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  “Ava?” It was Karma at the front door.

  “We’re upstairs,” Ava called.

  Karma was in her room remarkably fast, Rory right beside her with a weapon drawn, the same dark blade as Cale’s, five times as long as Ava’s pocket knife. Karma took in the situation, eyes covering the room in a slow, thorough sweep while Rory’s eyes darted from object to object. Karma walked to Cale’s side, touching the scar on his midsection. That was all that was left. A thick, white scar, like a smashed spider. Karma touched his forehead, a surprising lack of affection in her clinical hands. Then she studied Ava’s and Miriam’s faces to make sure they weren’t masking pain.

  Her tepid smile played at her mouth. “You did very well, Ava. You have our thanks.”

  Rory came over. “He’s alright?”

  “A little rest, and he’ll be himself by the morning.”

  Rory was all business–not the laughing, romping brother Ava had met at dinner. “Three at once,” he said. “Did they call you by name, Ava?”

  Ava couldn’t remember. “I don’t think I was listening to what they were saying. You–you know what they were?”

  “Sirens,” Rory said. He held up the necklaces they left behind. “I’ve never seen these before, Mom. Have you?”

  “I have not. I’ll have to do some research.” She examined them with a furrowed brow. “These are strange. Sirens don’t usually stray from tradition, and acrest is unlike them. And to have three wearing them all of a sudden.”

  “They looked like vampires,” Ava said, recalling the fangs that had threatened to close in on her. “I think one tried to bite me.”

  Rory nodded matter-of-factly. “Yep. Nightfolk, merfolk, werefolk. They’re all sirens. All scum.” He spit on the ground in disgust.

  “But…one of them sang to me. It was….” Terrifying. Haunting. Beautiful.

  “A siren’s tear did this,” Karma said, ignoring Ava. She ran her hand over Cale’s scar again. He was sleeping peacefully, taking deep, full breaths. “But I’ve never seen the poison spread so quickly. It usually takes days before it reaches a dragon’s core.”

  Dragons. There it is again. Sirens, nightfolk, dragons. Ava was dizzy, fighting nausea. It wasn’t real. None of this stuff is real.

  “Put up a perimeter, Rory, then let’s get your brother home.”

  Rory nodded, then slid the blade he was carrying against his fingers. He didn’t even wince as he did it. He went to Ava’s windows and door and wiped his fingers across the windowsills and doorframe, leaving bright red blood along the clean, white wood.

  He lifted his brother up and put him over his shoulder like Cale didn’t weigh a thing. He wiped his hands along the banister and covered the entrance to the house on his way out. The lock on the front door was little more than splinters. Cale hadn’t thought about sparing the fixtures when he kicked it down.

  Ava and Miriam followed them to the minivan parked outside. Rory laid Cale in the backseat, then took a lighter out of his pocket and held his fingers to the fire. The flames licked his incision until the cut disappeared completely. He got into the passenger side and closed the doors so hard Ava jumped. He looked straight ahead, his jaw clenched. A puff of smoke escaped his nostrils.

  “Don’t mind him,” Karma said. “He’s just angry someone got to one of our own. He’ll calm down eventually.” She put a cool hand on Ava’s shoulder, but the gesture seemed strained, almost unnatural. “Your mother might need some time to cope, and you’ll need some rest after tonight. But don’t worry. You’ll be safe under the dragonblood.” She smiled. “You have my number and Cale’s. Call us if you need us. Or just stop by.” She put the necklaces into her pants pocket. “I’ll figure out what happened here tonight as soon as I can.” Then she got into the driver’s seat and they pulled away.

  Ava stood in the driveway for what seemed like years. Then she looked over to Miriam, whose big blue eyes were already glued to Ava’s face. Ava couldn’t tell if she was afraid or awed. Her thoughts had all stalled, refusing to let her analyze what had happened.

  “I did not expect tonight,” Ava said at last. “Not at all.”

