Chapter 2: Ajax

I almost kissed her. I wanted to, desperately wanted to kiss her, just like I do every time I see her. But I’m not sure she’s ready for that. Emmi has been through a lot and she trusts me. I have no intention of betraying that trust.

I hear a commotion coming from the old hospital. Since I know that it was Emmi that caused the fire that burned it down, I want to know what’s going on. I’m not sure how, but the old hospital is still so hot that hardly anyone can get close to it. However, I can see that Eliane, Ancalagon, Zephyr, and Avani are all looking at something in the middle of what's left of the old hospital.

“What’s going on?” I ask my brother Kano as I jog up.

“I’m not sure. It’s too hot for Amne to get close enough to see” he says. His mate is a fire dragon, so the fact that she still can’t get close says a lot about the heat of the area.

Tana and Kenna fly overhead, but they don’t land, waiting to see if something is wrong. I hear Tana, then Kenna gasp as they see whatever the others can see that we can’t in our human form.

“Screw this,” I say, quickly stripping as I back away from the bystanders and shift. I leap into the air and fly up to where Tana and Kenna are floating above the hospital area.

“What are we looking at?” I ask just as I hear Zephyr gasp.

“It’s Iniko! I can smell him! It’s my son growing inside that glass egg," she says.

I look at Tana and Kenna, who both have the same shocked look on their faces that I know I have.

“How?” I ask them.

“I don’t know,” Tana says.

“Is it really him, Momma?” Kenna asks.

“It smells like him, Kenna.”

I know the impact that this will have on all of the dragons, but most importantly, Eliane and Zephyr. One was his rider, the other his mother who blamed herself for not saving him. Ancalagon and Avani will also be impacted strongly as the brother and father of Iniko who gave his life for his rider.

I fly back to where I left my clothes, shifting quickly and pulling them on while I think. I don’t see how it’s possible, but somehow, I think Emmi had a part in this. She created the fire. The hospital burned down. Iniko died and now Iniko or his essence is back in an egg, a glass egg in the fiery aftermath that Emmi created.

I turn, heading to the cafeteria to get food for me and Emmi. I remember that she’d been unconscious after I found her in the inferno of the hospital. She passed out when I got to her and the fire had gone out. There had been so much going on and the hospital was completely destroyed that I hadn’t wanted to set her down. So, I’d held her as we all congregated to where Iniko had died sving Eliane. By then, Cal had claimed Eliane, keeping her from going feral and they had helped to heal all of the shifters and dragons after the battle with The Mean Ones. But then, we’d all realized what had happened and we’d watched as Avani pulled fire from the center of the earth, burning Iniko’s body to ash and then Zephyr had lifted his ashes into the wind above us.

As I think back, Emmi had woken up about that time. She’d asked me what had happened as everyone around us was crying or lamenting softly.

I’d had to leave her so I could figure out where they were going to put her since the hospital was burned to the ground. When I came back, she was in some sort of trance. That’s not uncommon for Emmi. It happens frequently with her, especially if she’s having headaches, but this time, I’d struggled to pull her out of it. And something else that was different this time – she hadn’t looked like she was in pain. She’d been smiling.

I think through all of that as I get our food and head back to the new hospital. That was three weeks ago. Cal and Elaine have just returned after a week of being away. I want to check in with him, but not until I see if Emmi knows anything about this.

As I walk back, I wonder how this will affect Cal and Eliane’s mate bond. Since Elaine was Iniko’s rider before he gave his life for her, will she still feel the pull to him? Shit, this could turn into a fucking mess all over again.

“Hey, did you miss me?” I ask her when I step back into the makeshift hospital room. Cedric’s wolfpack is building a new one, and it’s almost done, but for now, Emmi and all of the other females who were held captive by The Mean Ones, are here.

“Always,” she says, smiling up at me. And there it is again, that nearly insatiable desire to kiss her. I wonder if she tastes as earthy as she smells, like the scent of burning oak.

“I think I got you some things that will help settle your stomach,” I tell her, setting the plate of bland food in front of her.

