CHAPTER 9

“One step at a time,” Liam told her as he helped her up the steps to her room at home.

“Quit coddling me. I’m just fine.”

“No, you aren’t just fine. You just had brain surgery, and you have been in a hospital bed for almost two weeks. You are weak.”

“I just need to fly.”

“You do not need to fly,” her father said from behind them. “No flying for the next few weeks.”

“That doesn’t make sense. It would help me heal.”

“It would burst the sutures in your head wide open first and cause more problems. Don’t you even think of shifting until they have done their job and dissolved, Dawn McCord,” he barked at her.

“Listen to your father, for once,” Liam added as they topped the stairs.

“You sure are bossy when I’m weak,” she replied.

“I sure am.”

She heard a chuckle from her dad behind them as Liam continued helping her to her room and guided her to the bed. Her father sat down some things the hospital had sent home to change her head bandage and some medication for the headaches the doctor said would remain for a bit longer while she healed.

“I’ll go help your mom downstairs,” he told her. “Liam, don’t stay too long. She needs her rest.”

“Ah, the bossy gets bossed by the bossiest,” Dawn quipped.

“Be nice. Liam carried you out of the middle of nowhere to get you help and then stayed with you every day at the hospital. I think he is entitled to be a little bossy for a bit,” her father said before leaving.

Dawn looked toward Liam. She was surprised that he had done all that…or was she? He continued on out the door as if nothing had been said, his footsteps trailing away as he headed downstairs. She reached out for him, comforted that their link seemed to have been reestablished now.

“Thank you, Liam.”

“Just get better, turd.”

“I will.”

“I know.”

Dawn settled in to try to get some sleep. Things felt like they were finally getting back to normal. She could feel Liam again even as he made his way out of the house and back to his house. He reached out for her when he got there to let her know he was still thinking about her. It made her smile to know how much a part of his thoughts she had become. Her door creaked open, and she could feel her mom’s presence.

“I am fine, Mom,” she told her.

“I know you are, honey. I just wanted to check on you one last time before I went to bed.”

“Goodnight, Mom.”

“Goodnight, Dawn.”

The door closed, and Dawn pulled the covers up around her chin. She felt content. Sleep came quickly, partly because of the medication she continued to be on, and partly because her heart felt so full. A smile spread across her face as she thought about Liam saying he loved her. She had always known he did, but now, she knew it was far more than just as a friend.

Still, her dreams were not as full of hope as her thoughts. As she drifted away, she fell into a world where nothing was what it seemed. She walked through shadows, where everyone had a secret and no one was who they appeared to be. Tommy was there, and he was angry, so very angry. He was chained to a pole in the city center.

“This is your fault!” he spat at her as she passed by.

“It is not my fault. I didn’t tell you to do those horrible things to Harlan! You did them because you are cruel and heartless.”

“You better hope I don’t get free from these chains. I will do worse to you.”

Dawn shrank back, looking around for Liam. He was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, there was no one there but her and Tommy as he hissed hatred at her, and then he was changing, breaking the supposedly unbreakable chains designed to keep him from doing just that. His large wings spread out, blocking out the sun as his large teeth bared in her direction, a deep hiss emanating from within him.

Dawn tried desperately to shift, to take flight, but she couldn’t. She was helpless, standing there as he stood over her, preparing to rip her apart. Her heart raced as she waited to be destroyed, and then she was being torn away, snatched up by something she couldn’t see. Her body dangled haphazardly in the air as she flew through the air and was dropped onto the soft turf of a nearby meadow.

She watched, stunned as Liam turned, his massive dragon snarling furiously at Tommy as his own dragon landed behind him. She continued to try to shift, but nothing was happening. Instead, she was forced to watch as they ripped at one another’s necks, each determined to take the other down. Their bodies smacked against one another, making the most terrifying noises. Blood flew everywhere, and then Tommy had him pinned.

Dawn screamed as he pulled back his enormous head and then pushed it forward again, unleashing a steady stream of fire that looked like a pure rush of lava and then turned toward her. She looked at Liam’s motionless, charred carcass on the ground, grimly aware that she was still screaming and was unable to stop. He was upon her as she tried to shield her body away from him, though she knew there was no need.

“Oh, no. I wouldn’t dare tear you apart with my dragon. I can do you in just fine with my bare hands, you worthless bitch,” she heard Tommy say.

She looked up at him to see he had changed back into human form and was now reaching for her, pulling her upward and shaking her as she continued to scream uncontrollably.

“Dawn? Dawn!” she heard her mother saying.

She felt confused. Where was her mother? She tried to call out to her, to tell her that Tommy was going to kill her, but she was still only screaming. Things began to swirl and change as her body shook with Tommy’s hands on her and then he began to fade away and disappear. Dawn blinked, her room slowly reappearing. Her mother sat on the edge of the bed, gently trying to shake her awake.

In the doorway, he father was just stepping in, a distraught look on his face. She was in her room, safe and sound. It was just a nightmare, a horrible dream. She could feel her heart pounding against her chest as she tried to shake off how awful it had felt and her mind reached out for Liam, contented by the sound of his heartbeat as he slept peacefully in his bed.

“Are you okay, Dawn?” her father asked, joining her mother on the edge of the bed.

“Yes. It was just a really bad dream.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No. It’s okay. Just bad thoughts that turned into bad dreams.”

“Do you want to come sleep in our room?” he asked.

“What? Dad! I’m almost eighteen years old! I don’t need to sleep with my parents like a little kid.”

“Well, the offer is open if you change your mind,” he said evenly.

“Go back to bed. I’m fine,” she told both of them.

Her mother reached up and stroked her head, careful not to touch where the bandage remained. She smoothed several strands of hair away from her face and kissed her cheek before motioning for Dawn’s father to make his way out of the room. She followed, casting a smile backward in Dawn’s direction as she settled back down into the pillows.

It took hours to get back to sleep, and even what she managed was restless, but she finally managed to get a few hours here and there. When she awoke, it was late the next morning, and she was drenched in sweat from writhing around in her sleep. She was still groggy as she made her way downstairs to find her parents in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast.

“You didn’t wake me?”

“We thought maybe you needed the sleep after such a rough night.”

“Thanks,” she said, uncertain what else she should say about it.

She wasn’t used to being weak or frightened, and she certainly didn’t want them worrying about her. She wanted to see Liam, but he would be at school today. He had a lot of days to make up for already since he had refused to leave her side while she was in the hospital, according to her parents. It would have to wait until he got done for the day.

“I’ll warm up your breakfast,” her mother was saying as she made her way back upstairs to take a shower.

“Thanks. I’m going to take a shower first. I’ll be back down in a few minutes.”

“Make sure you wear the shower cap in there,” her mother called out as Dawn headed up the stairs.

Dawn’s hand went up to her hair. It was stringy and dirty, but she couldn’t get her bandages wet. Only a few more days of suffering through the dry shampoo her mother had been combing through it in the meantime. She felt disgusting. Dismissing the thoughts from her head, she showered and returned downstairs for a bite to eat.