  ***

  Ava stood in the kitchen, her feet planted in place as she studied the floor. When she’d seen the sirens there a few hours before, their legs had been covered in writhing shadows. The house was dark as Ava recreated the scene. She walked over to the staircase, where she’d been crouching right before the creatures spotted her. Then, up the stairs to her bedroom. She lay down on the ground, right where she’d been when the second creature pinned her down. She closed her eyes and imagined its fangs spreading wide, ready to sink into her.

  She tried to remember the song it sang, but the memory seemed so far away, as if that part of her nightmarish encounter had happened years before, separate from the rest of the hellish events. She remembered feeling waves of awe and sadness. She remembered never wanting the song to end. But she couldn’t hear it. And once it was over, she never wanted to hear it again.

  Ava sat up and sighed. I should be terrified. She got up and examined the pool of blood that had soaked into the carpet where Cale nearly died. The lighter was still lying on its side. She remembered pressing it to his skin, his eyes locked onto hers, the trust she saw in him.

  It was real. It all happened. She forced herself to examine her thoughts, to explore the reasons why her heart was picking up its pace. It was real. He’s real.

  Ava hurried downstairs and grabbed the keys to Miriam’s car from the hook near the front door. She knew even Miriam wasn’t allowed to drive it unless Jim gave her permission–technically, it was his car under his name–but for once, Ava didn’t care. There was no way she was going to wake T up and ask for a ride, no way she was going to answer all his questions. She had someplace to be.

  She knocked on the Anders’ door, her knuckles colliding sharply with the heavy oak. Karma opened the door, still showing no hint of surprise on her perfect face, and motioned for her to come in.

  “I’m sorry it’s so late,” Ava said.

  “No apologies necessary,” Karma answered. “Cameron and I rarely sleep, and when we do it’s just for a short time. It’s nice to have a diversion.”

  Ava rubbed her arms, fighting off a shiver. The house was colder than it had been earlier, almost chilly. Karma disappeared into the coat closet and returned with a cream sweater. Ava shrugged it on gratefully.

  “Red dragons are like heaters,” she explained. “When they’re all asleep, it’s finally cool enough for Cameron and me to be productive. And you’ve given us a lot to ponder tonight.”

  Ava reached up and patted her own head, realizing that she’d forgotten to groom herself. Her hair stood out in a giant mess of crazy brown curls. She hadn’t even showered or changed her clothes since the incident. Splatters of Cale’s blood mixed with the remnants of the monsters’ left red and purple splotches on the top she wore underneath Karma’s sweater.

  “Dragons, huh?” Ava bit her fingernail. “Cale was trying to talk to me about that stuff earlier and I blew him off. I feel like a jerk.” Because I am a jerk.

  “Are you here to see him, then?”

  Ava felt silly suddenly. Why didn’t I just call instead? She had been reckless coming all the way over to the Anders house at one in the morning. But she had seemed so sure of her actions when she was carrying them out. There wasn’t an ounce of doubt in her mind when she first left home. She tried to remember the reason her logic had been so steadfast.

  “Those things tried to kill me,” she said, stating the obvious. She needed reassurance, confirmation that she wasn’t crazy.

  “Yes. Generally, sirens only hunt and kill when they are jealous. Do you have a close relationship with someone in your home? If they sensed that bond, they might have reacted negatively.”

  Jim? It made Ava want to throw up.

  Miriam? Ava loved her but she wouldn’t call their relationship close at all. It was strained in so many ways. Ava could neve
r sympathize with her foster mother’s actions, or lack thereof. Who would be jealous of that?

  “Any close relationships at all, Ava, even outside of the home?”

  Ava thought harder. She had absolutely no communication with anyone she went to school with, and especially not over the summer. In fact, she’d taken her GED exam without telling anyone. She was still waiting for the results. Anything was better than another year in high school. She even boxed in silence and only talked with Walter about techniques and training practices. And T had said it himself. They weren’t really friends.

  “I’m not really a relational person,” she told Karma.

  “Hmm….” The woman handed Ava a cup of herbal tea, and Ava sipped it. Then, she took another sip, surprised at how soothing the drink was as it slid down her throat.

