Secrets in Smoke by Ashe Moon

9

Rainor

His eyes searchedmine as we shared our breath, and all I wanted to do was hold him and keep him close to me. Something had changed between us, I could feel it. There was something different in the way Thomas had received me.

We left the shower and got dressed, our hands never far from each other’s bodies. There was an aura about him that he hadn’t had before, or at least I hadn’t seen, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I wanted him to be mine. I wanted him to fly free.

When we went back outside, we found the others building forts in the sand with Dalia. Grayson, Altair, and Delos all looked up and grinned.

“Rainor took good care of you, I trust?” said Altair, and Thomas’s face turned a shade of pink.

“You dragons are full of surprises,” he said. “I feel fantastic.”

We all played with Dalia in the sand and looked for crabs hiding in the little pools in the rocks at the end of the beach. Thomas crouched down next to her, and she leaned against his leg as he pointed at the spiny urchins sitting below the shallow water. He looked at me, and I smiled at him and thought how natural he looked as a part of our flight.

He seemed so happy. The tension he always seemed to bear in his shoulders was gone, and it was like he was glowing.

You should see yourself,Thomas, I thought. I hope you can see this is exactly what you need.

When the sun began to set, I started a fire and burned the wood down to glowing embers, which I scooped up in my hands and dumped into the charcoal grill. I’d brought a cut of prime rib for dinner, and we sat around drinking glasses of firewater and nibbling on fruit until it was dripping juices and finished. Then we feasted, and for the first time in forever, not one of us was thinking about anything more than the joy of each other’s company.

The dusk light was brilliant on the sea, golden light split between a haze of grey clouds in the distance that put glittering light like the sparks from a fire across the surface of the water. And when we were finished, we sat around a bonfire in the sand. On one side, Dalia slept curled up in Altair’s lap, with Grayson leaned against his shoulder. A few feet away, Delos lay stretched out with his hands wound behind his head, staring up at the stars. Thomas and I sat on the opposite side of the fire, and after a moment, I decided to slip my hand around his waist. He exhaled a short, relaxed breath and then hugged me back. His eyes were fixed on the fire, and the flames danced in his pupils.

“The moment we land in town, things go back to normal,” he said in a low voice that only I could hear.

“What’s normal?” I replied quietly.

“It’s not this. You know how things have to be.”

“Sounds like you don’t want to, though.”

“I wish I didn’t have to. I really wish I didn’t. But I’m glad I got to experience what a normal life could be like today.”

I turned to face him and gripped his arm tighter than I’d intended. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Come on, Thomas. Don’t be so dramatic. Don’t act like you don’t have a choice.”

His eyes narrowed. “Rainor, I don’t have a choice. You know that.”

“Tomorrow, you could choose to live your life as an omega, and you would have a good life. You could continue with your duties to this town, and you wouldn’t be any less capable.”

“The Watch would never accept me.”

“Maybe. Or maybe not. Why do you continue to let others define who you are? You must see that the thing preventing you from reaching the heights you’ve strived towards is your own mind. Thomas, everything you’ve done has been because of a person who isn’t even alive anymore. When are you going to start acting in the interest of your happiness?”

“I…” He moved away from me. “That’s not true.”

“Thomas…”

“This is how the human world works, Rainor. I don’t live in the dragon world. I became captain of the Watch because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. My father no longer has anything to do with it. Excuse me.” He stood and walked off into the darkness.

“Everything good?” Altair asked.

“Fine,” I muttered. “Did you hear all that?”

“No,” he replied. “But I can guess.”

“He needs time,” Grayson said.

“He needs to get his head on straight,” I said, nudging at the sand with my fingers.

“You’re in love with him,” said Altair.

I snorted. “Dammit, Altair.”

“Are you? Would you take him as your mate?”

My answer was immediate. “Yeah. But not like this.”

“He knows there’s another way,” said Grayson. “You’ve shown it to him. He just needs to decide to take it.”

Delos, who I thought was asleep, stuck his arm up. “Consensus on Thomas becoming a member of the flight?”

“Yes,” said Altair.

“Of course,” Grayson nodded.

“We have consensus,” said Delos flatly. “There you go. When he’s ready, we’ll be ready to accept him.”

“Thank you,” I said, and glanced towards the dark towards the roaring tumble of the waves, barely visible under the moonless sky, and wondered if he would ever be ready. Then I got up and went after him.

