Core (15 page)

“I don’t know,” Ava said, squishing her toes around in her soggy sneakers.

She still wasn’t sure what to think of Lena. It wasn’t easy for Ava to like strangers, but that was what she wanted to do. It was almost as if she couldn’t help it. She felt a little giddy even, as though she
wanted to smile whenever Lena did, but for reasons she couldn’t understand.

“She’s got it,” Cale said. “She just doesn’t believe me yet.”

Lena nodded, a mischievous smile in her eyes. “You should come for dinner,” she said. “You must be very hungry.”

Cale frowned.
 
Hungry? My insides are eating themselves
. “No, Lena, I think Santiago has had enough of us.”

She rolled her eyes. “Do not listen to that old man. B
esides, he sent me to get you. Said he has found enough money for real food.” She winked at Cale. “He wouldn’t tell me where he got it.”

Cale’s frown deepened. “He wasn’t supposed to spend it on us.”

Lena shrugged. “Too late. If you don’t come eat it, it will go bad. Also, you will hurt his feelings. And we both know they are not easily repaired.”

Cale and Ava followed Lena back into town and into Santiago’s hut of a house. Cale almost fainted at the smell of the food. By the time he sat at the table, he was actively slurping the drool back into his mouth.

“You think you can fool Santiago,” the old man said to Cale, his face hard set. “I am no fool. Now you will eat what you gave me.”

He set the food out in front of them, but no one touched it. Even Ava knew they’d wait until Santiago had taken the first bite.

The dragons heard a gentle click of the fence that kept the chickens in the yard and they fell silent, listening. Then Lena leapt to her feet and ran for the door, just in time to pounce on the boy who opened it.

Dark hair and a strong chin, stubble spreading across it.
He was as tall as Cale, just a little thicker. The only smile brighter than his was Lena’s.

“Javi!” she cried, arms spread wide.

He dropped his bag to the floor in favor of scooping up the giggling girl. He spun her around, then placed her back on her feet, pressing a deep kiss on her full lips. When she stepped back, his eyes danced with hers, as though they were sharing secrets.

Santiago lifted the iron cast pan he had in his hands and smacked it down against the stove. The noise rang out, startling the couple. They both blushed as they looked away from each other and to their guests.

“Hermano,” the boy said to Cale with a grin.

The two dragons embraced, and Javi lifted Cale into the air, spinning him around as he had just done with Lena. When he put Cale down, he leaned in, his eyes closed, lips puckered. Even Ava couldn’t help but laugh as Cale put his palm between his and
Javi’s faces, smothering his friend and rejecting his mock advances.

“So this is the one,” Javi said once he had released Cale. He crossed the room and put a hand on Ava’s shoulder as she stood up. “I am a bit jealous,” he said to her.

“Well, you can have him,” Ava joked.

Cale grinned at her, a bit of surprise in his light brown eyes.
 
She’s warming up faster than I thought.
 He sat next to her, close enough for their knees to touch under the table. Ava sighed. Just his touch chased the awkwardness away. 
I belong here,
 she thought, trying to convince herself. 
I belong here because Cale belongs here.

“Javi and Lena got married
during the festival last summer,” Cale explained to Ava.

Javi slapped Cale on the back. “Cale was my…how do you say it in English?”

“Best man,” Cale offered.

“Except he and his big mouth brother got half the village drunk,” Javi laughed heartily.

Lena sat down next to Ava and stretched her legs out, leaning back on the chair so that it balanced on just two legs. Javi and Santiago both glared at her.

“Be careful,” Javi scolded, pushing the back of Lena’s chair so that the legs plopped down onto the floor.

Lena crossed her arms and pouted as she turned to Ava. “Is Cale so protective of you?”

“Well, we’re not married,” Ava said carefully.

She still had her guard up. It was too easy to relax in red dragon families. Even Santiago seemed at ease, flipping a giant hunk of some unknown meat in his pan.

“She is not pregnant, either,” Javi added with a click of his tongue. “And if she was, she would not be so reckless.”

Cale’s eyebrows shot up, his eyes alight. “Pregnant?”

Lena’s smile could have caught the whole world in it, it was so huge. She patted her belly, which was still as flat as a board. Cale shouted something in red tongue and rushed to her, planting a kiss on her cheek. He planted one on
Javi’s too.

“Congratulations,” Ava said. She sighed at how cheerless she sounded compared to Cale.

