's not just that.
 
It's dragon companionship in general.
 
Riding is only part of it."

I frowned.
 
"How do you know anything about this stuff?"

She looked down at the ground, and for a minute there I thought she wasn't going to answer me; but then she said, "I saw some things.
 
Maggie told me others.
 
Dragons are powerful creatures, not just with their muscle and fire and stuff.
 
They can influence fae and definitely people ... humans ... without them realizing."

I looked over at Ben whose head was about twice its normal size, as far as being filled with hot air was concerned, and I nodded.
 
"I can see that.
 
I know riding a dragon and kicking ass in the air would make me feel pretty special."

"Dragonriders
are
special.
 
It's just ... without ties to the ground, they don't stay dragonriders for long."

"What happens to them?" I whispered.

"I don't know," she whispered back.
 
"But it's not good."

"What do you mean, you don't know but it's not good? That doesn't even make sense.
 
Didn't Maggie tell you that part?"
 
Typical Maggie - leaving out the punchline.
 
Assbag that she is.

"No, she didn't tell me.
 
But I'm not even sure she knew the answer.
 
She was speculating, relying on scrying and rumors and even some runework."

"Ruinwork?
 
What the hell is that?"

"Not
ruin
work.
 
Rune
work.
 
It's reading ancient runes or symbols.
 
Kind of like tarot cards in a way.
 
You know, like having your palm read - same kind of theory or whatever, but connected to the fae magic."

I nodded sagely.
 
"Ahhhh. I see ... that I have no friggin idea what you're talking about.
 
But it sounds cool."
 
I looked over at her.
 
"Can you do that?
 
Runework?"

She shrugged.
 
"I'm learning.
 
I'm not that good at it yet."

"Okay, well if you ever get the final answer on that dragonriding side-effect situation, let me know."

"You'll be the first one I tell, believe me."

I laughed.
 
She sounded so serious.
 
"Why me?
 
You know I'm not bound to his stupid ass.
 
I have no responsibility for him or what he does or says."

"Why you?
 
Because.
 
You're not bound to him, sure ... but you might end up in his shoes not that long from now, which could actually be worse than being bound to him."

I was confused for a second.
 
"What are you talking about?"
 
What could possibly be worse than being bound unwillingly to Ben?

She put her hand on my arm to stop me from walking, turning me to face her.
 
"What if the dragon in the Underworld asks for the same deal?"
 
She looked down at my leg, the one with the dragon fang attached to it.

My face blanched as all the dots connected in my brain and I realized that she was talking about not only
me
riding a dragon but also me being tied to it for all of eternity.
 
And not only that, but it would be the friggin mean-ass
demon
dragon and not a nice, fancy purple one.
 
I felt like I was going to have a coronary.
 
I had to hold my ribs to keep my racing pulse from pumping my beating heart right out of my chest.
 
I started wheezing with the effort of just breathing past the visions that were assailing my mind's eye.

Spike came over to join us.
 
"What's wrong?" he asked, resting his hand on my back, rubbing it a little.

I waved him away, unable to answer.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked Samantha over my shoulder.
 
"What'd you say to her?"

His tone had gone angry, so now on top of my freak-out over dragonriding, I was worried that he was going to say the wrong thing and possibly upset the delicate balance of the new relationships I had with him and Samantha, and also possibly cause a big-time ruckus when we were trying to get the hell out of these messed-up woods without being seen or heard.

Samantha tried to explain.
 
"We were just talking about the dragonriding thing and ... "

"Spike, stop," I said, interrupting her so she wouldn't feel like she had to explain herself or apologize.
 
"She didn't say or do anything.
 
It's just me freaking out a little bit, I'll be fine."
 
I began walking again, quickly so we could catch up to the others.

"You don't look fine," he said, walking next to me and holding my arm to steady me.
 
"What can I do?
 
Do you need a piggyback?"

He grinned at me with those teeth of his, and I smiled back in spite of my sudden onset panic-asthma, which was now calming itself, probably thanks to Spike's concern.
 
"No thanks.
 
But I might take a raincheck for later."
 
I tripped over a log just after I said that, causing me to amend my answer to Spike's offer.
 
"Or maybe soon.
 
But not now."
 
I laughed to myself at how I'd just gone from potential dragonrider in my mind to piggyrider.
 
It was probably more suited to my personality, truth be told.

Once Spike was sure I was okay to walk without tripping over myself, he let go of my arm.
 
"You just say the word, and I'll be there for ya."
 
He left me to go be with Tony and Finn again.

I sighed at his dedication.
 
For some reason his wanting to take care of me didn't piss me off like it might have in the past.
 