I was able to pick him out of the darkness from the pale glow of his heat aura shining against the cold rocks at the end of the beach, and I approached him with slow caution.

“May I?” I asked, gesturing to the rock.

“Go ahead.”

I sat next to him, and after a silent moment, said, “You know why I push you so hard, right?”

There was the slightest smile. “Because you’re a dick? Or the other reason?”

“The other reason.”

“And what is that?”

I exhaled. “You’re gonna make me say it, huh?”

“Perhaps I don’t know what you’re going to say?”

I snorted. “Because I care about you. Because… you’re the only person I could see taking as a mate.”

He stared at me silently and intensely, and my face burned so hot it was probably glowing.

“Stop it,” I said, looking away. “Dammit.”

“Seriously? You feel that way?”

“Uh…has it not been obvious?”

“It’s difficult for me to see the way other people feel about me. I…hoped that was how you felt, though.”

I moved closer to him, put my hand next to his as an offering, and felt happy relief when he slipped his palm over mine.

“I know you’re right about me,” he said quietly. “Everything you said. It’s all true. But it’s so hard. I’ve faced near impossible challenges in my time in the Watch, even death. Conquered them all. It’s pathetic that the one thing I can’t do is be myself. It’s so simple.” His voice wavered, and in that brief moment, I could hear the fear and sadness of a young omega who just wanted to be loved for who he was. “Why is it so hard, Rainor?”

“You’re strong, Thomas. I’m in awe of your strength. You’re worthy of respect because you’ve always been strong and good, and however you choose to be, alpha or omega, doesn’t change that. I will support you, no matter what. You won’t be doing this alone. You’ll have me, and you’ll have the others. A flight is always there for its mates.”

There were tears in Thomas’s eyes, and I drew my arms around him and held him close.

“Alright,” he said and drew a small bottle from his pocket. Even in the night, I could see that it was his scent mask. He held it up to eye level, examined it, and his face tightened with decisive resolve. His arm flashed and the bottle whirled and shattered on the rocks. I caught the alpha musk floating on the sea breeze, and as the water washed over the shattered remnants, the scent disappeared.

We sat alone together for a while, and both of our minds were on what the future held. Thomas was preparing for a battle, and I had to prepare myself to have his back for whatever outcome this would bring.

When we returned, the fire had died down to a small flicker. Delos had already retreated to the hammock, and Grayson and Altair were getting ready to go inside to put Dalia in bed. We said our goodnights, and Thomas and I brought our bedrolls outside and laid them down next to the glowing embers, which I smothered with a handful of sand. He cuddled against me, and I brought my body heat up to keep him warm. The hazy clouds opened up in patches to reveal a stunning patchwork of stars. It was a calm night, and except for the grey clouds that’d hung over the horizon the whole day, there was no sign of what was going to hit Old Shore Port in just a few hours.

It was the thunder that jolted us awake, a crashing boom that seemed just overhead. I threw the blanket off and sat up, and for a moment I forgot I was on the beach. I whirled off the bedroll like I was jumping out of bed at the sound of the alarm bell, and rolled into the sand. Thomas was doing the same; he was on his feet, looking around blearily for a uniform jacket that wasn’t there. Lightning flashed over the ocean, followed by another boom, and we looked at each other and laughed.

It was just after dawn, but the sky was filled with dark clouds that blocked the morning light. Then the rain started. It was like someone had turned a spigot, and we were immediately drenched. I grabbed up our bedding and we dashed the shack just as another web of lightning lit up the sky.

Dalia wailed and Grayson tried to soothe her. Altair pushed back the blinds and looked out the window as the thunder shook the shack.

“We should leave now,” he said.

“Agreed,” said Delos.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Grayson said to Dalia. “We’re going to go home now.”

“I’m scared,” she murmured, clinging to Grayson’s arm.

“Don’t worry, you’ll fly with me and Papa.”

“That’s right,” said Delos. “And I’ll fly above you to make sure you’re perfectly safe. You won’t even get a drop of rain on you.”

He turned to me and said, “You and Thomas should keep below me, too. That lightning worries me.”

I nodded and held my hand out to Thomas. “You ready to fly in a storm?”

“Why not? I’ve done just about everything else at this point.”

