Chapter 5 #2
That I had enough power to transform into a giant rampaging fire monster?
“I really didn’t,” I say.
He faces me, places both hands on my shoulder, and gazes deeply.
“Look, Alvin, I get you’re pretty shaken up right now.
But I also know you never meant for what you did to get so out of control.
And, once you came back to yourself, the only thing you cared about was fixing the damage you had caused.
” His hands squeeze in with affection. “Whatever else you are, you are good. And that means I will never be scared of you. Okay?”
Tears well up in my eyes, and I legit sniffle. (Jeez! Maybe the elf was right! I am dramatic!)
(But does it feel amazing every time he says something like that to me? Yeah, I guess it does.)
“Okay, Rafa,” I say, blush rising. “Thank you.”
He smiles back. “Thank you—for saving my life. And… for finally giving me something to look forward to.” He leans in, and kisses my lips.
Warm and soft. And I practically melt into him.
I stretch up on my tip toes and press my mouth into his, which is only the 101st totally crazy thing I’ve done today.
But I’ve got so much spent adrenaline running through me, it’s like I’m drunk.
Maybe it’s my monster still wielding some influence, but at this point, I don’t mind losing myself again in something physical and not thinking for a few moments.
It doesn’t feel like there’s any risk of me feeding—I’m not hurt at all anymore.
And thanks to the elf, we’are essentially invisible currently, right?
The kiss deepens, his tongue brushing against mine, and it’s like I’m in some scene in a movie, where I’m not me, where I’m someone else, someone with normal problems and a normal life. He is just so strong and cool, and I’m sure the moment is hella cinematic—
—until my knees buckle, and he has to catch me so I don’t land on my ass.
“Whoa!” he sputters with a laugh.
“Sorry!” I squeak back, swaying in his arms, truly embarrassed. My legs feel like jelly.
He continues to chuckle as he lifts me back to my feet and steadies me.
I clutch again at my pants, which have slipped.
I’m not, like, sporting a full erection or anything, but I can’t help feeling I’m hanging out a bit plumper—especially for this night air—and I pray to God that the elf’s glamour hid my bare privates from him.
The Hunter’s eyes linger down there a second longer than they need to, and his grin broadens when he returns to my face.
“No worries. When exactly was the last time you slept?”
“Sleep? What is this thing you call sleep?” I ask, trying to keep things light—and hoping to change the focus off my cringey flashing.
He snorts at my lame joke. Then nods, sobering. “All right. Let’s get you back to your apartment and into bed.”
My eyes must widen at the implication of that, because he quickly adds: “Just so you can get some shut-eye! I, uh, should go back to my clan and show them the pictures I took. I have more than a few serious questions for them. And I don’t care if I have to kick down their door, I will shame them into helping those kids, if I have to. ”
“Because the kids are all still in danger…” I finish, realizing. And with that, the romantic comedy moment crashes down completely. Now that “Stryker coming to the rescue” turned out to be the elf being an asshole, Rafa’s clan really is the only option left at this point.
Unless, that is, I can turn into another fire monster on command and actually control it this time—that might even the odds…
But I have a feeling that’s at least going to require a much longer conversation with Collin. One that would best be done in the privacy of my home—for as long as I can stay awake, anyway.
“Okay, let’s call separate rideshares,” I say. “If you really think you can get your clan involved, that’d be aces. The sooner, the better. You have my number. Don’t worry about waking me up. Just text me the moment you have news, all right?”
“I will,” Rafa says.
He then pulls me into another deep, delicious kiss before we part to summon our Ubers.
His hand winds up on my butt this time, which is weird but also exciting somehow.
The embrace literally makes my toes curl and leaves me wanting more—which of course only makes my sudden and bizarrely complicated love life that much more baffling.
But even if this is wrong time, wrong place, wrong guy, he is a hell of a kisser. So, I find I’m not mad about it. Not even a little bit.
“So, what exactly am I?” I ask.
Collin and I are back in my apartment in my lumpy secondhand bed, after I grabbed yet another long hot shower.
I’ve got the covers pulled up under my arms, and although I usually sleep naked, I’m in the one pair of PJs my mother got me.
