Page 6 of Wanderer

Staying still was beginning to hurt as the cold leeched all the warmth from me. I shifted to speak but stayed where I was, still partially hidden behind a tree. “I need sanctuary. My car is dead.”

“You can have it,” the first dragon assured me. “I’m Tatsuya. The deputy chief of police.”

“Chief of police, huh? Quite the welcome wagon.” I smirked, though he wouldn’t be able to see. Or at least he couldn’t pick me out in the shadows of the trees.

“Deputy. My sister is the chief.” Tatsuya took a few steps closer, peering into the winter gloom to find me. “I was going to be the quickest, and the weather’s been shit, so…” Tatsuya shrugged. “You coming?”

“Am I really safe here? You’ll help me?”

“Dude, Greyhaven works miracles.”

Three

Riley

Tatsuya, still in his human form, led me to the SUV and opened the door for me, looking at me expectantly. With little choice but to comply, I approached the vehicle. Unlike a human cop car, it didn’t have the metal cage separating the driver from the passengers in the back. It was pretty much like any luxurious car you’d find in an affluent area. Apparently, Greyhaven wasn’t hurting for cash if this was what they gave their cops to ride around in.

“You mind if I fly back?” he asked me, his voice on the gruff side. His fingers were firm on the cold metal of the car door. How was the weather not affecting him? Was it part of his dragon magic? He stared at me impassively. This was such a strange welcome wagon. I was getting whiplash from it. “I don’t get many chances to spread my wings,” he finally explained at my confusion.

I stared at him, frozen for a second. “Uh, sure. Whatever.” I couldn’t come to grips with what I was feeling. Finding Greyhaven after searching for so long felt like a dream. Being met by dragons? Well, that left me feeling off balance. All wrong and twitchy.

“You’re in safe hands now. Don’t worry. That’s Ryuu, my brother,” Tatsuya said with the same gruff tone as before.

Though his words were supposed to be soothing, I got the impression he didn’t like me for some reason. It broke me out of my reverie as he pointed to the driver and put me on edge. I wouldn’t find allies in the car.

“He’ll drive you to the town hall. All newcomers go there first unless they need medical attention. Do you need medical attention?” He looked me over and held my eyes until I answered. He was difficult to read, aside from the subtle disdain. I guess that was important in his line of work.

“Nah,” I answered after a brief pause. He dropped my gaze, sharing a look with his brother. There was no way I was going to get checked out. I hated hospitals and doctors. There was no way I was giving this guy any information he could use against me either. “All good here. Just a little cold.” My extremities felt like they were about to fall off, but I wasn’t admitting that.

“Right then, hop in,” Ryuu called. Now that I looked at him, he was similar in features to Tatsuya, though softer and sweeter somehow. I knew then that if I needed something from the police, however unlikely, Ryuu would be the one I’d approach. Tatsuya felt too guarded to trust. He was too sharp, distant and judgmental.

“See you at the town hall,” Tatsuya said as I got in and buckled up. He closed the car door behind me and backed away, shifting seamlessly into his dragon form and launching himself into the sky without a backward glance.

With a sigh, and ignoring the other passenger’s muttered curse, Ryuu put the car in drive, did a neat turn, and followed the flying dragon into town.

There was another string of curses in a language I didn’t understand. “Ignore Longwei. He’s just butthurt that he can’t fly and has to power the spells to keep the car on the road.” I had noticed that the car was cruising along at a decent speed without concern for the poor road conditions. Magic was useful.

“Rude! And don’t call me that. My name is Fen! When will you all get it into your heads—” The other dragon glared at Ryuu.

“You’ll always be Longwei to us, cousin,” Ryuu said in a placating tone, as if this was an old argument.

“That’s not my name anymore. I’ve told you all countless times, I cannot claim that name.” The passenger turned in his seat to meet my eyes. He had a more angular face than Ryuu. I really didn’t see any family resemblance. “Call me Fen, okay? Everyone other than the dragons do.”

“Is that like a family thing, since he’s your cousin?” I asked, leaning forward to be heard over the sound of the engine. I didn’t know what dragon hearing was like when they were in their human form.

Fen gave a mocking grin. “Oh, we aren’t related. They call me cousin because I’m a dragon like them. That’s it.” He turned back to face forward, putting an end to the conversation with so many unanswered questions. “Tatsuya could have come with us. I’ve not flown in ages,” I heard him grumble, as he used his magic to straighten the car before it could skid on ice.

“What my cousin isn’t saying is that he’s on a flying ban and it’s making his dragon mad.” Ryuu smiled into the rearview mirror, showing a neat line of pearly white teeth that wouldn’t look amiss in a toothpaste commercial.

“Why?” I blurted out. It wasn’t really any of my business, but sue me, I was nosy. Besides, I needed to get the lay of the land here. I’d made it a habit to study people. Learn everything about them, including their tells.

“You roll midair and crash into one building—”

“It was the theater! And they were in the middle of a play! People thought it was going to crash down around them.” Ryuu’s expression was complicated. There was exasperation, but also fondness there for the other dragon.

“Gareth fixed it up.” Fen waved off his concern.

“Magic doesn’t fix everything.” Ryuu thumped his fist into Fen’s shoulder. “You’ve just got to apologize to the mayor and do your hours—”