Chapter Twenty
Torran
Lilly squeaked. It might have been her saying “oh,” but it was too high-pitched for him to understand.
“Hello, Lilly,” he said as his dragon settled down into place. His wings flapped slowly, restless with disuse. It had been too long since he’d gone out in his other form, and he promised to rectify that as soon as possible.
“You’re a dragon.”
“A dragon shifter, yes. I’m half and half.”
“Cool magic trick.” It was obvious she didn’t believe him.
“It’s no trick,” he promised.
“Really? Then breathe fire.”
Torran smiled. “Fire is the realm of the crimson dragons. I am an emerald dragon. We breathe corrosive or toxic gas.”
“Okay, do that then.”
Torran gently exhaled out, feeling his powers, and used them to shape the gas. It swirled around, morphing from a roughly spherical blob into depictions of two people. One was a tall male with muscles. The other was a short woman with short, curly hair just to her ears.
“That’s us,” she gasped. “How did you do that?”
“I create the gas. It is part of me,” he explained. “Nothing more.”
“You act so calm about this.”
“I’ve known about this my entire life. For me it’s second nature. Only for humanity at large is it a surprise. And a secret,” he added forcefully. “One you cannot share with anyone.”
“You realize that your voice is coming out of that dragon snout, right? You’re speaking English.”
He chuckled, the sound far deeper and powerful than anything he could manage in human form. “I could speak Draconic, but you wouldn’t understand me.”
“Right. Draconic, of course. How silly of me.” She tittered, a laugh that sounded very much on the edge of hysteria, much as she had back at the site of the accident.
“Stay with me, Lilly,” he begged, fighting the urge to take a step toward her. In this form that might do more harm than good.
“Yeah. Okay. Dragons.”
“Yes. There are more of us. We hide from humans because many would reject us, and others would try to control us. So we just stay hidden.”
“Why are you here?” she asked, still sitting on the tree stump, but now gripping it so she didn’t fall over.
“The human military is in a fight against…” he paused. “Damn. Okay, I guess in a sense I sort of lied to you, though I didn’t mean to.”
“Huh?”
“The military is up against some aliens that are much tougher than humans. They need our help to fight them.”
“So there are aliens?”
“Yes. I was thinking about myself when I said that. I’m sorry.”
She laughed. “I wouldn’t worry about it.” Then to his surprise she stood.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure this is real. I’m coming over there to touch you.”
Torran nodded, lowering his head to the ground as she approached, one nervous step at a time.
“You know, your words and the hints I caught prepared me for a lot of outcomes. This…this was not one of them. I’m freaking out.”
“That’s to be expected. But I promise, I mean you no harm. You are important to me, Lilly. In ways you can’t understand.”
“Yeah,” she said distractedly, touching his neck, feeling the cool emerald-green scales that covered his body everywhere but the wings and around his face. “Say, does this mean I get to go flying?”
He rolled his eyes. Both Palin and the dragons he’d talked to at the base had said that was one of the first questions they were asked. Flying. Can we fly? I want to fly!
“Yes,” he said. “After the baby is born though. I will not risk that.”
Lilly paused, touching her stomach. “Right. That’s probably a smart decision.” Her expression changed and she backed away from him.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, trying to contain his nervousness. This is what he’d feared the most, that she might reject his true nature, and say she didn’t want him around. That would destroy him.
“If I decide I can’t be with anyone right now, what happens then?”
He swallowed. “You are my mate, Lilly. The only one meant to be with me. We are bound in ways that humans are not.” He looked away.
“Will you kill me to keep me silent about your secret?”
Torran looked at her in horror. “Absolutely not! If that is what you choose, then I will honor it. After all, who will believe you when you say this guy turns into a dragon?”
“They might not believe her, but they’ll believe this video.”
His neck whipped around as he heard someone else speak.