Vixen (12 page)

“But my dad has vowed to kill you on sight.”

“Given the seriousness of your injuries, I can’t tolerate the idea of simply dumping you off and fleeing to save myself. I will explain to your parents what happened, so they understand it wasn’t your fault—”

“But it was my fault. It was all my fault. You didn’t ask for me to show up, and you shouldn’t have to apologize for the results of my choice.” I’m completely wrapped up now, or I’d probably be gesturing emphatically, or shaking Ion, or something.

Ion’s hands are steady as he tucks the silk securely into place so I won’t come unraveled in flight. “That is not the way your father will see it. I will apologize because it is the right thing to do. And if he kills me, I will die with a clear conscience. Or clearer than it would have been otherwise.”

He finishes tucking and looks at me. “Ready to go?”

“Sure.” I could make a thousand protests about Ion’s plan, and how it’s stupid that he has to be so principled when his life is on the line. And how, for somebody who’s supposed to be so cunning and deceitful and self-serving, he isn’t at all what I was told to expect, now that I’ve gotten to know him.

But we’re in a hurry. The sun has sunk, and those are complicated things to say, and I don’t know if I could find the words, anyway. And I’m tired.

Ion changes into a dragon. He is a gorgeous dragon, just as he’s a gorgeous person, even if he is terribly scarred. And he plucks me gently into his taloned claws and lifts me into the night, where I promptly fall fast asleep.

I awaken, disoriented, in the hot sand. Sand is flying in a high arched path twenty feet from me, shooting up from a hole underground and landing in a tall pile that’s far higher than my head, as I stand on wobbly feet and take a few tentative steps closer to the place where the shooting sand is coming from.

After a moment, the sand stops flying upward and I look into the hole. Ion is down there, in dragon form, prodding at the bottom of the hole with his foot.

“What are you doing?”

Ion switches into human form long enough to answer my question. He looks utterly exhausted. “Digging for water. It’s getting damper. I’m almost there.”

“Where are we?”

“The desert of northeast Somalia. I didn’t dare land anywhere there might be people.”

“And people live near water.” I conclude, understanding.

“I’ll get you water. Stand back, I need to dig some more.”

So I stand back and Ion returns to dragon form and starts digging again, almost like a dog, using his massive taloned hands like garden spades, flinging sand up from the hole. I can tell by the way the sand sticks together in larger and larger clumps, that he’s reaching a depth close to the water line. He’s going to hit water.

Assuming he doesn’t pass out from thirst first.

Soon I can’t see him at all, not even between bursts of flying sand. The hole is so deep, even in dragon form, it hides him. Then the sand stops flying and he calls up to me, “Toss me down that cup, can you?”

I scramble back to the pile of silk curtain, which is now covered with a dusting of sand, never mind that it’s twenty feet from the path of the flying sand. I root among the yellow folds, past the clothes Ion tucked there for safekeeping, until I find the cup.

When I reach the side of the hole, I see Ion, in human form again now. I drop the cup close to him and he catches it neatly.

He presses it against the deepest indentation in the damp sand, a place where water has pooled a couple of inches deep. “I’d offer you the first cup, but I’m going to test it first. I hope we’re far enough inland that it’s not salty.” He raises the almost-full cup to his lips, sips, pauses, and then gulps it down. “Fresh and cool. Come on down.”

The hole is quite deep, probably a couple of stories or more, but Ion, ever thoughtful, dug large terrace-like steps into one end, so I’m able to bound down gracefully to join him.

He’s filled the cup again and hands it to me. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was until the water hits my lips. Then the contents of the cup are not nearly enough. But when he bends to fill it again, I realize I must be patient. Ion’s hardly sweating—and I doubt that has anything to do with a lack of heat. More likely he’s on the verge of dehydration. The water seeps up from the sand, swirling into the cup as Ion presses it against the bottom of the hole.

“You drink it,” I insist when he offers the cup to me.

We take turns drinking, then Ion leaves me to fill the cup again. He returns with the silk and the rest of our things. “We can sleep down here, in the hole. It’s cooler. Once the sun moves past midday, it will be shaded, too.”

