Koishi

Chapter 15

As soon as Ishi left, Sandra dressed with the first things she pulled out of the trunk and then paced the room. What was going on? Why was his mother here? The room shrank. This morning it had seemed so big that she thought she’d float away, but now it didn’t contain enough space to hide. She was waiting on two dragons, who were probably discussing her. Would his mother try to eat her?

She could imagine him asking, “Mother, would you like dark meat or white?” Shaking the thought from her head, she edged closer to the bedroom door. He wouldn’t do that. Trust, she’d promised trust. He’d already had every opportunity to hand her over to his mother and hadn’t done it.

Creeping down the hall, she stopped when she heard talking. The urge to peek inside the room was intense, but she managed to curl herself into a small ball on the tunnel floor instead and like an idiot, she eavesdropped.

Ishi told his mother she had nothing to worry about when it came to falling in love with a human.

Sandra’s heart settled somewhere between her ankles. If something struck her, she was sure her chest would ring hollow.

On numb feet she rose, using the wall for balance. She wanted to throw up. To think, she almost would have wasted her limited finances to return here. Boy, the joke truly would have been on her. Best prank her dragon could have pulled.

She wiped a stray tear from her cheek. Her worst suspicions were true. She’d fallen in love with a creature who would never return her feelings.

Blinking the tears away, she tightened her gut and tugged her soul from despair. She deserved better. What the hell had she been thinking? That a dragon would fall in love with her and sweep her into a happily forever after? What a moron. Inside her heart, she’d known this was the truth, but she had allowed herself to believe in his lies.

“Mother!” Ishi’s command snapped Sandra out of her pity party for one. “Where are you going?”

“Nowhere special.” Around the corner strode a female of stature and strength. She seemed more than capable of knocking Sandra back home with one punch and saving her the airfare. Her long black hair reminded Sandra of Ishi’s, except instead of flowing behind her back it hung in dreadlocks. Their gazes locked. “Well, well. Didn’t your mother teach you that eavesdropping is rude?”

Ishi almost ran her over. “Sandra!” His eyes narrowed as he tossed her a why-don’t-you-ever-do-as-I-ask look.

“I wasn’t…” She pressed her hand to her chest, then let her shoulders sag. She’d been caught fair and square. “Sure she did, but it doesn’t mean I listened to everything she told me.” She shrugged.

“Is this human from this world or ours?”

Sandra raised her eyebrow and set her hands on her hips. “She’s from this one.”

Ishi skirted his mother and drew Sandra further away. “Why don’t you return to the bed chamber?” It was more of an order than a request. He emphasized it with a little push in the right direction.

“Are you afraid I’ll eat her?” His mother didn’t follow as Sandra took a few steps in the direction he encouraged her to go. “It’s unnatural to bed them. If we were intended to mate, they’d have a life span to match ours.”

Sandra hesitated at the threshold at those words. His mother was right, wasn’t she? Escaping into the bedroom, she resumed her pacing. If she ate right and exercised, maybe she’d live until her nineties. That was what in dragon years? One? She hung her head. They were doomed before they even started.

Bet his mother had never been in love her whole superlong existence. Sandra stopped in front of a full-length mirror and stared. She loved him. She hugged herself tight. Hell.

The next couple of decades wouldn’t be so bad, but she’d age, and eventually it would catch up to her. Flying with him would become detrimental to her health, let alone the invasions through the gate, or living in a volcano.

Did she want to see the desire in his eyes fade?

With a heavy heart, she shuffled to the bedside table and pocketed the saji. He’d given her the best couple days of her life. No man would ever compare to him.

He had ruined her for anyone else.

It wasn’t fair. She whirled around and raced to the doorway, listening. The tunnel was quiet. She peeked and found it empty of dragons or goblin. On tiptoe, she went in the direction of the ledge and the only exit on foot from Ishi’s den.

She’d rather fade into a happy memory. The alternative would only destroy her…and possibly Ishi. The gatekeeper deserved a female who could stay at his side forever, not for just a few fleeting years.

Ishi guided his mother to the gate by the arm. “Nice of you to drop in. Now it’s time to go.” For good measure, he tried to shove her through, but she ground her heels into the stone. The solid material moved as if made of putty to give her better leverage.

She always was better at controlling the element. A great warrior knew how to use both weapon and magic with equal skill. His mother might appear a common grunt, but magic pumped within her blood and she’d had many more centuries than him to hone those talents.

“Leave me be, Mother. I enjoy her company and I’ve grown weary of these empty tunnels.”

“At least choose one from our lands. She’d understand you better, with less expectations upon your relationship.”

“I’m not looking for a whore.” He scrubbed his scalp, hoping to loosen some thoughts.

“I’ve sent you some lovely dragonesses to warm your den. The last two said you sent them away moments after they arrived.” She caressed his cheek with a tenderness she hadn’t displayed since the day of his birth.

He groaned and turned away from her touch. “Is that what this visit is about? I don’t need you to play matchmaker.”

“Of course you do. You’re stuck out here all by yourself.”

