Page 57 of Red Fire
More and more dragons leave as he speaks.
“It was good meeting you, Pyro,” Octavia says. “I hope you get to go home soon.”
He smiles. “I have two months left of my six-month sentence. I greatly look forward to returning to the city. For now,” he looks up at the sky, “I think I need to get myself gone.” He looks over at the last remaining males in his group.
“I will see you soon, human,” Tank growls. It sounds like both a promise and a warning.
I growl low, my chest vibrating. It hurts, but I don’t give a fuck. I put an arm around Octavia and pull her close. She puts her arms around me.
Tank grins at us, looking every bit the madman. “I would have won.”
“I guess we’ll never know,” I tell him.
“I would have. You are lucky, but your luck can only last so long,” Tank tells me, his eyes narrowed. “Until we meet again, human,” he says. Then he winks at her and shifts, taking to the sky. He screeches as he flies over us before darting away to the thicker part of the jungle. The parts where the enforcers don’t go.
“You should go too, Creed,” Pyro says, urgency laced in his voice.
I shake my head. “I promised to see Octavia to safety. I have served my time. I will wait for them to get here.”
Pyro nods once at me and then at Octavia. He turns and jogs away, shifting mid-stride. He and the last of the dragons take off, flying at a fast pace.
I look up, seeing how close the formation is. There might even be more than a hundred of them. They’re tightly packed.
“You’re okay?” She hugs me. “I can’t believe it.” Her voice is high-pitched. I can tell that she’s only just holding it together. “I thought…I…”
“I’m fine. It’s fine,” I tell her.
“I can’t believe they’re coming.” She looks over at them, smiling. She laughs but turns serious. “Are you sure they’re here to help me?” Octavia sounds frightened. I can’t blame her. It is a sight to behold.
“Yes. You are safe now,” I say. I’m holding her hand. I squeeze it, then let her go. I’m not sure how they will react if I am touching her. I think that they might go harder on me.
“You should leave,” Octavia says. “The rest all left. Pyro said it wasn’t safe for you.”
“I promised I would stay with you until you were safe. The guard is not here yet, which means that you are still at risk.” I lick my lips. “Listen to me one last time. They might get rough with me. They might even beat me. Don’t interfere.”
“What?” She turns to me, her eyes blazing. “Are you insane? I’m just supposed to watch? I won’t, Creed. You’ve taken enough beatings for me.”
“I told you that I’m fine. We agreed that you would do everything I asked of you; well, this is one of those things. They might beat me, but they will let me go…eventually. I will be fine. They’ll take you to safety. You will get off of this island and back to the Mainland like you wanted.”
“I don’t like it, Creed.” She shakes her head, her eyes wide.
“Please do as I say,” I beg, taking both her hands in mine.
She nods once, swallowing thickly. “So, this is goodbye, then?” Her eyes glint with what looks like unshed tears.
“Yes. You will be fine.”
“Come with me back to the city, please. Come back! This is as good a time as any. I don’t want to go with them. Not without you.” Her voice has a pleading edge. She’s afraid, but I know she’ll be fine. The city dragons are very different from what she has experienced with most of the jungle males.
But looking into her gray-blue eyes, I’m tempted to do just that. To re-enter society, to start again, to take back my life, but…this is not the right time. It’s better if I cut ties with the human now before I grow attached.
“I have some things I still need to attend to back at the cabin. You’ll be home in no time,” I tell her in a soothing voice.
She puts her arms around me, burying her face in my chest. “I’m not ready to say goodbye to you.” She lets me go, looking into my eyes.
I smile. “It’s time.”
She needs to leave, which means that I need to stay. Humans do not belong on Mistveil. There is nothing else to it.