Not like it matters.
 She was sure no one heard her amidst the shouting and laughter. She had the feeling that she couldn’t keep up with the joy the three of them emitted. It was almost blinding
.
 Quietly, Ava slipped out of her chair and walked over to Santiago. His shoulders were hunched over his food, his back turned to the dragons at the table.

“So, you’re going to be a great grandfather,” Ava said to him, trying to make conversation.

His response was a grunt and Ava immediately gave up. She was never good at small talk, and it didn’t make sense to start practicing with Santiago. They stood in silence for a few moments, Ava watching the reds chatter on in Spanish, Santiago monitoring some sort of green broth as it bubbled and boiled. Then, to Ava’s surprise, he held up his wooden spoon to her. It was filled with the thick liquid he’d been stirring. Ava held up a hand and shook her head.

“Sorry, I don’t eat meat.” She knew she was being rude, but it was better than her puking all over the small kitchen.

Still, Santiago held the spoon out to her. She took it and blew the steam away, slurping the liquid into her mouth. It was salty and sweet at the same time. She tasted honey, thyme, cilantro, lime, and chick peas. When she swallowed it, she licked her lips.

“Good?” Santiago asked.

“Very.”

He grunted
again and added some more thyme to the broth anyway. Ava tried to hide her smile.

The old man looked at her from the corner of his eyes after a few minutes. “You do not want to sit with Lena?”

Ava shrugged. “She seems nice. I thought I’d let them talk, though.”

He stirred his pot, considering her again. “Very few people would choose to be away from her. She makes others happy. It’s her gift.”

Gift. Like Cale’s honesty. 
“I’m inclined to believe you,” Ava said.

Cale and Javi glowed as they spoke with her. Both of their eyes
shone, like candles had been lit inside them. Lena talked with her hands, describing something that captivated both boys. Santiago chuckled as he watched them for a moment before turning back to his food.

“Look how she makes their cores glow,” he said. “He is a lucky man she chose him.”

He was talking about Javi. Ava thought he was handsome, with his dark hair and strong features. He seemed like a perfect match for Lena’s good looks. But Ava understood what Santiago really meant. Lena could have had any dragon she wanted. Ava was pretty sure she could have married both Cale and Javi and they all would have been perfectly happy together, all smiles all the time.

Ava watched the old man as he tasted the green broth again. He didn’t blow on it to cool it as Ava had done. Instead, he poured the steaming liquid into his mouth without hesitation. His shoulders were still slumped, no evidence of a glow in his weathered eyes.

“Doesn’t she make you happy, too?” Ava asked him.

He stopped, thinking,
then stirred the pot once more. “Yes,” he replied. “Pero, I have more of the sadness in me, maybe.”

Ava frowned, taking the bowl Santiago held out to her. He scooped some broth into it. Ava blew on it, making little ripples across the surface. Santiago handed her a thick piece of bread.

“Eat,” he said.

“Don’t I have to wait for you?” she asked.

He chuckled at her, missing several of his teeth. “Eat.”

Ava dipped the bread into the soup and chewed it, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. Each time she took another bite, she had to remind herself to breathe.

The good food was distracting, but she couldn’t shake the question gnawing at her. 
 If Lena doesn’t make me happy, how much of the sadness is in me?

After the meal, Lena kissed both of Cale’s cheeks. “You should not go away for so long next time,” she said, wagging her finger at him. She waved her hand in Santiago’s direction. “And do not stay with this rude old man. Come to Lima with us.”

Cale grinned at her. “I had strict orders from my father to visit Santiago. But next time, we’ll head to Lima.”

Cale whispered something to her belly. Ava wondered what it was, because it made Lena’s eyes tear up. She put a hand on Cale’s cheek before she backed away. As Javi and Cale half-wrestled, half-hugged, Lena walked over to Ava.

She put a hand on Ava’s shoulder. “I brought some clothes for you and for Cale for your trip back,” she said. “And other things girls may need. My grandfather told me your luggage is not with you.”

“Thanks.” Ava replied.
 
And she’s thoughtful? Maybe I should marry her.

Lena looked to Cale with fondness as she whispered to Ava. “I am glad he has you to watch over him. He needs you.”

Ava swallowed against the lump that formed in her throat. 
I’m not sure, but that might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me. 
She waved goodbye as the couple left down the creaking steps, closing the door behind them. 
Too bad it’s not true.

Ava watched Cale as he helped Santiago with the last of the dishes. The old man had been washing them instead of eating with the others. When he was finished, he left the room without a word, shutting off his bedroom light.