His groan transformed into a growl. “Mother, you’re going to drive me to bed males. I’ve been living in Inverness for so long that I’ve begun to think like the humans.” He retreated from her, but never turned his back. “I socialize with them, I eat with them, and I’ve become immersed in their technology.” Pointing in Sandra’s general direction in the bedchamber, he confronted his mother. “I have more in common with that woman than any dragoness you’ve sent me.”

Mother scowled. “That’s what I’ve feared. This damn gate business is a trap, a prison for my only child.” The corners of her lips turned downward. “I won’t stand for it, Ishi. You’re worthy of happiness but this damn gate won’t let you have it.”

He sighed and gathered her into a hug. He had always known she didn’t approve of him accepting the gate’s call. “I am happy.” Now that he’d found Sandra–but it didn’t need saying.

She grimaced. “I can’t bless this union. However, I promise not to eat her.” With those words, she shrugged out of his embrace and passed back into Outremer. May the gods have mercy on any dwarf that crossed her path.

He chuckled and shook his head. She meant well, but, wow, she needed to stay out of his life. Hurrying, he needed to explain his mother’s attitude to Sandra.

Life with a mortal mate would prove to be interesting, especially when part of his family considered her an appetizer.

Entering the room, he scanned the empty bed. She wasn’t there. A cold foreboding settled on his shoulders, the weight almost buckling his knees. He half-walked, half-jogged to the kitchen, where Urgle stirred a pot on the fire. A booted foot stuck out of the stew. He now knew what had happened to the roasted dwarf. “Have you seen Sandra?”

“Soft female?” He shook his head. “No. Hungry?”

“No, maybe later. If you see her, report to me.” He rubbed his chin. Could she have gone to the hot spring? His treasure room? As he passed the bedchamber, something odd caught the corner of his eye. He stuck his head through the doorway. The bedside table surface was bare.

The saji was gone. His heart caved in. She’d said she trusted him. Her scent grew fresher as he strolled to the ledge and gazed at the ocean.

Gentle waves rolled over the beaches with a lover’s caress. Stars twinkled from the clear night sky, calling him to fly high and join them in their cold emptiness. Clenching his fists, he listened to the distant rumble of the caldera’s sympathy. Sandra had left him.

Jumping, he shifted mid-air and stroked his wings, climbing high above his home. He traced the path that led from his den, and spotted her.

Running.

She’d used him.

Roaring, he dove and landed to block her way. Fire burned in his gut. How dare she? He pawed the ground, yet couldn’t unleash his fury.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” she shouted and stood her ground. “You claimed you cared for me and now I’m on the menu?”

He blinked. “Claimed? I do care. I’m not the one running away. You claimed to trust me.” He lowered his snout to meet her glare. Wrath flowed around her as she stepped closer into his field of vision. The wind tugged at her dress and her hair billowed around her head like a halo of chaos. By the gods, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

“That’s not what I heard. I quote, ‘You’ve nothing to worry about’ when your mother mentioned me possibly breaking your heart.”

The cold claws of surprise squeezed his chest and extinguished the heat of his fury. “Is that what this is all about? I had to say that. She’ll see my affection for you as a weakness and destroy you. I told you. She’s very dangerous.” He reached for her, but she retreated from his touch. “I’ve never had your trust, have I?”

“Trust is something that is earned, not given. I want to. God knows I do.” She shook her head. “But it’s not why I’m leaving. Your mother has a valid point. My lifespan is nothing in comparison to yours. I’ll just be a blip in your memory.”

The ache in his chest worsened. “I don’t mind that, Sandra.” He’d take whatever time she’d give him.

“I do. It’s not fair to ask me to sacrifice my life to keep you company. I deserve more than being your toy.”

Her description of herself rang true. He’d begun this adventure thinking of her exactly as that. However, he’d changed.

She dabbed the corner of her eye with a fingertip. “Let me go, Ishi. I have a plane to catch and a sister to heal.”

He nodded. “You’re right. You’ve been nothing but a toy.” Nothing he said would keep her here. She had more important things to deal with and it was better if their ties were cut cleanly.

She squared her shoulders before walking by him, avoiding any eye contact.

With a cooling heart, he watched her descent until the curve of the mountain hid her from sight. He could have loved her, if only she’d allowed it. He leaped into the air and returned home on leaden wings. Landing on his ledge, he stared out over the world he protected and for the first time since accepting the gate’s offer, resented it.

“Master?” Urgle shuffled onto the ledge, a huge bowl of stew in his arms. “Hungry?”

He gave his pet a half-smile and took the meal, even though his appetite had vanished with Sandra’s painful words. Sitting in his den, alone, would drive him insane. He never should have brought her here. Everywhere he’d look, her memory would haunt him.

The trouble with being a dragon was the amount of time needed for memories to fade. He had to stay busy. Staring at his pet, he stirred the stew with his claw. “Do you think any of your clan still lives in the area outside of the gate?”

“Yes. They hide in the hills. That where I be when the dwarves hunt me here.”

“I don’t care to have dwarves as my neighbors.” He licked the thick goo from his finger. “Go arm up, Urgle. Time we went to war.”