Page 38 of Alien Dragon's Bride

Chapter 21

Levx

Paintings on the walls swam before Levx’s vision and he squeezed his eyes shut to stop the nausea pulsing through his skull and stomach. Everywhere pain radiated into every cell of his body. What had happened?

The memory of his fight with the two Tryns rushed forward like a freight train. One of the creatures had escaped and headed into town.

Megan! What if the Tryn had gotten to her? How long had he been out? Fear strangled him. He moved to rise, but a hand pressed down on his chest.

“Easy there, son. Your injuries are severe.”

“Where am I?” He licked his dry lips, the motion making him wince as he tasted the metallic note of blood. “What’s happened? Where’s Megan?”

His father moved and a chair squeaked. Levx cracked open his eyes that felt like they were swollen. They were in one of the makeshift recovery rooms in their apartment complex. Bandages wrapped around Levx’s torso, left arm, and both his legs.

“You’re lucky you didn’t break your neck in the fall.” His father gritted his teeth, his brow pinched. “We had to force your transformation so your Renjerian side could heal. No idea if you’ve damaged your wing too much to ever fly again. What were you doing with a Tryn?”

“Megan,” Levx’s voice rasped. “You need to send others to protect her, she’s in danger.”

“Is she pregnant?” His father leaned forward.

“No, but—”

“I will not waste resources on a mere human. Bad enough the triplets found you while they were playing hide and seek. What would’ve happened if you hadn’t killed the Tryn?”

Levx clenched his fists. “There were two of them, father. I only got one and the other took off after Megan. We need to help her, now.” Please don’t let it be too late.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” His father stood. “Once you recover, I’ll find a suitable human to carry your offspring. When you see your children, this infatuation with this one human will have passed.”

“No!” Levx swung into a sitting position, the floor beneath him wobbled. “There is more to saving our kind than breeding. She’s special to me and I won’t have her in danger.”

“Has she agreed or signed the contract yet?”

Levx bit down on his back teeth and shook his head.

“So why are you wasting your time with this one? There are hundreds of beautiful women vying for your attention. Take one or more of them as your bride.”

“You don’t understand, do you?” Levx stood, one of his hands holding onto the bedpost to keep from falling over. “I think I’m falling in love with her. Or is that too much of a human concept for you to understand?”

His father roared, spit and sparks of fire spewing from his mouth. “I’ve loved and lost!”

“Right, the human woman—Kohl’s mother—and when she died, you buried your heart with her, never trusting love again.” Levx stalked to his father ignoring the dizziness pressing against the sides of his head. “Well, I bet you’d do whatever you could if you had the chance to save her.”

For a moment, his father raised his hand like he was going to strike him, but then he made a fist and lowered it. “Yes but if I could spare you or any of my children the heartache I live with every single second of every day, then I would.”

“So you’d forfeit your love and the time you did have with your human lover to save yourself from misery?” Levx shook his head. “I don’t care if all I ever got with Megan was the memory of her and her kiss, I would take it. Even if you are terrified of what will happen, I’m taking the risk of not knowing the outcome but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try.”

Megan and her father had a great relationship despite his hospitalization and illness. Here his father was in prime health yet couldn’t give him the same respect as a peer.

“Your silence tells me everything, I’m going to save Megan with or without your blessing.” Levx pushed past his father to the door.

“Fine. But I refuse to allow any fellow Renjerians to aid you.” He glowered. “Any who are caught trying to help you or facing off with any Tryns instead of helping us pack and flee will be excommunicated from our lineage.”

Levx paused at the door, rage and disbelief surging through him as he faced his father. “That’s been your answer since your first-born son died. Run. And look where it’s gotten us…we’re scrambling to mate with human women to have a sliver of a chance at the survival of our race.”

“What I’ve done has helped us survive this far.” His dark gray eyes burning with the dragon fire buried inside him.

“Right.” Levx shook his head. “And we’re on the edge of extinction. Running and hiding haven’t done anything for us. Why can’t you see that? What legacy do you want to leave the half-Renjerian children? Or their children’s children? That we were a mighty race of dragons at one point but turned tail and ran when things got too hard? That we let fear rule us and never stood and fought?”

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