Carter followed closely on the heels of the human, every inch of his body still very much alert from the fight. There was something strange going on. When he had come near the human, his totem had responded. It was hidden beneath his shirt, worn as a necklace, but he felt it growing hot when he came near her. When he had glanced down at it before attacking, it was glowing a soft green color. What was going on?
“Thank you,” Amy said, her gentle voice piercing through Carter’s thoughts. It was a nice voice. Soft and kind. But he had seen the way she had handled those wolves. Even in her sickly state she had managed to get a blow or two in. And that was impressive. They were clearly not typical wolves. There was something else happening here. Something strange at play.
“You don’t have to thank me,” Carter said. “They were going to hurt you.”
“They were,” Amy said, shuddering slightly. Whether it was from the cool night air or from the frightening memory, Carter couldn’t be sure. “But you stopped them.”
Carter nodded. “I’m glad that you are okay.”
Amy nodded. “I’m okay. I’m also tired. This is my car.”
She stopped in the parking lot of the convenience store, her eyes lingering on the darkness of the alley. She stared dubiously until Carter spoke again, hoping to distract her from the negative thoughts she was sure to be feeling.
“Are you a good driver?” Carter asked bluntly. “Most humans are not good drivers.”
“Humans?” Amy asked, raising a brow. “What are you, an alien?”
There was a teasing smile playing at her lips, and Carter returned it. “Sort of,” he replied, surprised by how easy it was to fall into a joking manner with her. It had been hard for him to be lighthearted since his descent to Earth. Why was it so easy to let his guard down around this human?
“If you say so,” she said with a soft laugh.
“You will be safe,” Carter said, seeming to sense an unspoken need in the human to be reassured. He apparently wasn’t far off the mark, because when he spoke, Amy’s face grew serious and still. “I will make sure you are home safe.”
“I don’t know how you’re going to do that,” Amy said. “Because no matter how grateful to you I am, I’m not putting you in my car. I need to get home, and hosting a stranger is at the bottom of my to do list. I don’t owe you anything.”
For some reason, instead of being angry, Carter’s face broke out into a smile. She was feisty for a sickly woman. He nodded to her in approval.
“I think that is a wise choice. But don’t worry. I can do my best to ensure your safety anyway. You don’t have to let me in your car. I won’t do anything to harm you.”
Amy gazed at him and then got wordlessly into her car.
“You’re kind of strange,” she said quietly.
“Thank you,” Carter said. “I do not want to fit in to a place like this.”
This seemed to strike Amy as very funny and she burst into a fit of quiet, subdued laughter. She seemed to have forgotten the situation for a moment, and then turned her attention back to the alley. She was still thinking about the attack. Still afraid.
“I won’t let anything else happen to you,” Carter said, more firmly this time.
Amy’s eyes snapped to Carter’s, and he noticed that in the bright white light of the convenience store window, her eyes were a beautiful color. It reminded him immediately of his totem. It was not glowing hot any longer, but he felt a strange stirring as he drew the parallel in his mind.
“I don’t know how you can promise that,” Amy said. “But I appreciate that you want to.”
Carter nodded. It was true. There were some promises that couldn’t be upheld. But tonight, he was going to do everything in his power to watch over this human. She was already ill. The last thing she needed was another strange attack to prevent her from finding the peace she needed to heal. If healing for a human like her was possible. Carter recoiled inwardly. Humans were such filthy creatures at times.
“I do. Good night then, Amy.”
Amy looked at him strangely, then another smile broke out across her face. “Good night then, Carter.”
She rolled the window to her car up and Carter stood in the parking lot, staring at her as she began to drive away.
Little did she know, but he was going to keep his promise.
He looked around quickly, knowing that the men in the alley were long gone, before crossing the street. It was darker here, and he took off at a sprint to follow Amy’s car and keep a watchful eye on her to make sure she made it home safely.
***
“So how was your date, Carter?”
Carter scowled when Gavin approached him. All he wanted to do was shower and go to bed so he could stop worrying about what might become of Amy. There was something strange about the whole situation and he couldn’t shake it, no matter how hard he tried.
“It was just a date,” Carter said, glowering down at his hands. Why couldn’t he just be left in peace to digest the night?
“Tell us about it,” TJ insisted, coming out from the kitchen. He cracked open a beer and handed it to Carter, then returned to the kitchen to grab one for himself.
“Thanks,” Carter grumbled. Maybe talking about the date would help to distract him from the obnoxious nagging worry in his mind that Amy was going to find herself in more trouble. The strange situation was a lot to try to wrap his head around, but he felt like he had to think about it before speaking of it to any of the others. He had a lot to figure out for himself before letting them in on his thoughts.