“Pregnant,” Cale said, shaking his head. “They’ll be great parents.”

Ava couldn’t argue with that.

“You don’t like them?” Cale asked her, laying down on the blankets that Santiago hadn’t bothered to put away.

“They’re some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.”

He placed his arms under his head. “But you didn’t seem very happy.”

Ava sat next to him with a sigh. “I’m happy,” she lied.

Cale reached up and pulled her down next to him. Already, it seemed like the attack of the no-ir was far away. 
It was good to see Lena, 
he thought.
 She helped.
 He rolled to his side so he could see Ava’s face.

With his gaze, he followed the curve of her chin, the swell of her lips. A few small scratches stood out on her forehead, evidence of the plane crash that seemed years
passed. His rider wasn’t smiling, but she wasn’t frowning either.

“No one is happy all the time, Ava.”

“I’ve been better lately,” she confessed. “You helped.”

Cale smiled. More than he could say, he wanted to be for Ava what Lena was for everyone around her, for Javi.
Something to smile about.

“Roll over and I’ll look at your back,” he said.

Ava did just that, lying still while Cale lifted her t-shirt and removed the gauze. Her back was healing slowly, though the gashes still looked raw. The sight of them turned his stomach. Cale didn’t tell Ava about his secret innuendo at the beach. He knew the salt water would help her heal.

He spread more of Santiago’s medicine on her skin and watched as Ava’s breathing began to slow. He fought the urge to sing to her, to
soothe her. Perhaps it’s something dragons used to do for their riders. But Cale knew Ava would only think it was strange.

So instead, he hummed the melody in his head, keeping the song bottled up in him. He memorized her as she slept.
The color of her skin, the curve of her spine. Then, he looked closer. He thought he saw a shimmer of gold on her skin, mingled with the scars. He blinked, but it was gone.

I’m seeing things.
 He lay next to her, his arm over her shoulders. 
What did Santiago put in that meat?

He ignored it and closed his eyes, the world slipping further and further away. It was only he and his rider on their mountaintop, and nothing but sky for miles.

Ten

Exile

Cale and Ava had never been so happy to see the ordinary, slanted roof of the Ander’s home, but the pots that used to hold budding plants outside the front door had been turned over, a few of them broken on the pathway.

“Looks like
my Dad and Rory had a little too much fun while we were gone.”

Ava only nodded. She was too tired to say much. The journey back to Miami had been agonizing. Cale had refused to purchase another plane ticket and Ava couldn’t blame him. Instead, the two of them took a series of trains, buses, and boats
back to Florida. Cale had barely slept at all, his eyes constantly darting around, as though every sound and every jolt of the vehicle meant the no-ir was coming to execute him.

Cale hardly pushed open the door before Miriam burst out of the house, throwing her arms around Ava. She was instantly in hysterics, the sobs coming out like muffled coughs. Ava pat her mother’s back awkwardly.

“You could have called,” Miriam sniffled once the crying fit was over. “I was so worried when I heard about the plane crash. I wanted to contact the coast guard, but Karma and Mac insisted that you weren’t….”

“No, we’re not dead, Miriam,” Ava said, prying her foster mother off of her. “We’re fine.
Just had more of an exciting trip than we planned.”

Cale slipped past Miriam and froze as he got a good look at his house. The kitchen and living room had been torn apart. Cabinet doors swung off their hinges. The couches were flipped, the mirrors shattered. The walls sported holes and the ceiling fan rested in a heap in the center of the living room floor.

“What happened in here?” Ava asked. 
Is this what a red dragon house looks like when they aren’t expecting company?

But Cale’s face was tight, his mouth suddenly dry.
“Dad? Mom?” he called.

He was about to leap up the stairs to find someone, but Mac descended, his face drawn as severely as Cale’s. Despite Mac’s demeanor, Cale reached out and embraced him. Mac returned the act, patting Cale’s shoulders with restrain. The movement was curt, as though Mac did it out of habit.

“Dad, what’s going on?” he asked. The more Cale looked around, the more color drained from his face.

“We’ll wait for your mother,” Mac replied. His voice was harsh, gravelly.

Karma and Cameron opened the door that led up from the basement and a blast of cold followed them out. They’d been in there for quite a while in order to work up that kind of chill.

“We’re glad you’re home saf
e,” Karma said on behalf of both of them.

Ava blinked the sleep out of her eyes, looking from dragon to dragon.
 
Why are they acting so strange? 
She had the feeling that they wanted to talk privately. She tried to ease past them to the staircase, but Mac startled her.