He settles in on the bottom terraced step, which is wide but not long, only half the length of a bed, but the wall of the hole slopes up gradually behind his back, allowing him to rest in a reclining position. He looks comfortable.

I drain the cup, then fill it again and bring it to him as he billows the silk around him like a tent to block the sun. “Still thirsty?”

“Thank you.” He drinks, then looks up at me.

I’m not sure where I’m supposed to go. I mean, he said we’d sleep in the hole, but there’s only the steps or the soggy wet water basin, and I can’t imagine sleeping there.

Ion eyes me almost warily. “You can join me, but you’ve got to promise not to kiss me again. I already have too much to apologize to your parents for. I’m exhausted and my self-control is weak.”

“Okay,” I agree, lifting the yellow silk and joining him on the step. “But what is a promise between two self-confirmed liars?”

He chuckles, then his laughter fades to a sigh. “Sleep. Or I will be so tempted, I will have to dig another hole to keep myself away from you.”

Knowing Ion, he would do it. I’m still weak from my injury, so even though I slept most of the trip here, my eyelids still feel heavy.

But Ion falls asleep first, his chest rising and falling beside me with every deep breath. It almost hurts, how much I care about him—how much I wish we could be together.

Is there any way Ion and my father could ever reconcile their hatred for one another? But even if they did, if I can’t turn into a dragon ever again, would I even be a worthy mate for Ion?

And what about Ion’s “promise” to return to Eudora in ten days? What day are we on now? At least five, maybe even six. Even if Ion didn’t intend to keep his end of the deal, I can’t imagine Eudora will just sit back and allow him to get away with cheating her on that life-for-life bargain she cackled so happily about.

“I hate to wake you, but it’s dark and we need to get going.”

It takes me a couple of disoriented seconds to realize I must have fallen asleep. Time has passed. The day is gone and night has come. Ion’s lips are dangerously close to my cheek as he whispers next to my ear, and it takes me a few more seconds to fight the urge to kiss him.

But my morning breath is probably horrendous.

That’s the only thing that keeps me from breaking my earlier promise.

We rise and drink deeply from the water that has welled up, then we climb out of the hole, and I stand back while Ion changes into a dragon and refills the hole with sand. I’d love to help him, but frankly, I’d only be in the way in human form. And when I try, again, to change into a dragon, I can’t.

Ion makes quick work of the project and then bundles me back into a yellow silk wrap with his spare clothes, the comb, and the cup all tucked securely between the folds. I resist the urge to kiss him, but as he flies me north toward home, I almost wish I’d given in to the impulse.

After all, when am I going to see him again once he leaves me with my parents? If I never regain the ability to change into a dragon, I won’t be able to sneak away and visit him, not unless I can convince one of my fellow dragons to fly me there. And with half my siblings now married and expecting children, my odds of that are not promising.

So is it any surprise that, when Ion lands on the King’s Tower in my mountain village home, as he’s unwrapping me from the curtains, I turn to face him, hoping to kiss him one last time, quickly, before we face my parents.

But even as my lips graze his, I realize this is not going to be a quick kiss. I care so much for Ion, more than I can put into words. And the feelings that surge through me when our lips lock—I’m not even going to attempt to describe them. For a few who-knows-how-long seconds, I’m lost in the indescribable connection between us.

Then two things happen almost simultaneously, with a suddenness that takes my breath away.

One is that my father swoops down as if out of nowhere, (granted, I might have seen him coming had I not been completely absorbed in what I was doing) breathing a huge cloud of furious fire.

The second is that, even as the first licking flames almost reach us, Ion’s dragon wings shoot out from his shoulder blades, wrapping around both of us in a bat-like fire-proof barrier.

For a moment, Ion and I are staring at each other inside the protective shell he wrapped around us, in a strange space lit by the light of my father’s fury as it glows through the thin skin of Ion’s wings. And we exchange a look that says “here it comes,” “well, that was fast,” and even “I love you no matter what happens.” Also, I probably threw in a “thank you for covering me with your wings because mine don’t work right now.” Yeah, I must have, because I see a little glimmer of, “I’ve got you covered. I would never let anyone hurt you, not if I can stop them.”

Dragon eyes are very expressive, and can say a lot, even without words. Especially when two dragons know each other well.

