Chapter 28
Magma
I’m bored to tears.
I don’t like watching television. I don’t like lying down.
I’m done with this hospital bed.
“Hi there.” I recognize the female who sticks her head around my doorjamb. “Mind if I come in?”
She’s lean and athletic. Her height and toned frame tell me she’s a shifter female. The red in her markings tells me that she’s from Mistveil. Flint mentioned that some of the crew stayed over in a hotel last night.
“Oh…hi,” I say, sounding like an idiot because it’s just so unexpected.
Her hair is dark and pulled back from her face in a ponytail. Her eyes are a shade of brown that’s almost amber.
I place her a moment later.
“You were on our rescue team.” This is the she-dragon who carried me back.
It’s all a little foggy, but I remember enough to recognize her.
She shifted again once we were on Draig soil.
I remember her being concerned about me, and then…
not much after that. When I came to, I was in this bed. “You brought me home.”
She nods. “Guilty as charged.”
“I hope I’m not disturbing you?” she asks, lifting her brows.
“Not at all.” I push my bed up a little straighter using the remote. “Come in. Sit down.”
Why is she here?
She picks the chair near the window and takes a seat.
“I’m Brook, by the way. I probably should have introduced myself as soon as I arrived,” she says. “I fly with the Mistveil Guard. I wanted to look in on you before we leave this afternoon, just to see how you were doing. You were pretty banged up yesterday.”
“That’s good of you,” I say. “I’m Magma,” I give a short laugh. “But you already know that. I’m doing much better, thanks. I have to say, I’m ready to leave this place. The food is terrible. I could have bounced my eggs off the wall this morning. I swear.”
She laughs.
“I ended up eating the yogurt and an apple.”
“That isn’t much for a big male like you,” she tells me.
“You’re telling me. Last night they served me the driest piece of meat you’ve ever seen. It tasted like it was made from an old shoe.”
She makes a face and laughs some more.
“The mash was watery. The peas weren’t too bad, but I’m not a huge fan of peas.”
“Who is?” She smiles.
It feels weird talking to a Red like this.
For years, I killed them on sight. Yet Brook seems normal. Like us. It’s a little disconcerting but also gives me hope for the future.
“Are you being treated well? As a Red Dragon on Draig soil, I mean? Sorry if the question is a bit left field.”
“Not at all.” She waves a hand. “Yes, everyone has been really nice. We’ve had a few stares from the general public, but nothing terrible.
It is to be expected.” She shrugs. “Your second-in-command gave us a tour of Security Central, and it was very impressive.” She tilts her head.
“You run a tight operation. All your hard work and effort shows.”
“Thank you,” I say. “It was great teamwork.”
“I’m sure it is.” She holds my gaze, easy and direct. No game in it.
“Nice of you to say so.”
She stands. “I was going to grab something from the restaurant downstairs before we head out. Can I get you something? Anything is better than old shoe and bouncy egg. What do you say?”
“Thanks for the offer but I’m fine.” I shake my head. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll survive one more hospital tray. At least I hope they cut me loose this afternoon.”
She’s already halfway to the door. She looks back, one eyebrow arched. “I’m going down anyway. Let me get you something. You’ll regret it if you end up having to stay another night.”
I almost argue, and then I rethink it. “Actually, a cheeseburger would be great,” I say. “And fries. Oh, and if they do milkshakes—” I think about Carla for a second and then stop. “I’ll have a strawberry shake. Is it too much?”
“Not at all. I love a good milkshake. Give me another option on the off chance they don’t have burgers.”
“Maybe a pasta or a lasagna. Something with cheese in it.”
The corner of her mouth is up again. “I’ll sort it out.”
She has the door open when Flint appears on the other side of it. He pulls up short and then grins.
“Brook. I didn’t expect to see you here. I thought you were back at the hotel.”
“I thought I would check in on Magma. He was pretty badly injured. I’m doing a food run first.” She nods toward me. “Do you want anything?” she asks him.
“I just ate,” Flint tells her.
“Okay, then. I’ll be back soon.”
Flint steps in and lets her pass. He watches the door close, and then he turns to look at me. There’s an expression on his face I can’t quite read. It’s somewhere between knowing and amused.
“What?” I ask.
“She likes you.”