  “Perhaps the sirens thought you were more beautiful than they were. That could give them a reason to be jealous.”

  Something told Ava that Karma wasn’t telling her the whole truth. She wasn’t bad looking, she knew, but she wasn’t so gorgeous that three evil creatures would follow her home just to tear her face apart.

  Karma sighed, relinquishing some of her finely tuned courtesy. “Did you come all the way over here to talk to me in my kitchen?”

  Ava snapped back into the reality of what she had come for. To talk to Cale. To see if he was alright. To thank him. Of course it’s reasonable for me to be here. Maybe not at one in the morning, but still reasonable.

  “He’s the first door on the left,” Karma said. “Good luck waking him up.”

  Ava took the stairs slowly, and when she got to Cale’s room, she let her hand hover over the doorknob. Her doubts resurfaced as she lingered. I’m going to go talk to a mythical creature. In his bedroom. At one in the morning.

  When she pushed it open, she expected to see dragon statues, pits of fire, and mounds of hot coals instead of a bed. But his room was normal. A few Miami Dolphins posters and Peruvian soccer jerseys hung on the walls. Clothes were littered in various piles on the floor and spilling out over the drawers. Ava closed the door behind her and turned the light on.

  Cale was asleep, sprawled out across his bed, his chest rising and falling so slowly it was almost impossible. Someone had taken off his shirt–probably to examine him–and his skin displayed a few nicks and scratches, but none like the looming scar on his abdomen. Ava swallowed her guilt. I caused that. He was protecting me.

  Ava moved closer, closer, until finally she reached her hand out and touched the scar. He flinched away, but when she touched it again, he didn’t move. She traced her finger across it. No one’s ever done anything like that for me before. She remembered how afraid she had been, how the creatures had looked at her. But all the fear she had felt then was gone. Cale had come in and slashed their heads off. It was almost strange how peaceful she felt when she thought of him.

  Alright, Ava, enough. You’re being creepy. She pulled her hand away and decided to come back later, when he was awake and ready for visitors. Ava stood to leave, looking back once she was at the door. Cale was scowling, an angry growl coming from his closed lips.

  Ava moved closer again, and the more steps she took toward him, the more relaxed his face became. When she was near enough to put her hand on his, a hint of a smile took to his lips. Then, before Ava could react, Cale grabbed hold of her hand, and twisted so that she flew over him and onto the bed beside him.

  She almost screamed, ready to fight him off until he threw an arm over her shoulders, pressed his face against her hair, and stopped moving. He growled again, a gentle humming sound that came from his chest. His breathing found that slow steady rhythm again.

  It’s a pretty bold move to fling a girl into your bed, especially after you’ve only known her for a day. Ava wanted to be angry. But she couldn’t bring herself to break away. It didn’t feel dirty, no secret agenda. In fact, it may have been the most innocent embrace she’d ever felt. It was as though every ounce of him wanted her to be there, but not because of her body, not because of what she could give him. But because she was Ava.

  His arm was heavy over her shoulders, his breath hot against her hair. Ava tried to argue with herself, tried to remind herself of all the reasons she shouldn’t stay. You’re in a stranger’s bed, for God’s sake. But all she could picture was the look in Cale’s eyes when he had grabbed her and asked her if she was alright, the sound in his voice when he said not to worry, that he was on his way. All she could see was the smile that had taken over him when she said the words “next time.”

  She had never met anyone like Cale Anders before. For the first time in her life, Ava was Impressed.

  Five

  Jim

  Cale opened his eyes, then closed them and waited for a moment. He had a feeling that he was having a very wonderful, very deceptive dream, and that when he woke up he’d be immobilized by disappointment. But even with his eyes closed, he could feel it. Feel her.

  When he was younger–like for example, two days earlier–he had imagined being with his rider would feel like those commercials for sodas where everyone is dancing in the street and the sun is streaming through colored confetti. But it felt nothing like that.

  Having Ava close to him felt like sitting on the very top of the highest mountain in the world. Just sitting. Nothing to do, no thoughts going through his mind, no deadlines to meet. Just sitting on that mountain with no more left to climb. Arrived at last. Home. Like he could die there and it would be alright, because he’d made it.