As Ion and I are starting to know each other well.

Hardly has that thought passed through my mind when we turn to face my father, who has transformed back into a human, presumably just so he can yell at us.

“How dare you defile my daughter? Don’t touch her!” Dad swats at Ion’s hand, which is linked with mine.

Ion releases my hand and pulls free just far enough so that my father doesn’t hit either of us. As my dad spins, pacing away angrily, Ion grabs my hand again and winks.

I would wink back if I wasn’t so terrified, but I do manage to squeeze his hand, as I muster my courage and explain, “It’s not his fault. I went—”

“I’ll deal with you later.” Dad spins and points at me. “Go to your room.”

“No.”

“Go now, for your own safety.”

My dad’s trying to get to Ion, so I stand between them. “I’m not going to let you hurt him.”

Rage and betrayal war in my father’s eyes. “He is the enemy.”

“No, he’s not.”

“He has brainwashed you.” My father looks from me to Ion, and his eyes narrow. “Cunning, deceitful liar. Don’t touch my daughter!”

Again, he swipes at our joined hands. This time, I’m not quick enough to pull away, and the side of his hand grazes my arm where the yagi inflicted their venom. I know he’s not trying to hurt me—he’s after Ion. Normally the grazing touch would hardly be noticeable, but my arm is still tender from the trauma of the yagi wound.

I gasp and pull back, angling my arm and looking past my shoulder to see if he reopened the cut.

“What?” My father looks at me with concern. I glance at him in time to see recognition on his features. He takes gentle hold of my arm and sniffs the wound. His nostrils flare. “Yagi?”

I say nothing, only give the slightest nod.

Ion clears his throat, “I’m sorry—”

But before he can get any further with his planned apology, my father cuts him off, his voice cold with fury. “How could you do this? First my parents, now my daughter? Will you leave me no one?”

“Dad, it’s okay. He didn’t do this, he fixed it. He saved me. If he hadn’t helped me I would be dead. Dad!” I’m tugging on my father’s arm, trying to get his attention, to explain before he hurts Ion.

Fortunately, before my dad does anything too violent, my mom flies over in dragon form, changing back into a human as she lands and runs toward me. “Zilpha!” She pulls me into a hug. “We thought you were dead. Don’t you ever, ever do that to us again.”

“What? You weren’t even supposed to expect me back for two more days.”

“Jala called us on your phone—which she found on a trail between the spy cabin and Ion’s castle. We flew up there and searched for you. Felix and Rilla are still there searching. We only just came back hoping to find some clue here, and now this!” Mom turns from me to face Ion. “This is a new low.”

“He saved my life!” I interject, since both of my parents seem convinced Ion is evil.

“He was kissing her!” My father informs my mom, with a look of sheer hatred and disgust.

Mom makes a face I can’t quite read, beyond that she’s clearly not pleased.

Dad raises his arm dramatically and sprouts his talons. “I have stayed my hand these many years for the sake of peace, but since you have betrayed my trust and defiled my daughter—”

“Daddy, no!” I reach for his arm as he swings toward Ion’s neck, but my mom grabs me and pulls me back, even as Ion changes into a dragon and swings his tail at my dad.

As both men roar billowing fire behind us, my mom pushes me into the safety of the tower’s stone changing room.

Much as I want to stay and convince my dad that Ion isn’t evil, I know there’s no reasoning with him right now. And since I can’t change into a dragon, it would be dangerous for me to stay outside. Besides, my mom has the best shot of talking some sense into my father. Perhaps the most helpful thing I can do for Ion right now, is to convince Mom to take Ion’s side.

“Ion saved my life—”

Mom cuts me off before I get any further. “Where have you been? Jala said you went to Ion’s castle on purpose. Did you lie to us?”

“How much has Jala told you?”

Mom crosses her arms over her chest. “It doesn’t matter what Jala told us. What matters is that you start telling the truth—right now.”

I’m distracted by the sounds of fighting beyond the doorway, and I glance over my mother’s shoulder, trying to see if Ion is okay. He’s got to be tired from flying here carrying me. And I don’t think Ion actually wants to hurt my father, whereas Dad would gladly kill Ion, which puts Ion at a distinct disadvantage.