Page 8 of Phoenix Falling
Not until recently.
“Back so soon, Dragon?” She gave me a lopsided grin and switched to telepathy.“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you weren’t spending all this time down here just to be with me. I’d say there were other factors involved. But that couldn’t be true. You wouldn’t be using your precious sister as a front for keeping your eye on another female.”
“Of course I’d never use you that way, Valkerie.”Only I was, and Lyris knew it. She only teased me occasionally, however.
“Are things quiet tonight?” I asked.
She nodded. “Catch me up on the meeting.”
While I told the story of what had happened in the Arena, I leaned against the wall beside Lyris and let my gaze wander around the room. We’d rescued fifteen psych females when we’d attacked Maddox’s compound two months ago. They varied in age, ethnicity, background. All were from within a 100-mile radius of Nashville. Several had been sexually assaulted, and the youngest, Clara, only ten, had been in a coma from her triggering for over a week before we’d found them. With Grim’s psychic healing abilities and Lyris’s ability to dim or remove memories, we’d managed to bring her back to life and a sound mind, but it had been a tough road, for all of them.
Now I watched with satisfaction as they sat together, undertaking crafts, reading books, scurrying around to prepare themselves for bedtime, or surfing the Internet on several phones we’d provided. This area of the lair was closer to the surface than most and received a fairly decent signal. Though these psychs were transitioning from being human to the reality of being Archai, the rending separation of their abductions had not left them with a way to let go of their past lives. One of our clan’s young females, Nala, had studied psychology and earned her doctorate in counseling before returning to the lair to share her skills with our people. Her assistance with the females had been invaluable. Lyris had softened memories for those who wished it, though she hadn’t removed anyone’s memories but Clara’s—the holes left behind could be almost as difficult to grasp as the trauma. But the females were healing.
Unfortunately I had a feeling we would need both Nala’s and Lyris’s help even more as time went on.
In a far corner of the cavern, a hallway that led to the bathroom facilities for this section had been cut into the cave wall. From the dim passageway rushed a tiny Hispanic child with thick braids circled into a crown atop her head. Her thin white nightgown brushed the floor as she ran, giggling, throwing a mischievous grin that showcased several missing teeth over her shoulder even as she sought escape.
“You come back here, young lady!”
My breath cut off in my chest. I was reading her mouth more than hearing her voice—Imogen’s voice—but that first sight of her every night did it to me every time. She was small compared to me, maybe five-six or so, her skin a soft, radiant brown that echoed the dark tones of her thick, long hair. Wide green eyes held amusement as she zeroed in on her charge for the night. White teeth gleamed between full, sensual lips as she smiled. She would have been helping Clara with her bath. The females took turns caring for the girl, each of them as loving as if she were their own. They’d bonded in a way even few born families could achieve, though through horrific circumstances. A family all their own now. Would they be able to integrate with the wider clan after all they’d been through? Inevitably some of them would mate; the sheer size of their group and the number of males without a partner guaranteed that, though Sun had assured the Council every care would be taken to protect our new clan members and allow them the freedom to choose who and what they wanted in their lives. Still, the transition would be rough, I had no doubt.
Cutting myself off in midsentence, I hurried forward, ignoring my sister’s laughter as I moved to intercept the tiny missile shooting across the room, and scooped Clara up into the air, much to her delight.
“Demetri! Did you come to read me a bedtime story?”
“I did, little one.” I settled her onto my broad forearm, her weight barely noticeable. My heart ached. She was gaining weight now, finally, but for many nights she had neither eaten nor communicated with those around her. When I’d begun coming at the end of each night to read to her, she’d ignored me at first, but eventually she’d stirred, and the first time she asked me a question about the story I’d been reading, I’d nearly burst from sheer relief.
“We’re startingLittle Women,right?”
Imogen joined us, her palm rising to rest on Clara’s back. “I loved that book as a little girl.”
My heartbeat set up a painful thump. “Lyris loved it too.” She hadn’t been a girl when it was published, but she had been educated just as the warriors had, and not only spoke but read several languages. “It’s one of her favorites.”
“But you haven’t read it before?” Imogen’s smile was mischievous, as if she knew my reading tastes probably leaned elsewhere. She wouldn’t be wrong. I read as much as my twin, but usually mysteries and thrillers. Solving puzzles helped keep my brain occupied.
“I have not.” I gently bumped Clara where she rested in my arms. “We’ll discover the story together.”
Lyris joined us in time to hear my final words. “I think such a special story needs a special narrator to share it.” I expected her to offer, but she looked to Imogen. “Why don’t you read it to them, Immy?”
Imogen startled, and I didn’t miss the way her gaze darted to me before returning to Lyris. “Um…”
“Yes, Imogen,” I said, my voice deepening despite myself. My dragon was as intrigued by the idea as I was, apparently. “Why don’t you read to us?”
Hours of listening to the sweet lilt of her voice, with no one to tell me I was spending too much time focused on the female? My dragon and I both purred our approval.
Clara giggled. “You’re making a funny noise, Demetri!” She patted my chest.
Lyris joined in the laughter. “That’s his dragon, little one. He’s saying he wants Imogen to read to you too.”
“Can I see your dragon someday?” the young one asked.
And now it was my turn to be surprised. Though Clara didn’t remember the horror of their attacks, and though we’d seeded the basics of Archai society in her mind, I had imagined a child so small would be terrified to meet a massive dragon. “Have you ever seen a dragon before?”
“Only in books.”
“I haven’t seen one either,” a shy voice added. Imogen.
I boldly met her eyes. “Maybe we can arrange something then.”