I’ve never worn them before, because she only bought them thinking they’d somehow get me laid, and there’s only so much I’m willing to do to accommodate her helicopter pimping.
It’s essentially Victoria’s Secret for dudes—sexy red silk that supposedly flatters my man curves and props up my crotch.
But the top also has a chest pocket large enough to hold the watch.
It will at least let me talk to Collin until I pass out, so I just roll with the sensation of my own jammies feeling me up.
Collin is lying next to me, above the sheets, and in his own set of pajamas that he spirited into existence.
But these ones are bog-standard checked green flannel.
Despite me being freaked out, I have to admit he looks adorable in them—like he’s all dressed up for a Christmas morning present-opening. Even his cheeks are rosy.
It’s almost enough to distract me, but I can’t keep my mind off of what I did to get us safe from the vampires. And what I might have gone on to do, if Collin hadn’t stopped me.
“You’re even stronger than I thought you were,” he replies, frowning slightly.
“Yeah. That seems to be the opinion of the night.” I take a breath. “I think I’m ready to hear about who my dad is now.”
A familiar thrum of anxiety zings into my chest, but I stare it down and it withers. At this point, I’m getting more than used to wrestling with uncomfortable feelings, and I can’t afford to be a child. Not about this.
Collin studies my face for a moment, before he gives a measured nod. “All right. You remember when you first found me in that room in the house on Lake Street? As you exited under the threshold of the door, there were some runes.”
“The ones with the fierce protective magic. Sure, I remember. They scared the hell out of me, but then nothing happened.”
“Something did happen. The magic disarmed itself. And that magic wasn’t just fierce, it was impenetrable. It was designed so only one type of paranormal could remove the watch.”
“What kind of paranormal?”
“The only kind with an innate ability to generate fire.” He locks eyes with me. “It was created specifically for dragons.”
It feels like a shot of caffeine gets launched through my veins. My eyes widen.
Collin continues. “There’s more. You were able to start that car, then later set the Molotov ablaze—and that’s in addition to what you just did in Hunter’s Point.
And you did all of those things with only a strong desire to make them happen.
No preparation ahead of time, nothing arcane manipulated in the outside world. ”
“Which means I wasn’t actually using any mana to cast a spell—it came from some intrinsic power I have.” I lock eyes with him. “Because you think my father… was a dragon.”
He nods.
Dragons are the OG weapons of mass destruction.
According to the little Mom told me, nothing can hurt them, nothing can stop them, and their predatory hunger makes incubi look like picky toddlers.
If they hadn’t all ascended to the higher planes millennia ago, Earth would apparently be nothing more than a smoking husk.
The Dragon King himself—hardly what you’d call a softie—forbade them from coming back, because we’re just so gosh darn fragile in comparison.
But if Collin’s right, it looks like someone might not have played by the rules.
“I see.” I turn away and roughly rake my fingers through my hair as I absorb the bombshell. “So, what you’re saying is I’m not just the son of one legendary monster—I’m literally the child of two of them!”
“Maybe so. But that doesn’t have to make you a monster, Alvin.”
I shake my head, frustrated. “Hard flaming evidence to the contrary…” I glare up at the ceiling.
“That creature I became—is that, like, my ‘true form’? Am I actually some kind of freaky sex demon/dragon kaiju? Because tearing through that neighborhood felt like just the beginning. What I really wanted to do was burn down the entire world!”
Collin squeezes my hands. “This is your true form. Right here. A sweet, gentle lad who’d do anything to help others, to be someone good.
” He bites his lower lip. “What happened back at the church—I’m not sure what that was.
There are no accounts of dragons transforming from human form into anything but giant serpents. ”
“So, I’m just my own special little scary snowflake, then.” I purse my lips. “Is there any way for you to… teach me to control it somehow?”
“Can you feel your power now?”
For years, I’ve been looking for my own mana—the internal reservoir of wildcard magic that human wizards and paranormals use to cast spells. Collin knows I’ve never been able to find it. It’s one of the things that I hoped Ms. Stryker, the real Ms. Stryker, could teach me how to do.
“No. Like always, when I look inside, I get nothing but a big fat zero. No mana, no anything. But you were able to help me access my power before, and if we’re going to save those kids, I’m going to need everything I’ve got.”