“What was she like?” TJ asked. “Was she a potential descendant?”
“Without further testing, we can’t know for sure. She certainly wasn’t my fated mate,” Carter said with a heavy sigh as he sank down onto the couch. “These human customs never make any sense to me!”
This brought a small round of laughter to the room. TJ and Gavin sat down.
“They would if you were raised here,” TJ said pointedly.
“I really don’t think so,” Carter said, shaking his head.
Gavin nodded. “Carter is very analytical. He probably would still struggle even if this were his native culture.”
“Thanks,” Carter said sarcastically. Thinking about the date was making his bitterness toward humanity come back in full force.
Gavin laughed. “There is nothing at all wrong with being a skeptic. In fact, it is a mark of wisdom.”
Instead of feeling better, Gavin’s words made him feel far worse. He had been in training to become an Elder for this very reason. He had always been marked with wisdom beyond his years. And now that he had been betrayed, that wisdom had turned on its head and left him in a deep pit of bitterness. Nothing on Earth could absolve that. He hadn’t even managed to feel genuine amusement until he and Amy had been laughing together in the parking lot…
“Was she at least attractive?” TJ asked.
“Who cares?!” Carter exclaimed. “She isn’t my fated mate. Why is it that humans can date and date and date and spend all this time with someone who is not destined to be with them? Why do they like to waste their time like this?! It’s so pointless!”
Gavin shrugged. “It is what feels natural. They do not like to be alone, even if the person they are with is not complementary. It’s probably harder for them than it is for us.”
“Do they not believe in fated mates?” Carter pointed out. “Why don’t they only date their fated ones?”
“Maybe they just get confused and don’t know who is their fated. We do not always know right away either,” Gavin pointed out.
“All right, all right,” TJ interjected. “Enough with the semantics. Where did you guys go? And even if she wasn’t your fated one, do you know whether or not she has the potential to be a descendant?”
“She does not have potential,” Carter said. “She didn’t even remotely smell of dragon.”
“Carter, most of them are mostly human,” TJ pointed out. “They aren’t going to look and smell entirely like us. They are going to appear human. That is why we use the device to help track them down. But even that is faulty. Did you administer the test?”
“Here,” Carter grumbled, thrusting a piece of the woman’s hair at Gavin. It had been placed carefully in a plastic bag after Carter had gotten his hands on it. He had been forced to try to kiss her in order to get it and since then all he’d wanted to do was gargle with mouthwash. She wasn’t his fated one. He had no business being near her like this. Who knew where her lips had been?
“Good, we will be able to tell for sure with this. Even if she isn’t your fated, it doesn’t mean she isn’t somebody else’s,” TJ pointed out.
“I got the stupid medicine too,” Carter said. He dug in the pocket of his jeans for the little pill bottle and tossed it to Gavin. “I played hell getting that stupid thing. Next time, you’re on your own. I’m done doing bitch work.”
“Thank you,” Gavin said, suddenly excited. “I have been waiting for this.”
He sprang up from the couch and disappeared immediately into the basement, where he had set up a makeshift lab with pieces of the artifacts that the Elders had equipped them with before their banishment.
“That put him in a good mood,” Carter said bitterly. His thoughts turned once again to Amy and he felt himself growing more and more agitated. He wanted to be outside her home; he needed to know she was safe. What the hell had been going on that night? Did she know those men? Now that they were no longer together, he was kicking himself for all the questions he had neglected to ask. If only they could see each other again…
“Yes, he is very excited to move the cause further. The sooner we are able to bring about the change that needs made and revive the Loni bloodline, the sooner we can all go home. One of these days, we will figure out how to open that portal. We will get back to Fiora. I know it.”
Carter nodded dubiously. He wasn’t so convinced. At this point, he was hurt enough that he wasn’t even sure he wanted to go back. It had been far too much pain. Betrayal. They didn’t deserve him there. They had stabbed him in the back and stuck him in a world where it was nearly impossible for any magic to exist whatsoever.
In fact, if Max hadn’t recently discovered that the totems held the secret to their ability to shapeshift anywhere in the universe, they might have gone on believing that it was impossible to take on their dragon forms. Then where would they be? They would feel completely useless.
“Whatever, man,” Carter said, standing up abruptly from his seat. He chugged down the rest of his beer and tossed it across the room, right into the recycling bin. “I’m going to bed.”
“Hey, you have to rinse those first,” Gavin said, appearing suddenly from his lab. He went into the kitchen and rustled through the bin as Carter sighed, retreating deeper into the house to try to find some solitude.