Chapter 2

"Hey! What do you have in the suitcase?"

She kept her gaze on the man. He looked scruffy and unkept. Over the last twenty-four hours, Ciel had grown increasingly concerned. The changes from interacting with the kind people in the grocery store to the growing desperation of the public milling around made her walk as fast as possible. Hopefully when she got out of town, she would feel less nervous.

An hour ago, she'd tried to buy an extra bottle of water from a man pushing a wheelbarrow down the street. He'd just laughed and told her she'd have to steal some for herself.

"Money won't buy anything now. It's worthless." When he drew back the edge of his shirt, the handle of the gun in his waistband made her back away.

Sleeping last night… Sleeping was a wild exaggeration. She'd walked until she'd couldn't go any further. Finally, she'd pushed her suitcase into a thicket of bushes and crawled after it. Trying not to think of the creatures who might lurk there, she hoped the greenery would provide her protection from the human predators. She'd caught a few catnaps between jerking awake at scary sounds.

Thank goodness for her frozen food choices. The peanut butter and jelly crustless sandwiches provided some protein and sugar for energy. The chocolate muffins? Reassurement.

When dawn broke, she fought her way out of the shrubs. Feeling awful, she took advantage of a broken store door to grab two more bottles of water, but left everything else. At the last minute, she walked to the liquor store's register, intending to leave money. The buzzing of flies made her look over the counter.

She fled to the street, tears pouring down her face. Quickly, Ciel wiped those away and made herself stop. Losing water wasn't an option. Who knew when she'd find more? Shaking her head, she wondered how people had just become savages?

Nearing the train station a couple of hours later, she looked down the road leading to the tracks. There was no sound, except for a few loud shouts. She hesitated for only a few seconds before continuing on the main street to the highway. It looked like her feet were the only thing she could count on.

A few hours later, she dragged her suitcase off the pavement and headed for a clump of trees to rest and cool off. After dropping to the ground, she looked at her hands and hissed. Despite swapping the suitcase between her hands, Ciel had blisters on her palms.

The sound of wheels on the pavement made her look up. A man weaved between the now stationary cars on a bike with a small trailer. Feeling apprehensive, Ciel scrambled on her hands and knees to hide behind a tree.

"I can see you, girl." The man's rough voice grated on her ears.

"I don't want any trouble," she called back.

"A young woman alone is the perfect victim. Give me everything you have, and I'll leave you alone." He swung his leg over the seat as he dismounted from the bike.

"What do you want with jeans and T-shirts? I don't think they'll fit," Ciel tried to distract him with humor as she scrambled to her feet.

"Everything will sell to someone."

"I'm not just going to give you my things because you're a bully."

"And I asked nicely. I have no problem hurting you if that's what it takes," he stated in a hard voice as he stalked forward.

"I just want you to leave me alone," Ciel protested and abandoned the safety of the tree to grab the handle of her bag and started running. The large case bashed into her legs and calves as it bounced through the tall grass.

A strong yank on the suitcase off balanced her and Ciel fell backward, knocking the breath out of her lungs. He didn't say anything else but simply ripped the handle out of her hand and lugged the suitcase up the hill toward his bike.

Silly!

As soon as she could gather herself, Ciel scrambled up after him. "You can't take that. It's got things in it I need." She didn't care about anything else.

"Medicine will sell, too."

"No. It's not medicine. Just let me get something from inside and you can have it," Ciel begged.

"Too late." He tossed the suitcase on the pile in the cart and jumped on the bike.

Rushing forward, she tried to pull the suitcase off the pile. A glint of metal made her jump back. Ciel stared at the man, who now wielded a large knife already stained with some dark substance.

"If I get off this bike again, it will be to carve you into a decoration that I will leave on the side of the road to bleed out. Is this how you want to die?"

Horrified, she stepped further back as her self-preservation kicked in. He wasn't exaggerating. Silly popped into her mind. "Please, sir. I just want my childhood stuffie."

"Time to grow up, bitch. Be thankful you're still alive."

She watched him pedal away. Dashing back down the hill, she grabbed the bottle of water she'd dropped in the grass. Unable to give up, Ciel followed him. I'm coming, Silly.

A dark cloud covered the sun and Ciel looked up, thankful for the break from the sun beating down on her. She'd lost track of the man a couple of hours ago. Unable to give up on reuniting with Silly, she kept walking.

When the cloud moved quickly, she glanced up. What the… Even her thoughts froze in her mind at the enormous beast circling above her. He's not trying to land… Fuck!

Her heart skipped a beat as if excited, but her mind overruled that reaction. Pulling on the last of her energy, Ciel sprinted away toward the safety of the tree line next to the highway. She heard a heavy thump behind her and swore she felt the ground shiver below her. Reaching the bushes, she tried to dart through them.