“Stay where you are,” he said sharply.

Ava froze, but Cale scowled. “Where’s Rory?”

Mac’s face darkened.
“Recovering.”

Cale swallowed. “There was a siren attack? Here?”

No one answered him.

“That’s not even possible. Sirens wouldn’t be so stupid. Attacking a dragon nest?”

“Apparently, the sirens aren’t the ones being incredibly stupid.” Mac reached into his pocket and slammed a folded piece of paper onto the counter that stood between them.

“What…
what is that?”

The paper had been folded and refolded many times, the creases and edges tattered. It was ordinary enough. Yellowed paper bent into a square. But the seal that had held it i
n place was gray wax. Pressed into the wax was a symbol Cale had only heard of in stories–an ornate, untraceable twisting of razor thin lines, forming intricate knots. He had never seen it before and he never expected that he would. Dragons who saw that mark did not tend to live long. It was not magic. It held no power of its own. But it was the symbol of the greys. And that made Cale go cold.

Mac narrowed his eyes.
“As if you have no idea.”

Karma put a hand on her husband’s arm. “His expression indicates that he doesn’t know about any of this, Mac,” she said as coolly as she could, which for Karma was very coolly indeed. Ava could tell she was trying to calm Mac down.

Cale picked up the piece of paper and opened it. His eyes scanned it and as he read, his expression changed from confusion to outrage. The words were in English, translated below in red tongue and, Cale suspected, in every other dragon tongue as well. The pen strokes were intricate and precise, scrawled in ink that was hundreds of years old. Cale held the paper up in the air as he scanned it, then slammed it back down on the counter.

“This is ridiculous,” he said. His voice cracked ever so slightly, as though his heartbeat was choking his words.

Ava stepped closer to Cale out of instinct. The veins in his neck throbbed, color spreading to his cheeks. Ava wasn’t sure what to do. She’d never seen that side of her dragon before. 
He’s furious.

“What does it say?” Miriam asked innocently enough.

Ava shot her a look. 
It’s not the time to ask questions.
 Ava could tell that whatever was happening wasn’t about her, and she knew that any humans present should keep their mouths closed. Miriam’s lips snapped shut as she followed Ava’s lead.

Karma’s words were pointedly softer than her husbands. “It’s an edict from the grey court,” she explained. “It says that Cale has been exiled. All dragons are advised to steer clear of him until he turns himself in to the no-
ir.”

Ava could feel the heat coming off of Cale. It was all he could do to keep from punching something, anything.

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Cale said through gritted teeth. “It’s a mistake.”

“Of course it’s a mistake,” Karma agreed.

“
She’s
a mistake,” Mac said, almost hissing the words.

Ava blinked looking from Mac to Karma to Cale. “Me?”

Mac stepped around the counter and up to Ava so quickly that she didn’t react. He stood face to face with her, smoke forcing its way from between his lips. He stood a foot taller than Ava. His eyes were slivers of brown.

“Don’t play innocent,” he said. His voice rose with every word. “There were sirens in this very house, threatening my nest, calling out for the Deceiver.
For 
you
.”

He didn’t touch her. He kept his hands at his sides. Ava cring
ed, despite herself. She knew Mac would never hurt her. But he hated her. It was in every word he said, in the way his eyes drove into her. Cale stepped in between them with rage that rivaled his father’s.

“What is wrong with
you?” His eyes fought with Mac’s. “Ava’s a member of this nest.”

“I’ll have no part of her,” Mac said, his words hot. He spat on the ground.

“You don’t have a choice,” Cale said.

Karma made as though she was going to interfere, but Mac snapped at her as well. “This is my business.”

Slowly, Karma retreated behind the counter, her sharp, deep eyes soaking in information that only a blue dragon could see. Offended or not, she bit her tongue.

“Your broth
er nearly died because of this–this pathetic excuse for a human. You are the one with the choice,” Mac said.

“You don’t mean that.” Cale was still glaring, still standing eye to eye with Mac. His heart was thudding, his core yearning for a spark, for some way to relieve the heat building up in his chest.

“Choose,” Mac growled.

Cale blinked. He stepped back. Without warning, it was as though his heart was freezing over in his chest. The color that had raced to his face retreated.

“You don’t mean that,” Cale said again, that time quieter, as though he was convincing himself of his words.

But Mac didn’t flinch. He stared at Cale with unrelenting ferocity, his jaw set and his eyes on fire.