The rain sounded like a thousand fists beating on the roof, and I wondered if old Gifa’s fishing shack would still be standing by the time this squall had passed. Delos went out first, and in his dragon form, he created a huge wave of ice to shelter us from the downpour as we shifted and got everyone safely onto our backs. Then he took off into the sky with Altair behind him, and then me. As we climbed, the wind grew stronger, and it pummeled us back and forth and made it difficult to stay the course. Were it just the three dragons, I wouldn’t have been as worried. A storm like this might’ve been fun despite the danger, but we had precious cargo, and I just wanted to be back at the station where they were safe.

Another streak of lightning touched the ocean, and the ensuing thunderclap rattled every bone in my body. Below us, the water churned against the rocks in a boiling spray, and the rain pelted down like a grey curtain. Far through the haze, in the direction of town, I caught sight of a red streak of light that climbed slowly into the sky. It burst into a brilliant plume of red like a blooming flower and was followed by a shrill and unnerving screech.

“What the hell?” I bellowed. “Delos, is that what I think it is?”

“It’s the signal flare I gave to the Watch!” he roared back.

“Something’s happened!” Thomas shouted.

It felt like we were moving through quicksand. The wind and rain kept us from flying as fast as we could, and the town was still miles down the shore. Another flare leaped into the sky.

“I see it!” Altair said. “There’s a fire, I can just make out its heat aura. It looks like the northeast side of town!”

“Jennifer’s post,” Thomas said.

We passed the headland and turned to fly low over the land, and the waving canopy of trees rushing below us looked like the churn of a gray-green sea. Then we were over the patches of farmland at the outskirts of town, and my dragon eyes could just make out the rippling heat aura of the distant blaze.

“It doesn't look like a building fire,” I said.

Thomas pulled on my spines trying to get a look. “A lightning strike? Trees?”

“Maybe,” I said, and just as I spoke, a white flash seared the air and rocked us with a deafening explosion. As the ringing in my ears faded and the bright spots cleared from my eyes, I heard Dalia wailing and saw Delos wobbling through the sky like an injured bird trying to maintain altitude. He fell from his position above us, and I saw black smoke swirling from his wing.

“Delos!” I shouted.

“Shit,” he groaned.

A dragon’s skin was tough and could withstand all manner of elemental abuse, but a direct lightning strike was something only a thunderdrake could come away from unscathed. There was a charred hole in his wing, but Delos still fought to climb back above us.

“We’ll help you fly!” I said, but he shouted for us to stay in our positions.

“Don’t be stupid! I can take it, humans can’t.”

“Fuck it!” Thomas shouted. “You can’t fly on your own! Rainor, help him!”

“He’s right, Thomas. If we get struck… You’re the most vulnerable where you are on my back.”

“Then let me climb to your claws,” he said, and he was already moving across my body, using my scales and spines as handholds.

“You idiot!” But I knew there was no stopping him—and I knew he was right. Delos needed help. And despite the turbulence, Thomas climbed quickly and without any hesitation. It was like all fear had been wiped away. Here was the Captain of the Watch I hardly ever saw. Full determination, and not even a lightning storm was going to get in his way.  It was clear to me that this spirit was what had drawn me to Thomas from the very beginning.

He held his arms tightly around my leg and anchored his feet around my ankle so that he was standing securely on my foot, and I swooped up to give my back to Delos. He gripped me just behind the wings and put his weight onto me, and I could feel him struggling to stay aloft.

“Don’t wait for us,” I called to Rainor. “Get Grayson and Dalia back to the station. Fly low!”

“What are we going to do about that fire?” Altair yelled back. “Delos is in no shape to go anywhere except the station.”

“Rainor and I can go,” Thomas said. “The Watch must be there by now.”

“Even with the rain, with these winds, you’re going to have a problem if that fire jumps,” Delos said. “You need me there.”

“No.” Thomas reached into his jacket and pulled out two blue orbs. “I have these.”

“Dragon ice!” I said in surprise. “Thomas, you beautiful bastard.”

Finally, we reached the air above the station and wheeled around the watchtower in a corkscrew flight path down to the perch. Altair landed first so that Grayson could get off with Dalia, and then he came back to help Delos.

“I’ll join you as soon as I can,” said Altair.

“Just make sure he’s okay,” I replied, and I pumped my wings and rose back into the sky. Thomas stayed where he was on my leg, and I tucked my foot in close to my body to keep him sheltered. This was it. Without Delos, the only way we would be able to control an unruly burn was with the two orbs that Thomas held in his hand. And I realized that he needed to be the one to use them.