"Ah!" she gasped and reeled backward, wrapping her arms around herself after the metal barbs of the hidden fence bit into her skin, ripping her T-shirt.

"Ciel. Stop!"

She whirled around to stare at a handsome man who strode forward toward her. "Where did you come from? I'm losing it. I thought I saw a dragon," Ciel told him, hating the weak tremble she heard in her voice.

Before he could answer, she blurted, "I'm going to fight if you plan to hurt me."

"It's okay, Ciel. I'm one of the good guys. Your mother, Maureen sent me."

"How do I know that's true?" Seeing one cup of her bra showing through the torn fabric of her shirt, Ciel tried to shield herself and grimaced at the smear of blood left on the fabric.

"I know about Silly, Little one."

"Silly?" she repeated, as if she didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

"A silver dragon you wouldn't leave the toy store in Wyvern until your mother bought him."

There was no way he knew about Silly unless someone in her family had told him. She took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm her thudding heart.

Studying him, she scanned in his handsome face. She wasn't usually a beard fan, but the facial hair softened his chiseled jawline. And those eyes. The unusual color of ice blue. They seemed to look through her.

"Where did the dragon go?" she asked.

"I'm the dragon, Ciel. I'll fly us back to Wyvern when you're ready," Argenis told her.

"My mom sent a flying lizard to save me?" At this point, Ciel was sure she was hallucinating.

"Dragon."

"Sorry, Dragon." That seemed to be important to him.

"Thank you. You were unaware of the dragon guardians of Wyvern?" he asked and seemed to be baffled.

"My grandmother told me stories about them, but I thought it was like a legend," she admitted.

"We did too much to hide ourselves," Argenis said, shaking his head.

"There are more of you? Dragons?"

"Wyvern has nine dragon guardians. There are others scattered around the world."

"How is that not on the evening news?" she asked, pressing one spot on her ribcage that stung. Her hands came away stained with a small amount of blood.

"You hurt yourself, Little one. I will not allow that. It's time to get back so I can tend those wounds," he said, walking forward.

"Are you really here to take me home?" Ciel asked, ignoring his statement. Why would he take care of her?

"Yes. You belong in Wyvern." He placed a hand on the small of her back to help her up to the road.

Once she was there, he stepped back to scan her body. Before she could protest him checking her out, he reached over his head to grab a handful of his shirt. The breath wheezed out of her lungs at the sight of his chiseled chest. Afraid she was making a fool of herself, she tore her gaze away.

"You're bleeding." He used his shirt to wipe her arms clean and dabbed at the injuries revealed by the tear in her shirt and another one in her jeans. "I'm sorry I frightened you, Ciel."

"You only scared part of me," she answered defensively.

"I'm glad, Little one."

After flinging his shirt over his shoulder, Argenis held his hand out for hers. "Let's go home."

When she placed her hand in his, a sharp heat built on her skin. She pulled her hand free, joking, "Now I know not to touch you. Dragons are hot."

His eyes blazed silver, and he held out his hand for hers. "You'll be fine now," he assured her.

Ciel tentatively touched his skin and when she felt nothing but normal body heat, she rested her hand fully on his. "Better. I guess I'm lucky you can turn that off."

"The mating heat is normal. It passes after the first touch."

He helped her back up on the road as she considered that statement. "Mating heat?"

"May I explain everything to you when we get back to Wyvern?" he asked.

"Definitely." At home, she could be safe and figure out what was going on. He seemed normal, but…

"Let's head to that cleared space."

His hand pressed against the back of her shirt as he guided her. Ciel instinctively stepped a bit closer, so her arm touched his bare chest. She didn't understand, but she needed the contact. His arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer. Yes. Better.

"Is it different there?" she asked, to distract herself. Maybe her home would be unaffected.

"It's safe. Technology is gone everywhere."

Ciel shook her head as the reality of how much her world had changed. "I should have skipped finals." Or the last two years, she thought dejected.

"This is a good place. I'll have you home soon."

His voice was soft and comforting. That one bit of kindness broke her. Tears burst from her eyes as all the struggles of the last twenty-four hours registered on her. She'd even lost her childhood friend. "He took Silly."

"Who took your stuffie?"

"A man on a bike with a trailer. He stole my suitcase and threatened me with a knife."

"I spotted him about three miles in front of you. He'll be further now. Let's go get Silly."

"You'd bother with a stuffed dragon?" she asked, amazed as the world fell apart, this man—beast—cared.

"Yes, Little one. Come. We'll pick up Silly and head home to take care of you. When I change, step on my front foot and climb up to straddle my neck. You will need to hold on."