Cale swallowed, nearly panicked, his breaths coming in short bursts. He looked over to Karma and Cameron. Their expressions were cold masks. Cale longed for Rory, longed for someone to speak sense into his father.

“Dad….”

“Choose,” Mac shouted.

It made Cale jump, as though lightning had split the air between them. Cale took another step back. He wanted to be angry, to be livid. He wanted to push a roaring flame from his core. But tears welled in
his throat. When he opened his mouth, no sound followed. He closed it again and waited. His voice croaked as it came out at last.

“Is it really this easy for you?”

Mac could have been made from stone. He didn’t move. To Cale, the whole world was at a standstill.

What is happening?
 All Ava knew was that Cale was in more pain than she’d ever seen him in before. It looked like he could hardly stand.

Cale summoned every whisper of courage he had left and opened his mouth one last time. “I choose Ava.”

Mac’s eyes were so still, he hardly looked alive. “Then get out.”

“What? Wait, you’re kicking him out?” Ava walked towards Mac, trying to reason with him. “He’s your son.”

Mac turned on her, his nostrils flared, his eyes too wide. “I have 
one 
son,” he said. He wasn’t yelling anymore. It was as though it was all done, all over. “I’ve spoken. You and your mother and your fool, get out.”

Ava had never felt so small. Her stomach hurt as she took in his words. All
the things Jim had said to her–all the terrible curses he’d spoken into her life–had never affected her. He was scum and Ava knew it. But Mac, she respected. She liked him, liked the Anders family. And they had taken her in, gotten a good look at her, and tossed her back out.

Cale took Ava’s arm and rushed toward the door. He grabbed Ava’s old backpack on the way out and Ava signaled for Miriam to follow them. For some reason, Cale’s leaving was urgent. Ava could hear why seconds later. Mac’s shouting reached them even as they
hurried down the sidewalk. It didn’t sound angry. It was more. Worse. So sad that it brought tears to Ava’s eyes. 
He’s mourning.

Miriam knew well enough to keep silent, but her eyes were wide, her face flushed. Ava motioned for her to wait where she was while she followed Cale along the sidewalk. She reached
out, trying to pull him back, but he kept plowing forward, no destination in mind. Just away. Quickly away.

“Cale, stop,” Ava said.

He stood still in obedience, his hands in fists at his sides. She circled him, trying to see his face, trying to look into his eyes. But he wouldn’t let her. He turned his head away, kept his eyes on the concrete. He wanted to lash out, to scream, to die and kill at the same time.

“Cale, look at me, please,” she finally said.

He did. He was fighting tears, fighting a million feelings he never thought he’d have to face.

“It’s going to be okay,” Ava said.

Wow, that was lame,
 she scolded herself. She didn’t know what to do for him, so she rubbed his arm awkwardly, trying to comfort him. “We’ll fix it,” she said. “Don’t worry.”

He did not move.

Ava didn’t understand. She couldn’t wrap her head around the changes in Mac. The letter was nothing but a piece of paper. But it changed everything.

“Tell me what you need,” Ava said. “Tell me what to do. Let me help you.”

Cale sat down on the sidewalk and buried his face in his hands. Then, he lay flat on the ground, as though keeping still would make it stop. He blocked the sunlight, his palms pressed to his eyes, and fought reason as it whispered to him.
 It cannot stop. It has already been done.

***

Onna came back into the kitchen and pulled herself up onto the counter like a world-class gymnast. She sat perched there like she did it all the time, and placed the bowl of beef chunks down on the counter. Ava gagged as Onna popped one of the pieces into her mouth. The raw meat squirted blood down her chin. With one swipe, she caught it with her finger.

“He still won’t eat,” Onna said.
“Won’t drink either. He’ll get sick if he doesn’t snap out of it.”

“Well, thank you for taking us in,” Miriam said. “I’m sure he’ll feel better with time.”

Dana, the girls’ mother, was hardly ever home. The suburban life didn’t interest her much, so the girls often had the house to themselves. Ava hadn’t known who to call while her dragon was sprawled out on the sidewalk, until Cale’s cellphone started ringing. She had fished it out of Cale’s pocket and even though it was Onna, she answered. The rest had fallen into place.

“I didn’t do it for any of you,” Onna said, scanning her slender finger over Ava and Miriam. “I did it for Cale.”

Ava didn’t care what her intentions were. She was grateful someone was around who knew what was going on. The red dragon had hardly needed help to hoist Cale to his feet. Her features were deceptive, hiding strength Ava knew she had.