Pushing her hands up over her damp hair, Kara tried to get herself together. The death of Raven was shocking, and to have the only witness go feral was bad beyond words. No wonder Daniel had insisted she come as fast as she could. She turned the situation over in her mind, trying to figure out how she could help. Once she had gotten her thoughts straight, she turned back to Daniel. “Tell me what happened.”
Kara stood in front of the cell door and contemplated her course of action. The tale Daniel had spun was preposterous, yet his men had backed him up one hundred percent. It was hard to believe the dragon beyond the door had been a human just a few days ago, but Daniel had explained it and shown her the heart stone responsible for transferring the dragon. Kara had never heard of that form of sharing a dragon, but Daniel had assured her it was real, and he would know. He wasn’t as old as some of the Ancients, but he was older than most of the dragons she knew.
But that didn’t matter. What did matter was that she had a person whose human and dragon parts were completely separate. This she understood and could work with. She had never seen a case as severe as this, but the concepts needed to reunite the pieces were the same. Marrying two halves that had never been one was the part that worried Kara the most.
Taking a deep breath, Kara took a step towards the door.
“Are you sure you want to go in there like that?”
Pausing, Kara looked at the tall man next to her and studied him for a moment. Of all the men in the hall, Laurence was sporting the deepest bites and wounds from the small dragon. He was also supposed to be Noah’s closest friend. In fact, all the men were people Noah was supposed to know, but the little dragon had attacked them all without mercy. An offhanded tease by one of the men had made her second-guess changing into the clean uniform Daniel had found for her. If Noah and the dragon weren’t connected, the dragon might not recognize the men as friends. It might just see the uniform and recall the men who had captured and drugged it. If she put on that same uniform, there was a good chance it would lump her in with the people the dragon saw as the enemy. Since her outfit was mostly ruined anyway, she thought it was worth risking its complete destruction verses the bites and burns she was sure to get in the Eternity uniform.
“Yes, Laurence, I’m sure.” She bent over and snagged the broken shoe out of her bag, just in case. “Let’s do this.”
Laurence shrugged, unlatched the door, and pulled it open just enough for her to slip in.
The sound of the bolt sliding home unnerved Kara, but she kept her eyes trained on the small dragon hunkered down in the center of the room. It watched her closely as she stood there, taking the scene in. The room was more trashed than she’d been able to see from the outside. Blood and soot stained everything. Chunks of concrete were missing from the bed, and the metal toilet was shredded beyond recognition. Thankfully, Daniel had had someone turn off the water so it wasn’t fountaining anymore, but everything was still soaked.
Once she was sure of her surroundings, Kara focused solely on the dragon. The fact that it hadn’t immediately attacked her when she had come in made her glad she hadn’t changed into the Eternity uniform. “Hello,” she said softly.
The dragon dropped into a protective stance and pulled its wings in tight against its body.
Kara watched his body language very closely as she took her first slow step into the room. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
Letting out a soft growl, the dragon’s back end wiggled like a cat getting ready to pounce.
“My name is Kara, and I just want to talk.” She spoke softly as she continued into the room.
After two more small steps, the dragon attacked, but Kara was ready for him. Raising the shoe, she bashed him in the side of the head, knocking his sharp teeth away. Once he was off balance, she grabbed the edge of the crest at the back of his head and twisted it over so he landed on his back with a yelp of surprise. Taking full advantage of his astonishment, she spun him around so his head was towards her and dropped down on his nose so her knee held his mouth shut in case he decided to bite. Leaning her full weight on his frill, she pinned him to the floor. One eye, wide with surprise, stared up at her as they came to rest on the floor together.
“Enough of this!” she snapped as the dragon flailed. When his sharp claws got near her, she swatted them away again. “Enough!” Taking the shoe, she smacked him hard in the chest, knocking the wind from him. When he gasped, she dropped the shoe and bent her forehead to the bottom of his chin. She rubbed against him as he panted for breath.
It was a dirty trick, using a courtship gesture in his time of distress, but she needed him calm and it was one of the few things she knew that would take the fight out of a worked-up dragon. She drew in a long breath from his skin as she rubbed her cheek and face against him. A whole mess of scent hit her, making her reel. No wonder he’s attacking everything. He’s so far out of balance it’s amazing he’s conscious at all. Shaking her thoughts away, she continued to nuzzle him until the tension in his muscles eased.
Once he was calm, Kara sat up and looked at him. He was beautiful—or he would be, once he was cleaned up. The spray from the broken toilet had done some good, removing part of the dirt and blood coating his scales, but he was in desperate need of a real bath. There was some form of band around his neck, but she would have to get closer to inspect it fully. That could wait until later.
He lay there, limp under her steady hold. The tip of his tail flipping back and forth was the only suggestion he might still be upset. “If I turn you lose, will you behave yourself?”
The dragon rumbled softly.
“Words,” Kara insisted. “You have them, use them. I will understand.”
It took the dragon a moment, but it rumbled a very guttural yes.
“Very well.” Slowly, Kara eased off the dragon’s chin and frill.
It lay there for a moment before carefully rolling over, catching Kara in one big, glassy eye to study her.
“I’m sorry about that,” Kara said as she shifted around to sit more comfortably on the damp floor. She tugged at her skirt, trying to get it into a more decent position. When she saw it wasn’t going to go, she gave up and turned her attention fully to her new patient. “You want to try this again from the beginning?” she asked, giving him a soft smile.
The dragon just stared at her.
Amusement curled up the corner of her mouth, and she let out a soft laugh. “Well, I think we should.” She cleared her throat, trying to make herself seem more professional. “My name is Kara Rose, and Daniel called me to come help. I’m a counselor.”
A doubtful look crossed the dragon’s face.
Kara smiled at him. “I’m not going to claim to know what you’ve been through or try to understand your situation.” She paused and studied the dragon for a moment before continuing. “Daniel has given me an idea of what happened, and I don’t think anyone could really understand what you’ve gone through. But I’m here to help you connect with your human half.”
The dragon rumbled softly.
Kara snickered in reply. “Well, I’m here to help you connect with Noah.”
“Mine!” the dragon growled and recoiled from her.
“Easy there,” Kara said as she held out her hands, trying to soothe the beast. “No one’s going to take him away from you.”
The dragon relaxed back into his resting position.
“Noah’s got a lot of friends who are worried about him. They just want to make sure he’s all right,” Kara explained. She considered the dragon’s posture for a moment. He was relaxed and showing no signs of the aggression he’d had a few moments ago. That was a good sign. “He is all right, isn’t he?”