It was nice to know that someone would be there for me if I fell, and that this someone was Spike, the most amazing guy I knew - probably exactly as amazing as Tony but in different ways.
 
But they did have one thing in common; I couldn't imagine life without either of them anymore, and I didn't want to.

"You're lucky," said Samantha, looking over at Spike.

"Yeah, I know."
 
I smiled to myself.
 
"I hope I never forget that again."

"You forgot it before?"

"I didn't exactly forget it, but I wouldn't say that I appreciated it like I should have."

"Regret.
 
It sucks."

"Yeah, tell me about it."
 
I looked over at her just in time to catch her staring at Jared again.

"Why don't you go talk to him?" I asked.

"I can't.
 
He's mad at me.
 
And I don't blame him.
 
I screwed up."

"I don't think he's mad at you.
 
And if he is, he'll get over it.
 
Jared's fair, much fairer than me.
 
And he knows what Ben's capable of.
 
Just talk to him.
 
You never know until you try, right?"

"Maybe later," she said, back to staring at the ground again.

Matchmaking was definitely not my specialty as Tony could attest to, but maybe when we got back home I could try to help her out.
 
I'd probably have to do it with either Tony's or Spike's help, though.
 
I didn't trust myself to say the right things at the right time.
 
My own love life was complicated and confusing enough.
 
I had no hope of figuring out Samantha's or Jared's on my own.

After about an hour of kicking through leaves and climbing over dead wood, we finally made it back to the meadow where Spike and I had landed.
 
Tony was just about to walk out into it, when I put up an arm to stop him.

"What?" he said, looking down at the barrier I'd made.

"Don't go out there, anyone."
 
I looked at everyone to make sure I had their attention.
 
"Something's up with this field.
 
When Spike and I landed in it, weird shit happened."

"She's right," confirmed Spike.
 
"Seriously weird shit, especially with her."

"Hey!"

"What happened?" asked Jared.

"I don't remember all of it - just that I didn't want to come out, and I had kind of lost my grip on reality."

"How'd you fix it?" asked Finn.

"Chase flew me out of there," I said, my voice going a little hoarse over the memory of our talk that happened after he'd rescued me.

Niles stood at the edge of the grasses, hand on hips.
 
"Well?
 
How do we get back home?
 
I hope you don't expect me to stand here all day.
 
I have things to do.
 
The Underworld isn't going to be as easy as this one, I can promise you that.
 
We have preparations to make."

I really didn't want to know what preparations he had to make for the Underworld.
 
I was already formulating my do-not-get-involved plan in my mind.
 
All I had to do was convince Tony not to go, and we'd be all set.
 
We could kick back in the compound, chill with Tim and Scrum, and hand my fang over to some other dragonrider wannabe.
 
Because I was most def not the dragonrider type.
 
I was more the forest-path-walker kind of girl.

"Tony, can you get us into the Gray from here?" asked Jared.

"I need an angel to help me," he said, looking up into the sky.

"Preferably not one o' them demon kind too, if y'all don't mind," said Finn, scanning the skies warily.

"Oh, fudge," said Tony, his eyes looking off in the distance.

I grabbed his arm.
 
Tony almost never even fake-swore, so I knew this meant nothing good.
 
"What?
 
What can you see?"

I followed his gaze, but all I could see were clouds.

"It's a black-winged angel.
 
Over there," he said, pointing to a spot that looked like pretty purple and blue sky to me.

I squinted my eyes.
 
"Are you sure?"

"I see it now, too.
 
Everyone!
 
Get back in the trees!" ordered Jared.

He didn't have to tell me twice.
 
I grabbed Tony's hand and practically dragged him with me, getting past the first trees on the edge of the field and hiding behind the biggest one I could find.
 
The rest of our friends spread out around us, each choosing a different hiding spot.

Within a few seconds I could see the angel.
 
The wingspan on this mother was huge, possibly bigger even than Chase's, but the wings themselves were black - so black, it was impossible to see their individual feathers.
 
When the angel was just over the field, I could see that she was a girl, or more accurately, a woman.
 
And she was wearing the skimpiest outfit I'd yet to see in the fae or angel world.
 
She had leather pants that were mostly just straps, and some straps that went around her chest.
 
But they conveniently missed her boobs.
 
I looked over at Finn, and sure enough, his tongue was practically hanging out.
 
We were about to be attacked by Dark Angel S&M Barbie, and I was pretty sure he didn't mind one bit.

She landed on bent legs, her fingers touching the ground lightly before she stood and faced us.
 
"Come out and face your end!" she demanded, pulling a long deadly-looking sword from a sheath at her hip.
 
The thing went down nearly to her ankle, the blade long enough to chop four or five heads off at the same time.