I go with them. No one ever tells an armed militia man no, of course. And if Amy is in there, that’s where I need to be. They lead me into the large building that houses the barracks. It’s neat and clean in here, and surprisingly empty, probably because it’s night. Areas have been sectioned off to make different ‘buildings’ inside the bigger one, but overall, it still feels like too many eyes are watching me. Is Amy somewhere in here? In someone’s bed? Being kept captive? God, I hope she’s not anywhere near here. My sister’s fragile in both spirit and body. Her limp and weakened leg have made it so that she needs soft places to sit, and to rest her leg frequently. Sasha and I do our best to take care of her, but she’s still more fragile than most. She’s not strong and resilient enough to survive in the After, I worry, so I do my best to pick up the slack.
It’s fear for Amy that keeps me going forward, even when a couple guards come out of their quarters and gather nearby, smirking at me. They look me up and down, as if seeing me naked despite my clothing. I know what they’re thinking. They’re thinking the dragon let me go because I gave it sexual favors or something equally filthy.
I hate that they’re right, too. Well, halfway right—I don’t think Kael had any intention of ever letting me go. I shove my filthy hair back off my face and keep my chin high, ignoring their stares. All that matters is Amy.
The guards take me to a small room at the back of the large building and sit me down at what looks like an old school desk. I’m left alone, and a few moments later, two different men enter. One is the captain of the militia, and one is the mayor. Both look surprised to see me, as if they didn’t quite buy the reports that I was here on their doorstep.
“Long time no see,” I tell them dryly. “I’m here for my sister. Where is she?”
“Somewhere safe,” the captain tells me.
Somewhere safe? Bullshit. “Safe like you kept me safe? Or are you saving her for bait girl number seven?” The thought makes me furious, and my fists clench. “She hasn’t done anything wrong!”
The captain raises a hand at me, as if trying to calm me. “Sit down. We’d like to ask you some questions.”
“I don’t want to sit. I want my damn sister back. She’s a citizen, and you have no right to hold her!”
“If she wants to remain a resident of Fort Dallas,” the mayor interjects, a sour note in his voice. “She’ll obey our rules. Just like you will. I’d be more than happy to send both of you out into the Scavenge Lands and bar you from re-entering Fort Dallas for good. Is that what you want?”
It’s awful, but a teeny, tiny part of me does want that. I liked being with Kael. I liked spending time with him, right up until the sex part. I’m still frustrated and hurting over how that turned out, and it feels weirdly like I lost a friend. Even so, I could probably survive for a while in the Scavenge Lands. I know how to hide and how to look for food and drink.
But Amy? She’s not strong enough. And without my help to bring in trade goods, Sasha will have to sell herself just to eat.
I can’t do that to them.
So I grit my teeth and say nothing.
“Good. Now sit down. As I said, we want to ask you some questions.”
I sit, feeling helpless and angry.
“Tell us about the situation with the dragon,” the captain says, his eyes glittering. “We left you chained. Yet you’ve returned here unharmed. I want to know how that happened.”
Unharmed?
Are they for real?
I want to laugh. Since they left me for dead, I nearly fell off a building when a dragon snatched me out of a stairwell. I was kidnapped by another dragon, rescued, bitten, and now I’m back in Fort Dallas. I feel like a ping-pong ball that’s been bounced around. A battered, bruised, feverish, sore and heartsick ping-pong ball.
Unharmed, my ass.
Of course, saying that won’t get me anywhere. So I tell a little lie. “The dragon let me go.”
“Why did he let you go?”
I shrug, uneasy at the thought of telling them much about Kael. For all his intensity, he had tried to be kind to me in his own way. It’s not his fault that I can’t handle dragon sex. “He saw me hurting myself, so he broke the chains.”
“Did you tame the dragon?”
My mouth twitches. “There is no taming that dragon.”
“Yet you are here and whole and unharmed. How did that happen? How did you get away?”
He’s vulnerable when he’s fucking you isn’t an answer I feel like sharing. “Where is my sister?”
“We’re holding her,” the mayor says bluntly. “We figured if you returned to the city, you’d want to see her, and we wanted to see you. Clearly we have questions. You’re not getting her back until you answer them, either.”
My stomach drops. “My sister hasn’t done anything wrong.”
The mayor is implacable. “No, she hasn’t. But this is about more than your sister. We’re trying to save an entire city of people here, and any information you can give us is key. Tell us what happened.”
I glare at the men, hating that they’re going to make me give them information, and hating that I’ll do it, because I need to free Amy. I’m weak, I know, but I can’t let my sister suffer. “Where do you want me to start?”
“At the beginning, of course.”
Irritated, I begin. I tell them about Kael landing and his transformation into human form. That gets their attention, and they quiz me repeatedly. I’m not entirely sure they believe me, except when I mention his appearance as a human—eyes swirling to black, dappled skin, and finger-claws—they exchange looks.
Bastards. So they’d known all along he could turn human? And no one bothered to say a peep to me, the human sacrifice? I’m filled with even more helpless rage.
They ask me more pointed questions. Did he speak in human form? Could he converse in English? Did I try Spanish or French? What words did he know?
I mention that he understands the word ‘no’ but leave out his name—it’s not mine to give, after all. I also leave out a great deal of the sexual tension that crackled between us and had a rather bad ending. That all seems too…personal.
I tell them instead that he was simply fascinated with me and had tried to feed me and protect me.