  He didn’t want to move or she would wake up, and in his heart, he knew she’d open her eyes, come to her senses, and run screaming. Thankfully, she hadn’t given him an absolute “no,” but she had already rejected him once, deeming him an over-enthused video game junkie. And since then, she’d come face to face with the nightfolk. She even had to burn the siren’s tear out of him. Cale had been protecting humans form sirens since he was a boy. If she decided to be his rider, she’d come up against them again. He knew she’d never want any part of that life. No sane person would. So he pretended to be asleep, to make it last.

  “Cale? Are you up?”

  Cale froze. How does she know? “Yes,” he admitted. Stupid honesty.

  Ava sat up in the bed and faced him. She looked like she’d been up for longer than Cale had been. He was still blinking the sleep away, though his mind was already active. He sat up as well, wincing when the skin around his scar tightened. He’d forgotten all about it.

  “It hurts?” Ava asked, guilt eating at her, though she refused to let it show.

  “Not much,” Cale said. “It fades with time. The pain, I mean. Not the scar.”

  Ava rubbed her temples, her eyes cast down. Get it over with. She took a deep breath. “Look, I’m so sorry, man. I’m sorry I’m in your room, which is super weird. I have no idea what I was thinking. And I’m sorry you got your guts spilled out trying to behead those siren things and I’m sorry you have that awful-looking scar and –”

  Cale interrupted her. He reached out and touched the back of her hand. “I don’t think I can explain to you how awesome it is that you’re here and not running for it.” He said it slowly, as if hoping she’d understand. “I wish you could just switch places with me and feel it for yourself.”

  But Ava didn’t smile like Cale did, and it made him want to fix all her problems, right then. I’m already making her unhappy and we haven’t even started. “Ava, if you don’t want to be here, if you don’t want to be my rider, I understand. You must be scared out of your mind after last night.”

  She shook her head. “Actually, not scared at all. You were incredible. I just….” She furrowed her brow as she looked at him. “How did you know to call me?”

  He tapped his abdomen. “I felt it. It’s like a stomach ache. Usually it tells me when I’m in trouble. I’ve never had it happen with someone else before.”

  “Do all…dragons…do that?”

  “Some.”

  She bit
her lip as she searched for words. “I’ve never had anyone do something like that for me. Stick up for me like you did.”

  Cale already knew that about her. He could tell by the distrust in her eyes when he first met her. She deserved more. She deserved everything. “Ava, I would die for you. I would be honored. And anyone who thinks otherwise…I’ll snap them in half if you want me to.”

  Ava smiled. A real one. She couldn’t help it, not with Cale being so upset on her behalf. “That was chivalrous,” she joked.

  “It’s not because you’re a girl. It’s because you’re mine.”

  Ava stopped at that and studied the beds of her fingernails, anything so she didn’t have to look Cale right in the eye until she was sure of the decision she’d spent half the night making. When she did look at him, his eyes were golden slivers set in black, like snake eyes, locked on to her.

  “You should ask me now,” she said, a little breathless.

  “Ask you?”

  “Ask me so I can give you my answer. Isn’t that how it works?”

  Cale didn’t want to. What he wanted was more time, more time to convince her, to show her that he wasn’t all bad, that he could be a good dragon for her. But she’d commanded. So he obeyed.

  “Ava Johnson, will you be my rider?”

  He wanted to throw up. His mountaintop felt so far way, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever been on it at all. If Ava said no, if she rejected him, he would go his entire life without being able to change, without his rider, just like his father had, and his father before him. He wasn’t breathing, wasn’t moving, as if doing any of that would sway her answer.

  “Okay.”

  Cale blinked. “What did you just say?”

  Ava couldn’t help but smile, just a little. “Cale, I would be honored to be your rider.”

  He still didn’t take in any oxygen. His eyes grew bigger than Ava thought was healthy, then he reached forward and wrapped his arms around her. There was no part of her that wanted him to pull away. It was the most genuine touch she’d ever felt.