I’d realized early on that she didn’t like meat, just like the elves. I asked my father, Doc Everett, if he’d tested her for elf DNA, and he said she didn’t show any in her blood work. I was surprised, because the elves are the only supernaturals I know that don’t eat meat, except for Emmi now.

When she starts to eat, I decide to approach the subject.

“Hey, so, interesting stuff going on outside. You know how the hospital burned down but is still too hot for anyone to use?” I ask her.

“Yeah,” she says.

“Well, it looks like somehow Iniko is back in egg form inside the hospital in a glass egg. It’s like his soul was drawn there and it looks like he’s regrowing.”

“I will see you soon, Iniko,” she says, but it sounds once again like she’s in a trance.

“Emmi?”

“Yeah?” she asks, the strange redness in her eyes that comes when she’s in a trance begins to fade.

“Nothing,” I say, not wanting to push her into some sort of regression.

Usually when lunch is over, I’m nearly desperate to find a way to stay with her, but today, I need to find my father.

“Can I come see after my classes? If you’re awake, maybe we can go sit in the sunshine. Would you like that?” I ask. Almost every time something happens, whether it’s her screaming or a trance, when I get to her, she tells me she wants to go sit out in the sunshine. Something about me holding her outside, even if it’s under the shade of a tree, calms her.

“I will always love my sunshine,” she says, her voice just a bit higher than her normal voice. When I look, I see the red rimming her eyes again. Now I understand. It’s her shifter, whatever type of shifter she is, that likes to be outside in the sun.

“Well, it’s supposed to be a beautiful afternoon and maybe, if Dad approves, we could go for a walk and see the sunset. Would you like that?”

She nods sweetly. “Yes.”

“Good, then I’ll see you soon beautiful.”

Rather than kissing her on the lips like I want to, I kiss her on the top of her head. I wave as I walk out, then turn, going to find my father.

My Dad, my adoptive father, is the most incredible doctor I’ve ever known. He saved me and Kano when we first arrived and pretty much every hybrid shifter that’s come in since then. The scientists didn’t care what they did to us or how deformed they made us, but my Dad did and he’s found ways to fix everything that they ever did wrong to us. We’re still hybrids, still not human, but none of us have died on his watch.

When I don’t smell him inside the hospital, I realize he must be outside trying to figure out how Iniko is resurrected into an egg.

Resurrected. I stop walking. Something about the word resonates with me. That’s basically what’s happened. Iniko was dead and now he’s being reborn as if he’s starting his life all over again.

I find my father standing on Kaylani’s dragon shoulders and talking to Eliane, Ancalagon, Zephyr, and Avani. Kaylani has water flowing under their large dragon paws to keep them from burning.

I don’t know how she always knows, but my step-mother, Kaylani, turns and looks at me. “Shouldn’t you be in class, Ajax?”

I look around. “All the instructors are here and I need to speak to my father.”

“It will have to wait, Ajax. But you’re right. We’re cancelling classes this afternoon. Can you let the other students know?” he asks me, his focus still on the glass egg in front of them.

“Yeah, can I take Emmi outside?” I ask him.

“Sure. Just have her back in time for dinner,” he says distractedly.

I watch him a few moments longer before turning to walk away.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” Fenian, an elf, Tesha’s rider, and my father's assistant, asks me.

“Yeah, Fen. Come with me.”

When we get far enough away, I turn to him.

“What do you know about animals that resurrect?”

He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. “You’re talking about Iniko?”

“Right.”

“Tesha and I have been talking about this, too. Everything that resurrects is fictitious – vampires, zombies, even the Phoenix. They’re all fictitious. I know we live in a world where there are a lot of things that humans don’t know about, but to my knowledge, there aren’t any animals that can resurrect themselves. But that doesn’t mean that Oliver didn’t do something to Iniko that accidentally or possibly on purpose, gave him this power.”

I turn, looking back to the old hospital where Iniko’s egg is before looking back at him.

“What if it’s not Iniko. What if someone else is giving him new life?” I ask him.

His eyes narrow and he leans forward. “What are you thinking?”