I put my head back against the pillow and look at the ceiling. “She came to check on me. She was being polite. Like she said, I was pretty badly injured.”
He shakes his head and sniggers. “Please! She’s into you. She came to see you,” Flint says, sitting, “and now she is going to bring you food.” He spreads his hands. “She wants you.”
“Oh, please. She does not.”
“I’m just saying. I hope you’re going to do something about it.”
“I’m not.”
He leans his elbows on his knees. “Magma.”
“I had a mate,” I say. “Sage died. That was my chapter. It’s done and dusted. The End. No prologue.”
“You didn’t die,” he says softly.
“Yes, and?”
“You didn’t die,” he says again. “And you could have all of it again, if you’d let yourself. Sage would have wanted that for you.”
The irritation that comes up in my throat isn’t at him, and we both know it.
“You never met Sage,” I tell him. I try to keep the edge out of my voice and mostly manage it. “You don’t know what she would have wanted. Leave it alone!”
He holds the look a second longer and then drops his gaze to his hands.
“No. You’re right. I didn’t know her.” He pauses.
“But I feel like I do. Because you’ve talked about her so many times over the years I’ve known you.
” He pauses again. Then adds, “If it had been the other way around, what then?”
“It wasn’t.”
“Let’s just say that you had died instead of her. Would you have wanted her to be alone for the rest of her life?”
“Yes!”
He laughs. “Don’t be an ass! Be serious. This is serious. Would you want Sage to be all alone for years and years? Think about it. She’d be lonely and sad.”
“I’m not lonely and sad.”
Am I?
No! Fuck!
“Answer the question. Be honest with yourself.”
I think about Sage with her quick temper and her even quicker laugh. I think about how big her heart was, and how she could fill a room without raising her voice. I think about her sitting all alone for years and fucking years.
“No,” I admit. “I’d have wanted her to be happy. If that meant taking another mate, then so be it.”
The thought doesn’t piss me off like I thought it would. My dragon stays quiet. Weird.
“Exactly.”
“Don’t say that like you’ve won something.”
He grins. “I’m just noting it for the record.
” He sits back again. “We’ve just been told that the borders are going to open in stages for civilians, but they’ll stay open for security personnel.
Brook isn’t unreachable. You should get her contact information before she leaves today.
You should see her again.” He points at me once, like that’s the end of it.
“Two can play the matchmaking game, by the way.” He laughs. “Myself, included.”
That makes me sit up a fraction. “You noticed.”
“That you were steering Carla and me together? You may as well have stuck bells and whistles on that fact.” He grins wider. “You are hardly subtle, Magma.”
“Oh, I didn’t think you noticed.”
“I abso-fucking-lutely noticed. Every comment about how kind she is. Every quiet nudge about the coffee.” He shakes his head.
“My bad.” I pause. “Did you get her flowers like I told you?”
He nods.
“Good. Did you ask her out for coffee?”
He shakes his head.
Something in me eases.
“No?” I say. “Why not?” I pretend not to be secretly happy.
“Because I asked her out to dinner instead,” he says. “We’re going out on Saturday night.” He looks pleased with himself. “Do you know a good restaurant? I want somewhere that’s actually good, not just somewhere that looks good.”
“I don’t date,” I say. “You’re asking the wrong person.”
He taps his chin. “Fair point. I’ll ask around and let you know so that you’ve got somewhere to take Brook.” He stands. “I’m going to head out so that you two can be alone when she gets back. Ask her out.”
“I’ll see.”
He moves toward the door, stops with his hand on it, and looks back. “Ask her out, Magma.”
“Fine, if it’ll stop you going on and on, I’ll ask her.”
“You’d better, or I will keep nagging you.”
“I have no doubt. I’ll ask her out. Now get out of here already; you’re making my ribs hurt, and they were feeling better.”
He grins and opens the door.
“I mean it,” he says from the doorway.
“I know. Go!”
He finally leaves.
My dragon moves inside me, low and restless, my scales rubbing.
“Shut up,” I mutter.
My beast doesn’t do as I ask. He wants me to go down the hall and find Carla. He is demanding that I claim her and right now.
He’s such an idiot.
“She is not ours,” I tell him.
He snarls, clearly unhappy.
Good thing he isn’t in charge.