Dynamic Entry

 

Halfway between the shrine and the dorm, Akira suddenly asked, “Is it weird that dragons keep coming up?”

Suuzu studied his companion’s face in the fading light. There was little mystery behind the seemingly random remark since Akira had a vested interest. His sister was fostering a dragon crosser, and there was a chance that the little one’s biological father—a serial kidnapper and rapist—was behind the recent upheaval in Keishi.

Akira’s expression was troubled. “You don’t think it’s him, do you?”

“No one has mentioned dragons in relation to the case.”

“But your brother’s in town. And phoenixes are experts in dragon-hunting.”

“Juuyu is,” he conceded.

Akira pressed his point. “Doesn’t that mean there’s a good chance he’s tracking a dragon now?”

Suuzu thought back over his brother’s visit and the care he’d taken in defending their nest. Would so many wards ordinarily be necessary? And had any of them been keyed specifically to dragons? Perhaps when they reached the dorm, he should take a closer look at the sigils.

“Don’t you think?” prompted Akira.

“Yes,” he conceded. “That is possible.”

“How possible?”

Suuzu inclined his head. “If I were assembling a team to capture a rogue dragon, Juuyu’s name would be at the top of the list.”

“So … it’s probably him?”

“It is possible.” Suuzu tugged at Akira’s windblown hair. “Juuyu’s skills are not limited to the tracking of our traditional prey.”

Akira buried his nose in his scarf.

And in the succeeding lull, Suuzu sensed an unusual tension. Then a flicker of movement. Akira didn’t react, for he couldn’t sense the presence of Amaranthine, but Suuzu’s awareness jangled with multiple alarms. Were they surrounded?

Suuzu closed ranks behind Akira, bending to speak in his ear. “Stay close.”

“Something up?”

He clucked his tongue, his uneasiness mounting.

Akira fell silent, and when Suuzu slipped and arm around his shoulders, he went still. “Wolves,” Suuzu reported. “Let us give them a moment to pass by.”

“Trackers?”

Suuzu hummed an affirmative, scanning the darkening sky and deep shadows. A series of yips and a lone howl changed his opinion. “Pursuers.”

“What are they chasing?”

“Something clever.” Suuzu set his fingers over Akira’s mouth, forestalling further questions. Because he could feel sigils in the air, illusions at play. Maybe they’d stumbled across one of Keishi’s harmless enclaves, but … maybe not. He pulled Akira against his chest, fully prepared to transform in the street and take to the sky, trusting his nestmate to forgive him later for the rough handling.
 

Akira felt the tension radiating through Suuzu’s body, so he slowed his breathing and relaxed his muscles, ready to go limp if an airlift was imminent. They’d practiced all kinds of emergency maneuvers—partly because his best friend was a worrywart, but partly because Akira would never get enough of flying.

More difficult was holding his tongue. Suuzu needed to tell him what was going on!

He couldn’t see anything or feel anything, but that was no surprise. Humans missed a heck of a lot, even when there weren’t barriers or illusions in play. All he could do was trust Suuzu.

And pinch him.

“Hush.” Suuzu curled more snugly against him, his talons lengthening discernibly.

When a figure stepped out of nowhere, the phoenix added a warning hiss, but the person lifted his hands in a plea for peace. “It’s only us.”

Us?

Then in scolding tones, raised to carry, “For pity’s sake, old friend, stop pretending to be a threat. It’s childish.”

Tsk.

Tension burst like a bubble, and Akira wriggled free, barreling into the waiting embrace of Michael Ward. “You’re here!”

“Well spotted. We only just arrived and are under strict orders to make sure you’re doing as brilliantly as your texts imply.” Michael made a show of looking him over. “Your sister misses you.”

“I’m fine. We’re fine.” Akira eased away and presented himself to the aloof figure of his brother-in-law. “Hello, Argent.”

A silver eyebrow arched. “Since when are you so reserved?”

Which Akira took as permission to step into the fox’s arms. While his sister’s mate was much more reserved than Michael, he was several times more protective. Argent checked him over, then gripped his chin. Pale blue eyes narrowed. “Why are you beyond safe boundaries?”

“We were seeing Kimi and Isla home.”

He accepted that with a low hum, then switched his attention to Suuzu. Akira wanted to defend his friend, but Argent offered no criticism. “You noticed quickly and would have had him safely away. Well done.”

Suuzu simply reclaimed Akira, who was getting rather used to being passed around. He said, “You didn’t say anything about coming. Does Isla know?”

“In a general sense.” Michael gestured vaguely. “I’m a bit ahead of schedule, due to this and that. Hints were dropped. I have a shrine to ward. Among other things.”

Argent’s attention remained fixed on some distant point, but his calm voice betrayed nothing. “We will be at the Starmark compound. Visit us there when your class schedule allows. Kyrie misses you.”

“You brought him?” Akira glanced around, not liking the idea of his little nephew being at risk. Especially if tonight’s skirmish was dragon-based.

“I sent him on ahead with Gingko.”

Akira relaxed. “That’s good then. We’ll come as soon as we can. Tomorrow?”

Suuzu, who hadn’t loosened his hold, promised, “Tomorrow.” 
 

Akira didn’t have the senses to know exactly what was going on, but it didn’t take a genius to tell something was happening in Keishi’s neighborhoods. Dogs barked in every street, and he caught the distant howl of a wolf. “Trackers?” he whispered.

“Yes.”

“They’re still chasing something?”

“I do not think they would bring this much attention to themselves without cause.” Suuzu steered him firmly along. “While there is no immediate danger, we should hurry.”

“Yeah, okay.” Akira broke into a jog before Suuzu could decide it would be more expedient to carry him.

At the dormitory entrance, they were cornered by Sentinel Skybellow. “Kimiko Miyabe and Isla Ward?”

“Safe,” Suuzu assured.

The dog nodded. “All accounted for. We are closing the doors.”

Suuzu led Akira by the hand across the student center, as if worried he’d run off. The resident Kith were riled up, and he was fairly certain he spotted Goh-sensei on the roost where the hawks usually perched.

“Tomorrow should be interesting,” Akira said. “You think the school will tell us what’s going on?”

“There will undoubtedly be a statement.”

Akira pressed the elevator button. “Maybe we’ll find out more when we go to the Starmark compound. Argent’s bound to know.”

Suuzu hummed a vague affirmative, but he was focused on reaching their nest.

Best course, really. Conversations could wait until they were safely behind Juuyu’s extravagant barriers.

Inside, Akira moved through the familiar patterns that would give Suuzu peace of mind. Drop the keys, school bag, and shopping bag. Hang his coat. Empty his pockets. Plug in his phone.

Suuzu lined up their shoes, straightened their coats, then moved toward the closet where their bedding waited. Halfway there, he stopped short and crossed to one of the windows instead.

Hoping to calm his best friend further, Akira lit a candle and doused the lights. If Suuzu refused to leave the nest—which seemed likely—then dinner would be the few things he’d grabbed at the convenience store earlier. Good enough.

“See anything?” he asked softly.

“Hmm.”

Akira dragged out their bedding and started arranging. Predictably, Suuzu came along behind him, smoothing and straightening the blankets. Now that it was just them, he was thinking about the previous night’s promise. Curiosity knotted with little doubts. They weren’t second thoughts, exactly. But the timing was terrible.

“It’s kinda chancy, trying anything while Argent and Michael are here.”

Suuzu looked up, all bewilderment.

“The … hatching thing,” he mumbled. “If anything changes, they’d notice.”

Sitting back on his heels, Suuzu faced him across the futon.

Akira waved his hands, babbling on even though there was nothing to say. “Not that I’m expecting anything to change. Michael said it was probably nothing. So I don’t even know what I’m hoping for.”

Confusion was shifting into concern. And here, he was supposed to be calming Suuzu down.

He let his hands fall limp to his sides.

“You are uneasy.” Suuzu had migrated from concerned to distraught. “I make you uneasy?”

Akira shook his head. “Going against the advice of someone I trust kinda does. A little.”

“Forgive me.” Suuzu’s posture shifted into a pose that meant I’m no threat, and he placed his hands behind his back.

“Stop that!” Akira crawled across their bed and grabbed Suuzu’s shoulders. “I’m not afraid of you. I’ve never been afraid of you.”

Suuzu warbled unhappily.

“Okay, I’m uneasy. What if something happens? What if this hatching thing means stuff has to change?” He lamely finished, “I like how things are.”

Suuzu carefully pulled him close. “I am content.”

After their talk with Kimi, he was beginning to doubt that. He dared to counter, “Are you?”

“Yes. With you, yes.”

And there was the actual problem. Akira was proud and happy that he’d always have Suuzu. A friend for life, but only a human’s lifetime. How would his friend cope when his nestmate died? Akira felt guilty over this one-sided happiness … and the empty nest that must follow.

Chest tight, eyes stinging, he asked, “What were you planning to do? I mean, do we have a plan?”

“No.” Suuzu’s hold tightened fractionally. “I do not know what to do.”

“Is this why you agreed to Michael’s offer? So you could learn about tending?”

“Hmm. Perhaps.”

Akira had been there—at Suuzu’s insistence—for the phoenix’s first taste and subsequent tendings. The whole thing had seemed pretty uneventful. From Akira’s perspective, all Michael had done was hold Suuzu’s hand. Nothing much happened, except that afterward Suuzu was quieter than usual. And clingy.

“Could we start a nest?” Akira blurted.

Suuzu’s quick intake of air came out in a funny little series of notes.

But Akira seized on the idea. “It can be one like Juuyu’s. We can start collecting the things you’ll need.”

For when he was gone.

Still, Suuzu didn’t answer.

“We’ll find the perfect things. For stars and tides and everything that matters.” Akira coaxed the only way he knew how, pushing his fingers through Suuzu’s hair. Mussing and messing until the curls were loose enough to preen. “We’ll collect everything, you and me together. That way, it’ll be ours. Always ours. Do you want to?”

“I want to.” Suuzu leaned into his touch. “Build with me.”

Good. This was good. It felt all kinds of right, and it would give the phoenix something to hold onto. Smiling, Akira kept right on twisting his fingers through the dark tangle of Suuzu’s hair. Peace. Finally.

Akira started at a sudden noise. A thud overhead that rattled the glass of their skylight. “Something’s on the roof,” he whispered.

Whatever it was struck with greater force.

“Juuyu’s barrier.” Suuzu narrowed his eyes at the darkened glass overhead. Then with a hiss, he scooped up Akira and dove for the corner. Just in time.

With a crash, the skylight shattered, and a bundled figure plunged through.